-*-*-*-*-*-*-Time And Place Get's Complicated-*-*-*-*-*-*-
albums/hh638/AceOfHearts6886/Verse%208Time%20And%20Place_
A Step Out Of Time
Story 1
Time And Place Verse…
Alec Lightwood is a career soldier. He's worked for the NSA, CIA, FBI and most every other three letter agency someone can name; by this point in his life he doesn't think much of anything can faze him…
At least that's what he thinks until his first day of his new job heading up security for a secretive government agency called "Oasis'…
Now he is somehow tasked with chasing down dinosaurs and other terrifying creatures from the past, trying to keep random people out of time from ending up in the press, and corralling Oasis's ridiculously attractive, completely insane head scientist, Magnus Bane…
Yeah…he was SO not prepared for this one…
***Blanket Note For All Verses 3-9***
Kay, so here's the thing, originally I was planning on starting these kinda in shifts, but I'm impatient and I really want to get this stuff going…
So over the next three weeks I am going to be starting universes
3-9
**(10 won't start till the others are well underway for a very specific reason)**
So some of them may take a bit to update but I will have the 1st half of chapter 1 up for all of them by May 10th (I'm setting me a deadline damnit)
The SEM Verse is still my main focus right now and will still be updated at least once a week…the others updates will be a bit more random depending on which one my mind is running with at that moment
I know it seems like a lot and not gonna lie that's cause it IS but my mind has been running with these for over a year now, I think it'll work out just fine…
All the universes I will most likely just update half a chapter at a time. The 1st stories of them will mainly just be introducing our characters and getting a feel for the world so- with the exception of the 40's with a twist the 1st stories will only be 8 chapters,
Kay onto our regularly scheduled program
Here we go again…
So this one is loosely based on the premise of the show primeval but just like the most vague parts of it-
Since I already have a series set in the past I decided I needed a future fic too, just for balance (and cause it just seemed like it'd work with the whole premise). I decided to set it in the year 2050, So not quite 'Jetsons' but a way to play with a bit of fun Sci-fi tech stuff…
Holes are opening in time; things and people are wandering through, secretive bases, crazy scientist trying to figure out whats going on and keep random unintentional time travelers from ending up on the news and humans from becoming a part of the prehistoric food chain…
Lots of random ideas, lots of twists and craziness, and we have Magnus as half a step away from a mad scientist; how can that NOT be fun?
Alright…let's see where this craziness goes…
Chapter 1:
Ready for Anyth-
Umm…I-is That A Dinosaur?
. *~********~*~********~* Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec-Alec *~********~*~********~*Man, how long were they gonna keep him waiting?
His meeting with his new boss was supposed to be over half an hour ago. He'd showed up ten minutes early just to be sure, only for a very intimidating blonde woman in a clean cut black suit to meet him at the door with nothing more than a curt nod and a sharp gesture to follow her, leading him to this waiting room where he's been setting for the last forty minutes.
Maybe this is some kind of a test? A way to see that he's level headed enough to be patient when he needs to?
Or maybe they're testing his resolve, seeing how long he'll wait?
Or it could be just the opposite, trying to find out how much it takes for him to get fed up and go looking for answers?
Maybe they're seeing if he'll snoop when he's left alone long enough?
Alec sighed shaking his head
Or maybe Alec's been working for secretive, clandestine organizations far too long and this Mr. Santiago is just running late.
See, this is why he wants to move to the private sector. After a while the whole cloak and dagger thing starts to play games with your mind-
Makes you see plots and conspiracies everywhere.
Alec startles faintly at the click of a lock, glancing towards the door at the back of the waiting room. A young, attractive woman in a deep burgundy suit with ebony eyes and hair pulled back in a tight, high ponytail flashes a bright smile, striding across the room. Alec quickly stands to meet her. She reaches out, taking his hand in a surprisingly firm, confident handshake.
"Good Afternoon Mr. Lightwood, I'm Divya Nadim, Mr. Santiago's assistant and head of PR here at Oasis. Apologies for the wait, we had a few hiccups to deal with, rather unavoidable. We're ready now though, right this way." She finished, turning on heel heading back to the red door, pressing a panel on the doorframe.
Two flat black spots slide open silently. On one she pressed her thumb, simultaneously leaning in, a small blue green light emanating from the second spot, flickering over her right eye. The sound of a heavy duty lock clicking followed by a low buzzing tone sounded. She reached forward, grabbing the handle, pulling the door open, holding it patiently for Alec.
He blinked in surprise, glancing from her over to the once more smooth, seamless side of the door, quirking his eyebrow,
Divya shrugged, giving a slightly knowing smirk,
"Can never be too careful…don't want anything unwanted getting in…
Or out."
Alec blinked, giving a slightly unsure nod, falling into step behind her, traveling down a long unusual hallway. The floor was covered in a deep green carpet that muffled the footsteps, even the click of Divya's heels was nearly unnaturally silent. The wall were even stranger than the floor. They were a soft creamy eggshell color and almost seemed semi opaque, giving glimpses of shadows and shapes on the other side moving, though they were very vague, just the slightest impression of movement, and no sound whatsoever.
Huh…
He shook his head as they approached another door, Divya once more doing the whole two point identification thing, hearing the door unlock, it almost sounded like a type of airlock.
Alec shook his head again.
Damn…this place had more security than his last job…and that was with the CIA…
Not what he was expecting from a security job for some tech company…even one with a few military contracts…
But…well…it'd kinda make sense. The tech world was pretty cutthroat…and they DID have actual military contracts, it would make sense to safeguard that. Besides, he knew corporate espionage and that kind of thing was a very real concern.
He shrugged faintly,
Eh, it'd be fine…It was corporate espionage…he'd dealt with the real thing; this was nothing he couldn't handle…
Actually if he's supposed to be heading up security this'll probably make his job far easier.
He nodded faintly to himself, picking up the pace a bit, noticing Divya had stopped, waiting in front of an ornate wooden door at the far end of the hall, quirking her eyebrow at him expectantly.
He gave a slightly sheepish shrug,
"Sorry, this place really isn't what I was expecting…"
Divya gave a loud, surprised laugh, dark eyes sparking bright,
"Oh you have no idea…but you will." she smirked mysteriously, reaching forward, tilting her head towards the door,
"Come on, we'll get the real scary stuff out of the way first; your new boss." she reached back, pushing the door open holding it for him with a nearly challenging smirk.
Alec blinked faintly in confusion, hesitantly wandering through, stopping just inside the door, glancing around in confusion.
The office was clean and elegant, everything gleaming black and chrome, accented with deep blood red. It kind of put him on edge to be honest; there was something just unsettling about it. The walls were the same odd eggshell like opaque as the hallway, carpet a deep, rich blood red. The room seemed oddly circular, he couldn't see any corners, the walls seemingly a smooth continuous curve- it seemed like something more fitting for a scifi spaceship type movie set as opposed to the office of the head of a Tech company.
Along one side of the office there was an elegant black leather lounge that curved faintly following the wall- and probably cost more than Alec's car…maybe a few times over…
Almost certainly a few times over…
There were a few other accents here and there but the center focus of the room was clearly a clean, gleaming desk. In front of it were two black leather chairs, with a high backed red leather chair on the far side turned away from them.
Divya strode right across the room stopping next to one of the black chairs, indicating for Alec to join her,
Alec blinked faintly, still hovering by the door,
Okay…why did he just feel like he entered the lair of a supervillian?
"Hello Captain Lightwood, please come in." a smooth, rich, ever so slightly accented voice called, the red chair slowly turning to face them.
Alright…if he's stroking a white cat, wearing an eye patch, or swirling a glass of brandy, Alec's out.
He knows he's already signed the papers and the confidentiality agreement (agreements plural…a lot of them) but surely there's some loophole about working for a wannabe supervillian
Right?
Kay; cat, eye patch, brandy, he's gone that's a-
The chair completes its rotation,
Oh…okay…apparently he forgot to add to his list casually inspecting a freaking dagger
What the hell?!
"Umm…"
The man gives a slight chuckle, quirking his eyebrow, smirking, twirling the gleaming silver blade dramatically
"At ease solider boy…it is a letter opener."
Alec swallowed,
"I knew that…"
Divya snickered, quirking her eyebrow,
"Sure you did…" She glanced over at the man giving a slight wink,
"Always have to make a lasting impression, don't you?"
The man gave a faint shrug and a casual wave, setting the 'letter opener' aside,
"Can't really seem to help it." the man stood up,
Huh…not what Alec was expecting with the whole supervillianny entrance thing.
The guy seemed pretty young, maybe late twenties, Latino, with very deep brown, perfectly styled hair, and sharp, curious, somewhat unsettling dark eyes. He was dressed immaculately in a clean, perfectly tailored jet black suit that also probably costs more than Alec's car-
Okay, if this works out one of the first things he needs to think about is getting a new car…
The man strode confidently across the office, stopping just in front of Alec. Distantly it registered that the guy was close to half a foot shorter than him…which should have put Alec more at ease, but didn't really do much to quiet the faint alarms the guy set off in his head…
Alec's worked a lot of jobs with a lot of very dangerous people. He can spot a threat when he sees one…and everything Alec felt from this guy told him this was not someone you want to screw with.
The man reached forward, taking Alec's hand in a nearly uncomfortably strong grip, shaking firmly, flashing a sharp smile that put Alec on edge even more.
"Hello Captain Lightwood, Raphael Santiago."
Alec gave a polite smile, nodding, vaguely wondering what he was getting into here, reassuring himself that it was just a security job at a tech company…nothing he couldn't handle…
No matter how weirdly intimidating his new boss was…
Or how much it felt like he was going into business with a supervillian…
Nevertheless the benefits package really was amazing …
Eh, so long as he didn't hear anything about world domination or death rays it should be fine.
"Mr. Santiago, great to finally meet you. Thank you again for this opportunity, this job really seems too good to be true…
Though I have to admit it seemed a bit vague."
He chuckled with a slight shrug,
"First off as you are now an employee Raphael is quite alright- we don't generally stand on formality here, it's rather fast paced and more often than not there simply isn't the time for such posturing and nonsense.
Next, well, truth be told the ambiguity was completely intentional. Some of our work here is quite secretive and requires a great deal of confidentiality- hence the rather extensive agreements you had to sign before entering the building." He paused, flashing a slight, somewhat mysterious, smile,
"This place truly is one of a kind; there is no other like it in the world, the things we deal with here are completely beyond the scope of even the wildest of imaginations. I am quite protective of it as well as our work; we really cannot have just anyone stumbling about, or have just any run of the mill applicant traipsing around, bumbling into something life threatening or not meant for their eyes, or worse yet, blabbering on about it to the public.
That really would be unacceptable, right Captain?" he quirked his eyebrow expectantly
Alec blinked, nodding slowly,
Yeah…he's SO working for a supervillian…
"Umm…y-yeah, totally unacceptable...So…when you say 'life threatening' and 'not for their eyes' you mean the military contract things…right? Like government sanctioned projects…right?"
Raphael gave a deceptively casual shrug,
"Yes…among other things."
Ooh…crap…he really should have read the fine print more…
Alec shifted faintly,
"Other things like?"
Raphael waved dismissively,
"Oh this and that, you'll find out soon enough. We have quite a few government contracts but that's hardly our main focus, really those are just an afterthought …though I am sure they would be quite interested in our findings, they do have a tendency of bulldozing in, taking over and mucking everything up, much better to just deal with it ourselves. Involving the government in it would rather be like trying to perform complicated surgery with a chainsaw as opposed to a scalpel."
Oookay…can he just like back out of here slowly?
Ooh…probably not with the whole two point security-airlock type thing with the doors…
Crap…
Alec gestured back towards the door, glancing over at Divya hopefully, "Umm…okay…so…this all sounds really interesting but you should know I've worked for the government before, and am kinda attached to this country so maybe I shou-"
He's cut off by a faint chuckle, echoed by Divya's slightly musical laughter, Alec glances over in confusion, she just rolls her eyes playfully at Raphael
"Dios, so high strung- again, at ease soldier boy- you will not be asked to betray your Country, loyalties, principals, morals or any other vague ideals you hold oh so dear. I am not planning on overthrowing the government or whatever Machiavellian scheme you think I have in mind. I simply mean some of our work is quite delicate and complicated and would be best for everyone if it is not weaponized. Surely you can understand that, yes?"
Alec gave a faint nod, breathing a bit easier, relaxing slightly,
"Good to know…"
Divya grins, leaning against Raphael's desk,
"Well boss man, you do have a certain air about you."
Raphael flashes a faintly playful grin and wink her way,
"Eh, no harm playing to your strengths."
She chuckled once more, before glancing over at Alec, quirking her eyebrow,
"He scare you away yet? Or are you gonna stop hovering by the door and have a seat so we can get the actual interview underway?"
Alec bristled a bit at that, standing up straighter, moving over to one of the black chairs, Raphael slipping ahead of him, moving to the other side of the desk, giving a slightly false smile,
"Again, hello Captain Lightwood, thank you for coming in today, I am sure you will find this job quite engrossing…and the benefits truly are beyond reproach, far above anything else in the private sector."
Alec fought down the urge to roll his eyes,
Kay his new boss may not be a 'supervillian' but he was definitely a super jackass.
Alec put on a equally fake, overly cheerful smile,
"Of course, thank you for having me…so shall we get down to business. Namely what will be entailed in being the head of security for 'Oasis'."
A flicker of surprise flitted across Raphael's expression, along with a hint of amusement, He gave a faint nod,
"Much better- really wouldn't do to have a head of security who just hovered nervously by the door."
"Hey! I wa-"
Raphael rolled his eyes,
"Let's not turn this into a whole dramatic 'thing'…Mag's does that enough for all concerned."
Alec quirked his eyebrow
"Mag's?"
Raphael nodded,
"Magnus Bane, our head scientist. The man is absolutely brilliant, light-years ahead of most anyone else so far as any of our work here goes, but he is also totally insane, inherently dramatic, and a living, breathing trouble magnet cleverly disguised as a person."
Alec chuckled, quirking his eyebrow,
"Sounds like a lot of work…Can't imagine why you'd keep someone like that around. You don't really strike me as the patient, sentimental type."
Raphael shrugged, giving a faint bark of a laugh,
"I can be if the mood strikes me, though in general you are quite right. However Magnus is brilliant, and really we would not be able to do half of what we do here without him…
Also he has been my best friend since I was seven and is the closest thing I have to family." Raphael tilted his head, dark eyes leveling on Alec,
"Which is where you come in, Captain."
Alec swallowed faintly at the rather unsettling look, he shook his head slightly in confusion,
"I don't really understand, I was hired as the head of security for the entire company right? How does this crazy scientist Magnus factor into that? I mean unless he's a security risk o-"
Raphael sighed, shaking his head, slumping faintly against the desk,
"Magnus is no threat to security…just to himself, and my sanity."
"Umm…what?"
He sighed again,
"Look Captain, I'm going to be frank with you. I am hiring you as head of security but your main job above all else is to keep our head scientist, my best friend and eternal pain in the ass alive. And believe me, that is no small task, it will take up much of your time and probably 90% of your focus. But don't worry, Bindy Yakira, and Valerie Chase, your seconds in command can handle anything thrown at them and then some, and every last member of the security team was handpicked and vetted by me, there is no better team."
Alec shook his head faintly
"So wait…Let me just make sure we're on the same page here. you're hiring me, giving me nearly too good to be true benefits and a frankly exorbitant salary, all just to babysit some scientist? Just one scientist?
That's it?
That is why you're hiring me?"
Raphael shrugged, giving an almost devious smirk,
"Actually I am hiring you because you are hot."
Alec startled,
"Umm…l-look I'm flattered and all that, and you're actually really attractive- in a slightly evil, bond villain type way- but umm…I'm not rea-"
Raphael chuckled, rolling his eyes, flashing a mischievous smile,
"Take a breath- I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever- like, less than none in fact."
Alec relaxed a bit, nodding faintly,
"Ah, you're straight."
Raphael gave a loud laugh,
"Oh, most definitely not…"
Alec blinked,
"Oookay…uh…w-well…good?"
Raphael tilted his head,
"Agreed. What I meant -before your little unneeded panic- is that Magnus will find you attractive…which means he might actually be less likely to purposefully ditch you as he has done to the ten other security officers I've hired to protect him."
Alec gave a surprised laugh,
"How could a scientist ditch that many security officers? And why would he?"
Raphael sighed,
"The 'how' is because Magnus is as devious and scheming as he is brilliant, and he has an annoying tendency of using all of that together. In any given situation he has no less than a dozen different ideas and workarounds that range from scarily brilliant to bat crap crazy and everything in between.
The 'why' is because despite insurmountable evidence to the contrary he seems entirely convinced- nearly to the point of delusionality- he is totally capable of taking care of himself and set on proving it at every turn." Raphael gave a faintly world weary sigh, shaking his head, quirking his eyebrow at Alec
"I am not going to lie; he is a LOT of work."
Alec shook his head faintly, setting forward a bit in the chair, the first part of Raphael's initial comment catching his focus,
"So…l-let me get this straight. You expect me to what? Act like bait to keep your crazy scientist friend distracted and from running off doing something idiotic and insane just to prove he can?"
Raphael chuckled, shaking his head,
"No…If Magnus sets his mind to something he's doing it. Magnus doing insane things is rather like the tides or the seasons, a certainty of nature. Seasons change, tides ebb and flow, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and Magnus Bane will do something mind numbingly insane and heart attack inducing at least once a week.
That's just how it is; I do not expect you to be able to stop it, I am realistic. I am just hoping he will find you attractive and appealing enough he may at least try to bring you along during the insanity so he has someone watching his back."
Well…this was just insulting…
He almost felt cheap…
That's an odd feeling…
He shook his head, beginning to stand,
"You know what? The benefits are great and all but honestly I think this job is a bit beneath my skill set. Also hiring someone based solely on their looks is discriminatory and degrading. And expecting me to parade around some crazy mad scientist j-"
Raphael sighed, rolling his eyes, glancing over, hitting a few buttons on the desk console, a hologram shimmering into focus, nodding towards the shimmering image,
"This is Magnus…"
Alec blinked, swallowing faintly…
Wow…
Alec sat back down, folding his hands politely,
"S-so umm…you were saying about the benefits package?"
Raphael chuckled,
"Well, we do have a bit more to go over Captain…"
Two Hours Later…
God…Finally!
Divya had got some kind of text about an hour ago, saying it was some kind of PR emergency and she had to head out, but he was beginning to think she was just getting bored watching him sign his life away…
It was totally understandable,
This place had more security measures and secrecy than any of his other jobs put together…even the clandestine ones he couldn't put on a resume…
Not that that matters with this 'Raphael',
And he still didn't know what the hell they actually did here!
He'd signed even more confidentiality agreements, been quizzed by Raphael- who at this point Alec is convinced must have at least as much experience with government organizations as him-
Also that the man may know more about him then HE does…
Which is just disturbing as hell…
Seriously, he knows everything from where his last deployment was all the way to his very first crush (Skyler Weston- the 19th Doctor Who)
It really is very disturbing…
But the benefits seem very promising, the pay is amazing, and Magnus is…umm…
A-anyways…he thinks it'll be good
Alec sighed signing the very last space on the seemingly never ending paperwork, setting the pen aside, subtly flexing his hand, trying to get his fingers to stop cramping, glancing up at Raphael,
He nodded faintly giving Alec an encouraging smile, moving around the desk next to Alec, reaching out once more to shake his hand,
"Glad to have you on board Alec…I am sure you will fit in just fine here."
Alec smiled, shrugging,
"Well thank you…so now that it's all official and everything are you gonna tell me what exactly it is your main focus here is? Gotta say I'm rather curious after all the buildup."
Raphael chuckled, tilting his head,
"Well, I must admit, it is rather unorthodox, but once you see you will understand all the secrecy…
Though you may want to take a moment to prepare yourself- it is rather surprising at first."
Alec chuckled, shaking his head,
"Look I'm sure this place is very impressive and everything, but like I said, I'm a career soldier, I've seen pretty much everything there is to see. It takes a lot to really throw me, I think I'm good."
Raphael quirked his eyebrow in amusement,
"Good to know..."
Raphael smirks, turning to stand directly beside Alec, reaching over placing his hand on the desk, it seems to almost ripple, a complicated mess of symbols and unusual letters appearing. without even looking Raphael hits a few, putting in some kind of code.
Alec quirks his eyebrow, glancing over at him, Raphael flashes a smirk, nodding towards the back wall of the office, as if on cue the walls shimmer, turning from opaque to crystal clear.
Alec freezes, blinking, eyes wide,
Raphael reaches up, resting his hand on Alec's shoulder patting firmly, gesturing towards the area beneath the office that resembled a fairly decent sized enclosed park, complete with a little artificial water area, plants, trees and grass…
Along with a few other things…
"Captain Lightwood, welcome to Oasis…"
Alec blinked again, pointing uncomprehendingly.
"T-that's a dinosaur…"
Raphael nodded, smirking,
"Yes, technically she's a Diplodocus."
"That is a dinosaur."
"Yes, we have established that…a Diplodocus, a type of large, herbivorous sauropod of the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago."
"That. Is. A. Dinosaur."
Raphael huffed rolling his eyes,
"Once again we've already established that…Clarissa has nicknamed her Odette, after the swan princess, because of the long, graceful neck."
Alec blinked, quirking his eyebrow, looking over at the other man in confusion,
"You have a dinosaur named after a Disney princess?"
*~********~*~********~* End Of Chapter Notes *~********~*~********~*Oh my gosh this one is gonna be SO fun!
Also I know I said in the notes that the other stories would only be 8 chapters but this one we're doing the full 12- it just calls for it…
I'm gonna go with just this one part for this chapter- think this is a good place to end chapter 1…
So in this Divya is gonna be a bit older, closer to Simon and the others rather than the teens
In most of the other verses she's around Max's age but in a few she's gonna be closer to Simon and them- it just depends where I want to fit her in.)
I figured if Alec's been in the military and such for so long he'd have some kind of military rank- On Primeval they had Captain Becker, so I just went with that…seemed a good fit.
So what do you guys think so far?
-*-*-*-*-*-*-Time And Place Get's Complicated-*-*-*-*-*-*-
* 23 *