5.

Thank you to Guest, I was going to check on how to spell Arastoo's name but my connection wasn't working so I used what spell check offered to me! Weill get it correct from her on out. Thanks!

Sorry for the delay, I had a few projects come up.

Cam flopped open the heavy case as Sweets, Arastoo and Hodgins quickly assembled to view the contents.

"How did they find this if there is no identity?" Arastoo asked as the thought occurred to him.

Cam looked up to address him. "The man said that Sweets inquiry at the bus stop caused them to question it."

Sweets was glad he had stopped in a the bus stop.

"They said they could remember very little of the man that had dropped it off but that upon seeing the suitcase they recalled him a little and thought be matched the man in the photo Sweets had shown them." Cam explained. "He had left the suitcase for them to hold and he never came back for it."

"Let's hope the guy left his wallet in here." Hodgins said putting on gloves. Sweets looked on as the trio donned rubber gloves for inspection of contents.

The trio soon removed contents that were typical of a suitcase which consisted of clothing. However, like the victim's clothes - the tags were again removed though of high quality manufacturing.

"Why am I not surprised?" Cam said of the missing labels.

"I'd say this case belongs to the victim." Hodgins said.

"Because of the tags?" Arastoo asked.

"Well, yeah, I doubt that removing tags is all that routine for people to do, but this thread." Hodgins said holding up a spool of orange thread. "It's an old thread and I noticed there were some repairs done to the trousers the victim was wearing. I'll run a test but I'll bet they came from the same spool."

"What's this here?" Arastoo asked excited when he saw a trace of something on the inside collar of a shirt. "I believe this reads "Kean."

The group looked up excitedly at the prospect of a possible name and identity that had so far eluded them.

"Hey great, I'll have Angie run that right away!" Hodgins said rushing to his wife's office for a search to begin.

"It's as though someone took great care to remove any possible ID of the victim." Arastoo said looking over the clothes. "It looked like there was at one time a label, perhaps from an airport that was stuck here but it's been removed."

"Is there anything besides clothes?" Sweets asked taking a step forward in the spot vacated by Hodgins.

"Here's something." Arastoo said reaching the bottom of the case and holding it up. "It's a stencil kit."

"This might be something indeed!" Cam said taking it from him. "My grandfather had one of these. It was used by the Third Officer on merchant ships who were responsible for the stenciling of cargo. Maybe we could look for a name on it."

"Or he bought it at an antique store." Sweets said deflating all of their hope with a reality.

"Well other than that we have pajamas, slippers, underpants, pajamas, shaving items, brown trousers." Cam paused when looking at the last items, "and an electrician's screwdriver, a table knife cut down into a short sharp instrument, a pair of scissors with sharpened points and the stenciling kit."

"What's with the handmade shiv? An the electrician's screwdriver?" Sweets asked eying the two strange items.

"Really?" Cam asked sarcastically. "That's the weirdest thing about the case so far?"

"Hey there's sand in these cuffs." Arastoo said inspecting the pants. I'll see if I can run where this came from, see where he's been!"

"Okay so Angie's got no matches on anyone gone missing by the name of Kean." Hodgins said returning. "She's running a few more things but right now, it's not looking like much."

"With so much care to remove the labels, why put the name on the clothes?" Cam asked.

"I think someone's trying to throw us off with it." Sweets suggested. "The other tags could be removed, that one appeared to be written in ink."

"Then why not remove the shirt entirely?" Cam pondered.

"Like Dr. Sweets said, to throw us off." Arastoo pointed out.

"I did have a moment to run that thread." Hodgins said. "Not that it should surprise you, but it's an unusual type, not available around here. The brand is Barbour and it's an orange waxed thread."

"Weird thread, weird cigarettes, weird man." Sweets said rubbing his eyes at their perplexing predicament. He had feeling everyone was looking at him as the lead agent on the case for what to do next but all that came to mind was to order a double of bourbon.

"That reminds me." Hodgins said snapping his fingers. "The Kensitas cigarettes." Hodgins picked up the evidence bag that held them. "At first I thought it was weird that the Kensitas cigarettes were in an Army Club pack."

"What does that mean Dr. Hodgins?" Cam asked not knowing the brands.

"It would be like sticking Camel cigarettes in a Palmolive pack." Hodgins said. "Some people may put a cheap cigarette in a nicer pack to you know, impress people. But the weird thing is, the Kensitas cigarettes are much more expensive than the Army Clubs. Why was he trying to look less expensive? I mean his clothes were obviously of fine quality so he wasn't trying to hide his money."

"You couldn't find any trace of poison right?" Sweets asked Cam who shook her head, curious what the glimmer in his eye was. "What if it were in the cigarette?"

The squints were impressed by the agent they had so far been doubting.

"One witness remarked that she had seen the smartly dressed man lying on the ground extending his arm up and then letting it fall back to the ground. They thought he was drunk and trying to smoke a cigarette because they saw the cherry end light up." Sweets informed them.

"I can run them and it's a solid theory." Hodgins began. "The only problem is that if the guy was poisoned and from Cam's autopsy he would have vomited quite a bit, there was none at the scene."

"So he had to have been brought there." Arastoo suggested.

"Then he sat smoking, knowing he was going to die." Sweets said.

"So he didn't call for help?" Cam asked. "He's poisoned, vomits, is brought to the scene, lies there and dies and smokes a cigarette?"

"Maybe he couldn't do much else." Sweets said but still it didn't sit right and if he had learned anything from Booth it was that you went with your gut.

"Well he wasn't drug there." Arastoo suggested holding up the man's shoes. "His shoes, which are practically brand new are polished to a shine - no way was he dragged."

"He's a big guy to be carried." Cam added.

Sweets mentally resumed his desire to order a libation. "Well it's late." He said looking at the time. "I suggest we pick this up tomorrow." No one was of the mind to disagree with him.

"Are you heading back to Dr. Brennan & Booth's house?" Hodgins asked Sweets who had to think for a moment what he was talking about.

"Oh, right, um, I think I'll head home tonight." Sweets said suddenly very eager to leave and evade any questions.

"What did Booth think of the case?" Cam asked while part of Sweets resented that she had asked, implying to Sweets that he was not capable.

"Well Booth & Dr. Brennan are extremely busy with their own case. I didn't go into detail - unless you would like me to overwhelm them." Sweets knew it wasn't fair but he also knew it was a statement that would make them want to drop it. It was effective.

"Right, tomorrow then." Cam said eager to enjoy dinner with Arastoo as much as Hodgins was happy to collect his wife and son for a little time at the park before dinner.

Sweets wasn't a heavy drinker but between the lack of luck in the love department, a scarred childhood and the case fit for a nut job he figured that more than one was suitable.

He avoided the Four Fathers, tonight he preferred a spot he was sure only he frequented and would thus not run into anyone from work. Normally he would have been tempted to change out of his suit to fit in with the crowd better, he had a dozen or so death metal shirts he could have adorned but he had little energy to do more than loosen his tie.

Instead he sat at the bar, garnered a strange look for the barkeep who wore a leather vest and spiked dog collar but upon recognizing the good tipper customer instead issued his drink order and said no more. Not that it was a bar for talking, Sweets reveled in the loud sounds that he and few others would categorize as music. Somewhere in the screaming and the guitar riffs he felt a click in his mind, the peace came among the screaming and he found himself able to think. He sipped the bourbon at a pace that may have been too fast but it was warm and calming against the chill the door let in as the cold late night rain fell. In any other bar he would feel the inclination to stop and chat with the person next to him about the sudden change in the weather but he was glad in here there were no meaningless conversations to be had.

He sipped the highball glass with his right hand and looked down at his left. The high dosage of pain killers than Cam had given him had worn off about the time he left the Jeffersonian making the aged whiskey sound more and more appealing. A small voice in his head reminded him that medicating thru alcohol was a questionable practice but the next song drowned the annoying psychologist in his head out.

Sweets was so involved in his thoughts, going over the case as the pain numbed in his hand, lost in the riffs that he hardly noticed the figure in a black coat sit next to him and order a drink.

Sweets looked over briefly to notice on the man's hand he had a ring, a symbol on top that looked familiar with an eagle sitting atop a shield - he couldn't make out the small symbols surrounding the shield. He stopped trying when he was distracted by a figure who placed his hands on Sweets shoulders. At first Sweets thought it was merely a drunken patron stumbling, that was until he felt the hot air on his ears.

"I thought you were going to lay off this case." The voice said in a voice he recalled from his apartment the night before.

Sweets felt his blood run cold and looked up to the barkeep who was at the far end of the bar. The man to his left moved in towards Sweets pushing him off his stool. Sweets found their movement of him too easy as he looked down at his drink with now blurry vision. He knew he had not had too many but he was unable to put too many thoughts together let alone stand and the realization he had been drugged fell upon him.

The pair enveloped him in the dark bar and escorted him outside. Their burly strength held him up to the point he was sure he was hardly being dragged and the thought of the unknown man being not dragged to the scene came to mind. The fact he now appeared to only be a drunken man being taken out of a bar left no one to question the men and merely step out of their way. Sweets heart began to pound at the fact he was unable to move on his own and ponder if his own fate was about to mirror that of the unknown man.

The rain kept Sweets attention as it began to hit his face and jacket as he was pushed into the brick wall, his back slamming into its uneven surface. The alley was darker than the street and Sweets knew this was not going to bode well.

"I thought you got the message the first time." The man with the accent said before hitting Sweets across the jaw. Unable to stop or react due to the drug Sweets only fell to the ground. The other man stepped closer and kicked him in the stomach twice.

"You should have let me shoot him today!" The man with the accent said with clenched teeth though Sweets ability to hear was far better than his ability to see or move.

"He - is - an - American." The man with the ring responded in a threatening tone. He turned and leaned down close to Sweets face. "You need to leave this case alone." The man said it slowly as though letting each word seep into Sweets thick head. "Let's go." The man said to the one with him who couldn't leave before kicking Sweets once more in the chest and stomach and a swipe to the face. Sweets head swam as he began to pass out but first hearing them depart in with what he was sure was three sets of footsteps.

"I am exhausted." Brennan said flopping onto the bed at the hotel.

"Did you call Max to see how Christine is?" Booth asked thru lips that were barely parted and eyes closed shut from complete and total exhaustion.

"Yeah, she's fine." Brennan was still dressed but lay next to Booth completely exhausted herself until a thought occurred to her. "I got a text from Angela about Cam & Arastoo staying with them."

"What's that about?" Booth asked his curiosity now piqued.

"Something about a case." Brennan said yawning. "Should we be worried?"

"No, Sweets said something about a case but he said he had it under control." Booth said with confidence.

"Are you sure Sweets can handle it?" Brennan asked nervously.

"Sure I am." Booth said his confidence still strong. "Sweets won't let anyone get hurt."

Sweets woke up with his face against the pavement and a pounding headache. He wasn't sure how long he had been out but after the last kick to the face that sent him into darkness. Waking now, still in darkness with a now soaked suit he pushed against the pavement into a sitting position. He touched his jaw which felt severely adjust to the right from the punch he received. His still aching hand steadied himself into a sitting position when he felt something next to him. He had felt something pressed against his chest when he woke but he thought it was just a result of the blow. He now realized it was a book. It was dry having been wedged under his frame as it lay on the ground, protecting it from the rain. Sweets looked at the book with fuzzy eyes and when he saw the cover he knew he had a string of new questions. He put the book under his jacket to keep it dry and slowly pushed against the brick wall until he was standing.

Sweets hand clutched at the bricks as his head swam at the new altitude, resting his head against the bricks while the swimming subsided and the thought of what to do. His body ached in pain though it was currently second to his situation. He shivered against the wet clothes and the chill in the air as he thought of what to do. He wondered if he should go to the hospital - if he did he would have to file a report, filing a report would bring more attention to this case, something he was not willing to do based on the most recent threat. He considered going to Angela's where he knew Cam and everyone were but he had no desire to put them in any danger. So far, outside of Arastoo's bump on the head, he had been the only one to sustain any injuries and he would keep his people out of it. He wanted to laugh as it was something Booth would have said but it hurt to even grin.

He staggered out of the alley and found someone leaving a Yellow cab and heading into one of the bars. He quickly entered the cab before anyone else could and gave the driver his home address. The driver eyed his condition with a raised eyebrow.

"Well you should see the other guy." Sweets joked but the driver laughed. It hurt a little at the idea that Sweets would not be able to inflict anything worse on the other guy but in reality he hadn't even scratched him. He wanted to hope that was in his own defense the drugs in his system. These drugs however were leaving his system - unlike those that had killed then unknown man. Sweets hoped he was safe as he clutched the book closer to him, bumping ribs that shot pain thru him. He sighed but his head grew heavy again and his eyes involuntarily fell shut.

"Oh my God." One voice said.

"You've got to be kidding me." Another echoed as his eyes began to flutter open. Sweets saw money being handed into the cab driver and Sweets jumped at the sight thinking he was back in the hands of the men at the bar. The jump earned him a sharp ache in his side he instantly regretted but could not hide.

"Sweets are you okay?" A voice now asked softer. He turned to hear who asked, minus the usual "Dr" and it was as he suspected, Cam.

"What are you doing here?" Sweets asked then cleared his throat of its grogginess. "Wait, what am I doing here?" He asked looking up at Angela & Hodgins house.

Hodgins was collecting Sweets phone back from the driver as Arastoo and Angela began to peel him out of the car. He stood on the sidewalk a moment and began to sway backwards when Cam caught him and stood him back upright.

The quartet watched as Sweets rubbed at his injured lip and slanted figure - deducing he had been struck in the chest. The began to usher him towards the house when he quickly stopped them.

"No, no…" He said reaching back for the cab.

"Yeah you're not going home." Arastoo said assuming he was objecting.

"No the book!" Sweets said clawing at the cab about to pull away. Hodgins stopped the driver and retrieved the book from the back seat.

"Better be a good read." Hodgins said jokingly until he looked down at the cover, his face surprised.

"Let's get inside." Cam said to the others nodding to Sweets who was still swaying and shivering.

Moments later Sweets felt the warmth and light from the indoors that was enhanced by the softness of the couch.

"Geez you're soaking wet." Angela said and Sweets immediately got up apologizing.

"No Sweetie, I just meant that I was concerned." Angela said pushing his swaying figure back to the couch but peeled off his jacket. She went to help take off his shirt but he pushed her hand away.

"It's fine really." He said unconvincingly but had no desire to disrobe in front of everyone.

"Really, it's fine? Is that why you look like this but ask the cab to take you home?" Hodgins said in the best fatherly condemning voice he could muster, it was pretty good.

"I didn't want to implicate anyone." Sweets said resting his head against the back of the couch.

"So this is about the case." Cam deducing. "Another threat?"

"Yeah, I didn't want them to follow me here." Sweets explained.

"Yeah so going home and dying from internal injuries is better." Cam said upset at her new partner. She ignored Sweets dismissal of Angela's hand before and his button down shirt up. He pulled it back down and Cam pulled it back up. The two looked like children on a playground.

"Let's stop." Arastoo said holding out his hands and looked to Hodgins & Angela who got the idea that Sweets did not want to undergo any sort of examination with a group present.

"I'll get some tea." Angela offered heading to the kitchen.

"I've got a thermometer and some Batman band aids." Hodgins said leaving the room. He hadn't seen the psychologist like this short of the injury to his hand earlier today. He always saw Sweets as plucky and this was just weird he thought to himself as he went for the first aid kit.

With the group gone Cam looked at Sweets. "Let me look at your chest or I'll have them all come back in and hold you down." Sweets seemed to be considering how fast he could make it to the door. "If something happened to you Dr. Sweets we would be…. Just…let me see…"

Sweets relented and while keeping an eye on Cam he unbuttoned his shirt. Cam noticed his ill ease at the situation and it seemed to go past just being hurt. Sweets needed a distraction.

"How did I get here, I was heading home." He asked.

"You passed out in the cab." Cam said pressing on Sweets side looking at the skin showing early signs of bruising. "He was going to take you to the cab when you started to talk in your sleep about being careful and watching out. It freaked the driver out, he pulled over to check on you and saw your badge and gun. I was calling you and the driver answered it, told me what was going on, I said to bring you here."

"I see." Sweets said seething as Cam pushed on his skin. Her hands glided up his chest and eyes narrowed in on his chest, small scars buried under the chest hair. She wouldn't haven't hardly noticed them save for the hair and figured this was what Sweets didn't want her to see. Still she pondered the first two until she saw several more and looked closer at the number of blistered scars, long since covered.

"Are we done?" Sweets said trying to pull the shirt back over them. "Am I okay now?"

Cam sat back, still stunned at the scars. She nodded that she was done but her mind was searching for a reason for the small circles - only one came to mind but she didn't like it. She didn't like the idea that at what she deuced was a young age, Sweets was burned with most likely cigarettes to the chest - sadly seen similar scars before on victims, but not as many, and not as old. She recalled the fractures to the hand earlier and the way she had spoken to Sweets about them. A disturbing childhood was beginning to materialize, one she couldn't believe but the evidence was something she could not deny.

Sweets had his damp shirt nearly buttoned up when Cam snapped out of it at the sound of Angela's voice entering with tea. She looked at Sweets with sad eyes and a shocked face. Sweets face was hard and looked away from hers. Cam got the picture instantly and knew the reason she knew nothing of this before now. Angela sat the tea down and said something about finding some of Hodgins sweats and tee shirt and left again. Sweets leaned forward to pick up the inviting cup of tea when Cam grabbed his hand that was on the couch and squeezed it. Sweets paused and looked back at her startled at the mini embrace. Cam's eyes searched Sweets whose were no longer hard but she now saw them as tired but yet full of life despite so much. She looked away and picked up the tea cup and brought it closer to Sweets therefore saving him from undue pressure on his chest.

He gave her a nod and a small smile and she did the same in return, a silent understanding of secrecy. Arastoo had stood at a distance, ready when needed, but he saw he was not. Though he sometimes observed his love was a bit brash or distanced he saw a warmth in her now and was proud of how she handled the situation. He cleared his throat to announce his arrival back to the sitting area. Cam let go of Sweets hand but didn't move from her proximity to him as though still hovering until she was sure he was fine.

"So how is the patient?" Arastoo asked with a smile. He knew if it was serious they would have been on the way to the ER by now.

"He's lucky." Cam said, her normal tone returning. "Thought I'd prefer not to wait I'm sure you're tired." She said to Sweets. "So tomorrow, we go to the Jeffersonian and we do more x-rays."

"Yay….." Sweets said sarcastically as he sipped his tea. He offered a grin to suggest he was kidding.

"I just want to be sure." Cam said still in hovering mode. "I do not detect any broken ribs or bleeding. However you're going to be sore tomorrow."

Sweets shrugged his shoulders - normally Cam would have taken that as him being silly and sarcastic but she noticed this time he didn't smile. The darker thought occurred to her that perhaps waking up the next day in pain wasn't a thought that bothered Sweets, conditioned as such at a young age. It made her feel a little sick to her stomach that someone should become used to that sort of thing. Arastoo noticed and picked up the conversation where she left off.

"Cam is just worried. We all are." Arastoo explained. "Maybe you should tell us what happened."

"Yeah and shouldn't we be calling someone?" Hodgins asked.

"No!" Sweets said adamantly. "They want us off the case." Sweets explained.

"Well we're not going to be terrorized!" Hodgins said angry at the emerging situation, he just felt like there was a conspiracy in there somewhere.

"Go right ahead." Sweets said trying to sit down the empty saucer and cup but the pressure to move hurt and Cam took it from him. "But I'm fully terrorized." Sweets meant it as a joke but they realized the reality was that so far, Sweets was the only one taking the brunt of the situation.

"Yeah, but this guy, he died - and something just doesn't fit." Angela said.

"I know, I was kidding, of course we finish the case." Sweets said.

"Not if it means you get yourself killed!" Cam objected.

"Well, we need to work smarter." Arastoo suggested and they agreed. "We need to appear not to work on the case."

"And stick together." Cam added looking at Sweets.

"I suggest wrapping it up as quickly as possible wouldn't hurt either." Angela added.

"Right, any ideas?" Cam asked.

"Well I think Sweets brought us a clue." Hodgins said grabbing the book from the cab.

Angela looked at the book. "Where did you find this?"

"When I woke up it was under me." Sweets said rubbing his head from when he was kicked. "Probably to keep it dry? I don't know, I don't get it, it wasn't there when I passed out."

Sweets told them what happened from the bar to the alley about how the men took him outside, his suspicions about their strength to carry the unknown man, the alley and the ring.

"That's the US symbol, but you don't know what the surrounding symbols were?" Cam said.

"Spears, a hook?" Sweets guessed trying to remember.

"An anchor?! The navy!" Hodgins guessed.

"He had on a U.S. Navy ring?" Angela asked and Sweets shrugged assuming so.

"And you're sure there were three sets of footsteps?" Cam asked.

"Yeah, they were lighter, maybe a woman, sounded like heels." Sweets said growing tired.

"So what's a US Navy officer doing with a guy who likes to beat people with a foreign accent and a woman?" Hodgins asked.

"Sounds like a riddle." Arastoo said. "The whole case sounds like a riddle."

Angela had the last question before Sweets fell back asleep. "Question is, who dropped off another copy of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and why?"