Well I hope I have the continuity right and that this doesn't sound too lame. There will be one more chapter to this story and then finally I can close the book on this one. Thanks for reading, watching the stats come in is fun!

Chapter 10

Red Bank, New Jersey

11.13 EST

Booth dashed up the stairs as fast as he could. He was already formulating an exit plan to get Brennan and Mary out of the building because he was certain that the men after them were here. Finally he made it to the apartment and burst through the door.

"Bones, you have to take Mary and get out of here. Take the evidence and get it to Cullen as fast as you can. But only to Cullen. Do you hear me?"

"Booth what are you talking about?"

Booth pulled her to the side away from Mary. "Bones, they followed us here. They are here now. But the most important thing is your safety and that of this evidence here."

"Wait Booth, you can't expect me to leave you here."

"Yes, you will. Look Bones, you need to get this evidence to the FBI and explain everything to Cullen. I'm going to follow them because I can't let them get away. These guys, whomever they are, have the ability to disappear and I will not let happen."

She looked at Booth's eyes. "Booth…"

He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Bones, there is no argument here. It's what has to be done."

She shook her head and sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Look Bones. I know a thing or two about the government. These guys are ready to go into hiding."

She nodded as if understanding. She then surprised him by flinging her arms around him and giving him a hug. He reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her.

"Bones it's going to be fine," he whispered into her hair.

She nodded and pulled back. Silently, primarily because she was afraid she was going to cry, she took the bag from him and walked over to Mary.

Brennan looked back one more time before ushering Mary out of the apartment. Booth watched as she walked out of the room. He then watched out the window and waited for her to appear on the street. She appeared from an alley further down the street, but was able to get into the car and drive away. Once he was sure that no one was following him, he tried to get his own exit strategy together. First he changed into a suit from Paul's closet. Paul's clothing was a little bit small, but it still fit.

He checked out the window again and noticed two men walking from the street and into the building. One had his hand very close to his hip and the other was clutching something under his jacket.

"Shit," Booth cursed to himself. He knelt down and reached into the backpack he kept with him. He reached in and looked at what he had. He took the extra magazines for the pistol at his hip and added them to his jacket pocket along with a few zip-ties. He then reached for something in the bottom of the bag and pulled out a hexagonal cylinder following by a dark sock and earplugs.

He moved quickly to the door and listened for footsteps. He could hear the stairway door at the end of the hallway squeak and made his move. He stuck the earplugs in his ears and looked out the peephole. He saw two men standing on either side of the door, each with a gun in his hand. That was enough confirmation for Booth to know that the men were hostile.

He kicked the door open and deposited the grenade at the same time. He rolled away at the same time that he covered his eyes with the black sock. A blinding light and ear piercing sound filled the small hallway of the apartment complex. A few seconds after the explosion Booth stepped in the hallway. The two men were now on the ground clutching at their eyes, momentarily blinded. Booth stepped the first man, forcefully grabbing his hands and yanking them behind his back.

"What the…" the man started shouting and wriggling, but Booth elbowed the man in the head rendering him unconscious. Once his hands were secured behind his back Booth quickly attached another plastic tie to the other guy so that they were stuck together.

"Let go of me damn it," shouted the other guy. "You're not going to get away with this." Booth knocked the other guy out and dragged them back into the apartment. He quickly took pictures of the two with his camera phone and locked the door behind him in the process.

…

Garden State Parkway

Central New Jersey

11.35 EST

Brennan smacked the steering wheel in frustration as they sped down the Parkway. "How could I be so stupid?!" she exclaimed inside the car. She hit the steering wheel again before jerking the car to the right lane so that she could get on the other side of the road. She took out her cell phone and dialed the number to Hoover Building.

"Hello, how can I help you?" said a receptionist.

"I need to speak to Cullen," demanded Brennan.

"May I ask what your business is with Agent Cullen ma'am."

"This is Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute and I need to speak with Cullen before one of his agents dies in the field."

"Okay Dr. Brennan, patching you through now."

"Cullen."

"It's Dr. Brennan. Booth and I have the information on what happened except Booth went to go get the bad guys and I left him alone and now I don't know where he is," she said quickly in one breath.

"Okay Dr. Brennan, this is what I need you to do."

Downtown Red Bank

New Jersey

11.40 EST

Booth got to the street and moved to the alley that was in between apartment buildings. The van that he had seen back in DC was parked on the street and he assumed that the operation was being led from there. His hand lay on the pistol that was concealed in the pocket of his jacket. He quickly swung the door open to find that the place was empty. There was electronic equipment all over the back and he was that there was a GPS coordinate on his current location and he realized that they had been followed through their cell phones. He was glad that he hadn't allowed Brennan or himself to make any calls.

He pulled the keys from the ignition and pocketed them, looking in the distance to see a man make a quick right into an alley. Booth jumped out of the car.

"Hey you!" he shouted at the man as he concealed his weapon behind him. The man already knew who Booth was because he started to run. Booth swore under his breath as he broke into a sprint. The fresh snow in the abandoned alley gave him a path to follow and he easily found the warehouse the man ran into.

Booth removed a flashlight from the bag on his back and slowly opened the door with his gun raised. The warehouse was dark and cold, with snow covering the ground. Around him were pallets of frozen food in various heights and snow covering the ground. From across the building he heard the sound of metal hitting the ground and then a swear. He moved quickly trying to get to the source of the sound before it could recover, but all he ended up finding was a piece of metal pipe on the ground; the man must have tripped over it.

His phone was vibrating against his pocket and he looked down to see the Brennan was calling. He couldn't answer it, instead he ignored it and sent her a quick text message. He shut the phone and returned it to his pocket. He moved forward cautiously, careful to remain close to the edge when he heard the sound of a jacket ruffling somewhere near him. Immediately his sniper instincts kicked in and he looked around slowly and carefully, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. He slipped in between a row of pallets just as two figures passed each other. They carried weapons, but weren't the same guys that were up in Mary's apartment, leading Booth to believe that they were other minions of the man after him. He looked around to see that he could shimmy up the pallets. He did so carefully and quietly until he was at the top of the medium sized tower. He had a view of most of the room and was able to see the two men carefully combing the warehouse for him.

"He's on top of a pallet!" he heard a deep voice shout and naturally he hit the deck. He turned around quickly to see that the man he followed was on the other side behind a glass partition. The two men that were looking for him moved to the far end of the warehouse so that they could see him. The fired from their weapons randomly, sending Booth for cover once again. When the weapons chambered Booth moved quickly by jumping to the next pallet. The men moved forward, but lost sight of Booth. He heard them mutter and then the sound of shrink wrap ripping as they created handholds to climb up. Booth clambered to the pallet they were on and when the first man reached the top he gave him a sharp kick to the face that knocked him out and sent him falling. The second man was smarter and jumped down. He looked up at Booth and gave him a smug smile and then Booth saw no more.

The Warehouse

Red Bank, New Jersey

13.04 EST

Outside of the warehouse looked like a scene out of a movie. Hundreds of law enforcement agents, stood around, waiting for the word of the SWAT team. A man in an FBI jacket approached Brennan.

"What do you know about the situation inside?" he asked her without an introduction.

"All I know is that my armed partner is inside with at least one hostile."

"Do you have any contact with him?"

"I could text him; I tried to call but he didn't answer."

"Okay, thank you." He turned to move away, but Brennan caught his hand.

"I want to go in with you."

"I don't think so miss. Cullen warned me about you. I'm sorry but for everyone's safety you have to stay back." He whistled and an agent came over and led Brennan away towards the staging area. Under a tent, they had cameras linked to the HRT operators and many agents controlling different computers. The agent handed her a headset so she could hear the operators and she silently thanked him with a nod of the head.

"We have a breach point on the northern side, just under the management office," said one man in a deep voice.

"Bravo is set up on the roof. We have visual on the inside. Three hostiles are confirmed and we have thermals on another man sitting in a chair. His signal isn't as strong."

Brennan's hand flew to her mouth as she heard the words. His signal wasn't as strong. It either meant that he was naked in the cold environment, or that he was… she couldn't bring herself to think about it.

"Bravo ready for breach and clear."

The same man that questioned her about Booth earlier, now also stood under the tent with a headset on. "Team A you have permission to breach. Check your fire; we have one of our own in there."

Brennan removed the headset as the line became a flurry of communications between the two teams.

"Echo, breach, breach." Thirty seconds passed before the communications resumed. "Bravo, Echo, we need a sit rep."

"Sir, we have three hostiles down and in custody. We need EMT for Agent Booth, he looks a little roughed up."

The leader removed the headset and gestured for Brennan to follow and they moved into the warehouse. Brennan stifled a gasp as they entered the room where the action had taken place. Three men were in the corner with their hands behind their backs with three agents guarding them.

"Brigadier General Marks," stated the lead agent. "What the hell has gotten into you sir?" The General remained quiet. The lead agent gestured for them to be moved and they stood. In one fluid motion, the General took the weapon from the agent's holster and shot himself in the head, sending brain matter flying through the air.

"Holy shit," shouted a few of the agents as they watched the General's body crumple to the floor.

A few of the other agents ran in after hearing the shot, curious as to what happened. "Okay people, let's clear the area so we can get photos and documentation," demanded the lead agent.

Brennan however, didn't pay attention to the scene around her; her focus was on the naked bloodied man on the ground. The EMTs had already placed him on the gurney and covered him in blankets. He had facial lacerations and his left shoulder was slumping, indicating a seprated shoulder.

"Oh Booth," she said as she looked at his wounds.

Booth just smiled. "You didn't listen to me."

"What?"

"I told you to go to Cullen and instead you got the whole fleet." He leaned up and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Thanks Bones."