Rifiuto: Non Miriena

No one named Josefina. There's no one named Josefina living in Eureka, no one named Josefina working at GD.

His eyes snapped open, and he sat up, confusion clouding his vision. It took several minutes, but eventually, the memories of last night came flooding back to him. He was in Vancouver, had met a man who could be his twin brother, and then had met the woman he was in love with, married to, in his timeline. The only exception was that she was married in this timeline. To Zane's twin. She had never been to Eureka, and even seemed to hate it. So that meant, that his marriage didn't exist, and their children...

His heart broke in two.

Their children didn't exist. Not in this timeline, anyway.

A moment passed before he got out of bed and pulled his list ouf of his pants pocket. He slowly crossed everything off the Eureka side, and almost all off the Vancouver side, with the exception of Alternate Universe, which he circled. He sighed, and set the list and pen on the nightstand, before laying back on the bed, though sleep continued to elude him. Finally, after finding that sleep refused to come back to him, he got up, dressing quickly before heading downstairs.

The feel of strong arms tightening around her roused her slowly from her slumber. She looked over her shoulder, to find her husband still sound asleep. After a moment, she got out of bed, being careful not to wake Evan as she left the room and headed downstairs, the strong scent of coffee filling her nose. She couldn't say she was surprised to see their guest sitting at the table, staring into his cup, as she entered the kitchen.

"You're up early." Zane looked up, to see her go to the coffee pot and pull down a cup, filling it quickly before adding sugar and cream. She wore a pair of plaid boxers and a tank top, her hair pulled back in a messy bun, something so different than her plaid pajama pants and layered tanks. She looked beautiful, though, in either timeline.

"Couldn't sleep." He whispered, voice hoarse, as he returned his gaze to the coffee in his cup. When he looked up next, she was pulling a chair out and taking a seat across from him, sipping the hot beverage slowly, thinking. As she set the cup down, she asked,

"I'm sorry, but... I don't know anything about you. Other than that you live in Eureka and your cousin lives here in Vancouver, but... that's not much. And you look so much like my husband, that I can't help but wonder if you're his twin. Although Evan's never told me about any siblings, and you'd think, if he had a twin brother, he'd tell me, or at least know himself, but..." She stopped. "Sorry, I tend to ramble."

It's one of the things I love about you, Jojo. He shook his head, giving her a small smile. "It's okay. I'm used to it." They lapsed into silence for several minutes, before he sighed and said, "I was born in Boston. My dad left when I was ten, my mom was a history professor at Harvard. I got into trouble a lot, mainly because my dad wasn't there to be a good example. I skipped God knows how many grades in school and graduated at twelve from high school. Went to several different colleges, mostly Ivies, got my doctorate in particle physics. Spent a couple years bouncing around, did a couple stints in prison, ended up in Eureka." She nodded, listening intently. He took a deep breath. "I met this... incredibly hardass, uptight deputy sheriff while I was there, and spent two years trying to get her to go out with me, but she never gave me the time of day. And then she became head of security, and one day..." He bit his lip, thinking. "One day everything changed. The hardass deputy I'd known was replaced by another version of her. Turns out," He stopped. Should I tell her? What's the harm, she doesn't know me anyway.

"Go on." He glanced at her, meeting her gaze. Taking a deep breath, he continued, his voice shaky.

"Turns out, she and a few others had gotten sent back in time somehow; an experiment gone wrong, and ended up in my timeline when they tried to get home. Impossible, right?" She shook her head.

"I've seen a lot of impossible over the years. Alternate timelines, doesn't surprise me." She replied, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Anyway, we tried to avoid each other, but... we fell in love. I was promoted to Head of Section Five, and when the town was going to be shut down, she proposed. Said she hesitated before, and she didn't want to make the same mistake again. We got married a year later. By then, the town had been bought and saved and has been kept open. We had three children, and... we're a family. And then, during another chaotic experiment gone wrong, I wake up here, in Vancouver." He glanced around before meeting her gaze. "My children are gone, my marriage is nonexistant, because my wife doesn't live in Eureka. This is an alternate reality, and I don't know how to get back."

She reached out, laying a hand atop his and squeezing gently. "I'm sorry. I know what it's like, to lose someone you love. It feels like your world is shutting down." She gave him a small smile, glancing at the clock. She finished her coffee and got up, putting the cup in the sink. "So, are you coming with us today? Ev and I... we could teach you the ropes, at least until you figure out how to get back home."

He thought a moment. That would be better than stewing about what he'd lost. A moment passed, before he nodded. "Sure." She smiled at him.

"Good. Let me just go get dressed and make sure Evan's up- whenever we have a really draining case like yesterday, he tends to oversleep and forgets that we both have to be at work at a certain hour." She chuckled. "Anyway, let me just go get ready, and we'll be down soon." She headed for the stairs, and then stopped, turning back to Zane. "And... Evan and I will do all we can to make sure you get home to your family." Then, without another word, she rushed upstairs.