Author Note:...warning...it's a shortie

Chapter 23 – Something Seems to be Missing

T7S

Hyde pulled a tattered envelope from his vest pocket. "When I opened the store this morning there was a letter for me."

"…and?"

Hyde looked a little bereft. "Leo's gone. Again."

T7S

Eric palm-ironed the wrinkles in Leo's letter that was written on the backside of some Christmas wrapping paper. Hyde didn't seem too upset about Leo's absence but of course Eric wasn't a good judge of the new Hyde. Coming back from Africa had changed all of his friends – they were a little bit different. Especially this week.

Hyde –

I'm going home again. Found my son and I'm hooking up with Theo, Eli and Toots. Life is like a carnival man; you ride the roller coaster and hope you don't throw up.

Until our paths cross again man….be cool.

Leo

Eric bit the inside of his cheek. Toots? Was that some new expression? "Hey Hyde, wasn't Theo the guy that worked in the basement for mom? I don't know who Eli is but, well….it's not a bad letter."

Hyde shrugged. "I get the feeling that I should know more about this than I do…it's like I'm missing some time…you know?"

Eric did know.

T7S

Two cats up a snow covered tree and a snake ice skating on a frozen swimming pool. That was the sum of activity for Eric's work day. Still, he felt good about what he did. He rescued trapped animals and made the owners very happy and he was making money! Not a lot of money mind you but it was better than paid in Africa!

He whistled a happy tune as he opened the sliding glass doors just in time to see Jackie packing a sandwich for her evening lunch. She smiled at him and he was struck. That girl had a remarkable smile – at least when her mouth wasn't being all snarky and all.

He dared to smile back and she raised a brow. "Good day at work Eric?"

He nodded and started counting off with his fingers. "Let's see…..no rabid dogs – check. No dead animals – check – no bears….check and check so yeah, it was a good day. How's mom?"

Jackie's head leaned towards the living room. "She's resting. The doctors can't explain her miraculous recovery but they all agreed that she still needs to take it easy. No lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup."

He frowned, "Do they think the disc will slip again?"

She shrugged, "Maybe…your mom's not a spring chicken but if she's careful…."

"Yeah…so we still need to check up on her."

Jackie nodded her head. "That's what I was thinking when she started talking about all this baking and cooking she wanted to do. She can't keep bending over and lifting stuff. I asked her to do the cooking on my shift. I mean she can …if you and Mr. Forman are watching her, but we need her to not get hurt again. You know what I mean?"

Eric did, but he couldn't help noticing that the apricot sweater really made Jackie's cheeks glow and set off that twinkle in her eyes. She was smiling again!

"Well, I gotta go. Someone might need an ambulance!" Jackie backed away slowly noticing that Eric was still staring at her. Usually it might have bugged the hell out of her, but today she found it oddly cute. Go figure!

T7S

There was a consensus amongst the Basement friends that something weird had happened over the weekend but no one could remember. Kelso had woken up at Fez's apartment with the sudden urge to send Kitty Forman flowers and Fez had the money. Later in the evening, Donna called Grooves to ask Hyde if there was something she needed to know because she slept all weekend and felt like she had been smoking in some crazy circle without the benefits.. Jackie called the Forman house on her break to talk to Eric about her sense of missing time also.

Helping his mom get the baking dish out of the oven, Eric asked what felt like a stupid question. "Mom…have you ever had déjà vu?"

Kitty put on her pot holders and smiled, "Everyone has that….well, except your father. He'd say that there was no such a thing as experiencing something unless it was being shot in the leg during wartime – he calls those flashbacks. But I do. What are you Déjà vu-ing honey?"

Eric leaned his elbow against the kitchen counter and replied, "Well, Leo is gone again and when I was talking to Hyde about it, it felt like I had that conversation before. Mom, what did I do last weekend?"

Kitty tapped her chin. "Well, I was heavily medicated but I remember all you kids and Leo were taking the Vista Cruiser to Mount Hump. I thought it was a crazy idea because of the snow, but a few hours later, you and Jackie came back and slept for practically the whole weekend."

Kitty patted his hand. "Your father….ahahahaha….he said it was the most relaxing weekend he's had in a long time."

Flummoxed, Eric whispered, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Kitty poured herself a cup of coffee and added a bit of whiskey to the mix. "Well honey, you just came back from Africa and I figured that since you started your new job and everything here had been so busy…well, I thought you had that jet lag thing."

Well, that could have made some sense. Still he wanted to know more. "What about Jackie? Why was she sleeping so much?"

Kitty sipped her beverage then replied, "Eric, she works nights. When you switch from a day shift job to nights, it changes your sleep rhythm. Trust me about this because as a shift nurse I know all about exhaustion."

Eric rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably. He didn't want to admit him mom had a point but was Jackie really working that hard on her day shift before he came back from Africa? "Ooo….kay….I can see where you're going with this." He looked around the kitchen and everything seemed to be exactly like it should be.

"Honey, don't worry about sleeping the weekend away…it's what you do with the rest of your weekends that are important." Kitty smiled and carried some plates to the table.

Eric paused as a tickle of a memory passed through the back of his brain. "…While no one can go back and make a brand new start, any one of you can start from now and make a brand new ending. " Where did that come from? Eric scratched his head and shrugged. The memory and his mom were equally good advice and since returning from Africa he really did need to think about his future.

-o-

"You're what?!" William Barnett's voice nearly boomed as loud as the speakers playing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell". Hyde walked over to the stereo and savored the lyrics before lowered the volume.

I'm on the highway to hell
No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it

No stop sign or speed limit – yeah his future was wide open. He turned towards W.B. and explained. "I'm living in the office. Well….because Mrs. Forman had an accident New Year's Day and with Eric back and Jackie living there now….well, it was getting really crowded….you know?"

W.B. folded his arms over his chest and Hyde realized that must have been a family trait because he often did the same. "I can't have you living in the store Steven. I'm sure there's some safety code against it. It's probably as illegal as keeping two sets of books…right?"

Steven Hyde's eyes widened at a latent memory. "….Reports were that you pocketed money for sales tax that your father reported as income and it appeared that you altered the books. Very illegal in the state of Wisconsin. They confiscated the Point Place Grooves store and auctioned it to recover some of the lost income." He gulped. Where did that come from?

W.B. continued, "Whatever man, I'm getting you a bachelor apartment. Call my receptionist this afternoon and we'll find you something close to the store. It's about time you set out on your own son." There was another piece of memory that haunted him. "…While no one can go back and make a brand new start, any one of you can start from now and make a brand new ending." Which was pretty much exactly what his birth father was saying.

"My own pad? Do I get cable?"

Barnett laughed, "Of course! How can a person live without cable TV? Now pack up your stuff and let's hope you get a furnished apartment."

It was easier to say than he thought. "Thanks…dad."

Yes, it was easier to say and last week he probably would have turned down his father's charity as just that – charity. But today, it was a step in the right direction.

This could be Steven Hyde's new beginning.

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A/N: I know...it was a shortie but we are on new beginnings here...why not start with the rebel of the group?