After leaving his new house, Aubrey called Jessica, who'd spent her morning working on her dissertation. Happy for the interruption, the redhead quickly accepted her best friend's invite to lunch at the diner. Afterwards, the couple got into the agent's SUV for the surprise Aubrey had hinted at throughout their meal.

"Aubrey, are you going to give me a hint about this surprise?", Jessica said as they traveled down Connecticut Avenue.

The agent grinned as he looked over to his passenger. "Nope."

Jessica looked at the houses in the area and recognized where they were. "Why are we driving through Cleveland Park?"

"You'll see soon enough…", Aubrey said with a playful smirk.

"No fair! You're a brat, James Aubrey.", the redhead said with a pout.

Aubrey smirked again. "Yeah, but you still adore me."

"We'll see about that, Superman.", Jessica said as she continued to watch from the window. After Aubrey passed an elementary school, the redhead realized where they were. "Hey, this was Dr. B and Booth's old neighborhood before…you know…"

"Yeah…", Aubrey said as a knot formed in his stomach.

"Between you and me, if what happened at their house didn't happen…you may not be here right now."

"I don't know about that, Jess.", the agent said, reluctant to think about what she was hinting at.

"James…you transferred from New York to DC almost two months after Booth went to prison. If it wasn't for what happened, you could still be at that field office."

"Well, I'm not going to think about that, Jessica.", Aubrey snapped. "I don't want to think about how Booth and Dr. B almost being murdered could have benefited me."

Jessica could see she'd hit a sore spot with him. "I'm sorry, Superman."

They drove in silence for the next few minutes until it became deafening. Aubrey looked over to the anthropologist and saw her looking out the window.

"Jess, I'm sorry I snapped at you. Thinking that I may have benefited from something like that...I just…"

Jessica turned to Aubrey. "It's okay, Superman. I understand."

The couple smiled before putting their focus back onto the road. When Jessica saw Aubrey pass Elm Street, she suspected where they were going. A few minutes later, she was proven right when they pulled in the driveway of 1297 Janus Street. Stopping at the closed gates, the car was shut off. Getting out of the vehicle, she waited for Aubrey to come around from the driver's side.

"Why are we at Dr. B and Booth's old house? Are you still helping Booth fix up the house for them to sell? Did you leave something here?"

"Yes and no.", Aubrey said as he unlocked the door, his melancholy of a few minutes ago replaced with mischievousness.

"Superman, I don't understand."

Aubrey unlocked the door. "Come inside and you'll find out what's going on."

The couple walked into the open foyer and living room and Jessica saw an old worn couch and a small table with various tools. Next to them were two stools, a mini fridge, a sawhorse, and a couple doors leaning against the wall. Next to the kitchen island was an overflowing trash can.

Moving closer, the redhead peeked into two boxes on the floor and saw several doorknobs that still had to be installed throughout the house. Looking around again, she admired the open kitchen and remodeled home.

"Wow, you and Booth did a great job with the house. It's so beautiful. I love that they used hardwood floors again."

"You think so?", Aubrey said.

"Yeah, Superman.", Jessica said. "Now is it still four bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs with the den, office, two and a half baths, laundry room, and finished basement?"

"Pretty much, but the downstairs bathroom is now a three quarter one because Booth and I installed a shower in there last Saturday afternoon.", the agent said. "So you've been here before all…that happened?"

Jessica turned around with a sad look. "Yeah. Dr. B had a dinner for all the interns shortly after my first case at the Jeffersonian. The next time after that was when we…helped her clean up and moved her into their new house while Booth was in prison."

Aubrey felt a twinge of lingering guilt about the possibility that Booth's legal issues were the reason he got the transfer to the DC field office, but he pushed it aside. "So, do you want to see the upstairs or downstairs first?"

Pausing, Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. "Superman, are Booth and Dr. B cool with us walking around in their house without them here?"

"Yeah, Jessica, they are. In fact, that's my surprise. I'll even give you a hint." Aubrey jiggled a set of keys at his girlfriend. "These are my keys to the house."

The redhead pondered for a moment before it clicked. "You're buying the house?"

"Renting…renting the house.", Aubrey said with his hand up. "My promotion gave me a nice raise, but not that nice. Booth is bringing a lease agreement to work sometime this week, but yes, I'm going to be moving into this house."

"Aubrey! That's so cool!", the redhead said before jumping up into his arms. Suddenly, she realized something. "Wait, you're moving from your apartment? I thought you loved living there."

"Yeah…about that…while this house came at the perfect time, I had to move no matter what."

Jessica was confused. "Why, Superman? Is Mrs. Hall selling your building?"

"No…", Aubrey said, dreading what he was about to tell his girlfriend.

"Then why?", Jessica said before it clicked. "It was Karen, right? What did she do this time?"

The agent cleared his throat. "Well, I had no food in my apartment this morning, so I walked down to that café by my apartment. They make the best sausage—it's homemade, you know, with just a hint of sage..."

Jessica immediately figured out her boyfriend was trying to tell her something that would make her mad. She knew his stammering too well. "Aubrey…"

"Then I had to go to Mr. Leonelli's store. They have that nice thick peppered bacon—"

"Aubrey!", Jessica yelled before crossing her arms and glaring at him impatiently.

The agent took a deep breath. "I got home and saw my door was ajar. I thought there was a burglar, so I waited for a minute before entering because my service weapon was locked in my closet. Then I heard Karen yell at Skinner after she stepped on him or something..."

"How did she get into your apartment?", Jessica said as she eyed him suspiciously. "You didn't give her a key for emergencies, did you?"

"No, of course not.", Aubrey said emphatically. "She came by while I was out and when I didn't answer, she looked outside and saw my SUV. Instead of using some common sense, she got Mrs. Hall all worked up, making her think that I may have cracked my head open in the shower or something. Of course, she let Karen into the apartment to check on me."

"Oh, my God…", Jessica said while shaking her head. "What a flipping Fruit Loop."

Aubrey was glad the redhead wasn't angry at him...yet. "When I confronted the Fruit Loop for breaking into my apartment, she blew me off, essentially saying it was my fault for not returning her phone calls. She then presented me with some nasty ass thing that was supposed to be tuna broccoli casserole, but she put red peppers, stuffed olives, and pepper jack cheese in it. Oh, shit!", Aubrey exclaimed with a look of panic. "It's still on the kitchen counter in my apartment. God, I hope Skinner didn't eat any of it."

"I'm sure Skinner is fine, Aubrey. He's a smart boy.", Jessica said while tapping her foot impatiently. "Please continue."

"Yeah, so she said she made lunch for me today because she 'missed me'", Aubrey said with air quotation marks at the end. "When I said she should've called first, she shot back once again that it was my fault that she had to come over because I hadn't returned her calls this past week. Then she told me that she planned on spending the day with me to make up for all that."

"Really…", Jessica said, quirking an eyebrow at Aubrey before taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, really.", Aubrey said. "I told her I had plans to clean my apartment, but she didn't care. She wasn't even deterred when I mentioned that I was planning to clean my bathroom or Skinner's litter box, because me being domestic is so cute since that's what…couples do."

"I see…", Jessica said, her cheeks turning red as her anger grew. "Go on."

Aubrey nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "I explained once again that we're only friends and just like the other times, I apologized if I'd led her on in any way to make her think otherwise. I was clear about that, and I took all the blame. Thankfully, that's when Booth called and asked me to come over here. When I told her I had to leave, she finally accepted that but left me with that…stuff with instructions to return the dish when I was ready."

Jessica saw the way he wasn't looking at her. "Superman, what aren't you telling me?"

He didn't want to hurt Jessica's feelings because she was sensitive to people thinking she was a flaky girl with no direction. However, he knew she wouldn't let up. Reluctantly, he told her the last bit and saw Jessica's cheeks turn from flushed to pure scarlet before she exploded.

"That crazy bitch has the balls to call me emotionally immature?", Jessica said, clenching her fists at her sides. "She was the one who almost punched me at the lab because I ignored her stupid stories about the alleged constant acrobatic sex you two were having and her request for advice on what kind of fucking panties to wear to make you horny!"

"I know, Jess-", Aubrey said but he was interrupted by the angry redhead.

"This almost forty year old woman is supposed to be an FBI psychologist, but she is a two faced, lying, piece of shit! She's all sweet to my face but she then makes little jabs at things like my childhood at the cooperative, my large family, my body—"

"Whoa!", Aubrey said. "What are you talking about?"

Jessica realized she said too much. "It's nothing, Superman. Just typical Karen and it's really dumb."

Aubrey felt there was a story and he wanted to hear it. "No, I'm not going to forget it. You're supposed to talk to me about everything, remember?"

The redhead saw the concern in his eyes and knew she'd lost. Moving into the living room, she sat on the couch. "Karen would…occasionally make comments that would cut a little deep sometimes, but then be all apologetic later."

Sitting down across from her, he pushed a little bit. "Like what, Jess?"

Jessica felt like such a baby for what she was feeling. As Dr. B would say, it was irrational, but the comments still hurt. "Remember when we spent the night at her place after Dr. Saroyan and Arastoo's wedding?"

"I don't remember much about that evening, but I do remember the morning after and the rest of the day. The worst day of my life.", Aubrey said quietly.

"Well, after we got you into the apartment and settled into bed, we talked for a bit. She asked me how I felt about your promotion. I was honest in that I was a little hurt you didn't ask me to go with you, but at the same time I wasn't sure if I could go anyway because of how my program is set up at American University. I also mentioned that I was feeling a little scared about everything and that I was…pretty upset about you getting trashed after I caught the bouquet."

"Shit…", Aubrey said. "Listen, Jess…"

"I'm not done yet, Superman.", Jessica interrupted. "When it came time for bed, of course, I had nothing to sleep in and was going to just use your shirt. Karen made a point of telling me she didn't think you would want your dress shirt ruined like that so she said she could give me some PJs. She found them in her bedroom and gave them to me, saying that 'this shirt is too small around the girls for me, and I'm too voluptuous for the pants but the outfit was just perfect for a small little thing like you, Jessica. You're so skinny..."

"Where the hell was I?", Aubrey said, infuriated at the perceived insult to his girlfriend.

"Passed out in the guest room, remember?", Jessica said. "Yeah, I really didn't know what to say, because Karen isn't always known for her discretion or tact. It was one of many left handed compliments that she's given me since she returned from Kansas City. I wanted to tell her what she could do with her opinions but she was your friend…"

Aubrey sighed, his guilt palpable as he tried to keep calm, but he wasn't very happy that Karen had been messing with Jessica much longer than he thought. "No, Jessica…she was a colleague with whom I was friendly and someone I talked to after seeing my dad had shown up in town. Why didn't you say anything to me?"

"Because I didn't want to be that girlfriend.", Jessica said. "You know, the sensitive one who goes to her boyfriend every time one of his friends gets all annoying as fuck."

"You should have, Jess."

"Well…you were busy dealing with your dad and helping Booth find Kovacs. You had a full plate."

"Not too full that I couldn't help you.", Aubrey said in a sad tone. "I wouldn't have tolerated anyone talking to you that way and I won't now, Jessica. I'm so sorry I gave the impression that I was too busy to help you."

"You know what upset me most of all?", Jessica asked. "I really thought she was my friend, Aubrey. When she came back from Kansas City, she would ask me out for drinks and want to hang out. One night, I was meeting up with Andie and Daisy, so I invited Karen to join us. They didn't like her right away, saying she was trying to soften me up before stealing you away from me, but I figured they were just being overcautious. I know now that they were right and she was waiting for me to screw up so she could snag you for herself."

"Jess, she can try, but it's not happening, okay?", the agent said as he put his hands on her arms. "She's nice but a little off...okay more than a little off. Remember me telling you about when she asked me out in Booth's office while we were investigation Frank Kwiakowski's murder?"

"Your dad's fixer guy?", Jessica asked. When Aubrey nodded, she continued. "Yeah…"

"I mean, who asks a guy out on a date in front of another person? I accepted because I didn't want humiliate her in front of Booth, but as soon as I could I broke the date. After I told her I was seeing someone, she constantly talked about my father's crimes and embarrassed me at Frank's office while I was interviewing his assistant. After that there was no way I could ever contemplate becoming more than just work friends with her, much less begin a physical relationship with her. That's not my thing. You know that, right?"

"I know Superman. I just need to shake her off.", Jessica said with a smile before standing up and taking his hand. "Come on, show me the rest of the house."

Seeing that Jessica was ready to move on, Aubrey squeezed back. "Okay."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

After showing Jessica around downstairs, Aubrey led her upstairs. Finishing the tour of the bathroom and most of the rooms, she opened a door and saw a set of hardwood stairs in a switchback layout.

"I didn't know you had an attic up here. That's so cool.", Jessica said.

"I thought you had been here before." Aubrey asked as he came behind her.

"Downstairs. Dr. B never showed us the upstairs.", the redhead replied. "Can we check out the attic?"

"Do we have to?", Aubrey said, not looking forward to any creepy surprises.

Jessica took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry...I'll protect you from any killer spiders we encounter."

They shared a smile before Aubrey opened the attic door all the way. Letting Jessica lead, the two went up into the upper space. Both admired the layout and the window view before climbing back down the stairs.

"You know...if you ever buy the place, you could make that a finished room.", the anthropologist said. "It's a great space."

"Yeah it is, but I don't plan on spending much time in there.", the agent said before taking the redhead's hand and leading her to a closed door. "This…is the master bedroom."

"I can't wait to see it.", Jessica said flirtatiously.

Aubrey pushed the door open with a flourish since it didn't have a knob yet. Leading her inside, he smiled as she looked around the large room.

Jessica saw that the walls weren't painted yet but the hardwood floors gleamed. In the middle of the room was a bed with a quilt, sheets, and three pillows laying on top. Curious, she turned to Aubrey.

"Booth kept the bed here to sleep on when he was working late on the house since the couch downstairs is hard on his back."

Jessica walked to the closet and groaned. "You have a walk-in closet? That is so awesome. It's huge..."

"You haven't seen the best part yet.", Aubrey said.

The couple walked to the other side of the bedroom where there was a new door propped up, blocking most of the view in. Moving it aside, Aubrey indicated for Jessica to go on.

"Ladies first."

"Why thank you, kind sir.", Jessica said before entering. "Oh wow…"

The en-suite bathroom was painted a warm hunter green. On her left was a double vanity with a slight oval shape, maple cabinets, a cream colored granite counter, and two metal sinks with copper fixtures. Next to it was a wall separating the vanity from the corner shower. Walking up to it, she saw there was a glass door and her mouth dropped when she saw three different shower heads, a shelf about waist high, and a built in bench.

Jessica looked to her right past the glass partition and saw a corner jet tub surrounded by light brown bricks that easily fit two people.

'Oh…Superman and I can have some fun in here…", the redhead thought before she realized what she was thinking. 'But we're just friends right now…'

Aubrey watched as her porcelain complexion turned an adorable flush and smiled. 'I thought the same thing, Jessica, but we won't be just friends forever.'

"This bathroom is gorgeous, Superman. What do you think of the built in bench and three shower heads?"

Aubrey had a vision of the two of them against the shower wall with him thrusting into a moaning Jessica with her legs around his waist while she held onto one of the heads. Turning red at his thoughts, he smiled. "Definitely better than my shower at my apartment."

The two came back out and Jessica looked around again. She could see a couple of pictures on the wall and there would be a chair in the corner. There would be an armoire and a dresser of cherry wood. The floor would have a colorful area rug as an accent, but the hardwood floors would still be prominent. Admiring the bay window by the bed, she pictured the two of them sitting together one night looking outside after loving each other.

Looking to the left wall, the redhead immediately envisioned two nightstands, one for Aubrey and his stuff on the right side. The left would be for her and her stuff. In between, she pictured a King sized bed with the two of them making love on it before her cheeks burned red. Clearing her throat, she pushed her thoughts aside.

"Aubrey, this house is so cool. What are you doing to do with all this space?"

"Well, one room will be the Star Wars room. Skinner will probably adopt one of the other rooms for his own. I mean, the possibilities are endless, right? Five bedrooms plus a den, office, two and three quarter baths, plus a finished basement. With the rate I'm getting from Booth, plus utilities I will probably pay no more than $2000 a month...pretty much the same as I was paying for my small, rundown apartment."

Aubrey turned back from the redhead and looked around again before. "This is an awesome house to raise a family in."

Jessica felt her stomach churn and thought she would going to break out into a cold sweat. Frustrated at her knee jerk response, she worked to hide it from Aubrey, but it was too late.

"Jess, what's wrong?"

Feeling ashamed at her reaction to what she knew was an innocent remark, Jessica flipped her hand up and tried to change the subject. "Nothing, Aubrey. Hey, I have to head to Dulles to pick up Beau and Daisy soon. Do you want to come? Maybe we can all hit Founding Fathers afterwards?"

The agent remembered the last time he saw that look on her face…the night in front of the subway. Quickly, he grabbed her arm. "Jess, stop for a second."

"Aubrey, I promised Daisy I would be there on time." Turning away, she tried to leave, but he grabbed her hand.

"Not until you answer me.", Aubrey said. "Did I say the wrong thing? I meant what I said about this being the perfect house for a family but I wasn't talking about right this instant."

"James…", Jessica said weakly.

"Jessica! I saw your face. I saw it…I remember it. Do you know how many times I go back to that night? How many times I thought about it after it happened? I thought I screwed up everything…and I'm wondering if I did it again."

Jessica didn't think before she grabbed Aubrey and kissed him. He responded back and they got caught up in the moment. Before they knew it, they were on that bed with their hands all over each other.

Aubrey made quick work of getting Jessica's t-shirt off and was rewarded to see the redhead's mounds encased in a rich red silk, setting off her ivory skin. In awe, his lips traveled all over the uncovered parts of her breasts to her moans.

Jessica enjoyed his amorous attentions before yanking the agent's sweatshirt off him. She groaned as she felt his muscular chest and abdomen against hers before her hands continued to roam down his back. She shivered as she felt Aubrey's hand move down and open her pants. His fingers had just moved inside when he suddenly stopped.

"James…what's wrong?"

Aubrey's head was in the crook of her neck and he was panting. "We can't do this…not now."

"I'm still on the Pill.", Jessica said, thinking he was worried about birth control.

"I know, but that's not why.", the agent said reluctantly before lifting his head up and gently caressing Jessica from her breast down her abdomen. "More than anything, I want to strip you naked so we can screw each other senseless. But…"

Jessica knew what he was saying and she needed to be honest as well. "I'm not ready for a relationship either…but I care about you...so much..."

Aubrey wanted to hear the words, but knew she wasn't ready yet. "I care about you too, so much. But we can't make love…"

"Until we're both ready to take a chance…and we're not.", Jessica said tearfully as she combed the silver tips at Aubrey's left temple. "But we will be…soon..."

Heartened at Jessica's confidence of their path, Aubrey gently caressed her face. "And when we are…don't make any plans."

Both snickered before the two of them shook in laughter. For either of them, there was no one else who they could laugh with as much as they did with each other. After a few minutes, they calmed down and the lanky man got off his friend. He shuddered when he took in Jessica wearing only a bra and a hint of matching red panties behind her opened jeans.

"Jess, you...you...need to get dressed. If I keep looking at you like that, I will have no willpower left and Daisy and Beau will have to find their own way home."

Jessica chuckled before she found his sweatshirt thrown next to her. Grabbing it, she smiled as she tossed it at Aubrey's head. "Same goes for you, Mister.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Two hours later, Aubrey and Jessica were joined by the newlyweds at Founding Fathers'. As always, the table was covered by appetizers and two empty pitchers of beer. The first couple was listening as the second described their honeymoon.

"It was so beautiful there, Jessica.", Daisy said. "We spent a couple days on Plage du Taharuu and enjoyed the black sand."

"I met some Redskins fans there.", Beau chuckled as he sipped his beer. "It's kinda fun finding fans in the far corners of the world."

"We sampled some wonderful different foods in Papeete, Aubrey.", Daisy said. "Our resort hosted a Polynesian Night where they threw a Hima'a on."

"Oh, I heard of those…" Aubrey said as his mouth watered. "It's fish, pig, shrimp, lobster, bananas and other stuff wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in a hole in the ground with hot rocks."

"Aubrey, you're drooling…", Jessica said with a snicker.

"I know, Jess…", the agent replied before eating the last meatball slider.

"I saw Dan Marino and his wife when we went to Bora Bora.", Beau said. "His wife and my Daisy became fast friends."

"We hung out once after we met.", Daisy said quickly before refocusing. "We took an island tour and saw the most beautiful waterfalls. It was so romantic."

"I have the best wife.", Beau said as he put his arm around the anthropologist. "She was so understanding when I had to call my coach and study plays since I was off for two games."

Aubrey's eyes got large at the linebacker's last response. He wasn't going to judge but if he were on a honeymoon, calling work and studying would have been the last thing on his mind. Unless it was Jessica's body he was studying, of course.

"Beau made up for it by spoiling me rotten. The shopping was wonderful.", Daisy gushed.

Aubrey and Jessica moved back and forth between the couple before looking at each other. Keeping their opinions to themselves, they turn their attention back to Daisy and Beau.

"Sounds like you had a very…interesting honeymoon, guys.", Aubrey said.

"We had an awesome honeymoon.", the player said before his phone buzzed. Seeing who it was, he turned to Daisy. "It's our defensive coordinator, Babe. I have to take this. Be right back…hey Joe, what's up?"

The three watched Beau walk out of the bar before Daisy turned to her friends. "Beau says the team is a bit of turmoil right now."

"Yeah, that's understandable.", Jessica said. "Aubrey has to deal with that sometimes in his job."

"I do?", Aubrey said, before being reminded by the slightly annoyed look on the redhead's face. He quickly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I do. I'm a Special Agent in Charge, so my time is not my own."

"Sometimes Beau needs to tell them no.", Daisy replied before smiling again. "Never mind about that. I got both of you something but I had to mail them home, but you'll have them soon."

"You didn't have to do that, Daisy.", Aubrey said.

"Yes I did. Jessica was my maid of honor and you're...important to her and part of our family, Aubrey.", Daisy said before looking at the time. "Oh goodness, it's almost 8:00. We need to pick up Lance from my in law's house before heading back to our condo."

"Why don't you crash in Great Falls tonight, Daisy?", Jessica asked. "You guys are probably exhausted with the jet lag."

"I have to work tomorrow.", the newlywed responded. "Identifying remains in a never ending job as you know, Jessica."

"Ouch.", Aubrey replied. "The...NFL didn't want to give you an extra day to allow their lead anthropologist to recuperate?"

"I can't because I have a very important job and my presence is needed. Besides that, my in-laws will need to accept that Beau and I have a home and that's where we are going to go with my son tonight."

Aubrey and Jessica didn't miss the bite in Daisy's voice, but wisely kept their observations to themselves.

"If you will excuse me, I need to get my husband off the phone."

When the diminutive woman was out of earshot, Aubrey turned to Jessica. "So their honeymoon sounded...fun."

"Yeah...shopping, romance, and football. A great combo.", the redhead responded.

"Um, you know Beau better than I do, Jess but is it me or did he seem to have a one track mind?"

"You mean football, football, and more football?", Jessica said as she sipped her beer. "He does. He's a good guy, Aubrey, but…"

The agent saw Jessica had something to say. "What, Jess? It's just us."

"Between you and me…I think Daisy made a mistake. Andie thinks so, too."

"Why?", Aubrey questioned. "She seems happy…"

"Oliver, while sometimes a douchebag, obviously has feelings for Daisy. To be honest, they have feelings for each other, but instead of just saying so, each waited for the other to speak up."

"Sounds familiar.", Aubrey said with a smile.

Jessica returned the smile before sipping her beer. "Most of all, she wanted a knight in shining armor to love and worship her. Unfortunately, Oliver Wells is no shining knight, just a pain who challenged her constantly, but she always gave as good as she got. He's the opposite of what kind of man Daisy planned on marrying."

"Jess, real life is no fairy tale."

"I know that, Superman, but...real life hasn't been good to Daisy.", Jessica said, pondering her words without breaking a confidence. "She comes from a large family like I do, but she's estranged from most of them. She and Sweets were on and off, and after knocking her up, they were on again, hopefully for good. They were planning a future together when he died and she was left a single mother with no family except her colleagues at the Jeffersonian. So when Beau asked her out, he reminded her of that fairy tale life she'd always dreamed about. She bragged to us about how Beau was such a gentlemen on their dates...always brought flowers...deferred to her on things..."

"Okay, I get it…", Aubrey said before taking a drink of his beer. "She thought Beau was the one, right?"

"They had only dated for a few weeks before Beau suggested that they go to Tahiti. Marriage never came up until his parents pushed the issue and they got Daisy all worked up to the point that she was afraid Lance would be abandoned if something happened while they were gone. Andie and I think she got swept up in the idea of marrying Prince Charming and living that fairy tale."

"Did you two tell her this?", Aubrey asked.

"We tried talking to her about it before the wedding, but she was determined to get married. Andie said there was only so much we could do if she wouldn't listen, so we let it go."

Aubrey played with his glass. "I'm going to say something but you don't have to confirm or deny if it will break a confidence."

"What do you want to know, Aubrey?"

Aubrey thought about how he wanted to lay out his question until he decided to just ask. "Do you think subconsciously Daisy married Beau to force that asshat's hand?"

Jessica remembered the conversation she had with Daisy the night before her wedding. "I don't think...well...I just don't know...I hope not. I know she loves Beau, Superman-"

Aubrey saw the couple walk in. "They're coming back."

Quickly the couple grabbed their beers and finished them off as Beau and Daisy came back to the table.

"If you don't mind taking us to my folks' place, it would be appreciated so we can get Lance home.", Beau asked.

"Sure. Let's just settle up the bill.", Aubrey said.

"Appreciate you taking us out, Aubrey.", Beau said. "We maxed out the credit card on our trip. You know how it goes, right, Buddy? I just hate to tell Daisy 'no' about anything. After all, as a football star, I'm expected to maintain a certain lifestyle."

"Beau…", Daisy groaned, mortified by her husband's request.

"Yeah, I get it." That hadn't been Aubrey's plan, especially since Beau had ordered as much food as he did. However, he didn't want to look like an asshole, so he decided he should just take care of it quietly. "No worries."

Jessica watched Aubrey take out his Visa card before putting it on the receipt and her eyes got large when she saw the total. At the subtle shaking of her friend's head, the redhead didn't say anything.

"We'll pay you back when we help you move, Aubrey. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great, actually.", Aubrey said. "I'm going to bring some small things to the house this week a little at a time, but having a big guy around for the big stuff would be helpful."

"As long as I'm not needed at the FedEx, I'm free on Saturday.", Beau said. "Ready, Babe?"

Daisy's spine was stiffened as she was still embarrassed by her husband pushing the bill onto Aubrey. "Yep."

The four grabbed their coats and walked out of the Founding Fathers. When Daisy and Beau weren't looking, Jessica took Aubrey's hand until they reached the SUV.

Forty-five minutes later, Aubrey walked into his apartment and turned on the light. When Skinner came to the door meowing, he felt bad and hurried through the open part to his kitchen. Setting down the leftovers and food he ordered for lunch tomorrow, he fed his cat, who attacked his food with gusto.

"Sorry, Buddy…out with Aunt Jessica and friends."

Turning back he saw the foil from the casserole torn at a corner. Flicking on the stove light, he looked and saw where the cat had gotten into it. When he took a step, he felt something squishy. Looking down he saw where he stepped in a small pile of cat vomit.

"Yeah, Skinner, I don't blame you either for puking this up. Looks...just wrong."

A thought came to him, so he took his phone out of his pocket. Pulling back the foil in its entirety, he took a picture of the casserole and sent it with a text to his favorite squintern.

Skinner found the stuff but yak'd it up. Happy now I fed him.

Grabbing a paper towel, he cleaned up the mess on the floor. As he was tossing the towel into the garbage, he heard his phone buzz. Reading the message, he smiled.

Glad Skinner survived. That looks disgusting. Look'd up recipe based on what u said but not found. K made it special just 4 u. Lucky man.

"Ugh, pizza and casserole do not mix.", Aubrey said.

The lanky man put his food away and grabbed a beer from the fridge before going into the living room where he sat down. Mrs. Hall didn't return his call but he knew that she spent most Sundays with her daughter in Baltimore and sometimes spent the night. Occasionally, it was vice versa depending on her child's busy schedule.

His landlady was a kindly old woman whom he helped with small tasks like picking up groceries for her when he was out. When one of her now former tenants from next door was dodging her six months ago when rent was due, he accompanied her and he used the fact that he was technically a lawyer as well as an FBI Agent to put the woman on notice not to be late again.

He hated to tell Mrs. Hall he wasn't renewing her lease, but he felt that he had no other option. He couldn't have Karen, or anyone else talk themselves into his apartment when he wasn't home. What if the next time he had Jessica or even one of the Mini-Booths or Michael Vincent with him? He couldn't take that chance.

Looking around, he sighed. He was going to miss this place. Mr. Leonelli down the street was fun to talk to as he was from New York City, too. More than once, he'd go in and they would chat about old hangouts in the Big Apple. He also would bring home one of his pastramis on rye from the grocer's deli department and it tasted just like the ones he used to have at the deli near his old high school.

Skinner picked that moment to jump on the agent's lap. After curling up on his legs, Aubrey scratched him behind the ears and the animal purred. His new house would give his cat plenty to explore and more windows to look out besides the one in the living room.

The Mighty Hut would also give him and Jessica a lot of room to explore, too. He tingled at the thought of them making love in every room of that large house. Even in the attic…after a thorough cleaning. Being interrupted by a crawly, scary spider while naked with his gorgeous redhead underneath him would really suck.

If what happened to them earlier was any indicator, hopefully it would be sooner than later. It had been too long since he had touched her like that and it felt amazing today.

But they couldn't rush it either. He was honest when he said he wasn't ready for a relationship yet. He knew he'd overreacted when he saw her reaction to his remark about a family in that house. She seemed to know it was knee jerk, too, but those old feelings came back in a rush.

His head knew she wouldn't just take off on him…that it was okay to make a mistake. His heart, though, was still afraid of being left behind. He trusted her to be faithful and in the honesty of her feelings, but he was ashamed of still being afraid of letting his guard down sometimes.

He couldn't expect Jessica to fully embrace a life with him if he couldn't do the same. However, they would get there. He had faith and his vivid imagination in regards to her beautiful body.

Which brought him back to what she said earlier about Karen's snide remarks. Yes, the profiler maybe had what some men considered the ideal, but he preferred Jessica's perfectly proportioned curves, lithe figure, and modest breasts. The fact the profiler had needled Jessica about something she was insecure about pissed him off royally. He wanted to tell that weirdo nut job off, but the redhead didn't want him to poke the dragon, so he would let her handle it.

But if Karen pulled anything when he was around…that would be a different story.

Seeing it was almost midnight, Aubrey quickly finished his beer. After jostling his cat up, much to Skinner's annoyance, he rinsed out the beer bottle before dumping the offensive casserole in the trash. Putting the pan to soak in the sink, he shut out the lights and went to bed.

Jessica was comfortably ensconced on her bed finalizing her lesson plan for Dr. B's Thursday class. Her mentor and Curly were presenting the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab's proposed 2017 budget to the governing board and Dr. B had elected not to cancel the session. It would be her first time instructing a class alone since becoming one of the forensic anthropologist's teaching assistants. It was a big responsibility that she didn't give to just any of her teaching assistants. She was honored that Dr. B entrusted her to do this, but at the same time she was so nervous and didn't want to fail her mentor.

While most professors let their TAs do stuff like that all the time, in all of her years of teaching, the forensic anthropologist had only chosen a select few to do so without her there. One of the things Jessica admired most about Dr. B was her belief that since her students paid to learn from her, she felt it was her obligation to be there for her students.

Looking over the topic she planned to go over in class, she realized it was as good as it was going to get. After she saved it to her flash drive and the cloud, she attached it to the email she'd prepared for the forensic anthropologist. Taking a deep breath, she sent it. Looking at the clock, she saw it was after eleven. Turning off her laptop, she decided to take a shower so she could get a little extra sleep because she had to be up before 6:00 in the morning.

Tomorrow Andie was picking her up on her way to work and dropping her off at the train station so she could attend an afternoon lecture at Virginia Commonwealth University on bone calcification. She would then spend the night with her brother Aaron's family who lived nearby and take the train back to DC Tuesday morning, when Aubrey would pick her up.

Getting in the warm water, she let her imagination wander as she remembered earlier today. She didn't mean for them to almost have sex. However, when she pressed her mouth against his warm lips, all reason flew out the window.

Aubrey's kisses were always good, and the way his lips felt when he loved on her breasts was always wonderful, but today it was amazing. While his intensity did scare her early on, it also made her see stars. After their talk at the Mall, she finally figured out that his passion during their lovemaking was one of the ways he told her that he loved her when he couldn't say it out loud. Of course, she wasn't listening as carefully before, but she would be now.

He was right, though, to stop them earlier before they went too far. While their bodies would be sated, emotionally it would've set them back.

She felt like she was almost there, though. For the first time, she was able to tell that voice in her head after he spoke about families to shut up. She headed Aubrey off not because she wanted to avoid him, but because she didn't want to worry him. It hurt for a moment when he seemed to panic, but she understood why.

She also knew how hard her Superman was working to overcome his own fears. She had faith they would get there together…but she hoped it was soon. If today was any indicator, when they finally came together as lovers again it would be…

Explosive…amazing…wonderful.

The music she had playing on her Amazon Prime app was interrupted by the ringing on her phone. Afraid it was an emergency due to the late hour, she jumped out of the shower and got to it as the ringing stopped. Looking, she didn't recognize the phone number and figured it was a wrong one.

Getting back in, she finished her shower. When done, she brushed her teeth and got stuff around so she could be ready when Andie picked her up at 6:30. Pulling the covers back, she got into bed. When she plugged in her phone, she saw there was a voice message. Checking her message, it was not one she was expecting.

'Jessica, this is your mother Eleanor. I'm going to be in Philadelphia for a conference later in the week and will be staying with Michael. It would be nice to see my daughter also, since you always seem to be busy with that lab and school. I will call you with a good time to come up and have dinner with your brother and me.'

Instantly, she felt like a young girl again. Her mother had a habit of expecting people to drop everything when she needed or wanted something. Aaron stopped catering to her years ago, as did Stephan. Jason was in Charlotte and Jack was in Montreal until the first week of November working on a project. Michael...he still tried to do what he felt was right by their mother, even to the point of twisting himself into a pretzel.

Judging by her tone, she couldn't tell if she was on her meds or not. Either way, mental illness never kept Eleanor Gordon from her needs which were always more important than others. However, she just couldn't deal with the woman right now. Things were looking up in her life and her mother had a way of sucking that away from her.

She thought about calling Aubrey, but it was almost midnight and he had to work in the morning. Deciding not to wake him up, she sat in bed staring at the ceiling for several minutes before taking a couple of deep breaths to settle herself down. Hitting the power bar her lamp was plugged in with, Jessica laid down for a fitful sleep.