Universe 2 (2007-2010)

Brennan's life was very busy, but very fulfilling. She had been in charge of the lab now for four years and she had a really talented and motivated staff of professionals working for her. Their main cases involved learning as much as possible about remains sent to them from countries around the world. Most of the remains they examined were uncovered in digs, or found during excavations for new buildings, and some were thousands of years old. Brennan continued to go on digs and expeditions around the world at least twice a year. These trips were anywhere from two weeks to two months, and she loved being out of the lab and in the field.

When Brennan first came to the Jeffersonian, the Medico-Legal lab was run by Dr Goodman, a former archaeologist. He was the person who elevated Brennan to lead the lab and remained her boss for another three years. When he left, his job was filled by Dr Camille Saroyan, who had been the coroner in New York City before moving to DC to take the position at the Jeffersonian. Cam spent most of her time on administration and doing autopsies. One of the reasons the Jeffersonian wanted to fill that position with a coroner was because the DC coroners were finding themselves overwhelmed. Not only did they handle the cases from the DC Metro Police, but because the FBI headquarters was within their jurisdiction, their caseloads at times got out of hand. By having a competent coroner at the Jeffersonian, the FBI was able to send some of the cases her way. It worked well for everyone, and Cam was happy to split her time between her office and the autopsy room. There were some growing pains though because Cam was technically Brennan's boss and Brennan wasn't comfortable with the newcomer overruling her when it came to her lab. But after a few skirmishes, they reached a detente and Cam found ways to exert her authority in ways that Brennan could accept.

Brennan's father popped into and out of her life over the next few years and they gradually began to try to get to know each other. He got to know the grownup his daughter had become, and she began to understand the complicated man who was her father. But it wasn't easy. She still had some anger toward him over the abandonment and was very uneasy with the idea that he was a fugitive from justice. That unease was confirmed one day when she received a call from him from jail. The FBI had picked him up a few days before and charged him with murder. Hearing the word "murder" coming from her father's lips almost made her hang up the phone. They had never discussed it, but when he told her that he had "taken care of the problem", she had feared the worst. She visited him a couple of times as he awaited his trial, but she kept her emotions under strict control and told herself not to get too close. She didn't know what to do or how to feel. He was her father, but there was a good chance that he had murdered someone, and maybe others. Who knew what he had been up to all those years after walking out on them?

Since reconnecting with her father, she had also met up with her brother a few times. So she sat next to Russ in the back of courtroom to listen to the opening arguments in their dad's trial. She got up and left before they started calling witnesses, and told her brother to meet her in the cafe across the street when court finished for the day. She had heard what the prosecution and the defense had to say, but she just didn't want to hear the details. She was trying so hard to love and support her father, but felt that if he had done what he was accused of, he needed to pay the price. But he was her father. It was just too much.

She never went back into the courtroom, and a couple of days later the jury was ready with the verdict. She told Russ that she would wait outside the courthouse for him at the top of the long set of concrete steps that led to the street. Thirty minutes later, people started streaming out of the courthouse. Brennan looked up and her brother was standing at the top of the steps - and their dad was standing next to him. She warily approached them. "You've been released?" Russ had a big smile on his face. "He was acquitted Tempe!" She couldn't help her smile and she gave him a hug. She just wasn't sure what to think, but she felt a sense of relief. Russ was scowling as he looked down the set of stairs and pointed to a dark haired man in a black suit with his back to them. "That's the FBI agent who arrested him." Max pursed his lips. "No need to blame him son. He was just doing his job." Brennan looked back down the steps, but the agent was gone. As she looked back to her father, she thought it was a positive sign that he didn't feel animosity toward the law enforcement community that put him on trial.

After being released, he continued to pop in and out of her life. And she also got together occasionally with Russ, his partner Amy, and her two daughters. They lived a few states away, and she enjoyed getting to know her two nieces. She never really knew where her father was living, but she was always happy to see him again. He assured her that he was staying on the right side of the law, and she believed him. While she enjoyed his visits, she was glad that he wasn't living nearby. She had been living on her own for so long with no family hovering around her that she felt more comfortable keeping her dad and Russ at arm's length.

Brennan's friendship with Angela continued to grow, and Angela saw her role in her friend's life as an advisor and life coach. Angela had been dating Doctor Hodgins for the last few years and in the spring of 2010, they surprised everyone when they eloped. A few months later, Angela announced that she was pregnant. All of this really changed Brennan's view of life. In her adult life, Angela had never been with anyone in a long term committed relationship. And then, in short order, her life morphed into a marriage and the start of a family. Angela talked with her a lot about what it was like being married, making that lifelong commitment. And then she talked about her feelings around her pregnancy - how her life was going to change so drastically, and how excited she was for those changes. How she had enjoyed being single for so long, but was now so content having the man she loved always by her side. And how thrilled she was that they were starting a family together.

Brennan reiterated to her best friend that she didn't believe in love, in marriage, in forever. But Angela pointed out that she had been in love with Hodgins for a number of years now, and that the love she had for him had grown exponentially with the marriage, and now the pregnancy. She asked how that could be boiled down to a chemical reaction in the brain? Because of her closeness to Angela, Brennan's views on all of that were starting to morph. While she saw a lot of couples who split after a few years, she could look around at others who were still together, and still in love, decades later. Angela tried to explain to her the difference between having sex and making love. She told her that if she ever experienced the latter, she would understand. Instead of two people coming together and then splitting immediately back into separate beings, when you made love, the two people became one - and their lives were forever changed.

Brennan scoffed at these ideas when Angela first brought them up, but as she saw their love evolve, she began to wonder if it wasn't as bad as she always believed. Perhaps she was afraid of giving a piece of herself to another person and then worry that they would leave - just like her parents, and then Russ, left her. So Angela started pushing her to try to find men who wanted more than the one night stands she had often indulged in.

She met an interesting man one day who had come to the Jeffersonian to consult with Cam on a case. Andrew Hacker was the Assistant Director at the FBI. He was quite smitten with Brennan when Cam introduced them, and just boldly asked her out to dinner. She accepted, had a wonderful time, and she invited him on a second date. Their dates were filled with sparkling conversation, and she decided that he was close to her level of intelligence, a far cry from most of the dates in her past. They went out a few times a week for about two months, but there was one area that she felt was lacking in the relationship. Although they ended up at his or her apartment every time and had sex, she really wasn't turned on by him - it felt very rote every time. She discussed this with Angela, and Angela boiled it down for her. "Sweetie, does he "rock your world" or does he "Rock Your World"? Brennan was confused. "Those are both the same thing Ange." Angela shook her head. "Okay, let's break it down. Does he bring you to orgasm?" Brennan pursed her lips. "Yes, I'm always satisfied." Angela dug a little deeper. "Okay, that's good. But when you orgasm, does it take you out of yourself? Like you've just floated into another dimension and feel like you just want to crawl into his body and spend the rest of your life there?" Brennan's eyes widened. "I've never in my life had that kind of reaction to sex Ange." Angela chuckled. "That's because you've never made love Bren. I don't think he's the one."

So, she eventually told Andrew that she loved having him as a friend, but she just didn't see their relationship going anywhere. He was disappointed, but understood that at their age it was probably better they both move on. But they remained friends, and every few months he would call and invite her out to the symphony or the opera. They enjoyed the conversation, but would end each outing with a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Then, she met two other men (both in coffee shops) and found herself in an interesting predicament. Mark was a deep sea welder and worked out of town often. The day he met her, he bragged that he could hold his breath for three minutes. And, oh, he knew how to use that skill in the bedroom! He gave her some mind blowing orgasms that just went on and on. She enjoyed sex with him so much that she continued to invite him over whenever he was in town, even though they had absolutely nothing in common, and he couldn't hold a decent conversation during those times when he wasn't doing that thing with holding his breath.

The other man was Jason, a botanist. Brennan loved carrying out long, academic conversations with him when he took her out to dinner. But she had absolutely zero attraction to him sexually. She saw them both at the same time for a couple of months - Mark only in her bedroom, and Jason only out in public. It all came crashing down one day - the day she had a date with Jason, and Mark unexpectedly came into town and showed up at her door. He swept her off her feet right at the door, and, as usual, she couldn't resist him - and forgot all about Jason. When there was a knock at the door, she interrupted him, threw on a robe, and when she got to the door, was shocked to see Jason standing there. Just then, a completely naked, at full mast, Mark, strolled out of her room. A short, contentious conversation ensued between the three of them, and she never saw either man again.

Angela giggled when Brennan told her the story, and decided that she was going to take the reins on Brennan's dating life for awhile. She couldn't do much worse. So Angela signed her up with an online dating service. She convinced Brennan that it was a good idea because it matched people using their shared interests. Brennan filled out her profile and was brutally honest about her hobbies, likes, dislikes, non-negotiables. Angela took a look before Brennan hit "send" and Brennan noticed her raised eyebrows. "I'm not sure you're going to find many men who will fit that profile Sweetie." Brennan was very matter-of-fact. "I'm not looking for a lot of men Angela. If just one fits my needs, I will give him a try. But I will never lower my standards." Angela patted her on the back and smiled as the profile was submitted.

A few men responded to her, but as she went through their profiles, only one seemed worth pursuing. She met David for coffee one day after work and found him to be a pleasant companion. So, she went on a series of dates with him, with Angela cheerleading every time another date was set. Brennan enjoyed his company, and they even went on a very successful double date one night with Angela and Hodgins. And the sex was good. She found him to be a very skilled and generous lover, but two months in she started evaluating him based on Angela's criteria. The orgasms were good, but they weren't earth shattering. She decided maybe she needed to give it a little more time.

And then, as always seemed to happen to her, it all fell apart. One of her interns came to her to ask if the guy she was seeing was David Simmons. She acknowledged that it was, and the intern told her that David had been hounding his group of friends to join an organization he was a part of. They had done some research and found that it was a cult, masquerading as a Christian social club. Brennan was shocked to hear this and immediately called David and asked if he could meet her for lunch. She presented him with the information she had received, and he confirmed that he was a member of that club, but he tried to overwhelm her with a flood of "facts" to convince her that they weren't a cult. But Brennan was too smart for that, and as she left the restaurant after telling him she was done with him, she shook her head in amazement that he would even think he could bamboozle her in that fashion.

Brennan decided then that she was done worrying about finding someone she could be compatible with. Angela had helped her open her heart and mind to the idea of finding a lasting relationship, but maybe it wasn't the right life for her. She was happy on her own, and never felt lonely. And she now had her dad, Russ, Amy, and Amy's daughters as her family. She could see a fulfilling single life for her future - and she always had the option to visit with her family. Temperance Brennan was done looking for that elusive relationship. If the universe wanted to put her together with a suitable mate, it could damn well drop him into her lap!