Allison walked through the doors of Global Dynamics and without conscious thought switched from Allison Carter, lover and wife of Jack Carter and mother of two and a bit, to Doctor Allison Blake, genius and Medical Director. It had been Jack who had suggested that she retain Blake as her professional name. She had been surprised but he had said,

'Everyone in Eureka knows that we're married so it's only the outside world that it affects and as far as the outside world is concerned Allison Carter is a complete unknown whereas Allison Blake is a world-renowned doctor with numerous publications and awards to her name.'

'True but people would soon get used to the change.'

'Yeah but why bother?'

'It really doesn't worry you?'

'No. I like being married to a genius. Besides this way when there's a crisis and someone yells, 'Carter', I'll know it's me they're yelling at.'

Allison had still hesitated and Jack had grinned mischievously at her and said,

'And this way Doctor Carter can perform some special examinations at home.'

Allison had blushed at Jack's suggestion but she knew that they both found the idea of 'playing doctors' erotic and it would be a good idea to use a different name in those circumstances. He was distracting enough as it was without being reminded of sex every time he said her name at work.

The elevator started moving and a tiny twinge of nausea reminded her of the 'bit', the embryo beginning its development inside her womb. Jack had been ecstatic when she had told him and had immediately wanted to tell everyone but she had persuaded him that it was too soon so they had only told Kevin and Zoë, cautioning them both not to tell anyone. They would tell Jenna nearer the time, seven and a half months was an eternity to a toddler.

Allison walked through the medical department acknowledging greetings as she went, pleased to see that morale was high despite the change of ownership or possibly because of it. The relationship between the medical department and the DOD had always been a bit prickly as the DOD would make periodic attempts to persuade them to subvert their life saving discoveries into weapons and would take their outraged refusals in bad part, often threatening to withdraw funding from medical programs. Allison had always managed to talk them out of it but dealing with people who wanted her to find ways to use her medical research to kill people always made her feel dirty. Trevor Grant, the man who had bought Global Dynamics from the DOD, had issued a directive banning all weapons research, which meant that now Allison could dive into her research without wondering what horrors they were developing elsewhere in the building.
Allison walked into the infirmary and was delighted to see Grace Monroe conferring with a colleague. Grace had been accused of treason but had been cleared so the DOD had returned her to Eureka. As Allison entered, Grace smiled at her and said,

'Good morning, Allison.'

'Good morning, Grace. Glad to be back?'

'Delighted, and very glad not to be working for the DOD any more. How are you?'

'I'm fine, thanks.'

'You and Jack escaped the party at Café Diem quite early last night. Something better to do?'

Allison blushed as she remembered how she and Jack had celebrated last night and Grace laughed, saying,

'Looks like the honeymoon's still going on.'

'Pretty much.'

Allison drifted off into a dream as she remembered Jack's tenderness and passion and she realised that she was longing to see him again. She was brought out of her reverie by Grace's chuckling. She looked at Grace's amused expression and smiled in return but forced her mind back to work, saying,

'What have you got for me?'

Grace updated her about the projects in the neuroscience lab and they discussed the best ways to progress. After Grace left, Allison checked the patients in the infirmary then updated paperwork.

An hour later, a delivery arrived and she was startled when Isaac Parrish, who had been flirting with one of the research assistants, cut her off as she was about to pick up a box, saying,

'Please allow me, Doctor Blake.'

Allison watched suspiciously as Parrish carefully placed the boxes on the shelves for her, wondering what he was after. Two minutes later, she watched baffled as he left without asking for anything. Shrugging inwardly she went back to work; Parrish would no doubt let her know what he wanted in due time.

A few minutes later they had their first casualty of the day, a physicist with a broken arm. As Allison walked over to attend to her one of the other doctors rushed over and helped the injured woman on to a bed before fading discreetly away. Allison treated the injured woman and gave her a firm lecture on adhering to safety protocols before sending her home to rest.
Returning to her desk, she found a cup of green tea and two ginger biscuits waiting for her. Taking out her PDA, she said,

'Call Jack Carter.'

Jack answered almost immediately,

'Hi Allie. Everything okay?'

'Everything's fine. Thanks for the tea and biscuits.'

'What tea and biscuits?'

'Jack…'

'No, seriously, it wasn't me. I've been catching up on paperwork all morning.'

'If it wasn't you then it means that somebody else knows.'

'What? About you know what?'

'Yes.'

'Are you sure?'

'It's green tea, Jack, with ginger biscuits. Now the biscuits could be a coincidence but the tea?'

There was a pause and in her mind she could see the grooves in Jack's forehead as he considered her point. Because she only drank green tea when she was pregnant. Something about the change in hormones made green tea delicious when she was pregnant, but only then.

'Well I haven't told anyone,' said Jack.

'Neither have I.'

'Zoë wouldn't have told. Would Kevin?'

'I don't think so.'

'Nor do I. Vincent wasn't near enough to overhear last night, was he?'

'No, he was indoors. I'll check with Kevin and get back to you.'

'Okay. And I'll check with Zoë just in case.'

'Love you.'

'Love you too.'

Allison hung up and sent Kevin a text,

#Kevin, have you mentioned our news to anyone? Love Mom. #

Five minutes later her PDA beeped and she clicked on Kevin's reply,

#No, Mom, but it's weird, I think people know. Mrs Evans just changed my psychology project topic to sibling rivalry and people keep giving me these strange looks. #

Sighing, Allison called Jack again,

'Hi, it's me.'

'Hi.'

'It wasn't Kevin.'

'It wasn't Zoë either.'

'So who was it? I wanted us to tell people, particularly our close friends.'

'Me too. I'll look into it, see if I can find out who the snitch is.'

'Thanks.'

'Lunch at Café Diem?'

'Sure. One o'clock?'

'It's a date.'

Allison smiled as she said goodbye. They were married now but Jack still sounded pleased every time she agreed to meet him for a meal.

Jack put his PDA back in his pocket, stood up and said,

'I'm just going over to Café Diem and maybe a couple of other places, Andy. Hold the fort.'

'Sure thing, Boss. Is Missus Boss okay?'

'She's fine. Just something she wants me to do.'

'Take as long as you need, Boss. I've got it covered.'

'Thanks, Andy.'

Jack left the sheriff's office and walked over to the café. On the way, two people he knew only slightly smiled broadly at him. As he entered Café Diem, Vincent smiled happily at him, saying,

'Sheriff Carter. How are you today?'

'I'm good. How are you?'

'I'm wonderful. And how's Allison?'

'She's great.'

'Good. Well tell her from me that if there's anything in particular she fancies, just to let me know and I'll bring it straight over.'

Jack looked at Vincent suspiciously and Vincent immediately said,

'Vinspresso, Sheriff?'

Jack nodded and looked around the café as Vincent hurried off. Several people avoided eye contact, which in Eureka was odd. Eureka had very little normal crime and was extremely friendly (except for scientific rivalries). Jack took his coffee back to the station, sat down in his chair, put his feet up on the desk and thought.

When Allison arrived at Café Diem Jack was already there, sat at the counter. She tried to sneak up on him but he heard her heels tapping on the floor and came over and kissed her lightly on the lips. Allison put her arms around his neck and leant into him, relishing the feeling of peace and happiness that came over her. After a few seconds she reluctantly pulled away and they went to the counter to order. Vincent beamed at Allison and said,

'Allison, you look wonderful.'

'Thank you. You look wonderful too.'

'You're so sweet. What can I get you? Chicken salad with roasted pecans?'

'That sounds delicious. And a Vinspresso too.'

'Coming right up. What about you, Sheriff?'

'I'll have a club sandwich with fries.'

'Do you want some salad with that?'

'Sure and I'll have a Vinspresso too.'

'You got it.'

They sat at the counter and two minutes later Vincent arrived with their drinks. Jack watched as Vincent very carefully placed one of the drinks directly in front of Allison. Watching Vincent's face, Jack casually picked up that cup and drank from it, passing Allison the other one. Vincent winced and Jack pounced, grabbing Vincent's arm in a deceptively relaxed looking grip and saying,

'Who told you?'

'I don't know what you mean, Sheriff.'

Vincent tried to pull away but discovered that he was immobile.

'Vincent, that coffee I just drank was de-caff, wasn't it?'

'It may have been.'

'Why would you give Allison de-caff unless someone had told you something you aren't supposed to know yet?'

'I…I'm just concerned for her health.'

'Vincent, you believe that people have the right to make their own choices. You would never normally do that,' said Allison, 'We know you know and what we want to know is who told you?'

Vincent hesitated and Jack said,

'Give it up, Vincent.'

'I had an anonymous text. It said that you were keeping it secret but that they felt that I ought to know so that I could serve you food with optimum nutritional values. I checked the IP address but I didn't recognise it.'

Jack let go of Vincent's arm and sighing said,

'I know who's behind it.'

'You do?' asked Allison.

'Yeah. Call Sarah.'

Jack put his PDA on speaker so Allison could hear as he waited for their house to pick up. S.A.R.A.H replied after three rings,

'Hello, Sheriff Carter.'

'Hello, Sarah.'

'Is everything all right? I'm picking up some stress in your vocal patterns.'

'Sarah, did you tell people that Allison's pregnant?'

'Yes, Sheriff.'

'Why?' asked Allison, 'You knew we wanted to wait before telling everyone.'

'I had to.'

'You had to? Why?' asked Jack blankly.

'To protect them from harm.'

'What?' said Jack, baffled.

Allison narrowed her eyes in sudden understanding as S.A.R.A.H continued,

'After you told us the news, I downloaded some texts on pregnancy and once I'd integrated the information into my circuits, I realised that certain people needed to be informed in order to protect Allison and the baby.'

'What? Sarah, that's ridiculous. What would Allison and the baby need to be protected from?'

'Jack, it's all right,' said Allison, 'I understand.'

'You do?'

'It's Asimov's First Law of Robotics, isn't it, Sarah?'

'Yes, Allison. I'm sorry but I had to.'

'I understand.'

'Wait. Asimov's First Law of Robotics?'

Allison smiled at Jack and explained,

'Sarah is bound by Asimov's Laws of Robotics and the First Law states that no robot shall harm a human or by inaction allow a human to come to harm.'

'Right…'

'When Sarah downloaded the texts on pregnancy she discovered that miscarriages are most common in the first trimester and the most common causes are heavy lifting, stress and poor nutrition.'

'So she decided that she had to try to prevent it.'

'Yes, although decided might not be quite the right word. It's so deeply embedded in Sarah's programming that it would be impossible for her to ignore a perceived threat to one of us.'

'All right,' said Jack, reluctantly accepting Allison's explanation, 'One question though, Sarah, how many people did you tell?'

'Well, initially I considered telling everyone you know but I decided that that wasn't necessary so I just told everyone that Allison comes into regular contact with.'

Jack winced,

'Jo's going to kill us.'

'What about Henry and Grace? I assume they were on your list, Sarah?' said Allison.

'Yes, since you have contact with Doctor Deacon and Doctor Monroe on a daily basis, it was essential that they know.'

'And Jo?' said Jack.

'As security head of Global Dynamic, she was one of the first people I contacted.'

'Sarah, please send a list of everyone you informed to my PDA,' said Allison.

'Really?'

Allison looked at Jack, puzzled and he smirked as he said,

'She told Vincent. Everyone in Eureka knows now or will by this evening.'

Allison smiled wryly and said,

'So what do we do now?'

'We get Henry to do a bulletin explaining that our house is a snitch.'

Jack hung up, ignoring S.A.R.A.H's protests and pulled Allison into his arms and kissed her and Allison forgot everything except him.

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