Jack, Angela and Booth had been in the air for some hours now. Hacker had come through, and they now knew the location of their mystery man. It was just to the west of the actual Pink Mountain.

The flight plan from Brennan's abductor took them west to Minnesota. They were to land and refuel in Minneapolis, even though Jack's jet could make it to the West coast in one they were to fly to Seattle, refuel again, then fly to Vancouver, B.C , then straight north till they reached Prince George, B.C., , then on to Fort St. John.

Jack said, agreeing with Booth, that most of these stops were uncessary, as his jet had an extremely long range, and he really would have to stop maybe once, to stay withing safety guidelines,but in reality, he could almost fly them directly to Ft. St. John in one hop if he had to. Jack also agreed that all these stops seemed to be designed to slow them down, maybe buy time for Brennan's captor. .

They made plans to follow the flight plan until Minneapolis, then they'd disappear as best they could and head straight up to Jack's buddies place in that plan in place, Booth had gone back into the passenger section, leaving Jack and Angela in the cockpit.

They flew in silence for a time, then Angela said, "Jack? Why buy a jet with a better than 6,000 mile range? I mean...if its just for a hobby, couldn't you have gotten something similar...but smaller...and cheaper?"

Jack fiddled with this and that, checked that and this..and seemed reluctant to answer.

"Jack? Answer me please?"

Jack sighed...then said, "It was because of you. And...the rest of our friends."

"How so?" Angela asked.

"Promise you won't get snarky at me again?" said Jack.

"OK, promise."

"Well, I wanted...I needed the challenge...something to take my mind off of you...but also...you know how I feel about the way things are going in the world...terrorism...nuclear capable countries like the Soviet Union crumbling and misplacing A-bombs and uranium...other countries that shouldn't have this SH*T that do...terroist groups that might have that SH*T in their sweaty hands and can't wait to use it...our own government getting more and more totalitarian and controlling and secretive...I wanted a jet that could take us as far as we might have to run, if it came to that. I wanted one that could get you to safety, no matter how far we had to go to get there."

Jack didn't look at Angela when he finished,he just stared out into the sky ahead.

"Jack?"

"Yeah Ang?"

"You're a nutcase, y'know that?"

Jack got that sour look on his face again.

"But you keep proving how much you love me, and you're MY nutcase, and I love you with my life." Angela said, and leaned over and kissed Jack on the cheek."

Jack beamed in abject happiness, and they flew on. Jack grinning, Angela making small talk with him and looking lovingly at him, and Booth, in the passenger section, grimly and almost obsessively checking and rechecking his gear, dismantling and rebuilding his weapons,and mentally promising Brennan he would get her out of this, and promising to make whoever was doing this sorry they were ever born.
==========================================================

Brennan decided for now she'd have that breakfast, she was starving again, and she'd just talk...maybe she could get some useful information out of this guy. If she got the chance, maybe she'd be able to clock the guy with a glass or a plate. But as soon as she had that thought...

"Oh, it occurs to me that you might try to "surprise" me,if I become distracted during our meal. In case you decide to attack again, Dr. Brennan, and in the unlikely case that you do manage to overpower me or render me unconscious, ...that door has an electronic lock, that you need a numerical code to open. I think it is best that we have a quiet breakfast, and a friendly chat, about anything you desire."

He ran his hand thoughtfully through his graying hair, and said, "I have been around a while, and my life has touched on many many things during my time here on earth. I hope you will find I am an entertaining conversationalist."

"OK, sure, for starters, Who the hell are you? Why did you bring me here? What's Booth got to do with this? Why did you have to kidnap me? Where are we?"

The gentleman just smiled genially, then answered, "My name is Alexander. If you wish, perhaps Alex would do? Why I brought you here, and why I want Mr. Booth here, well, I'm sorry to say for now that must remain a secret. All will be revealed to you soon, if things go well. If they don't...' His face hardened. "Lets just hope they go to plan, shall we? Now, Dr. Brennan, about your work..."

Brennan let herself be drawn into a conversation with this Alexander. She assumed there was no point at the moment to antagonize him unnecessarily, although at first she made a point of calling him "Alexander" in a very stilted and unfriendly way. . For the next couple of hours, Brennan wasn't sure how long it was, he engaged her in entertaining, witty, thought provoking, knowlegeable, even adventurous conversation. He knew a great deal about her and her work, both before and after her involvement with Booth and the FBI, and about the Jeffersonian. His remarks and questions and comments were intelligent , well informed, and well thought out.

He regaled her with some stories about his own past. Explorations and events he had been part of over the years that made great story telling.

He was indeed a most engaging, interesting and even likable person. When he decided it was time to leave,with a courteous bow and a "Till our next talk" , Brennan begrudgingly had to admit to herself, she had just had one of the best conversations she could remember.

It wasn't until some minutes later that she realized what she had said to him as he left.

"I'll look forward to that, Alex."
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Jack's jet had landed in Minneapolis, refueled, and took off again. After Jack got it up to cruising altitude, he called Booth up to the cockpit.

"Booth, I'm going to stay on this course until we're at the extreme range of Minneapolis' radar. Just as they are ready to hand us off to the next radar station, I'm gonna pull the transponder and then hit the deck."

"Why would you lay down at a time like that?" Angela asked.

Jack rolled his eyes and said, "Ang, you really do spend too much time with Brennan. You're starting to talk like her. What I meant was, we're going to dive to the lowest safe altitude I can manage, try to get below radar range, then sprint north across the border with balls to the wall."

"You'll be that scared?" Angela said.

"What? No, Angela, that just means I'll have the throttle pushed all the way to the firewall...I'll have my foot to the floor... pedal to the metal? OK, we're gonna go as fast as we can as low as we can for as far as we can. It'll eat up a lot of fuel flying that low at that speed, but we should have plenty go get directly to where I want to take us."

"Which is where?" Booth asked.

"To TJ's airstrip."

"TJ?" Angela asked.

"My bud, my cyber bud. his airstrip is where we're going."

"OK" Booth said. "Lets make this happen."

They set their plan in motion.

Hours later, their maneuvers successful, they were approaching that remote airstrip in Nothwestern Alberta.

"So, what's this guy like? " Angela asked.

"He's funny as hell, smart. real fun to chat with. A real experienced bush pilot. Has flown all over the north in all kinds of planes."

"What's he look like?" Angela asked.

"From his profile picture he's an older guy. ...we just chatted through a website...never got to the point of exchanging emails or anything, but we used to talk a LOT on that website. He was always saying I should come up and visit him..he's gonna get a surprise alright!...oh sh*t!"

"What's the matter?" Angela said.

"Get Booth up here."

"Why" What's wrong?"

I'm gonna need his help to land this thing..that strip is a LOT shorter than it should be! "

"I can help, just tell me what's going to happen and I can help!" Angela said.

"Sorry Ang, I know you're a strong girl, but I'm gonna need Booth's arms on this one. The controls will get really sluggish.I'll need his strength to help keep them in trim. "

"Are you sure? I think I can help. What's gonna happen?"

OK, we're gonna go out about 5 miles and turn around start an approach, I'm gonna have to cut power, and we're gonna come in nearly stall speed, just above the trees at the beginning of the runway...once we're past them, I'm going to cut power even more, we'll be even closer to stalling, and I'll try to drop this thing as fast as possible onto the landing strip, once on the ground, we'll hit reverse thrusters and brakes, and hope like hell we stop before we hit that f*cking barn some moron built at the other end!. "

H...how fast will we be coming in...how fast is that?"

"Around 150 miles per hour."

"And...if we...what did you say? Stall?"

"We crash"

"At...how fast?"

"Around 150 miles per hour."

"And you've practiced this...right? With this plane?"

"Jet."

"OK, jet, you've practiced doing that with this jet?"

"No."

"With another plane?"

"No."

"On a simulator?"

"Yes"

"OK, that's something" Angela said.

"Well..."

"Well? Well what, Jack?"

"Not exactly a simulator.."

"What do you mean...not exactly..."

Jack looked over at her."Ummm, it was an ...um...video game..."

"A video game...one of those flight simulator video games?"

"Yeah..."

"BOOTH! Angela screamed. "Get your ass up here, RIGHT NOW!"