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This next chapter too awhile. Thanks for waiting, and reading.

Booth groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. His head was pounding and he tried to remember where he was. The air smelt musty, not something he was accustomed to waking up to. He couldn't be home, his bedroom didn't smell like that.

"Booth!"

He thought he heard Brennan calling for him her voice sounding more distant than normal. He opened his eyes, blinking.

"Booth!" Her voice was louder and clearer this time.

He groaned again as he finally managed to keep his eyes open. "Bones?" His voice came out in a hoarse croak as his heavy eyelids forced his eyes shut again.

"Oh good, you're awake. I was so worried."

Booth tried to remember why she had been worried and after a few minutes of silence, it call came back to him. His eyes snapped open and he focused his thoughts.

"Bones. Are you okay?"

"Yes." Brennan who had been crouching beside him closed her hand around his arm, offering him support as he struggled to sit up. She placed a comforting hand on his back, rubbing gently. A wave of nausea hit him and he forced the bile back down his throat.

"Where are we?"

"It appears that we are in a basement or underground bunker of some sort."

Booth scanned the area. It was a tiny room with concrete walls. He realised he had been lying on a tiny mattress on the ground. The room seemed empty and a naked bulb barely illuminated their cramped surroundings. Their sole source of light could not reach the corners of the small room and the shadows gave the room a creepy aura, as if they were in some B-grade horror movie.

"At least they were nice enough to give us a mattress," Booth retorted sarcastically. "What happened after they knocked me out. Did they hurt you?" He focused his eyes on Brennan, concerned for her well-being.

"No. They bound and gagged me, like they did you. Then they threw a bag over my head so I couldn't see. I was told to lie down next to you in the back of the van. I estimate they drove for perhaps two, maybe three hours before arriving here. Wherever here is. They carried me down those stairs before removing the bag from my head and untying me. Then they dragged you down here too. I was worried their actions hurt you further."

He followed the direction of Brennan's gaze, only now noticing the narrow flight of stairs in the corner of the room. No wonder his body ached, he had been dragged down a flight of stairs.

"They tell you what they want?"

"No. They never spoke to me again after I got into the van."

"This must be a secluded place, maybe some place out in the woods or something. They must be confident we can't escape. If not they would have kept us tied up."

"You're right about us not escaping. I've explored the room, studied the walls. There are no windows and the stairs lead to a concrete door. There also doesn't seem to be any weakness in the walls we can take advantage of. I don't think anyone would hear us, even if we screamed or knocked. This is most likely a storm cellar of some sort."

Booth moved to touch his head with his fingers. "Ouch!"

"You have a minor abrasion on your scalp. The wound's stopped bleeding. I checked."

"Thanks Bones." For once since the kidnapping, Booth breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was safe. "C'mere." He held out his arms.

Brennan scooted to settle between Booth's legs as he wrapped his arms round her. She had been scared, worried for his safety, but now that he was awake and seemingly lucid, she felt her worry abate. She felt him tighten his arms round her, "I'm gonna get us out of this, I promise."

"I do want to get out of here."

"Have they come back since they left us here?"

"No."

"And there's just the two of them right?"

"As far as I can tell, yes. They took your phone and our watches, so we won't know the time. No windows also means no natural light and no means of even estimating the time of day."

"Yeah, it's a way to psychologically break us down. I've been through this before."

"As have I."

She felt Booth sigh. "I'm sorry Bones, I should've done something – "

"They held us at gun point. There was nothing you could have done. Someone will realise we're missing soon." She turned in his arms, pulling him to her and hugging him. After a moment in each other's arms, Booth knew it was time to do something about their situation.

"C'mon, let's see if we can find a way out of here."

Brennan got up and Booth rose slowly to his feet. He swayed slightly, placing a hand on the cold wall to steady himself.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little dizzy. Probably got up too fast. I'm okay." He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, letting the dizziness pass. "Wanna show me that door you were talking about?"

Brennan took his hand. "It's up the stairs."

The couple ascended the wooden stairs, Brennan leading the way. At the concrete door, Booth ran his fingers along the hinges and the edges of the door, looking for any signs of weakness. He then tried pushing, throwing his entire weight against the door. The door didn't budge, remaining solidly between them and their freedom.

"I don't think our kidnappers would be foolish enough to allow us to escape so easily." Brennan said. "If the door opened easily, they would have kept us tied up."

"You're right Bones. The way they had it all planned means they aren't stupid. They knew our route. They probably had been watching us for some time."

"We could wait here by the door till they come back, we have the element of surprise."

"It's worth a shot, but there's no telling when they'll be back."

As if granted a wish by a mythical genie, the sound could be heard on the other side of the door, as if chains were being dragged across it. After sometime, more sounds, a lock turning. Booth quickly put his finger to his lips, indicating Brennan should be quiet.

"Let me handle this okay?" He whispered, pushing her gently behind him, hoping she would obey. The last thing he wanted was for her to be hurt in the process.

He didn't have time to wait for her reply. The door opened outward and the bright light of day shone in, temporarily blinding Booth and Brennan whose eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the room. Booth threw his body forward, tackling the first pair of legs that started descending the stairs. Both men tumbled down to the foot of the stairs. Booth who had been the more prepared one, managed to pin the smaller man to the ground. He began to rain punches onto the man, who tried in vain to fight back.

"Stop or I'll kill her!" A voice boomed above them.

Booth immediately stopped, allowing the man he had been attacking to push him aside. Booth slowly rose to his feet.

"I told you we should've tied this one up!" The man Booth had attacked said, holding his head.

"Quit your whining Logan!" The other man replied.

Booth quickly glanced at the other man, who had a sawed-off shotgun aimed at Brennan's back.

"Try this again and her body's gonna get ripped open with shotgun pellets you understand?!"

"Okay, okay. I won't do it again."

The man sneered, before pushing Brennan down the stairs. She tumbled down, stopping at Booth's feet.

"Bones!" Booth was about to crouch down to check on Brennan when he felt a blow to his gut. Booth doubled over, and was immediately kicked behind the knees, causing him to fall to the ground. Before he could react, the man who had been holding the shotgun started kicking at his ribs.

"Stop, please!"

Booth heard Brennan plead.

"Jake! Stop it man!" The man they knew to be Logan called out.

The kicking continued for a short while more before Jake stopped. Booth coughed, holding his side. His ribs hurt like hell but he pushed himself up to stand, determined not to show weakness.

"I swear Agent Booth, if you attack us when we come in here ever again, you'll get it worse than you just got. And I promise you, it won't just be you we'll hurt the next time." Jake nodded menacingly at Brennan.

"I promise." Booth coughed. "Don't hurt my wife."

"That's more like it." Jake replied. "We came down to see if you were awake and I guess we found out didn't we Logan?"

"Yup."

"What do you want with us?" Brennan asked.

"Maybe we'll tell you, maybe we won't. Just be happy we didn't kill ya." Jake answered. He aimed his gun at her. "Now move to the back of the room."

Brennan got to her feet and Booth followed behind her.

"Every time we come down here, we wanna see you at the back of the room. On the mattress. Understand?"

"Yes, we understand." Brennan replied, while Booth glared at the men, his fists clenched in anger.

"Let's go." Jake commanded.

Logan hurried up the stairs and Jake climbed up slowly, keeping the gun trained on them.

Brennan waited for the door to close before she turned to Booth. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I've had worse."

Brennan lifted his shirt, her fingers probing at his ribs. "I don't think they're broken."

Booth grimaced. "Didn't think so. Gonna leave a hell of a bruise though."

He gingerly sat back down on the mattress. Brennan sat down next to him.

"What do you think they want with us?" She asked.

"I don't know. I do know one thing though. We have each other and we're both okay. That's all that matters for now. We keep healthy and we wait. Wait for an opportunity to get away, or till they tell us what they want. And we stay alive."

"Okay." Brennan nodded her agreement.

"Hey, look at me Bones."

She turned her head, meeting his eyes. "When and if the time comes, if you need to make a run for it, or if they make us chose who lives or dies, it's you. It's always gotta be you who gets away. It's you who's gotta live."

"Booth…"

"No, promise me. Our children need you. We gotta think about them now. Promise me."

A memory of leaving Booth behind and fleeing with Christine as the SWAT team descended on their mighty hut so many years ago flashed in her mind. She remembered he had almost died then.

"Booth I can't – "

"Bones, promise me. Please. I hope to God it won't come to that but if it does… we need to think about Hank and Christine now. They need their mother."

"Okay, I promise."

"I mean it Bones."

"I don't like it, but I promise. And you must promise me you won't die."

"I promise." Booth nodded, unsure if he could keep that promise given their current circumstances. He knew he would give his life for hers in a heartbeat.

She leaned into him, pressing a desperate kiss to his lips, hoping for this nightmare to end soon.

Real life is busy and it'll be this way for awhile, so be patient with my updates on this story. Don't forget to leave a review on your way out.