Title: Into the Wild

The Second Task

Rating: T

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Author's Note: I want everyone to feel sorry for me. I hate my job and I want to quit! So everyone say a big 'awwww' altogether, now! Well, at least I've got my writing so, enjoy.

The morning brought with it the scent of spring and freshly fallen rain.

The forest smelt of damp pine and something spicy. Brennan stepped through the trees, pressing her hand to her side, relieved that the pain had eased and, although she was bruised badly, she could move. Breathe.

The river below the cliff was raging, the waterfall cascading a twice the volume it had been the day before. Brennan watched the curtain fall, thankful again that they'd climbed to safety before a current pulled them downstream.

Booth rolled his neck, stepping next to her, his hair dishevelled, his eyes tired.

"Do you want to continue, Bones?" He asked, dropping his hand to her shoulder. She smiled easily.

"Yes. Who knows what dangerous tasks await us!" Her grin faded when a darkness passed over his features. "Relax, Booth, I'm kidding. I'm sure-"

"You're right. The task yesterday was too dangerous and we haven't prepared for the next. We haven't read our next clue…" his voice trailed as she shook his head despairingly. Brennan chuckled.

"We'll manage. C'mon, we need to pack." He hesitated, eyes downcast for a long time. She wished they were back in the tent, breathlessly kissing, touching, momentarily oblivious to all the worries that faced them. "Booth," she took his hand in hers, a simple gesture but the most intimate she'd ever allowed herself. She was asking him to let her in. Just like she'd let him in. "I'll be alright, okay? Trust me."

He stroked her hand with his thumb and smiled. "I do trust you, Bones. I don't trust myself not to morph into an overprotective freak every time you trip or-" she pressed her finger to his lips and silenced him immediately. As if by instinct his mouth pursed into something of a kiss. She tilted her head, watching his handsome features, watching his eyes. He had captivating eyes.

"Then we're okay. Now lets go."

The downhill trek made their journey easier than expected. Since they'd made virtually no progress the day before and they were already on their third and supposedly last day, Brennan suspected they had a lot of ground to cover. Including the hill Booth had mentioned before leaving camp yesterday.

When they'd be walking for over two hours and the gushing sound of the river had returned again, Brennan stopped. Gulping mouthfuls from her canteen, she turned to Booth and half smiled. "Not another cliff climb, surely?" She joked and he shifted, unnerved at the prospect.

"We're too low. We should be at the bank of the river," he said. "Our route must run along the edge of the shore." He opened his map, peering at the contours as if the answers to the universe were contained within. She stepped through the thinning trees, dropping down a metre to the pebbly shore. She was fairly certain her mind would be haunted by images of the river for all eternity. Her ribs seemed to ache at the memory of her previous mishap.

"Um…" she glanced over her shoulder. Booth's navy shirt caught her eye. "I think I've found our next task!" She called, and his head snapped up from the map. He folded the paper in haste, slipping it into his pocket and moving towards her with wide, startled eyes. When he saw their next task, he stopped dead. After a few seconds, he kicked a round, white stone into the river. "It's alright…" Brennan said, touching his arm. He flinched.

"We're screwed, Bones," he sighed. "How can we…?"

Brennan examined the logs, six feet in length. The original logs had been cut down the middle, resulting in nine crescent shaped pieces of wood. There were nails, rope, a paddle and a green plastic tarpaulin. "It's alright," Brennan repeated. "It cannot be that hard, right? We've got all the materials." Booth growled.

"The river is still rapid from yesterday's rain. Taking to rough waters in a makeshift raft is just-" She was kneeling over the logs, positioning them one by one. He admired how she'd ignored her injuries all day. There had been hardly a whimper from her as they hiked miles. He found a note wedged between the rope. "Look at this Bones, a note from the big bosses 'You survived the endurance test. Task Two: Team Work. Build a raft that is sturdy enough to take you to Iris' Rise. From there, you will find your final task' Yeah, we survived the endurance test. Just barely!" He crumpled the paper into a ball. Brennan wasn't listening.

"If we use the nails, hammer them in at a slant," she demonstrated by tilting her hand, "they can hold the logs. There are two lengths of rope, here, if we tie the logs for extra binding at each end and then fasten the tarp to the bottom, as a waterproof covering then, technically, it should work, right?" Her eyes were expectant when she looked up. Booth chuckled, dropping to his knees.

"You're IQ is of genius levels, right?" She tilted her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. Brennan loved being complimented on her intelligence and Booth knew it.

"Technically…" she said, nodding.

"Then I trust you to make this into something that will float. Let's go."

They worked in silence, Booth rearranging the beams, hammering nails into the pliable wood. There were only twenty nails. Six at the top, six at the bottom and four along the middle to strengthen the centre and four for the tarp. Brennan coiled the rope around two logs at a time, pulling until they had created something that, when they sat on it, did not break apart.

Encouraged by their success, Booth covered the bottom with the tarp, wrapping the wooden frame like a parcel. With the remaining nails he fastened the plastic to their raft, stepping back to examine their masterpiece. Brennan grinned.

"If it turn it, curves into the water, then we sit on the flat surface," she said, pulling her rucksack over her shoulders again. Booth followed suit, and together they eased the raft into the water, watching with bated breath, have expecting it to fall apart before them. It worked like a dream, bobbing contentedly in the rushing water. Brennan held it still as Booth took the paddle and climbed on top, when he took her hands and helped her unto the wooden logs that raft moved away from the shore, following the current.

Booth resisted the urge to whoop in delight. They'd completed their task, well, almost, without a casualty. Team work was obviously their forte. He plunged the paddle into the water, thrusting them forward, careening them around a wide bend to where the river seemed to stretch on forever.

Brennan dipped her hands into the water, scooping the icy liquid into her palms. Splashing her face, she inhaled. The stickiness of her hike was momentarily replaced by the cool goodness and she relished it. The forest, she knew, would never make her at ease but she felt such pride in knowing she'd survived so far. Maybe she'd been hurt, but she'd continued. She was a fighter…

As the tumultuous current carried them down, Brennan saw the uphill climb Booth had mentioned. The hill rose against the sky, black and ominous. Trees blanketed the slope half way and the peak pierced the blue sky, awe inspiring and black. Brennan pulled her lip between her teeth.

"Is that…?"

"Iris' Rise? Yep. You ready?" He paddled toward the shore, watching at the foot of the hill approached. Despite it's picture-perfect beauty, Brennan was not fooled. Danger lurked everywhere and she knew the third task loomed ever closer.

The raft hit the stones and they climbed off.

Booth slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Okay, Bones," he said, gazing at the hill. After all they'd endured, it looked more like a mountain. Like a difficult challenge. "We have one task ahead. After that, we're finished and this whole thing is over. We go back to our lives in Washington." Brennan nodded, grinning. When she saw he wasn't, she frowned. "I need to know," he continued, his brows knitting in thought. "I need to know if we go back to being FBI Agent and Forensic Anthropologist or do we continue to-" She tilted her chin.

"I haven't had very many lovers, Booth," she said. "A few but not many. They were okay but you… you're something else. You've made me feel the best things I've ever felt. No one else could have done to me what you did last night. And I'm not just talking sexually, either." He smiled a little, his dark eyes black with unveiled emotion. "I'm not likely to throw all that away, am I? Besides, this trip was about team building." Booth chuckled.

"I just needed to check. Just to know." She nodded, turning back to the hill.

Together, they began to climb.

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A short chapter while the idea bit me.

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