(After "The Prisoner in the Pipe)

This story came about because of a conversation I had with daisesndaffidols. She and I think it's a shame that Booth and Hodgins haven't been undercover together. Since we haven't seen one so far, I decided to write one.

I definitely don't own Bones.

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Entering the Lab, Booth looked towards the platform to see if anyone was working up there. Finding it empty, Booth made his way towards Hodgins' office. Finding it empty, he stood in the doorway and looked down the hallway. Seeing the object of his search leave the Ooky room, Booth called out, "Hey Hodgins, I need to talk to you."

Happy to see Booth, the entomologist hurried over, "Hey what brings you here? I thought you'd be at home with Dr. B and the new baby."

Pulling his friend into Hodgin's office, Booth closed the door behind them, "I need to ask you a favor. You can say no so don't feel like you have to do this if you don't want to. I don't want you to do it if you're uncomfortable about the set up."

Curious, Hodgins sat down at his desk and faced Booth, "Okay, let's hear it."

Leaning against the door, Booth pulled his poker chip from his pocket and moved it between his fingers, "What do you know about Polonium-210?"

Interested in where this might be going, Hodgins responded, "I suppose you know the basics so I'll give you what you really want. It's extremely toxic. One microgram is enough to kill an average sized adult. The KGB used it to kill Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and it's thought that's what was used to kill Yasser Arafat. There's no known cure and it isn't something that you'd want terrorists fooling around with. If you're unlucky enough to be the one poisoned you'll suffer from migraines, nausea and extreme pain. You'll lose your hair and your major organs will shut down. It takes a few weeks but in the end you'll die and it won't be a pleasant way to go."

Scratching the side of his face, Booth grimaced, "Okay. . . Is there a chance you'd be interested in going undercover with me? I could take another agent with me, but, I'd like to increase my chances of survival by taking an expert with me. I was offered the services of some scientist recommended by the CDC but I don't know that guy and I want to take someone with me that I can trust. . . If you don't want to do it I . . ."

His hand raised, Hodgins interrupted Booth, "I'll do it."

Pulling his lips between his teeth, Booth glanced around the room and then back at his friend, "Thanks. . . I'd take Bones but she just had our baby and well . . . So anyway, we had an agent turn up dead two days ago. From what we know, he wasn't working undercover. We assumed he was kidnapped since no one had seen or heard from him for a few weeks. When his body was discovered an autopsy was performed and that's when it was discovered that he was exposed to Polonium-210. He died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head but I've been told the Polonium-210 would have killed him in about forty days or so. To say the least, the higher ups are a little concerned. We have people where the body was found trying to trap the animals in the area and test them for the stuff. I'm not sure what would happen if someone ate the meat from an animal that had eaten Polonium-210 but it couldn't be good."

Fascinated, Hodgins asked, "That really doesn't sound good, does it? What was he doing if he wasn't undercover? Why would someone kidnap an agent and kill him like that? There has to be more to the story than that."

Placing his chip back into his pants pocket, Booth crossed his arms, "Of course there is. Agent Darnell worked out of Pittsburgh. He was trying to track down some rumors about some home grown terrorist organization that was setting up shop in the southern part of the state of Pennsylvania. He was working with mostly rumors but there seemed to be some truth in them and he'd started to narrow down his search to the Fulton County, Bedford County area of the state. The last time anyone heard from him was four weeks ago. He had got a tip about some lunk heads calling themselves 'Free America' and decided to drive down to McConnellsburg to check it out. That's the last time anyone at the agency had seen him. He talked to his wife the night before he disappeared. He was staying at the Best Western motel in Breezewood and was going to drive over to McConnellsburg the next morning. His body was found by some hikers in Buchannan State Park two days ago. When he disappeared, his laptop was retrieved from the hotel he'd been staying in. The Motel manager worried when Darnell didn't use the room for two days so she took his computer and his luggage and locked them up just in case Darnell came back for his stuff. When the FBI and his wife didn't hear from him they knew something bad had happened, they just didn't know what it was. Someone is supposed to get back with me about any notes Darnell may have had on the case he was working."

The hairs on the back of his neck rising, Hodgins ran his hand across the back of his neck, "Wow, this doesn't sound good."

Staring at the scientist, Booth asked him, "How would locals find Polonium-210 anyways? They don't have a nuclear power plant in those counties and you can't order it from a damn catalog."

Quick to reply, Hodgins informed him, "But they could order it from a catalog, just not how you mean it. They could buy anti-static fans. They use 31,500 microcuries of polonium as a power source. One fan would be enough to provide enough polonium to kill ten people. All you need is lab experience to know what you're doing when your working with that stuff. You can buy those fans online."

Feeling a little sick, Booth shook his head, "Okay, got it. I'd like to drive up to Bedford County tomorrow morning. Agent Darnell had left pretty good notes and this 'Free America' organization doesn't appear to be very big. He had a few names that he'd connected to the organization and we can start with them if you still want to go with me. They're all farmers and own mid-size farms. You can back out now if you want to."

Crossing his legs, Hodgins placed his hands on his thighs, "How do you plan to go undercover? Those people have a tendency to be clannish and don't take to outsiders that much. "

A smile crossing his face, Booth replied, "That's where you come in, Bones came up with an idea that might work. She told me about the American Chestnut tree and how we used to have billions of those trees in this country but they were almost wiped out in the eastern part of the country by chestnut blight. She said that there are several organizations trying to breed blight-resistant trees and trying to reintroduce them back into blight areas. I was hoping that you'd use your Cantilever ties and go undercover as yourself with me as your assistant. We . . ."

"Oh I get it," Excited, Hodgins uncrossed his legs and exclaimed, "Oh this is good. We could go up there and contact farmers and see if anyone would be interested in growing blight resistant trees. That is so cool. . . Yeah, and that might not be a bad project to be associated with. I could actually . . . yeah, I wouldn't mind actually getting the ball rolling trying to actually get farmers to plant blight resistant trees and . . . "

Holding up his hand, Booth frowned, "So you're interested?"

His enthusiasm growing, Hodgins jumped up from his chair, "Hell yeah. I just need to gather up some equipment that we can use to look for the Polonium and contact some researchers I know and get some information about their research on the blight resistant trees. We won't need any trees right now. We can contact farmers and present the fact that we may have some to plant in the future. . . Yeah, and while we're traveling around you can do your thing. This is so cool. I've never been undercover. Do I get a gun?"

Holding up his hands, Booth exclaimed, "Whoa there James Bond, no you don't get a gun. If we find out who has the polonium I plan to call in backup from the FBI out of Pittsburgh. We aren't taking down a terrorist organization by ourselves. That would be a stupid thing to do. No, if it gets a little dicey I'll protect us. You won't need a gun."

Shrugging his shoulders, Hodgins smirked, "Hey, it was worth a shot."

Ooooooooooooooo

Arriving home, Booth found Brennan in the kitchen, cooking dinner, "Hey Bones." Kissing her, he smiled, "Hodgins is going to work with me undercover, well as himself but you know what I mean."

Returning his kiss, Brennan glanced at Christine who was tucked in a baby carrier resting on the kitchen table, "I wish I could go with you."

"Hey, I do too, but you just had our baby four days ago and you are not ready to go back to work." Walking over to where their baby lay, Booth smiled down at his daughter, "Our daughter needs you right now and you need to give yourself a chance to recover. I'll be okay. Hodgins is a genius and he and I are going to use your idea about the American Chestnut trees. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be gone but I hope I won't be gone for more than a week or two. If I can't pinpoint where the polonium came from then the Agency will have to come up with some other plan. I really can't be away from my department for more than two weeks. The only reason why they want me to do it is because of my connections to Hodgins and his connections to the Cantilever Group. He loved the idea, so I'm the lead in this investigation for now."

Confident in her partner, Brennan smiled, "I'm certain you will be successful Booth. You are one of the best agents they have and with Hodgins' help I'm quite certain you will find the source."

Walking back over to where she was standing, Booth pulled Brennan into his embrace, "Maybe we'll go undercover again someday."

Kissing him, Brennan smiled, "Good, I'd like that."

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Reviews would be wonderful. What do you think of my story? Any good?