Author Note:

I want to say THANK YOU for everyone who left a review or comment. I'm overwhelmed and so very pleased by your kind words almost to the point that I'm a little scared that I can't live up to your expectations. ( Okay a lot scared!!)

*****A special thanks to Sweet Psychologist and I am liberty lady and to Not2tallI am so apperceive of your encouragement******

yada yada yada....They are not mine all credit goes to Hart Hanson and Fox productions

Chapter 2

A long night

"Come on Bren pick up" urged Angela out loud as she listened to the ringing of her best friend's cell phone in her ear.

"I thought she was on her hot date with Ricky Ricardo?" said special agent Seeley Booth, sarcastically raising his hands displaying air quotes as he sauntered into the artist office with out knocking and making no real attempt to hide his disdain.

"Ricardo Sortinni" Corrected Angela rolling her eyes knowing Booth was jealous that the handsome Doctor was out on a date with Brennan.

"Same difference" mumbled Booth" I thought they were going to dinner, and then to a club for some dancing."

" They are but I have to talk to her." replied Angela looking over her shoulder in time to see the agitated look on the agents face, unsure how much she was going to reveal just now. Thinking his jealously over Bren was kinda hot.

Booth walked over and made him self comfortable on the artist's couch, it was not as comfortable as the one in Bones office, but it would do. He watched as Angela dialed the phone again the third time since he approached her office.

"Why do you need to get a hold of Bones?" asked Booth watching Angela's expression liking any excuse that was going to interrupt her date, with the smooth talking Italian and if it wasn't him doing the interrupting. Well that was all the better. "Is it about the case? Did you get an identity on our victim?"

"No not yet …unfortunately" replied Angela, with a heavy sigh smacking her cell phone closed against her thigh, and glancing at moving images on her computer her computer screen.

"So what's the big emergency?" questioned Booth knowing his partner's best friend is normally happy when she has a date, and would not interrupt it unless she had a good reason.

"The data base has been searching for five hours now, if we are going to get a match it will happen in the next hour or so." said Angela sounding doubtful as she nodded toward the screen and picked up her phone again.

He noticed how she avoided his question "Angela is everything you alright?" asked Booth, tilting his head taking in her worried expression. He was sincerely concerned about the artist who he considered a friend, clearly one of his more quirky friends, but a friend no less. She was definitely agitated about something "I know I'm not Bones or Hodgins but if something's wrong maybe I can help."

Angela could not help but smile, and for a nanosecond wondered not for the first time why she didn't make a play for this man years ago.

"Come on Angela you can tell me" coaxed Booth, bringing her back to the moment displaying his charm smile in an effort to make her concede to what was bothering her.

"Alright cool you're jets their studly… I'm not Bren, and that sexy smile don't work on me." Grinned Angela with a slight roll of her eyes knowing that if she did not get a hold of her friend soon she'd have to cave and tell him of her concern.

"Oh come on Angela, you know Bones is immune to my charm." replied Booth, slightly uncomfortable with her comment but still sporting a smile "At least you could cut me a break. What's up…Hun? "

"I wouldn't discount how that smile affects our rational friend just yet." replied Angela, with a grin still not sure if she should tell Booth about Brennan's message or not.

"All right…all right what's going on Angela" asked Booth purposely trying to move, the conversation away from her normal match making remarks.

Before she could respond Dr. Jack Hodgins walked into Angela office and said "Sortinni's secretary said she doesn't know where they were going and his cell is going right to voice mail."

A quick movement caught his attention, and he watched Booth, practically catapulted off the couch, and immediately walk toward him. "I didn't know he was here" Said Jack, apologizing as he looked at Angela, not quite sure what the next move was going to be.

"Well… I am here and I want to know what the hell is going on." demanded Booth, the playfulness gone from his voice he looked at both, of his colleagues but keeping a determined look on the bug man knowing he would be the first to crack.

"Um… I just need to um talk to Brennan" stuttered Angela, looking at Jack for support and found little if any.

"What's going on Angela?" he asked again.

When she remained quite he insisted "I'm not kidding I want to know right now Angela! Is something wrong with Bones did that scumbag do something to her?"

"Dr. Ricardo Santori is not a scumbag Booth" insisted Angela "He is extremely respected in his field and you know she can take care of herself."

"Right" replied Booth sarcastically shifting his eyes back to Hodgins, not quite believing either of her statements. First because he'd seen the way that Santori had been eyeing Bones for months now and it was anyway but respectable and secondly and most important was the fact Bones had an unmatched ability to immerse herself in unpredictable situations that could ultimately put her in danger.

Booth could feel his stomach tighten into a ball, and he was quickly losing patients with the talented artist. He took his phone from is pocket to verify what he already knew that there were no messages from is partner. He pressed the number one and speed dialed her number but just like Angela after two rings her phone went to voice mail. "How long have you been trying to get a hold of her?" Asked Booth, using a different approach to get an answer from the stubborn woman.

Angela knew or at least believed that her friend was okay. She didn't say that she was in danger, but she did say not to tell Booth that she need rescued from her date. She also admitted even if she wasn't ready to talk about it, she had feeling for the FBI agent that were more than platonic. "Booth listen I really think everything is okay" said Angela

"Angela I need to know what the hell is going on." insisted Booth's his request sounded more like plea than a demand.

She knew if she didn't tell him something soon he was either going arrest or shoot her. "Okay Sweetie ….I'm like ninety-five percent sure everything's fine" said Angela " I didn't mean to scare you Booth, honestly" Sighed Angela regretting her decision to play on his feelings for her best friend. " I think she was just having bad date for some reason."

"For some reason!" snorted Booth sarcastically, as he moved around the room processing what he'd just been told. "Why do you think she's having a bad date?" the concern now back in his voice.

Jack Hodgins, watched the expression on Booth's face harden and he wasn't surprised to still see the panic in his friend's eyes. He like everyone else at the Jeffersonian he knew how much Booth loved his boss, the seemly clueless Dr. Brennan.

"It's just a feeling" replied Angela her friend didn't actually say she was having a bad date she just said she needed to get out of there.

"That's not good enough Angela!" said Booth unconscious going into interrogation mode rubbing his hands over his face in complete frustration.

"Angie!" said Jack startling them both unwilling to see his friend tortured any longer. "Tell him!"

Booth caught Jack's intense stair on Angela, and was grateful for the bug man's influence over the artist.

Angela sighed knowing Jack was right she needed to tell Booth and stop his needless worry… well what she prayed was needless worry. "Okay alright… alright!" Angela could see the immediate look of relieve wash over Booth. "About an hour ago I got a message on my voice mail from Brennan."

"And?" prompted Booth motioning for her to continue.

" She asked me to call her back on her cell with any kind of excuse to end her date." Replied Angela " But I've tried to call her at least ten or twelve times since I got her message and I just keep getting her voice mail."

"That's not like Bones" said Booth his mind still positing scenarios in his mind.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack

"If she wanted to leave or end a date she wouldn't do it surreptitiously she would have just told him she wanted to go." explained Angela knowing Brennan was anything but shy.

Booth nodded in agreement with her assessment.

"Maybe the old Dr. B, but she has been much better at considering other people's feeling for a while now." Said Jack looking at Booth knowing it was his influence over the good Doctor that had created the change. "Maybe she was just trying to let the guy down easy."

"If you say so" said Booth, as he started to pace knowing what Jack said was true she had come a long way with her people skills, but thinking she hadn't considered his feeling when she accepted the damn date in the first place. Not that he'd had a right to stop her from going on the date but he'd told her Santori was a jerk, but he couldn't think about that now. "What did she say exactly" asked Booth?

"She said she just wanted to go home and for me not to tell you." answered Angela truthfully as she picked up her phone and called her friend again.

"She actually said for you not to tell me?" asked Booth shocked but for some reason sort of pleased.

"Yes' replied Angela looking at the strange expression on the agents face wondering when these two were ever going to admit how they felt about each other. This was not third grade for God sakes.

"Do you still have the message?" asked Booth. "Can I hear it?"

"Yes" said Angela as she called her voice mail and replayed the message forgetting about the last sentence as she put her phone on speaker for everyone to hear.

"Angela it's me. I need you do me a really big favor. As soon as you get this message I want you to call me back on my cell and interrupt this date okay? Please come up with some kind of excuse that you need me back at the lab or family emergency or anything just get me out me out of here as fast as you can. I have to get out of here I just really need to go home. Don't call Booth I do not want him showing up at the restaurant with sirens blaring Oh and Ang you were right, I admit it but I don't want to talk about it not yet anyway okay…Call me soon! Thank you Bye"

Booth was now convinced as much as Angela, that by the tone of her voice as well as her chosen words his partner was not any real danger. He didn't dare make the same assumption about her date, because depending what he did to cause Bones to end the date early he could either be off licking his wounds or off to the hospital.

"Angela!!" said Booth slapping his hands together smiling as if he had just got an epiphany "Bones just got a new cell phone."

"Okay?" replied Angela looking between the two handsome men before her completely missing the point.

"She keeps turning the damn thing off" explained Booth realizing why she was not answering her phone. "Not on purpose but the power button is in a different place than it was on her old phone and she keeps turning it off my mistake. She's done it two or three times since she got it on Wednesday."

"Oh" said both Jack and Angela in unison.

Booth looked past Angela at the smaller of the two computer screens that were sitting at her work station noticing the database was still searching. "You'll call me if you get a hit right?" asked Booth as moved toward the door.

"Yeah…But where are you going?" asked Angela as if she didn't know.

"I've umm got something I've got to check on." Replied Booth as he quickly exited her office.

" I bet you do" laughed Angela, as she watched him walk away "I bet you do."

***

Driving toward her apartment all he could think about was what that smooth talking asshole had done to her. The fact she kept going out with these losers that continued to hurt her made his blood boil. Nearing her building Booth looked up at the large windows that faced the street and notice that there were no lights on. He decided he would wait for her, but not wanting to be so obvious by waiting in the parking lot he pulled to the street in back of the building so he could see the lights come on from the side window.

After about ten minutes Booth noticed a late model Lexis slowing down as it approached the driveway of her building he noticed as it was turning in it that it had two passengers but he wasn't sure if one, of them was Bones until about five minutes later when his phone rang and he heard her say.

"I know you're down there; you might as well come up."

He could hear the frustration in her voice, and he knew it was directed toward him.

"If you want beer you'd better get some because you finished what I had last night. I'm hungry and I'm pretty damn tired of Thai food amongst other things for that matter, so order a pizza and I want extra cheese on my half. I'm going to take a bath the door is unlocked."

"Bones! Don't leave the door unlocked!" replied Booth quickly "I have my key. Hello…hello? Damn it Bones …"

Booth threw his cell phone on the seat, that was normally occupied by his incredibility frustrating partner, and started his vehicle and pulled off the street into the parking lot. He looked up towards her apartment, and watched as the light in her bedroom came on then he seen the light of her bathroom.

He swore knowing that she purposely left the door unlocked, to piss him off and to her credit it worked. Getting out of his SUV and slamming the door in an effort to dissipate some of his anger it did not work.

Walking toward her building Booth had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Okay I just thought we needed just a little back story to explain that Booth is not actually a stalker.... Chapter 4 and 5 will most likely have a rating change!