Chapter 7

A/N: And the story continues……

For the second time that day Brennan stormed in to the lab intent on getting right to work. Seeing that the remains had arrived at the Jeffersonian, she made her way up onto the platform. Cam was there with Hodgins, Angela and the intern of the week, which happened to be Daisy. An audible groan escaped her lips. While Daisy was a capable assistant, Brennan was in no mood for her exuberant enthusiasm.

"OK Dr. Brennan, what have we got?" Cam questioned eagerly.

"The victim is male, I estimate about 25 to 30 years of age. Portions of him were retrieved from the shark tank at the National Aquarium, and the remainder, what had not already been digested, was retrieved from the shark." She stated.

"Yuck," Angela said warily eyeing the corpse.

"This gives new meaning to the phrase 'Take a Bite out of Crime' doesn't it" Hodgins joked to the group. He was rewarded with numerous pairs of rolling eyes, with the exception of Brennan. She was in no mood for frivolity or humor.

"I fail to see how this is an appropriate time for humor Dr. Hodgins. We need to identify this body so that his family members may be informed of his death." Dr. Brennan chastised in a tone that suggested no argument.

The group looked at her slightly shocked at the put down, and she immediately regretted the statement. It wasn't her colleague's fault that she was in a foul mood. Truthfully, she had no right to be in a foul mood at all. Watching Booth interact with Dr. Klein had unsettled her more than she cared to admit, but she needed to pull herself together. All these emotions were wreaking havoc on her life. She had to find a way to return to her tried and true outwardly unemotional self.

"Cam, the remains are yours for now. Daisy, when Dr. Soroyan finishes, please remove the flesh and prepare the bones for examination. I will be in my office." She said, quickly exiting the platform, heading for her office.

The four unbelieving pairs of eyes remained on her back until the door to her office close.

"OK, that was exciting." Cam said in her signature sarcastic tone. She looked around the platform and had only just realized that Booth had not accompanied Dr. Brennan up onto the platform. Curious.

As if on cue, she heard his voice as he swiped his card, allowing him access to the others already gathered there. 'Ok people, let's go, less standing more working. We have a murder to solve." He said in a stern tone.

The group was dumbfounded, and continued to stare at him in silence. First Brennan and now Booth. What was going on?

"What?" Booth said returning their gaze.

Cam was the first to regain the ability to speak and chose to be very brief in her comments as she pointed to Booth, "You. My office. Now."

"What did I do?" he asked.

It was apparent that Cam wasn't going to answer as she descended from the platform and made her way to her office. Booth sighed loudly, turned and followed Cam to her office, much as a petulant child would on his way to the principal's office.

She was sitting at her desk when he arrived in her doorway. He stood there for a moment. She glanced up and he gave that look that said 'well…'. She pointed to her visitor chair and threw him a look that suggested he comply. Booth did as ordered and flopped heavily into the chair.

"What is going on?" Cam asked before Booth even had a chance to glance up at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, why are you and Dr. Brennan in such foul moods today? Actually, you both have seemed overly touchy the last few days."

Booth sighed heavily and hung his head in defeat. Apparently nothing about this day was going to go right. If he could do it over again, he definitely wouldn't have gotten out of bed.

"Come on Seeley, what is going on, really?" Cam gently asked.

"Truthfully, I have absolutely no idea. She has barely spoken a civil word to me since our session with Sweets this morning, which by the way was horrible. He was pushing things that he should be leaving alone." Booth answered.

"If you don't mind me asking, what could he have possibly been pushing that would lead to this kind of reaction from both of you?"

Booth looked around and rose from the chair. He closed her door, not wanting to be overheard, especially here. This place had ears everywhere, and tongues that wagged freely. He turned to look at her, feeling very uncomfortable with the conversation he was about to have. Rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, he began, "Look this has turned into a pretty sticky situation. You know that Sweets has been studying our relationship right?" he said looking at her.

At her nod he continued, "Well, apparently he concluded his study and has included us in a book he is about to publish. Out of professional courtesy he let us read the book and comment on his conclusions."

"And I would assume that you two didn't like his conclusions? What could he have possibly written that would get you so riled up?" she questioned.

"He concluded that we were in love with each other." He said.

"And…" she questioned in return.

"And? What do you mean and. There is no and, that's it." He retorted.

"I don't understand the problem.' She said with a smile.

"Oh, I am glad you think this is funny. My partnership with Bones is falling apart, and you think it's funny?" Booth said incredulously.

"No, no." Cam said stifling a laugh and waving her hands in front of her face. "That isn't what I meant. I am just a little confused, I seem to recall a conversation we had a few months ago where you admitted that you were in love with Dr. Brennan."

"Yeah, well since then I think I have come to the realization that it was probably all just the coma dream. There is no way that I can faithfully rely on what I am feeling." He said.

"Are you serious?" she said straight faced.

"Yes, I am. Sweets showed me my brain scans from before and after my coma. Before I wasn't in love with her and after I was. He proved it."

"Booth, sometimes Sweets can be a bit misguided and overzealous. Are you actually going to trust that so called proof over what is in your heart?" She asked gently.

"Cam I'm not sure I know what is in my heart anymore. I feel so damaged, so afraid to trust anything I feel." He said sitting back down in the chair, and looking at her with eyes full of doubt and uncertainty.

Not sure of what to say to comfort him, she thought the best tactic might be to keep him talking about the situation so that he might be able to work through it himself. "So what happened today?"

"We had our session with Sweets where he discussed his conclusions. Then Bones and I spent the next hour trying to convince him that he was totally off base. We told him about our first case where we couldn't stand working together at first. Oh Cam, you should have seen us back then. It was terrible."

"So I take it that Sweets wasn't buying it." She stated.

"No he wasn't. In fact he picked up on something that we were hiding from him." He said looking away from her.

"What could you have been hiding that would be that big of a revelation?" she asked and then tried to answer her own question on the next breath. "Oh my God, it has to be, it explains so much"

"Has to be what?" He questioned at the crazy look in her eyes.

"You and Dr. Brennan have slept together!" she said, the excitement of the statement said out loud making her rise from her seat

"Whoa, whoa, where would you get that idea?' He said standing up.

"Wait, you mean it isn't true?" she asked, her sails deflating a bit.

"No, Bones and I have not slept together. We almost slept together once, and only once." He said.

"Ok. When did this happen? Recently?"

"No, it was 5 years ago after our first case. Why would you say recently?" he asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"Oh come on Booth. You two have been getting closer and closer in the last few months. I thought for sure that something was going on there, or at least about to go on there." She answered truthfully.

"Well, no it hasn't . The whole thing 5 years ago is in the past, and it has never happened again. I brought it up to Sweets in our session and that's when she started with this attitude."

"Ok, tell me what happened back then, and maybe I can help you with Dr. Brennan." She said.

She quickly held up her hand as he was about to speak and said," I want no specific details. Generalities are fine. You may continue."

"Not much to tell. I took the squint squad out to celebrate solving the case, and we had a few drinks and a couple of dances. We shared a cab to her place, I walked her to her door, and before I knew what was happening we were falling into her bed." He said. "I knew that this was not the right thing to do, so I stopped and left, quickly."

"Uh huh." She said. "So if you don't mind me asking, when you guys discussed it, what were the conclusions that you reached about how you felt about it and all that? I mean I know Dr. Brennan has some unconventional views on sex and relationships and all that."

"We never discussed it.' He said looking away from her.

"Seeley Joseph Booth, you never discussed it with her, ever? Even now that you are such close friends?" She said, the disbelief evident in her voice.

"No." The simple one word answer sounded harsh to his ears.

"Well there is your problem right there." She said matter of factly.

"Huh?" he asked totally confused.

"You two never discussed what we will now call the incident. And now the first time that you bring it up it is to Sweets. I would bet that you were very matter of fact about it. Right?" she inquired.

"Maybe" he answered drawing the word out.

"If I know you, and I do by the way, you very much wanted to discuss the incident after it happened. But being the gentleman you are, waited for her to bring it up so as not to embarrass her. Then too much time had passed when you realized that she wasn't going to bring it up, so you decided that maybe it was best to just let sleeping dog lie, and not discuss it. Am I right?" she asked.

Booth shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Freakishly so, what are you psychic?" he said throwing her a smile hoping to change the subject.

"Don't joke Booth, I'm serious. I think the fact that you haven't talked about it has really irked Dr. Brennan. You know how her mind works, probably better than anyone here. If it involves scientific principals and skeletons, she is second to none in intelligence and understanding. But when it comes to the heart, I don't think she has all that much experience, especially back then. In all likelihood she took your silence as some kind of rejection. Underneath her intelligence, she is still a woman who feels and has all the same emotions as any other woman." Cam finished.

"Come on. Something that didn't happen all those years ago could not be still bothering her now. Why would it?" He questioned.

"Booth, do I have to come over there and slap you up side the head? Why do you think it still bothers her?" Cam led, waiting for Booth to get the point. When it became obvious he wasn't following, she threw up her hands and rolled her eyes at him, "It's because that night obviously meant something to her, and she probably now assumes that it meant nothing to you."

"Nope, you're wrong. You're just wrong. If she were still that upset over what almost happened that night then that would mean that it was likely that she was harboring some sort of feelings for me." Booth worked out.

"Yes, finally, thank you." Cam said sitting down again.

"But you are still wrong. I can't believe I am going to say this again, to yet another person, but I would know if she cared for me more than a friend. I would know." He said adamantly.

"Booth, I think you are missing a big chunk of the puzzle. Have you ever stopped to think about how you too interact? Do you ever see her act that way around other men? I certainly haven't. She is warm and caring with you. You weren't there when you were in your coma. She was broken with worry. She wouldn't talk to anyone and never left your bedside."

"Cam, we care about each other as partners and very close friends, but I really don't think she has any romantic inclinations towards me." He said.

"But what about your feelings?" She questioned.

"I can't act on any of that. I certainly wouldn't want to hurt her by telling her about any feeling I might have and then figure out 3 months later that it was all a result of the coma. I won't do that to her. She means too much to me!" He said in a voice struggling to control his emotion.

Looking very agitated, Booth decided it was time to leave. "Look, thanks for the little talk, but I've got work to do."

She watched him walk out of her office. Unbeknownst to him he had answered his own question about his feeling for Dr. Brennan. Cam just hoped that the pair's collective brains would stop running interference and let their hearts take the lead.