(The Killer in the Crosshairs)

A/N: I had a few requests for a continuation of this story, so I'll see what I can do. I appreciate that there are still Bones fans out there. I still enjoying watching the show.

I don't own Bones.

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As they worked on their case, Booth realized that Brennan was comparing him to Jacob Brodsky and that worried him. It also made him angry. He didn't think of himself as someone who could ever work outside the law, but his partner seemed to think he could and it made him feel sick. He didn't understand why she couldn't see that he and Brodksy were different and it made him start to doubt himself.

Confused and not sure what to do about his partner's comments, he'd talked to Sweets about it. The boy had listened to his doubts about his partnership and he did try to help him, but it had only eased his mind a little bit. Booth appreciated that the younger man had said he was a normal man and not like Brodsky at all, but he didn't need his affirmation. He needed Brennan to see who he was, to see that he wasn't capable of doing the things that Brodsky was doing. He didn't understand why she thought taking a life meant nothing to him.

He just didn't get it. They had worked together for a long time and she'd seen that he couldn't take the shot without approval from the higher ups. She had seen that there is a price he pays every time he takes a life. He could never go rogue or at least he hoped he couldn't. Maybe she was seeing something in him that he couldn't and that worried him. It worried him a lot.

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She seemed to be saying the wrong things to her partner. She had noticed the similarities between Brodsky and Booth and her friend seemed to be taking her comments the wrong way. She knew she normally had trouble communicating with people even those she considered friends, but she had thought she knew how to communicate with Booth. He was the one person she could rely upon to understand her reasoning even when others felt insulted or simply misunderstood what she was saying. Now that connection seemed to be breaking and she didn't know how to fix it.

His history as a sniper meant Booth knew how Brodsky thought about things. She wasn't trying to intimate that they were the same, but her partner appeared to think she was. She didn't know how to talk to him about what was going on and that worried her.

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Booth had stopped Brodsky from killing the corrupt cop, Gregory Allen, but the assassin had got away and Booth was worried that the man would kill again.

Though her partner was worried, Brennan wasn't. She was confident that eventually Brodsky was going to make a serious mistake and they were going to capture him. She sipped from her glass of beer and mentioned to her partner that they were still out there working on the case and more importantly so was Booth.

Feeling sensitive about who and what he was, Booth glared at Brennan. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Again, Brennan knew that she had said the wrong thing and she felt frustrated. "That you will eventually get him . . . Why are you angry with me?"

"I don't like the idea that my partner thinks that me and Jacob Brodsky are the same?" He didn't understand why she thought so badly of him.

"You are similar in many ways, but not in the most important ways . . . How can I put this in a way that you will understand?" She was trying not to upset Booth and she needed to be as clear as she could be. There had been too much miscommunication with each other for the last few days.

He knew she was trying to explain what she meant, but he didn't need her to use her squinty speak. He needed it to be simple and clear. "Why don't you try to say it in teeny tiny words." He was college educated, but compared to Brennan he was usually floundering to understand her when she was in squinty mode.

"Okay . . . Brodsky is bad and you are good. That's as simple as I can put it." She wasn't trying to insult his intelligence, but she was determined that he understand what she was trying to say.

"Alright, you don't believe in absolutes like 'good' and 'bad." He wasn't sure why she had said it that way.

Brennan nodded her head. "Alright. You think it's where people stand. From where I stand, Brodsky is bad and you are good."

Relieved, Booth smiled. "Thank you for standing there, Bones."

"I'm standing right beside you, Booth. Like always, like I always will." She was glad that Booth could see she was on his side. She hadn't meant to upset him while they were tracking down Brodsky, but she had. She had been relying on the skills he had learned in the Army as a Ranger. The same skills that Brodksy had learned and was using. The same skills, but two completely different men. "You aren't Brodsky. You could never do the horrible things he has done."

Booth had been so worried that Brennan was seeing something in him that he couldn't see in himself. She was honest and blunt and usually he relied upon that character trait of hers, but when it was aimed at him, it could make him feel uncomfortable and filled him with doubt. "Thanks. I just . . . when you were comparing me to Brodsky, I thought you thought I could be like him."

"Never, Booth." Brennan felt sad that she had allowed her partner to think she'd had doubts about him. "I know who you are. I've seen how you react when you kill someone. I've killed someone and I've been through it myself. We aren't capable of murdering anyone. Brodsky can and is doing it for money. He's no better than the Gravedigger was. He's just as horrible as Howard Epps. He had the same training that you did, but he is using that training to commit murder. You use your skills to capture men like Brodsky. I am fortunate to know a man like you, Booth. As far as I am concerned, you will always do the right thing. You will follow the law and I can count on you to be the man I need you to be."

Overwhelmed with her speech, Booth closed his eyes for a moment and felt like fate had been good to him when he'd met Brennan. Opening his eyes, he smiled at his partner and friend. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Booth."

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Let me know what you think of this chapter. I may finish out season six. It will depend upon the response to this chapter.

A/N: just in case you're not aware of it, Fanfiction now requires to you opt-in to get emails and notifications through Fanfiction. The opt-in has to be renewed every six months. Sign into your Fanfiction account, go to settings (on left of screen), go to Email Opt-In( on the right of the screen), click on the Yes option and then hit Save. I guess this is so people who don't read fanfiction anymore won't be bothered.