(The Pain in the Heart)

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I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan did the best she could pretending to be in mourning for Booth and she thought she was doing a good job, but her friends were growing concerned about her. Most of the time, Brennan seemed to be her normal everyday self unless someone mentioned Booth, then she grew sad and left the room not speaking to anyone. Brennan had thought she was playing the part of a grieving relative mourning but in control, but she was giving off confusing signals to her friends and they were growing upset with her as Booth's funeral approached.

Working in Bones Storage, Brennan was working on the identification of a young victim found inside the Florida Everglades four years prior to Brennan coming to work at the Jeffersonian. As she examined the bones of the male child Angela slipped into the room and stood staring at her friend for a few seconds. "Brennan I think we need to talk."

Surprised to find her friend in the room with her, Brennan realized that she had been concentrating harder than she had thought. "Yes, go ahead." Her eyes still on the femur in her hand, Brennan noticed the fracture line and knew that the boy had suffered from a broken leg at the time of his death. It wasn't the cause of death, but it was something that might have meaning later.

"Bren . . . Honey are you all right?" Angela hadn't seen Brennan cry one tear since she had told them in the hospital about Booth's death and Angela was worried that her friend was suppressing her emotions too much, way too much. "You haven't take anytime off since Booth died and . . . well Honey you need to grieve. You've lost someone you loved. You need to give yourself permission to cry."

She knew she was supposed to be playing the part of a grieving girlfriend, but Brennan was tired of all of the unsolicited advice about how she should mourn. It had grown in frequency since Booth had been whisked off to Maryland to hide and she was starting to resent it. "Angela, I'm mourning in my way. I have cried at home in privacy because that is the proper thing to do. Crying at work would be completely unprofessional and I won't do it." Brennan placed the bone down on the table and turned to face her friend. "I know you mean well, you are my friend, but I'm handling Booth's death in the proper manner."

Exasperated, Angela placed her hands on her hips. "What exactly is the proper manner, Bren? When you lose someone you love there is no proper manner. You cry, you rely on your friends to get you through it, to help you move on. There is nothing proper about losing someone you love." Her voice was rising and Angela stopped. "Sorry, I'm not mad . . . I just want to help you."

Concerned that she was going to blow her undercover assignment, Brennan moved over to where Angela was standing and hugged her. "Thank you Angela." She hoped that Angela would accept the hug and drop the subject. She knew that when Booth came back home, she would need to talk to him about her assignment. She was clearly doing something unacceptable and yet she didn't understand what it was. "You say that there is no proper way to grieve. In that case, the way I am grieving must be the correct method for me." She didn't know what else to say.

Her arms around her friend. Angela sighed and closed her eyes. "Booth was a great guy. He loved you so much. It's okay to cry, Brennan. It really is."

A tear escaping down her cheek, Brennan released Angela and fished a tissue from her lab coat pocket. She really did miss Booth and it worried her that she couldn't check on him. She was afraid he wasn't being taken care of properly and that did make her sad. "I do miss him."

"Of course you do." Angela was relieved to see the tear. "You're not alone."

"Booth says that to me whenever I'm sad." Brennan smiled. "Thank you."

Relived that Brennan was at least talking about Booth, Angela returned a sad smile. "You're welcome. Why don't you go out with me tonight? We could go to that new restaurant that just opened near my apartment."

Brennan shook her head. "No thank you. I promised my father that I would eat with him tonight."

"Well, okay." Angela was glad to hear that Brennan was connecting with her father. "Call me if you need me."

Alone in the room once more, Brennan placed the tissue back into her Lab coat. I really hate sleeping alone. I will be glad when Booth comes home. I thought being undercover would be interesting, but I really hate it. I don't understand what everyone wants from me.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The funeral came, the terrorist had been captured with Brennan's help and the partners were now reunited. As soon as the terrorist was taken away, Brennan had moved into Booth's waiting arms and the couple stood in the cemetery holding and kissing each other.

Friends and co-workers who were not in on the ruse, were both upset and fascinated. Caroline had quickly explained to the people who had attended the funeral about what had happened and why and most of them accepted it. Some did not.

Angry that she had been kept in the dark, Angela marched over to where the couple was quietly talking to each other and with arms crossed against her breasts, she tapped her foot on the grass below her feet. "Really? You think it's okay to use your friends like this?"

Booth turned to face Angela and shrugged his shoulders. "It wasn't my plan nor my decision. I was shot and when I woke up I was told about it. As for Bones, she did what she had to do. It wasn't her plan either. If you have a problem with what went down, talk to Caroline or my bosses."

Not really mollified, Angela glared at Booth. "Your friends could have been told."

Taking Brennan's hand in his hand, Booth started to walk towards Brennan's car. "It was a matter of national security. Breaking protocol could have got me and Bones into a lot of legal trouble. This wasn't done to piss you off Angela. It was done to catch a murderer and a terrorist."

As she watched the couple walk away, Angela called out. "The next time you die I'm going to demand to see your body. You hear me?"

Booth waved his free hand and squeezed Brennan's hand to assure her that she wasn't responsible for Angela's anger. "This isn't your fault, Bones, but we are in deep shit with our friends. The next time someone tells you that they're going to use me for some undercover thingy tell them no . . . I really missed you." Booth placed his arm around her shoulders as they continued to walk. "I really wanted to talk to you, but no one would let me have a phone."

His arm around her shoulders were a comfort and Brennan was grateful that their undercover mission was done. "I'm going to take you home. I assume if you're well enough to attempt to fight a terrorist then you are well enough for sex."

Arriving at her car, Booth stopped, turned and pulled Brennan into his embrace. "Oh yes. You and I are not going to work until tomorrow. If anyone calls us, too bad. We are not answering the phone and if anyone comes to the door, well tough shit. You and I are going to spend the rest of the day together and everyone can take a flying leap if they don't like it."

His words were mischievous and sincere and Brennan loved them. After she unlocked the car doors, she walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. "I want to examine your wound as soon as we get home." Once she entered the car, she waited for Booth is get in. She was eager to go home.

Booth glanced back at Cam and Caroline who were standing near the empty coffin and talking together. He knew that he was going to get an earful in the next day or two, but for now, he slid into the car and turned to face Brennan. Fishing out a CD from his jacket pocket, Booth handed it to his girlfriend. "Here's a copy of my medical records. I knew you'd want to see them."

Taking it from Booth, she placed it in her purse. "Thank you." Once they were on the road, Brennan quickly left the cemetery and headed towards their apartment. "I missed you too and I'm going to show you just how much when we get home. Also, I agree, from now on we cannot go undercover separately. It's not very satisfying."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan arrived at the Lab and Angela marched in to her office before she could remove her jacket. "Angela I couldn't tell you and that's final."

A little huff escaped her lips, but Angela knew that the past was the past and Brennan wasn't interested in talking about it. "Whatever . . . so did you and Booth have lots of sex?"

A pleased look on her face, Brennan sat down, turned on her PC and finally nodded her head. "Yes we did. He's still recovering from his gunshot wound, but we had a satisfactory reunion."

The package on Brennan's desk was sitting on a small pile of mail and curious, Brennan removed the paper wrapped around the package and opened it. Startled, she stared a human mandible and assumed it had to be a gift from Gormogon. "It would appear that Gormogon is trying to send me a message of some kind." Standing, she picked up the box and left her office, Angela following closely behind her.

After she let Cam know about the mandible, Brennan tracked down Zach and they began to study the jawbone. While Zach ran a few tests, Brennan called Booth. "I received another bone in the mail. This time it's a mandible."

Damn it. That piece of shit is psycho.

"I don't know if he is psychologically disturbed or not, but I will assume he is for now." Brennan watched Zach move a magnifier over the mandible. "I'll call you back when we've learned something useful.

Be careful

"Of course." Brennan ended the call and continued to observe Zach while Cam stood nearby hoping for some quick answers.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Answers didn't come quickly, but they came and when they did it sparked a tragedy no one was prepared for. It was discovered that Zach Addy was Gormogon's apprentice and it stunned everyone that knew him.

Brennan sat in the living room, a glass of wine in her hand and stared at the glass daffodil that was sitting on the book case near her bedroom door. She felt numb inside. She had been betrayed by someone that she had always thought she would be able to trust and yet she was having a hard time feeling anything at the moment.

Worried about her mental state, Booth stood in the kitchen doorway and stared at his girlfriend struggling to accept what had happened. Not sure what he could say to make her feel better, Booth finished the beer he'd been drinking and placed the empty bottle down on the counter. Moving over to the couch he sat down and placed his arm around Brennan's shoulders. "Hey . . . are you alright?"

A tear slipped down her cheek and still Brennan felt numb. Why was she crying and yet didn't feel anything? How was that possible?

His worry growing, Booth kept his arm around his partner and struggled to find the right words to ease her pain. "Zach was easily led . . . He isolated himself from everyone except you and Hodgins and Angela. He didn't live in the real world and so Gormogon used him. Zach should have tried harder to make friends, but he didn't want to . . . none of this is your fault. None of it. It's all on Zach."

She heard his words and they made sense, but it still puzzled her how someone so logical could fall for such a fallacious premise. Gormogon's logic had been twisted and self-serving and Zach hadn't really recognized the fallacy at all. "Zach is a genius. He should have seen through the fallacy of the situation. He should have been able to see through Gormogon's twisted logic."

Since Brennan was a genius, Booth realized that perhaps his girlfriend was worried that she might be susceptible to such twisted logic herself. "Bones, you live in the real world. Zach lived in his own little bubble and didn't interact with very many people. It seems to me that he got worse over time. When I first met him at least he dated and he tried to make some friends, but he just stopped doing that and he set himself up to being influenced by a psycho. You're different . . . you have friends, a great boyfriend and a weirdo family to keep things interesting."

A slight smile on her lips, Brennan placed her glass on the coffee table and turned to face Booth. "I do have a great boyfriend. I'm not sure I would classify my family as weirdos, but they are certainly different . . . a murderer . . . a car thief . . . an FBI Agent."

"Hey I was talking about your Dad and Russ not me." Booth knew that Brennan was teasing him and if she was up for that, then she might be coming out of her funk. "Of course my family is no prize either . . . Jared is an asshole and my father is a real bastard. Come to think of it, I'd take your family over mine anytime . . . except Pops and Parker of course."

She listened to him ramble and she loved that Booth was there next to her when she needed him to be. "I'm alright."

"Of course you are." Booth removed his arm from around her shoulders and placed his hand over her hand instead. "Look, Zach is going to be committed to a hospital, so he won't have to go to prison. It was the best thing that could have happened to him. You can go visit him whenever you like . . . you're going to be okay . . . I love you Bones."

Brennan leaned against her boyfriend and moved her gaze towards their clasped hands. "I missed you so much the two weeks you were gone. I'm glad you're home."

"I'm glad to be home." Booth stood up and pulled Brennan up with him. "Let's go to bed. We can start new tomorrow. For tonight, we're not going to think about Zach or Gorgonzola or anyone else but us. It's just you and me tonight. Just you and me."

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