Disclaimer – I lack the funds to buy Eureka, so perhaps someone could get it for me as a Christmas present this year?

Pairing – Jack/Nathan

Teaser – "Alright... one more time." The only thing stronger than Jack's fear right now was his irritation, so he was using that to keep from panicking. Taking a seat in front of his husband, Jack tried to be as non-confrontational as possible. "Nathan, we're about to be vibrated to death, and not in the good way." "This is crazy, Sheriff," Nathan snapped. "I am not losing my memory."

Chapter Five

"Warning: sonic sterilization will commence in twenty minutes."

"That's starting to get a little irritating," Jack muttered.

"Yeah, well it'll only announce four more times, then count down from sixty seconds, before... well..." Nathan shrugged, "the end arrives."

"We're going to get out of this." Jack's determination seemed stronger now. "Tess got the message from you and she'll stop the sterilization."

"There's no way to know for certain until the computer either starts the cleaning or aborts it," Nathan argued pessimistically. There was silence for a long moment and then he asked, "I remember everything now, but there's something I've never really understood. That day, when I asked you to marry me, you were still so angry with me. Why did you say yes?"

"I've never been good at staying mad at the people I love, Nathan... I gave you a second chance and I know I'll never regret it. You were right to say that you don't make the same mistake twice." Jack grinned at the skepticism on Nathan's face. "Just five minutes ago you couldn't even remember my name, but you still trusted me."

Green eyes sparking with love and amusement, Nathan reached out and took Jack's hands in his own. "You're such a closet romantic."

"Says the man who likes to have picnics in the evening so he can show me the stars."

-=-=-=

The elevator dinged open and Tess took a few steps out before whirling around. "Wait. You know what to do?"

"Yeah," Zoe said as she clung to Allison to keep her from following Tess. "We're going to check your lab for Nathan and Dad using Allison's clearance to get down there. Meanwhile, you'll be stopping the sonic cleaning so we don't all die."

"Right." Tess checked her pocket to make sure the PDA she'd taken from Kennison was still there and then waved before darting towards Allison's office.

The doors closed and Allison pouted. "I wanted to go with her," she muttered petulantly.

"I know, but she needs you to do something important for her," Zoe told her soothingly. "Tess will be very impressed when she gets back to us if you do it."

"Really? What?"

Zoe smirked. That was easy. "Push the number five and look into the eye scanner." She waited until Allison finished that and the elevator began moving again. "Now there's a lab I'll need you to let us into."

"Okay," Allison chirped. "And this will make Tess impressed with me, right?"

"Yup." Zoe hoped that Allison's memory didn't 'reset' again while before they found her dads... she wasn't sure how to convince Allison to do things for her beyond the 'Tess wants you to' excuse. The elevator binged open again and Zoe pulled Allison out into the hallway with her. "Follow me, okay?"

"Sure."

Mumbling Tess' directions under her breath, Zoe led the way to Tess' lab. She wasn't certain why Tess was so certain that Dad and Nathan were here, but she had a feeling the blonde scientist was right about it. "Allison, I need you to press your thumb against that right there," Zoe directed, pointing at a little thumbprint reader atop a keypad. Shrugging, Allison did it without question and then Zoe added in a numerical sequence on the keypad.

The door whooshed open and Allison clapped her hands in delight. "Oh, that's so cool. The door opened all on its own!"

-=-=-=

Jack looked up sharply at the sound of Allison's voice. Not only was Allison there – and clearly suffering from memory problems – but so was Zoe. "Dad!" she shouted as she ran over and hugged him. "You remember me, right?"

"Of course, Zo," Jack pulled her tight.

"Aww, don't I get a hug?" Nathan mock-pouted.

Delighted, Zoe released Jack and hugged Nathan next. "You remember me, too?" she asked once she'd pulled away.

"Right now, yeah, but Fargo did something to the Story Nest and that's what has been making everyone forget. I did forget, but Jack thought of using the memories stored in the Nest to make me remember. I just..." a frustrated look crossed Nathan's face. "I'm not sure how long it'll last before I forget again."

"Well, Tess is going to shut down the sonic cleaning, so you'll have plenty of time to fix everything," Zoe said reassuringly.

"Who's Tess?" Allison asked.

Zoe giggled. "Allison was following Tess around like a lovesick puppy earlier. It was kind of cute."

"Warning: sonic cleaning will commence in five minutes."

"I thought you said she was shutting it down," Jack said, his eyes widening.

"Oh god... she must have forgotten," Zoe looked rather panicked herself.

"Jack," Nathan stood up. "We've gotta get up there, fast."

"Come on," Jack stood too and they all headed for the door, though Zoe grabbed Allison's arm to make sure she followed along.

-=-=-=

Tess was sitting in Allison's chair when they got to her, but the vacant expression on her face was worrying. "Hi," she greeted. "I'm Tess Fontana. Who are all of you?"

"I'm Allison Blake," Allison immediately told her, hurrying over and shaking her hand. "It's really good to meet you."

"Wow..." Nathan rolled his eyes. "She does follow Tess like a lovesick puppy."

"Zoe, did Tess tell you how she intended to shut down the cleaning?" Jack asked.

"Not really." Zoe paused and then added, "she kept checking to make sure she had Kennison's PDA, though."

"Kennison's PDA..." Nathan repeated, the words triggering a fuzzy memory. He snapped his fingers. "That's it. Tess, do you have a PDA in one of your pockets?"

"What's a PDA?" she asked.

"It's a small, black device and could fit in the palm of your hand. Just check your pockets," Nathan insisted.

Tess stood up so that she could better fish through her pockets, and pulled out a slim, black object. "Is this it?"

Nathan snatched it out of her hand. "Yeah," he muttered as he moved past her to Allison's computer, which displayed a screen pertaining to the sonic cleaning. Nathan stared at the screen for a moment, unable to recall what came next. But then it came to him and he tapped a few keys to bring up a small window with the words 'Abort Sonic Sterilization' written in bold letters over a smaller warning to swipe identification to activate the override. A sixty second countdown started, but he ignored it in favor of swiping Kennison's PDA in front of the screen. Immediately the pop-up changed to say that it was confirming authorization.

Then the screen changed to declare 'Procedure Canceled'.

Dropping the PDA onto the desk, Nathan backed away and moved back over to where Jack and Zoe stood. Then he slid his arms around Jack's waist and dropped his head against Jack's shoulder. Zoe hugged them both and so they reached down to pull her close in a group, family hug.

-=-=-=

Fixing Fargo's screw-up wasn't easy, especially since Nathan started forgetting things again about halfway through, but all it took was a kiss from Jack to get his mind firing right again. Zoe made the requisite 'ewww, parental PDA' comment, which amused Allison and Tess to no end once Zoe explained that PDA stood for 'public displays of affection'. They didn't remember Nathan's description of a PDA from earlier, so they weren't confused by the conflicting explanations.

Once the memories in the Nest were restored, Nathan reversed the download link between the storycatchers and turned it into an upload link. Everyone got their memories back, Tess finally got a date with Allison (Allison hadn't wanted to ruin their friendship by acting on her feelings, but recent events proved that the attraction was most definitely mutual), and Fargo was told that if he came back to GD at any point during the next week he'd likely get strung up by his ankles in a closet... and that was only if the security staff got to him first. God only knew what the scientists would do to him.

Now, however, it was evening. The sky was dark and the stars were bright. Nathan was curled up against Jack on their hammock outside of the bunker and half asleep from a combination of the gentle sway of the hammock, the warmth of Jack's body, and the way Jack ran his fingers soothingly through Nathan's hair.

Most importantly, though, Nathan knew he'd never, ever forget this day...

A/N – Aww... they're so cute.

I have recieved requests on at least two fronts to redux the episodes that the flashbacks in this story reference. Darn you all, especially Emcey, for feeding the plotbunnies (^_^) because now they won't stop nibbling my toes until I rewrite at least a few of those episodes. So keep an eye out for a redux of season one's episode "Primal" which will feature lots of Nathan Stark nano-clones, an Allison who's quick on the uptake in matters of the heart, and two really hot men who are too stuborn for their own good. (It'll be very slashy pre-slash.)