Sage Advice

Let it be.

Let it be what?

Really, when you thought about it, let it be was terrible advice.

Did it mean leave it alone, as if it was a hornet's nest that you were letting be?

Or did it mean let it be whatever it was, as if it were a misbehaving dog that you'd decided not to train?

Let it be. No labels.

But what did that mean?

"Hey." His voice was quiet enough that no one in the crowded restaurant would overhear, as he slid onto the stool that Carter had just vacated, back to the counter.

Jo tried to control her expression, not to let the smile pull at her lips, not to reveal the warm glow that started at the sound of his voice. Really, she had to stop this. She did. She'd let him go, given up her romantic fantasies.

She'd realized, as hard as it was, that as a couple they just didn't fit together, not the way she'd always imagined she would as part of a couple.

So now she just had to follow through on the letting go part.

"Ya' really gonna dump me on a day when I saved your life?"

"Dump you?" Her reaction was immediate, her voice a little too loud, as her head swiveled in his direction. A couple of people glanced their way, and she gritted her teeth. Whispering furiously, she said, "There is no dumping involved. We are not—." She broke off because he was grinning at her.

Damn it. She'd reacted exactly the way he expected her to. Why was it that if she was the one who knew him so well, he was the one who was so good at pushing her buttons?

"Shouldn't I get a reward?" he continued.

"A reward?" She looked at him blankly. What was he talking about?

"For saving your life." He said it as if it was obvious, and she glared.

"I believe I saved your life, too," she pointed out. "I wouldn't have been inside the reactor if I hadn't been opening that valve. I saved the whole town, in fact."

"Good point," he agreed. "How about I give you a reward?"

That smile of his – there was no way it could be called anything but a smirk. Jo tried not to smile back, she really did.

"What exactly were you thinking of?" she asked, and now her voice was also quiet enough that no one could overhear.

"My place? Twenty minutes?"

She looked away. She really shouldn't...but he was like a drug and she was the addict who thought tomorrow would be soon enough to quit. Even if she could keep the smile off her lips, she couldn't keep it out of her eyes as she looked back at him. "Did you eat already?"

He held up the bag. "Just got my take-out."

"I'll wait for mine and then…" she nodded, letting the words go without saying.

He grinned at her. "I'll light the candles."

She didn't quite roll her eyes as he strolled away. There would be no candles. They'd be pulling each other's clothes off two minutes after she walked in the door, and sometime later, they'd eat cold take-out. And then she'd head back to S.A.R.A.H., and she'd resolve that it would be the last time.

Really, it would be.

The last time.

Let it be. What stupid advice.

A/N: I swear, I am trying really hard to write Reckless. There are kids, a plot, incoherent sentences, quirky analogies, and real science. I just keep getting distracted! But I have to admit, it is slightly possible that there is a second chapter to this tag to distract me further, because I'm pretty sure that there really are candles. So right now I'm going back to Reckless but if you strongly wish for a scene with candles (and don't mind moving up to an M-rating), let me know.