Chapter 88

"Excited to get back to work I take it." Alex commented when she spotted Ryan at the kitchen counter scrolling through the headlines. "More like bored of staying at home all day for almost a week, doing nothing." He looked up at her. "We'll see about that if you're greeted with another case where you have to go undercover. Again on your first day back."

"Don't jinx it, sweetheart." He kissed her before heading towards the shower.

"Alex, have you seen my grey suit?" He yelled down hoping she heard him, she was just about to walk upstairs when his reply came. "Never mind, I found it."

Shaking her head she took her turn scrolling through the headlines. If laziness could kill she was sure her husband wouldn't've been here anymore. Whenever he's looking for something and he can't find it he'll stop looking and just assume it's gone.

"I wanna commend each and every one of you for your dedication over the last few weeks. I rarely seen a team come together so well. And I am proud to say that you're my team and it's an honor working with you. Seeing the sacrifices you make in service." Maranda started off the day with her agents, making eye contact with Ryan as he sits in the back of the room.

"That's an awful lot of butter Maranda. I think we're about to get rolled on." Caleb said running a finger through his wild blonde hair as the others laughed at his comment.

"What, I can't say something nice without you beacons of law enforcement being suspicious?" She smirked looking at them.

"Oh man, here it comes. Those cases no one wanted to handle and kept putting at the bottom of the pile and now we have to face the music." Another said and she nodded.

"You're sticking us on a surveillance operation aren't you?" Alex slouched down in her chair.

"Gold star for you Parrish. I know it's boring as hell but someone has to do it. Gang wars fighting to honor and protect their leaders. There's an annual festival Birch's are hosting and it kicks off at 10AM. I need all of you on the rooftops with cameras or binoculars looking for any suspicious activity. Word is out something might go down and innocent lives might be in jeopardy." She concluded the meeting and the team headed out to get their gear and get to the festival.

"Booth, can I see you in my office please?" Ryan nodded and followed her.

"Are you okay? Ready to get back to work?" She asked folding her arms looking at him as he stood in the doorway, hands in his pants pockets. "Yeah, I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." He assured her, she looked at him skeptically before she nodded her head.

They were each stationed on a rooftop, two of them looking from different angles down at the big festival-like party that went down. Pimped out cars rolling up, kids playing around on the kiddies rides that were provided, some dancers. Everyone being merry and enjoying themselves. There was a food truck called Madame's where food was served. And for the elderly who couldn't walk up to the truck a few younger kids volunteered to bring their choice of food them.

"Looks like Birch Mardi gras going on down there." Natalie told Alex a she stared through the intense extensive zoom of her camera.

"Joshua Birch, uses it as a day for the community to honor and celebrate friends and loved ones who died through the past year." Nimah added on from the other side of the roof where she stood with her back turned towards them looking for something from her angle.

Shelby looked through a pair of binoculars shaking her head. "This guy makes me sick to my stomach. I mean look at him, shaking hands kissing babies acting like he's walking on water."

"Around here seems like he does." Alex observed.

They were all still busy watching what happened down at the party when the food truck caught fire. "What the hell?" Caleb asked not sure what happened or how it happened. "Everyone get down there now." Ryan ordered and they all rushed down the stairs towards the truck. The hundreds of people running away from the burning vehicle looking for safety making it impossible to find the guys who did all of this. They tried rushing towards it to get the three trapped workers out, but shots were fired in the direction of the truck. The people ducking for safety and it wasn't long before the flames hit the gas burner they were using inside and it all went up in flames. People screaming and staring in disbelief at the events happening right in front of their eyes, and none of them being able to do anything about it.

It wasn't long before Maranda's office phone started ringing off the hook with people questioning and wanting answers for what happened this morning. As if that one fire wasn't enough she had her hands full putting the others out and having to meet her superiors to explain what exactly went down.

"Three dead Maranda Shaw. All from the same family burned alive in their family food truck in front of 300 people while your people were watching. Another 11 injured in the shooting" One guy in a suit said on the opposite side of the table.

"I'm aware. Of what took place earlier today." Maranda stated calmly.

"Then I'm guessing you're also aware of what a well-coordinated attack it was. So correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the FBI have an image to uphold where they stop these kinds of things before they happen?"

Maranda was under scrutiny at the moment and had a hard time keeping her cool in front of the board who was questioning her abilities as a leader and in the abilities of her team. "You know what, I don't have to sit here and get raked over the coals." She stood up. "Write me a memo and send it to my office. I'll answer any other questions you have then." She left the room and walked outside to get some fresh air. As much as she hated putting her team under pressure they have to come up with names of suspects before the end of the day or things is about to get ugly.

She called another meeting as soon as everyone arrived back from the scene and informed them about what happened explaining the situation. It wasn't ideal but she gave them an hour to get back to her with information and images of suspects who might be held accountable for this morning's incident.

Everyone got busy and was on the phone with contacts and CI's. Pulling in favors just to get the job done. Alex pulled up the camera roll of the pictures they took to try and figure out if they can talk to some of the people who look trust worthy. She was busy looking at it so intently that she hadn't noticed Ryan sneaking up next to her looking at it as well.

"Right there." He said and pointed to a man who looked like a minister. Wearing all black with a little white collar around the neck of his shirt. "Who is that guy?" He asked and ordered facial recognition. "What if he's not who he seems to be?" She asked looking at him. "You can't score if you don't take the shot." Ryan said and she nodded thinking it might be worth a try.

Caleb ran a profile on the guy and ordered him to come in for questioning while the rest were still on the hunt. "What have we got so far?" Maranda asked from the door seeing them scurrying around with phones pressed to the ears and writing things down frantically.

"I checked the traffic cams but these guys were sharp. They knew where the cameras were and they took care in hiding their faces." Caleb reported on his findings.

"I got something from a friend down at the DEA." Shelby said pointing to the screen with four of men. "These guys are part of Joshua's based hit squad. They pulled off a similar stunt a year ago in Mexico, where they burnt a suspected informant in his own trailer along with his entire family. I have a feeling that these could be our guys." The blonde finished.

"Do we have any intel on Birch's safe houses?" Matthew asked and someone got the address, as all of them geared up once again and made for the doors. Shelby was about to go out with them when Maranda stopped her and shook her head. "This is too dangerous Wyatt, please stay here."

Shelby tried arguing but Maranda wouldn't have it and grunted in frustration, sitting back down as the rest ran past her.

They pulled up at the safe house, running and covering all the exits, weapons pointed out in front of them, waiting for the go ahead. They busted open the front door and headed inside. There was no furniture in the empty house and windows were closed down and secured with wood in front of them. They walked through the rooms weapons pointed in front of them checking every room not finding anything until they got to the bathroom.

Blood spatters on the floor and a bunch of tools laid out on the floor. A sledge hammer standing against the side of a tub, nothing but a bloody hand hanging over. Ryan surveyed the room more carefully before walking over to see the deceased body. "Safe house my ass. This looks more like a torture chamber." Caleb said as they both took in their surroundings.

"Ryan look out!" Nimah yelled when someone rushed down the passage and headed towards the door, but was stopped in his tracks, as Natalie elbowed him and he fell to the floor. The other agents holding him down. "He's not one of the hitters we're looking for." Nimah said. "Yeah but he's part of Birch's crew so he'll know."

"Ferdinand Gonzales, Kean Maldonado, Corne Smith, Adam Lester where are they?" Liam asked as he walks over to the man on the floor. "I'm not telling you nothing. Go to hell." The man said with a strong Latin accent. "Your compadre's burnt three people alive last night." Caleb walked out of the bathroom slowly with the sledgehammer in his hand towards him.

"Move." Caleb told Nimah who was holding down one of his arms. "Where are the me who burnt the Hiram's family alive?" he asked looking down at the man on the floor.

"I'm not a rat. I'm not telling you pigs!." The man yelled and Caleb looked at Liam. He let the hammer down onto the man's open hand and the guy screamed out, certain it was broken. He walked over to the other side to repeat the action but as soon as the hammer was in the air the man begged him to stop. "Please, they're not here. They're at their family house. They knew this would be the first place the cops would come looking and all four of them are hiding there." He confessed and Caleb gave him one last look before he tossed the sledgehammer aside and walked out.

Back at the office the priest who they called earlier entered and Shelby and Maranda took on the task of asking him if he knew about anything. He was real nervous at first but they assured him he will be fine as long as he tells the truth.

"There was a man , who came to me about a week earlier. He came into the church and demanded a thousand dollars to cover so called security fees at this morning's party." The priest explained and the two women nodded for him to continue.

"He claimed Joshua Birch is no longer in charge. I didn't give him anything because I don't have that kind of money, but he said he would be back and do something to disrupt the festivities."

"If we show you some pictures would you be able to identify the man?" Shelby asked and the priest nodded. "Please, I don't want any trouble with these guys. They won't think twice about coming after me and my family" he panicked.

But he was assured that by the end of the day he wouldn't be out on the streets anymore. None of them would.

"Do we go back to the office or are we following the address we have?" Alex asked and Liam shook his head. "That guy might've tipped them off that we were outside before we found him, we can't take any chances. Let's go the house and see what we can find there." Liam ordered and they all rushed back into the vans and made the trip.

"Okay, these guys are military trained. Proceed with caution all units take position." Ryan said as all of them spread out around the building.

"Alpha team in position." Nimah said into the monitor hidden on her wrist.

"Bravo team in position." Caleb said and Liam nodded at the two teams.

Caleb and Ryan taking the back entrance. They threw tear gas through a window and waited for the people inside to come out. Shots were fired though the wooden back door as Ryan and Caleb ducked. Out front they could hear the coughs and three men stumbled outside looking for breath closing their eyes against the burns. Too surprised at all the guns pointed at all of them they obeyed.

"Down on the ground!" Alex yelled and was surprised at how the guy she was going for didn't put up a fight but obeyed. He was blinking rapidly and coughing trying to get as much fresh air into his lungs, as was the other three.

The fourth one didn't make it out and Ryan and Caleb went inside through the backdoor to see what was going on. Out front the others were put into vans and driven off.

They checked most of the rooms and both of them met up in the small washroom when they didn't find anyone inside and Caleb's eyes grew wide when the door closed behind Ryan's back and a man stood there with a gun pointed at Ryan's head. Ryan tried to defend himself but in one swift movement the guy hit Ryan's head and his weapon skidded across the floor out of reach.

"Before you entered the safe house, I got tipped off about it. And I know that you've tortured Sam, blondie, even broke his hand with that hammer. Think you had super powers because all of your friends were there with you." The guy smiled moving closer to Ryan positioning the gun to the side of the special agent's head.

"Well let's see how brave you are now, that it's just the two of you. How would you feel if someone did that to you blondie? And don't even think about pulling the trigger or your partner here is gone. By the way, I'm the guy who set that taco truck on fire. Ferdinand Gonzales." He introduced himself and held his hand out for Caleb's gun, now pointing both at Ryan's head.

Caleb could hear his heart beating in his ears and he was certain if the room was quiet the Ryan and Ferdinand could hear it too. He looked out the window and caught a glimpse of the front yard but the vans were gone and only the one he and Ryan is supposed to drive back in, remained outside.

"So, now I'm going to let your partner here do to you what you did to my partner. Then we'll be even, I say." He shoved Ryan closer to Caleb but Ryan looked back over his shoulder. "Well, what are you waiting for you gotta hit him."

"I'm sure there's another way around this, Gonzales." Ryan tried but Ferdinand shook his head and pointed both weapons at Ryan again and he put his hands up. Caleb looked at his best friend and nodded his head giving the go ahead. "Caleb…"

"Ryan just get it over with so we can get out of here." Caleb whispered harshly, and Ryan punched him in the face and the blonde fell with his back against the wall looking for some stability. "It's not over, he broke Sam's hand so you gotta break some bones in his body." Ferdinand ordered.

Ryan looked at his friend again and shook his head but Caleb looked him dead in the eye and mouthed "do it" to him, and he punched him in the stomach and he hunched forward. He turned around and Gonzales pointed the gun in Caleb's direction as if to say it's not enough yet. Ryan got down on the floor next to his friend and started throwing even more punches. Hitting his nose until it bled, his stomach, his ribs, a small amount of blood coming from his nose and he curled up clutching his stomach, breathing and coughing heavily and Ryan's fist started hurting. Gonzales handed him one of the guns.

"What should I do with this?" Ryan asked and Gonzales pointed at Caleb on the floor, looking up with pleading eyes. "Come on man, I did what you asked let's leave it there." Ryan tried feeling bad for what he did to his friend already, but Ferdinand held the gun to his head once again. He contemplated turning around and shooting the guy but it was as if he could read his mind and he held onto Ryan's right hand where the gun was in and pointed it at Caleb.

"Ryan. Just get it over with." Caleb breathed but Ryan couldn't get himself to do it. "I'm not gonna shoot you Caleb!" He yelled. "You have two choices, either you do it or I will." Ferdinand gave the ultimatum and Ryan pointed the gun in Caleb's direction hoping that if he do shoot not to hit anything vital.

A shot went off and Ryan closed his eyes. The grip on his hand loosening and the gun held to his hand fell to the floor together with the thud of a body. He had no idea where the shooter was until he looked through the small window and saw Liam standing there.

He rushed over to Caleb's side assessing how much damage he'd done. "Caleb, are you okay man? I am so sorry buddy." Ryan said but the blonde shook his head. "No…not your fault. I,I think you. Broke my ribs." He breathed and Ryan felt even more guilt rise up inside of him. The medics rushed in together with Liam and they took Caleb to hospital and bagged up Gonzales.

"Sir, I can take a look at your hand." One of them offered and Ryan looked down at his bruised knuckles on his right hand. "No, I'll be fine. Just, please make sure my friend's gonna be okay." He asked and they nodded. Before they rolled him out, Caleb extended his hand and gripped onto Ryan's. "Do..don't beat yourself up about this, Booth." The blonde said as they took him out.

Liam explained that when the third vehicle didn't follow them back he knew something was wrong, and he came back to see what was taking him and Caleb so long.

At the hospital they all sat in the waiting room, Ryan uncertain of how the others will respond when they see him, so he settled on sitting in the cafeteria instead. He spotted Shelby with Alex waiting on the doctor's report.

Alex was torn. Part of her wanted to run up to her husband and just hold him until he was himself again, and the other part wanted to stay with her best friend and let her know everything will be okay. Shelby on the other hand sat there looking at the floor as her hands rested on her five month pregnant belly, trying to stop her tears from falling.

"Mrs. Haas. Your husband is fine, his nose is swollen so he might have a hard time breathing. His ribs is bruised on both sides which also complicates breathing for the time being. But other than that he will make a full recovery." The doctor explained and she nodded gratefully.

She turned around and hugged Alex, searching the waiting room to see if she can find Ryan. Alex knew she was looking for him and she pointed in the direction of the cafeteria and she saw him sitting there. Staring at a spot on the table.

"Ryan?" She said softly and he stood up when he saw the blonde standing there. "Shelby, I, I am so sorry for what I did." He apologized and but she stopped him. "Caleb's going to be fine. And it's not your fault."

"No, I'm not so sure about that." He said softly.

"This job is not always black and white. There's a whole grey area that no one tells you about. I don't want you to beat yourself up about this." Shelby looked him in the eye.

"Sorry for not being in the waiting room with the others. I didn't know how they'd react to seeing me after all that."

"Don't sweat it, and Caleb's probably enjoying all the attention he's getting right now." She lightened the mood and Ryan chuckled. She hugged him before turning around. "You should get you hand looked at." She finished and walked to her husband's room.

Alex walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and he jumped a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She apologized sitting down opposite him. "Are you okay?"

"No, not right now." He laughed dryly and she took his hands in his looking at his right hand, running her thumb across his bruised knuckles.

"You want to go see him?"

"No, I think I should give him and Shelby some time alone. Let's go home." He suggested and got up waiting for her to gather her things.

"Ryan, I love you. Don't ever forget that." Alex said slinging her bag over her shoulder standing in front of him.

"Even after everything that went down today?" He asked softly and she nodded looking up at him.

"I love you too, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head and she stepped forward holding him tightly. Hating to see how much he's hurting right now, His hurt may not be physical but regardless of what everyone says he's holding himself accountable for Caleb being here today.

Hey guys! Someone asked if there could be a case similar to the systemic episode of Caleb and Will, here it is. I wanted to turn the tides and have Caleb in the position will was in. Initially I wasn't planning on having it play out on Ryan and Caleb in the situation and I battled writing. To my *guest* who asked for it I hope I did it justice and that you enjoyed it, let me know what you think about it. Thank you for reading and for the new followers. Lovies-S.