A/N: Remember when we didn't even have 100 Bones stories on this site? Now there are over 300! We rock. Also, I am not intimidated by eight two-year-olds screaming for their lunch at the same time. Therefore, you can whine all you want, but B&B will kiss when I am good and ready for them to do so. Though I did appreciate the comments. That is all. : ) -tc
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When she heard the soft knock, Angela looked up from her computer terminal and raised an eyebrow at the unexpected visitor in the doorway.
"Uh, Booth?" she asked. "You do know that your partner and your son are at the Museum of Natural History today, right?"
"Yes," he replied, walking into her office and settling into an empty chair.
"And... you know you don't really work here?"
"Yes."
"So... are you here about the serial killer case?"
"No. We got the son of a bitch last night; today's just a bunch of paperwork."
"Okay." Silence. "So..."
"It's about Bones," he blurted out, and Angela had to suppress a chuckle. Duh. Now we're getting somewhere.
"What about Bren?" she prodded gently.
He was back on his feet, pacing the office, left hand jingling a pocketful of loose change while the right pulled at his impeccable Windsor knot. "This doesn't leave the lab? You won't tell her that I talked to you?"
Jack works in the lab. That wouldn't be cheating. "Cross my heart."
He sighed. "She... we... I almost... damnit!" He kicked a filing cabinet. "I don't even know why I'm here. You're probably the last person on Earth I should be asking for advice, but I couldn't think of anyone else."
"Gosh, Booth, I'm overwhelmed by your faith in me," she smirked, but he looked so crestfallen that she relented. "Hey, hon, it's okay. I understand. Let's go sit on Brennan's couch and talk. I'll get you some coffee."
He nodded numbly and followed her into the break room, accepting the mug in silence before they headed into Tempe's office. Angela let him collapse onto the couch, then sat down to offer a comforting hand on his arm. "Alright, sweetie, tell Angela everything. What happened last night?"
She could have sworn the FBI agent's cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Nothing, exactly. I mean, technically nothing. I don't really want to talk about last night. That's not really the problem. Well, not entirely."
Okay, this may take a while. "Did you want something to happen?"
The blush was definitely there now. Apparently Seeley Booth was just modest (or old-fashioned) enough to believe that some aspects of a relationship were private. Angela decided that she loved him for it.
Booth, meanwhile, had decided that Angela Montenegro was not a woman to whom a man should lie and expect to get away with it. "Yes."
Don't squeal, Ange. He's already about two seconds away from running out of this office. Be cool. "I see."
They sat in silence for a few moments before Booth finally broke down. "I wanted to kiss her. I almost did. I think. But then Parker interrupted us, and..."
"She ran?"
He nodded miserably.
"And you wanted her to stay?"
"See, that's the thing. Once she was gone, I was almost... relieved. I don't know if I'm ready for this, Angela."
"Um, could you be a little more specific?"
Being intimate with a woman for the first time since the Tessa debacle? Letting someone else into Parker's life? Falling in love? "She's just... I saw the file on her parents. Her photo. I've read the case files from the years she was in foster care. I know what happened in El Salvador. I know what Michael did to her, I know what Kenton and that voodoo creep tried to do to her... I don't want to be one more terrible thing that happens in her life."
"Booth, you're not like those guys. You care about her; you won't let her get hurt. Plus, Bren can take care of herself. I thought you'd realized that by now."
His laugh was mirthless. "I wish it were that easy. But the truth is, it's my own selfish ass I'm worried about. I don't know if I'm ready to risk our partnership. Besides Parker, it's the best thing in my life right now. A year ago, I didn't even want a partner. And now" - what the hell, she probably knows already - "Angela, I don't know what I'd do without her. And I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit that that scares the shit out of me."
God, Bren, you are so lucky. "And you're worried that kissing her would put your partnership and your friendship at risk?"
"I'm pretty sure there would be a little more than kissing involved."
Apparently modesty doesn't apply to hypothetical events. "Okay, first of all, TMI. Well, not that I wouldn't drag it out of Brennan eventually, but that's not the point. The point is that you're right. This would be a huge step for both of you, and you stand to lose quite a bit. But think about it this way: what do you have to gain?" Angela set her mug down on the table and laced her fingers together. "Look, I didn't tell Tempe what to do, and I won't tell you, either. But I will say that I'm pretty sure I will wonder every day for the rest of my life why I didn't say yes to Kirk when he asked me to marry him. Because maybe it would have been a horrible mistake, but at least I'd know, y'know?"
"Is that your subtle way of telling me to go for it?"
She smiled. "I'm saying you shouldn't be afraid to figure out what you really want in life, even if you never get it. Be honest with yourself. Find out whether she's worth it. Because you deserve to be happy, Booth. Whatever sins you're repenting for by working homicide, whatever Catholic guilt some ruler-wielding nun beat into you all those years ago, you are a good person. Don't let anyone tell you differently."
"Thanks, Angela."
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"How come we never sneak into Brennan's office when she's not here?" asked a low voice from behind her as she watched Booth's retreating form.
Angela didn't bother turning around. "First of all, Hodgins, she's ALWAYS here. And secondly, that's not exactly the kind of TLC I was giving Agent Booth."
"I know," he replied. "I was listening outside the door."
"Why am I not surprised?"
He came forward and stood next to her. "You're really good at that, you know."
"Deflecting your pathetic attempts at flirtation?"
"No. What you said to Booth. I mean, you listened, you didn't make up his mind for him, you knew just what to say. I was impressed."
"Oh." She couldn't tell whether the flush was embarrassment from her mistaken flippancy or pleasure from his praise. "Thanks. But, I mean, I was only being a friend. You could have done the same."
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm just the bug guy, remember? You're the artist. I'll never have your gift of words."
Her reply was so soft he almost missed it. "I liked the words you said to me."
"Huh?"
"When Bren was down in New Orleans with Booth. We were working on the John Doe 361 x-rays, and you were talking about Brennan, and you said... you said I led a big life. That I had made a difference in hers. It... I liked it. It made me feel special."
Jack didn't know how to reply. "It was my pleasure." He paused to see whether she would break the moment with a glib remark. "Did you mean what you said to Booth about Kirk? You don't think you'll get another chance at the happiness you could have had with him?"
She waited a moment before replying. "Bren told me that nothing happens only once, that the universe is too big."
He traced circles on the edge of an examining table. "Dr. Brennan is a very smart woman."
"Yeah." She smiled. "I sure hope so."
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A/N: Angela has been so great to B&B during this whole week that I thought she deserved a little fluff of her own – hence the Hodgela garnish (Caroline's term, btw).