She stalked her prey, trailing behind and watching as he read a forensics journal, drank coffee, and expertly dodged security guards, scientists, and stationary objects. She followed him into his office, ignoring the creepy crawlies, and cleared her throat.
Hodgins jumped. "Jesus, Angela!" He began mopping up spilled coffee with Kleenex, and she jumped forward to help.
"Sorry, Jack," she said, taking some soaked papers and dumping them in the trash. "I'll get you some new … what were those?"
"Internal memos, I think. It's okay, Ange – they were going in the garbage anyway." He sat down and finished off his coffee. "What are you doing here? You're usually bugging Brennan about her weekend right now."
Angela grinned. "True, and that's next on my list. But I wanted to see if you'd be in on something with me first."
"Does it involve taking down our government from the inside?"
Angela blinked. "No, but it is nefarious. Are you in?"
"Nefarious, huh?" He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm in."
She grinned. Good. First meeting's tonight at eight at the Dairy Queen on 6th and M Street." She got up to leave, turned back at the door.
"Keep it quiet, Hodgins, okay?"
He winked.
"Zack's in on this too? How nefarious can this plot be?" Hodgins set his peanut buster parfait on the table and scooted in next to Angela.
"He's part of the team, Hodgins," she reminded him, munching on fries and a brownie batter blizzard. "And he cares about Brennan, ad since she's the reason for this plan's existence …" she waved her red spoon at him. "He's in." She checked the cell phone in front of her and sighed.
"Hot date?" Hodgins teased her, and Zack snorted, dropping a bit of butterscotch hard topping on the table.
"The last member of our team is phoning in, actually. And this is Zack's phone."
"Why Zack's phone? And why isn't Booth here? If it concerns Brennan, he should be –"
"It concerns him too, Hodgins," she interrupted. "And we're using Zack's phone because Bren might check mine, and seeing –"
The phone rang, and Angela answered. "Hello? Hey. Yeah, we're all her. Yeah – both of them. She did? Really? Great – the more the merrier." A pause, then, "I'm putting you on speakerphone now."
She hit the button and set the phone on the table.
"Hey guys," said Russ Brennan, and Hodgins grinned.
"I get it – you, me, Zack, Russ, the plan concerns the good doctor and our favorite special agent – you're playing matchmaker!" He waved his own spoon at her and laughed. Apparently Angela had grown frustrated with her lack of results and enlisted help.
"And how many degrees do you have?" Russ chuckled. Sarah's in on it too."
"Sarah?" Zack asked. Angela replied.
"Russ's girlfriend. You guys come up with any ideas yet?" She reached over and stole some of Hodgins' parfait. Fudgey peanuts – the best part. He retaliated by sticking out his tongue.
"Just the one I had a few weeks ago, when we started hatching."
"Which was?" Zack took a few of her fries and handed one to Hodgins.
"Put the two of them into as many domestic situations as possible. You know, to show them how well they work as a couple."
"They already know how well they work together," Hodgins told him.
"Yeah, but that's work. I want her to realize how good they are as a couple, in life." In the background, they could hear a little girl protesting loudly.
Bedtime, Hodgins thought, glancing at his watch for confirmation.
"That's it?" Zack said. "That's your grand, nefarious plan?"
"The simplest explanation is always the best," Angela defended. "How complicated does it need to be?"
"Do you have a timetable or anything?" Hodgins asked, hoping to forestall an argument. Frankly, he agreed with Zack – the plan seemed too simple. But maybe, with a bit of tweaking …
"A timetable?" Russ asked. Angela raised her eyebrows at him.
"Yeah, like at this point in time, they'll have kissed – if they haven't already." He looked at Angela. "Have they?"
She shrugged. "She says no, and their body language confirms it. Sadly enough."
"Okay, so at this point, they'll have kissed, and at this point, they'll have gone out on x amount of dates, and at this point they'll have slept together –"
Russ and Zack groaned, and Angela grinned.
"God, man, that's my baby sister you're talking about!"
"She's thirty years old, Russ. She's had sex before," Hodgins said. "But you get my point about the timetable."
"I do, and I think it's a good idea. I mean, they're both human beings, so any particular timetable is likely to get screwed up. But if we made it general enough, no specifics at all, it could really work." Angela looked thoughtful.
"Russ?" A little voice came over the line. "Russ, I'm not tired. Can I stay up and talk on the phone with you? It's okay with Mommy."
"Abigail Maureen! Back to bed, right now!"
There were the sounds of a scuffle, and Hodgins could hear Abigail complaining – loudly – about bed. Then the call was disconnected, and they stared at each other and laughed.
Five minutes later, it rang again.
"Sorry about that," Russ said. "It's the usual eight o'clock battle between good and evil, followed by negotiations that she never wins. Where were we?"
"Timetable," Angela said. "Let's see … we're a few days into June now. When do we want the first deadline, and what do we want to have accomplished?"
"Shouldn't someone be taking notes?" Zack commented.
"No, it'd just leave a paper trail," Hodgins said. "Do you want Brennan to find out about this?" Zack went pale, and shook his head. "Exactly."
"How about we make the first goal a first kiss?" Russ suggested. "Seems appropriate enough, and it'd really be a good place to start."
"Everything does depend on the first kiss," Angela agreed. "And the date?"
"End of the month," Zack finally said.
"Seems so far away," Hodgins said. "Why not sooner?"
"Because this is Bren," was Angela's reply, "and you know how she is. She'll crack if we pile on the pressure."
"So, end of June," said Russ. "Sounds good to me."
"We should work on the other deadlines and goals later, after their first kiss. Because if they kiss sooner, or if she totally freaks out –" Angela shrugged.
"And we'll all keep thinking up a better master plan. I know mine is simple, but it'll work. If you think of anything better, or anything else we need to know …"
"We'll call. Thanks, Russ. Good night!"
Hodgins and Zack chimed in, and Russ was gone.
"This has all the possibility of backfiring terribly, you know," Hodgins told her while Zack dumped their trash. Angela looked unconcerned.
"But think of what will happen for her if it works, Jack. She'll be really and truly happy."
"And because she's our friend, we have her best interests at heart?" He was skeptical, but she was determined. And maybe Angela was right, and this little matchmaker scheme would work.
It would be worth it.
Please read and review, and as always, comments and criticisms are appreciated. Flames will be used to heat last night's leftover cheeseburgers.