Okay, chapter two! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, gave me a lot of inspiration! It's great that you guys like this, it makes me happy :) Meanwhile I've been reading spoilers and although this one is spoiler free (due to it's AU nature), it did guilt me into writing more. So let me just say: you want me to write faster, PM me spoilers *hint hint* :P
This one's a little different, definitely a little more angsty. Hannah's getting a little more persistent and Bones is getting a little more discouraged. I'm not planning to keep her that way, though: just another mood swing ;P She's a little more jealous as well...look, would you just read it? :)
Oh yes, and a reminder: THIS IS OOC. This is my one chance to make this go my way. I'd love to see this happen on screen, but we all know it's not gonna happen, right?
DISCLAIMER: Don't make me cry.
(special thanks to nertooold54, Quarterbreed, jsboneslover, and Stevens Angel for the opinions and ideas!)
(And Stevens Angel, I want that third chapter from 'of reading'. Like, now.)
"Fracture to the radial…"
"Flecks of dirt on his…"
"Greenstick fracture to the…"
Brennan swayed, her focus drifting in and out as she examined the bones in front of her. Cam poked and prodded at the loose flesh, as Finn Abernathy picked up and examined each bone, Hodgins teased out specks of particulates off the clothing, and Angela stared intently at the skull, mentally doing a reconstruction.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Cam looked up, her brown eyes full of worry.
"Ma'am, she's right," Finn said, his accent soft. "Maybe you should sit down?"
"Sweetie," Angela said, reaching out carefully, "Finn's right. You should…"
"Sit down," Brennan finished, and four pairs of eyes turned to stare at her incredulously.
"Maybe I need to sit down," Hodgins muttered as Brennan walked away, her pregnancy turning the walk into a sort of penguin waddle. "Did she just agree to rest?"
Cam turned to him, the same puzzled look reflected in her eyes.
Brennan opened her office door with shaky fingers, her feet and legs already tired, just from the short walk. An ominous stack of paperwork stared her down, but she ignored it, waddling towards the swivel chair pushed in at her desk. She pulled it out in one swift move, sitting down heavily and leaning back slightly. That silky thread of control was slipping through her fingertips, and she grasped uselessly at it, trying to maintain at least the sense of it by rearranging the papers into neat, organized piles.
It was useless, and she knew it. Leaning forward as well as she could, she rested her elbows on the desk and her forehead in her palms. She wanted to forget, but it kept nagging at the back of her brain, again and again and again.
Hannah was back.
A low groan escaped her throat as she leaned back again, massaging her temples with her fingertips. She could remember a time when Hannah had been close to becoming one of her best friends, slowly clawing her way to the same rank as Angela. Sure, she'd been extremely disappointed with the change in directions when she'd come back to D.C. at first: somewhere in her mind, she'd expected things to evolve when they came back. She'd missed him, as much as she tried to deny it; and the level on which she'd missed him had been much, much higher than 'just friends'.
But then she'd met Hannah, and she'd found it immeasurably harder to hate Hannah. The journalist was kind, talkative, and had a knack for lighting up the room the moment she walked in. It had been near impossible to hate her, and after a while she'd quit trying. Even when Hannah had taken her spot in Booth's heart, even when she'd slowly been pushed to the edges.
Slowly, Brennan turned around and rested her ankles on the edge of her desk, hoping it would help lower the swelling in her feet and toes. She could still remember, crystal clear, the way she'd felt when he'd opened that old phone, large and heavy enough to knock someone out. She remembered the pride that filled her heart, at being able to give him something he liked. And she remembered - with an angry blush - chorusing 'you're welcome' with Hannah. She remembered the embarrasment, the way her stomach churned, and turned around to leave. Oh, she knew when she wasn't welcome.
And yet, Hannah had been her friend. She found it impossible to hate her, impossible to ignore Hannah, because she made Booth so happy. How could she take that away from him? Even the threat of marriage which had loomed over their heads hadn't been enough to make her hate Hannah (although it had made her nauseous, the thought of having a Booth-Burley wedding, the thought of Hannah constantly being around, being able to kiss him and touch him when that was a right she wanted to herself).
And then, and then, Hannah had turned Booth down. She'd had it all, that closed-minded woman, and she'd thrown it all away. Brennan was being hypocritical, she knew: she'd turned down Booth herself, as much as it had broken her heart; but it was so easy, so easy to feel relief that she was gone, so easy to feel happy to be the only girl in Booth's heart again, so easy to hate Hannah and the way she'd turned everyone's lives upside down.
"Sweetie?" There were two sharp raps on the door before Angela poked her head in, before slipping in and closing the door behind her. "Sweetie, you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Angie," Brennan sighed, forcing a small smile onto her face. "But," she thought of quickly, putting down her feet painfully and shuffling papers, "I've got work to do."
"Sweetie-"
"I'll talk to you later, Angie. Don't worry. I will."
Angela gave her a look, her eyes settling on the expanse of Brennan's belly. Her thoughts were clear in her eyes: 'Pregnancy hormones, huh?'
"Angie, please."
"Hmm," Angela murmured, turning around and leaving, the door shutting quietly behind her.
Brennan shook off the urge to cry in self-pity, instead pretending to work while thinking back to the mall.
"Hannah," she'd said, her voice filled with disbelief, a small wave of contempt and bile rising up her throat. Hannah had blown it a long time ago. She had no place here.
"Temperance." It was so strange, she'd thought, hearing her name. She was so used to Brennan, to Tempe, to Bones, anything but Temperance. Even her dad hardly called her Temperance.
"How have you been?" Hannah's voice was strained, the awkwardness seeping into the air. Even the crowd around her seemed to sense it, their eyes turning away from the pregnant woman and her 'friend'.
"I've been good," she said shortly, watching as Hannah's eyes drifted downwards towards her belly. She seemed both amused and confused, and she wondered if Hannah somehow knew. It had been torturous, the thought of a pregnant Hannah, and she'd often thought of the 'favour' she'd asked Booth for just before his brain tumour. She'd wondered what would've happened if she'd used it, if she'd had a kid who was half-Booth; how Hannah would've reacted…
Shaking herself back to reality, she cleared her throat. "How have you been, Hannah?"
"I've been…okay." The last word was curt, as if she was lying. Spending so much time with Booth had given her a kind of feel for psychology, and Hannah was obviously lying.
"So," Hannah continued, looking up at Brennan. "I see you're pregnant, congratulations!"
"Oh," Brennan said, a little bit of surprise creeping into her voice. "Thank you." Jealousy was quenched by the wave of relief that rose over her. Hannah didn't know. Maybe, she thought, hopefully, Hannah will leave before Booth comes back.
"He must be a lucky guy!" A fake smile plastered Hannah's face, and her eyes carefully scanned the crowd, as if she was trying to find Booth. A wave of jealousy overrode the relief, and Brennan straightened her spine, trying to cover Hannah's view.
"Of course he is," she said, the jealousy mingling with pride. "He's made me the luckiest woman in the world."
Brennan silently chided herself at the corny remark, then carefully turned to distract Hannah. "So, what have you been doing? Dating anyone?" Damn it, Brennan!
Hannah chuckled. "Ah, there's that straightforward Temperance I've missed. No, I haven't been dating anyone, not since…" Her voice trailed off, and she cleared her throat. "I've been travelling, mainly around North America, but I've been offered a permanent position here in D.C, and," she straightened her spine with pride, the same way Brennan had, "I'm going to take it."
"Permanent?" Brennan half shrieked, her eyes widening. The shock even stopped rationality from kicking in, stopped her from realizing that she wasn't being exactly polite.
"That's wonderful!" she covered up quickly, trying to undo her mistake. "It's wonderful, you're back in D.C, and that's-"
"Wonderful," Hannah laughed. "But Temperance, I'm sorry, I just have to say. We both know you're not exactly the one I was looking for. I think I saw Seeley…?"
"Oh." Brennan was curt, the politeness seeping out of her voice. "Um. Yes. Seeley."
Hannah raised her eyebrows, impatient. "Yes?"
"Oh. He's…"
"Hey Bones!" Booth pranced over, the top button of his dress shirt unbuttoned and his own tie thrown loosely around his shoulders. "Okay, pick." Brennan had turned around so that she was covering Hannah, blocking her from his line of sight, and he didn't notice. Instead, he held up two ties. One was white, with an array of children's building blocks scattered around the bottom; the second was black with the words "Proud father" written on the underside.
"Seeley." Hannah's voice was hard to read: it was a mix of jealousy, sadness, nostalgia, and excitement.
Booth furrowed his eyebrows, searching Brennan's eyes for a hint. She shut down, however, trying not to let her own jealousy out. Booth, on the other hand, was still confused. Leaning slightly to the right, his eyes searched for the woman who had called his name.
Which turned out to be really, really easy.
"Hannah!" Booth said, surprise tainting his voice. He reached out, resting a hand on Brennan's shoulder to keep his balance. He straightened, then gently turned Brennan around as he walked around to shake Hannah's hand. "Haven't seen you in…a while."
"Yes, yes," Hannah said, her eyes clearly displaying her confusion. "It's good to see you again, Seeley. I actually wanted to talk to you."
"Oh," Booth said softly, smiling at her awkwardly. "Well, I'm…I'm afraid I don't have time right now. You see, Bones and I," he said, his entire demeanour brightening as he pulled Bones in towards his body with an arm around her shoulders, "we have a very, very important case we have to get to." Hoping he wasn't hurting her too much, he dug his fingernails carefully into Bones' shoulder, a small warning.
"Yes," she and Hannah chorused, both for different reasons. Hannah ducked her head, and Brennan couldn't help feeling a small wave of triumph in the action: Hannah's actions mirrored hers, the day she'd given Booth the old telephone.
"Well," Hannah said quickly, side-stepping in time with Booth, "let me give you my number."
"Not now," Brennan said quickly, again cursing her hormones. "We've got to go, Booth. Now."
Hannah raised her eyebrows at Brennan, a little shocked at the sudden burst of jealousy. "Here." She fished a pen out of her purse, then reached out and grabbed Booth's hand forcefully. Booth's eyebrows rose, and his hand slipped from Brennan's shoulder to the small of her back to her hand. His fingers intertwined with hers, a clear signal towards Hannah, who happily chose to ignore it. She wrote her number down quickly, delighting in the way his hand curved in where she wrote, pretending that it wasn't him being ticklish but him holding her closer.
Stepping back, Hannah capped her pen and put it into her purse, letting her eyes dart purposefully down to their intertwined fingers before back to Booth's face, ignoring Brennan completely. "I'll call you to set up a date. Sound good? Good," she interrupted Booth. "See you later, Seeley." She raised her eyebrows, then turned to leave, bumping into Booth on the way.
Booth stood, shocked, then turned to look at Brennan, his eyes wide and confused. "Bones, did you know she was here?"
"To a certain extent," she muttered, walking forward quickly and tugging him along.
Brennan leaned back again, her eyes fixed on the door. She thought of Booth. She thought of the love they had made, growing inside her belly. She thought of the daughter they would soon get to hold, thought of the smile which had slowly grown on his face after she'd told him she was pregnant. She thought of the way he touched her, always reaching for her. She thought of the time he'd told him why. It's just, he'd said slowly, I've spent so long wanting to be able to do this, to touch you whenever I want to, to run my fingers through your hair and hold your hand and… He'd trailed off, leaning forward until his forehead was touching hers, his hands cupping her cheeks and his eyes staring into hers softly, happily.
And she wondered. She wondered if he'd touched Hannah the way he touched her. She wondered if he'd dreamed of a life with her, if he'd imagined a family with her, a life of love.
Love. Huh. Brennan snorted out loud at the thought, wondering whether (no, hoping if) he'd ever truly loved Hannah. If he'd loved Hannah, why had it taken so little time for him to fall back in love with her?
"Brennan?" Angela peeked her head in, her eyebrows raised. "So here's the thing. Cam said she went to give Booth some information, and she ran into a certain woman…?"
"Hannah?" Brennan asked, her voice tinted with jealousy.
"Well, yes," Angela said slowly, walking in. "I get it now! This is why you've been acting so strange. So Hannah's back in town, what's the big deal?"
Brennan stood up slowly, brushing lint off her belly and waddling towards her couch. She sat down slowly, looking down at her feet (or their general direction) as Angela sat down beside her.
"Hannah wants to talk to Booth."
"Of course she wants to talk to Booth," Angela said soothingly. "Hannah used to love Booth. Booth used to love Hannah. But this?" Angela leaned forward, resting her palm on Brennan's stomach. "This kid, this little, alive piece of love you two made, she ties you two together. And this bond is a bond nothing can break. Not even Hannah. Now, sweetie, I know you're jealous-"
"I'm not jealous!" Brennan half-squealed. "I am merely experiencing hormonal imbalance due to pregnancy. I am still rational."
Look Bones: I love you; that's not rational. Us having a kid - that's not rational. But here we are.
"Yeah, okay," Angela teased. "It's okay to be jealous. You think I don't get jealous when some tramp flirts with Hodgins? You think he doesn't get jealous when men flirt with me?" Angela leaned back, thinking. "It's normal to be jealous. He's your territory."
"Booth is a human being. He is not territory."
"Ha! Yeah right," Angela snorted. "He's your territory. Don't let him go, okay?"
Brennan watched her quizzically, confused. "Meaning?"
"I'm not pointing fingers. Hannah, she's probably just here to tie up loose ends. But if she makes a move towards him," Angela gave a chuckle, standing up and walking towards the door, "you call me. I didn't wait seven years for you guys to get together for nothing."
Brennan gave a small laugh, rubbing her stomach softly. She leaned her head back to watch Angela leave. "Thanks Angie."
"You're welcome sweetie," she said softly, giving her a small smile before she left.
The phone rang shrilly on Brennan's desk, shaking her out of her reverie. Waddling up towards the desk, she picked it up and held it up to her ear cautiously. "Hello?"
"Hey, Bones! Can I ask you something?"
His voice filled her with pleasure, and she couldn't help but feel like she was melting. This hormonal change was one she could understand, one she could love. "Yes, Booth?"
"Hannah asked me to go out to dinner today but I won't go if you don't want me to because I love you," he said quickly, rushing. "I love you," he repeated. "I don't want you to be jealous-"
"Why does everyone think I'm jealous?"
"Or take this the wrong way," he finished, a smile in his voice. "I love you. And look, if I go you're coming along."
"No, Booth," she said softly, thinking. "You go. This pregnancy's keeping me down. Look, you know what I'll do? I'll invite Angela over. We'll make a night of it. Just don't be home too late," she teased sadly.
Booth was quiet for a moment, obviously thinking. She could almost see him, thinking, debating if it was worth arguing. "Okay," he said slowly, his voice cautious. "I'll see you later, baby."
"Later," she said, hanging up, leaving Booth on the line listening to the dial tone, with only two thoughts on his mind.
She let me call her baby.
And she didn't say goodbye.
So, what do you guys think? Reviews? Don't worry, Hannah will be disappointed and Brennan will be triumphant!
I'm probably going to write a one-shot before I do the next chapter, and I'm planning on making the next chapter Booth's POV...opinions?
Happy 2012! ^^