Authors Note: Happy 4th of July to all the readers across the pond!
Booth was in the SUV heading back to the office when his cell rang. He was a little confused when he heard the desperate male voice and not his partners.
It quickly became clear what was wrong; the male voice was demanding a sword. If he were still a gambling man then he would have laid odds on this guy being their murderer. Sure enough his radio, gave an update of a hostage situation. He quickly responded and took the call.
He wondered how the hell this one was going to play out.
Meanwhile, Brennan was running through a million possible scenarios in her head. She understood the best thing to do was to bait her opponent into letting his hostage go. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, "What seems to the problem?"
The man was distinctly average looking; however, the wild look in his eyes showed her how desperate he was. He did not relinquish the sword, "I need the sword and it is missing."
She was glad she had rested the sword out of sight for the moment, remembering to keep her voice level, "I am Dr Temperance Brennan. Why don't we come to some sort of agreement?"
This was a delicate situation but at the very least, she needed to engage him in conversation. Crazy man as he was now silently dubbed in her head shook his head, "You're the bone lady. I want you to find someone who'll get me the sword."
She had to bite back the retort on her tongue; it was certainly more slayer than well-respected scientist. She asked, careful to keep her tone respectful, "What sword do you need? "
The man gave her a look as if to say are you stupid, "The sword that should be here."
"I understand. I asked why you want the sword."
He still was holding the frightened woman tightly, "I need it to complete the invocation."
Booth had bustled his way threw the security and panicked crowds. He was thankful that apart from Bones and the odd guard the others had been cleared and kept away.
His gun was levelled, calmly at the unsub. He could take the shot but currently it was a risky shot; there was a high chance of the hostage being injured.
Brennan understood the problem and knew the only real thing she could do was bait the man.
"So you want the sword for what ritual?"
The man did not fully seem to comprehend the situation, as he puffed out of his chest and explained, "It's to bring me great wealth and power."
Booth muttered something under his breath at 'lack of originality'. She would have smiled but she did not want to risk upsetting the already unbalanced individual.
She pretended to be ignorant of the ritual, "You already have a sword, a scimitar by my estimation."
The man was very arrogant, "Yes but it needs a specific sword."
She raised one eyebrow and cocked her head to the side as if contemplating a great puzzle, "Do you know how to use a sword?"
The man sneered, "Well enough to remove the man's head."
Booth did not twitch but his case was virtually made now he had an oral confession. Bones stepped forward, sword in hand, this was now the trickiest aspect. She had to bait her opponent without him harming the hostage.
She held the sword as if it was overly heavy, "Is this the sword?"
Given the way the man's eyes lit up, she would have said yes, "That is the one."
Her stance turned a fraction more aggressive, "Let the woman go and you can have it."
It turned out the man was not totally stupid, his disbelief evident, "Just like that, you'll hand it over."
Bones was now in her element and rather than puns, she used logic to unbalance him, "Sure if you can take it off me. You can have it and you may have a fighting chance. Of course, you harm your hostage my partner will shut you between the eyes before you can blink."
The man was seemingly weighing his options, it was noticeable by the way he lessened his grip on his hostage. He was trying bravado but everyone in the room could tell it was false bravado, "He's that good a shot."
She almost bounced on her feet, as calmly told him, "Army ranger sniper, he doesn't miss. So are you coming to get this sword or not?"
The mocking was right on the mark. He tossed the woman a side, who was promptly moved by a security guard. The crazed man charged without thinking at Brennan. Booth trusted his partner; she easily blocked the berserk charge. She brought the sword up deftly to block the charge. She countered by flicking her wrist and causing the crazed man to stumble backwards. She did not let him recover and quickly spun around executing a perfect roundhouse kick.
Booth watched, proudly as she subdued the killer, making sure he didn't move beneath her boot. He moved upwards covering his partner with his weapon, "Don't move you are under arrest on suspicion of murder and attempted murder."
He continued the Miranda as he easily picked up the struggling offender, a little smirk, "Nice sword darling."
Bones agreed, "It is shiny."
This startled the security guards, they could have sworn they heard the the scientist crack a joke. Booth sighed; acting put upon, "Well I'm going to be late home."
Bones looked a little miffed, "Yes well, don't wait up. I'll settle things here and I should imagine I will have to placate some fears."
Booth smiled, the last statement showed that while many thing were changing some things remained the same. He was concerned though, the powers had warned there was a supernatural threat coming and while there was, a small link to the supernatural. This certainly was not enough for the powers to have unleashed their memories. Whatever coming was something bigger.
It did leave two unsettling questions. Firstly, what was the threat? Secondly, were they ready to face the threat?
