Bones: Well I Can See Behind the Curtain

(title: paramore, "turn it off" )

by: jewel of athos

Author's Note: I have a hard time writing for Bones some of the time; but I LOVE writing Angela. I'm not sure that I've got her completely IC in this fic; but I figure that she's pregnant, she's going to be a little bit different for a while. Also, I'm still getting back into my writing after spending practically two months with writer's block, and thus in other pursuits. Please bear with me as I stumble back into writing, with many oneshots and much venting through characters along the way.

Disclaimer: Bones and all of its characters and ideas belong to their rightful owners. I claim nothing except my own original ideas. No copyright infringement intended!

*~.~b&b~.~*

Angela wanted donuts.

Normally, she wasn't one to crave sweets that were not French – French pastries were a different thing entirely – here in DC, nothing could compare to Paris. But pregnancy had already begun to do strange things to her stomach, and that day, she could think of nothing but a coconut-covered donut. The second that she left the building for her lunch break, she headed over to the diner to satisfy her craving. It was there that she met Hannah.

Angela had never spoken to Hannah before; she had seen her on tv, and with Booth occasionally, but her first priority had always been to keep her husband's attention away from the woman. She'd never encountered her alone before. She decided that this would be the perfect time for the two of them to have a nice little chat.

Getting her donut and a cup of tea from the counter, she made her way over to the other woman's table and sat down, pleased with herself when Hannah looked startled. Angela smiled.

"Hi, Hannah, I'm Angela. I've seen you around the Jeffersonian with Booth before, but I don't think that we've ever met." Hannah offered her a small smile.

"You're Jack's wife, right?" she asked. "He's very in love with you; I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh, I've heard a lot about you, too." Hannah laughed at her.

"Only good things, I hope."

"Well, that depends on how you look at it."

"I'm sorry, did I do something to offend you? Because I promise – "

"Well, let's see." Angela began ticking offenses off on her fingers. "You are lying to Booth, slowly trying to seduce my husband, and, oh yeah! Killing my best friend." She leveled her best accusing frown at Hannah. The other woman shook her head.

"Angela, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I'm not after your husband, and I never have been; I love Booth. And as for lying to him, I'm not, for the same reason that I couldn't cheat on him and make Jack cheat on you. And Temperance and I are friends; I haven't done anything to hurt her."

"Alright, maybe the two of you have convinced her that you're friends; but lets face it. All that you are is a reminder to her that she doesn't know how to have the man that she loves and can never be with him. To watch you cling and fawn over him like you've won some kind of a prize even makes me sick, and I'm happily married with no intention of that changing. But there's no one else that Brennan could ever really love."

"Angela, you're wrong. Seeley and I are in love, and it's not because I'm trying to lord it over his partner; they don't have feelings for each other. I'm not here to hurt anyone." Angela sighed.

"Well you'd better just listen to me all the same; I'm unpredictable lately, and you don't want to get on my bad side.

"Booth and Brennan are two of my best friends, and I love them both to pieces. If you must insist on trying to be with him, then you had better not break his heart. And stay away from Brennan." She leaned back in her chair and pasted a smile on her face, and saw Booth come into the diner.

"Hey, what are you two ladies doing here?" he asked, coming up to their table, greeting Hannah with a kiss. Angela rolled her eyes while he was distracted.

"Oh, we were just getting to know each other," she told him lightly. "Girl talk, stuff you wouldn't be interested in. Right, Hannah?" She smiled sweetly at the other woman, who forced a smile onto her own face as well. She laughed.

"Yeah, just girl talk. But come on, we should get going; we're going to have to rush if we want to be able to eat our food at the restaurant. You're late." Booth shrugged.

"I got caught in traffic, sorry."

"It's alright; but we'd better hurry now. Talk to you later Angela?"

"Oh, sure, definitely." When hell freezes over. She glanced at Seeley. "Bye, Booth."

"See you later, Angela."

Angela watched the couple leave the restaurant, wondering if Hannah was going to spill to Booth once they were alone. But no, she had played along here, trying to seem happy for Booth's sake. She wouldn't say anything to let on that his friends and his girlfriend didn't get along nearly as well as he would have liked. No, she would keep it a secret.

fin.