Well, apparently musie finally decided to come back from Bones vacation, so, at long last, I'm finally writing this Bones fic that I've had in my head for awhile now. Thanks to kasper for her input…if you call 'keep, keep writing' input…lol. And thanks to luli for the title...you rock, girl!

Just a short intro chapter...I would say enjoy, but…

Booth opened his eyes to darkness and a dull pain throbbing through his body. Groaning, he sat up, struggling to put together what exactly had happened. The last thing he remembered, he had been in his office, talking to Bones…

"Bones?" Panicked, he turned his head quickly, blinking the dust out of his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. Shoving splintered wood off him, he staggered to his feet, wincing in pain. "Bones!" Hearing nothing, he looked around wildly.

The space he was in was no more than eight feet wide, and he had to bend over to miss hitting his head in the cramped space. The floor was littered with splintered wood and debris from the building. Straining through the gloom, he finally spied a lock of auburn hair, buried under a pile of rubble. Reaching her, he fell to his knees, frantically pulling the pieces of debris off her.

She was lying on her side, looking pale in the dim light. Her lack of response made his heart skip a beat; reaching out, he pressed his fingers to her throat, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt the faint but steady pulse there. "Temperance?" He gently brushed dust from her face, looking down at her tenderly.

Now that he knew she was alive, just unconscious, his thoughts turned back to what he could remember. They had been in his office, going over their latest case. They had just finished talking to the victim's brother…the next thing he knew, they were buried beneath the building, obvious victims of a terrorist bombing of the federal building. It was the only thing that made sense.

He blocked thoughts of his friends and colleagues that had been in the building this afternoon out of his mind; he would worry about that later. Right now, he had to focus on getting himself and his partner out of here.

xxx

Pain. All she felt was pain, shooting through her body. She couldn't open her eyes, couldn't move. She thought she could hear a voice from far away, but she tuned it out and tried to focus on where she was. She had been going to see Booth, but after that, there was nothing. No memories of anything else. Had she even gotten there? She couldn't remember…

The sound came again, louder this time, and with a huge effort managed to turn her head toward the voice. She moaned at the pain that shot through her.

"Temperance?"

"Booth?" She slowly opened her eyes and saw Booth, sitting beside her; even in the shadowy darkness she could see the concern in his eyes.

"Bones, thank God!" He took her hand. "You had me worried there for a minute."

"Where…" She started to ask, but was interrupted by a fit of coughing that sent even more waves of pain shooting through her.

Booth looked on helplessly till the coughing subsided. "Just take it easy, Temperance, okay?"

"What happened?" She was dismayed to hear how faint her voice was.

Booth shrugged. "I don't know. My best guess is that there was a bomb in the building, but I'm really not sure." He looked down at her. "Are you okay?"

"I…" She coughed once more, wiping her mouth with her hand, then took a shaky breath. Looking down at the drops of blood on her palm, she shivered, then looked up at her partner. "I don't think so."