A/N – HELP NEEDED. I don't know if any of you readers out there ever copy and paste Fan Fic stories onto Word doc's or anything so you can read them without computer – or perhaps have downloaded stories onto something like a Kindle. But I LOST chapter 29 and will have to re-write it so I thought I would ask if anyone had a saved copy of this story where you could email me with it. I was correcting a chapter and accidentally saved it over Ch 29 by mistake and for some reason it happens to be the ONE and ONLY chapter I don't have saved on my hard drive. PM me if you can help.
Enjoy this chapter and once again I am sorry for the delay. I have a new job that's eating up my writing time rt now. I will do all I can to update this story again within the next week to ten days!
~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~
Previously on Mistaken Identity . . .
Cam and Hodgins brought Dr. Sweets up to speed on what had happened thus far to Booth and that was followed by this scene:
Old Warehouse District . . .
William Burton was literally spitting as he yelled at one of the additional men he had hired for extra security - hand picked by Bill himself from the numerous hard as nails ex-cons that he had worked with in the long and shady past.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN - HE'S GONE?"
~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~BnB~
Mistaken Identity
Chapter 37
Abandoned Warehouse – Main Office . . .
"I . . . I don't know w-what happened Sir, I went looking for Nikolai when he didn't return from checking on the prisoner but when I got there, I found him barely conscious on the floor - his arm was cuffed to the bed frame and our prisoner was no where to to be found"
Before William had even opened his mouth to start yelling again, another one of the extra hired security guards came around the corner half dragging a barely coherent Nik into the room, he had one arm locked underneath Nik's own arm in order to keep him upright as he practically carried him along.
Lugging the groggy man across the small room he brought him over to a nearby desk chair closest to their boss, dropping him unceremoniously down into it to face his unavoidable punishment.
"S-sorry boss." came the weak sounding apology from Nik. He knew he would be lucky if his boss didn't shoot him in the leg or full out kill him, for letting his prime prisoner escape. "He – he caught me b-by surprise . . . I – he . . . overpowered me when I first entered the room. He – he's CRAZY boss! He shouldn't have been able to do anything in his condition!" he pleaded his own case.
"Stanford – you get every extra guard out there with you looking for him! Dammit I expect to see Seeley Booth back in our custody within the hour!" William Burton was shouting mad. Veins could be seen protruding and bulging in his forehead and his neck as he hollered out his orders. He didn't have many extra guards but enough to make a pretty quick search of the area and hopefully clean up the mess that he held Nik completely responsible for. "I don't care how tough he is, he can't get far on a busted leg!"
Hodgins' House . . .
As Hodgins, Cam and Sweets all waited for the doctor to arrive Cam and Hodgins continued bringing Sweets up to speed on what had happened since he had last talked to Brennan and Booth.
"So you're saying you think Dr. Brennan is wired and that someone is monitoring her while she's at the Jeffersonian?" Sweets asked in disbelief. It all sounded too 'spy movie' in his young mind. "Well how are you planning to keep her from leaving? Surely they plan on taking her again if she really is there to gather all of the evidence for the assholes who are responsible for all of this!" the bright red splotches that naturally adorned the young Psychologist's face became even brighter the more angry he became. He was shocked at what he was hearing and appalled that the Gravedigger team was still tormenting his friends like this. Part of him wanted to go talk to Heather Taffet again but another part of him wasn't sure he could maintain his professional demeanor if he had to look into her cold and creepy eyes again.
It was Cam who finally answered him while she ran a cool cloth across the forehead of the now fitfully sleeping Booth. "Yes that is what we are saying and no, we don't have any idea how to keep her from leaving or being taken again."
Hodgins added his own insight, "I have a couple of theories as to what they are planning and I can tell you this – there's no way they will let Booth and Dr. Brennan remain alive unless we find some way to make sure Dr. Brennan is out of harm's way so we can send the FBI to raid their hideout. But we have to get Booth to tell us more about how many there were and . . . well, who was there if he got any names which I guarantee – he did."
"Wil'm B'rton"
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn towards Booth as they barely heard him utter something almost unintelligible. Sweets jumped up from the chair he had been catching his bearings in and joined Cam and Hodgins next to the bed.
"Booth, you're awake again – what did you just say? We didn't quite catch it." Cam leaned down closer to Booth's face as Hodgins got out of the way.
"Ring . . . lead-err. Will-iam . . . B-burton." he said while pausing to breath heavily between each word. Everyone knew it was probably due to the pain he was in.
"Wait, isn't he some big time Attorney? Or at least he used to be if we're talking about the same man."
"Ss-same one. No-body call . . . FBI." he slurred but now his eyes were open so they knew he was slowly becoming more and more alert – but unfortunately more agitated as well. Cam didn't miss the glassy sparkle that would remain there until they got his fever back down.
"Okay, okay easy now. Booth you need to just trust us and let us take care of you for a change, okay? We won't let anything happen to Brennan and we won't let this bastard Burton get away either. Now listen to me, I have a doctor coming here to check you over. I know he's someone we can trust to be discreet and not ask any questions. We won't tell him anything about what's going on so I need you to just humor me and let him look you over. Deal?"
Booth narrowed his eyes slightly to let her know he didn't like the situation, or his lack of control over any of it. But eventually he conceded, knowing he had no other choice at this point.
"Fine." he grumbled.
The timing couldn't have been more eerily perfect as the doorbell rang loudly through the house again , but this time they knew it had to be the Cam's doctor arriving. Sweets volunteered to go lead the man back to the guest room and took off running towards the main entrance to let the good doctor in, he knew time was of the essence.
Everyone had left the quest room to give the doctor and Booth some privacy. It seemed like forever but in reality only twenty minutes had passed before the physician finally came out into the hallway where Cam, Hodgins and Sweets all stood waiting to hear Booth's official prognosis.
Shutting the door carefully behind him so his new patient would not be disturbed, the doctor set down the semi-large medical case he had brought with him - it had a handle on the top and looked like a cube shaped metal suitcase and it housed everything he knew he would need per Cam's description of Booth's condition from IV's and air splints to heavy duty narcotic pain medications and more.
Cam had forgotten all about introductions since all of them were anxious to let the doctor get started, so before asking any questions she thought she had better get the formalities out of the way.
"Hodgins, Sweets, this is my good friend Dr. Alan Patterson. Alan this is Dr. Lance Sweets – he's a psychologist and this is Dr. Jack Hodgins who works for me at the Jeffersonian. Clearly neither of them are medical doctors." she explained.
"It's nice to meet both of you, really. Cam and I go a long way back. Now I am sure you are eager to know how your friend in there is doing so let me get right to it." Alan could tell by the stiff body language that they all wanted to rush through the pleasantries and hear how their friend was doing. The worry they had for the man in the nearby room was more than obvious.
"He's dozing for the moment but that's from the fever most likely - plus he needs it, badly. You'll still be able to talk to him as needed since you asked me not to drug him too heavily. I can't anyway with the head wound he's sporting on the back of his head so I simply administered something that should help bring his fever down. His blood pressure is a little low but nothing to be concerned about. Even though it's obvious he's suffered some blood loss, it doesn't appear to have been at a volume that would require transfusions so that's excellent since that is harder for me to tackle on a 'house call' if you will.
He's dehydrated and weak and his fever is definitely higher than I would like to see it so I am going to run back out to my car to grab a few more things and then I want to start him on IV liquids as soon as possible and I will piggy back that with some potent antibiotics to help fend off the infection coursing through him. I know you don't want me to ask any specific questions, and I won't, but it's pretty obvious that is man's been through hell and back."
"I'm sorry we can't tell you more Alan. That man in there is not a criminal by any stretch of the imagination so I can at least assure you that you are not aiding and abetting." Cam explained, smiling her blindingly bright smile at the man causing Lance and Hodgins to exchange glances. To them it seemed as though Cam was flirting with the doctor. Just how close were these two 'friends' they both thought to themselves.
"Well, I told you before, you don't have to explain anything to me. I know you would do the same for me if I ever asked so – it's no big deal. Anyway, I checked his leg and quite frankly it's set quite well so I don't see that any complications should arise once we eradicate the infection and I can get him stitched up where the bone came through the skin." his last sentence caused everyone to cringe and the disgusting – and horrifyingly painful thought.
"I brought an air cast with me since you had alerted me to the broken leg beforehand and I have a splint for a bit later as well as some crutches. I will put that on later after I clean that wound out a little more and get him stitched up. However, I can't stitch anything until he goes through at least one IV of antibiotics which estimate will take roughly 40 minutes or so since I will open the catheter to it's widest flow capacity. I also won't be able to wrap his ribs effectively either until I can get some stitches into the worst cuts on his upper body. I cleaned his head wound again even though you three had already done a pretty thorough job of it. His pupillary response definitely indicates a moderate concussion so he'll need to be checked on and awakened every couple of hours for a while."
"Wow, I'm impressed by how thorough you are. You have everything he would have gotten if we had taken him to the ER!" Sweets gushed, shocked that the man had even thought to bring crutches with him! But what he didn't know was that Cam had also informed her friend that they needed to get Booth up and moving sooner than was probably healthy for him right now, simply because she knew Booth would never let his own injuries prevent him from helping Brennan – or any of them for that matter.
Alan just smiled at the compliment and continued. "Well, you can all go back in there if you would like. Just please try not to get too close since he's at a precarious stage with those infections all over. He'll be extremely susceptible to infection for a while so we need to keep the direct vicinity around him as sterile as possible. If any of you are sick or fighting off a cold or anything, I will need you to wear a surgical mask for his protection. If you'll excuse me I need to run down and get those things out of my car."
Sweets volunteered to help him and they took off down the hall as Cam and Hodgins headed back in to see if Booth could tell them anything else that might help them in making sure that the entire team of people working under William Burton, were all brought to justice later.
Jeffersonian Institute . . .
Brennan was still seated on the couch in her office and had just finished the tea that Angela was sweet enough to bring her. She had to admit that just taking a moment to decompress, along with the soothing effects of the hot tea – had made her feel so much better. She was still worried for Booth and still concerned for her own fate but for some reason she just always felt better with Angela around her. Her friend seemed to take care of her whenever Booth wasn't around to do that himself.
"Feeling better?" Angela's quiet voice brought her focus back to the forefront. "Yes Ang, I do. Thank you for . . . well everything you do for me. I don't know that I tell you enough how much you mean to me."
"That's true." Angela teased and then laughed. "Actually Bren, you don't have to. I already know and I feel the same way." she leaned sideways from her seat next to Brennan and putting her arm around Brennan's shoulder she pulled her into a side hug letting her head lean to the side as well until it was touching Brennan's. They sat there just enjoying the momentary peacefulness.
Angela's phone vibrated causing both of them to jump since her phone had been inside her pocket that was located on the same side that she was leaning on Brennan with. The vibration felt by both woman had caused them to jump apart, startled by the odd intrusion.
"Angela." she hadn't recognized the phone number appearing on her display. "Yes good to hear from you. Uh-huh . . .what? Oh sorry. . . yeah. I'll get right on that . . . I better get going so uh, thank you for calling . . . uh-huh okay then . . . bye."
Brennan didn't think she had ever heard such an odd once sided conversation in her life. But she did notice how all of the color seemed to have drained from Angela's face at one point during the brief call.
What she didn't know was that Hodgins had called Angela using the Dr. Patterson's cell phone so that Angela would not answer in her usual way which was to say "Hodgie!" he had to make sure that anyone listening on the other end didn't know who was calling her.
The full two minute conversation went like this:
A – Angela speaking.
H – Ang it's me – don't say my name! Act like this is someone else calling you and just listen to me!
A - Yes, good to hear from you. (she played along)
H – Nice - now I need you to listen to me and do not scream!
A – Okay
H – We have Booth! Now don't-
A – WHAT?
H – Angela shush! Geez! We can't risk the people who have Dr. Brennan wired will hear this! Just give me one word answers if you can – no questions for now!
A – Oh sorry . . . yeah.
H – He's safe but injured so we need to stall until the doc who's here now can get him fixed up somewhat. You need to find a way to let Brennan know if you can do it without drawing suspicion.
A - I'll get right on that.
H - Okay good. You sound hot by the way (he couldn't resist flirting). One of us will be back shortly. Sweets is here now so maybe both Cam and I will come back there. Less suspicious that way.
A – Okay yes, that's a good idea.
H – He's safe but injured so we need to stall. We're at my house and Cam had a doctor friend who's gonna help get Booth back on his feet. You need to find a way to let Brennan know if you can do it without drawing suspicion – but don't mention the doctor. Just tell her Booth's okay. (Hodgins was talking at a mile per minute pace)
A - Well, I better get going now so uh, thank you for calling. (she was getting nervous that she would blow it if the call went on much longer.)
H – Good job, and don't worry! I'll see you soon.
A - Uh-huh okay then . . . bye
Once Angela ended the call it took all of her might not to turn and blurt out everything to Brennan right then and there! So badly had she wanted to ease her friend's frantic and worried mind that she had to quickly remind herself of the serious danger she would be putting all of them in – especially Brennan.
"Who was that?" Brennan asked her.
"Oh, that? Uh nothing. I had made some calls earlier trying to find some rare artistry tools that I had seen online and one of the places I had left a message with just called me back." she felt hot and nervous, worried that she had blown everything and that Brennan would never buy the weak story she had just laid on her. But to Angela's relief Brennan responded in typical Brennan style - since art held no interest to her, she easily and quickly disregarded Angela's call and had already mentally moved on to a different topic.
"Okay so I guess we should get back to work now. Especially since we're shorthanded until Cam and Dr. Hodgins return." Angela was impressed at how well Brennan did at keeping up her facade and not even blinking an eye when she mentioned Hodgins and Cam whom she knew were in the process of trying to find Booth.
As the two women headed back towards the main lab to finish gathering the vast amounts of evidence they had on the Gravedigger, knowing Brennan's time was running short and that the people who had her wired like a Christmas tree would be calling her back soon - one way or another. Angela's mind was preoccupied with trying to figure out how and when she would be able to get Brennan the message from Hodgins without raising any suspicions – and time was definitely not on her side.
To Be Continued . . .
A/N - I hope you liked this chapter, I can't decide if I did or not. Some parts I loved - some parts not so much but what matters to me is what YOU think so please review! :-) THANKS!