9.

The beeping made Booth sit up too quickly causing a crick in his neck. With great irritation he rubbed it, urging the pain to subside. The chair in the corner of the room hadn't proved to be a great deal of comfort while he snoozed.

He worked for a moment to orient his eyes to see Angela leaning against Brennan, both sound asleep. Cam wasn't in the room. He heard beeping again and realized that was what woke him.

He got up and walked closer to the Sweets who still sat motionless on the bed. He had more color to him now over the pale image that lay there when they arrived. The shades of blue had faded though it wasn't quite yet normal Sweets. The beeping began again, quicker this time and Booth became alarmed when he recalled Cam's warning about cardiac arrest. He immediately left for the hallway where he saw Cam talking to Dr. Clark in the distance. Cam saw him and the expression he held and both quickly returned to the room.

The examined the beeping machines as the commotion now woke Breanna and Angela.

"What, what is it?" Angela asked apprehensive.

Dr. Clark took a few more vitals before offering her a smile.

"His body temperature has reached an acceptable level." He informed her. "We are holding at 93." He added to Cam as she nodded along. "Blood pressure is still low, but acceptable."

"93?" Booth asked interrupting them. "Isn't normal body temperature like 98?"

"Yes and while anything below 95 is still considered hypothermia it's a considerable adjustment." Dr. Clark added.

"So is he out of the woods?" Booth asked trying not to anticipate too much.

"Let's say he's finding his way there." Cam cautioned, but held a small smile.

"When will he wake up?" Brennan asked as the doctor was leaving.

"When he's ready." The doctor answered ambiguously. They looked to Cam again.

"Dr. Sweets has been thru quite a bit, he's doing well, I suspect he will come around when he's rested up." She suggested. "Now that he's stable, I would suppose some of us could go home. I can stay here, not having small children and all."

"Well Max is with Christine and Michael Vincent. I think we could stay a little longer." Brennan suggested knowing Angela wasn't quite ready to leave, despite knowing Sweets had improved. She suspected Angela would only be appeased when Sweets sat up and talked or argued with her.

"Hey! Here you guys are." Hodgins said walking in the room with a sense of excitement. "Just ran into the doc and he said Sweets was gonna make it." He looked back over to their most silent team member, quietly breathing shallow.

"Most likely." Cam said still a bit cautious.

"Well while it looks like you've all been napping I've been at the crime scene." Hodgins began. They could tell he found something.

"I found a few particulates and took them back to the lab to analyze them. I did find traces of rope. It would appear she was strangled as the others were since it was embedded pretty deeply. It does match the rope found from the school and on the previous cases." Hodgins explained.

"Well I think we know the cases were connected Hodgins." Booth stated.

"Yes, well, I'm also found some granules of rock. They are pretty old, commonly used in building structures at the turn of the century. They were embedded in the carpet, probably dug in since he was carrying the body there." They didn't seem super impressed with his finds. "Well it's something since it's doubtful that the suspect is going to return to his cabin with the location known and since you guys trashed it on the last trip."

"Are there any more girls that might become victims?" Brennan asked.

"It seemed as though those girls were the worst offenders at the school. Their actions really set them above the others." Booth said hoping that meant there weren't more.

"If we don't catch him dropping off this last body, then we might never catch him." Angela realized. "If he has no more potential victims, he's just going to get away with this."

Based on the fact that his daughter Molly Edwards and his wife had vanished without a trace they knew it was possible for him to do the same.

"So the question is where is he now and what's he going to do with the last body?" Cam rationalized.

"Melissa Phillips?" Brennan asked as though for clarification. "She was the first victim but the only one body to not yet be recovered correct?"

"Yeah we suspect since her father has been away on vacation he's been, uh, saving it." Booth explained.

"Is her father back in town?" Angela asked.

"No, I checked and he's still gone." Booth explained.

"But if she's thawed out," Angela began but was grossed out by the thought, "then he's got to do something with her, and soon."

"What about the last victim, why was she displayed in the way she was? The other bodies were completely damaged." Cam mused.

"That's a question for Sweets." Booth advised.

"May he knew we were onto him and he was getting back at us." Hodgins suggested but it didn't feel right.

"It's not us." A voice said softly. The looked at each other and then down to Sweets.

"Sweets?" Booth asked rushing closely. "Was that you?"

Sweets eyes were still closed but a small smile crept onto his face. Angela grabbed his face and kissed his red cheek. Sweets smiled a sad sort of smile at that. He knew it was Angela by the smell of her perfume. He could tell it was a concerned kiss and wondered what had all happened that she would feel that way.

"Sweets, how are you feeling?" Brennan asked.

Sweets tried to clear his throat but it was extremely dry.

"Hang on Dr. Sweets, I'll get you something." Cam said grabbing some water. Booth backed up to give her room.

Sweets tried to inch his eyes open, he had a sense they were all standing close by. Cam pushed his head forward and he tried to grab at the cup.

"Let me help Sweets." Cam suggested in a low and patient voice. She didn't want to alarm Sweets about his hands just yet. She saw his look of concern that she knew he was too smart to miss but he accepted the drink and the help. "We'll get you some more, I'll get the doctor…"

"It's not us." Sweets said again and they wondered what he was talking about. "You said the suspect, he was getting back at us." Sweets said stopping for a few breaths as he said it.

Hodgins began , "how did you…"

"I've been listening for a while." Sweets said trying to move his fingers but noticed they weren't cooperating. He strained to try and open his eyes again.

"You could have told us you were awake." Angela said in a slightly scolding tone.

"I was, I thought I…" Sweets fumbled over his words, he didn't like to upset Angela.

"It's okay Sweets." Booth said reassuringly. "We're just glad you're awake."

"Yes! We don't want to upset Dr. Sweets." Cam warned reminding them with her tone that there was still a threat of cardiac arrest in his weakened state. They all took note.

"You should rest sweetie." Angela urged.

"Well, maybe we should hear Sweets out first." Hodgins urged since they had so little to go on. They wanted to object but they were desperate too.

"The suspect's focus is the parents, particularly the fathers." Sweets explained as his voice dried again and Cam assisted with more water. "Nothing about Liz Sanders was due to the fact we found him, his focus is still to punish the fathers."

"That makes sense." Brennan said, wondering if it was a logical pattern or Sweets soft science.

"So Melissa Phillips father isn't around but he's got to do something, game's almost over for him, he's not going to wait months until the guy comes back." Booth said.

"What about the school?" Sweets asked. "The rope came from there. Is there a father figure at the school who would be made to suffer?"

"Dean Anthony." Booth said realizing the target.

"That rock I found, it was most likely from the school." Hodgins said piecing it together.

"If the rope is from the bells…" Sweets began but couldn't finish.

"We got it." Booth said urging Sweets to lay back and rest. Booth looked at Brennan and Hodgins who nodded that they were going along.

"Great so you don't need me right?" Angela asked quickly and before they answered she added. "Okay great, thanks, bye."

They had to smile at her approach. She turned her attention away from them and back to Sweets. Cam joined in at looking at Sweets but the trio felt like he was left in good hands.

"This is Agent Booth." Booth said into his cell as they left the hospital. "I know it's midnight but we have a head on our suspect."