Chapter Nine
Delete: Part I

Jo drove as fast as she could to Henry's garage, now extremely alarmed at what she could possibly find once she arrived. Not only was she worried about Grace, but the cascade failure ripping through the program had put their plan on a much accelerated deadline.

When the group split off, the goal was to get the Astraeus crew to as small an area as possible so that the program wouldn't need to spend as much energy recreating the fake version of Eureka. The problem was that Grace remained missing and no one had heard from her since she'd gone to retrieve the remote detonator. After their run-in with Carter, they couldn't take any chances and Jo was not going to leave Grace behind. So she found herself with one more task before they all hopefully got out dodge.

Zane had been as happy about this rescue mission as he'd been about her running into the Astraeus by herself to blow it up. Her only response was a chaste kiss to his adorably pouty lips and a promise that she would be careful.

Parking in front of the garage, Jo saw that Grace's car was still there. She didn't know what to make of that—did this section of the town still exist because she was there looking at it or did it mean that Grace was still alive inside? Either way, Jo wasn't going to waste time pondering it. Climbing out of her car, she immediately pulled out her gun and ran for the door. It was way past the time for subtlety when it came to this God-forsaken program.

Bursting through the door, she saw Henry leaning into Grace who seemed terrified by the man in front of her. It was a shocking and heartbreaking scene given how devoted the two were to each other in the real world. But this wasn't real and Grace was experiencing the weight of that in the worst way possible; unfortunately there was nothing fabricated about the danger she was currently facing.

Jo didn't hesitate to raise her gun as she came upon Henry advancing towards Grace. She watched carefully when he turned in surprise at her entrance. "Henry, don't move! Put your hands up" she shouted.

"Jo?" he responded raising both his arms in confusion. He seemed momentarily taken aback by the gun she held in front of her. It was pointed directly at his head.

It was a bit of a wildcard shooting him after seeing what little it did with Carter. But she didn't need to completely take him out; she just needed to get him on the ground for a few moments so that she could grab Grace and get back to GD. Glancing back over at Grace's terrified face, Jo felt awful for doing what she was about to do in front of her.

Henry now moved towards Jo, all pretense of surprise giving way to realization. "Ah. Carter suspected Allison or Zane but apparently my good friend has been sleeping with the enemy." Jo almost gagged at the suggestion of her and Carter sharing a bed much less doing anything active within it. His grin was mocking and condescending, everything the real Henry was not.

Noting Grace's movement behind Henry, she did her best to distract him away from her. "Well, Carter won't be doing much of anything anymore judging from the last time I saw him."

Henry frowned. Pushing past some equipment in the middle of the room, he took another step, his scowl transforming into a chuckle. It was definitely a creepy turn coming from her old friend. Is this what Grace had been subjected to when she was here all alone with him?

"I don't think you realize what—"

And then he was gone, vanished in a swirl of virtual mist so quick it hardly seemed possible.

Jo redirected her attention towards the far side of the room to see what looked like jumper cables in Grace's hands. But it was the look on her face that took her breath away. Grace had just killed her husband—or the crazy, evil, virtual version of him. It didn't matter that it wasn't really him and it didn't matter that it was necessary. The pain on her face said it all and there were no words from Jo or anyone else that would make it better.

Jo's eyes softened as Grace's gaze remained on the spot where Henry once stood. She walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" It wasn't the right thing to say but it was all Jo could think of.

Grace finally raised her head as if just noticing that Jo had moved from the door to stand directly in front of her. "Not even close. That was…"

"Unsettling," Jo added after a moment's pause.

"Yeah." Jo gave her shoulder a squeeze and Grace pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Let's go," she said. Jo could tell from her tired expression that she was eager to leave not just the garage but this entire virtual world.

Jo nodded and led her out of the garage.

The first minutes of their car ride were silent, each caught up in her own shock and trauma of what had just gone down a few moments earlier. Jo wanted to give Grace as much space as possible given the circumstances. But the older woman recovered as best she could to focus on the more imminent task at hand. Jo had a lot of respect for her endless well of strength.

"Did it work? Were you able to blow up the ship?" As they drove, Grace noticed the signs all around them that the program was coming apart piece by piece. Jo could sympathize with the fear and panic Grace was trying hard to suppress.

"Yeah," Jo responded grimly. "It was a close one but we got the job done. Unfortunately, the explosion caused a cascade failure in the program and the whole town is de-res'ing. The others are back at GD trying to round up the Astraeus crew in one place so the program doesn't have to render more of Eureka than necessary. Fargo thinks it'll slow the cascade failure and give Carter and Henry enough time to get us out of here."

She didn't fail to notice Grace's wince at hearing her husband's name. Jo looked over at her apologetically.

Grace shook her head as if to dismiss her companion's concern. "That's good. I mean, it's not 'good' but it's a step in the right direction. Where did you find another remote detonator?"

Jo flashed her a cheeky smile. "We didn't. Thus the close call."

"Oh, Jo, I'm so sorry. I—"

Jo cut her off immediately. Grace had enough to process right now without feeling guilty about the ionic resonator. "Grace, you don't need to explain or apologize. At all. The important thing is that it worked and it was mission accomplished. But we're the last two they need to account for so once we join them, we should be good." She rolled her eyes. "Again, not 'good,' but … well, you know what I mean," she responded with a grin.

"Right," Grace muttered softly having ignored Jo's attempt to lighten the mood.

As they saw GD appear in the distance, Jo looked over at her once again. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner." Grace raised her hand to protest but Jo cut her off. "No, it's my responsibility to get you guys out of here and I almost let you down. And there's the real Henry out there that's missing you and waiting for you to come home. I don't want to let him down either. Although," Jo added, "it seems you were doing just fine saving yourself. You did what you had to." Grace kept her eyes on the road ahead not looking convinced or comforted. It didn't help that the view behind them was becoming increasingly chaotic, the scenery breaking away into that awful blue and black nothingness.

Jo pulled up to GD and they both ran out of the car and into the building. They could see the complex shattering and breaking apart even as they ran in to join the others. On the way to the rotunda, Jo gave Grace the short run-down of what had happened back at the ship, watching her horrified expression at the description of Terminator Carter almost ruining the whole thing.

As they waited for the elevator, Grace turned to Jo and gently touched her arm. "Jo, don't feel bad about what happened back there with … that Henry." She sighed. "Knowing that Beverly's involved and what she and her co-conspirators are capable of; knowing how hard this must be for the Henry out there? I wish I could change things. But I can't change anything, at least not from in here where they've made all the rules." She looked away deep within her own musings.

She straightened herself as the elevator doors opened and they both walked in. "Anyway, you know it wasn't going to end well no matter who would have been the one to …" She paused unable to finish the thought. "Just … just thanks for coming back for me."

Jo contemplated the woman standing next to her appearing so serious. "Of course." She briefly squeezed Grace's shoulder again in comfort before they turned towards the doors, waiting for the elevator to stop. "I think we both know what it's like to wake up and realize the man we love is this whole other person. But you get through it, for better or for worse," she said, smiling gently. The doors opened and they rushed out and down the hall.

Jo caught the sad smile with which Grace responded. "I think we're all going to have some healing to do once we get out of here," she said finally.

"No—" At that moment, they both caught the familiar figures of Fargo, Allison and Zane coming around the corner, struggling and out of breath. Something was wrong. As the group got closer, Grace gasped and Jo's eyes widened in shock. "—kidding," she finished.

Zane swept his eyes over Jo and Grace, no doubt checking that they weren't hurt. Assured that they were okay, he let out a long breath of relief but was clearly still pissed about something.

"We've got a little problem guys." He then stared directly at Jo with that frustrating smirk he saved for when he knew she was going to be furious with him. "Sorry JoJo."

TBC...

AN: (Spoilerish for The Honeymooners that just aired) I generally don't write stories that take place during the season that's airing because I like having an understanding of a whole arc when thinking about a character. Writing this chapter is exactly why I have that rule. Grace was a hard one to put my finger on but I decided mostly to just keep it simple. Oh well.

Another chapter will be up quite soon. Tonight (really this morning) is looking unlikely because I'm sleepy. But it's almost ready for the world.

Thanks for reading as always. I appreciate you guys sticking with me.