AN: Hey there guys. We have some more case information in this chapter, and some other stuff as well. I'm getting to some really good, heavy, rip your heart out, stomp on it and put it back information about Booth… but you'll have to wait for the next chapter to read it. Until then, please enjoy this chapter.

"Did the sketch bring any hits?" Booth drove to the hospital with Max as he spoke to his liaison agent in Flint.

"As a matter of fact, it did. Our man is Joey Pirelli, a known associate of Antonio Costello. That's not all."

"His name came up when searching hospitals for gun shot victims."

"Exactly."

"Where is he now?"

"He's still admitted to Hurley Medical Center, and will be transferred to the county jail tomorrow."

"Damn. Could you have some agents posted there? I don't want him to slip through our fingers. The Costellos have already retaliated for their buddy getting shot, and the gunshot victims are also at Hurley."

"Yeah, I saw that on the news. Is everyone okay?"

"Two people were wounded. It could have been much worse though; there were children all over the place."

"Alright, well you keep up your end, and I'll keep up mine." The agents got off the phone, and Booth turned to Max.

"The man who attacked you last night is still in the hospital, so if you go anywhere besides Bones' room without me, you're dead, got it?"

"Booth, I promise I won't do anything, this time."

"Max…"

"I'm not going to do anything illegal, okay? I swear. I'm not going to do anything that will take me away from my family again." Booth chanced a look at the ex-con and could see the truth of the statement there. He gave a brief nod before turning back to the road.

"How did we get mixed up in all of this?"

"I don't know about you, but my place in it is an open book. I just don't know why they're after me. I wasn't going to be testifying against anyone. At least not until now I suppose."

"You were seen by one of the family at my wedding. I guess all the effort I made to protect Temperance from this mess backfired."

"I don't know. Something about the situation bothers me. I've thought about what you said earlier, and you're right. Salvatore got very close to my daughter, not in any inappropriate way mind you, and I don't think he would do anything that would cause Temperance hurt, including going after the agent hell bent to bring his family down."

"There's a power play in the works here I think, and I don't like it at all. I'm missing something, but I'm not sure what."

"It'll come to you Booth, I know it."

"Yeah, well I hope you're right. I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of this whole mess." Booth pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and the two men got out of the SUV, heading inside.

XxXxX

"Well Dr. Brennan, you're one lucky woman. That bullet just grazed you," said the doctor attending to Temperance. She scowled at them as they stitched up the wound on her arm. Her headache was diagnosed as a mild concussion, and continued to pound in time with her heartbeat. At the knock on the door to the hospital room, she looked up and smiled in relief.

"Is it safe to come in?" Booth peeked his head into the room and offered her a slight smile.

"Booth, thank goodness. I'm not going to be here for too much longer am I?" Brennan directed the last part of her question to the doctor.

"Not at all," he said as he finished up the last of the stitches. "You'll just need to fill out your release papers and you're done. I'm going to give you a prescription for the pain, only take it if you need it." With that, he finished up and left the room. Booth entered with Max on his heels. Before anyone said anything, he had her in his arms and his lips on hers. The kiss was in no way tentative; instead it was filled with overwhelming relief. Max looked away as the kiss continued, finally clearing his throat as a reminder that he was still in the room.

"You had me so worried," Booth sighed before kissing her again.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I'm not seriously hurt."

"Don't give me that, Bones. You were laid out when I got to the house. That's not fine, and you know it."

"And if it hadn't been for Gavin, it would have been much worse. How is he? Have you heard anything bout his condition?" She hopped off the examination table and grabbed her coat.

"He's still in surgery, but as soon as he's lucid again, I'll be talking to him. I'm hoping he'll have some information on that car."

"I want to come back with you."

"I can't let you in the interview this time Temperance, you realize that right?"

"I know, but I need to thank him." Booth nodded and pulled her in close to his body. She dropped her head onto his shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes. An intern came in with the release forms, clearing his throat quickly.

"Just sign these and you're good to go." Brennan pulled away from Booth and quickly took care of her paperwork. "Oh, and Agent Booth, the patient you asked about? His surgery is just about wrapped up. There wasn't too much damage, just a lot of blood lost. You might want to stick around if you want to speak with him."

"Thank you." Booth looked at his companions as they left the room. "Anyone up for some hospital food?"

"You just want the pudding." Brennan smiled teasingly at him before he bumped his shoulder playfully into her good arm.

"Right now, pudding sounds great," Max said, sealing the deal. The trio headed for the elevator to go to the cafeteria and wait out Gavin's anesthesia.

XxXxX

Gavin blinked wearily as he came to. His shoulder throbbed, and he became aware of a presence in the room with him. Slowly, he looked to the chair by his bedside and frowned.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have a few questions about the drive-by," Booth answered as he pulled out a pen and a pad of paper.

"What's it to you? That's a police matter."

"Exactly, and as the FBI agent in charge of the case, I have a few questions for you."

"You're with the FBI? Well, that explains a lot then."

"Did you happen to see what type of car it was that the shooter was in?"

"Well, it was black, but that's about all I can tell you. I did catch the license plate number."

"The car was driving fast down the street and you managed to catch the license plate number?"

"If it can be used for identification purposes, you'll find I have great memory retention of the item."

"Okay then, what was the license plate number?"

"Three November Yankee nine six six." Booth's eyebrows shot up.

"You were in the military?"

"Seventy fifth Ranger Infantry Battalion."

"Rangers lead the way," Booth muttered. The two locked eyes for a moment before Booth brought the conversation back to where he needed it. "What exactly happened today?"

"I went to the house to speak to Temperance about something. Turns out they were false accusations, but I felt it important to speak to her about it. She asked me to leave and as I was heading down the front steps, I saw the car barrel around the corner. It probably wouldn't have bothered me except that I saw the glint of a gun barrel as sunlight reflected off of it. I realized the shooter was aiming for Temperance and took action. I ran back up the stairs and knocked her to the ground as they began to fire at us."

"Did you see anyone clearly in the car?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well thank you for your help Gavin. If I have anything else I need to speak about with you, then I'll get back in touch."

"Of course. Booth, before you go…why do you have a kill list?" The FBI agent froze in his place. He should have known this was coming.

"Do you still have the list with you?"

"No. I gave it to Temperance. Is she okay?"

"For the most part. How did you get that list?"

"It was stuck to my pants yesterday. I think I sat on it. Why do you have it?"

"I was a sniper for the army, and then for the FBI before becoming a special agent. It's a list of my targets so I can remember who I was and atone for the people I've had to take out," Booth commented warily. This certainly wasn't something he wanted to discuss, especially considering that Brennan was the only other person who knew about the list.

"You have a strange sense of honor Agent Booth."

"It's what gets me through the day sometimes." Booth stood up and turned to the doorway. He heard Gavin yawning as he left, and found Temperance standing outside the room. She looked at him, concern evident in her features.

"Are you okay Booth?"

"Just a little worn out. How about you?"

"The same I think." Booth placed his arm around her shoulders and guided her away from Gavin's room. "We'll come back tomorrow Bones. Let him sleep for now." Temperance looked back at the doorway once, but made no comment as she left with Booth. She'd see him tomorrow. She could thank him then.

XxXxX

Temperance couldn't sleep as she tossed and turned in bed. The incidents of the day were coming back to her making it impossible for her mind to shut down. Unable to stand the restlessness any longer, she climbed out of bed and made her way down the hallway to Booth's room. She paused for a moment outside the door before opening it and stepping inside.

"Couldn't sleep Bones?" Booth was sitting up against the headboard and flipping through a small, leather-bound book.

"No, and it looks like you couldn't either." Without another word, Booth moved over and pulled back the covers. Brennan climbed in next to him and glanced once at the little book.

"What's that?"

"This?" Booth tossed the book onto his nightstand and closed his eyes. "It's just a book."

"It's and odd looking book, kinda small." Brennan reached over toward the book, but Booth stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Please," he said, his voice taking on a hoarse quality, "Don't. That's not something I want you to see."

"Why not Booth? What is it really?"

He didn't say anything for a long moment, and instead he ran a hand over his face. He wasn't sure if he could explain, or even if he wanted to. He grabbed the little book again and fingered the pages as he would a deck of cards. Finally he looked back over at Brennan, his expression serious.

"It's my kill book." He watched her face carefully, waiting for the look of horror to appear there.

"What's a kill book?" She raised a delicate eyebrow, looking at him in genuine puzzlement.

He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, settling down onto his pillow and took a deep breath before speaking. "It's a list of all the people I've killed," he shrugged. "It has all the information on every kill I've made. I can tell you what the weather was like, where I was, what the target was wearing, even what they were doing that day." Booth closed his eyes again, trying to avoid seeing the look of disgust she'd sure to be wearing, but instead he felt her lay her head down on his shoulder and wrap an arm around him.

"Tell me."

"What?" He opened his eyes to look at her. He was met by an expression of concerned interest.

"Read it to me." Their eyes locked for a long moment and Booth gave the slightest of nods. Squirming a little to get comfortable and taking a deep breath, he opened the book and began to read.