A/N: This takes place sometime after Omega Girls (4x15), but ignores the Astraeus mission plot line entirely. It's a Jo/Zane story at the heart of it all. I don't own Eureka or its characters, and I'm not making any money off of this.

XXXXX

The explosion shook all the windows on Main Street and set off the alarms of half the cars parked on the street. The shrapnel radius was well defined, but even if it hadn't been, it would not have taken long for Jo Lupo to find where it originated. The explosives had been residing in a car right next to where she had been standing. From where she lay on the ground, there seemed to be little left of the car or the driver.

She was luckily to be alive, she reflected. The pain was excruciating, but it was better than being numb. There was no way she was going to be able to stand. Not for the first time she missed her old Special Forces Unit - back then, there was always someone to help you up and out of the danger zone. Now, she could only watch the fire and pray that it didn't hit a pocket of gasoline.

XXXXX

Vincent had been waving to a regular customer out the window when he felt the ground shake. "Everyone inside!" he called out, and his clientele, now used to such emergency situations, responded with alacrity. He rushed to the door to rush in the diners seated outside on the patio, but was stopped by the blaze that greeted him down the street. Not only that, there was a person on the ground, obviously alive and moving, but unable to get out of the way by themselves.

"Make sure everyone stays inside!" he shouted at the new waitress, taking the towel she held limply in her hand. He held it over his face as he bolted down the street as fast as he was able. He was on his feet all day long so he wasn't completely out of shape, but none of his daily exercise usually included running. As he got closer he realized, with sickening recognition, the the survivor was Jo Lupo, head of security at GD and former deputy sheriff. She was usually the one running to everyone else's rescue, and now there didn't seem to be anybody else coming to her aid.

What made him mad were the people on the other side of the street, just standing and watching. He shouted something at them, probably about calling an ambulance or something, but really his mind was on Jo. She was sooty, her clothing tattered and her face covered with blood. She was using her hands to drag herself along the asphalt, silent tears, likely of pain, running down her face. She didn't seem to be using her legs at all to help herself along.

He knew that he shouldn't move her, but the blaze behind her had engulfed another car. He crouched down. "Jo? I'm going to pick you up, okay?" She nodded. Her bloody hands grabbed at his chest as he tried to pick her up as gently as he could, and he imagined she was as delicate as spun sugar.

XXXXX

Jack Carter made another unannounced visit to Global Dynamics. Specifically, a medical bay where Allison was working. Sometimes, on a slow day, he liked to stop in just to see her smile. He couldn't get over the feeling that this was just right somehow. He found her, Zane, and a lab technician puzzling over a computer screen.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

"Hmm? Jack What are you doing here?"

"Things were getting slow at the station and I had some paperwork I needed signed off on by a few of your personnel relating to last week's incident at Cafe Diem. I thought I would stop by." He put his hands in his pockets and smiled as she walked over and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"This computer has been getting odd error messages when Dr. Timothy here logs on in the morning and I'm concerned it's a security issue."

"Like somebody is trying to hack into GD through the computer?"

"Something like that," Zane affirmed, his voice distracted and eyes focused on the screen. The chair was pushed back and he stood, a frown etched on his forehead.

Carter's phone rang. He looked at the number - one he didn't recognize - and flipped it open. "Carter."

He listened for a moment, trying to make sense of the hurried voices and the alarms in the background. He started to understand what was going on just as another call came in. "Ma'am - ma'am - I'm on my way." He hung up and took the next call, which was exactly the same. He ignored a third, also from a number he didn't have in his phone.

"What's going on?" Allison asked, concerned.

"There's been an accident on Main Street."

"Is anyone hurt?" There was worry in Allison's voice, but she stood straighter and her eyes darted to the equipment she would need to turn the medical bay into a triage center.

"So far only one confirmed." Carter's eyes drifted to Zane, who was busy trying not to look like he was listening. "It's Jo."

XXXXX

After Carter jogged out, Zane stood motionless in front of the computer screen, fingers frozen on the keyboard. He had the urge to run after Carter, to be there. He felt a warm hand on his back; Allison. "The first place they'll bring any of the injured is here."

He shrugged off her knowing voice. "Whatever. I'll finish installing this surveillance system and then get of your way."

But he took as long as possible to do it, and even after he was finished and should have left he pulled up the traffic cameras of Main Street and zeroed in on the chaos. Rewound it, watching the events that had transpired. He pulled out his PDA and thumbed the button the ejected the flash drive that was housed in it. He copied clips onto it before exiting out and returning the screen to its home position.

While he had been occupied, Allison and Dr. Timothy had set up the room to receive the injured. The first one to arrive was Jo, carried in on a stretcher. Zane's face paled when he saw how much blood she was covered in, all presumably her own. Allison was giving orders and Zane moved to the other side of the room, but he was reluctant to leave just yet. He wanted, maybe even needed, to see how she was. To make sure she was okay. But from the expressions of the medical technicians rushing around, every one of which was either an MD or PhD, it didn't look like she was okay. And if that was the case, he didn't want to be elsewhere.

It was hard, the waiting. The watching. They wheeled her into a smaller room to operate, but he watched through the glass. The doctor's pulled a curtain in front of the window as they started to cut open her clothing, and Zane realized it was for the best. He wanted to pace, to wait, but at the same time he was ashamed to let others see how upset he was. Never mind that he wasn't the only one.

Vincent had come in a short time after Jo, blood covering his apron. It was only when Vincent stood next to him did Zane realize that Vincent wasn't one of the ones who were hurt. The bigger man was rubbing his upper arms as if he were cold.

"You okay, Vincent?" Zane asked.

Barely noticing Zane was there, Vincent nodded. His gaze was fixed beyond the glass and the curtain, to where Jo was. If Vincent was going to stay, Zane might as well. At some point Zoe Carter showed up, but the awkwardness Zane was afraid would be there never emerged, and the three of them stood there, waiting.

XXXXX