And another one. Please review, I hope you enjoy.


Cam didn't exactly know how she ended up here, sat in the bar between Arastoo Vaziri and Jaleh Dabiri. Yet here she was, and she was actually enjoying herself. Jaleh was a lovely young girl, she was like a younger version of Angela; bubbly, bright, fun and very intelligent. And Arastoo. Well she had always enjoyed being with Arastoo.

Cam sipped her drink, almost chocking from an anecdote from Jaleh. Arastoo patted her on the back, leaving goose bumps where he touched her. Cam smiled at him, face warming a little at the look her was giving her. It was nice, being here, with him, no pressure. She didn't have to have her 'boss face', no air of professionalism surrounding then. It was just them, being who they are.

Arastoo finished his coke, standing, excusing himself. Cam watched him go, smiling. She looked back to Jaleh, who gave her a knowing smile. Cam's own faltered a little with confusion and adverted her eyes, taking another sip.

"He's a great guy," Jaleh said. Cam nodded. "You know, I wouldn't be here without him." Cam looked up with that, after everything she heard about Jaleh, she knew she was more than capable of doing things herself. "When we met, I was angry."

"Why?" Cam asked, genuinely curious. Jaleh hesitated. "You don't need to tell me," Cam said, noticing the change in the young woman before her.

"I missed my brother."

"Is he back in Iran?"

"In a way." Jaleh said, adverting her eyes. "He's dead."

"I'm so sorry." There wasn't anything else she could say. "What happened?"

"He was a very out spoken man, he would speak out against the government, talking about democracy, freedom, rights for women. At one of his rally's he was arrested. He was taken away and I never saw him again. I was 11."

"I'm- I don't really know what to say."

"It's alright, there's not anything you can say but I appreciate it," Jaleh smiled at the woman and Cam found herself liking the girl a bit more. "He's why I do this. He knew I loved history, he encouraged me. Pushed me. He fought with my parents all the time, trying to convince them to give me the opportunity to pursue it. He finally had, we were all about to move here when he was killed. I do this for him, but…"

"It wasn't enough." It wasn't a question, Cam understood.

"No, when I lost my brother, I lost everything else. My innocence, my faith in humanity, my faith in general. I pushed myself, got myself here, but I was just a shell. That was how I met Arastoo. He reminded me so much of Fharid. He's kind, gentle, compassionate and not afraid to speak out for what he believes in. He saw me for what I was and wanted to help me, help me find my faith again."

"And did he? Help you find your faith?"

"No," Jaleh answered, looking at the man who was now walking towards them. "But he helped me find myself."

Cam was sat in her office, memories swirling around her head. It had been a week since Arastoo told her he was still in love with her and she had been avoiding him.

While he was speaking, she wanted nothing more than to tell him that she felt the same, to hold him and not let go. But she couldn't, she was still involved with Sebastian, she couldn't do that to him. She asked Arastoo to stop, to not do anything. Not because she didn't want him too, but because she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

'Leaving was the biggest mistake of my life'

Did he really mean that? She knew how important his job was, even though it hurt when he left, she understood.

Pain shot through her back, causing her to gasp in pain. She hadn't taken any painkillers the last couple of days, hating the way they made her feel. Lethargic, confused, she wanted her brain working at full capacity while she worked out what to do with her ex-boyfriend.

Her phone rang, Sebastian was calling her. She let it go to voice mail, she'd call him back later, maybe. She had finally seen him, the day after she and Arastoo talked, he apologised for not seeing her before, but explained that he had been busy. She told him that she didn't mind, and then what she needed too. He tried to protest, but she wasn't having any of it.

"It's not working, Sebastian," she had told him. "And if anything, the explosion made it all clear."

"Look, if your upset that I didn't come, I'm sorry. Really," he told her, and she knew he meant it.

"I know you are, but doesn't the fact that you didn't come speak volumes? What about the fact that I wasn't bothered by it?" He had nothing to say to that, so she continued. "I do like you, Sebastian, but I don't think I like you like that. We have fun, but there's no spark. I want more." 'I had more and let it walk out the door'

They spoke for a little while longer, before hugging and saying goodbye. She told him that she wanted to stay friends. "I'd like that," was his reply. She thought he meant it, until the bouquet of flowers arrived. Clearly, he wasn't letting go as easily as she was.

Cam sighed, still massaging the pain in her back, hoping to ease it when someone walked in.

"Angela?"

"Hey, I came to see how you were. I heard you call out," Angela said, concern written over her face as she looked at her friend.

"I'm fine, just aching a little."

"That doesn't look like an ache, Cam." Angela wasn't buying it, not wanting to get into this conversation. Cam could understand her concern, after what happened with Hodgins

"How's Hodgins?" It worked, Angela sighed and sat down. Wrapping her arm around herself. Cam felt bad, after they solved the case, Hodgins collapses. He was paralysed.

He had been complaining about back pain, taking aspirin, not taking it seriously until he collapsed. It was no surprise Angela was concerned with any mention of pain, especially pain in the back.

"He's coping. The doctors said that he'll never walk again, but he's convinced that he will," Angela sighed.

"What do you think?"

"I don't want him to get his hopes up. If he convinces himself that he's going to walk again, but if he doesn't… it'll break him."

"What about you?" Cam asked, forgetting about her own pain at the pain of her friend.

"I'd be over the moon if he got up and started walking, but I couldn't care less if he never walked again. He's alive, he's still here. That's all I care about." Angela looked up with such a fierce expression, like the love she felt for her husband was too much for her body to contain, it radiated out of her. "What am I supposed to do?" Angela started crying, silent tears running down her beautiful face.

Cam stood up, wincing a little as she did, and dragged her chair next to Angela. She sat next to her friend, not having the words to comfort her, not knowing how to fix this. She just sat with her and held her hand, hoping that her presence would be enough.

This was the scene Arastoo came upon. He watched Angela cry and Cam sit with her, on the verge of tears herself. He was about to leave when Angela looked up. She pulled back, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Arastoo adverted his eyes, giving her some privacy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't, Arastoo," Angela replied, standing. "I should go. Thanks Cam." Cam stood and gave her a hug.

"Just let me know if you need anything," Cam said, holding her tightly.

"I will." Angela turned to Arastoo. "Thank you, for coming over the other day. Hodgins really appreciated it, we both did."

"It was nothing," Arastoo said, brushing off her thanks.

"No, it wasn't," Angela replied, stubbornly. "It was really nice of you, he needed the distraction."

"Any time." Arastoo smiled at her as she hugged him and left.

Cam moved to wheel her chair back, but Arastoo beat her too it. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said, turning her back on him.

"No, you're not. Your body is still, you're holding yourself differently and moving differently. You were blown up. You're not fine." Cam sighed, he did know her.

"I'm in a little pain."

"Have you taken anything?" She didn't answer. "Cam." He walked over to her, gently turning her to face him. "You need to take the meds, it'll help."

"I can't, they make me all foggy."

"Cam."

"I'll be fine."

Arastoo looked like he was going to argue some more, but to her relief, he let it go. "I was going to head home, I wanted to see if you needed a lift?"

"Oh, um," Cam started, but was interrupted by her phone ringing. It was Sebastian again.

"I guess not." He was about to leave when Cam stopped him with a hand to his arm. She wasn't going to let this go on any more, she couldn't talk to him about this before, because of Sebastian, but now there was no reason. She had been avoiding him all week, afraid of… something, she wasn't even sure what. All she knew was she couldn't avoid him anymore, they needed to talk.

"A lift would be good," she said.

"Sebastian?"

"He and I aren't seeing each other anymore."

"Does he know that?" Arastoo asked as Sebastian rang again. Cam picked up the phone and shut it off, putting it in her bag.

"Shall we?"

"Why aren't you seeing him anymore?" He wasn't going to let it go.

"Does it really matter?" Cam looked up at him, some part of her seemed to realise this was the most appropriate place for this. It was here that she fell in love with him, where she first kissed him. Where he stood, just a week ago telling her that he still loved her.

"Why aren't you seeing him?" He asked, taking a step closer.

"It wasn't working."

"It wasn't?" Another step.

"No. There was nothing really there, we had fun but…"

"No spark." Another step.

"No." He was almost on top of her. She lifted her chin to look up at him, he really was the most good-looking guy she had ever met. He reached out a hand, skimming his fingers down her cheek.

Cam closed her eyes at the contact, the spark that had been missed when Sebastian touched her ignited then. His hand slid down to her throat, cupping it. Her body felt like it was on fire.

"Was that the only reason?" He was so close now, she could feel his breath on her cheek. Goosebumps erupted on her skin.

"No," she breathed and opened her eyes. "You told me that leaving was the biggest mistake of your life."

"It was."

"Staying was mine."