Title: Blackout 3/4

Author: Romantique

Email:

Classification: Early Edition. Gary/Marissa, Hurt/Drama

Rating: This Chapter is rated M suggestive sexual content.

Summary: It is Gary Hobson's fate to keep harm from coming to others; however, this time, it is Gary himself who needs help. His friend Marissa is along for the ride. (This fan fiction began as a Halloween challenge, but evolved into a stand-alone story.)

Disclaimer: This fan fiction occurs some time in Season 3, after Chuck leaves Chicago.

Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.

Gary dreamt of another life in Chicago that included a loving wife, two small children, and a big yellow dog. He dreamt of working at McGinty's with his dear friend, Marissa, going to Bears' games, and visiting his parents with his loving family for the Holidays. But nowhere in his dreams were the Paper or the big orange tabby to be found. He was free to live his own life without any worries of others, except for his loved ones.

He dreamt it was Halloween, and he was out 'Trick or Treating' with his wife and two children who were dressed up as two of the three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Michelangelo and Raphael. Those two were the children's favorite turtles.

"Zeke! Wait for your sister," Gary called out to his son. Young Zeke ran ahead of his younger sister so that he could arrive first at the next house ... as if arriving first would somehow guarantee that he would win and receive more candy.

It was a clear, autumn night. The air was nippy, and the smell of an occasional wood burning fire place lightly danced in the air. Gary pulled his wife, Shannon, in closer to snuggle as they waited on the sidewalk for their children to visit this next house. Their yellow Labrador, Daisy, pulled against her leash to greet the children as they raced back to their parents to show them what the nice lady in the blue duplex placed in their pillow cases. Gary held onto the leash to hold Daisy, nice and steady.

"The nice lady gave you two Hershey bars?" Gary asked his young daughter, Kelsey, upon seeing the latest additions to her night's collection of treats. "Did she give you one to share with me?"

"Okay," his little daughter happily laughed, her tiny cheeks kissed by the cool, October air. An impish grin came over her face. "Again?" she begged to go to the next house.

"Well ... alright. Two more houses," Shannon, playfully relented by holding up two fingers. "And then, it's a warm bath before bed for the both of you."

Shannon gave her husband a loving squeeze around his middle as they made their way down the street to the next house.

Gary was happy. He was fulfilled and had everything he ever wanted.

~ . ~ . ~

Despite repeated pleas from Marissa and Anne, the gunmen refused to allow Gary to leave or for medical help to come in. Instead, they continued to assure their hostages that they were very close to working out an agreement for their release with the Police. Anne told them under no uncertain terms that she did not believe Gary would be able to make it much longer without medical care.

Tossing his head back and forth and drenched in perspiration, Gary had been placed lying on his back, on the floor of the Bank. The Loan Officer's jacket had been folded to use as a pillow in order to raise Gary's head off the hard floor and to keep his airway clear.

Over the past hour, Gary had gone from being cool and clammy to very warm and flushed with fever. Although the nurse had no way to know for certain how high a fever he was running, she ascertained it was 103 degrees and probably higher. The fever needed to be brought down. Anne found paper towels in the Ladies' room, and she bathed Gary's face and neck with the rough towels that she soaked in cool water. Marissa placed ice chips on his feverish lips, allowing chips to melt their tiny droplets of cool water into his fevered mouth.

As the afternoon faded into evening, Gary moaned and whispered utter gibberish in between shallow breaths. His right eye would occasionally open, glazed and bloodshot with fever, staring past everyone and everything. It was as if no one was there behind his eyes.

"What's your name?" the nurse finally asked Marissa. She felt it would be better if they were on a first name basis, as she had no idea how the next hours would unfold.

"I'm Marissa. Marissa Clarke," Marissa stoically answered. "And this is my friend, Gary Hobson," she explained. "And you? What's your name?"

"Hi. I'm Anne Donahue," she responded, wringing out another cool paper towel to apply to Gary's forehead. "Wish we could have met under different circumstances."

"No kidding," Marissa agreed.

As Anne began to gently place cool, new towel on Gary's forehead, he fitfully reached up with his free left hand and tried to fight her off. In response, she tried to hold his arm steady with both of her hands.

Caught off guard, Anne called the Loan Officer who was still nearby with a great urgency in her voice. "Jim, help me."

Jim rushed over to her.

"Would you find me a pair of scissors, please?" she asked. "Quickly," she added, still concentrating on holding Gary's arm down.

"Sure," Jim answered. He went around to the other side of his desk and pulled a pair of scissors out of its top drawer. He quickly returned and handed them to Anne.

She continued, "And would you take over for me? Hold his arm down by his side?"

Luckily for them, Gary's right arm was immobilized by the sling. Jim immediately did as he was told and held down the left arm.

Once Anne was safe from being hit by her patient, she hurriedly began cutting the front of Gary's sweater down the middle, from the bottom hem, all the way up to the ribbing at its neck. After making the last cut, she peeled the sweater open. She could feel heat radiating from his body.

Then, she quickly ripped Gary's button up shirt, all the way open. Tiny white shirt buttons popped off, flying in every direction. Then, she had to cut through the center of his t-shirt, the final layer of hi clothes in the same manner she had cut open the sweater. She cut with such speed and precision; it was obvious she had done this before.

"What's happening?" Marissa asked.

"He's delirious," Anne answered, as she continued to cut the shirt. "I've almost got his clothing cut away so that we can do a better job of cooling him down." Then, she further explained, "Marissa, we need to keep doing what we're doing to try and keep his fever down. If it goes up any higher, he could go into convulsions."

"Convulsions?" Marissa did not understand.

"Yeah," the Anne responded. "You know, seizures?"

As the nurse made the final cut, she peeled the t-shirt out of the way. She immediately felt a tremendous wave of heat radiating from Gary's skin. Anne worked quickly and placed cool, wet towels over his chest, abdomen, and neck, being careful not to disturb the injured shoulder. His tortured body immediately responded to the drastic cooling efforts. His fitful delirium began to calm and his breathing immediately slowed.

After a moment, Jim asked, "Hey, Anne. Did you see this?" From his vantage point, he pointed to Gary's bare right side.

Anne leaned over and was stunned to see the extent of bruising along Gary's side, bruising that appeared to go around and towards his back. She had thought only his shoulder and arm had been injured. Evidently, the impact against the support beam had injured his entire right side.

"Pneumonia?" Anne whispered to herself.

She lowered her head closer to his mouth and carefully listened to his breathing. She heard a distinct rattling stemming from his chest.

"I think he has pneumonia," she finally said aloud. "No wonder he crashed so quickly." It was all beginning to make sense.

"Oh, my God," Marissa extemporaneously uttered, shaking her head in sadness and desperation.

Marissa could not believe it. How did things turn so bad so fast? She immediately thought of the Paper. If only she could see to read it, then perhaps it could tell her something that could help her help Gary. Should she dare show the Paper to either Jim or the nurse? Or would Gary be furious with her for breaking their sacred trust ... if he could even survive this horrible ordeal that he had been unable to prevent.

And why was Gary unable to prevent the bank robbery? Why would the Paper not allow him to see it before it happened? The Paper allowed him to see other near misses involving himself, Marissa, Chuck, and his parents. What was so different this time?

Now, it was Marissa's head that was spinning.

She continued to try and cool his mouth with chips of ice. At this moment, nothing made sense, as she felt the hot, feverish breath of her dearest friend against her fingers and heard his fitful words which made absolutely no sense.

Marissa Clarke was alone to make this decision, and she needed to make it now.

~ . ~ . ~

Floating in the ethers between chills and fevered delirium, Gary returned to the life he had always wanted. Still Halloween night, the kids were fast asleep in their beds. Shannon had allowed them to eat two pieces of their favorite candies, saving the rest for the days and days to come.

Coming from the kitchen of their small, 3-bedroom flat around the corner from McGinty's, Shannon took a seat on the sofa beside her husband. She came bearing gifts: Irish red ale to go with the Reuben sandwiches she had made for dinner. Something they usually did not do, the two ate a late dinner on the coffee table. Walking in the crisp night air had made the both of them ravenous.

"These look so good," Gary smiled. "Is the red ale for Halloween?" he chided a little.

Returning the smile, Shannon nodded. "Red ... orange ... it's close. It may be a bit of a stretch."

With his mouth full, he said, "We need to put this sandwich on the menu. Yours are so much better than the ones at McGinty's."

"You're funny," Shannon laughed. "These are the same ones on McGinty's menu. I bought the Reuben sauce from Franco. You just must be hungrier than usual."

He looked over with a full mouth and smiled at his wife. "Maybe so."

Shannon was absolutely stunning. Her long, auburn hair framed her beautiful angular face that was perfectly softened by dimples. And her eyes drew him in like two, sapphire pools. She was tall and athletic, yet feminine in her curves. Gary was very much in love and still very much attracted to his wife. She was decent and kind, smart and funny. She was a good mother and a wonderful wife and lover. Shannon was everything he ever wanted in a mate, a life partner.

After their late, impromptu dinner, Gary helped Shannon clean up the kitchen before they headed off to bed. Shannon always took the children to school while Gary headed over to McGinty's to meet Marissa for their daily breakfast meeting. Only now, Gary and Marissa would talk about their day as friends and, of course, McGinty's.

Later, Shannon would join Gar and Marissa there and take care of the ordering for the bar, the bar staff's uniforms, and any other little odds and ends that would come up. Marissa and Shannon had become very good friends over the years. In addition, McGinty's had become Shannon's business, too, and she treated it as the family business.

Yes, Gary Hobson was an extremely happy man. It was as if he had finally arrived 'home.' He couldn't help but believe that this was his reward for saving all those lives in the Paper.

After the kitchen was cleaned and the dishes placed in their proper places, Shannon began to whisper sweet nothings into her husband's ear and then, passionately kissed him. Returning the kiss, Gary's body immediately responded to hers. She seductively led him to the privacy of their bedroom and began to make slow, sensual love ... almost as if it was the first very time for the both of them. Once he was at the brink and could take it no more, he took her not once, but twice ... until she collapsed in complete satisfaction. It was only then that he allowed himself to reach an all-encompassing release of his own. They held one another through the night in their sleep.

~ . ~ . ~

And Gary continued to dream.

To be continued ...