(The Corpse in the Canopy)

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The tears on his cheeks glistened in the light streaming through the glass ceiling. It had been a long afternoon and now that it was done, his life was forever altered. He had awakened that morning a very wealthy man and by nightfall he had joined the middle class. It had been unexpected and the shock was still moving through him in emotional waves.

Pelant had drained all of his personal and corporate accounts and no one knew where the money was. Hodgins had been forced to choose between saving his money and saving the girls who Pelant had targeted with a drone. There had been no question that he would save those girls and now he was left with the knowledge that evil had won that day. Pelant had not killed those children because Angela was able to stop the drone, but he had stolen a fortune and that kind of money in the hands of evil was something that they all needed to worry about.

"Are you sad because you lost your money?" Brennan had come to the break room for some coffee and had seen her friend sitting on the couch. His shoulders were slumped and shaking and the bend in his neck told her that he was in mourning.

Wiping his hands across his cheeks, Hodgins shook his head as he turned to look at his friend. "I'm not sad I lost my money, but I am sad because Pelant used me. He was going to kill innocent children and he wanted me to choose between their innocent lives and my wealth. He could have taken the money without doing that, but he wanted me to make a life or death decision. If I had chosen to save my money those young girls would have died and that stain would have darkened my soul forever. He wanted me to be as evil as he is, but that wasn't going to happen. My parents taught me to revere life. Money is great, but it's a tool and not worth a single life. Pelant is evil, Dr. B. I know you don't believe in evil, but I'm telling you that it exists. We saw that evil today."

She filled a cup with coffee and walked over to the couch. Sitting down next to her friend, Brennan debated about how she should respond. "Yes, he wanted to see how you would behave under extreme circumstances. He performed an experiment on you and it did not fail as far as I can tell. There were only two possible outcomes and I don't think he really cared which one you chose. Either you would save your wealth or you would save the girls. It was a cold-blooded experiment and he obviously took immense pride in that experiment . . . He thought as a man born to great wealth that you would be tempted to save your wealth, but he was wrong. You are a man filled with compassion and you did not hesitate to save those children. I have never seen you use your fortune in an egregious manner and I knew that you would not do so today. I am honored to be your friend."

"Thanks Dr. B." Hodgins was starting to feel a little better. Brennan might claim that she was incapable of understanding the human condition, but he knew that she was wrong. She had a big heart and she felt compassion for those she loved. He considered her to be a great friend and he would always be grateful that he had joined the Lab when the position of entomologist had opened up at the Medico-Legal Lab. He had been an angry young man at the time, but that anger had slowly melted away over the years surrounded by friends he had grown to love as part of his family. "I've been thinking about it since it happened. I was very wealthy and now I'm something else. I'm not poor. I have a great job. My house is paid for. Angela has a great paying job . . . we're middle class I suppose if you have to label us, so it's not as bad as it could be . . . but that money sure made my life easy. I could go where I wanted. I didn't have to worry about bills . . . I'll never be that guy again."

"That guy?" Brennan sipped some coffee. "I don't know what that means.

"That guy . . . the guy that can go to Paris if and when his wife wants to go. The guy that can give a million dollars to charity and not miss it. The guy who helped fund the Medico-Legal Lab . . . That's done. We're all going to have to tighten our budgets around here. No new equipment just because I want it . . . it's going to be tough not being that guy, but well, it's okay. I still have Angela and Michael Vincent. I have my friends . . . It's a good thing I never hung out too much with my rich peers . . . now that I'm not rich anymore I'm pretty sure those people I do know that have money will now forget my name." He laughed. "That might turn out to be a good thing. Maybe now they'll quit begging me for money for their pet projects and fund them by themselves."

Brennan had not been born to wealth and only found herself a millionaire when she had started her successful writing career. She knew about people begging for money for charities, but she had set up several charities and she didn't contribute to other charities unless she had thoroughly researched them. People with a lot of money, tended to underestimate her and thought they could manipulate her to gain acceptance in their social strata. What they didn't understand was that she didn't want to belong to their clique. "Having a lot of money can give you a very comfortable life. I know that it has allowed me to travel first class and to buy a new car when I wish to. Still, money doesn't really define who you are if you don't want it to. You will not suffer now that your wealth is gone. You have lived in a modest house for a while now. Michael Vincent goes to a private school that you should still be able to afford. You will need to learn how to budget your finances. I can help you learn about budgeting if you wish. It isn't that hard. You must not spend more than you make."

"That sucks that I can't afford to travel first class anymore, but I don't really travel that much anymore. My job keeps me here and Angela too, although I know she'd move to Paris in a heart beat if I told her I was ready." He sighed. "Damn it was so much money."

She could see he was in a better mood. "I must go. I have to finish a few reports before I can leave this evening. Booth is cooking dinner this evening, so I have no idea what I will be dining on." She stood up. "I am proud of what you did today, Jack. I wanted you to know that."

"Thanks, Dr. B." Jack was filled with pride. "It was never a question about what I would do. It was just money."

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