(The Crack in the Code)

Thank you for reviewing my story. I appreciate it.

I don't own Bones, not even a little bit.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hodgins had delivered his report to Brennan and with it a cup of coffee. Sitting on the chair in front of her desk, he pointed at the folder and decided to expound on what he thought was going on. "What I said at the American Heritage Museum is true you know. The Vatican had Abraham Lincoln assassinated because of his involvement in their cause against Charles Chiniquy. Father Chiniquy was excommunicated by Bishop O'Regan for some trumped up charges just because Chiniquy hated the way French Canadians were treated in Illinois. He left the church in 1858 and he swore that the church was behind the Confederate cause and that Lincoln's assassin was loyal to the church. John Wilkes Booth was secretly a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle and . . . ."

A noise catching his attention near the doorway, Hodgins turned his head and noticed Booth was standing there. The look on the agent's face told the entomologist that his final hour might have come.

Brennan quickly stood up and moved around her desk towards Booth, but stopped when he held up his hand and shook his head. "Don't." Turning, Booth marched down the hallway towards the entrance to the Lab and refused to look back when Brennan called his name.

Standing in front of her office, Brennan knew her partner was hurt and angry and hindsight being perfect, she realized that she should never have allowed Hodgins to regale her with his pet conspiracy theories about the Lincoln assassination.

Mortified that he had actually enraged Booth about his theory about the agent's relative, John Wilkes Booth, Hodgins worried that he'd just destroyed a valuable friendship. "I am so sorry, Dr. B. He hardly comes around here anymore and it never dawned on me that there was a chance he might hear me . . . I'm sorry."

Worried about Booth, Brennan turned and re-entered her office. "Cam did tell you not to talk about that particular topic. I should have told you to stop when you started telling me about it . . . Booth is a very loyal American and he loves his country so much. He is also a man of faith and he loves God and his church . . . The things you said only served to humiliate him and make him angry."

Hanging his head, Hodgins shook his head. "I made a mistake and now he hates me." Slowly, he walked past Brennan and out of her office. Moving down the hallway, he entered his office and sat down heavily on his chair near his PC. Placing his hand on the desk in front of him, he stared at the floor and tried to think about how he could fix what he had done.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Not sure if he was doing the right thing or not, Hodgins knocked on the door frame of Booth's office and then stepped into the room. "Look, Booth, I'm really sorry . . . You know me, I have all these theories and . . . um, well I'm sorry I made you mad. I never ever meant to humiliate you or make you angry. I know you love the United States and you love being Catholic and . . ."

His eyes boring into the entomologist, Booth leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms against his broad chest. "Stop . . . just turn around and walk away while you can."

Slowly shaking his head, Hodgins moved further into the room. "I can't. You're my friend and I hurt you and it's not right. I need to apologize to you. It wasn't personal, it was a theory about what we found earlier today. Just a theory and . . . I don't want you to give up on being my friend because of what I said. It wasn't aimed at you or your beliefs . . . Look, I don't have a lot of friends and I can't afford to lose your friendship, you and Dr. B mean a lot to me. You know besides Angela and Michael Vincent I don't have any family . . . I'm sorry."

He was angry, but Booth hated to see a man grovel and Hodgins was coming close to that just to apologize to him. "We're friends, okay? I'm just mad at you right now and I need some space from you and your weird theories . . . You didn't know I was there and I know you weren't talking about me . . . just . . . just go back to the Jeffersonian and let me be mad at you. In a few days we'll be good . . . just don't ever make a crack about shit like that again. The next time I might take it personally."

Relieved that Booth wasn't ending his friendship, Hodgins walked over to Booth's desk and laid an envelope on top of it. "I did something and I don't want you to think I'm trying to buy your friendship because I'm not. I did it to show you that I love my country too and I'm proud to know people like you." Turning, he moved over to the doorway and looked back. "I'll keep away from you for a few days. You let me know when you're not angry with me anymore."

After he left, Booth picked up the envelope and removed a card from inside.

A donation of $100,000 has been made in your name to Fisher House.

Surprised, Booth shook his head and smiled.

Oooooooooooooooo

A/N: Fisher House is a real charity. It provides military families housing close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury. It also funds a scholarship program for military families and provides military personnel and their families with free air travel and hotel rooms.