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Disclaimer: I don't own Bones but being the middle of a DB and TJT sandwich would be nice

"I won't accept this resignation, Agent Perotta. You are valuable to my team and I need the best to defeat Pelant."

Perotta shook her head as she laid in her bed. "Agent Booth, you don't need me."

"Yes I do. I don't understand why you did what you did at our house..." Booth saw the panic in her eyes. "Don't worry. Bones didn't say a word but I trust her when she says it's nothing to do with your effectiveness as an FBI agent."

"Agent Booth-"

"Agent Perotta, I've seen in the last couple of days an agent I used to know. Now, I know you've been….traumatized because you were ra-kidnapped. I have been trying to determine your discipline from your stunt at my house, but I think we're about even. If you can be the agent you used to be before the last several months, then I need you on my team and we will pretend what happened before the bomb didn't happen."

He saw the younger agent wavering. "If you need more time—"

"No I don't." Perotta realized quitting was the easy way out. She needed to help get Pelant….she wanted him to suffer for what happened to her. "Okay, Agent Booth. How can I help?"

Booth sat down in the chair next to the bed. "The doctor said you can get around on crutches. If you are comfortable, report to work tomorrow. You can assist Agent Shaw sifting though Reynolds' and Pelant's records"

'Great…get to work with a pissed off Shaw…..goodie' Perotta nodded her head. "I will be there."

"Good. I will see you tomorrow, Agent Perotta"

"Good night, sir." Perotta gave a smile. "Congratulations on your marriage"

Booth had a feeling the words were genuine. "Thanks. Now get some rest. It's going to be a long day, tomorrow."

Booth walked out of the room and headed back to pick up his wife. While having an agent like Perotta assisting him with Pelant was mostly the motive for asking her to come back to work, he had another ulterior motive.

'I'm going to find out what you did to Perotta, Christopher Pelant. You will not go after any of my agents…not on my watch.'

Working on his latest project, Pelant looked up at the television and on the news, he saw Brennan being escorted out of the hospital by Booth. He smirked at the irritated agent's constant replies of, "No comment."

Author and forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan was released today from St. George's University Hospital, accompanied by partner, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the D.C's District Major Crimes Division Seeley Booth, whom she was married in a private ceremony on June 13th.

To recap, Dr. Brennan and three FBI agents were involved in an explosion in their home June 25th, leaving one agent dead and two others injured, the last agent was also released today. When asked for a statement, an FBI spokesman said they were pursuing a suspect at this time and withholding release of his name pending an investigation.

In other news—

"Of course they're not going to release my name. They know that they have nothing on me….nothing at all." Pelant turned off the television and laughed as he put wires together in a box. "The Fourth is going to be so great…..Dad's coming here and I get to blow up Booth."

He turned to look at a collage of Brennan wistfully. "I don't want to kill you, Temperance and I'm sorry I have to. I love you, but Booth knew what would happen if he married you and he's the one thing keeping me from my father loving me." He kissed the picture first chastely then started including his tongue. "All I know is, Booth needs to be destroyed."

He returned to his project on the table. "On the Fourth, there's going to be more than just fireworks, but a day of reckoning!"

Pelant slowly moved his arm to a button. After a moment of having difficulty making it work, he was able to push it. Suddenly, the voices of Booth reading to Christine came in clear. "Yeah, the FBI found most of my bugs….but not all of them."

'It's so good to be home.' Bones thought as she sat in the master bath's tub with the jets' bubbles soothing her. Booth was putting the children to bed so she could relax for a bit.

Knowing with her pregnancy that her time in a hot tub was limited, she stayed in as long as she could. When her time was up, she carefully lifted herself out of the bathtub, making sure that her splint remained dry until she was sitting on the edge. Knowing Booth would be done soon and hover over her, she gingerly lifted herself off the tub and dried off. After putting on her favorite robe, a blue one with white skulls all over, she wrapped her ankle and put a bunny slipper on the other foot. Bypassing her crutches, she grabbed the baby monitor Booth left with her and slowly opened the door. Taking a few steps, she heard Booth in Christine's room reading her a story. However, her family's voices died out as she examined the damage to the bedroom for herself.

The dresser that she picked out with Booth at the antique store by the Maryland shore was gone. Booth said it was damaged beyond repair, while the clothes in it were salvageable and were washed by Angela while she was in the hospital. She saw her jewelry box, the one Booth got her after she gave birth to Christine, sitting in the chair on the other side of the room miraculously with little damage.

On the floor, she saw a burned lump that she recognized as what was her African fertility statue. Among the other odds and ends on the floor she saw Booth's beer hat melted and distorted. She recalled it was on the dresser and it seemed he forgot to put it away before she came home. Usually, she would get mad, but as Booth would put it last time, 'Bones, sometimes shit happens.'

She didn't understand how fecal matter had anything to do with leaving his beer hat on the dresser, but that ceased in importance as she took in the room. The damage was as Booth said it was, mostly confined to one wall. Where the bed used to be was mostly charred. Booth said they would go shopping for a new bed when she was able, but she would start the search online. Near where the bed used to be, the remains of Booth's nightstand sat on the floor.

As she took in the remains, she remembered what she could…..the dressing down of Perotta…..hearing the word "Bomb!", being propelled into Agent Perotta before both were flown into the dresser by the impact of the explosion. Her next memory was being pushed into the ultrasound room.

The impact of that day seemed to finally settle with her as she realized how close she and her unborn child came to dying. Why she held the pillow she had no idea, but it saved her baby. She wasn't out of the woods yet with her pregnancy but the doctor was confident she could probably carry full term. She knew it was illogical and wrong, but she was grateful for Booth not being able to pick her up at the airport because if he had, it could have been Booth that was killed by the bomb instead of Agent Sparling.

Her emotions moved like a roller coaster as she thought over the last eighteen months. Pelant killed innocent people, framed her for the murder of a dear friend who did nothing but try to help her at her request, took advantage of grieving teenagers to do his bidding, attempted to murder her friends after terrorizing them with a dead body in their bedroom, and emotionally blackmailed the man she loved into breaking her heart.

Brennan started feeling anger at Pelant, wishing him dead as tears started to fall. 'Excessive human chorionic gonadotropin…that's all this is….I'm a rational person…Booth and I will get him….we will have justice.'

But as her thoughts continued, her crying intensified for several minutes until she felt the arms of her husband surround her from behind. "Sssshhh, it's okay, Bones."

"N-n-no it's not, Booth. He was in our house…..our children's rooms…our bedroom….where we dream, talk, and make love. He's corrupted our mighty hut..."

Booth felt his anger at Pelant intensify as he listened to his wife's words, but knew she needed to calm down not only for the baby's sake, but for Parker and Christine's. He would let her break down later when they were alone but she needed reassurance now. He did it the only way he knew how with his partner….the truth.

"Bones, listen to me. Look up and listen to me."

When she turned around, Booth began to speak. "He was in Parker and Christine's rooms. Yes, he was in our bedroom, but he did not destroy our home. It's still our home. We talk about our dreams in other rooms in this house and yes, while we mostly made love in this room, we've made love before and after Christine was born in all the other rooms of this house, but we won't let him win."

Booth wrapped one arm around Brennan and cupped her cheek with the other hand. "Soon this room will be repaired. Yes we will have a new bed and dresser. Your African statue is toast, along with my beer hat and other items, but I don't give a shit about those. He may have damaged this room, but he didn't destroy it. When we have a case that is really hard and soul draining this is the room I know I can confide to you, listen to you, and comfort you with words or by showing you. It will be slightly different but we will still have this room. Pelant tried to destroy the sanctity of this place along with trying to kill you, but we won't let him succeed. If we let him get under our skin about him being here, he's going to win, Bones."

He kissed her gently. "I'll be damned if that son of a bitch takes away the home we have built together. This is our mighty hut, not his. We need to take it back, but I can't do that without you. Can you help me with that, Bones?"

She felt instant comfort and safety in the beautiful chocolate brown eyes of her husband. She also knew what he was doing but was grateful for it. She didn't want the children to see her upset, because they needed to be protected as much as possible. "Yes, Booth. I will use my superior intellect and you will use your skills with people and emotions to defeat Pelant with the help of Agents Shaw and Perotta and our friends."

"That's right, Bones. Come on, let's go to bed." It was then he noticed the crutches weren't there. "Bones, where are your crutches?"

'Oh it's starting...' Brennan thought to herself. "In the bathroom."

Booth walked into the bathroom and retrieved them. "Bones, you need to use these."

"The doctor said do what I felt was comfortable."

"The doctor said not to be up for long periods of time."

Brennan started to limp out the door. "I won't be Booth because I'm going to bed."

Booth followed holding the crutches. "You're using these, Bones."

They continued to go back and forth as they walked to the guest room down the hall. "No, I'm not Booth. Not in my home. I'm perfectly capable of walking around my house without crutches."

"Bones, you have a sprained ankle and these will help you until you are 100%, plus you're pregnant." Booth said as he walked into the bedroom after his wife and closed the door.

Parker wandered out of the room and headed towards the children's bathroom and heard the bickering of his father and stepmother. For a moment, he forgot his sadness as he laughed at what he was hearing.

'Dad's right….we're gonna get this guy and we're going to be okay.'