AN: Thanks for the nice reviews and the encouragement!

Chapter 10: The Plot Thickens

The whispering woke her up. They were trying to be quiet, but there were so many of them and they were so engaged in their topic that the volume kept increasing. Brennan knew that the minute she opened her eyes, attention would shift to her, so she decided to pretend to be asleep for a bit longer so that she could listen.

"Now that we know who he is, why can't you bring him in? Cam asked with urgency

"We would, if could find him. Last known address is almost a year old," Booth replied in whispered agitation.

"Given what he said to Dr. Brennan about getting to you Booth, I would surmise that he is somewhere nearby waiting for a chance. Dr. Brennan is guarded in here, Hannah is with the President so really couldn't be safer, and Parker is in hiding. I would think his frustration is growing exponentially with each day that passes. If he can't get to them, he might just change his plans and come after you directly. You need to be very careful."

"I am, Sweets. And, in any case, I am spending most of my time here with Bones. However, I can't let this go on indefinitely. Parker can stay out of school for only so long. And, we really don't know if our Mr. Scott has gone to ground or if he is out there waiting. As soon as Bones is feeling better, I may have to offer myself as bait and see if he bites."

Brennan moaned at that and all conversation ceased. She wasn't a very good actress, but in this case if she flexed her legs or shifted a certain way, the pain was real enough that the moan didn't have to be faked. She was healing nicely she knew, as she'd seen the x-rays again yesterday, but if she had to pretend to be in worse condition than she actually was to keep Booth with her and safe, she'd do that. When Booth left today to let the nurses do their work, she'd have them walk her around even more than yesterday so that she could get her strength back as quickly as possible. Her partner shouldn't be taking on this maniac alone.

She felt Booth's hand on her arm. Since she regained consciousness three days ago, Brennan noticed that Booth was constantly holding her hand or stroking her arm. She usually didn't like to be touched like that but lately she found it comforting in an irrational sort of way. She also sensed that her partner needed to be physically connected to her for some reason, so she let it go.

"Bones, does something hurt? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Booth, must have moved in my sleep and jarred something. It's okay now." She looked around the room. "Hello everyone." She looked up at Booth. "Am I allowed to have so many people in the room at once?"

"Actually, no," Booth said a bit impishly. "We snuck them in because they all wanted to see for themselves that you were awake and talking coherently. Or, at least as coherently as you usually talk."

"Booth -" A chorus of voices admonished him.

"Sorry, all, but Bones can take it, can't you Bones?"

"Oh, you mean the teasing? That's what you were doing, right Booth? Yes, that's perfectly fine. I think it's Booth's way of assuring himself that everything is getting back to normal."

"Hey, that's my job! I thought you hated psychology," said Sweets in mock horror.

"Wrong 'ology' again Sweets. That's social anthropology. The alpha male always tries to insure-"

"Alright, Bones, enough with the alpha male stuff. Why don't you say a few words to Cam, Hodgins and Daisy so that they can get back to the lab."

She glanced around at all the smiling faces. "Thank you for coming everyone. I'm feeling much better." Then she remembered that if she was too improved, Booth might start putting himself in danger. "But still a long way to go, I think. My head is clearer today, so I'll be taking another look at the x-rays."

"If you would like, Dr. Brennan, I'd be happy to review them as well, to give you a second opinion," Daisy said seriously.

"Yes, thank you Ms. Wick, if I have any questions, I'll let you know," Bones replied as diplomatically as she could manage.

After a few more pleasantries, the room cleared leaving Booth, Sweets and Angela. Booth informed Brennan that her father and brother would be coming after lunch.

"They were exhausted, so after their visit yesterday, I sent them back to your place to rest and shower. Speaking of which, if these guys," he nodded to Sweets and Angela, "are going to be staying here for a bit, I think I'll go back to my place and change."

"Before you do, could you give me a quick update on the case? I got the sense that there have been some developments based on what I heard when I was just waking up."

Uncertain about how much to say, Booth glanced at Sweets who nodded encouragingly. Sweets believed that Brennan's recovery would be hastened by feeling useful but Booth didn't want her to push herself too hard too soon. Brennan didn't really believe in limits, he knew, when it came to catching criminals.

"Your attacker's name is Gregory Scott. He came up as a close DNA match to someone I served with in Iraq, Jimmy Scott."

"A brother?"

"Yes. Jimmy was in the platoon with the soldier I named Parker after, the one I told you about."

"That would be the one who you hallucinated when you were kidnapped by the Gravedigger?"

Booth nodded, discomfited by the memory of being trapped and how real Parker had seemed to him. "Anyway, the whole unit was under fire and many of the guys were hit, including Scott and Parker. I did what I could for them but we were taking heavy fire and I knew that none of us would make it if I didn't get out of there, so I took Parker with me because I thought he had the best chance." His countenance clouded with emotion, regret, sadness, guilt.

"You did what you could in a very difficult situation. Many men would have thought only of their own safety at that point."

"Thanks, Sweets. I'll never know if I made the right decision because, as you know, Parker didn't make it and I found out later that Scott died in the attack. We tracked down his wife yesterday after we id'ed the brother and learned that she was pregnant at the time but when she heard about her husband's death, she lost the baby. Gregory had been living with Jimmy and his wife. He has a spotty employment record, bit of a loose cannon, so he depended on his family. Anyway, after losing her husband and child, the sister-in-law decided to make a clean break and moved to California, leaving our suspect completely at loose ends. He drifted after that and we've only been able track him up until about a year ago which is the last time the sister-in-law had contact. She said he'd heard somewhere that I left his brother behind and chose to rescue someone else and seemed fixated on getting even. She said he'd had wild ramblings like that before about other people that he thought did him wrong, so she didn't think much about it until we called her."

"What a sad story," Angela said. "I've gotten most of the audio deciphered from the cell phone, but it just confirms his fixation with you Booth. Sweets, you should listen to it, but I couldn't hear anything that would indicate what he'd be likely to do next, except for going after Hannah and Parker, but with them protected..."

Brennan looked questioningly at Booth. "Where is Hannah, Booth? How are you protecting her since you have been spending so much time with me?"

Booth shifted uncomfortably. Angela and Sweets looked down so as not to meet Brennan's eyes.

"She left a few days ago to travel with the president. She's safe with him of course. Before she left I had her guarded and when her plane touches down security will pick her up again."

"Good. I'm sure you'll be happy to have her back. I'd like to see her too if she wants to come by."

"I'll, uh, let her know that. I've texted her about your progress. "Now," he said, in a brisk change of subject, "I think I'll go back to my place to change. Sweets brought me the spare clothes I always keep at the office, so I've been more or less presentable for the last few days, but this t-shirt and cargo pants ensemble is the last of the bunch."

Uneasy about Booth going anywhere on his own, given their recent conversation and what she'd overheard, Brennan said "Booth, I think you should take Sweets with you. Scott is less likely to confront you when you are not alone. He didn't strike me as particularly brave, given how much he relied on his gun to intimidate me."

"Me?" Sweets' voice was an octave or so higher than usual. He cleared his throat. "I mean, well, I'm not sure what kind of protection I can provide if the man has a gun..." At Brennan's glare, Sweets continued, "but sure, sure, good idea. You are probably right, based on the profile I've compiled so far. He wants Booth to know who is calling the shots, so wouldn't just shoot him from afar and he wouldn't likely take him on directly when someone is with him to raise an alarm."

Booth gave Bones a wry smile. "Sweets for protection, really?"

"Unless you want me to get out of this bed and go with you."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine. Let's go Sweets." He patted Brennan's arm. "We'll be quick. Don't get into any trouble."