Title: Into the Wild – The Keys
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rating: T for now.
Author's Note: I am really pleased at the interest in this so far! I hope everyone will continue to read. To everyone who is usually onboard for one of my stories; thank you guys, I'm glad to have you all with me on this one!
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"Is everyone listening?" Agent Harris asked and a hush fell over the crowd. Brennan shifted in her chair, recalling her last encounter with the sharp tongued federal agent; he took inane pleasure in mocking her whenever possible. "There's a change of format this year, so I'd like to welcome those of you who weren't here last time." Harris dipped his head in the general direction of the twenty or so new recruits. "The islands you will be staying on do belong to people. However we are renting them for the duration of the expedition. First and foremost on your list or priorities is that you do not damage the local flora and fauna. For this reason, you will be permitted only to use foliage and you can only go to live trees for fruit. There's five teams of six and one lead member in each. Think of this person as the boss," Brennan cast a weary glance towards Booth who would, without a doubt, revel in being 'the boss'. "The final decision in any situation comes down to your lead member – even if you're a partnership.
"In the event of an emergency, the lead member will have radio access to a team of agents who will dispatch an Air Ambulance immediately. No one except the lead member can use the radio unless said member is critically ill. The task is survival – there is no accommodation on the islands; you must build it – no tents will be provided. No knifes are permitted for the gutting of fish, there are six of you; make it yourself.
"You'll be on the island by 7.00am Monday and you should have sufficient time to build adequate sheltering. Each team member may have one luxury item but said item must not weigh any more than 3 kilograms and must not be an item that will aid survival. Any team asking to be removed from the challenge will be automatically disqualified, even if only one member wishes to leave."
Zach lifted his hand and Harris settled his cool gaze on him. "How will the winners be determined?" he asked.
"Upon completion of the seven days, survival experts will analyse the skill of your team's craftsmanship who whichever team has, what they deem as the best facilities, will win." Brennan thought it seemed easier than last time, but then, she wasn't lying on a bed of dried leaves, yet. "Any questions?" Harris asked. When no one else raised their hands, he nodded sharply. "You'll be asked to list your luxury items on Sunday which gives you all day tomorrow to think about it."
As the crowd dispersed, Brennan asked herself how she had managed to get roped into another year of mindless FBI competing. Alone, Booth would never have convinced her, but it was the thought of all her colleagues, enjoying the challenge.
"Dr Brennan?" Zach asked, dropping his hand to her arm. She turned, pulling a smile to her lips. "Do you know what you'll bring with you?" Around them, the teams spoke in hushed voices, planning their strategies.
"Maybe my novel. What about you?" With shorter hair, Zach was the picture of professionalism, but she would always see him as her student, who she wanted to nurture.
"My laptop, that way, I can be connected remotely to the Jeffersonian's server." Brennan smirked.
"Won't that violate the rules of survival?" she asked and Zach shook his head.
"No! I wouldn't use it for that. I'll pack extra battery packs, that way, I can get some work done without even being in DC." He looked triumphant, his smile wide. "I bet Booth will bring something really impractical… like a lucky charm or something." Brennan smiled softly, glancing down at her feet. It felt nice to know that her team could still express honest opinions about Booth, despite knowing that she was sleeping with him.
"Probably," she agreed with a sideward glance. "Booth is an idealist not a realist." Zach nodded, leaning back in his chair. "But you know, he's taught me that sometimes it's okay to be an idealist. There's nothing wrong with hope." Across the room, Booth was shaking hands with a colleague and she realised why she loved him. He was her exact opposite. As if he sensed she was watching him, he turned his head towards her and their eyes met. Brennan ceased her hear the chatter around her, and she saw only him. It astounded her that his presence could have such a dramatic affect on her.
Standing, she made her way across the room to him, vaguely aware that she'd left Zach on his own.
"Hey," she said as Booth turned to face her completely. "I cannot believe I've been roped into this again." His hand brushed her arm, his smile subtly seductive.
"I'll show my appreciation later," he promised, his voice honeyed. He was an expert at the game they played. Discretion was vitally important to them, but each found it privately amusing to whisper hushed words of temptation when it seemed inappropriate.
"You had better," she retorted, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. Sauntering away from him, Brennan knew he was checking out her ass, and she felt hot with guilty pleasure. Tomorrow was Saturday, and by Monday she and Booth would be on a beautiful island. She intended on bringing her novel with her, but Temperance imagined she wouldn't have much time to work on it.
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Saturday came and went with Brennan packing her belongings. While she imagined Angela would be cramming as many tiny bikinis into her bag as possible, Temperance was sensible in her choices; shorts, linen pants, sleeveless t-shirts and a few sweaters for the chillier nights. She packed moisturiser for her face, because she figured it did not aid in the survival process, clean underwear, a toothbrush and toothpaste and a hairbrush. When her bag was sitting by the front door, she propped her newest novel against it; if she got time, she would re-read it and proof read for grammatical errors.
Speaking to Booth, Brennan was surprised to find that he was bringing a deck of cards that he had owned for over a decade. Despite Zach's predictions that he would pack some kind of lucky charm, Booth said he knew he shouldn't, but there was no real harm in playing some solitaire on the beach.
On Sunday morning the teams made their way to Miami where they were briefed again, the rules explained for a second time and in a conference room of their hotel, they were required to show their luxury items.
Angela's, a art set comprising of pencils and charcoal and a canvas sketch book – a fairly obvious choice. Brennan expected nothing less from her best friend. Zach brought his laptop, which caused a momentary flood of objections until Zach explained it was simply for Jeffersonian use – and to write his journal. Hodgins packed a thousand-page book about wildlife in the tropics, Booth brought his cards, much to Temperance's disapproval and Brennan, her novel.
Alexa Regan brought a digital camera with a 2GB memory card. As she wrote her name and her item underneath Brennan's, she looked awkward. "I don't know anyone," she murmured, shifting into their little group. "I'm not even sure why Booth asked me to go. I get the feeling it was to make up numbers…" Brennan didn't admit that she was right; Booth wanted to be consistent; a team of scientists. When there was only four at the Jeffersonian that he could take, he went looking elsewhere. According to Booth, in his exact words 'Alexa was the best I could get at such short notice.'. Brennan felt sorry for the girl.
"Don't worry sweetie," Angela said, nudging Alexa. "Everyone here is cool, except Booth, sometimes he can be a little high strung – but you'll get used to him." Brennan smirked, shouldering her bag. "Have you met everyone yet?"
"Yeah… and everyone's been nice… it's just that you guys all already know each other and I'm well… the outcast." Angela waved her hand.
"Nonsense," she insisted. "You work in a lab, we work in a lab. It's all cool. Want to get some food?" Brennan sensed that Alexa had already warmed to Angela and she was glad because if it was expected of herself to welcome the new girl, she'd be in trouble. Being warm and understanding was something she had always struggled with and, although Booth had said her people skills were getting better, Temperance didn't feel social enough to be the group's welcome-wagon.
As they took off, she trailed behind, listening to the competitive chatter of those around them. Booth was a fiercely competitive man and she knew he would strive to win. Ordinarily, she was quite the competitor herself but in this instance, she wanted only to feel the sun on her skin and touch her toes to the warm ocean waves. As romantic as it was, she needed a rest.
In the morning they would take a chartered flight one of the islands and then a small boat journey would have them at their individual islands by 7am as promised. By then, the sun would have risen and it would be all systems go a panic to erect sheltering began. Brennan admitted to herself that she felt a prickle of nervousness at the prospect of having nowhere to sleep if they failed to produce something adequate.
"Temperance?" she felt Booth's hand on her waist, urging her into the foyer. "This whole conference thing bores me," he whispered, his mouth almost against her ear as if he were telling her a deep secret. "How about you meet me upstairs in ten minutes and I'll show you what definitely does not bore me?" She felt her cheeks warm to his words and she smiled, tilting towards him.
"Ten minutes?" she asked softly.
"Hmm," he agreed.
"Can't you make it five?"
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Apparently you really can rent islands on the Floridian Keys – which is totally cool. I knew you could buy, but it's totally convenient for me that there were rentals available in the ideal location for this story! Hope you'll continue to read! Next chapter; off to the islands!