A/N: Special thanks to stephaniew for catching all my goofy mistakes. Again. She's a great friend and I'm lucky she's willing to work with me on this project.

I'm anxious to get this back underway and make up for some of the recent posting delays. If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that this ends differently than I planned. Someone special makes an unscheduled appearance. The muse takes you where it wants to go.

Thanks for your support. Let's rock and roll...

Warning: In case you need a reminder, the genres for this one are Angst/Drama. No apologies, changies or take-backs.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. Which may be a good thing...

Daughters

15 hours to ransom deadline...

Max gestures to Stephanie as he watches his daughter's approach. The waitress quickly removes the carnage of Booth's forgotten lunch and whisks it back to the kitchen. Max is caught off guard when Brennan flings herself into his arms. "Honey..." he says, wrapping his arms around her in a tender embrace.

She pulls away and sits down. "I want her back, Dad," she tells him as she wipes away fresh tears. "I want my little girl back. Booth doesn't understand what she's going through. He doesn't..."

"Tempe, she's Booth's daughter, too," he reminds her. I'm sure he wants Katie back."

"He doesn't want me to pay the ransom," she says hurriedly, her hands dropping into her lap. "Hodgins and I know what it's like, Dad. Paying the money gets her back quickly and..."

"Booth's a cop, honey," he informs her. "He wants to catch the bastard that did this to you and Katie."

"You don't know that it's a man," she says stubbornly.

She was always so literal. She had been ever since she was a kid. "I'm with Booth on this one," he admits, knowing that telling her now is better than the fallout of her finding out later.

"How could you say that? How could you take his side?" she asks, her tone rising and her hurt flashing in the tear-filled depths of her eyes.

"I'm saying it because had I been here when you were taken, had I known what was happening then, we wouldn't be in this situation now," his voice is filled with sadness and regret.

"Dad," she says, tilting her head to the side.

"You don't know, Tempe," he says softly. "You don't know because you can't. A father will go to great lengths to protect his daughter." He reaches across the table and takes her hand, adding, "Booth is a far better man than I am." For a moment he looks at her, admires the way she resembles her mother. The way her daughter resembles her. "I remember the day I first saw Katie almost as vividly as I do the day you were born..."

Four years, three months ago...

He doesn't knock when he gets to the door. Instead, he stands in the shadows of the doorway taking in the scene. Watching the family within the room.

Pink roses explode from a vase on the bedside table beneath a big balloon that proclaims "It's a Girl!" Teddy bears, a fruit basket and other paraphernalia cover all available surfaces.

A woman - his daughter - lays in a reclined position in the hospital bed, exhausted from hours of intense labor. Her eyes are closed. A soft smile touches her face as she rests.

In contrast, the man - his son-in-law - a man he has come to think very highly of, stands at the window. His figure is bathed in the late afternoon sunlight. He turns away toward the center of the room. In his arms is a tiny pink bundle. He holds the baby securely against the worn fabric of his vintage t-shirt and beams down at her. In a low voice he murmurs his love and that Daddy will always be there for her.

This is everything he's wanted for his girl - that she have a family of her own, a man that would love her the way he had loved her mom. He hesitates for a moment. In the space of a heartbeat, he considers leaving. Coming back later.

But his eyes meet those of Seeley Booth and the two men share a smile that only men with daughters understand. Having a son is having a legacy, but having a daughter? That was knowing the true depth and breadth of love. "Is this a private conversation or can Grandpa join in?" he asks softly.

Booth gestures with a tilt of his head for Max to come in, his eyes falling quickly back to the child in his arms. Max's eyes connect with a tiny pair of blue eyes. Eyes he's sure are even bluer than her mother's.

"Am I always gonna feel like this?" he asks his father-in-law. "Like I'd do anything to protect her?"

The older man's eyes soften and he grins. "Only every day for the rest of your life."

"He'd do anything - and I do mean anything - for Katie," he reassures her. "Even if it costs him his soul."

"You don't know that," Brennan responds with a tiny gasp.

"Yes, Tempe, I do," he says strongly. "Because I'd do the same for you.

Booth sits in the SUV. He leans his head back against the seat and feels a tear escape his eye. It slides down his face and drips from his chin into his lap.

This isn't the first time he felt like his life was falling apart. Watching his partner's life hang in the balance, watching her react to nearly losing him, was completely different than the emotions that filled him now.

This went beyond the desperation. The drive to save her at all cost. He had often said he would kill for his wife. He had killed to save her life. But that was different. That was a life or death situation.

Sadness. The thought that they may never find Katie. Or worse, that they would find her and he would have to watch the love of his life cope with burying their child.

Anger. Jaw clenching, gut twisting. He knows he is capable of taking who ever is responsible apart with his bare hands. And he's angry at himself for feeling that way. For being willing to take justice into his own hands.

Hope. It's a tiny flicker, but it's there. He shifts his weight and pulls his wallet from the right rear pocket of his jeans. Flipping it open, he pulls out the pictures he carries there.

Parker and Katie from two years ago. His son grinning as he sat behind his daughter on a sled in the snow. That had been a great vacation. The perfect big brother, Parker had made sure to hold Katie's hand and protect her.

Katie on his shoulders in the park. Her floppy red sunhat matching the red of her popsicle stained lips. He smiles, the memory of melted sugar water sticky on the back of his neck.

But there are memories that are fresh that he doesn't carry in his wallet. Memories he hopes are not the last ones he'll have of his Katie Bug.

He lays in bed, his senses on alert. He can hear his wife shuffling in their closet. He also hears something else. Tiny footsteps. He feels a hand on the edge of the bed and feels someone trying to sneak up on him. He works hide to stifle a smile as she scrambles up beside him.

Lightning reflexes, he reaches out and tackles her. Tickling fingers cause a fit of giggles and shrieks of delight. "Baby, there's a Bug in our bed!" he calls out to Brennan.

"Daddy!" she cackles as she squirms. The hem of her My-Little-Pony t-shirt rides up and he goes in for the kill. He blows a raspberry onto her waiting belly button.

Brennan joins them. She smiles and reaches to give Katie her morning hug. Looking down at her mother's feet, the girl giggles and shakes her head. "Wear the red ones, Mommy!" little fingers touch the chunky necklace at her throat. "Please?"

Setting the little girl back on the bed, she smiles as she tugs off the heels on her feet. Reaching into a box on an upper shelf, she withdraws a pair of shiny red pumps. "These?" she asks, holding them out for her daughter to see.

Katie claps her hands and snuggles next to Booth. "Yes!"

She quickly slips on the shoes and looks at her watch. "I'm going to be late!" she says, leaning down to give each of them a kiss.

Booth looks at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "It's not even 6:30 yet," he says to her. "The interview isn't until 9 AM."

"And you know how brutal traffic can be," she laments. Tickling Katie and earning her own laugh, she tells the child, "I'll meet you after Gina takes you to the park, okay?" Katie nods. Her tummy growls. She's definitely a Booth.

Booth pushes back the covers. "I heard it," he says, giving his wife one last kiss. "Go, I've got this."

"See you at the restaurant later?" she asks.

"Yep," he answers, swinging Katie over his shoulder.

"Booth, carrying her like that isn't good for your back," Brennan scolds, even as she smiles at the pair.

"You know, Bones, my back is fine," he answers.

Katie squeals in her father's grip. "Daddy, can we have pancakes for breakfast?"

They'd made pancakes. And sung the Trying song as they'd done the dishes together. When Gina had arrived, he'd gone to do inventory at The Nut House. But not before one last syrupy kiss.

At the ring of his cell, he pulls the device from his pocket. "Booth," he barks into the receiver.

"I've gotten a couple people together and I've made a call to my inside man," Cullen's voice comes on the line. "Are you available for a meeting?"

"Where?" he asks as he fires the ignition and turns on the GPS. He enters the address. "I'll be there in 15 minutes, 20 tops."

"I have some information, Booth," Cullen tells him. "I'll tell you when you get here, but you should know the pieces don't line up..."