AN: So, I'm not too satisfied with this chapter, but its mostly because it's more dialog oriented than usual, something that I always have trouble with.

The title of this chapter is a quote in Shakespeare's Hamlet, but I'm really using it in the context of Tom Stoppard's absurdist play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead which is Stoppard own rendition of Hamlet but Ros and Guil are the main characters. Basically, their characters were sort of plucked from nowhere and placed in the play a little like I've plucked S6 Hyde and placed in post S8 land for you guys.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 5: Time is Out of Joint

Hours had passed since Jackie had left, and Hyde had been spending all of his time in his room trying his best to remember anything. He barely even knew if he wanted to marry Jackie, so why in the hell would he marry someone else? It took a long time for him to begin to trust that Jackie loved him and really wanted to be in a relationship with him and not Kelso. He couldn't imagine finding someone else and suddenly taking that kind of step with them. It was Hyde's opinion that marriage just messed things up, and once he and Jackie did get married, she would realize after a few years what a big mistake she made. He could never give her the material possessions that she wanted in life. However, there were some moments where Jackie would do something so uncharacteristic, like not mentioning her birthday, that he began thinking that maybe she didn't need those things anymore. She really wasn't as shallow as she used to be, and everyday it seemed like the importance of material wealth decreased in value for her. Hyde figured that if one day he ever did change his mind, he would only want to take that step with Jackie.

Knowing that much, Jackie's words were driving him crazy. That wasn't him. He would never just marry someone, especially if he knew it would hurt her so much. There had to be a catch behind all of this, and he was going to find out what that was.

But first things first, he had to shaved this mustache off. That was another thing driving him nuts. He hated mustaches especially big furry ones that made him look like a porn star. Didn't he tease Kelso endlessly about his when he went off to the police academy a few weeks ago? Wait… 2 years ago. Damn! He had to stop doing that.

Time was really out of joint, and it seemed that other parts of his personality were too.

Hyde stood in the tiny bathroom in the back of the basement staring into the water spotted mirror. The place was a total mess. Hyde remembered being somewhat of a slob, but not this much of one.

He concentrated hard on his own reflection, staring into his eyes' icy caves. Hyde always hated doing this. There was just something about his eyes that made him feel so uncomfortable. They revealed too much of himself that he really didn't want to see. But this time, Hyde didn't stop himself. He had to figure things out, and he had to figure them out on his own. He wasn't going to argue with the Foremans anymore about seeing the doctor, but he was going to do everything in his willpower to not have to go for very long.

Hyde continued to stare deep into his eyes, his chest slowly tearing the longer he stood there. It wasn't from an epiphany that struck him or finding exactly what he was searching for. They were blank. Eyes that Jackie once told him were utterly endless, crystal gems that she could get lost in, exposed to him nothing except a dead end.

Hyde swore and opened the mirror to pull out his shaving cream and razor. He really didn't know why he thought it would work, but he was desperate and willing to give anything a try. Hyde lathered up his face thinking of all the possibilities of why he lost his memory. Space aliens, maybe? He didn't believe they were alone in this big universe; besides, all the abduction stories seemed pretty real. Maybe that's really why he crashed his El Camino. He was taken up to the mother ship while he was driving, and spent 2 years space time being examined which was only seconds in earth years.

Hyde stopped shaving. Wait… That doesn't make sense.

It had to be the government. Something had to happen that made them erase his memory. Maybe that's what all of this about. He married someone else, grew a mustache and became a total slob in order to hide his identity, but then the government got to him before he could escape, erasing his memory of any inkling of whenever his plot started.

Hyde shook his head, halfway done with shaving. He should have suspected.

Hyde finished shaving and rinsed up, wiping his face in the nearest towel. The cotton felt smooth against his cheeks. He moved his mouth muscles around, feeling the difference of the weight on his upper lip. He looked back in the mirror, seeing a familiar face staring back. All the conspiracy theories aside, he really had to figure out what the hell happened. He wanted his old life back, the one that he remembered. Sure, having a dad that wasn't Bud and running a record store might have been cool, but that wasn't what was really important. What was important was getting Jackie back and finding out why everyone wasn't their normal selves anymore.

Hyde walked out of the bathroom and made his way into the basement. The only person there was Foreman who was watching Charlie's Angels. Hyde took a seat in his normal chair, feeling Eric's eyes on him.

"So, I see you shaved off your beloved pornstache." Eric remarked with a smirk.

Hyde rubbed the smooth skin above his lip trying to imagine why he would wear such a hideous thing with pride. "Yeah. I didn't like it and wanted it gone."

Eric just nodded his head and continued watching the show.

"So Eric," Hyde began. He hated going to others for help, but he needed to know something about this whole marriage thing without Jackie bolting on him. "Jackie says that we've been broken up for a few months because I married someone else."

Eric tensed at his words. He silently remembered when he tried talking to Hyde about what happened soon after he returned from Africa. With a beer in his hand and a cold, stoic look on his face, all he said was it happened and now it was over. This new situation was very different from the previous one, but Eric didn't feel weird with this Hyde. This Hyde was the best friend he grew up with who might have been stand offish when it came to his feelings, but he at least would talk to him about his problems. It might have been a few words of doubt, but it was never blowing him off completely. Since his return, Eric had been seeking the soothing comfort from answers and the key to unlock what everyone once had in the past. Not only did he turn up short, but he also had given up on trying.

So, Eric told Hyde everything he knew. He told him about Jackie's demands of a promise for a future together and the ultimatum that arose from her job offer in Chicago. He explained how soon after Hyde's marriage, Jackie wrote him a few letters explaining the uncompromising position Hyde found her in with Kelso and how he immediately jumped to conclusions. Eric hesitated when it came to the part in his story when Jackie told him that what hurt the most of all wasn't that he actually drunkenly married a stripper, but that he stayed with her and pretended as if their relationship never existed.

Hyde stopped Eric's tale by jumping from his seat and pacing the room like a caged tiger. His head pounded from self directed insults and the frustrating pain of not remembering a damn thing.

"No." Hyde finally said, stopping to stare down at his friend. "No, I wouldn't just stay with some trashy stripper that I married while drunk in Vegas."

Eric met his exacerbated stare. "Well, you did."

"Damn it!" Hyde turned around, trying his best to get a grip on his anger. He knew he was showing Foreman a little too much than he wanted, but he just couldn't concentrate on that. His head was spinning. He kept repeating to himself, You did it again. You promised her you'd never do it again. Hyde swallowed his aggression ignoring the tumbling inside of him as he turned back around to face his friend.

"So where is this wife of mine now? If we're married and I stayed with her, why isn't she here?"

Eric felt the venom in Hyde's voice spit out at him, burning his skin. He wasn't the person to ask since he wasn't even around for all of this, but as his best friend, he couldn't push him away and tell him to ask someone else. "Well, apparently, she lied to you and you guys weren't even really married. She was still married to this one guy that she ran off with a few months after you got hitched."

Hyde's heart thudded in his chest like a jack hammer. "Well isn't that fucking great." His swearing gave a tiny sweet release, but his anger just consumed him more. "I threw away my relationship with Jackie for some bitch that I wasn't even really married to. I don't fucking believe this!"

Hyde plopped down on the couch next to Eric, trying his best to control the tempo of his breathing and the panic racing through him. How was he ever supposed to get Jackie back now?

Eric watched his friend carefully. The stress marked all over his face assured Eric something that he knew all along. Eric saw the way Jackie and Hyde were when they were together. That kind of love just doesn't shut off. Eric believed Hyde when he said that he wouldn't hurt Jackie in this way. Eric fully knew that this Hyde loved Jackie even though he tried so hard to deny it. The unfeeling and heartless man that sat on his couch just yesterday was the product of some kind of disconnect that Hyde experienced once Sam came. It didn't mean that he loved Jackie any less, he was just more prone to hiding it at all costs. This Hyde had no clue the things he thought after Sam came or the experiences he had before. Just like Eric, he was coming back to his friends only knowing what had occurred from the words spoken.

"Do you believe in aliens?" Hyde finally asked. His voice was considerably calmer. It would have been safe to say that he sounded like his own self if it wasn't for the far away discomfort clogged in his throat.

"Hyde, are you seriously asking me if I believe that aliens exist?"

Hyde chuckled. "You're right. You know they exist and are fighting Luke Skywalker with light sabers."

"Why do you ask me?"

Hyde shook his head and gestured to his head. "I'm just trying to figure out why the hell this happened to me."

"So you think aliens did this?" Eric lifted a skeptical eyebrow.

"Not really. After thinking about it, I kind of realized that wouldn't work. You know, with the time and stuff."

Eric smirked and decided to leave Hyde alone with his own coping mechanisms. More than likely he wouldn't listen to him anyways.

"So what are you going to do?" Eric finally asked after a few minutes of \ silence. Hyde scrunched his forehead really taking the question into consideration. Finally, he came to a conclusion and slightly relaxed, giving into the reality of what he had to do.

"I'm going to talk to Jackie. Hopefully this time she doesn't run away again." Hyde pushed himself off the ratty couch and made his way out of the basement.

Hyde knocked on Donna's bedroom door, his brain tossing and turning trying to figure out what he was going to say. His insides were writhing with anticipation, but as always, his calm exterior told the world he was as apathetic about it all.

It shocked Hyde a little to see Donna open her door so widely, as if she wasn't hording a little crying brunette away from him. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion at his sudden presence.

"What are you doing here, Hyde?"

Hyde walked into Donna's room, looking to where Jackie's cot used to be. Instead, the space was empty and the carpet no longer had an imprint of her makeshift bed. It was as if she had never even been there.

"I'm looking for Jackie." Hyde announce and quickly pointed to the space. "Where is her cot?"

Donna hung her head, guilt shining its heavy light on her once more. "Hyde, Jackie doesn't live here anymore."

Hyde scanned his eyes around the room once more. "Well where does she live?"

"She lives with Fez at his apartment."

"Fez has an apartment?"

Donna released an exasperated sigh and touched her forehead in frustration. "Fez and Kelso got an apartment a while ago, and once Kelso moved out to live in Chicago to work at the Playboy Mansion as a security guard, Jackie moved in with Fez."

Hyde nodded his head. "Kelso works at the Playboy Mansion, huh? Nice." His sleazy grin wiped off his face. "Well, which apartment do they live at?"

"The one on 3rd, room 2B…" Donna was interrupted by Hyde making a beeline out of her room. "NO! Wait, Hyde."

Hyde turned around at Donna's doorway waiting for her to speak. Donna bit her lip thinking as fast as she could.

"I don't have all day, Donna."

"Alright, alright." Donna walked closer to Hyde, wringing her hands together nervously. "Y-y-esterday, before your accident…. Um… I sort of said some things to you that I shouldn't have."

Hyde rolled his eyes beneath his aviators. "Is that it? Look Donna, I don't remember, so it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it." He turned around but was stopped by Donna's strong hand on his shoulder.

"No, just listen, Hyde. I think if I don't give you a proper apology, I'll never feel better about this. You see, yesterday, I was feeling really bad about some things going on with me and Eric."

"You guys having problems?" Hyde asked.

Donna nodded her head affirmatively.

"Well at least that is something I can count on staying the same."

Donna tried ignoring his words, but they scraped at her back, making her shiver with disappointment and anger. "Yeah, well… that's not the point, Hyde. I got angry with you and sort of called you white trash just like your parents."

Hyde froze in his spot, feeling the blow of just the mention of the insult. His parents had always been a sensitive issue with him that usually made lose his zen and want to frog someone. Realization slapped Hyde hard in the face relieving his need for outward aggression.

"Yeah, well, according to what Foreman has told me, I don't blame you. I'd probably say the same thing."

Donna could only stare at his retreating form, completely shaken by his agreement.

Hyde knocked on the door to Fez and Jackie's apartment. His only hope now was that she wouldn't slam the door in his face. He heard through the hard wood Fez's foreign accent calling to who he assumed was Jackie that he would answer the door. Hyde breathed a sigh of relief.

Fez opened the door with a wide grin, but his face fell and his eyes grew wide at the sight of Hyde standing in the hallway. "What are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I came here to talk to Jackie, Fez." He eyed him, daring him to even think about not letting him in.

Fez looked back into the apartment nervously. "Look, Jackie is really upset right now. If I let you in, she'll blow up on me too."

"Fez, if you don't let me in, you'll have to deal with me blowing up on you. You choose which is worse?"

Fez whimpered at Hyde's menacing look. He really hated Hyde's punches. They hurt just as much as Jackie's shin kicks.

To Fez's unwanted surprise, he didn't have to make a decision after all.

"Fezzie, who's at the do-…" Jackie dropped the pair of socks she was rolling up when she noticed Hyde standing there, staring back at her with an awkward and nervous look.

"Hey Jackie." Hyde took a few steps forward deciding that since she hadn't demanded Fez to slam the door in his face just yet, it was probably safe to come in.

"What are you doing here?" Jackie folded her arms and shot daggers into him with her mismatched eyes. Fez nervously held the door looking back and forth between the two.

"I came over because I want to talk about this. Foreman told me what happened and -…"

"No." Jackie's voice bellowed all of the strength she was trying to find inside of her. "No, we had a chance to talk about this for months. I don't care if you lost your damn memory. You lost your chance."

"Jackie please -…"

"No, Steven!" Hyde gulped at the watery fury that danced across her eyes. "You put me through a lot of crap these past few months. Marrying some tramp, rubbing it in my face how much you guys had sex…"

"I don't remember that!" Hyde yelled. It was frustrating him to no end to hear all of these things, but the pain in Jackie's eyes made him instantly regret his outburst. "Look, Jackie, I'm really sorry, okay."

"You're sorry?" Jackie's voice teetered on the edge of sobbing. "Steven, how can you really be sorry if you don't even remember?"

Hyde tried to answer her question ,but like always, his words came up short. Jackie shook her head in disappointment, leaving the room to find sanctuary in her bedroom. For a second, Hyde wondered how many times he saw those eyes after he got "married", the ones that made him feel like the most worthless piece of shit on the planet. Maybe he was better off not remembering. There could have been a reason why he didn't fight for her.

"I'll see you around, Fez." Hyde said to the ground, turning on his heel and steadily walking down the hall.

AN2: I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully soon. I really need to get back into the groove of writing again.