Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
"…found…"
3.11 Temporally Displaced (ABCDU)
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The knob on the door separating the bunkroom from the outside corridor rattled sharply, waking Danny. He glanced at his watch… it was very early. In the dim light of the bunkroom, he saw that Becker, Connor and Abby were still asleep. Besides himself, only Stella was awake. The German shepherd's body was stretched out lengthwise on the bunk next to Becker, but her head was up, ears pointed, eyes gazing at the door.
Danny sat up and put his feet into the shoes he had only recently taken off. He shuffled towards the door. They hadn't seen anyone in the tube tunnels in the three days they'd been living here. The knob rattled again.
"Who's there?" asked Danny.
"Claudia Brown," replied a calm sure voice "I'm with the Home Office. You need to open this door."
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Claudia stepped through the doorway into the bunkroom. The tall red haired man who let her in regarded her quizzically. Behind him, another tall man dressed in black arose from a bunk. The dog beside him jumped down to the floor and sat at his heel, alert and watchful. A petite blonde woman was bent over a third man, shaking his still sleeping form.
"Connor, wake up," hissed the blonde "we've got company."
Claudia looked at the clipboard she carried. The printouts from the CCTV were a definite match for two of the four people in front of her.
"So," began Claudia "this isn't exactly where I expected to find the headquarters of a counterfeiting ring."
"We're not counterfeiters Jenny," replied Danny.
Claudia frowned at the man. He was acting as if he knew her, but she'd never seen him before in her life.
"My name's Claudia Brown," she corrected.
Then she turned the clipboard to face the group. Abby's picture, with her short white blonde hair, was readily identifiable at the Sainsbury check out counter Wednesday afternoon. Claudia then flipped the page to show another image, Connor at a public library computer Thursday. A third flip of the page showed Connor walking out of the CMU library computer center Friday.
"Counterfeiting, breaking into government databases, modifying government records," said Claudia. "Does any of that sound familiar? Does any of that sound like high treason to you?"
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Abby and Connor were staring at each other, whispering together… hissing actually as they argued back and forth. Becker glanced at the pair, wondering what got into them. Danny however looked at Claudia, grinned and raised his hands.
"You caught us Jenny," said the lanky red head. "We're glad to see you in this time... beginning to think you didn't exist."
"My name is not Jenny," snapped Claudia.
Danny blinked in confusion, finally realizing that she was serious.
"You're not who you think you are," replied Danny. "You're really Jenny Cu… Lewis."
Danny turned to face Connor, Abby and Becker as if for confirmation. Becker nodded as in agreement with Danny. But Connor and Abby still seemed upset, they were shaking their heads.
"She might not be Jenny," said Connor slowly.
The young scientist walked forward a few steps, peering at Claudia in amazement.
"We know something's changed from our time," he said "but, maybe… the time line has just changed back."
"No, Cutter knew her," objected Abby "he knew her name! And… he's… not… here…"
The sorrow in Abby's voice as her words trailed off hit Becker hard. It didn't matter that he hadn't been here to prevent Cutter's loss, in some way, he still felt responsible for the man's safety. The calm facade he presented to the world crumbled.
"What are you two talking about?" barked the soldier in a harsh voice, trying to conceal his emotions.
"When Cutter came back, that last trip to the Permian," explained Connor "he claimed something had changed."
The dark haired young man continued to stare at Claudia in a manner that she found unsettling.
"Remember Abby?" Connor asked.
"Yeah," replied Abby shortly.
She swallowed, and stared at Claudia.
"It was about the same time that Jenny started at the ARC," she continued. "The professor... he called her Claudia for the longest time."
"We've been thinking," mused Connor "one time line, but what if…"
He rubbed his hand across his forehead, pushing his dark brown hair back from his eyes as he continued to gaze at Claudia.
"Maybe there are lots of time lines," said Connor "an infinite number of universes..."
Claudia tucked the clipboard she was holding under her arm and stared back at this strange man.
"It never occurred to me to look for someone named Claudia Brown," said Connor "I only looked for Jenny."
"What on earth are you people talking about?" asked Claudia in exasperation.
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The babble finally stopped. Claudia was looking at a snapshot of herself. In the photograph that Abby was holding, Claudia appeared, with dark chestnut hair, surrounded by these people. They all appeared very happy. There was a birthday cake with big number candles showing 3 and 0 on the table in front of the dark haired version of herself. Claudia raised her hands.
"Ok," she said "let's pretend for just one moment, that you believe this talk of time travel… Why should I believe it?"
"You don't have to believe in time travel," replied Danny "you just have to believe that Helen Cutter is dangerous."
Claudia looked from one person to another, assessing them. They didn't seem dangerous… nor crazy. Their story did explain how perfect pound notes could be created with future serial numbers. And, for all his hacking, Connor hadn't damaged anything in the government database, just created four new records… the government witness protection program couldn't have done any better.
"Good," agreed Claudia "I'm really glad to know I don't have to believe in time travel."
She walked to the door and held it open.
"And I already believe Helen Cutter is dangerous." Claudia added. "I have ever since I first investigated Professor Nick Cutter's disappearance."
"You investigate missing persons?" asked Danny.
"Missing persons," nodded Claudia "and the occasional UFO or monster sighting."
Danny, Becker, Connor and Abby exchanged a glance.
"Come on now," said Claudia looking around the bunkroom and shuddering. "You can't stay here. We'll go to my flat. Then we'll figure out what's next."
Claudia stepped out into the corridor.
"And whatever you did to rig the electricity," she added "turn it off."
"Didn't do anything," protested Connor. "It was on when we got here."
Claudia rolled her eyes.
"Our tax dollars at work," she snorted as the group started packing up their meager belongings.
Danny grabbed his rucksack and walked over to stand next to her.
"Are you really gonna bring us home," he asked with a cheeky grin, "like a kid with a stray pup?"
"We civil servants are known for our empathy," she replied coolly, smirking just a bit.
Danny leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"You really just want to keep an eye on us," whispered Danny. "Don't you?"
"Of course."
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When they arrived at Claudia's flat, she held the door open as they walked in. Connor moved towards the pale blue sofa and started to sit down.
"We should go in the kitchen," directed Claudia.
She pointed to the rear of the home and watched the bedraggled group move further into her home.
"If anyone wants a shower," Claudia offered "or to wash their clothes… the bathroom is that way. There's a stackable washer and dryer in the closet."
"Oh a shower sounds lovely," said Abby as she set her rucksack on an empty chair next to Claudia's kitchen counter. "Sponge baths in the ladies loo are horrible… but I don't have a change of clothes."
"I'm sure I've got something you can wear," said Claudia with a smile.
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Saturday morning's breakfast was wheetabix and coffee while sitting around Claudia Brown's kitchen table waiting for showers and laundry.
Abby was wearing a borrowed pair of drawstring shorts and a t-shirt sporting the band logo for Queen while her clothes were in the dryer. Danny was wearing Claudia's blue flowered bath robe. His clothes were still in the wash along with Becker's.
"I know I've got the disk here somewhere," muttered Claudia as she searched through a drawer in the desk.
Connor was sitting at the computer beside her. His fingers moved quickly over the keyboard, searching the web. Abby walked towards him. She stopped and sniffed.
"Connor," Abby reminded "when Becker gets out of the shower, you need to clean up too."
"Uh huh," agreed Connor nodding.
Connor never took his eyes off the computer. Abby glanced around the flat. Beneath the kitchen table, Stella was chewing on a red rubber ball that Claudia had claimed needed a dog's attention. Beside them, Claudia straightened up triumphantly from the drawer. She was holding a computer disk. She handed it to Connor. The slim man took his hands off the keyboard long enough to slide the disk into the laptop. The screen lit up with a file directory. Connor started typing commands. Claudia stared.
"Would you like me to log in," Claudia asked "and open the files? They're supposed to be encrypted."
"This program is out of date," said Connor "the code was hacked by a couple of guys from Turkey… they got into the United Nations website… it's really not safe to use."
Claudia watched as the man before her opened files that were supposed to be secure.
"When was that?" she asked.
Connor stopped typing. A funny expression came over his face.
"Not until 2007," he said "I guess the program is safe enough now."
Becker came down the hallway towards them wearing a white terry cloth bath robe that seemed tiny on his large frame. He held a pile of dry clothes, folded neatly out towards Abby. Claudia's spare robe for forgetful visiting friends was barely big enough to cover him.
"Danny, our clothes are in the dryer," said Becker. Turning to Connor he added, "There's no more hot water."
Abby took her clothing. Connor didn't seem too disappointed in the delay in getting a shower. In fact he hardly seemed to register Becker's words. He continued reading the reports on the monitor screen in front of him. Claudia walked over to the now empty coffee pot and started to fix more coffee.
"Just say for a moment, that I actually believed any of this time travel talk was true," said Claudia. "What would you do, who would you call in your time, if you needed help?"
The jumble of answers she received was hardly intelligible. Claudia raised her hands.
"Whoa, one at a time," she said. Claudia pointed at Connor, "You first, then go around the room."
"Cutter," answered Connor as he resumed typing.
"Lester," said Danny.
"It's my job to keep them out of trouble," replied Becker.
"I can take care of myself," smiled the blonde "but if I needed back up… I'd call Connor."
Connor stopped typing. His head turned slowly from the monitor to look at Abby. A smile started at the corner of his lips.
"Really?"
"Yeah Conn," replied the blonde.
"And then you'd both call me," chucked Danny.
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Claudia waited until after noon before she excused herself from the group in the kitchen. There was a call she wanted to make.
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