(After season 12)

I really don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Working at the Lab was a dream job for Hank. His mother and father were pleased that he was be working in a place of science. Booth had realized when his son was young that he would never be interested in joining law enforcement. The boy was interested in science and Booth accepted that. Brennan was of course pleased and supported her son. She didn't really care what profession he chose. He was intelligent and she knew he'd be brilliant in whatever profession he chose.

Hank had applied for a summer job at the Lab and he'd been hired by his Aunt Cam. On the first day, he was given the task of helping his uncle Jack Hodgins with his animals, reptiles and bugs. His job was to feed them, clean their cages and aquarians and to make sure they didn't escape out into the hallway or any of the offices or examination rooms.

It wasn't a secret that Cam was afraid of spiders and she had threatened to kill all of them the next time one escaped Hodgin's Ooky room.

"Make sure everyone stays in their cages and aquariums." Hodgins looked over his shoulder into the hallway. "Cam freaked out the last time one of my spiders got into her office and I think she'll really kill the rest of my spiders if anymore get out. She really hates anything with eight legs. Do you understand? I'm counting on you. They're counting on you to save them from her phobia."

"Sure, I get it." Hank thought it was funny that his Aunt Cam was so afraid of something so small, but then his mother wasn't a big fan of snakes and his father hated clowns, so he understood that Cam might follow through with her threat. His brother Parker had told him that phobias should be taken seriously and Hank agreed.

Glad his nephew was taking him seriously Hodgins patted the young man's shoulder. "My last employee let a tarantula escape and of course he wandered into Cam's office when she was there. She killed him with a heavy book . . . He wasn't going to harm her, but . . . well, phobias can take over and make you lose it. Bruce was just exploring but Cam didn't see it that way and well . . . she killed him . . . Anyway, don't let anything leave this office. I don't want to have another funeral in the rose garden unless they die of old age."

"A funeral?' Amused, Hank laughed. "You had a funeral for a spider?"

"He was my responsibility, Hank. He deserved a dignified death." He knew it sounded ridiculous to his protege, but Hodgins considered his pets his responsibility and he took care of them while they were in his care. "When you're responsible for someone or something you take care of them or it. It's the right thing to do. Cam fired my intern because she blamed him for Bruce getting out of this room. Remember that. Cam doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to my pets. Even though you're her nephew . . . well sort of . . . she will fire you if she thinks you did something you shouldn't have."

The solemness of his uncle's words got through to him. It might be fun to release a spider into Cam's office, but the fun would end if she killed the rest of the spiders for revenge and fired him. "I'll be careful."

"Good." Hodgins smiled. "Hey, I'm working on a case. Would you like to see how I analyze soil? I look for particulates that might help your parents solve cases. You can learn a lot by analyzing the soil that the victim was buried in or was lying on. Sometimes I can even pinpoint approximate death. It's really cool."

"Sure, I'm here to learn." Hank still wasn't sure what his major in college was going to be but helping in the Lab might help make up his mind. He was leaning towards forensic entomology or forensic chemistry, but he knew his mother hoped he'd study forensic anthropology. He hated to disappoint her, but he wanted to be happy in his profession and he didn't think anthropology was something he wanted to do with his life. His mother was the best forensic anthropologist in the world, but he didn't see why he couldn't be the best forensic entomologist in the world. "Thanks for giving me this chance."

Moving over to the bags of soil samples connected to their latest case. Hodgins put a pair of latex gloves on. "Don't thank me. Cam was the one who hired you. I just told her that I thought it would be nice to have more family at the Lab." Michael Vincent had shown an interest in zoology early in his life and was going for his Doctorate in zoology at the moment. It made him sad his son had never wanted to work at the Lab with his parents, but it had been the boy's choice. Hodgins wasn't sure why Michael Vincent had been so against working at the Lab, but he respected the boy's decision to follow his own path. His younger son was interested in mechanics. He wasn't sure if Jeffrey wanted to make that a profession, but he would support him in whatever he chose to do.

Ooooooooooooooo

Gormogon's vault was a shock to Hank. He'd been working at the Lab for a month when Hodgins decided to give the boy a tour of the vault. "You're not going to believe what you're about to see . . . Gormogon was a serial killer. He killed his victims and ate them. He'd take a bone from his victim's body and he used it to build a skeleton. Before he was a serial killer, he was an apprentice under another serial killer. He was given a silver skeleton by his master . . . you see, all the bones were made of silver. As he killed his victims, he replaced the silver bones with real bones. It was pretty sick and I don't mean in a good way. The bastard was a cannibal and your Dad killed him to stop him. I can let you read the case file if you want to read it."

"Wait, this guy Gormogon killed people, ate them and built a skeleton using his victim's bones?" Hank shivered. "And he was someone's apprentice, so there were two serial killers . . . God." He knew his parents solved horrific crimes, but cannibalistic killers seemed a bit too much. "Dad killed him?"

"Yeah, a friend of mine, Zach Addy . . . you've met him a couple of times that I know of . . . Zach was recruited by Gormogon when his apprentice died and . . . well, Zach eventually realized he'd made a mistake by agreeing to be an apprentice so he told your mother and father where Gormogon was. Booth went after him of course. When your father tried to arrest Gormogon the guy threw a knife and hit an agent, so Booth shot him. Booth did that it to defend himself and the men with him. Gormogon was dangerous. We figure he'd killed over 13 people before we stopped him and God knows how many people he helped his Master kill."

It was a lot to take in. "Wow." They'd arrived at the vault. Once they had both signed a ledger lying on a counter near the vault entrance, Hodgins led his nephew into the old bank vault. "This place is full of antiques and relics. Gormogon collected anything connected to his cult and other cults. There's stuff from Greece and Rome. A map of the original layout of Washington D.C. Some old books about cults. We still have the skeleton he was working on." Hodgins turned a corner and pointed at the skeleton.

Staring at the silver and bone skeleton, Hank tried to understand why someone would do such a horrific thing. "But why? Why kill people and eat them and build a skeleton out of their bones?"

The skeleton brought back a lot of memories for Hodgins and over time, he'd grown to hate the sight of the thing. "Who knows? Gormogon died before we could talk to him. His apprentice killed himself when we caught him and Zach only knows what Gormogon told him and that was that this was all a generational operation to fight against cults like the Masons and the Knights of Columbus. I guess there was a master and apprentice killing people for a few hundred years . . . By the way, I'm not saying the Masons or the Knights of Columbus are cults. Gormogon considered them cults. Anyway, your Mom pointed out the faulty logic that had been used to recruit Zach and that's why Zach finally realized he'd made a mistake listening to Gormogon."

Hodgins sighed. "Zach didn't eat anyone and he didn't kill anyone while he was working for his Master so he eventually he was freed from the mental institution he'd been committed to . . . um, Zach was committed because he would have never survived prison. Anyway, Zach is working for a forensic lab in Montreal. He lives a quiet life and he rarely comes back here. I don't blame him. We miss him, but he has to live his life and it's best to do it where few people know about his past."

Not sure what to say, Hank decided to explore the vault while Hodgins leaned against a table and waited. He found the artifacts to be interesting, but he didn't pick up anything or ask any questions. The more he saw at the Lab the more he knew he didn't want to be a forensic anthropologist. He knew his mother was the top of her field, but he just didn't want to study societies and why they did the things they did. He didn't want to study human bones or bodies either. It was interesting, but they didn't fascinate him enough to make him want to be part of that particular science. "Thanks for showing me this stuff." Hank came back to the where Hodgins was standing. "It's cool, it really is, but . . . well, I kind of like what you do. I'm thinking of going to university to study entomology."

"Yeah, that's okay." Hodgins knew that Hank had different interests from his mother. "Your mother will be happy no matter what profession you choose. Your sister wanted to sell cars when she was six years old. That changed of course, but Booth said Brennan had made up her mind to support Christine no matter what profession she chose. Your Mom will do the same for you."

"I know, she's already told me that." Hank smiled. "My parents are cool, you know? They support Parker and Christine and they'll support my decisions too." Hank considered himself lucky. He had friends that were being pushed into professions that didn't interest them. He didn't know if they would have courage enough to tell their parents they wanted to do something else, but he was glad he wouldn't have to go through that.

oooooooooooooooooo

That evening while Brennan was driving them home, Hank turned a little in his seat to face his mother. "Uncle Jack showed me the Gormogon room . . . You have a weird job."

"I have a weird job?" Not sure why he would say that, Brennan glanced at her son then back at the road. "Why do I have a weird job?"

"Come on. A serial killer who ate his victims and used their bones to make a skeleton? You can't get any weirder than that . . . but your job is also the coolest job ever."

Surprised, Brennan smiled. "I have a cool job?" She remembered when Parker had called her cool as a young boy, but no one had ever said her job was the coolest.

"Well yeah, you get to work on cases like a serial killer who eats his victims and builds a skeleton from their bones." It turned out his mother's job was much more interesting than he had first thought. He just didn't want that job. "Parker always did say you were cool and he's right. You're cool to the bone."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thanks.