(Before 'The Change in the Game')

I don't own Bones.

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Cam was worried. She'd noticed a change in Booth and Brennan's interactions in the last month and she wasn't sure what was going on. They rarely seemed to argue about anything and when they did, they were both quick to find a compromise. The partners had seemed to change after Vincent Nigel-Murray's funeral. It had taken a few weeks for her to notice, but now it was obvious that something was wrong.

When Brennan had come back from England, the partners seemed to be a little distant with each other. At first, she'd noticed that they had stopped touching each other and then the bickering had stopped. Cam knew that the intern's murder had been hard on Brennan and she worried that her forensic anthropologist blamed Booth for the young man's death. It seemed the only logical explanation for the changes she was seeing and she wasn't sure how to fix the problem. Both Booth and Brennan were very private people and they rarely talked about their past or shared personal concerns.

After hesitating to get involved, Cam decided she needed to do something and took the opportunity to approach her friend the next time he showed up at the Lab. She just hoped he wouldn't get too angry with her. "Booth, before you speak to Dr. Brennan could I talk to you in my office for a moment?"

Concerned, Booth glanced down the hallway then back at Cam. "Is something wrong with Bones?"

"No, I just need to talk to you." Cam entered her office, walked over to her desk then turned to face her friend as he entered the room.

A little leery, Booth entered the room and stopped just inside the door. "What's up?"

"Could you close the door?" Cam didn't want her conversation to be overheard. The rumor mill at the Lab was pretty bad and she didn't want to add to it.

After he closed the door, Booth turned to face his friend, his arms crossed against his chest. "What's wrong? Why the secrecy?"

Not sure where to begin, Cam sighed and tried to relax. "I noticed that you and Dr. Brennan seemed to be a little distant lately . . . I'm worried that she might be blaming you for Mr. Nigel-Murray's death."

Puzzled, Booth shook his head. "Bones and I aren't distant. There isn't anything wrong with our partnership."

"Maybe you haven't really noticed, but there is definitely something wrong. Dr. Brennan doesn't touch you anymore and you don't touch her and there's the fact that you two never bicker about anything. It's not normal behavior for her or you. You two have very strong opinions and don't like to lose arguments . . . This has been going on since she got back from England . . . I'm your friend. Is there something I can do to help you two? I mean, would you like me to talk to Brennan or maybe get Sweets to talk to her?"

"Sweets . . . Oh God no." Booth uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips. "There is nothing wrong with Bones and me. I promise you that. You're just seeing something that isn't there . . . Okay, we don't bicker as much as we used to, but . . . well, Bones was upset with her intern's death and I don't . . . She needs some peace in her life. Zach was like a brother to her and he betrayed her and she lost him and now Vincent's been murdered and that's too much. I mean, really . . . it's too much . . . We argue about things sometimes, I guess you just haven't seen us do it that's all. You don't need to talk to Bones and sure as shit you don't need to get Sweets involved in our personal business. He answers to the FBI and I don't want him talking to the Deputy Director about my business."

She wasn't sure she believed him, but she had tried. "Okay . . . just remember I'm your friend and I'd like to think I'm Dr. Brennan's friend. If you need my help, just ask me."

"Thanks, Cam. I mean it, thanks, but we're good." Booth realized that he needed to talk to his partner. They had tried to make sure no one knew they were a couple, but somehow, they'd screwed something up and now people were questioning their friendship or at least Cam was. Leaving the room, he glanced down the hallway towards Brennan's office, shook his head and left the Lab. This needed to be a private conversation.

Cam noticed that Booth left the Lab without talking to his partner and that just added to her anxiety.

Oooooooooooooooo

That evening, Booth arrived at Brennan's apartment and let himself in with his key. Since he'd arrived before his partner, he removed his jacket and placed his gun and badge in the safe he'd installed in the guest bedroom. Once he'd changed clothes to jeans and a t-shirt he went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. He needed to start dinner and he wanted to make sure it didn't involve tofu. After he looked over the contents, he decided to order something. He knew he'd have to shop tomorrow and bring some things over that he could cook for himself. Brennan wanted him to change his diet and he was willing to make some changes, but he was a meat eater and that wasn't going to change.

After he checked his wallet, he found a coupon for Panda Express and ordered dinner for himself and Brennan. That done, he moved into the guest bedroom, found the book he had left on the dresser, walked back into the living room and sat down to read. He planned to watch part of the game later. The TV Brennan had bought and placed in the guest bedroom wasn't big, but it would do for now. In the meantime, he felt a little peace and quiet were in order.

Ooooooooooooooo

Once she was home, Brennan wondered where Booth was. Moving over to the guest bedroom, she found her partner sitting on the bed watching a sporting event. "I'm sorry I'm late. One of my new interns misplaced a bone. I found it, but I'm afraid Mr. Blackburn will no longer be working for me. I can't risk another incident with evidence. As it was, I had to inform Caroline that the bone is no longer available as part of the evidence for the Miller case since it had been outside the chain of custody for three hours . . . She is upset and rightfully so. She demanded that I fire Mr. Blackburn. I have assured her that he will no longer be working at the Lab, but she is still upset."

"Well . . . you can't undo what's done and we still have plenty of evidence to be used against Miller, so she'll just have to accept what happened. You took care of the issue and that's all you can do." Booth knew that Brennan was upset, but mistakes happen and she couldn't control everything that happened at the Lab. "I ordered you some dinner. It's in the fridge. If you want me to, I can heat it up for you."

"No, I can do that." Brennan left the room and walked over to the kitchen. While she heated up her food, Booth entered the room and sat down at the table.

"Bones, we need to talk."

Her partner's tone of voice seemed to be too solemn and Brennan wondered if Booth was unhappy about something. Moving over to the kitchen table, she sat down and faced her partner. "What's wrong?"

"Well, that's the thing." Booth sighed. "I didn't know there was anything wrong until Cam talked to me this morning . . . um, well . . . she thinks you're mad at me and you blame me for Vincent's death . . ."

Holding up her hand, Brennan interrupted her boyfriend. "Wait, why does she think I blame you for Mr. Nigel-Murray's death? I don't understand what I've done to make her think that is true."

"We came up with this great plan to protect our working partnership and I think we may have . . . well, I guess it wasn't a good plan after all." Booth sighed. "Cam says we don't bicker or argue anymore and I guess we don't touch each other like we used to and it's freaking her out."

"But . . . but, isn't not having arguments a good thing? How is not bickering a bad thing?" Brennan was confused and she didn't like the feeling. "And I thought touching each other while we were working was frowned upon . . . at least that's what Ms. Green in Human Resources told me three weeks ago when someone complained about one of the techs in the Lab."

Booth reached across the table and placed his hand over her hand. "Right? I mean, Cam hated it when you and me argued in the past and now she's upset we're not arguing about stuff . . . She thinks this is because of your intern's death . . . We need to fix this but I'm not sure how."

"Did you tell her I don't blame you for Mr. Nigel-Murray's death?" Brennan wasn't sure how Cam had decided that she was angry with Booth. She hadn't realized that they were arguing less and she found it strange that calm discussions with her partner could upset anyone. "This is bizarre."

He agreed with her, but Booth knew people did a lot of assuming when they didn't understand changes in relationships. "I did tell her, but I don't think she believes me and she's worried about us . . . Okay, it's been over a month since we started a relationship and your contract is up in two months. Since us being nice to each other is upsetting Cam and who knows who else . . . well, maybe I should just tell the Deputy Director we're together now and see what happens. I mean, this is just getting out of hand and short of staging some arguments with you to satisfy the squints at the Lab . . . we need to just come clean."

"Alright." Brennan gripped Booth's hand. "If they won't let us work together then it is better to find out now . . . I will act accordingly once we find out what the FBI plans to do about our partnership. If they destroy our working relationship, I will punish them."

"Yeah . . . Bones, just remember that whatever happens, we're still together." Booth needed her to understand that he wasn't going to end their personal relationship. "Whether we work together or not, you and me are not going to break up. This is just about work and nothing else. I love you and I'm not going to leave you."

Brennan nodded her head. "Yes, I'm not leaving you either. If the FBI doesn't want us to continue our partnership, then that is their loss."

"Yeah." Booth pointed at the microwave. "Your dinner is ready. Just eat and we'll go to bed. I know you're tired. We'll get some rest and tomorrow can take care of itself."

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