"Agent Booth, is there anything else you need from me?"

Seeing her supervisor not paying attention, Agent Perotta inhaled for a second, but managed to contain her frustration. 'I've darkened my hair slightly and wore perfume that has brought men to their knees in front of me and he STILL doesn't notice. What does that geek of his have that I don't?'

After waiting another few seconds, Perotta tried again a little louder. "Agent Booth?"

Booth looked up in bewilderment. "I'm sorry, Agent Perotta. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to know if there was anything else you need? I want to be available for any assistance that you may require." She bent over slightly in her chair as to itch her leg, coincidentally showing a small amount of cleavage.

"No, Agent Perotta. I'm all set thank you." Booth said as he noticed the agent's actions. God can she more obvious? Bones doesn't feel the need to advertise what she has…..which is the best.

Perotta got up to leave. Booth in his misery did not notice the frustration on her face. As she walked out, she thought to herself, 'I better step up my game. It's obvious he and his partner are having issues and this is my chance. He needs a woman who is not socially retarded and saddling him with a baby.'

Booth turned back to his desk to complete paperwork…..or try to. After ten minutes, he threw his pen down in frustration. All he could think about was the ever growing divide between him and Bones. He remembered advice Sweets gave him after Christine was born.

"If you don't deal with communication issues right away, they can fester and seriously damage a relationship."

He felt like he was going to explode if he didn't get his feelings out, but he couldn't tell anyone. Looking at his index cards, an idea came to mind. He opened a drawer, grabbed a notebook, and began to write. 'If I can't talk to Bones, at least I can write down how I feel.'

Brennan was in her office staring at her paperwork. After a moment, she sighed in frustration when she heard a knock. Looking up, she saw her supervisor. "Cam, any update on the tox screen from the remains?"

Cam closed the door and walked up to the desk. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Brennan pointed to her couch.

Both ladies sat down. Cam clasped her hands together and took a breath. "Doctor Brennan….Temperance….I want to talk to you about Seeley." The clouds that covered Brennan's countenance did not go unnoticed by Cam.

"Dr. Saroyan, my relationship with Agent Booth is personal and not the business of the Jeffersonian or you."

Cam knew she had to voice this no matter what Brennan's mood. "Please give me five minutes to say what I need to say, and then I will never bring it up again."

Feeling a migraine coming on, Brennan massaged her temples. She didn't want to talk about Booth, but knew the quicker Cam said what she wanted, the quicker her headache would go away. "Fine, Cam. I know you. You are like a dog with a hide."

Cam smiled for a moment. "That's dog without a bone, and yes, you're right I am." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I've noticed a distance lately between you and Seeley for the last few weeks. Both of you say you are fine, but it seems otherwise. Do you want to talk about it?"

Brennan turned to the woman who had grown to be a friend the seven years she had worked with her. Feelings she didn't feel able to talk about to anyone, including Angela, were beginning to boil like a pressure cooker.

'Maybe I should speak first.' Cam thought as she saw the storm of emotions in her eyes. "Dr. Brennan….I've known Seeley for over two decades. I've known you not as long, but long enough to get to know you almost as well."

Seeing that Brennan was not speaking, Cam continued. "Seeley Booth has always dreamed of finding the right woman to settle down with….to marry and have a family with. Me excluded, I've seen the twits he's dated, including Baghdad Barbie."

Brennan couldn't help but laugh. Encouraged, she continued. "He was so excited to marry you. He called me soon after you told me, sounding like a hyped up little kid."

Brennan's mood shifted. Cam, seeing the tension mount, hurried to make her point. "My point is him telling you he didn't think marrying you was a good idea after accepting his proposal….that's just bullshit!"

Brennan's eyes opened wide hearing the expletive. Before she could respond, Cam carried on. "I know him. He's wanted to marry you for as long as I can remember. Something is not right."

"Of course he decided he didn't want to marry me. He's entitled to change his mind."

Frustrated, the pathologist slipped. "BULLSHIT, TEMPERANCE!"

Realizing where she was, Cam looked out the window before looking at the woman in front of her. Seeing she had Brennan's complete attention, she carried on. "That's crap. I know he wants to marry you. I know you don't believe it, but my gut says he didn't want to break it off voluntarily. There is no way he would accept, and then just change his mind. No, not him."

Keeping her emotions in check, Brennan stared right at her supervisor and friend. "Apparently he did, Dr Saroyan. This is none of your business."

Cam knew she was getting to her and knew what she had to do. "Yes it is, Dr. Brennan. Because when I see two people with a bond as strong as yours at odds over something I know each of you want it's not right. It's especially true when they are two people who I depend on to help me find the truth when the victim cannot."

Fired up, Cam stood. "I'll be damned if I will let you two fools ruin the best thing that has happened to either one of you. Put your big girl panties on Dr Brennan and use that big brain that God or whoever blessed you with to get to the truth!"

"I don't see how my panties have anything….."

"It means grow up. Look past your own pain. Think about Christine. You owe it to her to find out the truth. You are all about truth Dr. Brennan. Put your money where your mouth is."

Cam walked out of the office before she could get a response. She walked down the hall to Angela's office and walked in seeing her co-conspirator in front of the Angelatron.

Angela turned to the noise she heard. "Did you get through?" She got out weakly. She was holding her stomach after being ill most of the day. "I've been supportive and putting in my two cents, but I can't seem to get far."

"God I hope so. Now….go on home, Angela. I can see you turning an interesting shade of green." Before she could interrupt, Cam stopped her at the pass. "If I have any updates, you will be the first one I call. I can't do this alone, you know. Go home…..I need you well"

Feeling dizzy, Angela sat down. "Okay, I will get Hodgins to take me home. Damn food poisoning."

At Cam's questioning look, she clarified. "I made some homemade salsa last night with the tomatoes I canned last week and had them with some late night nachos. Hodgins was sleeping. I guess they are not agreeing with me."

"Are you having any abdominal cramping?"

"A little with the nausea." Suddenly holding her stomach, she ran to her private bathroom, where loud vomiting could be heard.

From the bathroom, Cam heard Angela. "Okay I am soooo going home."

Satisfied, Cam left her office and headed back to hers. Stopping before taking the platform, she turned back to Brennan's office. She did not move from the couch they sat at earlier. Hoping it was a good sign, Cam went back to work. As much as she felt for Temperance Brennan, the remains in her lab took precedence, especially since she was losing two of her people in the next five minutes as she noticed Hodgins escorting a ghostly white Angela out of the Medico-Legal lab.

Booth and Brennan sat at the diner eating their lunch. He looked and saw his plate full of fries and felt sadness wave over him before he looked up and saw Bones looking at him.

"Booth, were you paying attention to what I was saying?"

Feeling ashamed but grateful for the notice, he coughed. "I'm sorry Bones, what did you say?"

She signed in frustration. "I said there were signs of remodeling on both forearms and one of her legs. I need you to pay attention"

Swallowing his retort, Booth looked at her. "I apologize Bones, I have things on my mind."

"Fine, Booth. As I was saying, she has these injuries. Did she have any past history with the criminal justice system?"

Booth hesitated, dreading what he was about to say. "No, but she was in foster care" Seeing Bones' eyes glass over, he moved to take her hand in comfort, only to feel the sting of rejection when she moved it from his grasp. "I'm here if you need me, Bones"

Protecting herself from pain, Bones looked up. "I'm fine, Booth. We just need to get the truth." Swallowing her pain, she continued. "So what's next?"

Seeing that his mate was sticking to work matters, he swallowed his misery as well. "I'm bringing in her last foster parents for questioning, along with waiting for the medical records we subpoenaed. Can you break free to assist?"

Brennan froze. She didn't know if she could maintain professionalism in the same room with Booth, even an interrogation. "Sweets would be a better person to use, Booth. His soft science could get you better results, especially if they are lying. If you have no one else, I will come. I need to finish looking at my remains."

Booth got the message, but it hurt. "Okay"

Brennan saw the misery in his eyes. While part of her wanted to love it away, the other part couldn't get past her own anger and frustration. Pushing her emotions down, she started to gather her message bag. "I have to get back to the lab, Booth. Is there anything else?"

Surprised, Booth looked up. "No, Bones. Wait a minute and I will walk you back"

"No Booth, I'm all right. When I find something I will let you know."

Before he could reply, Brennan made tracks out of the diner. Frustrated, he threw down money for the bill and walked out. He saw Bones walking back towards the Jeffersonian and wanted desperately to catch up with her, pull her into the nearest hidden spot, tell her the truth, and possess her being with all the love he had for her to ease her hurt. Knowing the consequences, he merely watched her walk away.

"Damn you, Pelant. I will find you and make you suffer with every fiber of my being. Just killing you is too good for you" Feeling her pain, he wiped a tear from his eye from where he stood. "Bones I love you more than you could know"

Up ahead, Bones could feel Booth watching her from a couple of blocks back. Why doesn't he chase me? Why is he doing this to me….to us? Wiping her own tear away, she continued to walk to the Jeffersonian in misery.

Christopher Pelant was watching the scene on his monitor. Other monitors were watching the Booth-Brennan house, the Hoover, and the Jeffersonian. He had it all under surveillance…..except for the inside of the buildings. He still hasn't found a way to get past their new security measures, but that was okay. What Agent Booth didn't know won't hurt him.

He typed on his keyboard slowly. Lately, his left hand could not always process what he needed for the keyboard. Sometimes he had problems with remembering what computer sequences to use for this surveillance, at times taking him twice as long. He also had a hard time concentrating on the surveillance of all the monitors at once or tasks at hand. All of this really pissed him off, but he could compensate. He learned to sleep only 3 to 4 hours a night and made detailed lists of everything. Hubris didn't tell him he was the greatest mind around…..he knew he was.

"I've outwitted the FBI, Senate, and the federal government. Break up the Dream Team, and then start eliminating them. The first two….or three should be tonight." he said as he observed a vehicle leaving the Jeffersonian.

Cam was working on the microscope with her back to the door when she heard something she never thought she would hear.

"I don't know how."

Cam turned around and saw Temperance's eyes begin to fill with tears. "I look at him and my heart hurts and I feel like I am suffocating. I just want to hide away from everything and not feel….anything. How the hell do I use my God damn brain to fix…..this?"

Shocked at her vernacular, Cam stood for a moment. Then she realized what she did, something no one, not even Angela could do during these last few weeks….made Temperance Brennan acknowledge her feelings of abandonment. The thought she had earlier before being interrupted by Finn came back to her. Always one to trust her gut, she acted.

Walking over to her colleague, Cam texted a quick message, dropped her phone in her desk drawer, and then took her hand. "Come with me Doctor Brennan."

"I need to get my phone—"

"Leave it here." She said before calling a number on her lab phone and waited for an answer. "Arastoo? That thing we talked about? I am taking Doctor Brennan there now. We can't have our phones there but we will be there if you need to find us….okay…we're fine…. Love you too, bye."

Cam hung up. "Where we are going we can't have our phones. I've texted Booth to let him know where we will be for an emergency. Come on, I'm driving"

"Cam I am perfectly cap—"

"I am driving. Don't make me pull rank or call Angela."

"Fine." Brennan said as the two women left the Medico-Legal lab.

Arastoo watched his girlfriend and his mentor leave. "I hope you can help, Camille."