(The Pain the Heart)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

True to his word, Booth found out who had been given his list of who to contact and let know he was alive. Sweets had betrayed Booth's trust and the agent was furious. The fact that the psychologist was hanging out at the Lab because of his curiosity about Gormogon just made the situation more infuriating. Once he was at the Lab, he grabbed Sweets by the arm and forced him to come with him to Brennan's office where Booth informed her about Sweets' betrayal.

Angry and her feelings hurt, Brennan stood up from her chair, stared at the younger man and debated how she should handle the situation. It was important that she not betray the fact that Booth had come to her while he was undercover and had told her he was alive. "Why was I not informed, Dr. Sweets?"

He was nervous and if he was honest with himself, afraid. Sweets had used Booth's undercover assignment to try to get Brennan to recognize that she had feeling for her partner. He didn't know if it was love, but he knew that the two were attracted to each other and the constant denial by them was not good for their relationship or their partnership. Now that Booth was back, he realized that his experiment could possibly get him fired or worse, he could lose his license to practice. "Booth's undercover assignment was of vital national security and the fewer people that knew about him being alive the better. I knew that you could handle his death."

"So you assumed that I could handle Booth's death because I could compartmentalize?" Brennan stared at the younger man and considered what he had said.

"Whoa, just hold up." Booth was shocked that Sweets was trying to manipulate his partner. "What kind of shit are you trying to pull? It wasn't up to you to decide who to tell and not to tell. I was assured that everyone would be told and you didn't tell my partner."

Sweets was starting to sweat. "I was trying to keep you safe, Agent Booth. The fewer people that knew about you being alive the better."

"Is that right? Well maybe I need to talk to Deputy Director Fairburn about responsibilities and procedures that are expected by Federal employees. I'll bet he doesn't know about what you did." He noticed Sweets turn pale and he knew he had the young man by the short hairs. "You played with my partner's well being Sweets. You played with my trust. How am I supposed to do my job, if I can't trust everyone else to do theirs?"

Brennan noticed Booth's anger, the rage that seemed to be just under the surface and she knew that Sweets was in trouble. Booth wasn't a vindictive man, but he had been betrayed by someone he was supposed to be able to trust and she knew that Booth might go after the man's job. "It's alright, Booth. He made the right decision. I can compartmentalize." She hated to let Sweets get away with trying to manipulate her, but she wanted to make sure that Sweets didn't lose his job and it was vital she talked Booth out of his rage before he did something that could jeopardize his job. She knew that Booth actually liked the young man even if he was a major irritant and she didn't want her partner to do something he might regret later.

Surprised, Booth turned to look at Brennan. "He didn't do his job. He was given responsibility to make sure my friends and family knew I was alive and he didn't do that. It was cruel and unprofessional."

Afraid that Booth was about to ruin his career, Sweets turned to face Brennan. "I did it for national security. I knew you could handle it and you did. That terrorist needed to be caught and we did it . . . Booth did it. I did what needed to be done."

"I understand." Brennan walked over to where Booth was standing and placed her hand on his arm. "I handled it, Booth. There was no harm done. Just let it go."

"Are you sure?" He couldn't understand why Brennan was taking Sweets' side, but if she wanted him to let it go, he supposed he could do that. Still, he was angry that he and Brennan had been used. Facing Sweets, Booth spit out an ultimatum. "I'll let it go for now, but if you ever pull this shit again, I'll have your job, Sweets. No one fucks with me and gets away with it."

Barely able to speak, Sweets nodded his head. "It won't happen again." Thankful that Brennan had saved his career, the young man turned and faced Brennan. "Thank you and I'm sorry if this caused you any upset. I was thinking about national security, but I probably should have considered your feelings too. I'm sorry that I didn't think it completely through."

Shrugging her shoulders, Brennan returned to her desk and sat back down only to have to stand back up when Hodgins entered the room and asked them to come to the vault with him. Once Booth was out of hearing, Brennan grabbed Sweets' arm. "You experimented with me. You experimented on Booth. You tried to manipulate us. If you ever try that again you will have more than Booth to worry about. Do you understand?"

His throat dry, Sweets merely nodded his head. His job was safe for now and he knew that he had better be very careful how he handled the partners in the future. He had made a mistake and that mistake could have been a disaster for him.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The skeleton was gone and everyone realized that the chaos caused by the failed experiment earlier that day in which Zach had been injured had been used by Gormogon to steal his skeleton back. They had long suspected that Gormogon had access to the Lab and now they had proof.

As the clues unfolded, they started to lead in a direction that Brennan didn't want to go. There was the fact that the mandible had been treated with Ultra-violet light before it had been mailed to Brennan. It was noticeable by both her and Cam and that led Brennan to realize that the mandible could have been hidden in 'Modular Skeletal Storage' or 'Limbo' to everyone else, along with the rest of Ray Porter's body.

Assigning her grad students with the task of looking through 10,000 boxes of skeletal remains located in Limbo, they were tasked with looking for anomalies in the boxes. Brennan was searching for the rest of Ray Porter's remains and she suspected they would be found by her interns and they were.

The next clue stunned Brennan. The marks left on Ray Porter's mandible had pointed to real teeth and not dentures being used to render the flesh from the bone. Zach had been the one to say it was dentures, but she realized that even a first year intern would have not made that mistake. Horrified she realized that Zach had hidden the bones in Limbo. He had arranged the disastrous experiment that had actually injured himself. He had done that so Gormogon could steal his silver skeleton back. Zach had betrayed her. He had betrayed them all.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Zach was in custody and everyone that knew and loved him was devastated. They couldn't understand how Zach had let himself be used as a pawn by a cannibalistic serial killer. Zach was a genius and he loved logic. He had failed to assimilate in the real world, but he had assimilated at the Lab and everyone had considered him part of the family.

While Brennan floundered, trying to accept what had happened, Booth sat by her on the stair well with his arm around her shoulders. "You can't blame yourself for what Zach did, Bones. He's a grown man and he made those decisions on his own . . . He could have come to you and asked you what to do when Gormogon approached him, but he chose not to do it. This is all on him." It made Booth angry that someone he had trusted would betray him and almost get Brennan and him killed. The Master had been informed by Zach that the skeleton being moved to Bethesda had been a trick and he'd had time to rig up a satchel bomb that he has used against Booth and Brennan. Later the Master had almost drowned a child at the bottom of a pool to get away from Booth and within a few days Ray Porter had been murdered. All of this had been done with Zach's help and Booth was not in a forgiving mood. On the other hand, he knew that Brennan was in emotional pain over her assistant's betrayal and he would not rub salt in her wounds. "Look, you did a lot for him. You made him your intern and you helped him get his doctorate. You treated him like family and you tried to protect him from a world he really didn't understand. Please don't blame yourself for what he did."

Filled with sadness, Brennan heard Booth's words and knew that he was right, but it still felt like she had failed Zach in some way. She loved Zach like a brother and she felt like he had died. He was going to be locked up for the rest of his days and she would never be able to work with him again. She'd never watch while he competed with Hodgins to be King of the Lab. She had relied on him to make her job easier and now he was no longer in the Lab. He was no longer allowed to be in the general public. He was going to be institutionalized and she couldn't stop it. "Could we go home?"

Puzzled, Booth wasn't sure what Brennan was asking him. "Do you want me to drive you to your apartment?"

"If that's what you want to do." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I want to be with you, Booth." She felt betrayed and she wanted to be with the one person in the world she felt would never betray her. "I want you to stay with me tonight."

Afraid to assume anything, Booth removed his arm from her shoulders and clasped his hands together. "Sure, Bones. I'll stay with you."

She knew he didn't understand, but once they were in her apartment he would. She wanted to make love to her partner, to her friend. She wanted to feel something other than guilt and horror. Booth was the one person in her life that she knew she could count on. He had been betrayed by Sweets and she had been betrayed by Zach, but they had each other. They could count on loyalty from their partner and Brennan decided that loyalty and trust was all she needed from Booth. She trusted him and she wanted a relationship with him. She thought he loved her, he had said he did and even if she wasn't sure she loved him, she admired and liked him and wanted to be with him. She was willing to take a risk. It might not turn out well, but she knew that their friendship was safe. He would not betray her. He would not walk away from her and that was all she had ever wanted. Someone that she could count on.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thanks