Hey hey! Look I know it's been WAAAAYY to long, and I probably deserve a beating, but life's been so cray-cray and it's been really hard to find the time, let alone get inspired at the same time :( :( Today, however - thought it was time to break the stalemate, aye? Thankyou so much to all who reviewed last chapter, and all the follows and favs in between - for all of you that have stuck with me, thick and thin, it really means the world to me, so thanks!

Anyways enjoy guys! :) xx

34. Know Thy Enemy

"Stay away from the windows."
Brennan put two hands up and backed away. "I was going to the fridge, but whatever."
"Just stay out of sniper sight." Hodgins maneuvered around her, and peeked through a slit between the curtain and frame.
Brennan went back to the wall she had leant on in the fifteen minutes since 'the phone call'. "Is the coast clear?"
Hodgins let the drape fall back into place. "The car is still wrapped around the fire hydrant, and no sign of the feds."
After the phone had rung, there had been a commotion below, and when both went to inspect via the window, they had discovered an abandoned car, steaming and hissing beneath the spray of a red fire hydrant. Hodgins, of course, had come to the conclusion that the vehicle belonged to Broadsky, however Brennan had been more optimistic.
And at that moment, she moaned in response to the latest update, "Great." Her eyes travelled to her father's landline. She had used it ten minutes before to call Max, while Hodgins had called the FBI and, naturally, he had promised to return immediately from work.
There was no sign of him.
Hodgins noticed the depressed look about her. "Did you tell Booth?"
Brennan gripped the sides of her ribs. "No."
Hodgins regarded her incredulously. "Why not?"
"Well, 'A' - there is nothing he can do about it. 'B'…exactly what I just said." She exhaled sharply, and leant back against the plaster. "Amongst everything that's happened, the last thing I need is Booth flipping out about one more thing."
Hodgins nodded comprehensively, but then studied her a moment.
Brennan didn't miss a thing, and she questioned his intent.
"You've changed," he told her quietly, a small smile giving away at the corners of his mouth.
"Changed, 'how'?"
He shrugged. "You're stronger. More relaxed. I don't know - can't really put my finger on it."
"Maybe it's the baby," Brennan laughed softly, hand subconsciously drifting to her lower abdomen.
"It's you - as an individual. You just seem more…in control."
The anthropologist smirked. "What, like I never was before…?"
"Before you and Booth went your separate ways, you were obsessively in control. Now, you're in control of what matters. Am I making sense?"
Brennan smiled. "I'm not sure I fully understand, but I'll do you the justice of just saying that I do."
"Still the same, though," he chuckled.
At that moment, there was a loud, pounding fist against the door. Hodgins moved to the peephole.
"It's the agents," he informed her.
"Then let them in," Brennan permitted impatiently.
Agent Genny Shaw listened patiently as Jack and Brennan explained the events that had transpired within the last hour - and Brennan also informed Genny of a summarised version of the hospital.
"He could have somebody on the inside," Shaw depicted, wringing her hands. "Someone in that hospital has to be on his side."
"Why do you say that?" Brennan questioned.
Hodgins stepped forward. "Well, think about it; he knew your exact location. He knew about everything - either he has a cam on you, or he's got loyal slaves."
Brennan pondered a moment. "But slaves are just that," she digressed. "Slaves - bought for money. If he has anyone like that on the inside, keeping an eye on me, then there's bound to be a price for it."
Shaw nodded, and waved over her assisting agents, and informed them of her thesis. When they huddled off together, she turned back to Brennan. "We're going to turn you into custody for your protection - unfortunately your father's was too much of an obvious choice. Can you pack you things?"
Brennan shook her head. "No need; I took nothing out of my bag but my toothbrush."
Hodgins grabbed her arm. "Booth told me about you dramatic monologue in the hospital - why no resistance now?"
Brennan retracted her arm from his grip. "Because by being here, I'm only putting my father in danger. And I would have been safer at the hospital, if I had remained with Booth. Here, I'm vulnerable. My baby is. My father is; It isn't only my life that's at sake."
"Are you ready Dr Brennan?" Genny touched her shoulder.
She nodded, exchanging a glance with Jack. "Let's go."
Hodgins parted ways with them at the exist to the under-ground car park. "I'll meet you straight away at the r. You won't be alone," he promised Brennan.
Swallowing, she leant forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
They then departed the building, without a glance back.
"Does Charlie know what's going on?" Brennan asked Shaw as they stepped out into the cold chill of the winter morning.
Shaw nodded. "He's in the loop."
"How's he going? I heard that his son was really crook again?" An agent inquired from behind Brennan.
"He's on the mend, but it'll be-"
Shielded by six agents, Brennan didn't here the gunshot until the man directly in front of her dropped.
"Get down!" Genny yelled, retrieving her gun. "Now!
All agents covered Brennan protectively.
An agent from behind Brennan leapt from his cover to the company car.
As he opened the door, however, his body jerked sickeningly, and in a moment of suspense, he too, slipped to the ground.
A third crawled to the open door, and yanked down the transceiver. "Twenty-two-eight-o-one, radioing in two agents down, at Fifty-Seven on Racer Street. Assailant is armed and dangerous. On the loose. Requesting back-up. One civilian and four stable agents present. Over."
"Twenty-two-eight-o-one you've reached Central. Sending out two units. Approximate arrival time five minutes. Remain to the ground. Over."
"Copy that." In a swift movement, the agent returned the device to its cradle, and motioned for his fellow agents to move in beside him. "Stay low," he ordered. "Keep it tight."
At that moment, two police cruisers and a fire engine rounded the corner, bound for the wrecked car. As the first vehicle rolled to a stop near the wreckage, Brennan witnessed a sight that etched itself into her memory like a dark stain in a white ledger.
The whole street illuminated with the explosion of the wrecked car.
Thrown feet away from their cover, Brennan met the ground with a thud. Fighting to stay conscious, her brain viciously fought to shut down and protect itself.
No, she ordered silently. Not twice in two days. You stay awake. Stay…
A vignette cover clouded the corner of her eyes.
"Bren!"
She blinked away at the tears in her eyes - fighting against the sting of the smoke.
Two strong arms grasped the pits of her arms, and dragged her into a warm car. Her eyes only managed to draw open long enough to see her saviour.
Hodgins gripped the wheel so fiercely, the knuckles in his hands bulged whiter than the snow flakes that had begun their decent into the atmosphere.

.

- ~ B&B ~ -

.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Booth roared, coughing at the effort it took to raise his voice.
Hodgins' fists balled by his sides. "It was the right call."
"Right call?" Booth pounded his good wrist against the wall of the hallway, the toned muscles of his torso rippling out from his bare chest. "How is any of this the right call?"
"I don't know, you tell me? None of this would have happened if you let her stay here. She would have been safe."
"Broadsky bombed a street! Four agents are dead - if she stayed here, he would have-"
"What, bombed the hospital?" Hodgins snarled in response. "Terrorism, I believe you would call it. I suppose it isn't such a stretch…"
"Broadsky is not a terrorist-"
"You need to choose your side."
"I have. And there are no sides! What the hell does that have to do with all of this?"
"Jacob Broadsky isn't a friend, or your comrade anymore - he's a murderer," Hodgins hissed in reply, "and he's so hellbent on revenge over you that he's willing to extend the lengths of collateral damage to killing civilians. Killing people he doesn't even know. People who wouldn't know your face between the person next to you. Innocents."
"I know!" Booth ran a hand feverishly through his tousled hair.
Hodgins' hands swung loosely by his sides, and he said darkly, "I don't think you do."
Booth's jaw stiffened. "And what makes you so right, in all of this?"
Hodgins' fingers curled again. "I'm an only child. Brennan is the closest thing I have to a sister."
"But she's in love with me!"
"I've known her longer than you."
"And that means you know what's best for her?" Booth demanded, shoulders rising and falling erratically as he tried to calm his breathing.
"Yeah, I think it gives me some jurisdiction."
Booth had no answer. For a long moment, both men had each other locked in a stand-off, eyes maliciously shooting daggers at the other.
"Enough!" A strong, feminine voice called.
Cam.
"Boys," came Angela's quiet voice. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, beautiful," Hodgins replied. "We're just having a disagreement over a couple of things. Right, Booth?"
The agent nodded.
Came came to Booth's side. "Seeley, what are you doing out here? You need to be in bed-"
"Brennan's already gone," was all he said.
Angela's arms folded across her chest. "Do you know where they've taken her?"
Even Hodgins had no answer to that - though, after a moment, he said, "The less we know, the better."
At that moment, the trill of Cam's phone made them all jump.
"It's an unlisted number," she said slowly. She lifted the device to her ear. "Hello?"
Her face clouded, and she held out the mobile to Booth. "It's Tempe."
Booth took the phone with a trembling hand. "Bones?" He choked into the receiver.
"Booth," she whispered across the line. "I'm so sorry it had to be like this. I wanted to see you, but they took me right away. They're driving me to a safe house."
"I know," he said thickly. "Hodgins told me."
"Please don't kill him."
Booth laughed dryly, in spite of himself. "Are the both of you okay?" There was a pause on the other end, and it made the expecting father's stomach churn nervously. "Bones?"
"We're okay," she murmured. "Just be safe, okay? I can't tell you where I'm going - I'm using the FBI's untraceable phone-"
"It's okay." Booth swallowed. "I know."
"Win for us. Promise me?"
A cloud of water blurred Booth's vision. "Yeah, I promise."
"And I'll see you soon, okay? You're going to be fine. You hear me?"
He could hear the tears in her voice, and it broke his heart even more. "Yeah baby. I love you. They'll take care of you."
"I know. I love you too."
There was a moment of silence between them.
"I don't want to hang up," she cried softly.
"I know baby. I love you."
He ended the call.

So sad :( I know, I'm sorry - it's what my muse ordered! :/

Please tell me what you think guys - I'll be back to review-one-liners next time, I promise!

Thank you for reading - lots of love x G