"Determination and perseverance move the world; thinking that others will do it for you is a sure way to fail." -Marva Collins
Determined
From the moment he was pulled from the car he knew he would never fully rest until he found out who had run him down and shoved him in there with Dr. Brennan to die. That was why he had yanked out his IV, grabbed the nearest set of crutches, and hailed a cab to the lab as soon as the docs had finished with him. If it hadn't have been for Angela, he might not have left at all; but she had come and he had gone home with her.
Despite her presence that night and in the nights that followed, the dreams still came. Each time he awoke in the dark, cold sweat gathering on his brow, his resolve to nail the bastard deepened until it became his own private obsession. When he couldn't sleep he would slip out of bed, recording all of the murky details that came with the dreams before they could evaporate.
He had thought- however naively- that the rest of the team would attack the case with the same fervor as he; especially Booth and Dr. B. But they had few leads and more cases kept coming- cases like the Becket/Kirby/Brennan debacle and the escape and subsequent death of Howard Epps. Before he knew it, months had passed and not only had they made no progress, but they'd also stopped investigating the Grave Digger. It frustrated him, but he was powerless to do anything to affect change.
Until the day came when the FBI decided they needed to pack up the evidence that the Jeffersonian had been storing and move it to the Hoover. None of them were happy about it and Jack was the most vocal. He felt the anger smoldering in his chest as he carefully placed each item in the cardboard evidence box under the careful scrutiny of the FBI courier.
When the courier turned her head for a fraction of a second he palmed the vial and slipped it into his lab coat. That night he transferred the vial with the sticker fragment, along with his notes, into a silver, protective case. It could take years before the FBI caught up with him, he guessed. Long enough for him to keep looking. And hopefully long enough for him to ensure that no one else would be buried alive.