Twice in a Lifetime, Part 2 of 9 - Chapter 1

[serene_quill]

Title: Twice in a Lifetime – Part 2/9 - Chapter One
Pairing: Jack/Nathan
Rating: this segment PG, overall NC-17
Word Count: ~5500
Warnings: AU, general insane plot bunny that got out of its cage when it’s highly likely that it shouldn’t have.
Disclaimer: No, I don’t own them. If anyone who does own them finds me witty enough to give them to me though, I won’t object!
Summary: When you’re messing with quantum mechanics and looping in time, you never can be sure how many times you’ve tried to correct the same mess. Because it is a time loop, because only a select one or two carry the memories, it is entirely possible that the events of “Once in a Lifetime” were just one loop. This story is one time where Henry got it just right for himself and Jack, Nathan and Allison didn’t manage to stop Henry when they sent someone back, causing the next loop, the events of episode 112, “Once in a Lifetime”. But those events don’t matter now. Because this is the story of the loop before. And while in quantum mechanics, it didn’t actually happen, in the heart it did actually happen.



Chapter the First, In Which There Occurs A Brush With Death, A Reluctant Invitation, and A Day Which Most Definitely Requires Espresso

8:00 am, October 3, 2006 (The Morning of the Accident)

Nathan straightened his tie, looking around Café Diem as he waited for Vince to finish making his espresso. His foot was tapping, impatience leaking out past his normally cool façade. He wanted to be at Global Dynamics, now, ten minutes ago, could Vince be any… His thoughts stuttered to a stop as he spotted Sheriff Carter entering the Café, a bit of concern already tugging at the corners of the other man’s eyes. “Morning, Stark,” he greeted the other man absently, obviously thinking about something else. “Vince, very, very large coffee, please.”

“I could make it with a shot of espresso, like Dr. Stark is having,” Vince suggested as he worked the complicated machine.

Nathan watched as Carter eyed him for a moment, shrugged, and nodded. “Sure, why not?” he agreed. “Seems like it’s going to be that kind of a day.”

“Things already going awry, Sheriff?” Nathan couldn’t keep himself from needling the other man. True, he had more important things to worry about today, but it was just too much fun to resist.

“Yeah, laugh while you can,” Carter returned dryly. “Henry stopped me in a half panic on his way up to GD looking for you. If whatever it is has him that worked up, then I’m figuring the world is ending. So I’ll need at least a large coffee to stop whatever you’re about to do wrong.”

“Now, now,” Nathan mock-scolded, though his mind was already turning over Carter’s words. “Talk like that ended up with us locked in your bunker.”

“Heh, yeah,” Carter agreed sheepishly. “That’s why I installed a skylight. Escape route.”

“Probably a good plan. By the way, I hear New Zealand isn’t a bad choice for escapist dream homes,” Nathan added.

“Those were nice, weren’t they?” Carter agreed eagerly, before remembering to guard himself. Nathan could almost see the other man remember that he was speaking to a rival, not a friend, and found himself oddly regretting it. They lapsed into silence, and Nathan turned his feelings over in his head. He enjoyed sparring with the Sheriff, almost as much as he enjoyed it with Allison. In another time and place, he could see being friends with the man, and not for the first time he found himself wondering how they would interact if Allison weren’t part of the equation.

“Here you go,” Vince said cheerfully, handing them each a tall to-go cup. “Good luck with the big test, Dr. Stark. Try not to kill anyone, blow anything up, give the Sheriff a day off!”

Nathan rolled his eyes at Vince’s poor attempt at a joke, while Carter let out the little huff of breath that Nathan realized was his way of laughing when something wasn’t quite funny to him. He nodded to Carter, pausing as they hit the sidewalk. “By the way, Sheriff, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on my jury duty letter,” he deadpanned. He had drafted the letter currently in the Sheriff’s inbox mostly to annoy the other man, while the real one had already been filed with the county.

“Oh, God, what?” Carter groaned, trailing after him. “Go on, might as well tell me yourself.”

Nathan grinned at the Sheriff. “I’d rather make sure I’ve got a running start. I imagine I’ll see you later today, Sheriff.”

“Looking forward to it,” Carter grumbled, trudging toward the station. Nathan watched him go, surprised to find himself echoing the sentiment in his mind, sans sarcasm. He turned back toward his car, finding Taggart standing between him and the BMW.

“Yes?” Nathan inquired, surprised at being pinned by the other man’s too direct staring.

“You pulled girls’ pigtails in grade school, didn’t you?” Taggart observed, stating the question rather than asking. “Yeah, I figured. Humans aren’t so much more complicated than animals. Don’t know what Jo was on about.” With that, the zoologist wandered off to Café Diem, where Nathan briefly entertained the mental image of him hunting down and killing his pancakes for breakfast. Shaking his head clear and focusing on the artifact, he got into his car.

His espresso-improved coffee was gone by the time he entered GD, finding Allison waiting for him, an arch look of amusement clearly written across her face. “I’m passing on a message from Carter,” she informed him, falling into step with him. “And I quote, ‘Not a snowball’s chance in Hell’. He was laughing though, which is new for the two of you. What did you do?”

Nathan grinned, shaking his head. “You’ll have to ask him,” he replied. “Kim in the lab?”

“She said she’ll be ready for you about 9:15,” Allison replied. “She’s running a little early, actually.”

“Good to hear,” Nathan replied, leaving Allison behind as he entered his office. He started working, hoping to distract his over excited nerves as he waited for the clock to reach 9:15.

“Dr. Stark? They’re waiting for you in Section 5. The big test?”

He found himself uneasily missing something as he pushed past Beverly and Fargo and headed for the labs. It was bothering him more than he cared to admit, but his equilibrium was upset, and something felt… off. He nodded to Kim, seeing her suddenly drawing to the top of his mind the fact that Henry had been looking for him urgently this morning but had failed to appear. “Have you seen Henry this morning?” he asked Kim between test checks.

“No, why?” she asked, looking at him blankly.

“Carter mentioned he was looking for me,” he replied easily. “Thought if you knew why I might save him the trouble. Sorry, please continue.”

“That’s all, we’re ready to get started,” Kim replied easily. Nathan nodded, and she turned back to the console in front of her. “All rover computer links are up and running.”

“Let’s mark the time and date,” Nathan instructed, his voice wavering a bit with anticipation. He couldn’t shake how excited he was feeling, but something seemed off to him still, nagging at him.

“9:27 am, October 3rd, 2006,” Kim announced.

“Let’s take her for a test drive,” Nathan quipped, sounding more at ease than he felt. He watched intently as Kim reached for the rover’s controls.

“We’re at marginal proximity,” Kim reported to him, her eyes lit up with curiosity, waiting for a go order from him.

“Let’s proceed,” Nathan replied, knowing a little of his own excitement was leaking out for Kim to see. She smiled, turning back to the controls. She was about to move the dial as the doors burst open.

“Stop!”

Nathan jumped, startled, turning toward the yell and seeing a frantic looking Henry entering. “What are you doing?” he asked, frowning. “You don’t even have clearance for this section, Henry.”

“I know,” he panted, bending in half as he caught his breath. “But you’ve got to stop the test. I think the rover’s been sabotaged.”

“Is that possible?” Nathan demanded, looking to Kim. Kim was looking frantically between the two men, shrugging helplessly.

“It’s been stored in Section Five,” she replied, a non-answer, but it gave Henry his opening.

“Which I just breached,” he pointed out. “Please, Nathan.”

Nathan stared, taken aback by the desperation in the other man’s voice. His mind flickered briefly to his own disquiet, and he nodded. “Anyone other than you, Henry,” he mused aloud, nodding to Kim. “Shut it down.”

“Yes, sir,” she agreed, ignoring the open mouthed gaping from the other scientists around them.

“You can’t just—” Dr. Brock started to object.

“I can, and I did,” Nathan retorted. “We’re not risking that artifact, or our lives for that matter, when we have a warning that something is wrong. I want all systems checked, every piece of data run again, every wheel and gear checked on the rover. Report to me in 24 hours.”

He shifted back, seeing Henry embracing Kim tightly. He knew his eyebrows were approaching his hairline. Henry didn’t do such intimate gestures in public. “Henry?” he asked, trying to keep his disappointment out of his voice.

“I got some information, passed on anonymously that the test was sabotaged, to cause an accident and destroy the artifact,” Henry replied, not letting go of Kim. “Typed, slipped under my door, no fingerprints or skin tags. Totally clean. Someone didn’t take any chances. But if it’s true…”

“We’d probably be dead,” Kim concluded, sharing a look with Nathan. “The potential explosion could have taken out all of GD.”

“Everything will be checked,” Nathan repeated, feeling unsteady again. A thought broke into his mind, and he frowned. “Why didn’t you mention this to Carter this morning?”

“Wasn’t sure about how classified this was,” Henry replied, and Nathan spent a long moment evaluating the statement. “Didn’t figure he had clearance,” Henry added, and Nathan nodded. Henry wasn’t a great liar, Nathan knew, and while he was telling the truth, it seemed off somehow. His head was starting to pound a little, making him even more uncertain.

“Excuse me,” Nathan managed to say, stepping out of the room, heading straight toward the elevator. Seeing Fargo coming up fast behind him, Nathan punched the doors closed, gaining a moment of solitude. He hit the button for the surface, deciding to take a moment alone before he returned to his office. His disappointment was bitter, but it paled in comparison to the odd shaking at his core. He walked over to his car, perching on the rear fender as he breathed deeply, trying to calm his whirling emotions. His head was aching fiercely now. His center lurched further as the familiar tan Jeep pulled into a spot near his.

“Scientific immunity?” Carter’s voice called out, and Nathan drew a blank, his mind halting. “You must be kidding.”

Nathan still looked blank as Carter drew even with him, and the sheriff frowned. “Are you okay?” he inquired, and Nathan studied the other man’s face. The worried lines were present along Carter’s eyes, but deeper, in the set of his mouth as well, something he only recalled seeing when they went after Callister and Zoë.

“I didn’t realize you cared,” he replied, but the usual mocking tone didn’t make it to his voice. He coughed, trying to get the too perceptive man to ignore it.

“You’re shaking,” Carter observed, and Nathan clenched his fists, trying to control it. “I don’t think so, come on,” he said, offering a supportive hand under Nathan’s elbow. “Allison would kill me if I didn’t make you go to the infirmary.”

“No,” Nathan protested, shaking his head, even as his equilibrium dropped further. “I’m just… I…” His free hand, unsupported by Carter shot out to catch himself on the tail of the BMW.

“Here,” Carter looped an arm around his waist and Nathan held on, his head lurching.

“I think we found Henry’s sabotage,” Nathan managed to quip, and Carter pulled him tighter.

“Sabotage?” he demanded, and Nathan’s head lolled onto his shoulder as they entered the elevator. “What’s going on, Nathan?”

“Henry thinks a test we were doing might have been sabotaged,” Nathan replied, aware that he was shaking harder. “And something is wrong with me now.”

“Yeah, I’d say you’ve been sabotaged,” Carter agreed. “Who have you been with this morning?”

“After I left you, I saw Taggart, then Allison, then Fargo, then Kevin and Dr. Kwan, then Kim and Dr. Brock,” Nathan summed up. “I was alone most of the morning.” They reached the infirmary, where Carter surprisingly held onto him until he was safely reclining on one of the beds, in a back room off the main infirmary. Nathan would have been grateful for Carter’s quick thinking, keeping him out of the eye of most of GD, if his head hadn’t jumped on a turntable just then. Carter moved out of the way of a doctor with a hand held MRI, and Nathan suddenly remembered one more person to add to Carter’s list. “Beverly. I saw Beverly too.”

“Okay, I got it,” Carter replied, but he didn’t make any move to leave.

“Aren’t you going to go investigate?” he asked, amused, and Carter shrugged, the worried lines deepening. It took him a moment, but it registered somewhere in his mind that Carter was scared, genuinely worried about him. Allison entered to hear the end of his comment, raising an eyebrow at Nathan.

“You’re sick and still bickering with him?” Allison observed, taking the scanner from the doctor. The room cleared out instantly, at Allison’s signal, for which Nathan was grateful.

“It’s too much fun to pass up,” Nathan replied, closing his eyes against a wave of dizziness. He felt a slight pinch on his neck as Allison did something he was sure he didn’t want to know about at that moment. The spinning sensation stopped, and Nathan’s stomach settled.

“What is that?” Carter’s voice was close, right at his side, and Nathan opened his eyes warily. Allison had a small microchip in her forceps, frowning at it curiously. “It looks like a bug.”

“Not a bad observation,” Nathan agreed, taking a deep breath. “Provided you mean surveillance device and not an insect, Sheriff.” Carter scowled at him, and Nathan smiled a little, feeling the vertigo recede. “Didn’t want to assume,” he added, noticing that a little of the worry was leaving the other man’s face as he harassed him.

“I’ll give it to Fargo,” Allison started, and Nathan shook his head, surprised when Carter also said, “No.”

They exchanged a look, and Carter gestured to Nathan to continue. “We should probably limit how many people know about this,” he explained. “Someone got close enough to plant a tracking device and we don’t want to send them running for cover.”

“Are we sure all it does is track or send data?” Carter asked, looking at Nathan critically. “You had an awfully strong reaction to it. I hate to be alarmist, but what if it’s supposed to hurt or kill you?”

“Wishful thinking, Sheriff?” Nathan asked, sighing at Allison’s reproachful look. “Give it to Henry, since he’s the one who suspected sabotage this morning. Shut down everyone in and out of section five except for the artifact team.” Allison turned to leave, but Nathan stopped her. “Not a word to anyone about my being all right,” he added. “I collapsed, critical condition?”

“Coma,” Carter suggested, grinning wickedly, looking like he was baring his teeth more than smiling. “If you’re going to sell a lie, lie big and showy,” he informed Nathan. “Fact is always stranger than fiction. Besides, that thing was in your head, so we can sell a coma, right?”

Allison smirked, looking impressed as Nathan stared at Carter. “I’m impressed, Carter. That actually made sense. Fine, comatose. I’ll go lay low at home.”

“Yeah, right,” Carter scoffed. “Like that’s not the first place someone will look for you.”

Allison folded her arms, lips pursed in thought. “I’d offer my place, Nathan, but it seems just as likely, and puts pressure on Kevin to keep a secret.” She looked at Carter, obviously imploring him.

Carter folded his arms, rolling his eyes. “Hermetically sealed bunker,” he grumbled. “You can stay, but one cross word to my daughter and you’re out.”

Nathan opened his mouth, and then closed it, realizing that anything he said now would sound like whining. A moment later, he didn’t really care if it did. “It has to be Carter?” he asked Allison plaintively.

“That or stay here in the infirmary instead of a holo-projection,” she replied firmly. “Personally, I think the holo-projection could stay still more easily than you, plus if you want status reports…”

“Fine, fine,” Nathan replied, irritated at being so thoroughly put in his place by the pair. “How are you smuggling me out of here?”

“After you’ve checked out completely healthy, we’ll discuss it,” Allison replied. She bagged the chip and handed it to Carter. “Take it to Henry, go about your day, and I’ll take care of getting Nathan to the bunker.”

“Definitely an espresso day,” Carter sighed, nodding to Nathan. He crossed toward the door, turning back with a trace of his usual boyish smile. “By the way, Stark, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t wish for someone else to do it. Jo cleared me for all the nifty weapons.” With that, he strolled out.

Nathan started to roll his eyes, but caught the bit of a soft look on Allison’s face as she watched Carter go. He watched her as she turned back to him, the soft look fading a bit and becoming mixed with irritation. “You find his sarcasm cuter than mine,” he observed, offering her a pretend pout.

“Just imagine how cute I find you two bickering then,” Allison replied, smiling a little as she touched his shoulder. “Are you really okay?”

“Dizziness is gone, I feel fine,” Nathan replied, shrugging. “Whatever the chip was doing, removing it certainly stopped it.”

“Well, thank goodness for small miracles,” Allison murmured, her grip tightening on his shoulder a little before she let go, adjusting some more readings on the scanner. “Okay, lie back and try to look dead. I’ll get some images for the holo-imager.”

Once Allison had done everything she could think of to convince anyone managing to sneak a glimpse inside the highly secured medical room, she helped him slip out the back door and to the bunker. She dropped him off, hurrying back to help keep up pretenses. Nathan trudged down to the front door, pleasantly surprised that the door opened for him when he approached.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Stark,” S.A.R.A.H. greeted him cheerfully. “Jack tells me you’re going to be staying with us. The guest bedroom upstairs is ready for you. What is your favorite dinner? I’m going to prepare it for this evening.”

Nathan frowned as he dropped onto one of the stools at the breakfast bar, wondering how Carter managed to maintain his sanity around the feminized Fargo voice. “Uh, do you know how to make Simon and Garfunkel Chicken?” he asked, half kidding, but S.A.R.A.H. chirped up, sounding more cheerful.

“Yes, it is one of Jack and Zoë’s favorites,” the house explained. “They usually make it with parmesan brown rice.”

“Sounds good,” Nathan replied, frowning in puzzlement. “S.A.R.A.H., was the recipe left in your database from when I was developing B.R.A.D.?”

“No, Dr. Stark,” the A.I. replied, bringing up a visual schematic of some recipe cards on her screen. “It was one Zoë provided to me. I believe the recipe originally belonged to Jack’s mother.”

“Huh,” Nathan shrugged, standing wearily. The mild sedative Allison had insisted on giving him to make sure he rested was starting to kick in with a vengeance. He would ponder his favorite meal coinciding with the Carter family’s at some other time. He climbed up the stairs slowly, the day slowly replaying in his brain. “S.A.R.A.H., wake me up around 4,” he instructed the house.

He peeked in one door, finding the room covered in posters of abstract art and half clad teen stars. “Zoë’s,” he decided, shuddering at the image of Orlando Bloom. He spotted the black and white Johnny Depp as he was closing the door and reevaluated, deciding she wasn’t totally hopeless.

He was surprised to note the made bed in the master suite and insane tidiness as he continued down the hall. He hadn’t pegged Carter as a neat freak, but the house, even when he’d been taking his two days off, had remained a bit too neat. Nathan looked around more carefully, noticing very few signs that the sheriff had made himself at home the way Zoë had. It looked… sterile. The thought left him unsettled. He hoped S.A.R.A.H. hadn’t picked up on it, or he might end up locked in again.

He finished the walk down the hall, surprised to find the guest room more homey than the master bedroom. A hand-sewn quilt covered the down comforter, and Nathan eased a hand over it, wondering how old it was. He tossed his jacket and tie onto a chair, and then unbuttoned his dress shirt before sitting down on the bed. He shucked the dress shirt, and his shoes, burrowing under the thick quilt and comforter. The mattress proved to be one of the special contouring ones most of Eureka now swore by, and Nathan didn’t remember anything until S.A.R.A.H. woke him later that afternoon.

He decided to forego redressing, rolling up the sleeves to his jersey as he walked downstairs, finding Zoë sitting at the counter with open schoolbooks. “I thought my dad was pulling an early April Fools joke when he said you were staying here.” She was blatantly staring at him.

“Well, if he didn’t mention it, I’m not here as far as anyone else knows. They all think I’m comatose.” Nathan walked to the fridge. “S.A.R.A.H., orange juice.” He drank half the glass in one gulp, shaking his head, trying to clear it.

“Allison drug you?” Zoë asked suspiciously. When Nathan glanced over in surprise, she added, “Yeah, she does that every time Dad gets hurt. Claims he won’t rest otherwise.”

“Sounds familiar,” Nathan agreed dryly. “Though it’s certainly not reassuring to hear she seems intent on drugging everyone.”

“You might keep an eye on her,” Zoë quipped, grinning. “One day, you’ll all be in drugged stupors, and she’ll be running this town.”

Nathan smiled, appreciating her sense of humor. “I’m just about done with this,” she told him. “And we’ve got the Notre Dame/Purdue game tivo’ed for tonight…” she trailed off, looking suspicious. “You’re not a USC fan, are you?”

Nathan shrugged, uncertain. “Should I be?”

“Not if you want to stay in this house,” she declared firmly, closing the chemistry text. “You do follow football, don’t you?” Her eyes went comically wide when he shook his head. “Okay, rule one, from here on out, you’re a Fighting Irish fan. I’ll teach you the rest before Dad gets home.”

Nathan was surprised to find himself enjoying the rest of the afternoon while Zoë quite emphatically instructed him on football, using the game from a few weeks earlier, which she described as an epic example of good overcoming evil as Notre Dame beat Michigan State. Nathan translated USC into being roughly the football equivalent of Satan from Zoë’s commentary. Zoë had clearly inherited her father’s love for the game, and Nathan quickly developed a working understanding of the rules. It proved more complicated than he expected, and much more enjoyable.

“S.A.R.A.H. door,” Nathan looked up as Carter entered, looking worn out but pleased to see Zoë as she bounded up to greet him. He dropped a large duffel bag next to the couch, which Nathan recognized as his.

“Dad, you let a total Philistine into the house,” she despaired, shaking her head. “But don’t worry, I’ve already begun converting him to our side.”

“She got you hooked on football and made you an Irish fan?” Carter asked, easily translating her excited statements.

“Something like that,” Nathan agreed, standing and stretching. Zoë grabbed her book bag and bounded up the stairs, and Nathan took advantage of her absence to ask, “What’s the news from above?”

“Henry is going through all the results he got from the chip before it completely disintegrated,” Carter explained as he crossed to the fridge. “S.A.R.A.H., beer,” he requested, not really changing gears as he did. “He thinks something went wrong in the transmitting process, which is why it started affecting your balance. That or it had another program for killing you.”

“It…disintegrated?” Nathan repeated, skeptically.

“Oh, hang on.” Carter dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his notebook. “Henry says the device was a biodegradable compound, and because the degrading had already begun, he was too late to stop it from completely degrading into useless compounds.”

Nathan considered this and smirked. “It disintegrated,” he agreed, nodding. “Go on.”

“Henry will stop in early tomorrow morning and fill you in personally with all the details,” Carter said, obviously choosing to ignore Nathan’s sarcasm. “He also is bringing a spare laptop, with specs he was able to develop on the chip, the lab work from today’s tests, and some old research of yours so you don’t go stir crazy stuck in here. He was going to bring your laptop, but he couldn’t figure out how to get it out past Fargo. Who, by the way, is going crazy because he’s being kept in the dark and Allison will barely give him a status report.”

“Ah, glad I’m missing that,” Nathan decided, leaning against the island as Carter settled against the counter.

“Yeah, though I honestly expected to find you climbing the walls when I got back,” Carter observed, smirking. “You let her teach you football?”

“It was surprisingly more entertaining than I expected,” Nathan admitted. “And I figured I ought to know something before I sat down and watched the game with you and Zoë tonight.”

“Oh, look, you don’t have to…” Carter started to tell him, distracting himself by looking in the oven at the cooking dinner. “And you had S.A.R.A.H. make our favorite dinner. What’s with the perfect guest routine?”

Nathan shrugged, trying to decide how to address dinner. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I asked her to make one of my favorites?”

“Yeah, right,” Carter started to scoff, then looked closely at Nathan. “Huh, really?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged again, reminding himself of earlier that day when he’d wondered if he and Carter would have been friends if not for Allison. He decided to take a chance, and explained, “One of the first things I learned how to cook for myself when I went to college. I was 14, barely could avoid burning down the apartment building when I made mac’n’cheese,” he trailed off, noticing that Carter had settled back, listening to him raptly. “What?” he asked gruffly.

“Picturing you, that young and in college,” Carter mused, his voice soft. “That had to suck.”

Nathan knew he was staring, but couldn’t help it. No one had ever responded to how old he had been like Carter. “No, it wasn’t easy,” he replied. “I was fortunate that one of my first professors had lived in Eureka before and had heard of me. Henry,” he added, reading the confusion on Carter’s face. “Stopped me from blowing up half of MIT before I turned 15.”

“Too bad his good influence didn’t last,” Carter retorted with a snort, and Nathan found himself chuckling.

“And just when we were getting along so well,” Nathan commented wryly, and Carter laughed as well.

“Just don’t tell anyone, we’ll end up with Allison poking at you to find out how much brain damage that chip did.” Nathan watched as a little of the grin faded, replaced by worry lines. “Speaking of, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” he replied, a trace of irritation in his voice. “I slept all afternoon, thanks to Allison drugging me—”

“Yeah, don’t you love when she does that?” Carter’s sarcasm was a little stronger than Nathan had expected.

“Like we can’t take care of ourselves,” Nathan agreed, and Zoë gave them a disbelieving look as she joined them.

“You can’t,” she said thumping her dad on the shoulder. “And you probably won’t,” she informed Nathan haughtily.

“You know, you should teach your kid to respect her elders, Carter,” Nathan joked, and Carter rolled his eyes.

“Oh yes, old people, set the table for me so we can eat and watch football,” Zoë retorted, giving Nathan a glare. “Keep it up and I leave you with Dad to learn football.”

“Certainly won’t learn it from anyone else in this town,” Carter observed. He patted Zoë’s shoulder as he passed her, and Nathan tucked away the casual gesture in his brain. Boredom seemed to have him deciding to dissect and understand Carter better, and finding no good reason not to go along with it, he gave into his scientific curiosity. It had nothing to do with the small part of him that found the other man fascinating, ever since they had gone after Callister, he told himself firmly. “I’m going to change,” Carter said, tromping up the stairs two at a time.

“You two are a lot alike,” Nathan commented, moving to help Zoë set the table.

“Yeah, sure,” she retorted, slapping his hand away. “And stop it, you’re a guest.”

“I may be a guest here for a few days,” Nathan replied, taken aback by the fact that Zoë had actually smacked his hand. “And who knows what I’ll come up with if I get bored enough. I might reprogram S.A.R.A.H.’s voice.”

“Perhaps we should reconsider the guest policy for Dr. Stark,” the house chimed in helpfully. Zoë scowled as she thrust the napkins in Nathan’s direction.

“Using S.A.R.A.H. against house inhabitants is against the rules,” she informed him, thunking a fork down on top of the napkin he’d set out. “If you don’t want to be a guest and all, you have to live with house rules.”

“As long as breaking them doesn’t end up with me locked in here again,” he replied, scanning the room warily as he remembered being held hostage.

“I am sorry about that, Dr. Stark,” S.A.R.A.H. told him, sounding truly apologetic.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at Zoë. “Seriously, how does the voice not drive you and your father insane?”

“He assumes we have sanity,” Zoë remarked as Carter rejoined them, now wearing a battered pair of jeans and an equally worn Elvis Costello shirt.

“Aww, I’m flattered,” Carter replied, frowning at Nathan setting out glasses. “And why do you have him helping you with your chores?”

“See the trouble you get me into?” Zoë demanded, throwing her hands up. “Dad, he insisted. I’m being nice, trying not to argue and be confrontational.”

“And he threatened to reprogram me if Zoë did not allow him to help her,” S.A.R.A.H. added. To Nathan’s surprise, Carter grinned at him.

“Oh god, please, reprogram her. Can you give her Claudia Black’s voice?” he asked hopefully.

“Dad!” Zoë protested, wrinkling her nose in disgust before a thought occurred to her. “Hey, could you do Orlando Bloom’s voice?”

“Farscape or Stargate, and definitely not,” Nathan replied, frowning at Zoë. “Talentless hacks are a no go in my book.”

“Amen,” Carter agreed, saluting Nathan with his beer. The sheriff was leaning back, observing everything with a twinkle in his eye. Nathan could read the other man’s thoughts clearly. The evening was going surprisingly well.

“Now, if you want to discuss Johnny Depp,” Nathan amended, earning an eye roll from Carter and an excited squeak from Zoë.

Dinner was a squabbling, loud affair, which took Nathan aback for a moment before he started figuring out how to give back as good as he was getting. He found that even his insults, here in the comfort and laughter of the bunker, were received with a good-natured laugh, and often rebuffed in kind. Zoë told a long and involved story about Tesla High and the seven year old genius who was trying to convince the coach he could play basketball. At 4 foot 6, it was definitely a loosing proposition.

Nathan helped Carter load the dishes into the dishwasher as Zoë queued up the game. “Hey,” Carter said quietly, making sure Zoë couldn’t hear him. “Thanks for putting up with us. I’m sure this is driving you nuts, and I appreciate you not saying anything to Zoë.”

Nathan frowned, shaking his head. “Contrary to what you might think, Carter, I really am enjoying the down time. More than I expected. But if you try to make me admit it again, I’ll deny everything.”

Carter nodded, shrugging. “Okay,” he replied, surprised. “I guess in return I’ll admit this hasn’t been so bad.”

“Glad to hear your glowing praise, Sheriff,” Nathan snarked, which resulted in the other man grinning widely.

“You know, Stark, you could try calling me Jack,” Carter suggested, dropping the last of the silverware into the dishwasher. “I’m told it’s simple enough for even MIT graduates.”

“Oh, it’s simple all right,” Nathan agreed, sarcastic before he recognized the olive branch the other man was offering. No, a little more than a peace offering. A foundation to try and understand each other. “Fine. Only because your house makes my favorite meal better than I ever did,” he agreed, seeing the pleased child-like smile light up Carter’s face.

“Be still my heart,” Carter joked, closing the dishwasher.

“Are you two done yet?” Zoë demanded impatiently from her perch on the couch. “Game time!”

Four quarters later, Zoë dragged herself sleepily up the stairs, and Carter careful shook Nathan’s shoulder to wake him. His head had pressed into the arm of the couch, but fortunately, he wasn’t drooling. “Did we win?” he managed to ask between yawns, making Carter chuckle quietly.

“Yeah, we won,” Carter told him, offering him a hand. “Come on, it’s past the bedtime of scientists who had brushes with death today.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Nathan protested weakly as he took Carter’s hand to help him onto his feet.

“Yeah, but when was the last time you fell asleep on a couch watching TV?” Carter countered, pulling Nathan to his feet. Still blurry with sleep, Nathan stepped closer in than he meant to, ending up staring down at Carter. There was a brief moment, his hand becoming electric hot in the other man’s as he stood there. He swallowed reflexively, feeling an electric flash of lust, something he hadn’t felt for another man in ages. “Come on, bed,” Carter said, breaking the moment.

By the time Nathan eased into the guest bed for the second time that day, he had convinced himself his drugged and tired brain had played a trick on him, making him see things that weren’t there.



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