Chapter 2 --- TREASON

"Jake?" Lou said when his eyes opened.

"Diane?"

"She's in surgery and doing surprisingly well. We'll bring her here soon. First we need to talk. You are in the nanotechnology labs. When your ID was broadcast over the EMT's radio we had your and Diane's ambulances rerouted here. A bullet from a random drive-by shooting passed through your body and into Diane. The punks later tried to shoot it out with police, they forgot to reload – there were no survivors."

"Saves me the trouble."

"I understand. Now, lets get down to business." Lou's no-nonsense tone got Jakes attention. "About this morning, when were you going to tell me?"

"It's personal."

"There's nothing personal about treason."

"How is Diane not being pregnant treason?"

"Explain how Diane has nanites in her system?"

"She doesn't…"

"It's true, I saw the test results myself. Diane has a trace amount of nanites. The fact that she's alive after a bullet nicked her left ventricle gave us reason to check."

"Lou the bucket must have…"

"Not possible, the nanites are bonded to your nerves. A bullet wouldn't have been capable of carrying nanites from one body to another."

"Is Fran here?"

"She's running tests in the next lab."

"Could we talk to her for a minute?"

"Ok Jake." Lou went to the door, "Fran, could you come in here?" She ordered.

Entering quickly Fran smiles when she sees that he is awake, "Hi Jake, how's the wound?"

"It'll be fine. I have a few questions about Diane."

"Anything, how can I help? I don't believe she would steal nanites," she said earnestly.

"As I understand it, when I'm injured some nanites release from my nerves and rush to the injured area to assist in healing."

"That's correct."

"The bullet couldn't have carried a nanite sample into Diane?"

"It couldn't, maybe if the bullet had flattened on impact. But then Diane's heart would have been ripped out. You're not in ICU because the bullet retained it integrity."

"When the shooting started I used my body to shield Diane." Jake pulls his pillow to his chest. "If our wounds were in contact when the healing order was sent, could some of the nanites have traveled into her?"

"No… well…" Fran looks at Lou, "It might be possible."

"Can you prove it?"

Fran accessed Diane's medical files from the terminal beside Jake's bed. "According to her blood work from two months ago she was nanite free. I'd need a newer sample."

"So there's no way…" Lou began.

"How about this morning?" Jake interrupted.

"What do you mean Jake?"

"This morning Diane was upset. She had bought a pregnancy test and we were going to… It was going to be a surprise for me… She hadn't had her period; she thought she was pregnant… She had it this morning, there should be blood somewhere in the house."

"Fran, get a kit, we'll leave immediately. Jake where should we look?"

"I'm not sure. I was asleep, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't wearing anything but my Georgetown sweatshirt. She wasn't expecting it; I'd start with our bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, her desk, the sofa..."

"I get the picture. Rest Jake, we'll find the sample and be back soon."

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

A/N: It's going to be about three weeks before I post the next chapter. I couldn't leave with Diane possibly dead – I'm way to big a shipper for that. The Jake/Diane relationship is about to change and we find out… well that would be telling wouldn't it ?

Till later.

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