It's almost ten and Booth and Brennan have been driving around the District of Columbia for the past three hours, in utter silence, aside from the occasional sigh. Brennan's sitting in the passenger seat of the SUV, staring out the window, and Booth is giving her a sideways glance, like usual. He hates seeing her like this, especially when there's nothing he can do to help. "We're gonna survive this, Bones." He pauses. "You and me, always, okay?"

She nods, not keeping her eyes off the window. She didn't need the reassurance, but it's still nice to hear once in a while.

He turns back to the road and then stops at the traffic light. As they sit at the light, his phone rings. He answers it, putting it on speaker phone. "Agent Booth, talk to me."

"Dad!"

He smiles. "Parker, hey, buddy."

"Is Bones with you?"

Brennan lifts her head. "I'm here, Parker."

"Hi!"

"Hello."

"What's wrong?"

"Christine is missing," she tells him, looking at Booth, who's giving her a disapproving look. "Don't look at me like that. Parker has a right to know his baby sister was kidnapped, Booth. He's old enough to process this kind of information. We shouldn't lie to him. This isn't like you lying to him about fictitious characters."

"You could have eased into it a little more, Bones."

"What would be the point?" She pauses. "It doesn't matter. It's irrelevant now. He already knows."

"Dad? Bones?"

Booth blinks. "Sorry, bud."

"Are you guys fighting?"

Booth glances at Brennan and shifts in his seat. "No, Parker. It's just been a really stressful day."

"Good. I don't want you guys to break up because Christine would live with Bones, right? And I would never see them and that would stink."

"Don't worry, bud. Bones and I are fine." He steals a quick look at his partner and smiles when he sees her smile. "Wait, it's like three in the morning, why are you up so late?"

"I'm not in England, dad. I'm in New York."

"Since when?"

"Since I called you."

Booth laughs. "Are you planning on coming to visit?"

"If mom lets me, you bet. I think we'll be in Virginia on Wednesday. Maybe then?"

"Wednesday sounds perfect. Tell your mom we say hi. I hope you can come and visit. I really miss you."

"I miss you too, dad, and I hope you find Christine."

"Thanks, Parker. We'll call as soon as we know something."

"Okay. Mom's back from the bathroom, so I gotta go. I love you."

"I love you too, Parks."

"Bye, Bones."

"Bye, Parker." The phone cuts off and the car falls silent again. She turns her head and stares out the window like before. She lets out a noisy breath and sniffles.

Booth reaches over the center console and nudges her.

She looks at him and swallows. "Booth."

He nods. "I know."

She takes his outstretched hand and blinks her eyes closed, tears welling up behind her eyelids. She leans back against the passenger seat and nibbles on the inside of her bottom lip.

He switches on the radio, just so the car isn't completely silent, and slips his fingers in between hers. He looks at her out of the corner of his eye and his chest tightens as he watches her shoulders rise and fall with each shaky breath she draws in and expels. He brings their clasped hands up to his lips and presses a kiss to the back of her hand.

They sit like that until her cell phone rings ten minutes later. She pulls it out of her purse and glances at the contact. She looks at Booth and arches an eyebrow. She answers the call while he picks up his. "It's Dr. Brennan."

"I've changed my mind. I want you, Dr. Temperance Brennan, to drop the money off in ten minutes. Do it alone."

She hears a crackling sound, and then a second later, she hears her daughter's labored breathing and muffled cries

"Tick-tock." The phone disconnects after a three-second period of silence.

She lowers the phone and looks at Booth.

Booth sighs, a little defeated. "The call wasn't long enough to trace."

"We've got ten minutes. He wants the money in ten minutes behind the swings."

"Ok, I'll just call—."

"No, Booth. The kidnapper asked me, personally, to deliver the ransom. Just me."

"Bones, I—."

"I can take care of myself."

"You have no idea what he's capable of."

"Exactly, which is why we have to hurry."

He sighs.

"Booth, I heard Christine. She's terrified and hungry. Just step on it. I'll be fine. I'm fully capable of defending myself if necessary, but it's not about me, it's about our daughter, and if the kidnapper wants me to hand over the ransom alone, then that's what we're going to do."

"Okay, okay." He presses down the gas pedal and switches on the siren. He looks over at Brennan one last time before weaving his way through traffic.

What do you think is going to happen?