11.
"So where do we start?" Booth asked as he got behind the driver's seat. He didn't mind deferring to Sweets knowledge on the case and hoped it wasn't too fuzzy. "Wait, Sweets are you sure you're up to this, like your mind I mean. A few days go you were pretty…."
Sweets paused a second before he put on his seat belt. "Sharp as a tac Booth, I'll be fine."
Booth wondered what made Sweets stop and think but he figured that losing a few days like he did may have left him with a weird feeling.
"Do you have the case files?" Sweets asked.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Booth said disembarking from his previous train of thought. "They're at the Jeffersonian actually. We were digging thru t hem while we were figuring out what was wrong with you. By the way, you did a lot of work on the case, we just sewed a little bit of it together."
"I'm glad you found Abby's parents." Sweets said.
"You would have done it, you were close." Booth had been impressed Sweets had done a good job investigating the case but Sweets only nodded like he wasn't convinced. "I wanted to tell you something Sweets, it's been on my mind."
"It's okay Booth, whatever it is, you don't have to…"
"No, it's about the case, the one I was working on before this one. You wanted to help and I…I didn't want you to."
Sweets nodded as he recalled the rushed cup of coffee when what became Abby's case got pushed onto him.
"I didn't want you to because the case…it uh….it….it…." Booth found the words hard to say and he knew Sweets had said he didn't have to but it was bothering him. "The case had to do with a kid, a dead kid. He as abused, pretty badly by his foster dad. I didn't want you to have to….."
"Oh, I understand." Sweets said quietly.
Booth sighed. "My point is Sweets, I thought that case would be way too much for you to bear and I wanted to spare you that so I kept you out of it. But you see Sweets, you dealt with the same type of case – Abby, she had the same thing you did and you helped her – you didn't freak out or anything. You were fine, really good actually."
Sweets digested the words Booth said, it was a lot to take in. "Thanks Booth for telling me, but no worries."
Booth was slightly surprised that Sweets was so accepting, but perhaps it was again a case where he had underestimated Sweets and his incredible fortitude. For a guy that looked like a stiff breeze could blow him over, he had a big heart, a strong mind and a hell of a will power.
"Here we are." Booth said as he pulled into the Jeffersonian.
"They're in Angela's office." Booth said as Brennan approached.
"Booth, what you are doing here with Sweets?" Brennan demanded once Sweets headed towards Angela's office. "I thought you were taking Sweets home."
"Yeah, but he wants to catch the bad guy."
"And Christine wants to eat three pounds of cotton candy but we don't let her!" Brennan tried to control her urge to shout.
"Yeah but she's a toddler, Sweets is a grown up. Look if I don't help him he's going to do it on his own. Besides, he didn't have any breathing problems last night, what's the big deal?"
Brennan turned her head amazed her husband had no idea. "Booth, three days ago he was almost gone. 30 hours ago he couldn't breathe."
Booth understood where she was going with this. "Sweets isn't one hundred percent."
"Right." Brennan relaxed. "Look Booth I trust you but with Sweets – with Sweets you have a blind spot and you- you spoil him."
"I haven't fed Sweets any cotton candy." Booth teased her but Brennan wasn't amused. "I'm on it okay. Obviously I don't want anything to happen to him, we're just going to hang out here and look thru some files."
"Let's go!" Sweets said walking quickly thru the doors.
"What? Wait what?" Booth asked surprised and felt the daggers shooting from Brennan's eyes onto him.
"Yeah, I found the case files, I found what I was looking for." Sweets explained. "When I was interviewing people one of the employers that Carol Livingston worked for fired her because she was stealing chemicals from there."
"Right. So?" Booth asked.
"You said that the guy who broke into my office couldn't be identified on the FBI cameras when they ran a facial recognition software right?" Sweets asked and Booth nodded. "The company Carol Livingston worked for was a plastic surgery clinic."
"She was probably working there as a plant for that drug dealer." Booth said. "He got a face lift so he couldn't be detected."
"Or maybe he had a serious injury due to his nefarious activities." Brennan suggested.
"He would have to have some information from that place on his operation, that's not something you can pay cash for and walk away." Sweets said.
"Okay, well…." Booth looked at Brennan who was eying him with concern. "We'll just go by and talk to the guy, get some info." Brennan's eyes continued to bore into Booth but she relented when Sweets began to catch on.
"Please be careful." She said as she returned to the platform.
Booth turned to Sweets. "We're just going to talk to a guy, what could go wrong?"
The pair left as Angela left her office doorway to give Brennan some papers.
"Was I wrong to be so…" Brennan searched for the word to ask Angela.
"Protective?" Angela finished for her. "Well there's always plenty to worry about when Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum do much of anything. But I think there's reason to worry."
"I'm not sure I understand your mythological references but I feel you are offering evidence to support my concern." Brennan said.
"Yeah, well the whole time Sweets was in my office he was trying to hide the fact that he was trying to catch his breath." Angela said ratting on Sweets in a concerned friend way.
Brennan reached for her phone.
"What are you going to say?" Angela asked. "I ask because I couldn't think of what to tell a grown man myself."
Brennan put the phone away. "Booth and Sweets are both intelligent people, they will be fine."
Angela headed back to her office. "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum."
A visit with Carol Livingston's former employer did yield the name of the dealer in question, David Forester. As Sweets and Booth returned to the car Booth made a call into the office to get a last known address on the guy. Booth was so busy making calls he hardly noticed how the busy day was making Sweets tired. Sweets though did everything to hide that he was in fact tired. He wanted to see this case to the end. He felt like if he did see it thru, then it would be over, and maybe if that guy was behind bars he wouldn't have nightmares anymore of him trying to strangle Sweets to death.
Sweets touched his neck at the thought as Booth hung up the phone and he quickly dropped his hand.
"Okay, so we have an address." Booth said putting on his seat belt but remembering what Brennan said about not doing too much. They were about to go beyond questioning now.
"Maybe we can do this tomorrow or something." Booth said.
"Booth he's been out there far too long. He most likely killed the Livingston's and set it up to look like murder, he tried to kill me, he's not a guy that should be out on the streets." Sweets argued. Booth wanted to tell Sweets no and that it was time for him to rest again but the truth was in the few hours Sweets had been on the case, (a case which was rightfully Sweets anyway), they had gotten farther that he had in the days Sweets was recovering.
"Okay, but you're still on medical leave." Booth reminded him. "We're just making inquiries and you're consulting."
"I have no intention of getting us fired Booth. I can wait in the car if you like." Sweets offered. Booth didn't like the idea of leaving Sweets in the car and he didn't like the idea of taking Sweets on a case while he wasn't technically supposed to be working. He liked the idea of Sweets getting back to one hundred percent and him giving Sweets a hard time about anything that came to mind at any given moment. But he knew for some reason that Sweets wanted, no needed, for this case to have closure.
"Alright, let's go."
"Brenn, we think you should look at this." Angela said approaching her quickly on the platform with her husband in close towing distance.
"What is it?" Brennan asked.
"I was putting the rest of Sweets files away after he left to turn them back over to him when he got back to work and I noticed this analysis Hodgins had run."
"One of the compounds Sweets had originally questioned is Sulfuric Fluoride. When we were trying to figure out what was making Sweets so sick this one stuck out and was one of the markers we treated."
"Okay so what's the problem?" Brennan asked.
"The major distributor of this chemical was being investigated and was shut down for not properly storing this highly volatile powder. One of the reasons Sweets reacted so harshly to it was because it is a pure substance." Hodgins explained.
"And it's one of the reasons that it makes the drug so valuable that it's made from. That's why the guy was so willing to break back into the crime scene and Sweets office to try and find it." Angela added.
"So what's the problem?" Brennan asked.
"The problem is it seems that the warehouse where the last of this stuff was being stored was raided two days ago." Hodgins explained.
"Which is why the guy probably stopped trying to go after Sweets." Brennan deduced.
"Now this guy has a whole lot of volatile chemicals somewhere in the city." Angela explained.
"I'll call Booth." Brennan said taking out her phone.
"Hey Bones what's up?" Booth asked.
"Booth, this is very important, the chemicals the drug…" Brennan began to say but Booth interrupted her.
"What did you say Bones? You're breaking up."
Brennan repeated but it yielded no result. "Bones I still can't hear you. Look we're going to check out a place this guy is known to be - down around the docks in an old flour processing plant. I'll call you later okay?"
Booth hung up the phone as the others looked at each other in horror.
"Do you think he's found where he's storing it?" Angela asked.
"If so they could be exposed to something serious." Hodgins explained.
"We have to warn them." Brennan said nervously.
"Yeah but we don't have an address." Angela reminded him.
"Let's look for old flour processing plants down at the docks." Hodgins said as they rushed to the computer.
"That's actually quite brilliant." Angela said of the criminal. "If the flour processing machines are still there it would help him to make his drugs."
"Ah, here's one Pfizer Flower at 1032 Pfizer Avenue, just down in the docks, it's been abandoned for years." Hodgins said as Brennan made the call for back up.
"What do you think…" Angela said turning around but saw only herself and Hodgins there. "Where did Brennan go?"
Hodgins looked to see her gone. "I'm guessing 1032 Pfizer Avenue. Come on we'd better tell Cam."
"Wow, this place looks pretty abandoned." Sweets said reading the sign for the old flour processing plant.
"Fisher?" Booth asked.
"I think it's Pfizer." Sweets corrected.
"Right." Booth said and felt awkward.
"I'll look around outside." Sweets suggested. "That way if anyone asks, I'm just taking a walk around an area that you happen to be near."
"It's flimsy but it'll work." Booth said.
Sweets began to walk around the perimeter avoiding the ruts filled with rain water that were everywhere. The place looked like it was a dead end he still had a slightly bad feeling about it all. He wasn't sure if it was from being tired and filled with worry the last few days, but something seemed off. He opened the door to the old plant, an abandoned building that needed to warrant since it was seized for unpaid taxes.
Sweets looked at the area and could imagine a once thriving mecca here of business now a shell of an era gone by. Sweets was envisioning a group of workers passing by with flour sacks over their shoulders when he heard a shot fired and a metal clang. Forgetting he had no gun he rushed towards the entrance Booth had used but approached with caution.
He slowly entered the room and soon saw Booth's body lying on the floor motionless. Sweets heart began to pound as he tip toed quietly in his soundless Converse. He looked around to see who else was there though the room appeared empty. Too nervous to keep a distance for long he approached Booth while taking his cell out of his pocket to call for help.
"Booth! Booth!" Sweets repeated checking Booth's vitals since he had no glaring wound to suggest he was dead. Booth twitched once and Sweets saw the large round bruise forming around Booth's temple. The operator was coming on the line as Sweets began to inform her that an agent was down.
Sweets stopped talking when a sound made him turn in time to see a figure all too familiar made a rush for him but Sweets moved in time to miss the swinging crowbar at his face. As Sweets recovered from his dodge and roll, the phone dislodged from his hand. He looked for Booth's gun which must have been around there somewhere since the guy was still using his crowbar. Sweets eyes scanned the room quickly thinking it must have slid under a table or something when the guy ran for him again.
"Not you again!" The man shouted again though his voice was muffled since he was speaking from under a filtered face mask and wearing a large bulky contamination suit.
"David Forester?" Sweets asked though his voice didn't sound quite like himself. Sweets began to cough a slightly.
Forester ran towards him again and lunged with the crowbar striking a bag of the chemicals as it flew into the air. Sweets ran again still looking for Booth's gun and finding he could dodge the man in the bulky suit fairly well - it reminded him of running from his foster father when he was a child - he knew he could keep up this game for a little while but not for a long time.
Sweets ran around the tall metal oil drums and could tell some were empty. He pulled some down behind him making it difficult for the man to catch him. The loud clangs echoed in the room as Sweets rounded around back to where Booth was. He had bought time and began to look for the gun though now the fine dust from the chemical was in the air. Sweets began to breathe heavier as he knew he had to find the gun soon. He put himself to the ground to look under the palette of chemicals and finally found the gun. Sweets could feel the fine dust from the opened bags against his face as it had fallen to the floor. It was coming in his lungs. He didn't worry because he figured it wasn't the same combined chemical from before but still he found himself getting tired and dizzy. He reached for the gun and pulled it out and rolled over in time for Forester to arrive over him with crowbar in striking position. Sweets held the gun to Forester who froze as he was at the receiving end of it.
"Drop it." Sweets commanded and Forester began to. That was until he saw Sweets hand begin to waver and his eyes droop. Sweets tried to sit up but his breathing was becoming thin - quickly.
Forester smiled from under his mask. "You gotta wear protective gear around this stuff man." The man warned as he laughed. "I haven't seen anyone get this bad with it, but hey, no big deal to me right?"
Sweets lungs felt like they were shrinking in size as they got smaller and smaller. He tried to inch away from the chemical towards the door while Forester stalked him slowly, enjoying as he moved tried to escape though he knew Sweets wasn't going to last long.
"This is awesome. I don't even have to kill you. Looks like a couple of feds broke in and got caught up in some stuff." Forester leveled his gun at Sweets. "Still, you pissed me off at the hospital."
Forester put his finger over the trigger as his anger grew and Sweets breathing lessened. Sweets breath was almost gone when the gun fired, and Forester fell to the ground. Sweets could feel an arm being put under his as it drug him to the door. A hand put his face in a rain puddle on the ground and washed the fine dust off it. The figure sat him up as an oxygen mask went over his face.
"Sweets!" The voice said. "Oh you can't hear me again can you?"
"Yes." Sweets said breathing the affirmative.
"Oh good. It's not like last time. Where is Booth?"
Sweets motioned to inside as he watched Brennan head back in. The sounds of sirens filled his ears as he pulled the oxygen mask off his face, the filtered oxygen having cleared the airway though he was still dizzy.
"Sir are you..." The medic asked.
"Quick in there." Sweets said pointing to where the other two were.
Sweets closed his eyes, concentrating on the oxygen once again hoping it would help and after a few minutes it did. He felt a hand on his shoulder once again causing his eyes to open once more and see Brennan crouched beside him.
"How's Booth?" Sweets asked pulling the mask off.
"He's fine and you should keep that on." Brennan said.
"No, it's too much." Sweets said discarding it. "Fresh air is better."
Sweets caught his breath and felt better by the time Brennan sat next to him on the ground.
"Booth is having his head looked at, it was very cramped in the ambulance so I came to see how you were. Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Brennan asked.
"No, no more hospitals." Sweets said adamantly but with a smile. "I'm fine, catching my breath now. How about you or Booth, did you breathe any of it in?"
"The sulfuric fluoride only becomes dangerous over constant inhalation or in your case with an already damaged set of lungs that hasn't healed." Brennan paused. "I was angry with Booth for you going with him - you were not one hundred percent."
Sweets nodded as it felt he was in trouble with "mom."
"Sweets I'm only saying it because it scared me." Brennan clarified.
Sweets smiled. "I just really wanted to find that guy. Thank you Dr. Brennan for saving my life, and Booth's."
"I wanted to ask you about something Sweets, I thought you said you didn't remember anything about what happened when Booth found you or when you were in the hospital, but you remembered when the guy tried to strangle you."
Sweets looked across the distance where Booth was being checked out by paramedics. He was obviously annoyed by having to answer a series of questions while they checked his mental acuity.
Sweets cleared his throat. "When I was a kid I was locked in closets. It was dark, I couldn't see anything. I wanted to be part of the light, to see all the things that were so lonely -and unknown in the dark."
Brennan could tell what Sweets was saying was hard, it was something he wouldn't have said to many people, mostly none outside herself and Booth.
"I could see and hear everything." Sweets admitted. "It was the opposite of being in the dark, everything was in the light, the bright light and it was like I was forced to watch it all though I could do nothing about it. My eyes were stuck, taking it all in though I couldn't move my eyes, nothing to suggest I could hear you. It was horrible to be trapped like that. I felt like I wanted to scream in pain, for help, for anything."
A shiver went over Sweets and Brennan began to let the idea sink in, of being stuck in that sort of existence. She put a hand on Sweets shoulder.
"When it was over I realized everyone assumed that I hadn't heard everything. And knowing how Booth is, some of the things he said, he might be embarrassed so I didn't say otherwise. I'd rather keep it that way."
"I will." Brennan promised. "But you're wrong though, about Booth and the rest of us. We would say those things whether you could hear or not. We're always here Sweets."
Sweets nodded. "In some way I think I knew that. While it felt like hell, everyone gave me a lifeline to know there was still a home, a place for me here."
Brennan helped Sweets to his feet. While she was sure he should be checked out she was also sure that he would get better rest at home -rest that would come more easily now that Forester wasn't a threat.
"The light is better than the dark isn't it?" Brennan asked.
"There's always light in the dark." Sweets answered. "That's our world."