I don't like this chapter very much, but I couldn't figure out how to make it better. If you have any suggestion or comments, leave them in a review.
Jo sat at a small table in Café Diem, sipping her coffee and trying not to over-analyze her day. It had been completely bizarre. Because Allison had forgotten to cancel the testing, she had been forced to compete for the job she had already gotten with six other applicants. After she had won, one of them, Peters, had lost it and pulled out a grenade. Everything after that went black. The next thing she remembered was Zane clearing hair out of her face and being forcefully escorted to the infirmary. An hour later, Zane came to see her. He asked her to go for dinner with him, despite the fact that the other Jo had been a bitch to him for the last month.
"You look deep in thought."
Jo looked up and smiled at Carter. "Yeah."
"So," Carter grinned at her, sitting down across the table, "what're you doing here?"
Jo's smile widened. "I'm meeting Zane," she confessed excitedly. "He asked me to get dinner with him while I was in the infirmary."
"Really? That's great!" Carter exclaimed, trying to sound surprised.
Jo shook her head at him. "He already told me that it was your idea, so you can drop the act." Her tone softened slightly as she continued, "But, thank you."
"It was my pleasure."
Carter watched Jo take another few sips of coffee in silence before continuing. "So…how are you?"
"Terrified," Jo confessed. "This is my one shot to make things with Zane right."
"Well, I think you'll do fine," Carter said, reaching across the table and squeezing one of her hands. "After all," he continued, nodding to the other side of the café, where Grace and Henry were still seated, deep in conversation, "it looks like my match making is going pretty well today."
"Hey, Carter. Mind if I sit down?" Zane asked, approaching the table laden with plates of food.
"Sure. She's all yours," Carter beamed at Zane, getting up and backing away from the table.
"Sheriff, your food is ready," Vincent called from behind the counter.
"Thanks, Vincent," Carter replied. He struggled for a minute to balance the heavy boxes before successfully carrying them out to his car. As he drove off, Carter breathed deeply and let the smell of Vincent's cooking wash over him. Allison and her kids were going to love this.
Zane sat silently, watching Jo from across the table. He had been hoping that they would resolve their issues from the last month over dinner. But since Carter had left, Jo had hardly said a word to him.
"Are you okay?" He asked nervously. Tonight was probably his only chance to make things right with Jo, and he wanted to take advantage of it.
Jo shook her head slightly."Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little fuzzy from earlier."
Zane frowned. "How do you feel?"
"Tired and nauseous and a little dizzy," Jo admitted, shrugging slightly.
"The sedative from earlier probably hasn't worn off yet. Friedrich used some pretty nasty compounds. Let's get you home," Zane said, standing up and offering Jo his hand.
"Are you sure? We haven't really eaten yet." Jo protested.
"I'm sure," Zane confirmed, pulling her up. "If the universe wants us to get back together, it'll happen, even if we have to wait until tomorrow."
Jo smiled gratefully and slipped a hand in Zane's as they walked out of Café Diem. "Or, maybe, this is it's way of saying that we already are."
"That was delicious. Remind me to thank Vincent," Allison said, stretching and leaning back in her chair.
Carter grinned. "Well, you know him, the more people he has to feed the happier he is. And the better his apple pies are."
Allison nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Would you mind clearing up while I put Jenna to bed?"
"Not at all," Carter replied, his smile broadening.
"Thanks," Allison called as she disappeared up the stairs.
Carter pushed his chair away from the table and loading plates into the dishwasher. Kevin sat at the table, watching him silently.
"Hey, Kevin, can you pass me that plate?" Carter asked from the sink.
Carter turned around when Kevin didn't respond. He noticed that the boy's gaze had shifted to the refrigerator. "Kevin?"
Kevin began laughing hysterically. Carter stared at him, dumfounded. "Kevin?"
"Sorry, man," Kevin choked out, still laughing.
"What?"
Kevin passed the plate to Carter and stopped laughing. "I said sorry. For freaking you out. You looked like another escaped robot was about to destroy GD."
"You- you- you're talking. To me," Carter stammered.
Kevin squinted at him. "I am. Only because of the look on your face. Please don't tell my mom. It'll ruin my project."
"Wait, what?"
"It's a project for my Psych class," Kevin explained, carrying the remaining dishes to the sink. "I'm experimenting with non-vocal forms of communication and its effects. If my mom finds out, it'll ruin my research."
"Um…." Carter began.
"I need to get out of here before I crack up again," Kevin said, cutting Carter off. "Tell her I went to Sam's house. I'll be back in an hour."
"Wait…"
Kevin ignored Carter and jogged out the door. Carter stood next to the sink, trying to understand what had just happened. Kevin was acting like the other Kevin, but with said he was doing research. It made no sense.
Carter shut the dishwasher and ran up the stairs to find Allison. "Hey-"
"Shhh. I'm trying to get Jenna to go to sleep," Allison scolded from inside the nursery.
"Sorry," Carter whispered, stepping in next to her. "But I really need to talk to you-about Kevin."
"What about him?"
"He's different. Again."
"What are you talking about?" Allison hissed.
Carter scratched his head and tried to figure out how to explain what had just happened without sounding like he had lost his mind.
"Okay," he began slowly. "When we got back, Kevin was acting like his original self. But he was just in the kitchen with me, talking like he did in the other timeline. He said that he's avoiding talking for an experiment. The goal is to see your reactions to his lack of communication or something."
"Is this a joke?" Allison hissed, turning to glare at Carter. "I've watched him for the last week. He barely talks to me."
"No, no, it's not a joke," Carter said earnestly. "He lost his concentration and started laughing. Then he explained it to me and asked me not to tell you so he could continue his project."
"Why would he do that?" Allison asked.
"I don't know," Carter replied quietly, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I don't think he meant to hurt you. He's doing it for school."
"But I'm his mother," Allison protested, letting a few tears fall from her eyes. "Why didn't I notice that something was off?"
"Look, Allison, he's good. I mean really good. I nearly had a heart attack when he started talking to me."
"But-"
Allison was cut off by Carter's phone. The sudden ringing woke Jenna, who began to wail.
Carter fought the urge to hit 'ignore'. As important as this was to Allison, he was the Sheriff, and had to answer all of the emergency calls.
"Sorry," he whispered to Allison, leaving her in nursery with Jenna as he slipped into the hallway. "Sheriff Carter here."
"Carter? It's Henry. You need to get to Jo's house right now. Bring Allison, too."
"Why? There's something kind of important going on here."
"I think we're seeing
an example of another convergence."
"Here, too," Carter said, frustrated. "Can this wait a few minutes?"
"No. My convergence is on fire."
"Alright," Carter sighed. "I'm on my way."
He closed his phone and leaned against the doorframe. "Henry says that we need to get to Jo's house. Apparently there's been a fiery convergence."
Allison nodded. " Kevin can watch Jenna while we're gone."
Carter shook his head. "As soon as Kevin spilled his secret, he took off to a friend's house. He said he'd be back in an hour, but we can't wait that long."
"Fine," Allison said, scooping up Jenna with one hand and a diaper bag with the other. "We'll leave her with Vincent. He'll love that."
Ten minutes later, Carter was halfway to Jo's house. He marveled at Allison's efficiency. After he had talked to Henry, she had been ready to leave in less than two minutes. And she had been right about Vincent-he had jumped at the opportunity to watch Jenna.
Still, Carter got the feeling that part of Allison's efficiency came from avoidance. They had left her house so quickly that they hadn't had time to pick up their discussion, and Allison insisted that they take separate cars.
Carter frowned to himself. He understood why Allison was upset, but wasn't sure what to do about it. He would have to sit down with Kevin and convince him to give up the experiment.
As he rounded the corner to Jo's neighborhood, Carter hit the brakes. Henry was right. He really did need to be there.
Jo's house was on fire. Not burning, like a normal house fire, but seemingly combusting slowly, one spot at a time.
Carter scrambled out of his car and ran towards the house, almost getting hit by an ambulance that was speeding away. "Jo? Jo?"
"She's over here, Sheriff."
Carter changed directions and sprinted over to Henry's fire truck. In back, sitting with one arm around Jo, was Grace.
"What happened? Are you alright?" Carter spat out, trying to stay calm.
"She's fine. A few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing serious," Grace assured him. She looked back down at Jo, who hadn't looked at Carter yet. "Let me get you something to drink, Sweetheart."
Carter peered down at Jo, who was wrapped in a blanket and letting an EMT examine her arm. She didn't look hurt, but she didn't look like herself, either.
"What happened?" Carter asked again.
"Larry," Zane growled from a few feet away.
Carter turned to him. "What?"
Zane shook his head. "I drove Jo home because she wasn't feeling well. I was heading back out to the main road when a car came tearing down the other side of the road. I turned around and followed it. When it turned onto Jo's street, it didn't slow down. Instead, it sped up, and drove straight into her house."
Carter looked back at Jo's house, and noticed that there was a gaping hole next to the front door.
"By the time I got out of my car, Jo was already dragging him out," Zane continued. "The medical team just took Larry back to GD."
"Is he injured?"
Zane shrugged. "He didn't look good, but it's hard to say. Are you done yet?"
"No. Stay put."
Carter turned to the source of the voice-the man who was examining Jo's arm. "Why can't he move?"
The man snorted. "Untrained civilians get in the way with emergency medical procedures. I'm not going to let anything happen to her because someone stopped me from doing my job."
Grace reappeared carrying a thermos and handed it to Jo. "You need to drink something."
Carter nodded to himself and stepped away and made his way around the truck. Grace seemed to have things under control. Jo was responding to her, even though she hadn't made eye contact with Carter.
"Jack," Henry called from the other end of the truck, waving Carter over. He shut off the hose. "We have to talk."
"Yeah," Carter said, helping Henry hang up the hose. "Where's Allison?"
"She was redirected to GD," Henry answered. "She's going to lead the surgery on Larry. That's part of what we need to talk about."
"Okay," Carter nodded.
Henry ushered Carter further away from the truck. "This convergence was very dangerous. Jo and Larry both could have been killed instantly. Larry still might not make it."
"What caused it?" Carter asked.
"I think it stemmed from the rocket race," Henry said. "The two universes are fighting over Jo's house. In one, it was fine. In the other, Larry accidentally destroyed it with a rocket."
"So now, it set on fire by a speeding car," Carter said, nodding.
"Exactly," Henry nodded. "Though I'm not sure if it's a convergence or if the other timeline won. Jo can't live here. The damage is too severe."
Carter examined the house for the first time since Henry had finished putting out the fire. Henry was right. Again. There was no way anyone could live there.
"Great. I'm sure Jo will love living with me again."
"That's not the biggest issue right now," Henry pressed. "This was dangerous. Next time, someone could be killed."
"Well, it's not like we can do anything about the universe ripping itself apart," Carter pointed out.
Henry sighed. "Maybe not. But we can try. Fargo's at my garage right now, working on a timeline of all the events since Founder's Day. We're going to map out what happened in the other timeline, and try to find out what happened here. If we can get enough information, we may be able to figure out what kind of convergence is coming next, and what it should affect."
Carter nodded. "That's a good idea. Hopefully we'll be able to get out in front of this."
As they slowly walked back toward the small crowd at the back of the truck, Carter remembered something. "Hey, Henry. I think one of the natural convergences already happened. Kevin's a normal teenager. He's just pretending not to be for a class project."
"Huh," Henry replied. "Well, hopefully that'll be the end of the changes for him."
"Yeah," Carter agreed. "I don't think Allison could take it if it's not."
Carter watched quietly as the EMT finished examining Jo and drove away, leaving him with Jo, Zane, Grace, and Henry. No one moved until Carter broke the silence.
"Well, we should all get home."
Grace shot Carter a look. He hastily corrected himself. "Except Jo. The rest of us should all go back to our homes."
"That sounds like a good idea," Henry said. "We'll check on Larry in the morning. Grace, do you want me to drive you home or back to your car?"
"Home," Grace answered, stepping out of the back of the fire engine. Jo jumped down after her. "I'm too wired to drive now, anyway."
"You drove her here in the fire truck?" Carter demanded incredulously.
Grace chuckled and nodded. "Yep. It was an interesting way to end a first date."
Carter resisted the urge to smile back at Henry, who was grinning gleefully at Grace's phrasing.
"So, Jo, are you ready?" Carter asked.
Jo looked down. "I think I'm going to go with Zane," she said quietly.
Carter and Zane both raised their eyebrows. "What?"
Jo shrugged. "You offered earlier. Unless you changed your mind..."
"No, definitely not," Zane said quickly. "I just didn't expect you to say yes."
"Neither did I," Carter muttered. In one day, the two couples he had set up had jumped from a first date to a full-on relationship. Still, if it made them happy, who was he to complain.
"Alright," Carter nodded, walking Jo to Zane's car. "Get some rest tonight. You look exhausted."
Jo nodded and buckled her seatbelt. Carter turned his attention to Zane. "Take care of her."
"I will," Zane nodded. He looked over at Jo, who was already asleep. "Thanks, Carter."
Carter nodded and waved as Zane pulled onto the main road. He lowered his hand and turned to take in Jo's house again. Carter was starting to worry. Between the incident with Peters at GD, the change in Kevin, and Jo's house, it looked like the battle between the two universes was getting violent. Even if Henry was right, and they could anticipate the next incident, at this rate they wouldn't be able to stop it before someone was killed.
