9. Dark Days

Sweets finds out from Dean's investigating that Sweets name is next on the warden's list of those to be killed. The team is investigating Sweets possible whereabouts as Booth finally recalls getting a phone calls that he kept ignoring from a Kale Mallory in a Louisiana jail.


"So what did they say?" Brennan asked as Booth returned after ending a series of phone calls.

"They wouldn't talk to me." Booth said in a low voice. "They wouldn't release any information on Kale Mallory since he is an active case. They also don't allow any in person visits at the facility."

"Is that normal?" Angela asked feeling that it was strange.

"It depends." Booth explained. "I talked to the warden there, from what he said, this Jackson County Correctional Annex is a temporary holding facility. Their actual jail is so full they don't have room for anyone so they are held there."

Hodgins began tapping away at his keyboard while they continued to talk.

"But if Kale Mallory called you…" Brennan began.

"He did but since then he has lost phone privileges." Booth explained though for some reason he was now very bothered he had missed the original calls.

"Sounds like this Mallory guy must be a real piece of work if he got his phone privileges revoked." Cam said.

Booth nodded. "Yeah the Warden said that he gets real out of line but he's due for a transfer to the larger facility soon."

"I wouldn't count on that." Hodgins said looking at his screen.

"Hodgins what database are you in?" Cam asked upon seeing the screen.

"That's not important." Hodgins said minimizing it. "What is interesting is that no one has actually been transferred from the annex to the larger facility in the last six months."

"No openings at the larger facility?" Cam asked.

"No, there are. When I logged in it looks like some other people may have made that same connection." Hodgins explained.

"So wait, people are at the annex, intended to be transferred up and even when there are openings, they're not going?" Booth asked.

"It could have something to do with this." Angela said going thru some financial pages. "The annex facility received very little funding. The warden there, Clayton Wallace promised the facility could turn a profit. The warden sends the inmates out to do work, undercutting many local contractors."

"I thought chain gangs were illegal." Hodgins asked.

"I guess technically they aren't on chains." Angela said. "There's not much here, no one's allowed near the workers for safety reasons. They work out in more isolated areas."

"May be it's about more than safety reasons." Booth said. "This warden keeping people there would give him more laborers."

"Right, but with the number of people coming in and none going out the place would be overpopulated." Angela explained.

"So where are those people going?" Cam asked.

"It sounds like I need to head south and find out." Booth said but the look on his wife's face told him he wasn't going alone.


The trucks pulled back up to the Annex and the only bright spot that Sweets could focus on what the temporary drop in humidity, that and his friend Dean. The pair walked inside quietly - they didn't often talk, it was like they wanted to, but they both had something they were keeping, had the circumstances been different, maybe they would have said more. Still, Sweets felt a sanity with his a friend who knew some of what he knew. I just can't see Dean as a killer, maybe I'm not really a psychologist anymore, maybe I can't really read people. He thought to himself as he laid on his bed a moment, waiting for the shower line to dwindle down some.

"Hey I'll be back, I'm going to make my phone call." Dean said and Sweets nodded, rest was beckoning.

"I don't know what's up with this crap!" One of the inmates - large with a deep voice shouted. "Where's the food going?"

"Hey man, keep it down." Another inmate said jerking his head towards the guards.

"I don't care man, how many days are we going to be eating next to nothing? What's going on anyway?" The man shouted again. Sweets was curious of the same as well.

"Hey buddy!" Chet said quickly approaching Sweets who continued to lay on the bed and enjoy a moment's rest. "Hey you're looking pretty good! I haven't seen you in a while, you really got a work out in!"

"Yeah, it's pretty much a given with the job." Sweets said, eyes still closed.

"Well, you're doing better than me. I still can't quite seem to get there." Chet said nervously. This time Sweets opened his eyes and turned to look at Chet.

"I thought you got some good help in the infirmary." Sweets said.

"Yeah, I did, doctor got me off the stuff and all but I don't know, I just can't keep up out there and with the food…. It's just much to keep a guy like me going. How do you do it?"

Sweets considered it. "I don't think about it, I just move at a slow and steady pace. The at allowed me to…"

"Body build?" Chet asked with a laugh but he was still admirative of Sweets' current condition.

Sweets felt bad for the guy, he knew it was hard and no two people were the same. He hadn't been physically strong when he came in but he got there. Guys like Dean were already strong coming in but guys like Chet who weren't used to that or knew how to cope were doomed to fail.

"Look Chet, tomorrow when we go out, hang out next to me okay? I'll help you with some breathing exercises and I'll show you how to work at a steady and even pace okay?"

Chet's eyes widened at the idea. "Wow, thanks buddy!"

Chet left and Sweets was glad that he was able to help someone. He went back to resting and dozed off for a moment. Soon he woke up with the sound of the dinner bell. He sat up, a shower would have to wait but he wondered why Dean hadn't woke him up when he got back from his phone call. Sweets figured he would see Dean at dinner.

Sweets sat at the table by himself though he was soon joined by Chet. The grumblings over the goop at dinner was picking up volume but Sweets was still busy looking around for Dean.

"Hey what's up buddy?" Chet asked upon seeing Sweets looking around.

"I was looking for Dean. He left to make a phone call when we got back." Sweets said, eyes still searching, waiting for him to come in at any moment.

"Yeah maybe." Sweets said but he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had.

The bad feeling didn't dissipate that evening or the next morning when they left for work, sans Dean.


Booth watched as the trucks left the facility carrying loads of men in them in the distance.

"It seems a bit dated." Brenna said at the sight of incarcerated laborers.

"No it's not Bones, it's brilliant. They can pay their debt to society working on the community to which they did wrong. Besides, prisons aren't cheap to run, this way they can run more efficiently."

"I guess." Brennan said as they headed to the office but were met with a guard instead.

"What can I help you folks with?" Lee asked.

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan. We'd like to visit with the warden."

"I'm sorry about that sir." Lee said with a smile. "He is currently out of the office."

"When will he be back?" Brennan asked the guard she did not have much admiration for though she didn't know quite why.

"Don't know that sir. Now if you will kindly move your rented vehicle…"

"You did understand when I said Federal Agent didn't I?"

"Yes sir." The guard spit some chew on the ground and Booth couldn't help but think that played into some sort of stereotype. "But he isn't here, and I'm not sure when he will be back."

"Well we would like some information on one of your inmates a …." Brennan began but the guard cut her off.

"I can't help you with any of that information. Now the warden will be back later he is visiting a friend in the hospital, he just woke up from his coma."

"That wouldn't be Will Ryan would it?" Booth asked.

"How did you know?" Lee asked in surprise.

"What hospital?"


"Hey, hey buddy." Chet asked for a second time trying to get Sweets attention but Sweets seemed to be in a different place at the moment. "Hey buddy, you were going to tell me about breathing and stuff."

Sweets wasn't intentionally ignoring Chet, his mind was far elsewhere. He dug his ditch like a good prisoner but he couldn't help but feel a myriad of emotions begin to fester inside of him. Dean was his friend, he was gone and if he was gone there was only one explanation to where he went and he wasn't so sure it was a 'better place.' He was angry his friend was gone, his one connection to sanity and a sense of happiness in a hell like place. He was angry the warden, those oppressors around him would have killed him. He was angry that without Dean, he himself was due for 'transfer' soon.


Booth tried to grin kindly as the family gathered around the trooper, glad he was awake. He wasn't truly upset, he knew if it were him or any of his people he would want to be close and not pay all that much attention to some guy wanting to ask questions in the hallway.

Brennan learned from an awkward conversation that the man had woken up the day before and that the warden had been by earlier today but had left. Still Booth wanted to stay and ask some questions.

Finally, a break in the crowd subsided and they pushed their way in to see Ryan.

"Glad to see you are better." Booth said opening with a pleasantry.

"Yeah, thanks, that was a close call I guess." Ryan said.

"I would not guess. I would estimate…" Brennan began but Booth shook his head. He was sure that the man wasn't interested.

"Mr. Ryan I will only take a moment of your time, I wanted to talk to you about your incident."

"Why is the Federal Bureau of Investigation interested in my shooting?" Ryan asked.

"We're looking for another agent. Tell me did you encounter, around the time of your shooting, a Special Agent Lance Sweets? He is a psychologist, profiler, sometimes agent for the bureau."

"The name doesn't sound familiar." The man answered, Booth had been hoping he had some sort of encounter with Sweets to fill in the time gaps.

"You didn't pull him over, tow his car?" Brennan asked.

"No, I just pulled over a car…" Ryan began.

"What kind of car?" Brennan asked quickly to see if it was Sweets' vehicle.

"A 1987 Toyota Tercel."

Brennan and Booth looked at each other, nope, not Sweets car. They were running out of ideas.

"I'd be happy to help you find another law man." Ryan said. "Perhaps if you had a photo of him or something."

Booth took out his phone and quickly located a photo of he and Sweets for a night at the Four Fathers and held it out to Ryan.

"Well, uh, I hate to tell you but that's the guy who shot me."


At the end of the work day Sweets was feeling like a zombie. He hadn't noticed at first that the day was darker sooner than it usually had been. He soon began to listen to those around them complain about the longer than usual work day. Sweets hadn't noticed, he had become completely self-involved with his thoughts. He wanted nothing to do with the world around him, his grip on reality seemed to loosen as he felt a stronger dulling coming on - Sweets knew it was depression but he didn't care. What else can I do he wondered to himself. He had no answers about his situation and though he hadn't known Dean long, he missed him already.

Sweets shut the door to those thoughts, they would get him nowhere though he knew that was exactly where he was heading. He walked past the angry inmates and laid on his bed. He wanted to be far away from them because their angry rantings were getting the attention of the guards, all but one of the guards, Gerald who was busy talking to Chet. Sweets wanted to be far from all of them and headed to the shower. It was as cold of a shower that Sweets had ever had but yet he felt nothing.


"I don't really understand Booth." Angela said on speaker with Hodgins and Angela. "How could Sweets have shot this Ryan guy?"

"We are not completely clear either Angela." Brennan said into the speaker. "Sweets would only have shot someone out of self defense."

"So this guy came at Sweets?" Cam asked.

"No, the guy had no defensive wounds." Booth said. "The report reads that Ryan pulled a 1987 Toyota Tercel over and as he approached the vehicle, the driver shot the trooper in the head, it was just a miracle that he lived having only grazed his temple. The guy's a bad shot."

"And we know Sweets isn't a bad shot." Cam said. "So what's our options here? Is Sweets dead or hiding out if someone thinks he's shot a trooper like if they are looking for him?"

"Could be." Hodgins said. "It's better than being dead but crap, after all Sweets just went thru on that Cromwell case?"

"No, Sweets would have contacted us for help." Booth said. "I'm starting to think this correctional facility has a lot to do with it."

"Well I didn't find any Lance Sweets being processed in the system for attempted murder." Angela said. "Besides even if they had we would have heard from them, surely they would have contacted the bureau."

Brennan's eyes lit up. "Booth, I think Sweets is there."

"Where?" He asked.

"At that facility." Brennan said. "I think that Kale Mallory is the one who shot Will Ryan. Remember when Angela pulled up the photo of Kale Mallory we noticed a resemblance to Sweets?"

"It wasn't that much of a resemblance, that guy was a freak. Wait, are you saying that he's like a long lost brother to Sweets?"

"No, the facial construction does not suggest a sibling, just similarities." Brennan delineated.

"Like a doppelganger." Hodgins said over the speaker.

"A more evil looking doppelganger." Cam also delineated. "But it could have been enough that they picked him up.

"But Sweets would have told them who he was." Angela said.

"Well for some reason I don't think they do everything by the book here." Booth said.

"I've got a few things here about the case." Angela read from the file. "They picked up the suspect, Kale Mallory, not a lot of details. It reads that the suspect resisted arrest but that he did have the proper identification on him."

"So what the heck happened?" Hodgins asked.

"I'm heading back to the jail to find out more." Booth said.

"Booth do you think that's best?" Cam asked.

"What, if Sweets is stuck in there with, or mistaken to be Kale Mallory then we need to get him out!"

"And I agree but do you think the warden is going to hand him over?" Cam asked. "We need to line up our evidence, find out more on this case and you need to get the direction involved. It's late and I doubt anyone is going to help us now. I'm sure that jail isn't pleasant but it's not like Sweets is in some weird prehistoric jail. We will get this sorted out tomorrow and get Sweets back."

"Okay, I don't like it, but you're right Cam." Booth said it, but he wasn't so sure that he felt it to be true.


My first car was a 1987 Toyota Tercel that I bought for $250! And if you are worried about a certain aspect of the story, have faith! ;)