Bones FF: 525600 moments Chapter 13

[akarana]

I have to travel this friday and some other stuff to do on Thursday, so once again I have to update Wednesday. I hope that won't stop you from reading and commenting.



Chapter 13: Family won, family lost

Hodgins awoke again around ten when someone rang the doorbell. He looked to his side and found Cam asleep with her face lying halfway on the open book she still held in her hands. The bell rang again but Cam didn't even stir, so he knew he had to get up, otherwise whoever it was would wake up Michelle and Michelle didn't like to be woken up on the weekends. He put on his boxer shorts and a grey T-shirt and then hurried to the door. He pressed the button of the intercom and asked who was there, but he didn't get an answer. Instead there was a knock on the door that made him jump slightly because he hadn't expected it.

"Oh, um, hi," Hodgins said when he opened the door and came face to face with Cam's father and her sister Felicia.

"Hodgins, I see you're back from your vacation," Mr. Saroyan said and looked him up and down with disapproval.

"Yeah, I am," he nodded and finally realized that he had to take a step back so he could let them in. "Come on in," he said and tugged nervously on the hem of his shirt, wishing he had put on his jeans at least.

"Where are my girls?" Cam's father asked and put an emphasize on the "my" while Felicia was grinning wickedly.

"Still asleep," he replied truthfully and took a deep breath. "Why don't you, um, sit down and I see you bring breakfast, so I, uh, will go and get Cam," he rambled helplessly and hurried back into Cam's bedroom. He pushed the door close behind him, but missed that it remained ajar.

"Cam, baby, you have to wake up," he said and shook her slightly by her shoulder.

"Mmmh, no," she groaned and tried to move away from him.

"Come on," he begged and made her roll onto her back.

"Kiss," she requested without opening her eyes and a slight pout on her face. He quickly pecked her lips and wanted to pull back when she slung her arms around his neck and held him close. "That wasn't a kiss," she said and opened her eyes.

"Babe, we really don't have time for this bec…" she cut him off by pulling him to her and kissing him firmly. Even though danger was waiting just outside the door Hodgins couldn't resist kissing her back because the feeling of having her in his arms again was still too overwhelming. As usual he possessively cupped her cheek and deepened the kiss. His fingertips brushed against some strands of her hair and he gave into the urge to tangle the other hand in her black curls. Cam moaned quietly when he softly scrapped his teeth along her bottom lip, something he knew drove her crazy. He sat up and pulled her with him, not caring that the blanket slipped down and exposed her naked upper body. Cam leaned more into him to avoid the cold air and warm her skin against his shirt.

"I sure wish I had you as my personal alarm clock," Felicia's voice came from the door and the two jumped apart, Hodgins literally jumping off the bed. Felicia had pushed the ajar door open and watched them with an "I got ya" grin.

"What are you doing here?" Cam asked her sister and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Dad and I thought we'd surprise you with breakfast. We didn't know you had your own surprise already here," Felicia grinned.

"Dad is here as well?" Cam shrieked and looked accusingly at Hodgins.

"That's what I wanted to tell you when you shut me up," he defended himself.

"We'll be right out," Cam muttered in her sisters direction and made an attempt to get up, but stopped when Felicia remained standing in the doorway. "Could you close the door now? And be quiet, Michelle is still asleep," she told her and quirked one eyebrow. Felicia finally turned around with another glance at Hodgins and closed the door behind her.

"Better safe than sorry," Hodgins muttered when he got up from the bed and locked the door from the inside.

"I've obviously been too nice to them if they now start randomly stopping by on a Saturday morning," Cam grumbled and finally got out of bed.

"And I should stop opening doors dressed in my underwear," Hodgins grumbled along and picked up his clothes from the bathroom floor.

"There goes our nice quiet morning," Cam whined while she put on underwear and watched Hodgins as he brushed his teeth.

"Your sister is creepy. Did you notice how she stared at my groin?" he asked when he spit out the foam before he rinsed his mouth. Cam only nodded, her own mouth full of toothpaste by now and dressed in jeans and a simple blue shirt.

"Can I go like this?" she asked after she had brushed out her hair and left it down, falling openly over her shoulders and her back.

"So beautiful and minty fresh," he smiled, pulled her close by her waist, and kissed her again.

"Hey Jack?" she said questioningly and played with the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Mmmh?" he replied and pulled back a bit from the embrace to look at her.

"Even if it means risking your life: Would you be ok if we just try to act like we always do and don't put on a show for my dad? We really got closer on Christmas and he basically told me that my mom always informed him about everything anyway. I would feel weird now pretending to be less than we are," she explained and looked curiously at him.

"So you're seriously asking me to kiss you and hold your hand in front of your dad?" he wanted clarification.

"Kind of," she nodded.

"I'd love to, even if it gets me killed," he grinned and pressed his lips to hers again. Arm in arm they left the bathroom and emerged from the bedroom a second later. Felicia was setting the table while Cam's father had busied himself in the kitchen.

"Hey Dad," Cam smiled when she saw him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good morning, Cami. We thought you'd be up already," he told her and kept making orange juice.

"No, we all like to sleep in," she smiled, stepping in front of Hodgins so she could watch her father better. He was making a mess out of her kitchen and she contemplated stopping him, when Hodgins wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her towards him. It was something that he always did when it was just the three of them, but it felt a bit weird now that he'd done it with her father in the room and her sister not too far away.

"We'll clean up together when they're gone," Hodgins whispered in her ear and she turned around to him with a smile that lit up her whole face.

"You know me too well," she beamed at him and pecked his lips.

"Cami, can you start making pancakes? I didn't want to bring them, because they would've been cold by now," her father interrupted and Cam turned back around to him.

"Dad, for the safety of all of us I think it's better if Jack makes them," she replied and pinched Hodgins' arm when she felt him chuckle and nod behind her.

"Hey! I just totally agree with you that you should stay as far away from the stove as possible," he laughed while rubbing his arm.

"Camille you help your sister meanwhile? I'm not sure she knows where she can find the things she needs," her father interrupted them once again and made Cam sigh.

"I better go out there before she starts digging through our things," she rolled her eyes at Hodgins. She stroked her hand over his arm and let her fingers glide over his as she left the room. He watched her and winked at her when she turned around again, which made her laugh and roll her eyes at him, before she disappeared around the corner to help her sister.

"So, um, how was your Christmas Mr. Saroyan?" Hodgins tried to find something to talk about with Cam's father.

"It was really… interesting. I had expected you to be there, but Cam told me you preferred to go skiing," her father replied while Hodgins took the flour and the other ingredients out of the cupboards and the fridge. He placed them all on the counter while he contemplated what to say to that and then decided that he would just be as blunt as usual. Her father hadn't liked him from the very beginning, but he would have to learn to live with him. He was in this for the long run and he knew Cam was as well.

"I think we both know that I wasn't simply on a skiing trip. Cam told me that she talked to you about what happened," he said without going into detail because while she had mentioned that she had talked to her father, she had yet to tell him more about their talk.

"You shouldn't let her push you away," Mr. Saroyan replied.

"I needed time, but that doesn't mean that I had given up. I won't let her run from me," he promised and placed the pan on the stove.

"I guess that means that we'll see more of each other from now on," her father replied and turned to look at him for the first time.

"I'll be around," Hodgins nodded.

"Just know that I'll watch you and if you hurt her I will kill you," he threatened and Hodgins had to laugh about this.

"I'm sure Booth will help you hide the body afterwards," he grinned.

"Smells great in here," Felicia gushed when she sauntered into the kitchen and placed a hand on her father's shoulder but looked at Hodgins as he poured some more batter into the pan.

"I agree," Cam said when she came around the corner as well and slung an arm around Hodgins' middle and kissed his cheek.

"You have blueberries here or anything else I could add?" he asked her.

"Nope, we need to go shopping later. No one has been cooking here," she shook her head.

"Michelle didn't feed you?" he said softly and looked a bit worried.

"Sometimes, but not as regularly as you do," she smiled at him. They both knew it wasn't Michelle's job to look after Cam and make sure she ate something decent. Then again when Hodgins wasn't around no one else was there and Cam wasn't always that good at taking care of herself.

"Guess you're lucky I'm back," he smiled back and hugged her to him with one arm while he flipped the pancakes with his other. Cam didn't reply, but leaned her cheek against his shoulder and nuzzled her nose against his neck.

"You two are sickening," Felicia sighed when she saw them.

"Less pancakes for me to make if you're not eating with us," Hodgins shot back and Cam laughed quietly against his shoulder.

"Where is Michelle? Is she still asleep?" Mr. Saroyan piped up, finally done with making the orange juice.

"Yes, but I should probably wake her," Cam replied, untangled from Hodgins and left the kitchen to wake her daughter.

"Dad, do you know if Michelle drinks coffee as well in the morning or do we need to prepare something else?" Felicia asked her father when Cam was gone.

"I don't know," Mr. Saroyan shrugged and turned to Hodgins with a questioning expression.

"Coffee's fine," he told them and arranged the pancakes on a plate.

"You seem to be around a lot," Felicia observed and he wasn't too sure if it was a compliment or an accusation.

"I am. We usually spend the weekends at my place though," he told her as if to point out that they had been lucky that they were even home.

"Where is it again that you live?" Cam's sister asked innocently although he was sure he had never told her.

"Across town, between Rock Creek Park and the DuPont Circle," Hodgins replied and left the kitchen carrying the pancakes out into the living room.

"Closer to the park or closer to the Circle?" Cam's father wanted to know and followed him with the orange juice.

"Closer to the park. Basically directly at the park," he explained but left out the fact that his estate kind of belonged to the park, or parts of the park to his estate, whichever way you saw it.

"Look who's finally joined us," Cam grinned when she came from Michelle's room dragging the teenager behind her by her hand. Michelle was dressed in jeans and a shirt but seemed barely awake and followed Cam with her eyes closed. When Cam turned left to walk around the table Michelle walked on straight and crashed into Hodgins, which made him laugh.

"Good morning Michelle," he grinned when she didn't step away from him, but just rested her head against his shoulder. "You're sure she's actually awake?" he asked Cam and wrapped an arm around Michelle's shoulder to support her just in case she was really still asleep.

"No, I'm not, but she will wake up at some point," Cam shrugged and sat down.

"You're cruel," Jack laughed and slowly moved with Michelle in the direction of her chair. "Come on, kid, sit down," he grinned and pulled away from her.

"Nooo, you're comfy," she mumbled without opening her eyes.

"Ah, she speaks," Cam's father laughed and Michelle finally opened her eyes.

"Morning," she greeted Cam's father and finally lifted her head from Hodgins shoulder and plopped down in her chair. While she rubbed her eyes with both hands Hodgins poured her a cup of coffee, added two spoons of sugar and some milk, and handed it to her.

"Here," he smiled and then sat down at the only remaining free chair between Cam and her father.

"Baby, can you hand me the strawberries?" Hodgins asked Cam nearly two hours later when they were still sitting around the table eating breakfast.

"Sure," she replied and handed him the bowl while he took another pancake and placed it on his plate. Now there was only one pancake left and although everyone was pretty full, as soon as Felicia and Cam saw that they were down to the last one, they both reached out to take it.

"Hey, that's mine! I saw it first," Felicia exclaimed when Cam stuck her fork in the pancake on one side while Felicia's was stuck in the other.

"You had three more than I did, so that is mine," Cam argued back.

"You're the host here, you should treat your guests right and that means stepping back and letting them have the food if they are still hungry," her sister wasn't even close to giving up. While Cam's father barely reacted and kept eating his fruit salad, Michelle and Hodgins exchanged looks that made it clear they thought the sisters had both lost their minds.

"You brought the breakfast," Cam shot back.

"Not the pancakes!" Felicia insisted.

"Just share the pancake," Mr. Saroyan tried to stop them from attacking each other.

"No way!"

"That is mine!" Felicia insisted.

"You know, if you didn't spend all your money on clothes you can't afford you would have some to buy food and pay the rent for once," Cam attacked her sister verbally.

"At least I don't have to score myself a billionaire to have some food on the table," the prompt reply came.

"This is my condo, fully paid for by the way, and I can throw you out of it anytime I want," Cam said louder and stood up from her chair.

"Ok, fine, I'll leave. But with the pancake," Felicia mirrored her stance.

"Never!" Cam said and pulled the plate in her direction when Felicia lightly stabbed her hand with the fork.

"Cam, why don't you sit down and have my pancake?" Hodgins interrupted them before they would really hurt each other. "I'm not that hungry and it even has the last strawberries on it," he tried to make it sound good and not like she was giving in. She eyed the pancake on his plate warily and then sat down slowly.

"She stabbed me," Cam told Hodgins with a pout and held out the hand to him. He couldn't actually see anything but placed a kiss on it anyway.

"Better?" he asked her and stroked over the spot with his thumb.

"Mmh. At least she'll have something decent to eat as opposed to the instant noodles she usually has," Cam shot one last insult at her sister and accepted Hodgins plate.

"Felicia sit down and eat," Mr. Saroyan told her younger sister, finally reacting in some way when Felicia remained standing and glared at her older sister.

"I hope you choke on it," Cam muttered and then opened her mouth when Hodgins fed her the first strawberry just to shut her up.

"I don't want it anymore. It's cold now," Felicia spat and pushed the last pancake away from her.

"Oh my God," Michelle said dramatically and rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go to my room now, because for all I know this could be contagious," she said and pointed from one sister to the other. "And the pancakes are coming with me," she decided, took both plates, and walked to her room.

"Don't leave me," Hodgins whined and held out one hand in her direction.

"Sorry," Michelle shrugged and closed the door behind her.

"Cam, angel, love of my life," Hodgins interrupted her later that day when they were on their way back home to her place from grocery shopping. "Will you please stop talking about your sister now," he begged. "You are both completely nuts. Although your lunacy only seems to come out when you're around family," he told her after she wouldn't stop complaining about her sister. The funny thing was, every time he agreed with her she would attack him and defend her sister.

"Fine," she agreed with a sigh. "My father likes you," she stated then, totally out of the blue for him.

"And you base that assumption on the way he glares at me or because he tried to break my hand again when he left?" he replied unbelievingly.

"I base it on the fact that he told me on Christmas," she said and he looked surprised.

"You sure he wasn't talking about someone else?" he wanted to know.

"He said, and I quote 'Hodgins is a good guy' and coming from my father that's basically a declaration of love," Cam smiled and turned to look at him while he drove through the hectic Saturday afternoon traffic.

"He sure has a weird way of showing it," he replied. "But he advised me today not to let you push me away, maybe that's a good sign?" he added then.

"Oh so he thinks that everything was my fault again? Nice," Cam huffed.

"He didn't say that and I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. You're just really... difficult, for lack of a better word," Hodgins admitted and quickly looked at her. The car doors were locked after all, so at least she couldn't run. She could only attack him.

"Ok, fine, I'm not always easy, is that what you want to hear?" she got defensive.

"No, I'm just pointing out that your father seems to know that. And you know it as well, so don't pretend to be offended. I just wasn't sure what to reply when he gave me his advice," he quickly replied and sought out her left hand and took it in his right. "I wasn't sure what you told him."

"I told him about the pregnancy and about our disagreement concerning a future with kids and a family. I think I also told him that you went away to think," Cam sounded calmer again.

"So basically he knows everything?"

"Is that a problem?" she sounded unsure.

"No, maybe a bit weird. But I'm glad you talked to someone. I was worried that you would try and keep everything in again," he replied.

"I hadn't planned on it, but it all kind of burst out," Cam admitted.

"You need to talk more, babe. About important things I mean. If you don't want to talk to me then talk to your dad or to Booth or someone. It's not good when you bottle everything up and it doesn't help you to resolve anything," he stopped at a traffic light and looked at her. "Welton hurt you badly back then and I'm pretty banged up as well, but we need to learn to let that go or at least talk about it," he requested.

"Wouldn't it be weird when you say something or do something and then all of a sudden I say 'Sorry, Jack, but that scares the crap out of me, because that's what Andrew said right before he cheated on me again'?"

"Maybe at first. But then I'll know what's going on instead of you just putting another brick onto that wall you've built around yourself. I can't read your mind or guess what you're feeling all the time," Hodgins tried to reason with her.

"I sometimes don't know what I'm feeling either. When it gets too much at first it hurts and then I'm just numb. The pain about the whole pregnancy thing didn't hit me until Christmas," she managed to open up.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when the pain came," he placed a kiss on her hand.

"It would have been nice if you had been there after the talk with my dad," she nodded and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Next time I'll be around," he promised her with a small smile.

"Next time I'll talk to you," she replied and smiled back at him. "Oh, and did you catch that my dad invited us to mass next Sunday?" she asked him then, remembering the fact.

"God, that means we have to go, doesn't it?" he groaned.

"Oh yeah," she laughed.

"You know how long it's been since I've been in a church?"

"No, I don't even know what religion you are," she teased him.

"I'm a fallen Episcopalian," he informed her.

"The religion of the rich and famous," Cam grinned as he pulled into her garage.

"One fourth of all Presidents of the USA were Episcopalians, so of course we Hodgins' have to be as well. If we believe in it or not," he rolled his eyes and laughed with her when they got out of the car to unload their groceries.

"And, how is it going?" Cam asked Michelle and Hodgins when she walked up to them on Monday afternoon. They were sitting on the orange couch up on the mezzanine.

"I think I finally understood at least part of it," Michelle sighed and pushed her chemistry papers away from her.

"When do you have to be back at school?" Cam wanted to know and sat down next to Hodgins.

"I have to leave in ten minutes," the teen replied. "Can you give me your card? I want to use the bathroom before I go," she requested then and Cam nodded and unclipped her card from her skirt.

"She's really got it now?" she asked Hodgins when Michelle was out of earshot.

"She understands the process, but she still needs to learn the formulas and periodic table. I can't help her with that," he shrugged.

"I understand her, I wasn't too fond of chemistry either," she replied and leaned back against the backrest of the couch.

"Didn't you need it for your medicine studies?" he raised his eyebrows and moved closer to her.

"Sure, but even till this day I know only the basics of what I have to know and the rest I have to look up," she admitted. "Not that you would understand, genius," she teased him.

"Me being a genius now helps your daughter to not get a D in chemistry," he grinned in reply and made her roll her eyes.

"I love it how modest you all are around here," she said. "And speaking of genius: Do you already know what you're gonna make for dinner tonight?"

"No idea," he shook his head.

"I thought maybe we could go to the Italian restaurant around the corner from my place. We haven't been there in a while and some decent tagliatelle with shrimp sounds heavenly," Cam said.

"Sounds great," he agreed.

"What does?" Michelle asked when she came back at that moment.

"Rico's tonight," Cam replied.

"This time I'm not eating any main course. I'll go straight to the Tiramisu," Michelle said enthusiastically and made the two adults laugh.

"You'll get sick," Hodgins told her but she waved him off.

"I have to go, you two have to work, so see you tonight," Michelle said and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Bye Michelle," Hodgins waved when she had hugged Cam and waved at him while walking away.

"Love you," she said to them.

"Love you, too," Cam replied and slowly got up. "And we should go back to work. I'm drowning in paper work."

"Something interesting or just the usual crap?" Hodgins wanted to know and got up as well.

"The usual," she shrugged.

"When are we leaving today? Six-ish?" he wanted to know.

"Yup, six-ish. See you later," she replied and pecked his lips before she hurried off to her office and he walked back to his own lab to do the tests he had pushed back when Michelle had shown up with her problems in chemistry.

"Angela, quick question. Uh, is this your home pregnancy test?" Cam asked Angela a few hours later when she walked into her office with a home pregnancy test in her hand and a panicked look on her face. She had already spoken to Brennan, who had told her that it wasn't her test. Since only four people had used the bathroom she had found it in and she could rule out two by now, one being herself, she hoped that it was Angela's. The only other option would be Michelle and that would mean that she would have to kill her.

"I beg your pardon?" Angela chuckled and stood up straight.

"Are you pregnant? Please say yes," Cam begged but only got a wide eyed and amused stare in reply. When she felt that tingling sensation on her neck she knew that they weren't alone and she already knew who was standing behind her. "Oh," she said. She had hoped that he wouldn't find out about it, because they were both still hurting about their own pregnancy drama from weeks ago.

"Hey. Don't look at me," he joked when she just looked at him.

"I'm so sorry. I thought we were alone," she told him and he knew why she was reacting so weird to his presence.

"Hey, you... you don't have to keep it a secret from me. If, you know, you're pregnant. I mean, I can be happy for you and Wendell," he told Angela and looked at Cam to let her know that he was trying at least to be ok with it.

"Wait a minute. Why are you asking me?" Angela asked Cam.

"Well, it isn't mine and Dr. Brennan doesn't make life choices without a Boolean flowchart, so I hoped it might be you. I'm not crazy. I'm not... crazy," Cam pointed out to them when they kept looking at her like she had two heads. When they didn't say anything she turned around and left. She was shocked. It wasn't Angela's test either and that left only Michelle. She needed a moment to digest it.

"What was that all about?" Hodgins asked Angela, hoping that she would know because he had missed the beginning of their talk.

"Yeah, well, what makes Cam crazy?" Angela asked.

"When I do experiments," he shrugged, still not knowing what she was getting at.

"And..." Suddenly it clicked in his head.

"Michelle?"

"Michelle," Angela confirmed.

"Ooh. Sixteen. Ouch," Hodgins commented as he put the puzzle together in his head and it registered with him what it meant.

"Really? Cam, these guys won't let me leave," Sweets complained as Cam left Angela's office and blew her plan to have a moment to herself. She didn't even notice that he had called her by her first name or that he sounded like a little kid that was calling for his big sister to protect him.

"What's going on?" she asked him and walked up to him.

"Everyone in this facility is confined to this facility," a tall stranger informed her as another guy rolled in a gurney.

"I'm in charge of this facility," she let him know but he didn't seem impressed.

"Not tonight, Dr. Saroyan," he told her and then turned to his men. "Please secure the exits."

"Who are you guys?" Sweets spoke up.

"I am Mr. White from the General Services Administration," the man replied.

"The people we order paper cups and pencils from?" Cam asked him disbelievingly.

"What's going on?" Brennan asked and came out of her office.

"Ah, Dr. Brennan. Hello. Your government requires you to figure out how this person died. Until you do, we are all locked in here together as a matter of national security," Mr. White said.

"Even me?" Sweets asked him.

"He's just an FBI psychologist," Cam tried to get him out at least.

"No one in, no one out. By order of the federal government. Now, you have till dawn tomorrow to fulfill this task," Mr. White decided.

"What possible incentive do these people have to comply with your orders?" Sweets asked him and got braver by the second.

"Perhaps the fact that you're all paid by the federal government," was the reply he got.

"Threats are not really gonna work for you tonight," Cam told the stranger, knowing that while they were officially paid by the government the Institute couldn't survive without donations.

"Okay, fine. How about patriotism? Professionalism? Scientific curiosity. Take your pick. But the sooner you people figure out what killed this individual, the sooner life gets back to normal," Mr. White changed tactics. "Put it up on the platform," he instructed his people.

"Sweets can you go and inform Hodgins and Angela of our situation here while Dr. Brennan and I find out what this is about?" Cam instructed Sweets, who nodded and walked off. The "men in black" meanwhile had put a casket on the platform and opened it.

"No destructive testing is allowed, not even the smallest sample. These remains will leave in exactly the condition in which they arrived. My men and I will observe and no one enters or leaves the premises," Mr. White told Brennan and Cam while they looked at the remains.

"Now that you've kidnapped my lab and my people, maybe you could tell me why," Cam requested.

"You have not been kidnapped, Doctor. You've been seconded by your government to do your patriotic duty," he replied.

"Your 'no samples' restriction will severely limit our insights," Brennan had other worries.

"We require only cause of death. There are a number of samples in here which you may examine but, they too, must not be harmed," he said and glanced at his cell phone because he had got a text message. "Identification of these remains is priority zero. Excuse me," he said and walked off.

"Is there any way I could just persuade you to look at these and guess cause of death?" Cam asked Brennan, although she already knew the answer.

"Guess?"

"I need to get home to kill Michelle," Cam sighed.

While Sweets, Angela and Hodgins managed to call Booth and tried to get some information about what was going on, Cam and Brennan were still out on the platform trying to analyze the remains.

"Indicating multiple corrective surgeries," Brennan summed up what they had found so far.

"Which could help us positively identify these remains," Cam wondered aloud.

"No, Mr. White told us to regard identification as a zero priority," her colleague disagreed.

"I'm not as good as you are at doing what I'm told," Cam told her.

"Thank you. We can't check DNA or take bone scrapings for mass spec," the anthropologist surprised Cam with her answer and then opened a suitcase with samples in it. "Samples, particulates… these should go to Hodgins."

"Fire in the hole," Cam warned Brennan, happy that she had both a reason to see Hodgins and to startle the guys. "Hodgins!" she screamed as loud as she could.

"Oh, you said 'fire in the hole; to warn me that you intended on startling those men," Brennan understood what she had wanted to tell her before.

"Like I said, I'm not really the good soldier type," Cam grinned.

"Calcification on the left radius," Brennan went on with her observation as if nothing had happened.

"Could I suggest that cause of death probably won't be found in the extremities? Check out this skull," she tried to hurry the process along.

"Well, that would certainly be fatal," Brennan agreed.

"Blunt-force trauma?" she asked her.

"Or high-velocity gunshot."

"Was that you? Ah, who knew you could yell like that?" Hodgins asked with a smile as he hurried up to them on the platform.

"Well, she scared the guards," Brennan told him.

"I find that so hot," he couldn't stop himself and grinned at her. Cam held his look for a second and then remembered that the faster they wrapped up the case the faster she could talk to Michelle.

"That's all for you," she told him and pointed to the samples. "There are very distinctive marks on the remaining frontal bone," she turned back to the anthropologist.

"Like a metal grid scratched across it postmortem," Brennan confirmed.

"No tests that degrade the samples," Cam turned her attention back to Hodgins when she saw his look as he inspected the samples. "I'm too young to be a grandmother," she blurted out then, in her way to let Hodgins know what was going on.

"In some cultures, you're old enough to be a great-grandmother," Brennan said probably the worst thing she could say at that moment.

"But not this one," Hodgins tried to reassure his shocked girlfriend.

"I've been cogitating on the problem of how to date these bones without compromising them. I'll take one and compare it to dated bones," Brennan was solely concentrating on the case again and hurried off to bone storage and even Mr. White couldn't stop her.

"You really think it's Michelle's test?" Hodgins asked Cam quietly and stepped closer to her when Brennan was gone. Mr. White watched them again from across the room.

"There's no other option," she sighed.

"Maybe it's a false positive," he tried to stay optimistic.

"I'm double checking the sample already. But even if it's a false positive it still means that she's lying to me and is having sex with Perry," Cam sounded more sad than upset.

"I wish I could help you talk to her right now," he smiled reassuringly at her.

"Maybe you can find something in those samples?" she went along with it.

"Then I better hurry and analyze them," Hodgins replied and secretly gave her hand a squeeze so Mr. White couldn't see it. He didn't know why but somehow he had the impression that Mr. White knowing that they were an item wouldn't be good at all.

And Hodgins did find something once Angela was gone and he could concentrate on the samples. Immediately he hurried out to the platform, looking for Cam and Brennan.

"Did you find anything?" he asked them, hoping they would confirm his suspicion. They came up on the platform when they saw him, knowing by the way he stood there that he had found something.

"The victim died within months of the Limited Test Ban Treaty," Brennan reported.

"That was in 1963," he tried to whisper and crossed his arms in front of his chest as if it would help him keep in what was trying to just burst out of him.

"You look like you're about to explode," Cam noticed the state he was in. He looked at White and his guards and then gave the two women a subtle sign to follow him over to one of the PCs.

"Is there, by any chance, a nick on a right rib somewhere near the third thoracic vertebra?" he asked.

"Yes. Um, most likely caused by a transiting bullet," Brennan replied and he buried his face in his hand.

"Hodgins, you're vibrating." Cam looked worried. She had never seen him like this before. He tapped some keys on the PC and a picture of a fiber sample showed up.

"One of the fiber samples turned out to be pink wool. The bad back. A nick from a transiting bullet. 1963," he said quietly and slowly, emphasizing all the important facts and looking around him to know how far away the guards were.

"Wait. Pink wool, as in Chanel?" Cam connected the dots first.

"She never left his side," Hodgins slowly shook his head.

"Severe head wound. Oh, my God. This - is President John F. Kennedy. Why would they bring us JFK's remains after all these years?" Cam spoke out loud what he had found out.

"Because people have a thirst for the truth. And other people want to make sure that truth is never proclaimed," he told her.

"Which are these?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, I've been considering... in what kind of casket was the president buried?" Brennan stopped him from answering.

"Mahogany," he knew.

"That's a good casket. How could his remains be completely skeletonized?" Cam wondered.

"If the casket was compromised and allowed in oxygen and moisture, skeletonization could have occurred," Brennan provided a possible explanation.

"It's naive of us to imagine that Kennedy's remains were actually ever interred at Arlington. The hair I found? No cuticle or cortex. It's synthetic. As it happens, after JFK was shot, the funeral home tried a cosmetic fix with wig hair, wax, and a metal mesh holding it in place," Hodgins disagreed.

"Ah! The mesh would explain the crisscross patterns on the skull," Cam said and then changed the topic again. "I can't confront Michelle about something this big over the telephone, right?" Cam asked Brennan and Hodgins.

"What? The fact that you may be investigating the murder of the president of the United States?" Brennan didn't get it.

"No. The fact that she's pregnant," Cam clarified but the other two couldn't answer anymore because a loud shot and the splintering of glass echoed through the lab and they all turned around to see Booth stepping in. He had shot at one of the glass doors.

"Booth!" Brennan exclaimed while Hodgins moved closer to Cam to make sure she was ok.

"Hiya, Bones," he replied, holding his weapon away from him and his hands up. Angela and Sweets came rushing out of her office as two of the men in black ran into Booth and knocked him over, making him hit his head on the floor.

"Booth?" Brennan asked again.

"Bones?" came the weak reply. Mr. White, who was watching from the side, sighed and walked over to him.

"Agent Booth," he said and sounded unnerved. The two guards scrambled off the floor and then pulled him up as well and not as gently as he would have liked.

"Seeley are you ok?" Cam asked him and walked down the steps with Hodgins and Brennan trailing behind her.

"My head hurts," he replied and rubbed the back of his head.

"Let me see," she requested and walked behind him to take a look. She couldn't see anything other than the bump that was forming.

"Can you get him upstairs on the couch, I'll grab my stuff and take a look at him," Cam turned to Brennan and Hodgins. She shot Mr. White a look when he opened his mouth to disagree and he sighed again.

"I have to make a few calls," he growled and walked off, signaling his people to take their places again while the squints looked after Booth.

"I'm fine," he said while leaning on Hodgins as he led him to the stairs.

"Why don't you let Cam decide?" he asked him and was glad when he could sit him down on the couch. Cam hurried up to them as Hodgins rolled his shoulders and she placed a hand on his back, stroking softly over his shirt in a silent thank you. She did her usual flash light pupil response test and was relieved when he showed no signs of any serious injuries.

"If you get sick or feel disoriented you're going straight to the hospital, you got me?" she told him sternly and he nodded. Cam walked over to the kitchen area and got him an ice pack. "Here, put this on the bump for about fifteen minutes and stay here on the couch and relax. I don't want you wandering around the lab as long as you're still dizzy," she instructed him.

"I'm sure our friends in black over there won't let him wander anywhere," Hodgins grinned at her and followed her downstairs again.

"Hey babe?" he said when they reached her office.

"Mmh?" she replied, already a million miles away again.

"Call her and talk to her. Ask her if it's her test and then go from there," he advised.

"I just don't know how to bring it up. It would be hard to do it in person, but on the phone..." she trailed off.

"I'm sure you'll find the right words. You need to tell her anyway that we won't be home tonight."

"True," she sighed heavily.

"You want me to stay with you?" he asked her.

"I would love to have you here, but Michelle probably wouldn't approve," she replied with an apologetic smile.

"I understand," he nodded, looked around and kissed her softly when he had made sure no one was watching them. "Keep me updated, ok?" he requested.

"I will," she nodded, quickly kissed him again and walked into her office.

Fifteen minutes later she was still staring at the phone and kept picking it up, just to put it down again. She wasn't sure how to do this and thought that maybe she should wait after all until she was home. Then again she couldn't really concentrate on work as long as this was constantly on her mind.

"Awkward. Awkward. Very awkward," Angela said as she walked in.

"What's awkward?" Cam asked.

"About Michelle..." Angela started but Cam interrupted her.

"Oh, I'm going to call her right now and tell her that I need to talk to her as soon as I get out of here," she said.

"About-about the pregnancy test?" Angela wanted to know.

"She lied to me. She told me to my face that she wasn't having sex with that boy. She lied to my face," Cam sounded upset and sad about the fact that Michelle was supposedly lying to her.

"It's my pregnancy test," Angela finally admitted and Cam was so relieved that she leaned her hands against her forehead, closed her eyes. "I'm - I'm sorry, Cam. I would have told you sooner but Hodgins was in the room, and..." Angela stuttered her explanation, but Cam was not really interested in it. Michelle wasn't pregnant and she wasn't lying to her and that was all that counted for her at that moment.

"Oh, thank God. No. I mean..." she exclaimed and then realized how it must have sounded.

"It's okay," Angela said.

"You alright?" Cam asked her then, knowing how shocking a positive pregnancy test could be.

"Um, I'm a - I'm a bit in shock," Angela admitted.

"Well, does Wendell know?"

"No. No, no. Only you and I know and, I mean, really, shouldn't Wendell be the first to know? But I figured that you-you need to know," the artist stuttered.

"Because I was freaking out about Michelle. Thank you," Cam replied and was truly grateful that Angela had told her.

"Yeah," Angela just nodded and then turned around and left the office. Cam watched her leave and with the knowledge that Michelle wasn't pregnant returned her ability to think again. Again she leaned her head against her hands and closed her eyes for second. How would Hodgins react to the fact that Angela was having a baby with Wendell so shortly after they had lost theirs, she wondered.

Angela didn't waste any time and went to Hodgins directly after she left Cam. She knew that Cam would tell him as soon as she saw him, but she felt that it was her job to tell Hodgins that she was pregnant. She ran into him and asked him to come with her to her lab, where she told him.

"Oh. Wow," he felt like she had knocked the wind out of him and didn't know what to say.

"So, Wendell should be the first to know but you should be the second and since I told Cam, I-I should tell you," Angela explained why she needed to tell him. He kept looking from his hands to her and back.

"Do I say, 'Congratulations.'?" he asked her and wondered how Cam had taken the news.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not the right time. It's not the right guy," Angela tried to laugh it off at first, but his large blue eyes and the look in them made her turn serious again.

"Well, you know, Wendell, uh, he… he might rise to the occasion. I mean, you know, he's-he's a good guy," he tried to reassure her as well as himself. It just wasn't fair.

"No, I didn't mean that. I mean... a baby. I mean, you're linked to that person for the rest of your life. Like, way more than if you're married. I mean, you're linked through another human being. A soul," Angela nearly started crying as she said it and he just looked at her. He knew all of this and had been dealing with those thoughts ever since Cam had found out about her own pregnancy.

"Okay. I'm-I'm gonna say, 'Congratulations.'," he said and stood up. She kept looking at him like she was hoping or expecting something else, but he didn't know what. "Um, not for today but for how you're going to feel about this later on." Angela kept looking at him in that expectant way until she pasted a fake smile on her face.

"Well, I might not even keep it," she said and turned away from him.

"You're going to keep it, Angela. You always wanted kids. Lots of 'em," he said and managed a small smile. "I'm gonna go get the others," he said when the beeping signalized that the computer was done rendering. Angela just nodded, but couldn't say anything.

He left her office and walked over to Cam's. The door slid open and he found her sitting at her desk. He stopped when the doors glided shut again. She turned around in her chair and the second she saw the look on his face she knew that Angela had told him. She stood up and held out one hand to him, which he took when he was close enough. Then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his temple.

She heard him breathing her in as he buried his face in her neck and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

"You ok?" she asked him after a moment and slightly pulled back so she could look at him.

"I will be. At the moment all I can think is 'It's not fair'," he admitted.

"I slowly get there as well. However I'm just really relieved that it wasn't Michelle's test," she said.

"Yeah, me, too. How weird would that be if she were pregnant now?" he asked her.

"I don't even want to imagine," she said.

"The rendering is done," he told her then, remembering what he'd actually came to tell her.

"Good. I will try to organize us all something to eat afterwards," she stroked her fingers through his hair. "Did I already tell you that I really appreciate the haircut you got this morning?" she grinned then.

"I wasn't even aware you noticed," he replied and pulled her closer again.

"Of course I did. I also knew because I was looking for you this morning and when I couldn't find you your assistant told me you went to get a haircut," she laughed.

"I know you like it better when my hair is shorter," he laughed with her.

"Aw, only for me. Aren't you the sweetest guy?" she gushed exaggeratedly.

"Absolutely. Tell me more about it later when we're alone. Now we have to tell the others that Angela's rendering of the victim is done," he said.

"Ok, I'm just gonna call Michelle and tell her we're stuck here," she nodded.

"See you in a few, Dr. Saroyan," he winked at her and left the room, feeling loads better now that he had talked to her.

After seeing the recreation on screen and watching a recreational shooting of JFK that lead to an argument between Booth and Hodgins, Hodgins lead Sweets and Booth to the secret storage area of the Jeffersonian, while he distracted Mr. White who seemed suspicious. He was annoyed because the guy had refused to let them go and get something to eat and also because he would miss great Italian food with Michelle and Cam.

"Uh, Mr. White? Yeah, I've done all I can do, so I'm gonna leave the premises," he informed the guy when he saw Booth's silhouette in the janitors closet, indicating that they had the weapon they had been looking for down in the basement to re-create the shooting of JFK.

"I'm sorry. That's impossible," he replied while Hodgins took off his blue lab coat.

"Um... you can't stop me because I'm an American. So, I've got rights," he said and placed the coat on the table as he kept walking towards the exit.

"I'd rather not hurt you," Mr. White threatened.

"Hey, nice job with Bush and the whole flying shoe incident, by the way. I want to compliment you on that one," Hodgins couldn't help himself and the next thing he felt was a punch right into his left kidney from behind. The pain was horrible and he fell to the floor.

"Hey, you want to try me instead of some bigmouth scientist, huh?" Booth came around the corner before the guy could hurt him again. Mr. White didn't respond, he just stared at them and then turned around and walked away. "Yeah. I thought so," Booth commented and then helped Hodgins up. "Come on. That Bush comment? To him? You're lucky he didn't paralyze you for life," he said and Hodgins groaned with pain as he tried to stand straight. "Easy," Booth said and helped him into Cam's office.

"What happened?" she asked alarmed when she saw pain written all over Hodgins' face.

"Your big mouthed friend provoked Mr. White," Booth replied as Hodgins sat down on Cam's desk chair.

"Hey, I did it so you could get the gun," Hodgins tried to defend himself and still held his side.

"A little less drama would have worked just as well," the agent said and watched Cam as she looked so angry he thought she'd go out and attack the guy with her bare hands. "You better see if he damaged anything and then we'll try to come up with some plan on how to re-create the shooting, ok? I'll wait in your lab," he excused himself, because he knew that Hodgins would milk this to get as much sympathy and loving from Cam as he could.

"Can you stand up?" Cam asked Hodgins when Booth had left.

"Can I not?" he replied, not really eager on getting up.

"Ok, then lose the hoodie and the shirt, I need to see what's wrong," she instructed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked as he unzipped the hoodie and slowly took it off.

"You're damn right I am. Why did you need to provoke him? Couldn't you just make up something important that you needed to show him?" she asked.

"That didn't really cross my mind," he admitted.

"Damn it, Jack, I don't want anything to happen to you," she sighed and took the red jacket from him. "We both know who these guys are and what they do so don't mess with them," she added.

"Sorry," he replied meekly and tried to unbutton his shirt, but kept flinching when he moved his left arm.

"Let me," she said, stepped closer and unbuttoned his shirt.

"I always pictured me getting undressed in here a bit differently," he joked and made her smile.

"Not happening," she grinned and slipped the shirt from his shoulders and down his arms. She placed it on her desk as well. "Where did he hit you?" she asked him when he had only his jeans and his under-shirt on.

"Left kidney area," he replied.

"Turn around, please," she instructed and lifted his shirt when he was standing with his back towards her.

"It's turning blue-ish already here," she said and his breath hitched when she stroked softly with her cold fingertips over the spot. "Sorry," she apologized thinking she had hurt him.

"Nothing to be sorry for. If we were alone I'd say keep going," he chuckled. Cam only rolled her eyes and pulled his shirt back down.

"You need something for the pain?" she asked him.

"No, I think I'll be good in a few minutes. And once we get home I'll just rely on my personal nurse," he grinned.

"Then get dressed and back to work, Dr. Hodgins, so we can actually go home in the next ten years," she smiled back.

"You know what would help with the pain though?" he asked too innocently.

"I have the suspicion I actually do know," she laughed and let him pull her into a long, loving kiss.

After the successful experiment involving two cantaloupes and Brennan's scientific jibber jabber, they still weren't sure if they had JFK on their table or not. Booth argued it wasn't him, while Hodgins kept insisting. Mr. White kept threatening them that they'd all lose their jobs once he reported what had happened and finally told them that they had one hour to pack up the remains. It was Cam's last chance at revenge.

"Mr. White? For future reference, you might want to inform your bosses that we don't do half-truth here." she told him and didn't see Sweets proud nodding as the guy walked off. Meanwhile Hodgins had something else to deal with and sought out Angela in her office.

"Hey, uh, I'll have Brennan's analysis of the entry angles up in one second," she told him when she saw him.

"Ange...," he interrupted her.

"Yeah?" she asked and took a moment to look at him.

"You're gonna have this baby," he stated.

"I don't know that yet," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, well, when you do... I've been thinking. You're gonna try to raise this kid on your own. Wendell is a very decent guy...," he started the speech.

"He's a great guy," Angela agreed.

"I know. But he's a struggling grad student, and you're gonna minimize his responsibilities for his own good," he went on.

"Geez. Regular Nostradamus there, huh, Hodgins? Predicting the future?" she grinned and tried to lighten the mood.

"Says the woman who consults a psychic," he said and followed her when she walked over to the desk. "My point is, I'm your guy," he said.

"What?" she stopped and turned around with a disbelieving smile on her face.

"I'm your guy. I love you and I want to help you in whatever way I can, " he said and she looked shocked and hopeful at the same time. "I talked to Cam earlier and we both agree that it's true what I said on Christmas. There's more than one kind of family. You were there for me when Cam lost our baby and now we're gonna be there for you and your baby, because we love you. I'm... we're here for you. And for the baby. In whatever way you need," he finished his speech. After Cam had looked after his injury he had used the opportunity and had talked to her about it and they had agreed that they should be there for Angela and play babysitter or be Uncle Jack and Aunty Cam whenever Angela needed it. Two more crazy family members wouldn't be a problem, considering the size of Cam's family. And if they had a kid of their own one day these two could be best friends. Well, that had been Hodgins idea while Cam had rolled her eyes at him and had pointed out that it was possible that the kids could hate each other. "Okay." he said when Angela didn't reply and just looked at him. He left the room again and missed the sad look in her eyes as she watched him leave.

After Booth's ninja skills had been tested and Hacker had tried to get his moment of fame by coming into the Institute ten seconds too late, they were finally all allowed to leave and agreed that they needed some breakfast first and then some sleep. It was six in the morning already and none of them had slept that night.

"You know, I was able to take those guys down because they were not working as a team. You want to know why? Because Sweets here was able to put a worm of doubt in Mr. White's brain," Booth said and patted Sweets shoulder in a manly way.

"Thank you, Booth, but I'm pretty sure that the whole thing was part of some kind of test," he replied.

"Who was being tested?" Cam asked as she broke off another bit of her muffin and ate it.

"It wasn't a test. It was the government trying to figure out if modern forensic analysis could solve the greatest mystery of all time," Hodgins said and ate another one of his grapes.

"Yeah, but the victim turned out not to be Kennedy," Angela pointed out.

"What if the only part of Kennedy that wasn't Kennedy was that floating arm bone?" Hodgins asked.

"Maybe I was being tested, you know, after my brain surgery," Booth wondered.

"Or me," Sweets asked.

"Come on, guys. If they were testing anybody, it's me. They think I'm a paranoid conspiracy theorist," Hodgins said.

"Or maybe they were testing me to see if I could run a lab in a professional manner," Cam threw in after sipping her coffee.

"Well, you do realize that all these tests? Everybody failed," Angela stated.

"Not me. I figured out the truth," Brennan disagreed and raised her hand. The others all just looked disapprovingly at her.

"There's a congressional committee suggesting that Kennedy be exhumed," Hodgins said then.

"You mean we were some sort of dry run?" Cam asked him and placed her left hand on his arm for a moment.

"And that's why we couldn't mark the bones," he replied.

"Except they weren't Kennedy's bones," she pointed out but looked down at her plate. All the others looked expectantly at Brennan.

"No. They weren't Kennedy's bones," she confirmed.

Later when they were leaving Cam insisted on paying for their food,because she wanted to try to catch Brennan alone. So Hodgins and Angela left first.

"So, can I get you a cab?" he asked her.

"I'm not pregnant. It was a false positive," she told him with a smile what Cam had told her earlier before they had been allowed to leave.

"Oh, well, that must be a big relief," he said and wasn't sure if he felt happy for her or sad for himself now that he would be neither a father nor an uncle in the foreseeable future.

"Yeah."

"Everything goes back to normal. How it was before," he smiled slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah, but, um, I-I wanna... I want to thank you for..." she stuttered, which was uncharacteristic for her and struck him as weird.

"Nah. Hey, forget it," he waved her off.

"I'll never forget it," she said and sounded choked up. He kept looking at her, wondering what was going on. Finally he offered her his arm with a smile and led her to the taxi stand on the other side when she took it.

"Were you aware that JFK had scarlet fever in childhood?" Cam asked Brennan when they left while Booth and Sweets were still inside paying with the money Cam had handed them.

"Hodgins informed me of that fact, yes," the anthropologist nodded.

"Scarlet fever can cause osteomyelitis," Cam pointed out, knowing that that would explain the loss of bone density that had lead Brennan to deny that it was JFK.

"It's very rare, Cam. It can happen in approximately one in a hundred cases. It's statistically unlikely that it was Kennedy," Brennan replied.

"You're a good person. I will never forget what you did for him," Cam told her when she realized that Brennan had really twisted the facts a bit so Booth could actually keep doing his job and believe in his country. She saw Hodgins and Angela on the other side of the street and walked up to them.

"Ready to go?" she asked him and slipped her hand into his from behind as he was still talking to Angela.

"With you, always, my love," he laughed and kissed her before he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Angela, we can drive you home. We're going over to my place, so it's on the way anyway," Cam offered, knowing that Jack had most likely already asked her.

"I still have some things to take care of, but thank you," Angela denied.

"Then see you tomorrow," Cam smiled and Hodgins raised his hand in a silent wave as they walked down the street to the Institute to get their car.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Angela replied sadly and watched them walk away arm in arm, both laughing over something Hodgins had said. She saw his thumb stroking involuntarily back and forth over her hip as Cam replied something that made him kiss her forehead. Watching them Angela realized for the first time what she had lost back then when she had walked away from one Jack Hodgins, and she wished she could win him back.

TBC