Welcome to my inaugural chapter of Bonesology Christmas in DC. We're going to start off with a A/U series involving Aubrey & Jessica from 2017. There is a special extra with this chapter on my Pinterest (MIBonesFan).

Enjoy!

Karen and Aubrey walked into the Royal Diner and saw the Christmas decorations on the window. "The owners really go out there, don't they? I love Christmas but damn…too much is never a good thing."

"Frankie always goes all out for the holidays and the regulars like it." Aubrey replied before heading up to the counter. "Hey Hilda, can I get my usual?"

"Of course, Agent Aubrey…and you?"

"My usual, as always." Karen responded.

"What's your usual?" Hilda asked politely.

Karen sighed in frustration. "The same thing I've ordered almost every day for a year now. Large mocha skim milk and no whip cream."

"Of course."

Five minutes later, the two accepted their coffees and made their way through the rush towards the diner's door. "It's ridiculous that they don't remember what I like. I get the same thing every day. They know all the usuals from the lab and Booth. Why don't they remember mine? I'm part of the group, too."

Aubrey rolled his eyes. "Karen, they're a busy diner. You getting all upset over something like that is really over the top. Let it go."

Hearing the impatience in his voice, Karen wisely changed the subject. "So, how about dinner tonight, Aubrey?"

Aubrey didn't look up as he read his phone. "I can't. I'm taking Christine to the Botanical Gardens tonight for the Holiday Train show."

Karen rolled her eyes. "Come on, Aubrey. You can take her another time. Besides, I haven't spent the night at your apartment yet. Don't you think it's time?"

Aubrey hesitated to speak. They had a handful of dates after sleeping together a few months ago and while he was trying to keep things casual, Karen was in full speed. "Karen, not tonight. I've already promised Christine that I would take her to see the Holiday Train Show and the Christmas decorations."

Karen was growing increasingly frustrated with the man's slow pace and inability to pick up her hints. "Aubrey…it's not like she's your kid. Now call Booth and let him know you'll be with me tonight. We can order a pizza…warm up that bed of yours…"

"Karen, I said no and that's final—oof." Aubrey bumped into someone, spilling his coffee on the ground. "Oh, I'm so sorry…Jessica…hey…"

Jessica, standing with a tall man next to her, wiped the coffee off her black coat. "Hey, Aubrey…are you all right? You weren't burned were you?"

"No…" Aubrey stammered at his ex-girlfriend, trying to not look at the man next to her. "Yeah. I'm sorry…um, how are you?"

"Fine…fine…wet, but fine. How are you?"

"Fine…fine…" Aubrey cursed himself for being tongue tied. "I, uh, heard you were in Scotland."

"I was attending a class there, but I'm back for Christmas." Jessica hated sounding so stupid. "H-how are you doing?"

"You just asked Aubrey that, Jessica and the answer is he's doing great." Karen wrapped her arm around his tightly. "He and I are a couple now. Isn't that wonderful?"

Jessica saw Aubrey's embarrassment at Karen's clinginess, but couldn't help but feel sadness at her last comments. "Yeah, yeah, that's great. Um, this is Adam Levinson. He's also an intern at the Jeffersonian, but in Caribbean Studies."

"I'm more than an intern, love. I'm your boyfriend." The blonde put his arm around Jessica while eyeing Aubrey. "So, you're the famous James Aubrey. Heard a lot about you."

Aubrey felt a pit in his stomach but remembered his manners. Holding out his hand, he put a smile on his face. "Yeah, great. Um, nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same." Adam looked down at disdain at the hand Aubrey held out and ignored it. "Luckily, Jessica's coat wasn't ruined by your clumsiness."

"Adam, stop. It was my fault and it was an accident." Jessica turned to Aubrey. "I'm so sorry for not paying attention. Let me buy you another coffee—"

Wanting to escape the awkwardness of the situation, Aubrey's hand went up. "No, I've got it."

"I insist, Superman…"

"Superman?" Adam questioned before turning to Karen. "What are you, Wonder Woman?"

"No, just a woman's whose boyfriend forgot his manners." Karen sniped before introducing herself. "Dr. Karen Delfs, profiler for the BRIU at the FBI. Now, if you two will excuse us, Aubrey and I have important work to do. Jessica, learn to watch where you're going, please."

Irritated at her rudeness, Aubrey turned to the profiler. "Karen, I'm getting another cappuccino, so I'll meet you back at the Hoover."

Not happy, Karen kept her voice even. "Aubrey…"

"Karen, I want another coffee and you have a meeting with Agent Burns in International Operations in twenty minutes. Now, go back to the office and I'll see you later."

Humiliated and annoyed at both Aubrey's sharp response and Jessica's presence, she turned around and got the last word by giving the agent a hot kiss. "See you soon, lover."

Visibly embarrassed, Aubrey walked back inside. Jessica moved to follow when Adam stopped her. "Come on, let's go somewhere else for coffee."

"No, I'm going to buy Aubrey's coffee, Adam. I'll catch up with you later."

The blonde grabbed Jessica's hand. "Wait, you never did give me an answer about what you wanted to do tonight."

Jessica sighed. Angela had fixed her up with Adam Levinson two weeks ago. He was smart and very charming, but also had an ego. The last few dates they went out on, all conversation topics were limited to his dissertation and NASCAR. He also had an annoying habit of being possessive when they encountered other people and wasn't sure if she wanted to go out with him again.

"I'm sorry, but I'm taking Angela and Dr. Hodgins' son to the Botanical Gardens Holiday Train display tonight."

Wanting to get into the redhead's good graces, he smiled. "That sounds fun. How about I meet you there?"

She didn't want him with her tonight, but now she was stuck. "Are you sure? We're just going to see decorations and the train. Nothing very fancy."

"Sure I am. It sounds like fun. Send me a text with the details." Adam moved in for a kiss with Jessica but only landed on her cheek. Hiding his annoyance with a smile, he waved. "Bye."

"Bye…" Shaking her head, Jessica went inside, where Aubrey was waiting in line again for another cappuccino. Sneaking in line next to him, she tapped his shoulder.

Startled, Aubrey turned around, shocked to see Jessica. Calming the nerves in his stomach, he smiled. "Hey…I thought you were with…"

"I was, but I do owe you a cappuccino…and I want some tea." The couple stood awkwardly before taking their turn to order. To her surprise, Hilda had their cups ready to go.

"I saw you two outside. Nice to see you two together again."

Aubrey stammered for a moment. "Um, we were…"

"Just getting back to work." Jessica didn't want to get into explanations. "Thank you."

The two walked out with their drinks and stood there for a minute, each trying to think of something to say. "You look good." Aubrey said.

"Thank you. So do you." Jessica played with her cup. "So, I'd heard that you stayed in DC instead of going to LA. Major Crimes, right?"

Aubrey worked to control the butterflies in his stomach. "Yeah, I did. So, school overseas…sounds great."

"Yeah, AmU has a sister program in forensic anthropology with University of Edinburgh. I debated on going, but I needed a change of scenery, especially after we…" Jessica turned red. "I'm home on Christmas Break."

"You're going back to Scotland?"

"I don't know. Professor Adamson offered me a slot in his class next semester, but I also miss being home." Jessica took a breath. "So you're seeing Karen, huh?"

Aubrey gulped. "Yeah, well, we're not seeing each other per se…um, we've went out on a few dates…but we're not…it's not like we're boyfriend and girlfriend…"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Aubrey, you don't owe me any explanations, okay? You're a catch, she's always wanted you, even when we were together, and now she's got you. Um, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the lab. Nice seeing you."

"Nice seeing you…" Aubrey watched the redhead walk away, his stomach in knots. He cursed himself for still having feelings for her. However, she was dating someone else and Karen was nice and interested in him. If Jessica can move on with some egotistical intern who wasn't worth her time, he could try to move on with the BRIU profiler.

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

Aubrey pulled his vehicle into a parking spot at the US Botanical Gardens and a few seconds later, he helped Christine get out. "Okay mini-Booth, watch for cars."

Christine waited for Aubrey to lock the SUV doors before taking his hand. "Uncle Aubrey, can we get ice cream after this? Like those blizzard things with the gummy bears like we got last time?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Sure."

Christine looked to her right and got excited. "Jessica!"

Aubrey turned and saw the redhead walk up with an excited Michael Vincent and Adam, who looked bored. "Hey Christine…hey Aubrey."

"Hey, Jessica. Hey, Michael Vincent." Aubrey gave the boy a hug while trying to avoid looking at the couple. He hated seeing the two together. "Nice to see you again, Adam."

"Yeah, I came with my girlfriend to see all this holiday crap." The blonde man smirked at the agent. Moving to put his arm around Jessica, she once again moved out of the way, irritating him. "Where's that lady you were with earlier?"

"Um, home I'm assuming." Aubrey walked Christine inside.

"Ditching your girlfriend for some train show?" Adam laughed as he followed Jessica and Michael Vincent. "You're a lot of fun."

"She's not my girlfriend and I'd already had a date with this young lady tonight." Aubrey retorted back without thinking, missing the surprise on Jessica's face. "We're going to go see the train."

"Jessica, come with us!" Christine asked.

"Can we, Jessica?" Michael Vincent joined in.

Jessica felt weird, especially with a date, but she didn't want to disappoint the kids. "Sure, if it's okay with Aubrey?"

Aubrey could see that Adam wasn't thrilled to be there or hang out with them. He also didn't want to put her in a bad spot. "You know, it's okay…"

"Please…" Christine and Michael Vincent said at the same time.

Jessica saw the frustrated face on Adam, but she also didn't want to disappoint the kids. "Sure, it sounds fun."

The group walked around checking out all the holiday decorations as they made their way to the Holiday train and all of its stops. Aubrey and Jessica soon forgot their awkwardness as they relaxed and had fun with the kids.

However, Adam's boredom was increasing, and he was tired of his date chatting with her ex-boyfriend about stupid exhibits around a train. Seeing a female acquaintance of his, he decided he wanted a change of plans for the evening. "Hey, I see a friend of mine, so I'm going to go hang with her for a while. You all have fun."

"Adam…"

"I'm fine, Jessica. I'll call you tonight to finalize our plans for the weekend." Adam grabbed her hard to kiss her, but the redhead moved away. Fed up, Adam tried to grab her hand, but she dodged him. "Come on Jessica…quit being difficult. I just wanted to give you a damn kiss."

"I don't want a kiss. Good night." Jessica decided then and there that there would be no more dates with the intern. She had been possessively manhandled one too many times.

"Night." Adam huffed before walking over to a tall brunette who greeted him warmly.

Jessica noted their body language and shook her head when he saw his hand move slowly down towards her posterior. "Well, I know where he's spending his night tonight."

Aubrey saw the kids were distracted by the train. "I'm sorry, Jess."

"I'm not, Aubrey. He's egotistical, boring, and it's apparent what's he's after, and I'm not interested in being a notch in his bedpost. I've given him enough chances." Jessica saw Adam take her hand and laugh with the woman. "Besides, I'm having fun with you all right now."

"Good." Aubrey took a chance. "So, Christine and I are going to have ice cream after we leave here. Would you two like to join us?"

Jessica smiled, remembering ice cream with Aubrey. "Sure, if it's okay with Michael Vincent?"

"Yeah!" The young boy hollered in delight.

Everyone laughed as they admired the train's exhibits and the rest of the holiday displays. An hour later, the four left the Gardens and drove to their favorite ice cream parlor. After gorging on treats, Aubrey and Christine walked Jessica and Michael Vincent to her Jeep.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Aubrey." Jessica hesitated for a moment. "I've missed hanging out with you."

Surprised, Aubrey chose his words carefully. "I've…missed hanging out with you, too."

Jessica looked at her phone. "Shoot, I need to get Michael Vincent home. Good night, Aubrey."

"Good night, Jessica."

After the kids said goodbye to each other and Jessica left, Aubrey walked Christine to his vehicle and began the drive to her house. A few minutes later, his Bluetooth rang, showing Karen's number on the navigation board. He hesitated, but finally pushed the 'IGNORE' button and continued driving.