Author's Note: Thanks to those of you who are reading! I hope you're enjoying this. The current plan is for the story to be four chapters. I've used some lines of dialogue from the episode "Worst Case Scenario" in this chapter (Jo's toast and part of her conversation with Fargo).

Jo: Zane, you have to know how crazy it is to be jealous of something with Carter and me that never happened.

Zane: Yeah, but the thing is, it's not. I've been digging into the programming. The virtual Eureka we experienced in there, it's based on predictive algorithms from our own psychological profiles. So, given the right set of circumstances, you and Carter hooking up…it's not just possible, it's probable.

Jo: One of the circumstances was me thinking that you were dead, right?

Zane: Right.

Jo: So don't make me kill you and you have nothing to worry about.

~ Jo Lupo and Zane Donovan in Season Five Episode Five "Jack of All Trades"

Fargo's "a few days" had ended up being weeks and in the meantime everything got even worse because of Carter's whole body-swapping fiasco.

First, she found out that Carter had been in the shower with her when he switched into Zane's body. Then, the two men swapped bodies again while Zane was kissing her, which was incredibly awkward. As if those two scenarios weren't bad enough, she accidentally confessed to Allison that the thought of being with Carter wasn't completely unimaginable. She thought she was talking to Carter at the time, which made it even worse.

The whole thing had been a complete disaster.

Which of course, wasn't improved when their actual scheduled Global Dynamics disaster simulation turned real. She almost died, the town almost got hit by missiles, and Zane had been MIA while things were falling apart because he was messing around with the neural networking equipment from the Matrix.

Jo was finally able to meet up with Fargo at Café Diem once things settled down. She got a large glass of white wine and joined his table. After discussing the outcome of the disaster drill mishap, he asked her where Zane was.

"I don't know. Off somewhere trying to figure out how to make my job more difficult."

She sighed and took another sip of her wine.

"I wouldn't assume that," Fargo replied.

"Look, I know he's been messing with Beverly's computer of doom."

It was one thing for her to ask Fargo to look into the algorithm. It was another thing entirely for Zane to keep the entire neural networking lab turned on and running, especially with the very real problems that equipment had already caused. She told him to shut it down and he didn't, even going to far as to keep working on it when she insinuated that doing so might be detrimental to his sex life.

She just didn't understand why.

"Because I asked him to," Fargo admitted, almost as if he heard her internal frustration with Zane's lack of compliance.

Jo closed her eyes and counted to ten. She didn't know why she was surprised. Zane had mentioned he was working on something for a friend.

She just wished that either of them would have told her.

"Do I want to know what it is you two are working on?"

"As your boss, I'd rather you have plausible deniability, but just know…Zane wasn't being a jerk. He was doing it as a friend."

The plausible deniability part concerned her, but she did think it was sweet that Zane was being a friend to Fargo, especially during a time when Fargo really needed the support.

"And it's not something dangerous?" she asked. "I don't want the two of you to get hurt."

He shook his head.

"We're just looking into something. Trying to figure out what happened to Holly."

Fargo tried to sound nonchalant about it, but she could tell from the way his gaze moved to stare at the tabletop that he was uncomfortable discussing this with her.

Jo understood his desire to figure out exactly what had happened to Holly. She would have been looking for the same details if she'd been in his position. She just hoped that he got the closure he was looking for and this investigation didn't make the grief harder to bear.

"I hope you find what you're looking for. Let me know if you need any help."

"I appreciate that."

"And about that project I asked you to work on," Jo said. "You've got enough on your plate. You don't need to worry about that right now."

Zane might be grumpy at the moment, but he was alive and that was what counted. Jo wasn't going to ask Fargo to prioritize her petty algorithm research over what he needed to do to grieve Holly. She would just have to keep proving she wanted to be with Zane the old-fashioned way.

"Oh no, you don't have to wait." He placed a small data drive on the table. "I actually finished right before I headed over here for dinner. It's why I asked you to meet me."

Jo picked up the small black drive. The information on there was something she'd been waiting impatiently for, but she was suddenly nervous about what it said. What if the adjustments she told Fargo to make didn't change anything?

The past year had been filled with confusion for her about what she wanted in life: where she wanted to live, what she wanted to do, and whether she wanted to be with a different version of Zane than the one she initially fell in love with. What if she didn't even know herself well enough to be right about what was on this drive?

"I shared a link to your GD e-mail too so you can still have a copy after you give the drive to Zane."

"And? What did it say?"

Jo looked at Fargo, but couldn't get any answers from the neutral expression on his face.

"I did what you asked," he said. "I used your updated neural imprint and weighted the algorithm more heavily on that imprint than those of Zane and Allison, who would have had predictable worries about their relationships after being gone for four years. I also did my best to adjust the algorithm to remove the influence of programming that was intended to keep the crew members from forming close relationships with the NPCs. You were right about that, by the way. It was a precautionary measure in the code."

"What about Grace and Henry?" she asked. The program hadn't broken them up.

"I had to dig a little deeper for that one," Fargo said. "It was Grace's ship and her crew, Jo. She knew the ins and outs of everything and everyone related to that project. As captain of the Astreaus, she's the one who would be most desperate for answers about the lost time. They wanted to keep a closer eye on her. They assumed she'd be the first to suspect."

Grace hadn't been the first to suspect, but Jo knew that the Matrix wasn't any picnic for her either. It was bad enough that she'd left town indefinitely. She hoped it didn't mean the end of Grace and Henry's relationship.

Jo took a deep breath and another sip of wine. She couldn't worry about anyone else's relationship right now. She had to worry about her own.

"So what did the algorithm say?" she asked. "It's got to at least be lower than eighty seven percent. I…Fargo, please tell me it's lower than eighty seven."

She prayed to God that it was lower than eighty seven percent. Otherwise, she might have to do some sort of extra long walkabout because she didn't know herself at all.

"Three point five percent."

Jo's gaze shot up to meet Fargo's eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I heard that right," she said, her heart racing. "Did you say three point five percent?"

"Yep."

Jo let out a breath and slumped in her chair, looking at the drive in her hands with wonder.

"Oh, thank God."

3.5%.

That was so much more reasonable.

"You were right, Jo. Zane was looking at the data as-is, within the construct of the Matrix. He wasn't considering the external factors."

Jo didn't realize exactly how tense she'd been until Fargo's words let her start to relax.

"I love being right," she said, her flippant tone hiding her utter relief about the results of Fargo's analysis.

Fargo smiled, one of the first small expressions of happiness she'd seen from him since they told him that Holly didn't make it out of the Matrix alive.

"Welp," he said with a tap of his fingers on the table, "I'm glad that I could do something for you and Zane."

It meant so much to her that Fargo would have put so much time into this for her and Zane when he was going through so much himself. She didn't know how she was going to repay him.

"Thank you, Fargo. It means a lot."

Jo turned the drive around in her hand. She was sure that Zane would dive into the code as soon as she handed it over to see where his analysis had gone wrong, but she also hoped that it smoothed things out between them.

She looked over to where Carter and Allison were holding hands and eating. They were smiling and laughing until Carter caught sight of Jo and Fargo's table and waved. Jo watched Allison's smile falter as she and Fargo waved back.

While Zane had returned from the Matrix full of anger, Allison seemed fragile after a month of living in virtual Eureka.

"I, um, have to do something. Thanks again, Fargo."

Jo stood up with her wine and tapped the side of the glass to get everyone's attention.

"Excuse me." Everyone in the café turned in her direction. "Look, I know it's not like me, but I would, um, like to make a toast."

She lifted her glass.

"I'd like to say congratulations to my very best friend for persuading a highly intelligent woman to marry him anyway. To Jack and Allison. Here, here."

The crowd echoed her. "Here, here!"

Amid the clinking glasses, she headed over to say a more personal congratulations to the couple. Carter and Allison both thanked her for the toast.

In the midst of the crowd, she also caught up with Henry and was happy to hear that things had gotten better with Grace recently and they were talking more. Talking to him gave her hope that their relationships could all recover from the damage done by Senator Wen, Beverly Barlowe, and everyone who helped them kidnap some of the smartest people in town.

They would heal those scars, slowly but surely.

When Carter got pulled into a conversation with Vincent, Jo approached Allison.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jo nodded to a corner a little further away from the crowd.

Once they were there, Allison spoke first.

"You know, Jo, you didn't have to do that, but thanks for the toast. And I'm sorry again for not making it clear you were talking to me during the whole body swapping thing. Coming back has been a tough adjustment."

"I know it has. That's why I thought you should have this."

Jo placed the data drive in Allison's hand.

"What's this?"

"Zane's been acting really touchy since you all came back," she started. "Well, everyone's been acting weird. I know it must've felt real and Zane was so convinced that the whole Matrix thing was a statistical likelihood with me and Carter."

Allison's eyes drifted over to Carter.

"It's tough to get over seeing someone you love with someone else, Jo."

Jo knew exactly how hard it was. Back when new-timeline Zane and Zoe were flirting she felt sick to her stomach on a daily basis.

"I know. I get it. But the probability of something like that actually happening is low. Fargo proved it for me by correcting the algorithm and using my real profile imprint. If we factored in one from Carter, it would probably be even lower. That's what's on the drive. He's only ever going to be my friend, Allison. The Matrix was wrong."

Jo watched an array of emotions cross Allison's face.

"Jo - "

"I just thought you should know. What you do with the information is up to you."

Allison took a deep breath and nodded. She touched Jo's arm.

"Thank you."

Jo smiled in return.

"Anytime."

Jo walked away, downed her wine, and set the glass on the counter. Several people entreated her to stay and hang out, but she made her excuses and walked out the door. She needed to go home, log into her e-mail, and take a close look at the file Fargo sent over so she'd be prepared to share it with Zane tomorrow.

The house she moved to a week ago wasn't ideal. It didn't have the dojo and firing range in the basement that her last house did, right up until Zane burned it to the ground. It also didn't have the smart home benefits she'd grown accustomed to when living in S.A.R.A.H. with the Carters. It was small, dated, and didn't fit her preferred style. It was also temporary…because at the time she'd chosen the place, she thought her staying in town might be temporary.

Now that she'd decided to stay in Eureka, Jo would have to wait for a new house to be built to her specifications. Hopefully, the third time would be the charm.

She did have to admit the one huge benefit of her current house, though. It was a block off of Main Street and therefore a quick walking distance to or from any place downtown.

Jo let herself into the house, closed the door, and froze when she heard a noise coming from the kitchen. She wished she had a weapon on her.

"Who's there?"

A silhouette appeared in the doorway, light from the kitchen glowing around him.

"Took you long enough to get home, Jo Jo."