Alexandria, Virginia
Brennan pulled the Prius to a complete stop in front of a lodge in Alexandria. Angela sat next to her in the passenger seat, quiet as a mouse. She had not said a word since Brennan and Angela had left Washington D.C. Brennan glanced over to her best friend and said, "Ange, we are here."
"Huh? Oh sorry. I was just- my head was in the clouds," Angela muttered as she undid her seatbelt. Brennan felt that she should have corrected Angela on that statement, but understood that it was not the right time. She was getting better at recognizing social cues and courtesy every day.
Brennan stepped out of the car just as Booth's SUV pulled up next to her. He jumped out and slowly walked to her with a smile on his face. Brennan smiled back at him, understanding the pain that Angela was going through. If she had lost Booth, it would destroy her.
"Hey, Bones. Hey, Angela, I'm so sorry about Hodgins. I'll explain-"
"Is this a bed and breakfast?" Angela cut him off. She took note of the cabins, the beautiful park and forest that was behind the lodge.
"Um, yeah. "
"I see. Do you and Brennan have any more romantic secret spots that I should know about?"
"No, Angela. We just needed to meet in a place outside of the city and this place turned up," Booth lied. Angela raised an eyebrow and muttered, "I see. We can worry about that later. What's being going on? Why is Jack in jail?"
"Ok, it's about the Hoover bombing."
"What about them?"
"Hacker is the one that coordinated them. He's responsible for the whole thing."
"What? Based on what?"
"He told me. "
"He told you? What….wait, ok. He just straight up and told you that he killed one hundred and three innocent people?"
"Yes. After the bomb went off on my floor, I blacked out for a little while. When I woke up, I could barely move. Hacker was just randomly walking around there with a gun when he saw me. He didn't tell me why he did it, but threatened to destroy my life if I told anyone. "Booth watched Angela, who was staring at him with her mouth gapping open. She sat down on the hood of the Prius and closed her eyes. She whispered, "How is Jack involved in this?"
"I thought I was alone in this, but at the remembrance dinner that the White House threw, Sweets told me that he saw Hacker as well. It contradicts what he told the media about him not being in the building at all. Hodgins, being the conspiracy nut that he is, spoke to us about his suspicions about the bombings. We then decided to tell him about our plan to take Hacker down and he wanted in."
"What's' the plan?" Angela asked. Brennan sat down next to her and wrapped her arm around Angela.
"Well, besides Sweets and I being witnesses, Hodgins found blueprints in the remains of Hacker's old office. It had markings of where each of the bombs went off and where the most casualties would be. It was in a fireproof box under his desk. The really incriminating part is that on the way here, I talked to a buddy of mine in D.C Metro police and he said with the two serial killers that haven't been caught in Colorado and Illinois and the two wars that the U.S is in, the government and the FBI aren't in good favors with the American public."
"So you think he did this to divert attention away from that? You know, blame someone else for the problems?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. I also got an idea of the suspects and found that Hacker plans on blaming the Freedom Fighters. They are an antigovernment group from North Dakota. They aren't violent, but have done a lot of hate speeches and rallies within the past month. It also turns out those two serial killers were associated with this group at one point in their lives. The Illinois serial killer was a member 1987-1992 and the Colorado serial killer was a member from 2003 until last year. I think that Hacker is going to take the serial killers and the Freedom Fighters down for all three crimes. I think Hacker figured out that Hodgins had gotten the blueprints, which is why he had him arrested."
"Ok, where are they?"
"Sweets has them. I don't think Hacker even knows that Sweets saw him. Hodgins handed them to Sweets just before they entered the lab. We have to find some way to get this out before Hacker has Sweets and I arrested. Right now, I'm supposed to be talking to a family about a case from 1956. "
"Oh my God. This is big. This is Hacker; he always seemed like such a nice guy. He broke up your partnership because of this, right?"
"Yes. Who are we going to give these to?"
"The CIA?"
"No, we are sharing the building with them. That would be suicidal. We need to go to someone who isn't going to quickly ally with him and take us down. We need someone that is unbiased."
"Ok; let's head back to D.C and I'll think of someone. He might be watching you, Booth, and if he is, it may look like Brennan and I know something. He'll arrest all of us in a heartbeat." Booth nodded while Angela walked to the passenger door.
"Ange, I'll be there in a second. I need to speak to Booth about something," Angela stared at Brennan in suspicion before nodding and getting in the car. Brennan turned toward Booth and walked to the side of the lodge with him, out of view from Angela. He pulled her into a kiss while Brennan wrapped her arms around him. They passionately kissed for a minute before Brennan pulled back and said, "I'm so sorry-"
"I know. You have to learn to trust me sometimes. I know I have to do the same with you," Booth whispered in her ear. He kissed her forehead while she said, "Please be careful. Angela is so hurt and I can't- I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I were in her position."
"Don't worry, Temperance. I'm not going anywhere."
"I love you." Booth stared at her in surprise. "Really?"
"Seeley, I love you. I need you to be careful. I already lost the ability to work with you. I don't want to lose you from my personal life as well," Brennan whispered back. A tear fell down her cheek. Booth wiped it away and stared into her eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere. I promise. And I love you too," Booth said. He kissed her one last time then turned and walked to his SUV. Brennan watched him wave good bye to Angela before getting into his SUV and leaving. She took a minute to compose herself before walking back to her car. She opened the door and got in the car. Before Brennan could blink, Angela stated, "You're sleeping with him, aren't you?"
Brennan nodded and said, "We have been dating for 6 months. I'm in love with him, Ange."
"Ok," Angela said as she sat up in her seat, "Let's go rescue my man so you can go be with yours."