'Holly molly, Booth, how many serial killers have the two of you caught?' exclaimed Aubrey looking through yet another case file.

It was a middle of the afternoon in the Bureau, they had no active cases at the moment and Aubrey got a brilliant, but annoying for Booth, idea, to go through some old case files that Booth and the squints worked. On one hand Booth knew that it would be a good thing for Aubrey, a lot of their cases were very high-profile, interesting and some were well, legendary, he was a big enough man to admit it. But on the other hand, it was Aubrey, who wouldn't stop talking, asking questions both appropriate and not so much. Right now, he was reviewing their serial cases pile of paperwork and Booth felt both proud and irritated, a feeling he associated with being a mentor to a brilliant, but somewhat obnoxious, young agent Aubrey.

'I don't keep the actual count, Aubrey, when the case is done, it's done,' Booth shrugged.

'I guess, but come on, Booth! Just look at this: Howard Epps, he killed nine people…'

'That we know of, Epps liked to keep his trophies hidden, usually using them to get what he wanted.'

'I can't believe that Dr Brennan was there too, she used to work in the field full-time, right?'

'Not exactly full-time, lab was still her priority, but yeah. But this is Bones we are talking about, when Epps pissed her off, she broke his wrist, I can tell you that!' said Booth proudly.

'She broke the wrist of a serial killer who targeted women?' clarified Aubrey clearly looking both horrified and impressed.

'Yeah, we were at the prison and he touched her, so she…you know, it was practically a self-defense!'

'Yeah, right,' smirked Aubrey taking the next file. 'Ahh, Gormogon case, yeah this was a big one, right? I remember being a rookie and following it on the news, they were some kind of a sect?'

'Well, they called themselves a secret society, in reality their leader was a certified loon who killed people, nothing more.'

'Didn't Dr Brennan's assistant was involved too?'

'Yeah, Zack, he was…erhm recruited by this Gorgonzolla and I guess he kind of lost it. To be honest, he always was a little strange, even by squints' standard,' Booth wasn't going to mention to Aubrey, of course, that even though Zack was a little odd, personally neither he, nor his wife truly believed that he ever killed that lobbyist. Besides, it didn't matter, the evidence was there, as well as Zack's confession.

'He is the loony bin, right?'

'Yeah, and he will stay there for the rest of this life…Sometimes, this job it gets to you and people you care about, it just the way things are.'

'But you and Dr B, you are still fighting, even after all these years.'

'Yep, cause that's what we do.'

'But there had to be cases that would just get under your skin and I don't mean like the obvious ones, where even I witnessed that, like with this crazy conspiracy,' pressed Aubrey a little.

'Aubrey, if you have a question, just ask it!'

'Were there cases that you just couldn't shake off? I mean, obviously there should have been, I am just curious how you keep going after that?'

Booth looked at the young agent and thought about everything he has been through during his sniper time, his seven months retreat to Afghanistan, all the years in the FBI, he wanted to be direct and to tell Aubrey the truth, but it was way too complicated and he didn't want to go way too deep on this, whenever he was crazy about things, he had Bones to keep him steady and he was there for her too.

'You just find a way, Aubrey, or you quit, there is no other option. Look,' he leaned closer to his protégé, deciding on telling at least the part of the truth, 'a lot of it depends on your personal experience and weaknesses, for instance,' Booth grabbed the files flipping thought them trying to find the cases that he could never forget, 'look at this one.'

'Heather Taffet? The Gravedigger? She kidnapped you and Dr B and Dr Hodgins, right?'

'Yep, she was a piece of work and she is still considered one of the most dangerous criminals we ever delt with, but for me, personally, she wasn't as terrifying as she was for Bones and Hodgins.'

'I read the file on their kidnap, you guys did the impossible, found them hours after their air supply should have ended.'

'Yes, we were lucky, I guess Taffet didn't take into account how smart Hodgins and Bones are. What I am saying is, among all the cases we worked I think, even though Bones probably would never admit to that, this one hit her the hardest. Some cases just stick with you forever and for Bones…well, honestly it took her years and a dig in Indonesia to recover.'

This was the truth, but of course Booth wouldn't go into personal entanglements that he associated with Maluku, Gravedigger and everything else that happened right after Taffet's trial.

'What about you?'

'Me? Well,' Booth's list was quite long. From all the lives he took during his sniper assignments, to Pelant who stalked his family for years, to his own personal gambling demon…There was however one that he revisited quite often, not because of its danger, but because of the hurt and fear he felt. 'We had this case, a few years back, a serial sniper…'

'Jacob Broadsky?'

'Yeah, he killed one of Bones' squints among others…'

'…including the Gravedigger…'interrupted Aubrey once again.

'Would you let me finish?' asked Booth rolling his eyes.

'Yes, sorry, continue!'

'As I was saying, the case wasn't particularly mysterious or even that complicated, but what stung me the most, personally speaking, that Broadsky was a good man, a hero at one point, but something broke inside of him and he became…well, this.'

'Were you afraid you would become like him?'

'Not exactly, but at that time…Bones and I were not in the best place and she has always been my biggest support and apart from our personal…erhm stuff, she wouldn't stop comparing us and it was killing me!'

'Why would she do that? Was she trying to get back to you for something?'

'I am sorry, what?!' snapped Booth defensively and then took a deep breath to calm himself down, this wasn't Sweets, he reminded himself, it was Aubrey and he didn't know their history and he was just asking questions. 'No, Aubrey, Bones doesn't do that. She is just very direct and very blunt and sometimes it can strike a nerve. Going back now, she was right, of course, just don't tell her I ever said that,' he smirked and Aubrey laughed a little, 'me and him were a lot alike, being snipers, being in military, fighting for things that we thought were right. My point is that there was a tiny moment when I thought that if my life went the other way, it could have easily been me, because war, well, it does things to you. I have my family and friends who have my back, not everybody is so lucky.'

They finished looking through the case files and Booth was now in his car, thinking intensely not only about Broadsky, but about his former unit, especially Aldo. He hasn't seen him in a few months now and Booth knew it was bad news, he tried to help him, to get him treatment, but Aldo wouldn't accept, he would just laugh it off and offer Booth another drink, especially when Booth was out of the house, good thing that he was smart enough not to follow Aldo's pass. He was thinking about other men in his unit, how the last time he saw them, Ted accused him of abandoning them, accused him of trading his brothers for "that fancy lady scientist", how Aldo had his back then yet again, he was the only one out of his unit who met Bones…But what if she wouldn't have taken him back after his gambling relapse? What if Bones would have moved on or found someone else? Would Booth be strong enough to live a normal life? He hoped he would, for his kids and for himself. He was now thinking again how Aldo was the one who helped them through Pelant, that Aldo was the one who married him and Bones, like he was there for Booth any time he needed, but at the same time how he would drag people around him into abyss. Addiction, it can destroy the best of us.

Booth finally made it home and saw a warm, comforting picture in front of him. Christine was doing her homework, her tongue was sticking out a little in her concentration with the task at hand, Hank was in his baby chair, splashing the apple sauce around happily, while Brennan was trying to keep him in line, simultaneously talking on the phone with someone, from the bits and pieces of the conversation Booth guessed it was Angela. Maybe things were not always easy and perfect for them, but every bump on the road reminded, that all of it was worth it.