I walked quickly around through the doors and into the lab, gun drawn. The sight that confronted me confirmed my worst fears. There were three of them in body armor with automatics. Michael their leader had a hostage, Bones, he had his arm tight around her neck and a pistol pointed at her head.

The son of a bitch had killed his daughter when she tried to leave the crazy cult to have a normal happy life. Her bones had been found though and the squints and I had figured out what had happened, unfortunately it was a televised case and the cult had gotten wind that we knew what had transpired.

They had apparently come to kill all who knew the truth of what there leader had done. I had called in SWAT when I had come to pick up Bones for dinner and saw three dead Jeffersonian security guards, but they would not be there for ten minutes. Too slow, I just could not wait for them. I had grabbed a vest from the Tahoe and ran into the Jeffersonian to find myself with my gun pointed over bones right shoulder at Michael's right eye.

About ten feet behind where Michael held Bones, the other two terrorists stood over the squints. All the squints looked scared sitting on the floor but they looked unhurt.

According to the FBI file on these bastards there were currently seven members, which left four unaccounted for. 'Just have to worry about that when the time comes' I thought. That swat team is too damn slow.

These people would not go quietly; I realized what I would have to do before Michael even finished telling me to drop my gun. I would have to kill them, all of them, damn it.

"FBI, drop your guns now." I had not slowed from my quick stride as I walked towards Bones and Michael.

One of the guys guarding the squints gave a little laugh and moved his gun to point at me. No point delaying now that everyone who new the particulars of the case were in the room. That was all I needed, just one of them to move his gun away from the others. I squeezed of five shots in quick succession. The first entered the man head who's gun was pointed at Bones, the second two passed through the guard's head who still had his gun pointed at the squints, the forth and fifth rounds ended the man who had still not gotten his gun all the way around to kill me. The three were all dead before Michael hit the floor at Bones feet.

I had not stopped walking towards where Bones was standing. I had my gun out still and I was scanning for the other four as I tried to get to her. I was almost there when a round impacted my vest in the middle of my chest. I stumbling backward slightly and struggled to breath. My gun arm moved as steady and fast as if nothing had happened though. Zeroing in on the man on the terrace with the rifle, I unloaded my glock at him. He fell dead.

There was a scream of "Booth!" from Bones. I spun about dropping the empty gun and pulling my backup from the small of my back as I yanked Bones around behind me and pushed her to the floor.

Three more rounds hit me, two in area of my vest just above my stomach, the third in my left arm as I trained my gun on the new threat. Two men were advancing, I quickly put a round in each of there faces even as two more rounds hit me, one in the leg and another in my chest.

With as much of my weight off my bad leg as I could manage and my left arm hanging uselessly at my side, I continued spinning in place looking for another target and still trying to catch my breath. Bones tried to stand but I pushed her down again. There was one left somewhere.

I saw him; he was running, trying to get the door as he leveled his gun in our direction. Once again I emptied my gun and he fell dead, before getting off a single shot.

I dropped my second glock and snatched my black widow from my ankle holster as quickly as I could. The intelligence report said that there were only seven members in the cult but I wasn't taking any chances. Once again I scanned the room in search of a threat.

It had been a full minute since the last man fell, when I realized that Bones was talking to me from the floor where I refused to let her up from. "Booth, Booth, it's ok, that was all of them, give me the gun and let me up already!"

I took one last scan of the room and then looked at her, "Oh my God, where were you hit" I said as I realized that she had blood on her head and left shoulder. I dropped to my knees, set my gun on the ground and started scanning her, trying to find the wound with my good arm.

"It's ok. I'm fine. It's not my blood. It's Michael's." she said quickly when she saw the look of fear on my face. The anger in her at being kept on the floor evaporated when she realized the blood covering me was my own however.

I let out a breath; I didn't know I was holding. She is safe that is all that matters. I slowly started to slip back, my strength was gone. And the pain came rushing to the front of my mind. I was falling into unconsciousness as I started to slump over on to the floor. Temperance's arms went around me in a flash, caching me and lowering me the rest of the way to the floor. She was shouting and looked terrified but I was too far gone to process it or remember anything that happened after that.

888

'I'm in the hospital again' I thought as I started to return to the world. "He, he, the tax payers spend more money on my medical bills than they do on my salary" I said in amusement. I felt just a little bit loopy and guessed that I was on a rather powerful pain medication.

There was a gasp from beside my bed as I spoke and a hand holding my right hand clutched me a little tighter.

"Booth, oh thank God, you're awake"

"You don't even believe in God." I said as I opened my eyes. I looked at her tear stained face, she looked horrible, like she hadn't slept in days. I said "Are you ok, what's wrong, are the squints ok."

"The doctors… they said, you lost so much blood … they didn't think you would wake up." She said sobbing heavily now.

I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder pulled her into an embrace. Rubbing circles into her back I said "it's ok Bones, I'm fine, don't cry."

"I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come back to me" she said, "I was sitting here… I could not keep going without you… I… I love you."

"Um... what was that, I think they've got me on too much pain medication" I said. I just couldn't believe what I had heard. She didn't love me, sure I was mad about her, but lets be straight here, she was way out of my league. Her sobs seemed to be coming to an end.

"I said I love you." She said just slightly shakily as she looked into my eyes. She had stopped crying now but her eyes still sparkled from the residual moister. She started to lean down and very carefully clime in next to me in bed.

'She must mean as family, like as a brother; don't do anything stupid Booth' I thought. 'God, I want to kiss her… stop, see stupid, very un-brotherly.'

Her mouth was getting closer and closer to mine, she was in the bed with me. 'This doesn't seem like a sisterly course of action' I thought.

"I love you Seeley Booth, I think I always have" she stated, her courage seemed to be growing the more she said it.

'Oh hell, if I'm reading her wrong and she slaps me then I'll just blame it on the pain meds later' I thought. I was just about to kiss her when she beat me to it. It was long and passionate. If she kisses Russ like this and like the mistletoe incident then I am definitely going to have to have a talk with her about it, arrest her or something.

She grasped my lower lip between hers as she slowly pulled back and broke the kiss. I saw it then, the love she had for me in her eyes. My brain seemed to shut down at the sight, I could barley breath. Only one thought was clear in my mind.

"I love you too, Temperance."

A few seconds passed silently as we stared into each other's eyes and tried to process all that had happened and then Bones said, "You know if I had a gun you probably would not have been shot so many times." She stated, and my brain kicked back into motion.

'My bones, tenacious as hell' I thought. "No gun for you and no amount of kissing or being shot is going to make me change my mind" I stated firmly with an almost childish like shake of the head.

With a sultry look that I would not have thought her capable of, she said "Well then, we will just have to see what I will have to do to get you to change your mind."

I thought 'Son of a bitch, she is going to have all of my guns in no time.'