Blood dripping down over her eyes covering her vision, was the last thing she saw before passing out.

When she came to, all she could hear was her blood rushing in her ears and her laboured breathing. Her upper torso and head were pounding with pain, with every breath she took.

Confused she tried to open her eyes to check her surroundings, but found there was only blackness. She went to roll over, but found she was bound by chains around her waist, feet and wrists.

What happened? She tried to wrack her brain for any remnants of memory, before she must have passed out. Her pulse and breathing started to race, as she realised she couldn't remember anything.

Calm down Brennan. She told herself. Trying to force anything doesn't help.

She felt a foam mattress underneath her, as her hands felt the area around her sides. Raising her hands to her face, she remembered the restraints as they yanked her hands back to the ground. She tried to open her eyes again. It felt like such a burden to lift her eyelids. She still could only see blackness. Her eyelashes rasped against something over her eyes. A blindfold, she assumed.

Listen, Brennan. Are there any sounds, anything distinguishable?

She held her breath, as she tried to listen for anything. Is that water dripping in a sink? No, it was definitely dripping onto concrete. A truck driving past, outside whatever kind of place she was being held in. More traffic. Her head started to pound heavily with the effort of straining to hear anything over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

Work through it. Pretend your head is fine. Is there anyone else here? Is the person that took me still here?

Her breath left her chest in a rush when she realised that there was nothing else to be heard. As far as she could tell there was no one here with her, she thought as she passed out into delicious unconsciousness.

-- -- --

Gentle pushing at her shoulder woke Brennan up. "Bones, hey Bones. It's time to wake up."

Brennan groaned, as her head still pounded. "Booth?" She asked groggily.

She tried to move, and then as the pain registered, she remembered what happened. She tested out her hands and found they were still bound.

"Who's Booth, Tempe? I'm the only one that calls you Bones; have you let someone else call you by my nickname for you?" The voice said sweetly, so closely to her, she could feel his breath on her neck and face.

Confused, then as a bolt of fear swept over her, she rasped, "Matt?"

No, it couldn't be... He's nowhere near here... Is he?

She felt a hand smooth down her hair and trail down to trace her jaw line. "Wow, now that you're a big shot and all, I'm surprised you remember my name. So who is this Booth guy? Does he call you Bones too?" His tone hit her like a jealous lovers.

How did he find me, after all these years? He'd be able to find out where I worked, sure. But everything else has been kept private. Security is high at work... Though...

"Matt, where am I? Why have you got me strapped down? What do you want from me?" Her voice sounded steady, but hitched. She was trying to sound calmer than she actually was.

"I've missed you is all. I'm sorry Bones, I didn't mean to hurt you, but you fought so hard, so I had to hit you. I'm sorry baby girl." His voice dripped with concern, as she felt his lips graze her temple. "You didn't reply to my letters or calls, so I had to follow you home. Same old you though, don't do anything without a fight." He chuckled, as if they were going over good old memories.

"I'm going to remove your blindfold, so be gentle ok. Your eye is pretty banged up." He lifted her blindfold off her face gently.

She tried to open her eyes, but found one would open the whole way. Then she remembered the blood. Brennan figured, by the pain and the swelling she could feel, her eye lid may have been split open. Slowly she looked around her surroundings. She was in a warehouse or something similar. Then she saw the face of a boy, now man, she'd been trying to forget since she was 17.

-- -- --

"Sweetie, if I have to call you one more time and have to speak to your machine again, I'm coming over to your place and dragging your ass in here myself! If you're there with someone or sick, let me know!" Angela huffed, as she hung up. "This isn't like her. She's never late. Well there was that one time, but whatever. The point is she isn't answering her phone, and its 11am." She said worriedly to Zack.

"Maybe she's on her way in. Or maybe she's taking a personal day." Zack tried to rationalize. "Either way, you worrying about her isn't helping this case get solved. That, she wouldn't be impressed with."

Angela rang Brennan's number again. Voicemail... Again. "That's it! I'm on my way over, Brennan."

-- -- --

"Ohh yeah, Ohh yeah." The Entourage theme song started playing in Booth's pocket, before he answered his phone. "Booth." He said around a mouthful of chocolate.

"Booth, I need you here now." Angela said with a hitch in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Booth frowned, when he heard the panic in Angela's voice.

"I'm, uh, at Brennan's. She wasn't answering her phone all morning, so I came over to see if she was ok. She's not here. Her place looks like someone's ransacked it, there's blood on the 

dining table, and she's not here. She's not here Booth! What do I do?" All the thoughts rushing around in her mind, she had immediately thought the worst.

"Just calm down, I'll be there in 5 minutes, ok Ange? Just stay there, I'll be right there." His voice sounded tense, even to him.

There'll be nothing to worry about. I bet this is just a misunderstanding. Booth thought, trying to talk away the concerns building in his head.

"Bones, you'd better not have done anything stupid." Booth thought out loud, as he grabbed his keys off the desk.

-- -- --

"Ho..w..." Brennan croaked out, before coughing to clear her throat. "How did you get here Matt?"

"Like everyone else Tempe. I took the bus. Then I hired a car." His expression changed to that of a dejected child, "Aren't you happy to see me? I've missed you T." He said trailing his fingers down her arm.

Her body stiffened at the unwanted touch. She had spent the past 13yrs trying to forget anything to do with her past, and this was one person she did not want to remember.

"Why don't you have anything to say? That's not like my Temperance. What has D.C done to you, my lovely one?"

She looked up and saw what looked like actual worry in his eyes. His forehead creased with anxiety.

She looked him in the eye and said defiantly, "D.C has done nothing to me. D.C saved me. My job saved me. Getting away from you saved me."

A fear started churning deep in her stomach, as he watched his eyes turned dark. She remembered this look all too well. That's when she realised her mistake.

"Finally, a reaction... Maybe not the one I was hoping for, but still. You'll re-learn."

His hand covered her mouth and nose. Brennan started to struggle against his hand, shaking her head from side to side, as the chemical smell burned its way down her nostrils and her eyes watered from the chemicals being so close.

Suddenly she went limp.

Matt carefully placed a blanket over her to keep her warm, and then sat down at his computer to look up the people she worked with. Hoping to find this Booth guy, who it seemed, was taking his Bones, from him.