(The Recluse in the Recliner)

A/N: remember this story is AU.

I don't own Bones, not even a little bit.

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A mysterious phone call using a restricted phone number led to a murder victim named Wesley Foster. The man had been a journalist in the past before his life fell apart. He had lost his job five years before his fateful phone call, his wife had left him and he was reduced to running a conspiracy blog. He had contacted Booth using a restricted number and Booth had tracked him down only to find out the man had died in a fire. It was soon clear that the man had been murdered, his body partially incinerated as well as his trailer. The hard drive on his computer was missing and that made Hodgins and Booth very suspicious.

Foster had got a job as a janitor for the McNamara Corporation and he used his access to the building to break into company computer systems and into filing cabinets to gather data about the company. The McNamara Corporation had a lot of government contracts with the FBI and the State Department and some of that work was highly classified. This was alarming to both Booth and his team. Whatever Foster was after, the man had been killed because of something he'd found. The murders of people connected to the McNamara Corporation was mounting up and they were certain that this was connected to the blackmailer. Brennan, Cam and Angela were certain that Foster had found something earth shaking enough to try to contact Booth and he'd been silenced.

Booth tried to get warrants for the McNamara corporation but Ms. Julian was blocked by three judges. Either they were buying into the National Security trope being used by the McNamara Corporation or they might have more sinister connections to the blackmailer. Either way, Booth was being blocked and that made him more determined to find out what Wesley Foster knew that was so important to get him killed.

He also needed to find out who the traitor was in the FBI. He didn't know who to trust and he knew that he was going to have to bring Danny in and update him on everything they had as soon as possible. He hated to do it, but the situation was getting dangerous. Danny was right. He couldn't do this by himself. He needed to find out what was going on and he needed someone to protect Brennan and Christine if something happened to him.

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"I'm glad you could see me, Sir." Booth had talked to Brennan about his promotion and Danny's concern that he was being set up. They knew that there was a traitor in the FBI, but at that moment they didn't know who it was. Danny claimed that the promotion offer was real, but whoever the blackmailer was, was going to use Congressman Hadley to try to bring him down. Booth needed to protect not only himself, but his family and his squints.

"What can I do for you?" Stark hadn't been Deputy Director for long, but he was eager to make his mark and he knew that Booth was one of his best men. He hated to lose him, but Booth's department was filled with intelligent, experienced agents that would help pick up the slack when Booth was gone and would continue to make him look good.

Sitting on the chair in front of Stark's desk. Booth tried to appear relaxed. He didn't really know Stark that well and he was still searching for the traitor in the FBI. "I'm going to have to decline the promotion, Sir."

Shocked, Stark leaned forward on his desk and tried to read Booth's body language. He didn't know what was going on, but this was startling news. "But why? You're perfect for the job. It might be a stepping stone to a Deputy Assistant Director position in a couple of years."

Careful, Booth knew he had to make sure that his real reasons didn't come to light, at least for the moment. "My wife is the leading forensic anthropologist in the country, probably the world. Her position at the Medico-legal Lab is important and she teaches at the American University. I don't want her to give up what she's worked so hard for. I can stay in my position for now and if something comes up later then I'll consider it."

"Well, um . . . this is commendable, Booth, but this might be the only promotion you'll ever be offered." This wasn't likely, but Stark had counted on Booth taking the promotion. The Director wanted this to happen. "You may be giving up a lot."

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth knew that what Stark was saying was true, but at the moment the lives of his family and friends were more important than a promotion. His life never seemed to move in the direction he thought it should, so why worry about it now? "I'm sorry, Sir. I'm declining the promotion."

Since he couldn't force Booth to take the promotion, Stark knew that the Director would have to accept it. "Congressman Hadley has been very interested in your career. He wants to help you move up in the FBI."

Which made Booth very suspicious. He didn't know Hadley and now that he knew that there was a connection between him and one of Kitchen's men there was no way he wanted the Congressman's 'help'. "I have to do what's right for my wife. She's been my partner for a long time and she helped me get where I am today. I won't ask her to give up her career for me." He knew he was making Brennan sound terrible, but it had to be this way. Brennan had been willing to move to Germany for him and he knew that she had been willing to disrupt her life for him, but Booth didn't trust Stark and couldn't tell him what was going on. Brennan had agreed to this plan and he appreciated it. How'd I get so damn lucky? "I'll keep the position I have and see what the future brings."

Well that was that. Stark would make a few phone calls once Booth left his office. "Well, the decision is yours of course. I think it's a little short sighted, but I understand your reasoning."

"Thank you, Sir." Booth stood up. "I have a case I'm working on." Once he was out of the office, Booth texted Brennan. It's done. We'll see who makes a stink about this. I'm hoping whoever the traitor is at the FBI will make a mistake now.

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Booth's refusal to take the promotion infuriated the Congressman. Hadley had been given his marching orders and now there was no way to implement it. True they could leak the information that Booth had assassinated an American citizen while he was an Army Ranger, but the impact would probably be negligible. In front of cameras, he could have ambushed the Agent and Booth wouldn't have been able to defend himself. A leaked story could be refuted and if anyone in the CIA wanted to cut off the rumor, it would happen and the Congressman wouldn't be able to stop it.

His handler had warned him that Booth not accepting the promotion and not appearing before Congress could have deadly consequences, but it was an empty threat. He'd called the Director of the FBI as soon as he had heard the news and tried to get the man to force Booth to take the job, but he hadn't given in to Hadley's demands and that was as far as it could go. The Director was more politically connected than the congressman and Hadley knew that. His handler would have to do something else about Booth. His part in the plan was done.

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Pete had been busy for the last few weeks. He was on a hacking spree. He was working fifteen hours a day trying to track down the traitor and he thought he was getting close. The puzzle was starting to be filled in and the picture was getting clearer. His list of traitors was growing.

Angela had told him about Booth's turning down the promotion the day before when he'd contacted her and he thanked God for Booth's good sense. There was a sense of panic going on amongst some of the betrayers. He'd noticed Congressman Hadley's involvement in Booth's promotion and it had made him ill. He had recently found out that Hadley was taking payments from another shell company owned by the McNamara Corporation and there had been quite a lot of contact between him and John Hepburn, one of Kitchen's friends at the Department of Homeland Security.

Pete knew that Hepburn was being watched by Carla Jackson, so Homeland Security wasn't completely in the dark about what was going on. The other three men that had been connected to Kitchen had been quiet ever since the man had been arrested, tried and imprisoned. Pete wasn't sure if that cleared them of any wrong doing or not, but John Hepburn was very active and the man was frantic. He'd mentioned Booth too many times in his emails and Pete couldn't get over how stupid the man was. Using Homeland Security servers was so asinine and Pete knew that Hepburn was burying himself with every email he sent. Too bad. Maybe I'll silence him for good . . . nah, better not. Let Deputy Director Jackson do her job. You have bigger fish to go after Pete. Much bigger fish.

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Angela had been asked by Booth to talk to Danny Beck and she had brought him in on a quiet Thursday morning. "Booth told me to trust you, so I am." She didn't really trust the man, but they all needed help. Pete was terrified that Booth was going to be killed and once he was gone, whoever the blackmailer was would probably go after Brennan and everyone at the Lab. Danny was a trusted friend of Booth's and they needed someone on their side. After closing and locking the door to her office, Angela closed the blinds and walked over to her workstation. Picking up her remote, she turned on the monitor and sighed. "Okay, here is the list of people we know who are connected to the McNamara corporation. They're all taking money from a shell company owned by the corporation. I've tried to track down what they're doing for their money and some of it's obvious. Several trials have not gone the way the prosecutors expected. Eight trials in the last four years should have been slam dunks, but the defendants walked away free men. No one knows why, but the judges declared mistrials for the defendants and after that the prosecutors found it too hard to retry the men. It's crazy. The evidence was overwhelming, but no new trials . . . Anyway, I have more." She showed the list she had to Danny.

Moving a step closer to the monitor, Danny read the names and felt a chill run down his back. "Congressman Hadley?" Damn, it looks like our suspicions about Congressman Hadley was right. The bastard.

Disgusted, Angela nodded her head. "Yes, this is one of the reasons why Booth turned down his promotion. Brennan told me about your warning to Booth to turn it down, but this clinched it."

Disgusted, Danny read over the list and nodded his head. "We still don't know who the traitor in the FBI is yet?"

"No, it's not for lack of trying." Angela had tried to pin down who it was but had failed so far. "I have a friend looking into it for me." She didn't want to mention Pete's name, but she did want Danny to know that there were other people helping.

"You mean Peter?" Amused, Danny saw Angela turn pale. "CIA, remember?"

Stunned, Angela turned off the monitor and faced Danny. "He's helping me track down a traitor. He's helping Booth track down the black mailer. He . . ."

"Stop." Danny help up his hand. "I know what Peter is up to Angela. I'm not going to stop him. What you and Peter are doing is against the law and I know that, but we're onto something big. My boss knows that if we don't get this guy . . . whoever the blackmailer is . . . pretty soon he's going to have so many politically important people in his pocket he might be unstoppable. Hell, he may be already, but I swore an oath to protect my country and I will do that even if it kills me. You and Peter are helping stop this mess and I for one am grateful . . . Peter's secret is safe for the moment, but you might warn him to keep out of the CIA databases. He's made two trips in already and probably more and my Boss doesn't like it. If you need to know something ask me. You and Peter mind your manners when it comes to the Agency. Get it?"

Aware that Danny had her freedom in his hands, Angela nodded her head. "Got it . . . I have a copy of the list on a USB drive." She handed it to the agent. "This is everything we have so far . . . Booth turned down the promotion to protect Brennan and the rest of us. He's a good guy and I will protect him as much as I can. I need you to do that too, Danny. I need you to protect him to protect the rest of us."

The USB now in his jacket pocket, Danny placed his hand on Angela's lower arm. "That's why I'm here. We've been counting on Booth to help us ever since Gale Storm was murdered. We knew something was happening, but we couldn't find out what it was. Well, Booth and you people came through and we took down Kitchen and Knight. A couple of Congressmen have paid the price for their corruption, but there's more to do . . . Don't worry about Booth. We'll do what we can to make sure to help him. He's not alone." Before Danny left, he paused at the door before he unlocked it. "You warn Peter to be careful. Several men and a woman are dead because of Kitchen and the blackmailer. He's a target if anyone on the other side figures that out that's he's involved. This isn't a game."

"I'm sure he knows that, Danny."

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