'Confessions, Regrets and Invitations' by willowwood
Title: Confessions, Regrets and Invitations.
Author:
willowwood
Fandom: Bones
Characters: Jack Hodgins, Angela Montenegro.
Challenge:
50scenes
Prompt: Table #5, #032 – Regret
Word Count: 1,471
Rating: G
Summary: Jack finally finds out what’s wrong with Angela.
Authors Notes: A companion piece to, and yet another scene following the story line that was established during ‘Listening In’ and ‘It’s Just a Bug...or Something’.
Disclaimer: I do not own this show, or these characters. I wish I did, but I don’t.
Confessions, Regrets and Invitations
It was almost midnight, when Jack was making his away back cross the lab.
After having left the executive board meeting that he hadn’t been able to wheedle his way out of this time, and that had run more than just a little bit over. He was glad he’d decided to leave his coat and bag, back at his workstation and he’d managed to use it as an excuse to avoid the obligatory small talk.
He was in the process of putting them on and heading home when he realised, that unlike the rest of the lab that was barely illuminated by the back-up lighting, there was a pale yellow glow emerging from the doorway to the holographic room. He frowned, briefly contemplating how the security guard had managed to miss it during his rounds before heading across the lab with the intension of turning off the light and continuing on his way home.
Yet as he neared the room, he was surprised to hear the sound of footsteps, the soft tapping quickly accompanied by the silhouetted outline of a familiar figure. He stopped in the doorway, watching as she pulled on her coat, flicking her hair out from beneath the collar, before eventually deciding to rap on the doorframe.
She spun on her heels, eyes wide, hand coming up to clutch against her chest. “Jack!” she cried her tone a mixture of shock and disappointment rather than the relief he’d been anticipating “I was hoping you weren’t still going to be here. I mean I saw your car in the parking lot, but I was hoping you had a date or...something” she addressed this more to the floor than the entomologist in front of her.
Any other time he would have questioned her unusual statement, but his attention was instantly drawn to the boxes he’d spotted behind her as she’d moved. His eyes instinctively came up to sweep the walls of her office, her desk, the table of knick-knacks that had accumulated next to her couch - their emptiness merely confirming his suspicions that the canvas’ and bits of colour he’d spotted protruding from the boxes was indeed all of her stuff.
Apparently, Angela had also noticed his lack of comment regarding what she’d said and was watching him nervously when he finally returned his gaze towards her. Eyes growing wide a disbelieving smirk pulling at the corner of his lips “Angela, what’s going on?”
“What does it look like?” As her eyes returned their attention to the floor, a small part of him hoped it was a trick question.
“It looks as though...you’re packing up all of your stuff; either that or you’re planning on having a garage sale over the weekend”
“I don’t have a garage” she replied, knocking his attempt at humour flat.
For a long time neither of them were sure what to say next, and it wasn’t until after a couple of minutes of shuffling feet and rearranging of bags and things in boxes that Angela finally took in a deep breath.
“I’m-” She released the breath in a long sigh “-going to live with my dad for a while...he and the band are taking a year out, so I figured it’d be nice to have a change of scenery”
“Houston? For a while?” He asked slowly.
She nodded “Yeah”
“Ok-” He agreed, running his hands through his hair “When will you be back?”
“I won’t” again her voice was barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“I’m leaving,” she finally admitted.
Jack stilled, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. When she shifted, uncomfortable beneath his gaze, he remembered the boxes.
“So what? You were just gonna up and leave without telling anyone?”
Slowly she reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope.
“I was going to leave this on your desk, hoped you wouldn’t have seen it until the morning” She stepped forward and handed it to him, his name scribbled across its centre in her unmistakeable handwriting.
“At which point you’d already be long gone?” he studied the envelope in confusion.
“Yeah”
Finally, he brought his gaze back up to look at her “What about the others?”
“They already know. Cam received my letter of resignation last month, Brennan knew before her-” he nodded suddenly realising what the conversation he’d overheard in Brennan’s office had been all about “-which by default means that Booth knows, and I said goodbye to Zach this morning”
“So why do I only warrant this?” he tilted the letter for emphasis.
“Because...Cam accepted my resignation without question, despite however much she might hate the idea Brennan knows that this is for the best and all Zach had to say was ‘Goodbye, good luck, I’ll miss you and please come back and visit us soon’....only in a lot more words” she laughed. Jack didn’t.
“I knew if I told you, you’d only try and get me to change my mind, and I didn’t want that argument to be the last thing we ever said to each other”
He nodded knowing she was right, and feeling desperate to prove her wrong “Does this have something to do with Kirk?” the words were out of his mouth before he’d even acknowledged the thought.
“Jack...” she cautioned.
“Angela! There wasn’t anything you could do to help him! You weren’t even there for Christ’s sake. But you can still help others, stop them from having to suffer the same fate that he did-” his voice was louder than he wanted it to be, but he couldn’t help himself “You give them back their faces Ange, you show us who they were and help us reunite them with their families. You’re the best at what you do-”
“-Oh yeah? And how am I supposed to be the best when I’m as big as house and running off to pee every 30 seconds?”
“What?”
“I’m pregnant Jack!-” the entomologist simply blinked.
“Pregnant?”
She nodded slowly.
“Why else do you think I’ve been throwing up none stop for the past 6 weeks?” Now it was Jack who turned his attention to the floor. He didn’t want to reveal to her what he’d actually thought as he’d watched her race into the bathroom each morning, and knew that just by the look on his face she’d realise he’d thought it was something worse than this.
“I’m sorry Hodgins....I know I should have said something sooner-” she began to explain, eyes growing wide.
Suddenly he looked up “But you haven’t seen anybody since?”
“Four months” she sighed.
Jack ran a hand down his face, not quite believing what he was hearing “Oh”
“Oh” she repeated “and now you know why I can’t work here anymore” she cast a disappointed glance around her office.
“Why not?”
“What?” her brow furrowed.
“Why can’t you work here anymore? Your only pregnant, another five months and-”
“I’ll have a crying, spewing, bundle of joy that’ll need looking after 24-7”
“And until then, you can still do your identifications, you can still do your sketches, you can still do all of your computer renderings,” he indicated towards the boxes, her computer, the office “Houston isn’t just a change of scenery Angela-” again his tone had become harsher than he wanted it to be “it’s almost 1400 miles away. What about your apartment? Your friends? What about Brennan?”
She shook her head slowly “I can’t-”
“And I can’t stand by and let you do something I know you’re going to regret-”
“-I’ve already done something I regret” she dropped onto the couch, covering her mouth with her hand before Jack could fully comprehend what’s she’d actually said “Oh god. I didn’t mean, I would never....” she dropped her head into her hands the second the tears sprang into her eyes, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m having a dead mans baby Jack”
He was on his knees wrapping his arms around her before he’d even considered the action. “What am I going to do?” she mumbled against his neck, her tears forming a wet patch against his jacket “I can’t do this on my own”
Out of all of them, Angela was the one who was most affected by the cases, she was the one who allowed herself to get emotionally attached to each and every victim that came through their door – and yet he couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before.
Seeing it now broke his heart.
“Move in with me” he suddenly whispered against the crook of her neck, the hand that had been rubbing against her back pausing as she slowly pulled away.
“What?” her voice cracked and he wasn’t sure, if she actually hadn’t heard him or if she just couldn’t believe her ears.
“Move in with me” he repeated, never breaking eye contact.
TBC
Author:
willowwoodFandom: Bones
Characters: Jack Hodgins, Angela Montenegro.
Challenge:
50scenesPrompt: Table #5, #032 – Regret
Word Count: 1,471
Rating: G
Summary: Jack finally finds out what’s wrong with Angela.
Authors Notes: A companion piece to, and yet another scene following the story line that was established during ‘Listening In’ and ‘It’s Just a Bug...or Something’.
Disclaimer: I do not own this show, or these characters. I wish I did, but I don’t.
It was almost midnight, when Jack was making his away back cross the lab.
After having left the executive board meeting that he hadn’t been able to wheedle his way out of this time, and that had run more than just a little bit over. He was glad he’d decided to leave his coat and bag, back at his workstation and he’d managed to use it as an excuse to avoid the obligatory small talk.
He was in the process of putting them on and heading home when he realised, that unlike the rest of the lab that was barely illuminated by the back-up lighting, there was a pale yellow glow emerging from the doorway to the holographic room. He frowned, briefly contemplating how the security guard had managed to miss it during his rounds before heading across the lab with the intension of turning off the light and continuing on his way home.
Yet as he neared the room, he was surprised to hear the sound of footsteps, the soft tapping quickly accompanied by the silhouetted outline of a familiar figure. He stopped in the doorway, watching as she pulled on her coat, flicking her hair out from beneath the collar, before eventually deciding to rap on the doorframe.
She spun on her heels, eyes wide, hand coming up to clutch against her chest. “Jack!” she cried her tone a mixture of shock and disappointment rather than the relief he’d been anticipating “I was hoping you weren’t still going to be here. I mean I saw your car in the parking lot, but I was hoping you had a date or...something” she addressed this more to the floor than the entomologist in front of her.
Any other time he would have questioned her unusual statement, but his attention was instantly drawn to the boxes he’d spotted behind her as she’d moved. His eyes instinctively came up to sweep the walls of her office, her desk, the table of knick-knacks that had accumulated next to her couch - their emptiness merely confirming his suspicions that the canvas’ and bits of colour he’d spotted protruding from the boxes was indeed all of her stuff.
Apparently, Angela had also noticed his lack of comment regarding what she’d said and was watching him nervously when he finally returned his gaze towards her. Eyes growing wide a disbelieving smirk pulling at the corner of his lips “Angela, what’s going on?”
“What does it look like?” As her eyes returned their attention to the floor, a small part of him hoped it was a trick question.
“It looks as though...you’re packing up all of your stuff; either that or you’re planning on having a garage sale over the weekend”
“I don’t have a garage” she replied, knocking his attempt at humour flat.
For a long time neither of them were sure what to say next, and it wasn’t until after a couple of minutes of shuffling feet and rearranging of bags and things in boxes that Angela finally took in a deep breath.
“I’m-” She released the breath in a long sigh “-going to live with my dad for a while...he and the band are taking a year out, so I figured it’d be nice to have a change of scenery”
“Houston? For a while?” He asked slowly.
She nodded “Yeah”
“Ok-” He agreed, running his hands through his hair “When will you be back?”
“I won’t” again her voice was barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“I’m leaving,” she finally admitted.
Jack stilled, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. When she shifted, uncomfortable beneath his gaze, he remembered the boxes.
“So what? You were just gonna up and leave without telling anyone?”
Slowly she reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a slightly crumpled envelope.
“I was going to leave this on your desk, hoped you wouldn’t have seen it until the morning” She stepped forward and handed it to him, his name scribbled across its centre in her unmistakeable handwriting.
“At which point you’d already be long gone?” he studied the envelope in confusion.
“Yeah”
Finally, he brought his gaze back up to look at her “What about the others?”
“They already know. Cam received my letter of resignation last month, Brennan knew before her-” he nodded suddenly realising what the conversation he’d overheard in Brennan’s office had been all about “-which by default means that Booth knows, and I said goodbye to Zach this morning”
“So why do I only warrant this?” he tilted the letter for emphasis.
“Because...Cam accepted my resignation without question, despite however much she might hate the idea Brennan knows that this is for the best and all Zach had to say was ‘Goodbye, good luck, I’ll miss you and please come back and visit us soon’....only in a lot more words” she laughed. Jack didn’t.
“I knew if I told you, you’d only try and get me to change my mind, and I didn’t want that argument to be the last thing we ever said to each other”
He nodded knowing she was right, and feeling desperate to prove her wrong “Does this have something to do with Kirk?” the words were out of his mouth before he’d even acknowledged the thought.
“Jack...” she cautioned.
“Angela! There wasn’t anything you could do to help him! You weren’t even there for Christ’s sake. But you can still help others, stop them from having to suffer the same fate that he did-” his voice was louder than he wanted it to be, but he couldn’t help himself “You give them back their faces Ange, you show us who they were and help us reunite them with their families. You’re the best at what you do-”
“-Oh yeah? And how am I supposed to be the best when I’m as big as house and running off to pee every 30 seconds?”
“What?”
“I’m pregnant Jack!-” the entomologist simply blinked.
“Pregnant?”
She nodded slowly.
“Why else do you think I’ve been throwing up none stop for the past 6 weeks?” Now it was Jack who turned his attention to the floor. He didn’t want to reveal to her what he’d actually thought as he’d watched her race into the bathroom each morning, and knew that just by the look on his face she’d realise he’d thought it was something worse than this.
“I’m sorry Hodgins....I know I should have said something sooner-” she began to explain, eyes growing wide.
Suddenly he looked up “But you haven’t seen anybody since?”
“Four months” she sighed.
Jack ran a hand down his face, not quite believing what he was hearing “Oh”
“Oh” she repeated “and now you know why I can’t work here anymore” she cast a disappointed glance around her office.
“Why not?”
“What?” her brow furrowed.
“Why can’t you work here anymore? Your only pregnant, another five months and-”
“I’ll have a crying, spewing, bundle of joy that’ll need looking after 24-7”
“And until then, you can still do your identifications, you can still do your sketches, you can still do all of your computer renderings,” he indicated towards the boxes, her computer, the office “Houston isn’t just a change of scenery Angela-” again his tone had become harsher than he wanted it to be “it’s almost 1400 miles away. What about your apartment? Your friends? What about Brennan?”
She shook her head slowly “I can’t-”
“And I can’t stand by and let you do something I know you’re going to regret-”
“-I’ve already done something I regret” she dropped onto the couch, covering her mouth with her hand before Jack could fully comprehend what’s she’d actually said “Oh god. I didn’t mean, I would never....” she dropped her head into her hands the second the tears sprang into her eyes, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m having a dead mans baby Jack”
He was on his knees wrapping his arms around her before he’d even considered the action. “What am I going to do?” she mumbled against his neck, her tears forming a wet patch against his jacket “I can’t do this on my own”
Out of all of them, Angela was the one who was most affected by the cases, she was the one who allowed herself to get emotionally attached to each and every victim that came through their door – and yet he couldn’t remember ever seeing her cry before.
Seeing it now broke his heart.
“Move in with me” he suddenly whispered against the crook of her neck, the hand that had been rubbing against her back pausing as she slowly pulled away.
“What?” her voice cracked and he wasn’t sure, if she actually hadn’t heard him or if she just couldn’t believe her ears.
“Move in with me” he repeated, never breaking eye contact.
TBC
