Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; they belong to Kathy Reichs, Fox, Far Field Productions and Josephson Entertainment.

It howled and stung, whistling in and out of the trees as it sped up, the wind whipping them both as they stood, in silence, his dark eyes tracing the curves of her cheeks and jaw. They traced the soft lines, slowly at first, then with almost violent ferocity. He imagines his hands tracing them just the same, a knife in her thin abdomen and twisting as he let himself touch her. God it felt good.

She studied him for a moment; he was looking at her, but not at her eyes, he seemed to be distracted, day dreaming almost. She knew there was not much she could do; Leave Booth and follow the man who had just tried to kill them both, alone, but with the hopes of finding a means of communication or health supplies. Or, risk letting Booth die by leaving the woods to get help, or try to drag him out of the woods by herself, risking further injury to them both. Either way she had to deal with Dumas.

It was without question. She would leave Booth and follow Dumas' lead.

"How long is the walk?" she tipped her head slightly, spreading her lips slightly and furrowing her brows then looking towards Booth, a not so feigned but played up concern. She looked back to find him smiling.

"About two miles, not far."

"Will he be safe here?"

Something within her eyes flashed and he knew. She wasn't going to trust him, but she was going to risk her safety by going with what she thought was a mad man in order to save her partner. She couldn't have written it better, and it was exactly what he had planned.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, we can bring him if you'd like, but we could potentially cause more damage to him than has already been caused."

"Okay, Then just the two of us will go." He watched as she slowly unzipped her heavy over coat, and then removed it.

"You may need that."

"He needs it more." She set it across her partner, tucking the yellow edges of its fabric under his calves and thighs.

"Ready?" he asked as she straightened again, her shoulders rigid in the cold and what he imagined was fear.

"Ready." She repeated.

An hour and a half later they were still walking, still in a suspicious silence and still without medical supplies. Stopping she let him walk ahead of her a few steps, then he too stopped.

"I'm done." She let the words slip between chattering lips, her arms wrapped around her torso and her shoulders jolting in the cold.

"It's just over this ridge; I give you my word Cherie."

"We have walked a great deal more than two miles Dumas, How am I supposed to trust that there is really a station just over there?" the sweatshirt and two long sleeved shirts she was wearing were not cutting it. She could barely handle the cold now and could feel her hands numbing within her gloves.

"What if I walk there, and bring you back a medical kit? Then will you believe me?"

She eyed him cautiously but nodded, watching as he began to walk into the distance, then disappeared as she assumed he crossed over the ridge.

Half an hour passed and he had yet to return. She now could not feel her face, hands, feet or legs. The cold began to cloud her thoughts and slow them down. She had thought she saw him come over the ridge twice already but she had imagined it each time. Standing now she thought she saw him again, but once again dismissed it, her mind was tired and frozen and she just wanted to head back. Exposure to the elements this long was probably killing Booth more swiftly than the arrow sticking from his chest and she refused to let that happen. Turning away from the ridge she began to walk, her legs stiff, frigid logs.

"Temperance?" she heard her name in the distance behind her, turning quickly she found Dumas walking towards her, a huge box in his hands.

"You're leaving so soon?"

"What took you so long?"

"I couldn't find the kit, in fact there's even more back at the station, a stretcher. I need you to come back with me to get it, and I found a coat for you." He set the box down and pulled out a huge men's winter coat. She took it with an almost desperate speed, wrapping it around herself with a soft smile.

He had won her trust. Everything was working. He hadn't expected it to be this easy, but knew everyone had their breaking point and he smiled back, knowing he had found hers.

"Lets go." She said, her breath puffing within the fur lined hood of the huge jacket.

Nodding, he turned, leaving the box. "We'll pick it up on the way back, no use in caring it all the way back."

Halfway there she stopped suddenly.

"What about the helicopter?" she had nearly forgotten how they had gotten out there in the first place.

"Pardon?" he turned and looked at her. The coat had seemed to brighten her up. That wasn't going to help. "Oh! I radioed him, we need to get back to your partner, then we have to take him back a few miles, the helicopter will meet us there."

She stared at him unbelieving, but quickly continued walking.

He let out a held breath and hoped she would keep believing him. Soon a dark, log-cabin looking home came into view, its chimney leaking smoke into the cold air and leaving it smelling like warmth and coal. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent as they neared the home.

"It's just inside the foyer; I brought it up when I left the first time."

"Why can't the helicopter just meet us here?" she asked, motioning to the empty land that surrounded the house.

"Hmmm." He hadn't had time to think of or consider an answer for this question. Turning he found her stare blazing and hardened.

"I thin I'd like to head back now." Something moved off to her right and her head quickly snapped in that direction.

Perfect. Running at her he had her pinned against the snowy ground in seconds, her small body struggling beneath his. She kicked and screamed but couldn't seem to have an effect on him. She decided it was from the cold that had stricken her body for so long; too long. She felt her lungs cave as his knee met her chest, and then her hands sop moving as he took them into his own, crushing them with the force of his long fingers. Until then she had forgotten about the hole that ran through her hand.

She screamed, biting her lip to repress it. Reaching up he put on hand on her jaw, squeezing as to open her mouth.

"Let it come out." He demanded, prying her mouth open to catch the last of her scream. "It's only natural, Temperance, a Heroin under attack should scream, shouldn't she?"

He thrust his thumb against the wound, her screams ringing out once more.

"That's a girl." He suddenly ripped her up from the ground, a morbid snow angel left in her place. Just as suddenly she was smashing into him, her shoulder meeting his gut and knocking him onto the ground. A flash of silver glinted in the air and in moments Booth's gun was removed from the back of her snow pants and into rested solidly in her hands.

She watched as a wry smile cracked his lips.

"In my book Temperance dies." He stood and charged her. Before he could take two steps the metal thrust itself into his body at an ungodly speed. The bullets tore through his body as though he had been made of putty.

The emptied gun slid from her fingers and she ran past the body, towards the cabin. Reaching its door she opened it easily, finding the entire space empty. The door opened into a large foyer, filled with absolutely nothing, at the end of which was a huge fireplace, coals burning within its mouth glowing bright orange. The walls were a stark white and the windows sat open, no curtains hiding their view. At the back of the room was a single door, to which she quickly walked and opened. It revealed a room that's walls made up for those in the previous room. These walls were covered in what looked to be torn-out pages from books and pictures. Near the bed lay a huge stack of books, most of which were copies of each other. All were her books. There were copies and copies of each of her books; she assumed a total close to fifty. Half of them missed huge chunks of pages which she knew he had plastered on the walls of his bedroom. Walking to a wall she read one of the pages. It was one on which she had written Kathy's struggle with her attacker. The page next to it was a sequence from another book, this time it was the section in which Kathy had been kidnapped by a different attacker. The next page read as an intimate scene between Kathy and her love interest, but their names had been scribbled off, replaced with her own and Dumas'. Plastered beside this page was a photo of her she did not recognize. She sat at a table, laughing, and her eyes where nearly straight on the camera. She immediately remembered the day. She had gone out for lunch with Angela three months earlier; they had eaten outside of the diner on a bench.

She then noticed another photo, this one further up on the wall. This photo she recognized and had not seen in years. It was a younger her, maybe three or four years ago, it was her first book signing and the photo had been released in a local D.C. newspaper the day after the event. She jogged her memory and tried to remember if Dumas had been at the signing but came up with nothing. Finally she found a third picture, this one on the opposite wall, that sincerely scared her. It was a picture of her and Russ. From about 16 years ago. It was before her parents left. In the picture a beaming Russ hugged his little sister as she struggled to get away, laughing. She had lost the picture almost seven years ago; it had been in her apartment, in a dark brown picture frame sitting on her bedroom bookshelf. One day she had come home to find the entire frame missing. She had blown it off, deciding she must not have remembered putting it somewhere else, but she had never found it again.

Pulling the picture from the wall she searched the room for a radio or phone, finding neither. Slowly she left the room, then the house. She needed to get back to Booth, needed to save them both before it was too late and before they both faced a fate similar to that of the woman they had discovered beneath the snow.

A/n: Sorry it's been forever! Hope you enjoyed it and I will try to update again soon!