So what does Aubrey, Jessica and pie have in common? You have to read to find out...LOL

A few days later, Aubrey returned from an early morning staff meeting to find Angela in his office. After exchanging pleasantries, she handed him her final report on his latest case. "It's all there for Caroline. No way is that guy getting off scot free for stalking those women."

"Thanks. I want to nail that slimeball, especially for what he did with those nude photos of his victims." Aubrey set down the report. "You didn't have to bring this to me, you know. The lab has couriers that could have dropped his off."

The artist was surprised at Aubrey's response, but shrugged her shoulders. "I know, but I wanted to stop and say hi."

"I see." Aubrey suspected Angela was up to something. "It's always nice when a friend from the lab stop by for a visit to my office, especially when that friend is up to something."

Angela thought if she brought the case report, he wouldn't notice her snooping. "Aubrey, can't I just come by and say hi?"

The SAC smiled. "Yeah, sure, but I don't think this is a just to say hi after dropping off a case report. You usually send them by courier. Now, what's up?"

'Damn, he's good.' The artist lamented before leaning across the desk to begin interrogation. "Fine. I wanted to check in and see how you were after the party Friday. Karen was pretty pissed that you left while she was in the bathroom and I wanted to make sure you were all right, okay?"

"I appreciate that you wanted to check in on my welfare, Angela. Karen did catch up with me in the garage as I was leaving."

"And?"

"We talked, and I left to go home. I'm assuming she did the same." Aubrey replied, biting his cheek to not laugh at the artist's obvious frustration.

Angela huffed. "Did you tell her off for her bitchy attitude at the party?"

"We chatted, Angela. That's it." Aubrey's amusement grew into slight impatience.

"You're not going to tell me what happened, are you?" When Aubrey shook his head, she continued. "Okay, but I did think that it was nice that you walked Jessica to her car, too. Karen didn't give her any grief, did she?"

Aubrey sat back. "It wasn't a problem to walk Jess to her car and she'd already pulled out of the garage by the time Karen caught up with me."

"That's it? There was no confrontation with those two?" Angela quizzed Aubrey. "You and Jessica…you just walked her to her vehicle? Nothing else happened?"

"No, Angela, nothing else happened and I'm assuming Jessica got home safely because I didn't hear from anyone this weekend." Aubrey's phone rang. "I have to take this, so I'll talk to you later."

"Sure…" the artist left the office and took the stairs to the parking garage. "I need more information. I think Jessica is working today…"

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

Ninety minutes later, Jessica was in the Bone Room examining some remains when Angela walked in holding two paper cups. "Hey there, you. You've been hard to pin down today."

"Yeah, Dr. B has me very busy this morning." Based on the text Aubrey sent her an hour ago, Jessica had a vibe the woman was going to fish for details about Friday night. However, she was ready.

"I can see that." Angela offered one cup to Jessica. "Here. It's the coffee booth's special today. Cherry Pie Latte."

Jessica sipped and sighed. "Oh, so good. Thanks, Angela."

"No problem." Angela smiled. "So, tell me, what happened after the party when Aubrey walked you out to your Jeep? When Karen got back from the bathroom, she hightailed it after you two like her butt was on fire or something. Did she have a hissy fit after seeing you two together? Did any sparks fly with you and Aubrey before she got there?"

'Score one for the vibes.' Jessica thought. "I don't know about what happened with Karen. Aubrey walked me to my Jeep, I thanked him, he told me to drive carefully, and after we said good night, I left. Karen didn't say anything to you after I left?"

Frustrated, Angela huffed out a sigh. "Nope. She never came back to the table and I was hoping it was because Aubrey gave her the business. Hopefully, she stays away."

Jessica sighed, but kept his conversations with the profiler to herself. "Angela, I think she just wants to be friends with everyone. She didn't go about it the right way, but she's not a bad person."

"Not a bad person? Jessica, she gave you and Aubrey shitty advice so you two would break up. Then she sunk her claws in him and trash talked you to all of us so we would hate you. She's no friend of mine and I won't let her sink her claws into our other friends. Now, spill about Aubrey. He walked you to your SUV, so you know what that means."

'Aubrey and I made a good decision to not tell anyone we're sort of back together.' The intern smiled indulgently at her friend. "Yes, Angela. It means he wanted me to get to my vehicle safely, which I did. Whether we're together or not, he is a decent guy who treats women with respect."

"Well, of course he is, but you two are so cute, and now you're free since you gave Adam the heave no." Disappointed, Angela tried a new tactic. "So, any special plans tonight?"

She and Aubrey were going out on a real date after work, but the artist didn't need to know that. However, she knew that to get Angela off her back, she needed to give her a bone. "I have Yoga class tonight."

Angela tilted her head. "I thought your Yoga class was on Tuesdays?"

Jessica thought fast. "It is, but Marsha moved it to tonight because of some plans she had. I'm going out with a couple of classmates afterwards for drinks."

"Not meeting up with Aubrey, huh?" Angela sighed when Jessica shook her head. "Okay…well, enjoy your latte. See you later."

Angela walked out of the Bone Room, shaking her head. "Aubrey seems to be ditching Karen and Jessica's no longer seeing Adam. What is their problem? Why can't they just get back together already? Ugh."

Suddenly, she got an idea and rushed to her office. "That's it!"

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

"You're kidding me." Booth accepted his coffee. "Karen apologized? Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that and we talked over a cup of coffee before she went home to beat the storm." Aubrey accepted his Apple Pie quad shot cappuccino and to go slice of cherry pie from Hilda and sipped. "Booth you have to try this cappuccino. So good…"

"No thanks. Apple pie belongs on a plate and in my mouth, not my coffee." Booth opened the door for his friend and the two left the Royal Diner to return to work. "I'm glad the Karen thing is taken care of. Now with that out of the way, how are things with Jessica?"

Booth noted the redness of his friend's face and hesitance to answer. "Listen, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just asking as a friend, that's all. It goes nowhere but me."

"Jess and I…well, we…had a good Saturday together. Then yesterday, after I dug my SUV out of the snow, I went over to her place and we talked some more and stuff." Aubrey contained his grin remembering how their hanging out involved chili dogs, chocolate ice cream, and an afternoon shower. "We're just seeing how things go, you know, but we don't want to tell everyone yet. Does that make any sense?"

'They did a lot more than talking, but that's for him to know and me to never know.' Booth was happy for his friend. "Yeah, it does, Aubrey. Bones and I, when we finally were ready to…not to be just friends, we didn't tell anyone for a while. Angela found out because she needed advice once but besides that, we kept things to ourselves, at least until we found out Christine was on the way."

"Yeah, about Angela…she's getting really nosy again. She stopped by my office today to drop off her forensic report on the Harris case and fished for info about Jess and Karen. I know she means well, but we don't want people all up in our business." Aubrey hated what he was going to say next. "I know this goes without saying but…"

"Just like I said, Aubrey." Booth reassured as they stopped at the crosswalk. "It goes nowhere but me, even with Bones unless you say so. I think you and Jessica have the right idea to keep things under wraps until you're sure about things."

"Thanks, Booth. I appreciate it."

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

Nine hours later, Aubrey sat across from Jessica and listened as she described her conversation with Angela in the Bone Room. "Wow, she must have been really frustrated."

"I'm sure she was, but the stuff with Karen is your news to share, not mine. She asked if I had any plans tonight, but I told her I had Yoga class. Hopefully, that will put her off for a bit at least." Jessica sipped her wine. "I do like this restaurant, Aubrey. It's almost as good at Satay Sarinah."

"Thanks." The agent sipped his beer. "I don't want us to always have to hide in our apartments, but I really wanted to take you on a real date. I figured you would be okay with having dinner here in Silver Springs."

Jessica adjusted her napkin on her lap. "It's fine. Being away from DC will let us relax, give us a chance to do some more talking about things and enjoy each other's company."

Aubrey chuckled. "I like the way you think, Jessica. So, are you all situated with the lab and Dr. B for next semester?"

"Yeah, Dr. B and Dr. Adamson created a schedule where I can Skype him during my Wednesday shifts, so I'm all set. I'm glad that I went to Scotland for the experience at the University of Edinburgh, but my time away did me a lot of good because it let me think about things and made me appreciate what I had." Jessica took Aubrey's hand in hers. "How about you? How are things in Major Crimes?"

"No promotions anytime soon. I'm staying put, I promise, and I don't want to take anything we have for granted again, either." Aubrey considered his words for a moment. "I'm not ready for us to be living together and marriage…that's way far away for me, right now. However, I would like to, once we figure things out, consider getting serious...or at least talk about it…at a pace you're comfortable with."

"Thank you for saying that." Jessica thought about what he said. "Being serious like you just said…was that your intention when you talked to me in front of the subway station that night? Not us heading straight into living together and marriage right away?"

Aubrey nodded. "Yeah. I knew you were gunshy about commitment, but then I really didn't give you much of a reason to commit to me, did I?"

Jessica traced her wine glass. "No, but I could have told you how hurt I was whenever you backed off talking about your dad but discussed him with other people. We both messed up, Aubrey."

"Yeah, we did." Aubrey and Jessica gave each other a shy smile. "Do you think we were meant to go through all this…shit to figure out things?"

"Maybe. I wish I wouldn't have overreacted about stuff and talked to you about it instead, but like you just said. Sometimes we don't know what's important until it's gone. Karen was…a painful lesson for me to learn."

"I know, but she was a good friend to me, but I knew how she felt about me and I was a dick for taking advantage of it. However, it doesn't excuse her talking shit about you and trying to undermine my friendships to have me all to herself." Aubrey sipped his drink. "Her coming over to apologize yesterday gave me some hope we can all be friends again."

"It just seems too good to be true that she suddenly had this change in attitude." Jessica shook her head. "I don't know, Aubrey if I can trust her to be my friend again."

"I know, and you have every right to not be friends with her. Do I see us all hanging out together after work? No, but…maybe have a coffee break with on occasion. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does." Jessica stopped talking when their dessert was put in front of them with two forks. "Now what is this again?"

"Pai Susu...or Indonesian Milk Pie. It's good, Jess. Come on, let's dig in."

As the couple enjoyed dessert, Booth and Brennan walked out a gift shop holding a box. "Booth, do you really think Cam will like this engraved album that the lab, you, and Aubrey purchased for her as a way to commemorate her sons' adoptions?"

"Yeah, Bones. Cam is going to love this so much. Trust me, it's an amazing gift."

"I hope so, I…." Brennan looked inside a restaurant window and was surprised at what she saw. "Booth, that Aubrey and Ms. Warren."

Booth saw the two sharing a dessert together before coming together for a kiss. "Yeah, Aubrey said something to me about it today."

"Booth, we've asked Ms. Warren about her social life, but she's told us she isn't dating anyone." Brennan was confused. "Why would she lie about that?"

"Probably for the same reason we didn't tell everyone right away when we got together, Bones." Booth put his arm around her. "She and Aubrey want their privacy, which is reasonable."

Not understanding, Brennan spoke her mind. "But Ms. Warren doesn't have to lie, Booth. If she doesn't want to tell us something personal about her life, she can just tell us to mind our own wax."

Booth decided to not correct her. "I know that, Bones, but some people we know won't respect that and will keep pushing until they find out. Aubrey and Jessica will tell the rest of us about what's going on when they're ready to, so we won't tell anyone we saw them here tonight, especially Angela."

Brennan considered with her husband said. "You're right, Booth. I'm happy for them, whatever they choose to be."

"Me too." Booth put his arm around his wife and led her away. "Come on, let's go home."

Back in the restaurant, Jessica took another bite before Aubrey could get to it. "I'm getting my fair share from you, Superman."

"Are you saying I'm a food thief?"

"Yes, but I still enjoy your company." They shared a smile as Jessica put her fork down. "Superman, I would like to continue talking tonight…at my apartment."

Time seemed to stand still for the agent as he considered her words. "You're saying that…"

"I want to continue talking about…where we're heading…and then…I want you to spend the night with me, James." Jessica played with her napkin. "Spending Saturday afternoon making love with you was amazing, but then I went home. Yesterday, we had chili dogs and ice cream, talked, and made love, but then you went home. Us talking about everything these last few days have been…long overdue to say the least, but now, I want to take things a step further…if you're ready to do that."

Aubrey wanted to take her up on her offer badly, but he had to be honest with himself. "Jessica, I want to spend the night with you so badly…but…we're doing a good thing here…and…making love with you is awesome but, I like the pace we're at. Like you said this weekend, spending the entire night at the other's apartment is a big step and I don't want us to go too fast this time. That sounds…extremely stupid, since we've already slept together multiple times in the last two days and—"

"Aubrey, if you're saying that you want to spend the night together when you're ready for a full time, no holds barred, romantic relationship with me, it doesn't sound stupid. Am I understanding you right?" Jessica smiled when Aubrey nodded. "I'm okay with that."

"Thanks, Jess."

"No need to thank me. We're taking this ride together, right?" The couple chuckled together. "Now, how about we go have a drink at the bar and talk before you drive me home?"

Relieved, Aubrey placed his napkin on the table and stood up. "Sounds great. They have a Cherry Pie Martini I want to try."

Jessica laughed as Aubrey took her hand. "An Indonesian restaurant with a cherry pie martini? Okay, I'm intrigued."