I don't own Bones, I know I have 206 in my body, but the Bones from Fox isn't mine.

A Lead

Bones felt exhausted when she awoke. She knew that time was running out for someone named either Plum or Mustard. Today was his last full day to live. She wished there was something she could do. If she wasn't pregnant, she would follow up on her idea from last night, but she had to think about the baby, and not herself. She went into the bathroom, and inserted the transmitter.

As her daughter grew, she felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. She knew it was all part of the changes in her hormone levels, but that didn't make it any less powerful. Her maternal instinct was starting to take over, and she wouldn't do anything to harm her baby, on the other hand, he would be off the streets, and two people would be alive.

She got dressed, and they left for work. Both of them were quiet on the way to the lab. They both knew what the other was thinking, but neither wanted to mention it.

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The day was quiet, and Bones worked in Limbo most of the time. She wanted to be alone, so she could think about the situation. She had the tracking device, so he wouldn't have her for long, but she was concerned about what the drugs would do to the baby. She researched the information, and it was very dangerous. There was an increased risk of congenital malformations associated with the use of Midazolam. She knew she couldn't go through with her plan, because she would never put her baby in danger. She would have to think of another idea.

The day passed quickly, and Booth came to bring her home.

"Did you discover anything new today?"

"We got the make and model of the car. Since we know it has New York plates, we ran it through the database, and found it is registered Aiden Miller, same as the fake address. We immediately put out a BOLO on it, but since we have no idea where he lives or works, we haven't been able to find him."

"We also found his social network pages, and email addresses, but those are also under the same name. We think he used this is a false identity, created to mislead anyone who gets too close. Other than that we are again at a dead end."

He stopped talking and looked at her.

"Bones, I'm glad to see you here."

"Did you really think I would do it?"

"I'm not sure, I hoped if you did you would tell me so I could be prepared, but I also know that you realize I wouldn't let you, so I was worried most of the day."

"I'm not going to lie to you Booth, I thought about it. I even planned how to get myself taken, but I couldn't put the baby at risk. I couldn't do it. The drug he uses causes severe congenital malformations, so I wouldn't take that chance. I love her even though I have never met her, and I wouldn't let her be harmed. I guess my maternal instinct is pretty strong."

"Well, I'm glad it is. I don't know what I would do if I lost you."

"Booth you wouldn't lose me, I have the tracking device, but I understand what you mean."

They arrived at her place as the conversation died down. Both of them knowing what would happen within the next 24 hours, and both regretting their inability to prevent it.

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The following morning they woke up to dark and stormy clouds. Severe downpours were forecasted for the day, with the possibility of flurries by rush hour. Booth was grumpy as they left the house.

"How could it snow already, it's only the end of October?"

"The weather patterns are changing, Booth, we saw that last year. Remember when we were stuck in the elevator?"

"I will never forget that Bones, I think that was a major turning point for us."

"I concur; our relationship became more intimate after that."

"We weren't intimate; I believe I would have remembered that."

"Not sexual, intimate, it means characterized by or involving a warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling. Many people confuse the term to mean a sexual relationship. I felt very close to you after that. I had hope for the possibility of a relationship after that day."

"Me too, Bones."

He reached over and took her hand, bringing it to his lips, and kissed it.

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The day passed slowly, she again worked in Limbo, to keep herself busy. She didn't want to think about anything. She wanted to lose herself in the past, and forget about murderers, and death, and the face of that little girl who would never remember her mother. The tears fell freely here, because she knew she didn't have to hide them. No one bothered her here, and she could open her box and let the feelings out.

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At about four, Angela called down that they were leaving, because Michael had a doctor's appointment. He was getting his shots. Bones said goodbye, and told her to give him a kiss from her.

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Booth was sitting in his office when Agent Shaw came in.

"Agent Booth, you have a call on line three. He said he knew something about the killer, and he would only talk to you. They're tracing the call now, so try to keep him on the phone."

Booth thought that maybe he got the lead he needed.

"Thank-you Shaw."

He picked up the phone.

"Hello, this is Agent Booth, how can I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Peter Contrail; I was hiking in the Smokey Mountains yesterday, when I saw this old shack in the woods. It was threatening to rain, so I thought I would go in to take shelter. When I walked in, I threw up immediately. The smell was horrible. I looked around, because I thought maybe it was someone's garbage or something, and I noticed the whole place was covered with a brownish red substance. It looked like blood, but I'm not sure. I left immediately, and I just got back into town. I know you're in charge of the serial killer thing, so I thought I'd call you."

"Do you know where this is?"

"Yeah I got the GPS coordinates. I always bring it when I go camping. You got a paper?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, N 36.837, and W 81.516. You got that?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to check it out? Cause man it looked bad."

"Yes, we will check it out. Did you leave your contact information with anyone when you called?"

"Yeah, they gave me the third degree, before they let me talk to you. You must be pretty important huh?"

"Not as important as you think. Hey, thanks for the info. We will be in touch if I need anything else."

"Ok, man, I just hope you catch him."

"Me too."

Booth hung up, and immediately called the task force. They were going to catch a killer. Maybe they could even prevent a death tonight. He threw his poker chip in the air, as he raced out of his office, happy to finally have somewhere to go.

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The end is near. Remember reviews make me happy. I have most of the story done at this point, so extra posts are always possible.