Bones - I'll See Better When the Smoke Clears

(title: Toby Lightman, "Everyday")

by: jewel of athos

Author's Note: I have a hard time writing for Bones, in most cases. But the last scene in "The Couple in the Cave" struck me, as I'm sure it did a lot of people. Between that and the lyrics of the song playing at the time, I wanted to write. By no means my best work; it's rather vent-y, and there's some stuff going on in RL that's effecting how I write. But, such as it is, here you go.

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~.~*

Hannah. In turn, her name made Temperance smile, or made her sick. It was an odd mix of feelings, and it made being around the woman uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable than it was for her to be around regular people.

She knew that Booth had said he was going to move on, that he would not wait for her. And the rational part of her mind was happy for him that he had found someone to be so close to, to share his life in a way that she had never been able to. Logically, Booth's relationship with Hannah was right.

But at the same time, to see her kiss him, and watch him kiss her back, was so unnatural to her that it physically hurt to watch. Watching them go off together for their dinner date that night was agonizing. That they'd invited her along had only made it worse. She knew that she was socially awkward, and that there were some things that she simply didn't pick up on; but she knew what the expression "to be a third wheel" meant. That was not something that she was interested in.

"Hey, sweetie." She looked up in surprise as Angela sat down beside her on the stool that Booth had abandoned

"Ange, what are you doing here?" she asked. "You know, you're not supposed to drink while you're pregnant." Angela sighed.

"I know. I'm going to be strong, and restrain myself. Anyways, I came in to see how you were doing. I thought that Booth was with you?" Temperance shrugged.

"He and Hannah had dinner plans; they left about ten minutes ago."

"Hm. And how many of these glasses have you emptied since then?" Angela picked up her half-emptied glass and raised an eyebrow.

"Only that one, Angela. They don't give you a new glass every time that they give you a new drink; I would think that you would know that…unless, of course, you want to know how many times they've refilled this cup, in which case I can be much clearer." Angela laughed, shaking her head as she put the cup aside.

"I'll take the second option, Brennan."

"Four refills."

"Brennan!"

"It's a good bottle…" Temperance shrugged. "There was no one else to finish it, anyways." Angela sighed.

"Honey, you do realize that you can admit that this whole "Hannah and Booth" thing is bothering you, right?"

"But it isn't bothering me."

"Sweetie – "

"No, Ange. I'm happy that he's found someone who fits with him, like he wanted. I'm glad that they're together."

"Now honey, don't lie about it."

"I'm not lying! I promise, Angela; I'm perfectly fine with all of this."

"So says half a bottle of Tequila." Angela rolled her eyes. "Looks, sweetie. I know that you deal with things differently than most people, and that you need some space right now; but you know that if there's ever anything that you need, anything at all, you can still always come to me, right?" Temperance nodded.

"Of course I know that," she said, her eyes wide and serious. "You're my best friend, Angela. I know that I can always come to you."

"Good." Angela leaned over and hugged her friend. "Listen, I have to go now; I have a doctor's appointment at an obscenely early hour tomorrow. But if you want to talk, no matter what time it is or what's going on, you can call me. Alright?"

"Thanks Ange." Temperance watched her friend leave with a small smile on her face. Already her pregnancy was changing the way that she walked; it would not be long before she started to show. She and Hodgins were lucky. Just like Booth and Hannah were lucky. They'd all found people that they belonged with.

Once her friend was out of sight, Temperance sighed and motioned for the bartender to refill her glass. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling about all of this "love" going around with her friends; but her mind was already starting to buzz from the liquor, so what was the point in stopping now? Maybe by the time the fog in her head cleared up tomorrow, she'd be able to figure out what she wanted, and why her partner's happiness was making her feel like she wanted to scream.

fin.