The Collector by CheeseBK posted 18/09/2007

Posted 15/10/2007 04:25:18 AM
by CheeseBK

I am working on the next chapter, I hope to be able to put it up tomorrow

Posted 25/10/2007 06:26:03 AM
by lilpixie18

yeah an update looking 4ward 2 it!!! ur doin a brill job so far!!

Posted 05/11/2007 09:30:54 AM
by CheeseBK

WOHOO!!! The next chapter!!! This is Booth's pov now, while interrogating some of Brennan's neighbours. I know you may think there is nothing important in this chapter, but I tell you somethings might get important later....

please let me now what you think!!!

_________________________

Chapter 7:

Booth parked his car beside Brennan’s. To see her car in the usual spot made him clench his fists. He recalled the conversation they had had the evening before. Was it really just some hours ago? It seemed like a lifetime to him. He should have been more persuasive, he should have insisted on driving her home. Booth briefly closed his eyes and he could nearly hear her voice in his head: “Booth, I am driving with MY car to MY apartment, just as I do EVERYDAY...... there is no need for you to be overprotective...”
Booth sighed and opened his door to enter the building to interrogate Bones’ neighbours.

He decided to start with the apartments on the same floor as Brennan’s, her direct neighbours. After knocking on the first door for some time without an answer he turned towards the next door and knocked again. After some time he heard the voice of an elderly woman shouting : “Patience, patience. I am old.” He made out slow steps coming near the door and the voice asked him for his name and purpose. “I am special agent Seeley Booth with the FBI, madam.” He showed his badge through the spyhole and continued. “Yesterday there was an incident at your neighbours apartment and I would like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind?”

The elderly woman opened the door reluctantly and eyed him suspiciously, but also curiously. “The scientist, right?”

“Dr. Temperance Brennan, yes” Booth pointed at the door of the apartment in question. “Did you maybe notice something unusual?”

“Besides the fact that the whole hall was jammed with people all morning? Nah, not really.... You must know without this” she pointed towards her hearing device “I am nearly deaf. And I don’t make a habit of spying on my neighbours.” Her voice was like acid.

Booth suppressed a snort. He had enough experience with people to know that justifications without asking for them seldom came without a little feeling of guilt. And he knew that elderly people living alone had little things to distract themselves.
‘Play the game, Booth!’ he told himself and flashed her the best charm smile he could muster up in his recent state. “Of course not, Madam, I would never assume that. But sometimes living close to other people brings a little knowledge of each other with it....”

The elderly woman seemed to relax a bit at the sound of his words. “Well..... to be honest..... It so happens I heard raised voices yesterday evening, but don’t ask me what time.... but after a few moments it was quiet again. I could not make out a single word............ I mean.... not that I was trying...” she stumbled over her own words.

“No, of course not, Madam..... you were merely noticing raised voices, I understand.” Booth encouraged her to go on. “Maybe you accidentally noticed how many different voices?”

“A man and the doctor..... Odd woman that is...... “ the old woman grumbled.

Booth cleared his throat and tried to fight down his urge to shout at the old woman. “Oh?”

“A woman that age should be married, that’s what I am saying.... don’t you think so? And something is odd about that woman, I am telling you.... Sorry, what has been you name? You look familiar, now that I am thinking of it?” The woman’s eyes narrowed a bit.

“Agent Booth, madam. I sometimes work with Dr. Brennan.” Booth answered.

“Yes. I know, I know ... you have been here sometimes. So, so... working with her, that’s what you call it these days?” She shook her head and muttered something Booth did not understand, although he could make out words that sounded suspiciously like ‘disgusting’, ‘Young people’ and ‘good old time’. He briefly closed his eyes and counted to three.

“Don’t you want to tell me what happened? Did she get herself into trouble? Wouldn’t be a surprise..... Living alone, ain’t no proper thing for a woman, I tell you! And working with dead people, disgusting, mark my words....” the woman started to ramble.

“Dr. Brennan has been kidnapped.” Booth pressed the words through gritted teeth.

“See! Ain’t no proper thing for a woman that age to live alone....... What? Kidnapped? Here? In MY HOUSE?” Only now the elderly neighbour seemed to be shocked.

“I am afraid that’s the truth” Booth confirmed.

“But..... This has always been a good neighbourhood! I am telling you! This odd woman working with dead bodies! Brings kidnappers to our house! What are you doing to protect us now, eh? How can I be sure nothing is going to happen to me, eh?” The old woman pointed at him accusingly with her arthritic index finger.

That was too much for Booth’s self control. His eyes went dark with anger and his voice dropped to a dangerous tone when he said:
“I can assure you that Dr. Brennan did not choose to get kidnapped and that it is not her fault that this happened. She helps to solve crimes, maybe you should honour this a bit!
And though I am not allowed to speak about ongoing investigations I can assure you that the kidnapper in question is not the least bit interested in old hags! Thank you for your so-called co-operation.”

He turned around to the stairs, to go down at the floor below, his ears ringing with the old woman’s curses, accusations and complaints about the young people of today, somewhere in the middle silenced by her apartment door slammed shut.

He nearly ran into a man of about forty years who was just coming up, an fidgeting with his apartment key. “Sorry” the man mumbled, looked at Booth and recognition dawned on his face. “Oh....... you are Dr. Brennan’s work partner, aren’t you?”

Booth stopped and nodded. “Yes, Special Agent Booth. And you are.....”

“James Pond. With P, not B.” He smiled. “That’s my apartment” He pointed towards the door Booth had been knocking at without success. “Is this about Dr. Brennan? That’s why all the people have been here?”

Booth nodded again. “Yes. There was an....... incident last night and I would like to ask you some questions if possible.”

“No problem” Mr. Pond agreed “Come on in. The old crone surely is eavesdropping again.”

A hardly audible grunt from behind the apartment door on their left side confirmed his statement. Pond grinned and shrugged, then unlocked his apartment door and motioned for Booth to come in.

A few moments later they were sitting in Pond’s living room. Pond cleared his throat and said: “Well you already had the pleasure to meet the old crone. Horrible person. Don’t believe a word she says. All she can do is whine about the good old time and how horrible the young people of today are.”

“Got a first-hand impression of that.” Booth agreed. “Well, Mr. Pond. The reason for me being here is..... It seems there was a break-in into Dr. Brennan’s apartment last night. She is missing. Now I would like to ask you if you noticed anything unusual last night or last evening?”

“Nope, sorry, man. I would really like to help, but I’ve been working at the hospital, night shift. I came home at 4:30 this morning and everything was quiet. I woke up somewhat around 10:00 when I heard people in the hall, I guess those were your people, right?”

Booth nodded. “Did you notice anything when you came home? We do not know when exactly the kidnapping took place, so it might help us to establish a time window...”

Pond frowned a bit obviously thinking hard, but after a few minutes he shook his head. “Nope, sorry... I’ve been pretty worn out and tired... Shit... I am sorry that I can’t help you. I hope you find her... she’s cool.”

Booth only nodded and thanked Pond for his time, leaving him his card. “You might want to talk to Sandy from downstairs. She’s got the apartment directly underneath Dr. Brennan’s. Sandy Nichols. Maybe she knows something. Good luck, Agent Booth.”

Booth sighed and thanked him again, then went downstairs to talk to Sandy Nichols.

He knocked at her door and soon afterwards a young blond woman with sympathetic green eyes opened. “Hi” she grinned at him. “Wrong floor!”

“Sorry?” Booth asked confused.

“Well, usually you are knocking at the door one floor up. You are Brennan’s so-called partner. Agent Booth. Now don’t look so surprised, you think nobody notices how often you come to see her?” She giggled. “Partner.” Another giggle. “So.... assuming you did not just mix up the floor numbers... how can I help you?”

Booth quickly recovered from the shock that everybody at this house was assuming that he and Brennan had an affair. ‘Well, who gives a shit, I have to find her.’

“Last night somebody broke into Dr. Brennan’s apartment...”

The green eyes widened in shock. “Really? Oh, that’s what all the fuss was about? All those people this morning? Oh, shoot... but......FBI? You do not deal with a normal break-in, don’t you... Did ... something happen to Dr. Brennan?”

“She is missing. I have a few question, If you have time.......” Booth answered, unsuccessfully trying to mask the pain behind the words.

“Oh, SHIT! I mean sorry...... well, come in.” She guided him to her kitchen, motioned for him to sit down at the table and poured both of them a glass of water. “Missing .... as in kidnapped?”

Booth nodded. “Yes. We know she has been kidnapped. Unfortunately we do not know what time it happened. Maybe you could help us, did you notice something? Heard something maybe?”

The young woman still looked utterly shocked. “I met her on the stairs when she came home last evening. Told her about power outage we had yesterday morning....”

“Power outage? When?” Booth asked.

“At about 9 or so. She had already left, as usual. It was only for a few minutes... It was only this building they figured it was a problem with a fuse or something. An electrician came a few hours later and checked out the whole building and replaced a fuse or something. I don’t know about that stuff, you would have to ask the caretaker, Mr. Pearse downstairs.”

“Okay, I will do that, thank you. Anything else you recall?” Booth asked.

“Well....... yeah yesterday evening I heard some shouting or so.... but..... I figured it was the old crone watching TV at maximum volume again..... I...... Oh God. What if I heard her scream and...... Oh shit, I should have checked on it, but I just thought..... Oh God damn it. You think it was that sick bastard? That Collector? The newspapers are full with him....”

Booth sighed. “I am sorry, Miss Nichols, but I can’t answer that question... Do you recall at what time you heard the screams?”

She miserably shook her head. “Sorry, I have no idea.... After 10 in the evening, for sure, but what time exactly? Sorry, I don’t know.....”

Booth sighed again. “Well, thank you for your help, Ms. Nichols. Here is my card, please call me if you remember anything else.”

She nodded, then briefly squeezed his hand, he looked at her, clearly surprised. “I am sorry, Agent Booth.... this must be very hard for you. I hope you can find her soon.” Her words sounded genuinely sympathetic and the concern in her eyes made him swallow hard.
“Yeah” he croaked, then cleared his throat to steady his voice. “Thank you, Miss Nichols.”

When she closed the door he leaned against the wall. He was feeling totally worn out after only three interrogations, and there were still some neighbours left. At least he had found out something interesting. A power failure, the very day Brennan had been kidnapped. Coincidence? Booth did not believe in coincidences.

Posted 05/11/2007 10:23:41 AM
by nane

Hi Cheese , just found this fine piece of writing and swallowed the whole cake at once.
It´s a great story. Good not to detailed start to keep the readers hooked....
Last chappie was fun to read. My name is James, James Pond with a B. Had to think of Gordon Gordon of course.
Please keep going. You are doing a great job here!!

Posted 05/11/2007 11:19:27 AM
by BGWGscienceteacher

I love the James Pond name. I'm glad Booth put the "old crone" in her place. Stupid hag! I'm wondering what parts of this chapter are going to be really important later. I'm guessing the power outage is one of them. PPS

Posted 05/11/2007 11:35:39 AM
by Bella Loony

Okay Cheese, just found this one and read it from the start too!! Very interesting!! Booth is so gonna find her right? RIGHT? Oh I can't wait for your next update so if you don't kick Musie in the ass then I will!! Please post soon!

Bella

Posted 05/11/2007 01:22:07 PM
by Turi ray of sunshine

HI cheese!!
YOU"RE BACK!!.. YYYYYYYAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY!
I am in the process of reading this new chappie!
SO excited

Posted 17/12/2007 04:31:59 AM
by CheeseBK

hi people.... I hope there is still a little interest for this story left......... cause here is the next chapter... all Booth's pov this time

I am sorry it took me so long to update, but as you may know, I have too many ongoing fanfics right now!

thanks a lot for your patience!!!

___________________________________________

Chapter 8:

Booth was exhausted. Talking to all of Brennan’s neighbours that had been available had cost him a lot of energy. Everybody in the house assumed he and Bones were having an affair... and he had decided not to waste time with denying it... But it was even harder to interview these people, when he got constantly reminded by them that Temperance Brennan was not just another victim, but HIS Bones. His partner, his friend... maybe even more, though he had no time to explore this thought right now.

He was on his way back to the Jeffersonian and when he stopped at a traffic light he glanced at the seat beside him.... The emptiness made his chest tighten for a moment. Normally, his beautiful and smart, but sometimes also annoying, partner would be sitting there. He would do anything to be able to argue with her right now. That would mean she was alive and safe.

Instead of her, there was just a file, bearing her name. But he was able to deal with that, as long as her file, bore the title ‘Missing’ ........ not ‘Deceased’.
He was going to find her - alive and hopefully well - and he was going to make sure she never got kidnapped again.... and if he had to handcuff her to himself. His eyebrow rose slightly .... the ingredients Bones, handcuffs and himself.... added up to a very vivid image.
‘Idiot!’ he told himself ‘She’s missing and you are thinking of things like that’ He shook his head to banish the image and thought back to his conversation with the caretaker, Mr. Pearse.

Pearse had told him something very interesting. The power outage had lasted for about 10 minutes.... and only five minutes later an electrician had shown up. Said electrician had told Mr. Pearse that a woman - he had claimed to have forgotten the name - had called his company and informed them about a power outage. Pearse had been mildly surprised, because normally he was the one to take care of things like that, but since the electrician was there already, he was not going to send him away again, was he? The electrician had introduced himself as Mr. Smith – Booth had to snort again, when he recalled how Pearse had told him that..... Mr. SMITH, SERIOUSLY!!! – and had demanded to inspect the switch control boxes in every apartment to find the reason for the power failure.

Oh, and Mr. Smith had been wearing a full beard and a baseball cap.... how convenient! Mr. Pearse’s descrïption of the mysterious Mr. Smith was not worth the paper Booth had written on.... it simply could be any guy between 30 and 45 with average height and brown eyes and brown hair. Not exactly the kind of information that would help narrowing down the search to a group of suspects. And Pearse was not one of the witnesses you’d call reliable....
So maybe the eyes may have been blue, Booth thought sarcastically. It did not matter anyway... if the Collector had wanted to disguise himself properly, he might have used coloured lenses. For all Booth knew, his eyes could have any colour.... not that knowing his eye colour would help him at all. It was frustrating to think about it.

Booth shook his head. Good God, Pearse had to be the most naiv man he had ever met. He had taken Mr. SMITH to every apartment, using his set of keys. Of course without checking with the company, Smith claimed to work for, before giving a stranger a tour through the house. Then Booth had asked Pearse, if he had left Mr. Smith alone in one of the apartments, but Pearse had denied, obviously insulted.

Booth still did not buy it. Who was watching over an electrician for more than two hours non-stop? Surely Mr. Smith had developed a sudden feeling of thirst in Brennan’s apartment.... or something similar, just to get red of Pearse for a few minutes. Booth had to guess how Mr. Smith had managed to get himself a key to Brennan’s apartment.... all three keys to her apartment were still there: Brennan’s, Booth’s and Pearse’s. He assumed that Smith had brought a molding kit for the key.

Because of this suspicion Booth had confiscated Pearse’s key. Hodgins would have to search for residues of molding compound or fingerprints. But in case Mr. SMITH had used foil to cover the molding compound before pressing the key into it – most likely -, there would be nothing to find. The fingerprints were just a faint hope too.... Booth was pretty sure, he had been wearing gloves. He sighed. The Collector had been there... walking innocently through the house. Somehow he had pulled off that trick with the power failure.

Booth had asked around in the building after his talk with Mr. Pearse again.... nobody had called an electrician... not a big surprise. Booth had already known it had all been part of the plan to get Brennan.

And it had been a flawless plan: The cameras had stopped to work during the power failure and nobody had even noticed. He had helped himself to a key to Brennan’s apartment. Booth wondered if there had been similar ways into the other apartment buildings.... he would have to check if there had been other power outages, plumbing problems or whatever the son of a bitch used to get into the buildings....

Usually, the Collector left no traces.... but this time one thing had not worked as planned: Bones had fought back. She had grabbed a kitchen knife and had hurt the bastard. But he had hurt her too.... and bad enough to leave an impressive puddle of blood on her kitchen floor. In his head scenarios, how the fight could have taken place, were already forming, and his chest tightened again. The pictures were too vivid.... too colourful. It was all too personal.

He swallowed hard.... he had to try to keep a distance, try to fight down the urge to freak out on somebody ... He had to try to keep his focus.
God, he had to find her. Or this case would shatter him to pieces. And he was pretty sure, he could not be mended .... not this time.

______________________________________________

okay, what do you think, people?

Posted 17/12/2007 06:48:10 AM
by BGWGscienceteacher

Poor Booth! It is horrible what he is going through, but no worse than what Brennan is going through as well. Definitely still interested in this story. Update when you can. PPS

Posted 17/12/2007 08:41:28 AM
by bones206

Very interesting, very interesting. Poor everyone, hopefully the good doctor does not die.

Posted 22/12/2007 03:19:06 PM
by nane

Oh yes, I forgot about this story. You kept us distracted with your outburst of other stories... Ok, now you will put your focus on this baby again? Still need to know how Brennan is doing after these weeks of waiting for rescue LOL

Posted 23/12/2007 05:14:34 PM
by BoothnBones9

And rescue her he will! Or he damn well better!

Posted 07/01/2008 09:02:10 AM
by CheeseBK

hi sweeties!
I hope you still remember this story and somebody is still interested in it I am sorry, that I had to keep you waiting for so long, but these past few weeks were extremely busy. But, hey...... absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Here we go, a short chapter on Brennan's POV

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Chapter 9:

Brennan woke when she heard a noise. It was caused by something metallic. She blinked and forced her eyes open. Her back and her head hurt...... The first was explained by her position: she had fallen asleep at the table, her head resting on the wood. The second had to be caused by the drug her kidnapper had used. The Collector. So, it had not just been a nightmare.

She swallowed hard and remembered the noise that had caused her to wake up. Metallic. The door. She saw that the small slit at eye level was opened and that light shone through it. Somebody was standing there, watching her. It had to be him. She swallowed again.

“Dr. Brennan. Have you enjoyed your stay so far?” The voice, the deep, full timbre of a man, dripped of sarcasm. She closed her eyes briefly and decided not to answer, fighting down the urge to yell at him. She depended on him now.... infuriating him would not expand her lifespan.

“Not very talkative, are we? So, Dr. Brennan, I see you already used all your water... you must be thirsty...”
He was mocking her with his all too gentleman-like words, but she did not respond. She was indeed thirsty, but she was not going to beg for water. He was not going to break her will.

“Listen, Dr. Brennan..... this room is the....... welcome suite. Every new collectible woke up in this room.... it’s not overflowing with luxury as you may have noticed. You might want to get an upgrade, but more comfort requires obedience, my dear Dr. Brennan.... You understand?” His voice filled the room.

She nodded slowly, sitting on the edge of the chair.

“Good. How nice to see we understand each other. First of all, I am going to call you doc from now... it’s much shorter than Doctor Brennan or Temperance..... Okay, doc?” She nodded again, this time more firmly.
She did not mind that he gave her a nickname... to be honest, she was glad he was not calling her by her given name. Only few people did that and she did not want to get her name tainted by that bastard using it.

“Good, Doc. You are going to call me master. Understood?” The voice asked, still smooth and filled with false gentleness.

She forced herself to nod again.
“You are going to answer properly, with a ‘Yes, master!’ ” His voice had lost some of the velvet gentleness and she only hesitated for a second before she steadily repeated. “Yes, master.”

The words left an ashen taste on her tongue and the sound of them was disgusting..... but she had to play the game, act as if she was submissive.... she had to give Booth and her team time to find her. ‘You are playing a role.... just acting.... this is not you.’ She told herself over and over again, clenching her fists.

“Good.” The Collector’s voice was all gentle again. “Now, Doc, I can move you to a room with a bed and a toilet...... if you are a good girl and tell me all about how much you know about me... how much the FBI has found out already about The Collector.”

She shook her head. She was not ready to admit to him, how little information they had.... and not ready to admit to herself how desperate and hopeless her situation really was. Not yet.

“No? Well, then you better get accustomed to this room, Doc.” The Collector spat out. “I am going to ask you again tomorrow, maybe you changed your mind until then.”

She heard how he furiously slammed the slit shut. A moment later the bigger opening in the door was unlocked and a gloved hand tossed another bottle of water into her cell. It rolled a few feet towards her until it stopped. Her eyes widened in surprise.... he provided her with water, even though she had not obeyed him?

Then she looked around in her room and understood. He was going to give her enough water... so that in a few hours she was going to have to pee.... Something she would not do, because she would have to use a corner of her cell... which was......pretty disgusting. He was going to wait until the promise of a room with a toilet and a bed would sound compelling enough to her to tell him all she knew.

The dry feeling in her mouth remembered her, that she was thirsty because of the drug he had given her. She had no choice.... she had to drink something... Slowly she rose and cursed when she felt a sudden pain radiating from her thigh, reminding her of her injury. Hesitantly she opened the bottle and took a big gulp of water. What was she going to do now? Sooner or later she would have to tell him about the investigations.... he would torture her to get her to talk. She shuddered, when she recalled the broken bones and injuries of the women they had already found.

She had no illusions about her resistance... she knew that at some point of pain or torture everybody started to talk. So, she decided, that she would start to tell him about where they had found the bodies and when... things he would know already from the newspapers.... the state of decomposition.... she would drag out the reports on her work as long as possible.... the names of the missing women.......maybe she could pass a few days like that without getting hurt by him. Maybe not. It was as good a chance as any.

She tried to recall as many details as possible on the first few bodies.... where they had found them, what kind of wounds they had had.

She was in the middle of recalling the details on the second scene, when she heard muffled screams again. Brennan briefly closed her eyes and tried to ignore the screams as good as possible. After all, she could not help the poor woman. She could not even help herself.

__________________________________________________

please let me know, what you think about it!!!

Posted 07/01/2008 12:52:54 AM
by BGWGscienceteacher

I'm glad you finally updated this. It had been so long since I read it that I had to go back and read some of the earlier chapters. I'm hoping that Brennan can hold out without getting hurt (or at least hurt to badly). I'm also hoping for an eventually happy ending. PPS

Posted 07/01/2008 02:42:36 PM
by saraluvzbonz

Cheese, this is fantastic. I can't believe that I missed it before.

Posted 07/01/2008 05:58:59 PM
by nane

So here is your dark side again. Do we have to call you black cheese now? Let Booth hurry to rescue her soon, before she has to pee...

Posted 08/01/2008 02:53:29 AM
by CheeseBK

nane,
lo' I am Darth Cheese, come join me on the dark side, the force is strong in you too
*lol*

Oh, I will make it all good, I am a fan of happy endings...... but she will have to suffer and it may take another bunch of chapters until that....

Posted 08/01/2008 02:54:42 AM
by CheeseBK

BGWGscienceteacher and saraluvzbonz
thanks a lot for your reviews too....

Posted 11/01/2008 05:14:08 AM
byCheeseBK

Hi people.... here we go, the next chapter is ready... hope you like, please let me know...

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 10:


„Angela?“ Hodgins approached her office calling his fiancée’s name. It was deserted.... the artist obviously was somewhere else. He yawned. It was past midnight, but they were still all at the lab, working on the few traces they had.... nobody wanted to admit, that – if they would not get new evidence soon – the chances for finding Dr. Brennan were getting worse and worse.

When he turned around, he heard muffled sobs from somewhere... and soon he knew they were coming from Brennan’s office. Slowly he approached the dark room and opened the door, which had been ajar. Light from the lab poured into the room and he could see the outline from a figure at Brennan’s desk.

“Angela?” He whispered, cautiously.

“Jack.” He heard her choke out his name between sobs and he rushed towards her. “Baby, what are you doing here, all alone?” He murmured and gathered her in a gentle embrace.

“Jack.... Bren.... we don’t know anything.... what if...” Another crying fit shook her body and Hodgins held her even tighter.

“Angela.... Shhhh... We will find her. We will, okay? She’s smart and she is strong, she is going to make it until we find her. We are not giving up....” He whispered soothingly.

“But she is hurt, Jack. And .... he is... what he is doing to those women.... it’s...” Angela’s voice trailed away.

“I know. But we will find her. Come on, baby, you did not give up when we were buried by the Gravedigger, you will not give up now, okay?” Jack gently stroked her hair.

“That was Booth.” She whispered. Jack frowned. “What?”

“Booth.... he did not give up, he.... kept us going.” Angela explained, her voice a little calmer now.

“Oh.... Okay... Then look at him, Angie. He is not going to rest until he has her back. We can do that, too.” He pointed outside, where Booth was pacing, talking to somebody on the phone.

“You’re right, Jack.... I am sorry... It’s just...” Angela was at a loss for words. She had been strong all day..... but the fear for Brennan had overcome her suddenly, the fear clawing at her.

“It’s okay. Everybody has to be weak sometimes.... but you don’t need to be alone. You helped me, when I could not sleep, when I had nightmares from being buried alive.... I’ll do the same for you, Angela.... you just have to come to me, okay? No sitting alone in the dark.” Jack murmured and kissed her softly.

“Thank you.” Angela whispered back. “Can we stay her for a little while?”

Hodgins took her gently in his and answered. “As long as you want.”

________________________________________________________________

Outside Brennan’s office...

“I do not care, how late it is!” Boot bellowed in his phone. “I am pretty sure The Collector does not care how late it is, too.... And he has my partner! My partner, got that? And at least four other women........ So, I need those tapes, okay?”

He listened for a view moments, then his voice got a bit calmer. “Yeah... Look, I’ll come over to get the tapes... you just have to prepare them, okay? Yeah... thank you for your co-operation....”

He hung up and dialled another number. “Yeah, Sanchez, it’s Booth. Could you check for more buildings with cameras on the outside close to the buildings where the women got kidnapped? .......... No, we have somebody here to deal with the videos, we just need to know if we can get more..... I know, I know.... Well, wake them up, I don’t care.... Thanks, man. Bye.” He hung up and sighed, then searched the platform with his eyes.

“Angela.” He yelled.

“We’re here.” Hodgins’ voice answered instead and the sound lead Booth to Brennan’s office.

“Whatcha doing here?” Booth asked into the dark room.

“I... needed to be ... here..” Angela’s voice was still thick with tears and Booth understood, what had happened. He sighed and decided not to mention it.

“Listen.... I’ll get tapes from the hotel which is in the same street as Bones’ apartment. They have a camera on the outside, recording the entrance and the street in the background... We know when the power outage was, maybe we’ll be able to get at least a picture of the asshole’s car. A buddy of mine at the FBI is checking for other hotels, banks or whatever near the buildings where the other women disappeared. I need you to check the videos, Angela.... Can you do that?” Booth quickly explained.

“Sure....” Angela cleared her throat and her voice sounded steadier, when she continued. “What am I looking for?”

“We know that there’s been a plumbing problem at Anna DiMartino’s house the day before she disappeared .... Plumber came, saying somebody had phoned him - blah-blah.... nearly the same as at Brennan’s. At Sandra Miller’s house there was problem with the phone two days before she got kidnapped... The FBI is still searching for other similar things, but as it is night, people are not really co-operative.....Anyway, we’ll have to search for suspicious people or cars on the tapes around the time of these “problems” and the time the kidnappings took place....” He was air-quoting the word problems.

“I’ll be back in ten with the videos from the hotel.... Get your stuff prepared, okay?” He whirled around and hurried out of the lab.

Hodgins looked at his fiancée, his eyes now used to the dark, and said with audible doubt in his voice “In ten? It’s a ten minutes drive TO Dr. Brennan’s apartment.”

“He’ll use his siren. And it’s not like he’s going to get a ticket for speeding.” Angela murmured absently.

A few moments later, they were just leaving Brennan’s office, they heard the faint sound of a siren. Angela managed a half-hearted grin. “Told ya.”

________________________________________________________________

please let me know, what you think!!!!!did you like the ange/hodgins scene?

Posted 11/01/2008 11:31:52 AM
by A2BOREANAZ

whoooooo hoooo oooooooo go cheese.......i love how nane asked if we should call you black cheese........she is so funny......and did we like the angela and hodgins scene......well..i cant speak for anyone else....but ......i did....i did.......this is wonderful cheese.....more more more.......we need more.........

Posted 11/01/2008 11:40:39 AM
by CheeseBK

thanks a lot for your review a2b... you rock!!!!

Posted 11/01/2008 11:50:18 AM
by BGWGscienceteacher

I hope this guy fucked up in some way shape or form and is on one of those tapes. Great chapter. PPS

Posted 12/01/2008 04:57:03 PM
by nane

no ticket for speeding, that is a good one. Nice Ange-Hodge moment. Those tapes keep them busy and focused on something else than worries. Hope they find something!

Posted 17/01/2008 03:42:18 AM
by CheeseBK

hey sweeties! thanks for your reviews! Here we go, the next chapter is ready!

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Chapter 11:


Temperance Brennan shuddered. It was getting cold…. She had the strange feeling the cold crept directly through the concrete floor into her body. Like some kind of a slimy creature, like a snail. She knew that was not possible, of course, but still it felt like that.
‘Maybe it’s getting colder now, because it’s night...’ she thought. ‘Or maybe it’s only me.... maybe it only feels colder because I don’t move enough.’

She had wrapped herself into the thin blanket, but it had not provided enough warmth for her to feel comfortable. If you could feel comfortable, while being kidnapped by a sadistic killer, she thought sarcastically.
She was wearing clothes she often put on in the evening, when she was not ready to go to bed, but wanted casualty: loose pants and a thin, tight-fitting sweat-shirt. Her feet were covered with thick socks and slippers. No wonder, she did not really feel warm.... the clothes were not made for things like this.
And it did not help, that her pants were torn on one side, where she had found the knife wound on her thigh. She saw that blood had oozed through her ‘make-do’ bandage.

She rose, the blanket still tightly wrapped around her shoulders and started to pace to get the blood circulation going again. Brennan hissed, when waves of pain made her stomach clench... the pain in her thigh seemed to get worse than better. She clenched her teeth, trying to fight down the urge to throw up.... cold sweat started to cover her forehead and she knew, that her current situation, staying in a cold wet cell with no food, would not support the healing of the wound.

And that very moment she realised, that maybe, she was going to die because of an infectious wound before The Collector could starve or torture her to death.
The thought was strangely comforting.

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They were taking shifts at watching the tapes. After a short debate they had agreed on that solution. After all, they all were tired and even in the middle of this – very personal – investigation the body demanded sleep at some point. Cam had buried herself in the pathology, going over her reports once again, desperately trying to find new details, something she might have overlooked.

Angela and Hodgins had volunteered for the first three-hour shift... as well as Booth and Zach. But Angela convinced them, that she needed to modify the program, define new parameters before they could start. So, Hodgins and her had taken over the first three hours. As per their agreement, she then went to Brennan’s office, were Booth was asleep on her couch to wake him.

When she opened the door, she heard a sound – muttered words. “Booth?” She whispered into the dark. Again there were muttered words and Angela finally was able to make out some of them. “No. Don’t... Bones..... No...Oh, God, NO!” The sound of these words and the pain in his voice made her shiver. Angela hurried towards the couch and touched the FBI agent’s shoulder. “Booth! Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”

He woke with a gasp and a tight feeling in his chest. “Angela?” He asked, his voice hoarse, when he recognised the woman bent over him.

“I came to wake you... It’s your turn now. You... you were having a nightmare when I came in...” The artist said quietly.

Booth let out a humourless laugh. “My life turned into a nightmare, Angela.” He sighed. “Uhm .... thank you for waking me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.... I just...need....”

“It’s okay. I’ll wake Zach and then we will be at my office. I need to explain the comparison-program to you.” She murmured and briefly touched his arm, an understanding gesture between friends.

“Yeah.. okay...” Booth gave back and watched Angela leave Brennan’s office. The dim light from outside oozed eerily through the blinds and he briefly closed his eyes.
The tight feeling in his chest slowly subsided, but the memory of the nightmare was still there, gnawing at him. He had seen her.... his Bones, with bruises on her delicate pale skin and then.... then... a black, faceless figure had.... God, he did not even want to think about it. He tried to banish the memory of the nightmare, tried to tell himself that it had not happened, that she could still be alright. Absently he ran the inside of his hand over his eyes, as if trying to rub the images out of his eyes. And his fingers touched something wet.

Tears... he identified it after a moment. God, he had been crying in his sleep. He swallowed hard.

After a moment he walked over to Brennan’s desk, knowing she would keep a bottle of water in the third drawer. He opened the bottle of water and gulped half of it’s content down. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and moistened it with water. He wiped his face with the damp handkerchief, hoping to be able to remove all traces of his tears.
If his eyes looked red, well that was perfectly normal.... after all he was worried and had not had enough sleep. But he could not afford to be weak... he needed to be strong, needed to give the squints confidence. He needed to be the one they could turn to for support, not a picture of misery.

But that very moment he realised something else: He needed Bones. More than he had ever thought possible.

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okay, PU-LEASE, let me know what you think!!!

Posted 18/01/2008 00:36:29 AM
by BoothnBones9

Damn straight, you do!