Chapter 15.

ASC: I almost hate to end this story, it's too fun! But I suppose Sweets can't stay in peril forever. At least in this story!

Sweets hadn't been sure if his phone had rung or not. His heart was beating so hard, his breathing so heavy and his head pounding so much that he wasn't sure he could hear anything or hold a thought. He wasn't sure if Angela was calling him to warn him of another errant car, service vehicle or whatever else there was but the way he was feeling he wasn't so sure he didn't welcome it.

He knew that wasn't the right way to think but he couldn't think of a body part that wasn't screaming in pain. Even the cuts on his body hurt and a couple may have opened.

He reached Emma's apartment with a pounding heart that fell more when he was the door was open. He walked in to see Emma on the floor, knocked out cold.

"It's nice to be able to drive so fast and reckless without having the threat of cars coming at you." Hodgins said sarcastically as he hung tightly to the "oh crap" handle.

Booth didn't comment as his jaw clenched a little tighter on the way to the address Angela had provided. Booth thought they had reached Pelant in time, but now he wondered if they had won against Pelant, but lost Sweets in the wake.

"Nothing yet Ange." Hodgins said in answer to the phone Booth didn't even hear ring. "We're almost there."

"Emma?" Sweets said worried and painfully kneeled to Emma's side. He noticed a red area on her neck as though someone had hit her and knocked her out. He was concerned when he noticed that yet to from bruise was overlapping and older purple one.

"I knew it." A voice said from behind Sweets. As Sweets turned he saw the vague figure of a man before catching a blow across his mouth. Sweets was caught off guard by the attack though he knew he shouldn't have been based on how he found Emma.

His head was still reeling when he turned to look up again but was first met with a swift kick in the side. The pain was too intense to even cry out as Sweets fragile ribs buckled under the strike. The man grabbed Sweets by the lapels on his jacket and threw him against the wall near the door. Sweets struggled to focus on the man he didn't recognize.

"I knew there was another man. I knew it." He spat at Sweets who saw the world more as fuzzy shapes despite his intense desire to focus.

The man's back was turned so he didn't see Emma as she lunged forward onto his back, wrapping her hands onto his face and poking her fingers into his eyes.

The reaction was reflective as the man let go of Sweets to grab his eyes. The weight of Emma caused he and her to fall back and Sweets to fall to the floor. The man quickly flipped over before Emma could scramble away as she was trying to do. He pulled her leg back but she kicked him repeatedly, one heel scrapping his face which pissed him off even more.

Sweets turned for his gun but he remembered he hadn't put it on since his hands and focus had not been the best in the last day. His body seethed in pain but he wanted to help Emma who had just tried to help him.

The partially opened door flew open the rest of the way so quickly Sweets caught it before it hit him. He saw with ambiguous vision a figure in black swoop down and pull said man off Emma and throw him into a wall. The man stepped forward only to meet Booth's fist, twice until he fell to the ground.

"Ah, now I feel better." Booth said as his shoulders relaxed. Hodgins was kneeling by Emma who was sitting up shaking her head affirmatively. Booth looked around and spied Sweets behind him in the dark by the door.

"Sweets!" Booth said with relief. "Thank God you're alive." He said in a barely audible tone.

As Booth got closer Sweets could see him better but only to see him expression change from relief to grief.

"Geez Sweets, we just got you out of the hospital." Booth said looking at his bleeding lip. Sweets tried not to show he was favoring his side but Booth knew.

"Thanks for getting here in time." Sweets struggled under difficult breathing to say. "I wasn't helping much." He tried to smile but his side felt like it was on fire and his breathing was increasingly becoming more labored. Booth pulled out his phone to call for an ambulance with reference to a federal officer down. Sweets tried to mutter that he was fine but Booth saw otherwise.

Emma stepped closer to Sweets as Booth rose to continue his call with address details while Hodgins called Angela to tell them they were alive..

"I'm so sorry." Emma said not wanting to look him in the eye. "I didn't mean to…"

Sweets shook his head suggesting it wasn't necessary and tried to smile. He started to talk but Hodgins approached having hung up with Angela.

"Who was that guy?" Hodgins asked about the now handcuffed unconscious guy on the floor.

"That would be my soon to be ex-husband." Emma said looking at the brute and not the other two. "You know I'd never hit him back until today." A smile crept across her lips at the thought of how empowering it was.

"Well he's not going to be bothering anyone anytime soon." Booth said now done with his call. "He's going to go away from quite a while."

"That sounds really good." Emma said nodding. "I didn't know he had found my new place. I had hoped working for the FBI would have sounded like something he would finally stay away from."

"W-would you like to talk about it?" Sweets asked slipping into shrink mode.

"No, I wouldn't." Emma said but with a smile.

"Good! You'll fit right in with us." Hodgins said getting up to keep an eye for the ambulance.

"I am sorry Dr. Sweets, I…" Emma said and Sweets took her hand.

"You smell nice." He said as he began to pass out.