A/N: A new story. I hope you enjoy the beginning of a new journey.

As usual, I don't own Bones.

"Come on, Bones, keep up," Booth teased, turning to look over his shoulder. After a rather difficult case, Booth had picked up his partner for an early morning run, hoping to let off a little steam before going in to work. For the moment, he was running ahead of her, but knew she wouldn't be happy with that for long. Bones didn't like to lose.

Which she gleefully reminded him of when he stumbled over a rock. "You should have chosen a more appropriate running area for your lack of physical coordination," she taunted as she jogged past him. "Perhaps the sidewalk outside of your apartment, rather than a trail through the woods."

She was panting a little, and so was he. The trail, while isolated, provided just a little bit more of a challenge for the two of them. Booth had run it more than once alone, and while he'd enjoyed the silence, he was willing to admit it was a lot more fun with company.

Booth chased her for a time, enjoying the view. It probably wasn't something he should have been doing, but with Bones in front of him, he could get away with it. Bones was a beautiful woman and if he'd been noticing her a bit more lately, who was there to notice? It was just two of them.

He was lost in the pounding of his feet beneath him, the view in front of him, when Brennan stopped so abruptly, he almost ran her over. "What the hell, Bones? Is there a bear up there?" he asked as she began to back toward him.

"You could say that," a voice said. Booth reached forward to grab Bones and pull her slightly behind him.

He didn't look like much. Dirty jeans and an old t-shirt covered the lanky frame. But a gun was clearly visible in his waistband.

"We're just jogging," Booth said calmly. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything. We'll just turn around and go back."

"No?" the man asked. He looked relaxed, but Booth could see the tension in his muscles. "Well, I'm not jogging and I meant to interrupt you."

Booth's heart, still beating rapidly from running, was beginning to slow. He could feel the calmness settling on him, a feeling he recognized. It happened when he was in danger. A coolness, that allowed him to do what needed to be done to get out of a situation alive. It helped him to think, at a pace that was almost as rapid as his partners.

Raising his hands so they were visible, Booth tried to talk their way out of whatever they'd stumbled into. "We'll just back our way out of here," he said, taking first one and then another step back. Brennan followed his lead, not saying a word. She was too busy taking in everything so she could remember it later. There was no way she was allowing anyone to threaten them this way.

But both stopped moving when a second figure stepped out behind the first, followed by a third directly behind Booth and Brennan. Booth adjusted his body slightly, so he could see everyone at once. "We don't have any money," he said slowly, keeping his hands raised. "But I can give you the keys to my car."

The first man who appeared snorted, clearly amused by the offer. "We don't want money." Pulling the gun from his waistband, he cocked the weapon and pointed it at Brennan. "We want you," he said, his eyes on Booth.

From his vantage point, he could see weapons on the second and third man, and knew they were in trouble. Brennan met Booth's eyes and tilted her head slightly. He glanced around them again and shook his head almost imperceptibly. No, they couldn't fight their way out of this. Not when surrounded by men with guns. And neither of them armed.

Booth focused his attention on the man holding the gun on Bones. Clearly he was the leader. "I'll go with you as long as she gets out of this alive," he offered. "Willingly. I won't fight it."

"Booth," she hissed, clearly annoyed. She didn't like that plan at all. There had to be a better way, a different way to get them both out of this alive.

Looking around them, Brennan's mind work at a frantic pace, considering options and discarding them just as quickly. She refused to give up, despite the fact she was quickly coming to the same realization as her partner.

Three men, all armed. Two of them, neither with a weapon. Booth's was locked in the SUV. It was hard to jog with his gun, they'd tried in the past, and it had proven to be annoying. So now, he usually left it behind. Neither of them had ever considered they'd be threatened like this.

The leader smiled. HIs teeth were bright and straight, not fitting with the persona at all. "Sure, whatever you want. They didn't pay us to pick her up anyway. Just you." He waved the gun. "Over here, sweetheart."

"Go, Temperance," Booth said softly, praying just once she would listen to him. Clearly, given the last statement, these men were only here for him, not her. They'd probably been expecting him to jog alone, as he had in the past. Bones was a complication they didn't want to deal with. He only hoped he could get them to leave her alive. "You're the only one," he added, hoping she understood his meaning.

She nodded and moved in the direction indicated. She was the only one he trusted to find him in time. The only one he thought could put all the clues together to get him out of this in one piece. He'd go with them now, to keep her alive, and she would save him later. Not a great plan. But still a workable one. They'd both managed it before. Surely, they could do it again.

Smiling cruelly, the man with the gun stepped behind her. "I'll leave her alive, but not conscious," he announced, turning the gun to hit her on the head. "We need a bit of a head start after all." Brennan dropped like a rock and Booth formed fists so tightly he was sure he broke skin.

"I'll kill you for that," he said coldly. It was a promise he fully intended to keep. He could see Brennan's chest moving up and down and knew she wasn't dead. Still, the sight of his partner unconscious was something he knew would haunt him in the future, and fuel his anger for the next several hours.

Behind him, he heard the sound of a gun being pulled, but he didn't turn. The leader looked at Booth and shook his head. "We don't get paid if he dies. Deliver him alive, those were our instructions."

Bending over, he grabbed Brennan by the feet and dragged her into the trees. It took only seconds before the two of them disappeared from view.

"Hurt her," Booth called after him, "and you'll never get me out of here alive." He had an advantage now, even if it was slim. Most likely, Booth wouldn't be shot in the near future. Not until this played out.

Seconds later, the man Booth promised to kill reappeared. "She'll wake up in a little while. No sense in getting violent over it. Now let's go. Back down the trail. We have quite a ways to go after we get out of here."

Considering his options, and knowing he had none at the moment, Booth turned slowly and started back down the trail, one man in front and two behind him. All armed. He had no chance at taking all three of them before being shot.

It seemed to take no time at all to get back to where Booth had parked his vehicle. Next to it was a vehicle very similar to his. He had to give the idiots around him credit; any witnesses would mention a black SUV and most officers wouldn't question the statement enough to realize there were two of them in the lot, not just one.

A fourth man stepped out of the vehicle as they approached it, also armed. "There's a woman in the woods," a voice said behind Booth. "Go take care of her."

Before the statement was finished, Booth whirled without conscious thought. He simply acted. The leader had stepped too close behind him and it took only a second for Booth to free him of his weapon, cock it, and point it at his forehead.

The other three men pulled their guns as well, but didn't raise them, unsure what to do. Clearly, they weren't the brains of this operation.

But for Booth, everything had come down to this moment, this decision. He saw nothing, acknowledged nothing, except for the man standing at the end of the barrel.

"I'll kill you right now," he said coldly. He could feel his finger on the trigger, pulling it just slightly. It would take only the smallest amount of pressure to finish the motion. "Your friends might kill me after that, but you'll still be dead and no one will get paid. And, figuring you guys are amateurs at best, I might get at least one more of them before I go down."

In front of him, the man blinked and licked his lips nervously. There was nothing nervous about Booth. While he couldn't hold the position forever, right now the gun was rock steady as he aimed it. Booth would do what it took to make sure Bones got out of this alive. The cost to himself was not a factor.

"You leave the woman in the woods alone. She gets to go home tonight, alive and unharmed, and I go with you quietly. Otherwise, when she wakes up, she's going to stumble across a lot of bodies in this parking lot. And I guarantee at least one of them will be yours."

There was a long pause and Booth took a step forward, until the gun touched his forehead. "Call off your man," Booth ordered.

Booth knew what was in his eyes, he only hoped the other man recognized what it meant. No fear, no regret or hesitation at the thought of taking another's life and perhaps losing his as well. It meant he would kill to get what he wanted.

Another moment, then a short nod. "Leave her alone," was the new order and Booth forced himself to take a step back. Slowly, he relaxed his muscles enough to prevent pulling the trigger. But he had to admit it had been close.

His assailant held out his hand for the weapon. Booth calculated his odds and instead threw the weapon into the trees behind them. "I'm sure you have more," he said with a casual shrug. And he was sure the Squints would find it, giving them one more clue to follow.

Taunting them probably wasn't the best idea, but this crew was just making a delivery. They wouldn't kill him. At least, not yet.

Attempting to regain control of the situation, the crew's leader motioned toward the second SUV. "Get in the back," he said.

Nodding, Booth turned and crawled into the second seat. He was immediately surrounded on both sides, along with the two in the front, making escape next to impossible.

Not that he would have tried. His only goal at the moment was to get them away from his unconscious partner. Escape chances would come later.

"Start driving, Mike," the man in the passenger seat ordered and Booth filed the name away for later. "We have a long drive ahead of us before we get to the cabin. And our boss wants us there by tomorrow night at the latest."

A drive of that length of time would put them almost anywhere on the East coast. But a cabin implied the woods. Isolation. Booth didn't know what the endgame was, be he was sure it didn't end with him surviving this ordeal.

His hope, at least until he came up with a plan, now lay with his unconscious partner.

Thanks for reading. My plan is to update each weekend, hopefully Saturday. On that note, until next week...