Pennies from heaven

The more she lived, the more institutions disappointed her. Which was nothing her dad hadn't warned about. Living a clean life is exponentially related to the monetary opportunities life throws at you. Wendell did remarkably well considering. He was clean, good. Innocent. So Cam pulled all the strings with the trust board she could. And for every string she pulled, she'd come up with a hand full of nothing. So she dipped the only place she knew was left- the cookie jar, the piggy bank, the place under the mattress. She'd pulled from her emergency fund. This was indeed an emergency. And sent an anonymous donation.

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This was why Hodgins hadn't wanted people knowing about his family connection- because now, when the going got tough, the tough turned to him. And he was nothing if not discrete about the ugly money stuff. So the donation had been anonymous. He could keep on going out with the young Wendell- who could have, in some alternative universe, been him- and get drunk and meet nice friends because there was no onus between them. Money was only as good as the good it did.

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Her dad was Texan. Texans are overprotective of their young daughters. Ergo, she had struggled and rebelled and fought tooth and nail for her independence. So apart from a few misguided years during her twenties- and hey, what do we know when we're twenty- Angela had lived resolutely within her means, bravely ignoring the Pearly Gates Trust Fund. And she was so proud of that feat. But this was Wendell and she was a sucker for the vulnerable type. So she swallowed her pride and wrote the check. Wasn't everyone saying on the news that money should be invested, that under the current economic climate, banking was not a money wise solution? She'd invest it then. Wendell was a good investment.

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What would Booth do- if he had the money, that is? He'd help Mr Bray. No second thoughts. And he'd do it discretely, so that no favors were owed. Brennan wasn't good at dealing with gratitude. Besides, how could she lose a single one more? Hadn't Zach been enough of a loss, enough of a heart ache? She'd learned her lesson-she would care for her own. And it was no small thing that Wendell was the one that most resembled Booth- in his heart, in his concerns, even in his incipient alpha male tendencies. And Booth really liked him. Respected him. So she had her accountant transfer the money. Wendell was staying home.

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He'd had his miracle- when he'd won the first scholarship. So he should be grateful and just move on. But when time came to say good bye, it took all he had. Families came in all sorts of guises and this was the one he'd chosen. This wasn't just his future that he was going to miss. He was going to miss them. More than he could tell them now. So when he got his second miracle he was more grateful than ever because he knew where it was coming from. But he was far more grateful to Dr Brennan for her clear orders. Do. And doing was all he could get through right now.