So, I have to thank my buddy Teegan for inspiring this chapter. When I first layed out the plot, I didn't have this even remotely in mind. But she and I got bored in Chemistry class, and chaos ensued. Anyways, this one's for you Sweetie!

Hodgins had to give this a shot. He'd been thinking about this for weeks, alongside everything else, and believed he had a good theory. Now he just needed Brennan's support, and Cam's consent.

'Brennan,' he began, catching up to her as she arrived in the morning. 'I have a theory I need to test, involving cancer, and arsenic.'

'And…?' She asked, waiting for him to continue. She didn't even look up from the file in her hands.

'This is the only place where I have access to the required apparatus.'

'Are you doing this alone?'

'With your permission, I was hoping to borrow Kat for a little while to help me.' Hodgins replied nervously.

A shadow of confusion flickered across Brennan's face. 'Why are you doing another experiment now? It's been months, and that was always something you and Zack did together.'

'Well today, I'm feeling optimistic.' He said cryptically.

'You sent in Zack's paperwork—I know. Sweets called me, for some strange reason.'

Damn, she'd taken away the air of mystery; and the opportunity to surprise her with good news. Something about Brennan made everyone try extra hard to surprise her; maybe it was the fact that she was very rarely surprised.

'So long as you do not destroy the lab, or poison my assistant, you can do your experiment.' She said with a sigh, and a tired smile.

Hodgins was amazed she had given in that easily. He'd expected some resistance, seeing as he would be using a deadly poison, and her assistant who had been very hard to find. Maybe Brennan just wanted to bring back some of the old feeling of the lab—which meant letting him do experiments.

He remembered how the last "experiment" he and Zack had done together had gone so horribly wrong. What hurt most, it had been meant to go wrong—Zack had set it up that way. So Hodgins had stopped setting up experiments to follow the evidence, and had let the past eleven months go by that way—particularly without cases. But today, he had to get back to what he enjoyed. After all, Zack might be home soon.

Kat looked around nervously for signs of Sweets. She'd been "underground", as she was calling it in her mind, for a couple of weeks now. And maybe she was becoming a little paranoid about Sweets, but still within reason—she didn't want the psychologist to ambush her.

'Kat, Sweets isn't here. He had to go to Quantico today, to meet with his superiors.' Hodgins said reassuringly. 'You're safe from ambush.'

'I know!' She snapped. 'I'm just…'

'Paranoid.' He finished the thought for her with an annoying grin. Oh, if there wasn't a bunch of glass and chemicals between them, she would have swatted him for that—know-it-all.

'So what are you planning on accomplishing here?' She asked instead, switching the topic back to the experiment.

'I am hypothesizing, that we can use arsenic to remove malignant tumours.'

'And how are we going to test said hypothesis?' Kat asked skeptically.

'We'll do it…' He paused for dramatic effect. 'With the help, of Molly.'

'And who is Molly?'

Hodgins reached under the counter between them, and pulled out a small wire cage, containing a grey rat. 'Kat, meet Molly. She belongs to my gardener, and she has one malignant tumour on her side.'

Taking Molly out of her cage, Kat held her up for inspection. She was pretty cute—for a rat, whose ancestors had probably carried the bubonic plague across Europe. 'Has Molly consented to the procedure?'

'Blake had to do that for her.'

She returned the rat to her cage with a sigh. 'Normally, I don't support testing on animals. But seeing as we're trying to help Molly, it's alright.' Pulling on gloves, she clapped her hands together. 'So, maestro, what do we do?'

'I need you to take Molly over to autopsy to biopsy that tumour, and then have Cam help you analyze it.' Hodgins instructed her. 'I'll prepare the arsenic into aqueous solution, and make the last minor detail calculations.'

'The arsenic will need to be refrigerated then.' Kat pointed out. 'Seeing as the biopsy results will take awhile. Are they really all that necessary?'

'We need them to calculate the dosage.'

Kat felt a little unsure of leaving him alone with that stuff. 'Alright… just be careful with that crap while I'm taking care of Molly. We don't want you to poison yourself, because I doubt I could carry on your legacy here.'

'Fine by me.' He grinned. 'I want to live long enough to try getting married again.'

'I want you to live long enough to try getting married again, because I need to catch Angela's bouquet.'

'I better warn you though Kat; there's a good chance Angela might decide to make you girls wear pink this time.'

'Dear lord almighty,' she began to mock-pray. 'Deliver us from the horror that is pink organza bridesmaids' gowns!'

Brennan was annoyed. It was mutual understanding in the lab that the first person to arrive in the morning would make coffee. Then all subsequent last-cup drinkers, or whoever discovered the pot empty, would make the next batch. However, the pot was empty, and Angela was sitting not to yards away, eating a muffin.

'Ange, you know that if the coffee pot is empty, you're supposed to make coffee.'

The artist just smiled serenely. 'Sweetie, coffee isn't very good for you. I brought juice today—have some of that instead. It's in the jug in the fridge, and you should know it has way more nutrients.'

'Coffee has caffeine.' Brennan countered. 'And that's what I need to stay awake today.'

'That's really not good. You should be able to get up in the morning without the jitters.'

Brennan just rolled her eyes. 'You can enjoy your nutritious juice, but I'm making coffee.'

She pulled out the tin of grounds as Angela poured out a tall glass of the ruby-red drink. She then took a large gulp as if to prove a point. 'This batch tastes…different. But it's still good, so help yourself Sweetie. Ciao!'

She walked out just as Cam walked in. 'Bren, did you get the last cup of coffee?' she whined. Evidently, she hadn't had her morning fix yet.

'No, someone else did—maybe Kat. Angela decided we don't need coffee, so she brought juice to work. Personally, I find it a very poor substitute.'

Cam made a face. 'I always find those stupid fruit juices too sweet. But I don't think Kat drank the last cup—she says it makes her crazily hyper, like Zack. I used to think it was fascinating to watch him arrange a skeleton while on a caffeine rush, and to hear him talk…priceless.'

Together, they managed to get a new pot brewing by the time Hodgins came in. 'You guys need a third cup of Java already?'

'Second.' Cam corrected. 'Your wonderful fiancée decided to leave the pot empty, because she's "above coffee".' Brennan wondered if Hodgins was too, as he headed straight for the fridge.

'She drank three cups this morning before we came to work.' He said with a dry chuckle. 'Hey…what happened to my arsenic?'

'WHAT?' Cam shrieked. 'You put ARSENIC in there!?!'

'The beaker got knocked over—right over this juice jug.' Hodgins' eyes widened in panic. 'Don't let anyone drink this— except maybe Sweets.'

Brennan felt all the color drain from her face. 'Angela walked out of here with a glass of that. She said it tasted funny—'

Hodgins was as white as a sheet now. 'Call 911 and poison control!' He cried, and ran from the room, with Brennan hot on his heels. She could hear him bellowing Angela's name as he rounded a corner

'Guys!' Kat came into view, kneeling beside the unconscious artist. 'Call an ambulance—she just dropped!'

Brennan felt for a pulse in Angela's neck, and was relieved to feel the flutter of life beneath her fingertips. 'She's still alive.'

'Baby, don't die on me.' Hodgins was whispering as he cradled Angela's head. 'I'm so sorry—this is my fault.'

He'd fallen asleep in the emergency department waiting room, and was still thinking somehow. How similar this ride to the hospital had been, to the one he'd taken with Zack, just under a year ago. Only this time, there was more chance of losing life than limb. This time it wasn't his best friend, but the woman he loved more than anything on earth.

'Jack, wake up—it's me, Temperance.'

She was shaking him out of that dreamless sleep. 'What time is it?'

'Six o'clock. What did the doctors say?' she asked.

Hodgins tried to remember, pushing past the foggy remains of sleep. 'They said they were trying to remove the arsenic from her system, so she wouldn't absorb any more. If they did, her chances of survival would increase from twenty percent to seventy.'

Brennan nodded, sitting down beside him. 'Jack, don't put all the blame on you—this isn't your fault.'

'Yes it is.' He argued. 'The break room fridge isn't for storing chemicals; that's why there's one in the lab. Only, it's full of crap.'

'How can it be full?'

Hodgins' mouth twisted into a sort of pained smile. 'I left a bunch of crap in there, because it was Zack's crap. I can't bring myself to throw out any of his stuff—not even whatever garbage is in his apartment. I guess I'm just thinking that if everything stays the same, it'll be like nothing's changed when he gets home.'

Brennan shook her head in disbelief. 'That line of reasoning is completely and utterly illogical. Zack would be the first to tell you that.'

'I know. But it's the reason I put a poison in the fridge.' He let out a sour chuckle. 'That's got to be the dumbest move I've ever made.'

'Dumber than agreeing to let me perform a risky surgical procedure on your leg whilst being buried underground in a car?'

Brennan's question made him smile for a second, and then he remembered what he was comparing it to. 'Yes. A lot dumber.'

They sat in silence for what felt like hours. Neither seemed to be able to find something to say that might comfort the other. Finally, a doctor came from the direction they had taken Angela.

'Jack Hodgins?' He asked, looking down at a clipboard.

'How's Angela?' Hodgins blurted out the question without thought. 'Is she going to be alright?'

'We removed the remaining arsenic from her system, so we are expecting Ms. Montenegro to live. She was quite lucky that the poison was as diluted as it was. But there is still a chance that she has suffered neural or muscular damage. We won't be able to determine the extent until she wakes up.'

'How long might that take?' Brennan asked calmly, holding Hodgins hand tightly.

The doctor shook his head. 'I really can't say.'

'When can I go see her?'

'I'll take you now if you'd like. We're just transferring her to the ICU. You can stay until she wakes up.'

Hodgins turned to look at Brennan. He was unsure whether or not he should call the others, and let them know what was going on. She just smiled wanly—a look she seemed to be adopting from Kat.

'Go. I'll tell the others what is going on here. Just call us when Angela wakes up, so we're not worrying any longer than we need to.'

Hodgins nodded. 'I will, I promise.'

Brennan faced her remaining colleagues, who were all gathered up on the platform. Booth has come—someone, undoubtedly Cam—had called him, and now he stood leaning against a table, his face as white as a sheet. He, Cam, and Kat looked so concerned, so scared, she was glad to be delivering good news.

'The doctors said Angela will survive.'

'Oh thank mercy!' Kat exclaimed, sinking to the floor in relief. 'I—I thought for sure…'

Brennan was hardly surprised by the young woman's reaction, though the fact that she was now sitting cross-legged on the floor was a little unusual.

'Anything else?' Cam, always the level-headed one, asked.

'We won't know much more until she wakes up.' Brennan said quietly.

'What the hell was Hodgins doing with arsenic anyways?' Booth asked bluntly. 'Trying to poison Sweets?'

'He wanted to see if we could cure cancerous tumours by injecting them with an arsenic solution.' Kat explained from her place on the floor. 'We were going to test it on Molly.'

'Molly?'

'His gardener's pet rat.' Cam clarified for him. 'Speaking of Molly, when was the last time anyone fed her?'

Kat's eyes widened in panic, and scrambling to her feet, she raced over to where she had left the cage. 'Molly!'

Following her, Brennan saw that the light grey rat had escaped her cage, and was sitting on Kat's work table, chewing on a pencil. 'It might be an idea to feed her.'

'What do rats eat?' Kat asked incredulously.

'I have no idea.' Brennan mumbled. She had no patience for rat-sitting; leave that to someone more nurturing. After all, she couldn't even keep plants alive.

The first thing Angela realized as she began to wake up, was that she was aching all over, and her throat and oesophagus felt like they were on fire. Then she remembered the juice, and blacking out…

'I am never drinking fruit punch again.' She croaked.

At her words, Hodgins looked up at her face. 'You're finally awake. Thank god you're awake…'

With a little effort, she squeezed his hand. 'I'm not leaving you any time soon.'

'I wasn't sure, this time This was my fault; my arsenic solution spilled into that darn juice. My hair-brained idea nearly killed you.'

Angela shook her head. 'It was an accident; it wasn't your fault. Just an accident.'

Hearing it from her seemed to ease some of his guilt. 'I think that after today, Brennan, Cam and Kat might agree to wear pink at our wedding.'

She giggled, but the giggle hurt her throat even more than talking. 'I won't make them. Besides, they look nicer in mauve anyways.'

Chuckling, Hodgins leaned over and gave her a tender kiss. 'I'm just going to go call the others, and then I'll be right back. I promise.'

As he left, Angela settled back into her pillow. That was the great thing about Hodgins; he always kept his promises.

I promised myself there would be no character death- not even Molly. So haha to Teegan, who was sure someone would die. I don't like to kill anything. So are you going to make by day, by pushing that nice big review button?