Archive of Our Own ^beta

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              “See you around Jack.” He’d never forgotten Stark’s last words to him. Or the promise in his green eyes as they looked into his own. Jack didn’t deserve that promise, the vow that he would be back, and he certinatly didn’t deserve his name being the last thing out of Stark’s mouth when the other man had been going to marry Allison that day. It should have been a message to Allison that came out of his mouth, considering it was supposed to be their wedding day. However that last minute? It made Jack make sure that someone was working on studying what had happened that day. Fargo would send him updates once a week and he would go through them, doing his own research in private.

                  He had to get Stark back, if only to prove himself wrong. To prove to himself that he hadn’t seen what he thought in the other man’s eyes and that it was only time running out that had made his name the last on Nathan’s lips. He wanted to think that the other man had only been playing with him one last time, one last joke to bug the hell out of the pain in his side. Only before he could bring Nathan back to prove all of this reality changed in a big way. Allison was shocked when she was faced with a fully coherent Kevin and the group who knew about the change parted ways, promising to meet up in the morning in an attempt to give her time with her coherent son.

                  It was only after he had gotten home himself that he realized the change in reality was more than Kevin being coherent. He was listening to his messages, one where Tess was telling him her wife, Allison was acting weird and she was worried that something was going on with her. As he was getting over the shock that his girlfriend was married to Allison someone else came into the bunker. Zoe was supposed to be at school so he was confused until he looked up and saw Nathan watching him closely, a fond look in his eyes. The other man knew something was wrong the moment their eyes connected though and he looked worried.

                  “What happened?” The scientist that Jack had been in lust with at the worst and in love with at the best for longer than he would ever care to admit demanded sharply. His eyes wandered over Jack over and over again like he expected and feared the other man to be injured and hiding it. In that moment Jack knew he wouldn’t be fooled by whatever he could come up with if his mouth could work. He could literally feel the effects of shock coming over him as the seconds dragged on. He didn’t know what he was going to do, and it wasn’t like running would help in the slightest. Allison had her hands full with her son and wife. He didn’t know what Henry had come home too, and Fargo would be of no help at all considering his hero was once again alive. In the end he couldn’t bring himself to make up a lie and actually say it, not with Nathan alive in front of him.

                   “You can’t go to the DOD.” Jack murmured softly, making his decision to tell the other man everything. If nothing else this involved Allison and what involved her involved their children. He wouldn't do anything to hurt them, or so Jack hoped Nathan made an impatient noise in response to his statement, moving further into the room and sitting on the couch. He was staring at Jack expectantly, his eyes glinting dangerously as Jack collected himself. The Sherriff couldn't tell if the Scientist in front of him was getting angry at him, or if something else was going on with the other man. His reactions so far were more than a little confusing to Jack.

                    “I wouldn’t chance hurting you in that way, you know that Jack, or at least I would hope that you do. Now tell me what the hell has happened so I can help. Obviously it’s something potentially dangerous and very illegal, if the first thing out of your mouth is that I can’t go to the DOD. Please Jack, I need to know.” He replied, his voice even, but filled with worry. Jack looked him in the eyes, wondering just what had happened between them in this timeline, before sighing. Obviously there was something going on here if Nathan was truly worried for him. But that worry could be good. It would make sure that Stark wouldn’t betray them, if the Allison angle proved not to be enough to keep the other man from turning them in. God knows that they needed to get their acts together before someone who didn't have a reason to protect them found out what had happened in the last 24 hours.

                    “Jo, Fargo, Allison, Henry and I are not from this timeline. Something happened at the Founders Day parade that sent us back to when the town was just in it’s infancy. We tried to make sure nothing changed, but obviously something did- we don't know what though. We just managed to get back to our own time, but so much has changed, so much is different. For example you’ve been dead for over a year in our timeline Stark. You died to save this town and telling me that you’d see me around.” He replied finally, his voice thickening as he told the other man about his death. Nathan inhaled shakily at that last sentence, his face paling as his words sunk in.

                “God. I’m sorry Jack.” He whispered brokenly, before seeming to gather himself and looking at Jack with the same look that he remembered the other Stark giving him the day he died. A look full of regrets and promises of things to come. Jack snorted at his apology, confused more than he wanted to admit. He looked away from Nathan suddenly, because he couldn’t stand having that look directed at him. Not when he remembered that Allison was here- an Allison who was the one who should be on the receiving end of that look. He could still feel Nathan looking at him, could almost feel the concern that he had glimpsed.

                “Don’t apologize to me Stark. You were marrying Allison again later that day, we were nothing except tense friends at the best of times. I had been working on getting you home with Fargo, since everyone was convinced you were dead and looking into the accident wasn't' high priority given everything else that was going on, though.” He replied, his voice steady even though he was feeling anything but that at the moment. Stark snorted himself, making Jack look at him curiously. This didn't seem like the man that they had lost. There was something softer in the other man's body language. He wasn't as closed off, as self contained as the Stark he knew. Right now he just looked disgusted though.

                “Then I was making a damned fool of myself. I’ve wanted you since I came to town and saw you. It’s why I stuck around even though I’d have to work with my ex-wife Jack. Allison and I got divorced for a reason, and nothing can change that, I know that and I can't see subjecting myself to another round of marriage with her. I doubt the other me would have denied wanting you either, before that crosses your mind. He was a coward for not going after you though.” He replied harshly, looking furious, but not at Jack. It was like he wanted to throttle his other self for what he had been about to do. Jack crossed his arms, feeling defensive of himself, and strangely enough the other Stark.

                “He sure had a funny way of showing it.” He replied, trying not to think about the other Stark wanting him. That would only lead to more questions, ones that didn't have an answer now that the timelnes were changed. Or so he hoped, the reminder of Stark and what happened to him made him remember his theory that Stark had been pushed out of time itself in the disaster with the clock. If that was true then he could still be out there and stuck. He pushed that horrifying thought out of his head as Nathan sighed, sounding annoyed, before looking him in the eyes.

                “I remember what you were like when I first came into town Jack. He probably made the same observations I did, that you would be hard to approach, if not impossible, and decided that he didn’t stand a chance with you as a result. God knows that Allie seemed like a safer route at that point, for about a second before I decided I wanted the challenge mind you. Because I’m not afraid of being shot down. I’ve never been. I wanted you so I pursued you. We’ll take this as slow as you need to Jack, but I’m sure as hell not going to lose my husband or daughters over this.” He replied, his eyes glinting as he basically challenges Jack to contradict him. Jack paused, shocked by what he had just heard.

                “Husband? Daughters as in plural?” He asked, his voice cracking. He was married to Nathan in this timeline? Suddenly the way that Nathan had reacted to what had happened and his behavior made a hell of a lot of sense. Stark knew something was up because he hadn't acted like the Jack that he was married to. Nathan nodded, his eyes gentling as he took in the Sherriff's reaction to his little speech, before he showed his hand to Jack. A Celtic ring was sitting proudly on his ring finger, glinting in S.A.R.A.H’s lights. Their marriage band. He was married and he didn't even get to remember it.

                “Husband and Daughters as in two. One of our worst times yet happened when Allie wasn’t ready to let me go right after we announced we were getting married. She crashed my bachelors party and I woke up in bed with her. She felt bad after, or so she claimed, considering that Zane admitted that he had gotten me so drunk that there was no way I had agreed to anything. She gave us custody of the result- our daughter Jenna. She still gets visitation rights- you surprisingly enough insisted on it, Jenna is there right now. I think I might have to pick her up early considering what’s going on. I don’t want Allison thinking she has her full time after all.” He responded, his voice comfortingly soft. Jack felt sick to his stomach as he realized what Nathan was saying. He wasn't just married to Nathan in this timeline, but the daughter that Allison adored was his legally because in this world she’d only been born because Allison had seduced his drunk fiancé.

                “Allison had Jenna 9 months after you died Nathan. She found out she was pregnant soon after your death. She adores Jenna. You being alive is going to hurt her, and being married to me? She’s not going to like that, but finding out that she doesn’t have custody of Jenna is going to kill her.” He muttered, his voice a mere whisper as he realized just how much Allison had lost when they had stepped into this changed timeline. And everything that she had lost he had gained- her fiancé, her daughter. Nathan grabbed his hand, breaking him out of his dark thoughts and making him look at him. The other man looked worried at his reaction to their youngest daughter.

                “I understand it’s going to be a huge change for Allison, and I will explain it to her as gently a I can. But it’s not just Allison I have to consider here. Jenna is old enough to know that she spends 2 days a week and 2 weekends a month with her Aunt Allison. Too much change will affect her negatively and I have to worry about our daughter’s well being in all of this.” He tried to sooth. Jack sighed, suddenly tired, he entangled their fingers automatically- not thinking about it. Nathan smiled at the reaction, though his eyes were still shadowed with worry. It took a couple moments for Jack to formulate his response, and push down the automatic demand to let Allison have Jenna to avoid hurting his friend. He understood Nathan’s point of view and didn’t want to upset Jenna in anyway. He cared for the little girl from his timeline, and she was his daughter here. That meant that no matter what he had to put her first, and Allison would have to understand that.

                “We’ll talk to Allison together I think, it might make it easier to swallow if she has someone to blame, and that's one job that I'm good at handling. I agree we have to keep Jenna’s world as together as we can. I remember what the divorce with Abby did to Zoe, and I don’t want to do that to Jenna. She’s a sweet little baby girl.” He finally replied, his voice showing just how tired he was. Nathan nodded, frowning at what Jack assumed was his easy acceptance of being the scapegoat in this situation. His eyes showed his relief at Jack’s acceptance in not changing Jenna's world though.

                “I will make sure that I put together packets for your group tonight. So they don’t have to stumble around trying to figure out what’s different or not and end up drawing more attention to what’s happened than we need. While they’re adjusting to this timeline I’ll try and cover up as much of their behavior that doesn’t match as I can, but they need to know that even I can't cover up all of it.” Nathan suddenly murmured, his tone taking on a business like hint. Jack’s fingers started playing with the ring on Nathan’s finger unconsciously, memorizing the feelings of the knotted metal. It was actually soothing to tell the truth.

                “Let’s start now then, because I have a feeling that my behavior should match up with my doubles as much as possible. We’re married and we have a infant daughter. What else do you think may be different in this timeline?” he asked after a couple of minutes. Nathan let him play with his hand, not pulling it away and his eyes caught Jack’s. A grin spread across the other man’s lips as he realized Jack wasn’t going to leave him because of the timeline shift, and Jack had to resist second guessing himself. He didn't want to pretend that this timeline didn't exist, but a part of him was still stuck on Stark- reminding him that he had to be sure that the other man wasn't still stuck out of time. Pretending the accident in the other timeline had never happened wasn't a choice now, anymore than it had been then. He promised himself that once he had a chance he'd start his research back up- this he would have to keep from his... husband. At least initially.

                “Well I know that you’re not the idiot I accused you of being when I first got into town- from your little comment about having been working with Fargo I have a feeling that my double never found that out. In fact I know that you’re far from being a simpleton. It started off when Zoe convinced me to dare you to take an IQ test. Only when I accepted the dare she was the one to convince you to do it. She told you it was a quiz that she’d tricked me into and she knew that you could do better. Imagine my surprise when you scored over 150. That led me to look into your past, and find your degrees. I made sure that the town knows to take your suggestions more seriously and you have access to a lab when you get the urge to tinker. You weren’t too happy about being tricked, but Zoe smoothed it over. She defiantly takes more after you in IQ than her mother.” He replied, his voice playful, and holding a smug undertone when he mentioned his double. Jack groaned at that, he’d been happy not being Dr. Jack Carter in this little town of scientists and genius’, but having access to a lab at GD would be useful in the future. Nathan just looked amused at his reaction.

                “I guess I’m lucky I don’t have a permanent lab assigned to me, along with research assignments and the like.” He murmured, trying to look on the bright side and ignore the urge he felt to get right back to his research. His inner scientist was taking this as a sign that he needed to take notice of the urge though. “I happen to like my job of busting the know it alls of this town when their heads get too big and they mess up. Someone has to keep an eye on them” He added with a half grin. Nathan chuckled as he spoke, bringing his hand up absent mindedly and kissing it. Jack tried not to register the feelings as Nathan froze for a second. When he didn’t freak out about the kiss Nathan sighed.

                “You said that when you found out what I had done with the information I had. I will admit I thought about putting you in a lab, because you are brilliant, but Zoe was sure that you’d divorce me for trapping you in the duldroms if I did.” He replied, the love he felt for Zoe clear in his voice. “I did up your security clearance to the appropriate level so you could fully access GD when you needed to. You saved both mine and Henry’s wife’s life when it was discovered the experiment we had been running was sabotaged. You over ride the start up program and wouldn’t tell us how to undo your work until we ran the appropriate scans. Then you found out who was behind it, but Dr. Barlow was killed before you found out who her bosses were when she tried killing you in retaliation for your interference. It’s still an open case.” He added, appreciation for the other Jack in his voice. Jack’s eyes widened at his words for some reason and Nathan stilled, waiting for his response- wondering what had gone differently in his timeline. And something had gone differently judging by the fact Jack had paled now.

                “Kim’s alive?” He whispered in shock, his voice faint. Nathan’s stomach clenched as he realized just how different Jack’s timeline had been. He’d been dead, and so was Kim. Kim’s death would have made Henry cold and distant and that would have affected Jack. He could tell Jack had been affected by his death, and if Henry hadn’t been there for him Jack had to go through it himself, and had dealt with Allison's reaction to his death alone. Suddenly his willingness to be the scapegoat in their talk with Alison made a sick sort of sense. Whether she knew it or not she had already used Jack as an outlet for her anger, and Jack was used to it. He decided his husband wasn't going to be there for the talk then and there. If Jack wasn't going to protect himself, then he was sure as hell going to do it for him. He had experience with dealing with Allison, and he refused to think this one was much different from her double.

                 “Henry’s going to be ecstatic. In our timeline I tried to tell them something was wrong, but I couldn’t get into the lab because I didn’t have the clearance and no one listened to me because all they saw was what I wanted them to. It went wrong, terribly wrong and the worst part is we didn’t know why it went wrong for a long time. We didn’t catch onto Barlow until after she tried something else, and even then she got away to cause more problems. You survived the explosion, but Kim died and Henry was devastated. He almost left Eureka after it and so did I. S.A.R.A.H didn’t like that and she locked us all in here after tricking most of us to come. That was a interesting experience I hope not to repeat- Fargo built her on an existing A.I. which has a serious attitude problem. He almost killed us trying to make us resolve our problems.” He explained, his voice lowering slightly when he talked about B.R.A.D. Nathan looked up at the ceiling, a calculating glint in his green eyes. He happened to like the A.I., but if she proved a danger to his husband and daughters he would destroy her without a second thought. He would have to look into her base program soon.

                “Kim’s still at work right now.” He responded after a moment, before pulling out his cell phone, since he doubted whatever Jack on him would work in this timeline. He handed it to his husband. “You should call him and warn him about this particular change in the timeline before she comes home. He might have a heart attack when he sees her and I don’t want that. I know how much he loves her, and his surprise at seeing her wouldn't be easily explained.” He ordered his voice brisk. Henry being prepared and not making a scene when Kim came home would help make sure that their secret stayed that way. There was no way he was going to let his husband and his group go to prison for changing the timeline on accident- or even if it wasn't accidental. To make sure that didn’t happen he needed to keep them from making a scene. Jack dialed Henry’s number, looking apprehensive. When the other man picked up he grinned at Nathan.

                “Henry, it’s Jack. I was looking into the history of this timeline because I didn’t want any surprises popping up that would knock us off our game. Apparently I was able to stop the artifact experiment here because I had the codes to get into the room and lock the computer down before they could initiate the probe into the artifact. Kim’s at work right now, but she’ll be home in an hour top. Don’t panic or make a scene when she gets home. You two are married, so she'll notice anything like excessive surprise. You know her Henry, she's smart and she'll notice if you're acting off.” He spoke rapidly, trying to get everything out before he chickened out. He heard Henry inhale sharply and sit down on something that squeaked.

                “She’s alive?” He whispered, sounding faint. Jack grinned wider and Nathan suppressed a chuckle- Henry didn't know that he was alive yet and one shock at a time was enough. He loved the man next to him so much. Even this Jack from a timeline that he’d died in wasn't much different from the one who had been here earlier today. He tried not to react to what he knew about Jack’s previous timeline, the deaths and the other him. Stark had been a damned idiot for not acting on his feelings, and letting Jack go. Hell he could tell that Jack had feelings for him... or rather the other Stark. He would have to ask exactly how his double died- and just why Jack had been researching it when his double had been declared dead. Jack himself had said he'd been trying to get his double back.

                “She is Henry. Why don’t you make a special dinner for her or something? Enjoy having her back, I know how much her death hurt you.” Henry laughed shakily as he confirmed what he said was true. Jack heard him shift after a moment.

                “I’ll make sure she knows how much I love her. Are there anymore people who are alive now I should know about, so I can temper my reaction if I happen to see them? I haven’t had a chance to check myself.” He asked curiously. Jack looked over at Nathan who was still holding his hand, looking like he was enjoying every second of contact he was allowed. He wouldn’t have a problem being married to Nathan, at least he didn’t think he would. He had loved him before, and with the other man returning his feelings like this… it was almost like a dream come true. A dream that would be a nightmare to Allison. He pushed that thought out of his head, like he had with the thoughts of Stark and his possible continued existence, wanting to enjoy this for a little more before reality set in once again.

                “Yes, there’s another person that I know if so far. Stark’s alive. I haven’t told Allison yet before you ask. It's been a little bit of a shock, considering things are different in that aspect too.” He replied as calmly as he could. Henry’s breathing stopped as soon as he spoke, and Jack resisted wincing. Henry had, however unwillingly, been the victim of his reaction of their Stark’s death. He’d helped Jack act like everything was fine while he helped Allison, and Jack assumed that he had thought that Jack had accepted Stark's death. Jack hadn't let him in on the fact he was trying to get the other man back, partially because of the distance that Kim's death had brought between the two of them.

                “How are you taking that Jack? And don’t tell me that Stark being alive isn’t affecting you at all, I know better. Allison has accepted our Stark’s death, but I know you better than that. You never were able to because of how you felt and the last minutes you spent together even though you acted like it. You’re my best friend, even if at times I didn’t live up to my end of it. He was important to you.” He finally spoke, his voice stern. Jack was honestly shocked that he had noticed that he hadn't accepted Stark's death. Nathan’s hand tightened around his as he heard Henry’s response and Jack smiled at him, his eyes shadowed. To have the other man hear what Henry said was a little off putting, he didn't want Nathan to get the wrong idea about Henry. The older man had been grieving, and Jack didn't blame him for putting the distance in between them, he had failed to save Kim after all. He knewAllison really wouldn’t like this marriage, but he hoped Henry would be helpful in explaining it to her. No matter how much she had accepted Nathan’s death the marriage combined with Nathan and he having custody of Jenna would make her angry beyond belief. Henry cleared his throat as he didn’t answer.

                “I’m apparently married to him Henry, that's the shocking difference.” He responded in an almost whisper, admitting what the other man would be finding out one way or another. Henry chuckled softly in response.

                “This timeline is going to be full of surprises isn’t it? And if you’re married to him then hiding what happened is going to be even harder. That man is very observant, and if he went after you he’s going to notice everything about you. Other than that I’m glad for you. You deserve a little happiness after the last couple of years. Don’t push him away, even though Allison’s not going to be the happiest about the relationship. He wouldn't let you do it anyway.” He replied, his voice amused. Jack winced, even Henry knew what was going to happen and he didn’t know everything involving this situation yet. Allison was going to kill him over Jenna alone.

                “He already knows that there’s been a timeline shift. He’s not going to go to the DOD though. He came home and I wasn’t going to lie to him when he asked what was wrong. He’s promised to smooth our transition into the timeline. I assume you’ll agree with me when I say I don’t want to try and change it back to how it was. He’s going to put together packets with information about this timeline and our personal history’s tonight to help us blend back in.” He responded. Henry chuckled again, and sighed as he moved.

                “He’s there with you right now isn’t he? If he’s anything like the man I knew he’s going to make sure that you know he’s serious about staying with you, even though you don’t have the same history with him as he does you. Don’t feel guilty about wanting to stay in this timeline though. When Kim gets here, when I see her- the timeline we were in won’t matter anymore, not to me. Just like it doesn’t matter to Nathan, and even though it will be tough for Allison to accept that she’s not Nathan’s number one Kevin’s more articulate state will help ease her into wanting to stay here.” He replied sagely. Jack relaxed a little, and Nathan pulled him closer to his body, wrapping his arms around him. Jack didn’t pull away and he heard Nathan sigh in what he assumed was relief and felt him relax. Nathan pulled the phone from his hands before he could respond to his friend's advise.

                “Hey Henry. Jack’s exhausted. I’m going to get him some food and send him to bed before getting started on those packets. I’ll deliver them in the morning, so if  you could give Fargo and Jo a heads up. Oh and I don’t know if it happened in your timeline, but Jo’s married to Zane so if she needs a heads up would you take care of it? Now you have a dinner to make for your lovely wife if I’m not mistaken so I’ll let you go.” He spoke firmly. Jack heard his friend laugh in response to his… husband’s words. If Henry was okay with this he could handle it.

                “I’ll get on that Nathan. It’s good to hear your voice though. Take care of Jack, but if you mess up I’ll have to hurt you. He deserves to be happy after all, and if you love him, I'm sure you agree.” He responded, his voice taking on a hard note. Nathan laughed at the warning, tightening his arms as Jack blushed brightly- clearly embarrassed by his friend's actions.

                “I’m not going to let him go Henry. I love him too damned much to do that. The Stark in your timeline was a fucking idiot for not going after him, and I don't intend on making the same mistake. I won him over once, and I'm sure that I can do it again.” He shot back, a cocky tone coloring his voice as he winked at Jack. Henry chuckled and Jack could imagine him shaking his head at Nathan’s words. The other man sounded thoroughly amused by what was happening.

                “That’s good. If you need help with Allison then call me Nathan. I’ll talk sense into her, because no matter what Jack thinks she was aware of his feelings for Stark, and Stark’s for him. She just ignored them because she had what she wanted. I know that you of all people know she’s a possessive woman.” He murmured, his tone lowering from the joking height it had reached. Jack felt Nathan tense, and reminded himself of how Jenna was conceived. Nathan knew just how possessive Allison was, but to know that the woman he knew was just as possessive was a little concerning. He might be underestimating how hard this would be once she was aware of Nathan's survival  in this timeline.

                “Just as long as she reminds herself that Jack isn’t at fault here. I won’t put up with her giving my husband any problems, and she’ll find out pretty quickly that Jack’s respected in Eureka and people are protective of him. Particularly when she’s involved, because there's a history there that makes everyone a little touchy about their interactions.” He replied, his voice harsh. Henry coughed, and the phone shifted.

                “I hear a story behind that Nathan.” He muttered, sounding apprehensive. “And not one I think I’ll like.” Nathan sighed, kissing Jack’s head, again an absentminded gesture that Jack tried not to react to.

                “Let’s just say I got a daughter out of my bachelor party while I was unaware of what was going on because Zane got to me with one of his concoctions. It almost split Jack and I up before we managed to get married because I woke up with her in my bed. By the time she announced she was pregnant most of the town wanted her redacted because she tried to get me to divorce Jack and play family with her.” He responded tersely. Henry cursed, and Nathan looked amused by his reaction. “And that was your reaction then too. I just hope to god this Allison is not like her double in any way.” He added. Henry sighed.

                “Alright. I’m going to cook Kim dinner, and once you get Jack to rest we’re going over to see Allison together. I’ll let her know that you’re alive, and then we’ll talk to her and let her know about your marriage to Jack and how Jenna was conceived here. I assume you have a custody arrangement that she needs to know about, considering everything. I’ll make sure she keeps to it. There is no need for Jenna to have her life turned upside down by the mess we got ourselves into.” He assured him. He hung up before Nathan could reply and the Scientist sighed. He looked at Jack gently.

                “Are you alright with us taking care of it Jack? It looks like Henry’s in papa bear mode, so he’s not going to let you near Allison until he knows she won’t take it out on you.” He asked softly, silently thanking the other man in his mind for being the one to suggest that Jack didn't come to this first meeting. He didn't know if Jack would have listened to him if he had said no, not this soon anyway. Jack turned his head to look at him, examining his face, but Nathan gave nothing away. He knew what the two men were doing, trying make sure Allison didn’t cause waves about their marriage and protecting him.

                “Do what you need to Nathan. I know Allison isn’t going to be happy about this though, so be careful please.” He responded tiredly, the events of the past couple of days crashing down on him all at once. He just wanted to go to bed. Only tomorrow morning was going to be hell and he knew it, because everything wasn't just going to go away overnight. Nathan looked at him sympathetically and tightened his arms around him.

                “Why don't you eat something, and then go to bed Jack? Henry and I will take care of Allison, then I’ll get to work on making up the packets for the others. I'll sleep in the guest room tonight, so you don't have to deal with that too.” He assured him, easing out from under him. Jack watched him get up and head into the kitchen. He hid a grin as he heard his husband start cooking instead of asking S.A.R.A.H. to make something for Jack. The man loved him a lot, that much was clear. And he was taking the fact that Jack had taken the place of his husband way to easily. Jack acknowledged the fact that his double was probably gone and that going back to the other timeline wouldn't bring him back but there was still the fact that he was gone because Jack was there. Everyone of the doubles were gone because of his group- that thought brought guilt crashing down onto him.

                When Nathan handed him a burger and beer he hid his grin as he ate, pushing the guilt out of his mind. It wasn't like they had a choice in this. And maybe that was why Nathan was embracing him. It didn't change the fact that Jack would try to find out what had changed though. As he finished the last of his meal Nathan’s smile gentled. He took his plate and cup to the kitchen before ushering him up the stairs. Jack tried not to note the differences in his room, and the obvious marks that indicated someone else slept in the room with him. He felt bad that Nathan was exiling himself from their room just to make him comfortable, and made himself a promise to try and let Nathan back in as soon as he could. Jenna wasn’t the only one who didn’t need her life disrupted. And Nathan was letting himself accept Jack without a  second thought- or at least one that was visible to him right now.

                 Nathan was so worried about making everyone happy and keeping him that he wasn’t worried about how this was affecting himself. He’d have to keep an eye on that, because he had lost his Jack today. As soon as he hit the bed his eyes started drooping, sleep dragging him under quickly. Nathan bent down and kissed his forehead before leaving the room and Jack to his sleep.

Chapter Text

               Henry sighed as he hung up the phone, his heart pounding in his chest dangerously fast. Kim was alive. And she was going to be coming home soon. He’d almost destroyed the world trying to get her back and one change in the timestream, he’d have to figure out what it was, and she was alive and healthy and he was married to her. He went to the kitchen to start cooking. He couldn’t let Kim know how relieved he was to see her, not until he told her exactly what was going on. Preferably he’d tell her in a couple of weeks when they weren’t in danger of getting hauled in by the DOD for changing the timeline by accident and after they settled back into the timeline. It wasn't going to be easy, considering he knew that lying to Kim wasn't a good idea- the last time he had done it he was slowly destroying the world to keep her alive.

               As he started cooking his mind wandered to the problem at had- Allison. It would be hard to settle completely with the changes Allison in particular was facing. He knew his friend, if Jenna had been conceived the way he had implied he wouldn’t have let Allison have any sort of custody, except for maybe visits. He had no problem seeing Allison seduce Nathan to try and stop his wedding to Jack, and that posed problems for Jack staying married to him in this timeline. She wasn’t going to give up her daughter or Nathan without a fight, and that fight would draw attention towards them that they didn’t need. He needed to think of a way that they could work with this, one that Allison would accept without causing too many problems for them as a whole.

               As the meal finished cooking he moved to the dining room table and set out the plates and silverware. He knew that his behavior might seem odd to his wife, considering he wasn't the type to cook dinner at the best of ties, but he could fib his way through it if she asked. He’d just plated the food when he heard the door open. He tried not to let his hands shake as he poured two tall glasses of tea out and set them down. Two familiar arms wrapped around his waist and he felt his wife’s face press against his back, and her breath hitting his shirt proving she was there and alive. He never would have thought that little thing would make him so damned happy.

               “Mhhm. To what do I owe this to?” Kim’s voice cut through the silent room, another proof that he had her back. Henry squeezed his eyes shut, hardly able to believe that Jack had been telling the truth and his Kim was here and alive, though he never should have doubted him. Jack had never lied to him, unlike Henry, who had erased his memory for his own convenience. He had a hell of a lot to make up to his friend- that much was for sure. He'd start by making sure Allison knew that her interference wasn't welcomed in Jack's marriage. He turned his attention back to his wife, who was waiting for his answer patiently.

              “I felt like surprising you, that's all. How was work?” He hummed, turning around and drinking the sight of her in. He bent down and pecked Kim’s lips. She grinned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing closer to him. He was in absolute heaven with her in his arms again.

             “Well I certainly like this surprise.” She whispered huskily as the kiss ended, her dark eyes glittering playfully as she looked him over. Henry held her, enjoying the feel of her body in his arms. There was no way he was going to let anyone try and change time back to what it had been. He wasn’t going to lose her again, and they actually had a chance of keeping the timelines stable this time.

              “I missed you.” He couldn’t help but mutter after a moment. She giggled and pecked his cheek.

              “I missed you too Henry. Now what did you cook for us tonight?” She chirped, pulling away to look at the table. She grinned at him again as she took in the plate full of some of her favorite foods. “I need to work a double shift more often if this is what I get when I come home.” She teased, before sitting down and grabbing a napkin. He shook his head and took his seat, just content in being in the same room as her. He was finally home, back where he belonged, with Kim.

              Nathan was getting ready to confront his ex-wife when the phone rang. He frowned, because he was supposed to call Henry in another hour, not the other way around. He looked at the caller ID and his frown deepened as he noted the name. Why would Tess be calling at this hour? He sighed and answered, hoping Jack didn’t wake up. He knew just how badly the situation with Allison was going to turn out. And he knew that Jack hd some idea, the other man wouldn't just accept stting by and letting him and Henry handle it if he woke up now. He'd been in shock before, when he had just accepted Henry's suggestion.

             “Hello?” He asked absentmindedly as he answered the phone. Tess sighed in his ear, sounding flustered- even more so than when they had to interact. He wasn't her favorite person on a good day because of the fiasco with Allison.

             “I was hoping to speak to Jack. Allie’s freaking out. She went to put Jen down after spending the whole night with Kevin, acting like his every action was a miracle when Jen called her Aunt Allie. We both know that’s what she’s always called Allie. Except Allie corrected her, told her to call her mommy. I’m afraid she’s relapsing, because she swore when she signed over custody she’d never bring that up after what she did. And now Jen’s crying and Allie’s trying to sooth her but she wants her parents. I was going to ask Jack to pick her up because I don’t want to know how my wife will react to you right now.” She spoke, her voice harsh and angry. Allison’s sleeping with him had put him at odds with the other woman, and sometimes he thought Allie had only signed Jenna over to make Tessa happy- to stop her from leaving like she had planned.

             “I’ll come over right away and pick Jenna up. Jack’s asleep, he was exhausted when he got home from work.” He explained, keeping his voice level even as his temper flared. She snorted at his response.

             “Alone? Hell tonight’s going to be a fucking blast.” Tess ground out, pissed off by what was happening. “I’m surprised Jack would feel comfortable letting you come over, after everything that’s happened and all. He must trut the two of you more than I do.” She added, a mean note in her voice. He could understand her bitterness, but they were close to finishing the other part of her demand- if Jack was up to it.

             “Listen Tess, I’m not going to get myself involved with your wife, I don't want her. My child on the other hand, she’s upset, I can hear her crying from over the damned phone. I’m only coming over for her. And I’ll bring Henry with me. That should make you feel more at ease.” He spat out, tired of the other woman blaming him for her wife's actions. She sighed, inhaling raggedly. He could hear the crackling of a cigarette and made a face. Tess must be stressed out more than he thought if she was breaking the progress she’d made in quitting in preparation for the other part of her demand for equality.

             “I don’t mean to snap. It’s just Allison’s behavior is leaving me feeling a little on edge. I love my niece and before this Allie hadn’t given any sort of indication that she thought of her as anything else but our niece, but I can’t stand this. You giving Allie time with Jen was a nice gesture, but until everything is calmed down I think we should stop visitations. If she's relapsing it will only upset Jen, and I can't approve of that.” She finally muttered sullenly. Nathan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tess was right and he knew it, but it would only make Allie even harder to deal with. He needed to make sure his family was safe first though, and Allison wasn't helping to ease his mind.

              “I agree Tessa. Try and keep Allison calm until we get there. I’m not going to drag Jack into this if she’s really relapsing into her obsession. What happened before was enough for him to deal with and if he thinks she’s going to try and take our daughter. I don’t need him stressing out over it. Not right now.” He replied, his voice taking a calmer note as he centered himself.  Tess sighed again, sounding exhausted.

             “He’s a good man, and a great father. I don’t know what’s gotten into Allison though; I thought she was happy with me and that we had put this behind us for the most part.” She whispered, sounding a little lost. He grimaced. Allison was already causing problems by not playing along with the changes to the timeline. He only hoped that Henry could convince her to get her act together before she got the whole lot of them locked up for their little adventure in time.

             “I’ll be there as soon as I can get Henry. Try and calm her down so she doesn’t upset Jenna anymore than she already has. And don’t mention I’m on my way, like you said I’m not looking forward to how she’ll react to me.” He ordered, slipping back into the role he was most comfortable in. The person in charge- even if he didn't run GD anymore. She hummed in acknowledgement to his words and he hung up, hanging his head and calming his breathing.

             “Damn it Allison. If you put Jack in danger with your panic attack I will make you suffer.” He growled to himself, not able to resist heading upstairs for a second before calling Henry. Jack was sound asleep, and cuddled around his pillow. He smirked to himself, because this just proved that his marriage wasn’t in danger. Jack wouldn’t have a problem with being married to him and hopefully he’d be back in his bed soon. He moved back down stairs, feeling a bit calmer after reassuring himself that his home life was still safe. Now he just had to deal with Allison now. He wasn’t going to let her jeopardize his family just because she wanted something, not this time. He pulled out his phone and sighed, before dialing Henry’s number. His friend answered almost immediately, which was strange considering he was with his wife.

             “Is everything alright Nathan?” He asked, sounding worried. Nathan bit his cheek, Henry really knew what Allison was like apparently,  and he wasn’t kidding himself into thinking she would accept all the changes quietly. He sighed, and looked at the wall, calculating equations in his head to keep himself centered. He had to keep his cool with Allison for Jack and Jenna's sake.

              “Things are coming to the boiling point Henry. Allison went to put Jenna down to bed and my little girl called her Aunt Allie like she normally does. Allison didn’t like that and tried correcting her. When Tess called to tell Jack he needed to come get our daughter I could hear Jen crying in the background. She wants her daddy, and we need to explain this to Allison before she scares her anymore. I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner with Kim.” He replied, hi voice detached and  emotionless. He raised an eyebrow when Henry cursed, and heard Kim asking what was wrong in the background.

             “Allison upset Jenna by trying to get her to call her Mommy. Jack’s asleep and Nathan doesn’t want to drag him into the drama again. He’s asking me to come with him to pick her up.” He replied, sounding like the Henry Nathan had knew before the timeline shift. He had to hide a grin, but it broke through when Kim started cursing. The other woman wasn’t Allison’s biggest fan, and even though Nathan knew this latest blip was because of the timeline shift no one else did.

              “Go, go help Nathan get his and Jack’s little girl back from that woman. These visitations have to stop if she’s going to start confusing our god daughter. She’s getting old enough to remember these little incident’s.” Kim growled. Henry sighed and Nathan reminded himself that Henry hadn’t seen his wife in a long time and he was taking him from her. He was damned lucky that Henry considered him a friend. As it was he didn’t want to leave Jack alone for too long, and he hadn’t been separated from the other man. It might be the fact that he knew the Jack he had known, had married was gone, but he was afraid he'd disappear.

             “Thanks for this Henry, I know leaving her right now probably is the last thing you want to do.” He murmured lowly, gratitude clear in his voice. Henry chuckled in response.

             “I’ll meet you at the bunker, and we’ll go pick up Jenna.” He replied firmly. He heard Kim snort in the background and knew that she wasn’t happy with Allison and wouldn’t oppose Henry coming to help.

             “If she tries anything call me and I’ll take care of her.” He heard her tell her husband. He snorted in amusement.

             “Watch it Henry she’s a firecracker.” He warned playfully. The other man laughed again.

             “Just be ready when I get there Nathan.” He replied, his voice happy. Nathan grinned as he ended the call.

          Tess sighed as she heard the car pull up. She’d been able to take Jen from Allison and get her to go to sleep not ten minutes ago, but Allison was still acting weird. She loved her wife, she really did, but Allison didn’t let go of things or people easily. When her wife slept with Stark she’d been pissed off, mostly at him until Zane told her that he’d given Nathan a special brew and there was no way in hell he’d been able to consent to having sex, let alone remember his name. Then she was pissed off at Allison. She’d almost left her in the months that followed, especially after she found out Allison had gotten pregnant during that one night. In the end Allison promising to give Nathan and Jack complete custody over the child had been the only thing that saved their marriage. That didn’t mean that she didn’t love her niece, she just wouldn’t have been able to raise her knowing how she was conceived. The other part of their agreement was supposed to happen via invitro in the next 3 months. As long as Jack stayed in agreement that is, he had never been quite on bored to that part.

           In order for Allison to truly understand what she’d put everyone through she needed to experience the other side of things. Tess was going to carry Jack’s child and sign custody over to him and Nathan when the baby was born. Allison hadn’t been too happy about that part of their deal, but she had agreed in the end. Tess couldn’t help but wonder if the approaching conclusion of the deal they had made was the reason for Allison’s behavior. She couldn’t believe she was dragging Jen into it though. The little girl had been so confused when Allison had demanded she call her mommy, and as Allison got aggravated Jen had gotten terrified. She was going to ban Jen from overnights for a while, even if Stark changed his mind about agreeing with her, at least until Allison got a hold of herself again. There was no reason for that little girl to be frightened like she had been tonight.

            “Henry’s outside. He wants to talk to you.” She told her wife, her voice short. Allison looked at her sadly and she ignored it. The other woman sighed and headed outside. As the door closed Tess started gathering Jen’s things. After the talk with Allison she didn’t doubt Nathan would be taking her home and she didn't want to delay him. Jen needed her own bed tonight, not the guest room.

              Allison closed the door behind her, her mind still spinning. She didn’t know what was going on in this timeline, but her daughter didn’t know her as her mother. She called her Aunt. God, she’d been so caught up in Kevin and the changes she could see in him that she’d just noted that Jenna was here in this timeline. She’d been happy about that, and even being married to Tess wasn’t bad. She had dated her seriously in college until she’d slept with Kevin’s father. Tess hadn’t been able to stick around and play 2^nd mommy to the result of her cheating. Telling Jack his previous girlfriend was her wife would be a little awkward though. Henry cleared his throat and she looked at him. She didn’t know what he was doing here, but she was glad he was. Although by the look on his face she wasn’t going to be happy with what he had to say.

              “What’s going on here Henry? My daughter calls me Aunt Allie.” She demanded before he could speak. Henry winced and sighed. She braced herself for anything he could have to say, including that she’d given Jenna up because she couldn’t handle having her around after Nathan’s death. She’d considered it before, but having Jack’s support had convinced her to keep her. In a way having Jack on call for Jenna had been payback to Tess for not sticking around for Kevin. She tapped her foot when he didn’t answer immediately.

              “You don’t have custody of Jenna Allison, her parents give you visitation with her.” He finally murmured. She froze, her heart dropping. Why hadn’t the Jack here supported the Allison here?

              “Did I give her up for adoption?” She asked, her voice cracking as she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. Henry grimaced this time, making her clench her fists in anticipation to what he had to say.

              “Not in so much. Nathan’s not dead in this timeline. You two were never going to get remarried, in fact you’d already married Tess, right after your divorce from Nathan. He was getting married, and Zane gave him a special drink. You climbed into bed with him and had sex with him while he was incoherent in an attempt to stop the marriage. It didn’t work because Zane stood up for him and said that he wouldn’t have been able to consent. He’d been married for less than a month when you announced your pregnancy. From what I’ve been able to understand you almost lost Tess over this and there was some deal making involved with the two of you. When Jenna was born you gave custody of her to Nathan and his spouse.” He replied, his voice clinical. Allison swayed, feeling faint. Nathan was alive? And he had custody of her daughter with his new spouse. She noticed Henry had never specified gender, and she knew her ex well enough to know he was attracted to his own gender too. He had the hots for Jack in their proper timeline after all.

             “Who is it? Who did he marry?” She whispered. There was the sound of a car door opening and she looked up to see Nathan exiting Henry's truck. He didn’t seem happy to see her. She resisted a wince, knowing that her other self had caused him a hell of a lot of pain. And she had made his daughter cry tonight by scaring her, so she was batting a hundred. She was willing to bet she was the last person he wanted to see tonight.

            “I’m married to Jack Allison. I trust that won’t be an issue? He is after all your friend. I’m not giving up my husband or daughter because of your latest adventure.” He replied stiffly. she could hear tightly controlled anger hidden in his voice. Allison clenched her fists. Of course it would be Jack. She would have had to have been stupid not to notice the real reason behind all of their fights before. And Jack defiantly wouldn’t be too upset about staying in this time line sine it looked like Nathan accepted him- she hadn't missed the hint that he knew about the shift in the timeline.  She didn’t know if she could though, because it was like she was giving up her daughter to have a fully functioning son.

            “You were dead before this accident Nathan. In my mind I’ve been Jenna’s only parent all of her life. That’s not just going to change.” She bit out, ignoring that he was married to Jack for the moment because she could only handle one thing at a time and her daughter was more important. Nathan glared at her as she finished speaking.

            “You’ve already scared her by trying to make you call you mommy Allison. She’s old enough to know who her parents are, and who her aunts are.” He responded tightly. Allison grimaced, crossing her arms.

            “She’s still my daughter Nathan. I don’t know what arrangement you had with my other self, but I’m not going to just bow out of one of my children’s lives.” She bit out. Nathan growled, but it was a female clearing her throat that caught her attention. She looked up to see her wife glaring at her darkly, anger clear on her face.

           “You’ve already given Nathan and Jack custody Allison. Don’t start this again, I won’t stand for it. When we broke up in college I was furious with you, and then you do the same damn thing when I finally agree to marry you. I love my niece, but that is all she is to us.” She spat out disgusted. “Don’t put Nathan and Jack through the drama again just because you’ve decided that you want to play mommy. It only causes trouble.” She was lighting another cigarette. At Nathan’s look she stopped and sighed. “After today I needed them.” She defended herself, a whine sneaking into her voice.

           “I don’t doubt it. Are Jenna’s things ready?” He asked simply. She nodded sharply.

           “They are. I’ll go and load her into her car seat.” She replied, dropping the cigarette and going back inside. Allison sighed as she left, regret shinning in her eyes.

           “I cheated on her in college. Kevin was the result. She left me because she didn’t want to start a family like that, based on the lies that I had told and a pregnancy that we hadn’t planned together. The other me gave Jenna to you to keep her right?” She asked softly. Nathan sighed, before nodding sharply.

           “You have Jenna 2 days a week and 2 weekends a month.” He replied. “She considers you her favorite Aunt, a position you only compete with Tess for. You’re still involved in her life, she’s just not you daughter.” Allison looked away and sighed. If she continued to fight this then she was not only going to lose Tess, she would draw attention to the group with her 180 in behavior.

           “I don’t like this, losing my daughter like this.” She muttered. Henry sighed and she looked at him.

           “You’re not losing her. You’ll still see her and perhaps, when it won’t adversely affect her you can negotiate and increase in the time you have with her. You’re still her family, and you know Jack won’t keep her from you.” He intoned. Allison sighed, before nodding.

           “Alright. We’ll meet in the morning and talk. And don’t think I won’t ask why Nathan knows about the change. The more people who know the more chance there for the DOD finding out.” She finally murmured. Nathan snorted, and she looked at him sharply. He looked angry with her again.

          “I would never put my husband in danger Allison. He told me, because like his double he can’t lie worth a damn when it counts.” He spat out in defense of his husband. She blushed red at the reminder of their marriage. She couldn’t even fault Jack for going along with this reality because she was. She didn’t protest at being married to her college sweetheart so why should he protest at being married to the man that she was sure he never realized he loved.

          “I know that.” She hissed, feeling defensive. He smirked.

          “Then remember it. I’m going to have information packets ready for you all in the morning so there’s no other mix-ups. Now I believe I have to get my daughter home before my husband wakes up.” He replied. She ignore the way he spoke, knowing he was trying to piss her off with the verbal declarations of possession. Tess came to the door with a diaper bag and Jenna in her car seat. She still looked pissed, and Allison knew she would have to do some damage control and make up her behavior. She must have reminded Tess of college.

         “I think we solved the problem Tess. Allison should be back to as normal as she can possibly be now.” Nathan drawled, picking up the car seat. Tess chuckled as Henry came foreword for the diaper bag.

          “I hope so. Kevin was even a little creeped out by her staring.” She replied with a mutter. Nathan raised an eyebrow and shot a look at Allison that told her to tone her behavior down. She looked away as he loaded her daughter turned niece into the car. She wanted to stop him, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to expose them, and she didn’t ever want to scare Jenna again. Henry patted her shoulder.

             “Everything’s going to be alright now.” He murmered before straightening. “I’m going to go home to my wife now. We were in the middle of dinner when Nathan called.” He added, smiling at Tess who rolled her eyes.

            “I’m surprised Kim didn’t insist on coming over herself. She’s protective of her god-daughter.” She teased. Henry chuckled, as Allison looked at him in shock. Kim was alive here and Henry still came over to make sure she didn’t make a scene? That proved that he wanted to stick around for her at least.

           “She almost did, but I convinced her that I could handle it.  She looked ready to breath fire though, so I’d stay out of her way until she calms down Allison.” He replied, a wide grin on his face. Tess scoffed.

           “Kim’s not Allison’s fan on a good day Henry.” She said sardonically. Nathan rolled his eyes.

            “She is a big fan of Jacks.” He added in, a fond note in his voice. Tess laughed.

            “Most of the town loves Doc. Carter. Allison defiantly didn’t make any friends with the stunt she pulled at your party.” She tossed out. Allison flinched inwardly. She was going to have to do some damage control. Jack would help with that even if he didn’t know it. Just by being friendly with her some of the resentment from the town would fade. Again she ignored the parts of the conversation that she wasn’t ready to deal with. Tess wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into the other woman. Nathan nodded to them both before getting into the car. He was followed by Henry and then they were gone.

           “I’m sorry Tess.” Allison murmured as the tail lights disappeared. Her wife sighed and kissed her hair.

           “It’s alright Allie. You just had me scared for a moment there.” She replied before tugging her into the house. “Let’s go to bed. We can talk about what happened today in the morning. I’m just tired now.” She murmured. Allison sighed and followed her inside. At least she didn’t have to think up lies on how to explain her actions to Tess tonight. The day caught up with her as she got ready for bed and as her eyes were closing Tess wrapped her arms around her. The other woman kissed her shoulder as she settled in for bed.

            “I love you baby. Please don’t scare me like this again.” She murmured. Allison closed her eyes and sighed softly. Even if they found a way to turn everything back she didn’t know if they would. She was going to have to learn to adjust one way or another. Tess’s arms tightened a little.

            “I love you too Tess. I promise everything is going to be alright.” She finally replied. Tess’ lips curled into a smile as her body relaxed. She could do this. Her own eyes closed as sleep took hold.

Chapter Text

                 Jo Lupo wasn’t aware of the conflict around Eureka tonight. She’d been so afraid when they got back and things were different, afraid that she and Zane had never happened here.  She loved the bad boy of Eureka, and she didn’t know if she could handle losing him, of him looking at her with anything other than love. Their relationship before had been complete chance, and there was a good chance that he had never decided to cross the line of love and hate, that he still disliked her, and not even the ring on the necklace she wore would change that. The ring he’d given to her when he proposed. She avoided going home until the last possible moment.

              “Hey Jo-Jo. Carter have you work late?” Zane’s voice greeted her as she went inside her home. She resisted the urge to hug him as he smiled at her. As her eyes scanned him they landed on his hand, and the ring on his finger. A wedding ring. And he was in her house at almost midnight. Their house then, she hoped her other self removed her rings before going to work, it’s what she would have done to avoid losing them because she didn’t like having anything on her hands while she shot.

             “Something like that. What are you doing still up?” She asked, removing her side arm and placing it in her safe. Zane chuckled, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

              “I was waiting for my wife to come home. Sometimes I still can’t believe I actually got you to marry me, I have to make sure you’re not going to disappear don’t I?” He teased, his warm breath brushing her neck. She leaned back into his hold, thanking whatever higher power was up there. Zane was still Zane, and still hers.

              “I’m not going anywhere Stud. Today was just a little more abnormal in some ways then I would have liked.” She responded playfully. His arms tightened around her and he kissed her neck.

             “Tell me about it?” He asked softly. She sighed and he chuckled. “I’ll find out sooner or later. You know me Jo-Jo I don’t let something rest once it’s caught my attention. Anything involving you defiantly catches my attention.” He warned in a sing song voice. She rolled her eyes and turned to look at Zane.

              “I promise you that I’ll tell you everything once Carter get’s it worked out. Right now the less people that know about it the better.” She replied, her voice serious. He rolled his eyes, and pressed a kiss to her lips.

              “I’ll hold you to that Donovan, don't you forget.” He replied as they separated. Jo squeaked as he picked her up. “And now I take my lovely wife to bed, where we’ll sleep. You look exhausted.” He added with a wink. She laughed a little, and didn’t try and make him put her down as he carried him towards their room. He set her down next to the bed, looking smug.

             “What would I do without you?” She asked half sarcastically, half truthfully. He smirked at her.

             “You don’t want to know Jo-Jo, let’s just keep it at that so you keep me around.” He replied with another wink. She chuckled as she started stripping for bed. She ignored the whistle her husband made, he was still the same juvenile man that she’d fallen in love with. She shrugged on her night gown and then grunted as she was tackled onto the bed. Zane grinned down at her, and she felt how much he had appreciated watching her get ready for bed. He kissed her again and she moaned deep in her throat as he ground down against her core.

             Any thoughts of how she shouldn't do this right after a time line shift was shoved out of her mind as Zane stripped her, kissing every inch of newly revealed skin. Worshiping her body and showing her how much he appreciated her. When he removed her underwear she gasped as he plunged his tongue deep inside of her.

             Her hands tangled into his hair as he licked her, torturing her to the edge of her endurance, and then stopping short of letting her cum. She flexed her hips up, wanting him to continue he laughed, his breath brushing over her overly sensitive clit and making her swear. She’d forgotten just how evil Zane could be when he felt like it. And she was certain if she let him that he would keep her up until she had to go back on shift tomorrow.

             “Do you want something Jo-Jo?” Zane finally asked, his voice taunting. The deputy sheriff swore and leveraged herself, using her body to flip their position so she was on top. He smirked up at her, seeming like he expected her to react the way she had. He bucked his hips, pushing his cloth clad cock into her soaking core.

             “Ah, did I make you horny baby?” He murmured huskily. She raised an eyebrow before pushing his boxers down with her feet in a swift motion. She didn’t give him another chance to make a smart ass comment as she pushed herself onto his cock and his hands flew to her hips. As his head flew back she smirked to herself.

             “Shit Jo-Jo.” He hissed as she started moving slowly, enjoying the feel of his cock as it slid in and out of her body. Zane tightened his hands around her hips, trying to force her to move faster.

             “Please.” He whined as she wouldn't give in to his silent demand to move faster. She sighed, rolling her hips and making him gasp. When she did speed up her movements he groaned even louder, his grip on her hips tightening. She couldn't help it, but she was getting closer to her peak again and she leaned down kissing him fiercely. One hand moved from her hip and cupped her breast flicking her nipple.

            She gasped into his mouth as she fell over the peak and started cumming. As she clenched around him she felt his cock twitch and then the familiar feel of cum bathing her insides as he followed her over the edge. Zane sighed into her lips, his hand stroking her back as she panted into his mouth. She moved her head and rested against his neck for a moment, coming down from her high. Her mind scolded her for letting this happen, but she couldn't regret it.

            “Damn Jo-Jo. I think you should work late more often if this is the reaction I get.” Zane murmured after a moment, his own chest heaving in the aftermath of his orgasm. “Do I still get morning sex?” He added after a beat, a smirk painting his face. Jo glared at him tiredly and smack his arm, forcing herself to move. She needed to clean up, because she was going to work tomorrow, just not to do what she normally did. She needed information on this timeline, and how to make sure that her group didn't raise any flags with the DOD.

           “If you’re lucky Zane, if you’re lucky.” She murmured, her voice still husky from her orgasm. He laughed, then nudged her softly, his eyes sparkling. He kissed her shoulder as she tried to get her breathing under control.

          “You’re lucky I love you Jo-Jo. Come on babe, we need to clean up and you need to get to sleep. I won’t have a chance for any morning loving, if you’re not rested.” He murmured in reply. She turned her head and grinned at him. She was so damned glad that the change in timelines hadn't changed this beyond jumping the gun on their wedding plans. She had already accepted the proposal in her mind. Skipping the girly marriage part suited her just fine. As long as she had Zane she was happy with the current timeline.

           “I love you too. Now help me up. I don’t think I can walk right now, and I blame that on you.” She snarked. Zane laughed again, and she would never get tired of hearing that. He got up and pulled her from the bed and towards their bathroom. As she moved she noted all of the changes in her home. Zane had been inserting himself into the space before, but he was all over the place now. And she couldn't find fault about that. Zane let her stand on her own as he started the shower and she watched him. She loved his body, and as he looked over his shoulder she could tell that he knew that. As the shower started she stepped into the water and sighed as the water hit her.

           The water felt good on the muscles that were strained from her adventure, and workout with her husband. Zane joined her, and grabbed a sponge before putting her body wash on it. She sighed as he washed her, his hands massaging her muscles with a methodology that she associated with his other self. No part of her body was left untouched. She moaned as she started getting aroused again, but Zane didn't try and start any thing again. As he finished with her she grabbed the only other sponge in the shower. She smirked at him as she grabbed the male body wash she knew he preferred. As she poured the soap onto the sponge he shifted and she smirked.

          She massaged the sponge until the soap bubbled, and then started washing Zane. For the most part he didn't react until she started cleaning around his cock. As her hand, covered in soap moved around him he groaned, and she felt him hardening. She couldn't help herself as she pressed him against the wall of the shower, and stroked his cock firmly. The soap on her hands made them slide over him with incredible ease.

           The combination of her hand stroking him and the slickness of the soap has him whimpering in to her mouth as she kissed him. He came undone much quicker than he normally did as she kept up her torture, and when his knees went to collapse as his hips bucked she made sure to keep him upright, even as his cum painted her stomach. He groaned as he slowly regained the use of his legs, and hugged her closely. She smirked, loving the control she had over him in that moment. As the shower washed away the evidence of his orgasm he kissed her again, taking her breath away as he turned and pinned her against the wall of the shower.

           “You’re playing with fire Donovan. Do you want me to keep you up all night?” He murmured into her lips. She sighed, and bucked her hips, feeling the urge to have him inside her again. He groaned at her action.

          “As much as I want to babe we both need sleep. I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.” He promised as he pulled away. She glared at him playfully as she pulled herself up and finished washing herself. He seemed unaffected as he washed the rest of his body. He even smirked at her as he left the shower and grabbed their towels. She ignored him until after she washed her hair, and then stepped into the waiting towel.

         “Come on Jo. As much as I would like to make a mess again you’ll kill me in the morning if I make you late.” He murmured. She grinned and wrapped her towel around herself before going back to the bedroom. Zane watched as she dressed again and chuckled, before sliding into bed behind her. She fell asleep in his arms, thanking god that she still had him. Zane’s arms around her anchored her into this timeline.

            Jack woke up cuddling the pillow from the other side of the bed, Nathan’s if he was correct, and a little girl snuggling him. He peeked open an eye and for a moment and all he could see Zoe when she was little. Then all he saw was Jenna. He sighed as he took in her peaceful expression. This little girl loved him, and felt safe with him. Much more so than she had in the other timeline, where he was just someone supporting Allison with raising her dead fiancé’s child. He took a look at the clock and sighed, he had to get into work soon. Hopefully Nathan remembered he didn’t know the schedule they had for Jenna. He was serious in not interrupting her life. As he moved she cuddled closer, sighing in her sleep. He heard a deep chuckle from the doorway and looked up to see his husband.

           “I see Jen snuck into bed with you. She was probably confused that I wasn’t there, but I can say I got called into work early. When we got back she was pretty upset about Allison.” He murmured. Jack sighed and kissed the little girls forehead. She sighed and cuddled closer proving she felt safe with him.

         “How did Allison take it?” He asked softly. Nathan snorted, and Jack could see he wasn’t happy with his ex. Jack knew that he would have to make Nathan see that she wasn’t the same woman who had hurt him in the past or he would make Allison’s life hell during this adjustment time. He knew Allison was going through hell right now, considering she had basically lost her daughter. He needed to fix this before she was seriously hurt.

         “She didn’t make too much trouble once Henry and Tess talked to her. She did however look like I had betrayed her, so I'm slightly worried as to what that means.” He replied softly. Jack sighed, drawing Jenna closer to him. He looked up at his husband after a moment.

          “In a way you did. The last thing she remembered of you was a man who was marrying her, a man that died before he knew he fathered a child. Then she’s confronted with a very much alive version of you who remembers the conception of Jenna in a completely different way and one who’s married to me. She’s going through a lot and you can’t treat her like the woman who hurt you before. You do know that right? You have to give her a chance, or enough rope to hang herself. But at least then it will be on her own merits, not her doubles.” He responded. Nathan sighed, coming into the room and sitting next to him in a chair by the bed. He ran a hand over his face.

          “I know that intellectually, but when I looked at her last night all I saw was the Allison I had known. She didn’t care if she hurt me or you when she slept with me. Hell she didn’t even care that she was hurting her own wife. She just didn’t want to give me up. She only signed over custody because she didn’t want to lose Tess. I don’t know how to treat this version of her to be honest. I'm afraid that if I give her that chance she'll just use it to cause more problems, and that is just what we don't need.” He replied, looking tired- like he hadn't slept that well last night. Jack sighed, reaching out a hand and catching his. He squeezed reassuringly and tried to look as supportive as he could.

          “We’ll meet with everyone here later and try to work things out.” He assured him. Nathan sighed before standing up. He started tickling Jenna, and the little girl woke up with a squeal, grinning at her father.

           “Hungry.” She chirped after she calmed down a little. Nathan nodded.

           “Let’s go get you dressed while Daddy wakes his lazy bones up and then we’ll eat breakfast.” He cooed, every bit the loving father that Jack had imagined Stark would have been if he had the chance. Jack watched amused as Jenna launched herself and the other man caught her. Nathan kissed her cheeks and she giggled loudly, wrapping her little arms and legs around him. Jack could see how much Nathan loved the little girl in his arms, and how much she adored him. The pair left his bedroom and he sighed, closing his eyes. It felt good having a family again, but having one at the expense of Allison just sucked. He sighed again and got up to get ready for the day. He grabbed his uniform and went into the bathroom.

            The sight of an actual shower made him stop for a moment, then smirk. That must have been Nathan’s doing because he’d had a sonic shower in here before.  He stripped and stepped into the cubicle. As the warm water hit him he sighed, leaning against the wall and letting it beat down on him. It felt different, then a normal shower that is. It was almost like the sonic shower had been combined with a normal shower, and he had to say it felt amazing.

            “I wanted a regular shower, you liked the sonic pulses so we compromised after I moved in.” An amused voice said from the door. Jack jumped and spun, covering himself as he looked into the amused eyes of his husband.

            “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Our little monster is hungry and her daddy is holding up breakfast. I thought about the shower and knew you might get a little caught up in it. I remember when I first had it installed. I had to drag you out.” He replied, smirking. Jack fought down a blush, because while Nathan remembered seeing him naked and a whole hell of a lot more that he didn’t. In his mind this was the first time Nathan had seen him without clothes, and it was a little odd. Nathan looked even more amused by his reaction as he leaned against the bathroom wall. Jack had to admit that he wasn’t totally unaffected by the sight before him, which made him wish that he had something other than his hands to cover himself. Nathan’s smirk widened.

           “I’d help you with that, but Jen’s going to come looking for us sooner or later and I’d rather not be interrupted. Perhaps later.” Nathan purred, his voice sending thrills down the naked man's spine. Jack closed his eyes and heard the door shut. He cursed as he hit the wall. This was some kind of torture. It had to be, because he was married and very attracted to said husband, only he wasn’t sleeping with said husband. That would have to change, or he was going to go insane, or die from blue balls. He tried to take his mind off his libido as he finished his shower and got dressed. Nathan was doing this on purpose, he just knew it.

                Henry smiled as he woke up and saw Kim sleeping half on his chest. He still couldn’t believe that she was alive, but there she was, a soft smile on her face. After everything he’d done to try and get her back, after Jack sacrificing his future with Allison and after he erased Jack’s memory of said future so he wouldn’t stop any other attempts he made at fixing things. All of that was for nothing. He had sacrificed his friendship with Jack for almost a year, although the other man had never seemed to notice his anger, for nothing.

                He’d have to apologize even though Jack had never mentioned his behavior he knew the other man had noticed, especially in the light of Nathan’s demise. He winced internally, Jack had gone through a lot alone, he’d only provided the bare minimum support to the other man even though he’d been fully aware of his feelings for the other man. He was drawn out of his thoughts when Kim’s eyes opened and she smiled at him sleepily.

               “Hey there. I’m sorry I fell asleep before you got home last night. How did everything go?” She asked her voice soft and groggy from sleep. He smiled at her, trying to decide what to tell her. There was no way that Allison would accept the previous custody arrangement, and he had a feeling that her demanding more time with Jenna wouldn’t go over well with the town on a while. Jack would be able to smooth something’s out, but other things wouldn’t be quite so easy to deal with. Considering what the other Allison had done to Jack and Nathan a lot of people wouldn’t be happy with her having more time with her daughter, including Kim.

              “She didn’t make trouble for Nathan or I last night. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but I hope that it means she won’t course problems for them.” He responded. His wife snorted, looking at him angrily.

              “That woman basically raped Nathan to get pregnant with Jenna. I told you when she did her whole altruistic thing in giving her to Jack and Nathan that there’d be problems later. I know you’re friends with her, but you’re also friends with Jack. She doesn’t like losing what she has a claim on. And giving birth to Jenna gave her a claim on her.” She responded. Henry sighed, closing his eyes. Of course Allison’s actions would actually support the actions of her other self. At least he didn’t have to worry about her exposing them. Eureka would just think she was being possessive if she caused problems about Jenna’s custody arrangement.

               “I know, but I can hope she’ll see reason. She’s not Jenna’s mother.” He replied, instantly feeling bad for saying it. He knew how much Allison had sacrificed for Jenna after Nathan’s death. Kim snorted rubbing her face into his chest. She looked up at him and sighed, sounding fond somehow.

               “And that’s why I love you Henry. You believe that people are inherently good.” She murmured, sounding amused. Henry looked at her fondly, and she grinned, rolling fully on top of him. “Now, what do you say to having a little fun before I go to work?” She asked. He groaned, wanting nothing more than to take her up on her offer. As he threaded his hands into her hair and drew her in for a kiss both their phones went off. Kim groaned first, drawing away and answering. She looked at him apologetically as she listened to whatever he had to say.

               “Yes. I understand. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” She responded as Henry let his phone go to the answering machine. Henry smiled fondly as she hung up and got out of bed. She looked at him and sighed. “I have to go.” She murmured regretfully. He nodded, looking over her and her nightgown, wishing that they had more time.

                “I understand. A scientist’s work is never done in Eureka.” He replied. She laughed and shook her head.

                “Is Jack going to be in today? I know he’s not officially assigned a lab, but he was working pretty intensely on his latest project.” She murmured. Henry suppressed his surprise at her question, because Jack didn’t have access to a lab as far as he knew. He had a feeling that he was missing something about his friend though.

              “Not that I know of.” He replied, sitting up in bed. He’d have to ask Jack or better yet Nathan what her comment met when Nathan delivered the packet of information that he had promised. She sighed and laughed a little. There was another fond look, but he had a feeling it was directed at Jack.

              “That man likes to play Sheriff too much. He’d brilliant, but apparently the town is more intresting than his work.” She muttered, turning to the closet and grabbing out an outfit. Henry filed her words away, to think about when his wife wasn’t there to analyze his every action. Kim turned to him as she headed to the bathroom and smile slightly. There was something akin to a promise in her gaze that had him aching.

              “We’ll continue this later.” She murmured. He groaned and buried his head in his pillows as she laughed wickedly. He honestly couldn’t wait until she got home. When he looked up again the shower was running and he had to resist the urge to join his wife in cleaning up. He looked at his phone to try and distract himself. Nathan had called. He redialed, and within two rings Stark picked up.

             “Henry, I’m sorry if I interrupted anything, but Jack wants to meet at the bunker to distribute the packet’s I made last night and plan what you’re going to do next.” Nathan said briskly. Henry could hear laughter in the background and Jack making roaring noises. He must be playing with Jenna.

             “Alright. I’ll pick up Fargo and Jo if you call them.” He replied. Nathan snorted.

             “I’ve already spoken with them. Fargo will wait for you, but Jo’s on her way, so is Allison.” He replied. Henry chuckled, and looked at his watch. He needed to shower and get dressed before he came over.

             “I’ll pick up Fargo in 20 minutes and be there in 30.” He replied. Nathan chuckled sounding more relaxed than he did in the beginning of the call.

              “I half expected you to be to busy Henry.” He teased. Henry laughed this time and stretched.

              “Kim got called in before it got that far.” He replied. Nathan sighed, sounding a little regretful for calling him away. It was a little odd, seeing and hearing Nathan act the way he was. Jack was good for the other man, he just had to make sure that Jack didn't push him away because of Allison's feelings. He knew that his friend wouldn't feel comfortable fully exploring what this timeline had to offer unless Allison made it clear that she wasn't pining over Nathan.

               “You have plenty of time to get reacquainted. We have to make sure that everyone is up to date on what’s going on in this timeline as soon as we can. I’m not going to lose my husband over this Henry, I’m sure you of all people can understand.” He murmured. Henry chuckled a little, when Nathan decided he wanted someone or something then he kept a hold of them. Even if Jack pulled away Nathan would give chase.

               “I do understand Nathan. Just remember if you hurt him I’ll hurt you.” He warned. Nathan snorted sounding amused again, and a little angry oddly enough.

               “I have a theory on just how good of a friend you’ve been to Jack Henry. If I piss him off enough to make him come to you then I deserve whatever you decide.” He growled. Henry winced, then glared at the wall. Nathan was too damned smart for his own good sometimes. He didn't know how the other man had come to that conclusion, but he sounded like he was going to be trouble.

             “I’ve been a bad friend before, but Jack’s never mentioned it. All of that though, it’s in the past. We’re in a new timeline, one that if he’s hurt I won’t hesitate in retaliating.” He hissed. Nathan chuckled, a relaxed note returning to his voice. He couldn't hear Jack or Jenna, so he assumed that Nathan had moved away from them so Jack wouldn't hear his end of the conversation. A smart move on his part.

             “Convenient isn’t it?” He asked. Henry sighed, closing his eyes again.

             “Whatever you may think is wrong Stark. Just don’t hurt Jack.” He responded lowly. Nathan hummed.

             “Alright, We’ll see you in 27 minutes.” He responded hanging up. Henry growled, then tried to relax as Kim came out of the bathroom. As she grinned at him he got up and grabbed his clothes.

            “Is everything alright? You sounded upset.” Kim murmured as he went to go into the Bathroom. He paused and looked at her, smiling reassuringly as he did. He didn’t want her to worry about him or Jack.

             “Everything’s fine, there’s just a problem that Nathan needs help on.” He responded. She snorted as she brushed her hair, looking at him through the mirror. She looked decidedly unimpressed.

             “He’s going to be upset with what Allison’s pulling. Keep that in mind as he chews you out. I know when he gets in these moods it’s... Annoying but at least he has a reason.” She murmured. He chuckled.

             “I can handle him. Go on and go to work honey.” He replied. She laughed, nodding as she put in her earrings. She paused as she went to leave the room, her eyes catching his.

            “I promise when I get home I’ll make this up to you.” She murmured. He watched her as he left the room and sighed. When she was gone he slumped against the wall. He hoped that they could get this under control before anyone knew of it, because he wanted to enjoy being married to Kim. So many things had prevented it before, and now knowing he was married, but not being able to do anything about it was… annoying. He shook his head and went to get ready for the meeting, knowing he had to pick up Fargo before it happened.

Chapter Text

               Jack came down from settling Jenna in her room for naptime to find a room full of people waiting for him. Jo looked satisfied with herself for some reason, and he decided that he really didn’t want to know what had happened last night to make her smile that way. Henry had a similar look on his face, and Fargo looked amazed. He hadn’t asked Nathan what was going on with the scientist last night, so he’d really have to catch up with what was happening with him. Because whatever change that could make Fargo look that gleeful and shell shocked had to spell trouble for him in particular. Allison looked small and sad, sitting curled into herself, but he had expected that when he had fully understood the extent of the changes in this timeline. What he hadn’t expected was one Dr. Grant to be sitting in his bunker. He had thought they had left that arrogant ass in the past where he belonged. The other man tipped his hat as he came down, grinning at him widely and ignoring the other people in the room as his attention was completely focused on Jack.

              “Jack, It's good to see you! I do have to say that this future of yours is quite fascinating, so different and exotic. Although your Dr. Deacon wasn’t the happiest to find me wandering about this morning, but I don't see why considering you obviously found your way home without your device. I will admit that I am most confused by the fact that you've already told someone about your little adventure in the past. I am sure that Mr. Stark wasn't among your group, considering I would have remembered someone with his most unpleasant personality.” Grant chirped cheerfully. Nathan glared at him in response to his comment and Jack sighed- this spelled trouble.

              “You do realize just how bad of an idea hopping on the future express train was don’t you Grant? You've changed the entire timeline by acting on a whim.” He asked tiredly, his tone holding a scolding note. Grant laughed going to stand up but stopping abruptly when Nathan’s hand landed on his shoulder with a thump, holding him in place. He glared at the other man indignant that he was being denied anything, ot that’s how it was playing out from Jack’s perspective anyways. His husband didn’t back down though, he had a hard glint in his eyes.

              “I think what my husband is trying to say is your very presence here is putting all of them in danger. If anyone were to recognize you then the whole group including yourself would be facing charges for tampering with history.” He growled, his voice showing just how unhappy he was with this turn of events, and boy did he look pissed off with Grant right now. Jo straightened up a little as the other man just smirked at Nathan, not at all bothered by his statement. She was an expert in all things involving snarky men and Carter- she had to be because she'd seen Stark's double and how he had interacted with Carter, and Grant’s behavior towards Jack mimicked Stark’s in some ways. And considering Stark was married to Jack in this timeline Grant's interest in Carter didn't bode well. Grant had been pretty flirty with Allison while they were stranded in the past, but again Stark had done a whole hell of a lot more than flirt with Allison in the other timeline, and she was sure his double had felt the same way towards Carter as this one did. Any version of Stark wasn’t one to take someone hitting on his spouse lightly though, and if Grant made that mistake all hell would break loose pretty damn quick.

              “Oh I wouldn’t put any of them in danger if I could help it. I just wanted a chance to see the future, and what they were so eager to get back to. You lot don’t have it half bad considering from what I’ve seen of how the world has changed in the past 70 years. Take shirtlifters for example. It seems Jack, who I never took as the type to play a little tug and grab, is married to you Mr. Stark. He would have been run out of Eureka just for looking if the wrong person had noticed in the 1940’s.Believe me I know that from experience.” He replied smugly. Nathan stepped in front of his husband, blocking him from view as soon as Grant mentioned his name. He defiantly didn’t like this Dr. Grant character, but it wasn’t like they could just return him from where he’d crawled out of. And even if they could Nathan wouldn’t, considering what little he’d gleemed off the other timeline, and even if Grant was returned it didn't mean everything would go back to how it was. It might become even worse. Nathan wasn’t going to lose Jack, Zoe or Jenna on a foolish attempt to fix something that in all probability couldn't be fixed. Grant laughed at his reaction, extremly amused by his protective move in front of Jack.

             “Oh relax Dr. Stark. I don’t break up happy homes, and Jack does look very happy at the moment.” He hummed pleasently. Nathan didn’t relax though. He wanted his husband around this ass as little as possible. Grant was a dangerous man- one didn't just go playing with time and not have some sort of agenda in doing so. He needed to figure out the other man's angle in all of this, and then see what he cold do to minimize the damage.

             “You’ve made your point Grant. Now what they hell are we going to do with you? It's not like we can just introduce one of the founders of Eureka and expect everyone not to take notice. You're going to have to blend into this time until we figure out what the hell we're doing next.” Jo barked, breaking the tension slightly-at least the tension between Nathan and Grant that is. Allison gave a dry laugh at her words, not sounding amused in the slightest.

             “We have to make him an ID before anyone thinks twice about asking him who he is. Given his behavior in the 1940’s I don’t think it will be too hard to set him up as a bastard descendant.” She offered. Grant looked offended at something within her offer, and Nathan made note to take Allie’s suggestion. He smiled slightly at her and she relaxed a little. That was an odd sight to see considering his Allie would have glared at him. He’d have to try and take Jack’s suggestion to take it easy on her a little more seriously. He wasn’t completely sure that giving her an inch wouldn’t still result in being walked all over though.

             “So I’m to be from a bastard line?” The hitchhiking Scientist murmered doubtfully, before brightening a little. “That might not be so bad. I doubt there’s much of a stigma attached to it compared to before.” He chirped, brightening up at yet another change in society. Nathan rolled his eyes.

            “Let’s hope there is.” He muttered under his breath before clapping his hands. “Alright, obviously we have to catch Grant up to this time period so he doesn't draw attention to us. Having said that, there’s packets filled with your personal history on the coffee tables everyone. I expect you to memorize them as soon as humanly possible. We don’t need the DOD causing problems for any of you because your behavior doesn’t match up to how it used to be, and I can only over slip ups for so long. Some things like personal feuds between the any members of the group can be solved without raising too many questions with enough time and visible effort from everyone involved. And with the situation with Allison there's going to have to be a hell of a lot of reconciliations.” He announced, his voice dry and sarcastic. He almost jumped as arms wrapped around him, but smiled instead when a chin rested on his shoulder. The talent to sooth his anger with a single touch must have been some inborn ability that all Jack Carter's possessed naturally. A talent that Nathan appreciated, and more than one of the towns people would swear saved their souls.

           “Grant’s an annoying man Nathan, but he had just as much at stake if he’s found to be in the future as the rest of us do. More so if you consider the effects of his own contributions to history and how it might be seen by the DOD. I doubt that he’ll cause too much trouble, but considering I think he’s an asshole he might just do it to piss me off to tell the truth.” His husband murmered into his ear in a low whisper that was meant to go unnoticed by the rest of the room. The feeling of hot breath passing his skin made him want to shiver. Nathan resisted the urge to growl and pin Jack to the wall. Claiming him in front of Grant wouldn’t solve anything, but it might push Jack away because he was moving too fast for him. He’d promised that he would take it at the other man’s pace.

          “If he causes any sort of inquirery to be made I will personally destroy him.” He responded, a dark promise in his voice. Jack chuckled, tightening his arms for a second.

           “I don’t doubt that one bit.” He replied, a flirty tone in his voice if Nathan wasn't mistaken. Jo cleared her throat suddenly and Nathan was reminded that they had a house full of people that were all currently staring at them. Jack’s arms loosened a little, he looked at Jo, a questioning look in his baby blue eyes.

          “Is there something wrong Donovan?” Nathan asked, pushing the thoughts of ravishing Jack out of his mind. She looked at Jack then back at the booklet, confusion bright on her face. Nathan didn’t understand what had put it there, she hadn’t seemed upset when she’d come into the bunker this morning. Now she looked more than a little disturbed by whatever had caught her eye in the information that he had prepared last night.

          “DR. CARTER has what level of clearance at GD again. I think I’m reading this wrong, because the Carter that I know has the bare minimum clearance. And he most definitely doesn't have the title Doctor in front of his name.” She finally growled out, her voice holding irritation that was directed towards his husband. He felt Jack flinch and covered his mouth as he started chuckling, unable to help himself. Jack was going to be in so much trouble. He remembered this groups reaction to the IQ test Zoe had tricked him into, and it hadn't been pretty at first.

          “Dr. Jack Carter-STARK has whatever clearance he needs to come and go on GD Property for his work as a Sheriff in th town of Eureka. He also has his own lab at GD, for when he decides that playing Mayberry 111 is too dull and he needs to… ah what was it Zoe calls it? Oh Yes let his inner mad scientist get his game on.” He replied, his voice sardonic. Jack groaned behind him as everyone looked at him, everyone including Grant. The other man looked way to interested in Nathan’s husband for his comfort suddenly. He would have to leave town as soon as his cover identity was put together. He spelled trouble that Nathan didn't want.

          “Dr?” Henry was the first to break the sudden silence that had fallen over the room. “Jack, do you have a PHD?” Jack moved away from him and sighed, looking at everyone in the room. He had liked being Mayberry as Nathan and Zoe called it. And he wasn't going to apologize for it.

          “I do. Apparently in this timeline it’s common knowledge, but before. Well I liked having people underestimate me. If the town full of genius’ thought I was normal, they didn’t censor what they said around me, assuming I wouldn’t know what the hell they were saying. I’ll tell you that I learned a hell of a lot more from that little act then prying sometimes.” He replied, his voice soft, but determined. Henry shook his head, looking shocked and a little betrayed.

             “What is it in?” He asked suddenly, even as Jo was getting redder in the face, and looking like she was going to explode any minute. Nathan chuckled and stepped in.

             “That I promised my dear husband would never get out along with the full IQ test. He doesn’t want people know just how smart he is, I'm sure that all of you are familiar with that fact. If it wasn't that his doctorate is common knowledge here in Eureka I wouldn't have included it n the information I gave you out of respect for that wish” He replied, his voice firm as he came to the save. Jo growled, slamming her fists into the coffee table and making it rattle loudly. Nathan tensed as she stalked towards his husband, wondering what the hell her problem was and if he was going to have to subdue her before she tried hurting Jack.

            “You took that Gun certification test how many times? And it was all for show? I felt back about failing you after the sixth written one. Bombs written tests my ass.” She hissed as she got closer, sounding like a cat who had it's tail stepped on. Nathan resisted the urge to laugh again. Trust Donovan to get pissed off about something involving her guns. Jack did laugh though, a wide grin taking over the resolve that had made it's way onto his face.

            “Oh come on. You can’t take a step back and look at that? You’re obsessed with your guns Jo, and by seeming to be totally incompetent with them it reinforced your views on me. That and made sure that you never let me touch them, but that was a bit of an unintended side affect.” Jack replied playfully, and there was no denying his amusement at what was going on. Jo sighed, looking him in the eyes.

            “One week VinExpresso’s delivered to me at GD Carter-Stark.” She hissed, remembering to hyphenate his last name but with a slight sneer to annoy Nathan. The scientist ignored it, knowing how touchy Jo could be sometimes about being corrected. He knew that the group as a whole would have to be reminded of his marriage to Jack often, considering his double had been a complete idiot, but he wasn’t going to let them forget it. Jack chuckled and shook his head.

            “Sure Donovan. So I know Zane had just popped the question before, but how does it feel being married to him?” He asked, a teasing note in his voice. She didn’t blush at the question though, only smirked.

            “I think we’ll save that talk until you finally let your husband be one. I notice you're walking around perfectly normally, so I'm sure you had him sleeping in the guest room.” She replied, a whole world of innuendo in her voice. Jack blushed and Nathan resisted the urge to laugh. Jack was going to be in for a whole lot of ragging from Donovan if he was correct. And Nathan himself would enjoy seducing Jack all over again. If he was right Jack hadn’t been with another man since college, so getting himself back into their marriage bed would be fun. Allison clearing her throat broke the spell of amusement and teasing and Jo sent her an apologetic look.

           “I’m sorry Allison. I forgot that this would be hard on you.” She muttered, looking away from the woman in question. Nathan hugged Jack to the front of his body as everyone tensed as the elephant in the room was brought up finally.  He almost glared at Jo for bringing it up, but Allison sighed and shook her head, blinking rapidly.

           “No, don’t apologize Jo. I will admit that having my ex-husband/ fiancé married to my best friend is a little odd, but it makes sense. If Nathan hadn’t tried to re-new things with me he would have gone after Jack in our timeline. I just have to remind myself of that.” Allison murmured, her voice cracking slightly and making Nathan glare as the other's shot her a sympathetic look. He was reminded a little too much of Allison's double in that moment- because she would have been playing this up for pity. “Besides that I have a wife of my own here, and somehow I don’t think pining over what could have been will help me to keep that  marriage. Tess and I had a history in the other timeline, one that I messed up too. I want to see where it goes this time.” She added, changing the subject to her family quickly. Nathan sighed in relief, her words were what he needed to hear because the Allison he knew would have stayed on the subject, trying to make Jack feel guilty. Jack shifted in his grip and looked her in the eyes.

           “So you don’t have a problem with us being married?” He asked softly, wanting to know the answer, and trying not to think about the fact that Henry had been right. Allison had known that their Stark was attracted to him, h could only hope that she hasn't known the attraction was mutual. She chuckled at the question, smiling softly and reminding Jack of why he had thought that he could love her.

           “No Jack. I don’t have a problem with you being married to Nathan. Like I said it’s going to be odd, but I have a wife and… child I need to get to know again here. I scared Tess last night with how I behaved towards Jenna. She probably thought that college was going to happen all over again. And you two being Jenna’s parents. That is going to be harder to accept. Like I told Nathan I remembering being her only parent. But last night, when I tried to get her to call me mommy and she freaked out, I can’t do that to her again. It means I have to accept the change or lose her, and I’m not willing to lose her.” Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead as he resisted the urge to wince at her declaration she'd been Jenna's only parent. He had felt like she was his daughter on more than one occasion as he helped out. He wasn't completly comvinced that Allison ment what she said about being alright with his marriage, especially with that unconscious jab. He didn't want to be at odds with her in this timeline, it didn't feel right after all that they had one through together.

           “I won’t stop you from seeing Jenna, you know that right?” He murmured hesitantly, feeling like he didn't have the right to deny her the ability to see her child. Nathan stiffened around him and she sighed. The look that she gave him spoke of her understanding of his feelings. It just made him even more unsettled. He and Allison hadn’t been close enough to understand each other in a long time, and he didn’t like her thinking that she understood him or Jack. She looked away and closed her eyes.

           “I won’t ask for more time with her, not right now. She wouldn’t understand what was happening, and right now we need to keep her world as stable as possible. You’re a good father Jack, Zoe is proof of that, and you were as much of a father figure as she ever had before. I trust her with you.” She murmured, back tracking on her earlier statement- again unconsciously. Nathan tried not to bristle as he was excluded from that statement. He knew it wasn’t deliberate considering he’d been dead in their timeline, but she could have extended her trust to him. She didn’t look at him though, as if she knew what his reaction would be. Jack’s hand reached out for his, and the other man caressed his ring in a soothing gesture. He’d have to get Jack a new one, considering he hadn’t been able to find his husband's band and Jack was almost never seen without it.

          “That’s good to know. Nathan loves her, you know that right? I’ve watched them interact together all day today. You don’t have to worry about her happiness.” Jack assured her. Nathan felt a strong sense of relief flood him as Jack stood up for him and didn't cave into the urge to make Allison happy above anything else. The baby monitor went off, alerting them that Jenna was waking up from her nap and Nathan sighed.

          “I’ll go take care of her Jack. I think you can handle the rest of this.” He murmured supportively, squeezing his hand. Jack smiled at him, and caressed his ring once more before letting his hand go. Jack watched him as he jogged upstairs before looking at Allison. She still looked horrible, and he felt even worse than he had before.

           “Okay, Nathan’s out of the room. How do you really feel about this Allison?” He asked softly, half believing that she was putting on an act for the man that she had been going to remarry. She sighed deeply, leaning back in the chair she was in like she had theweight of the world on her shoulders. She looked exhausted and Jack wondered just how long she had slept last night. It couldn't have been long, since he knew that she was worrying about Jenna.

           “I wasn’t lying Jack. I won’t scare Jenna again by making her try to see me as her mother. She’s old enough that she knows who her parents and other family members are. It’s going to be hard, to be just Aunt Allie, but it’s something I’m going to have to adjust to. And your marriage to Nathan? I know you probably were terrified by my response to that, but in all honesty I knew that the two of you were dancing around each other in the other timeline. Nathan was just too stubborn to see the signs that you were attracted to him too. Our marriage probably wouldn’t have lasted long, not with you still in town and him feeling the way he felt about you. I know that now, because I’ve thought about it after I got over the pain of losing him. And I never thought about how you would react to losing him during that so I’m sorry.” She replied. Jack couldn’t figure out how to respond to that, the confirmation that she had known about how he fet about Stark- and how Stark had felt about him was a little... upsetting. Considering she had been going to marry Stark knowing his heart wasn't fully with her. He had figured that she would hate him for being married to Nathan, but she was saying that she was alright with it and that was just plain confusing given the lengths that both she and her double had gone through to keep him. Jo cleared her throat, breaking the sudden tension brewing in the air.

           “Alright, enough mushy  emotional nonsense. Carter’s married, wohoo. My problem is now I have to deal with him at work even without working with him officially. Who knows what he gets up to in his lab, and what messes I'll have to look forward to cleaning up now.” She muttered, her voice whiny. Allison laughed, sounding genuinely amused by Jo’s comment. Jack glared at his deputy though- not amused by her insinuations.

           “Hardy har har. I’ll have you know that in the other timeline I had a lab in S.A.R.A.H and I never triggered an end of the world disaster. I leave that to the yahoo’s I police.” He replied sarcastically. Allison looked at him again, her face slightly angry and she shifted. “Yes Allison?” He asked when she didn’t speak.

           “How did Nathan find out about you ‘degree’ when none of us ever suspected you had one beyond what you needed for your previous job in the Marshalls?” She asked. He sighed- thinking about his answer, and then laughed a little when it was clear she wasn’t angry with him. He didn’t need a pissed of Allison on top of dealing with the timeline change, and continuing his research on their Stark.

           “Apperently Zoe tipped him off and helped him trick me into taking an IQ test. After that he did some digging. Everyone in the previous timeline just assumed there was nothing to dig for so they never did.” He replied. Allison shook her head. She looked a little annoyed by his answer and he thought back. One could think he was calling her a bad friend because she hadn’t thought of digging around in his past or something. He never knew with Allison. She sighed, sitting up and looking into his eyes, and he could see her annoyance brewing back to life. Maybe he had spoken too soon about her not being angry about his little lie of omission. It wasn't like it was his fault that they had never really looked into him beyond what they needed to form their opinions of him. He had just let them assume what they wanted to.

          “Did you ever think about telling us? From Nathan’s reaction, and the clearance that you have it’s not a simple PHD in English. You would have been taken far more seriously if you’d let us know, and maybe- just maybe some of the disaster's we've experience might have never happened.” She ground out, a bitter note in her voice. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to stay calm. Then he laughed, because out everything he hadn’t expected her to snap at that.

          “Out of everything you’re getting angry over me not telling you of my educational history? Which I might add you would have known about if you would have bothered to access all of my information. I never hide anything Allison, I just played up the assumptions people already had of me. I won't say I'm sorry for doing it, because in the end it helped.” He asked, a note of disbelief in his voice. Allison’s eye twitched rapidly and Jo laughed, looking amused herself.

           “Come on Carter, you’ve enjoyed torturing us with your stupid act for years now. And you expect that finding out you’re not an unfortunate idiot wouldn’t irritate us?” She replied for Allison, trying to keep the mood light. Fargo shifted suddenly as the tension mounted, looking uncomfortable with the conversation. And shifty. That spelled trouble in Jack's book.

           “I already knew.” He muttered quietly. Jack sighed as everyone’s eyes landed on the trouble prone scientist.

           “No you didn’t.” Jo denied, shaking her head. He shifted again, then clenched his jaws.

           “I did the digging when we decided to put him in S.A.R.A.H. to live. When I knew he wasn’t going to hurt her because he was an idiot I just put it out of my mind. If he didn’t want Eureka to see him a fellow scientist then it wasn’t my place to say anything.” He shot back. Jack groaned. Of course Fargo would have pried into his past to protect his A.I. Project. At least he knew why Fargo had trusted him to work solo on the project to get Stark back from wherever the hell he'd been sent. Now both of the females were glaring at Fargo, and Henry gave a full blown laugh that had everyone jumping.

           “I have to say Jack I don’t think you imagined getting this response if we ever found out about your double life. I’m a little amused though, because I always watched your reaction to things that happened in Eureka, thinking that it was how a normal person would react to all of the crazy things that happen here. You act well. I hope one day you’ll tell my just what you have PHD’s in though, so we can compare notes and see if there's anything we can work on together.” He murmured, breaking the spell that had fallen over the room and looking at him with a knowing glint. Jack sighed, looking at his friend, now that Henry knew that he had a Doctorates the other man was no doubt connecting it to his inability to accept Stark death. Maybe that was a good thing- fresh eyes might be the difference in confirming their Stark still existed, or if he'd been erased like the rest of the timeline .

           “How did you know I have more than one?” He asked, trying to keep his mind off the other Stark and everything that went with him. Like if he was still around outside of time what he would be thinking about Jack just accepting this Stark as his husband when he had the confirmation that the other man had been attracted to him. Things like that, the what ifs that he had no answer to right now. Henry laughed loudly again.

           “Nathan’s response to the question earlier, and just plain knowing you Jack. You don’t do things half assed when it counts here, so I can only imagine what you were like in school.” He responded with a wide grin. Grant cleared his throat, interrupting the playful banter that was happening.

          “As intresting as it is to watch you people grovel and complain about Jack’s education I think we have larger problems at hand. Although I will note even I could tell that man was not a simpleton as you have implied.” He spoke primly, not liking the fact that he'd been ignored since Stark had left the room. Allison glared at him, her eyes sparking, and Jack could tell why she wasn’t angry with him in that moment. She had someone to blame for the change in time, and his name was not Jack Carter.

         “We only have to deal with this because you decided you wanted to come to the future.” She spat. “Son’t you worry your pretty little head Dr. Grant. None of us wish to be caught and charged with changing the past so you’ll have a cover ID. And then after you’ve adjusted to this time you’ll be redacted from Eureka and we'll never have to deal with your deceitful ass again.” She hissed, her pretty face screwed up in an ugly snarl. The other man didn’t flinch at the anger directed towards him by the woman he had charmed in the past, instead he smirked at her, looking amused by her reaction.

         “Oh I know you wouldn’t chance going to jail Allison. It’s why I came along, considering everything.” He replied smartly. Jack sighed, and when the other man’s eyes landed on him he suddenly wanted Nathan’s glare. He really didn’t like the way the oily sounding man looked at him. Not at all, even he could tell that the other man liked him in a way that made him want to scrub himself clean. Henry cleared his throat, drawing his attention.

          “I don’t think we want to know why you’re here Dr. Grant. However I’ll set you up at the hotel while we make your identity. Jack I’ll call you later, but I think getting Dr. Grant out of here is for the best at the moment. Allison looks like she's about ten seconds away from tearing his throat out and I don't feel like covering up a murder.” He interrupted. Grant looked annoyed for a second, but Jack grinned at Henry, hoping he knew how thankful he was for him getting Grant out of his house. He didn’t like having him in his personal space.

          “I think that’s a good idea. Thanks Henry.” He agreed. The other man laughed softly.

          “No problem Jack. I’ll see you later.” He hummed. “Come on Grant.” He demanded. The other man sighed, sounding very annoyed at being rushed from the conversation. It was like he believed he belonged there.

         “If I must. Dr’s. Carter, Blake and Fargo, Deputy Lupo, I shall see you around.” He hummed, following Henry from the room. Allison sighed, collapsing a little.

         “That man is annoying.” She muttered as the doors closed and sealed. Jack chuckled, nodding his head. Fargo shifted again, drawing their attention. He was still looking at Jack.

         “I’m not in trouble because I hacked your files when you first moved to Eureka right? I just wanted to make sure that in case of emergency you wouldn’t make things worse by bumbling around S.A.R.A.H.’s insides.” He muttered. Jack sighed, closing his eyes. Fargo liked people to like him too much and he had a feeling that his opinion matter more to the younger man then he would ever guess. Allison looked annoyed again at the question.

          “Fargo, when I agreed to take the job I did I expected my past to be dissected. You should be proud you got past my fail safes and into my history.” He responded. Fargo grinned and straightened his back.

         “Well I should be getting back to Global. I am head after all.” He bragged. Everyone looked at him in shock.

         “Who in their right mind would hire you as Head of Global?” Jo demanded, sounding worried. Nathan laughed from the stairs, coming down. Allison stiffened a little and Jack sighed. He knew she wasn’t completely alright with Nathan, but weather it was because he had custody of their daughter or being alive he didn’t know.

          “That would have been the DOD Allison. When we started not being able to interact it was decided that neither of us could be head of GD and an impartial leader needed to step in. Fargo was chosen, and much to my surprise he’s done a good job. And yes that did taste bad to say Fargo so don’t expect me to repeat it.” He replied. Jack smirked a little a Fargo grinned. Before the smaller man hopped up Jo grabbed him so he didn’t rush Nathan.

         “And on that note I’ll head to work and bring the rabid fan boy with me before you have a mess to clean up.” She drawled. Jack snorted, and brought a hand up to his face at Fargo’s disappointed look. He actually laughed when he looked over at Nathan and saw his face. He looked like he was going to be sick.

        “Please do. I happen to like this pair of pants.” Nathan drawled. Jo giggled and dragged Fargo out of the house. Finally it was just Nathan, Allison and him. Allison stood up, holding onto her packet.

        “I think I should head home too. I promised Tess I wouldn’t be too long.” She murmured. Nathan sighed.

        “You have Jenna tomorrow afternoon Allison.” He offered, trying to keep in mind what Jack had asked. She smiled at him, and he saw how beautiful she could be. It had been a while since he had seen that part of her. Perhaps he could handle having her more involved in his daughter’s life. This version of Allison didn’t seem so annoyingly attached to him at least. Jack grinned at him as he watched her react. His approval met a lot.

        “Thank you Nathan. Do I pick her up here, or?” She asked softly. Nathan sighed, looking regretful.

          “Jack normally drops her off on his way into work. I think Tess would feel better if you avoided coming by the house. She’s still understandably uncomfortable with you spending time around me, considering our history.” He replied. She flinched and nodded, looking away for a moment. When she looked back her face was set.

          “I understand. I won’t try and get you back, or anything like that. I lost Tess in college, and I don’t think I’m willing to let her go. You and Jack have a great chance of being happy together, and I kinda want to see it happen. Jack’s a good friend, and he deserves to be happy too.” She replied. Nathan noticed Jack relax at her words and smiled at her. Hopefully her statement of wanting them to be happy would jumpstart Jack truly accepting that they were married. He wanted his husband back more than he could admit.

          “Thank you for saying that Allison. Jack was worried about your reaction to us being married.” He admitted. She laughed a little looking over to Jack who looked embarrassed at Nathan’s words.

         “That’s because he’s a good friend, and he worries about others. Only I think he might worry too much sometimes. After your other self and I got together I could see him pull away. You probably thought it was because of me, but I could tell his flirtation with me was never about sex. If it had been he had plenty of chances to take that he never did.” She teased. Jack blushed, and Nathan wanted to follow that blush. He knew for a fact that it would extend to most of his husband’s body. Allison giggled a little, as if she knew what he was imagining. He hoped for her sake that she didn’t know, because he’d have to strangle her.     

         “I’ll leave you two now. Nathan, be gentle?” She hummed, a wide smile on her face. Jack saw it didn’t fully light up her eyes, but he wasn’t going to mention it. Nathan sighed, and watched as she left.

         “She’s not too bad. I don’t think letting Jenna around her would be bad.” Nathan finally murmured as the doors closed. Jack looked at him, a hint of being impressed with the other man clear on his face before he grinned.

         “I think you’ll like Allison once you get to know her. And damn that sounded odd to say considering the history I remember and the one you do.” He replied. Nathan sighed, and drew Jack into a hug. The other man didn’t tense, and he let himself enjoy holding his husband. Then Jack’s arms surrounded him gently. “We’re going to be fine Nathan.” Jack murmured. Nathan sighed and rested his head on his shoulder.

        "We will be.” He replied. All too soon he pulled away and made a face. “I have to get started on Grant’s identification. I don’t think leaving him without one besides one from the 1940’s for long would be a good idea considering we’re trying to hide that you guys traveled back in time.” He grunted. Jack groaned.

         “That guy is a menace.” He grumbled. Nathan sneered, looking at the wall.

         “He is. And as much as I would like to lock him in the deepest darkest hole I can find I don’t think I can.” He muttered. Jack leaned forward and kisses his cheek, his lips dangerously close to Nathan’s.

         “Go. Do your thing. I’ll keep an eye on Jen.” He murmured, his voice dropping slightly. Nathan groaned at that. His husband was a dangerous evil man, and he wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly for a while after that. At Jack’s smirk he knew that this was payback from the shower this morning. He’d show Jack what happened during these games of payback, not tonight because he was going to properly romance the man, but soon. He straightened out and headed to his office, Jack’s laugh following him from the room.

Chapter Text

               Henry sighed as he pulled over his car not far from the bunker. He looked over at the other man in his car and straightened his back, they needed to have a talk about his behavior towards Jack. He may have been excited to meet him at one point- when they were in the past, but now he just felt that he was going to be a problem. Especially with the way he was looking at Jack and the little fact that Jack was married to Nathan Stark. Nathan had made it extremely clear that there was no way he was going to lose Jack with how he had handled everything so far, and his bodily reaction to Grant’s looks today hadn’t been good.

               “You do realize that right now you stand to cause more problems than you may think if you continue to act the way you have been to Carter right?” He asked bluntly. Grant laughed, his eyes glinting as he stretched out and looking smug as he did. He was a cocky son of a bitch, and while that may have gotten him places in 1940's Eureka, it wasn't going to do him any good here. Not if he went up against Nathan.

              “You're talking about Mr. Stark  and what he can do to me for interfering with his attempt as taking his place as Jack's husband when he has never wooed the man before, right? He does look like rather a possessive fellow. I do wonder how Jack will handle being married to him once the shock of reality changing sets in. From my understanding they had no previous relationship in your other timeline- or at least nothing like marriage and Stark was dead. Thus no matter how much Mr. Stark wishes to continue his previous relations I’d like to think it’s up to Jack in the end. I wouldn’t blame the chap if he preferred me over that… man. I am more attractive by far.” He replied with a smirk and a wink. Henry pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache set it. Grant was right about one thing- Jack was far to accepting right now, and that may change, but it wasn't going to because of Grant.

              “You’re an overconfident idiot.” He grunted, his voice sharp. “You barely know Jack, and you looked far more interested in Allison in the past. He’s not going to take a second look at you.” Grant didn’t look offended by his words though, if anything he looked amused by his response.

              “Allison is quite attractive if that is what you go for, but I found Jack to be far more attractive to tell you the truth. And I know I flirted, but could you blame me? Eureka was a military installation. Anyone with my predilections would have done the same considering those circumstances. Finding out Jack shares the same tendencies in an era that even allows men like us to marry? I’m not backing down.” He replied, a smirk firmly on his face now. Henry closed his eyes, resisting the urge to punch him.

             “Stay away from him. He deserves to enjoy his marriage, instead of having you there to cause problems.” He growled, before pulling back onto the road. He tried not to speed as Grant smirked at him from the passenger seat. Nathan would probably end up killing the man if he pursued Jack. That thought made him grin a little as he pulled into the hotel, he'd sell ticket's to that fight when it happened. He walked Grant into the building and looked over at the clerk.

             “He’s new in town. He’ll need a room for a bit.” He spoke, his voice clipped and tone making it clear that he wasn't going to explain anything further. The clerk jumped, before walking Grant to a room. Henry watched for a moment, before sighing and heading to his garage to see what his other self had been working on for himself. He needed to do something to take his mind off the mess that he found himself in. And to calm his ass down before he turned around and  had to find some hole to hide a body in.

              Allison sighed as she pulled into the driveway of the home she shared with Tess. The other car that had been here this morning was gone-  meaning Tessa was at work, but her no longer Autistic son was standing at the door, looking down at her with angry eyes. She sighed and got out of the car, wondering why he wasn't in school and why he was obviously angry with her. He met her half way down the drive, his face hard. She didn't need this right now- not with dealing with the emotional upheaval she was experiencing. Jenna no longer being her child. Nathan with Jack. She had always assumed that there was no situation in which her ex-husband would have taken a chance on the town Sherriff. Not when she was still in the picture, and that was the type of thought that she needed to stay away from. This Nathan Stark wouldn't ever see her in that way because of her double, and if she admitted it the Nathan she had known wouldn't have made the move on her again if she hadn't encouraged him and played his doubts of Jack's sexuality against him by encouraging the Sherriff's flirting. Not that she would admit that out loud. Kevin cleared his throat drawing her attention back to him.

             “Look, I'll be the first to Nathan was a great dad when I was little, and I know that you wanted him back, but you can’t keep doing this. Not to Mama Tess, not to me, not to yourself and especially not to Jenna. She’s a baby, who is happy with her parents. MT was generous last night when she didn’t light into you for what you did when you tried making Jen call you Mama.” He growled, sounding every bit the pissed off teenager who was trying to avoid his life being torn apart because his mother was being selfish once again. She flinched, because she hadn’t thought about how Kevin would take her actions last night.

              “I… I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me last night Kevin. I know that I’m Jenna’s aunt. Not her mother, especially after what I did to Nathan and Jack that night.” She murmured, feeling guilty not only for her double's actions, but for her own. Admitting that Nathan had really wanted Jack before was a real eye opener. She was just like her double- she hadn't wanted to lose Nathan to Jack- or Jack to Nathan so she had been going to marry Nathan knowing that Jack would never speak up about his feelings after Nathan started dating her. And that Nathan wouldn't lower himself to cheat on her if he some how found out about Jack's attraction to him after they were married. She had almost succeeded where her double had failed. And that thought made her feel like shit. Kevin stared at her hard for a moment then laughed disbelievingly, palming his head and sounding a tad bit hysterical.

              “You’re not my mother are you?” He asked after he calmed down. Allison stared at him, horrified by his quick deduction that something was off with her. She knew that her son was smart, but this was something else entirely

              “Of course I’m your mother.” She protested, wondering just how she was going to get out of this without her minor son knowing that she had broken the law and could be arrested and never seen again if it ever came out. He looked at her disbelievingly and she shrunk a little, wishing Jack was here to draw the attention away from he. Kevin had seemed to like him yesterday.

              “My mother never admits she did anything wrong about Jenna’s conception with me. She thinks she did the right thing to get my father back and that Jack ruined it all by offering his ass up. That was exact quote by the way, since I doubt you remember saying it since you are not my mother. And I would like to add the fact that my mother hardly pays attention to me these days, since she's trying to plot her way back into Nathan’s pants for good before MT goes through her part of the deal that they made so she wouldn’t leave us after Jenna was conceived.” He replied shortly, hi voice frustrated as he looked her up and down.

              “So what is it?” He asked as she was to shocked to speak and try and protest against her double's actions. She couldn't because she didn't know what the other woman had been up to up until yesterday. “Body-switch? Is that you Jack? Because I could so totally see you trying to connect to Jenna if that happened and you didn’t want Jack!Mom around her.” He asked seriously, sounding a little worried. She faltered, had her other self really been this bad? It sounded like her own son didn't like her.

             “We need to go inside to discuss this Kevin.” She murmured, trying to take the conversation someone a little more private so if he managed to ferret the truth out of her they wouldn't be overheard. He rolled his eyes and headed inside, she followed, thinking about what she was going to say. It was one thing to involve Nathan in helping them cover this up. But could she trust Kevin not to reveal anything, even accidentally? She had to or he was going to go straight to Tessa with his suspicions, and that would be a nightmare to explain. Once she was inside his eyes pierced her, full of curiosity and distrust.

              “You haven’t denied something happened. Am I talking to someone who isn’t my mother, because MT deserves to know if she’s sleeping with someone not her wife.” He growled, sounding incredibly protective of Tessa. Allison sighed, leaning aginst the counter and rubbing the bridge of her nose.

              “Something did happen, and when we get done talking I’ll take you to Henry to confirm it. I am you’re mother, just not the same one as the one who was here a couple days ago.” She responded bluntly. He laughed closing his eyes and shaking his head. When he opened his eyes they were flashing.

              “Did you change history?” He asked bluntly, shocking her yet again with his incredible insight. When she nodded hesitantly, he groaned loudly- smacking his forehead. “Mom, you could get sanctioned for this. And Henry’s involved in this too? Were you even married to MT before this happened- or are you just playing with her feelings to hide the fact that you freaking changed history?  And what about Jenna? Were you with Nathan? Is that what last night was about?” He asked, sounding pained. She winced, grimacing as she looked away from him.

              “Henry, Fargo, Jo and Jack were involved.” She informed him. “I wasn’t married to Tess, but I had been involved with her in college- before you were born, and I love her still. Jack and Nathan never happened in the other timeline. I was going to get re-married to Nathan before he died, and died before Jenna was born.” She replied, her voice small in light of his reaction to her latest adventure. She wasn't used to having to explain herself to Kevin, it was odd and more than a little upsetting. He sat down in a kitchen chair hard, not looking at her for a long time as he digested her response. He looked even more overwhelmed than she felt at the moment, and that was saying something.

              “Is Jack okay with being married to Nathan?” He asked suddenly. Allison was confused by his question. After all of that and this was his first question- He wanted to know how Jack was taking this sudden change, not how she was? He looked at her annoyed when she didn't respond fast enough for his taste. “Jack’s like a dad to me Allison. I can sure as hell talk to him more than I can with you even on one of his worst days. I would like to know how he's taking this if he was never involved with Nathan before, I'm not going to apologize for being worried about him either.” He spat out in explanations. She sighed, Jack had this ability to make the people in her life love him- she hadn't missed that Tess had mentioned him in her rants about not tearing him and Nathan apart, then smiled a little- feeling oddly proud of Kevin for sticking to his ground.

               "Jack was in love with Nathan before he died. I… I had won though.” She replied, trying to assure him that Jack would be alright with being married to Nathan now. He snorted, sneering at her in reaction to her response.

              “So you won in that timeline- just like you’ve always wanted to here. I need to talk with him now. And damn it I need to make sure you don’t draw any attention to yourself because you’re used to being Jenna’s mommy. I know you- you don't like losing and if Nathan was dead there then you had won with her too and you're going to disrupt that little girl's life because you can't let her go. Never mind that this girl has never known you as her mommy because you gave her up to keep MT” He growled with another sneer. She knew she shouldn’t be offended by his behavior but she was. He was assuming that she was like his other mother and it hurt, even if he may be right.

               “I already told them I wouldn’t be causing problems for them, or for Jenna. Last night I didn’t even know Nathan was alive, let alone the circumstances surrounding how Jenna came to be in this timeline. And I don’t want to lose Tess.” She replied softly, trying to defend herself. He rolled his eye, obviously not believing a word that was coming out of her mouth. This wasn't how she expected having Kevin coherent to have turned out. And for a brief second she found herself missing the version of her son that had adored her. She pushed that thought out of her mind as fast as it came though. She should be grateful that Kevin was leading a normal life now. And being normal included being an angsty teen.

              “I’m sorry if I don’t trust you, but the mom I’ve known? She’ll do anything to get back together with Nathan, and this situation would be her wet dream. She'd play the fact that Jack had never been involved with Nate against him, and use the fact that she had been going to marry him before his 'death' to make Jack walk away from his marriage. And the Jack I know? The one who she was friend's with before she pulled her bull shit? That Jack would back down just to keep the piece. AndI have a feeling you're Jack isn't much different. From you're own admission you've already interfered with him and Nate too much. I'm not going to stand by and watch you do it again.” He grunted as he stood up. “You’re taking me to see Jack now.” He added, the demand clear in his voice. She sighed and pulled out her phone, dialing Nathan's phone, since Jack's was still missing.

               “What do you want Allison?” Her ex-husband asked, irritation clear in his voice. She sighed, looking at Kevin.

               “Kevin figured out something was wrong. He wants to talk with Jack.” She murmured lowly. Kevin rolled his eyes as Nathan sighed. He sounded annoyed and she couldn’t blame him because she’d told someone what they were trying to hide from the world, even if it was her son. Nathan cleared his throat after a moment.

              “I’ll let Jack know you’re on your way.” He replied tightly before hanging up without another word. She looked at Kevin.

              “They’ll be expecting us.” She told him and he nodded tightly, heading to the car.

                Jack was waiting for them at the door to the bunker and Allison tried not to flinch as Kevin threw himself at her friend, hugging him tightly. Jack looked at her confused by Kevin’s actions and she motioned inside. Once in Nathan was standing there with Jenna, who wouldn’t look at her. Kevin had yet to let go of Jack though- he as holding onto the other man like he expected him to disappear suddenly. Allison reminded herself that the Jack he had known yesterday had done just that essentially-only to be replaced by this Jack.

               “What’s going on Kiddo?” Jack asked, his voice gentle and concerned, reminding Allison that Jack had taken the role of Kevin's father in the other timeline, while he was helping her with Jenna and mourning Nathan. Kevin shuddered, trying to get closer to the older male.

                “Thank god the time shift didn’t make you different Jacko. Mom told me some of what was going on but I had to make sure you were okay, especially with what she told me of your timeline.” He murmered into his chest. Nathan sighed at his words, glaring at Allison like it was her fault Kevin was upset. Jack hugged Kevin a little closer, laying his cheek on the teen's head and rubbing a circle into his back.

                “So you know about the change in the timeline?” He asked softly. "And you're alright with everything right now?" Kevin looked up at him staring like he thought he was crazy, and Jack grinned sideways. Kevin shot a look at his mother, then Nathan, looking at both distrustingly. It was obvious that he cared for Jack a lot more than Allison had expected even with his defense of the other man earlier.

                 “I do know about it, and I'm alright I guess. I just wanted to make sure you were okay though, and you weren’t being pressured into anything.” He replied stubbornly. Nathan sighed, looking a little proud if Jack was right and Allison just looked mortified by his response. Jack shot her a look, before smiling at Kevin lovingly in an attempt to keep him calm and to make him feel more at ease, because the boy in his arms was thrumming with tension.

                 “I’m fine kiddo. Nothing’s happening I don’t want to so far. How are you holding up, really?” Jack asked, feeling a little guilty that Allison’s son was more worried about him. Kevin snorted, letting him go and sitting down on the couch- or rather throwing himself down and laying back dramatically.

                 “Me? I’m terrified Mom there will mess something up and get you all sanctioned. She doesn’t give up on things she wants and she told me herself that in the other timeline you and Nathan never happened. And that she was getting married to him before he died. Add Jen to the mix? I’m terrified of just what she might do Pops. All it would take was one word about what happened, and her excluding herself from the group and you would be out of the picture for good.” He muttered, sounding very distressed. Jack sat down next to him and drew him into another hug, which he relaxed into.

                “We’re not going to let that happen Kevin. I promise. And you may think you know your mom, but you might find this version a little different, I don't think she would do that to me. So why don't you give her a chance for me will you?” He assured him. Kevin snorted, leaning into him and Nathan sighed, bouncing Jenna as he stood awkwardly to the side. Keven looked at him curiously and he grinned, although Jack thought it looked a bit forced.

                 “She’s not too bad Kev. I promise. I know your mom before wasn’t someone you’d trust, but she does deserve a chance. And she’s going to get one from me unless she proves that she can’t be trusted.” He promised, his voice definitely tight. Kevin sighed before looking at his mother. Allison looked crushed by the conversation so he smiled a little at her.

                 “As long as you don’t hurt Nathan, Pops, MT, or Jen I think we might be able to get along.” He offered. Allison’s lips quirked a little. And then she sighed, looking over the two men then Jenna.

                 “Just warn me if I start to go off track okay?” She asked hesitantly. His smile widened just a little.

                 “Will do mom. Now I need to get to school before they figure out I’m playing hooky.” He announced, getting up from the couch. Allison sighed rolling her eyes and Nathan laughed a little. He shrugged. “What? After last night I thought she was going to try and break you two up again before MT and Pop’s deal went through. I had to try and stop her.” He told Nathan, who stiffened at the mention of the deal. Jack looked at him curiously, as did Allison. Kevin stiffened at their response. “You haven’t told them about the Deal yet? MT will know something’s up if Jacko doesn’t go through with it, and she’ll leave mom for real this time.” He yelped, obviously alarmed. Nathan sighed, sounding a little meek.

                “I wanted to break it to them gently. The shift was more than enough for them to handle at this moment in time, and we still have months before the deal is set to happen.” He muttered, kissing Jenna’s head. “I know Tess planned this so Alli would know how it felt to see her carry a child they didn’t plan to raise together, but Jack needs a chance to decide if he’s comfortable going through with the deal that was made. And deciding that would be easier if he was settled n tis timeline.” Kevin palmed his head, looking angry at the man that he had called father when he was younger.

               “See this is why I had to see Jacko. I knew you wouldn’t tell him everything upfront as soon as Allison told me that you and Jack had never happened in his timeline. I knew you would waste time trying to make sure he was still your husband- that he wanted you- before you even told him about his part in the deal that Allison and MT made.” He muttered, before looking at Jack, his eyes tight with worry and more than a little panick. “MT- Mama Tess and you made a deal when mom found out she was pregnant. MT stayed with mom through the pregnancy and after, but only if she carried your kid when Jen turned a year and if mom handed Jen over to you two. She plans on handing the new kid over too. Only she’ll know something is up if you back out.” He said bluntly. Jack groaned and his head fell back to the couch.  He had no choice but to become a father again? Not that it would be bad, but with Tess? The woman he had dated in the other timeline, the womn who was married to Allison now?

               “Jack?” Nathan asked hesitantly, sounding wary of his reaction to what the teen had just told him. Jack looked at him and sighed. He didn't know if he wanted to agree to this Deal- but Kevin was right. Tessa would find out about this disaster a hell of a lot sooner than they wanted if he just backed out of it now. She'd kept her end of he deal by staying with Allison this long, and he honestly didn't know if she would stay with her if the change in the timelines came out now.

               “I can go through with this, but I’m only donating the sperm. Not touching her.” He replied stiffly, having talked himself into doing it if only to keep everything the way it had been going and keeping their secret safe. Allison cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable with the very idea of what was going to happen, and Jack didn't blame her for feeling that way. He was a hell of a long way from being okay with what was happening right now. He needed this complication like he needed a hole n his head in fact.

               “I can see why she made it a condition, considering everything that's happened in between the two of us.” She muttered to herself. Kevin snorted at his statement.

                “You mean you sleeping with dad to make a ready made family for her in College? Yes. She already had to go through with it with me, and then you do it again. She was pissed.” He muttered, before looking at Jack.

                “We can find a way to work around this if you don’t want to Jacko. This isn’t something to jump into.” He advised, sounding older than his age. Jack smiled tightly at him, shaking his head.

                 “No Kevin, we can’t draw attention to ourselves, you know that as well as us. And having another child won’t be the end of the world, and I won’t love it any less than I love Zoe, Jenna or even you.” He assured him gently, hoping that he kept any doubt over going through with the deal out of his voice. He wasn't lying though, he would love this new child as uch as the ones he already was, or felt like a father to. Kevin sighed again, before looking at his mother, a hint of distrust still in his gaze.

                 “Can you drive me to school?” He asked tiredly. She nodded and soon both of them were out of the door. As soon as they were left alone Nathan put Jenna down for a nap, before coming to sit next to him.

                 “Are you really okay with this Jack? I wanted to give you the chance to settle in before I told you about the deal.” He murmured, his voice apologetic. Jack looked at him for a moment before nodding.

                “I can do this. Allison I’m not so sure of. She’s going to be punished for her other self’s deed.” He replied, sounding exhausted again. Nathan snorted before he looked at the ceiling.

                “Not really. She cheated on Tess before, she admits to that. She should think of it as payback for then.” He said bluntly, no sympathy for the woman in his voice. Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off a major headache and like he could sleep for a week or more at the moment.

                “This isn’t going to get any easier will it?” He asked, dreading the answer. Nathan laughed dryly, looking at him and nodding resolutely.

                “It will. We just have to get over the bumpy parts first, I promise.” He assured him gently. Jack nodded and sighed, closing his eyes and thinking about going to sleep. Maybe things would be easier when he woke up. He didn't think so, but he could always hope it would.

               “Kevin’s right though. We have other options available to us; we could bring Tess in on the secret right now, since she is married to Alli.” Nathan murmured, drawing him into his arms. Jack grunted, letting the man who was his husband comfort him for the moment.

                “And create more paranoia that Allison is going to go after you as we do it. We’d have to tell her that you and I never happened in the other timeline and Allison was going to get married to you.” He pointed out. Nathan sighed, kissing his head. He was silent for a moment, thinking.

                “We have to tell her sooner or later, just like Jo’s going to have to tell Donovan, and Henry Kim. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.” He responded tiredly. Jack clenched his eyes shut a little bit tighter.

                “Like I said, this isn’t going to get any easier.” He muttered, moving closer to take in the warmth Nathan provided. “Things are going to get a lot worse before they start getting better, I know it.” He added with a sense of foreboding. In a town like Eureka things like this could get ugly fast.

Chapter Text

               Jo sighed as she looked over the reports for the last year, trying to get into the mind of her double fully. Her other self had done an amazing job here. It was still kind of hard to believe she had left the Sheriff’s office behind her in this timeline. Her goal in life had been to take Jack’s position over for as long as she could remember, and now she was head of security at GD. That in itself was amazing. Add in having already married Zane. Well she wasn’t too upset over skipping over the girly messy area’s of planning and executing a wedding. When they told Zane about the mess up in the timeline, and she planned on doing that considering her husband wasn’t one to let things go unnoticed, he might want to renew their vows or some silly thing like that. She could handle a simple renewal of vows. And she didn’t think Zane would mind her not being the exact Jo he’d married, he might even find it cool.

               That wasn’t what was giving her a headache though. Carter was, or more to the point the information her other self had on Carter was giving her a migraine. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t cause problems, but the shear magnitude of what she had over looked in the other timeline astounded her. Carter wasn’t the idiot she assumed he was, not by a long shot. And she should have seen it. On top of being the town sheriff Carter had three projects to catch up on, though it wouldn’t surprise her if he already had them going in SARAH in the other timeline. If her Carter was anything like his double he might even be finished with them.

               She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know just how intelligent her Carter was to tell the truth. It had to be impressive considering the clearance Stark had grandfathered in alone. Impressive like having the run of GD and not having to submit to regular deadlines like the peons that he policed. Hell even if she wanted to blame Carter’s clearance on his marriage to Stark she couldn’t. The  man didn’t run GD anymore, Fargo did. And for Carter to have had said clearance cleared in the first place spoke of a power above even their heads. She just had to face the truth that Carter had fooled her with his idiot mask and move on with life. She really had thought he was an idiot after the gun test debacle though, he was one hell of a liar- she had to give him that.

               And then there was Carter, Stark and Allison. That was a landmine of shit, even though she had to admit she could see Allison pulling what she did here to keep Stark. There was a doomed attraction there, one that she knew would have never worked out. But then again Allison wasn’t very good at letting things go. In their other timeline she hadn’t had to deal with custody of Jenna. Stark had died before their relationship could melt down so she was left with the rose tinted memories of him and a little girl that she poured her passion into. And now said little girl was nothing more than a niece to her, while Stark held custody with Carter. There was going to be a lot of heartache over that, there was nothing that could be done about it unfortunately. They couldn’t just go around changing everything back to the way it was. Not immediately and in some cases not ever.

             Her mind wandered from her pain in the ass ex-boss to the other bombshell. The timeline had no doubtably changed because of one Dr. Charles Grant stealing Jack’s phone and hitch hiking to the future. Even in they managed to put him back it wouldn’t change anything. She knew that, and she was willing to bet everyone else involved did too. Only the ones who didn’t like this timeline would fall prey to the delusion it could be fixed. Grant already knew too much of the future, so any attempt to change it back could end up making it worse.

              Logistics of not being able to change time back to what it had been aside there was Grant’s behavior. And that thought drew her back to Carter. The sheriff had to have snark-nip hidden somewhere on him, because she recognized the look in Grant’s eyes this morning. The hitchhiking wonder had a hard on for Carter in a big way, and with Stark in the picture no good would ever come from it. The oily asshole wouldn’t take that hint though, she could guarantee Henry had already warned him away, but she would also bet on Grant’s refusal to back down. He was the type of man who was used to his looks and intelligence shocking and aweing people into handing him what he wanted. Only Carter wouldn’t fall for that, especially not with Stark doting on him. She hadn’t missed the way the former terror of GD looked at Carter, and if things worked out between them she could only wish them well. She was brought fully out of her musings by a throat clearing. Looking up she saw Allison standing in her doorway looking awkward as hell.

              “I hope you don’t mind me dropping in.” The other woman spoke sheepishly. Jo shook her head, motioning for her to sit down as she took her feet off her desk. Allison looked terrible, worse than when Stark had gone and died on them in fact.

              “No. Not at all. What can I do for you?” She asked as Allison sat down. The other woman smiled wanly.

              “I feel like I’m living a bad dream. Kevin was waiting for me when I got back from Carter’s. He wanted to tell me to back off himself I guess. Only I messed up. He guessed I wasn’t the woman he’d grown up with. I was going to take him to Henry to confirm what I was saying, but he wanted to check in on Jack. Apparently I made an enemy of my own son, or the other me did. I can’t say I don’t blame him for checking in with Jack though.” She muttered, leaning back in her seat. Jo looked at her concerned, not liking the way Allison sounded.

              “As usual Nathan hadn’t told us the full story about what happened with Jenna. There was another deal made, one that’s coming up soon and depends on Jack's coopeation. Since the other me got pregnant and she stuck around Tessa’s going to get pregnant with Jack’s child, so I know what it’s like. God Jo, I made the mistake of getting pregnant when I was with Tessa once, why the other me would sleep with Nathan when I was married to her? There is nothing I can say to defend myself, nothing.” She continued, sounding like she hated her other self in that moment. Jo was stuck on the idea of Jack having impeding fatherhood thrust onto him without so much as a by your leave. Stark should have mentioned it, but then she reminded herself that this was only their first full day back. Stark couldn’t be expected to thrust that news on his husband so soon, not when he was unsure if Carter was staying. Although from their interaction this morning she didn’t think Stark had to worry. Carter was hot for him. Then she looked at Allison.

               “How do you feel? Because you’re not the Allison who created Jenna like that?” She asked softly, remembering to be a friend. Allison laughed dryly, closing here eyes tightly.

               “Even if I’m not the one who raped Nathan and got pregnant as a result I still have the sin of sleeping with Kevin’s father and getting pregnant. If I have too I look at it that way, a chance to see how she felt back in college. I’m more worried about Jack to be honest. You didn’t see the trapped look on his face Jo. He was genuinely panicked about the thought of going through with it. Part of his panic may be my reaction to it, but he’s in the position that if  he refuses everyone will wonder why, not just Tess.” She replied honestly. Jo closed her own eyes. Allison had a debt to fall back on to rationalize the deal. Carter? He didn’t. She was worried too.

               “He already agreed to go through with it didn’t he?” She asked, knowing the answer. Allison nodded and she sighed. “You already said it Allison, if he back’s out then everyone will have questions, and that’s more attention than we need. From what I gathered just  fixing the relationship between Carter, Stark and you will raise eyebrows. Allison Blake hates Jack Carter for stealing Stark and Carter avoids her like the plague. Even when he’s here in his lab. I have multiple reports of harassment claims involving Blake coming to his labs when he’s here at GD and refusing to leave, insulting him.” She replied, her voice a little rough. She felt protective of Cater, and she didn’t like what his other self suffered from in getting involved with Stark. Allison groaned.

               “No wonder Kevin thinks’ I’m a psycho bitch and that he needs to protect Carter from me.” She muttered mournfully. “The other me did a wonderful job of proving it. Hell I’m still in love with Nathan, and even though I know it will never work, even I wouldn’t take it as far as she did. And even though she’s gone she’s still screwing Jack over. So we can’t weasel him out of going through with the deal. That means we have 3 months to get him used to the idea of fathering another child. Which isn’t going to be easy. He’s got Jenna, and even though I know he was her father in all but name and us being together before there’s  going to be guilt for the whole custody thing. Is it sad I feel better knowing he’s her other parent?” She muttered. Jo snapped her eyes open and stared at Allison, horror in her gaze. Allison didn’t notice, seeing as her eyes were still closed, but Jo suddenly had a very bad feeling. In the light of Stark’s death and Allison finding herself pregnant the two had grown close.

              “You have feelings for him.” She blurted out, because while Jo could tell Carter had been sick over Stark’s death, and trying to make sure the man was remembered by his daughter she wasn’t sure if Allison did. She wasn’t sure if Allison understood that the whole flirting thing Jack had going with her before was just that. Oh she might say she did, but considering the other timeline. Given enough time, with Stark gone she didn’t doubt that Allison wouldn’t have replaced Stark with Carter and she didn’t doubt that Carter’s guilt would have made him go along. Allison shot up, looking at her horrified, before she blushed, confirming her thoughts.

              “I… It’s hard not to have feelings for him Jo. The flirting, his constant support with Jenna. But I kissed him in the past, and no matter what I want to believe could have been... I know he doesn’t feel the same way, it was in the kiss.” She finally muttered. Jo pushed back her chair and stood up, suddenly angry. She was angry with Allison for wanting so bad to be loved that it put people into uncomfortable spots, she was angry at Carter for feeling guilty in the first place and letting himself be available for this drama, and she was just angry in general.

             “He can’t know Allison, and neither can Stark. Stark will never trust you around Jenna or him if he finds out that you have feelings for his husband- not after what your double did to him and this damned deal that's in place. And neither can your wife considering what your double did to the last man she had feelings for. And most of all you need to forget those feelings. Nothing good can come from them, no  matter how much you want to think other wise. Let Carter have a chance to be happy. I know you know how he felt about Stark before, who couldn’t with the verbal foreplay they engaged in front of god and everyone. Well apparently Stark didn’t because he was getting married to you, but that’s another story all together.” She blurted out, panic carefully hidden in her voice as she tried to stop this from becoming a problem. Allison sighed, looking old as she listened to what Jo had to say.

             “Believe me Jo, I know. I won’t cause problems for either of them. I told Jack I wouldn’t and I know he doesn’t need anything more on his plate. Knowing that he’s there for Jenna though, It eases my mind because I know he loves her. Nathan’s an unknown to me when it comes to my daughter. I know he was a great father to Kevin when I let him be, but if Jack wasn’t here, if he hadn’t come through with us I don’t think I could abide by this custody agreement.” She admitted, her voice filled with shame. Jo gave her a sharp look, before pacing. She couldn’t very well tell Allison she was wrong. Jenna was her daughter, and she couldn’t imagine what the other woman was going through, but the fact was if they didn’t want to see the inside of a cell for the rest of their lives she needed to play along. Before she could reply an alarm went off, blaringly loud and just the distraction that she needed from the awkward turn the conversation had taken. Jo rushed to her computer, then frowned at the location of the alarm. It was in the lab Carter used here at GD.

             She dispatched a team to look into it even as she called the list of Carter’s experiments up. He had nothing volatile going according to inventory, nothing that could cause an explosion or set off alarms. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he didn’t take the mad scientist route. Allison came closer, looking concerned at her behaviour, but Jo didn’t respond, waiting for her team to radio in with a status report. She had a bad feeling about this.

             “Donovan, you need to check on Doc Carter-Stark, he was supposed to stop by today to work, but apparently he isn’t here yet- thank god. His lab’s destroyed. We’ve got the fires out, but the blast was focused in several area’s. It wasn’t a failed experiment. I can tell you that much. It looks like someone’s after the Doc from the damage we can see right now to be honest. Make sure Dr. Blake hasn’t been anywhere near this level’s labs in the past couple of days. Keyes’ just found the remains of a timer, and we all know about her feelings towards the Doc, she hasn’t been exactly shy in expressing them whenever she can.” Michaels’ the head of her emergency response team reported in briskly. Jo cursed, looking up and seeing the stricken look on Allison’s face as she listened to the report along with her.

              She hoped to god the woman’s other self just hadn’t tried killing Carter, because if it was traced back to her then they couldn’t just say it wasn’t her because of the timeline shift, they couldn’t ever admit to that. She hit the mic, turning it on as she started typing rapidly, looking up Allison’s logs and sending them to her phone so she could view them on the go. She had to get Allison out of this building before people assumed it was her and things got ugly.

              “I’ll get a hold of both Carter-Starks to check in on them. Sweep the room for any bugs or secondary explosive devices. And I will escort Dr. Blake out of GD until we figure out if she’s involved or not.” She responded, her voice hard, before shutting the mic down and looking up. Allison looked like she was going to be sick at the implication that her double might have just tried killing Jack.

                “I… I” She choked out, unable to form a full sentence. Jo grabbed her by the arm, guiding her out of her office at a brisk pace.

                “Don’t say anything at all.” She demanded out of the corner of her mouth. Allison protesting here, now, would seem like she was trying to hide something, or worse cover up for herself and they didn't need that at all. They were almost free of GD when Jo heard an angry hiss. She made the mistake of looking up to see Kim stomping towards them, looking ready to tear Allison apart with her bare hands. She sped up, dragging Allison along and to her car. She got Allison into her back seat, and had just slide into the driver’s, closing it when Kim’s fist hit her window with a loud thump that had her jumping in shock. She started the car, trying to ignore Kim and get the hell out of here.

               “No, let me at her Donovan! She tried killing Jack! I knew she was going to cause trouble after last night!” Kim yelled, sound so unlike herself as she lost herself in her anger. Jo smiled at her apologetically, before putting the car in reverse. Kim threw her shoe at them as they drove away. There was silence for a moment, then Allison inhaled shakily.

               “What if the other me did that? You told me she was harassing him in his labs. God, what if I just tried killing Jack?” Allison murmured, half hysterically. Jo didn’t have an answer for her, so she dialed Stark’s phone.

                “It’s Lupo. We have a big problem. Someone just blew up your husband’s lab at GD, and all eyes are on Allison. They think she tried to kill him, and with what I know of her double they might be right.” She barked out, not having the patience to explain it calmly. She heard Nathan inhale sharply, and sit down in a chair that squeaked at the sudden weight that was thrown into it. It was a couple of moments before he replied, and every second felt like an eternity.

                “Take her to her house. As former deputy your presence will make it look like she’s in custody, but it will also stop any attacks that may come in retaliation for the lab. I’ll take a look into her coming and goings at GD, purchases and requisitions. If the other Allison did it, I will try my best to make sure that this one doesn’t get the backlash from it. That being said I don’t want her around my family right now. It doesn’t matter that she’s not that Allison, I’m angry, and you really don't know what I want to do to her if her double was behind this.” He finally replied, his voice tight. “I’ll alert Tessa and let her have a choice wheather she stays there or get’s a room at the inn, and let her know Kevin will most likely be sleeping here. I’ll pick him up from school." He added. Allison flinched at his words, but nodded mutely.

                 “If anyone comes after me I don’t want a chance he’ll be hurt. Tessa either. Try and get her to get a room.” She spoke up, her voice dull. Jo looked back at her concerned, then sighed.

                  “I’m almost to her house. If you could get Andy to stop by with some extra firepower I would appreciate it. Kim dented my car with her shoe when I wouldn’t let her have Allison. And if this Eureka is anything like ours was? A lot of people aren’t going to be happy Carter was targeted. And with Allison’s doubles behavior? A lot of people are going to assume she’s the one who tried killing him, at least until we figure out what the hell happened.” She replied tightly. Stark growled, the phone creaking in his grip.

                “Please don’t remind me that if you five hadn’t had your accident that my husband would have been in those labs today. He spends at least one day a week in that lab, and it is hardly ever the same days. Someone who knew his schedule, including the fact he planned to go in today did this Lupo. He's not safe until we figure out who the fuck tried killing him“ He informed her tersely, before sighing. “I have to go tell Jack what the hell’s going on, and then reassure myself that he’s perfectly fine if he doesn’t mind Lupo. Keep an eye on Allison until we get this mess straightened out” He informed her shortly, before the phone went dead. Allison was staring out the window now, tears running down his face.

                 “If my other self tried killing Jack there is no way Nathan will ever let me around them. Not even if he manages to hide the fact that my other self did it. Why the hell does she have to be such an insane bitch?” Allison finally muttered. Jo sighed, pulling into her driveway. They didn't know if it was her double yet, so they shouldn't jump the gun and assume that it was.

                   “We don’t know who did it Allison, so don’t jump to conclusions.” She advised, before stopping the car. Allison didn’t respond as she opened the door and headed inside. Jo hit her steering wheel before getting out herself. She needed to keep an eye on Allison, just in case one of Carter’s fan’s decided to make trouble.

            Nathan hung up the phone, his heart pounding dangerously fast. If they hadn’t changed the timeline that his husband would have been in his labs today, working on his projects, and he would have been in the middle of that explosion. Jack didn’t work in his labs on a regular basis but the results he brought in kept the higher-ups happy, so they pretty much let him do whatever he wanted. He calmed himself, before getting up and heading to find Jack. The other man was sitting with Jenna in his lap, humming as she commented on her favorite cartoon. It made his heart ache to see how similar this Jack was to the one he fell in love with, and it alo made him doubt just how different the Allison who was currently her was from her double. So far the group was almost identical to their doubles, but this Allison was still friends with Jack and had him wrapped around her finger.

            “Hey baby girl.” He greeted coming closer to the pair, trying to push the dark thoughts about Allison out of his mind. Jenna looked at him with a toothy smile, before reaching for him. He had to get Jenna out of the room before he told Jack what was going on- she didn't need to hear them talking about the explosion and how close she had come to loosing her daddy. His daughter didn’t make a fuss as he took her to her room and set SARAH on nanny mode. Jack looked at him concerned as he came back.

            “What’s going on?” Jack asked quietly, standing up and looking him over carefully. Nathan looked at him for a second, before drawing him into a tight hug, reassuring himself that his husband was still there. That this wasn’t a dream he was making up in his grief, because let's face it. It wasn't every day that someone traveled in time, just in the nick of time to prevent someone from being killed in a lab explosion.

            “An explosion went off in your lab at GD. It was deliberate, someone meant to hurt you- or rather your double. Everyone is assuming it was Allison's double that did it at the moment. ” He finally muttered into Jack’s neck. The other man’s arms surrounded him as he finished talking, his voice cracking and he inhaled sharply.

           “Okay, we’ll find out who did it Nathan. I’m not going to die on you.” Jack responded, going straight to the heart of the problem without an issue. Nathan clung to him a little tighter, and then Jack was tipping his face up from his neck. The other man pressed a too short kiss to his lips in a reassuring manner, but Nathan was hard almost instantly. He drew in a ragged breath, pressing another short kiss to his husband’s lips.

            “I want to lock you in SARAH until we know for sure, but I know you won’t let me.” He muttered against Jack’s lips, his mind spinning. If this wasn’t the other Allison’s doing he could very well lose Jack if he let him outside. Jack chuckled dryly, giving him a slightly longer kiss. His blue eyes sparkled as he pulled away.

           “Relax Nathan. I don’t plan on dying until after you finally get around to seducing me again at least.” He assured him playfully. Nathan’s heart clenched again and he clutched Jack to his chest. He never would have thought it possible, but he wanted the other Allison to be behind this. At least then he wouldn’t have to worry about losing his husband, because this Allison didn’t seem the type to try and kill him again. Thank god for small favors. Jack stayed in his arms, seeming to know that he needed this, and that fact made him think that his marriage was going to work, that Jack loved him as much as he did. He closed his eyes and smiled.

           “You better bet I plan on seducing you soon Jack. I don’t want to leave you alone for a second, especially now.” He murmured huskily. Jack chuckled, kissing his neck and he pressed his hips foreword so his husband knew just how much he wanted him that second. He found an answering hardness that made him wish he could just take Jack to their room and take care of both their needs. Unfortunately they probably would be expecting guests soon. The explosion in Jack’s lab was bound to bring concerned friends- from the time shift and this timeline alike.

         “You better Stark. One might think you’re scared to try.” Jack taunted, his breath hot his Nathan’s ear. The barb was unnecessary, considering the erection pressing against him, but it made Nathan smirk. Something’s would never change, and Jack taunting him into action was one of them. He decided to step up the ante- if Jack was going to make sure he had an erection in front of their concerned friends then he was going to have blue balls. He nipped just below Jack’s ear, where he knew his husband was particularly sensitive, and Jack groaned, moving his hands from his back to cupping his ass. The other man pressed their bodies tighter and Nathan almost laid his plans on enjoying the seduction of his husband to rest as Jack’s lips pressed against his neck.

        “Evil Ass.” Nathan muttered, pulling away and gathering his willpower to himself like a shield. He wasn’t going to rush things. This Jack hadn’t been in a relationship with a man since College. It wasn’t everyday you got to seduce your husband into bed like this, and he planned to enjoy it. Jack’s knowing smirk made him want to rethink it though. Because as much as he was planning on seducing Jack, the other man was doing the same to him.

         “Getting hot and bothered there are we Nathan?” Jack taunted, smiling widely. Nathan didn’t respond, choosing instead to go tend to their daughter. Jack’s husky chuckle followed him as he retreated and Nathan had to pause to fix himself before going into Jenna’s room. He felt like he was just beginning to date Jack, instead of having been married to him for almost two years now. It was actually a little exhilarating. He was enjoying the hunt, but this time he was being hunted also. He’d pursued Jack the first time, convincing him to give their relationship a chance, and part of him thought seducing Jack would be similar. Obviously he had to rethink his plans. Jack wasn’t going to stand back and let himself be seduced, but he was going to give as good as he got.

           “Henry, I think Blake tried killing Jack. His lab at GD, there was a bomb in it, and Jack was supposed to be in today. He didn’t come in, but after last night. I think she finally went off the deep end and decided that if he wasn’t in the way, that if he was dead then Tessa wouldn’t carry his child so she wouldn’t have to see that, and she might have a chance at Nathan again.” Kim babbled into her cell, looking down at her broken shoe. The heel had broken off on Jo Donovan’s car as she rushed Blake out of GD. Kim’s heart was pounding. She had thought her friend had been in his lab when the explosion took place, and had rushed to it as the Emergency response team was putting out fires. Henry inhaled sharply, he’d been working in his garage today.

           “Dear lord, is everyone alright?” Henry asked, breathless. Kim bit back a sharp reply, considering in her mind the threat to Jack should have made him panic more. She calmed herself. She knew she was jumping to conclusions, in blaming Allison for the explosion, but with her behavior towards Jack she stood out to be honest.

           “Everyone is fine, the lab was empty and it looked like the charges were set to maximize the damage in the room- injuring or destroying the most they could, without harming the infrastructure at GD. They’re sending us home, just in case, but Henry, Donovan escorted Blake out. There’s something going on there.” She protested. Henry sighed, and she could almost see him rubbing the bridge of his nose as he thought of what to say next.

           “Mrs. Donovan was most likely making sure that no one jumped to conclusions before her investigation was finished. I know Blake hasn’t done herself any favors, but until everything’s analyzed we can’t make the determination on if she’s guilty or not. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but we should at least try to figure out if it’s Blake or someone else who’s a danger to Jack. And you better bet once Jack finds out his lab was destroyed he’ll want to help.” Henry finally responded. Kim hated that he could be so level minded about this. He was right though. She looked mournfully at her shoe. She had liked this pair, and then she had to act crazy.  No wonder Donovan had driven off like she had. A lot of people liked Jack, and a lot of people would jump to the same conclusion as she had. Donovan was just preventing assault charges from being necessary. Smart move of her part.

           “Nathan better keep Jack out of this. If it wasn’t Blake, then whoever did it will try again. I know Donovan will keep Blake on a leash.” She finally replied tensely, her worry for her God-daughter’s father mounting.

           “We both know Nathan doesn’t stand a chance if Jack put’s his mind to it.” Henry replied dryly and Kim couldn’t resist a laugh. It was true- Jack had Nathan wrapped around the small of his finger, and Nathan wouldn’t have it any other way. The love that they had was like Henry's and her own. It wasn’t something that you came by every day, and Blake couldn’t handle that.  She didn’t let her thoughts turn in that direction again.

           “Can you meet me at the house? I don’t doubt that Donovan hasn’t given them the heads up, but I think we should go over just in case. They might need us to watch the children. I know Jack’s going to want to investigate this himself, but I also know that Nathan won’t let him do it on his own.” She finally replied. Henry chuckled.

           “I’ll be there when you get home. I hope to god that this isn’t serious though. Jack and Nathan have enough on their plates without someone trying to kill him.” He replied. Kim snorted, it already was serious, Jack could have died today in that lab if he'd been there. His absense didn't make the act any less deadly.

           “I love you.” She murmured, before hanging up and going to her car. Her mind was racing. Jack was making worrying them into too much of a habit. He’d almost been killed by Barlow when he caught her in her scheme and now this. She froze. They never caught Barlow’s bosses. Perhaps the consortium was to blame? That seemed a whole hell of a lot scarier to Kim than Blake being behind it. At least with Blake they knew where she was and could keep her from trying again. If it was the Consortium them who knew when the next attack would be.

Chapter Text

           Nathan looked up from his computer, where he was reviewing the security tapes from the lab trying to figure out who had planted the bombs in his husband’s lab, when he heard a throat clearing. Henry was standing next to him, and when he looked over to where he’d talked Jack into resting he saw that his husband was asleep, Kevin tucked into his side and Jenna resting on his chest. Kim was sitting in a chair across from him stiffly, watching his sleeping husband with tears in her eyes. He looked back at his friend who sighed and shook his head slightly.

           “I convinced her to let me come and speak with you while she checked on Jack. She was at GD when the explosion happened, and she didn’t know he hadn’t come in at first. I’m sure Jo told you about the assault she made on her car while she was getting Allison away from GD. Have you found anything out yet? Like who he hell planted those bombs?” He asked softly, his voice hard and unforgiving. Nathan growled to himself, shaking his head as he looked back at the computer monitor, trying to focus on the activity going on.

             “Blake’s logs haven’t turned up anything, and I haven’t seen her enter his lab on the tapes yet.” He replied, his voice tight. He had really been hoping that Allison’s double had been behind the attack, but it wasn’t looking like he was that lucky. Which meant that there was someone else out there that wanted his husband dead. As he spoke he heard a groan and turned to see Jack stirring from his uneasy nap. Henry grabbed the bridge of his nose and rubbed hard, looking exactly how Nathan felt at this moment.  Jenna sniffled, distressed because she knew something was going on, and she was not liking one second of it. Jack sighed and patted her back as Kevin moved closer to him. His husband shot him a sleepy smile and Nathan almost forgot that this wasn’t his version of Jack.

              “You certainly have your arms full over there Mayberry.” He teased, not having to fake a normal interaction with his husband for Kim’s sake. Jack didn’t either. His reluctant Scientist husband didn’t need any sort of cue either. The other man stuck his tongue out, before kissing Jenna’s soft baby hair, and reaching over to rub Kevin’s back comfortingly. Kevin had been panicked to say the least when he had found out about what happened in the lab and Nathan had been shocked with how easily Jack had fallen into his husband’s personality and  treated Kevin just like his version of Jack would have. It was awe inspiring in all actuality- the knowledge that any version of his husband was just like the man that he had fallen in love with.

            “Just keep watching those tapes Scientist. I’ve got the kid’s covered for now, and remember the longer they keep me occupied the longer I’m not trying to work on this myself.” He called back. Nathan swallowed back the bile that came when he thought about this Jack hunting an unknown danger in this world. When they had thought that this was Allison’s double problem had been solved- Blake had been replaced with a version that seemed to respect Jack so the danger would have been neutralized. Except that it wasn’t and now he could loose this Jack too. He tried not to grit his teeth as he looked back to the computer and tried to concentrate on what was happening now. The sooner that he found out who was trying to kill his husband- the sooner he could make sure they were neutralized.

         “You better be prepared to keep that promise now Mayberry. I don’t need you running off half cocked on this one, not with what is at stake here.” He couldn’t help but call over his shoulder after a couple of minutes. Jack snorted, but he noticed the approving look that Kim shot at him. It was clear that she wanted Jack no where near the asshole who almost killed him. It was an opinion that they both shared, though knowing his husband, and the man who was now his husband, he knew he wasn’t going to have a chance that Jack wouldn’t get involved. He looked away before he could see his husband’s reaction to his statement though. He knew he was coming on strong knowing what he did about Jack’s little adventure, but he couldn’t help it. That man was his husband. Jack was smiling at him softly, an understanding look in his eyes and that was all that He needed. For now. HE turned back to his computer and continued watching the tapes, hoping that he found something that told him whoever was responsible for the incident today.

         A half an hour later he did. Only it wasn’t what he wanted to find. The camera’s surrounding Jack’s lab all went out for 45 minutes. That was plenty enough time for the lab to have been rigged, but there was no one on the tape near that time- before or after. He growled- someone on the inside had turned off the camera’s without setting off any sort of alert. That meant he had to dig around in the security logs and hope the idiot who had tried to kill his husband had left something behind there. One thing he knew for sure now? Allison’s double hadn’t had the security clearance to do this. Which meant someone other than his ex-wife had been behind the attack most likely. Unless she was working with someone else. Which meant that this Allison had to be careful just in case her potential partner caught on that there had been a switch. He jumped as something touched his shoulder and looked up to see his husband standing behind him. He hadn’t noticed Jack untangle himself from their children to tell the truth.

            “What’s wrong Nathan? I know that growl, it’s the ‘I’m not getting my way or anywhere’ growl?” Jack asked softly. Nathan responded by rubbing the bridge of his nose, before looking at him again.

            “We need to make the house arrest on Allison official until we figure out who tried killing you Jack. Someone switched off the camera’s surrounding your lab for 45 minutes so I’m no closer to finding out who the hell tried killing you, but if it was her than by isolating her we might be able to draw out whoever helped her.” He murmured, careful not to say anything about doubles or the like. Jack sighed, then grimaced.

             “I hate to say it but I agree. It’s the safest move for everyone around. I trust there’s a team cleaning up my lab? I don’t think I should show up at GD for a while either. Just in case they decide to blitz attack there since they failed today.” He replied, sounding tired. Nathan grimaced too. Removing himself from GD for a while only solved a quarter of the time someone could attack him. He was still the Sheriff after all. And from the look in his eyes Jack knew that as well. But he knew his husband and if this Jack was anything like him a death threat wouldn’t keep him from protecting his town. But then again Nathan had fallen in love with him because of that passion.

            “There is a clean-up going on, for when you do come back. But Jack you have to promise me you’ll be careful other places too. Just because this attack was on GD premises doesn’t mean it’s the only place they will hit. And yes I've already had the station swept for any sort of device and a guard posted. And that damned guard will stay there- Lupo’s heading it” He replied. Jack made a face at the last part, before chuckling.

           “I guess she just couldn’t stay away.” He teased his husband playfully, his eyes glinting. Nathan smirked at him.

           “You did fail her weapon’s test repeatedly. I think I may have heard her muttering about payback.” He teased back before looking at his computer with a sigh. “Right. I need to get back to looking into the logs. If we’re lucky the asshole forgot to erase something that may lead to their identity. God Jack I just want this to be over already.” He murmured. Jack sighed and then the hand on his shoulder started massaging it firmly.
“We’ll find whoever did this Nathan. I promise, and I won’t let myself get killed. Not when we have plans.” He assured him, dropping a kiss onto his head before turning to their guest. “Alright! I think it’s time to eat, then I’m heading into the office. If I don’t show my face somewhere in town today people might just get to thinking whoever this person in actually did get me.” He announced firmly, giving Kim a hard look as she went to protest. Henry snorted, making Jack look at him. He held up his hand paccifyingly but had a glint in his eyes.

           “I’m coming with you Jack. I think I speak for everyone when I say you won’t be going anywhere alone until this is all settled.” He warned. Jack rolled his eyes, but grinned at him cheerfully enough.

           “Sure Henry- feel free to tag along.” He shot back sarcastically, before going to get the mentioned food from the kitchen. Nathan heard Kim sigh and looked over to see their friend watching Jack’s back worriedly.

           “I don’t like the thought of letting him out of SARAH. At least I know he’s safe here.” She murmured. Henry snorted, looking around at the house warily- making Nathan wonder what he was doing. When he raised an eyebrow Henry shook his head- mouthing later. So there was a story there. He looked back to Kim.

           “I had that reaction when I heard about the explosion. But you know my husband he’d find his way out.” He replied with a small laugh. Henry snorted, a smile quirking his lips and both of them looked at him.

           “You two need to trust in Jack being able to keep himself safe a little bit more. He does manage a town full of genius’ on a daily basis you know.” He responded simply, before looking at the walls again wearily. It was like he thought that they were going to jump out at him. Suddenly the offhanded comment Jack had made about SARAH’s alter ego BRAD came back to him and he felt nervous himself. SARAH had locked Jack in here because he had been thinking about leaving. What would the AI do now that he was in danger, that someone had tried to kill him? He looked at the walls then, wondering if the AI was already planning something. Jack came back with four plates, looking like everything was as normal as could be and Nathan suddenly got the Idea that this Jack was even more used to the dangerous part of Eureka than his had been. And that was going to drive him gray.

           “ I just realized I didn’t have enough hand’s to bring everyone plates. So I can deliver these and go back for the rest or you two can help yourselves.” Jack joked, his eyes sparkling even as he handed Nathan’s plate to him and set down the others. Henry laughed, before holding a hand up to his wife and leaving the room. Nathan watched as Jack went over to their children and woke then up gently. Kevin yawned as Jack pointed to the plates on the coffee table, picking up a still sleepy Jenna with his free arm as he did. Kevin lumbered over and took a plate, grinning at Jack as the other man followed close behind him.

            “Thanks Jacko.” The teen murmured, before sitting down and starting to eat. Jack sat Jenna in his lap as he sat down, before feeding her as he ate himself, and it was just like watching his husband with her before. All too soon the meal was finished, and Jack was leaving with Henry. Kim had agreed to stay behind and watch the kids while Nathan worked, but as he watched Jack come downstairs in his uniform his chest was tight. Someone had tried to kill him hours earlier, and now Jack was going out there. Henry smiled at him tightly as Jack came over to him. Nathan made a noise of surprise when the other man kissed him, not expecting it, and Jack smiled against his lips, his arms surrounding his shoulders and holding him firmly. When Jack pulled away from the kiss he looked him in the eyes, his gaze firm and reassuring. Just like the kiss had been.

            “I’m going to be alright Scientist. You just keep on looking through the logs. Henry will keep my ass out of trouble out there. I promise.” He murmured huskily. Nathan grimaced slightly, of course Jack would know he wasn’t happy about him leaving after the day that they had. But he trusted Henry to keep his husband safe.

            “Of course. We have plans right? I expect you home, and whole tonight.” He replied, and damn it his voice cracked just a little. Henry nodded to him as they went to the door. Only it didn’t open immediately when Jack called for SARAH to open the door. The light above it flickered, before SARAH spoke up.

           “Both Dr. Stark and Kim have expressed their desire to keep you safe Jack. With the recent attack on your GD lab I agree. Going into town is not safe for you until the problem is resolved.” The AI responded. Jack groaned, and shot a glare at the bewildered Kim and his slightly smug looking husband as he heard Henry groan. He was flashing back to the BRAD incident and that wasn’t such a good memory. They both had almost died.
           “See what you two did! SARAH I can’t stay locked up in here, I have a responsibility to the town, and I’m not going to let some two bit arsonist scare me into ignoring it. Open the door.” He demanded, his voice irate. Nathan looked at the walls tense as SARAH didn’t respond immediately. He needed to get BRAD’s programming out of SARAH so in the future he didn’t have to worry about what Jack had mentioned.

           “SARAH, We’re going to have to trust Jack on this one. Please open the door.” He tried, hoping that his request would convince the smart house to let his husband out. There was a pause then the door popped open, and both Jack and Henry sighed in relief. The house spoke up then.

           “Sheriff Carter, if you are hurt while this situation is ongoing the next time I will not comply with Dr. Stark’s request. It is against my programming to willing let my inhabitant be harmed.” SARAH warned and Jack grimaced to himself. Now he had an over protective house to worry about. Even in the other timeline he hadn’t gotten put on modified house arrest by SARAH.

            “Warning heard loud and clear SARAH.” He responded, shooting his husband a disgruntled look. “Please talk with her Nate.” He asked, before ducking out of the house, Henry close behind. Nathan thought he heard his husband telling Henry they needed the skylight as soon as possible given that warning as the door sealed behind them.