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Nathan woke to darkness. To restraints across his thighs and chest and around his wrists and ankles. To the strange feeling of moving forward while horizontal.
The vehicle beneath him swerved to his right, leaving asphalt for gravel. After a short bumpy ride however, they came to a stop.
He heard as the driver's door opened and then was slammed shut. He could hear nothing else until one of the back doors was opened and someone climbed in. The person knelt beside his head, there was a soft click which sounded extra loud in the darkness, and then the other person's face was lit up by a small torch.
Nathan felt shock ripple through him as his wide eyes took in familiar blonde hair and blue eyes. "How?"
"Long story," he said, before putting the torch between his teeth and reaching out to release Nathan from his restraints.
When he was finally free, Nathan shifted until he could pull the other male to him, holding him tight. "I thought I lost you."
"You did," Callister said into his shoulder, "but then Sheriff Carter brought me back."
"Wait," Nathan pushed him away far enough to see his face, hands still holding tight to his shoulders. "Sheriff Jack Carter?"
"Yeah. I woke up alone in your old lab, as good as new. A check of the security cameras showed that he was the only one to have been there, so I went to the bunker to find out what happened. Apparently Kevin gave him something to make him smarter in order to impress Doctor Blake's brother Marcus, which was then slowly killing him. Somehow he'd found the time to correct my code while they figured out how to save him. He also had a folder labelled Stark which he gave to me, said he didn't know what it was for. I'm so sorry it took me so long to figure it out."
Nathan remembered the Time Maintenence lab, remembered trying to resync time, remembered saying: See you around Jack. "How long have I been gone?"
When Callister spoke again it was in a whisper and his hands tightened his hold on Nathan's arms. "Almost 7 years."
Nathan's hands released their hold on Callister's shoulders as he droppped back onto his ass, mind reeling. A handful of moments ago he was preparing himself to remarry Allison, when in actual fact seven years had gone by. So much could have happened in that time!
Could she still love him, or had she moved on? Married Carter? Someone else? Started a family like they'd discussed? Was she even still in Eureka? Let alone alive?
"-ad! Dad!" Callister was shaking his shoulders, face concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Allie?"
"She and the Sheriff were married when-"
"Of course." He said, nodding numbly. "They both deserve to be happy."
A short series of beeps from one of Callister's pockets had him scrambling for the door. "We have to get going."
Nathan waited until they were both buckled in before speaking again. "Why are we not in Eureka?"
Callister slowly reversed the van and then pulled onto a highway, heading North. "After what happened to you, the lab was packed up and put into storage. The equipment was some of the first to be shipped off to Area 51 when the DOD shut Eureka down."
"That makes no sense! Area 51 is well below subpar when compared to Eureka in every way, why keep it instead?"
"That was 3 years ago though, now Eureka and GD are privately owned by a Dr Trent Rockwell."
Nathan thought on the name a moment before he said, "Never heard of him. How do you know so much about what's going on in Eureka anyway?"
"Jo and Zoe have been keeping me updated while I worked on bringing you back."
Nathan nodded in understanding as he stared at the road ahead of them. He knew they were heading towards Eureka, but did he really want to go back?
¤¤¤¤¤
He didn't remember falling asleep, would have argued that being deleted from the time stream for seven years should have left him refreshed, but Callister was shaking his shoulder gently. "Dad wake up, we're almost there."
He smiled softly as he patted his son's hand, "I like it when you call me that."
Callister's cheeks tinted a light pink as he smiled in return. "I... I wasn't sure if-"
"I should have said something before," Nathan said, regretting now the years they had spent apart, but at the time it had been necessary. "I want you to stay with me, wherever that ends up being. I want you to work by my side. Is that okay?"
"Yes!" Callister's grin was wide and happy. "Definitely yes."
"Good." And for the first time since waking up, he was certain of something.
"There are some things I should probably tell you before we get there." Callister said, flicking a quick, sobering glance at him before once again concentrating on the road. "Dr Blake and Sheriff Carter are no longer married; they got divorced soon after the birth of their son. According to Jo, she's been dating Dr Rockwell off and on since then. Henry is married to a Dr Grace Monroe, and he's director of GD. Jo is married to Zane; they have a son and she's currently pregnant again. Fargo is also married, I don't remember her name but apparently they're travelling the world together."
Everyone had moved on, found happiness for themselves. They had built a life without him in it, would there be place for him now? Or would it be better to leave well enough alone and head elsewhere? Together he and Callister could-
"And you have a daughter."
Nathan's thoughts and plans for the future were derailed by that one sentence. A daughter?!? "A daughter? How is that possible?"
"Dr Blake was pregnant when you were... deleted."
"Oh." Nathan stared blankly ahead, mind numb.
"We're here," Callister said after a long period of silence. "Where should we go first?"
The word was out of his mouth before he'd even properly comprehended the question. "Allie's."
Nathan stared out the window as the painfully familiar town came into view, as houses became more frequent, and faces more familiar. "Stop."
Immediately the van came to a stop in the middle of the road. Nathan released his seat belt as he twisted in his seat to stare over his shoulder at Copernicus Park. "Carter's in the park with kids."
He hopped out of the van and jogged across the street, coming to a standstill at the entrance to the park. Carter looked good in dark jeans and a blue Henley as he nudged a soccer ball towards an energetic little brunette girl while a happily shrieking blonde boy toddled after it. His daughter and Carter's son.
All of a sudden a dark skinned lanky teenage boy scooped the toddler up and tossed him in the air. The shrieking became louder and the girl abandoned the soccer ball to dance around the teen's feet begging to go next.
"Nathan?"
He looked up into wide blue eyes before he was pulled into a tight embrace.
"He did it," Carter said, voice soft and awed. "He brought you back."
Nathan wrapped his arms around the other man, noticing as he did how perfectly Carter fit against him. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly, nose buried in golden hair as he tried to breath around the vise on his chest. He was really truly back. "Because of you Jack."