Chapter Text
Part Four
Jack gritted his teeth when Stark jumped into the passenger seat of Jeep. He'd known there was no way Nathan would stay behind but he'd been hoping anyway.
Because his body was still electrified. His heart and his soul yearning for what hadn't really been on offer. Curling his hands tight around the steering wheel to keep from reaching out, reaching over, asking for what he shouldn't have, Jack focused on duty instead. After calling into Jo for transport and backup, he headed the Jeep in the direction of the missing bot.
His preoccupation with Stark had been his downfall this entire case. He'd noticed the scent at every scene but had dismissed it as unimportant. If he hadn't been so absorbed and distracted by his handsome Guide, maybe he would have pieced the whole thing together two weeks ago and tonight's fiasco would never have happened.
His gut clenched and he gritted his teeth against the automatic sound of protest that threatened to spill out. As painful as it was to have had to push Nathan away, as much as those precious few minutes were going to haunt him for the rest of his life, he wouldn't have changed a fucking thing.
He would torture himself with it, but it was precious and perfect and at least he had a taste of that moment with his Guide. Some Sentinels spent their entire lives wondering.
But it couldn't happen again. Jack couldn't allow his job to be compromised by instincts he could never act on. He'd taken an oath and Eureka deserved his best. He'd have to assign Jo to anything involving Stark in the future.
And even if he didn't have the safety of the town to worry about, he owed it to Stark to stay away.
Especially with the extra temptation of knowing Nathan was attracted to him. The Guide instincts were there. No matter how careful he was, it was possible he could manipulate the man into something he had no interest in being involved in.
If he couldn't find a way to avoid Nathan Stark, he was going to have to uproot his daughter, again, and leave town.
Just when they were finally finding a way to connect.
Jack turned onto a concealed driveway and resolutely pushed his personal life to the background. He had no real answers to his problems now, anyway, and he had a case to focus on.
Nathan, who'd thankfully remained silent on the entire drive, choked on a laugh as the Jeep rolled to a stop twenty feet away from the building.
"Is that a tree house? With a garage?"
A two story a-framed cabin balanced around and between several huge trees. A full porch wrapped all the way around it. In its shadow, a two stall garage filled the ground underneath.
With a resigned sigh, Jack scrubbed his hand through his hair and nodded. "Yes. Yes it is."
He was out of the truck and halfway to the steps when Zoe appeared on the porch.
Her eyes were wide and a little frantic as she gripped the railing with white knuckles.
"Dad! What are you doing here?" Outraged bloomed and her mouth twisted into a pout. "You don't need to spy on me, I'm just helping Erwin with his summer school project."
"Where is it, Zoe?"
Panic flashed, lightning quick across her face, before settling back into angry deflection.
"Where's what?" She crossed her arms and settled into a defiant stance.
Before he could tell her that she knew exactly what he was here for, the garage door lifted with a smooth silent glide. The deep fried bio-diesel scent spilled out as a confused Erwin glanced around.
"What's going on, Zo? What's all the noise— Oh. Uh. Hi. Sheriff Carter. Director Stark."
Behind him, next to the souped-up golf cart, the bot and the omniversal remote sat side by side on a long work bench.
"There it is." Jack smiled up at his daughter with smug satisfaction and headed for the garage as she started screeching.
"You can't go in there. You don't have a warrant. We have rights."
Jack stopped and shook his head. "There is stolen property in plain sight, Zoe. More than enough probable cause."
The sound of another vehicle pulling up behind his SUV made him turn and look, surprised to see Allison getting out of Jo's truck.
"What's going on, Carter?"
"These two juvenile delinquents have stolen government property. Again. They are in possession of GD's missing weather bot and have been using Erwin's universal remote to prank the town with it."
"Omniversal remote." Zoe and Erwin corrected in unison.
Jack rolled his eyes and glared at them both. "Really?"
Allison took in the scene with a deliberate, blank faced look and Jack had a sinking suspicion he wasn't going to like how this played out. For someone who worked for the DoD, she really needed to work on her poker face.
"The weather bot? They didn't steal it. I gave Erwin permission to work with it while he attempted to iron out the problems with his enhancements to the omniversal remote."
Zoe looked smug, Erwin ducked his head in embarrassment, Allison looked faintly guilty and Jo leaned back against her truck trying, and failing, to look like she wasn't amused by the whole farce. Next to him, Nathan's face was edging toward purple in his outraged fury.
And Jack knew he just looked like a landed fish, mouth open and moving but no sound coming out. For the second time that day, he felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of him.
#
Nathan felt fury and frustration squeeze his blood pressure into dangerous levels. He ground his teeth together but managed to keep his tone clipped and precise.
"You can't just hand over Global property to a teenager, Allison."
"Actually, I can. According to the town charter, Amendment 4, Section C says that students enrolled in Eureka's school district may, with permission of the Department of Defense, have access to Global Dynamic projects for the furtherance of their education, so long as the project is at or below security clearance--"
"I know the statute, Allie," he growled.
She tilted her head and gave him a thoughtful, innocent smile. "I suppose you do. If I remember right, I'm pretty sure that rule was made specifically for you."
She was right, of course. He'd been doing some groundbreaking work that paralleled a failed project at GD. They'd given him access to a decade of work and he solved the problem in a week. Now Global used the exceptional opportunity to recruit future elite scientists early, as well as maximize their talent base.
"Even with the permission of the DoD liaison, you still need me to sign off on the release of tech to an underage researcher."
She fluttered her lashes, eyes going wider, smile growing brighter and he knew he was going to hate whatever came out of her mouth next.
"I sent the request through proper channels. In fact, I gave it to Fargo along with a stack of the requisition approvals. He brought it back to me that afternoon, complete with your signature. I assumed, as Director of Research, you knew enough to read things before you sign them."
Nathan's eyes became slits and anger burned in the back of his throat. She knew him too well and she had played him. The government’s ridiculous insistence of hard copies of everything frustrated him to no end and he resented the paperwork enough to let his usual attention to detail slip.
Jack finally seemed to get over his surprised and braced his hands on his hips as he glared "You couldn't have mentioned that anytime in the past two weeks, while we ran around chasing a science project?"
"I was asleep when Nathan called the first night. I guess I didn't catch all the details."
She mumbled and had the grace to look a little remorseful. In fact, she exchanged guilty glances with Zoe and Jo. Then, Nathan began to understand. It had been a ploy to keep the two of them busy. A scheme to keep the two men from being difficult thorns in their lives. He'd pushed her to this. This was the lengths she'd felt she had to go to, to avoid him.
She'd got what she wanted. He'd barely thought about her. Hadn't asked her out once. Instead, his free time had been spent finding reasons to hang out with Jack.
He glanced at the Sentinel, who'd thrown up his hands in exasperation and was now herding his protesting daughter into his SUV. While carefully not even looking at Nathan. Someone else who would be doing everything he could to avoid Nathan now, as well.
He knew better than to push, but nothing in Nathan was capable of walking away without at least trying to get what he wanted.
Allie turned to talk to Erwin and reassure him that he was not in trouble. Nathan moved to intercept Carter before the sheriff could climb into his driver seat.
"Jack," he kept his voice low and his back to everyone else. "Can we at least talk about earlier?"
Carter's lashes lowered, eyes dropping to his shoes and his expression looked frightened and resigned and a little lost before he shook his head.
"I can't." His voice was soft and barely audible, filled both with regret and resolve. "I'm sorry, Nathan, but I can't."
"Right." He nodded in return and shifted back. It was actually on the tip of his tongue to apologize, but he wasn't sorry for anything except that it had ended. So he turned his back on the Sentinel and smiled brightly at his wary ex-wife.
"Allie, darling. Would you mind giving me a ride back to my house?"
He'd been sure Eureka held everything that he needed when he'd come back. And it did, even if he'd been wrong about what, exactly, that was. Only, like usual, Nathan realized too late, that he couldn't have what he wanted.
#
Allison flopped into the chair in front of Carter's desk and frowned at him until he looked up at her.
"Allison. Is it a missile on Main Street? Or android dogs run amok?" Rather than the humor and good natured resignation she was used to from the sheriff, the question was edge with irritation. His eyes dropped back to whatever paperwork was spread out on his desk.
She pressed her hand into the back of her neck and tried futilely to rub away the burgeoning headache.
"You have to talk to Nathan."
That got his attention, eyes wide and wary.
"What?"
"You have to talk to Nathan," she repeated, carefully enunciating each word with force. "Neither of you have been acting like yourselves since the night at Erwin's tree house. I saw the way the two of you were with each other that night. And you've been avoiding each other like your lives depended on it, ever since. Jo is really getting sick of having to talk to Fargo. I don't know what the issue is but you two have two fix it."
He swallowed and his eyes slid to the side. "There was a misunderstanding. But there's nothing to fix… "
"He's thinking of turning down the offer of becoming the permanent Director at Global."
A muscle twitched along his jaw, concern flaring in his expression before he ruthlessly covered it with indifference. "I thought you wanted him gone? Isn't that why you set us up on a wild goose chase?"
Allison sighed and let the fresh wave of guilt run its course. Neither Nathan nor Carter had forgiven them for their duplicity and she regretted ever thinking it was a harmless white lie.
"I only wanted him to stop asking me out. I care about him, though. And Global has been his dream since he was fifteen." She smiled sadly as she remembered a night of too much champagne when he'd tipsily admitted that he'd had to give up his childhood dream and being Director of Global Dynamics had been the second best choice of ambition. He'd looked so forlorn, she'd never had the heart to ask him what that first dream had been.
Leaning forward, she held Carter's gaze, putting all of her concern and earnestness into her words.
"He left Global once, so that I wouldn't have to uproot Kevin. He shouldn't have to give it up, again. Since his father died when he was twenty, Eureka is the closest thing he's had to a home and family."
Carter bit his lip, eyes looking haunted and conflicted before nodding with resignation and heading for the door.
"I'll talk to him. And, if I have to, I'll leave town, instead."
Allison blinked, surprised tying her tongue for a second.
"Carter, wait! That's not what I meant!" She shouted after him but he was already out the door.
#
Jack realized he should have asked Allison where to find Stark before he'd rushed out. Having Fargo give him the runaround for twenty minutes at GD before admitting that the Director was uncharacteristically working from his house had left Jack edgy and irritated on top of the guilt and concern that had been weighing him down since his conversation with Allison.
So he was a keeping tight lid on his emotions when he knocked on Stark's door. When there was no answer, he couldn't help letting his senses loose. The scent, musky and sweet, hit him like a punch to the gut. He could hear the familiar heartbeat and the deliberate movement. After a week of denying himself any contact at all, the sudden saturation of his Guide left him feeling breathless and needy.
It took him a minute to force his body and his mind back into at least a facade of stoic indifference before he let himself in the unlocked door. He paused in the archway between the foyer and the living room as he watched Nathan bending over some cardboard boxes.
"Packing?" he asked, relieved that the intentional nonchalance didn't shake too much as he asked the question. Staying away from each other might be the best idea for everyone involved but the Sentinel couldn't quite handle the idea of losing his Guide permanently.
Stark froze then carefully stood up before turning around. He raised one eye brow and glanced at the door behind Jack, the look speaking loudly about trespassing, without the director saying a word. Jack just crossed his arms, leaned against the arch and gave his best impression of being completely oblivious.
Nathan rolled his eyes and answered. "I never really unpacked, so it's just a matter of putting things back in the boxes they came out of."
"Allison said you're thinking about turning down the permanent job of wrangling GD's insanity."
"That's right."
"Why? You like the job and, more importantly, you're good at it. Allison says it's been your dream since you were fifteen."
Stark turned his head away abruptly, his scent suddenly saturated with melancholy.
Jack had no idea what he'd said to cause that reaction but bit his own tongue hard, wishing he could call it back. Still, Nathan always seemed to be a master of his emotions and a deep breath later got himself back under control. A bland smile turned back and it was almost as painful as the sadness had been.
"Yeah, well, with credentials like mine, jobs are a dime a dozen. There's nothing for me in Eureka. Even if I still wanted Allie, she made it more than clear that that door was closed. And that she'd go to great lengths to keep it closed."
Heart racing, Jack tried to ignore the excitement tracing along his skin. Nathan had said something about being over Allison in his kitchen but he'd been too wrapped up in the cascading events of the night to absorb it.
"If you still wanted her?"
It didn't matter. Shouldn't, couldn't matter. But the territorial Sentinel needed to know his Guide wasn't still in love with his ex.
"Funny isn't it? I came to Eureka intent on winning her back. And yet I was so easily sidetracked, I never got around to it."
He looked directly at Jack then and didn't even try to hide anything. The attraction, the regret, the frustration, the anger, the hurt. It was all there in sharp, sad blue eyes.
"I found something else, without even realizing it at first. Something that I wanted more. Unfortunately, that something doesn't want me any more than she did."
The air left Jack's lungs in a rush. His Guide wanted him. Words that a part of him had been longing to hear for fifteen years. And there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing he could say to make it right between them. Not without going against every oath he'd ever taken.
Nothing, except, "I'm sorry, Nathan. More sorry than I can ever explain."
Nathan’s laugh was short and sharp and full of doubt.
"Right. Sorry. Allison said the same thing." He turned back toward the boxes and, back to Jack but he kept talking. "It's funny. When I was nine I saw a documentary about Sentinels and Guides. I wanted that. I wanted to be a Guide more than anything in the world. My father kept telling me it was a waste, that I was too gifted to be tied to some Neanderthal. To be stuck as a sidekick for a soldier or a cop. It took six years to wear him down. When he finally took me to get tested I was so sure. When the doctor told me I wasn't a Guide, it was the worst day of my life."
His shoulders rose and fell. "It doesn't feel much better being denied a Sentinel this time around, either."
"Wait, what?"
Jack fought to catch his breath, to rewind the words in his head sure he heard wrong.
Nathan had been tested? Nathan wanted to be a Guide?
"You heard me. Now go away and let me pack, Sheriff."
He was halfway across the living room, hand on Nathan's arm before good sense stopped him from making a mess of the whole thing.
Nathan glared down at Jack's hand on him, before transferring the dark look up to his face.
"You need to get tested again," he blurted out and then winced. But fuck it, there wasn't anything in the law or tradition that covered this situation.
"I just told you, I'm not a Guide. I was tested when I was fifteen."
So many words fought to escape Jack's mouth, he ground down on his back teeth to keep all but the most necessary ones locked in his throat.
"You. Need. To. Get. Tested. Again."
"Why?" Nathan was furious and belligerent and pushing right back.
Jack inhaled slow and deep, forced his body to relax, and stopped trying to hide.
"I can't," he whispered. Raw and pleading and uncaring what he was revealing. "I can't say anything else. Trust me. Please."
Deep wrinkles curved in Nathan's forehead before dawning understanding brightened everything.
"Okay," he whispered back, voice as ragged and raw as Jack's had been. "Okay. I'll call Allison and have her meet us at the GD lab."
Jack knew he shouldn't go. That he'd pushed propriety as far as he dared. He should go back to his office and wait. Instead, he loosened his grip to rub Nathan's arm gently and smiled like he'd just won the lottery. "Okay. Good. Let's go."
#
Nathan found himself amused by the serious concern pulling at Allie's frown when she walked into the private infirmary room he'd commandeered. A few weeks ago, he'd have given anything to see that look of affection and worry on his behalf. It was ironic that he only got it now, when he no longer needed it.
It was less funny when she gave Carter, loitering in the hallway, a dark look of suspicion before closing the door firmly and turning on the white noise machine.
"What's going on, Nathan?"
He smirked at her and unbuttoned the sleeve of his shirt. "I told you on the phone. I need you to take blood and run a Guide detection series."
"Nathan." She started, then took a deep breath. He could actually see her trying to gather her thoughts. "Nathan, you're 38 years old."
"And?"
"Most people have long since made the decision about getting this particular test." Another drawn out pause in which he ignored her to finish rolling up his sleeve. "Nathan. What I'm trying to say, is that it is illegal for anyone to try and coerce you into becoming a Guide."
He laughed at her tight, serious expression. "Allison. You've known me long enough to know no one has ever coerced or guilted me into doing anything. Ever."
She raked her eyes over him one more time before nodding and reaching for his arm.
The pinch of the needle entering his arm was fleeting and then they both silently watched the vial fill with blood.
When she was done, the vial properly labeled and secured she hesitated one more time.
"You're absolutely sure about this?"
"Absolutely."
"All right. It will take about ten minutes to get the results." She left through the second door in the room, the one that led directly into the medical lab.
He used the time to flip through his phone and catch up on emails he'd been ignoring all day. Though he continued to ignore Fargo's.
Precisely ten minutes later, Allison walked back in with the clipboard held tight to her chest and her face kept deliberately blank.
"Well?"
"Before I tell you the results, I think you owe me some kind of an explanation. This really isn't something that happens out of the blue."
On the one hand he didn't owe her anything. They were divorced and she'd made it clear he was no longer a part of her life, that way. On the other hand, she was the closest thing he had to family.
And, he knew her well enough to know it would be faster to give her what she wanted then spend the next hour arguing over it.
So he gave her the short version. His father's reluctance to let him be tested, the ultimate let down of being told he wasn't a Guide. He skirted the highlights of his unusual relationship with Carter. Just explained the sheriff had been incredibly careful about not saying anything while making it clear that a new test might be in order.
"I don't understand. Twenty-three years ago, GD was on the cutting edge of testing. The chance that you were misidentified is less than one percent."
"I didn't get tested at Global. Dad talked me into a testing center outside of Eureka… Son of a bitch."
He picked up his phone and began searching for answers.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking to see… aha, the Tacoma Guide Institute wasn't built until 1992. Which means whoever it was that tested me, they were definitely not official."
"But why?"
"Because my father didn't want me to waste my life. He was already basking in the reflected glory of my achievements. He knew in another year I'd be old enough not to need his permission for the testing. He lied to me."
Rage boiled inside of him and there was nothing he could do about it. His father was long gone and there was no way to get the lost years back. Then the rest of what Allie said hit him.
"Misdiagnosed? So I am a Guide?" Awe, and hope and wonder washed away the furious grief.
Allie smiled, bright and real for the first time since she'd walked into the infirmary. She handed him the clipboard and a pen. He read through the medical jargon until his saw the words. Status: Guide. A single sweep of ink at the bottom officially registered him as active.
"Congratulations. I'd give you one of the cute silver pins, but I have a feeling it's not going to be long before you need a gold one."
"God, I hope so."
He was on his feet and headed for the door before she could finish offering her congratulations.
Carter. Jack. His Sentinel. Was standing directly across from the door body tense and eyes riveted automatically on Nathan. The slow sweep of his eyes over Nathan's chest and the crumbling of hope made him realize he should have taken the damn pin, after all.
Instead he stepped right up into Carter's body and put his lips on the Sentinel's ear. Softly, he whispered, letting his breath ghost across the sensitive skin.
"I'm a Guide. Signed and sealed." He pressed his body even closer until they both gasped at the pleasure.
Jack's hand snaked around his neck to gently cradled Nathan's jaw. His other hand wormed between them to rest over Nathan's heart.
"You are my Guide. I offer my world to share with you. I offer my life to protect you. I offer my heart to shelter you." He paused, his voice breaking under the tight earnestness. "Will you accept me as your Sentinel?"
The words were old and traditional and more powerful than Nathan ever expected.
He copied Jack's hold, hand over the other man's rapidly beating heart.
"You are my Sentinel. I will gladly share your world. I offer my life in return for yours, I will shelter in you and shelter you within me. I am your Guide."
"Thank god." Jack murmured before covering Nathan's lips with his own.
Eventually, the sound of Allison clearing her throat broke them apart. It was with only a slight hint of embarrassment that he remembered they were in a very public hallway in the middle of GD.
"Allie?"
"I've got this under control. While you two were… getting reacquainted I arranged for Zoe to gather her stuff. She can stay with me for a few days while you two… bond. I'll let Jo know she needs to cover any and all crises for the next few days." Her smile got even brighter. "I assume it's okay to let the committee know you're accepting the permanent posting?"
He glanced at Jack who smirked at him. "What? And here I thought you'd be my deputy?"
Nathan rolled his eyes but didn't stop gazing at his Sentinel. "Tell them I'll be in touch to discuss my compensation package."
Then he brushed a brief, promising kiss over Jack's lips.
"Let's go home, Sentinel."
"Yeah," Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah. I like the sound of that. Let's go home, Guide."