DISCLAIMER: Think Bones meets James Patterson's Casanova in Kiss the Girls.

I started this forever ago - let me know if it's good-ish! It starts out in the middle of it kinda but all is explained eventually. It should also end up Booth/Brennan eventually but it will more than likely be extremly gradual. Hope you like it! (Seeley & Brennan Forever!!)

BRENNAN'S POV:

" Tempe, what's wrong, sweetie? Why are you walking that way? Booth? What happened to her?" Angela asks as I hobble past her into my office at the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab in Washington DC., followed by my partner, Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI. I ignore Ang and slam the door in Booth's face. I close the blinds and take out my first aid kit and a pair of forceps. I'm glad I wore black today; it's easy to get blood out of. I take off my blazer and throw it somewhere in my cluttered office before I peel my sticky tank top from my abdomen and lift it over my head, dropping it on my glass coffee table in a bloody heap. As I examine my wound, I hear Booth pounding on my door. I try to ignore that he could bust open my door and see me in nothing but my bra and begin to clean the blood from my abdomen, careful to apply pressure the entire time. After a few more seconds of pounding I hear Booth leave to, I assume, get a janitor to open up my door and let him in. I have a few minutes to pull the bullet out of my left external oblique and bandage said muscle.

My fingers shake as I grasp the forceps and begin to gently dig into my side to find the bullet. After a few minute of painful prying I remove a small chunk of metal from the hole. I'm bleeding profusely as I set the bullet on the table next to my shirt and reach for some bandages. Things start to spin as I scrabble around the table before bumping the dressing on the floor. I lean over but the pain forces me to sit back up abruptly. I lean back into my couch and close my eyes, trying to breathe deeply. After I've composed myself I open my eyes and lean down slowly to pick up the bandages. My fingers find them and as I sit up my door bursts in and Booth stumbles in, gaping at me. I hear the janitor swear in surprise and Ang literally jumps in with a gasp, slamming the door behind her. Booth stands frozen for a second before stumbling into the table and coming to my side to get a better look at my wound. Without a word he holds out his hand and I drop the bandage into his waiting palm. I lean forward as he reaches behind me as he wraps the bandage around me tightly.

"Bren, you need to go to a hospital!" Ang states the obvious as she paces, watching me and Booth with a worried expression on her face. Booth keeps his eyes on my side and doesn't say anything. I can tell he's mad at me for not letting him take care of me and take me to a hospital. That's fine. I can deal.

"I'm not important. Besides, the hospital will be full of the girls we found. They need more help than I do. I know how to handle a gunshot wound." I try to brush her off but wince when Booth pushes on my side with a muttered sorry.

" Tempe, I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself! I'm saying you need medical attention-" Ang starts but I cut her off.

"You think this is the first time I've gotten shot, Ang? After what I've seen, what I've been through? Down in Central America, who took care of me, hm? Me. Who took care of me when Ortez was threatening me? Me. Who took care of me when my parents LEFT ME? I DID! I'M ALL I HAVE, ANG! I know what I'm doing. I'll be fine. And I can take care of myself." I realize I'm tearing up as I sit there half-naked and bleeding, getting dizzier by the second. By the end of me speech Ang is my right side hugging me with Booth on my left, putting the finishing touches on my bandages. Booth's still avoiding my eyes and Ang's tears are starting to mingle with my own.

"Oh, Tempe. Everybody needs a little help sometimes. We're going to take care of you, aren't we Booth? Oh, sweetie, is that hurting you?" She lets go of me and backs away a few inches on the couch. Black dots appear all over my office and I realize I'm about to pass out. I close my eyes and try to tell them but my brain is functioning too slowly and by the time I manage to get out "Booth…" I've already lost consciousness.