Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval, which belongs to Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines. I also don't own Torchwood which belongs to Russell T Davis. I am reposting this series with some serious edits so please bear with me as I do so and I will complete all five seasons.
Edited: 23.03.2017.
Episode Four: ARC Attack.
It didn't take them long to find Nick and Abby, who were happy to inform them that the anomaly had closed with only two of the Diictodon's trapped on the wrong side; the mission was considered somewhat a success. Rachel wasn't happy to hear that the journalist had shown up again and she made a mental note to call in a favour from a friend to make sure this story didn't end up in the papers.
Rachel smiled as she watched Abby and Connor talk about keeping the two and what they should call them; she was sure that Sid and Nancy would have a good home with them. Owen stood by her side watching Rachel carefully, he was pleased to see that nothing seemed to be happening to her; he was sure Jack would be pleased to hear that nothing out of the normal was happening here.
"What do you do?" Nick asked after speaking with Becker, he wasn't happy that the other man had shown up like this and he had to wondered just what he was doing. He didn't trust him for a moment and Rachel was being sketchy on the details about how she had meet him; in fact, she had never mentioned Owen before not even when she talked about her time away. Rachel looked at her father, she had no idea where he was going with this and she could only hope that this wasn't going to cause problem between them.
"I work for Torchwood… it's a branch of Institute," Owen said keeping things simple, he couldn't say too much and he doubted that Nick was just going to trust him anyway. The man hadn't liked him since he had turned up even less considered how much time Rachel seemed to spend with him; Owen wasn't interested in making friends here, he was here to give Rachel the support that she needed. Nick frowned, he was starting to get the feeling that Rachel had been lying to him about what she had been doing during her time off; he didn't know if he could trust her and he hoped that he was wrong about this.
"I meet Owen while I was in the Himalayas… he was working there with some friends," Rachel explained carefully, that part was true and she knew that was the most that she could tell her father. Rachel didn't feel ready to tell him about what she had discovered about herself, she was still trying to process and she didn't know how he would feel about this.
Owen grinned at her choice of words, the Cardiff base had been sent to the Himalayas to get them out of the way; it had been a hard time for them since Jack had been missing at the time as well. Nick raised an eyebrow at the pair, now he knew she was keeping stuff from him; he had never thought that Rachel would need a reason to do so.
He had thought that they had grown closer since he had adjusted to being in this new world after losing Claudia; but it seemed like nothing had changed for them at all. Owen sighed, Rachel wasn't ready for more of the truth to come out and he didn't blame her; he couldn't imagine what it was like for her to find out that she wasn't entirely human because of some freak accident.
"And that's all we can tell you," Owen insisted wanting to put an end to the questions for her sake, it wasn't going to be easy and he doubted anyone was truly ready to hear the truth. He ignored the glare that Becker was giving him, he didn't care what the soldier boy thought; he had Rachel's back in this and that was what mattered. The team were silent for a moment at those words and Rachel felt bad for keeping them in the dark; she just wasn't ready to talk to them about this.
Returning to the ARC, Rachel could not help the bad feeling that came to her as she climbed out of her car with Owen; the ride had been silent and she wasn't sure if things would get better at this point.
"Something's not right," Rachel whispered to Owen, she looked up at the building and she wasn't sure what it was but she knew that there was something going on. She looked around confused since nothing seemed out of the ordinary and it seemed like she was the only one that sensed that something wasn't right here. Becker seemed to be complaining about something to Nick before he headed back to the guard at the gate while the rest of the team started to head into the building to debrief.
"It could be the none human part of you," Owen mused guessing that her sense might be a little stronger than his own, he didn't sense that anything was off and neither did anyone else it seemed. Connor furrowed his brow at the words, he looked at the two of them confused and made a mental note to ask Rachel about it later; he didn't believe for a moment that she wasn't human.
Walking through the ARC, it started to set in that Rachel might have been right about something not being right; that morning when they had left it had been busy. Now the corridors were deserted and there was no one around, it wasn't like this even at night; heading into the main room the group came to a stop at the sight of the room filled with clones. Rachel felt her stomach turn at the sight of the man who had captured her in Liverpool during a mission two years ago; she had thought he had died yet here he was and clearly there was more than one of him.
"What the hell?" Owen stated shocked in front of them in the centre of the room was another Nick Cutter and he doubted that this was a good thing. The real Nick stared at his clone wondering just what was going on, he assumed this was how whoever it was had taken over the ARC and he was going to be held responsible for what had happened here. Hearing footsteps approaching from behind them, the team turned around and came face to face with their worst enemy; they should have known that Helen Cutter was behind this.
"It's so good to see you again Nick," Helen greeted smiling at her ex-husband, she had been looking forward to this moment since their last little meeting and it was certainly in her favour this time. There was no mad-man to get in her way and she could finally do what she was meant to; she had never thought that things would work out this well for her this time.
"Make the others comfortable… I need to speak with Rachel and Nick," Helen ordered signalling for two of her clones to lead the others away, she had much to discuss with them and she didn't want any interruptions. Owen shot Rachel a look, he had no idea how they were going to get out of this one and he didn't know if back-up would arrive in time before Helen went on a killing spree to get what she wanted.
The two clones quickly split the group into two forcing Connor, Abby, and Owen from the room to join Lester, Jenny and Sarah who had been captured. Helen smirked as she slowly moved towards Rachel who stepped back from her; the two women stared at one another knowing that this moment had been a very long time coming.
"You know?" Helen mused making Rachel nod at her words causing Nick to feel even more out of the loop than he already was; he looked between his estranged wife and daughter confused waiting for one of them to explain what was going on here.
"I knew you were special Rachel… but what you really are is truly amazing," Helen said almost excited at the thought of what this could mean if she could just harness this power for herself. It could change everything and then there would be no stopping her on her mission, she just had to find a way to take it from Rachel. Nick frowned, he didn't like this and he wished that he wasn't completely clueless about what was going on here; he hated being the only one unaware about what was happening.
"Does someone want to tell me what the hell you're both are talking about?" Nick demanded wanting answers, he focused on Rachel sure that he would much rather hear it from her about what was going on here. Taking a deep breath, Rachel turned to her father knowing that this was not how she had wanted to have this conversation not when she wasn't ready to deal with all of this yet.
"I'm not completely human," Rachel murmured ashamed of her words, she didn't know just what that would one day mean for her but she was just going to have to deal with that now. Nick stared at her, he didn't believe that for a moment and he wondered if this was some sort of trick to keep the secret from him; he looked at Helen who was smirking at the admission.
"Your daughter was born during a Rift Spike Nick… meaning she's the first human in history to be able to control the anomalies," Helen explained simply, she was jealous of the power that Rachel could wield one day and she wanted that power for herself. Rachel frowned at the way Helen sounded as she spoke about her, it was unsettling and she worried just what Helen had planned for her this time. Nick looked at his daughter as it finally sunk in that this wasn't some sort of joke nor was she lying to keep him out of the truth; his heart broke a little at the fact that she hadn't felt like she could talk to him about this.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Nick asked making Rachel sigh, he hated this and he wished that he hadn't found out with Helen around; it didn't change the way that he saw her, she was still Rachel and that was what mattered. Rachel shrugged her shoulders, she didn't want to deal with this now not with Helen there and she knew that they could deal with this later when she was dealt with.
"I didn't want to worry you," Rachel said, it was true in part and she knew he would have all sorts of questions that she didn't have the answers to. It was bad enough trying to wrap her own head around all of this especially when there was no telling just how bad her condition was going to get; it wasn't like she could speak to any old doctor about this.
"Or maybe she didn't want to become a science experiment… I worked so hard to make you who you are," Helen stated with a smile, she had come so far and it was because of her that Rachel would one day be in full control of her abilities and able to do what Helen needed. Rachel felt her stomach turn, she didn't want to remember the torture that she had underwent at Helen's hands and she prayed she'd be the one that got to end the woman one day. Picking up the artefact Helen looked at Nick and raised an eyebrow at him, she had come here for answers and she was determined to leave with them; he knew what this was and she wanted to know everything.
"What does this do?" Helen asked making Rachel and Nick look at each other, they had no idea what it did yet only that they had found it and had no idea what it did. They were still doing their research but if Helen wanted to know then they were going to need to get it away from her; it was important and they couldn't let her leave with it. Helen looked between them waiting for an answer, she wasn't in the mood for playing games and she had seen the army sent to find it and now she wanted answers.
"Tell me," Helen demanded wanting answers, she wasn't in the mood for this and she knew that she had to act quickly if she wanted to get what she wanted; she doubted that it was long before someone raised the alarm about what was going on. Nick shook his head, he had no idea what it was nor would he give her an answer even if he did know what it was; he didn't care what she did to him, he wasn't going to say a thing.
"Give him ten seconds… then shoot her," Helen ordered the Nick clone, who turned the gun away from real Nick and towards Rachel who took a step back away from him. She didn't look at her father and she eyed the weapon that was being pointed at her head, it was wouldn't change a thing and Rachel hoped Nick didn't say a word. Nick felt his heart pound in his chest, Rachel was his daughter and he loved her; he wasn't about to watch his clone put a bullet through her head.
However, before he could speak Helen's pre-recorded voice echoed through the ARC making the clones all respond to it; no one moved as they realised that this was their chance. Helen gritted her teeth before she turned to the Nick clone and demanded that he finished his mission; she grabbed the artefact and took off running.
"You don't have to do this," Nick shouted watching as his clone turned away from him and Rachel to approach the bomb that lay in the centre of the room. The clone paused for a moment before raising his hand to rest over the detonator, he stayed still for a moment before he offered a look over his shoulder towards Nick and Rachel.
"Run," Nick clone told them and they didn't need to be told twice before they took off running and he brought his hand down on the detonator.
Outside the team were reunited and Becker felt relief fill him as he spotted Rachel exiting the building with Nick; he had been worried when he hadn't found her with the other members of the team. However, his smile disappeared when Owen rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug, he could see the other man whisper something urgent into Rachel's ear making her nod her head. Nick frowned as he looked around the gathering of people that had all escaped the explosion before he looked back towards the ARC as he realised something.
"Look after Rachel," Nick told Becker before dashing back into the building, he knew that he was being foolish but he couldn't leave Helen inside to die; they had been through too much together. Owen quickly gripped Rachel who surged forward to stop him, they didn't need anyone else rushing into a building that could come down at any moment after an explosion like that. He had no idea what Nick was thinking and he doubted that he even realised just how bad things were going to be in a building that had just exploded like that.
"Dad," Rachel shouted struggling against Owen as she tried to stop her father from disappearing into the building to find a woman that had tried to kill them. Owen looked around concerned as the windows of the cars around them started to shake and it took him a moment to realise that Rachel was the cause of it. Forcing Rachel to look at him, Owen did his best to try and calm her down without attracting any attention to them; he was very aware that Becker was watching them right now.
"Rachel he'll be okay," Owen whispered to her, he didn't want her to reveal just what she could do here; these people would lock her away without a second thought if they knew what she was capable of. Minutes passed and the longer it took for Nick to return the more things around the group started to shake; another explosion rocked the ARC before Connor raced into the ARC to find Nick.
Rachel tensed against Owen who still held her close, she had no idea what she would do if she lost her father; things had been going so well before this and she didn't think she would be able to cope if she lost anyone else.
"It'll be okay," Owen reassured her, he knew that something had gone horribly wrong and he had a feeling that Nick had truly bitten off more than he could handle this time. Rachel didn't say anything as she stared at the entrance waiting for any sign of Connor or her father; she prayed that this wasn't going to end in tears in any way.
Minutes ticked by before Connor reappeared carrying Nick out of the ARC in his arms, no one seemed to move for a moment as they realised that Nick had been badly injured somehow. Owen let Rachel go once Nick was placed on the ground, he stepped back knowing that he couldn't support her much now; he was worried just how bad this was. The sound of sirens approached them and Owen could only watch as Rachel rushed to her father's side; they would be too late to save him and he worried how she would react.
"It's too late," Connor told them, the fact that Nick Cutter was gone hurt more than he had ever imagined; he had never thought that they would lose anyone else after what had happened to Stephen. Rachel felt like she had gone numb at those words and she backed away from her father's dead body; she didn't want to believe that Connor was telling the truth.
Shaking her head, Rachel wrapped her arms around herself and she felt angry that Helen Cutter had taken yet another person from her. Losing Stephen had been hard enough and Rachel had struggled to move on from that after watching him be ripped apart in her place; now her father was gone and she didn't know what to do.
Owen watched her closely as Rachel closed her eyes, he remembered what it had been like to bury someone that he loved and he wouldn't wish it on anyone. No sooner than her eyes had closed, the windows of all the vehicles around them started to explode making everyone scream; they ducked for cover trying to get away from the glass as it scattered everywhere.
Owen was quickly by Rachel's side trying to calm her down before she did something to hurt herself; he was going to have to call Jack and see how he wanted to approach this entire situation. Becker watched Rachel and he couldn't imagine what she was going though, Nick had been the only family she had left and losing him was bound to hurt considering how tense things had been recently.
"Rachel, you need to calm down," Owen soothed, the loss of her father was leading her to use her untrained abilities and he really didn't want her to do something that she might come to regret. Shaking her head, Rachel shoved him away from her and started to back away from him; she didn't want to even think about what she was going to have to do now. Planning Stephen's funeral had broken her heart even more, there wasn't much of a body left to bury and now she was expected to do the same for her father.
"I can't do this… it's entirely my fault," Rachel whispered, it was her fault that Helen kept coming back to them and if she had just stayed away then Nick wouldn't be dead right now. Becker slowly approached the two, he was glad that no one else had really noticed the scene they were making right now; the police and ambulance service had arrived on scene to distract them. Handing Owen his gun, Becker approached Rachel and wrapped his arms around her; allowing her to cry in his arms as she broke down.
"We'll get through this," Becker whispered as she cried in his arms, he was going to keep his promise to Nick to look after her; he wasn't going to let anything bad happened to her now.
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