This story starts roughly three years before Booth and Brennan's first case together and will then jump to around the time of their first case. This story is definitely AU. It is rated T for violence and some rough language.

I don't own Bones.

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The bullet aimed true, hit the target with deadly accuracy causing the armed man to collapse to the ground instantly. His companion, sitting on a camp stool, grabbed for his rifle only to take the next bullet, his heart rupturing upon the bullet's impact. The third man in their team, exiting his tent swung his rifle around looking for the shooters when he fell with a bullet to his forehead.

Uncertain what was going on, Brennan moved past her companion and peered out of the entrance to the tent. Spying the soldiers sprawled on the ground and quite dead, she turned back and grabbed her hat and a bottle of water. "Come on, Agnes, we have to leave now."

Following Brennan out of the tent, Agnes stepped carefully over the bodies and hurried after her friend. Entering the surrounding forest, the two scientists ran as fast as they could manage in a northerly direction. Once they were more than two miles from the carnage, both halted and sat down next to a large tree.

Wiping the sweat from her face with a handkerchief, Agnes asked, "Who do you think did that?"

"I don't know but it doesn't matter." Practical, Brennan reminded her, "Whoever did that obviously doesn't have any qualms about killing anyone so I'd rather avoid him or her if at all possible."

Not sure where they were, Agnes placed her damp cloth back into her pants pocket and stared back the way they had come. "Temperance do you have a plan or are we just running north to get away?"

Her face flushed from exertion, Brennan wiped her face and arms with a handkerchief. "Since we were both blindfolded when we were taken from the dig then I really don't know where were being kept and which direction our dig is in. . . We don't have any food and just this one bottle of water. Since we are at least three days march from our dig, I think we will have to try to locate water and sustenance soon while we decide which direction to take."

Frustrated, Agnes drew up her knees and hugged them. "Maybe we should have stuck around when those idiots were shot. Whoever shot them may have been trying to rescue us."

Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan conceded, "Perhaps but I didn't want to risk it. We may have just traded one jailer for another. We have no idea if the shooters meant us harm."

A voice drifting from a nearby tree, tried to assure them. "No, your friend was right. We were sent to rescue you."

Startled, both ladies stood and faced the owner of the mysterious voice. Wary, Brennan replied, "That's easy to say. How do we know you aren't here to take us prisoner like those other men or perhaps kill us?"

Stepping out from behind the tree, the young man frowned. "If I had wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now." Shifting his rifle so that it rested in the crook of his arm, he smiled and then whistled.

Another young man stepped out from behind a nearby tree, smiled and bowed slightly. "Corporal John Smith, U.S. Army Ranger at your service ladies. You'll have to forgive my sergeant, his manners are lacking when he's on the job. We were brought in when you were abducted eleven days ago. The locals didn't seem to be able to find you and since your mission director was having small herds of cows the Ambassador called in some outside help. We've spent the last four days tracking you two lovely ladies down and obviously we've found you."

"Do you have some ID on you?" Holding her hand out, Brennan dared them to deny her request.

Shrugging his shoulders, John pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and tossed it towards Brennan.

Her eyes on the two men, Brennan picked up the wallet up from the damp ground, opened it and pulled out a Georgia driver's license. "Why are you wearing civilian clothes?"

Glancing at his silent comrade, John smiled. "The United States Army doesn't have the right to operate in this country. If they catch us here, we will be in a deep pile of shit."

His companion shifting his stance and glaring at him, John bowed slightly. "Pardon me ma'am for my crass speech. If we get caught we will be in a deep pile of feces."

Annoyed, the Sergeant First Class, finally spoke. "Look, we need to get out of here. Let's put some distance between us and those dead men and then we can talk." Pointing northwest, he continued, "We need to head that way."

Tossing the wallet back to John, Brennan asked the nameless sergeant, "So what's your name?"

His gaze searching the woods behind them, the NCO shrugged his shoulders. "Seeley Booth but most people call me Booth." Turning his gaze back on Brennan, Booth pointed behind her. "Now, let's move and we'll chat later."

Staring at each other, Brennan and Agnes realized that they didn't have a choice and followed the two men as they moved deeper in to the forest.

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After heading northwest for three hours, Booth stopped and looked back at his charges. "We'll stop for a few minutes to rest." Kneeling down, Booth pulled his backpack from his shoulder and rummaged through it. Pulling out one bottle of water, he handed it to Agnes.

Cracking the seal on her bottle of water, Brennan informed Booth, "You don't have to stop for us. Agnes and I are in excellent health and we can keep up with you quite easily."

Thirsty, Booth removed a bottle of water from his bag, cracked the seal and drank until the bottle was empty. Placing the empty bottle in the backpack, Booth frowned at the anthropologist. "Well, you two may be alright but me and John need a break. We've been on the move for the last six days now. Two on a plane and four spent in this fucking . . . I mean in this miserable forest. We're going to move on when we've had a chance to rest and not a minute sooner so you might as well sit down and rest while you can."

Using his charm smile, John handed the two woman a granola bar. "You'll have to forgive my sergeant, he was clearly raised by wolves. What our fearless leader is trying to tell you is that even though you may not be tired, we're a might tired and can use the rest so if you two lovely ladies will be patient we'll be on our way in a few moments."

Since they hadn't eaten since the previous evening, Agnes sat on a rotten log, tore the wrapper off of her bar and ate it. Munching on the oat bar, she watched as Brennan finally sat down and ate her snack. "So John, what's the plan? Dr. Brennan and I don't mind schlepping around in the woods with you very handsome men but it would be nice if you had a plan."

Drinking water, John finished and then answered. "Well, we weren't sure where you were so we couldn't set up arrangements to be picked up. We do have a spot we need to get to as soon as possible and from there we'll call for a pickup. It's northwest of here."

"It's probably going to take at least two days to get there." Checking his backpack, Booth pulled out a handheld GPS and turned it on. Studying the information, he turned it off and placed it back in to his backpack. "Are you ready to go?"

Eager to be on the way, Brennan stood up. "Yes of course."

Standing, Booth settled his pack on his shoulder. "Good, let's go." Following Booth, Brennan and Agnes stepped past John who glanced around and then followed the scientists and his sergeant deeper into the forest.

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Does this sound remotely interesting?

A/N: NCO = non-commissioned officer