Jo's Nightmare
By: InuGhost2.0
Date: 7/16/10
A/N: I honestly can't believe I broke 3,000 words just writing this. It honestly seemed like it be a lot shorter when I started on it late last night. Guess that's what I get for letting my imagination run wild. Anyway I hope you enjoy this. Oh and if anyone happens to find my imagination I would greatly appreciate it if you returned it to me. Mainly on account of the fact that when it ran off it took my sanity with it. Anyway on with the show.
Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing that appears in this. Aside from the actual idea of this event occurring.
This was the absolute worst day of Deputy Josefina Lupo's life. The months while her mother slowly died from her disease while she tried in vain to keep her around for as long as possible paled in comparison to today's events thus far.
The morning had started off so promising. When she had received Zane's phone call to meet him at the sheriff's office she was intrigued as to what her boyfriend could want. When she had arrived to find him locked inside the jail cell waiting for her she had been excited. Playing cop and robber with Zane in the office, while Carter was gone, had been a highly enjoyable experience, and one that she was eager to repeat. Especially after months of negotiating with Zane to get that favorite fantasy of hers fulfilled.
When Zane had gotten down onto his knees and proposed to her Jo had no idea how to react, much less respond. She had never thought of herself as the marrying type. Oh sure there were the occasions when she thought about settling down, but that was always later in life after she had become sheriff.
But there he was awaiting an answer from her, and she had none to give him. When Zane had taken her silence as a sign of rejection and walked away Jo had very nearly begun to cry and a part of her wanted nothing more than to run after him.
Now…that was all gone. The hours she had spent mulling over Zane's proposal and imagining what a married life with him would be like, had been one of the few things keeping her going when she was trapped back in 1947 with Carter, Henry, Fargo and Allison.
Returning to find the life that she knew completely gone was heart wrenching. The proverbial knife through her heart cruelly twisted when Zane had laughed in her face at the idea of him ever wanting to marry a woman like her. Even the notion of him wanting to seriously date her had brought tears frothing to the corners of her eyes along with a strong desire to vent her anger, pain and sorrow.
When Zane had japed about possibly dating her for the sex, since he figured she'd be a wild woman in the sack, Jo had relied on her instincts and cold cocked Zane. She had left in a hurry leaving her former boyfriend unconscious in the jail cell blood slowly oozing down his face from his broken nose.
At times like this Jo was thankful for her military training. Once outside on the street she had taken several long deep breaths as she sealed her emotions away deep inside. There would be plenty of time for crying and grieving when she was back home alone, but for the moment she could at least excise some of her pain away through her usual methods.
Less than five minutes later she was in Café Diem at her regular seat at the bar throwing back shots. The café was its usual busy self which suited Jo fine. A crowded café meant that Vincent would be busily preparing food and taking orders, and not spending his time asking her what was wrong. The noise of the other customers also drowned out the quiet hiccupping sobs that escaped her every so often.
For the time being Jo was perfectly content with drinking herself to oblivion, or at least to the point where she would either stop sniffling, or could blame her red eyes on being sleep deprived and drunk. That tactic had worked decently well in the past, and managed to fool nearly everyone except for Zoe Carter.
'Damn that girl for being as observant as her father.' Mentally Jo was taken back 2-3 years ago around when the whole town was experiencing their shared dreams. Her near brush with death had scared her deep down and rattled her. For days afterward memories of the pain she had felt when her mother had died left her waking up in a cold sweat. She had taken to having a least one drink in public everyday claiming that it was needed for her to forget about some of the more disturbing dreams she had witnessed.
Her lie had easily fooled the elder Carter, but not his daughter. One day out of the blue Zoe had pointedly asked Jo what was bothering her, and despite the Deputy's best efforts the delinquent teen had managed to wriggle the truth from her.
Thank God Zoe was still at Harvard for another month and that only Fargo knew about Zane's proposal aside from herself. She could easily ensure the geeky scientists silence through some subtle threats. Hell it would hardly be the first time she had done as much.
Reaching for her glass Jo brought it to her lips and tilted her head back. When the cool rush of liquid against her mouth and throat wasn't felt she opened her eyes and peered quizzically at the empty glass. She could have sworn it was full a moment ago. 'Oh well' she mentally shrugged. At least that problem could be easily fixed. Holding her glass up she managed to slur out "Vinny I'ss needs a refill here."
'Oh geeze did I just call him Vinny? He hates being called that' Jo couldn't help but chuckle at her minor mistake. She was beginning to feel oddly better perhaps mentally reviewing what was upsetting her was truly the best way to deal with her emotions. Well it was either that or the warm fuzzy feeling Jo felt spreading throughout her body.
Gazing towards the kitchen area of Café Diem Jo noticed a mirror placed against the back wall that clearly reflected the crowded restaurant. Looking at her own reflection Jo chuckled at the absurd sight she made.
The old army jacket and tie that she'd stolen off a soldier she had taken by surprise looked ridiculous on her. Anyone could tell at a glance that neither item belonged to her since they were both two sizes to big. 'Eh it's not like I need them anymore' she thought as she began the arduous ordeal of removing both clothing items.
She easily removed the tie and tried to set it down on the bar. Though somehow just as she set it down someone must have moved the bar since the tie slipped over the edge and fell to the floor. Grumbling about the inconsideration of some people, because honestly who moves a bar when there is clearly someone sitting at it; she set about trying to get the jacket off. Try being the optimal word because whenever she managed to get one arm free of the jacket said arm ended up back in the jacket by the time she had the other arm free. For a solid ten minutes the deputy was in an unconscious fight with herself over whether or not she should be taking the jacket off or putting it on. In the end she had settled the matter by reaching over the bar and grabbing a steak knife from the kitchen area. With it she managed to expertly cut the jacket off herself with only a few injuries to the shirt she was wearing underneath.
Strangely her reflection seemed even more ridiculous than it had before. Jo had worn her usual white T-shirt underneath the jacket, though the sight of her exposing a fair amount of cleavage along with her entire midriff made her look far and away from her usual professional self. Even the familiar sight of her tattoo on her upper arm fueled her laughter. The usual tough looking tattoo seemingly nothing more than a poser's attempts at looking tough. For all intents and purposes she might as well have 'MOM' tattooed there instead with a big heart surrounding it. Then again that might not be such a bad idea. Though she certainly couldn't have it put there. Too many chances of someone seeing it, and her reputation ruined. Now that she was thinking about it, maybe she should also get a tattoo with Carter's name on it. Specifically set on a pair of lips affixed to her rear. Course then she would probably want to show him and tell him to just go ahead and kiss her
"Jo I think you've had enough to drink." Vincent was attempting to pry a beer bottle away from Jo who had seemingly snatched it off his tray. Likely because he had ignored her earlier request for a refill.
Leaning forward Jo was thankful for the more risqué top she was now wearing. All the better to win Vinny over and get some more alcohol. Unless of course he was gay, which come to think about it…"Vincent are you gay?" Oh crap she hadn't actually meant to say that aloud.
Vincent's face went bright red at Jo's question. She of all people would know better than to ever ask him that. Looking at the counter he saw the messy collection of empty shot glasses and beer bottles. "Ok Jo I'm cutting you off. You've had way too much to drink, and just because the dinner had to be pushed back a couple days, doesn't mean you have to drown your sorrows in alcohol."
"Dinner? What dinner?" Jo asked tiredly. At the moment she felt exhausted as if she was trying to run on half dead AA batteries. Folding her arms on top of the bar she lay her head down on them and starred up a Vincent through half-lidded eyes.
"Your fifth anniversary dinner. Remember, you've been planning it all month." Vincent said worriedly. Seeing no sense of recognition in the tired deputy's eyes Vincent shook his head and gave her a weary smile before patting her on the arm. "It's alright Jo I understand. I've had my share of days like this where I couldn't remember a thing. I remember this one time…"
Jo tried to pay attention to what Vincent was saying, but she just listlessly drifted along. The effort of keeping her eyes open felt like the hardest thing she had ever done in her life, and within a few moments she was fast asleep.
Vincent carried on his reminiscing for a couple more minutes before he heard the tell-tale sounds of snoring coming from Eureka's deputy sheriff. Sighing he reached into his pocket and called a taxi service to take her home.
Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka
Jo groaned quietly as she rolled over in her sleep. Yet no mater how she tossed and turned a persistent light continued to fall across her face slowly waking her up. Groaning more loudly Jo sat upright. Opening her eyes she immediately noticed that she was no longer at Café Diem, but was in fact at home. Before she could wonder how she'd gotten here a sharp pain in her head alerted her to the building headache that inevitably showed up whenever she got drunk.
Shakily getting to her feet Jo managed to stumble her way to her bathroom and fish out a couple of Aspirins. She was thankful that the layout of her house hadn't changed with the timeline, since that would have made things all the more awkward for her.
Subconsciously Jo felt as though something was off with her bathroom. Looking around everything appeared to be in its usual place. In fact nothing seemed missing. All of her stuff was neatly arranged along the counter top in an orderly fashion. After a little hard scrutiny Jo gave up trying to discover whatever it was that felt out of place to her. It wasn't until she turned to leave that it dawned on her. Her bathroom was never this big before. Yet now it appeared as though it could easily handle two people getting ready in the morning at the same time.
It had always been a point of contention between her and Zane that whenever he stayed the night at her place the two would inevitably have a minor disagreement come morning over who got to use the bathroom first. Heck Zane had even complained at times that Jo had so much stuff in her bathroom that he barely even had a drawer to keep some of his own personal items in. As her mind reviewed these facts Jo began to notice more odd things.
Of all the items on the countertop the majority definitely belonged to her, yet a decent amount didn't belong to her in anyway. There was no way she would need a razor, even her legs didn't get that hairy, and the aftershave was something that Zane hadn't even bothered to use.
"Ok now this is just strange." Jo commented aloud. "According to Zane I'm not in a relationship with him, yet these items here clearly indicate that I'm actually seeing someone. Though who?" Sadly the walls and items filling the room had no desire to answer Jo's question so she was left wondering just how different her life was in this time line.
Wandering into her bedroom to change clothes Jo immediately noticed that her old reliable full sized bed had been replaced with a queen sized one. In shock she wandered over to the bed and sat down on it. A moan of approval escaping her as the bed quickly and comfortable adjusted for her. "Ok maybe I can get used to this reality." A lazy smile on her face Jo flopped down onto the bed. She sighed in content at the feel of the mattress. It felt as though it had been made for her. Just soft enough to be comfortable and relaxing, yet firm enough that she didn't feel as though she was going to be eaten by it.
Jo could feel herself beginning to drift back off to sleep and it was with a reluctant heart that she forced herself up and off the bed. She still needed answers, and she needed them before whoever else possibly shared this house with her showed up. Looking around the room her eyes paused briefly on a small decorative ballerina placed exactly in the middle on her bedside table. It was breathtakingly beautiful and even with a glance Jo knew immediately that it had been placed there to ensure it wouldn't accidentally get knocked over and broken.
Continuing to look around the room Jo finally spotted something that would likely yield answers to several of her questions. Atop her dresser a wide variety of photos stood neatly at attention in their frames. In her regular timeline the photos consisted of pictures of her family and friends throughout her years of growing up. Moving over to the photos Jo began glancing through them. Many of them she recognized and was glad to see that her childhood had seemingly not changed along with everything else. There were a few new pictures amongst her normal collection that Jo's gaze briefly paused on as she looked them over.
One photo in particular caught her attention. It had been taken several years ago back when Carter had first moved to Eureka. In it she stood alongside Carter dressed in a black dress. To her left stood the stoic face of Nathan Stark, although he was smiling in the photo Jo could easily tell that he had been pressured into taking the photo and was mentally yelling at the photographer to 'take the damn picture already'. The reason for his impatience was readily visible considering that Dr. Blake was standing rather close beside Carter and appeared to be amused by the Sheriff's disheveled appearance. Henry rounded out the photo standing beside Dr. Stark a look of relief on his face. In the background of the photo the wrecked remains of Carter's jeep still lay smashed against Ivan Thatcher's doomsday laser. The memory of the event brought a smile to Jo's face. It had been one of the first major disasters that Carter had dealt with since becoming Eureka's sheriff, and the photo captured how life threatening disasters were nothing more than your typical day in Eureka.
Smiling Jo set down the photo and picked up another. Looking at the photo Jo could only gasp in shock at the sight before her. Of all the differences in this timeline this was one that she was not prepared for. Smiling back at the white faced deputy was a picture of herself dressed all in white and holding a bouquet of flowers. Behind her a field full of flowers lit up the photo with their vibrant red, yellow, white, purple, and blue petals.
While all this would have been shocking enough in its own rights it was the man who stood beside Jo dressed in a black tuxedo which threatened to cause a neural meltdown in the deputy's brain. Of all the insane things she could have done in this reality why did she have to get married and to him of all people.
In the end the shock was too much for the poor woman. As her eyes rolled back into her head Jo groaned loudly as she collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. With a muffled thump the framed wedding photo fell onto the carpet undamaged. Inside the photo Josefina Lupo and Douglas Fargo continued to smile at the unconscious woman, unfazed that one of the happiest days of their lives was seemingly a nightmare for Jo come true.
Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka-Eureka
A/N: Well I hoped you enjoyed this story, and got a few laughs out of it. Please let me know what you thought of this. Oh and remember reviews make authors happy, and happy authors are productive authors.