Shipped apart

Something is causing a sonic barrage to over Eureka, but neither Jo nor Zane seem to hear it. What's going on, and can they save Eureka in time? Jo/Zane centric, but Allison/Carter and Grace/Henry also seen. Post I'll be seeing you.

This is a little Post Mid-Season Finale One shot that came to mind today. I hope that you like it. I own nothing in Eureka, especially not the characters, but man would I love to live there!

Henry Deacon stood in his garage workshop, wearing his usual tan mechanic work overalls as he moved from one machine to another. He fiddled with a dial on his mass spectrometer and then turned his attention to the oscillator on his right. "Anything?" He called out.

A curly haired head popped up at a second bench to his right, his wife Grace. Her eyes never leaving the laptop screen, she replied, "Nothing on any frequency." She looked up at Henry as he moved to another machine, his posture indicating extreme worry. "Maybe whatever it was is over," she offered.

Henry took off his ever present cap, took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his sweating brow. He replaced his cap, but his eyes never moved from the noise meter that he was monitoring. "I don't think so," he said solemnly. He looked up into deep brown eyes, always a surprising source of calm for him. "I think it's time we called in the others so that we can see what we're dealing with."

Grace nodded, and reached out her hand to grip his fingers with a reassuring squeeze as she started towards the door. "Tell them to meet us in my lab at GD as quickly as possible." He told her as she walked past. His eyes glanced up to watch her as she left the garage to make the calls from the house, and his normally calm face grew worried. If what he believed was happening was correct- and it often was- they were in a lot of trouble. "What are you, and where are you coming from," he asked aloud.

A short while later, Grace and Henry entered his lab at General Dynamics and discovered Dr. Allison Blake and Sherriff Jack Carter already there waiting for them.

Allison was the first to see them approach. She stood- wearing her now usual white lab coat- and moved a few steps to meet Henry in the middle of the room. Jack moved to stand behind her and crossed his arms over his chest, bracing himself for the next disaster.

"What's going on," he asked Henry without preamble.

Henry held out his hands in a gesture of patience, while he and Grace moved to the two nearest work benches in the center of the lab and began to turn various machines on, while she booted up the computer.

"Henry," Allison began again impatient.

"We're not sure yet," Henry offered while he flipped a series of switches on the closest machine before looking up at the two of them, "but I'm hoping that the equipment here at the lab will pick up a wider range of frequencies than my equipment at home."

Behind them, the lab doors opened and in walked a quickly moving Jo Lupo followed by a huffing Douglas Fargo. Jo, didn't even let the doors close behind her before she asked aloud "What's with the 911?" looking to access the situation.

Before anyone could answer her Grace called out- "Henry, come and take a look."

Henry quickly moved over to stand behind her shoulder and read the data streaming on the monitor. "You were right," she said. "It's been happening for weeks, maybe even months now. The equipment has been recording it," she finished as she turned to look up at him.

He noted her worried glance and he patted her on the shoulder. "We should be able to find something."

She covered his hand with her own as he turned back to speak to the others.

"As you know," he began "two nights ago there was a brief but violent sonic energy burst above Eureka. We've checked and we can't find the source of the sound." He turned and pointed to the monitor running complex equations. "These are recordings from the Integrated Sound Level meter here at GD. It measures the SPL," seeing Jack's face immediately translated "the Sound Pressure Level in the areas surrounding Eureka to ensure that nothing spokes too high. We can see that the one two nights ago was the highest spike to date, but that it wasn't the first. These have been getting steadily louder over time."

"Aside from the ringing in my ears," Carter asked while rubbing his right ear to relieve some of the pressure "is it dangerous?"

"To us, " Henry said, "Yes, Very. Everything had a natural frequency, and if you find the right resonance you can use it to shake the object apart. This frequency," he said pointing back to the screen "is the same frequency as Eureka itself."

"So if we don't find the cause of this…" Carter began, the idea slowly dawning.

"Eureka could be shaken apart by its own resonance." Henry confirmed.

The others looked from one another with dread and confusion.

"Could Beverly be behind this?" Allison asked.

"Anything is possible at this point," Henry said.

"We've looked throughout Eureka and we can't find a clear indication of where exactly the sound is originating from. " Grace said. "It's like its everywhere in town."

"What noise was this exactly," Jo asked, a confused look on her face.

Henry and the others looked up her in surprise. "Two nights ago," he said. "You didn't hear it he asked bewildered?"

Jo crossed her arms and shook her head- bewildered. "No, at least I don't remember hearing anything out of the ordinary."

"It occurred at a very precise time, Henry began looking at the data points on the nearest screen. It also sounded like a siren, or a loud high pitched…sort of a …a…"

"A girlish scream," Carter offered.

The others stopped looking at Jo, and turned to look at Carter questioningly.

"What?" he asked bewildered. "I have a teenage daughter and the noise reminded me of something that she and Pilar would do, especially when they were discussing…well things she'll never tell me, but it was like that." He finished emphatically.

"A girlish scream," Henry said turning back to Jo. "Yeah, ok that works."

"No," Jo said shaking her head, "Nothing like that."

"Maybe it had something to do with Proximity," Grace offered as she pulled up a 3-d map to a more centralized table. The others moved to circle it looking down on the town of Eureka.

Henry pointed to a spot to the upper left of the map. "Grace and I had just returned to the house. We were in the garage when we heard it."

Fargo pointed to the main building where they stood. "I was here overseeing the delivery of the replicated Bridge Device and the other equipment that we confiscated from Beverly to Section 5."

Carter pointer to his House S.A.R.A.H. "Allison and I had just gotten through the front door of the house when we heard it." He looked back up at Jo who stood on the opposite side of the table, studying the map.

Her eyes focused on a part of the map for a moment and then she shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. "What time?" she asked.

It was almost 9 p.m." Carter said.

"8:52 exactly," Henry supplied.

Cater looked at his former deputy. "Where were you at 8:52 Jo," he asked her.

She studied the map, still silent and Carter offered information with the intention of triggering her memory. "It was the night we found out that Beverly was working on the Bridget device. I took Allison to the infirmary and then we saw Grant off. You left the warehouse and were planning on heading back to the sheriff's office and….." Carter ended his sentence abruptly as the reason for Jo's uncomfortable silence and her location suddenly occurred to him.

Jo simply refused to meet Carter's gaze and continued to stare down at the map. "I was at the Sherriff's office letting Zane out of the jail cell." She said striving to sound calm even as her demeanor indicated that she was uncomfortable discussing the topic.

"Oh, Honey," Allison said while reaching out to put her hand on Jo's shoulder, but Jo only shifted her body so that Allison's hand fell away. "I let him out of the cell, and we had….words," she finished with difficulty, mortified to feel a slight blush bloom on her cheeks.

"And the two of you heard nothing?" Henry questioned.

"Jo simply shrugged. "If he heard anything, he didn't mention it."

"Was it possible that you were both yelling so loud that you couldn't hear it?" Carter asked.

Jo shook her head slowly from side to side, her long ponytail following back and forth. "No, we were just arguing."

"Well," Henry said, his attention returning to the data on the screen. "We need to get Zane down here so that we can confirm that there was no noise in this area here," gesturing to the center of town on the map.

Jo looked for a moment as if she was going to argue, but closed her mouth, nodded and if anything seemed to grow even more uncomfortable. She left the others still poring over the map, and walked over to lean against a work table a little ways from the others and waited while Fargo made the call.

A few minutes later Zane walked into the lab, wearing a tight dark red shirt and accompanied by his signature cocky grin which faded as he spotted Jo. He changed direction and walked over to stand a few feet away from her, hands crammed in his jeans pockets while attempting to appear casual.

"Still avoiding me Jo-Jo," he asked ignoring their audience.

Jo opened her mouth to retort but she was interrupted by Henry.

"It's beginning again, just like before, but it's not as strong."

"See," Carter says aloud his face pinched in displeasure, "screaming teenage girls."

"It began when Zane walked into the room," Allison said as Henry picked up a handheld scanner and began walking around Zane while getting readings. Zane simply put his hands up in mock surrender and looked around in confusion. "I didn't do anything," he said looking to Jo for an answer.

"If he is the source of the frequency we could always put him Section 16," Fargo says excitedly…"I could call Mansfield right away," he said while pulling out his phone.

"Carter," Jo says a little anxiously.

"Fargo, put the phone down."

"He's clear." Henry says looking at the readout of the handheld scanner. "The frequency doesn't match what we've been following."

Zane slowly lowered his hands. "What's going on," he asked the group then pointedly looked to Jo for an answer.

She glanced at him for a moment and then cleared her throat. "The noise we just heard…seems to be linked to you somehow."

"Was that the first time you heard it, Henry asked forcing Zane's attention away from Jo.

Zane pondered the question and then gave a half hearted shrug. "I think so. What the hell was it?"

Henry ignored the question and continued. "Did you hear it the other night, around 8:52p.m."

The night that Jo let you out of the jail cell," Carter said, then as if realizing who he's talking to added, "The ….most…recent time," Seeing Jo's reluctance to even make eye contact with Zane he continued. "Jo said that you were arguing?" he added helpfully.

Zane turned to look at Jo, who still hadn't moved from her spot or made any attempt to look at him. "Arguing" he asked her his eyes brows raised quizzically, "is that what the kids are calling it these days.

She looked up at him then, a warning in her eyes which he ignored. "Refresh my memory," he asks her, "What were we arguing about?"

"We need to try to recreate the conversation Jo," Henry added. "There may have been something that you both said or did that will help us shine some light on why neither of you heard anything."

Jo turned a pleading look to Henry and the others. "Can't we just zap the sonic energy with some sort of machine, or use..a…a….reverse sonic wave thing…that's always worked before!"

Zane moved towards her until he stood directly in front of her, and mirrored her stance, arms crossed over his chest, and tipped his head to the side while he considered her and gave her his cockiest grin. "Scared Lupo?" he taunted.

She glared back at him. "You don't scare me," she said, but it was missing her usual bluster.

"Prove it," he said and he closed the distance between them even further. "I believe that you came in and told Andy that I was cleared and to let me out of the cell," He began. "I told you that you weren't going to get off that easily."

Jo pointedly looked at the nearest wall avoiding his gaze. He leaned towards her and placed his hands on the desk on either side of her waist, effectively trapping her in place. "I told you that I wasn't stupid. That I know something has happened to the five of you and that part of it had to do with us."

"He knows too much!" Fargo says in a stage whisper to Carter, but he was shushed by the others.

"It's building again," Grace said to the room as the others looked on.

Jo gave Zane a warning glare which he ignored and instead leaned his upper body closer to hers. "You told me to let it go, that I had been cleared and so had been Grant. But I wasn't talking about Grant. I wanted to know why you had my Grandmother's Engagement Ring."

Jo uncrossed her arms and tried to push Zane back by placing her hands on his chest and pushing, but he didn't budge.

"I asked you to tell me what we were to each other," he said his gaze dropping down to her mouth and back up to her eyes.

Jo shoved harder and managed to push him back from her. "And I told you it was nothing, and you should drop it," as she brushed past him and moved towards the others.

As she moved past him he grabbed her right arm and spun her back around and into his arms effectively cutting off her protest with his mouth.

The noise that filled the room was deafening to everyone it seemed except the kissing couple, and it forced them to cover their ears.

Carter yelled to Allison over the deafening volume "Does that mean that he's not dating Zoe anymore?"

The sound slowly dissipated as Jo pulled away, a mixture of confusion and longing on her face.

Zane stepped back, just slightly, and still ignoring the others said to her. "And then I asked you why that didn't feel like a first kiss." He held her gaze. "I'm still waiting for that answer by the way."

Jo cleared her throat nervously. "Why did you do that," she asked him not quite able to look him in the eye.

"You know me," he said mockingly. "I love a good experiment."

"No, I mean why did you kiss me the other night," she asked, a blush spreading over her face.

The corners of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. "Let's just say that I've been wanting to see what that would feel liked for a long time."

Jo pushed Zane back a step farther. "And then your girlfriend came in-" she said annoyed beyond words at the smug grin on his face.

"-and you bolted before I could say anything," Zane finished for her while stepping forward again. "Besides, Zoe's and I aren't dating anymore."

Another high pitched yell of triumph echoed around the room forcing everyone to turn to look at the source of the noise who was doing a victory dance in the corner.

"Carter!" Allison hissed with an annoyed look at Jack.

Carter belatedly tried to turn his yell of joy into an 'Awwwww' noise, but Allison just shook her head in disbelief and returned her attention to Jo and Zane.

Jo was staring at Zane the look of shock evident on her face. "What?" She managed to stammer.

It was Zane's turn to look slightly embarrassed. "Look, she's a nice kid and I like her, but there wasn't going to be anything between us but friendship."

Carter turned away from the others pumped his arm in triumph while mouthing a silent "Yes!"

"After you left in such a hurry the other night," Zane said to Jo "I told her that I didn't think it was a good idea if we saw each other anymore." He grinned and looked at the still smiling sheriff. "It was fun rubbing it in Carter's face though," he added mischievously,

"Yeah," Carter agreed jovially, then stopped and looked up in confusion, "What?"

Grace motioned for Henry to join her back at the computer that had been monitoring the Sonic Burst. "Look at this," she said pointing to the last data from the previous few minutes. "I managed to track the frequency that we've been recording back to the source, but how can that be accurate?" She asked turning to look up at her husband. They shared a look and Henry nodded in agreement to the silent question.

"Only one way to find out," he said and then cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We're ah…going to need to get another reading."

Zane smirked at the news and leaned back against the desk that Jo had vacated. "God I love Science," he said aloud. He eyed Jo speculatively taking in her stiff posture decided to have some fun. "I think we need to adjust our Hypothesis that this has something to do with just me," he told Henry, his eyes never leaving Jo. "Does the noise occur only when I kiss Jo, or will it also happen when she kisses me?"

Jo spun around to stare at Zane and then looked at the others.

"Oh, Come ON," Carter said as he saw Henry consider it.

"I'm sorry," Henry apologized gesturing to Jo, "but he's right. We need to be absolutely sure of both the origin of the frequency and what the cause is. Jo may not be the catalyst, but we need to be sure. I'm sorry Jo," he added shrugging his shoulders helplessly.

Jo clenched her jaw and lifted her eyes heavenward as if praying for an escape. Not getting a response she crossed her arms across her chest and turned back to face Zane who just sat watching her, a grin on his face.

She stepped towards him, face resigned to the task, when he stopped her by throwing his hands up between them. "Wait, aren't you going to buy me dinner first?" he asked her with a wide smile.

"Don't you ever just shut up," Jo asked through gritted teeth.

"I wouldn't worry if you're not that experiences Jo-jo. I'm sure you'll get better at it if you practice," he says mockingly. "I'm always willing."

Jo narrowed her eyes and suddenly seemed to come to a decision. With a muttered "Oh hell," she closed the space between them, grabbed the back of his head and pulled it down to hers and pressed her lips against his. He wasted no time wrapping his arms around her pulling her close, and her hands roamed over his back and gripped his t-shirt where she could. He framed her face in his hands and with his fingertips brushed the strands of her hair, and she tilted her head to the side to get better access to his mouth; all the while the building around them shook from the force of the sonic barrage and didn't stop until they came up for air a few minutes later.

Breathing a little heavy, his heart still pounding, he gave her a dazed smile. "Did the earth move for you too?"

Jo just silently stepped back, but not before a small smile escaped her lips.

"Henry," Zane said his eyes still on Jo, "Tell me that we have to do that test again."

Grace lifted a finger and pointed at the new data on the screen. "I don't think that you will. I was able to triangulate the origin of the frequency and it confirmed what we had determined earlier." She typed an address into the screen and a website popped up.

Carter stepped closer as he read the words on the screen. "What is that?" he asked perplexed.

"The sound," Henry said amazed, "Its coming from the Internet. A place called 'Fan Fiction Dot Net'"

The others all gathered around various nearby screens and began to read about the site. Grace scrolled through the various home pages and found one that was dedicated to Eureka.

"I don't get it," Carter said confused. "How can the internet cause that kind of racket?"

"It's not the site itself," Henry said as he began his own search, "Its-"

"-The fans" Allison finished as she read the titles of the stories in the Eureka corner.

Carter looked back and forth between the monitors and finally let out a questioning "Huh?"

Henry pointed to the data points that that the SPL had been tracking. "Look," he said to the room. "Ever since we came to this time line-"

"Ix-nay on the imline-tay in front of –" Fargo said as he jerked his head towards Zane.

"Relax," Zane said as he walked over to stand behind Grace to read off of her monitor, "I've known for weeks now and I haven't said anything."

Jo glanced at him, hesitancy on her face and eventually moved over to stand next to him behind Grace.

"These stories," Allison exclaimed, "They're about….us?"

"Precisely," Henry agreed.

"What are they doing?" Carter asked.

"They're writing Fanfiction." Grace explained. At Carter's blank look she continued. "It's their version of our stories; they're creating their own episodes, changing what they didn't like and trying to resolve parts that left them hanging."

"And from the looks of things, they aren't too happy that you two aren't together anymore," Grace said looking up at Zane and Jo.

"But why are they doing it," Carter asked still very confused.

"Look, these fans have probably been following the show since the beginning, and now that we're in the mid-season break they're feeding their hunger for the show through this site."

"So anytime Jo and I are together, and we do something that they like…" Zane started cautiously.

"We are literally hearing their responses." Henry finished. "The Fans are so excited to see you two together that they are screaming with glee."

Fargo points to his screen and points out helpfully. "Look, there's a site for that show too."

"So I was right," Carter said with a smile as he looked back and for the between Allison and Henry. "Its teenage girls."

"Well," Henry said, "there are likely more than a few, but there are lots of men and women in here too. We're a popular show for our demographic."

"But why now," Allison said, "what changed?"

"We did," Henry said gesturing to the group. "We changed a pivotal relationship- ships they're called, and the fans are clamoring for it to return to the way that it was before - by any means necessary."

"So all of these fanfics," Jo asked, "They're all about Zane and me?" she asked while stealing a glance a Zane.

"Mostly," Grace said. "Here's one where you have a dream about Zane, another where you are writing him a love letter, and this one has Zane getting jealous when Grant asks you to have drinks with him."

"Here's one," Fargo points out helpfully, "where Zane has taken to locking Jo in one of the treatment rooms in the Shangri-la spa while she's getting a massage in order to get her to talk to him."

Zane smiled and moved closer to the screen that Fargo was looking at. "Let's hear more about that one," he said with interest.

Jo reached over and merely punched him in the arm.

"So, they're being written by people that are upset that Jo and Zane aren't ...together anymore," Carter asked.

"Yes," Henry answered, "They've been starved for interaction between these two for so long that when something does occur it literally starts to shake us, "he said pointing to the room, "apart!"

Carter looked back and Jo and Zane "But the sounds aren't happening now," he pointed out.

Henry looked up at Carter and then followed his gaze back and forth to Jo and Zane who had finally turned to look at one another.

Carter moved towards them, an idea forming in his mind. He pointed to Zane. "When he first came into the room, there was a noise, right?" he asked looking at Grace for confirmation. "And then later when they kissed-"

"Carter," Jo said, embarrassment evident in her voice.

"Sorry Jo, the noises happened again," Carter said gesturing between the two, "and then stopped."

"The sonic vibrations certainly have lessened," Henry said verifying the data on the SPL.

"So that means….." Carter said gesturing wildly around the room, "…..something," he finished lamely.

"What I think Carter is trying to say," Allison translated, "is that if Jo and Zane are together more often, than the reaction from fans will eventually equalize over time."

"No more danger for Eureka," Grace concluded looking at each member of the group.

"It's that or Jo is going to have to start to date Taggart again," said Henry.

Zane grimaced at the suggestion and the speculative look on Jo's face. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Over my dead body," he muttered.

"Does that mean that Section 16 is still an option?" Fargo asked brightly.

"NO!" Carter, Allison, Henry, Grace and Jo all yelled in unison.

Fargo merely rolled his eyes. "Dr. Blake was allowed to try it," he muttered under his breath.

Henry stood up and looked at Jo and Zane who were looking at each other speculatively. "For the next few weeks, you two will need to spend as much time together as possible."

"Jo," Carter offered helpfully, "You should start with a full debrief on what lover-boy here knows about the alternate time-line in Eureka."

Jo nodded in agreement.

"We should also test the SPL levels against the effects of various temperature changes," Zane said with mock sincerity.

That got Jo to look at him directly.

"You, me…Hot Tub." He offered helpfully.

She just rolled her eyes skyward.

"So," Fargo asks looking to change the subject. "Are there any stories with me and Claudia?" he asked hopefully while searching through the fanfiction site.

"Here's one that sounds interesting," Allison said with a slight grin. "It centers on Carter….."

"Really," Carter asked brightly, as he put his hands in his pocket and moved over to stand closer to her chair and read over her shoulder. "Are you and I married, and Zoe is joining a convent?" He asked hopefully.

"Not exactly," Allison said, unable to keep the smile off of her face. "You're married to…Nathan Stark," she finishes with a low chuckle.

"Why would anybody…" Carter began, a perplexed look on his face.

"Wait for it," Zane said in an aside to Jo.

The confusion on Carter's face suddenly twisted into a look of absolute horror. "ME? And STARK! Aw…no…no..NO! Why would anybody…that's just WRONG!"

"Everyone has different tastes Carter," Henry said while trying to keep a straight face.

"Come on Jack," Allison said taking him by the arm and leading him towards the door.

"Stark?" he asked her mournfully, and they walked out of sight.

"So," Zane asks while perusing the site, "can anyone write this fanfiction stuff?"

Jo grabbed the back of his t-shirt and started to pull him towards the door.

"Easy Lupo," he said turning to her, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he looks at her up and down. "If you wanted my company that bad all you had to do was ask."

Jo pushed him towards the exit. "Let's go. Debrief -in my office."

"You know," Zane said as he continued to walk backwards towards the door, "I bet that I could write a great fanfiction about us jo-jo."

She gave him a wry smirk. "Let's leave the fiction writing to the fans, shall we."

"But what if I'm tempted to write when I'm all alone in the middle of the night." He gave her his biggest smile, "I can't be trusted," he said while trying to lean in closer, "I think that you're going to have to stay with me all night to be sure that I behave."

Jo pushed him back with both hands on his chest. "Just go," she said annoyed but she couldn't stop the smile from escaping.

Zane grinned as he caught site of the smile that she tried to hide, and as he turned towards the door he said over his shoulder. "The universe wants us to be together…who are we to argue?" and winks at her as he turns down the hallway.

Behind him Jo smiled brightly and shaking her head she followed him down the hall.

Fargo stood shaking his head and mutters to Henry. "and I thought I hated him in the other time-line." And he left the lab to return to his office.

Henry stood from his own seat and moved to stand behind Grace's chair where she sat, still reading the fanfiction site. "Anything interesting?" he asked her while rubbing her shoulders.

She shrugged. "I was just wondering if there were any stories about us in here," she said and looked up to give him a small smile.

Henry bent down and wrapped his arms around her drawing her close and kissed her on the cheek. "Well," he mused, "if there aren't, then we're just going to have to write some ourselves."

She smiled brighter at his words, and reaching down, turned off the desk lamp and they headed home arm in arm.

The End.

I hope that you have enjoyed my One-shot of silliness and I truly hope that I made you laugh. Hang on fans...only a few more weeks until the Holiday Episode.