Chapter 3 - The Friend in the Lab

The sun had just barely broken the skyline when Camille Saroyen ducked into her office at the Jeffersonian and shut the door. She'd just received the call from Director Cullen telling her of Dr. Brennan's death and she knew she needed to be prepared for what came next. Seeley Booth was sure to show up here before too long and she had to be sure she could deal with him when he got here.

Cam sighed, dropping into her desk chair and putting her face in her hands. The lab was quiet for the moment, given the early hour and she appreciated having the time to get her thoughts together. All hell was going to break loose in a few hours, she was sure of that. And somehow, someway, she was going to have to keep things together. She was the boss, she was in charge and she owed it to Booth and to Dr. Brennan to make sure everything worked flawlessly.

Leaning back in the chair, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts return to five days ago.

Cam had been around a good while and found that not much surprised her anymore. She was, however, quite surprised to find herself in Assistant Director Cullen's office in a meeting with him and Dr. Brennan.

Cullen cut straight to the point of the meeting. "Dr. Saroyen, you're aware of the threats made against Dr. Brennan by Daniel Lockton, yes?" She nodded and he continued. "Well, the threats have been escalating recently and we've determined we need to take more definitive steps to bring him in."

Cam nodded again and said, "Yes, Booth has kept me informed about the threats and Lockton does appear to be growing impatient. What's the plan?"

Cullen looked briefly at Dr. Brennan, who was staring at the floor, apparently lost in her own thoughts. "To put it bluntly, Dr. Saroyen, we're going to arrange for Dr. Brennan's death."

Cam gasped and turned to Dr. Brennan. The other woman looked up at her and smiled slightly.

"I won't really be dead, Dr. Saroyen," Brennan volunteered. "It will be faked and I'll be in the temporary company of several FBI agents until Lockton is apprehended."

While she obviously understood they wouldn't really be killing Dr. Brennan, Cam was still shocked at the idea of it. Then something else hit her. "Wait, why isn't Booth here? Shouldn't he be involved in this?" She noticed that both of them immediately found somewhere else to direct their gazes and she sucked in a breath. "Oh, god, you're not going to tell him, are you?"

Cam stood and began pacing the office. She stopped in front of Brennan's chair, waiting until the other woman raised her eyes. "Dr. Brennan," she murmured, "You know what this will do to Booth. Are you sure about this?"

Brennan nodded slowly. Her eyes began to glisten as she met Cam's incredulous gaze. "Yes, I'm sure, Cam. It's the only way." Brennan twisted her fingers together in her lap, staring at them, as she continued. "I know it will hurt him. I know how I felt when I thought he was dead, but..." She paused and swallowed hard. "I'm afraid that if Booth knew it wasn't true, Lockton would see right through it and he might...he might hurt Booth." She looked back up at Cam and Cam saw something she thought was perhaps a plea for understanding. "He's been talking about Booth and our relationship in the most recent letters. I'm afraid he might come after Booth if he suspected a trick."

Cam sank slowly back down in her chair. After a moment, she reached out to Dr. Brennan, placing her hand on Brennan's arm and squeezing gently. "Alright, ok, I understand." She shook her head ruefully before adding, "You know, if this doesn't work, Booth might end up killing both of us...for real!" She was gratified to hear Brennan and Cullen both chuckle at that, as Brennan covered Cam's hand with her own.

Leaning back, she asked the next question that had been nagging at her. "Ok, so you're not telling Booth, and I'm sure it's only a small team at the FBI in on this," she paused and waited for Cullen's nod. "So, why are you telling me?"

Cullen gestured at Dr. Brennan to field the question. Brennan cleared her throat and said, "I needed someone at the lab who could get me the information I needed to try to track Lockton. Any evidence the team recovers while they're investigating will come to you and you'll be able to help me analyze it." She paused and looked away briefly before bringing her eyes back to Cam's. "Also, I wanted someone to keep an eye on Booth. Someone who knows him and cares about him." Her lips curved in a small smile as she continued, "I couldn't think of anyone better for that part of the plan than you, Dr. Saroyen."

Cam sighed again and straightened in her chair as her phone rang. She picked it up, listened briefly and returned it to it's cradle. She'd asked security to call her when Booth arrived so she'd have a moment to prepare. She had to get this right, for all their sakes. She knew it wouldn't be hard to summon the required emotion once she saw his face. Sometimes, she thought, she really hated her job.

~~BB~~

Booth burst through the doors into the lab. It was strangely quiet, but it was pretty early still. But he knew Cam would be here. She was always the first one into the office. He didn't particularly want to talk to her; didn't particularly want to talk to anyone at this point, but he felt he should be the one to tell her that Bones was... Again, the word wouldn't come, even in the privacy of his thoughts.

His steps echoed in the silence as he made his way across the open space to Cam's office. He paused for a second before opening the door, gathering himself together. He just had to get through a few more things and then he could go. He didn't know where he'd go, just that it would be away from here...away from this place, away from all the memories, away from all the people, just away. He sucked in a deep breath, swallowed hard against the lump in his throat and opened the door.

Even if she hadn't known what was going on, Cam would've known instantly something earth shattering had happened when she glimpsed Booth's face. He looked like hell. His face was pale and drawn, his eye bloodshot and red. He looked somehow...less, diminished in some fundamental way. "Booth?" she said, standing up to go to him. "Booth, what happened? What's wrong?"

Booth stopped in the center of the room and ran a hand through this hair. "Camille, it's Bones, she's...she's..." His voice broke and he had to lean against the office table before continuing. The tears he'd been so successful in holding back so far spilled down his face as he finally said the words out loud. "She's gone, Cam, she's...dead." The last word was choked out on a sob as he finally relinquished the remaining bit of his tattered self-control.

Cam was instantly in front of him, taking him in her arms. She had no trouble finding her own tears as she held the sobbing, broken man in her arms. Seeley had always been strong, always the lion heart, but this was clearly the one event he wasn't prepared to handle. She murmured soothing nonsense in his ear for a moment before trying to ease him over to the couch tucked into the corner of her office. She was afraid he was near collapse and she wouldn't be able to hold him if he did.

They made it to the sofa at last and the initial round of heart rending sobs eased a little. Cam continued to hold him tightly, rocking slightly as she did. "Seeley," she whispered, "I'm so, so, so very sorry. I know how much you care about her and I'm just so...sorry." She couldn't think of anything else to say. What the hell are you supposed to say to a man who's just lost the woman he's loved for so long, who's been the very center of his life for so many years. She felt a brief flash of anger at the whole wretched situation. God, she hoped this Lockton guy showed his miserable face soon. She didn't know how long she could watch Booth suffer like this. For now, she did the only thing she could. She gave Seeley Booth something to hold on to as the grief continued to consume him.


A/N: First, I want to thank everyone so much for all the reviews, alerts and favorites on this story! I worried that no one would like it, so it's gratifying to find so many people want to read! This chapter was tough to write...it's mostly from Cam's perspective because it's hard for me to consider Booth's thoughts for too long at a time. But I will be focusing on Booth in the next chapter, as well as Brennan's thoughts after she talks to Cam.

And again, I don't own Bones, I just borrow them on occasion to torture myself and all the wonderful readers! :)