OOM: Man in the Mansion Coda

[paladinsuitsyou]

After this.

After Robert Frasier's conviction for murdering Terrence Bancroft, Booth's feeling pretty good. He's got his "bilious socks" and "ostentatious ties" back though he still hasn't quite gotten over the codpiece comment enough to wear a big belt buckle just yet. In spite of being lectured by Carolyn about wrecking his car and letting the Squint Squad run wild, he's doing all right.

So when he sees Hodgins walk into the diner, he grins.

Comments

[bugsandslime]

And it's usually just best to avoid therapists of the spectral or serial killer persuasion. Just about anyone would be an improvement on that.

"Yeah. Definitely."

Hodgins scuffs his toe on the Diner's linoleum floor.

"Look, man. Thanks. For helping nail the guy."

Thanks to Hodgins's friends, Terry's killer is going to prison for quite some time.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"It's what I do," Booth says. His tone is light, uncaring. His eyes, however, are not. He's studying Hodgins carefully, seeing the relief and the satisfaction in the other man.

"It's what you do, too."

Maybe that's as close as Booth will ever get to saying, "I understand why you did what you did."

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins smiles and nods.

He's not full-on happy. He can't be just yet. It's like now that the fat lady has belted out that last aria, the reality of Terry's death is really starting to sink in.

But he has a lot. He has his job. He has Angela. He has the respect of his colleagues, even though they would have had every right to withdraw it.

"Cam tore up my resignation letter. So it looks like I'll get to keep doing it."

Hodgins knows he got lucky. Very, very lucky.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Glad to hear it," he says, smiling broadly back. And he really is. The team doesn't respond well to change, he'd noticed, mostly because Bones doesn't respond well to change. So it's best to keep things on an even keel. Keep things productive.

He also might sort of like having Hodgins around.

"Did they tell you about Angela? How she saved the day?"

[bugsandslime]

Hodgins's grin is full of pride.

"They did."

"What can I say? The woman is brilliant and has an eye for fungus."

Yes--coming from Hodgins, that is a compliment. A big, big compliment.

[paladinsuitsyou]

"It probably all started when you gave her that blown up slime thing for Christmas," Booth says. "Good work on that, man."

Make an artist see the beauty in slime, and there's no stopping her.

[bugsandslime]

"I'm not sure I can really claim credit."

Angela has an innate ability to see the beauty in everything. Even slime and fungus.

"So," he adds slowly, "are we still cool? With me still being at the Jeffersonian?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

Booth looks down at his coffee as if it might contain the right way to answer this question.

It doesn't, though, and so he's left, as always, hoping he's got the words right.

"Course. The science was great. Would've been perfect, if it weren't for that little glitch about knowing the victim."

[bugsandslime]

It means a lot to Hodgins, having Booth's respect. Even though he'd reenact several scenes from Silence of the Lambs before admitting needing respect from a Fed.

Friendship, or whatever it is, really complicates things sometimes.

"Good."

"And I think the odds of coming across a case like that again are......really bad. Zach could probably tell you exactly how bad."

"So, no more glitches."

[paladinsuitsyou]

Booth couldn't say when Hodgins went from being "that bug and slime guy with the paranoia thing" to "my friend." Whenever that was, he's glad it happened.

"Excellent," Booth says. "And I'll just go with 'really bad.' I don't think we need to quantify it more than that."

Bones might, or Zach, but Booth's pretty sure that Hodgins will be willing to leave it there.