(The Conspiracy in the Corpse)

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After he'd arrived at the Hoover, Aubrey had had a meeting with Deputy Director Stark. During the meeting he was informed that he wasn't going to be assigned any cases for the time being. It was his job to study Booth's file and to prepare to partner up with him if the man was released from prison and returned to his job. Stark made it clear that it was his intention that Aubrey become Booth's partner if the man made it back to the Hoover because no one else in the building trusted Booth. Too many rumors, too many wild stories in the press had damaged the agent's reputation and Booth would have to work hard to recover from this disaster.

The point was, Stark was beginning to see that Booth might have been set up, but he had no solid evidence to back that theory up. All they had was a story about a decorated agent gone bad that was starting to smell over time. Not sure if he was letting his anger with the DOJ influence him, Stark had decided that for the moment all he could do was prepare for an 'either or' situation. Either Booth was guilty, he'd go to trial and he'd be convicted or the case would be dropped. He and the Director of the FBI had conferred over the weeks, trying to use their ties at the Justice Department and Homeland Security to find out what was going on, but both men had found out that the FBI was being isolated from those two agencies and the Director was certain that a dangerous game was being played out using Booth as a pawn. Why and by whom was a huge question and both the Director and the Deputy Director felt like they were also being used as pawns too and they didn't like that at all.

Director Darouse had done his best to find out what had happened in the Booth/Brennan house and he'd been blocked at every turn. He'd even met with the President, but the President had been assured by the Attorney General that caution was being used in the Booth case because of his record with the Army and the FBI and the fact that they couldn't rush the process. It was important that the DOJ line up all of their ducks before they made a move in court. Darouse had been told he would be kept in the loop, but he was blocked at every turn afterward and he felt like a puppet on a string. Some powerful people were exerting their influence and that made Darouse worry about their end game.

Aubrey understood that he couldn't discuss with anyone what was going on. He had been told that since someone was controlling the situation outside the FBI, that it would be best if he trusted no one except the Director, the Deputy Director and Sweets. Being a bright young man, the agent put all the clues together and he knew they were right. He just wished he knew if he was being used by the good guys or not. The situation just felt bizarre and he knew he'd have to trust his instincts and his instincts told him that he needed to be careful but not too careful.

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Suddenly, Booth was free and it was time for Aubrey to go to work. He started to surveil the freed agent, careful to keep his distance. Initially, it was his idea to watch Booth to see who he talked to, who he visited the first few days he was out of prison.

Surprisingly, on the second day of his freedom, Aubrey observed Booth talking to someone who he later found out was Hugo Sanderson. Not sure who the older man was and why Booth was interested in him, Aubrey knew that he'd have to find out soon. He wanted to know what was going on, but for now, he'd watch and learn.

While he was following Booth, he'd let himself get overconfident and Booth made him in a parking garage. Embarrassed, he knew he shouldn't be since Booth had the advantage of Ranger training and years of police work under his belt and he . . . well, he was just a junior agent learning the ropes. Still, he could have been more careful.

Uncertain about Aubrey, Booth thought it would be a good idea to keep him at arms length until he could figure out if the agent was his enemy or not. After he confronted Stark at the Hoover, Booth felt isolated and angry. Though he'd been released from prison, he knew his fellow agents didn't trust him and didn't want to work with him. He wasn't sure about Stark and where he stood with the FBI, but the fact that Stark let him continue working on the case he'd been working on when he had been arrested gave him the authority to find out who had set him up and why. He didn't trust anyone at the FBI except Sweets and he knew that he was in a dangerous situation.

Ooooooooooooo

Aubrey wanted to be more than Booth's shadow, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to get the man to trust him. He'd tried charm, but that hadn't worked and he felt like he needed to rethink what he was doing.

"Dr. Sweets, Booth is back at the Hoover, but I'm not sure what you want me to do about him." Aubrey was sitting in Sweets' office and felt like he was too far out of the loop to matter. He'd been given a job to do, but Booth didn't trust him and he didn't really blame him.

"It's going to take time . . . yes, I know we don't have a lot of time to waste, but there are a lot of moving parts to what's going on . . . I need you to work with Booth, so that means you need to be working on the McNamara/Foster case." He handed a folder to the agent. "I know this is irregular, I'm not a supervisor or anything, but Stark wants me to be the coordinator between him, you and Booth. Stark hasn't talked to Booth personally because he doesn't want to put any boundaries on Booth's investigation, at least not yet . . . Sort of sounds like a movie doesn't it and a badly written one, but everything's complicated. We know someone is manipulating the situation and Stark is being pressured to keep Booth reined in which isn't going to happen. He knows that and Booth knows that . . . Booth is on a quest and no one is going to get in his way. Now Stark will support Booth up to a point, but this is just as dangerous for him as it is for Booth. It's important that you try to keep a low profile if you can. Whoever set up Booth is still out there and we don't have a clue who it is. Stark is going to have a lot of pressure put on him from now on and I don't know how much he can take."

Feeling like his career might implode any second, Aubrey knew he was going to have to help Booth solve his case to protect his own career. He'd agreed to do this and he'd have to live with the consequences. "I'll look over the file and go from there . . . You can trust me Dr. Sweets. I'm a good investigator and I want this done right."

"I do trust you, Agent Aubrey." And Sweets was telling the truth. "It's why I picked you."

Oooooooooooooo

After he'd looked over the McNamara/Foster file, Aubrey could see why Booth was interested in Sanderson and the younger agent began to look into Sanderson's background as well as his employees and tried to find out if there was something in their pasts that might explain why Booth was being targeted by powerful people. He found an interesting connection and dug into the security tapes at Bethesda Presbyterian Hospital. He'd found out that the head of security at the time they were interested in was Jerold Norsky. Three months after Norsky caught a doctor named Glen Durant stealing drugs from the hospital, he quit and went to work for Unitech which was a subsidiary of Sanderson Chemical. This seemed like a payoff to Aubrey. Anxious to tell someone what he had found out, Aubrey went to Stark to let him know about Norsky but was surprised when Stark pulled him off the case.

Sanderson knew some very powerful Senators and of course the AG and because Sanderson was complaining loudly and clearly that he was being harassed by the FBI, Stark ordered Aubrey to leave Sanderson alone. Since the Director didn't choose to back him up, Stark had no choice but to take heed of the warning. It infuriated him, but Sanderson had more power in the District than he did. For now his hands were tied.

Unable to get around Stark, Aubrey decided it was time to confront Booth.

Before he bearded the lion in the den, the younger agent let Sweets know what was happening. "If I can't get Booth to listen to me then I'm going to count on you to do it for me. The security tapes that Booth's team has been interested in at Bethesda Presbyterian Hospital were under the control of a man named Jerold Norsky when both he and a doctor named Durant were there. After Durant was caught stealing drugs and blackmailed to alter some medical records, Norsky went to work for Unitech which is a subsidy of Sanderson Chemical. Now I understand why Booth is interested in Norsky and Durant. I let Stark know what I found out and he took me off the case. I guess the pressure is getting to be a bit too much for him."

"Damn it." Sweets was disappointed. He had hoped Stark would back up their investigation, but he knew that Stark was probably afraid or dreading the possibility, someone had got to Stark. Booth had almost been killed and the same could happen to the Deputy Director. Sanderson was very influential and he seemed to be a dangerous man as well. "Okay, when you talk to Booth be as honest as you can be. Don't sugar coat anything, don't add your take on things. Just give him the facts."

"Should I mention that Stark took me off the case?"

Sweets thought about it for a moment. "Yes, give Booth all the facts. Don't leave anything out. He'll appreciate your honesty."

Ooooooooooooooo

Aubrey chose to visit Booth at his home. He knew that Booth wasn't at the Hoover very much and he didn't feel comfortable going to the Lab since no one knew him there.

"Sweets has you working on this case?" Booth was still trying to figure out who Aubrey was and why he was involved in his case.

"Yeah, because unlike you, he trusts me." Annoyed, Aubrey knew he had to be careful how he handled the Agent. Booth was like a stick of dynamite and who knew where the match was that would light the fuse. Calmly, the younger agent explained what he had found about the security tapes and who had access to them. Once he was done, he added what Stark had said about the case. "Stark thinks we're on a fishing expedition that is pissing off some very important people."

Booth was grateful for the news and he wasn't surprised about Stark. He had lost confidence in the FBI and everyone that worked there. He couldn't afford to trust anyone at the Hoover or at the State Department. "You look for Jerold Norsky. I want to talk to him. He might be the key we're looking for. He answers to someone or at least he used to. I want to know who that someone is."

With a smirk on his face, Aubrey hoped that Booth could see he was on his side, but he needed to know that he was just as vulnerable as he was. "Well just so you know, if I get fired, it will be your fault."

"Yeah, I get that."

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