Chapter Text
Haven
Chapter 1
Limbo
This was usually how Jack's science adventure of the week began, that all too familiar gut feeling of something about to go wrong and him muttering the words, ‘Well that can’t be good’. Something shiny and amazing always turned out to be dark and dangerous under the surface and nobody wanted to admit it until the world was about to end.
This time, it was different. This time, it was a rustic old barn on the outside and a white and clean hospital-like lab in the interior. Twist on the usual presentation, as the barn looked ready to collapse on the outside but was far from structurally questionable within.
That didn’t make anything better. It was obvious that nothing was in here since the entire place was a huge white, sterile room, and there was absolutely nothing to see here. Instead of turning and leaving the way he came in, he walked across the room to the door on the opposite wall to make sure it didn’t lead to another lab where the horrible thing would be waiting for him. He braced himself for goo or some scientist hiding behind a panel of blinking red lights and warning alarms, and opened the door. It opened to the outside.
When he walked out of the old barn, the hairs on his neck rose immediately and he cautiously looked around him.
It was daylight. When he went it, it was definitely not. This was also not what the back of the Allbright Farm looked like. He shook his head, pulled his gun from it's holster and cursed Eureka for doing this to him again.
He slowly walked to the corner of the barn and peered around it and saw trees and a meadow. He walked to the other side and saw the same. Cursing internally he walked along the side of the barn to the one end that he couldn't see from where he exited. He knew it wasn't going to be where he had come in, it wasn't going to be where Stark and Allison were waiting and his Jeep wasn't going to be there.
And it wasn't.
Sometimes he hated being right.
So he put his gun back in his shoulder holster, then let his hands rest on his hips and finally voiced the string of curses that he had been holding back. He knew why he was now stranded somewhere in the wilderness and it had nothing to do with science; it had everything to do with the basic human emotion of jealousy. Nathan Stark was dying to interrupt his date with Allison, and clearly knew he was setting him up to walk into some kind of...wormhole? Invisibling barn? Matrix? Who the hell knew, it was Eureka and of course the old barn wasn't just an old barn.
Pissed and ready to give Nathan a piece of his mind, and maybe a large part of his fist, he stormed back over to the door he exited from. He went back in the way he came out and found it to be just a simple barn. The one he had walked out of looked like it could have been a sterile chamber in GD and had been devoid of the country charm that he was currently looking at.
“That can't be good.” He said to nobody in particular as he looked around at the hand-hewn beams and piles of loose straw. He needed to get a better idea of where he was at, it could be that Stark had zapped him to some barn out in the countryside and he was just a stone’s throw from town. Rural Oregon had that kinda thing going for it.
He climbed a ladder into the loft and found another ladder which would take him up to the peak where the hay trolley could be run to the outside. That would give him a place to look out and see if he could see anything from about 35 ft up. Then he could get his bearings and start walking for civilization, hoping there was civilization out there.
Oh he was going to be pissed if this was some time travelling device that sent him back to the Oregon Trail days and he was going to have to ford rivers with oxen and stop people from dying of dysentery!
He climbed over some hay bales and tested the ladder before climbing onto it. He hated heights. Hated them. Stark knew that. Damn him! He let that anger fuel him to take a couple of deep breaths and quickly started climbing up the wall of the bard. He reached the top of the ladder and looked out across the pasture below, trying to not focus on how far away the ground was and just on how far away civilization was. Rolling hills and dense forest all opened up to a little harbor town that looked quaint but still modern. Not a huge town by any means, the size that seemed to be perfect for a Stephen King novel, but he breathed a sigh of relief none-the-less. There were cars. There were ships. There were cellphone towers. It meant he was still in his own era and home could be just a phone call away.
It also meant that this barn was probably just some transport device of some kind. Stark just wanted to get rid of him by sending him into the barn and shooting him to another town with some wormholing device that screwed with dating his ex-wife! What an asshole !!
He descended the ladder and prepared himself for the walk downhill to town in these damned dress shoes.
Fuck you Nathan Stark, you jealous childish prick.
He definitely wasn't in Eureka anymore. His first clue was the sign said “Welcome to Haven.”
Haven, where ?
He felt like he was repeating his entry into Eureka on his first day in town after crashing his car. He and Zoe had walked down this same street looking for a phone or police station. Actually, this town was a replica for Eureka except situated on a scenic harbor. Maybe this was another timeline? Maybe he had a concussion. Maybe it was a joke?
No, it never was a joke. It always was a joke on him because it was science. Especially when Stark was involved.
He didn't want a do-over, he didn't want to have to go through all of those years of earning people's trust and figuring out his place among them again. However, it was going to be how he played it because he wasn't sure of what this was. He needed to be less aggressive than he had been on his Eureka Day 1. In hindsight, he had been a bit of a dick and it didn't help his cause any. He was going to play it cool, just in case this was another timeline.
Because that was the sort of thing he could rationalize happening in his line of work, thanks to Eureka. He sighed and walked the familiar walk into town and considered that his chances of this being a concussion or an alternative universe were pretty much even odds. The concussion would explain why everything was exactly the same as Eureka, as it was a familiar background for his mind to play for him, but it gave equal footing to this being a different world where his town was positioned somewhere else.
Or maybe this was something to do with Zoe seeing a car leaving Eureka that first day they were driving into town?
Or it could be all of the above.
He groaned and ran his hands through his hair as he walked. He knew he should have listened to her when she told him to buy another suit or wear something different! This was the same suit he wore that first day and now he was repeating it! This was going to be a time loop event, like Groundhog Day or something like that, just because he didn't take his kid's fashion advice!
He arrived at the police station and saw his Jeep and Jo's car. The logo was different, because this was Haven and not Eureka, but the stuff was all the same. His stuff. Oh...this was going to be weird if he walked in there and he was at his desk. He knew that wouldn't be the case as soon as he looked in his Jeep, because it was organized and had a ticket book on his middle console instead of a cup of old coffee.
He looked at the door to the Sheriff’s department and realized there was no point in delaying it now. Now was time to find out what flavor of science fiasco of the week it was before someone asked why he looked like he was going to steal a cop car. He waved at some kid, that Oppenheimer kid, and took a step towards the door. He paused with his hand on the handle, bracing himself because he knew he wasn't Sheriff here. He could feel it. He felt in his pockets with his left hand and looked for his own identification and found none. He did have a gun. That might be bad, again, when Lupo saw it and flipped his ass over and sat on him.
Might as well get this over with . With a deep breath he walked into his office and prepared himself to see who was the Sheriff of Haven.
What he wasn't prepared for was to walk in and see Nathan Stark, Nathan Stark wearing his uniform and sitting at his desk!
“Can I help you?”
Oh, and he was nice ?!? That tone was genuinely helpful sounding. Just like his first day at GD before they got caught up in fighting over Allison .“Uh…”
“Sorry. I'm Sheriff Stark.” Nathan said and came around his desk to greet the man standing there in shock. He looked like he had just walked through the fields in order to get to town. He wasn't local. “Did you need help? Can I be of assistance?”
OK, this was real. There was no way Nathan Stark would ever wear his polyester uniform, even as a joke. No way he would be able to keep a straight face this long while being sincere and helpful. Never! A smirk would have appeared by now. Even if he had a concussion, his bruised and bleeding brain would know this sight was damned near impossible. It was looking like an alternative reality for sure! Time to play it cool. “Yeah, I'm U.S. Marshall Jack Carter. I started walking after I got stranded. I must have dropped my I.D. l'm carrying, by the way.”
“Welcome to Haven, Marshall.” Nathan said as the man flashed his weapon. He held out his hand to shake. Carter took it and relaxed and Nathan felt the warmth of his hand, felt him . He looked at him and didn't let go of his hand.
Jack could tell something was off. Fuck me if he has my perception and cop intuition because his brain works on an IQ of 111. “Problem, Sheriff? It's the gun, isn't it? I can put it on the desk...”
“No, sorry.” Nathan let go. “Just rare that we get a US Marshall in these parts. Never really happened that I am aware of.”
“I'm pretty lost.” Jack admitted. “Maybe you have a phone I can use? I'm sure you need to check my credentials and I should report in.”
“Yeah.” Nathan said and forced a smile as his brain screamed at him to touch the Marshall again to make sure it wasn’t his imagination. “Use my desk.”
Use his desk!? His Nathan, or rather Eureka’s Nathan, acted like his desk was an altar to worship him in front of and Jack always sat on it or leaned on it to piss him off. He walked over to his desk and suppressed his surprise. “Um thanks.”
“Want a cup of coffee?”
Coffee too!? What the fuck was this place! He was probably dead. That had to be it. This wasn’t 'Haven' it was 'Heaven' and someone just stole the ‘E’ off the sign. Nathan Stark was here to serve and protect because he caused his untimely death and was having to pay an awful penance for it. “I'm sure you have more important things to do than...”
“Be cordial to a fellow law enforcement officer who obviously walked all the way from the highway into town?” Nathan was already pouring him a cup, using his own mug. He needed to occupy himself with something to try and get a hold of his own shock. He.. felt that handshake. He didn’t feel anything but he felt that .
Jack looked around, trying to determine where he was by the map of town, the phone book, the notes and stuff all over a board. He stood up and went over to it, remembering that his first exposure to Eureka started with a missing kid. Deja vu all over again. “Looks like you've lost someone.”
Nathan spilled the coffee on his hand and didn't realize it until it started rolling off the counter and onto the floor. Well, clearly, he was back to himself and not feeling anything as his hand showed signed of being scalded. He grabbed a towel to start cleaning it up before the Marshall asked why the clumsy Sheriff was trying to burn his skin off with his coffee. “Yeah. Um...little short staffed right now as my people are out looking for a missing boy. Small town, gotta take shifts.”
“Kidnapped?” Jack asked as he turned around to see what spilled. Nathan was mopping up coffee with a towel. Talk about shit you didn't see everyday; Nathan Stark on one knee wiping the floor with a towel. Great ass though, that never changed. As he bent over and wiped up the spill, Jack saw his hand was red and put two and two together. “Did you burn yourself?”
“Yeah.” Nathan said waved off the Marshall who came over to assist with the first aid kit off the wall. He stood up and tried to not look embarrassed but failed. “Like I said, short staffed and we've been putting in a lot of hours so..”
Jack understood that feeling of being fueled by nothing but coffee because of a drive to save someone before it was too late. Sleep was never an option. It also meant the Sheriff probably wasn't thinking about himself, so he went over and turned on the cold water and pulled his hand into the sink. He’d figure out what the hell was going on later, right now someone was clearly in need of help and he wasn’t going to ignore any of that. “Maybe I can help? I have a lot of experience in these situations?”
“In someone not paying attention and pouring coffee on themselves?” Nathan hissed as he felt the burn now that Carter had taken a hold of his wrist to take care of the injury. It took everything in him to not cry out, the intensity of never feeling and suddenly feeling a touch and then pain? That was a bit overwhelming.
“I meant the kid.” Jack said and Nathan looked at him again with a look he couldn't figure out. This was definitely not his Nathan. Well not his , but Eureka's. Yeah.
“It's a small town, Marshall. You saw yourself that there aren't many ways to get here and with only 2,000 people we all know a stranger when we see one.”
“So a runway then?” Jack asked. “I have experience with those too.”
The radio crackled to life. “Stark? Come in. Over .”
Jack turned off the water and let the Sheriff dry off his own hand. It was good to hear Jo, even if it wasn't his Jo. Kinda funny to think of her working with Nathan instead of him. He wondered if they teased each other about those girly magazines she liked. “Sorry about that, habit to just jump in and help people.”
“I appreciate it.” Nathan said and kept the towel on his hand and pointed to the coffee. “Help yourself to cream and sugar, fridge is stocked with whatever you'd like.”
“ Stark. There's a situation at Henry's station. Over. ”
Jack made his coffee. Jo would never give up her protocol 'over'. Over her dead body, over. Some things never change.
Nathan picked up the radio. “Go for Stark.”
Jack smiled at that. He didn't know why Nathan doing his job and being sincere about it was kinda...endearing? He drank his coffee and raised his eyebrows. Well they obviously had a Vincent here.
“I think you need to get out here. Over. ”
“How bad?” Nathan asked.
“It's Henry's. Over ”
Nathan turned to see Carter watching him, a hint of amusement on his face. “We're a little old school around here.”
“You know, you're supposed to say 'over'.” Jack said, echoing words from a year ago, words out of Nathan’s son’s mouth. He wondered if Callister was here. He wondered if Ally and Kevin were here. He kinda wanted to find out what everyone's alter-ego was like.
“Yeah, it drives her crazy.” Nathan said with a smile. “I, uh, have to go...”
“I'll come with you.” Jack said and put his cup down and noticed it said 'Best Boss' on it under the Sheriff's Department Logo. Oh! He was definitely in the Twilight Zone! “I mean, I'm the new guy in town. Don't have credentials. Kid's missing. I'm kinda a suspect. I'm sure you're thinking about locking my ass up and that's not going to help your missing kid. So I'll go with you. I have a lot of experience with this kinda thing, really.”
“Trust me, you don't.” Nathan said but went to get his jacket off the coat hanger anyway. “I appreciate the offer to keep an eye on you though.”
Jack nodded. “Want to bandage that hand first?”
“Are you a Marshall or a medic?”
“I get injured a lot, on the job.” Jack said and opened the first aid kit knowing what was in there. This wasn't Eureka, though, so the stuff was just plain old first aid stuff and not magical medical supplies. Burn cream was just that, not some instant fix. "Burn cream, gauze, wrap it and you'll be good to go."
Nathan was holding his jacket when Jack came over with the supplies in his hand. He gave him a nod and held out his hand, becoming quickly addicted to this feeling of feeling. He didn't even care about the searing pain of the burn and blisters forming, he felt his heart pound as he felt Jack take his hand in his, spreading around the cool cream and then place a gauze pad on it. He almost grabbed his hand when he took it away to get the bandage, but restrained himself only because Carter was so quick to return. He knew Jo was going to see something was wrong immediately, he hoped he could get out of the car and pull her aside to tell her what was going on before Carter touched him again otherwise the Marshall might get his arm ripped out of its socket.
“Well, that should take care of it for the time being.” Jack said and returned the supplies to the box and put it away, habit because he never wanted anyone to see how much he used the damned thing.
“I have to admit, I never thought the Marshall Service was this helpful.” Nathan said. “I expected, if any Feds showed up, then it would be to take over my office and tell me how to do my job.”
“Yeah.” Jack put the kit away and shrugged. Yeah, he had been that guy. “Without a wallet or money I'm going to be relying on the kindness of strangers until I rectify that. So, trying to build up some good karma.”
“Ah.” Nathan said and wondered if this was some kind of trouble. Someone he could feel , coming into town, touching him, looking for a place to stay. More than likely Carter was troubled and wasn’t some kind of soulmate or something. To be determined. “I don't think that will be a problem, Marshall.”
“Yeah, I'm sure the bed in the cell is comfy.” Jack said and walked to the door, knowing he probably freaked Nathan out and was going to end up in there somehow. He left the building ahead of the Sheriff and had to make sure he didn't go straight for his Jeep or say 'Let’s go find Brian!' and get himself thrown in jail sooner than he did the first time. He really wanted to see this version of Eureka and figure out what it's deal was. Clearly it wasn't the science capital of the world, so what made Haven special?