It's around ten on Sunday morning, and Brennan's asleep in a hospital bed, the sheets pulled up to her neck. She's lying on her back, almost completely still, her breathing steady and eyelids twitching. She's been passed out since around midnight, shortly after the pain medication kicked in.

She jerks and her eyelids pop open. She sits up and looks around. Her pupils are dilated, her breathing is erratic now, and her heart is beating faster, as she searches the room. She clutches the sheets and blinks slowly. "Booth? Booth? Booth!"

Booth appears in the bathroom doorway, but when he notices her wide eyes, sweaty skin, and quivering chin, he rushes over to her. He places a hand on her shoulder and buries his face into her hair, kissing the top of her head. "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Are you hungry? Do you need help getting out of bed? Do you need some water?" He sighs. "Are you okay?"

She's not listening to him. She's still searching the room, her body shaking. She hitches a breath and finally meets his eyes. "Where is she, Booth? Where's Christine?"

Max walks out of the bathroom with Christine in his arms. The infant is wrapped in a monkey towel and she's sucking on the bill of her rubber ducky. "She's right here, Tempe."

Brennan's shoulders drop and her breathing and heart rate begin to stabilize again. She doesn't speak. She just looks at her daughter.

Max steps closer to the bed and hands the infant over to her mother, adjusting the hood of the towel. "We were just giving her a bath, that's all. She's fine. Happy and smiley, just like always."

Brennan cradles Christine and lowers her head, kissing her forehead.

"Tempe, is everything alright?"

Tears start to well up in her eyes as she tugs on the towel, running her hand down her daughter's torso.

"Tempe?"

She takes her eyes off Christine, just long enough to see the concern look on Booth and her father's faces. "I'm fine. It was only a nightmare." She smiles when the infant hooks her hand around her finger. "Good morning, Christine."

Max turns to Booth and furrows his brow. He shifts his weight and touches Booth's arm. "Is she going to be alright?"

Booth shrugs and sighs, glancing down at the hand on his arm. "She's Bones. She'll be okay." He pauses, looking back at his partner. "I'm supposed to protect them. I failed. I failed both of them," he says under his breath, his voice too low for anyone but him to hear and understand what he's saying. This never should have happened. None of it.

"Take care of them, Booth." Max starts to walk towards the door, but stops when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns his head and sees Booth standing there.

"Let the FBI handle this, Max. Bones is dealing with a lot right now."

"Who said I was going to do anything?"

"Just let the FBI deal with the bastard, okay? I know you love her and would do anything to protect her, but stay out of it, Max," Booth warns.

"You should have killed him when you had the chance."

"Don't think that thought didn't cross my mind last night," Booth confesses. "And if he hadn't dropped the weapon when he did, I would have. I wouldn't think twice about it."

Max glances at Brennan and then goes back to looking at Booth. "Tell her I'll be back later." With that, he leaves, disappearing down the hallway.

Booth watches him turn the corner and then heads over to his partner's hospital bed.

Booth sits down in the chair and plays with Christine's toes. He looks at Brennan and tucks her hair behind her ears, getting her attention. "Hey, everything's going to be fine," he tries to reassure her. "Christine's only got bumps and bruises, your injuries will heal, and that son of a bitch is rotting in a jail cell, locked up for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon." He gives her the facts. He knows his assumption that everything's going to be fine will mean more if there's evidence to back up his claim—at least to her.

Brennan smiles. "I trust you."

He pushes himself out of the chair a little and leans over her, his lips brushing against hers. He breaks the kiss and sits back down, keeping his eyes on her.

"Booth?"

"Are you in pain? I can get someone to adjust your pain meds. Are you thirsty?" He stands up and pours her a cup of water, holding it out for her.

She lets out a soft chuckle and shakes her head. "I'm fine."

He knows she means it. She's not lying. She's not trying to make him feel better. She's genuinely okay. He can see it her eyes, her smile, the way she laughs. Plus, she rarely says something she doesn't actually mean. It's further evidence that everything is going to be fine—in time. Things will return to normal soon enough. "Do you think Christine understands what happened?"

Brennan watches as Christine goes back to sucking on her rubber ducky. "Fortunately, she probably doesn't remember what happened. She understands there's a difference between us and him, between safety and danger, though. I believe that, but you know I don't put too much stock into psychology."

He's about to go in for another kiss, but he's interrupted by a knock on the door. He sort of rolls his eyes at the visitor, sinking back into the chair.

"Oh, did we interrupt something?"

Booth nods. "Yeah, you did." He pauses. "What do you want? For the last time, Sweets, we—."

Sweets holds up his hand to cut Booth off and steps into the room. "I'm not here to talk, Agent Booth. I'm just here to see how Dr. Brennan is feeling, physically speaking."

"And I brought donuts," Angela says, cheerfully, appearing behind Sweets a couple seconds later. She walks right past the psychologist and sits on the edge of her best friend's bed, tickling Christine and then getting down to business. "Sweetie, how are you?"

Brennan swallows. "I'm doing as well as one can after being sliced three times with a sharpened instrument, Ange." She smiles, adjusting Christine and rocking her the minute she starts to fuss.

Angela laughs and nods. "Joking, that's a good sign, right?"

Sweet nods. "That's a possibility, but it's most likely a coping mechanism. It's Dr. Brennan's way of dealing with the underlying trauma of yesterday's events."

Booth grunts. "You really need to get a new hobby." He runs his hand down Brennan's arm and cracks a small smile. It's not a funny joke, he's not even sure someone could actually call that a joke, but it's a small sign that things are returning to normal, albeit slowly. "Good one, Bones."

Angela sets the donuts on the tray and stands up. She gives Brennan a quick hug and sighs. "Please tell me you caught the guy who did this?"

Booth nods. "We got the last laugh. He messed with the wrong people."

"Damn right he did," Sweets blurts out.

Everyone turns their heads and looks at him, their eyebrows raised.

"I—I—I mean he totally messed with the wrong people," Sweets corrects, his eyes bouncing back and forth from Booth, to Brennan, to Angela. He grabs a donut and bites into it. "Mmmm. These donuts are great. You guys should totally have one." He looks away and swallows.

Booth stares at him for another few seconds and then decides it's a good time to get Christine dressed. He takes the infant from Brennan and walks over to the couch. He lies her down on the cushion and puts her in his all-time favorite onesie, her 'Daddy's Little Special Agent' onesie. He tucks her feet into a pair of striped socks and smiles. He hoists her up into the air and sets her on his hip, pulling at the fabric and smoothing it down. He walks over to the bed and sits back down in the chair, setting Christine in his lap. Now the attention shifts from Sweets to Booth. He blinks and looks up. "What?"

"Papa Booth is just very hot," Angela emphasizes, giving her best friend a smile.

Brennan's lips slowly turn up into a grin as she looks at Angela and then turns her focus to Booth.

Booth hands Christine back over to Brennan and then gets serious, "Bones needs to rest. Everybody out. Thanks for coming by." He practically pushes them out of the room and then shuts the door.

With Sweets and Angela gone, Booth crawls into bed with Brennan after she scoots over for him. He drapes his arm around her shoulders, leans in closer to her, and looks down at Christine, stealing a glance at his partner.

The room is pretty quiet for a while, with just the sound of Christine babbling and their breathing, until Brennan looks over at him. "Booth," she starts, and doesn't continue until she feels she has his full attention. "At any point yesterday did you think we wouldn't find her alive?"

He hesitates, a lot of different things running through his head at once. "Honestly?"

She nods. "It'll just be between you and me."

He sighs. "Yeah, there were a couple times."

She leans back against the pillow, leaning more on him, as she whispers, "Me too."

He slides his hand off her shoulder and squeezes her upper arm. His eyes fall back down to their daughter, and he smiles as she falls asleep in her mother's arms. It's yet another sign that things are going to be fine and things will return to normal. Maybe not any time soon, but eventually.

The End.

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