"Contact"

A single touch, one moment of contact, is all it takes to convince Hyde that he will spend the rest of his life with Jackie. And an unexpected, violent moment of contact is all it takes to break the gang apart, forever.

This is a very different story from "Season 8 Redo", so be warned. It's been sitting on my hard drive for almost a year now and I thought it was time it finally saw the light of day. This will in no way affect the updates to "Season 8 Redo" it's just another little diversion for you. Hope you enjoy . . .

"Contact is all it takes

To change your life, to lose your place in time"

Duluth, Minnesota

1986

'Damn, it's cold.' was the thought that kept repeating itself in Hyde's head. 'It never felt this cold in Point Place, how could going a few hours north make such a difference?'

Hyde parked his car in the driveway of the small, but perfect looking house in front of him. He got out of the car and crunched his way through the snow to the mailbox, knowing there was no way Jackie had braved the cold just to go get a few bills. He emptied the mailbox, shoving the envelopes under his arm as he walked to the front door.

As he opened the door, a blast of warm air hit him and his body seemed to relax and unclench ever so slightly. The lights were on in every room. Jackie never liked being home without him at night and she took comfort in having each and every room artificially illuminated. He shook his head and tried not to think about the electric bill. As he tossed his keys and the bills on a nearby table, the sound of tiny feet on the hardwood floor made him turn his head.

"Hi Daddy." came the quiet, little voice. His daughter's curls bobbed up and down as she plodded with tired feet towards Hyde.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Hyde asked, scooping the little girl up in his arms and giving her a huge kiss on her perfect, heart-shaped mouth.

"Because, I told her she could stay up to kiss you goodnight."

He grinned at the sound of Jackie's voice even before he turned around to see her standing behind him.

"Steven, it's so late." she said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him gently on the mouth.

"I know, doll, but people were still buyin' drinks. They wanna drink 'em, I gotta make 'em."

"You work too hard, baby." she said with a sigh taking the little girl from his arms. "Come on, angel girl. It's time for you to go to bed. Say 'nigh-nigh' to Daddy."

The little girl looked at Hyde with her huge blue eyes and smiled. "Nigh-nigh, Daddy." Her tiny hand flapped up and down as she waved goodnight.

Hyde forgot how tired he was, he forgot how cold it was outside and he just looked at his little girl's smile. It was identical to her mother's which meant, when he saw it, he had no choice but to give his daughter whatever she wanted. He gave her a kiss on the top of her curly brown head and whispered into her little ear, "Sweet dreams, baby girl."

Jackie gave him one more kiss, with a look in her eyes that told him she couldn't believe what a softy her former rebel had turned into. Then, she headed up the stairs with the almost sleeping girl in her arms.

Hyde watched them go for a second before he took off his boots. The fact that they belonged to him still amazed him. He was sure he didn't deserve either of them, but he gave everything he had in him to try and make them happy.

He hung up his coat and grabbed the bills he had set down next to his keys. Love, they had enough of. Money, on the other hand, seemed to be a different story. He headed straight for the fridge and grabbed a beer. Then, he sank down into his chair at the kitchen table finally giving his tired body a break. The house was so quiet, the crack of his beer opening echoed through the halls. As he sifted through the bills he took a long sip of the cold beer when suddenly, he had to remind himself to swallow. There, among the bills, was a small, square envelope addressed in familiar handwriting to, "Mr. and Mrs. Steven Hyde". Hyde set the envelope down like it had burned his hand. The letter sat on the table and Hyde just stared at it, not wanting to open it but knowing that he had to.

He heard Jackie come into the kitchen and he knew she was talking, but he had no idea what she was saying. He felt her come up behind him and wrap her warm arms around his neck. But still, he saw nothing but the envelope in front of him.

"Steven, did you hear what I said?"

As if he had been woken up from a trance his head snapped to look at her. She saw the expression on his face and she knew immediately. She followed his gaze to the table and let her eyes rest on the envelope.

"You have to open it." she said, in a voice too quiet for a whisper.

"No, I don't." he replied, even though they both knew he was going to.

She sat down on his lap and reached out her little hand, grabbing the envelope. She handed it to Hyde and looked at him with huge, sad eyes. He took it from her and ripped it open before his brain could tell his hands to stop. He scanned it quickly and then passed it to her, the expression on his face never changing. Jackie looked up at Hyde with a small smile. Then she looked down to read the letter and her smile quickly faded.

"Oh my God, Red's sick."

"We have to go back." Hyde said, quickly.

Jackie's eyes widened in terror and she shook her head. "Steven, we can't go back. If, if we get caught you'll be arrested."

"Then I guess we better not get caught." he said, clenching his jaw so tightly Jackie could hear his teeth grinding together.

"Steven, I know how much Red means to you, and I love him, too. But, we can't do this."

Her chin began to quiver and before the tears could fall she laid her head on his chest and placed both of her hands against his stomach. She ran her fingers up and down his tight muscles trying to calm herself as much as him. The contact between her fingertips and his body interrupted Hyde's racing mind and stirred the ever-present need in him to protect Jackie. It wasn't until he wrapped his arms around her that he realized she was shaking. He squeezed her tighter and kissed her on the top of her head. He knew the thought of returning to Point Place terrified Jackie. How could he ask her to go back there?

He shook his head and took a long sip of his beer. "I knew you shouldn't have sent those stupid cards, it was better when no one knew where we were."

Jackie knew it wasn't the letters he was angry at, it was the fact that he had to make the decision to bring his family back to Point Place. She knew how much Kitty's letters meant to him. One day, when she was putting away his clothes, she found every piece of mail Mrs. Forman had sent them in the past five years hidden in a box at the bottom of their closet. But, it had been so long since the last letter Jackie had wondered if she and Hyde had finally been forgotten in Point Place. She realized the only way Hyde would allow them to return to Point Place was if he felt she wasn't afraid. She knew what she had to do. Lifting her head off of his chest to look him in the eyes, she gave him a nod and the best smile she could muster.

"You're right, Steven. We have to go."

She wanted to mean it, she really did. But the memories of lying in a hospital bed as Donna's sharp, piercing voice rang in her ears were stuck in Jackie's head like a scary movie that she just couldn't forget.

Hyde knew his wife well enough to realize she was trying to be brave. But he could see that far off look in her eyes and he knew she was thinking about their last day in Point Place. She absent mindedly rubbed the faded scar above her eyebrow. No one but Hyde would've even noticed that she did it.

"I've gotta see him, Jackie. I've just gotta."

He couldn't explain it any better than that.

Hyde ran a hand up and down Jackie's cheek, trying to stop the movie he knew was playing in her mind. It seemed to work. The tortured look left her beautiful face and a small smile returned. She looked into Hyde's eyes and instantly realized what returning to their former home meant to him. If Red died before Hyde got to see him, Jackie knew he would never forgive himself. And for his peace of mind, she would return to Point Place.

Cupping her face, he gave her a nod, "We'll be okay." She returned his nod and kept her eyes locked with his, unable to look away.

She leaned into his ear and whispered, "Let's just go to bed."

Her breath was hot in his ear and it sent chills down his spine. He looked at her and nodded. They could figure things out in the morning. Hyde was exhausted and the hard kitchen chair was unforgiving.

He lifted Jackie out of his lap as easily as he lifted his tiny daughter. Hand in hand, the pair roamed through the house as Hyde checked and doubled checked to see that everything was locked. Jackie giggled, quietly, as Hyde turned out light after light, sighing each time.

"You know, the boogie monster isn't real, Jackie." he said in a teasing voice.

He turned to her expecting to see his grin returned when, in fact, he found the opposite. And even though it was dark, he could see the sadness in her eyes.

"Yes, he is."

At first when they stepped into Leo's BMW that day in 1978 they had no idea where they were going, they just drove. Jackie was so tired she slept curled up against Hyde almost the whole way. It wasn't until Hyde's body ached so much he could no longer physically drive that they stopped. He saw the city limits sign before he saw the city. Duluth.

'This is as good as place as any.' Hyde thought to himself with a sigh.

But when he saw the city, he knew it was perfect. The freeway led up a hill and when he got to the highest peak and saw the city laid out in front of him he actually smiled. It was beautiful. Lake Superior was the biggest thing he had ever seen. He had never been to the ocean, but this was what he imagined it looked like. The houses were all set in the hills, it looked like something out of a movie.

'This, is a place to start over in.' Hyde nodded, satisfied that he had put enough distance between he and Jackie and Point Place.

The first thing they did was find a hotel. They used the money they had gotten from emptying out Jackie's bank account. They checked into the tiny room and then just sat there. Neither of them had the slightest idea what to do next. They had no clothes but the dirty ones on their bodies, very little money and nothing but each other. Hyde changed the bandages on Jackie's forehead with the extras Mrs. Forman had given him at the hospital. Jackie begged Hyde, for what seemed like the one hundredth time, to let her fix the various cuts and scrapes he had. But, he loudly protested and she just let it go. They stayed up and talked all night, Hyde's Zen facade crumbling by the second. What was there to hide from now? There was only the two of them left. The others were gone. Trying to be detached didn't seem to make any sense after what they had just gone through together.

They talked about everything but the one thing that completely occupied their thoughts. When they couldn't talk anymore they laid down in the unfamiliar bed in the dark hotel room and just held onto each other. It was new territory for the couple who couldn't seem to keep from attacking each other whenever they were in a horizontal position. The thing that surprised Hyde the most was how much he loved just holding Jackie. Every part of her fit some part of him, perfectly. Like, her head seemed to rest perfectly under his chin and her leg was just the right length to wrap around his. It was like someone had designed the two of them as a puzzle. One that finally had all of its' pieces.

"What are we gonna do, Steven?"

He didn't know the answer. But he knew there was one, and that was good enough for now.

"It's gonna be okay, Jackie."

And even though every logical part of Jackie's mind told her things would never be okay again, she believed him.

The next day, the answer came to Hyde in a most unexpected idea. School. They had to finish school. They were on their own and what kind of future could they have without a high school diploma? The only one he could think of was a future he was pretty sure the richest girl in Point Place was not interested in. When he told Jackie the first thing they had to do was enroll in a new high school, she looked stunned. But, knowing he was right, she reluctantly agreed.

School was awful. Just one more reminder of the friends they no longer had. Everyone talked about them, everyone stared at them. Hyde could've cared less, but he knew Jackie cared. He couldn't really blame the other kids. People didn't understand he and Jackie. And what people didn't understand - they were afraid of. They were two teenagers, with no parents, who just sort of fell out of the sky and into this new place.

They both found jobs at a small restaurant overlooking the lake. Hyde tended bar and Jackie waited tables. They were able to leave their cramped hotel room and rent a small apartment. They made it through Hyde's last year of high school together. The other kids wondered why Jackie clung to Hyde like her life depended on it. But no one ever asked her. If anyone even got close to her Hyde was there, and no one wanted to mess with Hyde. He would ditch the last five minutes of every class so he could be there, waiting for her outside whatever room she was in when the bell rang. Sometimes, Jackie would hang out on the football field and watch the cheerleaders practice, but even then she wasn't alone. Hyde would sit a few rows behind her, quietly waiting.

When the next fall came and it was time for Jackie to go to school without Hyde she begged him not to make her go. But he did. She never knew it but Hyde befriended the biggest badass in Jackie's grade. Putt was his name. He was a huge guy, and he watched Jackie every minute of every day. And of course, Hyde's reputation remained even after he graduated. No one messed with Jackie.

When Jackie graduated, Hyde was so proud of her. She was so different from the spoiled brat he had known in Point Place. But then again, so was he. The old Jackie would never have survived a year of high school alone. The night of her graduation Hyde gave her a present. A tiny present in a black box. She cried and squealed and giggled when she opened it. It was the first glimpse he had seen of the old Jackie since they had left Point Place.

They got married that summer. The only people there were the judge that married them and the clerk that stamped their papers. But it really didn't matter. The only people they had in life were each other and that was the way they both wanted it. Hyde had saved every dime he possibly could and he bought Jackie a wedding dress. He knew she really wanted one, but would never ask him for it. Not when they barely had enough money to pay for heat.

He knew their life sounded sad and hard to other people, but they never felt that way. They had chosen their life, and it was theirs and no one else's.

When Jackie told him she was pregnant later that year he just smiled. "We're a family, Steven." she had said, and it was true. For the first time in both of their lives. The Formans had always made him feel like they were his family, but, of course, they were no longer in Hyde's life, no matter how much Hyde had wished they could be. And when he and Jackie had their beautiful daughter they also bought a tiny house that Jackie made so perfect they never noticed how cramped it was.

It was a short while after the baby was born that Jackie sent the first letter. In all the years since they had left their lives in Point Place behind it was their first fight. She didn't have to tell him, but they never kept secrets from each other.

"I sent Mrs. Forman a birthday card."

He didn't even wait to hear the rest, he just started yelling. When he finally stopped he looked up to see Jackie sobbing. He never felt as horrible in his entire life as he did at that moment.

"It'll be fine," he reassured her, "just forget about it."

But he didn't sleep for weeks after that. Every night he listened to the cars drive by their house, waiting for one to stop. To stop and then to come into his tiny, perfect house and take his family away from him. But no one came. A letter came instead.

It was sitting on the kitchen table one night when he got home from work. Jackie was feeding the baby and he opened it and read it out loud.

Dear Steven and Jackie,

You have no idea how excited I was to get your letter. I've missed you both so much and I just wish I could see your sweet little faces. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone, well, except Red of course, that you wrote me. I'm just glad to know you're happy.

I'm just going to bring this up once , and then I swear I'll never mention it again. I know some horrible things happened the day you left. But you need to come home now. My house isn't the same without Steven here. And Point Place is just too quiet without Jackie around.

Please write me again.

I love you both,

Mrs. Forman

Hyde read the letter over and over. And he read all the letters that would follow. He knew Mrs. Forman would keep her word. So he stopped waiting for someone to come and take away Jackie and his little girl and slowly, life returned to normal. As long as they stayed in Duluth everything would be fine. But deep down he always knew they'd have to go back someday. That's the funny thing about what you fear the most, it always finds you. No matter where you go.

"Steven, can you get that please?" Jackie called from the bathroom. She only had about 15 minutes until the baby woke up and she hadn't even brushed her teeth yet.

Hyde got up from his breakfast, newspaper still in hand, and grabbed the phone.

"Yeah?" he answered absent mindedly.

"Steven?"

Hyde almost dropped the phone. He knew he was smiling because he could feel his face move, but he had no idea if he was talking.

"Steven, is that you?" The voice asked again.

"Mrs. Forman?" he replied.

"Oh my goodness, it is you." he could hear her softly crying and laughing at the same time. "How's Jackie?"

"She's fine."

"And your little girl, how's your little girl?"

Hyde smiled again just thinking about his daughter. "She's perfect."

"Did you get the letter I sent?"

Hyde cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say. "Yeah, we got it." he paused, wishing Jackie was standing next to him so she could take the phone. "Mrs. Forman, I ..." he stammered wondering what in the world he could say, "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you, sweetie. But the doctors say the cancer hasn't spread, which is good." the quickness with which Kitty spoke betrayed how upset she really was. "And you know Red, he says he's gonna stick his foot up cancer's ass."

Hyde chuckled, quietly. Typical Red. If anyone could kick cancer's ass, it would be Red Forman.

"I just know he's going to be alright." Kitty said, firmly.

Hyde nodded into the phone, unable to find his voice.

"Steven, you know I wouldn't ask you, but I think it would mean so much to Red to see you and Jackie and your little girl."

There it was. The request Hyde had both hoped for and been terrified of hearing. How could he refuse the woman who had been the only real mother he'd ever known. He couldn't. Not when he wanted to see Red as badly as Mrs. Forman wanted he and Jackie to come. Maybe even more.

"Yeah. Yeah, we'll come right away."

"Thank you, Steven," he could hear her quiet sniffles and he knew whatever the consequences, he had made the right decision. The only decision. They had to go back.

He didn't want to say it, but he had to. "Mrs. Forman, no one can know we're coming. Especially Eric and Donna." When she didn't answer him Hyde knew she agreed.

"No one else will know. I promise you, Steven." she started talking so quickly Hyde could barely understand her. "Eric and Donna have their own place over on 19th, they're never over here anymore." she paused and Hyde wondered if that meant Mrs. Forman had been dealing with Red's illness without the help of her son. He hoped she hadn't, but in his gut he knew she had.

Kitty continued, quietly. "I miss you two so much. Things are ..." Her voice trailed off leaving Hyde to wonder what else was going on in Point Place that made her so upset.

"Nothing's been the same since you left." Hyde could hear the sadness in her voice, and it broke his heart. This was more than Red being sick, there was something else she wasn't telling him. Something else that had turned the happiest woman he had ever known into the shattered person he was speaking to now.

He heard little feet coming down the stairs and he shook his head, pulling himself out of his fog.

"Daddy, why are you sad?"

Hyde put on the best smile he could come up with and grabbed the little girl, throwing her in the air. She squealed and giggled and to Hyde, it was the best sound in the whole world.

"What do you want for breakfast, angel?" he asked her, carrying her on his hip to the cupboards.

"Cheerios!"

"Cheerios would be awesome." Hyde said and again she giggled.

"You guys are having fun down here" Jackie said, entering the kitchen. She took the box of cereal from Hyde and he sat the little girl down at the table. Jackie turned and looked at them over her shoulder and it was only then that she noticed how tense Hyde was.

Jackie brought over the cereal and she joined them at the table. "So," she looked at Hyde, "who was on the phone?"

He gave her the tiniest smile and said, "It was Mrs. Forman."

Jackie swallowed and kept her eyes on her husband.

"We're going home, Jackie."