11.
Sweets eyes popped open as the car door slammed shut. He was leaning against the interior car door and was glad he was upright. Not only could he see but it made it easier to breathe.
His eyes began to droop shut but his attention was caught by Ryan heading into the convenience store nearby. They were parked in the dark away from the entrance but Sweets wondered if he could get the door open, maybe he could stumble closer to the people he could see getting gas. He began to turn in his seat to see if he could get his hands near the door, it was painful as he tried to move.
"Forget it. Child locks." A voice said and Sweets looked up to the front seat where it had come from. He could barely see the top of a kid's head who sat slumped down in the seat.
"Who….who are you?" Sweets said but his voice was dry and cracking. He realized he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since lunch at the hospital earlier in the day. Even then he wasn't quite hungry after the pain pill that morning. He had hoped to get an evening when they left there. Sweets considered how much he would welcome a pain killer now.
"None of your beeswax." The kid said from the front seat bringing his thoughts back to the present. Sweets tried to concentrate as he realized his mind was wondering beyond his control.
"None of your beeswax?" Sweets repeated back. "What is it, 1958? Is that what your friends say?"
The kid in the front looked away from Sweets and Sweets caught on that he either had no friends or didn't go to school to be with any.
"How do you know Ryan?" Sweets asked trying to adjust in his seat, his arms were exhausted being bound behind him.
"How do you think?" The kid asked staring him down. Sweets mulled it over.
"He's your father." Sweets said recognizing the same dark and hateful eyes as Ryan's. "Why do you stay with him, does he hurt you?" Sweets asked fearing for the boy. "I could help you know."
"You don't help. Ryan told me what you did. You're the reason why things are so bad for us." The kid shot back. Sweets saw the way the kid looked at him, it was a deep rooted look of hate and anger. The kid was programmed to hate him, he wasn't going to get the kid to side with him, not easily anyway. Sweets knew he had a way with getting people to like him. Unfortunately, Sweets realized it generally took years, or at least it had with the Jeffersonian staff.
"I don't know what he told you but…"
"Hey!" A voice shouted as the car door opened. "Don't you talk to him!" Ryan shouted and Sweets wasn't sure who he was talking to. The kid sunk back down in his seat.
"Here you go Victor." Ryan said and handed the kid a hot dog and chips. The convenience store offering would have smelled awful but Sweets was starving. He watched and smelled the food as they both ate as the car trip continued.
Sweets put his head against the window as the rode, trying to stay alert for passing cars he could alert. But the roads Ryan took were sparsely travelled upon. When they did reach any sort of intersection he would speed off so no one could come close to the car. Sweets hopes diminished as he tried to think of a way to alert the Jeffersonian team.
He thought of the video the kid had been holding at the rest stop. The thought of the video made the new burns on his chest flare. Sweets tried to compartmentalize the pain as he thought back to the video. He wondered why he was recording it and the thought hit him, he was sending that to the team. Sweets was flooded with the feeling of misery that his friends were having to watch it. And at the same time it gave him a feeling he was not quite so alone. He wondered how he might be able to alert them next time.
"What do you mean, here's something?" Booth asked coming closer to Angela. "The kid has no records, no immunization shots, no school records, nothing. It looks like the only reason he has even a record of being born is to collect on welfare. Talk about living off the grid. Geez this is just sad."
"Sad? That kid just stood there while his dad was torturing Sweets." Hodgins reminded her.
"The kid might be too scared to do anything." Booth said defensively.
"I don't know Seeley. The look in that kid's eyes, he was completely disconnected." Cam said concerned.
"Maybe there's still time. I mean, Sweets came away from that guy okay. He's always saying everyone can be saved." Angela offered.
"So any location on these two, the mother?" Booth asked refocusing.
"Ugh, not much, like I said off the grid." Angela reiterated.
"Well they are in the car, they are heading some place." Cam deduced.
"I'm going to look the car over again." Hodgins said leaving the room.
"I'll help." Brennan said beginning to follow causing him to pause.
"It's a car…" Hodgins said confused.
"Cars are much like the skeletal system, I can…." Brennan paused and lowered her voice. "I need to do something, I can't just stand here."
Hodgins nodded and they left the room.
"What about the stolen car?" Emma asked jumping up as she thought of it. "Maybe it might be near where they are going?"
"Could be, if he's comfortable with a certain area. He'd need a pretty sizeable garage to do that kind of work on it. He has mechanical knowledge. He has to be in the area, no more than three hours away. Angela can you pull up some garages?"
"Sure." She said and hundreds of dots appeared on the map.
"Now we need to narrow it down." Booth said feeling defeated at the large number of dots.
"We need gas." Ryan announced.
Sweets had seen a sign along the road announcing that Bealeton, Virginia was twenty miles ahead. Sweets tried to remember thru his mushy mind why that sounded so familiar.
"You're sitting in the back with him." Ryan said handing Victor a hand gun. "I can't be sure there won't be people there."
Ryan approached the nearing gas station with caution, checking for other vehicles. He approached the small roadside station after the car pulled away.
Sweets tried to casually look around for any moment to move. He had been balling up his hands for the last hour, making them hot enough to get sweaty to wiggle out of the tie. So far it hadn't worked but even the chaffed wrists weren't enough to make him stop trying.
As Ryan pulled up to the gas pump he got out as Victor climbed in the back seat. With the car off the air conditioning had stopped making the car warm. Victor opened the car door some to allow for air movement. Sweets tried to hide his excitement that this was a good opportunity.
Sweets continued to fidget with the ties.
"What are you doing! Stop!" Victor said, the gun in his hand.
"It hurts." Sweets said referring to the ties.
"Good." Victor said looking back at his father. Sweets glanced at the gun still in Victor's lap. Since the kid seemed to have no empathy for him he decided on another approach.
"Want anything?" Ryan asked Victor.
"A candy bar and a soda!" He replied and the father had no problems with the request. Sweets noticed the relationship they had was very different from the one he and Ryan had had growing up, and that Victor was still just a kid.
"It's really no contest you know." Sweets began, gaining Victor's attention. "If you're so in control with the gun, then why leave me tied up. You know I'm a psychologist. It shows that you are weak."
Sweets words were having the desired effect as the kid was getting angry at essentially being called a chicken. He looked inside to see Ryan heading for the restroom.
"Do you need to ask Victor if it's okay to take the ties off? I guess I thought he left you in charge." Sweets was banking on the kid's adolescent impulses to prove himself along with the lack of good decision making skills. "It's fine, we can wait to ask your daddy for permission." Sweets tried to make it sound as demeaning as possible.
"I don't need permission, I'm in charge!" Victor shouted.
"Oh, sorry, I wasn't getting that." Sweets lied.
The kid huffed. "Turn around!" He shouted and pulled out a large pocket knife. Sweets tried to regain his control while the kid set the gun on the seat and used the knife to cut thru the ties.
Being able to relax his arms was more relief than Sweets could have dreamed of but he knew he had to act quickly. Though his arm felt near numb Sweets swung it around as he turned knowing the kid wasn't expecting it and hitting in him the face. The kid closed his eyes on response as the hand came to his face.
Before he could react Sweets lunged forward, pulling the kid with him out of the door of the car. He looked up to see Ryan coming out of the store and abandoned the idea of running into the store. Instead he ran into the darkness past the isolated store.
Sweets ignored the pain that shot thru his side as he ran and was pleased the adrenaline was outweighing the attention addressed to it. He could hear distant shouting as he left and headed into the darkness the near midnight hour was bringing.
He felt a coolness come over him again and was reminded of the forested area when looking for the girl. He slowed as he could hardly see the trees he was about to run into. The question of luck ran thru his mind again.
His bare feet began to ache at the rough ground he was running on. He stopped and knew he shouldn't have as the adrenaline began to run low as his chest seethed in pain. He pushed on and was unsure if he was going to pass out from the shortness of breath. His feet began to feel wet as he pushed on in the warm night. He wondered in the back of his mind why only his feet would be sweating and why they would feel prickly. He neared a clearing as his heart instantly sank. He hadn't gone as far as he hoped as an all too familiar car had caught up to him. He turned to run for the tree again but slipped on his wet and stinging feet. His chest ached as he tried to stand and run. The pain was intense but he knew that pain was nothing compared to what would happen if they caught him. He tried to tell his body that very real fact but it would not listen as it failed to put one foot before the other fast enough. Sweets heart was beating so hard he could barely hear anything, the pain made it hard to concentrate.
A sudden kick in the chest flipped Sweets onto his back and looking up at a moonless sky.
"Is this night vision setting?" Cam asked watching the new video that had come in.
"Yeah. Should I get the others?" Angela asked as it was now just the three of them in the room.
"No." Booth said. "Let's start with just us, for now." He was not relaxed to see the paused image.
"Okay, here goes." Angela said hitting the play button.
The video started at an awkward spot Booth noticed, it was as though this time they were catching up to something. The selection began as the recorder were getting out of the car. Sweets was on the ground having just been kicked in the side by Ryan.
"You think you can run from me!" He shouted to Sweets on the ground who curled on his side away from his heavily injured side.
Sweets murmured something which caused Ryan to violently kick him in the stomach. Sweets grunted in pain.
"Dammit Sweets just shut up." Booth said under his breath. He wasn't sure if he admired the kid for being so feisty or hated him for it.
Ryan kicked him twice more in the stomach before pulling him up by his hair into a sitting position. He motioned for the kid to come close. The camera was a close up to Sweets face.
"You want to tell your friends goodbye?" He asked while the three's stomachs clenched, fearing the end, watching on the screen.
"No, not really." Sweets said almost nonchalantly.
They could hear Ryan groan and Sweets dark chocolate eyes looked up at Ryan and then to Victor. It caught Booth's attention and Sweets must have noticed they weren't watching as he mouthed something to the camera.
"That! What's that!?" Booth shouted excitedly.
"Let's see how this plays out Seeley." Cam said in what was barely over a whisper. She was still afraid this was the end for Sweets.
It wasn't the end but it wasn't pretty as Ryan spent one minute and thirty four seconds kicking and hitting Sweets. For the three watching the screen it felt like an hour and thirty four minutes.