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A Jackie/Hyde fic.

Chapter Two.

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Disclaimer: I don't own That 70s Show in any way, shape, or form.

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A/N: Okay, so in this chapter, Jackie comes back to Point Place after 5 years. Everyone notices that she's changed, but it's not until she sees Hyde again that they notice how broken she is.

Also in this fic, Donna and Eric weren't engaged when Jackie was still in Point Place.

Hehe, I'm having fun writing this.

P.S. my dog is nowhere near as well behaved as I write him in this fic, but we can all dream, can't we?

Anyways, as always, please read and review, I live for feedback!

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Her plane had landed over an hour ago, and though she had dragged it out as much as she could, she finally had her dog, her luggage, and her cab, and now she was on her way to the Pinciotti's to see Donna.

She'd had to pay the cab guy extra to allow her dog, Copper, to sit on the seat with her, instead of in his kennel, but her puppy was already upset about having to fly in his kennel, surrounded by a bunch of other upset animals in their kennels. It hadn't been his idea of fun, she knew.

But, he loved car-rides, so she figured she was making it up to him by letting him sit in the backseat with her.

The cab pulled up in front of the house, and already Jackie felt like she was having an acid flashback. Nothing had changed, not really.

"Um, Miss, is this the right address?" the cab driver asked her.

Jackie nodded grimly, and paid the man, grabbing her bags and opening the door, Copper getting out first.

Being raised in New York City, Copper new better than to run off, but he did walk ahead to start sniffing everything.

"Thank you," she said, closing the door.

The driver nodded to her, and drove away, and Jackie turned back to the house in front of her.

Sighing, she called to her dog.

"Come on, Copper. Let's get in there," she said, and he moved towards her instantly.

She felt grateful that her dog didn't need a leash to listen to her. She'd rescued him from an abusive family, and he'd stuck by her side ever since, never wanting to go anywhere without her. She still had a hard time leaving him at home when she went to work.

Setting aside one of her suicases, she took a deep breath, then knocked on the front door.

She heard some chatter from inside, and then the door was opened by a much older Eric than she remembered.

"Jackie?"

She nodded. "You look different."

Eric smiled."Yeah, you two. Hey, who's the mutt?"

Jackie glared at him. "His name is Copper, and watch your language, he's no mutt."

Eric raised his eyebrows at how protective she was of her dog, but opened the door for them to enter.

Jackie carried in all her bags, which also surprised Eric. He had been fully prepared to hear her barking orders the second she saw him, but she didn't. Aside from telling him not to bad-mouth her dog.

He opened his mouth to speak, but just then Donna came into the room.

"Jackie!" she squealed, rushing towards her friend and wrapping her arms around her. "You came!"

Jackie choked out, "I said I would. Donna, can't breathe."

Donna let go, smiling brightly.

"Oh my god, how are you?"

Jackie shrugged. "Good. So, you're marrying Foreman?"

Donna smiled, nodding, also surprised that Jackie wasn't talking her ear off about everything going on in her life.

"Well, come on into the living room. Oh, who's this?"

Copper had started sniffing Donna's legs.

Jackie smiled genuinely. "This is my gorgeous baby, Copper," she introduced.

"Oh, cool. When did you get him?"

"Just over two years ago," Jackie explained. "His family was abusing him, and I brought him home with me."

"Oh my god," Donna said, giving the hyper dog some scratches. "That's terrible."

"Yeah. I convinced my editor to do a piece on animal abuse after that. I don't know how much good it did, but it was just something important to me."

Donna nodded, pleased that her friend cared so much about something other than herself. Wow, Jackie's all grown up.

"So, where am I putting these?" she wondered, picking up her suitcases.

"Oh, Eric can take those up to your room," Donna said.

Eric was about to do just that, but Jackie gripped her bags tighter.

"I have two arms," she said. "Just point the way, and I'll be right back."

"Um ... okay," Donna said. "Upstairs, spare room. You know where it is."

Jackie gave her friend a stiff smile. "Thanks."

Eric and Donna watched her go, Copper following her closely.

"So, she's changed," Eric said.

"Yeah ... weird."

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Jackie got her room all set up, including Copper's bed, before she came back downstairs.

"I'm gonna take Copper for a walk, you guys want to come?"

Eric and Donna looked surprised for a second, but then agreed.

The four of them walked down the streets of Point Place, deciding to visit Red and Kitty after the walk. Jackie wanted Copper to get used to the neighborhood, and needed some time herself to get used to being back.

So much happened to her here, so much that she didn't want to talk about, even think about. The worst of it being what Steven did to her.

"So, um, when did you two get engaged?" Jackie wondered.

Donna and Eric smiled. "About a month ago."

"That's great," Jackie said. "What did Dad say?"

Even though she didn't talk to the Point Place people as often as they would like, she still thought of Bob as her father ... he'd been so good to her.

"He was very protective at first, did the whole "intentions" talk with Eric, and the threatening to kill him if he hurt me, but eventually he warmed up to the idea.

Jackie nodded. "So, two weeks away from the big day. Nervous?"

Both Donna and Eric nodded. "Of course, it's such a huge step, but we wouldn't be doing it if we weren't ready."

"So what about you, Jackie? Anyone special in your life?" Donna asked her.

"Of course," she said.

Donna and Eric gave her a "continue?" look.

"Well, you're looking right at him," she said, smiling down at her dog, whose ears perked again, knowing she was talking about him, giving his tail an extra wag. "This pup is the love of my life."

Donna smiled. "Well, sure, but there isn't anyone, you know ... human, in your life?"

Jackie shook her head, still looking at Copper. "There's no one that I'm interested in. I have my work and Copper, and that's good enough."

Donna sensed that Jackie really didn't want to talk about her and relationships, so she dropped the subject.

They were quiet for the rest of the walk, and finally they came back around to the Foreman's house.

As Eric opened the front door, and they all went in, Jackie felt a pit growing in her stomach.

After everything that had happened when she lived here, it brought back too many memories to be back in this house. But, she put on her 'poker' face, and moved into the kitchen. Red and Kitty were there, sitting at the table, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

Red looked up as Copper pranced towards him, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

"What the hell is this doing in my kitchen?" he demanded, looking at his wife, then at Eric and Donna.

"His name is Copper, and he wanted to say hi," Jackie said, with a surprising amount of bitterness in her voice.

"Jackie? Is that you?" Kitty asked.

"Yes, Mrs. Foreman," Jackie said, allowing the older woman to hug her.

"Will someone get this mutt out of my face?" Red complained as Copper jumped onto his lap, trying to play with the grumpy old man.

Jackie rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers twice, calling Copper over to her. He sat down by her feet, looking both sad and confused.

"He wasn't hurting you Mr. Foreman, he was saying hello. It wouldn't kill you to at least pretend to be nice," she said, before walking away to take Copper back over to Donna's house.

Everyone in the kitchen was quiet as they stood, waiting for Jackie to return.

They all looked at Red, waiting for him to explode.

"I like her," he said, flipping his newspaper back up and starting to read.

Donna and Eric looked at each other with surprised expressions on their faces, and Kitty just looked annoyed.

"It figures. Someone has the balls to stand up to him, and that he likes," she mumbled, walking over to the fridge to get a drink.

"What is up with her?" Donna asked Eric, sitting down at the table beside Red.

"I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't even talk to him like that," Eric said.

"Damn right," Red commented, flipping the page over.

"She's so different," Donna said, just as Hyde walked through the sliding door.

"Who's so different?" he wondered, sitting down and taking the discarded half of Red's paper.

"Um ..." Donna looked to Eric for help.

Crap!

"Uh, hey man, there was, uh, something I wanted you to look at in the, uh ..."

But he was interrupted from his babbling as Jackie walked into the kitchen, talking about leaving the dog in the back yard, and then stopped dead as she saw Steven Hyde sitting at the kitchen table.

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Okay, end of chapter two. I hope you're liking it so far.

Feedback is wanted, appreciated, desired ... requested?