A/N: This is my first (and most likely only) fic. I'm not sure how long it's going to be. I wanted to have it complete before I posted this whole thing, but like I said, I'm not so sure how long it's going to be. I'm not even certain I know what I'm doing on this site, so bear with me. I'm pretty sure the characters are a little OOC, but this is something I needed/wanted to get out of my head. This is set after "The Skull In The Desert" so if you haven't seen it, then you may not want to may contain stuff after that, as well as way into season 2, so read at own accord. It's been a while since I've seen those episodes, so things may be off, and now that this is the longest A/N I'll let you all read.
Angela Montenegro woke up in a cold sweat as she realized, once again, that Kirk is never coming back. This is the eighth time this week, and it was only Wednesday. It's becoming a habit that once she finally shakes the negative images out of her head, she slowly thinks back to the good things and slips into a semi-deep sleep, only to be driven awake by the lifeless images again and again. The dreams come in different forms, at different times, but always end the same. Sometimes the images even show up in her day dreams. When she's at work and listening to her friends carry on about "tibula" this or "broken femur" that, the thoughts creep into her subconscious. She will never again see his smiling face, or feel that loving touch of him brushing her hair from just above her eyes as she sits in the stillness pouring her heart and soul into another drawing. Considering it is now 5:30 a.m she figures she might as well get ready and head into work. She can take her time in her morning routine and stop for coffee on the way in.
Having the spirit of Angela Montenegro, she tries not to let the sadness show. As she looks through the lab at nothing in particular, she sees Kirk taking pictures of something that she can't quite make out, but knows that he found something special as his eyes light up and he gets this look about him. His stance changes, his whole body seems to move in this airy way that she just cannot describe. He has the most gorgeous smile on his face, and it's apparently contagious, because Angela can feel the smile muscles begin to work. A feeling she hasn't felt in a long time. It almost pains her, but to see Kirk move the way he does when he photographs the perfect image, you can't help but smile along with him. The smile then fades, almost as quickly as it appeared, for if you follow her eyes, she's actually watching Hodgins as he has just discovered the cause of death of yet another faceless victim that has come through the doors of the Jeffersonian.
"It's weird how both Kirk and Jack almost have the same air about them when something goes their way." Angela said to no one in particular. She's trying to snap out of it. She's caught herself staring yet again and there's no telling what Jack will think if he catches her. It hasn't been but a few months since Kirk left, but she can't betray him like that. Not that staring at Jack would be betraying Kirk, but she doesn't want to lead him on. Her heart isn't ready. Besides, they work together. She goes back into her office. No place is safe from the thoughts, but maybe if she can get into her work, she can cry a little less tonight, well, about Kirk anyway.
Inputting the last few details into the "Angelator" she hears footsteps coming into her office. She smells his cologne before he even rounds the corner, but she plays coy. She's not flirting, but letting him think he has the upper hand. It's always nice to feed into his male ego every once and a while. She tries to hide her smile, but Jack was apparently too quick on the draw.
"So, either you heard me coming, or you're playing a very amusing game of connect the dots" Jacks says with a bemused smile on his face.
"You don't step as lightly as you may think, ya know" Ange tells Jack, trying her hardest to grin at him, the way she used to, but it's just not quite reaching her eyes. And he notices.
"I saw you out in the lab earlier. Ange, you know…" She cut him off
"I didn't mean for it to look like I was staring at you, I swear. Sometimes, I can just….just…oh, nevermind" She looks away trying to fiddle with the control of the Angelator, for just something to occupy herself with.
"Ange" Jack takes the few steps to close the distance between them "I knew you weren't staring at me, I could tell you were focused on something, and my bugs and slime are not that interesting, well, to you anyway" he smirks at her. Hopefully his slight attempt at a joke would get her to smile again. It almost works, but it's not the same, radiating Angela Montenegro smile that he's used to.
"Jack, it was nothing, I just haven't been sleeping well, that's all. It's nothing for you to worry yourself over, I promise" she tells him as she tries her hardest to smile her biggest smile for him. Whether he bought it or not, she wasn't so sure. He looked like he might have, but he was giving her a look, and she wasn't so sure what it meant.
"You know, if you ever need anything, Ange, I'm around. To talk, to listen, hang out, whatever you need." Jack told her as he headed around the corner. He gave her one last smile and then he was out of sight. She sighed in relief. The last thing she needed was to voice everything in her head, and the way Jack looked at her, she was sure it wouldn't take but a couple more words coming from her favorite entomologist and the beans would have been spilled. She wonders, as she continues tweaking the images in the hologram, what could happen if her inner most thoughts were ever vocalized. How would he look at her? How would he act around her? If he knew, would he still talk to her?