Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for your kind words. They keep me going :)


November 3, 1978

6:23 p.m.

Hyde was watching TV when he heard the 'clack-clack-clack' of heels against the cement stairs leading down to the basement. He knew who it was before he heard the door open, close, and then a singular curse in a feminine voice—a voice that still haunted his nightmares. He looked over and saw her jaw tighten when she realized there was nobody else in the basement—no buffers. Just her, unprepared and in enemy territory. He looked back at the TV, his expression dismissive. "What do you want?"

"I…umm…nothing. I just got off work and wanted to hang out. Is Donna here?"

Hyde grinned slowly. "Nope. She's out with my wife. Shopping." He looked over to gauge her reaction, his smile widening at the shock and anger he saw.

Jackie grimaced and tried to mask her hurt with a brave face, but he could read her from a mile away. "I hope that vapid whore doesn't convince Donna to buy any of those slutty clothes she seems to favor. Donna's got more class than that."

"Just because you're a prude, babe, doesn't mean everyone else has to be."

The door slammed and Hyde turned back towards the TV, keeping his expression blank as he tried to not focus on the look of hurt that crossed Jackie's face before she stormed out.


February 25, 1979

10:10 a.m.

Hyde jerked awake and immediately worked to focus on his surroundings—an exercise the doctor had recommended to battle the disorientation he would feel from being misplaced in his own timeline. Hyde looked around and saw he was in his own room, alone. After almost two weeks, he had started to get used to the greyness of his room again. No lavender-scented candles. No soft pillows and plush blankets. No twinkle lights.

Just a dull, grey room in the basement. Nothing more; nothing less.

He closed his eyes and worked to remember the vestiges of his dream before they slipped away, so dead-set was he on keeping ahold of anything that might flash at him from somewhere hidden in his mind.

As he remembered his own cold satisfaction from cruel words and the look of anger that crossed Jackie's face, he started to wonder if he even wanted to hold on to these memories he found so precious. He was sure they were memories since they so tangible—he could still remember the sound of the television as they talked and the clacking of her heels on the cement. In a way, he appreciated each moment he was presented with during fretful dreams in his sleep since they slowly connected him to a missing part of his life, but he equally hated them as if they were a punishment. They came in fragments and only a couple of nights a week, but in the ones he'd gathered so far, too many spoke of a life he was already reminded of daily—a life where he screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Hyde got up and stretched, finally remembering Donna's excitement from the day before. She'd gotten Kelso to convince Jackie to stay. Though Hyde wasn't too happy with Kelso being the only one Jackie would listen to—now knowing the events of Chicago—he would take all he could get at this point. Still, it left Hyde with a familiar feeling he'd been battling for two years now: jealousy. A feeling he knew he'd have to work on if he had any hope of getting Jackie back.

Hyde smiled at that thought. He did have hope though—she was staying.

o-o-o

28 Minutes Later

"Oh, good. You're up," Mrs. Forman said when Hyde entered the kitchen. "Here's your mail from yesterday since you were so busy. I forgot to give it to you before I went to work." She handed him a few envelopes and kissed him on the cheek. "Go sit down and have some pancakes."

Hyde sat and piled pancakes onto his plate, dousing them in butter and syrup. He was already a quarter-way through the stack before he came across it: a letter from the state's records office. "Holy crap, man. This is it!" He opened it quickly, ready to be finally be rid of the stripper, when cold dread started to make its way through his bloodstream as he read the words on the page. "Shit."

"Steven!"

"Shit!" he exclaimed again as he stood to leave. "I'll be back in a bit, Mrs. Forman. I gotta talk to Donna." He turned to look at her. "Don't tell anyone."

With that, he left—his pancakes uneaten and the rest of his mail unopened. Kitty walked over and picked up the letter Hyde had crumpled in his fist before tossing onto the table. She flattened it and read the contents within.

"Oh, my…"

o-o-o

Ludlow Felderman, Records Clerk II
State Vital Records Office
Division of Public Health
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
P.O. Box 334
Madison, WI 53710

February 23, 1979

Steven J. Hyde
4385 Colonial Ct.
Point Place, WI 53104

Dear Mr. Hyde,

We regret to inform you that your request for a divorce has been denied under the conditions with which you applied. Upon further investigation into your request, it appears your marriage is designated as a void classification under state law as the second party on your request, Samantha Hyde, is already legally married to a Laurence Leonard in the State of Nevada. We cannot process your request with this new information.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via the information as stated above.

Respectfully,

Ludlow Felderman

o-o-o

15 Minutes Later

Donna paced the length of her room back and forth, silent in contemplation except for the few times she'd pause and look at Hyde, open her mouth to say something, and then clamp it shut and resume her pacing.

Eventually, she stopped and turned towards him. "So, you guys were never…"

"Nope."

"But you thought…"

"Yep."

"Which ultimately means you…"

Hyde looked up from his spot on her chair. "Left Jackie for nothing? Yep."

Donna collapsed on her bed. "Wow."

Hyde sighed. "I need more words, man. Preferably ones that will tell me how I can fix this."

"I'm…not so sure that's possible. Fixing that, I mean. You just gotta tell her."

Hyde rolled his eyes. "Well, I know that. I'm talkin' how, here. I mean…how the hell am I gonna tell Jackie the marriage I stole from her was never actually legal when I don't even remember marrying the chick in the first place? You remember shit I can't. Give me something to work with here."

Donna blew out a breath. "Quickly. And preferably with something hard in front of you…protection against anything she'll wanna throw at you."

Hyde looked at her, unimpressed. "Really? Just go over there and throw out, 'Jackie, my marriage to Samantha was never legal,' behind a door? You have to have something better than that. I'm supposed to go over there in a few hours, man."

Donna looked at him as if he'd suddenly grown two heads. "You wanna tell her today? I… are you sure? It's your first meeting since she agreed to stay. Shit, it's only your second real one since you woke up. Everything's a little…sensitive right now."

"You just told me I gotta tell her."

"Yeah. On steadier ground, Hyde. Maybe after she's done undoing all that packing and is set to stay for good."

"Who knows how long that'll take."

"Look, I know you guys gotta start…" Donna paused, trying to find the right word. "…differently than you did before. No more hurting and lying and ultimatums. I get that. But you also have to start. And telling her something like that today could kill that chance."

Hyde sighed, knowing that she was right and hating it all the same. He never wanted to lie to Jackie. She had gotten enough of that for a lifetime from Kelso. He wanted to be different. To be good for her.

"Don't think of it as lying, Hyde. And definitely don't think of it as protecting. That'll just piss her off. She deserves to know everything, and she will. Just give it time."

"Time." He nodded. "Thanks again, man."

Donna grinned. "No problem. Good luck."

o-o-o

February 25, 1979

3:44 p.m.

Hyde pulled in to the lot of Jackie and Fez's apartment building and killed the engine. He wanted to show up a little early to…something. Whatever it was, it wasn't working, because he was still too nervous for what was about to happen.

Since waking up and realizing his life had gone to shit, it was like something else inside him woke up. He just knew he had to fix everything and get back his girl. Everyone had mentioned his new resolve. Donna flashed a grin at each mention of him and Jackie. Mrs. Forman would giggle and hug him whenever he even said the name Jackie. Red called his new attitude "commendable." Even his dad said he was proud of him.

He was slightly uncomfortable with the attention, but Hyde couldn't switch off this new determination he felt even if he tried. Besides, anything was better than just sitting and being miserable in hell. What he was fighting for…it was too good. And way too worth it to just walk away from again, even if he couldn't remember doing so the first time.

He got out of his car and made his way up the stairs to the apartment he'd only been to once with Fez a few days ago, his heart pounding the entire time. But he focused on one image: Jackie, with a grin on her face and eyes shining with tears of happiness, throwing herself at him. He'd do anything to make sure that wasn't just a distant memory anymore, but a constant reality.

Hyde took a deep breath and knocked on the door three times. He counted to twelve beats of his rioting heart before the door swung open—though not by the person expected.

"Fez."

"Hey," Fez said, jerking his head inside. "Come in. She's in the bedroom."

"Okay," Hyde said slowly, wondering if he was supposed to just walk in there. An action like that seemed too soon somehow.

"She's been crying off and on all day, but she knows you're here. Just wait out here, okay? She'll come out when she's ready."

Hyde nodded and sat at the couch, only to get up two seconds later and start pacing.

"Good luck," Fez said with a smile on his way out as he shut the door behind him.

Hyde nodded at him once and resumed his pacing, counting to twenty-two before he started to get sick of his own nervousness. He felt twitchy like Forman.

He pulled out one of the stools and sat, imagining Red's voice as he did so: Men don't pace back and forth like dumbasses. Men sit down and wait out their punishment. So sit down and wait, dumbass!

So Hyde sat and waited.


Author's Note: Rest assured, I am working steadily on a very heavy chapter 12. There'll be lot of feelings and a lot of dialogue. Please review!

Oh, I did some digging around and the name of the Vital Records office and the department it's in are legit...but Ludlow and the addresses aren't. Don't try and send a letter to either of them, since I have no idea where they'd end up. Thanks!