15 minutes after Sally donned the Kevlar vest and slipped on a jacket to conceal her shoulder holster she walked into the bull's-eye. All of her senses were working overtime. As usually there was not a multitude of activity in Montrose Park and the flow of people mostly occurred around the entrance. Sally made her way through the park heading back towards a statue near the tree line, away from the majority of people.
Booth, Sully, and Perotta were in position. Perotta was sitting on a bench reading a book. Booth was off in the tree line, blending into shadows, and Sully was at the entrance watching.
Sally leaned against the statue keeping her eyes moving around her, the only area she couldn't cover was covered by Booth. Now all they could do was wait; wait for Sanders to take the bait and make his move to kill her.
While she waited she talked quietly knowing that all 3 agents had ear buds and could hear her. If anything goes wrong, there is a file on the coffee table with all my notes showing how I pieced this together, what I knew and how I came to know it. If anything happens nail this bastard for my partner's murder.
"Booth" it was Sully's voice. "She isn't …"
"No … she is just being efficient." Booth also recognized the resign in her voice. She knew she probably wouldn't come out of this alive. But if it took her death to bring her partners murderers to justice, she was willing to give it.
Even with Booth's reassurance Sully still didn't feel any better. He shook himself, he needed to be on his "A" game. He just met this woman and he was not about to lose her, she was the first woman since Tempe that had the ability to challenge him. He smiled to himself, this was one challenge he wanted to take on more than anything.
"Look alive; he just walked through the main entrance. He is wearing a light blue polo shirt, tan jacket, and jeans. He has his right hand under his jacket. He is heading straight for the Tennis courts." Sully stayed back and kept out of sight while he trailed Sanders.
Sanders got to the Tennis courts he started to look around as if he suddenly remember that he might have picked up a tail. Sully stayed behind cover and Sanders gave no clue as to if he made Sully or not. Once he checked around he continued through the park towards the back as if he knew right where she would be.
"Booth, he is walking with purpose, my guess is he watched her walk in, he knows exactly where she is."
"Okay I see him walking got him in my sights if he moves wrong."
Sally raised her head when her eyes met Sanders eyes. He continued walking until he was about 25 feet from her. She drew her weapon and leveled it on him. "Sanders, give yourself up."
He scoffed at her, "Yeah right, give myself up to who? Or did you friends at the FBI tell you it was okay to say that."
"Agent McClure CIA, drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head."
"CIA? What the hell?"
"It's over Sanders, we know who you are, we know about your father. It was you that killed my partner and your own. It was you that tried to kill me. It is over."
"Everything was going well until she started getting to close."
"She? Dr. Brennan, what was she to close too."
"She was suppose to die too. Charlie stopped me from killing her. I was going back to finish her off, but my father went soft when it came to her. He wanted her; he wanted her for his own. One thing him and my uncle had in common was a weakness for her."
"What was she to close to?"
"She was about to find out our secret."
Booth's phone started to vibrate; he tapped his rifle barrel to answer it. "Booth" he whispered.
"Booth, Angela. Sully sent me a 3D on a skull to try to put a face too and I have tried this every which way from Sunday and I keep coming up with the same face."
"What face?"
"Hackers" Booth sat there for a moment, still watching McClure and Sanders. But no longer hearing. Bones was right again, that skull had been from the limbo box she had tried to point out to him earlier today. "Booth, are you there?"
"Yeah, Thanks Ange." He disconnected the call "Ange just called. The 3D Sully sent to her comes back with the face of Hacker."
Booth broke cover, "It is over Sanders, We have your uncles remains, You and your father killed him didn't you, so your father could be in a position to help the Romano family. Don't make this any harder on yourself."
Sanders turned and saw Sully coming up from behind him with Perotta not far to the side. He turned back and looked at Booth. "You can't take all of us Sanders." Booth yelled. Sanders turned his eyes towards Booth and then Sally. He started to move his gun towards her firing as he bought the gun to face her. Several shots ran out and Sanders fell to the ground motionless. Booth moved in with Perotta covering him, he kicked the gun away from his hand and checked for a pulse.
Booth backed away from the body and started to survey surrounding area. His eyes came to rest on Sally her gun still leveled, her face drained of color, her breathing was borderline hyperventilating. Sully was slowly approaching her talking to her. She turned her eyes towards Sully and started to lower her weapon when the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins caught up to her. Her gun rattled as she shook violently and tears broke free of her eyes.
Sully reached up and gently removed the gun from her hand before he put his arm around her. It was finally over, all those years of building a case to get justice for her dead partner. Maybe now the nightmares would end, the nightmares that transported her back to that night, the night she laid bullet riddled in her own blood, helpless to do anything as Sanders left her there to die. Her eyes remained fixated on Sanders lifeless body, "It's finally over Sully."
She started to tear her eyes away from Sanders body when she saw Booth go down to his knees and then over onto his side. Perotta screamed getting Sully's attention. All three converged on Booth and noticed the grown red stain on the left side of his body. Sully ordered Perotta to get an ambulance there now. "Booth, hold on." Sully found a shot through Booths arm that entered his chest just below his armpit, just above where the Kevlar vest protected him.
"Sully, tell her I am sorry, but I wanted her to be safe."
"You tell her yourself." Sully said as he was removing his own shirt to apply pressure to the wound.
"Tell her I love her."
"Booth, you listen to me, you are going to tell her. You are not letting this bastard win. YOU FIGHT. You fight to stay here with her, she needs you. You hear me, she needs you."
Sweets answered his phone and Brennan watched him. She watched his face pale, his shoulders slump, and his legs appeared to be having a hard time holding him up. She swallowed hard as she felt her heart rate increase and her body started involuntarily shaking. She remembers this feeling, she had it one time before this, the night Booth was shot at the Karaoke club. The night she was led to believe that he died.
She rose from the cot and walked over to the side of the cell trying to hear what was being said. Sweets turned and looked at her and hung up his phone saying nothing. He reached for the keys to her cell. "Dr. Brennan" he began refusing to look at her face as he unlocked the door. "Agent Booth has been shot."
She could have sworn at that very moment everything stopped existing. She couldn't breath, she couldn't see, her heart no longer had the will to continue to beat. The words echoed in her head "Agent Booth has been shot." The words she said to him vibrated in her mind "We are done". She doesn't know how long she stood there when she felt Sweets hand on her arm.
"Come on Dr. Brennan, I will drive you to the hospital."
She numbly walked beside him out to his vehicle. She was fighting to gain control of her emotions; she would be no good to Booth if she was not able to think clearly. She stared out the window of the car, barely hearing the siren, not seeing the scenery. Her emotions had not ruled her since she locked them away all those years ago when her parents left her. They couldn't rule her now, Booth needed her to be strong, he needed her to be her old self, he needed her to be strong and clinical and detached. No he didn't need that, she needed that. She needed that in case the worse … Her thoughts were broken as they pulled into the hospital.
As they walked into the waiting room Sully walked towards Brennan. "He's strong Tempe."
"Wha-What happened?"
"Not sure, Sanders was turning and firing, he got Booth. The bullet went through his arm and entered his chest just below his armpit and just above where the vest was."
"Can I see him?"
"They took him to surgery."
Sully put his arm around her and walked her over to some chairs, "I told him we were done," she mumbled. Sully pulled her into his chest and held her. "I didn't mean it, I was just … just angry."
"He knows you love him and I am sure he knows you didn't mean it."
She pulled back suddenly, "Sully they know he has problems with anesthesia right? They have to be told." She started to push against him to get free. "I need to make sure they know."
"They know Tempe, they know." She looked up into his face. "I know it is hard to just wait, but that is all we can do right now."
The whole Jeffersonian team and one CIA agent took over the waiting area outside of surgery. They all waited in silence for word on Booth's condition, while they were together, they sat separately lost in their own thoughts. Sully stayed close to Brennan, he could see her struggling. While her amnesia had given her a new outlook on life, love, and happiness, it came with a new obstacle. Her love for Booth would not be put in a box on a shelf any longer. She needed to learn how to incorporate it into her life.
Sally sat off in the corner by herself fighting her own demons. While relieved this was over, she felt empty. This had been so much a part of her for so long to have it over felt like something had been ripped from inside of her. She had felt the weight of this case for so long not have it there was alien and in all honesty it petrified her. She looked around the room at this group of people, while there was little interaction they were all there for each other, slight glances asking in silence if they were okay.
She watched Sully keep a vigil on Dr. Brennan, not invading her space, but close enough to give her strength. She had never had friends like these people. She had never let anyone get that close. Sully was the first person she had considered trustworthy enough to call a friend. She could see now she had gauged him right.
