A/N: 14 years previously, three 14-year-old boys break into a old house for a laugh. Unknown to them and Anomaly had appeared, unleashing a terrifying creature from the future. Now, in present day, the team must go back to the house, and unravel the mystery behind it. Why do the locals say it is haunted? What really happened in the house? And why did only one of the three boys ever come out? As Abby, Connor and Jenny investigate the house, Kara remains to help her father at the ARC. With his anomaly predications. But soon she fears for her son's life when the an man from her past enters the ARC. Why was he breaking into her's and her fathers locker? The only problem being, it is the man she watched die, in the Silurian. There can only be one possible explanation. Helen Cutter. Has returned.

Big shout out to Grace, who has been great to me. Giving me excellent ideas for my two Primeval fics. Even if she doesn't know that she has done them. Thanks babes. She is an amazing writer, and I recommend her stories to any other Primeval fanatics like us. (XxXxGracieyCullenHarknessxXxx) That's her Fanfic name people. Look her up and give her stories a good read. I wont say that you will be disappointed, because I know you wont.


Primeval - Season 3

Chapter Two

The Future Gremlin


14-years ago, three fourteen year old boys, two of which were carrying skateboards, bounded across the vast green garden of a gorgeous large house, in the trees of London. It was well outside of the city limits, but its scenery was amazing, and beautiful. The owners of this house had extremely good tastes. Talking amongst themselves, the three boys hurried up the wooden front steps to the door, the first boy, picked up a key from the flower pot and proceeded to open the door.

"We'll get done," said one of the boys, his name was Ryan Mason

"No chance," a second answered, as he let them in, he was confident that they wouldn't get caught trespassing.

Once inside the house, the boy who had let them in set the key down beside the door. As the three trooped into what was the main hallway.

"Ah, this is brilliant," said the first boy, in a yellow and blue checked jacket "Oh, look, gotta check this out. Its wicked for boarding"

Hitting play on a near by radio, Techno Music started playing

"Come on, then" the first boy said, as he made his way up the stairs, with one of his friends. Ryan, having a little more sense, grinned and shook his head, as his friends reached the first floor landing he walked towards the doorway, leading into the kitchen.

The fridge was littered with various jars of food, Ryan, reached into the cold depths and pulled out a jar of what appeared to be lemons, he looked at it for a moment before placing it on the bottom shelf. Suddenly, getting the feeling he wasn't alone, Ryan turned to see an empty doorway, leading into an empty hallway. But he was sure, something had been there moments ago. He had felt it. Sensed it even.

Reaching for the milk bottle, Ryan, removed the thin paper lid, and sniffed the contents to make sure it had reached its sell by date. Once satisfied, he raised the bottle to his lips, but dropped it, shattering the glass and spilling milk onto the floor, as a low scream was heard from upstairs.

Looking, feeling immense fear, panic and confusion, Ryan made his way slowly back into the hallway. He made it to the bottom of the stairs and looked up, he could see a flickering light on the walls of one of the bedrooms. What was it? And where were his mates?

Growling could be heard from upstairs too, leading Ryan to believe that there was more than just his mates up there. That was if his mates were alive…of course they had to be…hadn't they? Various noises were now coming from the first floor, smashing of glass, like the windows where being put through, or various ornamental figurines. What on earth was going on?

"Matt?" Ryan said, but there came no response, his friends weren't answering,

Suddenly, he was throwing backwards off the bottom step. Something invisible had hit him, but what? He couldn't see anything, obviously. But he could hear growling. So there had to be something there. Sliding backwards across the floor, Ryan made it to the fireplace, he looked towards the couch, and felt his heartbeat increase. There was a black creature, hunched over on the side of the couch closest to him. He had to think fast, if he wanted to get out of here.


"Woah" Kara Cutter exclaimed following Jenny Lewis in the room her father had just disappeared into with Connor and Sarah. Her 8 year old month, balanced on her side as she held him supporting his back with his free hand.

"Please tell us, this mean something?" Jenny asked, as she looked across at her colleague's daughter and grandson, she smiled at Nick as she reached across and stroked his cheek softly. Kara smiled; everyone at the ARC had taken to her baby like glue. But she didn't seem to have any doubt that they wouldn't. Baby Nick was too cute for his own good.

"This is a 3D model," Connor started to explain "Representing all known anomalies...throughout history"

"All cultures have their own Mythical beasts," Sarah said, she was standing near the white board a marker in her hand "Like...huh...the Lock Ness Monster"

"Ahh, the very creature, that Connor believed had been a cover up story by the Government" Kara said with a smile at her friend "Remember? Back when we first met...when we first started this project?"

"I remember," Connor answered with a grin in her direction

"Alright, well if this conversation is going on about monsters," Kara continued "Im gonna go find Abby...I want no monster talk around my baby,"

"Yeah, you do that" Connor joked, as Kara threw him a playful look

"Um, quick question before I go," Kara said looking over at her dad "Couldn't you have done all this on a computer?"

Nick shrugged, and went back to inputting information into the model. Kara smiled, at her lack of an answer but she wasn't expecting one. She knew her father all to well, and knew that when it came to Computers, be preferred something that he could work hands on with, and not computerised.

"This way it makes him feel more like God," Connor said as Kara smiled and left the room.


Upon entering the main operations room, Kara was practically attacked by a blur blonde as Abby came out of know where. She was always excited whenever Kara brought Nick around. Looping her hands under the baby's arms, she lifted him out of his mothers' arms and into her own.

"Hi baby," she said childishly, making Nick laugh at her

Kara had no arguments about Abby taking the baby off of her, she knew how much Abby loved her godson, and she couldn't help but be pleased that she had chosen a better godmother for her baby. Even though at the beginning, Kara and Abby never got on, especially with the whole Stephen thing. They had become close and Abby, Connor, Kara's father and Jenny where the remaining people of the original team. So obviously they were gonna be closer than ever, after everything they had faced. Even back when Jenny Lewis used to be Claudia Brown. But Kara had given up hope of seeing Claudia anymore. She didn't belong to that world anymore. She belonged in this one. Where Claudia Brown didn't exist.

"Hi to you too," Kara said, looking sideways at Abby

"Oh, im sorry," Abby said, giving Kara a side hug "But you know what I am like every time he is here"

"Yeah," Kara said smiling "I know"

"So," Abby said as she and Kara walked to the desk that Abby had been sitting at when Kara had entered the room "What you been up too?"

"Nothing much." Kara said with a sigh "My cousin Grace has gone out with a couple of friends today, and since there has been no anomaly alert, I decided to bring him," she stroked Nick's cheek "down here, to see you lot. He hasn't seen you for a while"

"What you talking about, he was here a couple of days ago"

"That's true," Kara said reaching for her baby "Maybe I should take him home"

"Don't you dare," Abby warned as she moved back with Nick out of reach of Kara's arms

The two girls laughed, as Kara lowered her arms

"Would I take him away from you?"

"Yeah." Abby said "You would"

"Only if I had proper reasons," Kara said

The doors to the main Operations room opened once more and Jenny and Connor entered the room. Connor making a bee-line towards Abby, Kara and Nick. And Jenny towards Becker who had appeared suddenly, like he had been standing hidden from view for a while. Kara looked across at him, and remembered the conversation she had with Grace a few nights back. It wasn't technically cheating. But how could she possibly be falling for Becker so fast? She barely knew him, and he had been apart of the team for less than a week. Stephen had been on the team from the very beginning and Kara had grown up with him. At first, as a young teenager she harboured feelings for him, but she passed it off as a silly crush. But when she turned 18 and realized that she had more feelings for him, and they where growing stronger by the second, she couldn't hide the fact that she may have had more than a silly childhood crush. She had felt something more. But there was something about Becker, which drew Kara in.

She didn't think it was the way he looked, even though he looked utterly perfect, in her mind. But his personality was mysterious. He had something about him, a secret of sorts. And that seemed to be what was drawing her too him. Her thirst for knowledge overpowering her again and she seemed downright determined to figure out what it was about Captain Becker that made her fall so fast for him. Possibly feeling eyes on him, Becker turned in her direction, and Kara hastily turned away. Looking back to Abby and Connor who where cooing over Nick, who was laughing at them both. His smile reached his eyes.

Feeling eyes on her, Kara snuck a quick glance in Becker's direction to see that he was still staring at her, until the doors to the operations room opened once again and this time Sarah and Nick entered.

"All right listen up," Nick said, causing everyone to look up and around at him "We have analyzed the most recent anomalies and put them into the model, the prediction is specific and local, but there's a problem"

"Isn't there always," Kara said, as her baby started to fuss, in Connor's arms and she reached out to take him for her friend.

"It could happen tomorrow," Nick continued "It could happen many years from now" he looked in his daughters direction before turning to Jenny and speaking to her directly "I want you to go and check it out, and take -" he hesitated for a second before finishing "Sid and Nancy with you" he finished pointing at Connor and Abby.

Kara looked her friends over, a wide grin on her face.

"I go too?" she said at the same time as Sarah

"No, I need you here," Nick said, looking down at Sarah before turning to his daughter "With him, I don't think so," he motioned to his grandson "You stay here"

"I should handle this," Becker said

"No, no, Cutter's right," Jenny said interfering "We'll go"

"Anything happens you call me," Nick said, with a nod in Jenny's direction before turning and leaving, but not before calling over his shoulder "Sarah,"

Sarah sighed, "Help. I've been taking hostage by an obsessed scientist"

"Welcome to our world," Connor called to her as she was leaving. He grabbed his jacket and followed Jenny towards the doors as Abby kissed Baby Nick's forehead before she left.

"See you later," she said to Kara before her, Connor and Jenny left the ARC completely

"Well, today is gonna be fun, isn't it?" Kara asked, looking at her baby, who gurgled "Yeah. Definitely gonna be a blast. Come on,"

And she walked out of the ARC, long enough to grab the car seat from the passenger's seat of the car.


"Wow, Grace. It really is you" said Stephanie Miller as she hugged her friend from about 8 years ago "It's been a long time,"

"Yeah, it has" said Grace hugging back "What you been up to?"

"Not much," Stephanie answered "College. Work. You know the usual stuff. You?"

"Sort of the same," Grace answered

"So what you doing back here, after so long?"

"Well, my cousin just had a baby," Grace explained "And she's lost her boyfriend. And well, my uncle gave me a call, asking if I would mind coming to stay for a while, you know; help Kara through the loss of her boyfriend and everything. She seemed to be taking it hard, but since I have been here, she's seemed to loosen up, a bit"

"You always did manage to loosen anybody up,"

Grace laughed softly "Yeah. I guess I did"

"So, where too?" Stephanie asked as she looped her arm through her friends and they started walking down the high street, in no particular direction

"Well, we got, what the whole day together?" Grace asked "So how about shopping? Lunch? More shopping?"

"You haven't changed a bit," Stephanie said "You read my mind...lets go"

Laughing together, like they hadn't been separated for 8 years, the two friends walked, arm in arm towards the indoor mall.


Grizzled cries could be heard, throughout the ARC as Kara Cutter rocked and bounced her 7-month-old baby in her arms lightly, trying to get him to settle. He had just had a bottle, and she was now sitting in the small kitchen type room, with him in her arms. She had pulled up a sort of bean-bag chair, and was leaning back in it, supporting her baby's head as he looked up at her. His eyes was red, she could tell easily he was tired. The way he had finished his bottle, he was obviously hungry, and now he was just plain tired. It was a shame, that he had inherited her stubbornness', and wasn't willing to sleep. He sucked on his dummy, like there was no tomorrow.

"Come on, baby," Kara whispered, running her finger down the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks as softly as she could, usually this settled him "Time for a nap"

Continuing to touch his face softly, little Nick's eyes started to close, and then flutter back open as he refused to go to sleep. But after another 10 minutes, he was fast asleep in his mother's arms.

"Your getting good at that," said a voice from the door, and Kara looked up to see it was her father

She smiled softly "At first I thought I was a failure,"

"Why did you think that?" Nick asked as he entered the room, and squatted down in front of her "Why the sudden doubt in yourself?"

Kara shook her head "I don't know," she whispered, casting her gaze down at the baby in her arms "I keep thinking, because Mum wasn't there for me, that im gonna be a failure as a mum to him"

"Kara, what Helen did to you, doesn't reflect on what you will do to Nick." Her father answered "Just because she left you and was never there for you, doesn't mean your gonna do it to your baby. You don't have the heart to leave this baby, like your mother did you. You care too much."

Kara looked back up at her dad, the light traces of a smile on her face. "I know," she said "I just cant help but feel, that something's gonna happen"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Kara answered "What if something really bad happens, and Im unable to protect him?"

"Don't doubt yourself so much, sweetheart" Nick said, reaching out and brushing a lock of brown hair behind Kara's ear "Nothing is gonna happen to him. We won't let it. He has too many people protecting him. Abby and Connor aren't gonna let any harm whatsoever come to this baby, and I know neither are you. And neither am I. He's got a family that's willing to risk everything for him."

Kara's smile, seemed to get bigger, and the feeling of doubt, fear and worry, subsided slightly inside her.

"Now come on," Nick said, straightening up, and carefully and gently pulling Kara to her feet too.

Following her father out of the kitchen, and into his office type room, Kara unfolded the buggy that she had brought with her, and buckled baby Nick into it. She cuddled him up and placed him against the far wall of the room, out of the way of everyone else. She stood beside the buggy, rocking it slowly back and forth every time the baby stirred. Soon, Sarah entered, grabbed her coat and disappeared again.

"Where she going?" Kara asked turning to her dad

"The British Library," Nick answered "She's researching more information on Mythological beasts"

Kara nodded, without her field job to do, she was extremely bored. She wasn't used to be being cooped up in the ARC all day; she was used to being out in the field, fighting the dinosaurs. But she had new commitments now. She had a baby, which came first. And she couldn't exactly take him dinosaur hunting with her. Her father wouldn't allow that anyway, that's why whenever Kara had the baby at the ARC and there was an anomaly. She stayed behind, with Sarah. It was extremely boring, but she was getting to know the new girl more and more each day.

Various people passed the door, neither of them looked in, but mostly because they knew Nick Cutter was usually busy, and hated being disturbed.

With a heavy sigh, Kara looked down at her sleeping baby. "Dad could you keep an eye on him for two seconds?"

"Sure," Nick said, looking over his shoulder at his daughter and grandson "Where you going?"

"Just too my locker," she said, pointing across the hall "Don't worry, im not running away"

"Oh, okay," Nick said, and returned to his work

Kara laughed softly, as she glanced once more down at her baby, but he as out cold. She smiled softly, and pushed herself off the wall and crossed the room to the open door. There was no one in the corridor now, it seemed deserted but she could hear voices coming from the main operations room. Wondering what there was to keep everyone so busy around the ARC; Kara crossed the hallway and pushed open the door into the locker room. She placed the key that was around her wrist into her locker and unlocked it, before opening it and removing her I-pod. She had uploaded new songs to it, the previous night and was hoping to listen to a few, before Nick started to wake up. As she was unravelling her headphones from around her I-pod, she felt movement from behind her.

"Back away slowly," said a voice, it was familiar, but Kara couldn't place where she had heard it before

Reaching up to close her locker door, the voice spoke again "Don't close it!"

Turning around, she came face to face with the man she had watched die in the Silurian dessert millions of years ago. He was holding a hand gun, in his hand and it was pointing directly at her. She thought she had recognized the voice, he worked for her mother. This meant, Helen Cutter was somewhere close. But where?

"Move aside," the cleaner said, but Kara refused to move. He stepped forward, brandishing the gun "I said move!" he gripped her by the arm and threw her aside, as she groaned, having hit the second set of lockers in the room.

"Argh," she groaned, picking herself up from the floor. The cleaner had approached her locker and had removed her jacket, when he moved onto her fathers. He was in the middle of removing her father's shirt; his weapon had been put away now. And he had barely looked at her, since he had thrown her aside. At that moment, and intruder alarm sounded and Becker appeared in the doorway.

"Don't move," Becker commanded and Kara sighed in relief "Turn around slowly -" the cleaner turned around, his hand reaching into his pocket "Put your hands where I can see them,"

That was kinda difficult seeing as he was carrying a shirt and a jacket

"Becker, be careful," Kara said as she started to pick herself up from the ground, her head was ringing, having hit it against the many upper lockers as she had been thrown again, she looked around at the cleaner as he removed the hand gun he had aimed at her previously out of his pocket and held it out towards Becker.

"Drop your weapon and get down on the ground, now!" Becker commanded stepping further into the room

Kara noticed the smirk on the cleaner's face, even though it was emotionless. He turned his fire arm from Becker and back to her, but before he had a chance to disarm it, there was a bang and Becker had fired. He had hit the cleaner clearly in the forehead, splattering the lockers behind it, with blood. The cleaner dropped, and Kara pushed herself away from the locker and walked to Becker's side. He had saved her life. She smiled lightly; maybe he wasn't trying to replace Stephen, after all. Just do his job, in protecting them. The Team.

"Are you okay?" Becker asked, looking down at her, as he approached the body of the cleaner kicking the gun away from him.

Kara nodded "Yeah. Thanks to you," she said "Although, I find this impossible to believe," she added looking down at the cleaner

"And why's that?"

"Because I know him..." Kara said "but I watched him die in the Silurian Desert millions of years ago"

She looked back at the Captain as she finished speaking. Before cries alerted her to the now awake baby.


"But it was him Dad!" Kara exclaimed, as she cradled Nick in her arms "It was the same man...I swear...I recognize him. It was the same person that got killed by the Scorpion. And the guy who hit you with the Mer, and the cleaner from the mall with the Raptors!"

Nick looked sceptical; as he listened to her speak.

"But if he was eaten by a giant scorpion," Sarah said "I'd say that made him fairly dead"

"Look, I didn't say it made sense," Kara said "Im still trying to figure it out myself...but I know what I saw"

"And I believe you, I really do," Nick said

"Okay," Becker said leaning against the table "It's his identical twin"

Kara sighed "Maybe..." she said, looking down at Nick as she rocked him slowly, he was dropping back off to sleep, and she motioned for the others to lower their voices slightly, as she returned him to the buggy, rocking him back and forth softly.

"But what's he doing here, going through our laundry?" Nick asked, looking around at Kara, who breathed in deeply, and shrugged

"Im still trying to figure out," Kara said "How someone we watched die, is still walking around!"

"You killed his brother," Becker said "So he steals your shirt and Jacket?"

Kara sighed again, as Nick stopped stirring and she stopped moving him. She jumped up onto the table beside her dad, and buried her face in her hands.

"You both said, that it doesn't make sense," Becker continued

"There is one another option," Kara said as she pulled her hands away from her face "Helen"

Nick, Sarah and Becker all looked towards her.

"Maybe she has something to do with it," Kara said "She's employed the guy before,"

"Mmm. So now she's brought him back from the dead?" Becker asked "That's scarier than I thought"

"You can't even begin to imagine," Nick said "Rule number one. Something inexplicable happens, Helen is usually behind it"

"Trust us," Kara said "She's back"

And with that she cast a worrying glance to her baby. What was her mum's plan this time? Hadn't she caused enough damage, already? She had taken Claudia from Nick, and she had taken Stephen from Kara, leaving her with a baby who had no father.

"She's never going to leave us alone, is she?" Kara whispered, looking sideways at her dad again "Mum I mean...she's not gonna rest unless she makes us unexpectedly unhappy"

"What else could she do to us?"

"Im not even gonna attempt to answer that," Kara said "Mum will find a way... She'll find a way to provoke a reaction out of us. She always does."

Jumping down from the table, Kara crossed the room to where, the buggy was situated, she unlocked the brake and started to turn it towards the door.

"Where you going?" Nick asked her

"Im going home," Kara reassured him "There's nothing for me to do here. My job is field work. And since I can't go out in the field, im just hanging around, and to be honest, im actually starting to feel useless. I would offer to help, with what ever it is you are doing...but I have no idea where your work ends and Sarah's starts. And I don't want to intervene, encase I mess anything up. So I'll leave you too it"

"Oh, good answer," Nick said

Kara grinned "Im your daughter, what answer was you expecting?"

Nick, grinned and reached out to ruffle her hair, but Kara laughed and ducked his hand. "I'll see you later dad," she called as she pushed the buggy out of the door and stopped "Bye guys. Becker...thanks...for saving my life" she said with a smile. Just cause he had saved her life, and she was starting to warm up to him, didn't mean she was gonna tell him how she felt. Because she still barely knew him. "Tell Abby, if she wants to see the baby later...just call to the house"

"Will do," Nick said as he heard his daughter disappear down the hall, and out of the door


After making it home safely, Kara pushed the buggy with her sleeping baby up the garden path and to the front door. It was locked, which told Kara that Grace was still out. Rummaging through the baby bag, Kara was unaware of the fact that she was being watched closely from someone of her past. Finally locating her key at the bottom of the bag, Kara put it into the lock and turned it, opening the front door.

Once in the comforts of her own, home. Kara removed Nick from the buggy and lay him down in the Moses basket that she had brought down from her room the previous night. As she took up a seat on the couch in front of the TV. She flipped through the channels, her mind barely registering what her eyes were taking in.

As she stared blankly at the TV screen, her mind was running on auto pilot with thoughts. Some having no particular meaning to her, but others had everything to do with her. From the biggest thought of a lost love down to the tiniest problem of the return of her 'supposed to be dead mum'

Stephen.

He was the main thought amongst the rest. She couldn't help but feel slightly guilty that she was slowly replacing him in her heart. Every time she was around Becker she couldn't help the feelings she felt, and then when she looked down at her son, she saw her ex-boyfriend in him. Was she really replacing Stephen? He had done it to her, hadn't he? He had cheated on her, and to make it worse, it hadn't been with just anybody, it had been with her mother.

Kara shuddered at the thought. Stephen had always said that she looked like Helen. Now knowing the truth about them, Kara started to think maybe he had only agreed to be with her, because of her mother. Was he with her only because she looked a lot like her mother? She didn't want to think that was the reason. She wanted to believe it was because he loved her, and not Helen. But she couldn't help but feel the slight doubt, that this wasn't true.

Light cries came from the basket in which baby Nick laid. He shifted in his sleep, although his eyes remained closed, though the slight noise had broken Kara's thoughts and she was now blinking, as though she had just woken from a trance. She cast a look around the room, she hadn't realized that she was remotely tired; she had put it down to stress. But she couldn't sleep, it was only her home and if Nick awoke while she was asleep, that wasn't really good for the both of them.

Glancing half-heartedly at the clock, Kara sighed, it was only 2:00pm. Grace wasn't due back for at least another few hours. Hoping, that her cousin would come back early, Kara turned her attention back to the TV and continued flipping the channels, and once again, she found that she couldn't concentrate.

Time passed slowly, as Kara sat silently in front of the TV. She had chosen a random TV Programme and as she sat and stared blankly at the screen, she felt her eyes close and just like her son before, she fought to stay awake, but resistance was futile and soon she could feel darkness edging its way into her mind, consuming her. Everything was numb, her thoughts had stopped and her mind was numb. She couldn't think of anything not even a name, with the lack of sleep, and movement, her muscles where becoming numb and she could feel her body slowly shutting down. Soon she would be asleep. But she couldn't let that happen, Nick had been asleep now for sometime and he wasn't about to stay asleep for much longer.

But the silence was overpowering, the random snatches from the TV programme wasn't even registering in her mind.

As the minutes ticked by slowly, Kara felt something soft come in contact with the side of her head, and her breathing became laboured. Before she could even stop herself, her eyes were hard to open and the darkness was taken control. There was nothing. She could hear anything, feel nothing. Everything was gone. Except the darkness.


A few hours later, Kara awoke. Her blue eyes looking around confusedly. She was wide awake, but she had only been asleep a few minutes. The silence was unbearable, and something felt wrong. Looking around widely, Kara's eyes landed on the basket in which her son had been. It was empty. The blanket was gone and so was Nick. Fear, Worry and Panic filled her body and for a few seconds she felt paralyzed. Her body unwilling her to move. Where was her baby? There were no cries. There was nothing but silence.

"Nick?"

She called as she got to her feet, slowly. It seemed to take sometime for her brain register that she wanted to move and she was working more or less on auto pilot. She was telling her brain to let her move, but her brain didn't seem to be getting the message. And soon, without realizing it, she was walking without the use of any message. Her brain had shut down, but her legs were still moving. She had to find her son.

"Nick?"

She called again.

Waiting. Waiting for any sign that her baby was still here. God! she thought Where is he? Who has him? Please, god, let him be okay. She thought desperately. All she wanted now was some sign, to alert her to her baby's safety. Then it happened. There was a creak from upstairs. Someone was home. Did that someone have her baby? Turning and leading herself out of the living room, Kara raced up the stairs. The sound had knocked her out of her panic stage and her brain was now working fully. She was moving faster than she had been when she had first woken.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she looked around for the place that the sound had come from. It was coming from her bedroom. Quickly making her way down the hallway to his room, she saw the shimmering light of an anomaly reflected across the wall. Not caring what might have come through, Kara pushed open the door and there he stood, before her, looking exactly the same as always.

"Stephen?" she breathed

He merely grinned at her, then looked down. Kara followed his gaze as she felt her heart rate increase. There in his arms was Nick. The anomaly shimmered once more behind them, and another person stood in the room. Kara glared heatedly at her.

"Don't you dare touch him!"

She growled, her teeth clenched together tightly.

Her mother stood before her. Helen Cutter grinned and reached out towards Stephen taking the baby from him. The baby gurgled and Kara felt her blood boil and her temper reach its limit.

"I mean it mum! You leave my baby! Give him back!"

"Say goodbye," Helen said in her usual voice, though there was a taunting tone behind it." Forever"

Helen, still holding baby Nick stepped through the anomaly, closely followed by Stephen. The anomaly expanded and Kara threw herself across her bed, she groaned as she hit the wall, the anomaly had closed in her path

"Mum!" she screamed at the place where the anomaly in time disappeared completely.


"NO!"

Kara screamed, her voice bouncing off the walls. Her eyes flew open, and she sat straight up in her seat on the couch. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and she felt even more tired than she already was. There was a low gurgling from beside her, and Kara turned quickly to see that her baby, was safe and sound in his basket.

"Omg," she breathed, jumping to her feet and picking him up. He was wide awake, chattering away happily, his face broke into a smile when he saw her and Kara felt like crying "Oh baby," she said "Thank god, your okay"

"Why wouldn't he be?" asked a voice, and Kara turned jumping slightly to see Grace closing the front door.

Kara breathed deeply "Its nothing. I just had a nightmare"

"The reason behind that is, the lack of sleep" Grace said, making her way to her cousin "Go get some sleep. I'll take care of Nick."

Kara looked down at her baby, the counts of her dream fleeting her mind. She shook her head. "I gotta do something. Can you come with me?"

Grace looked confused, but nodded nonetheless and together the two cousins dressed Nick and Kara carried him out to the car, strapped him into the Car seat as Grace occupied the passenger's seat. As Kara drove she was silent, wondering motionlessly where her cousin was going, and what had spooked her out so badly, that she was unwilling to let her take care of Nick, for Kara to get some sleep. It must have been bad, for Kara to want Grace to follow her wherever it was she was heading. Finally not being able to stand the silence, Grace spoke.

"Kara," she said "Where are we going?"

"We're nearly there," Kara said and soon she pulled up outside the cemetery

"What are we doing here?"

"I'll tell you when I get back," Kara said and she shut down the car, pulling off her seatbelt and sliding out of the car. After closing the door she turned to Grace "Stay here, watch Nick. And I'll be straight back"

"Tell me -" Grace started but Kara hurried away from the car "What's going on," Grace finished, before sighing, and watching her cousin in the rear view mirror.

Looking around her, Kara folded her arms and rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms as she made her way towards Stephen's grave. If it had really been a dream, then Stephen should still be here, or was everything that had happened to her in the past few months all been a dream? Was Stephen still alive? Somewhere on the other side of an anomaly? Had she dreamt of his death? Dreamt of everything that had recently happened.

But sadly, she was wrong. Reaching the usual point she stood at whenever she visited the Graveyard, she sighed looking down at the name on the headstone before her. Stephen Hart. Beloved Friend. When Nick had been born, Kara had come back and asked if they could add 'Beloved Father' to the headstone just below 'Beloved Friend'.

"I so badly wanted to believe all this was a dream," she whispered, kneeling down in front of the grave and reaching out to touch the headstone "I wanted to believe that you were still here...still there for me."

Sighing, Kara looked up towards the darkening sky. Evening was drawing in, and there still hadn't been any word from the ARC. What had happened back at the House? Had there been an anomaly? Or was her father wrong? That would be the first. Normally, Nick Cutter was never wrong. Deciding not to worry about that, Kara turned her attention back to Stephen's grave.

"I only came to see if my dream was real or not," she said, slowly starting to get back to her feet "I so desperately wanted to believe that you were still there for me and only me. That if you could come back, I'd be the reason why."

After clearing that her thoughts of worry for Stephen, had projected unwanted dreams/nightmares into her mind, when she had fallen asleep. Kara stood once more at the edge of Stephen's grave. She closed her eyes and spoke once more.

"I cant keep holding onto you," she whispered "I think its time I moved on...Its only fair...Love is infinite Stephen, and no one can replace what you mean to me. But I cant keep sitting around mourning your death anymore. I wish there was another way, but, there's not. I will always love you..."

As usual her voice cracked, but she carried on.

"Its for the best"

And once again, she walked away. Leaving her feelings for Stephen behind. She was walking out on her past life, and hopefully now, she would be able to finally leave Stephen go in her heart. Allow him to move on completely. She knew once she had let go of him, she would feel so much better than she normally had. She would be able to actually go to sleep at night without fearing to see Stephen's face smiling back at her, without having to worry about cheating on him. Or betraying him. She would be able to look at her son, without feeling guilty that she was there with him and his father wasn't. She would be able to protect Nick, better, because she knew that without mourning Stephen's death, she could grow stronger, hopefully fall back into the life she once knew, where nothing, not even the slightest little thing, made her cry.

Stopping at the entrance of the Graveyard, Kara raised her hands and pulled them roughly against her eyes, drying them of all tears that had appeared. She cursed herself mentally, for feeling so weak. She hated, crying. She hadn't cried in a while, and the last time she cried properly was after Stephen's death. Before that, it had been when she was 10 years old. When she first learned that her mother was dead, how wrong had people been. But how could they have guessed that Helen Cutter was still alive, just lost in time. They would have thought her to be nuts, have thought her father to be nuts.

As soon, as she was sure that her eyes were clear of all tears, Kara made her way once more back to the driver's seat of her car. She pulled open the car door, and climbed back inside. She slipped the key into the ignition and started the car, without as much as a glance at her cousin. She checked her mirrors to make sure no other traffic was around, and pulled quietly out of her parking space.

"Kara?" Grace said tentatively, she could see by the red eyes, that her cousin had been crying. Which was a big surprise because Kara barely ever cried. She said it was a weakness that she would never show. She had said growing up, if you showed weakness, people took advantage of it, and knew that they could hurt you.

"I had a nightmare," Kara said, not waiting for Grace to continue "It was about Stephen."

"Oh," Grace said unsurely "What happened?"

"He and my mum -" Kara said, her voice failing her and her hands shook slightly which was deadly, considering she was driving "They - they..." her voice was shaking so badly that she was finding it so hard to breathe, let alone speak.

"Kara pull over," Grace said. She could see clearly, that whatever had happened in her cousins Sub-conscious was affecting her now, and Kara was clearly unstable to drive in her current situation

"No, im fine" Kara said, her stubbornness showing through again.

How she hated herself sometimes. Her stubbornness could easily get herself, her baby and her cousin killed. Why didn't she just listen?

"No, your not." Grace argued "Now pull over!"

"Okay," Kara whispered and pulled up to the side of the road. She and Grace then slipped out and changed sides. As Grace drove them home. "Now, explain what happened"

"I dreamt that Stephen and my mum...kidnapped Nick." Kara said "They took him thr-" she cut herself off, in her unstable state of mind, she had nearly spilled everything to her cousin. Why couldn't she say anything? Would her father mind if she told Grace? Grace was family, right? She could be trusted couldn't she?

"Took him where?" Grace pressed

"It doesn't matter," Kara said as they turned onto the street, it was now completely dark. And Kara wondered if her father was home yet.

"It does matter," Grace argued "Look at you...your a mess...so don't tell me that it doesn't matter!"

"Grace...please, don't shout!" Kara said "Look, it was a dream. It didn't happen. And I pray to God that it doesn't."

Grace fell silent, she knew that she wasn't going to get an answer from Kara, and she decided not to push her luck. Not yet anyway.


Finally making it home, Kara unbuckled Nick from the back of the car. He was still wide awake, and she was thankful, because she wanted to bathe him and feed him before putting him to bed. Passing Grace the keys, she followed her cousin up the stone steps towards the front door. Grace unlocked the door and stepped into the dark house.

"Grace could you grab me a bottle from the kitchen," Kara said making her way towards the stairs "I'll meet you upstairs"

"You got it," Grace answered and dropping the keys onto the hallway table, she made her way into the kitchen, flipping on the light as she went. She rummaged around, grabbing a bottle from the fridge and heating it up slightly so it was at room temperature for her baby cousin. She looked around often, having the odd feeling like someone was watching her. Like there was someone other than herself, Kara and Nick home. Passing it off as a mere thought, she grabbed the baby's bottle and hurried upstairs, knocking the kitchen light off as she went. She found Kara in the bathroom, bathing Nick.

"Thanks," Kara said looking up as her cousin entered "Put that in my room,"

"Sure,"

Once Grace was out of the room, Kara gently and carefully lifted Nick into her arms and wrapped him in a towel, before making her way out of the bathroom and down the hall to her bedroom. Grace was sitting on her bed, holding a bottle of baby powder, a nappy, vest and the pyjamas. Kara smiled, as she dried her son, powdered his skin and replaced his nappy, before Grace took over and put the vest and his pyjamas on him. Kara smiled softly, at the sight of her baby laughing and kicking as Grace dressed him. She then folded the towel and returned to the bathroom, and opened the door to the heating cupboard. She placed the slightly damp towel on the hot water tank, run out the small amount of water in the bath and returned to her room.

Grace was holding Nick in her arms and passed him to Kara when she returned.

"Im gonna go shower and change," she commented making her way to the door

Kara nodded and moved her pillows around her bed, before laying Nick between them and making like a sort of ledge for the bottle. Which Nick drank from happily. Kara then proceeded to change into her Pyjamas. Before laying back on her bed with her baby.

Resting her head against her hand, she smiled as Nick quietly sucked at the milk coming through the bottle top. She lifted it slowly, so that the top was always full of milk and that he wasn't sucking in any air. Soon, he had finished, and she was now standing in front of her window, rocking in slowly in her arms, singing to him softly.

Come stop your crying

It will be all right

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

from all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small,

you seem so strong

My arms will hold you,

keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

cant be broken

I will be here

Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart

From this day on

Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here

In my heart always

Always

As the song ended, Kara looked down at Nick to see that his eyes had closed. She smiled softly, and kissed his forehead softly, before edging closer to his crib, through the light darkness that surrounded her room. Grace had probably returned to her room, to change into her Pyjamas, or she was either still in the shower or downstairs. Either one was a possibility. Not worry, too much about it, Kara lay Nick down being careful as not to wake him from his slumber. Once she was sure he wasn't going to wake, she turned on the toy mobile above him and smiled as the tune to Im wishing from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs started to play.

"Sleep tight baby," she whispered as she turned on the baby monitor in her bedroom and grabbed the extra one, before closing her door behind her as she stepped out onto the landing. The light was on, and it was casting a orange light across the landing. There was movement from downstairs, and Kara figured it was Grace. She made her way to the top of the stairs, but stopped just outside of Grace's room when she heard shuffling from inside. Lightly she tapped the door and opened it, Grace was sitting on her bed, a book in her hands. She looked up when Kara came in and noticed the confused look on her face.

"What?" she asked

"If your up here," Kara said "Then who's making that noise downstairs?"

"What noise?" Grace asked, closing her book and placing it on her bed before getting to her feet.

There was another sound of movement downstairs, and the two cousins looked at one another

"That noise," Kara said her voice sounding firmed

"Maybe its your dad?" Grace said "Don't go jumping to conclusions just yet,"

"That's a possibility," Kara said, but she had a eerie feeling that it wasn't her dad. He would have called to say he was on his way home wouldn't he? Jenny, Abby and Connor had to be back from the house by now, hadn't they? They couldn't stay there all day.

"One way to find out," Grace said and she grabbed her cousin's hand and pulled her to the top of the stairs. They couldn't see anything downstairs, it was too dark. The two cousins exchanged looks, and carefully climbed down the steps one at a time. They made it to the bottom step and walked towards the kitchen flipping on the light as they went. There was no one there.

"What are you two doing?" came a deep voice from behind them

Kara and Grace screamed as they jumped and spun around. Nick Cutter stood with an amused look on his face, as the girls raised hands up to the chest to calm their beating hearts.

"Don't do that!" Kara said, hitting her father in the shoulder

Nick chuckled "Okay, tell me why were you creeping around?"

"We heard someone down here," Grace explained "We weren't sure if it were you or not"

"Well, I have only just come it," he said motioning to the door

"Did you close the door?" Kara asked, looking over her father's shoulder

"Yeah," Nick said

"Then why is it still open?" Grace asked, making her way towards the front door and closing it. The front garden was deserted.

Kara and Nick exchanged looks and Kara could see that he had actually closed the door when he came in. That meant there had been someone else in the house besides the usual four occupants. But who? And why? Without much thought or care tonight, Kara bid goodnight to her father and followed Grace back upstairs. The two girls disappeared into their different rooms, closing the doors silently behind one another. Kara crossed to her window and pulled at the curtains, stopping when she caught sight of movement, across the street. There was a figure, running full out across the street. They stopped at the corner and looked back at the Cutter house. Kara found this oddly suspicious. Was that the person who was in the house when she and Grace where getting ready for bed and putting Nick to bed?

Just the idea of someone unfamiliar being in the house, and Kara not knowing about it was putting her off.

With one last fleeting glance at the end of the street where the figure had disappeared, Kara pulled back her covers and climbed into bed. She grabbed her I-pod and switched it on, and soon fell asleep to the light beat of Savage Garden - A Thousand Words.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did while writing it.

Aww bless, Kara finally let Stephen go. Can she move on now? And now that she has finally learned to leave Stephen go, to let him move on completely. Can she work out her feelings for Becker? Lets find out.

Your probably wondering, how I have added three chapters in under an hour nearly. But its mostly because, these chapters were already pre-written, just needed some updating and then uploading.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

Make me smile.

Thanks

Selene