~~Reviews are greatly appreciated! Please tell me what you think!~~

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It all happened so fast…there was a knock at the door; Booth and Brennan were asleep in their bed, Christine was in her crib, and Sweets was staying in Parker's bedroom. Booth turned and looked at the alarm clock; 4:47. He figured he must've been imagining things, and rolled back over. Another knock. This time, Brennan nudged Booth, urging him to go see what the noise was. He sighed, as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. He slid out of bed and rubbed his eyes.

The house was completely dark, and the only sound that could be heard was the chirping of crickets in the eerie moonlight. Booth walked down the hall, and opened Christine's bedroom door. The young girl was sound asleep. He bent over, kissed her goodnight on the forehead, and backed out of the room. Next, he proceeded to Parker's room quietly stepped in. Sweets was nowhere to be found. Booth ripped off the covers of the bed, and jumped back in shock. The lightly colored sheets were covered in deep red bloodstains. At that moment, Brennan walked in and saw all the blood. As scared as she was, she managed to clamp her hand over her mouth to refrain from screaming.

"Stay with Christine!" Booth hollered as she began to follow him out of the room. He threw open the closet door, and shifted the coats to reveal a safe. He entered the code, and grabbed his 9mm. He slammed the door and began his search for the young shrink. "Sweets…Sweets!" Booth ran out onto the front lawn and saw a figure at the end of the driveway, lying broken and beaten in a pool of blood. Out of the shadows, a second figure appeared, holding a sharp knife. It jumped in front of Booth, and blocked his path.

"Well, if it isn't Special Agent Seeley Booth." He laughed, and glared into Booth's cold hazel eyes. The F.B.I agent aimed his gun at the attacker, but it was too late. The knife slid effortlessly into Booth's chest, puncturing his lung. He fell to the ground in defeat, clutching his injury. The attacker knelt down beside Booth and whispered in his ear.

"Bones is not going to be happy when she finds out about this."

Booth felt rage bubbling up inside him as he heard his pet-name he had for his partner. He tried to stand, but the assailant crushed his knee with his foot. Booth cringed as he heard it break. He fell back on his side, and opened his eyes just moments later. To his horror, he found Christopher Pelant standing over him, the light of the moon reflecting off his pale skin. Pelant smirked and turned away, heading for the house. Booth began to panic as he entered the front door. Between his knee, and his stab wound, he knew his chances of saving his lover and his daughter were slim.

S-Sweets. He thought. Sweets! We can…save…Sweets!

He frantically began turning his head looking for Sweets. He turned his head, and his heart sank when he saw the condition his friend was in. His face was lifeless: pale and cold. His throat had been slit, and blood was still pulsing out of the wound. Booth felt tears welling up in his eyes when he realized his friend wasn't going to make it. He looked down at his own injury and thought the same. He then thought of Brennan and Christine, and how much he would miss them. In his head, he started imagining his last goodbyes. He didn't want his kids to grow up without a dad, but every time he strained to think, his thoughts would begin fading away: getting more and more distant and blurry. Booth rested his head on the cold concrete, and laid silently still until darkness overcame him.

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Brennan clutched her daughter in the corner of her bedroom; her heart rate increasing as she heard the footsteps growing nearer.

"Come on Dr. Brennan." She heard a voice call out. "I know you're here…" there was a long pause. "And your daughter too…" Brennan caught a brief look at the doorknob wildly turning as Pelant tried to enter. Brennan targeted the window. She used all her strength, but it was bolted down. She screamed as Pelant threw her down from the window sill and approached her with his bloody knife. Brennan gasped as she came to the conclusion that the blood on the knife was most certainly Booth's. Christine wailed but thankfully, Pelant ignored her. He grabbed a rope from his pocket, and tied up Brennan. He did not accomplish this without struggle however, but Brennan was not strong enough to overcome Pelant, and was eventually left tied in a chair with nowhere to hide.

"Where's Booth?"

No Answer. Brennan kept quiet.

"WHERE IS BOOTH?" Pelant shouted louder.

Still, there was silence.

"Oh I see." Pelant said making fun. "You don't know!"

Brennan looked at the floor, avoiding his gaze.

"I know where your precious partner is…He's dead! Along with your puny shrink friend!"

Brennan showed no sign of expression, for she already knew. She wanted to make it look like she didn't care, but on the inside, she was dying of sadness. Booth was the only one that made her happy.

"Well, if you don't care about your partner's death, then maybe you'll care about your daughter's." He paced over to Christine's crib, lifted her up, and cradled her in his arms. He sat in the rocking chair and embraced Christine until her crying ceased. Brennan began violently clawing at the ropes that held her in place. When that didn't work, she kicked out at Pelant, knocking him a clean blow to the shin. He recoiled, and stabbed her in the leg. She shrieked, but didn't surrender. Looking down at her injury, she noticed the cut was deep, but found relief in finding that it had not punctured any major arteries. When she looked up, she found a devious Pelant terrorizing her by harmlessly sliding the knife up and down her little girl. Pelant smiled at Brennan and laughed. However, it didn't stop there. Brennan's heart nearly stopped when Pelant raised the knife above the oblivious Christine; his craving to kill still raging strong.

"STOP!" Brennan yelled. "…Ta-take me instead." Tears streamed down her face as she realized it was either one or other. She didn't hesitate. At least this way, Christine would have a chance of survival.

After all… Brennan thought. I grew up without parents and I turned out just fine…But I was fifteen…Christine's so young…No! She stopped herself. She knew what had to be done to save her precious daughter.

"Oh?" Pelant questioned humorously. He set Christine back in her crib and cantered over to the distressed Brennan. He carelessly tossed the knife in the air and caught it. "Do we have a volunteer?" He chuckled and abruptly maneuvered the knife on Brennan's throat. "I told you Dr. Brennan." He snickered. "You're not as smart as everyone says you are. If you really wanted me locked up, you would've looked in the right places...You just wanted to play along with my little game!" They both knew that wasn't true. The Jeffersonian had been trying their best to get Pelant put behind bars; or worse, killed. "Ah the irony!" He carried on. "You catch murderers for a living, and now your fate lies in the hands of one!" He laughed and tightened his grip as Brennan tried to twist away. "Your beloved Booth isn't here to save you this time…" Pelant smiled slyly." And, isn't it a shame that your sweet princess is going to have to grow up as an orphan…nonetheless…I don't think it'd be a bad idea to take up parenting…" He tensed his grip even more on the now enraged Brennan. "Goodbye…Bones…" She shut her eyes as she anticipated the searing pain from the slicing grip of the vicious serial killer.

Brennan woke with a start: sweat still pouring down her face. She rubbed her throat, the memory of the excruciating grip Pelant had on her still fresh on her mind. Looking next to her, she saw Booth sleeping soundly.

It felt so real…Brennan thought. I don't know how I-what would I do-I just…

She sat there for a moment overthinking her dream. After a while, she bursted into tears. It didn't take long for her sobbing to wake Booth.

"Bones!" He shouted. "Are you alright? What happened?" He reached for his gun on the nightstand.

"Nothing Booth." She responded, feeling foolish for crying over something that didn't even happen. "It was simply a dream. It wasn't real." Booth hugged her, holding her in his arms.

"Well, it must've seemed real…"

"It…it was about Pelant. He broke into our house, killed Sweets and you, and was about to kill me and take Christine. I…" Brennan stumbled, looking for words. "I don't know what to think." She confessed. "He's already murdered one of my closest friends, so the last thing I want him to do is kill you, or Christine, or Sweets, or any of us! He's unpredictable, Booth!"

"Temperance…" Booth kissed her forehead. It left him heartbroken to see her like this. He held her in his arms until dawn broke, and the morning light shone through the gaps in the bedroom's curtains.

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~~Reviews are greatly appreciated! Please tell me what you think!~~