Work Text:
“Good morning, Sheriff Carter.” SARAH’s voice was its usual, fake-chipper tone as the sheriff marched down the stairs and into the kitchen. As his feet hit the linoleum, the fridge twirled around and a cup of coffee started pouring automatically at the nearby drink station.
“Good morning, SARAH.” Carter snatched up a newspaper from the counter and eyeballed it idly as he turned and grabbed the steaming coffee cup. He took a sip, relishing in its refreshing warmth.
“Your ride to Global Dynamics is pulling in now,” SARAH announced, prompting Carter to look down at himself, still in a robe and sash, complete with fuzzy slippers. Had he overslept?
“My what?”
“Your ride to Global Dynamics.”
“Is that normal?”
“Every week day, Sheriff. They are almost exactly one hour early this morning.”
“Aw, hell.” Carter took another quick drag of coffee, which he immediately regretted as it seared down his throat, before leaping back up the stairs and into his bedroom.
He wasn’t even sure why he needed a ride to Global Dynamics, but he appreciated the thought. Normally he spent the first few hours of the day in the Sheriff’s office, making sure nothing was amiss in the early morning. He wasn’t even sure why he’d need a ride - he had the Sheriff’s Jeep to take him.
The doorbell rang just as Carter was pulling his uniform around his shoulders. “Go ahead and let them in,” he told SARAH. “I’ll be right down.”
In his slightly panicked state, Carter seemed to have lost his pants. Scanning the room, he didn’t see them anywhere - and he always had a pair set out each morning. It took him another ten seconds or so to finally notice them lying on the end of the bed. He grabbed them and draped them over his arm as he turned to look for his belt, when he heard a deep chuckle from his bedroom door.
“This is a nice look for you, Sheriff.” Stark leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed in front of him, an amused smile stretched across his face.
Carter froze at the sound of his voice and slowly turned to look at Stark. His eyes widened. That’s right. 1947. The Bridge device. It was all coming back now.
Stark was alive.
But not only that, Stark was attracted to Carter.
It finally dawned on him that he was standing in his boxers and undershirt, with his uniform top open to the world and his pants draped over an arm, standing stock still in the middle of his bedroom and staring at an intruder into his personal space. He crossed his knees and hid his boxers with his pants, sputtering a bit as he did so.
“Oh, don’t be modest on my account, Sheriff,” Stark said with a chuckle. “After all, I’ve seen you naked.”
Carter stood straight up, his face curling in confused anger. “When?!”
Stark pretended to think. “Well, there was the whole shared dream event - nice birthmark - but also, oh yeah, I dated someone who looked exactly like you for almost two solid years.” He made a gesture indicating himself, as if trying to make a point. “We spent a lot of time without clothes on.”
Carter’s shoulders slumped and his head lolled back. “Aw, that’s not what I want to think about right now,” he moaned.
“Fine by me, but that just means you’ll be thinking about it later.” Stark shrugged. Carter gave him a look of warning, which he ignored. “Anyway, I thought I’d come by a little early today. Maybe help you adjust a little.”
Carter cleared his throat. “I can adjust myself just fine, thanks.” He put his hands on his hips in defiance, then promptly remembered he was still in his boxers.
Stark rolled his eyes. “Okay, that was just juvenile.” He reached over and grabbed a belt from the nearby dresser and tossed it to Carter. “I meant answer any questions you might still have about the timeline. See what’s changed.”
That was...a considerate offer. “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t that weird of a situation for us?” Carter asked.
“Because it’s not,” Stark replied. He mostly diverted his attention as Carter began dressing. “Deputy Andy doesn’t sleep, so he handles most of the early morning problems that come up. We carpool over to GD together - you drive, of course - and I fill you in on any upcoming research that could be problematic if something goes wrong. We’ve headed off a lot of emergencies over the years this way.”
That did sound useful, and certainly not something Carter was used to. Even Allison was tight-lipped about GD experiments until they went boom. “You broke protocol for me like that?” Carter asked as he buttoned up his pants and slipped on the belt.
“It’s hard to break protocol when you wrote them yourself,” Stark replied with a shrug. “Besides, I managed to convince General Mansfield a long time ago that you needed top clearance to make sure you knew what to expect, working in a place like Eureka.”
“Was that before or after we started tongue wrestling?” Carter asked. He slipped into his shoes, completing his official look.
“We didn’t ‘tongue wrestle,’ Ja-” Stark caught himself. “Carter.”
“If it helps, you can call me Jack,” Carter said. He gave a little shrug and just the tiniest smile. “It’s kinda nice to hear.”
Stark fell into a thoughtful silence at that, then gave a great sigh. “Welp. Let’s get going. I’ve cleared my morning to make sure there’s room for anything weird coming up from our fresh Chief of Security or our newbie Director of Operations. I’m pretty confident Allison can adapt better than Jo or Fargo,” he added.
“Let’s hope so,” Carter muttered, his memory returning to the hurt look on her face when she realized Stark was still alive, but unavailable. He shivered a little.
Stark recognized the look. “I can’t get her face out of my head either. But I’m not going back, Jack. I’ve done it all before.”
Carter met him in the doorway to escort him downstairs. He put a gentle hand on Stark’s back as they descended the stairs. “I don’t think anyone has more right to stick with current events than you, pal.”
There was a little huff of a laugh from the scientist. It sounded almost sad. “Thanks.”
“So the shared dream thing. What were you trying to do?”
“Trying to find a way for Allison and Kevin to connect.”
“...And the Artifact?”
“I gave up after Kim died.” There was a pause. “Kim did die in your timeline, right?”
A silent nod was Carter’s response.
It was lunch time. Carter and Stark sat alone at a table in the cafeteria at GD. It was Stark’s idea. They drilled each other over lunch about the differences in their “shared” experiences. Most things had happened similarly, or even exactly, as Carter remembered, but every now and then something different would come up.
“So did Kevin establish a connection with the Artifact?”
Stark’s brow furrowed. “No, why would he?”
“He wasn’t in GD when the explosion happened?”
“Jack, Kevin’s never even been inside GD. That would break, like, a million protocols.”
Carter waved his hands in mock shock as he laughed. “Oh, so now you care about protocol.”
Leaned back in his chair, Stark simply watched Carter for a moment, which made the latter somewhat uncomfortable.
He cleared his throat. “Did I say something?”
“No.” Stark just blinked slowly as he observed. “It really is amazing how exactly alike you are.”
“I’m not a clone or anything,” Carter replied as he stabbed the steak in front of him. “We’re technically the same person.”
“Right. Shaped by the same events leading up to you landing in Eureka,” Stark replied. “Dr. Grant’s disappearance wouldn’t have affected someone outside the scientific community very directly, if at all. I suppose I’d been a bit more...involved in that community even before coming here, so some things impacted by the timeline shift could have influenced me a little differently.” He sighed. “I guess that means you’re right: I am a bit different.”
“I like you better this way,” Carter said through a mouthful of meat. “You don’t make fun of how dumb I am.”
“Carter, you’re not dumb,” Stark replied. “You have an average IQ and your gut instinct has saved the town dozens of times. If anything, people should be listening to you during a crisis, not the other way around.” His voice seemed bored. Almost rehearsed.
Carter swallowed his food. “I guess I’ve brought that up in the past, huh?”
Stark looked down at his hands folded in his lap. “When you’re dating one of the most intelligent men in the world - not bragging, just objective truth,” he added quickly, “insecurities pop up. It put a strain on our relationship more than once. I always got frustrated because I couldn’t help you see past the contrast between our intellects.” He fidgeted a little. “Honestly, it’s the reason I never looked to move past the ‘dating’ phase.”
“Huh.” Carter sat quietly, letting that sink in. He’d never stopped to think about it before, really. He knew he wasn’t as smart as almost anyone around - he was pretty sure Jo had him beat in most areas, even - but previously he’d never let that influence his relationship with anyone in town.
He looked up at Stark. The man was brilliant, successful, attractive, and had powerful connections both in and out of Eureka. Carter knew that. But now, thinking about it, being the average John Doe town sheriff, dating someone like that…
“I think I can see where the old me was coming from,” Carter admitted.
Stark sighed. “Jack-”
“No, it’s okay, Nate. I’m not the old me. I’ve never stopped to think about that stuff. I’ve never had to,” he added with a shrug, “but now I know to look out for that kind of resentment. I can promise you now that, regardless of how our own relationship goes - enemies, friends, or whatever - I won’t be jealous of who you are. At least, not to the point of it getting in the way.”
Stark smiled. “Maybe you are a little different.”
“Mm-hm. And you know something else that’s different between me and the old me?” Carter asked as he shoved another forkful of steak into his mouth. “I never ate lunch at GD. This is actually pretty good stuff!”
Stark watched in amused horror as Carter demolished his plate, but right around the time Carter should be coming up for air, their PDAs vibrated simultaneously.
“Looks like the biocontainment lab has finished their field work early,” Stark said as he observed the text on his phone.
“Biocontainment?” Carter swallowed the mound of mashed potatoes in his mouth. “You mean like animals?”
“I mean like biological warfare defenses,” Stark corrected.
Carter paused to register the words, then his face fell. “Why can’t it ever not be warfare with you people?”
Stark stood to his feet and adjusted his suit jacket. “We should make sure everyone is prepared.”
“For what? What’s this field work entail?” Carter shoveled what little food he had left into his mouth in order to leave.
“It’s biocontainment, Jack. We have to test our defenses against a live pathogen.”
Carter paused.
No.
They wouldn’t.
He swallowed hard. “You don’t mean-”
Stark shrugged. “They released a virus into the population of the town.”
Carter was on his feet in a flash, anger creasing his forehead. “Aw, c’mon, that’s just irresponsible!”
Stark lifted a hand to calm him. “It’s fine, Jack. It’s a synthetic virus hand-made to be non-virulent. The worst it could possibly do to someone is give them a mild fever.”
Carter’s jaw set tight as he shoot his head, staring at his friend. “When will you people learn that nothing in this town ever does what it’s supposed to?”
In response, Stark smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Really? Because you seem to do your job decently enough.” He turned away and headed for the main hall.
Carter opened his mouth to argue, but found himself at a loss. Did Stark just compliment him in order to win an argument?
Who was this guy?
The observation station for the biocontainment lab was a small tented construct on Main Street, just a stone’s throw from the Sheriff’s office. Carter and Stark joined Henry and Fargo there, but Carter wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to be doing.
“Hey, Henry,” Carter said as they entered the tent. “How’s the status on the super virus that we accidentally created?”
Henry gave him a strange look. “Super virus? What are you talking about?”
“Well Nate said-”
“Sorry, ‘Nate?’” Fargo asked, an eyebrow hitched.
“Dr. Stark to you,” Stark grumbled. Fargo’s eyebrow returned to its normal position.
Carter couldn’t help but smile at that. “Nate said we were testing some kind of virus protection suite, so I just assumed the harmless virus had somehow mutated and people were in danger. You know. Normal Eureka stuff.”
Henry watched in vested curiosity as Carter explained himself. When he was done, Henry laughed. “No, Jack, no mutating. Everything’s going perfectly as planned, actually. Here, look-” He handed Carter a datapad with a map of the town updating in realtime regarding the density of the viral spread. It was everywhere outdoors, but no where indoors.
Carter studied the map for a moment. “So it’s doomsday outdoors, but everyone’s safe inside?”
“Exactly,” Henry said. “The biocontainment system is a sort of filtration additive. It mixes with regular household gasses that are released with central heat and cooling to create a sort of bubble where a whole host of harmful viruses and bacteria can’t enter.”
“Huh.” Carter shrugged. “That’s pretty nifty.”
“‘Pretty nifty’ doesn’t begin to cover the reach a product like this could have,” Henry said with his usual, wide gestures. Carter grinned at his enthusiasm. “We could prevent the next outbreak before it’s even considered one!”
“So what about us, are we safe?” Carter asked.
Fargo reached down and lifted up a small air unit, placing it on the station. “This tent has its own little air unit. See the black spot on the map in the middle of Main Street? That’s us.”
Carter looked down. There was, in fact, a null zone on the density map.
“They released the virus just after we set up shop here,” Henry said. “As long as we don’t step outside the tent, it won’t even affect us. And the virus was designed to have a very short life span without a host, so it should just dissipate over the next hour or so.”
Carter looked up, suddenly concerned. “I walked through the virus, then, because it was released before we even left GD.”
Stark put a hand on his shoulder. “Like I said, Jack, the virus is harmless. You’ll be fine.”
Suddenly Carter felt very warm, and he wasn’t sure it was just from nerves. He wiped his brow with the arm of his sleeve and drew back quite a bit of moisture. “Oh. Is, uh, is that supposed to happen?”
Henry looked down. “Hm. No. No, it’s not.” He inspected Carter more closely. “You’re looking pale, Jack.”
Carter’s PDA went off in his pocket. He answered it, but he found the tent was spinning, so he propped himself up on the research station. “Hey, Allison, what’s up?”
Allison was almost in hysterics. “Carter, don’t go outside.”
Heh. Oops on that one. “Little late. What’s up?”
“You need to get back to GD, now! This virus is going to kill you!”
“What do you mean, ‘the virus is going to kill you?’” Carter asked.
“What?” Stark snatched the PDA. “Allison, what’s going on?”
“Hey, guys,” Carter said as his vision blurred, “I don’t feel so good.”
“What’s wrong?” Henry asked.
Stark started to answer, but that’s when Carter’s world went black.
He had no idea how long he was out. When Carter finally came to, he recognized the ceiling of the infirmary at GD. Standing over him was the very concerned face of Nathan Stark, as well as Allison, who seemed a little preoccupied.
Carter coughed. It was a wet cough. “Hey. Did I fall asleep?”
Stark smiled down at him, relief taking over his features. He slipped a hand onto Carter’s and squeezed. “Yeah. You, uh, were right about the virus.”
Huh?
Carter was still a little loopy, but he knew what Stark meant. “What? You mean it’s killing people?”
“Nope,” Allison replied with a curt shake of her head. “Just you.”
Carter sat up in bed as well as he could, but his muscles ached and even that minute movement made the room spin. “Oh. Oh wow. What did you guys do to me?”
“Nothing, really,” Stark replied, “except not research what kind of viruses you’d been exposed to in your timeline.”
Uh oh. The word “timeline” was never good.
“What happened?” Carter asked.
Allison sighed and put down the datapad in front of her. “The virus they used for the experiment was based off of a virus that is commonplace in this timeline, but one that we’d never seen in ours. Because of that, it was deemed ‘harmless,’ but only to those who were naturally exposed to it over time.” She indicated herself and Carter. “We weren’t. So it was deadly to us. For those of us who saw 1947, it mimicked the Sweating Sickness from the mid-sixteenth century, but supercharged to act really fast because of the shortened life span we engineered.”
That would explain the copious sweating and dizziness. But wait. “Henry and Fargo were out on Main Street. Are they okay?” Carter asked.
“They had their air unit with them,” Allison said. “The virus was released after they set up. And it eliminated any virus you or Nathan breathed after you entered the room.”
Carter ran a hand down his face. “How did you know so fast?”
“She’s brilliant, that’s how,” Stark said. He gave her a smile, which she returned.
“I was looking at the schematics for the virus, just in case someone caught something and had to be admitted to the infirmary, when I realized its nucleic acid arrangement didn’t line up with anything I was familiar with. It was an unknown virus to me. But the GD database had all the info I needed to realize that it was a virus we had no exposure to, but everyone else did. I just put two and two together, but I was a little late in warning you. I’m sorry.”
Carter shook his head. “I’m just glad you were on the phone when I passed out.”
“It was easy enough to create the inoculation to counteract the virus,” Allison said. “Like I said: based on a common virus, with common cures. But I had to give all of the others vaccines. They’ll be down for the count for a day or so. That’s actually what you’re feeling now. The virus shouldn’t actually be in your system anymore.”
“How are you feeling, champ?” Stark asked.
“I feel pretty rough,” Carter replied with a shake of his head. His arms hurt and his chest felt creaky and his head was kind of poundy. Overall, he felt like death. “How long was I out?”
“Only a few hours,” Allison said. “You should have seen Nathan bridal carrying you in, though.” She gave them a mischievous grin. “It looked like he’d pulled you from a fire or something.”
A new, non-sick kind of warmth spread to Carter’s cheeks. He glanced up at Stark, who had also turned a shade of red. Wow. Nathan Stark, blushing?
“Thanks,” Carter said.
“I couldn’t let you be totally right,” Stark replied with a smirk. “If you died, it meant the virus killed someone, and your hypothesis about things never going right in Eureka would have had supporting evidence.”
“Oh, so, no concern for my well-being after all,” Carter said with a grin.
“None whatsoever.” Stark squeezed Carter’s hand. Carter squeezed back. Just a little.
Allison’s gaze lingered on their contact for a moment before returning to the datapad in front of her. “We’ll keep you here until most of your vaccination symptoms are gone, and then you can go home. A few hours, tops.” She smiled over at him. “Back by dinner.”
He smiled back. “Thank you, Allison. You saved my life.”
“I’m just glad Nathan was there to get you back here quickly,” she replied. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder before turning away to address another patient.
Stark watched her silently until she was out of earshot. “She’s amazing.”
Carter followed her with his eyes, but his mental focus was on the physical contact between the two men. He looked down at their hands and fell quiet.
Stark noticed. He leaned down and caught the other man’s attention. “What’s wrong?”
“Things are so different here,” Carter said, his voice low. “I almost died today because I’m not from this reality.”
“But you didn’t. You’re fine.”
“Yeah, this time.” He looked up at Stark, a smile tugging at his lips. “I was lucky you were there. Henry and Fargo wouldn’t have been able to take me out in the viral air.”
Stark squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“I’m not thanking you.” Carter stared up at Stark, eyes locked. “I...I think it’s a good idea to have you around. I think I need a little something from this reality to keep me grounded.”
The way Stark shook his head was almost imperceptible, but Carter saw every millimeter. “You’re still feverish. Let’s talk when you’re feeling better.”
Carter’s lips curled into a full smile this time. “Okay. But over dinner.”
Stark froze, his eyes wide. After a short eternity, he asked, “Dinner? Like-”
Carter nodded. He never broke eye contact. “Dinner. Maybe a movie. Or a quiet night in. Just us.”
Stark’s eyes drifted away as he contemplated. Carter could practically see the gears turning, and he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of questions he was asking himself. Is it safe? Is it too soon? Is this just the illness talking?
Carter had already asked himself these questions, as well.
And the answer was that he didn’t care.
“It’s only been a day since you got here,” Stark said.
Carter shrugged. “I beat around the bush with Allison for years. I lost her to you, and then I lost her to the timeline changing. I don’t want to risk losing an opportunity again.”
“Jack. Maybe you should take some time to rest and think about this.”
Carter squeezed Stark’s hand. “I don’t want to.”
They stared at one another in silence for a moment.
“So. Dinner?”
Stark looked down at their hands. They were very warm to Carter, so he knew they were warm for Stark, too. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. Dinner. Fine. But we take this slow.”
Carter’s head rolled to one side as he smirked up at Stark. “What’s the matter, Stark, afraid of falling in love with your boyfriend? Again?”
“You have no idea.”
Stark leaned forward and kissed Carter on the forehead. A pleasant tingle spread from the point of contact until Carter’s entire face buzzed. The sensation caused him to grin. “I’m going to go make some rounds. Make sure no one’s going to blow up the world. I’ll be back. Get some rest.”
“Yes, dear.”
“Stop that.”
They chuckled together until Stark pulled away, leaving Carter to watch him exit the room. He heard Allison come up behind him.
“So that went well.” He heard the smile in her voice.
Carter nodded. “Yeah, it did.”
“And do you think this is going to work out?”
He considered this for a moment, but only a moment. “I think it might.”
She patted him gently on the shoulder. “Then I’m happy for you.”
He turned to her and gave her a soft smile. “Thanks, Allie.”
She sighed, but her smile persisted. “Get some rest. I heard you’ve got a big date tonight.”
He watched her walk away before nodding to himself and settling back into the bed. “I do, don’t I?”
As Carter closed his eyes, he shut out the world, except for the warmth of Stark’s - no, Nathan’s - hand on his.