Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Thanks to jarethismine for reviewing 15.

"How could you not tell me that I'd gotten married and had a baby in this timeline?"

Zane jumped as Jo's fists came in contact with his chest. "I'm sorry! I- Hey! Jo, I said that I was sorry!" He cried, grabbing her hands as she continued her assault. She struggled to pull away, but he held tight, pulling her into his arms. "Look at me, Jojo. I'm sorry. I... at the time, I thought she was talking to Fargo- I only realized that she wasn't when she mentioned the baby. And then I spent the next six weeks trying to uncover all I could about them."

When she finally calmed down, she whispered, "What did you find out?" He took a deep breath.

"You don't seriously want to know, do you?" She glared at him.

"That's my child and... my husband, no matter the timeline." She replied, swallowing. "I have to know. Please, Zane... please."

A moment passed, before he swallowed the tears in his throat and spoke, not looking at her, not letting her see the tears in his eyes at how her answer hurt him. Eventually, he nodded. "When... when I... I searched by the name... Turns out... Evan Cross owns a... a software company in Vancouver. Cross Photonics. And... and he has this... Special Projects group that... I couldn't find any information on what they do, but he runs it." He glanced up at Jo; she sat, quietly, listening, absorbing everything. "You met... military base-"

"We moved up to Vancouver when I was eight. Not long after my mom died. I... I met a kid at school, but, after we moved... we lost touch."

"Well, in this timeline, you didn't." Zane said. "You stayed in touch and started... long distance relationship at ten... asked you to marry him at fourteen; married at sixteen. Went off to war, came back-"

"And the baby?" Jo cut in, tears in her eyes.

"Born in ninety-seven, when you were eighteen, two years after you got married, and a year after you returned from war. Baby girl. Vanessa Margaret, born August third, ninety-seven." She nodded, and Zane felt his eyes flood with tears as she seemed to resign herself to a fate laid out for another her.

"So she's... thirteen." Jo whispered; she swallowed roughly. Zane nodded.

"Yeah."

"So I've... been away from her for... ten years..."

"You came to Eureka in... late August two-thousand, not long after she turned three."

"I have a baby... I have a baby..." She muttered it softly, shaking her head, as her shoulders began to shake and the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "How could I not know I have a family waiting for me?" She gasped, looking up at Zane. A moment passed, before he pulled her into his arms; she tucked her head beneath his chin, sobbing as she clutched at him. He held her, letting her cry, and struggling to keep from crying himself.

"What if he doesn't wake up?"

"You can't think that, Jo. Zane's gonna wake up; he's strong and stubborn, he wouldn't dream of leaving us. Or you."

Zane looked up, to see Carter sitting with Jo in the lobby of the infirmary. Still in her deputy uniform, he guessed this was probably before she came to this timeline.

Her eyes filled with tears, and her lower lip quivered. She looked like a child, lost and alone, and she curled into Carter, burying her face in his chest. The sheriff held her, letting her have this hidden display of emotion as they sat together, waiting for news of Zane.

"Jo?" Instantly, Jo was on her feet as Allison's intern came towards them. A moment passed, before she followed her into the infirmary. When she caught sight of Zane, a small, sad smile appeared on her face, and she quickly wiped the tears away.

"How is he?"

"Better. But... he's still weak, and the ice is growing back again. If we don't find a cure soon..." Jo nodded, understanding, and with a soft 'thank you', she went to her boyfriend. He gave her a small, weak smile, which she returned, before taking a seat on the bed beside him.

"How are you feeling?" He shrugged. She nodded, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Slowly, Jo looked up, tears drying on her cheeks as she watched the scene before her. "What-?" Jo took a deep breath.

"Ice. Arctic ice, with a stoneage fungus inside it, that was growing all over Eureka because of the Petrotech insulated into the walls." She whispered.

"And how did it end up inside me, exactly?" He asked, skeptical. She sighed.

"You... wore Petrotech instead of a regular jacket in the Arctic. When you came back, the fungus used the Petrotech as a breeding ground, and..." He nodded, understanding.

Suddenly, she pulled away. Her dark eyes began to smoulder, and she got up. "Jo?" His blue gaze followed her; she didn't respond. Instead, she grabbed one of the pillows he was laying against and began fluffing and pounding it violently.

"Why is it every guy I date ends up in this infirmary?" She asked, jostling Zane back and forth as she worked on the top pillow. His blue eyes shifted to stare at her as she stopped to turn to him.

"'Cause you're bad luck, obviously." He replied. She stopped, glaring at him.

"A joke, at my expense. Glad to have you back." She moved around the other side of the bed and began fluffing the other side of the pillows just as violently, until Zane grabbed her hands.

"Okay! Look! About that... I... I'm sorry." She sighed, calming at the look in his eyes.

"No. I.. I'm sorry." She responded, holding his hands tightly in hers. She sighed, squeezing his hands. "I should never have suspected you-"

"Suspected me? Of what?" His brow creased with confusion, and she licked her lips.

"Well, Taggart got frozen, and I... and he and I used to... you know..." She gestured between them with their hands.

"Really?" He asked, realization dawning, as he chuckled softly. "Huh. You thought I loved you that much?" She smacked his chest, a glare crossing her pretty features. "You know, after the way I acted, I would have suspected me, too." A moment passed before he tilted his head up to look at the monitor. "So... what's the prognosis?"

She licked her lips nervously. "You're gonna be fine." He stared at her skeptically.

"Yeah?" She returned to her seat next to him on the bed again.

"As soon as they figure out why ice with black lines in it is growing all over G.D. and... inside of you."

"Black lines. You mean striations?" She shrugged.

"I guess."

He sighed, laying back against the pillows. "I came across something about that earlier this year when I was doing research for my cooling units." He glanced behind him as Jo grabbed his hands again. "Is Taggart working in the core lab?" She nodded.

"Yeah, but... but you..." He gently shoved her away, pulling the blankets off his lags and moving to the other side of the bed, throwing his legs over the side. She rushed around to stop him.

"I need to help him." She shook her head, grabbing his hands before laying her hands against his chest in an attempt to stop him.

"No! Zane! Okay, no... you... Zane, you need to stay here... and get better." She replied, reaching up and cradling his face. He stared into her eyes for a moment before removing the nodes at his temples.

"Jo, I'm not going to get better. Not unless I help that crazy Austrailian figure out what's happening around here. It's my only chance." Her arm instinctively went around his waist, and she helped him up. He held her close, his arm slung tightly over her shoulder. She laid a hand on his chest to steady him, staring into his eyes.

Zane turned to her. "So... we figured it out?" She nodded.

"Yeah, we figured it out."