Title: Whatever it takes
Author: scoob2222
Prompt: "I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy." Marie Curie
Spoilers: Up to 2X9 Aliens in a Spaceship
Word Count: 559
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Hodgins does whatever it takes to win Angela over. But will it work?

He knew from the beginning that winning her over wouldn't be easy.

Angela seemed to be a carefree woman, but underneath he could see her insecurity. Her fear of being disappointed again and again. It made her run after their first date. It kept her running long after.

Even after he almost died, after she took to her home and watched over him while he slept, even then he knew it wouldn't last. Even while he appreciated it, he knew it wouldn't last. Even while he knew it was more proof that she really cared about him, he also knew that it would end. He knew she'd go back to keeping him at arm's length the moment she thought he was feeling more stable.

He considered faking a nervous breakdown, but that wasn't really the way he wanted her anyway.

He wanted her to want to be with him, but he knew it was going to take time. He also knew he wasn't going to be easy.

He decided that the only way to win her over was determination and lots of wooing. He had to make it impossible for her to say no to him.

He tried the perfume, a new $3,000 bottle of perfume guaranteed to make it clear how much she meant to him.

Unfortunately when you're worth a bazillion dollars $3,000 perfume doesn't have the same effect as it might for other guys. Not that she cared about his money. In fact she thought it was too extravagant and that it would be wrong for her to accept it.

So he bought her little things--sent her more notes, poems, tried desperately to win her over that way.

Except she still seemed to be taking them in stride--ignoring them, reading them and then sending them back.

He had to do something….big…something that would force her to look at him and really see how much he loved her.

The idea came to him all of a sudden. He was watching her draw in her sketchpad one day and it hit him—art. It was something that she loved. Something that was more than a thing….it was a part of her…as much as her eyes, her spirit, and her smile.

He went to classes every chance he could, spent weeks learning to draw a line, a curve, how to shade, color and then finally, finally he was ready.

The sketch took him a weekend. It was pencil….no color. Her beauty was such that he needed nothing extra for it to shine through.

He had it framed, wrapped it himself and left it on her desk.

Then he spent nearly an hour staring at the same microscope slide waiting for her response. He didn't even know what he was looking at. All he did know was that if this didn't work he had no idea what would.

He held his breath as he heard the telltale click of her heels coming toward him. Turning he tried to read her face, but it was as blank as he'd ever seen it.

"Hi Jack," she said.

"Hi Angela."

She was silent and in desperation he spoke, not even sure what he was going to say, "Listen..."

His words were cut off as her lips pressed against his.

And it was definitely worth all he had done to get there.