TITLE: Resolution
AUTHOR: Pedellea
DATE: October 30, 2008
RATING: T for minor course language and suggestive scenes.
SUMMARY: He showed up, and she took the bullet. What happens afterwards? A tag to Gray Zone.
SPOILERS: Gray Zone
DISCLAIMER: The Border belongs to Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey, Janet MacLean, Jeremy Hole, and White Pine Pictures.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I rewatched Gray Zone sometime ago, and wondered how Gray dealt with Jo's death. Here is my rendition of events and memories of their little "ride", taking place between her death and Gray showing up at the Mohawk reserve. Present time is in normal font, and flashbacks are in italics. Enjoy!

RESOLUTION
By Pedellea

An unmistakable sound of a gunshot rippled through his brain, and he jolted awake, unable to breathe.

But he was not the one who took the bullet.

Images of a more lively Jo flooded his mind - a spaghetti sauce-filled kiss, wine glasses tinkling in the hotel hot tub, her body tangled up with his, like puzzle pieces.

Gray sighed as his lungs allowed him air again and a hand scratched over his scabbed and bruised face, reminding him of her all the more.

He scrubbed his eyes and looked at the clock - 9:07am. He'd slept fitfully for the night despite many drinks, and his brain reminded him it was only Thursday - another three days of mandatory leave before he could work again.

* * *

~ Two Days Ago ~

"Please, boss. I need to make my mind... off...," Gray sighs off the sentence, holding off a visible shudder of seeing Jo dead in his mind.

"Sorry," a look of sympathy, "it's protocol. And you shouldn't even be here. You know that. Take off for a few days, Gray. Clear your mind."

* * *

Instead, he stayed in his apartment and drank his way through a case of 2-4s and emptied all the liquor he could scrounge up. Still, it didn't erase the fact that Jo was put into the ground yesterday. And he couldn't bring himself to pay his last respects. What could he say to her family, to her daughter Dyani? Would she have wanted him there?

The thoughts made his head pulse a nauseous beat.

Gray sighed and slowly sat on the edge of the bed, grabbing a bottle of painkillers off his night table to ease his pounding post-alcohol headache. Swallowing two chalky white pills dry, he closed his eyes and gingerly leaned back onto the headboard, seeing Jo stretch under the sheets with a yawn, just like that morning long ago.

* * *

~ Five Years Ago ~

It's mid-morning, and Gray was running late for debrief with the boss. He was going to be in deep shit if he didn't hurry. His pants are half-way done up when the woman he spent the night with speaks up.

"Heading off already?"
"Hey, Jo. Yeah."
"Why? Stay a little longer. I don't start my shift until noon. We can watch the sun a little longer."
"I can't. It's... it's a poker ritual of mine."

She pouts, crossing her arms.

"To blow women off?"
"What? No... no, it's not like that. I'll come see you tonight, Jo. I promise."

He sees her puppy dog pout dissolve into a mischievous grin and he smiles, leaning in for a kiss.

* * *

He opened his eyes and just like that, Jo vanishes. With an angry grunt, Gray grabbed the pillow beside him and it was soon airborne, thwacking into the wall and sliding down, limp and defeated.

He shouldn't have stayed on the case, knowing she was there, knowing very well he could screw up like the last time.

* * *

~ Five Years Ago ~

"Get out, Gray! GET the hell OUT!"

He ducks away from the flying stapler targeting his face.

"No, Jo, lemme-"
"NO! You- you- you-," she huffs an enraged sigh. "How dare you USE me like that! For your work, Gray? Am I – do I look like a WHORE to you?"

She shoves him hard out the doorway.

"No! Jo. I-"
"I'm gonna lose my job, you sonuvabitch! All because you sacked me to- to- to play your little spy games with me? What the hell am I gonna do now?"
"Please-"
"I don't EVER want to see your FACE again!"

* * *

Gray jerked a little, hearing that door slam in his face. He should've listened to her, should've pulled out, should've left her alone while there was still time.

But he was on the job, and there was no way he could let her get hurt again. He would make up for things this time.

* * *

~ Four Days Ago ~

They're kissing and stumbling and falling onto the bed in the trailer, and as he tugs at her underwear, she grabs his hand. He stops.

"What's wrong?
"Gray, we can't do this again."
"Why not?"

She sighs.

"I can't."
"Wh-why?"
"I can't... trust you."

He hooks a finger around her bra strap, pulling it down gently. He puts his lips to her ear and whispers.

"It's just me, Jo. I won't screw up this time."

* * *

But he did. Even though he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, he put that bullet into her head. And now she's buried in a box, forever lost to a little girl – his little girl? – who will never see her mother again.

Gray lets out a shaky sigh, running a hand across his face.

Was Dyani his?

He knew exactly what it was like to not have parents. All the crap he endured in school for being an "orphan", all the while knowing his dad had abandoned him, leaving him to strangers in foster homes who were sometimes kind, but mostly in it for the scraps of money the government doled out to them.

Could he let Jo's little girl go through that same shit?

He glanced at the alarm clock again – 9:28am. Two hours would get him from Toronto to the Mohawk reserve. That was one place he could start to make things right.

He got off the bed and pulled on a shirt and a pair of pants lying nearby, squinting at the crack of sun coming through the curtains.

* * *

~ Five Years Ago ~

A sudden light burst behind his eyelids, and Gray shields his eyes, fumbling for sheets to block out the light.

"Graaay..."

The covers are pulled away from his face, and as he opens his eyes, the beautiful hostess from the previous night saddles up onto his legs, a delicious smile playing across her face.

"Jo."
"Gray, you gotta come see this."
"Hmm? What time is it?"
"Six. C'mon!"

She grabs him by the shoulders and hauls him up, finding a seat in his lap. The curtains had been flung wide open, revealing a picturesque morning view unlike anything Gray had seen in a long time. He drapes one arm around her shoulder and shields his eyes with the other. "

What is it?"
"What is it? Are you kidding me? Just look."
"What? The falls?"
"No! The sun! Look how gorgeous it makes everything..."

She trails off, placing her head on his chest. When his eyes adjust a little more, he sees the light tossing diamonds off the surface of the water, the sky brushed in a golden caramel. His chin finds a resting place at the nape of her neck and she sighs.

"I love sunrises. It's like, there's a new beginning to be found in every one, you know?"

He laughs a little.

"That's deep."
"It's true!"

She turns her face and backhands his cheek playfully. He smiles, their mouths finding each other for a moment.

"You remember this, Gray," Jo declares as she stares back at the window. "If life gets shitty, gives you lemons, then you just look at the sun and remember everything will be alright."
"That easy?"
"Yep. That easy."

* * *

Gray dragged open one curtain panel and stared out at the cityscape for a while. He never forgot her love of sunrises. There was no Niagara Falls outside, no Jo by his side, but the sun still basked the city in a new, promising, cloudless light.

Somewhere two hours away, a little girl is waiting for everything to be alright again. It was up to him to do something about it.

Anything can happen on a day like this, right?

* * *

~ Five Years Ago ~

Gray kisses her again, savouring her pillowy lips against his, her limbs entwined with his. Their lips part and he lifts her chin so that their eyes meet.

"Alright. I'll remember that."
"Remember what?"
"Lemons. And the sun."
"Promise?"

He pulls her close, feeling her warm body against his. Showered in the golden hues of the morning sun – moments don't get more perfect than this.

"I promise."

THE END

I hope you enjoyed it. Comments and constructive criticism most welcome!