Five years later
Jack looked around his living room and sighed. It was filled with close friends from town. Fargo was standing in the corner talking to Vincent. Henry, Grace, and Grant were standing near the fireplace. Kevin was somewhere in the house will Jenna and Allison was in the kitchen.
"There is a visitor at the door." S.A.R.A.H. called.
"Thank you Sarah." Jack said. He walked to the door as it was opening.
A young man entered the house. His black hair was long. The ends nearly reached his shoulder. His face was pale and sunken, as if he had not seen the sun for years. He wore worn blue jeans with a tight dark green shirt over a black hooded sweatshirt.
Jack smiled. "Zane."
Zane smiled slightly. He held out his hand. "Hey Sheriff."
Jack shook his hand tightly. "Welcome back, Zane."
"Thanks." Zane said. He looked over Jack's shoulder.
"Zane." Allison walked over to them. Her stomach was large at seven months. She passed Jack and glass. "I thought you were being released Tuesday? Can I get you anything?"
Zane shook his head. "No thanks Mrs. Sheriff. I released myself Friday."
"And you now chose to show your face?" Carter joked.
Zane nodded slowly. "I had to prepare myself."
Carter nodded. His smile faded.
"Well I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you again Zane." Allison said. She walked off back into the party.
Carter started to follow Allison through the house. But he stopped when he noticed Zane remain by the door. Carter noticed how Zane looked around the room. He looked scared. Carter walked back over to him. He opened the door and motioned for him to move. Zane walked out of the house and into the bunker well. They walked back up the bunker stair into the fresh air.
The November air was cold, but it was a relief as well. Zane seemed unfazed by the weather. Carter pushed down his sleeves and zipped up his jacket.
"So how are you holding up?" Carter asked.
Zane took a deep breath. "I'm still hanging."
"How's the leg treating you?"
Zane pulled up his left pant leg. Carter looked at the artificial limb. "It's not the real thing, but it works for me."
Carter passed Zane one of the beers he had taken from the house. Zane took his and popped the lid. Carter took a small sip.
"It was a hard day for all of us, Zane." Carter said.
"I know that." Zane said. "But I think you'd take it a little differently if she'd died in your arms."
"You're right. I would." Carter nodded.
Zane took a seat on the steps. "I keep thinking that I should've checked the calibration one last time before the test fire. And maybe she would still be here."
"You know when I think about that day, I keep thinking that maybe I could've done something to keep her from going to work that day." Jack said.
"I miss her Carter." Zane said.
Jack nodded. "I miss her too."
Zane looked at the ground. "I found a way to save."
Carter snapped his head down. "What?"
"I found a way to save Jo." Zane repeated. He took a drink from the beer.
Carter dropped beside Zane. "Yeah that's what I thought you said. But…but…how?"
"I read a report where Henry traveled back in time to same Kim. And I've figured out how to do the same thing, only I've stabilized the time streams where they won't converge on each other." Zane explained.
"You can't be sure of that Zane." Jack said.
Zane turned his head toward Carter. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of keys. "I am. All I have to do it maintain the fixed point in the timeline."
Carter looked down at the keys. They were his keys. "How the hell did you get those?"
"You leave your keys everywhere Carter." Zane said. He dropped the keys in Carter's hands. "That time it was Allison's desk."
"How did you get into GD without…?" Carter trialed off.
Zane looked at Carter.
"Never mind." Carter finished.
"It works Carter. No repercussions." Zane said.
"Except you're the reason I was late to work that day." Carter replied. He pocketed his keys. He looked back to Zane. "How did you manage that?"
"Fixed points in the timeline. Your missing keys were one of them. Jo's death was a fixed point in the timeline. That means that in order to maintain the timeline and prevent any converging between the two, someone will have to die in her place." Zane explained.
"But how do you know what the fixed points are?" Carter asked.
Zane gave a light chuckled and turned from Carter. "I spent five years in an asylum trying to forget what happened five years ago. And instead I found the way to chart fixed points in the timeline."
"Zane." Cater said.
Zane turned.
"What if this doesn't work?" Carter asked.
"Then you don't have to worry about losing everything here." Zane answered. He finished his beer and stood up.
Carter stood. "What do you need to make this work?"
Zane spun around. "You're going to help? What about Allison? Your family?"
"Don't get me wrong, I love my life. I love Allison and Kevin and Jenna." Carter said. "But I'm missing someone important. All of us are."
"I've all the preparations for this trip. But there's a specific time that I have to go through." Zane explained.
"Another fixed point?" Carter asked.
Zane shook his head. "I have to slip through before the fixed points."
"What time?" Carter asked.
"Tomorrow at nine fifteen." Zane answered.
Carter nodded. "How far back are you going?"
"I'll get there on November first. I can fix everything there and save Jo." Zane explained.
"You do know that I might not believe you. Or even let you do this." Carter replied.
Zane nodded. "I know. And I know you stopped Henry from doing to same thing, but my traveling won't cause a conversion."
Carter took a deep breath. "Zane, legally I can't let you do this."
"Do what you've gotta do, Carter." Zane said.
"That's why we're bringing in the others." Carter said.
Zane looked up at Carter.
The guests had dispersed from the Carters almost an hour ago. All that remained were the Deacon's, Fargo, Grant, Zane, and the Carters. Kevin had taken Jenna to the park, allowing the group to talk without anyone overhearing. Everyone was seating in the living room, save for Zane.
"If I can get into Global tomorrow and slip through the wormhole at nine fifteen, I can stop the accident." Zane explained.
"Since this affects everyone, I suggested bringing you all into the loop." Carter explained.
"It's insane." Henry said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, pretty much." Zane replied.
"Zane, how do you even know this will work?" Allison asked.
Carter pulled out his keys from his pocket. "Cause he's already tested it."
"Why go back, for Jo?" Grant asked. "Now I'm not saying I don't miss her, I do, believe me. But why risk collapsing the realities for one person?"
Zane shook his head. "It's not just for Jo. The antimatter conversion project took ten more lives before we finally got that to work. If I go back to the first test, I can set the project right and save all those people who shouldn't have died."
"But you said Jo's death was a fixed point in the timeline. So someone has to take her place." Allison said.
Zane nodded. "Yeah. I did."
Carter looked down. "Zane's going to take her place."
A hush fell over the group.
"Zane," Grace said. "Are you sure about this?"
Zane looked to her. "Five years ago today, everyone in this room lost an amazing friend. I have spent the last five years trying to forget only to figure the only way to save her. This is my only chance to save her and I am one hundred percent damn sure, I want to do this. But I need help getting into GD."
"I'm with Zane." Carter said.
Allison turned to Carter.
"Eureka's not the same without Jo." Jack said, turning to Allison.
Allison took his hand. "Count me in too."
Fargo raised his hand. "I'm in."
Grant nodded.
Henry looked to Grace. "We're in."
Zane smiled.
"So what's the plan?" Fargo asked.
"We need to get Zane into section five in GD. Perkin's device is still in there. If we can get Zane to that device, we're golden." Carter explained.
"No problem." Fargo said.
Carter rose from the couch. "Look, I don't know how things will play out tomorrow. Who knows, maybe next time all of us will be here." Carter lifted his beer bottle. "So let's do it for her. To Jo."
Everyone lifted their glasses or bottles. "To Jo."
and so it begin...mwahahahahahahaha :)