In a flurry of shifting Chronon particles, Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder materialized in the center of the same room Jack had left what seemed like quite a while ago. Well, maybe. Maybe for those in the room, mere seconds had passed. Or maybe a whole decade had passed in the meantime.

It mattered very little. What mattered to Jack was the fact that he had done what everyone had told him was impossible. He changed things.

I saved Beth.

Beth was next to him. Their hands were linked, neither wanting to let go for even a moment.

"Where are we?" Beth asked.

"The Monarch HQ. Where I left to get this thing started."

She looked around. The grip on his hand tightened.

"Well… I haven't disintegrated. Yet. So, all's well so far. What happens now?"

"Beats me."

Right on cue, the door to the room swung open. Hatch strode in, followed by a woman in a Monarch lab coat and two uniformed security guards.

"Mister Joyce. I'm impressed," Hatch said, clapping his hands together.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Indeed. You did a superb job. As far as I can tell, we have successfully changed the past and created a new timeline."

Jack looked around and chuckled.

"Seems the same to me."

Hatch paced across the room.

"On the day he was supposed to perform a demonstration of actual time travel to his best friend Jack Joyce, Paul Serene suddenly decided to stop all research into the subject. Project Promenade was shut down and Monarch Solutions took possession of all documentation, technology, and related materials. As such, there was no malfunction with the university time machine… and no Fracture," he explained.

Hatch suddenly stopped.

"Ah. Miss Wilder," he began, as if he just noticed she was there, "welcome back."

Beth eyeballed Jack. She slowly, very reluctantly let go of his hand.

"Yeah. I'm here."

The woman in the lab coat came to Hatch's side and smiled at Beth.

"Miss Wilder, we've been expecting you. Please, come with us."

The two security guards also stepped forward, but did not do anything other than make their presence known. The Monarch scientist put a gentle, but firm, hand on Beth's back and urged her forward.

Jack put out a hand in protest.

"Whoa! Hey! Where the hell are you taking her?!"

"Mister Joyce, please calm down," Hatch intoned, raising a placating hand.

"Miss Wilder needs to be debriefed about everything that has occured. She does not have the knowledge you, me, and the rest of this organization possess."

Jack frowned, not pleased. The very last thing he wanted was to let her disappear, even for a moment. What if he lost her again? What if…

"Jack," she whispered to him, "I'll be fine. You did spend enough time with me to see I can take care of myself, right?"

Their eyes met. She smiled faintly, just enough so he could see.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"I'll see you later then, okay?"

"Okay. Yeah."

Beth walked to the exit, the Monarch personnel trailing her.

"Alright," she said to them, "let's get this over with, I got things to do."

As Beth exited, she looked over her shoulder at him and flashed a grin.

Jack's heart leapt. Hatch was saying something, but he was not hearing the man's words. Instead, he thought about his and Beth's lips pressed together, her hands in his hair. How he wanted to feel those sensations once again.

"Mister Joyce?"

Jack blinked. Hatch was staring at him expectantly.

"What? Uh, sorry, I was… kinda… lost there for a moment."

"I asked you if you would like to take a walk with me so I may debrief you as well."

Jack held out an arm.

"After you."

"Quick thinking there. Preventing Paul from entering the time machine in the first place."

Jack cast a sideways glance toward Hatch, who was walking next to him.

"Were you there? In the past, too?"

"I'm anywhere I am required, Mister Joyce."

Jack scoffed and shook his head.

"Does being a Shifter mean I need to speak in riddles, too?"

Hatch chuckled, the first time Jack heard the man react to humor.

"I must keep up appearances, Mister Joyce."

"Whatever. So, tell me, what's the deal?"

"Where would you like me to start?"

Jack stopped and turned to Hatch, who also stopped. Jack stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Will."

"Your brother is currently the Director of Chronon Research here at Monarch. Sofia Amaral is the Assistant Director."

Jack smirked. It was both ironic and, at the same time, well-deserved. After all, Will's research was the reason Monarch was able to do anything in the first place.

"Paul?" Jack went on.

"Paul is the Director of Marketing."

"He always was a businessman first and foremost."

"Indeed."

"What about Beth?" Jack, "Or me. There's not… two of us running around, is there?"

"One rule of the universe is 'one iteration per timeline.' So, you are the only Jack Joyce and she is the only Beth Wilder. The universe has accounted for the appearance of you two. The people you know will remember you as you were- minus the events of the Fracture, of course."

"That's quite convenient."

"Creation is a beautiful thing, Mister Joyce. It has a way of accounting for all sorts of… adjustments."

"Charlie Wincott?"

"He is still a Monarch security technician. He and Fiona Miller recently announced their engagement."

"Well… that's good for him. What about Liam Burke?"

"Alive and well, and a soon-to-be-father."

"Amy Ferrero?"

"Very content after Monarch acquiesced to demands to cancel demolition of the Riverport University Library."

Jack nodded thoughtfully.

"Does anyone… remember what happened? You know, before."

"Researchers in Chronon Research, Multiverse Dynamics, and other essential personnel are privy to the events of the previous timeline. But, you, I, and Miss Wilder are the only ones here with firsthand knowledge of what happened during the events of the Fracture."

"So, pretty much, no one knows that the universe almost came to an end? And life is going on as normal?"

"That's correct."

"Hm. Well. I guess everything is 'fixed,' then. Or at least better than it was."

"I suppose it would be appropriate to say the situation is much more stable than it was originally. No one had to die needlessly. Everyone from your loved ones to the nameless Monarch security personnel that you easily brushed aside are still alive," Hatch replied.

He paused, taking a breath, certainly intended for dramatic effect.

"Are you happy with how everything has turned out, Mister Joyce?"

Jack sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah. I think I am."

Jack had thought about that question for several long moments before delivering his answer. On the surface, everything seemed perfect. Too much so, in fact. Was this really it? Did he really manage to undo all the damage of the Fracture? Just like that. It seemed too easy.

But, maybe, that was it. Everything was where it should be. His best friend was in a position where his skills and strengths would be used effectively. His brother was in his element- messing with esoteric physics and the arcane workings of quantum mechanics and would finally be receiving the recognition he deserved.

And then there was Beth. Despite everything he had been told, everything he had seen, he never gave up hope that he would be able to bring her back. In the weeks that followed the Fracture, Jack endlessly concocted scenarios of how he could bring her back. He did not know any practical methods of doing so, but it was important that he held onto that hope.

Jack remembered finding her in 2010. He thought about it probably every night. Seeing her like that broke something inside of him. It had been just minutes for him, but for her, she was trapped in the past alone, completely alone, for eleven years. What she had to go through; Jack would probably never understand.

When he found Beth in 2010, she told him to give up.

You have to let go! She told him.

Jack remembered how she looked at him. He had tried to grab her hand, reassure her the best he could. She pushed him away and planted a firm hand on his chest to keep him at arm's length. Gone was the light in her eyes that he was starting to grow accustomed to. She looked at him with sadness mixed with a bit of rage. Sadness that things couldn't be changed. Rage that he just refused to get it.

At that moment, Jack just wanted to scream at her.

I'm not giving up that easily. If you've been keeping an eye on me for as long as you say you have, then you know that's one thing I don't do. Whatever it takes, whatever I need to do, I'll do it. We can change things. It doesn't have to be like this. I won't give up. And I won't let you go.

But he remained silent, unable to properly express what he felt. That's how it usually was.

Jack never really had a problem finding a woman to spend the night with. He had, in the past, occasionally found someone he would have liked to know better. But, anything that approached "relationship" status would inevitably fizzle out.

And the truth was he didn't really care that much if they did. Relationships, girlfriends- they were just things he pursued when he wanted and when it was convenient. Otherwise, whatever. He would find someone else.

But Beth… he quickly realized that she was not someone you simply gave up on. Not someone you wanted to watch walk away.

"Are you still with me, Mister Joyce?" Hatch asked.

Jack blinked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."

"I see you're preoccupied, so I'll leave you be for now. Just one question before I go."

"Yeah?"

"Why Beth Wilder?"

Jack gave a slight shrug.

"Why not, I guess?"

"I am just wondering why you felt the need to bring her back with you. Of course, I see nothing wrong with this since I left it up to your discretion. However, I believe you said you barely knew her."

"You're right. I barely know her."

Jack turned on his heel and walked away. Behind him, Hatch chuckled.

A few days ago, he was sitting before Clarice Ogawa as she quizzed him endlessly about every detail surrounding the creation of the Fracture and its healing.

He got to the part that he dreaded recalling. Beth's death at the hands of Paul. He described how he had to watch her get shot in the head while he could do absolutely nothing about it. And to top it all off, he got to watch Paul walk away with the Countermeasure. The thing Beth died for had been in Paul's possession this entire time.

After it had happened, Jack tried to calm himself by forcing himself to focus on the mission. He had to get the Countermeasure back from Paul. Finish what she started.

So what you did next… it wasn't personal? Ogawa had asked during the interview.

Jack remembered clenching his fists under the table, digging his nails into his palms so he could keep himself somewhat calm. Ogawa stared at him, as if she knew what he would say, but was waiting for him to say it.

No, he had simply replied.

Ogawa had smiled a patronizing smile.

Okay. Please continue.

She clearly did not believe him. She wasn't stupid. But that was the answer she was getting out of him.

Jack quickly got lost in the sprawling Monarch HQ. He did not have a uniform, let alone an ID, but no one ever stopped him. Hatch had apparently told everyone in the building to just let Jack wander around for now.

He found the marketing floor eventually. He walked into the sprawl of cubicles and tables, where Monarch employees were busy at work drumming up new ad campaigns. Only a few of them spared a glance up from their work.

At the end of the hallway was an office with a placard pasted next to the door- Paul Serene, Marketing Director.

Jack leaned in to look through the glass. Paul was there, staring at his computer monitor and typing away.

Jack froze. It was surreal seeing his best friend again, just as he remembered him before the Fracture. And this Paul was not a sociopathic killer. It was his best friend. The guy he grew up with.

Jack hoped.

With a knock, Jack pushed open the door. Paul looked up from his work and immediately jumped up with a huge smile on his face.

"Well, look who's here!"

Jack laughed, mostly due to his inability to react in any other way. The last time he saw Paul, he was hell-bent on killing Jack.

Paul approached with arms open for a hug.

"Didn't realize you'd be dropping in. You should've let me know! I would've cancelled all my meetings for the day."

Jack hesitated to go in for the hug.

This is the guy who killed Beth and was willing to let the End of Time happen.

Jack smiled and put his arms around Paul before clapping him on the back.

No, he thought, that was someone else. That wasn't Paul. This is the Paul I've known for as long as I could remember. That other Paul is gone.

"I, uh, was coming to visit Will. Just for a bit. Thought I'd drop by your little kingdom for a bit."

"Well, me and my minions are doing just fine here. Next time you see an ad on the bus for a Monarch smartwatch, you can thank yours truly for that."

"I'll be sure to. Hey. Listen, it's been a bit since we've seen each other," Jack said as they broke apart.

"Yeah, brother, it has," Paul agreed.

"I think you, me, and Will should all go out for drinks or something. Sometime soon. Yeah?"

Paul gave Jack a friendly clap on the shoulder.

"Yeah. I think we gotta do that soon."

"I need to see Will. I'll text you, alright?" Jack said as he backed out of Paul's office.

"You got it, Jack!"

Jack walked away, feeling several things at once- most of them were good. He was glad his friend was back. Back to how it always was. Hopefully, they would be able to resume that friendship.

He wandered around for a bit of time. Monarch was busy. He wondered what exactly they were all working on now. What sort of new world-ending catastrophe they could possibly unleash.

Eventually, Jack managed to wander into the Chronon Research wing. A uniformed guard at the front desk looked up from him.

"Uh, hi, Jack Joyce, here to see my brother, Will Joyce."

The guard nodded and stood up. It was like he expected Jack to show up.

"I'll let him know you're here, sir."

Jack watched him press his keycard to the door and enter as it slid open. He realized he recognized the guard, but the man did not recognize him. It was one of the two men holding Amy Fererro in custody when Jack stumbled upon her. Jack had killed both of those men when they opened fire on him.

This would take some getting used to.

The door slid open once more a few minutes later, Will emerged. He had a huge smile on his face.

"And there he is!"

Will embraced Jack, who reciprocated. Will patted Jack on the back several times with his free hand.

"Hey, Will."

"Never thought you'd grow up to go and restructure an entire universe. But here you are."

Jack chuckled.

"Oh, so you know what happened?"

Will shrugged.

"Being a director means I get to know these things."

"You know we couldn't have done it without you. It was your Countermeasure that ended up fixing everything."

"I don't know. I wouldn't have known about any of that shit if it wasn't for Beth Wilder."

Will's face lit up.

"I heard you bought her back with you. From the other timeline."

"I did," Jack replied with a nod.

"I'm glad. She's the reason we're all here and the reason Monarch is paying me two-hundred fifty grand a year for my work."

Jack laughed.

"Oh, man. That's a change from begging the university to give you a few more weeks on your grant."

"And I actually have people to build things for me. Listen, Jack. I know Monarch probably has some pretty bad connotations for you. I don't blame you. But, Hatch is right. This is a different Monarch. And we're doing great things."

Will sighed and put a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I gotta run. I'm really busy and someone's gonna come looking for me soon enough. Tomorrow, we can sit down and talk about everything."

"Alright, man," Jack said.

They hugged once more. After breaking apart, Jack was hit with a sudden wave of… worry.

Will paused.

"I know that look. What's wrong?"

Jack exhaled sharply.

"I-" he started before faltering.

"Wait, I know. You feel odd about all this. Like I'm not the same person you've known. Jack, I know this stuff is… out there. I know it makes your head hurt just trying to comprehend it. But, I can promise you, I'm still your brother. Everyone you know is just the same as it was before that early morning you showed up at the university."

Jack relaxed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Will. It's just… yeah."

"Don't be sorry. I understand. Hey, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this. And I'm the smart one here."

Jack laughed and jokingly shoved him.

"Oh, shut up. I did all the legwork to make this happen."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have done anything if I didn't build the Countermeasure."

Jack walked away from him, laughing.

"Whatever, man. Go back to dreaming up some other way to end the world and I'll go and fix it."

"You got it, baby brother!" Will called as he went past the sliding doors.

Will stopped short.

"Hey, Jack!"

"Yeah?"

"I know the last few years have been tough on us. I know I haven't been the brother I should be. But, I promise you, things will be different. We're gonna get back to how things were and how they should be. Promise."

Jack nodded, a large grin spreading across his face.

"Looking forward to it."

Jack had made a stop at the cafeteria, drinking coffee and absentmindedly staring at the people milling about below from the cafeteria's balcony.

"Mister Joyce?" a young woman's voice interrupted him.

He turned. A bespeckled, smartly dressed young woman was standing before him. She appeared to be college aged. A nametag identified her as Kate, an intern.

"Yeah?"

"Doctor Armitage wanted me to come and let you know that Miss Wilder is finished with her debriefing. The doctor figured you would want to see her."

Jack smiled.

"The doctor figured right. Lead the way."

Intern Kate lead Jack to one of the delightful "interview rooms" deep in the bowels of the Monarch HQ, a room very similar to the one Jack been sequestered in with Ogawa a month ago. In the hallway leading to the room, Jack ran into the researcher who had taken Beth with her.

"Doctor Armitage, I presume?" he asked.

She smiled sweetly.

"Yes, that's me. Miss Wilder is all done."

"Thank you. And thanks to Kate here for fetching me. I'm sure it wasn't easy."

Kate smiled awkwardly, flustered at his praise.

"Oh, uh, I just went to security and tracked you down with the security camera footage," she admitted.

"Thinking on your feet. Glad you're on our side."

"You too, Mister Joyce."

Doctor Armitage put a hand on Kate's shoulder.

"Okay, I think we should give these two some space. Let's go get some lunch."

They said their goodbyes and Jack stepped to the side to allow the two women to pass. He looked down the hall and saw Beth. She was sitting alone on a bench outside the interview room. Her hands were folded in her lap and she stared at the wall across from her.

Jack's stomach did a flip. What had they told her? Did she know the whole story, every single detail? A part of him hoped not.

Jack walked up to her, hands in his pockets.

"Hey."

She looked up and grinned.

"Hey."

"Can I sit?"

She gave him a look and rolled her eyes.

"Of course you can sit."

Jack took a seat next to her.

"So."

"So?"

"How was it? Did you get the full story?"

Beth shrugged and leaned back against the wall.

"Most of it, I think. The parts that matter anyway."

"Like what?"

"She started at the top. We meet at the university. We find Will's second time machine at the swimming pool. We grab Amaral from the Monarch Gala on Gull Island. That's not something I expected to do. We try to head back to 2010 to get the Countermeasure from Will. But, something happened. Amaral she… sent me to the End of Time. Right?"

Jack paused and gazed at his shoes.

"Right," he replied.

"She didn't really elaborate on what happened. Said it wasn't important."

Wasn't important.

Jack thought it was very important. But, at the same time, would someone really want to know that they died alone, murdered after spending eleven painful years living like a ghost?

Jack wasn't too sure.

She turned to him, noticing his silence.

"Did something happen to me, Jack?"

He exhaled. Beth stared at him, searching his face for any sort of solid answer.

She reached a hand over and placed it on top of his own. Jack turned his hand over to grip her own.

"You can tell me. I want to know," she told him.

Jack nodded.

"Yeah."

Beth gripped his hand a little tighter.

"I figured."

"Do you want to know what happened?"

Beth was silent for a time.

"I don't know," she softly replied.

He nodded once. Jack was relieved in a way. The last thing he wanted to do was recount Beth's fate again. It was one thing telling it to an impassive Clarice Ogawa.

It was another thing telling it to Beth's face. The woman he was honest-to-God in love with.

They were silent. Contemplative. Their hands remained linked, fingers locked. Jack certainly was content to just sit there and hold hands. He was enjoying her company and was glad they got a moment to just enjoy the silence without the pressing need to keep the mission on track.

It had been an interesting day, to say the least. First, he changed history. Second, he changed Beth's fate. Last, he found out that his feelings were indeed not one sided.

"Hell of a day," Jack vocalized his thoughts.

"Hell of a day," Beth echoed.

"What now?" he asked.

Beth shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. I take it you didn't think this far ahead?"

He laughed.

"No. No, I didn't."

"Of course not."

"I have an idea."

Beth smirked, interested to hear this one.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well…?"

"Let's go out."

She shook her head in confusion.

"What do you mean 'out?'"

"Let's go on a date."

"A date?"

"Yes, Beth, a date. You have been on one of those, right?"

"It's been a while. A real long while. You know, I was kinda busy with the whole 'preparing to save the universe' thing."

"Well, now you don't have to worry about that now. Let's go… get drinks."

She was smiling.

"Of course, if you want to. If you don't wanna, that's perfectly fine-" Jack began to add.

Beth held up her hand to Jack's face. He stopped talking.

"Shut up. Of course I want to go out with you. What? You think I just kissed you for fun?"

"I-"

She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Jack, taken by surprise once more, could only react with wide-eyed disbelief.

Beth broke her kiss. She rolled her eyes.

"You need to get used to that."

Jack smiled and put his hands on both of her cheeks before going in for a kiss she eagerly returned.

They slowly broke apart a minute later, their foreheads touching. Beth cupped his cheek in her right hand.

"Look. I like you. I'll admit that I have for at least the past few years," she told him.

"You do know that sounds a little creepy considering we didn't meet until, like, a few days ago?"

She giggled.

"Oh, shut your mouth. It's just that I spent all this time keeping track of you, making sure you were where you needed to be. My notebook told me to do so. But then, I started doing it because I wanted to. Something about you just made me want to keep up with what you were doing. Back then, I would always make some excuse. I would say 'oh, you gotta do it because the Fracture is happening soon!' But now I know it's because I actually liked you a little more than I was willing to let on. Creepy? Maybe. Do I care? Not really."

"That's okay. I… I like you too, Beth."

"That's certainly a relief."

"I want to make this work. I want to give you and I a shot at something real, something normal, even. I know you deserve it."

"We both do."

Jack sat up, hauling her to her feet with him.

"Okay, then. It's settled. You're going on a date with me."

Beth smiled and threw her arms around his neck.

"Lucky me."

"Let's walk and talk. Monarch's interrogation chambers aren't very romantic."

Beth gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Let's get going then."