Let's Not Bring the Past Back

Temperance Brennan was like any other woman of her age. She was always driven and exhausted from work. Everyday, she would always go home weary and in that every day of her life, she felt that she was getting more and more isolated from the world. Her work was everything that she had and now that she was almost on the verge of retirement, that everything was about to go away and she would grow older with nothing until she dies.

She would always go home to her apartment tired and drained. Overtime didn't seem dreadful to her. As a matter of fact, she would always remain in the laboratory until the wee ours of the morning unless a colleague of hers persuades her to go home. That wasn't a big surprise to everyone. Old Dr. Temperance Brennan. Always dedicated to her work even if it means that she has to sacrifice her sleep. Still, this fact never wasn't new to anyone unless they've just started working at the world renowned International Institute of Medical Jurisprudence in France, which gained a reputation for having its most advanced techniques and tools in solving the most infamous crimes.

"Why would she ever want to go home?" that is what she often hears from her colleague when they're talking about her behind her back.

Why, nobody even liked her. To them, she was just a snobbish, American forensic anthropologist who only speaks about work. Funny, because nobody even tried to get to know her. If only they tried, maybe she wouldn't be this cold to them. But how could they ever, when she herself built so many walls that prevented anyone from reaching her. Everyday, she would always find herself in the lab busied by so many bones in front of her. So many bones without an identity and her determination to give them back what they have lost was the reason why she forgot about her life too.

Temperance never got married. For her, marriage is irrational. Will signing in front of a large number of participants a piece of paper unite two human beings and therefore bind and have them committed to each other for the rest of their lives? Why do other people always do that? Do they even try to rationalize things before getting in to it? That is what crosses her mind whenever she heard the word marriage. But still, that doesn't stop her from wondering what could have happened if she answered oppositely to the question that someone had asked her thirty years ago.

"I think what drives her to be like this is because she has no one to go home to" another conclusion that she often hears from her colleagues.

Why would they ever think that I wouldn't want to go home because not a soul could be found in my apartment? Their conclusions do not even support the fact that my happiness is within the walls of this laboratory and not in my apartment. My life is perfect although that is an irrational thing for me to say for the meaning of the word perfect implies that something does not have flaws and that fact only exists in others imagination, more or less fiction. All the details in my life seem to be in perspective. Nothing is missing and nothing is incomplete. That is what her mind tells her. But sometimes, she could have sworn that she was lying to herself and oftentimes, she shrugs that thought off her mind.

Also she never had any children and the thought of having one never even entered that mind of hers even when she was younger. Temperance Brennan, a world renowned forensic anthropologist, a best selling author, and perhaps a mother? No, that couldn't be right. For her life like this was enough. Besides, children are a grudge for her to bear. First, she lacked maternal skills. Second of all, her job was something she loved more than anything else. It was just too important for her to allow any distractions. And last but not the least, if she did ever wanted one to happen, who could be its father? As during the last 30 years of her life, she spent them alone in France. She had never seen a man as a husband or as close to a boyfriend. She never had any real connections with men. Maybe once she did with someone but that was decades ago. The last time she had heard of him was six years ago, when she was forced to return to the place she avoided, Washington DC. It was at her father's funeral that she had last seen him, during in her most vulnerable condition. But he was used to seeing her that way. He had seen her like that too many times before. He knew that what she needed at that time was a friend. He knew that at the time, she was just pretending that she was strong, as no tears ever dared to emerge from those sad, blue eyes. He even tried to approach her, but like what she did before she left for France; she pushed him away from her life.

"Dr. Brennan"

Temperance was startled. It was her assistant, Henry, who somehow reminds her of Zack, her former assistant, called her.

"Huh? Oh sorry…I guess my mind was wandering somewhere. What is it?"

"You told me to remind you that you wanted to go home early. I think you have some sort of agenda."

"Oh, yes. Thank you for reminding me."

She quickly stood up, grabbed her coat and left.

"Henry", she called her assistant who was at this time studying some remains from their ne case. "Do inform me if you find anything new about our new John Doe"

"Yes, Dr. Brennan"

After that quick conversation, she left and headed for the mall as she was intending to do some last minute Christmas shopping. It had been snowing really hard and the temperature constantly drops. It was the twenty first of December. It was custom for her to shop that late. After she got everything she needed, she hailed a taxi and headed straight to her apartment.

When she got home, she always did her routine. She went to the answering machine to see if there was any message from Henry. He must have found something by now, she thought.

Beep.

"Tempe, it's me. As soon as you get this message, call me."

Instantly, she recognized his older brother's voice. "What could it be'', she wondered. She instantly picked up the phone and dialed the phone number of her brother.

"Hello"

"Tempe. It's you", answered Russ, not knowing what to say next.

"Russ, is everybody ok?"Asked Temperance. Russ could sense the anxiousness from her voice. At that point, Russ didn't know what to say next. He knew that the news he is about to tell her might break her heart but she has to know. She had the right to know. After all, she had been his partner for four years.

"It's Booth" he said in a stern voice. "He's…" he couldn't say it. The words wouldn't come out of his mouth no matter how he forced it. Russ couldn't say those words. Those two words that Brennan needed to hear. He didn't want to say it like this to her. He just didn't have the courage to do it but he just had to.

"What Russ?" she replied back but this time Russ sensed that she was already crying.

"It happened yesterday…It was an automobile accident..He's…"

Bang!

Before Russ could even say it, Temperance dropped the phone in disbelief.

"Gone…"

"Tempe…Tempe!"

Before she even knew it, tears were rushing from her eyes down on her chin. But why? Why was she even crying for him? He was a memory from her past now. She thought she had moved on. But then she realized one thing. All her life she couldn't find her way to happiness because she loved a man and the man that she loved all her life was gone. Both too, didn't find the right path because he was still in love with Temperance until the day that he died. "If only I could turn back time, I wouldn't let this happen to you without you not knowing…", Temperance whispered as a teardrop emerged from her eyes. When she was a child, she had always thought about her future but now she found her self looking forward to the past. That night, she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, Temperance woke up late. That day, she didn't feel like going to work. She just wanted to lie down because she was trying to forget that difficult night and instead, she covered her self with her blanket. Then she suddenly fell out of bed! She realized that that wasn't her blanket. Hers was brown and the one that she was holding was purple. It looked like the one that she had thirty years ago… She looked around but she saw that she wasn't in her apartment anymore. In fact, she wasn't even in France! Her bed wasn't even there. The only the thing that was present was the couch she had lied on to, the pillows that supported her head, the pictures that hanged on the wall and that desk! It's as if she was at the Jeffersonian! She looked at the mirror and was dumbfounded by what she saw! It was still her, but she was thirty years younger. She looked like what she looked when she was still working at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington DC.

"No, this couldn't possibly be! It's irrational! I must be dreaming! But if I am dreaming, why is my back aching?" she said to herself.

She suddenly realized that she fell out of the couch earlier. And she had just felt her back ache. That could be the reason why, but if that was the reason and if her back was aching… It came upon her and struck her like lightning!

"Then this isn't a dream" she almost screamed.

Then out of the blue, she heard someone humming. It was getting louder and louder like it was heading for her office. Then, someone spoke.

"Hey Bones, wake up! We have a case…"