Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

A/N: I love Jodi Picoult's books, so I'm going to use a lot of her quotes in this particular story. So if you read something that sounds touching or amazing then it's probably not mine. Just wanted to let you guys know that.

Chapter 3

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It takes two people to make a lie work: the person who tells it, and the one who believes it. And from the look on the F.B.I guy's face I can tell that he believes me, but from the look on the Doctor's face I can tell that I'm failing miserably.

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Booth glanced out the corner of his eye to where his partner was sitting. Her eyebrow was raised and she had that dazed look in her eyes as the gears of her brain turned inside her. He wanted to know what she was thinking, so badly it hurt. Was she angry? Confused? Hurt? All of the above? She had always been a mystery to him. Was that the reason why he was so overprotective of her? He knew that she locked herself and her emotions away from the world - even him, but he had always felt the need to be with her every minute of the day, just in case she would break. He wondered how many hours it had been since he'd last heard her talk out loud. Of course, she was sitting next to him, but she hadn't spoken a word since Kate had confessed to the murder of Danni. He silently wondered, if you didn't use your voice, ever, would it shrivel up and dry away? Was there a natural selection involved in not speaking up? He hoped not. If he didn't hear her voice ever again... he would surely go deaf. For what was the point of hearing if he couldn't hear her sing song voice?

Kate's cough caused him to look across the interrogation table. He focused his eyes just over her head, so it appeared like he was looking at her, when in reality he was staring at the chipped paint on the wall behind her. Kids were always the hardest, and this child's piercing stare was not helping the matter.

"How did you kill her?"

Booth's heart broke as the words flew out of his partner's mouth. If he hadn't spent every hour with her for the past three years he wouldn't have been able to detect that sadness in her voice. Of course, she hid it so well, but the pain was still there and it It hurt him to no end that he wouldn't be able to fix it.

"I shot her," Kate told them automatically.

"Where?" Brennan questioned again.

Kate stuttered. "I… her head."

Brennan remained silent once again, and Booth wondered how long it would be until he heard her sweet voice again. Sighing, he forced himself to look into the child's piercing green eyes. They cut threw him like a knife, but he didn't dare look away. He had a million of questions to ask her, but the only one he found himself verbalizing was, "Why?"

But before she could answer, Brennan interrupted with another question, "Where were you standing when you shot her?"

Kate adjusted the green beanie over her head for the tenth time. It completely covered her hair, and Booth silently wondered why she hadn't taken it off. Kate hesitated, thinking the answer over. "I was standing in front of her."

A smile lit Brennan's face, and she nodded. "You are free to go."

"What?" Booth and Kate asked at the same time.

"She didn't do it," she stated calmly.

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't," Brennan insisted. "The angle in which the bullet entered Danni's skull was approximately thirty degrees. You would have had to be sitting or crouching down, but you said you were standing directly in front of her. Your story doesn't –"

Kate's eyes became wide with panic as she interrupted the Doctor. "I…I lied. I was sitting. I shot Danni. I killed her.'

Brennan's eyes grew cross. "No you didn't."

"You weren't there," Kate snapped, she shot up out of her seat, knocking the chair over as she stood.

Booth squinted his eyes in confusion as he tried to process the information in his head. Why would she want to take the blame for something she didn't do? His mind began to swarm with possibilities, but before he could think of one he saw Kate sway slightly. He reached out to catch her, but as quickly as she had stood up, she fell to the floor, puking blood.

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Brennan felt the walls of the waiting room beginning to cave in around her. Her shirt was stained with blood, Kate's blood, but it didn't faze her in the slightest bit. Booth said it was probably best that they didn't stay, but Kate's ghosted face was now imprinted in her memory forever. She couldn't leave, not yet. She had to see if Kate was going to be okay. However, in reality she knew it wasn't. The Doctor had told her that Kate had another relapse… a grave one and the chances of survival were slim.

Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. She cursed herself. She should have known. She should have seen the signs. Fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, very thin, infection. She should have known it the second she saw Kate. Was this the reason Kate took the blame for Danni's death? Did she want to die?

She watched the clock like a hawk, each second felt like an hour and the idea of not knowing anything sent her into a world of hysterics. She wasn't sure why she was so upset. She didn't even know the child, but a part of her felt like she should care. Mrs. Stone obliviously didn't care enough to be here for her foster child's latest relapse, so a part of her felt like she should be the one that cared. Maybe, it was because a part of her wished that someone had cared enough for her, so many years ago.

"Doctor…?" Brennan shot out of her seat as a woman in a white coat sped pass the waiting room doors.

"Marrow."

Brennan frowned. Of course. "Is Kate… is she okay?"

Dr. Marrow took in Brennan's blood stained shirt. "And you are…?"

"Dr. Brennan… I brought Kate in."

"Oh yes of course. What can I do for you Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan wanted to smack the smile off the Doctor's face. How could she be this happy when there was a girl, no more than thirteen, dying? "Can, can I see her?"

The Doctor's eyes grow suspicious. "I'm sorry, but you have to be –"

"I am… she's my niece," Brennan lied, and it felt good.

"I wasn't aware Mrs. Stone had a sister…"

Brennan nodded, but kept her eyes focused. "I don't live around here."

Dr. Marrow didn't move and for a moment Brennan wondered if she had been caught lying, but to her satisfaction Dr. Marrow nodded and Brennan followed her down the hall and into Kate's room.

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Present Day

"Bones, please put down the gun."

"No. It's the only thing keeping them out." She huffed angrily, pointing to the window that gave a view out into the hallway.

Booth eyed the gun that was placed firmly against the side of her head. Desperately he tried to count how many bullets he had fired out of that gun. He could have sworn that it was empty now, but it was a bet he wasn't willing to take. Sighing he slumped down in a plastic chair across from her. He fixed his gaze on her, not daring himself to look away. It didn't take a genius to know that his partner was empty inside, drained of the only hope and faith she had left. He suddenly knew that if she died, he would die. Maybe not immediately, maybe not with the same blinding rush of pain, but it would happen. You couldn't live for very long without a heart.

"Please don't look at me like that," her voice brought him back to reality.

"Like what?" he asked softly.

"T…that look. The one you always give me," she blinked.

"Why?" he wasn't sure if he was hurt that she wanted him to stop or pleased that she had notice.

She dropped her eyes shyly, avoiding his question all together. He followed her gaze to the hospital bed where Kate and Abby laid sleeping. A tube fed down Kate's throat, the machine helping her breathe. She was so still and lifeless on the hospital bed and Booth suddenly had doubt about Brennan's latest plan. "I'm sorry, Booth," it came out so soft he hardly heard her. "Do you hate me?"

"Never." It was the truth. He had loved her since the day he met her, and it would never be the other way around - no matter what she got herself into.

"I...I think I have gone over to the dark side," she smirked, but it wasn't even remotely funny.

"Bad is not an absolute, but a relative term," he tried to reason with her. He just wanted her to put the gun down. "Ask the robber who used the cash he stole to feed his infant; the rapist who was sexually abused as a child; the kidnapper who truly believed he was saving a life. And just because you break the law doesn't mean you have intentionally crossed the line into evil. Sometimes the line creeps up on you, and before you know it, you're standing on the other side."

"I don't know what that means, Booth. What line? All you talk about is lines," she was nearly shouting now, her voiced cracked and it broke his heart. "Are you talking about the line between you and me, or the line between right and wrong?"

He silently wondered if she could see the pain flashing across his eyes. Couldn't she see that she wasn't the only one hurting? Couldn't she see that what she was doing was effecting him too? It took him a moment to find his voice, and once he did, it was barely above a whisper. "That line – the line between right and wrong – it crept up on you."

Her eyes grew cross and she tightened her hold on the gun. Her stance was strong, but her voice quivered as she spoke, "But, I'm doing the right thing."

He sighed. "I know, Bones. I know."