A/N: I got some review replies out, but not all and for that I'm so sorry. I swear to Booth (or Brennan or Hodgins or whomever floats your boat) that I will do better this chapter. Thank you all for your kind words.
Also, I said this story would be eight installments. I was wrong. It's going to be nine. For that, I am not sorry. :)
Special thanks to Jena for pushing me past the hump on this chapter and to Laura for the extra hard work. And no thanks at all to my son, who decided he was NOT going to school this morning and engaged me in battle of wills, making this chapter later than usual. And in case you are interested, yes. I won. He is in school. Of course.
Angela was thankful that big sunglasses were in fashion. Her tears would be less obvious behind the large, dark frames on her face, because despite what she had told her husband, she knew it would take every ounce to strength she had to keep herself together once she saw her best friend.
But there was no way in hell she was going to miss the chance to see Brennan after all this time.
Not when she had things to say and promises to make.
She paid her admission. "The baby is free ma'am," and pushed her way through the main gate, stopping only long enough to consult her zoo map to find the chimpanzee exhibit. Once she located it, she aimed the empty stroller to the right and began to make her way to the designated spot.
B&B
Brennan watched as Angela took her seat on the bench in front of the chimpanzee exhibit, parking the empty stroller beside her. She needed to be sure Angela hadn't been followed before she joined her.
She was surprised and overwhelmed by how much she wanted to run to her friend. But she was still a fugitive. She couldn't be caught. She had to be cautious, and she needed to keep their meeting fast.
But more than anything, she needed Angela to hold it together.
She used to be strong. She used to be able to compartmentalize, but since she'd seen the ad, Brennan had been hanging on by a tenuous thread. Her emotional sanity was shredded into raw, irreparable bits and she knew one teary eyed, sympathetic look from Angela would send her right over the edge.
She waited for 15 minutes, scanning the area for anyone that may be watching for her. She'd gotten good at observing, good at noticing, and when she was finally confident that there were no FBI agents in the exhibit, she decided to make her move.
She leaned down into the stroller next to her and stroked her daughter's hair.
"Are you ready?" She asked the baby, kissing her tiny forehead.
Christine merely touched her mother's cheek with her hand and Brennan swallowed hard, determined to keep a brave face.
"Okay. We're going to go see Angela now, like I explained earlier. You're going to stay with her for a little while. Remember that I love you, Christine. No matter what."
The baby gurgled at her mother and Brennan responded with a watery smile before standing straight, taking a deep breath and heading towards her best friend.
B&B
Of all the things Angela had contemplated saying to her best friend once she saw her again, what she actually said was nothing she'd ever imagined.
"Blonde, huh?" She didn't turn her head, just glanced out of the corner of her eye.
"Yes. It seemed the best choice. It certainly doesn't stand out." Brennan stared straight ahead. "How's Booth?"
"The same. No change." She heard Brennan sigh. "Do you want to know what happened?"
"I don't suppose how it happened is as important as that it happened." Brennan said. "I just need to see him."
Angela plowed forward anyway. "He walked in on a robbery at a liquor store. Wrong place, wrong time. He never even saw it coming."
Brennan's next question surprised Angela.
"A liquor store? Has…" she swallowed hard. "Has he been drinking?"
"It's been a hard summer, Brennan," Angela's tone was more bitter than she meant for it to be and when she saw Brennan's hand clench tightly at her side, she softened a bit. "But no. Not really drinking. Not like you're imagining, anyway. Just on the really bad days he comes to our house because it's too hard to be alone. We do a few shots, tell a few stories…but that night he never made it over."
"And he's not showing any improvement?"
"No. And the doctors say there's no reason that he can't wake up. He just…isn't. I think he needs you."
Brennan nodded slightly, but stayed facing forward. "Do you know when the nurses' shift change is?"
"Nine o'clock. They wear maroon scrubs. There's a pair in the bottom of my stroller for you. And Sweets got rid of one guard, somehow. We'll distract the other one."
"How?"
"We'll figure it out, Brennan. There's a small alcove on the west side of the main building on the ground floor where the nurses take their smoke breaks. It has an alarm. You have to slide a key card to get in. At exactly 8:45 for one minute I will disable the alarm and you can just walk in. That will put you in the building, two floors beneath Booth. He's in room 342."
"Okay."
"You'll have about 2 hours with him, and then you'll have to leave. The nurses do a check every two and a half hours. Again, one of us will distract the guard and you will have to slip out. Go out the way you came in. Entrances and exits have cameras. The smoking area doesn't."
"Okay," Brennan repeated.
"Does that all make sense? Just leave the guard to us. Use the alcove. Wear the scrubs."
"In at 8:45, shift change at 9. I've got it."
"Good."
They were both silent for several minutes. Christine had fallen asleep in her stroller while they talked, and Angela turned to look at her friend, who was studying the sleeping child as though trying to memorize her features.
"Ange…"
"You're going to see her again, okay? No dramatic goodbyes, Brennan. It's just going to be for today. There is a new burner phone in the empty baby seat under the blanket. Tomorrow I will call you and we'll set up a way to bring her back to you. It's all going to be fine."
"You can't know that. If I get caught—"
"You won't."
"Just…just promise me you'll love her, Ange. Please."
"I already do. And I will, for forever, but it's not going to come to that."
"You can't know that."
"You won't get caught and Booth is going to get better and we are going to clear your name. And then we can get back to the way things are supposed to be, Brennan. For all of us."
"She's started food. She likes squash, but not peas. And she has a little diaper rash. She's prone to them, so you have to change her often."
"Brennan, don't."
"There are pictures in her diaper bag. I'd like it if you'd show them to her sometimes."
"I won't need to. You'll be with her. You and Booth."
"And please make sure she sees Parker every now and then. Siblings are important."
"Stop! Just…please. Stop."
Brennan reached across and squeezed Angela's hand. "I love you, Ange. Thank you for doing this. All of it." Then she reached forward slightly and took her daughter's small foot in her hand, rubbing her thumb over her tiny toes. "Be good, Christine. And remember that I love you."
And with that, she stood, grabbed Angela's empty stroller and walked away, leaving her best friend and her daughter behind.
*waves* Thanks for reading!