I know I promised the epilogue to The One with the Tee Shirt, but I was inspired to write this chapter after listening to The Cure's More Than This about fifty billion times. Don' t ask how it inspired it, it just did.

This is the part where we go totally AU. That means that the rest of this story will not be based on any particular episode in season 8. (And the world rejoiced) Another great thing about writing an AU is that I don't have to stick with the characterizations of the 'real' season 8.

You guys are the best, please keep reading and reviewing!

Donna Finds Out.

Ever since they had first caught Jackie and Hyde making out in the basement three years ago, Donna had vowed to be more observant when it came to her friends. Every odd behavior, every misspoken sentence, Donna would lock it away in her brain for further inspection. For the past two months, Donna had guessed that Jackie was keeping something from her. Her suspicions had only gotten stronger the night they had been forced to look for Kitty Forman's ring in the woods. Throughout the car ride home, she couldn't help but notice that the two of them spent most of their time bickering. Of course, they always did that, but this time she paid special attention to the tones of their voices as they called each other names. To be honest, it kind of made Donna hot. It reminded her of the arguments her and Eric would get into, which often lead to even hotter sex.

Donna knew from experience that if she was going to get to the bottom of this, she was going to have to play it cool. And she was going to need help. The only problem with this was that the only help she had consisted of one horny foreigner and one kettle head ex cop, neither who knew anything about being subtle. However, desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I think something is going on between Hyde and Jackie." Donna told Fez and Kelso at The Hub.

"Yeah." Fez agreed, "They want to kill each other."

"No, not that." Donna leaned forward. "I think they're having a fling." She whispered conspiratorially.

Kelso laughed and shook his head. "Donna, I think I would know if Jackie was doing it with Hyde."

Both Donna and Fez stared at him. "You mean like how you knew that they were dating when you came back from California?" Fez asked.

"I've got cop sense now." Kelso told him. "I noticed that you switched shampoo brands by the way, want to tell me why?"

"No reason." Fez said a tad bit guiltily.

"Can we get back to Hyde and Jackie?" Donna asked.

"Yes, yes." Fez said. "Let's talk about your crazy theory about how Jackie and Hyde are doing it."

"It's not crazy." Donna argued. "Come on you guys, this is serious. They've been lying to us."

"But you don't have any proof." Fez told her. "You're just being suspicious."

"Yeah, Donna, I think not having Forman around is starting to get to you." Kelso said. "We need to get you a hobby."

"Might I suggest quilting?" Fez suggested. Seeing the confused expressions on his friend's faces, he shrugged. "I hate your damn Wisconsin winters."

Donna knew she wasn't going to get any help from Fez or Kelso, so she decided to go it alone. She was now starting to understand the guy's likeness for spy movies. Maybe if she asked nicely, Kelso would let her borrow his ninja outfit.

The first thing she observed was that Sam was sitting in Hyde's chair while Hyde was on the couch. This wasn't a big deal, as Hyde and Jackie used to do the same thing, but this was different. Today, Hyde was on the far end of the couch, and no one else was sitting next to him.

The second thing she noticed was that Jackie sat in the lawn chair.

The third, and probably the most revealing, was that Hyde and Jackie were actually talking.

"It's so obvious Steven, Eric is Richie Cunningham, You're the Fonz, Michael is Potsie and Fez is Ralph."

Hyde laughed. "Kelso is so Potsie."

Jackie leaned over and put her hand on Hyde's shoulder in her excitement, but quickly took it away.

"So does that make you Joanie?" Hyde asked.

"Please, that would mean I was related to Eric, and I don't want to marry some guy named Chatchi."

"Nor should you." Hyde said sarcastically.

"Donna and I are Laverne and Shirley." Jackie informed him.

This is when Donna made observation number four. Hyde hadn't paid one ounce of attention to Samantha since Donna had gotten there. Sam had even gotten him a beer, which he took with a non committal grunt then he went back to talking to Jackie.

Which lead Donna to her fifth and final observation of the evening, Hyde was smiling. He was genuinely smiling, something she hadn't seen since...

Since Sam showed up.

The next day, Donna headed down the basement steps, ready for another day of spying in plain view, when she head voices from coming inside.

"You're telling me to leave?" "Now?" Sam's high pitched voice carried. Donna wondered if Red and Kitty were upstairs listening.

"Look, we both know this marriage is a sham, and I don't want to be married to you anymore."

"So what, you're just going to throw me out?" "What are you going to do? Marry little miss perfect?" There was silence and then Sam started to scream again. "After everything we've been through, you're just going to throw it away for some tramp?"

"Samantha, we knew each other for a whole two weeks before we got married, you spend most of you time at conventions. There's nothing to throw away."

"Might I remind you that when you came to Vegas I was the one who mended your heart after she broke it?"

Donna braced herself for Hyde's response.

"By what, getting me drunk enough to marry you?"

Donna could picture it. Sam giving Hyde beer after beer until he was completely out of it, Sam saying something fruity like "You know what would be fun? If we got married!" and Hyde saying sure, because he thought she was saying something else.

"But… I love you." It was clear that Samantha was getting desperate.

Donna had heard enough, she let go of the door handle she hadn't even realized she was gripping and walked back up the stairs. She needed to go back to her room and plan the next phase of her plan.

"Stop right there."

Donna stopped and looked over at Red Forman who was standing in the garage with a beer in his hand.

"Hi Mr. Forman." She walked over to him. "Nice weather we're having today huh?"

Red glared at her. "Donna, it's 40 degree's outside."

"Really, I thought it was warmer." Donna lied, rubbing her arms.

"You've been eavesdropping." Red accused her, grinning.

Donna shrugged. "I didn't mean to."

"Oh, but you did." Red laughed. "Hear anything interesting?"

Donna shook her head. "Not really."

Red nodded. "I bet."

Armed with a pad of paper and a pencil, Donna walked over to the Forman's basement to do some reconnaissance.

Subject H seems to be tense. Is tapping foot.

Subject J is picking at her nails.

Donna looked over at Fez who seemed too wrapped up in his bag of M&M's to notice Jackie and Hyde's behavior.

"Uh, who wants to go to The Hub?"

Subject H just spoke. Hamburger sounds good.

"Yeah, nothing's on TV anyway." Jackie sounded bored.

"I wouldn't say nothing." Fez said, "Uh, like that old man is… okay fine, let's go."

At Hub, subjects appear to be concentrating on eating. Subject J is staring at me.

"Donna, what are you doing?"

Donna put the pencil down. "Uh, nothing." She lied. "Just writing."

"Right." Jackie said. "Is it about how pretty I am?"

Hyde scoffed. "Why would she write about that?"

"Why wouldn't she write about that?" Jackie asked.

Subjects are bickering, or is it flirting? It's hard to tell.

Donna decided to test the water. "So Hyde, how does it feel to be divorced?"

Hyde leaned back in his chair. "It feels good man. I'm the old Hyde again."

"Well, I for one am glad she's gone." Fez told them. "Although I think Kelso's kind of sad."

Jackie laughed. "I think he was waiting for her to give him a free show." Jackie leaned over and took one of Hyde's fries. Hyde gave her a brief smile.

Subject J just took a fry from Subject H. Am hoping Fez saw that.

Hyde stood up, "I better go make sure Sam didn't take anything, like my stash." He gave a glance at Jackie. "You coming?"

Jackie looked around. "Uh, why would I come?"

"Because," Hyde implored. "I know if she tries anything you'll kick her ass."

Jackie shrugged. "Whatever." She got up and followed Hyde out of The Hub.

"Oh my god." Fez said, stunned.

"Now do you believe me?" Donna asked.

Fez nodded. "Oh, I believe you alright."

"Yeah." Donna said excitedly. "Want to go watch Jackie kick Sam's ass?"

"Are you sure about this?"

Sam had been asking the same question for the last hour. It wasn't as though she had much to pack, but she was taking her sweet time. Donna was beginning to get annoyed. Even Fez was getting impatient.

"I've never been surer about anything in my entire life." Hyde answered.

Donna could swear she saw a sight smile on Jackie's face, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. Sam was now standing at the door with her suitcase, pouting at Hyde.

"You're making a mistake, letting me go."

"Well, she's confident; you got to give her that." Fez said.

"I think the world you're looking for, Fez, is delusional." Jackie said snidely.

Sam turned to Jackie. "Well, at least I'm not pathetic like you. Tell me, how did it feel to know that the love of your life married someone else?"

Donna had only seen the look on Jackie's face once before, when she had beat up Laurie for saying almost the same thing when she was dating Kelso. There were certain things you didn't say to Jackie Burkhart, and that was on the top of the list. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as Jackie stood up from her chair and jumped on Sam. Sam might have had the height advantage, but Jackie was, as they all knew, freakishly strong for someone of her build. The gang could only watch as Jackie flailed on the stripper. Neither Hyde nor Fez looked like they had any intention of stopping the fight. Rolling her eyes, Donna attempted to pull the girls apart and got bit by Sam.

"Ow!" Donna pulled her arm away. "Why the hell do I always get bit?" She looked the teeth marks on her hand. "Jackie, kick her ass!"

"Kelso's going to be so pissed that he missed a girl fight." Fez commented.

After the fight, Sam had left in a huff, refusing any first aid from Kitty. Jackie had gotten a small lecture from the Formans, which consisted of Kitty being disappointed, and Red trying not to laugh and congratulate Jackie. He ended up doing it anyway once Kitty left the room.

"Now, why didn't you do that when Sam showed up?" Donna asked as Jackie applied some ointment to Donna's hand.

Jackie didn't answer Donna's question.

"I just can't believe I missed it!" Kelso said, sucking on his Popsicle sadly. "Damn Brooke and her 'I want to talk about our relationship crap.'"

"The only thing that could have made it better is if they had been wearing bikinis and it had been in a pit of mud." Fez smiled at his own thought.

The guys all gave perverted smiles.

"You three are sick." Donna glared at them and then looked back at Jackie. "You're being awfully quiet."

Jackie shrugged. "I'm just a little tired is all; I think I might just go on home." She gave Donna a hug, stood up and then walked to the door. "Bye guys." Fez and Kelso waved goodbye as she left.

Donna counted down from ten, knowing that by the time she reached one, Hyde would be out the door, following Jackie home. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he was grabbing his keys and walking out the door.

"See?" She said, pointing at the door. "Hyde just left to follow Jackie home."

"Man, Donna, you really got it stop it with this Hyde and Jackie are doing it crap." Kelso said.

Fez however, frowned. "I don't know, Kelso, Hyde wouldn't follow Jackie home if he didn't still care about her."

And just like that, the pieces of the puzzle came together. Hyde following Jackie home every night, the sexually charged burns, the sly glances, the fact they were always hanging out. It might not have been proof of a relationship, but it did prove one thing, and that was that Hyde was in love with Jackie. Donna admonished herself for not seeing it sooner.

It was times like this when Donna really wished Eric was there. She had no idea what to say to Hyde or Jackie, but Eric always did, sure, he had a habit of making an ass out of himself in the process, but somehow, he always seemed to save the day. She was starting to wonder if simply not accepting his break up was enough. As Donna paced in her kitchen, she asked herself the same question.

"What would Eric do?"

The answer came in the form of a memory. When Donna had run away to California, Eric had come for her.

Donna put down her root beer and ran out of her house to go find Jackie.

Donna didn't bother knocking on Jackie's door, ever since their reconciliation, Donna had been given keys to Jackie's house and was allowed in any time. She marched up towards Jackie's room and opened the door.

"I'm going to Africa!"

In her excitement, Donna didn't notice that Jackie was in her pajamas, or that Hyde was sitting on her bed watching TV.

"Africa?" Jackie asked, sitting up. "You're kidding me right?"

"Remember when I went to California and he came for me?"

"Yeah." Jackie said slowly.

"Well, I'm doing the same thing." Donna told her.

"How exactly are you going to go to Africa?" Hyde spoke up, making Donna realize that he was there. He appeared to be comfortable judging by his posture.

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching Carson." Hyde was being deliberately vague.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "He's hiding from Mrs. Forman."

"I'm not hiding from her." Hyde said. "I just don't want to have any talks about my feelings."

"What feelings?" Jackie teased.

Donna made a mental note to add this particular banter to her spy notebook.

"So, about me going to Africa."

"Well, I guess it is romantic." Jackie supposed. "But what about your job, or your dad, or us?"

"Don't you mean you?" Donna spoke fluent Jackie.

"Yes!" Jackie exclaimed. "I can't be the only girl in our group, Donna, I just can't." She grabbed Donna's arms. "Please don't leave me alone with Fez and Michael." She begged.

"If it makes you feel better, I think Brooke is moving back to Point Place." Donna told her.

Jackie let go of Donna and sat down on her bed.

"You like Brooke." Donna reminded her.

"Whatever." Jackie replied. "How are you going to get to Africa?"

"I don't know." Donna admitted. She hadn't really thought things through.

"Just sign up for the same program as Forman." Hyde said.

Donna nodded. "You know, that might work!" Excited, Donna ran out of Jackie's room before Jackie or Hyde could say anything else.

After Donna came down from her initial excitement about going to Africa to see her boyfriend, she turned her attention back to Jackie and Hyde. It would be awhile before she could actually go to Africa anyway, and in the meantime, she was going to find out what was going on with her two best friends. After telling Fez and Kelso about how Hyde was in Jackie's bedroom, the three of them decided that it was time to get to the bottom of things.

"Okay, we need a plan." Fez said. Donna, Fez, Kelso and Brooke were at The Hub, discussing what was being referred to as 'the thing.'

"You could just ask them." Brooke suggested.

Kelso looked at his girlfriend. "Brooke, baby, I know you're new and all, but let me explain something to you about Jackie and Hyde… they lie."

"Well, Jackie lies." Donna amended, "Hyde just sits there and says 'whatever.'"

Kelso gave Donna a nod. "Anyway, they'll never tell us anything if we just ask. We have to actually catch them in the act."

Brooke looked unsure. "If you say so."

They were interrupted though by Hyde coming in. He sat down and looked around.

"She's at the mall." Donna told him.

Hyde quickly looked at Donna. "What? I wasn't looking for Jackie; I was uh, looking for Leo."

"I thought Leo was at the record store." Kelso said.

"He was supposed to come here to get us some food, but he must have gotten lost again." Hyde stood up, "I better get back to the store then." He walked out, ignoring the skeptical looks on his friend's faces.

At the same time Hyde was leaving, Jackie was coming in, causing the two to bump into each other.

"Hello, Steven."

"Hello, Jackie." Both of them sounded tense.

"So how does it feel to not have a wife?"

Donna couldn't see Hyde's smirk, but she guessed it was there. "How does it feel not to have a boyfriend?" Hyde asked back.

Jackie shrugged. "Oh it's fine, because I realized that I don't actually need a boyfriend."

Kelso looked at Donna. "Is it just me or does this seem scripted?"

Donna nodded. "Yeah, they've done better." She turned her attention back to Jackie and Hyde.

"Are you leaving?" Jackie was asking.

"Uh, I was gonna." Hyde told her.

Jackie nodded. "Well, I was leaving too."

"But you just came in."

"Right." Jackie said, "Well, I realized that I forgot something at the mall."

Hyde gestured towards the door. "You, first."

Jackie shook her head. "No, you."

"I insist."

"No," Jackie said forcefully, "I insist."

"No, I insist." Hyde stepped aside to let Jackie go past him. Fed up, Fez walked over to the door and held it open.

"There, it's open, now good day to you both!"

"But Fez…" They said at the same time.

"I said good day!"

After the two left, Fez walked back over to the table and the gang sat, pondering the newest information.

"I'm not sure that proved anything." Brooke said.

"Oh, it proves something alright." Fez said. "It proves that they are horrible liars." He stood up, "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's someplace I need to be."

"Don't do anything creepy while you're in her closet, Fez." Donna told him.

Fez stared at Donna. "Donna, this is me we're talking about, of course I'm going to do something creepy." He shook his head and left.

The next day, Donna was nearly knocked over by Fez as she was taking out the trash.

"Well?" Donna asked, as she straightened her shirt.

"Basement!" Fez ordered, pointing towards the Forman's house.

Once they were there, and Kelso had shown up, Fez proceeded to tell them what he had seen.

After taking a long shower, Jackie came back into her room already dressed in her pajamas. Jackie turned on the TV and settled onto her bed, propping a pillow up behind her back. Fez could hear the door open and then footsteps. He opened the door a little bit more so that he could see inside the room better. Hyde took off his boots and sat next to Jackie on her bed.

Jackie sighed. "I think the guy from MASH is supposed to be on tonight."

"Alan Alda or the guy who wears the dress?"

"The guy who wears a dress."

Hyde gazed at Jackie. "So, I signed the papers today."

Jackie nodded. "Good to know."

The two didn't say anything else for the rest of Carson, but after it was over; Hyde leaned over and kissed Jackie on her forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He told her.

Jackie smiled. "Bye."

"That's it? They watched Carson?" Donna was disappointed nothing else happened. She took a bite of the sandwich Kitty had made her.

"That's it." Fez answered, sounding just as mad. "I did realize though that your best friend is really anal retentive, her clothes are organized by color."

"Not just by color." Kelso broke in. "But by occasion and season as well." He looked at Brooke and explained. "Jackie once made me help her organize everything." Brooke gave a slight smile.

"You kids need to stay out of their business." Red told them. "What Steven and Jackie do is their own business."

A few minutes later, Jackie walked through the kitchen door.

"Hi everyone." She said, receiving waves and hellos from the group.

"Would you like a sandwich, Jackie?" Kitty asked, already getting the bread out.

"Thank you Mrs. Forman." Jackie smiled and sat down on one of the stools.

Donna looked over at Jackie and smiled. She was about to open her mouth to ask Jackie if she wanted to go to the mall with her, but before she could, Hyde was walking in through the basement door. He walked past Kitty towards Jackie, grabbed her hand and pulled her back through the kitchen, down the stairs and, as best Donna could guess, his bedroom.

The gang could only sit in silence, stunned at what they had just seen.

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