Rifiuto: Non Mirena

A/N: Written: 2013.- Licia

"You've got to find what you want in life;
Speak until you're heard
If you want the world you're dreaming of
Then find out what it's worth"

- No Next Time,

Chasing Madison ft. Lauren Dunn

Screw the sanctions, he was going to kill her before the Department of Defense got their hands on her.

"How could you do that?" He cried, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her firmly. She shoved him away.

"Zane, how could I not? We got lucky, and we all got away with it last time, but at some point, that luck is going to run out. And better that it's me and not any of you, because I am the time traveler. If I take the blame, then, you can all go back to living your lives-"

"Damn it, Jo! Do you not understand?" Zane asked, running a hand through his hair. "I can't raise the girls on my own, I won't!"

"You won't be alone, Zane. You'll have Carter and Allison and Henry and Grace and Fargo, and all the rest of Eureka-"

"But I want you! I need you!"

"And if you manage to get her back?" He stopped. "What if, hypothetically, I'm sanctioned, and she returns, somehow? You'll have her back-"

"I was never going to have her back, Jo! It was over between us! She served me the papers before she went up to Vancouver!"

Silence fell within the house, and Jo felt her mouth drop. "I... I'm sorry? What?"

Zane sighed, going into his study. He came back minutes later; Jo had returned to her seat beside Allison as he handed her the manila folder. Slowly, with shaking hands, Jo removed the paperwork. "She wanted a divorce. And when I asked her why, she blatantly looked at me and admitted that it was because she was going to go up to Vancouver. She was going to get back together with Cross, and take her old job back. She was only coming back from Vancouver because I demanded we discuss this in person, even though she'd already made up her mind."

"What about the girls?" Allison asked, glancing at his daughters, who all appeared stunned, except for Cate. The teenager looked as though she already knew what her mother had been planning. Zane shook his head.

"She was going to give me full custody." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Somewhere along the line, in the last fourteen... sixteen years... our relationship, our marriage, began to fall apart. We lost our spark." He met Jo's gaze. She was numb, and after a moment, she stood, moving away as Allison grabbed her hand.

"Jo?"

But she ignored them, stumbling past Zane and the girls to the door of the study. "Jo, are you all right?" Zane grabbed for her hand, but she shook him off.

"Are you all right, Jo? I'm sensing a rapid drop in your blood pressure and a mild buildup of pressure in your temporal lobes. Can I get you anything?"

Jo waved AIDA's suggestion away. So she had been-

"I was sleeping beside a stranger that looked like my wife, but... but she didn't act like the woman I'd married. We spent more time arguing than getting along. Somehow, the Enforcer she had been known as when she first got here was back, not just at work but at home. She seemed to tolerate the girls-" He stopped.

"But.. that doesn't make any sense." Allison spoke up. "I know Jo. I've known her from the moment she came to Eureka. And she never once-"

"Well, it's not like she'd come out and say, 'I'm having an affair', Allie." Carter replied. Zane glanced at the girls. Annaleigh and Eleanora both wore looks of shock, but Caterina clearly knew what had been going on, and, probably because she was her mother's daughter, had kept her suspicions to herself. Cate may have been a Daddy's girl, but she was protective of her mother.

"I would... hear her on the phone." Cate whispered. "When I asked her about it once, she said that she was talking to," She swallowed, meeting her father's eyes. "'Uncle Evan' and that I didn't need to worry about it." Jo closed her eyes, swallowing hard.

He shook his head. "I had a suspicion, that she was maybe carrying on an affair, but I couldn't be sure, and I wouldn't go searching to find out. I trusted her, I loved her. I asked her, and she denied it, but I think she was just telling me what I wanted to hear."

Releasing a breath, Jo turned and slid down the doorjamb, tears in her eyes. The possibility that there was a universe where she chose to cheat on Zane, to walk away from them, made her heart hurt in the worst way possible. But then again, isn't that what you did to your Zane in the Alternate timeline? You didn't promise to wait for him, and left, and look what happened. You're no better than your alternate here.

She forced herself to take several slow, even deep breaths. Her gaze fell to the rings on her left hand; the diamond of the engagement ring sparked in the light, just as the gold glinted. Apparently, when she showed up in this time, the rings her alternate self wore had transferred to her. So had she taken her place? Or was there more to this? Was she missing something?

"Mama? Are you okay?" She tore her gaze from her hand to find Eleanora sitting on the floor next to her. A moment passed, before she nodded, remembering that Eleanora and Annaleigh had taken to calling her 'Mama' and 'Mom', even when they weren't in public.

"Yeah, I'm... I'll be okay. I just... it's a lot to take in, and..." She looked up as Zane offered her and hand. Once she was back on her feet, she turned to the others. "Look, it's your decision, whether you want to help or not, but I already told General Mansfield there's a time traveler in our midst. I intend on turning myself in," She met Zane's gaze briefly. "Go ahead, blame the good soldier in me. So, the rest of you, do whatever you want. Your choice is not mine, and I've already made mine." Her gaze shifted to Zane. "I'm going to go to bed. Night."

And without another word, she left, scurrying upstairs before anyone else could speak. Once she was gone, Zane turned back to the others. Allison glanced at Grace, Carter and Henry, her mind made up. "Zane, we can't let her do this. Regardless of what your wife had done, Jo- this Jo- doesn't deserve to be sanctioned. It was an accident. We have to stop her. We can't let her talk to Mansfield on Monday, we just can't."

He sighed. "I know, Allison. But the question is, how?"