Usual caveats:

I don't own Eureka or any of the characters, nor do I have any money - don't sue me.

This is my first fanfic, be kind.

Post 5.07 Worst Case Scenario. Just a little fluff. No real character development or anything else. Rated M for a reason. Jo/Zane.

Author's Note: I'm not a strong supporter of the current story line of Carter/Jo. It's my own personal choice, doesn't really affect anyone else. Yes, I will agree that lately Jo has been portrayed as 'wishy washy', and I really miss the old Jo. Hope she comes back soon. My thoughts are that is more due to the writers not wanting to give too much away, especially when they "thought" they had at another season coming. I think in the end, we will see Jo and Zane together (or at least they will be in my head). :)

Author's Note2: Many, many congratulations to Erica Cerra on the birth of her daughter.


It was a little after ten pm, when Zane pulled his bike into the one remaining parking space of his townhouse parking stall.

As he cut the motor, his mind quickly ran through the events of the day. If he hadn't taken those extra precautions when he had agreed to help out Fargo, he may not have been able to help save the town. He also silently thanked his deity (whoever that was), as he had done every day since his return from the matrix. Nothing like living in a computer construct world one minute - and the next living among a bunch of risk-taking scientists with cutting edge experiments - albeit really cool experiments - that more times than not failed, to make you gain some religion.

And although the matrix held some very unpleasant memories - there were some positives that had come from it as well. For instance, he was positive that he never wanted to see Jo with another man again. He was positive that if given the opportunity he would convince her to give their relationship, and by that he meant a 'real' relationship a fighting chance. And most importantly he was positive that he had fallen hopelessly and irrevocably in love with Jo Lupo.

Zane wasn't exactly sure when it had happened. He thought the damage might have already been done before he was scheduled to leave for Titan. When he was really honest with himself - and he had been being honest with himself a lot lately - he'd always been a little in love with her - but now - it was more than that. This was 'full speed ahead - no going back' type of love. He also knew he was absolutely terrified to tell her. For one, he didn't think she would believe him, and two (which could be the biggest obstacle) he didn't know if she loved him. Oh he knew she cared for him, and enjoyed the time they spent together - but he wasn't absolutely sure that she was "in love" with him. Zane desperately wanted to find out but not at the risk of losing what they had.

Zane swung his leg over his bike and headed for the steps to the townhouse. As he passed Jo's car which was parked in the first of the two parking places, he removed his riding glove and brushed his fingers along the front of the car - checking to see if the engine was still warm. It was still a bit warm, so she hadn't been home long, probably about 45 minutes to an hour or so.

Zane smiled to himself- he secretly enjoyed that they were living together. Yes, it had started out as a means to get her out from under Carter (figuratively not literally - he wasn't going down that road again). The first two nights she had been there - she had stayed in the guest room - until Zane had literally thought he would go insane. She wasn't a guest, she was his girlfriend - and he needed her to understand that. So on the second night, he had politely knocked on the bedroom door - and when she told him to come in - he did. He chose to take that "come in" to mean to come all the way into her life, and get past all those walls she had carefully constructed around her heart. Zane came into the room, scooped her up in his arms, and carried her into the main bedroom. She'd been there ever since. Jo had originally agreed to only stay with him a couple of weeks, until her house was ready - but that had been over six weeks ago - Zane wasn't sure what was going on with her house, and honestly, he didn't really care. He only knew he wanted her right here, with him. Slowly her things started moving from the pile in the corner of the guest room - to more permanent places around the townhouse. And again, if he was being brutally honest with himself - he would shamelessly admit he was not opposed to making this a more permanent arrangement.

Zane bound up the stairs two at a time, and quickly punched in the entry code. Jo was on the couch, sipping a cup of tea (Zane guessed it was chamomile - Jo tended to drink chamomile and honey before bed). As the door opened, Jo looked up from that horrendous reality show, she loved to watch and smiled. Jo had shared with him when she first moved in that watching that show was one of her guilty pleasures. Zane's guilty pleasure was watching Jo.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"I went to Carter and Allison's engagement party at Café Diem. I picked you up some take-out, if you're hungry - it's in the frig. I didn't expect you home this soon, after you called." Jo explained, her attention slightly divided between Zane's arrival and the ending of her favorite show.

"Thanks, but I'll eat it tomorrow. I picked up a sandwich and salad at GD before the cafeteria closed - so I'm good. Yeah, I had kind of reached a good stopping point, so I came on home. How was the party? "

"Oh, it was okay. Interesting tasting party." - Jo said, as she smiled slightly, and turned her full attention back to the flat screen.

Zane turned, opened the hall closet and began putting his riding jacket and helmet away - when he closed the closet and turned back towards her. Jo was standing in front of the couch. He saw that she had on one of his tee shirts that she had commandeered from him a few weeks ago, and he could also see how the backlight from the flat screen was illuminating the thinness of the tee shirt. That meant he could see straight through it, and Jo wasn't wearing anything underneath it. Jo stretched her arms up, and Zane watched as the tee shirt followed the same pattern of her arms. Zane swallowed as he felt the blood travel from his brain straight down. Jo picked up the remote and turned the TV off. She picked up her empty cup and sauntered up to Zane, looking up at him. "I'm heading off to bed. Can you please put this cup in the kitchen for me? Thank you." Zane could have sworn that she had literally purred, and she seemed to almost float up to him. It always amazed him, that for her to be such a special forces bad-ass, how graceful and lithesome she was. As she glided up to him, she leaned in close to him, looked into his eyes and handed him her empty cup - Zane stared down into her eyes and felt like all of his senses were under attack. He got lost in those luscious brown pools, and he could smell the rose scented bath gel that she had used in the shower. He could have also sworn she had brushed her nipples against him, when she leaned into him. All that he was missing, and all that he could think about was getting a taste of her.

Zane mildly wondered just how serious Jo had been earlier about their shortage of future sex. Yes, Zane did enjoy sex with Jo - immensely so - but Jo enjoyed their sessions also. Jo definitely gave as good as she got. Yes, in fact his JoJo could be quite the "enthusiast" when she wanted to be (and thankfully she wanted to be - a lot). Zane saw himself on a very slippery slope. He had to respect her wishes - but on the other hand - he was seriously turned on right now, and he had a sneaky suspension that Jo was too.

He took a deep breath and tried to control his thoughts and his lust, as he headed into their bedroom. Jo had stopped in the bathroom to brush her teeth. Since they had simultaneously decided to both live together and to enter into this relationship - he didn't know if Jo would classify their earlier discussion as a big enough 'issue' for their relationship or not. So he wasn't 100% sure if Jo would come back to bed with him or sleep in the guest room. He didn't have long to wait, as just then Jo slithered up behind him, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze before moving to her side of the bed.

Zane had his back to her, as he put up his cell phone and laid his GD PDA on the dresser. He surreptitiously watched her in the mirror, as she went about her preparations for bed. His mouth went dry, as she raised one leg and then the other, and slowly covered each limb in lotion. Zane loved to watch Jo prepare for bed, he didn't think there was anything sexier.

"I'm just going to go and - and - and - brush my teeth" he stammered, as he headed to the bathroom. Zane stayed in the bathroom for a while, repeating the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle" and the "Unified Field Theory". He needed to get his mind off of Jo and Jo's current lack of undress, and more importantly those mile-long legs and pebble hard nipples. He wanted more than anything for Jo to trust him, and he wanted to prove to her - that if she said no sex - he would respect that - no matter how many cold showers he had to take.

When he finally made his way back into the bedroom, Jo had turned off all the lights.

He gingerly got into bed, closed his eyes and laid on his back breathing shallowly, silently reciting "Wave Particle Duality". Zane felt the bed shift, and soon he felt Jo scoot across the bed over to his side. As she melded her body into his - Zane could tell that Jo had ditched the tee shirt. Uh, oh - Zane groaned to himself. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought - and it feels like - so am I.

"Zane?"

"Hmmm?"

"At the engagement party, Fargo stopped me and told me that you were helping him out and being a good friend".

"Un huh"

"Well, I just wanted to tell you two things. One - I'm very proud of you in being such a good friend, I know how difficult it has been for Fargo losing Holly, and he needs a friend right now."

"Yeah, sure. What's the other thing?"

"The other thing is that I've been thinking about this all day …" there was a pause and her voice was slightly huskier as she continued, "and I really do love your mouth."

Zane didn't think it could be possible for him to get any harder, but yet at that instance in time he did.

"Get on top of me" he said hoarsely, and he proceeded to show her just how talented his mouth really was.

** -fin **