The only affiliation I have with Bones is my deep obsession with it.

Fine Because It's Nothing

Angela, having not been able to contact Russ, was just sitting in her office. The painful silence, which was usually filled with Hodgins's voice (he inevitably found some reason to drop by her office every day) just made the whole situation all the more real. She couldn't forget how much danger Hodgins was in because she couldn't hear his voice. Not one moment went by when she could forget that he wasn't there, that he was off somewhere buried alive with her best friend.

So sometime between the ringing silences and the tense conversations with the others, she found herself at her computer, desperate for the familiar sounds. Uploading the pictures from her cell phone, she took the ones of Hodgins and Brennan and starting enlarging them and making them clearer. It was something simple, but something she could force herself to concentrate on. Half an hour went by as she lived purely in the memories contained in the pictures, thinking of her friends only as they were pictured and not as they were currently.

Booth, when he wasn't desperately trying to find a way to get Bones and Hodgins back, found himself walking around thoughtlessly. He had subconsciously driven back to the Jeffersonian and was moving around as though sleepwalking. On occasion, he would remember where he was for a couple seconds, only to then remember where Bones was. Then he would again retreat into the most brooding corners of his mind and completely forget where he was and what he was doing.

Coming out of his trance for a moment, he found himself standing in her office in front of her bookshelf. He was holding her book, the book that she had dedicated to him. Staring down at it, he slowly turned to the dedication page, his dedication page. His eyes moved slowly over the words. "This book is dedicated to my partner and friend, Special Agent Seeley Booth." He traced his fingers over the ink as though he could feel her writing them. Sighing, he put the book back on the shelf. He didn't know what to do with himself. But, looking around the office, he knew he couldn't stay there any longer. Everything in there reminded him of her.

Stumbling through the door, he made his way towards the platform. Stopping just short of the steps, with his I.D. card in hand, he stared up at the tables that currently held the bodies of the Kent brothers. How many times had he seen Bones standing there, scrutinizing the remains and (how did Zack put it?) anatomizing the evidence? He could practically see a montage playing in his head of all the different times they had all gathered there to solve whatever murder case they were currently working on. It was yet another place that had too much of Bones in it.

Depositing the card back in his pocket, he moved slowly towards Angela's office. Even just a look might calm him down; Bones had spent time there, but the room was still very much Angela's. Walking in, his eyes fell on the Angulator, memories of the squints arguing over the 3-D models twisting his gut painfully. Looking determinedly away from the machine, he saw Angela sitting in front of the computer with her head in her hands.

He was about to ask her what was wrong when he saw what was on her screen. It was a picture that had been taken at Wong Foo's about half a year ago with all of them (minus Cam, who had not yet joined the team). Hodgins was sitting in the middle, looking straight at the camera with a smirk-ish grin while Angela sat beside him, directing a coy smile towards some guy who wasn't in the picture. Zack was sitting at the edge of his seat with a confused expression, as though he wasn't sure what emotion would be appropriate for the picture. And on the other side of Hodgins was Bones. She was looking towards the camera, laughter lighting up her entire face. He couldn't begin to remember what it was that had caused her to look so happy, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Not even picture-him could, he realized with a small smile. The Booth-in-the-photo was turned slightly towards her, mid-chuckle, his hand lying right next to hers on the table. In fact, their hands were so close that they could have touched.

Booth's smile disappeared. It didn't look like he'd ever get that chance again, to oh-so-casually brush his hand up against hers. He might never again try to get her to give another angry rant just so he would have an excuse to look at her. Never again would he... no. He couldn't think like that. This was Bones he was talking about. She would never give up, and he shouldn't either. But the fact that she wasn't there to tell him that in her scientific, clinical way made it all the harder to believe.

Seeing that Angela was still miserably hunched over, he decided to speak up.

"They'll be okay."

Angela started and then turned to look at him. Her eyes, usually so bright and happy, seemed dull and empty. He continued, trying to sound optimistic.

"It's Bones. Bones and Hodgins. They've solved 100-year-old murders by looking at dirt and skeletons. Being buried underground, that's nothing."

Angela nodded, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "They'll be fine," she said in a voice that was just a little too optimistic.

"Yeah," Booth's voice mirrored hers. "Because this is nothing."

They nodded at the same time. Booth looked past her at the picture again. Angela turned back to study it too.

She nodded over-enthusiastically. "It's practically our motto, 'Fine Because This Is Nothing.'"

"That's understandable, given that you work with, well, dead people. I mean they are fine, besides the whole being-dead thing."

"Yeah, nothing can happen to them anymore."

Booth smiled humorlessly in agreement. "So, in a way, they're better off than we are."

She leaned back in her chair to look at him. "That should be our new motto; Dead People Are Better Off."

Their uneasy laughter sounded hollow even to their ears and was quickly stifled. Angela excused herself, muttering something about needing to talk to Cam. Booth took the opportunity to move towards the monitor. Staring at the Bones-in-the-photo, he whispered softly, as though she could actually hear his words of comfort.

"You'll be fine because this is nothing."

From her place in the front seat of the car, Brennan glanced back at Hodgins who had passed out during the surgery she had had to perform on him. Although him being unconscious meant that he wasn't feeling pain, she still felt incredibly alone in the unnatural silence.

As she leaned back in her seat, a voice that sounded surprisingly like Booth's echoed through her head. She started up, playing the words through her head to comfort her. Looking over at Hodgins, she whispered the words to him, hoping that they would give him the same sort of hope.

"We'll be fine because this is nothing."