Booth felt like he was crawling out of his skin as he made his way to the hospital. His eyes couldn't stop overflowing with tears. Were they tears of anger? Relief? Love? He couldn't place the feeling. All he knew is that he needed to see Bones. He felt like his entire group of friends had lied to him. He had trusted Cam and Sweets and they used him and his grief.

For the past three days, his best friend, his partner, the love of his life was dead. He couldn't speak to her, he couldn't hold her. She was gone. But she's not dead. He tried to remind himself. The traffic to the hospital only made him angrier. How could she let me suffer like this? He asked himself, but then remembered Cam's words. She had no choice.

For the past three days, he had flashbacks of Bones' face as she lay on the diner floor. Her eyes glazed over as she called out to him, telling him not to leave her. She thought I was leaving her. He thought to himself. He had watched the life drain out of her. The vibrancy he loved so much slowly leaked away. Then she was gone.

At night he would curl up and sob.

"Seeley, you need to let me in." Cam's voice rang through the door, but he was in a haze.

"Go away, Camille." He responded, his voice despondent. He didn't need anyone to see him like this. He could hear the clicking of Cam's heels retreating down his hallway and the sound of the elevator. He finally let out a sigh. He just wanted to be alone.

He had lost friends in the war, right in front of him. So why was this any different? He tried to ask himself. His phone rang. Pops. Trying to put on his most chipper voice, he answered.

"Heyya, Pops, what do I owe the pleasure?" His eyes were already filled with tears. Pops loved Brennan. Booth thought.

"Oh just checking in on my grandson. How's that little lady of yours?" His grandfather's voice rang through the phone. Booth couldn't bring himself to say the words, he took a swig of Jameseon.

"Uh, Temperance? She and I aren't working together right now." Booth mumbled, causing Hank Booth to sigh.

"What did you do, son? She's a great girl, I don't know why you constantly try to annoy her. This isn't some schoolyard crush, no pulling pigtails." Hank chastised his grandson. He could hear the break in his voice and wondered if Seeley had done something wrong.

"I didn't do anything." He said. I should've stood in front of the bullet, but I didn't do anything. He thought to himself. But he couldn't tell Hank what happened. He couldn't tell him that Brennan was gone, because then it was real, there was no coming back.

"Well, regardless, go march yourself to her house and apologize. You might not think you did anything, but knowing you and your lunkhead, you did something." Hank chuckled, which caused a smile to grace Booth's face for the first time in 24 hours. "You know I have a special place in my heart for Temperance, she's a different kind of girl. Just what you need." Hank expected his grandson to groan at this, Seeley always did in the past. Seeley would tell Hank that they were just partners, that there was nothing more to it, that Temperance didn't believe in love. But he just heard a soft sob from the other side of the phone. "Seeley, what happened, my boy?"

"Oh, nothing, Pops, just got a stupid piece of dust in my eye." Hank sighed at Seeley's lie.

"Well, I'll let you go. I love you."

"I love you too, Pops." Booth hung up the phone and broke down. Hank and Parker had grown to love Bones, she had been connected in so many ways to Booth, that he didn't know how he was going to tell them. Turning off his phone, he padded his way to the bedroom. There he curled up on the bed.

Brennan had stayed over at his place a few nights before the shooting. They had worked late on a case and he had offered to let her crash. She slept on the couch in one of his old FBI t-shirts and a pair of baggy sweatpants. Now Booth got up off the bed and went to the closet where they were still sitting in his hamper. Without a second thought, he threw them on. Her scent, vanilla and spice, filled his nostrils. For the first time in 24 hours, he could breathe. It was like she was hugging him.

He crawled back into bed and laid there, his eyes closed, just breathing in her familiar scent. The next morning, the scent had faded and Booth could only cry.

Snapping out of his flashback, he saw the signs for the hospital. He contemplated turning on his sirens to get there faster. He just needed to see her. Then they would be having a long talk about how this is never allowed to happen again. His phone buzzed. Angela.

"Booth." He answered.

"Are you at the hospital yet?" Angela's voice was small. He could hear Hodgins in the background. Ask if he's seen Brennan yet. Then he heard Zack. So she's been alive this entire time? Why wouldn't they tell us? They told Max and Russ. Hodgins again. The government has been covering up things for years, we should've questioned it more that they wouldn't let us see the body. The fact that Cam didn't perform the autopsy at the Jeffersonian, major red flag. Booth could only roll his eyes. The squints were theorizing, which he had told them a million times not to do, but of course, Hodgins had gone full Illuminati conspiracy the moment Booth left the cemetery.

"Ange, I'm pulling into the parking lot of the hospital now. I'll make sure I have her call you the moment I get in there." Booth responded, hearing a sigh of relief.

"Booth, they might not let you in. If they're guarding her like Cam says-" Angela began, but Booth interrupted.

"That's never stopped me before." He muttered and Angela laughed for the first time in days.

"I should've known, Agent Studly would be on the case." It felt good to hear Angela laugh again, to hear the relief in the squints' voices. He still felt an enormous amount of anger toward Camille, but he knew that she was doing her job. He just needed to see Bones, his Bones.

Jumping out of the car, he didn't even care if he locked the doors. He sprinted toward the hospital. She was within reach now.

-BB-

Bones sat in her hospital room, the television her only distraction, as she recited different bones of the body in her head. She had spoken at length with her doctors, they agreed that allowing her to leave tomorrow would be alright. She yearned for the comfort of her own bed and food that didn't taste slightly sterile. She was about to press the call button to request more water when the door practically swung off the hinges.

"Sir, only authorized personnel are allowed in there." A frantic nurse called out.

"What part of FBI don't you understand?" Booth's voice responded and Brennan stiffened. Her eyes shot toward the door. It felt like deja vu from her time in New Orleans. But this time, the bags under Booth's eyes were evident. His gaze seemed to drink her in.

"Bones." Was the only thing he said before he sprinted to her and wrapped his arms around her tiny body. He breathed in her hair. Even after surgery, her vanilla spicy scent filled his brain. Pulling back, he searched her eyes. "Don't do that to me again. Don't … just don't." He tried to stop the tears from pooling and pulled her back into his embrace. He felt her melt into his touch and sighed. Like two puzzle pieces, they fit perfectly.

"I tried to call you, but Sweets took the phone away. I even bribed Max, but he said no." She mumbled into Booth's shirt. He had been planning to throw out this suit after her funeral, but now he was holding her and it was the greatest gift. He tried to curb the frustration in his stomach at Sweets and Max for withholding her from him. Pulling back once more, he looked into her blue eyes. They were brighter than his last memories of her, but then he noticed the dark circles. He pulled back further, wincing at the loss of heat, but he needed to survey her.

Brennan was pale, paler than usual. He noticed the bandages peeking from below her hospital gown. Broken ribs. He cataloged the injuries. There was a bruise on her arm around the IV. He knew that the stitches from the bullet wound were covered by the gown, but they were there, probably red and angry with inflammation. There was a bandage on her knee and ankle. He looked at it and as if reading his mind, Bones spoke.

"Sprained ankle, they believe I twisted as I fell, and the knee is only scratched, but they were concerned with any type of infection after the surgery." Her voice was raspier than usual, as if she hadn't spoken for a while. She probably hasn't spoken for a while. Booth thought to himself. She wasn't allowed to see many people, the guards were on the outside of the door. "How's Angela?" She asked and the concern in her voice made the tears well up once more in Booth's eyes.

"She's happier now knowing you're okay." He murmured and Bones looked at her hands in her lap.

"I wanted to tell her, I wanted to tell you, but they kept saying no. Was Zarakowski apprehended?" She sounded small. Booth held her hand, rubbing his thumb along the knuckles.

"Well she's expecting a call from you, here, you can use my phone." He reached in his pocket and handed it to her. "Zarakowski went down without much of a fight. The agents tackled him against the pavement." Their voices filled the quiet hospital room, Bones could only nod before taking the phone and unlocking it. Hitting the call button, he could hear Angela's muffled cries as Bones talked to her.

"They were able to reconstruct the rib fractures and extract the bullet." Her matter-of-fact tone was on full display. But Booth didn't miss the fear in her eyes. She was trying to compartmentalize the shooting, the injuries, but he could hear Angela.

"I asked if you were okay, I don't care about the bones, sweetie, how are you feeling?" She emphasized the words as she spoke. Angela was the only one, outside of Booth, that could get a genuine gauge on Brennan's emotions and right now, she was faltering. She was trying to go back behind her walls, like she did after the Gravedigger took her, after her parents' left, after Kenton abducted her. But Angela and Booth wouldn't let that happen. She had been alone for three days, being told that everyone she ever cared for thought she was dead, they had to show her just how happy they were that she was back.

"Well I should be able to go back to work in the next couple days." Brennan rattled off, which took Booth out of his trance.

"To hell you're going back to work in a couple days." He muttered, he looked at Bones, who shot him an annoyed look.

"I am perfectly capable of working at my desk." This only caused more frustration from Booth.

"Bones, you were shot, we thought you died." Angela's breathing hitched on the other end of the phone. It was hard to come to terms that Brennan had been dead to them for three days.

"I am well aware of the covert operation that took place." Brennan mumbled before putting the phone back up to her ear and putting up a finger to Booth, as if to silence him. As if nothing had happened, Booth threw his hands up in the air in frustration at his partner. There she was in all her glory, making him want to punch a hole in the wall, and he loved it. He missed it. She was still there, trying to convince Angela to let her work in a couple days, promising she would buy Angela some dress they had seen while shopping last Saturday. She's really bribing her best friend so that she can go into the lab and look at bones. She will be the death of me. Booth thought with a grin.

He watched on, but couldn't help the anger that continued to course through him. Anger that he had missed three days of her recovery. Anger that he wasn't there when she woke up from surgery. Was she all alone? Wondering where everyone went? Did she think we abandoned her? Booth felt his hands clenched into fists. Cullen had let Brennan wake up after almost dying without anyone there. Maybe a nurse, but no familiar faces. He thought. He remembered how Cam had driven him home that first night. His clothes still covered in blood, his eyes glazed over.

"I'm so sorry, Seeley." She whispered. Placing a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off. If it wasn't Bones' touch, he didn't want it. She's gone. She didn't make it. He kept having to remind himself. They had driven Zack and Sweets home. Sitting in front of his building, he reached in his pocket for his keys and pulled them out.

Brennan's apartment key glinted in the streetlight. They had exchanged keys ages ago. He traced it with his finger. What will happen to her stuff? Will they sell her place? His thoughts wandered.

"Seeley, do you want me to come up with you?" Cam's quiet voice broke through his trance.

"No. I just need to be alone." He mumbled, climbing out of the car. He knew that Cam wanted to comfort him as a friend, but he just felt wrong accepting a hug or a shoulder from anyone when Bones was gone. Her body lying cold in a morgue.

As he unlocked his door, he felt the emptiness of his apartment take over him. He usually loved coming home after a long day. Throwing off his coat and turning on the television to fill the silent air with noise. But tonight, he relished in the silence. As if giving reverence to a fallen soldier. He pulled off the leather jacket he was wearing and walked to his bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he saw the bags under his eyes, then his gaze trailed down to the large bloodstain on his jeans and t-shirt. Bones. He thought. His mind flashed an image of her frantic eyes as she reached out for him. He could hear the screams around the diner, but all he saw was her face, scared, panicked, fearful.

Peeling off the clothes, he saw the cross hanging from his neck. You took her from me. He looked up at the ceiling, as if squaring up God. You did this. Why? You give your toughest battles to your strongest soldiers? Haven't I suffered enough? Hadn't she suffered enough? Why couldn't you have let us be happy? She was fucking happy! She was singing and dancing and enjoying life for a moment and you ripped her away. He ranted at the ceiling. For the first time in years, he took the cross off and set it in the dish next to his sink. Usually, his relationship with God kept him sane, he looked to God as a guiding light, but right now, he only felt rage.

Looking at the clothes on the floor, he didn't know what to do with them. Burn them? He thought before shaking his head. Would it be evidence? He questioned. Do I just throw them away? He kept wondering before showering and tossing on a new pair of boxers and crawling into bed. That night his sleep was marred by images of Bones, calling out to him, asking him to stay with her, asking where he was going, telling him not to leave. Her eyes plagued his mind as he held her, telling her he was right there, he wasn't going anywhere. The trauma replaying on loop as he flitted in and out of sleep.

Now he saw her eyes. Brighter, full of life. She hung up the phone after promising to stay awake until Angela got to the hospital. Looking at Booth, she smiled.

"Everyone is going to stop by." She murmured. She was excited to see her friends, her pseudo family, who she hadn't been able to see since she woke up. The last memories she had were their scared faces as they tried to stop the bleeding, before it all faded away. Brennan just wanted to see everyone again.

"Dr. Brennan, I see we have a visitor." Her doctor came in to check vitals. "Sir, you have to check in with the front desk." He directed his attention to Booth, who scowled.

"I'm not leaving, I can fill out paperwork here, if that's what you need." Booth responded, not even trying to hide his displeasure at being told to step out of Brennan's room.

"Well I do need to look at Dr. Brennan's wounds, which would involve a certain state of undress, so why don't you go outside in the hallway to allow us some privacy." The doctor's tone was snarky, which didn't settle for Brennan or Booth. Before Booth could protest, Brennan spoke up.

"It's fine, we are partners, we've seen each other in compromising ways, Dr. Timon. Booth can stay if he wishes." Booth smirked at the doctor, who shrunk at Bones' commanding tone.

The physical examination started with undressing her ankle and examining the bruising, Booth craned his neck to check it out. They then moved to a couple bandages at her knee and arm. Bones was right that the knee was just a scrape, but he watched as the nurse dressed the wound carefully.

Brennan's hospital gown was more of a robe, with a tie toward the front for easier access to the gunshot wound in her chest. Booth's eyes widened as he watched Bones begin to untie the strings holding it together. He wanted to look away to provide her with privacy, but he was curious as to the extent of the wound. She loosened the front enough to provide the doctor access to the bandage in the center of her chest.

Slowly taking off the bandage, the doctor looked over his shoulder. "Will you be staying with Dr. Brennan after she is released?"

Booth didn't even think before responding. "Yes." He would deal with Brennan later.

"Oh well then this might be good for you to watch, she needs to place multiple ointments on the area in a specific order after cleaning and before redressing the area."

"It's three ointments, and considering I have multiple post-doctorate degrees, it's really not that difficult to remember." Bones responded and Booth couldn't stop the grin on his face. There's my girl. He thought without backtracking. She had become his, whether either of them liked it or not.

"How do you want me to clean the wound?" Booth asked and the doctor smiled at him. Showing him step by step how to clean, prep, and redress the wound. Booth saw the circular wound and felt a shiver run through his spine. He thought about how such a small wound could completely break apart his entire world. The wound was now covered once more, but that didn't stop his brain from thinking about it. The angry red edges, the dried blood, it should scare him, but if anything it elated him. All of those things meant she was alive. She had survived. He was breathing again because she was sitting in front of him, a glare on her features after being told she couldn't return to work for at least a week and that she would have to be under constant surveillance.

"I don't believe he knows what he's talking about." Bones said after he left the room, causing Booth to chuckle.

"He was top of his class at Johns Hopkins. I trust his medical advice." Booth replied, getting another glare from Bones. He didn't care, she was glaring, she was alive.

-BB-

The Jeffersonian family had visited in the couple days since Brennan's 'funeral.' All were excited and beyond happy to see the scientist. Brennan listened intently as Angela talked about a new brunch spot she wanted to check out, Hodgins had gone full conspiracy theorist and gotten himself shushed, and Zack had brought a library of books to keep Brennan occupied. They talked non-stop, filling the hospital room with voices and laughter. Brennan had to demand Booth go home after he attempted to sleep in his suit.

"I told you, you are not to leave my sight." Booth reprimanded Bones as she crossed her arms over her chest. They had been bickering about him going home for the better part of an hour.

"No one can hurt me, there are guards outside my door 24 hours a day. You need to change out of those clothes AND sleeping in a chair is not good for your back." Brennan argued and Booth threw his hands up in the air. A nurse who was checking vitals smirked.

"You two act like an old married couple and that's coming from a person who has been married for 35 years." Booth smiled at her.

"And would your husband leave you alone in a hospital room after thinking you'd been dead for three days?" He asked and Bones' mouth dropped open.

"We are not married, and that is a highly unlikely scenario for her to have a proper hypothesis." Brennan responded and looked at the nurse. "He needs to go back to his home and sleep in his bed, he always says it has some mythical qualities."

"Not mythical, I just said there's something about sleeping in your own bed, which you don't seem to understand and WE ARE GETTING OFF TOPIC!" Booth shouted, causing the nurse to laugh at their interaction.

"Well if you're not married, that changes everything." The nurse said sarcastically, only Brennan didn't catch it.

"See? Go home, Booth!" Bones replied and Booth glared at the nurse.

"Fine, fine, but I'm back tomorrow morning, first thing!"

He had kept to his promise. The next morning, Booth was standing in Bones' hospital room lecturing her about staying in bed when he saw her trying to get up and stretch her legs. The two had been bickering the entire day until the squint squad got to the hospital.

"How's everything at the lab?" Brennan asked and the three squints quieted down. After Cam had revealed she had hidden Brennan from them, they hadn't been on the best terms.

"Well, Cam is giving us a couple days to come to terms with what happened." Hodgins said, which gained a confused look from Zack.

"We walked out of the lab after you and Angela yelled at her for lying to us about Dr. Brennan, well I more or less just followed you out of the lab, you and Angela walked out." Zack said in his monotone voice. Booth sighed. He understood the squints' anger at their boss. He stepped out of the hospital room to call Cam.

"Saroyen." She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Cam, I'm with the squints. Want to talk about the walk out?" He asked and heard her sigh.

"I knew this was going to happen."

"Well then why did you let it happen?" Booth asked, trying to mask his own anger. He had sent a strongly worded email to Director Cullen, who responded with a copy of Zarakowski's arrest report. It was Cullen's way of saying what he did was for the greater good.

"I was listening to the FBI, Dr. Sweets said that none of you would play the roles of grieving friends properly if you knew. Do you think I wanted to hide something so traumatizing?"

"I'm sick of hearing what Sweets said, it was still your decision, Camille." Booth whisper-shouted. He knew everything Sweets was thinking, the psychiatrist thought he was slick, but really was an open book. What he didn't understand was Cam. She had always been his friend, she had never betrayed his trust.

"I made a mistake allowing you all to suffer, I will own that." Cam murmured. "But I will not be blamed for abiding by the orders from the FBI." Her tone became angered.

"Fine." Booth muttered and hung up the phone. Placing it in his pocket, he knew one thing for certain. This isn't going to be easy to recover from for any of them.