A/N: Sorry, this didn't get posted yesterday. Due to the ice storm, where I live in the eastern US, I was busy with work. This chapter was also incredibly difficult to write. I'm not sure I am totally happy with it. I just can't seem to make anything else happen with it. I want to thank you all for your reviews and for those of you who didn't leave a review, thanks for reading. It was such a huge boost to my confidence. Please watch for my next fic, The Bomb in the Hoover. Its not really a sequel, more a continuation of the saga. I know you will alll enjoy it. Thank you again.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Bones but I do now own a picture of David Boreanz and a cherry red mustang from an issue of Maxim. And no you can't have it.....

Chapter 5

Sammy sat beside Brennan, watching and waiting. Whoever had come into the house had no concept of old houses. Sammy's nerves jumped at every creak of every floor board he walked across. At least, she assumed it was a he. Sammy had no idea what she was about to do. It was taking everything she had not to climb into the closet with Jackson. She knew, though, that if she left Dr. Brennan's side, whoever was crazy enough to shoot at the house of a US Senator and an FBI agent, would kill Dr. Brennan without a thought. She prepared herself for whatever would happen next. She would grab Dr. Brennan's gun and just shoot. She silently calmed herself and retrieved the memory of her shooting lesson. Booth had told her shooting was twenty percent skill and eighty percent instinct. He had told her she had good instinct. She hoped she still had it.

The footsteps were coming down the stairs from the second level.

"Dr. Brennan." Sammy whispered in her ear. "I don't know if you can hear me but someone is coming downstairs and I don't think he is friendly. Please don't move."

Sammy sat back down beside the couch and waited. The footsteps had finally reached the bottom of the staircase. She knew it would be a matter of moments before he would reach them. She remembered something she one time heard about not sitting down when you were going to confront someone. Sitting made you look meek and small. Standing made you seem larger and sometimes more menacing. Standing and straightening her spine, she braced herself for confrontation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You're sure?" Felicia asked, already knowing the answer. She could tell Booth's sniper instincts were leading him.

"Yeah. Whoever is crazy enough to keep shooting is crazy enough to come into the house through the attic windows." Booth said slowly starting up the stairs.

"Jer, go get help. Just go through the tunnel and tell them the house has been breached and the agents on scene need back up. Do not let them send medical until we apprehend the suspect." Felicia ordered. "And stay there. We'll be out soon."

"The kids?" Jeremy asked.

"They'll be with us. Safe and sound. Now go, Senator, I have a duty to my country and the state of Virginia to see that you are safe. Go." Felicia told him, with all the bravado she could manage.

Truth be told, while she had been in situations like this before, it never involved her family. She was scared. She followed Booth quietly up the basement stairs, prepared for whatever they would face. They stopped and listened as the suspect walked slowly down the stairs. She was never so glad for a creaky old house. She and Booth listened as he made his way to the office where they had been and Bones and the kids still were. They had to be scared senseless.

"We have the element of surprise on our side." Booth began. "We're going to come up behind him."

"The floor creaks terribly in that area. We can't surprise him." Felicia said as she watched her husband and their assistant be swallowed up by the tunnel.

"Then we go ready for a fight. Sorry, Fe, I'm not going to spare the antiques." Booth said.

"The hell with the antiques, get my kids and your partner." Felicia said as they continued their ascent.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sammy heard the guy as he looked through the rooms around the office. She was wondering if this was his way of torturing her or he was just being careful. She stood as tall as she could. She remembered in a movie she saw recently how the heroine, after being beaten within an inch of her life, stood and stared her opponent down before she summarily beat him. Sammy knew it was the movies but it gave her a confidence boost. She was praying that Booth or her parents heard the guy. Wow. She just referred to Felicia as her mother. She needed to explore that later. Right now she had a more immediate problem.

"Hello, little girl. Want some candy?"

Sammy just looked him in the eye. He wasn't as big and menacing as she thought. He looked every inch hillbilly.

"My momma told me to never take candy from strangers especially if they look like you." Sammy sneered.

"You momma didn't teach no manners either, did she?" He snarled back.

"Oh I have manners. I use my good manners for nice people and my bad manners are saved for hillbilly scum like yourself." Sammy snarled.

She could tell he was getting angry. She had no idea where she was getting her nerve from. Felicia would be proud.

"My momma said when we come across someone with bad manners, we should teach them." He said as he lunged.

Sammy jumped to the side and he tripped on the coffee table that had been obscured by her body.

"You bitch." He screamed as he picked himself up from the wreckage.

He launched himself again as Sammy scrambled yet again away. She had to keep him away from Dr. Brennan. She wasn't even sure he had seen her. As she had moved by the desk, she had grabbed the letter opener that had been sitting there.

"Come on scumbag. Come and get me." Sammy screeched.

Booth and Felicia had heard the commotion and was coming around the corner when they saw him grab at Sammy as she tried to stab him. He grabbed her wrist and twisted painfully until she dropped the letter opener with a yelp. She kicked backwards and got him in the nuts. He let go of her slightly and she was almost away when he grabbed her ankle.

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson little girl." He said as he pawed at her t-shirt.

"I'm the one going to teach you a lesson. Don't ignore the other body in the room. It may have a gun." Temperance said as she fired a round right into the guys skull.

Booth and Felicia skidded into the room as the suspect fell. Sammy, Felicia and Booth had no idea how she was able to stand up and fire.

"See, Booth, I can fire with surprising accuracy." Brennan said as her eyes rolled back into her head.

Booth grabbed her before she could hit the sofa. "Yes, I can see that." Booth whispered.

Felicia was shocked at her stepdaughter. She had no idea she had it in her. She and Booth had heard the exchange as they crept closer. They had been ready to fire when they saw Brennan rise up and aim the weapon.

"Sammy, Where's Jackson?" Felicia asked.

"In the closet." She answered shallowly.

"I am so proud of you but right now we need to get out of here." Felicia stated as she opened the closet door. "Come on, buddy, let's go to Daddy."

They ran to the basement. Booth was carrying an unconscious Bones. Felicia was leading her kids by the hands to the tunnel. As they entered the basement, the FBI came through.

"Special Agent Booth. Special Agent Adler. Is everything secured?" One of the SWAT members asked. "Senator Adler let us know there had been an infiltration."

"Go Booth. We got this." Felicia said. "Get her help. I'll see you soon."

Booth nodded and headed into the tunnel. The fear he had been feeling now was back as he felt the blood on his arms from her wound in her side. He was so proud of her. Twice in a little over an hour, Bones saved the children. Not parent material his ass. She had more maternal instincts than he had ever witnessed. She would have some squinty explanation for it when she woke up.

He emerged from the tunnel into the chaos that was outside the Adler estate. He looked around and picked out the EMT's that were there for whatever reason needed.

"I need some help here." Booth bellowed as he lay her down on the street.

Out of nowhere, people crowded around Bones and began treatment. He answered their questions automatically, knowing they were right. He just wasn't paying attention to anything else but Bones.

"Hang in there for me, ok." He told her as he smoothed her hair from her forehead. "I need you, Bones. I love you."

They began to get her ready for the hospital and they moved her to a gurney.

"I'm going with her." He said as the paramedic nodded.

He didn't care about anything at that point. He needed Bones well. As he climbed into the ambulance, it was then he realized. The shooting had stopped.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Two Days Later

She hated this. She was stuck in this bed, with the IV dripping into her vein. There were a million things she could be doing. And yet no one would bring her anything to do. She and Booth were still trying to make heads or feet in regards to the bones in the Adler's garden. She could be studying pictures, x-rays, whatever to help bring whoever did this to justice. With a heavy sigh, she laid back against her pillows and started to change the channels on the TV.

"Bones, give it a rest and rest." Booth said without looking up from the file he was reading. "You need to give your squinty brain a rest and try to get well."

"How come you can do work and I can't?" Brennan asked.

"I wasn't shot. And even though I am also a victim I still have to give a statement to the FBI about what happened." Booth said closing his folder.

"What about me? Don't I have to give one?" She questioned.

"Yes, you do Bones but you are going to be interviewed by another agent when you get home. Cullen won't let anyone near you until you get home." Booth said with a sigh.

Truth be told, she had almost died. The doctors were shocked she was able to stand up and fire that gun when she did. They all told him it wasn't possible but he, Felicia and Sammy saw it. Well, so did the scumbag who got shot right between the eyes but dead men tell no tales. When he and Bones got into the ambulance the paramedic warned him it was going to be a bumpy ride as they had to get to the hospital quick. She was in serious condition when they arrived. She was in surgery within an hour to repair the damage. Her shoulder wound required really nothing. Her side was another story. The bullet caused damage to her ascending colon and came to rest in her liver. She was hemorrhaging from her liver. They told him another few minutes and she would have bled to death. He still shivers at the thought of losing her.

"Booth, are you cold?" Brennan asked watching Booth.

"No. Why?"

"You just shivered. I assumed you were cold."

Crap, he was hoping she didn't see that. For the last two days, he hadn't left her side except to go home and shower. The only reason he did that was because Angela insisted. Both she and Hodgins stayed with Brennan until he came back, a little under two hours later. She had been still doped up from surgery and never knew he was gone. Charlie ran the incident report over this morning, so Booth could get it back to Cullen. Charlie had told him the Bureau did not blame Felicia or Booth for what went on. And both she and Booth acknowledged Bones' shooting was self defense.

"Earth to Booth." Brennan said, trying to get Booth's attention.

"Sorry, Bones, I must be a little tired." Booth said, swiping his hand over his face.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest? You can't be comfortable sleeping in that chair."

"No can do, Bones. You need an agent with you all the time. We have no idea if the shooters were after us or the Adlers. I have you in protective custody."

"Can't another agent come and guard me?" She asked frustratedly. She hated being in protective custody but she understood the reason why.

"Only me, Bones." He said.

"So you mean to tell me, I can't come into the room, Special Agent Booth?" Felicia asked coming into the room with her husband and children.

"Especially not you. We get shot at when we are with you." Booth said, smirking

"Very cute, Booth." Felicia said with a glare.

"Hello, Dr. Brennan." Jeremy said, kissing her cheek. "Thank you."

"How are you feeling?" Sammy asked, giving her a hug.

"I'm feeling much better. Hi, Jackson." Brennan said with a smile.

"Hi." He answered with a shy smile.

"So how long until you get out of here?" Felicia asked.

"A couple of days. They need to make sure I am not going to get any infections and my liver is healing properly. Booth is driving me nuts, though. He won't let me do anything." Brennan complained good naturedly.

"He is a pain that way. You should see him when he has to recuperate from something." Felicia said smirking.

"I know. He likes his bath with his hat that serves beer and read comic books."

"He still does that, huh. Seeley, I thought you grew out of that." Felicia teased.

"Yeah, lets make this visit short so Bones can rest." Booth grumbled.

"Well, we have a presents for Dr. Brennan." Jeremy told them. "And you, too, Seel."

"Here this is for you, Dr. Brennan" Jackson said handing her a folded piece of paper.

Brennan opened it. Jackson had drawn a picture of a woman standing victoriously over the body of a man in black. Over the top of the picture was the words thank you.

"That's you stopping the bad guys." Jackson told her.

"Thank you, Jackson. I will treasure this picture. I know exactly where I will put it." Brennan told him.

"This is from me." Sammy said handing Brennan a box.

Brennan opened the box and inside sat a beautiful beaded necklace made of different sized blue and silver beads.

"This is beautiful." Brennan exclaimed.

"Thank you. I made it myself. I read in certain cultures these beads are used to ward off evil spirits. After you saving my life, twice, I thought you needed it." Sammy said.

"Thank you. I love your anthropological explanation. I'd be curious what cultures they were."

"Can we get together to discuss it?" Sammy asked excitedly.

"Sure. When I am able to get back to the Jeffersonian, you can come in and we'll talk about it."

"Cool." Sammy said with a smile.

"Mine is for the both of you." Jeremy said smiling. "Felicia said you wouldn't go for the pomp and circumstance this deserves so I brought it here."

Jeremy handed both Booth and Brennan a hinged box and plaque. Inside the box was a Presidential Medal of Freedom. This medal is given to civilians who go above and beyond to protect the freedom of the country. Also, was a letter from the President. It was thanking them for protecting Senator Adler and his family.

"Wow. Jer. Wow." Booth said surprised. "This is a huge honor."

"Thank you." Brennan said. "We would have done it for anybody."

"That's why you're getting it. Felicia is getting one, too. She has to go through the pomp and circumstance."

"Yeah, well, the things I have to do as the wife of a US Senator." Felicia told them. "This is for you, Dr. Brennan. From me. And Booth has no say in it."

Felicia handed Brennan a black case. She flipped the locks and opened the case. Inside lay a FBI issue 9MM handgun with an extra clip and a white paper. It was the form needed to allow her to carry a weapon. Felicia signed off on it, much to Booth's dismay.

"Your kidding me?" Booth said snatching the paper from Brennan's fingers. "You even got Cullen to sign off on it. Unbelievable. Didn't I tell you she shot me!"

"Yes but anyone who was as injured as Dr. Brennan and shot a guy right between the eyes deserves a Bureau issued weapon. You have to make sure she makes it through quals."

"Thanks a lot." Booth mumbled.

"See someone appreciates my skills." Brennan said with a smile.

"Your welcome." She said with a smile. "I do now understand why you two have the best solve rate in the FBI. You two are incredible."

"Thanks. Its all Booth." Brennan said squeezing his hand.

"Thanks, Bones." He said squeezing her hand back.

"We'd better be going." Jeremy said leading his family toward the door.

"We'll do dinner again soon. No psycho shooters this time." Felicia said, kissing each of them.

"That would take all the fun out of it." Booth said with a smile. "I'll talk to you in a day or so."

She nodded and waved as all of them left Booth and Brennan alone once again. Brennan once again sat back against her pillows with a contemplative look on her face. Booth looked at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"What are you thinking, Bones?" He asked softly.

"Just trying to absorb everything. You were great, Booth."

"When?"

"When we were trapped at the Adlers. I knew you would save me." Brennan said with unshed tears in her eyes. "You never left."

"I promised, Temperance, I would protect you and never leave you. You were the reason to get out of there."

"I remember. Thank you, Booth."

"Always." He said with a smile.