Do You See Who I See? (Chapter 1)

A/N: Fixing the thing that bothered me about the "Do You See What I See?" holiday ep. Because, really, if you can't fix what you didn't like about an aired storyline, what is fan fiction for?

Note that the episode ignored the Astraeus launch, so I have too. I'm also ignoring the wedding rings worn by Carter and Allison in the ep—I think that little development is better left to others to write about.

Don't own Eureka, wouldn't have cancelled it, etc….and Happy Holidays to you all.

Jo dropped to her knees and crouched behind a couch. Her prey was perched on its cushions. Both were utterly absorbed in waiting for the other to make a move. All her instincts for strategy humming, Jo tensed then sprang. She grabbed as she rose, fingers just capturing the end of a shirt as her prey collapsed-into giggles.

"Gotcha!" crowed Jo as she hoisted Jenna into the air. The little girl hooted in delight.

Laughing, Allison stepped forward. "OK, my girl. It is time for you to go to bed, or Santa may not come tonight." Jo responded in a stage whisper that reached across the room. "Oh, boy. I don't know about you, Jenna, but I am definitely getting to sleep on time tonight. You don't mess with Santa and his schedule!"

Jenna's eyes widened. She seemed to be considering her options as she looked longingly at the cookies, cocoa and brightly wrapped presents strewn around the room. The other adults gathered—Carter, Henry, Fargo and Vincent—were all nodding solemnly. Zoe and Kevin were headed for the stairs in mock panic.

"We're outta here!" Kevin yelled. "Yeah, you don't mess with Santa—he's even tougher than my dad!" called Zoe. As they disappeared from sight, Jenna slumped with resignation. It had been a magical Christmas Eve, in more ways than she knew. But even two year olds learn that all good things must come to an end. Besides, she was powerfully curious about this Santa person and the bag of gifts that was supposed to arrive by morning if she fell asleep tonight.

With a sigh that turned into a yawn, Jenna reached for her mother's arms. As Allison and Carter took her up to her room, she waved goodbye to Jo, who was surprised at the lump that formed in her throat.

Jo accepted a fresh mug of eggnog from Vincent, promising herself that it would be her last before heading home to her own bed. It had been a long day, and the down comforter awaiting in her newly reconstructed home was calling.

Fargo appeared at her elbow, still carrying the ninja stick that had somehow survived his transformation from animation to flesh and blood earlier that evening. He waggled it at her, expression slightly unfocused. The concentration of rum in Vincent's eggnog had risen as the night wore on and Fargo passed his limit at least a cup before.

"Did you see us, Jo? Did you?" The ninja stick made a pass over a nearby coffee table, barely missing a stack of cookies. "It was so cool. Henry and I were totally kick ass—that Sninja didn't stand a chance." At Jo's raised eyebrows, he quickly amended his statement. "Of course, your bomb and Carter's driving really did the trick, but did you see me?" Jo snatched the stick from him as its trajectory widened.

"I saw," she said. "You were totally kick-ass."

"Yeah," he answered, a satisfied smile spreading across Fargo's face. Suddenly, his smile faded and he dropped to the couch with a moan.

"Fargo?" asked Jo, somewhat alarmed. She sat next to him, scanning his face for signs of imminent nausea.

"I just wish Holly could have seen it, you know?" he asked mournfully. "It'd be so nice for once for a girl to see me when I become a lean, mean fighting machine."

"For once?" snorted Jo. "Do you get turned into a cartoon character often? Because I really hadn't noticed."

"No, no…it's never happened before. And now it never will again…" His voice tipped from mournful to maudlin.

"But if Holly had seen you fight the Sninja, she would have also seen you as a bobblehead. And you wouldn't want that would you?" Jo spoke with false perkiness, as though she was talking to a toddler on the verge of a nasty tantrum.

The night had officially become surreal. It was hard to say which was more absurd—that she'd actually been turned into a bluebird-wielding princess for a time, or that she was now comparing the virtues of having one's significant other see you as an anime warrior or a bobblehead. Maybe she would wake up and find this day had all been a dream.

Fargo gasped. "That's right! Oh, man. That would have been bad—I looked like a spring-powered Pinnochio." He nodded vigorously, unconsciously mimicking his earlier animated condition. "Thanks, Jo. I guess I should be happy that Holly is safely away visiting her family." He leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes.

Only in Eureka would a dream be the least plausible explanation for its residents becoming pen and clay caricatures of themselves for a day. Shaking her head, Jo started to stand. Fargo's hand shot out to grab her arm, holding her in place.

"Jo," Fargo said, his speech slightly slurred. "Why are you here?"

"It's Carter and Allison's Christmas party, Fargo. Why wouldn't I be here?"

"But you should be in Worcher-, I mean Woostser, no…" Fargo closed his eyes for a second, but the word he was looking for had escaped him. "Some town outside of Boston."

Jo peered at him, wondering exactly how much he'd had to drink. "Why would I be in Boston?" she asked patiently.

"Zane. I mean, with Zane. At his mom's house. For Christmas."

Jo stiffened. She felt her neck tense and the vague beginnings of a hangover come on.

"Worcester! That's the town," Fargo blurted out.

"Zane didn't ask me to go with him," Jo said flatly. "It's the first time he's been able to go home for Christmas…" She looked around to make sure that Vincent was out of earshot. "In this timeline. Before, he could go home sometimes if I went with him." Her gaze fixed on the Christmas tree. "It wasn't always comfortable, having to be his guard and girlfriend, but we didn't talk about it. Now, with the pardon, he can go on his own. So he did."

Her attention turned back to Fargo, whose head was now swinging from side to side. He was starting to look a little green.

"No, no, no," he chanted. "Zane had plane tickets. One for him, one for you. I saw them—he was going to give yours to you this morning." Fargo swung his hand through the air. "Sort of a Christmas present, a big romantic gesture kind of thing."

Jo gave a bark of laughter, but didn't smile. "Zane? Zane doesn't do romantic gestures, big or otherwise. Besides, we don't…we've never gone on a trip together. In this time, anyway. You must be mistaken." She looked away and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Or he changed his mind."

Her cell phone rang. The sharp ringing stopped conversations around the room.

"Lupo," Jo said in her normal tone of voice. "What? Where were they?" Her eyebrows slammed together and she stood. "Put them in my holding cell until I can get there." She paused, listening. "Yes, I know they're made out of clay—just do it!"

Exasperated, she turned to Henry. "One of my crew just found two botanists wandering around GD. Apparently, they were having some kind of rendezvous on level Q after the animation took effect and they're still cartoons. How is that possible?"

Henry looked thoughtfully at her for a few moments before speaking. "Where were they on level Q?" he asked.

"In one of the isolation chambers," Jo said. "When I get ahold of those two…" She was prepared to continue, but Henry's face had lit up with excitement. He had the answer, as usual.

Carter, Allison, Zoe and Kevin paused at the bottom of the stairs to listen. Jenna had finally fallen asleep, but apparently all else wasn't yet well in their corner of the world.

"Those chambers are fully shielded—no sound or any other kind of energy wave can pass through their walls. When we reversed the polarity on the generator, they must not have been exposed to the energy pulse. Ergo, they're still cartoons." Henry's excitement ebbed. "Which means that we have to get up to the generator and produce another pulse, or those two could stay animated forever."

The mood in the room dimmed. No one relished the thought of another trip up the mountain adjacent the town, especially not late on Christmas Eve. Before anyone could speak, Jo's phone rang again.

"Now what?" She listened for a moment. "It was where? Are you sure? No, I'm sorry, I'm not questioning your eyesight. It's just…" She sighed. "Take it to GD. I'll meet you there."

Looking around the room, she explained the call. "That was another member of my crew. She was driving home when she nearly hit a dog. A cartoon dog. After it ran out of MY house."

"Your house is…?" Carter asked questioningly. Jo nodded. "Shielded. After it was destroyed twice, I put in extra protections. Shielding was one of them."

"How did a dog get in your house?" Kevin wondered out loud.

"No idea. But that's one more candidate for the pulse." Jo started toward the door. "I'm going to GD. I'll have my crew sweep the town to see if we have any more refugees from the Cartoon Network running around."

Henry looked to Allison. "You stay here—Jack and I can handle getting the generator turned on."

Carter groaned, but nodded. "Yeah, no need for us all to go. You stay with the kids and watch for Santa." With a smile, he kissed her lightly before following Jo and Henry. They heard the sound of Fargo's gentle snores as SARAH closed the door behind them.