TITLE: Undoing
CHAPTER 20: Preparations


"Remind me why we're doing this?"

"As a favor to Booth," Angela responded, carefully taking the tray of paint from Hodgins' arms and carrying it toward the wall.

"You're the one that's enthralled with Booth, not me," he griped.

She smirked, and jerked her chin toward the item in the corner of the room. "Just start setting up the crib. I'll finish painting."

"Yeah, okay, because I've set up so many cribs before."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll come and help you in a few minutes, this wall just needs a top-coat."

Silence fell over the pair as they set about completing their respective tasks, their eyes flitting to each other every so often. "So..." Hodgins began after several minutes had passed. "Do you think this'll work?"

Angela chuckled slightly, moving the roller expertly along the wall. "If it doesn't, I'll drag Brennan to the altar myself. She can't run from this forever."

"Why do you think she runs?" Hodgins frowned down at a small metallic piece he held in his hand, cross-checking it with the set-up diagram he was given.

"Because of her past... because of what happened to her parents. Lots of reasons factor in, I'm sure. But probably the main reason is, she's never been in this situation and it kind of scares her."

"You mean pregnant?"

She rolled her eyes again. "I mean in love. She's never been in love."

"Oh." Hodgins turned and allowed his eyes to flick over the brunette's form briefly before he asked, "Have you?"

She raised her eyebrows and glanced away from her paint job. "Have I ever been in love?" When he nodded, she gave it some thought. "Well... I think, a couple times I thought that I was. I've been in like. And I've been in lust."

"Never in love."

Angela made a slightly negative noise as she shook her head, and Hodgins mirrored this move.

"Yeah, me neither."

She grinned and resumed her painting, dipping the roller into the paint tray before returning it to the wall. "You strike me as someone who wouldn't believe in love."

"Well, I think it can be overrated..." His eyes flicked over her again and softened. "Most of the time."

"And the rest of the time?"

Hodgins watched her glide the roller up and down the wall, taking in the way her sable curls cascaded across her shoulder as she turned this way and that. "The rest of the time, it's not so bad."


"Bones..."

"Booth." Surprise laced her tone as she looked up from her computer monitor. "What are you doing here?"

He raised his eyebrows and continued to linger in the doorway. "Why do you sound so surprised to see me?"

"I just figured you... might be upset still. I figured you wouldn't want to see me."

He exhaled a chuckle and stepped into her office. "You figured, or you hoped, Bones?"

"Figured."

"Ah. Well, surprise. I still want to see you." He took the liberty of perching on her desk, ignoring the look she gave him for sitting on one of her files. He clasped his hands in his lap and smiled at her. "You may have turned down my proposal, but it'll take a hell of a lot more than that to get rid of me."

She sighed. "Booth, I wasn't trying to get rid of you and you know that."

"Well, good. So then you'll come to dinner with me tonight."

"Dinner?"

Booth flicked his brows upward. "Yeah, dinner. It generally follows lunch."

"I know what dinner is, Booth..."

"So you'll be having it tonight? With me?"

She met her partner's eyes and saw the plea glimmering in them. She was helpless to refuse. "Okay."

He grinned. "Great." He turned to head out the door then and called over his shoulder, "I'll pick ya up around five."


"For crying out loud, Angela, are we done yet?"

Angela grinned and put the finishing touches on the wall she was painting. "Y'know, it's fitting you're helping me set up for the arrival of a baby..."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

She chuckled. "Because you're acting like a baby, Jack."

"Wow, that was a good one. You should consider a career as a stand-up comic."

She rolled her eyes and moved one step higher on the ladder she was currently balanced on. "If you're gonna get snarky with me, you could always wait out in the living room. Watch TV or something."

"What's the use? I'll bet Booth doesn't even get the Playboy channel."

"You're probably right about that. Here..." She held out the can of pastel yellow paint. "Take this, I'm getting down."

Hodgins took the paint can from her hands and turned around to set it on the dropcloth she'd laid down. When he spun back to face his dark-haired companion, it was to see her teetering precariously on the fifth step of the ladder. Without thinking, he reached his arms out, catching her and stumbling with her before they both fell to the floor.

Hodgins cried out in pain when the back of his head hit the hardwood floor, and he squinted his eyes shut. Upon hearing Angela's groan of pain, he opened one eye and assessed the look on her face. "You okay?"

Angela nodded and pressed her hands into the floor, lifting her torso off him though the rest of their bodies remained in contact. "I think so. What about you?"

"Well, my spine has definitely felt better, but..." His slow-spreading grin turned to a leer. "I finally got you on top of me."

Angela rolled her eyes and pushed herself off him, helping him up. "Come on, we gotta clean up as fast as we can and then leave. This paint has to have time to dry before Booth comes home."

"Did I ruin the moment?" Hodgins asked suddenly.

Angela chuckled. "There was no moment, Hodgins. Trust me."

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure we had a moment."

"And if you keep this up, we'll have another one outside: with me, backing over you five or six times with the car."

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her and grinned. "You really frighten me, and I like that."

Angela cracked a grin at the look on his face, then rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed his arm. "Come on. Help me clean up, and I'll see about frightening you again."


TBC