Unlikely Love (Eureka Fanfic)

3

"Cellular regeneration, a power that could revolutionize the world of medicine." Henry said with wonder.  "How, exactly?" Jack asked.  "There wouldn't be a need for surgery, cancer could be gone in hours, and so many other things!" Henry replied.  "There could be a time in the future where man can heal himself with thought!"  "However that's hundreds, maybe thousands of years into the future."  Nathan said.  "Well, Carl is there," Henry replied, "and he's still evolving."  Everyone stared at Carlson.  "The man just went went from being the experimenter to the experiment."  Nathan said.
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Jack looked around town square.  Carl was stumbling about, sending objects flying with his mind.  When Jack and Nathan confronted him in the lab only a few minutes earlier, whilst breaking it to him that it wasn't his research that gave him his powers, he went off.  "Carl! Carl, wait!"  Carl slowly turned to see Jack jogging up to him.  "I...I thought I made something incredible..." Carl trailed off.  Jack sighed, "Yeah, but it wasn't you, it was some ki-" "Some kind of weird radiation?"  Jack was stunned, Carl literally said what he was about to say.  "Did you...Did you hear that in my thoughts?" Jack asked.  Carl made circular motions around his head.  "Loud and clear."  "Ok, that's disturbing." Jack half mumbled.  Then the sounds of sirens broke the silence around them.   Jack turned around to see two SWAT cars.  Oh for the love of-  Nathan, serious and not in the mood for debate, ordered Jack to leave.  "Stand back, Carter!" "We're doing just fine, thanks!" Jack said, turning back to Carl.  "Jack!"  "Nathan!"
"Okay, both of you stop it!" Allison shouted at them.  Nathan ignored both of them, and turned.  "Carlson, come with us, let us help you."  "You don't want to help me, you want to use me." Carl said, stumbling back.  "Why would I want to do that?" Nathan asked, seriously.  "Because you think I'm...the key."  "Key to what?" Allison asked.  "Classified." Nathan shot over his shoulder.  "His precious artifact...The thing his been pouring over for weeks.  You are obsessed with something you know NOTHING about!" Carl shouted.  "Do you?" Nathan asked.  Carl paused, then turned and walked a few paces down the street.  "Carl, there's nowhere for you to go!" Nathan called after him.  Carl stopped, and flung the guns away from two officers, but left the third one with his gun, he aimed.  "Nathan!" Jack shouted.  Nathan looked, and his heart stopped for a second.  "Don't shoot!" Nathan shouted.  Then, everything seemed to slow down.  Jack watched as the phaser fired and saw Carl ricocheted the blast, it was now on course the hit Jack.  He saw his life flash before his eyes, but a thought he grasped onto was Nathan.  The man he loved.  The man he didn't admit his feelings to.  The blast hit Jack square in the chest, burned away part of his shirt, burned off flesh and muscle, Jack was flung backwards, and darkness engulfed him.
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Nathan watched in horror as Jack was flung backwards from the blast.  His mind had failed to process that he had caught Jack, just before he hit the ground.  Blood was oozing from the gaping wound in Jack's chest.  Nathan pressed two fingers against Jack's neck. 

There was no pulse. 

He checked for breath under Jack's nose.

Nothing.

Nathan began to panic, as fear swallowed him whole.  "Someone call an ambulance!" He screamed.  "I know what to do." Carl said, everyone looked up at him.  "Get him back to Global, now!"
An ambulance came shorty after, and Nathan told the driver to go to GD.  Nathan sat in the back, with Jack and Carl.  No one was there but them.  Nathan looked at Jack, and tears welled up in his eyes.  He grabbed hold of Jack's hand and held it to his face.  "Please..." He whispered.  "Please, don't leave me..." He begged.

Nathan, Carl, and Allison arrived at GD with Jack.  Jack's limp form lay on a stretcher.  Carl had one hand on Jack's forehead, and the other just above the massive wound in Jack's chest.  Gold light twisted and turned from Carl's finger tips.  The spread across Jack's torso and head just before fizzling out.  Carl let out grunt of frustration.  "I'm not close enough!" He cried.  He whipped around to Nathan.  "I need to be closer, you're going to have to take us to Section 5." Nathan nodded numbly.  Jack can't die.  He couldn't.  Nathan had just lost Callister, an AI project that had recently failed, many times.  But Callister survived, and he had become a son to Nathan.  However, due to the virus in Eureka's computer systems, Callister had died 3 weeks ago.  Now, Nathan was staring at the lifeless form of the man he loves.  Nathan ordered one of his officers to carry Jack, and had Allison stay behind.  Nathan thought he loved her, but he knows now that he was only distracting himself from Jack.  Please be okay, he thought.  They raced down to the elevator, and then rushed into the chamber, that separated them from the artifact.  Nathan could feel the power pulsing through the door.  He was lightheaded for a second, but that all faded off when he saw Carl.  The gold light was stronger now, it flowed from the door to his hand, the down his arms, and into Jack.  The wound started to disappear.  Nathan held his breath, hoping that Jack wasn't too far gone.  The wound had healed, and Jack's eyes fluttered open.  "Hey, welcome Sheriff." Carl said softly.  Nathan sobbed, and fell to his knees.  He grabbed hold of Jack's hand.  "Jack, can you hear me?" "N-Nathan...?" Jack uttered his name, then slipped into unconsciousness. Nathan heaved Jack to his feet and, with Carl's help, got him out of the chamber.  As Nathan approached the medical staff, Jack suddenly seemed heavier, and the metal doors to the chamber clanged shut.  He regretfully handed Jack over to the medical staff.  "Get him to the infirmary, I'll be there in a moment." Nathan raced up to the consoles, and switched on the computer systems.  He saw Carl, he was slowly walking towards the open doors to the artifact.  "Don't do it, Carl." Nathan said sternly.  "It's going to be alright..." Carl replied, the speakers crackling.  "It'll destroy you!"  Nathan shouted.  "I'm not afraid..." "Carl, I need to know.  What is it?" Nathan asked, half whispering.  "One day you will know, the question is, will you be ready?" Carl asked.  Nathan pressed a fist to his mouth.  He felt sick, but his eyes were glued to the screen.  Carl's voice sounded over the sirens, "I am..." Then the door shut, the faint silhouette of Carl gone from view.  Nathan put his head in his hands, he watched two people die today.

Go.  Go, Nathan.  Jack needs you, now. 

Nathan needed no other urging, he bolted out the door, and ran to the infirmary, to the man he loved.