Title: Angela Says
Summary: Brennan examines what Angela meant when Angela said she loved Booth.
Rating: K+
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Characters: Brennan, Booth
Spoilers: Hero in the Hold
Author's note: This is a post-Hero in the Hold piece extrapolating on what I think would happen if Brennan approached Booth about what Angela said at the evidence drop. I think that when Angela told Brennan that she loved Booth it really gave her pause and would cause her to examine exactly what Angela meant when she told Brennan that she loved him.
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

And, as per usual, a big thank you to SapphireDesire :)

It had been a few days since his abduction, and while she'd been coming by to see him more often than usual, she was also a little bit distant. He couldn't quite figure out why, though it was less a feeling of her trying to emotionally distance herself from him and more a feeling that she was trying to figure something out and having difficulty. What that something was, however, he had no idea.

Either way, he knew, if she wanted to talk about it with him she would. But not until she was good and ready. He also knew that this was one of those times where he shouldn't push. She wasn't trying to hide anything or push him away when he noticed her drifting, she was just figuring. Unsuccessfully at that, given that it's been days and she hadn't stopped.

But now he was sitting in his office at 5:47 p.m., having finished his work for the day wondering what Bones kept thinking about. He'd been facing his back wall, though, so he didn't realize she'd come in until she spoke.

"Angela says that I love you."

That explained the thinking. He turned in his chair to face her, finding her standing in the middle of his office looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Okay."

"When we were debating whether to give the Gravedigger the evidence she wanted, Angela said to me, 'Somebody you love is buried alive,' and I said I didn't love you but she says I do. And that she does, that everyone else does, too." He admired her ability to get the whole story out in one breath. Her voice had taken on a pleading edge and he could see the problem: she didn't know how to process what Angela had said. Her natural inclination was to dismiss it, but the fact that Angela had added that everyone loved him had thrown a wrench in the works. It was making her doubt the validity of her "I don't love Booth" statement. Since she doesn't fully understand what love is, she can't completely dismiss it, especially because Angela is usually right when it comes to her emotions.

"You do love me," he replied.

"Why?" He was surprised that she'd simply accepted his statement, though her tone still had a pleading quality.

"Because I'm your friend." At his words her furrowed expression cleared a little. Just a little. She was still standing in the middle of his office, but he knew that she would refuse if he offered her a chair. She needed room to move, to pace, to run if necessary. "You love your friends, even if you don't recognize it as love. You love me, you love Angela, you love Hodgins," at the mention of Hodgins her face clouded again, "Okay, maybe you don't love him quite as much as you did before." He remained seated behind his desk, resting his elbows on the armrests and steepling his hands in front of him.

"Do I love Cam? And Sweets? And Zach?" She needed to quantify his statements, to see if she loved all of the people she called friends or just certain ones.

"You definitely love Zach. His betrayal wouldn't have hurt so much if you didn't." She nodded, accepting. Her expression cleared a little further. "As for Cam and Sweets…I think you love Cam a little bit, but she's not a very close friend so you love her less than you love me or Angela. And Sweets? That I'm not sure. You seem to respect him professionally, even though you hate psychology, not that we should ever tell him that by the way," he warned. She smiled slightly. "You might, just a little, tiny bit. I say a little, tiny bit because you're not sure how much you can trust him or even how much you want him to know about you. But at the same time he has become your friend, so there's a little bit of love there."

"And it's okay that I love some people less than others?" It made sense that she was asking this question, he supposed, because he'd never really expressed to her before the fact that you can love at different levels. Interesting, though, how she focused on the ones she didn't love as much, rather than those she loved more. Sweets would go to town with that. Provided either of them ever made him privy to this conversation. Which they wouldn't.

"Yes." Simplicity is best when teaching her about her emotions.

"Why?" By this time she had become significantly more relaxed, and the vulnerable expression was gone from her face. She was still standing in the middle of the room, though it didn't look like she was going to run anytime soon.

"Because there are different levels of friendship and you love friends at certain levels more than you love friends at other levels."

"So I love Angela differently than I love Cam."

"Not quite. You love them the same way, you just love Angela more. Angela's your best friend, Cam is just your friend. The closer a friend is to the best friend level, the more you love that friend." This was actually a fascinating conversation, he realized. It's not often that you discuss love clinically, or break it down into some of its many levels. Bones' need to quantify and categorize everything always brought with it some sort of intriguing new way of looking at things.

"But there are different kinds of love, right?" She was looking thoughtful again, though the expression was tinged slightly with what looked like apprehension.

"Yes. The three big types are: family love, friend love, and romantic love. You can, of course, love one person in more than one way. For Cam and Angela, you love them both with friend love, just different amounts."

As she stood there contemplating that thought he took the opportunity to watch her. She was much more relaxed, more open than she usually was. And she was certainly calmer than she had been for the past few days; no doubt because she had finally managed to convince herself that he was actually safe. He'd been like that for a while after she'd been taken, too. Watching the cogs in her brain turning over the information he'd just given her was fascinating; he loved watching her work, whether it was physical or mental. She just had this air of such confidence about her but yet was still so vulnerable if you knew how to look.

Most people would accuse him of simply staring at her body. And while it was technically true that he was looking at her body it wasn't always for the reason everyone thought. She was beautiful, yes, but he was captivated not by her looks but instead by the way she looked. She looked small, so small sometimes, but yet was capable of so much. She could take down 300 pound linebackers if she wanted to, no question, but she looked like she'd blow away in a moderately strong wind. She looked cool, calm, and collected at all times. She got scared, and felt vulnerable, but so, so rarely ever let her outer façade waver. Few people had ever seen her actually waver, and fewer still had ever seen that more than once. She was a study in contradictions, Temperance Brennan, and it was a study he would give almost anything to undertake.

Her contemplation finished, she looked at him again. He looked back. "You and Angela are my best friends." Something shifted in her expression then. The mild apprehension that was present a few minutes ago, but had disappeared while she was thinking, was back. More pronounced than before.

"Yes." He wondered where she was going with this.

"But…I don't love you the same." She blinked suddenly, like something had clicked into place, like she had admitted something she hadn't realized was true. "No. I don't love you the same."

"Well, you've been friends with Angela longer than you've been friends with me. Maybe it just feels different." Her facial expressions were captivating. As he was speaking she went from apprehension to comprehension to surprise and then to what looked pleasure. He wasn't sure.

"No. Because I love Angela and Hodgins the same, and I love you differently than I love them. Even if I loved you the same amount it wouldn't be the same." Now she was resolute, decided, determined, and, ever-so-slightly, afraid.

"How do you love me, then?" It was beginning to become clear exactly where this conversation was going. He wondered if she'd run. She was still standing, after all.

She looked at him for a beat before answering. "I love you…more than all of them. I love you…romantically." Fear took precedence then, "Is that bad?" she whispered, looking at him.

"No." They stayed like that for a minute, him sitting, her standing, just looking. She didn't act like she was going to run, so he chanced getting up and taking a few steps toward her. "Wanna get some dinner, Bones?"

She nodded, hesitated, then threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "I'm glad you're safe, Booth."

He returned the embrace fiercely, "So am I, Bones." After a minute he loosened his arms, but didn't let go, and asked, "Do you want me to take you out, or would takeout and a movie be okay?"

"I like takeout and a movie," she briefly snuggled closer before pulling away, "If that's okay."

He almost chuckled, but understood that she was still a little nervous after her rather big discovery. Chucking her under the chin he responded, "It wouldn't have been an option if it wasn't okay," and then placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. She smiled shyly at him when he pulled away. "Come on, Bones. I'll even let you pick the movie. But not a documentary!" She pretended to pout, so he kissed her again before grabbing her hand and tugging her out of his office.

As she laced her fingers through his he thought of Teddy. He would tell her, but not tonight. Tonight was going to be spent sitting on a couch holding Bones while she got used to the idea that she was in love with him. Yes, he'd tell her. But not tonight.