Willgurl Writes: Thanks to the wonderful reviewers, you guys are being awesome and supportive and Hart and I are SO glad you're enjoying the story!

"Seeley?" Travis asked. "Seeley?"

His head whipped around and he saw Travis striding towards him, a look of concern etched on his face.

Immediately he snapped into FBI Agent mode.

"Travis." He stated. "The shooter was most likely across the street on the roof. He would have had the best vantage point there."

"Booth." Travis said, trying to interrupt. His dark green eyes searched Booth's brown ones perceptively darting between Booth, Parker and the surrounding chaos, trying not to push his friend over the edge he was balancing near so precariously.

"He must not of expected me to fire back but I felt there was no other option." He continued. "This shifted the shooter's focus from the other apartment buildings to me."

"Booth…" Travis repeated.

"Unfortunately I didn't get a view of the shooter, however…"

"Seeley!" Travis said loudly. "Are you okay, lad?"

He flicked his glance down his son huddled in his arms. "We're okay."

"Good." Travis said, clapping him on the back. "Now we should..."

"Daddy?" Parker said, lifting his head up. His face was red and stained with tears and his body trembled slightly. His round brown eyes stared up at his father pleadingly. "Where's Dr. Bones?"

"Dr. Bones?" Travis inquired, raising his eyebrows almost to where his bright orange hair began atop his head.

"My partner…she was…she was in the apartment with us." He said quietly. "They took her away already."

Travis saw the look of a man desperately trying to hold himself together in Booth's eyes.

"Okay." Travis said turning away. "You." He shouted towards an EMT. "Come here."

The EMT came running up. "Yes?"

"Are you done loading the reds?" Travis asked.

"We are loading the last one right now." The EMT replied.

"Right." Travis said firmly. "These two are the first to go when the ambulance comes back, got it?"

"Umm… I really can't do that." The EMT replied.

"Yes you can." Travis narrowed his eyes until only the tiniest bit of green could be seen, the look made the EMT shiver. "My name is Special Agent Travis Ferguson, I am with the FBI. You will load these two next, got it?"

The EMT nodded and moved away.

"Go, wait over there for the ambulance." Travis said, gesturing to the end of the lawn.

"Thanks, Travis." He said.

"No problem Seeley-boy." Travis replied. "Right, go find your partner then. Cheers." Travis gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before moving away to take care of the 'incompetent fools asking all the idiotic questions'. Otherwise known as, the media.

Booth nodded and moved away, shifting his son in his arms.

"We are going to find Bones okay?" He said to Parker.

"Is she okay Daddy?" Parker said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know, bub." He replied honestly. "I don't know."

He stood at the edge of the lawn, his arms starting to ache from the weight of Parker. He could feel him trembling but was powerless to stop it, didn't know what to do to make his son better. He wished he could go back in time and erase what happened. They should have gone to the park, or gone for a walk, been at the lab, anything but in that apartment.

He bent his head and pressed his face against Parker's curls. Parker shouldn't have seen that, it was his job to protect him. He should have….he didn't know what he should have done, all he knew was that his little boy scared to death and he had no idea what to do about it.

Booth's thoughts drifted to Temperance. Her eyes, her smile, the way she tilted her head when she was curious about something. Then he saw the blood on her shirt, her eyes rolled back into her head and he fought down the rising bile in his throat.

He needed her.

Right then, right at that instant he needed her to put her arms around him. To make it better like she did when he woke up sweating in the middle of the night, unable to distinguish the past from the present.

And more than anything, he needed her to be alright.

He looked up and saw the ambulance pull up in front of him.

"Right this way sir." The EMT said, gesturing towards the doors of the ambulance. As he climbed in, one of the paramedics tried to lift Parker from his arms.

"No!" he said sharply. "He's terrified, he needs to stay with me. He was already looked at."

"I understand sir." The paramedic nodded. "But I do need to check out his injuries as well as yours. Perhaps you could lie him down but hold his hand."

He nodded and reluctantly lay Parker down on the gurney, his small arms still clinging to his neck.

"Hey buddy, let go okay?" He said gently. "She is just going to check to make sure you're not hurt. I will be right here the whole time."

Finally Parker released him, biting his bottom lip to keep it from trembling while the paramedic did a quick check for injuries. Both ignored her when she attempted quiet conversation to put them at ease, and eventually she stopped.

"Okay just a few cuts and bruises, that's all." She said a couple minutes later.

Booth released the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

"I should check you out as well." The paramedic said, looking him over. He watched as she performed a cursory examination, wincing as she hit a couple of tender spots. Her hands trailed down to his waist and she pulled up his t-shirt.

"You were grazed by a bullet." She said calmly, reaching for the bandages.

Booth looked down, astonished. He hadn't even felt it at the time and yet now his side was throbbing. He watched as the paramedic cleaned and bandaged the wound, blinking back the tears in his eyes. It had been too close this time.

They rode the rest of the way in silence, Parker's sweaty hands clutching his so hard they were turning slightly red. When they pulled up in front of the hospital, the driver got out and opened the back doors.

Booth scooped up Parker and headed inside.

"Excuse me?" He said at the front desk. Nurses and doctors were popping in and out, flipping through charts , not paying attention to him.

"Excuse me?" He repeated loudly.

"Can I help you?" A man with a flip chart in his hands asked.

"Yes, I am looking for Temperance Brennan." He said. "She came in a while ago. She was shot and…" he found himself unable to continue. The image of her blood seeping on to the floors of his apartment was replaying over and over in his head.

"I'm sorry, you are going to have to wait over there." The man replied.

"Listen buddy, I am FBI now where is she?" he said sharply, voice rising in anger.

Parker whimpered and tightened his grip on Booth's neck, who in response gripped his small son even closer to him, mentally kicking himself for scaring the already terrified child.

"Try the third floor." The man replied and he headed quickly towards the elevators. Booth knew that once he got to the third floor, he was going to have to repeat himself all over again. He would have to fight to see her, they weren't related and he knew it wasn't hospital policy to let non-family members in, but he didn't care. He was ready to pick a fight if needed.

Once on the third floor he headed for the desk.

"Excuse me, my name is Special Agent Seeley Booth. I am with the FBI. My partner was brought in here earlier and I need to see her. Her name is Dr. Temperance Brennan." He said.

As he said her name, a doctor at the end of the hallway snapped his head up. As the doctor moved towards him Booth saw a look in his eyes, the doctor had something to tell him. Something he knew that if he had all the time in the world, he still wouldn't be ready to hear.