Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Zane instantly brightened, smiling at her as he went to the window.

"Ah, relax Jojo, I said someday."

She smiled back at him, crossing her arms.

"Well, apparently I haven't eaten in four years and I'm starving. Want to grab lunch? Catch me up on what I missed?"

She stared at him, startled. After a moment of thought, she nodded, giving him a quick smile.

"Yeah."

She waited out in the lobby for him as he checked out of quarantine. Once he was free of the confining box, he jogged over to her and pulled her to him. "Hello beautiful." He whispered, pecking her quickly on the lips. She blushed and pulled away quickly, embarrassed, but for an entirely different reason. She tugged on her ponytail, shuffling her feet nervously before looking up.

"Come on, let's go."

And before Zane could say anything, she dashed out of the quarantine chamber like her feet were on fire. It took a couple minutes for Zane to get over the shock, but once he did, he followed, eventually catching up with her on the street.

"Hey, what's up with you?" He asked, taking her arm. She looked up at him.

"Cafe Diem for lunch?" She interrupted, pulling away from him and making her way across the street towards the cafe.

"Jo, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." She replied over her shoulder.

"No, something's wrong. You're jumpy, like something's happened. You're acting like... like..." He stepped in front of her, taking her shoulders. "Like our coming back is a bad thing." He said, shaking her gently. She bit her lip nervously. But then her normally stubborn personality showed itself.

"I'm not saying it's not..." She started.

"But?" Zane asked. She thought a moment, glancing down at his shoes. Then, her head snapped up and she pulled away from him. "Outside or in?"

"What?" He asked.

"Where should we sit? Outside or in?" He shrugged. Apparently he wasn't going to talk to her now. But get something in their stomachs, and they'd be up and able to talk. "Outside?" She took his silence for agreement, and hurried to the cafe. "Sit and I'll go in and let Vincent know we're sitting outside. Oh," She turned back when she reached the door. "What do you want?"

"Um..." He was still surprised that Jo was avoiding talking to him. "Just a triple shot espresso."

"Latte?" She asked. He furrowed his brow.

"Um.. sure."

He watched her disappear into the cafe, clearly confused. Taking a seat at the table, he went back over what Jo had told him- which hadn't been much. Everytime he'd tried to broach the subject, she'd change it, pull away, or run off. It was like she didn't remember the mission leaving. Her return caused him to break out of thought, and he looked up at her, smiling. She smiled back before taking a sip of her latte.

"So, what's been going on since we left? Anything major that I need to know about?"

"Ah..."

"Here we go, a triple shot espresso latte with an extra sugar." Vincent said, setting a cup down in front of him.

"Thanks Vin." Vincent nodded.

"Welcome back." Zane smiled at him. "Thanks." He looked around, noticing the two Andys walking by, the

"... computers are running GD. The people are really okay with that?" Jo laughed softly.

"No. They don't have a choice. Senator Wen mandated it. Carter and I still protect the town, not that there's much to protect it from."

Zane looked down at his cup, letting the information sink in. "So robots are in charge, you're back in uniform, are there any other changes i should know about?" He asked, watching a couple of kids skateboard down the street passed parked cars and passersby. Jo glanced over her shoulder to see Vincent watering a plant. The cafe owner nodded towards Zane, mouthing "Tell him." She shook her head. He nodded again, and again, she shook her head, firmer this time. When Zane looked back at Jo, Vincent had rushed back into the cafe.

"There is this... this one thing that..." Jo noticed something out of the corner of her eye. "Ah... do you mind, we're trying to have a private conversation here." When Zane looked up, he couldn't hide the surprise he was sure Jo saw in his face.

Something that looked like something out of a Star Wars movie floated several feet away from them. With sleek, slender wings, and an almost triangular head, it focused on Jo and Zane and only them.

"Let's just go inside." He said, starting to stand. Jo stood, stopping him.

"No." She turned her attention back to the floating flat iron. "We're talking, so back off." Jo snapped. The thing didn't move. But after a moment, it rose higher and tilted forward.

"Return to your seat." Zane's eye widened at the robotic voice coming from the machine.

"Or what?" Jo asked, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. Something on the machine flashed red, an alarm sounded.

"You have ten seconds to comply." Zane cringed at the voice in the iron. "Ten... nine... eight..."

"What you can't handle me on your own?" Jo asked, stepping forward.

"seven... six... five... four... three... two... one."

"Jo... hey, just take it easy!" Zane said, stepping in front of her. The thing fired what looked like two small ninja stars, that attached to Zane's shirt. He heard Sheriff Carter yelling at him, but couldn't make it out. Suddenly the stars shocked, and he was thrown over the fence and onto the ashalt.

"What did you do?" Jo demanded, hopping over the fence and joining Allison and Carter by Zane's side.