A/N. Thanks to mphs95 for the request and the idea. Hope it doesn't disappoint. Season 11 after The Fight in the Fixer.
Special Agent Seeley Booth sat outside the coffee cart on a sunny but cold spring Thursday afternoon. He didn't mind the cold, just was happy to get out of the office. The morning had been spent in a windowless conference room listening to a bureaucrat from accounting drone on about the new expense report format. He was a little ashamed to admit he had sent up a prayer for a body to be found just to get out of the education session.
He was doing his standard people watching when he noticed Jessica Warren standing in line. Reading her body language, she was a tense and Booth figured out his partner James Aubrey was the most likely culprit. It had been two days since Aubrey had found out that his fugitive father was back in the country and actively stalking his son, and the younger agent was not taking it well.
Jessica had worked through lunch finishing up on a set of bones from storage. She was supposed to have had lunch with Aubrey but he had bailed on her at the last minute, citing paperwork. She recognized the excuse as flimsy at best, but had been unable to convince him to change his mind. Needing to clear her head she decided a catnip tea break was in order. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about how to help Aubrey, but she wasn't sure who. Angela and Hodgins would be happy to offer advice, but she wasn't sure how much they knew about the situation and it seemed like it would be a breach of trust to enlighten them. Dr. B. while brilliant, wasn't always the best person to deal with emotion. It was then she noticed Booth alone at a table in the corner.
She mentally ran through what she knew about the senior agent, and had to conclude that her first hand knowledge was limited. Most of what she knew about him had been gleaned through Aubrey and the Jeffersonian staff. When they had met at the hospital after Aubrey and Hodgins were injured, both of them had been distracted. The few other social occasions she had seen him at he was friendly, but tended to hang on the fringes of the group. He also had a knack for engaging you in conversation and it was only later you realized that you had done most of the talking. She knew that he was aware of Aubrey's situation and that he considered Aubrey family. Her tea ready, she debated for another moment then reminded herself that being passive and patient had never been a strong point and Aubrey knew that. She headed towards Booth.
Booth saw the red head approach and took a deep breath. She was definitely a woman on a mission.
"Good afternoon Agent Booth. Do you mind if I sit down?"
"Hey Jessica. Have a seat. How are things?" He smiled at her.
She hesitated a bit. There was still an opportunity to do small talk. But, then, she reasoned not really. He interrogated suspects for a living, she didn't stand a chance. Not wanting either of them to work that hard, she looked him in the eye and took a deep breath. "I'm worried about Aubrey, and this whole thing with his dad. He's not happy, and I want to make it better, but I'm feeling a little out of my depth here. I grew up in an odd situation, but I always had my family around, so I can't imagine having a parent disappear for years. Let alone a parent that is a fugitive. But I know that Dr. B has an interesting dad and I'm guessing you helped her navigate that mine field so I'm wondering if you have any advice for me because this isn't something you can ask Siri about or Google 'Coping with being stalked by the father you helped put in jail' and find a support group."
Booth took a sip of his coffee, inwardly smiling at the description of Max being 'interesting'. He turned to study the young woman, he knew Aubrey was crazy about her, but the relationship had only recently moved beyond friendship. The fact that she was so worried indicated the feelings were mutual. He finally spoke, "Advice? Guess my first advice would be that you can't fix this for Aubrey, you can only help him fix it for himself."
She sighed, "I was afraid that would be the case. So, now what?"
"Mainly just listen."
"But that's the problem, he won't talk about it."
He shrugged, "Make him. Sit him down and give him some squinty explanation on why you need to talk about it. He'll do anything for you."
She looked at him skeptically. "Squinty explanation?"
He fidgeted with his coffee cup. "Yea. Quantum time theory, laws of physics, anthropological theories of the paternal relationship, whatever you can come up with. Just give a plausible reason why YOU need to discuss it and he'll start talking."
"That's how you got Dr. B to talk about her dad?" she asked, a little confused.
He laughed. "No, I don't ever try to out squint Bones."
She looked at him closely and the light dawned. "Oh, that's how Dr. B. gets you to talk!" He nodded in confirmation. She sipped her tea as she contemplated this new information.
"Ok, I can see where that would work. " She sighed. "He's pretty angry though."
"Yea. Talking about it will help, but basically it takes time. He'll figure out that the anger only hurts himself if you keep reminding him."
She drank more of her tea, not sure if she should say what she was thinking. "I'm getting a vibe that you have some personal experience similar to Aubrey and his dad. It's not just through Dr. B?" She saw his jaw tense and wondered if she'd pushed too far.
"Your vibe is correct." He finally admitted. He took a drink, buying time as he considered whether to elaborate. "My parents weren't criminals, but I didn't exactly win the mom and dad lottery. Unfortunately, no matter how lousy your parents are, you still love them. At least a little bit."
Her phone dinged. A text from Aubrey. "Dinner 2night?" She felt hope that at least she wasn't being shut out any more, and she now had a game plan. Her tea finished she turned to Booth and said, "Thank you, I feel better."
"Glad I can help. Aubrey will be okay. He's got you by his side."
She smiled and replied, "And you and Dr. B in his corner."
