Scenes From the Looking Glass, Part One
A/N: Lacking inspiration for a longer story, this is the first in a series of what will be random one shots. Mostly Jo/Zane, unless the spirit moves me otherwise. Missing scenes, unheard conversations… just little immunizations against the hiatus/ upcoming series finale (*sob*)/ endless-spate-of-re-runs/ nothing-to-see-at-the-movies-or-read-on-Kindle blahs.
"So, those are the Astraeus crew members?"
As she entered the GD rotunda, Jo heard a woman's voice come from the bottom of the entrance staircase. An oversized version of the crew photo taken before the Astraeus launch was mounted next to the door, a silent reminder of who'd been lost. The poster had gone up a few days after Astraeus vanished from the GD launch pad, destination unknown.
Two weeks later, most people barely spared the image a glance as they passed. Like the focus on finding Astraeus, the photo had become part of the fabric of everyday life. Jo rarely looked at it. Neither did Henry—the pain of seeing Grace frozen in time was too great a distraction.
The woman speaking, however, was new to GD, part of a rotating group of DoD personnel who'd descended on the facility. Their presence having no apparent purpose, most of the newcomers bored quickly of small town life. Some made nuisances of themselves at GD, but most simply holed up in Café Diem, gossiping over Vincent's endless supply of snacks until their replacement showed up.
"Uh, huh," the woman's companion confirmed. Jo could see the women now, one blonde the other brunette. Both pretty and very young. "That's the missing geek patrol."
The blonde giggled. "Sssh—don't be mean, someone will hear you."
"Well, sorry, but you haven't been stuck here as long as I have. I've been here for almost two weeks and believe me, this place is crawling with pocket protector types. And the few guys who're worth a second look? Most of them talk like they're from Planet X. Or they're married or something. I think I could walk naked through here without a single male noticing. It's depressing, and I can't wait to get back to the real world." The brunette gestured dramatically toward the door, nearly hitting the crew photo. Both women looked at it again.
"What about that guy, he's totally hot." Jo stiffened, in no doubt about the subject of the blonde's admiration. "I mean, holy crap, look at him—he's drop dead gorgeous." Her friend waved the comment away.
"Yeah, but based on the other guys here? I bet that's been photoshopped—some sort of PR fake-out to make the crew look good. Probably looks like a troll in real life."
The blonde sighed. "Or he's gay. Seems like all the really hot guys are these days." The brunette shook her head as they started up the stairs to where Jo stood, rooted to the floor.
"Nah, I asked. Figured if he really does look like that, he'd at least be good fantasy material, you know?" She laughed. "From what I hear, he's definitely not gay. But someone said he is off the market—way off. No surprise, since he's probably the best looking guy in the whole area, but still...nothing to look forward to there. If he's not already space debris, that is."
Jo gasped. Her hands curled into fists, fingernails digging into her palms at the woman's callous words. She and the blonde looked curiously at Jo as they passed, then scurried away from her expression.
Staring fixedly ahead, Jo walked down the stairs to the poster. Her chest tightened as her eyes flickered over the familiar faces. Grace. Fargo. Holly. Slowly, she dragged her gaze up to the back row. Zane.
His blue eyes drew the eye with their striking contrast to the backdrop of his black flight suit, dark hair and beard. His expression was unusually serious, gaze intense. As she recalled, he'd been angry that day, still upset with her for dropping out of the Titan mission. While the others smiled broadly for the photographer, Zane had nearly been scowling.
She bit her lip at the realization that he hadn't been looking at the camera. He'd been looking at her.
Off the market…he'd been angrier than she'd realized. Maybe because he'd cared more than she'd realized.
With a wave of longing that nearly made her nauseous, Jo turned away. A scowl looked out of place on Zane's face. He was a smirker at heart. His usual expression suggested that he knew something you didn't and was hugely amused by the fact. And his full smile was, to use the clueless girls' words, gorgeous.
At least to Jo, who would give anything at that moment to see it again.