I don't own Blindspot or any of these amazing characters.
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This is not a continuation of my other post, this is an alternative version... :)
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"You are not my wife!" Kurt told Remi heatedly.
Remi listened to him and couldn't have agreed more. They'd been having this argument for over an hour and she didn't know why he was being so insistent. She wasn't protesting.
"The ring on your finger says otherwise," She didn't know where those words came from, but seeing how red his face got she felt some satisfaction for so successfully needling him. Did he want her to protest? Is that why they'd been going around in circles for so long?
"You want me to take off my ring?" Kurt demanded as he reached for it.
Suddenly Remi's amusement fled. No. She couldn't deny that her gut reaction to that question was unequivocally no…
He pulled it off and slammed it down on the counter.
"Does that make you happy?" Kurt asked her.
Remi suddenly had the strongest urge to cry. She twisted the ring that was still on her finger without answering. She knew the obvious reaction was to pull hers off as well, but something stopped her.
Before she had to make a decision one way or the other, Weller's phone rang. She listen to him answer it, but her eyes were glued to the ring now sitting on the bar. She didn't know what it was about the sight that hit a cord inside her, but everything suddenly seemed hopelessly real.
"Let's go," Kurt hung up and told her, "We have a case."
Remi let go of her ring and followed Kurt from the apartment. The ride over to the NYO was completed in silence.
Three hours later Remi was holding a glass of wine, dressed in elegant attire and attempting to find a courier before top secret information could be passed to the wrong people. Jane's team was there too and they were all connected through their Coms. She wasn't wearing her ring because she was undercover, but felt its absence. For someone who couldn't even remember it going on, she certainly noticed when it was gone. With that being said, she missed the one on Kurt's finger even more, him taking it off seemed so significant that even without her memories Remi felt distressed.
"Well, hello." Remi turned to find the very man they were searching for standing next to a stranger.
"Hello," Remi returned with a smile.
"Shall we?" The man indicated the dance floor.
Remi took his hand with a feigned smile but no enthusiasm. Placing the glass down on a table she followed him to the dance floor.
As they danced he pulled her closer. She subtly resisted and he asked her.
"You're not married are you? I would hate to draw anyone in this room's ire." He teased her.
She understood his concern because nobody in this room was legit. They were the underbelly of society partying on their ill-gotten gains.
Before she answered she hesitated. If she said yes, things would be easier, but Weller's ring sitting on the kitchen counter was still seared into her head.
You are not my wife…
"No," She said without inflection.
Kurt cursed under his breath. This was his fault. Seeing the uncomfortable way Remi was holding herself and the interest the other man wasn't even trying to hide he cursed those so harshly thrown out words.
"We really need to get them alone," Reade told Remi through the coms, "See if you can get them out of here before the takedown. We don't want to burn our covers if we don't have to."
Before Kurt could protest Remi flipped the switch. Her reluctance faded away and she looked up at her partner with a smile full of invitation. Kurt saw the look, but it was different from any that he'd ever seen from her before. He realized for the first time the way she looked at him had been genuine all along and he now understood the difference. She'd been looking at him with a hurt expression when he'd taken off his ring. The realization that he had the power to hurt Remi gave him pause. Could Remi be different than he always believed? Was she more like Jane than he thought?
"This party is getting a little old," She said, her voice husky, "We could go somewhere more…private."
"Believe me I'm more than tempted," The man assured her, pulling her more fully against him, "But my business associate is only in town for a few days and I'm responsible for keeping him entertained."
Remi looked over at their mark and found him watching them with a piercing expression.
"He looks like a big boy," Remi denied, "I'm sure he can entertain himself."
The man was watching her with a slightly dazed expression. Kurt knew the feeling.
"I can't," The man was clearly wavering.
"Well," Remi looked up at him her eyes hooded, "Maybe the two of us can show him a really good time."
Rich started coughing and had to turn off his Coms.
"Why don't we," The stranger with Remi grabbed her hand and headed toward the man watching them so intently.
"We're going to get out of here," He told the target, "You can join us."
The man had been watching silently, but at that offer his eyes turned to Remi. She felt her stomach lurch at the lust he wasn't even trying to hide.
"Can I?" The man said, but he wasn't looking at the other man anymore, "Or…we could have a good time and I'll call you tomorrow."
Remi stiffened at that implication. Patterson's intel had indicated this man was not anyone you wanted to be alone with.
The man with Remi was clearly taken back by the suggestion.
"I…" He looked down at her and for the first time she could read the fear in his eyes.
"Let's go," Remi let go of the one man and accepted the arm of the suspected terrorist.
The first man watched them go from the edge of the dance floor and felt a tinge of regret. She didn't know what she was getting into and he doubted that they would meet again.
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Remi allowed the terrorist to escort her from the party. She wasn't too concerned not only because she could take care of herself, but because Jane's team would be moving in shortly.
Instead of heading for the parking lot as she expected, the man escorted her toward the elevator.
"I thought we were going somewhere more private?" She looked up at him guilelessly.
"My room will be very private," The man assured her.
That wasn't good news. They didn't have any intel on him having a room in the hotel. Taking a deep breath Remi realized that she was on her own.
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Kurt was in an uproar. How could they have overlooked such a vital piece of information? He left the party just in time to see the elevator doors closing on Remi. He could tell by the look on her face that she was going to do something. His gut told him he needed to stop whatever was about to happen.
"We need to keep them from getting to his room," He warned the others, his tone broke no argument.
"I'll see if I can stop the elevator and bring it back down to the lobby," Rich offered.
"Do it," Kurt insisted.
Suddenly he heard the sound of a struggle through Remi's open mike.
"What are you doing?" She continued the ruse, hoping to buy enough time for Rich to get the elevator back to the lobby.
"Shut up," The man told her pushing her back against the wall roughly.
Remi was done with this game. She pushed back. His initial surprise gave way to fury and she took in the large knife that he pulled out in resignation. There wasn't enough room to maneuver in the small space so she knew the next few moments were going to suck.
She wasn't wrong.
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When the elevator doors finally opened an impatient Weller took in the scene with his heart in his throat.
Remi was on the floor of the elevator with the terrorist astride her attempting to keep him from stabbing her in the neck. The knife was a breath away from doing serious damage. Weller wasted no time rendering the man unconscious.
Remi laid her head back against the floor as the man was unceremoniously removed.
Kurt took in the blood and dropped down beside her, his face creased in a worried frown.
"How bad is it?" He worried.
"I'm fine," Remi insisted, but she continued to lay there.
"You're bleeding," Kurt denied, "Are you cut or stabbed?"
He was attempting to lift her clothing away to inspect the damage for himself before she could even answer.
"Don't worry," Remi pushed his hands away and started to rise, "Nobody expects you to play the concerned husband."
Kurt's eyes closed at her resigned comment.
"You're hurt!" Patterson joined them as Remi exited the elevator.
Remi dismissed the blood as unimportant, "I've had worse."
"We need to get you checked out," Weller denied.
"Then let's get it over with," Remi turned away, "I'm tired."
Kurt and Patterson shared a look at that admission. In all the time they'd known her, Jane had never admitted to a frailty before and if anything Remi was even more determined to keep things to herself. The fact that she admitted to being tired only pointed out to them just how much the whole situation was affecting her.
Remi was transported to the hospital after the paramedic took one look at the gash on her waist. The other superficial wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, but the cut on her torso needed stitches.
Kurt insisted on riding with her and she hated the reassurance it gave her. That wasn't their relationship and she needed to remember that. She was vulnerable to Weller in a way that was completely unacceptable.
With her eyes closed she felt him take her hand. Turning her head she looked over to find him studying her, his concern evident.
"It's okay," She said, "You don't have to do all this. I know I'm not who you married, you don't have to feel guilty for not caring."
"I didn't say I didn't care," Weller denied.
"Not in so many words," Remi agreed, "But I got the message clearly. Don't make this more difficult by pretending any of this really matters."
"You do matter," Kurt insisted.
"Only as an extension of her..." Remi denied, "All any of you want is for me to go away and for her to come back."
"That's not true."
Looking down at his bare finger she reminded him, "You just said so."
"I was surprised and angry," Kurt admitted, "I shouldn't have said that."
"But it's true." Remi reminded him, her hand still held securely in his, "I'm not her."
"You are her and she is you," Kurt denied.
"You want that to be true," Remi insisted, "But it isn't."
"I'm the only one of the two of us who has met you both," Kurt reminded her, "I recognize her in you and I can see the part of you that was in her all along."
"Stop," Remi almost pleaded. "It's too hard to handle this on top of everything else. I am tired. I just want to sleep until everything makes sense again."
"Go ahead and sleep," Kurt insisted, "I'll try to make sense out of this for both of us."
Remi did something she wouldn't have believed she do…she leaned on him. She didn't know how she'd come to rely so heavily on a virtual stranger to whom she was married and a man that was quickly becoming important for all the wrong reasons.
Kurt looked down at the physical representation of his wife, but knew he comforted a stranger. Even as she rested against him he looked down at her and suddenly realized he could easily love her every bit as much as he loved his wife, the only question was would she ever care about him? Would she ever even remember and if she did would she still feel the same way?
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Remi slept for ten hours straight.
Kurt looked down at her and knew he was going to have to wake her soon. She had medication to take and if the truth were told he wanted to make sure she was okay. He'd never known Jane to sleep such a long stretch. He knew that her exhaustion was a part of the Zip poisoning, but even knowing that, he felt compelled to make sure she was still with him.
His eyes fell to her left hand. Her left finger was still bare. They'd never made it back to the office last night. Even if she'd been willing to replace the ring he'd given her, she hadn't had the chance. Looking down at his own empty finger he felt intense regret. He couldn't simply replace the ring, even as much as he wanted to. They had serious issues. The fact that she couldn't even remember him was clearly one of their biggest challenges, but it wasn't the only one.
She might never remember. That realization made his stomach tighten. He knew the woman he'd fallen in love with. He'd seen her reflected in Remi's eyes, he watched the empathy Jane was known for transform Remi's face on more than one occasion. The fierce heart was the part of Remi Jane had so evidently retained. As he watched her he saw not the stranger he'd accused her of being, he saw the woman he loved. Even as he admitted that to himself, he knew when she looked at him she didn't see any of those things.
He was a stranger that had thus far done nothing to endear himself to her. He couldn't put his ring back on, not because he couldn't love her, but because he'd done nothing to earn her love in return. He wouldn't win her by default, he'd earn the love that Jane had gifted him. He'd show Remi he wasn't a mistake she couldn't remember, but the man that wanted nothing more than to share her future.
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Remi woke up but didn't move. As was her habit she used her senses to determine her circumstances before she opened her eyes. It didn't take her long. The bed was familiar, the scent on the sheets the stranger that was quickly becoming necessary. The pain from her wound filled in the last of the blanks. She opened her eyes silently and saw Weller standing over her. It wasn't the first time she'd woken up to see him checking on her. She couldn't help but feel reassured at his vigil. She couldn't remember sleeping so deeply. She didn't want to admit having him close reassured her.
"I was just about to wake you," Kurt admitted, "You need to eat something and take your prescription."
"What time is it?" Remi was still a little groggy because sleeping that long seemed to actually make her more tired.
"Eleven," Kurt admitted.
"Don't we need to go in?" Remi sat up in surprise.
"Soon," Kurt agreed, "But there's no hurry. Everything will still be there waiting for us."
Remi looked down at his hand and then away. He was treating her like she was important, but the symbol that made her anything special was gone. She started to wonder just how much he could have loved Jane to give up on their relationship so quickly. She had no idea just how much they'd already been through.
Remi pushed herself up, but before she could stand, Kurt was there to assist her. She didn't understand what was going on. One day he seemed almost to hate her and then the next he treated her like he cared.
"I'm okay," She assured him, "I'll just go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I'll meet you in the kitchen."
"Call me if you need me," Kurt worried watching her as she disappeared into the bathroom.
"Thanks," Remi closed the door between them and steadied herself against the wall weakly.
Kurt headed to the kitchen and began to make her something to eat. Remi wasn't vegan and he made what he knew Jane used to like before she left. Her medication was sitting next to the hot food when she joined him.
"It looks great," Remi admitted, looking at the plate her mouth watered. Suddenly she had an unexpected memory. This scene had been played out before. In her mind she could see herself waking up next to Kurt. This memory was very different from her reality. She hadn't been alone in the bed but curled up with Kurt intimately. He'd been watching her then too. She could remember being embarrassed to find him looking at her when she'd woken up.
Somehow she just knew it was the first time they'd been together. He'd made her breakfast then too. Everything was just like the first time, except for the happiness on his face in the flashback. He wasn't smiling now, but watching her with concern.
"What's wrong?" He worried.
"Nothing," She lied. She suddenly wanted him to look at her like that again. Turning away from his too intense gaze her eyes fell on his ring once more. It only reminded her that she was not the wife he loved. She wasn't even a person that he particularly liked.
She started eating without further comment. What was there to say?
"Reade interrogated the courier," Kurt told her, "He hadn't passed on the Intel yet."
"Did he get any more information on the Zip poisoning?" Remi looked up at him briefly before looking back down at her food.
"No," Kurt reluctantly admitted.
Remi just nodded. She had no hope that they would find a cure.
"We aren't going to stop looking." Kurt assured her at her continued silence.
"What if there isn't a cure?" Remi's voice was resigned.
"Then we'll make one," Kurt insisted.
Remi nodded again, but she'd given up fairy tales long ago. Now was all she had, it was all she'd ever had. She wouldn't forget again.
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"I don't understand how we keep going on these wild goose chases," Kurt was telling Patterson in frustration.
"We're following all the leads Roman gave us," She explained patiently.
"But they aren't leading anywhere," Kurt reminded her. "I don't believe he thought that all of these people might have a lead on the Zip poisoning. He's playing with us."
"The problem is we won't know which leads are real and which ones are bogus without checking them all out." Rich argued.
"We don't have time!" Kurt insisted, "Remi is getting weaker. We need to find a way to narrow down our search."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Rich argued back, "Roman set it up so we wouldn't be able to tell."
"We should aske Remi to look at it," Kurt insisted, "She knows Roman better than anyone. Jane was even able to remember his passcode."
Remi was listening to their heated exchange and the desperation in Weller's voice warmed her. He might not love her, but he was a good man. It might be the only thing that she and Sheppard agreed on.
It had been several weeks since she'd first began remembering their life together, initially she hadn't wanted to tell him because the memories had been sparse, but by now she'd remembered a good portion of their life together. She loved him. He was holding out hope that Remi would go away and Jane would come back, but with the return of Jane's memories, Remi was still firmly in residence. Ironically enough she didn't want to tell him that she remembered because then he'd have to face the fact that Remi wasn't going anywhere. His disappointment would devastate her so she hid the truth. He loved the part of her that was Jane, but that was only a part of her. Could he ever love the part of her that was Remi? Did he even want to try?
Kurt ran his hand through his hair in frustration, as was his habit he looked toward his wife. I love her. Kurt wasn't even trying to fool himself anymore. Remi wasn't the horrible, warped, evil person Kurt had expected to see. She was Jane struggling every day with more horrible memories than one person should ever have to face. Knowing just how gentle and empathetic she was normally only reinforced the pain Remi must live with after everything that's happened. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how…
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It was in the middle of a gun fight when the answer came to her. Kurt was waiting for his wife to come back and Remi to go away, so that's what she'd do. She'd turn her back on the part of herself that was Remi and pretend to be Jane. Then he would love her again. She couldn't undo the past, but she could create her own future, what little future she had left anyway.
One of the bullets ricocheted off the concrete wall and she flinched when the shrapnel hit her cheek. Raising her hand up she felt the blood on her face, but knew it was superficial. Ignoring the pain she returned fire hitting the shooter in the chest. Any relief she might have felt was overshadowed by the reality that Kurt was somewhere in the warehouse taking fire. They'd split up and she could hear the gun fire, but didn't know how many were left or if Kurt was injured.
"Kurt," She tried her com. When she didn't get any response she tried, "Patterson?"
It was only then that she realized that her com was also a casualty of her inattention. Before she could stand a wave of dizziness hit her. She knew what this was, but that didn't stop the room from spinning around her. Even as she fell to the ground she knew she needed to get up. She was Kurt's backup and by the sound of it he needed her. She pushed herself off the ground and that was the last thing she remembered.
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"Find her," Kurt yelled into the coms returning fire.
"Thermal Imaging has two people prone on the warehouse floor." Rich admitted.
"Is one of them Remi?" Kurt demanded, "Are either of them moving?"
"They aren't moving," Rich admitted.
"Where's backup?" Kurt demanded in frustration.
"Breaching now," Reade assured him.
Suddenly them men shooting at him realized they were in a cross fire. They surrendered immediately.
"They're secure," Reade assured Kurt, "Go find Remi."
Kurt was already heading toward the warehouse at a run before Reade finished his sentence.
"Remi!" Kurt called, his gun raised. When there was no response, he tried again, "REMI!"
As though saying her name more forcefully might generate a response.
"Where are the bodies?" Kurt asked Rich sickly.
"One is in the far back corner and the other just past the exit door." Rich didn't make him wait.
The first body he came to was dead. It wasn't Remi. His first sight of her stopped him cold. She was lying on the ground blood covering her face and he didn't know is she was dead or alive. Within a single heartbeat he'd unconsciously closed the distance between them and dropped to his knees beside her.
"Remi," His hands were shaking as they reached for her. He didn't want to hurt her and hesitated before he touched her.
Suddenly she moaned before her eyes flew open.
"Kurt!" She sat up so quickly she was dizzy again. She'd been his backup and he'd been taking fire…it all came back and her heart was racing.
"Are you hurt?" Kurt reached out an pulled her against him while he waited for her to answer.
Remi rested against him and listened to the reassuring heartbeat with her eyes closed. He was fine…
"I'm fine," She assured him.
His hand was cradling the back of her head and she never wanted this moment to end.
He leaned back and looked down at her to worry, "Where's the blood from?"
"Blood?" Remi didn't immediately understand. She'd completely forgotten about the ricochet.
"Can't you remember?" Kurt worried, the hand from the back of her head coming round to cradle her cheek while he inspected her injury.
She'd considered pretending to be Jane again, but his question tempted her. She wanted him to look at her like he had before…
"I…" She knew she shouldn't. "I don't remember."
"Remi," Kurt was running his hand down her arm as he inspected her for any more injuries.
"Remi?" Even as she lied she knew it was wrong.
"Jane?" Kurt was now cradling her face in both his hands gently. There was the look. The love in his face when he looked down at her made any regret she might have felt melt away.
"Are you okay?" She asked him, her hand coming up to touch his lips.
"I'm…" Kurt began to smile, "I'm great!"
He leaned down and her lips met his, their smiles mingling.
"I'm guessing she's okay," Rich said dryly from a few feet away. He was carrying a medical bag and Patterson was standing beside him breathless.
"It's Jane," Kurt said over his shoulder and the others joined him beside Jane as they celebrated.
Remi didn't regret her decision and she knew that now that she remembered being Jane she could pull it off, but she was secretly disappointed that everyone was so happy Remi was gone.
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Kurt lay in bed holding his wife and knew her being back in his arms was a miracle. He wondered how she would feel if she realized that he missed Remi. He loved Jane without measure, but Remi had challenged him and defied him in a way that was intoxicating. He'd fallen in love with both of them he acknowledged as he stared up at the ceiling. He could see pieces of each personality at times, but where Remi had been too aggressive and headstrong, Jane had been so agreeable since she remembered it was almost like she was a stranger. He loved having her back, but she didn't even argue with things he knew she would have before she lost her memory. It didn't make any sense.
His hand was feathering down her back gently as he considered the puzzle.
Remi lay awake, her naked body lying against her husband as his fingers soothed her. She'd been completely relaxed, but it was evident that he wasn't. She was worrying that he'd figured out she was pretending. Was it a betrayal to hide who you were so that someone could love you? Yes, she realized with a sinking heart. It was a betrayal to both of them. She was lying to Kurt and she was doing herself a serious disservice. She wanted him to love her…all of her. The problem she had now was how to tell him the truth.
What if he hated her?
"Can't you sleep?" Remi asked him softly.
"I don't want to waste a moment of time we have together sleeping." Kurt admitted.
"Are you afraid Remi will come back?" Remi asked him, with a worried frown.
"No," Kurt assured her, "I'm worried about the Zip Poisoning."
"What if I…remembered some things?" Remi asked him, her voice hesitant.
"Are you remembering?" Kurt pulled back to look down at her.
"I've lied to you," Remi admitted expecting him to pull away.
Instead his arms tightened around her.
"How? When?" Kurt was watching her closely.
"I'm Jane," Remi admitted, "but…I'm Remi too."
"I'm the one that told you that," Kurt reminded her.
"No," Remi denied, "I'm not back as…Jane, I just remembered being her."
"So you can remember being both Jane and Remi?" Kurt verified.
"I do."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt was worried that she might not feel the same way about him.
"You wanted Jane back so much," Remi explained, "I wanted what we had, but I thought the only way you could ever feel for me like that again was if I pretended to only be Jane."
Kurt's eyes closed in pain. "I love all of you."
"You do?" Remi looked up at him in surprise.
"No matter what you call yourself, or what you remember," Kurt insisted, "You are my other half, my love and the woman I want to spend every moment of the rest of my life with."
"You aren't mad?" Remi looked up at him in surprised hope.
"I'm upset that you felt like you needed to change who you are for me to love you." Kurt admitted, "But that's more on me than you. I should have told you."
"It was hard keeping this from you," Remi admitted.
"Is that why you've been so agreeable?" Kurt realized.
"Surely you aren't complaining," Remi teased him.
"I've kind of gotten used to your stubborn insistence about being right," He teased her back.
"Well…I am right," Remi said more seriously.
Kurt laughed.
"So…remembering everything, you still want what we have?" Kurt made himself asked.
"Enough to try to be someone else," Remi admitted.
"I love both sides of you." Kurt assured her, "Do you want to be called Remi Krueger or Jane Doe?"
"Well," Remi looked away, "I was thinking maybe Jane Weller?"
She peaked up at Kurt and saw his extremely satisfied expression. It convinced her more completely than anything else he could have said.
"We aren't in Italy," Kurt noted, "But…will you marry me?"
Remi felt her lips tremble. The fact that he was asking her again meant everything. He didn't love the woman she'd been, he loved the woman she was.
"Yes," She whispered and Jane Weller was finally home in the loving arms of her husband.
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Okay, this was a one shot. Hope you enjoyed it! :)
