A/N: Wow. I didn't think people would like it as much as ya do. Makes me feel all happy inside. Well, the gala has arrived. Let's see what happens, because frankly, I don't know myself.

Disclaimer: I am secretly Hart Hanson, and this is just a way for me to throw out ideas and see how the audience reacts to them… not really. I just think it's funny to say stupid stuff like that. Just ask the kids at tvDOTcom. They can vouch for my non-sane-ness.

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Brennan couldn't help but smile as she slipped into her dress. Two months ago she had bought it under her best friend Angela's instruction, and since then her whole life had changed. Not really, she reminded herself. True, she and Booth were partners of a newer sense, but that hadn't really changed their dynamics – much. Booth was at the lab more often, and kisses were snuck, but that didn't matter much to her. Their relationship was more than just physical. He had always been there for her, and now he just had a better way to express it. They still got into fights about nothing, and he still wouldn't let her have a gun (even more so now), but behind all of that were two people who loved each other. Love. I love him. Sure, she had said she had loved other men, but none of them were Special Agent Seeley Booth.

Angela had insisted that Booth get ready with Hodgins, and that they would meet them there. Brennan had thought it ridiculous when Angela first said it, but now she realized that her friend was probably right. She wanted to surprise Booth, and she could do it even better if he wasn't there.

"Are you done yet Bren? We need to hurry up, or fashionably late will have come and past, and we will be just late. And Angela Montenegro is never just late."

Brennan smiled. "So this is all about you now, is it?"

"Absolutely. And you and your FBI man of loveliness, of course."

"Of course," Brennan said, surprised at the sarcasm. Booth is really rubbing off on me.

"Now hurry up. I don't want to get calls until we're in the car."

"I'm done." Brennan walked out of the bathroom to a waiting Angela.

Angela smiled. "If you don't end up christening that couch tonight, I don't want to think about that. You two breaking up is not an option. I want godchildren." Brennan made a face. "Fine. We won't talk about the adorable kids you two are having. I'm just saying. How you could go two whole months without taking control on that couch is beyond me."

Brennan's mouth twitched, thinking of the night before. It had been considered, but it wasn't pulled out, and her bed was that much nicer.

"I saw that. Don't tell me you have christened that couch without telling me. I will feel immensely offended and will have to begin the process for removing my best friend status."

"I don't know what that means, but you shouldn't worry. The couch will not be christened without you knowing." As an afterthought she added silently, "Other areas of the apartment; however, are not your concern."

"Fine. I suppose I can live with that. And before I forget, the couch in your office is also my business." With that they walked out the door to the waiting limo. The driver was a little upset at their being late, but Angela gave an excuse and they were off.

--

Hodgins and Booth were beginning to think they would come. Zack had hit it off well with a grad student from another section of the Jeffersonian, leaving the two to sit around bored at the open bar.

"You know, there's a reason I don't go to these things. If Angela doesn't show up soon I'm afraid that bald guy over there is going to come over here and publicly label me a disgrace," Hodgins said, not at all pleased with how the evening was going. "Angela usually deflects them for me."

"Tell me about it. Just when I thought I had tapped into my inner squint, someone introduces me to a whole new subspecies."

Hodgins was about to respond when, glancing over to the entrance for the billionth time that night, he noticed them coming.

"It looks like our wait is over," Hodgins said as he got up and made towards the ladies.

For Booth, all time stopped. Standing there before everyone was his Bones. All he wanted to do was whisk her away from prying eyes so he could have her all to himself. She would kill me if she knew. I'd be sleeping at my place for weeks if she found out I put a possessive pronoun in front of her name.

She smiled when she saw him and went to sit next to him.

When Brennan sat down Booth could see the back of her dress, or what little of it there was. He had a feeling Angela had chosen it for that very reason, and he couldn't help smiling. I'm going to have to thank her later.

Brennan had ordered a drink, and Booth figured this would be the opportune time to make his move. "You look beautiful," he whispered into her ear before kissing her delicately on her jaw line.

"Thank Angela. She chose the dress."

"But you're the one wearing it, so I think all the praises will be going to you tonight." He had to smile. It figures she would point the praise in someone else's direction.

Brennan just smiled into her drink. She really hadn't been looking forward to this evening, but his simple praises had shooed all those thoughts away. Besides, she thought, the night isn't over after the Gala."

--

Unbeknownst to them, the squints weren't the only ones watching their interaction. Goodman had thought it a good idea to include the FBI, so there was a large amount of uncomfortable-looking men and women staring at Booth with awe and confusion. He had somehow managed to become comfortable with squints in general, and even had one as his partner. Everyone at the Bureau knew that those two were untouchable; and that Booth was extremely defensive of those squints, especially Dr. Brennan. Booth had been spending less and less time at the Bureau, so not many knew that he and his partner were partners in more than one sense of the word. But that simple kiss had told them all that he had had a major status change.

"Did you see that?" one of the agents asked. "He is going to have hell with Cullen tomorrow."

"No," another agent said. "Those two couldn't get into trouble if they wanted it. They have got Cullen wrapped around their fingers."

"Yeah. They have had the best track records in the bureau ever since what seems like their first case. It may look like thy get hassled a lot; but really, they get to do whatever they want."

"Besides, it's not like we haven't seen it coming. Anyone that's been within twenty miles of one of their crime scenes can tell that there's major chemistry there."

"Yeah, but they're partners," the original agent said with a huff. "There is no way they can possibly stay together."

"Not true. I was talking to one of the squints here, and apparently they've been a 'thing' for a couple of months now. And I think they got about three cased solved in that same time. If anything, they're more productive."

"Wow," the first agent said. "They're unstoppable."

"No kidding."

And with that they all sort of broke apart, each going their separate ways and trying to connect with the scientists and wealthy individuals present.

Unfortunately, not all of the agents had been in on the conversation and didn't know that Brennan was very much off limits.

Brennan and Booth were in the middle of yet another squabble when Brennan felt a hand on her shoulder.

Booth was smiling inwardly at their argument. He loved their battles of the minds, even though to most they just looked like childish squabbles. This was more than just a squabble, this was an opportunity for him to get a glimpse of her mind. He was about to say something when he saw Agent Coden touch Brennan's shoulder. For a second he thought about confronting the man, but he refrained himself so he could see what she would do. He wasn't always going to be there, much to his disliking, and this would be an excellent dry run.

Fortunately, Booth didn't have to wait long. Before he idiot of an agent could even say hello, Brennan had the man on the ground and her three-inch stiletto heel hovering over his neck.

"I'd appreciate it if you refrained from touching me in such an intimate manner."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask you to dance."

Booth couldn't help smiling. This poor kid is going to wish he'd never even looked at Bones.

"And you assumed that the best approach would be to touch my shoulder? Did you really think I would say yes that much? I don't even know your name and you think it is okay to touch me in a location that multiple cultures associate with possession? I am not someone that you can just assert dominance over. I doubt there are even twenty women in this entire building, that's including staff, that wouldn't have shut you dead within a minute."

"It's 'shut you up' or 'shot you down,' Bones."

"Oh. Thank you. Now if you think hard you can probably note that you have been 'shot down,'" Brennan looked over to Booth and he nodded, indicating she had used the phrase correctly, "by just about every woman who, upon your first encounter, you decided to touch without their obnoxiously obvious consent."

"Um… so is that a no?" Booth couldn't help smiling. It took all his power not to break into hysterics right there. Either that was the stupidest agent employed to date, or he just hadn't been rejected with such force before. Booth hoped that, for the kid's sake, it was the second.

"Even if you hadn't been so rude, I still would have said no. A woman doesn't get this dressed up or get put through extensive torture for just anyone, the least of all you."

"And that certain someone is me," Booth said, deciding that it was as good a time as any to intervene. A crowd had started to form, and he knew Brennan didn't need the attention. "Bones, take your heel off this man's neck so he can leave you alone."

Brennan did what she was told, and Agent Coden stood up with haste, eager to get away from the embarrassing situation. Booth and Brennan watched him walk away, both smiling inwardly.

"I didn't think you'd do that," Booth said finally.

"Why not? He was very rude." Brennan obviously didn't understand how monumental that was.

"It just wasn't the way you normally would have handled things, and I'm pleased by the change." He could tell she was confused, so he elaborated. "You probably would have still gotten upset, but you never would have done it with such force." Booth leaned in and whispered into her ear for dramatic effect, "It's nice to know."

"I'm glad you're pleased, but that's not very becoming behavior. I don't appreciate the possessive undertones."

"Allow me to fix that." Booth stood from his seat and held out his hand. "May I have this dance?" Brennan smiled and took his hand.

As Booth led Brennan to the floor, Angela let out a little squeal. No matter how many times it happened, she couldn't help getting excited every time they openly showed affection. They never were very open about it, We have a job to do, Angela, Brennan always said.

--

Booth and Brennan had been dancing for a bit, completely unaware of the world around them.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful?" Booth asked.

"Yes, when I first came in."

"Oh, good. Well I'm going to tell you again. You look beautiful."

"Thank you."

Booth hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should dare ask. He decided, against his better judgment, to ask her. "Did you really mean what you said?"

"Yes. He was very rude."

Booth chuckled, "No. About why you got all dressed up. You really did all of this," he let his eyes graze over her, "for me?"

"I wouldn't have done it for anyone else."

This wasn't a statement that normally would have come out of Brennan's mouth, so Booth was taken aback. But then he remembered a conversation he and Angela had had a few months ago.

"She's really changed, you know," Angela said to Booth. They were standing in front of the Angelator and looking at the 3-D face of the victim.

"What do you mean?"

"She's slowly becoming normal, you know."

"I don't think Bones will ever become normal," Booth said with a laugh.

"No, she won't. But she is slowly realizing there's more to this world than just this lab. She's almost embraced the idea that there are some things that can't be measured."

"No way," Booth said in disbelief.

"Really," Angela said in earnest. "She wanted my opinion on love yesterday. Love! And not in like an anthropological way, but what it feels like. If I loved Hodgins, to what extent, to describe what it feels like when he's in the room. For a minute I thought she had finally found someone, but then she got this look on her face that made me think she had hoped she had found it but didn't. She's changed, Booth. And we all know it's your fault."

Booth smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. So… do you think we've stayed here long enough?"

"I think I need to be twirled around just a bit more before we leave."

"Really? Because I was thinking we could just skip the rest of tonight and go home. Look, Hodgins and Angela are already gone. Zack just stayed here long enough to eat the free food, leaving us here to enjoy torture. Come on, Bones. Let's leave."

Brennan looked down and sighed. "Why, don't you like the dress?"

"Oh, I love the dress. But that is just another reason why we should leave. I don't appreciate the looks you're getting."

"A little possessive, aren't we?"

"Absolutely. You should have known I would be a terrible alpha-male when you chose that dress."

"I didn't choose it, Angela did," Brennan clarified.

"But you agreed to her choice, making you as much of a culprit as her."

Brennan sighed at the logic given. She couldn't deny that she had been involved in the choice, so she was at least partially responsible for the results.

"Come on, Bones. Let's leave. We've done our job here, let's go home, eat Thai food, and fall asleep on the sofa-bed."

"But my dress wasn't even worn enough to make it worth the hours of shopping and small fortune I paid for it."

Booth looked down at her and frowned. He knew she was just trying to be obstinate, and he just wanted to be as supportive as he possibly could. Their relationship was not the norm, they were almost forced into the relationship, and he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. She was always pretended that she was perfectly comfortable with her relationships, but he knew that that wasn't the case. All of her previous relationships had been 'purely physical,' and both of them knew their relationship was nothing of the sort. She was wading in uncharted waters, and he wanted to be sure she felt comfortable and in control. That was how she dealt with everything, by being in control, and he wanted to be sure that she could put their relationship as a regular part of her life. If it wasn't, if it was outside of her norm, she wouldn't be able to handle it and their relationship would fall apart. He did not want that.

"But if you think it has served its purpose," Brennan began, "then I suppose it's okay if we leave."

Booth let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I was afraid we would have to stay at this Star-Wars Convention the entire night."

"No. I wouldn't do that to you. Now let's go tell Goodman we're leaving."

Brennan guided them towards Goodman, who was talking to the curator of the museum.

"Dr. Goodman," Brennan interjected, "we will be leaving. It has been a wonderful evening."

Goodman frowned. "I was hoping that you would stay a bit longer. We were going to give out some awards, one of which I'm sure was going to yourself and Agent Booth here. As well as the other members of your team, where are they, by the way?"

"They already left," Booth said.

"Ah. And you were hoping you could leave as well? Yes, I suppose Dr. Saroyan can take the awards in your place. You have a wonderful evening."

"We will, thank you," Booth said before Brennan could say anything. He then led Brennan away from the Doctors and to his SUV. Once there, he gave Brennan a deep kiss that tried to express to her just how hard it was for him in there. "Thank you."

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Well, that was long. Mom's wanting me to end this like now, because I really need to start working on my college apps, but it's just so hard. I was thinking of leaving this kind-of open ended, and filling it with stuff that just fits as it comes to me. That would mean a lot of angry people (including yours truly), and I want to be sure that it is ended properly. So tell me what you think. Should I leave it open-ended as a sort of reader's opinion thing where if you want something (not smut because I don't do that) that you think would fit in the story, and I put it in, or if I should end it with one more chapter where that couch gets put to use (but not smut) or the use of the couch is told (but again not smut) and end it there, or if I should just end it here. Give me the word.

Wow, that was long. I never realized how wordy I was until now. So sad. Okay. I'm stopping now. Now. Now. Okay, that's it. Ending now. Especially since I'm on vacation. Stop. DANG IT!!!!!