(The High in the Low)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Running a few errands during lunch, Booth couldn't help but notice that he was being followed. More annoyed than anything, he stopped at a service station, parked next to the gas pumps and walked into the store. Standing away from the windows he noticed the car that had been following him move into the parking lot and park near the air pumps. When no one got out of the car, he left the store through the back door, walked around the building, moved cautiously over to where the car was parked and yanked the driver's side door open with his gun drawn. "You! What the hell?"

A little embarrassed that Booth had made him so quickly, Tom shrugged his shoulders. "I lost my bet. I told Danny it would take you at least two days to make me."

Not sure what was going on, Booth felt his anger rising. "Why are you following me around?" Placing his gun back into his holster, Booth glared at the CIA agent and wondered if he was going to be told the truth.

"A good question . . . I've been ordered by Danny to keep tabs on you." Tom saw the agent inhale deeply and he knew that Booth was pissed. "Look that shit Angela found out about the McNamara corporation has made my boss and his boss nervous. Giles McNamara had his hands in a lot of different things that were borderline legal in this country and in Europe but if he paid to have Gale murdered to cover up Wayne Kitchen's treason then he crossed a line that he shouldn't have thought about let alone actually done. My boss is in contact with someone in another agency that has a legal right to look into this mess and that person is trying to see who paid King to kill Gale and who ordered King to be killed. Because of Angela's heads up, they're taking a serious look at the Kestech Transpo company and seeing if those pay offs they made were actually for Gale's murder and King's convenient plane crash. This isn't just about Kitchen anymore. We were never able to find out who his blackmailer was, but there is some serious shit going on and . . . and we think your life is in danger along with Angela and that hacker she's in touch with. We have someone watching Angela too. The Hacker is on his own."

"Look, I told Danny to keep this quiet. You can't operate in this country." It seemed that Tom was pretty well informed and he'd recapped what was going on pretty succinctly. Even though Booth was angry with Danny about breaking his word, he knew that if Danny was worried about him and Angela then maybe he should worry about Brennan's safety too.

Unconcerned, Tom shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't have any authority when I guarded your son Parker, but I did it anyway."

"I don't need a babysitter." He wasn't in the mood to play games. Booth didn't want the CIA meddling in FBI business. Whatever was going on could be handled by him and his team.

"Tough shit." Tom had a job to do and he'd do it. "This situation is getting out of hand. There is someone out there powerful enough to blackmail Wayne Kitchen to commit treason and murder. A major corporation has been implicated in the murder of a CIA employee and the death of William King. Then add to that the McNamara Cooperation is connected to paying off a coroner to cover up a possible serial killer and has some Congressmen, two DAs and some other knuckleheads under the corporation's thumb. Do we know if Giles McNamara was the blackmailer? No, we don't. Was someone using the McNamara Corporation to get some illegal shit done, obviously yes. This is big Booth. This is getting bigger every day. A congressman was murdered in jail, a CEO of a major corporation was murdered, a Deputy Director of the Department of Homeland Security committed treason and all of that is connected. You need help even of you won't admit it. Accept it and move on . . . we're not going to step on your investigation. We're just going to give aide."

Disgusted, Booth stalked away from the car and over to his SUV. Taking his phone out of his jacket pocket, he tried to call Danny Beck.

I'm not around leave a message.

"Call me asshole." Booth ended the call and placed his phone back in his jacket pocket. If he knew Danny, he knew that the CIA Agent would not call him back and he would make sure they didn't meet anywhere. Booth was losing control of his case to the CIA and whoever Danny had talked to and he knew that the situation was going to get more complicated over time.

Oooooooooooooooo

Wendell was looking good for a man going through what he was going through. He was fighting with Ewing's Sarcoma and no one was sure if he was going to win. The Chemo he was being given was playing havoc with his ability to eat and he was using medicinal marijuana to settle down his stomach so he could eat. That created consequences that he and Cam hadn't counted on. The Lab was a federally owned facility and even though medicinal marijuana was legal in Washington D.C. it was still a federal crime. Wendell was let go from the Lab much to the disgust of Brennan, Hodgins and Angela.

Booth was torn about the situation. His friend was breaking the law and Booth was all about the law, but Wendell was fighting for his life and he'd told Wendell early in his treatment to fight with all of strength that he could and he still meant that. He couldn't condemn a young man for fighting for his life. Even if he was using a controlled substance, Wendell was a law abiding citizen and Booth knew that sometimes the law was heartless.

He'd never really thought about who used marijuana and why. It was a controlled substance and therefore illegal to use, but Wendell put a face on the problem. Medical marijuana helped cancer patients with some of the side effects of their treatment. They weren't kids sitting around trying to get high. They were desperate people fighting for their lives and they needed to be able to use whatever helped them get through it.

Knocking on Caroline's office door, Booth waited for the prosecutor to wave him in. Surprised to see Booth standing in her doorway, Caroline glanced at her calendar and saw that she didn't have a meeting set up. Closing the folder on her desk, she motioned for him to come in. "What's up, Cher'?"

"I need your help." Booth sat down and told his story to someone he counted as a dear friend. "There's an intern at the Lab that has Ewing's Sarcoma, it's very bad cancer with a 90% mortality rate. He's taking treatments and it's pretty harsh stuff. He's been having trouble eating but he started taking medicinal marijuana, prescribed by his doctor and he's doing better."

Sighing, Caroline leaned back against her chair. "It's a federal crime to use marijuana even if it's legal in Washington D.C. I already know that Wendell Bray has been let go by the Lab. My hands are tied."

Frustrated, Booth tried to remain calm and not let his anger take over. "I talked to Judge Lutrell and he told me that it's possible for Wendell to work at the Lab under special circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Caroline wasn't sure she wanted to hear what was coming next.

Clearing his throat, Booth felt a little nervous. His friend's life could be on the line. "Judge Lutrell said that the Lab could hire Wendell as a freelance case consultant. He wouldn't have to touch evidence which means nothing he did could be contested in court. He could still use the marijuana because he wouldn't be a Lab employee. He could still keep his health insurance and he'd have a job."

She knew that Booth was asking her to let Wendell Bray work at the Lab and she knew it was because Booth never gave up on his friends. He was loyal and never gave up on anyone. "He wouldn't touch any evidence? He can do his job without examining bones and whatever else they do at the Lab?"

"No, he would just look over reports, x-rays, experiments and consult with Cam and Bones." Booth sent up a short prayer to God hoping that Caroline could see that this needed to happen.

"Alright, I'll let Dr. Saroyan know that she can hire the squint as a consultant." Caroline witnessed Booth close his eyes for just a moment and the tension in the man's body evaporate. "I don't see why the Lab should lose someone useful when we have a work around for his problem . . . Anything else? It's not like I have nothing to do."

Standing, Booth smiled at the prosecutor. "You're the best Caroline."

"Tell me something that I don't already know." She waved him out of her office and made the call to Dr. Saroyan. After she explained why she was calling she knew that she had made the right decision. The coroner was relieved and she could hear it in the woman's voice. "Just don't let him touch evidence and it will be fine. If you let him get involved with evidence and you cause me to lose a case because of it . . . well there will be dire repercussions, Dr. Saroyan."

"I understand, Ms. Julian."

The call ended, Caroline flipped the folder back open and shook her head. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Booth is being held hostage by the Squints."

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