Disclaimer: Characters are property of Hart Hanson, Fox, etc. I am only borrowing them for my own amusement.
Angela liked the way the fear eased away when she wrapped her fingers around Hodgins' wrist and he slid his palm up her back to her shoulder. This sort of silent comfort was beginning to be natural to them, but Angela had never been on this side of it. Ever since Jack had been imprisoned by the Gravedigger, she had been laying with him most nights, rubbing his back, placing kisses on his forehead, feeling as the tension left his body and he relaxed into sleep.
They were taking things slowly, glacially from Angela's standpoint, because of Hodgins' injured legs and nightmares. They were eating lunch together at the diner nearly every day, hands clasped together on the table, laughing and catching each other's gaze, and spending most nights at her apartment. Angela was curious about why he preferred her postage stamp of an apartment to his mysterious and apparently enormous estate, but she didn't pry.
Jack liked the feeling of Angela in his arms, being the protector after many nights of the reverse scenario. After a few moments, he shifted and pulled Angela closer to him, capturing her lips with his as she turned her face to him in slight surprise. She responded eagerly to the kiss, sliding her tongue along his, burying her fingers in the mess of curls on his head. They stayed like that, mouths exploring each other, the world around them fading until they heard a throat clear in the doorway. They broke apart and turned to find Dr. Saroyan smirking.
"Angela, Dr. Hodgins, let's try to keep that on personal time, okay?"
"Oh, hi, Dr. Saroyan." "Hi Cam." The couple muttered at the same time, disappointed and a little embarrassed that someone had walked in on such a private moment.
"Dr. Hodgins, I need your report on the organic matter from the baggy."
Hodgins released the hold he had on Angela's hand, and went for his bag. He handed the folder to a still smirking Dr. Saroyan. "PCP." Hodgins said simply, trying to get his boss out of their hair as quickly as possible. Dr. Saroyan nodded, shook her head slightly and left, laughing quietly to herself as she walked away.
That night, as they walked hand in hand up to her apartment, Hodgins smiled. "So, Cam knows that we're together. How do you feel about that?"
Angela stopped, gave him an appraising look like she was trying to figure out what he was really saying, and smiled coyly. "Are we together?" It sounded like a rejection, but she didn't drop his hand, instead she squeezed it reassuringly.
"We're together now, aren't we?" Hodgins could play along. They walked in contented silence the rest of the way to Angela's door.
"Do you want to come in?" Angela asked as she fumbled in her purse for her keys. "I've got more of that coffee you like." It was an invitation to stay over. Hodgins felt his stomach doing flip-flops like it hadn't done since he was a kid. Instead of answering, Hodgins reached out and selected the right key from Angela's key ring and opened the door for her, following on her heels into the apartment.
Usually they would watch a bad movie, and then uneasily dance around the idea of going to bed. They would lie together and talk and kiss, but they hadn't yet had sex, Hodgins' legs had been healing, his nightmares just beginning to taper off. Tonight, they both felt a certain urgency. Spurred on by the memory of the electric kiss they had shared in her office, Angela set down her purse and coat on a chair by the door and made her move.
She slid Jack's bag off his shoulder and set it near her purse. He smirked at her, aware of where this moment was heading. His stomach was still doing jumps like he was on a roller coaster. He slid his arms around her waist, their eyes meeting. "Hey beautiful." He whispered huskily. Angela smiled brightly, circling her arms around his neck.
"Hey yourself." She then leaned forward to crash her lips onto his.
Later, they lay in bed laughing, happy and completely satisfied. "Hodgins, that was great."
"You weren't so bad yourself." He rolled over to kiss along her clavicle and neck. Angela sighed contentedly.
"Why do we always stay here?" Hodgins didn't stop kissing her, but moved up to her earlobe, grazing the surface with his teeth.
"It's a change of scenery. Makes me feel safer." He said simply into her ear before concentrating back on her neck. Angela didn't respond, instead she stayed silent for a few moments trying to work up the courage for what she said next.
"Jack, about what I said earlier. We are together. I mean, I'm not seeing anyone else and I'm not planning on seeing anyone else." Jack stopped his pleasant ministrations on her neck and looked up at her face. Angela had shut her eyes to make speaking those words easier for her. She didn't like to put labels on things, didn't like to get serious. But with Hodgins it felt different to her, like standing together at the beginning of a long path in a beautiful garden.
"Ange. Look at me." Angela's brown eyes snapped open and she gazed into his blue ones. "You know I feel the same way. I love you. And you don't have to say it back, because maybe you don't feel it yet and I understand. But when I was stuck in that car and I thought I would never see you again I promised myself that if I did get out of there I would tell you because life is too short to love someone and not have them know how you feel about them." The words rushed out quickly, but Angela understood and nodded before kissing him full on the mouth. She wanted to tell him that she loved him too, but the fear inside her stopped her, the same fear she had felt flare earlier that day when Jack had told her he loved her eyes.
The next morning, Hodgins woke to the smell of coffee and an empty bed beside him. He slipped out of bed, wandered over to the edge of the loft and looked down. Angela was already dressed for work, pouring two cups of coffee at the kitchen counter.
"Hey sleepy-head!" Angela called up as she noticed Hodgins watching her. "You just looked so peaceful; I didn't want to wake you."
"What time is it, Angie? I'm going to be late for work if I go home to change, aren't I?"
"I washed the clothes you left here last week. They are hanging in the closet."
"You are my angel." Hodgins scrambled to get dressed and downstairs as quickly as he could. Angela was eating toast and sipping coffee while standing at the counter. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. She leaned back into the embrace. "Good morning, beautiful."
"You want some toast? I made it myself." Angela re-settled herself so she could feed Hodgins a bite of the toast she was holding.
"Aww, you shouldn't have slaved over the toaster like that for me." Hodgins joked, brushing some stray crumbs from his beard. They stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes, sipping their coffee and thumbing through the newspaper.
"Do we really have to go to work today?" Angela broke her silence after glancing at the clock and noticing it read 8:30. Her brow crinkled and she looked very distressed. "Can't we just stay here and let the others solve the murder?"
Jack laughed softly, but his eyes showed concern. "Angie, you know you are the most important person on the team." Hodgins picked up his bag near the door and slung it over his shoulder, then picked up Angela's and slid it onto her shoulder. "How about I sit with you while you go through the rest of the video?"
Angela, putting on a brave face, smiled broadly and opened the door.
She smiled again when Hodgins walked into her office holding a cup of tea and a bowl of popcorn a couple hours after they arrived at work. "Hey Ange, I thought you could use a little break." Hodgins handed her the tea and kissed her cheek. "And besides, I missed you when I was analyzing the particulates from the axe handle."
"You did promise to sit with my while I went through the video. I'm about to start again."
"Well, good thing I brought popcorn." They sat in companionable silence, their fingers brushing against each other a few times in the popcorn bowl and stealing glances at each other, as Angela ran the footage through her body mass recognition program. When Booth and Brennan had come in and Angela had defended his presence in her office, Hodgins felt a puff of ego. But after they had left, he realized he did need to finish the rest of the particulate analysis.
"How about I take you to lunch before I finish with the axe handle?" Angela nodded, distracted by the intense footage on the screen. "The diner?"
After solving the case and making the arrest, Angela still felt uneasy. The case had gotten to her, and cataloging the evidence for the FBI was going to take another few hours at least. She just wanted to take a long bath, relax, and forget about the monsters in the world. Having Hodgins there to just be with her helped exponentially. So when the questionable image in the video appeared and her heart leapt into her throat, Angela remembered what Jack had said the previous night about a change of scenery making him feel safe.
Hodgins knew that this was the turning point in their relationship, where they started walking down the long path in the beautiful garden hand in hand. He smiled, but tried to hide it from an obviously disconcerted Angela. That night, together in his bed, Jack heard Angela whisper "I love you too, Jack."