I had to repost this chapter because of a mistake I realized I made. It was just one line but that one line said a lot. It's been so long since I started this story that I forgot that I already had Booth and Brennan in bed together. That one line has been corrected.

Chapter 14

Brennan did start to do better. When Booth and Jack left the next morning Angela thought it was still too early in the morning and she wanted some more sleep but didn't want to be alone. When she knocked on Brennan's bedroom door she didn't receive an answer so she opened the door carefully and found her friend still sleeping. As quietly as possible she pulled the covers up and slipped in. As she lay down and pulled the covers up around her she heard Brennan.

"Are you lonely without Jack?"

"Yeah, I started missing him as soon as he got up and went to take a shower." Angela said.

"Even though Booth and I have only had sex a few times we have become closer and I feel his absence rather acutely. I feel safer when he is in bed with me."

"How are you feeling, I mean after your talk with Sweets, Russ and your father?" Angela asked as she turned towards Brennan.

"Better, a lot better in fact. I don't know how to explain it but it seems that a weight has been taken off of my shoulders. When Booth and I talked about it when we went to bed he said that my talk with my father helped to close the chasm between us that I had kept there for so long. He said that when I was crying so hard, about the rape, on my father's shoulder that it helped to close that chasm that I was working so hard to keep between us. I think the tighter I held on to my father the more narrow that chasm became so that it helped me to not only let go of what happened to me when my parents left me but it also helped me to face the rape and the loss of our baby.

"What about you? Are you dealing with what happened to you?"

"You know me Sweetie, I don't hold anything in. Jack has been there for me all the way. The evening we moved in with you I woke up screaming and Jack said that I had been striking out at someone in my dream. He said he just held onto me tightly until I woke up. I think I must have cried almost one hour straight while he held onto me. The next morning I felt a lot better.

"I think we are both very lucky to have found such good men. Do you think that if Booth asks you to marry him would you say yes?" Angela asked.

"No, nothing has changed there. I still don't believe in marriage. A ceremony and a piece of paper is an antiquated ideology. It does not hold a couple together, as the statistics on divorce rate shows. Besides I don't think he would ask me since he knows my views on the ritual."

"Yes, but would you do it if he asked you? You know that he is a very old fashioned guy and believes in the institution of marriage. I don't think that he wants to run the risk of not being able to watch another child of his grow up.

"Sweetie, if you really and truly love him you would want to make him happy and you would put aside your beliefs for him." Angela raised herself up and leaned on her elbow so she could better emphasize what she was going to say. "You know in your heart that he would bend over backwards for you and that he would refrain from asking you when he knows how you feel about marriage. If you don't let him have this one thing Temperance Brennan, than you are a very selfish woman. And stop telling him that there is no God." Brennan didn't say anything, she knew that Angela was really mad at her. Angela knew she was thinking about what she had said to her so she just laid back down again and turned over.

"By the way, Jack let Mrs. Milner in before he left. She said that Nancy had called her and asked her to come over a day earlier since she was called into work."

Brennan didn't say anything, she just lay there and thought about what Angela had said. She knew, from books that she had read, that a marriage or relationship was based on each partners willingness to give into the other partner. When only one of the partners gave into the other and the other always demanded that things be done their way the partnership would eventually dissolve or one would be destroyed.

Brennan was thinking so much that she was developing a headache. She decided to get up and take a shower. The warmth of the water would help her to clear her mind so that she could relax and think more clearly. She got up and went into the bathroom. She was a little stiff from laying down so much and sleeping but otherwise she felt pretty good.

After taking a shower she looked at the surgical site more closely. It was a little red but otherwise it seemed to be healing okay. Before getting dressed she thought it would be best for the nurse to take a look at it and see if she could go without the bandage.

Brennan pulled on her bathrobe and went into the kitchen where Mrs. Milner would probably be. "Good morning Mrs. Milner. Are you finding everything okay?"

"Call me Theresa, Dr. Brennan. Yes I am finding everything okay. Would you like me to make you some breakfast?"

"Yes, please. Before you do that though would you check the surgical site? Before I took a shower I took the bandage off and I thought you should look at it to see if I could go without a bandage now."

Theresa pulled a chair over where she could check Brennan more comfortably. Brennan opened her robe so the nurse could check her. After she touched the skin around the surgical site she asked her "How does the rest of you feel?" Brennan closed up her robe when the nurse was done.

"I'm still stiff when I walk but I think that's because I have been lying down and sleeping a lot, which I'm not use to."

"How about your insides, especially your uterus?"

"I'm not experiencing any pain and I stopped bleeding yesterday. They did a pretty good job of cleaning me out."

"Okay then, I think I had better put some antibiotic cream on the site and put a light bandage on so that your clothes don't rub against it. You can wait here while I get what I need."

Mrs. Milner was back with her bag in just a few seconds. She pulled out some antibiotic cream and then put a lite bandage on Brennan. "You can go and get dressed now but make sure you put on something loose fitting."

"Okay, thank you." Brennan said then went back into her bedroom to get dressed. Angela woke up when she came back in. "What's the matter? Couldn't you sleep anymore?"

"No, I was thinking about what you said and I think you are right. As the saying goes, 'A house divided cannot stand'. I don't believe it would be good for me to oppose Booth on our marriage. I think that after awhile I will ask him so that he won't feel uncomfortable about it. Please don't say anything to anyone else Angela."

Angela got up from the bed and threw her robe on and went to Brennan and hugged her. "I won't Sweetie, I promise. And I promise you that you won't regret it. Besides a baby, this will be the biggest gift that you could possibly give him." She gave her a kiss on her cheek then went to her own room to shower and get dressed.

After 30 minutes Angela joined Theresa and Brennan for breakfast. As they sat around the table enjoying a cup of coffee the phone rang. Brennan answered it. "Brennan speaking."

"Hi Dr. Brennan, this is Cam. Can I speak to Angela?"

Brennan handed the phone to Angela and sat down again. "Hi Cam, what's up?"

"How are you feeling Angela?"

"Okay, in fact I was thinking of coming in tomorrow."

"Good because we could sure use you. We have been examining the skeleton and we need your help on giving him a face."

"Okay, I'm getting tired of sitting around. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Angela put the phone back in its cradle then took her seat back at the table again. She looked up at Brennan when she felt her eyes on her.

"You're going back to work already?"

"Yeah, they need me and I'm starting to go stir crazy." Angela said.

"When do you think it would be safe for me to go back to work Theresa?" Brennan asked her nurse.

"I can't make that determination Dr. Brennan. You will have to wait and see your doctor, which I think will be on Monday. I think it would be a good idea though for you to take a walk outside this afternoon. Either we could go for a walk or perhaps Mr. Booth could stop by during his lunch break and he could help you walk to the corner and back. I would advise you to do the same Mrs. Hodgins."

Brennan didn't say anything more she just picked up the phone and called Booth. She realized, as she punched in his cellphone, that she wanted to see him again.

On the third ring Booth answered. "Booth." He sounded busy.

"Booth, this is Temperance. Are you busy?"

"Yes, can I call you back in a few minutes?"

"No, that's okay. I was just going to ask you if you could stop by for lunch and take me for a walk. That's okay though if you're busy. Angela and I can take a walk with the nurse. I'll see you later tonight. Bye."

Brennan hung up without waiting for a reply. She was disappointed that he couldn't stop by. Instead of thinking about it any longer she decided to go see her partner in crime, as Booth referred to Angela sometimes.

She found Angela back in her room. Since the door was open she just went in and sat down on the bed. Angela looked up from the picture she was sketching. "Hi Sweetie, what's up?"

"Mrs. Milner wants me to go for a short walk today and she recommends you go also."

"That sounds like a good idea. It will be nice to get out and stretch our legs. When do you want to go?" Angela asked as she started to put her drawing pad and chalk away.

"I want to change into something else so how about in 15 minutes?"

"That sounds good to me." Brennan left then to go and change into something warmer and better suited for going outside. Before going into her room she told Mrs. Milner about their plans and asked her to go with them since Booth was busy.

Fifteen minutes later the women were all at the door as they put light coats on. The doorbell rang just as Angela reached for the door knob. Both Angela and Brennan jumped back several feet. Brennan quickly recovered from the scare and looked through the peep hole to see who it was. She saw one of Booths co-workers from the FBI. She quickly took the chain off and opened the door.

The young man at the door introduced himself. She remembered him as Danny. "Hi Danny. Are you looking for Booth?"

"No, actually Booth asked me to come over here and escort you ladies for your first walk outside. He said that there was a place we could have lunch at down on the corner that we could walk to and we could have lunch."

"You didn't have to do that Danny. We were just going to stretch our legs after being cooped up in here for so long." Brennan said.

"That's okay, no problem. I was going to lunch anyway." Danny held out his arm and encouraged the women to start their walk. All three women went with him down to the front of Brennan's apartment building. Brennan noticed how Danny was looking all over as they went to the front and down the steps. She saw him constantly scanning everyone that came close to them or was even across the street. At first Brennan was to his left while Angela and Mrs. Milner were too his right and close to the buildings as they walked. As soon as he could he changed his position so that he was on the side closest to the street. They stopped at the end of the street and went into the small restaurant. Danny ordered lunch while the women just had coffee and something small to eat. They weren't hungry since they had just had breakfast 2 hours before.

On the way back Danny continued his constant surveillance of their surroundings. There wasn't too much traffic at this hour of the day and very few people walking. When they were almost at the entrance to Brennan's apartment building Danny heard a vehicle coming up the street. He turned and looked at it just as it reached them. He saw a white van opening up its side door. He quickly pushed the women down on the ground and next to a taxi cab that was waiting for a passenger he was picking up. At the same time he yelled "Everybody get down".

From the van came a hail of bullets that struck the building and the glass entrance doors. Fortunately the guard at the door had ducked as well and the bullets did nothing but break the glass.

Danny quickly asked everyone if they were alright. He tried to see the license plates on the van but it was already going round the corner by the time he dared to get up. He saw Brennan standing and looking at her cell phone.

"Are you calling 911?" Danny asked her.

"No I'm looking at the picture I was able to get of the van."

Danny moved closer to her and she gave him her cell phone. On the cell phones screen, clear as day, was the back of the van and the license plate number.

TBC…..