AN: set immediately post-1947

Jo and Fargo struggle to adapt to the new word, and Jo confronts Fargo about what happened with Julia.

Brotp more than OTP but could be read as a slow burn to more.

Jo and Fargo were spending the evening reviewing the top secret files of Eureka: GD project results and personnel reports, as well as the Sheriff's office criminal records, comparing what they found to the memories from their timeline. It was a struggle adapting to this new timeline and the different people they were supposed to be here. None struggled more than them. They alone of the 5 yearned for their old lives. Allison had a whole new Kevin, Carter had Tess back and Zoe unchanged, and sure, things were really awkward between Henry and Grace but it was clear that Henry was fast falling in love with the perfect woman who had been conveniently dumped into his lap by fate.

Fargo had lost Julia, and more than that lost his comfort zone entirely. But Head of GD was a dream job, he told himself. It had become is mantra he repeated mentally every moment he yearned for the familiar stability of having someone else make the tough decisions and tell him what to do. Or missed having time for his own projects and his own interests outside of GD. Had the other Fargo even been to a comic con?

Jo of course missed her job. Her house. Her Zane.

So they gravitated towards each other. Their new roles at GD had them working close in a professional capacity. Closer even than Jo had worked with Carter because she didn't have cause for resenting Fargo like she had with Jack in the beginning. And because they could help each other in getting caught up. Not having anyone else to talk to about the monumental changes in their life, it was easy for their personal time to bleed into and overlap their professional dealing.

Tonight was a case in point. They had encountered each other as they both left GD for the day and said their farewells. Mere minutes later they ran into each other again as both stopped into Cafe Diem for an evening meal. They were chatting amiably but aimlessly while waiting for Vincent to get a moment to take their orders when Fargo froze. Jo glanced discreetly over her shoulder to see what had caught his attention. A Section 3 scientist had entered the cafe. Jo couldn't place her name exactly but knew she was section 3, on a team experimenting with fibrous plant stems for... some reason that was probably both overly complicated and under-important.

As the GD employee passed Fargo she gave the Director a nod, polite but looking puzzled, before passing by to join another young lady at a booth along the west wall. Fargo barely managed to squeak out his order when Vincent made it over to them. Jo noticed him ask for takeaway and followed suit, determine to follow Fargo and settle this mystery.

When Vincent handed over the gourmet meal in its recycled biodegradable eco-friendly takeout container, Fargo practically bolted out the door without saying goodbye. Jo followed a few short minutes later when her own food appeared. He could have been long gone by then but he was obvious distracted and Jo's strong quick stride caught up with him easily.

With some prodding she learned that Fargo had spoken to Dr Cooper from section 3 earlier and had asked in passing how her wife was. Not only was such a benign social pleasantry completely out of character for Director Fargo but apparently in this timeline Dr. Cooper had never married! Indeed, she had only in recent weeks realized her feelings for her long time best friend and acted on them, asking Dr Jones out on a date. The date that commenced that very night, while Doug stood there awkwardly in Cafe Diem waiting for his food.

Fargo was jittering with the stress and anxiety of the close call. He just knew that if any of them tripped up and gave the game away, it would be him. He put so much mental effort into making sure he didn't doom his friends to the vague sinisterness of government 'sanctions' that he got headaches some days.

"You know, Fargo, if we're going to pull this off, I think we're going to need to do some research on this timeline. Figure out the differences before they cause us problems." well, any MORE problems. Besides, she had already start to do just that. Kind of. Okay, all she had looked into so far was Zane. All she found in his file was criminal records and official reprimands. But man, did she ever find plenty of that.

The GD stuff was actually easy. Scientists being scientists everything was meticulously documented and recorded, down to what color of sterile gloves were used in which lab. Everything they might need to know about any project was written down somewhere, if not recorded visually as well on the security cameras most labs had, and if it wasn't in the records Fargo had access to as director(which was all of them), that meant it simply didn't exist in this timeline. So Jo had suggested they start with the people of Eureka instead. Which led them to the Sheriff's office which Jo then let them into, knowing Carter wouldn't mind a little B&E between old friends for a good cause.

They had settled quickly in to their search, soon piling files and tablets between their takeout boxes.

Jo sat at Carter's desk, relishing the rare opportunity to sit in the seat of power she had once coveted. She smirked at that. Really, security chief at GD had so much more authority compared to the Sheriff's office. Not that she cared about or desired that sort of power. Still, it was a nice vindication after being passed over for sheriff in favor of Carter, and then again in favor of a robot. Her shoes were kicked off and her feet were propped up on Carter's desk to take full advantage of the situation.

Fargo stood at a filing cabinet offering up way more papers than its dimensions could possible be expected contain without the aid of science and some really advance technology. He had purposely angled himself so he wouldn't be tempted to glance down Jo's shirt as she leaned the chair back. Also she wouldn't be tempted to suspect him of doing so. But thoughts of the hint of cleavage revealed when she had shucked her tailored blazer had quickly been shoved aside as they got down to work.

"Huh," Fargo muttered, flipping through a hard file with one hand while he browsed data archives on the laptop atop the filing cabinet with the other. "It looks like Julia never stole your face. She wasn't even in town long before she let herself get headhunted by Google."

They had been trading facts while they read different files. Anything that seemed important for the other to know about the new Eureka or anything that could have been a catalyst for bigger changes to snowball from.

"So, what, this timeline's Julia was too shy to make a move on you?" Jo asked.

Fargo shook his head slowly. His expression was now fixed in what she thought of as the Theorizing Face. Commonly worn by Eurekans while mentally piecing together data before coming up with a hypothesis or a plan of action.

"Other Fargo kept a journal." he said "I've skimmed through most of it. He didn't mention anyone he was… romantically interested in. I don't think he liked very many people and he certainly didn't seem to love any. Maybe there was no one for Julia to envy."

The thought was mildly surprising to her at. Evidence suggested that Other Fargo was a confident and powerful man. At the very least he dressed a lot better than the Fargo she had first met in her timeline. She would expect that to lead to more success with the ladies. Evidence suggested Other Fargo was filthy rich too. Yet not even a gold-digging trophy girlfriend?

"So if Other Fargo kept a journal with no mention of Julia, or me… that would suggest that you keep a journal that does mention me." Mentioned him being romantically interested in her. Jo tried not to let her amusement show as she pieced it together. Did Fargo keep a DIARY? Did he write "Douglas Lupo" in it with hearts for the 'O's like her own 12 year old self might have done?

Fargo manfully suppressed the urge to squirm in awkward discomfort. When he had returned from 1947, he had nearly blown their cover before he had learned to imitate the bearing and demeanor of Other Fargo. His own klutzy, anxious bumbling and twitchy fidgeting had drawn remarks, even from terrified sycophants. There had even been a suggestion or two that Director Fargo visit the infirmary. Perhaps for a brain scan. So Fargo had fought the fidgeting, forced himself to stop slouching. He read several papers from the GD's social psychology department on body language, googled power stances. He put conscious thought into his movements before he made them and found this slowed him down just enough to be mistaken for controlled and graceful.

But Jo's gaze was too intimidating. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He caught her eyes narrowing infinitesimally as she caught the movement and knew he'd given up some piece of information to her without meaning to. It was uncanny how well Lupo could read people. He could never get away with anything with her around.

"Its actually a blog." He confessed, voice low and miserable with embarrassment.

Her lips twitched but she suppressed her smile. Fargo really was priceless. But Fargo was also clueless. He'd had no idea Julia was interested in him, enough to go to very desperate measures to get his attention, So maybe Other Fargo was just as clueless and that is why no one was ever mentioned in his journal?

"C'mon Fargo." Jo drawled, throwing him a bone and deciding not to grill him on what he was posting about her online. Not right this moment anyhow. "You must have had some suspicions about what was happening back then. I mean, coming on to you isn't exactly normal behavior to me. What, she said I like video games and science stuff and you were said 'Cool, lets makeout!'?" Was she supposed to believe a guy as smart as Fargo would be so blinded by her, um, charms that he wouldn't even deduce there was a problem?

"No! God, no, of course not, you know that." His denial was immediate and emphatic.

She did know that. Jo knew very detail and every word he and Julia had exchanged. How Julia had tried to approach him with his own interests. How he'd been pretty sure Jo didn't have the slightest interest in any of that stuff and didn't understand out why she was saying it. How he'd pushed Julia-in-Jo's-face away when she acted so unlike the real Lupo. Fargo cringed as he remembered that awkward conversation in Lupo's interrogation room. She hadn't really suspected him of collusion with Julia, of course. But Jo's pride, both personal and professional, wouldn't let this theft of her image and identity slide without an official investigation into every aspect of the case. So she'd mercilessly made Fargo spit out every tiny detail of the truth, no matter how much he writhed in humiliation as he related everything, unable to meet her eye most of the time, wishing he could have this conversation with literally anybody else rather than her.

Kinda of like now, actually.

But now she sighed and took pity on him. "I'm not mad at you about it, Fargo. And I wasn't mad at you then."

"Wha-" He choked down a sputtered response. Another trick he'd had been learning since he was thrust suddenly into this new world. He hesitated only half a beat, then tried for a casual tone. "Are you sure? Because you seemed pretty mad."

"Yeah I was mad. I was furious. My face was taken, my identity, my self." Old anger threatened to reheat as she thought back on it. But there was no point in dredging it all up right now. In this new life it had never even happened. "But I wasn't angry with YOU. It wasn't your fault. You didn't give Julia the idea or help her steal the parts or build the machine. You didn't even take advantage of the situation where a lesser man might have."

"THAT was never what i wanted from you, Jo. Well, I mean it was but not like that. Not ONLY that, I mean-" Doug ground to a halt, clearing his throat and trying to compose himself. Damn, he'd been doing so well at not being the old Doug. He fell silent, flopping himself down in a chair with a pointed lack of grace while his brain scrambled to backtrack without making a further ass of himself.

Jo smiled at this bit of the familiar old Fargo. He'd never been able to hide the attraction to her that had escalated into a full blown crush as their paths began to cross regularly. Him assisting Stark and her assisting Carter as they all worked to save the day. No one could have missed his admiration. But Fargo had never treated Jo with less than professional courtesy and respect. Never made an unwanted advance or inappropriate comment or even let his eyes wander.

While Zane, the old Zane, had gone hard from day one with the innuendos and the lingerie. Not to mention those heated gazes that had left her spine prickling with awareness. But then, it had been hard to tell with Zane if it genuine interest, simple lust, or just a desire to mess with the heads of the local law enforcement who insisted on spoiling his fun.

With Fargo she had never had cause to question his respect for her. Unlike Zane and most of GD, Fargo's genius never made Jo feel her own lack of a PhD. He could babble on about concepts she couldn't begin to comprehend and her head would absorb none of it, but she didn't feel condescended to when he wrapped up his explanations by adding a metaphor designed to help her understand. He wasn't dumbing anything down for her, he was translating from his language to hers.

Suddenly Jo didn't really want to needle Fargo anymore by prying at the past. He didn't deserve it, and she owed him more than to willfully make him uncomfortable. It was never her intent to scold him over past events. But she had been wondering. And maybe it was the influence of living surrounded by scientists with more questions than common sense but these days when Jo Lupo wanted an answer she went looking for it. She asked the questions, blunt and straightforward, and expected (or at least hoped for) impartial unbiased truthful observations in return.

Which was great on paper, especially when it came to science, but when it came to dealing with people and their feelings...

"So my entire personality suddenly changes and you didn't think that was strange." She said. It wasn't exactly a question.

All traces of Director Fargo were truly gone now and plain old Doug stared at the hands resting in his lap.

"I didn't really let myself question it too much." He admitted, a sheepish mumble.

"And why not?" This is what Jo wanted to hear, without consciously realizing it before. Why a smart man like Fargo didn't sense something wrong. She let the question in the air, leaving him plenty of rope to hang himself with.

"This is Eureka. I figured it had to be some experiment gone wrong or something with a explanation. Like that time those prehistoric spores made you kiss Carter." Avoiding her gaze, Fargo didn't catch the blush that pinked her cheeks at that.

Okay, she admitted, so there was kind of a precedent for her running around kissing people she wouldn't normally kiss. She had to give him that.

"I started digging right away," he continued. "Tracked every lab you had been in that day and the previous 48 hours, to see what you might have been exposed to. But I don't know, I thought if we spent a little time together while i figured out what was wrong you might get to know me better and…" He refused to articulate the ridiculous hopes he'd actually entertained for a few brief days, settling instead on saying, "And maybe not find me as annoying when you went back to normal."

"So 'me' in a slinky red dress on a piano was to make me would like you better?"

Fargo flushed at the memory of that dress. "That was all Julia, i swear." Her eyebrow quirked in question at him. "I wont deny I went along with it. You're a beautiful woman, Jo. And i figured if all I ever got was a night of Cafe Diem karaoke with you, I'd take what I could get."

"You didn't though. Take what you could get." She said quietly, weighing the implications of that. He hadn't responded to Julia's advances. Didn't throw himself at what he thought was Jo the second she showed a bit of interest.

"I wanted to, at first." he admitted, "But then 'you' were so different from what I expected, what I thought I knew of you. Acting like you were into me one minute and laughing at me the next. I could tell you weren't yourself even though i couldn't find anything at GD that seemed like it could affect you… i-it just wouldn't have been right."

It hadn't been Jo at all. But somehow it still seemed like a violation of her person. He'd found the idea of taking advantage of her distasteful even at the time and had never allowed anything beyond a kiss because he didn't know what was going on with her. What was causing the strange behavior. He wouldn't act without more data.

That wasn't quite the response she had expected and Jo's respect for Fargo as a man grew. He hadn't wanted a hot girl to throw herself at him; he wanted to woo a woman he had feelings for. When Julia didn't respond to his wooing in a way that fit what he knew of Jo, he'd pulled back. He'd questioned whether he had even really wanted Jo for herself, whether he really knew her or simply wanted her because he thought she was beautiful. He'd… been a good guy.

She wasn't about to give him a cookie for not being a dirtbag ready to pounce, but she knew she had to acknowledge it even if only to herself. She couldn't say definitively that she believed Zane, old Zane or new Zane, would have had the fortitude to resist 'her' allure in the same situation.

It was time she started taking Douglas Fargo more seriously.