'Parker?' Booth dreamily took a step further into the room, his eyes fixed on the scene before him. His son was tied to a metal chair in the centre of the room, hands tied in front of him, legs bound tightly to the chair with tape, so tight he could see the red marks where the rough tape had rubbed skin off his calfs. His head was bent, and he seemed to be unconscious, but at the sound of the door opening he slowly raised his head to meet Booth's eyes with his own tear-filled brown orbs.

Momentarily frozen, the FBI agent just stared, hardly daring to breathe in case it shattered the image, before he was on his knees before the chair, tearing at the bindings blindly, Parker croaking his name.

'I'm here buddy, I'm here. It's OK.' Booth found himself choking on tears as he folded his boy into his arms, Parker clinging to him like he'd never let go. 'I'm so sorry.' Booth mumbled into the top of his head, as Parker's tears soaked into the shoulder of his shirt.

Parker didn't answer, just let his father's strong arms and words wrap around him like a comforting blanket, sinking into a relieved unconsciousness.

BBBBBBBBBB

Tempe awoke slowly and painfully, almost panicking as she felt something plastic over her mouth. But then her eyes came fully open, and she saw the white ceiling above her, and felt the wires leading from her good arm, and heard the soft blip of her own heartbeat.

Struggling to sit up, she felt a twinge of pain in her right side, and glanced down, automatically putting a hand over the wound. She could feel bandages around her stomach through the hospital gown, and her left arm was wrapped in a sling.

She slowly began to remember what had happened, at the same time as she realised that Booth was slumped in the chair next to her bed, his mouth hanging open, and with a bandage of his own tied around his head. She smiled, opening her mouth to speak, when his eyes fluttered open to rest on her face.

'Tempe?' He sat up quickly, taking her good left hand in his own. 'How are you feeling?'

'Sore. What's wrong with my side?'

'You were shot, Clapham shot you.'

'Where is he?' She couldn't keep the trace of fear out of her voice, but Booth grinned unexpectedly, dark brown eyes flashing.

'He's in court right now. We'll need to hear your statement, but at the very least he's going away for manslaughter.' He sounded extremely pleased with himself.

Then Tempe remembered the reason they had been looking for Clapham in the first place. 'Parker! Is he alright?'

'He's fine, he's at home. The damage was mainly emotional so he's had a shrink talk to him, but he's handling it well.'

'He's a good boy.' Tempe said after a second, and Booth nodded, his face shining with pride. 'And Rod?'

Booth's smile slid off his face. 'He…it's not looking good. They got him to surgery, but he's lost a lot of blood. He's in a critical condition, but he made it this long, so the hardest part's over, but…' He shook his head, and Tempe squeezed his hand impulsively.

'He'll be OK.' She promised, and Booth glanced up at her, trying to smile. He opened his mouth to reply, when the door suddenly burst open, and the Squint Squad tumbled into the room.

'Sweetie! The nurse called and said you were awake! How are you feeling?' Angela swept her up in a careful hug, and Brennan let go of Booth's hand to hug her awkwardly back with her good arm.

'I'm fine, Ange.' She smiled at Angela, Zack, and Hodgins, who were both looking worried - the opposite of Angela, who had a grin plastered across her face.

'I knew you'd be OK.' She said in a way that was somehow scolding and resolute at the same time, meaning she was angry with Brennan for running into danger – again. 'And Booth hasn't left for four days, since you got out of surgery.'

Brennan avoided looking at Booth, who coughed in an embarrassed way before speaking. 'Well I'd better be going, now you're awake.'

'Oh no, no, stay!' Angela said enthusiastically, waving a carrier bag at him. 'We have movies, and Sid fixed us some takeaways. Bren, you can't eat yet, so you can smell the boxes. Yay!'

'Yay.' Echoed Tempe and Booth, but the three visitors were already pulling chairs up to her bed.

'OK which movie first?' Angela tipped half a dozen DVDs onto the bed, and Brennan lay back, a smile forming on her face as her friends began squabbling over movies, letting their familiar voices wash over her as the selected movie finally started. Hodgins and Zack were arguing across her, as usual, and Angela was chattering non-stop.

Brennan thought back to the last thing she remembered before she was shot; entering the steel mill with Rod, and facing Clapham. A stark contrast to the friendly, warm situation she was in now. She began to worry about Rod, but pushed the thought out of her mind. He would be all right. Things always turned out better than you expected them to. She settled down to watch the movie, Booth's comforting warmth on one side, Angela's familiar voice on the other.

She drifted off to sleep halfway through the movie, with the smell of Chinese takeaway and the sound of her friends like a safe wall around her. Everything would be all right, and maybe there was another body waiting for her at the lab. It was a strange thing to comfort her, that maybe someone had died in a mysterious way for her to examine their remains, but the thought that she was at least doing something to identify other people's family and friends made her feel special and loved.

She wasn't aware that as she fell asleep her head fell onto Booth's shoulder, or that he put an arm round her to stop her from slipping, but a smile tugged at her lips as she dreamt. Booth stayed with her long after the others had left, dozing, with his head on the pillow beside her.