Author's Note:
This is just a short, random little one-shot set roughly around series 4, but without all the new characters. I was having writer's block, and I write one-shots to get me out of it, so here it is. Like I said, it's really weird and random, but I was really bored. Sorry.
"What happened to you, James?" Jenny asked as I nearly walked into her. I clutched my abdomen, feeling hot blood pour out against my hand.
It was quite surprise to see her, given that I hadn't even heard from her since she'd left the ARC. I was walking out of Whitehall, where all of the staff was dead. If there were any survivors, I hadn't seen them.
I knew that I must make quite the sight, standing before her. My hair was in disarray, blood stained my clothes and continued to seep from my wounds, and I felt sure I was pale as a ghost. I knew that I was on the verge of passing out, but tried to remain upright in spite of the wave of dizziness that threatened to pull me under.
"Nothing much, just a small mishap with a dinosaur is all," I said, trying to sound nonchalant but knowing I was shaking visibly. The shaking wasn't caused by fear, though. It was from the extensive blood loss.
"Small mishap hell! We have to get you to a hospital," she said, putting her arm around my waist to hold me up.
"I think it's a little late for that," I said, prying my fingers away from my torso to reveal the deep wound in my stomach, which was bleeding out profusely. By then, I was beyond being able to keep my strong façade intact, and I leaned my head against her shoulder as the world faded to black.
One hour earlier:
"Would someone please tell me what on earth is going…" I began irritably as I stepped off the elevator and onto the twelfth floor of Whitehall. A massive beast, undoubtedly a dinosaur, turned to look at me. It was huge, with thick looking skin and large teeth, which it bared at me menacingly. I hadn't the faintest idea what it was, but I mentally labeled it a Large-and-scary-and-bound-to-get-my-suit-dirty-saurus. I would have to have Connor add that creative little name to his software program if he and Abby ever returned from the Crustaceous period.
"…on," I finished weakly, nearly dropping the cell phone I held.
It began approaching me, and I stepped back against the closed elevator doors. My phone slipped from my grasp and clattered onto the ground, and I drew back as far as the doors behind me would allow as those long teeth came closer and closer to my face. Keeping my back flush with the doors, I kicked the creature with all my might, and took off at a dead run when it stumbled back slightly.
As I ran for the stairs (seeing as the elevator was clearly blocked) I noticed that there were no survivors that I could see. The throats of many civil servants were torn out, and I suppressed revulsion at the sight. Before the ARC, I had been in their same position. Had I not been safely at the ARC when this happened, it would have been my corpse laying sprawled across the floor of Whitehall.
I heard the sound of the creature running behind me, and I took off down the staircase, breathing heavily. I grasped the handrail as I ran, all the while hearing the loud and raspy breathing of the creature bounding along behind me. I finally reached a door, and took off through it.
I found myself in a room with two very dead guards, and I didn't hesitate to pull one of the shotguns from the dead man's holster. It felt much lighter in my hands than the AK47 I had used in my attempt to take down Leek's future predator, but I didn't consider this a necessarily good thing. As far as guns went, the bigger the better. Still, it would have to do.
I was clicking the safety off when the creature burst through the doorway, and before I could even get a shot off, it lunged for me with surprising agility. It was large, but shockingly agile. I felt its teeth rake my arm but not break the skin, and I fell back against the floor, scrambling backwards just as I had when I'd run from the predator.
When it came closer and was no longer blocking the doorway, I took off through the door and back out onto the staircase's landing. When I heard it let out an infuriated hiss, I ran for dear life down to the bottom of the stairs. Just when I thought I may get out alive, I felt a hard body collide with mine and knock me down the remaining stairs and to the ground.
I first felt numbness, and then an unbelievable pain spreading through my body, starting in my stomach and continuing from there. Rolling onto my back, I looked up to find the creature standing over me, looking dangerously close to tearing my throat out just as it had the others. Looking at the strange solid yellow eyes and six inch long black claws, I knew that this was no prehistoric creature. It was from the future.
I shot every round I had into its chest, and it at last collapsed to the ground, dead as far as I could tell. I looked down at myself to find the entirety of my jacket and shirt soaked through with blood. I stared down at the broken piece of wood that I had fallen on, which still protruded from my body. Pain almost made me black out, but I forced myself to my feet and yanked the wood out.
I stumbled out into the daylight, my hand pressed tightly over the wound as I struggled to stay alive. I saw a brunette woman walking forwards, and I was shocked when I realized it was Jenny. What could she possibly be doing at Whitehall? Her brown eyes widened and she took me in with one hurried glance.
"What happened to you, James?" she asked as I nearly walked into her. I clutched my abdomen, feeling hot blood pour out against my hand.
It was quite surprise to see her, given that I hadn't even heard from her since she'd left the ARC. I was walking out of Whitehall, where all of the staff was dead. If there were any survivors, I hadn't seen them.
I knew that I must make quite the sight, standing before her. My hair was in disarray, blood stained my clothes and continued to seep from my wounds, and I felt sure I was pale as a ghost. I knew that I was on the verge of passing out, but tried to remain upright in spite of the wave of dizziness that threatened to pull me under.
"Nothing much, just a small mishap with a dinosaur is all," I said, trying to sound nonchalant but knowing I was shaking visibly. The shaking wasn't caused by fear, though. It was from the extensive blood loss.
"Small mishap hell! We have to get you to a hospital," she said, putting her arm around my waist to hold me up.
"I think it's a little late for that," I said, prying my fingers away from my torso to reveal the deep wound in my stomach, which was bleeding out profusely. By then, I was beyond being able to keep my strong façade intact, and I leaned my head against her shoulder as the world faded to black.
He's waking up…what happened to him?…Ha. And the doctors said they didn't think he'd pull through…Morning, sleeping beauty… a flurry of different voices engulfed my mind. I thought they belonged to Jenny, Connor, Abby, and Danny, but that made no sense. Abby and Connor were missing, as was Danny. Suddenly bright light penetrated my eyes, and I blinked when I realized it was the fluorescents of a hospital room. My eyes were open.
"How are you feeling?" Jenny asked, peering at me worriedly.
"Just lovely. I've had so much fun being chased by a future dinosaur and then almost dying. To complete the day, I think I'll go home and have a nice cup of tea," I said sarcastically, and she smiled slightly.
"You had us so worried," she whispered, gently running her thumb over the top of my hand.
"How are they here?" I asked, nodding towards Connor, Abby, and Danny.
"An anomaly reopened to our time, Abby called me as soon as she could get her hands on a phone. She tried to get in touch with you, but said you didn't answer. I got her call at about the same time we got here to the hospital," Jenny explained.
I closed my eyes and gave my mind time to process the information. Connor, Abby, and Danny had returned. I was alive. The rest of my team was back. The parts were staring to come together again. It was like a puzzle slowly being assembled, and now we were fully put together. My team was here. I was alive. I held on to that as the painkillers again took me under. My thoughts were scattered and bleary, but I held tight to those facts.
The last fragmented and broken thoughts that went through my head as I fell asleep were We survived. The team survived. I survived.