She got the call.

"Brennan!" she shouted a little too loud for a normal pick up. Only that this was not any phone call; whoever was on the other side of the line would give her the most important piece of news of her life: whether the man she loved was dead or alive.

Her breath had stopped the second the cell phone had ring.

"Doctor Brennan, it's agent Shaw", the voice said on the phone. It was the young agent that had been working with Booth the past days. 'This is not good' Temperance couldn't help but think. 'Why isn't he calling?'

"Doctor Brennan?" the agent insisted. Brennan regained herself quickly and managed an almost secure "Yes".

"Agent Booth asked me to call you and let you know he got Broadsky. He shot him in the leg and he's now in custody. Agent Booth will be taking him to the FBI Building to finish with protocol".

"Ok". Somehow she seemed unable to produce more than monosyllables even though she now knew he was alive.

"He also told me to ask you to meet him in the Jeffersonian parking lot in about one hour".

Only then did her inner self seemed to accept he was safe and alive. She relaxed immediately at Booth's request. "Ok, tell him I'll be there".

"I'm glad this is over, doctor Brennan. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend". The agent seemed nice, Temperance noticed. She was glad Booth had someone nice to work with when she was not with him.

"Thank you". She finished the call and turned to look at her friends, who were anxiously waiting for news as well. "Booth got Broadsky", she simply announced.

She heard the cheering and clapping and saw the smiling face of Angela. Yes, Cam and Hodgings and Sweets were happy and knew she was happy, but only Angela knew what was in the table that day: a future of happiness and love for her and Booth, or one of pain and sorrow for her alone. If Booth died that day, Angela knew, Temperance would never get over it, again she would proclaim that to love someone only brought pain and nothing less. The saddest part was that this time she would've been right.

But thank God things had come out just right and Booth had stopped the bad guy. For the first time in months, Angela saw a shinning light in the path of her best friend. "What did they tell you?" the artist asked the anthropologist coming close to her. The others were still busy chatting about the good news.

"Booth hit Broadsky in the leg and they took him in custody. Booth is escorting him to the FBI". For someone as intuitive as Angela, the little smile that tried to appear in Brennan's face spoke too loud. When their eyes met, Angela saw the blue pools of Temperance Brennan shone differently than five minutes before. All that morning, they had reflected nothing but the deep fear Bones was feeling, but now they irradiated a happiness that was nearly contagious. "Aaand…?" the artist offered trying to get her friend to speak.

"Booth asked to meet me in the Jeffersonian parking lot in an hour. I guess he wants to talk to me about Broadsky…"

"Sweetie, that's the last thing he wants to discuss with you tonight, believe me…" Angela said. Before Temperance could protest, she continued: "Brennan, for once in your life, don't push him away! Dare to be happy! I promise you won't regret it!"

"We haven't discussed any of this, Ange… Booth was so mad at me after I rejected him that I really though we were done for good. I had come to accept the fact that I had missed my chance with him. But after last night, I…" the scientist said.

"Sweetie, last night was nothing but the proof that you two are meant to be together. You told me you felt happy and loved in Booth's arms, so what else are you waiting for? Hadn't it been for Vincent's death, you would have never known what was it like to make love with him. He could have died today and you would've regret not crossing that door all your life…" Ange felt sorry for her friend since she had seen how her baby blue eyes filled with tears. Tears not caused by sadness, but by fear, fear of losing at the end the person she loved and felt as abandoned as she felt that Christmas when she was 15. "Go to him, sweetie" Angela said giving her the last little push she needed. "Go to the man you love".

Temperance Brennan was at lost of words. She was struggling hard not to start crying, so she only hugged her friend and ran to her office. If Angela was right, and her heart was telling her so, she needed to be where her heart was asking her to be: in his partner's arms.

She waited for over 45 minutes but she would've waited 10 hours if needed. Finally she saw the black SUV parking at its usual spot and the driver descending from it. He looked tired, pale and somehow saddened, but she saw how is face lit the moment he posed his eyes on her.

She was standing right there where he had imagined, hands in her coat pockets, bending sideways her right foot the way she did when she was nervous. He knew she would be waiting for him, and to be honest, once the backup had arrived, the only thing he could focus on was on running to see her.

She had been his priority for long seven years, even in that first disastrous assignment when what he felt for her was nothing but the loyalty every agent has for his partner. True to be told, he felt almost infatuated back then in that first assignment, but the way things developed, when he saw her again he thought he was over her. Now he knew, he would never ever be over her. He loved that woman so much it almost hurt; she was his air, his blood, his only reason to breath, and at that very moment, when he was so thankful to still be breathing, he wanting nothing more that hold her tight and kiss her breathlessly. After he had handcuffed his cold blooded enemy, his only though had been to let her know he was alive, that's why he had asked agent Shaw to contact her immediately and ask her to meet him there.

He could see the tears shinning in her eyes even from the distance, he could know she had pretended to be strong and calm all day long, but in the inside, she must have been scared to death. What meant a big deal more for him was to know that she had been scared for him, scared of losing him. Yes, they had known they belonged together for a long time now, but after the previous night, they could remove the "had known" part: they now belonged to each other. Last night, special agent Seeley Booth, deadly sniper and honest man, had become property of Temperance Brennan, and he would be hers for as long as he lived.

He tried to look secure and relax when he descended the SUV, but the moment he saw a tear finally crossing Brennan's cheek, all his self-restrain disappeared into thin air. He stood there and opened his arms, and it took her no time to accept the invitation and run straight to wrap her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

There was everything in that kiss: love, longing, passion and need, especially the need to proof beyond any doubt that he was there. What did it matter if someone saw them? For once in her life, Temperance Brennan was willing to accept she was lost in love with that man that was kissing her with so much passion. It was not rational, but for some strange reason, all her brain could process at the moment was the feeling of Seeley Booth's lips on hers and the flavor of his tongue proving her, stroking her like she was pure ambrosia. A gift from heavens.

"You are alive…" she managed to murmur long minutes later in between kisses. Her hands still couldn't get enough of Booth and kept on delving into his hair to pull him in for another kiss or just ran up and down his strong arms.

"I am" he simply answered kissing and caressing her as well. After all the terrifying events of the past days, being able to touch her cheeks and flavor her mouth seemed like a real miracle.

"I was so scared…" she finally confessed.

Booth pulled away a little, just enough to make her meet his eyes. "I will always come back to you, Temperance. As long as you love me, I will have all the reason I need to live. I love you, Temperance Brennan", he said looking her so intensely she felt almost overwhelmed.

She knew he loved her, and for some reason hearing it out loud didn't feel as scaring as she thought it would be. What surprised her then was not the statement, but the truth she felt emerging from her heart. "I love you too, Booth. Please, don't you ever leave me…"

Only someone who knew her as well as he did could understand what a big step that brilliant scientist was giving that afternoon by confessing her feelings. For it was not a minor issue to hear those three little words coming out her mouth, even less to ask for something she could not be certain of. Booth knew Temperance Brennan was giving him her heart at that moment, and never the concept meant as much as it did this time. "I won't, baby… I won't".

He knew words were not enough at that moment, so he cupped her face with utmost tenderness again and kissed her. Time would come when they would have to talk and clarify their situation, and face friends and bosses. That day the only thing that matter was that they were there and that they were alive.