I could give you a list of reasons as to why it's taken me so long to post the next part of this, but I'm sure you'd rather read the story than those. I apologize for the delay. You can thank my dear friend, Harleyzgirl, for harassing me about finishing this.

T: + 00.01.35

Booth glanced at his watch as he looked out the window of the helicopter. They were out of time. He only hoped that Bones had found a way to hold on just a little longer.

"There!" the co-pilot called out.

"Set us down now!" Booth called. "And find out how far out the ambulance is."

He didn't wait for a response, but pulled off his headset as he felt the helicopter start its descent. As soon as he felt touchdown, he opened the door and jumped out. Keeping his head low, he grabbed the shovels and ran towards the spot they had noticed from the air.

He started digging as soon as he reached the patch of ground that had obviously been recently disturbed. He heard the others join him and knew that Cam and Sweets had also picked up a shovel and started digging. The pilot and co-pilot joined them moments later and as they dug, Booth could hear the sound of another helicopter approaching. He knew it carried Cullen, Hodgins, Angela and he guessed at least a couple of their forensic agents. He didn't have time to think about that right now though. His thoughts were filled only with finding Bones.

He dug his shovel into the ground again and felt it hit something solid. "I've got something," he called to the others as he dropped to his knees and began moving the dirt aside with his hands.

Sweets was the first one to join him and the two of them managed to get enough dirt scraped away to find a handle. He turned it to disengage the lock, surprised that it wasn't more securely fastened. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he pulled the lid open and peered down into the darkness.

"Bones?" he called.

There was no response.

"I need some light in here," he said as he maneuvered himself into the narrow opening. Before he had completely lowered himself, a large flashlight had been brought over and illuminated the area.

As soon as his feet hit the bottom, Booth saw her curled into a ball in the far corner of the container. Wasting no time, he made his way over to her and dropped to his knees.

"Bones," he whispered as his fingers searched for a pulse. "Please baby."

He found a pulse and felt relief flood through his body. "I've got a pulse," he called out. "Where the hell is the ambulance?"

"They're here, Booth," Cam replied. "Can you bring her up?"

"I'll need a buddy harness," Booth called back up. "And tell them to hurry up. Her pulse is weak and she's not responding."

He leaned closer to her then. "Bones, hang on for me. I've got you. We're getting out of here. Just hang on a little longer. Help is here now."

He looked up as one of the paramedics dropped into the container with them. He immediately hooked an oxygen mask over her face and then checked for any broken bones.

"She should be okay to move," the paramedic stated. "Let's get her over to the opening and get her into a harness to lift her out of here."

Booth easily lifted her into his arms and carried her across the small container as the paramedic carried the small oxygen tank. Within minutes, they had lifted her out of the ground and placed her on a stretcher.

"How long to the nearest hospital?" Booth asked as they headed for the ambulance.

"Fifteen minutes," came the response.

Booth reached out and grabbed the stretcher. "We take the helicopter," he stated.

"Those helicopters aren't equipped for medical emergencies," the paramedic argued.

"I don't care," Booth replied. "You ride with her and your partner can meet us there. Let's go."

The paramedic looked around for support but quickly realized he wasn't going to get any from the group that was watching the interaction. "Fine," he acquiesced. "Let's go."

XOXOXOXOXO

T: + 03.35.39

Brennan heard voices and struggled to open her eyes. She had to let them know where she was. She opened her mouth to call out for help, but knew even as the words left her mouth that there was no way anyone could hear her. She was too weak to even cry for help.

Booth turned at the mumbled "Booth" he heard from the hospital bed. Without even an apology to Max, he cut off their conversation and moved back to Brennan's side. "Shh, it's okay," Booth said as he leaned over the railing on the hospital bed. "I'm right here, Bones."

He lifted his hand to her face and gently pushed her hair back as he continued to talk to her. "You're safe, Bones. You're in the hospital."

Brennan felt relief flood her body as she finally focused her gaze on Booth. She tried to say his name again, but couldn't get the words past her lips. He smiled at her as he wiped a tear from her eyes. "It's okay. I know. You're safe now. Just rest. I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

She closed her eyes again as he continued to smooth her hair back from her face. It was such a comforting gesture. She felt his lips brush across her forehead and tried to smile even as she felt sleep claiming her body again.

XOXOXOXOXO

T: + 08.15.16

Booth heard Brennan start to stir and quickly ended his phone conversation. "Thanks for the update, Sam. I'll call you later."

He closed his phone and moved to stand next to the bed, wanting to make sure that when Brennan opened her eyes this time, she saw his face and knew she was safe. He clasped one of her hands in his and spoke to her as she slowly worked her way from slumber.

"You're safe, Bones. I'm here. It's okay."

She opened her eyes and blinked at him before completely focusing on him. When she did, she offered him a smile as she squeezed his hand. "Booth."

"I'm here."

"I knew you'd find me," she rasped.

"And I knew you wouldn't give up," he replied as he bent down to press a kiss to her forehead.

When he started to pull away, she tightened her grip on his hand. "I want a real kiss, Booth."

He couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips before he pressed them to hers. He took his time kissing her, reveling in the taste of her. When he finally pulled away, she met his gaze with a pointed look. "That was better, but not quite as real as I wanted."

He brushed his lips against hers again before he replied, "I'm afraid they would kick me out of here if I didn't keep myself in check right now, Bones."

"I understand," she replied.

Their eyes locked then and the fear and desperation of the last twenty-four hours passed quickly between them. "I had faith in you," Brennan finally whispered.

"I had faith in you," Booth replied.

"I love you," Brennan stated. "More than I thought possible to love another human being."

"I love you, too," he replied.

"As soon as I get out of here, we need to talk about some things," she informed him.

"A good talk?" he asked.

"Definitely," she replied with a smile.

He leaned down to kiss her again and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him even closer. A loud squeal from the doorway had them jumping apart and Booth reaching for his gun. Brennan's hand on his arm stopped him before he could actually draw the weapon and they both looked over to find Angela practically jumping up and down in the doorway.

"I am so sorry, sweeties," she said as she made her way over to the bed. "I mean knowing you're together is one thing. Walking in on the two of you in a lip lock is something entirely different."

"It's okay, Angela," Booth said as he relaxed.

Angela leaned down to hug Brennan and continued, "I'm so glad you're okay, Bren."

"Thanks, Angela," Brennan replied as she returned her friend's hug.

"Have you brought her up to speed yet?" Angela asked as she moved to pull a chair over to the bed.

"Brought me up to speed on what?" Brennan asked as she looked over at Booth.

"I'll take that as a no," Angela commented as she settled herself in the chair.

"I wanted to take care of the important stuff first," Booth said as he met Brennan's questioning look. "I figured once I told you I love you about a hundred times, then I could move on to the other mundane things in our lives, like the status of the case."

"I'm glad you got your priorities right this time," Brennan said with a smile. She then patted the bed beside her and scooted over to make room for him. "Sit with me and hold me while you fill me in on the details."

There was no hesitation as Booth climbed into the bed next to her and situated her so she was resting against his chest. "Is that better?" he asked.

"Definitely," she replied. "So tell me how you caught him."

"What makes you so sure that we did?" Booth asked.

Brennan looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. "Because you're sitting here in the bed with me and not out chasing him," she replied. "Besides, I can't feel the tension rolling off of you like it was earlier when I was awake for a couple of minutes."

"She's got you there, Booth," Angela chimed in. "You've definitely been sending off some negative vibes for the last few hours."

Booth brushed his lips against Brennan's. "You're right. We caught him."

"Details, please," Brennan replied as she relaxed even further into his embrace.

Booth quickly told her about the ransom call and delivery of the package containing her cell phone and the scarf she'd been wearing when she'd been abducted. And between him and Angela, they were able to fill her in on all of the details of the investigation.

"I had Vega in for questioning when the co-ordinates for your location were sent to my cell phone, so I left him in the interrogation room with his lawyer while we went to find you," Booth stated. "And that's when things really got interesting."

"How so?" Brennan asked.

"As soon as I knew the co-ordinates were real, and not just a wild goose chase, I called and had them cut Vega loose. Although I wasn't convinced he had no involvement in your kidnapping, all of the evidence was circumstantial. Since he was in FBI custody when I got the text telling me where to find you, there was no way he sent it."

"But your gut wasn't convinced?" Brennan asked.

"No," Booth replied. "It wasn't. And as it turns out, my gut happened to be right this time."

"It was Vega?" Brennan asked as she turned in his arms to face him, the surprise showing on her face.

"He left the Hoover and went back to his house, which we still had under surveillance. His agent, Janine, was waiting for him there. The details of what actually transpired are still a little sketchy, but what we've been able to gather from the audio surveillance is that Janine was waiting for Vega when he got back to the house and they got into a rather loud verbal altercation. She accused him of risking everything for his personal vendetta against you and he retaliated that he had no idea what she was talking about."

"So Janine thought Vega was the Grave Digger?" Brennan asked.

"No, Janine knew that Vega was the Grave Digger. The surveillance picked up a new voice entering the conversation and knew that the Grave Digger was somehow inside the house. A quick phone call secured a warrant to enter the house, but when they entered, there was only Vega and Janine."

"Split personality?" Brennan asked.

Booth grinned and shook his head. "You're jumping to the end of the story, Bones."

"Sorry," she replied. "It makes sense though."

"Yeah, it does now," Booth agreed. "When Janine confronted Vega, it forced his alter-ego to make an appearance. Since Vega was still so furious at being accused of the crime, he apparently fought to stay in control. I guess that's when he realized what Janine was saying was true. Our forensics team found a hidden compartment in the master bedroom that had quite a collection of items from all of the kidnappings we were aware of, and a couple that we weren't."

"So is he in custody?" Brennan asked.

"Sort of," he replied.

At that, she turned fully around to look at him. "What does 'sort of' mean?"

"He's at the morgue," Booth replied.

"What? How?" Brennan asked.

"Janine shot him," he replied. "Our guys entered the house and heard the gunshot."

"What was her role in all of this?" Brennan asked as she settled back against Booth's chest and pulled his arms around her waist.

"From what she's told Cullen, Vega approached her about helping with his book. She agreed and then through the course of writing the book, she realized that there were times when he would be working on the book where there seemed to be a shift in his demeanor. She decided to talk to him one day during one of those shifts and that's when she realized he had a split personality. His Grave Digger persona promised her millions of dollars and a life of luxury if she would keep quiet and help Vega, so she agreed."

Brennan felt Booth tense behind her as he continued, "When the Grave Digger kidnapped you this time, he planned to let you die in that hole. Janine tried to talk him out of it, but he said this could be his last kidnapping and then they could be rid of us and Vega and nobody would even know where to begin looking for them."

Brennan ran her hands soothingly up and down Booth's arms. "Why did she send the co-ordinates?"

"She knew that Booth would track them down and kill them," Angela offered.

"When I brought Vega in for questioning, she thought I'd already figured things out," Booth added. "She hoped the text would buy enough time to get Vega out of jail so she could convince the Grave Digger to cut losses and run."

"It probably would've worked if Vega hadn't secretly been in love with Janine," Angela added.

Brennan turned her head to look at Booth form confirmation. "Sweets seems to think that it was Vega's love for Janine that made him fight to stay in control at the house and not let the Grave Digger take over. Unfortunately for him, it cost him his life."

"You don't sound too broken up by it," Brennan commented.

"I would've killed him myself if I'd had the opportunity," Booth replied forcefully.

Brennan looked at him for a long moment, seeing the truth of his statement in his eyes. "I love you, too."

Booth leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips and then settled her back against his chest. "Enough about that, let's talk about something more cheerful for a while."

He looked pointedly at Angela who shook her head slightly. "It's not official, Booth."

Brennan lifted her eyebrows and turned her head to look between the two. "What's not official?"

"Tell her, Angela."

Brennan looked back at Angela expectantly. "Yes, tell me."

"I ended things with Roxy," Angela replied. "Jack and I have agreed to talk…about things."

Brennan smiled and reached a hand towards her, pulling her up until she could hug her. "I'm happy for you, Angela. You deserve to be happy and Jack does that for you. Don't let it slip away."

"I don't plan on it," Angela replied as tears filled her eyes. "I've decided that some things are worth fighting for."

"Yes, they are," Brennan replied as she leaned back into Booth's embrace again.

Angela smiled down at them for a minute before she started laughing. "Nice hickey, Bren."

Brennan's hand immediately went to the spot on her neck where Booth had left his mark. Instead of the embarrassment she expected to feel, she only felt a sense of belonging. "Yeah, I keep telling him to leave them in places nobody else is going to see, but you know Booth."

Angela's gaze drifted over to Booth's and they shared a smile. "Yeah, I do."

XOXOXOXOXO

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