PROJECT ARCHIMEDES
A "Way of the Gun" Sequel
9. RECONCILIATIONS
January 16th, 2011
Crater Lake National Park, OR
The brisk wind rushed by her at insane speeds, and Jo exhilarated in it! She leaned hard to the left and dipped a hand into the snow, helping her direction shift as she plummeted down the the southeast face of Mount Scott, one of the remaining peaks around the caldera that made Crater Lake. The spray of white powder blew around her and she grinned like a madwoman.
This was the best kind of boarding, in her opinion: raw mountain, no lifts, no crowds, just the boarder and the mountain and the wild.
There was a whooping holler behind her and in a flash her companion sliced through the snow below her, around a few rocks and trees, laughing with the same exhilaration that Jo felt. A lilting feminine voice tinged with sarcasm shot back her way. "Come on, hand-dragger! Try and keep up with a real skier!"
Jo grinned again and turned to catch the other person, hunkering down on the board.
Slat rats like Zoe never appreciated that the board was a better tool for this! Not that she expected them to, on the mountains there was the right way, and there was what the other guy was doing. Still, she had some experience on her partner, and put in a few tricks she'd learned from someone else in a past life.
The two continued their adventure down the mountain for quite a while. Adventure mountaineering they called it, get dropped off on the top of the mountain and ski (or as was right and proper, board) your way down. They were probably cheating a little, but for the love of God, living in Eureka had some bonuses. In this instance the GPS enabled heads-up displays in their snow goggles and the Petro-Tech thermals each of them was wearing. Zoe had wanted to bet that the pilot and facilitator for the gig would not be able to stop staring at them, considering how the super-advanced ski-suits clung to their figures.
The downhill journey eventually ended, and the two adventure mountaineers drifted to a stop in their camp. The logistics of arranging everything had been something of a minor nightmare, but Zoe had insisted she'd handle it all, and Jo had to admit that even though Chief of Security pulled its own weight, Daughter of the Sheriff and Favored Pupil of the Director of Medical Research had a unique gravity all to themselves, especially the ability to sweet talk Fargo into letting them have the 2nd BUFFY prototype!
"Good moves, hand dragger." Zoe said as she was pulling off her skis at the camp site.
Jo laughed, and relished in it. "Not so bad yourself, pole monkey."
"Watch it, these poles have reach!" Zoe threatened sarcastically, flipping her hair about after freeing it from the cap. "Damn, I think I'm sweaty! This stuff is great for the cold but I think it could do a little better at breathing."
Jo grinned wickedly. "You know the rules of the bet! I won, so I get first crack at the shower!"
Zoe sighed dreamily. "Fine, just don't use up all the hot water! This has to be the coolest way to go camping since mankind invented hotels!"
Jo could think of some disagreements to that, reflecting to a shared camping spot with a certain Zane Donovan and a special spot she'd introduced him to overlooking Lake Archimedes, but she did have to admit that the prospect of a hot shower after a long exercise like that was delicious to consider. She could imagine it being just a little better if said bad-boy mad scientist were going to share it with her, but it wasn't kosher quite yet to go dreamy eyed over Zane in front of Zoe.
In fact that had been part of this whole gig, ostensibly; some girl time alone, away from the pressures of town, of Jo's job, of Zoe's internship, and the tension that still seemed to hang around slightly whenever Zoe, Zane, and Jo were all in the same space. Jo considered these things while she luxuriated in the hot water of the portable shower unit. Amazing technology, this was. It fully recycled all the water it used, purified it, and left the leavings in an easily containable filter/waste cartridge. She was glad it was still a "field test" unit, the projected price of the device was a bit crazy to consider, but it was still brilliant.
Of course she'd still had Andy do a complete forensic scan of it and the tent to make sure no spying eyes were here. She wasn't about to risk embarrassment for her or Zoe in case one of the pervs wanted footage of either of the ladies showering. Jerks were probably imagining catching the two of them showering together!
Jo lost herself in the sensations for a while, enjoying the hot water. Zoe had mostly been joking about that being limited, when the single coolest feature of the shower was an in-line water heater. They only had to worry about battery power, and the solar cells had been working all day while they were on the mountain.
She finished, dried off in the insulated tent and dressed, then traded duties with Zoe, picking up with the cooking for the evening meal. Supposedly BUFFY had an integrated food unit, but the geniuses in charge of that had bombed a bit. It only rendered a generic "food paste" that looked and smelled just off. Still, camping in Jo's mind wasn't done right unless you cooked the food yourself. To that end, tonight's menu consisted of a hearty beef and potatoes stew with dumplings cooking on top. It would've been better in a cast-iron pot, but they'd had enough crap to drag into the site.
She steeped a cup of peppermint tea, using the hot water from the pot sitting next to the fire; Alone with her thoughts and no other distractions. The phones were both set to ignore anything but a 911 call for Jo, and direct calls from Zoe's dad. The camp site was a true marvel, with a view to the south of the wild countryside of the national park. It was a shame they didn't have a great panoramic of Crater Lake itself, but that had been too short a descent, and neither of them had wanted to hike back up to the camp. They were going to have to hike back up to the Rim Road anyway tomorrow.
Zoe finished and rejoined Jo and the two engaged in small talk, simply enjoying each others' company.
"So" Zoe began, finally daring to broach the subject, "How are you and Zane doing?"
Zane had broken things off with Zoe almost eight months ago, but Zoe had retreated back to college almost immediately after, and the two women had never directly reconciled with each other. Jo sipped at her tea and smiled ruefully. Things with Zane were interesting to say the least.
"Zoe," she said, "I don't know how to get around saying it, so I figure I'll just say it. I'm sorry if you're mad at me, or hold anything against me about him, but I do love him."
The girl-"No, Jo, she's a woman" she reprimanded herself-nodded slowly and took a drink from her hot chocolate with its four mid-sized marshmallows.
"I was always wondering that, at least a little, but so much time went by that I just figured whatever might have started between you two never did, so I thought it was a safe bet." Zoe said.
"Honey, nothing about that man is safe!" Jo snorted out.
"Well, yeah, that's kind of the appeal, isn't it?" Zoe snickered, "The bad boy who's really got a soft side?"
Jo shook her head and looked out at the view. The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable, it just was. It's a rare thing to have that, the ability to just be around someone and not need to fill the air with conversation. "Yeah," she finally admitted, "It is. He's something else."
"Oh I bet the sex doesn't hurt issues either!" Zoe said with a conspiratorial grin.
"Zoe!" Jo blurted out in shock, looking at her. She felt her cheeks coloring in embarrassment.
"Oh come on, Jo! I'm nineteen! I know you two are getting it on; spill." Zoe reinforced her demands by smiling sweetly at Jo, as if butter couldn't melt in her mouth.
"Your Dad-"
"My dad is getting it on too! Everyone I know who's of age is getting busy and the only thing I've got going on is battery powered!" Zoe protested.
"Oh my God!" Jo half-laughed. She knew the blush was showing now.
"Oh please, Jo!" Zoe exclaimed in disgust, "I never got with Lucas before he left and… crap! As hot as some of the guys at Harvard are every time I think about it I keep hearing my Dad shouting 'Three Feet'!"
"You're serious?" asked Jo, incredulously.
Zoe snorted, "Quiet, you! It's not like I'm joining a nunnery, but sometimes I swear living at that bunker is like having a nanny! I'm half convinced SARAH is sending weekly reports to my Dad. Besides, it's not like we have a whole ton of eligible bachelors in Eureka!"
Jo shook her head. After a bit more needling she finally relented and admitted that yes, indeed, Zane knew what he was doing and was quite the lover. Zoe sighed wistfully a few times, and by the end of the note comparing Jo was finally convinced that the two of them were beyond the issue of a love triangle. It felt good; she had to admit to herself, that she could comfortably rely on Zoe's friendship again.
Dinner was ready shortly after that, and they both ate with gusto. No food is so good as that which is prepared on the trail, and the view of the south mountains made for a far better spot of watching than any television channel or movie.
As they were dousing the fire and preparing to turn in for the evening, their quiet camaraderie was disturbed by the sound of a helicopter's traversal of the mountain ranges. While they had certainly heard the adventure mountaineering company's birds a few times that day, going to different areas, this one sounded different.
Jo picked up her snow goggles as she located the source of the sound, the action perking up Zoe's interest as she finished dousing the fire. "Something up, Jo?"
"Yeah, that chopper doesn't sound quite right." Jo replied absently, putting the goggles on and tapping the controls on the right side to turn on the full suite of electronics.
"What do you mean by 'not right?'" Zoe asked.
Jo demurred. It was hard to explain to a civvie the way your head got after you rode the damn things day in and out for years. All her time in the Rangers, shuffling in and out of places she didn't want to think about, most of that had been traversed in the back of a helo. The noise this bird was making wasn't any old civilian job, and it certainly wasn't the ancient Sikorsky that they'd hired for the ride that morning. That thought prompted an idle consideration that maybe she should fix Zoe up with the pilot, who'd seemed really interested in her, but it meandered away as she scanned the sky. She listened to the sound profile and tried to pin it down, ruling out class by class as she listened.
She finally found the chopper and tapped the keys to make the goggles do a digital zoom and refine on the image. She got a good look at it and harrumphed to herself. Okay, the model was off, it was still a Sikorsky, but you didn't see many CH-54 Sky Cranes operating in the national park, let alone ones that weren't in military colors, especially when they were lifting difficult-to-identify pre-fab units. The big stork-like chopper lumbered away in the distance.
Try as she might, she couldn't piece together quite what was happening, so she snapped a few images into the goggles database and vowed to check it out later.
Zoe sighed. "Earth to Jo, what's up?"
Jo shook her head as she replied. "Nothing that I can tell anyhow; you just don't see Sky Cranes operating out here much, especially not this late. That dude better have some nice NVGs for landing."
"NVGs?" asked Zoe.
Jo replied without missing a beat, "Night vision goggles. Unless he's landing in a really lighted area that's got to be a nasty haul this late in the day."
"Well, they're headed away from Eureka, so unless they stole something I don't think it concerns us much," Zoe pronounced, satisfied with her own logic.
"Yeah, maybe." Jo said absently, her mind still trying to puzzle it out.
Zoe shook her head. "Forget 'em Jo. I'm hitting the sack. It's a long ski tomorrow to cross-country back to the road. And besides, the next two nights are at the lodge!"
Jo nodded absently, not quite in full agreement, but not wanting to argue either. They turned down the rest of the camp site and went into the GD wonder tent to enjoy Fargo's luxurious idea of "roughing it".
January 15th, 2011
Eureka, OR
"I should have done this a long time ago," Jack thought as he pulled in to the driveway at Allison's- at their house. Since her car was here she was too. He knew Kevin was out tonight, hanging with his friends Dre and Connor.
He was tired already, but simply thankful that Allison had been able to stay at home for tonight's fiasco… Honestly, how those guys at GD came up with all their crap he had no idea. At least they wouldn't be facing an insane killer robot invasion any time soon. He was just glad at this point that the budget to reskin and repair his robot deputy weren't part of his department. He wasn't really looking forward to the next day or so it would take the robotics labs to repair Andy, but then again he wasn't really relishing this next encounter.
Relationships were always messier than law enforcement.
The rich smell of some excellent food being cooked lifted his spirits somewhat as he entered. After the fight on the anniversary of her first wedding, tension had been thick between them. He thought once again about the fight and the causes for it; his fault entirely.
His family, absent the strict authoritarianism of his father, had taken a decidedly Bohemian bent. Jack had always patterned himself after his dad, though. It was one of the reasons he and Lexi used to fight so much. But he'd also had a firm model of a working family growing up. His parents had stayed married throughout the ups and downs, had toughed it out and gave him a set of expectations about how it should all be. It'd never been a question in his mind that, once he and Allie were together, marriage would follow, eventually.
Conversation at home had been strained to say the least, so when he noticed her tension as he entered the kitchen after hanging his gun belt on the back of a dining room chair; he tried very hard to appear unaffected by it.
He took a brief moment to appreciate her, to remind himself once more how lucky he was, and how much he didn't deserve her. Allie stood at the kitchen range, fixing something relatively simple in response to his called ahead report that the insanity for the evening was over. Somehow she always looked fantastic. Her rich, dark hair fell down her back in waves, when she would turn just so and they would frame her lovely face. Dressed in a simple blouse and jeans bit, she still managed to cut a killer profile.
He sighed, quietly. She always took good care of herself, but it was more than that. He'd been so right during their first dance; intelligent, perceptive, strong, independent, beautiful. She was every one of those and more; A driven person, perhaps a little too 'type-A', but also a fantastic mother, a superb friend, and a good person.
She noted that he hadn't moved toward her yet, and cast a curious eye his direction, though he sensed that she was nervous and unsure. Her body language said it all. At times he bemoaned being an investigator, but there were times when it came in handy, if he chose to listen to his instincts and not his ego.
She obviously had resolved to leave the ball in his court, as he thought she might. He left his kit hanging from the back of the chair and moved into the kitchen, stepping up behind her. She stiffened a little, but didn't fend him off as he settled his hands on her shapely hips and sidled up behind her, pressing into her and resting his face in her hair and inhaling her scent. She relaxed into him a little, though a bit of the tension remained.
"I'm sorry," he said. It was simple and quiet, but was an earnest as he could make it. She didn't say anything really, but some of the tension left. "Really, Allison, I'm sorry," he repeated.
"Jack, I-" she began.
"No, please. Let me finish?" She nodded and turned around so they were face to face, slipping the food off of the induction range top.
He took a breath as he looked into her warm chocolate eyes, her lovely face framed by her long tresses in that way that made his knees weak. She looked uncertain, in some measure, but also earnest as well. There was a guardedness to her, too. He didn't begrudge that. The arguments hadn't been the most pleasant thing either of them had lived through.
"I've been a first rate ass, Allison, and I'm so sorry. I haven't been considerate to you in these last few weeks, and I should know better. I am not making excuses, but I'm pretty sure you've already figured out I was raised a certain way, and I was brought up to expect certain things, and for a while I got confused as to what was really important."
"I'm not confused anymore. I've come to realize that what I thought was most important wasn't, and also to realize that I was letting that get in the way. What's really important, Allie, is you, and that I love you."
He paused for a moment as her breath shuddered, and the tears forming in her eyes spilled over onto her cheeks. He was sure she wanted to say something, but she held off. He reached up gently, cupping the side of her face in his hand and thumbed away one of the tears, trying a reproachful smile. The corners of her mouth turned up and she cast her eyes down.
"I've been a jerk about the marriage thing," he paused for half a second as she tensed, perhaps preparing her defenses in their old argument. "But that's because I was being stupid. I love you and I always will, whether or not you choose to change your name, or put on a ring, or do none of it. I can face whatever this town and this life can throw at me, if only we're together, in whatever way you see fit. However you'll allow it, I just want to be with you."
She closed the distance between them and pressed up against him, her arms clasping him as she sought out his lips in a soft kiss. Her tears stained his face, and her emotion bled over onto him, splintering the last walls of pride in him, and he began to cry too. They clung to each other for a time, just holding onto each other and crying softly.
After a while they pulled back just a bit, and she looked him in the eyes. "Jack…" she began slowly, building up the momentum as she talked."I love you too; I know that like I've never known anything else. You're… I don't have the words to express it. I need you to understand I don't want to get married."
"Allie, honey, I-"
"No, Jack. My turn? Please?" she asked, leaning in for a quick kiss as he nodded.
She paused for a bit, obviously trying to put words to. "Every time I've said those words, and done that, it hasn't turned out well. First there was Don, then when Nathan and I couldn't make it work… and then the second time and… and…" she halted herself, obviously fighting to maintain her composure. "I know it's probably silly, and superstitious, but damn it I don't want to live with that pain again, I don't know if I could!"
He leaned in and kissed her forehead as she lost some composure and a few tears slipped out, murmuring gentle and supportive words as he did so.
She continued, speaking into the crook of his neck. "I love you, Jack Carter! I can't lose you, and I'm so scared that if we ever did that then I would. I know it doesn't make any sense! But I can't escape it, Jack! Every time I think that maybe I could, I freeze!"
He silenced her with another kiss and hugged her back to him. She broke down again. He held her through the duration.
"I'm sorry, Allie" he said again. "I'll be happy with whatever you want, I mean it. What's important is that I love you and I'll be here for you, no matter what."
"So, want some dinner?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Nah." he replied with a smirk.
She knew where he was leading almost immediately. "Oh?" she asked in faux innocence.
"I was thinking about breakfast though..." he trailed off.
She smiled and tugged on his arm, leading them out of the kitchen and toward the stairs.
Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka, it's characters, or its concepts, I'm just playing for fun and an educational experience.
Author's Notes: This chapter is all about reconciliations. While it was pretty clear that Jo and Zoe were no longer at odds in "Way of the Gun", I never really delved into their relationship. Additionally I figured a little bit of sisterly rivalry would be good. I got the slang terms from some co-workers who are avid rivals as to whether the board or the skis are best for downhill.
For geographical reference, Mount Scott is on the southeast portion of the remains of Mount Mazama (the volcano that forms Crater Lake). It is thought to have been largely undisturbed when Mazama blew up several thousand years ago. At present it has some of the best free range skiing in that portion of the park (or so I am told).
Regarding Jack and Allison, I had thought about letting the argument fester between them for a while but in the end I just couldn't deal with it for the rest of the story, so this became mandatory in light of the challenges forthcoming.
As usual, please R&R, all comments and criticisms welcome!