A Lokane fic for Lokilous.

I own nothing.

ooOOOoo

So a thunderstorm in the end? Jane asked the grey sky a silent question as she finally reached the bus stop. She hurried under the roof, wrapped her cardigan tighter around her and looked at the clouds through the glass pane. A low murmur of another distant thunder hummed from above, as if in reply.

She wasn't used to rain. It managed to surprise her every time since had moved to Massachusetts. But from a certain point in her life, she had begun to like it. Especially the thunderstorms. Because for her, they weren't just a type of weather. They had become something else. They preserved moods, emotions, memories… How long was it again? Two years and a half?

Yes. Yes it was.

Two years and a half since she had looked into those deep blue eyes; since she kissed a man… A man? Well… there were no men like him in this world. That was for certain.

But two years and a half spent researching and searching for him without a trace of anything reliable were just too much. And she had started to realize she had had enough. She had her own life, too, after all. She used to have a life, a normal life. Once. And she remembered. And she wanted it back.

And so Jane found herself here, in Boston, a lively university town full of possibilities and new opportunities. She had been offered a teaching job at MIT as Professor Callahan, their research fellow, had been preparing for his own trip to the facility in New Mexico. He had suggested that Jane was so brilliant she could immediately replace him, so they had simply changed places. Of course there had been some hesitation and anxiety, but at the end of the day, she knew Eric would take care of everything. She could always trust him with that.

And so she was here. In Boston. All alone and for the first time in this part of US.

Jane smiled to herself. This early September mood had caught her somewhat unprepared. She rubbed her hands nervously. Will this rain bring me luck on my first day with the students?

But on the other hand, she couldn't wait for it: to get to know all those young, curious people and to broaden their insights into the realm of science. Yet, she felt perfectly ill-at-ease. But hey, this was her first day. She had the right to feel like that, yes?

She sighed. She was not even halfway through the information about all the theses she was supposed to give consultation to… If only she had more time…

Jane brushed away the remaining raindrops from her eyebrow and watched the street. Just five minutes till another bus, she reassured herself, wiped her nose and cheeks dry with her sleeve and double checked the time on her cell phone. The rain got heavier.

When she raised her head she looked through the glass pane again, perhaps to give the churning clouds a questioning stare. But then she saw a man coming.

He was tall. That was the very first thing that struck her. But most likely it was his lean appearance that emphasized his height. A simple white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows was tucked into the dark jeans that hung on his hips, and a laptop bag was draped on his shoulder. His long, raven hair was bound in a negligent knot at the back of his head; his eyes were turned to the ground as he made long, swift strides. His delicately shaped eyebrows were slightly drawn together – he appeared to be deep in thought. And his long, dark eyelashes, his pale skin, the intriguing features of his face, everything seemed so strangely likable. So strangely perfect. So strangely –

He came to a halt, turned to the bus stop sign and lowered his head to look at the schedule. He seemed not to mind the rain at all, since he took his time studying it. He was just about three steps away from her, so she could see the water trickling down his face. She found herself actually observing him as he suddenly straightened and reached into his pocket, turning to her. Oh well, it was too late to pretend she was looking elsewhere… And so Jane kept watching him openly as he took a step forward. He did not seem to notice at first, but then his eyes went up and lingered on her. They were green and thoughtful, strange, deep, curious… All at the same time. He stopped, staying in the rain.

Her jaw dropped a fraction; perhaps she wanted to say something. But she did not. Her eyelids drifted down slowly then, and the inner side of her wrist rubbed at her jawline with the edge of the sleeve.

He blinked, too, then dropped his gaze and stepped under the roof, right beside her. A muted beep sounded from his pocket, and he pulled out his cell phone.

And she resumed watching the raindrops drumming on the sidewalk before her. But…

With the wrist still attached to her cheek, her eyelashes fluttered nearly imperceptibly as her eyes moved to the side. Eventually, her head turned, too. Slightly, just slightly. And there she watched him: his soaked lashes moving up and down as he read; his slender forefinger touching and sliding over the small screen in a rather disturbing way.

A flash of green darted into her eyes and she hurriedly turned back, unable to stop the light cough from forming in her throat. And he breathed out, slowly, almost inaudibly, and hid the phone back in his pocket. Stillness settled around then, accompanied just by the rhythm of rain.

Jane bit her lip and turned to him. His bright green gaze met hers. "Do I know you?" he asked in a surprisingly pleaseant voice.

Astounded by this sudden question, she kept staring blankly for a moment. "Ah… I… I don't know." She blurted out at first. Screw you Jane. "I mean… What I do know is that I don't know you. That's for sure. Um… yeah." She shrugged apologetically.

"I see." He said then, maybe with a little disappointment, and nodded his head, turning away.

Silence again.

"So, uh," he intoned once more, "where are you heading to in this weather? Without an umbrella?"

Her eyes flew quickly over his wet shirt and hair. Without an umbrella? Seriously?

"MIT campus, actually." Jane gestured vaguely. Yes, beginnings like these usually killed all the possible further conversation. Usually.

"Hm." Narrowing his eyes, he looked around and chewed at his lower lip. "I truly don't wish to sound stalker-ish now, but actually, we seem to have the same direction."

"I see." Jane smiled, apparently not minding it a slightest bit. "I thought you might be a student." She revealed and looked at him.

"Yes," he began slowly, his brows furrowing lightly, "Yes, I might." He offered eventually, confirming her premise at the same time.

"Oh. And what subject you might be studying?" she asked, viewing him sideways.

"Particle physics it might be." he said, intrigued.

Jane felt her heart racing. "Oh, that's… And – what – what year?"

"I'm just starting my PhD." He explained.

"I see." She said after a moment of thinking and reached into her bag for her kindle. "And your supervisor?"

"Garo Callahan." He stated, looking her up and down with curiosity.

"Yeah." She smiled broadly, flipping the digital pages. "He has four PhD students as far as I know… And you said you were in the first year…" she kept muttering as she searched the list of the students she was supposed to help with their work. And there he was. His name, his age, the title of his thesis, a short bio, everything she needed at the moment. She tried not to widen her eyes at the little note that said "long-term amnesia" and put on the smile as she looked back up to him.

"So," she said, tucking the kindle back into her bag. "Nice to meet you, Leonard. I'm here to provide help with your thesis for the next couple months."

His narrowed eyes closed as he presented her with a rather pretty smile. He brought one forefinger to his lips and then opened his eyes again. The green irises shone her way. "Nice to meet you, too, then, Miss Foster."

"Yeah, Garo told you, right? And please, it's Jane."

"Jane." He repeated quietly as he took her hand, his eyes never tearing off of hers.

She gazed back and for a moment she thought that it was not possible. She had never looked into eyes like these. They were burning with life, fueled by the intellect behind them… Yet still, there was something else to those depths, something immense she could not name. It almost felt like those eyes had witnessed too much. Too many things… And not nearly all of them pleasant.

His lips moved. "Jane?" he asked, searching her face. "Are you all right?"

Her mouth opened slowly. Then her eyelids fluttered back to life and she blinked and eventually dropped her stare. "Yes. Yes, everything's fine." She heard her voice say.

Jane bit her lip when he let go of her hand. "You knew, right?" She asked then, looking up carefully.

"What?"

"You knew it was me when you saw me. Garo took a picture of me before I left, I knew he had some reasons."

"Interesting." he sighed and looked around as the rain weakened. "But still, he didn't send one. He told me just your name." He said and smiled. "Perhaps he wanted you to be a surprise."

"Oh." She grinned and bit her lip, her eyes searching the ground. "So. Surprised?" She tried another sideways glance.

"Um… Yes. In a way."

"Yes? What about?" she asked in a voice a bit more curious than she intended.

"You are much… tinier than I expected." He conceded. "Seems like an outstanding mind does not require much storage space."

Jane laughed lightly at that, entwining her fingers and watching her hands intently in the process. "I uh… I also did not imagine the first student I'd encounter to be so…" she shrugged, smiling sincerely, "…towering above me." She concluded, looking up at last.

"Well," he said and put one hand on his hip, thinking. Then he looked over his shoulder, and sat down on the small bench behind them. "Better?" he asked then, his dark, mischievous eyebrow climbing up as he looked up to her this time.

She realized her wide grin must have appeared a bit silly, but she just did not care. "Yeah, that's… that's a lot better, yes." Rubbing at her eyebrow, and not knowing what exactly to say, she stepped closer. "I mean, I just imagined myself giving you homework or whatever and – "

He lowered his stare and cleared his throat, obviously holding back a chuckle.

"There!" She waved her hand. "You see? It even sounds awkward, right?"

"Just a little. But…" he shrugged, looking around. "If you have any homework for me now, I'm all ears." He stated with something teasing in the undertone, as he clearly surpressed a smile.

She poked at his shoulder as she burst in chuckles. "Stop it!" she reprimanded half-heartedly.

"I see. So this is not really going to work, either." He observed.

"Mm, no. Most likely not." She said, still smiling widely. He made a space for her to sit down next to him. And Jane did. She sighed then. "But it seems to me nothing's gonna work today. Even the bus is late."

"Who knows, perhaps we have disturbed the space-time with this extraordinary coincidence of our first meeting." He suggested and leaned against the glass pane. "But then again, who cares?" he added, turning to her.

"Yeah. Stranger things have happened before."

"Of course." He agreed. "Any examples?" he asked then and viewed her. And for some reason, Jane could not get rid of a feeling that there was a hint of a challenge in that question.

She leaned her head against the glass pane behind her, too. And then the words just automatically popped up in her mind. She had no idea if it was what he wanted to hear, but she was going to say it anyway. "Well, what about the incident in 12th century Burgundy when it rained herring?" She offered, struggling to sound serious, and turned to see if the quote had left any effect.

"Acceptable." He said, faking a thoughtful frown. "Not to mention you've left out the spontaneous combustion of the Mayor of Warsaw in 1546."

"You know this quote?" She asked with a wide smile, looking him in the eye.

"Of course." he admitted. "Surprised?" his eyebrows went up again.

"Yes, a little." She confirmed, keeping the smile.

"You know," he began after a silent moment, "I'm actually starting to think it is going to work very well."

"Yes. I guess it is." Jane agreed and stretched her arms. "Oh, look. Seems that at least the weather is ok with us two meeting and talking to each other." She pointed out, watching the sunbeams warm the wet sidewalk and all the raindrops that had fallen there coming up again in the form of vapor.

"Indeed." He said and looking the other way, he got up. "And the space-time as well." He added as he turned to her and took her hand gently. "The bus is here, lady Foster." He announced, rewarding her with another gorgeous smile.

"Let's go, then." She replied and held his hand for support as she got up, too.

ooOOOoo

AN: Yes, yes, the quote above is from my beloved series "Red Dwarf", namely the "Confidence and Paranoia" episode ;)