"Remember when that group held you guys up in the Lab. Booth had led a diversion and took out 3 agents singlehandedly to give Temperance a chance to test the bones." Thacker had mixed emotions about that day. He had wanted to impress Temperance but was to late to do anything. That day also caused him to admire the other agent greatly. He doubted any other single FBI agent could have pulled that off.
"Yeah." Sweets said. "He was totally awesome. I never thought anything could take him down." With that a look of sadness came over sweets face. Booth was almost like a real life Superman to him. He always seemed to save the day. Though he fought it he had been able to see through Booth and find little things that made him tick. Most men who had been through many of the things Booth had would shut down. They would close themselves off much like Dr Brennan had. Instead, he was a lively man. He took everything thrown at him and rolled with it. Not only did he roll with it he conquered it; not that he didn't have underlying issues that needed to be resolved, but beyond normal adaptation techniques he was very successful.
"I remember when the gravedigger got him and he broke out of the little sub and through the whole ship without any help. I still don't know how he pulled that off. Using the water to get to the higher level, prying stuff open, blowing a whole in the wall. The man is smarter then he acts." Sweets remembered. Thinking of the gravedigger made him think of the day Broadsky killed her. He wouldn't have made it through that ordeal without Booth.
"Booth is highly intelligent. One of his gifts is he allows other to misjudge him, and then moves in for the kill. He will have my job one day, possibly even higher." Hacker made a note to make sure that Booth became more recognized for his work.
Wendell thought back to all the hockey games. "Booth broke his hand on that guy after smashing me in that hockey game. He was a mix of a dad and big brother he never had. Is.. is… is I didn't mean was I swear. God I didn't mean was." Tears came to the young man's eyes. The other 2 men patted the kid on the back. Telling him they knew what he meant. It wasn't hard for any of them to think in the past tense.
They continued swapping stories around, both hoping that more would be added in the future yet recognizing that there was a great chance that there wouldn't. The men in the group that had never met Booth were becoming fast admirers. They could imagine movies being made about this man. He seemed almost like a real life James Bond mixed with John Wayne.
Following the trail the first group left it wasn't long before they reached them. They looked down the narrow shaft all feeling slightly dejected. How on earth were they going to fit Booth through that, they all wondered.
"This area is a mix of sandstone and quartzite. The Sandstone will be easy to chip away at, but the quartzite much more difficult. The problem is with any heavy equipment brought in we take the chance on collapsing the entire area. It's going to be slow but we are going to have to chip away until we get it wide enough." Hodgins informed the group.
"Ok gentlemen, for now we can only fit the smallest men down there to assist the ladies. We are going to do this on a strict volunteer basis. We cannot guarantee your safety. We have to widen this in order to get agent Booth's body through." The park ranger informed the group
"Special Agent Booth! Not Special Agent Booth's body!" Wendell snapped.
The park ranger looked away. He had very little hope that the man was still alive, although he should have taken more care not to disappoint those close to him.
"Ok volunteers?" He asked.
Wendell and Sweets were the first to step forward, many of the others sized themselves up against the opening. Many disappointed because they just wouldn't fit. Hacker among them, he was desperate to see Temperance with his own eyes. Hodgins wanted to go but he knew he was needed most in the work with the rocks. The smaller of the Medics stepped forward, an FBI agent and two of the volunteers joined them.
"Ok Six volunteers will work fine, four of you should find the ladies and assist them. I would like the other two to work on securing the area below for when we are ready to get everyone out of there." Explained Banks.
They began lowering each of them down.
"Damn." Sweets Announced as he felt his shoulders being constricted against the sides of the narrow space. He did his best to curve them inward until the area widened. This defiantly was not a good sign. Booth was much broader than he.
Wendell followed. He too had to contort his body to make it through. One of the volunteers had to ask people help shove him through when he became stuck.
The frigid water soaked their clothing, the air so stale it constricted their lungs.
From the bottom Sweets and Wendell looked up. "How the hell did they manage to get her out. " Wendell questioned.
"It's nothing short of a miracle my friend." Sweets answered.
Once they all made it down they decided the two volunteers would stay behind and the medic and booth's friends would move on.
They called out for Brennan and Cam
Brennan and Cam made their way down the shaft. Cam gave up on conversation as she received nothing but curt one word responses. They searched diligently for any sign of Booth. With the injuries Brennan had described she couldn't fathom how Booth could have made it this far. The water was still up to their thighs. As much as they didn't want to the searched in a zigzag pattern in case his body had sunk. With each step Cam's optimism fell. She fought to keep her teeth quiet as the icy temperatures sunk into her bones. How many hours had it been? Brennan couldn't be certain. With the temperatures and his injuries, it would be a miracle if her were still alive.
This all felt like a nightmare. Brennan wished she would hear her alarm go off, or her phone to ring, or even hear Booth pounding on her door. She had been excited by this find, excited of the possibilities. She had been happy that Booth was there to share it with her.
She smiled as she thought of their first night here in the hotel. She loved how he could be so awkward around her, almost like a juvenile. She thought of him standing there in the nude. She thought how that he could be hers. She quickly pushed those thoughts away. He couldn't be hers. She could never be what he wanted, what he needed, what he deserved. He believed in forever, she believed in the here and now.
She hoped he didn't hear the words she had spoken before she began climbing. They were a mistake. She should never have even thought about uttering a single word of it. If he had heard he would want to act upon them. That was something she could not and would not do.
She wanted this to go faster, she wanted him to call out and let them know where he was. She wanted to find him sitting there with a smile on his face and asking what had taken them so long. Instead visions of his lifeless corpse plagued her thoughts. She imagined his body being stiff and still, his skin pasty white with a hint of blue. She saw his dead lifeless eyes staring straight into nothing. She pictured his mouth agape with no hint of his charming smile. Cam had to wipe her eyes to keep the tears from falling. She had seen many corpses in her life. She would give anything to not see his. She had gone to his funeral once. Though it was fake it was heart wrenching. She didn't think she could make it through the real one.
She looked over at his partner. She could see through the stony front she was putting on. She knew she cared for Seeley. The whole team waited for the day they would fall into each other's arms. They both deserved happiness. She also understood Brennan's hesitation. She had a difficult background. Everyone handled things differently. She shuts everyone out, while Seeley desperately seeks out companionship. He is an open book, she a locked diary. Both dive headlong into their work. Both held their secrets, but both felt they confide in each other. Everyone knows how good they are for each other, how they complemented each other. Now they may never get a chance.
They heard their names being called from where they had come. The sudden shock of the sound startled Brennan. Losing her concentration she took a step forward and tripped over a large mass and fell face first into the water.