8.
By the by, I hadn't intended to throw in Daley's name on the last chapter but I had intended to put Sweets under a different name for protection. When I went to write in a name that one struck me as humorous to do so, so I did. ;0 Sorry so long on the update, I spent time yesterday sending original work to literary agents, cause you never know! Fingers crossed!
Caroline releases news that Sweets is dead. Booth finds out that Barry/Big Dog has been killed, DJ-D is in custody and being held on charges. Booth wants to round up the rest of the gang before they find out that Sweets is alive or they might try and kill him again. Booth has Agent Landry take the baseball bat to the Jeffersonian but in his sleep depraved mind lets it slip to Landry that Sweets is alive. Sweets wakes but has lost his zest for psychology while the pain he's feeling does not subside causing more tests to be run.
Booth was pleased and yet unsettled to see a half dozen uniforms standing outside Sweets room. They backed up allowing him to swiftly enter the room, closing the gap behind him. Brennan was sitting in a chair closest to the door and jumped up when Booth came in.
"What happened?" He asked nervously keeping his eyes on her, she was still visibly shaken. She had told him on the phone but as Brennan was nearly beside herself on the phone he hoped to hear a calmer version now.
"I stepped out while the doctors were running some tests on Sweets. I went to the restroom down the hall and the nurses were talking about some strange men walking the halls and peeking in rooms. I went to call you and I saw one of them, he looked like one of the gang. He was right at Sweets door but he couldn't see him past the doctors. He asked the nurse who was in that room and they gave him the fake name. He kept walking on, I tried to stay out of sight because he may have seen me with you last night and made a connection. Booth, what if he….I should have stayed in there."
"Bones, it's not your fault. Caroline is just releasing the story this morning about Sweets. They will find out soon and then go away. It will give us time to round them up. Now, what about those tests?"
"That's the other thing." Brennan said with a sigh. "So far they don't see anything abnormal."
"That's good, right?" Booth asked, confused at her tone.
"Yeah, but it doesn't explain why Sweets is acting like he is."
"Bones, he was just beaten to a pulp, let's give him a little time." Booth said softly.
Brennan nodded. "I understand, I just, I've never seen Sweets like that. It just…"
"I know Bones." He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment.
"Oh, I almost forgot to call Hodgins!" Booth said reaching for his phone.
"Yeah." Hodgins said answering. "Thanks for the heads up." He said with thick sarcasm. "Nothing like having an agent walk into the lab with a bat announcing he had something for me."
"Sorry about that Hodgins, we had a little scare at the hospital." Booth said.
"Sweets?! Is he okay?" As Hodgins said it the others stopped what they were doing to listen.
"Yeah, Bones spotted some of the gang members. Look, I need anything you can get me to pick those guys up." Booth said with a heavy hope in his voice.
"Yeah, we're working on it now." Hodgins said and hung up.
On the exam table before Cam, Angela, Hodgins and Arastoo were Sweets jeans, tee and Converse from the night before, laid out like a person would be, only the person was missing.
"So first off," Angela began. "Can I just say I'm glad that these clothes are empty?"
"I second that." Cam said.
"Shouldn't the FBI be looking into this?" Arastoo asked. "We do bones don't we?"
"Yes, but we're the best." Hodgins reminded him. "And Booth wants the best."
"What are we looking for anyway?" Arastoo asked after nodding.
"Anything that might be able to give us an ID on Sweets attackers." Cam said scanning with a magnifying glass with its light searching for specifics.
"This is just creepy." Angela said looking down at the clothes.
"I know Ange, but it's the only way we can put those guys away for good. If Booth can't get them to crack and get one of them confess we have to find a way to put each one of them at the scene or they're gonna walk. In which case Sweets will have to testify and…"
"Yeah, I know." Angela said as her eyes went over to the bat and got an idea. She grabbed the stack of medical files they had gotten from the hospital. "I think I have some work to do in my office. Holler if you need me."
"This here." Arastoo said pointing. "See the discoloration?"
"Yes, I do see that." Cam said swabbing it. "I think this might be saliva."
"I'll run it. We'll be able to rule out Sweets pretty quick." Hodgins said taking the sample.
"You think one of them spit on Dr. Sweets?" Arastoo asked with an incensed notion in his voice.
Before Cam could answer Hodgins had a response. "Looks like it. Darrel Harrison, aka Diamond K. He's got a rap sheet long enough to crash my computer. Best part? Known associate of Southeast 8."
"Well there's one of the 7 down. We can match the kid Booth has in custody to the bat." Cam said still searching the clothing, trying to think of their previous occupant.
"Are these jeans previously ripped fashion wise of from fight?" Arastoo asked looking at the knee.
Cam looked closely. "There's blood in the fibers so I'm going to say it's not fashion. She should be able to match the injuries Dr. Sweets to be sure." Cam paused and cleared her throat, Arastoo noticed. "Did you see something there?"
"No, I guess I was just uh…" Arastoo said growing quiet.
"Let's concentrate on what there is by way of concrete evidence." Cam snapped. "Not curiousity."
Arastoo nodded and Cam seemed to feel guilty.
"I'm going to check the bat, if they traded off using it, there may be more prints." Hodgins said.
"Good, I'm going to check on Angela." Cam said walking away.
Hodgins turned to Arastoo once Cam was gone. "What was that?"
"She's upset, but I know it's not with me." Arastoo said quietly.
"What about then?" Hodgins asked aloof.
Arastoo nodded to the set of clothes. Hodgins nodded. He had been trying to forget they belonged to Sweets for so long that he actually had.
"Oh right." He said, his tone deepening.
"She'll never admit it." Arastoo said. "But she didn't sleep a wink last night."
Cam needed a break, she felt like there wasn't enough air on the platform. She walked in Angela's office to the soft sounds of music. Cam figured Angela must have needed a break as well. It surprised her then to see what she did on the screen. Angela's back was to Cam as Cam watched Angela compile a series of events on a computer generated man, slightly similar in dark hair, skin and height to Sweets. The computer image was taking a beating and Cam realized Angela was using the medical reports to recreate each injury.
Cam cleared her throat but Angela only remained working. Cam grew closer and Angela swiveled in her chair away from her. Cam was baffled touched Angela on her shoulder causing Angela to stop tapping away, and look up for a second, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Oh Angela." Cam said in an uncharacteristic hug. "You don't have to watch this."
"I thought it would help." Angela said wiping the tears away. "I wanted to get those bastards. But then, it just sunk in…"
Cam watched the recreation which took all of two minutes and felt Angela pulling Cam this time into a hug having not noticed the silent tears streaming down her own cheeks as well.
"Bastards." Cam said softly and Angela nodded.
Booth met with Bridges and Stalcup who were eager for an update on Sweets which simply meant he was being reclassified as serious and not critical. Booth's reason for his visit as to go with the officers to find any information on the other gang members. He suspected few would talk to them and indeed they didn't get far.
Booth developed another idea and headed back to the office and found what he was looking for, several angry and eager agents. He asked for volunteers and got many but selected on a few to go undercover to try and get information on the gang.
"Will it still matter? Asked the one agent.
"Why wouldn't it matter?" Booth asked confused.
"Well with Agent Sweets being alive and all? Can't he just testify?" The agent asked and Booth's expression fell.
"What?"
"Yeah, Agent Landry said something about it. He was taking Brian Robinson to charge him and said something to him about if he didn't watch it Dr. Sweets would be sure he would rot in jail. I guess Robinson said something to him and he shoved him a little and said that. Dr. Sweets is alive isn't he? I guess we got some wrong information?"
Booth's expression hardened as he failed to answer in search of a junior agent who was about to get an earful.