(After 'The Recluse in the Recliner')
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I don't own Bones.
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In pain, Danny held his hand against his chest and cursed when his fingers twitched. "Shit, that hurts."
"Why don't you use the pain pump? It will help with the pain." Booth reached over to push it for his friend but paused when Danny stopped him. "I want to watch Director Darouses' press conference. Turn the television louder."
As most of you know I am FBI Director Brian Darouse. Last night at around 9 p.m. Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth was attacked in his home. He and three friends were watching a baseball game on television when the attack occurred. They were watching the Phillies playing the Braves for anyone interested and no, I don't think that was the reason they were attacked.
A couple of chuckles from the press and Darouse continued.
Agent Booth, CIA Agents Danny Beck, Tom Jones and Brighton Cole were attacked by three former United States Army Rangers in Agent Booth's home. Thankfully Agent Booth's wife and child weren't home at the time. There is a rumor going around that the attackers were FBI Agents, but I can assure that it is not the policy of the FBI to hire men with Dishonorable Discharges from any branch of the services. They were not affiliated with the FBI in any way . . . It was also reported by the media earlier today that an arrest warrant had been issued last night for Special Agent in Charge Booth for the murder of Congressman Palter. I talked to Judge Warner at eight this morning and he assures me that should never have happened since the man who killed Congressman Palter was Herman Kessler. Kessler has confessed to that crime and we are not pursing the case any further. I'm sure Judge Warner will have something to say about it, but like I said the warrant should never have been issued in the first place.
"Warner is probably wishing he'd retired like he said he would last year." Booth clenched his teeth and glared at the screen. Deputy Director Stark had told him that Judge Warner had issued the warrant because Deputy Assistant Director Alan Butler had requested it. Butler had presented some pieces of evidence that Booth had killed the congressman. Butler called the judge before the press conference started and explained to the judge that the warrant had been issued because of a mix up in paperwork. Mix up my ass.
We don't know at this time, why these men attacked Booth and his friends, but I can tell you that they're dead. Attacking FBI and CIA Agents isn't the smartest thing to do and those men found that out the hard way. The police showed up shortly after the assault ended and guarded the crime scene until the FBI could take over. The identities of the assassins are being withheld until their relatives have been notified of their deaths. That is standard procedure. Once the families have been notified, we will release their names to the press. We have several agents looking into the attack to try to determine why the attack occurred. Right now, I assume it has to do with Agent Booth's success in investigating a past case. When I have further information, I or Deputy Director Stark will let you know.
Not interested in the questions from the media, Booth turned off the television.
Ooooooooooooooooooo
After the attack, Brennan had called Booth from Angela and Hodgins' house. Booth has assured her that he was fine, but since her husband was in the hospital, she didn't quite believe him. Arriving at the Emergency Ward she had found him in a back room being examined by the doctor. The bullet grazes weren't deep but they were painful. After he had been treated, he changed into fresh clothes from home. His shirt and pants were torn and bloody and Booth knew they were going into the trash. Once he was ready, they had both made their way to the waiting room outside the surgical ward to wait to see about Danny, Tom and Brighton. Tom's leg was set and placed in a cast, but Danny and Brighton required surgery.
The surgeries were successful and both men were now in their own hospital room. Brighton's family was with him and since Danny's parents lived in California, Booth had stayed until they showed up. Brennan had returned home, rested for a few hours, then called her father to take Christine for the day while she, Angela and Hodgins returned to the Lab. They had a lot of work to do and they felt that time might be an issue.
By now, the blackmailer knew that his plan to kill Booth had failed and that his assassins were dead. He also had to know that there would be an investigation and he needed to clean up before it led back to him.
Not surprising to anyone that knew about the blackmailer, Judge Warner died in an automobile accident that day.
"Accident my ass." Hodgins was examining the clothes worn by the assailant's. Their weapons were laying on a table next to him waiting for him to examine them. Angela had taken pictures of the weapons and bloody clothes for their records.
"Whoever the blackmailer is, he's responsible for the deaths of a congressman and bunch of other people. I don't think he would care about the stature of Judge Warner." She was afraid. It seemed to Angela that no one was safe. "Do you think it would do any good to go to Paris?"
Placing the bloody shirt he held in his gloved hands back on the table, Hodgins turned to look at his wife. "No, I don't. I think we're probably safer here. The Lab is secure and the FBI has someone watching our house. If we run, that would just make us vulnerable."
"You're right." Shivering, Angela knew it wasn't because she was cold. "They attacked Booth in his house. If Danny and his men hadn't been there Booth would probably be dead now. Maybe Brennan and Christine too . . . I'm afraid Jack. We don't know what's really going on, but if this is what Booth and Danny think this is, no one may be safe."
Concerned for his wife, Hodgins stood up, removed his gloves and placed his arms around her. "Hey, if you're afraid to go home, we can set up some cots in your office. We can live here, but Babe, I don't really think we should do that. I don't think we should let fear dictate how we live our lives. We can be careful, watch what's going on. Keep our movements to a minimum and we can continue to investigate and bring down the blackmailer. We're good at what we do. Brennan and Booth are good at what they do and we have the Director of the FBI and the CIA on our side. It isn't just us that knows what's going on anymore. The big guys know too and believe me, this isn't going to end well for the blackmailer . . . I'm going to make you a promise. When this guy is caught, we're going to go to Paris for a month. I think everyone will need a break by then. This crap has been going on for over a year. We'll rent an apartment, you can draw and paint to your heart's content and I'll probably hang out at the Louvre for at least a week. After that, I'll find something to do or I'll hang out with you. We'll work it out. You'll see."
"It sounds wonderful Jack." A little more optimistic, Angela kissed her husband. "I think a month in Paris will be just what we need."
Ooooooooooooooo
Not sure why, Special Agent James Aubrey felt a little nervous. He'd just transferred to the Hoover and he knew that more would be expected of him. He was being assigned to the SAC's department and he knew that Booth had quite a reputation. The man was a brilliant investigator and he'd received numerous awards. Sitting in the outer office of Deputy Director Stark, he just hoped he could continue to excel. He hoped one day he'd make it to Congress and he wanted to use the FBI as a stepping stone to get there.
As he sat waiting, he noticed his future boss enter the room, walk over to the inner office door, knock and enter that room. "Okay, don't be nervous." He knew he had attracted Stark's personal assistant's attention and smiled. "New kid on the block."
Amused, Jane smiled and continued typing on her keyboard. After ten minutes had passed, Jane called out to Aubrey. "You may go in now."
Standing, the young man straightened his tie smoothed down the sides of his jacket and walked over to the door. A quick knock, he entered the room, closed the door behind him and stood still. "Sir, you asked me to come in." Of course, he did stupid. Jesus.
"Yes, come in, take a seat." His face grim, Deputy Director Stark pointed towards the empty chair in front of his desk. "This is your new boss, Special Agent in Charge, Seeley Booth. He runs Major Crimes as you well know."
Before he sat down, he shook Booth's hand. Once he and Booth were settled on their chairs, Stark leaned forward on his desk. "I know you had a meeting with Director Darouse and he talked to you about your duties in Major Crimes and what we expect from you. Even though Booth is the SAC he also finds time in his busy schedule to investigate murders with the help of Dr. Temperance Brennan. Their solve rate is phenomenal when it comes to cold cases, it's their specialty. Normally a SAC doesn't actually work on cases like that, but the Director and the DOJ both want him to continue doing that. I should mention that Dr. Brennan won't work with anyone else at the FBI, so we found an excellent compromise and Booth has continued on in that position."
Stark glanced at Booth and then back at the younger agent. He and Booth had talked about how much they would reveal to the man and it had been decided to keep it simple for the moment. "You may be aware that Agent Booth was attacked in his home by some assassins. We haven't found out who sent them, but he and three of his friends were able to protect themselves and the assassins are dead. You're being assigned to Booth's office where you will help him investigate who the men were working for and why they attacked him.
"Um, couldn't that be construed as conflict of interest? I don't mean to say that Agent Booth would steer the investigation, I just mean won't it raise questions with outsiders." Booth was staring at him and the look was rather menacing. Nothing like antagonizing your boss before you've begun, idiot.
"The Director himself has assigned the case to me for reasons you don't need to know about at this time." Booth hoped the younger agent wasn't going to be a problem. Aubrey needed to be tested to see if he was trustworthy and that was going to take at least a little time. Time they might not have. At least his background check came out fairly clean. The Agent's father was a con man, but he isn't in the country and has no contact with Aubrey. "Three former Army Rangers came after me in my house. Three friends of mine happened to be there watching a game with me. They're CIA Agents and we did what we had to do when we were attacked. Those former Rangers are dead and they won't be causing anyone else trouble."
Aubrey felt a cold chill run down his spine. My boss is a very dangerous man. "Yes Sir, I understand. Do we know who they were?"
"We do." Stark took over the conversation. "All three were given dishonorable discharges from the Army. We know exactly who they were. What we don't know is why they attacked Booth and if anyone else was behind it. Booth will go over what he and his team at the Jeffersonian have. The FBI crime labs are the finest in the world, but Booth works directory with the Jeffersonian Institute's Medico-Legal Lab. Their reputation is superlative. The bodies of the three men are at the Lab as we speak. Homeland Security is providing security at the Lab for the time being. They are augmenting the security that is already there."
Surprised, Aubrey interrupted Stark. "Homeland Security?"
"Like I said, Booth will go over what you need to know." Since he had a meeting in fifteen minutes, Stark needed to leave soon. "If you have any questions I'm sure Booth will be able to answer them."
Taking that as a dismissal, Booth stood up. Taking his cue from Booth, Aubrey stood up and followed Booth to the door and out to the outer office. "I think I have a lot of questions."
"Which I will answer in my office." Booth was leery of his new agent, but he had to trust someone in the FBI. He trusted Charlie Burns and he definitely trusted Morris Harris, but they were friendly with a lot of the agents at the Hoover and the Director wanted to keep the people searching for the blackmailer to a minimum. They had one known traitor in the FBI and it was possible there were more. Caution was the word of the day.
"We need to stop at the break room and get a cup of coffee." Booth was feeling tired and he needed the caffeine boost. "I'll break down what we know and what we need to do when we're in my office."
It all seemed very hush hush to Aubrey, but he was the new guy and who knew what was going on? He certainly didn't, but he planned to find out and he would make himself valuable.
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