Allison smiled as she saw Jo walking towards her along the corridors of Global Dynamics. Allison was meeting Dr Evans in his lab and was glad to see the head of security on the look out for possible trouble. Working with geniuses was incredibly rewarding but the potential for disaster was immense.

'Hello, Jo. How are you?'

'I'm good. How are you?'

Jo changed direction and slowed her pace so that she was matching her steps to Allison's. Allison was seven months pregnant and noticeably slower now.

'I'm good, thanks,' said Allison.

'You look great,' said Jo sincerely.

Allison smiled softly, glad that she and Jo were back to being good friends again. Being in the matrix had completely traumatised Allison and for a long time she had viewed Jo as the woman who wanted to steal Jack from her. She had eventually managed to get over it, helped by Jo and Zane getting engaged, and the two women were now the closest that they'd ever been.

'You want to scare Zane some more?' asked Allison, smiling mischievously.

'Absolutely. What did you have in mind?'

'A trip to look at wedding dresses.'

Jo went dreamy-eyed and Allison continued,

'You know you want to…'

'You're on. Zane will probably have a heart attack,' said Jo, giggling.

'Well he's got to get used to the idea sometime. He did say yes after all.'

'True. And he wants to get married. He just doesn't want any fuss. He'd like to do what you and Jack did.'

'What? Get married in the middle of mortal danger? He does remember how close to dying we came, doesn't he?'

'I don't think that's quite what he meant. He'd like us to sneak into Henry's office one morning, get married and then go straight back to work.'

'You're not going to let him talk you into that, are you?'

'No way. I'm having the whole nine yards; dress, cake, flowers, friends and dancing.'

'Good. So when do you want to go shopping?'

'Saturday?' asked Jo.

'Yes. Jack's got the day off and Kevin's spending the day with friends so he'll just have Jenna to look after.'

'Which he'll adore.'

Allison smiled tenderly as she thought about Jack's relationship with her daughter. They had bonded immediately and absolutely adored each other despite the fact that Jenna was Nathan's daughter not Jack's.

'Yes, he will.'

'Jenna's got him wrapped round her little finger, hasn't she?'

'Completely. Luckily, she likes playing catch and just recently, digging. I'll no doubt come back on Saturday and find them both covered in mud. Thank goodness for Sarah.'

'Yes, it must be nice to have the housework done for you.'

'It is though Sarah can be a bit…disconcerting at times.'

'Oh?'

'Yes, she's…'

Whatever Allison was about to say next was lost as she opened a door and purple goo fell from the ceiling, covering both of them.

'Take that, Evans! That'll…'

The gleeful voice trailed off as its owner came into sight and he realised that instead of playing a prank on his co-worker and friend, he'd got GD's medical director and head of security.

Jo scraped her eyes clear and advanced wrathfully on the culprit,

'Richards! What have you done?'

Terror stricken, Richards stood rooted to the spot, knowing that the worst of their anger was yet to come.