Rifiuto: Non Miriena

"I made no friends here; more like enemies. You most among them." She looked up. They'd ended up sitting on the ground, watching the memories pass by; the ice incident in her timeline, the killer paper airplane incident in his..., sharing intimate details about their lives that had never passed their lips before. "I don't know... if it was just you... or the way your were raised... or what happened before Eureka..." He sniffled. "But I hated you... wanted to kill you."

She lowered her head, sniffling. "I'm sorry, for making you feel that way."

"And then you came along, and took her place and..." He shrugged. "I've been trying to figure you out, Jo. I want to know you, and... and..."

"I don't think so. It'd be too... and I can't, anyway. I can't just pack up and leave, not now."

"This is a good opportunity, Jo. We could be working together again, doing what we do best. Tracking anomalies, building gagets, hunting dinosaurs..." She chuckled as her companion whispered something in her ear. "Like old times. Before... the Point, before the war, before Eureka... and... I'd get you out of this crappy town and away from that felon Donovan and back where you belong- Vancouver."

Jo turned to him, confusion creasing her brows. Zane kept his mouth shut.

"I would love too, but I can't, Ev. You know that. How would it look if I just... packed up and left for Vancouver? What would I tell them? 'Hey, I got another job offer up in Canada, it doesn't pay as well, but I get to hunt dinosaurs!' Yeah, that would go over real well."

The man chuckled, lacing his fingers through hers. "Jo, the team misses you." She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? The team misses me? Seriously?" He thought a moment.

"Okay, Mac's being a bit of an ass-"

"A bit? He is an ass. He's a bigger ass than Donovan, and that's saying something."

"And Toby misses her sparring partner. Ange is... well..."

"Ange?" He scoffed, nodding.

"Exactly." And then he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Come on, Jojo. What do you say? Come back to Vancouver with me. We can have the life we couldn't have here, you'd get everything you ever wanted. I can give that to you, they can't. Eureka, GD... they can't give you what I can."

"I know."

"So what do you say? Come home with me." She seemed to waver, her teeth sliding out to grasp her lip, and she looked around, checking to make sure they weren't being watched. "Nessa misses her mom."

They watched as she appeared to choke up, and she sniffled, taking a deep breath.

"I miss her too." She choked out. Then, she glanced down at his hands, tracing his wedding ring. "How is she? Is she eating right? Are you feeding her? Does she do her homework? How are her grades?" He nodded.

"She's good. Doing good. Grades are good, homework's fine. She's historian for her graduating class." She choked out a sob.

"I wish I could make it to her graduation." She sniffled, and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "Anything else?" He nodded, taking her face in his hands.

"She grows more and more like her mom every day. More and more like you." His whisper softly caressed her cheek, and she burst into tears, burrowing into his chest.

"Please tell me she doesn't have your ego. I wouldn't be able to stand it if there were three egotists in this family." He laughed softly, brushing the tears off her cheeks.

"She's down to earth, like you. Beautiful. She wants to work in Eureka someday. See the place that took her mom away." His voice grew soft, and he looked down as she laid her hands on his chest. "Wants to know why they took you from us." She pulled away, taking a seat, and it was then that Jo realized that the memory was taking place in her office.

"I do, too." She sniffled, looking up at him. "You know, they never have told me why they brought me here." He took a seat beside her on the sofa. "At most, they give me vague answers, if answers at all. Mainly they just tell me that I'm the best in my field." Nervously, she reached out, taking his hands. "If I'm the best in my field, then so are you and the rest of the team. I don't understand why they chose me and not you. Why they didn't allow you to come too." He squeezed her hand. "I should have told them no, that... that I couldn't... that I'd just... that my life was... was just getting back on track, and that... that we were... just getting settled and... and used to... to our... unexpected surprise." She sniffled. "I should have... have told them that I couldn't leave... because I'd just... that I couldn't leave my family... especially my baby..."

Jo's mouth dropped in shock, and she choked, struggling to force air into her lungs as the word 'baby' passed by her duplicate's lips.

"If I'd known they were going to take me over a hundred miles away, I'd have told them no... that I had a job and that I couldn't leave my husband and our baby... that she needed me... that I... that I left when she was... three... I've been away from her... from you... for eleven years... there are days when I can't bear it, Ev. I want to be home, with you, with Vanessa... with our family... I was happy... and they took me away..." She turned to him, struggling to remain calm. "Does she remember me? Does she ask about me? Does she understand that I didn't leave her because I wanted to, I left because I had to? She understands, right, Ev? You've explained it to her, right?" She broke down completely then, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her close.

"I'm explained it to her, Jojo. She understands. She hates GD and Eureka, but she understands. She loves you, Jo, so much." He rubbed her back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "And so do I." She pulled away, looking up at him. "I love you, Josefina."

"I love you, Evan." His lips met hers in a deep, passionate, searching kiss, and as he pulled her into his lap, he reached into her blouse, pulling out a gold chain. Quickly, he unclasped it, and spilled something into his palm. "What are you doing?" She broke away, watching as he took her hand and slid the slender, smooth gold band onto her ring finger.

"Wear this." She shook her head, starting to take the ring off, but he grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Yes."

"Ev, I can't. No one here knows that I'm married- they can't know. They can't. I promised I wouldn't wear it-"

"I don't care." He replied, taking her face in his hands. "I don't care what they say or how they react. You're my wife and I love you. You're the mother of my child... if you can't be in Vancouver with me, then at least wear it so I know that you're thinking of me. Thinking of us, of Vanessa. That you're thinking of our family-"

"That's all I do is think about our family. About our baby. I miss you so much. I don't want to be here; I want to be back with you... this... this stupid town has... has nearly destroyed my family and my marriage-"

"Hey, I love you. I will never leave you. I will never stop loving you. Understand, Josefina? I will never stop loving you. No matter what." She mouthed the words softly back to him before closing the gap between them in a passionate, sorrowful, loving kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her in his arms, pressing his body to hers, memorizing her curves. When they finally broke apart, he whispered softly to her, before getting up and pulling her with him. "I love you, Josefina Cross." She choked out a sob, reaching up and tracing his features.

"I love you, Evan Cross." And with one last deep kiss to her lips and a kiss to her palm, he left. Once he was gone, she closed the office door behind her, not noticing as Zane slipped out of the shadows and returned to his lab, mulling over what he'd just born witness to.

Jo turned her gaze to Zane as the memory began to fade. "I... I was... married in this timeline? I... I had a baby...?"