Nick wondered calmly how it was that Helen was always able to sneak back into his life. Smoothly integrating herself where and when it pleased her. She had always had a bold and fearless personality, it had formed part of his attraction to her and, he realised with a start, it was part of why he was attracted to Claudia as well. The government worker was bold and fearless too, just in a different manner.
Nick looked over to his wife and wondered if any of Lester's lackeys might be nearby. He would be more surprised if the man didn't have a tracker on him after he had admitted to meeting with Helen previously. The pair were outdoors, Nick was on foot heading to meet Stephen for a lift and had decided to cut through the greenery of the University of Dean. It was a cool but sunny autumn afternoon and the grounds were crowded with eager students pacing from class to class or taking a respite to catch up with each other for coffee. With so many crowds, Helen might have a chance at safety if someone was watching.
Nick had been considering it a pleasant day until he had spotted Helen standing confidently on the green in his way, hands on her hips as she regarded him with a cocky grin. The air was lightly perfumed with the early budding apples of autumn mixed with the nutty odour of ripening acorns and horse chestnuts, highlighted with sweet traces of syrup and hot coffee that seeped out from the coffee kiosks that were as much a permanent fixture of the grounds as the trees.
Helen stood out in her jungle esq attire, a woman clad for adventure not studies. Her only attempt at subtlety was a sun shading hat that probably also concealed her face from any camera or any faculty member who might recall their co-worker who had disappeared in such strange circumstances eight years ago.
"Well, was I right about the anomaly?" Helen was straight to the point with a smug smile.
Nick nodded back. "You know you were. It was in the water, were you expecting that?"
Helen's smile widened. "I'm good but not that good, it wasn't a snake anyway, was it?"
Nick frowned, knowing that Helen was toying with him and certain now that she was lying and had known it would be in the water. "A Deinosuchus, bad enough," he murmured.
"Yes, I noticed a few of you have been frequenting the hospital lately but I only saw one come out with a cast," Helen mused. "I gave you warning Nick, did you not believe me in the end? Is that why she got hurt?"
Nick stiffened at the accusation as a moment of anger flared through his blue eyes. He had had the same thought, so had Captain Ryan, they had known the anomaly might be there and yet they hadn't prepared enough to keep someone from getting hurt. He realised grimly that it could have been a lot worse but that didn't make it any better.
"She keeps getting hurt," Helen remarked calmly. "Don't you think it's a sign she's not for this life? And just think, if I'm right and she is the change that disrupts the future, how much time do you have before it's too late? What if it's something she does in a week, a day, an hour? Then our future is fallen and we can't do a thing."
"How can you be so sure it is Melina?" Nick demanded.
Helen gave a slight shrug and glanced outwards to the crowds, scrutinising them for anyone who stood out as something other than a student. The hum of noise was almost overwhelming to her senses, she had spent so long alone, hearing only the haunting cries of unseen ancient predators in the night coupled with the screams of their dying prey. It had been wonderful at times to learn exactly what a Brachiosaurus sounded like as it stomped through a primordial jungle for food, and to hear the whining of primeval man's ancient horse and realise that this was the moment civilisation started to form as a wild beast became tamed.
Helen's travels had been lonely too, and for a moment as Helen had tumbled through time trying to navigate anomalies without fracturing the fragile nature of the timeline, she had yearned for human voices, almost forgetting what they sounded like. There had been a few moments of grasping at it, when she had slipped through a portal and found herself in medieval France. Hearing the chatter of unseen nobility entering a nearby manor had created a terrible temptation in her but she had known how dangerous it would to present herself in her all too modern attire of khaki shirt and trousers, wearing a hairstyle appalling loose and unseen in the gentry. So she had returned to the world of forgotten animals, creatures with no ability to tell of her odd appearance in their world.
It was only when Helen had stumbled into a bleak future that she had finally realised why she had been chosen to drift through time. She was certain now that the Gorogonops had not come to her as a coincidence but had been ordained but some unknown power to drive her into the anomaly and send her on a path through the past to the future so she could see what might become of man and find a way to prevent it. It was the reminder of this higher calling that kept her from giving into a desire to return to her present properly and resume life with Nick.
"I can't be a hundred percent," Helen finally answered Nick, opting for truth as she knew it would help gain his trust. "However, it certainly won't hurt to return her to her own time and surely she would want that too. She's like a puzzle piece out of the jigsaw, and I do believe her displacement is what effects the future. She is the only oddity I've observed here at the moment that is close to the business of anomalies. You see, I know it's the tampering that your group does that causes the problem, it has to be, no one else is running around attempting to interfere with time."
Nick pointed at her accusingly. "Except you Helen," he reminded her.
"Not so," she retorted defensively, "I'm careful."
Nick lowered his hand. "Or you just think you are," he murmured.
Nick thought about Melina again, the young woman did yearn for her past, he knew that and her injury had only highlighted her displacement. She had no family or friends to call on, only Nick's group to offer well wishes and sympathy. Then there had been the business at the party, upon remembering it Melina had turned morose again, discharged from the hospital she lingered in Claudia's apartment avoiding people. It had been James Lester who had explained it because he was worried now, thinking like Helen that perhaps Melina needed returned somehow to her own time before she inadvertently caused irreversible damage in this one.
There had been a guest at Silver Lake Country Manor Estate, it had taken a while for James to figure it out as his only clue was Melina shouting at him about her past and someone else having her name. He was a Henry Woodville, a well connected man of money in his fifties, divorced once with two children- a son named Henry and a daughter named Melina. Once James had gotten Henry's name it had been easy to learn the story. Twenty-four years ago he had been a boyfriend to one Melina Hollywell, they had dated for two years before breaking up when Melina had taken a gap year to work in South Africa, following a dream to work with the animals there. Henry had hoped for a reconciliation when she returned, something he had been quite open about to would be suitors. When the tragedy of Goue Vlaktes National Park had occurred, Henry had been distraught. He had offered money for answers but Melina's parents had declined having enough of their own to spend on trying to find out where their children had disappeared to.
As twenty-three years had marched on, Henry had to accept that answers weren't going to happen but he had never forgotten his girlfriend, naming his daughter in her memory and hosting charities related to causes she had championed. The one at Silver Lake Country Manor for the preservation of animals in Africa had been hosted by him. James had admitted moodily that considering the specifics of the charity he should have looked into it further before allowing them to attend.
Captain Ryan had confirmed that he had witnessed Melina's encounter with Henry and that she had not spoken to him nor had he seen her but he agreed with James that it had been too close a call.
Upon learning all this, Claudia had returned to her home to query it with Melina. She had advised the others later that she had gotten curse words, tears and a firm refusal to discuss it in response.
"More careful than Melina," Helen retorted.
Nick blinked at Helen as he studied her expression, wondering for one incredulous moment if she could read his mind. Could she know about Melina's almost encounter with a man from her past? A man who would have recognised her and known that she had not aged for twenty-three years. He dismissed the thought, there was no way Helen could know about it.
"What do you want Helen?" he queried impatiently.
He was running late now and expected Stephen would be phoning him soon to find out where he was.
"Do you trust me yet Nick? The anomaly was there just as I said it would be. So, are you ready to help Melina return to her time?"
Nick folded his arms and let his suspicion fill his face so Helen could see that no, he most definitely did not trust her. "And you just happen to know when and where an anomaly to her time is going to open?" he quipped.
"I do," Helen answered. She folded her arms as well and her eyes burned with a serious stare. "It won't be easy though, just like the one that brought her through, it's not in this time. We're going to need help," she admitted. She cocked her head slightly, reluctance slipping into her stare. "Of the soldier kind unfortunately," she lamented.
"Helen, what do you mean not in this time?" Nick demanded. "And how can you possibly know this?"
"Oh Nick," she gave him a patronising smile, "I've been at this for over eight years now, how can you doubt what I know? The anomalies are a pathway, think about it, Melina had one from South Africa twenty-three years ago taking her to Colombia in the Late Paleocene era where another took her to England, present time minus a month or so."
"And the path you want us to take to get Melina home, where does that lead?"
"Late Jurassic epoch," Helen confessed, "then it's a short length to the one that gets Melina home." Nick scoffed over at the woman. "I don't believe you, you'll have us all trapped in the past with the dinosaurs."
"To what end Nick?" Helen snapped impatiently. "And I'd be there with you, wouldn't I? You'd hardly go without me guiding."
Nick shook his head angrily, waving his hands at the woman dismissively. "We've wasted enough time on this and I'm late."
"Nick, the future predators are only a small show of the horrors waiting for mankind there," Helen warned. "I'm telling you, Melina is the blip that's going to cause it. She needs returned to her time."
Nick sidestepped Helen and started to walk on.
"Nick, I was right about the anomaly at the manor, I'm right about this," Helen called after him. "You'll have Lester's men with you, so what's the risk? You can all map out the path I lead you on from the anomaly and time it, if you don't believe me then you can retreat back the way you came."
"Yeah and get eaten en route," Nick grumbled. He glanced over his shoulder to Helen. "Do you honestly think I can talk anyone else into this? It's madness."
Helen frowned. "Do you all need more proof? I'm sure you'll get it and regret it."
Helen tugged out a folded piece of paper from her shirt's front pocket. She held it out to Nick.
Nick regarded it with a degree of suspicion.
"It's co-ordinates and a date," Helen explained, "you'll see the anomaly there, come through with Melina and a decent number of soldiers and we'll get her home." She smiled viciously as she saw Nick continuing to regard the paper with concern. "I didn't write it with poisonous ink," she scorned him.
Nick took the paper reluctantly and sighed. "What's to stop Lester's men from simply seizing you here?" he demanded.
"Trust," she said mockingly.
Nick shook his head once more before pocketing the piece of paper and heading on. He felt his mobile buzzing and took it out, unsurprised to see that it was Stephen calling. He answered it and said hastily, "I know, I'm late. I'm on my way now."
"Well hurry up mate," Stephen chided, "you know this thing's booked."
"I know," Nick murmured.
Nick ended the call, pocketed his phone and started running.
Claudia looked over at her passenger and resisted the urge to say 'cheer up', knowing it wasn't fair. Still, it had been a few days now of moody silence and it wasn't as if it were helping things. Claudia could only hope that today might be the change her companion needed.
Melina sat in Claudia's car, rigid with her arms crossed, her left arm having little choice in the matter. She was numb both from painkillers and morbid memories, her nights troubled with aches in her arm and nightmares of monsters striking up from dark waters. Her injury and her depression had kept her out of anomaly business for the past few days but only James Lester was glad for it, everyone else missed her plucky presence.
Captain Ryan had slipped back into his stern persona, snappier than usual when Connor or Abby blundered with prehistoric matters. He had almost verbally tore Connor's head off when the latter had gotten scratched by a gigantic eagle's talons and almost been abducted by the bird. He was resolute now that civilians did not belong in the anomaly business and even Nick wasn't getting much of a pass with that one. When Stephen had suggested that Ryan was just sore because Melina had gotten hurt on his watch the captain had stormed off and snapped to James that he was done having his men at risk babysitting people.
Claudia thought that Stephen probably had the right of it but she wasn't entirely opposed to the captain's belief either. Melina had gotten hurt twice now, Claudia didn't want there to be a third time and she certainly didn't want any of the others harmed to a point they might not recover from. Still, it was hard to consider throwing them out of the Home Office business not just because they might go running to the public with news of anomalies but because Claudia knew she would miss them and they did prove valuable time and time again with anomaly business.
Claudia glanced ahead out the windshield, the sun was still shining making it almost a pity that their plans were for indoors. She wondered what James might think of this excursion and hoped he wouldn't come to hear of it. She knew he was unhappy with her bond with Nick and the others, unwilling to believe that she balanced professionalism and personal relations correctly. Claudia disagreed, considering proudly that she was the balance between the civilians and the government workers, the one who tried to see things from both sides, kept the trust between them and found the solution between Ryan and Cutter.
Claudia indicated to the right and glanced again to Melina as the car turned. The woman hadn't even asked where they were going, just voiced a reluctance for doing anything until Claudia had given her a pleading smile and talked her round to escaping the apartment for a bit.
Another couple of minutes drifted by before their destination was revealed although it wasn't immediately clear what it was.
They pulled up to a large domed building that had a few smaller buildings adjoined to it. A large, neon sign advertised it as 'Grimm's Adventure Land'. The car park for it was only moderately busy as it was a Tuesday afternoon and the place itself only garnered attention from a certain group of people, notably those with nostalgia and those with children. To the right were the fake trees of a conjured jungle that indicated a mini golf section.
Claudia pulled up to a space near the entrance and looked to Melina again, this time conjuring up a smile for her.
"Well, we're here," she said.
Melina didn't answer, she just fumbled awkwardly for her seatbelt and then reached for the door.
Claudia let a frown slip out unseen by the woman before she exited the car as well. She led the way up to the front doors where Connor and Abby stood waiting.
Connor was the one who had found the place and everyone agreed that Connor would be taking the blame for it, if it wasn't as promised.
Connor and Abby were dressed in their usual unconventional style of what Melina dubbed posh punk on account of Connor's loose fitted waistcoats and Abby's tartan skirts. Connor rubbed his red fingerless gloved hands together excitably and grinned over to Melina and Claudia.
"You made it," he said jovially.
"Guess who's running late?" Abby quipped sardonically.
Claudia looked a little surprised at this. "There's not been another anomaly has there?"
"No," Abby retorted, "they're just late. I phoned Stephen, he said it's Nick's fault but they're en route."
Melina stared back at Abby in surprise and then glanced back to Claudia. "Why is everyone coming here?" she queried quietly.
"For you," Connor answered merrily. "You've had a rough time with bears and crocodiles lately and all you've seen from us is anomaly business. You need to know we're not all about the work."
"Some of us are never about the work," Abby chided sarcastically as she shook her head at the man. She offered Melina a smile as well. "He has a point though, you haven't had a chance to socialise with us yet."
"Something modern?" Melina queried wearily.
"Not entirely, no," Connor retorted jovially. He let out a snicker before falling silent when Abby gave him a scolding stare.
"Huh."
A spark of interest crept into Melina's gaze but it struggled against the glaze she had maintained in for the past three days. She looked past Connor to the doors of entry for a clue but there was none. Misery stole back into her stare as she murmured, "well it's going to be limited with this thing." She gestured to her cast pointedly.
"We're finally here!" Stephen's voice called out before Claudia could snap at Melina to lose the self-pity attitude already.
The group glanced over as Stephen came hurrying over in a half-run with a much more calm Nick following behind.
"All his fault," Stephen insisted as he jerked a thumb back at Nick, "stopped to give some student notes because she was worried about exams. Like that couldn't have happened at another time."
Nick kept a perfectly tranquil expression as Claudia's suspicious brown gaze immediately fell upon him. He knew she wouldn't buy the lie, not when it came so soon after his last encounter with Helen but he wasn't willing for the truth just yet.
"Well, are we going in?" Stephen queried as he looked to Connor and Abby pointedly.
Connor nodded. "Right, let's do that."
Connor turned and headed into the venue, leading the way through a wide, bright lobby over to the receptionist desk. Posters and stands advertised a variety of activities and venues within the place- mini golf, the fairyland theme park, arcades, laser quest and a themed restaurant.
Melina's eyes widened a little as she looked about at the plexiglass guarded flyers and the cardboard cut-outs of Little Red Riding Hood and the anthropomorphic wolf advertising seasonal offers whilst the three Little Pigs stood as height measurements for children.
"We're here for the roller disco," Connor advised the receptionist, "it's under Maitland."
"Why not Temple?" Stephen queried as he glanced over to the blonde.
"His credit card wasn't working apparently," Abby murmured before striding forward to the receptionist to produce hers.
"Roller disco?" Melina marvelled aloud. "I thought they didn't exist."
Stephen smiled down at the younger woman. "With Connor and things of the past where there's a will there's a way," he advised her.
"He means retro things," Nick corrected as he stepped up beside the taller man, "right Stephen?"
"I'm not sure that sounds better," Claudia chided the redhead.
Melina was too intrigued now to be upset by the terminology. She was looking to Connor as he and Abby collected their tickets. He turned back to her beaming and was surprised by the emotional stare she looked back to him with.
"Thank you," Melina said sincerely.
"Don't thank me yet, not until we've seen it," Connor advised.
"I'm never thanking you," Stephen jested, "I don't even know how I got persuaded to do this."
"Oh don't tell me you're not good with roller skates?" Abby queried teasingly as she smiled up at him.
Connor giggled. "No balance mate?" He felt a thrill of joy as he considered that for just once he might have an advantage over the man.
Connor led them on through to the left and a double set of doors into a corridor decorated with vibrant graffiti styled pictures of people in bandanas and bell-bottoms roller-skating beneath disco balls.
"Is this another anomaly?" Melina queried softly as the corridor seemed to take them back through to the past.
They entered a large area active with colourful lights that bounced off a series of large, glittering disco balls while loud, disco music blasted from unseen speakers. There was a circular skating rink with just a small selection of people using it. Around the rink were a series of seats, a row of lockers, small tables and vending machines. There was a counter advertising skates and some unenthusiastic teenagers dressed in 70s styled waitress and waiters' uniforms with top to bottom buttons and names embroidered at the chest, skating about with trays in hand as they lifted empty glasses.
Connor led the way to the skates counter where they collected their roller skates before heading for the lockers and seats to deposit their belongings and change out of their shoes.
Melina continued looked round with wide eyes as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't even notice Claudia reaching to help her change her shoes until she felt her hands brushing against her leg. She flinched and looked down to the woman with surprise.
"You knew about this huh?" Melina queried quietly.
Claudia nodded as Melina kicked off her flats.
"Thank you," Melina said. "Really, I don't even deserve it, not when I've been such a moody b."
Claudia smiled at this. "We all have our moments," she murmured. She frowned as she struggled to push a roller skate onto Melina's right foot. "Um I'm not good at this," she admitted. "I can't even remember when I last wore skates or blades of any kind."
"I'll help," Abby offered. She already had her own on and had made it looked effortless as she manoeuvred to Claudia and Melina.
The blonde crouched down and gestured over to Stephen discreetly. "Besides, no one is going to be as bad as that," she remarked happily.
Melina looked over and let out a giggle.
Stephen was holding out his pair of skates like they were a thing to be reviled, even feared. He sat down and fumbled awkwardly with one before letting out a curse as he struggled with the knot in the laces.
"Give me dinos any day," Stephen muttered.
"Me too," Nick empathised as he wrestled a skate on.
Stephen glanced over to Melina, catching her giggle, it made him smile even as he felt a prickle of embarrassment as he realised her laughter came at his expense.
"Well it's got her smiling again at least," Stephen enthused.
Nick followed the younger man's gaze and his own became stoic. Was she smiling because she was almost in her own time again? He wondered how she would be when the day ended and they brought her back to reality in the present. His mind drifted back to Helen and her dangerous predictions and equally dangerous offer- risk the future or risk his life and others' trekking through primordial lands to try and return Melina to her time. He wondered why Helen was so invested in this, if she could really be so certain that Melina might be the thing to destroy the future of mankind or was there something else at play? He considered bitingly that with Helen there was always something else at play but that didn't mean she was wrong about the future.
Nick made himself snap back to reality and realised Claudia was giving him another look of suspicion. He gave her a disarming smile before looking down to his remaining skate as he fitted it on. Today was about Melina having fun, he had to try and forget Helen and the business of bleak futures and anomalies, at least for a few hours.
Once they were finally ready, they headed for the rink, Abby taking care to help Melina up and over to it. Like the others, the blonde worried a little about the woman's ability to move with her arm in a cast but as Connor had pointed out, the sport was based on feet work and if they waited for Melina's arm to heal she might only plummet further into herself and her depression. Abby had to agree with that. They were better trying something to cheer the woman up now than run the risk of leaving it too late. Besides, they weren't being good friends if they didn't attempt to help her now and Abby wanted to show Melina that they were friends and she wasn't alone in this time.
They moved enthusiastically round the rink along to a selection of hits from the 70s. Melina sung along to a few of the tunes eagerly as did Abby whilst Claudia hummed along, flinching and smiling sheepishly when Nick caught her doing it and gave her a smile.
"Oh I love this tune," Melina remarked cheerfully as I Will Survive started playing. "Beth and Amy and I had this great dance for it."
Melina fell silent as she realised jarringly that Beth and Amy were dead. Taken by the snake along with her sister Phoebe, and Todd and Sean. It had been more than the Hollywell family destroyed that day.
"Oh really," Abby remarked quickly as she skated beside Melina. "Well we should try something on the rink to it. Kept thinking I could never live without you by side," she sung loudly.
Melina looked over to the blonde and gave her a grateful smile, appreciating her effort to distract Melina.
"But then I spent so many nights thinking how I did you wrong," Melina continued the song.
The women kept singing happily as they skated round the rink, unprepared for when Connor suddenly intruded for the chorus, belting out at the top of his voice, "I will survive!"
Melina and Abby glanced to him simultaneously before bursting into laughter.
"What?" Connor queried as he twirled on the rink and gave them a harmless smile. "Not like my singing?"
"Aren't the children doing well?" Nick quipped humorously as he skated alongside Claudia.
Claudia looked ahead to the trio approvingly, wincing slightly as Connor started to howl the chorus of I Will Survive.
"Hmm aren't we missing one?" she queried.
The pair searched the rink for Stephen, grinning when they heard his curse and saw him wobbling forwards.
Nick prepared to help the man but hesitated when he saw he was going to make the fence okay.
"They have to learn on their own," Nick mused. He held out a hand to Claudia as another song started up. "Care to have another dance?"
Claudia smiled before accepting his hand. "Well, I'm not that talented but maybe we can circle the rink to it."
Stephen cursed again as he slammed against the fence ungracefully and grasped at it for support with both hands.
"I expected a better performance from you Hart," a voice commented mockingly.
Stephen frowned at the jibe and looked up and over to Captain Ryan who was standing to his left, arms folded on the fence as he surveyed the scene with a disinterested look.
"What are you doing here?" Stephen grunted as he pushed himself upright. He turned and pressed his back against the fence. "This is civilian business you know," he added chidingly, thinking of the captain's recent reprimanding of them.
"I know," Ryan retorted quietly, unconcerned by Stephen's tone. "Connor mentioned it."
Stephen looked to Connor who had linked arms with Abby and Melina and was giving a wild, wide grin as he tugged them round the rink.
"Of course he did," Stephen grumbled. He glanced up to the blonde curiously. "Doesn't seem like your scene though."
"It's not and I declined."
"Yet you're here."
Ryan frowned back at the man. "Are you going to make a thing about it?"
Stephen grinned and shook his head. "You really like her don't you? You've been an asshole ever since she got hurt and now here you are, completely out of your comfort zone and getting pissed because I'm asking about it. I mean you're hardly here for me or any of the others and you haven't socialised with us before."
"Actually, I've had lunch with Cutter and Ms. Brown," Ryan retorted irately.
"Cutter and Ms. Brown," Stephen snorted. "Aren't you off duty? We're nice people you know, you can hang out with us."
Ryan gritted his teeth and pulled back from the fence. He contemplated leaving and acting like he hadn't come but then Melina glanced his way.
Melina's mouth parted slightly in a small o of surprise and she stopped skating without meaning to. The gesture caused Abby and Connor to get tugged back unexpectedly and for a moment the three stumbled and their skates skidded awkwardly as they tried to re-balance themselves. They succeeded and Melina broke free from Connor hastily.
"I'll be back in a minute," she babbled.
Connor watched as she headed for the fences and gave a wide grin as he spied the blonde captain hovering there.
"Who invited Captain Grumpypants?" Abby demanded.
Connor snickered at the nickname. "I did."
"What?" Abby ogled the brunette in surprise. "You knew he was coming then?"
Connor faced Abby with another grin. "Not really, he told me hell no."
Abby frowned. "What did you invite him for then?"
Connor gestured to the man with one hand. "Because I thought he might come and look, he has."
A mischievous twinkle shone in both his eyes. "Told you he fancied her."
"Wait a minute," Abby's frown deepened and she cocked her head slightly, "are you playing matchmaker?"
Connor nodded proudly. "Well if Ryan's getting laid maybe he'll be less grumpy," he said confidently.
"Oh Connor," Abby groaned as she bowed her head and grimaced. She shook her head scornfully before looking back up to Melina and Ryan, glimpsing Stephen too before he tried to skate away from the scene. "Melina deserves better than some stuffy soldier."
"Oh come on Abby, don't you think they're a good match?"
The blonde made a hmm sound but her gaze was still on Stephen. She gave a small smile as she saw him struggling. She broke free from Connor and skated over to the man to help.
Connor watched the woman go with a look of dismay. He suddenly became conscious that he was standing in the middle of the rink alone and had a few unpleasant flashbacks to high school. He glanced about awkwardly, unsure who or where to skate too and for a brief moment regretted inviting the captain as he realised that suddenly he was the odd number out.
Melina halted at the fence and looked up to the blonde awkwardly, unsure what to say.
"I haven't seen you in a while," she commented quietly.
"No," Ryan retorted bluntly.
"I thought you might've came by."
"Well I knew you were secure where you were."
"Right."
Melina looked around the rink briefly before staring back up to the blonde. "Why are you here then? There isn't an anomaly."
Ryan sighed and glanced over to the doors as he considering escaping again. "Connor mentioned it," he admitted.
"Doesn't seem like your thing."
Ryan turned back to the woman, tilting his head down to her to reveal his frown.
"Am I that transparent?" he snapped.
"No," Melina retorted, her tone heated now as she let her growing anger creep into it. "Quite the opposite really. You're the stoic soldier who doesn't reveal anything to civilians."
Ryan arched his blonde eyebrows slightly. "This again," he complained.
"Well yes," Melina snapped. "I thought you'd come by. I didn't think I was just a job to you. What did you spend all night with me in the hospital for? Some other guard could've done that."
"You're the one who's been avoiding the Home Office," Ryan reminded her. "Claudia said you needed space."
"From work," Melina retorted angrily. "Are you ever off work? Properly? The past caught up to me, literally, it was a little hard to take. I'm twenty-six still and there's my old boyfriend in his fifties with a kid, a kid he named after me because I'm a memory now, dead, wiped out."
"You're not dead," Ryan admonished her, "but almost yes, twice now." He let her have a glimpse of his own anger, allowing it to heat up his blue gaze. "I keep trying to protect you all but sometimes it's just dumb luck that you survive."
"Well we can't stay behind glass pretending this isn't happening captain," Melina answered aloofly.
Ryan shook his head in annoyance. "Is it better if one of you gets killed then? We knew the anomaly was going to be there, we were prepared and still you got taken, I couldn't keep you safe and I don't know how you're still alive."
Melina looked startled at his words. Her stare turned serious as she met his gaze. "I'm still alive because you got me out and you got me to help," she reminded him. "Is that why I haven't seen you? Are you feeling guilty?"
"You're a civilian, you don't have training so there are always risks," Ryan murmured, "but I'm trained, not just the soldier, I'm the captain, if I can't keep people safe I can't stay in the job."
"Shit, Ryan- Tom," she corrected hastily. "You're not a God damn robot and you are definitely the best person for the job. You're fighting prehistoric creatures, there is no training for that and I don't know exactly how long you've been doing it for but I know there is no way Nick and the others would still be here if it wasn't for you and your men."
"How long for though?" Ryan demanded. "I've lost good men as it is. You've been attacked twice, Connor's friend died, and Connor was attacked just last week."
"That's life, we live it and we deal with what comes with it. You always do your best captain but you're not God. You need to let go of the job sometimes, stop blaming yourself for everything and be human for a bit."
Melina offered him a small smile. "You're here aren't you? And not in uniform. Are you going to be Tom for a change?"
The blonde looked to the doors again, it was very tempting. He bowed his head and fumbled in his jeans' pockets for a moment before producing a pen.
Melina watched in surprise as he wrote something on her cast. She glanced up to him when he was finished, meeting his serious stare.
"My number," he explained, "for anomaly business, yes, but...I suppose if you do get fed up in Claudia's house maybe I could take you out, better that than you moping or wandering on your own, probably blundering into danger, something you and Connor seem good at."
"You're cute when you're awkward foxy fella," Melina teased. She gave a soft chortle when the captain's gaze dropped down and he dipped his head to conceal the faint glow of pink at his ears.
"It wasn't your fault," she added seriously. "I pushed those children out of the way, I made that choice. Knowing an anomaly is going to be there doesn't mean you're going to prevent everything that comes from it. You need to look at it this way, yes I got hurt but no one died, if we hadn't been there and prepared those children would have died and other people too. You stopped that."
Ryan looked to her at last and exhaled heavily. "Alright," he muttered. "This music is shite by the way."
Melina leaned over the fence and glanced down before looking up to the blonde disapprovingly. "Where's the skates?"
"I am not doing that," he answered bluntly.
"Don't just be an observer, participate."
"No."
"Well you can't sit on your own, which means I'll have to come and sit with you, so I'll have to stop skating, and this day was for me so you'll be ruining it."
Ryan was unimpressed by the woman's logic. "Stephen can sit with me, I think he'd enjoy it." He nodded in Stephen's direction.
Melina followed his gaze and smiled again as she saw Stephen wobble and reach to Abby for help with both hands.
"No, Abby's having fun with him," Melina insisted.
"Well I could just go."
Melina turned a scornful look upon him. "You didn't come all this way just to leave and that would hurt my feelings and I'm in a cast, how much of a bastard would you look like hurting the feelings of an injured woman?"
"Bastard?" Ryan echoed with a look of disbelief.
Melina gave him a wide grin as she nodded. "Yep, starting to think you just stole me off Lester to spite your family or something, use and abuse."
Ryan shook his head. "You're getting a little too into that fantasy."
"It's not my fantasy," she teased, "you're the one with the maid fetish."
Ryan gritted his teeth at this. "I don't have a fetish."
"Well I'm telling everyone you do if you don't get some skates on."
Ryan frowned at her before flinching as she stretched up to give him a quick kiss.
"You're making a habit of that," he murmured as she leaned back down.
Melina frowned this time. "I'm beginning to wonder why when you don't reciprocate."
The blonde sighed when she pushed off the fence with her good hand and resumed skating. He glanced to the doors yet again and then over to the skates counter. Decisions, decisions. He glanced down to his pocket where his phone was, almost hoping for the distraction of an anomaly. When there was no call, he sighed again, murmured a quiet curse and headed to the counter.
Melina, skating by herself whilst singing along to If I Can't Have You, let out a squeal of surprise when two hands grasped her shoulders to slow her up.
"I definitely don't appreciate the song choice for this moment," Ryan complained as he turned her to face him, "but you just had to make a point didn't you? Women and dramatics," he scorned her.
Melina prepared to retaliate but before she could get the words out he leaned down and kissed her.
Connor let out an approving wolf whistle at the display prompting the others to look over.
"Is that Captain Ryan?" Claudia babbled in astonishment.
"In skates too, I guess I owe Connor a twenty," Nick commented with amusement.
"For what?" Claudia glanced up to Nick. "Did you bet on him being here?"
"No, Connor told me he'd invited him, I bet that he wouldn't wear a pair of skates." Nick grinned down at Claudia. "I'm going to have to tell our captain off for giving into such silly things for a woman," he said teasingly.
Claudia shook her head. "Better not tell Lester about this," she murmured.
"Good idea," Nick agreed.
Nick looked back to the pair, unsure how to feel about the whole matter. At first he was happy to see it but then he thought about Melina returning to her own time again, away from the captain for good. He wondered if he should try and nip things in the bud before it got too serious but how could he do that without confessing what Helen had said? He thought about the piece of paper folded up in his trouser pocket. He had two weeks to make a decision, tell Melina of the potentially slim chance she had of getting back to her time or pretend he'd never met Helen and let the opportunity slip by. He realised grimly that it was far too serious a decision for him to make for Melina.
