A/N: Come on, you guys didn't really think I was gonna leave it there, did you? There's still so many questions to answer! Like will Brennan be ok? Who were the pair in the park? What really happened in Angela's office? Who sent Ange the threatening notes? Will Hodgins realise that Angela does love him? Will Brennan realise that Booth loves her? And, most importantly, when will this damn story end??? Just so you know, this chapter is to provide the explanation for the next one, if you get my drift. Oh, and this is happening pre-Epps escape so Gordon, Gordon Wyatt hasn't met Booth yet. Just so that makes sense. Anyway, enough from me. Thanks for reading!

Deputy Director Cullen was getting impatient.

"Mr Rouse, why did you attack Doctor Brennan?"

It was the eighth time he had asked the question and, once again, the only response he got from the former agent was a shrug and some incoherent mumbles.

Frustrated, he got to his feet and slammed his hands down on to the table, leaning across it to tower over the pitiful excuse of a man in front of him.

"Nathaniel Rouse, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Doctor Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth, not to mention trespassing on government property, burglary at Miss Montenegro's office and suspicion of causing a disturbance at East Falls High School last week."

To the bulk of the charges, Nate just carried on staring in to space with a glazed look over his eyes, but the second Cullen mentioned the school, the former agent tensed up. Frowning, the Deputy Director leaned in closer.

"Rouse, what happened at that school?"

The man blinked rapidly, one hand tapping the desk incessantly as he shook his head.

"They shouldn't have done it, they didn't leave me any choice. I told them not to but still they came, hounding me and lying, so full of lies and deceit and puppy dog tails…"

Cullen glanced at the one-way mirror behind him, wondering just what the resident psychologist was making of all this.

"They? Who's they? Are you talking about Agent Booth and Doctor Brennan?"

Rouse blinked at the voice, having seemingly forgotten that Cullen was even there.

"Booth was my protégé… I taught him everything I knew, I made him stronger, got him to get help. Gambling is a sin, it's dirty. And in return, he took my life. He took away my one chance of happiness, the one thing I wanted."

"What did he take?"

Rouse opened his mouth to answer then immediately snapped it shut again, wagging a finger in the agent's direction as he grinned.

"Uh uh, no, you don't get to do that. Booth's the one that took everything, Booth's the one I'll talk to. The only one."

Cullen narrowed his eyes at Nate, shaking his head.

"Mr Rouse, when you refused to have a lawyer present I assumed that was because you wanted to talk to me and tell me what happened in the parking lot, not to talk to the agent you nearly got killed."

Nate's eyes widened.

"I didn't try to kill Seeley. I didn't even try to kill Temperance. Sometimes, that's just the way things end up… Round and round in circles, twirling and dancing, till we all fall down…"

"So you tried to kill yourself?"

"I had no choice. I failed. I tried to protect them, I tried to make things right, I tried I tried I tried…"

He tailed off, looking straight up in to the agent's eyes, his voice suddenly clear and concise.

"You're not the one I want to talk to, you don't understand. Get me Agent Booth or I'm not saying another word."

Exasperated, Cullen stood up straight and folded his arms across his chest.

"If you don't explain what happened, then you don't stand a chance of ever being a free man again."

"Well, you'd better get me Agent Booth then, hadn't you?"

Turning his eyes away, Nate started humming to himself, his fingers dancing across the table to his own amusement.

Knowing he didn't have a chance of getting anything more out of him, Cullen marched out of the door and straight in to the observation room.

Running a hand across his face, he leant against the glass and stared in to the interview room, casting a frustrated look in the psychologist's direction.

"So, Doctor Wyatt, what do you think?"

The tall Englishman shook his head.

"I think that Mr Rouse has very definite reasons for the things he's done, even if they only make sense to him, and that he truly has one of the best cases for the insanity defence I have ever seen."

"So what do we do?"

"I'm afraid you're going to have to get this Agent Booth in there if you have any hope of finding out what's really going on. Mr Rouse clearly has some issues regarding his former protégé but it's these very issues that seem to motivate him to talk."

"But Agent Booth nearly strangled him, which isn't particularly surprising seeing as what Rouse did to his partner."

"Ah yes, the infamous Doctor Brennan. How is she doing?"

"She's in surgery but the docs say she'll likely pull through."

"Well, that's some good news then isn't it?"

"The best I've had all day."

The FBI psychologist turned, his attention no longer on the man in the interview room but on the agent stood beside him.

"You're quite concerned with this Agent Booth, aren't you?"

Cullen sighed heavily, keeping his eyes trained on Rouse.

"He's probably the best agent I've ever seen but he keeps putting himself in positions that just ask for trouble."

"Like this you mean?"

"No, not this. I mean, who could ever expect an agent as well respected as Nathaniel Rouse to go so completely mental? This isn't Booth's fault."

"But according to the statement he gave your fellow agents, he thinks it is."

"I'm well aware of that, Doctor Wyatt, but what you have to understand is that Agent Booth and Doctor Brennan… They have an incredibly close relationship and he feels very much responsible for her. If she got a splinter from a plank of wood, he'd think it was his fault."

"So, you don't put much stock in his account of the events that led to Doctor Brennan getting shot?"

Cullen thought it through slowly, staring in to the interview room but seeing nothing.

"He loves that woman more than anything else in the world. If he did rush at Nate when the gun went off then whether it really was his fault or not, he's going to blame himself for it. I doubt he'll ever forgive himself."

Doctor Wyatt nodded sagely.

"Love is the most powerful and destructive force known to man, Agent Cullen, but then I think you already knew that. How are you and your wife coping since the funeral?"

The Deputy Director tensed up, the sudden mixture of his homelife in to his place of work confusing and disorientating him.

I can't deal with this here. If I don't keep those two parts of my life separate, I'll never cope with it all. I just can't deal with this now.

"This isn't one of our sessions, Gordon. Please, let's just… I need you to keep observing Rouse and keep everything else away from work. I can't do this whole therapy nonsense right now, there's too much to deal with."

"Of course. I apologise."

"It's fine, Doctor Wyatt. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find Agent Booth."

Leaving the observation room, Cullen pulled the door closed behind him and leant against it. Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but think of his daughter. The sight of her when she was first born, when she lost her first tooth, the first time she rode a bike, the first time she had to go through chemo…

I watched my beautiful little girl fade away, I had to watch her die. How could I ever blame Seeley for attacking Nate after he saw the woman he loved in so much pain? If I was him, I wouldn't have been able to hold back. If I was him, Nate would be long dead.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught Cullen's attention and he opened his eyes to find a fresh faced young agent beside him.

"What is it, Agent Marsden?"

"Sir, you have a visitor waiting in your office. Miss Montenegro's brought someone from the Jeffersonian that I think you need to talk to. She wouldn't tell me what it's about, she says she'll only talk to Agent Booth."

Cullen frowned.

"Agent Booth?"

Marsden seemed to squirm a little under his boss's gaze.

"Yes sir. I… I don't think she knows what's happened with Booth and that weird bone lady yet. Should I speak to her?"

Cullen sighed heavily.

Angela was a tower of strength for my little girl towards the end. The least I can do is tell her what's going on with her best friend.

"No, Marsden, I'll do it."

He turned to leave before spinning round again to jab a finger in the young agent's face.

"And in the future, Agent Marsden, I'd appreciate it if you refer to her as Doctor Brennan, not that weird bone lady. She's put her life on the line more times than I can count to help people and as infuriating as she can be at times, Doctor Brennan deserves your respect."

Marching off to face Angela, Cullen was well aware of the agent standing speechless in his wake. He just didn't care.

oo00oo

Agent Booth was pacing. There wasn't much else he could do.

Up and down the hospital corridor, up and down, never stopping, never pausing, up, down, up, down…

Why do bad things always happen to good people? I know you've got a plan up there, big guy, but would you please mind giving people like Temperance Brennan a break? Haven't you put her through enough?

She doesn't deserve this, she just doesn't deserve any of this.

He was well aware of the looks he was getting from the medical staff but he really didn't care. He didn't give a damn about anything but his partner.

That's my Bones on an operating table, fighting for her life. How could anything else possibly matter compared to that?

He didn't know what to do. Just waiting around for news on the surgery seemed completely pointless but there wasn't anything else he could do, nowhere else he could go. He needed to be there when she woke up. No matter what was happening, she was going to wake up. She had to.

But what if she doesn't? What if I lose her? I'm the reason that she's lying there. I'm the one that pushed Nate, I'm the reason she got shot. How can I ever make this right?

The sound of someone calling his name pulled Booth back out of his daze. He turned, finding himself face to face with his ex.

"Cam?"

She mustered up a supportive smile but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I got here as fast as I could. Is she alright?"

Booth couldn't stop himself from snapping.

"She got shot, Camille, of course she's not alright!"

For the briefest of moments, she looked like she was about to cry but forced a tight smile of understanding on to her face.

Booth sighed heavily, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Cam, it's just… This is all my fault. If I lose her…"

Cam laid a comforting hand on his arm.

"You're not going to lose her, ok? This is Brennan we're talking about. I mean how many times has she been kidnapped or beaten, huh? And she always comes out the other side stronger than ever. This time's not going to be any different, not if she's got you to support her."

Booth nodded slowly, staring at the doors that led to the operating theatre as he prayed for good news. He felt Cam squeeze his arm slightly and Booth realised that he didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward around her.

She's being a friend. I can't ask for more than that.

"Stop blaming yourself, Booth. It's not your fault, none of this is. Nate's the one that shot her."

"But it is my fault. I caused it. The only reason he shot her was because I ran at him, I knocked him down. He was going to shoot himself, he wasn't even aiming at her, but then I knocked his arm. I was the one who made this happen to her."

He felt his vision blur as his eyes began to swim with tears and he couldn't look at her, he couldn't look at the woman who cared enough to step back to give him a chance at happiness just for him to waste it.

"Seeley…"

He jerked his arm away from her, his tears falling freely.

"No, Cam, no! It's too late because of me, I did this, I shot her. Oh God…"

She took his arm, pulling him towards her, letting him sob out all of his anger and fear, though she knew the guilt would last a lifetime.

Finally, he pulled away, ashamedly brushing the dampness from his cheeks. Cam rubbed his arm, forcing him to look at her.

"She's going to pull through this. I know she will."

Booth rolled his eyes, trying to be sarcastic but just sounding desperate.

"How do you know that?"

"Because you and Brennan were meant to be together, and the whole world knows it. Maybe this was just what you two needed to kick your asses in to gear, Seeley."

"I don't really think this is the time to be talking romance, Camille."

It was Cam's turn to roll her eyes.

"Would you please stop calling me Camille?!"

"Only when you quit calling me Seeley…"

The two of them smiled at each other and Booth felt his nerves begin to settle. He was still worried about Brennan but right then, it was like he could see how it was all going to play out.

She's going to wake up, she's going to be fine. We'll get through this together, we'll make it work. Bones and me, we'll make things right.

He stared at the doors to the operating theatre, nodding to himself.

We'll make things right.

We have to.

A/N: And if you're thinking reading that was a waste of time, I kinda have to agree with you... I've got severe writer's block at the moment so it's all going a bit pear shaped. So, sorry about that. I hope to make it much better with the next chapter, I promise, which'll be up either friday or saturday. Though seeing as there's no Bones tonight (or for the next bloody month cos Fox are assholes...), it might be up earlier as there's less distractions. Oh, and yay for Bones being commissioned for a third series. Fox finally did something right. I mean, seriously, is it so hard to have more than two episodes in a bloody row, for God's sake??! Now, I'm off to kill the guy who schedules the show for screwing us around so much. Who's with me?