Title: Bends in the Undergrowth

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the world is not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG.

Summary: Jack stared after Jo, a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. 400 words.

Spoilers: Eureka 4.20 "One Giant Leap"

Notes: Argh. A missing scene this time. Title from a line in a Robert Frost poem.

"I'll be seeing you, Carter."

Jack stares after Jo, a terrible sinking feeling in his gut. It's been a rollercoaster of a day already between the Secret Service incident, the black holes, the impending Astraeus launch, and Allison finally agreeing to move in with him, but that? He's pretty sure the tracks have just dropped out from under him.

It's stupid, really. He has no reason to believe this'll be the last time he ever lays eyes on her. He's grown closer to Jo in the last couple of years than he's ever been to his actual sister; he'd meant it when he said he counted Jo as part of his family, and he believes she meant it when she said she felt the same way. But-- he's been half expecting something to go catastrophically wrong all day, and after flirting with presidential assassination, gamma rays cooking Eureka, and Allison's ambivalence on the issue of living together... well. Jo's little farewell speech had sounded an awful lot like a couple of other goodbyes in recent memory more on the order of "have a good life" than "see you again soon":

"I'll be seeing you, Sport."

"I'll see you around, Jack."

He swallows, trying to reassure himself. Jo has to return six months from now, at least. Zane will be back from Titan then, and whatever ultimate decision she makes, she'll have to at least fill him in on the outline. Otherwise, her sort-of-boyfriend will probably hack the globe looking for her, and either get his ass arrested again or turn up on her doorstep; she has to know that.

Okay. So whatever disaster is due to strike-- the way it always seems to, when a really big project is on the line-- it can't have anything to do with Jo. She's going to be fine. Better than fine; she's smart both with people and with books, which is more than he can claim.

And she isn't sacrificing herself to save the world. She isn't trying to disappear for the sake of the timeline. She isn't gadding off to a foreign country like Lexi did, taking his new nephews and brother-in-law with her. She's just... doing what Zoe's doing: stepping out of her comfort zone to strengthen herself. Right?

Jack shakes his head, then swallows down his sense of foreboding and heads for his backup Jeep to return to Global Dynamics.

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