Author's Note: Another random premiere oneshot. Mostly just reflections on the new character dynamics, through conversation. So yeah, random.

Friendly Conversation

Angela had been watching her best friend try to voice whatever she'd been thinking for half an hour already. Every time Brennan gave her that look, opened her mouth to speak, then shut it abruptly, focusing on the remains between them, she wanted to laugh.

"C'mon, sweetie. Just spit it out."

"It would be highly unsanitary, not to mention disrespectful, for me to spit anything out while working with human remains, Angela. Besides, there isn't anything in my mouth."

"It's an expression," Angela explained patiently. "What I meant was that I know there's something you want to say."

Brennan blew her cheeks out lightly, stripping off the latex gloves and leaving the body for Zach to finish examining. She said nothing until they reached Angela's office.

Angela watched as she struggled to say the words, wondering what she could possibly find so difficult to voice.

"Do you like her better than me?" the words exploded from her, surprising them both with the worry in her tone.

"Who? Cam?"

Brennan nodded, clearly embarrassed.

"Oh, sweetie, of course I like you better than her. You're my best friend, Bren." Angela took her friend's arm, trying to suppress a smile. "Why would you think that?"

"Everyone likes her," Brennan shrugged, resting on the edge of the sofa lining the right wall. "You all like her…better than me. Everybody talks to her, and she gives you guys these cute little nicknames. And she-she notices these things about you, things I should have noticed. I've been here for years! But I can't-I can't-"

Angela stared in shock. Was this…insecurity? From Brennan? "I'm not saying that it's okay that you don't notice things about us, but we understand why you don't. You're a focused person, and that focus has always been on your work. All of us understand that. It's just that it would be nice if you started noticing things about people who aren't dead."

"Like Cam."

"Kind of. Look Bren," Angela covered her friend's hand with her own. "When it comes down to it, we're on your side."

"I don't want there to be sides," Brennan said slowly.

"Cam is intelligent, and competent. I might not agree with her policies or stratagems to enforce them, but…she deserves respect. I just don't like the way –" she stopped herself abruptly.

"Hey, it's perfectly normal to be uncomfortable with someone new, especially when they're your boss. But that's not it, is it?" Angela saw the question in her friend, still unasked.

"No, that's it," Brennan sighed, her voice taking on the quality of one trying to change the subject. And then… "Do you think Booth likes her better than me?"

Angela was proud. Not just of her confession about her uncertainties when it came to Cam professionally, but of her desire to do better, and now, her fledgling desire to care about people.

"What makes you think that?" she asked carefully, recognizing that this was delicate territory indeed.

"I don't know. You said they were sleeping together, and he keeps…I don't know. You know what, Ange? Never mind." She made a move to go.

Oh, no you don't. Angela grabbed her, shoving her back onto the sofa. "Tell me what you're thinking, Bren."

She struggled to collect her swirling thoughts. "It's just that lately, Booth's been acting weirdly. He made some confusing comment about a princess, and then when I said that the part of him with the gambling problem must like the idea of risking it with Turco, he told me that's why I didn't get Cam's job…"

"Oh, sweetie, you didn't!"

Brennan looked at her quizzically. "Didn't what?"

"Mention his gambling problem," Angela looked crestfallen.

"I believe I just told you that I did. Is that bad?"

Angela closed her eyes for a second, wondering how to deal with this. "Yeah, that was bad, Brennan. It's a sensitive topic for him. People don't like sensitive things getting poked."

"But it made sense!" she protested. "Booth had a gambling problem. That would suggest that part of him enjoyed the risk of the game. Therefore, with Turco, it follows that –"

"Temperance," Angela broke in, "Bringing up Booth's gambling is like bringing up the fact that he's killed people. It's like bringing up your parents, or the foster system for you. It hurts."

"I didn't mean to –"

"I know you didn't. But you, you have to try to think about those kind of things before you say them. Not everyone is as…invulnerable as they seem, okay? Sometimes the truth hurts."

Brennan nodded, and Angela knew she was trying to understand, the woman who believed the harsh truth was better than a gentle lie. Angela smiled, "As for Booth. I don't know if he likes Cam better. Does it really matter?"

In her friend's silence, she saw that it did, even if she would never admit it. "Don't worry about what Cam is, or what you aren't, sweetie. You're you, silly as that sounds, and you're trying to be a better you. I can see that, even if you can't."

Brennan laughed, "I don't think I understand."

"And right now, you don't have to," Angela said. "You just keep trying, and one day you'll be someone he can love, someone who can love him back."

"Love who? What?" Any shred of comprehension she might have held onto throughout their conversation was officially lost.

"Never mind, sweetie," Angela dismissed with a smile. The people around here never could handle her exceptional perceptive abilities.

"Dr. Brennan?" Zach poked his head into the office.

"Yes, Zach?"

"I've completed an initial examination of the remains, and I've discovered a rather curious…" Angela tuned him out, watching as her best friend stood quickly, following her assistant out, again donning the mask of Dr. Brennan, hardened forensic anthropologist. The drawbridge rises...

And the princess awaits within.