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

Emptiness

"I didn't think you were. You must be very smart to have fooled so many law enforcement agencies over the years."

She saw the other man out of the corner of her eye, and hoped he would be quiet. If she can keep Lee talking, maybe she could buy them some time.

.

"Do you intend to hurt me?"

"I am not sure yet. Maybe, maybe not, but I am not letting you go. You can stay with me if you want, but you can never be free."

"Why do you want me?"

"You fascinate me. I am intrigued by what you do. You get to touch dead bodies every day, and it does not horrify you. You use so much passion in your writing. Moreover, you are pregnant. You know that was the deciding factor. I was not sure what to do with you, but when I saw that you were pregnant, I knew I had to have you. I knew I had to keep you."

He walked toward her and placed his hand on her abdomen. Her first reaction was to break his hand; she did it before, to Epps.

She was horrified by the thought that he wanted to keep her, like a pet? She almost lost it then, because nobody will ever keep her, she was strong and independent, but she held her tongue and spoke gently.

"If I was to stay with you, what would I do?"

"You can help me. I can teach you all my tricks. How to avoid the law, how to leave a clean crime scene, and you could teach me about human anatomy. There were many times when my kills died, before their time. Then the dreams would come, and I could not sleep, so I had to kill again. I do not like it when that happens."

Bones noticed that his voice was odd; it had a flat tone to it, almost like someone who was deaf. She wondered if he had hearing problems when he was young, or if it was the insanity, that controlled him.

"I wondered how you avoided leaving any evidence behind. As I said before, I am the best, and my team is also the best, and we were fooled by you."

"I have fooled many law enforcement officials over the years. There were many towns that I left behind, and they never knew about me."

"You said you have dreams? Can you tell me about them?"

The minute she saw his eyes, she knew she said the wrong thing. Something about the dreams horrified him.

"No, you cannot talk about that!" He yelled at her, and then slapped her across the face.

"No one talks about the dreams. Do you hear me? "He was still yelling.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

He turned away from her. He held his head at an odd angle as if he was constantly listening for something. She wished Booth were here, he always knew what to do. At this point, she would even take tips from Sweets.

He looked at the victim, and slowly began to walk toward him.

"Lee. Don't you want to untie me? I could start helping you now."

"No, not yet, but I can use your help."

His voice again took on the monotone. He came over to her and picked her up chair and all, and placed her in front of the victim. He took a knife and ran it over the victim's face.

"Lee, what's his name?"

"Temperance, I like that name. Temperance, it means moderation, did you know that?"

"Yes, I did."

"Do you show moderation Temperance? Is your life full of balance and calmness?"

"Usually. I like to control my emotions; I don't like to feel things."

"That sounds like a good thing, Temperance. I think we can get along well."

"Will you tell me his name? I was wondering if he was Professor Plum, or Colonel Mustard."

He turned from the victim again, and looked at her; once more, his head was tilted slightly to the side.

"How did you know? I wondered that when I saw it in the paper. Did you tell them?"

"We were playing Clue with Booth's son, and the names were familiar. We didn't tell the paper, they figured it out."

"I was wondering if someone would guess this time, because there were so many kills. I had to do seven you know. Seven to stop the dreams."

She knew not to ask about the dreams this time.

He again turned to the victim.

"Temperance, can you tell me the order that I torture my kills in? Were you able to figure that out?"

"Yes, you did the toes first, then the fingers, always in seven. Why seven, that part confused us?"

"It was seven years."

He went and picked up a pair of clippers. She noticed that the victim was starting to cry.

"Lee, you still haven't told me his name."

"Oh, yes. Temperance, I would like you to meet professor Plum, but he really is not a professor. I could not find one. He did teach school though, so I thought a teacher was close enough."

He ripped the tape off the man's mouth. Bones gave him a look that she hoped conveyed play along with me.

"Hello, Temperance. Are you part of this game?"

"No, I'm not, but maybe he will let me join in."

She turned to Lee.

"Lee, can I join you in the fun?'

"Not yet Temperance, not yet."

Bones thought she heard a helicopter, but she wasn't sure. Lee either didn't hear it or didn't notice. She looked at Mr. Plum, and tried to tell him to be quiet.

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B&B&B&B&B&B

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The pilot circled the place above the area where Hodgins said to look. Booth picked up a weak signal.

"I found her. She's down there." He pointed to a densly-wooded area.

"I can't land there. I'm going to have to land in that field over there. Can someone meet you here with a car?"

Booth knew Hacker was sending a team, but it may be hours before they arrived. He needed to get to Bones now. Hodgins was closer, but he wanted to get to her now. He was worried.

"I'll jump."

"What? Are you crazy? No one jumps out of a helicopter."

"I'll drop the ladder, and you get me as close to the trees as possible, and I will jump into them and climb down."

"I can't do that. You will kill yourself."

"No, I'm a Ranger. I've done it before."

"Once you're on the ground how will you find her?"

"I will find her. Just get me down there."

"Ok, but I still think you're crazy."

He flew over the area where the signal was strongest, and Booth lowered the ladder. He climbed down, and the pilot flew as close to the trees as possible. Booth let go of the ladder and jumped into the tree.

He felt himself falling, and he put his arms out and grabbed a branch stopping his fall. He scratched his arms and smashed his leg on the lower branch, but didn't let go. All he could think of was Bones. He had to get to her. The transponder was in a backpack, and he held onto the straps tight, as he felt them slip from his shoulders.

When he regained his balance, he climbed down from the tree, and took out the transponder. The signal was stronger here. He started to walk, but noticed it was weakening. Turning around he again, walked. He had to adjust his movements several times, but he eventually started going the right way.

He called Hodgins.

"Hodgins, how close are you?"

"I just landed outside of Petersburg; I could be there in twenty minutes."

"I'm on foot, so I will be hiking for a while. Do you have my signal?"

"Yes, we are set to go, everything's ready. Booth, do you want me to come, or stay with the plane."

Booth was worried about Hodgins, he didn't want him hurt, but he seems excited to go. As soon as Booth said, he needed a team there fast, Hodgins offered his plane, and then he flew them in to meet the local cops, and set up the operation.

"Hodgins, I'm going to leave that up to you, I don't want to spoil your fun, but I don't want that baby to grow up without a father. Maybe you can come and stay with the car. I don't care just get here fast."

"We're on the way Booth."

"See you in twenty."

He still didn't know Hodgins' decision. If he arrived with the rest of the team, he was going to tell him to stay in the car. He wanted Michael to know what a great father he had.

Booth continued to search for the source of the signal. As he walked toward the road, it got stronger, but if he walked toward the woods, it became weaker. He was confused, but he followed it to the road, and saw a car, parked at the end of a trail.

The signal beeped continuously when he held it near the trunk.

"Bones! Bones, I'm here."

He pounded on the trunk calling her name. He took out his kit and opened the trunk, only to find the device lying on the floor.

He fell to his knees and cried.