(The Recluse in the Recliner)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Hodgins had gone over the particulates and everything he could collect from Foster's burned out trailer, but the biggest clue had resided on Foster's remains. Cam had found a nipple ring and that sparked his curiosity. After he'd examined it, he realized that it was a stainless steel memory chip. Foster hadn't trusted his computer and he'd found a way to store what data he'd collected over the years and make sure it survived him. The man was brave, dedicated in his search for truth and Hodgins admired him.

Eager to look at what was on the chip, Angela was able to use it even though it was damaged and she found confidential bank records, transcripts from private meetings between people in government, businesses, political activists and foreign officials. There were also hacked emails and surveillance photos of known and unknown people. Angela knew she could use facial recognition software to find out who they were. If Foster thought this information was worth dying for then she would find out who these people were and why he was interested in them.

"Foster might have run a conspiracy blog, but he wasn't a crank. The man was on to something." Booth studied the pictures on Angela's monitor and felt a chill run down his back. "Bankers, congressmen, judges . . . this is very bad. We knew that Gale Storm had stumbled upon something big, but this is bigger than we thought. Wayne Kitchen was the tip of the iceberg . . . Whoever the blackmailer is, whatever he's doing involves powerful people. People that can influence our lives . . . Is this a coup? Are we under attack?"

Danny stared at the information with Booth and knew that everyone was in danger. "We knew something big was going on, Booth. We just didn't know it was this bad . . . If Gale had only gone to his boss right away and let him know what was going on . . . Damn, we've been behind for a long time on this one. Well, not the CIA, we don't have any authority to do anything in this country, but the FBI, the National Security Agency . . . everyone has been sleeping at the wheel on this one."

Affronted, Booth turned to glare at his friend. "I wasn't brought in until Gale Storm was murdered. That's what I do, investigate murders and kidnappings, so if you're implying that I wasn't doing my job . . ."

Quickly holding up his hand, Danny shook his head. "Whoa there, partner. I didn't accuse you of anything. The FBI is more than one man no matter how well you think of yourself. I meant that our law enforcement agencies have let us down on this one. This shit is pretty nasty and someone should have heard hints long ago about what was going on . . . of course, our problem is the traitors in our law enforcement agencies . . . there are enough people in the right places to have stopped any investigations up until now."

Slightly mollified, Booth turned back to face the monitor. As Angela added more pictures, Booth noticed a familiar face and held up his hand. "Stop Angela . . . that man there in the lower left side of the screen . . . that son of a bitch is Alan Butler. He's in the National Security Branch of the FBI. I had to meet with him when I was first offered the position in Germany. He's in Counter Terrorism. Fuck! This is bad, Danny. This isn't what I expected."

Feeling a little sick, Danny folded his arms against his chest. "I've met him . . . my boss is going to have a cow . . . maybe a whole herd."

"If this is that deep, can we trust the Director of the FBI?" Booth was worried about how deep this conspiracy against the United States was. Was his world crumbling around him? How could he stop this? Could he protect his family if he was taken down?

"No, Bing told me that the Director is as patriotic as they come. He's known him for years." Danny was certain that the Director was not involved. "If he was involved, we'd see some signs in the memory chip or from Angela and Peter's snooping."

Surprised, Booth glanced at Angela then Danny. "Peter? Who the hell is Peter?"

A slight smirk on his face, Danny stared at Angela and winked at her. "Peter is the hacker who decided to investigate this mess. He's been in contact with Angela for months. He's actually given her some of the data she's shown you."

"Oh, that guy." Booth had known that when he'd told Danny there was a hacker working with Angela that Danny would find a way to track him down. "Well, at least we have a name. Do we have his full name?"

"Peter Jackson, but he likes to be called Pete." Since Pete was an ally in their cause, Danny was glad that he knew who he was and could provide the guy some protection. "He's good at what he does although snooping around in CIA servers is a big no no."

A slight blush on Angela's face, she continued to show Booth and Danny what information she had found on the microchip. "Hey, don't look at me. I'd never do that."

Giving her a side eye, Danny saw her staring at him and chuckled. "Uh huh." His attention back on the monitor he tried to see if he recognized anyone else. He knew that Angela was capable and if she wanted to hack anyone, she'd give it a shot and probably succeed. He probably needed to give the IT department a heads up about her if they didn't already know. Angela had quite the reputation when it came to computers.

Disgusted with some of the familiar faces he was seeing, Booth shook his head in frustration. "We need to find out if all of these people are being paid by the McNamara shell companies. Are they being blackmailed or are they just corrupt and selling out? Some of these photos look like they could be used for blackmail. That picture of Hadley kissing some guy could kill his career considering he represents a conservative district. Angela the documents you have . . ."

"Don't worry, I'm going to go through every one of them." Angela had already glanced at some of the hacked emails and she knew that some of these traitors were the victims of blackmail. "I'll compile what I have and you can decide what to do with it afterward."

"Thanks Angela." Booth knew that they couldn't do this without Angela and her friend, Pete.

"Yeah, thanks Angela." Done for now, Danny shook Booth's hand. "I'll report back to my boss and let him know about the microchip and Alan Butler."

Once Booth and Danny were gone, Angela sat down and began to read through the purloined documents. There were thousands of them and this was going to take time.

Oooooooooooooooo

Not sure what to do, Pete did the only thing he could think of that made sense. He made a call.

Yeah.

"Is this Danny Beck?" Angela had told Pete that Danny Beck was working with Booth right before she warned him to stay out of the CIA databases. Since Pete didn't trust anyone at the FBI but Booth that left him with Danny as a possible ally. "I need to talk to Danny right away."

You got him. What do you want?

"Look, I know something and I don't know who else to call about this . . . I'm a hacker and I've been doing some research on some serious shit going on in this country. Angela says you know me. You told her to warn me to stay out of the Agency's databases."

I know who you are Peter Jackson. I'm not interested in having you arrested if that's what you're worried about. You and Angela are doing great work and I'm not going to stop you.

"Shut up and listen . . . look, three former Army Rangers are planning to go after Booth tonight. They're going to kill him and his family. You have to protect them. It's happening tonight. Please don't let Dr. Brennan get killed over this or her little girl. Please stop this."

Tonight? Got it. I'll call Booth and then we'll come up with something. Thanks for the call.

"I was afraid if I told Booth he might not take me seriously and try to handle this by himself. He's got that kind of reputation. Just help him and save Dr. Brennan and Christine." Peter was so anxious he thought he was going to throw up. If it had just been one hit man, he could have handled him on his own, but three Army Rangers? Booth needed help and Temperance and the baby needed to be saved from this insanity. "Please do something."

I'm going to take care of this, Peter. Hang up. I got this.

The call ended, Pete tried to decide if he should call Max and in the end he chose not to. Max was old and he'd just barge in trying to help and get killed. He couldn't let that happen. Not to Max. He was counting on Danny to do the right thing. If he didn't Danny would die a very slow and excruciating death. That was a promise.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Booth, Danny, Tom Jones and Brighton Cole the CIA agent that had been watching Booth at nights were waiting in Booth and Brennan's house for what was to come. Danny had arrived at the house with his men right after Booth and Brennan had arrived home. After everything was explained, Brennan was talked into leaving to get Christine out of the line of fire.

"Dr. Brennan, I promise we're going to protect Booth." Danny had thought that Brennan would argue with him, but Booth had talked to her quietly in the corner of the living room and he knew that Booth had made her see that Christine had to come first. "Bones, it has to be this way. You have to protect Christine. I'll be okay. I promise."

"I hate this. I should be here . . . You cannot die, Booth." She had placed her hands around his neck, pulled him into a desperate kiss, released him, picked up Christine from the couch and left the house.

Turning to face Danny, Booth noticed the weapons that Danny and his crew were holding and smirked. "That's all you got?" Shaking his head, he went into the garage, grabbed two cases he had in a hidden closet and brought them back into the house. Unlocking them, he showed his allies the weapons he owned and was willing to share. "Rangers lead the way, Danny. These guys coming after me might be ex-Rangers, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous." Once the weapons were dispersed, everyone talked over how they were going to handle the situation, where everyone would be waiting for the attack. "For God's sake, don't shoot me and don't shoot each other. Assume these guys are dressed for the part, so don't shoot at anyone that looks like a civilian until we get a look at them. These guys are not going to waste any time either. They plan to kill, so you do the same. No winging anyone. That's a bullshit move that will get you killed or me killed and believe me you don't want to tell my wife you got me killed."

"Damn you got that right." Danny admired Brennan and he knew she was fiercely loyal to her husband. "Okay, let's get ready. This is not going to be a good night for anyone."

Oooooooooooooooooo

The police had arrived after the attack was over and they were stunned by the destruction in the living room and the three dead men in military gear lying in various parts of the living room and hallway. The three assassins had appeared like Pete had promised and the Rangers didn't have a chance against the four men waiting for them. A lot of gun fire had been traded and no one had come out of the fight unscathed. Booth was grazed along his left shoulder and right leg. Danny was shot in his left hand much to his disgust, Tom had broken his left leg falling on the coffee table getting out of the way of fire and Brighton had been shot in his right clavicle.

None of the ex-Rangers had survived.

In the hospital, Booth was waiting for Danny to come out of surgery while Brennan sat next to him in the waiting room. "It was crazy, Bones. I got the first one who broke into the house using the back door, the second man shot through the door and made it into the house before Danny got him. The guy shot Danny in the hand before he fell. After that Tom went after the man that came through the front door but fell on the coffee table when he was shot at and broke his leg. Brighton confronted the guy and was shot as he shot the guy. It was a mess and I think I could have handled it better than that working alone."

Brennan knew that Booth was feeling guilty that his friends had been wounded. "There were three of them Booth. I for one am grateful that Danny and his men were there to help you."

Bing Taylor stepped into the room and walked over to where Booth and Brennan were sitting. "Danny is still being operated on and so is Brighton. Thank you for being here for them." Removing his hat, he sat down next to Booth. "The police are making a fuss, but the Director of the CIA has talked to the police chief. I imagine that won't stop them, but you and Danny were protecting yourselves."

Shrugging his shoulders, Booth was about to speak when Deputy Director Stark entered the room. "Booth, I've been told that three FBI agents attempted to serve a warrant on you this evening and were killed."

Startled, Booth stood up. "They weren't FBI agents they were former Army Rangers . . . why would there be a warrant being served on me?"

"I'm told it was issued by Judge Warner." Stark wasn't sure what was going on and he needed to get on top of things before he called the Director.

Before Stark could say anything further, Bing stood up and placed himself closer to Booth. "I'm Deputy Director Bing Taylor, CIA. We were warned this afternoon that there was going to be an attempt on Booth's life. Booth helped the CIA with a murder investigation and we've found out since then that it was connected to something much worse. I need to talk to you in private . . . Now please."

Stark knew who Bing was and he was sure he wasn't going to like anything the man said. "Alright, I have a few minutes."

Once Bing and Stark were out of the room, Booth sat back down. "It looks like they're still trying to take me down."

"We won't let them Booth. We may not know who is behind this, but we can prove that something is going on and Deputy Director Taylor knows about it. Now that Deputy Director Stark is being informed, I think we may have more allies in our endeavors."

"I hope so, Bones. I really hope so."

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