"I can feel you falling away

No longer the lost

No longer the same

And I can see you starting to break

I'll keep you alive If you show me the way"

- "Give Me A Sign" Breaking Benjamin

Brennan drove like a bat out of Hell off the main road winding through town and onto the beaten path through a dense forest. Her SUV took the bumps and turns with little problem. For hours straight she'd been traveling. The plane she'd taken into Alaska had barely touched down before she had a rental and was back on the road. Now every so often she slowed long enough to glance at the map she'd printed out. Then she'd speed up again.

It was the urgency tugging at her heart strings that pressed her foot down on the accelerator pedal. She supposed it was possible she was over reacting. There was no saying that she'd find that Booth was fine. But there was no saying she wouldn't, either.

She'd come to a realization that Booth had tried to hurt her. He'd done what he'd done for a purpose. He'd wanted her out of the way, out of his life. Why? The only answers she could come up with were ones she didn't like. Ones that meant his life was in possible jeopardy.

At the end of the path made by tire tracks she found a quaint cabin. Out front two snowmobiles were parked. One was fairly damaged. Brennan brought her vehicle to a stop. She immediately hopped out. Before approaching the cabin she took a closer inspection of the damaged snowmobile. Deep scratches marked the surface of the body. One of the skis was broken, with the rest of it bent in underneath the vehicle. Brennan thought she saw a faint trace of blood. But she couldn't be sure. The unknown frightened her just as much as the known.

Through the snow she crunched up to the cabin's entrance. She thought about knocking but then decided against it. Booth needed to be caught by surprise. She abandoned any and all caution as she opened the door. "Booth?" She called uncertainly. Silence answered her. She took a few more steps inside, shutting the door behind her. Next to her on a coat rack hung his jacket. She was definitely in the right place. As she was walking past it she noticed the front of it had several tears. A few spots of blood had soaked into the area by the collar. Blood on the snowmobile. Blood on his jacket. A pit hardened in her stomach. Worriedly she moved on.

Her footsteps were heavy as she moved about into the living room. It didn't take her long to find him. Stopping dead, she gasped at the sight. Behind his back his wrists were restrained. He was shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. Forward he was stooped with his eyes shut and head hanging unresponsively. Other than the movement of his shallow breathing he was still.

Brennan rushed to him. Besides him she fell. "Booth?" Carefully she tilted his body back. Her fingers brushed across burns on his back and shoulders. Gently she peeled the tape away from his mouth. "Booth?" She tried again.

She looked him over thoroughly. His cut wrist had scabbed, though some blood still seemed to ooze from the wound with motion. His face and jaw were bruised and swollen. His ankle jutted out in front of him in an odd angle. What had been done to him? And by who? "Booth, come on," she leaned forward to speak into his ear. "Open your eyes. Tell me what happened to you. Who did this?"

As if on cue he seemed to regain a bit of consciousness. But with a single glance it was easy to tell he wasn't himself. The pills Vick had forced into his body were causing hallucinations. Booth didn't see Brennan at all. He saw the enemy. He saw himself trapped in the desert, a prisoner of war. Behind her wasn't a cabin, but an orange flickering sky burning black with smoke. He muttered something incomprehensible.

"Booth?"

He shuddered violently, piercing her heart with a sense of panic. Up he looked at her with so much rage in his eyes that she felt herself taking a step backwards. "Booth, it's me," she realized he didn't recognize her. "It's Bones."

There was a flicker of recognition. It eased his expression, but only a little. Bones meant something to him. But he was unsure of what. In his reverie a bomb dropped to the ground behind him. He strained his body forward, inflicting more damage from his metal handcuffs onto his already bruised wrists. Harsh breaths shook his shoulders.

"Booth!" She moved forward again. "You know me. It's Bones!" She forced him to look at her. "It's me."

There was a cackling sound that split through the air from the kitchen. Brennan could suddenly smell smoke. Reluctantly she left Booth behind to go investigate. She tip toed into the doorway and peeked around the corner. There a man was standing by the kitchen's back door. In one hand he had a gas can. The other, a lighter. Fire was already spreading across the linoleum floor. The curtains were beginning to catch. Bright orange and yellow flames licked at the windows.

"Hey!" Brennan yelled to him.

Vick just smirked in response. He let himself out the back door just as the walls were beginning to catch. Porous smoke began to drift into the living room.

Brennan turned back to Booth. She had to get them out of there before they burned to death. And there was no way she as leaving without him. Again she took up her place at his side.

He'd turned comatose once again. However before she could think about trying to revive him, she had to free him. She leaned over him and peered at the FBI issued hand cuffs. They were tight around his wrists. There wasn't any way she could maneuver his hand enough to slip it through.

"Booth!" She braced his head in her palm. Gently she tapped his cheek. "Booth, come on! Help me!"

His eyes slit. From what she could tell they were staring straight upward. His chest heaved as he took in deep breaths.

"Come on, Booth," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against his.

She felt him lean more into her touch. Upon opening her eyes she found him gazing right back into hers. He was still out of it. Far gone. But for the moment she had enough of his focus to work on saving their lives.

"We have to get out of here. Is there any way to remove your handcuffs without the keys?" She wondered anxiously.

Booth said nothing, simply pulling on the restraints instead. He winced from both pain and effort.

"Don't." She could see he didn't have an answer for her. In desperation she began searching the cabin for anything to break Booth out of the cuffs. In a utility closet she happened to come across a heavy hammer. It had a short shaft, but a thick hunk of metal attached at the end. She reasoned It would be enough to break the chain holding the cuffs together.

Brennan coughed as she headed back for Booth. The fire was advancing. Smoke was filling up the room. She could barely see from the substance stinging her eyes as she crawled down onto the floor. At the radiator she separated his wrists apart, pulling the chain taut. "Booth," she croaked. "Stay still. You can't move."

She could only hope he understood. Above her head she held the mallet. As she brought it down she instinctively turned her head away from any flying debris. She heard the high pitched sound of metal colliding with metal. Looking back, she saw her idea had worked. The links in the chain had broken apart. Booth's hands were free.

Not taking a moment to hesitate she moved to the front of him. Booth was attempting to push himself up to his feet, but with his bad ankle he was finding it difficult. Brennan at last had to pull his arm over her shoulders. Together they managed to lift him. Without letting go she led him straight to the front door. He limped along, struggling to keep pace. No more than a few steps outside into the cold snow and she could feel his muscles giving out. Wanting to collapse. In his throat he made a noise that resembled a groan.

"Just a few more steps," she tugged his body. He walked off balance, at times sliding into her and others nearly slipping from her grasp. She got him to the passenger side door of the SUV. Even with her help he could barely slide himself inside. His frame was shaking horribly from the cold. Brennan frowned, not taking her eyes off of him while belting him in.

As she rounded the other side something exploded near her in the snow. She let out a startled cry while she hopped up out of the way. It was then out of the corner of her eye she could see Vick staring her down with a revolver thrust forward in his hand.