This story is actually part of a much larger fic I've been planning since the season 4.5 finale aired. Even though this takes place somewhere in the middle of things, and I haven't quite plotted everything out yet, this is the scene that started it all, so I had to write it first. In summary, the Astraeus crew has been somehow pulled five years into the future, instead of to Titan. This is Zane and Jo reuniting, from Zane's point of view.
Zane paused in front of Jo's bedroom door, a million thoughts running through his head, each of them making him more hesitant than the last. There was a woman in there. A woman he desperately wanted to see. A woman for whom he had ever-increasing feelings for. And she hadn't seen him in five years. Had she missed him? Had she moved on? Did she even want to see him? Swallowing down his fear, he raised his hand to the door and knocked.
When the door opened, the first thing he noticed was that she looked tired. She didn't look older, really, but something about her showed she had aged. She was staring at him intensely with her deep brown eyes, her face unreadable. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
"Hey" he said, his voice cracking slightly.
Wordlessly, she pulled his face to hers and kissed him, hard. He stumbled forward in shock as she pulled him into her room, never breaking the kiss, but then he quickly recovered and found his arms wrapping around her so tightly that her toes lifted slightly off of the floor. The room was dark, but they easily found the bed, silently undressing each other between heated kisses, as if time had never passed.
Except, things weren't quite the same. Touches lingered a little longer, lips broke apart a little more slowly, eyes stayed open and intent, scanning every detail of each other before returning to where they had started only to begin again. And the flirtatious laughter that so often accompanied their interludes was completely gone, replaced only by sounds of need and hunger. Zane had never experienced anything like it. He didn't want it to end.
But all too soon it did. His eyes found hers, trying to drink her in before she would roll away and leave his skin cold, but she surprised him again. She kissed him deeply one last time before lying her head on his shoulder and pressing her body to his side, her arm draped over his chest. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of her, and wrapped his arms around her. He could get used to this.
They lay that way for quite a while, neither talking or hardly moving. Zane carefully reached over to the lamp by the bed and turned it on, wanting to really see her. His eyes caught the glitter of his grandmother's ring, dangling once again from a chain around her neck. He'd left it to her, in his will. Everyone had written one, before embarking on such a potentially dangerous trip. He hadn't been sure how she would have reacted when she received it, but then, he never thought she ever would. He slowly ran his fingers through her hair while she seemed to be fascinated with watching her hand rise and fall with the movement of his chest. Zane stared at her, wondering what she was thinking, when he saw a tiny tear drop onto her cheek. His eyes widened, but before he could say anything she looked up at him and gave him a small, watery smile.
"I waited for you," she said.
He could hear the pain in her voice, despite her smile, and it hurt him physically. His arms pulled her more tightly against him. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long."
She sighed, nodding her head, and went back to looking at her hand on his chest. He moved his own hand over hers and ran his thumb slowly over her knuckles, trying to soothe her in any way he could.
"We had a memorial service," she continued quietly. "Henry said some very nice things. But none of us wanted to believe you were gone. Any of you." She paused a moment before continuing, and Zane was sure she could hear his heart beating heavily. "Henry spends all of his free time in his workshop, still trying to figure out what happened. Carter keeps pictures of Allison throughout the house and tells Jenna stories of her all of the time. And I…" She looked back up at him. Again he noted how tired she looked, and how awfully vulnerable. He'd never seen her look so… bare.
"I tell you that I love you every night before I go to sleep."
Zane thought he could feel his heart breaking for her and all he could think to do was to pull her up to him and kiss her. He felt hot tears falling onto his face and he broke away from her lips to wipe away her tears with his thumb. He held her face in his hands, inches away from his own, and stared into her eyes. "I love you too, Jo Jo."
Her eyes widened and he tried to smile reassuringly at her. "You are stubborn and frustrating and I never know what you're thinking. But the more you try to push me away, the more tightly I want to hold on. I'm crazy for you, Jo. Literally." She laughed at that and he continued, "I never should have let you go without telling you how I felt. I'm sorry."
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No. Please, don't be sorry." She opened her eyes again and propped herself up onto one elbow, finally pulling the blankets up over their cooling bodies. She looked at him seriously. "I've had a lot of time to think. About everything." She smiled ruefully, "I left Eureka hoping to figure out what I really wanted, only to find out that it had always been here. I'd just been too afraid to let myself be happy. So I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you away."
"A fine pair we make," he said, reaching out to touch the ring that was hanging so tantalizing in front of him. He was still processing the fact that she had waited for him, that she loved him. He had been so unsure of how she felt, but now he had no doubts. It was both thrilling and terrifying, like they had suddenly decided to step off a cliff, hand-in-hand, and hope the water below would receive them safely. He looked back up at her, grinning. "So does this mean we have five years of sex to make up for?"
Jo laughed and he joined her, pure happy relief flowing through him. She smirked at him and threw the blankets over his head before moving off the bed to collect her clothes. He pushed himself out of the bed, too, feeling a small stab of disappointment, but it faded quickly when he saw her grinning at him. "What?" he asked.
Her grin grew wider. "You really haven't changed… I've missed you." He smiled back at her, shrugging into his Astraeus suit, and she walked forward, grabbing his hand. "I want to show you something."
In his worried state earlier, he hadn't really taken much notice of SARAH, but now as Jo led him down the stairs, he started to realize that there had been some changes to the smart house. Where once it had felt a bit like a bachelor pad, it now felt something more akin to a house he'd grown up in as a child. The furniture was softer, and more worn. The color was warmer, too, and every surface was covered in photos. Jo led him to the couch and sat down next to him, grabbing a photo off of the end table. "When Allison disappeared along with the rest of you, Carter decided to take in the kids. He could have left them with their grandmother, but he knew, especially for Kevin, that it'd be better for them if they could stay here in Eureka. Kevin could stay with his friends and school and a home that was familiar to him. Allison's mom agreed." She took a deep breath before continuing. "When he asked me if I'd move in and help him raise the kids, I was terrified. I didn't know anything about kids." She handed over the photo, and he smiled as he saw a very happy Jenna, face covered in birthday cake, with Jo laughing next to her as they looked toward the camera. "But I couldn't say no to Jenna."
He could hear her voice starting to crack again, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "She looks awfully happy."
Jo nodded, "I knew what it was like to grow up without a mom. So I decided that Jenna wouldn't have to." She looked up at him and smiled. "She saved me. Jenna, and Kevin and Carter, gave me a family. I thought I'd lost everything. You, my job –"
"Wait, what?
She waved her hand dismissively. "After the mission failed, the DoD took over GD security, along with nearly everything else. And with what happened to Andy… at least I was allowed to return to my former position as deputy."
Zane shook his head. "Andy?"
Jo's eyes widened and she stood up suddenly. "Henry!"
"Excuse me?"
She pulled him up and looked at him seriously. "You can help Henry to help Andy!"
He just stared at her, confused. She smiled at him, sympathetically, and kissed him briefly. "You can help him figure out what happened to you, and hopefully, we can get you home."
He watched as she texted Henry, a frown forming on his face. "But what about you? I can't leave you."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely, speaking into his ear. "This timeline never should have existed." She pulled back and looked at him seriously. "You have to go back. Save Andy. Save Eureka. Save GD. And save us. Make it so that this," and she gestured toward the ring hiding underneath her shirt, "never has to happen."
He knitted his eyebrows together. He'd love to take these five long years of waiting away, but then his eyes took in all of the pictures around them. Jo, Jenna, Carter, and Kevin. A family. "What about Jenna?" he asked.
Jo shook her head. "Jenna deserves her real mom. Besides," she said, grinning, "Now that I know what motherhood is like, I've been sort of wishing for kids of my own." His heart skipped a beat and he swallowed, hard. She laughed at the shocked expression on his face. "You're awfully cute when you're flustered."
Kids. With Jo. Oh hell… Despite the instinctive fear he felt at the thought, he couldn't help but turn the tables on her, just to get a reaction. He pulled her hard against him and kissed her. "We could start right now," he said softly, tugging at her shirt.
She laughed and pushed him away. "No, no, no… You're going to have to try that line with the younger me." She grabbed his hand again and pulled him toward the door. "Now c'mon, let's get to Henry's."
I know, I know… What the heck is going on? I promise I'm working on the rest of the story, and all will be explained. It will probably take me a while to write it all, but then, it'll also keep me busy during the show's hiatus. Hopefully it will entertain you all as well. Thanks for reading!