3/01/08
Title: Terminal Light
Author: Squeezynz
Author's Note: Yup, can't resist. We're heading back to AR5, where we left the two pairs of Stephen and Abby.(Ch.24) Just to recap how to tell the couples apart. AR1Stephen and Abby are in capitals. AR2stephen and abby are in lower case. More easily, AR2stephen is injured already, while AR1Stephen is hale and hearty, albeit a little bloodied from his brush with the pair of Torvosaurus.
If I get the two mixed up along the way, I apologise...do let me know if I do!!
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Abby stared at the darkening forest and wondered for the umpteenth time how they were going to get out of their current situation alive. Her twin was sitting with her arms about her knees close by, both women apparently lost in thought as to the fate of their respective men folk. Abby didn't know which was worse, to know her stephen was suffering in a medical tent mere feet from where she sat, or to know that the other Stephen was probably in mortal danger on one of Massey's foolhardy hunts. The other girl had told her what had happened in the tent, how Massey had used her to coerce Stephen into doing what the man wanted, a shudder shaking both girls as they pondered their possible fate if the hunt went wrong and Massey needed someone to be a scapegoat.
Their guards had been reduced to one, with the men absent from the adjoining cage, the women deemed no threat shut up behind the metal bars. They'd been given water but little else, bar one trip to the port-a-loo to take care of business. Now the light was dying from the day, the shadows of the trees lengthening and casting dark hollows over the ground. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, but she was careful to make her movements small, so not to attract the attention of their bored guard. Turning her head she scanned the undergrowth where she thought she'd seen the movement. Even as she swept her eyes over the scrubby shrubs, she saw the branches part and a pair of intensely blue eyes catch hers in a look that willed her not to react. A small nod was her only acknowledgment of Stephen's arrival, then he was gone after a quick hand signal indicated he was going to circle around behind the guard.
Keeping her excitement firmly under control, Abby shifted around until she had her back to the guard, and faced her twin.
"abby!" she hissed, the other girl quickly raising her head to stare back at her.
"What?"
"Don't react...but I've just seen Stephen...off to the left..."
Apart from a widening of her expressive eyes, the other abby managed to keep herself under control. "Stephen...?"
"He's going to circle around and take out the guard...be ready."
Swallowing down the hope blossoming in her heart, abby did as her counterpart suggested and feigned disinterest and forced boredom when their guard decided to stretch his legs and take a turn around the cages piled up around them. The circuit took no longer than a few minutes, but time enough for Stephen to get himself into position.
The girls shifted themselves on the hard floor to give themselves a better view of their guard at his post, the gun hanging loosely off his arm. Careful to avoid staring at the man, they kept their heads down, and peeped from under their similar blond fringes, the shadows aiding them as the last of the light turned to dusk. So silent was Stephen, they almost missed the moment he encircled the guards throat, strangling any cry, and dragged the man back into the undergrowth, the sound of a blow just reaching the girls in the cage.
Seconds later Stephen was at the bars, abby flying across, reaching for him, despite the metal barrier between them. Heated kisses and murmured endearments were all to hurriedly exchanged before Stephen reluctantly let abby go, his breathing a trifle hectic.
"I'll have to pick the lock, the guard didn't have a key," he informed them, glancing over his shoulder before crouching down to exam the lock. "I don't suppose you have a piece of wire of a hair pin on you?"
Both girls shook their heads, then Abby snapped her fingers. "Underwire!" before turning her back and starting to fumble under her leather jacket. Within a few seconds she produced a length of thin, curved wire, handing it to her cell mate to pass on to Stephen. Grinning, he set to work, the lock giving way after a minute of two of effort, both girls stepping through the narrow gap as Stephen pulled the door open only far enough for them to get through.
Abby stood back as her two companions once more engaged in some mutual reassurances, the reunion brought to a hasty conclusion with the sound of a generator firing up somewhere close by. Grabbing abby's hand, Stephen led the two women behind the tents, over the body of the unconscious guard and out into the trees. He knew it wouldn't be too long before the guards' absence was noted, giving them precious time to get clear. There was also the small matter of the other stephen, presumably still being held in the medical tent.
They continued in silence until Stephen reached where he'd stashed his small collection of gear.
"This is one of their control boxes. See if you can work out how to operate it by the time I get back."
"Where are you going?" abby asked, clutching at his jacket. She hated feeling this needy, but she couldn't help herself.
"To get myself of course," Stephen answered, giving a cocky grin and an impudently raised eyebrow, before slinking off into the gloom of the gathering darkness.
Abby patted the other girl on the shoulder when she continued to stare after her rescuer. "Don't worry, he seems to have the knack of surviving just about anything."
"I know. Doesn't stop me worrying." Biting her lip, abby turned back and watched as Abby lifted the strange black contraption up and peered at it. "Can you see how to work it?"
"You've got to be jokin'. I can barely see my hand in front of my face in this light. I hope Stephen thinks to bring a torch back with him."
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Once again his knife came in handy to slit the canvas wall. As stealthily as he knew how, he entered the medical tent and approached the orderly hunched over his desk. A quick blow to the base of the man's skull, with the hilt of his knife, left the way clear for him to enter the cubicle where his counterpart from another time lay.
"You took your time," stephen grinned from the depths of his bed as his healthier twin entered.
"Had my hands full with some rather vicious predators." Stephen replied shortly, helping the wounded man up off the bed and hooking his arm over his shoulder.
"I can walk you know," stephen told him, shaking off the supporting arm.
"Thought you might be faking. Just as well, you wouldn't have stood a chance against the Torvosaurus."
"Bloody hell!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I was lucky to get out with my skin intact."
"Then that's not your blood?"
Stephen looked down at himself and grimaced. "No. Several donors including Massey."
Together they slid through the cut in the tent wall and, bent low, ran through the shadows to reach the trees and cover. Once there, they both crouched down.
"What's the plan?" stephen asked, wincing a little as he flexed his shoulder. His face was several shakes of green and yellow, his eye still swollen, but starting to heal.
"The girls are on the other side. I managed to snag a black box. If we can get it to work, we're on our way out of here."
"If?"
"Well, have you seen how to work one, 'cos I haven't."
"Nope. Only from a distance."
"Damn. I was hoping you'd know more than I did."
A voice suddenly called a name and both men stood up to stare back at the camp.
"Stephen...Stephen Hart. I know you are out there...give yourselves up." Massey's amplified voice echoed around the camp above the noise of the generators powering the lights.
"What the fuck!" Stephen cursed, jogging off to the left to get a clearer view of the center of the camp. His counterpart followed, both men keep low until they reached a vantage point, a small ridge that allowed them to see over the tents to the gathering of men in the middle.
" He knows we both here...how?" the answer to that question came in the form of two struggling figures held firmly in the grip of four guards, the unmistakable tousled blond heads looking bright under the artificial lights.
"Stephen Hart..." Massey's voice boomed out. "As you see, we have your companions once more. Give yourselves up and they won't be harmed." He waved the guards forward, the two Abby's struggling against the hands holding them. With a sudden twist, one of the girls got free, kicking out at the guards before turning tail and sprinting across the compound. The other Abby screamed after her to run, but all too soon she was caught, brought to the ground in a teeth rattling tackle. Again abby fought hard, but her fists and feet couldn't stop the men securing her arms at her side, a quick punch to the jaw rendering her stunned long enough for her to be dragged back to Massey.
The two men watching both wanted to race down and pummel the men manhandling the girls, but both also knew that to give up now would render all the pain and injury suffered for nothing.
"Bastard," hissed Stephen, turning his back on the scene below to try and think clearly. His companion remained turned towards the camp, watching the drama below and racking his brains for a solution.
Massey's voice boomed out from below, the megaphone crackling as he called again. "I'm losing my patience gentlemen. You have one minute to put in an appearance, or one of these young ladies will suffer the consequences."
Stephen swung back to stare bleakly at the camp below. "Nothing we can do, but what he says."
"Look...surely we can..." stephen started to say, only to have his suggestion cut off by the sound of gunfire. In horror both men looked down at the camp, sure that Massey had decided to anticipate the time limit. Instead they saw several of Massey's men laying on the ground and chaos as the others tried to find cover. From the woods to the south appeared a force of black clad special ops, blending in perfectly with the shadows, while Massey and his men were clearly illuminated by the spotlights around the tents.
Massey was backing towards his tent, the bullhorn forgotten on the ground, the guards pulling the two women with them, using them as shield from the advancing special forces attacking the camp.
"Come on...we have to get those girls free!" Together, the two Stephens hurried down the slope to the line of tents at right angles to the advancing special ops. Dodging between the tents, they circled to the north to put as much distance between them and the gun battle, as well as follow Massey and his bodyguards. Stephen pulled out the gun he had, promising himself that if Abby was hurt in any way, one of the remaining bullets had Massey's name on it.
The black garbed special ops were quickly subduing the remaining guards, leaving just Massey and his personal guards and the two captives. The two Stephens split up and approached Massey from in front and behind.
"Massey! Let them go!" Stephen stepped in Massey's path, his gun trained on the leader, hoping that the girls would keep their guards too busy to draw their own weapons.
"So, you show yourself at last. What happened to the others? We found one of the guards dead..."
"The other Massey didn't make it, nor did most of the men to sent on that suicidal hunt."
"But you did. You always were the best Mister Hart, no one ever came close to you." Massey grinned and raised him arm, the silver gun in his hand glinting in the flood lights, Stephen barely able to react before the gun exploded, the shot taking him in the shoulder and spinning him around, his own gun dropping from his nerveless fingers.
The two Abby's froze in horror for a second before they both rounded on their equally surprised guards, the two men suddenly holding armfuls of spitting hell cats that scratched and screamed at them. One of the guards pulled his hand gun but didn't get a chance to fire it, a bullet taking him high in the chest and dropping him to the ground. Abby staggered clear, pulling the other girl away as Massey swung around to take aim at them. The second man ended up collecting the shot intended for one of the Abby's in the throat, his horrible gurgles spurring the girls to run to the nearest tree for cover.
Suddenly stephen was there, a rifle held to his shoulder as he took aim at Massey, his first bullet taking out the gun in the man's hand, before the second hit high on the chest, Massey clutching at his shirt front in surprise before dropping like a stone to the ground. Blood bloomed over the front of his body, his lifeless eyes staring up at the flood lights illuminating the scene with a ghastly clarity.
Suddenly all the gunfire had stopped and they were surrounded by the special forces, the hunting rifle taken from stephen's slack hand without protest. The two Abby's split up and ran to their respective Stephen's, the black uniformed special ops not stopping them.
"Stephen!" abby dropped to her knees beside him and cupped his face in her hands. His eyes were shut, but when she called his name again, the lashes fluttered open and he peered up at her, pain obvious in their blue depths.
"Massey?" he croaked.
"Dead. Don't move Stephen...oh God, there's blood everywhere..."
"Not all mine..." Stephen tried to reassure her, groaning when one of the soldiers knelt down and pressed a wad of gauze to the gaping bullet hole in his shoulder.
"He'll be alright miss. Give us your hand mate, we'll get that patched up..." Stephen accepted the help of the special ops soldier gratefully. Back on his feet, he found abby plastered to his uninjured side, uncaring of the muck and blood still coating him. If he was completely honest, having her there took his mind off the pain pulsating in his shoulder and down his arm. Together, the three made their way back into camp and headed for the medical tent, leaving the other couple behind, still surrounded by soldiers dressed in black.
One of the soldiers was crouched next to Massey, checking his pulse, despite the obvious evidence that the man was stone dead. A little way off, Abby and stephen stood wrapped in each others arms, too grateful to be alive and together, to worry about the interested audience around them.
"It's over...isn't it?" Abby asked, her voice muffled against stephen's chest.
"Yes love...it's over."
Abby pulled back a little and peered up into his face. "What did you call me?"
"I said...it's over," stephen teased, bending his head to capture her mouth, but Abby jerked her head to thwart him.
"Wait a second...did you say you love me?" her voice ended on a squeak, her eyes wide. stephen glanced around at the soldiers still surrounding them, then back down in her face.
"Something along those line...do you mind?" he tried to look serious, his battered face lending him a piratical look when he tried to raise one black eyebrow.
"Gawd no...I just didn't think...I mean, well..." she could feel her face heating up and blurted out the next words in a rush. "I love you too!" before burying her face once more against his shirt.
"Then every thing's sweet." stephen ducked his head and kissed the side of her head, nuzzling his cheek against her hair and sighing deeply. At length, Abby raised her head and he took the opportunity to seal his declaration with a kiss that made the toes curl in Abby's boots.
"Ahem...ur...Sir?" the gruff voice of one of the soldiers drew the lovers apart. "Sorry to interrupt Sir, but we need to get you and the others back through the anomaly. We've encountered a problem with them staying open any length of time, so if we could just move..."
"You know how to work the black boxes?" stephen asked, the soldier nodding.
"Works like a charm. This is the fifth camp my squad have hit in the last twenty four hours. Each time we clear it out then shut down the anomaly, but its getting harder and harder each time."
"Then let's get moving. I don't think any of us want to remain here a second longer than necessary."
Keeping an arm firmly around Abby's waist, stephen led them back into the camp, the captured Rhino corp employees now standing with their hands on their heads, under guard by the special forces men.
Stephen appeared from the medical tent, his arm similarly encasing an unresisting abby, his arm now held in a sling to prevent jarring his shoulder.
"So now we go home?" stephen asked, the two couples following the group of prisoner as they were led out of the camp towards a sparkling anomaly visible between two trees.
"Yeah, but which home." Abby muttered, exchanging a loaded glance with the other abby.
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It took three trips through the anomalies to finally reach home, the group of Rhino employees shepherded through each one until they all arrived at their final destination. They were faced by a small army of personnel, the prisoners taken away, leaving behind the two young couples looking the worse for wear.
Lester stepped forward and looked the two pairs of twins over with a long, considering stare.
"Welcome back...all of you. As you will understand, we need to debrief you on what's been happening, as well as take blood samples to determine who belongs here and who doesn't. In the meantime, go with this orderly and they'll make a start on the preliminaries."
A young man in civvies stepped forward but both couples ignored him at first.
"We won't be split up," stephen announced after exchanging a look with his twin. Stephen nodded when Lester looked at him to see if he agreed.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Lester replied smoothly, "but you do realise that in all probability, you are all from different times and will have to come to some decision about the future. We really can't have two of everyone running about the place – very messy. The paper work alone would take years to sort out."
The two Stephen's exchanged another look, before turning two pairs of very intense blue eyes on the Home Office official. Lester held up his hands as if in surrender.
"All right...no splitting up, and no decisions until we have this all sorted out."
Visible, the two younger men relaxed and made to go with the orderly.
"Has Nick returned?" Abby asked, the other girl also hanging back to hear the answer.
"How do you think we managed to co-ordinate all this," Lester waved a hand at the activity going on around them. "All this is directly related to his return."
"And Helen?" Stephen asked, "did she come back with Cutter?"
Lester hesitated, then plastered his best Home Office face on. "We'll catch up with everything you've missed in the debriefing. I'm sure you must all want to take a shower and freshen up, as well as have something to eat and drink. We'll meet a little later...now hurry along, the medics are just dying to get their hands on you." Lester made shooing motions and reluctantly, the two couples followed the orderly, Abby glancing back at Lester with a very suspicious look on her bruised face.
Only after they had disappeared behind the forest of tents set up around the anomaly, did Lester relax his shoulders and drag a hand over his face.
"Sometimes I really wish I'd stayed in middle management...life was so less complicated back then." Giving himself a shake, he cast a last glance at the shimmering anomaly before turning on his Italian leather heel and walking towards the government car waiting to return him to London.
At least the rescue had gone without a hitch, so he did have something positive to report.
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tbc...