Chapter Text
“I think we’re in 1947.”
“Just for luck.”
“Archimedes is supposed to be made of granite.”
“If that’s changed, other things could have, too, right?”
It took Carter only a few minutes to pull into his yard. His heart pounded in his ears. His blood had yet to return to normal temperature. He had no idea what else had changed, and the mere prospect of certain things terrified him.
Zoe could be gone - with her mother, in prison, or worse. What if he’d never had Zoe?
No, no, that probably wasn’t it - chasing Zoe is what brought him to Eureka. As he bounded down the stairs for the front door, he found a small amount of comfort in that fact.
The door hissed open and he dashed inside. “SARAH?”
“Yes, Sheriff?” Okay, so SARAH was still a thing. That’s...something.
“Hey, SARAH. Zoe’s still off at college?”
“Of course, Sheriff. Is something the matter? Your blood pressure is elevated and I’m detecting a spike in adrenaline.”
He propped himself on the back of the sofa and took a couple of deep breaths. His heart gradually slowed, but the pounding in his fingertips continued. He closed his eyes and centered himself, a tactic Jo had given him in the event of crisis. Soon, he was stable enough to stand up tall and reassess his situation.
“Okay. Okay, so,” he said, running a hand over his face as he rounded the couch, “so some things have changed, but not others. Okay.”
“Are you all right, Sheriff Carter?”
“Yeah, not so much,” Carter muttered as he sat down. “Zoe’s at Harvard?”
“Correct.”
“Okay, so she still turned out fine. That’s something, at least.”
“She was admitted early under the recommendations of Dr. Deacon and Dr. Fontana,” SARAH replied.
His heart fell into his stomach. Dr. Fontana. “Tess. Did she go to Australia?”
“Yes.”
“And did we still break up?”
“Sheriff, if your memory is giving you problems, I would recommend you speak with Dr. Blake or Dr. Monroe at Global Dynamics.”
SARAH was an impartial, unbiased source of data. Carter sighed. “It’s not my memory, SARAH. But let’s just say I’m not so sure about some things right now. Did Tess and I break up?”
“If you are referring to Dr. Tess Fontana, I was not aware you ever dated, Sheriff.”
He paused for a moment, then shrugged a little as that set in. Considering the numerous nights spent over at the smarthouse, it was unlikely that SARAH had missed their relationship. “Okay, then. No Tess. Got it.”
That was a big change - Carter had spent most of the past year realizing that he and Tess didn’t work as a couple. What had happened during that time, he wondered.
He decided to test the waters. “Uh, SARAH, have I had any unique houseguests over this past year?”
“I have recurring visits in my database from Dr. Deacon, Dr. Fargo, Dr. Blake, Dr. Stark, Dr. Monroe, Mr. Donovan, as well as GD Security and Eureka’s Deputy, among a few others of lesser renown.”
“Who’s Dr. Monroe?” He asked before he could stop himself.
SARAH didn’t seem to catch the accident. “Dr. Grace Monroe, neuroscientist and Dr. Deacon’s wife.”
His jaw hung open. “His what? Since when?”
“They were married before moving to Eureka.”
He grinned. “Oh, he’s gonna love that.” He chuckled, but he stopped. Something else SARAH said stuck in his mind. “Wait. Did you say Dr. Stark?”
“Correct.”
“Dr. Nathan Stark.”
“Correct.”
“Stark’s alive?”
“Correct.”
“And he’s here, in Eureka?”
“Correct.”
Carter's forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows lifted. He put his face in his hands and took a deep breath. “Oh, no.”
The past year was likely completely different with Nathan around. He was probably married to Allison, and head of GD. With him around, anything could be changed, and not by a small margin.
His PDA went off in his pocket, shocking him back to his living room. He pulled it out and observed the name: “Dr. Nathan Stark.”
Oh. This was going to be fun.
There was a beep as Carter answered it. “Carter.”
“Where are you?” The sound of Nathan’s voice stirred something in Carter’s chest, even though he sounded irritated. Despite their bickering, Carter had missed him. A little.
He cleared his throat. He reeled slightly from hearing a dead person talking. “I’m at the smart house, what’s up?”
There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the call. “You’re supposed to be at Café Diem.”
That was very matter-of-fact of him to say. “Oh I am?”
“It’s Founders’ Day. We were supposed to meet Henry at the café half an hour ago. We’re judging the costume contest, remember?”
Carter sighed. “Right. Right. Costume contest.”
“Get your cute little butt over here.” He hung up, leaving Carter listening to a dial tone.
Carter rolled his eyes, but he smiled in spite of himself. Stark’s jab seemed to fill a small hole in his heart he didn’t know he had. He guessed he missed Stark more than he’d thought. “At least that’s the same.”
He made his way back to Main Street, pulling up to the Founders’ Day celebrations and parking as close to the café as possible. He waved at a few friendly faces as he made his way indoors, but he stopped dead the moment he crossed the threshold.
A series of costume contestants lined the room, each more ridiculous than the last. There were costumes of scientists Carter could only guess at, from people with ravenous-looking plants to someone with mentally-controlled drone planes. One Albert Einstein had a little glass display with what looked like an actual miniature nuclear detonation inside it. Carter wasn’t entirely sure which end of the line was more outlandish.
“Jack.” Attention was drawn to the devilishly handsome man sitting with his back to the bar, whose arms had managed to spread most of the length of the sitting bar as he waited for his cohorts. “Stop panicking and sit down.”
“I’m not panicking,” Carter countered, but he knew he’d started to. He sat down next to Stark, but he kept his eyes on the contestants. “These look dangerous. None of this is illegal? They’re cleared to have all these things out of their labs?”
Stark chuckled, a sound that almost alarmed him. “They’re hobbies, not projects. While yes, any scientific breakthroughs performed off-site are still GD property and confiscated appropriately, simple experiments and recreations can be performed without oversight from project management.”
That was...very straightforward of him. Carter gave him a wary side-eye. Stark noticed.
“Would you stop being so paranoid? You think they’d have them if I - the head of GD Research - thought they were dangerous or supposed to be locked in a lab somewhere?”
That was a fair point. But it also brought up a new change to remember: Stark wasn’t Director of GD, he was just the Research head, similar to the bipartisan direction given before…
“Where’s Henry?” Stark asked, bringing Carter back to the café.
“Oh. He probably had to grab something at the garage,” he said, fully aware that Henry probably didn’t know about this little rendezvous. “I’ll give him a call.” He stood up to head outside. As he did, something ran down his back with such light pressure he wasn’t sure he’d felt anything at all. He glanced back at the bar, where all he saw was Stark’s hand sitting innocently, drumming to some beat in Stark’s head.
Outside, he got out of earshot of anyone on the sidewalk before calling Henry.
“Jack.” Henry sounded like he’d just smoked a pack of cigarettes.
“Henry.”
“I’m-”
“I know. SARAH told me.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Carter shook his head. “For now? Just go with it, right? Until we can get the bridge device back up and running.”
“You can’t just go with a marriage, Jack!”
“Don’t yell at me, I don’t know everything that’s changed, either! But let’s get your mind off of it for a bit. There’s a costume contest for Founders’ Day. You, me, and Stark are the judges.”
There was a momentary pause as Henry took in this statement. “Stark?”
“Stark.”
“Nathan’s alive? That’s huge!”
“Tell me about it.”
Henry sighed on the other end of the line. “Okay, fine. I’ll be right there. We’ll call up the others after that.”
“Sounds like a plan. See you here.” Carter hung up and looked around for any potential eavesdroppers. Of course, he didn’t see any.
Makes sense. He’s the sheriff. No one would bother him on the phone.
He made his way back into the café and plopped down next to Stark again. “He’s on his way.”
“Good.” Stark’s hand found its way onto Carter's shoulder. “I’m ready for this to be over-” He stopped as his hand was shrugged off. “Everything okay?”
“Huh? Yeah. Everything’s peachy.”
“You sound like something’s up.”
“I do not.”
Stark leaned forward and grabbed Carter's attention. “You get this look when things are off. Your forehead wrinkles and your eyes get wide and you look like a deer caught in headlights.”
The sheriff scoffed. “I do not look like a deer...in…” He trailed off as Stark simply stared at him, unamused.
“Jack.” The way his name was said wasn’t normal for Stark. Besides - Jack? Since when did Stark call him "Jack?" But it was kind. It wasn’t condescending. It was concerned. It was then that Carter realized that Stark’s hand was resting on his back.
His eyes narrowed as something in his head clicked. Stark just watched him work through his thoughts. There was a warmth in his eyes Carter wasn’t used to seeing, and that simply confused him further.
“We’re friends, right?” Carter asked, testing the waters with his words.
Stark’s brow furrowed and he shook his head a little, never breaking eye contact. “Of course we are. What’s wrong? You can tell me.”
That confirmed it. The two of them were friends in this timeline. Carter sighed, relieved. That wasn’t so bad. He may not like the guy much, but they made a good team in a crisis and both cared a lot about Eureka. There were worse things to be forced to adjust to with a timeline shift.
“Jack?”
It also explained this "Jack" business. If they were friends, maybe “Stark” wasn’t correct. “I’m fine, Nathan. Don’t worry about it. Just stressed out over Founders’ Day. No biggie.”
Stark gave a singular huff of a laugh. “‘Nathan?’ Now I know something’s wrong.”
“Huh?” Something in Stark’s voice nagged at him. “What?”
“You haven’t called me ‘Nathan’ in months.”
Carter laughed. “Would you rather me call you ‘Dr. Stark?’”
Stark looked away, visibly unnerved by that joke. “I liked ‘Nate.’” He sounded almost hurt.
Nate. Of course. “Nathan” was so formal sounding on Carter's tongue, and “Stark” wasn’t friendly. “Of course. Sorry. Nate. It’s just stress.”
Stark - or rather, Nathan - looked back at him, but he looked like he was observing him. Analyzing him. The longer the gaze lasted, the colder Carter's sweat became. Finally: “Sure.”
They sat in a somewhat uncomfortable silence as they waited for Henry. There was something else hanging over them, Carter could tell. Nathan kept glancing over at him and looking him up and down, like he was trying to assess the friend sitting next to him. He'd messed up somehow, he just knew it.
It didn’t take much longer for Henry to arrive, and the costume contest went off without a hitch. Surprisingly enough, Carter had fun watching all the various costumes and “hobbies.” He was still pretty sure some of them deserved to have labs at GD, but Henry and Nathan didn’t seem concerned, so he didn’t press the matter.
Less than an hour later, the winners had been declared - the grand prize going to Mr. Nuke-in-a-Box - and the trio found themselves vacating to the street. They were barely out the door before a lovely woman with a bushel of curls flowing from her head came trotting up to them, asking for Henry. His wife pulled him away to conduct even more mayoral duties: the Founders’ Day speech. He looked back at Carter helplessly from Grace’s grasp. Carter just grinned and shrugged.
That was when Nathan slipped his arm through Carter's elbow and started leading him toward Archimedes for the speech.
Carter looked down at their intertwined arms in confusion. Was this a thing they did? He’d never been the touchy-feely kind of friend; he was more a “quick hug and pat on the back” kind of guy. But Nathan didn’t seem even mildly concerned. It seemed almost second nature to him. He wasn’t looking at him for a reaction or giving him any kind of sarcastic quips. This was just...happening.
Carter mentally shrugged and let Nathan lead the way.
Henry’s speech was inspired, especially considering the temporal trip he’d recently been on, and Carter noticed the liberties the mayor took with some terms. He smiled a little at each potential little jab at their situation that no one else would get, and soon the speech had ended and the crowd began to disperse.
“Nice speech, Mr. Mayor,” Nathan said from Carter's side. “Interesting choice of words.”
“Just spoke from the heart,” Henry said with a smile. Grace gave him a kiss on the cheek, which muted his mirth, before excusing herself to the garage.
“Carter!”
Carter turned to the source of the voice to see Allison approaching. His heart sank. What was Allison going to say when she saw-
She stopped dead as Nathan turned around to look at her as well. A hand found its way to her mouth and tears glistened in her eyes.
Nathan looked at her in a mix of confusion and concern. “Allison?”
Allison took a tentative step toward them, then another, and another, until suddenly she was full-out running at them. She collapsed into Stark’s arms, sobbing.
“Woah! What’s all this?” Nathan asked as he wrapped his arms around her. “Allison? What’s wrong?”
Carter watched her dig her way into his embrace, a weight forming in his chest. His face fell, but he forced himself to watch. This was the way it was supposed to be, after all. Nathan and Allison. Again.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Allison whimpered into Nathan’s jacket.
“Aw, Allie, I’m glad to see you, too,” Nathan said. “But we agreed we’d keep the-” He glanced over at Carter and his eyebrows lifted in concern. “Now, see, you’ve gone and made Jack all sad.” He reached out to him and pulled him in close to the huddle.
Then he kissed him on the forehead.
Allison broke away and stepped back, confusion dominating her features. Carter did something similar, leaving Nathan by himself in a more concerned befuddled state.
“Did he just kiss you?” Allison asked.
Carter did a roundabout nod. “Yep, he did.”
Henry watched in a stunned silence.
Nathan, frozen still, looked from Allison to Carter and back. “Was I...not supposed to?”
Allison wiped a tear away as her confusion sobered her. “Why would you?”
Nathan huffed, sticking his hands in his pockets and tilting his head for emphasis. “Allison. We’ve been over this.”
“Over what?” Carter asked.
“What is going on here?” Allison asked. She flailed a little as she asked.
Nathan shook his head. “I’m allowed to kiss my boyfriend if I want, Allison.”
Carter cringed. “Your what?”
“Your what?” Allison cried.
At this point, Nathan had stood up to his full impressive height and irritation had taken over. “My boyfriend. What is wrong with you two? First, Jack and Henry forget about the contest, then Jack forgets what he even calls me and shrugs off me touching him. Then Allison comes up to me crying and gets all huffy when I decide to kiss him in front of her - a concept we have worked at over the past year. It’s like you don’t remember anything.”
Allison stood there, stammering as she took in this new information. Carter stood similarly still, mouth agape. This was a lot to take in. How could he be dating Stark, of all people? He’d only ever experimented with men in college - how did Stark bring that out of him? Stark? And what about Allison? When did this happen?
But it did make some amount of sense. Calling him “Jack.” The touching. The interlinked arms. The kindness. The concern.
Wow.
Wow.
I’m dating Nathan Stark.