A/N Sorry this took me so long to write but Iv'e been really busy with school. P.S. The raod kill scene at the ned will be explained more in further chapters. See if you can figure it out...)

Temperance stared at the drops of water plummeting to the ground in the corner of the basement. "Drip, drip, pause, drip" she counted watching the pattern repeat it self.

John had left around an hour ago, lingering at the door to catch a glimpse of the grieving woman in front of him. At first she had felt like the breath had been knocked out of her, she struggled for each gasp of air causing a sharp pain in her chest. As breathing had become easier and the pain had been reduced to a dull ache she had let herself come to terms with what had been said. Booth, her partner and friend had been killed and it was her fault. 'I should have stopped him from coming with me' she thought. If he hadn't come he would be safe at home with Maura and she would be spared the pain of telling Parker that his father had been killed.

"Parker' she whispered, thinking of the blond haired boy. He would be older now, around 7 years old. 'He shouldn't have to lose his father' she thought. A cool breeze hit her cheek and she wrapped her arms around her face. Where as it coming from though' she thought. There where no windows in the basement and as far as she could tell there were no openings.

"Except the door" she muttered excitedly. She crept over to the door. John had only left it open a crack but it was wide enough for a breeze to break through and big enough for her to notice. She eased it open carefully. There was no one around but there was always the chance John had set her up. He was a smart man and it wasn't like him to make a mistake like this, for all she new he was waiting for her around the corner but that was a chance she was willing to take.

Once she was in the corridor she ran lightly towards where the door ought to be. If she was right the basement was on the left side of the building so an opening mustn't be to far away. She rounded the last corner and sure enough there it was. She smiled slightly before slamming her hands down on the handle to open it.

"Shit" she muttered under the wailing of the alarms. Of course the place was alarmed. 'Oh well, no time to waste' she thought as she slide out into the open night. She froze for a minute, trying to adjust to the darkness. Since the basement had no windows she hadn't know what the time was and had expected it to be light. She turned quickly before continuing on towards the wire fence. The darkness would either work for or against her. If she was lucky she would get away unnoticed but on the other hand it also meant it would be easier to stumble across an unsuspecting guard in the darkness.

She scrambled ahead towards the truck parked near the gates. She was a few meters away before she heard the thumping of footsteps. No doubt the guards coming to get her. 'I wonder if their orders where shoot to kill' she thought briefly, though the whistle of bullets flying past her head a moment later lay any doubt to rest. She ducked down behind the truck before jumping up into the driver's seat and turning the keys lying idly in the socket. 'Idiot's' she muttered as the car speed into life. She crashed through the fence before turning sharply onto the dirt road. She could hear the cars behind her swerving in the dirt as they tried to catch up with her. She allowed her self to look back once to count them. She counted four cars before a bullet flying through the back window caused her to turn back round. Another one hit the tire and the car swerved sharply to the right. 'I have to get off this road' she thought.

She spent the next half hour speeding down the road. She had gotten her self a good lead but there was no doubt in her mind that they would be right behind her. The road had been deserted so far so it was no surprise that when she saw the bright lights of a service station she thought she was seeing things. But as she got closer the light grew stronger and soon she found her self turning into the service station. She parked the car to the side and ran into the bushes. Even if they did come in to look for her, which they most likely would, they would have a hard time spotting her in the darkness.

So for the next hour she lay beneath a prickly bush. She watched the guards come and poke around the truck a bit. They were just about to leave when one called out to the other to drive the truck back to the base. "No" she muttered as the truck jumped into life and speed off, back the way she had come. 'I guess they plan to leave me out here' she thought grimly. She had hardly any money, no supplies and she was extremely tired. She stumbled out onto the driveway off the service station, narrowly missing being run over by an old lady in her car.

"Are you alright dear?" asked the lady, peeking her small head out the window.

"Yes" replied Temperance.

"Well, I wouldn't hang around here if I where you" suggested the lady "There's a bus that comes in a minute that you should catch into town"

"What?" asked Temperance. Why would there be a bus here, at this time of night.

"The bus going into town, it does its last run in about three minutes" explained the lady.

"What's the time?" asked Temperance still confused.

"Oh, it's only 10 o'clock, but really a pretty young lady like you shouldn't be out alone at this time of night".

'Only 10 o'clock' thought Temperance. That meant she had escaped just after the sun had set though it felt like it had been about three in the morning.

"How far away is town?" asked Temperance.

"Only about half an hour, though I wouldn't try walking"

"No I won't" assured Temperance. She walked off towards the lone bus stop. "Thankyou" she called turning around to smile at the lady. She just shook her head and smiled.

"What a strange young girl" muttered the lady before driving home.

Sure enough three minutes later a small bus pulled up in front of the bus stop.

"Are you alright missus?" asked the young man in the driver seat "You look a bit battered up"

Temperance glanced into the mirror, seeing for the first time the extent of her injuries. She had a black eye from where John had slapped her and a neat cut running down the left side of her forehead.

"I'm fine thanks" she muttered before handing over the money. She sat down in the front seat of the tiny bus. There was know one else on the bus and it was slightly unnerving her. 'Better to stay near the driver' she thought 'he seemed harmless'

She was drifting off to sleep a few minutes later when the bus swerved sharply to the right. "Sorry" called the bus driver.

"There was an animal on the side of the road, luckily some one had dragged it over to the side so it won't get hit but I just don't like seeing any animals hurt like that" he explained sheepishly. "Especially when they're dead like that on was"

Temperance just nodded understandingly.

"He was a pretty big one to" continued the driver "Extremely big actually, not sure what he would have been" he paused a second to allow Temperance to talk but she remained quiet. After a second or two more the driver muttered quietly to himself.

"May he rest in peace."

"Yes" agreed Temperance, though the he she was thinking of was a different one all together.