Summary: Nick can't take it any more, he has to find a way home. He finds some help along the way. Short story.
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!! If I did this would actually happen. I wrote the story, not intending to add the lyrics(story originally called "Finally Found You." But after I wrote the last line I decided this would be fitting.(I only put in some of the lines that I thought would apply nicely to Nick's life) Enjoy! By the way, reviews are love :)
"Home"
by Kathryn Hart
Another summer day,
Has come and gone away,
In Paris and Rome,
But I wanna go home.
Baby, surrounded by,
A million people, I,
So feel all alone,
I just want to go home,
Oh I miss you, you know...
Let me go home...
I'm just too far,
From where you are,
I've got to come home.
And I feel just like I'm living,
Someone else's life.
It's like i just stepped outside,
When everything was going right.
And I know just why you could not come along with me,
'Cause this was not your dream,
But you always believed in me...
Let me go home,
I've had my run,
Baby, I'm done,
I want to go home...
And I'll be alright,
I'll be home tonight,
I'm coming back home...
-Westlife
"I'm not the Nick Cutter you once knew!" Nick Cutter shouted at his colleagues. "I don't share the same memories as you do. This isn't my life!" Nick rushed out of the ARC, ignoring the protests of his friends.
Nick knew he was not in the right world when he heard Abby and Connor talking about certain memories from the past.
He didn't remember any of it.
It was then that he realized he was the one out of place. He knew he had to find a way home, where things were a lot simpler and where Claudia Brown still existed. Once he arrived at the Forest of Dean he raced through the forest until he reached the anomaly, which he rushed into without a second thought.
_*_*_
Nick climbed on the rocks until he reached a good spot that overlooked much of the Permian landscape.
"Claudia Brown!!" he shouted with all his might, startling a flock of prehistoric birds. He was reminded of the time he stood in this very same spot, shouting Helen's name.
But Helen no longer mattered to him anymore. How could he have been so blind as to not see what he was searching for had been standing in front of him the whole time? Claudia Brown had made it clear that she loved him, and he wanted to do the same for her. He shouted her name again, distraught and desperate. He was startled to hear a male voice behind him.
"So, you're looking for her too?" Nick spun around and was face to face with himself. At least, mostly like himself. This man was different. His hair was longer and was a thick dark, brown, contrasting to his own nearly-blond light brown. And by the way this man stood, Cutter could sense boldness and brash arrogance, something that reminded him of Jenny Lewis when they first had met. The man introduced himself.
"My name is Nate Chaplin, and I believe I am your parallel twin."
"Pardon me?" Nick asked.
"You were here." Nate said. "When the earth was changed through the events that happened here a year ago. One event you did not foresee was the split of your world into two separate dimensions. Me and my colleagues were created, our lives starting at the same time as yours. We lived our separate lives, not knowing the other's existence until the accident that occurs here."
"Accident?"
"Yes, I believe on that fateful day, we somehow swapped lives. You went to my world while I went to yours." Nick stopped to ponder this.
"How do you know all this?"
"Well, we're both living proof aren't we? It was all just theory until I saw you here. Also, after I arrived in your world, I spent that whole year researching what went wrong, thankfully your Home Office friends helped me."
"Lucky." Nick thought, "Nobody at the ARC believed me when I said we had done something wrong and Claudia was gone." He was glad his own people were more trusting. "When did you know you were in my world?" Nick asked him.
"As soon as I stepped through the anomaly. All of a sudden this woman similar to someone I once knew ran up and kissed me with such a force that I nearly fell back into the anomaly."
"Claudia Brown." Nick whispered.
"Exactly, in the place of the woman I love, Jennifer Lewis. I nearly broke Claudia's heart every time I called her Jenny. She was too sweet to admit it, but I noticed." Nick tensed up.
"I have to find her." Nate stopped him before he could rush off.
"Wait, I want to know...Does Jenny exist in your world?"
"Yes, but when I first arrived, she didn't work at the ARC." Nate was confused.
"But she's worked at the ARC for quite some time. You must've changed the time line when you stepped through."
"Wait, if I was in your world all this time, why did everyone call me Nick instead of Nate?"
"Again, you probably changed the time line when you went through. Do you think anything else was different?" Nick thought about this for a moment.
"Yes. Did Stephen..." He had difficulty saying it. "...did he have an affair with Helen?"
"Helen?" Nate didn't recognize the name.
"Yes my...our wife."
"Oh yes, you mean Helena. Sadly, yes. Strange that Stephen seems the same in both our worlds."
"Who else do you know in my world?" Nick asked.
"Well, there's our animal expert Andrea Morrison, or Andy for short, our computer geek Conrad Turner, Stephen Hark of course, and finally Jeremy Lingo, our boss. The names were the same as in my world, but they all acted different, except for Stephen."
"Abby Maitland, Stephen Hart, Connor Temple, and James Lester."
"Amazing. So maybe Stephen is a little different. What about Leek?" Nate asked. "He is not in your world, apparently."
"He turned out to be against us, joined with Helen...and was the result of Stephen's death." Nate's face turned morose.
"I didn't think that spineless toad could accomplish anything, much less mastermind something so evil. I'll keep that in mind, it won't happen again." He laughed. "Sounds like my world was much more exciting than yours. All we ever did in your world was chase after anomalies day after day, you got to deal with conspiracy theories and bad guys plotting against you." Nick shook his head, amazed at this man's attitude.
"You said 'Won't happen again.' What did you mean by that?" Nate pulled out a strange hand-held device from his pocket.
"I had Conrad design this before I left. I've figured out how to shift the anomaly between dimensions, you can go home now if you like." Nick nodded, even though Nate hadn't answered his question fully.
*_*_*
Once they were at the anomaly, Nate pointed the device at the anomaly, causing it to shimmer and shift slightly. Nick started to walk through but Nate cautioned him.
"You'll probably arrive at the same moment you left one year ago. Hopefully, they'll still remember your name and everything will be back to normal, for both of us." Earlier, Nick had sensed that Nate and Jenny were not as close as he was with Claudia. There might've been some tension between them before he left. He decided to say something to him.
"Nate, one year ago, here in the Permian, I promised that I would kiss Claudia Brown to make up for the two times she kissed me. I am also going to ask her to dinner." He slapped Nate's shoulder. "I suggest you do the same, for Jenny that is." Nate laughed.
"Yeah, your Claudia is some woman, but she is no Jenny. I've really come to miss Jenny's spunk." Nick smiled.
"And your Jenny Lewis is no Claudia Brown, I've missed her gentleness." Nate grinned at this.
"Safe journey." Nate whispered to him. Nick nodded in agreement at him before he stepped through the anomaly. Once Nick was gone Nate pressed a button the device and the anomaly shifted back to it's former position. He then stepped through into the waiting arms of his lover Jenny Lewis.
*_*_*
When Nick stepped through the anomaly the first thing he noticed was it was brighter than Nate's world. The sun was shining down through the trees. All his friends were there, the Abby, Connor, Stephen and Lester he had once known. And then he saw what his heart had been longing for for a long time. She looked like a angel, with her auburn hair framing her face and a huge smile that registered joy at his return. Nick raced up to Claudia and placed his hands on her arms, near her shoulders.
"Where's Helen?" Lester asked him. Cutter looked deep into Claudia's big brown eyes and said
"Helen who?" He pulled her to his lips with such a force that surprised even him. Claudia felt that Nick had gone through more on the other side of the anomaly by the way he kissed her and would not let her go. They slowly broke apart and Claudia saw tears in his eyes.
"Nick, what happened?" She whispered.
"I finally found you, after all this time." She gave him a quizzical look but he continued. "I love you, Claudia Brown, I always have and always will." He pulled her in for another kiss. Something right had finally happened in his life. He had found his Claudia, and he was never going to let her go. He had finally come home.
And I'll be alright, I'll be home tonight,
I'm comin' back home...
-The End-