Booth pulls up to the park and shifts gears. He turns the key and looks at Brennan, who's sitting in the passenger seat with the duffle bag of cash on her lap. "Be careful, Bones." He pauses and waits until she looks at him before continuing, "I'm right here."
Brennan nods and unbuckles her seatbelt. "I know what I'm doing, Booth. I'll be careful."
He rests his hand on her forearm and sighs. "Bones, just be careful," he repeats and looks at her a little while longer.
She doesn't take her eyes away from him and tightens the grip she has on the duffle bag handles. She swallows and finally pulls her arm back. She opens the car door and closes it, making sure not to slam it. She leans forward, sticking her head through the open window. "Stay back. He was clear."
He nods. "Be careful," he says again for good measure.
"I'll be fine," she reasons. She doesn't let him say another word. She just turns herself around and leaves.
With the FBI on standby, Brennan starts to walk towards the swing set. She can hear her blood rushing in her ears and her heart is racing with each step. She can't be certain that she'll be fine. She has no way of knowing that, but she knows what she's capable of. She can handle this. She's been through worse.
She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, setting the duffle bag down at the foot of the swing set pole closest to her. She starts to walk back towards the parking lot, but stops when she hears rustling. She sidesteps and ducks down behind the bushes, peering over the top of them. She sees a tall, dark figure approach the swing set, so she creeps up behind the shadow.
The figure, clearly an amateur, goes to reach for the ransom, but senses someone or something behind him. He slips a hand into his pocket and pulls out a knife, turning around. He raises the knife and slices through Brennan's jacket, slashing into her left forearm before she has a chance to react.
She's running on pure adrenaline at this point, so it only feels like a pinch. She grabs the man's wrist, twisting it until it snaps. She then flips him, throwing him to the ground. She's momentarily distracted by a distant cry, her daughter's distant cry, which gives the man ample time to free himself from under her weight.
He manages to cut through her pants, putting a significant gash in her upper thigh, almost down to the bone. He bites his bottom lip, his attempt to block the pain, and pins her down with his knees, the knife hovering an inch away from her throat. He looks down at her, staring into her glassy blue eyes, and smirks. "Gotcha now, bitch."
Meanwhile, Booth's starting to worry. Brennan's been gone longer than he expected her to be. After all, she was only supposed to drop the ransom off and get back in the car. He can't take it anymore, so he gets out of the car and motions for the other agents to stay back a ways, but to follow him. He pulls his gun from the holster, cocks it, and takes steps towards the swing set. As he gets closer, he can hear his partner's gritted-teeth screams and another voice. "Hands up," he orders, upon finding the assailant on top of Brennan and noticing the knife flush against her neck.
"Agent Booth, you come to rescue your damsel in distress?" He keeps eye contact with Brennan. "Back off or I'll make sure my hand slips. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
"Hands up," Booth repeats, hardly phased by the man's bluff. "Bones, are you ok?" He's trying to keep his focus, but it's hard. He can hear her sort of whimper, but he can't see her, he can't see how badly she's injured either. He steadies his hand. "Bones?"
"I'm fine." Brennan's feeling a little dizzy, her vision fading in and out. She swallows and inhales. She squeezes her eyes shut and counts to three silently. "Three," she croaks out, and despite her decreased strength, she knees the man and thrusts the heel of her hand into his shoulder as hard as she can. "I'm no damsel in distress," she says with confidence as she gives him another hard whack, knocking him off balance. The knife ends up grazing her neck in process.
Booth gives the man a little kick, knocking him off Brennan completely. "Hands up." His voice gets louder as he takes a step closer. "Drop the weapon." His eyes drift to Brennan, but quickly fall back to the man with the knife. His finger touches the trigger as he breathes in and out. "Drop the weapon."
The man hesitates, but finally sets the knife beside him and slowly stands up, holding his arm against his stomach.
Another agent picks up the knife by the shaft, allowing a third agent to walk past Booth. He yanks the man's hands behind his back and cuffs him, everyone taking a perverse pleasure in the grunts and screams coming from the assailant. He pushes him towards the parking lot, making it a point to walk right past Booth.
Booth turns his head and eyes the suspect, his gun still raised and pointed straight at him. "Where is she?"
The man just smirks at him, arching an eyebrow. "Where's who?"
Booth takes a step closer. "Where is Christine?"
The man shrugs. "I don't know."
Booth pushes the barrel of his gun into the space between the man's eyes and allows his finger to keep its place on the trigger. "You messed with the wrong family."
"Booth," Brennan cries out to him, pleading with him.
Booth pulls his gun back. "Get him out of here." He pauses. "I want this whole place searched! Start with the bushes."
"Already on it, Agent Booth."
Booth sighs and slips his gun into the holster again. He rushes over to his partner and falls to his knees. He rips off his jacket and presses it against the open gash on her leg. "You're gonna be okay, Bones. You hear me?"
Brennan lifts her hand and rests it against his chest, giving him a nod and closes her eyes.
"No, no, Bones, keep your eyes open."
She opens her eyes again and lifts her chin, nibbling on the inside of her cheek.
He adds more pressure and shivers with each scream. To keep himself from completely losing it, he smiles at her and says, "We should go on vacation after this. Just the three of us. Somewhere with a beach, somewhere warm. Water, sand, sun, and some alcohol? How's that sound, Bones?"
"Sounds like a good idea," she says, her voice soft and breathy.
He smiles. "It does, doesn't it? It sounds amazing. We can get away. No skeletons, no murders, no paperwork, and no bad guys. Just you, me, and Christine."
She nods. "Mmhmm."
"Agent Booth."
He turns his upper body towards the agent calling for him, and his face drains of color. He looks back at Brennan and blinks. "Bones!"
She opens her eyes and furrows her brows. "Shhh. I have a headache."
"Look, Bones, look."
She tilts her head in the direction he's pointing, and her pain just seems to disappear the second she sees her daughter's face. The baby is cradled in the agent's arms, clutching his tie. Christine's cries have never been so comforting.
Booth gets out of the way when the EMTs arrive to tend to Brennan and immediately takes Christine from the fellow agent. He kisses her on the forehead and rocks her. "Shhh, daddy's got you, baby." He turns to Brennan and holds the infant close, allowing her cheek to touch her mother's.
Fresh tears fall from Brennan's eyes as her daughter's hand flails in the air. "Honey, I love you," her voice trails off into a whisper. She's feeling even weaker than before, but she turns her face into her daughter's cheek and kisses her.
Within a few minutes, Brennan is loaded into the back of an ambulance, Booth by her side with their daughter in his arms. He looks at his partner and the woman he loves, and he smiles. "I knew we'd find her." His eyes flutter between Christine and Brennan the entire ride to the hospital.