Ever so sorry it's been ages guys, but I've had to deal with coursework AND a play recently, so here it is...the long awaited chapter 10!

They felt like they were the only two people in the world in that desolate forest. The braches of the trees stretched out over head, covering the dirt track in gloom, and an unnerving sense of calm washed over both of them. Nick was thinking about the last time he'd seen Claudia Brown, and Jenny was almost retching at the idea of Helen anywhere near Nick.

If Jenny Lewis had never been possessive before, she certainly was now. What had changed? She didn't know. A wild guess on her part led her to believe it was because she completely in love with Nick.

Well, that was the only reason she put up with his enthusiasm for living fossils, ones which had a tendency to take a chunk out of her shoulder.

Quietly, she placed a hand on his thigh in a silent show of affection. With any other man she'd only just slept with, Jenny wouldn't have done it. Yet she'd known Nick for roughly a year now, and her emotions were incredibly strong. There was something else as well; it felt like he knew her as though he'd known her two years, not one. That feeling inside her made her feel safe, made her feel…loved.

His hand slipped down from the steering wheel and came to rest upon hers, and his thumb grazed her skin ever so slightly in a rhythmic back and forth motion.

Her ex had never done that. He'd never touched her in such a caring and loving way.

They reached a clearing where several black vans had parked up haphazardly, as well as Abby's beloved mini cooper. Further a way they could make out the roof of a white tent. Nick swung the car up beside Abby's mini and cut the engine.

Before Jenny had a chance to move, his right hand cupped her face, and his fingers entwined with her hair.

His eyes were pleading, 'Don't worry about Helen.'

'I'm not.' She lied, and he saw straight through it.

'Jenny,' he kissed her forehead, and she was suddenly reassured, 'Helen's hurt me more than anyone in the history of the universe, she means less than nothing to me.'

'But you were once married…' she mumbled, eyes closed as his lips found her sensitive ear.

He chuckled, and the warmth of his breath tickled her neck, 'That was a mistake. But I was only 19 and rather foolish with my emotions. God, had I have waited 23 years I would have met you with less pain and more practice.'

Jenny's skin was on fire as his lips steadily inched closer to her neck, 'I don't think you need practice Nick.'

'Why?' he chortled, 'does this do it for you?'

'As good as a t-rex will do for you.'

Nick kissed her neck gently before pulling away fully, 'Please don't worry.'

'I won't if you carry on doing that.' She blushed, a first.

Nick laughed heartily.

-

Abby's eyes were cast downwards in a guilt ridden way, and Connor stood barely a few feet away from her, mirroring her expression.

'What?' Nick glanced from one to the other, his suspicions rising.

The second youngest team member heaved a sigh, meeting his gaze, 'Helen came through.'

Jenny grimaced in a fashion that made her displeasure all too evident. Nick merely nodded his head, already prepared to hear the worst.

'The anomaly's stable…should stay open for a few hours.' Connor chimed in, attempting to be helpful. The older two of the four gave him reassuring smiles before moving past him, towards the anomaly. Jenny was alongside Lester within a few seconds, discussing what seemed to be to Nick, possible cover stories if this got out.

Lucy was sitting on a nearby tree stump, her eyes unfocused and russet hair mussed as though she'd just woken up. She jumped a little at Nick's touch on her slumped shoulder as he seated himself beside her.

'How are you?'

'I'm good.' She grinned, eyes sparkling as ever, even if they had lost a hint of their usual brightness.

'Tired?'

'Hmm…' she sniffed, rubbing the grit from her eyes, '…exciting though.'

Nick smiled fondly, 'I thought it might be to you.'

'Why? Don't you find it fascinating?' Lucy quizzed, pulling a face, her expression echoing a similar version to Jenny's.

'I did. Once upon a time.'

'What happened?'

He paused, exhaling profoundly, 'I lost someone.'

'Stephen?'

'Yeah, and…someone else. You see, beauty comes at a cost…the anomalies are beautiful, and these creatures that stumble from their world into ours…but killers are beautiful too, and when you scratch beneath the surface…and you see what really lies there…you see it for what it really is…and it no longer looks so beautiful, it no longer takes your breath away. When you realise that, the world appears to be so much more brutal and callous, and you begin to hate something you once loved.'

They fell into a silence, staring at the floor in hopes that it would break the tension.

Lucy was first to speak, 'Is that what happened to you and Helen? She was once this person you loved and admired and then one day…she just, disappeared? And when she came back, you saw her for what she truly was?'

There was a lump in Nick's throat, it pained him to think about the Helen he had loved and lost all those years ago. He had loved her so dearly, but now…

'Yes.' He choked.

Lucy smiled weakly, 'You had your perfect looking fruit, now you've taken a bite a discovered it tastes rotten.'

'It was always rotten, festering so slowly inside I hadn't noticed until now,' Nick stared at her long and hard, and scrutinised her, 'You didn't do physcology at university by any chance?'

'Don't be daft,' she chuckled, 'I'm merely an imaginative person.'

'We split up, and we look for her.' Lester called, gazing over at Nick with a meaningful look.

'Fine. But Helen's a tough-' He growled.

'Little shit.' Lucy finished for him, grinning rather darkly as Nick glared in her direction.

'Cutter, Mae and Private Kirby, you'll go that way,' Lester pointed over his shoulder into the trees; 'Maitland, Temple and Private Woolf will go that way. Miss Lewis and I will stay here with Becker and the rest of the men.'

-

Kirby was beginning to grow annoyed with the young woman he'd been assigned to keep an eye on. As far as he could remember, her name was Mae, or something. Whether it was a first name or second name, he couldn't tell.

The Scottish bloke wasn't that much fun either. Mae was trailing behind, complaining of being tired and at the same time getting rather haughty with him for walking in front of her.

Cutter was being just as difficult, striding ahead as though he was the one with the gun.

Much more of this and I'll turn me gun on meself.

It was like the two of them were related. Both had some kind of problem with being lower than someone else. Superiority issues, god, how he hated them.

Kirby knew Cutter regularly challenged Lester's authority. The girl was probably no different, although she seemed a little more arrogant.

Like Miss Lewis when she first joined. Although, come to think o' it now, she's become a bit more…softer.

Halfway into their little wandering, Cutter stopped, and bent down to the ground.

'Someone's been here recently,' he murmured, 'There's footprints…Kirby? Can you take Lucy and head in that general direction?'

Lucy? Oh, Mae.

'I 'ave strict orders to keep the pair o' you in me sight-'

'It wasn't a question.' Cutter scowled.

Here we go, challenging authority again.

'Hang on, why do I get the guy with a gun? Because I'm a girl?'

'Oh, shut up Lucy.' Both Cutter and Kirby snapped.

'Cutter, I'm not leaving either o' you unarmed.'

'Then give me a gun.'

'What? I'm not givin' you any o' me guns!'

-

Great, stuck with a female version o' Cutter for the next 'our or so.

He'd given in pretty early, just to get shot of Cutter and take the weight off of a headache the man was causing.

Unfortunately, Lucy was trying to make conversation. She was nice, and pretty, he admitted that, but she didn't half moan.

-

Where the trees touched overhead, creating a natural roof, where the world seemed to stop spinning and the only sound you could hear was your breathing and footfalls, was Helen.

She lent against the tree trunk, knife in hand as she decapitated an apple, piece, by piece, by piece.

'I want to know the truth, Helen.' Nick stared at her, his eyes piercingly blue.

She sighed, half amused, 'Okay then. What do you want to know?'

'I want to know about the baby.'

She frowned, furrowing her brow in confusion, 'What?'

'Did you, or did you not have my child? A girl.'

The look of shock on her face was genuine. Slowly, she managed to recompose herself, 'No.'

She chortled enigmatically.

'Did you have Stephen's?'

She froze, swallowing subtly before answering, 'No, Nick. I've never had a baby.'

'Do you know, I get this horrible sense that you're lying to me.'

'Can't you trust me?'

'Not anymore.'

'Then why ask?'

Silence.

'Because I want to know the truth about Lucy Mae. You're the only person in the world who would have the faintest idea where she came from. And you left an ammonite and handkerchief with her, all those years ago.'

She hesitated, 'I wish I could help, but I don't know…yet. Goodbye, Nick.'

In a flurry of anger and frustration, he grabbed her, 'Why are you doing this to me? Why? You crude little whore!'

He fell to his knees, as though the world was crashing down around him, letting her go.

And she fled into the trees.

It was the last he saw of her for a year.