Scene 7
Jo stood at the counter and drank half her coffee in two gulps. She was trying to decide how she felt. And then whether how she felt was fair. And then whether she cared whether how she felt was fair. The answers were pissed, no, and no.
"Uh, sonolumin…bubble fusion?" asked Carter. "What's that?"
"I think it's what caused the explosion," Zane responded. "Theoretically, if you use high-intensity sound to agitate bubbles in liquid, you can create thermonuclear fusion. Theoretically. No one's ever done it."
"It's highly unlikely…" started Fargo, reading Zane's notes intently."Well, maybe. Maybe. Wow, that would be so cool!" He looked up at Zane, his eyes wide and excited. "So you think it was a thermonuclear reaction?" he asked.
Zane shrugged, and made an equivocal head motion. "I think it would be pretty amazing if it was. Did you check out the site yet?"
"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Carter demanded. "A thermonuclear reaction? That's like a bomb, right?"
"Well, just a teeny-tiny one." Zane grinned.
"So does this mean that we have bats that can set off nuclear explosions flying around Eureka?" asked Jo, having returned to the table with the remnants of her coffee.
"Oh, hey, Jo," said Zane, as if he was seeing her for the first time.
She gave him a dirty look. "Bats, bombs?" she prompted.
"Uh, probably not. Not unless the bats come near the right liquid, with the right kind of bubbles in it."
"It's not the kind of thing that could happen by accident," Fargo agreed.
"Okay, then back to the plan," she said firmly. "Let's go out to the barn, find out what's happened to Andy, see if we can discover anything more about the explosion, and then figure out how to catch these bats."
"Good plan," Carter agreed hastily. "Taggart, Emily, thanks for your help. Fargo, come with me. Jo, Zane, we'll meet you out there." Quickly, he pulled Fargo to his feet, and hurried him out the door.
"Wait, what?" Fargo protested mildly as Carter moved him along.
"Speaking of thermonuclear explosions…" Carter muttered under his breath.
"You know the address, right? I'll meet you there." Jo smiled sweetly and turned to go.
Zane grabbed her arm. "Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad," she said quickly. "Just focused. You're focused on science. I'm focused on doing my job, which right now means catching some bats." She took a last gulp of her coffee, and then expertly pitched the empty cup into the open trash can behind the counter, halfway across the room.
"You're mad," he sighed.
"Not at all," she glared at his hand on her arm. "Do you mind?"
He let go of her arm. "I'm sorry," he apologized.
She blinked at him. That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all.
"You're right. I got distracted by a really cool science puzzle, but I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
She shook her head in disbelief. Okay, now that really wasn't right.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You…" she started, only to stumble to a halt, not sure what she wanted to say. Part of her wanted to be dazzled by his apology. Zane didn't apologize—not until after hours of the silent treatment and/or some life-threatening danger. Another part of her wanted to know who the hell he had been dating that had taught him the apologize-fast technique for handling women. Damn it, this Zane knew too much.
But not so much after all—instead of waiting for her to speak, he continued, "Don't go all passive-aggressive on me now."
She smiled. That she knew how to handle. "Would you prefer just aggressive?" she asked gently, head on one side.
"Ah, no," he said carefully. "Not really."
"Good choice. I'll see you at the barn."
Zane watched her leave and sighed.
Taggart eyed him sympathetically. "The apology was good, eh? It might have worked."
Emily was looking perplexed. "You have an interesting relationship," she said politely.
"I'm not sure those are the right words," said a disgruntled Zane.
Emily smiled, and her face lit up. "Oh, they are," she said serenely. "You forget that I saw you together when you were a wolf. Animals can't lie—they're so much easier than people that way."
"Well, but Jo wasn't a wolf," Zane pointed out.
"Yes, but…" Emily shook her head and left it at that.
"She doesn't stay angry long," Taggart offered. "Give her the chance to shoot a few things and she'll cheer right up."
"As long as I don't have to be one of the things she shoots," Zane muttered.
