Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sure you thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth after a two week gap. I may have mentioned I'm working on a documentary, and it's on a play happening on campus…the opening night of which was Thursday. So for the past two weeks we've been shooting six or seven hours a day of dress rehearsals and set designs and everything, so it's been crazed. Add in the fact that it was midterm time, I barely had time to write.

But we've wrapped filming now. And next week is pretty tame, and the week following that is spring break, so updates will be much more regular from now on. Sorry again for a wait, and you guys are awesome for sticking with me. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

Chapter Four

I'm the hero of the story
I don't need to be saved

"Is he dead?" Brennan asked, her voice strangely calm.

Booth was staring at her with a horrified expression. "Bones, what…" his voice was hoarse, unsteady. "What'd you do…"

"Is he dead?" She repeated, slightly louder. "Because if he isn't…" Brennan's voice faltered. "Booth, is he dead?"

Booth still stood, frozen, staring at Brennan in shock.

Finally, Brennan walked past him, bending over Sean's body. The man's eyes had gone glassy, blood no longer bubbling from his lips. She pressed two fingers against his neck. "He's dead…" She straightened up. "We won't be able to cheat forensics. The distance...I can say he was shoved back. He was moving, which is good, we can say he was coming at me when I shot him-

Booth took a step toward her, his eyes wild. "Bones…you didn't shoot him at all. Why….why would you say that?"

"We need to corroborate our statements…we should say you saw as little as possible, maybe came in just in time to see the shooting, that way it shouldn't -"

"No," Booth's voice was harsh. "Bones-"

"It would be best to keep it simple…when he knocked on the door, I grabbed your gun since it was close-"

"Bones."

"He attacked me, I subdued him, he broke free and came forward again-"

"Just stop!" He was yelling, suddenly. "No, Bones. I shot him, I…I killed him. That is what happened." He paused, swallowing, his eyes flashing. "And I'm not sorry."

Brennan met his eyes , holding his gaze as she moved forward, touching his arm. "Neither am I," she replied quietly. "But legally, what you did…if I say I killed him, it is self defense. He got physically violent, he violated a restraining order-"

Booth was already shaking his head, "No, now way…"

Reaching out, Brennan put a hand on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "Booth. You could go to jail. But with the evidence, I would be acquitted, it's the logical choice-"

"I am not letting you take the fall for this," Booth said softly, his voice strained. "I will not."

Her voice was soft. "You don't have a choice, Booth."

"I do-"

"I already said I shot him," Brennan reminded him, her tone half apologetic, half defiant. "Those calls are recorded, Booth, it'll be entered into evidence and…it's too late."

Booth's face twisted slightly, comprehension dawning on his features. He took a step back from her, his eyes widening. "You…you…"

"You were in the back room when he came in," Brennan continued, averting her eyes, unable to look at the expression on Booth's face. Her voice was automatic, almost mechanical, desperate to conceal her fear. "You came through the doorway just as he was coming at me, and I shot him… "

"You didn't shoot him," Booth gritted out. "Bones, you…you didn't!" He ran a hand over his face, staring at her like he didn't quite recognize her. "The truth, Bones, you always say the truth is the most important-"

"The truth," Brennan said firmly. "Is that you do not deserve to go to jail, and I won't let you."

His eyes pained, Booth looked at her, opening his mouth to speak, to protest, but suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Paramedics!"

Booth clenched his jaw, panic descending, the inability to protest paralyzing him. Brennan brushed passed him, toward the door, muttering, "Booth, please trust me." She paused. His expression, horrorstruck and almost betrayed, made her feel an inexplicable need to apologize. Instead, she merely whispered, "I love you."

Then she was opening the door, letting in the paramedics, followed by the police; all the while Booth was dimly aware of what had been set in motion, and how quickly he had lost control of it all.

~(B*B)~

In what felt like mere moments, Brennan's apartment had filled with cops and detectives. There was an outline where Lowell's body had been; he'd been taken off in an ambulance, a formality so a doctor could declare him officially dead.

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan…I don't know if you remember me, I'm Detective Ben Kinley…" Booth nodded once, curtly; he'd met the man on a few local cases. The detective's cool, green eyes met Brennan's . "Is there somewhere we could go and talk?"

Booth's heart was hammering, the truth forming in his throat. Brennan, though, just nodded, calmly. "Right back here," she told him, pointing vaguely toward the bedroom. Booth started to follow, but the detective held out a hand to stop him. "We'll come get you in a few minutes, Agent."

So, helplessly, Booth watched Brennan show the detective toward the guest bedroom; Kinley motioned at someone across the room, and Booth clenched his jaw as he saw Peter Jacobs, the cop who'd been obviously skeptical of Booth arresting Lowell, going after them.

The door to the guest room clicked shut behind them, and Booth's stomach lurched. Brennan was giving them a statement, a statement he would be expected to corroborate, and he'd officially passed the point of no return.

~(B*B)~

Brennan sat gingerly on the edge of the guest bed, Detective Kinley and Officer Jacobs hovering over her. There was a tape recorder in Jacobs' hand, and Brennan shivered slightly as the tape whirred, thinking of making a statement on tape, all those years ago, about what Sean Lowell had done to her.

Now, she would be required to speak about something she'd done to him.

"I was in the living room when he knocked on the door. Booth wasn't with me, he was in the back of the apartment. I went to answer the door, checked the peephole, and it was Sean Lowell." Brennan's hands were folded in front of her, her fingernails cutting half moons into the opposite knuckles. Still, she kept her voice slow and even, as though she was merely reciting her findings in the lab. "Booth's holster was hanging by the door, and I grabbed his gun and his handcuffs before I opened the door. I put the cuffs in my pocket."

"You knew it was Sean Lowell when you went to the door?"

"I…I thought it might be." Brennan paused, glancing away. "I don't put much credence in…instinct, but I had a feeling."

"Once you saw it was him, why did you open the door?" Detective Kinley's voice was cool, detached.

"He was violating his TRO," Brennan's gaze flickered coolly to Jacobs. "We had been told before there wasn't enough evidence to hold Sean on harassment charges. If we were able to prove he was violating the restraining order, there would be cause for arrest."

"He was violating the restraining order just by being within five hundred feet of you."

"Yes, but if I didn't answer the door, he could have easily left before the police arrived."

Kinley's expression didn't change. "What happened next?"

"I opened the door. I stepped back; he said it was good to see me. He came forward and touched my arm, so I fought him off."

"How?"

"I elbowed him in the mandible, and kicked him in the fibia," she recited. This was the truth. "I called for Booth, and he hit me."

"Where?"

She fixed the detective with a glare, and touched her cheek. "In the zygomatic. As you can see."

The two men were stone faced, and there was a flash of annoyance in Jacobs' eyes every time she used a scientific term. "Go on."

"I immobilized his arm by twisting it behind his back, and I shoved him against the kitchen table." Brennan paused, but they didn't interrupt. "He pulled away and I shoved him back and started backing away myself. He came at me again and…I'd kept Booth's gun in my hand, so I shot him."

"You shot him."

"Yes." She swallowed, forcing herself to hold their eyes. "Twice."

"Was Booth in the room at that point?"

"I didn't turn around and see him until a few seconds after I'd shot Sean," Brennan said carefully. "I don't know exactly when he came in."

Detective Kinley was squinting at her, and for a long moment he was quiet. Finally, he said, "Dr. Brennan, it sounds like you were able to effectively defend yourself."

Jaw tightening, Brennan went quiet for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "But he was able to get away."

"You say you had Booth's handcuffs in your pocket. You didn't try to handcuff him when you pinned him to the table?"

"He pulled away very quickly."

"You didn't think you would be able to restrain him again?"

"I…" Brennan's throat had narrowed, tightening her hands in her lap. She had to be a better actress, a better liar, than she ever had in the past. This was too important. "I…I didn't know. It all happened so quickly, and…I wasn't able to hold him, he kept coming at me, he'd shown up at my home…" To Brennan's embarrassment, there was a note of real distress in her voice.

"You opened the door," Kinley reminded her. "Did he have a weapon?"

"No," she admitted tersely.

"Had you ever known him to use a weapon in the past?"

Brennan inhaled slowly, shakily. "No. But I was sixteen years old, and living in his house." She met his eyes, defiantly. "He hardly needed one."

The detective ignored that, merely asking, "You let Sean in your apartment, saw he was unarmed…but you felt like your life was in immediate danger?"

"Yes," Brennan answered in a low, tight voice. "He attacked me." She glanced at Jacobs. "And I've given a full report of the incidents from the past several weeks, as well as his letters from his entire prison term. So yes." Her voice wavered slightly. "I felt like my life was threatened. Tonight, and ever since he got out of prison."

The officers exchanged glances, and Jacobs arched an eyebrow in his direction.

Her voice flat, Brennan added, "That's why I got the restraining order." She paused, folding her arms. "Turns out that wasn't enough."

~(B*B)~

Booth was leaning against the wall outside the bedroom, having been ordered away from the living room.

Because it was the crime scene.

He stared down at his hand, flexing unconsciously. He could still the feel the gun melded to his hand, like a phantom reminder of his guilt.

Booth was not sorry Sean Lowell was dead; he wasn't even sorry, yet, for doing what he'd wanted to do since finding about this guy.

But the point to turn back, if there had ever even been one, had passed. Now Bones was in there, doing this amazing, selfless thing for him… and he wished with everything in him that he could have stopped it.

What he hated to admit was that she was right; Booth knew the law, he knew about the evidence pointing to different modes of defense.

Bones could easily build a case around self defense, while it would be a pretty weak argument that shooting Sean Lowell was the only way he could protect Brennan.

But Booth didn't care. Sean Lowell had been unarmed. He hadn't entered with force.

There was still a chance.

The bedroom door opened and Brennan and Officer Jacobs stepped out. Jacobs jerked his head inside. "Booth. We have a few questions."

His eyes met Brennan's, and his stomach twisted. He didn't feel ready for this, he wasn't prepared. They'd only had a few minutes to talk, and he had no choice now but to go along with her story.

Brennan's fingers wrapped briefly around Booth's and squeezed as he followed Jacobs into the guest room, and Booth had a sudden, fleeting moment of understanding.

He understood why Bones had done this, for the same reason he'd hated Sean Lowell enough to kill him.

The moment passed, as Jacobs shut the door behind him. As soon as Brennan was on the other side of the door, Booth could feel his panic and anger returning.

Detective Kinley, whom Booth had never liked, made him go through redundancies about the stalking over the past few weeks. The minute, though, he started pressing for information on Brennan's past with Lowell, Booth lost his cool.

"That case, actually, has already been tried, and there's a full file that I assume you've seen. Just like there's a full report we made four days ago, what…what part of that isn't clear to you?"

Kinley arched an eyebrow slightly in disapproval. "Alright, Agent Booth. Tell us what happened."

"I was here." He waved a hand at the room. "I didn't hear the knock. I…I heard voices and I came into the living room…Sean was coming at her and Bones shot him."

"You didn't run to help?"

Booth narrowed his eyes. He reminded himself if Brennan, probably the worst liar he knew, could do this, so could he. He had bluffed in interrogations so many times.

Though he was usually on the other side of it.

"I barely had time to register Sean was there before he was on the floor." He drew a breath. "Then Bones turned around and I saw her face…" The muscles in his face tightened. "Where he hit her."

"But you didn't see that happen."

"No," Booth said firmly, eyes flashing. "I just said that." The mental image flashed through his mind; Brennan glancing back at him, already terrified, Sean hitting her when she wasn't even looking at him. "You think if I saw that I wouldn't have…"

"Wouldn't have what?" Jacobs put him. "Because…I seem to remember you threatening Lowell if he came near Dr. Brennan , you'd kill him."

There it was; one of the many reasons Brennan had stopped him from telling the truth. Booth clenched his jaw. "Was there a question there, Jacobs?"

"Just wondering if Dr. Brennan had similar thoughts."

"He came into her home. He…he's been terrorizing her for weeks, so much so that we got a restraining order. He broke it, he came to her home and he attacked her." Booth was seething, his eyes hard as he looked at each of the officers deliberately.

Kinley's voice was cold and even. "That's happened before, hasn't it?"

"What, Sean Lowell attacking her?" Booth was practically yelling. "Yes, it has, when she was sixteen years old."

"I didn't mean just Sean Lowell. You two catch criminals for a living, had several high profile cases…it's dangerous work." Kinley paused, watching Booth's face. "Surely this isn't the first time she's had to defend herself."

"No, it's not." The words barely made it through Booth's clenched teeth.

"Well, then…" Kinley nodded. "Why don't you tell us about that?"

~(B*B)~

Brennan was waiting outside when Booth and the other men emerged. Booth's face was set, his eyes glinting, and for the first time Brennan felt a flicker of nerves.

Booth came to stand next to her, sliding his hand into hers as Detective Kinley looked appraisingly at both of them.

"We're going to need the apartment…could still be a few hours."

"Of course," Booth said, his voice gruff. "We're gonna go to my place."

"Right." Kinley tapped his notepad, tone dismissive. "We'll, uh, be in touch." He paused, eyes lingering on Brennan. "Don't leave town, alright?"

Brennan's expression didn't change, but Booth fixed the detective with a stony glare and tugged gently on Brennan's hand as they started down the hallway and out of the apartment.

Booth dropped her hand in the hallway, and neither of them spoke as they walked down the stairs and across the parking lot to Booth's car.

Once inside the car, Booth leaned his elbows against the wheel, bending forward and covering his face with his hands.

Brennan was watching him, uncertain. She felt oddly detached, her mind obsessively processing evidence, assuring herself they hadn't missed anything.

When nearly a minute had passed, with Booth making no move to crank the car, Brennan tentatively murmured, "Booth-"

"Don't," he replied, muffled against his hands. "Bones, please, just…just don't right now."

Confusion flickered across Brennan's face, and she turned away from him, feeling suddenly exhausted.

They sat together for another minute or so, heavy silence hovering between them. Finally, without another word, Booth fumbled with his keys, cranked the car and pulled away from the scene of his crime.

~(B*B)~

By the time they entered Booth's apartment, with Booth's silence continuing, Brennan was beginning to feel something akin to panic.

"We should probably go over our statements, Booth…if there were any discrepancies, we should be prepared to handle them…" Brennan turned slowly, uncertain. Booth sank onto the couch, raking his hands through his hair, expression stricken. "Booth, is…did something happen, did you say something wrong?" She paused; he didn't answer. "What did they ask you?"

"How…" Booth's voice came out rough and uneven; he swallowed, then began, the words coming slowly and deliberately. "How are you so calm?"

"I…it's going to be alright, Booth. Most of the truth could be included, and the forensics line up easily with what I told them. Did…" She stepped closer to him. "Did something happen…?"

"Did something happen?" Booth looked up at her, for the first time, his eyes wild and bloodshot. "Bones…how could you do that?" In an instant, his voice went from a fierce whisper to a near yell. "You didn't even…I didn't have a choice, you just..."

"It was the most logical thing, Booth," Brennan told him, tone desperately calming. "The evidence for self-defense is strong-"

"Oh, yeah, Bones? Because they just spent half an hour asking about any suspect you ever had to defend yourself from, how every time you killed a suspect they had an actual lethal weapon…"

Brennan blinked at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means…it means they don't think you had to shoot Sean Lowell, Bones. They think you could've fought him off without killing him, and you know what, they're right."

"Of course they are, but that's irrelevant," Brennan said impatiently. Her face had paled slightly, but she didn't look away. "They can't prove it, Booth. The fact that he violated the TRO, that he became violent, it all leads to self defense-"

"It's not a sure thing, Bones!" Booth stood abruptly, coming toward her. "They could easily arrest you on this-"

"I know, but-"

"There's a chance they could convict! A chance." Booth's voice was shaking, and he closed his eyes briefly. "You made this decision in about two seconds and then we couldn't turn back, how…how could you?"

For the first time, the rational calm from Brennan's voice dissolved, and she told him thickly, "I did it for you, Booth."

"I never asked you to do that!" The volume of Booth's voice startled them both, and so did the level of both anger and fear threaded through it. "I never wanted that, and I…I just had to go along with it! I can't let you take the fall for me, I can't let you risk this, but now I don't have a choice."

For a long moment, they simply stared at her. There was genuine bewilderment in Brennan's eyes, and Booth dragged his gaze away.

"I need…I need to walk…" He turned, heading to the front door.

"Booth!" Alarmed, Brennan followed him, grabbing his arm. "I thought…I thought you'd be relieved-"

"I know you did, Bones, and I'm sorry, I…" He stilled, looking down at her, his face twisting. "I'm sorry." He gently disentangled from her grasp, walking toward the door. "I'll be back."

Then, he was gone.

~(B*B)~

Brennan stood still and silent for a full minute after the door closed behind Booth. Eventually, she raked a hand through her hair, the touch to her scalp making her realize how hard she was trembling.

Her stomach clenched, panic descending. She sucked in a deep breath, a strangled, crooked sound rising from her throat.

She genuinely didn't understand.

Booth had killed Sean Lowell for her. And Brennan knew him better than anyone, she understood that he would be unhappy about someone else taking responsibility for what he did. But Booth also knew the law, and he couldn't possibly argue with her logic.

His last words before disappearing from the apartment were I'll be back, and Brennan clung to that, forcing back her fear.

Brennan walked to the bedroom, suddenly exhausted. She pulled on one of Booth's T-shirts, softened and faded, before climbing into bed to wait for him.

Her eyes fell on the top of her dresser, across the room; Sean's case file was lying open, the papers in disarray.

And, suddenly for the first time, the legal implications, the forensic evidence, left her mind.

Sean Lowell was dead.

He was gone. It was finally over.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Brennan allowed herself to be grateful.

~(B*B)~

Booth's hands were clasped in front of him, his grip tight to stop them from shaking.

He felt as though the numbing shock of what he'd done, of what Bones had done, was finally beginning to wear off.

There was so much about this Brennan hadn't considered; her mind had processed the evidence, the facts…as well as the fact that he was in trouble.

But she hadn't thought ahead. If she was arrested, if this went to court…everything would change.

Her past with Sean Lowell, everything Brennan had spent years trying desperately to hide, would be made public, dragged in front of her friends and thousands of strangers. The press would descend on them, running with the story that Dr. Temperance Brennan was on trial for murder.

And that was just the trial…Booth couldn't let himself think beyond that.

He wanted to be angry at Brennan, for setting this into motion, for leaving him no choice, but the truth was Booth was angry at himself.

He would never be sorry that Sean Lowell was dead. Some people didn't deserve to live, and that guy was on the top of the list of the undeserving. Booth hated the thought of Brennan living in the same world as Sean Lowell, much less the same town…and now she didn't have to.

But he'd been selfish and impulsive. He'd let his hatred own him, without thinking of the consequences. Of what it might do to Bones if he paid for it, if she lost him.

Now, he might lose her.

Booth shivered, a chill crawling the length of his spine.

Immediately, he opened the door of his car, sitting static in the parking lot of his apartment building for the past hour.

He couldn't sit here, trying to convince himself to blame Brennan when this was all his fault.

~(B*B)~

Brennan was curled on her side in bed , so lost in thought she didn't hear Booth come in. His fingers threaded through her hair, and she rolled over, surprised by his sudden presence.

"I'm sorry," he told her in a hushed voice. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

Instead of answering, Brennan slid over and Booth gratefully lay down beside her.

"Are you angry with me?"

Booth turned his face close to hers, absently stroking her cheekbone with one finger. "I…yeah, a little…" He sighed softly. "I'm mostly just mad at me, Bones. What I did was stupid…God, I just keep telling myself that it was just in the moment, you know? That it was one moment and I just lost it, but…if that's true, why didn't I just handcuff him as soon as I had him?" Booth grimaced slightly, jaw tightening. "I saw him hit you, Bones, and I just…I think I wanted a reason. And when he started saying everything, I just…I lost it."

"I know."

"But I…I should have thought about what it would mean, about what it would do to you-"

"Booth-"

"No, Bones, I mean it. I was mad because…I would never have wanted you to take the fall for me, but I'm the one who put you in that position-"

"Booth, I should have been the one to do it," Brennan blurted out. The statement stopped Booth, and his eyebrows drew together as she continued, "I…I was scared of him. Even now, today, I was still…so scared of him, Booth."

"Well," he told her, giving a soft half-smile. "For what it's worth, it looked like you had him under control."

"I know," she whispered. "I did, and I knew he couldn't really hurt me, but…" Voice trailing off, Brennan lowered her eyes.

"…but you were still scared," Booth finished for her. He wriggled forward in bed and kissed her softly, comfortingly. "It's okay."

"Everything I told the detective that I did, getting your gun and, and shooting him…Booth, I…I should have," she sighed shakily. "He was never going to leave me alone, Booth. And we were never going to get him, were we?"

"Probably not," Booth admitted quietly. "Not the way we wanted, anyway."

"You did it for me," Brennan continued. "Because I couldn't and I…I needed to do this for you."

Booth nodded a little, letting silence settle as he carefully chose his words. "I understand that," he began finally. "But I think we need to tell the truth."

"Booth, no."

"I know it's obstruction of justice, Bones, I know that, but…I, I can talk to Kinley, work out some kind deal for you-"

Brennan sat up abruptly, shaking her head. "Booth, no. You aren't being rational-"

"It's irrational to let you lie, to possibly go to trial for something you didn't do? That doesn't sound irrational to you?"

"Not if I have the better chance of being acquitted," Brennan said firmly, the unyielding logic back in her tone. "And I do, a much better chance. Besides, if you go on trial you'll lose your job even if you are acquitted. Which is unlikely." She gave an incredulous, breathless laugh, raking her hands through her hair. "You would only see Parker when he could visit you in prison, Booth! You would only see me…" She gave him a desperate look. "Is that what you want?"

Booth peered up at her for a long moment, then slowly sat up on the bed, never breaking eye contact. "So, what?" His voice was quiet. "I just have to sit here, and…and watch them try to send you away for this? To watch you lie for me, I…I just have to let you?"

Brennan reached out, wrapping her hand around the nape of his neck, her touch gentle. "Yes."

Dragging his gaze away, Booth was quiet for a moment until, with a sigh, he dropped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. In a flat voice, he said, "I'm going to find you a lawyer tomorrow." He waited; Brennan said nothing, so Booth added, "We need to be prepared in case they charge you."

Brennan recognized the statement what it was; a concession. He was giving in, accepting it. And though she was grateful, the helplessness threaded through Booth's tone made Brennan's chest ache.

"Okay," she agreed, sinking down beside him. "There may not even be an arrest."

Booth closed his eyes, letting her slide against his chest as he automatically draped an arm around her. "I know," he murmured, though his voice held no conviction.

~(B*B)~

"Didn't expect to see you here so early in the morning."

Booth lifted his head, wary. "Why? Did you…hear something?"

Carolina Julian gave him a strange look. "No, I haven't. Is there something to hear?" Booth shook his head once, and she continued, "Just that I rarely come into the building to find FBI agents who look like hell waiting for me, Cherie.

"Right…thanks for that." Booth exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples. "Caroline, listen, I…we need a lawyer."

"For what case?"

"Not a case," Booth admitted. "Well, there is a case, it's just…it's not one of mine."

Carolina was quiet for a moment, giving him her familiar, shrewd look. "You gonna explain anytime soon?"

"It's Bones…" Quickly, he gave the briefest possible summary of Sean Lowell, of the past few weeks, only stumbling when he got to last night. "He came to her place, he violated the TRO, I…I wasn't in the room and he…he hit her, she fought him but he pulled away and hit her and…" He stopped talking abruptly, the bitter taste of the lie trapped in his throat.

"Sounds like an open and shut case to me, Cherie," Caroline told him finally. "He came to your place, violated a restraining order, got violent…you'll be able to lock him up."

"Not…it's not him, it's…" Booth paused, swallowing hard, forcing himself to continue. "It's Bones. She…. shot him, and…he's dead."

For a long moment, Caroline stared at him, her eyebrows high.

Booth's shoulders sagged and he gave her a pleading look. "I need help."

"You need it?" Caroline repeated.

"Yeah," Booth said honestly. "I do."

Caroline nodded. "Well, Cherie, what you need is a defense attorney."

Instantly, Booth shook his head, protesting, "No, Caroline, we need you to do it, we…you agreed to defend Bones once before, remember, remember New Orleans?"

"That's because you told me she didn't do it. This…Booth, this sounds messy. Proving self defense..you need an experienced defense lawyer."

"I don't trust defense lawyers," Booth retorted heatedly. He sighed, making one last appeal, "I trust you."

Caroline considered him for a long moment, then wordlessly reached into her desk drawer and extracted a pen and paper. "I'm going to give you a name…"

"Caroline-"

She ignored him, typing something into her computer before continuing to write. "…and a number." With a flourish, Caroline ripped the paper from her pad and handed it to him. "This is my absolute least favorite defense attorney in D.C." Caroline arched an eyebrow. "That means the best defense attorney in DC."

Booth looked at Caroline's outstretched hand for a long moment before finally taking the paper, muttering his thanks.

~(B*B)~

Brennan barely murmured her good mornings, her head ducked as she swept by her friends on her way to her office.

Angela, though, had been watching Brennan closely ever since Booth's failed arrest on Sean Lowell, so Brennan wasn't surprised when her best friend caught her by the arm while she tried to brush past. "Sweetie, slow down, say good morn-" As Brennan reluctantly turned to look at her, though, Angela gasped. "Oh my God, Brennan, what happened?"

The outburst drew Cam and Hodgins' attention, both of them looking up from their stations. Cam's eyebrows lifted instantly, and she came closer to get a better look. "Oh, God…"

Her cheeks flushing, Brennan tilted her head slightly so her hair fell over her cheek. Still, she knew it couldn't obscure the swollen, dark purple skin of her cheek.

Frowning, Angela reached out and brushed Brennan's hair out of the way, her eyes warm with concerned as she scrutinized the tender bruise. "Sweetie, what…?"

"It was an accident," Brennan said smoothly. She'd rehearsed this in the car, having decided in the car that she wouldn't tell them anything until she knew for sure she'd have to. "We were playing soccer with Parker, and I was behind him…he threw his head back and…" she waved a hand vaguely at her face. "It's fine."

"You had Parker on a week night?" Cam asked.

"Rebecca had an emergency at work, we had to pick him up from practice," Brennan recited, almost too quickly.

"Kid's got a hard head," Hodgins commented with a grin. "Bet he felt bad."

"He did," Brennan replied. "But…I…assured him that I was fine. And I am. Okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued on toward her office.

~(B*B)~

"I'm, uh…I'm Seeley Booth." The receptionist, who was busily texting and barely cut her eyes at him. "I have an appointment."

"Alex is expecting you," the girl mumbled around a wad of gum. "You can go on in."

Nodding, Booth walked past the reception's desk and through the door of the office.

For some reason, he was surprised to see the figure behind the desk. He'd read the name and assumed it was a man; but Alex Bennett turned out to be a woman, around his own age. As he entered, she lifted large, dark eyes and pinned him with a shrewd gaze. "Mr. Booth?"

"Agent," he corrected automatically, then felt foolish for doing so. Alex arched an eyebrow, wariness flashing instantly in her eyes.

"Take a seat," she told Booth, watching him carefully as he did. "What can I do for you, Agent?"

"I was hoping to hire you," he said brusquely, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and awkward. As well as he knew the law and the justice system, Booth had never had to approach it from this side before, and he had no idea how to handle it.

Alex waited for him to continue; when he didn't, she smirked slightly. "Hope you aren't planning on asking me to switch sides."

"No, I…I need a defense attorney…Caroline Julian gave me your name."

Alex let out a short laugh of surprise. "Well, that's a first. I don't get many clients sent to me by federal prosecutors."

Booth inhaled slowly, raising his head and fixing her with a hard, serious look. He handed her one of the folders he'd come in with; Sean Lowell's case folded from years ago.

Wordlessly, Alex took it, scanning the first, summarizing page, obviously noting the sentence and convictions: child abuse, neglect, rape. She glanced up at Booth and said dryly, "Looks like it's little late to be bringing me in on this one."

"Sean Lowell was shot and killed last night," Booth informed her flatly.

The smirk fell away from Alex's face, a focused, businesslike expression taking its place. "You're under suspicion?"

"Not me, my…" Booth paused; as always, the term girlfriend seemed inadequate and overly trivial to describe what he had with Brennan. "…my partner. And girlfriend, we're…we're together." He nodded at the file. "Dr. Temperance Brennan." He saw the flash of recognition, but Alex said nothing. "He was her foster father."

He had Alex's full attention now; Booth passed her the other file he'd brought along, this one much slimmer. "This is a report we filed with the local authorities last week, as well as information on my recent arrest of Sean Lowell."

As Alex skimmed the folder, Booth gave her the same condensed version of events he'd given Caroline. He'd lost track of how many times he'd told the lie now, but it wasn't getting any easier.

"She already spoke to the police?" Those were Alex's first words when he finished, and Booth could hear the disapproval threaded through her tone.

He bristled instantly. "Yes. Refusal to cooperate with the police tends to look bad with a self defense case."

"Not the only possible defense," Alex said mildly, eyes flitting back to the folder in her hand. "I'd have preferred to have options."

"He broke a restraining order. He came to her home. He hit her." Booth gritted out through clenched teeth. "It was self defense."

"I'll take a look at the statement and decide." Alex replied mildly.

Booth stood up, abruptly, his face hardening. "I think we're just wasting each other's time."

Alex eyed him challengingly, unbothered. "Agent Booth, you don't like me. I understand that; you're law enforcement, and to you, I'm the enemy. But I really don't care how you feel about me, or my profession. And you shouldn't either." She raised an eyebrow in Booth's direction. "All you should care about is that I'm damn good at my job. And I can get an acquittal." Booth visibly hesitated, and Alex continued, "But you're an FBI agent. You know this process. And if you're hiring a lawyer, there must be a good reason to suggest you'll need one. So you need to tell me what I need to know so I can be prepared."

Slowly, Booth lowered himself back into the chair. "Bones is…she's trained in, like, three kinds of martial arts. She's got previous assault charges, and one arrest for shooting a suspect in the leg…he was unarmed, and she wasn't convicted."

Alex made a note of something, her expression impassive. "Anything else?"

Booth continued in a low voice, "She's had to kill before, on the job, but…they were both armed." His mind flashed briefly to Pam Nunan and Howard Epps' accomplice. "There was…obvious lethal threat. Any other time she could…fight them off." He set his jaw. "They think she could have fought Lowell. They think she didn't have to kill him." His chest tightened; saying it out loud, admitting the holes in Brennan's story, only intensified his guilt and fear.

"Alright," Alex's voice had softened somewhat. "You know, it's usually the client who hires me."

"I told her I'd take care of it."

"I'll like to meet with her as soon as possible. Just so I've talked to both of you…"

"We can both stop by later tonight."

Alex flipped open a scheduling book on her desk, glancing down at it. "Six thirty alright with you?"

"Sure," Booth muttered. This was all so surreal.

"Great, then I'll see you then," Alex told him briskly. "Unless you have any more questions?"

Booth smiled humorlessly. "No. I know exactly how this is going to work."

Alex pursed her lips, tucking a lock of black hair behind her ear before replying mildly, "Right, I guess you do."

~(B*B)~

Brennan glanced at her watch. It was after five. Another hour or so, and Booth would be picking her up to meet with her new lawyer.

All day, she'd been trying to convince herself that there wouldn't be an arrest, that this wouldn't go to trial.

The alternative made her anxious, and she couldn't let Booth see that.

Brennan had worked out last night that Booth's guilt would be the worst part of this. Brennan knew it would take a long time for Booth to forgive himself for even putting her through a trial.

Still, she'd rather Booth beating himself up than going to jail.

Brennan was on the forensic platform, bent over a set of bones that needed authenticating; Cam was somewhere behind her filling out forms.

"Bren, Sweetie?" Angela touched Brennan's arm, smiling as Brennan turned around to look at her. "We're heading home, gotta relieve the nanny."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Brennan murmured distractedly.

Angela lowered her voice, wary of Hodgins waiting for her not far behind them. "You'll let me know if anything else happens, right?"

Brennan's hands stilled over her work, and she took a moment before answering, "I will."

Suddenly, Hodgins' voice sounded from behind them, "Who called the cavalry?"

Lifting her head, Brennan's chest froze. Detective Kinley, flanked by two police officers, was heading toward them on the forensic platform.

Brennan was aware, suddenly, of her friends' presence, crowded around the platform, all alert and staring now as the police got closer.

Part of Brennan was screaming at her to get away from them, her friends, to meet the police halfway to go willingly and beg them to wait until they got outside to use the handcuffs.

But the bigger part of her, the part that was rational to a fault, knew that would be useless. She couldn't keep Sean Lowell, any of it, from them anymore.

Except, of course, the truth about who killed him.

"Dr. Brennan," Kinley's voice was low and impersonal. "We have a warrant for your arrest."

With those words, Brennan felt herself detach. A chorus of incredulous "What?"'s sounded from her friends, and Angela's hand closed automatically around Brennan's arm, gripping tightly, but all Brennan could think was that Booth was supposed to be coming to get her, that they had a meeting….

"I think there's been a mistake…" Cam was crossing toward them, her authoritative tone in place.

Hodgins' scowled at them, crossing his arms. "You need probable cause for an arrest…"

The officers ignored both of them as Kinley continued, one of the policemen pulling out handcuffs. "You're under arrest for the murder of Sean Lowell."

"Brennan?" The pitch of Angela's voice was climbing, her grip tightening as the officers turned Brennan, pulling her away as they took hold of her hands, causing Hodgins to yell something about police brutality. "Brennan…"

"You have the right to remain silent…" They began leading her off the platform, the cool metal of the handcuffs rubbing against her wrists.

"Brennan," Angela's voice was louder now, her face twisted into an expression of panic. Brennan met her best friend's eyes, focusing on her as she tuned out the officer reading her rights.

"Ange, I need you to call Booth," Brennan forced her voice to stay calm and level. "Okay? Call him."

Then, as they reached the platform stairs, the officer forced her to turn, leaving her friends staring at her retreating form in shock.

A/N: Sorry again for the wait on this; won't happen again. Plus I've already got a decent head start on the next chapter (due to not deciding the cutoff point until late) so it should be up pretty quickly…provided you guys continue to let me know your thoughts! Review away, and thanks for reading!