A/N: This is a bit of a twist to the Sniper Storyline and it is absolutely a ONESHOT. I thought this up at around midnight last night when I was meant to be sleeping, so it may be terrible. I know that almost everyone has done a tag for HitH, but this idea disturbed me last night to the point that I couldn't sleep, so i scribbled it down.

Spoilers: The Hole in the Heart, but mostly AU

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I don't mind right now, because things are looking up.

The Kink in the Chain

The windows were locked, curtains pulled closed. The front door was dead-bolted. Booth stood in his bedroom doorway, looking back at Brennan. She really should be the one sleeping in his bed; she was his guest after all. They had said their 'goodnights', and sighing, he regretfully closed the bedroom door behind him.

Hours later, he'd barely drifted to sleep when he heard shuffling in his apartment. Thinking it was Bones getting up to get a drink, Booth shrugged it off and rolled over for more hours of fitful sleep.

oOoOo

His bedroom door creaked open, faint streams of light filtering into his room. Booth sat bolt upright, reaching automatically to his bedside table for his gun, aiming it at the body that had now entered his room.

"Booth..." There was hesitancy in her voice, worry, and Brennan lowered her hands as she watched Booth lower the gun.

He heard sniffles, and as his eyes finally focussed in the darkness, he saw absolute horror on Brennan's face. When she took another step into the room, his eyes widened, the horror he'd seen in her eyes now reflected in his.

"Oh, Bones," he gasped, reaching his hands out in invitation as Brennan stepped closer and closer to the edge of his bed.

"How? When?" Booth swallowed hard, feeling the bile rise up in his throat. "When did he do this? How did he even get in?"

Brennan sobbed silently into his shoulder, and Booth was hesitant to wrap his arms around her, in fear that he might set something off.

Moving away from her momentarily, Booth reached over and flicked his lamp on. He finally took in Brennan's appearance. Her eyes were puffy and red, he face tear stained. A bruise was forming on her cheek and her lips were torn, from where he presumed duct tape had been ripped from her beautiful mouth.

"Oh, Bones," he sighed again, his hand reaching up to gently brush across her battered skin.

His gaze dropped to her torso, where he could now clearly see the little red light blinking from beneath the oversized sweatshirt. Gingerly lifting it up, Booth assessed the device Broadsky had attached around her waist.

His eyes clouded with tears. "Bones, I... I can't defuse a bomb Bones, I don't know how."

Brennan could hear the heartbreak in his voice as he admitted defeat. Broadsky had finally found a way to rattle Booth, throw him off his game, and he's done it right under Booth's nose.

Brennan sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying it as she tried in vain to hold back her tears.

Booth reached his hand up to brush away the tears that escaped her, bringing his lips gently to hers. "I love you so much Bones. I'm so sorry." He pecked her lips again, then again and again, trying to convey just how sorry he truly was.

"Stop, Booth," protested Brennan, her hands gently pushing against Booth's chest as more tears slipped down her cheeks. "Don't apologise Booth. This isn't your fault. None of this is. This was all Broadsky. He broke into your apartment, he tied me up and he strapped the bomb to me. Him. Not You, him. And I need you to understand right now, Booth, that none of this is your fault!" Her voice broke and even more tears fell relentlessly down her cheeks as she clasped Booth's t-shirt in her fists.

Booth pulled away again, this time reaching to his bedside table for his phone, but Brennan's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Don't" she shook her head. "He'll know if you call for backup or help or whatever. He said... he said he won't hesitate to obliterate us both. We'll figure this out, Booth. We always do," she finished, a shy smile gracing her lips as a few more tears fell. Brennan reached her hand to cup Booth's cheek, placing a tender kiss on his lips. "I love you Booth."

oOoOo

A dark, victorious chuckle rumbled through the apartment from the lounge. "The war is won." He spoke, his thumb gently pressing the button in his hand.

.

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A/N: You can vent all you want to me, and dream up your own ending for it if you like, but I most probably won't continue this storyline. But feel free to think that ends happily, I myself like the actual season outcome a bit better than this scenario.

Drop me a line. Kizabeth