A/N: Thanks you much for all the reviews and story alerts, it's very encouraging. I have no idea when I'll be able to update again, at the moment it looks like it might not be for another two weeks but nothing is for sure. I'll update as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think :)

She was staring at him in complete shock. Booth waited nervously for her to say something. The words didn't matter; anything at that point would calm him. Instead she rose silently and left the apartment with saying a word. She didn't even slam the door.

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Brennan somehow made it to her office. A million thoughts were running through her head. She felt as though she couldn't breathe. Booth had shot Taffet. Her father had been murdered. Booth had shot Taffet. Her father had been murdered. Brennan felt as though she would vomit soon. She couldn't believe that Booth would deliberately go out and shoot Heather Taffet. She had expected that behaviour from her father, but not from Booth.

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Booth was sitting in the same spot she had left him. He wasn't sure what to do. He was trying his best not to panic. Hyperventilating wouldn't help solve anything. Booth was torn between going after her (anyone could guess that she would go to her office) and letting her have some space. He decided on space. Partly because he needed some too; his confession had not left him feeling any better.

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"Bren?" Angela asked, surprised to see her best friend already at work. The entire week she had only come in so that Booth knew someone was always watching her. Brennan hadn't even complained about how chauvinistic or alpha male or childish or whatever it was; which only emphasized how serious the situation was.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Brennan looked up at her friend, her eyes were slightly wild, and her brain was over-thinking everything. Before she could stop herself, Brennan blurted out Booth's secret.

"Booth was the one who shot Taffet." Angela stood frozen for a moment.

"What?"

"Booth was the one who shot Taffet." Brennan repeated.

"I don't understand." Angela said. "The evidence says Max did it. Oh my god, Sweetie, did Booth plant the evidence in your father's apartment?"

"What? No. Booth has the same caliber weapon. We all just assumed that my father did it because the bullet fit and he had accidentally killed that young woman and he really wanted to kill Taffet. I expected him to."

"Sweetie…" Angela didn't know what to say. "You know he only did it to protect you right? The same reason that your father wanted to kill Taffet."

"Booth hates killing people. He has nightmares about it." Brennan said, not understanding why there were tears prickling her eyes. She didn't understand anything of what she was feeling at the moment. Normally she would got to Booth, but there was no way she was going to let him help her right now.

"Dr. Brennan, I found blood traces that weren't your father's on the knife…" Cam stopped mid-sentence as she looked up from the file in her hands and saw a distressed Brennan and worried Angela.

"What's going on?" She asked concerned. Brennan rarely looked distressed, and usually it had to do with Booth. Angela and Brennan shared an uneasy look.

"Okay…Well I found minute blood traces on the knife that didn't belong to Max and ran them through the NCIC database. There was a match: Marcus Wolf. Now what's going on?"

"Did Marcus Wolf have any connections to Taffet?" Brennan asked going into professional mode.

"Not that anyone can determine so far. I called Booth, he's picking up Wolf. Now how about one of you tell me what's going on before I have to ask again." Cam demanded in her bossiest tone.

"Booth was the one who shot Heather Taffet." Angela explained. When Cam's mouth didn't drop in shock, Brennan and Angela shared another look.

"Did you know?" Brennan demanded seriously. She was going to have to hurt Booth if he had told Cam about his plan and not her.

"No, no. I didn't know. But I'm not really surprised." Cam said quickly.

"Why not?" Angela asked. "I was stunned."

"Booth's a protector. He does whatever he can to protect the people he loves." Cam replied simply.

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"Hodgins have you seen Bones?" Booth asked, not even breaking his stride.

"Is that your new way of saying hello?" Hodgins asked jogging a couple steps to catch up to Booth, who ignored the entomologist's sarcasm.

"She's in her office talking with Angela and Cam." He said, faltering when Booth stopped suddenly.

"She won't want to see me." Booth said.

"Uh…okay." Hodgins was perplexed. He looked at Booth and then shot his gaze towards Brennan's office where the three women looked to be having a serious conversation.

"You do something wrong man?" He asked the obviously uneasy special agent.

"Yeah, no…I don't even know. Yes I did. I did something wrong." Hodgins raised an eyebrow.

"You gonna tell me or do you wanna hear about the evidence I found against Marcus Wolf?" Hodgins asked waving a file in Booth's face.

"Wolf confessed. He told Max wrong information about the gravedigger so that Max would shoot Terry Hatchet and then hoped that everyone would blame Taffet for Max's murder."

"Wow, how'd you get him to confess?" Hodgins asked impressed.

"I can be very persuasive." Booth said distractedly, looking at Brennan. Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the lab.

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"Okay, someone needs to tell us what is going on." Hodgins said entering Brennan's office with Sweets at his heels. Sweets had also been at a loss to explain the odd behaviour of their friends. They decided confrontation was the best way to get to the bottom of it. The three women looked up in unison. After a beat, Cam stood up. She was the boss after all; at least that's what her title said.

"What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room." She said seriously. They nodded like obedient children.

"Booth shot Heather Taffet." Sweets nearly fainted, Hodgins felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

"Are you serious?" He asked. He went over the conversation he had had with Booth earlier. He understood now. Booth didn't know if he had done something wrong because legally he had but personally he was doing what he knew had to be done to protect his family. Hodgins felt for the guy; and definitely did not envy him. He realized belatedly that Cam had nodded yes.

"Woah." Sweets breathed. His mind was going a mile a minute. "I'm actually not as shocked as I thought I was." He said suddenly. They all turned to look at him.

"What? Booth suffers from -"

"Really don't need any of that right now Sweets." Hodgins said patting him forcefully on the back. Sweets frowned.

"What are we going to do?" He asked. They all looked at Brennan.

"I need to speak with Booth."

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"Bones." Booth breathed in relief when he opened the door and found her standing on the other side. He had been so worried that she would never want to see him again. He was still worried that she was going to shut him out and blame him for Max's death, which, despite not relating to the gravedigger at all, he still felt responsible for.

"I understand why you did what you did." Brennan said, jumping right into the conversation. She was never one to beat around the bush. Booth merely nodded. He was going to let her say whatever she needed to say.

"You wanted to protect me." Tears came unbidden into her eyes. Booth nodded again.

"I did it to protect you. Because I love you. I did the one thing I told everyone not to do. I let Taffet's note get to me. She said I wasn't going to be able to protect everyone." Booth blinked back a few of his own tears. "I was so scared that she was going to get you, or Parker. I was scared." The silence that hung between them was heavy. Neither was sure how to continue the conversation. Finally, Brennan broke the silence.

"I've talked with Cam. We are going to release an official statement saying that my father killed Taffet. Hodgins, Angela and Sweets know but no one else does." Her tone was clinical, it worried Booth.

"You're willing to do that?" He asked touched that she would want to protect him from the law when she was so passionate about justice and finding the truth. He really didn't feel that he deserved her.

"Yes. You did what you did to protect me. Now it's my turn to protect you." Brennan explained with a slight shrug.

"I really don't deserve you." Booth said sadly. Brennan looked at him hard. When she didn't say anything Booth felt his stomach drop. His heart was racing, wondering if she was going to tell him that their relationship was over. Wondering if she was going to tell him that she needed some space away from him.

"I love you." He said. Brennan merely nodded.

"I'm going to stay at my place tonight." She said. They stood looking at each other a moment longer before she turned and headed towards the door. Just as she was about to close it behind her, she placed a hand on his chest.

"I do love you." She said softly, not looking into his eyes. And then she was gone, leaving Booth to wonder if he had made the worst mistake of his life when he pulled the trigger on Heather Taffet. But his heart told him that nothing mattered as long as she and Parker were safe.

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"I can't believe you got me killed Booth." Max said incredulously as he shook his head. "What were you thinking? Tempe is going to hate you forever now. There is no way she is going to continue to love you. She trusted you."

"I didn't betray her trust Max." Booth said helplessly. "I wouldn't do that. I had to keep her safe. I had to keep Parker safe. You know what that's like Max. You've done it before."

"Did you really do it for their protection? Or did you just want the glory of killing the gravedigger?"

"There is no glory in taking someone's life Max." Booth said quietly.

"Right, right…but you're so good at it. And you've gotten awards and commendations for it. You must like it a little." Max teased.

"No. I don't. I'd be perfectly fine if I never had to take another life."

"Really? I'm not so sure." Max said. Before Booth could respond, Max began to walk away. Booth waited a moment before jogging to catch up. They walked in silence through a field of poppies. Strangely, or perhaps not, Booth found himself reciting 'In Flanders Field' to himself.

"You couldn't protect everyone Booth." Max said suddenly pointing to the open field in front of them. Booth fell back in shock.

The field was covered with bodies... His mother in a floral nightdress, her eyes glazed over, lay in a pool of her own blood. Jared was laying through the windshield of car that had hit a tree; Pops was dangling from another.

"No…no…Jared's alive, he's married and having a baby. And Pops is fine, he's doing fine." Booth began to hyperventilate. He took a couple steps forward and then was forced to take a few steps back as he came upon Cam's burning body. Booth's heart was racing, he couldn't breathe. Angela and Hodgins hands were sticking out of the soil.

"No…please God. Please." He begged. But it was too late. Parker and Brennan, each with bullet hole through their hearts, lay in their coffins. Booth fell to his knees, his eyes were fixed on them.

"Daddy, why didn't you save me?" Parker asked him, blood began to run from the bullet hole in his chest. Blood began to run from Brennan's as well.
"Booth, you promised to protect me…you promised."

Booth gasped harshly and sat up. He was shaking with fear and could feel the tears running down his face. Trying to bring his breathing back to normal, he stared at the picture on his beside table; it was one of him and Bones and Parker. He needed them.