Brennan tossed and turned all night. She kept having nightmares that faceless people took a screaming Louis away from her, and she couldn't find him. Tired of feeling scared and having her heart pound a million miles an hour, Brennan eventually gave up on sleep and got up. It was five in the morning and still dark. She had to talk to Angela today about finding out what happened to Louis.

"Good morning, Angela," Brennan said. She had rushed to get there after dropping Louis at school. One look at her friend indicated she had been up all night.

"Hi," Angela greeted, without turning around.

"Were you here all night?"

"If it's morning, then yes, I was."

"Is that good for the baby?" Brennan asked. She didn't think it was.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Angela answered with a brief smile. "So anyway, I've been working on..."

"Ange," Brennan interrupted. Her friend stopped talking.

"Yes? What's wrong?" Angela asked, seeing trouble in Brennan's eyes.

"I need to ask you a favor," Brennan started.

"Anything," Angela promised. Brennan pulled out the photo of Louis' not so real parents and handed it to Angela, who gave her a confused look.

"This was in Louis' room," Brennan explained while Angela looked at it. "I originally thought they were his parents."

"They sure look like a family," Angela nodded.

"But they're not. The structure is all wrong. These are not his parents," Brennan finished. Angela gaped at her.

"Are you serious?"

"I don't kid with things like this. Angela, this could mean his real parents are still out there," Brennan said. She felt her throat tighten.

"Oh," Angela said, getting it. "Oh, sweetie. Oh no."

"They can take him from me, Ange," Brennan whispered. "What if they do? What am I going to do?"

"Okay, first of all, we are going to solve this little mystery," Angela said, gesturing to the photo. "I will search for his real parents. What is his last name?"

"Dubois, but that's probably their last name not his real parents'," Brennan pointed out.

"Allow me to work my magic," Angela said. "No freaking out until I find answers, okay?"

"I'll try," Brennan said reluctantly. Then an idea hit her. "Louis always draws this picture and has nightmares about a fire and guns going off from when he was really small..."

"That's brilliant!" Angela exclaimed. "I will look for old newspapers with that information. Maybe something will show up."

"Thanks, Ange. You're truly the best," Brennan said, hugging her friend tightly. Now all she had to do was not panic fully until Angela gave her an answer.

Booth was still annoyed at having Arastoo with him on this case instead of Brennan. They were currently watching dancers because Angela's amazing gizmo showed their victim in great detail, and it was discovered that he had done ballet.

"Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy!" the woman was shouting. "What are you doing? Are you new?!"

"Damn, she's nasty," Arastoo muttered. Booth silently agreed. He was not looking forward to talking to this woman. His mind was still reeling from his realization about Brennan. He'd been chastising himself all night and day. How could he be with Hannah and still in love with Brennan? What was wrong with him?!

"What do you want?" the woman snapped, finally seeing them standing there. Booth jolted into action.

"I have some questions about a former student of yours," Booth said. The woman glared.

"Who?"

"Robert Pearson?"

"I hope you've come to tell me he's dead," the woman snarled. Arastoo's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"And you are?" Booth asked.

"Cynthia."

"Right. Well, Cynthia, today is your lucky day."

"Why do you want him dead?" Arastoo blurted out.

"Because he broke my ankle and set my career back three years," Cynthia growled. "I hope you don't expect me to cry. People die all the time."

"Yes, but it's more suspicious when the person you want dead is murdered," Arastoo spat out.

"And you're looking at me because...?"

"Because it says here your father owns a construction company, and guess what? We found Robert at a construction site," Booth finished. Take that dragon lady, he thought.

"Okay, this is getting out of control," Cynthia said, getting panicked. "I couldn't kill anyone. I didn't kill him."

"Maybe if you got really mad..." Booth trailed off.

"It was a pas de deux. He dropped me, it wasn't my fault," Cynthia stuttered.

"Given your height and weight, it would be difficult to do a pas de deux with you," Arastoo pointed out.

"Are you calling me fat?!"

"Easy now," Booth said, stepping in the middle. He mentally congratulated Arastoo for that comment. It was something Brennan would have said.

"You bastard!" Cynthia shouted through Booth as Arastoo.

"Okay, temper, temper," Booth tutted. He wanted this conversation to be over.

"Brennan," Angela said, hurrying into Brennan's office. "I found something."

"You did?" Brennan asked, jumping up.

"Yes. Look," Angela said, going to her computer and typing something in. An article came up. "Here." Brennan leaned down to read it.

House fire used to cover up the murder of one male and one female. Toddler presumed missing or dead. Autopsy shows the two victims, Angelique and Adrian Doukas were shot before the fire. If anyone has any information, please contact the police.

"Do you think it's his real parents?" Brennan asked in a hushed voice.

"You tell me," Angela said, scrolling down so that the images of the victims came up. Brennan stared at them.

"That's them," she whispered. She could see Louis' features in both the male and female. Adrian was definitely Greek, and Angelique had a French appearance. Louis' green eyes sprang up at her from Adrian. The dirty blonde hair came from Angelique along with her nose. These were definitely his parents. Where did a woman from Paris meet a man from Greece? A holiday? By chance? Was it love at first sight?

"How horrible," Angela said quietly, cutting into her thoughts.

"He remembers this," Brennan told her.

"What do you mean?"

"He keeps telling me of a nightmare where there are guns going off and a fire. He draws pictures of a small child and two adults leaving a burning building," Brennan went on. "What year did this happen?"

"2006," Angela answered.

"So Louis was two years old," Brennan mused. "He said possibly after he turned three, they left Paris and went to Maluku."

"If his 'parents' kidnapped him, they'd probably flee the country to avoid suspicion," Angela pointed out.

"So it proves that Louis really is an orphan," Brennan said. "I'm trying not to feel relieved about that since the circumstances are so horrid."

"It means he's yours, and that's something worth being relieved about," Angela assured her. "But I understand what you mean."

"So who murdered the kidnappers?" Brennan asked.

"I don't know," Angela admitted.

"I know you wouldn't have the answer," Brennan said logically. "But this proves that Dubois was the kidnappers' last names."

"Yes, it does. I'll start researching," Angela said.

"What's going on?" Cam asked, taking a sip from her water bottle.

"We are trying to locate records of the people who kidnapped my adopted son, Louis," Brennan answered. Cam spewed water everywhere.

"W-what?!" she exclaimed. She looked back and forth between Angela and Brennan. "What did you just say?"

"I adopted a boy from Maluku," Brennan started explaining. "Louis. He's six. His parents were murdered, and Daisy and I came across their bodies. I found Louis hiding in the brush. I went back for him because he has no one. I have just discovered that the parents are not really his parents but kidnappers, and Louis' real parents were murdered as well."

"I feel like I'm in a soap opera," Cam muttered. "Wow, so you have a son?"

"Yes, I do. That's why I took so much time off," Brennan nodded.

"Makes sense," Cam agreed. Arastoo was outside talking to Hodgins now, so Brennan acted fast.

"I would like to talk to you sometime about being an adoptive parent since you have knowledge and experience with Michelle," Brennan stated.

"O-okay," Cam consented. She didn't have time for any other comments or questions before Arastoo came in.

"What do you have for us?" Brennan asked Arastoo as he entered. He proceeded to explain what he and Booth had discovered. Brennan looked over at the door and noticed that Booth was standing there, keeping his distance. Then his phone rang. She watched as he went to answer it, how his face turned from business to fear, and she knew it wasn't good.

"What's wrong?" she asked when he returned.

"I gotta go. Hannah's been shot."

Against every bone in her body, Brennan found herself at the hospital where Booth was pacing the hall. Despite their awkwardness and tension lately, she still was his friend.

"Bones," he said, stopping in his tracks. He didn't expect to see her.

"Is she okay?" Brennan asked. She did not want to see Hannah. She just came to make sure Booth was all right.

"Yea. They're gonna send her home in the morning. Just a nick on the bone," Booth told her.

"May I see the x-ray?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," he nodded. "Did you want to-?"

"No thanks," Brennan cut him off. She did not want to see Hannah. Nodding, he went to go get it. She took it from him when he returned. She noticed right away that it was a hairline avulsion fracture of the femur. This was not just a "nick" on the bone. Hannah could bleed out and die from this within moments. Brennan struggled internally for a moment. In the end, she did the right thing.

"Booth, this is a hairline avulsion fracture on the femur," she said.

"A what now on the where?" Booth asked.

"If she stresses the leg incorrectly, the pulled ligament or tendon will get cut by the bone, and she would bleed out instantly without getting help."

"Oh. Wow. Okay. That's bad?"

"Very bad, Booth," she said. "Tell the surgeon. They should operate right away." She thrust the x-ray back towards him, and he took it.

"You just saved her life," Booth said. Brennan looked at him. That she had. He held her gaze for a moment longer.

"I have to go," she said softly. She turned to leave, not looking back. She didn't have to. She knew he'd be watching.

Louis didn't say much on the car ride home. He didn't have much to say. He didn't want to upset Temperance. Other kids had started making fun of his limp today. One even mimicked him all recess. Another stole his cookies from his lunch. Another knocked his bag out of his hands in the hallway. Louis had Parker as protection from worse bullying, but it still upset him. He hadn't realized that kids could be as mean as adults.

"Everything okay, Louis?" Brennan asked. She looked in the rearview mirror. She hadn't said much either. She was still thinking about how she had been capable of even thinking of not saving Hannah. What was that about? Brennan was not a bad person.

"I'm just tired," Louis answered. He didn't want to make Temperance sad. He would figure out what to do on his own. He closed his eyes to prove his point. Once home, he went into his room and fell onto his bed. He was also sad because he had lost the only picture of his parents that he had. He couldn't figure out where it went. It was hard to remember their faces without looking at it. He hoped he'd find it soon.

"Temperance?"

"Yes? Who is this?"

"It's Hannah."

"Oh. Hello."

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life."

"You're welcome."

"Did you want to stop by? Say hi?"

"No. I'm very busy."

"Oh, okay."

"Is that all?"

"Well, yea. I'll see you later I guess."

"Good-bye."

Brennan hung up sharply. Did Hannah really think they were going to be friends just because she saved her life?

Two Days Later

"Parker has made a new little friend apparently," Booth was saying to Hannah. She was back home with a cast on her leg now. She had wanted to thank Brennan personally for saving her life, but when she called, Brennan had been short and almost cold. Hannah wasn't sure why.

"Oh yea?" Hannah asked, feigning interest. She hadn't met Parker yet, but Booth talked about him a lot. Almost too much. It was annoying.

"Yea. He has a playdate this afternoon that I'm taking him to," Booth said. It was Saturday, and Rebecca was letting him have Parker for once.

"Sounds nice," Hannah responded. Booth wondered why she didn't ask to come along. Did she not want to meet Parker?

"I'll be back in a bit," Booth said. He was curious about this Louis that Parker kept talking about while on the phone with him. They were supposed to meet at the park. Parker chatted away about Louis this and Louis that. Booth barely paid attention. He couldn't believe his eyes when he showed up at the park. Brennan was sitting on a bench, watching children play. What was she doing here? Parker jumped out of the car and raced to the playground. Booth presumed the curly haired boy he was talking to was Louis. He wandered over to the bench and sat down beside Brennan.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she said, looking at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"How's Hannah?" she asked at the same time.

"Oh, good. She said thank you, by the way," Booth said.

"I know. She called me," Brennan nodded. There was a moment of silence.

"You didn't answer my question," Booth said. Just then, both Parker and the boy ran up to them.

"Temperance!" the boy called. "This is Parker!" Booth gaped at Brennan. What was going on here?

"I know, Louis. I'm friends with his father," Brennan smiled. Louis' face lit up.

"Cool!" he shouted.

"Yea, Bones is so cool!" Parker added.

"Bones?" Louis asked.

"It's Dad's nickname for her," Parker explained.

"Oh, cos you look at bones, right?" Louis asked her.

"That's right," Brennan confirmed.

"Cool! We're gonna be over there," Louis told her. He hugged her tightly before running off. Booth's mouth was still wide open.

"What?" Brennan asked, noticing.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded. "Who is that kid? Are you babysitting or something?"

"No, Booth. That's Louis. I adopted him," she answered.

"You...what?!"

"I adopted him from Maluku where he had been left orphaned by the death of his parents," she explained. She would tell him the rest later. She could tell his head was going to explode at the idea of her being a mother without adding that to it.

"You...you...I...my head hurts," Booth said on cue, holding it with his hands. "You adopted a son without telling me?"

"I didn't think I needed your permission," Brennan snorted. "We're not married."

"We're barely friends it seems," Booth pointed out. "How could you not tell me?"

"I didn't tell anyone until recently."

"Bones, I..."

"You're surprised I know. Contrary to what people say about me, I'm not a cold-hearted person, Booth. I am capable of being a loving mother," Brennan said.

"I know...I mean, of course. I just...I didn't realize you would adopt," Booth finished.

"Well, I did," Brennan confirmed. They stared at one another.

"Good for you," he said finally.

"Temperance! Come play!" Louis called, making Brennan look away from Booth.

"Excuse me," Brennan said, getting up. She ran over to the boys and started playing freeze tag with them. Booth watched in awe at her interactions with Louis. The love between the two of them was quite evident, and Brennan's face was brighter and happier than he'd seen in a long time. He had never seen Brennan in this type of scenario before aside from different time with Parker, but even that was different. Booth felt a twinge inside as he watched Brennan laugh with Louis and tickle him and chase him around the grass. Hannah hadn't even wanted to come meet Parker. Booth started feeling turmoil again. He had no idea what was going to happen next.

He knew the "Missing Child" ads would come out soon. He knew that if that doctor was hiding somewhere with the boy, she would be flushed out very soon. She couldn't stay hidden forever. Then he'd finally get to finish what he started.

Thanks for reading!