Disclaimer: I dont own Bones

Chapter 28

Mutatis mutandis - With those things changed which needed to be changed

Fifteen minutes had passed in the small hospital room and all talk of Booth had been put aside in favour of more confident subjects of conversation.

'So the case really isn't going well then?'

'No, we have no leads and until we crack the number code I don't think we're going to get any.'

'You will, you know the deal. The answers are usually right in front of you.'

'That's the depressing part, they probably is and we just cant see it.'

Cam jostled Toby on her lap.

'Has Angela been able to run a schematic of the crime?'

'No, but its not her fault. She cant do it without knowing what the murder weapon was and the simulator has run out of scenario's for it. I tried doing it the old fashioned way but…'

'But modelling clay is a pain in the backside?'

Brennan smiled.

'Exactly.'

'How is Angela?'

'She's good. You missed the wedding.'

'I was there for the first one, they're all the same.'

Again Tempe smiled, the second wedding had indeed been a carbon copy of the first one.

'I take it she's not best pleased that you're helping me?'

'Not really but she's ok with Toby and at the end of the day its not up to her is it.'

Cam gave a sharp nod and watched as Toby's eyes drifted shut as the baby fell asleep. She sighed contentedly.

'We're supposed to have a meeting on Monday with the lovely Miss Monroe.'

Temperance rolled her eyes in dismay.

'Why?'

'To check our progress. I think her exact words were 'To check on Toby's emotional stability and to help cultivate a fruitful relationship between carer and parent.', or something like that.'

'That woman has more to learn about 'fruitful relationships' than I do, and that's saying something.'

Cam snorted and started to laugh, then remembered the sleeping boy in her arms and stopped in fear of waking him.

'I don't like her either but if it keeps Child Services off my back then I can handle smiling at her for twenty minutes.'

'Have the doctors said anything more about how long you'll be here?'

An odd look flitted over Cam's features and she shuffled upwards in the bed, surprisingly not waking baby Toby even as she moved him into her arms.

'I erm…I was going to talk to you about that.'

'Why? What is it?'

'Well according to my consultant I'm not responding to the antibiotics as well as they'd like so they've decided that de-bridement surgery may be the best option.'

Temperance wrinkled her forehead in thought. De-bridement surgery, which involved shaving away the infected areas of the bone, was itself a risk-free procedure but carried a higher rate of possible infection than Cams current situation. The aftercare was also more painful than the osteomyelitis itself, often leaving the patient completely immobilised. However, Tempe could see the benefits…

'So, you'd be out sooner?'

Cam nodded.

'It'd take a few days to recover from surgery, then I'd probably be on the antibiotic drip for another week but after that I should be ok to go home.'

'Why wasn't this an option before?'

'Because things weren't bad enough, they hoped I'd respond to treatment but…'

She sighed and Temperance noticed the defeated look she hadn't seen since she had first visited Cam.

'…I cant go on like this Temperance, I just…'

Brennan thought she saw the hint of a tear in Cams right eye but must have imagined it for when she looked again it was gone.

'I cant stand being confined to this bed, its driving me crazy. I miss Toby and if I'm completely honest half the time my legs hurt like hell, even with the morphine they have me on. I'm tired constantly from all the checks they keep doing and the drugs they keep giving me and I just cant stand the sight of the same four walls anymore. I want my baby back and I want to go home.'

Emotions flickered through Temperance, settling first on guilt, that she hadn't brought Toby sooner, then on surprise, that Cam had shared her pain, then on pity, that a woman who she knew was so full of life was cooped up in this small room. Finally she settled on curious and voiced her questions.

'Where is 'home'? Here? New York? Your sisters?'

Cam scoffed at the last suggestion.

'I cant go back to my sister, I couldn't stand it there even before we argued.'

'What did you argue about?'

'Toby. She's a good girl, married with three kids, regular church goer, volunteers in the community, bakes cookies…'

Tempe smiled.

'…A right goodie-two-shoes. She doesn't approve of the way her little sister is raising her son and although she apparently took me in out of the goodness of her heart she asked me to leave in not so polite terms before I 'corrupted' her daughters.'

'She sounds fun.'

Cam laughed.

'You got that right.'

'Soo…if not your sisters then where are you going to go?'

'I cant live with my parents, apart from being their biggest disappointment they'd drive me crazy and I don't really want to raise Toby in New York. I'd like to stay in DC but if I don't find some proper work soon I'm going to loose the apartment and then I don't know what we'll do.'

Temperance stared at the other woman for a moment in silence before she spoke.

'I've been thinking about that, the whole employment thing…I think you should come back.'

Cam was incredulous.

'To the Jeffersonian?!'

Tempe nodded.

'We've had our differences but…you were good at your job and I'd like to think we could be grown up about this.'

'And how would Booth feel about us working together?'

'I don't know, I've haven't mentioned it to him.'

Cam didn't comment and continued as if she hadn't answered.

'Well…it would be nice…I mean the facilities are…good.'

'They're the best, and there's an opening too. The lead forensics position has been scrapped but we're still missing a pathologist.'

'I thought you hired Tommy Bradford.'

'We did until he decided he had other work commitments. Besides, we didn't exactly get on…'

'Well I suppose…but how do you even know they'd have me, I resigned remember.'

'Trust me, they'd have you. You're good at what you do and they're desperate. Sending remains to the coroner is expensive and takes time, we cant keep doing it, and if I put in a good word for you…'

'Why would you do that?'

Temperance thought for a moment, questioning where this sudden eagerness to work with Cam had come from. Four weeks ago she couldn't stand to be in the same room as the woman, now she wanted to work with her every day.

'Because…because what happened…between us, and Booth…that had nothing to do with you as a pathologist and you have Toby now and…and…look, cant you just see it as we need a pathologist and you need a job? Isn't that enough?'

Cam nodded. She understood. The feelings each woman had towards the other were complicated at best and wasn't going to be unravelled and solved in the space of one afternoon. Working together wouldn't always be easy but…it was a start.

'Ok, I…I'll apply, when I get out of here I'll apply.'

Temperance smiled, making a mental note to send a message to Goodman when she returned to the office. That would be sooner than she thought as she jumped at the sound of her phone ringing in her bag.

'I should get that.'

She bent down and fumbled in her bag for her cell. Caller ID identified the caller simply as the lab and she knew she had to answer it.

'Brennan.'

'Its Hodgins. I know its your day off but… we found something.'

Her insides squirmed with excitement as she wondered if this was the break they were waiting for.

'What is it?'

'I went over Phoebe Conners clothes again under magnification and found some slight discolouration on the left sleeve of the cotton shirt she was wearing.'

'And…?'

'I ran a trace analysis on the fibres and found that the samples contained high traces of both toluene and nitrocellulose.

'What are they?'

'They're both used in a variety of things, but the one that we're interested in is their use as components in the manufacture of nail varnish.'

The bubble of excitement and anticipation grew.

'Phoebe Conners worked in a cosmetics lab.'

'You bet she did.'

'Does Booth know?'

'Yeah, Zach just finished on the phone to him. He's done a quick bit of digging and it gets better. According to Booth one of the last projects Phoebe Conners worked on whilst at Halliway Cosmetics lab was for Cuticall Nail care's new range of scented nail varnish which, you guessed it, contains both toluene and nitrocellulose.'

Temperance was about to respond when a familiar beeping filled the air.

'Hodgins I have to go, my pager just went off.'

'It'll be Booth, he said he was going to try to call you.'

'Ok, thanks for everything Jack.'

She hung up and checked her pager, confirming it was Booth before calling him.

'Booth.'

'Its me.'

'I just tried calling you.'

'I know, Hodgins called.'

'You know then?'

'Yeah he told me, what now?'

'Well…look, I know you're with Cam but I was kind of thinking we could go out to Halliway Cosmetics today, I don't really want to wait…'

'No, no I get it. I'm at the hospital now, can you pick me up?'

'Sure, give me ten minutes?'

'Ok. Oh, but wait what about Toby?'

The line was silent as Booth thought.

'Its halve twelve. The lab closes at three and its more than a two hour drive to get there. If we stop to take him to day-care we'll never make it in time. We'll have to take him.'

'I don't have the pram. Its too hard to get on the bus with it.'

She heard Booth moan and silently cursed herself for not taking the car.

'His car seats still in the SUV, that'll have to do.'

'Ok, see you in ten.'

The line went dead and Temperance put her phone back in her bag. When she turned to Cam she was surprised to see the other woman smiling at her, Toby in her arms already dressed in his coat and hat.

'Sorry I have to go.'

'Its ok, I understand.'

'When's your surgery?'

'Its scheduled for next Wednesday.'

Temperance mentally counted. Six days.

'Ok, I'll try come for a few hours Sunday if I don't have to work. If not then I'll see you Monday.'

'Ok, and thanks again, for bringing him.'

'Its ok, like I said, I should have come sooner.'

Cam just smiled and kissed her son again before passing him to Temperance who juggled the bag and the baby in her arms until both were settled. She said her goodbyes to Cam and meandered her way through the hospital to wait for Booth outside. She could still feel the pocket of excitement that was now simmering away inside of her but she tried to ignore it. They may have a lead but they were still a long way from closing this case and as Temperance knew only too well from previous experiences, things were rarely as simple as they seemed.