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serene_quillTitle: A Modest Proposal, Chapter 4: Do Over I Do Over (Part 1)
Pairing: Jack/Nathan, Jack/Allison, Nathan/Allison, Jack/Nathan/Allison
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: Don’t own!
Warnings: slash, het, threesome, spoilers through 304: I Do Over, AU
A/N: "Do Over I Do Over" looks like it may end up being three or four chapters long, reduxing episode 304 "I Do Over". The trio just doesn't shut up.... ;)
Summary: Time moves on, until it doesn’t...
Previous Parts can be found here
Jack started suddenly, sounds from downstairs waking him. Frowning, he slid out from under Nathan’s arm, which made the other man stir slightly before curling back under the covers, which Allison tugged on, but her eyes were still closed. He tugged his pants on and made his way stealthily down the stairs, hitting a light panel when he saw Zoë wrestling off her shoes. “Thought you were at Pilar’s till tomorrow night,” he said softly, brain racing for a way out of the mess he could see coming, and she squeaked, jumping.
“God, Dad, you scared me,” she protested, dropping a high heel with a thud. “I was, but she got really sick. Her mom sent me home, didn’t want me to have to deal with it.”
If he could get her to bed, Jack mused, before… Footsteps, the volume of which told Jack that Nathan not Allison was up, echoed overhead, and Zoë’s eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh, Dad, I didn’t realize you were… oh god.”
“Jack?” Nathan was on the stairs, sleep rumpled and only wearing track bottoms, leaving no room for arguing about what had been going on. “What’s… oh. Hi, Zoë.” Jack paused, never having seen Nathan look so flustered or so suddenly awake without at GD disaster. “Ah, your dad just let me crash here…”
Zoë’s glare made it clear what she thought of that lie. “That’s why you haven’t told me who you’ve been dating for the past two weeks?” Zoë demanded. “You know, it’s not that much better than having an affair, Dad, which I seem to remember you being royally pissed about when it was Mom.”
“Whoa, Zo, slow down,” Jack urged her, making soothing motions with his hands. “First of all, it’s not an affair, and second, you need to keep your voice down. Allison’s a light sleeper.”
Zoë’s jaw dropped, looking up the stairs, then back at Nathan and Jack, before closing her eyes and reaching over to pinch her arm. She opened her eyes, and then repeated it, before Jack managed to cross to her, intercepting her pinching fingers. “Hey, absolutely not the way I wanted to tell you about this,” he told her gently, and she snorted.
“Yeah, sorry to cost you that conversation,” Zoë remarked sarcastically. “What, Allison couldn’t decide so you both get to sleep with her?”
“Actually, I couldn’t decide,” Nathan put in quietly, looking warily at Zoë. “I thought I loved Allison enough to marry her, but I also loved your father too much to give him up. And I can’t speak for the two of them, but I think they’re happy.”
“I am,” Jack reassured him, looking away from Zoë’s angry expression for the first time in several moments. “Nathan, she’s got a lot of things she needs to say to me. You probably should go back to bed.”
“No,” Zoë replied fiercely. “If he’s the one who started this, then he’s got some questions to answer,” she insisted. “So you just get to string both of them along until you choose one or what?”
“No,” Nathan replied, gesturing them over toward the kitchen table. “They get to be with each other too. It’s all equal.”
“Equal,” Zoë repeated, blinking in disbelief as she sat down across from them. “You don’t mind if Dad is with Allison?”
“No,” Nathan replied easily. “Because I can be with either of them, too.”
“Really?” Zoë folded her arms, looking skeptically between her father and the scientist. “You want my dad?”
“Zoë…” Jack started, and Nathan gave him a little sideways glance.
“I love your dad,” he informed Zoë, then laced his fingers through Jack’s, giving him a soft look.
“Zoë, Nathan and I have been ah…” Jack fumbled for a good word choice. “Well, sort of dating for a long time. Off and on. Not serious, but, ah…”
“Okay, really don’t need to know about your hookups,” Zoë sputtered, catching on. “Not that you’re capable of a fling, I did catch that from all the things you and Mom used to yell to hurt each other during the divorce,” she added pointedly. “So what I don’t get… Dad, you had to know he was going to hurt you when he went back to Allison.”
“Yeah, I knew,” Jack admitted, examining his hand where it was locked in Nathan’s. “Figured it was worth it. And then Nathan came up with a better solution.”
“I need some time to think about this,” Zoë said, rubbing at her eyes. “Will they be here to talk in the morning?”
Jack looked to Nathan, who nodded. “Yeah, I’ll have them stay,” Jack told her, and she stood, looking at them both for a long moment.
“Night, Dad,” she mumbled finally. Her footsteps echoed on the stairs for a moment, and Jack sighed, turning to Nathan.
“That could have been worse,” he groaned, dropping his head against the other man’s shoulder.
“It’ll be okay,” Nathan reassured him, tugging him into a tight embrace. “We’ll talk more in the morning, and we’ll have Allison to help us not make more of a hideous mess of the whole thing.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, letting Nathan help him to his feet, suddenly impressed by how Nathan had just put everything on the line for Zoë, which was probably terrifying for him. “Hey,” he said, pulling Nathan to a stop at the base of the stairs. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Nathan said, kissing him gently. “But you better not be saying that because you think Zoë’s too scary for me,” he teased.
“No, I’m saying it because you were good with her tonight, and that means a lot to me,” Jack explained, pulling Nathan down for a second soft kiss, lingering a little this time. “Let’s get back to bed before Allison misses us.”
Jack turned, catching the bit of movement at the top of the stairs that told him Zoë had witnessed the exchange. He tensed, and Nathan eased an arm around his waist. “Trust me, it can only have helped her to see and hear that,” Nathan whispered in his ear as they entered the bedroom. Jack waited for Nathan to slide back in to the middle, but the other man gestured him forward. “I think you need the support tonight,” he observed quietly, sliding in after Jack and wrapping his arms tightly around Jack.
“You okay?” Allison murmured, turning over sleepily and burrowing into Jack automatically.
“Zoë’s home,” Jack told her, and Allison continued to drowse for one long sleepy moment before her eyes flew open, suddenly awake.
“Is she okay?” Allison demanded, and then her eyes went wider. “You had to tell her about us. Didn’t you?”
“It’s okay, we screwed it up royally and you’ll have to fix it all tomorrow,” Jack informed her, and Allison rolled her eyes.
“Took it better than you thought?” Allison deduced, wrapping herself into Jack a little more tightly. Nathan followed her lead, leaving Jack buried in a tangle of limbs, comfortingly and solidly connected to the other two.
“She wants tonight to think,” Jack explained, and Allison nodded.
“Okay,” she replied, settling in. “We just have to be careful, make sure we’re open with her. We only get one chance at this, after all.”
*-*
“Morning,” Nathan greeted Jack, stepping into the shower behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist.
“Uh, daughter in the house,” Jack reminded him, feeling a little wave of panic.
“Allison’s downstairs, working on breakfast,” Nathan informed him, his fingers sliding down to tease Jack, who, despite his panic, could feel his body perking up in interest. “She figured Zoë might like a chance to talk to her alone before we joined them. And she thought I might calm you down.”
“Yeah?” Jack asked, about to give Nathan a hard time about how calm he was, when he was spun around, surprised by Nathan dropping to his knees and sucking Jack’s cock into his mouth. Jack had done this to Nathan dozens of times and enjoyed it, but Nathan had never returned the favor. Nathan had very few barriers with sex, and the one Jack had expected given the other man’s control issues, bottoming, had proven to be something Nathan enjoyed without hesitation, unlike this. “Fuck,” he cursed as Nathan’s fingers began teasing his ass, bracing an arm against the wall.
Nathan hollowed his cheeks, tongue twisting in ways that left Jack shaking and swiftly shuddering to climax. Nathan lapped his way back up Jack’s torso, rinsing his mouth quickly before pulling a languid Jack into a fierce kiss. “Helped?” Nathan smirked knowingly.
“You have an aversion to doing that, or have you just never done that before?” Jack asked quietly, as they helped each other clean up.
“I don’t…” Nathan swallowed hard, looking at Jack warily. “It’s… intimate. Takes more trust, as far as I’m concerned. It’s stupid, I know, but it’s hard for me to let someone…to be…”
Jack cut him off with a kiss, amazed by the admission. “It’s not stupid, Nathan. It never is with you.” He pulled the other man closer. “Shall we go face my daughter?” he asked after a long moment, just holding Nathan.
“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, but his fingers tightened on Jack.
“What?” Jack asked, pulling back far enough to see Nathan’s face, little lines of worry crinkling his eyes.
“I… god, Jack, I want her to be okay with us,” Nathan admitted in a rush. “I didn’t realize it would matter so much to me.”
“I did,” Jack informed him, pushing a bit of Nathan’s wet hair back from his face. “I knew when you offered her that internship that you’d want her to accept this. And she will. Just be patient.”
“Not good at patience,” Nathan replied, shutting off the water.
They dressed quickly, and Jack headed downstairs first, finding Allison and Zoë working on rolling out homemade cinnamon rolls. He paused, listening for a moment, a blush rising on his face when he caught up to the discussion. “-enjoy watching them together too. They’re very passionate about me, but trust me, they’re that way about each other.”
Jack cleared his throat, and both women turned, Allison giving him a knowing grin. “Seriously, Jack, she’s almost 17 and she asked.”
“She asked about your fascination for watching me and Nathan together?” Jack countered, enjoying the little bit of embarrassment in Allison’s features. He came around the island, leaning down and kissing Allison quickly. He then leaned over and kissed Zoë’s forehead. “You doing okay?” he asked her seriously, noticing how red her face was.
“It’s just a little weird,” she admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I can see why you’d be with Allison, and I can sort of see why you’d be with Stark, I just sort of short circuit at the all together part.”
“Got a better solution?” Jack asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I couldn’t come up with one, and you know how miserable I was before I was with them.”
“Yeah, I know,” Zoë agreed softly. “I just wish you’d told me.”
“Well, actually, we’d been planning to this weekend,” Allison told her, smiling at her. “Nathan and I both want to be around more and want you to have a chance to maybe start getting used to us being around.”
“You sound like this is really serious,” Zoë observed, folding her arms suspiciously.
“It is,” Nathan put in, as he came down the last of the stairs. “Did I forget to mention I plan on marrying them?”
Zoë coughed, choking on her orange juice at this. “That’s totally not legal,” she exclaimed, looking over at Jack. “He’s having fun with me, isn’t he?”
“Well, he’s mentioned it before,” Jack admitted, frowning at Nathan. “Are you serious?”
“Completely,” Nathan replied, adjusting his shirt cuffs. “And no, not legal, I suppose, but we can make it contractual and spiritual, which is close enough in my book. Given that Eureka really lacks a proper state authority, we probably could write our own legal code…”
“Whoa, check the power trip at the door,” Jack remarked, giving Nathan a sidelong glance. “And I’m not going to be ready to consider this whole marriage or pseudo-marriage thing for a while yet.”
“Stop being useless and set the table,” Allison instructed them, beckoning Zoë back over to help her with the cinnamon rolls. “They’ll bicker for a while about Nathan’s power issues and your dad’s panic attacks, and I’ll finish showing you how to make these.”
“Thanks,” Zoë said, returning to stuffing cinnamon paste along the dough strips. “Do you want to marry them?” she asked softly, trying to ignore her dad and Nathan play fighting.
“I don’t know yet, sweetheart,” Allison admitted. “It’s easiest for Nathan. He loves your dad and I completely. And your dad and I love him just as much. But we’re still getting to know each other and figure out how our lives will fit together.”
“I can’t imagine Nathan Stark in love with my dad,” Zoë admitted, shaking her head as she looked over to see the two men doing tug of war over a plate.
“Watch,” Allison told her, leaning in close to murmur in a low tone. “He’ll give in to your dad, he always does on the little stuff. He can’t on so many big things, so he gives him more here.” As she predicted, Nathan let go, giving Jack a quick kiss as he did, then his face went impassive when he saw them watching. The contrast hit Zoë, and she sighed. The man was head over heels for her dad.
“He’s nervous, sweetie,” Allison confided in her. “He loves your dad, and you come with that deal. It’s easier for me, I’m always a mom. Nathan gets to be a dad sometimes, but never to a teenage girl.”
Zoë nodded thoughtfully and watched Allison roll up the dough and set it in the pan. She repeated Allison’s movements, grinning when she produced a near perfect roll and tucked it into the pan. “So, Dr. Stark,” she started, as he crossed over, sitting on a stool across the counter from her, unbuttoning his cuffs, rolling up his sleeves, and starting to roll up dough.
“Nathan,” he corrected her, giving her a half smile. “At least, outside of GD.”
“Call him Nathan at GD, too,” Allison said dryly, though her eyes flickered pointedly in Nathan’s direction. “He could use the ego check.”
“No kidding,” Jack echoed, settling on the stool next to Nathan.
“Fine, Nathan,” Zoë continued, ignoring the other two teasing him. “Why do you want to marry my dad?”
“It’s been a long time since anyone stood up to me, fought back with me,” Nathan told her. “I need that. You dad made me feel alive. And somewhere along the way, that turned into caring about him enough to put a hole in my office wall after he almost died in that therapy device.”
“You punched a wall?” Zoë asked, wide eyed. Jack and Allison were both staring at him as well.
“Not exactly proud of how often he makes me lose control,” Nathan muttered, obviously uncomfortable.
“Dad?” Zoë asked, her voice small. Jack immediately looked over, concern clear on his face. Zoë loved that her dad had changed over the past two years enough to read the little signs and instantly get worried. “You’re happy? Even though you get weird about the whole monogamy thing?”
“I sort of… redefined some things,” Jack told her. “It may not be about monogamy, Zo, but you better believe I’d be just as gone if either of them stepped outside this arrangement.”
“Fidelity,” Allison put in helpfully, reaching across the counter and squeezing Jack’s hand gently. “Right there with you.”
“And yes,” Jack said to Zoë, though his eyes were locked on Allison’s. “I’m happy.”
Zoë was quiet for a while, processing, and the adults wisely stepped back and let her as she finished getting ready for school before settling in to eat breakfast. “I thought you were going in casual, just overseeing the new clock,” Allison said to Nathan, wrinkling her nose at his shirt and tie.
“Thorne called and asked me to see her at 11,” Nathan replied, rolling his eyes.
“Huh, that’s the same message I got,” Jack said around a mouthful of cinnamon roll. His eyes met Nathan’s and his shoulders sagged. “Oh.”
“What?” Zoë asked, curious.
“Redactions,” all three adults said in unison. Zoë giggled, suddenly catching a little hint of the synchronicity that came with the relationship.
“So, basically, I’m the only one who actually took the day off,” Allison remarked, narrowing her eyes at the two of them.
“You knew it was too good to be true,” Jack said, shrugging. “And in my defense, I told Thorne I was off today, she just didn’t care.”
“I tried to pass the clock off to Fargo,” Nathan added. “Maybe we should blow off Thorne.”
“That’ll just mean Monday redactions,” Jack said, shaking his head. “We can stretch these to give people the weekend to deal with getting their homes packed up and new places to go figured out.”
“Good point,” Nathan agreed, nodding.
“Well, since you two won’t play hooky with me, I want your permission to take Zoë to Portland, do a girls’ day shopping,” Allison gave Zoë a small smile. “If you won’t be missing too much school work, of course.”
“No, that’d be great,” Zoë said happily. “If it’s okay with Dad?”
“Just… leave some money on my card, okay?” he grumped. “And, um, pick up some of those natural linen sheet things for the guest room. Aunt Lexi is coming to visit next week.”
“Aunt Lexi?” Zoë sat up excited. “Really?”
“She wanted to come this week, but I wanted you to know about the three of us first,” Jack told her, shrugging. “So I told her to wait till next week, but yeah, she’ll be visiting.”
“Oh, you’re gonna have to tell Aunt Lexi,” Zoë said, looking excited. “She’ll flip. She loves crazy outside the box social anthropology.”
Allison was looking a little baffled, and Nathan was bordering on insulted, so Jack shifted the subject quickly. “And we should probably talk about if and when we want to tell her or anyone else in town for that matter.”
“Dinner tonight, say seven?” Nathan suggested, looking at Allison. “That enough time for shopping?”
Allison gave Zoë an appraising look, and Zoë wrinkled her nose. “Make it eight,” she replied.
“Done,” Jack agreed, standing. Allison and Zoë started helping him clean, while Nathan tugged on his jacket. “Nathan, I’ll see you at GD in couple hours,” Jack told him, and Nathan paused, seeing all three of them looking at him. “Just try not to freak out too much till I get there to calm you down?”
“Dr. Stark,” Zoë said, offering him a smile. “You’ll be around to help me with my projections on Monday, right?”
Jack exchanged a look with Allison, who had one of her absolutely breathtaking smiles aimed at Zoë. Nathan smiled, nodding to Zoë, and headed out to his car. Jack oofed in surprise as Allison slammed into him, hugging him tightly. “You did good with her,” Allison muttered into his shoulder, tugging Zoë over to them and hugging her.
“Okay,” Zoë gave her dad a look, and he shrugged.
“She gets protective of Nathan,” Jack explained. “And you just said exactly the right thing to reassure him that you don’t hate him.”
“Oh, well, I guess I’m trying to say if you two make Dad happy, then I’ll get over it or figure it out or something,” Zoë shrugged, and Allison squeezed her shoulder.
“Seriously, you can ask us anything,” Allison reassured her. “And when your dad and Nathan turn red and start sputtering, then you can ask me.”
*-*
“Good morning, sorry to drag you in here today, but I have another round of redactions for you,” Thorne said as Jack entered GD, barely taking a breath or pausing as she handed him a file. “I’m not entirely certain where Dr. Stark is, but technically these are his responsibility, so please make sure you find him…”
“Not necessary,” Nathan’s voice broke in, and Jack felt a few of his muscles unclench as he looked up at the handsome scientist. “Here,” Nathan let his fingers brush Jack’s subtly as he took the file. Jack waited, knowing he could save his own outburst as Nathan would have it covered. “There are over 20 names on this list,” Nathan observed, voice dark and sharp.
“Well, you’ll have to hurry to make your deadline for installing the clock,” Thorne said too sweetly. “I hear the Swiss are fuming.”
She strode away, and Jack rolled his eyes. “So what’s this clock thing I keep hearing about?” he asked as they headed down toward the elevators.
“You know how the Swiss had the time standard electron clock, the standard we set all other clocks by?” Nathan asked, looking a little skeptical.
“I’m not a complete loss,” Jack replied dryly.
“Well, as of six pm today, the standard will be here in Eureka with the new clock we’re installing,” Nathan explained, tapping his data pad in order to locate the first scientists on the list, then hitting the button for level 3.
“Well, that’s nice, and please, don’t take this the wrong way, but if that’s all, the whole install the clock thing seems a little outside your area,” Jack remarked, and then folded his arms, nodding. “Unless something in the clock is another one of your big bang machine developments.”
“Huh,” Nathan said, arching an eyebrow as they stepped off the elevator. “You really aren’t a complete loss, Carter.”
*-*
Nathan pulled up the last name on his list, sighing, and handing it over to Jack as he checked his watch. “Time’s getting tight,” he told Jack, who glared at him. “Fine, down to the lowest level of GD, to the maintenance lab,” Nathan conceded. “I wanted to show off the clock to you anyway.”
“Nice to know something you invented isn’t going to destroy the world,” Jack replied dryly. “This week anyway.”
“Don’t start…” Nathan began to say, then his arm flew out, barring Jack from entering the atrium. “Oh, you’re not stopping this one, Sheriff.”
Jack looked up just as the red haired scientist they had just redacted slapped Thorne. GD security was there a moment later, but Nathan couldn’t hide his grin quick enough to avoid Jack spotting it. “Just made your week, didn’t it?” Jack guessed, and Nathan’s grin grew.
“Oh yeah,” he agreed, falling into step next to Jack. He waited till they were safely in the elevator before he added, “That or the blowjob this morning.”
Jack made a strangled noise and turned the most fiery shade of red Nathan had ever seen. He made a point of looking around the empty elevator pointedly when Jack scowled at him. “Don’t know why I put up with you,” Jack grumbled.
“Pretty sure that’s also the bl—” Nathan cut himself off when the elevators opened to admit a scientist. The look on Jack’s face told him the sheriff had known exactly where the sentence was going though. As soon as the other scientist stepped off the elevator, Jack hit Nathan in the arm.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Jack asked, and Nathan shrugged.
“I just feel… alive,” he concluded with a wink, and Jack grinned. They rounded the corner, walking through sliding doors as a flash of bright purple energy filled the room. “Okay, that’s it,” Nathan exclaimed, pulling Jack back out of the lab. “Weinbrenner gets to deal with a redaction on Monday, I’m not doing this. In fact I’m not sure I’m redacting anyone else. These cuts are getting too extreme, GD’s not going to be able to function safely at this rate.”
“Okay,” Jack replied, looking amused as they stepped back into the elevator. He waited till the elevator was empty, then Jack pushed the stop button.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked, and Jack crooked a finger at him.
“I learned something interesting from Jo and Zane,” Jack informed him with a grin. “No security cameras in the back elevators.” He pulled Nathan toward him, and Nathan came willingly, pressing Jack back into the wall. He kissed him, taking his time to thoroughly explore Jack’s mouth before pulling away.
“Good to know,” Nathan said, before restarting the elevator. He was tempted to ask why Jack had stopped the elevator, but then caught his own words. GD and safety. He tucked that button away for future messing with Jack. They headed to the lab where Fargo was taking the delivery of the clock. “Fargo,” Nathan greeted the younger man, taking the data pad Fargo offered.
“Uh, Sheriff,” Fargo greeted Jack looking a little baffled. “He doesn’t need to sign off on this,” Fargo remarked, and Nathan spared Fargo a quick glare.
“The sheriff is here at my request,” Nathan said simply, signing the form with a flourish. “Let’s get this installed.”
Later, when Jack was sprawled casually on one of the lab stools in a manner that was giving Nathan dozens of ideas, he asked, “So, if we have the standard of time, and we’re a secret town, how’s the rest of the world going to set their clocks by us?”
“They think it’s in Seattle,” Nathan explained, handing a cord to Fargo.
“So, really, the Swiss are fuming at Seattle,” Jack observed, a little bit teasing, and Nathan had to bite his lip to stop a smile.
“GD’s name is on the patent,” Fargo said impatiently. “Along with mine and Dr. Stark’s and several other Eureka scientists.”
“Well, on the bright side, it’s just the Swiss,” Jack remarked brightly. “You’ll never be able to get a decent Rolex or pocket knife again, but they won’t exactly nuke us.”
Nathan snorted, just barely suppressing a grin, but the moment didn’t go unnoticed by Fargo, who was looking between them a little speculatively. “Your simplicity never fails to amaze me, Carter,” Nathan snarked, putting his assistant back on an even keel.
“Yeah, how much longer till this thing takes over time as we know it?” Jack asked, sighing and spinning the stool, obviously bored.
“6 pm,” Nathan reminded him.
“And what if it doesn’t work?” Jack asked, frowning.
“We miss the only window between now and 2036 to sync up, and I get to continue to wear Rolexes,” Nathan deadpanned, catching the appreciative grin on the sheriff’s face. He finished the set up, stepped free of the vacuum tube, and tugged off the top of the clean suit. “Late lunch, Sheriff?”
“Very late, but I’m game,” Jack agreed, ignoring the open mouthed shock on Fargo’s face. “Café Diem?”
“Sounds good,” Nathan agreed, imputing the last values into his data pad and handing it to Fargo without a second glance.
Nathan couldn’t help noticing the stares around them and a few speculative glances, which Jack seemed oblivious to as he placed an order for lamb curry, the same as Nathan had just ordered. Vince had stared in amazement, then scrambled away before Jack could change his mind. “Where’s your head?” Jack asked, noticing Nathan’s look around the café.
“Trying to guess how people will react,” he admitted, shrugging. “Vince, for example, will probably make several complaints to Allison about it being unfair that she’s taking two good looking men off the market.”
Jack nodded, understanding the game. “Fargo will finally have a breakdown, babble incoherently around us for weeks.”
“Jo’s going to try to shoot you,” Nathan predicted, steepling his fingers as he thought. “Or me, for messing with you.”
“Zane won’t be surprised,” Jack remarked, giving Vince a look as he set coffee on the table. Vince moved on, rolling his eyes at being unable to eavesdrop. “I’ve seen Vince’s betting book. He’s betting on a threesome.”
“Knew he was crazy,” Nathan replied. “Speaking of, tell me about your sister.”
“Not much to tell,” Jack said, shrugging. “You’ll hate her. She’s a hippie new age anti-science type. She doesn’t like me much because I think some rules are supposed to be followed. Thinks I’m like my dad.”
“Are you?” Nathan asked, sipping his coffee.
“My dad wouldn’t be sleeping with a man or having a threesome,” Jack muttered quietly, shrugging. “He was a hard man. Inflexible to an extreme. Finally cut her off completely about sixteen years ago after she ran off, and me a few years earlier when I decided against a military career Disapproved of… everything.”
“Ahh,” Nathan murmured, nodding his thanks to Vince as he set down their lunch.
“I just want to point out that you two are scaring my customers,” Vince said, folding his arms and eyeing them curiously. “It’s one thing when Allison is here to force you to play nice, but this is sort of freaky.”
“We called a truce,” Jack replied, rolling his eyes. “And everyone else can mind their own damn business.”
“Like that’ll happen in this town,” Nathan remarked, breaking off a bit of naan.
“You’re supposed to be scary,” Jack remarked, stealing the naan from Nathan. “Shut ‘em up.”
“It’s a lot easier when you don’t undermine it by snatching bread right out of my hand,” Nathan scowled, breaking off some more naan and pulling his hand back quickly.
“Please, I think you’re losing your touch,” Jack replied, looking over at Vince. “You scared?”
“I’ll be back with a refill on coffee,” Vince dodged when Nathan turned a glare on him.
“Maybe you’re not losing your touch,” Jack said, biting into the lamb curry. “Though you are in a weird mood today.”
“Maybe I’m in love,” Nathan said softly, though there was a mocking light in his eyes. “Or maybe you’re getting too used to me being nice. I’ll have to do something about that.”
He saw Jack swallow hard and started to grin, thinking that he still needed to turn the tables on Jack for the punishment he’d gotten after the dream sharing incident. “It really isn’t nice of you to undermine my scariness, Sheriff,” he added, narrowing his eyes and sliding his foot along Jack’s calf teasingly. His grin grew when Jack shifted in his seat and glared at him.
“Coffee?” Vince asked, oblivious to the tension at the table. Nathan held up his cup, trying not to smile.
*-*
Jack was breathing hard, collapsed against Nathan’s chest, slowly coming back down from his high. “I take it all back, you’re still evil,” he murmured, and Nathan chuckled, pulling him up into a fierce kiss.
“Glad to hear it,” he murmured, checking the clock, knowing Jack needed a little rest after the intense round of lovemaking and decided an hour and a half would work. “SARAH, wake us up about seven?”
“Of course, Nathan,” he heard the AI say as he drifted off.
*-*
Jack was spun around, surprised by Nathan dropping to his knees and sucking Jack’s cock into his mouth. It took him a moment to process where he was, the hot water cascading over his shoulders baffling him. Nathan, likewise, had backed off Jack’s quickly fading erection, looking a little puzzled.
“I’m having déjà vu,” Jack said, frowning at Nathan. “And not sure how I got to the shower.”
“Me either,” Nathan replied, slowly standing, and Jack could see him mentally running through his memories. “Last thing I remember, we went to sleep after some really good sex.”
“Yeah, I’m still feeling it,” Jack admitted, smiling wryly as he showed Nathan the faint finger shaped bruises around his wrists. Nathan took the wrists, gently kissing the marks, making Jack smile. “We manage to black out till morning?”
“I guess,” Nathan sounded skeptical. “I told SARAH to wake us. I’d think if we hadn’t woken up, we’d be surrounded by GD medics.” Jack nodded his agreement, trying to wrack his brain for any memory after falling asleep. A sharp intake of breath from Nathan caught his attention. “We should check downstairs, make sure Allison and Zoë made it home.”
“Oh,” Jack panicked a little, turning off the shower, a little concerned. If they’d slept straight through… god, what if Allison and Zoë hadn’t made it home… He and Nathan threw on clothing, racing down the stairs in time to hear Allison say, “-enjoy watching them together too. They’re very passionate about me, but trust me… they’re that way about each other… uh, good morning,” she stared as the two men halted, looking surprised. “Relax, she’s 17 and curious,” Allison remarked, returning to rolling up a cinnamon roll.
“This isn’t just déjà vu or a memory blackout,” Jack said, turning to Nathan in alarm. “What just happened?”
“It’s not possible,” Nathan replied, his features pale. “Time doesn’t repeat, it would mean a break down in cosmic laws.”
“Okay, I know it’s scary to talk to me about sex, but you two are being ridiculous,” Zoë said, frowning at them. “Seriously, Dad…”
“It’s not about that,” Jack replied, but he pulled her into a loose hug, worried by the look on Nathan’s face. “How big of trouble are we in?”
“Huge,” Nathan replied quietly. “World ending. Not to mention I don’t know what could have caused a time loop.”
Allison set down the dough she’d been kneading, looking worriedly over at them. “If time is looping, and you two are the only ones aware, I’m not going to be much help. You’ll spend too much time catching me up as you start figuring it out,” she observed quietly. “What are you going to do?”
“Enjoy myself while I figure out what caused it,” Nathan replied, grinning wolfishly at her. “Wanna see Thorne get slapped?”
Pairing: Jack/Nathan, Jack/Allison, Nathan/Allison, Jack/Nathan/Allison
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: Don’t own!
Warnings: slash, het, threesome, spoilers through 304: I Do Over, AU
A/N: "Do Over I Do Over" looks like it may end up being three or four chapters long, reduxing episode 304 "I Do Over". The trio just doesn't shut up.... ;)
Summary: Time moves on, until it doesn’t...
Previous Parts can be found here
Jack started suddenly, sounds from downstairs waking him. Frowning, he slid out from under Nathan’s arm, which made the other man stir slightly before curling back under the covers, which Allison tugged on, but her eyes were still closed. He tugged his pants on and made his way stealthily down the stairs, hitting a light panel when he saw Zoë wrestling off her shoes. “Thought you were at Pilar’s till tomorrow night,” he said softly, brain racing for a way out of the mess he could see coming, and she squeaked, jumping.
“God, Dad, you scared me,” she protested, dropping a high heel with a thud. “I was, but she got really sick. Her mom sent me home, didn’t want me to have to deal with it.”
If he could get her to bed, Jack mused, before… Footsteps, the volume of which told Jack that Nathan not Allison was up, echoed overhead, and Zoë’s eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh, Dad, I didn’t realize you were… oh god.”
“Jack?” Nathan was on the stairs, sleep rumpled and only wearing track bottoms, leaving no room for arguing about what had been going on. “What’s… oh. Hi, Zoë.” Jack paused, never having seen Nathan look so flustered or so suddenly awake without at GD disaster. “Ah, your dad just let me crash here…”
Zoë’s glare made it clear what she thought of that lie. “That’s why you haven’t told me who you’ve been dating for the past two weeks?” Zoë demanded. “You know, it’s not that much better than having an affair, Dad, which I seem to remember you being royally pissed about when it was Mom.”
“Whoa, Zo, slow down,” Jack urged her, making soothing motions with his hands. “First of all, it’s not an affair, and second, you need to keep your voice down. Allison’s a light sleeper.”
Zoë’s jaw dropped, looking up the stairs, then back at Nathan and Jack, before closing her eyes and reaching over to pinch her arm. She opened her eyes, and then repeated it, before Jack managed to cross to her, intercepting her pinching fingers. “Hey, absolutely not the way I wanted to tell you about this,” he told her gently, and she snorted.
“Yeah, sorry to cost you that conversation,” Zoë remarked sarcastically. “What, Allison couldn’t decide so you both get to sleep with her?”
“Actually, I couldn’t decide,” Nathan put in quietly, looking warily at Zoë. “I thought I loved Allison enough to marry her, but I also loved your father too much to give him up. And I can’t speak for the two of them, but I think they’re happy.”
“I am,” Jack reassured him, looking away from Zoë’s angry expression for the first time in several moments. “Nathan, she’s got a lot of things she needs to say to me. You probably should go back to bed.”
“No,” Zoë replied fiercely. “If he’s the one who started this, then he’s got some questions to answer,” she insisted. “So you just get to string both of them along until you choose one or what?”
“No,” Nathan replied, gesturing them over toward the kitchen table. “They get to be with each other too. It’s all equal.”
“Equal,” Zoë repeated, blinking in disbelief as she sat down across from them. “You don’t mind if Dad is with Allison?”
“No,” Nathan replied easily. “Because I can be with either of them, too.”
“Really?” Zoë folded her arms, looking skeptically between her father and the scientist. “You want my dad?”
“Zoë…” Jack started, and Nathan gave him a little sideways glance.
“I love your dad,” he informed Zoë, then laced his fingers through Jack’s, giving him a soft look.
“Zoë, Nathan and I have been ah…” Jack fumbled for a good word choice. “Well, sort of dating for a long time. Off and on. Not serious, but, ah…”
“Okay, really don’t need to know about your hookups,” Zoë sputtered, catching on. “Not that you’re capable of a fling, I did catch that from all the things you and Mom used to yell to hurt each other during the divorce,” she added pointedly. “So what I don’t get… Dad, you had to know he was going to hurt you when he went back to Allison.”
“Yeah, I knew,” Jack admitted, examining his hand where it was locked in Nathan’s. “Figured it was worth it. And then Nathan came up with a better solution.”
“I need some time to think about this,” Zoë said, rubbing at her eyes. “Will they be here to talk in the morning?”
Jack looked to Nathan, who nodded. “Yeah, I’ll have them stay,” Jack told her, and she stood, looking at them both for a long moment.
“Night, Dad,” she mumbled finally. Her footsteps echoed on the stairs for a moment, and Jack sighed, turning to Nathan.
“That could have been worse,” he groaned, dropping his head against the other man’s shoulder.
“It’ll be okay,” Nathan reassured him, tugging him into a tight embrace. “We’ll talk more in the morning, and we’ll have Allison to help us not make more of a hideous mess of the whole thing.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, letting Nathan help him to his feet, suddenly impressed by how Nathan had just put everything on the line for Zoë, which was probably terrifying for him. “Hey,” he said, pulling Nathan to a stop at the base of the stairs. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Nathan said, kissing him gently. “But you better not be saying that because you think Zoë’s too scary for me,” he teased.
“No, I’m saying it because you were good with her tonight, and that means a lot to me,” Jack explained, pulling Nathan down for a second soft kiss, lingering a little this time. “Let’s get back to bed before Allison misses us.”
Jack turned, catching the bit of movement at the top of the stairs that told him Zoë had witnessed the exchange. He tensed, and Nathan eased an arm around his waist. “Trust me, it can only have helped her to see and hear that,” Nathan whispered in his ear as they entered the bedroom. Jack waited for Nathan to slide back in to the middle, but the other man gestured him forward. “I think you need the support tonight,” he observed quietly, sliding in after Jack and wrapping his arms tightly around Jack.
“You okay?” Allison murmured, turning over sleepily and burrowing into Jack automatically.
“Zoë’s home,” Jack told her, and Allison continued to drowse for one long sleepy moment before her eyes flew open, suddenly awake.
“Is she okay?” Allison demanded, and then her eyes went wider. “You had to tell her about us. Didn’t you?”
“It’s okay, we screwed it up royally and you’ll have to fix it all tomorrow,” Jack informed her, and Allison rolled her eyes.
“Took it better than you thought?” Allison deduced, wrapping herself into Jack a little more tightly. Nathan followed her lead, leaving Jack buried in a tangle of limbs, comfortingly and solidly connected to the other two.
“She wants tonight to think,” Jack explained, and Allison nodded.
“Okay,” she replied, settling in. “We just have to be careful, make sure we’re open with her. We only get one chance at this, after all.”
*-*
“Morning,” Nathan greeted Jack, stepping into the shower behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist.
“Uh, daughter in the house,” Jack reminded him, feeling a little wave of panic.
“Allison’s downstairs, working on breakfast,” Nathan informed him, his fingers sliding down to tease Jack, who, despite his panic, could feel his body perking up in interest. “She figured Zoë might like a chance to talk to her alone before we joined them. And she thought I might calm you down.”
“Yeah?” Jack asked, about to give Nathan a hard time about how calm he was, when he was spun around, surprised by Nathan dropping to his knees and sucking Jack’s cock into his mouth. Jack had done this to Nathan dozens of times and enjoyed it, but Nathan had never returned the favor. Nathan had very few barriers with sex, and the one Jack had expected given the other man’s control issues, bottoming, had proven to be something Nathan enjoyed without hesitation, unlike this. “Fuck,” he cursed as Nathan’s fingers began teasing his ass, bracing an arm against the wall.
Nathan hollowed his cheeks, tongue twisting in ways that left Jack shaking and swiftly shuddering to climax. Nathan lapped his way back up Jack’s torso, rinsing his mouth quickly before pulling a languid Jack into a fierce kiss. “Helped?” Nathan smirked knowingly.
“You have an aversion to doing that, or have you just never done that before?” Jack asked quietly, as they helped each other clean up.
“I don’t…” Nathan swallowed hard, looking at Jack warily. “It’s… intimate. Takes more trust, as far as I’m concerned. It’s stupid, I know, but it’s hard for me to let someone…to be…”
Jack cut him off with a kiss, amazed by the admission. “It’s not stupid, Nathan. It never is with you.” He pulled the other man closer. “Shall we go face my daughter?” he asked after a long moment, just holding Nathan.
“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, but his fingers tightened on Jack.
“What?” Jack asked, pulling back far enough to see Nathan’s face, little lines of worry crinkling his eyes.
“I… god, Jack, I want her to be okay with us,” Nathan admitted in a rush. “I didn’t realize it would matter so much to me.”
“I did,” Jack informed him, pushing a bit of Nathan’s wet hair back from his face. “I knew when you offered her that internship that you’d want her to accept this. And she will. Just be patient.”
“Not good at patience,” Nathan replied, shutting off the water.
They dressed quickly, and Jack headed downstairs first, finding Allison and Zoë working on rolling out homemade cinnamon rolls. He paused, listening for a moment, a blush rising on his face when he caught up to the discussion. “-enjoy watching them together too. They’re very passionate about me, but trust me, they’re that way about each other.”
Jack cleared his throat, and both women turned, Allison giving him a knowing grin. “Seriously, Jack, she’s almost 17 and she asked.”
“She asked about your fascination for watching me and Nathan together?” Jack countered, enjoying the little bit of embarrassment in Allison’s features. He came around the island, leaning down and kissing Allison quickly. He then leaned over and kissed Zoë’s forehead. “You doing okay?” he asked her seriously, noticing how red her face was.
“It’s just a little weird,” she admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I can see why you’d be with Allison, and I can sort of see why you’d be with Stark, I just sort of short circuit at the all together part.”
“Got a better solution?” Jack asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I couldn’t come up with one, and you know how miserable I was before I was with them.”
“Yeah, I know,” Zoë agreed softly. “I just wish you’d told me.”
“Well, actually, we’d been planning to this weekend,” Allison told her, smiling at her. “Nathan and I both want to be around more and want you to have a chance to maybe start getting used to us being around.”
“You sound like this is really serious,” Zoë observed, folding her arms suspiciously.
“It is,” Nathan put in, as he came down the last of the stairs. “Did I forget to mention I plan on marrying them?”
Zoë coughed, choking on her orange juice at this. “That’s totally not legal,” she exclaimed, looking over at Jack. “He’s having fun with me, isn’t he?”
“Well, he’s mentioned it before,” Jack admitted, frowning at Nathan. “Are you serious?”
“Completely,” Nathan replied, adjusting his shirt cuffs. “And no, not legal, I suppose, but we can make it contractual and spiritual, which is close enough in my book. Given that Eureka really lacks a proper state authority, we probably could write our own legal code…”
“Whoa, check the power trip at the door,” Jack remarked, giving Nathan a sidelong glance. “And I’m not going to be ready to consider this whole marriage or pseudo-marriage thing for a while yet.”
“Stop being useless and set the table,” Allison instructed them, beckoning Zoë back over to help her with the cinnamon rolls. “They’ll bicker for a while about Nathan’s power issues and your dad’s panic attacks, and I’ll finish showing you how to make these.”
“Thanks,” Zoë said, returning to stuffing cinnamon paste along the dough strips. “Do you want to marry them?” she asked softly, trying to ignore her dad and Nathan play fighting.
“I don’t know yet, sweetheart,” Allison admitted. “It’s easiest for Nathan. He loves your dad and I completely. And your dad and I love him just as much. But we’re still getting to know each other and figure out how our lives will fit together.”
“I can’t imagine Nathan Stark in love with my dad,” Zoë admitted, shaking her head as she looked over to see the two men doing tug of war over a plate.
“Watch,” Allison told her, leaning in close to murmur in a low tone. “He’ll give in to your dad, he always does on the little stuff. He can’t on so many big things, so he gives him more here.” As she predicted, Nathan let go, giving Jack a quick kiss as he did, then his face went impassive when he saw them watching. The contrast hit Zoë, and she sighed. The man was head over heels for her dad.
“He’s nervous, sweetie,” Allison confided in her. “He loves your dad, and you come with that deal. It’s easier for me, I’m always a mom. Nathan gets to be a dad sometimes, but never to a teenage girl.”
Zoë nodded thoughtfully and watched Allison roll up the dough and set it in the pan. She repeated Allison’s movements, grinning when she produced a near perfect roll and tucked it into the pan. “So, Dr. Stark,” she started, as he crossed over, sitting on a stool across the counter from her, unbuttoning his cuffs, rolling up his sleeves, and starting to roll up dough.
“Nathan,” he corrected her, giving her a half smile. “At least, outside of GD.”
“Call him Nathan at GD, too,” Allison said dryly, though her eyes flickered pointedly in Nathan’s direction. “He could use the ego check.”
“No kidding,” Jack echoed, settling on the stool next to Nathan.
“Fine, Nathan,” Zoë continued, ignoring the other two teasing him. “Why do you want to marry my dad?”
“It’s been a long time since anyone stood up to me, fought back with me,” Nathan told her. “I need that. You dad made me feel alive. And somewhere along the way, that turned into caring about him enough to put a hole in my office wall after he almost died in that therapy device.”
“You punched a wall?” Zoë asked, wide eyed. Jack and Allison were both staring at him as well.
“Not exactly proud of how often he makes me lose control,” Nathan muttered, obviously uncomfortable.
“Dad?” Zoë asked, her voice small. Jack immediately looked over, concern clear on his face. Zoë loved that her dad had changed over the past two years enough to read the little signs and instantly get worried. “You’re happy? Even though you get weird about the whole monogamy thing?”
“I sort of… redefined some things,” Jack told her. “It may not be about monogamy, Zo, but you better believe I’d be just as gone if either of them stepped outside this arrangement.”
“Fidelity,” Allison put in helpfully, reaching across the counter and squeezing Jack’s hand gently. “Right there with you.”
“And yes,” Jack said to Zoë, though his eyes were locked on Allison’s. “I’m happy.”
Zoë was quiet for a while, processing, and the adults wisely stepped back and let her as she finished getting ready for school before settling in to eat breakfast. “I thought you were going in casual, just overseeing the new clock,” Allison said to Nathan, wrinkling her nose at his shirt and tie.
“Thorne called and asked me to see her at 11,” Nathan replied, rolling his eyes.
“Huh, that’s the same message I got,” Jack said around a mouthful of cinnamon roll. His eyes met Nathan’s and his shoulders sagged. “Oh.”
“What?” Zoë asked, curious.
“Redactions,” all three adults said in unison. Zoë giggled, suddenly catching a little hint of the synchronicity that came with the relationship.
“So, basically, I’m the only one who actually took the day off,” Allison remarked, narrowing her eyes at the two of them.
“You knew it was too good to be true,” Jack said, shrugging. “And in my defense, I told Thorne I was off today, she just didn’t care.”
“I tried to pass the clock off to Fargo,” Nathan added. “Maybe we should blow off Thorne.”
“That’ll just mean Monday redactions,” Jack said, shaking his head. “We can stretch these to give people the weekend to deal with getting their homes packed up and new places to go figured out.”
“Good point,” Nathan agreed, nodding.
“Well, since you two won’t play hooky with me, I want your permission to take Zoë to Portland, do a girls’ day shopping,” Allison gave Zoë a small smile. “If you won’t be missing too much school work, of course.”
“No, that’d be great,” Zoë said happily. “If it’s okay with Dad?”
“Just… leave some money on my card, okay?” he grumped. “And, um, pick up some of those natural linen sheet things for the guest room. Aunt Lexi is coming to visit next week.”
“Aunt Lexi?” Zoë sat up excited. “Really?”
“She wanted to come this week, but I wanted you to know about the three of us first,” Jack told her, shrugging. “So I told her to wait till next week, but yeah, she’ll be visiting.”
“Oh, you’re gonna have to tell Aunt Lexi,” Zoë said, looking excited. “She’ll flip. She loves crazy outside the box social anthropology.”
Allison was looking a little baffled, and Nathan was bordering on insulted, so Jack shifted the subject quickly. “And we should probably talk about if and when we want to tell her or anyone else in town for that matter.”
“Dinner tonight, say seven?” Nathan suggested, looking at Allison. “That enough time for shopping?”
Allison gave Zoë an appraising look, and Zoë wrinkled her nose. “Make it eight,” she replied.
“Done,” Jack agreed, standing. Allison and Zoë started helping him clean, while Nathan tugged on his jacket. “Nathan, I’ll see you at GD in couple hours,” Jack told him, and Nathan paused, seeing all three of them looking at him. “Just try not to freak out too much till I get there to calm you down?”
“Dr. Stark,” Zoë said, offering him a smile. “You’ll be around to help me with my projections on Monday, right?”
Jack exchanged a look with Allison, who had one of her absolutely breathtaking smiles aimed at Zoë. Nathan smiled, nodding to Zoë, and headed out to his car. Jack oofed in surprise as Allison slammed into him, hugging him tightly. “You did good with her,” Allison muttered into his shoulder, tugging Zoë over to them and hugging her.
“Okay,” Zoë gave her dad a look, and he shrugged.
“She gets protective of Nathan,” Jack explained. “And you just said exactly the right thing to reassure him that you don’t hate him.”
“Oh, well, I guess I’m trying to say if you two make Dad happy, then I’ll get over it or figure it out or something,” Zoë shrugged, and Allison squeezed her shoulder.
“Seriously, you can ask us anything,” Allison reassured her. “And when your dad and Nathan turn red and start sputtering, then you can ask me.”
*-*
“Good morning, sorry to drag you in here today, but I have another round of redactions for you,” Thorne said as Jack entered GD, barely taking a breath or pausing as she handed him a file. “I’m not entirely certain where Dr. Stark is, but technically these are his responsibility, so please make sure you find him…”
“Not necessary,” Nathan’s voice broke in, and Jack felt a few of his muscles unclench as he looked up at the handsome scientist. “Here,” Nathan let his fingers brush Jack’s subtly as he took the file. Jack waited, knowing he could save his own outburst as Nathan would have it covered. “There are over 20 names on this list,” Nathan observed, voice dark and sharp.
“Well, you’ll have to hurry to make your deadline for installing the clock,” Thorne said too sweetly. “I hear the Swiss are fuming.”
She strode away, and Jack rolled his eyes. “So what’s this clock thing I keep hearing about?” he asked as they headed down toward the elevators.
“You know how the Swiss had the time standard electron clock, the standard we set all other clocks by?” Nathan asked, looking a little skeptical.
“I’m not a complete loss,” Jack replied dryly.
“Well, as of six pm today, the standard will be here in Eureka with the new clock we’re installing,” Nathan explained, tapping his data pad in order to locate the first scientists on the list, then hitting the button for level 3.
“Well, that’s nice, and please, don’t take this the wrong way, but if that’s all, the whole install the clock thing seems a little outside your area,” Jack remarked, and then folded his arms, nodding. “Unless something in the clock is another one of your big bang machine developments.”
“Huh,” Nathan said, arching an eyebrow as they stepped off the elevator. “You really aren’t a complete loss, Carter.”
*-*
Nathan pulled up the last name on his list, sighing, and handing it over to Jack as he checked his watch. “Time’s getting tight,” he told Jack, who glared at him. “Fine, down to the lowest level of GD, to the maintenance lab,” Nathan conceded. “I wanted to show off the clock to you anyway.”
“Nice to know something you invented isn’t going to destroy the world,” Jack replied dryly. “This week anyway.”
“Don’t start…” Nathan began to say, then his arm flew out, barring Jack from entering the atrium. “Oh, you’re not stopping this one, Sheriff.”
Jack looked up just as the red haired scientist they had just redacted slapped Thorne. GD security was there a moment later, but Nathan couldn’t hide his grin quick enough to avoid Jack spotting it. “Just made your week, didn’t it?” Jack guessed, and Nathan’s grin grew.
“Oh yeah,” he agreed, falling into step next to Jack. He waited till they were safely in the elevator before he added, “That or the blowjob this morning.”
Jack made a strangled noise and turned the most fiery shade of red Nathan had ever seen. He made a point of looking around the empty elevator pointedly when Jack scowled at him. “Don’t know why I put up with you,” Jack grumbled.
“Pretty sure that’s also the bl—” Nathan cut himself off when the elevators opened to admit a scientist. The look on Jack’s face told him the sheriff had known exactly where the sentence was going though. As soon as the other scientist stepped off the elevator, Jack hit Nathan in the arm.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Jack asked, and Nathan shrugged.
“I just feel… alive,” he concluded with a wink, and Jack grinned. They rounded the corner, walking through sliding doors as a flash of bright purple energy filled the room. “Okay, that’s it,” Nathan exclaimed, pulling Jack back out of the lab. “Weinbrenner gets to deal with a redaction on Monday, I’m not doing this. In fact I’m not sure I’m redacting anyone else. These cuts are getting too extreme, GD’s not going to be able to function safely at this rate.”
“Okay,” Jack replied, looking amused as they stepped back into the elevator. He waited till the elevator was empty, then Jack pushed the stop button.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asked, and Jack crooked a finger at him.
“I learned something interesting from Jo and Zane,” Jack informed him with a grin. “No security cameras in the back elevators.” He pulled Nathan toward him, and Nathan came willingly, pressing Jack back into the wall. He kissed him, taking his time to thoroughly explore Jack’s mouth before pulling away.
“Good to know,” Nathan said, before restarting the elevator. He was tempted to ask why Jack had stopped the elevator, but then caught his own words. GD and safety. He tucked that button away for future messing with Jack. They headed to the lab where Fargo was taking the delivery of the clock. “Fargo,” Nathan greeted the younger man, taking the data pad Fargo offered.
“Uh, Sheriff,” Fargo greeted Jack looking a little baffled. “He doesn’t need to sign off on this,” Fargo remarked, and Nathan spared Fargo a quick glare.
“The sheriff is here at my request,” Nathan said simply, signing the form with a flourish. “Let’s get this installed.”
Later, when Jack was sprawled casually on one of the lab stools in a manner that was giving Nathan dozens of ideas, he asked, “So, if we have the standard of time, and we’re a secret town, how’s the rest of the world going to set their clocks by us?”
“They think it’s in Seattle,” Nathan explained, handing a cord to Fargo.
“So, really, the Swiss are fuming at Seattle,” Jack observed, a little bit teasing, and Nathan had to bite his lip to stop a smile.
“GD’s name is on the patent,” Fargo said impatiently. “Along with mine and Dr. Stark’s and several other Eureka scientists.”
“Well, on the bright side, it’s just the Swiss,” Jack remarked brightly. “You’ll never be able to get a decent Rolex or pocket knife again, but they won’t exactly nuke us.”
Nathan snorted, just barely suppressing a grin, but the moment didn’t go unnoticed by Fargo, who was looking between them a little speculatively. “Your simplicity never fails to amaze me, Carter,” Nathan snarked, putting his assistant back on an even keel.
“Yeah, how much longer till this thing takes over time as we know it?” Jack asked, sighing and spinning the stool, obviously bored.
“6 pm,” Nathan reminded him.
“And what if it doesn’t work?” Jack asked, frowning.
“We miss the only window between now and 2036 to sync up, and I get to continue to wear Rolexes,” Nathan deadpanned, catching the appreciative grin on the sheriff’s face. He finished the set up, stepped free of the vacuum tube, and tugged off the top of the clean suit. “Late lunch, Sheriff?”
“Very late, but I’m game,” Jack agreed, ignoring the open mouthed shock on Fargo’s face. “Café Diem?”
“Sounds good,” Nathan agreed, imputing the last values into his data pad and handing it to Fargo without a second glance.
Nathan couldn’t help noticing the stares around them and a few speculative glances, which Jack seemed oblivious to as he placed an order for lamb curry, the same as Nathan had just ordered. Vince had stared in amazement, then scrambled away before Jack could change his mind. “Where’s your head?” Jack asked, noticing Nathan’s look around the café.
“Trying to guess how people will react,” he admitted, shrugging. “Vince, for example, will probably make several complaints to Allison about it being unfair that she’s taking two good looking men off the market.”
Jack nodded, understanding the game. “Fargo will finally have a breakdown, babble incoherently around us for weeks.”
“Jo’s going to try to shoot you,” Nathan predicted, steepling his fingers as he thought. “Or me, for messing with you.”
“Zane won’t be surprised,” Jack remarked, giving Vince a look as he set coffee on the table. Vince moved on, rolling his eyes at being unable to eavesdrop. “I’ve seen Vince’s betting book. He’s betting on a threesome.”
“Knew he was crazy,” Nathan replied. “Speaking of, tell me about your sister.”
“Not much to tell,” Jack said, shrugging. “You’ll hate her. She’s a hippie new age anti-science type. She doesn’t like me much because I think some rules are supposed to be followed. Thinks I’m like my dad.”
“Are you?” Nathan asked, sipping his coffee.
“My dad wouldn’t be sleeping with a man or having a threesome,” Jack muttered quietly, shrugging. “He was a hard man. Inflexible to an extreme. Finally cut her off completely about sixteen years ago after she ran off, and me a few years earlier when I decided against a military career Disapproved of… everything.”
“Ahh,” Nathan murmured, nodding his thanks to Vince as he set down their lunch.
“I just want to point out that you two are scaring my customers,” Vince said, folding his arms and eyeing them curiously. “It’s one thing when Allison is here to force you to play nice, but this is sort of freaky.”
“We called a truce,” Jack replied, rolling his eyes. “And everyone else can mind their own damn business.”
“Like that’ll happen in this town,” Nathan remarked, breaking off a bit of naan.
“You’re supposed to be scary,” Jack remarked, stealing the naan from Nathan. “Shut ‘em up.”
“It’s a lot easier when you don’t undermine it by snatching bread right out of my hand,” Nathan scowled, breaking off some more naan and pulling his hand back quickly.
“Please, I think you’re losing your touch,” Jack replied, looking over at Vince. “You scared?”
“I’ll be back with a refill on coffee,” Vince dodged when Nathan turned a glare on him.
“Maybe you’re not losing your touch,” Jack said, biting into the lamb curry. “Though you are in a weird mood today.”
“Maybe I’m in love,” Nathan said softly, though there was a mocking light in his eyes. “Or maybe you’re getting too used to me being nice. I’ll have to do something about that.”
He saw Jack swallow hard and started to grin, thinking that he still needed to turn the tables on Jack for the punishment he’d gotten after the dream sharing incident. “It really isn’t nice of you to undermine my scariness, Sheriff,” he added, narrowing his eyes and sliding his foot along Jack’s calf teasingly. His grin grew when Jack shifted in his seat and glared at him.
“Coffee?” Vince asked, oblivious to the tension at the table. Nathan held up his cup, trying not to smile.
*-*
Jack was breathing hard, collapsed against Nathan’s chest, slowly coming back down from his high. “I take it all back, you’re still evil,” he murmured, and Nathan chuckled, pulling him up into a fierce kiss.
“Glad to hear it,” he murmured, checking the clock, knowing Jack needed a little rest after the intense round of lovemaking and decided an hour and a half would work. “SARAH, wake us up about seven?”
“Of course, Nathan,” he heard the AI say as he drifted off.
*-*
Jack was spun around, surprised by Nathan dropping to his knees and sucking Jack’s cock into his mouth. It took him a moment to process where he was, the hot water cascading over his shoulders baffling him. Nathan, likewise, had backed off Jack’s quickly fading erection, looking a little puzzled.
“I’m having déjà vu,” Jack said, frowning at Nathan. “And not sure how I got to the shower.”
“Me either,” Nathan replied, slowly standing, and Jack could see him mentally running through his memories. “Last thing I remember, we went to sleep after some really good sex.”
“Yeah, I’m still feeling it,” Jack admitted, smiling wryly as he showed Nathan the faint finger shaped bruises around his wrists. Nathan took the wrists, gently kissing the marks, making Jack smile. “We manage to black out till morning?”
“I guess,” Nathan sounded skeptical. “I told SARAH to wake us. I’d think if we hadn’t woken up, we’d be surrounded by GD medics.” Jack nodded his agreement, trying to wrack his brain for any memory after falling asleep. A sharp intake of breath from Nathan caught his attention. “We should check downstairs, make sure Allison and Zoë made it home.”
“Oh,” Jack panicked a little, turning off the shower, a little concerned. If they’d slept straight through… god, what if Allison and Zoë hadn’t made it home… He and Nathan threw on clothing, racing down the stairs in time to hear Allison say, “-enjoy watching them together too. They’re very passionate about me, but trust me… they’re that way about each other… uh, good morning,” she stared as the two men halted, looking surprised. “Relax, she’s 17 and curious,” Allison remarked, returning to rolling up a cinnamon roll.
“This isn’t just déjà vu or a memory blackout,” Jack said, turning to Nathan in alarm. “What just happened?”
“It’s not possible,” Nathan replied, his features pale. “Time doesn’t repeat, it would mean a break down in cosmic laws.”
“Okay, I know it’s scary to talk to me about sex, but you two are being ridiculous,” Zoë said, frowning at them. “Seriously, Dad…”
“It’s not about that,” Jack replied, but he pulled her into a loose hug, worried by the look on Nathan’s face. “How big of trouble are we in?”
“Huge,” Nathan replied quietly. “World ending. Not to mention I don’t know what could have caused a time loop.”
Allison set down the dough she’d been kneading, looking worriedly over at them. “If time is looping, and you two are the only ones aware, I’m not going to be much help. You’ll spend too much time catching me up as you start figuring it out,” she observed quietly. “What are you going to do?”
“Enjoy myself while I figure out what caused it,” Nathan replied, grinning wolfishly at her. “Wanna see Thorne get slapped?”
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 01:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 02:35 am (UTC)I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for reading/reviewing!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 07:47 am (UTC);snicker
it's not nice but I'd rather lose her than my two boys
thanks for continuing this, I really never thought I'd like the idea of a 3some but you handle it so well I'm rooting for them! Almost teared up when Nathan admitted he was the one that couldn't decide
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 06:42 pm (UTC)Aww, thanks! Threesome is sort of challenging, especially if you're not doing it just as a pwp oneshot. Glad you're enjoying it, and thanks for reading & reviewing!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 07:49 am (UTC)(Um. Also, hi, I'm Maat, I just got into Eureka fandom and have been binge-reading your stories!)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-28 06:44 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's a very small little niche for fandom, so I'm glad people like it! Thanks for reading & reviewing!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-01 07:52 pm (UTC)I, too, love this story and love the idea of the threesome. It's not easy juggling three characters in a relationship story-wise and you're doing a great job, very true to the characters and believable. I can easily see these three getting older together.
I'm really looking forward to seeing where you take this. Also, thank you for the 'story recs' post earlier. It pointed me in some new directions and was really helpful and appreciated. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-03-02 07:14 pm (UTC)Glad to hear you like the threesome (and yes, very difficult to juggle three characters, especially these three!)
And you're more than welcome for the story recs! It's something I had been asked for so many times and just finally got around to!
Thanks for reading & reviewing!
Another great chapter!
Date: 2009-03-13 11:39 am (UTC)Re: Another great chapter!
Date: 2009-03-14 05:50 am (UTC)=) I promise there will be death, some permanent, some not.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Glad you're enjoying it!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-03 11:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-05 08:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-25 12:05 am (UTC)Finally getting around to reading this one! =D I'm still not a big ot3 gal, but I like how you're writing this. =) And thank goodness for another take on this episode...
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-25 02:32 am (UTC)Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it, even if it's not your usual cup of tea! Thanks for reading and reviewing!