Title: Two's Company
Author: Cat Chester
Rating: T
Paring: Jo/Zane, Zoe/Zane
Disclaimer: Not mine. Please don't sue me as I'm good friends with the Dexter writers* and we all know what they do to people who cross them! ;) (*yeah, that's a great big fat lie)
Spoilers: Up to season 4 episode 9
Summary: Zane can't get that kiss out of his head.
AN: A New story to help see us through until the Christmas special. Please be aware, there is no Zoe hate here. Jo and Zane are the ultimate couple but Zoe has done nothing wrong and I won't paint her as the bad guy.
III
Chapter One
"Zane? Zane!"
"Sorry," Zane turned to Zoe.
"Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Sure, you were talking about..." he desperately tried to recall a fragment of her conversation. "Harvard, right?"
"Something like that," Zoe smiled indulgently. "Actually I was telling you about my anatomy professor."
"I'm sorry, Zoe, I must have zoned out."
He knew exactly what had happened, he'd been thinking about that kiss with Jo. Something about it had felt so right but at the same time, so wrong. He and Lupo were opposites in almost every way. Their looks said it all, Zane was most comfortable in jeans and t-shirt and only shaving every few days. Lupo was always impeccably dressed with not a hair out of place. He was care-free whereas she enjoyed responsibility; he had no problem breaking any law that was in his way, whereas she enforced them. Zane was spontaneous but he seriously he doubted Lupo ever did anything without filling in the correct forms in triplicate first. It made absolutely no sense for him to be attracted to her.
And yet he couldn't stop thinking about that kiss.
"It's okay, it must have been stressful being in jail all day. And I doubt that bed is very comfortable," she said, thoughtfully giving him an out.
"Yeah, well it's not exactly how I enjoy spending my free time. But you're right, I'm probably not very good company tonight."
"Maybe you should go home, get some rest." Zoe smiled sweetly and covered his hand with her own.
"That's probably a good idea. I'm sorry, Zoe."
"Don't worry about it. It's my Dad's fault you were in jail in the first place."
"Yeah, well..." He knew there was a reason he was always first on the suspect list; because often he deserved to be but he didn't want to think about that right now. He had too much else going on in his head at the moment.
Zane looked down to Zoe's hand where it rested on his. He turned his hand over and squeezed hers.
"Thanks, Zoe."
"Any time."
As they left Café Diem he could see some of the other patrons looking at them, wondering what he was doing with a teenager. The truth was that she was an adult now but all they saw was the Sheriffs daughter, that little fifteen year old blonde girl and the change in hair colour had done little to improve their perception of her.
Zane wasn't one to care about what other people thought though, because most people were idiots. He leaned down, hugged Zoe and kissed her cheek.
"You want me to walk you home?" he asked.
"Nah, I'll swing my Pilar's . She's got something she wants to show me." They began walking towards Zane's apartment since Pilar didn't live far from him.
"You don't sound very keen," he smirked, making a conscious effort to listen to what she was saying.
"No, it's not that. It's just... Do you ever look at someone and suddenly feel differently about them?"
'Oh yes', Zane thought, he was very familiar with that feeling, though perhaps not in the way Zoe meant.
"You feel like you're outgrowing her?" he asked.
"Yeah," she sighed, looking upset at having voiced that thought. "It's just, life is different for me now, I'm living alone, most of the time," she amended. "I'm in university, I'm working towards my future. The things I used to worry about in high school don't seem so important any more."
She seemed upset so Zane put an arm around shoulders. She might feel more grown up than Pilar, but he knew she couldn't see how young and vulnerable she looked right now.
"Sometimes people grow apart," he said. "But sometimes they grow back together again. Next year she'll be in the same boat as you are right now, she'll be a freshman at Uni, discovering what it means to live alone, finding out what she wants from her future. Maybe you'll have something to connect over again."
Zoe relaxed and turned to smile up at him. "Thanks, Zane. Sometimes I feel like you're the only person who really gets me, you know?"
Zane smiled warmly. "I know."
"Thank you. Again," she said as they paused at the intersection.
To Zane's surprise, Zoe stretched up and kissed him. Caught off guard, he kissed her back for a moment until he remembered the kiss with Jo earlier. He didn't want to hurt Zoe but he also didn't want to lead her on too much. He broke the kiss as soon as was it felt reasonable.
"Zoe," he sighed. Zoe was great. Really great. Zane wasn't the sort of person to spend time with someone he didn't like, even if it did upset the sheriff. If he was honest though, he wasn't sure they would make a good couple. Of course, he wasn't sure that they wouldn't either.
What he did know was that kissing her didn't feel anywhere near as right as kissing Lupo had and he needed to end this before it went too far and she got hurt.
Zoe was smiling up at him, clearly pleased with herself. "Night," she said, giving him another quick peck on the cheek and almost skipping off towards Pilar's.
Zane watched her for a few moments and saw her glance back at him over her shoulder. He smiled because he wasn't sure what else he could do.
When he finally turned away he felt more confused than ever. Somehow he had just given Zoe the idea that he wanted something more from her when in reality it was Jo he wanted something more from.
For possibly the first time in his life, he truly regretted his actions. Zoe was one of the few people in this town who really saw him and who liked him regardless, even if she did romanticise him slightly. He had thought he could control this little flirtation that they had between them but now he realised that he could very easily end up hurting her.
On the other hand, he really did like her and his own parents had started out as friends. Was he selling the relationship short by giving up so easily? He was so confused he didn't know what he wanted any more.
He needed to talk to Jo, he realised with a sigh. Instead of going inside when he reached his building, he fished his keys from his pocket, climbed on his bike and headed back to town.
III
Jo was working up a sweat in the GD gym, trying to exercise herself into a state of total exhaustion. So far it wasn't working and all she had to show for her efforts were sore knuckles.
That kiss had affected her. Time had allowed her wound's to heal over slightly, allowed her to suppress the memory of his love and the pain of losing it but that kiss had ruthlessly ripped away that distance and she needed him so badly at the moment that it hurt.
It suddenly occurred to her to picture Zoe as the punching bag but instantly she felt terrible. How could she ever contemplate hurting Zoe, even for a second? Zoe was like the sister she'd never had.
And quite possibly, she thought with a heavy heart, she had just come across the biggest problem in this whole fiasco. There was no one to blame. Even Kevin who had sent them back to 1947 couldn't be blamed because that Kevin no longer existed.
She launched one final furious attack at the punching bag, then with a sigh she dropped her fists and stepped away.
Zane watched her from the doorway, enthralled. He'd seen Jo in action briefly over the years but she always took her opponents out quickly and efficiently. Now he had the chance to study her and he found himself developing a new respect for her. Like everyone else, most of the time he only saw her superficially. Suited and booted with nary a hair out of place.
Now though, thanks to her t-shirt he could see the muscles in her arms work as she attacked the bag, her hair was damp and loose tendrils were plastered to her forehead. She was no longer Lupo, Head of Security but Jo, wild woman.
She seemed to gain a second wind and launched a brutal assault on the punching bag before she finally stopped and turned towards him.
"Zane." She jumped slightly but for a change her tone wasn't harsh or accusatory, though she did sound cautious.
"Hey." He smiled warmly.
"What do you want?" she asked, both fearful and excited to see him.
"I'm not entirely sure," he answered truthfully. "I just needed to see you."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Why don't you come back when you do," she said, hurt because she'd got her hopes up, no matter how unintentionally. She turned away and headed over to her gym bag, pulling her padded gloves off as she went.
Zane made his way over to her. "Don't be like that."
"Like what?" she snapped as she wiped herself down with a towel.
"I'm confused, okay? I know that whatever I feel must be nothing compared to how you feel, but..." he sighed in frustration. He wasn't very good at articulating his feelings. He sat on the bench beside her bag. "Did I ever tell you how I got that ring?"
Jo met his eyes briefly before she looked away. "No."
Zane took a deep breath, trying to stall the sharing as long as possible. He didn't like being vulnerable but if he and Jo were ever to connect, or possibly reconnect, he needed to open up to her.
"My Dad died when I was young. My Mom had to work pretty long hours and Nana stepped in to look after me. She practically raised me. When I went to MIT at 13, she was the one who moved there with me because my Mom couldn't risk leaving her job."
Jo couldn't look at him and instead kept her gaze focused on the towel still clenched in her hands.
"When I was 15 my Grandpa passed away. He and Nana, they had something special. She was devastated by his loss and she was never quite the same after that. On my sixteenth birthday she gave me a computer... and that ring. She said her wish was that it would bring me as much happiness as it had brought them. She made me promise that I would only give it to someone I truly loved and... that was the last promise I ever made to her. She died a few months later."
Jo couldn't not look at him now and she was surprised to see the raw honesty and hope in his eyes.
Zane silently prayed that she could see where he was going with this story; that he wouldn't give that ring to just anyone. That ring was special, it was reserved for the one person he wanted to grow old with, the one who he couldn't imagine living without. Until now, Zane had always believed that he had yet to meet that woman.
Jo licked her lips. "I had no idea."
"When you said we didn't fit... did you mean it? Was I kidding myself?"
Jo took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "No," she answered softly, her voice full of longing.
Zane stood up and cupped her cheek. Jo's eyes flew open; she almost looked fearful as Zane lowered his face towards hers. When she didn't pull away, he kissed her, softly at first because he could feel her apprehension. Jo was the one who deepened the kiss, letting her towel drop to the floor and wrapping her hands around his neck.
When she ended the kiss they were both breathing heavily.
"I want you," he said, his voice husky with desire.
Jo hesitated for a moment, questioning the logic of letting this happen but the truth was that being with him, being in his arms felt right. She kissed him again.
Zane was surprised when he felt her tugging at his t-shirt, he had expected her to be more cautious but he went with it and let her set the pace. He was even more surprised when she kicked his legs out from under him. For a second he thought she was attacking him, until she landed on top of him and covered his mouth with her own again.
As they made love he noticed she tried to maintain eye contact as much as possible, creating an intimacy he had never experienced before.
The made love with abandon, pulling, scratching and tearing. Jo felt like a starving man at a feast. Zane felt like he was home for the first time in his life.
When they were finally spent Zane looked down at her and kissed her softly.
"That was..."
Jo smiled hesitantly. "Yeah."
Zane lowered himself down beside her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him. She rested her head on his chest and draped one arm over his stomach,
"Jo, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why did you tell me that stuff? About us, I mean?"
"I... thought you were a hallucination," she answered honestly.
"Oh. Do you do that a lot?" he asked, only half joking.
Jo lightly punched his stomach. "No! It was an experiment that went wrong. How did you find me?" she asked.
"Process of elimination, I already looked everywhere else."
"I guess you really needed to see me then."
"I guess so."
She desperately wanted to ask what would happen now? What this meant for their "relationship" but she was too proud to ask and a little afraid of the answer.
Zane, it appeared, was not.
"So does this mean we're dating now?" he asked her.
"I don't know. What about Zoe?"
"That was never serious, Jo. You must know that."
"It's serious to her."
Zane sighed. "I know. I don't want to hurt her."
"Me either."
"But I can't keep on lying to her."
"I thought you two weren't dating, so what are you lying about?"
"She kissed me earlier tonight." He could feel Jo stiffen at the admission.
"Oh?"
"I should have stopped her sooner, I know I should have, but she caught me off guard and..."
"And what?"
"And I didn't know this was going to happen between us," he answered honestly. "However I play this, she's going to be hurt."
Before Jo could respond, Zane's PDA began to ring. He was going to ignore it but Jo sat up and handed him his pants. He fished through the pockets until he found it.
"It's Zoe," he said.
"You'd better answer," Jo said, covering her hurt.
Zane took a moment to compose himself before he answered.
"Hey, Zoe," he said as cheerfully as he could.
Jo turned her back to him and began to get dressed.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Zoe. Take a deep breath and start at the beginning."
His tone of voice alerted her that something was wrong and Jo turned to him, concern etched on her features. A moment later her own PDA began to ring.
"Lupo."
"Jo, it's Carter. There's been an accident."
"What happened?"
"Zoe's friend, Pilar... She's dead."
Zane and Jo caught each others eye, their anguish mirrored in the others expression.
"Stay there, Zoe, I'm on my way."
"I'm on my way," Jo echoed, ending her call.
Jo and Zane dressed in silence, each focused on getting to Zoe but wondering what this meant for them.
"We should take my bike, it'll be faster," Zane said as they ran into the parking lot.
Jo shook her head. "Too many questions. You go, I'll catch up."
For once Zane didn't bother to argue but turned towards his motorcycle. A second later he turned back and caught her arm, turning her to him. The kiss was full of longing and desperation. Neither wanted to end it because they both realised that being together had just become a lot more difficult than they had imagined previously.
Aware that both Zoe and Jack were waiting for them, Jo finally pulled away. Neither of them spoke because voicing their fears was too painful.
Zane cupped her face in his hands and stared at her, like he was trying to memorise her features or something. Finally he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. Everything they had shared so far had been passionate but this gesture was soft and intimate. This was the kiss that would keep her awake at night, longing for him.
Slowly he began backing away towards his bike and finally he looked away from her as he climbed on it, fired the engine up and took off towards town. Jo climbed in her car and followed swiftly on his heals.