Summer walked down the stairs of her home wearing black yoga pants and an old tank top. She spotted Nick and stood in front of him like she was angry. "This had better be good, waking me up in the middle of the night."
"And I cant believe how hot you look right now," he said before scooping her into a kiss.
Nathan popped up between them and coughed. "Excuse me."
The two broke apart and looked to him. "Kinda busy," Nick said going back in for another kiss.
Nathan put his hand between their mouths. "Yeah, I need to talk with Summer."
"What now!" She sighed as Nick turned away from them.
"About this." Nathan dove in for a kiss while lifting her hands to drape around his shoulders and pinning her against a wall.
Dr. Childress appeared between them. "Way to cut to the chase, Dr. Stark." The two pulled apart and separated a little. "Direct, focused, efficient. Kudos." Nick huffed angrily and dove in for another kiss. "Oh dear." The two pulled apart before they could connect. "That approach lacked confidence. It was too tentative. No woman likes that."
"True," Summer shrugged in agreement.
"Shocker," Nathan said as he passed the group, presumably to go to the other room.
"Try it again, this time with confidence." Childress gestured to him with her pen. "Hold her face with one, pull her in closely with the other. The goal is efficiency of movement to achieve maximum results."
"I think we may have different goals," Nick commented before he pulled Childress to him.
XXXXXX
Flashes of Henry wiping Jack's brain.
XXXXXX
Latin music filled the rose scented air as Jo, dressed in a beautiful Spanish gown, inhaled a fully bloomed rose. Behind her stood Nick, dressed in a white flowing shirt that was open at the top and tight black pants, a rapier hanging from his hip.
"Sweet, Josefina," he spoke in Spanish. She turned to him in surprise and he continued. "Have you considered my offer?"
"I am sorry, Don Diego, but I cannot marry you," she said innocently. "My heart belongs to another man."
Nick looked disappointed as he rubbed his hands together. "What a shame. Very well. I don't need to wed you to have what I want." He walked her into the rosebushes before pulling her against him roughly, kissing her. When they parted, Jo slapped him. He turned back to her with a smirk. "How rich."
As he went in for another kiss, a voice rang through the garden. "I wouldn't do that, amigo."
Nick's attention was turned to the masked man in black above them as he drew his sword and jumped down. Nick drew his own sword. "And who the hell are you?"
"The other man," the man in black said calmly.
"Is that so?" Nick swung at the masked man.
The fight ran all over the grounds of the mansion, finally ending when the man in black disarmed Nick and returned to Jo, leaving Nick to look to the sky in despair.
The man in black landed in front of Jo, who spoke. "May I know the name of the man who protects my virtue?"
The man used his sword to cut an 'F' into her blouse, before he sheathed it, removing his mask, and donned a pair of glasses. "Douglas Fargo, Miss."
Jo sidled up to him. "Thank you very much, Mr. Fargo."
XXXXXX
"Oh my God!" Jo awoke with a start.
"Madre de Dios!" Fargo woke up a moment later still speaking Spanish.
"Fargo," Jo warned.
"That could have been anyone's dream," he said quickly.
"Right."
"Actually, he's got a point," Nick said stretching his limbs.
"Oh and I suppose that that whole kissing mess wasn't your dream either," Jo accused.
"Hey, it wasn't a mess," he defended himself as he woke up Sam.
"Actually—" Childress attempted to speak.
"Oh, don't even, you liked it."
"Alright," Jack said sitting forward in his chair. "So, we've ruled out the waste, the water, and the location. It's gotta be us. We're gonna have to start testing people as soon as possible."
Henry stood and addressed the group. "All right, everybody, we're moving to Global."
The lights turned up and Zoë spoke. "Dad, this woman wont wake up."
"Sheriff, this one's out too," Vince said.
"Sum's still out too," Nick said kneeling next to her.
"I've got one over here," Pilar, a friend of Zoë's said nervously.
"They're unconscious, we have to get them to the infirmary," Henry said calmly to Jack.
"Everybody, collect your stuff in an orderly fashion," Jack told the crowed quickly. "We're gonna move out to Global as quick as we can. Go!"
XXXXXX
The rotunda of GD was quickly turned into an emergency infirmary for the dreamers. Those who didn't wake up were placed in beds and watched over in the actual infirmary.
Henry approached Jack and Nick quickly. "Hey," Nick saw him first. "Tell us you found something."
"I went back and reviewed the autopsy," Henry said, "and discovered that Jake Wyatt had abnormally high levels of acetylcholine in his spinal fluid."
"Which is…" Jack didn't understand.
Nick explained. "It's a neurotransmitter. A chemical that allows your neurons to communicate and your muscles to flex."
"And is essential to dreaming," Henry added.
"So the dream did kill him," Jo said joining them.
"No, but elevated levels have devastating effect on neural function, and ultimately, lead to the loss of muscle control."
"In this case, Wyatt's diaphragm," Nick guessed. There was a pregnant pause. "He suffocated in his sleep."
"I have a sinking feeling I know where this is going," Jack said looking back and crossing his arms.
"That's right. All the latest victims have high levels, including you three," Henry pointed to them. And those levels are rising."
Jack fidgeted a moment before standing. "Let's work a little faster. Jo, I'm gonna go talk to Paul Suenos."
"Who the hell is Suenos," Nick asked Summer as Jack walked out quickly.
XXXXXX
A/n: I did ask for ideas regarding original dreams, but no one got back to me! I will however still take ideas if anyone still has any. Thanks for reading.
