As a child, Zane had truly been close to two people. He adored his mother, of course. And then there was his cousin. She was a year older than him, and they both had such inquisitive minds as children. Jane and William brought her to visit every summer, and those two months every year were always the highlight of the year. His mother and his aunt liked to joke that the two of them were raising twins instead of cousins, and that was an association that they had both really liked.
The first month of the summer in 1991 went wonderfully. The two of them spent most of their time in the library, reading and discussing topics that by all rights should have been too complicated for their ages-though they were both in secondary school far ahead of their peers, Zane and his cousin were only ten and eleven, after all. But then everything changed.
His cousin got a strange letter in the mail that she refused to show him, and instead called her parents and hid away in her room. Jane and William showed up completely and utterly distraught.
Within an hour of their arrival, his cousin and her parents were gone.
His cousin continued to write letters to him, but she no longer called and spent hours discussing science and physics and whatever else came to mind. The relationship between Jane and his mother crumbled because Jane refused to explain what was going on. The most his cousin would say was boarding school-which did explain the lack of phone calls to an extent.
His cousin didn't come back to the States until the summer of 1996. She should have been attending college with him by then. Their minds had always worked on genius levels, in sync and brilliant. Their plan from childhood had always been that.
But she was still attending the same boarding school, despite that. And he'd already been kicked out of two colleges.
It wasn't the same without her.
His deviance wasn't all about her, of course. It never had been. There was more than a broken relationship with the only person to ever truly understand him at blame-and really, his personality also played a large role.
But he couldn't say it had nothing to do with her, because it did.
He had planned to harangue her into sending in applications with him, her parents will be damned. But once he finally saw her, college was the last thing on his mind.
She looked haunted. There was no other way he could find to explain it. She was wrung out and pale, dark purple smudged under her eyes. Her hair even seemed limp, a drastic change to the wild way it normally was.
He knew right then and there that his aunt and uncle had only come as a last resort for him to find out what had happened to his wonderful and bright cousin. There was no way his mother and Jane had restored their once close friendship overnight, sisters be damned.
"Aunt Jane? Can I take her out for supper, just the two of us? To catch up?" The utter relief on his aunt's face told him everything.
And so he did. He walked with her to the bus stop and they rode out for awhile until he picked a spot to get off. They found a little restaurant and went inside. It was far enough away that he would feel comfortable talking to her, and he could tell she appreciated that her parents wouldn't be able to easily find them.
"What happened?" She didn't answer him at first, just examined his face, searching for something he wasn't sure he'd understand if she told him.
"That summer?" She asked quietly, finally looking away.
"What happened to you?" Immediately he could tell she'd taken the question wrong. The insecurity in her had only gotten worse and more twisted since they'd last seen each other.
"I'm fine, Zane. I'm the same bloody person I was before. At least I finished the past year of school!"
It was a low blow and it made him angry. He knew there was no going back.
She was gone the next morning, and he hated himself a little more that day.
Zane didn't see his aunt or uncle or his brilliant older cousin for a long time.
It was more than fourteen years before his aunt and uncle were stateside again.
It all changed a few days after Jo and Fargo and Space. His aunt and uncle came for a surprise visit and he took them to Cafe Diem for breakfast and everything fell apart.
Everything had been fine until he took them to Café Diem for breakfast.
He was grinning when he asked them. "How's girl genius doing? I haven't heard from her in a while."
"Who are you talking about?" Aunt Jane asked. Both her and his uncle looked incredibly confused, and that's the last thing he expected.
"My cousin? Your daughter? About yay high, wild brown hair?"
"Don't be preposterous! You don't have any cousins!" His uncle was angry, and it made no sense.
"She's your freaking daughter. You're not going to tell me she disappointed you so you disowned her?"
"You have gone too far, Donovan. This is precisely why we haven't visited since you were a child! You know perfectly well your aunt is incapable of having children!"
"What are you-it's not funny to pretend my cousin suddenly doesn't exist!"
What followed was an explosive fight to say the least. Being decked by his uncle was hardly the reunion he wanted, or expected.
Carter showed up quickly, looking utterly exasperated.
"Zane, is it possible for you not to be involved in a smattering of-"
"It's not like that, Carter. Something is wrong with them."
"Something is wrong with you, boy. We're leaving." William said with an icy tone of finality.
"Sheriff, they need to pay for the broken-" Vincent started, trying to stop them. Zane interrupted quickly, "Let them go. I'll pay for everything."
"Aren't you going to press charges?" Vincent asked. Zane watched his aunt and uncle's retreating forms and shook his head
Carter brought him to the GD infirmary to get checked out, and he'd made Vincent a promise that he'd pay for the damages his uncle had caused. The sheriff was worried, and if Blake's facial expressions are anything to go by, so is she. But what can he do?
"You'll be fine in a few hours. If the headache doesn't wear off by dinner, let us know though, all right?" Blake asked, slowly pulling her fingers away from the cut on his head.
"Yeah, I will," Zane hated how resigned he sounded, but he isn't sure he could handle another person upset with him today. He stood, looking at the floor instead of either of them. No one spoke for a minute, as if no one knew what to say.
"I need. . . I need to go home." He said it quietly but both Carter and Blake nodded and let him leave without another word.
Zane was halfway through his bundle of his cousin's letters when Jo showed up. The look of concern on her face was enough to give him pause.
It's enough to remind him that this is not the Jo he used to know, at all. This is the Jo the other him proposed to, the one he loved.
"Fargo told me something was wrong. I wasn't going to come, at first. Fargo thinks things are wrong all the time. But Carter called. What happened, Zane?"
It was all he could do not to crumble.
"My aunt and uncle came to visit. First time they've been stateside since 1996. I was never terribly close to them, but it was nice. Until I asked how my cousin was doing. They don't remember her Jo. How could they not remember her?!"
"They don't remember your cousin?"
"I haven't spoken with her since just before they moved to Australia but she was my best friend when we were kids-how could they not remember her? How long has she been forgotten?" He is aware that he's rambling but he cannot bring himself to care. It's his cousin!
"Did I ever tell you about her, Jo? In the other timeline?" He asked suddenly.
"We will find Hermione, Zane. Don't worry."
He could feel the uncertainty in her voice, but dismisses it. This Jo, the one he already knows he loves? This Jo meant the words, even if she's not sure she can make them true.