Replay

Summary: He knew he was only torturing himself by turning the subject over and over in his head, but he couldn't help it. Zane/Jo OS from Zane's POV (and he's quite grumpy). Set during 5x02 "The Real Thing"

My apologies for spelling mistakes or bad grammar - English is not my first language.

A huge THANK YOU to those who have read and reviewed my first oneshot. Maybe i'm not half as bad in writing in English as i thought :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka, only my own imagination.

"Time has reached our home...
It's carried her away...

And time won't stop replaying
Over in my mind..." *

Dragons, Zane thought and couldn't hide the chuckle that formed on his lips after receiving the news from Fargo that he had to fabricate a supersymmetric particle net with portibale launcher to slay a dragon. No matter how many times he repeated it in his head, it still sounded hilarious. He would have laughed the reinstalled boss of GD right in the face if it weren't for the possibility to work on said innovative technology. It was just his kind of mind candy to get it to work longer than 3 seconds when so many others had failed.

Lately he had been working his ass off on one assignment after another. His comrades of the Astraeus mission complained about not really getting a break after their "4 year odyssey", but Zane didn't mind. Working kept him occupied. Working kept him from thinking unpleasant thoughts about Jo and wondering about what might have been if he hadn't been missing for so long...

He should feel lucky. It could be worse.

He was back in Eureka. He had his lab back. He had his old life back. He hadn't really been on Titan though and hadn't become the astronaut he'd always dreamed to be. And the only woman whose ever come close to be called "the love of his life" was the Sheriff's girlfriend now.

He had no right to be jealous - she had never been his girlfriend officially.

He had no right to be mad - she didn't actually cheate on him.

But that was exactly how he felt. Most of all, he felt hurt.

It didn't stop him from thinking about Jo every waking second, though he didn't want to, and if on clue Jo showed up in his lab, wearing one of those damn attractive black power suits he was used to see her dressed in. Almost like nothing had changed. Like there weren't 4 years standing between them like some impassable gap.

"How far are you with the launcher?" Jo asked impatiently as she crossed the room.

"I've only just begun. Give me at least another hour", he answered shortly, a little annoyed by her presence which kept him from concentrating completely on the task at hand. He expected her to leave again. Instead she stayed at his side and watched over his shoulder as he worked on the weapon. It made his skin crawl having her so close.

Zane had done his best to avoid Jo since learning about her relationship with Carter, but somehow it didn't work. Whenever he turned around a corner, there she would be, appearing out of nowhere, sneaking up on him. She would try to involve him in some casual small talk or just smile at him from afar. Her behaviour reminded him much of the time after he had crashed the Sky Cruiser when she had visited his lab 10 times a day. Passive-aggressive. It had been annoying and amusing at the same time back then, now it was pure torture.

Another half an hour dragged by feeling like an eternity for Zane. He tried to stay focused on his work and miserably failed as he catched himself sneaking quick glances at Jo from the corner of his eye which he hoped she wouldn't notice. She seemed to be too occupied by studying the movement of his swift hands working on the complicated mechanism of the netting gun.

Why did she have to stand so close?

Why did she have to look over his shoulder?

Why did she seem to not have aged one day in 4 years and still looked as beautiful as on the day he had left?

"How much longer do you need? This dragon thingy is kinda dangerous." Jo's words pulled him back into reality. Dragon thingy ... did she really believe it was a dragon? Zane could think of a million more plausible explanations and he counted them all down in his head to keep it from wandering off in other directions. He tried to not look at her again which took more willpower than he thought he possessed. He had to work faster. The sooner he was done, the faster this torment would be over.

"Depends on how much you keep on distracting me by asking these questions", he replied, making his voice sound calmer than he felt. "You don't have to wait here, you know. Don't you have anything else to do? With Carter?" The words left a foul taste in his mouth and he swallowed thickly.

Her and Carter - it just sounded wrong. It felt wrong for so many reasons.

Zane scolded himself. It wasn't his business, was it?

He knew he was only torturing himself by turning the subject over and over in his head, but he couldn't help it. He tried to recall the relationship of Jo and Carter from 4 years ago, for him it was like yesterday. He tried to remember any sign of their feelings being anything but platonic.

Surely, Jo and Carter had been close, almost like family, and Jo had lived at Carter's house after her own home had been destroyed - twice. But Carter had always been attracted to Dr. Blake as long as Zane could remember, even while dating Dr. Fontana. Him and Jo, they had never shown the same sizzling chemistry Zane and Jo had shared and maybe that was the difference. Maybe it had all been physics between them and that was the reason Jo hadn't fallen in love with him again. And Zane had only fooled himself into believing they could be something more in this reality.

Jo sighed before she replied. "I, no, i just ... want to make sure you're alright. I have hardly seen you since you're back."

Zane chuckled without humor. She really wanted them to be friends. How cruel could she be? It was the last thing he wanted at the moment and he had already told her, still here she was - in his lab, refusing to leave him in peace. He felt like moving in circles and picking the shorter end again. First he had to measure up to his alternate timeline self, now he had to compete against the Sheriff in a battle that was already lost. And the worst of it, he didn't even have a chance to fight for her in the first place.

He hadn't been there.

Zane shrugged. "Just been busy catching up 4 years i missed."

"Did you talk to your mother? She must be so relieved to hear you're alive."

Zane felt his shoulders tense as Jo tread rather personal territory with her change of subject. It didn't sit well with him. "What do you care?" He couldn't hide the acid in his voice this time. She wasn't his girlfriend, she wasn't supposed to ask about his mother. Of course he had called his mother to let her know her son was alive and well, but he wouldn't tell Jo. They weren't a couple. Right now they weren't even friends. His private life wasn't her business, just like hers wasn't any of his anymore.

"Zane."

Her voice grew soft as honey, caressing like velvet and it became even more unbearable to concentrate. He would never get this stupid net done if she kept talking to him like that. He wished she would just stop. He would rather go hunting dragons with Fargo while the little guy was wearing his self-made Dungeons and Dragons costume - or working at the mucus lab again - than having to endure this conversation with Jo for much longer.

Jo sighed again. She sounded almost sad and seemed to contemplate her next words very carefully - as if she didn't want to hurt his feelings. As if it was still possible. "Just because i'm ... with someone else ... doesn't mean i don't care about you anymore. I really do. I'll always do."

Just not enough, Zane thought bitterly, clenching his teeth. Just not the way he wanted her to care, not the way she used to care in another timeline.

Briefly Zane wondered again, though the scientist in him refused to acknowledge it, if there was some higher power at work trying to make his life miserable. Maybe it was karma's way to get back at him for all his stupid pranks or fooling around with women. Maybe he should consider getting back together with Zoe Carter. He definitely had the urge to mess with the Sheriff again these days. But he wasn't that kind of guy anymore and refused to revert back into him. Jo thought better of him and in spite of everything he didn't want to disappoint her.

Finally she showed some mercy and stayed silent, so Zane could finish the gun rather quickly.

When he was done, Jo took the modified weapon from its attachment, admired it like a new toy on Christmas and shifted it from side to side, trying to adjust and find the right angle to hold it. "So how does it work exactly? You just aim and shoot?" she wanted to know.

"Pretty much, but it has a biometric field accelerator**. Here, let me show you."

Zane showed her how to hold the big gun in the right position which resulted in them standing even closer than before. Close enough to touch. Zane couldn't help but notice how close exactly they were standing. He could smell her familiar vanilla shampoo and feel her body heat as Jo surprisingly didn't pull away immediately. For a second he imagined her leaning into him.

"Thanks, i think i got it", she said and smiled up at him. Zane groaned inwardly, full of frustration and confusion.

What the hell was he doing? What the hell was she doing?

She was with Carter! She shouldn't smile at him like that - or at all. He had told her he wasn't ready to be friends with her yet. He should keep his distance and she shouldn't test his patience, but here she was like a living temptation in his tiny lab, torturing him with that intoxicating smile she used to give him when he teached her orbital dynamics - like there was still a spark flowing between them waiting to combust.

Probably just his poor wishful thinking.

Zane cleared his throat and stepped back to put some safe distance between them before he could do something really really stupid - like kiss her or fall at her feet or something just as embarrassing and pointlesss.

"We should get going", he said. "This dragon thingy doesn't get captured on its own."

As they left the lab to find Carter and track down the dragon or whatever it actually was, Zane wondered why he remained in Eureka. Why he hadn't left, now that nothing - or rather no one - was holding him back anymore. The town didn't really feel like home, so why not move on? He was a free man thanks to the pardon. He could go anywhere - MIT, Stanford, Space Camp.

The only problem was that he didn't want to go anywhere.

Even though not ready to be friends with Jo yet, Zane knew he would give in sooner or later just to be near her. She might not be in love with him anymore - if she'd ever been at all - but he was still in love with her. And he couldn't stop wondering what might have been...

He only hoped it wouldn't take another 4 years to get her out of his system.

* Joshua Radin "One of those days"

** biometric field accelerator... please don't ask, it just sounded science smart :P