Chapter 27

Long before she was Dr. Temperance Brennan, she was a naive grad student on her first massive dig with her then lover/professor Michael Stires. She was eager and willing to do whatever it took to become the best Anthropologist and was absolutely terrified every second of the trip. "We tell the truth, we do not flinch", she was told time and time again and she held onto that phrase through the pain and anguish of her job.

Over a decade later and she still heard those words float through her mind in the early hours of the morning in a trench surrounded by human bone in the Maluku Islands.

It had been five months of exhausting work of digging and not finding anything to show that the trip was going to be successful. Five long months of Guerillas lurking in the woods staring them down as they inched closer and closer to the team of scientists. Most of the time she paid them no mind, she was used to locals not being too keen on her being in their space and Anthropologically she completely understood where they were coming from. However, they had become more aggressive as they extended their dig radius and when their communication lines had been restricted, she began to worry.

Their internet had been down for about two months now, the last outgoing email she had sent was in response to Booth being away on a mission. The only thing they had left was mail, when it got to them, and satellite phones that were hit or miss with signal. It appeared they were all crazy for staying and continuing the dig as it got more dangerous to be in the area, but the longer they were there the more she began to discover.

"Daisy, carefully come over here." She spoke softly to not disturb anyone around them. Her team of anthropologists was small but they worked well together which she appreciated greatly. It had been an honor to be requested to lead the dig and after a long month or so of finding nothing, it had been incredibly rewarding to start finding fragments of a species she had yet to identify. "Help me uncover these." Brennan spoke, watching as her intern's eyes grew.

"Dr. Brennan these aren't the same…" Daisy began before she was cut off with a sharp shush. Just within their radius she had uncovered a shallow grave with remains that were not dated back several hundred thousand years but only a few months.

"I believe I've discovered the reason we've received more hostility." Brennan murmured as she swept off the remains. When Ms. Wick asked what they were to do with the findings she sighed. "We tell the truth, we do not flinch."

Far away in the desert Booth wasn't experiencing nearly as much trouble with his work as his partner was in the jungle. All of his issues were personal as he spent countless hours a day worried for her safety. When he got back from the mission he had been gutted to find a singular email from Bones.

Booth,

We are experiencing issues with our satellites and are unsure how long we will have it working this time around. I am still safe and I am well. Our issues with the Guerillas have increased but we're doing the best we can.

Love,

Bones

The email was short and didn't have nearly enough information to keep him sane, but he refrained from worrying too much until he heard from her again.

When weeks of silence turned into a month he rang her satellite phone every hour on the hour until the call went through and he finally got to hear her voice for the first time since they parted. They talked for nearly an hour before the signal gave out but it was enough for him to not go and drag her back to the states once and for all.

That had been officially two months ago and the only sign he had that she was alive was from an Anthropology website reporting that they had made a significant discovery. Booth absolutely hated whoever was able to get that information when he hadn't even received a letter from his girlfriend in months.

That didn't stop him from sending them though, every day he was sending a new email and every week a letter, every second of the day he was praying time would go faster and they would both be home and together again.

Sighing he pressed the old fashioned satellite phone to his ear listening to the crackle of static as it tried to connect. "Damn it." He cursed when it went immediately dead the second it connected with her number.

"Sergeant Major." A soldier took him out of his trance. "No mail today sir, sorry." Closing his eyes he ducked his head praying for some sign she was okay. She was used to going on digs with no communication but he wasn't. He was nowhere near okay with not hearing from her and it was killing him.

"I'm not going to survive seven more months here." He mumbled to himself.

The light in the tent was just enough for them to lay the skeleton out on the table. "Whoever buried them was very careful in laying the remains, they all seem to be relatively intact." Brennan said softly as she and Ms. Wick carefully articulated the remains. "Female, somewhere between twenty and thirty. Has gave birth recently, within the last year." The poor lighting obscured any damage to the bone preventing her from being able to tell how the woman died. "We'll need to wait for more light to be able to examine the remains thoroughly." She sighed.

"Perhaps she died of natural causes and they just buried her there?" Daisy asked optimistically which made her smile, she remembered when she was that naive against the horrors of the world.

"Perhaps, Ms. Wick. Until we know, go ahead and go back to the team but don't say a word about our discovery. I'm going to go to the main tent and work on our other remains." She watched as her young intern disappeared back towards the dig site and sighed as she poured over the remains some more. Daisy didn't need to be involved in the entirety of this discovery.

Several hours later when there was no more sunlight and the others were ending the day for dinner, she was still examining the remains, carefully holding the skull as Daisy emerged just in time to declare the cause of death. "It's small, but the markings on the skull conclude she was hit with some sort of blunt force object." Running her fingers over the back of the skull she looked up at her intern. "She was hit and whoever did it probably didn't think of anything of it, but the bleeding of her brain killed her. Most likely in her sleep." It was murder, she couldn't prove the intentions of it but it was definitely murder.

"What do we do now?" Daisy asked and once again the words of Michael Stires rang through her head. They had to return the remains, this wasn't why they were there and she didn't want to cause anymore trouble between them and the Guerillas.

"First thing tomorrow, I'll deliver the remains. I'll go by myself, I don't want to appear threatening to them." Daisy began to object but she simply shook her head. "I'm the head of this dig, Daisy. I can handle myself."

A shiver ran down her spine as she finally entered her tent, the day had felt longer than any other she had spent in the jungle but she still felt too jittery to sleep. Examining remains that had been the cause of murder wasn't the same without Booth. Even before Booth she had done the very thing hundreds of times, however she still couldn't help but think of him. She also knew the risk she was taking with the remains. Removing them from the grave had been dangerous but returning them added a whole other level.

Finding her satellite phone she dialed Booth's number not even sure what time it was in Afghanistan off the top of her head. When it immediately went to static she sighed wanting to cry from the need to hear his voice. Trying again and again and again, she finally gave up and fell into a fitful sleep.

By sunrise, Brennan knew something was off with the site. The eyes that she always felt on her were noticeably further away and she could see the worried looks on her coworkers faces as she passed them. Going into the tent she had secured the remains in she wasn't shocked to find it ransacked, the remains gone and nothing left but a couple pieces of equipment.

"Is there anything else missing?" She asked as Daisy entered the tent.

"Nothing that we could see, Dr. Brennan. It seems they just targeted this tent. At least now you don't have to return them? We can move along with the dig and finish what we came to do." Daisy's words seemed almost encouraging, that they were going to be able to complete the dig maybe even before the year deadline.

"You're correct, Ms. Wick." She finally said, acknowledging her words even if she wasn't sure what her next moves were. "Maybe we'll be going home sooner than we thought. Once I have identified the origin of the remains, essentially my job here is done." It never occurred to her that she could go home early, without Booth.

Brennan however didn't feel comfortable working away from the site until she knew the team was safe. Going down to the dig site she joined the group to oversee what they were uncovering, based on what they had discovered so far she was confident they would find at least a couple more remains in their designated area. She surveyed the area and noticed the Guerillas weren't lingering as close as they had been prior to the discovery of the grave. Breathing a small sigh of relief she hoped the worst was over with their issues.

Two days later they received their first delivery of mail in weeks and she wasn't surprised to find a dozen letters from Booth. Her heart ached; she missed him so much as she carefully organized the letters by the postal dates to make sure she opened them in order. It had been a calm few days, with no issues from the locals and she had been able to progress with her research that she had taken a few minutes to sit and relax.

Hearing a vehicle coming down the road she was confused knowing they weren't expecting a supply drop off for a few days and the satellites were still down to request anything sooner. "Are we expecting personnel?" She asked one of the coordinators who joined her to see who had arrived. It was when the door opened that her heart stopped.

"Booth?" It took seconds from the moment she saw him for her to be sprinting towards him. The relief of knowing she was alive combined with seeing her in person was almost overwhelming as he caught her.

"Bones." He whispered into her hair as she clinged to him before finally getting to kiss her for the first time in nearly six months. "You're okay?" Booth finally asked as they broke apart. He looked her up and down needing to make sure there wasn't a part of her that was hurt or missing.

"I'm okay, I'm great now." She said with tears in her eyes and he smiled before pulling her into another kiss. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? What about the army?" She finally asked and he laughed knowing he owed her an explanation but he didn't care right now.

"I came for you." Was all he could say as he sighed again in relief, all of his worries from the last few months gone now that she was in his arms again. "I couldn't be away from you for any longer."

It took him only a moment to grab his bags and for them both to ignore their now audience as she showed him to her tent, his partner murmuring that Daisy could fill the others in on his presence.

"Where does the Army think you are?" She asked immediately as he sat his bags down and took a look around her tent. It was a lot more spacious than he had imagined and he could tell she had at least tried to make it a little bit homey.

"I told them I needed to see the love of my life, to make sure she wasn't dead. I was going crazy, Bones. Everyday I didn't hear from you, I couldn't handle it." He admitted, hoping she didn't find him weak for being so worried. "What's been going on? You're okay?"

She sighed as she walked towards him and he held out his arms to her, just wanting to hold her for as long as he could. They sat on the bed as she went over the last few months, from her and Daisy literally fighting the Guerillas to their recent encounter involving the remains. It terrified him that she had been in danger.

"However, the last couple days have been relatively calm. In fact we just received mail and I have many letters from you." She smiled and he looked at her sheepishly as he squeezed her hand.

"I didn't know what to do, every day I didn't hear from you or didn't get a letter. I had to do something. So I wrote and emailed. You should know that there are a lot of emails waiting for you." Her laughter filled his heart with joy and he kissed her soundly, never wanting to let her go again.

"When do you go back?" She whispered against his lips and he hummed.

"Never, if I don't want to." He admitted. "While I was encouraged to return when I told them I was taking leave, I'm not sure I want to go back. I don't know if I want to, Bones. Even before you went off the grid we both had our regrets for leaving. Then I couldn't get a hold of you and I knew that it was a mistake to leave. I don't want to not be around you. We can go home."

She pulled back in shock at his words and then in worry as she tried to comprehend. "I'm not going home yet, Booth. I can't, we finally have a breakthrough and I know it hasn't been the safest and I'm sorry I couldn't be in touch. I can't go home until I've finished what I came here for." Her trip to the Maluku Islands had been for so many reasons, one of which was because she missed this part of her job and she had finally found that part of her again.

"Then I'll stay with you." Booth responded like it was the simplest solution in the world, but she wasn't sure she agreed.