The Prodigal Son (ForensicMama K+, Angst)

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Chapter 1
(This story is set six years into the future.)

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Seeley Booth woke up in a cold sweat. He reached over to find that the the right side of his bed was empty. He rose to his feet and found Bones in the nursery. Booth never felt so weak and helpless in his entire life. There was simply nothing he could do, but watch from the door frame at a distance. He knew that all of his usual ways of comforting Temperance would be useless. Wrapping a warm arm around her shoulder would be purposeless. No kiss could replace Samuel. No hug could give her comfort. No words would reassure her that their son would return alive. He never felt so powerless as in those moments. He watched in silence, his heart torn from his chest, tears running from his eyes and slipping down his face to the floor, as Temperance quietly sobbed in the moonlight.

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Flashback.

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Dr. Temperance Brennan slid her card through the scanner and walked slowly onto the podium of the Jeffersonian's Medical Legal Lab. Her eyes quickly lay on the decomposing body of a toddler, not much older than her own son.

Angela looked up and saw Brennan's face. It was that same face she had seen on several cases since Samuel was born. It was much harder for Temperance to separate herself from her cases since she became a mother. Things change. Her ideals changed, her ideas of what heaven and earth were all about morphed, her models of love and faith were molded. Her life had changed. It wasn't the same life she possessed six years ago.

"Are you OK, Sweetie?" Angela broke Temperance from her reverie. Dr. Brennan gasped and took a deep breath in.

"Angela, I didn't see you sitting there."

Angela's face reflected a quiet sadness. "It's another body. I'm no expert, but I think it's part of the kidnapping cases."

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Angela."�

"What do we have here?" Cam asked.

"Good morning, Dr. Saroyan. This is the body of a toddler, less than two years of age. I can't tell for sure without examining the sutures on the cranium, but I'd say eighteen to twenty months of age. Male."

Cam laid a gentle hand on Brennan's shoulder. "You can sit this case out, Dr. Brennan. I can have Jorge take over for you."

"No offense to Dr. Santiago, but I have at least fifteen years on him in Forensic Anthropology experience. If you're insinuating that I cannot compartmentalize, then you're wrong." She replied coldly.

"Dr. Brennan, I have full faith in your abilities. If you think you can compartmentalize, then I believe you."�

"Thank you." Temperance cleared her throat and continued to examine the body. "These bones will need to be cleaned before I can continue." Brennan pulled her blue gloves from her hands. She shoved them into her pockets as she escaped to the haven of her office.

Behind closed doors, shades drawn, where nobody could see her weakness, she let her feelings envelop her. She cried softly. That could have been her son. Somewhere out there a mother and a father did not have their son that night. Somewhere out there they were anguishing over the loss of their son, praying for his safe return, hoping that they would be free of that pain.

A soft knock at the door forced Dr. Brennan to wipe her tears on her face and compose herself. She lifted her face to see the face of someone she had grown to love and call her best friend. "Bones?" He asked. "Ange called this morning. I thought you might need a shoulder to lean on."

Brennan stood and ran into the arms of her partner and boyfriend. She nuzzled her head against his chest, letting him wrap his strong arms around her. Booth let her be weak. That's why she loved him so much. Booth let her be human. That's why she knew her old theory on love was painfully incorrect and debunked.

She let him hold her, rubbing her shoulder and back as he held her in silence. After the first several bodies of kidnapped toddlers came to the Jeffersonian, Booth could see that it was bothering Bones. He noticed how she became more agitated during their investigations, how she called Samuel's daycare every hour to check on their son, how she often needed times like this where he just held her in silence... But he noticed more and more how she held their son at night, cuddling him until he fell asleep, holding him as long as she possibly could before returning to their bedroom and falling beside him.

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Chapter 2

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Temperance stood back so she could look into Seeley's swarthy hazel eyes. He knew how she was feeling as of late. There was no need to hide her feelings from him. He could always read her. He knew her heart better than anybody she knew. When she thought the world would fall around her, he was always there to hold it up. When she thought she had no family, he was there to be her family. Now he gave her the greatest gift of all, a son.

The door opened and Angela, her womb swollen, as she was in her eighth month of pregnancy, entered the office with a sandy blond haired little boy in her arms. Samuel reached out his arms "Mah-Mee!" He cried out to his mother, his arms extended. Temperance pulled him to her heart and held him close for several minutes. "Sammy..." She breathed in his sweet scent. He smelled like a boy no matter what. Even when she used flowery soaps, by the end of the day he always smelled like Sammy. No matter what.

"I thought you might need some cheering up." Booth winked at her.

"Thank you." Her azure eyes glittered in his direction, letting him know how truly thankful she was. Holding Samuel close, she was assured of his safety. She knew that he was tangible, reachable, true. When she held him close, she felt a feeling of love she had never felt before. An unwavering feeling that washed over her like a frothy ocean wave. "Thank you." Her fingers slipped into Seeley's.

After a few seconds, Samuel wriggled from his mother's arms. Temperance let him down carefully and he began to wander around the office. He found his basket, in a corner, full of educational toys. Dr. Brennan-Approved Toys, to be exact... or as his father referred to them: Boring Toys. "Where are the bats and baseballs, Bones?" He once asked her. She relented and a foam baseball and bat were added to the collection. Who was she to question his fathering abilities when Parker was such a wonderful boy--almost teenager.

Booth walked over to his son and scooped him up, raising him into the sky so he could reach his chubby little phalanges to the ceiling. He dropped him into his arms and attacked his little chin with kisses, sending peals of laughter throughout the Medico-Legal Lab.

Across the halls in her office, Camille looked up from her work and smiled. The sound of child-like laughter was not uncommon any more at the Jeffersonian. Six years later, Angela was about to give birth to her second daughter. Temperance, the self proclaimed spinster was now a mother, and Cam herself was engaged to be married to Dr. Jorge Santiago, the newest member of the crew... and yet he had been part of the tight knit team for almost three years now.

The cases involving the kidnapping, ransom, and murder of the four DC Area children were beginning to take their toll on every member of the team. Every ounce of laughter was like medicine. There was no need for sugar to make that medicine go down. Everyone invited the joy and took it in. Very much unlike how they took the days in stride since the beginning of the case eight months before.

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Chapter 3

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With her head on his shoulder, the two found themselves, comforting one another, promising each other safety for their son. It wasn’t untrue that once they admitted their affection for one another, their lives were bound to change. In positive ways and negative, they had.

“Talk to me, Temperance.” Seeley exhorted. “I’ve always let you feel your pain in your own time. I think it’s time, though.”

With a sober expression, she whispered, barely loud enough for Booth himself to hear, as if she were afraid speaking it would cause it to cross the line from secret fear into reality, “I’m afraid… I fear that our only results will ever be a fruitless search. The only things we’ve unturned are bodies… and grief. What if they turn their gaze on Sammy? I just couldn’t take it, Booth. Whoever has been committing these crimes knows we’re on the case. Anybody with access to the internet knows we have a son.”

Booth knew nothing could comfort her. The investigation had been so draining on the both of them. The revelation of the discovered children to their parents had been the most painful events of his career. Telling a mother that her son was kidnapped, told to lay in a cage like an animal, fed dog food, murdered… It was something Booth never wanted to relive. She was right, though. Temperance was right. Their own son was in real danger. The only thing he could do was to pray every night that God would protect him and watch over him. If anything did happen to him, that the knowledge would be given to Temperance, the Squints, and to him so that they could find him safely.

In that late hour, Temperance spoke her deepest fears. How she anguished over each child brought to the Jeffersonian, how she saw Samuel in every face Angela reconstructed. How she imagined herself in the place of every parent. She was thankful that Booth was silent, letting her be vulnerable, letting her cry until she drifted off to sleep.

**

Temperance pulled the blanket over her shoulders. A cold shiver danced through her body. The summer night was an unusually warm one, and yet the tremor shook her to wakefulness. In the silence of the night, she strained her ears. A sound… a faint sound… like the whispering of dreams into the twilight–So quiet was the night that the faint rustle of curtains from the other room echoed in her ear like a midsummer tempest, drawing her quickly to her feet. Light was her body as she flew to the other room, and yet she was too late.

An empty crib and a wide open window were the only things to greet her as she fell to the carpet, distraught and broken. The white curtains, like veils of sadness drifted in the summer wind, catching her agonizing cries and stealing them into the night sky. The one thing she feared had come true. The one thing she and Seeley had wished would never befall their family had found its dark way into their lives.

Seeley stumbled into the bedroom and trembled at the sight. His bravado was shattered and fell to the carpet where Temperance knelt, her forehead to the ground.

Weakness is only the beginning of the story. Strength is its consequence.

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Chapter 4

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In the blur of the early morning, FBI agents swarmed the house of Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan. They were not "Doctor" and "Agent" in those hours, they were grieving parents, just like the rest of the parents they had seen in the past eight months. They were victims. Victims of the worst crime a parent could dream of. The crime that steals children from their parents before they get to say goodbye. It's a fate worse than death. At least in death, a mother can hold her child's lifeless body to her heart and whisper her goodbyes. At least in death, a mother knows where her child has gone. At least in death, a mother can be assured that her child is no longer suffering. When a child is stolen, however, a mother has none of those assurances. The only thing she can hold onto to keep from falling into a pit of despair is her partner's hand.

In those dark hours, with strangers flocking in droves through their house, scrutinizing every detail, dusting for prints, checking for signs of entry, Seeley Booth could only lean against a wall to keep himself from dropping to the ground. He held Temperance in his arms and watched with red-rimmed eyes as every person walked past. He had to be strong for her, although he felt weak.

Eventually things had to clear up. People had to go home, evidence had to be processed, and they had to be left alone... Nearly alone. Two agents in the dining room with a wire tap for their phone whispered in hushed tones as to not upset the troubled parents in the living room.

Angela knocked softly at the door and let herself in. Her eyes were puffy from crying. She found her best friend in the arms of her partner on the couch. She walked over and sat beside Temperance and laid an understanding hand on her shoulder. Her eyes met Seeley's and she mouthed the word, "Sorry." She didn't know what else to say. What does one say to her two best friends when they had lost their child? Sorry was a pathetic attempt at something she so badly wanted to give them: comfort. Comfort was a forlorn subject: unattainable, and obscure.

Joy was an impossible thing; it was indescribable. And yet they clung to it. They clung to joy. Memories of their little boy blossomed in their memories, bringing him back, making him real again. The day Samuel was born was a day that would always be a rose in their memories. He came into the world in a way that was all boy... just like Samuel was... screaming! There wasn't a single moment where the nurses had to stimulate his little body or warm him. Samuel was a fighter. From the beginning he was a fighter... just like his mother... just like his father. That kind of reasoning would have given the parents hope, but hope was still unfathomable.

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Chapter 5

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Seeley left the room in search of coffee. It was well past two in the afternoon and neither had eaten a thing. Angela was a steadfast friend, staying close to Brennan and never wavering in her dedication. With her head on Angela’s shoulder, Temperance let her hand fall into her friend’s and they sat in silent consternation as the minutes passed.

“He… he really loved Spongebob.” A weak smile came to Temperance’s lips. She had always tried to encourage educational videos for their son. But despite her efforts, Sammy always loved Spongebob best. After Sammy woke up, he would always run into the living room demanding “Bah-Bob!” He loved singing along. It was a Daddy and Sammy thing. His love stemmed from pre-bedtime viewings of Spongebob. Booth would come home from work and pull his son into his arms where they would watch Spongebob together. “Sammy was supposed to have a Spongebob birthday party.” Another warm tear streamed from her face, soaking Angela’s shoulder. “What if he doesn’t get a second birthday, Ange?”

“He will, sweetie.” Angela felt that with those words she was lying. And with those words, Temperance could only pretend to believe she was telling the truth. All of the children before Sammy were kidnapped, ransomed, and within a matter of three days, they were dead. There were no survivors. Not one to speak of. “I… I think that Sammy has something that the other children didn’t have. He has a mom who is determined and intelligent. She’s solved cases with very little to go on. And he has a dad who has never let a criminal get away with his crimes. And Sammy has us. He has your squints. Sammy is coming back, Bren. I promise.” And this time she felt like she was telling the truth… more so than she did before.

Temperance thought back on Sammy’s first birthday. At twelve months old, he was already an expert walker. He started walking at 9 months old. Brennan felt a swell of pride in her heart. He was such a smart boy! The birthday on the lawn was a small one. Angela and Hodgins brought their little daughter, Tempie (with an I-E). Zack, who had finally been cleared of all charges, brought his wife and son. Cam and Jorge attended, Sweets, and Dr. Goodman with his daughters and wife as well. It was a close knit group of friends, all there to celebrate the life of a very special little boy.

When she closed her eyes, she could hear the words: “Happy Birthday dear Sah-meeee. Happy Birthday to Yoooou!” She remembered his chubby feet which he smeared in the birthday cake. Even his blond hair was caked with frosting by the end. Together, she and Seeley bathed their son that afternoon. They knelt at the edge of the bathtub, their hands meeting as they wiped the cake and frosting from Sammy’s wriggling body. They leaned close to one another and kissed, then leaned over the tub and gave Sammy a kiss. Each of their lips on opposite sides, causing his lips to purse like a Cabbage Patch Kid.

What if a second year never came around? Temperance was trembling with fatigue. Her eyelids grew heavy as she thought of her son and wondered if he would ever come home. What were their last moments like with Sammy? She held him close as the three–Seeley, Sammy, and she–were in bed. They always spent several minutes in bed together before the lights went out. That time was all too precious and all too fleeting. After Sammy drifted off to sleep in her arms, Seeley lifted him to his bare chest and took him into the nursery where he laid him down. His fingers swirled around the tuft of golden hair on his forehead before coming back into the bedroom with Bones.

Angela stood up and laid Brennan gently on her side. She lifted the throw blanket over her shoulders and went into the kitchen where the three agents were sipping coffee and poured herself a cup.

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Chapter 6

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Half past three, the phone rang. Those three rings before the telephone was answered were like needles piercing Temperance's heart. She and Booth froze, waiting for their cue. Agent White nodded his bald head, letting them know that it was now safe for them to answer.

Brennan reached her shaking hand out for the phone and answered it. "Hello?" She answered the phone, almost afraid to hear the voice on the other end.

The voice on the other end finally answered. She felt dizzy, as if she were speaking to the prince of darkness himself. The voice was automated and disguised by digitalization.

"Dr. Brennan, we have your son."

"Who is this?" Her eyes watched the two agents in the kitchen who were gesturing that she should talk to the kidnappers as long as possible. Booth rubbed her shoulder.

"That isn't important, Dr. Brennan. What is important now is the life of your son. I think you'll agree."

"Of course I agree. What do you want?"

"Two million dollars in small unmarked bills. The location of the drop-off point will be text messaged to your phone at sixteen hundred hours. All further communications will be through this untraceable cell phone. Good-bye."

"Wait! How do I know that Sammy's still alive. I won't give you a single cent unless I know that Sammy is alive!"

It was silent on the other line and she could hear rustling in the background.

"Very well." More rustling and the voice digitizer was disabled.

A sweet clear voice came on the phone. "Mommy?" He sobbed.

"Baby? Sammy? I love you. Mommy and Daddy love you!" She felt her eyes filling with tears and blurring her eyesight.

"Dah-dee."

"I love you, baby."

The digitizer came back on, distorting Samuel's little voice. "You have your proof, Dr. Brennan. You have until 6 AM on Saturday, Dr. Brennan. That's sixty-two and a half hours."

The phone cut off, leaving Temperance staring at the phone in disbelief. Her hand shook until the phone slipped from her hand and crashed to the tile floor. Seeley wrapped his arm around Temperance, once again being her pillar of strength in a time where the world was reeling.

"We've got it." Agent York remarked to White.

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Chapter 7

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Seeley Booth stormed through the halls of the Jeffersonian and pushed the doors of the Medico-Legal lab open with puissant force. The doors snapped back creating a bang on either wall. All eyes looked up at the resounding crash. Booth marched up and slid his card before hopping onto the podium, not with his usual upright spring, but with the absolute command of a man on a mission.

He found Hodgins and Dr. Santiago standing together over a child's body. "YOU MISSED SOMETHING!" He raged. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyebrows were low. On his face was a look of terror and frenzied ire. "FIGURE IT OUT, SQUINTS!" He pointed at the clock which now was counting down from 61 hours 13 minutes and 54 seconds. "G-d D-mmit. Figure it out. Use your f---ing brains!" He reached over and upturned a silver rolling table with instruments, saws, and hammers laid out. They clanged on the ground. The cacophonous metallic clatter reverberated from every surface of the lab and drew eyes from every corner to the platform.

"Seeley, you can't do this." Cam came up from behind him and pulled him aside by the cuff of his sleeve. "I understand that you're upset, but my people are working at their full capacity. I can guarantee you that a hundred percent of our manpower is going into getting Samuel home safely."

His stern face broke and became soft. "My son is out there, Cam. I won't forgive myself if those people kill him. I just..." Finally, Booth felt like he could be vulnerable. He had tried so hard since that morning to be strong for Bones and not to grieve in front of her. "I want my son home. This is all my fault." Cam let him cry on her shoulder and didn't say a word. It meant a lot when Seeley Booth let himself cry. After the things he saw and did when he was at war, he had taught himself how to drown out his emotions when it came to despair.

Booth finally looked up and wiped his tears away. "We'll catch that b--stard, Seeley. I swear to you."

"Thank you." He reached out and squeezed his friend's hand.

Dr. Brennan came into the building and slid her card through. Angela was behind her as they approached the podium. Booth looked up and recognized that look of determination on his partner's face. He had seen it before. That same look he saw so many times in so many cases.

"Dr. Brennan, I have Jorge working on the case for you." Cam said as she approached her. "You can go home. Go home, Seeley. Go home, Temperance. You two should be home, waiting for news on Sam." It didn't make sense to her, but it made perfect sense to Temperance.

"I can't just sit back and wait for people to tell me that my son is dead. I have to do something. I have to work. When my parents left me, I fought back in every way I knew how. I used my mind. And that's the only way I know how to find Sammy, Cam. The only way I know how to find Sammy is to use my mind. I found my mother. I found my father. I can find Sam. I can do this. I need to do this, Cam. I can't just sit back. If I do, then I'll just die inside." She stood quietly for a moment, waiting for her final judgment.

"Fine. Of course you can help out, Dr. Brennan."

"Thank you, Cam." She replied as she pulled blue rubber gloves over her hands.

"I want you two to know that I'm very sorry..."

"Don't be sorry, Cam. There's nothing to be sorry about. Samuel is coming home."

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Chapter 8

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In a dark room with a dusty floor, a small boy--not larger than 25 pounds--sat crumpled in the corner of a rusty animal cage. The blood of its victims before him dried on ever corner of the metal. Sammy was too young to know what was going on, but he did know one thing. Strangers. All around him were strangers. People walking through the room and tossing scraps of dog food at him. Hungrily he shoveled the bits into his mouth.

"Mah-mee?" He sobbed. "Dah-dee?"

A filthy vagabond of a man kicked the cage with a worn steel toed boot. The child fell against the edge, not knowing why he was being held captive, not knowing where his mother was, not knowing where is father was, not knowing who the faces were who stared back at him. "Shut the h**l up." The man growled.

Another man, one that was cleaner than the other man entered the room and sat at the card table. He carried plastic sheeting, duct tape, and other materials for their heinous scheme.

"Mah-mee?"

"Does that little mongrel ever shut up?"

"Reed, man. You send the coordinates?"

"Received."

"Time for Plan 2." He glared down at the boy in the cage.

The cleaner man nodded. "Get the money, kill the boy."

"Leave no evidence."

The dirty man dealt out cards to his cohort. The cards flew onto the cracked yellow table. Reed swept the cards into his hands and studied them for a little while. He laid them out on the table. "Two pair." Reed threw his hand down and smashed his fist into the table. A glass fell onto the ground and burst, causing glass and water to disperse across the filthy floor. The dirty man cursed.

"D--mit, Les!"

"Just leave it."

Samuel jumped at the thundering noise and began to wail. His little face grew red as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Les cursed. "That little bugger never shuts up!"

"Lock him in the bathroom."

Les stood and wrapped his fingers under the wire. He picked up one end and pulled the cage into the restroom at the far end of the hovel and closed the door behind him. Samuel tucked his head between his knees and wept, his cries were drowned by the sound of a nearby freight train. So near, in fact, that the walls of the shack shook as it passed.

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Chapter 9

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With cold sweat beading on her forehead, Dr. Brennan stood in front of her team of squints. The team was bigger on this particular weekend, as every single man and woman who worked the case were in whether it was their weekend off or not. The crowd of twenty faces, some familiar, some not, stood around her as she spoke.

"Let's review the facts. Start from the beginning, but faster. Sixty two hours from now my son will be another corpse for us to identify, and that's not going to happen. What's new? What is our new evidence? What evidence has been overlooked? What evidence is there? Let's get going on this!"

The group dispersed. A hand waved Brennan over to Angela's table where she and Jorge were sitting. "I took the tapes of the phone call and analyzed them."

"Were you able to de-digitize the voice?"

"No. But these guys made a mistake. They turned off the digitization machine so you could talk to Sam. When they were talking to you, there was the sound of a train's horn in the background."

"What does that mean?" Booth blurted.

"That's for Dr. Santiago."

"Taking the tapes I was able to analyze tonal qualities in the horn. The sound most definitely came from a passing freight train. Freight trains are the ones who carry cargo from place to place. I then analyzed the speed at which the horn moved from the background to the foreground, so to speak." He clicked around on the screen which showed the sound waves as he spoke. "I was able to approximate the speed at which the train was going. Twenty miles per hour, justifying the assumption that whoever these people are, they're located in a rural area, far from processing stations as it takes up to fifteen miles of rail time before one can reach those speeds." He then clicked around a little more on the keyboard. "I then separated the sound of the horn, Samuel's voice, indiscriminate background noises, and the rattling of the freight train as it passed. I took into consideration the speed, the sounds, and the horn and determined that the train was only carrying at half load, or thirty freight cars." He paused and swallowed nervously. "I hope that helps."

Booth laid an open hand on his shoulder. "That helps. Thank you." His other hand slipped into Temperance's... but only for a second, before she regained her dizzying pace.

"Let's re-examine every body still in storage." She pointed at an intern. "Go to limbo and help Jorge and Marcus. I want to see every piece of evidence in the bags." Makeshift lab stations were pulled up from every corner of the building as squints, interns, agents, and grad students worked hand in hand.

With her mind careening from the events of the day, Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth found unwavering stability with their concentration set in their work and finding their son alive. Brennan looked up. The world seemed a lot more logical when the swarming faces around her were working as part of her team. She recognized every face, even if she couldn't put a name to each of them. But they were not strangers to her. They were friends. They were colleagues. They were family.

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Chapter 10

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In her office, Temperance sat in solitary quiescence. It seemed like the darkness of the world and the evil that abided within had fallen all around her. For the first time in over twenty hours, her thoughts were quieted by her weariness. She was exhausted, not just because she was running on just six hours of sleep in the past twenty four hours, but also by her overwrought emotions. The gloom of the evening slowly closed in on her until she felt that there could not possibly room for light in her thoughts. The day had unearthed very few new clues. Five bodies. One child missing. One buried. From her past experience, she knew that the answers were in the anomalies, but what were the anomalies? Every child was found wrapped in plastic. Not a single finger print on the plastic sheeting; not one on the duct tape, either. Death by suffocation. Clues in the blare of the freight train. A rural hovel. A wire cage that was rusting. Dog food.

Booth roused her from her thoughts. He stood by the door jamb quietly, his shoulder slumped and his face drawn in a serious frown.

"We didn't have seventy-two hours, Booth." She whispered.

"What?"

"We had forty-eight. Each of the children were killed shortly after the money was dropped. That only leaves us with twenty-six, now."

"And they want the money today...at six in the evening."

"If we don't find him by tomorrow at six AM, then he'll be gone." Booth walked over and sat beside her. He slid his arm around her shoulders and let her lay her head on his. He smoothed her golden brown hair between his fingers. "We have to exhume the first body, Booth." Faintly, hope swelled in the room. "There is the anomaly, Booth. They released his body when the assumed Derek Werner wasn't part of a larger crime. He may have evidence we didn't see before. They always make mistakes in the beginning, Booth." Her voice rose with excitement.

Seeley pulled his cell phone from his pocket and speed dialed Cullen's number. Cullen reached for the copper lamp cord in the darkness and tugged gently. The room flooded with a soft light. He blinked to adjust his eyes, then answered the phone with a brusque voice. "Yeah?"

"Sir, it's Special Agent Seeley Booth. The team and I need an exhumation order for Derek Werner."

On the other line, Cullen sat up in bed, wearing blue striped pajamas, and glanced with vexation at the clock which read 4:00 AM. "Agent Booth, do you really think that the Werners, grieving parents, would let you dig up the body of their only son?"

"Sir, we have reason to believe that valuable evidence may have been overlooked before his burial. Nobody knew that he was part of a serial crime when he was buried."

"What sort of evidence are you so sure you'll find on the Werner kid?"

Booth glanced over at Bones, she heard the entire thing and reached for the phone. "Sir? This is Dr. Brennan. I have reason to believe that the soil samples were not properly categorized from Derek Werner's remains. This could lead not only to the ascertainment of our son, but also the murderer of four other children. We can stop this crime in the making, sir. We just need your say-so."

Cullen sat on the edge of his bed and spoke quietly so as to not wake his wife who lay beside him. "You have my permission, Dr. Brennan. But don't screw this up, or I'll have both of your jobs."

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Chapter 11

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The same darkness that shrouded Dr. Temperance Brennan and Agent Seeley Booth was the same darkness that enveloped a tiny shivering body forty miles away. A chubby towheaded toddler, his hair caked in mud and dirt, cowered at the edge of his prison. The cold rusty wire metal jutted from the corners that were worn from use and neglect and cut into his flesh. Everywhere hurt for Samuel, and the pain of his wounds paled in comparison to the pain of his loneliness. He longed for his mother. He longed for comfort. He longed for home. Children, at a year and a half old, thrive in familiar settings. The musty, dank restroom where the crate had been dragged into was far from familiar. The fetid stench of the overflowing toilet permeated his little nostrils and every filthy inch of the clothing he wore. His once blue pajamas were putrid and soiled–not only from the overflowing toilet, but also from a diaper that had gone long unnoticed.

The boy writhed in discomfort. His growling belly, his parched dry lips, the multiple wire scratches in his pink baby skin, the diaper rash that was beginning to crack and bleed from the acidity of his urine and bowel movements–all caused a fragmented slumber which caused his eyes to fly open every quarter of an hour. He moaned in pain. Being weak from his ailments, he had long ago stopped calling out for his mother. He had forgotten what the word “daddy” felt like on his lips. He simply pouted and groaned.

But the three shared that same darkness, and peace fell to all. Heavy eyelids came to everyone. Despite Temperance’s desperation to stay awake and work, her body had quite another plan in store for her. Seeley Booth lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom, laying her on the right side of the bed. Fully clothed, he lay beside her and whispered a prayer to God that in the next night they would together be watching their son’s sky blue eyes grow limp, and together they would watch him drift into dreamland.

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Chapter 12

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Seeley Booth woke up. His sleep had been interrupted by nightmares. He constantly looked at the clock, making sure he only got four hours of sleep. He slid his hand through the sheets to the right side of the bed. It was an unconscious movement that he had become so accustomed to that he now did it every night. He would reach through and find Temperance beside him. That feeling of warmth against his hand would soothe him back to sleep. This time was different. On the other side of the bed, he found nothing. An empty space where she once lay. Booth glanced at the clock. It was a little after six in the morning. He lowered his feet to the carpet. He knew where to find her--In the nursery.

Booth never felt so weak and helpless in his entire life. There was simply nothing he could do, but watch from the door frame at a distance. He knew that all of his usual ways of comforting Temperance would be useless. Wrapping a warm arm around her shoulder would be purposeless. No kiss could replace Samuel. No hug could give her comfort. No words would reassure her that their son would return alive. He never felt so powerless as in those moments. He watched in silence, his heart torn from his chest, tears running from his eyes and slipping down his face to the floor, as Temperance quietly sobbed.

Seeley walked into the room and knelt at her feet. He looked up through the dim moonlight and looked into Temperance's eyes. They were red from crying and lined with dark circles from sleeplessness. Neither had to say a word. Their sorrow was a shared burden. She leaned her cheek on his head and together they wept. Who knew that eighteen months before the two of them, exhausted from adjusting their sleep patterns to that of a newborn, sat in the same place. They wept then, too. But it was from joy and not sadness. It was from newness and not agony. It was from love and not despair. Temperance pulled Booth's head closer to her heart. An irrational part of her wished that if she pulled him closer then she would get that second chance... that second chance for a family.

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Chapter 13

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"Order Authorizing Exhumation of Derek S. Werner"

"It appearing that this case has not been properly handled upon initial examination of the remains, the doctors of anthropological forensics, Brennan and Santiago, and FBI Special Agent Booth, do hereby state that grievous oversights of the case may have led to evidential shortcomings."

" 1. The complainants are authorized, at the expense of the Bureau, to engage M. Cummings Burial Services, Inc., to locate and exhume the aforesaid remains, under the supervision of various anthropological doctors and agents of the FBI and a representative of Apricot Acres Funeral Home."

"2. The complainant has the authority to unearth the entirety of Burial Plot 44798 and nothing more, and the reinternment of said remains once reexamination concludes."

"3. Once exhumation, examination and categorization of found evidence, and reinterment culminates, Special Agent Booth will certify by letter to this court that said measures were accomplished with due care and decency."

"Signed, Judge Raymond K. Whitehead 08/20/2014"

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The sun was barely peeking above the horizon when the exhumation commenced. Temperance stood at one end of the casket as it was slowly raised above the soil and into the sunlight. Her hand was tucked into Booth's pocket where their hands were intertwined. She watched the couple across from her and wondered if that would be Booth and her in a few hours.

A mother. A father. Mrs. Werner buried her head into her husband's chest as she saw her son come back into the world, in a way she never hoped to see. The pain of seeing her son exhumed paled in comparison to the pain of discovering he was missing and even more so to when she discovered he was dead. It felt like a jagged piece of glass was ripping through her flesh and cutting out her heart. Her eyes lifted from her husband's tan jacket. At thirty-two she never felt older. Her joints were weak and she felt light headed. She knew the couple on the other side of the backhoe which pulled back blackened Maryland soil into a frothy pile at its base. She knew that couple. The man and woman worked on her son's case and now they were bringing him back from the grave. She felt furious, but at the same time she felt such a flood of compassion. Tears poured from the corners of her eyes. She pulled away from her husband's grasp and rounded the grave to the other side.

"Agent Booth?"

Booth wondered if she was going to hit him. "Mrs. Werner. I'm sincerely sorry, I--"

"Agent Booth, don't apologize." She tried to keep her tone steady as she spoke. "I understand. I saw you on the news. I know this man has your baby, too. If it means that Derek has to be unburied, then so be it."

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Werner."

She reached out for his hand and gripped it in hers tightly. "Agent Booth. I know what it feels like. The uncertainty. Not knowing if you'll ever smell your baby-- Your baby boy's hair after a bath, feel his kisses in the morning, hear his voice say Mommy. I know what it's like. I just pray to God that He has given the wisdom to you and your team to bring your son home safely." She turned and walked back to where her husband was standing.

Booth froze, stunned by Mrs. Werner's speech. It was not verbatim, but Booth had prayed that very thing the night Sammy disappeared. He didn't pray for Samuel to come back. Too vague. He prayed for the abilities of the team to be concentrated and enhanced. He knew his team. Squints, they might be, but their genius brought many children home to their parents. Just as God gave Solomon wisdom, he prayed that He would also smile down from heaven on his team and on his son.

Seeley Booth had faith in God. He had faith in his team. But it was also safe to say that one might have been magnified by the other.

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Chapter 14

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Temperance and Seeley followed the coffin through the halls of the Jeffersonian. It seemed like some sort of processional. Eyes followed them, perhaps recognizing the irony of the situation. They were both dressed in black and trailed the casket as it made its way to the Medico-Legal Lab. Bones tried to keep her eyes averted. She did not want sympathy. She had never wanted sympathy. Why have sympathy for a tragedy that was about to be avoided? She felt Booth's fingers reach for hers. Together they walked the halls as the gloom reached every wall, every eye, every heart.

They were met at the door by a tall Hispanic man with a handsome face--Dr. Santiago. He placed his gloved hands on the coffin and helped lead the team to where the remains would be removed from their resting spot. The bolts were slowly removed, causing a fine cloud of dust rise in the air. How could something so mundane... something that had happened hundreds of times in the Medico-Legal lab leave such a heavy fog on everyone who looked on?

At last the heavy Mahogany lid was lifted from its groove, revealing the body within. A small child, still decomposing, with delicate whisps of brown hair still clinging to the tissue on the skull, lay quietly--as if in a nightmarish dream state. A breath was caught in everyone's throats. Cam looked up to see how Seeley and Dr. Brennan were taking it. Booth was trying desperately to reign in his thoughts, while Dr. Brennan, who was usually so composed, was beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"Dr. Brennan, are you OK?"

She looked up with her eyes glassy from tears. "I think I just need to eat something. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning."

"Bones..."

"Booth, I can't give up now. Every moment I'm feeding my face, my son is being tortured. I'm not hungry!"

Cam's face was remorseful, "Seeley--"

Booth knew what that sentence would entail. He draped his arm around Temperance and led her out of the lab and into her office. Every eye watched them as they disappeared behind the door.

Camille cleared her throat and blinked away tears. "Let's get to work, people. Twenty-two hours." The team gathered around. Dr. Jack Hodgins was quick to remove the clothing--the most valuable evidence to him. Everybody was curious about what evidence was overlooked. What evidence could this child hold that would bring Samuel back to his family?

Hodgins brought the clothing back to his station where he began examination of the frayed attire. Angela found her way to her husband's work station. She spent all night running scenarios and doing everything in her abilities and power for her best friends. Hodgins looked up. He knew this had been hard on Angela. Since last night, her contractions were beginning to pick up and grow stronger and more consistent. She stood close to him, her hand on his shoulder. He reached out and rubbed her belly. Nothing was said between the two. They knew each other well. Ups and downs, they fought through it all and came out stronger in the end.

Hodgins stopped rubbing and immediately increased the magnification on his electron microscope. His eyes grew wide with astonishment. "Angie... go get Dr. Brennan!"

Angela's hand released from his shoulder like it was fiery hot and walked quickly to Brennan's office. She recognized the sharp tones in his voice. Those tones were excited. They were scared. They were celebratory.

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Chapter 15

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Seeley Booth sat beside his love on the couch in her office. He offered a banana to her, which she refused vehemently.

She stood, but her hand was pulled back, causing her to sit once again. "Booth, every minute I'm not searching for Sammy is another minute off his life!" She cried as she spoke.

"Bones, you can't search if you have no energy. Just take a bite." She did, then walked toward the door of her office.

Angela burst through the door, out of breath. "Bren! Jack found something!"

Temperance and Booth met eyes, then ran out of the room to Hodgins' work station. "Hodgins, what do you have?" Booth asked, his jib revealing that he had allowed his hope to soar.

Hodgins took a breath and gritted his teeth before answering quickly, "On the three bodies that were discovered more recently, not counting Derek or Sam, the soil found on the victims matched that of a Sassafras soil profile: a dark brown sandy loam with a subsoil upper of strong brown sandy clay loam."

"You're speaking gibberish, Hodgins." Booth warned.

"Booth, let him speak." Brennan's hand slipped into his, as if to hold him to earth.

"The Sassafras profile is most often found in Maryland."

"We're in DC, that doesn't help. We're basically surrounded by Maryland."

"Booth!"

"OK, so I charted the soils of Maryland and surrounding states that meet that profile. The Sassafras soil profile is mapped in nearly 50,000 acres in Maryland and seldom elsewhere. HOWEVER," Hodgins' eyes grew wide, as if in a eureka moment. "Upon inspection of Derek Werner's clothing, the techs at the coroner overlooked soil evidence and it wasn't categorized. You were right, Dr. Brennan."

"What's up with the dirt, Hodgins?"

"Greenwich Soil. It was all over Derek's remains. Greenwich soil is characterized by brown loam and a subsoil upper of strong brown loam." He paused to take a breath. "Greenwich soil is most often found in Delaware."

"Meaning..." Brennan started to think aloud.

"Meaning," Booth interjected. "That whoever these people are, they started in Maryland before finding their hiding place in Maryland." Booth lifted his cell phone to his ear, then put it down. "They're most likely near the border. But, that doesn't narrow it down very far... not far enough to find Sam. Not in the next ten hours, any way." The dark cloud of hopelessness once again descended, shading Booth's face. The creases in his forehead and around his eyes grew deeper.

Dr. Santiago was listening in on the conversation. "Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth... I think I can help narrow down your search..."

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omg!
poor sammy....and bones and booth....
I know that hey will find him, but it's hard to read it anyway.....
can't wait for more.
PPS

Oh thank you for reading!!!

Chapter 16

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Dr. Santiago led the group to his office, a small room near Dr. Saroyan's office. He sat down and opened up a program on his desktop. "I believe that by overlaying the maps of the Greenwich and Sassafras soils..." He pulled up the two maps and overlaid them. "We can get a better idea of where the two might meet."

"Can you overlay the railroad lines that support freight trains?"

The man clicked on his computer and brought up those maps. He laid them on top of the others. "Here..."

"That still leaves us with a twenty mile radius. That's a lot of track to search. Is there anything else we can do to narrow it down?" Brennan asked.

Hodgins spoke up. "I haven't examined the victim's shoes, yet. Shoes often carry spores, pollen, seeds... I can get an idea of what type of soil he walked in last."

"Excellent! Do that!" Booth walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Bones asked.

"It's almost six. I've got to make the drop."

Worry flooded Temperance's eyes, "You can't do that, Seeley. They'll kill Sammy once they get the money!"

He walked up to her and held her in a tight, yet loving hug. "Bones, I'm only doing what we have to to get Sam home alive. If we don't make the drop they'll kill him sooner than if we didn't."

"I'm coming with you, then." She pulled away from his grasp and snatched her jacket before heading out the door with Booth.

"I'll get right on it." Hodgins said, then headed for his station. When he arrived, Angela was nowhere to be seen. She was not near his station, or hers. The truth was, she was in Dr. Brennan's office, hiding from peering eyes as painful contractions seized her body.

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Chapter 17

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Les and Reed sat patiently in an old rusty red Ford truck, parked some two hundred yards from the drop point. They were much more cautious this time around. All of the other times they had blackmailed regular folks... teachers, dentists, cashiers, etc... but this time they were working on their most difficult ransom yet. Reed was dressed as an old woman with an old gray wig and a Thrift Store wardrobe. Les was dressed more casually, with the exception of the set of binoculars in his hand.

Booth and Brennan watched from afar, scrutinizing every citizen who walked near the inconspicuous black duffel bag sitting beneath a park bench. Nobody stooped to swipe it from beneath the bench. After several long arduous minutes, a child came along. Nobody noticed the child at first. He was about ten, dark hair, dark clothing,--He blended in perfectly with the scenery and the suited businessmen and women who sauntered past the bench.

The boy stopped and reached beneath the bench. He took the bag in hand, then took off across traffic, quick as a whip.

"He's on the move!"

"Shoot him!"

"He's a kid!"

"G*d D*mmit!"

The boy slipped past halting, screeching, honking cars. Horns blared at the child who leaped through the labyrinth of motorists and pedestrians. He stopped at the red Ford and thrust the bag into the window. He stood, waiting anxiously for a few seconds. Nothing. "Hey, where's my money?"

The man in the dress hurled a few dollars at the boy and grumbled, "Thanks a lot, kid." Before speeding off through traffic. The Ford wove through traffic easily since cars were piled up from the boy's jolt through the road.

Temperance ripped out of the black van and took off after the red truck. Booth ran after her. She ran with all of her might and power, her feet light--like the morning Samuel was abducted--She zigzagged through the people, trying to keep her eye on the red Ford all along. At last the rusty Ford disappeared out of sight several blocks down. She stopped. There went her last physical hope of finding Samuel alive. Within minutes, her heart rose and fell like an ocean tide. Tears stung her eyes as her feet came to a stop. Booth wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. They were like a buoy in the ocean. The waves continued to crash around them, water kept flowing, birds kept cawing, but they stood still and held one another amongst the chaos.

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HEY MAMA!!!

look who it is!!! lol. i know you secretely missed me. LOL. Love the story like always BUT update soon please:)

oh damn.....
why couldn't she just get him?
I hope there will be a happy ending......
and Angela has contractions....as if there wasn't happening enough already....

Sweetie Dude!!!!!!! Hey girl!!!

Tozika! Thanks for reading!!!

LOL! I guess I'll just round up the troops for yah. LOL and of course i'd come here to read your stuff.

*beams* Thank you Nicole!!!
Like my siggy? I made it myself last night! I'm pretty proud of it! =)

That is really awesome...kinda already stole it when i saw it BUT now. I can put your name to it!!! Cause it's really GOOD LOVE IT:)