Rifiuto: Non Miriena

"Maybe you should stay home again today, until we're sure you're better." She turned to look at him, enjoying the touseled black hair that fell into his eyes and the yawn he tried covering up. She scoffed.

"No, I'm going in today, whether you think I'm better or not." She shifted until she faced him, reaching up to brush her fingers over his cheek. "We're in this together, babe. We both lost her. We deal with this together. We hunt them together." He nodded, pressing a kiss to her fingers before climbing out of bed and heading for the bathroom.

"I'll be in the shower if you want company..." She sat up, watching him disappear into the hall, enjoying the sight of him in only his boxers. A moment passed, before she too climbed out of bed. Silent, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and into the hall towards the bathroom. Once the door closed softly behind her, she slipped out of the amythest lingerie she wore and stepped into the shower, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"I figure, we could start the day off right." He smirked, glancing at her over his shoulder.

Zane groaned. Sunlight hit his eyes, and he sat up. Minutes passed as he struggled to get his bearings, before remembering that he was at his cousin's place. The details from the night before were fuzzy, though slowly coming back with each passing moment.

He'd managed to stumble into a local bar after making his way out of Stanley Park, and- of all the ironies- had run into his cousin, Niall. More like a stroke of dumb luck, to Zane. Niall had been just as surprised as Zane was, to see him, and after much stammering, Zane finally managed to choke out that he'd come up for a business trip for the company he worked for, and had decided to stay a few extra days, and somehow, the hotel he'd been staying at had lost his luggage and that he'd stupidly lost his key. Niall offered to let him stay at his place, and Zane had reluctantly agreed, silently admitting that running into his cousin had been a happy accident.

They had talked for hours after returning to Niall's apartment about how their lives had gone seperate ways, and what was going on since then. Niall, still owned his oil rig business, and was doing pretty well for himself, with a three bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver. Zane had casually mentioned his marriage and work, leaving out the fact that he wasn't sure he was still married, since this accident occured. Niall had asked about the kids and the town, and Zane had given him updates, giving him information about the town and those he considered his family.

"Morning Sunshine." He looked up, to see Niall, dressed in worn jeans and a t-shirt, leaning against the bedroom door, coffee in hand. After a moment, he came over, offering the second cup to Zane. "How'd you sleep?" Zane sighed, taking a sip of the drink. "That good?"

"Yeah, that good." He muttered.

"So, what are you planning on doing today? Go back and try to straighten out the mess at your hotel?" Zane nodded, studying his cousin. They could have been twins; only eight years seperated them in age, but other than that, the two were identical. From the bright blue eyes to the thick black hair, to the charming smiles and well-built physic, the Donovan cousins were certainly headturners. Throw Claudia and Joshua- Niall's baby sister and brother- into the mix, and the whole Donovan clan was nothing but good looks. Add Jo and her Lupo genes, and the beauty was endless; Zane's three children were just like their mother- olive-skinned, brown-eyed, black-haired beauties with their father's smile and charm. And right now, all he wanted to do was get back to his family, hold his wife and never let her go.

"Maybe. Or... maybe see the sights. Been in meetings the last few days, haven't really had time to check out what's changed since I was up here last." Niall nodded, slapping his cousin on the back.

"If you need anything, let me know."

"What do you say to playing hooky sometime?" He snorted, rolling his eyes.

"That's what you'd been doing for the last week, remember?" She stuck her tongue out at him, unlocking the car, when he grabbed the keys from her hand.

"Hey! Give those back!" She rushed him, slamming him up against the car door, even as he dangled the keys over her head. Quickly, he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to him. With one last jump, she managed to get ahold of the keys, only to find him refusing to give them up. "Let g-" He ducked his head, capturing her lips in a kiss that soon caused them to forget their struggle for the keys, and turn to each other. The keys dropped to the ground, and he wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding her firmly against him as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I love our little impromptu kisses." He whispered, stealing a chaste kiss before resting his forehead to hers. She grinned, before kneeling down and snatching the keys. Just as she moved to climb into the drivers's seat, he wrapped an arm around her from behind and stole another kiss, taking the chance when her hand loosened from around the keys to grab them and climb in before her, forcing her to take the passenger side.

"Jackass." She muttered, even as she leaned over to kiss him before they left the house.

Vancouver didn't look much different now than from the last time he'd been here- when he was a kid of eighteen, working oil rigs for Niall. Although, now that he thought back, that job had nearly cost him his leg. Even now, the details of that day were still sketchy; only becoming clearer after waking up in the hospital. But even so, that accident had led him on his path towards Eureka, and he wouldn't trade that for anything. Because Eureka had his wife and children, waiting for him to come home.

He stood in downtown Vancouver, taking everything in, trying to figure out where he went from there. As he looked up at the stoplight, he caught sight of a white car, idling at the light, and after a moment, the woman sitting in the passenger seat turned, locking eyes with him. He struggled to figure out what he was seeing, even as the car drove past, turning a corner and disappearing out of sight.

He shook his head, certain he'd been seeing things. The woman... the woman had looked familiar... she'd looked an awful lot like...

"Jo?"