The next couple of weeks consisted of distancing herself from Booth and her friends. They of course knew something was wrong. Angela had even gone as far as to demand that Cam refused Brennan access to the lab whilst Hodgins said he would use 'other methods' to get her to talk. The only one that had backed off slightly was Booth. The two had argued when Bones had withdrawn from field work. He had of course yelled at her, demanding that she didn't leave him. When she had explained that her place was at the Jeffersonian. He had promptly told her that her place was beside him before storming out. They had had minimal contact since then and Brennan liked it that way, if she died then it would hurt him less. It would also be harder to hide her sickness from Booth since she was so tired and spent the majority of the time trying not to throw up. Nether the less she knew she was doing the right thing and was happy, that was until he rang. She wasn't sure what he wanted since she had made it clear they were no longer partners but still she went to his office.

When she got there she found him sat at his desk, solemn. He invited her to sit down. She sat across from him as he took a deep breath.
"They're getting me a new partner" he said. Bones felt like she'd been sucker punched. She knew, of course that it was inevitable, but she still felt slightly betrayed.
"Who?" she asked. Booth shrugged
"Does it matter?" he questioned.
"Who?" she repeated. Booth looked down
"Just some FBI agent, you don't know him"
"What about the Jeffersonian?" she asked. Booth looked down, saddened that she hadn't been more defensive.
"I'll still work as the liaison but… it'll be like it was before"
"So… no more full on involvement?" Booth nodded. There was a moment of silence before he eventually spoke.
"What did I do wrong Bones? Why are you leaving me?" he asked, his voice breaking. Brennan looked down, trying to stop the tears, it seemed like she'd been doing that a lot recently.
"You did nothing Booth… I wanted to experience the world and you gave me the opportunity to do so but now… I just think it would be best for me to leave the investigating to you. Now, if you excuse me I need to get back to work." As she turned to leave she looked at him one more time
"I know this is confusing Booth, but I want you to know you did nothing wrong, you were one of my reasons for staying" and then she turned to leave just as Booths heart broke a little bit more.

Sweets liked to believe that he knew the answers, or most of them at least but as Booth ranted to him he could not find a solution.
"I don't understand Sweets and you must know I'm desperate right now." Sweets laughed
"Of course, so you are saying that she's pulling away and as far as you know is skinnier and paler." Booth nodded.
"Look, I'll look into it and tell you if there is anything that is wrong."
"That's all I ask."

Later that night Sweets found himself in the lab, most of the workers had gone home but he had a feeling she wouldn't. He was correct in assuming she was there, he was about to enter when he heard her retching. Slowly he opened the door to find her face in a bin and the stench of sick. When she looked up she paled even further.
"Sweets what are you doing here?" she asked. Sweets stared at her for a moment
"I was hoping we could talk?" he asked. She nodded
"Okay but let me dispose of this first." Then as she got up to do just that, he stopped her
"Let me" and before she could protest he picked up the bag of sick and took it to the lab to dispose of it. When he came back he carried two glasses of water, handing one to Brennan he sat down.
"So, what's wrong?" she asked. He stared at her, she looked ill and he was worried.
"Your friends are worried about you" he explained. She smiled
"I know but I have told them I am fine" He screwed his eyes up in annoyance.
"You don't sound fine Doctor Brennan, you are withdrawing from field work, avoiding Agent Booth and not talking to your friends" he listed her actions like they were nothing but they both knew something was wrong. Dr Brennan hung her head
"I'm fine" she reiterated. The phycologist wanted to take pity and stop his line of questioning, but it would do her no good.
"You have just been throwing up Doctor Brennan, that does not look fine to me" he said. Brennan looked like she was going to cry. Sweets took a deep breath
"Doctor Brennan, I may be here on behalf of your friends and colleagues but I am your phycologist first and foremost which means that unless you are a danger to yourself and others then anything you tell me will be kept confidential." Brennan looked up, she knew that. Sweets smiled at her warmly
"More than that… I am your friend, I know you dislike my methods Doctor Brennan, but I still feel like I am your friend and I am worried too." At this Brennans resolve cracked, she sniffled.
"You said I compartmentalize." She began, Sweets nodded.
"You said that not many people can do that, use logic to answer things and bury their feelings. Logically that means that you have met people who use compartmentalization." Sweets nodded, unsure of where she was going with her logic. Brennan took a deep breath

"What happens when the logical can no longer compartmentalize?" she asked. Sweets was confused before it clicked with him. She had found a situation in which she couldn't bury her feelings.

"I would say that in that situation a person that uses compartmentalization would feel their emotions ten fold. A person such as yourself usually uses logic so that they don't have to deal with the pain of what they are experiencing and as such if they can't use logic they must use emotions. Emotions are not their forte which means that they would not know how to handle them. What is it you can't compartmentalize Doctor Brennan?." Brennan looked scared, but she knew she had to tell someone.

"I have cancer, Astrocytoma. More commonly known as- "
"Brain cancer, oh my god that's not awesome, I'm so sorry Doctor Brennan" the woman looked tired.
"I know logically that there was nothing I could do, Cancer has no cure yet, but I just wonder sometimes if the world hates me Sweets." Tears began streaming down her face
"First my mum and dad leave and then Russ and then my mum dies and my dad gets arrested as does Russ and I was abused in foster care and now this!. It's my brain Sweets, my brain!" Sweets pulled her into a hug.

"Do you know what your options are?" he asked. Brennan nodded
"They want to preform surgery but… what if it goes wrong Sweets? What if they remove my cancer but cut the part of my brain that makes me, me?" Sweets laughed
"Doctor Brennan… if they don't do this then the cancer will only get stronger and will eventually kill you" Brennan looked defeated
"I know…. I'm scared and I… I don't want to hurt them."
"Booth and your friends?" friends was such a foreign concept to Brennan for most of her life and Sweets could understand why she was reluctant to lean on them. She had always had to fight for herself. Yet as much as the phycologist wanted to push her he knew it would do no good. The poor women looked exhausted, as such he held out his hand
"Come on Doctor Brennan, it's time to go home. Tomorrow is a new day" it was a testament to how much of a wreck she was that she didn't fight him.