A/N: A belated half-birthday fic for Cehsja! A huge thank you to TheSingingPterodactyl for all the help, including writing some of the scenes. :)
Jenny/Cutter, taking place post series 3.2 but pre 3.2, minor spoilers up to 3.2. Hope you enjoy!
Jenny walked by the menagerie several times, hoping to bump into Abby. She passed by so many times that the security men chatting near the entrance started to be amused at seeing her. They'd pretend not to notice until her back was to them, but she caught them smirking several times. She'd simply glare at them each time they looked, until on her tenth trip she finally decided to go to Abby herself instead of waiting for her to come to the animals. She didn't have to search long, though, because just as she gave up passing back and forth, Abby turned the corner to come to the menagerie.
"Abby!" Jenny called, hiding her relief at not having to wait any longer.
"Yeah?" She stopped in her tracks, thinking Jenny just had a random bit of news from Lester.
Jenny motioned to continue walking as she hid her nervousness and started to talk. "I've been thinking," she gave a final glare to the men snickering behind her, "about what you said back in that old house." Abby's eyes widened as she continued slowly. "I've decided I just might take you up on the advice…"
"Really?" She grinned, making no effort to hide it. "That's great."
Jenny laughed. "You sound like Connor."
Abby blushed at the comment.
"No, don't get too excited," she referenced the grin still on the girl's face. "I'm not exactly going to ask him out just yet, I want to see if I can get a sense of how he feels about me."
"Jenny, everyone knows how he feels about you. Even you must see the way he looks at you! Gosh, even Connor's noticed it. And if he can figure it out, anyone can."
She chuckled, "No, I know the way he looks at me. I'm just not sure if it's actually me he's seeing."
"Ahh, Claudia Brown," she realized.
"Exactly."
"Well, I can certainly see your dilemma. That whole situation is weird for all of us, but I can't imagine what it must be like for you. I must say, you handle it well. I'm sure I would've punched him in the face by now."
They laughed, "And that's why I came to you."
"What, so I could punch him for you?"
She smirked, "No, because you're the only girl who's been here the whole time, and I trust you. You've known about the anomalies longer than Sarah or I have, and you're a lot more used to 'weird' than either one of us."
Abby nodded along and waited for Jenny to continue. When she didn't, she asked if there was a specific question Jenny had for her.
"That's where I was hoping you'd just sort of think out loud." The truth was, Jenny couldn't think of how to phrase the question. Even the mere mention of Claudia made her disoriented enough to where she could barely think straight. She was beyond curious to learn everything she could about Nick's former love interest, but at the same time, could she really handle a full on conversation about this woman? It was quite confusing.
"Well," she cleared her throat, obviously a bit nervous about being put on the spot. "I think you should definitely talk to him." She gained confidence quickly, "Talking never hurt anyone, and who knows! Maybe something will spill out."
"From him or from me?" She teased.
"Oh, him, definitely," Abby smirked with a slightly sarcastic tone in her voice.
"Well, thank you, Abby! I'll leave you to your work then," Jenny acknowledged the friendly mocking with a smile and turned to leave.
"You're welcome! And, Jenny?"
"Yeah?" She looked back towards Abby.
"Good luck."
She chuckled and left to find Nick.
"Well, it seems to me that if a Coelurosauravus could travel through an anomaly and evolve into a Gorgonopsid, we'd know about it," Cutter said, secretly amused.
"I know, I'm just saying it would be pretty awesome! It would be great to study it, we could learn so much!" Connor saw that Cutter's expression didn't change. "Hypothetically. If that did ever happen, which it didn't. But if it could, I mean obviously it wouldn't, but that would be pretty sexy… Professor?"
Cutter grinned. Connor never failed to entertain him. "Yeah, pretty sexy," he indulged his student, but he wasn't altogether uninterested in the idea. "Though I doubt Abby would much like the idea of Rex the Gorgonopsid running around the flat." They laughed.
Connor suddenly noticed Jenny walking up, "Hey!" He called.
Cutter turned around in his chair to see her in a light green jacket with a modest white shirt showing underneath. She'd really changed since she first came to the ARC, and not just her style.
"What do you think about—"
"Connor, why don't you go get us some coffee?"
"Sure! You want anything, Jenny?" Connor didn't even notice the interruption.
"Sure, why not? Black, please."
"Coming up!" He stood and nearly started running.
Jenny and Cutter laughed when he was out of earshot, and Jenny sat down.
"He's trying to rewrite evolution," Cutter explained.
She shook her head with a smile, "In that case, thank you for saving me!"
"You're welcome!" He smiled, this time at Jenny.
"Does he always have that much energy when he's around you?"
"Oh, that was calm. You should see him when he has coffee."
"I think I will in a minute."
"That's very true! Sorry about that, it was the first thing that came to mind."
"Not at all, I'm actually half interested to see it…"
He chuckled, "Alright, but don't blame it on me if you regret it."
They sat in silence for a moment. Cutter thought it was quite nice to have a moment of peace, but apparently Jenny found it awkward. "So tell me about Claudia," She forced her words.
"Claudia?" He had to take a minute to process that. She had always hated this "Claudia Brown" that he kept mistaking her for, and she was hardly the type to ask about a person's past for seemingly no reason.
"You obviously had a connection with her, I thought you might have an interesting story to tell."
"Well, you're right, of course. I just thought you didn't want to talk about her."
She smiled, "I don't want to be called her name, but I'm certainly interested in learning more about her."
"Why is that?"
The anomaly alert sounded, and lights started to flash.
"I'm sorry, you obviously don't want to talk about her," They spoke quickly as Cutter turned to the ADD.
"No, it's fine. I'd love to talk about her, I just thought I wasn't supposed to mention her around you."
"No, not at all! It's just…"
"Cutter? Where is it?" Abby came rushing into the room, followed by Connor, Sarah, and Becker.
His eyes grew wide as he located the anomaly, "It's in the Underground."
On the ride there, all Jenny could think about was what a stupid idea it was to "feel out" how he felt about her by talking to him about Claudia. Of all the things she'd done in her life, at the moment this felt like the most embarrassing. She hid her head in her hand and held back tears she didn't even know were there.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Abby asked as she drove.
"No, it's nothing really. I'm just a klutz with my words sometimes," Jenny shook her head and went back to looking out the window.
Abby nodded, knowing that it was more than just that to her, but also knowing that she'd talk when she was ready. Neither of them spoke the rest of the trip. A few times Abby nearly made a comment about this or that she'd said to Connor that felt so awkward afterwards, but she knew Jenny would appreciate the silence more.
When they finally arrived at the railway, Jenny immediately noticed the crowd of people she would have to explain this to and sighed. They rest of the team cast her sympathetic glances and headed off to find the anomaly. When they did, something about the beauty of the entire scene made them stop and look around for a minute. The anomaly sparkled in it's rounded bound of shattered time, the team looked at the floating ball of light for nothing in particular, just being drawn in by it's stunning interpretation of the sun. The walls seemed to amplify the anomaly's glow, making it even more picturesque than usual.
Eventually they dispersed, snapping out of their trance. Connor grumbled about his locking mechanism in progress and hoped Sarah was working at it at the ARC as Cutter and Abby scanned their surroundings for any sign of an incursion.
They were at the tube, thank goodness it didn't open in the railway for that would have been a disaster with some confused people in a train in the middle of some prehistoric era; but it did open on the waiting board with people around the area, attempting to touch the strange light. When someone touched it and their hand went straight through the security was smart enough to evacuate as "professionals" came to the scene. Now Jenny was forced along to talk down the public and make some kind of excuse for this hard-to-cover situation.
"Seems to be fairly secure, Professor," Connor announced as he gazed at his detector, seeing how the anomaly fluctuated. Jenny finally finished her explanations and walked up with the team, a worried expression covering her face.
"Nick," she spoke. He turned his head towards her and he became as worried as she.
Abby noticed the look Jenny was giving him and approached them. "What happened?"
Jenny sighed, "There's a child missing. He was last seen at this loading dock."
"Let me guess, he went missing when the anomaly opened?" Cutter asked and Jenny nodded.
"People can't watch their children for two seconds..." Abby mumbled, "That means we need to go in, see if he survived right?"
Connor was in hearing range for this so he spoke up, "I can go in, if Becker will come keep me company and all that."
"Connor, you hate going through anomalies," Abby replied.
"Yeah, but I like kids. I'm willing to do it, and I will do it."
"Then I'm going with you.-"
"Neither of you are going through that anomaly," Cutter cut in, resting a hand on their shoulders. "This is my team, I'm not letting my team get hurt on my watch. I'll go in search for the child, I presume Becker will feel the need to come in behind?" Becker nodded and Cutter came forward and kept his hand on Connor's shoulder.
Connor looked him with sad eyes. "It's still pretty strong, for what I can tell, but there's no promising it won't close on you. They tend to be..."
"Unpredictable?" Cutter said with a smirk and Connor nodded, "I'll be fine, Connor. The child shouldn't have gotten far."
"We know, you always come back," Abby said with a smile.
"Even if people are different when I come back." He teased, with a look to Jenny, and took a gun that Becker had handed him.
"Nick," he turned as Jenny came over to him. Abby and Connor still stood beside him but when Abby saw the look Jenny gave him she took Connor's arm and dragged him away from the anomaly.
"Don't go in." She started off, giving him quite a shock in return.
"Jenny, it'll be fine."
"There's ... There's something about this... It doesn't feel right. What if something happens?"
"Nothing'll happen. I've got Captain Becker for protection, and he fancies guns so he'll have no problem to aim and shoot. Besides, children don't bite... That often."
"Nick, I'm serious. There's something that doesn't seem ... Don't go."
"I have to, I couldn't possibly let Abby and Connor go in, not on my watch."
"But-"
"Claudia- ..." He sighed, waiting to hear her yell at him but she stayed quiet. "Jenny, I mean. I'll be fine, I promise. Okay?" He assured her and she nodded. "Then Becker, let's go."
They brought their feet ready, and Jenny almost felt to call him, run up to him and kiss right on the lips - but something held her back. That thought brought a feeling of deja-vu and she had no idea why, knowing she had never taken a leap like that before. She looked over at Abby and she gave her reassuring smile, then when she looked up with the courage to kiss Cutter he was gone.
They stepped through the anomaly, feeling a pull and then finding themselves in a hot, dry, suffocating climate with tall, slender trees and dirt as ground.
Becker looked down at the foot prints in front of them, they were small but human.
"Guess that answers the question of where the kid went." Becker stated. "Should I go back and inform?"
Cutter shook his head and sighed. "The more movement in the anomaly the weaker is gets. We want it to be thy strong for as long as possible. Turn your anomaly detector on, the weaker the signal gets the less time we have."
"Like a timer?"
Cutter nodded and squatted down, surveying the footprints. Suddenly Cutter's eyes caught a sight of creature seeming to be interested in something near its height. Cutter pointed towards it when they're ears caught a sound of a distress call.
"Help!" Cutter raised his gun and took lead, Becker allowing it. They brought stealthy steps to the wooded area, seeing the large reptile and the looks of the trees, they appeared to be in the early to mid-Carboniferous period. Cutter noted that to himself, knowing Becker had no interest in where they were, just kept it in mind for Connor. His gun was ahead of him when they paused, seeing the large reptile staring at something balled up, rather human like, in the dirt like ground.
"You think that's the kid?" Becker whispered. Cutter nodded, knowing it obviously was. He held out his arm when Becker attempted to shoot the creature before he went out to help the child, seeing what kind of species the reptile was. Ophiacodon – it was a piscivore, it wouldn't hurt the child.
"It eats plants, not humans." Cutter informed. Becker nodded and ducked out. The reptile saw the tall being and scattered away into what seemed to be a swamp. Becker kneeled down to the child and laid his hand on the back of the small boy.
"It's okay, you're safe now." The little boy turned out from his position, tears running down his cheeks, and jumped into Becker's arms. The child clung to Becker with a death grip and suddenly Cutter realized how much he wished Jenny was here, to help with the child and calm him down. She knew what to do. He realized from being away from her in maybe half an hour he missed her. Becker gave Cutter and shrug and they both knew they could now go home.
Jenny fidgeted with her fingers as she paced back and forth, fearing that it would close or something would be horribly wrong when they came back through. Anomalies scared her, and the last time he went through one he was closed in, only making it back because another one somehow opened back to their time.
Abby sighed, Connor standing beside her. They were starting to get dizzy from the constant movement Jenny was repeating. "You think her legs will fall off?"
Abby laughed. "No, but she'll be fit for a marathon by the time they're back." Connor laughed as well, smiling at each other before Abby approached her and gently touched her arm. Jenny twisted back to face her with a panicked expression and Abby tried to give comfort but wasn't exactly sure how. "Jenny, he'll be fine. Becker will look out for him, yeah?"
She nodded, taking a deep breath. "Of course they'll be fine," she faked a smile, even though she knew she wouldn't buy it. "Abby…" Jenny spoke softly after a moment.
"Yeah?" She answered, turning to face her.
"Do you think there's any hope for Nick and me?"
She was surprised by the bluntness of the question. "I wouldn't have suggested you talk to him if I didn't. You know that."
"I suppose." She sighed, "I just wonder sometimes if it's really worth it. I mean, he drives me insane! He is without a doubt the most aggravating man I know, and yet…"
"And yet you've fallen for him? I know. How do you think I feel about Connor?" She said with no small amount of sympathy. "He's geeky, he plays video games all day, he eats all my food, he never shuts up… Yet, out of everyone I know, if I had to choose one person that I care about the most… It would be Connor."
Jenny smiled, happy to finally hear one of them admit something about how they feel, even if it was only to her. "Why do we go for the men who are so desperately hopeless? The ones who annoy us are the ones we care about."
Abby was about to nod and laugh in agreement when something occurred to her. "Ya know, I've dated men in the past, before I came here. They were nice and funny, and they didn't get on my nerves at all, but I couldn't have cared less about them. Now that Connor's here, turning my life, and my flat, completely upside down, I finally have someone I can really care for. And I know he cares about me, so maybe it's the same way with Cutter. It could be a blessing, knowing that even though they annoy us, we can trust them because we know they really do care about us."
Jenny thought for a moment, then nodded. "You and I… We've got a lot on our plate. It's good to know that there's at least one person out there that we can trust, even if we can't trust ourselves at times."
"What do you mean?"
She blushed, embarrassed at having admitted one of her most well-hidden secrets, but somehow it felt good to be telling it to Abby right now. "I'm insecure about some things, primarily my individuality. Sometimes I can't trust myself to put my needs ahead of my work's, even when I really need to. Job hazard, I suppose. You spend all that time with strangers who see you as just another PR lady telling them what not to do, and eventually you lose your sense of who you are and what you've become. You start to see yourself as just another person. Not to seem selfish, of course. I realize I am no more important than any of you, but if you don't keep your sense of individuality… Well… someone has to be you, and if you're not going to do it, who will?" She chuckled sheepishly. "Am I making any sense?"
"Perfect sense." She smiled. "Now I understand why being called 'Claudia' bothers you so much. You don't want others to mistake you for someone else because you're in danger of doing it yourself."
"Well, that and I really do hate the name." She laughed to lighten the mood. "Honestly, how could Nick fall in love with a woman with a name like 'Claudia'? I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to get past it."
"Oh, yeah." Abby teased. "'Jenny' is much better."
"Uhhh, guys?" they looked over at Connor who was staring at the detector and he looked back up at everyone. "Something's coming through."
The soldiers raised their guns but Connor and Abby knew exactly what it was, or who. Jenny let out a sigh of relief as all the guns were lowered and a grin covered the team's faces, those who weren't Becker's men.
"'Bout time." Connor teased. They stood outside the anomaly, a child wrapped around Becker's neck, and Cutter smiled at him.
"I thought we made excellent timing."
Cutter took one more sip of his coffee before getting up the courage to go to the menagerie. Ever since he got back yesterday, Jenny had spent nearly all her time talking with Abby, and he had a feeling they were talking about him. He didn't mind, of course, he and Connor talked almost too often about the two ladies. It just felt a bit odd. As he neared the entrance, he saw Connor go in ahead of him. The two girls stopped talking, looking at Connor. They glanced back to each other and started laughing hysterically. He smiled as he realized that he wasn't the only topic.
"What can I do for you, Nick?" Jenny asked as he entered, trying to recover from her laughter.
"Well, I came to ask you to lunch, but it seems the two of you are having more fun than I believe I can offer." He teased.
"Nonsense! I'll join you right now, if you like!" Her boldness surprised Cutter, but he still had enough sense to jokingly offer his arm, which she jokingly took.
Abby and Connor exchanged a look that told them the truth: They all knew it wasn't a joke.
Cutter and Jenny exited, off to who knows where. After a moment of silence with the flatmates just standing there, Abby punched Conner's arm for no apparent reason.
"Ow! What was that for?" Connor rubbed his sore arm which he guessed would be bruised within the day.
Abby just grinned and walked away.
"Well, I hope you're paying. I left in such a hurry that I forgot my purse." Jenny realized.
Cutter laughed. "I did ask you to lunch, after all." They smiled.
"Just so I'm clear, is this a lunch or a date?"
"Well, that would be up to you."
"I'll wait to see how it goes, then!" They chuckled again. "Nick, why did you take me out? I must say I don't disapprove, but you've got to admit that it's more than a bit random."
He leaned back and smiled. "The truth is, I missed you. When I went through the anomaly, I mean. And you objected so much that I felt I owed you something, this was the best way I could think of to satisfy both."
Jenny blushed. "You hardly owe me anything. I turned out to be wrong!"
"Then consider it compensation."
She smiled, trying everything not to get lost in Cutter's eyes. To break out of her trance, she offered a toast. "To compensation." She raised her glass.
"Hear, hear!" They drank together, both secretly hoping the lunch would never end.