A/N: Surprise! It's me again, writing another Aubrey and Jessica story for mphs95's Valentine's Day fan fiction. I've embroidered a little bit on the episode that had Aubrey's father show up. I hope you like your story, mphs... 554Laura


It was a chilly January afternoon as James Aubrey strode down the street toward his favorite diner for lunch. He shivered slightly, buttoning his overcoat while he stood on the corner waiting for the light to change at the intersection. He'd found himself without a lunch companion today. Normally he'd have lunch with his partner, but today Booth had some sort of lunchtime budget meeting that all Special Agents in charge of departments had to attend. Aubrey's girlfriend Jessica had been at a forensics seminar in Germany for a few weeks. Dr. Fisher was the intern on rotation this week, and because Aubrey could only stand the man's bleak outlook on life in small doses, having lunch with him wasn't something Aubrey had considered seriously.

Shrugging slightly before he walked across the street, Aubrey chuckled softly to himself. Being concerned about having lunch with or without a companion was a fairly new occurrence for him. Before coming to work with DC Major Crimes division, he'd led a more solitary existence, having few close friends except for possibly his partner and maybe a casual girlfriend now and then. That all changed when he began to work with Special Agent Seeley Booth. It seemed that Booth had a tendency to sort of adopt the young agents he was mentoring, similar to how someone might adopt a stray puppy. Being Booth's friend as well as his partner meant that Aubrey was now considered part of the older man's family, with all the rights, responsibilities, and the many other friends that went along with it. That was a nice change after being without a real family for so long…

Sitting down at his favorite table, Aubrey watched the people passing by on the sidewalk as he waited for his order. It was a bluebird day...a bright, clear blue sky, and cool, crisp air, even with the abundant afternoon sunshine. Days like this always reminded him of his mother. She had loved this kind of weather. He smiled to himself as he thought of her perched in her favorite chair, sitting by the window that overlooked their backyard, her cat Cindy sleeping on her lap as she knitted scarves, hats, and socks for her friends and family. After his dad had left them to fend for themselves, there was very little money for extras, but she could usually scrounge enough change to buy a few skeins of yarn so she could stay busy on the weekends. "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop, Jamie. I need something to do." He'd often thought she could sell the things she'd made, but she wanted to use her talents to show love instead of making a profit...the direct opposite of his old man.

Thanking Ellie as she brought him his lunch, Aubrey sighed as he poured some ketchup over his fries and added the onion and lettuce to his club sandwich. Munching on his pickle, he remembered how his mother had worked tirelessly after his father left them, usually holding down two jobs in addition to caring for her teen aged son. It wasn't until he was much older that Aubrey realized she had neglected her health to provide a college education for him. His mother had lived long enough to see him graduate from college, dying from cancer soon afterward. The harshest blow had been the doctor's statement that her condition might've been cured if she had only taken care of things earlier. However, she was too worried about the cost of the treatments, wanting instead to give her son the opportunity to go to Syracuse University. Even with all of his loans, grants, and scholarships, it was an expensive place for Aubrey to attend, but when he was accepted there, his mother had said there would be no sacrifice too great to make his dreams come true. Sometimes he wondered if it had been worth it, thinking that maybe he should've gone to a less expensive college, but that was all water under the bridge now. All he could do today was to use his expensive education to the best of his abilities. Eventually that might mean a political career, but right now it meant working with the FBI to bring criminals to justice...including his own father.

Aubrey thought over the new information Ms. Julian had given him as he ate another bite of his pie. His father was back in the country, and it looked like he might be on his way to DC. Aubrey had put on a brave face and assured Caroline that he would arrest the bastard again if the guy showed up, and he really believed that he could do it. Still...even though he hated what his father had become and how the son of a bitch had treated his mother, it was hard for Aubrey to ignore the occasional good memory that would intrude into his hatred from time to time. After all, at one time his father had been an honest man, and he'd had a good job as a stock broker until the addiction to playing the stock market took over his life. As much as Aubrey was loathe to admit it, he knew that his own personality was a combination of his father's charm and brilliant intellect and his mother's sense of truth and justice. Unfortunately, his mother hadn't been able to sway her husband toward the moral view of life. Phillip Aubrey lived by his wits, looking for any sort of plan he could find to make lots of money quickly, legal or not. The fact that he'd been caught bilking clients in a Ponzi scheme didn't deter him...the elder Aubrey had simply left the country without so much as a backward glance at his little family. Aubrey sighed quietly as he finished his coffee and got up to pay his bill. For some reason he'd never understood, his mother had made a conscious decision to forgive her husband, saying, "Underneath it all, Jamie, I still think there's some goodness left in your father." Setting his jaw resolutely as he stepped out onto the sidewalk that ran in front of the diner, Aubrey shook his head. He'd never believe there was anything good left in the man, and he knew he'd never be able to completely forgive his father for the damage he'd left in his wake, no matter what his mother had said. The younger Aubrey was going to make sure his father got what was coming to him, even if it took years to do so.

Checking his watch, Aubrey figured he had a little extra time before he was needed back at the office, so he decided to take a short detour. He followed the sidewalk a few blocks past where he was supposed to turn to go to the Hoover, stopping in front of a small shop. He hesitated slightly before going in, feeling awkward and nervous as he ran this errand. Finally he pushed open the front door, the electric doorbell chiming to announce his presence. "Mr. Henry?"

A voice gravelly with age responded from the back of the store. "I'm back here. Who is it?"

"It's me...James Aubrey. You remember, right? I helped you with suggestions for the security of your store? I'm with the FBI." It felt silly to talk so loudly in an empty room, but the store's proprietor had yet to appear. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you about a piece of jewelry in one of your cases…"

"Okay. Just a minute." A slightly stooped man with thick gray hair came shuffling into the showroom. "Oh, yeah. I remember you…"

"I thought we'd agreed that you'd get one of those systems so you could unlock your front door when someone pressed the buzzer." Aubrey frowned slightly at the at the elderly man as he shrugged a shoulder toward the door. "And maybe a security guard…"

"Yeah, but I want my store to be a friendly place where people feel welcome to come and go as they please. Anyway, I hired a guard, but he's at lunch." Mr. Henry pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his nose and mouth. Seeing Aubrey's grimace the jeweler shrugged. "I was eating my lunch when you came in. I thought you wanted to see a piece of jewelry…"

"Oh...yeah...it's in this case over here." Aubrey tapped his fingers on the pane of glass covering the top of a large display case. "This ring right here…"

"That's a beauty, ain't it? I made that one myself." The store's owner pulled the slender yellow gold ring from the tray and handed it to his customer. The ring was studded with several small, sparkling diamonds set flush in the brushed metal on top of the band. Mr. Henry gave Aubrey a wink and a smile. "A nice ring for a lucky girl?"

Blushing slightly, Aubrey held the dainty band in his hand and turned it over, enjoying the way the gems glittered in the store's overhead lights. "Maybe. My girlfriend wears those latex exam gloves a lot and she says she doesn't like rings with big stones that stick up because they poke holes in them." He ran his thumb across the stones, noticing that they protruded slightly, but not enough to get caught on anything. "But I think this might work pretty well. It doesn't have a lot of places for dirt to get into the settings, either…"

"Your girlfriend...she's a doctor?" Mr. Henry watched as the younger man examined the ring closely. "Maybe she's gonna take the ring off when she works, right?"

"Well, I hope not." Aubrey grinned as he shrugged at Mr. Henry. "She's a forensic anthropologist interning at Jeffersonian's Medico-Legal Lab right now. That's why I'm looking at something like this. It's narrow and flat, and maybe, if she wants, she can wear it under her gloves." He handed the ring back to the jeweler. "That's not the problem. The problem is that first I gotta get her to say yes, you know?"

"Oh, I see. You're shopping for Valentine's Day." Nodding, Mr. Henry smirked at his customer as Aubrey grinned sheepishly and jammed his hands in his pockets. "You want me to set this ring back for you? It's the only one I got like this." Seeing the fleeting look of panic cross Aubrey's face, the jeweler chuckled. "Look, I'll just take it out of the display case for awhile. No obligation, okay? It won't cost you a thing. That way maybe we can call it even for helping me with security, okay? And if you decide you don't want it, you can tell me, and I'll put it back in the case. Whad'dya say? You said it might work for your girl..."

Aubrey thought the man's suggestion over for a few seconds. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I should know what's gonna work out pretty soon...at least that's the plan…"

"No worries, son. If she's as smart as you say she is, she's gonna say yes." Mr. Henry took a small brown envelope from a desk drawer, and slipped the ring inside before sealing the flap. "It's Aubrey, right?"

"Yeah, James Aubrey." Grimacing nervously, he watched as the jeweler wrote his name on the envelope before locking it into the wall safe. Things were about to get very real very quickly. "You sure you don't want a deposit?"

"Nah. I figure you're good for it. I got nothing to lose. I just don't want you to be disappointed in case someone else should want the ring." Mr. Henry gave the safe's lock a spin before turning back to Aubrey. "Here's my card. Call me when you decide what to do."

"Thanks." Aubrey slipped the card in his wallet and smiled. "Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."

"Any time, Agent Aubrey. Just be sure to tell your friends about my store, okay? You can get personalized service here, unlike what you get at a big chain store." Mr. Henry winked at Aubrey as he gave him a thumbs up.

"You bet. Bye." Aubrey waved as he stepped out of the store and exhaled slowly. What did he just do? Did he actually pick out an engagement ring for Jessica? Jesus... His hands were trembling slightly as he reached to get his ringing telephone out of his pocket. "Aubrey…"

"Where the hell are you, Aubrey? Are you taking off for the rest of the day?", Booth growled. "I need you to get your ass to the office soon. It looks like we may have a case."

"I'm on the way back from lunch. I can be there in under ten minutes." Judging from Booth's tone, his meeting had caused him a great deal of annoyance. "I'm almost there."

"Well, hurry, alright? I'll meet you in the lobby downstairs." The phone clicked abruptly on the other end, signaling the end of the call.

Practically jogging now, Aubrey hurried toward the Hoover, smiling broadly as he went. Booth might give him a hard time for being late coming back from lunch, but he didn't care. It was definitely worth it to know that Jessica's engagement ring was waiting for him in Mr. Henry's safe.