Brennan was the kind of woman who stood her ground. She'd broken wrists, slapped, punched, kicked and shot people, always when she was being threatened or when someone else was. Brennan stood her ground and kicked danger in the balls (pardon the colloquialism.)

The doctor's eyes were crazed, crazed with fear. This paediatrician who'd administered life-threatening poison to twelve people- his past had caught up to him, and she was responsible. She'd taken one look at the scalpel in his hand, and her heart had jumped to her throat.

The small space and the slippery floors- for some reason, Brennan had fled.

The door wouldn't open, so she turned around and did what she should have done in the first place. Her mind was racing, for some unknown reason, she felt afraid. She didn't doubt herself. Temperance Brennan almost never questioned her abilities, her knowledge of anatomy, martial arts, and shooting gave her confidence when it came to fighting for her life. Maybe she was out of practice- but something was wrong, she was terrified.

She tried hitting the murdering doctor, and her hits felt weak, her throws and punches felt badly controlled- she wasn't hitting like Temperance Brennan- she was hitting like a scared, feeble teenager.

Pain shot through her entire arm as she stumbled back, the scalpel lodged into her forearm and she fell, fell, and a tremendous sound rang in her ears. She looked back just in time to see Booth with a gun raised in the air, his face solemn as he killed yet another man- standing in a broken doorway.

"Bones, you alright?" he asked quickly, walking into the hallway. "Your arm…"

"What?"

He was by her in a moment, gun put aside, his arms holding her, and she let herself slide further into him, unable to hold herself up.

Her hand went to her forearm, her eyes trained on the blackness of the blood drenching her jacket. "Don't pull it out, Bones, don't touch that-" she'd already tore the scalpel from her flesh, breathing heavily, and he immediately put pressure on her arm, hurting her even more, "Easy, gotcha? Okay?" he said again and Brennan put her hand on his arm encircling her, holding on.

"Thank you," she managed to whisper. She wasn't the type who thanked God for saving her, she wasn't the type who wanted saving, ever, but now, this moment, she needed him to be there, warm, and very much alive, next to her, holding her.

"Keep pressure on the wound…" she ask, closing her eyes, and immediately she felt his large hand clamp down extremely tightly, and she closed her eyes from the pain, but also in relief, despite her heart thumping against her chest, she felt oddly peaceful, as if she was about to cry in relief.

She held on to him as he whispered over her, holding her against his body, leaning on the counter. He told her to calm down, that it was okay- I'm here, trust me, trust me…

Of course she trusted him- she loved him. And these weeks apart seemed to volatize, to vanish for these instants, because he was back, he was alive. She was the one who had just been attacked, but in reality, he was the one she'd been more afraid of losing. She couldn't lose him- she couldn't.

"Shhh….gotcha, gotcha…easy there, Bones, breathe, I'm going to take care of ya, I'm not going anywhere…"

He kissed the top of her head, "I got ya', baby."

She didn't know what to think of him calling her baby, she barely noticed, it was more of an afterthought, as she nestled her face into his shirt, trying desperately to hold her tears inside, to calm her raging nerves, to calm her incredible happiness at him being there, all around her.

She briefly reminded herself of all the times he had saved her, or tried to look out for her, or tried to protect her, all the times he'd touched her, smiled, held her. She held on to him for a while, until backup came, until they gingerly disentangled themselves, when he let the medics take her, when he spoke to a few other agents, spoke to Carolyn on the phone- when Brennan was hauled away, protesting at having to lie on a stretcher, he watched her leave, sighing, feeling incredibly hollow. He shouldn't have let her go there alone- he should have been with her, and then she wouldn't be hurt.