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I don't own Bones, not even a smidgen.

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The moon a crescent overhead, Hodgins scanned the barn with his infrared binoculars. Certain he was in the right location, he looked for guards and was surprised to find none. Lowering them, he glanced at his watch and noticed the time was approaching midnight. The witching hour, this would be so cool if it wasn't so damn serious.

Raising his binoculars again, Hodgins surveyed the area and found the yard surrounding the barn to be vacant. Placing them back into his bag, he carefully zipped it up and then slung the bag over his shoulder. Moving slowly from the forest, he crouched down and silently crossed the yard to the barn. His steps slow and quiet, he moved around to the back of the barn and found the small door next to the set of large double doors, all of them closed.

Nervously, he checked the area and found it to be quiet and peaceful with just a few crickets and frogs singing in the clear night air. Opening the smaller door, he slipped in quickly shutting the door behind him. Hiding behind a pile of hay bales, he listened carefully trying to determine if the object of his search was in the building.

Alert, he heard a faint moan coming from the middle of the barn. Anxiously, he moved towards the edge of the pile of hay and peered around the bales towards the area where he thought the noise was coming from. Noticing that the only light in the building came from a lamp set up on an old desk towards the front of the barn, he moved slowly past the hay towards the dark shape slumped on the floor near one of the beams holding up the loft above.

Reaching his destination, Hodgins knelt down and placed his hand over the prisoner's mouth, "Shh, I'm going to free you, can you move?"

In a haze and unsure of who he was trying to help him, Booth nodded his head.

Hodgins placed his bag down quietly next to the agent and pulled out a small pair of bolt cutters from his bag. After untying the rag from around the agent's eyes, he carefully placed the blades around the chain holding Booth to the beam and pulled the handles together until he heard a satisfying clink and the chain fell to the floor. Moving the cutters towards the agent's wrists, the entomologist cut the handcuffs in the middle to separate Booth's hands. The cuffs were still attached to his wrists but with the chain between the cuffs broken, Booth could now use his hands.

His lips against Booth's ear, Hodgins asked, "Look can you move? Are you hurt?"

Nodding his head, Booth hissed, "Yes, I can move."

Relieved, Hodgins placed the bolt cutters back in the bag, zipped it and slung it back over his shoulder. Placing his hand under Booth's right armpit, he helped the Agent stand. Tugging the man towards the back of the barn, Hodgins led Booth towards the back door. Once they arrived, he slowly opened the door, peered into the darkness and scouted the area to make sure they were alone.

Satisfied, he slipped through the door, pulling Booth with him. Keeping a firm grasp on the larger man's arm, he moved slowly from the barn to the trees. Once they were amongst the trees, Hodgins continued to lead his rescued friend through the woods on a faint path Hodgins had found earlier that evening.

Booth, trying to keep up with the slow moving man, clamped his teeth shut and endured the pain he was in. Grateful that he'd been found, he wanted to help Hodgins get them out of there and he knew that noise would be their enemy. Carefully watching his feet as they moved through the dark woods, Booth was amazed that Hodgins was as quiet as he was.

They'd walked about two miles when Hodgins stopped and leaned closer to his friend, "Okay, we have to leave the path here. Just keep close and let me know when you need to stop and rest. We're still about two miles from my car."

Nodding his head, Booth asked him quietly, "Do you have any water?"

Embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that earlier, Hodgins unzipped his bag, pulled a bottle of water from the depths of the bag and handed it to Booth. Watching the agent drink until the bottle was empty, Hodgins blushed knowing that Booth had been extremely thirsty and he hadn't bothered to give the man something to drink. Taking the empty bottle from his friend, he placed it back in the bag, "Sorry man."

Puzzled, Booth shook his head, "For what?"

Shaking his head, Hodgin turned and started to walk slowly through the woods again. Following him, Booth watched his feet as he walked hoping that he wouldn't fall. If I fall, I'm not sure I can get back up.

Ooooooooooooooo

His breathing ragged, Booth finally sank to his knees holding his ribs. Hodgins, stepping around an oak tree realized that Booth was no longer following him and hurried back to where the man was kneeling. Speaking softly, Hodgins asked, "Are you alright? Do you need to rest?"

Nodding his head, Booth stifled a groan. Licking his lips, he queried, "How much further?"

His hand lowering his bag, Hodgins rested it on the ground and rummaged inside for another bottle of water. Handing it to Booth, he informed him, "Well, if I've been keeping track correctly, I think we'll reach the car in about fifteen or twenty minutes. I was too afraid to drive any closer. I didn't want to warn them or get caught, know what I mean?"

Drinking the water, Booth tried to do it slowly. Overwhelmingly thirsty, he drank until the bottle was empty. Handing it too, his friend, Booth sighed, "Yeah."

Resting his hand on Booth's shoulder, Hodgins gripped it momentarily and released it, "I really wanted to find you sooner, Booth, I swear. I . . ."

Weary, Booth shook his head, "We'll talk later. Let's get to your car and we'll worry about what comes next, okay?"

Standing, Hodgins scanned the area and helped Booth to stand. Once he was sure the Agent was stable enough to walk, he led Booth towards their destination.

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The car where he'd left it, Hodgins thanked God and hurried towards the vehicle. Unlocking the passenger door, he opened it and helped Booth enter the passenger side. Once the agent was settled, he closed the door as quietly as possible and ran around the car to the drivers side. Unlocking the door and opening it, he slid into the car and handed his bag to Booth. Locking the doors, he placed his key in the ignition and started it. Backing up, he soon had the car on a dirt road. Placing the car in drive, Hodgins glanced at Booth, "There's more water in the bag plus some peanut butter crackers and a package of almonds. Help yourself."

Opening the bag, Booth found the peanut butter crackers and hungrily opened the package and ate the crackers rapidly. His hand moving around the inside of the bag, he found another bottle of water, opened it and drank half the bottle. "I refused to drink anything they tried to give me. No way I was going to trust those assholes."

His eyes on the narrow road, Hodgins shook his head, "I didn't know you were missing until you didn't come back this morning. I waited until this evening and when you didn't show up I knew something was really wrong. I rented a car from Enterprise and decided to look for you. I used my GPS to find you. Thank goodness you had us sew those tracking devices in the hems of our pants legs. I told Kevin that I was going to look for you since you didn't come back and he tried to talk me out of doing it, but I ignored him and came anyway. He wanted me to wait until tomorrow morning when he and April came back. He thought you were just busy scouting the Freeman and Rinard farms. I just couldn't wait, man. I used my laptop and it showed me where your signal was coming from. Man, I got to tell you this was really nerve wracking. I was scared to death to go back home and tell Dr. B I lost you. She'd probably . . . "

Losing patience, Booth interrupted him, "Hodgins . . . "

Glancing at his friend, the scientist chuckled, "Yeah, right . . . anyway, I parked my car a little over four miles from the Freeman farm at some house that's up for sale, waited until the sun went down and walked through the woods until I found the barn. I knew you had to be in trouble since your GPS showed that you hadn't moved from the same spot for hours. I waited until midnight because I figured if you were being held prisoner then you're kidnappers might be sleeping by then. Anyway, here you are so mission accomplished. Can you tell me what happened or do you want to wait until we get back?"

Leaning against the door, Booth groaned in pain, "Yeah, might as well tell you now."

Gripping his steering wheel, Hodgins remarked, "I don't think I like undercover work as much as I thought I would. Okay go ahead."

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