I'm not expecting many reviews or too many views for this story. It's just something that popped in my head while I was staying up all night to get ready for night shift.

Plot: What if Jo hadn't quit the Astraeus mission, what if she and Zane had made the crew but something else made Jo quit. The launch and mission will go as planned, no Consortium interference.

Jo paced back and forth across Zane's living room. She'd messaged him about an hour ago that when he finished wrapping up a project at GD, they had to talk about the Astraeus mission. She was waiting for him to get home to tell him that she wouldn't be going. She had received some very unexpected information and been forced to withdraw from the mission this afternoon only a few days short of the launch, after her and Zane had worked so hard to be able to go together. This news changed everything for them, mission or not.

She stopped pacing as she heard Zane pull into the driveway. Looking out the window, she saw him carrying a takeout box from Café Diem. She inwardly groaned, so nervous about this talk that if she ate anything she would surely vomit it back up. Jo walked closer to the door as Zane entered the apartment.

"Hey, JoJo." Zane said, putting his keys down and walking towards the kitchen. "I got some food from Vincent before I came home, hope that's okay."

When Jo didn't respond, Zane finally stopped his normal coming home routine to look at her, he saw that she looked positively terrified. He was suddenly worried and left the food containers on the counter.

"Jo, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Zane said, walking over to her and taking her in his arms. Jo wrapped her arms around him and held him close, breathing in his scent and trying to calm herself so she could talk. She had thought for hours about how to tell him, about what to say but she was still nervous.

"Zane, I've been pulled from Astraeus mission selection." She blurted out before she could chicken out and waste more time. Rip the band aid off fast, just get it over with. She thought.

"What? Why?" Zane asked, pulling back from her and looking pissed. "They can't do this to you, to us. We both earned our spots on that ship, just like everyone else."

"Well, when Allison did my final medical work up she found something that precludes me from going to Titan." Jo answered calmly. She had no idea where this sudden calm came from, but she just hoped it would last long enough to tell him what she needed to say.

"What could they have possibly found this time that they missed last time?" Zane asked, still looking like he wanted to punch the wall but also concerned for her health. "This is probably all Mansfields fault, God forbid he should lose his Enforcer for a few months."

"Hey! I haven't been his enforcer since 1947!" Jo responded on instinct to Zane's last comment, crossing her arms and glaring at his use of his nickname for the old her. She didn't like being reminded that she and Zane hated each other when she first got to this timeline.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Zane said, taking her back in his arms and kissing her forehead. They just stood there in each other's arms taking a few calming breaths. "So what was so serious that Allison felt she had to pull you from the mission?"

"Well, apparently it's pretty hard to find good prenatal care in space." Jo responded quietly. After more than a few seconds of silence from Zane she risked a glance up at this face. The look on his face was mostly shocked, but a small smile played across his lips.

"Does that mean….are you…pregnant?" Zane asked shakily. Jo nodded and Zane's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He swept her up in his arms, kissed her and spun her around. Jo smiled into the kiss, so glad that this was off her chest and that he was happy about the pregnancy.

When Zane finished celebrating he set her feet back on the ground but kept her encircled in his arms, hers still around his neck.

"How far along?" Zane asked, a seemingly perpetual smile on his face.

"About 6 weeks, that's why it wasn't found on my first physical." Jo answered, taking one of his hands from around her waist and moving it to her belly. Sure, she was too early in the pregnancy to have a baby bump never mind feel the baby kick, but it felt right.

"Wow!" Was all Zane could say, leaning in to kiss her again. Jo relaxed into the kiss, knowing that tomorrow she would have to notify both the D.O.D. and the rest of her friends of her pregnancy. But all that could wait until tomorrow.