Okay, the last part before you know what hits the fan! Keep reading all.
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"Angela did what?"
Hodgins was looking at his coffee. "She lost it, dude" he responded before finishing up the events of earlier.
He and Booth went to the coffee cart by the Lincoln Memorial and got a cup of coffee. Each figured talking here would prevent anyone eavesdropping or possible surveillance by Pelant.
The scientist wiped a tear away before continuing. "She threw things at the wall and told me to fuck off"
Booth felt for the man. He knew what it like to be on the receiving end of that kind of anger. "Hodgins, you know she didn't mean it"
"Yes, she did. I've never seen her like that. It was more than anger….it was…I don't know what to call it"
"Hey, she is going through a lot right now. She was almost killed by Pelant and she is suffering effects from it. She is angry, frustrated, in a lot of pain, and needs to take it out on someone. Unfortunately, you are the nearest one available"
"It's not just the fact she almost died and you know it, Booth. Art was her life, is her life. I'm trying to be a supportive husband while she is recovering, but nothing I do seems to help. But she is limited in what she can do. She can't be trying to pick up Michael because she gets winded really easily and her left arm is her non-dominant one….at least I thought it wasn't. It's got a wicked aim when she throws vases across the room"
Booth responded. "She's got a lot on her plate, man." Before he could finish, he thought for a moment. "Wait. Let me backtrack"
He pondered whether to share this confidence with Hodgins, but he realized that if anyone can keep a confidence, it was Jack Hodgins. "What I am about to tell you is something Bones I am pretty certain hasn't talked about with anyone, even Angela." When he saw he made his point, he continued. "When Bones was shot last year, it messed her up for a while."
Seeing the other man's questioning look, he continued. "Remember….she was off for three weeks and wasn't happy about it. The doctor had put several restrictions on her, ones that really pissed her off, especially the weight restriction one. One day, I saw her attempting to pick up Christine. She was struggling so I came in and got her from Bones. It was time for Christine's nap so I put her to bed. When I came downstairs, Bones was waiting. I asked her if she needed anything and that is what set her off"
"What did she say?"
"Well, Bones didn't hold back. She said she was tired of being babied by me and wasn't going to let me keep her daughter away from her." Booth paused. "That set me off. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, but I gave as good as I got from her. I told her I was tired of walking on egg shells around her and of her pushing herself past doctor's orders. I also told her that being shot didn't just affect her but it affected me as well"
"She didn't believe me and blew that off, so I let loose all of my feelings. I told her of the guilt I had about her shooting. That if we didn't fight that night, she wouldn't have been shot and I wouldn't have had to consider raising Christine without her. I told her that I resented the fact that instead of leaning on me she used me as her emotional punching bag and that I had had it and that she was being selfish by shutting everyone out and snipping at everyone who was trying to help her."
Booth could feel tears in his eyes, so he took in a deep breath before continuing. "After I said my peace, I left for the man cave. As soon as I sat down, I began thinking about what an asshole I was. Here I have the woman that I love that was lucky enough to survive a shooting that would have killed most people. She is a very independent person that has a hard time depending on others and instead of remembering that, I ripped her a new one six ways from Sunday because I couldn't be patient with her."
"Dude you were hurting too"
Booth smiled a wan smile. "I was, but I wasn't the one who was almost murdered. I'm not sure how long I was in there, but Bones came in later on and I could tell she had been crying. Before I could say anything, she sat next to me and apologized for 'taking her emotional difficulties out on me'. Then, we just grabbed each other and held on for dear life as we cried together"
Booth finished his story and looked at the man sitting across from you. "I'm telling you this so you know that I understand what you are feeling. I am also telling you this because you and Angela are going to be okay. We are going to get Pelant. When Angela is ready, we will need her because Pelant didn't succeed. We all need to be together to get this son of a bitch. Okay"
Hodgins grinned a smile of understanding. "Thanks Booth. I know you are not a touchy feely guy, but I don't think I could talk to anyone else about this"
Suddenly, both men realized they were in public. Making manly grunting noises, they each grabbed their coffees. "So how about them Nationals?" Hodgins asked Booth.
Brennan and Angela had just finished cleaning up the mess in the living room. Angela turned to her friend. "Thanks for letting me have my meltdown"
"You didn't melt anything down. You cried a lot for emotional reasons"
"Figure of speech, honey."
Brennan got contrite. "Sorry"
Angela noticed her friend was hesitant to leave, so she moved to reassure her. "I'll be fine, Bren. The doctor said with the progress I made that I can drive an automatic. I need to find my husband and baby. I was a royal bitch to Hodgins"
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?"
"Honey, seriously, I'm fine. I created this last mess with my husband, now I need to clean it up" Taking a chance, she pressed forward. "You have other things to take care of"
"Like what?"
"You know what. You need to settle things with Booth. There's no way in hell he broke off the engagement to be an ass or because he changed his mind"
Brennan knew her friend was right. She also knew she had feelings she had to sort out before she could confront Booth. He should have found a way to tell her the truth. But how could he when Pelant was everywhere. How do I get passed this?
"Bren, I need to go find my family. You need to find your man and talk….now" Pushing her friend out the door, she led Brennan to her Prius. "Now, off with you"
"Why are you trying to get rid of me, Angela?"
"Because I know what's best. Now give me a hug"
The girls hugged, and then separated as each went to their vehicles. A minute later, Brennan, followed by Angela, both left the residence in opposite directions.
Max was getting up to put Christine in her stroller when he heard someone walk up, so he looked. "It's about time. What took you so long?"
Angela sat on the bench. "I was dealing with stuff. Come on, Keenan. I want to get rid of Pelant, too and help Brennan and Booth. What do you have that can help me?"
Seeing the kids were playing, he joined his new co-conspirator. "I don't have a lot of time, so we have to be quick." He grabbed Christine's diaper bag and pulled out Booth's notebook and a Dell laptop
"So you do have Bren's laptop. I get Booth's notebook, but why do you have her computer?"
"The night after you got sick, after everyone got home, Tempe locked herself in her office at 5:00 in the morning. She thought I was asleep but the door to the man cave wouldn't fully close. The last time my daughter locked a door like that she was twelve. Her mom said she did it because she was writing in her diary" He sat looking at the machine. "I think this is her diary now. We need to find what's on it."
He held up Booth's notebook. "I only skimmed a small portion of this because I feel like enough of a shit for taking this. It confirmed that my hunch about Booth and Tempe was correct. Pelant made him break off the engagement. He threatened to kill five innocent people if he didn't break it off and keep the reason from my daughter. The little pissant knew Booth's history as a sniper and played him with it."
"Do you think Pelant will kill five random people?"
"No, Angela, I think he would kill first Tempe, then Christine and Parker, then two other people that he knew would destroy Booth so he couldn't go after him. I want that little asshole dead, but I made a promise to Tempe"
Angela looked wary. "You do realize that if she finds out you invaded her space she will be really upset?"
Max's head hung low. "I know, but I don't know what else to do."
Angela thought quickly. "I know. I will tell her that I couldn't find Hodgins at the moment and I went to your house to check on Michael and decided to check my email to see if he checked in at all on her computer. I've done that before. Trust me Max, she will probably buy this." Seeing Max's face, Angela moved to reassure. "Hodgins texted me and said he was with Booth, so I know he's fine"
"Yeah, what the hell happened anyway? He looked like someone kicked the shit out of his dog"
"Let's just say I had a bad moment and I will talk to him later. To say I owe him an apology is being mild. Come on Max" Angela said as she got up. "We need to make copies of this and get it back on Booth's desk before he notices" she said holding up the notebook. She then pointed to the laptop. "We then need to get back to their house and search the laptop. We need to try to cover your ass with Bren and find out how we can help them. Cam and I had a plan, but me getting sick threw a wrench in things. I think you may have just saved the day Max Keenan."
Max and Angela smiled before they grabbed the children and went across the street to a local Kinkos.
Christopher Pelant was watching several images on his monitors. He saw Brennan walking into the Jeffersonian, the FBI building, the Royal Diner, Hodgins' and Angela's house, and the Brennan-Booth house.
He noticed Brennan go to Angela's house, but the wireless was off in the house, ensuring he could not overhear their conversation. These people were starting to piss him off. No one was smarter than he was.
He knew to get to the one he wanted, he needed to take them all out. Take out the peripheral flank, then take the rest down until you get to the one. Always save the best for the last when possible. This time, it will be possible, and it will be his last obstacle. Then his dad will love and respect him like he loved and respected the other one.
He went to take a drink of his coffee, but his left hand wouldn't move for a minute, then very slowly. He noticed over the last few weeks that paralysis was setting in on his left arm. He couldn't risk going for medical attention. It will just have to wait until after the team was eliminated.
He looked to the FBI monitor and noticed Max Keenan go into the building with the two children. He looked closer and when he saw the woman waiting outside his emotions grew hot as he remembered his recent failure. That damn bitch! She was supposed to die along with her scientist husband and their little brat. I put enough botulism in those tomatoes to kill a horse!
He looked and saw the Royal Diner monitor. He saw Hodgins and Booth walk in and quickly moved over to zoom in. Seeing they were going to the table, he moved to push the number sequence to zoom into their conversation, but he couldn't get his arm to move fast enough and then couldn't remember what it was. He pushed in several sequences and he got nothing. He couldn't do anything as looked up and saw them leaving. Damn It! I'm gonna get them….I'm gonna get all of them.
Suddenly he heard a beep from his computer. He turned and found out his alert program worked. Looking at the monitor he saw the following information on a manifesto from Heathrow Airport.
June 15, 2013 US Airways Flight 920
Departure: 09:00 London/ Heathrow
Arrival: 11:00 Washington/Reagan National
Passenger: Rebecca Stinson
Passenger: Parker Booth
A smile crossed his face as he realized what weekend it was. 'Father's Day weekend. How appropo.' He thought with glee as he moved to his computer to create a program.