As soon as Aiden entered the hospital, his credentials were out, walking toward the desk, he could hear Booth's heavy footfalls behind him as he caught up. "We're looking for the two gunshot victims that were brought in earlier this evening." He said after he introduced himself, watching the nurse look confused for a second before glancing to his badge and nodding.
"Just a moment." She said, a polite smile on her lips. "Let me go get Officer Rollins." She said with a smile, turning toward the door behind her, she slipped into the back area.
"You look like you're going to chew your leg off to get back there, Fitz. You have to relax." Booth said, watching the younger agent's eyes snap to his. "At least learn how to hide your blinding anxiety. You're getting an eye twitch."
Aiden's scowl became a bit more pronounced, and he took a step toward Booth, watching as his eyebrow raised, however his confrontation was interrupted by the door opening to the emergency room hallway. "Agent Booth, Agent Fitzgerald." a uniformed police officer said, stepping into the room, he shook both men's hands. "Thank you for coming." He said, clearing his throat. "We have a bit more information since we last talked." He said, watching Booth nod his head. "Come with me."
Booth and Aiden followed behind the officer, listening to him speaking. "The two victims were found at an overlook off Skyline Drive." He said, clearing his throat. "They were in really bad shape. Both men were..."
"Wait, men?" Aiden said, clearing his throat. "Booth, these aren't..."
"Let him talk, Fitz." Booth said calmly.
Officer Rollins nodded gratefully. "Both men were found barefoot and bound in the trunk of the car." He said, pulling his phone out, he showed Booth and Aiden some photos of the car, the damage on the car from pushing Antonia off the road was evident, and Booth could feel his anger boiling to the surface as he looked at another photo or two of the car. "The hood was up, looks like whoever left them there was trying to make it look inconspicuous, like the car had broken down."
Aiden looked at the photo closely. "Looks like tubing was cut for the water pump." he mumbled, handing the phone back to Officer Rollins.
"Right, not a quick fix, but something that would require repairs and parts. We called the rangers, nobody reported seeing anyone with the car, or any altercation there. We're thinking the car was driven there and set up and the injuries occurred somewhere else. Might have been a couple of people, someone dropping the car off, and another picking them up." The officer shrugged.
Booth and Aiden exchanged a glance, keeping their thoughts quiet for the time being in front of the officer.
"Here, why don't we go see them, you can let me know if they are who you have been looking for." the officer said, nodding toward the hallway, he led Booth and Aiden down toward ICU. "We don't have any identification on them, only the plate and it looks like it was stolen."
As soon as they saw the two men, lying side by side, unconscious, they both felt their stomachs lurch. "They are both sedated." The officer explained, standing outside of the room as they looked in through the window. It was clear that they were severely injured. One had a large purple bruise on his head, a large bandage over his arm and shoulder. His face was swollen, and he had cuts and scratches on his face. The other man had a large bandage on his shoulder and arm, as well as other bandaged parts of his body, blood still evident on his skin, a bandage on his hand.
"There was nobody else at the overlook?" Aiden asked, feeling desperate, he put his hand on the back of his neck and squeezed tightly, staring at the two men.
"No, just the family that called it in." The officer said. "There are cameras set up at a couple of locations, we may be able to figure out what vehicle the suspect got away in, but that'll take some time. I'll give you guys a minute, get the doctor. Are these your guys?" he asked.
"Uh, we're going to have to look at blood tests, see if we can talk to them when they wake up." Booth said softly. "These might be the guys we've been looking for." he said softly.
"I'll go get the doctor." Officer Rollins said with a nod, leaving the two agents looking into the room.
"Booth." Aiden mumbled, as soon as the officer was out of sight.
"I know, Fitz."
"Do you think Antonia did this? Did she do this, or were these guys just collateral damage, and the girls were taken by someone else? Where are they? Why aren't they..."
"Stop asking questions." Booth grunted. "We won't know anything until we see the evidence."
"Evidence." Aiden growled. "Evidence, evidence, evidence!" Aiden said, raising his voice, he watched the angry scowl on Booth's face, and it only made him angrier. "Where is the evidence? Why are we still standing here? Where is the damned car?" He exclaimed. "We don't need these idiots, we need Antonia and Melody!"
"If you don't stop raising your voice in this hospital, I'm going to shoot you and you can stay here with these two while I go find the girls." Booth growled under his breath. "I know you're upset, I'm upset, but you have to keep calm if we want to figure this out."
"I can't keep calm! How are you able to keep calm?" Aiden said, his voice a little high, his teeth gritted together. "We need to call Doctor Brennan. Maybe she can talk some damn sense into you or something." Aiden ranted.
"Agent Booth, Agent Fitzgerald." A voice came from behind them, and they looked to find a man standing with a clipboard, dressed in a white coat. "I'm Doctor Stanford." He said, holding his hand out. "I'm the doctor on call. Is there something wrong? Are these the men that the FBI was looking for?" he asked curiously.
"We're pretty sure." Booth nodded.
"Well, these two gentlemen were in very bad shape when they were brought in." He cleared his throat, and explained the extent of their injuries.
She heard their voices before she opened her eyes, and the breeze was a welcomed relief from the sweltering heat of the trunk. They sounded gruff and irritated, and Antonia continued to push Melody against her for a moment. She gripped the crowbar in her hand tightly, feeling her heart pumping adrenaline through her bloodstream at an alarming speed through her body, the pain in her shoulder and her body an afterthought.
The moment she saw the shadow above her appear, she pushed Melody behind her with one arm and swung the crowbar with the other, hearing a satisfying thump as it made contact with the chest of the person above her. He cried out in pain, stumbling backwards as she jumped at him, swinging the crowbar back and forth, she took a step back as if nervous, and when he stepped forward toward her, she spun with her leg, connecting with his, sending him to the ground on his back. She slammed her heel into his chest and swung the crowbar across his head, instantly knocking him out.
"Stop! I will fucking shoot you!" A voice shouted from behind her as she kept her heel firmly planted in the man's chest, the crowbar clutched in her hand as she looked up at the man beside the car holding a gun. She was breathing heavily and she could feel the sweat pouring from her skin, the rush of adrenaline in her blood. "Drop the crowbar!" He shouted. "Drop the fucking crowbar!" He screamed again, holding the gun pointed at her head. She breathed heavily, staring across at the man, carefully analyzing each and every minute detail of the scene. She avoided looking toward the trunk, knowing that Melody was still there hiding. "I said drop the crowbar!" He shouted, flicking the safety off on the gun, he took a step toward her. She took a step back, slowly leading him away from the car as she took another step back as he advanced. "I swear to God, I will shoot you right here. I don't even need you, all I need is the kid."
Antonia moved around the other suspect, still grasping the crowbar in her hand, she kept her eyes on the man, his gun pointed right at her. "Drop the gun, now!" She shouted angrily, gripping the crowbar tightly in her grasp, she moved to her right just a bit, leading him away from the car, attempting to make his back face it and lure him from Melody.
"Drop the gun?" He laughed. "You want me to drop my gun? You have a fucking crowbar, and you want me to drop the gun? I don't think so, lady. I'm getting the kid to my boss, and if I have to kill you in the process, then I will." He said, advancing on her slightly, she took another step back, leading him away from the car once more.
She saw a flash of Melody's shirt, and after a second she could see two blue eyes staring back at her from the trunk, looking directly at her. There was a look in her eyes that resembled fear, but the resolve was far stronger. Her little hand lifted and she signed "Help." Antonia nodded just slightly.
The man was getting impatient, taking another step toward her, she gripped the crowbar tightly, allowing her hand to tremble slightly as if she were afraid.
She knew she had Melody's attention, she sent her a quick sign that went unnoticed to the man, and noted that the little girl nodded. "I'm only going to tell you one more time. Drop the crowbar." He growled as he took a step forward.
As he was speaking, Antonia lowered her left hand, signed 'three'. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from her?" Antonia asked through gritted teeth, holding the crowbar tightly in her hand. She signed 'two' with her left hand.
"I'm not going to tell you. You're only still alive, because you can translate what she's saying." He spat, taking a step forward, he readied his gun as she took a step to her left and signed 'Now'. Suddenly, there was a sharp, high pitched, anguished scream from right behind the man, startling him enough to drop his guard.
With deadly accuracy, Antonia wielded the crowbar with all of her strength, sending it hurling through the air toward the man, with the sharp flat edge of it impaling through his right shoulder just below his collar bone. He let out a blood curdling scream in response sending the gun flying from his hand as he fell backwards onto the ground grasping his arm.
Antonia leapt toward the gun, tumbling across the ground as she lifted it and stood up, standing over his writhing body, the gun trained on him. He continued to scream, yanking the crowbar from his arm it fell to his side as he put his left hand over the wound and shouted and swore at her. She moved, keeping her back away from the two men, her gun trained on the one still moving on the ground. She said nothing as she pulled open the trunk and lifted Melody from the trunk and set her to the ground. Her eyes were wide, with a look that resembled either fear or triumph. "Get in the car." Antonia signed urgently. "Get in the car and face front!" Melody took a moment, and finally she moved quickly, swinging open the door to the back seat of the car, she climbed inside and sat down.
Antonia watched Melody climb into the car and immediately went to work. She put pressure on the one man's wound, listening to him cry out in pain as she rolled him over. "You shouldn't have pulled the crowbar out." She chastised him as she reached for the man's belt and yanked at it, sliding it off as he grunted and groaned. She expected him to make a lewd comment, but realized that he was in far too much pain to even realize what was going on.
"I can't move my fucking arm!" He shouted. "I can't feel my arm!"
"Lucky for me." She said, rolling him onto his stomach, she shoved her knee into his back hard. "Not so lucky for you. It probably nicked a nerve. You'll be lucky if you don't bleed out." She said, knowing full well that she was just trying to scare him. "Some girls take ballet classes, this girl learned how to throw knives." She said with a satisfied smirk as she yanked his arms behind his back, not caring about his shouts of pain.
"There was extensive damage to the nerve in his arm and shoulder, and both men had chafe marks on their wrists where they were bound with their own belts." The doctor said, glancing to Booth, who was staring at the suspects. "Both were barefoot." He said, continuing to look through his notes.
"We were told they were shot?" Aiden asked, his attention was directly on the doctor. Aiden glanced to Booth and back. "We're just trying to get the whole picture here of what happened."
"When they were first brought in, we thought each had been shot, but it appears only one had any indication of bullet wound. He also had some cranial pressure and extensive bruising across his ear and face. It looks like blunt force trauma." The doctor shook his head. "Whoever did this had to know exactly what they were doing."
She used his belt to secure his hands. "What the hell are you, some kind of cop?" He grunted as she yanked at him again, rolling him to his back. She leaned down and began untying his boots.
"No." She snapped, glaring at him. "My dad is some kind of cop." She said as she pulled one of his boots off. "My sister, she's some kind of cop." Antonia said, yanking at the laces on the other boot. "My fiancé ... he's some kind of cop." She said, pulling at the other boot, she threw them both across the ground. "By the way, you have advanced tinea pedis. You might want to get that looked at, maybe invest in some anti-fungal medication." She grunted as she stood up. "I am a doctor." She said lifting the gun from the ground, she cocked it. "I am a scientist." She said as she heard the clicking of a gun in the direction of the other suspect, and without looking and without pause, she lifted the gun in her hand and pulled the trigger, hitting the other suspect in the shoulder, sending his gun clattering to the ground. "And I'm done dealing with you two and your bullshit." She said as she moved over to deal with the other suspect.
She grabbed the discarded gun and kicked it away, listening to the other suspect as he screamed obscenities at her. "You shot me! You fucking shot me!" He screamed over and over.
"First of all, it barely grazed you." She said as she yanked at his belt and pulled at it violently. "Second of all, shut up or I'll finish the job." She said, grabbing him by his bloody shoulder, she listened to his pain filled yell as she pulled him onto his stomach and grabbed his hands. She secured his hands with his belt, rolled him over, and then proceeded to remove his boots as well.
"You're a psychopath!" The suspect screamed, struggling against the binds. She watched him writhe around on the ground screaming as she gathered the gun that she had kicked away, the crowbar, and the suspects boots. She kept an eye on them as she opened the back door of the car and looked in at Melody, who was sitting on the filthy seat, her hands folded in her lap, she looked up.
"Are you okay?" Antonia signed, tossing the crowbar into the car, she began pulling the laces out of the boots as she watched Melody watch her carefully.
"Yes." Melody replied, glancing to the side, Antonia knew she was concerned about the two suspects coming back.
"Are you scared?" Antonia asked.
"No." Melody shook her head, her eyes solemn and serious.
"Are you hurt?" Antonia signed, glancing to the two suspects, she looked back to the little girl, who shook her head again.
"Good. I have to take care of a couple things, and then we'll go." She said, watching Melody nod her head. She spied the box that they had stolen from her car, she indicated for Melody to hand it to her. It was obvious that they had tried to pry into it, and she was satisfied to see that they hadn't succeeded. She set it in Melody's lap. "Hold onto this." She said, watching the little girl nod her head, Antonia gave her a wink, grabbed a couple of old rags that were on the floor of the car, and then closed the door.
"What I found most strange." The doctor continued. "Was that after the injuries, whoever did all of this began to dress their wounds. They were in the trunk bound, but the wounds had old rags as makeshift bandages. Whoever did this, made sure that they wouldn't bleed out before someone got to them."
"She probably didn't want them to die." Aiden said without thinking.
"She?" The doctor asked, looking over toward the younger agent, he straightened. "You know who did this?"
"We're really not at liberty to discuss an open case." Booth said, nudging Aiden hard. He looked up to see Officer Rollins approaching them and he walked over toward them. "Officer Rollins, we are going to need someone here to keep an eye on these two. They are extremely dangerous criminals. I know they're not mobile now, but they are under arrest for a suspected kidnapping. I don't want them going anywhere, and they are not to have any guests."
"I can have one of my deputies stay here with them." He nodded.
"Where is the vehicle?" Booth asked, watching Officer Rollins smile slightly.
"It's still at the crime scene, we did as you asked and left everything as it was found. We took some photos, but we didn't move anything." The officer said with a nod.
"That's great." Booth said, nodding to Aiden. "Let's go. I'll call Bones in the car." He said, as he turned around walked swiftly toward the exit of the hospital, with Officer Rollins and Aiden close behind.