Author's Note: I just couldn't let tonight's episode of Bones pass without comment. Spoilers through ep 6x10, The Body in the Bag. This is just stream of consciousness, one-shot coming from my take on how Brennan might have felt when Hannah blindsided her. No beta, no re-writes.
Brennan let her mind wander while Angela expounded on about the baby's latest sonogram, keeping half her attention on hearing about fingers and toes and baby head sizes in proportion to their bodies. The other half was reviewing the latest journal article she had read and its potential applications in the lab. But she was snapped back to the present when Angela made an abrupt conversational left turn, saying, "So, sweetie, you never told me why Hannah was avoiding you? What was that all about?"
"Oh," Brennan stalled for time. "It was nothing, a misunderstanding."
She hadn't told Angela about that night in the car with Booth. About her admission to him and her subsequent breakdown. She had tucked it away, where she had hoped it would lay hidden for the rest of time. But Booth... he had told Hannah. On some level, Brennan knew that it was this type of intimacy and sharing that defined a couple, that led to greater bonding which led to greater protective instincts and thus the propagation of the species. However, she had assumed, erroneously she now knew, that Booth would honor his bond with her and keep the intimate parts of their relationship private.
When Hannah had told her that she knew about Brennan's feelings, it had been like a weight had been dropped on her chest from a great height. Brennan still didn't know how she had had the breath to form words, and she wasn't entirely certain what words she had responded with. Whatever it was must have been socially satisfactory, because her friendship with Hannah seemed to be on good footing once more.
A 'friendship' that gave Brennan a headache when she tried to parse out the social nuances. Hannah had offered friendship, and as Booth was with Hannah more often than not (outside of the office anyway), it seemed in everyone's best interests that Brennan accept. Yet, it left her feeling wrong, somehow. Every time Hannah mentioned Booth's name, or pointed out yet another attractive male for Brennan, she felt as if the weight on her chest was slowly increasing. While realizing that metaphorical weight could not crush her, as she moved through these days, it felt as if it were only a matter of time before she would stop breathing altogether.
Angela looked skeptical. "A misunderstanding?"
"Yes," Brennan replied. She stood up and started walking away, nearly staggering under the weight. "It's all fine now."