The MultiFandom MPREG Archive

Title: Go, Psychological Escapism, Go!
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka.
Characters: Jack, Zane, Zoey, Henry, Jo, and Tess.
Words: 8514
Sequel: To 'Fun With Entomological Eugenics'
Prompt: Jack is caught up in Zane's experiment, it might cost him his job.
Fandom: Eureka
Pairing: Zane/Jack, mentioned Jack/Tess, Zane/Jo.
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Language, Sexual Mentions, Mentioned Dub-Con, Mpreg.
Summary: Fallout from two days with Zane at GD has claimed more than just his dignity as a victim.
Author's Note: Two days after.
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Part 1. Golly Gee Wilikers!


Plodding down the stairs, Jack tugged at the front of his belt. The notches were slowly going back in to place. One more and he would be back to what he considered a healthy weight. Hearing a banging in the kitchen made him smile. "As much as I love your aunt Lexi, I am glad she came to her senses and went back to that guy, what's his name. I think all that new age crap was specifically designed to kill me."

There was a louder bang, this one from a bowl being slammed on the counter.

"She and that doctor boyfriend of hers probably came up with that microbiotic diet thing just for me. You know, like that mask of Henry's targeted to kill certain organisms." When this didn't get him anything, Jack frowned. He walked in to the kitchen at a slower pace. "Zoe?"

"I'm not talking to you!" It was said around a mouth full of food. Crunching her cereal, she tried to finish it off quickly.

He sighed as he walked around the counter. She wouldn't even look at him. For the past two days since it had been nothing but this little act. "Come on, Zoey, it wasn't like I meant for it to happen."

"I don't have time for this." Tugging on her hair, she pulled the strands back out of her face. She quickly stuffed the last bit of cereal in her mouth. That done, she picked up her bowl and carried it to the sink.

Jack watched her go with a little amusement. The situation was far from funny. In fact, it was probably the worst thing to happen to him since...well the last time Fargo did something stupid. Two weeks by his reconning.

Grabbing her bag off the couch, Zoey hitched it up her shoulder. "SARAH, I'm going now."

The house opened the door automatically. "Best make sure you wear your sweater. The winds are going to be bad today."

"I will." Turning for the door, Zoey resolutely kept her eyes off her father. She was determined not to even look in his direction.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Grinning, Jack tugged on his gun belt. "Hey, Zoey, wait up. I'll ride with you..."

With a high pitch screech, the teen sprinted for the exit. "SARAH, door, close it now!" She disappeared through just before it slammed shut.

"That was not very nice." Grin a mile wide, Jack picked up a piece of red puffed cereal off the counter. He popped in his mouth and chewed it quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive to Eureka felt longer than it should have. While he normally would have enjoyed the quiet of the drive, today only set his nerves on edge. It was hard to be at ease when the world around him looked like something straight out of a nuclear holocaust. Shivering, Jack kept his eyes on the road.

For the first time in his two year tenor, he saw the town long before he reached the outskirts. He wasn't sure which unnerved him more: the lack of trees, the lack of color, or the lack of familiar landmarks. With only dead soil, rocks, and buildings to rely on, it was extremely disorienting.

Despite the fact he had been specifically ordered not to, Jack was seriously considering arresting the bug lady responsible for all this. What kind of moron came up with something that could... He let the thought fall flat before it completely formed.

No need to rehash that same old crap. Besides, he already had the answer a thousand fold over.

Thankfully, he pulled on to Archimedes a moment later. The last thing he needed today was more time to reflect this morning. It was bad thanks to the sheer devastation of the landscape, he didn't need to worry over his next meeting.

His stomach twisted as he finally allowed himself to think about it. He turned on to Main Street, slowly taking the turn so as not to disturb the dazed citizens crossing the street. They were walking about, staring at everything with blank faces. Apparently he wasn't the only one who felt the change.

He had to stop just before turning in to his parking spot to allow a woman behind the wheel of an electric car to drive by. She was too busy watching the barren sidewalk gardens to notice where she was going. The urge to rubberneck was strong, he admitted to himself, so he gave her and everyone a pass today. Tomorrow he would enforce the driving laws like normally.

Once the woman had cleared his path he eased the Jeep in to the parking spot. Jack didn't get out after he turned the engine off. For several moments he just sat there staring at nothing. It was real, all of it.

He couldn't seem to get his head around it. Even with the evidence of the devastation right there in front of him, he couldn't... It didn't make sense to his mind.

It just didn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"About time you dragged your ass in here." Jo's pissed growl came from the direction of the bathroom.

Walking in to the main part of the office, Jack headed for his desk. He wasn't sure how she knew it was him but figured it wasn't safe to ask. Not after how they had last seen each other. "Sorry. I got a bit distracted."

"Yeah, well you're not the only one." After washing her hands, Jo dried them under the heated vent. "We've had ten calls for accidents since I got here at six. If I get one more complaint about getting lost from some absentminded egghead, I am going to make an omelette!"

"Sounds like you've had a busy morning." He kept his tone light.

"Nothing I couldn't handle on my own." She may have been putting on the front of being sociable, but there was a distinct edge in to her words.

Jack knew there were daggers waiting for him, probably something explosive too. Once at his desk he checked for any messages. There wasn't even so much as a report waiting for him. Apparently she had been busy the last two days he had been off. That could mean only one thing. "Nothing happened."

Something clattered in to the sink. "Don't, Carter, I know what I saw."

"I just thought you should know." He tried to come up with a good excuse. There had to be something he could say to alleviate her suspicions. A helpless look to the bathroom made him sigh. It was pointless. "Anything else of interest happen?"

"There was a call from Henry. He is expecting you to stop by before ten." Coming out of the bathroom, she headed for her desk. As she passed, the shiny barrel of her gun glinted in the light.

Ordinarily Jack wouldn't have noticed this. There was something unusual about this. It took him a moment to realize this one wasn't her standard weapon. For starters, it was bigger. "Nice piece. Where'd you come by it?"

"Smith & Wesson Five Hundred. It can stop a charging bull elephant." Her hand automatically went to the pistol. Her fingers traced lovingly down the barrel. "Zane's way of saying he is sorry."

Looking away, Jack swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "You don't say." He suddenly had the understanding of what a deer probably felt, if it could understand what a gun was. "It wasn't what it looked..."

"Save it." Her tone was soft, barely above a whisper. Looking over at him for the first time, she exhaled slowly. "It's done, we can't change the fact that it happened. Let's just move on."

"I'm..." he started, but let it drift off at her severe look. Nodding, he let it drop. Now was not the time to be making amends. That would come later and in several forms.

After that they stood there in an awkward silence for several moments. When it became too uncomfortable for him, Jack threw a thumb over his shoulder to the door. "You said Henry's waiting for me?"

"Yeah. He said it was important." She nodded in relief. Her pale skin pinked a little.

"I'll head over there then." Backing towards the doorway, he kept an eye on her gun.

Seeing this made her lips twitch. She reached up to tug at her braid ties to make sure it was secure, and bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Yeah, you probably should."

~~~~~~~~~

Pulling up in front of Henry's garage felt kind of weird. With the lack of plants it looked more like the last fill-up station on a desert highway. Jack put the Jeep in park and climbed out immediately. There would be no repeat of what happened outside the sheriff's station.

He squinted as a strong wind kicked up the dirt. It would settle a short way off as it had been wont to do of late. This only added to the desert town image. Putting it from his mind, Jack tugged at his collar to shake off the dust.

He started to head for the door when something caught his eye on the far side of the lot. Jack frowned as he recognized Tess's car. "Uh oh, that can't be good." Sighing, he trudged to the door with far less enthusiasm.

Now, he could have speculated on what this could mean and killed more time until she left. That wasn't what he figured best to do, though he wanted to. It was better to get it over with now. Yet, somehow, he found himself standing outside of the door with his hand poised to knock and not doing it.

This was going to be a problem.

Gritting his teeth, he rapped his knuckles against the door three times. That was all the more active he was going to be in this. If Henry wanted him to come in, well then, the man would just have to make the next move.

"Come in." It was like Henry was psychic or something.

Taking a deep breath, Jack braced himself. He grabbed the door handle and forced it open. Stepping in to the garage he pasted on a smile. "Henry, you wanted to see me?" Just to be safe, he stayed in the doorway with it open.

Standing at the workbench was Henry, he was busy working at his computer. "Be with you in just one moment, Jack." He gestured for the man to come in with his left hand. "Pull up a chair, we need to talk."

"That definitely doesn't sound like a good thing." As he spoke, Jack tried to discreetly look around. If he could spot her before she spotted him...

"It isn't, I assure you." Her voice came from behind the door in the direction of the main garage door.

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Jack spun to face Tess. His false smile slipped for a second before it was back in full force. "Tess, hey! Long time no see."

Arms crossed, she glared at him from her perch on the shop's single stool. "Yeah, hi. There's a reason for that. I think I saw more of you than I wanted to last time." Despite her cheery tone, there was a hardline to her body language that spoke of hostility.

That was not a happy woman, Jack wanted to say. Wisely, however, he kept his mouth shut. Turning from her brought him face to face with a serious looking Henry. This made his smile morph in to a grimace. "Ee-yeah, I'm not going to like this am I?"

"I'm sorry, Jack, but allegations have been made and questions raised about your recent actions. We have to investigate for the good of the town." Hands raised at waist level, Henry steepled his fingers. He glanced over Jack's shoulder as he spoke. "We are not accusing you..."

"You're not." The hostility in her tone made even Tess wince. Pushing off her stool, she stalked around the others to stand behind Henry. "I think his actions speak for themselves, but unfortunately we have to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to make any rash decisions." Anger gave Jack the strength to glare at her. He shifted stance and put his hands on his hips. A cleared throat brought his attention back to Henry. "What exactly are people saying about me?"

Henry glanced away for a moment as he considered his words. He sighed when he decided upon the best course of action. "Well, that's not important. Everything hinges upon one factor."

"And that is?" He darted a glance at Tess before focusing back on Henry.

"Why did you ignore the evacuation order?" Ignoring Henry's sigh of annoyance, Tess took a step towards them. "You were supposed to be overseeing the complete removal of Eureka's population. We had to rely upon Deputy Lupo. Why is that?" His choice of words made it clear this was an official investigation.

"I never got it." Jack's attention was focused on Henry, but his words were for Tess. This was going to get ugly very fast. He knew that her mind was already made up about this and the truth would be coming out very soon. "The first I knew of it was when Zane found me..."

This made her scoff. Taking another step forward, she uncrossed her arms. "You mean when he hooked up with you."

"Oh, so the green-eyed monster finally rears her ugly head." Jack matched her step for step.

Tess crossed the last bit of distance between her and Henry. "No! This is about the fact that instead of doing your job, you were out screwing around with Zane Donovan!"

"Enough!" Putting up his hands, Henry blocked the two from each other. "You are acting like angry children, the both of you!"

Irritation at the insinuation still coursing through him, Jack huffed and shook his head. He backed way from Henry to give the man space. Sticking a thumb in his pocket, he looked the man in the face. "So, what's really going on here, Henry? You don't really buy in to her twisted..."

"Jack!" Henry's warning tone was the only sign he gave of his irritation. "The fact is, there is enough evidence to call your actions in to question. While I am not giving credence to some of the more slanderous rumors, you did fail to uphold your sworn duty."

Jack froze on the spot. He stared at the other man with wide eyes. "You think I actually blew off my job to go...that thing, do 'it', you know, with Zane?" Squirming, he tried to fight off the raging blush. He reached up and tugged at his ear for a distraction. "Cause, you know, nothing happened, right?"

"That isn't what I am saying at all." Henry's distant stare made it clear that he wasn't trying to think that either.