"Hey Honey – you almost ready to leave?"
Hodgins turned from his microscope to look at his wife standing in the doorway to the Ookie Room. The two had planned a date night, proving their trust in Angela's father once more.
"Yeah, sure, I just need to finish up sorting through some of this evidence and then I'll go home and change," Hodgins said, walking toward his wife when she started doing the same.
"Okay. What time is the reservation?"
"Seven thirty. What time is it now?"
"About four fifteen. We should leave by five if we want to have enough time to get home, change, and make it to the restaurant in time," Angela mentioned. "You also need to tell Brennan that you're leaving early."
Hodgins felt a pang of apprehension at the thought of telling Dr. Temperance Brennan that he, a fellow doctorate and resident Bug-And-Slime Guy, was leaving early while in the middle of a case. No matter, though: date night will not be rescheduled…again.
"Shouldn't…I…tell Cam first?" Hodgins asked.
"It's been years. Are we still pretending that Cam is the one to tell things first? No matter that Cam signs the pay checks – tell Brennan, then Cam, and then make sure that Cam thinks that she was told first and initially approved the early departure."
"And how much of an idiot do you think I am?" the unexpected voice caused them both to start and turn to face the door on the opposite side of the Ookie Room where Cam was standing.
Rather than risk more ire from his boss, Hodgins closed his mouth and stayed silent. He noticed that his wife, who had made the pay check comment, did the same.
Cam, Hodgins noticed, had a bit of a smirk playing at her lips, but he could also tell she was failing at not letting it show. Giving in, Cam sighed and said, "I realize that the whole 'I'm from the Bronx and I will fire you' speech in the beginning has since lost its power of threat, but I am the one who signs on your paychecks," at this, Angela started shaking her head and was about to speak, but was cut off by Cam, "but, I am willing to concede that Dr. Brennan has a high rank in the hierarchy of the Jeffersonian. That being said," she paused once more, "this conversation never happened, and have a good night." With nothing further than a smile, Cam turned her heel and walked out, headed back to her office to prepare for her own departure from the Lab.
Hodgins looked at Angela, and they both laughed. Having dodged one bullet, he walked with Angela into the main area of the Lab. While Angela splits off towards her office to finish working for the day, Hodgins steps onto the platform, hoping to prolong the moment of truth. From this vantage point, Hodgins can see that Booth is walking through the main area into Brennan's office. "Hey, Booth!"
With his usual stoicism, Booth glances his way and promptly turned away, continuing on the path he hadn't broken in his quest to get to Brennan's office. Not be ignored and to knock out two birds with one stone, Hodgins hurries down the steps and heads towards where he had seen Booth disappearing.
As soon as he looked into the doorway, he stopped short. Nothing, even with all the suspicions and hopes that Angela bounced off him, could have prepared him for the sight he came upon: Booth and Brennan – making out.
Seriously.
Hodgins didn't know if he should make his presence known, or if he should just walk away quickly. Either way, he knew that Angela would need to know, and would need to know before the night was over.
His deliberation, though only a few moments' time, was long enough for him to be discovered. Booth and Brennan separated from their...activities…and Hodgins realized that he was still standing outside the doorway, mouth wide open. Booth began walking forward, and Hodgins prepared to be threatened.
In a low voice that all but dripped with a mixture of authority and sarcasm that only he seemed to be able to pull off, Booth leaned toward Hodgins and said, "You didn't see anything. I know that Angela won't see anything, either, but if anyone else doesn't see anything, I will shoot you."
Without waiting for a response, Booth turned and went back into Brennan's office, shutting the door behind him. Hodgins waited for a moment, and was rewarded for his patience. Brennan pointed to the blinds, causing Booth to turn around and huff. Hodgins is rewarded once more with the sight of Booth fiddling with the closure to the blinds, managing to open them further before finally shutting them.
Wasting no time, Hodgins scurries into his wife's office where she was just picking up her purse, ready to leave to go home. She notices that Hodgins isn't ready to go and says, "Honey, why aren't you ready to go? It's almost five…"
"I know, but once I tell you this, and I'm actually not telling you this because no one else can be told this, you'll forgive me for not being ready on time."
After a pause, Angela asks, "So, why are we just standing here when we could be going home?"
"Oh, right," Hodgins replies, having been too excited to remember to speak. "I saw something that I know you would want to see."
"Which is…what?" Angela asked. Hodgins prepared his ears.
"I just caught Brennan and Booth…" Angela nods her head slowly, seemingly trying to pry the information out of him. "…Making out," Hodgins finished, waiting and preparing his ears for the inevitable squeal.
Only to be disappointed when one didn't happen. Instead, he was greeted with a soft scoff and a chuckle. "Did I miss something? This is…this is a big thi—no. This is a huge thing!"
"Honey, I already know."
What?
He must have spoken out loud because the next thing he heard was, "Yeah, I've known for a few weeks. Brennan asked me, sister to hypothetical sister, as she said, to keep it under wraps for a while…just until they were sure," she said. Hodgins couldn't help but feel that either she was leaving something out or he was missing something obvious, but he couldn't tell which.
Either way, he now knew something fabulous – his long-time suspicion (and hope, if he was being completely honest with himself) had been confirmed. Even if he couldn't openly congratulate two of his best friends on the new development in their long-time partnership, he could always do as many fist-pumps as he liked in private.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, quotes, and settings are the property of their respective owners. The author claims no ownership of any aspect in the publicly recognizable forum other than what is original thought. No profit is made and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Hi. It's been way too long. I have many reasons, but none that I really wish to share. Suffice it to say: I'm a teeny bit stressed, but I'm working through it.
This was a bit of an experiment for me: I've never written a Bones piece in anything other than Brennan or Booth POV...writing through Hodgins' eyes was a lot of fun.
I wrote this for the 2013 Bones Secret Santa, hosted by Biba79. I wrote for it last year, had a lot of fun, and posted in the very beginning of the project (somewhere in October). This year, due to the stress mentioned above, I haven't posted until the very end of the project (the deadline is January 6th). Hopefully next year, I'll be able to find a happy medium and post around November or December.
Until then, I'll be trucking through and working on current and future projects. I do have some ideas in mind for this fandom, and I'll definitely make time to relieve some stress by writing.
This is unbeta'd, although the awesome woman who usually does the job, cmol8806, is fabulous. She also wrote in the Secret Santa, so be sure to go check out her stuff.
Thanks to everyone who stops by. If you would, take a second or thirty and let me know what you thought. Thanks!