(The Sense in the Sacrifice)
This is a sequel to Chapter 231. Remember this story is AU.
I don't own Bones.
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Angela was angry and she wanted to inflict pain where it belonged. "Booth, you're hurting Brennan. What's wrong with you? If you don't love her anymore then leave her and let her find happiness with someone else."
Staring at Angela for a moment, Booth considered severing the call, but decided he wasn't going to give into her tantrum. "I asked you if you've identified the victim yet. What happens between me and Bones has nothing to do with you. You're paid to do a job, so do it."
Furious, Angela took a deep breath then realized that she was going to lose if she didn't back down and do her job. Cam had already warned her that going to war with Booth would only imperil her job and not his. "I sent you the information five minutes ago, if you cared to look at your emails." Unable to stop her hand from shaking, she ended the call and leaned back against her chair. "I don't understand. I don't understand at all."
Booth and Brennan had been in love for so long, or so Angela thought, then Brennan had asked Booth to marry her and he'd turned her down. "He's not the man I thought he was."
"Who isn't the man you thought he was?" Brennan was standing in the doorway of Angela's office staring at her friend.
"Booth of course." Angela turned in her chair, stood up and walked over to where her friend was standing. "It's time you got out of your relationship with him. He's not good enough for you. You deserve happiness and you're not going to get that if you stay with Booth."
Brennan realized that her friend was unhappy with Booth, but both Booth and she were playing a role hoping to give Booth time to find Pelant and kill him. The situation was making everyone around them unhappy, but she had promised Booth that she could play her role and she would do it. Too much was at stake. "I am happy, Angela . . . Booth and I are together because that is what we want."
Frustrated, Angela hugged Brennan then walked back over to her desk and sat down. "If it was me, I'd kick his ass out of the house, but I guess you're going to do what you want to do."
"That is correct." Since there was nothing she could say or do to assure Angela, Brennan placed a folder on the coffee table near the couch and left. She had hoped that her friends would let her handle her personal life and for the most part they had. Angela was the exception and the artist was making both Booth and Brennan very unhappy. Angela's constant insults and her unwanted advice wasn't helping the situation, but they both were acting out their roles for Pelant and they would have to accept that their friends were unhappy with both of them. Angela was a problem, but not as big a problem as Christopher Pelant.
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Christopher Pelant couldn't understand why Brennan was still with Booth. He had done what he could to drive a wedge between them, but they seemed to have a solid partnership even if their personal relationship was poorer than it used to be. He had watched them closely when he could and there didn't seem to be any signs of affection between them, but they were still together and that infuriated Pelant. "It's time I ended this game. It's gone on long enough."
As soon as he could, Pelant set off a chain of events that he hoped would end up with Booth dead and Brennan under his control. His plan was complicated and involved the death of former Agent Flynn, but what was one more dead body? He couldn't let the norms of society hold him back. Once Booth was dead and Brennan was his, his plans would start to snowball and he would accomplish what he had been trying to do since he had become a hacktivist. He hoped to destroy the military industrial complex, defang the FBI and the CIA and ensure that his country would no longer wage war with the rest of the world. He had lost sight of his goals for a while, but with Booth out of the way and with the help of Brennan his plans would prevail. He would become a hero in the eyes of America and no one was going to stop him now.
"I will win and when I do, this country will win. I'll be as famous as George Washington and they'll forgive the things I had to do to make my plan work."
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Pelant's plan unfolded rather quickly and didn't work out like the computer genius thought it would. He had made a mistake trusting that Brennan would be the logical creature that he was. As his plan fell apart, as he stared in dismay at the gun aimed at his head, Pelant knew that Brennan had been a wild card he had not counted on. Because he had placed too much faith in his own superior intelligence and not enough in the vagaries of human emotion, he died and his plans were destroyed.
Booth had finally got close enough to the man to put a bullet between his eyes and the serial killer would never kill again. Brennan was safe and after a private conversation between them, they were engaged again. Booth vowed that no one would ever come between them ever again. They had been pawns in a murderer's sick plan, but he would make sure that never happened again.
They'd sat in Booth's SUV holding hands while Booth and Brennan had waited for the FBI techs to show up to take charge of Pelant's body. Besides the body, the techs would need to go through the building and remove any booby traps they found as well as any computers, weapons and explosives that were still there.
"It's over Bones." Booth leaned over and kissed his fiancé. The last few months had been miserable for both of them, but Pelant was dead and they had their lives back. "You were fantastic. I think this was your best undercover role ever. Better that Roxie or Wanda."
Pleased with the compliment, Brennan smiled and returned his kiss. "I told you I am a very good actor . . . there were times when I was tempted to tell Angela since she was so rude to you and sometimes to me, but I knew that wasn't possible since Pelant could overhear anything I had to say to Angela. I couldn't take the risk . . . Not to mention, she isn't a very good actress and she would have behaved differently towards us if I had told her what was really going on."
"No, you did good. Telling Angela would have been a mistake." Angry with Angela's disloyalty, Booth knew he was going to have a hard time forgiving her. She had known him for a long time and she should have seen that something was going on to affect his actions. He was sure he would have given her the benefit of the doubt if their roles had been reversed, but she hadn't done that. She had declared him the enemy without allowing him to defend himself in anyway.
Clearly Hodgins and Cam had been disappointed in him and they had let him know that, but they hadn't carried it beyond a few comments. They hadn't tried to come between Brennan and him and he appreciated that they had held back waiting to see what would happen. He appreciated their loyalty and he knew they would be happy for both Brennan and him once they found out why he had broken their engagement. He wasn't sure how Angela was going to react, but at this point he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, she was no longer his friend. She was Brennan's friend and he would never try to end that relationship, but he wasn't going to forgive Angela for trying to destroy his relationship with the woman he loved. She had taken things too far.
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She was embarrassed. Angela had listened to Booth tell his story about Pelant and how the killer had threatened to kill five strangers if he didn't reject Brennan's proposal. She watched the couple standing before them, holding hands, comfortable in their company and she knew that she had misjudged Booth. The fact that the agent refused to look at her while he spoke to Cam, Hodgins, Caroline, Clark, Wendell and her about the last few months told her that there was a wall between her and Booth and it was possible Booth may never tear that wall down.
Once the meeting was over everyone except Angela had gone back to their offices to finish up notes and reports. The Pelant case was over and the quicker they could close his file the better. Hanging back, she had touched Booth on the arm only to be surprised when he had stepped back, pulling his arm away from her. "I . . . I want to talk to you."
His face expressionless, Booth had crossed his arms against his chest and stared at her. He neither encouraged her nor discouraged her. He just stood there waiting to see what she had to say.
Clearing her throat, Angela glanced over at the exit to the platform, knew she couldn't leave until she had her say and turned her gaze back upon Booth. "I didn't know. I've been angry with you because I didn't know what was going on. You made Brennan unhappy. She was so sad and you didn't seem to care and as her best friend, I couldn't let that slide. I had to defend her, Booth. I'm the only one she can count on to defend her."
Amazed at the self-centered view of what had happened, Booth shook his head. "No, I'm the one she can count on to defend her. I would die for Bones and she knows that . . . Here's the thing, you didn't know what was going on, but you've known me for over eight years. You know how I feel about Bones, you know that I love her and yet, you turned your back on me when things didn't seem right. You didn't try to find out what was wrong. You assumed I was the bad guy and you tried to get Bones to leave me. That right there. I can never forgive you for doing that . . . Now I have to go. I have work to do."
"Wait." Angela was angry. "I was protecting my best friend. Me, I was the one that was on her side. You were acting like a bastard and I knew that Brennan didn't deserve that . . . Yes, I've known you for eight years, but I've known Brennan longer. I'm her best friend and I only want what's best for her. It's not my fault that you and Brennan didn't trust me. If you had let me know what was going on, I could have helped, but you didn't and you got what you deserved. No one hurts Brennan and gets away with it. Not if I have anything to say about it."
"So, you're angry with me? Okay." Booth walked around her to the staircase then paused and turned back to stare at the artist. "We're done Angela. I won't ask Bones to choose between you and me because I know who she would choose and you'd be the loser. Brennan is still your friend. That's good, she doesn't have very many friends and she loves you like a sister . . . If I were you, I'd make sure you let Bones know that you're done meddling in our lives. I may not end your friendship, but Bones has reached her breaking point with your interference. It's time for you to mend fences with her. That will save your friendship."
She knew he was right, but she wasn't about to acknowledge it. "I protected her."
Their conversation over, Booth left. He had work to do and he wanted to get home early and have a quiet evening with his family. He was relieved that his ordeal was over and that his life could get back to normal. I'm engaged to Bones. Damn, I really am engaged to Bones. She's going to be my wife.
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Brennan had listened to Angela and once her friend had finished explaining her behavior, Brennan sighed. "I love Booth. I have never loved anyone as much as I love Booth. The only one I love more is my daughter. You made a mistake by assuming you knew what was going on. Your attempts to break up my relationship with Booth was very stressful and it didn't help the situation . . . You are my best friend, that hasn't changed, but I doubt your relationship with Booth will ever be the same. You hurt him and you hurt me. I forgive you, but it will probably be a long time before Booth will forgive you . . . I cannot let you come between us, Angela. I am your friend, but we will have to make some adjustments in our relationship. Booth and Christine come first. They always have and they always will."
It hurt to hear Brennan say the things she said, but she accepted that she had caused too many problems between her and Booth even if it had been done through ignorance. As long as she didn't lose Brennan's friendship, then she would accept that things had changed and she was no longer number one in Brennan's life. At least she was in the top ten.
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A/N: there will a follow-up chapter next.
Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.