A/N: Post-pilot-episode this time. Booth and Brennan call a truce...
"Hey Bones," Booth smiled, knocking on the doorframe of Brennan's office at the Jeffersonian. "I got a case I need you to take a look at."
"Don't call me Bones!" she responded severely.
He laughed. He knew he shouldn't—it would only hurt her feelings, and if he hurt her feelings she wouldn't help him with the case—but couldn't stop himself. "You know you like it…"
"No, I don't," she insisted, her eyes wide with anger. "My name is Dr. Temperance Brennan…"
"Come on, Bones…"
She cut him off with menacing glare.
"…Brennan," he corrected slowly. "All the best have nicknames…Wayne Gretzky was 'The Great One', Walter Payton was 'Sweetness', Earvin Johnson was 'Magic'…"
She shook her head, her forehead wrinkling in confusion. "I don't know who any of those people are, and I don't care. Just don't call me Bones!"
"I thought we had this all worked out," he said, his own brow furrowing in thought. "We made a deal, remember? You promised to help me with cases as long as you got to come out in the field."
"Nowhere in the agreement did we discuss nicknames," she shot back.
"We need to discuss nicknames?"
She nodded her head emphatically, rising from her desk and walking over to him. "Yes. You know I don't like it when you call me Bones, and I have been professional enough not to call you by anything other than your given name."
"Fine," Booth sighed, leaning against the doorframe, "I will try not to call you Bones. What else do we need to discuss?"
Brennan crossed her arms over her chest and met his gaze, deciding not to push the nickname issue for the moment. She had more important things to deal with. "The unprofessional way you treat me—your teasing, your ordering me around…your flirting…"
"My flirting?" he questioned with surprise, clapping a large hand to his chest.
"Yes, Booth, your flirting," she repeated, her hands flying as she spoke. "At first I thought I was just misreading you, but after studying you closely over a period of time I realized that I wasn't. Maybe you're trying to annoy me, or maybe you want to see how I'll react. Maybe you're just…a flirt. I don't care why you do it, I just want it to stop."
He shoved his hands in his pockets, a chagrined expression crossing his face at her words. Despite his protest, he knew that he had been flirting with her in a twisted, how-fast-will-the-Squint-melt sort of way. He also knew that even as a Squint, she deserved to be treated better than that.
"Okay," he conceded in a quieter voice. "Anything else?"
She noted his change in tone and dialed back the resentment in her own. "Yes. I would like you to treat my staff with some appreciation, too. They've worked hard on the cases you've brought in, and I think they've earned your respect."
He nodded again, wincing a little this time. "I'll do my best," he told her.
It was her turn to be surprised. "You will?"
"Yeah," he replied. "You're right. You and your Squint Squad have helped out with the cases I bring, when the FBI doesn't know what else to do, and you deserve some credit for that."
"Really?" she asked, not quite sure she heard him correctly.
"Yeah, Bones. Don't look at me like I'm some kind of bully, pushing you around and taking all the credit for your contributions…" His voice trailed off when the expression on her face confirmed his words. "Is that what you think I am?"
"It's the way you act," she reported matter-of-factly, ignoring his use of her nickname.
Booth mulled that one over for a moment. "How 'bout a truce?" he suggested.
"A truce?" she echoed.
"Yeah…are you gonna question everything I say?" he wondered aloud, the irritation creeping back into his voice.
"What?' she asked before she could stop herself. Then, shaking her head, "No, I'm not going to question everything you say." She paused briefly, her stare wavering a bit at his unexpected proposal. "And yes…I'd like a truce."
"Okay, so I promise to treat you and your staff with a little more respect…" he began.
"…and to not call me Bones…" she added.
He grinned. "…and to try not to call you Bones," he amended. "And you…"
"…promise to keep working cases with you," she finished, hints of a smile pulling at her lips.
Booth held out his hand. "Partners?"
Her smile widened. "Partners," she agreed, shaking the hand he offered a few times. When the shaking ceased Brennan didn't let go, lost in the thought forming in her mind
Booth recognized the look in her eyes. "Another question?" he frowned.
"We're really partners?" she asked skeptically, raising her eyebrows as she released his hand. "Equal partners?"
"Yeah," he replied, glancing at his feet and shuffling them uncomfortably. "If we're gonna do this, we should do it right." A familiar glint appeared in his dark eyes when they made contact again with her bright blue ones. "Besides, with all that marshal arts stuff…you're almost badass sometimes, Bones," he winked.
"Yeah?" she countered, moving back to her desk and throwing a smirk at him over her shoulder. "Well, with all that detective work…you almost have basic reasoning skills, Booth."