flashforward fic: the shoreline where you and i meet (demetri/janis/simon)
title: the shoreline where you and i meet
character(s)/pairing(s): demetri/janis/simon
rating/word count: pg-13, 2,894
summary: janis and demetri have their secrets. simon learns them one by one.
A/N: Written for the fanfic meme. ozmissage requested demetri/janis/simon on the run. title take from a Lykke Li song.
They go on the run the morning after the second blackout.
There's barely any sun up when Demetri and Simon are knocking so loud that her tower of to-be-sorted CDs nearly topple over. She thinks she should really move them someplace out of the way.
It's the last normal thought she has.
Once she opens the door, Demetri bolts for her bedroom and starts rifling through her closet for a suitcase, while Simon tries to explain how linear acceleration and remote access codes triggered the second blackout while he and Demetri were in the room with the only machine in the world capable of pulling it off.
"So basically a lot of people are going to want us dead the minute they see those security tapes," Simon concludes.
Janis thinks of Mark, buried under a pile of rubble, Benford up to his knees in destruction. She knows there's no one left to trust. She heads into the bedroom where Demetri is shoving her prenatal vitamins into the front pockets of the suitcase. "Why didn't you erase them?"
"I suggested that," Simon says. He leans against the doorway, and Janis can see him taking stock of the room at rapid speed.
"We didn't have time," Demetri says, pulling at the zipper of the suitcase with all his weight until it closes. He finally looks up, really looks at her for the first time since he came here. "It was either erase them or get you."
Janis blames pregnancy hormones for the silly grin that works its way onto her face. Demetri smiles back, unsure. A laundry list of secrets they share rests between them, and it only grows as the days go on.
"Bloody hell," Simon mutters.
---
They start slow.
The first week they stay in the city. They're familiar enough with the street cameras to stay off the grid while they gather supplies. Part of FBI training is to learn to expect the unexpected, always. Janis and Demetri have hidden money and fake IDs scattered all over the greater Los Angeles area. Plus, Simon has his own connections in the city, which Janis and Demetri have learned to turn a blind eye to.
Instead of checking into hotels, they sleep in the car. Janis thanks whatever deity is listening that her feet don't cramp up like they had been this past month. Demetri and Simon are gracious enough to let her stretch out in the backseat of the SUV. The May nights are warm enough that the lack of space is the only discomfort they face.
Those first nights Janis tries to always be the last to fall asleep. She waits patiently for their breath to even out. Lets the peace settle over the car before she can let herself rest. Sometimes she'll be drifting off and hear Demetri let out a deep breath.
She wonders how often he's willing to pretend for her.
---
Their first hotel is expensive. They pretend its strategy, and not that they just need the reward of stetching out on the nicest mattress they can find. It's still one room and two beds. Demetri graciously offers to take the sofa in the corner that sits on top of the overactive air condition, but Janis shakes her head.
not like we haven't shared one before she whispers. A chill passes between them, and Janis shivers, turning her back to him so she can check the room service menu.
Demetri wants to argue all the ways it's misleading, but the words remind him too much of Zoey.
Instead, he goes out and buys a map at the gas station across the way, exactly like the one her parents had taped to the RV window, the one they carried everywhere they went. He spreads it out on their bed, and they spend hours tracing the state lines and highways with their fingers, ignoring the way it feels when the lines cross and their fingers touch.
They play it casual well.
Except Simon's a genius and nothing gets by him. Simon watches them plan, silent but observant. As the days roll on, he's becoming more and more aware of changing tides.
---
This is temporary.
They keep telling themselves that, even after two and a half months of hotel hopping. They just need to keep moving until their names are cleared. They make contact with Wedeck a few times, and he urges them to come back. No call lasts more than thirty seconds. Sometimes they still get traced. The unites they send after them keep getting larger, harder to evade. Deep down, they all know this isn't going away any time soon.
They know there's only a small window here. Two more months before Janis is due and they'll be immobile, where a hospital stay will be necessary. The FBI has to be waiting, tracking every pregnancy check-up across the Western United States for known aliases. Janis forgoes free-clinics where for more expensive private practices where their eyes aren't trained. A public hospital will still be a must, since they never stay longer than one visit.
Janis looks guiltier with each passing day, with each tail they have to shake. It's gotten to the point that Simon barely mocks her, and Demetri wonders how much longer she and the baby can handle the stress.
---
"Maybe we should be offended," Demetri offers. It's been two weeks since they've been tailed. Two weeks since Wedeck left a voicemail or sent a crytpic email.
"We should be relieved."
Simon is asleep, curled into a ball in the backseat. Janis can't understand how he manages to look so peaceful.
"We should be a lot of things." Demetri says it and there's the weight of a thousand meanings behind it. Janis doesn't ask for elaboration, afraid of what it might bring.
A day later Wedeck asks about the weather and they're followed across Albequerque.
Be careful what you wish for.
---
The funds start to dwindle.
Simon steals buys one of those mini spiral notebooks at the gas station. It gets lonely in the backseat, watching Demetri and Janis bicker like an old married couple, over which way they're headed next, where they'll find money.
He never gets a say. By now, he's used to it.
blind leading the blind, he scribbles on the bottom corner of page one.
---
"I say Vegas," Simon suggests. It's two hotels later and Demetri and Janis are deciding between Denver and Portland in the parking lot of one of those large chain stores that sell everything from firearms to fresh produce.
Simon can see Janis close her eyes in disbelief through the passenger side mirror. She would rather ignore him. Demetri never does.
"Vegas has cameras."
"Vegas has money, and I'd only need a couple hours and I'll have tripled our earnings."
"Simon," Janis says, weakly as he exits the car. Simon leans against her open window, lays a hand on her forearm in a move that he's picked up from Demetri.
"Trust me." Simon waits a few seconds before he pulls back, waits for Janis's tiny nod and then he smiles, heading towards the store.
"Because that's worked so well in the past." Demetri thinks he waits until Simon is out of earshot to say it. Simon, for his part, does not react.
---
They only need a few hours in Vegas. They drop Simon off at a casino. Pick him up two hours later to find he's acrued enough money for each of them to retire, let alone live on the run.
"How'd you do it?" Janis asks.
Simon doesn't answer, just smiles, the type of mischevious grin that should be annoying, but isn't somehow, and Janis feels her stomach curl. Janis hasn't felt that way about anyone - male or female - in a really long time.
Janis lies about her sexuality. A lot. (She lies a lot - period) It's a lot easier to just say you're gay than try and explain the delicacies of sexual preference. She can't even explain it to herself, barely copes with it. Avoiding men always seemed so much easier.
She glances back towards the backseat. Simon's now peeling the label from his water bottle and wrapping it around the front cover of that mini notebook he stole. His forehead crinkles in concentration and God help her, it's kind of cute.
hi I'm Janis. 97% of the time I'm into woman, but for some reason I have a thing for this super-short, super-arrogant British geek
She glances to her left to find her best friend trying to pretend he isn't curious as to why she's suddenly so ammused.
And then there's Demetri, she thinks. An open ended story at best.
---
"We should talk about it."
"Talk about what?"
"You know what."
Janis shakes her head and looks out the window. Demetri sighs, hands tightening on the wheel.
This is as far as they get when talking about their last flashforward.
---
Things change in Portland.
They check into another hotel. Another late night. Demetri's got his arm around Janis's back and she's curled into his side. Simon is a few steps back, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to clear his head.
It's just another night. Another hotel. Another trip. Until they're in the elevator and Simon reaches across Janis to press the button for their floor and spots Mark Benford sitting in the lobby.
The doors shut before he can open his mouth.
---
Suddenly they're awake.
Janis sits perched on the edge of the bed, hands folded in her lap. Simon sits next to her and they watch Demetri pace in front of the TV, shots of Anderson Cooper visible in between his steps. (Simon always insists on keeping CNN on so they can read between the lines).
"I'll go talk to him," Janis offers because maybe it's the safest option. She's the most noticeable if she were to go missing. Simon's hand falls to her knee and tightens, says 'no' without ever saying it.
"No," Demetri says. "I'll do it."
Janis has one hand over Simon's and the other's reaching up to curl around Demetri's wrist. "Are you sure?"
"I owe him that much." Where Janis's is burried under a sea of maternity clothes and toiletries, Demetri still carries his badge in his pocket.
The job always came first for him.
---
It sounds incredibly stupid now, but Janis kisses Simon because she's sure Demetri isn't coming back.
They're both worried though neither of them knows how to admit it. They haven't move since Demetri left. It's been ten minutes spent in silence, sides pressed against each other and hands together.
Janis realizes sometime between minute eleven and minute twelve that Demetri must have made contact or he would have been back. She looks down at the floor, studies the russet colored carpet and tries to think about all the different colored threads that must make it up. She sighs when she realizes this brand of distraction doesn't work.
It's about then when Simon laughs. His perceptiveness is scary. Every time a troubled thought crosses her mind, she looks up and sees him staring at her, as if he predicted it was coming, as if he can see the pattern of her thoughts.
This is when she kisses him. She realizes about a few seconds into it that it was a mistake, but by then his arm has snaked around her waist, hand gripping tightly at her hip, and she can't say no, can't take it back.
She's all in, whether she wanted to be or not.
---
Demetri finds Mark in the lobby just as Simon described him - bags under his eyes, large cut across his face and a beard that makes a terrible disguise.
Demetri takes the seat next to him. They sit for awhile in silence. There's a TrailBlazers game playing on the TV in the lounge. Demetri almost says they grab a drink and talk about all of it before he remembers this is Mark. He's starting to forget the little things.
"You have a Flashforward this time?" Mark's opening line. Harmless enough.
"Yeah."
"What'd you see?"
"Janis."
Mark shakes his head and it says what Demetri has been thinking all along - What have you gotten yourself into
---
"So what's going on with you and Demetri?"
so much for afterglow Janis thinks and then she sighs, sitting up so she can start gathering her clothes. "Really? You're asking me about Demetri."
She can feel Simon's frown against her back even though she can't see it. She hears him take a breath, a sign he's changing topics. "So you're really not gay. Was that part of your double secret agent cover?"
Janis doesn't saying anything. She's too busy trying to hook her bra and scan the room for her missing shirt at the same time.
"Is that silence code for 'I'm avoiding a straight crisis'?" Simon drapes her pants over her shoulder and Janis is mortified at how large they look. She still can't figure out why he and Demetri still stare at her like she's the most beautiful person in the room even though she feels bloated and drained.
"I'm guessing these two issues have something in common," Simon concludes. Janis, for a second, forgot what they were talking about. And then remembers it's always about Demetri.
"Things are complicated." It's a conclusion of her own. One she drew months ago when this trip first started.
"Tell me about it," Simon says, flashing his best grin even though she cannot see it. "Well just so you know. I'm always happy to help you sort out your inappropriate feelings for men."
"Simon." Janis turns back to look at him and finds him already dressed.
"I'm just saying...we may be on the run for awhile."
Janis doesn't realize she is crying until the strangled sob escapes her. Simon scootches across the bed so he can sit next to her. They're right back to where they started. "He'll be back."
Janis rests her forehead against his shoulder, hot tears rolling down his arm.
"I can't lose him," she whispers.
Simon hears the three words she meant instead.
"You won't," Simon promises. "I was there too, you know."
---
Simon is in the shower when Demetri gets back. As soon as Janis hears the slide of the keycard she's up at opening the door for him. She throws her arms around him, the weight nearly topples them back out the door.
"I'm okay," Demetri says and then he laughs because he's so surprised.
Janis withdraws slowly, eyes him for any sign that he's lying and then smiles. "What did Mark say?"
"Get to Canada and they'll stop looking for us. They know we didn't cause the blackout. It's just we're loose ends."
They stand in the doorway, bodies mirroring each other. They can't bring themselves to step past the threshold just yet.
"Then what?" Janis asks, although she's well aware what comes next. She bought a tourist's guide to Canada five cities back, knows just where they're headed.
Demetri sighs. "You wanna talk about it now?"
"No," Janis says firmly, and she can see the frustration in Demetri's eyes. It's not what she meant. "We really don't have to."
Demetri stares at her, before nodding. "Okay."
---
They head for the border in the morning.
Simon can't believe he's going home.
Demetri and Janis know they are too in a way.
---
Five years from now on December 15th - the day of the second flashforward, Demetri sits on his back porch with Janis under his arm.
Simon is teaching the mechanics of flight, but Jacob - their son - is only focused on how pretty the bright yellow kite looks against the trees. They can see the New Brunswick bridge in the background.
The three of them haven't really left each other's side since April 30th 2010. Simon disappears from time to time, but always wanders home to their unconventional family eventually.
Demetri still keeps in touch with Mark. Demetri teaches history at the high school and Janis is a personal trainer. Simon does what he always did, just off the grid now. The money Simon won in Vegas is more than enough to keep them afloat, but they got to do something with their days.
"I'm glad you chose to come get me," Janis says.
It's a cue.
He seals his lips over hers. It had to be him to make the first move. It's the first time it happens - worth the wait and build.
They don't talk about it afterwards.
character(s)/pairing(s): demetri/janis/simon
rating/word count: pg-13, 2,894
summary: janis and demetri have their secrets. simon learns them one by one.
A/N: Written for the fanfic meme. ozmissage requested demetri/janis/simon on the run. title take from a Lykke Li song.
They go on the run the morning after the second blackout.
There's barely any sun up when Demetri and Simon are knocking so loud that her tower of to-be-sorted CDs nearly topple over. She thinks she should really move them someplace out of the way.
It's the last normal thought she has.
Once she opens the door, Demetri bolts for her bedroom and starts rifling through her closet for a suitcase, while Simon tries to explain how linear acceleration and remote access codes triggered the second blackout while he and Demetri were in the room with the only machine in the world capable of pulling it off.
"So basically a lot of people are going to want us dead the minute they see those security tapes," Simon concludes.
Janis thinks of Mark, buried under a pile of rubble, Benford up to his knees in destruction. She knows there's no one left to trust. She heads into the bedroom where Demetri is shoving her prenatal vitamins into the front pockets of the suitcase. "Why didn't you erase them?"
"I suggested that," Simon says. He leans against the doorway, and Janis can see him taking stock of the room at rapid speed.
"We didn't have time," Demetri says, pulling at the zipper of the suitcase with all his weight until it closes. He finally looks up, really looks at her for the first time since he came here. "It was either erase them or get you."
Janis blames pregnancy hormones for the silly grin that works its way onto her face. Demetri smiles back, unsure. A laundry list of secrets they share rests between them, and it only grows as the days go on.
"Bloody hell," Simon mutters.
---
They start slow.
The first week they stay in the city. They're familiar enough with the street cameras to stay off the grid while they gather supplies. Part of FBI training is to learn to expect the unexpected, always. Janis and Demetri have hidden money and fake IDs scattered all over the greater Los Angeles area. Plus, Simon has his own connections in the city, which Janis and Demetri have learned to turn a blind eye to.
Instead of checking into hotels, they sleep in the car. Janis thanks whatever deity is listening that her feet don't cramp up like they had been this past month. Demetri and Simon are gracious enough to let her stretch out in the backseat of the SUV. The May nights are warm enough that the lack of space is the only discomfort they face.
Those first nights Janis tries to always be the last to fall asleep. She waits patiently for their breath to even out. Lets the peace settle over the car before she can let herself rest. Sometimes she'll be drifting off and hear Demetri let out a deep breath.
She wonders how often he's willing to pretend for her.
---
Their first hotel is expensive. They pretend its strategy, and not that they just need the reward of stetching out on the nicest mattress they can find. It's still one room and two beds. Demetri graciously offers to take the sofa in the corner that sits on top of the overactive air condition, but Janis shakes her head.
not like we haven't shared one before she whispers. A chill passes between them, and Janis shivers, turning her back to him so she can check the room service menu.
Demetri wants to argue all the ways it's misleading, but the words remind him too much of Zoey.
Instead, he goes out and buys a map at the gas station across the way, exactly like the one her parents had taped to the RV window, the one they carried everywhere they went. He spreads it out on their bed, and they spend hours tracing the state lines and highways with their fingers, ignoring the way it feels when the lines cross and their fingers touch.
They play it casual well.
Except Simon's a genius and nothing gets by him. Simon watches them plan, silent but observant. As the days roll on, he's becoming more and more aware of changing tides.
---
This is temporary.
They keep telling themselves that, even after two and a half months of hotel hopping. They just need to keep moving until their names are cleared. They make contact with Wedeck a few times, and he urges them to come back. No call lasts more than thirty seconds. Sometimes they still get traced. The unites they send after them keep getting larger, harder to evade. Deep down, they all know this isn't going away any time soon.
They know there's only a small window here. Two more months before Janis is due and they'll be immobile, where a hospital stay will be necessary. The FBI has to be waiting, tracking every pregnancy check-up across the Western United States for known aliases. Janis forgoes free-clinics where for more expensive private practices where their eyes aren't trained. A public hospital will still be a must, since they never stay longer than one visit.
Janis looks guiltier with each passing day, with each tail they have to shake. It's gotten to the point that Simon barely mocks her, and Demetri wonders how much longer she and the baby can handle the stress.
---
"Maybe we should be offended," Demetri offers. It's been two weeks since they've been tailed. Two weeks since Wedeck left a voicemail or sent a crytpic email.
"We should be relieved."
Simon is asleep, curled into a ball in the backseat. Janis can't understand how he manages to look so peaceful.
"We should be a lot of things." Demetri says it and there's the weight of a thousand meanings behind it. Janis doesn't ask for elaboration, afraid of what it might bring.
A day later Wedeck asks about the weather and they're followed across Albequerque.
Be careful what you wish for.
---
The funds start to dwindle.
Simon steals buys one of those mini spiral notebooks at the gas station. It gets lonely in the backseat, watching Demetri and Janis bicker like an old married couple, over which way they're headed next, where they'll find money.
He never gets a say. By now, he's used to it.
blind leading the blind, he scribbles on the bottom corner of page one.
---
"I say Vegas," Simon suggests. It's two hotels later and Demetri and Janis are deciding between Denver and Portland in the parking lot of one of those large chain stores that sell everything from firearms to fresh produce.
Simon can see Janis close her eyes in disbelief through the passenger side mirror. She would rather ignore him. Demetri never does.
"Vegas has cameras."
"Vegas has money, and I'd only need a couple hours and I'll have tripled our earnings."
"Simon," Janis says, weakly as he exits the car. Simon leans against her open window, lays a hand on her forearm in a move that he's picked up from Demetri.
"Trust me." Simon waits a few seconds before he pulls back, waits for Janis's tiny nod and then he smiles, heading towards the store.
"Because that's worked so well in the past." Demetri thinks he waits until Simon is out of earshot to say it. Simon, for his part, does not react.
---
They only need a few hours in Vegas. They drop Simon off at a casino. Pick him up two hours later to find he's acrued enough money for each of them to retire, let alone live on the run.
"How'd you do it?" Janis asks.
Simon doesn't answer, just smiles, the type of mischevious grin that should be annoying, but isn't somehow, and Janis feels her stomach curl. Janis hasn't felt that way about anyone - male or female - in a really long time.
Janis lies about her sexuality. A lot. (She lies a lot - period) It's a lot easier to just say you're gay than try and explain the delicacies of sexual preference. She can't even explain it to herself, barely copes with it. Avoiding men always seemed so much easier.
She glances back towards the backseat. Simon's now peeling the label from his water bottle and wrapping it around the front cover of that mini notebook he stole. His forehead crinkles in concentration and God help her, it's kind of cute.
hi I'm Janis. 97% of the time I'm into woman, but for some reason I have a thing for this super-short, super-arrogant British geek
She glances to her left to find her best friend trying to pretend he isn't curious as to why she's suddenly so ammused.
And then there's Demetri, she thinks. An open ended story at best.
---
"We should talk about it."
"Talk about what?"
"You know what."
Janis shakes her head and looks out the window. Demetri sighs, hands tightening on the wheel.
This is as far as they get when talking about their last flashforward.
---
Things change in Portland.
They check into another hotel. Another late night. Demetri's got his arm around Janis's back and she's curled into his side. Simon is a few steps back, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to clear his head.
It's just another night. Another hotel. Another trip. Until they're in the elevator and Simon reaches across Janis to press the button for their floor and spots Mark Benford sitting in the lobby.
The doors shut before he can open his mouth.
---
Suddenly they're awake.
Janis sits perched on the edge of the bed, hands folded in her lap. Simon sits next to her and they watch Demetri pace in front of the TV, shots of Anderson Cooper visible in between his steps. (Simon always insists on keeping CNN on so they can read between the lines).
"I'll go talk to him," Janis offers because maybe it's the safest option. She's the most noticeable if she were to go missing. Simon's hand falls to her knee and tightens, says 'no' without ever saying it.
"No," Demetri says. "I'll do it."
Janis has one hand over Simon's and the other's reaching up to curl around Demetri's wrist. "Are you sure?"
"I owe him that much." Where Janis's is burried under a sea of maternity clothes and toiletries, Demetri still carries his badge in his pocket.
The job always came first for him.
---
It sounds incredibly stupid now, but Janis kisses Simon because she's sure Demetri isn't coming back.
They're both worried though neither of them knows how to admit it. They haven't move since Demetri left. It's been ten minutes spent in silence, sides pressed against each other and hands together.
Janis realizes sometime between minute eleven and minute twelve that Demetri must have made contact or he would have been back. She looks down at the floor, studies the russet colored carpet and tries to think about all the different colored threads that must make it up. She sighs when she realizes this brand of distraction doesn't work.
It's about then when Simon laughs. His perceptiveness is scary. Every time a troubled thought crosses her mind, she looks up and sees him staring at her, as if he predicted it was coming, as if he can see the pattern of her thoughts.
This is when she kisses him. She realizes about a few seconds into it that it was a mistake, but by then his arm has snaked around her waist, hand gripping tightly at her hip, and she can't say no, can't take it back.
She's all in, whether she wanted to be or not.
---
Demetri finds Mark in the lobby just as Simon described him - bags under his eyes, large cut across his face and a beard that makes a terrible disguise.
Demetri takes the seat next to him. They sit for awhile in silence. There's a TrailBlazers game playing on the TV in the lounge. Demetri almost says they grab a drink and talk about all of it before he remembers this is Mark. He's starting to forget the little things.
"You have a Flashforward this time?" Mark's opening line. Harmless enough.
"Yeah."
"What'd you see?"
"Janis."
Mark shakes his head and it says what Demetri has been thinking all along - What have you gotten yourself into
---
"So what's going on with you and Demetri?"
so much for afterglow Janis thinks and then she sighs, sitting up so she can start gathering her clothes. "Really? You're asking me about Demetri."
She can feel Simon's frown against her back even though she can't see it. She hears him take a breath, a sign he's changing topics. "So you're really not gay. Was that part of your double secret agent cover?"
Janis doesn't saying anything. She's too busy trying to hook her bra and scan the room for her missing shirt at the same time.
"Is that silence code for 'I'm avoiding a straight crisis'?" Simon drapes her pants over her shoulder and Janis is mortified at how large they look. She still can't figure out why he and Demetri still stare at her like she's the most beautiful person in the room even though she feels bloated and drained.
"I'm guessing these two issues have something in common," Simon concludes. Janis, for a second, forgot what they were talking about. And then remembers it's always about Demetri.
"Things are complicated." It's a conclusion of her own. One she drew months ago when this trip first started.
"Tell me about it," Simon says, flashing his best grin even though she cannot see it. "Well just so you know. I'm always happy to help you sort out your inappropriate feelings for men."
"Simon." Janis turns back to look at him and finds him already dressed.
"I'm just saying...we may be on the run for awhile."
Janis doesn't realize she is crying until the strangled sob escapes her. Simon scootches across the bed so he can sit next to her. They're right back to where they started. "He'll be back."
Janis rests her forehead against his shoulder, hot tears rolling down his arm.
"I can't lose him," she whispers.
Simon hears the three words she meant instead.
"You won't," Simon promises. "I was there too, you know."
---
Simon is in the shower when Demetri gets back. As soon as Janis hears the slide of the keycard she's up at opening the door for him. She throws her arms around him, the weight nearly topples them back out the door.
"I'm okay," Demetri says and then he laughs because he's so surprised.
Janis withdraws slowly, eyes him for any sign that he's lying and then smiles. "What did Mark say?"
"Get to Canada and they'll stop looking for us. They know we didn't cause the blackout. It's just we're loose ends."
They stand in the doorway, bodies mirroring each other. They can't bring themselves to step past the threshold just yet.
"Then what?" Janis asks, although she's well aware what comes next. She bought a tourist's guide to Canada five cities back, knows just where they're headed.
Demetri sighs. "You wanna talk about it now?"
"No," Janis says firmly, and she can see the frustration in Demetri's eyes. It's not what she meant. "We really don't have to."
Demetri stares at her, before nodding. "Okay."
---
They head for the border in the morning.
Simon can't believe he's going home.
Demetri and Janis know they are too in a way.
---
Five years from now on December 15th - the day of the second flashforward, Demetri sits on his back porch with Janis under his arm.
Simon is teaching the mechanics of flight, but Jacob - their son - is only focused on how pretty the bright yellow kite looks against the trees. They can see the New Brunswick bridge in the background.
The three of them haven't really left each other's side since April 30th 2010. Simon disappears from time to time, but always wanders home to their unconventional family eventually.
Demetri still keeps in touch with Mark. Demetri teaches history at the high school and Janis is a personal trainer. Simon does what he always did, just off the grid now. The money Simon won in Vegas is more than enough to keep them afloat, but they got to do something with their days.
"I'm glad you chose to come get me," Janis says.
It's a cue.
He seals his lips over hers. It had to be him to make the first move. It's the first time it happens - worth the wait and build.
They don't talk about it afterwards.