Set immediately post 401-402.
AN: Booth & Hodgins friendship piece, Angela/Hodgins, Booth/Bones UST. Booth takes Hodgins drinking.
Title from Jewel's Hands. Because I bloody well hate titling things.
…X…
…Heartache Came to Visit Me…
…X…
"Booth, I can't come tonight," Brennan said, her sigh carrying over the telephone. On the freeway, a disgruntled Booth frowned into his cell.
"What? You promised me on the plane that we'd have a good ol' American dinner!"
"I know—look, Booth, I have to stay with Angela. She's really upset, and—"
"Is everything okay?" Booth cut in, trying to suppress the frantic worry building in his throat. Ever since Zach…
"It's just…well. They broke up," Brennan said at last, feeling completely unprepared for comforting her friend and hoping Booth would have some advice on the matter.
"Broke up?" Booth blinked, confused. Then he froze, nearly hitting another car in the process. Amid honking horns he managed a flabbergasted "They broke up? Hodgins and Angela broke up? What happened?"
"She said it was mutual…a lack of trust? I don't know, Booth, she's really upset."
"Well, let her talk and cry if she wants to, feed her ice cream, put in a chick flick—y'know, Pride & Prejudice, Pretty Woman, and don't belittle her emotions or talk down to her. Got it, Bones?"
"I know how to talk to my friend!" Brennan snapped, and then sighed. "Sorry Booth, I'm just…sorry. Thank you."
"No problemo, Bones. S'why you keep me around."
"What about Hodgins?" she asked, and Booth smirked.
"Well, I guess he and—" the pain hit him abruptly in the gut. Zach. He should be used to it by now, but he's not. "I'll take care of it," he managed.
Brennan seemed to notice his change of mood, because there was a long pause, but ultimately Angela needed her and that was more than enough emotional turmoil for her to handle at the moment. Especially after the last week.
"Bye, Booth," she offered, and he smiled, pretending he wasn't almost crushing the phone in his hand.
"Bye Bones." He snapped the phone shut and tosses it onto the passenger's seat.
"Hold on, Hodgins," he sighed. "We'll figure this out."
…X…
Booth half-knocked on the open lab door as he strolled casually in. Hodgins raised an eyebrow as he looked up.
"Didn't think I'd see you in here so soon after getting back," he frowned. "Brennan's—"
"Not here, yeah, I know," Booth nodded, helping himself to the seat across from him. "I actually came to see you." Hodgins blinked and then glanced behind him.
"Men in black suits to drag me off?" he asked, trying for a smirk but failing miserably. Booth didn't even deign to reply, instead opting for a change of subject.
"No weekend plans? Thought you and Angela'd be doing something."
"No, we, ah…we…we're not so much of the togetherness," Hodgins said, stumbling over the words he hadn't yet gotten used to saying. Booth let his eyes widen a little, leaned forward onto the table.
"Sounds like you could use a drink, then," Booth said, voice thoughtful. Hodgins looked up at him, surprised.
"You have no idea," he half-laughed. Booth nodded sharply, pushing himself back up to his feet.
"What're you waiting for?" he asked. Hodgins frowned.
"What—now? With you?"
"Take off the white coat, Hodgins. I know a little place around the corner. Better to leave your car here, because we're going to need a cab home."
"Oh—man, I dunno—"
"Funny, Hodgins, you seem to think I'm asking…but really, this is a matter of national security. I'm afraid I'm going to have to commandeer your sorry ass for the next hour or so."
Hodgins' lips twitched for the first time in the conversation. "So you're playing it like that?"
"Well, not all of your conspiracy theories can be wrong, can they?" Booth smirked.
…X…
"I hate women," Hodgins moaned into his hands, and Booth just laughed.
"You hate everyone."
"I don't hate…" Hodgins paused, considering. "Okay," he grinned. "I do hate everyone."
"On the bright side, you no longer address me as a minion of the dark side," Booth smiled, and Hodgins frowned.
"I never thought you were an evil minion, Booth."
"Oh?" Booth asked, eyebrow sliding up.
"I just thought you were a boy scout oblivious to everything," Hodgins snorted, and Booth rolled his eyes and gestured for two more beers from the bartender.
"Thanks, Hodgins. I love being called a boy scout. Really."
"I don't care what you love," he laughed, face a little red, "I hate everyone, remember?"
"I take it that means I'm paying," Booth mock-sighed, grabbing the beers and pulling out his wallet.
"Nah. I'm a miserable bastard, but a rich miserable bastard, I've got this round."
…X…
"I would like you to bring my friend and I a beer, and to keep bringing them whenever we are out. To that end, I'm giving you $300, and you can keep the rest as a tip."
"Hodgins—" Booth frowned, startled, but he was immediately cut off.
"And don't worry, we plan to be very quiet drunks," Hodgins added with a grin.
"Hell, for that money I don't care what you and your…companion…get up to."
"Hodgins," Booth hissed as the bartender walked away. "You're not paying all of that."
"Did he seem weird to you?" Hodgins frowned, ignoring his comment.
"Oh." Booth considered the beer in front of him before straightening slightly. "I think he thought we were together!"
"What?" Hodgins blinked, looking at him curiously.
"The way he said 'companion'…oh man, he thought we were a couple," Booth laughed. Hodgins raised his eyebrows.
"What—you're my sexy FBI boyfriend?" he asked. Booth almost choked on his beer.
"And I am an expensive date!" he snorted. "Dude, you should not be throwing that much money away on alcohol."
"I think I've got enough to occasionally treat my friends to a drink," Hodgins' scoffed. Booth frowned slightly at the word 'friend' and then shrugged.
"I'm not going to fight with the man that hates the world."
…X…
"We should getcha laid," Booth snorted, glancing at the still morose Hodgins who was now half-slumped on the table they'd moved to. Hodgins smirked.
"Can't. Don' wanna cheat on my sexy FBI boyfriend!" he said, and they both broke out into laughter. Finally they calmed down.
"Oh, Jack, you really know how to make me feel special," Booth replied in a throaty whisper, and Jack sprayed beer all over him as he burst out laughing. "Aw, man," Booth whined, grabbing a napkin and starting to dab the beer off himself. "I love this shirt."
"You're so metro," Hodgins smirked, and Booth looked up with a snort.
"Take a look in the mirror, Mr. My-Oufit-Needs-To-Be-Perfect-Before-I-Can-Go-Anywhere."
"You are such a bitch!" Hodgins mock-whined, pitching his voice high, and Booth nearly fell off his chair laughing.
"Oh god, don't do that!" he half-begged, holding his stomach and trying vainly to stop laughing.
"Aw man, they're closing," Hodgins frowned, looking at the time, and Booth glanced at his watch with a stifled curse.
"It's 2am!"
"Y'know what…" Hodgins whispered conspirationally. Booth leaned in.
"What?"
"We…should get more beer!"
"I have some at my place," Booth offered, and then tried and failed to hide a grin. "Wanna come over to my place?" he asked, eyebrows wiggling, and Hodgins smirked.
"Oooh Booth-baby!" he answered, and laughing and leaning on each other they stumbled out to catch a cab.
…X…
"Where to?" the taxidriver asked, and they glanced at each other.
"Your place or mine?" Booth asked throatily, and Hodgins lips quirked up in a smile.
"Let's go to yours, tough guy," Hogdins smirked, and Booth, trying not to laugh, gave the driver his address.
…X…
They'd had a couple more drinks, colored their fingernails red with Parker's markers while giggling like high school girls, permanent-marker tattooed their names on each others arms, and were now slumped on Booth's couch flipping through crappy late-night television shows.
"She didn't trust me," Hodgins whispered, finally. "And I didn't trust her, either." He shifted in his seat until he was facing Booth. "How does that happen?"
"I dunno," Booth sighed. "Sometimes, no matter how much we love someone and want things to work, they don't." They stared blankly at the TV for a bit.
"I screwed up," Hodgins said. "I screwed up with Angela, and with Zach, and—"
"Hey—hey—hey," Booth interrupted. "What Zach did was not your fault."
"I should've noticed. He's my best friend, I should've—"
"Are you kidding? You want to blame someone, blame me! Zach comes back from Iraq and goes psycho—sound a little like PTSD? And huh, who do we all know who's been over there? Oh, yeah—that'd be me. I should've stopped him from going, or watched him better when he came back, or—"
"You can't fix everything," Hodgins snapped at him.
"Neither can you," Booth said softly. "And you can't blame yourself for everything, either."
They sat there for a long time, despite the fact that the TV was now playing only static.
"I still love her," Hodgins whispered, and Booth leaned over to him.
"So you should fight for her."
"What? With who?" Hodgins blinked, and Booth felt a smile tug at his lips.
"Yourself. You love her. She loves you. Sometimes you have to walk away…but I think you two need to talk. Really talk. You've been through a lot of shit right now, and…you shouldn't let it come between you. You need to talk."
"Dude, when did you become freakin' Dr. Phil?" Hodgins asked, and Booth laughed a little, settling back into his seat.
"Soon as I found myself surrounded with emotion-deficient squints." They stared at the wall for a minute, and then Hodgins turned back to him with a frown.
"You just used the word 'deficient.'"
"…yeah?"
"You totally are smarter than you let on. I knew it!"
"Not then I let on…it's not my fault you assume I'm an idiot just because I don't have some doctorate tucked away somewhere," Booth snapped, looking a bit haughty. Hodgins stared at him for a second and then just started laughing.
"Oh man, Brennan totally has her work cut out with you," he snorted. Booth looked at him blankly.
"What're you talking about?"
"About…" Hodgins blinked and then trailed off. "About how you two…are partners…how she has to…to put up with you…as a partner?"
Booth looked at the way Hodgins was slumped on the couch and sighed. "You're drunk."
Hodgins' snorted. "Look who's talking."
"I want you to know…if I had the energy, I'd hit you."
"Big words, Booth…big words."
…X…
"You've got a key to Booth's place?" Angela asked, arms tucked tightly around her body against the cold as Brennan flipped through the keys on her key chain. Brennan frowned at her.
"We're partners," she said, as if that explained everything, and Angela rolled her eyes.
"You're not allowed to always use that excuse," she sighed as Brennan unlocked the door and pushed it open.
"I don't know what you're—" Brennan trailed off with a little giggle. Angela, frowning, walked up next to her.
Booth and Hodgins were laying half on top of each other—red fingernails peeking out from underneath the small pile of blankets they'd pulled on top of them—and with a soft snort Booth jerked, eyes fluttering open to land on Angela and Brennan. He blinked, his eyes widening as he glanced from them to Hodgins and then, full-out grinning, back again. Then he winced.
"Ngh. Head," he groaned.
"Booth—we've got a case, and you weren't answering the phone…"
"No phones. No drunk dials," he started, and then he blinked. "Hey Angela."
"Hey. I slept over at Brennan's, although I've got to say we weren't quite as cuddly…"
"Hmm? Oh—Jack," Booth grunted, nudging Hodgins' slumped form. "Hey, we've got company, man."
"Wha—no," Hodgins grunted, flipping over and in the process knocking both of them off of the couch. His flailing hand caught the coffee table and the look of panic on his face had Angela moving to crouch in front of him before she even realized it. Booth, meanwhile, had cracked his head on the floor on the way down. Brennan sauntered over to deal with his whining.
"Jack—hey, Jack, it's okay, you're not underground, you're safe," Angela whispered, the usual words pouring out as she realized instinctively just what nightmare he'd had.
"No, no—I…Angela?" His eyes focused on hers uncertainly.
"Hey, baby," she smiled.
"What are…what're you doing here? Why am I on the floor…am I lying on Booth?" he asked, his voice getting progressively higher and more confused.
"Yes. You are," Booth moaned. "Bones, stop with the yelling will you? I'm right here!"
"Booth, why do you have Hodgins' name tattooed on your arm?" Brennan asked innocently. Hodgins and Booth both looked at each other, horrified.
"We didn't—"
"We wouldn't—"
They both scrambled to look at their arms, getting untangled and cracking a few elbows in the close quarters in the process. Angela and Brennan were quite unsuccessfully hiding their laughter.
"This is permanent marker," Booth bit off slowly, glaring at Brennan.
"Is it?" she asked, her voice suspiciously high-pitched and innocent. He kept glaring.
Hodgins looked up at Angela and then they both half-froze, eyes glued to each other, tension creeping into the room.
"I'm not letting you walk," Hodgins whispered at last. Angela bit her bottom lip, but when he took her hand she didn't pull it away.
"Jack…"
"I don't need easy, and I don't need smooth, but I do need you, Angela, and no little thing like your highly-attractive husband or ex-husband or whatever he is now is going to keep me from needing you, and fighting for you."
"Jack…" Angela whispered, and then gave up on words entirely as she leaned in to kiss him. Booth and Brennan, who were sitting in awed silence, turned to look at each other, guilty smiles slipping onto their faces.
"Come on, Bones, let's give them some time," Booth said, standing up and holding out a hand to pull her back up to her feet. She grinned up at him and took it.
"I'll tell you about the case," she said as they walked out into the kitchen.
"What case? Why are you getting called about cases?"
"Your boss called me looking for you. He was maaaaad…"
"Why'd he call you?" Booth grumbled.
"I don't know…I think he thought we'd be together?"
"Why does everyone always think we're together?" Booth frowned. Brennan shrugged, although she couldn't help a little satisfied smile sneak out.
"You called him Jack," she smirked.
"No, I didn't," Booth frowned.
"Is Angela going to have to fight you for him?" she continued, poking him in the arm.
"What's with this violence?" Booth whined. "And no, she's free to take him back with my blessing. I've got my eye on someone else entirely."
"Oh? Who?" Brennan asked, turning speculative. He grinned down at her.
"Oh…someone. Now, we should probably go. Did Angela bring her car?"
"No, she came in mine. Hers is still at the Jeffersonian."
"And Hodgins and mine are still at that bar…right, I'm getting aspirin, you go tell the lovebirds that either they're coming into work with us or they're taking a cab in later, but absolutely no funny business in my bed."
"Do you have a bed? I thought you just slept on the couch. With Jack."
"Oh, I have way too much of a headache to handle this," Booth groaned, turning and walking out.
"Long sleeves, Booth, to hide your love-tattoos!" Brennan called happily after him. He managed to resist slamming his head into the nearest wall.
…X…
"Was last night as bad as I think it was?" Hodgins asked softly as they piled out of the car. Booth's lips twitched.
"Depends on what you think is bad, Hodgins, baby."
"Oh god…oh god! My…my sexy FBI…"
"Yep," Booth grinned, watching Hodgins waver between embarrassment and amusement. Instead he finally tipped towards seriousness.
"Thanks," he said. "For being there last night. I…"
"Hey, no problem," Booth assured him quickly. Hodgins looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Right."
"So…you and Angela? You good?" Booth prodded. A quick smile flashed and fell across Hodgins' face.
"Not good…but getting there, I think. Working for it."
"Good," Booth nodded. "You both deserve it." He slapped Hodgins' on the back and then turned on his heel and started down the hall. Paused. Debated. Turned. "Hey, so we should do that again sometime. Just…with less markers," he added with a grin. Hodgins' studied his face for a moment and then nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'd like that," he said.
Booth paused for a second and then nodded sharply and turned back down the corridor.
Angela and Brennan, watching them talk through the window, turned back to each other. "Wonder what they were talking about?" Angela thought out-loud.
Brennan just grinned to herself.
...Finis...
...X...
An: So, yes, this is the Booth&Hodgins friendship piece that's been eating my soul for the last two months. Yay done! And it's longer than my usual one-shots...not sure if that's good or bad, lol. Hopefully you liked, Amour, Wolfie.