Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka or its characters.
"I love you."
Jack Carter's heart stopped at the sound of those three words. She loved him. He looked at the door as she walked out. Jack let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and continued to stare at the door.
"Well, I feel like an ass," he mumbled to himself before plopping down onto the couch. Unfortunately for him, S.A.R.A.H. heard him and decided to respond.
"You should," she said in her robotic voice. "I don't know what happened. You two were so happy together."
S.A.R.A.H. then brought up the many pictures she had of Jack and Tess together for him to look at. An overwhelming feeling of happiness flooded his entire body as he looked at the many smiling pictures of Tess and himself together from the past year. He could see the love in her eyes, and the love in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm SUCH an ass," he called out to no one in particular as he grabbed his keys, jumped off the couch, and ran out the door. It wasn't until he made it to his Jeep that he heard it: the sound of sniffling. His eyes scanned the darkness for the source of the sound.
"Tess…"
There she was, sitting on the ground against her car in tears.
"Sorry," she sniffled. "I was just leaving."
As she began to move to get up, Jack spoke.
"Wait." He moved to sit down next. "Tess, I'm sorry," Jack started.
Tess scoffed through her tears. "You said that already. Right before you told me to move to Australia."
Jack winced at the bitterness in her voice. He deserved it, and he had no idea how to respond. They sat quietly as Jack tried to think of something to say. Suddenly, his brain told him what to do. "Let's go somewhere," he said.
"Carter, I really don't feel like going anywhere with you."
Jack got up and dusted his pants off. He then turned towards Tess and extended his hand out for her. "Please."
Tess sighed and took his hand. She had such a weak spot for the man in front of her. He pulled her up and led her to the passenger side of his Jeep. He opened the door for her to get in. She may have been mad at Jack Carter, but he could still be a gentleman. Tess got in the car and waited for Jack to start driving.
After driving in silence for a few minutes, Tess couldn't stand it. "Where are we going, Jack?"
He smiled at her. "You'll see."
Tess stared out the window as Jack continued driving. She was exhausted from the embarrassing about of tears she shed, but she couldn't help it. One minute the man she loves was asking her to move in, and the next minute he's breaking up with her. She couldn't help but wonder what she did wrong.
Jack finally stopped at his destination, and turned to Tess. She had dozed off. Even after all the pain he had caused her, she still looked peaceful in her sleep. Deciding not to disturb her, he sat quietly, thinking of the next words he was going to say to her. He thought back to the pictures S.A.R.A.H. showed him. They looked so perfect together. Truthfully, he was crushed when Tess broke up with him before the timeline changed. He broke up with her before she could with him. Jack was pulled out of thought by the sound of Tess stirring in her seat. She turned and looked at him with a sleepy smile when she remembered the event of the day.
"I'm sorry. I must have dozed off," she said, her face turning into a look of shock. Jack looked at her with a genuine smile. He got out of the car and walked to the other side to let her out.
"Come on," he said, gently leading her out of the vehicle. "Do you remember this place?"
Tess looked up at the night sky. "How could I forget? Our first date: watching the meteor shower."
Jack gave her a nod and climbed up onto the hood of the Jeep, then extended his hand out for Tess. "Upsy-daisy," he said, pulling her up to lie on the hood with him.
They looked up at twinkling stars together when Tess spoke. "Why are we here, Jack? You broke up with me."
"Tess…I'm sorry."
"Are we back to this?" Tears started forming in Tess's eyes, again.
"Just hear me out, Tess," Jack almost pleaded. Tess wiped her tears and nodded, doing her best to keep it together.
"Did you mean it when you said you love me?"
Tess nodded weakly. "But you don't love me," she whispered.
"No. Tess, that's not true," Jack quickly responded.
"You said we weren't meant to be! What am I supposed to think?" Tess spat out angrily.
Jack sighed and decided to just say it. "I'm going to tell you something, but it's going to be a bit hard to swallow. And you can't tell anyone."
Tess scoffed, "We live in Eureka. I've learned to accept anything can happen."
"I'm serious. You have to promise me you won't tell anyone."
Tess heard the urgency in Jack's voice and looked at him. Seeing the seriousness in his face, she nodded. "I promise."
"I'm…I'm not the Jack Carter you know," Jack said with hesitance.
"I could have told you that," Tess interrupted.
"Tess. Listen. I went back in time. Well, Jo, Fargo, Alison, Henry, and I went back in time. And when we came back, everything was different. We were…well, we were here. A new world."
Jack waited for a response from Tess. He was nervous. He had no idea how she was going to react. Finally, she slowly began to speak. "So, you're saying you went back in time…and changed your present?"
"Yes."
Suddenly, Tess shot up to a sitting position. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Jack, there are military protocols. They're going to isolate you. And sanction you." She turned to look at him. "Jack…they could kill you."
Jack sat up and took her hands into his. "Not if they don't know. You can't tell anyone."
Tess nodded, "I already promised."
They both laid back down onto the hood of the car. Tess turned to look at Jack, again. "Jack, were we together in your timeline? We obviously went on our date here."
"Yes we did. It was a great date. We were doing well in my timeline."
"But…"
"But you went to Australia. We tried the long distance thing, but you… we couldn't do it. We ended it, but it was… devastating."
Tess was shocked. She couldn't imagine breaking up with Jack. She loved him. "Jack, I'm so sorry."
Jack chuckled. "Now who's apologizing?"
Tess smiled and lightly smacked him. "I'm serious. I'm sorry that I hurt you."
Jack took her hand into his again. "Don't be. It wasn't you that broke up with me. It was a mutual thing. You and I… we couldn't… well, I mean… not you… other you…"
Tess gave an amused look to the flustered Jack. I was quite entertaining.
"The point is," Jack continued, "I broke up with you earlier because I was afraid of being hurt, again. I ended up hurting you, and I'm so sorry."
Tess brought Jack's hand to her lips and kissed it. "I didn't go to Australia. I stayed here with you."
"You were happy in Australia."
"I'm happy with you."
Jack started rubbing circles on Tess's hand with his thumb. "And I'm happy with you."
Tess smiled. "What are you saying?"
Jack turned to look up at the stars. "I can't predict the future, but maybe we can make this work."
"So I can put my cat on the mantle?"
Jack let out a nervous laugh and began stammering.
"I'm kidding, Jack," Tess said, learning her head on Jack's shoulder. "We can take it slow."
Jack sighed in relief. "I'm going to do my best to be the Jack that you love."
Tess shook her head at him. "Just be you."
They fell into a comfortable silence gazing up at the stars. After a while, Tess spoke. "What else has changed for you five?"
Jack scratched his head. "I don't know where to begin, but I can tell you that six of us came back."