DISCLAIMER-I OWN NOTHING ASSOCIATED WITH EUREKA-I WOULDN'T MIND OWNING SHERIFF CARTER THOUGH-MMM…
Light My Fire
JCPOV
Today was a day of excitement. The annual viewing of the phoenix , the mythical bird that appeared around the sun during the solar eclipse. This was my second time seeing such an event. Taggart was telling the children all about the spectacular sight. I was on duty of course. Wouldn't be a regular day if I wasn't. Still I got to see Nathan and that was what mattered.
Things had been going well. We ate breakfast together every morning and Zoe was being nice. I still hadn't learned what she had whispered in his ear after our hostage situation was over. He refused to tell , saying that it was between them. I couldn't feel left out when they were so good together.
Jo was patrolling one end of the street while I loitered near Nathan. I still had dreams about the future. No one , but Henry knew the truth , that I had come back from a wonderful life with Nathan to a world where we were still apart. It was hard , trying to keep the present separate from the future that I remembered living through.
I found small similarities , things that I remembered happening. Yet others were totally different. I had discussed this with Henry. He had lived through the awkwardness once. He knew how to deal with the mind boggling paradoxes. I was struggling. I spotted Henry making his way toward me. I knew he wanted to talk about the things that I had been concerned about. He wanted me to forget the future that I had lived for ten years. I couldn't force myself to.
I had found Henry hold up in his garage , watching footage of the accident. Staring at her face like it was the second coming of Jesus. I watched Vincent serving up his five alarm chili. That man had a knack for food. He could do things that every chef around the world could never do.
"Hey Jack." Henry said in the solemn voice that he had used since Kim's death.
"Hi , Henry. How are you?" I asked. It was a stupid question , but I felt obligated to ask it.
"You know I hate trying to deal with this. I remember this so perfectly. How do I deal with it?" I complained.
"You have to learn that this timeline will be different then the one we lived. When you stopped me it caused the timeline that we lived to veer off course. Everything we know about the future will be useless." Henry said. I wasn't convinced.
"Watch this. See that man over there , he will trip over that guys hover board thing and spill his chili on that guy. How do I know that? Because I ran into him at the dry cleaners while picking up my clothes for my date with Nathan." I told him.
"Jack…some events may be the same , but the further we travel down this timeline , the more things will change." He said as we watched the Asian guy trip just like I said.
"I don't want things to change though. I like the fact that Nathan and I get married. I wish that we could have that life again , but we can't unless we want to destroy the world." I told him. I was beginning to understand the complexities that Henry faced.
"Time for the show everyone!" Taggart announced.
We all walked to the middle of the street. There were special glasses that enabled us to look directly at the sun without damage. I stared at the sun knowing that just like the last time I wouldn't be able to see the phantom bird.
"I still can't see the damn thing." I said. Henry glared at me.
"You need to be more careful. Anyone can hear you." He said.
"Oh my god!" A scream caught our attention. I turned toward the sound.
There was a burned body laying in the street. It was completely unrecognizable. I looked at Henry. This was so beyond disturbing.
"Okay. Was he near an open flame? Cigarette? Anything that could have caught him on fire?" I questioned anyone near him.
"No. He just had a few bowls of chili and watched the show like everyone else." Vincent said. No way. It couldn't have been.
"Vincent what's in your chili? Anything that could be considered flammable?" I asked. I really didn't want to believe that chili could cause such destruction.
"No. Nothing. All my spices are natural." He said.
"I'm going to need a sample anyway." I said.
"Fine. Take all you want." He huffed and walked off.
"There is another option." Jo said. I looked at her.
"What?" I asked.
"Well…" She said , pointing toward Taggart. Oh , that was so far off the grid.
"Taggart's freaky bird? That's just crazy." I said.
"A man burst into flames and you think that this is crazy?" Jo said sarcastically.
"Fine. Go talk to him. Henry can you test the chili?" I asked. Jo looked uncomfortable.
"What? It was your idea." I told her. She squirmed even more.
"Well , you never let me investigate on my own before." She said.
"You've done this a million times before." I said without thinking. Henry coughed pointedly.
"I mean. I think it's time you started." I said. She looked at me then walked off.
"I'm going to take the body back to GD. I'll let you know what I find on it and the chili." He said.
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I was going through ideas with Jo. She had filled me in on the information that Taggart had given her. The man was off his rocker. I was trying to find any reason for this freaky thing. The phone rang. Jo answered.
"Hello…okay…we'll be right there…That wasTaggart. He has something to show us." She said.
"Fine , but it better not be about that bird thing." I told her.
We pulled up to Taggart's and he was smiling like a mad man. This couldn't be good. I walked up to him. That smile scared me.
"I have found the reason for your burning man." Taggart announced proudly.
"Okay. What do you have?" I asked.
He pulled out a bucket and tipped it upside down on the ground. The nastiest looking crap came out of it. It actually looked like pieces of flesh covered in goo. I looked at Jo. She was studying the pile with the same disgusted look I was.
"Is that human?" I stammered out. The thought turned my stomach.
"Of course , It's skin grafts from the bio-chem burn unit. Watch." He said casually.
He picked up a gun. I was confused now. Why would shooting skin pieces prove how a man had burst into flames? He noticed the look of confusion on my face.
"Unidirectional meson particle emitter." He said , cocking the gun and aiming at the pile. He pulled the trigger and a beam shot into the flesh.
"Now the phoenix rises." He said. I stared at the pile. It was still the same nasty looking thing as before. I was about to mention this fact when it exploded suddenly.
Taggart looked proud. He was staring lovingly at the reaction he had just caused. I was pissed. Not that he had come up with this idea. No. It was because I had pieces of flesh hanging from my face. I was covered in the gooey crap. I looked at Jo. She was no better. We glared at Taggart. He finally seemed to notice what he had done.
"I hate you." I stated coolly.
"Your welcome. Mystery solved." He said cheerfully.
"Except why did it only happen to him?" I asked. His smile slipped.
"Interesting point." He said. Still that smile stayed on his face. I think he enjoyed the things he did a little too much.
"I'm going to go shower." I said. Jo nodded in agreement.
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I was trying to scrub every bit of human off my skin that didn't belong to me. The crap had dried on the ride home. I really hated Taggart. Zoe wasn't helping matters. She wanted to go to this concert and I was taking to long for her liking. She kept yelling at me through the door. Finally I was clean enough and got out.
"Dr. Stark is calling sheriff." Sarah announced.
"Great. Put him through." I told her. This set off Zoe again. That girl needed to learn patience.
"Can you hear me?" I asked as I dried off. All I got in response was a sputtering noise. I looked around. Sarah had put him on video phone. He was able to see every inch of my naked body.
"Oh sorry…Sarah No video phone in the bathroom!" I chastised her as I pulled on some pants.
"So anything new on the dead guy?" Nathan asked , still unsettled.
"Well , Henry's testing the chili and Taggart thinks that the eclipse caused him to burst into flames." I told him.
"That's impossible." He said , more composed now that I was fully dressed.
"He had impressive visuals though." I replied.
"I went through the phone records. Seems he was taking a lot of calls from a section five chemist." Nathan said.
I heard Zoe's impatient sigh. That was enough. I opened the door and dropped the car keys into her hand. She looked at me in shock. I stare at her for a minute before I gave her the rules.
"I want you home by eleven. If you're a minute late you're sleeping in a jail cell. Go it?" I said.
"Jack…" Nathan said behind me. I turned back to him.
"I'm not going to make her sleep in a cell." I whispered to him. He frowned at me.
"She'll end up there if you let her drive. She's only fifteen remember?" He said. Oh , right. Not that far ahead yet. Damn time lines.
"I knew that. I was just testing her. You failed." I said turning back to her.
"Jack there are a bunch of calls to a chemist in section five. Why would they be talking?" He asked himself.
"On it." I said.
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Jo and I pulled up to the chemists house. Dr. Matthew. It was a seriously nice house. The guy must get major money. I would love a house like this. Too bad mine would have a break down.
"Carter , do you smell smoke?" Jo asked. I sniffed the air. It did smell like charred something.
We opened the door. The smell grew stronger. I walked in cautiously. I entered the living room. There was a chair by the French doors. It had a burn mark. Human shaped. This wasn't good. I looked out the open doors. There was steam rising from the gigantic pool out back.
"That's not good." I said as we looked at the charred body floating in the pool. I needed to talk to Nathan.
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"Hey , we just found the chemist fried in his pool. There has to be a connection between these accidents. Have you found anything?" I asked.
"Well , I collected a database of employees who had contact with the first victim. Here , look." He said showing me a list of people with their pictures beside their names.
"Wait , I know that guy. That's the guy that the first guy spilled his chili on." I said.
"Well , we have to find him. He may know something." Nathan said. He picked up the phone.
"I've seen him somewhere before." I muttered to myself.
"What…when?...Thank you." He said into the phone.
"He left for the day. With a fever." He said. Great.
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"Jo be on the look out for a black SUV." I said into the radio.
"Why? What did the guy do?" She asked.
"It's more what may have been done to him." I said.
"Where are we going?" Nathan asked.
"To the guy's house. Wait , no. To the dry cleaners." I said remembering that I had run into him there.
"Why?" He asked.
"I ran into him the day of our first…never mind. Just trust me." I said as we jumped in the jeep.
I pulled up to the dry cleaners and jumped out. I ran towards the doors. I knew this guy would be here. He had to be. I was almost at the door when the sound of screeching tires caught my attention. There he was , walking across the street. He didn't look good.
"Call Henry. Get a fire extinguisher too." I said as I helped him to the sidewalk. His skin was beyond hot. It burned my hands.
"Nathan , hurry." I yelled as he started to shake. I watched in horror as he burst into flames before my eyes.
"Over here!" I yelled to him. Nathan handed me the extinguisher. I sprayed him down , but it was too late. He was gone.
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I was sitting on my desk. I hated this feeling. I hadn't been able to save him. I couldn't even figure out why he died. I was hating myself at the moment. Nathan had returned to GD. I was thinking over everything. It was killing me that I couldn't remember where I had seen the guy before.
"That's it!" I yelled. Jo jumped.
"What?" She asked.
"I know where I saw him before." I said excitedly. I was out the door before she could say anything.
I walked in Henry's garage. He was working on something , but covered it before I could see it.
"Henry. I need to see the tape of the accident. From the beginning. Before it happened." I told him. He looked confused.
"Okay. What does this have to do with what's happening though?" He asked. I waited for the tape to get to the right spot.
"There. Pause it." I said. He did.
"What? I don't understand , Jack." He said.
"There." I said pointing to the man who was setting the chemicals up for the experiment.
"That's victim number two." He said , sounding amazed.
"I think you knew that before." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"What are you saying Jack?" He asked calmly.
"Everyone who helped set up the experiment could be held responsible for Kim's death." I told him.
"Are you implying that I am killing these people?" He asked.
"You would do anything for her. Is it so hard to think that you wouldn't avenge her too?" I said.
"Well , I never thought you would come to this conclusion , but you're wrong. I found a chemical in the last victims blood stream. It causes the brain to overheat and the body pays the price. Bursting into flames." He said. Well , I wasn't expecting that.
"I'm sorry. I just thought that…" I started , but he cut me off.
"Don't worry about it. What you need to worry about is this." He said and fast forwarded the tape. I watched as Nathan walked in the room. He talked to Kim briefly and left.
"You don't think that he's next do you?" I asked , horrified at the thought.
"Yes , it's obvious that anyone in that room was exposed to these chemicals. This must be why the explosion happened." Henry said.
" We need to find him." I said.
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NPOV
I was sure that something had been bothering Jack lately. I meant to ask about it , but this whole flaming people thing got in the way. We knew that the victims were connected. I just wish we knew how. I had been thinking about Jack a lot lately. I wanted to do something.
I felt like we had been moving along nicely after the psycho house experience. Now it felt like we had come to a stand still. I had been thinking of a way to get us back on track for days now. I had the perfect idea. A date. A nice normal date. I was planning to ask him after this ordeal was over.
It wasn't till after I left Jack to deal with the latest victim that I noticed that something was wrong. I was sweating. I had attributed it to the fact that I was feet from a burning man , but I wasn't convinced anymore. It felt like I was on fire. That it was burning in my head. I tried to walk into the hallway for help , but made it no further than the other side of the desk. I prayed someone would come find me.
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JCPOV
I ran to Nathan's office. It was like I could feel him right next to me. I had been so caught up in memories of the future that I had neglected the man in the present. I vowed to make up for it. To try my hardest to forget about the future that no longer existed. As long as I made it in time.
Henry and I burst into Nathan's office and I saw him laying on the floor. He looked like hell. He was sweating and I knew time was running out. I couldn't lose him. Not after everything that we had gone through to get to this point. Henry had him taken to the cryogenics lab. Anything to stop it.
"How do we stop it?" I begged him.
"I don't know. The chemical can't be removed. It's too late for that. His brain is frying and I can't figure out a way to prevent it." He said solemnly.
"What about short circuiting it. Like tripping a breaker. Would that reset his brain enough to stop the process?" I asked.
"It might work. We'll have to shock him though." He said. Anything was better than watching him die.
"Don't worry Nathan. Henry will fix it." I said. He looked at me. That look was breaking my heart. It was a look of acceptance.
Henry hit the button and Nathan arched from the shock. He was still for what seemed like an eternity. I was holding my breath. My lungs burned , but I refused to breath until he did. I saw his chest rise and I let out the air that I had held in. He looked up at me and smiled.
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Nathan had been moved to the infirmary. He was back to his usual self. He had surprised me when he asked me on a date. That wasn't how it happened last time. I had asked him. That had made me remember my promise to forget the future. I left Nathan sleeping and went to Henry's.
"I hear Nathan's doing better." He said as I walked to his side.
"Yeah. He even asked me on a date." I told him.
"Well , there's hope after all then." He said with a chuckle.
"I don't know if I can do it anymore. Living with the memories is to hard. I just wish I could forget that I gave it all up. Then I wouldn't be feeling so bad. I wouldn't have forgotten about the Nathan here." I told him. He looked at me and sighed.
"I think I can make that a reality." He said holding up a device.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's a modified version of the memory device I created years ago. Only this one works on long term memory and can target specific events. Like alternate time lines for instance." He said.
"You want to erase the future?" I asked.
"Both of us can have the piece of mind. I understand why you had to stop me , but I can't stop myself from blaming you for her death. You're my best friend and I don't want to feel that way toward you." He said. I could accept the need to blame me.
"Who would go first?" I asked.
"I'll make it easy on you." He said.
I found myself standing in front of Henry. What was I doing here? I couldn't remember coming here. I looked at him. He looked concerned. Well , I was too. I had no idea what I was doing here.
"What am I doing here?" I asked.
"You came to tell me about Nathan. You should get back to him." He said.
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Nathan and I ate dinner at Café Diem. It was a wonderful experience. We talked about each other's pasts. He told me about his childhood and I returned the favor. I learned more about him and that was perfect for me. We saw a movie and I was surprised at Nathan's taste in movies.
We finished the night with a walk in the park. The way he looked in the moonlight made me weak in the knees. After the night was over he took me home and walked me to the door. We shared a kiss goodnight and it was the end to a perfect evening. I was completely and totally in love with Nathan Stark. It was a wonderful life.
WELL THIS WAS A HARD ONE TO WRITE…THE FACT THAT I HAVE CUT OUT THE ARTIFACT PART OF THE STORY MAKES THIS ONE DIFFICULT….I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN AT LEAST ONCE….I PLAN TO HAVE A HARDER TIME ONCE I REACH THE POINT WHERE NATHAN DIES SINCE I WON'T HAVE HIM DIE…I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE PAST THAT POINT , BUT I MAY HAVE TO END IT THERE…WE'LL SEE…HIT THE BUTTON AND SHOW ME LOVE….