Work Text:
It Just Takes Time
Just before they reached town, Jack broke the silence and softly asked, “Nathan, where do you want to take him?”
Nathan answered just as softly, “The warehouse.”
Carter nodded and kept driving. Zoe hardly stirred at all when Jack parked the Jeep and helped Nathan carry Calister inside.
Jack was turning to leave when he noticed Stark's shoulders shaking as the man cried silently. Jack physically turned the grieving scientist around and pulled him into a hug.
Nathan fought the hug until Jack's words sank in. “It's okay, Nathan. I've got you. Just let it go. It just takes time.”
Nathan did. He cried so hard that his legs gave out. Jack caught him and eased them both to the floor.
At some point, Zoe came in. she was torn between respecting Dr. Stark's privacy and dealing with her own grief. She had only known Calister a short time, but she had grown very fond of him. She knelt beside her dad and Dr. Stark and put her arms around them both.
Jack embraced Zoe and was only momentarily surprised when Nathan did, too.
Nathan finally began to pull himself together. He kissed the top of Zoe's head and said, “Thank you for staying with him, Zoe.”
“He was a good guy, Dr. Stark. I'm really going to miss him.”
Jack said, “Nathan, what are you going to do with...what are you going to do?”
“I'm going to dismantle him and destroy his components.”
“No!” Zoe said.
Jack squeezed Zoe's shoulder. “There's no way you can fix him?”
Nathan shook his head. “I wish I could. I still don't even know what made him work in the first place. His CPU is fried, and I would never be able to duplicate his personality. Plus, too many people know now that he was AI. I won't let DARPA get their hands on him.”
“I'm so sorry,” Jack said softly.
“How can we help, Dr. Stark?” Zoe asked.
Nathan said, “Thank you, Zoe, but this isn't your responsibility.”
Zoe said, “Calister was good to me. He was my friend. Please, I'd like to do whatever I can to help.”
Jack added, “Nathan, let us help. There's no guarantee that someone hasn't already called the DoD about Calister. The faster we're done, the less chance they'll find anything. And you shouldn't have to do this alone.”
Nathan nodded, “Okay, let's get this over with.”
The task took twice as long as it would had Nathan done it alone. Jack helped as he watched Zoe ask question after question about the science of robotics and AI. He had nearly shushed her until he realized that her questions, while genuine, were well thought out and aimed to keep Nathan focused on the task.
His little girl was upset enough with him to run away, but she hadn't abandoned Calister and she was being a rock for Nathan now. Jack had never been more proud.
Jack drove Nathan back to the Sheriff's Office to pick up his car where it had been dropped off. Zoe suggested, which Jack and Nathan agreed, that she say Calister had talked her into coming home before boarding a bus east. Three exhausted people went home to get a couple hours of sleep.
Zoe had already left for school when Jack came downstairs the next morning. He knew she wasn't avoiding him. She was trying to get her thoughts straight before they talked. Jack grabbed some coffee and a muffin and headed to work.
As soon as he was settled in and had looked over Lupo's on-call report from the night before, he began making calls to see what he could do about the trouble his daughter had gotten herself into. He was amazed to discover that someone had already taken care of everything. The money Zoe had stolen had been repaid with interest, and all charges were dropped by the credit card company and Ajeet Gandhavadi. Zoe was in the clear.
Jack grabbed his coat and headed for Global Dynamics. Fargo stopped him right outside Stark's office. “General Mansfield is in there grilling Dr. Stark about Calister,” Fargo whispered. “Dr. Stark ordered me to make sure the general doesn't see you here.”
Jack nodded and went to Taggart's lab. Half an hour later as Carter was leaving GD, he had his typical luck of running into Nathan and the general.
“Sheriff Carter,” Mansfield said, “why am I not surprised to see you here?” Mansfield looked suspiciously from Jack to Nathan and back.
Jack gave the general his all-American boy smile and said, “Well, because I'm the sheriff and sometimes my job brings me to GD on business?”
The general asked, “And would that business have to do with Calister Raynes?”
“Not at all. I'm here to speak with Taggart about the animal tracks out behind Dr. Taylor's farm. She's convinced that wolves are trying to get to her prized, cloned rooster.”
“And that's your only business here?” Mansfield asked.
“Yes, unless your brainiacs have blown something up that I haven't been informed of yet.”
Mansfield turned to Nathan, “I'll give you this much, Stark, you cover your tracks well.”
Nathan smirked, “I would take that as a compliment, general, if I had any tracks I had covered.”
Mansfield scowled as he turned and left with two soldiers and three men in suits.
“I told Fargo to make sure Mansfield didn't see you here,” Nathan said.
“Fargo did tell me, but I figured Mansfield would be more suspicious if he checked the security log and found out I was here. So I went to see Taggart about those tracks I've been meaning to ask him about for a week.”
“I'll give you this much, sheriff,” Nathan smirked, “you cover your tracks well.”
“I would take that as a compliment, scientist,” Jack smirked back, “if I had any tracks I had covered.”
Nathan grew serious and asked, “Would you rather have this conversation in the cafeteria over good coffee or in my office over the tar Fargo makes for me?”
Jack wrinkled his nose. “As much as I hate Fargo's coffee, I think this conversation requires privacy.”
Nathan nodded and motioned for Jack to lead the way. Nathan paused outside his office door long enough to instruct Fargo to bring two coffees from the cafeteria. He sat behind his desk and said, “What's on your mind, sheriff?”
“My daughter. I made some calls earlier to see if I could do anything to get the charges against her reduced. Imagine my surprise to learn that the money she stole has been repaid with interest and all the charges against her have been dropped. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?” Jack said.
“Calister,” Nathan said.
Jack saw the flash of pain in the scientist's eyes when he said the AI's name so he softened his tone as he asked, “What about Calister?”
“Calister didn't,” Nathan swallowed over the lump in his throat, “he didn't have time to go into detail, but he apologized to me for hacking my personal account. He said Zoe had been good to him and he wanted to help her.”
Jack looked out the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the GD rotunda and nodded. “We'll pay you back, Nathan.”
“No, you won't.” Jack started to object, but Nathan continued, “That was my son's last wish, and I won't, I can't let you deny him that, Jack.”
Nathan rose and walked around the desk to sit beside the sheriff. He looked Jack in the eye and said, “If Calister hadn't done it, I would have. You and Zoe are the only ones who treated Calister with respect and consideration after you knew he wasn't human. You two helped me with my grief. If not for you and Zoe, Mansfield would have Calister's remains right now because he would have found me in that warehouse holding my son's body and crying.”
Jack said, “Nathan, Allison was just shocked. She didn't mean what she said.”
“Mansfield marched in here this morning and demanded to know where my robot is. He said, and I quote, 'There's no way in hell I'm letting one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the modern age fall into the hands of the wrong people.' Do those words sound familiar, Jack?”
“Damn,” Jack swore. “I'm sorry, Nathan. I can't believe she did that.”
“You just don't know Allison. She didn't see a unique being with feelings and a mind. She saw another secret I was keeping, and it pissed her off. She called Mansfield to hurt me; she knew the general would take Calister, functioning or not, and I would lose him for good.
“You didn't come here to discuss Allison. I realize that you don't want Zoe to get off without consequences for what she did. I will be happy to help you devise and implement whatever punishment you deem appropriate except for paying me back.”
“Well, there may be something. Zoe's a little rebel, and her grades reflect that. Last night, she was genuinely interested in the sciency stuff about AI and robots you two were discussing. I know you don't have the time and that everything is too fresh for you, but if you could have Fargo or one of your other AI scientists tutor her on it and make it seem as though I arranged it purely for punishment, that would be awesome.”
“Isn't it for punishment?” Nathan smiled.
Jack chuckled. “Partly. Mostly it's to get her interested in her education. You definitely had her interest last night.”
Nathan smiled sadly, “I'm not an idiot, Jack, and I'm not so far gone with grief that I don't know that her questions were simply to keep me focused on the task rather than my emotions.”
“Maybe that was true at first, but I know her. Her interest grew more with every question you answered.”
“You think so?”
Jack smiled. “I know so.”
Nathan nodded. “How about I come to your place around 6:30 this evening and we'll make the final plans for her punishment?”
Jack stood and reached to shake Nathan's hand. “See you a 6:30, Nathan.”
Jack arrived home just after 5:00 pm. Zoe was at the table doing her homework. “I'm going to grab a shower and change, and then you and I are going to have a talk,” he said as he started up the stairs.
Zoe nodded, “I should be done with this by the time you're ready.” She was putting her books away when Jack returned and sat across from her.
Zoe said, “Before you say anything, I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I didn't say anything about the credit card fraud because I was afraid you wouldn't let me stay. Whatever my punishment is, from you and the law, I deserve it, and I'll take it without complaint.”
Jack nodded and said, “I believe you. Well, I believe everything except the 'without complaint' part.”
Zoe gave Jack a soft smile, “Fair enough.”
“I made some calls this morning. Against my law enforcement training and instinct, I was going to do whatever I could to help you. There was nothing I could do,” Jack said.
Zoe lowered her head. “I understand. What sentence am I facing?”
“No, Zoe, you don't understand. There was nothing I could do because it had already been done. The money you stole has been repaid with interest and all the charges have been dropped.”
Zoe jerked her head up. Her eyes were wide as she asked, “If not you, who?”
“Calister,” Jack said softly. “Seems he appreciated your friendship and took a liking to you. He hacked Stark's bank account to repay the money. Ms. Gandhavadi dropped the charges first thing this morning. I told Stark you would repay him every cent.”
“Of course. I'll get two jobs if I have to.”
Jack shook his head. “Nathan refused. He said accepting repayment would be denying his son's last wish.
“So he and I began to plan a suitable punishment for you. He'll be here soon to finalize those plans.”
“I guess I'll be cleaning GD restrooms for the next year,” Zoe said. Seeing the look on her father's face, she quickly added, “Not that I'm not grateful. I just mean that I doubt Dr. Stark would trust me to be a lab assistant.”
“You'll find out the details when he gets here,” Jack said as he hid his smile.
“Dr. Stark is pulling into the yard now, sheriff,” SARAH said.
“Let him in when he gets to the door, SARAH,” Jack said.
Only a moment later the door opened to admit Nathan.
“Sheriff, Zoe,” Nathan nodded to them as Jack waved him to the seat at the head of the table.
As he took the seat, Nathan said, “Zoe, I assume your father told you what Calister did.”
“Yes, sir,” Zoe said. “I'm sorry Calister took your money to help me, Dr. Stark. I swear I didn't ask him to. I didn't even know he did.”
Nathan dropped his Director of Global Dynamics persona and said, “I know, Zoe. That was very much something Calister would do. He told me how good you were to him and how much you helped him. And I know how much you helped me, you and your dad.”
“Calister was such a sweet person. He was easy to talk to and fun to be around,” Zoe said.
Nathan smiled and cover her hand with his own. “Thank you for saying that.”
Zoe tried to discretely wipe a tear from her eye before she said, “So, about my punishment, I'm guessing I'm about to become an expert at cleaning public restrooms.”
Jack and Nathan looked at each other and chuckled.”
Nathan slipped back into his authoritarian mode and said, “Actually, you are about to become an expert in artificial intelligence. If your dad approves the schedule, for the next seven months you will spend Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Saturdays from 11:00am to 1:00 pm in the equivalent of two semesters of college study. There will, of course, be breaks for holidays or whatever time your dad makes other plans, thus seven months rather than six.
“You will have assigned reading, papers to write, and exams to take. I will personally keep your father informed of your participation and progress.”
“And if you screw around with this,” Jack said, “there's always six months of cleaning public restrooms.”
“It's not like I don't have enough schoolwork to bore me into a coma already.” Zoe flopped back in her chair. “Fine. When do I start?”
Nathan smirked, “Next Tuesday. That will give me enough time to work up an appropriate curriculum. I expect you in my office promptly at 5:00 pm.”
Zoe quickly schooled her excited expression to one of horror,” You're going to be teaching me?”
“What better way to ensure that your tutor is taking your education, and your punishment, seriously?” Nathan asked.
Zoe was struggling to maintain her mortification act. “May I be excused now?”
“Go on,” Jack said.
Zoe turned back when she reached the stairs and said, “Thank you, Dr. Stark, and I'm really sorry about Calister.” She ran upstairs and shut her door.
Jack frowned, “Nathan, you don't have to be the one to tutor her.”
“Did you not see how excited she was when shoe found out it would be me?” Nathan said.
Jack grinned. “Yeah, I did, but...”
“Jack,” Nathan cut the sheriff off, “you've got a good kid there. I want to do what I can for her. Anyone else would just assign her some reading and go back to their own work. I intend to do what you asked and pique her interest enough for her to learn something.”
“I just don't want to put too much on you. You're a busy man as it is, and you can't even take the time to mourn your son properly.”
“I appreciate that, Jack, I do. I'm hoping that working with Zoe, someone who cared about Calister, too, will help me cope.”
“Okay, then. If you need someone to talk to or just get drunk with, I'm here,” Jack said.
“Why, sheriff, I didn't know you cared,” Nathan said.
“Oh, I don't,” Jack lied as he hid his grin. “I just can't have you so far off your game that you let Global fall apart, scientist.”
“You keep me on my toes too much for that to happen,” Nathan grinned and started to stand. “I should get going.”
“Nope,” Jack said, intentionally popping the p just to irritate Nathan. “Sit down or I'll have SARAH stun you enough to sit you down.”
“SARAH likes me too much to stun me,” Nathan smirked.
“I do like you, Dr. Stark, but I'm with Sheriff Carter on this. Please, sit down,” the AI said.
“Am I being held hostage?” Nathan asked.
“Yes, you are, at least until you get a decent meal in you,” Jack said as he stepped into the kitchen to get the food. “SARAH, call Zoe down, please.”
“She already did,” Zoe said and began helping her dad set the table.
“How do you know I haven't eaten?” Nathan asked.
“Have you?” Jack responded.
“No. I just haven't had much of an appetite today,” Nathan admitted.
“I kinda figured that,” Jack said.
“Appetite or not, you need to eat, Dr. Stark. You'll need all the strength you can get to deal with me,” Zoe said.
“I'll just have you clean my private restroom if you get out of hand,” Nathan threatened with a grin.
Zoe smirked, “You can learn a lot about a person by exploring their bathroom.”
Nathan looked at Jack and said, “Remind me to clean my washroom out before next week.”
All three laughed, and Nathan felt a tightness around his heart loosen. He had lost Calister, but it seemed he had gained the chance to become friends with Jack and Zoe.
After dinner and cleanup were done, Zoe claimed she had homework to do and went upstairs. Jack rolled his eyes at her lie but didn't call her on it. He got himself a beer and Nathan a Scotch. The two men settled on the couch.
“Thank you, Jack. You've been a good friend through all of this. A better friend than I could have asked for.”
“We don't always see eye to eye, Nathan, but you're a good man at heart. Don't get used to this though. We'll be back to butting heads as soon as one of your brainiacs tries to blow up the town.”
“I would expect no less,” Nathan grinned, “but I do hope we can find a way to leave work at work. And if you want to continue to pursue Allison, you have my blessing because I will never be able to trust her again.”
“To be perfectly frank, I don't know that I trust her anymore either. Calling the DoD about Calister is one of the lowest, most spiteful things I have ever seen, and I was a US Marshal.”
“I take back every derogatory thing I've ever said about your intelligence, sheriff.”
Jack laughed. “That had to hurt.”
“I'm fighting hard not to lose my dinner,” Nathan lied.
Both men laughed, and Jack lightly punched Nathan's shoulder.
“Ow!” Stark pretended to be hurt. “I'm calling Deputy Lupo to report you for police brutality.”
“She'd see us drinking together and drag us both to GD for testing to determine if we have head injuries or if we're clones or something,” Jack laughed.
“She would probably do exactly that. It would almost be worth the beating she'd give us just to see her face.”
“Not hardly,” Jack said as he rubbed his head in memory of the last time Jo had turned loose on him.
“Can't handle your deputy, sheriff?” Nathan chuckled.
“Do you know anyone who can?” Jack retorted.
“Touché,” Nathan said.
The men drank in silence for a few moments, and then Jack said, “You can talk to me about him if you'd like. I'm a pretty good listener, and talking just might help you.”
“I remember when he first opened his eyes,” Nathan said softly. “I'd already programmed him with details of what he was and why no one could know. The first thing he said was, 'I think I'd like people to think I'm from Oklahoma.' he knew we would have to create an identity for him without being told.
“He learned at a remarkable rate, and not just about computers. He learned about people, about life, about everything he could. He was like a sponge soaking up information.
When he first talked to me about asking Lupo on a date, I almost tried to discourage him. I thought that if anyone could figure him out, it would be her. I couldn't bring myself to talk him out of it. By then, I just wanted him to be happy.
“He was happy. He had friends. He had a girlfriend. He had a life. He liked most everyone, and most everyone liked him.”
Nathan shifted position and finished his drink before continuing, “Then one day, over a business lunch with a dozen of us in attendance, Mansfield brought up my AI work. Fargo had already succeeded with SARAH. Of course, Fargo still has no idea that I'm aware of each time he hacked my work when he was stuck.”
Jack grinned, “I'm surprised you didn't have him tarred and feathered for stealing your work.”
Nathan smirked, “Oh, I would have if he had stolen anything. He was only studying, trying to see what he wasn't getting quite right.
“I knew he had it in him to complete his project so I left him to it and checked in on him occasionally. I never did and never will tell him how proud I am of him for SARAH.”
“Why not?”
“He's Fargo. Can you imagine how he would strut around Global for months? How insufferable he would be?”
“Fair enough,” Jack laughed.
“Anyway, Mansfield said he was hoping I would succeed quickly. He said he wanted an entire army of machines to replace humans on the battlefield.
“I saw his point, still do, and I know I could work with that. It was when talk turned to using the machines as our own version of suicide bombers against military targets that I decided to sabotage the entire project.
“I no longer saw Calister as a machine. I could see sending him into battle, but there was no way in hell I could see sending him to certain destruction.
“I didn't know what made Calister more human than machine. I couldn't be sure any future AI's wouldn't be just like him. So it all had to go.”
When Nathan got quiet, Jack gently prodded, “So Cobb got interested?”
Nathan nodded, “That's something you and Cobb have in common, an innate sense that tells you when you're being lied to. He wouldn't let it go, so I sent Calister away to protect him.
“I was able to keep in touch with Calister but not nearly as much as I'd have liked. This shouldn't have happened to him. His processor should have outlasted his body by at least fifty years,” Nathan said as he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to hide his tears.
Jack wouldn't let the scientist hide. He put his arm around Nathan's shoulder and pulled him into a hug.
Jack thought he was imagining things at first. Then he thought Nathan was turning his head to get more air. Jack leaned his head to the side to make that easier for the man. There was no denying then that Nathan had been kissing Jack's neck and was now gently sucking on it. Jack managed to gasp Nathan's name.
Nathan turned Jack's face to his and kissed the sheriff's lips. With Nathan's arms around him, Nathan's body pressed to his, and Nathan's mouth on his, Jack couldn't help responding. He opened his mouth to Nathan, and Nathan deepened the kiss, pushing closer to Jack as he did.
Sparks shot throughout Jack's body as his and Nathan's tongues touched and began to explore. It was when Jack realized that one of his hands was wrapped in Nathan's hair and the other was caressing Nathan's hip that the sheriff gasped and pulled away.
He took Nathan's hands and held them tight to keep the scientist from bolting while he caught his breath.
“Nathan, I am not at all opposed to this, but now isn't the right time. You're grieving and vulnerable, and I won't take advantage of you. Give yourself some time. Then, if you're still interested, I'll be right here.”
Nathan gave Jack a small smile, kissed him on the cheek, picked up his coat, and walked to the door. “SARAH, door. I'll see you soon, Jack.”
Jack went up to bed smelling of Nathan's cologne. He spent the night in Nathan's arms in his dreams.
Nathan went home to bed already planning how to prove to Jack that he didn't need time. Nathan knew now that all he needed, and wanted, was Jack and Zoe.
A few weeks went by with Jack and Nathan not having the opportunity to talk, and Nathan was afraid he was going to lose his chance with Jack.
Taggart's nanobots that had taken his form had kissed Allison. Jack had disintegrated the nano-Stark before Nathan's dream had played out. In his dream, Nathan had pushed Allison away and told her he loved Jack.
Everyone thought Nathan's reaction at the town hall had been desire for Allison when it was actually desire for Jack. Nathan hadn't had the chance to tell Jack the truth about that because Allison had begun to monopolize his time for reasons beyond his understanding.
Then there was the fiasco with Seth Osborne's pollen. Both Allison and Jack thought it was Allison that had stopped Nathan from entering the artifact chamber when it was actually realizing that Jack was there, waiting at the end of the hall and worried about him, that brought Nathan to his senses. Again, Nathan hadn't had the chance to tell Jack.
Today was just more of the same miserable luck. Nathan was glad to have worked things out with Henry, but seeing Allison and Jack wrapped in Jack's robe had him wanting to scream.
Then BRAD had nearly killed Zoe. Nathan wanted nothing more than to pull Jack and Zoe into his arms and never let them go. He couldn't. There were too many people around, and he still wasn't sure where he and Jack stood.
He couldn't hide his smile when, after Jack let her go, Zoe pushed Allison aside and came to him for comfort. He held Zoe tight while Jack, as usual, used his quick reasoning and calm demeanor to diffuse the situation with SARAH. He and Zoe both ignored Allison's irritated glances in their direction.
Even though it pained and irritated him to leave before Allison, Nathan was the first one out the door. He had things he needed to do. Now as he sat on his couch sipping Scotch, he thought about all that had happened. He decided he wasn't waiting any longer to tell Jack how he felt and headed back to the bunker. He smiled as the door opened to reveal Jack standing there in jeans, t-shirt, and worn blue robe.
“Don't tell me you brainiacs decided to try to destroy the town after the day I've had,” Jack growled.
“Dear god, I hope not,” Nathan smiled. “Actually, I'm just here to check on you and Zoe.”
Jack nodded and indicated that Nathan should sit down. “Scotch?”
“No, thank you, but coffee would be nice.”
“SARAH, make that two, please.”
“Pouring now, sheriff,” the AI responded.
“Any problems since we left?” Nathan asked when Jack brought their coffee.
“None at all, but I sent Zoe to Pilar's for the night anyway,” Jack said, “not that I don't trust SARAH, but I figured Zoe might need a little peace of mind after BRAD.”
“Probably a wise move. SARAH, privacy mode – director 1, please.”
“Director 1 activated,” SARAH said. Lights dimmed and SARAH went into standby.
“Did you kill her?” Jack jokingly asked.
“I just instructed her to shut down everything but essential systems. She's just like any other house right now.”
“Well, why didn't you do that when she was holding us all hostage earlier?”
“Because the command didn't exist until I got back to my office and wrote it into her programming.”
“So you just wanted to test it.”
“No, I knew it would work. I engaged it so you and I can talk privately.”
“About what?” Jack asked suspiciously.
“First, I wanted to let you know that I have Fargo programming a manual override code into SARAH's program. I'm also having a skylight with an escape ladder installed here in the living room, an en suite bathroom built off your bedroom, a bathroom built at Zoe's end of the upstairs hall, and a doorway to the tunnels built into the far kitchen wall.”
“You don't have to do all that. The skylight and escape ladder would be enough.”
“It probably would, but I don't like the idea of you and Zoe being trapped down here. I also think every young woman should have her own bathroom,” Nathan grinned.
“Thanks, Nathan. I'll admit that does make me feel better.”
“I also want to clear up some things between us, Jack.”
“If this is about my sick days, I just needed a break.”
“It's not, not directly, anyway. Everybody needs and deserves a break now and then, Jack. I just don't think you needed a break from your job. You needed a break from me.
“One night, we're in each other's arms kissing, and after that, it looks to all the world like I want my ex-wife back. I don't want Allison back.
“There are things I haven't had a chance to talk to you about because we haven't had a chance to have any privacy. I could have come here earlier, but I don't want to force things between us. So I waited. I just hope I haven't waited too long.
“In my dream with Taggart's nanobots, it was Allison who kissed me until I pushed her away and told her it's you I want. I think it didn't come across that way because, to my knowledge, no one ever heard any of the nano-Starks speak. What brought them to town hall wasn't seeing you kiss Allison; it was seeing her kiss you.
“Osborne's pollen? It wasn't Allison's concern that got through to me. It was yours.
“Seeing you terrified for Zoe today? God, Jack, I just wanted to hold you both in my arms and never let you go.
“It's not Allison I love, Jack. It's you.” Nathan stood and walked to the bunker door. “SARAH, resume normal operations and open the door, please.”
SARAH powered back up and opened the door.
“Goodnight, Jack,” Nathan said and left.
Jack sat in stunned silence staring at the door until SARAH asked, “Is everything okay, Sheriff Carter? Is there anything I can do?”
Jack shook himself out of his shock and said, “SARAH, door,” as he changed his robe for his jacket and grabbed his keys. He broke the speed limit the entire way and pulled into Nathan's driveway just as Nathan was about to close his front door.
Jack slammed the door to his Jeep, pushed his way inside the house without waiting for an invitation, and slammed Nathan's front door behind him.
“Something wrong, Jack?” Nathan asked.
“You can't just do that,” Jack nearly yelled. “You can't just drop a bombshell like that and walk out the door, you jackass.”
“I didn't want to give you a chance to turn me down before you had time to think about it.”
“I've never met such a dumb genius before,” Jack growled. “I'm the one who wanted to give you time. Remember? I don't need time.”
“Then what do you need, Jack?” Nathan asked earnestly.
Jack stepped right into Nathan's personal space, chest to chest, as though he belonged there and said, “I need you to shut up and kiss me.”
Nathan wrapped his arms around Jack and kissed him. The kiss was deep, tender, and passionate but not heated. There was no fight for dominance; neither man took the lead. It was just them, each showing the other every ounce of what he was feeling.
They spent the night on Nathan's couch making out like a couple of teenagers. Jack went home with just enough time for each man to shower, dress, and get to work. Before he stepped out the door, Jack turned back toward Nathan and said, “I love you, too.”
It didn't take as much time as they thought it would. Within a day, they told Zoe; she was thrilled. Within a week, the entire town knew about them. Within a month, Allison took Kevin and moved away. Within six months, Nathan and Fargo had moved SARAH to Nathan's house, and the bunker was used for AI experiments by other scientists, including Zoe. Within a year, Jack and Nathan were married.