A/N: New chappie! Will try to post at least 1x a week from now on (more if time permits).

Forgive me for not answering reviews - I appreciate all of them but I'm really bad at responding sometimes.

And please note I've changed the genre...don't know if I've done that before or not, but I had to figure it out...

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. Well, I guess I own the 206 in my body, but not the show...

Fallout:

"Well, Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan, I must admit you did your thing and it worked!" Caroline Julian enthused as the three of them headed to the break room. "I could just kiss the two of you! Mind you, it would be far more amusing to me to see the two of you kissing, but…"

Brennan grinned from ear to ear. "I am glad we were able to put an end to her attempts to escape responsibility. My presentation of the evidence proved to her it was a futile attempt."

"It did, Cherie, it did!" Caroline agreed as she poured three cups of coffee – one for each of them. "And Booth? Your assurance that someone was out there just waiting to rat her out was the thing that sealed the deal." She handed them each a cup. "Congratulations!"

Brennan turned to her partner, expecting him to preen a little bit – after all, he did enjoy being told he was good at his job – and was surprised at the somber look on his face as he leaned against the counter.

"Booth?" she asked, her good mood suddenly snuffed, "What's wrong?"

Booth stared into his coffee for a moment. "I think…she gave in awfully fast."

"Because you were so good, Cher!" the DA said, looking at the agent with narrowed eyes.

Booth shook his head. "No – I think we're missing something. She's hiding something she doesn't want us to find."

"You think Ms. Taffet is choosing a twenty-five year jail sentence without the possibility of parole to hide something?" Julian shook her head. "Booth, you're looking a gift horse in the mouth."

Brennan wondered what horse Caroline was talking about, but chose not to ask. Instead, she put a hand on her partner's arm. "Booth, our evidence was overwhelming."

"Not so much that she wouldn't risk a trial," Booth argued. "Come on Bones, her attorney almost had a heart attack when she decided to deal. And she wouldn't even talk to him."

"I don't believe it," Caroline said, taking a sip of her coffee and grimacing. "Ugh. You FBI people need a better brand of coffee." She put down the cup and shook her head at Booth. "We wanted Ms. Taffet to take a deal – she took the deal. What more could you possibly want?"

"Booth," Brennan said, squeezing his arm, "It's over. She'll be in jail for a long time and she won't be able to hurt anyone else."

He wanted to believe Caroline and Bones. He wanted it over – possibly more than either of them did, though he wasn't sure about Bones. But his gut told him there was something else going on. Something they were missing.

"Look, would it hurt if the squints looked over the evidence one more time?" Booth asked, hating the pleading tone that crept into his voice. "Just to see if I'm right?"

Before Caroline could respond, her cell phone rang. "Just a moment, dearies."

Booth swallowed his coffee and stared at the scuffed floor. He hated this. Caroline and Bones were right – he should be wanting to throw a party. But this…

"Booth?" Bone's voice was soft. He looked up at her and saw the concern on her face.

He forced a smile. "It's okay, Bones," he said, rubbing his face. "It's just with this case and Jared and the whole not sleeping well issue…"

She studied him, tilting her head to the side. "Would it help if we looked at the evidence again?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. It would."

Caroline snapped her phone shut. "Well, that was the judge's office. Ms. Taffet's hearing will be at nine am the day after tomorrow." She started out of the room. "I owe you both, and I'll start the payback by sending this break room some coffee that's drinkable. Until the day after tomorrow!"

In spite of his stress, Booth felt a small grin tug his lips – Caroline just had that effect on him. The grin slipped away as he thought again that something about the case wasn't right.

Bones glanced at her watch. "Well, that gives us less than 48 hours," she said, pulling out her phone. "I'll call Cam and tell her we need everyone at the lab."

Booth straightened up. "Bones?"

She was walking out of the break room and he had to jog to catch up to her. "You know, Caroline is right – you need higher quality coffee here. We can stop at the diner for some." She pushed the button for the elevator. "Hello, Cam?"

Booth stared at her. "Bones, you're okay with this? I thought you didn't agree with me."

"Hold on, Cam," Bones said. Looking at Booth, she tilted her head. "You're worried. That's a good enough reason to look at things again, as far as I'm concerned." The door dinged open and she stepped inside, giving Cam instructions.

Booth stepped in with his partner, some of his worry slipping away. "Thanks, Bones," he said, putting an arm around her and squeezing gently.

She flashed him a smile as she kept talking to Cam. Booth closed his eyes and sighed, hoping they'd find something to help him be at peace with this deal.

#

Norman drove back home, thankful for every red light that delayed what he knew would be a difficult conversation.

Heather and her lawyer had gotten into a shouting match near the end, but she'd prevailed. She would allocate to the crimes of attempted murder, kidnapping, and extortion. In return, she would not be given the death penalty, which had been a possibility given a Federal agent had been one of the victims.

Once the lawyer left, Heather had Norman speak quietly to the guard and hand him an envelope full of money. After he glanced into the envelope, the guard nodded and permitted Norman to follow them to the prison. Once there Norman and Heather were led to a small meeting room. The guard assured them that the audio and video recording devices were disabled and he could give them fifteen minutes.

It had been a tense fifteen minutes.

Now Norman was approaching the house he shared with Katie. He'd met her at a fitness center they both worked out at. He was instantly attracted to her – she was deceptively small, with amazing strength. He asked her out for coffee after his workout session and she agreed.

As he got to know her, he found she became a kind of drug to him – an enticing addiction, one that he could not break himself from. Even after he learned of her mental problems. Not to mention her and Heather Taffet's roles as the Gravedigger.

When he met Heather Taffet, he worried how she'd take him, especially when she learned how much Katie had confided in him. He was somewhat relieved when she chose to accept him into their little circle. She appeared grateful for someone to take care of Katie and keep her safe.

That was his role, and he relished it. But now, he knew it was going to be harder than ever.

"Katie?" he called as he entered the house. There was a smell of fresh gingerbread and chocolate chip cookies sent faint alarms in the back of his mind. Katie went on baking binges when she was having a bad day. And his news wasn't going to make her day any better.

He walked into the kitchen with a sense of foreboding. Katie was pulling a cookie sheet out of the oven, her face flush from the heat.

She turned at the sound of his footsteps and dropped the cookie sheet on top of the stove. "What took you so long? Why didn't you answer your phone? I was getting worried!"

Norman put a smile on his face. "Long meeting, babe. I have a message from Heather."

"Really?" Katie wrapped her arms around him. "Did she smack down that arrogant scientist and her cocky agent? When's she getting out?"

He held her tightly, putting a soft kiss on top of her head. "Katie, Heather thinks we should take a trip for a while. Maybe to France. You'd like to see France, right?"

She pulled back, her eyes narrowing. "What? Why? She's getting out, isn't she?"

He sighed, reaching up to tuck a lock of blond hair behind her ear. "They got wind of you, love. Not specifically, but they know was someone else was helping her. Heather decided to cut a deal and tell them you were dead."

"She cut a deal?" Katie pulled out of his embrace. "No! Why? You said that wouldn't happen! They couldn't use the evidence!"

"Love, Heather didn't expect them to find out anything about you. She's trying to protect you, you know that."

"I want to talk to her."

Norman shook his head. "You know she won't let you." He pulled out his phone. "She had me put a video on my phone for you. Want to see it?"

Katie, jerked her head in a nod. He started it and watched her face as Heather spoke, telling Katie that she and Norman had to grab some of the fake ID's in Katie's storage unit and leave the country. Heather would be fine, she could deal with prison as long as Katie was safe.

The message ended. Katie's chin trembled, and Norman put the phone on the counter so he could hug her again. "I'm sorry, hon, I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, her tears soaking his shirt. "I'm not going."

Norman sighed. He'd expected this reaction. "Katie, you heard what Heather said…"

"It's that witch's Brennan's fault!" Katie seethed as she pulled away. "She can hit Heather in the head with a briefcase and scare her with all her 'science,' but Heather has to spend all those years in jail? It's not fair!"

"I know," Norman said, squeezing her shoulders. "But there's nothing we can do about it but make sure you're safe. That's what she wants."

"Do you know what I want?" Katie said, her eyes burning with rage, "I want to make that woman pay!"

"Baby, we can't do that," Norman told her. "Heather said –"

"Heather isn't here!" Katie snapped. "And she won't talk to me!"

He watched her uneasily as she started to pace. "Heather, you don't really want to try and kill Dr. Brennan, do you?"

"Oh, no," she said, her voice low and a smile creeping across her face. "That won't hurt her badly enough. "I want to get my hands on her FBI agent – and I have just the container for him, we never got to use it…"

"Whoa, honey," Norman felt a stab of fear. "We can't do that. We have to go –"

"After this!!" she snapped. "We have to figure out how to catch him…then we can bring him to the storage area. Good thing it has electricity…"

"Katie, think about it, please!" Norman begged. "Look, I understand you want payback, but maybe we ought to just kill him, okay? No containers."

"No! He has to suffer too!" Katie said, stamping her foot. "And I have such a good idea for that."

He shook his head, massaging his temples. Heather would kill her if he didn't get Katie out safely. And what she was planning was so dangerous…

"Norman," her arms were around him, her lips pressed against his throat. "You do love me, don't you?"

"That's why I'm trying to protect you, baby," he said, rubbing her back.

"I'll do this alone if I have to, Norman, but I need your help, honey. Please, please help me…"

He sighed. It was crazy, it was dangerous…but he knew good and well she would make good on her threat. He could try to manhandle her into the car, but he'd have to practically hogtie her to keep her in there – and he couldn't bear to do that.

"Okay," he sighed, kissing her cheek and hoping he hadn't lost his mind, "I'll help."