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jedibuttercupPG-13, BtVS/Eureka; 2100 words. (For August 29; 6th of "No Place Like Eureka.")
Zoe wasn't even sure why she was angry, really.
Title: Wanting What's Best For Her
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Zoe wasn't even sure why she was angry, really. 2100 words.
Spoilers: B:tVS 5.05 "No Place Like Home" and 5.13 "Blood Ties"; Eureka post-3.14 "Ship Happens" with mentions of 2.3 "Unpredictable"
Challenge:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
twistedshorts - August, Day 29
Notes: 6th in series. Zoe's reaction, a bit of Tess, and a tiny bit of plot movement.
"So," Dr. Fontana said, sitting down on the stool next to Zoe.
Zoe looked up from the milkshake she was methodically stabbing with her straw and gave the other woman a half-hearted smile. "So," she said. Whatever Allison's friend wanted to talk to her about-- or her dad's girlfriend, Zoe wasn't sure which capacity Tess had come in yet and wasn't sure she really cared-- she wasn't going to make it easy on her.
Vince came over to the counter, a query in his eyebrows for Dr. Fontana and a concerned glance for Zoe.
"I'll have one of those," Tess told him, gesturing to Zoe's shake, then took up the thread, such as it was, of the conversation again. "So, you left awfully quick," she said. "Did you hear Allison mention that the baby shower is going to be postponed?"
Zoe shrugged. "No, but I figured," she said, shortly. "What with Dr. Stark being back, and all."
"Yes," Tess agreed. "Between that, and what's going on with the Kim clone at G.D., not to mention Dawn, Ally's week is pretty full. I told her she should take a few days off, but...." She shrugged. "She says she'll already be taking six weeks when the baby's born, there's no need to take more now."
Zoe made a noncommittal noise in response.
"On the bright side, though," Tess continued, refusing to take the hint, "it means no more meetings with the harpies in Infant Development, at least for the next week." She smiled at Vince as he returned, and took a long sip of her milkshake with a happy sigh. "Mmmm."
"Good," Zoe muttered. "The way they act sometimes, you'd think they were still infants themselves. Me, me, me, like everything's all about them and their projects. Might mean excellent gifts for Dr. Blake, but if it were me, I'd rather have people at my party that wanted to be there because they cared, not to show each other up."
Tess let that statement rest a minute as they both savored some more of Vince's creations, then spoke again, tentatively. "So, is that what this is about?"
"What what is about?" Zoe retorted.
"Your dad caring-- either too much about Dawn, or not enough about you, I couldn't quite figure out which," Tess said, calmly.
Zoe pressed her eyes briefly shut at that statement and took a deep breath. "No," she said. "No, that isn't what this is about. I know he cares, okay? Why do you think I live in Eureka at all, and not back in L.A. with my mom? You haven't been here that long, you don't get to assume things just because you've been on one date with him."
She could hear her own voice getting fierce and angry by the last few words, and winced inwardly; she really hadn't intended on getting all 'evil potential stepdaughter' on the woman just yet. Dr. Fontana made her dad giddy, when he wasn't worrying about Allison or the latest crisis at G.D., and that was a look Zoe hadn't seen on him in far too long. But the nerve of her....!!!
Not that that was even the real reason why she was angry. Forget potential family; the actual was enough to give her a headache already. Though she wasn't even sure why she was angry, really; it wasn't like there was any less of her dad to love, or any less love in his heart to give her, just because she'd magically acquired a half-sister. A half-sister she was already friends with, even. A half-sister who wouldn't even live with them, because she already came with a magically reappearing much-loved other father of her own and a great stepmother who got along with her most of the time. It was just... it was just....
"Ouch," Tess said, sitting back slightly as she looked at Zoe. "I guess I know where I'm not wanted."
Zoe made a face. "No, no," she sighed, "that was out of line, I'm sorry." She dropped her straw into her milkshake again, and rested her chin on her cupped hands, staring down into the icecreamy depths of the glass. "It's just-- I'd just got done talking with Dawn about how nervous she was seeing her dad again after freaking out on him, because I had so much experience with that, and all. She never did the über-rebellious thing. She never ran away, or stole someone's identity, or committed credit card fraud, or anything, and she's beautiful, and she's brilliant, in areas my dad can actually talk to her about." She swallowed.
"Ah." Tess said. "The perfect daughter, in other words."
"I know it's stupid," Zoe said, feeling wretched. "I know he loves me, and he really wants me here. We just went through all that last year when my mom wanted custody of me again. Like I was a piece of property, or something, after all I'd gone through to be here. I was so mad at him for not fighting for me the way she did, but it turned out-- he really did just want what was best for me. Like he always does. Dawn-- Dawn being my sister now isn't going to change that. But-- I can't help compare myself to her anyway, and I feel...." She trailed off again.
"Like second best," Tess sighed, with a sympathetic grimace.
"Exactly." Zoe shrugged, feeling awkward. "Sorry to unload on you about it."
"That's all right," Tess replied. "Better than bottling it all in, and I did come in here kind of asking for it. I was-- a little thrown by it all myself, though not for the same reasons, and when you left, I told your dad I would go after you. He, uh. I thought he and Allison and the Starks needed a little more time to talk about what all this means for their families, and I didn't think either my status as Ally's best friend, nor one night spent watching stars with Jack on the hood of his jeep, qualified me for that conversation."
Zoe blinked-- first wondering what exactly Tess' reasons might have been, and then again at the sudden mental image. "Ew, TMI," she said, throwing an incredulous look at the older woman. "I so do not need the details."
Tess chuckled. "Sorry. I'll keep them to myself in future." Then she sobered and looked down into her own glass. "If there is a future, that is."
Zoe snorted, remembering her conversation with Dawn about their now-shared paternal unit and his painfully evident crush. "I don't see why there wouldn't be," she said. "I mean, so he's going to be a little distracted on the Dawn-front for awhile, but whatever made him ask you out before isn't suddenly going to change just because he found out he had a daughter with Stark of all people. And if him having another daughter has changed your interest in him?" She let her voice grow fierce again. "Then you better let him down easy, because if you break his heart I will make you regret it."
"I think it would be a little premature to say anything," Tess said, shaking her head, "but I don't plan to, okay? I'm just-- terribly awkward at all this. And I don't know why I'm telling his daughter that, anyway."
"Same reason I'm warning you in advance, that there will be shovels in your future if you hurt him?" Zoe summoned a weak smile.
"Right," Tess smiled back, sharing a look of mutual wariness and recognition-- that was finally broken by the sounds of another patron's arrival at the Café.
"Zoe?" she heard her dad calling her name. "Zoe, are you in here?"
Zoe swallowed. "Over here, dad," she said, lifting a hand in the air as he looked over in her direction.
"I'll just..." Tess said, sliding out of her stool and taking her milkshake with her. "Talk to you later, all right? I'm sure everything's going to be fine."
"Thanks," Zoe said, nodding at her as she walked away-- then squinched up her nose as she saw Tess greet her dad. There wasn't even any touching going on, but that look! Total crush.
She didn't hear whatever they said to each other, but a moment later Dr. Fontana was out the door and her dad was sliding onto the stood she had occupied, clasping his hands together atop the counter. "Hey, Zoe," he said. "Tess said you were okay....?"
"Yeah," Zoe nodded, pushing her milkshake away to fold her hands in echo of his. "I just needed some air, to think about things for a minute. You know how I hate surprises."
He smiled a little at that, though his forehead was still creased with worry. "I know, yeah; your mom always says you get that from me."
"We sure picked the wrong town to live in, then," Zoe said, chuckling half-heartedly.
"True, true." He studied her a moment longer, then sighed. "So?" he said.
"So?" She stared back, reluctantly amused by how much the start of this conversation was resembling the one she'd just finished.
"So... are you okay with this?" he clarified.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Zoe asked, carefully bland. Just because she'd unloaded all over Dr. Fontana didn't mean she was going to spill on her dad; she didn't want to hurt his feelings, or Dawn's either, really. It was her own damn fault she'd got upset over this, not theirs-- it wasn't like Dawn had chosen for Dad to be her other parent, or that this version of her dad had even known she was coming.
"You left pretty quickly," he said. "And you seemed-- I dunno, a little upset. Dawn was worried about how you were taking it."
"Dawn was worried?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
"And-- okay, I was, too," he admitted. He unclasped his hands to reach out and lay one over hers, squeezing gently. "You know this doesn't change anything for us, right? You're my girl, Zo. I love you, and I don't want to do anything that would hurt you. If this thing with Dawn is going to cause a problem-- she does have Stark and Ally; I'd feel bad about ignoring her, but there must have been a reason we sent her to him and not me, right? She'll be okay. It's you I'm worried about."
"Well, don't." Zoe sniffed. "I'm fine. She's my friend, right? And she's eaten dinner with us a lot since Dr. Stark-- well, not died, I guess. Disappeared. So I'm already kind of used to having her around. I'm sure whatever arrangements you guys were thinking about are going to be fine."
He shrugged. "The occasional weekend," he said. "A couple of weeks with us after the baby's born, while Ally and Stark are settling back in. Whatever sleepovers you guys want to arrange between yourselves after that. Otherwise, not much different than it's ever been. I'll probably, um. Take Dawn to coffee or something a few times, like getting-to-know-you conversations, but you can come along for those, too; I've only really talked to her in context of her friendship with you before or her missing Stark, not things like what her goals in life are or who her favorite authors are or what have you."
"Do you even know what my favorite authors are, Dad?" Zoe asked, amused and a little reassured by his earnest babble.
"Uh...." He blinked at her, then pasted on a smile. "See, perfect reason for you to come along!"
Zoe shook her head and chuckled. "It's okay," she said. "I'm fine with it, really." She slid one hand out from under his, patted it, and reached for her milkshake again. "Like I said, I just needed a minute."
"Good," he said, relieved. "Good."
"Do you think you'll ever know why she ended up here to begin with?" Zoe asked, deliberately changing the topic of conversation.
He shook his head. "I don't know. It's been nine years already; you'd think any clues would have come to light, if they were going to. If it hadn't been for what happened to Stark disrupting his overlaid memory patterns, no one would ever have had any idea."
"Maybe, maybe not," Zoe mused aloud. "If you or Stark wanted to leave yourselves a message, one that you would only look for if you figured out that it had to be there but wouldn't be accidentally discovered in the meantime, where would you hide it?"
"That's... a very good question, Zo," her dad said, thoughtfully. "A very good question."
-~-
(x-posted totwistedshorts)
Zoe wasn't even sure why she was angry, really.
Title: Wanting What's Best For Her
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Zoe wasn't even sure why she was angry, really. 2100 words.
Spoilers: B:tVS 5.05 "No Place Like Home" and 5.13 "Blood Ties"; Eureka post-3.14 "Ship Happens" with mentions of 2.3 "Unpredictable"
Challenge:
twistedshorts - August, Day 29Notes: 6th in series. Zoe's reaction, a bit of Tess, and a tiny bit of plot movement.
"So," Dr. Fontana said, sitting down on the stool next to Zoe.
Zoe looked up from the milkshake she was methodically stabbing with her straw and gave the other woman a half-hearted smile. "So," she said. Whatever Allison's friend wanted to talk to her about-- or her dad's girlfriend, Zoe wasn't sure which capacity Tess had come in yet and wasn't sure she really cared-- she wasn't going to make it easy on her.
Vince came over to the counter, a query in his eyebrows for Dr. Fontana and a concerned glance for Zoe.
"I'll have one of those," Tess told him, gesturing to Zoe's shake, then took up the thread, such as it was, of the conversation again. "So, you left awfully quick," she said. "Did you hear Allison mention that the baby shower is going to be postponed?"
Zoe shrugged. "No, but I figured," she said, shortly. "What with Dr. Stark being back, and all."
"Yes," Tess agreed. "Between that, and what's going on with the Kim clone at G.D., not to mention Dawn, Ally's week is pretty full. I told her she should take a few days off, but...." She shrugged. "She says she'll already be taking six weeks when the baby's born, there's no need to take more now."
Zoe made a noncommittal noise in response.
"On the bright side, though," Tess continued, refusing to take the hint, "it means no more meetings with the harpies in Infant Development, at least for the next week." She smiled at Vince as he returned, and took a long sip of her milkshake with a happy sigh. "Mmmm."
"Good," Zoe muttered. "The way they act sometimes, you'd think they were still infants themselves. Me, me, me, like everything's all about them and their projects. Might mean excellent gifts for Dr. Blake, but if it were me, I'd rather have people at my party that wanted to be there because they cared, not to show each other up."
Tess let that statement rest a minute as they both savored some more of Vince's creations, then spoke again, tentatively. "So, is that what this is about?"
"What what is about?" Zoe retorted.
"Your dad caring-- either too much about Dawn, or not enough about you, I couldn't quite figure out which," Tess said, calmly.
Zoe pressed her eyes briefly shut at that statement and took a deep breath. "No," she said. "No, that isn't what this is about. I know he cares, okay? Why do you think I live in Eureka at all, and not back in L.A. with my mom? You haven't been here that long, you don't get to assume things just because you've been on one date with him."
She could hear her own voice getting fierce and angry by the last few words, and winced inwardly; she really hadn't intended on getting all 'evil potential stepdaughter' on the woman just yet. Dr. Fontana made her dad giddy, when he wasn't worrying about Allison or the latest crisis at G.D., and that was a look Zoe hadn't seen on him in far too long. But the nerve of her....!!!
Not that that was even the real reason why she was angry. Forget potential family; the actual was enough to give her a headache already. Though she wasn't even sure why she was angry, really; it wasn't like there was any less of her dad to love, or any less love in his heart to give her, just because she'd magically acquired a half-sister. A half-sister she was already friends with, even. A half-sister who wouldn't even live with them, because she already came with a magically reappearing much-loved other father of her own and a great stepmother who got along with her most of the time. It was just... it was just....
"Ouch," Tess said, sitting back slightly as she looked at Zoe. "I guess I know where I'm not wanted."
Zoe made a face. "No, no," she sighed, "that was out of line, I'm sorry." She dropped her straw into her milkshake again, and rested her chin on her cupped hands, staring down into the icecreamy depths of the glass. "It's just-- I'd just got done talking with Dawn about how nervous she was seeing her dad again after freaking out on him, because I had so much experience with that, and all. She never did the über-rebellious thing. She never ran away, or stole someone's identity, or committed credit card fraud, or anything, and she's beautiful, and she's brilliant, in areas my dad can actually talk to her about." She swallowed.
"Ah." Tess said. "The perfect daughter, in other words."
"I know it's stupid," Zoe said, feeling wretched. "I know he loves me, and he really wants me here. We just went through all that last year when my mom wanted custody of me again. Like I was a piece of property, or something, after all I'd gone through to be here. I was so mad at him for not fighting for me the way she did, but it turned out-- he really did just want what was best for me. Like he always does. Dawn-- Dawn being my sister now isn't going to change that. But-- I can't help compare myself to her anyway, and I feel...." She trailed off again.
"Like second best," Tess sighed, with a sympathetic grimace.
"Exactly." Zoe shrugged, feeling awkward. "Sorry to unload on you about it."
"That's all right," Tess replied. "Better than bottling it all in, and I did come in here kind of asking for it. I was-- a little thrown by it all myself, though not for the same reasons, and when you left, I told your dad I would go after you. He, uh. I thought he and Allison and the Starks needed a little more time to talk about what all this means for their families, and I didn't think either my status as Ally's best friend, nor one night spent watching stars with Jack on the hood of his jeep, qualified me for that conversation."
Zoe blinked-- first wondering what exactly Tess' reasons might have been, and then again at the sudden mental image. "Ew, TMI," she said, throwing an incredulous look at the older woman. "I so do not need the details."
Tess chuckled. "Sorry. I'll keep them to myself in future." Then she sobered and looked down into her own glass. "If there is a future, that is."
Zoe snorted, remembering her conversation with Dawn about their now-shared paternal unit and his painfully evident crush. "I don't see why there wouldn't be," she said. "I mean, so he's going to be a little distracted on the Dawn-front for awhile, but whatever made him ask you out before isn't suddenly going to change just because he found out he had a daughter with Stark of all people. And if him having another daughter has changed your interest in him?" She let her voice grow fierce again. "Then you better let him down easy, because if you break his heart I will make you regret it."
"I think it would be a little premature to say anything," Tess said, shaking her head, "but I don't plan to, okay? I'm just-- terribly awkward at all this. And I don't know why I'm telling his daughter that, anyway."
"Same reason I'm warning you in advance, that there will be shovels in your future if you hurt him?" Zoe summoned a weak smile.
"Right," Tess smiled back, sharing a look of mutual wariness and recognition-- that was finally broken by the sounds of another patron's arrival at the Café.
"Zoe?" she heard her dad calling her name. "Zoe, are you in here?"
Zoe swallowed. "Over here, dad," she said, lifting a hand in the air as he looked over in her direction.
"I'll just..." Tess said, sliding out of her stool and taking her milkshake with her. "Talk to you later, all right? I'm sure everything's going to be fine."
"Thanks," Zoe said, nodding at her as she walked away-- then squinched up her nose as she saw Tess greet her dad. There wasn't even any touching going on, but that look! Total crush.
She didn't hear whatever they said to each other, but a moment later Dr. Fontana was out the door and her dad was sliding onto the stood she had occupied, clasping his hands together atop the counter. "Hey, Zoe," he said. "Tess said you were okay....?"
"Yeah," Zoe nodded, pushing her milkshake away to fold her hands in echo of his. "I just needed some air, to think about things for a minute. You know how I hate surprises."
He smiled a little at that, though his forehead was still creased with worry. "I know, yeah; your mom always says you get that from me."
"We sure picked the wrong town to live in, then," Zoe said, chuckling half-heartedly.
"True, true." He studied her a moment longer, then sighed. "So?" he said.
"So?" She stared back, reluctantly amused by how much the start of this conversation was resembling the one she'd just finished.
"So... are you okay with this?" he clarified.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Zoe asked, carefully bland. Just because she'd unloaded all over Dr. Fontana didn't mean she was going to spill on her dad; she didn't want to hurt his feelings, or Dawn's either, really. It was her own damn fault she'd got upset over this, not theirs-- it wasn't like Dawn had chosen for Dad to be her other parent, or that this version of her dad had even known she was coming.
"You left pretty quickly," he said. "And you seemed-- I dunno, a little upset. Dawn was worried about how you were taking it."
"Dawn was worried?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
"And-- okay, I was, too," he admitted. He unclasped his hands to reach out and lay one over hers, squeezing gently. "You know this doesn't change anything for us, right? You're my girl, Zo. I love you, and I don't want to do anything that would hurt you. If this thing with Dawn is going to cause a problem-- she does have Stark and Ally; I'd feel bad about ignoring her, but there must have been a reason we sent her to him and not me, right? She'll be okay. It's you I'm worried about."
"Well, don't." Zoe sniffed. "I'm fine. She's my friend, right? And she's eaten dinner with us a lot since Dr. Stark-- well, not died, I guess. Disappeared. So I'm already kind of used to having her around. I'm sure whatever arrangements you guys were thinking about are going to be fine."
He shrugged. "The occasional weekend," he said. "A couple of weeks with us after the baby's born, while Ally and Stark are settling back in. Whatever sleepovers you guys want to arrange between yourselves after that. Otherwise, not much different than it's ever been. I'll probably, um. Take Dawn to coffee or something a few times, like getting-to-know-you conversations, but you can come along for those, too; I've only really talked to her in context of her friendship with you before or her missing Stark, not things like what her goals in life are or who her favorite authors are or what have you."
"Do you even know what my favorite authors are, Dad?" Zoe asked, amused and a little reassured by his earnest babble.
"Uh...." He blinked at her, then pasted on a smile. "See, perfect reason for you to come along!"
Zoe shook her head and chuckled. "It's okay," she said. "I'm fine with it, really." She slid one hand out from under his, patted it, and reached for her milkshake again. "Like I said, I just needed a minute."
"Good," he said, relieved. "Good."
"Do you think you'll ever know why she ended up here to begin with?" Zoe asked, deliberately changing the topic of conversation.
He shook his head. "I don't know. It's been nine years already; you'd think any clues would have come to light, if they were going to. If it hadn't been for what happened to Stark disrupting his overlaid memory patterns, no one would ever have had any idea."
"Maybe, maybe not," Zoe mused aloud. "If you or Stark wanted to leave yourselves a message, one that you would only look for if you figured out that it had to be there but wouldn't be accidentally discovered in the meantime, where would you hide it?"
"That's... a very good question, Zo," her dad said, thoughtfully. "A very good question."
-~-
(x-posted to
twistedshorts)
