Scene 12

Andy had found Taggart, sound asleep on top of a sleeping bag, his phone only a few feet away with the ringer set to vibrate. Carter was waiting impatiently by the door of GD for them to arrive, when Zoe burst through the door.

"Dad," she said urgently. "I heard what happened to Kevin. Is he okay?"

"Oh, great," said Carter. That was not news that he'd wanted widely disseminated. A story about werewolves would spread through Eureka like wildfire. "How did you hear?"

"Vincent, of course."

"Did he know about Zane, too?"

"Zane?" Zoe asked, shocked.

"I guess that answers that," Carter said wryly. "They're in the animal labs down the hall from the infirmary, and Alison could probably use your company. Go."

Zoe nodded, eyes wide, and headed into GD.

Carter paced, looking worried. But it was only a few minutes later that Andy and Taggart finally arrived.

"Thank God you're here," Carter turning and falling into step beside them. "Just tell me this, do you know what's happened, and did you do it?"

Taggart grimaced, "The moment Jo mentioned werewolves at dinner last night, I knew there was trouble. So yes, and yes, although not intentionally. If I'd had any idea that this could happen, I would have stayed in Alaska. Fewer people there. A lot less chance that the wolf would accidentally stumble upon one who was injured."

"The wolf?" asked Carter, as they quickly walked toward the labs. "Aren't you the wolf?"

"Sort of," Taggart shrugged. "The wolf's instincts are very strong and they're tough to resist. I can still think like a human—I knew that Kevin was injured, and that he shouldn't move until his neck and back were checked out—but a wolf's instinct is to lick an injury. Of course, I didn't expect that the virus would be so contagious, either. It shouldn't be." He shook his head. "I don't know what went wrong."

"So it's a virus?" asked Carter, grabbing onto the most important piece of information. "How do we cure it?"

Just then, they arrived at the lab. Andy followed them in. Zoe was standing silently in front of the glass wall separating the lab from the enclosures, while Alison, Henry, Fargo and Dr. Glenn were clustered around a computer monitor, arguing over something on the screen.

"It's not that easy," said Taggart, looking through the glass.

"Well, it must be," said Carter. "You're not a wolf anymore. Can't you just change Kevin and Zane back the way you changed back?"

"No, that won't work," Taggart said absently. "So, uh, when did that happen?" he asked.

Carter glanced where he was looking. Uh-oh. "When did Zane turn into a wolf, you mean?" asked Carter, hoping that was the question.

"Not that," Taggart shook his head. "That," he said pointedly.

There was no need to explain what "that" was—on the other side of the glass, Jo was sitting on the floor, legs stretched out in front of her, leaning back against the wall. Her eyes were closed and she looked exhausted. The black wolf had collapsed onto his side next to her, head resting on her leg as she stroked him, curling her fingers into the thick fur. The intimacy was unmistakable. It wasn't a scene of a woman sitting next to a strange dog; it was love made manifest.

"I was just asking myself the same question," Zoe glared at Carter.

Carter looked away, a pained expression on his face. "I tried to tell you."

"Not well enough," snapped Zoe. But then she frowned, "You did mention Jo when I first told you I was interested in Zane. And then I told you they hated each other. I guess maybe not so much, huh?" She glanced back, a little sadly, at the scene in the other room.

"Oh, I think they have moments when they hate each other." Carter looked through the glass. "And then, yeah, not so much."

Taggart sighed, "I knew this morning," he said, slightly mournfully.

"Did you see them at Café Diem?" Zoe asked. "I saw them coming out. Jo had Zane's helmet and they were laughing. I thought then…"

"Nah, I saw them up in the woods. I'm afraid I might have done this to Zane then, although inadvertently. I was trying to get their attention. I'd spent hours trying to get Kevin close enough to Jo so that she could tranquilize him and get him home safely. I am so truly sorry about this whole thing."

"It's okay, as long as you can fix it," said Carter.

Taggart sighed. "That's, I'm sorry, the bad news."

"What do you mean?" asked Alison. She'd turned away from the computer monitor, and at her words, so did the other scientists.

"I developed a cure before I tested the virus," Taggart said. "I brought a sample with me. I added it to food, so once I eat the food, I change back into myself." He passed a plastic bag of what looked like kibble over to Henry.

"Great, then we can just give the food to Kevin and Zane," said Carter.

Taggart was shaking his head. "I based it on my DNA. The antiviral restores the DNA; it returns me to myself, but it won't work on someone else."

"Weird," said Fargo, fascinated. "Would it turn Kevin and Zane into clones of you?"

"I doubt it." Taggart looked sadly at Alison. "I think it will just kill them."

"Oh." Fargo lost his enthusiasm. "That would be bad."

"But if you made the virus once, we can make another version—well, two versions—using Kevin and Zane's DNA. We've got their DNA in the GD database." Henry saw a possible solution.

Taggart closed his eyes, as if in pain. "We could, yes," he said. "But we won't have time."

"What does that mean?" Carter asked.

"I couldn't be sure that the wolf would eat the food, so I built a cure into the virus. It works like a time limit. When the virus reaches a certain level, it reverts the DNA. To my DNA."

"But that will kill Kevin!" It was a cry of pain that burst from Alison's mouth. She held her hand over her mouth as if to stop other words from escaping.

"What's the time limit?" Carter was the one to ask.

"It'll vary depending on metabolism and the progression of the virus. Basically, you could think of this as an illness and it's a matter of how sick one gets and how severely. The speed of the process won't be the same in every case. "

"Taggart," Alison said firmly, regaining control of herself. "Specifics. How much time are we talking about?"

Taggart looked miserable. "When did Kevin change?" he asked.

"Around 8 last night," Carter answered.

"So it took him about twelve hours," said Taggart. "He has until about 8 tomorrow morning." It was as if the words were dragged out of him, and he couldn't look at Alison.

"What a minute," said Zoe. "You said Zane was exposed this morning. How long does he have?"

"Do you know when he changed?" Taggart asked. His eyes were on the ground. He couldn't look at any of them.

"I think we found him at around 10:30," Dr. Glenn answered.

"Then he has, at most, until about 8 tonight."

As if drawn by magnets, all eyes looked toward the glass wall. Whether Jo had seen through the glass that Taggart had arrived or had just decided for some reason of her own that enough was enough, she was trying to leave and Zane was stubbornly not letting her. She was standing, hands on her hips, arguing with him, while he blocked the door. While they watched, he lay down directly in front of the door, still fully blocking it. When she continued to scold him, he rolled over, again still blocking the door, but with his belly and neck exposed to her. With a sigh of exasperation, she sat down cross-legged on the ground next to him. The words "you are so damn annoying" were faint, but said loudly enough to penetrate the glass.

"Oh, lord," said Taggart. "This is going to break her heart," and the tears began to stream down his face.

A/N: Okay, I know I kind of suck at writing Taggart—his voice is really hard! But he does cry pretty easily, so please at least forgive the last part. It's not just melodramatic, he really would cry.