(The Lady on the List)
A/N: this is a sequel to chapters 231 and 232. Remember this story is AU.
I don't own Bones.
Ooooooooooooooooo
Things were odd in the Lab and Angela felt that it was mostly Booth's fault. He had treated Brennan badly and yes, he felt he had a reason to do it, but she felt that he could have found a way to tell Brennan and everyone else what was going on if he'd tried hard enough. She had tried to protect Brennan because of Booth's callousness, but in the end that had backfired, since Brennan forgave him for what he had done and he was number two in her life. Christine being number one.
Angela was sitting in her office feeling lonely. It had been a few weeks since Pelant had been killed by Booth and everyone seemed to have moved on except her. She found it hard to forgive Booth for how he had treated Brennan and she found it harder to forgive Brennan for ignoring the fact that she had been on her side when she needed a friend. She had protected her as much as she could, but Brennan didn't seem to appreciate that.
Now that Booth and Brennan were engaged, Angela felt that she should set aside her feelings and help Brennan organize her big day. She wanted Brennan's wedding to be a celebration even if she was marrying Booth and she knew she could be a big help. To her surprise, Brennan turned down her help. She wanted Angela to be her matron of honor, but she didn't want any help planning the wedding. She was shut out and it made her sad.
"Hey, Ange, what's wrong." Hodgins stood in the doorway looking at his wife. Her bowed shoulders, the sadness on her face, the tear falling down her cheek worried him.
Wiping the tear from her face, Angela forced herself to smile and turned to completely face her husband. "Nothing is wrong."
Concerned, Hodgins moved into the room, but stopped a few feet from his wife. He didn't want Angela to think he was pressuring her. "Look, I know things have been weird for a while, but everything's okay now. Booth and Dr. B are getting married which is what we all wanted. Pelant is dead and we don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Brennan won't let me help with her wedding. I think she's angry with me for being angry with Booth. I was protecting her, you know I was. I was being her friend . . . her best friend, but . . . I don't matter anymore."
He could see that Angela was upset, but Hodgins felt that Angela was seeing things from an odd perspective. She made Brennan's ordeal her own and he wasn't sure she could see it. "Look, Babe. We know that Booth turned down Brennan's wedding proposal because Pelant threatened to kill five people if he didn't. We both know Booth could never let Pelant kill someone if he could stop it. He didn't want to break Brennan's heart, but what choice did he have? He told Brennan what was going on as soon as he could and they both pretended they were having relationship problems to make sure Pelant didn't kill anyone. This was between Booth and Brennan. Brennan said she approved of what Booth did and she played her part to keep Pelant from killing anyone . . . Sure they didn't tell us, but they knew that the more people who knew about what Pelant was up to, the bigger chance that Pelant would find out. They did the right thing and you need to forgive Booth and Brennan for how they handled the situation. They took a lot of risks and it paid off."
"I don't need to forgive Brennan for anything. It was Booth who betrayed Brennan."
"Ange, he told Brennan what was going on. He didn't betray her." Hodgins was worried that he didn't seem to be getting through to his wife. "Brennan and Booth were acting. They were undercover. They were determined to give Booth a chance to kill Pelant and they did what they thought was best. You need to let it go. Brennan is your best friend. She loves you like a sister, but if you keep holding a grudge with Booth the only one that's going to get hurt is you. You have to know that."
Sighing, Angela knew that Hodgins as right. "I do know that, but I did what I did to protect Brennan. I was there for her . . . she should have told me what was going on. She should have told me because I'm her best friend."
Frustrated, Hodgins shrugged his shoulders. "Angela, let it go for you if you can't let it go for Brennan and Booth."
Turning to face her PC, Angela shook her head. "I have work to do."
With that dismissal, Hodgins left the room. He knew Angela was going to have to find her own way. He'd given her his best advice and if she didn't want to take it then there was nothing he could do for her.
Oooooooooooooooo
Avalon Harmonia was good at her job. Of course, some people were skeptical about what she did and they didn't think what she did was a job, but they were wrong. She'd felt that someone was unhappy, someone she knew and it bothered her that she didn't know who or why.
When she could, she found the time to read her cards and the story played out for her in each card she flipped over. "Angela, of course." She felt a special kinship with Angela Montenegro. Because of her and her connections with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, the body of her sister had been found and the man who had killed her was in prison. She owed Angela a certain amount of loyalty and she knew that she could help the artist with her problem.
The next day, she arrived at the Lab and waited patiently for Angela to appear at the front desk.
"Avalon, why are you here?" Surprised to see the psychic, Angela hugged her friend, took her hand and pulled her towards the entrance to the Lab.
"No Angela, I need to talk to you about something important and I don't want to do it here." Angela gave her friend a sincere smile and hoped Angela would understand.
Puzzled, Angela smiled and pointed at the exit to the street. "Come on, we can walk over to the coffee cart at the park and I'll buy a coffee and a donut."
Grateful that Angela was willing to talk elsewhere, Avalon followed her from the building, down the sidewalk and after a while, they stood in front of a coffee cart in the park. Once they had a cup of coffee and a donut in their hands, they both sat down on a bench several yards from the coffee cart.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Angela hoped this wasn't about another mass grave. She really wanted this to just be about something mundane.
After she sipped some coffee, Avalon shifted on the bench so she could face Angela. "You're unhappy."
"Yeah, I am." Not sure if she should explain what was going on, she sipped some of her coffee and stared at the sidewalk near her feet.
"I understand why you're sad, Angela. I saw it in the cards. I know what's been going on and I know that you feel angry with Agent Booth and with Dr. Brennan."
Quickly looking up, Angela protested. "I'm not angry with Brennan. She's my best friend."
"You are angry with Dr. Brennan even if you don't want to admit it." Avalon knew that Angela was trying not to be angry with her friend, but she was failing. "She and Agent Booth were after a man who was evil. That man was responsible for a lot of deaths including another FBI Agent and he needed to be stopped. Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan came up with a plan to stop this man, but they had to do it secretly. They pretended to be estranged and that affected everyone around them. It hurt when you found out that they didn't confide in you, but Angela, they didn't confide in anyone. Lives were at stake. The evil man was going to kill more people and Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan stopped him. They did what they had to do. Don't you understand that?"
"Of course, I do, but I'm Brennan's best friend and she should have trusted me. I could have helped her . . . also, Booth was so mean to her. He turned down Brennan's marriage proposal and he waited weeks to tell her why. It was a callous thing to do." Angela sighed in frustration. "And quit saying the evil man. His name was Christopher Pelant."
She heard Angela's anger and that worried Avalon. "Agent Booth was afraid that Christopher would kill people and he hurt Brennan until he could figure out a way to tell her why he was being mean. The cards are very clear that if he had just confessed what was going on without preparing Dr. Brennan, Christopher would have killed five people and then because he could, he would have killed ten more then twenty more. Christopher was evil and he would have had his revenge by killing innocent people. He knew that Agent Booth wouldn't have been able to live with that . . . Angela, you know he wouldn't have been able to live with that either. It would have destroyed Booth and you know that."
Embarrassed, Angela felt her cheeks grown warm. "I do know that . . . He just made me so angry that he had treated Brennan like he did and even when she knew what was going on . . . okay, I can see why they didn't tell anyone. If Pelant had figured out that Brennan had known why Booth was behaving the way he was, he would have killed a bunch of people. It just hurt that they didn't ask me to help them. I could have helped them."
"You did help them, Angela. Your anger with Booth assured Christopher that his plan was working or at least part of it was. You played your part even if you didn't know you were part of what was going on. You helped Booth and Brennan convince Christopher that he had everything under control and he didn't have to go on a killing spree. You helped save a lot of lives and I want to thank you for doing that . . . Now that it's over, you can let your anger go. Christopher poisoned everything he touched. His evil destroyed lives, but he's dead now and you don't have to let him influence how you treat your friends. Right now, you're having trouble letting go of your anger, but Angela your friends need you. They have always relied upon you to help them bring justice to those who need it. You're part of their team. You're part of their family. They know that. They're just waiting for you to realize that. Dr. Brennan needs your friendship and believe it or not, so does Booth . . . The cards say that if you'll forgive them, you will benefit in many ways. They are the family you need. You have some trials in the future that will be easier to cope with if you're part of Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth's family. Trust me, Angela. Trust the cards."
She heard her friend out and though she was worried about the hints from Avalon about her future, Angela knew that the psychic was right about the present. Being angry with Booth and Brennan was the wrong path for her. She needed to forgive and she would. The only family she had was her father, Hodgins and Michael Vincent and if she threw away her connection with Brennan and Booth then her family would be too small and she would continue to be lonely. "I trust you, Avalon. Thank you for coming to see me. I'm going to work on my anger and I'm going to let it go. Brennan is my best friend, my sister and since she loves Booth, I have to love him too . . . um, you know I don't mean that in a physical way."
Amused, Avalon laughed. "Oh Honey, I knew exactly what you meant. Agent Booth loves Brennan and that man will never leave her side, at least not for long. He loves her too much to risk losing his relationship with her. Now, I know that you have work to do and so do I. Kiss that lovely child of yours for me and I'll see you again when you need me."
"Thank you, Avalon." Her coffee finished, Angela threw the cup in the waste basket next to her bench. "I needed help and . . . well, thank you."
"You're welcome." Standing, Avalon glanced at her watch. "I have a reading in 36 minutes. Bye Sweetie."
After Avalon was gone, Angela closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded her head. "Okay, I have some bridges to mend." Standing she left the park and walked back to the Lab. She was happier than she had been for weeks and that was a start.
Oooooooooooooooooo
Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.