A/N: Dear readers...sorry for the delay in publishing this chapter. Over the Easter weekend, both Laura and Michelle had intrusions of real life which required our attention. We're back on schedule now...

As for our two lovebirds, they may be tested over the next few chapters, but they'll come out stronger. Unfortunately, a name from the past may be a part of a recent case. How do they handle that revelation? Read on to find out...

As Aubrey and Booth spent their Wednesday morning contemplating their next moves, Jessica was examining one more unidentified WWI veteran in the Bone Room, which was a nice change after the two weird cases she had assisted with on Monday and Tuesday. She made several notes on her tablet as she worked to finish her task before meeting her boyfriend for lunch later on. After that, she was heading over with Dr. B to to American University for their afternoon class.

Studying the fibula and tibia of the deceased, she was thinking back over her busy week at the lab when she heard her name called. "Hey, Jessica."

The redhead turned around to see Angela smiling in the doorway. "Hey."

"How's it going, Stranger?", the artist asked in a plaintive tone. "I've barely seen you since we had tea together on Monday morning."

Forcing herself to be polite, Jessica tried to smile. "Dr. B has a lot of stuff for me to do this week. With Oliver gone, Wendell and I are the only senior interns, so we have more responsibilities now."

"Well, yeah, I know that…" Angela walked closer, noting that the redhead was continuing to work on the remains. "Listen, I wanted to know if you wanted to grab some lunch later. Hodgins is pretty busy today getting ready for his pow wow tomorrow with Cam."

"I can't today, Angela. Sorry." Jessica went back to work, knowing that her mentor liked detailed, efficient work.

Angela chuckled. "You've been a very...nonstop...girl this week. Monday after we had tea you sneaked out to have lunch with Daisy, yesterday you had lunch with Brennan for your dissertation meeting, and today you disappeared after I took pictures of the remains. Now, you need to take a break. Come on, my treat."

"I'm sorry, but I have plans to eat lunch with Aubrey in his office later today before my class with Dr. B.", Jessica responded.

"You're telling me that he can't fend for himself one day? Are you two having problems or something?", Angela asked. "It's not like you to be so clingy with him…why does he want you to eat in his office with him?"

Annoyed with her friend's prying, Jessica groaned softly in frustration. "We aren't having problems. It's just that we barely saw each other yesterday and I've already made a commitment to eat lunch with him, Angela. In case you've forgotten, my boyfriend is the Special Agent in Charge of an important division of the FBI, and sometimes he is too busy to go out for lunch, so I try to accommodate him whenever I can and he does the same for me when I'm swamped here. That's what you do when you're in a relationship, Angela.", Jessica retorted sharply. "I'm very busy here, so if you don't mind…"

"Wow...wasn't trying to cause a fight...just wanted to spend time with a friend." Angela waited for Jessica to say something else but when nothing was forthcoming, she sighed softly. "Okay, well, another time, then."

"Yeah, sure." Jessica ignored Angela's hurt expression and turned back to her work. When the artist left, the intern logged her results in her tablet and began putting the remains back in the crate. She knew that to keep the peace, she and Aubrey would have to find a way to get over their mutual irritation because it was obvious that Daisy's prediction was correct...getting a true apology from Angela, as opposed to gestures like free lunch and tea, would be like pulling teeth.

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

Still shaken after Hunter's visit earlier that morning, Aubrey had lost his appetite for his mid-morning snack and instead went back to his office to work. After working through several expense reports, he picked up the Durgis file and looked over what they had so far, which wasn't much:

'Jacklyn Durgis, age 27, an intern at the Justice Department, was found dead in a garbage dumpster two miles from the Arlington National Cemetery. Autopsy revealed four stab wounds. Personal effects included a mangled flash drive, a Glock pistol, and several one hundred dollar bills. According to coworkers she kept to herself. No boyfriend, no family…'

"...and no clues. We're going to need a damn miracle here. Caroline knew this girl and wants results now.", Aubrey muttered as he looked through some photographs. "We've got zilch…"

Hearing his Skype ring, he groaned as he saw it was Angela. Hopeful it was progress on their case, he sucked up his irritation and answered. "Hello, Angela."

"Hey, so after some digging, I've got some news on our victim's life…"

"What have you got?"

Smiling, the artist chuckled. "Well, it's some hot stuff…what I found might be too much for your delicate ears, Aubrey..."

Aubrey exhaled slowly, hoping to hide his irritation. "Angela, I'm busy with several cases on my desk and Jess will be here in a while for lunch. Now what did you find?"

Taken back, Angela stiffened. "Sorry I tried to be nice, Aubrey. Wouldn't kill you to be the same, you know…"

"The case, Angela…", Aubrey prompted, not in the mood for her sarcasm.

"Fine…" Angela updated him on what she'd found. "So, what's your next move?"

"Well, I'm going to talk to the witness you found this afternoon and go from there. Is there anything else?"

"No…except that I don't know what's eating you, but you need to get rid of whatever crawled up your butt and died.", Angela bit back. "Maybe you and Jessica need to have a quickie during lunch or something because she's been cranky with me, too."

Taking a deep breath, Aubrey bit his tongue. "Angela, I'm very busy since my ASAC is on her honeymoon and there's a lot going on today over here. As for Jessica, she also has a lot on her plate since she and Wendell are covering for Oliver. I'm sorry if we're not happy enough for your standards."

"Well, I'm busy, too, but unlike you, I don't feel the need to be an asshole. Did you lose your sense of humor completely on Saturday?"

"Is there anything else, Angela?", Aubrey said calmly, not in the mood for the fight that Angela seemed to be spoiling for. "No? Good. Thank you, and goodbye."

The SAC disconnected the call before she could respond and exhaled slowly. He picked up the file to read through again but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Looking up, he saw Booth. "What's up?"

Booth walked in and sat down. "You seemed a little irritated there with Angela."

Clenching his jaw, Aubrey nodded. "She was a little bit irritated with me as well, Booth. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I need some coffee. How about a walk to the coffee cart outside? I've got some time before I go meet Bones for lunch at the diner."

"You're checking up on me, aren't you?" When Aubrey saw Booth merely stare at him, he chuckled. "Fine, but after a cup of coffee, I'll walk with you to the diner. Jessica was going to pick up lunch for us there on her way here, but I'll save her the trouble. Let me just send her a message and ask what she wants."

Aubrey grabbed his suit jacket and winter coat as Booth looked at his desk. "Tsk, tsk, tsk...you're a messy boy, Aubrey…"

"Bite me, Booth. I've seen your desk after case audits, and you have no room to talk."

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

Angela was surprised that her screen went black before she could respond to Aubrey's perfunctory closing. "God, I know that maybe I went a little overboard Saturday, but I didn't know he was so sensitive about getting married or about his mother being Catholic. If anything, he was an ass saying all those things about my ex-husband. Oh well, things will blow over…"

Finally, she headed to the Ookey Room, where her husband was hard at work on his computer. "Hey, Sweetie. I know you're busy getting ready for tomorrow and with examining evidence, but how about you take a break and we grab some lunch?"

"Yeah, I guess we can do that, but I'll have to eat and run." Hodgins looked up from the computer. "I thought you were going to ask Jessica to lunch today."

"Well, I asked but she already has plans with Aubrey. I'd even offered to pay but she turned me down for a boring lunch with him in his office."

Hodgins wheeled out from behind his desk. "He is her boyfriend, Angie…and they usually have lunch together."

"I know, but still...anyway, I just finished videoconferencing with him and he was kind of cold, too. It's like he's still mad at me because of Saturday. If anyone should be mad, it's me for what he said about Grayson."

"Ang, he was probably busy with Genny gone. I just talked to Booth and in addition to everything else we have going on, they may need us to go over the Vacchio case evidence again."

"Why?", Angela asked in surprise. "Aubrey shot the killer and the other guy shot at Hunter and Genny. That case is closed..."

"I don't know. Booth just wanted to give me a heads up. He and Aubrey are going to be swamped and that's probably why he was short tempered. I'm sure Aubrey didn't mean anything by it. Let it blow over."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

Hodgins used his yardstick to hang up his lab coat and then retrieved his winter coat. "You know, getting out of here for a while will be a good thing. Dr. B's two cases have me up to my eyeballs in work, and I'm been busy in between them writing up summaries for Cam."

"Summaries?", Angela asked, walking with her husband as he wheeled himself down the hall to the door. "I thought you two were having a meeting tomorrow."

"Yeah, we are, but she has a lot on her plate, especially with Friday being their adoption hearing for the boys. I figure she can go over these before she returns as well."

"Oh yeah…good idea."

"King of the lab, baby...", Hodgins chuckled as he led the way out of the lab.

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

A short time later, Aubrey and Jessica were eating lunch at the large table in his office. Even with his own misery, it didn't escape the agent's attention that his girlfriend was unusually quiet. "Jess, are you alright?"

The redhead shrugged her shoulders without looking up. "Yeah…I'm fine…"

'No, she's not.' Aubrey thought. "You're obviously annoyed about something. What happened?"

'Of course he would notice.' Jessica sighed. "Angela asked me out to lunch again today."

Realizing he wasn't really very hungry, Aubrey put his cheeseburger down. "You could have gone with her if you wanted…I could've just grabbed lunch with Booth and Dr. B."

Jessica finished her bite of Caesar salad. "No, you and I had plans today. Canceling on you just to have lunch with her would've been rude."

"You canceled a couple of weeks ago to eat with Ashley and I was all right with that." Aubrey played with a fry from his Styrofoam container. "Come on, Jess…"

"Superman, there was a good reason for that and you know it.", Jessica replied before sipping her water.

Aubrey had a question on his mind and decided to ask it. "Jess, I'm not keeping you from being with her, am I? I mean, I'm pissed at Angela, but don't let that keep you from hanging out with her if you want to..."

"No, Aubrey, you're not keeping me from anything. Frankly, I'm a little frustrated with her. She hasn't apologized for what she said to us Saturday, or even said anything that showed she felt bad for upsetting us. She's just acting like nothing happened and it really hurts. I usually don't let things upset me like this but…"

"She has me a bit on edge, too. When she videoconferenced with me earlier today to discuss the Durgis case, she accused me of being mean to her because I didn't feel like joking around." Aubrey got churned up as he thought about the reason for his bad mood earlier that day. "On top of that, she told me that I was being an asshole, told me to get rid of whatever had died in my ass, and to find the sense of humor I'd apparently lost on Saturday. Also, since you're crabby, we need to have a lunch fuck before you go back to work."

Jessica stabbed her salad with the fork standing up. "Are you fucking serious? She's got nerve…"

"Jess, Angela…is Angela. She was pretty nasty to Booth when he broke his engagement to Dr. B because of that Pelant guy who stalked them. She's…thoughtless sometimes, but I'm sure she's still annoyed about what I said at Genny's wedding. Don't worry about me. I'll find a way to get over it."

Jessica saw the unhappy expression on her boyfriend's face and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Superman. I can talk to her if you want…"

"No…no…it's okay...really." Aubrey noticed Jessica's frown. "I'm a big boy now, Jess, and I do need to quit being so sensitive over people being nosy about us getting married and that other stuff. I mean, bringing up her ex-husband because I was tired of her nosiness was a low blow on my part…"

"But so was nagging us about something personal...something that we had already explained more than once...something that wasn't any of her business. I love Angela, but maybe I need to start pushing back when she does stuff like that...maybe all of us should. I know she doesn't mean to hurt people…but she's so pushy..."

"Well, Booth said that after we left she got huffy about my attitude, so he called her out on her nagging us all night before telling her to mind her business and quit meddling." Aubrey bit into his lunch. "Things will work themselves out, Jess. Angela is our friend...we'll...figure something out."

"I hope so, Aubrey.", Jessica replied before going back to her salad. As they ate, the redhead noticed that her boyfriend was quiet and on edge. "Superman, what's wrong? Something is eating at you other than Angela's meddling."

"I was going to talk to you about it tonight at home but...alright." Aubrey exhaled slowly. "Hunter came by a few hours ago with some information that may help us reopen the Vacchio case."

Jessica listened as Aubrey described what had happened earlier. "That's good, right? You and Booth thought there was more to the case."

"Yeah, it is...I've always thought that there was more to all of us being shot at because two stock traders became suicidal at the thought of being caught…"

Jessica noticed her boyfriend had grown quiet and pale. "James...what aren't you telling me?"

"CEP, the overseas company handing all those goods, is based out of Croatia, but the head of the company is MIA." Aubrey studied the floor, with his girlfriend patiently waiting for him to explain the situation. Grunting softly, he finally continued . "His name was Phil Silvers."

Jessica's stomach dropped, remembering how Aubrey had mentioned his father's many aliases. "Do you think your father is involved somehow? Like he was mixed up in all this before he got caught and went back to prison?"

"I don't know, but we need all the information we can get on CEP, like who's running it now that this Phil Silvers is missing and how Histavark, Maxco Enterprises, Pixler's Pig Out Palace, and an SEC agent's murder are all connected. This could not only blow the Vacchio case wide open, but open several other cans of worms as well. I mean, we're talking money laundering, tax evasion, and other nasty things involving a lot of countries we are not friends with."

"If he is involved, we'll get through it." Jessica took Aubrey's hand and squeezed it gently. "It's going to be okay, James…"

"Yeah...I hope so." He hesitated slightly but knew he had to mention something else for his own peace of mind. "I know this goes without saying, but please don't mention anything to Daisy about this case. If her father-in-law is involved, she may unintentionally tip him off, estranged or not."

"Of course." Sighing softly, Jessica shook her head. "So much for things getting back to normal…"

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

When class ended that afternoon, Brennan looked over at her intern, who was putting away her laptop. Jessica's work with the two crime scenes over the last few days had been exemplary as always, but something seemed to be bothering the young woman.

After the women packed up their belongings, they walked the short distance out of Hamilton Hall towards Brennan's Prius. As the forensic anthropologists left the campus, she decided that it was time to find out what was going on with her intern.

"Ms. Warren, is something wrong? You seem somewhat reticent this afternoon."

Surprised, Jessica turned to her mentor. "Um...just have some stuff on my mind is all."

Thinking about her lunch conversation with Booth, Brennan took a chance. "Is some of your inner conflict concerning Aubrey's confrontation with Angela?"

"Um...how did you know?"

Smiling, Brennan made a left turn. "Ms. Warren, I know social cues are not my forte, but I've noticed that you've avoided Angela more than once over the last few days. Also, Aubrey hasn't been by the lab at all and he usually makes at least one trip during the week to see you."

Blushing, Jessica contemplated her words. "It's just...I know Angela didn't mean to be hurtful at Genny's wedding, but now that Aubrey and I have moved in together, we're getting a lot of questions about when we're getting married. That's frustrating enough, but now Angela is meddling again with what she thinks we need to do, just like when we were dating the first time because she thought we were doing things wrong. It's really annoying...just because two people love each other and cohabitate doesn't mean we have to get married. What's wrong with how Aubrey and I are doing things, Dr. B?"

"There's nothing wrong with how you and Aubrey are conducting your relationship as long as you two are happy. Some people have their own misconceptions about how relationships are supposed to go, but you should simply ignore them. As for Angela...she didn't mean to be so...frustrating Saturday. However, she does owe you an apology. Has she done so yet?"

"No, Dr. B."

Brennan nodded her head as she contemplated. "Angela has difficulty understanding how her probing nature can upset people. If she doesn't apologize soon, then I was speak to her directly. Things will work out, Ms. Warren."

"I hope so."

Brennan hesitated before asking about what else was on her intern's mind. "Booth also told me at lunch that Genny's husband had some possible information about the Vacchio case."

"I know about Aubrey's dad, Dr. B. He's being honest with me this time." Jessica stared out the passenger window as the scenery passed by. "He had all this on his mind at lunch and yet he listened to me babble about being annoyed with Angela."

"He loves you, Ms Warren, and wanted to help you."

"I know, but now I'm worried about him. If his dad is involved in Vacchio's murder...or mixed in all this...money laundering, smuggling, possibly dealing with terrorists crap, it'll devastate him."

"Yes, it will, but you'll be there for him. We all will be there for him." Brennan rubbed Jessica's shoulder. "And for you as well."

"I wish there was something I could do for him...besides listening. I don't feel very helpful."

Pulling into her parking spot in the Jeffersonian garage, Brennan became inspired. "Ms. Warren, when we go inside, promptly get your things and meet me in my office."

"W-what's going on?"

"We're going to do something...by helping our mates with this case tonight." Brennan lifted her messenger bag onto her shoulder and saw that her intern had remained seated on the passenger side. "Well, are you coming?"

Jessica grabbed her things and got out of the car. "Yes."

The women hurried inside and after picking up her belongings, the redhead rushed out of the intern locker room towards Brennan's office, she ran right into Angela. "Hi…"

"Hey, Jessica. I didn't hear back when I sent you a text earlier."

Jessica saw Brennan waiting at the exit for her. "Sorry, Dr. B doesn't let her students play on their phones during class and I ignore my phone except on breaks to be respectful. If you'll excuse-"

"Oh that's fine...so how about getting together for drinks tonight? Well, I'll get sparkling water and you can get a drink..."

Anxious to leave, Jessica started to walk away. "I can't, Angela. Dr. B and I are going to help Booth and Aubrey tonight. Sorry."

Slightly hurt, Angela couldn't stop the words from flying out. "So...Aubrey comes first now, huh? Even when he's cranky while I'm trying to be friendly?"

'Aubrey's father is no one's business, and I don't like Angela's attitude.' Jessica squared her shoulders as she turned to look at the artist. "Yes, he does, Angela, just like Hodgins should always come first for you. Please don't be snide about my boyfriend in the future. Excuse me, Dr. B's waiting for me."

"Jessica…", Angela called out to her, but the intern had already joined Brennan before they quickly left the lab. "What the hell was that all about?"

Walking back to the lab, she ran into her husband as he exited the platform lift. "Hey Angie, where's the fire?"

"Apparently at Aubrey and Jessica's house."

Seeing her brush away a tear, he took her hand. "Angela, what happened?"

"Jessica never answered my texts about drinks tonight after work, so I'd asked her a few minutes ago as she was coming out of the intern locker room. Of course, she said no because she and Brennan were helping Booth and Aubrey tonight…"

Hodgins saw his wife's face. "Ang...what did you say?"

Not liking her husband's probing questions, she looked at the floor. "Well, I felt like I was bothering her and it really hurt my feelings...so I blurted out that it's obvious that Aubrey comes first now and so her nose out of joint about that. Why?"

"Angie…Dr. B told me a few minutes ago that they are getting the guys dinner and assisting them with the Vacchio case tonight."

"Oh...I thought she was just blowing me off with another excuse…but she's barely spoken to me since Monday. I don't understand what's going on."

"Angie…" Hodgins said patiently. "...maybe you should talk to her...you know, one to one. It sounds like she's still irritated about you being so nosy on Saturday. Maybe Aubrey is, too."

"Come on, they can't still be that upset about that, can they? He's the one who brought up Grayson, Hodgins. That hurt."

"I know, but you were the who pushed them on something very personal and it backfired on you. Sometimes you really need to back off, babe…"

"But Hodgins…"

"Do you remember what happened when everyone found out why Booth broke his engagement to Dr. B?"

"I thought if I took care of their last minute wedding instead of being a grown up and actually apologizing to Booth for the horrible things I said to him, things would be all good. Instead, Brennan and I drifted apart because I couldn't admit what I'd done. Even worse, I didn't apologize until Brennan told me that Booth was the one who encouraged her to let me throw the party for her...and then, after all that, he called in several favors to keep up us out of jail after the bar fight...even for me." Exhaling, Angela nodded. "Okay...you've made your point. I'll take care of things."

"Good. Now, I got here early today and Cam's coming tomorrow morning. How about we take off for the day?"

Angela looked at her watch. "Honey, it's barely 4:00…and you were busy earlier."

"Dr. B asked us to take Hank and Christine home tonight with us so she could work with Booth. I can finish at home. Also…" Hodgins smiled up at his wife. "...I'm only King of the Lab for another six days. Let's enjoy it while we can."

Angela gave a chuckle. "Okay...hey, maybe we should throw a little welcome back party for Cam next week."

Hodgins led the way to the Ookey Room so he could get his coat. "Ang, I'm not sure Cam wants that. I got the feeling she just wants business as usual…"

"Come on, Hodgins...we'll make it a surprise and have it after 5:00. Just some of your famous cocktails, and we'll make some munchies in your lab...or we can do it on March 3rd since that will be a Friday or the following week and it will truly surprise her...all in good fun…"

"We'll see, Angie…we'll see..."

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

Booth and Aubrey were in the conference room pouring over the files from the Vacchio case. Each man was taking notes as they looked through files, but they were getting nowhere.

Booth shut his file with a flourish and rubbed his eyes. "Let's take a break, Aubrey. My eyes are killing me."

Aubrey didn't look up as he continued to read. "In a few minutes, Booth."

"Aubrey, that box will still be there in 15 minutes. Come on, let's get some coffee and order in some food."

Aubrey shook his head. "I'm not hungry, Booth."

Standing with his hands on his hips, Booth stared at his friend. "Okay, now I know you need a break. Come on…"

Aubrey huffed loudly before looking up. "Booth, go ahead if you want. I'm going to keep searching for a connection. It's got to be here."

"Aubrey…"

"Time for dinner, boys."

Aubrey and Booth looked toward the door and saw Brennan and Jessica holding three boxes of DiAngelo's pizza, salad and four bottled waters from the break room. Grinning at his wife, Booth took a bottle of water from her. "Bones, your ears must have been burning."

"No, they feel just fine...but we thought you would like some dinner.", she commented as she placed the boxes on the table.

Jessica sat down next to her boyfriend. "We're also offering our help tonight."

"What about the kids, Bones?", Booth began as he opened up a box and picked up a slice of pizza. "Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and peppers...thank you, Bones."

"You're welcome...and they are spending the night with Angela and Hodgins. They'll get the kids to school and daycare tomorrow morning."

"Jess…" Aubrey sighed audibly. "I know you must be tired...and the cat is probably starving. You know how Skinner gets if his dinner is late…"

"I ran home, fed Skinner, and gave him some attention after I told him that Aunt Jessica and Daddy were working late tonight. He's all set."

"But Jess, you also wanted to work on your dissertation tonight because you're working at the lab this weekend."

"Yes, but since Dr. B gave me tomorrow off, I'll have a quiet house while you're at work. I can use Friday, too. Besides, I want to help in any way I can...and so does Dr. B."

Booth scratched his head. "We appreciate the dinner, ladies, and the offer of help, but there's nothing...squintish here for you two to do…"

Brennan began adding salad to one of the paper plates. "Ms. Warren and I thought we could help with research…"

"...and possibly offer another set of eyes as long as nothing is uber classified.", Jessica responded.

Aubrey turned to his fellow SAC. "What do you think?"

"I think we have help for the night, Aubrey." Booth smiled as he grabbed another pizza slice. "Let me get a couple of slices first before you eat it all."

"Don't worry, Booth. I got Aubrey his own…" Jessica slid the large box across the table to her boyfriend. "A large double meat lovers plus banana peppers, cotto salami, and extra cheese with a garlic parmesan crust...red pepper flake packets are already in the box."

"Oh yeah…you know me so well." Aubrey rubbed his hands in delight before taking the box from Jessica. Opening the box, he groaned in delight. "Look out pizza, here comes Papa…"

"Hopefully, he doesn't gas you out of the bedroom with all that stuff, Jessica.", Booth chuckled as he enjoyed his pizza.

"Kiss my ass, Booth!", Aubrey retorted before turning to his girlfriend. "Jess, you can have some if you want."

"That's okay. Dr. B and I are sharing this veggie one." Jessica took a slice and started eating. "Let's eat and study."

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

Four hours later, there was a white board covered with pictures and notes standing on one side of the room. One end of the table had the crime scene photos, and the other end had the photos from Hunter's shooting and Booth and Aubrey's assault a day later. Miscellaneous items were placed at various intervals in the middle. While Booth and Aubrey were shooting ideas back and forth, Jessica and Brennan were reading files.

"So we have Histavark and Maxco sharing this subsidiary, Homco." Booth stood up and walked to the whiteboard. "They sell their parts and software to this CEP Enterprises in Croatia, a country which doesn't have any trade agreements with the US, and then they turn around and sell the stuff at cost."

"The money goes back to the parent company, Maxco Enterprises, which then goes into Pixler's BBQ, among other places.", Aubrey added. "You know, Beau was telling me about how his father's stores were failing a few years back and they'd had some bad inspections. He helped his dad find new locations and they did a lot of top quality upgrades…"

"Probably paid for by Maxco's money…"

"yeah...money Pixler got as a 'loan'." Aubrey made air quotes to emphasis his meaning. "Beau said Maxwell loaned his father the money after all the banks refused him, but it's obvious Pixler lied to his son, because Maxco...and Harold Maxwell...actually bought shares of the company at an inflated price. Eventually, Pixler's business got back into the black and he even got a small franchise set up inside of Maxco Enterprises."

Booth rubbed his eyes. "Harold Maxwell was a very savvy business guy. He wasn't going to just give money to some barbecue business without a good reason or a personal connection of some sort."

"Beau said that Harold and his dad did go back several years…"

"Yeah, but it's gotta be more than that, Aubrey. What they did here is barely legal. You don't do that for a short term investment, especially if it's just a business acquaintance." Booth scratched his chin. "Now, the next question is whether or not your dad's mixed up in all this. The head of CEP had the same name as one of your father's aliases and he's been MIA since last summer, which isn't long before your father came back to the US and was caught. While it could be a coincidence..."

"It isn't...this is right up my dad's alley…"

Booth shook his head. "Aubrey...we don't know that yet. I know how you feel about the man, but you have to look at all the evidence. All that we have so far is circumstantial…"

"Um, I don't know if this is important, but the CFO of Maxco, Craig Stephenson and Maxwell both graduated from Washington and Lee in 1978.", Jessica said as she pointed to a page in a file folder. "Stephenson is a naturalized US citizen who was born in Canada. He came to the US to go to Washington and Lee and became a citizen in 1988. After graduation, Stephenson went on to earn his master's at...City University of New York in 1982, starting with the company almost immediately after graduation."

Aubrey thought for a minute. "Wait, CUNY is actually several colleges in New York City...and Baruch College is one of them."

Booth wrote that information on the whiteboard. "So if Stephenson went to Baruch, maybe they knew each other there...or else there was another amazing coincidence. Do you think your mother would have known him, Aubrey?"

"I don't know, Booth, but now we just have to figure out the link between Pixler and Histavark...if there is one.", Aubrey mused.

Her mind racing, Jessica did some research online for the next few minutes. "Bingo...according to the Pixler Pig Out Palace's website, Martin Pixler is also a 1978 graduate of Washington and Lee with a degree in economics. So if Mr. Pixler and Stephenson knew each other in college, these guys go back like almost 40 years."

"Wonder if they were frat buddies or something? Or even in a society of some sort together.", Aubrey postulated. "That would make sense…I mean, it could be something as simple as an intramural sports team..."

"However it happened, we've got that connection, but we need to dig further. Now, Histavark." Booth made some room on the board and added some notes. "They're out of West Virginia, but they also have offices located in surrounding states. That one will be tricky to figure out. We should research the founders of that trading company and go from there."

Jessica seemed to be contemplating something as her eyes widened in realization. It seemed crazy but it fit somehow. "Aubrey...do you think that...well...it sounds insane…"

"Jess, what?"

The redhead picked at her nails. "It just sounds crazy…"

"Jessica, this whole case is crazy. Whatever you're thinking can't make things any more nuts.", Booth chuckled. "Tell us what you're thinking."

"Well, remember when we talked about your dad after you got shot, Aubrey?"

"Yeah...I do.", Aubrey gulped, remembering the horrific argument preceding that discussion. 'Thanks to us being honest, we're stronger than ever.'

"You said that your dad's car was found in Clarksburg, West Virginia, but the police could never figure out how he got to Baltimore and out of the country so quickly, right?"

"Yeah, but he had several small bank accounts opened all over the US. I'm sure he tapped into those to flee the country."

Jessica's stream of consciousness went full tilt. "Money was available, but what about the passport? The transportation out of West Virginia? Doesn't that seem like an odd place for your dad to drive to? Did your family know anyone from around there? Frank Kwiakowski was in DC and if he helped your dad get out of the US, it would make more sense to ditch the car around here, not some rural area a couple hundred miles away."

Booth nodded as he realized what she was saying. "Histavark is based out of Morgantown, West Virginia. I think that's near Clarksburg…"

Brennan looked it up on her laptop. "According to Google, Morgantown is 44 miles northeast of Clarksburg, West Virginia."

Aubrey realized where the path was leading. "Are you saying that Histavark was maybe mixed up with my dad somehow over twenty years ago and could have helped him get out of the country?"

"Maybe. The trouble is that while Jessica's theory is a really good one and it makes sense, we still need to find that connection if there was one." Booth turned to Jessica. "If we find out Phil is connected to any of those players from Histavark, then we're getting somewhere. We already know that he attended the same college as Maxco's CFO."

"My mom kept a bunch of my dad's stuff that he left behind when he took off, and I've got it at my house.", Aubrey said. "I can check all those boxes and see if there's anything that points that way. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Well, I suggest that we make a list." Brennan grabbed a legal pad sitting nearby.

"Good idea, Bones." Booth looked back at Aubrey. "If you can spare Genny tomorrow to go to Lexington and do some research at Washington and Lee, that would be a big help. They should have a list of alumni...and she can check the campus directories as well. Fraternities, clubs, societies...we need to know if they shared more than just attending the same university at the same time."

"Yeah, I can do that." Aubrey made a note before turning to his girlfriend. "Jess, can you pull up Histavark's website? Specifically, the founders of the firm..."

Jessica did as requested and found what they were looking for. "John Higgins, Alexander Stephens, and Andrea Clark are the founders...and are all three from Morgantown, West Virginia, although Stephens' dad is also from Canada."

"That's interesting." Aubrey said before Jessica continued.

"Histavark was founded in 1984 and has branch offices in several states. They are well known in the community, offer student scholarships to West Virginia University every semester, they also donate to many local causes, and sponsor a local curling club."

Aubrey glanced at his girlfriend, who had become silent. "Jess, what's wrong?"

"Maybe it's me, but I would think if you wanted to start a major trading firm, you would begin in New York, Washington DC, or some major metropolis area. Morgantown, West Virginia is a college town...not even the state capital. Then there's the curling thing...I was in a league when I attended MSU, but Michigan is near Canada, where curling is huge. There's a few leagues in Virginia, but it's...not that popular around here."

"If Mr. Stephens' father is from Canada, perhaps he was exposed that way."

"Yeah…" Booth furrowed his eyebrows as he wracked his brain. "Wait! Isn't curling that thing where they sweep the ice with brooms while someone tosses some kettle thing around?"

"That's a stone, Booth. It's actually a very complicated sport.", Brennan replied. "Players must have knowledge of physics in order to move the stones precisely…"

Booth rolled his eyes. "Sure, sweep the ice so some rock can hit a target. Like golf, that's a game. Now hockey...that's a sport."

Clearing his throat as he glared at Booth, Aubrey interrupted. "I see your point." He looked over Jessica's shoulder. "Maybe they wanted to stay close to home and and they liked that stuff. Whatever reason, I think we need to dig deeper to see if these guys are connected to Stephenson, Maxwell, Pixler, or my dad."

Brennan sipped her water. "Aubrey, someone should also review your father's case. Maybe something in there will help you and Booth get a better perspective on what occurred."

"Bones, I talked to Hodgins today and let him know that we may be reopening the case but to keep it on the DL until we get the official go ahead." Booth sipped his coffee. "He's meeting with Cam tomorrow to let her know."

Her brow furrowed as she worked on her list. "Booth, not to sound obtuse, but why all the secrecy with this case?"

"Well, Bones, for one thing, the case is closed and Stark would have something to say about us working on it when our divisions have other open cases...and rightly so, I guess." Booth played with his Steelers cup. "Also, this is a very delicate matter. This shit could go international and we don't know if these guys have people either on the inside here, the SEC, or whatever. Remember, they've already had a federal agent killed for looking into Histavark."

She shook her head. "He was killed by Vincent Sippoletti, who was a trader there and also a contract hit-man with the Mafia, Booth. I don't see…"

"Bones, remember all that shit with Durant?" Seeing the worry on her face, he quickly moved to relieve her anxieties. "No, it's not that insane, but...these people are possibly playing with some very bad boys, right? They are going to do whatever they have to do to make sure no one is ever on to them, especially after what went down with us and Genny. They are friendly enough with the Corzone family to order a hit on Vacchio...Genny, Hunter, Aubrey, and I were almost killed when we only asked a few questions...and I don't want anyone else to get hurt. For now, this is on a need to know basis."

"That makes sense." The anthropologist nodded as she wrote some more items on her list. "Ms. Warren, you're going to work with Ms. Stafford this weekend, and it's her first weekend shift. I will have her work on identifying remains, but perhaps you can also re-examine evidence from the Vacchio case if you're able to find the time."

"Of course, Dr. B."

Aubrey turned to his colleague. "Booth, we should also check out the Joe Fuller case file and evidence box…remember, Hunter said something about that guy losing it after he mentioned a photograph in his office. Maybe there's something in there that can help us."

"The guy that shot at Hunter and Genny? Good idea." Booth wrote it down. "Well, I think we've got everything…" Booth's voice trailed off when he saw who had walked in. "Angela. What's up?"

"Hi, everyone...Aubrey... Jessica, can we talk for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, sure. We're just about done here." Aubrey turned to his colleague. "Booth?"

"Me and Bones will clean this up, Aubrey. We'll talk again tomorrow after Genny gets back."

Aubrey and Jessica followed Angela out through the darkened bullpen and into his office. He turned on the light and the three went inside.

"So, um...I didn't interrupt anything big did I?", Angela asked.

"No, we're just going over the Vacchio case again.", Aubrey said. "As I'm sure Hodgins told you, we're re-examining it, but it's not official so don't say anything to anyone until we give the okay, please."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Angela looked to the floor, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. "Listen, um...I owe you two an apology for what I said at the wedding Saturday. I didn't know people had been hounding you lately and I stuck my nose where I shouldn't have. I'm sorry that I pushed so hard and that I didn't know when to quit. I just love you guys so much...seeing you two together makes me so happy."

"Angela, I'm sorry I brought up Barasa-"

"I deserved it, Aubrey. You were right to tell me off-"

Aubrey crossed his arms over his chest. "You deserved to be put in your place, but throwing your ex-husband in your face wasn't cool."

"Thank you. I guess I was more pissed off at the reminder of how I'd lost Hodgins for almost two years than the fact you brought it up." Angela put her purse strap over her shoulder. "The fact that we broke up over something so stupid as whether or not we trusted each other...I still get a bit upset about it. It's time we'll never get back, you know."

Aubrey put his arm around Jessica. "Oh, we both know all about stupid breakups, Angela."

"I know I'm nosy, but I promise that I'll work on not meddling where I shouldn't. You two don't need me pushing you into marriage. You two are together and that's what counts."

"Okay, I don't know about you all, but we need a group hug.", Jessica said. "Come on."

Angela patted her baby bump and laughed. "I don't know how far you'll get around me, but we'll try…"

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

Outside the conference room, Booth and Brennan watched the scene in Aubrey's office. "Will you look at that? I'm glad that got settled.", Booth said.

"Angela means well, Booth…"

"Yeah, she does, but she needs to temper that. Maybe now that she got confronted with it, she'll try harder not to push and meddle now."

Brennan exhaled. "Booth, do you really think Aubrey's father is possibly involved in what's going on? If this CEP is selling electronics and weapons out of Croatia…"

"That means they could be selling to terrorists, ISIS, Russians...I know, Bones. For Aubrey's sake, I hope his dad is just sitting on his fat ass rotting away in prison. But if he's involved in this in any way…"

"Aubrey going to need us. He's going to need all of us, especially Ms. Warren."

"Yeah he will, Bones, and we'll be there for him like he's always been there for us." Putting his arm around his wife, he kissed her. "Come on, let's go home and get some rest."

"How about we enjoy Page 214 first?" Brennan said with a smirk. "The kids are with Angela and Hodgins tonight."

Booth nodded as he chuckled. "I could go for that…"

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

At 10:30, an exhausted Jessica and Aubrey got into bed with Skinner following them. Each grabbed their tablets to read but they couldn't focus on their articles.

"Jess...please don't be mad for what I'm about to say…"

Concerned, the redhead turned to her boyfriend. "What?"

"If my dad is mixed up in all this shit...if he was part of a plot to murder a federal agent...possibly involved with terrorist activities...will you still...I would understand if it was too much…"

Not taking his words to heart like she used to, Jessica took his hand. "James Aubrey, I'm going to stay with you. I don't care if your father burns people at the stake and is the alleged Devil himself. You're a part of me and I can't live without you."

"This could get ugly...your mother will have an opinion…"

"Oh fuck her.", Jessica said. "That woman hasn't called to check on me once since I was assaulted in January outside of a text message sent a few weeks ago saying 'Hopefully your recovery continues to goes well, Jessica Elizabeth', probably because she blames me for Gerald doing what he did. She called Aaron last week to find out how I was doing and he told her to call me if she was so interested, but she hasn't. I'm not worried about her…"

Aubrey heard the sniffle and saw her wipe a tear away. "Jess, you're a liar…"

"Well, it hurts, I won't lie. Aaron said she sounded drunk on the phone so it's better that she didn't call me. I can't let her opinion...dictate my life anymore. Just like you can't let your father dictate your life either."

"You know...if my dad was involved with Histavark, Maxco, or any of their cronies somehow twenty years ago…it wouldn't surprise me." Aubrey gave a mirthless laugh. "Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if he was mixed up in all this, too. I mean, he'd think of it as a challenge….it'd be a grand ol' game, you know?"

Aubrey exhaled and relaxed as he felt Jessica squeeze his hand in support. "If all this goes down like I think it will...and you're connected with me, your family business…"

"Don't worry about Saoirse Finn. It's survived the Civil War, the KKK going after my family for hiring African Americans, droughts, and other awful things. It will survive this, too." Jessica caressed his cheek. "James Aubrey, you're part of our family and you always will be."

Seeing Aubrey relax, Jessica giggled before straddling her boyfriend. "Now, I need someone to help me sleep."

"I can help with that." Aubrey said before whipping off her t-shirt in record time and pulling her on top of him. "I can definitely help with that."