PRE A/N ALERT: I had to RE-POST this chapter again because I have screwed up my email alerts because I had deleted a previous chapter that was just an author's note and it screwed up the entire alert system! I hope those of you who get email alerts for this fic, can all use the link now. Let me know!

SORRY FOR DELAYED UPDATE! I apologize, I explain part of the delay at end of this chapter, but my RL is also part of the issue. Please read and please review :-)

Previously On Mistaken Identity . . .

Fifteen minutes later Nik and Lexi had managed to uncuff Brennan long enough to slip her arms into the shirft Lexi brought in for her. It was slightly large for Brennan's petite frame but they felt it was a close enough fit that no one would notice. They knew she would don a lab coat anyway when she got the the Jeffersonian. They rigged her up completely, covered her face and nose with a tight blindfold and proceeded to lead her blindly to the van. She already missed having Booth in her presence, he provided her with a safe and warm feeling whenever he was near. Now she just felt cold, and alone.

~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~

Mistaken Identity

Chapter 30

~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~

A Few Blocks From The Jeffersonian –

Sam and Lexi were the lucky duo tasked with taking Brennan back to the Jeffersonian. They had parked the van a block away knowing that the closer they got, the more their odds of being captured on video surveillance cameras would be. Lexi hopped up into the back of the van where their prisoner sat on the floor of the van. Lexi removed her blindfold and reminder her once again that should they hear anything through her microphone, that they think in any way is some kind of hint or warning - that Booth would suffer for it - even if it wasn't a warning and yet they took it as one, Brennan knew they would take full advantage of the opportunity to inflict harm on her partner. Lexi also reminded her that her own Jeffersonian team was also at risk of being harmed due to some precariously placed explosives that had been planted by someone on the inside - someone who was secretly working for the Gravedigger leader, Bill.

Untying the scientist's hands Lexi pulled out a small caliper weapon and pressed it firmly against Brennan's side. "You will walk closely in front of me where I will keep this gun trained on your back, right where your spine is, now I am a very good shot so I cannot imagine what a bullet to that part of the back would do to one's spine. As she led Brennan out of the van that she now could see was parked in an alleyway, Sam had come around to help monitor the situation and help cover the view of the two women as Lexi got into position behind Brennan where she pulled out a newspaper from a stack of them sitting in the back of the van, she positioned it so that her gun was hidden beneath the paper and as Sam stepped aside, they headed off.

You will walk just a couple of feet in front of me until we get close to that newspaper stand over there. Once we get there I will stop to buy a paper while you continue the few steps to the main entrance of your building. Understand?" Brennan nodded, reaching slowly up to smooth down her hair and make herself more presentable. Of course she wasn't goin to try anything, if something happened to HER, Booth wouldn't stand a chance.

Angela's Office . . .

Angela was standing in front of her 'Angelator' where she was working on creating a 3-D image of the interior of the storage locker where the Gravedigger had stored all of their weapons and other key pieces of evidence. Angela's job was to create an exact replica of the room based on photographs taken at the scene as well as the full police reports and inventory list of all of the items that were found there.

So focused on getting her data input perfectly, she hadn't heard the soft steps of a visitor entering her office just behind her. Then she heard the familiar and sorely missed voice of her friend.

"Angela?"

She immediately spun around at the sound of her own name and started squealing loudly in delight.

"OH MY GOD! BREN! It's you! Sweetie where the hell have you been? Is Booth with you? Oh my God we've been SOOO worried about you guys!" Angela continued with her nervous and rambling outburst not realizing she hadn't given her friend a chance to actually answer any of her questions as she fired one right after another without so much as a breath in between.

"Shhh, Ang please. Not so loud!" Brennan begged her. "Please don't ask me too many questions right now, there will be plenty of time for that later. Right now I need you to show me all of the evidence you have so far against the Gravedigger. Booth's life may depend on it Ang." she explained.

The last sentence caused the smile to immediately disappear from Angela's face as she realized that Booth was not with Brennan after all. "What? Sweetie I'm so sorry, I had no idea – I just assumed that whomever had you guys had let you both go. I thought he was just still parking his SUV or something. Are you alright?" Angela inquired with concern as she finally took a moment to take a good look at her long time friend – not liking what she saw. "Brennan, what happened to you? First of all you look too thin, second you look like you haven't slept in days, and third, you seem nervous and that's not like you."

"Angela again I must ask you not to ask me too many questions right now, we have a lot of work to do if we are going to get Booth back alive. I need you to just trust me – please. Can you do that?"

"Of course, yes – yes of course." she repeated, "Just tell me what you need, you know you can always count on me Bren – always! First though, you need to be checked out by the in-house medic! Sweetie you look like you've been through hell and we all know you were injured when you were taken in the parking garage."

Brennan couldn't hide the worried expression on her face, she was so fearful that she might unknowingly mention something that could be construed by her captor's – as a warning or signal. She knew she had to pull it together or this could go horribly wrong. "Ang, I know you are being a good and concerned friend – you always are, but I need to focus on finding Booth now so please, just humor me and let me work first. I promise, I will agree to a full check up afterwards. We just can't spare the time right now! Booth's life depends on it."

After Angela caved in, instantly detecting the immense worry and fear that her best friend was obviously feeling, she nodded her head and then quickly followed Brennan whom had already turned and started making her way toward the main lab. Angela had to run just to catch up to her.

Warehouse . . .

Booth had no idea he had passed out again, nor did he know how long he was out this time. He awoke feeling disoriented and sore, especially his leg which now felt like it was on fire. ~ 'Well I guess Bones was able to reset my leg right. It's sure not numb anymore.' ~ he thought to himself, he almost missed the numb leg he had been stuck with before, at least it didn't hurt.

He slowly pulled himself upright and after pulling strength from deep within, strength he didn't think he had left at this point, he was finally able to pull himself up onto the bed, then dropping back to the pillow he collapsed in a heap, sweat beading on his brow and upper lip from the painful exertion. He was anxious with worry – where had they taken her, was it her turn to be tortured. Then his cloudy memories started to resurface.

~ 'Oh yeah, the Jeffersonian.' ~ he thought as he recalled the conversation about Brennan being a bad actress. He had joked about it at the time but he also knew that when his life was in danger and her performance was critical to his survival, he knew she would step it up and give the performance of her life. He decided he had had enough of this! He was tired of this room, tired of the abusive treatment from the screwed up criminals, and tired of not doing anything to try to escape or get some answers of his own.

He hoisted himself up from the bed, pausing once he was upright until the room stopped spinning. As soon as he felt more stable on his one foot that had to support all of him, he hopped forward once, that's all he needed to get to the closest wall not far from the door. The movement jarred his injured leg badly enough that he had to bite on his lip hard enough to draw blood just to keep from yelling out. For a brief moment he thought for sure he was going to pass out again from the nausea and dizziness that took over. He now realized that his concussion was also rearing it's ugly head just from the long hop he had just taken, causing his already bruised brain to shake inside the confines of his skull.

Breathing deeply through his nose, he focused on calming himself and breathing through the pain. Then once it was back to the previous reduced agony, he pressed the front of his body against the wall, resting his head against the cool concrete and savoring in the temporary relief it brought to his throbbing head. He then pulled his head up and turned so he was facing the door, and he immediately started hollering as loud as he could despite the pain that the vibrations induced, trying his best to taunt them into coming in, hoping that only one of the villains came to shut him up so he could try to overpower them and make a run for it.

"HEY! I WANT TO TALK TO THE IDIOT IN CHARGE OF YOU MISFITS! DO YOU HEAR ME? I WANT TO TALK TO HIM NOW!"

He then sagged against the wall again resting, he had to regain the strength that the yelling had just sucked out of him and he had to recover it fast! He knew that calling the already self conscious crime team misfits was going to spark some fury! It had been so obvious to him that the trio of unstable underlings lived in constant fear of their own boss and had allowed their own low self esteems to fool them into believing that their boss had faith in their abilities and had been impressed by their own long criminal records. If he still gambled, Booth would bet money that that wasn't the case. He was almost certain that the leader had purposefully and tactically hired people whom he knew he could control completely and who would do anything asked of him just to earn his praise and attention. Ms. Heather Taffet was a perfect example.

He drew in a quick deep breath as soon as he heard the door being thrust open after only just a few minutes.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL US?" hollered the booming voice of Nik, who seemed almost shaking with anger. Nik had expected Booth to still be laying on the bed, or the floor where they had left him last time. Booth took immediate advantage of the man's anger and surprise at seeing an empty bed but then barely catching Booth in his peripheral vision.

Swinging his arm backwards with all of what was left of his might, Booth swung back and hit Nik directly across the side of his neck propelling him forward onto the bed. Then grabbing the open and discarded set of handcuffs that were dangling at the end of the bed after they had removed them from Brennan, Booth threw his own muscular body forward so that he landed directly on top of the stunned and struggling thug using his full body weight to pin the man until he could cuff him to the bed. Booth's right hand was pressed firmly over Nik's mouth to keep him from shouting for help, while he his left hand fiddled with getting the cuff around the man's pinned arm.

Nik had freed one of his hands from underneath the heavy agent and punched his fist sharply into the right side of Booth's head just to attempt to strike out at anything within his limited reach. It was useless, all it did was cause the agent to cuss loudly and then shake off the blurring vision and pain that the strike had caused him. But Booth snapped the cuff tightly shut despite Nik's weak attempt to stop him.

His adrenaline was spiking once again and provided him with the fuel he needed to pull himself up from the bed, then reaching to grab the pillow from the bed Booth moved fast and switched the hand he was using to cover Nik's mouth so that now Booth's left hand was covering Nik's mouth so that he could use his right hand to grab the pillow and shake it loose from thin pillow case that covered it. Within seconds Booth had the pillow case tied around Nik's head and mouth, it acted as a gag that was so tight it would not allow his tongue or mouth to move in any way whatsoever rendering him completely mute.

After pulling himself from the man and the bed, Booth pushed off and hopped again to get himself back against the wall again, once more pausing to catch his labored breath and figure out his next move. He had to just grit his teeth as he silently hopped out the door, pulling it shut and locking it essentially trapping one of his captors in the very room they had held their own prisoner's in.

Looking around he gathered his bearings looking for any exit signs or evidence that would tell him more about what this place was. Even if he were to be caught again he would be that much more prepared and aware of how to get out once he escaped again with ot without Brennan's help.

Booth knew deep in his gut that if he did get caught again, he would never be able to regain enough strength to attempt another escape again, but he figured that at least might be able to figure out where he was being held and then hopefully get the opportunity to get that info to Brennan some how so that she could find him before the gravedigger team brought her back against her will - once she had the evidence they sent her for.

Looking around he was amazed that they had only left Nik to guard the vicinity near his cell, more proof that they were amateurs no matter how big they talked. He had no doubts that the leader of the group was no joke, and certainly no amateur – but by hiring such a weak team to do his dirty work he had made a huge mistake that could be what ultimately brought him down!

in their could see a small group of 3 small offices toward the North and opposite end of the fairly small warehouse, there also looked to be a small main door near those offices that had then to the East he could see some large, but closed garage doors – most likely used to deliver shipments and load trucks for deliveries. ON the West side he could see some filthy and clouded up windows that were high up from the ground most likely only there to bring in daylight but served to other function than that.

There were large pieces of machinery, old and rusty – most likely used to manufacture whatever the former business had sold it it's glory. There were crates and pallets strewn about in large stacks here and there, everything was dust covered and musty as if left sitting there for years. He was very happy to see them though since he needed the extra support so he could lean on them as he hopped on one leg making his way closer to the other offices. He hoped to find some other way out before he had to get that far, he knew that they would have left someone other than just Nik to maintain the entire warehouse while some of them went with Brennan. Even if it meant calling in some more hired hands to do so. The gravedigger leader was a smart enough man not to risk having weak security in place to guard his invaluable cargo. The man needed that evidence in order to keep from going to prison and after receiving the evidence if it got to that point, Booth knew that he and Brennan would be killed and their bodies never to be found so that no one could pin anything else on the Gravedigger – at least until they committed their next group of crimes.

All of this was running through Booth's mind while he very slowly made his way along the stacks of materials and pallets. He had no idea what he would do if he DID make it outside somehow, hoping to find some vehicle to hot wire was really his only option. He also had a nagging worry in the back of his mind about whether his escape might put his partner in further jeopardy, wondering if perhaps they had rigged her with a bomb or something – he just had no way of knowing. If he let himself worry about every possible scenario that may or may not happen, he would be a dead man for sure because he would give up on his attempt to get away. He just knew he had to try to escape and get to Brennan - regardless of the cost!

Stopping to catch his breath, exhaustion starting to once again take it's toll – physical fatigue from hopping along and continuously jarring his painful leg and head, and the mental strain of being fully on his guard. That combined with weakness from severe lack of food and sleep – he wasn't sure how far he could even make it at this point. He shook off the thought and continued on.

Once he was closer to where the nearest exit was located, he could see the main offices once of which had lights on and he thought he could hear some voices coming from within. Booth stayed as still as possible and taking in some more deep breaths as he weighed his options and tried to determine the best way to get past the office, without being seen. Or heard for that matter, hopping wasn't exactly tip toeing around!

He knew he didn't have enough energy and stamina left to make it over to the large garage doors and the sound of opening one of those would surely kill any plans of getting to a car with enough time to hot wire it.

~ ' Dammit!' ~ he thought, ~ 'This is definitely not the most thought out plan I've ever had!' ~ he thought discouragingly. His mind still foggier than normal and his focus so intent upon watching the office and trying to figure out his next move, that he hadn't even heard the slowly approaching automatic rifle toting muscle man that had spotted him a few moments earlier and was getting closer by the minute.

As soon as the hairs on the back of Booth's neck started to bristle, alerting him to the impending danger, it was too late! He started to spin around to look behind him only to be greeted with the bottom end of the huge man's weapon as it came crashing towards his face with a crack!

To Be Continued . . .

PLEASE DON'T WORRY! I know I've been hard on our poor Booth, but he just is too stubborn to just give up and worry about his own safety and injuries, when Brennan is still in danger. I promise he won't get hurt much more and all this will do is give him a broken nose and partially black eye – okay so his concussion will be a little worse but he's got a hard head. LOL

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW because I didn't get nearly as many as usual and I didn't realize how much that affected my wanting to update, I just felt discouraged and surprised that it affected me like that, I didn't realize how much those excited me to write faster.