Disclaimer – If I owned Eureka, Larry would have been put in jail for the stunt he pulled on the first episode of Season 3. Then we wouldn't have to deal with him any more.
Teaser – In an effort to help Allison cope with the arrival of Nate, the organic computer clone of the late Nathan Stark, Jack brings in his ex-wife, Abby. Meanwhile, there is a sudden outbreak of drowning victims and Nate puts up with Dr. Manlius, who's methods for obtaining the data from Nate's cells seem suspect.
Pairings – eventual Jack/AI!OrganicComputer!Nate
A/N - Here we go, the big reveal! Let's see who was right about who-done-it.
Chapter Six – In Which Motives Are Revealed
The security footage showed Jack just what he'd expected to find. During the fifteen – well, closer to twenty, really – minutes that Dr. Gerald was alone with the laser, Dr. Hanners had joined him for about eleven minutes, the amount of time necessary for the two of them to reprogram the laser to remove Nate's immunities.
Jack stopped the footage and turned around to face his 'audience': Nate, Henry, Zane, Tess, Manlius, Gerald, Hinton, and Jarvis. "Dr. Gerald, you and Dr. Hanners reprogrammed the laser, didn't you?"
"It's unnatural," Gerald growled. "It's an affront to God and a testament to human arrogance. It must be destroyed." Jack had heard enough and he pulled out his handcuffs.
Jarvis looked a little ill as he stared at the paused footage of Hanners leaving the lab. "Mike's always had a temper, but... I never thought he..." Hinton wrapped her arms around Jarvis, pulling the taller scientist into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he added, looking at Nate even as he returned Hinton's hug. "If I'd known what he was planning..."
"You couldn't have known," Nate interrupted. "This isn't your fault."
Jack smiled at Nate's words as he slipped the cuffs onto Gerald's hands. "Dr. Irvine Gerald, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..." he went on to finish reading Gerald his rights and looked over at the door impatiently as Jo showed up, Hanners in cuffs with her.
"I'll get them back to the station," Jo volunteered. "One of the security guards, Lisa Manelli, offered to help get them into the cell. I figured you'd want to stick around here for a little while longer." She glanced over at Nate. Then her eyes landed on Zane and she smiled.
"Are you sure, Jo?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be back as soon as Manelli and I have finished putting these two psychos behind bars. I'm still working on the whole dry-drowning issue." Jo waved her hand dismissively as a woman wearing a guard's uniform walked in and latched on to Gerald's arm.
"Hi, Sheriff," Manelli greeted brightly. "Mind if I take this guy off your hands?" Manelli was one of the few female security guards on GD's payroll (Jack thought that the majority were men because then they all looked identical in the uniforms with the hats. Allison always denied this, though it never failed to make her smile when he - or Jo - brought up the subject) and a friend of Jo's. The two of them were always competing (in a friendly fashion) over who the better shot was. Mostly it was Jo, though Manelli managed to tie with her a lot.
"By all means," Jack said, taking a step back as Manelli dragged off the muttering Dr. Gerald, who was now talking about signs of the apocalypse or something along those lines. Dr. Hanners was trying to meet Dr. Jarvis' eyes, but the other man wouldn't even look at him as Jo dragged him away.
There was a pause and then Henry said, "we think the problem with the laser has been fixed, but we're in the middle of running a few tests just to be sure. If the rest of you will join us, I'm sure things will go much faster."
As the rest of the scientists left the security station for the laser lab, Nate hung back. "That was impressive. You hadn't even seen the footage when you called Lupo to have her arrest Hanners. How did you know he was even involved?"
"Gut feeling," Jack responded, walking over to stand by Nate. "My instinct isn't always right, but it is often enough that I was positive they did it together. Gerald was the only one on the team who actually disliked you and Hanners... well, you heard him at lunch."
"This planet... this town is lot scarier than outer space," Nate drawled. "At least out there I knew none of the dangerous things that could kill me meant it in a personal manner. This... has been unsettling."
"I'll bet. It's not always going to be this way, you know."
"I know," Nate agreed. Then he smiled and his eyes brightened, making Jack's mouth go a little dry at the sight. "But when it is this way... you'll be there to keep me safe, right?"
"Definitely," Jack's voice came out a little huskier than intended as he stared into Nate's intense eyes. Abby's question from the night before, about whether he found Nate attractive or not, came back to the front of his mind and all he could think was 'yeah, definitely attracted here...'
-=-=-=
Jo and Manelli had just gotten the two doctors into the back of Jo's car when her phone went off. She grabbed it out of her pocket and flipped it open. "Lupo."
"Deputy, it's Dr. Rivers. I managed to track down the source of the recompressed water, like you asked."
Jo froze and signaled for Manelli to wait. "What did you find?"
"Yesterday, there was test of a laser that uses an incredibly high level of radiation. The concentration of the radiation was enough to reactivate the isotopes. I tracked down where the water went after recompacting and it was the steam rooms at the gym's sauna."
"About what time was that?" Jo asked.
"12:08 pm."
"Thanks." Jo flipped her phone shut and tossed her car keys at Manelli. "Get those two into the cell for me. The door locks automatically, so just toss them in and shut the door behind them." Jo started to turn around.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"Jack's in trouble!" Jo shouted, taking off at a run for the doors of GD.
The compressed water had been turned to steam, which was what the sauna attendant had breathed in. Bell, Draper, and Monroe had been in there at the same time, planning out the final stages of the baby shower... and Jack had gone into the sauna in order gather them outside the gym to wait for Tess.
-=-=-=
Jack and Nate had missed the elevator that the others had taken, so they'd gotten into the next one. It was just them and Nate found he rather liked that. The best parts of his day so far had been the time he'd spent with Jack, though watching the blonde eat the pecan pie had made him feel twitchy and warm for reasons he wasn't yet quite sure off.
He had an idea, though. Nate thought that perhaps he was developing feelings for Jack. After all, he found Jack to be physically attractive; the Sheriff was most certainly an aesthetically pleasing individual. And he was funny and smart... and his smile made Nate feel flustered and his eyes...
Okay, so Nate knew that he was developing feelings for Jack. He'd been on Earth for four days and he already had a crush on someone.
But that someone was starting to look not so good... Jack was beginning to sweat heavily and looked to be having some difficulty breathing. "Jack?" The Sheriff's short, dark blonde hair was starting to plaster itself to his head and darken with water.
"Jack?" Nate repeated, tapping Jack's shoulder worriedly.
"I think maybe I should... should get to the infirmary..." Jack panted, struggling for air. "Suddenly I'm not feeling... all too..." he started to cough and then stumbled backwards, dropping to the ground.
Nate crouched beside Jack, a sense of deja-vu overcoming him. Just a few days ago he'd knelt by Zane as a mysterious condition nearly killed the scientist. Now he was beside Jack as an equally mysterious condition started cutting off Jack's air supply. This time, however, Nate knew just what to do.
Jack couldn't breathe for himself, so someone was going to have to do it for him.
"Try not to take this the wrong way, Jack," Nate said and then brought his mouth down to cover the blonde's even as his hand moved to keep Jack's nose closed. He breathed into Jack's mouth and was gratified to feel with his free hand that it was working. Jack's chest rose and fell as air got through.
Moments later the door dinged open and Nate looked up, feeling a bit dizzy himself. He was surprised to realize that he was crouched in water nearly half an inch deep, which was spilling out into the corridor.
'Where did that come from?' he wondered absently before pinning the scientists standing at the door, staring at him and Jack, with a glare. "Get a medical team here now!" he snapped before returning to breathing for Jack.
Distantly, Nate heard the sounds of the scientists snapping into action. He just hoped that help didn't arrive too late.
A/N - In case you're wondering, Manelli got the bad guys locked away just fine, brought back Jo's car, and told her that she has the most awesome car ever. Lisa Manelli's next big purchase is totally going to be a Subaru.