S.A.R.A.H.'s door flew open and Jo entered. "Good evening Jo." The mechanical voice greeted her in a sing-song voice.
Jo glanced about the house and tossed her backpack on the couch. "Hey S.A.R.A.H. Carter at Allison's?"
"Yes, he is. He told me make extra ice to apply to your bruising. I can summon Andy out of the closet to help you apply it if you like. He's sleeping over tonight since we've become friends with benefits." S.A.R.A.H. offered politely.
Jo's face contorted in disgust picturing Andy's creepy perma-grin plastered on his face while pressing an ice pack in her bare back. "Ew. Um no thanks. And that's really too much information." She groaned. "I'd really just like a warm shower before I head to bed." She made her way into the bathroom and S.A.R.A.H. automatically set the privacy screen like she had gotten accustomed to doing since Jo had started staying there. "Oh and light water pressure, please." She added cringing at the thought of the usual pressure she preferred pulsating strongly into her back.
As she carefully pealed off her shirt and pants she looked over her shoulder in the mirror, examining the dark purple wound that covered a good portion of her left shoulder blade. Over the years, through lots of experience, she had a knack for blocking out pain when she needed to. It was actually to a fault because she would numb herself so much to it that she'd end up pushing herself beyond what was a good idea without realizing it. By the time she'd allow herself to relax the pain would always hit her like a brick. There were definitely some bruised bones as well as flesh, she was just glad she hadn't fractured ribs.
The water sprayed down soaking her scalp while the scent of charcoal and smoke permeated the steamy air. The vision of Zane, with a flamethrower, aggressively torching all her belongings to smithereens would pop in her mind anytime she closed her eyes. How could she ever get rid of that? And yet, she had almost killed Carter with a purposeful bullet today and he had let it go like it had been nothing. Maybe she wasn't as forgiving as he was, she thought grimly. Maybe time travel, science and figuring out how much of the Zane she had before was in this Zane was too much to get past.
She washed her hair twice with the strongest scented shampoo available, Zoe's raspberry almond scented liquid and finished it off with some of the complimentary conditioner. She lathered the soap over her entire body, reminded of Zane's incessant flirting that day. She contemplated payback. She fantasized with a satisfaction if she did ever let him have sex with her again, she planned on making the first time as fully clothed and in the dark as she could manage as retribution. He could be such a pain in the ass. More so than before if that were possible.
She toweled herself dry and walked wrapped up to Zoe's old room. She went to the dresser and took note of what was left of her clothing. A few pieces of all the essentials remained along with two pairs of shoes. All her new lingerie she had ordered that fit like a glove all gone. The three brand new dresses to wear to church, gone along with the new shoes.
And then there was everything else in her house. All her perfectly coordinating kitchen and bathroom décor that took weeks to order and many hours to organize was lost. Her dojo, her firing range and all the weapons she had stocked in her gun safe. When she thought about it her only comfort was that since the incident with Larry she had all her photos backed up on disk, each of which took painstaking effort to recover.
She changed into a tank and some boy shorts and took care to lay on her right side and gathered the covers to her chin. She was exhausted and yet she lay there, unable to fully sleep. She felt like crying and yet she couldn't bring herself to. That wasn't so unusual for her, it had been this way for years. She'd been through so much over time that most of the tears were gone. But she was still broken. Why did that have to be him today? And why did Fargo have to tell him everything? She had finally started to move on or so she thought.
She yanked a pillow behind her back and leaned into it, trying to get comfortable. She willed her mind not to go to the place it was avoiding but at the same time she needed it. She needed him, needed the way things were before everything had happened. Since they had all experienced the hallucinations several months back, she began having these moments. It had only happened a few times. She would be horribly upset by something, sometimes nightmares, sometimes something from her day. So she would beg God, Zane and the Universe to let her old Zane be there to comfort her for just awhile. And she would absolutely never admit it to anyone, lest they think she was crazy but it would work. She had no idea how to explain it. Maybe he hadn't actually been there, maybe it was her subconscious giving her a coping mechanism or maybe she wasn't completely cured from the hallucination. Yet it felt so real. She swore each time she would never ask for him again and yet as she lay here, there was nothing she wanted more than a few moments with him. That familiarity and comfort. He was the only person she had been able to let go and be vulnerable with and she needed that more than ever that night.
She called to him silently, unsure if she was willing her imagination to produce him or- really she didn't know and at this point didn't care. After a few minutes in her half awake- half asleep state he appeared. He lay on his side, facing her only inches away; a sweet concerned expression as he lovingly searched her face for what was troubling her. He was wearing a fitted, ribbed tank and a pair of boxers. She exhaled a sigh of relief as her body relaxed against him and a soft smile appeared on her lips. "Zane." Her Zane.
A/N: I made a couple slight adjustments to the first chapter thanks to Sarah60691 pointing out that Zane might have been a little too sweet. I saw where she was coming from so I edited just slightly. I do think at that point Zane would have been worried about her running away or maybe pushing her too far. I also think he would have felt like hell after what he'd done to her house. Next chapter will be lots of Jo working out her feelings with old time line Zane. I have some of it written and I hope to finish the chapter tonight. If not it will probably have to wait until next weekend. Too many small feet distracting me in the week.
I don't own Eureka but I would love to live there. I appreciate all reviews so much, it helps motivate me. Thanks for reading!