The tool had been evident on Brennan's face. She was exhausted. Sleep seemed to evade her everywhere she went. She was either trying to find clues to help find her daughter, or she was affected by the nightmares that haunted her. The same nightmares that came around every time she closed her blue orbs. It had been a week and they were no closer to finding their daughter than what they were when she first went missing.

"Bren, Bren. Are you home?" Angela asked as she let herself into her friend's house. She knew things were tough for the couple right now. Booth had been working late nights and early mornings, while Brennan was having a hard time leaving her son with anyone other than herself. She even brought him to the Jeffersonian strapped to her chest. Both were working towards finding the little girl that never seemed to leave their minds.

Angela took in her surroundings. The house was a mess. There was laundry all over the place. Papers scattered everywhere. She wasn't used to the sight. The house was usually spotless and put together. She was scared that if Hank was put on the floor they would have a hard time finding him.

"In here," she heard her friends voice echo. She looked at her friend. She had lost so much weight. She forgot to eat half of the time. Her life consisted of night terrors, taking care of her infant son, and looking for her daughter. Trying to make sure that when they brought her home, she was brought home safe.

"Brennan you look like hell." Angela felt bad for saying it. She knew her friend was living in hell.

"Hell isn't real Angela, therefore your statement does not have any meaning to me," Angela rolled her eyes at her friends response.

"When is the last time you took a shower. It smells like something died in here." Angela watched as her friend's expression changed. It was one of anger.

"If you came here to pick apart my life you can see your way out." Angela looked at her friend and sympathy replaced the concern written on her features.

"I'm sorry Sweetie, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just if you guys find Christine what do you think she is going to say coming home to a house like this?"

"If? If we find Christine?"

"Honey, that's not what I meant. I meant when you guys find her." That seemed to calm the mother down. "Booth still out?" Angela watched as her friend nodded.

"I think I may need to apologize. I have been having a hard time thinking rationally." Brennan stated. She sat down on her bed next to Angela and leaned on her friend's shoulder. She was struggling. She wasn't sure how to help her daughter and it was driving her crazy. She wanted her back.


"Alright, Christine you know the drill. It's time for me to go to work." The young girl nodded at her captor and watched as he opened the green door. She took a deep breath before walking into the small room. She always got scared when it was time for him to leave. She was stuck in a small area with half of a skeleton. The only thing that kept her calm was the fact her kidnapper allowed her to hang her parent's pictures on the wall after he finished their puppets.

"When can I go home?" He just looked at her and closed the door. No response to the question she asked him almost daily. She couldn't see her parents pictures in the dark, but she took comfort in knowing they were there. She felt herself tear up at the thought of them. She missed them more than they could ever know. She wondered how much longer they were going to be. Or how much longer it was going to take in order for them to finally bring her home. She was going to promise to be a good girl from that point on.

"Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy. I miss you guys. I want you to know that I am being brave though," Christine felt her eyes begin to burn, "I want to come home. Please come get me soon." The little girl felt her eyes become heavy as she cried harder. She had been trying to push down all the emotions that filtered through her brain, but half of the time she didn't know how to process them. So often she looked forward to seeing the man who took her away from the comfort of her home. Looked forward to getting out of the small space he hid her in when he was not around.


"Booth, you're home," Temperance Brennan stated as she watched her husband walk through the front door. He looked rough. The bags under his eyes weighing down the rest of his features, the hair on his face grown out due to his neglect to keep up with it, and lastly the wrinkled clothes that seemed to just be thrown on rather than professionally planned.

"Yeah, Aubry sicked Caroline on me," She watched as Booth sat on the couch, placed his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, and covered his eyes with his hands. Temperance watched her Husband as he was fighting an internal battle she was going against as well. One side of him was exhausted to the point his body was ready to give out, but the other side of him wanted to keep moving in order to bring their little girl home sooner rather than later. Brennan sat down next to the man she loved and leaned on him. She felt him move once again and hold her in a tight hug.

They stayed like that for awhile. Leaned back on the couch, her head tucked into the crook of his neck, their arms wrapped tightly and securely around each other. Before they knew it they both fell asleep and didn't wake up until they heard the cries of their son. They took comfort in knowing they had each other. Knowing that they needed to start working together in order to catch the jack ass that took their daughter away from them. Taking comfort in knowing that they needed to get back to who they were, because they both lost sight of that.

"I'm going to take Hank to my father's house. While I don't like leaving him, it is hard getting work down with him strapped to my chest." Booth looked at Bones. He knew that little boy hadn't been out of her sight since that night. She feared the serial killer would come back and take the young boy away from them. He feared it too. Feared that at any second he could come back and take not only his son, but his wife as well.

"Okay. Do what you need to do." He leaned over and briefly kissed his wife. "I'm going to go back to the agency. See if they found any leads." With that Booth got up and grabbed a fresh change of clothes. Once he changed he grabbed his shoes and stood up.

"Booth," he turned around and looked at his wife. He looked at her blue orbs and the concern etched within them. "I love you," she finished. She watched as his features lightened.

"I love you, too." With that, he turned around and walked out the front door.


"No, Hank today?" Cam asked as she saw the forensic anthropologist enter the Jeffersonian without her son. Usually, she didn't allow children at the lab, but right now she felt as if the woman in front of her deserved to feel some sense of safety when it came to the young boy.

"No. I left him with my Dad. Booth and I have been clouded during this case. While we have every right to have clouded judgement, we have put our emotions above everything else, which has obviously gotten us nowhere. We are trying a different scientific process in order to see if the outcome is different." Camille nodded as she listened to her friend's short rant. She could hear the pain in her voice talking about it, but knew that Dr Brennan was back.

"It's nice to have you back, Dr Brennan," She immediately mentally hit herself as she saw her friend's expression change.

"I didn't go anywhere, Cam. I have come to the Jeffersonian every day since Christine's disappearance."

"We are going to find her," Camille stated as she looked at her friend who was now examining the body of the woman whose body was altered in order to look more like the mother of two.

"I know we are." With that Dr Brennan shut her mental doors and began focusing solely on the set of remains in front of her.