Night Crawler

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the show, Eureka, or any of the characters, and no profit was earned for writing this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please Review! It makes writing so much easier.

STORY NOTE: Alright, now you kind of know what's happening so the story will kind of pick up. I'm keeping this mostly about how Carter and other characters relate with the storyline running in the background.

SPOILERS: Nothing blatant, but events are current right up until "The Games We Play."

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Nathan Stark squared his shoulders and briefly cricked his neck before knocking decisively on Allison's door. With a muffled, "come in," he opened the door and entered.

Allison was on the phone with someone and waved him over to a chair next to the room's only other occupant, Henry, who gave a brief nod to Stark before facing the desk again.

Nathan didn't know why Allison had paged him, or why it would involve Henry or whom she was on the phone with that made her say, "I see," and "Hmmm" so much. If there was one thing that irritated Nathan Stark more than Sheriff Carter, it was not knowing what was going on. He declined the chair for a position standing by the window that oversaw the lobby of Global Dynamic. It sounded like Allison was just about done with her phone call.

"Thank you again. I'll be down shortly just as soon as his daughter arrives." She hung up the phone with a sign and leaned back in her chair a moment before meeting Nathan's eyes. He cocked one eyebrow at her in quiet inquiry. "Sheriff Carter was involved in a car accident an hour ago." Nathan's eyebrows shot up and he put his hands in his pockets, the only reaction he gave. Henry straightened and stiffened in his chair as if preparing for a blow. "He and the other driver were flown ahead while his daughter was treated for minor injuries on scene. Thankfully, it sounds like he's going to be just fine. A couple of broken bones and some bruised ribs although I'm sure he won't see it like that." She finished with a wry grin.

Nathan was still slightly off balance from the news. There was no love lost between him and Carter, but he would never wish the man dead, his daughter without a father.

"The other driver?" Henry asked.

Allison's smile faded somewhat. "Not as lucky. She has a pretty bad concussion so she'll be staying here for a few days in case of complications."

Nathan nodded while looking down, trying to think of a nicer way to put what he was thinking into words. "Allison, you know that the Sheriff and me are like this," he held up his crossed fingers, ignoring the snort from Henry, "but I'm not sure exactly why you paged Henry and me down here. It sounds like his condition isn't that serious and I'm sure there will be no hurt feelings between Carter and me if I don't show up with flowers and a Get Well Soon card."

Allison smiled genuinely at that. "I realize that Nathan. I actually asked you and Henry down here to investigate the cause of the accident."

Henry beat Nathan to a reply, "Um, not to sound petty or ego-centric, but isn't that a little below our abilities?"

"Normally, yes. However, I think this case might need your expertise." She held up a hand to Nathan to let her finish. "Multiple witnesses claim that the lights in both directions were green. Based on that, I called Eureka's Facilities Manager who told me that this was not an isolated event. Several other systems were affected at the same time causing minor disruptions throughout Eureka; from things like the sprinkler system triggering itself to household appliances blowing up from large energy spikes. He strongly believes that these bugs in the system or "ghosts" if you will, originated from a Global Dynamic feed that goes directly to their mainframe. Whether he's right or not, I want you two to go through the computers over there and tell me if this was an isolated case or if we can expect more."

Nathan nodded contemplatively while Henry started mumbling to himself, coming up with and discarding ideas out of hand as being too unlikely if not downright impossible. Nathan whipped his head around when the door slammed open to reveal Carter's teenage daughter Zoë followed closely by Deputy Jo Lupo.

"No one will tell me anything about my Dad. What's going on?" She demanded irately, hands on her hips and a scowl that would probably make lesser men run for the hills. Stark snorted to himself at her audacity. Definitely Carter's daughter.

Remembering she too had been involved in the accident, he took a closer look at her. She had a few minor facial burns from the airbag along with a white bandage near her hairline. Her right wrist was wrapped with an Ace bandage, but for the most part, she looked none the worse for wear. Especially if her attitude was any indication.

Allison held up her hands in a placating manner, "He's going to be just fine. I was actually waiting for you to arrive so we could go down to see him together, alright?" She gestured for Zoë to precede her out the door, who, after a moment's hesitation, did so.

Jo gave a somewhat apologetic look to Allison as she fell in stride with the woman. "She's pretty worried." Jo offered.

"I know. So was I."

With that said, Nathan watched the three women in Carter's life disappear into the hallway.

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With a place as prone to accidents and mishaps as Eureka was, it became essential to have a top of the line medical facility staffed with the most knowledgeable people possible. Allison found herself once again thankful for the large sum of money the appropriations committee always allocated for medical expenses.

Allison Blake had no sooner walked through the glass doors into the reception area than Zoë had demanded to see her Dad's doctor. She couldn't fault the teen, after all, she too had been in a similar state of anxiety when he'd first been brought in, condition unknown.

Lupo put a hand on Zoë's shoulder in warning for her rudeness. Jo seemed to have taken it upon herself to be her keeper until her Dad was up to the task again. Zoë scowled somewhat, but settled down while the nurse went to fetch the doctor who came out blissfully quick, having been warned by Allison that they'd be on their way soon.

Dr. Jeffrey Brown was a shorter, somewhat older man with dark brown hair, olive skin and kind eyes hidden behind wire frame glasses. He seemed to be perceptive as well as he focused most of his attention on Zoë as he introduced himself. "Hi. You must be Zoë Carter. Your Dad was asking about you earlier. My name is Dr. Brown. If you'll come this way, I'll take you to see your Dad."

Zoë immediately brightened and followed him, Allison and Jo not a step behind. "I'd like to caution you on his appearance. He was just in an accident, but I assure you he looks worse than he actually is."

Zoë's temporary relief was replaced by worry again. Allison saw this and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "He's going to be all right. You'll see." She said motherly.

Dr. Brown abruptly stopped and opened the door to his right, gesturing them in.

Zoë's first thought when she saw her Dad was relief that he was still alive followed by concern as she took in his appearance. His left leg was in a cast from his foot to halfway up his thigh and propped up with pillows. His left arm was also in a cast, but a much smaller one from half of his hand to just before his elbow and wrapped in a sling. He was shirtless; his ribs taped and wearing only the puppy-dog boxers Zoë had given him as a gag-gift over a year ago. He looked to be deeply unconscious and she frowned at Dr. Brown.

"Well, I guess the most obvious of his injuries is his leg. He has a minor fracture of his tibia just below the knee and will need that cast on for 4 weeks. His left radial bone was broken and almost through the skin. The cast will need to be removed in 6 weeks. His shoulder is very bruised as are two of his ribs, but since there is no internal bleeding or head injury to speak of, we'll probably be releasing him tomorrow. He's very lucky."

"Lucky would be not being in an accident at all." Zoe replied smartly.

"If there's no head injury, then why is he unconscious?" Allison asked quietly as if afraid of jinxing his health.

"He's sedated so we could set the bones. He'll be very stiff and sore the next week or so, but after that he should be able to get around ok with crutches. I'm putting him on medical leave for 2 weeks and light desk duty for an additional four. I'll send him home with some pain meds and sedatives in case he has trouble sleeping, but mostly you'll just have to keep him quiet and well rested for a week or two."

Zoë turned between Allison and Jo with a look of horror on her face. "Grounded from field work for 6 weeks?! Dad's going to go nuts!"

Allison couldn't help but worry that Zoë was right, and this was going to be a very long 6 weeks. He is not going to be a very happy camper when he wakes up.

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