The same notice applies~ We don't own Bones.
Sorry for the lengthy absence. Life has a way of distracting us. It was never my intention to take this long to write this. LABonesLover has been more than diligent in prodding me AND her contributions have been timely. I feel badly simply because your response to the story has been awesome. We appreciate each and every reader and review. Real life has thrown both LABonesLover and I for a loop but the fault likes squarely on my doorstep. Please accept my apologies.
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At home now, he pulled open the fridge and removed a beer. He flopped on the sofa and rested his feet on the coffee table. Peace wasn't coming easily, but Booth was beginning to believe that the end to the 3 days for his universe to right itself might come after all. It saddened him to think of Brennan alone. Alone for all the events that had plagued them since returning from their overseas sabbaticals. It saddened him to think of her alone... feeling alone... even if it wasn't the case. Angela, Cam, Hodgins... even the squints were there for her. Max, Russ... there were so many people who cared about her, despite the difficulty. People she didn't even know who cared. Caroline Julian had practically made his tumor come back by smacking him upside the head so many times after the end of the partnership. She had gone far enough to hold Booth solely responsible for it's untimely end. It was something he and Caroline had in common, right now. When it all started? No. He didn't feel any responsibility. He just wanted to make a point. He wanted Brennan to see that he had 'moved on'. Somehow though, he got too caught up it in... it had gotten out of control. Before he knew what was happening, he had lost ALL control! The situation had spiraled out so fast he hadn't known what hit him. Damn it... she was supposed to see that he wasn't going to sit around waiting for another 5 years!
Booth's phone rang... without checking the ID, he picked it up. "Heya, soldier!" Inwardly cringing at her familiar line, Booth sighed at the voice of his former lover. Just that fast, an idea flashed though his head! Without time to think it through, Booth bulldozed ahead. "Hannah! How are you? I was just thinking about giving you a call!" She seemed a little surprised to hear him say it, was having a hard time believing it was true but glad non the less to have him say it, all at the same time. "I'm great, Seeley! I was coming back to the states for a few weeks and wondered if your still my for-a-good-time-call-guy!" She laughed at her own wittiness and didn't seem to get her slip of the tongue. He really wasn't interested in being a 'booty call.' Gritting his teeth, he decided to pick Hannah for all the information he could get. "Actually, Hannah... I CAN'T be you 'Call Guy'... I was... I want ... I really need to talk to you... about Bones." He sounded so serious that Hannah made a startled sound and rushed him for information. "Temperance? What's wrong with her? What happened? I just talked to her a few weeks ago! Is she ok?"
Booth, for not the first time recently was taken aback. "What do you mean you talked to her a few weeks ago!" Hannah wouldn't be distracted from the details. "Seeley, TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENED!" Booth took a deep breath and gave Hannah the short version of the last few days. Clearly, Hannah wasn't impressed. She sounded confused as she pushed him for more info. "What the hell, Seeley? You sounded like something had happened to her! Why are you asking me about Temperance if there is nothing wrong with her? My friendship with her isn't any of your business but I will tell you that we speak at least every couple of months and have for years! She seems good. Now what exactly is it that you want to know? I'm not saying I'll share what I know but..."
He was angry... seeing RED angry. "I gave up my best friend because of you and you... kept... in... touch...with...her. What kind of game were you playing with me?" Hannah wasn't going to be reprimanded by Seeley just because HE screwed up his relationship with Temperance. She waited as he ranted without paying too much attention to his words. She was caught up in the memories of the last few years... how important Booth and Temperance were to each other... how very personal their work was between them... how dedicated their 'family' was to them. She remembered the day it just stopped. Hannah said NO when he asked her to marry him. She left for a few months but knew that it wasn't the end of them yet. When she returned, Booth had welcomed her with open arms. He totally dedicated his time and energy to being Hannah's man.
It had been intoxicating at first. She had loved it! A very big part of her couldn't help but be thrilled to have 'taken' Booth from Temperance. Obviously, Hannah considered herself the better person for him. As time passed, however, things changed. It wasn't as much fun being saddled with a boyfriend if the woman you beat for his affection wasn't there to see it, right? He had too much time and attention for her. That's about the time that Hannah had first made contact with Brennan.
She snapped out of her walk down memory lane and had lost all interest in the ramblings of Seeley. "Look Seeley! Is there something I can do for you? You don't seem to need me for this conversation so if there is nothing else, I'll have to let you get back to it." Booth stopped in his tracks. "Tell me something, Hannah. You've been talking to Bones for years and you never told me. Why is that? What made her get in touch with you when she wasn't in touch with me?"
Hannah's interest was piqued. This might just be juicier than she had originally thought. "She never called me, Seeley. I didn't mean to give you that impression. I actually called her after you and I got back together. I've kept in touch with her all this time because I really find it a kick to be friends with her. I guess I never mentioned it to you because I was really glad to have her out of OUR way but that never meant that I wanted her out of MY way."
Booth thought for a second. "That doesn't make sense, Hannah." Booth was smelling a rat. He moved into interrogation mode. "Why did you call her? What made you build a friendship with Bones? You didn't want to get married, so Bones wasn't in 'our' way. Don't waste any time on the bullshit version, either. I know your 'official statement' crap when I hear it." Hannah recognized the accusatory tone in Booth's voice. He had used it frequently until Brennan had skipped out. She hadn't heard that voice in long enough that it went straight through her. Anger lit her up. "I wanted to remind her, Seeley that YOU. CHOSE. ME. I knew she would be my friend to keep some line open with you and I wanted her to know that I WON! You put me in second... scratch that... THIRD place behind Parker and Temperance for so long that I wasn't going to NOT make her acknowledge that I TOOK FIRST PLACE! There has been no animosity between us. Temperance and I were able to be friends once she got it through her head that you didn't want her. We are a lot alike in that we both love the competition. You know... 'The THRILL of Victory... and the AGONY of Defeat!" She said in her best announcer voice. "Temperance had to respect the fact that I won!" Her stunning revelation made Booth shake his head... he needed help straightening out his thoughts. Where he stood, Hannah had been second to NO ONE. He sacrificed his time with Brennan, his time with Parker... he hadn't spent any significant time with anyone at all after Hannah had returned. How did she figure she was third place?
The phone felt like lead in his hand. Booth had brought Hannah into his life... Parker's ... Bones... the squints. Oh Dear God! What had he done? What had his screwed up attempt at 'moving on' done to the people he cared about? He shook his head as he realized that Hannah was still hanging on the line. His voice was low but clear. "I hope that you find what you want, Hannah. I hope that you find happiness. I want to bury the Seeley that you knew and loved... I want to bury him so deep that he never shows up again. I AM going to purge myself of everything ugly and horrible that was associated with that guy. I abandoned my friends... my family... in pursuit of happiness... undercover as the Seeley you thought you loved." Hannah took some offense at being referred to as something ugly... horrible but she didn't feel it was a good time to interrupt him so she just let him go on...
Thinking back, she really hadn't started out in competition with Temperance. Hannah had tried. God KNOWS she tried to be that woman's friend! Seeley had NEVER appreciated... no. Seeley never NOTICED how hard she tried! He was so busy... 'Bones this... blah blah blah... Bones that...' As recently as this week, Hannah had been thinking that Booth was worth the trip back to DC for some hot fun... she couldn't believe how stupid she was! This man was STILL hung up on his partner! After all this time! OH. My. GOD! Hannah had been mistaken! She hadn't really won at all! She hadn't even PLACED in the competition! She NEVER had a chance! He was taken before Hannah even showed up on the radar! Looking back, she really wondered if she ever even WAS on the radar! Trying quickly to hide her disbelief at her own stupidity, Hannah tuned back in to Booth.
"We never saw each other as what we really are, you know? I never saw you as manipulative and conniving; you never saw me as a man in love with his partner." With those words, Booth ended the call. He wanted to think. Without Cam. Without Rebecca. Without Hannah. His intention was to step outside for fresh air. As the door was pulled open, Booth was eyeball to eyeball with The Original Texas Tornado. A feeling of cold/sour was born in his gut. Angela Montenagro-Hodgins was standing in the doorway, waiting to have her say.
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Booth wordlessly stepped back to allow her to enter the apartment. She didn't wait until the door stopped moving to throw herself in his general direction. Her hands were flying and flailing at a rate that might have looked comical if it wasn't directed at him. Acting quickly to try to avoid any direct blows, Booth leaned far to the left of her assault. She was able to get several good swipes in with her nails across his cheek. In her frustration, Angela stumbled forward dislodging the heel to her very high, very dangerous looking Jimmy Choo. Reaching quickly to grab the shoe, Angela wielded it as a weapon and Booth realized the situation was deteriorating quickly. With the weakened heel still intact, Angela had something handy that could quickly put his eye out. Booth was trying to avoid the blows, make her hear him, and take the violence out of the onslaught. He grabbed the shoe and threw it over his shoulder, hearing it land in the vacant living room.
Pulling her towards him to further limit the strike zone, he unconsciously put her within arms reach of an umbrella stand which proved to be an arsenal of new weapons she would use to alternate between bashing and impaling him. She was grunting vows of hatred, threats, lots of very uncharacteristically filthy words... but he had a pretty good idea what had brought her here. After Cam's revelation to him that Brennan hadn't confided in any of them 2 years ago, he had assumed that sooner or later, Angela would have her say. Being willing to let her speak her mind was one thing, but Booth wasn't going to allow this to go on any further.
Perspiration was starting to cover his face and the newly acquired scratches stung! Spinning her back to him, Booth pulled her close and disarmed her of the umbrella. He lead her further into his apartment in hopes of preventing the neighbors from being alerted to the attack. She was able to twist around to her right, reacting with kicks to his legs and a particularly nasty swipe with her hand to his face. He was DONE!~Booth roughly grabbed her hand and shoved it aside as he moved in to her personal space.
Growling towards her, Booth said "What the FUCK is wrong with you, Angela?" As if waiting for the magic question, Angela unleashed on him. "You bastard! You unbelievably stupid, self centered BASTARD! Do you have ANY IDEA how MUCH I HATE YOU RIGHT NOW? Do you have any idea how bad YOU SUCK? And you want to know what's wrong with me? How about 'you ditched our baby announcement to fuck Hannah? You remember Hannah? The SO-REALLY-WAS A CONSOLATION PRIZE!? The same one who STILL WOULDN'T MARRY YOU? You left Hodgins, on his big announcement night to screw someone, you knew for two minutes, who ended up LEAVING YOU, not once but twice! Oh my God ! The IRONY!" She went to swing on him again but Booth wasn't having any of it! He sidestepped her advance and came back at her. His voice was low and menacing. "You should know a lot about that, Angela! Wendall, wasn't it? Maybe we aren't so different. We BOTH left Hodgins to get LAID!"
She didn't physically react to his words. She verbally went for him, in no uncertain words but much less... loudly. "Don't you dare compare yourself to me! Hodgins and I AGREED we weren't together... You were fucking that blonde bimbo out of spite! A BLIND man could have seen it! You couldn't have Brennan so you settled for that cheapened up, bleach blonde wanna be so you could feel better about yourself! Some man you are! You! Teaching Brennan about 'LOVE'! Ridiculous!" She spat. Taking a quick breath, she continued. "The kind of 'love' you know is worse than some flesh eating virus! It just eats away, painful inch by painful inch leaving nothing but scars, scabs and gaping wounds in it's path! WE loved you! We stood by you! AND!... you had the nerve to show BOTH your faces to us after what you did? How DARE YOU?!"
She wasn't showing any sign of letting up and frankly, Booth was a little stunned by the stamina that her hatred held! "She honored your ridiculous ultimatum, honored YOUR wishes... you make me sick! I can barely stand to see your face!"Seeing an opportunity, Booth jumped in. "You came HERE, Angela! If it's so hard to see me, why did you come? I didn't ask you here... I didn't bring this all up... this whole fucked up ..." throwing his arms wide " THING is on you! You are talking out of both sides of your FACE... and you don't even know what you're talking about! You think I SUCK? Hello Pot! Kettle calling! You don't know anything about what happened EXCEPT what Bones' told you! Stick your NOSE!" punctuated by a finger point "BACK! IN! YOUR! BUSINESS! I've heard all this from Cam..."
Angela's eyes narrowed in on her target. "Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Bren. Doesn't. Lie. She remembers every stupid word that has EVER come out of your stupid mouth! You brought that woman up here and shoved her in Bren's face! Brennan would have done anything for you! Hell! She DID everything for you! Your 'girlfriend' got hurt and Brennan ran to save her life for YOU! How did Brennan get repaid? The BITCH took her sunglasses! You LET her! YOU drew lines. YOU set 'rules' for Brennan... you avoided her, emotionally abandoned her, disrespected her and treated her like she wasn't a person with emotions... in fact, you looked at her like strangers do, like she is just some cold-hearted fish with no feelings at all... and for WHAT? What did it get you, Booth? Are you proud of yourself, are you HAPPY NOW? ARE YOU LIVING YOUR DREAM?"
Booth stepped back. He was suddenly feeling every bit of the weariness that had plagued him earlier. "What do you want from me, Angela? You want 'I'm sorry'? Fine. I'm sorry. Now are YOU happy? See... nothing changed! I said it... but it's still all FUCKED UP! You achieved nothing! I don't have any answers for you EXCEPT, BONES SAID NO! I TRIED to move on! I TRIED to stay friends with her. No matter what I do, or did... I came out the bad guy!" He crossed his arms and stood... waiting for her to digest what he said. She didn't give any sign that she heard him, but she wasn't done... not by a long shot. "This isn't about moving on... This is about destroying everything with your wake! You... when you 'left'... you 'left' all of us! Not just Bren! You didn't go to our baby announcement so you could have sex? What were you... in high school? Still she, in fact ALL of us supported you. She still thought of you as her best friend. She still trusted you. She tore down her walls and let you in when she opened up to you and told you how she was feeling. She didn't ask anything from you in return. She didn't ask you to leave Hannah, did she? No, she just told her best friend how she was feeling, not expecting anything in return! And what did you do? You shoved Hannah in her face again. You used your knowledge of Bren to HURT HER by telling her FACTS! You LOVED Hannah, she wasn't a CONSOLATION PRIZE. What a crock! Then you watched her completely break down. Something she NEVER does! You just ask her who you call. SHE WAS ALONE! You failed her! The man I knew would have helped her himself or least would have called me instead of leaving her ALONE... broken and sobbing. What kind of human being, much less a supposed "best friend" would do that?! A complete selfish bastard is who! THEN ... then, you broke your own rule and betrayed her, something you swore you would never do! You, who became upset because she told Hacker about your mother's meatloaf, had the GALL to tell not only Sweets but Hannah about her feelings for you!" Angela breathed deeply and lowered her voice... something that scared Booth more than her yelling.
"Talk about being a hypocrite. You define the word. And I bet you didn't even tell them the whole story of you two. I bet you didn't have the BALLS to tell Hannah that you loved Bren and asked her "for a chance". No you just put it all on Bren, just her feelings, nothing of yours. What, Booth, trying to make yourself look good in front of your girlfriend? You're pathetic! But the worst... the WORST of everything I just heard is that you... after choosing Hannah, and getting pissed off because she didn't give you want you wanted when you wanted it ...you gave Brennan that ultimatum! You threw away six years of friendship, of love and family! In fact, you threw all of us away! You didn't have the balls to actually tell Bren you loved her, you threw her away and you wouldn't give her a second chance. But you owed it to Hannah... someone you BARELY knew, to give it everything you had to give her a second chance! If I had known all of this back then... I think I could have killed you! An ultimatum? From YOU? To Bren?" She was starting to show signs of losing momentum... but Booth was afraid to let his guard down.
He added a little extra space between them, just to be safe. Artistic people like Angela could be volatile and he had very little left to ward her off. "Angela, I was wrong to blow off the baby announcement, OK? I really am sorry. The other stuff? That is not about anybody else. Bones and I have an arrangement that what's between us, is ours. I had no idea she didn't talk to anyone. I didn't know she was alone. Trust me. I ... she... it's just screwed up! I don't know how to fix it... I don't know what to do..." His voice tapered off and his face reflected little more than pure confusion.
Angela had gotten a second (or third) wind. "You think this is about you and Bren? Do you REALLY think I came here just about Brennan? You are so much less intelligent than I thought! You. PLAYED. Us. ALL.! You came to the fundraiser Friday night... talking your SHIT about how good we were to you... standing by you. How you didn't deserve us! That was Academy Award quality BULLSHIT! Hodgins thought you were his friend. Cam DEFENDED you and your 'right' to be happy! I trusted you." She moved back and started to compose herself, pulling her clothes straight, smoothing her hair... "Rest assured. We will not make those mistakes again."
Angela was gathering her dignity and trying to reduce her accelerated breath. "It would be ill-advised for you to try to contact Hodgins or I. I can't speak for Bren, YET... but you can be sure that I will do everything I can to convince her that you are a lying sac of pus and as full of SHIT as you really are!" Booth reached out to Angela but the look on her face made him think twice. He spoke softly. "Ang..." She was making her way to leave but stopped abruptly and turned. "I have my own people... people who wouldn't like you and how you're acting right now. Don't make me call them." He watched her walk through the door and out of his sight.
Walking to the door and shutting it firmly behind the retreating Angela, Booth allowed his weight to collapse against it. He ran his hands through his hair and down the back of his neck. Any hope that he had felt prior to Angela's intrusion was not to be found. He pulled a beer from the fridge but returned it back to the shelf. It was going to take something stronger than a beer to numb him up this time. Retrieving the scotch from above the glasses, Booth took himself back to the sofa and flopped.
The feelings he experienced from Angela's words... Hannah's words... were overwhelming. He hadn't spent much time the last few years thinking about the impact of his actions. Sure... he had given some thought to Bones' reactions... had relished in the victory he thought he had won in the power struggle between them, but he hadn't given any thought to the feelings of the others. Cam. Hodgins. Angela. They weren't meant to be any kind of collateral damage. He didn't think about their exposure to the fallout. The most pronounced emotion was true sadness.
Leaning back, he let his mind wander back... back to the beginning of what he now perceived to be 'the end'. He had returned home from Afghanistan. Bones met him at the coffee cart. She looked a little different... hugged him a little longer than usual... At the time, he just chalked it up to fatigue. The trip was probably long and she had a lot to get done after being gone so long. Flashing forward, he thought about Bones meeting Hannah. He had been so surprised that Hannah had actually come to D.C. that he really didn't see much of Bones. Hannah and Bones had formed a friendship. Hannah got shot. OK. The sunglasses thing was just stupid. He still didn't get why Hannah had done that. Getting up and going to the bedroom, he pulled open the drawer. As stupid as Hannah's stunt was, Booth was curious why he still had the glasses. He would concede one point to Angela. Hannah was wrong to take Bones' very expensive sunglasses.
Flashing forward again, Booth thought about the baby announcement. Without consideration, he chalked another point up to Angela. He was a dick for skipping out on Hodgins' moment. Setting aside the scorecard with Angela, Booth leaned back on to his bed and put his hands behind his head with the shades resting on his chest. The Eames case had been tough on Bones. He tried to figure it all out... be there for her. There was too much going on the be looking for more to keep up with. THAT'S what he told himself at the time. He remembered her heart crushing breakdown in the SUV. He didn't share with either Cam or Angela how hard that was on him as well. He knew it messed Brennan up. It had all been part of a terrible, horrific lack of judgement. Hannah wasn't the solution to Booth's pain. And now. Now he knew the damage he had caused Bones... the team... Parker. His self loathing recognized NO boundaries.
He was trying to remember the last time that he had gone out with the squints. They had invited him for a while but he couldn't recall accepting. Maybe Angela was more justified than he thought. "FUCK!" He didn't care if the room was empty. It felt good to say it out loud.
Checking the clock on the nightstand, Booth was relieved to see that 3 days had finally passed. Bones said the universe would be right again at the end of three days. Sadly, he wondered what her three days had been like. He couldn't forget she had been alone. There had been no one there for her. No one to hold her... no one to tell her it would be OK. No one.