You people really don't like Dr. Kyle, do you?

Tsc tsc, that poor good-looking, nice, rich guy…

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"What?" Brennan gasped. What did Kyle just say?

"Is 8 not a good time?" Kyle raised one eyebrow. "I don't think it would look good if we got there late, Brennan…"

"No." She was so shocked that she didn't know what to say. "I'm not… I'm not going to the fundraiser with you."

"Of course you are." He grinned so pretentiously she suddenly wanted to slap his perfect face.

"Excuse me?"

"We are the heads of the project, we have to go together. It will make it look good." He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Besides, I heard you'd always go to these events with your partner in the past, and now I am your partner."

Did he just compare himself to Booth?

Brennan suddenly felt sick.

"You're not my partner, Dr. Kyle." She snarled. "You're my co-worker."

"I thought working together in a huge project made us partners." He commented, looking a bit hurt.

"No, it doesn't." He didn't understand the meaning of the word partner. Partner didn't mean only to work together. It meant to have each other's back, it meant to be there for each other in the good and in the bad moments. It meant to have celebratory drinks after closing a case, it meant giving your life if necessary to protect your partner. She had only one partner in her life, they weren't speaking a lot to each other lately, but he would always be her only partner. The fact that he risked his life so many times to save hers was what made her decide she couldn't keep her working partnership with him anymore. Not when she actually saw him dying in her arms, felt his lifeless body and saw his unfocused eyes. He was dead for a minute, and the paramedics had been able to bring him back to life, but that didn't mean that he didn't die. For twice in her life, Temperance Brennan had seen her partner die and come back to her. She didn't want to take another chance. She couldn't count on luck for a third time. What if he never came back? "It makes us co-workers. I don't partner up anymore."

She would still help the FBI with identification sometimes, but she didn't get involved in the cases anymore. Booth finally accepted the promotion they were trying to give him since he got back from Afghanistan and he was now working on a desk job that gave him way more money, but Brennan knew that he detested. And he blame it on her, she knew that, because he'd told so her many times. The FBI wouldn't let him go out on the field when he the doctors said he was ready to come back to work again, it would take a little time before that. But without Brennan as his partner, there was no point in keeping the field job anymore. He loved the job, he was a man of action, but he wouldn't get another partner.

It upset her that he wasn't doing something he loved, but she couldn't help feeling so relieved that he wasn't in the line of fire anymore. She hoped he could find something he loved inside the FBI, but when he started, he was just so pissed at her for severing their partnership that he wouldn't even allow himself to enjoy any of it.

But she was the one who sat on that chair next to his hospital bed for seven days when he was in a coma after the shooting, with no idea if he would ever wake up. The doctors told her it had been a miracle that they could bring him back to life; one of the bullets just missed his heart by a millimeter. And it wasn't as if it was her first time in that position, waiting to see if he would ever wake up again. She loathed being there and she'd been there more times than anyone should. And now they had their daughter to think about. Christine needed her father, and so did Parker.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Kyle, but I should get going." She started to gather the bones and put them back in the box they belonged.

"So, are you saying that you're not going to the fundraiser with me?" He asked in disbelief.

"I believe I was clear about it when I told you just a minute ago." She turned around to put the box back on the shelf. "But of course, I expect to see you there tomorrow since our presence is mandatory."

Otherwise, she wouldn't go herself.

B&B

Booth was watching The Beauty and the Beast for the 893rd time with Christine while they waited for Brennan to come home. He left the FBI earlier – the desk job did have its up sides – and they were now sitting on the comfortable couch in the living room and sharing a bowl of popcorn. He wasn't sure if Brennan would approve of the popcorn before dinner, but he liked to think that a little indulgence wasn't that bad once in a while. It made those moments special. His daughter, like 9 out of 10 4-year-old little girls in the world, loved the fairy tale movies and would want to watch them over and over again, never getting tired of them. And since he had a really hard time saying 'no' to Christine when she asked him to watch the movie with her with those begging big blue eyes, he had no choice but to sit there and sing along to Be Our Guest.

Not that he would ever admit to anyone that he knew all the lyrics to that song.

He had to be careful, though, because those damn songs were super catchy and sometimes he'd catch himself humming them at work. And nothing brought down the strong, macho FBI Agent façade more than being caught singing a Disney song.

But he loved those moments with his daughter, and there was no way he'd give them up just because some silly songs would get stuck in his head.

"Where does Belle live?" Christine asked, getting a handful of popcorn.

"In France." He told her.

"Oh." She looked at him surprised.

"Oh, what?" He chuckled. She had that Brennan's expression on her face, the one she had when she just realized something.

"Dr. Kyle asked Mommy to go to France with him the other day."

Booth felt his body burning. He did what? What was happening now? They were going on little romantic trips together?

He tried not to think about it. He and Brennan had been doing well. They might even become friends again. And especially since the past night, he held hopes that maybe, just maybe, they could even get back together one day.

But now Kyle wanted to take her to France?

"Dr. Kyle asked Mommy to go to France with him?"

"Yeah, but Mommy said no." She shrugged. "Oh, I love this part!"

Christine jumped off the couch when Belle came on screen wearing her famous yellow dress.

Booth knew that he wouldn't get anything else out of her now, but something inside him softened now that he knew Brennan didn't accept the invitation. Maybe he had been wrong before.

"Come on, Daddy! Let's dance. Up, up, up!" Christine pulled his hand. "You're the Beast!"

He chuckled as he got up on his feet. "Fine, fine."

But Christine wasn't happy only with the dance, they had to do all pleasentries and greetings that lead to the dance, so she bowed in front of him and expected him to do the same.

"Princess Christine, will you give me the honor of this dance?" He asked her, reaching out for her hand.

"Yes, I will, Prince Daddy!" She grinned widely and his heart skipped a beat. He enjoyed these little moments so much that he already felt sad that his daughter was growing up so fast. He knew it wouldn't be long until his baby girl would want a pimpled boy to dance with her instead of him.

So, he took her tiny hand in his, placed another hand on her waist and started dancing.

B&B

Brennan was welcomed home with the sight of Booth and Christine dancing in the middle of the living room. They were so into their dancing that they didn't even noticed that she had arrived, so she leaned on the wall and just took her time watching the adorable scene.

Christine had stepped on Booth's feet and they waltzed around the room, her little girl's laughs warming her heart. She knew Booth would be an excellent father, but witnessing scenes like this one just showed her how lucky her daughter was to have him, and more than ever she was glad about her decision.

"Mommy, you're back!" Christine shouted with a smile on her face when she finally noticed her mother after they finished the dance. "Come watch The Beauty and the Beast with us!"

She smiled. "I'd love to, honey, but I have to make us dinner."

"But we are eating popcorn!" Christine lifted the popcorn bowl and Brennan gave Booth a glare.

"Just once, Bones… and Cricket here promised to eat all her dinner, didn't you?" He smirked at his daughter.

"Yeah, Daddy, everything but the cucumbers, 'cause I hate them." She winced.

"Fair enough, right, Bones?" He said, and then whispered to Brennan. "You know I also hate cucumbers."

"But don't say that out loud or she'll never eat them again." She whispered back.

"I know, that's why I'm whispering."

Brennan just shook her head. "Okay, I better get going to the kitchen because unlike the two of you I didn't stuff myself with popcorn and I'm starving."

"I'll help you." Booth said quickly, following her to the kitchen.

Christine was so into the movie again that she didn't complain about their absence.

"Christine told me Kyle asked you to go to France with him." Booth said while cutting the vegetables.

Brennan looked up at him surprised.

"I didn't know she heard that." She said. "I should start watching what I say when she's around. Christine is becoming quite a blabbermouth."

"That doesn't seem to bother you when she tells you things about me." He said cockily.

"She doesn't-" She stopped, because that was true. Since she wasn't talking much to Booth anymore, the best way to keep herself updated about him was from the things Christine told her. "Dr. Kyle asked me to go to France for a conference, he wanted me to present our project." She explained, even though she didn't owe him an explanation. "I told him I wouldn't go."

"Christine told me that, too." He said.

"Then why did you bring it up?" She raised one eyebrow.

"I-" He started, but suddenly he couldn't remember why he felt the need to comment that. "I don't know… I just… I think I just miss talking with you, that's all."

She didn't say anything, because she didn't know what to say, so they just worked in silence for a while.

"I'll come home late tomorrow." She finally spoke. "I have to attend the Jeffersonian Fundraiser Banquet."

"What time should we be there?" He said without thinking. They were working together doing dinner, so completely in synchrony that he forgot it wasn't like before anymore.

"What?" She asked startled. She was not expecting him to say he'd accompany her.

"Well…" What was he going to say? He was so used to accompany her to those events for the past what, 10 years, that when she said she was going tomorrow, he didn't figure he wasn't going too. He had to think fast. "I'm not letting you go there alone when there's a psycho trying to hurt you."

"I'm not going to be alone, Booth, the whole Jeffersonian is going to be there." She said.

Including Dr. Kyle, he thought bitterly.

The thought of Brennan all dressed up and free for all those squints to dance with her and flirt with her got him on his nerves. There was no way she was going alone. Besides, what he said was true, no one could know if Muñoz would find a way to get in there. He wouldn't take chances.

"Still, it's dangerous." He said.

"It's not dangerous." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to be fine, Booth."

"Drop it, Bones. I'm going."

"But you hate those events." She looked at him. "You say all those squints together bore you more than watching chess games on TV."

"I don't hate them that much." He shrugged. "Last time wasn't that boring, was it?"

She blushed when she remembered the Banquet party the year before. They found a way to sneak out of the party and go to her office to have some private time together. Booth would never look at her desk the same way after that night.

"Are you sure you want to go, Booth?" She asked. It wasn't as if she didn't want him to go. She did enjoy his company at those parties, even before they got together.

"Yes, Bones, I am sure." He smiled.

"Then, fine. If you insist." She smiled back, and for a moment it was just like before. "I'll call Dad and see if he can watch Christine for us."

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Anyone wants to see Booth and Brennan all dressed up for the Banquet?

What could possibly happen at a party at the Jeffersonian?

Are they vising Brennan's office again?

Let's see!

Please let me know your thoughts!

P.S: I hope you all get Be Our Guest stuck in your head, because I'm singing it for days now and it's just fair, so here it goes:

Be our guest
Be our guest
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we provide the rest
Soup du jour
Hot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff, it's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
They can sing
They can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest
Oui, our guest
Be our guest