Aliens in a Spaceship

"Aliens in a Spaceship" Episode 2x09 Written By: Janet Tamaro Directed by: Craig Ross, Jr. Transcribed by: tracie

Disclaimer: The characters, plotlines, quotes, etc. included here are owned by Hart Hanson, all rights reserved. This transcript is not authorized or endorsed by Hart Hanson or Fox.

TEASER

(Interior of car, underground - radio playing)

BRENNAN: Oh God. What - What happened? Where am I?

(she turns the keys in the ignition -She frantically feels around to figure out where she is. The radio is on. She reaches behind her neck and feels something.)

BRENNAN: Ugh. Oh god.

(She reaches up and turns on the inside light and exhales. She sees her phone, smashed and lying on the passenger seat.)

BRENNAN: (tries to open the car door) Oh, Come on!

(She tries to open the door, to no avail. She tries to roll down the window, only to have dirt/rocks fall in the car on her. She quickly rolls up the window. Then turns off the radio. She stops to collect herself, and hears a moaning noise coming from the back seat. She's not alone. She turns around and sees Jack Hodgins, and he appears to be in worse shape then her)

BRENNAN: Hodgins. (she climbs in the back seat) Hodgins. Are you all right? Can you talk? (she puts her hand on his leg...only to find to find blood and gashes on them) Your legs. What happened to your legs?

HODGINS: (mumbles) Where are we?

BRENNAN: We're buried alive. He must have got us.

HODGINS: Who?

BRENNAN: The Grave Digger. (she looks around the car and sees the dirt covering all the windows.)

48 Hours Earlier

(Cut to: Crime scene in the woods.)

SHERIFF: My superior says to let you look at the...flying saucer.

BRENNAN: It's not a flying saucer.

SHERIFF: It sure looks like one. Local kids dirt biking. Something shiny poking through dirt. They dig it out, look in the window and see aliens.

BRENNAN: Did you look?

SHERIFF: Yes, m'am. Then called for backup.

BOOTH: Why?

SHERIFF: On account of..well, they are aliens.

(Booth looks at Brennan, then she heads over to the "spaceship")

BRENNAN: All right. (she clears dirt of the window and looks in) You wanna take a look?

BOOTH: (he moves behind her and peers over her shoulder into the window) Oh. Are those what I think they are?

BRENNAN: Yes. As long as you think they're two adolescent human males.

BOOTH: Hmm...How long?

BRENNAN: The amount of dehydrated tissue suggest the tank is sealed and intact. Years.

BOOTH: Man. Two kids, huh? I liked it better when they were aliens.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Platform)

ZACK: The one set of remains shows trauma to the legs, compound fractures and his pelvis is broken in three places. The other is virtually untouched.

BRENNAN: Cause of death?

ZACK: The amount of blood suggests that at least one of them bled out. Probably the one with the injuries. I've also noted a constellation of identical non metric variants - extra foramina BOOTH: (approaches platform) Does that mean they were twins?

BRENNAN: How did you know?

BOOTH: (holds up a picture of two young boys) Matthew and Ryan Kent. Kidnapped. October 31, 2001 and no one has seen 'em since.

(Opening Credits)

ACT I

(Open - Conference Room at the Jeffersonian)

BRENNAN: The remains in the beer vat have been positively identified as Matthew and Ryan Kent.

PETE SANDERS: Oh god.

AUSA KIM KURLAND: Come on, Peter. It's better than never knowing.

BRENNAN: Agent Sanders? You were assigned to the Kent kidnapping?

SANDERS: Uh, Mr. Sanders. I, uh, retired from the FBI to pursue a career in general contracting - uh, when I'm sober - uh..Kim here was the Assistant United States Attorney attached to the case.

KIM: Still attached. The file's still open. The boys were snatched after a drinking party.

BRENNAN: Was the ransom paid?

SANDERS: As the dually sworn representative of the FBI, I advised Mr. Kent, not to pay the ransom. Unfortunately, the Kent's listened to me and not the K&R guy...and uh, now their sons are dead.

BRENNAN: K&R?

BOOTH: It's the Kidnap and Ransom experts.

KIM: The Kent boys were The Grave Diggers third victims.

SANDERS: Third of the six we know of. Uh, all together, four paid the ransom and lived.

BRENNAN: ..and the other one that didn't?

KIM: Never found him.

SANDERS: That's why they call him The Grave Digger. Uh, he takes people and he buries them. You pay the ransom and he tells them how to dig them up. You don't -- and uh -- you never see them again. You won't catch him.

BOOTH: All due respect, uh -- Agent Sanders - uh, we have the beer vat and the human remains.

KIM: What are two dead bodies gonna tell you that four live victims couldn't?

BOOTH: Dr. Brennan. She's pretty good at uh, making dead people tell her things.

SANDERS: Look, my advice. Talk to the K&R guy.

KIM: Kidnap and ransom expert, Thomas Vega. Former FBI. He literally wrote the book on The Grave Digger. (she takes the book out of her bag and puts it on the table.)

(Cut to - Conference Room at the Jeffersonian - Booth, Brennan, Thomas Vega & Janine O' Connell)

THOMAS VEGA: I became a Kidnap and Ransom specialist after I realized that the bureau's policy on non payment to kidnappers is antiquated and dangerous.

BOOTH: You've dealt with The Grave Digger how many times?

JANINE O'CONNELL: In total? Five.

VEGA: Janine is a journalist. She helped me write the book on The Grave Digger. Next to me, she's the ranking expert on that son of a bitch.

BOOTH: Journalist, huh?

JANINE: Aw, don't be like that, Agent Booth. The Grave Digger is totally consistent. No one ever sees the victim taken. The ransom demand is made using a digitally altered voice. A time limit is given. There's never a second call. As soon as the ransom is paid to a numbered, untraceable account in Bahrain, the Caribbean, etc. The GPS coordinates are provided, leading to the victim, BRENNAN: None of the surviving victims remembers anything before being taken?

JANINE: Nothing. Burn marks on the back of the neck suggest the use of a stun gun or cattle prod.

VEGA: And that'll scramble your brains pretty good. Also, when you try to trace whatever container the boys were found in, you'll, well, you'll reach a dead end. He gets everything from landfills or cash auctions.

BOOTH: No last chance to pay up?

VEGA: Never.

JANINE: You know. Most kidnappers are caught because they start negotiating the ransom. The Grave Digger, simply won't play.

BOOTH: Really not looking to help you write another book, ya know. Capturing The Grave Digger.

VEGA: Agent Booth. I have seen what this guy does to families. Upclose. Ya know what, dislike me as much as you want but I'm still gonna help ya because.. I want this b*st*rd caught.

(Vega & Janine leave the room)

BRENNAN: (turns to Booth) You were kinda mean to them.

BOOTH: Yeah. Thanks.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Platform)

BRENNAN: Zack? Did you catalogue this anomaly between C1 and C2 on Matthew.

ZACK: Yes. If you increase magnification on the atlanto-axail joint, you'll see calcining on articular process.

(Brennan walks over to computer)

BRENNAN: Bone burn.

ZACK: Yes. Over 300 degrees.

BRENNAN: Stun gun. Does the same mark appear on Ryan?

ZACK: No.

BRENNAN: Okay. Get the FBI to send you photos and medical exam results of The Grave Diggers victims. See if he uses the same stun gun every time.

(Zack exits. Hodgins enters)

HODGINS: Aluminum.

BRENNAN: Aluminum?

HODGINS: The Brits say "Al -yu - mini - um" but it sounds, well, British. Maganese alloy. Strained-hardened and stabilized. Traces on both sets of clothing.

BRENNAN: From the vat?

HODGINS: No. The inside of the vat is pure copper. Both boys clothing was stained with a sooty residue made up of lead and carbon, benzene and adlehydes.

BRENNAN: Engine exhaust.

HODGINS: Yeah. Particulates from lots of engines. Both gasoline and diesel.

BRENNAN: Parking lot?

HODGINS: Underground. Probably. That's where the Digger grabs his victims?

BRENNAN: Compare your findings with the results found on the clothing of the surviving victims. See if they share anything in common. And measure oxygen volume in the vat. Find out how long the twins survived.

HODGINS: I'll get right on it.

(Cut to - Conference Room at the Jeffersonian - Booth, Brennan, James Kent, Thomas Vega & Kim Kurland)

KIM: Mr. Kent, I'd like to start by expressing the Justice Department's sincere condolences for the death of your sons, Matthew and Ryan.

JAMES KENT: If I'd ignored the Justice Department and listened to Mr. Vega, here - paid the 2 million - my boys would still be alive today.

BOOTH: Sir, I understand your feelings towards the FBI...

KENT: I doubt that.

VEGA: Jim, Agent Booth here is investigating your sons' murder. You know my problem with the FBI's approach to kidnapping, but when it comes to finding killers, you want these people on your side.

KENT: Ryan and Mattie were spoiled. I know. They uh, partied, they chased girls they um - (a chime sounds - cut to: Brennan's cell phone: There is a text message on Brennan's cell phone from Hodgins - "Victims did not have 24 hours of air. 12 hours max. Hodgins." Brennan shows the message to Booth) they got expelled from school but they weren't bad kids. God, there's no way that they deserved suffocation. Is it - painful?

BRENNAN: Like falling asleep. Mr. Kent, The Grave Digger lied to you and the FBI.

VEGA: That's unlikely. He doesn't play games.

BRENNAN: Mr. Kent, is there any way you could have put together the ransom in 12 hours?

KENT: No way in the world.

VEGA: Which is exactly why The Grave Digger provided Mr. Kent with 24 hours.

BOOTH: His sons only had enough air for 12 hours.

KENT: Oh, my god...

BOOTH: Even if you had ignored the FBI and listened to Mr. Vega, you still wouldn't have been able to save your sons.

VEGA: You're backstopping for the bureau..

BRENNAN: There were two of them in that vat. They used up their oxygen twice as fast. The Grave Digger miscalculated.

VEGA: No, he doesn't do that.

BRENNAN: Then it was never his intention that these boys survive.

BOOTH: He just didn't care, Mr. Kent.

KENT: So my decision to listen to the FBI - to not pay the ransom...

BRENNAN: If you'd paid the ransom, your sons would still have been dead by the time you got to them.

BOOTH: There is nothing you could have done, Mr. Kent. You are in no way responsible for the death of your sons.

ACT II

(Cut to: Booth and Brennan in Booth's Car - Driving)

BRENNAN: Had it occurred to you that God, is a lot like The Grave Digger?

BOOTH: Wha...What?

BRENNAN: He lays down the rules. Not way to question him or negotiate. Then it's almost as though he doesn't care how it works out. Either you do as he says - make some sacrifices and they're delivered or you don't and you end up in hell.

BOOTH: You know what? I'd appreciate it if you didn't say things like that because I really don't want to get struck by lightning.

BRENNAN: Do you go to church every Sunday?

BOOTH: Yes, I do.

BRENNEN: Can I come with you?

BOOTH: No. You can't.

BRENNAN: Why? It might help me to understand.

BOOTH: I am not going to help you disrespect God in His own house. Okay, if you want to do some kind of, ya know, anthropological study - turn on the religious channel.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - The containers used to hold the previous victims of The Grave Digger are lined up - side by side)

KIM: Each of these contained one of The Grave Diggers victims.

BOOTH: Cozy.

KIM: We also provided your people with the clothes each victim was wearing.

HODGINS: Regarding the clothing, every one of them shows traces of aluminum and sooty residue.

BRENNAN: We know each victim was taken from an underground garage, beyond the reach of security cameras.

KIM: They typical kidnap for ransom profile was middle aged, in a job that's beneath him....

BOOTH: Smart guy who's an underachiever and someone who enjoys control over somebody else's life. There's just one problem...

KIM: What's that?

BOOTH: See, there's nothing typical about this guy. Don't expect him to fit the profile.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Angelator Room)

ANGELA: Okay. The dimensions of the vat - six feet wide by eight feet tall - make it impossible for Mattthew Kent to have fractured his brother's pelvis.

BOOTH: Even if Matthew knocked Ryan down and - you know - stomped on him?

BRENNAN: Cam and I agree. The fracture was a result of one, hard blow. (They recreate the scenario thru the Angelator) A break like that would require a lot more force then Matthew could have generated.

BOOTH: Alright, so you're saying the Ryan was injured before he went into that vat...

BRENNAN: Yes. But the amount of blood on the floor, can't be explained by his injuries alone. (Brennan can see that Booth has an idea) What?

BOOTH: It was a mistake.

ANGELA: What was?

BOOTH: Look. He intended to take one boy but he ended up with two.

BRENNAN: Ah. That's why they died 12 hours ahead of schedule BOOTH: If he intended to take two boys, he would have put them in a container twice as big. Alright, The Grave Digger, he messed up. He snuck up on Matthew - knocked him unconscious, whatever and uh, Ryan was there - he shows up - and he fought the guy.

BRENNAN: No, Booth. Not fight.

ANGELA: The leg damage. The fractured pelvis..

BRENNAN: These injuries are classic human vs. car.

BOOTH: Ryan interrupts the kidnapping of his brother...

BRENNAN: ..and The Grave Digger runs him down.

BOOTH: It was a mistake. The Grave Digger is not God, Bones, because God does not make mistakes.

ANGELA: Hmm. I don't know. Putting testicles on the outside - didn't seem like such a good idea.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal - Platform)

ZACK: Commercial stun gun. 625,000 volts - still not enough.

ANGELA: Well, it sounds like a lot of volts.

ZACK: Actually, it's the amperage that does the real damage. But still, I've checked every commercial stun gun I can find and none of them generate the right amount of power to make those distinctive marks on the bone.

ANGELA: Well, what about a cattle prod?

ZACK: Stun guns generate a lot more power than cattle prods.

(Hodgins enters)

HODGINS: You haven't figured out the stun gun, then I am this weeks "King of the Lab", cause I found something huge.

ANGELA: You compete - to be "King of the Lab"?

HODGINS: No....Hey Angela. I, I didn't know - that you were - this sucks. I'm gonna go, catch Brennan then bolt for the night.

ANGELA: She just left.

(Hodgins turns to leave)

ANGELA: Hey. (Hodgins turns back to face her) Could you stop being so weird? Please? It's making me very uncomfortable.

(Hodgins leaves)

ZACK: You should give him a chance.

ANGELA: Excuse me?

ZACK: I apologize. I didn't say anything.

ANGELA: mmhmm.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian -Underground Garage)

(Brennan is walking to her car and then surprised and grabbed from behind. Hodgins sees what has happened and goes running towards her)

HODGINS : Dr. Brennan. Dr. Brennan?

(As he gets closer to her body, he stops - there's a car coming right at him - he's a deer in headlights)

(Cut to - Royal Diner - Interior - Booth and Cam)

CAM: What do you say we go to New York for the weekend?

BOOTH: Yeah, I don't know..

CAM: Come on! We're two adults with no obligations. (Booth's phone rings) Let it go to voice mail. We're not cheating. We're not hurting anybody, Seeley.

BOOTH: Then why are we keeping our relationship such a secret, Camille?

CAM: Because we work together and we're professionals and it's nobody's business. That's all. So come to New York. We'll go to a musical BOOTH: (laughs) Talking and singing and talking and dancing and more singing (pulls out his phone to check his voicemail) Ya know, if you want to stop what we're doing - just say so.

CAM: You can fantasize about pulling out your gun and shooting everyone on stage. You know you like that.(Booth puts his phone to his ear to check his message - As Cam continues to talk you can tell something's wrong) Seriously, we'll do something you like. Like, Climbing the outside of the Empire State building or swimming the East River...or..(she sees panic in Booth's eyes) What? What happened?

(Booth puts turns the speaker phone on and plays back the voice mail. It's from The Grave Digger)

THE GRAVE DIGGER (voice): Temperance Brennan and Jack Hodgins have been buried alive.Wire transfer $8 million to the following Grand Cayman account or they will suffocate to death.

ACT III

(Cut to -Department of Justice - Conference Room - Booth is playing the message back for Thomas Vega, Janine O' Connell & Kim Kurland )

THE GRAVE DIGGER (voice): Upon receipt of the wire transfer, I will provide you Brennan and Hodgins GPS Coordinates. This will be my last communication.

VEGA: It will be his last communication too. He's never varied.

KIM: You learn from the Kent boys. He's got two of them, he cut the deadline in half.

VEGA: Why is The Grave Digger demanding so much money? It's doesn't make any sense.

JANINE: Well, he's always been reasonable at knowing how much people can raise within the time limit.

VEGA: Has - uh - Dr. Brennan made that much money from her books?

BOOTH: It's Hodgins. He's the soul heir to this thing called The Cantilever Group VEGA: What's that?

JANINE: Just the third largest privately owned corporation in the country...

BOOTH: Make sense now, Tom?

(Interior of car, underground)

BRENNAN: I was on my way to karate class, so we have lots of bottled water.

HODGINS: What happened? Where are we?

BRENNAN: Last thing I remember is being at the lab.

HODGINS: I'm really confused, what happened to my legs? (he looks at Brennan) Where are we?

BRENNAN: Underground. Buried. I have a burn (she pulls her hair back revealing 2 red marks - from what appears to be a stun gun.)

HODGINS: Zack was trying to figure out what kind of stun gun...

BRENNAN: It has to be "The Grave Digger". I think he ran you down with his car, and then pumped you full of drugs to ruin your short term memory - same as Ryan Kent.

HODGINS: (obviously getting more worried) How long have we been down here?

BRENNAN: Um. (she looks at her watch) It would be - 2 hours - I think?

HODGINS: Okay, So this vehicle is 6...60 - 60 cubic feet of air, uh, it's just 20 percent oxygen - two people - my brain is not working..

BRENNAN: The Grave Digger is very consistent. If we started with 12 hours of air, we'll be unconscious in 10. After that if - if no one pays the ransom...

HODGINS: We're dead.

(Brennan nods)

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal - Platform)

(Countdown has begun: 10:43:04)

CAM: How are we gonna get our hands on $8 Million?

ZACK: Hodgins is rich.

CAM: He is?

ZACK: "Rich squared to the power of ten times four" is how he describes it.

ANGELA: (to Booth) You're gonna pay the ransom, right?

BOOTH: Yes. FBI standard ops, they won't work. Grave Digger operates outside statistics.

CAM: They'll fire you.

BOOTH: Ah, that's cool. One less reason to wear a suit.

CAM: How did The Grave Digger catch Brennan and Hodgins together?

BOOTH: Bones was on her way to Karate.

ANGELA: And Hodgins said he found something huge..

ZACK: ..and he tried to catch Dr. Brennan.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian -Underground Garage)

(The squints, Cam & Booth go to investigate the garage and find a blood stain)

CAM: (over the blood stain) Here!

ANGELA: Oh my god. Oooh, that's blood, isn't it?

BOOTH: It'll turn out to be Hodgins.

ZACK: Dr. Brennan doesn't like it when we jump to conclusions.

CAM: I'm sure she'll appreciate - we're on a deadline.

BOOTH: Look. Hodgins interrupted the kidnapping, just like Ryan and Matthew - The Grave Digger must have run him over.

ANGELA: God, what are we gonna do?

BOOTH: We'll, it's a crime scene, alright. They'll look for tire tracks. They'll check the security cameras..(points to Zack) I need you to be Dr. Brennan.

ZACK: I don't know what that means.

CAM: It means, keep working the case.

BOOTH: Alright, I need to know why Hodgins was chasing after Bones.

CAM: I'll look at his notes.

ANGELA: Well, what about me?

BOOTH: Call Bone's brother, Russ, and tell him what's going on. I'm gonna go talk to the chairman of The Cantilever Group.

(Booths turns to leave the garage and Cam picks up her phone and dials)

(Interior of car, underground)

BRENNAN: We have water, towels, my mini kit, ibuprofen, two cell phones no batteries, a digital camera with a back up battery and uh, a handful of pens.

HODGINS: That one's a laser pointer...

BRENNAN: And uh, a copy of my novel.

HODGINS: Hey. We can read it to each other if we get bored.

BRENNAN: (pulls perfume out of a pouch) Deep Rhapsody?

HODGINS: Careful. That's 3 grand a quarter ouce.

(Hodgins makes a face of pain)

BRENNAN: Yeah. I'd make that face too, if I spent $3,000 on perfume.

HODGINS: Oh man. Something - something - my leg.

BRENNAN: (opens up the ibuprofen) Here. Here. (opens up a bottle of water) I'm worried you have compartment syndrome (she hands Hodgins the water bottle and the pills)

HODGINS: Is that terminal? I mean within the next few hours?

BRENNAN: No.

HODGINS: But...

BRENNAN: It's gonna get painful.

HODGINS: More painful than now?

BRENNAN: Yeah. "Slip into shock and die" painful.

HODGINS: Well, there's nothing we can do about that.

BRENNAN: Actually, there is.

HODGINS: Oh, I'm not gonna like this, am I.

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab)

(Time remaining on the clock: 08:22:14)

CAM: What are you doing?

ZACK: The Grave Digger modified a commercial stun gun to knock out his victims. I've figured out the voltage and amperage, but not how he modified it to boost the current (he zaps a piece of meat with a stun gun) - which will not help us find Dr. Brennan and Hodgins. I did figure out how Ryan Kent died.

CAM: Let's hear it.

ZACK: He killed himself. He punctured his own carotid artery, which explains the amount of blood we found in the vat. He used a pen. There's a nick on the inferior angle of the mandible. I don't know why he did it, I don't really do "Why", I just do "How".

CAM: He did it to give his brother more air - so his twin would survive. That's why we found them holding each other.

ZACK: How does that help?

CAM: When we tell Mr. Kent that one of his son's gave his own life in an effort to save his brother, it'll mean something, Zack. Just keep searching, Okay.

(Interior of car, underground)

(Hodgins tears a page out of Brennan's Book - "Bred in the Bone" - he writes something, folds it up and sticks it in his jacket pocket.)

HODGINS: Okay. I'm ready.

BRENNAN: Was that a note to Angela?

HODGINS: Yes. Just in case - That whatever you're gonna do to me sends me into shock - I might die. Upside? Me not breathing, doubles your survival time.

BRENNAN: I'm not interested in surviving that way. (she touches his leg) What I'm going to do is make a long incision in the fascia to release the pressure inside.

HODGINS: And..how long is a long incision? Wait, ya know what? Don't tell me.

BRENNAN: It's best if I do it very fast and without empathy. (she hands him a gag for his mouth - her black belt) Here. Hang on to something and don't fight passing out (she hold the knife next to his leg, ready to make the incision - Hodgins places the gag in his mouth and holds on to the emergency handles in the back of the car) You ready? (He nods and she prepares to cut, but finds a piece of something stuck in his leg) Wait...

HODGINS: What is that?

BRENNAN: Evidence of what happened to you. Let's - let's worry about it later.

HODGINS: Here - just (he hands her her book) put it in the pages of your book. I'll take a look at it later. (he puts the gag back in his mouth then mumbles something)

BRENNAN: It's best if you don't talk right now.

HODGINS: (he spits the gag out) I'm nuts about Angela. Over the moon. Stupid in love with her. That's why I bought her that - that crazy, expensive perfume. Man give you a bottle of perfume like that, it says - it says "I Love You". There. I said it out loud. (he puts the gag back in his mouth and gets back into position. He's ready. As Brennan makes the incision, he screams.)

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab)

(Time remaining on the clock: 05:09:34)

CAM: Did you find Russ?

ANGELA: He's on a fishing trip with friends in the White Mountains. No phone, no cell service. You?

CAM: Hodgins seems to write everything in some kind of code. I'm gonna have to get Zack over here to break it.

ANGELA: It says that the traces of aluminum found on the clothing were almost certainly from the kidnapper's vehicle. Like a box in the back of a trunk or a van.

CAM: You can read that?

ANGELA: Yeah, Hodgins sends me a lot of notes. Why bother? With all of this? We don't need evidence, we need millions of dollars. (Angela turns and walks away from Cam)

(Cut to - Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Catwalk)

BOOTH: I can't get the ransom together -- not in the time. All right, The Cantilever Group has got this policy - no proof of life from the kidnapper, no ransom.

CAM: Not ever for the boss?

BOOTH: It's his rule. It's no exceptions. I'd say we need more time, but The Grave Digger doesn't give us that - or proof of life.

CAM: Booth, I don't think it's a coincidence that he took Brennan when he did.

BOOTH: Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing.

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground - car honks - Brennan appears to be hotwiring something)

(Hodgins wakes up, startled)

BRENNAN: Thank god I didn't kill you.

HODGINS: How long was I unconscious?

BRENNAN: For a while. How's your leg?

HODGINS: Better. Lots better. What are you doing?

BRENNAN: Hotwiring the phone to the horn so we can send a message.

HODGINS: From underground?

BRENNAN: We get radio reception.

HODGINS: Direct current 12 volt will burn out the circuits in a 4.2 volt cell phone in a microsecond. Better jury-rig a resistor.

BRENNAN: Smart.

HODGINS: Might work long enough to send a single burst transmission.

BRENNAN: Very short text message. Booth can trace it to a cell phone relay tower.

HODGINS: What message should we send? Goodbye? Nice to know ya?

BRENNAN: What are we surrounded by?

HODGINS: Pain. Despair - and a subsoil accumulation of agglutinate aridosols BRENNAN: Dirt.

HODGINS: I don't like the term "dirt".

BRENNAN: Alright (she picks up a handful of dirt from inside the car) Tell me something I don't know. (she puts it in his hand)

HODGINS: (examines the dirt) Ash. Hints of nitrogen and sulfur (he spits on it)

BRENNAN: So where are we?

HODGINS: We're in Bituminous Coal country. Basically, Virginia.

BRENNAN: We need more than that.

HODGINS: The laser - and we need Benzophenone.

BRENNAN: Benzophenone. Some soaps and plastic packaging, sunscreen - we don't have any sunscreen. Angela's perfume.

HODGINS: Three. Grand. that cost.

BRENNAN: Hodgins, I will split the cost when we get out of here.

HODGINS: There's something you don't know about me. I'm rich.

BRENNAN: Me too.

HODGINS: No. No. You're - well off. My family owns The Cantilever Group and there's not many of us left alive. One to be exact. Me.

BRENNAN: Okay. I won't split it with you. (she dumps the perfume into the dirt - Hodgins mixes it around with his finger.) It smells nice.

HODGINS: I need the camera.(she picks up the camera and hands it to him. He then uses it to examine the dirt more closely) I know where we are.

(Cut to: FBI Headquarters - Booth's Office)

VEGA: There's not negotiating with The Grave Digger.

BOOTH: You've been through this what - ah - five times with this guy..

VEGA: Exactly. So I know him, and he does not negotiate.

BOOTH: Oh, what? What - no - chat room action with him?

VEGA: Are you nuts? I hate the son of a bitch.

BOOTH: Why? He's made you rich.

VEGA: You know what? You just need to deal with the facts. That if you can't put the ransom together in the time he gave you, your partner is dead.

(Booth grabs Vega and throws him down on the table)

BOOTH: Here's the deal, all right. You have a relationship with this guy, what they call symbiotic - you benefit from each other - hmm. So know this. That deadline comes around, and my partner is still underground - I will end you. You understand? Yeah? (he picks him off off the table) Three hours to live. (He throws Vega out of his office) Better hurry.

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground)

(Hodgins is examining the thing Brennan found in his leg)

HODGINS: This thing you found in my leg is anodized plastic film and coated metallic tape with dried out adhesive. I think it's a bumper sticker.

BRENNAN: You mean like "If you can read this, you're too close."?

HODGINS: No. Like a prepaid toll road pass. (he pauses) Someone ran me down with a car.

BRENNAN: We knew that already.

HODGINS: Yeah, but now we've proved it, and I find that I'm really annoyed.

BRENNAN: 4 to 6 seconds to enter a message and hit speed dial.

HODGINS: I've figured out a text message using 8 key strikes.

BRENNAN: How's your text messaging?

HODGINS: Thumbs like lightning. I can do it.

BRENNAN: Okay. (she hands him the phone) You ready?

HODGINS: Yeah. (she presses on the horn and Hodgins enters the message, then the phone short circuits) Oh!

BRENNAN: Oh! Did it go?

HODGINS: I think it went...

BRENNAN: Me too.

(Cut to: FBI Headquarters - Booth's Office)

(Booth is standing behind his chair, thinking, when he receives a message on his phone)

(Cut to: Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Platform)

(On a computer screen, there are the numbers 6 7 16 M1.4 displayed)

BOOTH: Does it mean anything to anybody?

CAM: They're getting low on oxygen.

ZACK: Hypoxia leads to mental confusion.

BOOTH: It's Bones. It means something.

ANGELA: Did you try just dialing the number?

BOOTH: I tried all the dumb guy, normal stuff. Okay, that's why I'm here talking to the Brain Trust. All right. Think! Eggheads. Work it!

CAM: Booth. They're not cops!

BOOTH: We're running out of time.

ZACK: Minor correction. Dr. Brennan and Hodgins run out of air in....4 seconds (the clock counts down to 0) We are out of time.

ACT IV

(Interior of car, underground)

(Brennan has cut through the back seat into the trunk and punctures a tire to get more air for them. They lean up against the seat and breathe it in.)

HODGINS: How much extra time?

BRENNAN: A little. There are 4 extra tires, but we can't get to them. Is there anything else?

HODGINS: If the ransom was paid, we'd be out by now. Why prolong the inevitable?

BRENNAN: Booth will find us.

HODGINS: You have a lot of Faith in Booth.

BRENNAN: No. Faith is an irrational belief in something that is logically impossible. Overtime, I've seen what Booth can do. It's not Faith.

HODGINS: No offense - and I'm not just saying this because you filleted me with a knife - We are out of air. We don't know if our message got out, much less if anyone understood it and we are buried underground. What you have is Faith, baby. Sorry. The baby thing is a reflex.

BRENNAN: We shouldn't talk right now - to conserve air.

HODGINS: I need the camera batteries and the preservative powder from your kit.

BRENNAN: Soda ash and lithium? You're going to make a carbon dioxide scrubber?

HODGINS: If you can perform surgery out of thin air, then I can pull a little thin air out of thin air. (they laugh - knowing that at least they'll be able to extend their time by a bit more)

(Cut to: Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Platform)

CAM: Okay. Zack figured out what stun gun The Grave Digger uses and how it's modified. Thanks to Angela, we know that The Grave Digger has a customized aluminum casing in the back of his vehicle...

BOOTH: I got about a hundred agents working that angle. What does this mean, right here (he taps on the computer monitor forcefully) What does that mean?

ZACK: You're forgetting something. Brennan and Hodgins are out of air.

BOOTH: Great. You wanna give up, huh? This is Bones we're talking about and Hodgins. You really think they didn't find a way to extend their air supply! Hell, found away to send us a message to ask us for help (he hits the monitor again) and you want to give up because of math.

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground)

(Hodgins is scraping out the lithium from inside the battery into an ashtray)

HODGINS: Soda ash. Lithium reacts high concentrations of carbon dioxide. (pours water in) Produces oxygen. (they see it start to foam and laugh out or relief)

BRENNAN: (she moves to the front seat) That gives us just long enough.

HODGINS: Long enough for what?

BRENNAN: My next idea, which will kill us. Airbags.

HODGINS: They aren't actually bags of air..

BRENNAN: I'm not looking to extend our survival underground. I'm looking to blow our way out of here.

HODGINS: Using the explosives from the air bags? (she looks back and nods) That could definitely kill us.

BRENNAN: So will doing nothing. (she goes to work on the airbags)

HODGINS: (hands her a page from her book) Anyone you wanna say goodbye to?

(Brennan takes it and begins to write)

(Cut to: Jeffersonian - Medico-Legal Lab - Platform)

ZACK: It's not a numerical alphabetical code or an equation.

ANGELA: It's not GPS coordinates or indications of topography.

BOOTH: Great. Then what is it?

CAM: Can I make a suggestion? See, this is exactly why I was sent here. You guys are brilliant, but you won't make intuitive leaps.

ZACK: You mean 'jump to conclusions" CAM: That's exactly what I mean. This is a message from one of them to one of us. Specific. Focused. Who was it meant to get to?

BOOTH: Easy. Brennan's cell to mine, right? The message was for me. We have an understanding, we work together.

ANGELA: We all work together. She's my best friend. And Hodgins - Hodgins -

CAM: She's right. We should assume the message is from Hodgins not from Brennan.

BOOTH: Why?

CAM: Because they're buried alive...

ANGELA: And Hodgins is all about dirt.

BOOTH: Okay. Great. The message is about dirt, but who's it to?

ZACK: Angela. Hodgins is all about dirt and Angela.

ANGELA: But it's numbers, Zack. It's for you. Hodgins would have written me a line of poetry or something.

(Vega & Janine O' Connell arrive outside the platform)

VEGA: Agent Booth. Janine used all her contacts to get me on all the local news shows. Now, I explained that we needed more time. I asked him to call. I'm sorry, but he's completely consistent.

ZACK: 6, 7, 16. Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulfur on the periodic table of elements. They are buried in coal rich soil. (he pulls up a map)

BOOTH: Ya gotta narrow it down, Zack.

ANGELA: Keep going, Zack.

ZACK: Uh - mineral components of coal are all the same. It's the organic components that provide a unique fingerprint. (he starts to zone in on Brennan & Hodgins location) They are called, mascerals. They fluoresce at different levels. A reflectance of 1.4 is quite rare - suggesting a high concentration of inertinite.

BOOTH: Zack, tell me what that means.

ANGELA: It means he knows where they are.

BOOTH: Zack...

ZACK: (he pin points a spot on the map) I know where they are.

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground)

(Brennan has jumper cable set up across the dashboard of the car)

HODGINS: Can this possibly work?

BRENNAN: I'm not really an explosives expert...but the dash might shape the charge enough to blow out the windshield. If we're less than 4 feet beneath the surface, this charge could blow us to freedom.

HODGINS: And if we're buried more than 4 feet deep?

BRENNAN: Then the concussion will turn our brains into jelly.

HODGINS: Well, then we can run for Congress, so it's a win-win.

BRENNAN: We should get as far away from the explosion as possible.

HODGINS: I already am. (he extends his hand) Care to join me.

(Cut to: What appears to be a quarry - The group arrives (with extra help from the FBI) and stand on the edge of a hill, looking over the area below in hopes that they'll see something that will lead them to Brennan and Hodgins)

BOOTH: Come on, people. They gotta be here. Just look for anything - tire tracks, recent digging, mounds, depressions, anything.

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground)

BRENNAN: Ready?

HODGINS: Yeah. Dr. Brennan. It's been a privilege.

(He extends his hand to her, but instead she hugs him and holds him tightly. You can see the fear in both of them.)

(Cut to: Booth looking out over the quarry.)

(Cut to: Interior of car, underground)

(Hodgins prepares to connect the two wires that will cause the airbags to explode..he slowly put them together...)

(Cut to: Booth looking out over the quarry. He spots a puff of dust shooting through the ground; the explosion from the airbags. He bolts over, starts digging. He digs through the dirt and finds a hand. Brennan's hand. He pulls her out - as he does that, everyone else arrives to help dig out Hodgins.

BRENNAN: Get. Hodgins...

(They all furiously dig and eventually, find Hodgins.)

ANGELA: Jack. Come 'on

(Hodgins coughs - then reaches up and touches Zack's head. Angela wipes the dirt off Hodgins's face, then leans down and kisses him. Everyone is alive and well. Angela, Zack and Hodgins are together, and Booth joins Brennan and they smile at one another.)

(Cut to: Jeffersonian - Hodgins is sitting at a table looking through mircoscope - Angela enters)

ANGELA: I went to visit you at the hospital. I brought you this (hold up a teddy bear with a red bow)

HODGINS: They..they let me go home.

ANGELA: No, they didn't. You left without being discharged. You stole crutches - which I had to pay for.

HODGINS: They packed me - pumped me full of antibiotics - stitched me up and gave me painkillers, so I'm..I'm good to go.

ANGELA: Could you please look at me? (he turns to face her) You were buried alive. You were operated on without an anesthetic. You were pumped full of drugs. You really should be lying down.

HODGINS: (his voice breaking) He's out there, Angela. He buries people alive. I have to catch him. If I Can figure out the exact alloy of aluminum, then maybe I could - maybe we could. Plus the bit of -of - bumper sticker that Brennan found in my leg...

ANGELA: We're gonna catch him, okay. I promise you. We're gonna start tomorrow. All of us, together.

HODGINS: I can't sleep, Angela.

ANGELA: I thought that they gave you something for that?

HODGINS: No. I mean. I'm afraid. That when I close my eyes, when I open them, I'm gonna be back in that car. Buried. Running out of air.

ANGELA: Okay. Then you should come home with me.

HODGINS: What?

ANGELA: When you open your eyes, I'll be there.

HODGINS: Yeah?

ANGELA: Yeah.

HODGINS: Okay. You know I'm good for that crutch money. ( they laugh)

(Cut to: Church - Interior - Booth and Brennan are sitting in the first pew - Booth is praying)

BRENNAN: What did you ask for?

BOOTH: That's between me and a certain Saint. Although, I did ask for a little help finding The Grave Digger.

BRENNAN: Good move. (she sniffs the air) What's that smell?

BOOTH: The candles. And I said Thanks. You should try it sometime.

BRENNAN: If I were going to pray, I would have done it just before we set off the explosion.

BOOTH: And you didn't?

BRENNAN: No. See, if there was a God - which there isn't-

BOOTH: Shhhh. (whispers) Do you see where we are?

BRENNAN: And if I were someone who believed he had a plan...

BOOTH: ..which I do...

BRENNAN: Then I'd be tempted to think He wanted me to go through something like I went through because it might make me more open to the whole....concept.

BOOTH: Mhmm. It obviously hasn't.

BRENNAN: I'm okay with you thanking God for saving me and Hodgins.

BOOTH: That's not what I thanked Him for. I thanked Him for saving...all of us. It was all of us. Every. Single. One. You take one of us away, and you and Hodgins are in that hole forever. And I'm thankful for that.

BRENNAN: (voice breaking a bit) I knew you wouldn't give up.

BOOTH: I knew you wouldn't give up.

End.