Title: Controlled, Chapter One

Author: Pinkcat4569

Rating: Teen

Spoilers: Series 4, 5

Pairings: Jess/Becker with Abby/Connor and Emily/Matt

Description: A creature's strange pheromones give an ordinary young woman unusual powers, and soon all the ARC men are under her control. Will Jess, Abby, and Emily ever get them back?

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or the characters.

Author's Note: Been thinking about this for a while. Not completely satisfied with why the men are controlled, but it is just a story...A long one. It's over 12000 words in rough draft.

1709, this chapter.

Controlled, Chapter One

Megan sighed as she tied on her sneakers. It had been a long day, and she was tired. She was determined to keep fit though, so she came to the park. It was empty so late in the day, and she wouldn't have much time to jog before dark. She stretched her legs, and took off for her run.

As she ran down into the trees, she noticed how active the animals were. It was far too late for birds to be singing, yet they were squawking up a storm. A couple nearly flew into her.

"What is going on?" she wondered.

She saw a bunch of squirrels running, and then another bunch that seemed to be chasing them. How weird.

Then it got weirder. At the end of the jogging path was a big yellow, flashing light.

Across town...

"What do you have, Jess?" asked Becker.

"Anomaly Grayford Park," she said. "No further information. It's a small park, with no camera feeds."

"Right," he said, picking up the black boxes.

"Let's go," said Matt.

Jess called after them, "Be careful."

Becker smiled and nodded. "Always, don't worry."

"I can't help it," she said, staring at him. Becker stared back. They stayed in that moment.

Until Connor cleared his throat, "Ahem. Coming with us, Action Man?"

Jarred back to reality, Becker and Jess looked toward the lift, where Matt was holding the door. They both blushed, and Becker joined the others.

As the door closed, Becker said, "Be right back, Jess," and smiled.

She smiled back, and prayed it would be a short and uneventful mission.

Grayford Park...

Megan lay on the path, dazed and confused. She didn't know what was going on. Slowly she remembered the creature. She had walked cautiously closer to the yellow lights, when the animal sounds around her got louder.

Then a strange creature crawled out of the brush, toward her. It looked like an ant but it couldn't be. It had six legs and was at least two feet long! Then she noticed the smell, an overpowering, musky smell. The creature's antennas twitched her way, and it moved toward her.

She began backing up, as it crawled faster. She panicked, and tripped. She screamed as it arched on its four back legs, and sprayed a liquid at her.

Then she blacked out.. She remembered it now, and began to shudder. Ugh, that smell! It was even thicker now. She tried to sit up, but her legs felt weird.

Then she heard a chittering, like an insect, and felt movement on her legs. She looked in horror. The insect sat on her. She screamed, upsetting the insect. It hooked its teeth into her calf.

She screamed again, and shook her leg, trying to get it off, but it hung on, its teeth still in her flesh.

The she heard shouts, and saw people running to her.

"Its on her leg!" cried a woman.

"I can take the shot," said a man in black.

"No, don't, you'll hit her!" cried another man.

"Are you kidding? I won't," said the man in black, a little smugly.

"We have to do something," said yet another man.

"Help me!" screamed Megan. "Get it off!"

The woman ran up, and held her to the ground. "It's OK. Let me look," she said.

The woman examined the insect and Megan's leg. "I don't see any major damage. I don't think we'll hurt anything to shoot it off."

The man in black nodded. He squatted down and looked into Megan's eyes. "I'm going to shoot it, OK?"

Megan nodded.

"You'll be fine," said the woman, holding onto Megan's shoulders. She even gave Megan a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

The other men held her legs steady, and the man in black shot the creature one time with a weird gun.

The creature relaxed, released its teeth, and dropped off.

Megan sobbed, and turned into the woman's embrace.

"You're OK," she said.

"Let's get her to the ARC."

"And the creature?" said the man in black.

"Do we need it?" asked the man who seemed to be in charge.

The woman looked at Megan's leg. "I don't think so. It seems to be a straightforward bite. I see no evidence of venom. She isn't reacting like she's been poisoned."

"We could keep it, just in case," said one of the men. He held a strange device. "I've been working on opening anomalies. I might be able to send the creature home later."

"Might," said the man in black, snickering..

"Yeah, too big a chance," said the leader. "We might never be able to send it back, if we don't do it now."

She watched as the men dragged the bug to the yellow lights and pushed it in. Then they shot the strange device at the lights, and it closed into a ball.

"What's going on?" asked Megan. "What was that thing? What's that light? Who are you?"

The lady patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. "In time," she said. "Let's get you looked at."

The loaded her into a van, and drove her away.

The place they took her to was huge, and high-tech. She was scared. The first thing she saw was more armed men in black. They were everywhere.

She was escorted to a lift, and into a huge, black, open room. More high-tech. Then a young woman met her. She was dressed in a little short skirt, a rather low-cut top, and the cutest shoes Megan had ever seen..

Jess slapped a bracelet on her arm. "It designates you as a guest, so you don't set off security alarms."

Megan frowned, staring at the bracelet. "Where the heck am I?"

Jess smiled. "It's alright," she said. "I know this is all a bit strange, and my friends can be...brusque and mysterious." She smiled at the man in black, who winked at her.

Megan's head was reeling. "Where are we? Who are you people?"

"I'm Jess Parker This is Becker, and Abby, Connor, and Matt. You're in the ARC. We're not going to hurt you. We're the good guys."

The man in black laughed. "Couldn't you tell?" he teased.

Jess scoffed. "You're big and scary, Becker. Go Away."

"Ouch. That hurts," he said with a smirk at Jess.

OK. Megan had no idea what was going on, where she was, or who these people were. The only information she seemed to get so far, was that the man in black, Becker, liked the colorful girl, Jess. And vice versa. Great.

"So, what is the status of our latest mission?" asked a man in a suit.

"Incursion handled, anomaly closed," said the one Jess had indicated was Matt.

"Excellent," said the suit. He looked at Megan. "Are we giving tours now?"

Everyone laughed. "Megan, this is Lester,"said Jess. "He's the boss."

"Indeed, I have a few forms for you to sign," he said. Then he started sniffing. "Good lord, what is that smell?"

"I...think its me," said Megan timidly. "That creature sprayed me."

"Like a skunk?" asked Jess, backing away.

Abby laughed. "It's not that bad. Smells kind of like formic acid, ants. Anyway, I want to get her to medical, and check her out. I'll take her clothes and run some tests on the secretion."

"Lovely," said Lester. "Carry on."

Megan shook her head. "I'm so confused."

"You've been through a lot," said Matt. "It's over now. We'll take care of you." He smiled sweetly.

Megan felt a sudden flush. "Thank you." He was certainly cute, she thought. She watched him walk away. Another woman entered.

The others called her, "Emily," and Matt gave her a kiss. Megan sighed. The good ones were always taken.

"I'm going to my lab," said Connor. "I want to go over the information I got from that anomaly and add it to my anomaly creator."

Becker scoffed.

"Go ahead and doubt me," said Connor, "but I'm telling you I'm close. I could have opened that bug's anomaly. I really could have."

"Please don't," said Megan.

"If we're done sharing our secrets with a person we just met and haven't checked out, yet, security wise, could we all get to work?" asked Lester, sarcastically.

"Sure thing, boss," said Connor.

Becker and Jess flirted by the ADD, Matt and Emily walked out together, Connor had left, and Lester went inside his office. That just left Abby.

"Come on, Megan," said Abby, gently taking her hand and pulling her along. "Let's get you to medical. Don't worry, though, I'm sure you're fine, and soon this whole nightmare will be over."

Megan lied on a hospital bed. The medics gave her a complete examination, and a simple set of blue pants and a shirt to wear.

"I can't get rid of the smell," she commented. "Do you smell it?"

The medic nodded. "I'm sorry. It should wear off soon," he said. "Try to relax and get some rest while we wait for the test results."

She nodded, and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Abby was examining Megan's clothes. She shook her head. The smell was overpowering and beginning to bother her. And the rest of the menagerie. The animals were braying, roaring, squeaking, and squawking wildly.

"What's going on?" asked an assistant.

Abby shook her head in bewilderment. Rex flew in, clearly agitated. He dive bombed onto Megan's clothes, rolling around in them.

"Pheromones," she said. "Very strange, and powerful ones."

The animals continued to go crazy, pushing against their cell doors, at least some of them.

"This is crazy," said the assistant. "Why are some unaffected?

Abby shook her head. "The Males. Only the males are going crazy."

She thought, then turned to the assistant. "Get me an airtight container, these clothes are dangerous." The assistant nodded and left. Abby shook her head, and spoke into comms.

"Jess, do you copy?"

"Copy, Abby."

"Jess, tell the medics to isolate Megan. She's not sick, I don't think, but the creature secretions have some strange properties. I want her isolated just to be safe."

"Will do. Quarantine?"

"I don't think that's necessary yet. Just don't let her roam all over the ARC, secure her in medical for the time being."

"OK, Abby."

End of Chapter One