Hi everyone! Merry Christmas! I don't want to beg for reviews, but could you just drop a note to say if you like it or not? It can be my Christmas present :-) X
Cutter was buried in his work when the ADD's alarm blared, jolting him from his work. He saw Stephen and Abby fly past his office and followed them quickly, jogging to catch up with them as Connor's fingers flew over the keys. "We have a location!" he announced gleefully. Then frowned. "Uh oh…"
"What?" Stephen questioned, leaning forward. He paled. "Dammit!"
"Would somebody please like to fill me in?" Lester drawled from behind them. Connor had shot from his chair and grabbed his bag while Abby and Stephen were already partly out the door.
"It's Dawn's school!" Connor yelled over his shoulder. Cutter found himself running to keep up with them, even Jenny who had arrived just in time to hear Connor's shout. They sat in terse silence in the car, Jenny constantly on her phone while Connor monitored police scanners. They pulled up outside an old, red brick building.
"This is her school?" Cutter questioned doubtfully. They were miles from their home and this building looked nothing like schools he remembered from his childhood.
"This is just the front part of it." Stephen explained. "They have newer buildings around the back."
They walked in, Jenny veering off to talk with the receptionist. In minutes, the head teacher had appeared, a serious looking woman with fierce red hair pulled into a bun. "Ms Lewis?" she enquired, revealing an Irish lilt to her voice.
"That's me. A pleasure to meet you Miss Cooper." Jenny smiled professionally, shaking the offered hand. She quickly lied about government tests being conducted, gaining them entry to the school.
"Of course. We're always happy to help." The headmistress smiled. "Forgive me, but you seem familiar- do you have a child here?" she addressed Stephen, who grinned.
"My goddaughter comes here; I fill in for Cutter here whenever he can't make it." He cocked his thumb at the scientist. Realisation flashed across her face.
"Of course, Dawn. It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr Cutter. Your daughter is exceptionally talented." She complimented.
"Thank you…" Cutter replied, startled and not really knowing what else to say.
"Would you like to see her perform? I believe she has a rehearsal now…" offered the headmistress. Abby and Connor turned to him with pleading eyes.
"Can we Cutter, please?" Abby begged.
"It's been ages since we've seen her perform!" Connor added hopefully. Cutter looked at them confusedly, wondering what they were talking about but nodded his agreement.
"Am I the only one remembering the possibly dangerous anomaly?" Jenny cut in pointedly, lowering her voice so Miss Cooper couldn't hear her.
"I'll go." Stephen volunteered. "I watched her practice the other day so I've already seen it."
He grabbed the bags and jogged away, leaving the others to follow the headmistress into a large, darkened auditorium where Cutter saw several figures moving around on stage, dancing in perfect unison to the song blaring over the speakers. With a shock, Cutter realised that the lead girl was Dawn, dressed in a brightly coloured t-shirt and white shorts as she sang perfectly even as she performed complicated dance moves.
Cutter watched her in astonishment; he'd heard the girl singing around the house before but it hadn't been anything like this- it seemed as if she was literally a part of the music. "She's extraordinary." Jenny breathed, standing beside him. Dawn was flipped into the air by her partner and landed in the arms of another boy, still singing at perfect pitch until she melded into the background and another girl took over. They all stood and watched her in silence until the song had finished and the students were all panting and out of breath, but beaming.
"Trés bien." A petite blonde woman clapped her hands. "Nobody fell and nobody dropped anybody- if you can do that in two weeks maybe you will pass this class."
The students all cheered, laughing and joking as they filed off the stage. Dawn broke away from her friends and skipped towards them, stopping just short of crashing into Connor. "Hi guys! Morning Miss Cooper."
"Good morning Dawn. How are you feeling about your exam?" she questioned with a gentle smile. Dawn shrugged.
"Nervous, but prepared."
"Good. Would you be so kind as to show your father and his colleagues around- you have a free period now, yes?"
Dawn nodded. "Of course. This way!" She bounced out, turning to them with a frown as soon as they were away from her curious classmates. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Anomaly alert." Abby explained. Her eyes widened.
"Here?" her voice rose.
"Yeah- Stephen went to find it." Abby explained while Connor pulled out a detector and switched it on. It immediately beeped and they followed it to where Stephen stood in the canteen in front of the glowing anomaly.
"Any incursion?" Cutter asked him.
"Um… Kind of." He pointed to the stacks of chairs, where hundreds of small lizard-type creatures were nestled, seemingly fast asleep.
"They look like Rex!" Dawn grinned.
"Kuehneosaurus." Connor said. "From the late Triassic period."
"They're harmless, right?" Jenny checked.
"… I think so?" Connor smiled sheepishly. They all rolled their eyes.
"How do we get them back through?" Dawn questioned. Suddenly, there was a chirrup and one of the lizards lifted its head, scrambling down from his perch to skid across the floor to Dawn. She giggled, kneeling down to play with him.
"Be careful." Cutter and Stephen said at the same time, glancing at each other in surprise.
"She has a point though." Jenny crossed her arms. "How are we going to get them back?"
Dawn was feeding her new friend bits of banana, sitting on the floor with him in her lap. "With fruit?" she suggested, not looking up. Cutter raised an inquiring eyebrow to Abby, who nodded.
"It could work." She confirmed.
"Right then… who wants to get the fruit?" Cutter questioned. Abby and Connor were volunteered so they traipsed off to the kitchens with Jenny to supervise them, leaving Cutter and Stephen standing awkwardly, watching Dawn from a little way off.
"This school… it's a performing arts school?" Nick questioned quietly. Stephen nodded.
"Yeah… You know, I've only ever seen you and Dawn argue twice. Properly argue, I mean. Once was about Helen, just after she came back for the second time and the other was when Dawn decided she wanted to go here." He said softly. Nick frowned.
"I didn't want her to?"
"No. You said that it was a waste of time, and her academic ability. That singing and dancing were fine as hobbies but that they shouldn't take the place of her studies. Dawn responded by pointing out her subjects were a mix for the first two years and then she chose, and she would never be so stupid as to choose 'soft subjects' only." Stephen explained with air quotes. "You felt the school was too far away from home, that it would be too much of a struggle for her to do the journey time and keep up with her school work."
"What did she say?" Nick questioned curiously. Stephen smiled at the memory.
"That it was closer than the university had been when you worked there, and she was a helluva lot more organised. The two of you argued for weeks- I think Dawn spent more time than my flat that summer than I did. And even when she started there in September you refused to attend any school functions or meetings- Dawn was heartbroken."
Cutter winced. "I'm in idiot." He muttered to himself.
"Yep." Stephen agreed. "I filled in for you until for months until you came home to find her practicing a solo piece for the christmas assembly that she'd been picked to perform over every other student in the school, even the year elevens. She begged you to come watch her and you eventually agreed."
Suddenly, there was a particularly loud cheep from the awake dinosaur that woke up several more. And in a chain reaction, Stephen and Cutter could only watch as one by one they were all woken up and began exploring the room, some gliding down from their perches while some simply scurried across the floor.
"Uh oh…" sighed Stephen.
"Close the door!" Cutter cried. Stephen rushed over, closing it just as one of the dinosaurs tried to stick his nose out. Dawn was in her element surrounded by chattering creatures, her wide smile telling Cutter that she was perfectly fine. Suddenly, Cutter noticed what the anomaly was doing. "It's getting weaker!"
"Maybe we should try to herd them back through?" Stephen suggested. Cutter raised his eyebrows, but then shrugged.
"Very well." They attempted to usher them back through but the creatures simply ran to the side and Dawn eventually became frustrated with them both.
"Oh for gods sake! Stop being so stubborn and work together!" she exclaimed. They both looked at her. Then at each other.
At another glare from the teenager they relented and began to work in unison, succeeding in getting some of the lizards back through while Dawn helpfully shouted directions from her spot on the floor.
The doors were flung open as the other three rushed in and immediately paused, blinking at the chaos in the room. "Where the hell have you been?" Cutter questioned. They began to answer but swarms of lizards surrounded them, sniffing at the fruit. They managed to manoeuvre themselves across the room to the anomaly, throwing pieces through to entice the little creatures to follow.
"Surprisingly anticlimactic." Jenny remarked dryly as the last of them scampered through, the only one left being the one in Dawn's lap.
"Put him through Dawn." Cutter instructed. She pouted.
"Can't we keep him? He's so cute." She held him up and he chattered happily, nuzzling into her.
"No you can't!"
"But Abby has loads! And Rex!" she protested. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Abby is a fully grown woman with her own flat and job. You are not." He said. She glowered at him but stood and gently threw the dinosaur back through the fluctuating anomaly. Seconds later, it closed leaving a strange silence, until the sound of the school bell pierced the air and made all but Dawn jump violently.
The teenager giggled at their reactions. "I gotta go, I have chemistry next." she bounded out with a wave.
"I better go and try to explain why we've just removed all the fruit from the kitchens." Jenny sighed. She clipped out in her heels and as she did Cutter noticed Stephen smirking at him.
"What?" he asked.
"You just did the parenting thing." Stephen grinned. Cutter looked bemused.
"I beg your pardon?"
"With the lizard. You just acted like Dawn's parent instead of a stranger." Stephen informed him. Abby and Connor nodded their agreement.
"Can we go?" Cutter said uncomfortably, stalking out. They all laughed but trailed after him, exchanging happy smiles as they did.
