Brennan stepped into her office and closed her door securely. She looked around at the familiar space and allowed herself a slow, deep breath. She slowly approached her desk, noting the soreness that seemed to be seeping slowly into her body as she realized that it had been weeks since she had moved around so freely. Her body was slowly recovering, and though she was happy that she wasn't cooped up in her apartment anymore, she was exhausted with the additional exertion.
She settled in her chair and immediately noticed that the height of it had been changed. She turned slowly and noticed that the drawer of her desk was open slightly. When she opened it, she was shocked to find its contents had been moved around. She opened another drawer and frowned with frustration. Slamming the drawer closed, she looked up and startled when she saw Cam peeking in the doorway.
"Doctor Saroyan," Brennan said softly. "Someone was in my office. Someone went through my things."
"That would be Booth," she stated curtly. She stepped forward entering the office, and gave Brennan a sympathetic smile. "How are you feeling today, Doctor Brennan?"
"I'm fine," she stated automatically. Though she was feeling quite weary, she wasn't interested in showing any type of weakness.
Cam could see the hollowness in Brennan's eyes and the way her body hunched slightly. Her speech was a bit slower than normal, and her face seemed gaunt. There were clear indicators of fatigue. "Were you planning on staying much longer today?" Cam asked, trying to keep her voice even.
"I would like to help Doctor Hodgins with this new case," Brennan stated without looking at Cam. She opened the folder and spread the papers out on the desk. She tried for a moment to make any sense of the notes, but refused to flinch. She looked up at Cam and lifted a skeptical eyebrow.
Cam almost smiled at the shades of the old Doctor Brennan showing through the exhausted woman before her, but caught herself. "Did you have any preliminary comments?"
"I haven't had a chance to look over the paperwork." Brennan's voice took on a defensive tone. "I was going to do that until I noticed that someone had been going through my desk. How do you know that it was Booth?" She then recalled that he had confessed to her that he had gone looking for a reason for her betrayal of their partnership.
"I saw him in here a few weeks ago, Doctor Brennan. I spoke with him, but nobody else has been in here since. I can assure you of that."
Brennan looked around and adjusted a pile of folders on her desk. She picked up a pen from the desktop and placed it in the pen cup. She looked up and realized that Cam hadn't left. "Was there something you needed, Doctor Saroyan? As you can see, I'm doing just fine." Her words were a bit slurred, and her eyes drifted when she spoke. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, looking up at Cam with a bit more focus.
"I just don't want you to overdo things, Doctor Brennan. You do occasionally display a needlessly stubborn side." Cam watched Brennan's eyes narrow. She wasn't even sure if she was listening to her anymore. She cleared her throat. "What did Booth tell you about the case?"
"The case that Doctor Hodgins is working on?"
"No, Doctor Brennan. The explosion case. What did Booth tell you about the nightclub explosion?"
She straightened in her chair slightly, wincing from a slight twinge in her shoulder. "He's told me nothing."
"Nothing?" Cam was surprised that Booth hadn't given Brennan the details of the case. She expected Brennan to be highly involved in the investigation.
"He stated that the case would cause me undue stress, and that the FBI and the Jeffersonian were working on solving it. He said that I was too close to the case, and that it could be both psychologically, and mentally painful to re-live the incident," she stated with only a bit of emotion. She remained stoic and unmoved by her statement. "I trust his judgment here, and I had given a statement. He said that they have been working very hard at solving the case." She paused when she saw the look of sympathy in Cam's eyes. "Why? Has there been movement on the case?"
"None."
"Excuse me?" Brennan asked, her jaw open slightly in shock.
"There's been nothing. The blast was caused by a pipe bomb that was placed under the bar. There were no fingerprints, none of the witnesses saw anything, and the bar owner was killed in the blast. The FBI put the case on indefinite hold two days ago when these remains arrived."
"I don't understand," Brennan said, standing up. She stumbled a bit and caught herself, her eyes once again moving to the papers on her desk, trying to read them. "Booth said they were working on this."
"Booth probably still is working on it. But officially, the case has been put on hold."
"That blast could have killed me, Doctor Saroyan. It killed six other people. It maimed and mutilated dozens more!" She exclaimed angrily.
"Doctor Brennan, I understand," Cam said, trying to keep her voice calm and even.
"No! No, you do not understand!" She shouted, standing quickly to face Cam. "You can do your job. You can… function without pain medication. You can…read these documents with relative ease! You can walk into an enclosed space without feeling like you are being suffocated. You do not understand how I feel, Doctor Saroyan!" Her eyes closed tightly as she fought tears and dizziness from standing so quickly.
"Doctor Brennan, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I just need a second. I just need a second," she stammered.
"Do you need me to call an ambulance, get your medication or something?" Cam asked, reaching out for her hand.
Brennan snapped her hand back and looked Cam in the eyes. Her eyes were watery with pain, and her ears were ringing angrily. "I am fine. I am perfectly fine!" She exclaimed. "Just give me some time to myself, please."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Brennan glowered at Cam for another moment. "I am sure."
Cam watched her for a moment and quietly retreated toward the door. She looked back at the forensic anthropologist one more time as she approached the door. "I'm sorry, Doctor Brennan."
"I am sorry too," Brennan said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest she waited until Cam had left the room and closed the door behind her, before she turned and collapsed into her chair.
She closed her eyes tightly, resting her head in her hands for a moment. She pressed her palms into her eyes and took slow, refreshing breaths. After a moment, she stood and walked toward the door, lifting her bag from the floor, she put it on her desk and began rifling through it. Her pills were in color designated containers to help with identification, and she dutifully took the pain medication from the small blue box. She pulled a bottle of water and put two white pills onto her hand before tossing them onto her tongue, taking a large gulp of water. She stumbled slightly for the door and turned the lights off, before shuffling to the couch in the dark. Her last thought before drifting into a medically induced sleep was how the silence of her office was now replaced with deafening tinnitus and residual memories pushing their way to her conscious mind.
