A/N: "Walking on broken glass from the wreckage of my past, I'm locked up in a cage 'cause I'm a prisoner of my ways…"
Or, um, not. I had a plan for this story that involved using elements from the lyrics of the song, "Reckless," by Papa Roach, as per request from Sara. But since she's written a story of her own, and since broken glass and wreckage and cages are actually kind of dark for my style, I'm headed in a totally different direction. Enjoy!
"Where the hell are we?" It was awe. One second Zane and Jo had been in a lab at GD, surrounded by sterile walls and technology, and the next second, they were out in the open, in the dark. The cool breeze carried the familiar scents of crisp pine trees and earthy streptomycetes bacteria.*
"Not in Kansas, anymore, Toto." Jo's voice was grim.
"Holy shit. Do you realize what we've done?" Teleportation. Teleportation! It was impossible. But they'd done it.
"Oh, yeah. Better than you do." Jo didn't seem to get the scientific impact of the achievement. Or at least she was pretty calm about the whole thing. About teleportation!
"This is amazing. We've reinvented the laws of physics. We're rewriting the basics of science. This is the coolest thing- " Zane grunted as Jo belted him.
"Shut up, you idiot," Jo hissed.
"Could you stop doing that?" He rubbed his stomach where she'd now punched him twice. She wasn't hitting hard, so he couldn't bring himself to care much. Not when they'd just teleported!
"I don't want to get captured this time around."
"This time? You did this before?" Pieces were falling into place: no way had Carter or Alison built a device like the one he'd built but Henry could have. Or maybe Fargo. But why hadn't they said anything? Teleportation was world-changing, easily Nobel-worthy. And it still didn't explain the ring. Unless…from teleportation he jumped to the next obvious conclusion.
"No way. An alternate universe? The many-worlds interpretation is right? So quantum decoherence is actually the explanation for waveform collapse?" The science was so completely mind-blowingly cool that he hadn't yet realized the ramifications.
"I have no idea what you're babbling about, Zane, but if you don't shut up, I'm going to leave you here to get caught on your own."
Zane's eyes were finally adjusting to the dark, but as far as he could tell, there was nothing but trees to see in all directions. Jo was just a dark outline next to him.
"Caught by who? There's nobody here but us."
"This does seem different," Jo said, voice reluctant. "No, of course – we were in GD. So now we're in the middle of nowhere. The military base is miles away."
"The military base? Okay, Lupo, I think it's time you started talking."
Jo sighed. "I can't believe you pushed that button. I swear to God, this version of you is practically Fargo."
"Fargo? The director? Bossy little dictator-type?" What the hell was she talking about? What did he have in common with Fargo?
"Uber-geek who's never met a button he didn't push," Jo responded bitterly. "Not your Fargo, the real Fargo. Or the old Fargo, I guess."
"Lupo, you're not exactly un-confusing me. Try plain English."
"Although I guess the first time was Kevin's fault, really, not Fargo's, so that means that only you were stupid enough to push the damn button." This time Zane was braced for it, and he caught Jo's fist before it made contact. He used his grip to pull her closer to him, his hand tight around her clenched fingers.
"Talk," he ordered. "Start at the beginning." The changes, the ring, Jo's words now – Zane was beginning to realize that if Jo had travelled between universes before, she'd obviously never found her way home. She'd been stuck in a universe not her own, in his universe. Did that mean that they were stuck here?
"The beginning? Try 1947," Jo snapped at him, tugging her hand free. "Dr. Trevor Grant is stupid enough to build a device that bridges wormholes between the past and the future. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work – until someone from the future turns the damn thing on. Or in your case, builds the damn thing and then turns it on."
Zane felt his jaw drop. Time travel? Wow, that was even more amazing then teleportation. And definitely better than alternate universes. Although the pieces still didn't quite fit together, unless…
"You changed the timeline," he realized. "Something you did meant that when you got back, the world was different. That's why…" He felt more than saw Jo's shoulders sag, her head turn away. "Novikov's self-consistency principle says that should be impossible, though. On a closed time-curve—"
"Stop being a crazy scientist for just a few minutes, okay?" Jo interrupted him. "We need to figure out how to get back and fast. If it's anything like last time, there's a window of opportunity caused by solar flares: if we miss the window, we're screwed."
"Solar flares? Because of the negative energy, of course. There was a peak period back in the late 1940's and the original design used solar flares for power." Zane scowled, as he thought through the implications, and then reluctantly continued. "But Jo, there's no reason why we have to be in the 1940's. If the device works by creating a bridge between wormholes, then the wormhole that my device connected to could be anywhere. Or any when, I guess."
Jo didn't answer immediately and when she finally did, her voice was tight. "So we could be in any time period? In any location?"
"Well…yeah. Theoretically." While they'd been talking the moon had risen above the hills, providing just enough light that Zane could see the tension in Jo's expression.
She closed her eyes for a second, and then opening them, said calmly, "I think I hate you."
"Hey, this isn't my fault." His defensiveness was automatic.
"Oh, yeah? Whose fault is it? You're the one who built that stupid machine." Jo was no longer trying to keep quiet: she was almost yelling.
"You're the one who left the plans in the archives! If you'd done a better job of clearing out all evidence of Grant – oh, or hey, maybe told me the truth instead of forcing me to try to figure it out myself?"
"You're blaming me for this? That is so like you. You are such a jackass! I can't believe I ever thought I could marry you!"
"Yeah, well, lucky escape for both of us, babe. I can't believe I would have asked you!"
Jo was poised to yell back, or maybe take a swing at him, when suddenly her eyes narrowed and her head turned, as if she'd heard something. Zane listened. He heard it, too: it was the sound of someone crashing through the brush. And there was a light, waving through the darkness, as if from a flashlight carelessly held.
Jo held up a finger to urge him to silence, pressing her lips together. Were they about to be captured by armed guards?
"Mom? Dad?" A tentative female voice called through the woods. "Jaime said to tell you he's really sorry and he hopes you're not too serious about that whole grounding-for-life thing. And also, he doesn't get why if you knew he was going to do it, he's still in trouble. I gotta admit, that part kind of confuses me, too."
Zane glanced at Jo. She was frowning, but she met his gaze and shrugged, as the light came closer. And then the light was shining in their faces and the girl's voice was awed as she almost squealed, "Oooh, shiny. I mean I knew you were – but still, this is so 'cred!"
*Your random science fact of the day: Streptomyces bacteria create that earthy smell by producing geosmin, a volatile organic compound.