A/N: You know whats? I started this story a long time ago, but shelved it since I was working on both Talk to Me and Scenes From a Hat. But now that Talk to Me is on hiatus until the sequel (waaahhh), maybe I shall develop this a bit. It won't be an epic like TtM, but it will be multi-chapped. Cool? Cool;-)

Just FYI, there will likely be a rating change for future chaps.

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"What's wrong with her?" Temperance Brennan asked her partner impatiently. She had one hand on her hip and the other was holding out a picture of a pretty, smiling woman. She waved the picture at him exasperatedly.

"Nothing's wrong with her, as far as I can tell." Booth ran his hand through his hair, a little frustrated with this whole conversation. "I just don't understand why you are doing this to me. It's really, really not like you to try to set me up with one of your friends. We just don't have that kind of relationship," he tried to explain.

She looked a little confused. "What kind of relationship do we have, then?" she asked.

Alright, now he was even more uncomfortable. "I don't know, Bones. Just…not that kind."

Her voice took on a long-suffering tone. "It's not even so much for you as it is for her, Booth." She quickly explained further when she saw the suspicious look on his face. "She's great, don't worry about that. She just has had some misfortune lately in the men she has dated…they just weren't good enough for her. I just think it would be nice for her to go out with a nice guy." She gestured toward Booth.

"I'm the nice guy?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Look…she's intelligent, beautiful, and successful. I'm not trying to trick you or something."

Brennan's friend sounded and looked just like Booth's type. So why did the whole idea feel so…strange? Wrong?

"If you won't do this, just tell me now, okay? I'll stop asking." Opening her desk drawer, she put the photograph back inside, looking supremely annoyed.

He sighed. "No…that's fine. If it's that important to you. What's her name?"

"Bridget." She looked at him questioningly. "You'll really do this?" He nodded. A small smile touched her lips. "That's good. I really think you'll like her. I'll have her give you a call tomorrow."

"Alright." Booth put his hands in the air, as if submitting. He still didn't feel good about this.

"And," she continued, "I'll be over later tonight to help you plan your date."

"Okay. Just wait." He shook his head. "What? No. I don't need help planning a date. I know how to date. I've kind of done it before."

"Well, this is my friend. I actually care about how this goes, it just shouldn't be any old date. So I can help you plan something she'll really like."

"This is getting more bizarre by the second, Bones. I'm not sure if I approve of you being this involved in my dating life."

"Booth, we're partners. This is probably the most normal thing we've ever talked about or done."

Well, she had a point there. Besides, it would be interesting to see what Bones considered to be a good date. "Fine. Whatever. Although it's a little presumptuous of you to assume I'm going to be around tonight so that you can coach me on how to woo a lady. How are things going with your boyfriend, anyway? Tool, or whatever his name is?"

"Who says 'woo' anymore?" She rolled her eyes. "His name is Troy. And things are going fine."

"I see. And Tool won't mind that you are coming over tonight to go all charm school on my pathetic, single ass?"

She ignored his purposeful mispronunciation. "Of course not. Troy knows how important it is for me to maintain a high-quality working and personal relationship with my partner. I've told him that."

"Really?" He was touched.

"I have work to do, Booth." She sure did know how to bulldoze right over a potentially tender moment. "I'll talk to you later tonight."

Muttering his annoyed thoughts under his breath, he turned to leave.

"Booth?" He stopped and turned.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for doing this." She smiled at him, and he felt a little tug at his heart. Jeez it was nice when she smiled. No matter how infuriating she was being, that smile always disarmed him.

"Yeah, Bones. Anything for you." He meant this to be funny, but the humor didn't quite reach his eyes. If she only knew. But as quick as her smile had appeared, it was gone, and she was absorbed again in her paperwork. He sighed and left her office, wondering exactly what the hell he had gotten himself into.

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A/N: Ya, ya, I know. What woman in her right mind would set Booth up with a friend? These are the characters I'm writing, and I still want to smack them. Jeesh.