BOOTH AND AUBREY

"Uncle James, you didn't read that correctly." Aubrey rolled his eyes and smiled as Christine had yet again corrected him as he read to her and Hank from one of their mother's non-fiction books.

"Sorry again Christine. Is there any more of those cheese crackers left?"

Hank laughed, "no! You ate them!"

The front door suddenly opened with a bang, before Christine or Hank could even shout daddy, Booth smiled as much as he could and pointed to the hallway, "Hank and Christine, Daddy will come say hi in a minute, right now, I need you two to go to your rooms so I can talk to Uncle James in private."

Hank and Christine hurried to their rooms, laughing and bumping into each other as they did so, "Booth, you seem extra…you. What's up?"

Booth walked up to his friend, "what's up is that you are a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of Jeffrey Hodgins."

"What?"

Booth pointed a finger at him, "here's what I know Aubrey. Three men, two Caucasians and a Black man abducted Jeffrey Hodgins and struggled with him by a bank a mile from the facility where he lived. Two of those men were agents, seen exiting the Hoover building, with you, on the night of the abduction."

"Wait, what?" Aubrey sat down on a stool in the kitchen, "Booth…"

"I need answers now Aubrey, I trust you, but I need the truth and I need it now."

Aubrey looked around the room as if someone might hear him, "I am on special assignment. There is a small faction in the bureau that has started to act suspicious and have been suspected of similar crimes. My assignment is to pretend to have other cases, but to dedicate my time and efforts to inserting myself into this faction and reporting all activities. That night, I left with agents Driscoll and Bingham, another agent assigned to bringing them down had alerted me they were up to something, I tried to get in on it, but they dropped me off after a few beers and said they were heading home."

Booth stood still, his eyes still intensely focused on his friend and colleague, "I hope this is the truth. I trust you, but when you see things with your own eyes."

Aubrey nodded, "I get it, it's the same shit we went through with Zack Addy all over again. Look, the other Caucasian agent, I'm pretty sure is Agent Linn."

"Michelle Linn?"

"Yeah, she's pretty tight with those two and is suspected to be the de facto leader of the group."

Booth rubbed his head, the weight of the day and the fact that his own fellow agents could have done this terrible crime were almost too much to take, "what do you know about her?"

Aubrey shrugged, "not much, honestly. Only Agent Su, the other agent assigned to it and Deputy Director Atkinson, and myself know she might be involved. Atkinson doesn't know much about her, she came from the NSA and a lot of her files are redacted, we've been trying to find out more."

"That figures, I knew her when she was in the NSA, she was investigating Hodgins for clearance to work on government cases, right after I started working with Bones and the squints. She would know everything about him. It wasn't a normal investigation, I was the only one outside of the NSA to know she was investigating his activities for clearance."

"Okay, that's not good."

"No, in the end, I nearly got her fired for her methods and attitude. What do we do now? You're supposed to insert yourself in their world but there is no way she would trust you, she knows you are friends with me, and she knows I am friends with him."

"I have to alert Deputy Director Atkinson…"

Booth held up a hand, "no, I don't trust him. There is no way in hell that the deputy director of the FBI doesn't know about his own agents, no way, it doesn't matter who she worked for before. He gets you and Su involved, you trust him because you don't trust her, so he gets full reports of all activity, making it easy for him to run things…"

Aubrey stood up, both hands on his head trying to make sense of everything, "Booth, you really think the Deputy Director could be running this?"

"I've seen it before. The Ghost Killer, that guy owned half of D.C. Right now, we can't trust anyone out of our circle."

"You trust Hodgins more than the deputy director? He's a known conspiracy theorist…"

"He's also saved both of our lives, he stepped up and took care of his brother on his own even though he barely knew him at a time in his life when his fortune was stolen from him. He doesn't know I know this, but Angela was able to track it down, you know, his fortune, four point six million dollars."

Aubrey coughed a little, "that's a lot of money."

Booth nodded, "yeah, but he didn't want it, he wanted to be his own man, he made her donate it to charities that help cancer patients and finding a cure."

"Yeah, but that doesn't…."

"It shows who he is and who he isn't. He could have blown the door wide open on the NSA after the case with the Patriot, he found the thumb drive, but he chose to take the high road and let me choose what to do with it."

"I didn't know…"

Booth shook his head, "you shouldn't have to, the squints are the ones we should know we can trust, they use science to guide them, not ego, which we know is not the case with leaders. We trust no one in the bureau, we handle this our way, with the help of the squints."

Aubrey nodded, "I need a drink."

BONES, ANGELA, and HODGINS

"Dr. Hodgins, can you swab for particulates now in the fractures to the larynx, I'm done examining it."

Hodgins took a deep breath as he looked at what was now just the bones of his brother. Close or not, those bones were those of his closest relative, his own flesh and blood. Genetically speaking, no one would ever be closer to him than Jeffrey. "Yeah, of course."

The sound of beeping startled each of them as they looked and saw Angela entering the platform, "Babe, are you okay to do this?"

Bones answered first, "Angela, Dr. Hodgins is professional and always does excellent work."

"Brennan, I know, but this is his brother. This isn't a normal examination, despite the fact that they weren't what we would consider close, I know he loves his brother, as much as he loves the rest of his family, which is a lot."

Hodgins reached out and squeezed her hand, "Angie, it's okay. It sucks, for sure, but I can do this. This is how I can help him now and to keep the surviving members of my family safe."

Angela sat on his lap, this was their way of having an intimate moment despite the difficulties of hugging and embracing with Hodgins being confined to a wheelchair. "I'm here for you, don't forget that."

Hodgins kissed her, then sighed, "believe me, I won't. The last time I forgot that I almost sabotaged everything good in my life."

Bones tilted her head, "Dr. Hodgins, your behavior was aggressive in nature and was out of anger, not a desire to ruin your life."

Angela rolled her eyes and smiled at her husband, "honey, it's a complicated psychological issue you might not understand."

"Actually, I understand all psychology, it is a soft science and easy to understand, I simply don't believe in much of it."

Hodgins shook his head, "Got it Dr. B, my point was that I love Angie and I'm doing the best I can."

"That's the best anyone can do." The three of them turned around to see Dr. Clark Edison swiping his card and walking onto the platform. "I came as soon as Dr. Brennan contacted me, I'm sorry for your loss Dr. Hodgins."

"Thanks Clark, that means a lot coming from the king of lab professionalism."

"Hey, I've gotten better." He smiled and then looked at the bones before him, "Dr. Brennan, did you notice the slight discoloration of the scalene tubercle?"

Bones tilted her head to the side as she closely examined the rib in question, "very good Dr. Edison, I had not noticed that, yet. This would indicate further pain inflicted on the victim perimortem, I would postulate that this was done to try and control him after he struggled against them."

Hodgins closed his eyes, "Jeffrey fought against them?"

"Yes, Booth reminded me that Jeffrey could be violent in his outbursts, and three men trying to take him against his will from the comfort of his home and routine would have caused a terrible reaction where his rage would be very difficult to control, and Booth thinks that Jeffrey caused them considerable harm as well."

"I sure as hell hope so. I hate this shit so much, my parents caused him pain by locking him up and not letting family see him, they caused me pain by doing the same thing, this may be the only time Jeffrey caused someone true pain."

"Where's Booth?" Angela asked as she was typing on her tablet.

Hodgins looked at Bones who made a face before speaking, "he went to talk to agent Aubrey. He was with the assailants on the night of the attack?"

"What now?" Clark asked, raising his head from the bones as he spoke. "He's on our side, right?."

"I still believe that, there will be a reason." Hodgins said, taking the hand of his shocked wife.

"He was acting on orders," Booth entered the large room, everyone noticed immediately how fatigued he appeared. "Something isn't right, we trust no one but squints, Aubrey, and myself. No one else gets any information."

Hodgins squinted his eyes, "something tells me I don't want to hear this."

"Bug Boy, you're not wrong. I think a deputy director might be involved, but we know agents are, for sure. I'm sorry for getting huffy before."

Hodgins waved a dismissive hand, "hey, I've been a suspect and I hate it every time. It happens, we hate to be accused or have our friends and colleagues accused. I've been up and down and down and up with accusations against Zach, believing them, fighting them, it happens."

"Where is Dr. Addy right now?" Clark asked as he was examining the patelas.

"He's working for a think tank in California right now, it's run by a reputable psychologist and he is surrounded by people who are scientific in nature, like himself, he's quite happy from what I hear."

"Bones is right, I have a friend who checks in on him now and then, he's doing great."

Hodgins laughed softly, "I wish the little guy was here right now."

"I don't see why, I think Dr. Edison and myself are doing a wonderful job." Bones replied without looking up from her examination.

"Honey, again, I think he was talking in terms of having him here for support, not a slight against you and Clark." Angela shook her head and patted Bones on the shoulder.

Clark nodded, "I'm good, I understood."

Angela turned to face Booth, "Aubrey is clean then? I mean, I trust him, but we've seen way too much betrayal to never question things."

"I agree, but he's clean, I think I scared him, he was at our house watching our kids and I'm asking him if he was in on a plot against one of our own. Everyone, I mean everyone one needs to be careful, the agent who we believe is leading this little thing, whatever it is, she worked for the NSA and is not to be trusted and is capable of terrible things, as we've already witnessed. Aubrey was asked to infiltrate and report, but it could go way higher than a few rogue agents, as depressing as that may sound."

Hodgins rolled back from where he was working and surveyed the area, "hey, thank you to everyone for coming out today, I appreciate it, a lot."

Everyone replied with various phrases, all letting him know they were with him and glad to help out. Hodgins then excused himself to go to his office run the sample his took. Booth waited until everyone was back to work and discretely walked to Hodgins' office.

"Hodgins, are you okay?" Booth had closed the door and proceeded to sit down in a chair by the door.

"Booth, yeah, of course, I mean, as well as I can be."

"I just told you a former NSA agent was involved and three current FBI agents, I expected more, not that your current reaction is bad."

"Look man, I hate it, but not trusting people, outside of our group, that's not old, having the support of our group, you and Aubrey, Dr. B, these are my people, that's everything." Hodgins wheeled around in his chair, lightly hitting the chair, "this damn thing has taught me a thing or two Booth, as much as I hate to admit it. I had to learn that the only thing I have control of, and I mean the only thing, is me. When I was first paralyzed, I did my best to push away Angela and Michael Vincent, and my family is everything to me. All I can do now is work my ass off to prove their part in it and leave the rest to you."

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that, but I should have. You are a squint, in other words a genius, but good for you. I'm doing all I can."

Hodgins wheeled himself directly in front of him, "Booth, I know, believe me, I do."

Booth shook his head, "you're not making me feel very good about myself, when the shoe's been on the other foot, I've gone crazy."

"Man, part of me wants to, believe me, but then I remember all the shit that happened when I got paralyzed, it nearly ruined my life and all because what was happening wasn't what I wanted. It sucked, a lot, but me being crazed and angry hurt the few people on my side and didn't do anything to punish those responsible."

Booth put his hand over his mouth as he took a second to think, "whatever is making you this way, I need to learn it. It's a lot better than turning to gambling or risking my life to get justice."

"It's way easier said than done, believe me. After you left, I was so fucking angry. I felt like I was being punished all over again, there was so much non-wheelchair me could do, then Angela talked to me, and cried, which does me in, but she reminded me I'm not alone and all I have to live for. We can't let what we lose control us, I did well when I lost my fortune, because I never thought it defined me, but when I lost my legs…" Hodgins took a deep breath to keep his emotions under control, "that was terrifying because what I do, the mental, the physical, that was what I thought defined me, and to lose it, I couldn't face it. It took time and driving Angie to the brink to see that everything that defined me and made me happy was still in my life, and this time, I have Jefferson as well, it was easier to not freak out because I already know where that leads."

Booth stood up, "Hodgins, I never thought I'd say this, but you're better at this than I am, and probably a better person."

Hodgins quickly stopped him, "no man, you're wrong. It has nothing to do with how good a person you are, it's just how quickly you have to realize what's truly important. It's easy to lose sight of, but as I also learned, it's easy to lose as well."

"Well, keep me updated, I need to meet up with Agent Michaels and decide what to tell her and how much I trust her."

ANGELA and HODGINS

An hour had passed since Booth left his office and Hodgins was going over all particulates and trying to make sense out of what the results meant. He was staring at the mass spectrometer when Angela slipped in his office and locked the door behind her.

"Hodgins, are you okay?"

He shook his head quickly to snap himself back to reality, "yeah, sorry, just trying to figure out what these results mean. There's something there, but I haven't figured it out yet."

She walked up behind him and rubbed his shoulders, firmly, the way he liked it, "I can tell by your little moan that this feels good and by the way, you're super tense."

"This does feel amazing, but I'm good. Maybe better than I should be."

"I was worried, ya'know, with you being shut up in here for so long."

Hodgins craned his neck back to look up at her, "sorry, I was just in a stupor about the results. The soil isn't from around here, but I don't know if that tells me anything relevant about the case or the people, since we already know who they are."

"You're amazing."

"Why, just because I'm not freaking out? I don't know if that qualifies as amazing Angie."

"You know I've forgiven you, right?"

"What?" He felt confused now.

"I know I was teary and begging you not to keep everything in, but sometimes I feel like you're still overcompensating for what happened between us after you got paralyzed."

"I don't know that I'd call it overcompensating, but I'm very aware of how close I was to losing everything."

Angela sat on his lap, her hands running freely through the curls in his hair, her lips finding his, both moving slowly, intensely. Angela pulled away slowly, smiling.

Hodgins grinned slightly, the he squinted at her, "why are you smiling so much?"

Angela surveyed the office to make sure it was closed up tightly, "I was just wondering if your wheelchair is up to a repeat of two nights ago?"

Hodgins laughed, "that was the first time we did any damage to the chair in a long time, but I reinforced it again. Michael Vincent helped, he just thinks I've been trying to take it down some stairs and it needed fixing."

Angela stood up and leaned down to help Hodgins get his pants off, he sighed, "this is the part I hate, I feel useless."

Angela gave a final tug and then proceeded to begin undressing herself, "listen, you could do it, but this is quicker and gives us more time for the good parts."

He smiled at her, "part of me still wonders how a woman like you can put up with an angry cripple."

Angela's face immediately lost her smile, her eyes reflecting an anger inside, "don't ever say that. Your legs don't work, but you are not a cripple, and as for the angry part, that's old news, it's part of why I fell in love with you, I just had to look past the angry bluster."

Angela then sat on his lap as one of his hands provided attention to one of her breasts while his other hand wandered down and immediately solicited a happy response. "I wouldn't ever call anyone who knows their way around my body like you do a cripple."

Hodgins didn't respond as he was concentrating, which was nearly undone when his wife began to slowly grind on him. They continued like this for a few minutes with the only sounds in the office which had once belonged to Cam being the occasional grunts and groans of pleasure escaping from them. Angela then maneuvered herself so Hodgins could enter her, she braced herself using his chair and then she raised and lowered herself on him in a constant motion which picked up speed as it continued, ending with each of them doing their best to contain the volume of the approval.

Angela slumped back against Hodgins, his arms still wrapped around her, both of them breathing heavily. "I never imagined how good this would still be after I lost my legs."

Angela reached back and caressed his neck, "I know, but it's still super hot, right?"

Hodgins laughed a little, made difficult because he was still somewhat out of breath, "oh yeah, super hot."

After they had caught their breath, Angela quickly helped Hodgins get dressed, then dress herself and she unlocked the door and sat on the couch, working on her touchpad, so that if anyone entered, they would assume they had been working the entire time. A mere five minutes after she had sat down, Bones entered the office after a light tapping on the door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Angela stifled a smile as best she could, "of course not sweetie, what's up?"

"Dr. Hodgins, what were the particulates you tested?"

Hodgins sighed, "it was dirt, heavy in carbon, which didn't make sense, it didn't match the carbon rich soil found by mines, it was different. I've been trying to figure it out."

"What if the carbon was produced not by nature, like that by a mine, but one created by man, say by a plant that recycles and disposes of the carbon copies used by the FBI?

Hodgins snapped his fingers, "that's good," he started typing furiously, "that matches, and there is only one place on the east coast that is cleared to do that, and it's in DC. Nice job Dr. B."

"Thank you Dr. Hodgins, I noticed more of these particulates, though very finite and undiscernible by the naked eye, they seemed different from normal soil particulates."

AUBREY and BOOTH

"Why are we watching a recycling plant? Are we afraid the killers are going to do away with a large amount of paperwork?"

Booth glanced at his friend and sometimes partner, "No Aubrey, I think they, whoever they are, might use a room at the plant to meet and do whatever it is they do. It wouldn't seem that weird for agents or a deputy director to be there, and employees who work at the plant sign a non-disclosure agreement, they cannot talk about anything they see. The workers here, if they see anything weird, they are conditioned to ignore and forget it."

Aubrey was about to reply with a snide remark when he had to blink to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. "Booth, those squints did our job again, look who's walking into the back of the plant together."

Booth raised his binoculars to his eyes, "I hate when I'm right sometimes. What the hell could the deputy director of the FBI be cooking up with the guys? What do they want from Hodgins?"

Aubrey stared at the scene in front of them for a minute before slowly turning to face Booth, "okay, this might sound crazy, but what if they know, or he knows, what you know?"

Booth squinted, "That does sound crazy, but mainly because you used a bunch of words to say something that's probably simple."

Aubrey shook his head, "I mean, what if Director Atkinson found out or suspected that Hodgins found the thumbdrive with the findings of the patriot? Linn was NSA, it's not too far a leap to make."

Booth was silent with fear and his thoughts of the lengths that government agencies would go to have such information on their side. "We need to talk to Hodgins after this."

Aubrey shrugged, "why not now? We can't know what's going on in there."

Booth gave a small grin and pulled out his phone, he pressed a button and they had a visual of the deputy director with the three agents who killed Jeffrey Hodgins. As soon as I figured that out, I looked at the employees here, turns out, I had a friend on the inside. He placed everything for me."

"You remember Sully, Bones' ex, my old friend and partner?"

"The sandwich guy?"

"Not anymore, he lost his shirt in that place and they wouldn't reinstate him as an agent because of his leaving so abruptly, they questioned his stability and mental state some, but they needed someone with a solid background to help run this place. He didn't say anything because he was embarrassed, but it's a blessing for us, be sure of that. Angela has a feed and is recording everything, let's go talk to Hodgins now."