You Told Him - T, BA & BB Friendship/Comfort/Angst, One-Shot - space

SUMMARY: My first “real” story! *Wait! Don’t run away yet!* Bren/Ange friendship centered one-shot. When a trust is betrayed, is their friendship strong enough to move past that betrayal? BB friendship. Set late Season 3.

Rating – T, for sensitive subject matter (no ‘snogging’ as TT would say!!)

Friendship/Comfort/Angst

Disclaimer: They don’t belong to me, don’t know if they even had fun with me… not sure I ever want them back again! LOL! Don’t sue me... I’d have to sell my children and that would open up a whole new realm of litigation.

A/N: Well as the summary reveals, this is my first “real” story! Many thanks to TemperTemper for being the most wonderful sounding board/beta/friend evah! Also kudos to the gals at the Anti-Boneyard for the support and confidence… and for this story, special shout-outs to Willgirl and Lerdo for the wonderful Bones Writing Exercises that spurred this one from it’s deep, dark lair. Happy reading!!

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“You told him, didn’t you?”

Temperance Brennan was sitting at her desk, frustrated beyond belief at the anomaly that had presented itself in their most recent victim’s case. Upon hearing her best friend’s voice, she looked up from the multiple reports, photos and X-rays scattered in front of her.

“What was that, Ange?” she responded to the artist, only after speaking the words, noticing that her friend looked anything but her usual, chipper self.

“You told Booth. You told him about Jack and I… about our losing…” At this point Angela’s eyes filled with tears and she paused and looked away.

“Ange, I…” Brennan didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t want to lie to her friend, knew she couldn’t. But she didn’t want to admit that she had betrayed her confidence either. “Did he… say something to you?”

“He didn’t have to, Bren.”

“I don’t understand. Then how… why…”

“He didn’t have to say anything. He looks at me differently. There’s no flirty banter, even if I initiate it. I know he knows. And I know you told him.”

Brennan leaned back in her chair, and looked down at her clasped hands in front of her. Her body language spoke volumes to her friend, the fact that she wouldn’t meet her eyes, the first and foremost betrayal.

Angela stepped forward, finger pointing in the air, a renewed vigor glinting in her eyes, “I told you about my miscarriage because you are my best girlfriend, Bren. I needed your support and you gave it at the time. But what I didn’t need was for all of our friends to know – and treat me differently because of it.”

“I don’t know what to say, Ange. I’m sorry. I…”

“Save it, Bren.” And she turned and left the office as quickly as she had entered.

What do I do now?

Brennan let her elbows rest on the scattered case file and her head rest in her hands. She couldn’t help but berate herself for allowing things to get this far. She never intended to tell him.


~2 days earlier~

“Good Monday morning, Ange!” Brennan said as she entered the forensic artist’s office. “Would you mind taking a look at…” Her voice trailed off as she looked up to see her friend wasn’t at her desk. A glance to the left proved that Angela was seated on her couch… and Brennan had just interrupted a tender moment between her and her fiancé. “Oh, sorry Ange. I can come back.”

“No Bren, stay. I need to talk to you.” Angela gave Hodgins a quick kiss and whispered, “Go babe, I’ll be okay.”

Jack cupped her cheek, “I love you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As Hodgins left the room, Brennan moved towards the couch. It was then that she noted her friend’s red-rimmed eyes.

“Ange? What is it? Are you still sick? You should go home and…”

Angela let her head drop in her hands and began to sob. Brennan moved to sit next to her on the couch, the case file forgotten on the cushion beside her, and pulled her friend into a hug. “It’s okay Angela. Whatever it is, you can tell me… shhh…”

“God Bren”, Angela sniffed. “I don’t even know how to say this.”

Brennan rubbed her friend’s back and patiently waited for her to gather herself. Angela took a deep breath. “You know how we were all supposed to meet for dinner Saturday night?”

Brennan nodded. Earlier in the week, Hodgins and Angela had excitedly invited everyone to their place for dinner on the upcoming Saturday night. Booth seemed to think it was something to do with rescheduling their wedding, “Maybe they found Angela’s ‘little flute’ and convinced him he’s out of tune!” Cornball.

But a call Saturday morning from Hodgins had cancelled those plans due to Angela having “the flu or something.”

“I wasn’t sick Bren… well, not the flu anyway.”

At Brennan’s confused expression, Angela continued. “We were having you guys over to tell you the good news – that we were pregnant.”

“Oh Ange!” Brennan took her hand and smiled… then the look of confusion returned. “Wait, did you say ‘were’?”

Angela lowered her head onto their clasped hands and sobbed, “Friday night, I started spotting heavily… by the time we got to the hospital, it was too late. The baby was gone.”

“Oh Ange,” Brennan sighed. “I’m so sorry. How far along were you?” I should have noticed.

“Almost ten weeks. We were finally beginning to accept it. We were excited and couldn’t wait to share the news with you all.”

Brennan ran the hand not holding Angela’s through her friend’s dark hair and down her back. Angela leaned into her friend for support. Brennan pulled her close and rested their heads together. What can I say? I don’t know what to say.

After a few moments, Hodgins re-entered the office and took up residence on Angela’s other side. “Babe, why don’t you let me take you home. I didn’t feel like you should have come back this soon.”

“Yes Ange. Please, both of you, go home and be together,” Brennan offered, picking up her file and standing. “And Hodgins – Jack, I’m so sorry.”

Brennan gave him a quick hug and turned to leave. At the doorway, she turned to say something, but held her tongue when she saw the couple in an intense embrace – both with tears streaming down their cheeks.


~Present day~

An hour later found Brennan still sitting at her desk, seemingly in deep concentration. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Her thoughts flitted from the day Angela shared her sad news to the anger in her friend’s eyes today – from the first time she met her best friend to the image of her walking away. Brennan swiped at the tears that had formed in her eyes and set to gathering the case file around her.

A sudden cry of “Bones!” alerted her to her partner’s entrance to the Medico-Legal Lab and her head spun towards the door to see him hurrying towards her office.

“Get your coat, Bones. I’ve got the search warrant from the judge. We need to get to Halloran’s mother’s house and see what we can find – hopefully the murder weapon. Chop chop!”

Brennan just nodded and turned to get her coat and bag.

“What? No argument that you have a million other things to do?” Booth asked as he ushered her out of the office and toward the lab entryway. “You okay, Bones?”

“Angela knows I told you about her miscarriage.”

Booth took one look at his partner’s face and knew that conversation didn’t go very well. “I take it she was upset.”

“You could say that.”

“I’m sorry, Bones. You know I didn’t say anything to her.”

“She said you didn’t have to – that you’ve been treating her differently.”

Booth contemplated this as he unlocked the doors and they got into the Tahoe. Pulling out of the parking space, he finally answered, “She’s right. But I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry, Bones.”

Looking out the window, she responded quietly, “It’s not your fault, Booth. I never should have betrayed her confidence.”


~2 days earlier~

As Brennan walked out of Angela’s office and back to her own, she couldn’t help but ponder her friend’s situation. An almost unbearable sadness came over her, surprising her with its intensity.

Over the course of her life, Temperance Brennan had experienced death in just about every form imaginable. The skeleton of a squirrel she found under the back hedge in her yard when she was nine; it seemed like hours she spent just looking at it, amazed at the tiny bones, so perfectly formed and laid out in front of her – how they had worked together to move that creature from one nut to the next. Her mind flitted to the dog she and Russ had as kids. The day Lucky wasn’t so lucky and was hit by a passing car.

It was hard to think back on that childhood and not grieve that as well. The innocence that was stripped away when her parents left and Russ’ taillights disappeared in the distance.

And now, now death was her job. Something she embraced. Something that defined her. She had seen countless men, women, children and even fetuses come across her lit tables. And since partnering with Booth, she had also faced the families of those victims and seen their grief.

So why is Angela’s grief hitting me so hard?

To see someone she knew and loved grieve so over life that had barely begun, life wasted – it shook her to her core. She realized she had never been around life at its beginning. She never had family or friends beaming with the pride that comes from that public revelation of pregnancy. It wasn’t something that she ever thought about.

The fact that she didn’t want children of her own, did not mean she begrudged others that joy. And to see that joy taken away from those who desired it was not pleasant to her.

In the midst of her tumultuous thoughts, she didn’t hear her partner walk into her office, or tap on the glass door, or clear his throat.

Booth stood and watched his partner’s face as she ruminated on something unbeknownst to him. She was in her own world and he wondered at what could have her so oblivious to her current surroundings. She was sitting on her couch, clutching a file in her hands, eyes trained on the opposite wall, teeth worrying her lower lip.

He stepped forward to enter her peripheral vision and queried with a soft smile, “Whatcha doin’, Bones?”

Brennan visibly jumped out of her temporal world and turned toward her partner. She pushed her hair away from her forehead and murmured, “Oh, hey Booth.” She glanced at her watch, “Lunch already?”

“Um… no, it’s only 10 am. I was coming by to check with Hodgins on the results from…” He trailed off as she turned back towards the wall and her eyes seemed to glaze over again with her thoughts. “Hey, Bones. What’s going on? Are you okay?” He moved to stand in front of her.

“Yeah, Booth. I’m fine.” But she wouldn’t meet his eyes, nor did she make a move from her spot on the couch, and he knew her statement was not made in honesty.

He moved to sit beside her. He didn’t speak for several minutes, hoping she would take the initiative and talk to him. She didn’t move, the only sound was their breathing, unconsciously in unison, and just as he was going to say something, she sighed and spoke.

“How is Parker?”

Taken by surprise, he stuttered, “Pa-Parker is fine, Bones.”

She didn’t respond and he could sense her need for him to continue. “He’s all excited for baseball to begin. This is his first year out of Tee-ball and he really thinks it’s the Big Leagues.” He couldn’t help the smile and proud timbre of his voice as he thought and spoke of his son.

“Such innocence… you are very lucky Booth.”

“Bones, what is it? What’s eating at you? I’ve never known you to be this melancholy… and you don’t believe in luck.”

“It’s an expression Booth.” She grinned at him as she finally looked up to meet his concerned eyes. It had suddenly occurred to her that Booth was her only friend who had a child of his own.

Silence reigned another few moments, then she began. “I see death everyday Booth. On my tables, in my journals, in my novels. I’ve faced my own several times. And I’m okay with that. I don’t understand…” She trailed off.

Booth turned towards her on the couch, propping his knee on the cushion and laying his arm across the back, one hand coming to rest on her shoulder. “What is it, Bones? What’s brought this on?”

Without really thinking, she blurted, “Angela had a miscarriage. And I don’t understand why, but her grief and loss are so real to me.” A tear slipped past her downturned lashes.

Booth’s hand moved from her shoulder, his index finger slipping up her cheek to catch the stray droplet.

“She’s your friend. You love her and you care what happens to her.”

“But is that all?” She turned to look at him.

“Yeah Bones, and that’s enough.” His eyes held a touch of laughter, not at her, but in relief that this was something they could deal with. He pulled her close to him, tucked her under his chin. “So I take it this is why Hodgins wasn’t in his office.”

“Yeah, I sent them home,” she replied, enjoying the warmth and reassurance his embrace provided, yet pulling away slightly to restore their “partnerly” space.

“And I guess this is why no dinner Saturday night?”

“They went to the hospital Friday night. She was ten weeks along… they would have had to do a D&C. Probably kept her overnight. They were planning on sharing the ‘good news’ with all of us at dinner.”

“Hmmm…” He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

She picked up the forgotten case file and stood. Walking back towards her desk, she said, “I have the results on the sediment from Hodgins, if you want to look over it. But I can tell you…”

He interrupted, “Just be there for her Bones. That’s all you can do. And if you need to talk about anything, I’m here. Okay?” He walked over to her and took the offered results. Not waiting for her answer, he winked and turned to walk out of the office.

Brennan watched him leave. Be there for her. I can do that.

~Present day~

It was late evening before she and Booth returned to the Lab. On the drive back, the heavens had opened up and now the prevalent sound in the darkened expanse was of the rain pounding on the glass ceiling.

Their search of the house of the suspect’s mother had been lucrative, resulting in several potential murder weapons, one in particular which Brennan felt would explain her anomaly from earlier. While the details of the case falling into line left her with a certain pleasure, her overwhelming thoughts were of her unresolved issues with Angela.

“Booth, you didn’t have to come in with me. I’m just going to leave a message for Zack to look at this evidence first thing in the morning.”

“I know, Bones.” Booth had been observing her all afternoon, since picking her up; noticing her cool professionalism, but with undertones that he knew stemmed from her disagreement with Angela. “I just thought, you know, maybe you’d want to grab some pie… or maybe a drink.”

Brennan took off her coat, tossing it across the back of her chair, and seated herself at her desk. She turned to her computer and began to compose the e-mail to Zack. “I don’t know, Booth.”

Booth moved beside her and leaned against her desk. “Just talk to her, Bones. Tell her what you told me. Tell her why you told me,” he said to her back.

Brennan stiffened, the tap-tap of her fingers on the keyboard stilled.

“Angela’s your friend. She’ll understand.”

The tap-tap resumed and as she reached for the mouse to click Send, she sighed and said, “I think a drink sounds good, Booth.”

“Yeah, it does.” He picked up her coat off her chair and helped her don it.

As they walked back out into the dimly lit lab toward the exit, Brennan glanced along the row of darkened offices.

“Booth?” She touched his arm to stop him and turned towards Angela’s office where the soft glow of lamplight could be seen through the glass walls. As she approached, she could see Angela sitting on the floor in front of her couch, sketch book on her knees. Booth came up behind her and stopped.

“Booth, I…”

“Go. Talk to her, Bones. Call me later.”

She leaned up and kissed him chastely on his stubbled cheek. “Thank you, Booth.”

Since when had that become the norm?

Booth nodded and turned to go.

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Brennan stepped into the doorway of her friend’s office. Tapping lightly on the glass, she softly asked, “Ange, can I come in?”

Angela looked up from her sketch and just nodded, her dark eyes unreadable in the warm glow cast by the red linen lampshades.

Brennan walked towards her. “I’m surprised to see you here so late.”

“A girl can only take so much hugging and crying. I needed to be alone for a while.” She turned back to her sketch.

With her hands stuffed in the pockets of her coat, Brennan shuffled a bit, trying to find the right words to say to her friend. Finally, she moved to the side chair and sat, elbows on her knees. “Angela, I owe you an apology,” she began.

Angela set her sketchpad aside, and turned towards the anthropologist, an ‘I’m listening’ look on her face.

“I never intended to tell Booth. I wouldn’t intentionally betray your privacy that way, Angela.”

Angela crossed her arms across her chest.

“When I left your office that day, I could think of nothing else. I didn’t understand why your loss, your grief was affecting me so. I’m still not sure.” She looked at her best friend. “But you’re my best friend, Ange, and I love you. I just needed to talk to someone and Booth was there.”

Angela knew those words were hard for her friend to say out loud and she couldn’t help but feel herself softening upon hearing them, no matter how much she felt she wanted to stay upset over the situation.

“I’ve had a chance to think about it too, Bren. And I know you. And I know your relationship with Booth…”

“Ange, we’re just…”

“Best friends, Bren. I know. I’ve accepted it.” A slow smile spread across her face. “And I forgive you, sweetie. I could never stay mad at you for too long. You’re too special to me.”

Simultaneously, the friends moved towards each other and hugged tightly. Just as she made to move away, Brennan glanced down at Angela’s sketch. It was of the two of them, not long after the day they first met. “Ange, that’s beautiful.”

“It’s one of my first memories of us. I can think of only a few things worse than my grief over losing this child, Bren. And one of those things would be losing my best girlfriend as well.”

Meeting her eyes and smiling mischievously, Brennan responded, “I was just getting ready to head out for a drink. You want to join me?”

Angela smiled one of the first genuine smiles her lips had seen in five days and agreed.

FIN.

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Reviews greatly appreciated!

space...that was no disaster, wow, such a different direction than most fics well done. And your descrïptive writing is almost romantic...wohoo, now for a smutty fic, please! lol

Holy hannah! Space! You've been holding out on us! You must have been practising...that can't be your first "real" fic!!

Wow, it was just brilliant. Your descrïptions were PERFECT and you had everyone so incredibly in character. I..want to say more but I'm actually a little speechless. Fantastic. Well done.

That was a great story! You definately should write some more - wonderful style you have.

Space, that was amazing!! Well written and an excellent story! Terrific for a first 'real' story!

wow nice...you worried me for a bit but I loved it

I love it. Poor Ange, Thank god she didn't stay mad at Brennan!

Thanks for all the reviews guys! It means the world!

Magic: Thanks! Working on it!

Kiki: Um... yeah, first one. But had tons of help from TT. We get by with a little help from our friends, no?!? Thanks so much - it means a lot coming from you!

Snoop: Thank you! I think I may have officially caught the bug... we will see!

CSI-4077: Appreciate the comments and encouragement! I see you reviewing EVERYWHERE and know everyone appreciates it tremendously!

DBAngelfan: Thanks, glad you liked it! Sorry to cause undue worry... for the most part, I am definitely a happy ending kind of girl!

206bones2break: First of all, ouch on the screen name! Secondly, thanks for the R&R and yeah, I didn't figure Ange could stay mad at her BFF for too long... plus, see the comment above - happy endings from me!!!

Truly appreciate you all!!! I love the ABY!!

that was really awesome, space!!!! GREAT!

**fab tackle hugs spacey**

I adored it sweetie..you rock...
It was sad and sweet and tender..
I loved Booth and Bren consoling each other
Ange and Bren are always good together...
I loved Bren's emotions about it...

I loved it all, so well written..

hugs woman
fab

Yay! Go Space. This was GREAT! I always knew you could do it. I think you should hurry up on that smut. You sure have been holding out on us.

Space! This was freaking amazing!!! So sweet and SO realistic and just plain wonderful. I don't read much fanfic since I'm always writing it, but the title popped out at me and I saw it was by you and took a look and I am grinning from ear to ear.

Magnifico, fabtabulous, and all the other made up words that cover "REALLY GOOD JOB"

claps.

seriously excellent. I've been meaning to get over here to read it cause I knew it would be flippin awesome but life has been crazy... so glad that I finally made it over here...

I think I speak for everyone when I say we'd like to see more from you. Thanks for sharing.

Oh you guys... *blushing*

Cheese: Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed!

Fab: Ouch! *Space dusts self off and tackle hugs Fab back* Thanks chica! I know how you love your smut, so keep a look out! K?

Squirt: Smut? What smut? *winks* Thanks babe! Glad you're back!

Meegs: Thank you so much for taking the time to R&R... it really makes me grin like an idjit that you read my story when there are SOOOO many other good ones here to choose from!

phoebs: *bows* Thanks lady! And I know many who wouldn't object to seeing some more of your great writing as well! I know, I know... you and your gazillion ships! You have a whole flotilla!!

I totally appreciate all of you!!

pictures herself on a ship with a captain's hat on surrounded by many ships with brightly colored flags depicting various couples.

yes I do... and they are so draining sometimes you know that... seriously... they bicker with each other and always need things from me...


If writing Brennan didn't scare me so much...

I'd rather leave it up to someone who does it so much better... like.. eh... oh yeah, YOU!

Great story. i loved it. and phoebe i no this is off topic but i love jericho and jake and heather too!!!!