Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue! ;D
Chapter 12: All These Things That I've Done
"Well, I hope this is a very convincing story, that you had me sneak out and come here." Abby spoke.
"Why? Does Becker make all of your decisions for you since your return?" Matt asked smugly.
"I make my own decisions, thanks."
"Tea?" Matt asked setting a cup down in front of her.
"Sure, thank you." Abby replied holding the warm cup between her freezing hands.
"It's a cold night." Matt commented.
"I'd like answers so I can go back and sleep in a warm bed, thanks." Abby interjected.
"Yeah, yeah." Matt said waving his hand. "It started about a year and a half ago, maybe longer."
Connor ran out of the Clubhouse looking for Claudia.
As walked up the hill, he saw her sitting next to a tree, curled up. Her arms wrapped around her legs and her head resting, face down, on her knees.
Connor knew she was crying, and it was his fault.
As he began walking towards her, a beautiful brunette on a brown horse rode up to him and the brunette got down and walked towards him.
"You're that girl from the castle." Connor pointed out.
"If I am no mistaken, your name is Connor." She replied politely.
"I think it's only fair if I know your name." Connor stated.
"I am Lady Marian." She replied, introducing herself.
"Where is Robin?" She asked.
"You're not with those weirdoes from the Castle are you?" he asked.
"Of course not." She answered.
"I heard you were injured?"
"Crushed my hand." Connor explained, holding up his injured hand.
Marian made a face, "well, I hope that it heals well." She smiled.
"You and me both." Connor smiled, slowly dropping his hand down to his side.
"Marian." Robin greeted as he stepped toward them.
"Robin." She smiled.
"If you'll excuse me." Connor interjected as he continued toward Claudia.
Connor slouched down against the tree next to Claudia.
He wasn't sure what to say. What he said was mostly true. She didn't exist in his time, just Jenny, who, after finally meeting Claudia Brown, looked exactly like her.
He couldn't fix the device here even if he could find the means, because it was only one of two parts. They could only hope that another anomaly would open; but even then that would be risky.
"What do you want?" Claudia asked sourly.
"To say that I'm sorry and that I probably shouldn't have said what I said back in the Clubhouse." Connor apologized.
"Sarah had supposedly been working on deciphering some sort of diary that Danny Quinn had recovered from the future." Matt began.
"How'd you know about that?" Abby asked narrowing her eyes.
"Do you want to know what happened or not?" Matt asked.
Abby closed her eyes and opened them, taking a deep breath.
"Yes," she replied calmly.
"While she was working on that, she apparently became very secluded at the old ARC, hiding in a back office. She had disappeared or something without ever explaining herself to anyone for a few days. No one ever really found out where she went." Matt continued.
Abby remained silent, as she continued to listen to Matt's version of the story.
"Some thought she was building something, others thought she had gone mad, researching some possible way to bring you lot back."
Matt sipped his tea, "of course, no one was allowed access to her office, not even Lester. Then, something happened."
"Is it true?" Claudia sniffled.
Connor glanced over at her.
"That I don't exist?"
"There's someone, who looks exactly like you, her name's Jenny Lewis. No one other than Cutter and Helen knew about you. Still, I suppose you exist somewhere."
"I exist right now, Connor." Claudia spoke up. "Right here, right now, Claudia Brown is as real as the pain in your hand that you try to ignore."
"So Cutter really is dead?"
"Unfortunately."
"How—how did he die?" Claudia asked, afraid to know the answer.
"Helen shot him." Connor answered, choking back tears.
"That bitch shot 'im square in the chest. He died right next to me. He muttered your name right before he died." Connor explained.
Tears were streaming down Claudia's face as she remembered the man that she had fallen in love with.
"Did—did anyone else d—die, that you left out of your story?"
"Stephen. He locked himself in a room with creatures to prevent them from getting out and killing everyone. Again, Helen's doing." Connor spoke, as the painful memories came rushing back.
"Jenny froze to death, while battling a fungus creature; but we managed to bring her back. Shortly after we brought her back, she was so freaked out, that she quit." Connor explained.
They sat in silence for a while.
"How did you get stuck here, Claudia?" Connor asked after about ten minutes of silence.
"That anomaly to the Permian, the one that Cutter, Helen, Ryan and his men entered with the Future Predators. Did that happen in your time?"
"Yeah, when Cutter came out, that was when he started asking what happened to you; but no one had a clue who you were."
"Shortly after they had gone through, these big, muscle-building guys came bounding out of another anomaly and snatched me from the group. Basically, the rest is history."
"The Cleaners." Connor muttered.
"So what are you getting at? That Sarah had found out something that caused her death?"
"Is that what Becker told you?" Matt asked quizzically.
Abby didn't answer.
"Some food for thought." Matt spoke after Abby didn't answer his question. "What do you think she found upon finishing reading that diary?" Matt asked completely serious.
"I wouldn't know, I wasn't here."
"If you had to guess, what do you think it was?"
"Answers?" Abby asked, unsure of her reply.
"She found her answers all right. Do you know the true reason why the old ARC was closed?"
Abby shook her head.
"Sarah found madness within those pages, Abby. Whatever she had been working on caused dozens upon dozens of anomalies to open in and around the Anomaly Research Center."
"And what? Creatures came through and killed her?"
Matt slammed his hands on the table angrily, causing Abby to jump.
"No. Sarah had gone mad and caused the anomalies."
"What do you mean?"
"Doctor Sarah Page is not dead." Matt explained, deadly serious.
"Which reminds me, Connor," Claudia spoke, "you never did say, who pushed you through the anomaly that trapped you here?"
"It's because I didn't want to believe it myself." Connor answered quietly.
"What are you talking about?"
"You remember how I told you, Cutter and Lester brought new help on board after Stephen's death?"
"Yeah, Captain Becker, Doctor Sarah Page, and later on, Danny Quinn." Claudia recalled.
Connor didn't say anything.
"It was Helen wasn't it? The same Helen behind my being here?" Claudia asked getting impatient with Connor.
"No, it was Sarah Page."
Please Review! ;D
**Thanks very much for the inspiration monkey, GregsMadHatter! ^^
