5.

Sweets wasn't sure if it was still sunny, it looked cloudy, maybe dark again. He was pretty sure it looked like rain this morning. He wondered if it was still the same day. All he wanted to do was keep tapping, different intervals so they knew it wasn't mechanical, it was human, it was him.

Maybe it was the head injury, maybe it was the shortness of breath but he was pretty sure that telling the difference between what was real and what wasn't was becoming a stretch. This thought was solidified when he was pretty sure he saw someone coming towards him.

"Slow." Booth said into the microphone to above where the team, under the guise of the coroner's office stood on the rickety landing that remained over the elevator shaft. There was little room on the only space that was left, the rest of the building lay below. The makeshift plank to the shaft was even unsettling.

The team could see little below so they positioned a camera over the shaft so Angel see perhaps more than they could with her gadgets. Another camera was on Booth's helmet to see anything as he descended. She jotted down measurements pointed out concerns to Finn who documented them.

"Almost to the car." Booth said being lowered from the harness into shaft with metal protruding everywhere. He carefully maneuvered past them and was soon to the elevator cab.

"Okay stop." Booth said. He kept in mind everything he said in case the killer was listening. He had a feeling the killer was occupying himself with the next crime though he couldn't be sure on that. He was sure they were on borrowed time as it was.

"Sweets." Booth whispered as he maneuvered past the last of the metal to see Sweets, pinned to the wall, buried in debris. The open gash on Sweets head deeply concerned him. Sweets had stopped tapping shortly before they had mounted the elevator shaft.

Booth repeated his name and Sweets slowly turned his head and blinked his eyes as he narrowed them to see who was there. He saw a figure floating into the shaft. Booth noticed Sweets seemed a little out of it.

"Whoa, are you an angel?" Sweets asked.

"I'm no angel kid." Booth said back as he hovered over Sweets buried self.

"How are you doing?" Booth asked but he noticed Sweets was nodding off again. "Hey, stay with me." He whispered again.

"Booth, can we get a confirmation on how things are uh, going?" Cam asked trying to remain non-specific in her message.

"I'm here. I'd say not great." Booth said looking back at Sweets.

"Am I seeing that gash correctly?" Angela asked trying to zoom in from images on Booth's headset.

"What kind of gash?" Cam asked over the radio, unable to see.

"Guys, we don't have a lot of time here." Booth reminded them.

"Right." Angela said using the camera to continue to survey the scene. "Booth I need you to slowly look around so I can survey the whole place."

Booth did as instructed.

"No one's coming." Sweets said.

"What? Sweets, I'm right here." Booth said.

"No one's coming." Sweets said again and Booth realized Sweets wasn't looking at him.

The harness Booth was on wasn't comfortable but he knew he had no intention of leaving Sweets in this car alone.

"Hey! Hey Sweets!" Booth said trying to get his attention. Booth tried to get close to tap Sweets to try and get his attention but he was out of reach.

"Can you drop me down a little further?" Booth asked over the microphone.

"Booth if you touch down you might put too much pressure on him. I don't know what's under there." Angela said looking at all the debris. "You could step on something that pushes on something and stabs into Sweets."

Booth sighed as he dangled helplessly above. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Just give me a second." Angela said computing the fragments in the area.

In what seemed like a long time Booth waited and dangled, feeling his legs grow tingly in the suspension. The team above waited, wondering if they had been detected.

Booth watched as Sweets slowly but laboriously breathed.

"Tell them thank you." Sweets said though his eyes stayed shut.

"What?" Booth asked surprised to even hear Sweets mumble.

"Tell everyone, Booth, Dr. Brennan, Angela, Cam, maybe Hodgins, tell them thanks. It was nice to have a family again. I hope that…"

"No, no, no Sweets, these sound like goodbyes, and we're not…"

"It's okay." Sweets said, softer this time. "It's too hard to say, to brea…" Sweets head began to tilt more to the side and Booth felt a panic. Quickly he loosened several straps and he wasn't so concerned about crushing Sweets as he landed on the debris pile as he was losing him all together.

Booth trudged closer to Sweets and quickly began to pull away the rubble of sandy cement and metal chips, ignoring the cuts to his own hands. He stopped when he reached a beam.

The removal of some rubble allowed Sweets to breathe slightly more easily but Booth knew he had only bought him minutes, not hours needed to get him out.

"Angela, I need something now." Booth said.

"Booth!" Angela shouted and Booth stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had the feeling he was being watched. He didn't know how, but he felt like the killer was back and was watching now.