Chapter Seven: Love is a Battlefield

"You what?" Campbell glared at Gary angrily.

"For God's sake Joey, I called the cops! Joy's gone, just like the last one. Lucky for you, they didn't take me seriously."

"What are you saying?" Campbell seethed with anger.

Gary backed away from him, he felt threatened by the fire in his eyes. "We were starting rehearsals and talking and she was all uptight about her boyfriend. She said she was going to the bathroom but she never came back. I went looking for her and all I found was her lipstick on the floor and her bracelet in the parking lot out back."

"And you called the cops and told them what?" Campbell demanded. "The last thing I need is for them to be hassling me again ."

"Just simmer down. I told em that we had a singer here but she disappeared and they said they don't consider it a missing persons case until 24 hours have gone by."

"So they just blew you off?" Campbell gave him a look that could kill.

"Yeah, basically. Um there is one other thing though." Gary looked like a trapped animal. "Joey, I don't think Joy is just a singer, I think she's actually that book author, Temperance Brennan."

"You gotta be fucking kidding. What would she be doing here pretending to be a singer." Campbell frowned.

"Good question, and you know I thought it was kinda strange, so I called her book publisher and they gave me her agent's name."

"God Damn it, what did you tell him?"

"Nothing Joey, Geeze, you don't have to get so upset, she wasn't even home."

"I'd say that's really lucky for you..."

"Well uh, she wasn't home, but I left a voice mail."


Cam got off the phone with Booth's direct supervisor. She paced her office nervously, the FBI's assurance that they would send a team over to the nightclub did little to console her.

Angela and Hodgins stood outside her office. "What do you think? They're okay aren't they?" Angela was close to tears.

"Booth's no rookie or slouch, he wouldn't let anything happen to either of them." Hodgins declared, his optimism was for Angela's sake, and he hoped he sounded convincing.

"Hodgins is right, if anyone can take care of themselves it's Booth." Cam agreed.

"And what about Brennan?" Angela said tearfully. "This is a terrible mistake!"

"I'm sure she's fine, she's with Booth and there's no need to over react." Cam lied.


Miranda stood over Brennan, her gun dangling at her side. She dropped to her knees straddling Brennan's prone body.

"You know sweetheart, there was a time I was just like you. I was young and beautiful and I could sing... sing as good as any of 'em." Her eyes welled up with tears. "I was really good."

She set the gun down next to her and brushed the tears off of her face before reaching into her pocket. She extracted and waved an object in front of Brennan's face, and when it flicked opened, she realized it was a switchblade.

"You don't have to do this." Brennan cried out. "You can let me go. We never did anything to you." She sobbed, not out of fear, but because of Booth. She thought about his arms around her and of everything left unsaid between them. This pain she felt was more than she could bear.

"It's too late darling, you and your boyfriend, it's all your fault. You think you can just replace me?" She took the tip of the blade and picked at Brennan's torn shirt, cutting through the flimsy fabric. "You're wrong!"

Miranda took the edge of the blade and ran it down the side of Brennan's neck. It was sharp enough that a bead of blood appeared and she laughed at the startled and fearful look on her face. "Just what kind of whore are you? Coming into my place dressed like this."

"You killed Sylvia didn't you. She came in and auditioned and when Joey hired her, you killed her."

Miranda looked startled at the accusation. "She had to go!" Her eyes looked glazed and she took the back of her hand and slapped Brennan hard across her face. "She came in and flirted with Joey, that bitch. She did it right in front of me, I couldn't let her get away with that."

"Miranda, let me go. Let me go and you can get in your van and drive off." Brennan pleaded. "No one will know, be rational."

"No honey, it isn't like that. You're the one that has to go. You see, I got these gloves on so they'll never know who it was." She laughed at her and slapped her again.

"If you leave now, you can get away." Brennan pleaded.

"You sure are chatty for someone who is going to be strangled and raped. That's right," She snickered. "I'll use your slutty shirt to choke you, and then I'll cut up your pants and use a condom on the end of this pistol." She raised her eyebrows at Brennan. "Maybe I'll do it before I strangle you." Miranda broke into laughter as Brennan tried to keep herself from panicking.

"It's all fair, you're gonna get what you deserve." She took her knife and used the tip to poke her under the chin.

Brennan recoiled as the tip of the blade touched her. With every ounce of energy she could muster up, she swung her legs up and twisted her body. Even though her ankles were tied together, it was enough to knock Miranda off of her. If she were going to die, she wasn't going to let it happen without a fight.

Miranda scrambled back up and flung herself toward Brennan, but Brennan used her feet to push her away. Miranda grunted when she landed, she lost her knife and the gun was out of reach so she got up and kicked Brennan, the blow knocked the wind out of her and Miranda pinned her down and wrapped her hands around her neck, squeezing as tightly as she could.

Brennan struggled to escape, but her arm felt dislocated from being bound, and with their combined weight on it, she could hardly move. She fought against the crazed woman and when she felt herself blacking out, she knew it would only be seconds before the oxygen to her brain was depleted and she would be dead.

Miranda's face was contorted with anger and rage, but this was replaced by shock when someone grabbed her from behind and threw her off of Brennan and onto the ground.

Booth scrambled for her gun, and she reached for her knife that lay next to her.

"Get back" he rasped out, he had her gun in his hand, pointed at her. Miranda stopped and stared at him for a moment, she narrowed her eyes, and screamed with frustration as she lunged at Brennan with the knife raised. Booth pulled the trigger, the force of the shot froze her, the shocked look on her face faded from anger to confusion and she dropped the knife before falling to the ground herself.

Booth turned to Brennan who lay lifeless and still.

"Bones!" He tried to shout out to her, but the words came out like a whisper. CPR, he thought to himself, compression... keep the blood circulating... blow in and inflate her lungs... Come back, he thought to himself.

Come back!