Okay, definitely not the last chapter because I got given a brand new idea from my very close friends sister :) I love you Jamie and Liz :)

Booth closed his eyes fractionally and felt into his pocket, wanting the reassuring weight of Brennan lying in them. He slowly crouched down and dusted the dust from his knees before reaching into his pocket and removing his cell, scrolling through his contacts wearily, alighting on one and pressing the call button.

'You got Cam.' He heard on the other end of the line.

'Cam, it's Booth.'

'Booth! Have you got her?' The anxiety in her voice was apparent.

'Yeah… we got her. Meet us at the hospital later.'

'Later?'

'Yeah… they need to get her stabilised before they can move her.'

'S-stabilised?' Cam asked, her voice faint with worry.

'She's in a lot of pain, and she lost a fair amount of blood.'

'My God… Booth… is... is she okay?'

'Would you be?'

'No, I'm sorry, that was a stupid question.'

'Too right… Cam, I need to go, I'm sorry.'

'Okay… Stay safe Booth. Keep her safe.' She pressured him, and then he heard the dial tone that signified she had left the conversation. Booth dropped his phone back into his pocket with a sigh and hurried back around to Brennan's side, slowly working his way through the wall of paramedics.

'Ready to go sir?' The paramedic working on her wrist asked him, pausing for a moment.

'What? Oh… yeah, sure.' Booth answered and clambered in beside her, his eyes travelling over the clinically clean interior. He sat on a bench that lined one flimsy metal wall on the inside, the faux leather sticky beneath him. He couldn't hold her hand; a steady drip of IV fluids was secured in her vein by a strip of surgical tape, the needles held fast in her smooth skin. The other wrist was being splinted for surgery as soon as they arrived back at the hospital, the paramedic crew had already phoned ahead and the Operating Room was prepped and ready. He contented himself with watching her rib cage rise and fall as she breathed; he was happy to watch her sleep, happy to have her close to him. His confession had drawn something from him, something he'd tried to smother beneath a veneer of coolness, hidden deep inside his mind until it was ready to be unleashed. He wasn't in love with her, he didn't love her – he needed her as he needed oxygen to breathe. He needed her by his side, wanted her to be his forever, and love? Well love just came by default, it wasn't an issue, and he needed her to live. And that was what shocked him. Not so much that he loved her so much it had developed into a physical need, the fact that he'd never felt this way before about anyone, even Parker. Sure Parker was his world, but Brennan was the atmosphere, his sustenance. And seeing her hurt crippled him inside; hurt him badly as though it was him lying in the back of this ambulance instead of her. He wrapped his arms around his body in a psychological effort to warm his shivering form. He recognised Dan, but the problem was – from where? That was what scared him, that he was forgetting things, being clumsy, making mistakes that endangered her life as well as his professional career. But she came first, she always came first. He shook himself mentally and resumed his watch over her breathing, scared she'd stop if he didn't keep sentry. It was then he became aware that something was wrong. The paramedics were exchanging panicked looks as they stepped forwards, reading a list of numbers off the monitor on a stand at the side of her ambulance issue foldout bed.

'BP's dropping!' One of them shouted to the other, jabbing a needle quickly and expertly into her vein, releasing a flood of clear liquid. BP… could only mean Blood Pressure. Booth was scared now, he knew what could happen.

'Anything?' the other paramedic asked the first.

'Nope, still declining.'

'God damn it!' Booth backed away as they pumped another hypodermic into her bloodstream, another medication that might help her. Nothing.

'We need to get her stabilised!' One shouted, by now, Booth had lost track of who was talking. He turned in time to see the numbers flash red and then stop, and then there was a heavy monotonous wail from the monitor that hung in the air. He slid down against the wall of the ambulance speeding down the highway towards the hospital. His head rested in his folded arms that rested on his knees, tears spilling like oil down his cheeks.

'No…'

oOo

Angela slowly turned over another sheet of paper and numbered it for the evidence log, shaking the black marker violently before scrawling her name and initials on a bag sealed with red tape. Hodgins sat beside her, surrounded by piles and piles of paper, now safely enclosed in plastic evidence bags.

'We could be here all night.' She remarked dryly, yawning behind her hand.

'We could.' He replied evenly, dating a bag of evidence.

'Why are we doing this anyway?'

'We seized it all.'

'That means we have to log it right?'

'Right.' Angela gave a groan and turned over another piece of paper, her blood freezing. 'Hodgins… what was that man's name again?'

'Daniel McCarran, why?'

'Do you remember… a few years ago? Booth was taking a man to trial, a certain Dan McCarran to a rape and murder trial. Dan got off and Booth nearly went out of his mind. Do you get it now?'

'Yes, yes I do!' Hodgins exclaimed, shock crossing his face. 'But you don't think…?'

'No, I don't. I know.'

'So Dan… Dan got Brennan to get back at Booth for trying to put him away even though we knew he did it?'

'Yes.' Angela sighed and ran a hand over her face, completely exhausted. 'How much longer do we need to be here?'

'Until every bit is logged in.'

'I want to go home before… oh.' She paused. 'I would say tomorrow but that would be in 23 hours time. Before dawn would be more apt I think.' Angela sighed again and dropped her papers and marker to the floor with a clatter and stood up, stretching her long legs.

'Yeah… I'd like some sleep too.'

'Then lets go, the cleaning crews can deal with this.'

'What? Bag it?'

'No silly, dispose of it.'

'But we need to log it…'

'Aw c'mon my little conspiracy theorist, you know you want to leave it.'

'Okay…' He took little persuading and within seconds they had left the Jeffersonian Institute and were heading towards the car park with determined strides. Angela slid into the passenger seat and clicked in her seatbelt as Hodgins started the engine with a characteristic rumble. She kicked her shoes off and relaxed, tossing her long dark hair over her shoulder. 'Do you think Booth knows it's the same person?'

'Not our business. If not, we'll tell him later today, we're going on a trip to the hospital anyway.'

'We are?'

'Of course we are.'

You guys are gonna hate me for the first part, but it's not over yet ^_^ So reviewsies. Nowsies. Or deathsies, not that I can be bothered to kill anyone :)