Disclaimer – If I owned Eureka, there would be more Jack/Nathan fanservice and the episode "I Do, Over" would have offed some other character. A minor character or a guest actor, perhaps…

A/N – So I realized the other day that it's been a while since I wrote something for Eureka. I'm sort of busy-ish right now (I can no longer afford to live on campus at my college and must move home in a a month or so. Home being twenty minutes from college makes it not that big a deal.) but the plot bunny that has possessed me doesn't give a damn. Yay for the plot bunny… I mean, bad… evil plot bunny… stop possessing me…

Info – AU after the Season 2 finale.

Pairings – Jack/Nathan, Jo/Zane, one-sided Taggart/Jo

Teaser – It had to be the weirdest dream that Jack had ever had. After all, there was no way a town like Eureka could exist and, even if it did, Jack would never be that oblivious to an inordinately sexy man like Stark flirting with him.

Juxtaposition

Chapter One

Jack yawned and stretched his arms as he started towards the station exit. It had been a long, boring day in which no one even got a speeding ticket and Jack wanted to get home to Zoe and SARAH before the spell broke and the natural state of havoc that was Eureka bit him in the ass.

Before he could walk out the door, though, the phone rang. Jack tensed as Jo picked up the phone. He really hoped it wasn't GD and that he wouldn't need to go there and help fix another mess that the so-called-genius scientists made on a nearly weekly basis. Despite the fact that it could be GD and that he was perfectly within his rights to go home because Jo had on-call that evening, Jack lingered and listened to Jo's side of the conversation.

"Dr. Blake," Jo said in a tone of voice somewhere between friendly and resigned. Damn… it was GD. "Of course, I'll be down as soon as possible. Carter?" She looked over at Jack questioningly and he reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, we'll both be there."

Jo hung up the phone and shrugged ruefully. "There's been some sort of malfunction in one of the labs. Dr. Blake was pretty evasive about it. She said someone would explain once we arrive."

Jack held the door for Jo as she walked over and received an eye-roll for his chivalry. "Don't you miss the days when she actually gave us advance warning for whatever idiot thing the people claiming to have high IQs did?"

"Yeah… but then she became The Man of GD."

"You've been watching 'The School of Rock' again, haven't you?"

"Maybe…" Jo refused to meet his eyes as they got into the jeep.

Laughing, Jack started up the car and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. He needed to call home and let his kid and his house know that he was going to be late.

-=-=-=

Yawning, Jack sat up and looked around his room in bleary confusion. It took him a minute to remember that he was in his apartment in LA and not in some imaginary place called Eureka.

Shaking his head, Jack flipped off the alarm clock and stood up. It had to be the weirdest dream that Jack had ever had. After all, there was no way a town like Eureka could exist and, even if it did, Jack would never be that oblivious to an inordinately sexy man like Stark flirting with him.

As far as dreams went, though, it wasn't too bad, though. For all the chaos of Eureka, it seemed like a nice place. A lot of familiar people lived there.

Grabbing a suit, Jack padded out into the hall and rapped loudly on Zoe's door as he walked past the door. "Get up, Zo," he added loudly, for good measure.

"Mmmrphm!" was Zoe's muffled response. Jack suspected that she had said something rude and was lucky to still be too incoherent and sleepy to speak properly.

Chuckling, Jack went into the bathroom and hung his clothes on the door and started the shower running. He was in for a long day at the police station. His new partner, Junior Detective Josephina (Jo) Lupo, was a spitfire, much like the Deputy Jo Lupo in his dream. Right now, things were a bit rocky between them, but the relaxed, friendly relationship he'd had with the version of her in his dream gave him hope that maybe they could manage that for real. Though… he'd probably never manage to get her to take notes at a crime scene.

-=-=-=

Nathan walked into his classroom at the university and wondered, not for the first time, how he'd gotten himself into this situation. Allison had this way of being persuasive in a manner that got him to do things that he hated doing. For instance… convincing him that taking a job at her university as a Mathematics professor.

He hated teaching, he hated students, and he hated schmoozing on Allison's behalf for the University. Basically, he really hated Allison right now. At least, he hated her right up until the moment she showed up, batted her eyes, and asked him to do something. For supposedly having a high IQ, Nathan could never seem to see through her ploys until after he was doing something for her again. This was supposed to have ended when they finalized the divorce, dammit.

Of course, Nathan had figured he'd have stopped dreaming about her by now. Except… the dreams weren't about him and her but him and this dream guy – Jack Carter – who seemed like an average sort of person off the street. Only Carter wasn't really average, because then how could he regularly come up with answers to problems that the scientists of Eureka couldn't fix? And there was no way that Nathan could feel so attracted to someone who was 'merely' average. His type had always been quick-thinking, snarky, and sexy, a bill which Jack Carter fit perfectly.

The only problem being that Jack Carter was a dream.

Stupid dreams.

"Nathan, there you are."

Going back to the topic of she-devils… "Yes, because clearly the last place I'd be thirty minutes before my first class starts would be in the classroom making certain that my lecture notes will actually show up on the overhead screen today." The day before, the overhead had been malfunctioning and Nathan had wowed his first period class with a demonstration of applied mathematics in the form of engineering. Then, when the damn thing still wouldn't turn on, he'd smacked it with a screwdriver handle and felt very pleased when it purred life and didn't so much as flicker for the rest of the day.

Allison looked amused; clearly the story had gotten back to her already. "I've recently been approached by the city Mayor's Office with an interesting proposition." She paused and put on her most charming smile. Nathan cringed mentally as he was already well aware that this was not going to end well for him. "It's been put forth that it might be a good idea for our math department to help out the LAPD by analyzing major crimes as they occur."

"Clearly the Mayor's Office has been watching too many episodes of Numb3rs," Nathan drawled. "Please tell me that the reason you're relating this to me is because you thought I'd find it hilarious and not because you did something insane like agree with them."

"It would make for great PR for the university, Nathan," Allison pleaded, batting her eyes.

"Allie…" Nathan wondered exactly how to convey how very unhappy he was here and how much worse this would make him feel.

"Just try it once, Nathan. You could really help make a difference." She beamed at him, patted his arm, and flounced out.

"I didn't say 'yes'," Nathan called after her, completely ineffectually. Eying his empty coffee mug, Nathan decided that he was completely justified in getting another cup. Obviously it was going to be one of those days.

-=-=-=

Jack shifted uncomfortably under the glare that Jo was pinning him with. He'd shown up with Dunkin' Donuts coffee for himself, but none for her, and she was taking it personally. She was his rookie, for goodness sake, yet…

He glared back and, a bit startled, Jo straightened up. A slightly guilty expression stole across her face. Feeling better now, Jack let his glare fade and he smiled at her. "So, Jo, how was your date last night?" The day before, Jo had been going on about a date with a graduate student she'd been looking forward to.

"I… I'm not sure. Zane was cute and funny and… we got along well, but…"

"What?"

"He's a genius and, well, I'm just a detective." She scowled and pulled out her handgun in order to start dismantling it.

"Jo, I highly doubt he was expecting the next Einstein," Jack drawled. Hastily, seeing her glare reappear, he added, "he was probably expecting a beautiful girl, who's intelligent about things other than whatever his field of study is, and would be interesting and fun to converse with."

"Yeah, and he got me," Jo grumped.

"Mmhmm, and if he's really as smart as you think he is, then he realized he got a better date than he'd expected and will be trying for another date with you as soon as possible." Jack grinned, pleased to see a smile work its way onto Jo's face.

"Flatterer."

Laughing, Jack stood up and nodded his head in the Chief's direction. "Looks like we've got a case."

A/N - This is finished and five chapters total. The next installment should be up either tomorrow or Monday; I'm not sure which. I hope what's written so far is enjoyable. ^_^