For those that were interested, I have decided that All I Asked Was One Thing is now part of the Deep Regrets storyline. This one is also, which I alluded to in the intro to the last story just mentioned. I hope you all enjoy this one. Gregg.

Disclaimer: In don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Bones walked to the door and took a deep breath. She held a suit bag in her hand, and she herself was dressed in an evening gown, her wrap casually draped over her arms. She raised her free hand and knocked on the door firmly. She knew he was going to be here, and she also knew that the drinking he'd been engaged in for some time after Hannah had left was a thing of the past, so she was fairly confident that while he may not be happy with her, he wouldn't be a drunken mess when he opened the door. When the door swung open she saw him in his sweat pants and t-shirt. He was barefoot and his hair was sticking out all over.

"Bones?" Booth asked, shocked that she was here at his place.

Without waiting for an invitation Bones walked right in and handed him the suit bag.

"What the Hell is going on?" Booth asked.

"There's a Tux," Bones told him. "You're escorting me to the Jeffersonian Fundraiser this evening."

"I never agreed to escort you," Booth pointed out, pretty damn sure she'd never even asked him.

"You have one hour to get ready," she said with a pointed look to the bathroom. She gave him the look she gave everyone when she wasn't about to let them have a choice. She watched him glare at her and then stomp off to the bathroom, the suit bag in hand. Draping her wrap over the back of the easy chair, she took a seat in the couch and began glancing through a magazine while waiting for him. She let her mind wander to the conversation with Angela the other day that led to this evening.

"So who are you going to the fundraiser with?" Angela asked curiously. She knew that Bren had not been dating at all both before Hannah broke it off with Booth, and also afterwards. Frankly she was upset with both Bren and Booth for continuing to ignore this new opportunity, but she wasn't going to rock the boat too much on that aspect given the raw feelings on both sides.

"I'm just going to go by myself," Bren replied without looking up from her computer screen where she was working on an article for an anthropology publication.

"Sweetie, you need to get out and live a little," Angela pressed.

"You mean have sex," Bren smirked, now looking up at her friend.

"That's exactly what I mean, Sweetie," Angela replied bluntly. "When was the last time you had sex anyway?"

"Not since the two boyfriends," Bren admitted reluctantly. It had been a long time, but she was not interested in breaking her celibacy. She still had to work things out with Booth, one way or the other, before she would be ready to be with a man.

"Then I'd say now is as good a time as any, imperative even, to ask out some good looking guy, go to the fundraiser, and then take him home and rock his world all night," Angela encouraged.

Bren glared, and then her gaze softened. An idea sprang into her mind, and she knew it would work, even though there may be some rough spots along the way. "I am not going to ruin any possibility of being with Booth eventually, Angela," she said firmly. "I will not have sex with some random guy to satisfy my urges and hurt Booth further. I've hurt him enough over the years in regards to that. But I will take him to the fundraiser."

"What if he doesn't want to go?" Angela asked, pleased that Bren was taking some initiative, but not sure if this was the right thing to do, given the state of things with Booth in the aftermath of his relationship with Hannah.

"Who said I'm going to give him a choice?" Bren asked rhetorically.

Bones was broken out of her thoughts when the door to the bathroom opened and out came a fully prepared, and in the Tux she had bought him, Seeley Booth. She had always loved him in a Tuxedo, and now she was seeing him in one that was perfectly tailored. He was spectacular. She noticed that he had found the gold cuff links she had also included.

"Well, how do I look?" Booth smirked. He still wasn't thrilled about going anywhere, but he had found out during the time since Hannah had dumped him that he couldn't escape his feelings for Bones, and if she wanted him to do something, then he was going to do it.

Bones stood and got her wrap and handbag. "You look very handsome, Booth," she told him. "I have a car waiting for us downstairs."

"Fancy tonight, Bones?" he asked.

"We deserve it," she told him cryptically. She linked her arm with his as they walked out of his apartment.

A/N: There's the short intro piece. This story will be several chapters long, so don't worry. There will be more. I hope you enjoyed the lead in. Gregg.