Author Notes: ….Wow! Thanks for all my favorite returning reviewers and new readers as well as story alerts. Remember this is a sci-fi comedy…..

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Chapter 02 – Can You Hear Me?

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Eric woke up first to find he was soaking wet. Jackie's head was lying across his legs and he freaked. What the hell was he doing out in the rain with Jackie Burkhart! When his heart quit pounding, he remembered the lightning. Jackie woke up rubbing her temples. "I don't feel so good." Then she noticed she was lying on Eric. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember the lightning?"

Jackie closed her eyes and nodded her head. "It was floating in the yard across the street and exploded." She opened her eyes and looked at Eric, "Your house was hit! Oh god, I'm soaking wet! How long were we out here?"

Eric had no concept of time. The whole ball lightning vision seemed to go on for at least 30 minutes. The lightning strikes were bright and fierce and then there was the pain in his head. "How long….an hour?"

Jackie looked at her soaked clothing. She felt like she was in a hot shower. "I – I think I'm going home. My head is killing me." Eric stood up and gave her a hand and then swayed as the headache hit him also.

"I think that's a good idea. Go around so you don't get the carpet wet."

Jackie looked back at Eric who still looked as bewildered has she felt. What really happened? This was so weird!

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Eric walked back in the house just in time to see the end of the movie. Donna looked back, "What happened to you? You're soaking wet. Who was at the door?"

"Didn't you hear the storm? See the lightning?" he asked.

Hyde shrugged. "Heard a little thunder. I think the eclipse is over so your folks are going to be coming back. Who was at the door?"

Eric rubbed his forehead. "Um…Jackie. Who locked all the doors?" Fez and Kelso started laughing. "It wasn't us!"

"So did you get rid of her?" Hyde asked. Eric looked at his friend. "Sure. It started raining and she had a headache. I think I'm going to change and lay down. Hyde, make sure the chairs go back in the kitchen."

Donna looked at Eric, he looked pale like he was going to pass out but he just pivoted and headed for the stairs. "…The Force will be with you, always…." Why did that thought keep going through his head? He reached the second floor landing and was almost overcome with fatigue. A warm shower and bed. That's all he wanted.

Jackie tipped two Tylenol into her palm and swallowed them with a big glass of water. This was not the evening she had planned! The eclipse was hidden but the thunderstorm and then that freakish lightning show. All she wanted was a hot bubble bath and a good night's sleep. Steven could wait another day until she felt pretty again.

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Eric woke up feeling refreshed and better than he had in a long time! He dressed quickly and hurried down the stairs to the smell of bacon cooking on the stove. "Hi Mom!" he said giving Kitty a kiss on the cheek. "Smells great. How was the show last night?"

Kitty carried a plate of pancakes over to the table. "Oh sweetie, it was quite a thing to see. I've never seen the moon in a telescope before and then it disappeared….really breathtaking."

Red scoffed behind his Sunday paper. "We could have seen the damn thing from right here."

Eric slid into a chair and said, "Actually it there was a huge storm - couldn't see the sky at all. It was good that you took Mom when you did." Eric forked a pancake onto his plate and reached for the syrup only to find the maple was nearly gone. Crap. Why did he always get the empty bottle?

"Eric, honey….did you say you needed more syrup?" Kitty asked.

"Well no, but we are out of maple." Eric replied.

Kitty brought a new bottle of Mrs. Butterworth to the table. "There you go. Next time, speak up." Hyde came up from the basement and poured a glass of orange juice. "Hey Red…Mrs. Forman… how's it going?"

"Steven, you look well rested. Did you boys enjoy your educational movie last night? Kitty smiled as she brought the sizzling bacon to the table. Red reached over and grabbed a couple of pieces. "Red, only two slices! Think about your heart." Kitty admonished.

Red frowned, "My heart wants bacon. If my heart is happy, I'm happy."

Eric grinned, his mom was always putting Red on a "safe food" diet and his dad always grumbled about it. Maybe if Mom ate the same stuff, she'd cut him a little slack.

Kitty pressed her palms on the table. "You know what? I'm not eating bacon. Why should I enjoy the crispy breakfast meat when I don't let my husband?" She smiled at Red. "I'm going on a diet with you." Red rolled his eyes, "I think we've heard this before."

"No really. I can diet with you. That way we'll both have healthy hearts. I can make tasty meal plans. It would be fun."

Eric almost laughed. His mom on a diet? The next thing would be Red volunteering to cook! Stranger things have happened. Hyde reached for another bacon slice as Red set down the classified section. "You know Kitty. That's great idea. I can help you cook. I mean I can do more than just...barbecue!"

Eric suddenly felt like he was in the twilight zone! Mom going on a diet and Red volunteering to cook? Next to go would be Hyde and his stash. Suddenly Hyde looked at him and frowned. "I've been thinking….."

Eric put his hands over his ears. "I don't to hear any more confessions! I'm outta here." He grabbed his car keys and ran out the patio door.

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Jackie was looking at the sunshine over the Pinciotti's kitchen sink. There were bright colored birds sitting on tree limbs and the grass was still fresh with dew. What a gorgeous day! Bob was tying an apron around his belly. "Jackie, how many French toasts do you want?"

She turned around and smiled at Bob. "Oh Mr. Pinciotti, I can make cereal. You don't have to cook for me."

Bob laughed, "I like to cook. Donna doesn't always appreciate my cooking but that doesn't stop me from creating a masterpiece. Two slices good for you?"

"Thanks. That would be fine." Jackie pulled out three plates from the cupboard and set the table. Bob was humming a Captain and Tennille song as he dredged the bread through the egg mixture. Donna came into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and the box of Fruiti-oos cereal. Bob blanched, "Donna….don't you want some French toast? I'm making it the way you like it."

"No dad, cereal's fine." Donna replied as she poured the colored oats into her bowl. Jackie saw the look of disappointment on Bob's face. Why couldn't Donna make her dad happy once in while and eat a real home cooked breakfast? Didn't she know how lucky she was?

Donna went to the fridge to get the milk and turned, "You know dad that smells good. Make a couple for me."

Donna helped clean up the breakfast dishes and thanked her dad for the toast. Bob blushed and stammered, "Thanks okay, I'd do it anytime." Jackie patted Bob on the shoulder, "They were really good. I'm going to take a walk – it's so pretty outside."

"Don't forget to use sunscreen; it's going to be another scorcher!"

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Jackie changed into a tank top and shorts and headed straight for the Anderson's lawn. She wanted to see if that ball of lightning left scorch marks. That was so weird yesterday! She walked around Mr. Kitchner's upended trash can and continued down the sidewalk. The Anderson's lawn looked pristine; there was nothing to indicate a storm or lightning had ever been there!

Looking both ways, she carefully crossed the street to look at the Forman's flower bed. There. Right there was the scorched evidence of the last lightning strike. The one that sparked at the side of the house before she and Eric fell unconscious. It was real and it did happen.

Mr. Kitchner was pulling into his driveway and hit the upturned trash cans. It made a loud screeching metallic noise and Jackie glared at the driver. Why couldn't he just get out of his car and move the cans? Why did he have to move them with his car? What a jerk!

Donald Kitchner turned off his engine and got out, picking up the strewn trash and put it back into the dented cans and placed the lot at the edge of the sidewalk before getting back in his car. Jackie was dumbfounded. It was like Mr. Kitchner heard her bitching about him!

A slow dawning came over Jackie's face. She made Donna eat French toast. Did she have some kind of superpower to influence people? Was it everybody? Was it just a few people? She couldn't tell anyone about this – it was like having access to a bank vault! No one could ever know! This was something that needed to be tested.

Jackie ran back to Donna's to get her purse and car keys. She was on a mission!

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Sipping on a diet soda, Jackie sat at the edge of the food court looking into the glass windows of Modern Chic. The designer clothing store was always just out of her pocketbook budget, but that didn't stop her from going in and trying on the new arrivals!

A pair of girls walked through the glass doors wearing fashionable wedge platform heels. The tall blonde was willowy and would easily fit in all the small sizes but her robust friend was going to have some trouble getting something that fit.

Jackie smiled as the blonde moved towards the display in the front of the store. There was a sparkly sequin blouse, totally out of season, but still beautiful. The price tag was over $200 just for the blouse. Jackie looked at the blonde and thought, that would look so good on you. The blouse was plucked off the display dummy and carried to the register. The robust girl was looking at a feather boa and Jackie thought that would be perfect. Just don't shop for anything else!

The pair walked past Jackie and the blonde exclaimed, "This blouse will look soooo good on me at the office party!" Jackie knew she had something special now. This would be a good time to test it on her friends. Donna was easy – could she get Steven to "want" her as easily?

This was only a test. Still, she crossed her fingers.

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Eric had to get out of the house. It didn't matter where he went, he just had to leave. The idea of a stash-free Hyde was unnatural! Now dad wanted to start cooking and mom wanted to be on a diet…wait. They didn't have those thoughts until he started thinking them. What if….nah…Eric Forman was not the kind of guy who could influence people. Still….this was something that needed to be tested.

The Vista Cruiser steered itself to Fez and Kelso's apartment. Eric knew it was probably too early in the morning for a visit but he had to try something. After knocking 30 times, Fez stumbled to the door with a sheet draped around his lower body. "Eric! Aiiy….we're still sleeping." Eric pushed the door open to the messy apartment. He stepped over a couple of pizza boxes and stumbled on a beer bottle.

"Fez, I have something important to tell you." Eric lied.

Fez sat on the arm of the sofa. "It must be if you came over this early."

Eric hemmed and then said, "I was reading the newspaper this morning and there was an article that said all foreigners caught eating candy were going to be deported." Eric felt like he just wrote a one way ticket to hell for saying that.

Fez's mouth fell open. "I can be arrested?"

"No. Deported. They'll send you back to your homeland. You have to give me all of your candy so I can dispose of it." Eric looked at Fez and thought that his brown friend didn't need that much sugar anyways. He was doing him a favor!

Fez shrieked and ran into his bedroom coming back with a pillowcase full of stashed candy. He pulled some candy bars from behind the TV set and a tin of mints were hidden in the drapes. He dropped the ten pound pillowcase into Eric's hands. Eric felt like the little kid that scored on Halloween!

"Fez, you better get Kelso. There's something he should know." Eric knotted the end of the pillowcase and set it on the sofa cushion. Minutes later and tousled and sleepy-eyed Michael Kelso stumbled out of his bedroom.

"Forman, I need my beauty sleep. What are you doing here anyways?" Kelso grumbled. Eric was ready for lie number 2. "Kelso, man, I was reading the paper this morning and I don't know if you heard this or not…." Eric scrambled to sound convincing. "…um, statistics are showing that guys who sleep around alot are more likely to contract diksfaloff. Terrible condition and I immediately thought of you."

Kelso looked shocked. "DAMN! Then I have a lot of it! What are the symptoms?"

"Er, always tired…always thinking about…doing it….one more hickey and you'll end up in the hospital." Eric was thinking Kelso should commit to Angie Barnett or Brooke the mother of his daughter. "I'll make sure I bring you flowers."

Kelso looked panicked. "I – I need to call Brooke. You're sure this isn't contagious?"

Eric smothered a laugh, "Yes. Girls can give it but can't catch it." Now he had a bag of candy and a frightened Kelso – something was going and it was going to be cool. "Guys, I have to go, maybe you want to come over later and bring some beer. Lots of it."

Both guys said, "Sure. Lots of beer."

Eric sat in the Vista Cruiser and snorted. Dicks fall off – Kelso fell for it! What a dumbass – still, he had a bag filled with Hershey candy bars, Snickers, Twizzlers and a big assortment of chocolate. How cool was this?

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A/N: just for the record diksfaloff is not really a medical condition