Chapter 1- Paris is always a good idea

They climbed the steps quickly, the woman's voice laughing loudly as he reached around her to unlock the door, their bodies crashing in a passionate lock as soon as they crossed the threshold. "Jack…" She giggled as he pushed her across the hallway, his foot kicking the door. "We have to stop!" Angela giggled as her back hit the wall, and the paintings that hung there rattled with the impact. "Jack!" She laughed.

"Why? Why do we have to stop?"

"Because we have to get to the airport to pick up Bren!"

"Doctor Brennan has been stuck in a hole in Indonesia for six months, I think she can handle a Parisian cab ride." He said, kissing her cheek, neck, lips as they tumbled from the hallway into the living room, where he pushed her over the edge of the couch with a resounding squeal.

"That's not fair, she's been stuck in a hole." Angela said, kissing him back as he attacked her lips. "And we've been doing this for six months…"

"And to think, I'm still not bored with it." He teased her as he attacked her neck with kisses, growling into her skin as they began to disrobe one another right there in their sunlit apartment.

"Jack, we have to go get her, I promised! What kind of person leaves their best friend deserted at the airport?"

"One that got stuck in traffic!" Jack exclaimed as he continued to kiss her, rolling her against him as she kissed him back. "Besides, do you have any idea statistically how often planes run late… there's a good chance she won't even be here until tonight." He said, and just as he spoke the words, there was a sharp rapping on the door. Jack looked up at Angela and his mouth hung open for a second. "Do you think if we're really quiet, they'll go away?" He whispered.

Angela gave him a dirty look and he let out a sheepish laugh, glancing to the door and back to Angela, there was another knock.

"Ange?" A voice penetrated through the door. Angela's eyes widened and a grin lit up her face. "Ange, are you home?"

"I'll be right there, Sweetie!" Angela exclaimed as she pushed at her husband, sending him tumbling to the ground with a thud.

"Ow!" Hodgins exclaimed, as Angela leaned down and kissed him.

"Sorry, sweetheart… I haven't seen her in six months!" She said as she reached for his hand to help him as she climbed from the couch. "Go buckle your pants so that I can open the door. She exclaimed in a whisper as she straightened herself out and practically ran for the door, swinging the door open.

She looked thinner and exhausted, dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was shorter, and a bit darker than the last time she had seen her. She looked absolutely exhausted, it appeared that the flight had been quite torturous. "Sweetie!" Angela exclaimed as she virtually tackled the woman on the other side of the door, her bags falling to the landing as she reached her arms around her friend in a mighty hug. "Merry Christmas!" She said with a grin as she pulled from the hug and touched Brennan's cheeks. "God, sweetie, you have lost too much weight…"

"I'm still within the correct body mass index for my height, Angela… at least, I think I am…" She shook her head.

"You weren't supposed to be here for another couple of hours! I wasn't expecting you to be here so early, and Jack and I were just about to go and get you." She said as Brennan looked her up and down.

"Right, as soon as you were finished with what you were doing." She said with a knowing nod and half smile.

"Come in, come in… come see the place… You must be exhausted!"

"I am quite tired, yes. It was a very long flight… and you know the holiday traffic is abysmal." She said as she stepped into the hallway and saw Jack as he walked toward her, his arms outstretched.

"Doctor B." He said with a genuine smile, hugging her closely, he could feel her hugging back, but not with the usual strength. "Are you feeling well?"

"Yeah…" She said with a weak smile, pulling from the hug, she looked to her two friends as they stood together. "I think it may just have been something on the plane… my stomach has been a little off. You two are looking very well." She smiled sincerely as she watched them pull one another close. "It feels very good to be with friends." She said definitively. "Very good."

"Well here, let me take your bags to your room, and Ange can show you around the apartment… and maybe we'll let you take a nap or something before we go have dinner. How does that sound?"

"That sounds very good… very, very good." Brennan said with a nod, as Angela hooked her arm in Brennan's and led her through the apartment as Hodgins grabbed her bags and carted them down the hallway toward one of their guest bedrooms.