Takes place right after SE04EP09 ….
Special thanks to Rya … thank you so much for the correction and your feedback. This one's dedicated to you :o)
Jo sat on the couch starring into nowhere. Her thoughts were all about the kiss. That awesome kiss she shared with Zane. How could she lose herself in his gaze? Why was she so weak and couldn't resist him? She knew that this was one of the stupidest things that could have happened. He would chase her until he got the truth out of her and maybe he already knew what happened. He wasn't stupid and he kind of mentioned that he knew that there had been something between the two of them. 'He already knows … how could I be so stupid?' Jo thought.
"Hey Jo." Carter came home, passed the living room and went on to the kitchen.
"Jo?" he looked back at her and realized that something was wrong with her. She didn't pay him any kind of attention. She sat there starring a hole in the air.
"JO?" he nearly yelled at her, moving to the couch. Jo looked up at Carter with tears in her eyes. She didn't notice him entering the room.
"Carter?" You're back?" She replied and wiped her tears away.
"Didn't you hear me? I called your name a couple of times?" Carter looked worried and sat next to her.
"What happened, Jo?" She looked down. She didn't want him to see her crying.
"Nothing!" she cleared her throat, looked up at him and tried to smile. "Everything's alright. Why are you here? Thought you wanted to spend the night at Allison's?"
"I just wanted to pick up something but … hey, I see that something's worrying so c'mon on tell me about it."
"No, I bet Allison's waiting for you, you just wanted to pick up something." Jo said.
"No, it's alright. We can have a guy talk if you want?" Carter leaned back and tried to relax. "So, what happened? Anything to do with Zane?" Jo looked back down and the tears rolled down her cheek.
"OK, I can arrest him for the rest of his life and kick his ass every single morning if you want to." Carter said trying to make her smile again which failed. She couldn't stop crying even if she wanted it.
"Didn't work?" Carter noticed and Jo looked up at him. "Trying to make you smile?" he added and Jo shook her head.
"OK, tell me, I'll shoot him! Promise!" Carter looked over to her. He tried to hug her but she rejected him.
"I kissed him." Jo confused "I mean, he kissed me and I … I kissed him back."
"Oh Jo!" She wiped her tears away and tried to give him a smile "I know this was stupid and he already mentioned something about the five of us but I couldn't reject him."
Carter nodded. "It's OK. We all know that this is a tough time for you. You have to see the man you love all the time without being able to be with him. Your reaction is totally understandable."
"No, it is not, Carter. I endangered us. Zane isn't stupid and he knows that something is wrong and he will find out, no matter what!"
"Hm, … do you think we should tell him?"
"I guess we should talk to the others first."
"OK!" Carter nodded and called the others.
Just a couple of minutes later Allison arrived at Carter's and saw Jo sitting on the couch trying to hide her red eyes.
"Oh Jo, what's wrong?" she asked and sat down on the other side next her.
"It's OK, let's talk about it, when the others arrived." Jo replied.
"Zane?" Allison asked Carter, who still sat on the other side of Jo, an unsure look and he nodded.
About an hour later everyone had arrived and sat down in the living room. Henry and Grace sat on the other corner of the couch and Fargo sat in front of everyone in the chair. Everyone looked at Jo who was still trying to hide her red eyes and had to fight the tears that formed behind her eyes. She felt so weak and embarrassed. She hated the way her friends made her feel in this situation.
"OK Carter, so why did you call us in the middle of the night?" Henry asked and broke the silence.
"Yeah, it's not that we do not have a private life or stuff …" Fargo seemed a bit annoyed by the fact that Carter called everyone at about 9 p.m.
"Fargo!" Allison advised him. "We have a problem and it is serious. Jack wouldn't call us if it wasn't." she looked over to him and he gave Jo a brief glance. Jo didn't look back.
"OK then, … Zane knows stuff about us!"
"What?" Fargo yelled. "How could that happen? I mean …"
"Fargo! Yelling at someone doesn't make the situation any better." Grace interrupted him. A short look at Jo told her everything that had happened.
"So, does anyone know what he knows about us?" Henry asked.
"No, I guess he just recognized that we are different in our behaviours." Carter explained looking in the round.
"Yeah and we all know that he will find out what happened and then he'll blackmail us. I bet he will, this little …"
"FARGO!" Grace, Allison and Carter yelled.
"Just shut up if you don't have anything intelligent to say, please. This situation is difficult enough and freaking out doesn't help anyone." Carter added.
"So, what should we do?" Allison asked.
"How about telling him?" Grace said and everyone was starring at her even Jo.
"I mean, we all know that he is suspicious and very intelligent. He wants to find out and he will. I am sure of it." Grace explained.
"Maybe that's the best way to handle it. We need to talk to him as a group and make clear how serious this situation is." Henry supported his wife.
"And what if he blackmails us or tells Mansfield to show him he is trustworthy or something?" Fargo asked.
"I am sure he won't. I mean, we all know Zane. He is still the same person even though this timeline changed." Allison said and Jo looked up to her. "And I think Jo should do this. Not in a group. He may feel packed into the corner and that's the last thing we should think about. We need him to trust us." Allison added "And he will trust you, Jo. I am sure of that!" she turned her view over to her.
"Do you think you can handle him?" Carter asked.
"If there's no other way, I'll do it." Jo answered feeling sick.
"I don't think so." Henry agreed with the rest of the group.
Jo splashed cold water in her face and looked in the mirror. 'Damn I look exactly how I feel.' She thought. She thought she had to throw up by the thought of meeting Zane and talking to him about what had happened and what had been between them, so she ran to the bathroom and now she found herself standing in front of the sink and looking into the mirror. Her red eyes and the dark circles under them hadn't left. This wasn't the way she wanted to meet Zane. She knew that she had to talk to him right now even though it was already 11 p.m.
She decided to refresh first and took a long hot shower while Carter and Allison still sat in the living room waiting for her. The rest of the group had already left, to go back to their homes.
Jo pulled on a jeans and a nice white top with lace like the sundress she wore on her first date with Zane. 'Too over dressed' she thought.
"Wow, you look awesome. Do you have a date or anything?" Jo turned around and saw Zoe standing in the door. She came back home from celebrating with Zane in Café Diem.
"No, no I just … I want to wear something different." Jo gave her a confused look and the pain of feeling sick entered her stomach again.
"I don't think you should change if you have a date. This looks really great!"
"How was celebrating with Zane?" Jo asked but had no idea if she really wanted to hear how things had gone between them.
"Not long. We didn't even enter Café Diem together. He left me telling me he had work to do. So I had a few drinks with Pilar. I have no idea what's going on with him. Sometimes he just acts so weird. I don't know."
"Men are like that." Jo answered and Zoe stepped closer to her.
"You should really wear this. It's great and you should were your hair down. Whoever you're going to meet, he won't be able to resist you if you look like this."
"But … I don't want to seduce anyone. I want to feel comfortable and I want to look the way I am." Jo looked at her.
"You don't always have to be the tough business woman, Jo. You are still a female and you should show it some times. So, don't protest. Stay like this."
"But let me pin up my hair. Even though I'm wearing girly stuff, I still need to be myself. This is not going to be a date."
"OK. But enjoy it no matter what. Remember what you told me: life is short and can change quickly." Zoe told her and left the room.
Jo picked up her jacket and went downstairs to meet Carter and Allison for the final check before heading out to find Zane.
"Wow Jo, you look awesome." Allison said when she came downstairs. "Really nice."
"And feminine … yes I know, Zoe told me, too." Allison nodded and stepped aside.
"So, I guess I should go now." Jo said looking at Allison and Carter. Both nodded.
"If anything's wrong, just call me OK?" Carter added before Jo left. She turned around and nodded, then walked out the door.
"C'mon Jack, she can do it. Trust her." Allison said and pushed him back to the couch.
"I do trust her." Carter said sitting down on the couch. "But I do not trust him."
"You have to. It's on them to find a way to handle this situation."
"I know but after all I don't want Jo to get hurt anymore."
"She has to go through it. We knew that this would happen sooner or later, Jack."
"I know, I just hope he treats her nice or I will shoot him" Allison laughed out lout at this statement. "I definitely will, I am not joking." Carter said.
"I know you will. But I don't think you have to worry. They're made for each other. They fought tons of times but still found their way back to each other." Allison explained.
"Maybe, but this time it's different. They never dated. They hated each other and the other Jo teased him and threw him in jail whenever she could and I don't think he will forget that."
"Maybe you are right but remember, we are all still the same people. We may have changed timelines but everyone is still the same and the feelings are they same too. Even though they haven't dated yet, they have feelings for each other and love is closer to hate than you might think."
"Do you really think he loves her?" Carter asked Allison and gave her a confused look.
"Yes, I do think so. He noticed the changes about her. Not really about us, but about her. I am sure they are doing fine. Don't worry."
"I hope so." Carter agreed.
"And if not she will break his legs." Allison laughed.
"But then I can shot him, right?"
"Whatever!" both laughed out loud and decided to make their way up to the bedroom.
Jo stood in front of Zane's apartment building. A lot of GD's scientist lived there. She knew he lived there, from the other timeline. She was nervous and felt sick but she knew that she had to do it. She stepped to the door and saw his name on the bell.
You didn't need a key for the front door. There was just a number block for the code. Just the scientist who lived in there knew the code so no one could get in without permission. Jo decided to try the code Zane gave her in the old timeline. She wondered if it would still work here. She typed the numbers and the door opened. 'Wow, still works' she thought. She went indoors and walked directly to the elevator. 6th floor. The last one in this building. Zane liked having a good view over the woods and Eureka. She stepped out of the elevator and made her way to Zane's front door. She knocked without thinking about his reaction when he would see her standing in front of him.
Zane didn't open the door and she thought that he may was already sleeping. She decided to leave when the door opened.
"Jo?"
She turned around: Zane had opened the door and stood there just dressed in boxers.
"I …" Jo tried to find the right words but was too confused seeing him like this. The last time she saw him standing in front if him just dressed in boxers was months ago.
"How did you come up here?" Zane asked but Jo didn't give him an answer. After a short time of silence:
"Anything interesting?" he asked her when he caught her eyeing him up.
"No!" she said shocked.
"Sure?" Zane smirked at her. "So, what can I do for you in the middle of the night? You didn't just drop around to catch a view of me in my boxers, didn't you?"
"No. Ehm, … I don't know I should …" Jo said totally confused and pointed back to elevator. She thought she'd better go until she made any mistake.
"Go?" Zane said and Jo looked back at him. "If you want to I can't stop you, but there's a reason that you're here, so … what are you going to do, leave or tell me why you woke me up?" Zane asked, stepping to the side and giving her space to enter his apartment if she wanted to. Jo took a deep breath and decided to step in. She had to. The others expected her to do this and she had to talk to him before everything will get worse.
Zane closed the door "So, why are you here?" Jo stopped in the middle of the room and Zane passed her walking over to his bedroom. "Well, I guess I should put something on. I don't want to irritate you." Zane smirked went into his bedroom and dressed. Jeans and a shirt later, he stepped back out. Jo was still standing in the middle of the room.
"You want to sit down?" Zane asked.
"No." Zane looked at her and stepped closer.
"So, why are you here Jo-jo?" He stepped closer and made Jo feel uncomfortable.
"We need to talk." She cleared her throat and tried to start this conversation.
"Sure, we have to, but maybe we should sit down first. I guess this is going to be a long conversation and I am not quite sure what you think, but I do know I need to sit down." Zane walked to his open kitchen and took a beer. "Want one?" he asked showing it to Jo.
"Yes, please." Jo took off her jacket and went over to his couch and sat down.
"Wow, you dressed up for me?" Zane smirked "Or are you coming directly from another date?"
Jo looked at him embarrassed. "No." Zane caught her gaze.
"I am not coming from another date."
"So, you dressed up for me? I feel ashamed, I mean, if I would have know that you'll show up I would have taken a shower at least." Zane smirked and Jo had to laugh. It was typical for him. He always knew how to make her laugh even in the strangest situation.
"You look beautiful." He said calming down and his words sound honest and serious. Not like a joke anymore.
"Thank you." Jo got red and Zane had a little smirk in his face but tried to avoid it. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.
"So, why are you here?" Zane asked sipping on his beer.
"I bet you already know."
"Maybe. But maybe I just need to hear it from you." Zane said and for the first time was not able to look into her eyes. She recognized that he felt uncomfortable himself and was kind of shocked by it. This jackass kind of guy who always made fun of everyone, smirking around and being the cool guy, felt uncomfortable near her.
""OK." Jo said. "Just give me a few seconds. And Zane, Promise you won't interrupt me." She advised him.
"OK. Then, …"
"You gave me the code to the front door of the building when it started getting serious between us." She said having no idea how to start this conversation. But this was his first questions when she stood in the door and she hadn't given him any answer.
Zane looked confuse but before saying a word she remembered him "You are not allowed to interrupt me. You promised."
Zane just nodded.
Jo pulled all of her courage together and started to tell him what had been between them without even thinking about it because if she had to think about tit, she wouldn't be able to tell him. She was afraid but had to tell him.
"We started dating shortly after you arrived in Eureka. First I wanted to shoot you but then I got to know you and just a couple of days after your arriving we had our first date. Sunday brunch at Café Diem. I wore a white sundress and you brought a rose. I was nervous and you said something smart that made me feel dumb so I left. You didn't give up on us and you even came over to the church I visited every Sunday. We started dating again and … it started getting serious for me when you decided to risk your life. I wanted to take it slow because of my previous relationships and I was scared. I never thought I could be good enough for you."
"That's stupid." Zane added but remembered his promise to shut up: "Sorry." Jo nodded.
"I told you that I have feelings for you and you froze. So this whole thing between us interrupted again but you didn't give up again and asked me out for a make-up-date. On this point our relationship became official." Jo tried to hide her tears. Zane saw the pain and sadness in her eyes and smoothed her shoulder softly. "No." Jo said rejecting him. Zane pulled back and listened.
"I can't talk if you are …"
"Ok."
"We loved each other. And we fought of course, but you were the one who never gave up on us even if I was stubborn as hell. We always ended up together and on Founder's Day, you finally asked me to marry you. You stood in my cell reminding me of how we first met and you gave me this lingerie box. You knelt and asked me." Jo wasn't able to hide her tears anymore and one after the other ran down her cheek. She wiped them away but there were too many of them. "I froze and you ran out and then the next thing that happened between us was …"
"… when you came up saying 'yes you will marry me' and I laughed at you." Zane felt sorry and tried to wipe her tears away and wanted to take her in his arms but Jo pushed him away, stood up and took a few steps away from him turning his back to him.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Zane asked. He knew it was stupid and this question just came out of his mouth without even thinking about it.
"How could I?" Jo turned around and there they were: her red eyes again.
"I mean …"
"You hated me. I had to deal with the fact that I lost the man I love the most. No worse … that the man I loved hated me in this timeline." Jo nearly broke down. She didn't want Zane to see her like this. She felt so sick and weak. But she wasn't able to hide her pain and tears anymore. She tried to calm down. "And when I thought that you may start liking me, you started dating Zoe. What was I supposed to do, Zane? What?" She asked him and he looked down … he knew that something happened and that part of it had to do with the two of them and because of the fact that Jo had his grandmother's ring, he knew that they meant something to each other, but he didn't think about the pain she had felt the last couple of months because of him. Even if it wasn't his fault, he felt miserable.
"Jo." He said and got up from the couch and walked over to her. All he wanted right now was to hold her in his arms. This time Jo didn't push him away. He held her tight and Jo let her tears fall. She just enjoyed a couple of minutes in his arms when she cleared her throat again. "I'm sorry." She stepped out of the hug, wiped her tears away, sat back down on the couch and drank the rest of her beer. Zane stood still in the middle of the room and Jo turned her back to him again.
"That's why the kiss felt so familiar." Zane walked over and sat next to her.
"Jo, you could have told me. As you said I never gave up on us, so why should I in this timeline? I mean, we are still the same even though I can't remember all of this between us." Zane held her hands but Jo avoided his eye. "I mean, I figured out that Grant is the one from Eureka's past. I read an article about him and five others just … spirited away. That's how I came across your secret."
"Zane, you can't tell anyone." Jo looked at him.
"I know … the sanctioned protocol from the DOD about time travelling." Zane remembered.
"But how did you do it? I mean, time travelling is supposed to be impossible."
"I have no idea what caused it." Jo said looking kind of disappointed that he seemed to be more interested in the time travelling than in their past.
"Hey." Zane nearly whispered and lifted up her head by placing his hand softly on her cheek. "I am sorry. Ok?" he said silently and Jo nodded. Now it was; the gaze he always had when he was looking at her when he still had loved her.
He leaned forward to give her a soft and gentle kiss. Their lips met and Jo' breath caught. His lips were as soft as she remembered them. Zane didn't want to push her so he decided that this soft kiss would be enough. Their foreheads touched and Zane whispered still having his mouth nearly on hers "Please, just don't give up on us." Jo cleared her throat and shook her head softly – she didn't want to lose the contact to him: "Never again."
The sun crawled over the trees and its bright shining light woke Zane. He and Jo were laying on the couch which had its view right through the glassy wall to the woods. He enjoyed this view and he asked himself how often they had already laid there together watching the sunset or dawn. Jo fell asleep in his arms last night after talking and crying. She looked really exhausted as she holed up in his arms. He never saw her like this but it felt as familiar as kissing her. Her eyes were swelled and a bit red but that didn't take away from her beauty any – he thought. He closed his eyes again and felt the warmth of the sun on him and just enjoyed the feeling of laying there with the most beautiful woman of Eureka in his arms. Like the Zane she knew he wanted her right from the start but because of a reason he didn't know he had no chance. But there it was his chance to get the woman he always wanted and he knew that he would to anything to take this chance.
Jo moaned and was awakened by the light and warmth when she looked up at Zane. At first she didn't realize where she was, but then she saw his face and remembered what had happened. Their gazes caught and Zane gave a soft kiss. "Good morning, beautiful."