The silence that echoed in the time lab was deafening to Jack's ears. The last few particles of Nathan Stark were leaving the chamber, but Jack couldn't bring himself to watch. This couldn't be real. This wasn't supposed to be how it ended. Nathan was supposed to live, get re-married to Allison, and live happily for the rest of his, hopefully, long life. Despite the fact that Jack was completely in love with the man, he would have sat back and let Nathan live his life with another person, as long as he was happy. Everyone in town knew that Allison Blake made Nathan happy, so Jack had been content to play the part of a happy and supportive friend to Allison, as well as to Nathan, but he had to keep up appearances of hating the man. But now? Nathan Stark didn't exist anymore, and it was Jack's fault. If he had gotten into the chamber before Nathan could, then those around him wouldn't be on the receiving end of such bad news.
Of course, if Jack had died in Nathan's place, people would still mourn, but they would eventually move on. Zoe would be devastated, but she would still have her mother, and god-forbid, her boyfriend, so she too would move on eventually. Jack knew the people of the town liked their sheriff. He knew that they would grieve if he were to die, but they didn't need him. The entire town needed Nathan. He was an inspiration, a mentor, and a friend to those he deemed worthy. How was he supposed to break the news to the town, let alone Allison? Jack couldn't help but stare at the now empty chamber in front of him, a single tear making a path down his cheek. How was he supposed to move on when the man he loved no longer existed?
~~~~~ Time Skip~~~~~
Jack sat at a booth in Café Diem, sitting across from a sullen faced Allison, a sense of déjà vu overcoming him. It had been four months since he found himself in this same position, and it had been a six months since Nathan's death. Half a year since the entire town stood around his empty grave, silent tears streaming down their faces. Allison had taken Kevin and left town shortly after his funeral, needing to get away from things for a while. No one had questioned her disappearance, but when she returned two weeks later, a bright smile and a new attitude, people started to worry; especially Jack. Having still been in mourning himself, however, Jack let it slide for a month. Then Allison appeared at his door late one night and practically jumped him. He had been over Allison for a long, long time, but he liked the way Nathan looked when he got jealous, so he kept up with the flirting. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Allison hadn't caught on to this, so when Jack turned her down, he wasn't prepared for the amount of tears she would cry. She wasn't over Nathan's death, nor was she ready for a relationship, and they both knew it, but she needed someone who understood her pain to help her get through it, so Jack took the position.
They became closer than before, not as lovers, but as friends. They were more like brother and sister than lovers, and they were okay with that. After four months of their relationship staying at this dynamic, Allison made a confession. They had been sitting at the same booth in Café Diem, Kevin was writing in his journal, some sort of equation Jack guessed. Allison ordered a salad, some kind of oriental salad from what he could tell, and Jack got his usual. "Jack, can I tell you something? Something important that you can never tell anyone?" Jack nodded, immediately sensing the tense atmosphere. Allison sighed, glancing at Kevin out of the corner of her eye quickly, before looking back at Jack. "I always loved Nathan, even after we got divorced. But when we started to get intimate again, I wasn't 'in love with him', I just loved him like I always did. I agreed to marry him because he was familiar. We already knew each other, so we knew which ways we worked together, and which ways we didn't. I don't know if we would have lasted, but I had hoped we could. But now, after six months, I can safely say that we probably wouldn't have lasted an entire year. Neither one of us was a good match, my first priority will always be Kevin. And no matter how hard he tried, Nathan wasn't in love with me either." Jack was quiet for a moment, allowing her words to sink in, before he gave one nod. She didn't need someone to comfort her right now. She just needed to tell someone what she had been holding in for a long time. After than moment, the conversation was lighter, no talk of Nathan, but just because no words were spoken about him, didn't mean he wasn't constantly on Jack's mind.
Now, two months later, sitting in the exact same booth, Jack grew weary as Allison wouldn't meet his eye. Kevin was at school, leaving the two of them to themselves. Normally that would be fine, but today, Jack could tell that something was wrong. "Jack, I need to tell you something." Those familiar words rushed through his brain, and Jack immediately came to the worst possible conclusion, but what followed made him smile. "I'm pregnant." Two words. That's all she had to do before the grin took over his face. The following six months were hard on both of them. They grew together, not as a couple, but as a family. When Allison gave birth to a baby girl, Jack was ecstatic. She might not have been his, but she was his only link to Nathan Stark and he loved her as if she was his own. So for another year, they lived as one, slightly odd, happy family. Then the accident happened.
~~~~~ Time Skip~~~~~
Jack sighed in relief as the familiar sight of Eureka, in its present day, greeted him. Time travel in the movies was one of the coolest inventions, but in real life, it was much more terrifying. Glancing around he didn't spot any immediate changes, but when he examined his surroundings closely, he saw the minor changes. The statue of Archimedes wasn't granite any longer, and Jack could only hope that was as far as the changes went. But as he rushed back to his home, his heart grew weary at the sight of other minor changes. It wasn't much, but when he would see the sight of a house that was red when it used to be white, or a cherry tree where there used to be an oak tree, his chest would grow tight.
When he pulled into his normal parking spot outside the bunker, Jack let out a sigh. So far the bunker looked the same, but that didn't mean much. Stepping carefully towards the door, Jack decided he was being stupid, and rolled his eyes. Flying the rest of the way down the stairs and into the bunker, Jack held his breath as he looked around. Once again, it only seemed like minor changes had happened. There was a black jacket resting on the railing of the stairs. Where he usually placed his keys and gun holster on the table next to the door, there was another set of keys and a wallet. His curiosity with who the wallet belonged to was only outweighed by his need to make sure Zoe was still safe.
"SARAH, is Zoe still at Harvard?" Jack waited anxiously, hoping that at least that part of his life was still the same.
"Jack, are you feeling alright? You know Zoe's at MIT, not Harvard." Jack stood, frozen to his spot. The voice had come from behind him, from the direction of the kitchen. It wasn't so much the fact that he heard the voice, as it was who that voice belonged to. That voice belonged to a dead man. A dead man that just so happened to be standing behind him. "Jack?" The feeling of a body standing close behind him caused Jack to tense, but he still couldn't make his legs move. It wasn't until he felt the slightly rough hands of the man behind him on his arms that his legs started to move. Turning around so fast Jack could have sworn he got whiplash, but at the moment, that didn't matter. All he could see was the man in front of him, looking down at him with those bright green eyes, filled with concern and another emotion he didn't dare to name.
Jack didn't say a word, just backed up slightly. The hurt that flitted across Nathan's face was enough to make Jack cringe, but Nathan immediately covered up any emotion, replacing it with the indifferent mask that Jack had come to know. "Jack, tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if you don't tell me, you know that." Jack let out a sharp breath, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Standing in front of him was Nathan Stark; the man he loved. Jack had had dreams of this moment for two years, but he knew it wasn't possible. Yet here he was, alive and concerned for Jack's wellbeing. Jack couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and before he knew it, he had collapsed back onto the couch and held his head in his hands. Nathan, for his part, looked like he wanted to comfort Jack, but knew it would only make it worse. Nathan knelt in front of Jack, trying to get the blonde man to meet his eye, before letting out a sigh. "Jack," Nathan tried once more, "please." The sound of Nathan Stark's voice breaking slightly with the amount of emotion had Jack almost falling into the man's arms, but Jack held back, if only slightly.
"You have to promise you won't tell anyone, and you can't go to the DOD." Nathan nodded immediately, looking hurt at the fact that Jack didn't trust him. Jack let out one last sigh and he wiped the tears off his face, trying to gather his bearings. "Earlier today, I guess, myself, Henry, Allison, Jo, and Fargo were at the Founders Day parade when we somehow ended up in 1947. We tried to not change anything, but something must have changed and when we got back to present time, everything was different. At first it was just small things, the statue of Archimedes used to be granite, a house down the way that used to be white was now red. Then when I got here, I just-". Jack let out a sigh, frustration at his predicament taking over. Jack looked up at Nathan, taking in the man's stoic expression. Nathan was still staring into the blonde's eyes, searching for something. He must have found whatever he was searching for, as the green eyed man moved his hand to rest on Jacks shoulder.
"What were the major changes once you got here, Jack?" Jack couldn't hold back a bitter laugh, but he responded anyway, rubbing a hand down his face.
"Zoe went to Harvard for Medicine, not MIT," Jack paused, looking away from the man still kneeling before him, "and you were dead." Jack's gaze refused to deviate from the floor, trying to focus on all the different colors that made up the off white carpet. Hearing Nathan gasp slightly made Jack glance back up to see the taller man swaying a little, as if Jack's words had knocked him off balance.
"How did I die?" He asked. Jack looked into his shocked, green eyes before he answered.
"Two years ago there was an accident in the Time Lab. Leo Weinbrenner was working on some project, but he was about to get laid off since Thorne was making budget cuts. I don't understand the science of it, but he built his own time loop to stop himself from being fired, that way he could keep working on his project until he got results, and hopefully keep his job, but something went wrong. After Weinbrenner realized it wasn't happening the way it was supposed to, he tried to stop it, but he ended up dead in the process, only his charred remains were found. Somehow I had gotten caught in the time loop, and every time I went through another loop, I would get injured. The more loops I went through, the worse the injuries, but some of them seemed to disappear randomly. Henry later told me that he thought it was because the injuries were bleeding through from a different reality.
Jack sighed again, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him, who seemed to be absorbing Jack's every word. "I ended up being able to convince you that I wasn't crazy, and you and Fargo helped to end the loop. You were supposed to marry Allison again that day, but you sacrificed yourself in order to stop the loop altogether. Using the Swiss Clock GD had just gotten, you were able to stop the loop with some kind of complicated science at the precise moment in time needed, but you disappeared, piece by piece in front of my eyes." Jack did his best to hold his emotions in check, but he couldn't help it when his voice cracked slightly at the end. Resting his face in his hands, Jack was determined to not meet the scientist's eyes, but Nathan's hands pulled Jack's away from his face and held them tightly in his own.
"Jack, I-," Nathan let out a sigh before continuing. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you-". Jack couldn't help the humorless laugh that bubbled out of his throat, causing the green eyed man to falter for a second. "Jack?"
"You want to know the worst part?" Jack knew he sounded slightly hysterical, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "The worst part is right before you started to disappear, you said 'see you around, Jack'. I didn't even get to say goodbye before you were gone, and I didn't even get to tell you that I l-." Jack let out a sigh, rubbing the heel of his palms over his eyes vigorously. "It wasn't fair." Jack couldn't hold back the tears that threatened to fall any longer. As soon as Nathan realized that Jack was crying, the taller man moved to sit next to Jack, wrapping his arms around the blonde, and pulled him in close, letting Jack cry into his chest. After a few minutes, Jack began to feel himself calm down slightly. Whether it was his own doing, or the fact that Nathan was rubbing a hand across Jack's shoulders while whispering comforting words in his ear, Jack didn't know. He did, however, know that he should probably move away from the man, knowing how Nathan wasn't exactly big on people invading his personal space, but when Jack tried to move away, Nathan would only tighten his grip. Eventually Jack gave up and just let himself be held by the man he loved, even if it was a different version of him.
"Jack, there are some things you need to know. Two years ago, Leo Weinbrenner died in a lab accident. He was doing just as you said, but instead of myself getting into the chamber, Allison got in instead. I wasn't going to get married to her, she was renewing her vows with her husband, Daniel Blake. I was at the reception as Daniel's best man when Allison sacrificed herself." Jack took a moment to let that sink in, hating himself for feeling slightly relieved that it meant Nathan was still here, before he gasped and scrambled to get out of Nathan's embrace. Nathan, sensing his panic, let him sit up before grabbing his shoulders and holding him still. "What's wrong, Jack?" The concerned green eyes connected with panic filled blue eyes.
"Allison! She's dead in your time, but she was with us when we arrived here. If anyone sees her…" Jack trailed off, watching as Nathan's eyes grew wide, before the scientist pulled out his phone and pressed a few random numbers.
"Daniel, I need you to listen to me. Get the kids and come to the bunker. It's an emergency." With that, Nathan hung up, watching as Jack's eyebrows rose slightly. "I don't want to tell him over the phone for many reasons, and I don't want to risk him seeing Allison before he's ready." Jack nodded at that and relaxed slightly in his seat. "Jack, I know this must be hard for you, but you need to understand that I'll help you through it, I promise." The look in Nathan's eyes held determination and love, but Jack wouldn't admit that he recognized that last one. Nodding slightly, Jack drew in a deep breath.
"I- um, I'm not complaining or anything, but what exactly are we in this time?" Jack could feel the slight blush that rose on his neck, glad that the old uniform he was wearing covered it up, mostly. Glancing at the green eyed man quickly, he was met by the growing, trademark smirk of Nathan's. Jack almost wanted to curse his name when he felt his blush deepen, and knew Nathan could see it by now, with the tips of Jack's ears turning bright red. Nathan didn't say a word, just held out his left hand for Jack. Jack was impressed with himself for not letting out the shocked gasp that so desperately crawled at his throat. On Nathan's left hand, on his ring finger, sat a simple looking, silver wedding band. Jack realized a little too late that his fingers were tracing the ring on Nathan's hand. Pulling his hand back in shock, and slight embarrassment, Jack coughed once, then stood. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Nathan's face was void of expression, but his eyes held confusion and curiosity. Jack ran a hand down his face once more, aware that he was probably going to go prematurely gray from stress.
"Your Jack," Jack started. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Neither of them spoke, letting the silence drift on between them, before Nathan broke the silence.
"He's not gone, not completely anyway. You are Jack, even though you haven't lived through the memories I may have with him. So far, in just the past few minutes, you've proven to be my Jack. While I'll miss him, he's never truly gone, especially when I can still feel the life bond connected to you." Jack will admit that his mouth hung open, rather unattractively mind you, as the words sunk in. When he got to the part about the life bond, he felt like a fish out of water with his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Before he could question Nathan on his terminology, however, SARAH announced that Daniel Blake was at the door. Nathan stood, his smirk still in place while leaving Jack standing there looking like an idiot. Opening the door, a tall, dark skinned man walked in with a concerned look on his face. Kevin, looking exactly the same, walked behind who Jack assumed was Daniel, and a little girl, not Jenna, Jack realized, was in the man's arms.
"Nathan, what's going on?" Daniel asked. Jack sighed, knowing this conversation wouldn't be easy. Nathan clapped a hand on Daniel's shoulder before leading him to the couch.
"Kevin, how about you take Eliza into the kitchen. Maybe, if you ask nice enough, SARAH will make you guys a milkshake," Nathan told the boy. Kevin grinned at Nathan, giving him a small nod, then took Eliza's hand and led her to the kitchen. Jack tried not to stare, he really did, but when Kevin didn't show any signs of his normal, autistic self, Jack couldn't help it. Daniel coughed slightly, noticing the way Jack was staring, and gave the blonde a curious look, before taking the proffered seat.
"Alright, will someone tell me what the hell is going on? You said it was an emergency, Nathan." Daniel was getting annoyed, Jack could tell. Nathan took the seat next to Daniel, Jack sitting in the armchair across from them.
"Daniel, I know this is going to be a shock, but it's true, I promise." Nathan sighed, glancing at Jack for a moment, then turned back to the confused man next to him. "Earlier today, Jack and a few others were at the Founder's Day Parade when something happened. I'm not sure what, as Jack didn't quite know himself, but Jack and the group with him found themselves at Camp Eureka in 1947. They managed to get back to the proper time, but they ended up changing events which caused the time they came back to to be slightly different." Daniel nodded a little, seeming to at least understand that much.
"You do realize they could get sanctioned for this? You shouldn't even be telling me this in the first place. What if the DOD finds out?" Nathan gave the man a small smile.
"I trust you, but that's not the reason I'm telling you. I'm telling you this because it's affected you as well. In Jack's original time, I was the one that stopped the Weinbrenner incident, not Allison." Nathan let the words hang in the air for a moment, allowing the shocked man in front of him to think. "Daniel, Allison from Jack's time was one of the people in the group that ended up here." Jack was impressed that the man didn't get up and immediately start throwing things around. Instead, the man turned to Jack and stared at him for a few minutes. Just when Jack was about to say something, Daniel opened his mouth to speak.
"Allison's alive?" The sheer emotion in Daniel's words had Jack nodding, unable to speak due to his constricted throat. "How- how is she?" Jack's heart went out to this man, knowing he had missed his wife more than anything.
"Allison is fine. She's probably going to be a little shocked when she sees you, but knowing her, she'll be happier than anything." At Daniel's confused, yet grateful, smile, Jack continued. "You should probably know that in my time you died in a lab accident before Kevin was born. She doesn't know you exist in this time line, but she's always loved you the same." Daniel let out a shuddering breath, feeling the emotional toll go through him. Jack sat back after that, allowing the two men in front of him the space needed to discuss the matter of consequences should anyone find out, then Jack's phone started to ring. Confused at the fact that it even worked, Jack slowly pulled it from his pocket and answered.
"Hello?"
"Jack! Good, I've been trying to get a hold of everyone for a while, but no one has answered besides you. Where are you?" The slightly frantic voice of Henry came through the small speaker of Jack's phone.
"I'm at the bunker. Henry, there's a few things I need to tell you." Jack sighed. He knew this conversation wasn't going to be an easy one. Already two people knew about the time travel incident and Jack knew Henry wouldn't be too ecstatic about that. "For one, Nathan's alive, Henry." Jack waited patiently for Henry to gather himself, before he continued. He thought he heard the sound of Henry falling into a chair, he presumed.
"Nathan? He's alive?" Henry's voice was filled with shock and joy and Jack was sure Henry had tears in his eyes.
"Yeah, he's alive, and so is Daniel Blake." Henry started to laugh, and before he knew it, Jack joined in. He had to admit, Jack never thought he'd be in this situation. It was weird, even by Eureka standards.
"Daniel Blake. I never thought I'd hear that name again. How is Allison holding up?" Henry asked. Jack sucked in a breath, not quite sure how to answer that. Eventually he sighed and rubbed his right hand down his face. Jack could see both men watching him, Nathan's gaze filled with curiosity and concern.
"I don't know, to be honest. But that's not even the half of it. Henry, Allison was the one who took Nathan's place in the time loop incident. She's not supposed to be alive in this time." Henry sighed, understanding the predicament they now faced.
"We need to find Allison then, and hopefully figure out how to avoid people knowing what happened."
"Yeah, about that. Both Nathan and Daniel know what happened." Jack sat, patiently waiting the verbal dressing down he was going to receive, but surprisingly, none came.
"Well, that will make things a little easier I guess. We'll have to all meet up and figure out what to do next. Have you heard from the others?" Jack almost shook his head, but remembered last second that Henry couldn't see him.
"No, but I know Allison is probably at home, most likely freaking out about the absence of her kids. Jo would be heading to Zane, and I have no idea what Fargo would be up to. Just as long as he isn't streaking through the town. Again." Jack sighed, rolling his eyes at the memory he'd rather he didn't have.
"What? Director Fargo did that?" Daniel asked. Jack couldn't help the laugh at his words, wiping away imaginary tears.
"Dir-director Fargo?" Even Henry could be heard laughing on the other end of the phone. After a full minute of laughing, Jack noticed neither man in front of him thought it was amusing, though Nathan had a fond smile on his face. "You can't be serious? Douglas Fargo is the Director of GD?" Jack waited for both men to nod. "Who in their right minds would make him the director?" Jack almost had to laugh again when Henry could be heard agreeing with him through the speaker. Nathan and Daniel glanced at one another before turning back to Jack.
"We did, Jack. After the event with the Artifact, everyone thought it was best if someone else was to take over as the Director in mine and Daniel's place. After discussing it with the DOD, everyone, including you, agreed that Fargo was capable enough. He's been running GD ever since, and doing a fairly good job of it," Nathan said. Jack was stunned. He couldn't believe the fact that he, Jack Carter, or was it Jack Stark now, had agreed to let Fargo be the Director of GD. Even Jack could admit to the fact that Fargo had definitely grown as a person, and matured quite a bit, but he didn't think Fargo was quite ready for the pressure of his day job. Jack nodded, staring at the men in front of him, before shaking his shock off and returning back to his conversation with Henry.
"Okay, well we still have to find everyone, then we can all discuss the next steps. Where should we meet?" Jack asked.
"I'd suggest somewhere safe where no prying eyes and ears will be. I'd say my place, but it seems to be occupied by a wife I never knew I had, so how about we just gather everyone up and meet at your place instead?" Henry asked. Jack smiled at his friends words. It seemed as if he wasn't the only one to be married in this time.
"That should be okay, Nathan and Daniel are already here, though maybe we should be careful when we explain this to Allison." Jack sighed. He was not looking forward to explaining this to Allison. He wasn't sure how she would take the news.
"Agreed. How about I go track down Fargo and Jo, and I'll leave Allison to you. You two were pretty close, so she might take the news better from you." Jack nodded, forgetting that Henry wasn't in the room with him and couldn't see him. The resulting blush when the two scientist's in the room laughed made Jack glare in their direction.
"Yeah, you're right. You know where to find Jo? She'll probably be in the station confronting Zane about his marriage proposal. On second thought, be careful when you go in there. I'm not too sure if they'll be decent enough to answer right away." Henry laughed once more before hanging up. Jack placed his phone back in the stiff uniform from 1947. "I'm going to go change, then I'm out of here. You got things under control?" Jack asked Nathan. Nathan gave him that trademark smirk again, causing Jack's heart to skip a beat.
"Do you doubt my abilities, Sheriff?" Jack grinned and shook his head, before heading upstairs to change into his normal uniform. Taking his time, Jack let his mind wander down to the people in his, no, their, living room. Despite the amount of differences between this time and the one they came from, Jack couldn't help but hope that there would be no way to get back to the original time. He had Zoe, even if she was at a different school, and now he had Nathan too. Allison, even if she didn't know it at the moment, had Kevin and Eliza, which reminded him to look into Jenna, and now she had Daniel once more. Fargo would be insanely happy with his new position as Director of GD. Jack gave one last snort at that thought before he reigned in his amusement. Henry had a wife, not that Jack knew who it was, but if they were anything like their doubles, then Henry would have made a good choice in his spouse. Jo was the only one Jack didn't know about, but if everything with Zane went normally, then none of them really had a reason to want to return. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad…
