When he didn't find her in the shop Herc was a little worried. The smell of musky lilacs didn't ease the concern he felt either, Jo said she wouldn't leave the dome with her mother but he worried all the same. He'd never seen Jo like this, last night she'd hardly slept but he could hardly blame her for that. Her mother shows up out of the blue and they're not sure why? That's cause for concern to say the least. Rubbing a hand over his scruffy jaw he decided to check the mess hall, maybe she'd gone for food though Herc knew Jo had a habit of forgetting to eat when she was stressing. He would never understand it but that was her habit.

The mess hall turned up nothing as well and he really started to worry. Grabbing a guy he knew to be a mechanic Herc tried not to get too worked up, "Hey, have you seen Killian?"

The guy shook his head but grinned a little, "Why is everybody looking for her? That southern lady was pretty, do you know who she is?"

Jaw muscle ticking Herc released the man, "Yeah and she's crazy as hell, stay away from her if you know what's good for yourself."

Laughing the guy shrugged, "Hey, at least the crazy ones are usually good in bed."

Herc merely rolled his eyes as the mechanic moved away. Nadine had obviously had to ask around to get to the shop, he'd smelled her perfume so she'd lingered long enough to leave that smell behind. Now he understood why Jo disliked the smell of Lilac. They'd gotten into a conversation once and she'd reacted a little strongly to the mentioning of that particular scent.

He brushed a hand over his short cropped red hair briefly before he started moving. Where would Jo have gone? Would she have gone back to their room? He could at least check there.

The worry he felt started jumping the longer he went without finding Jo. Where in the hell had she gone?

Not thinking to knock Herc entered Jo's old room only to hear, "Cheese and crackers! Doesn't anyone have manners in this place?"

Frowning he spotted Nadine across the room, currently on her knees beside the drawers built into the wall, bottom drawer wide open and she'd obviously been rifling through the contents. Herc arched a brow at her manners comment and looked pointedly from her to the drawer and then back to her.

"Oh lawd, this isn't what it looks like. Joanna mentioned I could borrow a few things of hers while I was here," she said sweetly before smoothing out the clothes she'd been digging through. "Help an old lady up?"

Not moving Herc watched the sweet, Southern belle mask slip a little as she frowned in a way that made him think she was more than likely to snarl and bite him than share peach tea. Muscled arms crossed his chest as he watched her consider the situation, she had a devious mind that was hard at work. "Where's Jo?"

She smiled as she shrugged, "I haven't seen her in a bit now. She took off out of her shop, abandoned her work and everything. She was never all that interested in working as a child either, despite my best offers to keep her on the straight and narrow."

Blinking at her Herc wasn't sure what to say. Did she honestly believe that? He didn't know everything that happened between Jo and her mother but he knew enough. It also didn't hurt that he had a feel for people, though in this case it was a little colored to begin with. The feeling he was getting from her right now was entirely fake, she still wanted something.

"Why did you really come here?"

Feigning hurt she pressed a hand to her chest, "What ever to you mean?"

It took every ounce of his will power not to take the four steps into the room to grab a hold to the woman so he could shake her violently, "Drop the act. Why did you show up here?"

Nadine looked at him for a long moment, brown eyes searching for something in his face. She didn't see whatever she was looking for as she frowned, "She's turned you against me before even giving me a chance. I'm not as bad as she's made me out to be."

Arms crossed, feet planted shoulder width apart, he stood looking back at her with no response.

Tossing her hand she sighed, "Oh have it your way. You're one of those strong and silent types then. How droll. Joanna will disappoint you eventually, whatever mid life crisis you are going through, honey, she's too young for you."

Nadine watched the muscle in his jaw tick and internally grin as he continued to stand there silently. Moving around the room, swaying her hips, Nadine gave him one of her best smiles, "You'd be better matched with someone your own age, don't you think? Mutual understandings and all that."

"I am fairly sure there would be no shared understanding between us. I would never hurt my child the way you have hurt Jo. As soon as I find Jo we'll be escorting you out of the dome, by any means necessary," he said giving her a pointed look as he dropped his arms. He was disgusted by her suggestion and the way she disregarded whatever might be between himself and Jo. Nadine didn't care in the least if she broke her daughter's heart.

Nadine moved to the bed and sat on the edge, flipping her long dark hair over a shoulder as she looked back at Herc, "That one goes both ways, my dear. Joanna took from me in ways your couldn't imagine. She'll take from you too if you aren't careful. Don't say I didn't try to warn you, sweetheart."

For a moment Herc merely looked at the woman, took from her? Was she serious? Judging by the sultry look on her face she was.

Realizing she wasn't going to win him over with her current tactic she stood again and moved towards him, "Joanna is a liar and a fake. She makes up stories to suit her. She led my boyfriend on and then made everyone believe he raped her when she got pregnant, did she tell you that? Probably told you she'd been raped but it was all made up, she cooked up that story for attention. She'd been sleeping with every boy in the neighborhood and no matter what I did to stop her she still found a way. I tried to help her, took her to doctors for help but even they couldn't give Joanna what she needed. That girl is an abyss of nothingness."

Unsure if he'd be able to restrain himself Herc took a step away from Nadine, "I suggest you make sure you are ready to go when we come back for you. If you aren't here I will have this entire base shut down to find you. You've out stayed your welcome, lady." He almost spat the last word at her before turning away from her.

"Oh, don't go away angry, love. I'm only telling you the truth before you get too attached to her lies and get hurt, I'm looking out for you," Nadine said even as he was leaving.

Jo sighed heavily as she leaned against the shipping container. She'd sat down awhile ago, though she had no idea how long ago, in an attempt to calm herself. Being able to sit quietly out of the way she'd been able to get her breathing under control and the scattered, terrible, thoughts back in order. She'd spent so much of her life thinking she was broken and not worth loving but she'd gotten away from that. Though now, post panic attack, she found herself right back there in those dark and destructive thoughts. How could anyone love her when she was like this?

Herc had never seen her like this, she hadn't come close to a full panic attack in ages. What if he saw this and couldn't handle it? He wouldn't be the first boyfriend who saw this side of her and decided she wasn't worth the trouble of sticking around. She was half convinced Herc would be the same but some small voice in her head told her to keep in mind he hadn't as of yet abandoned her. Herc had stood by her so far, given her support yesterday with the unexpected appearance of her mother. She shouldn't assume he would be the same but it was difficult.

Rubbing a hand over her face she pulled the ponytail holder from her hair, the dark tresses falling down around her shoulders. It wasn't overly cold outside but after sweating from the panic attack Jo felt chilled as it dried on her skin. She hated her mother for this, hated that she still didn't have control over this part of herself. She'd been told by at least three different therapists that it was normal to experience random panic attacks in addition of stress induced ones. This at least certainly had the circumstances surrounding it to warrant the reaction. Jo just hated that she hadn't been able to withstand her mother for longer before it happened. For every negative thought that went through her head she tried to counter it with a more logical one.

She was weak for not being able to not have a panic attack. No, she wasn't weak, it was a reaction to the added stress of her mother being around suddenly again. It was a form of PTSD one doctor might have said. A programmed panic response to the presence of her mother after all the torment she'd went through at her mother's hands. She was broken. Well... she might be a little bit but she managed her everyday life pretty well until her mother showed up. Her life was over now, Jo nearly snorted at that thought. Her life would go on. No matter what happened to her, life would go on regardless of the pain she experienced along the way.

Absently she ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to get her thoughts in some form of order but her head was still pretty chaotic at the moment. Her chest hurt but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been moments ago. Glancing around with her grey eyes she wondered how long she'd been out here, it seemed like it had been hours but she knew from experience it hadn't been nearly that long. Twisting hair around a finger Jo closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath in, held it for a count of ten and then released.

As she was completing the fifth round of breathing she was startled when someone called her name. Eyes popping open she turned her head in the direction of pounding feet only to see Herc coming at her from a side door that let out from the main building. He looked about as rough as she felt at the moment, "Herc?"

"Jo! Where in the hell have you been? I've been looking all over for you," he said as he took the hand she lifted up and jerked her to her feet, right into his arms so he could hug her tightly.

Surprised Jo fell against Herc with a puff of breath, "Herc."

He squeezed her once more and then looked into her face, a hand lifting to brush against her cheek as he pushed her hair back, "Are you ok? I couldn't find you anywhere and I was worried something had happened to you."

With a sigh Jo shook her head briefly before nuzzling his hand, "Mother stopped by my shop. I... it was more than I could handle so I came out here for some air."

Looking at her he saw the tightness of her face, the redness in her eyes and wondered if she'd cried. "We need to get that bitch out of here. I don't care what brought her out here it's time for her to go."

"I would agree," she said in a tired voice.

Herc tipped his head as he looked into her grey eyes. There was an wariness about her that hadn't been there before. He hated her mother for putting that look there. Two days! Hell, not even two days yet and the woman had done nothing but stir things up.

"Herc, I need to lay down for a bit first. I just... I had a panic attack and I'm exhausted," she said, too tired to care if he got upset by the fact that she had panic attacks.

Surprised he looked at her for a long moment and then hugged her to his chest again, "Damnit, Jo. I'll strangle that woman."

A soft laugh escaped her as Jo put her arms around Herc, "I wouldn't stop you but visiting in jail might be a little difficult. With your complexion I'm not sure orange is your color though, love."

"Ah well, over here they wear brown so I'd look damn good in a prison uniform."

His comment earned him a playful smack as Jo shook her head, "Not funny. Also, she's not worth it Herc. SO not worth it."

Well... he'd agree with her there, Nadine Monroe was not worth spending the rest of his life in jail. Hugging her again Herc tucked her under an arm as he headed for the building, "Alright, I'll give you that one. Come one, let's go back to our room. We'll deal with her later."