Almost over! Hope you enjoy this one. It's the moment I've been waiting for since I started to write this thing ages ago. And no, I'm not a sadist.

Chapter 12

"What the hell is with all this rain?" groaned Booth as he turned the windshield wipers up to their highest setting.

"Haven't you been paying attention to the news?" questioned a disbelieving Lily. "The remnants of that hurricane that battered the Virgin Islands are making their way up the coast. It's going to be windy and stormy for the next two days."

"Oh." Outside the weather was certainly dreary as the steady rainfall was blown in various directions by the howling wind that topped out at over twenty-five miles an hour. Traffic was slow as visibility was greatly reduced.

They arrived at the Jeffersonian twenty minutes later than they expected at twenty past eight. Booth and Brennan had simply dropped off Theo and Lily so that they could meet up in a closer location following Booth and Brennan's meeting with Caroline.

Lily and Theo headed to the platform once Booth and Brennan left, not expecting many to be there so early. However they were surprised when Angela walked out of her office once the duo sat down.

"Hey guys, where are the adults?" she asked after swiping her card to get on the platform.

"Getting the warrant for the for the younger brother's stuff." Theo made a face. "What, why couldn't we go?"

Lily simply shrugged. "Actually Angela, I've got a question for you." Angela took a seat at Hodgins stool.

"Go ahead, shoot."

"Are Agent Booth and Doctor Brennan together yet?" she asked curiously.

"Not to my knowledge, and believe me, I would know. Why?"

"Well last night after we worked on the documents, I sorta fell asleep, but not. I was laying on the couch with my eyes partially open and I'm pretty sure that I saw Booth rubbing Brennan's shoulders." Angela's jaw dropped. "And if this moron," she gestured at Theo, "didn't wake up I think that something may have happened."

"Wow," replied Angela, taking in the story. "I mean that's a major step in their relationship. Usually it's the occasional hug or touch or glance, but a mini-massage? That's big. I'll have a talk with her about that later."

Before they could speculate any longer, there was a sharp whistle that punctuated the lab. Everyone turned and looked at Booth and Brennan standing at the entrance. Both were wearing the windbreaker navy FBI jackets, except it look huge on Brennan. Booth's hair was soaked and the gel from the morning was already messed up.

"See you later Angela," they said as they dashed to Booth and Brennan.

"That was quick," commented Theo as they headed outside. Never had he been more thankful for parking garages.

"Well let's say that the judge we got was not the brightest judge on the bench. We hardly had to convince him," explained Booth.

The rain was still falling in sheets as they drove to the youngest brother's apartment on the outskirts of the city. The sky was dark and dreary and greatly reminiscent of a foreboding scene in a science fiction thriller. They arrived at the same time as the crime scene technicians. Together they left the car and bolted for the lobby of the building to avoid getting doused again. Warrant in hand, Booth led the way to the fifth floor apartment.

"FBI, open up!" he shouted as he banged on the door. However, there was no answer. He turned around to face Brennan, Lily, and Theo. "Stay here until the place is cleared." He took out his gun and gestured for the other agents to cover him as they entered. Booth kicked the door in a four other agents followed.

A minute later there were shouts that the apartment was clear and everyone waiting outside grabbed their equipment and entered. Lily noted that for a meth dealer/ college dropout the apartment was relatively clean. Sitting on the lone couch in the living room were two duffel bags. Booth held a piece of paper in his hand.

"Confirmation for a flight to Mexico. One way," he said.

"If his stuff is here now, where is he?" asked Theo.

"Good question. Where is he employed?" asked Booth.

Brennan racked her mind for a few seconds. "He was unemployed. What about the other brother, Darrell?"

"He lives back in the city, a decent apartment for a used car salesman," said Booth. "Kevin's probably going to warn his brother." He spoke to two agents quickly and was then gesturing for them to leave. "Let's go."

"Are we going to Darrell's apartment?" asked Theo.

"No, I think he's at work. We're going to the car dealership."

…

Booth's siren screamed as they made their way to the used car lot. It sat outside the city in an open area. Other agents were breaking off to check Darrell's apartment, but Booth was sure that he was probably at work. They would wait to make the move until backup could arrive, but the city was spread very thin due to the storms.

Booth turned off the siren as they got closer to the dealership. Lightning cut across the sky as they pulled into the dealership. It seemed quiet, too quiet almost as there was no one in sight. Booth parked the car and made to get out.

"Everyone stay behind," commanded Booth.

"Booth, shouldn't you wait for backup. You don't know what this guy is capable of. You shouldn't go alone." Booth thought for a second.

"Okay Bones, you stay way behind me, just watching the area. Kids, you stay here by this truck and you do not move. I don't care what happens, just don't move." Booth removed another gun from the glove compartment and handed it to Brennan. "Don't use it unless I say you can." They threw on their jackets and cautiously moved forward toward the office.

Lily and Theo moved up trying to get a better view of the scene, but Booth parked the car off to the side.

"Damn it, I can't see anything," cursed Theo. "I'm going out there to see."

"You're crazy! Agent Booth said to stay behind."

"Yeah, but what if something happened to them and we didn't see it. How would we know to call in backup or something." Lily mulled the thought over and caved.

"Okay, but we can't move far away from the car."

"Duh, I just want to slide over a bit to get a better view. That's all. I don't want to piss him off anyway. He'd probably kill me." They reached behind to get the waterproof jackets that Booth had given them earlier.

The rain was coming down so hard that the visibility was hovering near half a mile. Thunder boomed all around and it seemed like that remnants of the eye wall were currently overhead. Winds howled and Lily was half nervous, half amazed at the weather. They moved over from where Booth had parked to another car, a large SUV that was perfect to hide behind because they had a clear view of the office. Brennan was ducked behind a Corvette that sat near the entrance, but Booth was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly he appeared, running hard as he hurled himself over another car. He seemed to be signing something to Brennan. It looked like their cover wasn't blown. Then there was a shot that rang out. Lily jumped slightly at the shock of it.

"That's right, you're not going to listen to me. Fine, get yourself killed. But don't you dare take a shot at me!" shouted a figure in the distance. It came from the area that Booth had come running from just moments before. Two more shots were audible, but not from the man in the distance. The man that they could see raised his weapon as to fire back, but Booth stood, gun trained on him.

"Kevin Hunter, drop your weapon!" shouted Booth. Booth was now walking slowly towards Hunter, his gun high and trained on his head. "I said drop your weapon!" A shot came from the side, causing Booth to fall to the ground in some twisted manner. Brennan went to rise to help him, but stopped herself, realizing that she would instantly be shot as well. The man that Booth identified as Kevin walked forward with his gun trained on Booth. The man that was off to the side shooting at Kevin now rounded the corner, his gun also pointed at Booth. Kevin got to Booth and aimed at his head to put in the final shot. Brennan readied herself to pop up, but she never saw the other guy. She would be dead if she turned to shoot Kevin. Lily did the stupidest yet most selfless thing in her life as she stood up.

"Hey! Asshole!" she shouted and waved to get the man's attention. He looked up from Booth and raised his gun to Lily and squeezed off a few rounds. She ducked, but not quick enough as she felt a searing pain in her upper arm. More reports filled the air, but Lily couldn't tell who they were from as she was on the ground, a weird feeling coming from her arm.

"Holy shit!" screamed Theo as he saw what happened. Immediately he was pressing his hands to her arm to staunch the blood flow, but it wouldn't stop. Lily started to feel lightheaded and was soon fighting the sleep that washed over her.

"The bullet probably nicked the brachial artery," she managed to say. "U…use a tourniquet." The sleepy feeling was becoming profound and her eyes threatened to close. In the distance the wails of sirens of the backup were audible as was the voice of Booth and Brennan as they ran up.

"Jesus Christ," Booth shouted as he saw the scene. His formerly white shirt was stained red as he held his right side.

"I… I don't know what to do," cried Theo as Brennan knelt beside Lily. She too pressed her hands to the wound as Theo tightened the tourniquet on her arm. Booth was gesturing to the paramedics to rush over. The pain in Lily's arm disappeared, but the sleep was there, covering her.

"Stay awake Lily!' begged Brennan now as her hands were being lifted by the paramedics trying to get to her. "Stay awake!" Lily was trying, she was trying to tell Brennan that but the words were simply lost on her lips. The last thing Lily saw was Theo's horrorstruck face as he looked down at his red hands and Booth holding Brennan as she was lifted away by the paramedics.