A/N: So, as promised, and earlier than I thought since it was sent to me from the editing room earlier (hi, bertie!!!!), here is the chapter!!! It's half of it because the other part will be written this weekend. I hope you enjoy it, I had a lot of fun writing it!!!

Also, I just want to say that any similarities between this chapter and any other fics are a coincidence, this chapter was planned this way from the start, so I'm sorry.

Thanks as always to bertie for putting up with my errors, good thing they are at least funny!!!

Disclaimer: Don't own Bones.

Christmas Eve
"What the…" Booth murmured as he climbed the steps to the hall hired for the Jeffersonian ball. Looking around, he tried hard not to roll his eyes as he saw someone dressed as an elf walking alongside another who looked suspiciously like Gandalf. Leave it to squints to dress up as characters from The Lord of the Rings at a Christmas ball.

Straightening his impeccable black dinner jacket, he checked his pockets twice before daring to walk into the strange and unsettling world of the squint convention.

When first told the Jeffersonian would be hosting a Christmas Ball, Booth was extremely reluctant to grace it with his presence. Later, upon hearing that it was a themed party, he was no longer reluctant. He was one hundred percent sure that he didn't want to go.

But as usual, he was always overruled when it came to his partnership with Brennan. As her presence was mandatory, she had vowed to assign Zach as his forensic anthropologist if he didn't go with her. It worked like a charm.

So, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, right? He knew this would be a once in a lifetime experience if only because he refused to ever again participate in any event held by or for squints. Despite being highly annoyed by the fact that he was even there, Booth had to admit the place looked fantastic. The ceiling and walls were lined with red and gold drapes and on his right, there was a beautifully decorated tree which sparkled with twinkling lights. With an amused smile, he noticed an abnormal amount of mistletoe hanging in every corner of the room, undoubtedly evidence of Angela's input.

And speaking of Angela… There was a definite similarity between the veiled creature ahead of him and the Jeffersonian's resident match-maker. Relieved to find someone he recognized, he made a beeline for the artist, avoiding a small party of Seven Dwarves on the way.

"Hey Booth," Angela called as he finally managed to reach her side.

"I saw the entire cast of Lord of the Rings, three Santas and two Harry Potters on the way in," he said, laughing at how absurd this party was turning out to be.

"Hey, the theme is magic. We didn't say what kind," she defended, laughing. With different shades of blue veils draped artistically round her body, Angela revealed a lot less skin than Booth expected, although the tight veils left little to the imagination.

"Right. What are you supposed to be?" he asked.

"A nymph," she said with the ever present wide smile she had when thinking of something dirty.

"What kind?" he asked, slightly confused.

"All kinds," she replied, wiggling her brows while he laughed.

"Where are the rest?" Booth inquired, looking around the crowded room in search of familiar faces. Angela grinned, knowing very well who he was looking for, and it sure wasn't Zach. "Jack, Zach and Cam are around. Bren is downstairs changing," she said, and his face betrayed what he was thinking. What was she going to wear?

Just then an arm was wrapped around the artist's waist, and both Angela and Booth turned to be greeted by an elder, a reindeer and a gypsy woman.

"What in the name of God are you?" asked Booth, pointing to Hodgins as he was dressed in a blue tunic, wearing a long white wig and a beard and carrying a thick stick in his hand.

Hodgins grinned, kissing Angela on the cheek. "Aside from a nymphomaniac?" Angela laughed while Booth made no attempted to suppress a shudder. Rolling his eyes, Hodgins answered, "I'm Merlin," before proudly hitting his staff on the ground.

"I'm a reindeer," Zach chipped in, his foam horns hanging crookedly over his head while his body was clothed in a brown jumpsuit, his hands in black gloves which were presumably supposed to represent hooves. "My perspiration level in rather high at this particular moment," he said, and Booth made a face at the thought of someone else having to use the costume after him.

"At least he doesn't have udders this time," Hodgins said, recalling Zach's now-legendary outfit for the Halloween party.

"Before you guess wrong, I'm a fortune teller," Cam said, her long red skirt swishing as she moved with the gold coins on her belt producing a light, and strangely festive, jingling sound. With a dark purple top and large hoop earrings, she could probably pass for the real thing out on the street.

"Care to read my fortune?" Booth asked, grinning at her. Before she could answer, her eyes focused on a spot behind him and he turned, frowning. However as he looked back, his mouth went dry and his eyes widened in surprise.

"I think you fortune is looking pretty good tonight," the pathologist/fortune teller said, and Angela grinned at the sight. Brennan was walking towards them, her outfit planned to perfection by Angela's keen eye. She had created an angel.

Or better yet, a fairy. In a strapless baby pink dress that just skimmed the floor and delicate white wings, she was truly beautiful. And the pinkish tone of her cheeks and flowers entwined in her curled hair were just a bonus as she smiled widely at her friends, eyes sparkling.

"Hey, guys," she greeted, and everyone replied enthusiastically, each sharing different but complimentary opinions on her costume. Everyone except for Booth, who still had his mouth hanging open, speechless for the time being.

"He'll talk again, eventually," said Angela, and Booth just glared at her when everyone laughed.

"Funny," he said sarcastically, blushing a little at the fact that everyone caught him staring at his partner.

"Why aren't you in costume?" asked Brennan suddenly, and for the first time the rest noticed that he was dressed in black tie.

"Dude, that's not fair," Hodgins said, pointing down at himself. "We all dressed up for this."

"I'm a magician?" Booth offered hopefully, but the skeptical looks he received were enough to inform him that they weren't convinced.

"That is not a costume," Hodgins pointed out, slightly aggrieved. "Unless you can pull a bunny out of your non-existent hat, it doesn't count."

Sensing that a demonstration was in order, Booth sighed and held out his hands as proof that they were empty. With a slight smirk, he then proceeded to pull a different colored handkerchief from Angela's veils, Zach's antlers, Cam's belt and Hodgins' beard, before brandishing them with a flourish. "Happy now?"

The rest of the squints smiled at the brief example, satisfied that Booth had at least some form of magic with him tonight, even if it was amateurish magic tricks. Hodgins, however, stared incredulously at his beard, seemingly impressed. "How did you do that?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Did you plant that on me?" Paranoia kicked in and he turned to Angela and Zach. "Were you two in on this?"

Relieved that their attention was elsewhere, Booth murmured under his breath to Brennan, "Hmm, a guy with three doctorates is more easily duped than my six-year-old."

Brennan smiled, before saying teasingly, "Maybe Parker's a prodigy."

Booth chuckled. "A prodigy? At what, seeing through the world's worst magic tricks?" She laughed too, and he took the opportunity to ask casually, "And what are you, Bones?"

She looked incredulously at him with the are-you-kidding-me expression he knew so well. "I'm a fairy," she said, poking him with her wand to demonstrate her point. He laughed, taking the wand from her and examining the silver star on the tip.

"Cute," he said, with a cocky wink.

"I'm not cute," she replied instantly in a low dangerous voice.

Death-stares could not dampen Booth's festive spirit. "I'd have to disagree with you there, Dr Brennan." He tapped her lightly on the nose with her wand and she snatched it off him, trying to hide her smile. "You look cute."

"Why don't we go find our table?" asked Cam, trying to avoid another epic battle between the not-notoriously-bicker-free partners.

"Good idea," seconded Angela, linking her arm with Hodgins' as they made their way through the room. When everyone was seated and happily nursing the first of many drinks to come, banter and laughter filled the air as they chatted animatedly. Since all the guests had now arrived, the DJ really got the party started as the cheerful beat of the songs began to reverberate through the ballroom.

"Now it's a party," Angela announced with a grin, as she and Hodgins headed to the dancefloor, leaving their inhibitions in the empty cocktail glasses. The mysterious Naomi-from-Paleontology came up to Zach, innocently unaware of his lack of skill on the dancefloor, and dragged him off as well.

As they were the only three left on the table, Cam's eyes darted from Booth to Brennan and from Brennan to Booth. She could see his mind working, the invisible daisy having its petals ripped one by one as he searched for an answer. Should I, should I not.

Deciding that the agent needed a nudge in the right direction, she got to her feet, coins clanging gently. "Want to dance, Booth?" Cam asked, offering a hand to him. He looked unsure, glancing at Brennan, who was pointedly avoiding his gaze, instead watching her friends dancing together.

"Sure," he said, taking her hand in his as they walked to the dancefloor. Awkwardly, they started to move, bumping into each other as they tried to find their rhythm.

"You know," Cam said, coming a little closer to Booth, "If you're waiting for the right moment, this is it."

Booth frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"We're not blind, Seeley. You have to make your move," she said. This was rather uncharacteristic coming fro her, but she could never be accused of being a cold hearted woman, especially towards someone she counted as a friend.

"What move?" he asked, now knowing what she was saying but refusing to acknowledge it.

"If you keep playing it like this, one day someone like Sully will come along, and maybe then you won't be so lucky," she said, and, looking in his eyes, she knew the message had got through. "Next time, she might not stay."

"There is too much to lose," he reasoned, and they were now completely off as they danced slowly to the fast beat, their minds elsewhere.

"Really? Because it looks to me like it might be worth the risk," she said, giving him an encouraging smile and when he smiled in return, she knew his mind had been made up.

"Thanks, Cam," he said, kissing her lightly on the cheek as he left the dance floor and headed for their table.

The pathologist sighed deeply as she watched him, thinking about what she'd lost for good. But then again, there were plenty of guys out there, and she wasn't ready to settle for half when she could have a whole.

As Booth approached the table, he couldn't take his eyes off his partner. Her wings glowed as the light streamed through them, making her dress shimmer, and he was tempted to run his fingers through her silky hair as he held her to him, letting the small flowers flutter to the floor.

She looked absent, and he knew part of her was. As much as she enjoyed her friends' company and the friendly atmosphere of the party, she would be so much happier inside her lab, hunched over a skeleton. He smiled as she swirled the wine inside her glass, something she always did when deep in thought.

"Don't over-think it, Bones," he said, and she glanced at him, surprised and mildly embarrassed for not seeing him there before.

"Weren't you dancing with Cam?" she asked, looking back at the dancefloor where her boss was now pretty close with a blond doctor from Archaeology.

"Well, now I'm not," he said, leaning down to bring his face level with hers. With practiced ease, he moved one hand behind her ear, pretending to pluck something out of the air before bringing it back in front of her with a grin.

Temperance was amused, if a little perplexed, to see a small silver tree resting in the palm of his hand. "What is this?" she asked, taking it between her fingers.

"I'll tell you one day. But now, we're dancing," he said, taking her hand in his as he pulled her up.

"I'm not a very good dancer," she warned, trying to pull her hand back, but he wouldn't let her.

"Just let me lead and you'll do fine," he said, holding her gently as a slow ballad began to play.

"Okay," she whispered as his hand rested at her waist, "You lead and I'll follow." As the first lines of the song began to play, his decision only seemed wiser as they swayed softly together. There was a risk in taking a chance, but more at risk through doing nothing.

It was, after all, now or never.

I'm a bit worried since the reviews for the last chapter were a bit low. So again, I'm using my favorite method: blackmail! Send me a review and the next part will be up a lot sooner!!! We are reaching the end, everyone, so don't leave me now!!!