goodbye, shadows [OLIVIA]

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

Again and again, Brennan's fists pounded the bag in front of her. She grunted in equal parts exertion and frustration. Her hands were wrapped to prevent the skin on her knuckles from tearing, but she hadn't put boxing gloves on.

Truth be told, Brennan didn't know how to box.

What she really wished was for someone to spar with her. An actual challenge would distract her, if only momentarily, from the constant impossibilities the people here kept trying to make her believe.

Her punches increased in speed, drawing forward and backward. Twice she swung her leg up to kick in the opposite direction the bag swung. "Araaagh!" Brennan screamed, throwing both arms forward into the bag before collapsing to her knees.

To her disdain and mortification, the uncomfortable and familiar burning of tears stung her eyes. You are Doctor Temperance Brennan, she thought. You don't cry just because you won't admit you wish, if you're stuck here anyway, that Booth was with you.

Immediately after having the thought, Brennan pulled herself back up to her feet. She pretended, just for the moment, that all the moisture on her face was perspiration.

She moved to a bench off to the side to rest for a moment before going after the punching bag again. Brennan's plan was to get herself so far beyond exhausted that all she could do was sleep it off and not have to think anymore.

[agent olivia dunham]

Thank God that whatever the hell his place was, they had a gym. Olivia had full intentions of working out whatever frustrations she had to the point where she was so exhausted she could no longer think straight. Then she would return to her room and sleep, hoping when she woke up this would be nothing bu a terrible dream.

Of course, she was not alone in the gym.

The other young woman that was there looked tough, the way she was punching the hell out of the bag, face wet with - well, it appeared to be tears, but Olivia knew it was probably just sweat. She'd probably been there a while, going at it. Perhaps she'd be a challenge for Olivia, if she asked - it'd been a while since she'd sparred with someone, let alone another female who was willing to take her on. None of the others at the FBI dared mess with her.

Because they knew Olivia would happily kick their asses.

Crossing to the woman, Olivia sat down on the bench, flexing her fingers for a moment before starting to stretch her arms across her chest, making sure all the kinks were worked out. She was stressed as hell, so kinks were inviteable. Hopefully, though, working out at the gym or sparring place or whatever would help her.

"Mind if I join you?" Olivia inquired, looking up at her now. She looked like a professional, Olivia realized the more she watched her.

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

Brennan hadn't noticed the other woman's entrance. She held her face in her hands, thoughts swirling nearly too fast for her brain to keep up with.

Consequently, she twitched embarrassingly when she was addressed. Her hands clenched back into fists, rubbed carelessly over her cheeks to try and hide the residual tear tracks she suspected were obvious.

Letting out a long breath, Brennan replied, "This gym is a public facility. It's not up to me to decide who can and who cannot, as you put it, join me."

She brought her fingertips to her temples, rubbing slowly to try and alleviate the building headache. Her shoulders were slumped uncharacteristically in defeat.

Belatedly, it occurred to Brennan that she never let strangers see this side of her. The sad, lonely little foster girl left abandoned by her own family. She'd vowed while trapped in the trunk of a car not to show any weakness.

A steely resolve slammed over her features. Despite the beginnings of exhaustion creeping into her bones - metaphorically speaking of course; she knew better than most that you couldn't literally have exhaustion in your bones - she sat up straighter, fists slammed to her sides.

"Unless you were asking for a sparring partner."

[agent olivia dunham]

Olivia arched an eyebrow. She'd known this woman for five seconds and she could already tell she was intelligent, probably as intelligent as Walter - at least, she spoke like it. Why someone like her had been sucked into this place, Olivia would ever guess.

"If you're looking for a sparring partner, I'm here to serve." Olivia shrugged, getting to her feet and rolling her neck along her shoulders for a moment, stretching out still. Her muscles ache for action - she hadn't had a case in days. She still ached from the crap she'd gone through on the other side, too.

"I'm Olivia, by the way. Agent Olivia Dunham - I work for the FBI. Or I did, before we were brought here." She introduced herself with the flash of a smile. "Glad to see I'm not the only one that's not crazy around here."

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

Brennan stretched her arms, cracking the joints of her metacarpels and proximal phalanges. She stood and also stretched her back. "For fairness' sake, I would request a moment to regain my proper breathing patterns."

The profession, admittedly, caught Brennan off guard. Her eyes widened slightly at the given name and profession. "FBI?" she commented. "I'm partnered with an agent. Special Agent Seeley Booth. Do you know him?"

If she could see the hope shining in her eyes, Brennan may have immediately ended this conversation in favor of retaining her own dignity.

"My name is Doctor Temperance Brennan," she said, still not quite looking Agent Dunham in the eye. "I work as a forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian Institute. Booth and I are called in when human remains have decomposed to the point where a traditional autopsy is no longer possible."

She was resigned at this point to Booth's near-constant presence in her mind. Given the amount of time they spent together - both during and after working hours - it would be natural that her thoughts would focus on him.

So she should stop feeling like she should fight the impulse to let herself wish he was here with her. It was perfectly normal.

[agent olivia dunham]

Olivia rubbed the back of her neck, giving a soft laugh. "Uh, yeah. Of course." She sounded so like Walter, using large, uneeded words for what could be said in a simple sentence. She didnt appear s crazy as he did, which was a plus.

Olivia searched her mind. "I don't think so, but then again, I only work with a certain team of agents that works on . . . weird cases, so I've probably seen him, just never met him." She looked so hopeful - apparently her friend, Booth, had not been pulled to this place with her. Olivia hated to let her down. "Maybe he's here too, somewhere. Who knows. There could be hundreds of others here we don't know about." She shrugged. She'd seen weirder.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Brennan." Olivia smiled. So she was brilliant. Jeffersonian? Jeez she was beyond brilliant to have a job there. "Sounds like an amazing job. My team goes out to the sites - sometimes it's murders, sometimes its more supernatural. We're a weird division of the FBI." She continued.

Beyond weird.

"So, I take it you like to spar?"

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

The smile faded just a little bit when Agent Dunham was shown not to be a remote kind of link to Booth. It was an extremely naive notion. Brennan was embarrassed to have thought it, even if her thoughts were private.

She was greatly disturbed at the implications of just how many people could be trapped here. "Do you believe that?" she asked quickly, brow furrowed. "Do you think there could really be hundreds of people in this facility?"

Rationally, it made sense. Brennan had seen at least half a dozen others immediately upon waking in this place. It wouldn't be illogical to assume the same methods used to bring them all here had been employed again and again. They were obviously effective.

She smiled, sort of pleasantly, holding a hand out for Agent Dunham to shake. "I would have preferred meeting you on the job, I think."

She froze for a second, Booth's voice popping in her head and cautioning her to be nice. "However..." Brennan added. "I admit it is... comforting to know there is someone else trapped here with FBI connections."

The question took Brennan by surprise. She tilted her head to one side. "I find sparring a more conductive method of keeping up with my martial arts than simply beating the stuffing out of a bag, to use the vernacular."

[agent olivia dunham]

Olivia shrugged. "It's possible. I've thought about many sceanrios that are possible, and each is just as likely as the next. I just hope I'm wrong and we can all go home soon." Olivia replied, brushing hair from her eyes and sweeping it back into a long ponytail to keep it out of her eyes.

She's thought about being trapped here, as experiments, and she'd thought about it being all some twisted game. She'd thought it was a dream. She'd thought that it was possible others could be here too, seperated in groups. She'd wondered just how they had gotten here, why they were here, and just who had brought them here.

Olivia always had the distinct feeling of being watched, wherever she went.

Olivia arched an eyebrow, but took Temperance's hand anyway. "I'm still sorry about your friend. I'll keep an eye out for him." She assured - which was, frankly, impossible since she had no idea what he looked like. But if she saw any guy associated with the FBI, she'd ask if his name was Booth.

She laughed. "It is a conductive method. I haven't had the time to really brush up on mine, personally. It's almost nice to have the time - even if it is in a weird place such as this." She glanced around, shaking her head.