A/N: Hey, I'm updating early because 1) I'm bored and 2) I'm uber pissed off. So I'll post the new episode and make myself feel better that way! This one is longer than I thought it was, but oh well. Hope you like it!

9.6: Come Together

Eric was sitting the basement, reveling in his day off, when Laurie came down the steps to do laundry.

"Hey, nerd, are you going to do anything productive today?" she asked.

"Hey, Skanks, are you going to do anyone productive today?" he asked, staring at the ceiling.

"That was actually pretty good," she said, closing the dryer door. "If not, you're going to come with me."

"Oh joy, where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to Green Bay."

"Why on Earth would I go to Green Bay?"

"Well can't a sister want to spend some quality time with her baby brother who's going off to college so soon?" she asked, sitting next to him on the couch and wrapping her arms around him.

"Ha haaaah, what's the scheme, Laurie?" he asked. "You're only this nice when you want something, I've seen you do it hundreds of times before."

"Fine," she said. "I have an ex out there who owes me money and I want to get a new outfit for a possible new boyfriend."

"Ah, how noble," Eric said. "Well, as fun as that sounds, I'm going ice fishing with Red, Fez, and Hyde in about, oh, an hour."

"That's not fair!" Laurie said. "I really needed a car!"

"So ask Donna," Eric said. "But don't tell her I suggested it. She's not a fan of you."

"I'm not a fan of her either, how convenient," Laurie said. "I'll go find her." She walked up the steps, and Fez and Hyde strolled into the basement from the outside.

"Where's Red?" Fez asked. "I can't wait to go get some fish! Janie LOVES fish."

"Why don't you just ask her out, man?" Hyde asked. "It's more normal than getting her fish."

"But the fish is like a present," Fez said.

"Or a bribe," Eric stated.

"Or a bribe," Fez acknowledged.

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Donna, Jackie, and Janie were at the Hub when Laurie strolled in.

"Girls road trip!" she exclaimed. The three of them exchanged glances.

"Huh?" Donna asked.

"Come on, ladies!" Laurie said. "We're going to Green Bay!"

"… We are?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, big smile across her face. "Girls, it's going to be fun! Laurie, Donna, Jackie, and… Okay, who are you?" Janie smiled sardonically.

"I'm Janie."

"Janie! We'll talk about boys, hair, make up, other girls," Laurie said.

"Cut to the chase, Laurie," Donna said.

"I need a ride so I can get some money from my ex," Laurie stated, sitting at the table. "He owes me two hundred dollars, which is rightfully mine!"

"You mean rightfully your Dad's," Jackie said.

"Like you can talk, Princess," Laurie said, and Jackie wrinkled her nose at her. "So we go for a drive, have an estrogen fest, and I get my money. Sound like fun?"

"Not really," Janie said.

"I'll buy you all booze."

"We're all legal."

"But it's on me," Laurie said. Donna, Jackie, and Janie all looked at each other.

"Okay," they all said in unison.

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Kitty was baking some bread when Bob walked into the house.

"Hello, Bob," she said. "Next time would ya knock please? I've heard about a sting of burglaries around town, and-."

"Kitty, the house isn't selling," Bob said.

"What?"

"My house. It's not selling," Bob said. "It just won't sell! I don't understand it! We got rid of the rats, we got rid of the smell that got rid of the rats, but no one wants it!" Kitty sighed, and knew she and Bob were going to have to talk. And she wasn't fond of their heart to heart chats. He got very huggy and needy.

"Well Bob, maybe you should start evaluating the entire situation," Kitty said. "After all, you can't afford a place in Florida if you can't get some money for this house, can you?"

"No, I really can't," Bob said. "It's not like it's going to affect Donna that much. She's probably going to stay in Wisconsin since she's going to school here. I was just looking forward to living down there, in the sun, near the ocean, in the warmth. Maybe meet a nice woman." Kitty laughed, and then covered her mouth.

"It's the way you said warmth," she tried, and he seemed to fall for it.

"I don't know, Kitty," Bob said. "I have one more prospective buyer coming in this afternoon, but I've lost all my confidence."

"Now Bob, don't give up!" Kitty said, clapping her hands together quickly. "This is a great place to live, Point Place is a wonderful town! Why, from our great community center down to the historic movie theater all the way to that rat hole The Hub, it's a town with character. And I think that people should be knocking each other out of the way trying to buy your house. Make them know that!"

"Yeah.. Yeah! They should be lucky to get a house in this town!" Bob exclaimed. "Well I'll tell you something, Kitty! I'm going to make sure that they buy this house today!"

"That's the spirit!" she exclaimed. He hugged her, and she hugged back awkwardly. "Now you go over there and you get ready to charm the pants off of them!" He rushed out the door, and Kitty sighed.

"At least he didn't cry," she said.

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Red was driving, Eric was in the front seat, and Fez and Hyde were in the back.

"Hey, Dad, here's a question," Eric said, holding up his hand. "Just out of curiosity, how come you've never asked us to go ice fishing before now?"

"Because, Eric, I never wanted Kelso to come along," Red said, simply and crankily. "I figured he'd punch too large a hole in the ice and we'd all fall through."

"He was stupid like that," Fez said. "I miss Kelso!"

"Besides, you and Donna are going off to college in the fall, so Kitty said I should try to get some bonding in before you leave," Red said.

"Then why are Hyde and Fez here too?"

"Hyde is here because he's competent. Fez is here because he invited himself."

"Yes I did," Fez said.

"Of all the things in the world that could encourage male bonding it had to be ice fishing," Eric said. "Do you know how cold it is up at the lake?"

"Stop your whining and take it like a man," Red said.

"Yeah, Foreman, take it like a man," Hyde said. "I for one could use a man's man's weekend. Living with Jackie is driving me nuts."

"But she isn't talking to you," Fez said. "How can that drive you crazy?"

"…. It just does!" Hyde said. "I don't know what was worse, when she was yelling at me or now that she's ignoring me."

"Yeah, what happened between you two?" Eric asked. "What did you do that made her stop talking to you?"

"Guys, this isn't manly talk," Red said.

"…. I don't know what happened," Hyde lied. "Whatever, I should just enjoy the silence in the apartment."

"Janie is so pretty," Fez said.

"We get it, you have a crush on her!" Eric said.

"She is hot," Hyde said.

"I just don't know what to say to her," Fez said. "We're so different. She's a bad ass tattoo artist and I'm a shampoo boy."

"Oh for crying out loud, I might as well have invited a bunch of junior high girls to come on this trip!" Red exclaimed. A silence fell over the car, as they assessed what to go with next.

"… Do you guys think I'm pretty enough for her?" Fez asked. Hyde snorted in amusement, and Eric burst out laughing, while Red just rolled his eyes.

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The girls weren't faring much better. Donna was driving, Jackie was in the front seat, and Laurie and Janie were eyeing each other, being the antitheses of each other.

"Green Bay is so lame," Jackie said.

"Says the girl from Point Place," Donna stated. "Laurie, where are we going?"

"It's an apartment complex on State Street," she said. "This guy had better cough up the dough."

"It's not like you can't strip for it all back," Donna said.

"Classy," Janie said.

"It's not the money, it's the principle!" Laurie said. "Okay, it's also the money."

"So who is this new boyfriend?" Jackie asked. "Is he like all other guys?"

"How do you mean?" Laurie asked.

"I mean is he totally scum who's only interested in your body?"

"Jackie, not all guys are like that!" Donna exclaimed.

"And you call yourself a feminist!" Jackie snapped back.

"I am a feminist, and that isn't what feminists believe!" Donna stated. "For example, Eric isn't like that." 'Wooo' all the others said, unimpressed, and Donna scowled.

"So I got a good guy," she said.

"There are so few of those," Janie mused.

"I won't be persecuted because of it," Donna said. "Is this the place?" Laurie looked out the window, and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'll be right back, ladies." She hopped out of the car, and bounded into the building.

"So how come your attitude towards men has become even more nihilistic?" Janie asked, and Jackie shrugged.

"Have you and Hyde begun talking again yet?" Donna asked.

"Why did you stop talking?" Janie asked.

"Because," Jackie said. "We both just had a bad day and took it out on each other. That's all."

"So you aren't talking because of a 'that's all' scenario?" Janie asked.

"Jackie and Hyde 'that's all' scenarios are the equivalent of a fissure in the San Andreas fault," Donna said.

"Yikes," Janie said.

"So why did Red take the boys ice fishing?" Jackie asked, desperate to change the subject.

"I don't know," Donna said. "Something about Kitty imposing male bonding on Eric, at least that's how Eric described it."

"That sounds like Kitty," Jackie said. "Imposing whatever on whoever."

"How verbose of you," Donna said. "I don't know…. I kind of wish my Dad had gone, he's been acting all weird lately cuz our house isn't selling."

"Why isn't it selling?" Janie asked.

"That's an easy one. It's Point Place," Donna said. "No one wants to live in Point Place."

"That's for sure," Jackie said. "If I get into Minnesota, I'm leaving Point Place and only coming back when I'm socially obligated to."

"Everyone's getting out," Janie said. "Point Place is a town that's going to die because the youth keep leaving."

"Sad!" Donna exclaimed.

"But true," Janie said. "Heck, once I have enough money I'm going to try and go to Eau Claire and get my college diploma."

"And then there's people like Laurie," Donna said. "Who just keep coming back." As she said this, Laurie leapt into the back seat.

"FLOOR IT!" she exclaimed.

"What?!" Donna asked.

"Go! He wouldn't give it to me so I took it!" Donna hit the gas, and a angry looking man began chasing after their car.

"Now THIS is exciting!" Jackie exclaimed.

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The boys were sitting in a shack, holding fishing poles, and not talking.

"Now this is male bonding," Red said. "Simply sitting, no distractions, no women to muck up our conversation."

"Or lack thereof," Hyde said.

"And that's what male bonding should be," Red said. "Be it hunting or camping or fishing or watching the big game, I say in it's purest form it's one of God's greatest gifts to our species." They all nodded, and Eric held up his hand.

"So I'm terrified of living with Donna in the fall," he said.

"JEEZE!" Red exclaimed, disgusted with the deviation from his perfection.

"Why?" Fez asked.

"Because right now I have a sanctuary from her," Eric said. "If we get in a fight, I go to my house and she goes to hers. But if we get an apartment in Madison I'll have no where to hide from her wrath."

"When Jackie and I were dating and we lived together, if she ever got mad at me I'd sleep on the couch," Fez said. "… Make her sleep on the couch."

"And how often were you sleeping on the couch?" Hyde asked.

"Whenever I asked her to do it."

"Which was how much?"

"Basically every other night."

"I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did," Hyde said.

"Well at least she's still talking to me," Fez said.

"I'm over it," Hyde said.

"Ha!" Eric laughed. "I can tell it's still driving you insane. At least when she talked to you it showed she cared. Now she's indifferent."

"Shut up, Foreman, it's just a phase," Hyde said. "It'll work itself out."

"So are you going to apologize?" Eric asked.

"Why should I apologize to her?" Hyde asked.

"You guys, I really like Janie," Fez said.

"We heard you the first ten times," Hyde said.

"Hey, we didn't cover my girl problems!" Eric said. "What do I do about moving in with Donna?"

"You were going to marry her at one point and now you are questioning moving in with her?" Hyde asked. "Are you seriously that afraid of commitment?"

"I'm not as afraid as you!" Eric said.

"Hey, I was married!... Sort of."

"Not legally," Fez said.

"But I kept Sam around because I thought I'd made a commitment to her," Hyde said.

"No, you kept her around because it was a get out of jail free card to you," Eric said. "What about your commitment to Jackie?"

"Since when do you defend Jackie?" Hyde said. "You call her Yoko, Satan, Darth Burkhart-."

"See! This is why I can't live with Donna! I'll start acting like.. like…"

"Like a woman?" Red asked.

"Yes!"

"IT'S A LITTLE LATE FOR THAT!" Red exclaimed. "For all of you!" The angry silence fell, and Red sighed.

"Finally, back to silence," he said. "It may be an angry one, but that's better male bonding than what you guys were doing."

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Kitty was baking a hot stew for when the guys returned, when Bob walked into the house.

"Kitty, I think I blew it," he said.

"Bob, what do you mean?" she asked. "And what did I say about knocking?"

"The last prospective buyers just left," Bob said. "And they were not too happy."

"Why not?" Kitty asked.

"Well, I told them everything about the house," he said. "About the previous owners, how great it was for raising Donna, and about the town."

"So what went wrong?" Kitty asked.

"I stepped through the stairs."

"… You mean you literally stepped THROUGH the staircase?"

"I guess we have some carpenter ants," Bob said. Kitty sighed, and shook her head.

"Oh Bob," she said.

"But Kitty, you know something?" he asked. "After telling them all the great things about this town, and after what you said this morning, I realized something. I don't think that I want to leave this town after all. I grew up here and raised my daughter here. Why should I leave?" Kitty smiled, and pat his shoulder.

"I think that's the right decision," she said. "That's why Red and I decided to stay."

"That and Florida is really muggy," Bob said. "And my biggest problem here is ants. Down there it would be gators!" Kitty nodded, and Bob stood.

"So you can tell Red the good news when he gets back from his fishing trip!" Bob said. "Now we'll get to be neighbors until the bitter end." He left, and Kitty laughed, thinking about how Red was going to react to that little fact.

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The girls were sitting in the cold car, pissed off.

"Donna, how is it that your car DIES ten miles away from Point Place?" Laurie asked.

"I don't know what the problem is!" Donna exclaimed. "I mean, the gas tank is full, I got a new alternator right before Christmas, the battery is BRAND NEW…"

"I'm still shocked that Jackie of all people is looking under the hood," Janie said.

"She has a gift," Donna said. "We don't know where she got it, but Red perfected it one summer."

"Why doesn't she work in his muffler shop if she hates her job at the station?" Janie asked.

"Jackie Burkhart in a muffler shop?" Laurie asked. "That would be the day. At least I got my money. Now I can go out and get that outfit I've been after."

"Laurie, doesn't it occur to you that maybe there's more to life than going after men with money?" Donna asked.

"Why would there be?" Laurie asked. "I'm content being a professional gold digger. I just want a sugar daddy to take care of me."

"Then why did you marry Fez?" Donna asked. Janie looked at Laurie, shocked.

"You married my roommate?" she asked. "Why did he marry you?"

"Two words, Janie Rotten, American Citizenship," Laurie said. "Not that it helped him, he had to take the test anyway."

"So you're divorced then?" Janie asked.

"I think so," Laurie said. "He took care of that. Why, jealous of me?"

"Hardly," Janie said. "Sort of disappointed in Fez."

Jackie knocked on Donna's window, shivering.

"What's wrong with it, Jackie?" Donna asked, rolling it down. "Did my engine completely die? Am I going to have to shell over a bunch of money to fix yet another thing?"

"Donna, when's the last time you had your oil changed?" Jackie asked, holding up a bone dry dipstick. Donna bit her lip, and shrugged.

"I… don't remember," Donna said.

"Well this would indicate it's been a freaking while!" Jackie exclaimed.

"Okay okay okay," Donna said. "There's oil in the trunk." She handed Jackie the keys, and Jackie went to get the oil from the trunk.

"Well I feel dumb," Donna said.

"You should," Laurie said.

"No one asked you, professional gold digger," Donna said. "Consider this trip a favor!"

"What, aren't we all friends here?" Laurie asked.

"Not really," Janie said.

"Remember, I'm buying you booze," Laurie said.

"It's going to be really expensive booze," Donna said.

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As the guys drove home, some fish in tow, they still weren't talking to each other. Fez was the first to speak in the car ride.

"So do you think Janie will like fish?" he asked.

"Yeah Fez, give a woman a fish and she'll melt for you," Hyde said, sarcastically.

"Well at least I caught some fish!" Fez said.

"I didn't want any fish," Hyde muttered.

"You guys never helped me with my Donna problem," Eric said.

"Well you never helped me with my Jackie problem," Hyde said back.

"Because it's not a problem!" Eric said. "If you just treated her like a human being your problem would be solved."

"And if you got a commitment spine yours would be too!" Hyde snapped.

"Says the notorious commitment phobe!"

"If you boys can't stop fighting I'm going to turn this car around and toss you into the frozen lake!" Red stated. "Do I really have to knock some sense into all you dumbasses? Really? Fine!" He stopped the car on the side of the road, and looked at all of them.

"Fez, Janie is just a woman," Red said. "She'll like you if you are a nice guy."

"But Jackie didn't-."

"Janie isn't Jackie," Red said. "You can't judge one woman by the others. They hate you for it. Give her a fish and the thought will knock her socks off." He turned to Eric.

"Son, stop worrying about something that's months away! For cryin' out loud, you two basically live together already! You fight, you make up, you fight, you make up. You'll get used to it! You'll probably have to sleep on the couch a few times. Every man does. WHO CARES?" He turned to Hyde.

"And YOU," he said. "Swallow your pride and stop acting like this girl betrayed you! You should be so lucky if she ever talks to you again, but a way to get her to do so is just BE NICE. Everyone knows you care about her, stop running away from that!" He turned the engine back on, and sped back onto the road. The guys were speechless, and Eric raised his hand.

"Dad, I-."

"We aren't talking the rest of the drive, you understand me?" Red asked. "You dumbasses made me break the rules of male bonding, and I'm not going to forget that soon! So SHUT UP." Eric put his hand down, and the rest of the drive was long and awkward.

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Fez got back to the apartment, and sat next to Janie on the couch.

"I brought you a fish for dinner," he said. "Does this knock your socks off?" She looked at him, eyebrows arched.

"Uh, thanks" she said. "That's really thoughtful of you. But I have a date tonight. Speaking of which, I should go get ready." She smiled at him,, and stood up and walked into her room.

"Red, you LIED to me," Fez said.

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Eric knocked on Donna's bedroom door, and walked in. She was on the bed, holding a glass of champagne.

"What's with the bubbly?" he asked.

"Your sister bought bottles for me, Jackie, and Janie because we acted as her get away car while she robbed an ex," she said.

"Oh. Well, is it really champagne or is it fake?"

"It's real. And the best part is that it cost almost as much as the money she took back from her ex," Donna whispered, and laughed. He laughed too, and kissed her. "What was that for?"

"I don't know," he said. She smiled, and shoved the glass in his face.

"Drink!" she exclaimed, spilling a little.

"Okay, no more for you," he said, taking the glass from her.

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Jackie was sitting on the couch watching Singing in the Rain on TV, when Hyde walked in. She looked up, and saw that he had a pizza box in his hand.

"Pizza," he said, setting it on the coffee table. She was going to turn off the TV and go into her room, but he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him. "It's veggie. I know you think meat is too fatty." She looked at the pizza, and then at him.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"No reason," he said, and grabbed a slice. "Just thought we could use a pizza." She also grabbed a slice, and looked back at him.

"What's it really for?" she asked.

"It's just a pizza," he said.

"I don't believe you."

"…. Fine…"

"So is this an 'I'm sorry' pizza?" she asked.

"……. Yeah... I'm sorry. Can we just try to be friends again?"

"… We can try." She smiled at him gently, and continued to sit and watch the movie. Which, they both knew, was progress. So he smiled, and watched with her.

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Donna burst into the kitchen from the snowy weather outside. Bob was putting out sandwiches for dinner.

"Man Dad, I can't tell you how I can't wait to visit you in Florida," she said, putting her coat on the coat hook. "Wisconsin weather is just crazy! Plus, I'll have a free Spring break to Florida! How cool is that?"

"About that, honey," Bob said, pushing a sandwich her way. "I've decided not to sell the house. Point Place is my home, and I'm too old to try and find a new one." Donna stared at Bob, who smiled, and bit into his sandwich. She continued staring, and he winked at her. "Aren't you hungry, kiddo?"

FADE OUT