TITLE: Second Chances
SPOILERS: "The Skull in the Desert"

"How was it?" Hodgins asked, grinning when he saw her set her fork down on her empty plate. "Awful, I'm guessing?"

She smiled over at him. "It was great, but now I'm not going to be able to move for a week."

He shook his head. "Not allowed. If you can't move, you'll sink right to the bottom of the pool."

Angela raised her eyebrows, and tossed a furtive glance through the glass doors in the dining room toward the infinity pool. "You're joking, right? It's late March, Hodgins. I'm not going swimming in March."

His own brows flicked upward in response. "Ah, but I have a state-of-the-art heating system installed, so while it's in the low fifties everywhere else, the pool is a comfy eighty degrees. And, if you're still cold, there's always the hot tub."

"I don't have a swimsuit."

Hodgins bit back the comment he could have easily made in response, remembering the ordeal she'd just been through. She was in no mood for flirting, he figured. So instead, he stuttered a reply. "Uh, well, I have plenty of spare swimsuits in one of the guest rooms. I'm sure one of them would fit you."

"Wow."

He met her eyes. "What?"

She smiled, fingering the rim of her wine glass before finishing the last sip. "No leering, or lewd comments in response. And I even baited you. I'm surprised."

"You were hoping I'd say something back?"

She chuckled softly to herself. "Well, that's just the way we do it, you and me. I say something, you find a way to make it dirty, and then I threaten you with bodily harm."

"I see." He finished his last bite of food and set his fork down, peering up at her through his lashes. "So that's all I'm good for? Dirty jokes?"

Angela tilted her head and gave him her trademark dimpled smile -- the very same one that secretly sent his heart thudding tachycardic. "You know you're good for more than that, Jack."

"Oh yeah?" It was him baiting her now, as he smirked at her over his wine glass.

"Of course. But," she began to push her chair back, "I really can't impose on you any longer. I should get home and let you get back to doing..." She grinned. "Whatever it is that you do here."

"Uh, or!" His chair skidded harshly on the tile as he abruptly stood. "Or, uh... you could, y'know..." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged one shoulder. "Or you could impose."

Angela furrowed her eyebrows. "Hodgins, are you okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded emphatically, his hands now on his hips. "Yeah, yeah I am. Why?"

She chuckled. "Because you're not blinking."

He made a point of blinking, twice. "There. Blinked. All better. You should stay, Angela."

Her brows flicked upward -- that desperation was back in his eyes. "Ookay... for how long?"

He shrugged. "As long as you want. Doesn't matter to me."

"Sounds like it does, a little bit."

Hodgins bypassed that comment, averting his eyes as he gestured toward the doorway. "The, uh, swimsuits are in the guest room upstairs, second door to your right."

Angela nodded slowly. "Okay... thanks. I'll go change."

The guest room was bigger than Angela had imagined. Another four-poster mahogany bed stood tall in the middle of the room, this one queen-sized, and it was accompanied by a waist-high mirrored dresser and two armoires. There was no balcony in this room, though to one side there was a bay window overlooking the lush backyard.

Angela pulled open one of the drawers of the armoire and began to rummage through the swimsuits. Most looked to be swim trunks, or -- she chuckled at this -- speedos. After going through three drawers, she still hadn't found a single woman's bathing suit, and was about to give up and yell down to Hodgins, when a voice to her left drew her attention.

"Need some help, dear?"

She looked up to see a petite, salt-and-pepper-haired woman in the doorway, lips curled in an expression of amusement. Angela smiled back. "I, uh... I'm having some trouble finding a swimsuit."

The woman nodded knowingly and stepped into the room. "Jackie doesn't exactly keep this room organized." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Rosalie, Jackie's housekeeper."

Angela shook the older woman's hand and smiled warmly. "I'm Angela... Montenegro. Jack's friend."

Rosalie nodded. "Mm-hmm, and a good one, apparently."

Angela raised her eyebrow at this, her eyes following the short woman as she made her way toward a walk-in closet. "How's that?"

Rosalie shrugged and threw open the closet doors. "Well, you're the first woman he's brought to the house."

Angela made a face, still half-heartedly rummaging through the armoire. "That... can't be right. I thought Jack was--"

"A serial dater?" Rosalie finished, turning over her shoulder to smile at Angela. "That he is. But not once has he brought a woman back here with him."

This piqued Angela's interest, and she followed Rosalie into the walk-in closet as the older woman continued. "He considers this place his sanctuary. I think on a few occasions he's even referred to it as his 'fortress of solitude.'" She shook her head. "I'm assuming that's some sort of cinematic reference."

Angela chuckled, being reminded of Brennan in that instant. "Yeah, it is."

"He doesn't want anybody to invade his private life, so he never has anybody over to the house. Not even that nice young man that lives above the garage." She shrugged. "I suppose he just figures if he doesn't let anybody see this side of him, he can't get hurt."

Angela pointed into one of the armoir drawers. "What about all the spare swimsuits?"

Another shrug rolled the petite woman's shoulders. "Probably just a way to help him pretend he's more sociable than he really is."

This comment, for some reason, seared Angela's heart. "So I'm..."

Rosalie nodded and continued picking through the clothing on the racks. "The only one that's seen the inside of this house, yes. Aside from Roger -- that's Jackie's chef -- and myself." Her eyes lit up as she reached a particular piece of clothing, and she grabbed it. "Ah, here we go, dear. I think this will suit you just fine... no pun intended."

Angela smiled at the older woman, before her eyes settled on the item in front of her. The bikini was a gorgeous blend of maroon, black, and gold... and Angela knew, without even trying it on, that it would fit her perfectly.

"Jackie picked that out just last week," Rosalie said, as if reading Angela's thoughts. "Wanted me to hide it in the closet because it was for someone special. When I saw him bring you in earlier..." She trailed off, though the end of her sentence was obvious.

The corner of Angela's mouth quirked in a half-smile, one dimple indenting her cheek. "Thank you, Rosalie."

"You're welcome, dear. And oh, this will go with it nicely, too." She reached back into the closet and pulled out a black sarong. With a wink and a smile then, Rosalie bustled out of the room and left Angela to change.

Angela chuckled at the older woman's exit, and shook her head while looking down at the swimsuit and sarong, musing aloud to herself, "I'll be damned, I'm somebody special."

TBC