A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and the great theories; as far as I know, no-one's got it completely right yet so there should still be a surprise in store this chapter. :) Apologies for the delay too - I'm blaming work and general sleepy-ness. Also blaming that for any typos - late, tired, etc...

Chapter 17 - Fallout

Rationally, Brennan would have attributed it to being stunned by the blow to the head or being in shock from the near-death experience, but whatever the reason, the next few moments seemed to pass in a blur.

Lying on her side on the dirty wood floor, she blinked slowly since the light appeared to flicker as men ran past her. The floor vibrated under the heavy footsteps of the agents as they poured out of the hut in pursuit of those Brennan guessed had tried to run. Shouts of panic, orders to stop, and angry curse words reached her ears in a jumble, while other calm voices repeated the Miranda rights to those who had evidently been caught. Handcuffs were clicked into place, guns were replaced in holsters and sirens accompanied the noise of approaching vehicles outside while Brennan tried to reconcile the fact that she'd been about to die with the development that the hut she'd thought was empty was now swarming with FBI agents.

She let out deep, shuddering breaths, trying hard not to simply break down with relief, and started to move her arms in an attempt to sit up.

Still disoriented, she felt a sudden rush of fear as hands gripped her arms, and for a second she was convinced that the rescue was a figment of her concussed imagination. Panicked, she tried to pull away from the hands, her wrists still bound together behind her back, but was brought back to reality with a jolt as she was held firmly and lifted to a sitting position to look up at her supposed attacker.

"Bones, it's me."

The world seemed to slow back down at this, with Booth's familiar and comforting voice stopping the spinning whirly-gig of color and noise. Her eyes opened fully, traveling up from the floor to his face as he knelt in front of her, his hands on her arms and concern in his eyes as he said soothingly, "It's over, Bones, okay? You're safe."

Blinking back the tears that filled her eyes at this statement, she nodded in comprehension, her voice coming out much weaker than she intended as she whispered, "Booth..."

"It's okay... I'm right here. Everything's going to be okay," he whispered in reply, not taking his eyes off her as he then called to whoever was nearby, "Can someone cut her loose?"

Focused on her partner, Brennan took in the redness around his eye and the thin cut on his neck that she hadn't noticed earlier, barely even realising when an agent sliced through the plastic ties that held her wrists. Her hands fell limply by her sides, her knuckles colliding with the floor and finally making her aware of her new-found freedom.

In seconds, her arms were round Booth's neck in a desperate hug of relief. She felt his arms envelop her as she pressed her body close to his for support and comfort, both of them half-collapsed on the floor and Brennan's head burrowed into his shoulder, choking back the burning tears that threatened to fall. The noise around her faded away, replaced by the slow rise and fall of Booth's chest against her and his reassuring words as he stroked her back gently, "You're alright; everyone's okay. It's over now, it's all over."

Finally getting herself under control, she loosened the hug slightly, their arms still resting together as she sat back and looked at him as though coming back to earth. Registering this, Booth's eyes roamed over her face as he asked with worry, "Are you hurt?"

Despite the aching in her jaw that said otherwise, she shook her head, her voice regaining some of its previous confidence, "I'm fine. They didn't hit me hard."

From the force of the blow that had sent her to the floor, they both knew that her assertion was a lie. Cupping her cheek softly, Booth's fingers traced the reddened mark left by Carlo's fist before wiping away the blood trickling from her split lip. Meeting her eyes, he sighed sadly, sincerity etched into his features as he said quietly, "I'm sorry, Bones."

Shaking her head, her fingers brushed his own developing bruises as she answered honestly, "Don't be. We're both safe, that's all that matters." Her brow wrinkled in confusion as she looked round the hut for the first time, seeing the armed agents and computer screens lighting up the far corner, "Are we safe? How did the FBI know the Dellatos would be here? Have they got enough to arrest them?"

"We've got more than enough."

Surprised by the answer from behind her, Brennan turned to see Cullen standing by the computers with a look of satisfaction on his face and, somewhat incongruously for the austere deputy director, wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a gun.

Still perplexed, she got quickly to her feet, her hand still instinctively entwined with Booth's as she moved over to the older man, looking at the computer screens as she asked tentatively, "You were recording this?"

He nodded. "Full video and audio surveillance all around the hut and back-up units stationed further down the old track. We caught every word, and the bastards had nowhere to run to."

"You were in here the whole time?" Brennan asked in surprise, unconsciously gripping Booth's hand tighter as she remembered all the things that the FBI had sat back and watched.

Cullen nodded, oblivious to the hurt in her voice, "Yes, we heard enough to get the Dellatos for everything. The two brothers said enough to prove their involvement in the attempts on your life and Luca practically owned up to everything that happened to Agent Booth two weeks ago. That, plus we've now got video evidence of assault, and some proof of the threats made to your squints." He smiled, tired but victorious. "They can hire the best damn lawyer in DC and they still won't get off."

Brennan's reeling mind didn't make it past the word "squints" and she immediately began scanning the room for Zach, although not entirely sure what she would do when she found him.

The search of the lit hut didn't take long, and she soon located him loitering nervously by the wall, having found the darkest part of the room to hide in. Leaving Booth to speak to Cullen, she took off toward Zach, still trying to come up with something to say to him.

Zach unknowingly put her out of her misery, however, as he launched into a panicked explanation the second she approached, desperately trying to explain his actions, "I never intentionally betrayed you, Dr Brennan. I was only supposed to work out your location and give it to the Dellatos so that the FBI could catch them here. Other than that I just had to go along with what they wanted so that they didn't shoot me."

The terror in his voice all but erased any feelings of anger toward her assistant, as Brennan realised that his earlier fear was anything but an act. Still curious, she asked with compassion, "But what about your family? I thought you were worried about them being killed?"

The young man shook his head, "I trusted Agent Booth's reasoning. Also it's physically impossible for someone to be in two places at once so if the Dellatos were busy with you, they would be incapable of going to Michigan and harming my family."

Oddly comforted by Zach's logic after an emotionally charged few days, Brennan felt herself relax slightly as she gave her assistant a small smile. "I'm proud of you, Zach. I never thought that you'd perform so well under pressure."

He managed a shaky smile in response, but his face still remained sheet-white as he stammered, "I didn't enjoy the experience, Dr Brennan. Seeing what happened to Agent Booth and what the Dellatos were about to do to you-" He shuddered. "I don't think I ever want to do that again."

She smiled in spite of herself. "I don't think anyone wants to do that again, Zach."

Apparently ignoring her comment, he continued, speaking to himself more than to her, "Even though we had a safety word, there were still a lot of variables that could have interfered, such as being taken to a different location or gagged or killed-"

"Safety word?" she interrupted, her smile fading as a dull realisation began to settle in her stomach.

"Yes, the word was 'porcupine'," he replied simply. "Although I was only supposed to use it if Agent Booth was unable to speak."

"Booth?" she echoed slowly, still refusing to reach the conclusion that was staring her in the face.

"Yes, Dr Brennan," Zach confirmed in his usual, clinical manner. "The whole plan was his idea."

Just as the world had passed in a blur moments earlier, it now seemed to slow to a sickening roll. Every breath in and out shuddered in her chest, and Zach's words and face were distorted by the blood rushing in her ears and the tears blurring her vision. Stunned, she stepped back, wanting to go anywhere that wasn't the increasingly claustrophobic enclosure of the hut, but was again held in place by Booth's hands on her arms.

This time, however, there was no weak struggle, and she wrenched herself away from him, backing away and feeling anger rise at the confusion on his face as he asked, "Bones? What's the matter?"

Too beaten and exhausted to launch a tirade, she just met his eyes, keeping out of his reach as she said quietly, betrayal lacing every word, "You knew."

Fixing her eyes on his face, she could see the thoughts pass briefly through his eyes, debating whether to feign ignorance, lie, or come clean. She felt vaguely vindicated when his gaze dropped guilty to the floor, clearly choosing the latter option as he spoke softly, "I was going to tell you."

"When? After the Dellatos had gouged out my eyes? Or were you waiting till after they cut my tongue out too?" Her questions were bitter, but not angry, as though she was too hurt to even muster rage. Swallowing hard, she asked coldly, "When did you do all this, Booth? Was this all part of some grand plan; get me to run away with you so that you could use me as bait in your trap?"

"Bones, it wasn't like that-" he began, taking a step toward her. She purposefully moved back, and he stopped, getting the message and now standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room as he tried helplessly to explain himself. "I didn't know what else to do. This was the only way I could-"

"When did it start?" she repeated, wanting answers more than excuses.

Dropping his head in shame, he finally answered honestly, "It started when you got the phone call from the squints yesterday. I told Hodgins and Angela that they didn't have to worry about their families, but there was no guarantee that Zach's family would be safe unless we came up with another plan."

"And you didn't tell me? I was out of the patio when you were planning all this and you didn't even think to-" She took a deep breath before asking again without emotion, "What did you do?"

"Bones, I-"

"What did you do, Booth?" she repeated icily. "What was the plan?"

"I called Cullen when I went into the woods yesterday afternoon," he responded, now adopting an equally business-like tone. "He set up a SWAT and video surveillance team in here this morning, and told them it was a drug bust so that word wouldn't get back to the Dellatos before now. Zach found where they were living and told them our location, and when they arrived at the cabin, I was supposed to get them to come to this hut so that we could catch them in the act."

Brennan's mouth fell open at the possible risks involved in the plan. "That was your plan? What if Zach had been killed? What if they'd killed us before we even got to the hut? If Zach found their hiding place, why couldn't the FBI just arrest them there?"

His eyes snapped back up to hers, confident in his own plan, and he explained briefly, "They wouldn't have killed Zach until they'd found us; he was too valuable. In the same way, they wouldn't have killed me before making sure they'd caught you, and I knew you could make it to the hut with the head-start that we had." He offered her a brief smile, only to be met with a stony glare. Smile vanishing, he finished, "We didn't have enough to charge them with if we'd arrested them back in DC; they'd only have been released and then they'd have come after you again. We needed to get solid proof of what they'd done, which is why I let it go on for so long outside."

"I thought they were going to kill you," she said, a lone tear escaping down her cheek. "Your ankle, the knife... Do you have any idea what it was like for me to watch that? And now you're telling me you could've stopped it at any time?"

"I didn't want to stop it before we got all we needed," he answered bluntly. "Luca was practically confessing to everything and I needed to make sure we could get enough on Tony and Carlo as well. If I thought they were actually going to kill me, I would've called the safety word."

"What about me, Booth?" she asked again, tears now falling more frequently. "Didn't I deserve to know what was going on? Shouldn't I have been allowed to stop it if it went too far?"

His eyes lifted to meet hers. "I would never have let anything happen to you. If they hadn't gone into the hut when I started shouting, I would've stopped it anyway before they hurt you."

"But I didn't know that," she said quietly, hurt now more audible than anger. "I didn't know what you were planning, or that we'd be safe. I thought they were going to kill me." Her voice finally cracked with tears of betrayal and fear as she whispered, almost ashamed, "I was scared, Booth..."

His own eyes glistening with tears, he took a step forward, reaching out in a last-ditch effort of reassurance, "I know, Bones, and I'm so sorry... It'll help the prosecution if you didn't know, and I couldn't risk them picking up on anything between us if I'd told you what was going on-"

He stopped, seeing Brennan raise her eyebrows in tearful disbelief. Her voice tinged with disgust, she said slowly, "You wanted it to look real? That's why you didn't tell me, so that you could see the look on my face when I thought they were going to rip out my eyes?"

Unable to find the right response, Booth moved closer to her again, saying pleadingly, "Bones..."

"No."

She didn't move, but the single word somehow magnified the distance between them even more. Meeting his eyes, she countered his begging gaze with a hard stare, her mouth tightening into a thin line as the tears stopped falling. Veiling any remaining emotion behind cold, distant eyes, she turned, walking slowly and decisively out of the hut. Her stride was one of simple rejection rather than melodramatic self-pity, leaving Booth no choice but to stay silent, fully aware that he had no right to demand anything from her, least of all forgiveness.

Reviews, and views in general, much appreciated, and next chapter should be the last. Regarding Booth's cunning plan, if you go back and read chapters 12 onwards, you should hopefully be able to see where it fitted in (but wasn't narrated for obvious reasons.) Thanks for reading!