A/N: I made a huge mistake and skipped a chapter when uploading. It should have been Chapter 23. I have reordered everything and inserted it as Chapter 23 making the Sweets chapter 24. You can go back and reread 23 if you'd like to see it. If not, continue on.

Remember everyone, there's still a bad guy out there…and he's tried to kill our dynamic duo twice…

"I might be a little late, Bones," Booth said in a message. He was disappointed he couldn't actually speak to her. "We've got a line on our suspect and I'm going with the team to arrest him."

He nodded to another officer that he was on his way. "Just wait for me at the apartment," he said. "I'll go there when I get back."

Ending the call, he grabbed his gear from the waiting agent. "Where is he?"

One of his investigators had located Mr. Anderson about a half hour before. The agents sent to retrieve him for questioning had been met with gunfire and a neighborhood full of innocent victims. It seemed nothing about this case was going to be easy.

Of course, since he'd sprayed the neighborhood with bullets, it should be pretty easy to find one to compare to the bullet Hodgins found.

The agent, whose name Booth didn't know, followed him. "Holed up in a house about twenty minutes from here. He's refusing to come out."

As he raced to the scene, his thoughts turned to Bones. He hoped she would wait for him at his place. But if he arrived and she wasn't there, he planned to grab takeout and head to her place. Maybe he could persuade her to turn that tv on and watch a game with him. He got a lot of pleasure out of trying to explain the rules of sports to his brilliant partner.

All thoughts but what was in front of him disappeared as he pulled up on the scene. The entire block had been evacuated. It didn't take long to throw on his tactical gear and approach the officer in charge.

"Hey, Agent Booth," he greeted. Booth had worked with him before and saw him as a competent agent.

"Agent Fernandez. What do you think?"

He shrugged. "Typical stand-off. The negotiator is on his way." Fernandez looked down at his watch. "I hope this will be over by dinner. I have plans."

An image of a naked Bones popped into Booth's head. "Me, too," he agreed.

The house was average for the neighborhood. Two stories, with a paved driveway and roses growing next to the steps, it could have been any house in any neighborhood.

"Does this place actually belong to him?" Booth asked.

Fernandez shook his head. "It's his mother's, but apparently he's been living here since his uncle cut off the free hand outs."

Perfect motive for murder, Booth thought, an additional piece falling into place.

Fernandez looked at Booth. "Heard this guy tried to kill you and your pretty partner."

"Yeah. He tried twice. Plane crash and a couple of shots that totally missed their mark." Booth ignored the comment about Bones' looks. Hard to argue with the truth.

Fernandez's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to ask a questions when a sudden noise had everyone turning.

"He's coming out!" someone yelled.

Fernandez and Booth watched the front of the house. A taller man, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt opened the door. Walking forward, he stopped on the top step with his hands up.

He didn't get a good look at him when they were in the forest, but the body shape was right. He carried himself like the man Booth saw running from them at the burning cabin that night.

Booth and Fernandez both raised their weapons and began slow movement toward the house. Several other agents followed from varying directions.

Booth wondered at the sudden change of heart. This was a guy who'd attempted to kill him not once, but twice. Surrender seemed out of character for him. Maybe multiple armed officers stationed outside his front door had clarified the situation.

It was the look on the suspect's face that started alarm bells in Booth's head. He looked surprisingly smug for a man about to be arrested.

"Fernandez, wait," Booth tried to say.

But it was too late for them and everyone else around them. At the last second Booth turned, bending toward the ground, hoping Fernandez followed his lead.

He wasn't sure if he heard the blast or felt the shockwave first. All he knew for sure is that for several seconds, no part of him was actually in contact with the ground.

Until suddenly he was. The impact knocked the breath from his body as the rush of heat flashed past him. Something in his side cracked and a deep breath was suddenly a lot more difficult to take.

He opened his eyes long enough to see Fernandez also laying near him, his open eyes blank. He had only a heartbeat to regret the loss before pain seared through his chest.

Booth's last thought, before just letting his mind drift, was of fear. Not for himself, he was pretty sure he wasn't that badly hurt, but for what Bones might do. Because, if this guy hadn't managed to kill himself as well, Bones would use every piece of scientific knowledge she had to commit murder.

And get away with it.