Nearly
Rifiuto: Non Mirena
Summary: Nearly. Killed. Jo. Nearly. What we didn't see during and after Jo's near electrocution in Smarter Carter.
There you are you... robot. Why does it have to be a robot? Don't you know my bad history with robots?
She sighed. pulling up beside the sheriff's vehicle. Her dark eyes scanned the surrounding area-
Aha. Target sighted.
She climbed out of her car, slamming the door; Andy turned, one hand still clasping the cell tower. "Andy! Stop!" He nodded to her.
"Hello Jo!" She couldn't ignore the chill that ran up her spine at the look on his face- coupled with the cheery voice- and she had a regular Hannibal Lecter on her hands. Or maybe Jack Torrance, or Norman Bates. No, she could handle Hannibal and Torrance- Bates, honestly scared the hell out of her. She swallowed giving him a quick smile.
"Andy, you have to stop! Andy!" She movd towards the fence, being careful not to touch the wire. Her gaze snapped down to the small heat detector Zane had given her- she'd forgotten that she'd had it- and choked in surprise. "Andy, you have to stop, now! You're heat signature's through the roof!" She forced herself to tear her gaze from the tablet and go back to the robot "And you're putting the whole town at risk!"
And suddenly, he pulled away. She could feel the crackle of electricity in the air, and gratefully watched as he moved back through the hole towards her. She let out the breath she'd been holding. She smiled at him, tucking Zane's heat detector back into her coat pocket and pulling her keys out. She turned, going back to her car. "Andy?" She turned back, grabbing the door handle to open the door and get in. She nodded towards the passenger side. "Come on, I'll drive."
"No can do, Ms. Lupo. Gotta feed the old brainasaurus." And with that sinister smile still on his face, he laid his hand on the hood of her car. "Power feels good!"
She'd been shocked before- the static cling from laundry fresh out of the dryer (unlike most Eurekians, Jo had grown up military, you did your own laundry, no questions asked), the sparks she and Zane created during their nightly activities after a stressful day at work- but those were minor. A shock, minor tingling, light pain that quickly faded away with the shake of a hand.
This-
Was ten times worse.
Her hand curled around the handle of her door, a talon clasping an unmoving prey, refusing to release its hold. She struggled to breathe- ever nerve, every muscle in her body was a live wire, a zipline sending down shock after shock to every part of her system. Her chest struggled to rise, her lungs pushed to absorb and convert; the valves of her heart forced themselves to keep sending blood to a heart that struggled to pump. Each beat was long, sluggish; minutes, hours appeared to pass by as it finally finished one beat before going onto the next.
The shocks raced up her spine, hitting the nerves like a piano, banging out a shaky rhythm, before coming up to hit the bass that was her brain. Her mind began to haze, thought after thought racing before her, FTL travel of everything she'd experienced- images, memories, voices and sounds, blurring and dashing around her head, ducking into her brain before dashing out again and bouncing around her skull.
She gasped as her blood sluggishly moved through her veins, as it moved throughout her heart, before passing through the valves of her heart again to go out into her body. A whimper escaped her throat; maybe it was the strength of the shock, maybe the sheer force of the pain coursing through her body, but whatever reason, she found herself unable to do anything but whimper as she crumpled to her knees on the gravel. Andy was long gone by now-
She was alone.
And if she didn't get help, she'd die alone.
With every ounce of willpower she still possessed, she struggled to release her grip on the door, to no avail. Her fingers were so curved around the handle, her grip so tight, that pulling her hand away would be next to impossible alone. But that same hand was also the one thing that was keeping the currant running through her. Though Andy was long gone by now, the electricity he'd sucked from the car, the shock he'd generated, still ran through the vehicle, coursing through Jo's veins and upsetting delicate functions of every kind. She struggled to swallow, struggled to feel her pulse beat against her throat- the point Zane loved most- it was sluggish, a thin, slender strip of elastic, struggling to stretch enough to allow her thickened blood thru.
Images of the last two years in this timeline, of the years in her timeline, flashed before her; rapid, haloed images in black and white, grainy images being seen through an old nineteen-forties projection camera. Flashes of memories she hadn't thought about in years- the majority consisting of her and Zane.
Zane.
Their last goodbye was a hasty kiss in the hallway before she rushed off to find Andy. No 'I love yous', no tender moments in his officer or hers. No curling up on the sofa in each others' arms and sharing tender kisses, no passionate, wild sex as they were prone to do. None of it. Just a kiss on the lips and a soft promise to meet up for dinner after work. And now-
Now, she was going to die without telling him that she loved him, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him...
She'd had a chance, years ago, to build a life with him, and she'd hesitated. She'd let him walk away hurt, leaving her broken-hearted, unable to accept her losing the man who held her heart. And now, in this new timeline, she had a second chance. Things were good between them, their relationship- while it had its bumps bruises- was steady, and they'd finally gotten to that moment when she realized-
That she was falling in love with him all over again.
They'd come so far since that confusing Founders' Day-
And now, it was all being ripped away- again. Thanks to Carter and his increased IQ. The sheriff was an idiot for a reason! Jo wasn't a genius; brilliant, sure, but even she could see that the man was not meant to have a genius's brain!
Her heart began to slow, finally realizing that resisting the welcoming arms of Death was futile, and it was better to give in and let death come for her than struggle to hold on until help arrived. Her lungs burned as though being raked over mind-bendingly hot coals, her nerves snapped and sizzled, she could feel her blood as it evaporated like water in a hot kettle. Her muscles began to relax, slowly unwinding from their coiled positions, and slowly, so very, very slowly, she began to loosen her grip on the door.
Andy had done more damage than even the worst Afghan sniper or suicide bomber could. Each wiggle of her fingers ripped silent screams from her closing throat- she took a deep, painful breath as she flexed her hand- or tried to, her fingers refused to release the handle. As her heart finally began to stop, he choked out a gasp, her dark eyes moving skyward.
"I... love you... Zane..."
She collapsed, her heart pumping its last beat as sirens screamed in the distance, getting louder.
"Jo! God, Jo!" Zane collapsed on his knees beside her. He and Allison were the first ones on the scene; they'd pulled up in time to see her collapse, to watch as she released the door, as her body continued to convulse. Instantly, the pair started CPR- Allison performing the chest compressions for her tired heart, Zane providing the air for her starved lungs. They worked for minutes, long, frightening minutes, as the medical team got out the things to help. Even after the team moved in to take over, Zane refused to stop, taking over for Allison, who'd stopped compressing. "Come on, Jojo, you can't leave me yet. We have to get married. Have babies. Grow old together. You can't leave me. Not now, not yet." He returned his mouth to hers, before pressing again on her chest. "You can't leave me like this, babe. You can't."
Allison's gentle hand on his shoulder forced him to stop, and she helped him to his feet. "Zane, they'll take care of her now."
But he didn't hear here. "Not now. Not yet."
And before Allison could say another word, he'd rushed to the ambulance, climbing in and taking a seat. He grasped her hand tightly, and Allison couldn't help spotting the tears in Zane's eyes as he talked to her, before the doors slammed and the vehicle drove away.
Her dark eyes opened and she took a deep breath-
It hurt to breathe, and a moment passed, before she reached up to lay a hand against her chest. The sound of someone clearing their throat caught her attention, and she turned, to see him sitting beside her, blue eyes filled to the brims with fear and worry- that instantly vanished when she looked at him.
"Zane-" He smiled softly at her, before getting off the chair and climbing onto the bed beside her. His arms instantly wrapped around her waist, and he held her against his chest. She let him have this rare display of affection, preferring to be curled into her boyfriend's arms than fighting about it. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"You scared me, Jojo." She reached up, laying a hand gently against his chest.
"It scared me too. I thought I'd never get to see you again." He nuzzled his nose against her hair.
"I love you, Jo."
Allison watched the pair for several minutes before turning and leaving the infirmary- she didn't want to disturb their happy reunion. Besides, she had a major bone to pick with Carter...