Rifiuto: Non Mirena
A/N: Written: 2013.- Licia
"I went out and tried to cut a pine tree down
Fell through the ground, li-like Alice
Oh what a sound, this must be a nest
I've got rocks and sticks against my chest, I'm Alice
Dear Queen Of Hearts, I'ma grow you white roses
So you can learn to be kind
Tell King Of Hearts, to arm all his forces
So you can learn to be kind
Oh what a start, inside out and upside down
No stress, I'mma clean up this mess, li-like Alice
First, hand me scissors, then bring out the heavy artillery
Oh justice is my middle name, I'm Alice"
- Queen of Hearts,
Velvet Moon
Once they were behind the door of her office, Jo activated the sonic protocols, wanting this to be simply between her and Mansfield; she wasn't quite ready to bring the Department of Defense into it yet. "Can I get you a cup of coffee, Uncle Theo?"
He smiled softly at her, nodding. She quickly fixed two cups, handing him one before setting hers on her desk and peeling her coat from her body. Draping it over the back of her chair, she indicated him to sit, and took a seat directly across from him. "How have you been, Josephina?"
She sighed. "Okay." Mansfield studied her, reaching out to take her hand.
"Your father's worried about you."
Her dark eyes widened in surprise. "Why?"
He shook his head. "I'm not sure why, I just know he's worried about you. And, honestly, we're all worried for you. Ricco mentioned last time I talked to him that you were considering ending your marriage and returning to Vancouver, that you had been seeing Evan Cross behind your husband's back, and that that was the reason for the divorce papers."
She furrowed a brow, before remembering that Mansfield thought he was speaking to Jo of this time. "Right. My... affair..."
"How could you, Josephina? I've never thought very highly of Doctor Donovan, but even he does not deserve the treatment you've put him through."
"Uncle Theo-" She stopped. What could she possibly say? He obviously thought she was the other Jo. Which brought them back to the reason for his visit-
"Josephina, I know you're good friends with Cross, but to go so far as to begin an affair?" She pulled away and stood. "Josephina, you're a Catholic-"
"Uncle Theo, you're not..." Nervously, she took her lower lip between her teeth. With a sigh, she met his gaze. "Uncle Theo-" She stopped, taking a deep breath and lacing their fingers.
"You said the information you have has to do with-"
"The time traveler? This has everything to do with the time traveler." Her dark eyes were sad, wary, as though she'd seen so much over the years. A bitter laugh escaped her and she raised her arms, shrugging. "Because I'm the time traveler."
He didn't know exactly what to say. "I... I'm sorry?"
She took a deep breath. "I'm the time traveler, Uncle Theo. The one who broke the protocols is me."
Jo watched Theodore Mansfield furrow a brow; she swallowed as those familiar, distinctive heterochromia eyes rested on her. They studied her, drinking in her features from her hair to her makeup and down over her dress. She knew instantly what he was searching for. From the photographs she'd seen of her alternative counterpart, she was thin, but not as thin as she herself was, because she'd had three children. Her counterpart had gone through three pregnancies, she'd endured childbirth three times, and so she was bound to have more curves in places than before she'd had children, especially around her waist, hips and thighs. But Jo, having never had children, possessed no such extra curves. She met his gaze, seeing the questions in his eyes. "Go on, what do you want to ask me?"
Mansfield sighed. "You really expect me to believe that, Josephina? That you're a time traveler?"
She started, surprised at his response. She was expecting accusations, demanded answers, and just general... well, a worse reaction than she got. Where was the yelling? The demands? The accusations? The threats of sanction and execution? "I'm serious Uncle Theo. I'm not... I'm not your Jo; essentially, I replaced the Jo that was here. I come from an alternate timeline. Well, technically, two alternate timelines." She muttered.
"And what year would it happen to be in your 'timeline', Josephina?" Mansfield asked. She sighed.
"It's two-thousand-twelve in my Alternate timeline, and when I left my original timeline, it was two-thousand-ten. And... here it's two-thousand-twenty-two? I know it seems implausible, Uncle Theo, but-"
"Tell me something, Josephina." She furrowed a brow.
"I'm sorry?"
He stood, going to her. "If you're really not from this timeline, then tell me something that happens in two-thousand-ten and something that happens in two-thousand-twelve. Something that didn't happen in this timeline."
She swallowed. Something that didn't happen in this time, but happened in her other timelines? Sure, easy, except she didn't know what had happened here and what hadn't. Okay, think, think. Something that happened in your timelines that didn't happen here. "The Astreaus. When I left on my walkabout in two-thousand-twelve, it had just launched, but when I got here, Zane said that it had been scrapped in two-thousand-eleven because someone had hacked the mainframe. And I don't know if it ever launched in my original timeline because I was traveled before anything major happened there."
Mansfield raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Anything else?"
Slowly, Jo began to pace, teeth sliding out to grasp her lower lip. "In my original timeline, I was the deputy, first under Sheriff Cobb and then under Carter. I was passed over twice for the Sheriff position- first in favor of Carter, and then in favor of Deputy Andy. From what I can figure, it was the same in the Alternate timeline, but not here. From what I've been told, I was brought in to be the Head of Security." She met his gaze. "Anything else?"
"How did you end up in the alternate timeline?"
She sighed; lowering her gaze briefly. "The Einstein-Grant Bridge Device was somehow turned on on Founder's Day two-thousand-ten, and I got sent back to nineteen-forty-seven. Somehow, and I don't remember how, I managed to get back to my Eureka, only to discover that it wasn't my Eureka. I wasn't the deputy anymore, I was Head of Security for Global. And..." She released a breath; even after a nearly two years, it was still difficult to think about those moments when she realized that her relationship was over. "And Zane I... we weren't together. In fact, we hated each other." She swallowed thickly.
"We had nearly gotten engaged in my original timeline, but I hesitated, because he caught me off guard, and so I never told him yes. And when I arrived in the Alternate timeline, we were enemies. Sure, I had my job," She looked around. "This job, but I lost the most important thing to me. I was in an entirely new Eureka, with no way of navigating it. And by the time I finally managed to figure out how to navigate it, by the time Zane and I had finally gotten to a good place, I'm thrown into this timeline with no idea of how I got here and now idea of how to get home or-"
Mansfield listened as Jo talked. Normally, he would assume that she was lying; and had she been anyone else, that assumption would be correct, however he knew Jo. He'd helped to raise her and her brothers. She was like a daughter to him. As she continued telling him of the vast differences between her original Eureka, her Alternate Eureka and this Eureka, he watched the tears swim in her eyes, saw them drip onto her cheeks and trail down the apples, smudging her makeup. It was exceedingly rare that Jo show emotion as she was now; he'd only seen it a handful of times before- when her mother died, after she'd returned home from being rescued, and when each of her girls were born-
No, wait, she's never had children. The... other... version of her has. Dear Lord, this is confusing. How does she keep them straight?
"I know you probably think I've lost my mind, Uncle Theo, but please, believe me. I wouldn't lie to you, you know I wouldn't. What reason would I have for lying? I may have a similar history to this Jo, but this present is not mine. This life, this job, this marriage, those girls- none of them are mine. I would never cheat on Zane, you know that. I'm loyal to a fault. It made me sick when I found out she was cheating on him with Evan; Evan and I were nothing but really good friends in my timeline- in both, and it made me even sicker to discover that she'd served Zane divorce papers before leaving. And then... this morning when I came in early to get work done, I found this." She didn't know what was possessing her to tell Mansfield everything, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.
Was it guilt for something she had not done? For what her counterpart had done? For the lies her counterpart had woven, the destruction she'd left behind in her wake? Or was it guilt for having gotten away with time travel the first time? In turning herself in to the Department of Defense, were her loose lips trying to right a wrong that would never be properly punished? Or maybe she'd finally cracked under the pressure.
"It's her resignation letter and a letter to Zane. I would never do such a thing, Uncle Theo, you know that. I love my job." She dug in the pile of paperwork on her desk left to be worked on and pulled the papers out, holding them out to the general. He took them, slowly unfolding both. His eyes scanned over the familiar scrawl, and Jo sniffled. "I don't understand what could possibly make her decide to walk away from those beautiful girls and that wonderful man. I lost my Zane and it nearly killed me, and all she seemed to do was take him for granted. And I've only been here a few weeks, but... but I love those girls already as if they were mine, even though they're not, not really. I find myself wishing they'd been born of my womb and not hers." She sniffled, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her words.
Mansfield glanced at her, seeing the passion in her eyes when she spoke of the girls. She doesn't even know the girls very well, and yet she's already in love with them.
"And... I care deeply for Zane. He's a wonderful man- in any timeline- and he deserves the best. And that she was cheating on him... I don't care if she is another version of me; I would never do that to him. In the Alternate timeline, I backed off, I stayed away, even though it nearly killed me to do so, because he hated me, and I figured if I let him go, then I could move on and it would be easy." She bit her lip. "But it wasn't and I couldn't. I just... I couldn't. Being with him was like a drug and I was the junkie. I couldn't get enough of him, and..."
She stopped, taking a quick shuttering breath. "I can feel it happening here. I can't go without thinking of him; if we're in the same room together, I can't go without touching him or kissing him or talking to him, I can't be separated from him. And when I am, it hurts. I don't know what's wrong with me, but it's not natural, and... my being from a different time just... just makes it worse."
He handed her the letters back, which she returned to the pile. Mansfield knew what was wrong with Jo- and, in all honesty, it wasn't wrong at all. Except Jo would never admit it, least of all to herself; she would deny it until the end. She sniffled, and for the briefest of moments, he was looking at that little girl he'd helped raise. And then he blinked, and she was replaced with the grown woman before him. Without a word, she rummaged around the desk drawers for several minutes before pulling something out; the object glimmered in the light of the room.
Handcuffs.
She held them out, but all he did was stare at her. When he didn't take them, she unlocked them and turned them on herself, locking first one around her wrist, and then the other before holding the key out to him, which he took after a moment's hesitation. "I know I've broken protocols, and I know the penalties for time travel, General Mansfield." It startled him that she had so easily returned to the good soldier she'd once been. "I understand that what I've done has not only broken the laws of physics, but laws of the government; I make no excuses for what I've done, and I accept whatever punishment you and the courts see fit, be it solitary confinement and experimentation or death. I only ask that you keep it from the girls; they never need know about the fate of the woman impersonating their mother." She swallowed thickly and held her hands out, waiting for him to take them.
Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks traced with tear tracks. She looked miserable, though she still held that air of the perfect soldier about her. It always amazed him how easily Jo could go from civilian to soldier in the blink of an eye. He sighed, reaching out and taking her hands in his. Her small fingers rested in his much larger palms, and he remembered a time when she would slip her small hand into his when they and her family went anywhere together. She was 'Theo's girl', and he took his keeping watch over her seriously.
Especially now.
Her soft whisper broke his heart. "Please, Uncle Theo."
Part of him knew he couldn't let her do this; James would never forgive him if he handed his beloved daughter to the government, labeled a traitor. And yet, the other part of him knew he had to. Without a word, he took her wrists, and gently pushed her forward, before stopping and grabbing her coat. The chill in the air had turned to rain. He gently draped the coat over her shoulders and then led her from the room. Silently, he walked Global Dynamic's Director of Security from her office and down across the rotunda. By now, everyone who worked at the facility had arrived, and those who hadn't already gone down to their labs stopped, stunned to see General Mansfield gently guiding their Head of Security from the building in handcuffs.
For her part, Jo kept her head high and her gaze forward; she was the picture of calm despite the tears on her cheeks. Allison rushed from the medical bay, as Henry and Grace dashed from Henry's office; Zane, meanwhile, realized he'd gotten to Jo's office too late to stop her. He'd gotten leeway-ed by Doctor Parkins and Doctor Hershe on his way to Jo's office; they'd wanted to talk to him about something for whatever they were working on in Section Five, and after forty minutes, he'd finally managed to slip away, because neither understood the meaning of the words, 'We'll go over everything later.'
He dashed up down the stairs from Level Four onto the rotunda. Jo glanced back at Allison, Henry and Grace, giving the most minuscule of nods as she and Mansfield left the building. As soon as they were gone, a buzz of activity burst, but it was all eclipsed by Zane's shout as he went dashing through the rotunda after them. Without a second thought, the other three rushed after him, stopping on the cement apron that spread out before the building. Jo and Mansfield stood near an armored, non-descript black van; she was listening as he solemnly read her her rights.
"Jo!"
Before Mansfield could finish, Zane reached them, throwing his arms around the woman. He held her against him, tucking her head beneath his chin, turning to glare at the general. Quietly, the trio moved closer to listen; even from this distance, they could see the conflict of interest flashing across the older man's face. It was highly evident that he was struggling to do as he was trained, forcing himself to take the young woman he'd helped raise in for breaking time travel protocols. Zane shook his head. "No! You can't do this, General-"
Mansfield sighed, shoulders sagging slightly as he gazed at the younger man. "Zane, I have to."
Zane shook his head, never releasing her. "No, you don't. You can't. If you do, she'll be throwing her life away-"
"What life, Zane? I have no life." It was Jo that spoke this time, pulling away to look up at him, even as the others hurried down the steps towards them, stopping a respectful distance away. "I'm stuck in a timeline I don't understand, with people who look like my friends and loved ones, but who I don't know. I've had to adjust to everything all over again. And what if she comes back?"
"She won't come back, Jo. She asked for a divorce, even if she came back to this timeline, she wouldn't return to me or our girls. She made her choice when she left for Vancouver. Please." He took her face in his hands, before turning to Mansfield. "You can't let her do this, General. So she's a time traveler, big deal! She didn't do it deliberately; it was a mistake! Something happened to send her here! Whatever it was, did so for a reason."
Mansfield sighed, watching the younger man. He had a hard time trusting the man initially; when he'd first met Zane, the physicist had been a cocky young kid, who was known for flirting with the female population of Eureka but never going after something serious. He flitted through life seemingly without a care in the world.
Until Jo had come along.
And then suddenly, almost overnight, the young, freshly promoted Head of Section Five set his sights on the new Head of Security. He pestered her and played pranks on her, annoying her beyond measure until she was often at her wit's end and would either storm down to his office or try and arrest him without proof. The first time it'd happened, Jo had locked him up in her holding cell for two hours until Doctor Deacon had found out and told her to release the Section Five Head, which had stunned her. She hadn't known he was one of the Section Heads; no one had told her. In fact, no one had told her anything about Section Five except that it was home of technology made to help the military; which automatically became something Jo was invested in, given her background. She had taken considerable interest in that particular section, to the point where everyone assumed it was because of Doctor Donovan specifically.
The pranks had continued, and after a while, Jo would retaliate on occasion. It was a classic case of Zane tugging on Jo's ponytail in class, and Jo shoving him into the dirt on the playground during recess in retaliation. They were children interested in each other and refusing to admit it. But then, after a failed first date, came the awkward second and third dates, and with them, rumors that the pair were sleeping together. Betting pools had sprung up all over town- and in the halls of GD- of when they would get engaged, when the wedding would happen, when the first baby would be born... and a year later, Zane had slipped his grandmother's engagement ring on Jo's finger. Not long after, they'd had the wedding, which had swirled with rumors that Jo was expecting- the reason for the rushed nuptials. Those swirling rumors had ended up coming true five months later; after enduring a long, painful labor, Jo had finally given birth to Caterina, and the baby girl was doted on by her parents; Mansfield was now certain that the flightiness Jo possessed in her youth was gone.
Apparently not.
Zane had called him up out of the blue one afternoon, in a panic, not long after they got pregnant with Eleanora, and asked for advice. He wouldn't say what for, just that he was worried something was going on with Jo. And so Mansfield had come out to Eureka under the pretense of a family visit- because everyone knew he was good friend's with Jo's father- and taken the young man aside, listening to his worries. The only advice he'd been able to give at the time was, 'Leave her be, I'm sure it's just the stress of the pregnancy. Once the baby's born, she'll settle back down and forget all about this little fancy of hers," which was probably the worst advice he could have ever given the young man, now that he thought back on it.
Were he honest, Mansfield actually quite liked Zane. He had not only a good head on his shoulders, but he genuinely loved his daughters and Jo, and didn't deserve the shit she'd put him through before leaving. And he evidently cared about this Jo as well... which is what made this so difficult. On the one hand, she broke time travel protocols, she needs to face the consequences, but on the other...
Zane turned back to Jo. "I can't let you do this. I won't let you. You've done nothing wrong; you're showing up here was out of your control. You passed through a wormhole or a... a rift or a... an in-between in time and ended up here. It's not your fault." He gently brushed a curl off her cheek. "It's not your fault."
Mansfield glanced at Henry, Grace and Allison, not far away. They watched with concern on their faces.
"I won't let them take you. Whatever happened, you were meant to be here. I don't know why, but I'm gonna figure it out, but I can't do that if you're sanctioned in solitary or dead." He stroked her cheeks, forehead resting to hers; it was evident, that only they mattered at the moment. Jo shook her head, meeting his gaze.
"I'm sorry, Zane, but there's nothing you can do okay? Nothing." Her voice was clogged with tears, and she tried to smile, but failed horribly. He shook his head, even as she pulled away, turning back to Mansfield-
It happened so fast, no one had any time to breathe. Zane grabbed her wrist, pulling her back into him, his mouth catching hers. She tasted like fresh morning coffee and cherry gloss, and he gently trailed his tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entry, which she granted. His hands moved to cradle her hips, and despite handcuffs, she reached up to caress his cheek as the kiss deepened. For the briefest of moments, he pulled away, only to have her follow and recapture his mouth. Eventually, he slowly pulled away from her, meeting his gaze as he leaned back. Over her head, he noticed the Mansfield had the decency to look away and give them privacy.
He'd kissed Jo plenty of times over the last several weeks- quick pecks, soft dips, gentle brushings, a very, very rare tasting, telling himself it was all to keep up the ruse they'd concocted- but nothing nowhere as deep and familiar as that kiss had been. A tiny smile flitted briefly across his face, even as she choked out,
"Wh... why didn't that... feel like a first kiss? Like a real first kiss? Not a fake one?"
He glanced at Mansfield, but didn't say a word. Instead, he reached for her again, but she stepped back, pulling away. "No. No, no, no, no. I'm sorry, Zane." When she turned back to Mansfield, nodding for him to open the door and let her slip into the back, Mansfield made up his mind. The click of the handcuffs opening caused Jo's spaced gaze to snap to her adoptive uncle as he removed the handcuffs from her wrists, snapping them closed. "What are you doing, Uncle Theo?"
"I can't, Josephina. I should, because you did break protocols, but I know you, regardless of the timeline, and you wouldn't do so deliberately. Something brought you into this universe. It's not your fault you ended up here. Nothing of what you did was intentional." She silently rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had rubbed, listening.
Slowly her dark eyes moved to his, and he gently set the cuffs and key in her palm. "What are you-"
"I'll tell them that it was a miscommunication error, that one of the experiments the brainiacs here created went on the fritz and that the readings you were getting in security was a possible time traveler, only to discover that it was just miscommunicated data from an experiment in a neighboring lab." He took Jo's hands. "I made a promise to your mother before she died that I would look out for you. I wouldn't be keeping my promise if I sanctioned you." He glanced at Zane, who breathed a soft sigh of relief. After a moment, he went to the younger man, leaning close, his voice low in the young doctor's ear. "You take care of her. Help her figure out how to live in this new world. She needs you, just as much as you need her, even if she won't admit it."
Zane nodded, and Mansfield pulled way, giving Jo a quick hug and a kiss to the forehead before leaving. Once he was gone, Henry, Allison and Grace rushed to them. "You're staying?" Allison asked, and Jo nodded, meeting her gaze. She appeared to be in shock over what had taken place. She'd come into work today expecting to be taken into custody and sanctioned, only to find herself free and off the hook, because of a promise Mansfield had made to her mother before her death. Before she knew it, she was wrapped in Allison's arms, and slowly, she returned the hug. "Oh, thank God."
Jo couldn't figure out if she felt the same relief or not.