The Field Coordinator

by LanerMahaner

AU 3.3; Lillian "Lily" Brennan is the new field coordinator for the Anomaly Research Center. Daughter of the American Ambassador, Lily has had a privileged life but joins the ARC when she's caught hacking their system. Becker is less than pleased to have a 'criminal' in their midst but begins to grow fond of the young computer wiz.

Chapter One

Season 3: Episode 3

"This is Lillian Brennan, our new field coordinator," Lester gestured at the young woman beside him. She was brunette, with startling blue eyes, standing about 5'8". She wore a white t-shirt, speckled with gold, just the front tucked into a studded belt that held up her distressed jeans, converse wedges on her feet giving her a little extra height. Lillian Brennan did not seem like the type of person to work at the ARC, especially not in a job as important as field coordinator.

Connor stared at the girl who couldn't have been more than eighteen really, "Nineteen actually," Lillian smiled as Connor realized that he had spoken his thought aloud, "And it's Lily," She stated giving Lester a look. Lester shrugged, uncaring, before turning and strutting up the walkway to his glass office, keeping a look out over the rest of the ARC.

Wrinkling his brow, Connor looked Lily up and down again, a little more embarrassed now than he had been when he'd first walked into the ARC, "What's a field coordinator?" Everyone laughed at his look of utter befuddlement, Becker and Abby shaking their heads at Connor's confusion.

Lily grinned, "Basically it means that I'll be in charge of the Anomaly Detection Device, keeping contact with you through the new comms. I'll help you find the quickest routes to the anomalies and possibly hack a few cameras to get a good picture of what's going on," She seemed particularly excited about that bit of her job.

She was about to say more when the anomaly alarm suddenly started blaring. Connor ran to his machine, Lily right on his heels, "Okay, it's in the city," They watched as the GPS got closer and more specific, faces paling when they saw where exactly the anomaly was, "It's a hospital."

"Go," Lily ushered Connor away from his precious ADD, "I'll take care of this, but don't forget your comms!" She called after them, tossing little black ear pieces at each member of the team, "I'll be on the other end; all you have to do is speak."

As the team rushed out of the ARC, Lily pulled up the schematics to the hospital, tapping into the security feed. She scanned the video for signs of a creature incursion, finding the anomaly in an operating theater on the third floor.

"Okay guys, the anomaly is on the third floor. No signs yet of any creatures," She could hear the team on the other end muttering affirmatively in her ear. She scanned the cameras again, catching sight of a strange hole in the wall, "There's a weird hole in the wall as well, that might be evidence of an incursion. Still seeing no actual creatures, though."

There was silence on the other end as the team went about investigating the hospital. Until Connor suddenly yelled through the comms, "There's a creature incursion! This way, this way."

Lily scanned the feeds, finding Connor and Becker rushing down the hall after what looked like a very pregnant woman. The camera gave her a slight view of the room as Becker ran over to the corner, moving a chair away from the hole in the wall. She could hear the conversation between Connor and the woman as well.

In the background she could hear the pregnant woman, "I-It went through a hole in the wall, there."

Connor squatted down beside Becker, both men staring at the small cavity in the wall. Wires could be seen sticking out, electricity sparking slightly. Becker was shining the light off his gun into the breach as Connor turned back to the pregnant woman, now settled on the bed, "What did?"

The woman shook her head, "I don't know… A-a ratty, chipmunk, beaver kind of thing," Lily smiled at the description.

"Well, that narrows it down."

"Want me to look up 'ratty, chipmunk, beaver kind of thing that can eat through walls," She asked, laughing as Connor made a face at her words in his ear.

Picking up his phone, Connor pressed several numbers before putting the device to his ear, "Cutter, we might have a problem," Strangely enough Lily was unable to hear the other side of the conversation. She surmised that Cutter had taken out his earpiece, "A ratty, chipmunk…" He paused looking at the woman.

"Beaver."

"Beaver kind of problem."

Lily directed Connor and Becker back through the hospital to Cutter and the other soldiers, laughing at the faces Connor made due to her comments on the ratty, chipmunk, beaver animal. She brought up another window on the ADD as they reached Cutter, ready to search for whatever creature they were after.

"Okay, so how did she describe this creature, apart from the whole ratty, chipmunk thing?" Cutter seemed just about impressed at the woman's description as the soldiers.

Connor glanced at Cutter, tapping his earpiece subconsciously, "Right, uh, about so big," He held his hands about a foot and a half apart, trying to judge just how big she had indeed said the animals were, "Protruding teeth, large and some claws."

"On it," Lily chirped in his ear, beginning to search their database for such a creature. Not that she had a whole lot of information to go on, but she hadn't been recruited for nothing.

"We've had three other reported sightings," Becker added, glancing around the hallway.

Cutter looked up at the ceiling just as the lights flickered again, "There could be dozens of those things in here," He brought his earpiece out of his pocket, putting it back in place, "Okay, I need you both to get this place evacuated now. Lily?"

"Here!" Lily's happy voice sounded in his ear.

Sighing Cutter walked off in the opposite direction from Becker and Connor, "I need you to see if you can get the generator up and running remotely and pull up a schematic of the ducts. Whatever these things are, they're eating through the wiring."

"Got it," Lily immediately pulled up a blueprint of the hospital, zeroing in on the air ducts as she pulled up another window that showed the wiring in the building. There seemed to be several overlapping points of the wiring and ducts that she informed Cutter about. She theorized that the creatures were using the ducts to transverse the hospital while eating through the walls and wiring at the same time.

"Cutter," She waited for Cutter to respond before going on, "I think I found our creatures. Diictodon; burrowers from the Permian era. Herbivores, relatively harmless unless you're a building. Abby's got one or two in the anomaly room."

While Cutter went to check out the creatures that Abby had found, Lily focused on the evacuation that Connor and Becker were overseeing. It sounded as if they were having an easy go of it, nurses and doctors running around as they got patients ready to leave.

Connor's phone rang as he and Becker checked a room for any other Diictodons, "Cutter?" Connor paused, listening to Cutter on the other end, "We're on our way," He turned towards Becker, "Where are the operating theaters?"

"No idea."

"Right. We need to find somebody who works here," He paused, "Or, Lily… do you…"

Becker cut him off, "I'm a trained soldier. I can find my way around a hospital."

Laughing Lily guided her finger from where Connor and Becker currently were to the room that had Abby and Cutter locked in, "You sure you don't want me to tell you which way?"

Becker scoffed, "I've got this."

Lily watched, vastly entertained as Becker and Connor went the exact opposite way that they needed to go to get to Cutter and Abby. But every time she tried to correct them, Becker shut her off, reminding her that he was a 'trained soldier.'

"How difficult can it be to find an operating theater in a hospital?" Becker humphed, glaring at the rooms around him.

"What was that you were saying about being a trained soldier?"

Just as Lily was once again about to offer her help in navigating them to their destination, a Diictodon could be heard in the ceiling above them. Becker hit Connor in the arm with his elbow, "Catch it."

Connor stared at Becker, eyes wide, "What do you mean 'catch it'?"

"Catch it!" Becker shoved Connor forward with his elbow, gun trained on the ceiling as floor tiles shimmied and shook.

"All right," Connor walked forward, eyes on the ceiling, "Okay, catch it."

Becker pointed to a large rolling basket, "Get under it."

"Yeah, this," Connor weaved, trying to stay under the scurrying creature, "Maybe we could…" Before he could finish his sentence the Diictodon fell directly into the basket.

Becker and Connor laughed, looking extremely pleased with themselves as they regarded the small creature, "Hello mate. My name's Connor. This is…" Connor glanced at Becker, "My name's Connor. How are you?"

Lily squealed in their ears, "It's so adorable. How can you not think that is just the cutest thing ever?"

Standing straight, Becker drew the blanket over the top of the basket, obviously embarrassed to be caught thinking exactly what Lily had spoken, "Cutter," He stated.

"Do you want directions now?"

Grinding his teeth, Becker nodded. Lily smiled, tapping keys as she located the men on the cameras, "Okay, so you should take the next left, follow that hallway down to the end, make a right, another left and head down the staircase at the end of that hallway," She watched as they followed her instructions, Becker rounding each corner, gun in front, "The operating theater should be just down that next hallway and to the left."

Connor and Becker ran down the hall, stopping momentarily as the Diictodon they had caught started making strange noises, "Lily, what is that?"

Lily glanced at the feed from the anomaly room, "Abby's Diictodon is making a distress call. They're using it to attract the others."

Suddenly machine gun fire rang out behind her, causing everyone around to drop to the floor. Lily screamed, scrambling under her desk, "Lily? Lily?!" Becker yelled for her through the comms but got no response.

Lily peeked out from under the ADD to see strikingly identical men, each holding an automatic weapon, ushering people into closets. One man dragged her out from under the desk, her comm falling uselessly from her ear. The man dragged her towards the hall, Sarah, Lester and Jenny joining her as they were ushered down the hallway.

Cutter appeared halfway down the hall, approaching them silently, "Cutter!"

Lester stepped forward, "What the hell is going on?" They group let relief flood through them for one moment before Cutter raised a gun, pressing it against Lester's forehead, "You are so fired."

Helen Cutter appeared, smiling, the expression cruel and mocking, "Don't kill him yet," Was all she said before walking on.

Lester scoffed, "'Yet'? Hmm," He glared at Cutter, "What have you done?"

Helen and her soldiers pushed the group into a utility closet, the soldier giving Lily a forceful shove, "Guard this door," Helen glanced at them, "Shoot anyone who tries to get in or out," And then she did something very odd. She turned to stare directly at the soldier, her words soft and enticing, "Obey no one else. My voice is the only voice you recognize," And with that she was gone.

Lily slid down the wall, head in her hands as the Jenny and Lester paced around the small space, "So Cutter's finally gone native."

Jenny glared, "He would never betray us."

"Unless I'm very much mistaken, he just did," Lester monotoned, staring at his phone.

Hands on hips, Jenny turned on Lester, "I know him, and I know he wouldn't do this of his own free will."

Lester ignored her, "Excellent, no signal."

Lily tried to ignore them all, hugging her knees to her chest. She was only nineteen for god's sake, she wasn't prepared to deal with all this. And on her first day, no less. She just wanted it to be over, and maybe to quit her job, although she knew that that wasn't really an option.

Sarah's next comment however caught her attention, "Did you see the way she spoke to him? It was… really weird."

"It was almost like mind control," Lily stated as she sat up, "As if she was controlling him with only her voice," She looked around at the adults, "Can she do that?"

Sarah nodded, "It was as if he had no will of his own. He just responded to everything she told him."

"You're right," Jenny looked contemplative, "It was like he was programmed to obey her voice."

Lester was staring down at the floor, "Exactly. Didn't even seem to hear the rest of us."

Lily stood, leaning against a cupboard, "Can she do that, though? Does the technology actually exist?" No one had an answer, "Well then, do we at least have a plan of action?"

Pacing, Lester sighed, "All we have to do is get her to change her instructions."

"You make it sound so easy," Lily scoffed.

"Why would she do that?

Lester looked up, "Maybe we can do it for her."

"You mean like use recordings of her voice to make new instructions?" Lily grinned, "That I can do," Lily set to work, pulling up Helen's interrogation files on the old laptop left in storage. Splicing bits and pieces together she managed to make a usable voice file.

The door suddenly opened, giving Lily just enough time to flip the lid of the laptop down before someone saw. It was with trepidation that they saw Abby and Connor being pushed into the room with them.

Connor's eyes were wide, "What is going on?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question. What the hell has got in to Cutter?"

Both Abby and Connor looked at the group wide eyed in disbelief, "That's not him," Abby looked shell shocked and worried beyond belief.

"There's…" Connor paused, "Two of him."

Lester sighed, "Two versions of Cutter? Sounds like some kind of nightmare."

Connor shoved desperately at the door, "We've got to do something," Everyone nodding in agreement.

"Connor, um…" Sarah looked at him in question, "We have to play this audio file over the internal sound system. Lily's been trying to hack into the system but she hasn't been able to play it."

"We can't do that from in here."

Everyone gave a sigh of desperation. It seemed that they couldn't get out of the situation. However a thud heard from outside the door gave them hope. The door opened to reveal Becker pulling an unconscious soldier into the room.

Breathing heavily, Becker regarded them each in return, "Everyone, uh, okay?"

"Becker!" Lily jumped towards him, giving him a large hug in relief.

"Helen's taken over the ARC."

Becker nodded, "I know. I gathered something was wrong when we heard Lily scream through the comms and then there was no security at the gate. And now her people are crawling all over the place."

Lester look agitated, "How many men have you got with you?"

Smirking Becker looked around, "Just me. Should be enough."

Scrambling back to the computer, Lily popped the disc out of the tray, "Becker, we need to get this to the P.A. system."

"What is it?" He shook his head, "Doesn't matter," He pointed at Lily, "You come with me. The rest of you, stay here."

Becker grasped her wrist, pulling her along behind him as they made their way towards the P.A. room. Fortunately they didn't encounter any soldiers on their way as they snuck around corners, Becker's hold on Lily staying firm.

It was however when they got the P.A. room that they found a soldier, "All right?" Lily ducked as Becker rounded the corner, throwing a punch at the man's face. The soldier punched back, Becker blocking every throw, kneeing the man in the stomach before downing him with a good shot to the head.

"Move, quickly!"

Lily ran to the computer, inputting the disc as she pulled the program up. Just as she was about to initiate the program the cleaner awoke, pressing the screen down onto her fingers. Lily gasped in pain before Becker pulled the man off, landing another punch to the soldier's gut. However the cleaner threw Becker to the ground punching him in the face before Becker could make another move. Lily rushed to finish setting everything up, glancing in worry at Becker lying on the ground.

The soldier walked towards her menacingly and Lily picked up the first thing within reach, hitting the man across the face a few times. However her hits were weak and the cleaner easily continued towards her.

"I can handle this, Lily," Becker growled as he got up, wiping blood from his lip.

"I can't!" Lily squeaked as the cleaner grabbed hold of her, dragging her away from the computer. Becker tried to drag the man off of her as Lily reached towards the computer, keypad just out of her reach, "I can't reach!"

Becker landed a good punch to the other man's face, the cleaner letting go of Lily as she ended up between him and Becker, "Punch him!"

Lily did as she was told, punching the soldier as hard as she could in the face. It did little damage as the man stalked forward. Lily jumped out of the way, running back to the computer as Becker punched the man again, knocking the cleaner to the floor as Lily initiated the program.

"Stop. Do nothing. Obey my voice," The robotic words played over the intercom on repeat. Lily sighed in relief, sagging against the table.

Becker placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's all right," Lily turned, wrapping her arms around the older man. Becker stood still for a moment before returning the hug as Lily shivered against him, "It's all right."

Suddenly there was a loud boom and the building shook. Tiles fell from the ceiling, fire flashed in front of the door. Lily jumped away from Becker with a scream, shying away from the falling debris. Becker grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him, gun held out in front as he directed them back to the others.

"Come on, everyone out, now!" Becker herded them out of the room, ushering them towards the exit. He shoved Lily towards them as Connor turned to him with a worried expression.

"Cutter?" Becker nodded, giving Lily one last push as he and Connor went off down the corridor.

Jenny led the way, pushing wires and debris out of the way. They all coughed from the smoke, eyes stinging and watering. The halls were filled with fallen objects, parts of support columns blocking their way. Jenny reached behind her, grabbing Abby, creating a chain. Lester grabbed on to Lily pulling her forward as they made their way out of the building.

Soldiers met them out front, ushering the group a safe distance away, checking them over for major injuries. After what seemed like forever, Connor and Becker exited, carrying Cutter between them.

Abby rushed towards Connor, calling his name as Becker leant down, head between his legs. It was chaos outside, smoke bellowing out of the building.

"What's going on?"

Connor glanced back at the burning ARC, "I think it's some sort of bomb."

In a moment Becker was up and in control, "Right, we've got to prioritize the casualties," Ordering his soldiers around, making sure the team was all right.

Lester was on his phone, somehow managing to still look dapper and controlled even when in crisis. Sarah stared around blindly, still coughing from smoke inhalation, Connor and Abby standing behind her. None of them seemed to be badly injured, just some slight scratches and ash on their faces.

Lily watched eyes wide as Cutter ran back in to the building, Jenny yelling after him. They stood motionless, eyes trained on the fiery entrance, waiting for Cutter to rematerialize.

There was a second explosion as fire billowed out of an upper floor, the soldiers yelling and moving people back from the flames, "He's been gone too long," Jenny whispered. Connor and Abby shared a look and suddenly Connor was running back in to the building, Lester yelling after him.

Ambulances began to arrive and Becker pulled the women towards the medics, forcing oxygen masks over their faces. Soldiers were still running about, trying to contain the situation. Lily and Sarah sat in the back of a bus, breathing in deeply, a medic cleaning up a deep gash on Lily's forehead. They were all waiting with baited breath for Connor to come back out with Cutter.

However when Connor did return it was not with Cutter; at least not alive. Connor walked out of the smoke, holding Cutter's body close to his until Becker and Jenny rushed forward, lowering the body to the ground.

"Get and ambulance, quickly."

Connor shook his head, "It's too late."

Abby cried, tears dripping down her face, "What?"

Connor let one tear slide down his face as they all stared at Cutter's unmoving body, the life long gone from his limbs.

"He… can't be," Jenny looked down, "Oh god, there was something I was going to tell him."

Lily stood off to the side, hand pressed to her mouth, Becker a few steps behind her. She felt out of place; she had only known the man for one day but already she could feel the sadness weighing her down. She could hear Connor whispering, "I won't let you down, professor," Could watch as Lester yelled, "Would you get this man in an ambulance, now!" But none of it made any difference. The professor was gone.