(After season 12)

JAG'ed Bones in the Casckett requested a sequel to chapter 69.

I really don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Concerned for his friend, Aubrey entered Booth's office and placed a to go container on the man's desk. "Hey, I thought you might like some pie. After you left the diner, Frankie pulled some cherry pie and some peach pie from the oven and I know you like pie. God knows I love pie right out of the oven. I bought a slice of the cherry for me and I bought you some peach pie although I probably should have bought me one of each."

"Thanks." His hands on the container Booth shook his head and held the container out offering it to Aubrey. "I'm not really hungry, but I appreciate you thinking of me."

The container in his hand, Aubrey sat down and shook his head. "Hey, I know you're upset about killing Kovak, but what choice did you have? He murdered Aldo Clemens and he tried to murder your kids. He killed a good FBI agent and hurt your father-in-law doing it and when we tracked him down he tried to run you and Dr. B down with his jeep. He could have given up. He didn't want to. The man deserved to die. You did what you had to do."

"I know. I do know that . . . I've killed a lot of men in my life, most of them in the Army and I've had to kill some doing my job for the FBI too . . . I thought when I left the Army that the killing would stop or at least it would be rare that I'd need to kill someone . . . I guess I wasn't being realistic . . . I work for Major Crimes. I look for serial killers and kidnappers. Those men don't value life including their own. If they did, they wouldn't do what they do . . . I try not to let it get to me, but in Mark Kovac's case, I was the instrument of his father's death. I shot his father at Mark's birthday party wen he was little kid and his father's blood . . . Mark was covered in his father's blood. Of course it affected him . . . That little boy grew up and wanted revenge and I was the object of his revenge. He couldn't forget what happened to his father and when he could, when he grew into a man, he came after me . . . I caused this."

"Bullshit." Aubrey shook his head. "That is bullshit . . . General Josip Radik was involved in ethnic cleansing. He was slaughtering men, women and children because they weren't Serbian. If you hadn't stopped him then he would have continued to murder people he considered subhuman because they weren't Serbian. The man was a monster and you stopped what he was doing. Mark Kovac and his sister knew their father's history. You can't tell they didn't know what Radik did . . . They knew who he was and they didn't care . . . They weren't any better than their father. Mark went after your kids, Booth. Little children . . . I don't feel sorry for him and neither should you. No one made him what he was. He did that to himself. He forced you to kill him and that's the end of the story."

"It's that simple to you?" Booth stared at his friend and he wanted an honest answer. "You'd have done the same thing?"

Slowly nodding his head, Aubrey gave his friend the honest answer he needed. "I would have. I'm not some super Ninja sniper like you are, but if I had a man like General Radik in my gun sites and I knew that he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of women and children . . . I'd have killed him . . . Look, you were doing your job at the time. You were ordered to take out a monster, a man with no conscious who was slaughtering innocent people and you did your job. You didn't do anything wrong. Mark Kovac was no better than his father. He killed innocent people all in the name of revenge. The man didn't have a conscious a moral compass and neither does his sister. You're sad you had to kill him and I get that, but he was going to kill you and Dr. B and if he had done that then he was probably going to kill your kids afterward. He was evil, Booth. You killed evil because you had to."

Aubrey leaned forward and placed the container holding the piece of pie back on Booth's desk. "I would have killed Mark Kovac if he had come after me too. In fact, I was there at the farm with you and Dr. B and I planned to kill the man if I found him first . . . He went after your kids, Booth. He went after Christine and Hank. They're just little kids. Hank is practically a baby . . . You had to protect them and you know it."

"I have this cosmic balance sheet . . . sort of a scorecard of the things I've done in my life that might be questionable to God. I've tried to make up for what I've done in the past by catching murderers and kidnappers and I think it helps balance out what I've done . . . Bones knows about my list and she's helped me over the years because she understands it's something I need to do." Staring at his clasped hands resting on his desk, Booth shook his head. "It will be interesting to see what God says about what I've done when I finally pass on from this life . . . Yeah." He shook his head. "I was okay right after I shot Mark, but I've had time to think about what happened and it just made me think that I was the cause of all of this . . . Still, yes, you're right. Mark tried to kill my kids and that makes him no better than his father."

"Right . . . that's right." Aubrey smiled and touched the to go container. "Do you really want me to keep the pie? I am feeling a little peckish so I'll eat it if you don't want it."

Leaning forward, Booth pulled the container over to his side of the desk and shook his head. "I've changed my mind. I didn't eat lunch . . . I threw it away, but don't tell Bones I did that. She'll just fuss about it . . . Thanks for the pie and for talking to me. You said the same things Bones did, but she loves me so I guess I just needed someone else to agree with what she'd said."

A little disappointed that Booth was going to eat the pie, Aubrey stood up and smiled. "I may not be the genius that Dr. B is, but I have my moments. Enjoy the pie. It's really good." Once he was out of the office, Aubrey walked over to the breakroom and looked at the vending machine. "Fig Newtons . . . alright. It's not pie, but it is cake or cookies . . . I'm not really sure what they are, but who cares."

Oooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. I appreciate it.