Author's Note: I don't own any parts of Eureka. No profit is intended or expected.

And now we're on to the sequel for Reboot and Out of the Frying Pan. It does help to have read/skimmed those two stories or some aspects of this may be confusing (but it's not totally necessary).

The first half is pretty polished up so I'll keep posting as I tweak the last half. This will eventually become an M rating for one particular chapter but that's not for a while. As always, thanks for reading and feedback is always helpful and appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Jo ordered Zane to work for the third time but he was distracting her enough to extend their breakfast together a few minutes longer. A sultry whisper and brush of his lips against her ear were pretty effective weapons.

They couldn't get enough of each other these days. To Jo, it was kind of like those first weeks when they hooked up in the old timeline. Back then they were making out whenever and wherever the opportunity presented itself, whether it was in her car or his lab or in S.A.R.A.H.'s coat closet during Zoe's party. Probably to Zane, it was a reminder of their encounters after his pardon when he had teased her about leaving Eureka. He'd catch her at the oddest times of day and night, flirting shamelessly with her until he could get her into his arms and out of her clothes.

Just last night, Jo had mentioned that since they were both committed to staying in Eureka and had surrendered to being with each other, they didn't have to jump each other's bones like it was the last time anymore. Zane didn't see any fun in that attitude.

Jo squeezed Zane's thigh but pulled back, away from him.

"Okay, enough of that. You have got to get to work. I know exactly what you have due at the end of the week, not to mention that Warren Hughes is trolling around town. The last thing we need is him citing us for being unprofessional."

Zane snorted. "This is Café Diem, not Global Dynamics and I'm not on the clock yet. The day I can't make out in public with my gorgeous, available girlfriend who is not currently wandering the country trying to find herself, is the day I skip town for greener pastures." He smoothed her loose hair over her shoulder, caressing her cheek along the way.

"That's sweet," Jo replied. "But Warren Hughes is doing evaluations of the Astraeus crew this week to make sure you're still fit to work here. I don't want to risk you getting redacted for starting off on his bad side."

"What are you talking about? That guy loves me. He told me so at Grace and Henry's wedding."

Jo shook her head. "Still, let's not tempt fate. You have things to do and so do I. So kiss me and get the hell out of here." His petulant sigh was cute but she wasn't going to let him sidetrack her for any longer.

"I guess I can handle that," and he kissed her trying to linger as long as possible before she pulled away. "I'll see you later." She squeezed his thigh again before letting him stand up and depart with his Vinspresso.

Glancing up, she saw Carter hovering at the entrance of the Café smirking at her.

So lost in Zane, she hadn't noticed Carter walk in for his usual Vinspresso and maple bar. He was that predictable. She dreaded Zane's reaction. They'd made progress but he was still prickly when it came to the sheriff.

"Hey Zane," Carter greeted brightly.

"Carter," he answered, annoyed. At least he was being civil. Zane walked out the door without a backwards glance, probably stewing.

"That's nice," she heard Carter mutter under his breath. His embarrassed smile lingered as he walked towards her. She offered him an apologetic look as he slid into the seat Zane had just vacated.

"Soooo, you're back together?" Although it was technically a question, his tone suggested that he was seeking confirmation rather than making on honest inquiry.

"We're working on it."

Allison had filled him in on what happened in the Matrix. He had also asked her about it, although they didn't discuss the situation in any detail. After mulling it over, she was inclined to ignore the issue because talking about it just made things awkward between them. Carter seemed fine with that.

"Congratulations. Maybe now he'll stop giving me the stink-eye."

"Well he's still having some issues with our, uh, Matrix relationship." Jo couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of the situation even if things between all of them were far from amusing.

Carter sighed. "Allison explained it all to me but it's hard to really get worked up about it since I wasn't there and didn't see it for myself. I mean like that would ever happen in the real world, right?" he chuckled.

"I know!" They both laughed at that, a little too forcefully if she was being honest about it. Jo stood and made for the door. "Okay, so I've gotta get back to GD. Warren Hughes is coming from D.O.D. Human Resources."

Carter brightened at that news. "Oh, I love that little guy!" That was surprising to Jo seeing as how Warren had put him and Allison through the ringer last year and almost cost them their jobs. But he'd come around, kind of. "Say hi for me, will you?"

"You can tell him yourself. He's conducting reviews of all the Astraus crew members to ensure they're fit to return to work at GD."

"And the fun never stops."

He paused and got fidgety which told Jo she wasn't going to like whatever else he was about to say. "Hey, you and I, uh, we're okay aren't we?

Jo frowned and put on her best reassuring face. "Yeah, we're good."

The truth was, although she didn't want to make any bigger deal of things, she was still a little uncomfortable about what had gone down in the simulation. It wasn't just the relationship aspect, although that was a big part and Zane's hostility wasn't making that easier to come to terms with. But she had seen some really ugly and scary stuff coming from his simulated doppelgänger. He had tried to kill Zane and would have gotten her killed if Zane hadn't shown up when he did.

But none of that was Carter's problem. Unlike Zane, she was now pretty good at drawing the line between the real Carter and the programmed one.

Taking in her silence, Carter tried to catch her eye. "So, no more weirdness? Because you have to admit that you've been acting really weird," he chuckled. When he saw her frown, he straightened and did his customary terrible job of backtracking. "I mean, not just you because clearly Zane's got some stuff going on about it. And Fargo, well, Fargo's always weird."

Jo crossed her arms. "I get it. And no more weirdness; not from me anyway." She tried to give him a reassuring smile but it felt more like a grimace on her face. Cutting her losses, she turned and started towards the door before she was forced to discuss the matter any further.

Walking to her car, she asked herself quietly, "That wasn't weird, was it?"

She heard the door open behind her and footsteps running to catch up. "Hey, Jo?" Carter called out. "Are these Zane's?" He held up a pair of sunglasses and she walked back towards him to get a closer look. "Nice shades, Ponch. What a jackass."

Jo laughed and grabbed the glasses. She ribbed Zane all the time about his collection of expensive shades. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"I'm sure you will," he teased. Her answering glare only made him laugh harder. Typical Carter.

Yep, they'd be okay.

Arriving at GD, she received the latest security update from her staff and briefed Thompson, her second-in-command, before he left to meet Warren Hughes' helicopter shuttle on the GD landing pad. Because she had spent time in the Matrix, she felt it was best to keep her distance from the evaluations process. She also had a feeling that Hughes would want to talk to her eventually anyway, not just because of that experience but because of her recent reinstatement as the head of GD security.

She still had a ton of backlog to get through which explained why she was in civilian clothes rather than her usual suit. If she was going to be sitting in her office reading, typing and filing all day, she was going to do it in comfort. Besides, she hadn't slept well the previous night so she was a little cranky. It was best for everyone if she didn't roam the building to deal with irresponsible eggheads all day.

Two hours later, she had finally finished putting away all the files scattered across her desk. She'd cleared out her email inbox the previous day and the next step was to actually read all the reports she had glossed over in her haste to get caught up. Having an office day to get this done was definitely helping.

"Hey there."

She turned from her cabinet and found Zane Donovan coming down the steps to her office, hands in his pocket and mischief in his eyes. She had a feeling all her progress for the morning was about to be majorly stalled for a time.

Nevertheless, she smiled up at him because he was a welcome distraction these days.

"I thought you had things to do today. Now that you're out of Parrish's lab, you're supposed to be looking into that simulation equipment before we have to ship it off to the D.O.D."

"That's what I came down here to talk to you about. I know we discussed trying to figure out what was up with your … experience."

He was wise to choose his words carefully as they'd already gotten into a tiff for him calling her conversation with Holly a "delusion." Jo didn't say anything about his choice of words. However, the topic did pique her interest and she shut the cabinet door to give him her full attention.

"Did you find out anything that we could bring to Grace?"

He paused wearing the same expression he wore when he was figuring out how to explain something to her. "First, we've got to deal with Fargo who I'm not sure is going to be cool with us holding up the device transfer long enough for me to find out anything else about it. He came down to the lab a few minutes ago and pretty much demanded that I shut everything down to lock it up in the vault until the D.O.D. is ready to pick it up. He sounded pretty pissed off that I'd turned it on and didn't give a crap about what we could find out about it."

Jo didn't like this answer, both because of the problem it presented and also because she sensed that Zane was keeping something from her. He'd been tinkering with the machine for a few days and surely he would have more to report back, even if it was the fact that he hadn't found anything. It was sounding more and more like he'd discovered something but was reluctant to say anything until he knew more. She trusted his judgment yet she hoped that he'd feel a little more forthcoming soon.

Instead of voicing her concerns, she asked, "Do you want me to talk to him about it?"

He thought about the offer for a second and shook his head. "Maybe. But let me see what I can get done before he shuts me down. He wants it packed up by the end of the day. I even tried to play the Holly card and no dice. If I haven't found anything by this afternoon then maybe you can give it a try and buy some more time."

Jo frowned. Fargo had been pretty high strung when she saw him this morning but Jo thought it was because of Warren and the evaluations on top of everything else on his plate. He'd gone on about what would happen if he got redacted for being "unstable." She told him that if he didn't calm down, she'd redact him herself for being such a spaz. He'd grinned at her usual sardonic humor and then got back to business.

Still, she wondered why Zane was so interested in stalling Fargo. He'd started looking into the mainframe to humor her and now he seemed invested.

"Did you find anything interesting," she carefully asked again. He'd dodged her initial question which made her even more suspicious.

"Maybe. I don't know. But I want more time with it before we shelve it."

Now Jo knew he was holding back. She wasn't going to push. Yet. But if he wanted her to go pull strings with Fargo, he was going to have to give her more to go on. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it.

Instead, she changed the subject. "If you don't want me to talk to him about it and you're on such a time-crunch, why did you come all the way over here?" she questioned, walking towards her desk.

She felt arms encircling her from behind and a firm hand pulling her back towards his body to nuzzle into her neck.

"I'm running a new diagnostic algorithm on the equipment now with an intern monitoring the results. No need for me to actually be there in person." He let his fingers roam up and down her arm. "And I came all the way over here because I heard you had my sunglasses."

Jo giggled when he hit a particularly ticklish spot. "I remember texting you that I'd bring them back to your apartment with me tonight. So no need to come get them."

"Oh, but I did need to come get it," he explained, brushing his lips against her ear. "Besides, I like telling you things in person. We're friends and work's got me frustrated so I thought you could help me with that."

"Oh you did, did you?" she laughed placing her arms on top of his. "And I bet you've got a few suggestions for how I'm supposed to help you relieve all that frustration?"

Placing a kiss at her brow, he turned her around in his arms. "Now that you mention it, I might have an idea or two." He delivered a series of pecks to her lips. "It involves you and me and maybe this desk. Or if your cell's free, I could work that into the plan." His flirty grin was irresistible.

Jo appeared to think it over. "Well, I do like to be a supportive colleague." She brought his head down again to meet her lips, this time deepening their kiss and melting into him.

That was the last thing she remembered before a piercing pain lanced through her head and she was surrounded by darkness.

TBC …