Past:
Brennan was standing on the sandy ground keeping her eyes focused to the horizon. She stared right in front of her not glancing around. Her posture was straight, her other hand was resting on her side and the other hand was holding a strap that was attached to a military rifle. Brennan was standing straight with her legs squeezed firmly together, the rifle that rested against her back made her keep her posture. There were group of soldiers standing beside Brennan. Together they formed a sweating, tensed up line with serious and tired faces. "Now remember what I said. First crew, line up!" Brennan heard Sergeant Daniel Moskoff roar out his orders. A line of soldiers stepped forward; the first crew. With nervous but serious expressions they faced Moskoff and the mission to be preformed. Brennan saw how nervous the soldiers were and so did Moskoff who frowned with an unhappy look. He did not like cowardice but he seemed to decide to ignore it for he sent the men on their mission by firing his pistol. The men left running up the dune nearby. Not long till they disappeared behind it. Moskoff now directed his grumpy look to Brennan and the rest of the soldiers. "Second crew!" He called. Another line of soldiers stepped forward and so did Brennan who also belonged to the second crew. She stared at the dune feeling the concentration to the mission take over any other feelings. She was not nervous, only sweating she did was for the intense heat of the hot afternoon.
Moskoff fired his gun and next thing Brennan knew was that she was crossing the dune running right among the other soldiers hearing Moskoff prepare the third crew for a send-off. She was gasping and the salty sweat was stinging her eyes slightly. Brennan and the others threw themselves to the ground jumping down the dune. On the other side they faced their mission. Bullets and gunfire started to pour on them as they crawled in the sand trying to reach the closest shelter against the bullets. Their moves raised sand into the air and it made it more difficult for Brennan to see where she was going. Bullets hit to the ground right next to Brennan. Shit! She dragged her body in the ground trying to disregard the dust making its way into her eyes and mouth. After few minutes of crawling the gunfire stopped. Everything was silent. All she could hear was the gasping of the tired soldiers with her own gasping on the top. She rolled on her back and lied on the sandy bed of the desert. "Ma'am." She suddenly heard someone say. She rose to sit and saw Moskoff's serious face. He had never called Brennan a private. Technically she really wasn't one, she wasn't in the army. Moskoff spoke to her with respect in his voice even though he didn't know her and even though she was there training under his guidance like any other soldier. "Got a call for you from the headquarters. Your practise is over for the day." He said offering his hand to help her up. Brennan grabbed his hand and he pulled her up "Thank you sir." She said wiping some of the sand off her clothes. She was still cursing about the useless, dark uniform as she headed to the headquarters wiping off the sweat from her palms to her trousers.
Present:
Brennan strolled along the walkway leading to the Jeffersonian and thought about her trial she had gone through. The court's decision was in her favour but one thing bothered her: The judge had made a wish that Brennan would go see a therapist. The wish made by a judge had sounded more like an order and Moskoff certainly had taken it as one. As soon as they had gotten out of the hall he and Black had immediately demanded her to go to therapy. Brennan didn't like the thought; she didn't like psychology and it wasn't exact science, that little fact didn't make her feel any less reluctant. Brennan opened the glass door of Jeffersonian Institute. It was a real heat wave in the city and her hair had glued to her scalp from the sweat. All the heat and sweating reminded her of the desert that she had faced more than once in her past. She entered the institute and was relieved from the effective air-conditioning; the air was much cooler. "Suffering from the heat wave Dr Brennan?" The security guard greeted her with a grin. Brennan nodded and continued her way to the lab area where her colleagues were buzzing around the work-tables of the forensic platform.
Angela Montenegro was carefully following Dr Jack Hodgins doing his job; 'digging the dirt'. Angela admired the amount of concentration Hodgins used to do his job. He listed the minerals mumbling and it was somehow soothing to Angela. He had a habit of talking to the evidence and it amused her. Her observation was interrupted by the sound of familiar steps echoing in the hall. Angela raised her look and saw Brennan enter the lab. Her hair was beautifully glowing in the sun light even though it was slightly flat from the sweating she had done. "Hey sweetie! You look like you would have slept with ten men in a row!" Angela greeted her with a grin. "It's the damn heat wave." Brennan answered muttering as she pushed her hair back from her face and ran her key card through the code lock with the other hand.
Somehow Angela felt weird around Brennan. After seeing her kill and after seeing her literally die Angela wasn't sure what she should say. She had gone to therapy couple of times after the incident and she had told Brennan about it. She had just noted that it probably was good for Angela and didn't seem to mind about it and this was a relief. She still couldn't help it that every time she looked at Brennan she remembered all the blood and the sounds of necks twisting. However, Angela was trying to cope with it and the therapy was actually helping, even though she was very awkward at first. Also she had had to go to a specific therapist for she would be talking about the incident at the Jeffersonian and the CIA had declared it as classified information so they had chosen the therapist. Angela stepped away from Hodgins' work desk and focused on Brennan. "So, how was the trial?" She asked from her. "You know I'm not allowed to discuss about it Ange. But as you can see I'm not in jail." Brennan answered taking a look at how Hodgins was progressing. Suddenly Dr Zach Addy rushed to them with a file rambling something incomprehensible. He was followed by Dr Camille Saroyan who was focused on her own papers. As Zach calmed himself he was able to talk more clearly getting the full attention of the whole crew. They had a new case.
Past:
"We need to circle around the most obvious routes. The trip will take us three days. We're only going to have one car and rest will travel by horses. Not many people are going to come with you so lack of space or horses won't be a problem." The army strategist, Floyd said running his fingers on the map that was laid on the table in front of Brennan. She never remembered the guy's real name but everyone kept on calling him Floyd and, so did Temperance. Floyd was a perfectly normal looking guy; he wasn't bad looking and he wasn't the best looking either. He was the kind of guy who would not be noticed in a crowd. Floyd stuck in the business he knew and didn't appreciate if someone poked their nose into his job if they really didn't know what they were talking about. Temperance didn't like it either. She knew how irritating it was so she always let Floyd do his job without bothering him. Floyd kept on pointing at the map showing different routes explaining his decisions on chosen routes.
Commander Joe Riff stood next to Temperance hovering over the map like a vulture searching for prey. His bald head was covered with a cap that shadowed his face. He was wearing a dark uniform like the other superiors in the headquarters and he was sweating more than anyone else. "You do know how to move in the desert, don't you?" He asked from Brennan. She glanced at the commander. "Apparently more than you do sir." She replied with a flat tone. Joe raised his look from the map frowning with surprised and slightly offended expression on his face. He clearly had not waited this kind of answer from Brennan; he did not expect anyone to dare to act snotty in front of a superior officer. She had not meant to be snotty but she realized she might have sounded like it. "These dark uniforms are very impractical in the desert area. They won't do any good. They will not make you blend in to the environment and they suck the light making it too hot to wear them." She decided it was better to explain her previous statement. Joe raised his eyebrows slightly but then returned his neutral expression. "I agree with you. Thought of it before but we just don't have such uniforms." He nodded to Brennan. "It will take a while to prepare for the journey; few weeks. Maybe we'll get better equipment by that time." Commander Riff said returning to talk about the mission ahead, the mission that included the reason why Brennan was brought into the operation.