Bad head day

(set after Flash Forward to Eureka and Founders Day season 4) Bit of mindless fluff, written after I had one of these.

Nathan rubbed at his forehead and groaned quietly. The pain behind his right eye had steadily increased all day, and exponentially at every call he got, until now, when his eye was watering every time he tried to open it, when he couldn't look down in case that same eyeball exploded with the extra pressure. The whole right side of his head throbbed with the same beat of his heart, and the painkillers he had taken an hour ago hadn't even touched the sides. He really needed to go home and sleep it off, but there was no way he could do that, he could hardly see, and any movement was making him feel particularly nauseous. The only thing he could do was sit back in his chair and hope no-one would disturb him, but he knew that was unlikely.

Jack checked his watch and decided that it was time enough to go to GD. He was ploughing through his paperwork, almost completed the outstanding, and was in such a mood to get it done that he had sent Andy out to any of the calls they had received. Now, as he signed and saved the last form with a flourish, he smiled in satisfaction and sat back in his chair. It was good timing too, it was quite late, he could have left and gone home for the day about an hour ago, and he wondered whether Nathan was waiting for him. He grabbed his phone and checked it for messages from him, but there was nothing – normally his partner would send him a message or call him when he was leaving GD, just one of their rituals. Their relationship had been new even before Founder's day, and now they were both trying to get used to the differences in each other as well as Nathan moving into the bunker and sharing everything. Speaking of which ... Jack quickly called SARAH, it wouldn't be the first time his workaholic lover had gone home and was asleep on the couch. But no, he wasn't there, and when she tracked him Jack frowned hearing that he was still at GD, even deeper when he didn't answer his phone.

Decided the Sheriff got up, closed everything down and made his way out to his jeep, quickly calling Andy as he did so and letting him know he was going to GD to pick up Nathan and then head home. The affable cyborg agreed to call him if he needed him, and Jack cut the connection and went on his way.

It didn't take long to get there, and he left his rig in front of the building, right where security hated him to park, but it was late in the afternoon now and the place was mostly empty. He quickly headed to Nathan's office, still having to make sure he didn't head to GD's director's office, as he had been doing before, and stuck his head around the door when he got there.

The sight that greeted him did not fill him with any confidence. Nathan was there, slumped in his chair, eyes closed, and even from the door Jack could see he looked like crap. He quickly jogged in and made his way over to him, quickly pressing a couple of fingers to his throat, just to make sure.

Nathan jumped, startled, when he felt fingers on his pulse point, opened his eyes, and swore as the light speared into his brain. He groaned, pressed a hand to his right eye, and tried to get away from whoever it was. Until Jack spoke.

"Nathan?" his lover said quietly to him, his concern evident in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Headache," Nathan murmured, and felt the Sheriff surround him with his strong arms and pull him close against his chest. The material of his shirt was soft against his cheek, the smell he breathed in was all Jack, and the fingers of his hand were gently massaging into the tense muscles at the base of Nathan's neck. The whole package calmed the scientist, and he found himself leaning into the embrace and holding him close with his arms around his waist.

"You should have called me, silly Scientist," Jack admonished him fondly. He remembered these from before, Nathan would work hard until his brain told him to stop, and there wasn't much either of them could do about these when that occurred. He had hoped this new Nathan didn't suffer the same way; these headaches did wipe him out for a couple of days after all, but obviously not. So he embraced him tightly, arms around his shoulders, and buried his face in his partner's soft hair, pleased when he snuggled against his chest to cut out the light. Jack remembered from before what helped, pressed a kiss to his scalp, and started to rub at the tense muscles at the base of his lover's neck with his strong fingers.

Nathan groaned again and hugged him back, but didn't ask him to stop. His sheer presence was calming the scientist, the fingers on the back of his neck were relaxing his tight muscles, and it seemed to be helping, reducing the throb a little, but even that was better than a few minutes ago. At least with Jack's continued presence he didn't feel the need to cry now.

Jack held him tightly for a few more minutes before he said something more, he waited until he could feel him completely relax against him. "Do you want me to get you something from the infirmary?" he asked him. "Have you taken anything?"

"Good stuff's at home," Nathan replied, his voice muffled. As before it seemed that the less eloquent his partner became, the more the pain was, which meant this one must be pretty excruciating. And he was being stubborn too – the 'good stuff' was prescription only and knocked him out, which was why Nathan only took it when he was desperate for relief, and never at work.

Jack sighed and pressed a kiss to his scalp again. "Come on, Love," he murmured to him and started to pull away. "Let me take you home."

Nathan whimpered, but would deny it at a later date, when Jack pulled away, but was reassured when he didn't actually go far. It took the Scientist a few moments to get his brain in gear, realise that Jack was still standing next to him, still had his arm around his shoulders, but was using his free hand to gather things up that Nathan had left on his desk earlier. "Computer, save all work," Nathan managed to croak an order out, waited for it to reply with an affirmative, and then: "Lock and close down." The computer was no way as sophisticated as SARAH or Andy but he was grateful for the voice recognition that it had at least, it meant he didn't have to look up at any of the screens, or try and get his fingers coordinated enough to type. He wasn't coordinated to do very much, and he was in far too much pain to care who saw them as Jack pulled him to his feet and moved his supporting arm to around Nathan's waist. The Sheriff then arranged one of Nathan's own arms over his shoulders for extra support, and they made their slow way out of the office, through the mostly deserted corridors to the nearest elevator. "I got you, Babe," Jack assured him as Nathan groaned again at the jolt the car made when it started to take them up. "Not long now,"

One of the security guards spotted them as they made their way out of the elevator on the main floor and he quickly motioned to his compatriot before he made his way over to them. Nathan didn't even bother trying to find out who took hold of his free side, he was just pleased that he didn't need to open his eyes and subject himself to the light streaming in from the windows as the sun started to set in front of them. The two men virtually carried the scientist out to the jeep, the guard held him up when Jack had to let him go for a moment to open the passenger door, and they both gently manhandled the guy in. Nathan was long, so the security guard made sure he placed his hand on the crown of his head to make sure he didn't knock himself out when they were getting him in, but they managed it without too much trouble.

"Thanks very much," Jack thanked the guard when they had gotten him sorted and strapped him in. "Really,"

The guy nodded and glanced up at the scientist in front of them. Nathan was sitting there, head leant back against the seat, hand pressed against his forehead. "Migraine?" he queried.

Jack looked over his shoulder at his lover and nodded. "Doesn't get them often, but when he does, they really hit him," he replied. "Thanks again," he added, and quickly jogged round the front of the rig when the guard nodded and stepped away to let him go. He watched as the Sheriff quickly drove away, then shook his head and returned to his post, pulling out his PDA as he did so. He had to record any odd incidents at GD, this was one of them, and he did so, checking the time and date as well, just in case.

Jack got them home in quick time, and SARAH opened the door, scanned them both when they walked over the threshold, and didn't need to be asked to help. She reduced the light level and her volume, opened the fridge for Jack as he past to get a bottle of water, and then simply watched as the pair of them made their way up the stairs to the main bedroom. Jack smiled in relief when they got there and he lowered his lover on to his side of the bed as gently as he could. Nathan helped him, somewhat, well, he laid back when Jack pushed him into the pillows, stayed there when the Sheriff left him momentarily, and obediently took the two tablets Jack put into his hand when he returned, drinking most of the water when he was prompted. He then just lay back and moved only when Jack pushed or prodded him, finding himself quickly divested of his clothes and shoes and tucked into bed without too much fuss.

"SARAH, lights off, lock up," Jack said quietly as he watched his Scientist turn onto his side towards the middle of the bed and bury his face in the pillow. He stood and watched for a few moments, but decided that nothing on the TV could really make him want to go downstairs, so he stripped, draped his and Nathan's clothes over the back of a chair, and climbed in himself. Nathan felt the mattress move, and his warmth, and shifted over to be close to him. He laid his aching head on Jack's strong shoulder, pressed his body close against the Sheriff's side and laid his arm over his slim waist. Jack smiled and laid a gentle kiss to his temple as he embraced his shoulders with one arm. "Sleep, Love," he murmured and pulled him as close as he could, letting Nathan drape his long form over half of his. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Mmpphh," his lover mumbled as he buried his face in Jack's throat and pushed a leg in between the Sheriff's. The drugs were kicking in as he shifted, one thing about them that he liked, and he could feel them work at unravelling the knot of pain behind his eye. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and Jack felt him relax and his slow, steady breaths scud across his own skin.

The Sheriff himself stayed awake for some time, simply holding his lover close while SARAH read to him the day's events from newspapers she had scanned. He had eaten just before he had left work, and knew that even offering Nathan anything to eat would make the scientist vomit anything that might be left in his stomach from earlier. So instead he listened to him sleep, and let SARAH's dulcet tones ease him off to sleep too.

The next time Nathan woke he was virtually in the same position, draped across Jack's body, face buried in his throat and he waited for a minute or two to check his brain. It didn't start to throb again, just a faint ache, and he took that as a win. He really didn't want to push it and move though, he'd been caught like that before, and besides, he was very comfortable where he was. He could feel Jack gently stroking his back with his hand and he found himself moving into the caresses, making his partner aware that he was awake.

"Morning, Nathan," Jack greeted him quietly as he felt Nathan move slightly against him. "How're you feeling?"

"Better," Nathan murmured, his voice hoarse. "But I don't want to move to test it out."

"Good," Jack replied, and the scientist could hear his smile in his voice. "Because I've already called Fargo and told him you're not coming in," he added, and waited for the response.

Nathan frowned and lifted his head only enough so he could see the clock on the nightstand over Jack's shoulders. It was 9am, and he was astounded at what that meant. "How long did I sleep?" he asked, incredulously.

"You were completely out of it for about fourteen hours." Jack stated, and pressed a kiss to his temple. "You obviously needed it."

"Hmm," Nathan answered him, distracted all of a sudden. It was as if now he knew how long he had been asleep his body was reminding him in all sorts of ways. He was hungry all of a sudden, and the burning need to pee took him by surprise. He groaned and pushed himself up to sit, waiting out the dizzy spell, Jack's hand on his arm. "Gotta pee," he explained when he opened his eyes again and saw the concern in the Sheriff's face. Jack nodded, knowing better than to offer his help, but that didn't stop him from watching as Nathan made his way, slowly, to the en suite. All of the coffee the scientist had drunk yesterday made a reappearance, and Nathan wondered whether Jack or SARAH would let him indulge in more of it today. Probably not, he thought as he flushed and washed his hands, reaching for his toothbrush, probably not.

By the time he had completed in the bathroom Jack had gotten up and out of the bedroom, but he could hear him making his way down the stairs, whistling to himself and smiled at the shout he got when he also walked out of the bedroom. "What do you want for breakfast?" the sheriff called up to him. "I can bring it up, and don't say coffee!"

Nathan laughed to himself and replied: "Whatever, just no grapefruit, of any kind," and then simply got back into bed again. BeforeJack had cared for him when he had been struck down with a migraine, but he hadn't been so much of a mother hen as this new Jack, and it took some getting used to. BeforeJack would have come for him, made sure he got home, taken his pills and gotten to bed, yes, but he would have left him and SARAH with strict instructions to stay in bed all day while he went to work. NewJack was here, he'd obviously called in himself to look after his lover, and any day Nathan got pampered with breakfast in bed was a good day he thought as he used the remote to raise the head of their bed.

He wasn't disappointed, in a few minutes Jack reappeared in their bedroom carrying a tray loaded with SARAH's finest bacon, poached eggs, toast, juice, pastries etc, and the scientist smiled when it was put down in front of him. Jack handed him a glass and stood over him though, so there was something else on the guy's mind. "Painkillers," the sheriff told him firmly. "You need to keep taking them so it won't come back."

Nathan sighed and nodded, he was right, he did. So he fumbled in his nightstand for some, not the same ones as last night that knocked him out so thoroughly, but some that were less potent and could stop any resurgence of yesterday's pain. He got two, reached for the glass, and downed them with a couple of mouthfuls of pineapple juice. Jack, satisfied, handed him a plate and settled down on the bed beside him again, reaching for his own. "Eat, Scientist," he instructed fondly. "Then SARAH and I might let you have a shower."

Nathan lifted an eyebrow at his words and tone. "Right. Like you could stop me, Sheriff," he retorted dryly, but amused. Jack laughed, and watched, approvingly, as his lover started to work on his breakfast. Nathan was clever enough to realise his problems had begun yesterday because he had grabbed a pastry for breakfast yesterday and worked through lunch; completely forgetting about food, and had done the same the day before, so he tucked in and enjoyed the provender before him. It was obviously going to be one of those days – where Jack and SARAH ganged up on him to stop him from doing anything more strenuous than having a shower, dressing in sweats and lounging on the couch downstairs. Looking up at his lover watching him with a grin, he smiled back – he couldn't wait.