Chapter 3

Booth had never been in such a situation before. Ok, that is not entirely true. When Bones and Hodgins had been buried alive by the Gravedigger, he had felt the same feeling of helplessness. Her life had been slipping away then as it was now. He needed to act. He wasn't going to lose her before she knew how he felt about her. He had heard the gunfire resume. They needed a way out.

"Where is everyone?" Booth asked, indicating the FBI that had surrounded the front gate.

"Outside the front wall." Felicia answered, unsure of his thinking. "They told me they couldn't get any closer."

"Who is out there?"

"My AD, Cullen, SWAT and whatever agents they could muster. Why?"

"Seeing what is available. Can we get out without opening all the storm shutters?"

"No. We'd have to open all of them and honestly, I'm not sure how much longer they are going to keep out the bullets. They aren't bulletproof forever."

"Ok. Anyway we can get out the shutters don't cover?"

"The attic windows. We never had them included when we installed the shutters. Too small for much damage plus they could equalize pressure if the house needed it during a bad storm."

"We'd never get out through them anyway." Jeremy interrupted. "Too high and too small. If we don't die from the gunshots we would receive, we would from the drop."

"Garage is out of the question. It is in the line of fire." Felicia added, following Booth's thinking.

"Basement?" Booth asked.

"Only entrance is in the house. No way in or out from the outside."

"Call Hodgins." Brennan said quietly.

"Why? He know something about this house the homeowners don't know?" Booth asked exasperatedly.

"Just trust me, Booth." Brennan sighed.

"Whose Hodgins?" Felicia asked.

"One of Bones' squints."

"A squint? What is he going to know about my home…"

"Save it, Adler. He knows things you couldn't possibly imagine." Booth said, dialing Hodgins. "I'm desperate. I'll try anything."

"Hey, G-man. Aren't you with Dr. B?" Jack Hodgins said answering his phone.

"Yeah. I need your help. What do you know about the houses around the Chesapeake Bay just outside Quantico?" Booth asked.

"Bugs, slime or particulates?"

"None of the above. I figured you live in a big ass house, we're trapped in a big ass house. I need some way to escape." Booth answered with an exasperated sigh.

Felicia just sighed. Booth was great under pressure but if you add people he loves and cares about he is a stick of dynamite. She looked at Temperance and knew they had to act fast. Her family would be fine. Jeremy, Jackson and Sammy had been quiet so far. They knew Booth and Felicia would get them out. She saw it with each thumbs up they gave her.

"You're trapped? What?" Hodgins asked, suddenly realizing how serious it was.

"Yeah." Booth began. "We're trapped and being fired at by some group of maniacs. Bones has been shot and we have no options to get to the cavalry outside . We need something."

"Where are you at?" Hodgins asked taking his phone into Angela's lab.

"The crime scene from last week." Booth answered with as much patience as he could muster.

"The Adler place?"

"What's going on?" Angela mouthed to Jack.

"Booth and Brennan are trapped at the Adler place. Brennan has been shot." Jack answered listening to Booth answer. "I need the crime scene photos and pull up anything you can find on the computer on that place."

"You listening, Hodgins?" Booth barked. "I need an answer now."

"Yeah, man, Angela and I are working on it." He answered noticing Angela's tear streaked face.

"She'll be fine, I'm sure." Hodgins whispered to Angela.

"I hope so. Here is the lay out from the crime scene and I am pulling up the plans from the local county."

Hodgins looked at everything Angela had given him. It was a lot like his home, he noted.

"Hodgins, we can't get out the garage or any of the door and windows. We'll get shot at." Booth told him to avoid the obvious.

"You wouldn't be calling if it was that simple. There is nothing on the plans or crime scene photos that would indicate…Wait a minute. What is that door in the wall?"

"Where Hodgins? Last time I checked…"

"The one in the wall around the property."

"The door in the perimeter wall, what is it?" Booth asked.

"I have no idea." Felicia answered. "I have never seen a door in the perimeter wall."

"Its behind the big bush in the corner. There is a bush hiding it from the street, too." Jackson answered. "It goes down to some stairs"

"What stairs?" Felicia asked.

"I found it when I was playing one time. I only went down once but it was dark and I got scared."

"You're sure, buddy?" Booth asked.

"Yeah, I didn't go in very far because I was afraid of getting in trouble."

"Good job, kiddo" Jeremy praised his son, giving him a hug.

"The house was built before the Civil War. More than likely it was a tunnel for the underground railroad or a hiding place from the soldiers." Hodgins explained. "You just have to find the passage entrance. Likely in the basement."

"How sure are you about this?" Booth asked, finally seeing an end in sight. "And how did you see something the Adlers didn't know about?"

"Very. The houses in the area you are in were very sympathetic to the plight of the Underground Railroad. Besides, I know several people who live in that area who have the same thing. It is you only out." Hodgins told him glancing at Angela. "How's Brennan?"

"Not good. Thanks for the help." Booth said with a sigh.

"We'll be there in an hour, dude. Call when you are heading to the hospital if we aren't already there." Hodgins told him.

"I will. Thanks. I owe you one." He said closing his phone. "Looks like we need to check out the basement. We've got to find a secret passage."

"A secret passage. I think we would have known about it." Felicia said skeptically.

"Trust me, the squints are very rarely wrong." Booth told her. "I didn't believe it at first either but they are responsible for most of my solves. Caroline Julian loves them."

"Are you talking about Cantilever Jack Hodgins?" Jeremy asked. "If you are, he's right. Jack Hodgins knows everything."

"Ok, so we need to go look for a secret door in the basement. I'll call out and let them know we may be coming." Felicia said. "Booth, Jer, your both coming with me."

"I told you Hodgins would help." Brennan said as Booth came over to her.

"Yeah, yeah. Bones, you going to be ok? I got to go look for our way out." Booth told her, kneeling by her.

"Don't be gone long." She whispered.

"I won't be." He said. "We have to go find Hodgins' secret door. I am going to get you out of here."

"I know. You never let me down, Booth." She told him.

"Never." He answered smiling at her and squeezing her hand.

"Dr. Brennan, can you shoot?" Felicia asked, coming over to her and Booth.

"Yes, she can. Very well. Why?" Booth answered.

"I want her to have a gun in case anything happens." Felicia said, holding her service revolver out.

"Can you handle it Bones?" Booth asked.

"Yes. I can. If I have to." She answered quietly, taking the gun Felicia held out to her.

"I'll be back, Bones." He said, kissing her forehead.

"At least someone in the FBI trusts me with a gun." She said with a small smile. "I know. I'll be fine."

"Listen to Dr. Brennan, kids. We'll be back." Jeremy told his kids.

"We will. Just hurry back." Sammy said as Jackson nodded.

"We will." Felicia said with a smile. "Booth, you don't trust your partner with a gun?"

"She shot me once. I won't sign off to get her one. I do just fine taking care of the both of us." Booth said as they left the room. "I have a bad feeling, Fe."

"I know." She answered as the three began down the basement steps. "That's why I left her my gun."