Daddy's Little Girl

By Hazelmist

A/N: Sorry, this chapter's kind of an interlude and then the story that I simply HAD to write really starts.

Chapter 5: The Broken Promise

2017

Rebecca knew he found them when he embraced her as soon as they walked through the door.

"Thank you, Rebecca, it's been a pleasure," he said, crushing her against him. He let go just as quickly as he'd grabbed her with a grin that stretched from ear to ear and a sparkle in his eyes that she hadn't seen in years.

"Good luck, Seeley," she said smiling back and wishing nothing but the best for him. But when Parker enthusiastically recapped what had happened after he went back to his hotel, Rebecca was left with an uneasy feeling. She wondered if she had made a mistake calling him here, even though she was sure now that Parker had correctly identified them. She tried to push it to the back of her mind, but it continued to persist.

When he shows up at her door three days later, looking like he'd just got run over by a truck, she isn't surprised.

"She's gone."

"I'm sorry, Seeley, I'm so sorry," she apologizes, but there is nothing else she can say.

"You knew this would happen," he accuses her, but it's a weak reproof. He's upset, she feels guilty. He's hurting and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it. "God, I need a drink."

So she gets down on her knees and drags out the best bottle of scotch her boyfriend has. She brushes the dust off and sets it down on the table in front of him. It's the best she can do when apologies aren't enough.

They're only a quarter of the way through the bottle when the room starts to get significantly brighter and Rebecca glances at the clock for the first time.

"Seeley, it's six in the morning."

"It's only midnight in the states," he shoots back.

"Parker will be up soon," she reminds him.

That's all he needs. He pushes the unfinished glass aside and puts his head in his hands. She empties the glasses in the sink and returns the bottle to its hiding place beneath the sink. When he pulls his hands away from his face his eyes are wet.

"Can I see him?" he asks so hesitantly that it breaks her heart.

"Of course," she says.

They get up from the table and she leads the way to her son's bedroom. She's about to knock, when Booth grabs her wrist and presses a finger to his lips.

"I don't want you to wake him," he whispers.

She steps aside and he pushes the door open wide enough so that he can see his son sound asleep in his own bed. He takes a few steps into the room and stops and she leans against the door frame, wondering what he's doing. For a few minutes they just stand there, listening to their son snore and watching him sleep. Rebecca's wondering how much longer before Parker's going to outgrow that bed and she'll have to buy a new one, when Booth suddenly kneels down beside the bed and kisses his son's forehead. Parker stirs but Booth shushes him and tells him to go back to sleep.

"Just wanted to say goodnight," he whispers, but Parker has already resumed snoring. Booth hovers over his son for a few more minutes and then meets her at the door.

"You're not going to stay for breakfast?" she asks, as he shuts the door gently behind him. He shakes his head. "I can call Parker out from school and you guys can spend the day together."

"No, I can't." He scrubs his face with his hands. "I have to go home."

"And then what?" she asks. "What are you going to do next?"

"I don't know," he admits honestly. "All I know is that I'm never going to see them again unless I catch this son of a bitch."

"You're not going after them?" Rebecca's shocked he's giving up so easily.

"No," he says miserably. "She took my gun and told me she'd kill me if I ever came near Christine again."

Rebecca's eyes widen, clearly they'd all underestimated Temperance Brennan.

"Wow, she really did turn into a lunatic and a bitch," Rebecca says out loud. Booth moves so fast that she doesn't have time to react. He shoves her into the wall.

"Don't call her that! Don't you ever call her that!"

He's shaking with rage and Rebecca thinks he just might be drunk enough and mad enough to punch her. But he brings his fist to his mouth, biting down hard on his knuckles as he spins away from her. Now, she can see that what she thought was rage is just the beginning of his break down.

"I hate her, God, I thought that I could never hate her, but I do."

Rebecca almost laughs because it's so painfully obvious that he doesn't hate her, quite the contrary. It's hard for her to believe that after all the shit Temperance put him through, he still loves her, but he does, she's sure of it. That could change, though, she thinks as she watches him crumble.

"Look at what she's doing to me. She's driving me crazy!" He leans back against the opposite wall, struggling to hold himself together. "She has my daughter and now I get to see her for the first time in almost five years and she just expects me to let her walk away with her again!" He slides down the wall until he's sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

Rebecca bites her lip and silently curses Temperance Brennan. He's in so much pain but she doesn't know what to say to him. She's a mother herself and she predicted that Temperance would fly if Seeley threatened to get custody, which he obviously had. But now that it's actually happened and she has to deal with the mess that Temperance left behind in her wake, she realizes that however uneasy she felt, she never thought that Temperance would go through with it, not if she saw Seeley again. For the first time she wonders if she or Seeley or any of them really know or had ever known Temperance Brennan at all. This woman is a stranger to them and one, in her opinion, that could be capable of killing someone.

"She'll come around," she tells him in her most reassuring voice as she kneels down in front of him. Seeley looks up at her through his tears and he shakes his head. Lies have never gotten them anywhere.

"You were right," he admits, swiping the back of his hand across his face. "She's going to make sure I never get to see her again."

Rebecca thinks of what it would be like to never see Parker and she feels physically ill. She scoots closer and gradually coaxes him to lean on her and let her comfort him. There isn't much she can do or say, but the fact that they're both parents and share a son is enough. She can sympathize more than anyone else.

He pulls himself together quickly and they help each other to their feet. She walks him to the door and he lingers as if he's hoping Parker might come down. She fusses with his jacket and fixes his collar even though it makes little difference since he looks like a complete wreck.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid," she urges him with concern.

"Promise," he reassures her, sloppily kissing her cheek. "Take care of yourself and Parker."

It isn't until she's watching him leave from the window that she realizes that there might be another reason why Temperance was in such a hurry to leave and why Booth was so reluctant to go after them. She fiddles with her necklace and reassures herself that she's in no way a part of the psychopath's game. She and her son are safe.

Years later, she'll realize that she was wrong.

Temperance sleeps for the first time in seventy-two hours and wakes up on the fourth day to the sound of Max swearing. Christine's mercifully asleep beside her and Temperance is careful not to wake her as she gets up from the ugly broken sofa they're currently sharing. It's the only piece of furniture in the tiny one room apartment they're "borrowing" for the night. Max is fifteen feet away sitting against the opposite wall with his gun out and his eyes on the dead-bolted door.

"Is it him?" she asks, eyeing the door as if Pelant might come through it at any moment.

"No, Tempe, it isn't him. Go back to sleep, sweetheart, I'll keep watch."

Temperance looks at her father for the first time. He's so exhausted that he can barely sit up straight let alone keep his eyes open. And suddenly she sees that he's an old man, a very tired old man that should not be capable of keeping these late hours, or enduring this kind of stress, or running halfway around the world fleeing a mad man. But as he looks over at Christine and then up at her, Temperance finds a fire there that she understands all too well.

"Dad you need to rest."

"I can't," he says, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes with the hand not holding the gun. "He got too close this time, Tempe. I shouldn't have let him get that close."

"Don't blame yourself." Temperance says the words to her father, but she tries to tell herself that as well. But when her father continues to miserably stare at the door she can't help herself from blurting out her own confession. "If it was anyone's fault it was mine. I shouldn't have gone to see –"

"No, you shouldn't have," Max says harshly. His eyes blaze and Temperance remembers what it feels like for a child to disappoint their parent. She waits for him to lecture her, to tell her everything she did was wrong, to tell her that this is all her fault and maybe Booth was right and she should have left Christine behind like Max secretly wanted her to so many years ago. He hadn't said it though, not then, not ever. And he won't say it now. Because she's not her mother and Max knows that better than anyone else. He's the only one that knows her now.

"I'm sorry, Tempe," he apologizes. The anger's gone, leaving only weariness and frustration in its wake. Temperance moves closer and then lowers herself down to sit beside him on the stained carpet.

"I should've told you," she says softly. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Sweetheart, I worry about you all the time," he laughs and gives her a sad smile. "I know I wasn't there for years but I'm still your Dad and not a day goes by when I don't think about you."

That's what Booth had said, Temperance recalls suddenly and she automatically looks to her child. Something clenches in her stomach and she thinks that Booth might have been right. Maybe Christine would've been better off with Booth instead of sitting in a one roomed apartment in the dirtiest part of the city with nothing standing between her and a brilliant psychopath other than her mother and her old grandpa.

Max takes her hand in his and holds it.

"It's going to be alright, sweetheart, I promise," he soothes her.

Booth had made that promise too and Temperance forced him to break it. She wonders where he is now. Would he follow them? Would he take Christine away from her? Is he alright or had Pelant gotten to him first? Is that why they were able to outrun him again?

Temperance thinks of Booth alone and vulnerable in that hotel room with the sheets pooled around his waist and his heart in his eyes. But she threatened him with his own gun and took his daughter away from him again. She finally made him hate her.

"He'll be alright, too," Max whispers and releases her hand so he can wrap his arm around her shoulders. "He's been through plenty worse and he's always been able to take care of himself." He kisses her forehead and rocks her gently like a child. It's only when he shushes her that she realizes that all this time she's been crying.

Sniffling, Temperance wipes her eyes and pulls herself together. She needs to be strong for Christine and for her father and for Booth. Even if he does hate her, she still loves him and she knows he'll always love his daughter. She stays close to her father, drawing strength from him. When he eventually does drift off she takes the gun from his limp fingers and aims it at the door. If Pelant catches up to them she'll be ready.

Years later, she'll realize that she was wrong too.

Because nothing could ever prepare them for what happened next.

A/N: I know it's a bit short. But bear with me! There's going to be a time jump in the next chapter and then we should get to the angsty good stuff.