Fic: Suddenly 1/1 Eureka
Title: Suddenly. Author: Lopaka Tanu Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka. Recipient: pukajen Characters: Jack, Allison, Henry. Words: 1867 Prompt: Technology knows best. Fandom: Eureka Pairing: Jack/Allison Rating: Teen Warnings: Language, Character Death. Summary: An ordinary day leads to trouble, kinda redundant in this town. Author's Note: Apocalyptothon Challenge Response. ______________________________________
Sticking to the walls as he walked towards the Director's Office, Jack admired the carefully controlled army of personnel. There were literally hundreds of people throughout the building today, all working on the same project. It had sounded like a logistical nightmare to him when they proposed it.
Too be frank, he hadn't thought they had the maturity to pull it off.
It was hard to get kids to do something, let alone a gang of them working in cooperation. That was rugrats, these were full grown, petulant, self centered, narcissistic... He cut off that line of thinking real quick. Otherwise, he would have been there all day.
Smirking, he paused long enough to let a gaggle of grad students pass. Each one held a computer tower. They were easy to recognize because the black casing resembled the hundreds of others he had seen. They were being manufactured on site in Fargo's lab. Just in case, he had a hand on his weapon.
He shuddered. Fargo going in to mass production was a scary thought. That much crazy bottled up was dangerous. Reproducing it was down right lethal. Thank god Allison was overseeing that part of things personally.
Speaking of which, he finally came close enough to see through the front window of her office. He had to stop and look. Already late, a few more seconds wouldn't matter. This would be the only chance he would get, since the moment he entered her office she would shouting orders.
Her hair looked softer, pulled back away from her face. The highlights had faded, but that was okay. She looked better, happier, almost magnificent in her maternal beauty.
Jack frowned and cleared his throat. Where the hell had that come from? Shaking his head, he started off with more purpose in his stride. He had a job to do and no where did that include staring like a lovesick puppy.
~~~~~~~
Checking her watch, Allison groaned softly. Time was growing closer.
With a sigh, she spun to face her desk and picked up the phone. Clicking the call button, she cleared her throat. "T-minus forty-five minutes until first test activation. All non-essential personnel are to leave the building within the next thirty minutes." She released the button with a soft groan.
"Back bothering you again?"
Startled, she spun to face her office door. The sight of Jack standing there with his hands on his hips made her smile. "Actually, it's a little lower this time." Putting her phone down, she picked up the company pager. "You're late!"
"Yeah, sorry about that." He started in to her office. Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he grinned inanely at her. "There was an incident down at the cafe. Vincent's new assistant still hasn't gotten the hang of off-site, residual catering." The grin faded to a frown. "Whatever that means."
With a snort, Allison went bent over her desk. A few clicks of her keyboard brought up the plans on her screen. "I'm going to be later than I thought. Can you pick up Jenna from daycare?"
"Yeah, sure." Coming to a stop in front of her desk, he bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment. He waited until she looked up from the screen in annoyance. "Does this mean we can't drop everything and have a quick bite first?"
Straightening up, she put a hand to her lower back and groaned. She had to close her eyes for a second. "I don't have time. We go live in less than a half hour."
"All right." Sighing, he dropped his hands to his sides. "What about dinner?"
Opening her eyes, Allison looked over at him. She had to run things through her mind, but nodded. "It will be late, but we should be done by then."
He tapped his fingers on the edge of the desk as he nodded in acceptance. "Anything I can do to make missing lunch up to you?"
"Yes, one thing." Walking around the desk, she raised her arms.
Jack moved quickly in to them, his own sliding around her body. He pulled her close to him and breathed deeply. "I have missed you this past week."
Resting her cheek on his chest, she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's this damned project." She sighed with pleasure. "But it will be for only another few days. Then we will shut it down and give the techs in Level Five time to research the data."
"Then the next phase will begin and you'll be dragged away again." He held her tight to prevent her from looking up at him. "I know, I know. This is your job and I won't interfere, but that doesn't mean I can't be bitter about it sometimes." Running his hands over her back, he began to rub them in small circles.
"You and me both." Moaning, she melted further in to his embrace. "You have no idea how much I need this."
"You and me both." He snickered. Hearing the computer chime brought him back to the world around them. With it came the memory of what was going on. Groaning, he placed his forehead to her own. "I don't want to leave just yet."
"Too bad." Snickering, she reached back to grasp his hand in her own. Giving it a gentle squeeze, she pulled back. "This project is already complicated enough, Jack."
"I know." The pleasant feeling of just a moment ago was now gone. Feeling annoyed, he reached up to scrub at the back of his head. "I suppose I could go bother Henry. At least he appreciates my back rubs."
This time she burst out with a quick laugh before getting herself under control. "Yeah, you go do that."
~~~~~~~~~
Knocking on the window as he pushed the door open, Jack ducked his head in. "Hey, is anybody home?" Sunlight filtered through the many gaps and windows, filling the garage. This gave him enough light to see by. "Henry?"
"I'm back here, Jack." Henry's voice rang out from the workshop. He was visible through the open doorway.
"Oh, hey!" Stepping across the threshold, Jack smiled at the older man. "How goes it here in HenryLand?"
"Quiet." Attention focused on the cube shaped device in front of him, Henry clutched a tiny screwdriver in one hand. With a mock frown, he looked out through the doorway at Jack. "Well, it was."
That made the sheriff smile. "So, what are you working on?"
Henry returned to staring at the device. "Oh, nothing, just something I found on a shelf. I'm actually trying to keep myself busy." He cocked his head to the side with a frown. "And far, far away from that ant hill back at GD."
Chuckling, Jack headed back along the safe side of the garage to the shop. At the doorway, he took in the collection of unfinished gadgets with a shake of his head. "What is it this time, do you know?"
"Something to do with..." Henry trailed off with a quick look to Jack. He pointed at the other man with his screwdriver. "Oh, no, you don't."
With a shrug, Jack leaned against one of the workbenches. "I thought they might have suspended that policy. I mean, considering all the trouble those people have given us."
"Those people are your friends, neighbors, and, uh, I'm not sure calling Allison your 'girlfriend' is the right term. Speaking of which," Henry checked his watch. "The first test run is about to begin."
"Oh, good." Automatically, Jack sought out the nearest north-facing window. Once he found it, he searched the sky in the direction of GD. "Let's hope this one is less colorful than the last one."
"Well, yes, there is that." Checking his watch again, Henry smiled. "Countdown from ten, in...Now!"
"Ten, nine, eight." Jack took a deep breath. "Five, four, three, two, one." Crossing his fingers, he watched the sky.
"Boom!"
Jack jumped away from the window with a startled cry. A half a heartbeat later, he spun to glare at Henry.
The older man's body was shaking so hard from laughter that he had to hold on to the work bench to keep his balance. The tremors were so strong, the only sounds he made were whimpering gasps.
Raising a hand, Jack pointed a shaking finger at the other man. "You...you bastard!" His knees trembled as they fought to keep him standing. "That was not funny."
Henry could only nod in return. He waved a hand try as if to try and dispel something, but that only seemed to make him laugh more. Bending over the bench, he slapped a hand down on the surface. This caused the device in front of him to bounce.
Glaring at the scientist, Jack was the first to see it light up. It didn't register in his mind, though, as he was still busy smarting from the joke. That changed when the lights began to strobe. Focusing his attention on it, he frowned.
The device chirped twice.
"Uh, Henry?" Frowning, Jack took a step towards the work bench. "Is that supposed to do that?"
Too busy laughing, Henry didn't hear him.
"Henry!" Beams of green light firing from the cube in several directions made Jack jump back. He was steady on his feet this time. "Henry, are you sure that thing is safe," he yelled?
"Huh?" Looking up, face still twisted in laugh lines, Henry searched for Jack. Before he could find the other man, one of the beams hit him. A look of confusion came over him, then was quickly replaced. His facial muscles contorted in a rictus of pain.
"Henry!" Jack's hand automatically went for his gun. Too late, a beam struck him too. Electrical surges shot through him, causing his muscles to cramp and constrict. Tensing up, he felt his legs give way. Yet, his body did not fall.
Jack realized, with some horror, that the device now held him, floating above the ground.
"Results: Subject Identified." The voice came from no where and everywhere at once.
He tried to look around, but found his body frozen. Not even his eyelids could move.
Jack's heart would have clenched at those words if it had been able to move. He wasn't even sure how he was still conscious. His lungs hadn't expanded to breathe once since he had been caught.
The lights shifted spectrum from green to yellow.
That was when the pain started. As the light began to glow orange, Jack felt his body heating up. By the time it reached red, he was in agony. Everything but the pain was forgotten. He never noticed when the lights turned purple, then blue.
Chirping twice more, the device deactivated the beams.
Where Henry and Jack had stood were nothing but piles of ash.
The device chirped again. "System Command: Expand Search Perimeter. System Command: Begin Scan." Beams of green light shot out from the device. This time, they encompassed the area beyond the garage to the road. "Results: Negative."
Chirping, the device turned off the beams. It chirped again. "System Command: Expand Search Perimeter. System Command: Begin Scan." The green beams shot out from the device for over a mile in every direction. "Results: Subject Identified."