That night at Café Diem

Zane sat at a table with Kylie from the Bio chemistry lab. He'd had to cancel their date last week and was supposed to be making up for it tonight. Unfortunately he was failing miserably at it, neither one of them was having a good time. It shouldn't have been a problem Kylie was pretty and she was funny something she'd spent the entire night trying to get Zane to notice. He however was too tired and preoccupied to pay her much attention. He'd been having strange dreams all week and a lot of old memories kept popping into his head and he'd had a hard time sleeping because of it all. It hadn't helped that most of his focus had not been on Kylie but on the group of people sitting across the room.

Clayton and his girlfriend were there along with Jo and Asher and to Zane's surprise Fargo and that girl Claudia. After what had seemed a few awkward moments the group had been laughing and talking loudly with each other all night. Asher's arm had been draped across the back of Jo's chair since they'd sat down telling everyone in the room that they were together. "They're too alike Jo needs to find a guy that can shake up her overly ordered world not encourage it."

It also had not escaped his notice that Jo and Fargo were suddenly keeping their distance from the rest of the band of five. "Interesting there seems to be some dissention in the ranks. I wonder what's up with that." Not only had Jo and Fargo not once spoken to their other friends but Fargo kept nervously glancing over towards the other table. Whatever was going on it seemed the band of five for once wasn't marching in lock step with each other. "Maybe I can use this to figure out their damn secret."

Zane realized that Kylie had just said something to him and made the effort to shift his attention away from Jo's table and back on his date where it belonged. Offering to get Kylie another drink he rose and headed for the counter the same time Asher did.

"Pretty" Asher said indicating Zane's date. It hadn't escaped his notice that Zane had spent most of the evening watching him and Jo.

"Oh she's not as hot as your date but she is pretty and fun." His tone implying he didn't think Jo knew how to have fun. For some reason Zane felt the need to push Asher's buttons over Jo.

"Jo, Jo's so hot it's like looking through the shimmer of a jet engine and she can definitely be a lot of fun." Asher replied then winked at Zane before picking up his drinks and heading back to his own party.

Zane's mood was not a particularly good one when he got back to his table.

"So I take it Jo knows about the phased acoustical array missing?" Henry asked Jack

"Oh she knows, I was only in Dr. Lofton's lab for five minutes before Clayton showed up and very politely but firmly escorted me out of Global." Jack responded remembering Clayton's not so subtle reminder that Jack's office was in town not there. "I didn't learn much only that Dr. Lofton had found a piece of metal with some weird symbols on it that didn't belong to anyone that worked in the lab."

"What kind of symbols? Can I see it?" Allison asked

"I don't know some kind of math I think, but Clayton took it from me." Jack told her. "Whatever is going on Clayton is definitely following Jo's lead, I heard him tell Dr. Lofton that it was probably a prank and they'd find the acoustical thing some place in the building."

"These are not pranks." Allison said "It getting a little frustrating that no one seems to care. It's even more frustrating that Fargo and Jo seem to be cutting us out completely." She waved across the room indicating the other two seated with their dates.

"Jo has a few things to figure out right now, maybe she just feels more comfortable doing that without anyone commenting or questioning her about it." Grace supplied. Grace didn't want to say too much about what Jo had on her mind. The younger woman had come to her in confidence before leaving on her vacation, thinking Grace would have a good perspective on what Jo was going through given her situation with Henry. Grace didn't think it was her place to break that confidence, if Jo wanted to talk to Jack or Allison she would. "I don't think Jo is ignoring her job I just think she's a little preoccupied right now. Give her some time."

"I really wish I thought you were right but Jo's behavior is strange to say the least and more and more things keep turning up missing. Whatever is going on Jo and Fargo both are either ignoring it or covering it up." Allison said. "We can't just sit back and hope they go back to normal soon."

"Well I tried talking to Fargo again today not that it did any good. I don't know who's becoming more paranoid Fargo or Jo but neither one of them wants me in that building. We need to do something about this and quickly before it's out of our hands." Jack said the worry for his friends very clear in his voice.

All of them turned to watch their other two friends; Jack, Henry and Allison all believing that Fargo and Jo were acting like they didn't have a care in the world while Grace wondered if maybe Jo had finally decided to give Asher a real chance. Grace didn't share the belief that either Fargo or Jo were being controlled by someone, in fact she thought Fargo and Jo were very worried about something.

"Something's up" Asher thought to himself. Jo, Clayton and Fargo had been exchanging looks with each other all night. Fargo looked edgy and nervous while Jo and Clayton had that look in their eyes that Asher hadn't seen since Afghanistan. It was the same look the two would get before going out on a mission, it meant they were gearing up to go on the hunt and inflict some damage somewhere. He wouldn't ask them about it he understood need to know and apparently the three were operating on a need to know basis. That didn't mean he wouldn't pay more attention to what was going on around Global though, if it was bad they might need some back up. "Judging by the looks on Jo and Clay it's pretty bad." Tonight however he'd do what he could to keep the mood light take some of the pressure off of them, the three definitely looked like they needed to blow off some steam badly. He wanted to talk to Jo later but he needed her in a mood where she'd be receptive to what he was going to say.

Asher continued with the story he'd been telling thinking the best thing to do was keep them laughing "So there the Colonel was covered in motor oil and feather's but hey, it was his own fault we told him not to open that door."

Jo was going to kick Fargo if he didn't knock it off he'd been pointedly looking between her and Zane all night. She knew Zane was there she'd known it the instant she'd walked into the café, but she couldn't exactly go up and question him with his date sitting there. Hell she didn't want to have to talk to him at all tonight it was bad enough watching him on a date "it's just another reminder that Grace was right and I need to let go." She was taking what Grace had said to her seriously she and Ash had been good together.

He understood why she took things seriously but he was also capable of getting her to lighten up once in a while, they were from the same world and understood each other. He also shared her love of weapons and while he wasn't anywhere near as good a marksman as she was he was pretty damn good. Their problem had never been how they felt about each other it had been the war and the fact that it was difficult to actually spend any real time together. While Asher had been assigned permanently to a camp Jo's unit wasn't, she'd gone where she was needed when she was needed. Ash was also back at camp every day you couldn't fly a helicopter after it ran out of fuel, she however was often gone on a mission for long periods of time. She remembered the night they'd both decided just to be friends, things were heating up in the gulf and they needed to concentrate on their jobs. It would have been selfish to do anything else lives depended on them doing their jobs.

Jo just didn't know how to reconcile the idea of restarting something with someone you had loved with still being in love with someone that you meant nothing too. "God this really should be a no brainer Josephina, what's your problem." She went back to listening to Ash and Claudia tell one over the top story after another. "Claudia's a pretty good match for Fargo really. Good for him."

"So Lupo and Mad again, that could make things interesting around here." Clayton thought as he glanced over at Donovan. If you'd have asked him when he'd first arrived he'd have said Lupo and Donovan hated each other. Now you'd have to be blind not to see that Donovan had it bad for his boss and just wasn't willing to admit it, sometimes he even thought Lupo returned the feelings but she could be a lot harder to read. He was happy for his friends they had been good for each other Mad always got Lupo to relax and she in turn had kept Mad from taking his stunts a step too far. The only time it had been a problem was when they fought, that was like being stuck in the middle of a nuclear explosion, the only thing a guy could do then was duck for cover and hope not to get caught in the fallout.

Fargo wondered what in the world Jo was waiting for Zane was sitting right there why not just go up and talk to the guy. Mansfield had been angry with him this afternoon over their lack of progress and Jo putting off talking to Zane wasn't going to help anything. Carter giving him a lecture today on how Jo and he should do their jobs had also served to make Fargo's mood less than pleasant. Why couldn't the other three acknowledge that maybe just maybe he and Jo were perfectly capable of handling things without them once in a while.

Fargo was happy for Jo that things seemed to be going well for her and Asher "But geez that doesn't mean she can't talk to Zane at all." Especially when it looked more and more like Zane was in the middle of everything going on. Fargo still believed like the other two that Zane was being set up but maybe he knew something they didn't that would help them. "Like who he's pissed off enough to do it." Noticing that Zane's date had gone off somewhere Fargo decided to try and get Jo to stop putting it off. "Look Zane's alone now, you should go speak with him."

Clayton and Jo looked at each other, this wasn't the best place to interrogate Donovan but Clayton couldn't see what it would hurt. He shrugged at Jo "Go ahead I'll keep Kylie away until you're finished. Might as well get it over with."

Asher looked at Jo his expression showing his curiosity "What's going on that you need to talk to Zane?"

Jo gave him a blank stare, Asher was to observant not to know that something was going down "Nothing important just some issues at work. We're hoping Zane can clear a few things up for us." Turning to the other two she said "I don't really think this is the best place to do this but fine. If he makes a scene I'm blaming you two."

Jo rose from the table knowing that Zane was about to find their conversation extremely suspicious, no way would he just let it go after she was done. Jo had enough problems with Carter sticking himself in the middle of things she didn't need Zane to do it too. She just didn't know how to stop him. She walked over to Zane's table and sat down ignoring the surprised look he gave her.

She started right in before he had a chance to say something stupid that would only piss her off. "I need to ask you a couple of questions and they're going to sound odd. I need you to answer them Zane they're important."

Zane instantly became more alert something was definitely up, Jo wouldn't be there if there wasn't something going on. While she wasn't rude nor had she been exactly avoiding him since he'd kissed her she did keep her distance from him. Zane was grateful for that, he did want to know what their secret was and how she'd gotten the ring but that was it. He knew the ring meant they had been serious and Zane didn't want serious with anyone. Hell up until Asher had shown up he'd been perfectly happy that it appeared Jo wasn't going to try and pursue whatever they'd had before. He simply raised his eyebrows waiting for her to continue. "This should be interesting."

Jo took a deep breath before speaking "When was the last time you went into Global in the middle of the night to work on something?"

Zane thought for a moment not sure where she was headed with question "Hmmm, a little over two weeks ago."

"Ok so before the RSS designs went missing." She continued knowing her next few questions where going to make this conversation go downhill fast. "When was the last time you wore that Mariner's jacket of yours?"

This surprised Zane he didn't know what he'd expected but it wasn't a conversation about his clothes "The Tuesday before you left for vacation, why?"

"Are you sure it was the day before I left for vacation and not after?" Jo asked knowing the answer, his memory was so perfect it was freaky.

"Of course I'm sure and again why? What's going on Lupo?" Zane was not happy about where this was going, she was interrogating him for some reason.

"Nothing I'm just clearing up a few facts involving the RSS designs" she told him before continuing "can I see your keys?"

"Maybe, but that's not all of it." He thought to himself before answering her "Yeah sure, here." He reached into his pocket and pulled them out.

Zane's key chain was gone, Jo was getting more and more worried things were going to get pretty bad for Zane pretty quickly. "Where's your key chain?"

Zane had had enough "What in the hell is really going on Jo? What exactly is it you think I've done now? Because I haven't had time to do anything other than work with your Boyfriend on that damn helicopter lately."

Jo noticed the emphasis he'd put on the word boyfriend and blushed. She wasn't about to get into a conversation about Asher with Zane so she kept her tone professional "I'm not accusing you of having done anything, I told you I'm simply following up on the theft in the NWL lab. What happened to your key chain?"

"I lost it and it's pissing me off too, that was a gift from my mother." Zane told her.

Jo knew exactly how much the key chain had meant to him and she'd give it back to him after this was all over but right now it was evidence. She took another breath before asking him the question that was likely to send him over the edge "Zane have you made any extra money lately, I mean besides what Global pays you." She watched his face as he worked out what he thought the last question had meant and he was now angry.

"You think I stole the RSS designs and sold them?" he asked her incredulous "So much for the truce we'd had going."

Jo cut him off before he could completely blow up at her "No I don't think you stole the designs, I don't think you've done anything wrong. I'm simply following up on some things that's all."

"Well that's a load of crap but I doubt you're going to tell me what's really up." Zane snapped at her.

Asher had seen the looks on both Jo and Zane's faces and decided to intervene before an all out war broke out between the two of them. The sounds of Glen Miller filled the room as Asher came up to Jo holding out his hand "I believe this is our dance."

Jo was grateful for the distraction and it had been a long time since she'd danced with Ash, she smiled brilliantly up at him letting him lead her onto the makeshift dance floor.

Zane watched Asher and Jo doing some swing dance it was obvious that both had not only had lessons but had danced together before. When Kylie returned to the table his eyes were narrowed and his mouth was set in a grim line. Zane stood up before she had a chance to sit back down telling her "Do you mind if we call it a night, I'm really pretty tired."

Kylie agreed readily she really hadn't had much fun tonight any ways. The two left together, Zane knowing he wasn't likely to get another date with the pretty blond and not really caring if he did.

Woods just outside Eureka

Zane woke up feeling groggy, his head was killing him. He took a look around and tried to remember what had happened and how he'd ended up lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere. He'd only had a couple of beers that night, he wasn't much of a drinker he didn't like things that messed with his head. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and tried to think. The last thing he remembered was saying goodbye to Kylie outside of Café Diem then getting on his bike to go home and get some sleep. "Damn it, what the hell happened? Some idiot must have another out of control experiment going!"

As he struggled to try and piece together how he had wound up in the woods a flash of memory hit him, at least he thought it was a memory but it didn't make any sense. "Oh crap! I am in so much trouble here." Zane could vaguely remember standing in the clearing he was now sitting in and giving the newly rebuilt prototype of the sky cruiser to someone. "This can't be right I'd never do that." But the more he struggled through the fog of his memories of that night the more certain he became that he had done exactly that. What he couldn't understand was why, why would he give the sky cruiser to a complete stranger and he was sure it had been to a complete stranger. "Mansfield is sending me to prison for sure this time, do not pass Go do not collect your two hundred dollars. I need to get the hell out of town until I can figure this out."

Zane was pissed, he was pretty sure someone had messed with him and he was being set up. Recalling all the strange questions Jo had asked him earlier he was afraid he was being set up to take the fall for a lot more than just the sky cruiser. The problem was he could vaguely remember being the one to give the sky cruiser away. Zane made himself stand up it wasn't easy he felt dizzy and disoriented. He needed to get to his bike and get the hell out of Eureka fast before anyone noticed the sky cruiser was missing. Once he had a place to hide he'd figure out who had done this to him and how but he needed to keep Jo and Carter from locking him up to do that. He was on his own here, Jo may have stuck her neck out for him once but there was no way she could or would ignore this. He made his way carefully towards the direction he thought the road would be in.

By the time Zane found the road he was feeling a little steadier and he headed back towards town as quickly as he could. He had no idea what time it was his PDA was missing but he was sure he didn't have a lot of time to disappear before Jo or Cater came after him. Zane heard the loud crack then suddenly he fell to the ground a searing pain ripping across his side.

Oh, crap I didn't mean to hit him just scare him. That idiot was supposed to take off not go back to town." The man was visibly shaken, he needed Zane out of town and everyone focusing their attention on finding him in order for the plan to work. Now he'd screwed that up and accidently shot Donovan, his boss was not going to be happy. He didn't know what else to do but get the hell out of there and let someone else find the body.