Sorry it's been a while since I've updated but here's an extra long chapter to make up for it x


Chapter 12

Bemused, Cutter lifted himself to his feet, taking in his surroundings with new eyes. This wasn't right . . . the Permian era, from what he had studied, consisted of vast deserts and brittle shrubbery, not flowering meadows and woodland. Frantically, he began examining the trees around them, Jenny breathing down his neck persistently.

"What do you mean 'there was no grass'?" she probed, sounding concerned.

He didn't reply, too busy trying to figure out what on earth was going on. He ran his hands down the bark of the nearest tree, startled when he nudged a ladybird that flew into his face. Now that definitely wasn't right.

"Cutter, will you stop feeling up that tree for five seconds and tell me what the hell is going on!" Jenny shouted, obviously frustrated at his failure to explain himself.

He turned back to her, still trying to put together the disconnected pieces in his head. She raised her eyebrows at him, studying his face with her dark eyes. Her hair that had previously been perfectly pinned in place was now ruffled, with tendrils falling around her face and bare shoulders.

"There were no ladybirds," he informed her. "And there were no flowers. Certainly not like that anyway," he added, gesturing at a bunch of bluebells that were budding from the base of the tree trunk.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm an evolutionary zoologist, not an evolutionary botanist," he reasoned. "But yes, I'm pretty sure. And the air seems normal . . . the Permian era had much more oxygen . . ."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that we're not in the Permian era," he said, finally voicing the thought that had sprung into his head the first time he registered the presence of grass. "We're somewhere much later."

"But . . ." Jenny began, looking as confused as he felt. "What about Toothy back there?" she asked, gesturing in the general direction of the unconscious Dimetrodon. "Was it dated wrong?"

"It's possible that scientists might have misjudged it by a few thousand years or so, but we're talking millions of years here, judging by the ladybird. I doubt that they'd be that off the mark."

"So, what then?" Jenny said in a sigh that conveyed her annoyance at his lack of conclusive answers. "The only other explanation is . . ." she trailed off, and a look of dawning comprehension lit up her face, ". . . that it came here through another anomaly."

"Precisely," Cutter nodded, rather taken aback by her astuteness.

"Well then, where are we?"

He glanced around again, trying to gage the time period, but in truth, he could not discover any significant difference between this woodland and one in the twenty-first century.

"Somewhere recent," he concluded vaguely. "Very recent."

"How shrewd of you," she said icily, her voice seeping with sarcasm. "I'm so glad I'm trapped with an expert."

"Well I'm not bloody psychic!" Cutter burst out, stung by her insinuation. "I'd like to see you hazard a guess!"

"It's your job to know these things Cutter, not mine!" she snapped back.

"Aye, and your job is to lie for a living, how very classy," he retorted cruelly, his temper, which was always close to the surface these days, flaring up.

"You're not complaining when I'm cleaning up after your mess everyday," she yelled, looking furious.

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I believe everyone should play to their strengths. And if your only talent is lying, then that's a shame."

"Go to hell!" she spat before turning her heel and storming off.

"Right back at you!" he bellowed after her.

He watched her as she marched off, wrestling between the fact that he was unwilling to let her out of his sight and his reluctance to go crawling after her - he didn't think he could stand her satisfaction if he chose the latter. However, as it soon became clear that she had no intention of turning back, he resigned himself to the fact that he had no choice but to follow her. With a growl of frustration, he took off after her through the trees.

"As fun as this is, I think we have more pressing matters to deal with here!" he said in a strained voice as he caught up to her.

She ignored him and continued crashing through the greenery with a fierce look on her eye.

"Look!" he grabbed her arm to halt her. She turned, still looking livid. "I'm sorry," he breathed, loosening the grip on her when he was pretty certain she was not about to take off again. "I didn't mean that . . . I'm just worried, that's all."

Her expression softened slightly, as she turned to him fully, tucking some stray hair back behind her ear. With a pang, he noticed that her white gold wedding ring caught the sunlight as she did so, but he forced his eyes away from it and rested them on her face. Silence drifted between them for a few moments before she spoke.

"Maybe, until we get back, we should try and . . . you know . . . put everything between us on hold," she suggested quietly.

This threw Cutter for a second . . . what did she mean 'everything between us'? His confusion must have shown on his face, as she clearly felt the need to justify her words. "I mean, maybe we should try and get along . . . for a while," she added with a weak smile.

He laughed at her last words to hide the burning disappointment in his stomach . . . for a fleeting moment, he thought that . . .

He shook himself mentally.

"Aye," he nodded, smiling wryly. "That's a good idea."

She returned his smile with a gentle one of her own.

"I'm sorry too," she sighed. "It's just that - "

"I know," Cutter soothed, confident that he knew exactly what was on her mind.

"It's my wedding day," she continued with a humourless laugh, as though the notion was utterly preposterous. "My wedding day. And we're stuck somewhere in the past . . . and I'm wearing this ridiculous thing," she gestured down to her disheveled dress.

"It's going to be okay," he said in his most comforting voice, reaching forward and squeezing her arm. "We'll find a way back . . . we always do."

"Ever the optimist," she laughed dryly, her eyes glistening as she looked away from him.

Again, silence fell between them, although not nearly as uncomfortable as the former one.

"What are we going to do about the Di-what-ever-it-is?" she asked eventually.

"Just avoid it, I suppose," Cutter sighed.

"But if it's not meant to be here, then surely we can't let it live."

"What - kill it?" he said, perplexed.

Jenny shrugged. "It seems like the only option."

"We could try and get it back through the anomaly?" he suggested hopefully.

"Cutter, we don't know where the anomaly is!" she burst out, sounding aspirated. "And even if we did, what are we meant to do, ask it nicely to scoot on home?"

"All right, all right!" he scowled, glancing in the direction of the Dimetrodon.

He felt rather put out shooting the ancient creature while it was in slumber; somehow it felt underhanded . . . cowardly even. But he knew that Jenny was right; if it didn't belong in this time period, they couldn't let it roam around here - who knows what it could change?


"I still think we should have brought all the guns with us," Jenny said, sounding deep in thought as they continued journeying through the trees in the hopes of discovering where on earth - or more accurately, where in time - they were.

Cutter had Connor's bag on his shoulder, which contained the hand-held anomaly detector, and both of them held their gun of choice; the rest of the weapons had been hidden under a wild bush that would be easily distinguishable when they returned to fetch them.

"They would have slowed us down," Cutter reasoned, his eyes darting around wildly and his ears strained for any sounds that didn't belong to them.

Every now and then, Jenny went over on her heel when she stepped on a fallen twig or an inconveniently placed rock, and Cutter caught her arm to stop her from falling. It wasn't like he could chide her like he usually did for her inappropriate footwear - it was her wedding day after all; she was hardly likely to be wearing trainers.

Suddenly, an odd sound reached his ears, and immediately, he held out hand in front of Jenny to halt her.

"Can you hear that?" he whispered, looking around at her.

She shook her head, her brow furrowed as she also listened intently. What sounded like a giggling noise issued from the trees somewhere to their right. Jenny glanced back around at him, looking as bemused as he felt. He pressed his finger to his lips and raised his gun, inching towards the bushes. He could feel Jenny's cool breath quicken on the back of his neck as they both peered through the greenery.

Cutter's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

In a clearing ahead of them, a man and a woman in their early twenties were kissing passionately; their arms entwined around each other and their hands groping at the other fiercely. However, it was the way they were dressed that drew Cutter's attention; the woman wore a jade green corset dress of thick material that bunched out at the hips, falling to the floor heavily; her hair was blonde and long, flowing down her back. Her companion donned black baggy pants, with shin-high boots and a white, loose-fitting top. His hair was also long, almost poetic, and fell around his face in waves.

These people obviously didn't come from the twenty-first century.

He looked around at Jenny, too shocked to speak, and saw the same stunned look mirrored in her face. In unison, they looked back at the rather steamy scene unfolding merely ten feet in front of them. The man had pushed the woman against the bark of a tree, and was ripping at the lace on her back to remove her dress. She, in turn, was tugging at his pants.

"My goodness," Jenny breathed, her tone a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"Yeah . . ."

"Are those clothes - "

"Fifteen hundreds, I'd say," he whispered back.

"They're acting rather . . . inappropriate for the fifteen hundreds don't you think?"

"What, did you think everyone then sat around a fire knitting?" Cutter asked numbly, unable to tear his eyes away from the pair.

Before long, clothing littered the ground a few feet from them, forgotten by their owners, who were much to engrossed in . . . other matters.

"We shouldn't be watching this," Cutter muttered to Jenny eventually, feeling himself grow hot around the neck with embarrassment.

"Why come out here to do that?" Jenny whispered, now seeming unfazed by the whole thing. "Why risk getting caught?"

"I don't know, do I?" Cutter replied hotly. "Some people like that sort of thing, don't they?"

"Some people?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Oh, I don't mean me," he retorted, feeling the need to justify himself.

She looked back at the couple, her lips twitching as though she was suppressing a smile.

"What I mean is, the only reason they'd come out here is if they were doing something wrong," she stated in a ringing tone.

"They could be married for all you know!"

"He is wearing a wedding band, and she is not," she pointed out smugly.

"Nice observation," Cutter smirked. "After we get back, you should go into solving crimes."

Unable to stand listening to the loud groaning any longer, Cutter turned to leave, pulling on Jenny's arm as he did so. However, she resisted him.

"Wait!" she hissed, pulling him back down into a crouch. "We should take their clothes!"

"What?" Cutter spluttered in disbelief.

"Their clothes," she repeated as though it was a reasonable suggestion.

"Jenny, we haven't got time for silly pranks - "

"It's not a prank you idiot!" she breathed hotly. "We could take them so we can blend in better. I can't exactly go walking around in the fifteen hundreds in a wedding dress!"

Cutter laughed in incredulity. "You're serious aren't you?"

"As a heart attack," she replied immediately.

Cutter sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over his forehead as he considered this. She was right, of course; it would make it easier if they were dressed in clothing appropriate for the time. But still . . . stealing clothes off a canoodling couple . . . it was wrong. Although, by the looks of it, they wouldn't be needing them for a long time . . .

"What if they see us?" Cutter asked in his last ditch attempt to dispute the idea.

"Cutter, I think you could stand up and sing and they wouldn't notice you," she grinned, pointing over at them. "Go on, don't be such a wuss. The clothes are only an arm stretch away!"

Grumbling to himself, Cutter leaned forwards, stretching his hands through the bush, hoping to God that this act wouldn't change anything in their time.


Jenny and Cutter only stopped running once they had put a reasonable distance between the oblivious copulating couple. Jenny bent over to catch her breath, her hands on her thighs, as Cutter crashed along side her, gasping for breath himself. She looked up at him with a smile, and before they both knew it, they were in an unstoppable fit of laughter.

"Can you imagine their faces when they realise their clothes are gone!" Jenny giggled, feeling her spirits soar; it's surprising what a little mischief could do for her mood.

"It's not their faces I'm imagining!" Cutter interjected, handing her the green dress.

Jenny laughed hard, before throwing her gun on the leaf-strewn ground and holding up the dress to get a better look. The woman it had belonged to, Jenny had observed, was skinnier than she was herself, but the dress looked like it would fit her, even if it was a tight squeeze. She reached around to undo the zip in her wedding dress, before hesitating.

"Um, Cutter, do you want to turn round?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, of course . . . sorry," he stammered sheepishly, turning his back on her.

She continued to pull her zip down, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cutter pull off his jacket and shirt. Her heart throbbed at the sight of his bare back, and to calm herself, she turned away from him fully, concentrating on stepping out of her once-pristine white dress. She felt very vulnerable, standing half naked in the woods with Cutter next to her, although she knew that he wouldn't look around; he was too much of a gentleman to pull anything like that. Still, she pulled the green dress on as quickly as possible, surprised to find that it fitted rather snugly. However, when she reached around to her back to tie up the strings, she found that they were at too awkward an angle for her to do up herself.

"Cutter?" she said, turning around to find him fully dressed, still with his back to her. As he faced her, she couldn't help but put her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. He looked like someone out of Robin Hood.

"What?" he asked defensively, looking down at himself.

"Nothing," she smirked, still fighting the overwhelming desire to laugh. "So . . . are your band of Merry men around here somewhere?"

"Oh haha," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, you look very . . . dashing . . ." she teased. "Could you do me up?" she added, turning to show him the loose laces on the back of the dress.

He paused for a moment, his expression unreadable, before approaching her cautiously. As soon as she felt the warmth of his fingers on her back, her pulse began to race alarmingly fast, making her cheeks flush. She pressed her lips together, looking up at the tree canopy to try and distract herself from his touch. He fumbled at the lace, pulling a little to tightly.

"Owch!" she chided, her hand on her stomach.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I don't really know how to do these . . ."

"The trick is to tighten it enough so that it sucks me in, but so I can still breathe," she snapped.

"You don't need sucking in," he said, his voice warm as though he was smiling.

Jenny was glad she had her back to him, as she would find it hard to conceal her blushing otherwise.

Why did this man make her feel like a silly teenager again!

With difficulty, she wrenched her mind away from the man behind her and tried to focus it on Mark; the man who she had said 'I do' to merely hours ago. What would he be thinking now? That she had jilted him? And if - when - they got back, would he still want her? A tiny thought flickered to the edge of her mind . . .

Would she still want him?

"All done," Cutter's voice pierced her thoughts, as he withdrew his hands from her back, although she could still feel the warmth of his touch on her skin.

"Thanks," she said quietly, turning back to him and smoothing her hands over her hips. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful," he smiled, before rearranging his expression into an impassive look. "You look . . . fine," he corrected himself, his gaze becoming fixed on the ground.

Jenny looked away, feeling uncomfortable at his words, although strangely enough, not in an annoyed way; more like in a flustered manner.

After a silence that seemed to drag on for eternity, Cutter spoke.

"Maybe we should - " he began in a solemn voice, but he was cut off by a sudden rumbling in the distance.

He froze, his eyes widening in fear as he looked around the seemingly deserted forest.

"Cutter, what - ?" Jenny said, panicked by the worry in his eyes, but he held up his hand to force her into silence.

In a flash, he had gathered up their discarded clothes and the guns, flinging them in the bushes as the sound grew closer. All of a sudden, at least ten soldiers on horseback burst out of the greenery in front of them, making Jenny shriek in shock.

"Halt! In the name of the King!" a booming voice echoed.

Cutter raised his hands up to indicate that he was unarmed, moving to stand in front of Jenny protectively. The soldiers had surrounded them in a second, their long metal spears pointing directly at them.

"Why are you trespassing on private land?" one of them demanded. "Speak!"


Dun dun dun!

This idea might seem childish, or even stupid, but I personally would have loved an anomaly to have opened in a significant human time period (the knight episode DID NOT count, as it didn't have Cutter or Jenny in it!). To be fair on me, I am a massive history geek. Well, just a geek in general really :p I wasn't going to put it in, but then I thought hell, it's my fic :) I'll just go with it.

I hope you like anyway! Let me know x