Jack And Anna - Back To Winnipeg

2. What Becomes of Heroes-2

You think you’re perplexed? Talk to me when everyone you’ve ever known has forgotten your existence.Perplexed was the only emotion he had felt with any consistency in the last few weeks. Sure, there were flashes of affection when Anna gave him a hug or anger when some punk pulled a g*n on him, but once the moment passed, he went right back to his confusion.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, buried under a mountain of thoughts that Jack used to distract himself, was a question he had been ignoring for quite some time. What am I supposed to do with myself now?

What am I supposed to do with myself now?Well, he wasn’t going to get an answer today.

Jack lifted his fork, holding it up to the light. “Tell you what. You really want to help me? I can think of a way.” He carved up a piece of cake and popped it into his mouth. The instant burst of flavour was unbelievable! Sweet and sour overtones coming together. And that cream filling!

Shutting his eyes as he chewed, Jack moaned with satisfaction. “Okay,” he said half a second after he swallowed. “You can give me some of that to take home to my wife.”

Ruzo was out of his seat in an instant. “Of course, of course!” he exclaimed, hurrying over to the counter. “Yes, she will be most impressed, I assure you!”

Five minutes later, Jack was carrying a box full of cake out the door. This quiet, little street was lined with small, green buildings, each with a fleet of solar panels on its roof. Tall elm trees bordered both sidewalks, their thick, green leaves providing some relief from the hot sun.

He was so enamoured with the scenery that he failed to notice the woman who almost plowed right into him. At the very last second, Jack jumped out of the way. He turned around, intending to offer a friendly hello – and maybe an apology – and gasped at the sight of his own mother.

Crystal Hunter was a small and somewhat wiry woman in a pair of shorts and an oversized, gray t-shirt. His t-shirt; she had borrowed it months ago and never returned it. Ringlets of honey-blonde hair framed her round face. Her gray eyes sized him up in a matter of seconds. “Goodness, you look just like-”

His“Your ex-husband, Arthur?” Jack offered.

“Ah. So, you’re him.”

Jack blinked, unsure of what to say, and instinctively retreated from her. “You-you’ve heard of me?”

His mother never flinched, never backed away; she just studied him like a scientist examining some specimen in a lab. “They warned us that you might show up. After your friend…I’m sorry. What was her name?”

“Anna.”

“After Anna tried to contact her family, they thought you might try to do the same. So, the Justice Keepers sent one of their agents by the house. Told us what to expect. But they didn’t tell us you would look so much like…”

Jack was at a loss for words. His mother and sister had come to Alios to be near him. But neither one of them remembered that little detail. Their minds were filled with some alternate history in which something else had brought them to this world.

Clearing his throat, Jack struggled to lift his eyes from the sidewalk. “Yeah, look, I’m uh…I’m not here to cause you any grief,” he stammered. “So, um, I’ll just go.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to try to convince me that you’re my son?”

“Would you believe me if I did?”

“Probably not.”

Jack shrugged, a blush putting some colour in his cheeks. “Then I don’t see the point,” he said, striding past her. “Excuse me.”

He didn’t need his eyes to know that Crystal had turned around to watch him go. He could see her in his mind – a diminutive woman with a sour expression who started to blur as she neared the edge of his Spatial Awareness.

Walking away saddened him, but what else could he do?

* * *

As he entered his living room, Jack couldn’t help but smile at the yellow walls. Anna had chosen this house because she liked the colours; she said she needed something cheerful to combat the pain of the last few months. He found his partner sitting on the long, white couch, dressed in a denim skirt and a pale-blue tank top. As always, she looked ravishing, but it was the impish little grin that made him want to kiss her. “What’d you bring me?” Anna asked.

“Cake and grief counselling.”

“Ooh, I’ll take some of the former, please!”

Jack lingered in the arch-shaped doorway, pausing just long enough to take in the sight of her. “You’re looking awfully cute tonight,” he said, striding across the room and setting the box down on the coffee table.

When he looked up, Anna greeted him with another sexy smile. “I thought we could have another date night.” She patted the cushion next to her. “Just the two of us, this time.”

Claiming a spot beside her, Jack draped one arm over the back of the couch and hit her with a penetrating stare. “So, what do you want to do?”

“I was thinking Star Trek and cuddle time.”

Star Trek“You want to watch Star Trek?”

Star Trek?”“Well, I know how much it meant to you growing up.”

Biting his lower lip, Jack nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said. “Sounds fun. You want to pick up where we left off? I think we’re on Into Darkness.”

Into Darkness.”A wince contorted Anna’s face as she waved that suggestion away. “No, I’m sorry; I can’t do that one,” she said. “The last movie was just too…stupid! I mean the weird, red goo that turns planets into black holes!”

“Yeah, ‘cause rainbow crystals are so much more believable.”

Stretching out her legs, Anna crossed her arms with a grunt. “Point taken,” she muttered. “I just wanted something…I don’t know. A little more cerebral.”

“I’ve got it!” Jack said. “Computer, load the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There’s a great episode about Chief O’Brien’s former captain and how we learn to deal with trauma. It’s one of my mom’s favourites.”

Star Trek: The Next Generation.Thinking of Crystal brought a pang of sadness to his heart. His encounter with her had conjured a cloud of melancholy that seemed to hover over him on his long walk home. He had planned to tell Anna all about it, but now wasn’t the time. She needed a little joy tonight. And maybe a little sparkage. Tales of parental amnesia could wait until tomorrow morning.

An idea popped into his head, propelling him to his feet before he had a chance to think twice. “Just a sec!” he exclaimed, scooting off to the kitchen.

Two seconds after he walked through the door, he found himself straining to recall where they kept everything. Stupid ADHD. He had only lived in this house for about three weeks. He wasn’t used to the new configuration.

White cupboards lined three of the four yellow walls. The fridge was humming with stats popping up on its display screen. Apparently, it was thirty-two degrees outside even though the sun was going down. Well, he could believe it. It had taken him an hour to walk home, and by the time he arrived, he was covered in sweat. The house’s cool interior was a blessed relief and his long shower even more so.

Yanking one of the cupboards open, Jack frowned when he pulled out a packet of tea. Peppermint. Anna liked peppermint, but he didn’t think that would go well with the cake. He rifled through the box until he found lemon tea. That would do nicely.

“Sweetie?” Anna called from the other room.

“Just a sec!”

He put the small, cylindrical package in the hot beverage machine and told it to boil the water. Luckily, they kept the honey in the same cupboard. He didn’t have to go searching for it.

Returning to the living room with a cup and saucer, Jack smiled. “Pour vous, madame,” he said, placing them both on the coffee table.

“Sweetie, you didn’t have to do that. Tonight is about you.”

“Oof!” Jack grunted. “No, I’m sorry. Autistic brain is compelling me to correct your inaccurate statement.”

His wife raised an eyebrow.

He hopped onto the couch and reached out to caress her cheek. “Tonight is not about me,” he insisted. “Tonight is about us.” He kissed her before she could protest.

notus.”Anna had no trouble getting into this episode. By the end of the first act, she was deeply engrossed in this story about a Federation captain who had cracked after the loss of his family. She especially liked Picard’s little speech in the transporter room, the one about how anger could become so familiar you stopped noticing it.

Summer enjoyed that part too. Jack was deeply in tune with his Nassai’s emotions; she usually felt content when he spent time with Anna. But that bit of dialogue had piqued her curiosity. A new insight into the human condition: Summer loved those.

When it was over, Anna was stretched out on the sofa with her head in his lap, sighing softly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“So, you liked that one?”

She murmured, rolling onto her back, and blinked several times. “Yeah, that was much better!” she declared. “Solving problems with words! Trying to think our way out of a tough situation!”

muchthinkChuckling, Jack shut his eyes. “See, this is my Star Trek,” he said. “Or rather, my mom’s Star Trek. She used to show me the ones that were popular when she was a girl. Picard, Janeway: those were her captains.”

my Star Trek,”Star Trek.“Your mom was a big, old nerd.”

“She was!”

“And your dad?”

Jack grimaced, stifling the flash of anger that went through him. “No,” he rasped. “Dad thought all of this stuff was a waste of time.”

The tension drained out of him when he felt Anna’s hand on his cheek. Resting his own hand on top of hers, he shuddered. Out of his whole family – aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and his sister to boot – his mom was the only one who understood him. And now, that connection was gone. He was starting to comprehend Anna’s pain.

* * *

“No,” Anna said. “See, the whole point of Scatora’s Defence is that everything gets filtered through the mind. Everything you see, hear, touch, taste: all of those sensations are interpreted by your mind, and thus – for all practical purposes – there is nothing outside your mind. Because anything that does not get filtered through your mind would by definition be inaccessible to you.”

They had been chatting for the better part of an hour. At some point, they had started comparing Earth’s great philosophers to those of Leyria – the world where Anna had grown up.

She was still lying on the couch with her head in his lap, smiling up at him. He could tell that she wanted a response, but he needed a minute to unpack all of that.