Liz was slowly swimming in the water while Isabel was flipping through a magazine absentmindedly. Their concerns involved the safety of their parents and of Max. They still hadn't heard anything at all from Hodgins, which meant that they were no further in the investigation. There was nothing to do but brood and talk.

"So we aren't going after our mothers because Booth can try to get them sprung from jail?" Isabel offered, throwing aside her magazine disgustedly. "Did you see how he reacted to discovering the Special Unit? It's like he doesn't believe that government conspiracies and cover-ups can happen."

"Then aren't you glad you're not a princess in this life?" Liz asked, turning upright in the water and beginning to move toward Isabel.

"I don't know. I never really played princess when I was a child. It never really interested me."

"That's because six-year-olds don't really factor in the fact that there's more to it than just pretty dresses and tiaras."

"What did your parents do to you?"

"I don't know. All I know is that being a princess isn't like what it is in a fairy tale and it's not a life I would choose for myself."

"So you would rather be a queen," Isabel affirmed with a tiny hint of inquiry.

"I wouldn't be either. It just so happened that the man I married was a king; that the man I love used to sit on a throne. Do you have any idea how much he doesn't want to call the shots?"

"I'm sorry, Liz, but we're still going to disagree on this. You can call it duty, and I can call it pleasure…"

"And we can end the discussion there?" Liz asked pleadingly. She was at the edge of the pool now and they were playfully staring at each other. Isabel looked away finally, laughing. The two of them most often acted like sisters.

They had spent two days at the pool just so they could get out of their room, away from the variety of noises coming from Booth's and Brennan's next door, and because they needed some exercise. They were laughing it up because they finally had some time alone and could talk about anything without any intrusions.

"It's kind of weird when you think of how we got here. Of how we all became so close."

"Sad, too. I will never deny that."

"I'm so sorry that Jesse or Alex couldn't be here with you."

"Kyle's helping me through it. Not in the way you're thinking of, but still being a good friend to me. But I think I needed to get away from all of the drama that's been going on with Michael and Maria."

"You mean that drama that's always going on between them? I'm used to it by now. You just let Maria talk while you do something else. Michael's a little bit more tricky, but he doesn't exactly come to me for comfort, so I haven't had a lot of opportunities to figure him out."

"Michael's definitely a puzzle, but you learn to love him for everything. He'll kill you if you don't after all this time."

"He's sort of like a brother, but not as familiar as one for me as for you and Max. So I love him, but I think it's more out of habit than out of actual interactions."

"I love him because he's always been family to me. I can't imagine life without him."

"I think we've become a family throughout all of this. We all belong together and we all love each other, we all feel each other's pain and help each other through it, and we can't live without each other. We'd all be devastated if one of us dies."

"Well, if Kyle dies, then Michael might be a little bit happy. He doesn't exactly like all of us humans except for Maria, and even that's flaky."

"But he'll get through it. He defies authority, and that's why he shows dislike for Max. But I think we all know that he loves him like a brother."

"Yeah. And you do know that I love you like the sister I never had, right?" Liz asked, pushing away from the edge of the pool to swim again.

"I think I do. Do we really act like sisters?"

"We're kind of gossiping now, and we both hate each other sometimes. I think that's the loose definition of sisters."

"Well, it's nice to know that someone will be there for me. It can get a little difficult to get to know people when you really are alien."

"Hey, I'm partially alien, too. A little less than you, but still alien. I'm just a little worried that at any moment Booth will call someone and have Max, Michael, Maria, and Kyle hauled into the Special Unit."

"He wouldn't do that. We saved his son."

"Yes, and I don't believe that there is a Special Unit of the FBI. The government wouldn't do that to us," Booth defied, walking into the pool area with a partially buttoned Oxford and swim trunks.

"Anyway, where exactly did they find the bones of that child?"

"Under the metro. Seemed like he was dumped there and left to rot." He got quieter as he explained.

"Booth," Isabel reached over and touched his hand, "we won't let that happen to your son. We will protect him until there is no reason to anymore. It's not your fault that he got taken in the first place."

"Have you done this a lot?" he asked, looking at both women for answers.

"We've saved children, but we have rarely ever met even one parent of the child. We ask where they live and we drop them on the front step, lingering long enough to make sure that they make it safely into the arms of their parent. We don't want credit for what we've done. We do it out of the goodness of our hearts," Isabel answered, almost with a hint of contempt.

"Then why would the FBI be after you?" Booth asked, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Because we're…different," Liz answered. "We have special genes that could defy humanity, and the FBI wants to study it. We don't want to be lab rats for killers."

"Who said anything about killing you?"

"Well, you know they tortured Max. Who's to say they won't kill, especially when they have all pulled guns on us?" Isabel asked.

"But not everyone in the FBI is like that." He pulled off his shirt and jumped into the water.

"I'm beginning to think that you won't kill us," Liz replied when he surfaced. "Even though technically we kidnapped your son for a few days."

"The way I see it, you were watching him for a few days until I could come and claim him. How did you guys even find me?"

"I dream-walked through your mind," Isabel answered calmly, readjusting her position to a more serious one where she could face the both of them. "It's a power that I have where I can see what a person is dreaming, but I can't change it in any way. I can ask questions and I can be seen and heard when I want to be, but the dream is all up to you. You recognized me at the airport because I went through your dream. It's a gift sometimes, but you can find yourself seeing things you don't want to see."

"Creepy, but okay. So, can you walk through anyone's dreams?"

"Sure."

"If you walk through Parker's, could you possibly identify the attacker? We could have Angela do a sketch drawing if you describe them," Booth offered.

"Couldn't you have Parker do that for you if he saw their face?" Isabel asked. "It's not going to do any good. Liz said that their faces were covered and virtually unidentifiable. We might be able to get some shape to it, but no real facial features." Isabel paused at this hard truth. Be it a truth, it was still hard to grasp.

Liz lunged for him in the water to touch his arm. "Booth, we are doing everything that we can possibly do to make sure that we get whoever is responsible for this. I'm sorry that it's not going so fast, but we are doing what we can."

"Why can't we do this for Parker, even with inhuman resources? We've solved cases like this without aliens before!"

"Now that's just low," Isabel whined.

"We have to protect Parker," Maria answered to Michael's repeated question. "Yes, we don't have Max's help, but, Michael, we have to keep him safe. You are the most alien of all of us. You have to be able to use them whenever necessary."

"Thanks, Maria," Kyle said from the living room.

"Kyle, don't start with me today." She turned back to Michael. "Please, just stay here. We have enough food and water that we don't need to run out. We need to make sure that Max is alright and we need to keep Parker away from prying eyes. I can't do it alone."

"I know that. But Isabel and Liz are under constant threat. Who's to say that Booth character won't turn them and us in? We've got to be careful if for any reason he decides to turn on us."

"He wouldn't do that. We have his son. He could claim kidnapping, but it's six against one, and maybe two. I think that Bone Lady might actually have a better conscience despite the fact that she has no sense of sarcasm.

"We'll just have to trust them. I don't want to, but they're our only hope." Maria turned back to Max with a worried frown on her face. Michael was right in his worry, but for now they would just have to trust them.