Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka or any of the characters. They are all owned by SyFy.

A/N: I wrote part of this at the same time as chapter 3, but I wanted to make sure I had resolved the "Zoe issue" before posting. I also set you up for the next crazy theory I have about the whole alt time line thing. Thanks so much for all of the feedback and comments. I love getting them!

XXXXX

Jo was still not home when Zoe got back to the house. Jo's odd behavior made a lot more sense now. At first Zoe had assumed Jo was upset with her over something, maybe because she disapproved of Zane. But now they she knew that Jo was in love with Zane, it made it more clear, and more complicated, all at once.

Zoe wished she could call Pillar and pour out what happened to her, but she had to keep the secret. She would have talked to Jo, but that was out of the question. But Zane... Zane knew. He would be able to commiserate!

She tried to ping Zane on skype but he was not online, so she sent him a text. When he finally called her back after what seemed like forever, he sounded distant on the phone. Zoe did not want to let him know that she had been told, but he still agreed to come over so they could talk.

Of course, the first words out of her mouth when he showed up were "They told me! I know too!" It had taken only a few seconds on confusion before he suggested they go for a walk up in the woods around the entrance to S.A.R.A.H.

Zoe bubbled on for about ten minutes with her reactions to hearing the news, the reactions of everyone else to her reactions, and finally ending with a short rant about Fargo. When she was done venting, and feel better for it, she turned to see Zane walking next to her with a small smile on his face.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Just you seemed like you really needed to talk about that."

"I did!" she said, marveling at how well he seemed to know her. "I wish I could have talked to Jo about it, but I feel weird, you know, about the whole you and me dating thing. I know she'd never try to break us up, but I just feel bad for you, you know?"

Zoe looped her arm through Zane's. "I mean, this is our time line, right?"

Zane turned, stopping Zoe. It was getting dark and the sun was setting, but there was still enough light for her to see his expression. He looked a little sad.

"Zoe... what are you doing with me?"

"What do you mean? Right now? Talking?"

"I mean, what do you want from me in the fall, when you go back to school?"

She had not been expecting this kind of conversation right now. "What do you mean? I thought we could talk every day like we did in the spring. We could visit each other when we could. I don't understand why you;re bringing this up now though."

"Zoe," he sighed, "when we started talking it was fun and casual. You came home and we hung out, casually. I really did not mean to give you any impression otherwise, and I am truly sorry if I did. But... I think in the long run we would never last as anything more than casual."

"Are... you trying to break up with me?" Zoe asked aghast. "Is this because of Jo? You're breaking up with me because someone said you're supposed to be in love with Jo? That's ridiculous!"

"This has to do with you and me, Zoe, not Jo, outside of the fact that she was the one who told me that you might have become more attached to me than I thought."

Zoe could not believe this was happening now. "How could you not have known?"

"Apparently I am not as observant in some areas as I am in others," he muttered.

"How can I be sure you're not being bullied or manipulated into this?" she demanded.

"Zoe! What we had was a casual fling! And someone who loves you like a sister is out there hurting and in pain because of us. If you ask me, that's more important than this," he motioned to the space separating the two of them, which had become larger.

"Maybe I am just a little freaked out by knowing that my entire existence as I know it only started a few months ago, despite all of the memories I have. And the way I'm reacting to it all is with flippancy." She did tend to overly react emotionally to things.

"My advice, Zoe, is to find Jo and talk to her about it. I'm sure she's having a hard time as well keeping everything from you."

Zane seemed a little frustrated, and Zoe wondered if she had said something to annoy him, or if she had done something wrong. She wondered if Jo had said or done something. In the end all Zoe knew was that she was miserable, two people she really liked and cared about, Jo and Zane, hated her, and there was no one she could talk to.

XXXXX

It was after midnight when Jo finally came home. She had spent the last several hours in the GD gym lifting weights, kickboxing, and finally swimming in the lap pool. She had never used the GD gym in the old time line, and she knew that if she ever went back, she would miss it.

She tried to be as quiet as possible when she got back to the house so as to not wake Zoe or Jack. She did not have to worry. Zoe sat on the sofa, flipping aimlessly through channels. Under normal circumstances Jo wished she could have been there to tell Zoe about the time traveling, but with everything that had been going on between her and Zane, she thought her being there would have made it worse. Not to mention she was not in any mood to be sociable.

Jo debated whether or not to head up straight to her room, but Zoe turned around. "Jo? Do... do you have a minute?"

Zoe seemed unsure, and Jo's first instinct was to comfort her. She sat on the sofa facing Zoe. "Of course. Is everything... okay?"

Zoe nodded, and Jo could see that her face was a little red. There was a pile of tissues on the floor next to a hastily hidden tissue box, and Jo was immediately concerned.

"I... I just wanted to make sure you didn't hate me," the younger woman said in a tiny voice.

Jo immediately reached out and hugged Zoe. "Of course I don't hate you! How could you think such a thing?"

"Well they told me all about what you went through, on Founders Day, and all about Zane. If I had known, Jo, I would never have even thought about it! You never said anything and I thought you didn't like him."

Zoe would have babbled on but Jo did not think she could take that. "I could never hate you, you hear me? And what right did I have over who you dated? I have no claim over anyone here."

"But I never would have hurt you, Jo. You know that."

Jo hugged the other woman, and could tell she was crying again. This was the last thing she had wanted. "I am so sorry I had to keep everything from you," she started.

Zoe shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't want to see me anyway. And I... I'm sad, but I agree."

Jo sat back, startled. "But I thought you really liked him, Zoe!"

"I do... but I guess it was just a summer fling. At least he thought so. And I don't want to be with someone who thinks of me as only a fling. And knowing how much you love him and that you were going to let me take him from you..."

"Zoe, I loved a different Zane Donovan, not this one."

"That's not true. We're the same people, Jo. You love me just as much as you did before because I'm the same person. You love him as much, even if he can't remember loving you back."

Was she right? Was the old Zane, and all of his memories of her, gone forever? Or was the Zane here and now the exact same Zane? If so... would there be any way to give him his memories back? Grace and Henry had developed a way to share memories - maybe they would be able to answer some of her questions. But for now it was nice to have one of her best friends to talk to again.

They were both tired, so they decided to call it a night and talk in the morning. Tomorrow was Friday, and Jo decided that she needed a day off from work. She was not exactly sure how one requested time off, but she sent Fargo an Email before bed and told him she was not going to be in. Jo had a few ideas of how to spend her day off, and none of them involved heaving over to GD.

XXXXX

Zane spent all morning not thinking about Jo. He did not think about her at all as he tweaked her bridge device to help send her home, or when he sent her the paperwork to run a test diagnostic for the rebuilt aircraft project. He did not think about her as he worked with one eye on the door, or when he walked past Central Security on his way to lunch.

Grace must have noticed how hard he was not thinking about Jo because she sat next to him at lunch, startling him. He had not even noticed her approaching.

Grace put her hand over Zane's. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"I'm not exactly sure what you said to Zoe yesterday, but thank you. She was a little... shook up, after she heard the news. Zoe told her father that she spoke with you last night, and you encouraged her to talk things out with Jo."

Zane shrugged. Last night he had been pretty harsh on the kid, and he felt a little bad. He had been a little harsh with Jo, too. "So they're good, now?"

Grace smiled happily. "Jo took the day off, and I think they were going shopping this morning."

"I had no idea Jo liked shopping," Zane chuckled. "She doesn't seem like the type."

"Apparently there were some 'girl things' Zoe thought she should have." Grace patted his hand one last time before heading back to her lab.

Girl things? Instead of thinking dedicatedly about anything other than Jo, now all he could concentrate on was remembering the lingerie he had bought her - on Sheriff Carter's credit card - when he had first arrived. He wondered if the old Jo had worn any of it. He often suspected she had. He wondered if the new Jo had worn any in her own timeline. He almost positive that one had.

He felt like a teenage boy imagining his teacher in only a bra. This was Jo Lupo, the person who was the iron fist of control and rules. He would like to bend some of her rules over a desk someday and...

He shook himself out of his daydreams. What was he thinking? Naughty thoughts about Jo? In his mind this Jo had already replaced the last one, and he liked this one much much more. He would never be the old Zane to her, but maybe he could be a new one? Would she ever consider restarting what she had before? It was obvious that for a while Jo had been trying to project the Zane she knew on to him, but he was not an idiot. She was too much in love with that other Zane for him to ever compare.

The conflict of interest was not lost on him. Zane was the one building her a way back to her old guy. Which in itself might be one of the coolest things he'd ever done in his career. If only he could write a paper on it. As it was, his reward might be to forget he ever did it.

It was then in a moment of clarity he had an idea.

XXXXX

Jo sat on a sofa and watched Zoe finger through decorative pillows. The younger woman not only had all the exuberance of youth, but also attention span for home decor. They were in their third "home" store, and Jo was worn out. Zoe, however, kept gush about Jo's new home.

Madeline, the woman Jo had asked to furnish her home, had apparently forgotten purchase items "decorate" it with. Or so Zoe insisted. Jo was really here so she could spend time with Zoe, and if that mean suffering through hours of shopping, so be it.

"Okay, so your bedroom walls are a soft camel brown, and you have soft recessed mooooood lighting. Do you think the red or the gold is sexier?" Zoe was holding up two pillows and looking expectantly at her.

"Sexier? Zoe, I don't think that sort of thing is going to matter for a while."

"Oh, so you prefer the living room?" Zoe asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Jo rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean Zoe."

"No, I don't," Zoe said quieter, coming closer and sitting next to her. "You've found the love of your life and you're not doing anything about it. Weren't you the one who told me to act before it's too late?"

"This isn't the same Zane-" she started, but Zoe cut her off.

"Yes, it is. I'm the same as the other Zoe, this Henry is the same as the other Henry. This Zane is your Zane, I just do not understand why you persist in thinking that they are separate."

"Hey! What's this about boys? I thought we were going to have a girls day out shopping, huh?" Jo said quickly, trying to change the subject before her eyes started watering. Maybe she was allergic to down. Or the smell. There were little potpourri things everywhere.

"Jo, come on."

Zoe's gaze was so insightful and compassionate, Jo did not doubt she would make an excellent doctor. At the moment, it was a little discomforting to have that sort of attention fixed on her. "He... he loved me, Zoe. He really loved me." Damn potpourri. Now her eyes really were watering.

Zoe leaned over and gave her another hug. "He will again, Jo. He won't be able to stop himself."