Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.

Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.

3.3-2 Pick Your Moments

-x-x-x-x-x-x

James Lester hated this part of his job. He waved his ID at the security officer as he entered the branch of the ARC dedicated to returning temporally displaced humans to their proper time. His wife's personal assistant greeted him and offered to escort him to her office.

"No Louise," he replied "I'm here for a different reason today. I need to speak to Claudia… Claudia Cutter."

Lester straightened his yellow striped tie, then followed the woman through a maze of hallways and desks. They finally arrived at Claudia's cubicle. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Lester," Claudia asked with a smile as she rose to stand "what brings you here?"

"Claudia," replied James softly "there's been an incident."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Helen had watched all the commotion. That young student had carried Nick out of the burning building… an ambulance arrived in the parking area… medics loaded up Nick's unmoving body and the sirens screamed as the ambulance left again. The people left behind were clinging to each other, sobbing.

She pulled a small rectangular device out of one of her many pockets. Helen slid back the metallic cover exposing a beveled glass and numbered keypad. She punched some numbers on the device. The air in front of her shimmered, fractured and an anomaly opened. Helen stepped through to another time and place, a horrible place. Helen screamed in frustration.

Shooting Nick hadn't solved anything.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Danny Quinn had helped pull people from the rubble and debris of the burning ARC. There had been at least three explosions from what he had heard. The furnace and the gas line accounted for the last two bigger explosions, but the first explosion… that sounded smaller… more contained. Danny thought it sounded like a bomb.

He might not know a whole lot about anomalies or the creatures that came through them, but Danny knew of only one type of creature capable of building a bomb. A human.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Abby had driven the mini back to the flat. It had been an unexpectedly quiet ride. Neither she nor Connor had felt like talking.

They had dropped the diictodons off at the flat earlier, after leaving the hospital. Abby had introduced the creatures to Rex, fixed a dish with vegetables and a bowl with water. Snuffling and snorting the two diictodons made themselves quite at home by the time Connor and Abby had left to go back to the ARC with Cutter and Becker.

As she pushed Connor's back, heading him into the flat, the two wriggly little creatures scampered towards them. Rex chirped from an overhead light fixture and tilted his head watching. Abby smiled. She stepped forward, bending down to pet the creatures. Then she turned to look at Connor. He still had that sad, dazed look on his face that had been there ever since he carried Cutter out of the ARC.

She stood up and reached for his hand, pulling him closer, intending for him to pet the diictodons too.

"Ow!"

"What's wrong with your hand?" asked Abby releasing her hold.

"Same thing that's wrong with me other hand," replied Connor looking at her with his big brown eyes.

"And what's that?" demanded Abby narrowing her eyes to look closer at Connor. "And were you supposed to bring that thing home with you?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Connor looked at the long cylindrical metal artifact he held in his hands. Abby took it from him and set it down on the low table in front of the sofa. She began peeling off his fingerless gloves. Abby gasped at the sight of his bruised and swollen fingers.

"Couldn't leave it there," Connor replied. "Cutter said it was important."

The professor had told Connor it was on him now. He told Connor he was a good man. Cutter was counting on Connor. Whatever this thing was, Connor had to figure it out.

"I don't think I can do this on my own."

It wasn't until he heard his voice echo off the walls of the flat that Connor realized he had spoken out loud.

"You're not alone," replied Abby. "We're a team. We'll do this together."

Connor looked at her silently.

"And right now," she continued "the first thing we're going to do is put ice on your hands." She turned and started across the flat, heading to the refrigerator.

"Right Nurse Abby," Connor said as he followed her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Becker met up with Tom Ryan later that evening at a small pub.

"You wanted to talk with me?" asked the older man as he sat down in the booth opposite Becker. A waitress set a pint down on the table in front of him.

"I wanted to thank you," clarified Becker.

"What for?" exclaimed Ryan in surprise.

"All those reports," replied Becker "without the information you provided… today might have been a lot worse."

Ryan looked at the young Captain. Since he had left the ARC, Ryan knew that Becker would never be able to tell him all of what had happened today. But some of his concern must have shown in the expression on Ryan's face.

"You'll probably see some mention of the ARC on the news tonight," Becker continued "Although Percy is doing his level best to squash it."

Becker raised his glass up. Ryan did the same with his pint. The glasses clinked together, an unspoken acknowledgement.

"I hope Sandhurst treats you well," Becker said changing the subject. "They're lucky to have you teaching."

"Haven't started yet," replied the ARC's former chief of security. "I've got another weeks leave to get the family moved and settled."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah shook her head. "I can't talk about it," she replied.

The man she had once told all her secrets to shook his head in frustration. "You smell like smoke," he complained "Are you seeing someone else, someone who smokes?"

"No," Sarah exclaimed in surprise. At his incredulous look she added "There was an explosion, the building caught on fire… it'll be in the evening news."

Jamal looked at her suspiciously. Sarah rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I need a shower," she said heading for the bathroom.

"That I believe," snorted Jamal.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Percy was trying to stop the network from airing the footage they had taken, but explosions, ambulances and fire trucks were big news.

If someone pointed a camera in the direction of a Colombian mammoth, it really wasn't Percy's fault that the creature snatched the camera and tossed it across the parking lot. Hopefully the other news affiliates would be too busy filming Percy's distraction to try and take pictures of the ARC again.

There was one reporter who was especially nosy… Percy couldn't remember what his name was… Mick or Rick or something like that. Percy rubbed the mammoth's trunk.

"You're camera shy," Percy said. "Right Elton?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Cutter lay totally still on the hospital bed. Lester opened the door and let Claudia enter.

"I'll just wait out here," he told her.

Claudia approached the bed slowly. Nick's body was battered and bruised. His face was reddened from the heat of the explosions. The bandages covering his upper right chest were perhaps the most frightening of all.

As she reached the side of the bed, Nick's eyes fluttered open.

"Claudia," he whispered hoarsely.

"Nick," she replied "you frightened me."

"Sorry," he answered wincing with the effort of speaking.

"There was something I was going to tell you," Claudia started "when we got home tonight… but since you're here in the hospital…"

"What?" he asked.

"I think you need a different line of work," said Claudia "a job where you can spend more time at home."

She pushed the bed rail down, and lifted his hand gently from his side, bringing it to her abdomen. Claudia smiled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x