6.

Hope you are enjoying! I have apparently have an overactive imagination and insomnia. Hopefully putting both to a good use.

Booth's got Sweets to the hospital where he's treated, taken to surgery and then left in a room to rest. Brennan & Cam show up in shock of what's happened and Angela is on her way. The gang knows Sweets isn't dead and they decide to finish what they started. Knowing they will be spotted in the hospital they send the kid, Big Dog in to see if Sweets is still alive. Only Booth spots him first.

"Not a good idea kid." Booth said pulling on the back of the kid's jacket. The kid almost made it out the door but he had no idea who determined, and fast, Booth was when he was pissed.

"Hey man, let go!" The kid shouted to the people near the exit hoping to garner their attention at the man attacking him. It was little interest to them after Booth held out his Federal ID Badge.

"You know it's not a good idea to run." Booth said to the kill, still unsure of the kid's involvement in Sweets situation.

"Man you looked too old to run."

The kid was not helping his situation any.

"Let's go." Booth said handing onto the kid's jacket as he motioned to a nearby cop. The kid was underage and a known associate of a gang, he wanted to dot his appropriate letters.

A half hour later the kid was in the interrogation room. His mother couldn't be located and being underage they were waiting for an advocate to arrive. Booth peered in the room at the kid. He wasn't scared-he seemed proud to be in the room. Booth's thoughts drifted back to Sweets in the hospital room and the critical condition he was classified in. He reminded himself to keep his emotions in check when he talked to this kid.

Finally the advocate arrived though the kid dismissed her immediately. He thought he was much too big for some lady to help him. Booth had to laugh inwardly at the kid, he couldn't even see when someone was trying to help him.

"Well she's required to stay." Booth said for once actually feeling a bit bad for the suspect's associate to be in the room.

"Whatever." The kid said. "Just stay out of my way." He instructed her. Booth noted she was trying to produce a smile and stay honest to her code and not let the kid hang himself.

"Okay, so what happened?" Booth asked the kid. He could tell the kid was about to bust with excitement in what had happened. He wasn't in the least bit scared.

"What do you mean what happened? I just stopped by the hospital and you chased me down."

"And what were you doing there?" Booth asked.

"Man, I was visiting my uncle."

"See, I know that's not true Barry." The kid didn't like being called Barry as Booth noted. "See Barry, you asked the front desk how Lance Sweets was doing. And I know he's not your uncle."

"Yeah, well, she must have heard me wrong." Barry's voice got smaller, he seemed to suddenly realize that he could be on the hook for this now.

"No, she and the nurse next to her heard you loud and clear, now tell me Barry, why were you there?" Booth half way hoped that Barry had been pressured into tricking Sweets and that he came to see if he was okay.

The kid smiled. Booth was pretty sure that wasn't the answer.

"I don't know man, curious I guess." Barry replied.

"How did Dr. Sweets end up at 5th & Central tonight?" Booth asked.

"Man, I don't know, he got lost I guess."

"Is that why I've got a call on his phone" Booth began holding Sweets phone in his hand "from a burner cell to his about the time he left?"

"I don't know what cell phone you're talking about."

"Where's your cell phone Barry?"

"I lost it." Barry said smiling.

Booth knew the kid knew the game a little too well. In truth Booth had nothing to tie Barry directly to Sweets at this point, still he pressed on.

"You give him up Barry?" Booth asked staring Barry down. Barry looked away from Booth's penetrating eyes. Booth noted perhaps a sense of guilt on the kid's behalf.

"Don't know what you're talking about g-man." Barry said looking away still.

"Yeah you do, it was you that called him wasn't it? You lured him there." Booth said controlling his anger as he said it.

"I can't help what that dude did, he wants to be stupid it's his right. Now are we done here?"

"You know what they did to him Barry?" Booth asked and he noted a hint of a jump in Barry's form. Yeah he was there, Booth knew that to be true now.

"That's too bad, those guys are pretty rough." Barry said locking eyes with Booth now, as though he were up for some sort of challenge. Barry could only hold the glare for a moment until he had to look away again.

"It's pretty easy to be rough when you outnumber an unarmed man eight to one."

Barry started to say something as though to correct him but he stopped, realizing if he corrected the number of people there it would implicate himself.

"You gotta stay with your peeps." The kid only replied instead.

"You chose the gang over Sweets." Booth said not so much as a question but a statement of fact. "You picked the wrong one kid, they'll never care about you like Sweets would have."

"Man whatever, that ain't true."

Booth felt his phone buzz in his pocket and suspected at this hour it had to do with Sweets and not any other case. He couldn't get anything else from the kid, not tonight anyway. The advocate nodded that she would take it from there and Booth happily left the kid behind.

"Hey Bones, I'm here." Booth said answering on the last ring.

"Sweets is awake."

Booth nodded but he noted that her voice did not carry any hint of relief to it. In fact it was considerably the opposite.

Booth returned to the hospital parking lot and wanted to pull his jacket closer to feign off the cold air. He'd now worn this suit way too many hours of the day and being past midnight be much preferred a change of clothes. However he was far more interested in Sweets condition over comfortable attire. Once he knew Sweets was okay, he would rest.

He walked the length of the lot and neared the doors when his instincts told him it was more than the tired and the cold that had heightened his senses. He turned around and scanned the lot, he had the distinct feeling of being watched. He saw nothing and continued inside, his mind racing. His gut was never wrong, so what was it that he was sensing he wondered as he went inside.

Booth approached Sweets floor and found Cam, Angela and Hodgins by the door while Brennan stood peering in the door's limited glass view. Booth didn't like the looks of this. They turned to him as he approached.

"Seeley," Cam began as though pausing him. Booth knew it really wasn't good. "He's okay, they're just administering some pain medication."

"Okay." Booth said not following. Why then is everyone in the hall?

"He woke up." Hodgins said looking ahead and not at Booth. "In a lot of pain."

The way Hodgins said it Booth realized that it had been something unpleasant to witness. Angela wordlessly folded into Hodgins' arms as Booth walked closer and looked over Brennan's shoulders in the room. He looked only a second to see Sweets eyes screwed shut as the doctors injected needles into the IV. Sweets turned to the side at the pain.

"Why didn't they do something ahead of time?" Booth asked but forgot the question when he looked down at Brennan who eyes were fixed on the room and the figure in pain in it. She seemed in a trance. She looked pale and near tears.

"Bones, you okay?" He asked but her eyes didn't move.

"It's not fair." Brennan said still looking in the room.

"I know." He said now pulling her into his large and strong arms and away from the sight. "I know." He repeated as he stroked his hand along her back.

The doctor emerged from the room.

"Hey guys." Dr. Phillips said casually. "He's resting now. We had to sedate him. We had hoped some pain medication would ease the discomfort. That wasn't working so we sedated him. We are going to run some more tests, see if there is anything that we missed."

"Why is he…" Angela began to say but even saying the words in so much pain were too much. She could only picture happy go lucky Sweets, not beaten to a pulp Sweets.

"You need to keep in mind the severity of his injuries." Dr. Phillips began. "He's going to be in quite a bit of pain for a while. He's still critical now, and he's only been here a few hours. Let's give him a little time."

The team nodded and tried to accept the news as it was. As the doctor left, Booth looked to the rest of the team, tired and concerned but he didn't think that being here was helping much.

"Look, uh I think we should all go home." Booth said. "I think everyone needs rest and Sweets needs some rest too."

They considered it and though they didn't want to leave, they knew they should go.

"Yes, we can come back, that way if Sweets wakes up we can offer him more help if we're not tired." Cam said hoping to encourage everyone as well.

The nurse was given all of their numbers a second time. If anyone couldn't be reached she was reminded multiple times to call everyone else on the list. The nurse could have reacted with severe annoyance but she saw the broken man who was brought into the room and was told he had no family. She could see now that he did and that they cared very much for him.

The hospital was quiet that late at night as the group moved onto the first floor lobby. Booth still had a biting sensation not to leave the hospital but he reminded himself that Sweets would be fine, he just needed a little time. But as the cool night's at struck him Booth looked up only to see a dark figure duck. He paused and looked around.

"What is it Booth?" Bones asked causing the rest of the group to pause as well.

Booth looked around as the wheels began to spin. If Sweets is alive he can ID the gang members, the kid was sent in to see if he was still alive!

"I forgot something guys, let's go back in a minute." Booth said as they stepped back in.

"Want to tell me what's going on?" Cam asked extremely inquisitive now.

"I think the rest of the gang is out in that parking lot." Booth said.

"You think they want to get us?" Angela asked surprised.

"No, I don't think they want us, they want Sweets. If he can identify them, they can do hard time." Booth explained.

"They didn't expect him to make it to the hospital." Cam said putting the situation together now.

"Oh God." Angela said swaying for a moment at truly how close Sweets had come to death.

"So what do we do now Booth?" Bones asked, her dynamic eyes filled with worry.

"You guys go home. Cam, can you stay with Bones till I get home?" Booth said formulating a plan.

"No, Booth, I'm not going anywhere." Brennan protested.

"No Bones, if you stay then they will think everything is okay. I'm going to talk to the doctor. I'm putting Sweets under guard. I'll wait here until the first one arrives. I'm also changing the name he's under. I don't think they want any of us but I don't to take chances. Strength in numbers okay?"

They nodded in agreement as Booth headed back upstairs making a string of calls. Brennan decided to stay at Max's tonight. She knew the resolve in Booth's face as she left, Booth would be staying the night, he wouldn't leave the task to anyone else if there were questionable characters outside.

Booth's first order of business was to have the cops pick up anyone they could find in the parking lot. Their loud entrance had alerted most of them.

A phone call around three that morning drew Booth from his brief siesta. He jumped in his chair at the sound of the ring. He was eager to answer and not wake Sweets who continued to be enduring a restless sleep. It was Bridges & Stalcup, they knew where to find one of the gang members, D-Dog was in custody and Booth could have him whenever he wanted him.

"Thanks." Booth said and had to grin at the officers 'out of their way' help. They inquired how Sweets was.

"He's dead." Booth said.