Author's Note: First of all, I want to thank all of my reviewers! You guys are amazing. Seriously. I'm in awe of all the wonderful things you've said to me. It… really means a lot to me. Oh, and if anyone knows anyone who'd like to Beta That 70's fics for me, I'd be most appreciative. Uhm, yeah. Anyway, I don't think there's too much to say about this chapter other than we get to meet Eric! And, this chapter's song is Miss America by Styx.
Disclaimer: Still applies.

Tarnished Gem
by, Caliente

Chapter 2: Miss America

"Ew, it's dirty!" Jackie cried as Donna led her down the outside stairs and through the door into the basement she'd told her belonged to her boyfriend, Eric Foreman. "I mean, has it ever been cleaned before?" Why didn't these people just hire a maid or something? Or… burn it down and start over? "And – ohmigod! Did… did something just move over there…?" She pointed worriedly toward the pile of junk behind the television, while half-hiding behind Donna's larger form.

Donna rolled her eyes. This weekend was already long and it was still Friday afternoon. But she'd thought a trip to Point Place might be good for Jackie. Something was going on with that girl and, despite her better judgment, Donna was worried. She couldn't help it. Somewhere between the complaining and the lumberjack comments, she'd genuinely started to like the girl. Even care about her. And about what happened to her. It was so weird. "Nothing moved you drama queen," Donna replied, shaking her head. "Chill and sit down."

Jackie gasped. "On that?" she pointed to the dingy couch, absolutely horrified. "No way! Who knows what kinds of things could be lurking in there? I mean, it might've absorbed something like – like – asbestos or whatever that stuff is called. I'm not sitting there." She crossed her arms defiantly, lips in a firm line as if she dared Donna to question her decision. It was icky and it was not happening. Yes, she was being a princess. It was who she was. Donna knew this. She was going to have to deal.

"Fine," Donna responded with a shrug, sitting on the couch and grabbing a magazine that'd been lying on the table. "You can stand. I don't care." She glanced up at Jackie again. "But, please, at least try to be nice when Eric comes down. I warned him about you, but I don't think he believed me." Poor bastard. What a shock he was going to be in for.

"Warned him about me?" Jackie was clearly offended, her hands on her hips as her voice rose into a whine-like cry. Then, realization seemed to hit and she smirked lightly. "Oooh, about my incredible beauty. Yeah, I can see why you'd be insecure." She moved to sit on the chair on the far side of the room, away from the outside entrance to the basement. "I mean, look at you, then look at me. It makes perfect sense." She smiled, satisfied with her own reasoning, and also picked up a magazine. Too bad there wasn't any Cosmo…

Shacking her head lightly, Donna tried not to laugh. "Right. That's exactly it Jackie." The other girl smiled triumphantly and, together, they continued to read their magazines. Every so often, they'd quiz each other on 'The Ten Ways to Make Sure He's The One' and 'How to Make Him Want to Want You' and other things of a similar nature. All in all, not that unusual from what they'd be doing in the dorms about that time on a normal Friday.

After some time had passed, an unfamiliar voice floated down to the basement. "What about the girl from Tuesday night? She ever come back?"

"The princess?" another, slightly familiar voice asked. "Nah, I don't think she'll ever come back. Probably too embarrassed or proud. Plus, if Daddy found out, I'm sure he'd take away the car and lock her back in her tower or whatever."

There was laughter, which increased significantly in volume when the other door opened and a pair of feet clomped downstairs. Jackie, eyes wide with a mixture of worry and fear, stared at her magazine in shock. She quickly pleaded her case with God, praying that they were not talking about what she thought they were talking about. (The bartender she hazily remembered did not resemble the pictures of Eric Forman she'd seen in the slightest, so there was that.) Donna, on the other hand, continued to flip through her magazine without even glancing up or acknowledging that she'd even heard the voices.

"Well, well, well," the first voice started, a grin already evident in his tone alone, "what do have here? Breaking and entering Miss Pinciotti?" Jackie finally spared a glance at the speaker, now standing behind Donna, and was relieved to see that Eric did in fact look like his scrawny pictures indicated. "I think I'll have to collect a fine from you for that one. Maybe a few rounds of –"

"Eric!" Donna interrupted. "Uhm, have you met my roommate Jackie?" She hit his shoulder not quite lightly. "The roommate I told you I was bringing home this weekend, remember?" Her voice was slightly terse but the corner of her mouth were pointing up. Eric knew he wasn't in any real trouble. Yet.

Turning to get a good look at her (And why shouldn't he? She did look good, if she did say so herself. Wearing only the latest fashions and having perfectly coiffed hair did that for a girl, especially one as cute as her.), Eric nodded lightly. "Right, right. Roommate Jackie. I remember." He smiled a friendly smile at her and moved closer to offer his hand to her. "I'm Eric Foreman, it's great to meet you. Donna has said… so much about you."

Jackie shook his hand, a brilliantly wide smile on her face. "Oh, she shouldn't have," she gushed happily. The best conversations always did revolve around her. At least, that's what Daddy had constantly reassured her. And, even if he didn't know some things (like how to be a good father), that much he'd gotten right. "Did she tell you I'm a cheerleader? And shoe in for captain next year, even though I'm only going to be a third year?"

"You know," Eric bit back a laugh, "I think she might've left that part out." Jackie scoffed at Donna and shook her head but chose not to comment. She still hadn't seen the person the second voice belonged to (he'd moved behind her before she caught a glance) and that was even more concerning than the lack of Jackie-centric conversation. "Say… Hyde," Eric's gaze moved behind Jackie and she squirmed in the chair trying to see, "wasn't the bar girl's name Jackie?"

Hyde turned around with a popsicle he'd grabbed from the freezer behind her and Jackie finally got a good look at his face. Oh, crap. It was him. Eyes wide with panic, for the first time in her life, she was absolutely speechless. Her lips moved a little but no sound came out. He cast a quick glance at her, then looked back at Eric. "No man," he answered easily. "I said Jack E., as in Jack Eaton, was trying to hit on her but chickened out. I don't know the bar girl's name. Didn't ask." That said, he popped the popsicle in his mouth and moved to sit on the far side of the couch, since his normal seat was taken.

There was the briefest pause, in which Jackie held her breath and continued her bargaining with God. (She'd always known not going to church would come back to bite her in the butt.) "Right." Eric sounded unconvinced but shrugged it off, sitting in the middle of the couch, between his girlfriend and his friend, placing his arm loosely behind the former. "By the way Jackie, this is Hyde," he indicated the curly-haired boy to his left with his free hand. "He lives here too."

"Oh," she responded in a quieter-than-normal tone. "That's… nice…" The gem wasn't sure what to say, exactly. These sorts of situations weren't the usual kind she found herself in. Privileged people rarely, if ever, simply 'hung out' like this. It was… quaint, she supposed. "It's good to meet you Hyde." He nodded without more than the smallest glance in her direction. And that irritated her. No one ignored Jaclyn Burkhart! Except, well, maybe it was a good thing? She wasn't sure. "What kind of name is Hyde?" she asked suddenly, her mouth moving without the approval of her brain, as was often the case.

Donna suppressed a laugh. "A last name," she answered for the man who, judging by the look on his face, was beginning to regret covering for Jackie. Oops. Apparently that big mouth could get her in trouble when people weren't bending over backwards to do her bidding. "His first name is… uh…" Donna trailed off, brows furrowed together as she tried to remember. "Steven!" she cried, all of a sudden. That was what Mrs. Foreman always called him. Steven, yeah.

It was Jackie's turn to furrow her eyebrows. "Steven?" she repeated. "Then why not go by Steve or something? I mean, Hyde? It sounds so… so… so much like the evil alter ego of a doctor or something!" Okay, so in retrospect, maybe that wasn't the nicest thing to say. But, c'mon. Hyde? Seriously? What a weirdo kinda name. She just didn't understand it.

"Yeah, well, Jackie is pretty damn close to Jekyll, wouldn't you say?" Hyde replied simply. "I'd say that's about accurate." At Jackie's confused look, he rolled his eyes. "Man created the monster, right? Well, with your annoying whine of a voice, you must do the same." Picking up a magazine, he sat back and crossed his legs, obviously finished with their conversation.

A shocked look on her face, Jackie spluttered at him. How dare he? How dare he? Didn't he realize who she was? No one spoke to a Burkhart like that – no one! She could ruin him with a simple phone call! And – and – God! Who did he think he was? Steven Hyde. Pffft. A nobody. A nothing. A commoner. And a bartender. Those men were bottom feeders. He was nothing. Absolutely nothing. But, try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from sinking to his level. "Yeah?" she said hotly, eyes flashing. "Well, you're hairy enough to be Hyde, so I guess it wasn't a long trip to get there."

Hyde raised an eyebrow at her, torn between annoyance and amusement, settling on the Zen expression he was famous for. Who did this stupid chick think she was? He'd helped her out and she was insulting him? What a jerk! She really was everything he'd thought she was. Everything he hated. "Well, not all of us feel the need to spend hours primping in front of a mirror princess. Some of us have real lives and real jobs to do. We're not all rich, spoiled brats."

Jackie let out an offended noise. "I do not spend hours primping, thank you very much!" She ignored what sounded like Donna scoffing. "Most of this is natural beauty." And another one. Damn her, that stupid lumberjack was supposed to be on her side! "Besides, at least I know a thing or two about proper hygiene." She pointed to Hyde's beard and grimaced. "I think I saw something moving in there." She sniffed loudly. "And do you even shower? I mean, seriously. Ew."

Eric and Donna watched them both with amusement painted all over their faces. Never before had either of them seen two people dislike each other so instantly. It was actually quite amazing. And they didn't want to miss a moment of it. Unfortunately for them, Mrs. Foreman called down at that moment. "Eric, Donna, would you two come help me with something? It'll only take a minute…"

With identical sighs and a shared, slightly nervous glance, the couple got up. "Yeah Mom, we'll be there in a sec!" Eric hollered up the stairs, leading Donna in that direction. He paused. "Hey man," he called to Hyde, "don't kill her, okay? I don't think Red would like bailing you out again…"

"That goes double for you!" Donna added sternly to Jackie with a wag of her finger. "Not even 'Daddy' could make a murder go away. I know you think he can… but he can't. Remember that." With that, they clomped the rest of the way up the stairs to help Mrs. Foreman.

Jackie sat quietly, staring at Steven Hyde for a very long moment. He was ignoring her, reading his magazine (looked like some car thing or another from her angle) with a neutral look on his face. She stared, he ignored. Stared, ignored. Finally, he put the magazine down and looked directly at her. "What?" he asked finally in a tone that betrayed no emotion.

"I just… I-just-wanted-to-thank-you-for-not-telling-Eric-and-Donna-it-was-me," she blurted out in one breath. She didn't know if she would've been able to face them, especially Eric who she'd never met before, if he had. Jackie Burkhart wasn't the kind of girl to be seen looking less than perfect. And she certainly wasn't the kind of girl to frequent dingy bars or drink beer or get drunk or throw up or… well, anything she'd done that night. Except talk. She was definitely the kind of girl to talk.

Hyde blinked at her. "Got a funny way of showing it," he replied, picking up his magazine again. "But don't worry about it. Think of it as bartender/drunk confidentiality or something." He shrugged. Wasn't like he cared. He didn't know her from the next hobo on the street and, honestly, if this was the last time he ever saw her, the more the better. For a small thing, she sure was loud and annoying. Very annoying. Negated all her hotness.

"I'm not normally like that," she continued and Hyde sighed. Didn't she get that he didn't want her to talk? What was hard to understand about that? No more talking from the annoying pixie in his chair, thanks. And he was off-duty. But, apparently, she didn't understand because she was rambling about something yet again and he was having trouble tuning her out. She was seriously threatening to usurp Eric's evil sister Laurie's position at the top of his most likely to be devil spawned list. "…the truth, you know? And, I just…"

Holding up a hand, Hyde closed his eyes and summoned all the strength he could muster. "I'm sorry, I think you've confused me with someone who cares. See, the other night, they pay me to listen to you. But now – no money, no listen. So, why don't you just go back to reading your girly magazine and leave me alone." She opened her mouth again but he shook his head. "Or, if that's too hard for you, I'll go." He grabbed his magazine and stood up, giving her a quick look. "I'd like to say it was nice to see you again, but I try not to make it a habit to lie." Without another word, he walked into a room at the back of the basement she hadn't seen before and shut the door.

"Well, I never!" Jackie muttered indignantly under her breath. Nobody had ever just walked away from her before! (Except her mother but that was usually for an open bar.) Didn't he know how lucky he was to have her, Jaclyn Burkhart, talking with him! The scruffy man should've been counting his blessings instead of insulting her and then retreating to his dank room! Honestly! It was almost too much for her to comprehend. It just made no sense. Steven Hyde made no sense. He was obviously certifiably insane. Or maybe that's just what poor people did? Hard to say really…

"Where's Hyde?" Donna asked as she led Eric back down to the basement, a confused look on her face. "Jackie! I told you not to kill him! Where'd you hide the body?" She glanced around the room for a moment before stopping. "Actually, I'd like to know how you go the body out of here… you're only five three and ninety-five pounds."

Mortified, Jackie cried, "Donna!" loudly. "How dare you tell my weight! Is nothing sacred in the wretched place?" Donna looked at her like she'd grown a second head and Eric looked offended. "And Steven went into a room back there." She pointed to where she'd last seen him. "So can we go somewhere not dirty now? I don't want my clothes to get ruined or anything. Plus, you promised me a mall. And, you know I have Daddy's credit cards, so…"

"Fine Jackie," Donna relented. "We'll go to the mall. But, only if you promise to do two things for me." Jackie raised her eyebrows but chose not to comment. Yet. "One, stop complaining about everything. This is where I'm from and if you don't cut it out, I'm going to start to be offended. And," she continued quickly, seeing Jackie open her mouth, "two, come back here tomorrow. Because this is where we hang out. And I'm not changing that just because you came for a visit." She crossed her arms and stared down her short friend.

Jackie held Donna's gaze for as long as she could before finally relenting. "Fine, fine!" She pouted. "But now we definitely have to go to the mall, so I can buy some 'slumming it' clothes. You know, things I can burn after this weekend's over and not miss at all." She stood and dusted off her butt lightly. "I'll go wait for you in the driveway," she added knowingly, smiling lightly at Eric. "I know how much you missed him. Don't know why but I know you did." With that, she skipped out the way they'd entered not too long before.

"I'm sorry," Eric commented in a sarcastic voice, "I thought you were bringing your friend Jackie home this weekend. But all I've seen so far is what can only be described as Satan's most spoiled daughter." Donna slapped his shoulder and tried, unsuccessfully, not to laugh. "I'm serious Donna. What is wrong with that girl? She's so… so…"

"Rich? Spoiled? Annoying?" Donna supplied with an understanding look. "Yeah, I know. I still can't believe I don't hate her, myself. But… something about her just grows on you. She might be loud and crass and, at times, cruel but… she puts herself out there. She's vulnerable when you least expect it about the simplest things. She's kind of like a little girl that you want to protect. I can't explain it." She shrugged lightly. "She's just had a harder life than you realize."

Eric scoffed. "Yeah, she grew up rich in Madison. She's heir apparent to her father's fortune and she's marrying an equally rich and beautiful man. I can really see where her life would be hard." He rolled his eyes, dodging Donna's attempt to whack him again. "Uh-uh-uh," he scolded lightly, a small smile on his face. "You heard Jackie. You've missed me. There's no denying it now. Don't you want to show me how much…?"

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she smiled back at him. "Well, it would help fortify me for what will undoubtedly be a long and arduous trip to the mall…" She leaned closer. "But wouldn't you rather show me how much you missed m–?" She was cut off by his lips meeting hers. Her smile grew wider. Yeah, it was good to be home.

To be continued…

Uhm, yeah. Reviews are, as stated above, loved. Muchly. So… :coughs: Keep it up. ;)