A/N: NEW FIC! Sorry it took so long, hopefully you'll like it... As it stands now, it's 4 chapters, but that may change. Those who read my last Bones fic will know I updated every two days. For this one, it's probably going to be every 3 b/c it needs more work. Personally, I quite like this one : ) Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

"Booth!" Brennan yelled the warning to her partner as the two shots were fired from across the room, simultaneously adjusting her position. She didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second, but as the feeling of dread washed through her, she knew it was too late. Her finger squeezed the trigger, and the emerging bullet tore into the man's shoulder blade. The irrational part of her brain told her to go for the kill, but as always, rational prevailed and she settled for painful. He crumpled to the ground and a couple of the men in SWAT uniform bent down to restrain him, trying to minimise his injury at the same time.

Brennan dived down to beside where Booth lay, immediately applying pressure to the wound on his leg. Her eyes widened as she took a peek at the injury, blood now steadily seeping through the minute gaps between her fingers. She brushed away a stray hair with her bloodied hand, "Booth? Booth, you're gonna be alright. Try and stay calm." Despite her words, Booth saw the panic in her big blue eyes. He did as she said though, trying to steady his breaths as she inhaled deeply with him. Booth wished he could say that the sensation was an unfamiliar one, but this wasn't the first time he'd been shot, and it quite possibly wouldn't be the last. He silently thanked God that he'd had the time to put the vest on, or he knew the man wouldn't have aimed for the leg.

Booth's eyes closed for a minute, and he flickered them every few seconds for Brennan's benefit. As he listened to the darkened room around him, he could hear the unrestrained shouts of his assailant; Brennan had shot him. Then came the hum of relatively calm voices of the SWAT team as they tended to him. Booth let out a sigh of relief as he heard the sirens of the ambulance approaching.

"Booth, open your eyes. The ambulance is here. You're gonna be alright." He wanted to open his mouth, to assure her that he would be okay. But he couldn't, so he looked into her eyes, guessing that what she found there was probably doing more harm than good, but unable to look away nonetheless.

Too soon, her face had been pulled away, replaced by the EMT's. Their hands were all over him immediately, but the leg had dulled, barely noticeable as they tugged and pushed on it. In fact, he probably wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the words of the young guy looming over him, "I'm going to have to apply some pressure. This may hurt a bit." Booth just nodded and continued to focus on breathing.

"Agent Booth, we're going to take you to the hospital, try and stay calm for me."

Finally, Booth managed to summon the energy to open his mouth to talk, "Bones?... Bones?"

Her face came into view and Booth almost smiled. "Booth. It's alright. I'll follow you in the car. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. We all will." She lifted a hand to his face to stroke it momentarily, and then she was gone again. And Booth was alone. He closed his eyes, ignoring the protests of the EMT's as they lifted him into the back of the ambulance. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he wasn't going to die, but it didn't stop the whole experience from being bloody scary. He winced as something, he guessed it was probably an IV, was pushed into a vein in his arm.

Booth lay still for another few seconds, before the ambulance picked up speed. An oxygen mask was now covering his mouth, and he breathed deeply, trying desperately to keep calm. He knew that the most he could do to help now was to try and lower his blood pressure, minimise the blood loss, so that was what he focused on. Doing his best to tune out the loud noise of the siren, he closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore the less-than-soothing motion of the ambulance, and breathed.