Disclaimer: I don't own Bones

I've had this story idea around in my head for some time. I wondered what would it be like if B&B are put into a situation where they were lost in the wild and had to survive? Booth was Ranger trained so I reckon he would know what to do. Anyway, read on and tell me if it's any good.

One minute they were making plans to take the kids to the zoo over the weekend, and the next the standard-issue FBI SUV was careening off the road, speeding down the steep ravine at breakneck speeds.

"Hang on!" was the last thing Brennan remembered hearing her husband yell.

… …

The day had started off routinely, dropping Christine at school then Hank at day care. Then it was work as usual for their latest case which required them to interview a suspect who lived out in a very remote region in the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It had been a long drive that morning and the interview proved less useful than the couple had hoped. Their interview was concluded a little after midday and sitting in the SUV, the coupe finished sandwiches that Brennan had made in preparation for their trip quickly, before heading back to civilization, as Booth had put it.

On the drive back, the couple had spent their journey comparing notes on the case. Brennan hoped that they would make it back in time for her to drop by the lab to check on the remains that she had told Dr Fuentes to clean. Booth, hoping Aubrey had better luck chasing his lead, wanted to swap notes back at his office. Knowing they were short on time, his foot pressed on the gas pedal a little harder, urging his car to speed up. As he drove, he let his mind wander, shifting the conversation to what he had been thinking of.

"You know last night, in the tub, it was pretty amazing huh?"

Brennan grinned back at him. "Yes, it was. Sex in the tub is always amazing."

Booth chuckled. She was right. "Maybe we could do it again tonight after the kids are asleep."

"I'm very much looking forward to tonight then." Brennan reached over and smoothed her hand up her husband's thigh suggestively.

Their conversation had then changed to their children and plans for the weekend when a deer darted in front of the car. Booth jammed on the brakes and swerved but that action sent the car in an uncontrolled spin before barrelling down the steep slope toward the swirling river below.

… …

The car hit the water at a force much lesser than Brennan had expected. The initial shock took seconds to wear off. Water was seeping into the car, not fast enough to panic her but fast enough for her to know that if she did not want to drown she would have to exit the vehicle quickly.

"Booth, we need to get out of here." Brennan said as she tugged at her seat belt. The freezing cold water that was now at the level of her calves shocked her warm body, causing her to take a deep breath. The movement caused a dull ache in her chest. She wasn't sure if her seatbelt had cracked her ribs or merely bruised them but she didn't have time to access her injuries now.

"Booth!" she called again with more urgency when he didn't respond. She turned her head, the action causing a sharp pain in her neck which she attributed to whiplash.

Her heart that had been thudding wildly in her chest skipped a beat when she saw her husband slumped over the steering wheel. He was unconscious and bleeding from a deep gash just above his right temple.

"Booth!" She tugged at her seat belt buckle again, cursing at what had moments ago saved her, but now restrained her movements, likely to trap her in her watery grave if she didn't manage to free herself soon. She reached across to shake him gently. She concluded that the impact had likely rendered him unconscious, and the fact that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt meant that the force of the crash was greater on him than her.

Brennan pressed on the buckle and tugged a third time with all her might before her seatbelt came loose. She quickly tried to assess the situation. The water was now almost at seat level. She had to somehow get herself and Booth out before the car went under. Booth was a big man and she knew she would not have the strength to drag him out. In that moment, she knew that she would not abandon him. The only way for both of them to survive was to try to get him to wake up.

"Booth!" she shook him roughly, relieved when he started to groan, his eyes blinking as they slowly opened.

Booth grimaced as he began to feel the pain from his injuries. He slowly lifted his head. His foggy brain tried to fathom what was going on. He vaguely recollected that they had been in an accident. "You okay?"

"Yes, but we need to get out of here. The water is rising fast."

Her words seemed to make him realise the gravity of their situation and Booth tuned his head to take stock of their surroundings, only to let out a soft moan of pain.

"Your head?" Brennan asked, concerned.

"Yeah. It's… nothing." Ignoring the pounding headache, he tried opening the car door but it was jammed shut. "Try your door."

Brennan tried but her door refused to open as well. The car was tilted forward and the front was sinking faster than the back. "Maybe the back doors would open."

"Wait, Bones." Booth managed, but before he could stop her, Brennan had climbed into the back seat. She glanced back at Booth, noting how his movements seemed sluggish. She pushed back the fear that he could be having a serious head injury and tried the door behind Booth. It didn't budge. The force of the rushing river water was keeping her from opening the car door. She let out a frustrated sigh.

Booth managed to climb into the backseat as well. He tried the other door. Kicking it with his legs. He was breathing heavily and Brennan knew he was trying to hide the amount of discomfort he was in from her. The car was almost completely submerged now and the water had risen to their chest level.

Booth cast his wife a glance but it was enough to let her know what he was thinking. If they didn't get out soon, they would both drown. The option was not acceptable. He didn't need her to say anything to know that she was thinking the same thing.

"Maybe if we pushed together." Brennan suggested.

"Okay, on my count." Booth agreed. "One, two, three!"

Husband and wife pushed with all their might and to their relief the door opened a fraction and ice cold water rushed in, sinking the car even faster. Booth grunted under the weight, using his legs to push against the floor and open the door wide enough for Brennan to squeeze through.

"Get out!" Booth yelled, struggling to hold the door open as she climbed over him.

Brennan squeezed out the door, and kept swimming. She turned back and for a few terrifying moments, couldn't see Booth. She worried that he was still trapped in the car but after what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, his head broke the surface of the water. He was gasping for air but motioned for her to head to shore. Satisfied he was okay, Brennan started swimming. The current was strong and after what seemed like an eternity, she felt her knees scrape the riverbed. She crawled up the embankment collapsing from exhaustion. Booth collapsed next to her, trying to catch his breath.

He turned his head to look at Brennan, his eyes scanning her body. Other than her clothes being soaked through, she didn't appear to have any visible injuries. He reached over and took her hand, thankful she hadn't been seriously hurt in the accident, thankful they didn't go down with the car into the murky depths of the river.

"You okay Bones?"

"Yes." Brennan replied. "How's your head?"

His head was throbbing badly, his thoughts felt muddled and fogged up and it hurt to breathe but he didn't want to worry her. "I'm good."

"We need to get help."

"Yeah." Booth lifted his head to look up the steep slope that their car had just came crashing down. The movement caused a wave of dizziness and nausea to sweep over him, along with a lancing pain and he grimaced. "I don't think we can climb out of here. It's too steep and if we lose our footing, the fall might kill us."

"I agree." Brennan was worried, she didn't miss the look of pain that flashed across Booth's face. "My phone was in my purse."

"Which is now at the bottom of the river. But I managed to pull this out." He gestured at the black duffel bag that was lying next to him. It contained a spare change of clothes for the both of them. It was something they kept in the car for use in case their clothing were dirtied at a crime scene.

Booth reached into his pants pocket, pulling out its contents. His sobriety chip from GA, a butane lighter, a pocket knife and his cell phone.

"I guess it would be too much to ask… " Booth said as he tried his phone. It refused to turn on.

"Maybe we could wait till another car passes by."

"I don't think we could get anyone's attention form down here."

"We could wait here, someone would surely notice that we're missing."

"The car has a GPS installed." Booth agreed. His mind shifted gears into Ranger mode. They were in a survival situation now and it was up to him to keep them both alive until help arrived. Summer was giving way to fall and although it wasn't that cold, he knew temperatures would start to drop as the day wore on.

"It might be dark before anyone finds us." Booth opened the duffel bag. "We need to get out of these wet clothes, get dry before the temperatures drop. Hopefully, the clothes in here aren't as wet as what we're wearing."

"You're right." Brennan knew that as the water evaporated from their wet clothes, their precious body heat would be lost as well. She began to peel off her soaking jacket. She then started to unbutton her blouse.

Booth wanted to protest but reasoned that there was nobody else here to see her in her underwear anyway. He removed his gun from its holster and placed it on the pebbled riverbank next to him, then peeled off his wet jacket, shirt and pants, laying them beside Brennan's clothes.

Brennan gasped as she saw a dark angry-looking bruise in the shape of the car's steering wheel over his chest. "Your ribs could be broken." She bit back her next retort. Now was not the time to remind him why she hated that he never wore his seatbelt.

"I'm okay Bones. Don't worry." He offered her a reassuring smile. "You've got one too."

Brennan looked down, only to realise she too sported a faint bruise across her chest where her seatbelt had restrained her.

"Mine doesn't look as bad as yours." Brennan moved towards Booth, her fingers gently probing at his chest. He winced.

"I don't think anything's broken, but you might have cracked ribs." She looked to his head wound. It was still oozing blood. "I need to stop the bleeding." She picked up Booth's wet shirt and pressed it to the gash on his head. "This isn't the most sterile but it's the best we can do given the circumstances."

"Ow! Bones!"

"Don't be a baby!" She teased in mock annoyance. Inside she was worried. Booth seems to be moving sluggishly and given his history of brain surgery, she worried he had a more serious head injury which she couldn't see. She strongly suspected he might have a concussion.

"You know," Booth grinned, "if we weren't in such a state, I'd be pretty turned on right now, since we're both just sitting here with nothing on except for our underwear."

Brennan smiled back. "I'm glad we're both okay. That could have turned out a lot worse."

After some time, she checked on Booth's head wound. "The bleeding's almost stopped. But you might need stitches. It's a pretty deep cut." She laid his shirt back out onto the river bank.

Booth pulled her towards him. "We should share body heat. You know so we don't get cold."

Brennan laughed. "Yes we should. But a hug for no reason is nice too."

Booth smiled as Brennan carefully leaned into his frame, mindful of his possible cracked ribs. The nausea and dizziness came in waves and his throbbing headache didn't let up but he was thankful that after all that had happened, he was alive and holding the woman he loved in his arms.

Alright guys, lay it on me. How was this first chapter? I apologise in advance if I'm not factually accurate on this one, it's not like I was ever in such a situation before.

This is likely going to be a short story that leads into another story idea. You'll understand once I get more chapters up. In the meantime, FFN has been wonky. Story alerts aren't being sent out, so go check out my latest chapter to "Everything That Happens Next", if you haven't. Thanks, FaithinBones for informing me.