Chapter 2: Sending a Message

Temperance Brennan rolled her neck around on her shoulders for a minute before fumbling again in her purse for her house key. She thought it would be easier having that one key on a keychain separate from all of her other ones, considering she had five or so for just the lab, her office, her desk, and the file cabinets. But now, coming home after a long day at work, she just wanted to be inside her apartment.

It was after midnight, and though she hated to admit it, the late nights were beginning to take their toll. Without Booth to drag her out for a drink or interrupt her with take out, she often fell asleep in her office. She wouldn't have left tonight when she did except for that call from someone in building services telling her that they were going to be shutting off the electricity periodically through the night in order to upgrade some circuitry. If she'd have been working on something more engrossing than catch-up paperwork, she might have argued, but she really didn't have the energy or the inclination tonight.

Finally locating her key, she was putting it in the lock when she felt a body press up against her back and an arm tightly encircle her neck.

"I have a gun, Dr. Brennan, so don't do anything stupid. Just open the door so that we can go in and have a nice chat," a deep voice whispered in her right ear. The arm tightened a bit around her neck, threatening to cut off her air flow, while she felt a sharp nudge in the small of her back.

She slowly twisted the key in the lock, her mind racing to find the appropriate response. Bones had no doubt she'd try to get free, it was just a question of timing. She'd cooperate until her mind settled on the right course. She heard Booth's voice in her head "Don't do anything stupid, Bones. You have to watch for a distraction. A moment of weakness."

The door opened and her assailant shoved her forward with the gun. She spun around and backed up through the door. He wasn't fazed, as he still pointed the gun directly at her. His demeanor clearly communicated that if she did anything out of line, he'd shoot her.

He was wearing a black ski mask and black leather jacket, so he looked more like an ominous shadow in the dark apartment than a man.

Her first thought was "skin." She needed skin or blood or hair or something from this man so that there would be DNA to find. Brennan didn't know how she would fare tonight, but one thing she knew was the value of evidence. Whatever happened to her, she wanted this scumbag caught. His eyes, his neck, she had to be able to get something.

"I see your mind working a mile a minute, Dr. Brennan, so I'll keep this brief. Stop moving and stay back!" He raised the gun to make his point.

She hadn't even realized that she had taken a step towards him.

At his words, she stopped abruptly and in doing so, felt something hard hit her leg. Her cell phone! It was in the pocket of her jacket. In that second of realization, her brain cleared. Her last call during the day had been from Booth. If she could find the redial button and push it, when Booth picked up he would hear what was going on and rush over. Booth to the rescue once again! She almost smiled at the image.

Already standing at a bit of an angle, Brennan realized that her left arm would not be in clear view of the masked man. She very slowly slid her arm down her side, making conversation at the same time to divert the man's attention.

"What is it you want? Clearly you know who I am."

Her hand touched the top of the phone. She needed to ascertain its orientation – facing up or down. Thank goodness she had a phone with buttons at the bottom rather than the fancy touch screen Angela had just gotten as a present from Hodgins.

Just an inch more…..

"Nothing gets past you, does it Dr. Brennan? Or should I call you Bones, as my good friend Seeley Booth does?"

Her breath caught in surprise and her hand stilled in its quest.

"Booth, what does this have to do with Booth?" Focus, Brennan, Focus. If this has something to do with Booth he needs to know about it. Make the call!

Her hand moved further into her pocket. Now she felt the first row of buttons, then another. Down, it was facing down. So, starting at the bottom, where would the redial button be? Think, Brennan! On the left side, right before the screen. A bit larger than the others.

"All in good time, Bones." He drew out her name, as if to taunt her with it.

"Don't call me that!"

"Touchy aren't we? Seems to me that as I have the gun, I can pretty much call you whatever I want." He stepped a bit closer though still staying outside of arm's reach. "In fact, I can pretty much do whatever I want."

She finally touched the button she thought was the right one and pushed it, immediately withdrawing her hand from her pocket and turning to face the intruder with a sneer.

When Booth picked up, he needed to hear something informative and at the same time, she needed to drown out the sound of her partner's voice in case he didn't realize immediately what was happening and called out her name.

Taking a breath to give the phone a chance to dial – if she prayed, she thought a bit giddily, this would be the time to indulge – she shouted, "Stop with the idle threats then and spit it out! Why are you here? Why did you force your way into my apartment? If you want to steal something, help yourself. You have a gun. As you said, you can pretty much do whatever you want."

"Ah, yes, what I want. What I want is rather simple. I want to send a message to your partner. No one around him is safe. Not his girlfriend, not his son, no one. He destroyed my family, so I have no choice but to do the same to his. Starting with you and working my way down the line."

Brennan was horrified. Booth, I hope you are hearing this! You need to come now and get this guy!

Her mind fixated on one thing – Parker! She had to make sure Parker didn't get hurt. What if Booth couldn't hear? What if this man fled before he arrived? The evidence, she needed evidence!

"But I'm not family, he won't care much what happens to me. And he's on the outs with Hannah, so you won't have any luck there. You didn't really do your research did you? And Parker…." What could he say to divert him from Parker? "….Parker is away with his mother and her boyfriend. I don't even know where he is."

"Good try, Dr. B, but one thing I am very good at is research. True, you and Seeley may not be as close as you once were, but I know that he still is very protective of you. He will take it very personally if you are hurt on his watch. As for the girlfriend, I think your information is a bit off. When I checked on him before coming here, Booth and his girlfriend were quite happily occupied. Probably still going at based on what I've heard about Booth."

It occurred to Brennan then, for the first time, that Booth might not be on the other end of the telephone listening. If he and Hannah really were busy-she ignored the sick feeling in her gut that inexplicably seemed to arise whenever her mind wandered in that direction - the call might have gone to voicemail.

She shivered. Although his protectiveness sometimes annoyed her, she felt secure in the fact that she could always rely on Booth. But what if this one time, she couldn't? The increasingly belligerent tone of the man before her interrupted Brennan's thoughts.

"That's right, Dr. Brennan, unlike you, I actually know where Parker Booth is at this very moment and that little boy is not safe from me. You I don't intend to kill, unless you force my hand by making trouble. You are the first in my campaign to terrorize Booth and I need you to be able to tell him that. Parker's fate is a bit more complex. I think his death would destroy your partner. But maybe that's too easy. Perhaps he should just disappear." His voice took on an almost gleeful tone. "You know what it would do to Seeley Booth if he is unable to protect those he loves. He will be destroyed!" This time he laughed with a sort of hysterical joy.

The laugh was Brennan's undoing. She lunged, swinging one leg out in a powerful side kick, catching the man in his kidneys.

He grunted but did not go down. As he pivoted towards her, swinging the gun around, she tried another sweep to get his legs out from under him.

This time his knees buckled, but as he fell his free hand shot out and he grabbed her arm, pulling her down in the momentum of the fall. He flipped her over, pinning her with his body weight. They were both breathing heavily, but otherwise the room was quiet.

"This voice message has reached the time limit. Beep!"

"You Bitch!

The hand holding the gun swung towards her face. She freed an arm and grabbed his wrist, scraping her nails against the tender skin there.

He roared in rage, the last sound Brennan heard before the butt of the gun connected with the side of her head and all went black.