(The Donor in the Drink)

A/N: In case you missed it, I posted Chapter 47 last Wednesday, but Fanfiction did not send out notifications. I let everyone know on Twitter and Tumblr when I found out, but I know most people don't follow me on those sites.

This story was suggested by mendenbar. Thank you.

I don't own Bones.

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His world had been turned upside down for over a year and half. That's a long time to hate something you used to love. The FBI had betrayed him and imprisoned him for murders he hadn't committed and yes it was done by the order of Glen Durant, but the evil was done by his agency. An agency he had loved and risked his life to work for. An agency that he saw as doing good, fighting evil and giving him something greater than himself to believe in.

Even though he'd help crack open a treasonous plot and in the end proved that he had been set up for murders he didn't commit, there were still FBI agents that didn't trust him and let's face it the feeling was mutual. The only reason why he'd accepted his old job back in the FBI in the first place was because he still wanted to do good in the world and Brennan needed his help working cases. Booth needed to make sure that she had someone that could protect her when she was out in the field and that had to be him.

He still believed in honor and that evil men and women should be brought to justice to pay for their crimes. That didn't mean he had to like or trust the agents he worked with.

It was a dire situation and Sweets had known it. Before the psychologist had died, he'd searched for an agent that Booth could trust and he thought he'd found one named James Aubrey. Sweets did a thorough background check on Special Agent Aubrey and he thought he'd found the agent he was looking for. Sweets had been terrified that his good friend would forgo a partner when he couldn't be in the field with Brennan or himself and that no man would have his back. Sweets had been determined to fix that problem and he'd talked to Aubrey before the FBI Agent had ever met Booth. He'd gone so far as to give Booth's personnel file to the young agent, so Aubrey would understand who he was dealing with.

Booth was probably the most complicated man Sweets had ever had to deal with and if Aubrey was going to be the man Sweets needed him to be, then Aubrey needed to know the truth about Booth and that truth was Booth had suffered many setbacks in his life, but he was strong and he fought to be a good man on a daily basis. It was amazing to Sweets that Booth had been through so much in his life and yet he was mentally healthy. Yes, isolated and distrustful, but somehow healthy none the less.

Sweets had thought long and hard about divulging Booth's past to the other agent, but there were few people that knew Booth's history besides Brennan, Caroline and a few people at the Lab. Booth needed someone to trust him and the things he did and that trust needed come from the knowledge of what kind of man Booth was. As far was Sweets was concerned, Aubrey was a man Booth could count on.

After the psychologist had died, Booth had resisted letting Aubrey into his life. As far as Booth was concerned the only one that he could count on was Brennan and if need be, the squints at the Lab. No one at the Hoover was trustworthy and he wasn't about to risk his life trusting anyone there again. It was Brennan's stubbornness that forced Booth to give Aubrey a chance and after working with him, he let his guard down at least partially, but not fully. Aubrey worked well with him and he appreciated it, but Booth just couldn't bring himself to completely let Aubrey in to his life. He'd been betrayed too many times in his life.

Booth was buffeted with changes in his life and though some of those changes were good, they were more than he could handle. He felt out of control and floundered in a sea that seemed to want to pull him under. Desperate for some control in his life, he'd returned to gambling and that had almost destroyed his personal life. In the end it would have destroyed his professional life too if Brennan and Aubrey hadn't intervened.

Though Booth owed Aubrey for helping out, he still kept Aubrey at arms-length. He worked with him, but still wasn't sure he wanted to give the man his complete trust.

After his brother was killed and he had come close to dying himself, Booth finally realized that he couldn't continue to put his life in reckless danger. His reliance on Brennan was alright under normal conditions, but since he wanted to keep her out of dangerous situations because of their children he had to give in and accept a new partner and that was Aubrey.

It also helped that Aubrey had worked hard to earn that trust. When Booth was unable to track down his brother's ashes, Aubrey had tried to help by sending techs to the delivery warehouse to look for the box containing Jared's ashes. He hadn't been successful, but he'd tried. Then he'd arranged to move out of Booth's old office and had Booth's gear placed in the room letting Booth reclaim the office he'd had for so many years. As far as Aubrey was concerned, Booth didn't belong in the bullpen and Aubrey did some talking with the Deputy Director to make sure that Booth was given an office to match his rank. The lack of love the FBI gave Booth was appalling to Aubrey and he wanted to fix that too. Booth appreciated the effort and realized that Aubrey was someone he could trust, perhaps someone he should have trusted when Jared came to him with his problem, but he couldn't change the past, he could only move forward into the future.

"So Bones and I are going to have a wake for Jared this weekend." Booth sat behind his desk and stared at the younger Agent. "It's just a barbeque, beer and soda, some vegetarian stuff that Bones likes to cook, a cake, I don't know stuff. Want to come?"

Surprised that he was being invited, Aubrey sat down across from Booth's desk and smiled. "Well sure. Thanks." He had noticed that Booth was much friendlier to him and he thought it was about time. As far as Aubrey was concerned, Booth wasn't going to find a better partner than he was. "Do I need to bring anything? Wine, cookies . . . anything?"

"Not unless you want to eat something special." Booth thought about the list of food that Brennan was making and the dishes that Cam and Angela had promised to bring. "Bones and Angela and Cam are making a lot of salads and side dishes and desserts and I'm barbequing a brisket, some hotdogs and hamburgers and vegetable kabobs. I think we should have something you can eat."

His mouth watering just thinking about barbeque brisket, Aubrey swallowed and nodded his head. "Sounds good. I'll bring my appetite."

"Um, yeah." The way the younger man ate, Booth realized he might have to cook two briskets just to make sure he didn't run out. His grill was big enough to handle the load, but that was just theoretical. He'd never actually cooked two briskets at the same time before. "If you want to invite a friend you can."

Aubrey immediately thought of the intern Jessica Warren and decided not to ask her. So far they were just doing friend things and a wake seemed kind of intimate to him. Well, not intimate, but it was a party to celebrate Booth's brother's life and that was very personal. Booth was a private man and Aubrey was shocked he was invited. He wasn't going to push his luck and bring a squint to the party. "Nah, I'm not dating anyone right now."

"Okay, but if you want to invite a friend, it's okay." Booth thought about who was coming to the party and it angered him that Padme had refused his invitation. He had offered her an olive branch and she'd chopped it in half. She blamed him for Jared's death and she never wanted to see Booth or any of his family again. Booth had done his best to save his brother and in the end he had failed. If Padme wanted to blame him, then that was her business. He refused to accept the blame. Jared had been the one to connect to criminals and Booth had tried to help him. It hadn't worked out, but he wasn't sure what else he could have done. Jared had made a lot of poor decisions in his life and he'd paid a harsh price in the end. "All the squints have been invited, Caroline and her foster sons are coming . . . I don't have any family left except for my mother and she can't come." Not that he'd invited her. His mother had her new family and her sons from her previous marriage really didn't fit into that life. It was sad Booth supposed, but that was also life and one he was used to. He really hadn't had a mother since he was twelve years old and he didn't really need one now. "Anyway come around noon."

Savoring the invitation, Aubrey stood up and moved towards the door. "I'll be there. I may bring some cupcakes for the munchkins."

"Chocolate." Booth blurted it out before Aubrey was out of the office. "Christine loves chocolate."

"Well, who doesn't?" Amused, Aubrey was careful not to laugh. He knew that Booth was a sucker for chocolate. "I've got work to do."

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"I invited Aubrey to the wake." Booth pulled plates from the cabinet to set the table. Brennan was busy checking on the baked eggplant and the baked chicken beside it in the oven. "That's good, Booth. Since he's your partner now, he should be included in our family gatherings."

"Partner?" This was the first time Booth had heard Brennan call someone other than herself his partner. "Um, yeah, I guess he is."

Brennan felt it was kind of odd to call Aubrey Booth's partner, but in reality he was. Brennan had decided to stay in the Lab more often since she now had two children and it wasn't her intention to ever make them orphans. She could no longer place herself in harm's way with Booth. Her husband had needed a partner that he could count on and she would always be grateful to Sweets that he'd gone through the process of searching for someone that Booth could put his trust in. She had trusted Sweets and he'd come up with just the partner Booth needed. "Since he has quite an amazing ability to consume mass quantities of food, I probably should make extra servings of baked beans and salad. Oh and of course you should probably double the amount of meat you're going to grill."

"Mass quantities." Booth laughed as he retrieved some forks and knives from the drawer near the stove. "Good one Bones."

Not sure why what she had said was funny, Brennan stopped Booth by placing her hand on Booth's arm. "I don't understand. Why is that funny?"

A little surprised, Booth shook his head, leaned over and kissed her. "The Coneheads on Saturday Night Live? They were aliens from the planet Remulak. They eat mass quantities of food and drink mass quantities of beer . . . Hey maybe Aubrey is from Remulak."

"Booth that is clearly a television show." Brennan was flabbergasted sometimes at the things her husband believed. "There are no verifiable aliens from other planets on Earth. In fact . . . ."

Careful not to drop them, Booth placed the flatware on the counter beside him, placed his arms around Brennan and kissed her deeply. Once he was sure they were both breathless, Booth separated his lips from hers and smiled. "Never change, Bones. I love you just the way you are."

Amused, Brennan patted his cheek. "You're very obvious sometimes, Booth. I know you kiss me sometimes when you don't wish me to lecture you. I'm not completely clueless."

"And I never said you were." Booth picked up the knives and forks again. "Still any excuse to kiss you, you know?"

"Yes, I know." Brennan shook her head and turned her attention to the green beans simmering on the stove.

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