A/N: Hello and welcome! This is my second holiday work, and this time we're celebrating Christmas! I did a lot of thinking about this piece, and am sorry of my characters are a bit OOC; I'm kind of a cold fish and not very good with emotions. Also, I'm sorry if my recounts of some of the episodes aren't spot-on, some of my memories are fuzzy and vague.

Also, I realize I've never done this before, but I should probably start adding a disclaimer. But come on. Do you REALLY think I own Bones? Well, anyways, enjoy!

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One: A Partridge.

"Say 'Merry Christmas'" the man whispered to the little boy in his arms. He held up a small hand and waved to the woman sitting on the bar stool.

"Merry Christmas." the boy said with a small smile. She smiled warmly back at him.
The man turned and started to walk away with the boy, who was clutching a homemade toy robot. "Will it do a back flip?" he asked his father.

"It'll do anything you want." the man answered in return.

Sitting back at the bar, Temperance Brennan watched her partner walk away with his son with a smile on her face. And that gave her an idea.

Back at the lab, she turned on the Angelator, setting it to the virtual Christmas tree that Angela had spent the good part of the last day designing. She took a box out from her office, and opened it. A couple brightly wrapped packages waited inside. She hadn't seen them since her brother had wrapped them for her almost fifteen years earlier. She took them out one by one, being careful not to disturb their contents. They were placed on the glass cover of the Angelator under the brightly colored virtual tree.

She took one tentatively to the couch in Angela's office and set it on the table. A card was taped on that, when she opened it, said "Merry Christmas, Temperance!" in her mother's scrawling writing.

Finally, she tore open the paper. For a second she couldn't believe it. Tears came to her eyes as she held the package which now, after fifteen years, she finally knew what it held.
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"Bones, are you in here?" Booth's voice echoed through the lab, which had been vacated only a few hours before. His hair wasn't parted like it usually was, and stuck out at awkward angles. A small box was clutched in his hand.

He checked in her office, but all he could find was the blankets and pillows that he guessed were left over from her and Angela's beds the night before.

He walked quickly through, scanning the lab. He checked all of the autopsy rooms, all the workstations that flanked the forensic platform. He even swiped his card and checked to see if she was up there and hiding from sight.

Defeated, Booth started walking out. But as he passed the artist's workspace, he stopped.

A sight caught his eye that he was sure that he had never seen before. On the other side of the glass door, his partner was sitting on her best friend's couch with a package in her hands staring at it. He saw her run her hand under her eyes, the light from the dazzling virtual tree Angela made reflecting in the smudged tears on her hand. It was rare to see her like this. So... vulnerable. But she still looked happy. And that made him happy. His hand tightened around the small box. He looked down to see his knuckles turning white.

The peace was shattered when a buzzing sound came from his pocket, alerting that someone had texted him.

"Damn," Booth swore under his breath. And, as he predicted, Brennan's head snapped up and her blue eyes stared at him widely. He saw her start to get up when he turned to his phone, pretending to see who texted. He really couldn't have cared less.

"Booth, what the hell are you doing here?" Brennan said as the door was yanked open. She was still wearing the clothes that she had been wearing since the party, which told him she hadn't even been home yet. Booth didn't want to admit it, but he was a bit worried.

"I, um," he glanced nervously over his shoulder.

"No one else is here, Booth. Just tell me what you came here for," Brennan turned around and walked back towards the couch. Booth followed shyly, not knowing if she really wanted him there. He stared down at the package that had been thrown on the table when Brennan saw him.

"Bones, what's this?" he asked, picking it up.

"It's just a present from my mom." she replied vaguely, like she didn't really want him to know the details.

What she didn't realize was that everyone had already known for a while.

Booth peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal the contents, but at the last second thought better of it. He sat down on the couch, handing the package back to its owner. Brennan took it and set it beside her.

"Why are you here?" Brennan asked coldly, turning back to Booth with a solemn expression on her face. "Aren't you supposed to be having Christmas with your boy?"

"I left him with his mother. This is more important." Brennan looked at him with a confused expression. He sighed. "I know you're really not in to the whole Christmas thing, and I get that. But you've been a really good partner, and even though we fight, I still care about you."

"Why are you doing this, Booth? We're just partners. That's all we'll probably ever be."

"Because to me, we're not just partners. You're my friend, Bones. And as a friend, I came here to give you this." he handed her the box that he had been clutching in his hand. She took it warily.

"Thank you, Booth." she said curtly and put the package beside her.

"Aren't you even going to open it?" Booth was a bit shocked. Even though this was not an uncommon thing, he thought she might open it in front of him so he could see her expression when she opened it.

"I am a little preoccupied right now. I'll open it later." Booth looked down, feeling a bit rejected.

"Okay then. I guess I'll just get going now." Booth said, as he stood up. Brennan watched as he shrugged his coat back on and opened the door. He turned back for just a second to give her a small wave goodbye.

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Alone again, Brennan got up to get another present from under the virtual tree. This time, she came back with a long, thin box that was wrapped in bright red and green striped paper.

But as she was just about to unwrap it, she thought better. She set the box down at her side, next to the first unwrapped gift and picked up the small box that Booth had given her just moments before.

The box was black, and covered in a soft velvet-like material. A small red bow and a slightly crushed card were perched on top of it.

With shaking hands, Brennan took the card from the top and opened it.

To Bones,

This is just a little something to say thank you to you for being my partner. But you've been more than that lately. You make me laugh every day, and even though we fight, I find that I'm never really mad at you. When I saw this, I couldn't help but think of how it's just as colorful as you.

Your partner and friend always,

Booth.

Brennan felt a tear leak out of her eye. She had always known that Booth had thought of her as a friend, but not like this. Did she really mean this much to him? Slowly, she opened the box.

Inside was a necklace. A thin chain of silver wrapped in a spiral formation around the center. Brennan followed the chain to the middle, where sat a pendant the size of a silver dollar. The pendant was in the form of a partridge, which had its head held high, it's brilliantly colored plumage intricately painted different shades of purple, blue, green, yellow and orange. In its small claw it clutched the stem of a bright green pear.

Brennan carefully lifted it out of the box and gently lifted her hair to clasp it around her neck, fighting back tears. She looked at her reflection in a mirror. It was the most beautiful gift she had ever gotten.

Dropping the box and card on the couch, Brennan grabbed her sweater and ran out the door. She streaked through the automated doors out of the lab and rounded the bend. She took the other exhibits by storm and ran out the door in to the wind.

She had to find Booth.

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Meanwhile, Booth was feeling a bit down. His gift had been shot down by Bones and he was missing spending time with Parker. He walked through the snowstorm to the parking garage, where his car was parked. The snow was already up to mid-calf and the cold was stinging his legs, but he kept walking anyways.

Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. It sounded like someone was calling his name. But he shrugged it off and trudged on. It was probably just the wind.

Then he heard it again. It was faint, but clear.

"Booth!" a voice shouted from behind him.

He turned around to see his partner bounding through the snow towards him. With only a thin coat on, he swore that even at his distance, he could see her shivering. Booth stopped walking and waited for her to catch up to him. Without the forward movement to balance him, the wind whipped the lapels of his coat and stung his skin.

As Brennan drew closer, Booth expected her to slow down. But instead, she kept going at a running pace and before he knew what was happening, she barreled in to him, nearly knocking him over.

When Booth regained his balance, Brennan wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him in to a tight hug. He put his hands on her back reassuringly, rubbing gently. Pulling back slightly, Brennan put her mouth by his ear.

"Thank you," she whispered gently and buried her nose in the crook of his neck inhaling the smell of gingerbread and shampoo. Booth could feel her smile against the skin of his neck and couldn't help smiling himself.

Finally, Brennan let go of him and Booth could finally see her. She was wearing the necklace he gave her; the charm rested right below her collarbone, the thin chain reflecting the pale light, and made her eyes sparkle.

"You opened it?" Booth asked, a bit surprised. "I thought you said you had better things to do."

"That's not what I said."

"That's what it sounded like when you said whatever you said in the first place."

"I didn't say I had better things to do, I just said that I was preoccupied with doing other things." Brennan rested her hands on her hips, like she did when she was annoyed. She soon brought them back up to her chest, where Booth could see her shaking violently from the cold.

"Okay, whatever. Here, take my coat. You look freezing." he handed her his thick wool coat, which she happily wrapped around her shoulders. "And the point is, you said you were too busy to open it. So why did you?"

"I was going to open something else, when I realized that I had been rude to you. I thought it would only be fair if I opened you gift while I could still catch you to thank you." Booth couldn't help but smile at her logic.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to spoil the moment and was relieved when Brennan smiled widely back at him.

"It's... It's beautiful, Booth. It's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten." Brennan felt tears begin to prickle her eyes again. "You card was also very touching. Do you really think of me as a friend?"

"Yeah, I do Bones. I do."

"You're my friend then too, then. I should have noticed it before. These days, I spend so much time on cases with you, it's almost impossible not to become close."

Instead of answering, Booth pulled Brennan in to another hug.

"Thanks for being my friend, Bones. It really means a lot to me." he said in to her ear. He felt a hot tear trickle down his neck, left there by his partner.

"Hey, I've got an idea." he said when he pulled away. "How about you come back to my place. You can spend some time with me and Parker."

"Booth, I don't want to intrude..."

"Don't worry about it, Bones. What kind of friend would I be if I let you spend the holidays alone?"

"All right. But only for a little bit. I still want you to have some time with Parker and Rebecca." Booth grabbed on to Brennan's arm and led her towards the garage because even through Booth's thick coat, she was still shivering.

"Come on, Bones. Let's go home for Christmas."

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"Daddy, daddy daddy!" the small boy from before leapt in to his father's arms as soon as he opened the door.

"Hey bub, what have you been up to?" Booth said while pulling his son in to a tight hug.

"Mommy and I made Christmas cookies! Come see!" Parker jumped out of Booth's arms and started to tug on his arms to pull him towards the kitchen, but Booth resisted.

"Parker, before I come to see your cookies, you have to meet someone very special to Daddy." he beckoned to Brennan to step in to the apartment. "Parker, this is Daddy's friend from work, Bones."

"Didn't we see her at the restaurant earlier?" the little boy asked.

"Yeah, we did. She decided to come back with me after I ran in to her on my errand." he put his arm around Brennan and smiled at her.

"Booth, that's not true. We didn't run in to each other-"

"Shhh, Bones." he put his finger to her lips. Just then, a blonde woman came out of the kitchen with an apron on with flour spattered on it.

"Parker, who's at the door?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Mom, it's just Daddy. And he brought a friend!" he pointed to Brennan.

"Hi Rebecca." Booth said. "This is my partner from work, Temperance Brennan." Brennan waved a hello. Rebecca beckoned them in to the kitchen where a plate of cookies was sitting on the table. She took four glasses out of a cabinet and set them at the table to fill with milk after they all took her seats.

"I thought you said her name was Bones" Parker turned to face his father with a confused expression on his face.

Booth sipped his milk, trying to think of a good way to respond. Finally, he put down his cookie and turned to face his son.

"Just to me, bud. Just to me."

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