Booth's head snapped up as he heard a familiar voice, almost thinking it was his imagination playing tricks. But then he heard her shout with pain, and looked around hastily for a door, seeing one a few yards to his left and almost crashing through it, then hearing another voice that sent chills down his neck.
'On your knees.' Said Clapham as Booth cracked the door open as quietly as he could, relief and worry flooding through him in equal measures as he saw his Bones, and that young agent, Rod, kneeling with their backs to him, Clapham standing over them holding something familiar.
So he didn't kill him. He thought, confused. Why not? Why kill kids but then leave a real threat alive and hurt? He was more than crazy, more than drunk on the power of life over death; he was doing all this for a reason. But what was it?
'What have you don't to Booth? Where is he?' Bones was shouting, and Booth almost ran in there and then, to show her he was alright, but he knew there was less chance of her survival if he intervened now. He nearly smiled when he saw that Bones was still wearing her blue lab coat, but fear and worry quickly overcame the warm rush of emotion.
His mind was whirling. He had no idea how he was supposed to save Bones and Parker, and now there was Rod as well, who didn't look up to much.
'Don't worry your pretty little head about it.' Clapham sneered, and from where he was standing Booth saw the contempt on his face as he leaned in towards her. Booth ground his teeth, suppressing the urge to clonk him over the head with something heavy. And then something happened that he would never forget.
One moment Bones was kneeling, staring defiantly up at her kidnapper, the next she had hurled herself forwards towards him. Her shoulder caught Clapham's stomach, sending him sprawling with her landing on top of him. A shot rang out, and Booth, who had been edging sideways into the room, hit the ground as the bullet clanged into the wall where his head had been. Bones didn't see him; she was busy scrabbling for the dropped gun, Clapham trying to hold her back.
Booth jumped to his feet as Clapham grabbed the gun, Bones straining to stand up. But she was barely on her feet before she was thrown backwards, the sound of the gunshot ringing through the vast room.
Booth threw himself forwards, knocking him over, at the same time grabbing his gun from the killer's hand. He sat astride Clapham's chest, knees pinning his arms to the floor, one hand clamped on Clapham's throat, the other holding the gun to the side of his head.
'Rod!' The single word revived the young agent from his half-consciousness; he realised he must have hit his head when he tackled Clapham. Looking up, he saw his fellow agent Booth grappling with the enemy, but he seemed to be in control, and as he shouted his name again Rod saw Dr. Brennan lying a few feet away, a pool of blood quickly widening around her.
'Oh my God!' Rod scrambled over to her, trying to stop the flow with his hands without hurting her.
'Use your shirt!' Booth was yelling, and Rod hastily ripped off his already bloody shirt and held it over the wound. 'Apply pressure!'
Rod pressed down hard on the balled-up shirt, and blood quickly soaked through the cloth to stain his hands, dripping onto the floor and drenching the knees of his pants, but he didn't let go. Brennan was making small noises of pain through her clenched teeth, eyes shut tight so no tears could escape. Rod felt horrible; he must be putting her through so much pain by applying pressure, but he knew it was the right thing to do, and Booth had stopped shouting. At him, anyway.
'Where is Parker?' He yelled in Clapham's face. The man leered up at him, surprisingly unafraid for someone with a gun to his temple, but Booth didn't care; he would be afraid soon enough. He jabbed the pistol at his head, and repeated the question. 'Where is he? What have you done to him?'
Clapham didn't answer, a grin twisting his grimy face, but his eyes flicked towards Booth's right, so fast he thought he'd imagined it. But he glanced sideways anyway, just in case, holding the barrel of the gun tight against Clapham's jaw.
There, in the shadow of two huge machines, was a small metal door, almost invisible in the darkness. Booth inadvertently squeezed the trigger of the gun, and was surprised to hear a click to indicate the clip was empty. His stomach dropped to his feet as his enemy's smile widened, showing his small sharp teeth.
He began to say something, but Booth knew enough. He flipped the gun over in his hand, smashed the butt hard against Clapham's head, and smiled in satisfaction as the killer slumped sideways, a bruise already forming on his temple. Booth hoped he hadn't killed him for the sake of the agency, but only for a second, before he was on his feet, running to kneel beside Bones.
'Bones?' He said, dreading what he would find as he felt under her jaw for her pulse. Almost fainting in relief as he felt a fluttering heart beat under his fingers, he quickly pulled off his jacket and carefully slid it under her head.
Rod watched all this, looking very pale and scared, pressing his sodden shirt on Bones' side, leaving no hands free to stop his own bleeding.
'I'll take it from here.' Booth shifted his hands to the cloth, nudging the wavering Rod out of the way. 'Check him, he should have my cell phone. Call the medics for you and Bones.'
As soon as the other agent was out of the way, Booth leaned over Bones again, fear knotting his stomach. 'Bones? Wake up.' She didn't reply, didn't even show she'd heard. He checked her pulse again, but the same weak beat was still there. '…Temperance?' He whispered. 'Tempe, I -'
'Booth?' He suddenly heard Rod say quietly, and looked up quickly to see the agent swaying slightly on his feet, holding Booths cell in a bloody hand. 'They're on their way.'
'Good.' Booth got slowly to his feet, head pounding. 'You watch Tempe. I'll get my son.'
He crossed to the small metal door, a hundred horrible images of what he would find inside flashing through his mind. But when he opened, the door, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw…