Dawn sat on a rock by herself, arms loosely around her knees as she stared out across the valley. "It's not your fault Dawn." Danny came up behind her.
"It was my model, Danny. This is all my fault." She sighed. "I'm really sorry."
He shook his head. "It's fine, really. Do you know when it's due to open again?"
She ducked her head. "I don't know. This anomaly is usually pretty regular. Normally it opens and closes every few weeks but it closed in just a few hours this time, so I don't know."
"Well then, we'll stick around close by. If in a few weeks it hasn't opened again we'll search for another way home." He shrugged calmly. She turned to look at him.
"Why are you not freaking out about this?"
"Last time I ended up with only hominids for company at the beginning of the human race and almost no provisions. This is like a paradise!" he spread his arms out with a silly grin and despite herself she gave a weak laugh.
"Fair enough." She pulled out her mother's diary. "There was something in here about a camp she had…" she murmured, flicking through. "Here. She talks about building and decoration."
"In the Permian?"
Dawn shrugged. "I guess. I don't think it's far from here- want to go see?"
He nodded, and they set off, clambering over a hill until they reached the other side. "Where is this thing then?" Danny asked. Dawn frowned.
"I think it should be tucked under those rocks there…" she pointed. Carefully, they climbed down and rounded the outcrop, stopping in surprise.
"She built a house in the Permian era?" Danny questioned incredulously. Dawn blinked.
"Apparently so…" she said slowly. The building was one storey and made out of wood, with simple holes in the wall for windows but a neat door set in the centre. They exchanged a glance. "Only her…" Dawn muttered.
Danny stepped closer and pushed the door- it didn't move. He put his shoulder to it and shoved, stumbling inwards as it gave way. Dawn smiled slightly, following him in and coughing as dust rose around them. "Nobody's been in here for years!" Danny covered his mouth with his arms.
"Well, it might be less than that. This is the Permian era after all- it's kinda dusty." Dawn pointed out. She looked around interestedly. They were in a relatively small room- there were several tables around the edge covered with papers, with blankets strewn about in some places. "You know, I think this is some sort of research station." Dawn mused.
"Is that what these are?" Danny turned a piece of paper around in his hands, looking confused. Dawn smiled, noticing a door at the end and pushing through it. It looked like a small kitchen- there was a table, a small gas cooker and some pots and cutlery. Another door stood at the back, and Dawn opened it to find a staircase leading down. "Danny?" she called, descending down the stairs before she heard him reply. There was another door at the bottom, which she opened, blinking in the sudden change in light- it was dark down here, and musty. She clicked her torch on, shinning it around and stepping forward.
Only to be abruptly knocked back. She gasped as the air whooshed out of her and the torch clattered to the floor. There were hands around her throat and she clawed at them desperately, bucking against the weight pinning her to the floor as she struggled to break free.
"Danny-!" She gasped out, scrabbling around as she tried to breath. Her already limited vision began to blur just as she heard a cry and the weight lifted, the pressure around her throat loosening so she could gulp in breath after breath. She rolled, looking over to see Danny punching a man on the floor again and again. She grabbed the torch and scrambled to her feet. "Danny, stop!" she urged in a croak, placing a hand on his back. He drew back, breathing heavily.
"Oh my God…" Dawn whispered as she caught sight of the man's face. Danny glanced at her.
"Do you know him?" he questioned.
"Sort of." She swallowed thickly, wincing at the pain in her throat. "He's one of the clones."
"Clones?"
"You must have heard of them." Dawn looked at him. "The clone army took over the ARC- we thought they were all killed but then one turned up dead in a dumpster a few days later so we were never sure. Apparently they weren't." She looked at the man in confusion, crouching beside him while Danny cut a length of rope from the one in his bag and wound it around the clones' wrists, securing him tightly. "What on earth is he doing here though?"
"I think we may have something to do with that." Danny and Dawn jumped up defensively at the voice. At the end of the basement they hadn't looked at yet were bars secured from ceiling to floor all the way across the room, creating a cage. In which Jenny stood.
"How the hell did you get here?" Danny asked in surprise, walking towards her. She hesitated.
"I'm not sure." She admitted. "I don't even know where here is." Danny glanced at Dawn, who shrugged. He began to try to pick the lock, with Dawn holding the torch to light it.
"We're in the Permian era." She explained. "As far as I can work out it's around the same time as the anomaly when we first found it. Does the ARC know you're here?" she asked.
"The what?" Jenny looked at her quizzically. Danny stopped in what he was doing.
"The ARC." He said slowly. She looked blank.
"Like Noah's ark?" a male voice said from the back of the cage. Jenny turned in surprise.
"You're awake! How are you feeling?" she hurried toward the man. Danny swung the light from his own torch towards them.
And Dawn froze.
"Terrible." The man groaned. He was bruised and battered. "Remind me not to try that again."
"I told you not to." Muttered Jenny. "Not my fault if you're as stubborn as hell."
Danny continued to pick the look, shooting a concerned look towards Dawn who was trembling, the light from the torch wavering unsteadily. "What's wrong?" he muttered to her. She crouched beside him.
"That's Stephen." She breathed.
"Stephen?" he frowned, glancing towards her.
"My godfather. Who died five years ago." She bit her lip, pale with wide eyes. Danny paused.
"Huh…" the lock clicked, and he pushed the door open. "Are there any more of those guys?" he asked the two inside the cage, nodding to the man on the floor. Jenny shook her head.
"He's the only one. Helen used to come around but she hasn't been here in months."
"Months?" Dawn exclaimed. "You've been here for months?"
Jenny nodded. "I've been here…" she counted in her head. "Two years."
"I've only been here for one." Stephan added. Danny looked confused.
"That doesn't make any sense. I literally talked to you at the ARC this morning Jen, how could you be here?" he questioned. Jenny looked baffled.
"I've never seen you before in my life." She said in confusion. "You couldn't have talked with me."
Danny looked to Dawn. "Why do I get the feeling we're missing something?"
"Because we're talking about Helen Cutter and things are never simple with her." she muttered bitterly.
"That much I'll agree with you." Stephan said, sitting up with a wince. "Why don't we start from the beginning? I'm Stephen, this is Claudia."
"Claudia?" Dawn and Danny echoed together. The woman in question looked a little perturbed.
"Yes…" she said slowly. "Claudia Brown."
Danny and Dawn stared at her. "Well crap." Danny sighed. Dawn simply turned and walked away, running up the stairs before any of them could say anything. Danny sighed.
"Sorry- she's a little… upset." He explained with a wince. "I'm Danny, the kid was Dawn."
"Nice to meet you." Stephen murmured, gritting his teeth as he attempted to stand up. Claudia tried to support him but Danny darted forward instead and took her place.
"Let me." he smiled, slipping the other man's arm around his shoulders. "Okay?"
"Okay." Stephen nodded, blowing out a breath. With difficulty, they manoeuvred him up the stairs to where Dawn standing by the window in the main room. She looked up as they walked in before quickly turning away, and Danny was sure he saw her wipe her eyes.
He lowered Stephen into a nearby chair before crossing to her. "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine." She said emotionlessly. She pushed herself off the wall and crossed to one of the tables, scanning the notes and sighing.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked.
"I don't think these are in any sort of order. They're going to be hell to sort through and understand." she moaned. "I seriously hope the treatment works for Sarah 'cause I'm going to need her help."
"We have to get home first." Danny pointed out.
"And figure out what we're going to do with those two." Dawn muttered, gesturing to Claudia and Stephen.
"Well we can't leave them here." Danny said.
"We can't take them with us either! Jenny would have a fit for one, not to mention Lester, Abby and Connor." Dawn bit her lip.
Danny sighed. "We could take them to the future?"
"Well that wouldn't help at all, would it? We'd just spend the rest of lives worrying about what to do with them when they arrived!" Dawn hissed.
"So what do you suggest?"
"Hey!" Stephen suddenly yelled. They turned to look at him in surprise. "Stop talking about us like we're not here and explain what the hell is going on!"
Dawn and Danny exchanged a look at each other. "All yours." Danny held his hands up.
"Coward." Dawn mumbled with an eye roll. "Look…. I'm not actually sure yet."
"Then tell us what you do know." Stephen demanded. Dawn sighed.
"Fine. Five years Nick Cutter and his wife Helen and several soldiers crossed into the Permian era to return a group of baby future predators to the rightful era. You both remember that?" she asked. They both nodded. "Only the professor came back, although his wife followed closely afterwards. After some… revelations." Dawn shot Stephen a pointed look. "Helen returned through the anomaly and Cutter began asking after a woman named Claudia Brown, who nobody had ever heard of."
Claudia jerked slightly but Dawn ploughed on regardless. "A few people wrote him off as crazy, especially as he had no memory of the Anomaly Research Centre- the ARC. But he continued his work there until Helen turned up again when it was revealed she and Stephen had been continuing their relationship in the past months, and she'd somehow bought him around to her point of view. A large number of prehistoric creatures and future predators were being held at a facility but were at risk of escaping because of what she did- Cutter tried to sacrifice himself to stop them from doing so but Stephen punched him, knocked him out and died in his place. Six months later and Helen shot Cutter anyway with the intention of killing him- she failed, and he went after her through the anomalies and never came back. That was three years ago." Dawn finished abruptly, turning back to the notes as a passage caught her eye.
Claudia and Steven were sat in stunned silence. Danny raised his eyebrows. "Well that was… delicate." He said sarcastically. Dawn ignored him, reading the notes with a frown.
"Stephen, what do you remember?" she quizzed suddenly. He frowned.
"What?"
"What do you remember?" she repeated. "Your childhood, your teenage years, the university, the creatures. Do you remember all of it?"
"I… I remember the creatures…" he said slowly. Dawn looked at him.
"What does Lewes mean to you?" she asked quietly. He looked blank.
"Nothing. Is it supposed to?"
Dawn looked back at the notes in her hand. "Dammit…" she whispered.
"Dawn?" Danny questioned. "What's wrong?"
She swallowed, but kept her expression carefully blank. "Nothing. Just another lie."
"Please tell me you didn't do this to Stephen!"
"No matter what they look like they can never bethe original."
"Right, I know how you exist Stephen. Claudia- same questions to you- childhood, teenage years, creatures." Dawn said business-like. Claudia looked hesitant, but answered anyway.
"I remember all of it. My whole life, the only gap is how I ended up here."
"How did you get here?" Danny enquired.
"I… I don't know. I was in the forest of Dean- Nick had gone through the anomaly with Helen and then… I was just here." Claudia shrugged, looking troubled. Dawn bit her lip, looking down at the papers.
"It shouldn't be possible." She muttered. "It isn't possible! But you're sitting right in front of me!"
Danny just shrugged at the confused looks Claudia and Stephen shot him. "I've learnt just to nod along… eventually she'll probably get around to explaining." He murmured to them.
Dawn continued to work through the papers- Danny and Claudia got bored of waiting and began to explore the strange building they were in, while Stephen dozed in his chair. A sudden noise from outside had him shooting upright, wincing and gasping aloud. "What's wrong?" Dawn glanced up at him distractedly.
"There's something out there." He gestured to the door. She raised an eyebrow.
"You realised we're in prehistoric times right? It's probably a dinosaur." She said somewhat scathingly but she crossed over to the door anyway, cracking it open and scanning around outside. "Nothing." She told Stephen, closing it again and beginning to return to her seat.
Crack.
She froze, exchanging a look with Stephen to check he'd heard it too. "I really should have bought an EMD." She muttered, grabbing a knife out of an ankle holster that was secured to her left leg. Stephen looked shocked but she ignored him, gripping the knife tightly as she opened the door again.
She stepped out, holding a defensive stance as she walked. There was nothing around her, the steep hill not a great place for hiding. She frowned though, the uncomfortable feeling of being watched making the back of her neck prickle. "Hello?" she called quietly, feeling ridiculous.
Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. Dawn began to walk back inside but stopped when she saw what was laying on a misshapen rock, hidden from view unless she was standing on the side of it she was. She glanced around her, but still couldn't see anybody so hesitantly, she leaned down to pick it up.
"Danny! Claudia!" she called as she rushed into the house.
"What's wrong?" asked Stephen in surprise.
"Not sure. We've gotta go though." She began to gather up the papers, piling them into her bag and squashing them down.
"Dawn? What's wrong?" Danny demanded.
"Somebody else is here." She chucked him the anomaly opener. He turned it over in his hands, eyes widening.
"I don't understand… How is this possible? I thought Connor never invented these!" he questioned.
"He didn't." Dawn said grimly. "Help me with these, would you?"
Danny and Claudia both began to pile up papers as well, until Danny paused. "Dawn? Is this the same notebook?"
Dawn looked around to where he was holding what looked like her mother's diary up, taking it with a frown and flicking through it. "It's not the same…" she noted. "She must have gotten two at the same time…"
She shrugged, placing it in her bag with the rest, which was soon full so Danny piled the remaining notes into his bag. "Where are we going?" he asked as he slung it over his shoulder and helped Stephen stand up.
"Home." Dawn shrugged, holding up the opener. Danny looked wary, but nodded and they began to move out. But they soon hit a problem when Stephen was unable to climb up the hill- Dawn handed hers and Danny's bag to Claudia and got on his other side, and between her and Danny they managed to get him to the flat where the anomaly should have been.
"Blimey. That was a workout." Panted Danny, wiping his forehead after they'd lowered Stephen to sit on a nearby rock with Claudia. Dawn grinned, leaning on her knees.
"Bit out of shape there, old man?" she teased breathlessly.
"Oi! Some of us aren't kids anymore!" he retorted. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Mm?"
"Why didn't you tell them you're Helen and the professors daughter?" Danny asked her. She looked to him.
"What would that have solved?" she questioned plaintively. "Danny, Claudia was in love with my dad and Stephen has scattered memories. Telling them who I am would serve no purpose whatsoever and simply confuse and upset them."
Danny looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Right."
"What are we doing here?" Claudia called out to them. Dawn glanced at her, and took out the device from her pocket, pointing and pressing on the screen, biting her lip nervously until the anomaly sprung into life.
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Claudia. Dawn grinned.
"C'mon." she ducked under Stephen's arm and took some of his weight from Danny- the man was practically unconscious now. "Claudia?" The woman followed them closely, casting a nervous glance towards the anomaly before they stepped through it.
Dawn blinked at the change in light- it had been bright sunshine before, it was now a dim pink light that cast over them. "Huh." Danny commented. "Looks like morning."
"Yeah, but which morning?" Dawn pointed out, closing the anomaly behind them with one hand, the other still supporting Stephen.
"You better have a damn good explanation for this." The voice rang from behind them and Claudia jumped violently. Dawn however, just shot Lester a lazy grin.
"Morning James." She greeted. "Couldn't call the medics, could you? He's a bit heavy."
Lester cast a shocked glance over Stephen and Claudia. "Dawn…" he began, but for the first time words failed him.
"James?" She prompted. "Medics?"
Lester nodded, withdrawing his phone and barking orders down the phone. Dawn found herself in a whirlwind of soldiers and medics, being escorted back to the ARC and checked over by a medic before she was taken to Lester's office where Matt and Becker sat with Danny, and Lester himself. In the med bay, she'd stashed her and Danny's bags in an empty draw, knowing they'd be confiscated by Lester if he saw the papers in them. "I want you both to explain. Now." Lester said, gritting his teeth against the irritation rising in him and bringing Dawn back to the present. Danny glanced at her.
"I found a reference in my mother's diary to some sort of residence she'd had built in the Permian. I was suspicious on why she'd choose to build a house in prehistoric times so I persuaded Danny to travel with me there and investigate." Dawn said plainly. Danny nodded his agreement.
"We found Stephen and Claudia there, in a cage along with one of Helen's clones. Who we left there, tied up by the way."
"Whoops." Muttered Dawn- she'd forgotten about him. The other three men stared at them suspiciously.
"How is it that a dead man and a woman who shouldn't exist are even here?" Lester questioned.
"Are you going to lock them up if I tell you?" challenged Dawn.
"Dawn!" barked Becker. "Answer the question!"
"Or what?"
"Dawn, nobody is going to lock anybody up." Matt interrupted them. "But we need to understand."
Dawn looked at him, saw the truth in his eyes. "I think Stephen is a clone, created by my mother and my guess is she repeated stories of the real Stephen to him until they became his actual memories, until he believed he'd lived them. And Claudia… I'm not sure. Mum seems to have just sort of... plucked her out of her timeline and bought her into this one but I have no idea how."
"Wonderful. Dead, but Helen Cutter still manages to cause trouble." Lester sat at his desk.
"Look, I think out first priority should be making sure Claudia and Stephen aren't a threat, and figuring out what to do with them next." Matt said. "And telling the others."
"I agree." Becker nodded, not looking towards Dawn. "I'll tell Abby and Connor, they're here anyway."
"I'll explain it to Emily and Jess." Matt volunteered.
"I'll keep Claudia and Stephen company." Danny said.
Lester grimaced. "I need to explain this to the minister somehow."
"And I guess that leaves me with Jenny." Dawn sighed, running a hand through her hair. They all stood to leave, bar Matt, with Danny jogging quickly away. Becker began to walk away, not bothering to look back to Dawn. "How long are you going to act like this for?" she called out to him. He paused.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Like hell you don't!" Dawn snapped. "You're acting like a child Becker! You want to know why Peter and I didn't tell you about seeing each other? This exact reaction is why! You're being ridiculous!"
"Not telling me could have compromised the safety of the team and-"
"Bullshit!" Dawn bit out. "I don't know why you're acting like this Becker, and to be honest right now I don't care. But even if you won't act as you used to, you can at least act civilly towards me! I deserve that much!" he opened his mouth to say something, looked faintly guilty but she cut him off. "I don't care."
She stormed off, checking the security logs to find Jenny was in her office, Lester having called the entire team in at the same time as calling the medics earlier that day. She walked down there, knocking on the door. "Hi sweetheart." Jenny greeted, looking up from her paperwork. Dawn smiled weakly. "What's wrong?" Jenny asked instantly, seeing the look on her face.
Dawn took a deep breath, sitting in front of her desk and smoothing her trousers nervously. "I need to tell you something…"
Dawn bit her lip as Jenny stared at her. "You are joking." The brunette said eventually. Dawn shook her head.
"Sorry." She whispered.
Jenny leaned back and rubbed her hands over her face. "Okay. First off, what the hell were you thinking going through an anomaly on a whim, with only Danny as backup?" She asked angrily. Dawn ducked her head slightly. "Dawn, you could have been trapped on the other side for months! You could have been killed!"
"I'm sorry." Dawn apologised quietly. Jenny looked at her.
"No you're not." She sighed bitterly. "Claudia Brown…" she murmured. Dawn looked at her feet. "Dawn, just... Just go." Jenny said eventually. Dawn looked at her questioningly. "Go."
Dawn stood silently and walked out, wrapping her arms around herself and wandering blindly up to the hub. "Dawn?" Danny questioned. Dawn looked at him, swallowing back the tears.
"She hates me, Danny. And with good reason."
"No she doesn't." He soothed, wrapping her into a hug. "She's just... Off kilter. This has thrown her and she's upset."
"Danny, she's spent years in the shadow of Claudia Brown and now I went and made her real." Dawn pointed out morosely. Danny sighed.
"Dawn, eventually it's more than likely Claudia would have ended up here anyway. She and Steven would have escaped and the nearest anomaly was the Forest of Dean one. You said it yourself it's the most regular, stable one you've come across. They would have found it and they would have been bought here. Us finding them only made it happen a little sooner, that's all." He reasoned. Dawn nodded.
"Yeah." She agreed weakly. Danny looked at her.
"Wanna sneak out to the hospital?" He asked quietly. Dawn smiled slightly, nodding.
"Yeah. You got the drugs?"
"In my pocket." Danny looped an arm around her shoulders as they walked out. "What was the dosage?"
"One vial, injected straight into a vein." Dawn recited.
"And that'll cure her?" Danny said sceptically.
"Apparently the future of medicine is nano technology. The drug is actually a liquid full of nano creatures, that'll basically fix Sarah's brain once activated. They're activated when they leave the serum they're in- that happens when you inject them." Dawn explained as they climbed into his car.
"Clever." He commented. They drove to the hospital in tense silence, going straight to Sarah's room.
"Hey sweetheart." Danny greeted softly.
"Hi Sarah." Dawn glanced at her chart and saw she wasn't due another visit from a nurse or doctor for another few hours. "Okay. You ready?" She glanced at Danny, who nodded. Dawn withdrew a syringe she'd swiped from the medical bay when she'd been here earlier and carefully drew the liquid up into it, knocking out the air bubbles and glancing at Sarah's face. "Good luck." She whispered, before she plunged it into the crease of her elbow.
Danny's watched Sarah's face avidly. "Nothing's happening."
"It's not supposed to, you dork." Dawn sighed. "It's going to take a little while to work."
"How long's a little while?" He demanded.
"I don't know! It depends on her injuries, on the technology. Not for a good few hours at least."
Danny sighed, settling into the chair beside Sarah. "You should go back to the ARC. Claudia and Stephen are probably frightened enough as it is- they could do with a friendly face."
"You're staying here?"
Danny nodded. "I won't leave her."
Dawn smiled. "Good. I'll see you later." She leant over, kissed his cheek before kissing Sarah's and drove back to the ARC.
"Where on earth have you been?!" Lester demanded as soon as she'd walked into the hub. "Did I not make it blatantly clear that you were not to leave the ARC?"
Behind him, Dawn could see Matt and a wide eyed Jess sitting in his office. And she felt anger rise up within her. "You did." She confirmed with a shrug. "I just chose to ignore you."
Lester spluttered. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?!" He demanded.
"Wow, another person mad at me!" She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "You'll have to join the queue I'm afraid!" She called bitterly over her shoulder, waggling her fingers in the air as she walked away. Lester called after her but she ignored him, heading to the gym. She passed Becker with Emily in the corridor but he merely looked at her silently and kept walking while Emily shot her an apologetic look and hurried to catch up with him. Abby and Connor were huddled together but they both turned away when they saw her, ducking their heads. She scoffed under her breath and sped up, changing into looser clothes and rebraiding her hair before she turned the music up almost as loud as it would go.
And she began to dance.
It was early enough that nobody else was there yet, and even when soldiers began to arrive to train she didn't stop, merely turning the music down slightly. She barely noticed as they left and more arrived, the cycle continuing over and over even as Dawn spun and twirled relentlessly. Hours passed and sweat trickled down her body but she didn't stop.
She'd done this before, she remembered. When her father had returned from the Permian, when Stephen had died and Sarah was injured and Jenny and her father had left, and when her exams had gotten just a little too much with her teachers expecting so much from her. She'd just danced, until her muscles physically couldn't anymore and her feet had literally bled.
It was cathartic, in a masochistic kind of way she supposed. The first time had been an accident- she and her father had been arguing, Stephen was caught up with Allison and she'd been so alone in a new school. Her dance teacher had found her, sobbing on the floor of the dance studio with her ballet shoes stained red from the blood. She'd understood, but begged Dawn to come and talk with her instead the next time she felt like she had that day. And Dawn had, every time over the next few years until an ill timed car had ended it.
So now Dawn just danced, ignoring the worried murmurs of soldiers and the whispers from the staff who knew just how long she'd been in there. Eventually, her muscles gave out beneath her and she sank to her knees, gasping for breath. She glanced down at her throbbing feet- they weren't as damaged as they'd been in the past. She bent her head, waiting for her breathing to normalise before she rose gracefully and walked to the changing rooms, checking it was empty before she locked the door behind her, quickly showering before she bandaged her feet and swallowed the painkillers she knew she'd be needing later.
And then she let herself cry.