A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed – I really appreciate all of the kind words, and you've all very much inspired me to keep going with the story. Please don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism as I continue on, as I really value that as well. Also, since I began writing this before "The Boy with the Answer," it is somewhat AU.
*Sorry it took me so long to update this – my summer job took up more of my time than I thought it would. Hopefully I'll be able to update about once a week or so from now on.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bones or any of the characters; they belong to Fox, Hart Hanson, etc. The title of this chapter comes from a quote by Dr. Seuss: "You know you're in love when you don't want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." I thought it fit Angela and Hodgins well, and it also reminded me of their first date, when Hodgins tells her that their real-life date is better than the one he had a dream about the night before.
Better Than Your Dreams
After their whirlwind adventure of a wedding, Hodgins and Angela proceeded to spend the next 2 days having a stay-in mini-honeymoon in Hodgins' house. Saturday morning started with pancakes and fresh strawberries in bed.
"Wow," Angela said, stretching her arms and attempting to pull herself to a sitting position while still staying underneath Hodgins' fluffy blue comforter, "Did you make these yourself?"
"Yes," Hodgins replied defensively, "…with the help of a mix."
"Hey, I'm getting breakfast in bed. I don't think I'm in any position to criticize how the food got here," Angela said, her brown eyes sparkling with the sun just appearing in the window. Hodgins sat the tray of food down on the table next to the bed, then walked around to the other side of the bed so that he could squeeze in behind Angela.
"What time did you wake up to do all this? I didn't even hear you get out of bed," asked Angela.
"Only about half an hour ago. It's hard to stay asleep when I know being awake means getting to spend time with you," Hodgins replied, kissing her neck.
"You know we're already married right? You no longer have to shamelessly flatter me," Angela teased back.
"It's not shameless when it's true," he said softly. "I've been dreaming about this since…well, since about a few months after I met you. And even when we were broken up, I never stopped dreaming about it"
"About us eating strawberries together in bed?" she teased.
"About us being married, being a family. About forever."
"Thank you for not giving up on me, Hodgins. I know I can sometimes be…"
"Hard-headed? Irrepressible? Insane?"
"Shut up!" she said, hitting him lightly in the head. "I was going to say unique and eccentric. And how did we go from flattery to insults in about two seconds."
"What can I say? I am just that good," he replied, grinning widely.
"Oh really?" Angela asked wryly, putting down the strawberry she had begun to eat and turning to face Hodgins, her lips inches from his. "Maybe you should prove it, then."
"Is that a challenge?" he asked, and not bothering to wait for a response, leaned in to kiss her passionately and flipping them both over so that he was on top of her. It was a while before either of them got around to actually eating, as Hodgins took his time kissing all the way up and down Angela's body before making love to her for the third time in the past twelve hours. With each kiss, he reveled in the knowledge that this was the woman he got to wake up to and go to sleep with for the rest of his life. Little did he know that she was thinking the exact same thing about him.
The rest of their weekend passed by in much the same way, until Monday morning rolled around and they finally had to go back to work. Neither of them had seen or talked to any of their friends except Zach, and they were both excited and anxious about seeing Cam, Brennan, Sweets…and especially anxious about telling Daisy, who was Brennan's intern for the week.
They drove into work together in Hodgins' car for the first time in nearly two years. As they pulled into the parking lot of the Jeffersonian, parked, and got out of the car, they realized that Cam was pulling into the spot two spaces down at the exact same time.
"Well, so much for easing into telling everyone," Hodgins muttered to Angela. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it with reassurance.
"What exactly is it you're afraid is going to happen, Jack?"
"I don't know…explosions, heads being chopped off, secret government plots to keep us out of the Egyptian room forever." Angela rolled her eyes and was about to reply when Cam walked over to them.
"Hey, guys…didn't you get out of jail on Friday?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yes, yes we did," Angela said matter-of-factly.
"So why are you coming into work together today?"
"Well, our stay in jail ended somewhat…differently than you might think," Hodgins answered.
"Differently how? What did you do?" Cam asked, concerned.
"Oh, no, it's not bad," Hodgins reassured her quickly. "We got married."
"What? Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Cam," Angela replied sincerely, and they all walked toward the doors to the Medico-Legal Lab together.
"And now that you're back together, don't forget about all the security cameras," Cam added.
"See, I told you – secret government plot," Hodgins whispered to Angela.
"Oh, shut up," Angela replied, rolling her eyes yet again.
As they walked into the building, they saw Brennan and Daisy already examining a skeleton on the platform, Brennan with a serious look on her face and Daisy blabbering on nervously as usual.
"Maybe we shouldn't tell her right now...I'm not sure she would pay any attention to us," Angela pointed out.
"Yes, because skeletons are far more interesting than living people getting married," Hodgins replied sarcastically.
"Oh, like you wouldn't think the same thing about your bugs."
"I wouldn't! Not about us, anyway. You're far more important to me than any bug."
"Thanks, I think," Angela responded as she swiped her ID to allow both her and Hodgins access to the forensic platform.
"What have you got for me, Dr. Brennan?" Hodgins asked, pulling on gloves and setting up at his workstation.
"Some fragments of clothing that were still on the victim, and samples of the water and dirt from the bog he was found in."
"Ooh, a bog! Any interesting creatures?" he replied, taking the samples from her.
"Well there's definitely something icky floating around in there," Angela interjected.
"Hey, I resent that. My bugs are not icky!" Hodgins said only semi-jokingly.
"Angela! Dr. Hodgins!" Daisy squealed, somehow just noticing that they were there. "I'm so excited to be working with you both again."
"Thanks, Daisy, we're glad to see you again too," Angela said, chuckling. "Brennan, what do you need me to do?"
"There wasn't any identification on the victim, so I need you to do a facial reconstruction and run it through the database. And Ms. Wick, I need you to concentrate on the nicks in the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. They might give us cause of death," Dr. Brennan replied.
"Yes, Dr. Brennan," Daisy replied, sighing. "Hey," she added as she turned back toward the table with the bones on it, pausing to look at Angela and Hodgins, giggling with their heads together over Hodgins' microscope, "how come they don't get yelled at for goofing off?"
"You know what, she can yell at us all she wants. It's not going to stop me from being happy," Hodgins declared
"Hodgins!" Angela shouted.
"Sorry, Ange, I know you wanted to wait until a better time, but I couldn't help myself" Hodgins replied.
"What do you mean a better time? Did something happen? Did the two of you get back together?" Daisy asked excitedly.
"Actually, we did more than that – we got married!" Angela replied.
"Wow, Angela, that's – congratulations! I'm very happy for both of you," Brennan replied.
"Thanks, Bren."
"Yeah, thanks, Dr. Brennan."
"You know, anthropologically, marriage is –"
"I really don't need the anthropological meanings. Maybe you should just stop while you're ahead," Angela commented, patting Dr. Brennan on the back before walking off the platform toward her office. Meanwhile, Daisy started shrieking and jumping up and down with excitement.
"Dr. Hodgins, you really got married? How did it happen? What did you wear? Did you take lots of pictures? Oh, I'm just so excited for you both!" She babbled, finally ending by giving Hodgins a huge hug which he somewhat reluctantly returned. When she wouldn't quite let go of him, he yelled out to his wife, who was nearly at the door to her office,
"Ange? You sure you can't do your facial reconstruction up here?"
"Nope, but you and Daisy have fun," she replied sarcastically, laughing as she flipped her thick black hair back around and opened her door.
A few hours later, Angela had finished the facial reconstruction, which turned out to be of a man about 20-28 years old, with dark brown hair and bright green eyes. Fortunately, she found a match when running her sketch through the system – his name was Alexei Morozov, and he was 25 years old. His two younger sisters, Sofya and Natalya, were his next-of-kin, which was the first thing she told booth as he walked through the doors of the Jeffersonian and up to the platform, where she was now sitting with the rest of the team.
"Thanks, Angela," Booth replied.
"I also found a number of shedded exoskeletons of Phaonia jaroschewskii and Coleophora ledi, which suggests that the body has been sitting in the bog for at least three or four months," added Hodgins.
"And, in more exciting news," Angela began to cut in, as Booth's phone rang and he held up a finger to pause her for a moment.
"Booth," he answered, listening for a few moments as his face got darker and darker. "Yes sir, I do appreciate you giving me the heads up…No, I'll be fine…Yes, I'm at the Jeffersonian now, sir. I'll let them know. Thank you." As he hung up the phone and turned to face the group, it was clear from the look on his face that exciting news would not be in good taste right now.
"That was the Deputy Director. He wanted to let me – us – know before we saw it on the news – they've set a date for the Gravedigger trial."