Chapter 6

All right I hope you guys like this one as much as I do! The last scene in this one is one I've been looking forward to so I hope you enjoy the lightheartedness of that bit! :)

Jack Hodgins grinned as Angela leaned back in her chair, laughing at something he'd said. He wasn't sure where in his story she had started laughing but she was at the point now where she was barely breathing. After she calmed down, she pushed her chair back. "All right, I have to use the restroom."

"Oh, I made you laugh that hard huh?" he teased.

"Shut up, Hodgins." She grinned at him. "We're in public." Money was tight but they had gone ahead and treated themselves to a night out. He knew Angela liked to go out and missed it so he felt she was long overdue to have a fun night on the town. The meal was done and maybe they'd get dessert too so they could stay out a while longer.

They both got up and headed for the restrooms. As he went to the bathroom, he had the horrible feeling he was being watched. He glanced over his shoulder but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Shrugging it off, he pushed the bathroom door open. Still feeling as if he was being watched, he made for the stall instead of the urinal.

When he finished, he headed for the sinks and stopped dead in his tracks. There, on the mirror, written in a color that matched his wife's lipstick perfectly, was a note written just for him:

Jack Hodgins,

Be careful who you leave alone

There on the sink was, indeed, a tube of lipstick that he recognized. He'd bought that for Angela and she used it all the time. she was wearing it tonight.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No!

Jack ran out of the restroom and pushed his way into the ladies room. He was shouted at but he ignored it. "Angie?" he called. No response. No. He exited and made his way through the crowd of people towards their table, terrified of what he'd see. Terrified of the empty table that he was sure was waiting for him.

No. No. No. No. No.

The table came into view.

"Hey, babe. You okay?" Angela looked up at him, concerned.

He stared at her then glanced over his shoulder and froze. There was someone standing outside the door to the restroom. Short, stocky, with a hat on his head titlted over his face. The man lifted up a hand in greeting. Jack couldn't take his eyes off him.

"Jack? Baby?"

Then a couple of waiters walked past, blocking his view. When they were gone, so was the man. It was like something out of a movie for crying out loud!

"Jack?" Angela asked again.

"Angie, check your purse. Do you have your lipstick?" He had to make sure.

She checked her purse. "I can't find it…"

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Have you left your purse at all tonight?"

"I think I forgot it at the table when I went to the bathroom. Babe, what's going on?"

He called Booth instead of answering.

When his friend picked up, Jack had never been more relieved to hear his voice. "What the hell do you want?" So it wasn't a Hallmark greeting but he'd take it.

"Listen Angie and I went out to eat at the Founding Fathers and when I went to the bathroom there was a message on the mirror for me written in Angela's lipstick. Told me I should be careful who I leave alone."

"I'll be right there."

It was clear. The house was safe and there was no one there. All the doors and windows were locked tight. Restless and feeling paranoid, Booth turned to do another sweep of the house. He just couldn't get that phone call out of his head. How did that guy get his number? How was any of this happening?

After going to meet Hodgins and Angela, he was even more restless than he had already been. The process had been long. Pictures were taken in the restroom, both Hodgins and Angela had been questioned…

"Booth?" He turned to see Brennan, who was holding Christine to her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…" He nodded slowly. "I just keep thinking about what the Zodiac said…"

'We'll be fine, Booth," Brennan said gently. "You're getting protective again."

Booth sighed. "I feel like I'm a little obligated since a psychopath threatened my family."

"He may not be a psychopath," Sweets pointed out from the couch.

Booth shot him a dirty look. "Yeah, that's not helping."

"Booth, I can handle myself. Besides, I'm being careful and you've already checked the house multiple times. Just come to bed, all right?"

Booth hesitated then nodded a little. "All right. I'll put Christine to bed," he offered. He took Christine from Brennan then kissed her quickly before carrying their daughter to her room. He read her a story before kissing her forehead and slipping out of the room. He went into the bedroom he shared with Brennan and peered out the window, unable to help himself.

"Booth," she said gently from the bed. "I already looked."

"He's playing with our heads," Booth growled as he sat down on the bed. "I don't like it."

"We'll catch him," she reassured him.

"Before something else happens?" Booth shot back. She couldn't answer. He hated it when that happened. He hated being put in these situations. He hated this entire mess. He hated feeling so useless. "I just wish we had a lead."

"We may soon," Brennan said. "We just found Clara Wood. We could find something anytime now."

Booth sighed, not being able to think of anything to say in response and changed into a pair of sleep pants before laying down beside her.

"How was Christine?" she asked after a moment as she reached to turn off the light.

"She was asleep halfway through the story," Booth chuckled softly.

"She was tired."

"Mmmm."

"Booth?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I love you."

He smiled. "I love you too Bones." It wasn't until that moment that he finally started to relax.

"That was a good movie," Arastoo said with a nod as the lot got up from their various seats around the TV in Clark's apartment.

"We told you!" Wendell said excitedly. "Man, I love Captain America!"

Clark stretched. "All right guys, I gotta clean up this mess. Nora will be home from visiting her parents in the morning and I'm gonna get it if we leave the apartment like this." He started to pick up the discarded bags of chips and bowls of guacamole and ranch dip.

Finn hopped to his feet and helped him then the group made their way to the kitchen where there were dirty plates scattered around and empty boxes of pizza. This was a nightmare. Sighing, Clark ran a hand over his face. "Oh, I'm dead."

"We got this, man," Wendell replied. "We'll help."

"You got any tunes?" Fisher asked, looking around. Clark instructed him to the stacks of CDs and then got busy filling the particularly bad dishes with water.

Arastoo opened the pantry in search of ziplock bags. "This is a mess," he called over.

"You really don't know how to clean without Nora do you?" Finn said with a smirk as he grabbed a knife and started cutting down the pizza boxes.

"Shut up," Clark replied with an eye roll.

"You have a mix CD called favorites! We're gonna try this!" Fisher called over as he stuck in the CD. All Star by Smash Mouth started playing through the speakers and Fisher turned it up then joined them in the kitchen.

Arastoo handed Wendell the ziplock bags then went to help Finn with the boxes. Wendell stuck the leftover pizza in the bags then opened the fridge. "Oh!" he shouted, making a disgusted face. "Ho! Wow! This is nasty! Dude! I think you have something dead in here!"

"I sure hope it's dead if he's been eating it," Finn replied smartly.

Wendell shot Clark a look over his shoulder. "You're so orderly at work! How can this be how you live?" He pulled out a plastic container with some weird green substance lurking at the bottom. "Please tell me this isn't usual."

"It's not," Clark replied, rolling his eyes. The song changed to I'm a Believer by Smash Mouth.

"So, you're just a slob when Nora isn't here?" Fisher asked, helping Wendell raid the fridge. "That's a little better I guess." He held up a small container with some kind of sauce in there. "Tell me this is spaghetti sauce and not ranch or Alfredo sauce or something."

Clark just shook his head and Fisher made a disgusted face then slowly set it down. "That's just gross man," Arastoo laughed.

Clark grinned. "Shut up." They worked in quiet for a few minutes as the cd kept playing out. Over all there was some good tunes on there.

The song, Livin La Vida Loca, went off and was replaced by 1985. "I love this song," Finn muttered. As the boys continued to work, Clark moved to the bedroom to clean up the dirty clothes scattered on the floor while Finn and Fisher took over at the sink. Finn was washing while Fisher was drying and stacking the dishes neatly. Arastoo was putting the cut up cardboard into the trash bag and Wendell was still working at the fridge, dumping contents of some containers into the trash.

"Springsteen, Madonna, Way before Nirvana," Fisher sang along under his breath.

Without even thinking about it, Finn continued, "There was U2 and Blondie, and music still on MTV"

"Her two kids in high school, They tell her that she's uncool," went Wendell as he tossed a container into the sink filled with soapy water.

"Cause she's still preoccupied," Arastoo chimed in, "with-"

"19," Fisher flicked the ladel in his hand at Arastoo and Wendell, getting them with some soapy water.

"19," Finn threw in, a grin plasted on his face.

"1985!" Wendell threw his head back dramatically.

"Whoohoohoo!" Clark called in as he jogged in the kitchen to toss the thing of garbage bags he'd found in the bedroom at Arastoo, who caught it smoothly. Clark went back into the bedroom.

"She hates time make it stop, When did Motley Crue become classic rock?" Fisher sang along as if he was singing a ballad.

"And when did Ozzy become an actor?" Clark called in again.

"Please make this," Fisher went on.

"Stop." Wendell threw another container towards the sink.

"Stop." Finn caught it and dunked it into the water.

"Stop!" Arastoo lifted the full trash bag out of the can and tied it.

"And bring back," Clark sang after a brief pause.

"Springsteen, Madonna, Way before Nirvana," Wendell drummed his hands on a couple of pots sitting on the counter beside him.

"There was U2 and Blondie, and music still on MTV," Fisher took one of the pots Wendell was now handing him then took the other when that one was in the sink.

"Her two kids in high school, They tell her that she's uncool," Arastoo put a new garbage bag into the trash can. Then he grabbed the broom nearby and started sweeping.

"Cause she's still preoccupied," Finn sang along, using a serving spoon as a mic before washing it.

"Clark!" Arastoo called, holding up a sock he'd found on the ground by the table.

Clark jogged in, grabbed the sock, and sang, "1985!" as he ran back to the bedroom.

"Woohoohoo!" Wendell shut the fridge door triumphantly.

"Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Way before Nirvana," Clark called back as he pulled his overflowing laundry hamper to the washer and dryer in a nearby room.

"There was U2 and Blondie, and music still on MTV," Fisher started putting dishes away.

"Whoohoohoo!" Finn bobbed his head with a grin as he finished one of his last dishes.

"Her two kids in high school, They tell her that she's uncool," Wendell sang loudly as he started wiping the counters.

"Cause she's still preoccupied." Arastoo pointed to Fisher.

"With," Fisher pointed at Finn.

"19!" Finn pointed at Wendell.

"19!" Wendell pointed at the other room.

"1985!" Clark finished as he came back in.

All five started laughing and high fived each other. Sure, they didn't sing like angels, or even on key most of the time, but it had been fun. "Well, now, that was the best time I ever had cleaning," Finn laughed.

"Well my experiences of cleaning weren't exactly hard to beat," Wendell chuckled.

"Every thing's better with Smash Mouth," Clark said.

"That was Bowling for Soup," Fisher told him. "But I do agree."

Arastoo nodded. "And we're almost done. She'll never know what a messy human you are Clark."

"Oh, she knows," Clark laughed. "We used to fight about it a lot when we first started dating. But I've learned how to keep her happy." He smirked. "I can teach you lot about keeping women happy if you'd like."

Fisher scoffed. "No thanks! I don't want advice from you! I do just fine!"

"We're all covered I think," Arastoo said with a grin.

"But thanks for you kindness," Wendell replied, rolling his eyes.

Clark laughed. "All right fine well when you lot need help just come to the master." They all laughed so hard at that that Clark took on an offended look before laughing himself.

As always, reviews are more than welcome! :) Thanks guys!

Also, what movies do you guys like? I'd like suggestions for movies to reference to in this. :) Thanks!