I do not own That '70s Show.

Not even Colette. Actually, the character of Colette is a one time character from the original show. I think it was Season 6 (maybe 5) where Jackie was the "Big Sister" for this little girl. Now, I'm pretty sure her name is Colette. Sorry if I jumbled that up. But, I just decided to pick her because she was pretty young in that episode and this story takes place in 1984. So, I figured she'd be a rebel-teen by now. In my opinion, That '70s Show works a little cleaner with some young blood in there, stirring things up. Or, at the very least, being the excuse to stir things up. Let me know what you think and I'll see if I could another chapter up soon.

Whatever Happened to Eric and Donna?

CH1. Jackie meets Jackie

Colette Ripley sat by herself in a booth at the HUB. Earlier her and her friends were laughing, messing around and if their parents ever got wise and asked what they were doing, they'd all answer the same way- "We were studying!" But now her friends had filed out of the HUB, one by one they all had gone home.

She looked around the HUB attentively, admiringly. This place had been open since 1954, originally titled "The Pub" by an Irish family who owned it. That didn't last long though, in '65 Freddy and Frank Hoffman came back from the wars in Vietnam and Korea and bought the place and renamed it. Instead of selling beer to old ground kissers, they decided to make it more of a malt, hamburger and teenage hangout because, according to Freddy at least, they saw teens as "the wave, man. The customers. That's what the modern teen is, man and those who don't recognize it don't get the dough."

Yeah, she knew all this because she had to do a paper on historical sites in Point Place. Her History teacher was hoping she would do the museum or the new art gallery that opened up and do a paper on how it "could" be Point Place's next tourist attraction. Pft, she'd rather do the HUB. Her teacher was sourly disappointed, especially since she saw Colette as "one of the brightest minds Point Place has ever produced!" But Colette was adamant, if she was gonna do a paper about some soggy, rundown building in this crappy town whose only tourists were the travelers who got lost goin' to some place better, she was picking the HUB. Besides, she had an argument- after 30 years in business, it was closing.

So, she sat in her booth, compiling her notes for her paper. She was quiet, keeping to herself and didn't even care that it was 8:56 PM. Her mother was always out at all odd hours; working to support her five kids and she never had a father. And Colette, the middle child, was going through that point in every teenage girl's life where she couldn't get along with her mother at all. She'd rather stay at the HUB until it closed, which was 10:00 PM, by the way.

"Um, excuse me, what do you mean by 'we don't sell that here'? This is a restaurant, kind of, so why don't you sell salads? What's your excuse? Too cheap?"

That high pitched remark clawed itself into Colette's eardrums. She looked up, scrunching her face in the process. Who the hell was this woman who dragged her out of her 'school zone' mode? The reason she liked the HUB since she was a little girl was because not that many people came here, not like in the '70s anyways. Well, now that she thought about it, maybe that's why it was closing.

The man behind the counter groaned at the brunette woman, "Well missy, if you want a salad so badly, may I suggest walking yer pretty 'lil ass outside and eating some grass with the rest of the cows?"

Colette smirked. Besides herself, the woman was the only customer and she wasn't bad looking at all. She may have been a little short compared to the other women of Point Place, but she was thin, shapely, and the back of her head looked alright. In fact, her hair was so well done that Colette wouldn't have been surprised if the woman was pretty looking. Too bad she was stuck up. If High School taught Colette anything was that the prettiest girls with the best clothes were always bitches. Always. There was not one single exception.

The woman shrieked, "Cows? Okay, you are definitely hitting a little too low. Both of us here know that I am not chunky. Believe me, I've seen some big girls in my time." And then the woman paused, thinking aloud, "Even my best friend from High School was pretty big boned." She then smirked, "You should've seen her skinny, dorky boyfriend. He was way too small for her. They looked so weird together." And then her smirk faded away, "They were actually a good couple. Huh…"

The man rolled his eyes. He fixed his grease stained apron, completely ignoring the woman, "Yeah, yeah. High School's over, chicky. Build a bridge and get over it."

"Well! I've never!" The woman huffed, insulted. She turned on her heel ready to make a dramatic exit while she melodramatically fumed, "Maybe your poor customer service and out of date menus is why you people are going out of business! And you know what? I don't care! Like you said- High School's over!"

Colette dropped her pen. She was staring at the altercation between the two; she completely forgot she was holding it. The woman was so riled up she turned toward Colette, snapping, "What're you look-"

Colette was just a regular teenager with messy, long brown hair, an overgrown sweater, who wore tattered blue jeans and red sneakers. She was no threat.

The woman caught herself, quickly apologizing to Colette, "Oh. I'm so sorry! I just…it's been a really bad week."

She made her way over to Colette, gripping her purse strap so it wouldn't fall off. When she reached Colette, she took out her hand, saying decently, "Sorry, again. I'm Jackie by the way."

Jackie?

Hadn't she heard that name before? And this woman seemed oddly familiar…

Colette took Jackie's hand uneasily.

"I'm Colette, miss."

Jackie rolled her eyes, telling the girl, "Oh please. I'm not that much older than you. I'm only 23. Which has me asking, how old are you?"

Colette retrieved her hand, shrugging, "I'm 17."

Jackie then gave Colette a strange look before admitting, "Your face seems familiar, but I can't seem to place it. Are you on the cheerleading squad at the High School?"

Colette caught herself blushing. She wasn't and her oldest brother's girlfriend who was the captain four years back didn't let her forget it. Colette actually tried out. She didn't make it.

"Er, no." She confessed as her lips twisted every which way in embarrassment.

The woman thought for a second. She then nodded, smiling, "Oh, I get it. You were a girl scout or something, right? Perhaps I bought some cookies from you? Of course I didn't eat them. More than likely I gave them to Fez."

Again Colette was averting her eyes from this woman. As a child she was more trouble than she was worth- not exactly "girl scout" material.

"I don't think so." Was all she could say.

Jackie sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot impatiently. She asked, more to herself than to anyone, "Then who are you?"

Colette didn't get that Jackie asked a rhetorical question. She then answered for the second time, "I'm Colette."

Jackie nodded, "Uh-huh, I know that already but for some reason your name isn't registering."

Colette simply shrugged, going back to her homework, "Okay. Then, whatever."

But Jackie wouldn't go away. She kept insisting, "But I do know you. I feel it. It's a shame I can't place you."

Colette couldn't concentrate on her work because this woman who kept claiming they knew each other wouldn't let her work. She really wanted to look up and tell the woman, "Please go. I have school stuff." But that was too rude. Even for her. So instead Colette looked up and asked, "Do you have kids that you need to rush home to or something?"

Jackie shook her head dejectedly as she sighed sadly, "No. Sorry to disappoint. No marriage, no kids and I was recently let go from my promising career as an aspiring photographer." And after a brief moment, Jackie found herself day-dreaming, "When I was your age I pictured myself already happily married, maintaining the mansion and the help, and looking after my tiny Michael Kelso's and little Jackie Burkhart's."

As she said the last part, her eyes fell on the girl sitting at the booth in front of her. And at the second it hit her like a rock.

"Little Jackie?!" Jackie excitedly squealed, "Ohmygod! Is that you?! Yer all grown up!"

Her answer was Colette's blank face.

Little who?

For the third time, Colette told her, "My name is Colette."

Jackie ignored her as she smiled with pride, "Look at you. To think that I had a hand in your upbringing must've been life changing for you."

Colette shot her a tight smile, "I'm sorry. I think you're wrong again and it's pretty late. I should be getting back or my brother's will be out looking for me." As Colette began collecting her items that were spread all over the table, Jackie feverishly explained, "No-no! This time I'm right! Listen, do you remember when you were younger, like eleven or twelve or something? You were in something like the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program?"

Colette froze. She then slowly looked up with curious brown eyes, "How the heck did you know that?"

Jackie beamed, "Because I was your Big Sister! I was, pardon my language, Big Jackie and you were Little Jackie!"

And then it all came rolling back to Colette. She squinted her eyes at the older woman, saying slowly, "That. Was. You?"

Jackie nodded up and down cheerfully, "Yup!"

Colette said very deliberately, "They found me in that stupid cop car! Because of you I had a criminal record for breaking into vehicles! I had to bone up on several law books to get my record expunged! I'm only 17 and I had to deal with that crap! My mother gave me the worst beating in my life because of you and your strung up friends!"

Jackie paused, thinking back, "That's right. But, that wasn't on me. You see, Donna was the one to blame. You two were playing hide and seek and she lost you."

Colette rolled her eyes, "I was in your care and you just pawned me on to your buddy? I'm sorry but that was so irresponsible and definitely on you!" Before Jackie could respond, Colette continued, obviously pissed, "And another thing- how could you ditch me?! For the next three years I had to deal with this crazy chick named Caroline as my new big sister! When I did something wrong, she would hold her breath and I would get really freaked out! The last time I saw her, she was hospitalized!"

Colette then folded her arms across her chest, her face twisting into a disapproving scowl that made her seem older than what she really was, "Thanks a bunch, sis. Glad to know you had a helpful 'hand in my upbringing'."

Jackie turned away from the girl, guiltily.

Pause.

Colette rolled her brown eyes, rising from her seat as she arranged all her notes in a neat stack.

Trying to be cheerful, Jackie asked in a 'happy' tone, "So, whatcha doin'?"

Colette groaned, avoiding Jackie's figure completely, "I was hanging out with my friends instead of doing this stupid report. Maybe if I'd done what my mother wanted me to, to begin with, and done my homework at the library instead of goofing off here at the HUB for hours then maybe I would be over there and not here. Maybe I would be done already. Either way…" She looked up at Jackie, staring directly into her different colored eyes, "I wouldn't have bumped into you."

Jackie heard this and couldn't help the next words that flew out of her mouth.

"Little Jackie, look: I apologize that I haven't kept in touch with you, but I'm not your mother. It's not my job to take care of you."

Colette laughed madly for a second before shaking her head. Bitterly she retorted as she shoved her notes into her backpack, "No. You are not my mother. My mother works her ass off to support her two overgrown, delinquent sons and their bitchy girlfriends- all who were supposed to find work but are too damn lazy to do squat. And, she also supports me and my younger brothers, both of whom frequently skip school and do drugs." Colette then shot at Jackie like a bullet, "My mother is a better woman than you'll ever be."

"Why the hell are you so mad?!"

"Because!" Colette growled, zipping up her backpack and threw it carelessly around her shoulder, "Despite our rough start, I really liked you! I really thought we had a real bond! And then, and then…and then I wound up in jail and you let me rot! I had to wait hours until my mom showed up! She was overworked; sleep deprived, and pissed off!" And just like that Colette reverted back to that preteen little girl Jackie recognized. In a very innocent and hurt tone, Colette sighed, "You were supposed to be my big sister…and you just left."

After a tense pause, Jackie spoke up.

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

Colette looked at Jackie with a confused face.

"What?"

Jackie admitted, scratching her chin awkwardly, "I-I kinda know what it's like to have someone who's there…who looks after you and that you care about. Someone that, despite yourself, you can't help but look up to. The same someone who just ups and leaves. Granted Donna gave me a month of fair warning before she took off to the wild blue yonder and she does send the occasional letter every six or so months, but it still stings."

It appeared as if Colette was ignoring her as she brushed passed Jackie and walked toward the exit of the HUB. But as Jackie's words sunk in, she stopped cold. And then she slowly turned around to face the twenty-three year old woman in front of her.

"Donna? Was she that redheaded chick with the big jacket?"

Jackie smirked as she thought back to the time her, Donna and Little Jackie spent time at the HUB together. But besides the fact that most of the banter that day was arguing and Donna turning Little Jackie against her, it was a fairly nice memory of better times in her life.

Jackie nodded, "Yeah. I always did think of her as a masculine woman…like Eric."

"Eric?" Colette asked, "Who's that?"

"He was Donna's ultra-feminine boyfriend."

Colette recollected, "That skinny guy? I think I remember him! All he talked about was Star Wars, his mother and his girlfriend."

Jackie dryly agreed, "I see you do remember him."

And then Colette paused. A question suddenly forming, "Say, whatever happened to them?"

Jackie thought about for a quick moment before saying, "That's a good question."

Colette shrugged off that subject and continued, "So…I guess you're still too busy for a kid like me to tag around, huh?"

Jackie explained, "Well, I'm currently looking for a job, any job really, that'll pay my rent. So tomorrow I'm going to look around and-"

Colette, let down, understood, "Oh. Yeah, you should probably do that."

And then Jackie saw it plain as day. Colette was reaching out to her. And Jackie already screwed up being a "big sister" once, and she wasn't one to repeat mistakes-most of the time. That lesson was painfully engrained in her skull as the mistakes that were Steven Hyde and Michael Kelso. And lastly, so what if that Big Brother/Big Sister program was buried deep in their past, it didn't matter. Colette, as Jackie saw it anyway, would always be Little Jackie to her- no matter how old they were.

From her purse, Jackie took out a small business card and wrote an address on the back of it with the pen she kept on the side pocket of her purse. She swiftly handed the card over to Colette, attempting to say in the most professional tone ever, "You can reach me at this address."

Her voice betrayed her underlined nervousness. It almost was five or six years since she practically abandoned Little Jackie like how her own mother left her. What if Little Jackie would hold this against her?

But her fears were washed away when Colette took the card, smirking, "Amateur photographer? According to this, you worked for the Kenosha Sun."

Jackie corrected, "I never said 'amateur.' I said 'aspiring'- just like everyone else in the world, Little Jackie."

Colette rolled her eyes, smirking. For the fourth time that day she sighed, "My name is Colette."

There's this story by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert called, 'Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?' Basically everyone from the different Batman 'universes' all bid farewell to their personal versions of Batman. And several characters step forward and tell a story of how "their" Batman died. Some stories are similar, some are different. But, the thing is, I look back at the finale and everyone around me is convinced that Eric and Donna did got back together. I'm not. I really, really, really want to believe they got back together, like how a kid wants to believe Santa exists, but...I don't see it. And then I pondered if the fictional residents of Point Place struggled with the question as I did. What did ever happen to Eric and Donna?

I do not own That '70s Show.

Or Batman.