"I just want one person I can rescue and I want one person who needs me. Who can't live without me. I want to be a hero, but not just one time." - Chuck Palhniuk, Choke

10.

Booth stared at the papers in front of him, wondering if there was any legitimate way to lose them, permanently. One was a scan of a driver's license; the other a permit to carry and conceal a weapon. He had to review them before sending his recommendation on to HR. Both made his gut writhe uncomfortably.

He stared for another long moment and then, with a sigh, picked up his phone and dialed.

"Hello, Corby Danes speaking."

"Hey Corny!"

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then a one word reply, "Booth."

"You got it Corndog!"

"You got anymore of those, or should I invite my family round for supper so we can all sit on you?"

Booth chuckled. "Lame as ever Corn on the Cob."

The other man switched the subject with grace. "So...What do I owe the pleasure of this call? I'm sure it's not just to make fun of my name for old times' sake."

Booth straightened the papers in front of him. "My partner's applying for a carry permit...and wants to drive my wheels."

"Ah, the bone lady. I thought you said something about skating in h e double hockey sticks before you'd let that happen."

"Yeah," Booth murmured. "Things change. Actually, you might be more familiar with her than you think."

"Yeah?" Curiosity colored Corby's voice.

"She just did 7 weeks in your playground."

"Seven...Oh god, it makes so much more sense now. Cadet Brennan's the bone lady." The pieces dropped.

"Yeah."

"So, what? You worried I didn't treat her right?"

"Nah man, that's not it. It's just. How'd she do, really?" When Bones had walked into his office yesterday he'd been blown away. He hadn't been expecting her for days, and to have her appear... Yeah, the papers that she'd dropped on his desk had been his last priority for the next 18 hours. He smiled a cat and canary smile, remembering the view he'd woken to only hours before.

"Shit man. I don't know. She did okay. I mean, I'd think twice about letting her loose by herself, especially in an interrogation room or hostage negotiation, but yeah, she kinda exceeded expectations, you know."

Oh, he knew, only too well. "Do you think she can do it?"

"Don't you?" His old friend sounded confused.

"Yeah. I mean, Bones, she's always had my back. But she's a little unpredictable. She shot me once. Shot a suspect, punched a judge, you know, that kind of thing. I just gotta make sure, you know? Just like any other junior agent. Only, this seems even more important."

"Look Seals, she did good. I mean, I don't think you've got anything to worry about. She did the test the other morning, you know Hogan's Alley? Lady kept us on our toes. That doesn't happen often. You should..." The man, paused, considering his options. While he wouldn't normally release something like this... the man was her partner. He deserved to know. "Look, I'm going to send you a video link. Watch it, and then if you've still got questions, well, we'll talk."

"Corbs, I..."

He was cut off. "You'll owe me. Just, pay attention, okay?

Not knowing what else to do, he agreed and clicked on the link when it popped up. What he saw was a woman tied up in a small room with a bag over her head.

"What is this?" He hissed.

"Her scenario, I told you."

"You locked her up in a dark room with a bag over her head! Christ man! She's claustrophobic!"

"Yeah, her profile mentioned it. Just watch. It wasn't too bad."

"Not bad." His stomach clenched. "Corbs, she was kidnapped and buried in her car a couple years back. The Gravedigger?"

"Shit man. The guys that drafted the scenario didn't tell me about that. She did okay."

Booth watched the woman struggle. "There were other times she... How long does this go on? This is…."

"Hey, not long. Look. I'm sorry, I really didn't know. But just. Watch okay? You know we have to mess with their minds. You've been through it."

"Yeah, but you didn't make me relive the most traumatic event of my life!" To his relief she untangled the ropes and threw the bag off. She stumbled to her feet and braced herself in a defensive position. The door opened. In seconds she attacked and the intruder was on the floor with restraints.

The man on the other end chuckled. "She took out Bartowski in five seconds flat. The guy's been limping ever since!"

Booth didn't see the humor as his partner slid out the door, confiscated weapon at ready. The screen went black.

"Corbs?"

"Yeah?"

"This all?"

"No man. This was just the intro."

"You sure I should be watching this? I'm ready to shoot you right now."

The man sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about the hood. She barely flinched at that. That's not where..." His voice trailed off, realizing for the first time that showing this to Booth wasn't such a great idea. "Maybe I shouldn't..."

"You can't set this up and let me hang, Corn."

"Okay, just remember, okay? She's home safe. Nothing bad happened."

Booth thought back to the small figure in black. He wasn't so sure about that. "Show me," he growled.

The camera followed Bones as she made her escape from the building, her form and positions almost textbook. He felt a flash of pride before noticing her pause over something on the floor.

His instincts spiked. "What's that?"

There was silence from the other end of the phone.

"Corbin."

"Look, until you called I swear I didn't know about any of this. I just graded her based on what I saw, what she did. I didn't delve in the why's okay?"

"What did she pick up Corbin?" Booth demanded.

"Nothing man, just a piece of debris."

"What kind of debris?"

"Just watch the damn tape Seals and remember I didn't plan this," Corby demanded in return.

The next hour passed in a blur as Booth watched his partner face the obstacles alone. Multiple times he wanted to reach through the screen to give her a hand, but as always she figured her own way through. He gasped when to avoid being detected she actually scaled a building and jumped a roof. His friend laughed at him. "Yeah, we didn't see that coming either. We lost her for a good ten minutes after that one. Got the drop on Jorje."

Jorje was built like a tank. He was easily twice Bones' size.

Booth shook his head and watched with awe. She was searching for something, he could tell, but was mystified as she kept missing opportunities to end the game. She seemed to be stalking her prey as opposed to stopping them.

"What's she doing Corbs? She had the perfect opportunity to nab that guy and she let him walk?"

"You remember that thing she picked up near the start?"

"Yeah?"

"It wasn't debris, not really. It was a belt buckle."

Booths voice took on a warning tone. "What type of buckle?"

"Look, I said I wasn't aware. They brought in some shrink to design the scenario for her. She wasn't a normal cadet. Seven weeks training? Are you kidding me? I figured I wouldn't ask too many questions."

"The belt buckle had a rooster on it, didn't it?" Booth ground out.

"Yeah," the other man said slowly.

"Goddam Sweets!" Booth cursed; the penny dropping.

The video paused. "Booth. I swear I didn't know who she was, but this part ahead, knowing what I know now; it makes a hell of a lot more sense now than it did before."

"Let me guess. They left the buckle there, a dirty trick, trying to see if it would distract her. It worked to a certain degree, but she figured it out. Look at her, she knows it's a game, but she's not taking any chances either. She solved the case 20 minutes ago, but she's taking out threats and buying time until she can figure out the 'clue' that was left for her."

Corby didn't correct him. "They put a guy in a suit with brown hair. Made him play dead. She walked in and for a moment, I thought she was going to lose it, but then she turned steely and just finished it. Found her contact and handed off the information and then walked right off the course.

"Show it to me." Booth watched in silence until the end.

"I think she should get a gun." Corby offered.

"Yeah," Booth agreed absently, his mind still on the man lying in a (fake) pool of blood and the tremor that passed through her before she'd made the connection and walled herself off. She had been successful. She'd collected evidence to put the 'bad guys' in jail and all with minimal collateral damage.

"Look Seals, I'll dig into who set this up," Corby offered.

Booth grunted, "I know who did this."

Corby shuddered at the tone of the other man's voice, thankful it wasn't his fault. "Booth…"

"I'll deal with it Corbs," he said dismissively.

"Okay. Look, you asked if she's qualified, she is. Got 89% on the firearms qualifier, minimums on the physicals, though not the whole 12 points cause she wasn't around long enough. Drove circles around the other recruits." He laughed at the memory of the bewildered driving instructor complaining about the physics lesson she'd given him. "Don't let her near TAC though man if you know what's good for you." Her logic had not been well received, but he figured Booth already knew this much about his partner.

"I saw her papers."

"She should get a gun," the man repeated. Booth nodded, thinking she deserved much, much more. Then released a breath he'd been holding the past 7 weeks.

She had his back. And Sweets was a dead man.

(.xxx.)

A/N: Sorry about the profanity - Corby seemed like a swearer to me!

A/N 2: Previous chapter reposted to correct a few wandering sentences. Don't you hate it when that happens?