Booth tore up the mountain, only to have Hodgins practically tackle him before he took three steps.
"What the hell?" he cried. Booth tried to throw the man off, but Hodgins refused to let go. Finally, Booth stopped and looked at him.
Booth's face had Hodgins taking a step back before he spoke. "Slow down," Hodgins said. "The rocks have already fallen here once. If you fall off, the chances are good you won't be as lucky as Dr. B. I have no intention of calling Angela to tell her one of you decided to die up here."
Booth nodded and slowed to a trot, rather than a sprint. The closer he got to the edge, the clearer her tracks were. The dirt here was scuffed, the break in the rock fresh. "Keep talking, Bones," he called. "I need to hear your voice." I don't ever want to stop hearing your voice.
He was approaching the cliff, when a pebble appeared from below and landed at the edge. A second followed it and then a third. Booth couldn't help but smile.
Inching his way to the edge, he looked over and saw Bones sitting with her back against a tree. She was looking around her for more pebbles and hadn't seen him yet.
"Hey, Bones," he called to get her attention. The relief was almost enough to drive him to his knees. She was alive. Hurt, not yet safe, but alive.
Brennan turned her head slowly, as if she didn't believe he was really standing there. Her eyes widened more when Hodgins stepped up next to Booth.
"That's it," she said in a very hoarse voice. "I definitely need food and water if I'm hallucinating the both of you now."
Brennan realized she might not be hallucinating after all when relief, amusement, and anger ran through Booth's eyes. "Are you guys really here?" she finally asked.
"Yeah," Hodgins said when Booth didn't answer. "We're here."