A/N: This chapter is dedicated to wonderful, insightful, hilarious and always kind reviewer mendebar.
Her reviews never fail to make us laugh, cry and want to write a better story. Thank you!

You have a choice. Live or die. Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice.
Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice. Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.
~Chuck Palahniuk (Survivor)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Beast of Burden

Booth headed towards the emergency room doors of the hospital, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he thought about all that could have gone wrong with Gus and Charlie between the house and the hospital. Shaking his head, he started to push the door open when he was greeted with a wall of reporters, all turning to him at the same time and shouting his name and questions at him like an immense wall of sound. He shook his head and turned back into the hospital, grabbing Agent Conlin along the way.

"Agent, come with me. We're getting out of here somehow." He dragged the younger agent towards what looked like a restricted area.

"Director…I think there is a loading dock back here. Do you want me to go get a car?" Conlin moved to push a large door open, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear of press.

Booth nodded. "Yeah, if you can get around the building and-" His instructions were cut off by the screaming of tires on the pavement as an SUV came screeching to a halt in front of them. Booth reached for his weapon, getting ready to draw when he recognized the driver and the passenger of the car.

"Gus!" He jumped off the loading dock and moved to the passenger side of the car, where Charlie was sitting in shock. "What the hell happened to you two?"

Instead of answering, Gus simply walked around the car and opened the back door. Booth winced as he took in the grisly sight of Bradley Tucker, lying dead in a pool of his own blood, a single bullet hole neatly situated in the middle of his forehead.

Booth slammed the door and ran a hand through his hair. "Jesus. How the hell did he get in the backseat of her SUV?"

"I can only guess that he's been there for awhile. Do we know how long Brennan and Clay were alone?"

"Hours. Neither of them is sure how much time passed between Tucker leaving and when we got there."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Both men turned simultaneously to look at Charlie, who was still sitting in the passenger seat of her car. Booth looked to Gus, questions in his eyes.

"You don't want to know, Booth."

Understanding dawned almost immediately. "God…she had to…?"

"Yeah. He disarmed me; she had hers in her purse. He didn't know she carried. It was a hell of a shot, too."

The door to the car squeaked open slowly. "I learned from the best, Gus. Seeley is an excellent instructor." Charlie jumped down and walked over to them, stopping only when she reached Booth. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed lightly, then stepped back. "Thank you for saving him."

"You're welcome. Now get in there and go see your husband." Booth turned to the forgotten Agent Conlin, who was standing off to the side quietly. "Conlin? Would you escort Mrs. Woods to her husband's room please?"

"Yes, sir. This way, ma'am." He turned to lead Charlie through the loading dock doors, waiting discreetly as she stopped by Gus and squeezed his forearm, and then followed Conlin into the hospital.

After Charlie was gone, Gus explained what happened, telling Booth everything that Tucker had said up to and including what had finally incited Charlie to grab her weapon and defend herself.

"Charlie's pregnant?" Booth looked a little irritated about being left out of the loop, until Gus elaborated.

"Hey, I didn't know either. She told me that Brennan figured it out, but she swore her to secrecy. And Sweets knew, too."

Booth nodded, expelling an exhausted breath. "Not having any privacy, I can't blame her for not wanting it all over the place yet. But you should get up there and have her see a doctor as well. She's been through a lot and she needs to be looked at."

Gus, agreeing, turned to go into the hospital. He stopped, regarding Booth closely. "What are you going to do about this?"

"Honestly, Gus? I don't have a fucking clue."

B&B

Charlotte walked slowly down the hospital corridor, nodding distractedly at the agents who lined the hallway where Brennan's and Clay's rooms were cut off from the rest of the hospital. Agent Conlin led her to room 1124 and then moved to stand guard outside. Charlie nodded her thanks, and then slowly opened the door.

Clay lay in the slightly raised bed, the only medical equipment attached to him an IV giving him precious fluids he'd missed for the last eight days. His eyes were closed.

Charlie leaned back against the now-shut door and considered the man in front of her. He was good and strong and sweet and the best kind of everything she had wished for in her silly, frivolous girlhood fantasies to find in a husband. And she was so afraid…deep down where only the truly horrific demons lived, that she had managed to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her with her screwed-up issues and endless baggage. With a sigh, she stood to her full height and considered letting him rest while she checked on Brennan when Clay's eyes suddenly opened. He looked up and then to his left, his gaze finally resting on her for the first time in over a week.

A smile ghosted his face and he held one hand out to her, beckoning. "Hey. There's my girl."

Charlie tilted her head to the side and pursed her trembling lips, a single tear tracking down her face as her feet propelled her forward and into the arms of the one person who never failed to make her feel like she was finally worth not only something, but that she was worth absolutely everything.