Becker sat a desk going over the paperwork for his last job. He heard the rumors going around the home office, but payed them no heed. There were always rumors. Working for a government organization you heard all sorts of rumors about cover-ups, but they were not always true.
The latest rumor going around the office was the appearance of dinosaurs. Sure the office had contingencies for all sorts of strange things, but dinosaurs. It seemed a bit out there. It was probably some sort of large animal that was largely exaggerated by someone looking for attention.
The only weird thing was the hush, hush about it, and the people brought in to help. Sure two of the men and the white haired girl seemed to fit in here because of their respective jobs, but the blond hair girl he had run into and the tall black haired boy were out of place, being students and all.
What was even more out of place was the dark haired woman who was marched downstairs to the interrogation room. She was handcuffed and flagged by four big military men identifying her as a major suspect or possible threat.
He leaned back and rubbed sore eyes. He was used to training with the other soldiers or out on a mission, not stuck behind some desk. He preferred action. He was placed behind desk duty because of an accident on his last mission; a broken bone, crushed between the jaws of a large dog.
He scowled at a couple of soldiers flirting with the blond haired woman, Avery, if he remembered correctly. He saw her smile turned into a frown as one of the soldiers said something she clearly did not like. He kept an eye on the soldiers as she turned around to finish making her coffee. The soldiers with her, Mark and Daniel, were known to get quite rowdy with some of the female soldiers in the group. But this girl looked like she could take care of herself, as she ignored their further attempts to flirt.
He got up however when the girl tried to leave but couldn't as Daniel had grabbed her wrist. He grabbed his crutches and hobbled over to the group as the girl wretched her hand away from Daniel's grasp. "Is there a problem here boys?" He asked standing behind her, arms crossed, back strait. He glared at the two soldiers and they stood back. Becker was a captain after all, if they defied him it would mean extra work for them.
"No. I was just telling these boys that I currently have a boyfriend, but thanks for the offer. Right? But thanks for the concern Captain Becker" Avery said sending the boys a knowing look.
"Yes sir. That's all that was happening. We were just about leaving." They turned and walked away leaving Becker and Avery alone.
"Thanks for that Becker. What happened?" Avery said gesturing to his leg.
"A dog bit me. He caused a fracture in my leg. It should heal in a few weeks. Until then I'm stuck on desk duty."
"I guess you're not a big fan of desk duty." Avery said picking up the annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah. I prefer to be out and doing something, not sitting around."
"Hmm. I know how you feel." She said after taking a sip of her coffee. "Oh pardon my manners, do you want a cup as well?"
"No I'm fine. Already had a bit too much caffeine today. I should try and avoid any more," He said waving her suggestion away. "But thanks for the offer."
"Hey Avery. Something's happening." Becker heard someone call. He turned around and spotted one of her friends. The medium build guy, with short black spiky hair.
"Well I better be going. It was nice to meet you again Becker." She said then walked around him to her friend. Becker returned to a desk with a small smile, maybe being stuck in the office wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Lester refused to let any of them see Helen until he had a few words with her himself. That was where he was now, while Avery and the rest of team went to deal with another anomaly. It was at an apartment block in the city center, meaning they wanted to get the anomaly sorted before the creature caused havoc. From experience Avery knew panic could escalate quickly in more populated areas.
When they pulled up in the 4x4 behind the silver van, they saw the soldiers run in, guns ready. She laughed at the kids standing back with their hands up, as if the soldiers had come for them.
Nick locked the car as they hopped out and headed inside. A ball came rolling towards Stephen who paused to kick it, knocking it into a sign saying 'No Ball Games'. Which Avery thought was why the boys thought they were in trouble.
"Fluke." Connor said as they walked inside.
"Jealous." Stephen bantered back.
"Boys" Avery chided from behind Connor, who walked in behind Stephen.
"I didn't expect the SAS." An Indian lady with medium length dark hair said as they reached her apartment.
"The town council takes pest control very seriously, Mrs Davis." Nick said braced against the bathroom door, left hand over the handle. "Are you ready?" Nick asked Ryan.
Ryan waited for a moment before nodding, wanting to see if any of the other soldiers were ready as well.
Stephen took a step back as Nick opened the door gesturing Ryan and one of his soldiers into the room. They both moved to the side, one on each side of the door guns trained on the creature on the floor.
Nick and Stephen walked in as well before realizing that the reptile on the floor was not as prehistoric as they were expecting. "Relax, everyone. It's only a python." Nick said chuckling.
Avery jumped as Mrs. Davies screamed from the doorway next to her and Connor, "Only a python? What the hell were you expecting?"
"Ow." Connor said clutching his ear.
Avery walked past Nick, Stephen and the soldiers towards the sink. Everyone stared at her as she started to wash her hands. "What?" She said over her shoulder "You have to wash your hands before picking up a reptile, they are sensitive to the oils on your hands." She dried her hands on a nearby towel and bent down to pick up the snake. "Does anyone want to call Abby? She'll probably know where the snake can go." She said standing up. She put the middle of the snake behind her head, offering it more support, and to lessen the weight of it.
"Uh, yeah. Stephen you call Abby. I'm going to give a call to Claudia and tell her what we found." Nick said. Avery could tell he also wanted to know about Helen, her as well. Nick hadn't wanted to tell her about his meeting with Helen last night, too tired and upset with the conversation. Avery was going to ask him later today, when they weren't busy with their new job.
Nick grabbed his phone and walked out of the room, Ryan and a couple of soldiers following him. Ryan instructed one of the men to stay in the room, in case there was something else. Avery told the soldier she had everything and he could wait in the corridor or outside the apartment. The soldier, who now looked slightly pale at the site of the Python, was grateful he could exit the room.
Nick came back in as the man exited. "Helen's wanting to talk not, but only to me. Come meet me when you are done here, you know what Stephen's like around snakes." Nick noticed her look and added "I know you don't want to talk to Helen, but you must. It'll be good for you."
Avery felt betrayed by her mother, both for betraying her and her dad and for not coming back for them. Did her mother even care about her? About dad? It didn't matter, she was done chasing after her mother.