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Jack had heard the old saying about being careful what you wish for as it may come true, and never in the way you hoped. On this occasion he was sitting through another one of those dull quarterly meetings where representatives of the town discussed all matters arising from having Global Dynamics on their door step. It included the joint heads of Global, all the Global section heads, the head of Global security and the town's Sheriff, as well as a cross-section of the town's businesses, all meeting in the large auditorium at Global that was used for presentations.
As Mickleson, head of Section Four, droned on about plant cultivation on the outskirts of the town and the use of genetically enhanced... something or other, Jack felt his mind going numb with boredom and he silently wished for anything that would end the mental torture. He couldn't even spend the time covertly studying Stark as the man kept throwing glances his way. Their eyes had already met once, and even though Jack had been trained to deal with such circumstances on an undercover operation in the U.S. Marshals, his thoughts had hardly been focused on the job at hand at the time. Instead, he'd been imagining Nathan Stark naked.
Nathan. Stark. Naked. I'm doomed, he thought when he realized how well those three words went together.
When Stark raised his eyebrows questioningly again, revealing a slightly shocked expression, Jack had a terrible feeling that all his lurid thoughts of Stark naked were visible on his face. He felt the heat rise into his cheeks and ducked his head in embarrassment. Worse, the bastard had simply smirked at him before turning his attention back to the meeting, while Allison glared and Henry looked perplexed.
Jack settled back into trying to focus on the meeting too. He wasn't aware of his knee jumping until Jo leaned across and dug her fingers into the pressure points, forcing him to bite down a cry of pain. The jerky motion pulled several more heads in his direction, mostly out of curiosity. Mickleson glared at the interruption while Stark looked as if he was barely restraining himself from smirking... again.
Jack sent a mild glare towards Jo, gaining an evil smile from her in response. She was so mean.
When the warning alarms sounded, Jack jumped to his feet and let out an, "Oh thank God!"
Shocked when he realized he had said that out loud, he ducked his head to hide his embarrassment as Jo sniggered and Mickleson gave him a disgusted look. He expected Stark to be openly grinning at Jack for making a fool of himself again but, instead, he was on his feet with his cell phone pressed to his ear and his long strides heading for the open door. Just before he reached them, the amber flashing of the visible alarm went to red and the door slammed shut, sealing them all in as the siren's tone went up in urgency.
By now Jack was most of the way across the auditorium and he pulled up next to Stark.
"What is it?"
"Code Red."
Jack rolled his eyes and indicated towards the red strobing lights. "Yeah, I got that. What is it?"
Stark flashed him a scowl. "It's the biohazard warning but it seems to be localized to..." His voice trailed off as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the phone. When he glanced slowly back, Jack knew it was bad.
"Localized to where?"
"Here. It's localized to here." His eyes began to scan the crowd of scientists and Eurekan townspeople. "Someone has released a bio-engineered virus into this room. The bio-filters picked it up and issued a lock-down of this area."
"How bad?"
Stark shook his head. "It could be anything from a common cold to a lethal pathogen. We won't know until Doctors Gaddis and Variolis in Section 4 have identified it."
"So what do we do in the meantime?"
"We initiate isolation protocols." Stark took a deep breath. "Your attention everyone. A biohazard has been detected in this auditorium." He had to pause as everyone began to talk in a panic at once, eventually shouting over the top of them. "I want everyone to follow isolation protocols immediately."
Jack noticed that even before he gave the last order, most people were moving away from others either alone or in small, huddled groups depending upon where they were seated and who they were with when the alarm sounded. As Allison began to field some of the medical questions, Jack made a move to join Henry and Allison but Stark caught his arm.
"No, Carter. Depending on the source of the contamination, they may already be infected." His voice rose and hardened as Jack began to shrug off his hand. "Or you might already be infected and pass it on to them."
Jack glared at Stark for a moment but was forced to relent. He hated it when Stark was right, and as much as he wanted to go join his friends, he knew he couldn't take the risk, for their sake.
"Guess you're stuck with me," Stark stated brightly but Jack could tell from the look in his eyes that he was worried.
With nothing to do but wait, Stark sank to the floor, leaning back against the wall of the auditorium. After a few minutes of impatient pacing, Jack gave up and joined him, leaving at least two feet between them. Stark smirked.
"So what were you thinking that got you so flustered earlier, Carter?"
The reminder brought back the thoughts that Jack had suppressed and he felt his face heat again as his body reacted to those lurid images of Stark shirtless... and pants-less. It didn't help matters that Stark was within touching distance, looking straight into his eyes.
"Really?" Stark stated brightly, as if Jack had answered his question, and when Jack gave him a confused look, his green eyes dropped to Jack's groin where all the evidence he needed was perking up. "Why am I not surprised?" Stark's expression tightened. "Though I'd have thought you would have given up panting after Allison by now, especially after she shot us both down."
Jack bristled in annoyance. "Who says I was thinking of Allison?"
Stark's smirk twisted as that analytical mind started... analyzing. "So not Allison. It can't be Henry, which only leaves..." Both of Stark's eyebrows rose as Jack felt a sinking feeling that drained the heat from his face. "Me?"
Jack looked away. "Don't flatter yourself, Stark."
"And yet I am... flattered."
Any retort or denial was forgotten as the seal on the main auditorium door broke and the door opened. Both he and Stark stood up. Beyond the door, Jack could see a corridor made up of the same transparent plastic that was used in the decontamination showers, with an airlock at the far end. Two figures in bright orange medical hazmat suits approached Stark.
"Doctor Variolis, have you identified the biohazard?"
"Yes, it's a variant of the original 1918 H1N1 influenza virus that was being studied under the strictest protocols in section 4."
"Spanish Flu?" Jack interrupted. "How did it get in here? Are we talking a deliberate act of terrorism or an accident?"
Doctor Variolis looked strained. "We've discovered a viable sample missing from the laboratory. It had been replaced with an inert sample."
"So it wasn't an accident. Which isn't all that surprising, what with all of Global's top players in one controlled space at the same time," Jack glanced at Stark.
"Don't count yourself or Henry out as unimportant, Sheriff." Stark turned to Variolis, leaving Jack feeling a little taken aback as Stark had never acknowledged Jack's importance to anyone before. "What can we expect?"
"This is a particularly virulent and fast-acting strain that triggers a cytokine storm-."
"A... what?"
Stark turned back to Jack, surprisingly patient with him for a change. "It makes the body's own defenses overreact. Stronger the immune system, the more deadly the virus if caught."
"So just like Spanish Flu, it'll be worse for healthy people between 20 and 65." Jack asked, and Stark looked slightly impressed. "Hey, I read sometimes."
"To be a little more accurate," replied Variolis, "The majority of deaths during the Spanish Flu fell between 20 and 40 years of age. This strain is specifically set to target that age group." He wobbled his hand. "Give or take a few years either side."
Jack glanced around the auditorium. "Over three quarters of the people in this room fall into that category."
"Including you," Stark added, and Jack turned back to find Stark looking at him fearfully.
"And you too," Jack replied softly.
***
Over the next two hours Jack noticed a growing ache in his limbs that he tried to put down to sitting on the floor with his back pressed to the wall. He could have grabbed one of the chairs but he was sure they were made uncomfortable deliberately to discourage long meetings. He felt a shiver ripple through him, and he coughed to clear his lungs.
"You okay, Carter?"
Jack looked into Stark's concerned green eyes and smiled. "I'm fine. It's just getting a little stuffy in here."
He batted away the hand that momentarily rested against his forehead.
"You have a fever." Stark pushed to his feet and called out. "Doctor Variolis."
Variolis came over immediately and Jack winced as the doctor took his temperature using one of those ear thermometers before taking yet another blood sample from him. His mild glare at Stark left no impression at all on the other man. Variolis smiled down at him before indicating that he wanted to speak to Stark in private, but the reassurance didn't meet the man's kind eyes. Jack couldn't overhear what was being said but the worried glance from Stark told its own story; he had caught this flu bug.
Stark nodded in agreement with something Variolis said, and Jack watched the hazmat-clad doctor walk away while Stark dropped back down beside him.
"I've got it, haven't I?"
Stark sighed. "Yes." He glanced towards the door before looking back at him. "Jack, you're not the only one showing symptoms. Variolis is arranging for some cots to be brought in so we can get you off the cold floor and make you more comfortable."
"How many others?"
"Seventeen out of the twenty-eight people here."
"You?"
"No... but I may be immune as I had a mild case of an H1N1 flu when I was in Hong Kong a few years back with Allison. We both did.."
Jack coughed again; he shivered and wrapped his arms around himself, flicking an annoyed glance at Stark when he shifted closer.
"You should move away from me, just in case."
"Not happening, Jack."
Jack wanted to resist when Stark drew him close, wrapping an arm around his back, but he was feeling weaker by the minute. Instead, after a token protest, he wrapped his arms around Stark, dropped his heavy head onto Stark's chest and closed his eyes, concentrating on the strong beat of heart lying beneath him. He awoke with a start when someone caught him gently under the arms and legs and began to lift him away but, moments later, he was lying on a comfortable cot, too tired to care that someone was tugging off his boots and socks.
"Stark?"
"Under the circumstances, maybe you should call me Nathan," he teased as he began to unbutton Jack's uniform.
Jack reached down to his gun belt, surprised and a little panicked to discover it was already gone as he hadn't registered anyone removing it. Nathan caught his hand, "Lupo has your gun."
"Jo's fine?"
"Yes. According to the research, anyone who was going to get it would be showing symptoms before now."
"I need to speak to Jo about..." A coughing fit overtook him and he struggled to get it under control. "I need Jo. I have an idea-."
"Let's just get you comfortable first, Jack. Then I'll bring Lupo over to see you."
Nathan threaded Jack's arms through the infirmary gown, preserving a little of Jack's dignity before he started stripping Jack out of his pants and boxers. Jack had seen Nathan handling some of the medical stuff before but he wondered now if one of those many PhDs was for medicine as he seemed as confident as Allison in setting up a drip, with the needle sliding into the vein without what Jack called the Fargo pincushion effect.
"Are you a real doctor too?"
Nathan laughed. "If by that you mean, am I a medical doctor? Then yes. I needed it for my research into Cryogenics as well as Artificial Intelligence. Interned at OHSU in Portland," he added proudly.
"Bet you were a regular Doogie Howser," Jack quipped, and was rewarded with a bright smile from Nathan.
True to Nathan's word, Jo came over a few minutes later.
"Hey, Jack." She smiled but he could see the concern and tiredness in her eyes.
"Donovan?"
Her smile faded. "He's sick too."
"Gaddis."
She looked confused. "Doctor Gaddis isn't here, Jack. No one's seen him."
"No. Gaddis wanted Mickleson's job. Plenty broke up about it when I answered a domestic two weeks back." He stopped to cough. "Mrs. Gaddis said something about him loving his job and his microbes more than her."
Jo laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently this time in contrast to her previous grip on his knee; her voice was softer when she spoke. "I'll look into it. You get some rest now."
Jack watched Jo move away, frowning for a moment before realization set in. "Oh god! This is bad, isn't it?" He looked into Nathan's worried eyes. "You're both being nice to the dying man!"
"A little melodramatic." Despite the laconic tone in Nathan's voice, the usual eye roll and smirk were missing, replaced by a tightness around his eyes and, suddenly, it seemed important to tell Nathan the truth while he still could.
"It was you," he blurted out. "That I was thinking about... like that. Only you."
"Jack." Nathan said his name soft and low as his cool hand brushed over Jack's fever-hot cheek.
The rest was snatches, broken only by the occasional swipe of a cool, damp cloth over his face and chest. Whenever he felt lucid enough, he found reassuring faces hovering over him. Allison, Henry... Nathan mostly. Finally, the darkness seemed more alluring, and he slipped into its welcoming comfort.
****
Nathan swiped the damp cloth over Jack's face before taking his temperature again. He sighed. If it rose any higher then he'd discuss other cooling techniques with Allison and Variolis. The majority of the others infected were already improving without further medical intervention. Many of them were weak but already sitting up and enjoying a simple broth provided by Vince, who was so glad that he'd not had time to attend this meeting for once.
The medical staff had moved all of those recovering to the other side of the auditorium, leaving just the four beds on this side. The fact that one of those four was Mickleson gave greater credence to Jack's theory that Gaddis may have been involved. As if thinking of him triggered a reaction, the alarm from the monitors over Mickleson's bed went off and Nathan watched tensely as Variolis and several others reacted. The activity seemed chaotic but Nathan could see the order within that chaos as each member of the medical team completed their assigned tasks. The shrill continued and Nathan found himself holding his breath; he forced himself to release it and take another deep, shaky breath. When the alarm went silent, Nathan knew from the defeated slump in Variolis's shoulders that it wasn't good news. Variolis looked to the atomic clock on the far wall.
"Time of death 18:21."
Nathan looked across the remaining three beds and met Jo Lupo's eyes as she froze in place with a damp cloth hovering over Donovan's bare chest. He wished he could offer her some comfort, but he couldn't even find any within himself having long abandoned any pretense that Jack was nothing to him but a thorn in his side. Instead he wished... Nathan closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to focus back on Jack's fevered face. Wishes were for fools and dreamers. The waiting was killing both him and Lupo, unable to take an active role in investigating Gaddis in the hope that, if it was him, that he'd developed a vaccine before unleashing this upon them. Yet even if he had then it might only benefit those outside of these four walls who had yet to contract the disease. It was likely already too late to save Jack, Donovan or Myra Davis.
Henry laid a hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Let me take over while you get some rest."
"No. I need to stay-."
"Nathan." His hand reached down and stilled Nathan's, drawing the damp cloth from his fingers. "When he wakes up, just tell him how you feel."
Nathan's eyes drifted to where they were gently placing Mickleson's body into a hermetically sealed biohazard container. "And if he doesn't make it?"
"You have to have a little faith, my friend."
Nathan looked back at Henry. "Easier said than done."
Forty minutes later the alarms sounded again, and this time it was for Jack. Despite his medical credentials, Henry held Nathan back until he had calmed sufficiently to act like a doctor first and foremost. Eventually Nathan shook off Henry's hand and moved in, instinctively knowing where his place was among the other medical staff as memories from his internship at OHSU came rushing back. He had left that part of his life behind as he concentrated on his research instead. Medicine had only ever been a stepping stone to increase his knowledge, and give him insight into chaotic systems and the beauty of the math behind it.
He slumped in relief when, minutes later, the monitor tone and pitch turned back to a familiar heartbeat pattern, although the numbers were not good.
They'd almost lost him. He had almost lost Jack.
When his cell phone trilled some minutes later, he was reluctant to drop the lax hand he was holding in favor of answering the call, but a glance up at Lupo showed her staring at him intently; she nodded at him to answer.
"Yes."
His eyes cut to Lupo once he became aware that she wasn't the only one patched into the call. It was Lupo's security deputy, and they had gained a confession from Gaddis. Nathan felt his jaw clenching as he listened to Gaddis try to justify his actions.
"Such a bunch of babies." Nathan could almost see the eye roll and he could definitely hear the disdain in Gaddis's voice. "It's just a mild dose of the flu. Everyone gets a little sick for a few hours and then I would have come in with the vaccine and proved that I would have been a far better head of Medical Research than that bumbling excuse of a botanist, Mickelson."
Nathan rubbed his forehead and looked down at the bed where Jack was stable for now but still so very sick, and far too weak to survive another febrile seizure. It was obvious that no one had told Gaddis that his mild dose of the flu had proved fatal to one man, and that three other lives still hung in the balance. Nathan decided it was time to inform Gaddis.
"Malcolm Mickelson is dead, Doctor Gaddis. Killed by your mild dose of the flu."
There was silence at the other end of the connection before Gaddis began spluttering that this was nonsense.
"And Sheriff Carter's condition is serious, along with Zane Donovan and Myra Davis." Nathan gave the man a moment for that to sink in. "You will provide Doctor Variolis with the vaccine and any research on this variant of the virus, or I will personally introduce you to something lethal from your own laboratory."
Nathan wasn't one for issuing death threats normally, but if Jack or Zane died then he knew plenty of people who would help him destroy any evidence. He could read that truth in the hard glint in Lupo's eyes and the jutting tilt of her jaw. Zane was her life and Jack was family as far as she was concerned. She nodded once, tightly, and he wondered if he'd have to stop her from shooting Gaddis regardless of the outcome.
Less than twenty minutes later, Variolis returned and injected something into the port on Jack's drip.
"We were most of the way there without any help from Gaddis. Unfortunately, this may be too little, too late but..."
Nathan nodded solemnly. "Thank you."
All anyone could do now was wait, and hope Jack, Zane and Myra were strong enough to beat this virus.
****
The infirmary lights were dialed down low to simulate healing - according to Allison - and Jack was willing to believe her as Global wasn't one to spare expense on lighting despite Nathan's insistence on not wasting resources. Problem was, the last thing Jack remembered was lying on a cot in the auditorium, wishing he could stop making wishes as they never turned out well. He'd wanted an end to the brain-numbing meeting but should have known better than to wish for it in this town of lunatics.
His head felt heavy and his limbs weak but his sixth sense had kicked in, making him want to check who was sitting too close for comfort. Jack blinked slowly as a familiar figure came into view, slumped into a chair that was too small for his six foot four inch frame. As if sensing Jack was awake, Nathan stirred and rolled his neck a few times before focusing on Jack; his eyes widened when he realized Jack was looking right back at him, but then he smiled widely.
At about the same time, Jack realized that his mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool, sucking all the moisture out of it. He dry swallowed and croaked out, "Thirsty."
Nathan was there immediately, angling a straw so Jack could take a sip of the tepid water set beside him; Nathan took it away too soon.
"Not too much at once, Jack."
Jack smiled weakly as Nathan said his name, recalling how Nathan had teased him while undressing him.
"So... do I still get to call you Nathan?"
"Remember that, do you?"
Jack's smile grew wry because that was another wish that had not exactly gone the way he had fantasized, recalling the agile fingers slowly divesting him of his sweat-soaked clothing, and the brush of those cool fingers on his fever-heated skin. Hardly the pornographic images or the sexy seduction that he'd imagined with this man. Jack frowned as another memory came back, of telling Nathan that his fantasies were of him, and only him. His fever-bright mind had imagined Nathan returning those feelings and he covered his embarrassment by forcing that memory away, concentrating on another.
"Donovan?"
"Is recovering, along with Myra." Nathan tilted his head towards the other side of the infirmary so Jack took his word for it as he felt too weak to raise his head and check for himself.
"And Gaddis-."
"Is in custody. I asked the D.O.D. to take him off our hands before he was lynched." Nathan shrugged nonchalantly. "Seems the Sheriff wasn't around to stop a mob from forming, both here and in the town. In fact, he might have been the reason why it formed." His face went deadly serious as he reached out to stroke his fingers down Jack's stubbled cheek. "If you'd died, I would have handed them the rope."
Jack was stunned by Nathan's admission of wanting to commit an act of premeditated homicide because of him. His head was so muggy still, making it hard to think straight but he tried to imagine how he might have felt if their positions had been reversed and was equally shocked from knowing he would have felt the same way had Nathan succumbed to the disease released by Gaddis. Only one other person raised that protective and vengeful streak in him, and that was Zoe. As much as he loved others in this town - Allison, Jo and Henry - he would have satisfied his need for justice by putting their killer behind bars for life. It seemed the same rules might have been harder to apply where Nathan and Zoe were concerned.
That had to mean something beyond mere fantasies - for him and for Nathan - but he was too tired to figure it out.
"Jack?"
Nathan's large hand was cupping his cheek and Jack blinked heavily as he focused back on him, drawn to the concerned green eyes. Nathan was a super-intelligent workaholic, committed to his job and the people he loved, and able to make the hard, rational decisions and deal with the fall out. He was rude and arrogant, and often the bane of Jack's existence, but he wasn't a stone cold killer. Neither of them were, despite the hard necessities of their respective jobs.
"No. You wouldn't have handed them the rope." Jack smiled softly, leaning into Nathan's hand. "You're not a killer. You're far too clever for that." He smiled softly. "You'd find a way to drop him into the deepest, darkest hole in the prison system."
Nathan stilled for a moment but then he smiled gently too. "Let's try never putting that theory of yours to the test."
"Same goes for you." Jack yawned suddenly, surprising himself and earning a chuckle from Nathan.
"Get some more rest, Jack. I'll be back when you wake up."
"Promise?" He asked sleepily, trying to focus on Nathan.
"Yes."
Jack slipped back into sleep before he could tell Nathan to go get some rest too, comforted by the gentle brush of fingers over his face and the soft press of a kiss on his forehead.
***
Seventy-five hours after the siren had first sounded the alarm at Global, Nathan sank into his chair and looked from one monitor to the next at the news feeds from around the world. In some insane attempt to hide his tracks and make himself look the even bigger hero, Gaddis had released his 'mild virus' into half a dozen cities across the world, to coincide with his attack on Global Dynamics. It had spread quickly, aided by modern transportation, and was fast outstripping the ability of any single government to produce enough vaccine for all its people, even without the delay in creating the vaccine in the first place.
For once Nathan could understand Jack's despair at the arrogance of some scientists in believing that they were in control when, in truth, they held no control at all over the natural world. It made him smile wryly that Jack had always understood Chaos Theory on an instinctive level even if the math itself was way beyond his comprehension.
Although most of the infected recovered quickly, just as Gaddis had arrogantly believed, the death toll world-wide was climbing rapidly as 12% of those infected died within twelve hours of contracting the virus, unless treated successfully. The problem was in obtaining the life-saving treatment when medical resources around the world were stretched to their limits. He saw reports of riots in major cities as frightened people attacked medical centers rumored to be holding supplies of the vaccine, desperate to save themselves and their loved ones. Some countries had closed their borders, allowing no movement in or out of the country until they could get a handle on the disease that had become a major epidemic - a pandemic.
The majority of the medical labs at Global were focusing solely on vaccine production, along with the other large pharmaceutical companies, with shipments going out hourly. Yet the greatest fear from the medical community was a mutation of the virus, just as Spanish Flu had mutated to become an even more deadly strain during those eighteen months from 1918 to 1919. Variolis - the newly installed head of Section Four - and his people were trying to keep on top of that, accepting medical reports from around the world to monitor the virus.
Nathan's intercom chimed and he tapped a key on his computer desk.
"Fargo?"
"Um. You wanted to be informed when Sheriff Carter woke up?"
"Then I take it he's awake."
Nathan closed the connection before Fargo could respond, and he entered the infirmary a few minutes later, smiling when he saw Jack propped up on several pillows. Sitting down beside the bed, Nathan took the hand closest to him, lacing his fingers with Jack's.
"Guess we should talk about this, huh?" Jack murmured, squeezing Nathan's hand weakly.
"No. Not really," Nathan smiled and cupped Jack's face with his free hand. They had already revealed everything they felt for each other, just not necessarily in words. All that was left was saying those three words explicitly, and Nathan wanted to show Jack how much he was loved first. "We could, however, talk about those fantasies you have of me."
He grinned as Jack squirmed.
Outside of Eureka the world was changing, possibly even going to hell, but at this moment, all Nathan cared about was Jack and the knowledge that all his long-denied wishes for having Jack in his arms were finally coming true.
END