After the blind went down, Booth stood stunned, still staring at it. He still had his cell pressed to his ear, the sound of the dial tone not even registering in his mind. He had one hour, one hour in which to come up with a plan to save Bones, to save the woman he loved and their baby.
"Agent Booth?" Cullen asked, concern etched on his face.
"I, I just need a minute," Booth answered, his face pale. He walked away to behind the squad cars to an alley. Once alone, threw up. Then he rested his head against the wall, wiping the sweat from his brow, trying to calm his breathing and heart, trying desperately to get the image of her face, her eyes full of terror, from his mind.
One hour.
Regaining his composure, he went back to the central control area. Booth paced restlessly running his hands through his hair, while trying to come up with a plan.
"Are you alright?" Cullen's questioned, hoping that his agent wasn't going to break.
Booth nodded, "Do we have any plans?"
"We can have Williams brought here, and providing Isaacs only wants to see him, we don't have to set him loose. The minute the hostages are released, we can put him back in prison," Cullen suggested.
"What if Isaacs wants him inside?"
"Well, I see two options with that. One, we let him go with a tracking device on, or two, we threaten to keep him in prison longer if he goes inside, and have him lie to Isaacs."
Booth nodded, "That could work. But what about the pardons that Isaacs wants? No one wants to see him walk free."
"Again, unless he needs to see said documents, we don't actually have to get them. We can just tell him that he's free, and again, once he thinks he's got what he wants, then we can nail him."
"I just hope he buys it then. Have someone be willing to pose as a judge if he wants to talk to one on the phone, and also, get some official looking fake documents ready in case he does want those too. Then get Williams down here."
He glanced down at his watch. They had fifty minutes left.
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Angela watched Brennan close her eyes, and take another deep breath, blowing it out slowly through pursed lips. She guessed that her friend's contractions were about ten minutes apart, it had been nearly half an hour since her water had broken. Angela didn't know how much longer Brennan could be silent about her labour, before the pain became to much. What she did know was that the anthropologist should be at a hospital, that it was to early for the baby to be coming at only eight months. She figured the labour was stress induced, and that mother and baby were in danger if they didn't get medical attention fast.
When Brennan opened her eyes, Angela caught her gaze.
"Are you alright?" she whispered, glancing at Hank and his men who were talking on the other side of the shop.
She shook her head in response.
Angela reached out and took her hand, squeezing it, "Booth's gonna get us out of here. Hang in there ok Sweetie."
"Booth will come get us," Brennan whispered back, knowing her partner was probably doing everything in his power to get to them. Hodgins had said she had faith when they had been buried alive, and she knew she had faith in her partner, if nothing else.
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Two officers marched a man in a navy blue jumpsuit and shackles towards the central control area. Booth glanced up from talking to another agent and caught sight of the prisoner. He looked down at his watch. There was just enough time to brief him and then the next call would be coming in. He glared back as the officers stopped in front of him,
"Williams," he growled as a greeting.
"So I hear I get a get out of jail free card. Get these cuffs off me man," Williams thrust his chained hands towards Booth, who pushed them away.
"Not so fast there. You're going no where, cause you're playing our game today."
"I ain't playin' no game of yours."
"You will be if you ever want to be a free man again."
Williams scoffed, "What do I gotta do for you anyways?"
"Your friend Isaacs pulled a big stunt in there to get you out, but you're gonna help us get him. When he calls, you tell him that you are a free man and that you'll wait for him out here. You say anything else, and I swear you'll never see the light of day again," Booth threatened, getting in Williams face.
Williams gave him a sly grin back, "Why should I? I'm already down for twenty-five to life, so if I say no, then what else are you gonna do to me?"
Booth grabbed him by the shoulders, "You'll do this or I'll push for you to be on death row."
Williams seemed to think about this for a moment, "Fine. But I'm telling you, I don't like this."
"And I'm telling you that I don't care," Booth turned to one of the officers, "Un-cuff him, but don't let him go anywhere."
He looked at his watch. He had two minutes till the call came in. Booth walked back over to the van that held the central control centre. He picked up his cell phone and waited for the call.
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Inside the coffee shop, Hank Isaacs walked over to Brennan,
"Time to call your boyfriend again Bones," he sneered at her, and hit the speed dial button on her cell phone.
She closed her eyes, and hoped that Booth would be able to negotiate with her captor to free her and the other hostages.
"Well hello again Agent Booth," Hank said, "I assume you have what I want."
"If you look out the window, you'll see Williams, and the judge has made you a free man," Booth lied to him.
Hank grabbed Brennan roughly, and led her towards the window. He pulled up a blind, and held her there, looking for Williams. Spotting him beside Booth he answered,
"I want to talk to Williams."
"After you put Bones on the phone."
"You think you're so clever Agent Booth, but I'm not falling for it. You can see she's fine, now put Williams on the phone," he replied, emphasizing his words by wiggling the gun at her forehead.
Booth glared at him from his spot across the street, but handed the phone over to Williams.
"How does it feel to be free Allen?" Hank asked his friend.
"Freedom is only a state of mind Hank, but I'm good. You didn't need to do this for me man, I can survive on my own."
Isaacs thought about this, then said, "I'll see you soon. Put me back on with the fed ok?"
Williams handed the phone back to Booth, "So do we have a deal Isaacs?"
"I don't think so. Not yet Agent Booth."
Booth resisted the urge to scream into the phone. Instead, he controlled himself and answered, "We gave you what you wanted, now we need something in return. That's how this works."
"Fine. I'll release five of the hostages, but I'm keeping your Bones."
Hank turned himself and Brennan and pointed at five of the people cowering in the café.
"You five, go now!" he demanded.
They got up and rushed towards the door and out to the waiting police officers.
"Now that we've finished with that deal, its time to move onto my next demand. I want ten million dollars, in cash. You have one hour Agent Booth," he finished and abruptly hung up.
Hank Isaacs pulled down the blind and pulled Brennan back towards her chair. Just before they got there, she doubled over as a contraction racked her body. Hank was caught off guard and pulled her back up,
"What the hell was that?" he yelled at her, thinking it was an attempt to escape.
She exhaled, breathing through pursed lips, clutching at her abdomen. She looked him in the eye and answered, "I'm in labour. You've got to let me go."
He raised an eyebrow at her, searching her eyes to see if she was lying. Yet he had seen her face contorted in pain, and he knew she wasn't lying. He pushed her into her chair.
"I'm not letting my prize hostage go," he replied sternly.
"She needs to get to a hospital. It's to early for the baby to come," Angela said.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" he spat at her, then glared back at Brennan.
"She's right. I'm only eight months along, my water has broken, and my contractions are now seven minutes apart."
Hank looked at his men, trying to decide what to do, while Angela watched Brennan. She knew that her friend needed to get to a hospital and hoped that if these men had any compassion, they would let her go. She was also amazed at Brennan's ability to be so calm under pressure.
"Why don't you let her go? Do you really want to deal with birthing a baby? You've got me, and you know Hodgins will do what you want," she pleaded with her captors.
Hank turned the gun on her, "Keep your mouth shut!" he warned her.
Angela could see him trying to make a decision, the frustration was clear on his face. He was quiet for a few minutes before he addressed the rest of the people in the coffee shop,
"Is anyone here a doctor?" he said roughly.
A blonde woman in the corner meekly raised her hand, "I'm an emergency room nurse," she said quietly.
"Get over here!" Hank ordered her.
She scurried over to where Temperance Brennan sat.
"Help her, but don't try to be a hero," Isaacs warned her.
"I'm Helen," she greeted Brennan.
"Temperance Brennan."
"You said you were seven minutes apart?"
She nodded.
"Ok, I'm going to need you to come down on the floor, you can lean against the counter ok?" she turned to Hank, "I need some supplies," she asked timidly.
"What?"
"A blanket or two, a first aid kit, and some boiling water."
Hank gestured to an employee, "You! Get her what she needs."
The young man hurried behind the counter with another of Hank's men following him. It took him a few minutes, but he emerged with most of what she asked for, explaining that the water would take a few minutes. Helen took the supplies and started her examination of Brennan.
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"Where the hell are we going to get ten million dollars in one hour? Isaacs is freaking insane if he thinks we can pull that much together in such a short period of time!" Booth ranted to Cullen and the other federal agents.
"Booth, you know our policy on negotiating with people like him. We've already done to much, but we can't supply the money," Cullen told him.
"Then with all do respect sir, what are we supposed to do? Bones is in there! We can't just leave her. And what about the other innocent civilians?"
"Um, I think I might be able to help."
Both men turned to face Hodgins, "This guy knows Angela is in there too. If he knew enough to take Dr. Brennan hostage, than he probably knows that Angela and I are involved and maybe even about the money that I have."
"You're not giving him the money," Booth told the lab tech.
"Where else are you going to get it from?" Hodgins challenged him.
"Are you offering the money?" Cullen had his eyebrow raised.
"I'd do anything for Angela, and Dr. Brennan."
"No, we are not giving into this guys demands like this. Here's what we'll do," Booth told them, "If you insist on helping, then give us enough to layer some fake money in a gym bag. Isaacs will see the top layer is real, and we'll put the rest inside with a tracker."
Cullen nodded in agreement, "Good thinking Booth. Mr. Hodgins, if you'll come with me please," he ushered the shorter man away with him.
Booth was left to stare at the coffee shop. He rubbed the back of his neck, worrying about Bones and his baby.
"Agent Booth?" another agent addressed him, "We've got a visual. We were able to tap into the security cameras if you want to come take a look."
Booth followed him over to the control centre van, and looked at the monitors.
"The first one we have is of the other hostages. There are five left," he flipped to another channel, "And here we can clearly see Isaacs and his men talking," he flipped the channel again, "finally, we've got a visual on Dr. Brennan…what happened?" he asked as he watched the monitor. They could see Bones on the floor, covered with a blanket, and being attended to by the blonde woman. Booth's jaw tightened as he watched her lean forward and breathe out slowly.
"She's in labour," he gasped.
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Inside, Helen dabbed at Temperance Brennan's forehead with a damp cloth, wiping away the sweat as another contraction rocked her body.
"How long does she have until the baby comes?" Hank demanded to know.
Helen gulped, answering quietly, "An hour, maybe less. She's progressing to quickly, she needs to be at a hospital."
"I told you that's not happening."
"Please, just let her go, you've got the rest of us," Helen begged.
"No! And you want to know why?" he stalked over to Brennan and said down to her, "You're FBI boyfriend screwed up because he's planning something, Williams warned me."
To be continued…
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