Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Bones, though I would love to.

Author's Note: Ah birthdays. So much can go wrong.


It was Friday afternoon. All was quiet at the Jeffersonian. Everyone in the Medico-Legal lab had left for the weekend. Everyone that was, save Temperance Brennan.

"Come on, Bones, it's just drinks!" A man's voice called. He was staring at the forensics platform, where Brennan was bending over a person who had to have been dead at least three hundred years.

"No, Booth. I have too many things to do." She called back, pointing at the skeleton on the table in front of her, "Including identifying him." They had been having this argument for at least ten minutes, with neither side refusing to give in. He had chased her from her office to the temporary bone storage, and finally they had ended up here.

"Bones, come on! It's your birthday! Live a little. That guy has been dead for centuries, he can wait a little longer."

"Booth…" She said, in the most menacing tone she could muster.

"Please?" She looked up again, eyeing him suspiciously, "For me?"

"Is this one of those times when you try to get me to do something for you and it actually ends up being for my own good?"

"Maybe. Can we go now?"

"Will you leave if I say no?"

"No."

"Fine. Let me just tidy up."

"Be ready in five?"

"If I must."

"You must." She opened her mouth to argue again, but he held a finger up to his lips and she stopped. It seemed as though he truly would not take no for an answer. Sighing, she got to work putting the skeleton back into the box from which it had come. An excavation crew in Maryland had discovered the remains during a recent foundation dig, and this had been her first chance to examine them. They would have to wait until Monday, provided that she wouldn't have to identify another murder victim.

She was just locking up bone storage when Booth called. Hurriedly, she went to her office and snatched her coat, bag, and the pile of documents that she needed for the weekend, and locked the door behind her. She made it to him just as he was opening his mouth to shout her name again.

"Nice timing, Bones. You hungry?"

"A bit."

"All set?"

"Yes."

"All right then, let's go."

He gestured for her to give him the files she was carrying, and she obliged. It was pointless to turn down chivalry from Booth; he would always get his way in the end. The two of them walked towards the parking lot, empty-handed anthropologist and laden agent, with a comfortable silence stretching between them.

Booth's black SUV was the car closest to them. He stopped to fish his keys out as they approached it, making sure not to drop any of Brennan's papers, then half-ran to catch up with her. He expected her to stop at his car, but instead she made her way over to her own. He sighed and shook his head at her stubbornness, then opened his door and deposited the documents he was carrying on the backseat.

"Bones, you're not getting out of this." He yelled at her, as she turned her car engine on. She honked at him in response, but he was already running in front her, blocking the exit. "Bones, turn off your car." She opened her car door and stepped out, leaving the engine running.

"You're in my way."

"Yeah, Bones. Only so you don't leave."

"But I want to leave."

"And I want you to leave." He agreed. She opened her mouth to say something and he continued, "As long as you leave in my car."

"But how am I supposed to get here in the morning?"

"It's Friday Bones, remember? It's the weekend."

"Okay, and Monday?"

"I'll pick you up."

"You're like a dog with a femur about this."

"It's 'like a dog with a bone', Bones. Now turn your engine off and get in my car." Once again, she was forced to concede. She got back in and cut her engine, then slammed the door shut. After a moment, the lock clicked into place and she followed Booth back to the SUV. She stopped suddenly, looking as though she had just solved a puzzle.

"Hey, Booth?" She asked skeptically.

"Yes, Bones…" Came the exasperated reply.

"Can I drive?"

"No, of course not."

"But why not? I never get to drive! I'm an excellent driver." She paused for a moment, then added, "And it's my birthday."

"Fine." He climbed out of the driver's side and tossed her the keys, then made his way around the back. Happily, she got into the car and turned the key. Next to her, Booth grumbled about obstinate women and drivers, and she gave him her most innocent smile before pulling out of the spot and driving away.

It occurred to her, as she was driving out of the Jeffersonian's private road, that she had no clue where Booth intended to take her for drinks. He had obviously meant for them to go to a particular place, but he had never actually told her his plan.

"Booth?"

"Syd's."

"Okay."

They drove the rest of the way in total silence. Every time they stopped at a red light, she would glance at him, see him glare at her, and turn her attention back to the road. Very soon she was pulling into a spot right in front of the restaurant. Syd's was one of their favorite places to dine or order takeout from. Normally it was fairly crowded, the noise from its patrons wafting out onto the street, but tonight it was dark and dead silent.

"Booth, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah Bones, I even had Syd set aside a special birthday meal for you."

"You know you really didn't have to do this." She turned the gas off and got out, tossing the keys across the car to Booth.

"Bones, can you just be quiet and accept my present?" He asked as he shut his door and locked the car. He indicated that they were, in fact, going in. She followed him.

"I just don't see the point. Birthdays are all about the celebration of aging and maturity. The giving of presents is a way for the guests to assert partial possession of a day that is supposed to belong only to the person whom they are celebrating. Ergo, I don't like presents."

"For once, take something at face value and don't look into it." He said, opening the door as he did so. His last few words were drowned out by the sudden eruption of noise. From every possible hiding spot in the room sprang people. The lights flashed on revealing streamers, balloons and a banner that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEMPERANCE".

Booth turned to face Brennan, a large, goofy smile on his face, but all he met was empty air. He heard the door open and glanced in its direction just in time to see her running off in the direction of her apartment.


Author's Note: I have no idea how long this story is going to run, nor if it's going to end up B&B. But I will say this: I thrive from commentary. Anyone who has constructive criticism to give me is thanked in advance. And I'm already working on chapter two...