Flash Forward Chapter 7


April 29th dawned bright, and very early for most of the residents of Eureka. Jack was relieved when he looked at his bedside clock for what felt like the three hundredth time during that night. Relieved that SARAH wouldn't give him too much stress about getting up, it was 5am and he'd had about half an hour of uninterrupted sleep during the whole night.

He didn't actually need to be up so early, he Henry and Zane had figured out they should start their procedure at 10.43 hours, but he couldn't face staying in bed for another minute. And he had to go round up Fargo's group before then and get them all to GD's infirmary.

So he flung off his sheets, got up and padded directly downstairs into the bathroom for his morning ablutions and a shower.

Twenty minutes later he was staring at a bowl of oatmeal that SARAH had made for him, watching it cool, while he was telling himself that he really, really had to eat it. Knowing his AI wouldn't actually let him out of the bunker if all he had for breakfast was a coffee he forced himself to swallow a few spoonfuls before grabbing his stuff and heading for the door.

"Good luck, Sheriff," SARAH said to him as she opened the front door for him. "Let me know how it goes."

"I will, SARAH." Jack assured her with a smile, one he actually felt like giving. "Thanks for all your help, we couldn't have gotten this far without you."

"My pleasure, Jack," she replied fondly, her tone showing him that, and he nodded and patted the wall awkwardly.

"I'll let you know what's going on as soon as I can," he said to her, then stopped as he thought quickly. "Actually, I've got a better idea. Why don't you download into Henry's computers? You can supervise from there." he suggested. "I've just remembered you were in Henry's lab, doing lots of things while we were getting Nathan back."

SARAH was silent for a few moments while she considered it. Then: "Good idea, Jack. I will be there by nine am."

He nodded, grinned and patted the door frame again, and left, whistling to himself as he walked to his Jeep. He tried not to worry as he drove into town, he needed to be on top form today, as well as any other day, but it was difficult. At least there was no one else on the roads as he drove carefully to the Sheriff's office, it was like one of those end of the world movies where he was the only person left alive. It was freaky.

Luckily though, before he had started to really panic, he got to the office and found Jo and Pete already there. "Morning," Jack greeted the pair of them with a relieved grin.

"Carter." Jo replied with a smile, and handed him a large Vinspresso as she did so.

Pete nodded his greeting too, and saluted him with his own bucket of coffee. "D day, Jack." he commented. "You ready?"

It was a loaded question. Was he ready? Was he ever ready for a GD experiment, especially one with such high stakes? "No." he replied with a shake of his head. "But that's never stopped anything before."

"I hear you." Jo said with a nod. "Which is why everything has been planned to the last second." she informed him. She reached for a PAD from the desk next to her and handed it to her boss who took it with a frown. "It's your timetable for today." she explained to him. "Well," she added, her smile turning sly. "Until about eleven anyway. And first thing you've got to do is round up the rest of Pete's group. We've got to get them to GD's infirmary by oh eight thirty."

So Jack found his day/morning planned out, which stopped him from fretting about it – much. Instead he spent about an hour rounding up Fargo's group to get them to the infirmary at Global, whether they wanted it or not. he only had to arrest of one them, Lisa, who REALLY didn't want to go with him, despite him using his most persuasive manner.

Fargo was the last on his list, on his route back, and he climbed into the Jeep's passenger seat with a nervous smile. "Morning." he greeted the Sheriff and tried to smile at Jack's answering one.

"You look like crap, Fargo." Jack replied. "Not slept?"

The scientist shook his head and turned to the other two seated in the back of the Jeep. He smiled at Marc, the security guard, who grinned back, and frowned at Lisa and her wrists handcuffed and in her lap. He opened his mouth to say something but then thought better of it and turned back to face front. Buckling up he faced Jack and pointed out of the front windshield. "Let's go, Sheriff." he said brightly, and sat back to enjoy the ride.

The journey was uneventful and they got to Global without mishap. Staff from the infirmary were waiting for them when Jack shepherded the trio in, and he looked around the area to see the others of Fargo's group were already there. That had been the plan: to get them here, all safe and sound, and sedate them all to keep them out of the way. Yes, they had discussed ideas between Jo, Jack, a couple of other people and the group, and the overwhelming conclusion was Fargo at the very least needed to be kept away from any buttons, switches, devices in general for the duration. And all, apart from Lisa, seemed to be in agreement that they would join him.

So here they were, all of them being fitted with IV's and sedatives, just enough to keep them unconscious for the duration.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Fargo asked him as they waiting for him to be seen by the next available technician. "The reason I didn't have a flash forward is because I was asleep, sedated, because I didn't have a flash forward."

Jack looked down at him with a faint smile. "I'd much prefer you asleep being the reason, Fargo." he told him sincerely. "Than anything else."

Doug thought for a moment before he nodded. "Me too." he agreed. "Me too."

They didn't have to wait long; the infirmary was busy with as many staff as possible to make sure if anything drastic happened they were ready for it. Jack waited for Doug to be seen and ensconced into a bed, all drugged up, and he smiled at him, hopefully encouragingly. "Close your eyes, Doug." he told him with a smile; in a tone he used to use with Zoe when she was a kid. "Go to sleep. I'll fill you in on everything later, I promise."

Fargo smiled and nodded before he closed his eyes and settled. He was asleep in moments, and Jack stayed only long enough to make sure he, and all of the others, were asleep before he left the infirmary and headed for his next job. That was to appear calm and collected on the town's visual intranet system, appealing for calm. Which made him feel like a hypocrite, because despite trying to avoid it, he could feel his own panic rising at every passing minute.

But he forced himself to do the other two jobs Jo had written down for him, and walked into Henry's lab about twenty minutes before the start time.


He walked into the lab and stood back to watch for a few moments. One thing he loved about Henry was however frazzled and panicked he looked; he was always in control. As now. Spencer was in the lab with him and Henry was speaking loudly, giving the younger man terse instructions as they both stood in front of computers, typing furiously.

Henry had arranged the lab as they had seen it in their flash forwards – he had moved the computers to the centre of the space and arranged the clock, and the remnants of the original machine in a clear area beyond the computers. Everything else was behind the computers, out of the way, including a large generator that Jack knew was nuclear-powered for the extra boost they were going to need. All of these were hooked up to a frame on the floor next to the clock and time machine, made of silver and aluminium so it was highly conductive.

Jack waited until there seemed to be a lull in the proceedings before he spoke and made his presence felt. "How is it going, Henry?" he said from where he was.

Henry grinned to himself; pleased he had arrived, and turned round to face him. "As ready as we'll ever be." he told him, and beckoned him over with one hand. "I'm pleased you're here, Jack," he told him when the Sheriff approached. "We're all systems go. SARAH is working on the beacon, and she, Zane and Spence have completed the final checks. We're all ready to go."

Jack nodded and looked at the digital clock counting down in pride of place in the middle of the computer bank. It was at sixteen minutes and a few seconds, and he quickly checked his wrist watch against it. They matched, he had set his own countdown earlier in the morning, and he looked up at Henry again. "Is there anything you need me to do?" he asked, virtually pleaded with him. He couldn't stand around and do nothing for fifteen minutes.

Henry knew Jack well enough that he had to be doing something, and he nodded. "Can you go to the infirmary and get some blankets?" he asked. "Its not too far away, it should only take a few minutes."

Jack remembered that the first thing he did was wrap the scientist in a blanket so he nodded. "No problem." he agreed, and jogged out again, just pleased to be doing something. He was conscious of the time though, and wondered about the irony of it all – he'd been waiting for this for a long, very long six months, and now he was running round GD with fifteen minutes to spare.

The staff at the infirmary paid him no mind as he ducked into a store room, the technician checking it let him have four blankets at his quick explanation and he was back out and on his way again.

By the time he got back to Henry's lab, after dodging a couple who really wanted to talk to him, the scientists were getting ready: Henry tweaking something on the generator, Spencer talking with SARAH by the clock. Jack walked over to the young man and studied the machine. It was as he remembered; the clock linked up to it by a few colourful wires, safe in it's liquid helium container.

Spencer grinned at the Sheriff, showing him his excitement. "We could all get Nobels from this." he told him, virtually bouncing on his feet. "How cool would that be, Sheriff? You and me with a Nobel?"

Jack tried to smile at him but he really wasn't in the mood – he was scared. "I just want it to work." he said quietly.

Most people thought the young Spencer was a nerd, a geek with eyes only for explosives and sci fi movies, but he liked to watch people too, liked to decipher the emotions and thoughts of those around him. Jack's non-smile, hunched shoulders, hands clenched into fists, told him how nervous he really was. "It's gonna work, Sheriff." he tried to assure him quietly and nudged him with his elbow to press his point home. "Even if GD has a power cut in the middle of it the generator over there has move than enough juice. It'll be fine."

Jack looked at the earnest young man and started to relax, just a bit. So much so he could take a deep breath and blow it out slowly, rather than hyperventilate as he thought he was going to. "Thanks, Spencer." he told him, and was going to say more, but Henry cleared his throat from behind them.

"Come on, boys." he told them firmly. "Places please!"

Jack stood at the back, out of the way, and he spent the time watching what was happening; listening to SARAH interact, and chewing on his thumbnail. There was nothing he could do at this point, Henry's fingers were flying over the keys of one of his keyboards, Spencer was working on the generator, and it flicked on with a quiet hum.

Henry was shouting instructions to his able assistants, SARAH confirming everything Spencer shouting confirmations back, and soon enough Henry was punching the air in success.

"What…?" Jack asked, stepping forward. Henry turned and grinned at him. "We've got a bite!" he crowed. "Nathan's waiting for us. Spencer! SARAH!" he said, turning quickly back to the other two. "Do it, now!"

Spencer literally jumped in the air and punched the enter key on his keyboard with a shout, and SARAH also called out a loud "affirmative" at the same time.

As soon as that happened the short hairs on the back of Jack's neck seemed to stand up and dance to the movements of the huge amounts of power suddenly arcing through the lab. The noise increased exponentially as numbers, readings and equations ran over innumerable computer screens too quickly for Jack to follow, and all he could do was stand back and wait, something he was very bad at doing. And for only a couple of times in his life Jack found himself murmuring prayers he had thought he'd forgotten, but, as the seconds ticked by, reverted to just two words: "Please, Nathan. Please, please, please…"


Nathan had kept half an eye on the beacon from Eureka wherever he went and he noticed it change almost as soon as SARAH got to work. Guessing what it meant he headed back from his chase of that odd blue box and turned towards his hometown. He was not an idiot; he knew this wasn't going to be easy, it was probably was going to hurt like hell. He did think, for one fleeting moment of heading back out the other way, but it was only fleeting. The beacon's flickering changed again, and it took only a moment for him to figure out what it was. Someone was trying to send him a message in Morse code, and a ripple of amusement flittered through his assembled atoms. It was probably SARAH, he thought to himself, but the wording was all Jack. "GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE, SCIENTIST," and Nathan always did what he was told. Mostly, some of the time, no, hardly ever really. But this time, this time? He headed straight back to Global, pulling his atom-cloud along with him.

He knew exactly where they were working, he could see the huge amount of power surrounding Henry's lab. It was going to hurt, he knew it, but what was a few minutes of pain compared to getting his life back?

With what passed for a sigh in his current form, Nathan pulled himself together, literally, and dove into the centre of the maelstrom.


Alison knew what was happening as soon as the lights flickered off; Henry was using so much energy GD's generators couldn't cope with it. So, despite telling herself she wasn't going to go, she found herself standing when the emergency lights came on, bathing the entirety of GD into a green haze. She took a breath, locked her computer, and headed for the lab at the centre of it all.


Jack gasped quietly when he felt something race past his shoulder towards the clock, time machine and metal frame in the centre space. He knew who it was and he stepped forward, unable to stop himself. Henry was concentrating on the figures scrolling in front of him, waiting for the scanners they'd set up around the lab to tell him when new concentrations of atoms appeared.

There! A large conflagration in the metal frame next to the time machine that had caused this problem in the first place. The scanners in there were suddenly reading millions of extra new atoms, and he grinned in delight. "SARAH! Spence!" he shouted. "Step two! On three … two … ONE!" He trusted the other two to so as they had planned and practised, Henry thumped the big blue button in front of him, as the other two – well – Spence smacked his own blue button, and SARAH flicked the electronic switch on hers, and they all started to monitor the power the generator suddenly shoved into the metal frame in front of them.

And because of it Jack could finally start to see what they had spent the last six months working on.

Golden motes of dust started to appear in the frame, soon coalescing into a mass, and then a discernable shape.

It was Nathan, and Jack stepped forward, he knew what was going to happen next.

He'd only ever heard Nathan scream once before like this, like his skin was being ripped from his body in slow strips, and that was when he was moments away from spontaneously combusting.

Jack stepped forward again with the aim of getting to him to try and comfort him, to stop his pain, but Henry also knew what was going to happen and he was there, hand tightly around Jack's arm, holding him back. "He's almost back!" the Scientist shouted at him over the noise. "Look!"

Jack did as he was told and looked back, finding Henry was right – Nathan was virtually solid again, and in between the Sheriff exhaling and inhaling he was back completely. Jack pulled out of Henry's grasp and ran towards him.

Nathan at least had stopped screaming, he was lying on the floor, curled in a tight ball, as small as he could around his core, and Jack grabbed the blankets he had left within reach and crashed to his knees beside him. He quickly unfurled one and threw it over the scientist, paused a moment thinking what the hell he was going to do now, but simply decided to pull him close and up off the floor.

The bigger man was shivering; eyes squeezed shut, and buried his face in Jack's chest, seeking his warmth. His nerve endings were on fire, his brain couldn't compute it all, and instead all he wanted to do was be warm.

Henry and Spence ran over to them and quickly wrapped the other blankets around Nathan's solid form while SARAH called for medical assistance, and Jack just held him close. "Nathan?" the Sheriff called, trying to get his attention.

The scientist opened his eyes and blinked up at the Sheriff, bewildered, cold, and residual bolts of pain flashed through his skin. But he recognised Jack, felt and heard his voice rumble in his chest, his arms tightly around him, and he smiled slightly. "…Jack…?" he murmured, his voice rusty, his throat hoarse. "…did it…?"

Jack nodded, his grin wide. "We did, Nathan." he assured him. "You're back."

Nathan slowly moved one of his leaden arms so he could gently touch Jack's cheek. "…Jack…" he said again, which was enough for the Sheriff.

Jack, doing something he had wanted to do for a long time, bent low over his armful and pressed his lips to Nathan's cold ones in a chaste kiss. And when Nathan didn't pull away, in fact he used his hand on Jack's face to urge him down again, the Sheriff dove in for more.

This time Nathan kissed him back, revelling in his taste, warmth and solidness. They only broke off when the medics rushed in, dragging a gurney with them, and Nathan ended up clinging to Jack for the reassurance and protection he could give him. Which was good, because Jack was never going to let him go again.

Henry grinned down at them when they finally broke off and reached for is mentee, gently rubbing Nathan's back over the blankets. "April 29th 2010." he said fondly to them both. "Happy Rebirthday, Nathan."

Nathan smiled weakly and snuggled close to the Sheriff, burying his face in his throat. "Thanks." he breathed quietly. "But I never want to do that again."

Henry chuckled, amused. "What, come back from the dead? Or kiss Jack?" he asked him impishly.

Nathan opened one eye and smiled wider. "I want to kiss Jack, a lot. He's good at it."

Jack grinned, blushed endearingly, and hugged him a bit tighter. If possible.


Alison watched from outside the lab, angry and upset at what she was seeing. With the slight differences in the way they had gotten Nathan back she had hoped that everything else would change – that they would get him back but she wouldn't have to watch her husband to be kiss someone else, as if he meant it. She didn't really care that he had kissed a man, what she did care about was that that man was Jack, someone she had trusted, someone she had relied on a lot when she had been left here alone again. Jack had been her rock when Nathan had had disappeared, and then all of this had happened and she had found out the truth. The hard way.

So she watched, upset and alone, angry too, as Jack held onto Nathan for dear life, the man holding him back, for a few moments before she walked away and left them to it.