Brennan went back to work at the Jeffersonian the next day. She tried to put everything that was happening out of her mind, and chose to focus her time on identifying unidentified skeletons from "limbo". Booth had left a message for her that he was interviewing some more witnesses and was going to charge his primary suspect that afternoon. She didn't return his call.
Angela kept interrupting her, trying to prod her for information, but after the fourth "sweetie, are you ok?" Brennan had had enough and snapped at her to leave her alone and let her do her work. Angela left the room in tears and Cam couldn't help but notice as she walked past.
Cam doubled back and walked into the room. "Doctor Brennan?"
Brennan looked up at her, and then back down at her skeleton. She was in the middle of laying it out, piece by piece, bone by bone, onto the light table.
"I'm not going to ask you if you're okay, because I can see that you're not," said Cam softly, walking up to the table.
Brennan straightened up. "I'm fine," she said, her expression blank. She reached into the box and started pulling out more bones.
"You're anything but fine, and Angela is your best friend," said Cam. "She can see that something's wrong. Talk to her." Cam looked at her for a few seconds and then walked out of the room. Brennan folded her arms again and looked at the door, thinking about what Cam had said. She clenched her jaw and paced around the table.
She found Angela sitting at her desk, sketching. Angela didn't look up at her; she kept her head down and kept drawing. Brennan shut the door of the office and sat down in the chair opposite the desk.
"Hey, Ange," said Brennan softly. "Can I talk to you?"
"Are you sure you want to?" said Angela a little frostily, still not looking up.
"No, actually, I'm not," said Brennan, looking down at her hands.
Angela sighed and put her pencil down, leaning forward onto her desk. "Then why are you here, Bren?"
"I didn't want to have to tell you…" Brennan trailed off and closed her eyes, trying to regain her composure. "I have to tell you something."
Brennan was struggling, and Angela immediately forgot that she was angry with her. She got up and went around the other side of the desk, kneeling down beside the chair and grabbing Brennan's hands in hers.
"Sweetie, what's up? You know you can tell me anything, right? Anything," said Angela softly, worried for her friend.
"I know," said Brennan.
"Then what is it?" asked Angela. "What's wrong?"
"I have cancer, Ange," said Brennan softly, looking Angela straight in the eyes.
Angela laughed nervously, and stood up, dropping Brennan's hands. "Is that some kind of joke, Bren? Because I think I've told you before you're not that great at making jokes. You should leave that to Booth."
Brennan didn't say anything; she just stood up and shook her head silently. "I have Hodgkin's Lymphoma."
Angela took a step back and folded her arms. She rocked on her heels and tried not to burst into tears. Brennan tilted her head to the side, watching her.
"But, um, you're… you're going to be okay, right? Right?" said Angela, trying not to let the sobs break through her wavering voice.
"Yeah, Ange. I'm going to be okay," said Brennan stepping towards her. Angela couldn't hold it in any further, she burst into tears and rushed forward and pulled Brennan into a tight hug, sobbing into her shoulder.
Brennan stayed with Angela, until she had calmed down and started to ask a lot of questions. Questions Brennan didn't have answers to yet.
I promise some more Booth & Bones in the next chapter! Please R & R :)