Disclaimer: I don't have any more creative ways to say I don't own anything.

Family Relations

By Be Boring

Chapter 19: Golden Gate

Syl looked out her apartment window at the tiny restaurant just across the street with absolute delight on her face, then turned to face Jondy. "I'm so glad it was safe for me to come back here, I was really enjoying running this place. I'm surprised Zack said it was okay for me to move back, you'd think he wouldn't even chance the possibility that you could have…" She broke off, looking embarrassed, but Jondy shrugged it off.

"It's alright, I know there was a good chance that I could have compromised you all, but trust me, I never said a word about you. There's no way they could know about you."

Syl smiled, still looking slightly embarrassed. "How come he didn't come along? He's usually the one who handles the relocating."

"He's relocating someone else, so he said I could come help you out." Jondy had spent the entire week with Syl, helping her pack from Denver, where she'd moved after she heard that Jondy was in Manticore, so that she could go back and handle her restaurant in North Dakota. She knew the only reason that Zack wanted her to handle this was because he didn't want her to have to deal with Shayna, who had only become more vocal about her opinions on Jondy and Zack. He was currently getting Kiera and Shayna settled in somewhere, but he refused to tell her where it was. That set her on edge, how could she do her job without knowing where everyone was? She had been thinking Zack's motives over, but there was only one conclusion that came to mind, and she simply didn't want to consider it, but it popped into her head several times a day.

He had said it himself last week, it would be extremely difficult for him to cope if anything happened to her. So, what if he was trying to ease her out of her position? Take her out of danger's way? He had strongly hinted at it, but she thought she had put a stop to that. Well, she wasn't going to let him separate her from the others. She would do anything possible to remain in contact with them, even without his permission if she had to. "What are you thinking about?" Syl asked after a couple minutes, staring curiously at her sister's face. "You looked like you were a million miles away."

She shrugged, forcing her mind back onto the task of hand. "Nothing much, just anything that happened to wander into my mind. I'm thinking about seeing Brin next, she'll be a sight for sore eyes."

Syl grinned and looked out the window again. "Yeah, if you're ever down, Brin's the one to go to. Did she ever tell you about the time that we worked it out so we could go to the same high school for a few months? My foster family moved when I was fourteen right to the area where Brin happened to be. It was the best coincidence in the world, and it took quite a while for Zack to find out. He had always called me on the cell phone that my foster family gave me, so I just didn't let on that we had moved, and I kept making it sound like everything was great so he didn't have a reason to come check on me. He was always popping in on Brin though, because she's always been a troublemaker, so I just had to hide out until he left. We had a blast, Brin is such a party animal. I've always been a bit shyer, more of a wallflower than the girl in the middle of the dance floor, but Brin managed to drag out a little bit of my wild side. I could see why Zack didn't like checking on her much, every time he showed up she had a different guy at her house, but she only did that because she could guess when he'd be coming, and she'd ask a guy to come over to hang out for a while. She thought it was so funny to watch Zack get all hyped up and saying she ought to have some dignity. What was it she said? Oh yeah, she said he seemed to puff up like a blowfish every time he saw a new 'boyfriend.' She was so much fun, I just wish it hadn't ended so soon. I don't think it was more than four months before Zack found out, and boy was he pissed. I got to see what Brin meant about the blowfish thing."

Jondy laughed with her, she knew exactly what Syl meant. "Yeah, I think I'll go see Brin and have some fun. I could use it."

It turned out that 'some fun' was a bit of an understatement. Even though she didn't tell Brin about her and Zack, she made it clear that she was with someone so that she didn't have to go through another series of horrid blind dates. It didn't deter Brin from taking her out to clubs, however. "Come on, it's not like you're actually going to do anything with these guys," Brin cajoled for the eightieth time as she tried to convince Jondy to go to yet another club with her. "I've got a pretty good surprise waiting for you at this one."

Surprise? Jondy crossed her arms stubbornly, but eventually nodded and dejectedly followed her sister out the door. She couldn't imagine what surprise Brin could have waiting for her, but she spotted it the second she walked through the club doors. "Krit!" she cried, running up to her ruefully grinning brother and giving him the tightest hug she could muster up. He laughed and ruffled her hair, admiring it quickly before turning to hug Brin.

"We saw each other a couple weeks ago," Krit explained as they crossed over to the bar. "It was a complete shock to both of us, but we've been making the most of it ever since." The glance the two of them shared, although brief, made it very clear to Jondy that they were indeed making the most of it. She shrugged it off, though. Did it matter if they were together? They were both troublemakers, they were actually well suited for each other.

"So, now we have partners in crime instead of two lone criminals," she cracked, settling herself down on a stool and grinning at them. "How fast did everything really get started?" They both struggled to look as innocent as humanly possible, but she waved her index finger in front of their faces. "Oh no, no you don't. You can't lie to me. It's pretty obvious you two are more than crime partners, but you said you only saw each other a couple weeks ago. Was it just some sort of click?"

Krit's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Who clicks better than X5s? What can I say, we're made to move fast."

A quick memory of her time in Maine flashed through Jondy's mind and she nodded. "Yeah, no kidding."

Brin turned to Krit with a mischievous look on her face. "You know, Jondy told me she's been seeing somebody, but she won't tell me who. Now I'm starting to think it's another X5. Who is it? Was it during a check up that things just started rolling? It can't be Ben, and I know it's not Krit, so is it Blake or Zane? Those are the only options left."

Jondy rolled her eyes and diverted them to the people slinking around the dance floor. "You're taking what I said too seriously," she mumbled uncomfortably. If Brin had freaked out about Zack and Syl's unexpected rendezvous, what would she think about a real relationship?

Krit's eyes never left her face, carefully watching her reaction to Brin's interrogation, then he finally commented quietly, "You forgot someone, Brin. You left out Zack."

Both Jondy and Brin whipped their heads around to look at him in shock, but Brin caught Jondy's reaction before she could cover it up. "Oh my God, is Krit right? Jondy, are you with Zack?"

She briefly toyed with the idea of lying, but decided it wasn't worth it. They would find out eventually. "Yeah, ever since I got back out of Manticore. Maybe the separation got us both thinking straighter or something, I don't know."

Brin placed one hand firmly on her hip, an emotion that Jondy couldn't quite place rising in her eyes. "How serious has it gotten?"

Jondy froze, feeling remarkably like a deer in the crosshairs of a rifle. Oh boy, what will her reaction to that be? Before she could answer, however, Krit reached out and placed a hand on Brin's shoulder, glaring at her sternly. "I don't think that's any of our business. If Jondy is going to say anything that personal, you should let her offer it up freely instead of worming it out of her." Jondy continued to watch her sister, wondering just what that expression meant. Then, it hit her. She's being protective of me. Maybe she's worried about the same thing that Shayna screamed at me; maybe she thinks Zack is taking advantage of me. That was ridiculous, but she had the feeling that Brin wouldn't think so. At least Krit seemed to think Zack was trustworthy enough with his little sister.

Suddenly, Jondy's eyes flashed to the door of the club. "Krit, you'd better hide, Zack's here."

Krit immediately slid away through the crowd, walking straight for the men's bathroom. Instead of watching him go and making sure he got away safely, however, Brin glared furiously in Zack's direction as he approached them. Oh no, what is she going to say to him? Jondy wondered nervously. "I wish you'd told me you were coming here," Zack said casually as he finally reached them. "Syl's place was a pretty big detour on the way to finding you."

Syl's name probably wasn't helping Brin any at the moment. "I just didn't want to call you and interrupt anything," she replied hurriedly, cutting Brin off before she could comment. "I know you were pretty busy. Was the job a handful?" She didn't exactly want Brin knowing what Zack had been up to. The less people who knew about Shayna's situation, the better.

Zack ran his fingers back through his hair, closing his eyes briefly as though the memory was painful. "You have no idea. I thought we were going to have to resort to sedatives to keep things under control, but everything finally settled down. I'll tell you more later," he added, glancing at Brin quickly. He must have caught the look on her face, because he asked, "Is something wrong?"

Just as Brin opened her mouth, probably to say absolutely everything on her mind, Jondy stomped roughly on her foot while Zack wasn't looking and said quickly, "No, nothing's wrong, I think Brin is just disappointed that you interrupted our time together. It's no fun when the C.O. breaks up party time, you know."

That answer must have worked for him, because he merely shrugged and turned back to her. Now she could tell he had had a specific reason for coming here. "Could I talk to you in private?" Jondy turned and looked pleadingly at Brin, silently begging her not to say anything rash. Brin finally sighed and followed Krit's path along the dance floor, waiting until Zack had turned back to Jondy before knocking lightly on the door to the men's bathroom and calling Krit back out. Jondy watched them leave out of the corner of her eye, then focused completely on Zack.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm just going to ask anyway. If I told you to just go anywhere in the country you wanted, where would you go?"

Jondy was taken aback by the question. He was right, it did sound weird. "Well, if I had to choose, um, I guess I wouldn't mind seeing San Francisco. I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge."

"When do you want to leave?"

Now she really didn't understand where he was going with this. "What? I thought it was just a hypothetical question, why would we actually go?"

"Just trust me. Is Brin having any problems, or can you leave right away?"

"Brin's fine, but why are we leaving?"

For some reason, he looked excited. "Just go get your things and tell Brin that something's come up and you have to go. If she was your ride here, I can give you a ride back to her place."

Jondy had no idea what to say to him as she trailed along behind him on the way out to the car. Once they were in, she tentatively changed the subject. "So, what exactly happened with Shayna?"

He rolled his eyes as he pulled out onto the road. "Let's just say I'm glad you didn't come along, she never gave up on her name calling the entire time. At least she didn't start screaming at Kiera. I think they might actually be okay together for a while. She tried escaping at least fifteen times; it was completely ridiculous. She never got very far, but she never gave up either. I think Kiera may have slipped her some pills when I wasn't looking, because she calmed down during my last couple days there, but I still decided it was safe to leave. Kiera knows what she's doing, and Shayna is no match for her. I just feel bad leaving her there with Shayna."

"I do too, but I have to admit, I'm glad it's not me there."

"Me too. Shayna isn't your biggest fan right now."

As soon as they had pulled up outside Brin's apartment building, Jondy headed straight up. At least Zack didn't decide to follow her, she didn't know if Krit was up there or not. It didn't really surprise her when she saw him sitting on the couch while Brin paced around. From the look on her sister's face, Jondy guessed that she had just interrupted a rant about Zack. Krit looked up and called out, "Hi, Jondy," in an unnecessarily loud voice to snap Brin out of her rampage. Brin turned to face her with her arms crossed, but she didn't say anything. Apparently she could tell that Jondy had something to say first.

"Something's come up, I'll have to leave right away," Jondy muttered apologetically, knowing she was going to spark more of her sister's anger. "I guess I'll just get my things." She could have sworn she heard Brin growl, "Something's come up, my ass!" under her breath, but she ignored it and started throwing a few stray things into her bag. Just as she was zipping it up, a hand landed gently on her shoulder. She turned and gave a sigh of relief when she saw it was Krit. She didn't really want to fight with Brin.

"Look, Brin will get over it eventually, she's just really protective." He glanced over his shoulder to where Brin was making herself a drink in the kitchen. "It may take a while, but Brin will understand someday. If it makes any difference, I'm glad you two got together. It's a great match."

Jondy smiled weakly, glad that at least someone didn't think this was a terrible thing. "Thanks, that means a lot. In the meantime, I'll do my best to make sure that Zack doesn't find out about you two. Maybe someday when he does find out, he'll be a little more open to the idea of letting you two stay together. Just do me a favor though. Try to be a little bit more discreet than you usually are?" Krit smiled and leaned down to give her a hug.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered. I'll keep in touch, and I'll try to get Brin to call you sometime too." She hugged him back happily, enjoying the support of at least one sibling. Brin didn't even look up as she approached, but Jondy pulled her down into a hug too. Brin returned it halfheartedly for a moment, then sighed and gave Jondy a firm squeeze.

"Just be careful, little sis, okay? Don't let him hurt you," Brin whispered in her ear, sounding much more emotional than usual.

"Don't worry," Jondy said as they pulled away. "Zack would never hurt me." Brin didn't seem comforted, but she still gave Jondy a smile before she headed downstairs to where Zack was waiting. He smiled as she climbed in, but the feeling that she wasn't going to like where they were going continued to grow inside her. She was dreading San Francisco by this point.

She didn't try to ask too many questions, because it became clear very early on that Zack wasn't going to tell her anything. At one point, she picked up his phone and glanced at the number last dialed, but she didn't recognize it. How was that possible? They only contacted the other X5s, and she knew all their numbers again. Why was he so excited about going to San Francisco? She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't even notice they were on the Golden Gate Bridge until they were halfway across it. For a few moments, she forgot all her worries as she gazed out the window. The bridge was beautiful, even more so than she remembered from pictures she'd seen of it. Something about it had always made her want to see it, even though the other kids at school couldn't have cared less about some bridge in the west that they would probably never even be near. It was while looking at a picture of it for the first time that she realized how much she wanted to get away from the Casteau's and see the rest of the country. Here was her chance. She couldn't wait for morning so that she could see the bridge in the sunlight.

To her surprise, Zack turned not even a minute after they'd passed over the bridge and started winding his way through residential streets until he pulled up in front of a little two-story house. Jondy couldn't see why they were here, the house was clearly uninhabited. "What do you think?" Zack asked as she studied the place, still trying to figure out why he'd brought her here.

"What do you want me to think? I don't understand what we're doing here."

Zack hurried forward and grabbed her arm, leading her up to the house and pulling her inside. She found herself in a tiny front hall with the kitchen just ahead of her, the living room to her left, and a fairly large bathroom to her right. Stairs in the living room apparently led up to the bedrooms, while a door she could see in the kitchen must have led down to the basement. "Zack, I still don't get it. Why are you showing me this place?"

Why did he still look so happy? "It's your new house, Jondy."

She raised her eyebrows, her stomach dropping lower all the time. "Are you trying to say…?"

"Well, I haven't bought it yet because I wanted to see what you would think, but I'm hoping you'll say yes."

Say yes? How could she even think of it? She had been right, he didn't want her to be SIC anymore. He thought it was too dangerous and he didn't want her to get caught again. "You know, I'm really not interested," she snapped coldly, wiping the somewhat eager look from Zack's face. "Couldn't you have been a little straighter with me back at Brin's before you dragged me out here?"

He stood there for the longest time, staring at her quizzically, until a look of realization dawned on his face. Without warning, he chuckled and shook his head, apparently struggling not to burst out laughing completely. He knew better than anyone else that laughing would just make her angry. Even his strained chuckles were starting to rile her up. She crossed her arms and glared at him, wishing he would just get to the point. Finally, he ran his fingers back through his hair and asked, "Did you think I was asking you to step down as SIC?" When she continued to glare at him, he said, "Don't worry, that's not what this is about at all. It's just that I set Kiera and Shayna up at my cabin in Maine, so we need a new place to come back and relax at. Since the cabin was my choice, I figured the next place should be yours to pick out. I just called it your house because you chose the location."

All the tension immediately drained out of Jondy's shoulders. "So, you don't want me to give up my position?"

"I would never dare ask you."

The thrill that ran through Jondy's body made her shiver with its strength; it was just such a relief to know that Zack still wanted to be partners. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him off to start exploring the house. "You know, we really need some furniture in this place. I wonder if Peter still has all those beds?"

"Beds? I'd settle for even just a chair," Zack commented as he stared around at the empty space around them.

Jondy grinned at him, curious about how he would react to what she wanted to say. Did she dare try it? Of course. "No, I'd rather have a bed first. If it's going to be ours, then this place needs to be 'broken in,' and frankly a chair or the floor doesn't cut it for me."

His eyebrows were in severe danger of disappearing into his hairline, but he grinned back. "I'll have a bed in this house by breakfast."

As they explored the rest of the house, Jondy realized that this was the first time she had truly felt relaxed since she'd first been captured. No Manticore, no Shayna, no Ben, and no worries about where she stood with Zack. When she had first heard about Cinderella, it had struck her that despite Cinderella's meager beginnings, she still ended up living happily ever after. Happily ever after? This is the closest I'll ever get. Which, frankly, was just fine with her.

The End

Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe it's done. I had to put in the part about the house in San Francisco because of course that's all Zack remembered about Jondy in TKAA. I've debated doing a sequel to this someday, which would probably take place in Season 2, but we'll see if I get to it. The next story I'll be posting is "Black Ice", the third installment of my Kay series, so who knows how much time I'll have to focus on a sequel. Thanks to everybody who reviewed, you guys are great! I guess it's my last chance to say it for this story, so I'll put it in all caps for the heck of it. PLEASE REVIEW! Wow, that sounds a lot like begging, doesn't it? :P