bringonthewonder | (no subject)

(no subject)

Look, I don't care what he does in his time off, but when he screws around with evidence to get into the pants of an old girlfriend on one of my murder cases, that's a problem.

It was the sort of accusation you kind of have to follow with storming off. Which is exactly what Booth did.

Angela waited a moment or two, and when Jack didn't say anything, she just turned and followed Booth out of the lab, then went back to her office.

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"I don't know. That you needed to tell Brennan. I just would rather have heard it from you than from Booth.

"And, no, sweetie, you aren't the best person to work this evidence. You can't testify. You'd get shredded on cross examination. And you knew that. Or you would have told us."

Hodgins sighs. He edges inside the door, leaning back against the wall.

He avoids the subject of testifying in court. Mostly because he knows deep down that she's right.

"You know I'd never fool around on you, right?"

At the moment, it's more important that he clear that particular point up than anything else.

She nods. "Yeah. I know."

She gets a faint smile. His first real smile in....well, a while.

"So, will you still be seen with me if I get fired?"

He's aiming for a joking tone, but it falls pretty flat.

"Yeah.

"So, is this why I'm getting worried notes from the end of the universe?"

She sets a folded piece of
paper on the corner of her desk.

He'll have to come all the way into the room if he wants to read it.

Curious, he steps into the room and picks up the piece of paper.

Which he reads with a short, disbelieving laugh.

Great. One more thing he's going to have to explain.

"I don't believe it. The kid narced on me."

Teenagers aren't supposed to narc. What ever happened to 'don't trust anyone over thirty'?

"Usually narcing has a few more details to it," says Angela, one eyebrow raised in what would, under other circumstances, be amusement.

Hodgins blushes slightly, folding the paper and handing it back.

"Well. Yeah. Maybe."

Maybe it would just be better to avoid the details.

"But still."

Kind of embarrassing (not to mention annoying) to have the high school intern passing notes to your girlfriend about your behavior behind your back.

"So, are you going to tell me what prompted this?" Angela asks, of the note she's holding.

"I..." Hodgins takes a deep breath. "Needed a drink. After the news came in."

Time to be straight. Tweaking the truth has royally backfired.

"Hannah saw me. Conclusions were jumped to. Or something."

"Guess so," says Angela.

She kind of thinks there's probably more to the story than that.

"What kind of conculsions?"

Hodgins shrugs.

"Who knows. I mean, she's sixteen. For all I know, she's pegged me as a closet alcoholic leading some freakish double life at this point."

Yeah--talking to Hannah? Hadn't gone well.

"Well, at first I think she was afraid that something had happened to someone here," he says grudgingly.

No sense in being totally unfair.

"Jack, honey, you actually do live what a lot of people would call a freakish double life -- works with slime by day, owns half the world by night or something."

Angela looks down at the note.

"I'd cut her some slack. I don't know what, but I think something's up with her."

Hodgins snorts.

"Of course something is up with her. She's a teenage girl who hangs out at a bar at the end of the universe, and has befriended one of the top forensic anthropologists in the country."

In other words, not exactly the poster child for normality.

"Doesn't mean she's not nosy."

It may just be the external stress, but Hodgins still isn't quite ready to let go of that.

"Yeah, and the top foresnic anthropologist in question just dropped everything and flew to California not too long ago.

"So, is there anything else I should know?"

"You don't buy that she was going out to examine an old skull?"

Hodgins shakes his head.

"I think that's officially all the news that's fit to print. For now, anyway."

Start looking for another job. Hodgins can't quite get Booth's voice out of his head.

"I have to sit down for a meeting with Cam, Brennan, Booth and the prosecuting attorney tonight. If anything new develops, I'll let you know."

"You better," says Angela.

Then softens it with, "Do you want to have dinner after?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

Hodgins isn't sure he's going to feel like eating after this meeting, but he's definitely going to want the company.

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