A/N Usual disclaimers-everyone repeat after me….I don't own Bones or its characters.

And my apologies to DorothyOz for being later than I said I would be for this chapter. Real life got in the way-as it so often does. I hope this chapter is good enough to make it up to you. Enjoy this little bit of Booth/Hodgins.

I was sitting at the bar of the Founding Fathers when someone slid into the seat next to me.

"Hey, man."

I turned my head and saw Hodgins.

"Hey. You waiting for Angela?"

"Yeah. Did Dr. B let you know that her and Angie's 'girls night out' was running longer than they planned? Some special they had running at a spa Ange dragged Dr. B to."

I nodded. "Bones texted me. So I guess we're both hanging out waiting for them, huh.?"

Hodgins nodded. "Sure." He hesitated.

I noticed and swiveled on the barstool to face him. "Spit it out, Hodgins."

He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I just-Dr. B told Ange a little about what happened with your mom. Not in detail," he said hastily. "She wouldn't violate your trust like that. She told Angela just enough to give the impression that it was bad. Really bad. I just thought I'd volunteer to listen-"

"Or get drunk. I know-you've offered that before."

"Well that offer still stands. You know even if it's not here, you know I can brew up some good stuff at the lab-"

I shook my head. "Like when you got drunk and we all ended up in lockdown for Christmas waiting to see if we were all sick? I'll pass."

"Ok, so not one of my shining moments, I'll grant you that." He grinned as he said that. The grin faded, though, as he gave me a sideways glance. "Look, man. I don't know exactly what happened with your mom. Whatever it is seems to be stressing you out. I just thought-well, hell, I don't know what I thought exactly. I just thought if you wanted to talk, or vent because you're pissed or whatever, that you might want someone who would listen-someone you hopefully know would take your side. You do know that, right? I mean I like to think we're friends now."

I gestured to the bartender to order drinks for the both of us. "I know-and I do consider you a friend, Hodgins. I'm still not helping with any more experiments, or dealing with bugs and slime. Just so you know."

He rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. You hate the lab."

"And bugs and slime. I'm not fond of bugs and slime either. Plus, let's face it, you tend to go nuts on your experiments. Staying away from the lab seems like the safest option."

Hodgins looked like he was about to say something and stopped. "How did we get on this topic? Never mind. If you want to talk about this, that's cool. If you want to talk about what you and your mom talked about, that's cool, too. Or we could sit here and drink until Dr. B and Angela show up."

"Somehow I don't see either one of them being thrilled to drag our drunk asses home, Hodgins."

Hodgins nodded. "You've got that right. OK, we'll save getting drunk for another night."

I laughed. "Sure." I took a sip of my drink, put my arms on the bar, and let out a long breath. "The last talk with my mom-it was pretty awful, Hodgins. Even with Bones and Pops there, it was rough. There's just a lot of stuff that came out of it that I'm having trouble dealing with. I'm not going to go into detail or anything, but let's just say my mom isn't the person I thought she was. And quite honestly, I don't know what to think about or how to deal with the person she's turned out to be."

"Damn." Hodgins was quiet for a minute. "Want me to sic Angie's dad on her?"

I chuckled. "I don't think so, Hodgins. Besides, I don't see him doing it because you say so."

"No, probably not. But if Ange asks-"

I rolled my eyes. "No. Like I need to worry what he'll do on top of everything else. Besides, I think he really only likes to torture you. I doubt me or my mom would even be on his radar."

"Probably not. Unfortunately."

"Is that unfortunate because I've had a hard time dealing with my mom, or because you can't get Angela's dad off your back with a distraction?"

"Um-both?"

"Nice, Hodgins."

"Hey, just being honest here. So is your mom actually a secret agent-oh maybe getting information for-"

I held up my hand. "It's complicated, Hodgins, but not 'conspiracy theory' complicated. It's just-her explanations about leaving me and Jared, and her reasons for coming back, weren't exactly examples of stellar human behavior.'

Hodgins took a sip of his drink. "Meaning?"

I shrugged. "I guess I always figured my mom had to be pretty strong to leave Dad. I've seen enough domestic abuse situations to know how hard it can be for someone to leave. The thing is, the stuff he talked about, her explanations-they're the opposite, Hodgins. It's someone who's more interested in themselves than her family. Even her reasons for coming back-she felt the only way to come back was to have an excuse."

Hodgins whistled. "Wow." He glanced at my face. "Hey, look, man. I know you have to be disappointed by that. Don't blame you. The thing is-well, you're the strongest, toughest guy I know. Not everybody is. Whatever you decide to do what you learned about your mom is up to you-and maybe Dr. B-but I know you can handle whatever it is. I just think you and Dr. B have sort have been forged by fire, so to speak. You've both gone through hell and come out stronger. Not everybody can do that. That's the thing about fire-it can either strengthen or destroy."

I turned my head to stare at Hodgins for a minute. "OK, that's something I hadn't considered."

He shrugged. "Well, I'm not planning to give Sweets a run for his money, but I have some experience with the whole 'trial by fire' thing-with the Gravedigger. I mean it's not what your childhood may have been like or being shot at in a war zone-"

"Hodgins, being buried alive definitely counts as 'trial by fire'.

Hodgins turned a little and leaned towards me slightly. "You know if I carried a gun that wouldn't happen, and if I were in the field more often-"

"No. No, no, no, no, no, and no. And hell, no while we're at it."

"But, Booth-"

"No. It's bad enough Sweets carries a gun. The thought of armed squints makes me want to wear a bulletproof vest all the time."

"Dr. Brennan has a gun-"

"That she shot me with, Hodgins. Trying to avoid that happening again, thank you very much."

"Avoid what, Booth?" I turned to see Bones and Angela behind us.

"Hodgins and I were just discussing gun control."

Bones and Angela looked at each other, and then at Hodgins and me. "You're sitting at a bar talking about gun control." Angela's dry voice was filled with skepticism.

"Absolutely." I stood up. "You ready to head on home, Bones?"

She nodded. "Of course." She smiled and at Hodgins and Angela. "I will see you both at work tomorrow."

As we headed for the door, I turned back for a minute. "Thanks for the talk and the drinks, Hodgins. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Booth. Although, about the gun-"

"No." And I walked out the door with Bones.

LOVED Hodgins' expression in "The Woman in the Garden" when he realized he was going to get to do field work. His whole face just lit up. Then he wanted a gun, so of course Brennan wanted one too….and then there was Booth's exasperation at the possibility of gun-toting squints.