Later that day, things were moving moderately slowly in the ARC, there had been no anomalies, no further progress in yesterday's situation. Everyone was simply back to their normal routine; except Danny. He was searching for Jayme; he had to tell her about what he had found. He wandered down towards the gym, the room that was already becoming a common meeting point between the two. Just as he expected, he soon found her, sat on the weight lifting bench, not moving. She simply stared into space, glancing over at him for a moment as he entered the room. He noticed she didn't look happy, although ever since they came back here a couple days ago she didn't seem like her normal self. Well, she was more conflicted anyway. The problem with Jayme was that she was always conflicted. When Danny first met her he really didn't know what was going through her mind. She did, however, explain everything that had happened with Philip Burton. Since he was very cautious of the renowned daughter of the Cutters', it took a lot of convincing before he believed her story. He had, after all, known she had been with Helen at a time due to the documents he had found, and being with Helen didn't mean anything good, but she managed to show him she wasn't on the wrong side. And he learned to trust her. She didn't really explain anything else though, nothing about her relationships with the team members, nothing about her past, nothing about her feelings. He noticed very quickly that she was extremely closed-off, and determined to stay like that. He understood; she didn't want to get hurt, she tried to hide her emotions, she tried to remain unattached to people, but it was tearing her apart. He could see it. She wasn't supposed to be closed-off, she should be open with her feelings, otherwise it would eat her alive, and it already was. Her act was breaking; the walls she had built around her were crumbling. No matter how hard she tried to keep her emotions locked up, it was no use, her act was starting to fail; her emotions were spiralling out of control. And Danny wanted to help, he cared about her, she was like a little sister to him, the two had become very close; just not close enough to let her spill everything she held back, she still wouldn't share much. She would though, with time. Now that she was back here, with all of these people, with Becker, she might change. She might be able to let go of the past, instead of shutting it out completely. He hoped anyway, for her sake, not his.
"I accessed the government files," The old team leader announced, sitting on the bench opposite her.
"What did you find?" She asked almost instantly, straightening her posture and looking over at him.
"Amanda. Well not exactly. It says she requested time off, so her location isn't mentioned. I presume she's here in London though, why would she be anywhere else?"
"So she's not on any missions then, well, excluding personal ones,"
"Nope, doesn't look like it, but I guess she's working on whatever she's working on. The anomalies; and what they have to offer,"
"Her master plan, whatever that is. You know, besides the whole gaining power thing. The problem is that we don't know the specifics,"
"Yeah, that's the next step,"
"Basically, we are no closer to her than we were before,"
"If you want to look at it that way, then yes,"
"Great," She murmured, leaning back against the weights placed on the bench. She gazed through the window beside her, where would Amanda be? How were they going to find her? She was probably in London still but that didn't answer anything, there were so many possibilities, she didn't even know where to start.
"Jayme," Danny called, causing her to look back over at him, "Are you ok? Be honest,"
"Honestly? No, I'm not really that ok right now,"
"What's bothering you? Apart from the Amanda situation,"
"Just things,"
"Come on, Jayme, you can tell me, you know you can,"
Her gaze flickered to the floor before returning to his, "Becker," She stated, taking a deep breath, "I don't know what to do,"
"What to do?"
"He wants to talk, and I don't know what to say. I really don't like this,"
"You really don't like what?"
"Feeling so vulnerable, I don't get it, I don't want to feel like this, but it won't go away,"
"Jayme, you're human, it's completely natural to feel vulnerable,"
"Yeah, well, it shouldn't be natural," She murmured, running a hand through her hair, that had to be about the tenth time she had done so today, things were becoming more complicated, everyone was becoming stressed.
"Everyone feels vulnerable from time to time, there's not one person out there who stays strong throughout their entire life. Truth is, Jayme, feeling vulnerable is probably one of the strongest things in life, it shows that you're strong enough to admit that there's something bothering you, it takes a lot to admit your feelings sometimes. I'm just glad you're finally accepting that, well, you're getting there. And the next strong thing to do would be to talk about it,"
"I thought that was what we were doing now?"
"I mean with Becker, he should know how you feel. You two really need to sort out your issues, and your feelings. I don't think you've admitted how you feel about him to yourself yet, everyone can tell that there's more to it than what you two are trying to convince yourselves into believing,"
"I don't think I'm ready, Danny, not yet,"
"Well take some time, just not too much,"
"Thanks, for everything," She stated, giving him a small smile, "But I've got to go now," She added, standing up and straightening herself out.
"Where to?"
"I'm going to see my dad; Connor told me where he works. I think I should tell him I'm back,"
"That's a good idea," Danny responded, "I'll see you later,"
"Yeah," She replied, before wandering out of the gym and towards the lift. It was a good idea; she did want to see him. She hadn't said goodbye to him when she had left and it probably wasn't the best decision she had made; although most of her decisions weren't exactly the best. All she had to do now was take Jess' car that she had lent her, and drive to the university that Connor had told her about. She knew the address now, she was pretty sure she had a vague idea of where the building was already. She was just hoping she didn't get lost, that wouldn't be the best of starts.
Luckily, she didn't get lost. It wasn't long until she was parking the car into the large car park of the Central Metropolitan University. After a few moments of gaining composure, Jayme made her way inside the building, stopping a few times to ask for directions to the Department of Evolutionary Zoology. Eventually she found it, and then she found the office of Professor Nick Cutter. Everything seemed so much more real now; talking to her dad after all this time would be strange. She just hoped he didn't hate her for what she did, for lying, and for leaving. She reached down for the handle, her fingers lingering on the metal for a second before opening the door and stepping into the room.
"Professor Cutter?" She called, her lips forming into a smile as she saw her dad looking out of the window in his office.
"What can I do for yo-" He began, turning around to face the person in question, "Jayme?" He murmured, his eyes widening at the sight before him. It sure looked like Jayme, like his daughter. She looked slightly different, but it had been three years; three long years without seeing his daughter, without knowing if she was safe, if she was alive. It had been torture; it was what drove him to leaving the ARC. He couldn't stay there, constantly being reminded of the daughter he had lost, it didn't feel right. But here she was; which led to certain questions. Why was she here; after all this time; why now?
"Hey dad," She responded, wandering into the office. He looked surprised, not that she could blame him. Dropping in here after three years without him having a word of warning, it would surprise anyone.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came back, well I'm kind of on mission, but I am back, and I'm staying... I think,"
"Do you have any idea how much I missed you," He stated, wrapping his arms around his daughter as he pulled her into a hug. He really had missed her; it had eaten him alive not knowing where she was, or if she was ok.
"I'm sorry I left," She whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as a tear fell down her cheek, she hadn't realised how much she had missed him until now, she hadn't realised how her leaving would affect his life. Admittedly, she wasn't sure if it would; apparently she was wrong in thinking that.
"It doesn't matter, not anymore," He responded, shifting out of the hug and smiling at her. His daughter was back, that was all that mattered. All that ever mattered was her safety, and now he knew she was all right. It didn't make a difference knowing that she had handled herself fine before he had met her; he was too worried that something could happen, that she might get injured, or worse.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Connor told me. I've actually been back a couple days now; I've been busy, at the ARC. There's this whole thing going on, it isn't important right now," She stated, shaking her head, "I'm just happy to see you,"
"I was so scared that something would happen to you, I've never felt that kind of panic before in my life,"
"Never really thought you were the worrying kind,"
"You're my daughter, Jayme; I care about your safety,"
She paused for a moment, thinking about those words, he cared; which was more than she could say for her mother, although the whole being dead thing resolved that situation. For years now, she needed someone who cared about her. It had been different with her foster parents, they did care, but she didn't care for them. She wasn't fair on them, she didn't value it back then, and it had devastated them. In the actual foster home was worse, no one cared there, not about anyone. She was lucky to leave, she knew that now, but she hadn't acted upon it. For a time she had, in the beginning, then things happened, things that changed her life, things that haunted her, and from then on, she didn't care. She was oblivious to the care people felt for her, and she was ungrateful towards it. That was one of her regrets, the way she had acted towards two people who had taken her in and given her a home. That was over now though, the past stayed locked away, it had to. Otherwise everything from it would follow; all the memories would unravel; it would cause her to remember everything. She didn't want that to happen. Not ever.
"That means more to me than you'll ever know," She responded, smiling back at her dad. The man she had always wanted to meet from as long as she could remember. She had always wondered about her real parents during her entire life. She wondered why they had given her up, why they didn't want her, she knew the truth now, he had told her back around the time when they had first met, and she understood it all. Things had worked out in the end, to an extent. She had a dad who loved her, that was enough, that meant everything to her. It was just everything else in her life she needed to sort out, that was the hard part. She thought that it was all going to be fine after she had left, three years ago. She thought she could lock it all away, like she had always done with the past. But even when you had put the pieces back together, you would never be the same. It didn't matter how hard you wanted to forget, things would creep back; they always would. What had happened during her time at the ARC was just as hard to lock away as her life before then, it took everything she had to try and forget. Yet she couldn't, not completely. And now being here brought it all back, all the feelings, all the memories. She never returned to places that held memories she wanted to forget, for the reason that they would come back. Yet here she was, back at the ARC, back with her dad, those memories had to be remembered, everything surrounding her reminded her of what had happened three years ago. At least they weren't as bad as the memories she had of her life before then, they were what haunted her; they were what scared her the most.
"Come on, I have no lectures at the moment. I'll take my daughter out to lunch," He stated, breaking the silence that overcame them as Jayme's thoughts invaded her mind. He shifted over to his desk and grabbed the jacket resting on the chair.
"That'd be nice," She responded, focusing her attention back on her dad, the reason she was standing in this office in the first place. Maybe her relationship with her dad could be renewed. After everything that had happened with Philip, things became shaky between them. This could be a fresh start to connect with her dad once again; that was something she desperately wanted, what they both wanted.
"Well, we do have a lot to catch up on. Three years of it," He replied, wandering over towards the door, Jayme walking beside him as they began the very long conversation of what had happened those three years she had been gone.