Author's Note: So so sorry that this story update has also taken me much longer to do than usual (same as my Deja Vu fic) - but hopefully with the coming chapters I can make it up to you. Enjoy.
From the Previous Chapter:
Brennan nodded in agreement, then added her own suggestion, "Perhaps we should also find a way to spy on them as well if we can - maybe with a few well placed bugs of our own. Then we possibly recognize their real voices, and also uncover if anyone else is involved, perhaps someone else on the inside – of either the FBI, or the Jeffersonian." she watched him, waiting for his reaction.
"What? What do you mean? Is there anyone in particular you are suspicious of?" He asked with a confused expression on his still too pale face.
"Hodgins" was all she said.
Mistaken Identity
Chapter 9
"Hodgins?!! What? Why did you choos- wait, is this because he is so paranoid and into all that conspiracy stuff? Or, is it because he was also a victim? Why the hell would you suspect Hodgins?" Booth asked, completely taken aback with her suggestion.
"Well, it's complicated Booth. I mean, there are some things you don't know . . . some things we haven't had a chance to tell you about yet. Things about Hodgins and his role in your kidnapping." she paused, waiting for him to absorb the bombshell he just heard.
"Hodgin's role? Okay, you will have to pardon me for being just a little bit angry over not hearing anything about this until now! Why the hell would you not tell me that, like oh I don't know – a week ago?!!" he was obviously distraught over the surprising news that she had just alluded to.
"Booth wait, it's complicated. I, well - I was waiting for the right time and place to tell you, but you have to agree that things have been pretty hectic since your rescue. You know that as well as I do. I do want you to know that it's not as bad as it sounds and we were all in agreement that you would have been captured eventually anyway, regardless of Hodgins steali- um, I mean- regardless." she cringed at her own slip up, turning her eyes away from him, hoping he didn't catch it.
"Okay Bones, you may as well get this over with. Regardless of Hodgins stealing what?!"
Brennan opened up and filled Booth in on the details surrounding his kidnapping, mainly the fact that Hodgins turned out to be the one guilty of stealing critical Gravedigger evidence. But she also explained why he had done what he did, stating Post Traumatic Stress as his possible motivator.
While she explained, she could see Booth in her peripheral vision, trying hard to control his own anger by breathing hard through his nose and through clenched teeth. She concluded by pointing out that she didn't believe Hodgins had any knowledge or participation in whomever was harassing Booth now, and that Hodgins planned to confess and apologize to Booth as soon as they had seen each other.
Booth took it all in, eventually calming himself down by forcing himself to recall a lot of the good things Hodgins had done to help him with cases and such in the past. He also knew a little something about Post Traumatic Stress and the power it sometimes had over the victim. He had been there sometime after his POW experience, he knew it could make you do things you would normally never be capable of. Yet at the same time, he wasn't going to let Hodgins off the hook entirely. He fully planned to deal with him when the time was right, even making him sweat a bit before forgiving him. That plan alone made Booth feel pleased enough to begin letting go of his immediate anger. Brennan noticed by the time she had finished her explanation of Hodgins' involvement, that Booth had calmed considerably. How did he do that she wondered? He never used to be able to let go of his anger so quickly.
"Booth? Aren't you going to say something?"
He looked over at her as he continued driving towards her place, "Well, you know there is a part of me that wants nothing more than to turn this car around and go confront him right now. However, we have more important tasks at hand for one thing, and for another, I think Hodgins and I have become good enough friends that I can at least hear him out before I -lay him out."
That's when Brennan realized that Booth had already thought this through, he didn't plan to let Hodgins off the hook entirely, but didn't plan to kill him either. So she decided to change to subject for now and they could deal with Hodgins later. "Okay Booth, then I am going to move on to one of the more important tasks we just talked about - I'm going to call Sweets before you change your mind about meeting with him. I won't tell him any more than we have to since I know you don't want to put him in danger along with us. Are you sure you are still okay with this plan?"
"Yes." was his only response. Anyone could hear the dread in his voice. Booth hated sharing anything personal with Sweets or anyone else, and what is more personal than being hypnotized and questioned while you are pretty much unconscious? That is what went through Booth's mind as he half listened to Brennan's phone conversation with Lance Sweets.
"Okay, he said we should come there right now, or that he could meet us somewhere else if you would prefer to avoid the Hoover building." she explained.
"Yes, I would like to do this somewhere else. I don't want to risk more bugging devices, eavesdroppers, or running into co-workers at this point. We are going to book a room under an alias name at the Four Seasons Hotel, that way we will reduce the risk of anything that might compromise our safety and put anyone at further risk, including Sweets. We will still go to your place to do the bug search but that can wait until later. So, you will need to call Sweets back and tell him not to let anyone know where he is going, tell him to make sure he isn't followed by ANYONE, and ask him to leave all of his pens, tape recorders, etc. behind. Anything that could hold a bug. Give him the name of the Hotel and tell him what alias we will be using."
"Okay, but what alias are we using?" she inquired.
"Uh-mm, let's have some fun with our own names. Hmmm, Seeley - well, we could turn Seeley into Celia for your name." at which Brennan added, "And how about for you, Brennan could become . . . oh I dunno, how about- Brian? How does that sound to you?"
"Yeah good one Bones! Now what about a last name?"
"Okay, well we could combine Temperance with Booth but I don't think 'Tooth' is a very good last name and any other combination just sounds foreign. So, what if we go with something like 'Jefferson' for the Jeffersonian? I really miss them so it would be like having them with us somehow." she suggested, having more fun with this little name game than even Booth had expected.
"Wow, we must be getting rummy again, because I think that is brilliant!" he laughed. They both felt almost as though things were normal at the moment, relishing in those 10 minutes of taking their mind off the danger they were in. Booth leaned towards her, pulling her hand to bring her towards him, he quickly stole a kiss on her lips before diverting his attention back to the road. "Okay so let Sweets know he is to ask for the Suite that is registered to Brian & Celia Jefferson."
Inside the "Jefferson's" Hotel Suite at The Four Seasons Hotel in Washington DC. . .
There was a short knock on the door of their suite, but when Brennan pulled to door open knowing it was Sweets since he had texted them from the Lobby. But to her surprise she was greeted by a Jewish Rabbi complete with full beard and sporting a Kippah on his head. "Uh, oh I'm sorry but I think you must have the wrong room." she told the mysterious visitor.
"Oh, no I am sure that I have the correct room Miss." he responded, giving her an exaggerated wink of his eye while he spoke. Booth came up behind her upon hearing the commotion, he was worried about her safety.
"What the-?" Booth stated as he looked at the Rabbi in the hallway, then speaking in a very hushed tone he added, "Sweets! For Pete's sake will you just get in here?!" then grabbing the man by his bread he not so gently yanked him through the door and into the suite – then after placing the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door knob he closed the door behind him, clicking all of the locks into place.
Sweets stumbled into the room while grabbing a hold of his beard. "Ouch! Heyy be careful, I had that glued on pretty firmly just to make sure that it looked real!" he stated, quite proud of his disguise.
"Sweets, no one asked you to come 'incognito' ya know! Oh good grief." Booth responded with a rolling of his eyes.
Brennan however was quite impressed with the young Doctor's disguise, "I didn't even recognize you for a minute! Where did you get all of this stuff anyway?" she asked him. "Oh, well uh, since you guys had me help out on a couple of cases where I was undercover, like the time that Booth's back was hurt and he was out. Well, I decided to order some things Online in case you needed me again." Sweets explained, watching Booth out of the corner of his eye, gaging his reaction.
Booth once again raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he walked towards the living room area of the Suite. The last think he needed was an inexperienced 'teenager' trying to play cop!
"Okay Sweets, lose the beard and let's get this thing over with. Where do you want me? The couch?" Booth asked.
"Actually, the more comfortable you are, the more successful this will be. I would suggest you get comfortable on that King size bed over there. Hey, are you guys staying here over night? I only see the one bed." Sweets quickly observed, trying to get the duo to admit to being a couple.
"Sweets! Let's just stick to the task at hand, shall we?" Booth warned him as he started to lay back on the down comforters atop the plush bed. "Oh, and Sweets?"
"Yes Agent Booth?"
"NONE of this is to leave this room – do I make myself clear?!" Booth demanded.
"Uh – yes of course. Very loud and . . . very clear." answered the nervous Psychologist.
Twenty minutes later Sweets had finally been able to get the stubborn Agent to relax enough to get him to the point where the tall man appeared to be asleep. Booth had explained beforehand, just what memories he was trying to uncover. He didn't mention the phone calls, the bugs or the danger that he and Brennan were now in. He merely stated that he wanted to take extra precautions until they could determine if he had heard these other voices, or if he had imagined them in his drugged condition.
Sweets wasn't as naïve as everyone thought, he knew there was more to this story than he was being told. Booth and Brennan would not have bothered getting a Hotel Suite and using assumed names, all just as precautions to uncover a 'possible' accomplice. But he decided he would just go to the team at the Jeffersonian, and discreetly ask for their help in doing their own investigation on the side. Just in case something bad were to happen to his two friends, such as losing contact with them or finding out they were hurt in any way. Yes, he had indeed learned more from observing Booth and Brennan than just the fact that they were in love with each other no matter how much they denied it. He also had learned a lot about investigations and how unpredictable criminal behavior could be.
"Okay Booth, you are feeling very relaxed and peaceful. When it is time for your to awaken, I will touch your forehead with my hand and tell you to slowly wake up, you will then awaken feeling very refreshed, as though you just had a full night's sleep."
Brennan had climbed on top of the bed, she was seated in a semi-kneeling position next to Booth with a pen and paper in hand. They didn't want to risk Sweets' tape recorder possibly being bugged so they opted to just write out any pertinent information.
"Now, Agent Booth. I want you to go back to the night of Dr. Brennan's recent awards banquet. You have your tuxedo on and you are in your apartment getting ready to leave when you hear someone knocking on your door. What do you remember next?"
Booth's face had been so serene and relaxed, but as Sweets asked him about the knock at the door, his face noticeably tensed. "I uh-mm, I had hung up my cell phone after talking to Bones the second I heard the knock at my door. I walked over, expecting it to be my neighbor Ms. Bellows. She is always checking in on me, making sure I am eating right and such, and I do the same for her. he said, smiling at the memory of his elderly neighbor.
"I opened the door and . . ." Booth's entire body suddenly became frigid with tension. Then he suddenly started to change the way he was telling the story, now it became as though it were happening to him in the present tense.
"I . . . they -" his voice even sounded tense.
"It's alright Agent Booth, you are okay. I want you to imagine that there is no pain okay? You don't feel any pain as severely as you may think you did, I want you to tell me the story, but I do not want you to feel stressed. You will not remember any physical pain later either, when you awaken okay? Do you understand that?" Sweets said merely to keep Booth from getting too riled up. He had heard of victims going under hypnosis and actually going into shock just from the mere remembrance of their attack. He had done additional research during College to learn how to avoid that kind of unfortunate outcome.
Brennan felt slightly nauseated upon hearing what Booth actually went through, she had heard about it already, but now this time, it was almost like watching him go through it first hand and now knowing for sure that it was much worse seeing what he actually went though, than she when initially only had to imagine the details. They had all assumed it had been painful and tough, but hearing it first hand from the man whom it had happened to, the man that she loved, was just too much.
Booth continued, "I dodn't even have the door a quarter of the way opened, what th-? There's a black gloved hand reaching towards me - I need to act fast! I need to grab their wrist and break it but - but aauugghhh! What's going on?! I feel pain in my ch-chhesst, I ca- can-'t bree- can'tbreathe - ssomething sharp isss, sstinging or . . . zzappping me!"
"OmyGod theyjussst struck me point blllaannk in the chest with a – it's a Tas-sser. . . wwwhy aretheydoing this to-me? I can't stand upanymore, my legs are shaking too bad - I'm falling . . . but I can't stop this - I can't . . . I can'tssstopp ss-shhaking!"
Inside the hotel suite Booth's own body started to physically jerk uncontrollably on top of the plush bed.
"Ohmygosh! Sweets, help him! I think he is having some kind of seizure!" Brennan cried, reaching out to try and hold down the flailing man.
TBC
Sorry to do that to you all :-) Uh, no I 'm not. You know you love those Cliffies!! heehee I will update as fast as I can!!
