"Zane. Zane. Come on, Zane. Wake up."
Jo knew she ought to let the medical personnel wake him – they had no idea what Beverly's drugs might have done – but her impatience had the better of her.
It had been a grueling three weeks since the Astraeus disappeared. She and Carter and Henry had been working around the clock to find the lost ship and bring it home. Fortunately, Carter's insight, Henry's knowledge, and her own impressive military skills had eventually led them straight to Beverly. Jo had planned and led the raid on the secret installation and seeing the furious Beverly being taken away in handcuffs had been pure satisfaction. But it would all be meaningless if their loved ones weren't okay.
She knew Carter and Henry felt the same way: Carter was next to her, smoothing Allison's hair as he desperately waited for her to stir, and Henry was across the room, talking to Grace in a low voice, while the medical team they'd brought with them worked on Fargo.
Zane's eyelids flickered. And then opened, a glimmer of recognition in the gray as he squinted up at her before he closed his eyes again.
"Zane, damn it, wake up," Jo ordered him.
He sighed without opening his eyes. "What are you doing here, Jo?" His voice was low and tired. "I told you, I can't be friends with you."
What? Jo flinched away from him. When had he said that? That wasn't how they'd ended things. Okay, sure, she'd told him she wouldn't wait, but not that they wouldn't be friends. She'd been wrong, anyway – she'd known it as soon as she got the call from Carter telling her that the Astraeus had disappeared. She'd raced back to Eureka as if demons were on her trail and hadn't left since.
"Wake the hell up, Zane." Jo slid her arm under his neck and down around his shoulders and started tugging. She'd force him to sit up. That would wake him.
He didn't resist, opening his eyes and letting her pull him to a sitting position. He rubbed his hand across his face.
Next to them, Alison was awakening, too. She was sitting up on her own, looking confused and a little lost, but Carter didn't pause. Before she could ask questions, he was kissing her, his hands buried in her hair, his mouth taking hers with a glad ferocity. Jo felt a pang of envy for their relationship – everything was so simple between Carter and Allison. They loved each other and they knew it. Beyond them, she could see Henry and Grace wrapped in one another's arms, Henry laughing and tearful at the same moment.
"I mean it, Jo," Zane said, interrupting her thoughts. "I don't want to see you."
"You – what?" Jo dropped her arm, leaving him sitting on his own, and took a step back. She looked at him – at his familiar beloved face, the stubble on his cheeks, his eyes steady on hers. What was he saying? And why?
"But Carter…" Alison broke away from his kiss.
"I love you, I love you, I love you." Carter was repeating the words like a mantra, pulling Allison close, touching her hair, closing his eyes and stroking her as if he'd never let her go.
"But Carter," she repeated, pulling back. "What about Jo?"
Jo was numb. This was not how she'd expected this meeting to be. She'd imagined it dozens of times over the last weeks. It wasn't that she'd expected them to jump straight to happy-ever-after like Carter and Allison or Henry and Grace, but she'd been going to tell Zane that she'd been wrong, that she wanted to make things work between them. She'd planned to let him know how important he was to her, how much she cared. Hell, in at least half of the scenarios she'd pictured, she'd started with "I love you."
This – this just wasn't right.
"Jo?" Carter asked, surprise in his voice, not letting Allison go.
"Please go away, Jo," Zane said, looking tired and grim. "I don't know what you're doing here, but I told you before, I don't want to be around you."
Jo drew in a deep breath, feeling a pain that rocked her to the core. She'd lost him. Really lost him.
"Your girlfriend?" Allison said. "The one you're in love with?"
"What?" Carter and Jo said the word simultaneously. Jo suspected the expression on her own face matched the shock on Carter's.
She stared at Zane. He glanced from her to Carter to Allison and began to look puzzled.
"You think – you think – you think . . ." Jo stuttered, unable to get the words out.
"Ally, you've been locked in some kind of virtual reality device created by Beverly Barlow," Carter began to explain patiently.
"You think Carter and I?" Jo finally managed to form sentences. "You think I'd sleep with Carter? That's disgusting!"
"Hey," Carter broke off his story to protest. "That's a little strong. Although…" he paused, looking at her, and winced.
"It'd be like having sex with my brother," Jo snapped at him.
"Or molesting my daughter," Carter agreed. "Yeah, you're right. Disgusting fits. Ally . . ." But Allison didn't need any more explanations. Like Henry, she was now laughing through tears, as she wrapped her arms around Carter and pulled him close.
Jo turned back to Zane. He was shaking his head, still looking confused.
"Not friends? Not friends?" She glared at him and then . . .
SMACK.
He recoiled, the imprint of her hand already leaving a red mark on his face. "Ow!" he protested. "Jo, I –"
But she didn't wait to hear what he had to say. Turning, she stormed away, hand stinging from the strength of her slap.
Not friends?
That bastard!