Jo slammed Zane's door behind her and crossed her arms, fixing him with a stern glare more reminiscent of the Enforcer than what she'd been using recently. "Talk."

Zane held up his arms, "I didn't realize that hadn't happened for you. Fargo mentioned you and Taggart had a thing, I figured that you probably ended the same way."

Jo froze, her breath caught in her throat. "Taggart?" No, no this wasn't true. "Zane, please tell me this is all some sick joke."

"Sorry, no." he hesitated, then continued, "I thought-"

"We were barely a thing, it started out as a 'Thank God we didn't just die' thing and fizzled out very quickly. Taggart and I were over long before you even got to town. Oh my God, how long did I date Taggart?"

"I don't know, you were together when I showed up, broke up sometime during Allison's maternity leave. He popped the question, you said no, I guess you broke up for good."

"For good." She paused, then started pacing. "So we were an on-off thing, Taggart and other-Jo?"

"I don't know. He was in and out of Eureka a lot. I don't know what arrangement you had if you did the long-distance thing or took breaks."

Jo's hand came up to play with the empty chain around her neck. "I wish the other-Jo had kept a diary. Or that I could ask Vince. He knows everything."

Zane put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, then directed them both over to the couch, where she curled into him, tucking her body into his. "So, what are you going to tell your brother?"

Her voice was quiet and shaky, "I don't know. I don't know why other-Jo didn't tell him about Taggart, though I can probably guess. And those aren't things that I'm going to want to admit to my brother."

"What's your guess?"

She gave a nervous laugh, "If you had a younger sister, would you be happy if she told you she was dating someone closer to your dad's age than her own?"

"Probably not. Also, Taggart's, well, Taggart."

"He's really very sweet once you get to know him. And he was fun to hang out with. God, we'd just gotten to the point where we were friends again, and now I have to deal with this!"

Zane raised an eyebrow, clearly not seeing the same appeal as Jo. "He walks around in the skins of animals he hunted himself."

"And seeing how well the fancy tech insulation around here works and the problems it can cause, that maybe wasn't his worst idea."

"You're defending him."

"Well I'm going to have to defend him to my brother, I might as well start practicing." Jo sat down and tried to ignore the tension building behind her eyes that she knew would soon become a headache. "I have to call Zoe."

Zane tensed and backed away, looking as though Jo had suggested they both take a swim in a pool of acid. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"If you have a better idea I'm all for it. But who else is going to know what other-Jo was thinking during all of this? I'll get up early and call her. Don't worry," she rolled her eyes at Zane, "I won't make you talk to her."

"Good." At Jo's annoyed expression he put his hands up, "She forgave you because you got your world turned upside down with a changed timeline. I think she's still mad at me. She's a little scary."

Jo just looked proud, and more than a little smug, "She should be. I taught her self-defense."

He closed his eyes and shook his head, his expression showing that inside his head he was cursing his own luck. "Of course you did."

Tony walked into GD the next morning, Café Diem cups of coffee in hand, his sister's prepared the way she liked it according to Vince. He'd gone home and gone over the emails Jo had sent him over the past couple of years. Nothing. Absolutely no indication that she was seeing anyone. She mentioned going camping with friends. Paintball with friends. No names. But nothing to suggest that things were more than friends. He headed to her office and knocked on the door.

"You're not going to get an answer." He heard behind him. Tony turned and saw Dr. Deacon coming up with Rochester.

"Where is she then?"

"They're redoing the psych tests. Jo's already back in hers," Dr. Deacon said. "We just needed some files in her office for the rebuilding of GD after yesterday." He motioned and Tony moved out of the way while Rochester went to unlock the door. They went in and pulled a monitor out of the wall, which Rochester logged into, and sent some files over to his data pad and to Dr. Deacon. Tony leaned against the wall, wondering what vanilla protein syrup tasted like since Jo wasn't going to be drinking this.

"So, they're redoing the psych tests already, before they've got the place rebuilt? No way you're happy about that." Tony took a sip of the coffee meant for Jo. He immediately spat it back out and started gagging.

Deacon and Rochester looked at him with what was probably meant to be pity, if only they weren't shaking with laughter. "I'm guessing you grabbed coffee for the Chief?" Rochester asked. Tony tried to answer, but couldn't, using his own coffee to unsuccessfully get rid of the taste that coated his tongue.

"Yeah, that's Jo's coffee. Jack accidentally took a sip once and spent the rest of the day trying to clean his mouth out," Deacon said, having given up on not smiling. "I take it you were trying to butter her up after last night?"

Tony just glared at him, "Does everyone know about that?"

"It's a small town, and from what I heard, you weren't exactly quiet."

"I don't suppose you happen to have any information about the guy who tried to become my brother-in-law?"

Rochester just grinned, the whites of teeth standing out against his dark skin. "Sorry Major, she's a lot scarier than you are."

"She's a damn pain in the ass, that's what she is," Tony grumbled as he left, tossing the remnants of Jo's swill into a trash can.

Tony sat down on the stiff couch with his take-out from Café Diem, some Ethiopian dish that was tonight's special when his phone rang. He checked the number and prayed that out of the three people that could be calling from an overseas base, it was his younger brother.

"Lupo."

"Hey, how's the new assignment?" Thank God it's Nicky. If Jo hadn't told him about her almost engagement, she wouldn't have told anyone. Since everyone else in this town was keeping their mouths shut, Nicky was his only hope for answers.

"Good, they've got me stateside for now, in Oregon. I can't give much more detail than that though."

"Oregon, huh? You get a chance to see Jo yet? I'm pretty sure that's where she is."

Tony decided to not waste any time, seeing as he didn't know how much he would get on the phone with Nicky. "Yeah, I've seen Jo. Met her boyfriend too."

"Ooh, she's got a guy? Are the rest of us going to get to meet him?"

Tony scoffed as he sipped his beer, "The only reason I met him is that I ran into him. Besides she said it's new. She didn't tell you?"

A static-y laugh came over the line, "She tells me more than she tells you, but not much. What's he like?"

He tried to figure out what exactly he could tell Nicky without either him freaking out, or dealing with the NDA. "He's one of the scientists at the place she works at."

"She picked a nerd? Let me guess, some guy who's more familiar with Star Trek than girls."

While that was true of most of the guys in town, Tony had a feeling Zane might be an exception. At the very least, he was probably equally knowledgeable. "I don't know. He's not exactly awkward or bad looking."

"How are we defining 'not exactly bad looking'?"

Tony tried to think of ways to describe Zane Donovan's appearance. "I doubt anyone's ever accused him of having a face only a mother could love."

"So she got herself a pretty boy?" Tony could hear the smirk on Nicky's voice, and laughed.

"If you ever meet him and call him pretty boy to his face, I'll get you a six-pack of those weird, shitty hipster micro-brews you like."

"They're not shitty, you just have a garbage palate. I'll fix that next time I get leave. Anything else interesting you find out about our sister?

"Yeah, there's something else I heard about. At some point, she was seeing some other guy. Who popped the question? She happen to tell you about that?" Tony sat back and waited for a response. And kept waiting.

Eventually, Nicky broke the silence. "Oh, she told you about that."

"You knew?"

"She didn't even tell me the guy's name. I got the impression she wasn't all that serious about the guy. Didn't exactly see the proposal coming," Nicky said, rushing his answer out before Tony could build up the time to be mad at him.

"What makes you say that?"

Nicky paused for a moment, and Tony took advantage of the silence to sop up his stew with the injera and shove some in his mouth. "I got asked a hypothetical question that if I was in an on-again off-again half long-distance relationship with a girl who had said no to moving in together, and didn't want to meet each other's families, and the girl said we needed to have a talk about our relationship and where it was going, would I pull a ring out?"

There was only one thought ringing through Tony's head. "What the fuck?" he choked out.

"Yeah, I think I happened to call when she was getting drunk to handle what had happened. She seemed a little freaked out. And very drunk. When I mentioned it the next time I spoke to her she told me never to mention it again. I kinda tried to bring it up a couple months ago and she acted like she had no clue what I was talking about. I'm surprised she told you."

"She didn't tell me. I overheard someone else talking about it."

"Yeesh."

"Apparently it was a very public spectacle." Tony rubbed his face while he tried to figure out how to admit the thought that had been going through his mind since the day before. "I should have flattened him."

"Who, the guy who proposed?"

"No, the asshole talking about it."

"Tony, gossip isn't nice, but it's not illegal. Jo lives in a small town, I think it goes with the territory."

He cut him off. "He called her a heartless bitch."

"What," Nicky said, sounding shocked.

"Yeah. Said he wasn't exactly buddies with the guy, but Lupo didn't need to be such a heartless bitch about it." He took a swig from his beer trying to figure out what had come over him earlier, "God I should have flattened him."

"Damn right you should have. She's guarded, I'll say that, but she's not heartless. And even if she was a heartless bitch, she's our baby sister, we're the only ones who can call her that. Anyone else who tries can die."

"I yelled at her," he confessed.

Tony could hear the anger in Nicky's rising volume, as he had never been one to hide his emotions. "You did what. What the fuck is wrong with you, aren't you supposed to be the level-headed one?"

"I don't know, I just, I couldn't believe she'd keep something like this from us, and I went to talk to her, and next thing I know we were yelling at each other." Tony took another drink of his beer, wishing it was something stronger. "She looked scared when I asked her about the proposal. I don't know how I got to be such a shitty brother that she was scared to talk to me."

"I doubt she was scared. This is Jo we're talking about, she's never done scared," Nicky said, trying to sound dismissive, but Tony could hear the concern in his voice.

"You didn't see her Nicky. I asked her about the proposal, and she looked terrified. I've never seen her look at me like that. Something's wrong. I don't know if it's her, or the guy, or what. But something's wrong."

"Well, if you find out, let me know."

"Yeah, as quickly as you let me know about the proposal."

"Maybe a little sooner than that. Look man, I gotta go, I want to check in with Dad, and I only got so much…"

"Yeah, yeah. Hey Nicky, does Dad know?"

"Hell no. I didn't want Jo killing me."

"Good point, talk to you later," he hung up the phone and stared at the rest of his food. A few more answers, but not much. At least she'd told Nicky about it when it'd happened. If Nicky hadn't known, he'd probably start seriously worrying about Jo having gotten brain damage or something during her time here. But Nicky knew. So everything was fine.

Jo climbed out of the makeshift iso pod that had been made in an offsite bunker, then turned to pull up Fargo, followed by Parrish, then Dr. Bernice Smithline, one of the medical candidates. She was tired, her head was killing her after having to hear Fargo and Parrish bicker for three days, there was no coffee, Larry kept playing goddamned metal music on and off, and then there was this smell that made Bernie puke, some of which got on Jo. And of course, when you ran the water, it came out rust-colored and wasn't very effective at cleaning or hydrating. So the four of them had had a very stressful three-day psych test. And Jo was ready for it to be over.

God, she'd been spoiled since leaving the army if this is what it took to get under her skin.

"Coffee?" She looked up to see her brother standing there with coffee and a whole grain bagel, the faint smell of garlic-lemon hummus spread on it making its way over.

"Thanks," she took a deep drink of her Vincepresso, smiling at the comforting taste of the vanilla syrup and dash of cinnamon that she never needed to ask for. She breathed in the roasted nutty smell of the coffee and tried to ignore how her brother was shifting uncomfortably between his feet. Jo wondered if she'd get to take a shower before he brought up Taggart.

"So, about the other night?" So she was going to have to have this conversation with someone else's vomit on her. Oh well.

"Look, can we just drop it for now?"

"I don't think so. Jo, how long were you seeing that guy?"

Jo thought back to what Zoe had told her when she'd called her in a panic the next morning before she'd been grabbed for her test. Zoe had laughed at first and wrangled out a promise for Jo to take her for a belly button piercing when she came home on her next break before telling her what she needed to know. In great detail. Apparently, this Zoe Carter had been just as confused about Jo's attraction to Taggart as the other one and took delight in telling her everything that had happened between them. "About 2 years."

Two years. Tony rubbed his hand over his face. "Jo, that's well past the time most families meet partners, much less are told about them. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think we had a future together, there was no point in mentioning him to you guys."

"Then why were you with him that long?"

"He was sweet and funny, and I liked spending time with him. We just weren't you know, meant to be." Jo had liked spending time with Taggart, so hopefully, this all sounded reasonable.

"I just don't get why you didn't even say you were seeing someone."

Jo just looked at him in disbelief. "Really? A few days ago you kept begging people for an excuse to shoot Zane, and you're surprised I don't want you near guys I date?"

"In my defense, his robots were eating GD."

"They were eating GD because Sanaugstin turned off the auto-timed shutoff when she turned them up to meet the senator's deadline, and then someone else broke them. Not his fault."

Tony ducked his head down, having the decency to look ashamed for a moment. "Ok, maybe threatening to shoot your boyfriends isn't a good way to get you to introduce me to them. I just, I don't get how we got like this. You used to tell us everything, and now…" he blew a breath out between his teeth and shook his head.

Jo knew exactly what he was talking about. Growing up, the four of them had been in each other's pockets practically. She'd spent summers trailing after them as they insisted what they were doing was for big boys, and she'd stubbornly kept up, refused to be left behind, or left out. With the constant moves of their dad's Army career, none of them had been able to keep up most of their friendships. But they'd always had each other.

And then they didn't.

"We grew up, Tony. That's what happened." When he didn't say anything Jo continued, "Between us all going to West Point at different times, and then deployments and special assignments, we didn't talk as much as we did when we all lived in the same house. And then I got discharged and came to Eureka. Between the NDAs and everything else, I guess I got used to not telling you anything important."

"I get we grew apart, but Jo," he broke off for a beat, then continued. "Jo I didn't think we were at this point. You got shot-"

"I didn't actually get shot, a bullet just appeared in my chest without being fired."

Tony glared at her, "Close enough. You got shot, you dated someone who asked you to marry them, you're planning on leaving the planet, and I didn't have a clue. I thought we were closer than that. I figured even if you couldn't tell us everything, you'd have said something. Especially about the one thing you could tell us about without being arrested for treason."

"Like I said, I didn't think it was going anywhere, and I didn't think you'd particularly like the guy anyway, so it's not like I deprived you of a new best friend."

"He couldn't have been that bad. Jo, your current boyfriend is a convicted felon."

"Who's about to get a full federal pardon so he can be eligible for the Astraeus mission."

"Don't remind me." Tony had nearly punched his computer when he'd seen that alert and instead had gotten directions to the shooting range to release his tension in the direction of inanimate targets. He'd taken the opportunity to try out several Only in Eureka rifles before going back to his email and replying that while he hadn't been in Eureka very long, no he had no objections to Donovan's pardon. He'd considered putting up a fuss, but he knew that 'because he's dating my little sister' wasn't a valid reason. He could be the bigger man. This once.

"I'm sorry. Look, how about this. Next time someone asks me to marry them, I'll tell you. Even if I tell them to get lost."

"Is that what you told that other guy?"

"Not like that." At least, Jo hoped she'd been a little more tactful with Taggart. Zoe hadn't given her that much information. Just that she'd given a very firm, very public no. And had gotten very drunk that night. Zoe said she'd considered mocking her the next day, but decided against it when she saw the state of her hangover. Evidently, she'd been saving it all up. "Come on, I'll even shake on it," she stuck out her hand and was pulled into a hug. She wrapped her arms around Tony, taking care not to drop her coffee or bagel, and made sure to press as much of herself against him as possible.

He ducked his head near hers and instantly jerked away, though he could only go so far with Jo holding him in place. "God, you smell awful."

"No showers, the water we did have was bad, and Smithline puked on me two days ago. You're the one who wanted us to be closer."

His face contorted in disgust, "Get off me."

"Nope."

"Jo! Seriously, let go. What are you, five? Get off me!"

Jo just laughed and clung to her brother tighter as he tried to shake her off. She'd missed this.

Jo walked into her office two days later, juggling reports for the Astraeus computer system inspections, already in a bad mood. They'd gotten back to the main GD building to find that the iso pods had been rebuilt, and three other groups had been escorted into them by the time she'd arrived. Zane had been in one of those groups. So she'd spent three days with Fargo and Parrish, and no Zane, just to get out to a pile of reports and inspections, and no Zane to distract her after hours. Then today she'd overslept, had to skip breakfast, her car wouldn't start so she'd had to call Henry, who said he'd have it ready by the end of the day tomorrow. It would have been sooner, but he was behind on a few things as Grace was also in one of the iso pods for Astraeus testing.

So she was late, hungry, and in a bad mood. What a great way to start her birthday. Oh well, at least she'd have a nice dinner at Café Diem with her brother and Carter to look forward to. Jo headed over to her desk and was about to put down her pad when her hand knocked into something.

Roses. Just a vase of red roses in full bloom, with some greenery around them. But oh, they were beautiful. She gently trailed a finger along a stem, up to the soft petals, careful not to damage the flowers. The delicate perfume wafted over her as she moved the roses around in their vase, admiring them and looking for a card. She found one, ivory, made of heavy cardstock. Written in familiar handwriting was a simple

Happy Birthday JoJo

No signature, but the JoJo might as well have been one. Zane had gotten her flowers. Roses. He'd always gotten her flowers for something. Oh, he saved the roses for Events. Their first date, her birthday, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, those had all gotten various amounts of roses. But there had been other flowers. Lilies when they'd had a picnic on the shore of Lake Eureka. A bunch of tulips on her desk at the station on random occasions. Jasmine on her dresser. Daisies before date nights. God he must have singlehandedly kept the florists of Eureka in business at some point or another in the other timeline.

A soft smile crept onto Jo's face. Zane had gotten her flowers again. She'd missed that.

The door beeped as it opened, "Happy Birthday." Jo turned and grinned at her brother in the doorway, holding coffee.

"Is that my birthday present?" She asked as she took the coffee.

"Looks like you already got one," he gestured towards the flowers. "Secret admirer?"

Jo handed him the card, "Well, they didn't sign the card, but I think I recognize the handwriting."

Tony smirked, "And the JoJo?"

She nodded, "And the JoJo."

"He's been in an iso pod for two days."

"That just means that he thought to put the order in beforehand, and didn't wait until the last minute. It's sweet."

"A little generic."

Jo frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not really a flower girl, that's all. You outgrew the girly stuff pretty early on."

Jo's voice was tight, even to her own ears. "I outgrew the girly stuff because you boys made my life hell if I even looked at something pink."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, look forget I said anything. Allison's going to need those reports on the communications relay funding if you don't have them done already."

"I gave them to Larry to hand over, I am an adult," Tony stepped in front of Jo and leaned down. "Which means that I can take it if you have something to say."

Jo tried to figure out how to phrase this. "It's not that I was that much of a girly girl. But, you know, I did like some things."

Tony's brow furrowed, "I know Mom made you do ballet-"

"I liked doing ballet. I stopped doing it after Mom died because you three had very clear opinions on it, Mom wasn't around to stop you, and Dad was just lost. It just wasn't worth it." Jo drew in a breath to calm herself. "Look, I've got a busy day, I'll see you tonight for dinner?"

Tony recognized the dismissal for what it was and decided not to push his luck. They'd just gotten over an argument over her not telling him about her life, he couldn't well prove her right by being upset with her when she did tell him the truth.

Jo stood at the doors with Henry, both of them holding bags from Café Diem. The doors to the isopod opened, and Grace, Holly, Nunez, and Zane walked out, looking worse for wear.

"Hey, where are the closest showers?" Holly asked. Jo just pointed towards the stairs, recommending the gym locker rooms. They headed over quickly, Henry and Jo choosing to wait in the entranceway to the gym, Henry showing her plans for his and Grace's vow renewal when she prompted him. Grace came out first, and she and Henry left, waving goodbye to Jo. Holly and Nunez soon followed, leaving Jo waiting for Zane. He always did like to take ridiculously long showers, no reason why now should be any different.

Eventually, he came out and smiled when he saw her. "Hey."

She handed him the bag from Café Diem and bit back a smile as he dug in. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"Better. Sorry I missed your birthday," he said around a mouthful of a peanut butter and bacon sandwich

She waved him off, "It's okay. You were stuck in an isolation chamber, you get a pass on this one."

He slinked an arm around her waist and pulled her in close to his side. "How was it?"

"Good, I had dinner with Carter and Tony. Someone sent flowers to my office," she said, wrapping an arm around his waist and propping her head on his shoulder, looking at him.

"Oh? You know who it was?" he asked in a teasing tone.

Jo smiled and played along. "They didn't sign the card, but I know that handwriting. Plus, there's only one person who calls me JoJo."

"Yeah. One person, that's a pretty small suspect list. You got the perp in custody yet?" He asked, grinning as he set down the bag with his food on the bench Jo had been waiting on and wrapped that arm around her.

"Well sending flowers to my office isn't exactly a crime. But I suppose I should question them anyway." She leaned up and kissed him lightly, smiling as familiar sparks lit up her spine, starting from the comforting press of his hands on her back.

"I think I like this method of questioning," Zane whispered against her lips.

"Oh do you?" Jo asked as she pulled back. She felt the soft hair at the nape of his neck slip between her fingers as she ran the tips up and down the back of his neck. They stood there in silence for a moment, oblivious to the bustling world around them. "Thank you for the flowers."

"I'm glad you liked them, JoJo."

"They were beautiful. A very nice birthday present."

Zane's grin grew wider. "Oh, those weren't your present."

"Oh?"

"Nah. That's at my place. The roses were just me having manners."

"Since when do you have those?"

"Maybe I'm turning over a new leaf. Wen did say she was recommending me for the full pardon. Wouldn't do much good to get my freedom and do something to get the cuffs clapped back on."

"I suppose not," Jo said quietly, before brightening. "So, what's my present?"

"I think these are supposed to be a surprise."

"You're already more than a day late. What's my present? Or is it the sort of thing I shouldn't be opening in public?"

Zane's smile grew into a leer, "Oh, that's an option?" She smacked his shoulder and he just laughed. "Nah, here." He took out his PDA and pulled up the order and showed her what it was for.

"Tickets for Sleeping Beauty at the Oregon Ballet Theatre next month?"

"Yeah, I heard you humming some other stuff by the guy who wrote the music a while ago, checked what it was in the database, and saw that they were doing it in Portland. I figured you might be into that. It's a combo Birthday/Sorry about your house present."

"Well thank you. So, are you going to come with me, or should I ask someone else?"

"Well who knows, I might not be in town in a month. Wen said she was working on that pardon."

"Right," Jo checked the date again on the order, avoiding his eyes, trying not to remind herself that he might very well be leaving just as they were getting started again. "Zoe's supposed to be home on break then, I'll ask her. Besides, you hate Tchaikovsky. And Sleeping Beauty."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. I haven't been before."

She arched a brow, "I've done this before, remember? Best case scenario, you'd fall asleep in ten minutes. Don't worry, if I want to torture someone, I'll drag Tony to it. He's been saying he wants us to be closer."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess other-Jo not telling him about Taggart really freaked him out. I wonder what I can get away with before he starts complaining about having to deal with girl stuff."

"Okay. You can pick up the tickets tonight."

"Sounds good. In the meantime, you," she kissed him again, "have three days of work to catch up on. Enjoy your lunch." She spun out of his grip and headed back to her office, ignoring his complaints behind her.