Chapter 6 – I Will Find You


Booth


Present Day (6 hours after Bones abduction)…

This was it.

This was what I had been waiting for since the moment I was on the phone with Bones and my worst nightmare occurred. The moment I was helpless to do anything to protect Bones. The moment that I had to sit there and listen as…as…my partner had to fight for her life all on her own.

Angela sat calmly at her desk, her fingers typing away fiercely as she seemed to be having a two-way conversation with herself.

"A hum?" I questioned. "How is this a clue?"

I was trying to keep my patience. I knew rushing Angela was something one never did, but I didn't have the time, and I couldn't afford to go another minute feeling more helpless than I did right now.

"Yes," she replied.

She clicked her tablet until a program I recognized appeared. A program she used several times before on cases where we had recordings and we needed her to isolate the sounds to give us clues as to where the recording occurred.

"I first took out the obvious background noises from their fight. Then I isolated frequencies—"

"This is nice and all Angela, but I need the cliff notes version," I interjected impatiently.

She gave me her displeased look, but this was one time she understood time was not on our side.

"Fine. Once I removed or isolated everything out, this ten second is what we were left with."

She turned up her monitor and played the ten seconds of recording that she was referring too. It sounded lite and faint as if it was barely above a whisper, but I could recognize Bones's voice anywhere. Angela was right. It was a hum.

I grumbled. "I hear it, but I can't make out what it means."

"Is it a chant?" asked Cam.

Angela turned to us. "I asked myself that at first too, but then I realized when I upped the frequency, it's not a chant, but music."

Hodgins looked as confused as the rest of us. "Music?"

Angela nodded. "Listen again," she ordered, moving the dials upwards so it was crisper, louder, and even more of the fuzziness of the recording fell away.

I closed my eyes to listen to the recording anyway. I hoped shutting down all my other senses would allow me to focus just on what I was hearing.

"It's a song," Sweets observed excitedly.

It's a song.

I opened my eyes. "Plan it again," I said quickly.

Angela did something on her tablet and then the recording started over again. This time I listened to the recording with my own haunch, finding myself even humming to the song. When I opened my eyes, Angela, Hodgins, Zack, Cam, and Sweets were all looking at me.

"You know the song," Sweets again observed.

"Hot-Blooded," I confirmed.

Angela furiously went back to typing, bringing a second recording next to Bones recording. It was the recording of the song Hot-Blooded. Her software started analyzing Bones recording to the song, the screen beeping a second later with a ninety-ninety percent match.

Angela turned to me with surprise. "It's a match. Why would she hum that song?"

I already had my phone out and to my ear. "Because it's our song. She left that clue for me."

I held my finger up as I started talking with the agent in charge from the crime scene. I had hoped with the clue Bones had left behind; CSI had collected something from her apartment that would give us the information we needed to find out where the Grave Digger was keeping her.

My hopes were shattered a moment later, when the agent confirmed that had nothing cataloged from their entire search of the apartment that had anything to do with the clue of the song.

I shut the phone. "CSI came up empty handed."

Hodgins turned to me. "What if they came up empty handed, because they didn't know where to look?"

My gut agreed, shouting in agreement. "Yes, Hodgins. That's good. CSI came up empty handed, because Bones's clue…it's still in her apartment. Hodgins, Sweets, you're coming with me. Let's go," I demanded, my feet already moving me away from Angela's station and back to Bones's apartment.


25 minutes later…

I showed my badge to the agent on guard on Bones's floor, allowing Hodgins, Sweets, and myself to pass.

I ducked under the yellow tape from Bones's entrance—her apartment still considered an active crime scene—as we each entered into the apartment.

Hodgins and Sweets looked around the apartment at me, since the clue was left for me. I figured that Angela might have an idea of what hot-blooded could mean—girls sometimes talked about everything—then again, Bones wasn't like any other girl.

Hodgins grinned at me, wiggling his eyebrows. "So, hot-blooded, huh?"

I walked past him towards the place I knew where Bones kept her CD's and tapped him a little tougher on the shoulder. "Yeah, were not going to do that," I said.

"Oh, come on," Sweets interjected. "There has to be a significance importance between you and Dr. Brennan with this song."

I half-turned back. "Listen, can we focus right now? Bones is missing, and once again being tortured by the Grave Digger, and you think now is a good time for bro conversation?"

Both Hodgins and Sweets looked at me, before their heads dipped. "Your right, Agent Booth."

"Yeah, sorry, man," replied Hodgins.

I turned back to the CD rack. I remember the last time I plucked out the Foreigner album and put the song on, Bones face lighting up as we started singing together, dancing around her apartment, just before it blew up—literally right in front of my face.

This time, I didn't even need to pull out the CD to understand the clue that Bones had left behind for me. She left the clue right in front of the CD. I took my pen out of my pocket, using the tip to pick up the item, before I turned back around and faced both Hodgins and Sweets.

Hodgin's brows furrowed together. "An earning?"

"If Bones went to great length to get us this clue, which could have possibly been the very reason she ended up getting captured, then this could be the big break we needed."

Hodgins nodded, as if he understood. "Possible, D.N.A." He bent down to his box, and pulled out an evidence bag, holding it open so I could place the earning in the bag. "I can get this back to the Jeffersonian right now and see if we can get a match."

"Thanks, Hodgins."

Hodgins left the apartment, leaving only Sweets and myself still standing. I could already tell before Sweets opened his mouth that his mind was working to see how he was going to broach the subject with me.

"Agent Booth, I was hoping we could take a moment now that we are alone, to discuss all that has happened since Dr. Brennan was taken."

"No. No. We aren't talking about this. All we have to do is find Bones."

Sweets did that annoying thing he always did and pushed ahead anyway. "We are. But while we are waiting…"

"No," I said more firmly. "I don't want to talk about it."

Sweets gave me that long look, like he just couldn't help himself. I know he comes from a good place—I know that—but his incessant need to want to broach a subject I don't want to discuss was constant and annoying.

"Dr. Brennan has been kidnapped. You hadn't heard anything in over six hours about whether she is alive or dead. I know you, Booth. You feel responsible. You feel responsible for her. You feel responsible that you weren't there to protect her."

I whirled on him; and snapped. "Your damn right, I am responsible! She is my partner, Sweets. Mine! It is my job to protect her. Always."

I had to give him credit. He looked at me without flinching, his face determined. "It's not your fault—"

"Enough!" I growled. "Don't pretend like you know me. I hate this. I hate when you do this. You get that sentimental look on your face, and your voice does this sad weepy thing. I don't want to discuss it. The only thing I want to do is find Bones. Got it?"

We stared at each other, until the moment I saw him relent. "Yeah, Agent Booth. I got it."


2 hours later (F.B.I. D.C. Headquarters) …

While I waited for Hodgins to get back with a potential D.N.A. match, I went back to my office. Throwing my coat on my chair, I loosened my tie, my hands rubbing over my face. I hated feeling helpless. That I was letting Bones down. That I wasn't good enough.

I tortured myself; watching, rewinding, and watching again the clips we got from the Grave Digger with regards to Bones kidnapping.

I leaned in; my hand to my chin as I first watched the clips of her struggling to get out of the coffin. Her expression of relief, fear, and then anger as she realized she passed the first test, but then was met with another.

The feed cut out, before the next time the alert came through on our phones of the situation that Bones was facing next. Her in the metal container, with a counter on the wall. I could see the signs in her face.

Bones was scared.

Next to Angela, no one really understood Bones like I did. Everyone thought she was this closed off individual that didn't know how to experience emotions. While there were times that was true, that couldn't be falser. Bones—like myself—had a hard childhood being in and out of foster care after her parents left her and her brother, Russ, behind. It was a coping mechanism for her to make sure she could never get hurt like that again.

My hand balled into a fist, slamming down on my desk, as I watched her back lean against the crate, her body slowly start to drop until her ass hit the ground. Her arms were crossed over her knees, her knees hugged to her chest, as her forehead fell to her arms. Her shoulders shook a little bit, letting me know she was crying. The counter on the wall, ticking down minute by minute.

One thing for sure, I was going to make sure that when I got my hands on the Grave Digger, I was going to kill them. Kill them for what they were doing to Bones.

There was a knock at my door, my hand coming quickly to stop the live feed. I looked up, to see Caroline Julian standing in my doorway. She walked in slowly once I looked up at her.

"Hey, cherié," her solemn voice said.

"What can I do for you, Julian?" I asked standing.

She gripped her briefcase in her hands, her face determined as she spoke her next words to me. "The judge and the state attorney are here in the conference room. They wanted an update on the missing evidence."

"Yeah, not going to happen. My partner is out there and missing right now. I could give a shit about their missing evidence."

Julian took my outburst in strides, but her expression didn't change. "It wasn't a request, Seeley, and I wasn't asking."

I licked my lips; unsure I would keep my cool if I responded right away. I waited a moment, before nodding. "Fine. But I am going to stop and grab Sweets on the way."

Her lip turned upwards; her forehead wrinkled. "The shrink that looks like he is fifteen years old. What do you need him for?"

I grabbed my coat. "Because I do. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Julian pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes. "Alright, cherié, I'll hold them over until you get there."

She left my office, and I walked a few halls down until I was at Sweets office. His door was closed, but that didn't stop me before. I knocked—out of curiosity—and then barged right in. Luckily, this time, he didn't have a patient sitting on his couch.

"Agent Booth. Is everything ok?" he asked, closing the file he had opened on his lap.

I had both my hands on my hips, standing right before his couch. I hated asking for help. More than that, I hated having to ask for Sweets for this type of help.

I cleared my throat. "I need your help with something."

Sweets stood, "Of course. How can I help?"

"Just follow me and observe. When I ask, you will know."

Sweets looked like he was still uncomfortable with the limited details but nodded anyway.

"You got it," he said instantly.

"Let's go."


I stormed into the F.B.I. conference room on our office floor, Sweets trailing behind me.

"This better be good, Judge. I've got more pressing matters," I announced.

"Agent Booth," Julian chastised.

Judge Williams and his State Attorney, Heather Taffet, were opposite of me in the conference room. Judge Williams looked displeased and even angry at my lack for formalities and disrespect, but Heather didn't seem to mind at all. As if this was something she was used too on a daily basis.

"Let's just not beat around the bush. I told you that I would research into the missing evidence, and when I had something, I would let you know. I don't have either for you. So, what could you possibly need?" I asked.

Julian turned towards me giving me a mother scolding her son look. "What you missed, Agent Booth, is Judge Williams and Ms. Taffet here recovered the missing evidence."

I scoff. "What does this have to do with me?"

"The evidence mysteriously turned up only hours after our conversation about it being missing," Heather spoke up to provide an explanation. "What we want to know is if you knew anything about it."

I sneer at the both of them, my patience running low. "You get the evidence back. That's what you wanted. I don't have time for this, nor do I care how you got it."

"What we are just trying to understand—"

"No, what you are doing is accusing me that I either had it, or that I am covering for one of the people on my team at the Jeffersonian," I snapped back, interrupting the Judge.

"That's not the intention…"

"I'm with Agent Booth," Julian said, cutting Williams off this time. "It sounds a lot like you are accusing my people. And I don't appreciate, nor do I like when people accuse my people."

"We are all on the same side here," Heather added.

"Then act like it," Julian replied. "You got what you wanted. If there is nothing else, then we are done here."

My phone beeped in my pocket. I flipped open the phone, reading the incoming message from Hodgins.

Hodgins: We got a D.N.A off the earning. It's a match. The Grave Digger is Heather Taffet.

I looked at my phone, making sure I read the message correctly before I looked up. Julian could instantly see something on my face.

"What is it, cherié?"

I ignored her question, looking straight at the state attorney. Her face was deadpan, but there was a slight flicker in her eyes that told me she knew. She knew why I was looking at her in the manner that I was.

"I'm placing you under arrest," I said, looking right at Heather Taffet. "Then again, you already know why, don't you, Ms. Taffet? Or should I call you the Grave Digger?"

I had agents cuff her and immediately take her to an interrogation room. The judge, Julian, and Sweets were left in the boardroom with me, their expression still in complete shock.

I turned the full force of my anger on the judge. "Did you know?"

Judge Williams looked offended. "What? No. I had no idea."

"He's telling the truth," Sweets spoke up behind me.

I pressed my lips together, starring him down a few extra seconds. "You better hope that's the case, or I swear I am coming after you next." It was a promise.

"Me too," Julian agreed.

Julian, Sweets, and I left the conference room regrouping just outside our next plan of action.

"Cherié, you alright to handle this? I can have another agent do this considering the circumstances," she offered.

"No. I got this. I will do this. She wants it to be me anyway," I said.

"I knew you would say that. There wouldn't be anyone else I would want to handle this interrogation anyway," she admitted. She looked up at me, a sliver of her emotion escaping her normally perfectly guarded façade. "Go get our girl, cherié. Keep me posted," she said, before walking off towards the breakroom.

I turned back towards Sweets. "What can I do?" he asked, his face going deathly pale, his eyes shimmering with water that he was desperately trying to hold back.

I let out a sigh. My next comment was going to show Sweets something I didn't want him to see, but there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for Bones.

"Sweets, I need you to do something for me. I don't need you to ask a lot of questions, but I need you to do something," I explained.

Whatever the look had been on my face, he nodded without asking any questions, that I knew he wanted to ask.

"Whatever you need, Booth."

I let out a breath, lowering my voice from prying eyes around the bullpen. "I told you before, in our sessions, that I would do anything for Bones. I meant it. I would die for Bones. I would kill for Bones."

"I know that, Agent Booth."

I licked my lips. "If you ever admit what I am about to say to you to anyone, I will kill you," I warned.

He gave me is own look that told me I was crazy to think he ever would. "Just tell me what you need."

"I'm about to go in that interrogation room, with the women that kidnapped Bones not once, but twice. I know Bones life is on the line, and I will do anything—anything—to make sure I get her back alive and safe."

Recognition dawned his features. "You're worried about what you might do in there?"

I stared at him, my mouth opening and then closing, before I nodded. "I mean it. I will do anything, Sweets. What I need you to do, is to make sure that you can bring me back. Because I'm not sure that I can on my own."

Sweets stepped forward, his hand resting on my shoulder. "I got your six, Booth. I got your back."


A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The ending was one of my favorite moments. I love Booth's strength and willingness to do whatever it takes to protect those that he loves. Even if that means sacrificing everything, he believes in with himself. Always loved Sweets…and thought it would be a perfect moment together.