Rifiuto: Non Mirena
A/N: Written: 2013.- Licia
Jo spent the rest of the week fielding questions about her near-arrest; true to his word, Mansfield covered for her, promising to keep them updated. So by the end of the week, Jo wanted nothing more to go home and curl up on the sofa, learning as much about this new world as she could. But not this weekend. She'd promised Annaleigh she'd teach her how to shoot.
"What gun are we going to use first?" Jo turned to find Annaleigh at the bottom of the stairs, in a pair of worn jeans and a military t-shirt on, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. For the briefest of moments, Jo was looking at herself at that age. She smiled softly. The girl's brow furrowed in worry. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, you just remind me of... of me at your age." The girl grinned, and she saw not Zane's quick smile, but hers. "Come here." She removed one of the small calibar guns from the rack and went over to the work table in the other half of the basement. In this timeline, she and Zane had split the basement, making half of it a shooting range, a lab station, and then the small studio for the girls had been added later. They pulled up stools, and Jo set the gun on the table. "Now, you're not going to fire it until you know exactly how to dismantle it, what every piece is and how to put it back together. You need to pay close attention, okay?"
She watched Annaleigh's blue gaze move across the gun as she explained what each of the firearm was, where it went and what it did.
"Always- always- make sure the safety button is on, because if you don't and go to dismantle it-"
"- it'll go off." Annaleigh finished, and Jo nodded.
"Right. It's usually near the trigger." The child leaned close, watching. "Next, take out the magazine-"
"It holds the bullets."
"Mhmm." Jo took it slow, making sure the girl was paying attention, but she needn't have worried. The girl was enthralled, and took it seriously, asking questions when she didn't understand something, or if it wasn't clear. Once the gun was fully dismantled, Jo put it back together again, slowly so that she could watch, and then set it before Annaleigh. "Your turn."
"Really? I get to-"
"Yep. And I'm gonna watch." The girl grinned, reaching for the gun, before she stopped, suddenly nervous. She turned to Jo, who immediately recognized the worry in her eyes. She'd worn the same look when her father had let her dismantle her first gun. "Safety button first."
The girl did as told, clicking the safety on, before turning to her. Jo shrugged. "The... bullets..."
"The magazine." She watched the child carefully press the release button on the handle and slide the small compartment free, before setting it aside. "Good girl. The slide next." It took several minutes, before Jo reached over and tapped barrel. The girl quickly moved to remove the slide after finding the two buttons on either side directly above the trigger; in one quick motion, she'd pushed the string that forward and and then removed the barrel, setting it aside. "Good. Very good. Now, put it back together."
It took longer for Annaleigh to put it back together than it did for her to take it apart. By lunchtime, she'd gotten better at taking it apart, but putting it back together was clearly going to be a challenge. As they came upstairs to join the others for lunch, Jo patted her shoulder. "It's important to be able to put a gun together and take it apart, that way you not only avoid mistakes, but avoid shooting yourself or someone else. So, today's mainly going to be dismantling and re-mantling. Holding and firing will come another day. Okay?"
"I'm just glad you're willing to teach me. She didn't want to teach me." Jo glanced at Zane, who was fixing a cup of coffee.
"Lunch is on the table. AIDA was in the mood for making sandwiches." Zane chuckled as Annaleigh headed for the dining room. "Hey, get back here and wash your hands, young lady." A blush crossed Annaleigh's cheeks before she did as told after Jo. Once Zane had inspected her hands, he let her go. Jo watched, quiet.
"You're not at all what I thought." He raised his eyes brows, setting a cup of coffee before her.
"Oh, really? And what was I supposed to be?" She shrugged, taking the cup with a soft smile.
"I don't know yet." He chuckled.
"Let's just say, the feeling's mutual, Jojo." He whispered, patting her gently on the hip as he passed, and after a moment, she joined them. After lunch, Annaleigh and Jo returned to the basement, and Jo spent the rest of the afternoon teaching the girl how to dismantle and re-mantle various guns in the gun safe. By the time dinner rolled around, Annaleigh could dismantle many of the guns in Jo's safe in her sleep. After sending the girls to bed, Jo returned to the basement, making sure everything was locked up tight before going upstairs. "You made Anna's day, you know that right?"
She turned, to see Zane waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She shrugged, setting the key back on the hook. "I figure, the daughter of a law enforcement officer should probably know how to take apart, put back together and fire a gun." He chuckled, going to her. His arms slid around her waist.
"Well, you made her exceedingly happy. Thank you." She nodded, as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Coming to bed?" She followed him upstairs, before stopping at the top.
"Actually, I think I'm going to stay up for a bit. Just can't sleep, maybe put a documentary on and work on a couple things." He raised an eyebrow, but let her go with a soft kiss. Once he was gone, Jo slipped into the kitchen, fixed a cup of coffee and then ducked into the living room. Curling up on the sofa, she grabbed the remote. "Hey AIDA?"
"Yes, Jo? Can I get you anything?" The soft-spoken AI had quickly taken a liking to the Head of Security; in fact, if AIDA were honest, she liked this Jo a hell of a lot more than the original Jo from this timeline.
"Would you be willing to pull up the girls' videos please?" She blushed, but AIDA didn't seem phased in the slightest.
"Certainly, Jo, would you like me to start with Caterina's?"
"Actually, could you pull up Annaleigh's for me?"