A/N: Okay, first of all, a huge mea culpa to anyone still reading this story. I've had issues with our internet over the past couple of weeks with the big move. It's finally all fixed now (I hope) so I'll try to update ASAP.

My humble and heart felt thanks to all those who've been with me and continue to read and review my stories since Honesty. You all leave me in awe. To those who are about to either read, review, favorite or alert this story - thank you so much.

Nope, I still don't own Bones or any of its characters. Believe me, I've checked.

One Wish This Christmas

Wendell stood beside Angela, feeling torn between two people who had become like family to him. His heart went out to Angela, who merely listened as Hodgins verbally ripped open old wounds. She didn't interrupt, didn't argue, nor did she try and explain or justify her actions. She just remained rooted to the same spot, unmoving as she stoically endured Hodgins onslaught. Wendell's chivalrous nature almost had him speaking up to defend Angela, but instinct told him that this wasn't the time to interfere. Angela seemed to need to hear what he had to say as much as Hodgins needed to say it. Besides, though it was hurtful, what Hodgins was saying had no note of viciousness or callousness in it. Hodgins suffering was etched on his face, and it was obvious that the words he spoke had been festering in him for a long time now. Wendell couldn't imagine what it would have been like to be in love with someone for so long, to feel like you were on the verge having the second chance that you've been dreaming of only to ripped away from you.

With a gentle kiss on her forehead, Hodgins said all that he needed to say and with tear stains still etched on his cheeks, Hodgins left the room. Wendell shifted his gaze from Hodgins retreating form back on to Angela. She looked stunned, on the verge of being catatonic. Even though Hodgins was gone, she still wouldn't move, wouldn't say a thing, wouldn't make a sound. She just continued to stare at the floor, slow tears tumbling from her eyes and crashing to the ground. When she still hadn't moved for a couple of minutes, Wendell started to worry about her. He thought about reaching out and giving her a comforting hug, but he wasn't sure how it would be received. Instead, he called out her name and decided to play it by ear.

At the sound of her name being called, Angela snapped out of her trance and ran off. Wendell was the only one left in the room, and for a few brief seconds he allowed himself to wallow in self loathing. He should never have gotten up when he heard the sound of the paper being pushed under the door, he should never have taken a look at the note and he definitely never should have gone to the hot tub, even if his intent was to let Angela down easy. He should have just stayed in bed, and maybe all of this wouldn't have happened.

Suddenly, Zack's curious face appeared before him.

"I saw Hodgins and Angela separately run past me without responding to my greetings," said Zack, concern written on his face. "Has something recently transpired that I should be informed of?"

"Hodgins saw me and Angela by the hot tub," sighed Wendell. Upon seeing Zack raising his eyebrows at this information, he quickly sought to clarify what he said. "He completely misconstrued the situation."

"What were the actual circumstances?" asked Zack.

"Angela stuck an invitation to the hot tub under my door," admitted Wendell. "I was just there to tell her that I couldn't do it."

"You were at the hot tub to tell her that you couldn't go to the hot tub?" Zack repeated, though he managed to miss the point of what Wendell was trying to say.

"No, I was trying to tell her that her and I getting together wouldn't be a good idea," Wendell explained. "I was trying to tell her that because Hodgins is my friend, I couldn't betray him by getting romantically involved with the woman he is in love with. That was when Hodgins walked in and misinterpreted the situation. He apparently had a lot of pent up resentment from when they were together before and he sort of let her have it."

"Have it?"

"Yeah, you know - let loose on her," Wendell said, trying to clear up what he meant. That was when he remembered Angela saying that Zack was kind of like Brennan when it came to colloquialisms and it was better to speak as plainly as possible to avoid the 'I don't understand what that means' look.

"I mean, Hodgins disclosed to her all of the past acrimony resulting from their previous relationship that up until now he had repressed," Wendell restated. "Ange just stood there, she didn't argue or try to defend herself."

"Most likely because it's true," shrugged Zack. "Hodgins was undergoing a good deal of emotional upheaval because of what happened with me, and Angela chose to end their relationship at a rather inopportune moment. Even though I consider both Angela and Hodgins friends of mine, I believe that the end of their relationship could have been handled better by her. Hodgins was willing to do whatever it took to make Angela happy. For her to break up with him as abruptly as she did showed a lack of compassion on her part."

"And all this time, Hodgins stayed in love with her?" Wendell asked, more to himself than to Zack. "Wow, and then she ends up inviting me to the hot tub at Hodgins cabin. Man that's cold."

"Are you certain that she invited you?" Zack asked bluntly.

"She did stick the invitation under my door." Wendell pointed out.

"Hodgins did accompany you to your room in order to retrieve the gifts that he stored there," Zack reminded him. "When I went upstairs to help him carry the presents, Angela was there, flirting with him. If I may be allowed an intuitive leap, perhaps she believed that the room Hodgins exited was his room, not yours."

"The invitation was meant for Hodgins, not for me," Wendell said, smacking himself in the head with the realization. "I am such an idiot."

"Self flagellation does nothing to improve one's IQ," said Zack with a stern shake of his head. "You shouldn't punish yourself for your low level of intelligence. Not everyone can be as intellectually gifted as I am."

"Gee, thanks Zack," replied Wendell wryly. "What do we do now?"

"Do? What do you mean what do we do?" Zack scoffed.

"We have to do something to help Ange and Hodgins," said Wendell, scratching his head in frustration. "The problem is, I doubt that they'd listen to either of us right now. They're both too upset to listen to anything that we had to say."

"We should find someone that they would listen to," suggested Zack. "Or at the very least, someone who they couldn't ignore."

"Who would that be?" asked Wendell. They both seemed to come up with the same idea at the same time, and neither of them liked what they came up with.

Wendell and Zack made their way to the room hesitantly. This was a bad idea, but it was also the best idea that they could come up with.

"Go ahead Zack," muttered Wendell gesturing towards the door. "You knock, I'm right beside you buddy."

"Why do I have to knock?" whined Zack.

"Because you're the brilliant Zack Addy - Brennan's all time favorite student," replied Wendell, pushing Zack lightly towards the door. "Brennan wouldn't get mad at you for waking her up and if Booth gets upset, Brennan could calm him down."

"Yes, well you're the one she's currently working with," Zack retorted, pushing Wendell towards the door with slightly more force than Wendell used. "And you and Booth have a report. Booth likes you because he thinks that you're a 'normal' squint. oYou should knock."

"You knock." argued Wendell, shoving Zack towards the door.

"No, you knock." insisted Zack, giving Wendell a shove, accidentally pushing Wendell into the door.

Suddenly the door opened and a bleary eyed but still imposing Booth appeared, arms crossed over his broad and chiseled chest as he stared them down. Both Wendell and Zack wisely refrained from noting that Booth was oddly dressed in a pink and white silk Japanese style robe.

"Why don't you both knock it off!" he hissed, closing the door behind him. "It's after midnight, what the hell do the two of you think you're doing?"

"We need your help Booth," pleaded Wendell. "You and Dr. Brennan."

"Well, Bones is sleeping right now, so whatever it is you need help with, you'll just have to settle for me." replied Booth.

"She's not sleeping anymore." yawned Brennan, appearing at Booth's side clad in an oversized, brown terry cloth robe.

"I was looking for that robe," smirked Booth before resuming his stern tone. "Go back to bed Bones, I can handle this."

"I'm awake now, so I may as well find out sort of assistance Wendell and Zack require from us," argued Brennan. "What's going on?"

Nervously and quickly, Wendell and Zack took turns explaining the situation with Angela and Hodgins from the invitation, to the scene by the hot tub and Hodgins painful diatribe and Ange's reaction to it. When they were done, Brennan and Booth looked at each other and went back into their room. Stunned, Zack and Wendell were left to stare at the door that had just closed in their faces.

"What do we do now?" Zack asked Wendell after a minute had passed. Wendell had just answered with a shrug when the door to Brennan and Booth's room opened and the couple emerged, now clad in attire that would be more appropriate for having a serious discussion with their friends.

"Come on, let's go." the couple said simultaneously, determination mirrored on both their faces. They briefly smiled at each other, shared a quick peck on the lips before setting off. They seemed to know exactly what to do as Brennan headed to Angela's room with Wendell in tow, while Booth and Zack went off in search for Hodgins.

Wendell said nothing as he followed Brennan to Angela's room, he was too busy trying to keep up.

"Angela?" Brennan said against the door as she softly tapped it. "Angela, could you open the door please?"

"Brennan?" Angela muttered, picking herself up off the floor, sliding across the floor and reaching up to turn the knob. "What are you doing here? I'd have thought that you and Booth would have been sleeping by now."

"We were sleeping, but then Wendell and Zack came to our room to apprise us of what had just transpired between you and Hodgins," replied Brennan, entering the room and crouching down beside Angela while Wendell remained outside of the room. "They thought that Booth and I could help in some way. What do you need me to do?"

"Can you turn back time and tell the old me to stop messing with Jack's heart?" Sobbed Angela, leaning against Brennan. She sobbed even harder as she felt herself being wrapped in Brennan's comforting embrace. "I never realized how much I hurt him, and all he did was love me. Why did I do that Bren? Why is it that when I realize how much someone loves me, I can't stop myself from screwing with them. I did that the first time I was with Roxie - she was crazy about me, and I just up and took off for Europe because I wanted to see the world. I didn't invite her - I didn't want her to come along. I just told her that I needed to do this for myself and I left. I didn't write, didn't call, didn't bother to. With Kurt, I knew how much he loved me. He was willing to settle on being with me for three weeks out of the year, no more than that. At the end of our 'couples vacation' he'd ask me for more time. Or to marry him. I kept telling him that three weeks was all that he would get, and if he didn't like it I could always decrease the amount of time that we spent together. He died loving me and forcing himself to be content with less than he deserved. And Hodgins....oh god, what I put him through...."

"What happened tonight Ange?" Brennan pressed gently. "I've heard from Wendell and Zack, but perhaps I could understand the situation better if I heard your point of view."

Ange tearfully recounted how she had planned a fun and sexy seduction of Hodgins, followed by a confession of love that she had long waited to give to him but was too scared to until now. Unfortunately those plans went down the drain when she slipped the invitation under the wrong door and got caught by Hodgins with the wrong man.

"I think that I may have a solution to your problem." declared Brennan. "One that doesn't include employing methods borrowed from Star Trek."

"Star Trek?" asked Angela, so surprised by Brennan's references that she momentarily forgot about her problems. "How do you know about Star Trek? And were you being sarcastic?"

"Booth and Parker made me watch it," smirked Brennan. "Despite several inconsistencies in the plot line, scientific impossibilities and the unrealistic action scenes, I found it to be entertaining. They loved it of course. And I wasn't being sarcastic, I was making an attempt to distract you with humor. Did it work?"

"Thanks Bren, it did," smiled Angela, noting that Brennan B.B. (before Booth) would never have thought to use humor to alleviate an emotionally tense moment. "What did you say your solution was?"

"Clarification and directness," she declared confidently to a confused Angela. "You need to tell him how you feel about him, in no uncertain terms. The confusion began when you started playing these seduction games with him. While I admit that Booth and I do sometimes engage in role play - "

"Dr. Brennan?" squeaked Wendell awkwardly, wondering how he was going to rid himself of the images emerging in his head. "You may be going slightly off topic here, and to be honest, I'm not really comfortable hearing about yours and Booth's sex life. Sorry."

"No apologies are necessary Wendell," Brennan reassured him with a smile before turning her attention back to Angela. "That was a perfect demonstration of what I was trying to explain to you. Rather than clearing his throat or sending some other sort of vague cues or signals to attempt to convey his discomfort, Wendell said clearly and concisely what was bothering him and why. That is what you need to do with Hodgins. Tell him, in no uncertain terms that you love him, explain to him the misunderstanding that occurred, apologize for your part in it, and tell him what kind of relationship that you hope to have with him."

"I wish it were that simple," said Angela sadly. "But Hodgins was right. He did whatever I asked to prove his love for me, and I just kept asking for more proof. Now that I'm finally ready to admit that he's the one for me, I had to go and totally mess things up. I don't understand how my plan could have gone so wrong."

"You're plan went wrong Ange, because you didn't need a plan," Wendell explained. "This is Hodgins we're talking about. Yeah, I've seen your matchmaking skills in action before, and while your scheming abilities are awe inspiring, and you've managed to couple up people who are completely oblivious to how much they love each other. This time though, you didn't need to come up with a plot to win Jack back. You never lost him, he was always yours. You just had to say you were ready."

"You couldn't have told me this before?" Ange half whined, half teased as she and Wendell watched Brennan totally miss Wendell's reference to the JustUs league's hand in her and Booth finally getting together.

"Would you have listened?" countered Wendell.

"You can be rather obstinate at times." nodded Brennan.

"So, what do I do now?" asked Angela quietly. "How do I tell him that I love him when he must truly hate me right now, not that I blame him."

"Since I haven't talked to Hodgins, I can't be completely certain of how he feels right now," started Brennan. "And neither can you. Don't assume anything until you've talked to him directly."

The two friends sat on the floor in silence for a few more moments before Brennan continued.

"Even though Booth and I have been in a loving and committed relationship for over a year, we still have our disagreements," admitted Brennan. "In the first few months of our relationships, we had arguments and differences of opinion so great that I doubted whether or not we would be able to continue being in a romantic relationship. When I expressed this fear to Booth, he told me that when you really love someone, no matter how angry you are at them, no matter how hurt you feel over something that they've said or done, you never stop loving them."

Brennan then stood up and held her hand out to Angela.

"Get up Angela," ordered Brennan, helping her up. "Booth and Zack went to talk to Hodgins. They'll meet us in the games room shortly. You may want to freshen up first."

"You think he can talk Hodgins into being in the same room with me?" asked Angela uncertainly.

"Booth can be very persuasive," Brennan reassured her. "And Hodgins loves you. You owe it to him as well as yourself to try and resolve the situation between the two of you."

Ange took a deep breath and headed to the bathroom. She took a moment to wash her face and run a comb through her hair. She looked in the mirror and saw a miserable face staring back at her. She went back to the room and changed into jeans and a plain black long sleeved shirt before following Wendell and Brennan to the games room.

"Don't worry Ange, it'll all work out," Wendell said comfortingly. "You just got to have a little faith."

Angela didn't know how much faith she had, but with all the faith that she could muster she sent a little prayer to whoever was listening that Wendell was right.