Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue.

Chapter 26: Here We Are

Kyra stumbled to her feet. She felt dizzy and sick at the same time.

She was half-aware of the cigarette still in her mouth that she had yet to smoke and of Connor's presence.

"Come on, we have to find Helen." Connor said as he put her arm around his neck and wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her away from where they landed after jumping through the anomaly at the last possible second.

Abby drove back to Stephen's flat, as Stephen rested in the passenger seat, still recovering from the tranquillizer dart.

Her foreboding dream had not come to fruition and Stephen had survived; but at the cost of K.C. and Connor, who apparently switched sides.

Abby tried to wrap the past 24 hours around her head.

Was Connor now their enemy? Was this the reason he stayed away for so long?

Helen didn't seem too worried about K.C. sacrificing herself. Now that Helen had managed to add Connor to her arsenal, Abby was worried that Helen would become unstoppable.

Cutter wasn't dealing with how things turned out too well. He had locked himself in his office the second they returned to the ARC. Jenny had tried to talk to him, but he refused to see or even speak to anyone.

Abby helped Stephen out of the car and up the stairs to the flat.

Cutter sat in his office. His eyes were burning from all the tears he had shed.

His daughter, Kyra Caterina Cutter, had sacrificed herself to save everyone else. She died praising he and Helen, of all people.

She covered her eyes with sunglasses as she locked herself in the room, but Cutter could tell that she was absolutely terrified of what was about to happen to her.

His heart ached even more as he remembered shouting his empty promise to get her out.

Cutter out of his chair as the doorknob dropped to the ground and the door swung open to reveal a soldier and Jenny Lewis.

"Thank you, I'll have someone come later to repair it." Jenny smiled as the soldier nodded and to his leave.

"What the hell did you do to my door?" Cutter shouted.

"We need to talk." Jenny spoke.

"I said that I didn't want to speak to anyone, let alone see anyone." Cutter said, still fuming.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to K.C., it wasn't your fault, Nick."

"I was supposed to stop her, that's my job and I didn't do it; and now it seems that we've lost Connor to the dark side as well."

"Connor was there?" Jenny asked shocked.

"He was with K.C. and Helen. He's working with her."

"So what do we do?"

"What can we do? With K.C. dead and Connor on Helen's side, we're going to have our hands full just trying to keep a step ahead of them." Cutter said as he slumped back into his seat.

"Don't tell me that the great Nick Cutter is going to give up now." Jenny spoke, trying to fill Cutter with some sort of confidence.

"What do you suggest that I do, Jenny? Ask nicely that Helen stop trying to destroy my life and my sanity?"

"Actually, I was going to suggest stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about Helen."

Cutter looked up at her.

Jenny walked over so that she was closer to him and kissed him. "I'm sure that there's at least one last trick up your sleeve to get Connor back."

Cutter watched as Jenny turned and started to walk toward the door.

"Oh, I have something that I thought you might find interesting." Jenny said as she turned and tossed a file on Cutter's desk.

"What is it?" Cutter inquired, picking up the file.

"The autopsy results of the sealed room. It took them ages to discern the animals; but there's something in there that you'll definitely want to look at." Jenny explained before leaving.

K.C. forced her eyes to open. She shot straight up as the memories of shutting herself in the room with the creatures came rushing back.

Her fear of shooting the creatures. Her final request. Connor saving her.

Something didn't click.

Now that she was safer and, better yet, alive, she could confront her suspicions.

Abby lay next to Stephen in bed, waiting for him to wake up.

It was nearly 5:30pm.

Stephen's eyes shoot open as he sat up looking around.

"Stephen, it's okay, you're safe. We're back at the flat." Abby explained, wrapping her arms protectively around him.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is K.C. shooting a tranquilizer dart at me and then kicking me." Stephen said, rubbing his head.

"K.C.—locked herself in the room. She's gone Stephen."

"And Connor?"

Abby merely shook her head.

"What time is it?"

"About 5:30pm." Abby mumbled.

Stephen lay back down and pulled Abby close to him, wrapping both arms around her.

"Let's just stay like this for now." Stephen spoke quietly.

Abby rested her head on his chest and stared at the burnt orange shadows the sunset was casting throughout the bedroom.

Connor stood on the front steps of the mansion with Helen, discussing their options and backup plans thanks to the failure at the bunker.

"So, what about our deal?" Connor asked as he stared at the electric gates, constructed to keep the creatures away from the mansion.

"If Oliver hadn't gotten so cocky and ruined everything, the ARC would be in our possession right now." Helen spat.

"You shouldn't have let him into the loop. Little people don't understand the gravity of the situation with the anomalies." Connor spoke flatly.

"What do you suggest?"

"We take the ARC head on. Cutter and the others will never see it coming."

"I agree with the plan; but infiltration of the ARC will take time and the Cleaner clones take quite a while to replicate." Helen explained.

"We'll wait for a time when the ARC members grow weaker from grief. They didn't see what happened did they?"

"No, Nick stopped looking shortly before you opened the anomaly; but he's no fool, he'll figure out sooner or later that Kyra isn't dead."

"And what are we going to do about her?"

"I think she's on our team to stay."

"Let's hope that it stays that way."

"Let today mark the day that the anti-ARC was born." Helen smiled as she shook hands with Connor.

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