Pairing: Nathan Stark/Jack Carter
First time, T, Prompt: The Future
Word Count: 868
"This is insane."
"Oh come on, we've seen weirder." Nathan turned his stare on the man standing next to him. Around them, various Global employees scurried around, trying to find some way to send their 'guests' home.
"Really? When?" He demanded, watching as Carter racked his brain for some response.
"Ookkaayy…what about, what about when Taggart created those insect- turtle hybrid, things?" The blonde man waved his hand as though it would paint a clear picture of what he was talking about. In reality, Nathan hadn't forgotten about Taggart's little experiment seeing as he'd been trapped in his lab by some sort of giant preying mantis with a shell. To add insult to injury, the Sheriff had chosen to be the one to burst in and save him…however it did leave a rather pleasant image in his head of the blonde man in a torn uniform, revealing pale, smooth…he stopped that train of thought quickly blaming it on their 'guests'.
"That wasn't weird." Nathan continued at Jacks disbelieving look. "Not as strange as this."
Normally he would have been over there, gathering as much data as he could, but considering the circumstances, neither he nor Jack were aloud near the guests. It was rather intriguing; after all, how often did you get to meet your future self?
Unfortunately, another reason they were being kept on the other side of the room, under Allison's strict instructions, was not only so they would not pollute the time line, (they were both itching to get over there and ask a million questions. Jack kept twitching slightly and muttering something about Zoe and Hair boy.) But also because the last time Nathan had gotten close to future Nathan, the world had turned a funny purple colour and he had woken up in the infirmary with an anxious Sheriff leaning over him.
"So that's us in a few years, huh?" Jack leaned back against a desk, crossing his arms, probably to stop the sporadic twitching that had begun.
"It appears so." Nathan joined the other man, leaning against the desk (but much more gracefully!). The future Jack and Nathan chose that moment to look over from where they appeared to be having some sort of quiet argument.
"I guess we never do get along." Jack sighed, almost wistfully. Nathan crossed his own arms, trying to ignore the feelings the statement stirred within him.
"And yet, we're getting along now." He pointed out, eyebrow raised. He enjoyed their bantering and for the most part it appeared that the Sheriff did as well.
"The world must be coming to an end." Jack joked, nudging him lightly with his shoulder. Nathan nudged back, a small part of his brain screaming that what they were doing could be construed as flirting, but he promptly told it to shut up.
They went back to watching their future selves, their movements familiar as the other scientists continued to scurry around, trying to return them to their point in time. Future Jack waved a hand vaguely in their direction, while future Nathan shook his head, frowning. He wondered what they were arguing about. He received his answer a moment later.
Future Jack reached out, grabbing future Nathan's shirt and for a second he actually thought that a fist fight was about to break out. Then future Jack pulled the future Nathan in for a hot, bruising kiss. His eyes widened, jaw dropping to the floor as he watched. The lab had gone silent around them.
The kiss ended across the room, even from where he sat, he could see the lust written clearly on the two men's faces. Composing himself, he snuck a glance to the Jack Carter sitting next to him. His Jack.
The longing that flashed across the other mans face surprised him, before it was quickly hidden.
"That was…"Jack cleared his throat, voice coming out hoarse. "Different."
"It appears, Carter," Nathan drawled, looking over to where their future selves were watching them expectantly. He got the feeling that that had been a show for them, perhaps to give them a jumpstart. A jumpstart to what though? "That we're just destined to be."
Jack stared at him incredulously, but Nathan could see the underlying hope there. Perhaps it was time for one of them to take a chance.
"Oh really?" Jack raised an eyebrow, slight smirk appearing.
"Mm-hmm." He nodded, tearing his eyes away from their future selves and focusing on the present and the man still standing next to him. "There's no point in fighting the future. It's destiny after all."
"I thought you didn't believe in destiny." Nathan smirked, the smirk slowly sliding into a smile.
"I may have just been convinced." He paused, glancing around to see if anyone was listening- but the vast majority had returned to work, while the others were still watching their future selves. He leaned in until his lips pressed lightly against Jacks ear and whispered. "But I'm sure you can convince me some more over dinner."
Nathan delighted in the shiver that escaped the man as a hand fisted the hem of his shirt, as though wanting to pull him closer and holding back.
"Sounds like a plan, scientist."
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