Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Thanks to TrianaStyx and crazy4jacksonrathbone for reviewing 13.

"Julia, right? Allison told me what you did to Jo. And you said in your text that you know why-"

Zane pulled away from her, going toward the memory. His other self stood in the psych ward, talking to a woman locked in a room; thick, bulletproof glass seperated the two. He struggled to wrap his brain around the fact that his younger self looked thinner, scruffier, and maybe even a little... cautious.

"Because she's not herself. She's Julia Golden. And I'm Jo."

He nodded, hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels and squeaked, "Ah, psych ward. I'm Henry."

After a moment, he turned back to stare at Jo, who sighed. His mouth dropped, and he pointed towards the memory; Jo nodded, stepping up to him. "Yeah. This was the... body swapping incident I mentioned earlier." She muttered. Zane nodded.

"O... okay."

"I can prove it. Ask me something personal that only Jo could know."

He thought a moment, mulling over questions in his head. If she was really Jo, then she'd answer honestly, she'd know things no one else would know- no one but his mom would know. Eventually, he sighed. He had to give her a chance.

"Ah, pet peeves." Her answer was instantanious.

"Small guns, big egos... and overly-critical boyfriends."

Jo glanced at Zane out of the corner of her eye; he didn't move to touch her, nor did he say anything as he watched the conversation play out.

"Boxers or briefs?" Zane started, surprised that he'd ask such an... intimate question- to anyone.

"Me or you?"

He scoffed gently. "Funny. Me."

"Boxers. Except on laundry day, which... by my count, would be tomorrow." Jo blushed, shrugging sheepishly as she glanced at Zane. He turned his blue gaze to her, eye brow raised.

"Really intimate, huh?" She shrugged.

"We were sleeping together. Dating. Practically living together."

Zane sighed, thought a moment, and then said,

"First date?"

"Sunday brunch at Cafe Diem." He moved closer to the glass. It was at this point, that she hesitated, glancing down at the glass before slowly looking up at him. "I was nervous. You brought a rose..." She swallowed. "I wore a sundress. You said something smart... which made me feel dumb..." She took a deep breath. "But you made up for it on our second date." He gave her an odd look, turned to go, and then appeared to change his mind. He nodded to the guard, gesturing with his hand before turning and punching in the code into the keypad. Once the door slid open, he sauntered in slowly, and leaned against the wall as the door closed behind him.

Tears filled his eyes as they watched the memory. Second date? He'd never been given the chance to make up for the first one.

"So... Does that mean I sounded dumb, or I made you feel smart?" She looked up at him, surprised that he believed her.

"A little bit of both."

He nodded. "And how'd the date end?" At this, she let herself smile, before leaning up towards him. Her purr was soft, and he watched her with anxious eyes.

"Let me give you a reminder." Their lips met in a gentle, soft, loving kiss. Though he was- essentially- kissing another woman's lips, that kiss was all Jo. It belonged to the woman he'd given his heart to, to the woman he'd been attracted to from the moment he arrived in Eureka, to the woman he'd been so cruel to in the last couple days. And then he began to realize- that while she'd looked like Jo, it clearly wasn't Jo that he'd been talking to, arguing with, glaring at Fargo over. No, the woman he'd been dealing with hadn't been her, but this one- the one currently locked in the psych ward, the one who seemed to know an awful lot of very intimate details about their relationship, the woman who was currently pressing her lips against his, was definately the woman he was in love with. How could he have been so clueless? Maybe he really was dumb-

His lips curved into a contented smile as she pulled away. Eyes closed, he sighed inwardly. "That's my Josefina."

Jo glanced at him, and he met her gaze; neither spoke, they only watched.

She hit him, and his eyes opened. Instantly, the smile vanished.

"Now get me out of here before I tase you for kissing another woman." Zane chuckled; yep, in any timeline, in any universe, that was def-

"Yep, definitely Jo." She turned to look at him; he grinned at her, and after a moment, she relaxed.

Her body hit the bed heavily; a cry of pain escaped her throat, and she grabbed her head. "Zane, what's happening?" Every cell felt as though it were being run through a shredder; her head pounded and her skin felt as though it were melting right off her flesh.

"My DNA was destabilizing. Julia had taken my DNA from the scanner and copied it, then transferred it to her body somehow, so that she could sit in her machine and turn into me- I don't know exactly how she did it. But she did it so many times that by then, my DNA and her DNA were both destabalizing. If they didn't find a cure, then-"

"You'd die." He finished. She snorted softly.

"Die wouldn't even be the half of it. I'd cease to exist, and so would she." She replied, nodding towards the memory.

He rushed to the door, getting the guard's attention. "I need some help in here!" Once the guard was gone, he went to the bed, pulling her into his arms. "I'm right here, Jojo. I won't leave you. I'm so sorry." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

She sniffled. "You'd said it in passing, but never... never like that before."