A/N: Almost there kiddies. Don't forget, reviews are my oxygen...

Booth felt his boot skid across the concrete, heard the squeak of rubber and felt his heart drop.

Please God, don't let her have heard that…

He grabbed the back of Hodgins' vest and yanked him through an open doorway. Holding his breath, he heard faint footsteps getting closer. There was a long pause, the silence deafening in his ears, and then those footsteps went away.

Booth sighed heavily, the relief rushing through him. He nodded at Hodgins and raised his gun, moving back out in to the corridor slowly and carefully.

Silently, he moved forward, his ears straining to hear what the familiar voice was saying. There had been a time when he clung to every word that fell from those lips. Now each word filled him with disgust.

He reached the open door and flattened himself against the wall, desperately trying to see what was going on behind the plastic sheeting that waved slightly in the breeze. He could hear Katie clear as day, her angry tone carrying down the corridor.

"Oh dear, poor Temperance... There's no-one to save you now, is there? All alone, they've all deserted you. Nobody wants a killer like you."

Booth's grip tightened round his gun as he shuffled closer to the door.

Don't listen to her, Bones, don't believe a word she says.

"You won't get away with this, Katie. They'll track you down."

The sound of his partner's voice brought a tight smile to his lips, though her strained words worried him. He knew that she was struggling to keep it together. He took another step along, slowly sticking his head carefully round the doorframe as Katie's laughter sent a shiver down his spine.

"There's no such person as Katie Harwood. My name, my real name, is Anne Lappin. And why would they even suspect little old me? You saw to that when you found me hanging in the woods. I'm just another victim. You though, you snapped. I had to shoot you, I had to stop you to save myself. At least, that's what they're going to think when I'm finished."

Booth reached out, slowly moving the plastic sheeting aside as carefully as he could to prevent it making a noise as Katie just kept on talking.

"Just think how easily Booth will fall in to my arms again when you're gone… He doesn't care about you, Doctor Brennan, he never did. That's why he's not here. He doesn't love you, he doesn't care. Nobody does."

He froze at those words, his heart pounding.

Don't listen to her Bones. I'm here, I'm coming.

He slipped through the gap in the plastic sheeting silently, his gun trained on the back of the blonde head as she stood up straight.

"The will of the Lord be done - Acts 21:14."

Booth swallowed hard, trying to control the anger that burned within him at the abuse of his faith, at the abuse of his partner. A glint of metal caught his eye and he saw the gun in the profiler's hand. Moving forward quickly, he tried to ignore the fear that came with the ominous sound of the weapon being cocked.

Outside, the bell began to toll and Booth felt his heart skip a beat as Katie directed the gun right between his partner's wide eyes.

"Time's up."

Behind him, the plastic sheeting rustled, signalling Hodgins entry in to the room. Katie spun round, her eyes narrowed at Booth as she kept the gun trained on the bound and beaten Brennan.

She grinned at him, her eyes glinting in the darkness. Booth swallowed hard. He'd known this woman for years but right now, he didn't even recognise her. He kept his weapon pointed right at Katie's forehead, resisting the overwhelming urge to look at Brennan, to check that she was ok.

"You know I'll kill you before you could ever pull the trigger."

Katie laughed, the gun wobbling in her hand.

"Are you sure you want to test that theory, baby?"

Booth said nothing as she smiled at him. They just stood there, staring and sizing each other up. Eventually, Katie smiled and sighed heavily.

"Oh my poor Seeley. You can't do it, can you? All those years, all those memories, you can't hurt me. You could never kill me. You're not like her, you're not a murderer."

Booth swallowed hard.

"She didn't murder anyone. She shot him to protect me, that's all. Your brother was the bad guy in all of this."

Anger flared in Katie's eyes, her grip tightening on the gun and turning her knuckles white.

"No, she's a killer. You can't change that Seeley, no matter how much you want to. I deserve my revenge. An eye for an eye, I'll get my pound of flesh. And you can't stop me. You know you can't kill me."

He shook his head slowly.

"No, I probably can't."

She smiled again, sending another shiver down Booth's spine.

"That's my boy."

Katie turned her gaze back to Temperance and Booth took his chance, squeezing the trigger as he fired a single round through Katie's hand. The gun flew out of her grasp as she fell to her knees, clutching her bleeding arm to her chest as she screamed. Booth kept the gun trained on her as he stepped forward, his eyes glinting through the darkness.

"Just because I can't kill you, it doesn't mean I can't shoot you."

At the sound of gunfire, the other agents swarmed the room, immediately converging on Katie as Booth rushed to Brennan's side, untying her arms and ankles before wrapping his arms tightly around his partner. She sobbed tears of relief into his shoulder as they watched the agents drag Katie away kicking and screaming.

Booth held his partner tight to his chest, smoothing down her hair as he rocked her gently from side to side, his voice quiet amidst the chaos of the federal agents.

"What she said, Temperance, none of that is true. None of it."

She raised her eyes to his, the panic slowly subsiding.

"I know, Booth. You came for me. You always do."

He smiled at her as reassuringly as he could and she nodded slowly, their faces now just inches apart. Booth cupped her face in his hand, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. She offered up a weak smile through her pain and he felt his heart skip a beat.

Tangled up together on the dusty concrete floor, Booth lost himself in his partner's gaze. All his fears, all his pain, lost in that moment, lost in her eyes. Her lips parted slightly as she stared back at him, her cheeks flushing slightly red at the intenseness of their shared gaze. No-one came close, no-one disturbed them, because as far as the partners were concerned, there was no-one else in the world but them.

Booth swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his ears.

This is it, this is my moment. This is my chance to tell her how I really feel.

He leaned in closer, preparing to speak when he saw a single tear leaving a trail through the dirt on her face. He wiped it away, his heart sinking.

I can't do it, not now. She's hurt and confused. I'd be taking advantage. I can't do that to her.

He pulled her closer, kissing her on the forehead as he wrapped his arms around her again, holding her tight and not wanting to ever let her go again.

There'll be other days, other moments. One day I'll be able to tell her.

One day.

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Booth had torn himself away from Brennan's bedside in the hospital wing, explaining there was something he had to do. Even with all of her team around her, he'd felt her eyes on his back as he left, begging him to come back to her. And he would. Just not yet.

He marched down the corridors and paused outside the interrogation room, swallowing hard. With a steadying breath, he stepped inside.

Nate was sat at the table, signing the reams of paperwork that came with every arrest, another agent watching over him. Booth cleared his throat, nodding to his counterpart.

"Could you give us a minute?"

The agent nodded back and left silently, closing the door behind him. Booth walked slowly to the other side of the desk, sitting in the vacant chair. He locked eyes with his mentor. Nate just smiled.

"How's Temperance coping? I heard you got to her in time. Nicely done."

Booth could barely keep the contempt out of his voice when he replied.

"I know you had something to do with this."

Nate blinked slowly, surprised at the response.

"Is that so… Where's your evidence, Agent Booth? Where's your proof?"

"I don't need proof. I know."

Nate laughed heartily, shaking his head as he got to his feet.

"Funny, I think a jury would need a little more than that. As far as the authorities are concerned, you rightfully took me in to custody because you had no reason to suspect that Doctor Harwood was cooking up the evidence against me, which means I'm free to go."

Booth just stared at him as he crossed the interrogation room, angered at the fact that he couldn't stop him, that he couldn't prove what he knew was true. Nate paused in the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder.

"You're still just a student, Seeley. You can't beat me, you can't win. You never will."

He disappeared down the corridor and Booth could do nothing but watch him go.

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Temperance struggled with her bags, her arm hanging uselessly in the sling. Booth stepped forward, taking her luggage with a smile and placed it in the boot of the SUV.

She looked around the group, all chattering happily amongst themselves, obviously relieved to finally be leaving Quantico. And Brennan was no different. She couldn't wait to be back in the comforting confines of her lab and as far away from Quantico as she could manage.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she turned to find Doctor Reynolds standing there, essentially being propped up by his son. She smiled heartily as she approached them.

"I'm glad to see that you're ok, Doctor Reynolds."

"Same to you, Doctor Brennan. And I must extend my deepest sympathies for what happened here. No-one should have to go through what you did."

She offered up a grim smile as she shook his hand in farewell.

"Thank you for all your help, Doctor Reynolds."

She smiled at his son, who blushed bright red in return as he stammered at her.

"Th-th-thank you for signing my book, D-D-Doctor Brennan."

"It was my pleasure."

She shook his hand and returned to the group, gingerly clambering in to the front seat of the SUV. Booth watched her with a concerned eye.

"You alright there, Bones? Need a hand?"

She glared at him good naturedly.

"You don't need to mother me, Booth. I'm fine."

He flashed her his charm smile as he slipped the keys in the ignition, glancing in the rear view mirror to look at the rest of the team.

"Everybody set?"

Angela sighed happily.

"Just get us out of here, Booth."

He grinned as he started the engine, pulling away from the main building and back down the hill. Brennan smiled slightly as she stared out the window.

And to think I ever doubted that he'd come. He's my partner. He's always there.

Zach and Hodgins' bickering in the back seat pulled her from her thoughts. Glancing at Booth, she expected to find him glaring or about to shout at the terrible twosome. Instead, he just smiled back at her, taking her home.

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Cam watched Doctor Brennan's rag-tag bunch of scientists stroll back in to the lab. They looked like hell. She'd been informed of the dead body they'd found in the lecture hall at Quantico and various agents had kept her up to date with the progress of the investigation, including the moment Doctor Brennan herself had disappeared.

But Booth hadn't rung her, not once.

She watched from her office window as the group dispersed, leaving just Booth and Brennan on the forensic platform. They were talking animatedly despite the obvious exhaustion in their movements. She watched the way Booth looked at his partner and the way she stared back.

He's never looked at me like that. Not once.

As they wandered off towards her office, Cam just watched them go.

They're even closer now, closer than he and I ever were.

Closing the blinds that hung across the window, Cam sighed heavily.

She'd lost him. And she knew this time, he was never coming back to her.