The first thing Brennan did was check her pockets for her cell phone, even though she knew exactly where it was - top left drawer of her desk, and nowhere near where she was now.

The next thing was to shoot a glance around the room, considering and casting aside windows (impossible - too secure, seeing as this was the ground floor), vents (she'd never fit), and a small door by the sinks that only contained extra washroom supplies.

The last thing her mind flashed to was whatever the intruders were doing - clearly nothing good, and there was no way that she was letting them anywhere near her lab or the bones, never mind the fact that they'd told her to stay put. Those remains had been through enough already and it was her duty to protect them from any more harm.

But there truly was no way out of this room.

And so she reached over and pulled the fire alarm.

-

It took less than a minute - in which she had time to duck into the small janitors' closet, scrambling in the dark for a weapon - for the sound of the bathroom door being unlocked to reach her ears. She crouched in the darkness, listening to her own breath, muscles tensing and trembling as she waited for them to find her.

BAM!

She jumped, suppressing a gasp.

BAM!

That one was closer; they were throwing open bathroom doors, expecting her to be hiding behind one.

BAM!

Just three more left.

BAM!

Two.

BAM!

Last one.

There was a ringing silence after the final door had been slammed open, followed by a skidding sound as the garbage can was inspected before being tossed aside.

Another pause, and she knew they'd seen the door; she'd placed the garbage can near the entrance to her hiding spot after she had closed over all the stall doors.

The door handle suddenly turned and light flooded into her little hiding spot. She saw the man who'd opened the door reaching for his gun and she raised her own arm, spraying his eyes with the chemical cleaner she'd found.

He gave a yell and she was able to shove past him, only to barrel right into the second man, who grabbed her arm in a vice grip. She shifted to try and elbow him but he wrenched her arm painfully, throwing her off balance.

'I don't think so,' and he ripped the spray bottle from her hands before chucking it across the room.

But she doesn't panic or stop, remaining sure in her ability to take on the man.

And so she brings up her knee between his legs, only to have him twist her around, her arm bending painfully behind her back, before he shoves her onto the floor.

Okay, so maybe she can't quite take him, but that doesn't mean she's going to stop trying to kick his ass.

She pushes up onto all fours, arms and legs scrabbling for purchase on the tile and is just about to push off the floor when the first man she'd attacked, tears streaming down his face, throws himself bodily into her, sending them both sprawling. The breath is knocked out of her and so the man has no trouble flipping her onto her back and sitting down, hard, on her chest. And she didn't think it was possible but even more air is forced out of her lungs and it's all she can do for a moment to try and pull air into her compressed lungs.

As she struggled the man sitting on her laughed and settled back a little deeper, some of his weight abandoning her chest to crush her lower ribs and abdomen. He gave another chuckle before spitting in her face.

She flinched, bouncing the back of her head off the cold floor, and he grinned, 'Not so fun when it's in your own eyes is it?'

'Pick her up,' the other man barked from somewhere above them.

Brennan tried to make a move as soon as the man lifted his weight off of her but her oxygen-deprived body refused to respond and she only managed the beginnings of an uncoordinated attempt at movement before he hauled her up by an arm.

The room spun dizzily and she stumbled as the man moved behind her, holding her wrists together behind her back. The lead man, who had been standing back until this point, came forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her face up to his own.

'Now, did we not tell you to be good? Did we not give you enough warning?' he voice changed to a low, dangerous growl, 'And I think you know what has to happen now.'

Brennan managed to rally her scattered thoughts to retort, 'It doesn't matter, someone will come because of the alarm, and then they'll have you.'

'I don't think so... and I'm not so sure that they'll have you either... alive that is.' he grinned at her, and she glared back.

'That was not a very good joke. Trust me, Booth would not approve,' she stated in a matter of fact way, her brain trying to piece itself back together.

'What?'

'I think she's trying to pull a fast one on us; you know, pull the wool over our eyes.'

'I think it's cotton, it's definitely pull the cotton over your eyes.'

The two men gave her a bewildered look.

'Guess we hit her on the head pretty hard, huh?' came from the second man.

'I don't really care. And we don't have the time for this,' was the response, 'I'm ending this now.'

Brennan forced herself to hold the man's gaze with her own defiant look as he raised his gun and fired.

And that's all for now folks. Sorry that it's not the best ending (or probably the best use of proper tense, because I am waaaaay tired. promise that I'll give it a better proof after some sleep), and that it took so long (dang end of the semester papers and tests and those dreaded quickly-approaching final exams) Hope that you enjoyed it, and reviews are, as always, welcome and adored!

Ciao, Moksgmol