Bones: The Hero In The Hold Recap
March 9th 2009 22:44
This is the one people. When we finally find out who the Grave Digger is!
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Bones, Hodgins, and Dr. Vega are called into the FBI by Heather Taffet, the US Attorney assigned to the Grave Digger case, and judge Dix Williams. Taffet was assigned to the case after AUSA Kim Kurland died in a convenient car accident. When Bones points out that nothing’s happened on The Grave Digger case in months, Taffet tells them, “some evidence has gone missing.”
Bones gives her a skeptical look, asking, “You suspect one of us stole Grave Digger evidence from the FBI?”
“Mr. Vega was a former FBI Agent as well as a best-selling author on the Grave Digger.” She turns to Bones and Hodgins. “You both contract out to the FBI.”
“Let me make this very clear,” Judge Williams interrupts. “If any of you has any evidence linked to The Grave Digger case, I am ordering you as a federal judge to turn it over to Ms. Taffet.”
“Turn it over to me today and you’ll get full immunity.”
~*~*~
Booth just finishes adjusting his “Cocky” belt buckle and his tux when his phone rings. “Oh, that’s gotta be Bones.” He leaves the mirror and picks up the phone. “Yep, I’m hurrying, Bones.”
“Do you need directions?” she asks, driving.
“No, I do not need directions, because I am driving,” he answers heading out into the living room.”
“My GPS can give provide perfect directions,” she answers, adding, “In several languages.”
“Well get this, okay?” Booth answers, going to pick up a watch to put on. “Parker got me this new watch that does the same thing.”
“Oh, in several languages?”
“No.”
“Well, then it’s no the same thing.”
“I bet you are lookin’ beautiful, huh?” Booth asks, changing the subject and checking his bowtie one last time in the mirror. “Cuz I am in the finest tux that money can rent.”
“Well I’m on my way home to get dressed, but you need to be there an hour and a half before me to watch a tribute video. My GPS indicates that it’s a 25 minute drive for you. This is my big night, Booth.”
“Alright Bones, listen, don’t worry, I will be there when they crown you Super Scientist. I will be the guy in the cocky belt buckle and the snazzy rented tux.” He looks up. “Someone’s knockin’ on my door.”
“How can there be a knock at your door if you’re already driving?”
Booth hangs up without answering and goes to open his door. Bones sighs.
~*~*~
~*~*~
Booth turns on his new watch, sending an electronic blue glow throughout his metal enclosure. He starts to bang on it.
~*~*~
Sweets, Angela, Bones, and Cam enter Booth’s apartment, Sweets leading the way with Angela’s shoe brandished as a weapon.
“Booth?” Cam calls out, and Bones reminds her that, “He’s not here, I told you.” Angela was hoping that it was a prank call or something.
Cam: The door was locked.
Sweets: What does that mean?
Angela: I doubt the Grave Digger would take the time to--*notices Sweets still holding up her shoe* Give me the shoe--*she puts it on*--would take the time to lock the door on his way out.
Cam: Especially lugging 190 pounds of unconscious Booth.
They continue to search Booth’s apartment, and Bones notices the window with the broken blinds. “He was dragged to the window.” Angela thinks they need to call the authorities. “We’re in way over our heads here.”
“No, no, no,” Sweets interjects. “I read up on this guy. If we want Booth back? We need to pay the ransom.”
“The Grave Digger wanted evidence,” Cam reminds. “What evidence?”
“It has to be the same evidence that the State Attorney and the FBI think I have, which I don’t,” Bones answers, and Angela pulls out her cell phone. When Sweets asks her what she’s doing, she answers, “They called in Hodgins too.”
“You think he stole the evidence?” Bones asks, and her friend just answers, “I know you didn’t.”
~*~*~
Meanwhile, Booth is still banging on the metal ceiling and sides. Finally he pulls out his keys and uses them to loosen a bolt above his head. Throwing all his strength into it, Booth finally manages to get the bolt off. He kicks it free, letting a beam of silver light in.
~*~*~
At the lab, Hodgins is doing furious pushups when Bones comes in and asks him to stop. He quickly jumps to his feet. “I was just workin’ off adrenaline.” He asks her how much time they have, and she just tells him that she knows he has the evidence The Grave Digger wants. “The Grave Digger thinks I have it, but he’s wrong,” she tells him. “It’s you.”
Hodgins doesn’t answer, instead dropping his gaze.
“Give it to me,” Bones orders.
~*~*~
Booth manages to unscrew another bolt, and uses all his strength to push the metal hatch open. He climbs to find the yellow submarine he was stuffed into sits in the middle of another large dark metal room. He hears a noise and asks, “Who’s there?” No answer. “Who’s that?”
“It’s me.”
“Who’s me?”
A young man in army fatigues steps forward, smiling. Booth stares at him, not quite believing his eyes. “Teddy?” Booth flashes to a memory of rushing through the woods, dressed in fatigues, Teddy thrown over his shoulders.
“This isn’t real,” he finally says, and Teddy slaps the submarine, which sends a metallic echo throughout the room.
“I’m gonna go with real,” he answers, glancing at Booth’s attire and teasing, “Nice monkey suit, by the way. Never thought you’d go formal to a kidnapping.”
“Look, no offense,” Booth answers, glancing from his suit to Teddy, “But, you know, I’ve been drugged, electrocuted, stuffed into a Beatles toy. You’re a hallucination, that’s what you are, you’re a hallucination.”
“Ah that’s nice, I show up to help you and you toss me off as a hallucination,” Teddy answers, closing the hatch on the yellow submarine.
“You’re dead, Corporal,” Booth argues. “I felt your heart stop.”
“No use cryin’ over spilt milk, Serge.”
“No, you’re not real,” Booth says, trying to convince himself. “This isn’t real, I am gonna focus…on what, is real. Right? Real. Like getting out of this place, yeah.” He glances up at the tall metal rafters, and Teddy just scoffs, “Naw Serge, it’s too high.” He nods to a hatch door behind Booth. “How about that one?”
“I already saw that,” Booth answers, heading over to the door.
“Now you’re gettin’ competitive with a hallucination,” Teddy answers, and Booth turns around to stare at him.
“What? Oh, no, right, still here.”
Booth forgets his hallucination for the moment to try the door.
“Wow, you really haven’t changed Serge,” Teddy says, grinning. “Once you knew what had to do, nothing could stop you.”
“Enough, already!” Booth interrupts, still trying the door.
Teddy jumps to attention. “Yes, Sir, Sergeant!”
Booth grabs a propeller off the submarine to chip away at the door, and Teddy grins again. “Hey look at that, makin’ progress!”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Hodgins brings out a metal case containing all the evidence on the Grave Digger. “There. That’s everything.”
“The judge was after a specific piece, Hodgins,” Bones answers. “Something that you stole from the FBI.”
He stares at her a moment, then carefully pulls out a glass vile hidden between all the folders. Bones looks at the piece from the bumper of the Grave Digger’s car. “I remember that. It was embedded in your leg.”
“Yeah, probably came off the bumper of the vehicle the Grave Digger used to run me over. Probably shortly before he buried me alive…”
“With me,” Bones reminds him.
“I’m pretty close to discovering the manufacturer,” Hodgins answers, nodding to the vial. “Which will help us narrow down the suspect pool.”
“Booth doesn’t have that kind of time.”
Hodgins starts to reach for the vial, but Bones pulls it away as Cam, Angela, and Sweets walk in.
“What is that?” Cam asks.
“Evidence that the Grave Digger wants,” Bones answers, then adds, “Sweets, you shouldn’t be here. The Grave Digger said no FBI involvement.”
“I’m a psychologist,” Sweets argues. “Not an agent.”
“An FBI psychologists,” Cam reiterates. “Dr. Sweets, get gone now.”
~*~*~
Angela shows Bones the scan of the voice recording of the Grave Digger this time compared to the recording when she and Hodgins were kidnapped. “You okay to hear that?” Bones nods, and Angela plays the recording demanding 8 million dollars for their release.
“Now despite the voice scrambler,” Angela continues, pulling segments of the wave form on the computer for Bones to see. She was able to extract certain parts that graphically are identical. Bones asks if they can hear the unscrambled voice, but Angela says the coding was too complex. “But,” she adds, going back to the computer, “The word scrambler was triggered to compress at a certain set level.” She goes to put the old recording back on the shelf and comes back. “In this case, it was set to the level of a human voice.”
“So when the Grave Digger isn’t speaking—”
“The background noise pops into the foreground uncompressed,” Angela finishes. She plays a segment for Bones. They both listened to the muddled sound.
“What is that?”
“Um…I’m still working on that, sorry.” Angela turns to her best friend. “We’ll get Booth back.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Brennan, I just think that—”
“Just,” Bones interrupts. “Work please.”
“Okay.” She goes back to the computer. “Let me try another algorithm.” She clicks the mouse a few times, and plays the segment again. This time the sound is clearer. “Birds?”
“Gulls, Seagulls,” Bones agrees. “The Grave Digger was near the water.”
Finally, a place to start!
~*~*~
Booth is still slamming away at the door, determined to get the hatch open. The propeller blade snaps off, and Teddy holds up another one. “Fresh one?” Booth turns to stare at him. “What?” Teddy asks. “Oh, hallucinations can’t help out a little?”
“Gimme that,” Booth answers, grabbing it from his hand and going back to the door.
“You’re welcome.” Teddy watches him go back to the door and offers, “No, Serge, pry with your legs, watch out you don’t hurt your back.”
Booth grits his teeth, throwing all his strength into it again, and this time the door finally budges. Water starts pouring in from the sides and floor, onto Booth’s rented tux. Teddy looks at it, and decides, “That can’t be good.”
~*~*~
Booth flashes back to the memory of running with Teddy flung over his shoulders. His boots slosh through the water as he tells the unconscious boy, “Hang on Teddy, you’re gonna make it.”
~*~*~
The water is rushing in a lot faster now, and Booth works to keep it closed.
“Uh, you might want to close that up Serge!”
Too late. The raging water has too much force. Booth lets out a shout as the door flings open and more water gushes in.
~*~*~
“Hey guys,” Angela announces, swiping her card as she and Bones join Hodgins and Cam on the platform. “There was no voice match, but there was a point of origin on the call.” She pulls up the file on the computer for them to listen to.
“Seagulls?” Cam asks, and Bones answers, “I talked to Booth an hour and 47 minutes before I got the ransom call.”
“That merry-go-round…” Cam mutters, thinking. Suddenly it hits her. “The Boardwalk. King’s Beach Boardwalk.”
“I got it,” Hodgins says, going to pick up Vega’s Grave Digger Book. He shows them the back cover with Vega’s picture on it, explaining, “Vega lives in a penthouse apartment just off the Boardwalk.”
~*~*~
Hodgins and Bones get out of the car and walk across the parking garage.
“You think this is my fault?” Hodgins asks, and Bones just answers, “If you hadn’t stolen the evidence, the Grave Digger would never have taken Booth.”
“Rationally speaking it was inevitable,” Hodgins answers as they continue to walk. “It would have happened any time we got close.”
There is a screeching of tires a long way off, and suddenly Bones points asking, “Is that Vega’s car?”
They approach it, noticing someone is sitting inside.
“Who is that?”
“It’s Vega.” Hodgins looks inside at the man, then adds, “He’s dead.”
Bones opens the driver’s side door to examine the body. “Looks like he was killed somewhere else and then placed here.”
“We should take his body back to the lab,” Hodgins answers, and Bones gives him a disapproving look. “Obviously the Grave Digger killed him,” Hodgins continues. “There’s got to be some evidence that we can use.”
“Remove a body from the crime scene?” Bones asks, not quite believing what she’s hearing.
With a screech of brakes and a “that would be a very bad idea”, Agent Perotta steps out of her car. “Step away from the car please.”
~*~*~
Booth and Teddy are now up to their necks in rushing water. Booth has to shout to be heard over the sound. “Alright, look, if the water rises up far enough, I’ll be able to get to that door and open it.”
“What? The room isn’t filling up quickly enough for you already?” Teddy shouts back. Booth starts to swim for the side.
~*~*~
In the parking garage, Perotta questions Hodgins and Bones about why they’re there as men load Vega’s body out. “You were here for an interview?” she asks, and Bones nods.
“Mr. Vega was writing ‘Surviving The Grave Digger’,” Hodgins answers. “He wanted to talk to us.”
“At five in the morning?” Perotta asks skeptically.
“It was a…breakfast meeting.”
“Are you following us Agent Perotta?” Bones finally asks.
“Yes, Dr. Brennan, I was. You are both suspected of stealing evidence.” She gestures to the crime scene. “This doesn’t exactly clear you of suspicion.”
“Well, was he under surveillance?” Hodgins asks, gesturing towards the body bag that now holds Vega. “Because a fat lot of good the FBI did him.”
“It appears that he was the one who had the evidence,” Bones adds. “Are we free to go now?”
“Why not?” Hodgins asks dryly. “They already have us under surveillance.”
They leave before Perotta can dismiss them. “I’ll be in touch!” she calls out, but they both ignore her.
~*~*~
Booth hauls himself up out of the water and onto one of the metal ledges leading to the door. “Tell you what,” Booth tells Teddy. “You were always the guy to be with in a tough spot.”
“You never said anything like that, Serge,” Teddy answers, surprised. “You mostly just grunted, and I made you coffee.”
Booth is busy trying to figure out the next door.
“So what makes you think that what’s behind that hatch is gonna be any better than the last thing we opened?” Teddy asks as Booth continues to struggle with the door.
“I tell you what,” Booth answers. “I’m either gonna drop really really fast or really really slow.” He takes off his jacket and Teddy leans on the railing, looking down at the rising water. “Okay, it’s comin’ up pretty fast her e, Serge.”
~*~*~
“Vega’s dead,” Hodgin’s voice says through Angela’s phone. She’s stares down at it, shocked. “Vega’s dead? Like murdered dead?”
“We had no opportunity to examine the remains before the FBI interrupted us,” Bones says as she and Hodgins drive back to the lab. Angela puts the phone on speaker so Cam can hear too.
“Whoa,” Cam answers, alarmed. “What? The FBI?”
“Yep,” Hodgins answers. “Special Agent Perotta.”
“We’re going to swing by, pick up the evidence, and deliver it to the Grave Digger,” Bones says, and Hodgins gives her an alarmed look.
“What? Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean just do what he wants?”
“We have no other choice,” Angela agrees. “You spoke to the FBI.”
“We didn’t talk to the FBI, they talked to us!” Hodgins argues, but Cam answers, “Somehow I don’t think the Grave Digger is going to take that into consideration.”
“We still have time,” Hodgins says, turning to Bones. “To catch the Grave Digger and to save Booth.”
Bones shakes her head. “The odds are not acceptable.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t have Booth to help!” Bones says, her scientific calm starting to break.
“Let’s be clear here,” Cam interrupts. “What we intend to do next constitutes felony conspiracy.”
“Not you,” Bones answers. “Me. I can do it alone.”
“No,” Hodgins answers. “Nobody does anything alone.” He glances back at Bones adding, “Vega was alone.”
~*~*~
Teddy splashes up out of the water and onto the ledge, carrying the periscope from the submarine. Booth looks at him like he’s crazy. What’s that supposed to be for?
“It’s a fulcrum, Serge,” Teddy says, walking over to join Booth at the door. “We’ll work it together.”
They fit it on the door and both grunt with the strength it takes to finally loosen the wheel on the door. The pipe drops to the ground as Booth quickly opens the door, nodding to Teddy. “Get in there.”
“Hey, real people go first Serge,” Teddy answers, but Booth will have none of it.
“Get in there before I change my mind.” Grabbing Teddy’s shirt, Booth hauls him through the door first, before going through himself.
They climb through yet another hatch and into another dark room. Booth climb out, patting Teddy’s shoulders and face.
“Get a grip here Serge, you’re attacking your own hallucination.”
“You are not a hallucination,” Booth now decides. “You helped me open up that hatch, I wouldn’t have been able to open up that hatch without you.”
“Okay, okay, then what does that make me?”
“You, are a ghost!” Booth says, triumphantly.
“I’m a ghost?” Booth turns around, and Teddy asks, “Hey, why aren’t you scared?”
Booth stares at a pirate skeleton and murmurs, “You being a ghost is not even on the list of things that scare me…” For the first time, Booth notices he’s in a dark room full of toys and plastic sea creatures.
They come to a locked gate, which Booth tries to kick free. No good.
“I kept telling you, learn to pick a lock, remember your response Serge?”
“Yeah, any lock worth picking is worth kicking,” Booth answers, kicking it again. “And I still stand by it.”
“No, hey, please, stand by it,” Teddy answers with a laugh. “Advice like that, it’s a miracle I lived as long as I did. You got a cufflink?”
“Yeah.” Booth pulls one of and hands it over. Teddy just shakes his head ruefully and bends down to pick the lock.
“Twenty.”
“What’s that?”
“You were twenty years old when you died,” Booth answers.
“Still am,” Teddy answers, working at the lock. “You Serge, I gotta say, you’ve uh, put a couple years on. Hey, is it true that the thirties is when your body really starts goin’ south on you?”
Booth just sighs and leans forward to see what’s on the other side of the gate.
“You loved her though?”
“Of course I loved her, still do,” Booth answers, trying to open one of the port windows. “I just don’t like her too well.”
“Hey you saw I picked the lock, right?” Teddy asks, holding up the open padlock.
Booth stares out the window at the surrounding water. “We’re on a ship.”
“Uh Serge?”
“Yeah?”
“This particular ship isn’t gonna be floating much longer.”
Booth turns and follows Teddy’s gaze to the many explosives rigged through the ship. Great. Just great.
~*~*~
“There’s a boundary stone through the clearing,” Bones announces as they all pull up in the car. They arrive at the drop site, and Hodgins gets out as Angela announces from the backseat that something nearby is broadcasting a video signal.
Sweets gets out and looks around. He points to a tree. “There, a camera. In that tree.”
Hodgins turns to look. “That’s how the Grave Digger will see that we brought what he wants.”
Angela joins them at the trunk. “I might be able to hack into the cable’s broadcast freaquency.”
Hodgins lets out a sigh. “I gotta say, it doesn’t seem to be the smartest move to just hand over this evidence. We need to be rational. We should maximize the chances to catch the Grave Digger, not minimize them.”
Angela watches Bones struggle with Hodgins’s logic, and pulls her friend aside. “Listen to me Brennan, somebody you love is buried alive. You’re allowed to save them, no matter how irrational.”
“I don’t love Booth,” Bones answers, always the rational one.
“Yes you do,” Angela answers simply. “So do I, so do all of us. Just take my advice and hand over the evidence and get Booth.”
Bones stares at her a second, then turns. “Let’s do it, come on, let’s do it.”
She and Hodgins head for the boundary stone and Angela tells Sweets to watch his computer monitor. “Tell me if anything changes.”
“And by anything you mean?”
“Anything.”
Bones and Hodgins walk into the clearing as Angela hacks into the video feed. “Okay I’m in. I’ve locked into the video feed.”
As they set the evidence on the stone, Hodgins says, “I hate this guy. I mean, I really REALLY hate him.” Turning to face the camera, Hodgins angrily shouts, “I WILL FIND YOU!”
Bones pulls out the vial and holds it up to the camera, which suddenly zooms in.
“Whoa,” Sweets tells Angela. “Did you do that?”
“No, no that’s the Grave Digger,” Angela says as they watch the evidence being scanned on the computer. “It’s the vial he’s after. And his receiver’s within a 500 yard radius, he’s really close.”
Sweets glances, around, then suddenly notices, “Uh, Angela? This pointy bit right here just got pointer.”
“At what frequency?”
“2.2 something.”
Suddenly alarmed, Angela realizes, “That signal’s not coming from the camera!” Swinging towards Bones and Hodgins, she shouts, “GET BACK!” They glance up, and she shouts, “RUN! RUN!”
“Go go, go!” Hodgins ushers Bones forward and they both run for their lives as—BOOOOOM!! The boundary stone blows up in a huge fireball. Along with the evidence.
Angela, Sweets, Hodgins, and Bones all look back at the paper flying up in the smoky air as Agent Perotta drives up and gets out, demanding to know what’s going on.
“You okay?” Hodgins asks Bones.
“Yeah, come on,” They both quickly get to their feet.
~*~*~
At the FBI, Perotta brings all of them in front of Judge Williams and Taffet.
“We followed Dr. Brennan’s car to the boundary stone. We arrived moments after the explosion.”
The Judge demands to know what they were doing there, and Bones simply answers, “We have nothing to say.” Everyone else is silent. Taffet just shakes her head as Perotta tells them they found evidence at the crime scene believed to be related to the Grave Digger.
“I believe they returned evidence to the Grave Digger,” Taffet tells the Judge.
“Agent Perotta,” he answers, “you will deny all of these people further access to this case.”
“May I make a request your honor?” Bones asks, and continues, “I’d like to see Thomas Vega’s remains.”
Perotta looks at her like she’s insane as she finishes, “I need to examine them immediately.”
“You will examine nothing. You people will stay away from ANYTHING to do with the Grave Digger.”
They all exchange frustrated looks of defeat.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth looks around, thinking out loud. “We’re on a ship…stuffed with toys and explosives, does that make some kind of sense to you?”
“Yeah,” Teddy answers easily. “What they do Serge, is they sink ships for reefs. They get school kids to do all their decorating.”
“Why?”
“The fish, what else? Fish love decorations.”
Suddenly Booth finds what he’s been looking for. The transponder.
~*~*~
As the squints leave the FBI, Bones wonders, “It’s been almost two hours, why hasn’t the Grave Digger sent us the coordinates?”
“I think that we have to accept that the Grave Digger isn’t going to release Booth,” Sweets answers as they all head down the hallway. “He’s cleaning up.”
“Cleaning up?”
“Yeah, he destroyed the evidence, now he’s trying to destroy everyone who’s gotten close to him, Vega, Agent Booth, you and Hodgins.”
“It’s over,” Hodgins says. “Booth’s dead, it’s my fault. We’re out of options.”
The elevator arrives, and Bones tells them that it’s not over. “And I know exactly who to ask for help.” She hits the button and the door closes.
~*~*~
~*~*~
On the ship, Booth explains to Teddy, “You feed the transponder signal through the ship’s antenna.”
“Well, you taught me sometimes you gotta stand and fight, and sometimes you gotta run like hell for help.” Booth looks at him and Teddy just shrugs.
Booth flashes back to the night Teddy died. They’re running, it’s night…“Teddy, stay with me!”
“Serge? Serge?”
Booth snaps out of it, and finally says, “We never should have gone on our last mission.” Teddy doesn’t answer, and he realizes, “I mean, taking out another sniper that was…that was way beyond your capabilities, you couldn’t…That’s why you’re haunting me, right? Here?”
“Can’t an old army buddy just show up and lend a helping hand?”
Booth nods. “Yeah…” Clearly he still feels guilty about Teddy’s death.
Teddy shines the flashlight as Booth works, and asks, “You got a partner now?”
“Yeah.”
“You two tight?”
Booth thinks a second, then answers, “Yeah, I mean we’re uh, you’d like her, she’s uh—”
“Her?” Teddy interrupts. “Way to go Serge!”
“Just focus here, alright, Corporal?” Booth interrupts, and Teddy turns back to the transponder as Booth explains, “Whoever is monitoring the sinking of the ship should be able to pick up this signal, right?”
“Very cool Serge.”
Hopeful, Booth plugs everything in and turns it on. It lasts about two seconds before shorting out in a bright flash of sparks.
“No…”
“You shorted it out, it’s useless now.”
“No!” Booth flings the transponder across the room, kicking again against the door in frustration.
“Don’t worry Serge,” Teddy tries. “Hey, at least we still got this flashlight.” Booth’s not so optimistic. They’re running out of time and options here.
~*~*~
At the lab, Jared arrives with Vega’s remains. Bones thanks him and leads them to the platform.
~*~*~
“So, just to sum things up,” Teddy says, following Booth through the ship. “The ship’s about to explode, and now there’s no way to stop it.”
“Rub it in, I got you killed twice,” Booth answers dryly, trying to find another way out.
“Where we goin?”
“We gotta get out of here.”
“Hey, even if we get up out on deck, we’re gonna have to jump out into the ocean.”
“That’s right.”
“Where, if the fall doesn’t kill us we’ll get hypothermia and drown?” Teddy reminds.
“Oh no, I get hypothermia, I drown. Who knows what’ll happen to you.”
“If you die Serge, I’m gone,” Teddy answers. “There’s not a single person on the planet who’ll remember me. It’ll be like I was never here.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, there’s that, uh, that girl, she won’t forget you,” Booth answers, as they climb some metal steps.
“You mean Claire?”
“Yeah Claire,” Booth answers. “You know, every day on the anniversary of your death I go to your grave, and I visit you and there’s always flowers there.”
“You ever see her?”
“From a distance, yeah.”
“Why don’t you talk to her?”
“She blame me for your death,” Booth answers, still walking.
“That’s crazy!”
“No, it’s not crazy,” Booth answers. “I blame me too.” He finds another hallway. “Here we go.”
“Serge?” Teddy asks, following him with the flashlight.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow’s the anniversary, I need a favor.”
“I survive this, anything.”
“I need you to tell Claire I loved her.”
“You never told her.” It’s more of a statement than a question.
“I was twenty, I didn’t know how to say it,” Teddy answers, and Booth looks at him.
“Well you say, ‘I love you’, what’s so hard about that?”
“What, you’ve never loved somebody and didn’t say it to them?”
Booth doesn’t answer, instead going to try another way out, and Teddy says, “See maybe that’s why I’m here. To get you to say ‘I love you’ to somebody.”
“I think we can get through here.”
“Get through the solid metal wall?”
“No stairs,” Booth answers, gesturing to the bolts in the wall that outline the stairs on the other side. “The thinnest interior of the bulkhead on a ship’s gonna be along the stairs. We’re gonna blast our way through this.”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Cam and Bones are examining Vega’s body. Cam announces that it looks like he’s been dead less than 24 hours, and Bones thinks he was probably killed right after they were threatened by the judge. Cam finds burns from a stun gun on Vega’s neck.
“How’d you pull this off?” she asks, turning from the body to Jared.
He tells them it was under the guise of a military intelligence operation, and when Bones asks how long it’ll take them to figure out the truth, Jared answers, “Not long if you keep talking so loud.”
“You’re gonna get in trouble Jared,” Cam answers. “Definitely lose your job.”
He nods. “I’m aware.”
Bones suddenly notices that the bones are not in the right place as the other victims. The stun gun was held near his heart long enough to cause fatal heart fibrillation. Guess they found cause of death. Bones also notices a fracture on the victim’s X-rays. He fought back.
“Our victim got a piece of the bad guy,” Cam tells Jared, and Bones agrees that he elbowed his assailant. “Striking someone that hard? There’s going to be damage. At least broken ribs.”
~*~*~
On the ship, Booth is getting rigging the wall to blow as Teddy brings in the last of the explosives, which he’s molded to look like a mermaid. “You get it?” he asks, quickly adding, “It’s not sexist, because she’s mostly fish.”
“Alright.” Booth grabs the mermaid and attaches her to the wall. “All we need now’s a power source.” Teddy clicks on the flashlight and Booth adds, “Right, that’s what the flashlight’s for.”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, the alarm announcing someone’s not swiped their card goes off, and everyone looks up to see Taffet arriving to reclaim Vega’s remains. “I have an injunction here reclaiming jurisdiction in this case.”
Hodgins goes over to swipe his card and silence the alarms as Jared asks, “On what grounds?”
“One missing FBI Agent is not a case of national security,” she answers.
“Grab a coffee guys,” Jared tells his men, and they leave as Bones asks to see the warrant.
“Right here. Signed by the judge.”
Bones studies the way Taffet holds out the warrant, and suddenly says, “I don’t think there’s anymore reason for us to keep the truth from Ms. Taffet.”
“No wait,” Jared starts, “The Grave Digger said that—”
“You’ve been in touch with the Grave Digger?” Taffet interrupts. “The Grave Digger has Agent Booth?”
“She can’t seem to extend her arm,” Bones whispers to Hodgins and Jared.
“What?” Hodgins asks, then looks at Taffet. “Oh.”
Jared is confused.
“What do you think?” Bones asks Hodgins.
“Possible,” he answers, studying the woman. “She had complete access to FBI files and evidence. Nobody wanted the Grave Digger case, it’s a career killer. But with Kurland out of the way…”
“Have you injured yourself recently, Ms. Taffet?” Bones asks the other woman, who doesn’t see what that has to do with anything.
Hodgins immediately starts forward, but both Jared and Bones stop him.
“Don’t let Dr. Hodgins go,” Bones tells Jared, then asks Taffet, “Could I see the warrant please?”
Taffet barely holds her arm up, and Bones jabs her in the ribs. Taffet gasps in pain, grabbing her side.
“Broken ribs,” Bones says, satisfied.
Jared looks at the bent over woman in front of him. “She’s the Grave Digger?”
“It’s her,” Hodgins agrees.
“Can you prove it?” Jared asks, and Bones answers, “No, we can’t. Is that a problem?”
“Not for me.” Jared lets Hodgins go and grabs Taffet by the throat, forcing her to her feet. “You got a place to lock her up?”
~*~*~
Cuffing Taffet, Jared shoves her into a seat as Bones demands, “Where’s Booth?”
“She’s not gonna say anything,” Sweets answers, and Bones reminds him that he hasn’t even asked yet. “Yeah, I’ve read extensively on the Grave Digger,” he answers. “I’m acquainted with the profile. Very intelligent, very calm. She won’t speak.”
“Then what do we do?” Cam asks, and Hodgins answers, “You have to do Spring Cleaning on her.”
“What’s that?” Angela asks. “Is that some kind of torture or something?”
“Nothing,” Jared answers. “It doesn’t exist.”
Except that Hodgins is pretty sure that it does. “The government keeps secret black illegal files on every US citizen. It’s called Spring Cleaning because everything’s brought out into the light and turned upside-down.”
“Okay, that is complete paranoia,” Sweets answers, looking at Jared. “Right?”
“I’ll need access to a secure terminal,” Jared answers, and Cam tells him to follow her. On his way out, Jared tells Hodgins, “And only conspiracy nuts call it Spring Cleaning.”
Hodgins considers this, but he isn’t half as surprised as Sweets.
~*~*~
Booth is just finishing wiring the explosives, when Teddy asks, “Uh, Serge?”
“Corporal Parker, I really need you to stifle yourself at this juncture, okay?” Booth asks, carefully working with the wires.
“Okay, yeah, I get it.” He gestures to a red and wire exposed wire on the ground. “I mean if these two touch, that explodes, you become Booth jam.”
“That is correct.” Booth gets up and carefully places the wires closer together.
“Or say, a bead of sweat completes the circuit, then boom!” Teddy laughs and Booth looks up, just giving him a nod. Yep, that’s right. He carefully moves the wires a little closer together as Teddy asks, “Can I ask you one more question?”
Booth looks up, getting a little frustrated here. “What is it, Corporal?”
“How are you gonna complete the circuit from 100 yards away at which distance you might survive the blast?”
“One thing at a time, okay?”
“Okay.” Teddy gets up and runs away.
“First time I ever heard of a cowardly ghost, what a wuss!” Booth concentrates back on the wires again.
~*~*~
Taffet is still sitting at the table silently. Hodgins approaches her, glaring. “I’d like to kill you.” To Bones, he adds, “I hate her. I think I could murder her.”
“If any group of people could murder someone and get away with it, it would be us,” Bones agrees.
Jared rejoins them, spinning Taffet’s chair around for her to face him. “I’m not going to ask you any questions,” he says. “I’m just going to tell you what’s going on.”
“Now,” he continues, explaining what’s going on as they speak. “I went through your file. As Heather Taffet, you have led a very tiny transparent life. But in 1998 you married a man named William Burton for exactly one month before you had the marriage annulled.” Authorities close in on a storage locker as he continues, “Which was long enough to create an entire identity. A whole untraceable identity. Which you used for one thing, and one thing only. To rent a storage locker in Spring Hill.” All of the Grave Digger’s supplies are found in the storage locker. Jared leans down to whisper “I got you” to Taffet, swinging her back around to face the squints.
~*~*~
Meanwhile, Booth places his “Cocky” belt buckle on the ground and steps back, trying to push it towards the two exposed wires with a long metal rod. He’s not close enough. “I need to get closer.”
“You’re too close now, Serge,” Teddy says, but Booth keeps leaning forward. “Too close, I’ll get it.” Booth ignores him, and Teddy rushes forward. “I’ll get it!”
He picks up the belt buckle and walks back to Booth.
“Teddy…”
Teddy give him a rueful look, then slides the belt buckle across the room and into the wires.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The explosion rips a good-sized hole in the wall and knocks them both to the floor.
~*~*~
Hodgins approaches Sweets. “You gotta get your hands on some truth-telling drugs.”
“What?”
Hodgins glances at his watch, then asks, “Would you rather torture her?”
“I know a little bit about that,” Jared offers.
“What?” Sweets asks. “We don’t do that.”
“Booth will die!” Bones reminds him, but Sweets reminds them all, “Character is who you are under pressure, not who you are when everything’s fine.” He looks to the rest of the group. “We’re the good guys, we don’t torture people.”
Cam approaches Taffet. “Evidence is being compiled against you as we speak, Ms. Taffet. Tell us where Agent Booth is. You don’t want another murder on your head.”
“See, that’s not gonna work,” Sweets tries again. “Her pathology necessitates controlling the game. She’s created her own morality, she’s not going to relinquish control.”
Angela rejoins them with good news. “Hey, they brought in everything from her storage locker.”
“Back to work everyone,” Cam says, and they all quickly rush out.
~*~*~
Booth struggles back up against the wall calling for Teddy.
“Yeah?”
“I can’t see very well,” Booth answers. “I looked at the flash, are you okay?”
“Oh I think I could use some help,” Teddy says, leaning heavily against the wall.
Booth flashes back to his memory again. It’s like déjà vu all over again. He’s hovering over Teddy, pulling his helmet off to see if he’s okay.
As Booth’s vision starts to clear, he notices the hole in the wall. “Is that light? Did we find a way out?”
“We always find a way out Serge,” Teddy answers, smiling despite his injury.
“You be my eyes,” Booth says, helping him to his feet, throwing Teddy’s arm over his shoulder. Teddy grunts in pain and Booth asks, “Which way, Corporal?”
“Towards the light.”
Together they limp forward. “Now that’s not so bad, huh?”
Teddy can’t help but laugh. “Move towards the light.”
They make their way towards the exit.
~*~*~
Back at the lab, everyone is scurrying to try and piece together Booth’s location from the evidence recovered from the storage locker.
“Hold up,” Hodgins says, examining the bottom of a pair of boots. “These boots were worn recently.”
“Hey, uh Jared, can I see your black file of Spring Cleaning, or whatever?” Angela asks, needing something to do.
“Contents are in my PDA,” he says handing it over.
“Talk to me while you analyze,” Cam says, joining Hodgins as he examines the boot.
He’s found a common marsh mosquito. “Blood’s still in its gut.”
“Indicating it was worn how recently?”
“At least within the last 24 hours for sure, but wait a second,” he pulls something else off the boot. “I got some paint chips here.”
“Run it through the mass spec, see if there’s anything special about that paint.”
“I’m on it.” Hodgins rushes off.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth asks, “You still with me, Teddy?”
“Yeah,” Teddy answers as Booth helps him up through another level of the ship. “But I gotta tell ya, I feel like we’ve kinda been here before.”
“I’m sorry I got you killed,” Booth, thinking back to that day. “I was so anxious to get off that shot, to take out that target that I forgot to tell you—” Booth remembers Teddy getting shot.
“You told me to get down twice,” Teddy reminds as they struggle through the ship, Booth still carrying his weight. “You gave me orders. I didn’t listen.”
“What?”
“Serge, stop,” Teddy says, finally getting Booth to stop and rest. “I didn’t come here to haunt you. I came to tell you it wasn’t your fault.”
Booth stares at him, remembering sitting by Teddy’s dead body staring into space as the helicopter lights swarmed over them. Booth doesn’t move, despite the hovering helicopter. Teddy is dead.
Back in present time, Booth isn’t about to leave Teddy even if he is a ghost. He pulls him back to his feet and begins climbing the metal stairs.
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Hodgins quickly scans the results of the mass spectrometer and finally concludes that “it’s an obsolete composition of deck coating used by the Navy prior to 1961.”
“So she was on a Navy vessel within the last 24 hours?” Cam asks.
“Yeah, an old one. Most likely decommissioned.”
“Wait a minute, a ship?” Angela asks, reading Jared’s PDA. “Listen to this, Taffet was a volunteer at the aquarium. They were prepping some sort of old ship to be sunk.”
“What?”
“They’re making some sort of reef.”
“The Navy’s not afraid of explosions or sinking ships,” Jared says, pulling out his cell phone and adding, “Plus it’ll really annoy my brother, the Army Ranger, to be saved by a Squid.”
~*~*~
Angela rejoins Sweets and Bones who are watching over Taffet. “Brennan, they know where Booth is. Jared is getting a helicopter to take you there. He’s on an old Navy ship.”
Bones takes in this information, heads for the door, then grabs a heavy briefcase, swings around, and smashes it against Taffet’s head, sending the serial killer to the floor. Without a word, Bones walks out.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth and Teddy aren’t out yet.
“I’m holdin’ you down Serge,” Teddy gasps. “You don’t have to carry me anymore.”
“It doesn’t work that way Teddy,” Booth answers, moving them both along up another set of stairs, toward another hatch door.
~*~*~
Outside, Bones is in a helicopter flying over the water.
“Temperance can you hear me? I’m patched through via cell phone,” Jared’s voice comes through the headphones.
“Jared? I don’t understand, why aren’t you in the helicopter with me?”
“Typical Navy red tape,” Jared says, standing in handcuffs next to a man in fatigues who’s holding the phone up for him. “Nothing to worry about, but listen. They couldn’t cancel the detonation, something’s wrong with the transponder. “
“What do we do now?”
“The ship blows in nine minutes. The Navy’s only giving you five to get there and get Seeley off.”
“No, Jared! Booth could be anywhere one ship, five minute’s not enough time!”
“These guys won’t negotiate, Tempe, they won’t risk anymore lives.”
Suddenly Bones asks, “Are you alright?”
“It’s all worth it as long as you save my brother.”
The helicopter turns, heading out towards the ship.
~*~*~
“Rangers lead the way Serge,” Teddy says, slurring from loss of blood as Booth helps him through the door and out onto the deck.
“Rangers lead the way Corporal,” Booth agrees, helping him to the floor to rest while. Suddenly Booth spots the helicopter.
“Serge,” Teddy calls out, and Booth looks back at him. “I knew what you did for me…How far you carried me.” Booth glances from Teddy back to the helicopter and back. He can’t leave him. “Serge,” Teddy continues, fading fast. “One more thing I gotta tell you…” Booth walks over to hear him. “No way you’re gettin’ the deposit back on that tux.”
Teddy grins and Booth can’t help but smile.
The helicopter lands and Bones flings the door open, shouting, “Booth! Come on, hurry! Come on!”
Booth turns to look at her, then back at Teddy. Teddy is gone.
“Hurry Booth! Come on!”
Still confused about Teddy’s disappearance, Booth hesitates, looking around for him.
“Booth! Come on! HURRY!” Bones shouts, desperate. They’re running out of time!
Finally Booth starts for the helicopter, still looking back for Teddy as he goes.
He gets into the helicopter, closes the door, and faces his partner. They both grab each other in a fierce hug, holding onto each other as the helicopter barely manages to get off the deck right before the ship explodes.
~*~*~
It’s the anniversary of Teddy’s death, and Booth dutifully visits the grave. This time he’s not alone.
“Thanks for coming with me, Bones.”
“You should have stayed in the hospital another day.”
“Well I didn’t mean get me out of the hospital, I meant comin’ out on a helicopter to the ship…thanks for saving my life.”
After a moment, Bones pulls something from her pocket. “Oh I got you this.”
Booth looks down at a new “Cocky” belt buckle and laughs. “Cocky? How’d you find that? That’s hard to find!”
“I read through your report,” she answers. “Seems you would need two people to do most of what you did.”
Booth agrees. “I had help. It was ghost.”
She gives him an incredulous look, rationalizing, “You were injured, drugged, disoriented, breathing bad air. There are no such things as ghosts.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself there, Bones.”
She smiles, shaking her head, then asks, “Who’s ghost?”
“He’s buried over there,” Booth answers, nodding towards a grave.
“The ghost?”
“Corporal Edward Parker.” Bones catches the name and looks at him as he continues, “Was slain while serving his country…He was 20, just a kid.”
“Was it uh…your fault that he died?” Bones asks, glancing from the headstone to her partner.
After a moment Booth shakes his head, finally at peace with it. “No. Fortunes of war…It wasn’t my fault.” He nods towards the grave. “See that woman right there? Her name is Claire. I have a message for her from Teddy.”
He starts to walk towards the woman carrying the flowers, and Bones asks, “What, a message from a ghost?”
“You wait here, okay?” Booth asks, an amused look on his face as his partner asks, “You’re gonna deliver a message to that woman from a ghost?”
Booth just waves it off and Bones sighs. She watches Booth approach Claire and speak to her. She hugs him.
“Beautiful day,” Teddy suddenly appears, walking by Bones in his full uniform. “Makes you glad to be alive doesn’t it?”
Bones nods. He has a good point. “Yes it does.”
Booth and Claire separate and he watches her place the flowers on Teddy’s grave. He glances towards his partner and sees Teddy standing behind her. Teddy waves, and Booth waves back. Thinking he’s waving to her, Bones waves back to Booth.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX
Finally we find out who the Grave Digger was! And I loved the part when Bones smacked her with the briefcase. Yes! LoL And it’s about time Jared finally did something for Booth! I loved the fast pace of this episode and the fact that they didn’t even have time to change clothes. Sweets with Angela’s shoe was hilarious.
Hodgins: I hate her. I think I could murder her.
Bones: If any group of people could murder someone and get away with it, it would be us.
Haha! So true. But yet, they didn’t give in and stoop to her level, and once again solved everything with science and their quick thinking. Go team!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bones, Hodgins, and Dr. Vega are called into the FBI by Heather Taffet, the US Attorney assigned to the Grave Digger case, and judge Dix Williams. Taffet was assigned to the case after AUSA Kim Kurland died in a convenient car accident. When Bones points out that nothing’s happened on The Grave Digger case in months, Taffet tells them, “some evidence has gone missing.”
Bones gives her a skeptical look, asking, “You suspect one of us stole Grave Digger evidence from the FBI?”
“Mr. Vega was a former FBI Agent as well as a best-selling author on the Grave Digger.” She turns to Bones and Hodgins. “You both contract out to the FBI.”
“Let me make this very clear,” Judge Williams interrupts. “If any of you has any evidence linked to The Grave Digger case, I am ordering you as a federal judge to turn it over to Ms. Taffet.”
“Turn it over to me today and you’ll get full immunity.”
~*~*~
Booth just finishes adjusting his “Cocky” belt buckle and his tux when his phone rings. “Oh, that’s gotta be Bones.” He leaves the mirror and picks up the phone. “Yep, I’m hurrying, Bones.”
“Do you need directions?” she asks, driving.
“No, I do not need directions, because I am driving,” he answers heading out into the living room.”
“My GPS can give provide perfect directions,” she answers, adding, “In several languages.”
“Well get this, okay?” Booth answers, going to pick up a watch to put on. “Parker got me this new watch that does the same thing.”
“Oh, in several languages?”
“No.”
“Well, then it’s no the same thing.”
“I bet you are lookin’ beautiful, huh?” Booth asks, changing the subject and checking his bowtie one last time in the mirror. “Cuz I am in the finest tux that money can rent.”
“Well I’m on my way home to get dressed, but you need to be there an hour and a half before me to watch a tribute video. My GPS indicates that it’s a 25 minute drive for you. This is my big night, Booth.”
“Alright Bones, listen, don’t worry, I will be there when they crown you Super Scientist. I will be the guy in the cocky belt buckle and the snazzy rented tux.” He looks up. “Someone’s knockin’ on my door.”
“How can there be a knock at your door if you’re already driving?”
Booth hangs up without answering and goes to open his door. Bones sighs.
~*~*~
~*~*~
Booth turns on his new watch, sending an electronic blue glow throughout his metal enclosure. He starts to bang on it.
~*~*~
Sweets, Angela, Bones, and Cam enter Booth’s apartment, Sweets leading the way with Angela’s shoe brandished as a weapon.
“Booth?” Cam calls out, and Bones reminds her that, “He’s not here, I told you.” Angela was hoping that it was a prank call or something.
Cam: The door was locked.
Sweets: What does that mean?
Angela: I doubt the Grave Digger would take the time to--*notices Sweets still holding up her shoe* Give me the shoe--*she puts it on*--would take the time to lock the door on his way out.
Cam: Especially lugging 190 pounds of unconscious Booth.
They continue to search Booth’s apartment, and Bones notices the window with the broken blinds. “He was dragged to the window.” Angela thinks they need to call the authorities. “We’re in way over our heads here.”
“No, no, no,” Sweets interjects. “I read up on this guy. If we want Booth back? We need to pay the ransom.”
“The Grave Digger wanted evidence,” Cam reminds. “What evidence?”
“It has to be the same evidence that the State Attorney and the FBI think I have, which I don’t,” Bones answers, and Angela pulls out her cell phone. When Sweets asks her what she’s doing, she answers, “They called in Hodgins too.”
“You think he stole the evidence?” Bones asks, and her friend just answers, “I know you didn’t.”
~*~*~
Meanwhile, Booth is still banging on the metal ceiling and sides. Finally he pulls out his keys and uses them to loosen a bolt above his head. Throwing all his strength into it, Booth finally manages to get the bolt off. He kicks it free, letting a beam of silver light in.
~*~*~
At the lab, Hodgins is doing furious pushups when Bones comes in and asks him to stop. He quickly jumps to his feet. “I was just workin’ off adrenaline.” He asks her how much time they have, and she just tells him that she knows he has the evidence The Grave Digger wants. “The Grave Digger thinks I have it, but he’s wrong,” she tells him. “It’s you.”
Hodgins doesn’t answer, instead dropping his gaze.
“Give it to me,” Bones orders.
~*~*~
Booth manages to unscrew another bolt, and uses all his strength to push the metal hatch open. He climbs to find the yellow submarine he was stuffed into sits in the middle of another large dark metal room. He hears a noise and asks, “Who’s there?” No answer. “Who’s that?”
“It’s me.”
“Who’s me?”
A young man in army fatigues steps forward, smiling. Booth stares at him, not quite believing his eyes. “Teddy?” Booth flashes to a memory of rushing through the woods, dressed in fatigues, Teddy thrown over his shoulders.
“This isn’t real,” he finally says, and Teddy slaps the submarine, which sends a metallic echo throughout the room.
“I’m gonna go with real,” he answers, glancing at Booth’s attire and teasing, “Nice monkey suit, by the way. Never thought you’d go formal to a kidnapping.”
“Look, no offense,” Booth answers, glancing from his suit to Teddy, “But, you know, I’ve been drugged, electrocuted, stuffed into a Beatles toy. You’re a hallucination, that’s what you are, you’re a hallucination.”
“Ah that’s nice, I show up to help you and you toss me off as a hallucination,” Teddy answers, closing the hatch on the yellow submarine.
“You’re dead, Corporal,” Booth argues. “I felt your heart stop.”
“No use cryin’ over spilt milk, Serge.”
“No, you’re not real,” Booth says, trying to convince himself. “This isn’t real, I am gonna focus…on what, is real. Right? Real. Like getting out of this place, yeah.” He glances up at the tall metal rafters, and Teddy just scoffs, “Naw Serge, it’s too high.” He nods to a hatch door behind Booth. “How about that one?”
“I already saw that,” Booth answers, heading over to the door.
“Now you’re gettin’ competitive with a hallucination,” Teddy answers, and Booth turns around to stare at him.
“What? Oh, no, right, still here.”
Booth forgets his hallucination for the moment to try the door.
“Wow, you really haven’t changed Serge,” Teddy says, grinning. “Once you knew what had to do, nothing could stop you.”
“Enough, already!” Booth interrupts, still trying the door.
Teddy jumps to attention. “Yes, Sir, Sergeant!”
Booth grabs a propeller off the submarine to chip away at the door, and Teddy grins again. “Hey look at that, makin’ progress!”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Hodgins brings out a metal case containing all the evidence on the Grave Digger. “There. That’s everything.”
“The judge was after a specific piece, Hodgins,” Bones answers. “Something that you stole from the FBI.”
He stares at her a moment, then carefully pulls out a glass vile hidden between all the folders. Bones looks at the piece from the bumper of the Grave Digger’s car. “I remember that. It was embedded in your leg.”
“Yeah, probably came off the bumper of the vehicle the Grave Digger used to run me over. Probably shortly before he buried me alive…”
“With me,” Bones reminds him.
“I’m pretty close to discovering the manufacturer,” Hodgins answers, nodding to the vial. “Which will help us narrow down the suspect pool.”
“Booth doesn’t have that kind of time.”
Hodgins starts to reach for the vial, but Bones pulls it away as Cam, Angela, and Sweets walk in.
“What is that?” Cam asks.
“Evidence that the Grave Digger wants,” Bones answers, then adds, “Sweets, you shouldn’t be here. The Grave Digger said no FBI involvement.”
“I’m a psychologist,” Sweets argues. “Not an agent.”
“An FBI psychologists,” Cam reiterates. “Dr. Sweets, get gone now.”
~*~*~
Angela shows Bones the scan of the voice recording of the Grave Digger this time compared to the recording when she and Hodgins were kidnapped. “You okay to hear that?” Bones nods, and Angela plays the recording demanding 8 million dollars for their release.
“Now despite the voice scrambler,” Angela continues, pulling segments of the wave form on the computer for Bones to see. She was able to extract certain parts that graphically are identical. Bones asks if they can hear the unscrambled voice, but Angela says the coding was too complex. “But,” she adds, going back to the computer, “The word scrambler was triggered to compress at a certain set level.” She goes to put the old recording back on the shelf and comes back. “In this case, it was set to the level of a human voice.”
“So when the Grave Digger isn’t speaking—”
“The background noise pops into the foreground uncompressed,” Angela finishes. She plays a segment for Bones. They both listened to the muddled sound.
“What is that?”
“Um…I’m still working on that, sorry.” Angela turns to her best friend. “We’ll get Booth back.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Brennan, I just think that—”
“Just,” Bones interrupts. “Work please.”
“Okay.” She goes back to the computer. “Let me try another algorithm.” She clicks the mouse a few times, and plays the segment again. This time the sound is clearer. “Birds?”
“Gulls, Seagulls,” Bones agrees. “The Grave Digger was near the water.”
Finally, a place to start!
~*~*~
Booth is still slamming away at the door, determined to get the hatch open. The propeller blade snaps off, and Teddy holds up another one. “Fresh one?” Booth turns to stare at him. “What?” Teddy asks. “Oh, hallucinations can’t help out a little?”
“Gimme that,” Booth answers, grabbing it from his hand and going back to the door.
“You’re welcome.” Teddy watches him go back to the door and offers, “No, Serge, pry with your legs, watch out you don’t hurt your back.”
Booth grits his teeth, throwing all his strength into it again, and this time the door finally budges. Water starts pouring in from the sides and floor, onto Booth’s rented tux. Teddy looks at it, and decides, “That can’t be good.”
~*~*~
Booth flashes back to the memory of running with Teddy flung over his shoulders. His boots slosh through the water as he tells the unconscious boy, “Hang on Teddy, you’re gonna make it.”
~*~*~
The water is rushing in a lot faster now, and Booth works to keep it closed.
“Uh, you might want to close that up Serge!”
Too late. The raging water has too much force. Booth lets out a shout as the door flings open and more water gushes in.
~*~*~
“Hey guys,” Angela announces, swiping her card as she and Bones join Hodgins and Cam on the platform. “There was no voice match, but there was a point of origin on the call.” She pulls up the file on the computer for them to listen to.
“Seagulls?” Cam asks, and Bones answers, “I talked to Booth an hour and 47 minutes before I got the ransom call.”
“That merry-go-round…” Cam mutters, thinking. Suddenly it hits her. “The Boardwalk. King’s Beach Boardwalk.”
“I got it,” Hodgins says, going to pick up Vega’s Grave Digger Book. He shows them the back cover with Vega’s picture on it, explaining, “Vega lives in a penthouse apartment just off the Boardwalk.”
~*~*~
Hodgins and Bones get out of the car and walk across the parking garage.
“You think this is my fault?” Hodgins asks, and Bones just answers, “If you hadn’t stolen the evidence, the Grave Digger would never have taken Booth.”
“Rationally speaking it was inevitable,” Hodgins answers as they continue to walk. “It would have happened any time we got close.”
There is a screeching of tires a long way off, and suddenly Bones points asking, “Is that Vega’s car?”
They approach it, noticing someone is sitting inside.
“Who is that?”
“It’s Vega.” Hodgins looks inside at the man, then adds, “He’s dead.”
Bones opens the driver’s side door to examine the body. “Looks like he was killed somewhere else and then placed here.”
“We should take his body back to the lab,” Hodgins answers, and Bones gives him a disapproving look. “Obviously the Grave Digger killed him,” Hodgins continues. “There’s got to be some evidence that we can use.”
“Remove a body from the crime scene?” Bones asks, not quite believing what she’s hearing.
With a screech of brakes and a “that would be a very bad idea”, Agent Perotta steps out of her car. “Step away from the car please.”
~*~*~
Booth and Teddy are now up to their necks in rushing water. Booth has to shout to be heard over the sound. “Alright, look, if the water rises up far enough, I’ll be able to get to that door and open it.”
“What? The room isn’t filling up quickly enough for you already?” Teddy shouts back. Booth starts to swim for the side.
~*~*~
In the parking garage, Perotta questions Hodgins and Bones about why they’re there as men load Vega’s body out. “You were here for an interview?” she asks, and Bones nods.
“Mr. Vega was writing ‘Surviving The Grave Digger’,” Hodgins answers. “He wanted to talk to us.”
“At five in the morning?” Perotta asks skeptically.
“It was a…breakfast meeting.”
“Are you following us Agent Perotta?” Bones finally asks.
“Yes, Dr. Brennan, I was. You are both suspected of stealing evidence.” She gestures to the crime scene. “This doesn’t exactly clear you of suspicion.”
“Well, was he under surveillance?” Hodgins asks, gesturing towards the body bag that now holds Vega. “Because a fat lot of good the FBI did him.”
“It appears that he was the one who had the evidence,” Bones adds. “Are we free to go now?”
“Why not?” Hodgins asks dryly. “They already have us under surveillance.”
They leave before Perotta can dismiss them. “I’ll be in touch!” she calls out, but they both ignore her.
~*~*~
Booth hauls himself up out of the water and onto one of the metal ledges leading to the door. “Tell you what,” Booth tells Teddy. “You were always the guy to be with in a tough spot.”
“You never said anything like that, Serge,” Teddy answers, surprised. “You mostly just grunted, and I made you coffee.”
Booth is busy trying to figure out the next door.
“So what makes you think that what’s behind that hatch is gonna be any better than the last thing we opened?” Teddy asks as Booth continues to struggle with the door.
“I tell you what,” Booth answers. “I’m either gonna drop really really fast or really really slow.” He takes off his jacket and Teddy leans on the railing, looking down at the rising water. “Okay, it’s comin’ up pretty fast her e, Serge.”
~*~*~
“Vega’s dead,” Hodgin’s voice says through Angela’s phone. She’s stares down at it, shocked. “Vega’s dead? Like murdered dead?”
“We had no opportunity to examine the remains before the FBI interrupted us,” Bones says as she and Hodgins drive back to the lab. Angela puts the phone on speaker so Cam can hear too.
“Whoa,” Cam answers, alarmed. “What? The FBI?”
“Yep,” Hodgins answers. “Special Agent Perotta.”
“We’re going to swing by, pick up the evidence, and deliver it to the Grave Digger,” Bones says, and Hodgins gives her an alarmed look.
“What? Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean just do what he wants?”
“We have no other choice,” Angela agrees. “You spoke to the FBI.”
“We didn’t talk to the FBI, they talked to us!” Hodgins argues, but Cam answers, “Somehow I don’t think the Grave Digger is going to take that into consideration.”
“We still have time,” Hodgins says, turning to Bones. “To catch the Grave Digger and to save Booth.”
Bones shakes her head. “The odds are not acceptable.”
“Why?”
“Because we don’t have Booth to help!” Bones says, her scientific calm starting to break.
“Let’s be clear here,” Cam interrupts. “What we intend to do next constitutes felony conspiracy.”
“Not you,” Bones answers. “Me. I can do it alone.”
“No,” Hodgins answers. “Nobody does anything alone.” He glances back at Bones adding, “Vega was alone.”
~*~*~
Teddy splashes up out of the water and onto the ledge, carrying the periscope from the submarine. Booth looks at him like he’s crazy. What’s that supposed to be for?
“It’s a fulcrum, Serge,” Teddy says, walking over to join Booth at the door. “We’ll work it together.”
They fit it on the door and both grunt with the strength it takes to finally loosen the wheel on the door. The pipe drops to the ground as Booth quickly opens the door, nodding to Teddy. “Get in there.”
“Hey, real people go first Serge,” Teddy answers, but Booth will have none of it.
“Get in there before I change my mind.” Grabbing Teddy’s shirt, Booth hauls him through the door first, before going through himself.
They climb through yet another hatch and into another dark room. Booth climb out, patting Teddy’s shoulders and face.
“Get a grip here Serge, you’re attacking your own hallucination.”
“You are not a hallucination,” Booth now decides. “You helped me open up that hatch, I wouldn’t have been able to open up that hatch without you.”
“Okay, okay, then what does that make me?”
“You, are a ghost!” Booth says, triumphantly.
“I’m a ghost?” Booth turns around, and Teddy asks, “Hey, why aren’t you scared?”
Booth stares at a pirate skeleton and murmurs, “You being a ghost is not even on the list of things that scare me…” For the first time, Booth notices he’s in a dark room full of toys and plastic sea creatures.
They come to a locked gate, which Booth tries to kick free. No good.
“I kept telling you, learn to pick a lock, remember your response Serge?”
“Yeah, any lock worth picking is worth kicking,” Booth answers, kicking it again. “And I still stand by it.”
“No, hey, please, stand by it,” Teddy answers with a laugh. “Advice like that, it’s a miracle I lived as long as I did. You got a cufflink?”
“Yeah.” Booth pulls one of and hands it over. Teddy just shakes his head ruefully and bends down to pick the lock.
“Twenty.”
“What’s that?”
“You were twenty years old when you died,” Booth answers.
“Still am,” Teddy answers, working at the lock. “You Serge, I gotta say, you’ve uh, put a couple years on. Hey, is it true that the thirties is when your body really starts goin’ south on you?”
Booth just sighs and leans forward to see what’s on the other side of the gate.
“You loved her though?”
“Of course I loved her, still do,” Booth answers, trying to open one of the port windows. “I just don’t like her too well.”
“Hey you saw I picked the lock, right?” Teddy asks, holding up the open padlock.
Booth stares out the window at the surrounding water. “We’re on a ship.”
“Uh Serge?”
“Yeah?”
“This particular ship isn’t gonna be floating much longer.”
Booth turns and follows Teddy’s gaze to the many explosives rigged through the ship. Great. Just great.
~*~*~
“There’s a boundary stone through the clearing,” Bones announces as they all pull up in the car. They arrive at the drop site, and Hodgins gets out as Angela announces from the backseat that something nearby is broadcasting a video signal.
Sweets gets out and looks around. He points to a tree. “There, a camera. In that tree.”
Hodgins turns to look. “That’s how the Grave Digger will see that we brought what he wants.”
Angela joins them at the trunk. “I might be able to hack into the cable’s broadcast freaquency.”
Hodgins lets out a sigh. “I gotta say, it doesn’t seem to be the smartest move to just hand over this evidence. We need to be rational. We should maximize the chances to catch the Grave Digger, not minimize them.”
Angela watches Bones struggle with Hodgins’s logic, and pulls her friend aside. “Listen to me Brennan, somebody you love is buried alive. You’re allowed to save them, no matter how irrational.”
“I don’t love Booth,” Bones answers, always the rational one.
“Yes you do,” Angela answers simply. “So do I, so do all of us. Just take my advice and hand over the evidence and get Booth.”
Bones stares at her a second, then turns. “Let’s do it, come on, let’s do it.”
She and Hodgins head for the boundary stone and Angela tells Sweets to watch his computer monitor. “Tell me if anything changes.”
“And by anything you mean?”
“Anything.”
Bones and Hodgins walk into the clearing as Angela hacks into the video feed. “Okay I’m in. I’ve locked into the video feed.”
As they set the evidence on the stone, Hodgins says, “I hate this guy. I mean, I really REALLY hate him.” Turning to face the camera, Hodgins angrily shouts, “I WILL FIND YOU!”
Bones pulls out the vial and holds it up to the camera, which suddenly zooms in.
“Whoa,” Sweets tells Angela. “Did you do that?”
“No, no that’s the Grave Digger,” Angela says as they watch the evidence being scanned on the computer. “It’s the vial he’s after. And his receiver’s within a 500 yard radius, he’s really close.”
Sweets glances, around, then suddenly notices, “Uh, Angela? This pointy bit right here just got pointer.”
“At what frequency?”
“2.2 something.”
Suddenly alarmed, Angela realizes, “That signal’s not coming from the camera!” Swinging towards Bones and Hodgins, she shouts, “GET BACK!” They glance up, and she shouts, “RUN! RUN!”
“Go go, go!” Hodgins ushers Bones forward and they both run for their lives as—BOOOOOM!! The boundary stone blows up in a huge fireball. Along with the evidence.
Angela, Sweets, Hodgins, and Bones all look back at the paper flying up in the smoky air as Agent Perotta drives up and gets out, demanding to know what’s going on.
“You okay?” Hodgins asks Bones.
“Yeah, come on,” They both quickly get to their feet.
~*~*~
At the FBI, Perotta brings all of them in front of Judge Williams and Taffet.
“We followed Dr. Brennan’s car to the boundary stone. We arrived moments after the explosion.”
The Judge demands to know what they were doing there, and Bones simply answers, “We have nothing to say.” Everyone else is silent. Taffet just shakes her head as Perotta tells them they found evidence at the crime scene believed to be related to the Grave Digger.
“I believe they returned evidence to the Grave Digger,” Taffet tells the Judge.
“Agent Perotta,” he answers, “you will deny all of these people further access to this case.”
“May I make a request your honor?” Bones asks, and continues, “I’d like to see Thomas Vega’s remains.”
Perotta looks at her like she’s insane as she finishes, “I need to examine them immediately.”
“You will examine nothing. You people will stay away from ANYTHING to do with the Grave Digger.”
They all exchange frustrated looks of defeat.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth looks around, thinking out loud. “We’re on a ship…stuffed with toys and explosives, does that make some kind of sense to you?”
“Yeah,” Teddy answers easily. “What they do Serge, is they sink ships for reefs. They get school kids to do all their decorating.”
“Why?”
“The fish, what else? Fish love decorations.”
Suddenly Booth finds what he’s been looking for. The transponder.
~*~*~
As the squints leave the FBI, Bones wonders, “It’s been almost two hours, why hasn’t the Grave Digger sent us the coordinates?”
“I think that we have to accept that the Grave Digger isn’t going to release Booth,” Sweets answers as they all head down the hallway. “He’s cleaning up.”
“Cleaning up?”
“Yeah, he destroyed the evidence, now he’s trying to destroy everyone who’s gotten close to him, Vega, Agent Booth, you and Hodgins.”
“It’s over,” Hodgins says. “Booth’s dead, it’s my fault. We’re out of options.”
The elevator arrives, and Bones tells them that it’s not over. “And I know exactly who to ask for help.” She hits the button and the door closes.
~*~*~
~*~*~
On the ship, Booth explains to Teddy, “You feed the transponder signal through the ship’s antenna.”
“Well, you taught me sometimes you gotta stand and fight, and sometimes you gotta run like hell for help.” Booth looks at him and Teddy just shrugs.
Booth flashes back to the night Teddy died. They’re running, it’s night…“Teddy, stay with me!”
“Serge? Serge?”
Booth snaps out of it, and finally says, “We never should have gone on our last mission.” Teddy doesn’t answer, and he realizes, “I mean, taking out another sniper that was…that was way beyond your capabilities, you couldn’t…That’s why you’re haunting me, right? Here?”
“Can’t an old army buddy just show up and lend a helping hand?”
Booth nods. “Yeah…” Clearly he still feels guilty about Teddy’s death.
Teddy shines the flashlight as Booth works, and asks, “You got a partner now?”
“Yeah.”
“You two tight?”
Booth thinks a second, then answers, “Yeah, I mean we’re uh, you’d like her, she’s uh—”
“Her?” Teddy interrupts. “Way to go Serge!”
“Just focus here, alright, Corporal?” Booth interrupts, and Teddy turns back to the transponder as Booth explains, “Whoever is monitoring the sinking of the ship should be able to pick up this signal, right?”
“Very cool Serge.”
Hopeful, Booth plugs everything in and turns it on. It lasts about two seconds before shorting out in a bright flash of sparks.
“No…”
“You shorted it out, it’s useless now.”
“No!” Booth flings the transponder across the room, kicking again against the door in frustration.
“Don’t worry Serge,” Teddy tries. “Hey, at least we still got this flashlight.” Booth’s not so optimistic. They’re running out of time and options here.
~*~*~
At the lab, Jared arrives with Vega’s remains. Bones thanks him and leads them to the platform.
~*~*~
“So, just to sum things up,” Teddy says, following Booth through the ship. “The ship’s about to explode, and now there’s no way to stop it.”
“Rub it in, I got you killed twice,” Booth answers dryly, trying to find another way out.
“Where we goin?”
“We gotta get out of here.”
“Hey, even if we get up out on deck, we’re gonna have to jump out into the ocean.”
“That’s right.”
“Where, if the fall doesn’t kill us we’ll get hypothermia and drown?” Teddy reminds.
“Oh no, I get hypothermia, I drown. Who knows what’ll happen to you.”
“If you die Serge, I’m gone,” Teddy answers. “There’s not a single person on the planet who’ll remember me. It’ll be like I was never here.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, there’s that, uh, that girl, she won’t forget you,” Booth answers, as they climb some metal steps.
“You mean Claire?”
“Yeah Claire,” Booth answers. “You know, every day on the anniversary of your death I go to your grave, and I visit you and there’s always flowers there.”
“You ever see her?”
“From a distance, yeah.”
“Why don’t you talk to her?”
“She blame me for your death,” Booth answers, still walking.
“That’s crazy!”
“No, it’s not crazy,” Booth answers. “I blame me too.” He finds another hallway. “Here we go.”
“Serge?” Teddy asks, following him with the flashlight.
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow’s the anniversary, I need a favor.”
“I survive this, anything.”
“I need you to tell Claire I loved her.”
“You never told her.” It’s more of a statement than a question.
“I was twenty, I didn’t know how to say it,” Teddy answers, and Booth looks at him.
“Well you say, ‘I love you’, what’s so hard about that?”
“What, you’ve never loved somebody and didn’t say it to them?”
Booth doesn’t answer, instead going to try another way out, and Teddy says, “See maybe that’s why I’m here. To get you to say ‘I love you’ to somebody.”
“I think we can get through here.”
“Get through the solid metal wall?”
“No stairs,” Booth answers, gesturing to the bolts in the wall that outline the stairs on the other side. “The thinnest interior of the bulkhead on a ship’s gonna be along the stairs. We’re gonna blast our way through this.”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Cam and Bones are examining Vega’s body. Cam announces that it looks like he’s been dead less than 24 hours, and Bones thinks he was probably killed right after they were threatened by the judge. Cam finds burns from a stun gun on Vega’s neck.
“How’d you pull this off?” she asks, turning from the body to Jared.
He tells them it was under the guise of a military intelligence operation, and when Bones asks how long it’ll take them to figure out the truth, Jared answers, “Not long if you keep talking so loud.”
“You’re gonna get in trouble Jared,” Cam answers. “Definitely lose your job.”
He nods. “I’m aware.”
Bones suddenly notices that the bones are not in the right place as the other victims. The stun gun was held near his heart long enough to cause fatal heart fibrillation. Guess they found cause of death. Bones also notices a fracture on the victim’s X-rays. He fought back.
“Our victim got a piece of the bad guy,” Cam tells Jared, and Bones agrees that he elbowed his assailant. “Striking someone that hard? There’s going to be damage. At least broken ribs.”
~*~*~
On the ship, Booth is getting rigging the wall to blow as Teddy brings in the last of the explosives, which he’s molded to look like a mermaid. “You get it?” he asks, quickly adding, “It’s not sexist, because she’s mostly fish.”
“Alright.” Booth grabs the mermaid and attaches her to the wall. “All we need now’s a power source.” Teddy clicks on the flashlight and Booth adds, “Right, that’s what the flashlight’s for.”
~*~*~
Back at the lab, the alarm announcing someone’s not swiped their card goes off, and everyone looks up to see Taffet arriving to reclaim Vega’s remains. “I have an injunction here reclaiming jurisdiction in this case.”
Hodgins goes over to swipe his card and silence the alarms as Jared asks, “On what grounds?”
“One missing FBI Agent is not a case of national security,” she answers.
“Grab a coffee guys,” Jared tells his men, and they leave as Bones asks to see the warrant.
“Right here. Signed by the judge.”
Bones studies the way Taffet holds out the warrant, and suddenly says, “I don’t think there’s anymore reason for us to keep the truth from Ms. Taffet.”
“No wait,” Jared starts, “The Grave Digger said that—”
“You’ve been in touch with the Grave Digger?” Taffet interrupts. “The Grave Digger has Agent Booth?”
“She can’t seem to extend her arm,” Bones whispers to Hodgins and Jared.
“What?” Hodgins asks, then looks at Taffet. “Oh.”
Jared is confused.
“What do you think?” Bones asks Hodgins.
“Possible,” he answers, studying the woman. “She had complete access to FBI files and evidence. Nobody wanted the Grave Digger case, it’s a career killer. But with Kurland out of the way…”
“Have you injured yourself recently, Ms. Taffet?” Bones asks the other woman, who doesn’t see what that has to do with anything.
Hodgins immediately starts forward, but both Jared and Bones stop him.
“Don’t let Dr. Hodgins go,” Bones tells Jared, then asks Taffet, “Could I see the warrant please?”
Taffet barely holds her arm up, and Bones jabs her in the ribs. Taffet gasps in pain, grabbing her side.
“Broken ribs,” Bones says, satisfied.
Jared looks at the bent over woman in front of him. “She’s the Grave Digger?”
“It’s her,” Hodgins agrees.
“Can you prove it?” Jared asks, and Bones answers, “No, we can’t. Is that a problem?”
“Not for me.” Jared lets Hodgins go and grabs Taffet by the throat, forcing her to her feet. “You got a place to lock her up?”
~*~*~
Cuffing Taffet, Jared shoves her into a seat as Bones demands, “Where’s Booth?”
“She’s not gonna say anything,” Sweets answers, and Bones reminds him that he hasn’t even asked yet. “Yeah, I’ve read extensively on the Grave Digger,” he answers. “I’m acquainted with the profile. Very intelligent, very calm. She won’t speak.”
“Then what do we do?” Cam asks, and Hodgins answers, “You have to do Spring Cleaning on her.”
“What’s that?” Angela asks. “Is that some kind of torture or something?”
“Nothing,” Jared answers. “It doesn’t exist.”
Except that Hodgins is pretty sure that it does. “The government keeps secret black illegal files on every US citizen. It’s called Spring Cleaning because everything’s brought out into the light and turned upside-down.”
“Okay, that is complete paranoia,” Sweets answers, looking at Jared. “Right?”
“I’ll need access to a secure terminal,” Jared answers, and Cam tells him to follow her. On his way out, Jared tells Hodgins, “And only conspiracy nuts call it Spring Cleaning.”
Hodgins considers this, but he isn’t half as surprised as Sweets.
~*~*~
Booth is just finishing wiring the explosives, when Teddy asks, “Uh, Serge?”
“Corporal Parker, I really need you to stifle yourself at this juncture, okay?” Booth asks, carefully working with the wires.
“Okay, yeah, I get it.” He gestures to a red and wire exposed wire on the ground. “I mean if these two touch, that explodes, you become Booth jam.”
“That is correct.” Booth gets up and carefully places the wires closer together.
“Or say, a bead of sweat completes the circuit, then boom!” Teddy laughs and Booth looks up, just giving him a nod. Yep, that’s right. He carefully moves the wires a little closer together as Teddy asks, “Can I ask you one more question?”
Booth looks up, getting a little frustrated here. “What is it, Corporal?”
“How are you gonna complete the circuit from 100 yards away at which distance you might survive the blast?”
“One thing at a time, okay?”
“Okay.” Teddy gets up and runs away.
“First time I ever heard of a cowardly ghost, what a wuss!” Booth concentrates back on the wires again.
~*~*~
Taffet is still sitting at the table silently. Hodgins approaches her, glaring. “I’d like to kill you.” To Bones, he adds, “I hate her. I think I could murder her.”
“If any group of people could murder someone and get away with it, it would be us,” Bones agrees.
Jared rejoins them, spinning Taffet’s chair around for her to face him. “I’m not going to ask you any questions,” he says. “I’m just going to tell you what’s going on.”
“Now,” he continues, explaining what’s going on as they speak. “I went through your file. As Heather Taffet, you have led a very tiny transparent life. But in 1998 you married a man named William Burton for exactly one month before you had the marriage annulled.” Authorities close in on a storage locker as he continues, “Which was long enough to create an entire identity. A whole untraceable identity. Which you used for one thing, and one thing only. To rent a storage locker in Spring Hill.” All of the Grave Digger’s supplies are found in the storage locker. Jared leans down to whisper “I got you” to Taffet, swinging her back around to face the squints.
~*~*~
Meanwhile, Booth places his “Cocky” belt buckle on the ground and steps back, trying to push it towards the two exposed wires with a long metal rod. He’s not close enough. “I need to get closer.”
“You’re too close now, Serge,” Teddy says, but Booth keeps leaning forward. “Too close, I’ll get it.” Booth ignores him, and Teddy rushes forward. “I’ll get it!”
He picks up the belt buckle and walks back to Booth.
“Teddy…”
Teddy give him a rueful look, then slides the belt buckle across the room and into the wires.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The explosion rips a good-sized hole in the wall and knocks them both to the floor.
~*~*~
Hodgins approaches Sweets. “You gotta get your hands on some truth-telling drugs.”
“What?”
Hodgins glances at his watch, then asks, “Would you rather torture her?”
“I know a little bit about that,” Jared offers.
“What?” Sweets asks. “We don’t do that.”
“Booth will die!” Bones reminds him, but Sweets reminds them all, “Character is who you are under pressure, not who you are when everything’s fine.” He looks to the rest of the group. “We’re the good guys, we don’t torture people.”
Cam approaches Taffet. “Evidence is being compiled against you as we speak, Ms. Taffet. Tell us where Agent Booth is. You don’t want another murder on your head.”
“See, that’s not gonna work,” Sweets tries again. “Her pathology necessitates controlling the game. She’s created her own morality, she’s not going to relinquish control.”
Angela rejoins them with good news. “Hey, they brought in everything from her storage locker.”
“Back to work everyone,” Cam says, and they all quickly rush out.
~*~*~
Booth struggles back up against the wall calling for Teddy.
“Yeah?”
“I can’t see very well,” Booth answers. “I looked at the flash, are you okay?”
“Oh I think I could use some help,” Teddy says, leaning heavily against the wall.
Booth flashes back to his memory again. It’s like déjà vu all over again. He’s hovering over Teddy, pulling his helmet off to see if he’s okay.
As Booth’s vision starts to clear, he notices the hole in the wall. “Is that light? Did we find a way out?”
“We always find a way out Serge,” Teddy answers, smiling despite his injury.
“You be my eyes,” Booth says, helping him to his feet, throwing Teddy’s arm over his shoulder. Teddy grunts in pain and Booth asks, “Which way, Corporal?”
“Towards the light.”
Together they limp forward. “Now that’s not so bad, huh?”
Teddy can’t help but laugh. “Move towards the light.”
They make their way towards the exit.
~*~*~
Back at the lab, everyone is scurrying to try and piece together Booth’s location from the evidence recovered from the storage locker.
“Hold up,” Hodgins says, examining the bottom of a pair of boots. “These boots were worn recently.”
“Hey, uh Jared, can I see your black file of Spring Cleaning, or whatever?” Angela asks, needing something to do.
“Contents are in my PDA,” he says handing it over.
“Talk to me while you analyze,” Cam says, joining Hodgins as he examines the boot.
He’s found a common marsh mosquito. “Blood’s still in its gut.”
“Indicating it was worn how recently?”
“At least within the last 24 hours for sure, but wait a second,” he pulls something else off the boot. “I got some paint chips here.”
“Run it through the mass spec, see if there’s anything special about that paint.”
“I’m on it.” Hodgins rushes off.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth asks, “You still with me, Teddy?”
“Yeah,” Teddy answers as Booth helps him up through another level of the ship. “But I gotta tell ya, I feel like we’ve kinda been here before.”
“I’m sorry I got you killed,” Booth, thinking back to that day. “I was so anxious to get off that shot, to take out that target that I forgot to tell you—” Booth remembers Teddy getting shot.
“You told me to get down twice,” Teddy reminds as they struggle through the ship, Booth still carrying his weight. “You gave me orders. I didn’t listen.”
“What?”
“Serge, stop,” Teddy says, finally getting Booth to stop and rest. “I didn’t come here to haunt you. I came to tell you it wasn’t your fault.”
Booth stares at him, remembering sitting by Teddy’s dead body staring into space as the helicopter lights swarmed over them. Booth doesn’t move, despite the hovering helicopter. Teddy is dead.
Back in present time, Booth isn’t about to leave Teddy even if he is a ghost. He pulls him back to his feet and begins climbing the metal stairs.
~*~*~
Back at the lab, Hodgins quickly scans the results of the mass spectrometer and finally concludes that “it’s an obsolete composition of deck coating used by the Navy prior to 1961.”
“So she was on a Navy vessel within the last 24 hours?” Cam asks.
“Yeah, an old one. Most likely decommissioned.”
“Wait a minute, a ship?” Angela asks, reading Jared’s PDA. “Listen to this, Taffet was a volunteer at the aquarium. They were prepping some sort of old ship to be sunk.”
“What?”
“They’re making some sort of reef.”
“The Navy’s not afraid of explosions or sinking ships,” Jared says, pulling out his cell phone and adding, “Plus it’ll really annoy my brother, the Army Ranger, to be saved by a Squid.”
~*~*~
Angela rejoins Sweets and Bones who are watching over Taffet. “Brennan, they know where Booth is. Jared is getting a helicopter to take you there. He’s on an old Navy ship.”
Bones takes in this information, heads for the door, then grabs a heavy briefcase, swings around, and smashes it against Taffet’s head, sending the serial killer to the floor. Without a word, Bones walks out.
~*~*~
Back on the ship, Booth and Teddy aren’t out yet.
“I’m holdin’ you down Serge,” Teddy gasps. “You don’t have to carry me anymore.”
“It doesn’t work that way Teddy,” Booth answers, moving them both along up another set of stairs, toward another hatch door.
~*~*~
Outside, Bones is in a helicopter flying over the water.
“Temperance can you hear me? I’m patched through via cell phone,” Jared’s voice comes through the headphones.
“Jared? I don’t understand, why aren’t you in the helicopter with me?”
“Typical Navy red tape,” Jared says, standing in handcuffs next to a man in fatigues who’s holding the phone up for him. “Nothing to worry about, but listen. They couldn’t cancel the detonation, something’s wrong with the transponder. “
“What do we do now?”
“The ship blows in nine minutes. The Navy’s only giving you five to get there and get Seeley off.”
“No, Jared! Booth could be anywhere one ship, five minute’s not enough time!”
“These guys won’t negotiate, Tempe, they won’t risk anymore lives.”
Suddenly Bones asks, “Are you alright?”
“It’s all worth it as long as you save my brother.”
The helicopter turns, heading out towards the ship.
~*~*~
“Rangers lead the way Serge,” Teddy says, slurring from loss of blood as Booth helps him through the door and out onto the deck.
“Rangers lead the way Corporal,” Booth agrees, helping him to the floor to rest while. Suddenly Booth spots the helicopter.
“Serge,” Teddy calls out, and Booth looks back at him. “I knew what you did for me…How far you carried me.” Booth glances from Teddy back to the helicopter and back. He can’t leave him. “Serge,” Teddy continues, fading fast. “One more thing I gotta tell you…” Booth walks over to hear him. “No way you’re gettin’ the deposit back on that tux.”
Teddy grins and Booth can’t help but smile.
The helicopter lands and Bones flings the door open, shouting, “Booth! Come on, hurry! Come on!”
Booth turns to look at her, then back at Teddy. Teddy is gone.
“Hurry Booth! Come on!”
Still confused about Teddy’s disappearance, Booth hesitates, looking around for him.
“Booth! Come on! HURRY!” Bones shouts, desperate. They’re running out of time!
Finally Booth starts for the helicopter, still looking back for Teddy as he goes.
He gets into the helicopter, closes the door, and faces his partner. They both grab each other in a fierce hug, holding onto each other as the helicopter barely manages to get off the deck right before the ship explodes.
~*~*~
It’s the anniversary of Teddy’s death, and Booth dutifully visits the grave. This time he’s not alone.
“Thanks for coming with me, Bones.”
“You should have stayed in the hospital another day.”
“Well I didn’t mean get me out of the hospital, I meant comin’ out on a helicopter to the ship…thanks for saving my life.”
After a moment, Bones pulls something from her pocket. “Oh I got you this.”
Booth looks down at a new “Cocky” belt buckle and laughs. “Cocky? How’d you find that? That’s hard to find!”
“I read through your report,” she answers. “Seems you would need two people to do most of what you did.”
Booth agrees. “I had help. It was ghost.”
She gives him an incredulous look, rationalizing, “You were injured, drugged, disoriented, breathing bad air. There are no such things as ghosts.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself there, Bones.”
She smiles, shaking her head, then asks, “Who’s ghost?”
“He’s buried over there,” Booth answers, nodding towards a grave.
“The ghost?”
“Corporal Edward Parker.” Bones catches the name and looks at him as he continues, “Was slain while serving his country…He was 20, just a kid.”
“Was it uh…your fault that he died?” Bones asks, glancing from the headstone to her partner.
After a moment Booth shakes his head, finally at peace with it. “No. Fortunes of war…It wasn’t my fault.” He nods towards the grave. “See that woman right there? Her name is Claire. I have a message for her from Teddy.”
He starts to walk towards the woman carrying the flowers, and Bones asks, “What, a message from a ghost?”
“You wait here, okay?” Booth asks, an amused look on his face as his partner asks, “You’re gonna deliver a message to that woman from a ghost?”
Booth just waves it off and Bones sighs. She watches Booth approach Claire and speak to her. She hugs him.
“Beautiful day,” Teddy suddenly appears, walking by Bones in his full uniform. “Makes you glad to be alive doesn’t it?”
Bones nods. He has a good point. “Yes it does.”
Booth and Claire separate and he watches her place the flowers on Teddy’s grave. He glances towards his partner and sees Teddy standing behind her. Teddy waves, and Booth waves back. Thinking he’s waving to her, Bones waves back to Booth.
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Finally we find out who the Grave Digger was! And I loved the part when Bones smacked her with the briefcase. Yes! LoL And it’s about time Jared finally did something for Booth! I loved the fast pace of this episode and the fact that they didn’t even have time to change clothes. Sweets with Angela’s shoe was hilarious.
Hodgins: I hate her. I think I could murder her.
Bones: If any group of people could murder someone and get away with it, it would be us.
Haha! So true. But yet, they didn’t give in and stoop to her level, and once again solved everything with science and their quick thinking. Go team!
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