Annette plastered on her smile before stepping out of the car. The entire team was standing on the front porch, waiting for her. "well if I have ever see a more dejected group of people I can't remember it." she chirped. "why all the long faces?" she walked up the stairs. Embraced Tate and kissed both his cheeks.

"this case had gotten rather personal." Cat told her.

"it has drawn into the light that witch I believe some of us would rather be kept secret." Tate told her.

"i don't think I like what is being insinuated here." she stepped back, now on guard.

"neither do I." Bones told her honestly. "but we have run into a puzzle, and it seems you are the missing piece." her eyes moved from man to man, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"what are you talking about?"

"are you familiar with a vampire by them name of Gage?" she shook her head, still tense.

"we weren't either." cat confirmed.

"but he is just a noob, his master is an old friend of yours." Bones told her. " the name didn't ring a bell when Cat first tortured it out of Gage. But when the poor thing paired it with your name...well... lets just say the light clicked on."

"along with bells, whistles...and a warning alarm." Cat added.

"what is this name?" she demanded. Her back was arched making her look comically like a cartoon cat. Juan repressed the urge to laugh.

"Cell." Bones Spat. Her eyes were wide with surprise. "i was just as shocked as you look, imagine my astonishment at hearing that name... after finding you crying over his stone cold body a hundred years ago." Annette was shaking.

"Crispin, baby...i can explain every thing."

"really? Can you? Lets try starting with the claim that I have had a daughter for over two centuries, and that you helped hold her captive." Annette's jaw dropped.

"i suggest you start talking." Tate told her, seeing the murderous gleam of green in Bones' eyes.

"i... that is... he..." she stammered, trying to back up. Dave moved, and in the blink of an eye he was behind her; blocking her path. "this is really not something I wish to discuss with an audience." she found her tong.

"i didn't ask you what you wanted." Bones' voice was cold and flat. "start talking."

"OK, I will explain every thing to you Crispin, just know that every thing I did was because I believed at the time I was protecting you...because I love you." Cat scoffed at that. "you weren't there you little bitch! You weren't even thought of... your unholy father hadn't even been born yet... so don't talk about things you can't even comprehend!"

"ENOUGHT!" Bones' voice boomed.

"it is true, there is a child. Right after you were taken aboard the ship a woman came looking for you, she said her name was Claire."the look on Bones' face said he knew who she was talking about. "she was a client of yours...and she was pregnant. At that point I thought you were a goner, I told her I would take the child if she didn't want it. I would have done any thing to have a part of you inside myself, the way she did.

"she freely and gladly handed over the child, whom I raised as my own for the next few years. I called her Kristen. But you cam back... I didn't need her any more because I had the real thing...i had you. I was going to give her to you, let you do with her as you saw fit. Even then you had powerful enemies Crispin, I was approached by a vampire calling himself the king of all vampires.

He wanted your head as his trophy for some wrong you had done to him. I begged his forgiveness, pleaded with him to leave you alone. In the end I played the only card I had...the girl. She was nearly an adult by then, he turned her on her nineteenth birthday. I swear Crispin, if there had been any other way to save both you and the girl I would have done it!" Annette's eyes were pleading with him, but he turned from her to Cat.

"my god." he breathed. Cat nodded in agreement, as they looked at each other in amazement. Bones had a child...a child who desperately needed rescuing.

"what is his name?" he asked still not looking at Annette.

"Zero." she said it plainly, but the shiver that ran up her spine shook her entire body. "Crispin..." Annette took a step forward, hand extends. Reaching out in a plea for understanding.

"i cut you off from my line... if I ever see you again , I will kill you. Now go!" she turned and ran back to her car. The tears that stained her face were quite evident.

"harsh." Tate said approvingly. Happy to once again belong to no one.

the men all left, they had training to do... it was obvious that this might turn onto an all out war. Cat sat alone in the middle of their huge bed, watching as Bones paced restlessly. "who is he?" she asked when she thought he was ready.

"Zero, he was the master of a family that was once close to Ian's."

"what happened that he would hate you this much?" Cat didn't want to press him but she thought she perhaps deserved some answers; since she was about to become step mother to a girl two hundred years older than herself.

"i killed his daughter." he said bluntly.

"oh... and the woman...Claire?" who was the woman whom had bore Bones a child?

"Claire," the name came out like a soft caress. "she was a dancer for a french Ballet company. Long and thin, all leg. Her eyes were nearly as dark as mine, with the blondest hair I have ever seen, it was nearly white." Cat suddenly didn't want to hear any more about the woman, but she had to ask.

"did you love her?" it came out in a whisper.

"not even close. Did I lust after her? You bet... but what she and I had... didn't compare to what is between us." he moved to the end of the bed.

"except you were both human, and she had your baby." he crawled slowly across the expanse of bed that separated them.

"and she is two hundred years in the grave. You, however, are very much alive...and in my bed."