A/N: The words I used for this story are season, friends, and strong, and the holiday is World UFO Day. This chapter is set after Season 12.

It was a warm evening in late June as a group of old friends sat on a shady patio, drinking some cold beer and laughing as they told funny stories and playfully teased each other.

"Hey, Hodgins…," Booth began with a wry smile. "What are you doing to celebrate World UFO Day this year? Are you gonna take a rocket to Mars or somethin' crazy like that? Or are you just gonna stay on Earth and go out to Roswell? I mean, New Mexico might be kinda warm this time of year, but…"

Grimacing in annoyance, Hodgins waved off the silly suggestions. "Nah…I'm not even going to the observatory this year." He sighed quietly, knowing how much his friends would enjoy poking fun at his predicament. "Angie grounded me for the summer. She wasn't too thrilled about me getting pulled over for speeding on my new motorcycle." He glared at his companions' loud laughter. "Hey, it's not funny, okay? I paid a lot of money to get that fancy new toy, you know? Besides, I was only going fifteen miles over the speed limit and the cop dinged me for reckless driving to go with it! The fine was five hundred dollars! I think the guy was just flummoxed because he'd never seen a cycle built to accommodate wheelchairs. I guess he wasn't sure it was street legal...and then, to add insult to injury, he gave me another ticket because I wasn't wearing a helmet…that was an extra two hundred…so when Angie found out how much I had to pay, there was some…unpleasantness to be had…"

"What?" Arastoo pretended to wring his hands in despair. "You got ticketed for violating common sense laws?" Laughing merrily at his own joke, he winked at Wendell. "Bummer…it's a shame that you have to follow safety protocols, isn't it, Hodgins? I mean, they're for your own good, but…"

"Common sense? For my own good?" Hodgins angrily shook his fist in disbelief. "A grown man should be able to decide if he wants to wear a helmet…"

Booth chuckled as he picked up his beer can. "Who says you're a grown man, buddy?"

"Exactly." Wendell took a sip of his beer. "Anyway, Hodgins, it's not like you normally follow all the safety protocols at the lab, so...maybe you need someone to keep an eye on you…you know, someone like a police officer…"

"What? Listen here, buddy…" Shaking his finger at his colleagues, Hodgins was about to sputter out a noisy rebuttal to their outrageous statements when Aubrey emerged from the kitchen door carrying a very large platter of thick steaks. "Here we go…ready for the grill. Let me crank this baby up…" He lit the propane burner with a flourish. "And viola'...it won't be long until dinner is served!"

Booth sauntered over to inspect the shiny new contraption. "Hmm…that meat looks real good." Whistling softly, he ran his fingers over the numerous controls on the front of the grill. "This is pretty fancy…all the new stuff, right?" He couldn't resist a little dig. "It's not as cool as mine, of course, but it's nice all the same. By the way, thanks for having us over for dinner so we can christen this baby right, Aubrey. I guess our wives just don't know what they're missing…"

"I know, right?" Aubrey smoothed his 'BBQ God' apron and reached for a pair of long handled tongs. "Jessica said they were all going to an art show together and then out to have fancy salads for dinner and chocolate fondue for dessert. Why would anyone want to do that instead of enjoying one of these fine, well aged, grass fed, two inch thick Angus T-bones?" He gestured towards a picnic table laden with a pile of foil wrapped potatoes, corn on the cob, sauteed mushrooms, and yeast rolls, along with buckets of butter and sour cream and a very large chocolate cake. "And look…there's not a green salad in sight. Why ruin a perfectly good steak dinner with green vegetables, right?"

Hodgins nodded resolutely. "Absolutely. Now…for my contribution to the meal…" He reached into a pocket that was fastened to the arm of his wheelchair and produced a small jar. "...here's some of my secret spice rub. I came up with this recipe when Finn and I developed our hot sauce for sale." He stretched his hand towards the meat on the platter. "Just sprinkle it on the meat and pat it in…"

Aubrey was horrified. "NO WAY! These beauties don't need any special stuff to make them perfect! If I'm going to season them at all, it'll be a slight dusting of garlic pepper. I didn't even marinate them! I don't want any of the flavors to be too strong or they'll cover up the delicate natural flavor of the beef!"

Feeling offended, Hodgins pouted a bit. "Look, I use this stuff all the time, and my family loves it. It's all natural, okay? No preservatives…no MSG…just stuff to enhance the flavor…"

"Are you saying that I bought second rate steaks, and they need flavor enhancement?" Aubrey couldn't believe his ears.

"Well, you will eat almost anything.," Hodgins said in a snarky tone. "I mean, second rate beef…old sweet rolls found on the floor of a dead man's van…"

"I did not eat that sweet roll…," Aubrey said in annoyance. "...and these are hand cut US Prime steaks! They don't need any of your voodoo lab powder to make them taste good…"

Seeing that his steak dinner was in jeopardy, Booth decided to step in before the argument got any further out of control. "Fellas…hey, fellas? I'm sure the steaks will be great either way, right? So let's just get dinner started and we can discuss proper steak seasoning while we eat…""

Aubrey grunted in annoyance as he arranged the meat on the grill. "Hmmph…Hodgins wouldn't know a good steak if it bit him on the hand…"

"Yeah?" Hodgins glared at Aubrey. "Well, at least it'd get a bite in on me before I gobbled it down the way you do…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Surprised at the outburst, Aubrey and Hodgins both turned to face Booth. "What?"

"You guys are acting like a couple of spoiled middle school kids who aren't getting their own way, and I'm too hungry to listen to you bicker! If I wanted to hear someone bicker, I could've stayed home and had dinner with Bones!"

"Oh…yeah…sorry." Aubrey gave Booth a sheepish grin. "I guess I should be more open to trying new things, but…I was really looking forward to having a nice plain steak…"

"Listen, the spice rub has both garlic and pepper in it." Hodgins held out the jar to a reluctant Aubrey. "Just take a pinch…"

Suddenly Booth had an idea. "Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna set up an experiment to see which way the steaks taste better."

Hodgins gave Booth a doubtful look. "Do you actually know how to set up an experiment?"

"After working with you guys all these years I think I can fake it well enough. So…here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna randomly season the steaks myself, so some will have garlic pepper, some will have Hodgins' spice mix, and some will have both. Then when the steaks are done, I'll just put them on this big plate and you guys can take your pick and see if you like the way it's seasoned. Maybe we can even cut pieces off our steak and share it with the other guys and see which ones we like better. Whadd'ya think?"

"I guess that would work…" Aubrey scratched the back of his neck. "I guess if I don't like the seasoning on the steak I get, I can trade with someone…"

Booth chuckled. "Like there's food you won't eat, Aubrey. What about you, Hodgins?"

"Well, it's not exactly a double blind taste test, but I guess it'll work, given the circumstances." He finally nodded in agreement. "Okay, Booth…go for it."

Relieved that the crisis had been averted, Booth shooed the two men away from the grill. "Okay, boys…let the master take over…"

After several minutes, a platter of medium rare steaks was set on the table and the men crowded around to fill their plates with food.

"Man, this smells really good." Wendell cut a bite of meat and chewed thoughtfully. "I think this steak must have some of both seasonings on it…and I like it."

After taking a bite of his steak, Aubrey sighed softly. "Okay…I have to admit…Hodgins' spice rub is really good on meat." He grinned at the entomologist. "I guess I'll have to buy a jar from you…"

"Nah…" Hodgins shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll just give you a jar. I've got plenty at home."

"Are you sure, Hodgins?" Aubrey laughed as he reached for his beer. "Maybe you could sell enough jars to pay for your traffic ticket, and Angela would let you out of the house…"

Hodgins nodded with a smile. "Yeah…maybe so. I'll see if I can work out a deal to get probation."

Wendell gave Hodgins a pat on the back. "Tell her I'll be your probation officer."

"Hey…I want to get out of trouble, okay?"

The men laughed as they enjoyed their meal and the good company of their friends.

Oooooooooo

It was almost ten when Booth arrived home that evening. "Hey, Bones…you still up?"

"You're right on time. I was just about to get ready for bed. How was the cookout?"

"The steaks were really good." Booth took his wife into his arms. "You're gonna be proud of me…"

"I'm always proud of you…"

"Okay, but now you're gonna be prouder. There was a bit of a dust up over how to season the steaks…"

Brennan's brow furrowed. "Why would anyone be upset about that?"

"Well, you know…Aubrey kinda thinks of himself as a gourmet and Hodgins likes to invent new stuff and…anyway, it's not important why, okay? The important thing is that I did an experiment to see which seasoning was better."

"I see. And did you achieve quantifiable results?"

Booth gave his wife a quizzical look. "Well, I'm not sure if they're actually quantifiable, but, as it turns out, if a guy is hungry and he's had a couple of beers, he doesn't really care what kind of seasoning is on his steak as long as he gets to eat it."

Brennan giggled softly. "I suppose that's true. Well, I'm glad you had fun this evening."

"Yeah, I did…and guess what? There's other things guys like to experiment with after they've had a couple of beers." He waggled an eyebrow at her before giving her a kiss. "Wanna see if we can get some quantifiable results?"

Licking her lips, she took his hand in hers and led him down the hall towards their bedroom. "Let the experiments begin…"

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