A/N - I know it's been a while since I last updated, but you will be glad to know that I have written up the next two chapters - they just need editing, and drafted the ch 7, 8 and 9 - but be warned they may take a while to write up because I hurt my wrist.
Thanks to all of you who reviewed my last chapter - you all give me the motivation to write this story. And again thanks to Pchefbeth, who has done a wonerful job of a beta.
If I owned Eureka there would be no end to the season - and I would have made the christmas episode with more Jo and Zane, but you gotta love the santa t-shirt.
CHAPTER FOUR – EXPOSED
"Jo, I think I just found the problem…"
Zane lifted his head just in time to see Jo, who was mid-pace, sway in her step. He instinctively dropped his data-pad on his desk with a clank and ran over just in time to catch her elbow, successfully preventing her from falling over.
"Jo? Are you okay?" He asked, his voice reflecting the concern he was feeling for her. Something was really wrong; Jo Lupo who was head of GD security, who packed more heat than a gun store, who was the woman who could kill you with her pinkie alone, was currently off-balance! She looked up from the ground and scowled at his face before ripping her arm from his hand.
"I'm fine!" she snapped. She was still swaying slightly, but managed to stay upright without his help.
"Josefina, you are not 'fine'." He told her, and unthinkingly he placed his hand on her shoulder, he saw her as she eyed it and he expected her to move it whilst causing him the most physical pain she could, but instead she took a deep breath and just left it there.
"Look, could you please just tell me what you found," she asked still staring at his hand on her shoulder.
He figured that there was no point in trying to push her to admit that she wasn't herself, so he let it go and dropping his hand, walked back over to his desk and pick up the data pad. He sat down in his chair to make sure that his own dizziness didn't get the better of him. As he suspected he would, he heard her footsteps click on the hard floor behind him as she followed him to his desk.
"I will; as soon as you tell me a little more about Dr Kings," he said as he turned to face her.
"What has this got anything to do with Dr Kings?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He couldn't help but think that the expression made her look cute, and he struggled to focus on what he needed to show her.
"I'm not entirely sure yet," he said as he tried to focus on what he needed to tell her "That's why I'm asking you about her." He watched her as she wavered in her place before she regained balance once more. "And please sit down, before you fall over." He was surprised to see that she actually complied, and his worry grew as he saw how pale she was.
"What do you want to know," she asked.
"The lab next to this one, is it hers?"
"Yes…" she replied just as confused as before.
"You said that she was working on cognitive development in conjunction with the brains ability to lie do you know if her research was in involved hormones?"
"Yeah, I think so. She was identified for a transfer to Eureka because her research in the field was leading towards the possibility of a chemical injection that would prevent a person's brain from lying. At least that's how Fargo explained it. But I don't think she was anywhere near the testing stage."
"Well if that's true, then I think her formula worked by changing the chemical messages sent across the synapses between the nerves in the brain – if that formula was even slightly off, it could affect the entire nervous system," At Jo's perplexed look he continued. "It could alter the complete distribution of hormones throughout the entire body, resulting in an uncontrollable rampage of emotions."
He looked back down at the tablet in his hands, and watched as a woman, presumably Dr Kings, continued to destroy everything in the lab, throwing green filled beakers across the room, smashing chemicals everywhere, purple smoke would rise whilst mixed acids would corrode the reinforced, concrete and steel floors. He recognised most of the chemicals – and some of them were extremely dangerous if not handled correctly. His focus kept coming back to the corner of her lab where he could see the body of a man - most likely a lab assistant – laying in a pool of dark red that originated from the back of his head. His eyes were open, but he wasn't blinking, and didn't appear to be breathing. His face and clothes was smeared in the bloody substance.
Zane?" he heard Jo asked, breaking the silence in the room when he didn't say anything further.
"Take a look at this." He said as he started to hand her the pad but pulled it back when she went to grab it because he realised her hands were shaking, and placed it on his desk instead. "JoJo, please tell me that you are shaking because of my expert kissing skills…" he asked mockingly, trying to hide the fact that he feared that the truth was actually much worse.
Although he hated to admit it; he knew that she had been exposed – which means he probably had as well. He tried to piece together a theory as to how it had happened. Dr. Kings' formula had most likely spilled, and contaminated the air causing the system shut down, but the close proximity of his lab and hers had most likely resulted in his and Jo's exposure. To top it off, the structure of the formula would have been altered due to the concoction of smashed chemicals in the next lab over – meaning that he had no idea how it was going to affect Jo and himself.
He grabbed her hands in his in an attempt to hold them still, she was cold – really cold. He looked down at their hands to see the frailty of her hands in his. He looked down at their interwoven hands and was surprised to see how large his were compared to hers. Her grip seemed light, frail even to him, and he looked back up her. He was surprised to see that she too was analysing their hands with extreme interest. He removed one of his hands so that he could lift her chin and look into her eyes.
"Why are y-you…" she stuttered but continued anyway. "Why are you pretending to care so much?"
"I'm not pretending. I do actually care about some things, even about you, especially about you. My heart isn't completely made of coal you know." He was surprised to hear the words coming out of his mouth. He couldn't believe he was actually admitting this to her, admitting this to himself, after all these years that he didn't spend all of his time winding her up just because he could, he did it because he was trying to hide the fact that he cared for her, the fact that he really cared for her.
He watched her as his words sunk in, her eyes glazed over, unfocusing, and she held an expression that was of pure shock. She gently pulled her hands from his and stood up. In reaction he also stood up, so that he could continue to watch her. Life flickered in her eyes, and she pulled her arm back and let it snap forward; slapping him in the face!
It wasn't a hard slap, but it held enough force to express what she intended it to. It stung, and his shocked mind couldn't come to an appropriate response. She had hit him before, but she had never slapped him! He was as still as a statue, and so was she; time seemed to have had stopped for both of them.
When he had managed to get his brain working again after the long, still moments, he moved his hand to rub his sore cheek. The movement woke her like an alarm and she rushed forward, crashing into him as her lips found his in an instant, forcing his apart and he could taste her sweet, minty breath. Her hands wrapped around his neck pulling him further down to her. His hands found themselves situated at her waist, gripping tightly. He couldn't stop himself; he needed her like air. She was a drug, and he needed his next fix. He brought one hand to her hair and pulled out the restricting band – letting her hair cascade down her back. Her lips where forceful on his and he could feel all of her bottled-up emotions spill into him; her joy, her sadness, her love of life, and her hatred of loss – it was all there, sinking into him. They weren't just two people kissing; they were two halves becoming a whole, melting into one another. It wasn't passion that drove them this time; it was need, a need that ran deep within their very cores. A need that could not be controlled.
He reluctantly pulled back as his mind connected the fact that most likely the chemicals that they had been exposed to were causing her reaction, but he could not bring himself to let her go, so he stood there gasping for air all the while keeping a firm grip around her. He looked down into her eyes questioningly, and could see that she did not yet regret what she just did. She rested her head against his shoulder and turned her face into his neck. Her arms slid down to rest on his chest - trapped between their pressing bodies. He buried his face deep into her loose hair and breathed in deeply. He heard her as she began to sob against his shoulder and suddenly felt the need to protect her – which under normal circumstances it would be acceptable for a man to feel protective over a woman, but these weren't normal circumstances, and she wasn't just an ordinary woman, making the whole idea of Jo needing protection completely and utterly ludicrous, but he could not think otherwise. Feeling uncharacteristically tender he then rubbed his hand along the length of her spine in a soothing rhythm and just held her there and let her tears stain his shirt.
"I miss you…" she mumbled into his shoulder, and he simply held her tighter…
I will update again this week - I promise, but I do have alot of revision to do over these two weeks for my exams in January - so please review and get me through this boring time :D
Oh and i don't know how this challenge thing works, but I found out that the episode 'This one time at space camp...' has a character list of Jo's dad, young Parish, young Jo and young Zane, (my source was IMDB . com) and I would like to see peoples ideas as to how this episode could go...