A/N: I know you. You all probably hate me right now, for Killing off Cutter in the last chapter. But I had no choice. I didn't want to do it, cause if I had my way. He would still be alive. I miss him so much.
This chapter, there is a few flashbacks of Kara's life. I hope you enjoy it. Don't worry; it's still based on the show, just adding a few tid bits. And an insight look on how Kara's gonna cope without her dad. Can she do it? I think she can. She has her friends, her family. She can make it.
Primeval - Season 3
Chapter Four
The Giganotosaurus
Flashback
It was very hard to believe.
Kara still thought it was a dream; a nasty dream that she was going to wake up from, and then everything was going to be okay. She was going to wake up and smell of coffee was going to waft up the stairs - the sign that her father was up and moving around. Her dad had always been the first one up and the last one down.
Kara had asked Grace for some time alone before her father's funeral. She was sitting on the stool in front of her vanity mirror. Despite the concealer that she had put under her eyes she could still see the dark circles, the remnants of her nights crying herself to sleep. Just thinking about her dad brought the familiar yet uncomfortably tight feeling in her throat; she had cleared it, looking away from the mirror. She wasn't going to cry right now. No, now she needed to be strong; strong for Grace and Nick; strong for her family and friends.
Faintly she sighed. There was a shakiness in her chest that had settled there against her will, a shakiness that expressed her anxiety and discomfort. Part of her felt like she couldn't do this, like she was going to panic and break down the second she got up to the podium to deliver her father's eulogy. Folded in her hands was the paper that she written it on. Doing so now was going to make it harder to say it later and she already knew the eulogy word for word. Reading over it a dozen times would do that, she thought to herself.
Kara glanced over her shoulder while folding the paper back up again. The Cutter household was quiet. She couldn't hear Grace moving around. It was funny that, of all the things there were going to be affected by the loss of her dad, she was thinking about how silent things were going to be. Sure, after a while it would pick up - anomalies and prehistoric creatures or creatures of the future never gave her any peace. But for the days, weeks, and maybe even months to follow, Kara knew that adjusting to the missing presence of her dad was going to take just about every fibre of her being…and then some.
Even if she felt somewhat guilty in thinking it, she knew that it was going to affect her more that it would Grace and Nick. Kara had always looked up to her father admired his strength. Every time that she was unsure of something her dad had been there to help her through it.
"What am I going to do without you?" Kara asked the mirror, half-expecting her father to materialize behind her and answer her. When he didn't, Kara let out another soft sigh.
She craned her neck to send a glance at the nearby clock on the wall. Her dad's funeral was approaching. She was going to have to leave soon. When Kara turned and started at herself in the mirror. She heard a knock at the door downstairs, and knew that Jenny and the team were here. Slowly, very slowly, she lifted herself from the stool, and grabbed the black Jacket that was lying on her bed. She slid it over her simple black dress, and opened her bedroom door, before descending the stairs.
There in the living room, sat and stood, Abby Maitland, Jenny Lewis, Connor Temple, Grace Hunter, Captain Becker, James Lester and baby Nick Cutter.
When Kara entered, all the talk stopped. Grace hurried to her cousin's side, and placed her arms around her shoulders.
"Ready?" Grace asked quietly
"I don't think I'll ever be ready," Kara replied with another soft sigh, aware that everyone was watching her; she looked down at the paper in her hands. She felt Grace pull her into a side hug. A small, half-smile appeared on Kara's face. "But for dad…I'll sure has hell try my best"
End of Flashback
Kara Cutter sighed as she pulled into the parking lot of the ARC. Beside her sat her cousin Grace, who was looking confused and where her cousin was stopping. Kara had decided that it was time Grace knew the truth about where she worked, and how her father had died. Baby Nick, who was now nearing her 1st birthday, sat strapped into the Car seat. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and dungarees, with a little green dinosaur on the front. On his feet was a pair of blue trainers.
He giggled as his mum, opened the back door and unbuckled him, his little arms holding out to her as she picked him up balanced him on her side, as Grace grabbed the bag from the back seat.
"So tell me again why we are here?" Grace asked, as she followed Kara into the unfamiliar building.
"You wanted to know where I worked," Kara explained as she pushed open the side door and led the way from the car park into the ARC. "And you wanted to know how Dad died; the answers that you seek are here. No more secrets, remember?"
Grace nodded, as she followed her cousin down the long winding path.
"Mama," Nick said. And Kara looked down at him, this had been his first word, and now he hadn't stopped staying it. He was going to wear it out by the time he was old enough to talk in full sentences.
There was a squeal, as Kara approached Abby, Sarah and Jenny at the far end of the ARC, Grace still confused, followed and took a seat on one of the stools beside the desk, she placed the bag onto of the desk. Abby squealed when she saw Nick, and held her arms out to him, the baby giggled and strained in his mother's arms as he reached out towards his god-mother. Sarah, Jenny and Kara laughed, as Kara handed the squirming baby over.
"Miss Cutter." said a formal voice from above, and Kara looked up too see Lester looking down at her from the ramp outside his office "A word please"
Kara nodded, and taking her son from Abby, she motioned fro Grace to follow her up to Lester's office. When they entered, Lester said nothing about baby Nick, he couldn't stop Kara from bring the child to the ARC. He had accepted that back when the baby was born. But he did however turn to Grace, and look at her suspiciously.
"Who is this?" he asked, although the question was directed at Kara, his eyes never left Grace
"This is Grace Hunter," Kara answered "She is my cousin…and I want her on the team"
"Excuse me?" Lester asked, turning to face Kara once and for all
"I want Grace Hunter, to join the team." Kara repeated "Its time I told someone about how my father died, and I can't keep any secrets from my family. Im sorry Lester, but its getting harder and harder, beside, at least with Grace here on the team, I can know that she and my son are safe. I know that sounds stupid, after everything that has happened, but I need them closer to me now."
Lester seemed silent for a moment, before he sighed and nodded. Kara smiled slightly, before handing Nick to Grace. And saying she would meet her downstairs in a few minutes.
When Grace had gone, Kara stood at the railing over-looking the ARC and her team. Oh God she thought her team. Not her father's team. Her team.
"Your in charge," Lester said from behind her, although she had been expecting this, she nodded. And turned to look at Lester. "Until we can make a permanent appointment"
Kara sighed; before Lester's words sunk in "Permanent appointment?" she asked "You're going to replace me? After everything you've seen me do? You don't think I can handle this team?"
"You've got your son to worry about, you've just lost your dad," Lester said "And it's not just I who would say this, but we don't want to stress you out too much. Especially with the return of Helen"
Kara was surprised by Lester's sudden change of attitude towards her; normally he wouldn't talk so nice to her. But she listened intently to his words. "Okay, but no matter who you bring in," she said "This is my team. No one takes full control over it…understand…I'll have a second in command, just like I was to my dad"
Lester stared at her for a long while, before nodding. It was obvious he wasn't happy with the plan, but it had always been her dad's team, and he knew, she would step up to the rank of leader if anything happened to her dad. This just proved.
"Okay," he said "Keep things, calm, controlled and slightly dull, if you can"
Kara nodded before she turned and left the room. Lester following after her. They made it down to the lower floors, and Jenny joined James, as Kara made her way towards Nick and Grace. She took the baby from her cousin and looked around at the others, Sarah was the only one missing, no wait, so was Becker.
"Its quiet here" Grace commented
Kara smiled; Grace wasn't used to quiet environments, when it was too quiet at home. Grace cranked up the tunes. "I got some CDs in my locker…come on" and she grabbed the bag and led the way to the locker room. Upon seeing her dad's locker, she froze, as she stared at it. This was gonna take some time, but it had already been a week. With a deep sigh, she pulled out a single key from her back pocket and slid it into the keyhole on her locker, before opening it.
Inside the door, it was littered with pictures. Various ones, leading from Kara and Grace as babies, to Nick and Helen. From Kara, Helen and Nick (the happy family) to Kara and her dad, after Helen's disappearance. There was also, Kara and Stephen, when Kara was about 16, and the main one, in the dead centre was Kara, Nick and baby Nick. There were also pictures of Kara with various members of the team. Grace smiled at the collection. She then realized that this team, was also apart of Kara's family.
"Thanks," Grace said as Kara handed her some CDs before she returned to the main Ops room, and ignoring the looks she was receiving from some staff she placed the Cds in the CD player and hit play.
Back in the locker room, Kara placed her hand on her father's locker and sighed, a few tears escaped her tear ducts, and she reached up to wipe them way instantly. She could hear the soft thumps of music coming from the main ops room, but she couldn't hear what song was playing. She recognized the tune but not the lyrics. With a slight shrug, she looked down at Nick who was lying against her shoulder staring aimlessly into space, sucking on the dummy that was in his mouth. Kara smiled, softly at him and kissed her forehead lightly, before she left the locker room and made her way towards her father's office.
She was unaware that she hadn't been alone in the locker room.
Reaching her father's office, Kara pushed open the door and sighed as she looked around. Everything was the same has it had been, when he was around. The desk was empty, as were the shelves, everything had been destroyed in the fire. Why couldn't her life be like the office before her? Untouched? Sure it was charred, but so was her life, everything was disappearing fast, shattering beneath her touch, her fathers desk was black, and it was a wonder it wasn't burned, she walked towards the chair that had been destroyed. She sighed as she looked around. Everything seemed the same, yet it had been destroyed.
"Are you okay?" said a deep voice from the door
Kara spun around only to come face to face with Captain Becker. He was staring at her intently, leaning against the charred door frame of her father's office. The expression on his face was unreadable, but his eyes held concern. Concern for her. She remembered the way he was when her father had died, he had held her like there was no tomorrow. Held her up, and practically carried her towards the ambulance. She smiled softly and nodded.
"Yeah," she answered his unanswered question "Im okay…" she turned around once more, and looked around the empty office. It was just like her world. Empty.
"Are you sure?" Becker's voice rang out again, but he sounded closer.
Kara turned once more, only to see her had moved into the room, and was practically standing behind her. She jumped backwards, maintaining a grip on Nick.
"Sorry," Becker apologized in his deep, voice. Kara had to shake her head, to clear her thoughts, and breathe deeply. This seriously wasn't happening now? Breathe, Kara she told herself just breathe. She looked up at him, he was closer to her this time, she could feel him, hear his heart beat, from inside his chest. He was that close. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking in his scent, but the alarm blared, interrupting them.
Kara's eyes shot open, and she noticed Becker had gone. Nick was still in her arms, and was chatting happily to thin air. Kara shook her head, and smiled at her son, before making her way towards the door, and hurrying into the main ops room. The music had been switched off, not that you would be able to hear it over the alarm, Abby, Connor, Jenny and Becker were standing at the detector, Grace was just looking confused. Kara motioned her over, as she took her stand beside Abby.
"Is this a test?" Kara asked, from behind Connor, Nick holding his hands out for Abby, who gladly took him with a smile.
"No, this is genuine" Connor answered, his eyes not leaving the screen
"Do we have a location?"
"Uh-huh" Connor said, and he reached for the hand-held that was beside him "Getting the co-ordinates now"
With the alarm still blaring. Grace watched as Connor downloaded the last co-ordinates into the hand held and stood from the chair, and turned to face Kara.
"Okay." he said, and he held out the hand held "Good to go!"
Kara stared at the device for a second; missing the look Connor gave Grace. Just seeing the device, brought back memories of her father, could she still do this? After everything that had happened. She had lost a lot to these anomalies, her mother, her boyfriend, her father. What if she lost more? What if she lost Grace…or worse…her son? No, she couldn't think like that. She had a job to do, she had a team to run, and she couldn't let them down.
"Okay," she said finally, as she took the device. "Let's go then"
And taking Nick from Abby, she and Grace led the way out of the ARC.
The drive was a quiet one. Except for baby Nick, who was chatting once more in the back of the seat. Kara kept glancing at him, through the rear view mirror. She loved everything about Nick, so her world may have crashed when her father died, but she still had him. And Grace. With the combined help of her son and cousin, not to mention her team-mates, her friends. Her world would be rebuilt once more. She just had to be extra careful. Especially now that her mother was back. Helen Cutter, wouldn't stop until Kara was unhappy again.
"2 years," Kara mumbled
"What?" Grace asked, looking across at her cousin in confusion
"My mum," Kara said, not wanting to hide anything from Grace, but ever since she had learned about Nick not supposed to be born for another two years "She said, that Nick wasn't supposed to be born for at least another to years, and that he wasn't Stephen's child"
"Then who's?" Grace asked
Kara shook her head "I don't know, she didn't say"
Grace was silent, the remainder of the ride, her mind was racing with unanswered questions and she hated the feeling of not knowing. That was something she had picked up from her aunt Helen, she was bound to pick up a lot of things having practically lived at the Cutter household growing up. She smiled softly at the one memory she would always keep with her.
"Grace sweetheart," Jessica Hunter called up the stairs to her 6-year-old daughter "We're leaving"
There was a thundering noise, and two little girls came sweeping down the stairs. A mixture of mousey blonde hair and brown hair, skidded to a halt in the living room of the Cutter household. Kara Cutter 8-years-old and her cousin Grace Hunter 6-years-old.
"Cant I stay, mummy?" Little Grace asked, looking up at her mum with hopeful eyes "I want to stay with Uncle Nick and Kara"
"Im sorry sweetie," Jess said as she knelt down to her daughter's level "But you can't"
Grace's eyes filled with tears, and Jess sighed and looked at her brother, Nick, who was smiling in amusement. It was nice to see his daughter finally happy, after the shock of losing her mother. But that's why Jess had brought Grace, the two girls were great together, practically like sisters.
"Cant she stay daddy?" Kara asked "I want her to stay! I want Grace to stay here…with me…"
"She can't princess," Nick said, as Kara clambered up onto the seat beside her dad, and he looked around at her. "Their leaving tomorrow,"
Kara's head snapped towards her cousin, who was looking at her sadly "Leaving?" she asked
Jess nodded sadly, as Kara launched herself across the room, and embraced Grace tightly.
"But you can't leave!" Kara cried "You can't! You can't!"
Grace, who had known she was leaving, was just has hysterical as Kara, she didn't want to leave her family. Her cousin. Her best friend. "Mummy…I got an idea"
Jess and Nick laughed
"And what's that?" Jess asked
"You and Daddy go," Grace said pulling away from her cousin and turning to her mum "And I stay with Kara and Uncle Nick"
"Ooo…" Kara said "I like that…Please daddy?" she added, turning to look at her dad, a smile on her face.
The smile disappeared when her dad shook his head "Im sorry, sweetie, but you have to go with you mum and dad. They will miss you"
"But I don't want to leave you," Grace said, sadly, "I wanna stay here! It's my home! It's the only place I have friends!"
"You will make more friends," Jess said
"But it wont be the same" Grace mumbled
"Im sorry sweetie," Jess said sadly, hugging Kara before she stood "But we must go…we have packing to do, and Daddy will be home soon"
Grace was knocked out of her thoughts when Kara hit the brakes, and came to a stop. She shut down the engine, and unbuckled her seatbelt, before getting out and opening the back door. She unbuckled Nick and picked him up, well aware of the looks she was receiving from a few SAS soldiers, and they were probably wondering why she brought a 9 month year old baby out into the field. Especially with her job. But she couldn't help it, with Grace now on the team, she needed to keep Nick at her side. At least until she could find a baby sitter.
"In there," Connor said, appearing at her side, motioning to the building before her, they made their way forwards.
The automatic doors slid open with ease, and the team hurried in. Becker and his men first their weapons drawn. It was quiet…a little too quiet.
"Hello?" Abby called out, her voice echoing off the glass around her
"It's deserted," Connor said, as the team spread out, but remained within Kara's line of vision
"Could it be in there somewhere?" Grace asked, Kara looked around, and towards the double doors that her cousin was pointing at.
Kara looked towards Becker and motioned towards the doors, he handed his gun to one of his men and walked forward, trying to pry the doors open. They wouldn't budge. This was odd, because they were automatic doors.
"There must be another way in," Jenny said
"Come on," Kara said, as she turned and walked away from the door. Stopping at the slightest sound, she turned, the doors had opened. Exchanging a confused look with Grace, she started forward. Becker threw out his hand to stop her.
"Wait Kara," he said, and aiming his gun, he started forward with his men
Kara followed after him, her gip growing tighter on Nick, and Grace was one side of her, Abby the other. As the team made their way inside, another set of soldier's came towards them. Becker lowered his weapon and spoke.
"Captain Wilder"
"Becker," the other responded
"You two know each other?" Kara asked
"Sandhurst," Becker explained looking around at Kara
"Top of his class," Captain Wilder explained briefly "One of my best cadets"
"Well, the ARC only employs the best," Kara mumbled, to Grace beside her, she caught Becker's eye, and grinned at him. He grinned back, Kara looked down at Nick, missing the look Grace and Abby exchanged.
"If you two are going to hug, can you do it later?" Connor said "Cause there is an anomaly in there somewhere"
"Move back into the foyer," Captain Wilder instructed, and Kara stared hard at him, she didn't take orders from someone that she didn't know. Hell, she didn't take orders from Lester, and he was the head of the ARC.
"What's going on here?" she asked
But Wilder didn't answer her, and she was steered out of the hallway, back into the foyer by Grace and Abby. Kara, who had her back to the double doors, this time, was in deep conversation with Jenny about the means of this place
Kara sighed. What the hell was this place. And why were these men here? Nick grizzled in her arms, and she bounced him lightly, as he rested his head against her shoulder. He was tired, she couldn't blame him, he hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, hell she hadn't gotten a proper nights sleep, since her father's death. It was starting to take its toll on her, but she couldn't sleep, because every time she did, she was plagued with Memories of her father. It was Stephen all over again. But this time it was worse.
"Kara," Connor said, nudging her
She looked up at him, and around, when she noticed he was looking at something behind her. A woman was walking towards her.
"You must be Jenny Lewis," the new woman said "Im Christine Johnson. Nice to meet you."
"What is this place?" Kara asked
"I don't believe we've met," Christine said, turning to her "Christine Johnson"
"Kara Cutter," Kara answered
"Kara," Connor said "this definitely detected an anomaly, in less than a 100 feet away from here," he motioned to the handheld detector, before turning to Christine "I know that might not mean anything to you but trust me, not a good thing"
"There's really nothing to worry about" Christine said "There's no anomaly here"
Kara narrowed her eyes suspiciously "What do you know about the anomalies?" she asked
Christine didn't answer
"Lets just have a look, you know" Abby said "Just too sure"
"I can assure you, you'd find nothing" Christine said positively
"Right. I want unrestricted access to the whole place" Kara said turning to Jenny "and a full explanation of what if is your doing here"
Christine stood stunned for a moment, probably surprised to being ordered by Kara, it was obvious she thought Jenny was in charge.
"Im afraid that's not possible," Christine said
"We can't make it happen with one phone call," Jenny said "so let's just save some time, shall we?"
It was clear that neither she nor Kara were backing down.
"James Lester has no authority here," Christine said this deflated the team, but aroused Kara's suspicions even more. "Now, I suggest you go back to the ARC and do what you all do best"
"Did you hear what we just said?" Abby said "You could be in danger, just let us go in and have a look"
"That is very thoughtful, but we'll be quiet safe" Christine said, turning to her "Do give my regards to James" she added to Kara and Jenny before turning her back on them.
Kara closed her eyes and before exchanging a look with Grace, Jenny, Abby and Connor had started to retreat, from the vicinity of the building, and Kara made to follow them when Christine's voice spoke again. She was talking to Becker. Kara turned to look at them, but she had missed the conversation, Becker was walking towards her, his eyes connected with hers but they didn't say anything as they made their way out of the building. Becker towards his car, and Kara towards hera.
Once back at the ARC, Kara sat in her father's office, a new chair had been added to the place, and it was almost an exact duplicate to the one that was there before, with her head back against the head rest she sighed. This would become her new office, once everything was sorted, she smiled slightly, at least she had made it clear to Lester that no one was to come in and take over her position on the team. He had agreed that she could have a second in command, someone to fill her spot, at the moment that was Jenny. So, maybe the needn't bring in another person.
The ARC was busy, as usual, people were running around trying to fix things up after the fire destruction at the beginning of the week. The reason it was taking so long, was because Kara wanted her father put to rest as soon as possible, and she had done it almost immediately, after his death. Some may have said she was too keen to rid herself of his body, but that was not the case, it was too hard knowing that he was gone, but knowing that his body was still above ground, and not resting comfortably, that's what she didn't want. She wanted her father safe and tucked away, from any other damage.
With another soft sigh, she closed her eyes, she was extremely tired, but the noise outside of the office was keeping her awake, otherwise she could have gone to sleep, there and then. She had been up nearly all night, sorting out her father's belongings, she didn't know which to keep and which not to keep. Keeping her father's personal belongings only made his death more real, so she wasn't sure if she was ready to part with them just yet. Apart of her still longed for her father to be alive, even if it was in some parallel world. Like the one they had stepped through, 2 years ago. Was that world still running? If it was, did that mean that Claudia Brown and Stephen were still alive?
Where they still searching for her and her father, to bring them back, to their real world. But that also meant that Captain Becker, Sarah Page, Jenny Lewis and her baby wasn't alive. The bomb shell hadn't been dropped about Helen Cutter and Stephen Hart, because the Cutter's hadn't returned from the past anomaly. Maybe things could change, return to the way they were, if only she could get home. But did she want to go? Did she want to leave this place, she had come accustom too? This was her home now, wasn't it? Her team was here. Could she really leave them, if given the chance? Would she return to her time period, a place where she had yet to learn the truth about her mother and Stephen. A place where her heart and world was still intact, a place where her father and Claudia could be together, because her father would still be alive. But that was the past, in that world Nick Stephen Cutter. Her baby boy. Wasn't born.
2 years. Her mother's worlds floated into her mind. Maybe that's what her mother was talking about. Maybe Nick wasn't supposed to be born, because Kara didn't belong in this time period. Well, second guess her mother had received, because Kara was here, and so was her son. And she wasn't about to change that for the world. This was her home now, this was her world. Be it a strange place she had stepped into, and lost so much whilst being here. She had lost a few things, but gained a few things more. Life changed to the decisions people made. Stephen had chosen to die, to protect her, but he had given her something else to love beside him. He had given her a son.
Her father had died, and whilst at the time she thought that she had nothing to gain. She was wrong, she had gained a whole lot more responsibility and judgement. She had a better head in the game her mother was playing. She knew the rules, now better than anybody else on the team. Even better than Abby and Connor, and they had been with her since the beginning. But they hadn't been given the opportunity to learn, alongside Nick Cutter, and even though she hated to admit it. Helen Cutter. Helen had taught Kara a few things that she didn't even realize she was teaching. And Kara had picked up on them. Maybe she had missed them when her father was around, but that was mostly because she was sure, that her father was going to always be there to hold her hand, to help her when she needed it. But now that he was gone, she had to think for herself. Work things out for herself. And she had realized, that her father, always knew this day would come. And he was teaching her mostly, on how to be a better leader. Because he knew, she would take over from him. That's why he had told her to look out for the team. Because, they were to look to her now. And they did.
"Kara?"
Kara's eyes snapped open and she looked up towards the door, Abby was stood there.
"Hey," Kara said, as Abby stepped into the room, carrying Nick. The little boy laughed as he saw his mother and held out his arms. Kara reached across the desk and took the boy from his godmother and sat him on the edge of the desk. "What's up Abs?" she asked
"Im popping out for a while," Abby said "Im gonna meet Jack,"
Kara nodded, not really in the mood to question Abby on who Jack was, she would do that late. "Yeah, okay. We'll call if there's any serious damage."
"Cool," Abby said, walking backwards towards the door "See ya later,"
"Later," Kara called, before tuning back to Nick who was playing with the small toy they had brought from home. He was twiddling it around in his hands, a look of utter joyment on his face, although he didn't have a clue what he was doing. Looking up at his mother, he held the toy in the air. Kara smiled and took it from him, before leaning it into his lips and pretending to have the toy kiss him.
Nick laughed, as he reached for the toy, and mimicked his mother's actions holding it out to her. She kissed the toy, and smiled at the baby who laughed again,
"Kiss for Mummy?" Kara asked quietly, as she kissed her little boy. Before he went back to playing. And Kara slipped back into her own world. The door had been closed, Abby had closed it, and the noise from outside had been silenced. Kara sighed, but she couldn't sleep now, she had Nick. Unknown to her, someone stood just outside the door. Watching her and the baby.
Everyone was busy, according to her cousin, it was always like this around here. But since the bomb and death of her uncle, things had gotten worse. Connor Temple was busy creating something, she didn't know what, and she wasn't sure if he would explain if she asked. The detector was working properly having picked up something earlier that morning, but it had been a false alarm. Jenny Lewis, Abby Maitland and Sarah Page where no where in sight, her cousin was in her uncle's office with baby Nick, and Captain Becker was with a few of his men in the locker room. So this was her new job. At the moment it seemed pretty boring, but she was sure it would pick up. After everything Kara had said last night, it seemed pretty dangerous yet exciting at the same time.
Looking up to the sound of ringing, Grace noticed Connor leave his station that he was working at, and approach the ringing phone. She couldn't hear what was being said, because there was too much racket over head, but it would have been eavesdropping if she had been listening in. God, she was bored, first day at a new job, and she had nothing to do. With a sigh, she pushed herself up from the table she had been sitting on, and headed towards the double doors at the back of the room.
"…how come she can sit around while we do all the work?" asked a female voice, and Grace looked up to see a couple walking towards her. She wasn't sure what they were talking about, and she wasn't about to ask them.
"She has the baby," the man answered "she has enough to worry about with him"
"I hear she took him out in the field today," the woman continued "when they found that anomaly…apparently they didn't find the anomaly"
The man looked thoughtful "She's just lost her dad, she might want to keep the child close to her, you know mother's protection and everything"
They were talking about Kara. It was obvious. Grace had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything as she brushed past them, pushing the woman with her shoulder as she did so. What Kara did at work had nothing to do with her colleagues. If she wanted to bring Nick here, and take him out in the field, then that's what Kara would do. Even though it seemed stupid, it seemed the only way to know that he was safe.
Stopping outside her uncle's old office, Grace looked inside and smiled as she saw baby Nick reach up to kiss Kara. He then returned to playing with his toy. It seemed Nick was the best thing that had happened to Kara, even if he wasn't supposed to have been born for another two years, but Grace couldn't see how that could happen. If Nick wasn't meant to be Stephen and Kara's son, who's was he supposed to be? Or was Kara supposed to have another child? Was Helen just messing with Kara's mind, like she had been doing for months? Years, even. Maybe, Kara was supposed to have two children, Nick, and another. Only time would tell. The future obviously told of Kara with a child. But she could change that.
She looked up and into the room. Kara was now playing with Nick, as he laughed and played with the toy in front of him. Kara was smiling brightly and Nick was chatting happily, Grace couldn't help but smile, and instead of turning the handle to be let in, she stepped back and walked away. Just as the alarm rang over head, she turned to the sound of a door opening, and Kara stepped out, as the two girls hurried back to the Ops area.
"Is it the same place?" Kara asked as she and Grace made their way towards the Detector, Connor and Jenny
"No. No, this is a new one" Connor said
"Okay," Kara said "Lets get going then" she handed Nick to Grace "I need you to stay here this time," she added, with a sympathetic smile "I know, I promised you could be apart of the field team, but right now, I need you to stay here with Nick"
Grace opened her mouth to speak, but Kara gave her a look and she fell silent. Now was not the time to argue
"Fine," she grumbled, and made her way back towards her uncle's office, taking Nick with her, Kara sighed, and run a hand through her hair, before turning to Jenny and Connor. She shook her head, which told the team not to say anything. Connor, wasn't about to say anything, he knew of Kara's short temper span, and had been on the receiving end of it once before.
"Kara," Connor suddenly said and the girl stopped in her tracks and turned to him, he was looking at the locking device "give me two minutes. Two minutes, I can have this thing up and running"
Kara bit the inside of her lip, before nodding "Two minutes and then we're out of here"
Connor nodded and set to work as quick as he could.
Looking towards the detector, Kara drew a sharp breath as her thoughts from earlier that day came back to her. She could do this. She knew she could. "Im doing this for you dad," she whispered, and turned her back on the detector and headed out of the room. She hurried down the hallway, and out into the car park, Becker was out there with his men, they jumped to attention when Kara appeared in the door way.
"Where too?" Becker asked
"Two minutes," Kara answered him "Connor's fixing up the locking device…I've given him two minutes, and then we leave."
Becker and his men nodded, as Kara opened the back door to her car. She reached in and pulled out the bag she had that morning, before returning to the inside of the ARC. She stopped outside her father's old office, and opened the door, before handing Grace the bag and disappearing into the Main Ops room once more.
"Connor how much longer?" she asked as she entered, Becker beside her
"Seconds away," Connor answered her, he placed something into a brief case before closing it "Done. You can load it up"
"This is going to work?" Kara asked
"It'll work," Connor said "I know this will work, it…" he looked up at her "I hope its going to work"
"I have faith that it will," Kara said, "I was just asking"
Connor nodded, and she, Connor, Jenny and Becker headed for the exit, leaving Becker's men to bring in the equipment.
"Whatever you do," Kara added to them "be careful"
With that said, she and the others filed out of the room, Jenny and Connor into one car, Kara and Becker into another. Becker and Kara were the first two out of the ARC, and therefore the first to head towards the proven destination.
"An air strip?" Kara questioned as she sat in the passenger side of the car, she was used to being a passenger so she wasn't remotely board, of having nothing to do. Besides, she was checking the detector every few seconds. "These anomalies, have perfect sense on when and where to open, don't they?"
"You want me to answer that?" Becker asked
"Not really," Kara answered, as she pulled down her sunglasses from on top of her head, tidied her hair, and turned to look out the window.
"So, why didn't you want Grace here?" Becker asked, from beside her.
Kara sighed, she hadn't really thought about why she didn't want her cousin out on this one "Well, I just have a feeling this isn't gonna end like the last one." she answered "Besides, there's talk amongst the staff at the ARC about me taking a 9 month year old baby, out into the field"
"Since when do you care what others think?" he asked "When we first met, you made sure I knew my place"
Kara smirked, at least she had proved not to be messed with. She shrugged "I don't know, I guess, losing my dad has made me realize a few things. And I cant lose Grace and Nick, their the only family I've got left"
Stopping for a moment, Kara checked the detector in her hand, and then glanced at the rear view mirror. Jenny and Connor weren't behind them.
"Where to now?" Becker asked, looking across at her
Kara gave a startled jump, and looked up at him "Sorry," she said, apologizing for being in her own world "Uh, straight ahead, about half a mile"
"Are you okay?" Becker asked, as he continued on, Kara had dropped the hand held in her lap and was leaning on her hand staring into space.
"Mhm?" she asked, looking over at him again "Yeah, im fine…just got alot to deal with,"
Becker nodded slightly, as he continued on. Kara sighed as they lapsed into silence, this usually happened when she was alone with Becker. She had thought by now that they would have something to talk about, but it seemed the only thing they could talk about was work, and it was one thing to deal with the anomalies as they came, but to talk about past one also. That was just…wrong, in her opinion. There had to be a subject to talk about outside of work. She never had this trouble talking with Stephen or Connor.
"Are you sure your okay?" Becker asked, concern etched into his words.
Kara looked at him again, he was glancing at her every so often. She sighed once more, "To be honest, im not so sure," she answered
"What do you mean?" he asked
"Its something my mum said," Kara explained "That day she took over the ARC."
"And what did she say?"
Kara hesitated for a second. "Um, well, before Stephen's death, she told me that I would have a child. Well, she didn't say it in so many words, she just said she had discovered new lives in the future, and she looked directly at me when she said it. At first I was confused, but 2 weeks after Stephen's funeral, I learned that I was pregnant with Nick. I also knew it was Stephen's cause he was the only person I had been with, the only person to ever have done it with, but when my mum turned up at the ARC at the beginning of the week, she told me that, the baby I had, wasn't meant to be born for another two years, that it wasn't meant to be Stephen's baby."
"So, you think she's lying?" he asked her
"It wouldn't be the first time, she has made up lies to hurt me," Kara mumbled quietly, "Huh, anyway, I don't know if she means Nick isn't meant to be born for another 2 years, or if I could have another child in 2 years."
"What do you think about having another?" he asked her
Did he seriously just ask me that? Kara thought, she hadn't really thought about having another child. "I haven't thought about it, I mean, it wasn't like Nick was planned or anything…It just happened. But I wouldn't change it for the world, if it wasn't for Nick at the moment, I would have broken a long time ago"
"When you say broken?" Becker questioned
"Snapped. My temper would have snapped." Kara answered "Ask Connor or Abby, and they'll tell you about my temper problems. Connor mostly, because he has been on the receiving ends of it once or twice. But, I would probably had gone on a whole triad and tried to find my mum by now…possibly followed her to the end of time, and killed her"
With a smirk, Becker turned back to the road in front of him, before slamming on the breaks.
"Woah!" Kara said, as she placed her hands on the dashboard, as she slammed into it. She looked up to see the reporter Mick Harper from a few months back, lying on the ground. "What the hell do you think your doing?" she asked, as she slid out of the car, Becker following a few minutes behind her.
"Are you okay?" Becker asked, as he helped Harper back to his feet
"Yeah, thanks" the reporter answered "Please, you've got to come quickly"
"What is it?" Kara asked
"This big shining light…and Creature came through" Harper answered
Kara exchanged looks with Becker, as she hurried to the back of the car. "I'm using Tranquillizers" she said to him firmly, Becker opened his mouth to argue, but Kara silenced him with a look, that clearly told him not to argue with her. "How much Tranquillizer do we need?"
"Hey, how big was this thing?" Becker asked, heading back towards Harper
"Big," Harper answered
Kara rolled her eyes "That helps," she murmured as Becker returned to her side, she opened a small black box on the back of the car, and pulled out a black packet. "I'll use this," she said, it was an emergency supply of top unit tranq.
They followed after Mick Harper, who lead them towards a storage unit "Its in there, you better hurry," he said
"You were told to stay away from this!" Kara said, as she carried the small slender tranquillizer gun and became level with the reporter.
"I know," Mick said "I wished I'd listened"
Kara and Becker hurried past Harper, and leaned against the metal walls outside. Her hand was shaking as she loaded the gun.
"Are you okay?" Becker asked, and Kara shuddered slightly has he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah," she said "Im fine,"
"I'll go first," Becker offered
"No!" Kara said stopping him "Me"
Becker sighed and stared hard at her, "How about we go together?"
Kara looked thoughtful "Okay," and she nodded, as she lay beside him. Within two minutes, he had pulled open the door beside him, and the two of them were facing the slight darkness of the inside of the crate. It seemed empty.
Starting forward, Kara looked around, something was off. If there was an anomaly in here, then there would be the flickering light strewn across the wall somewhere. But there was nothing.
"Hey, are you sure that its in here?" Kara asked, turning around to look at Mick Harper who was standing in the doorway, "What are you doing?" she asked, and Becker turned. Mick Harper laughed.
"No!" Becker yelled
Mick laughed and slammed the door, as Kara and Becker hurried forward.
"Hey! Open the door!" Kara yelled. She could hear Mick laughing on the other side if the door, and it was really starting to annoy her.
"Open the door!" Becker yelled
"What do you think your doing?" Kara asked
"Tell Jenny, thanks for the scoop" Mick Harper yelled, and Kara knew he was leaving.
"Damn it!" she hissed as she turned around, and kicked the metal door as she leaned against it.
"Great," Becker mumbled, and Kara looked towards him, he was staring at her, before turned to look around the place they were. Why did she feel like he was blaming her for this? It wasn't her fault. But she couldn't be bothered to really make him understand that, she was thinking of a way to get them out.
Kara watched closely as Becker walked away. "Where you going?" she called after him
"Looking for a way out," was her answer
Kara sighed, and looked around, and started to follow him. She knew there wasnt a way out, this was just a storage unit, it wasn't for people, and it only had one door. This had to happen to her, it could have happened to any of the team, but it had to be her, and it had to be with Becker. Was the entire world against her this month? She'd lost her father, and now she was trapped inside a small containment unit with the guy that she could have possibly liked.
Oh, she wasn't kidding anyone. No one but herself anyway, of course she liked Becker, it was clearly visible. Abby had spotted it, and well, she, Kara had informed Grace that she may have liked Becker from the very first moment she met him. The only person who hadn't seemed to figure it out yet, was Connor. Kara was slightly happy about that, because Connor, even though he was her best friend, he would have gone straight to Becker and told him. And that would have been totally embarrassing, not just for her, but for him as well. He didn't even know that she liked him. And she wasn't exactly sure, what drew her to him. Or if he even liked her in that way.
What was it about her that intrigued him so badly? She was just a kid. Well, not really a kid, but she just seemed too young, to be interested in him. Plus she already had a child by another guy, he couldn't compete with that. For all he knew, she was still holding on to her past, he didn't know if she had moved on yet. But his mind drifted back to that morning, in the office. She was so close to him that he could feel her every moment, her own body heat radiating off of her body. Granted she was still holding her son, but his heart raced twice as fast whenever she was near.
But she was off limits, she was the Professor's daughter, and although he had gone, there was something that kept him away from her, a sense of feeling that he had. It was like some kind of aura keeping people from getting close to her, maybe it was just her. She seemed tentative around new people, like they would get hurt if she got closer to them, or she would get hurt. And he had seen her hurt before, it had hurt him to see her like that, and he didn't want to see her like it again, sure he could protect her from any physical harm, but anything emotional or mentally, he couldn't protect her, because there was no way he could control that.
She drove him crazy, she was so secretive, so quiet, and he hadn't seen her true self just yet. But something told him that he didn't have to wait very long before he saw the second side of Kara Cutter. He had seen the timid side to her, he had seen it when her father died, but there had to be a stronger more supportive side, the side the built her and kept her together. He wanted to see the mask, her mask. The second side of the mask, he had seen, the life of a child, but he wanted to see the adult side of her. The way she was with her child, was sweet, she was amazing, loving, giving, and everyone on the team seemed to love her. But there had to be a side of her, that could only take so much, and she would snap. He wanted to see that side of her.
"No," he said suddenly, breaking his own thoughts and silence "There's no way out"
Kara sighed, as she turned to face him. "I cant believe I let myself get taken in by that reptile of a journalist"
"He was pretty good though," Becker said "He had me…How do you know him anyway?"
"A few months back, there was an anomaly, on the M25, a Mammoth came through, and he was there, trying to get the story. Jenny intercepted him, and he's had it in for us ever since"
She slipped her phone out of her pocket and dialled Jenny's number. She had to know where she and Connor where, it seemed that they were the only way out.
"Jenny?" Kara said, when the other woman answered "How far away are you?"
"About quarter of a mile," Jenny responded "We're stuck in road works"
"Well, I don't care how many barriers you have to go through" Kara replied "I need you here faster then fast"
"Okay," Jenny said
And the line went dead.
Turning back around, she threw Becker a look. "What are you doing?" she asked, as he picked himself up from the ground.
"Door's solid," he said "We're not getting through there"
"Really," Kara said, as she turned away from him and walked towards the back of the storage unit.
Screams. Screams of terror, that's all that could be heard, it was echoing throughout he storage unit in which Kara and Becker sat. Kara was leaning against a couple of boxes, her head lying against Becker's shoulder, she wasnt embarrassed about it at the moment, she just wanted to get out of here, but she did know, if she had be stuck in a storage with anyone, she was happy it was Becker.
There was a roar and another scream, and Kara's head snapped up as she looked towards the door, across of Becker. A moment ago it was all silent, that she could have easily gone to sleep, right there and then, her eyes where starting to get heavy, and her breathing was becoming laboured as sleep started to impose on her. But the screams and roars had woken her back up, but what had caught her attention the most, was the fact that the door to their unit had started to move. Like someone was trying to get in.
Their guns were to the other side of Kara, and she instinctively reached for the tranquillizer gun, as she pushed herself to her feet, Becker reaching behind her for his own gun, before getting to his feet beside her, both their guns raised. At this moment, Kara didn't care whether they shot whatever was coming through with live rounds or tranquillizers.
The door moved again, and Kara backed up slightly, her gun raised in front of her, she could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest, and she glanced at Becker, as he glanced around at her, she nodded lightly as if answering a silently asked question, and turned back to do the door, as it opened fully, light streaming in. Gun raised, Kara readied herself to shoot, when the form a newly accounted person appeared.
"Well, you don't want to do that," the man said "You need all the help you can get" and he smiled
"Who are you?" Kara asked
"Danny Quinn," the man answered, Kara remembered Abby and Connor telling her about a man by the name of Danny Quinn, DC Quinn. The guy who had placed Connor in a cell. What the hell was he doing here?
"Come on," Becker said, and taking Kara by the wrist, he pulled her from the storage unit, and back out into the sunlight.
Kara winced slightly at the sudden brightness, being stuck in the dark for a while was making the light was blinding.
"Its in there," Danny said, pointing at a hanger across from them as they headed away from the storage unit.
"What are you doing here?" Kara asked curiously
"Saving your bacon," Danny answered "I figured you worked for Jenny"
"With" Kara responded "I work with Jenny"
She knew it was childish to say, but she didn't work for anyone. Besides, Jenny was apart of the team, so no one worked for anyone, they all worked together.
"How did you even know where we were?" she added
"I followed the journalist," Danny answered "You do know he broke into Jenny's car"
"Yeah, we guessed that" Kara answered "Look, thanks for your help, but we can take it from here"
"But its just getting interesting" Danny said, still following
Kara scoffed and stopped, lowering the gun to her side "If you don't go now, I'll have you arrested"
Danny turned to stare at her, it seemed he was surprised that she was ordering him away. This was her job, her team and he wasn't apart of it. He was a civilian. He didn't understand the concept of the job at hand.
"Guys, as fun as this is," Becker said cutting across them both "But we got more pressing matters"
"Come on, just give me the gun an I'll go in first" Danny said, as Kara made to follow Becker. She turned to walk backwards, and held the gun up towards Danny.
"Take another step and I will shoot you" she said
"Okay," Danny said as he stopped, eyeing the gun curiously.
Kara turned and walked past Becker towards the hanger. She noticed the look on Becker's face, and made a note to ask him about it later. Gun raised, Kara entered the hanger with Becker, there was nothing but an overturned car, and an enormous anomaly.
Staring aimlessly at the Anomaly, Kara lowered the gun. She could feel eyes on her, and she knew it was Becker, but she didn't want anyone to know that the sight of anomalies made her want to cry. It just brought back memories of everything she had lost since the beginning of her life. Nobody really understood. Not even Grace. The only two people who understood her the most were gone.
"Wow," Becker breathed "That is enormous"
Kara nodded, the sheer size of the anomaly was massive. Did that mean that an enormous creature comes through? The only question that remained, was, How Big?
There was a whistle from behind them, and Kara sighed, she knew it was Danny. She turned to face him "You're not going away are you?"
"Help! You've got to get us out of here"
This was coming from the over turned Car. Kara looked across at it, there two people inside. Hurrying to the edge of the car, behind Danny, Kara watched as he tried to open the door.
"The door is stuck," Danny said "Try the other side"
"Oi!" Kara said "I give the orders around here," she looked towards Becker and sighed "Becker…round the other side"
With both Danny and Becker on the floor trying to get the passenger's out, Kara was wondering who they where and what they were doing here. Crouching down, she looked into car, and raised her eyebrows at Mick Harper, who was staring at her.
"I've got the door open," Becker said suddenly "I need you to try and edge your way towards me. That's it, nearly there"
Soon after rescuing Mick Harper and his boss Katherine, from the overturned car, Kara stood before them, as Becker waved Jenny, Connor and the rest of his team into the hanger. Connor, looked relieved to see Kara there, as he made his way towards her.
"What type of creature came through?" Connor asked her
"I don't know," she answered as she turned back to Katherine and Mick "Well?"
"Big." Mick said
"Very big," Katherine confirmed "It was huge"
"Really helpful, aren't they" Kara said turning to Connor "We need more information than that!" she snapped turning back to Mick and his boss, her temper was staring to reach its limit and she knew it wouldn't be long before someone pushed her to far, if they had any sense, they would just leave her alone at this point. "People are dead because of you!" she added
"But this is amazing," Katherine said, as if she hadn't heard a word Kara had said, this only angered her further "this is the biggest story ever, and its mine. I mean you don't seriously think you can keep this covered up, do you?"
"There'll be no story," Jenny said, stepping in quickly, "trust me"
"Guys, can we please just concentrate on the creature, here" Connor said, from beside them "What happened to it?"
"It went back," Mick said
"You cant stop me from telling the world about this," Katherine said, and before anyone knew what was happening, Kara had snapped. She and the team had lost enough through the anomalies, they weren't about to lose innocent civilians because of one stupid journalist, who didn't understand the concept of what the team were trying to protect.
"Watch me!" she said, stepping closer towards Katherine, Connor reaching out instinctively to grab her and pull her back. His hands closed around her upper arms, and tried to pull her back, but she was unmoving, and determination was written purely across her face "Take them away! Take away their phones…"
Katherine tried to cut across her, but Kara didn't give her a chance to speak "Not one word! Of this gets out!"
Still Katherine persisted.
"I suggest you do as your told, before I shoot you!" Kara hissed through clenched teeth, she wasn't in any mood to argue at this point, her temper was flaring.
And she turned away from them, she faced Connor, who was still holding her arms.
"Calm down," he whispered to her, and Kara breathed deeply, hiding her face in her hands for a second. "Alright?"
Kara nodded, as she looked back up at him, and breathed deeply again. "Yeah, im okay"
"We haven't got much time," Connor said, "Its going to be back…it knows there's easy prey here"
"Look, here's what I think we should do" Danny said, making his way towards them, carrying a few things from the car.
"There is no 'we'" Kara said, turning to Danny, Connor reaching for her again, encase she hadn't let off enough steam "This has got nothing to do with you, this is a secure zone, and you don't have authorisation to be here, leave now!"
"You want me to arrest him?" Becker asked, and Kara jumped slightly, she had forgotten he was beside her
"Last chance," Kara said to Danny, who was staring to both her and Becker
"So, uh, where do you want all this stuff?" Danny asked, turning back towards the SAS and walking away, Kara watched him go, although she was peeved that he had completely blanked everything she had said, she couldn't help but smirk, he had guts to do what he was doing. Especially to her, when she felt the way she did.
"Unbelievable," Connor said, looking at her and then at Danny, before struggling to carry the case in his hands. She giggled at the memory she had of him holding the weights that Abby had been using at the ARC's gym, back last year.
"Someone help Connor," she shouted "before he strains himself"
And she turned away back to Jenny "I can see what's so frustrating with DC Quinn"
"Mhm," Jenny said, but she had a blank look on her face, and Kara knew that she wasn't listening. With a smile, she turned back towards Connor who was setting everything up. She prayed this would work, before the creature that had come through before, returned. She was too exhausted to run for her life.
Once everything was set up, Connor was on his knees typing away at the laptop, as he continued to set everything up.
"Bare with me," Connor said, getting to his feet and looking around at Kara. She nodded, and he hurried to continue setting everything up. Jenny was standing beside Kara, Becker was further away from her this time, behind Danny who was sitting her line of sight, she wanted to make sure he didn't try anything, if he wasn't going to leave, then he wasn't going anywhere that she couldn't see him.
She glanced at him, before looking at Becker, she usually did this, unfortunately, he was watching and caught her staring, and a smiled crossed her face as she looked away from his stare, fighting the blush that was rising in her face. She even missed the smirk that crossed his lips, as she looked away.
"And we are ready," Connor said suddenly, and Kara turned to face him "Okay, do this with me," she watched as he mumbled softly before, looking up. "Please" he raised his hand and hit the button before him, the locking device, exploded and Kara and Jenny jumped from the sudden noise.
"Connor," Jenny said
"Connor" Kara said, as she watched her friend waving his hand which had been caught "I thought you said this was going to work?"
"It does," Connor said "It will"
"Well, how long before we can try it again?" Jenny asked
"I don't know," Connor said "I don't know, a couple of seconds…I don't know"
"This is just a little thing," Danny said speaking up "But did anyone think about closing the doors?"
"All right that's it," Kara said "Arrest him"
As soon as Becker's hand had clamped down on Danny's shoulder, there was a massive roar, from beyond the anomaly, Kara turned wildly, her eyes growing wide at the sight before her, a Gigonotosaurs had come through, and was rampaging towards them.
"LOOK OUT!" Kara yelled as half of Becker's team rushed forward to try and subdue the creature "Get back! Stay away from it!" Jenny had her gun out and was aiming it at the creature, as Kara raced after the it, stopping beside Becker and his men as the dinosaur headed towards the runway. Running a hand through her hair, she turned to Becker and hurried back to the car, pulling open the passenger side door. Becker had hurried around to the other side.
"The biker," Becker said "He's gone"
"His name is Danny Quinn," Jenny said, opening the back door of the car "But right now, im more concerned about a T-rex running wild on an air field"
"That wasn't a T-rex," Connor and Kara said
"What?" Jenny and looking at the two friends
"It was a Giganotosaurus," Kara said softly
"A, G-Rex if you like…that thing is bigger, its faster, its a lot more dangerous" Connor said
"Con, get the locking mechanism working, and seal that anomaly!" Kara ordered, feeling guilty as she did so, but she slid into the car, without a backward glance. Jenny and Becker followed her actions and the car was pulled out of the hanger, and racing after the G-Rex, she had missed what Becker had said, but her thoughts were clouded.
With her thoughts clouded, all Kara could feel was determination coursing through her veins. She was numb, the feeling was the same, when adrenaline was pumping through your veins. At times like this she was really at the edge of exploding, and the last time she had felt like this was when, well there wasn't exactly another time, she felt like this nearly all the time.
"We have to over take it" Jenny said from behind "get to the plane"
Kara nodded, and shrieked as the G-Rex head-butted the side of the car, as they sped past, she was pressed against the passenger side of the car, and looked behind them, as they sped onwards her dad would have loved this creature.
They came to a complete halt under the plane, and the two doors on Kara's side flew open, and Jenny and Kara got out.
"Get back!" Jenny yelled "Get back inside the plane!"
Becker was out of his side of the car and firing several rounds into the air at the creature. It paid little attention to the group of three on the ground and turned its attention to the people of the plane. Its jaws came in contact with the small opening, in which the crew members had just scrambled back into.
"I have to go the crew members out." Becker said, and as the girls made their way around to his side. Kara looked up at him, as he started walking forward, firing several more rounds at the G-Rex, which momentarily backed off, turning its attention else where, giving Becker the chance to get into the plane
"Get in the car!" Kara suddenly ordered, and she pulled open the driver's side. The creature had spotted them, and since they weren't completely hidden under the plane, it was easier for it to get at them. It started forward, as soon as the doors had been slammed shut.
"Go!" Jenny yelled, but the engine seemed to have died, Kara looked at her friend in the rear view mirror, as she tried again
"Its not working!" she said, slamming her hands on the steering wheel "Come on!" she said, but the engine wouldn't turn over, she looked up towards the plane and cast Becker a fearful glance, he was waving at her and Jenny, and screaming, she could vaguely make out what he was saying, as blood flooded her brain in fear.
"Get out! Get out of the car!"
Jenny grabbed her shoulder, as she moved across to the other door, and the G-Rex hit the car head on, and the glass shattered. Kara screamed, as she scrambled across the two seats and pulled herself out of the car and onto the gravel. Jenny helped her to her feet, and the two backed away from the car, underneath the plane. Kara noticed Becker looked relieved, before he disappeared from view.
"That was a close call," Jenny murmured, from beside Kara, as the two continued to back up under the plane
"Yeah," Kara said, taking a deep shaky breath "Too close" and she reached up to her forehead where she could feel the light trickle of something warm, she pulled back her hand, to see it was covered in a thick scarlet liquid. It was painful to the touch, but she didn't seem to bothered by it. She looked towards the plane.
"Oh God," Jenny said, and Kara turned to face her "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Kara said "Didn't get out of the way fast enough…beside's I've had worse"
Jenny didn't look at all convinced that Kara was okay, but she let it slide. The point was, that Kara couldn't feel any pain from the impact, and shattering of glass that she had received as a down pour, but she knew that she would feel it later when the shock and numbness she felt at this moment, wore off.
"We cant fight this thing," she said, speaking again, as she backed further up under the plane with Jenny "we need help!"
"I'll call Connor," Jenny said, and she reached up for her headset, "Connor! Connor, we need some help!"
Kara's eyes where on the plane. She could see Becker had made his way out into the open and was climbing down from the cargo hold. The creature was still roaring, trying to get under the plane at them. She knew, all the creature had to do was to tip the plane slightly with its jaws, and it would figure out how turn it over. That would be the end, there was no way, they'd out run it. Becker was now on the floor, and making his way towards Kara and Jenny. He reached them in under 2 seconds, if that, there were moments, where Kara's heart was in her throat, at how close the proximity of the jaws, where to Becker. He stopped beside her, and she looked behind her at Jenny, she looked terrified.
"Its gonna be okay," Kara said to the older woman, she wanted to say it would be alright for them under the plane, but she knew it wasn't true, it was only a matter of time before the G-Rex figured out it could topple the plane.
"Now can I shoot it?" Becker questioned Kara, and the girl in question looked back at him
"I don't care what you do," she answered, and even though she didn't feel a little bit scared, she knew her eyes and face told a different story. Becker, however, wasn't looking directly at her face, his attention was drawn to the cut on her forehead.
"What happened?" he asked, reaching out to touch it
Kara hissed as the pain she hadn't felt earlier, stung on her forehead from the cut, and she withdrew from his reach.
"Sorry," he said, dropping his hand to his side
"If you must know, I didn't get out of the way fast enough," she answered, reaching up once more to pull her hand lightly across the cut, she felt a sharp edge, and pulled, a small amount of glass from the window fell into her hand and she sighed. She would have to be checked later, but she was sure that was the only piece in the scar.
"Guys, we'll be with you in seconds," Connor's voice sounded over the headset "Just hang on"
"Come on guys," Kara whispered, as she saw the small form of Abby's car in the distance. As the car grew closer, it headed around the side of the plane and stopped somewhere behind them. Suddenly, a tow truck, started moving, and Kara realized what was happening.
"What's he doing?" Jenny asked, as the creature turned its attention to the tow truck that was heading in the opposite direction
"He's creating a diversion," Abby said, hurrying to their side
"He's not gonna be able to out run that thing," Kara said, as Becker crossed over her, from behind. She watched from her position, as the tow truck that Connor was in, suddenly came a to crashing halt, and the G-Rex, taken by surprise, tumbled over the top of it. She winced at the thud it made on the air strip "That had to hurt," she murmured
Suddenly the door to the tow truck opened, and Connor tumbled out, she could see him hold his hand up to his head. He was hurt, it was obvious. With her heart in her throat, she and Abby made their way slowly followed, Abby whispering from beside her.
"Don't move! Just don't move!" Abby was saying
"It doesn't matter," Kara said, as the creature towered over Connor, who was sprawled out on the ground "It might not be able to see him…but it can smell him…"
Abby gave her a look, and she sighed "Its obvious he is hurt! The G-Rex can smell his blood."
The two looked away from one another and back around at Connor, he was making his way towards them, as the G-Rex became more concerned with the helicopter flying around its head.
"Who is that?" Jenny asked, and Becker handed Kara a radio
"Here," he said, and she turned to take it.
"Identify yourself please," Kara said through the speaker, before letting go of the button on the side, for a while, all they could hear was static "Please, Identify yourself!"
"Bear with me a second," said the voice of Danny Quinn "A little bit busy at the moment"
"Quinn?!" Kara said, she knew that he hadn't gone that far, if he hadn't left when she told him too, what made her think that he would go just cause of a creature attack. "Do you have the first idea, of what it is your doing up there?"
"Look, don't worry," Danny's voice sounded once more over the radio "Im an experienced flyer"
"How experienced?" Kara asked
"Uh, two lessons…but they went unbelievably well"
Kara sighed in aggravation and looked over her shoulder at Jenny and Becker. Abby was pulling up beside them in her car. "All right. What's the plan?" she asked, turning back to the radio
"Well, im pretty much making it up as I go alone" Danny answered
"Get in!" Abby said, and the three hurried around the other side. Kara and Jenny slid into the back and Becker took the front passenger seat.
"Con, get in!" Kara said as Abby came to a stop beside him
"What?" he asked, as Becker pulled him in onto his lap. His head stuck out the window as he watched the progress of Danny in the helicopter. The G-Rex was making moves for the helicopter, and Danny was pulling back, before flying low again, he was playing with it.
"He's making it angrier," Kara said, as she watched "Our lives are in the hands of a lunatic, who has no idea what he is doing!"
"I think he's trying to get it back into the hanger," Jenny said
"Really?" Kara asked, as the ground shuddered, from another tremor of the creature's heavy footfalls. It had made another lunge for the Helicopter, but Danny had pulled back at the last minute. "In my opinion, he's a kid, who doesn't know what to do with himself…he shouldn't even be here!"
"Connor did you lock the anomaly?" Jenny asked, as Kara looked back around at them
"Oh yes," Connor said, happily, "Oh no…" he said, after receiving two looks from Jenny and Kara. "We have to get back to the hanger…There! Here!"
Abby turned, and the car headed into the fields on either side of the runway.
"Oh, Connor that's my…" Becker started but trailed. Kara bit the inside of her cheek, and avoided eye contact with Jenny at all costs, she knew what would happen if she looked sideways this moment in time. She would burst out laughing.
They made it back to the hanger before Danny and the G-Rex. Just as they pulled in through the doors, Kara spotted Katherine and Mick had escaped from the storage unit they had been placed in. How they had gotten out, she didn't know, at this moment she didn't really care, they needed to get the anomaly re-opened and the creature back through. Connor was out of the car, as was Becker, Kara pushed the seat in front of her back, and jumped out.
"What the hell do you think your doing?" she demanded of Katherine and Mick
"Haven't you ever heard of freedom of the press?" Katherine asked, her hands on her hips as she faced Kara
Kara shook with contained fury, she was ready to hurt someone. Katherine didn't have a clue what was happening.
"You're gonna get us all killed!" she shouted, but Katherine was cut off from a reply, as Danny flew into the hanger
"Connor!" Jenny said, as the anomaly re-opened, and Danny flew on through it.
She let herself drop to the floor beside Becker and Jenny, her upper body propped up onto her elbows, Becker was lying beside her, his gun aimed in front of him, as the G-Rex thundered into the hanger. Mick and Katherine who had gotten to their feet, had backed up and disappeared through the anomaly, with a scream.
Kara grimaced at the sound, wanting more than anything to block it out. The G-Rex disappeared straight after and the team quickly made it back to their feet.
Danny hadnt come back. Kara could see that, when she looked around. He wasn't standing with the team, and the anomaly was still open. Where was he?
"Danny?" she said, through the radio, as she hurried to Jenny's side at the front of the anomaly "Danny? Can you hear me?"
There was nothing but static crackling on the other side of the radio. Either Danny was dead, or something had prevented him from answering the calls
"We need to lock it again!" Becker said
"He might be alive," Kara responded, and although Danny had ticked her off more than anyone else had today, Kara still hoped she was right.
"We cant take that risk" Becker answered
Kara sighed, she could see an argument coming out of this "He's got a minute…"
"But Kara…"
"Im in charge here!" she snapped "Just give him a chance!"
Becker scoffed from beside her, and Kara's jaw tightened to keep herself from saying something, she may regret "Well, I think your making a big mistake"
She was well aware of the watching eyes focused on her and the anomaly, most on her, wondering what she was going to do as her next move. After a minute or two, and no sign of Danny, Kara knew that she had to accept the inevitable that Danny Quinn may have been dead. There was thundering footfalls coming from the other side of the anomaly, and hisses and roars.
"Okay, do it" she said, dread filling her as the words passed through her lips
There was a roaring in the distance, and Kara watched the anomaly, something was coming through, but she couldn't see what, from the bright shimmering of the anomaly.
"There's something coming through," Abby had spotted it too. But what was it?
"Lock it!" Becker commanded
Suddenly a glimpse was caught, and Kara could see it was Danny.
"Wait!" both she and Jenny yelled
Danny Quinn, came running towards them, before collapsing onto the ground before them, he was out of breath, but he forced himself onto his back and stared at the anomaly "There's a herd of them," he said breathlessly "and their coming"
Kara's eyes grew wide and her face paled "Connor!" she said turning to her friend
"I cant lock it with him in the way," he said, motioning to Danny. Kara, Jenny, Abby and Becker moved forward, and each gripped onto Danny pulling him backwards, and once more, Kara landed on the ground between Danny and Becker, as the anomaly was closed before them.
With a laugh of relief, she exchanged a smile with Abby and Jenny
"So what did you do with the helicopter?" Jenny had asked Danny
"I'll just nip back and get it shall I?" Danny asked, motioning to the closed anomaly.
Kara chuckled, as she fell backwards, and closed her eyes, in relief. She exhaled deeply, before opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling of the hanger. She could now possibly calm down. Her heart beat was slowing, returning to its normal beat, and she could now feel the stinging in her forehead from her cut. She should really get it checked, before it got infected or something.
After the blood pounding day, Kara was ready to return to the ARC, get Grace and Nick and go home for some much needed sleep. She knew Grace was gonna be mad at her, for not letting her come on this run, but Kara would make it up to her, she didn't know how, she just knew she would. She owed a lot to Grace coming here, and putting up with her disappearances for the past month nearly, so hopefully there was something she could do instead.
But there was something she needed to do before that. Looking around, she smiled as she made her way towards Danny Quinn, who was leaning against the overturned black SUV that had belonged to the journalists. He was staring at the anomaly, and Kara took note of the expression on his face. It was identical to the one she knew she had when she saw the anomalies, and thought of her dad. The look of longing, of desperation. Desperate to know if this was a dream.
Her approach, must have startled him, because he looked up quickly his gaze falling on her as she stopped beside him.
"Thank you," she said "You saved lives today,"
"Shh! Don't worry about it," Danny said, with a small smile
"Now, im gonna have to arrest you,"
Danny sighed, "Well we all have out own way of showing appreciation" he commented
"You don't want to get involved in this Danny," she said trying to reason with him "People get killed"
"I know that," Danny said
"How do you mean?" Kara asked curiously
"My brother was killed by a creature," Danny answered her "You look like you've recently lost someone"
Kara nodded
"Who?" Danny questioned
"My dad," Kara answered him "Go back to your life…when you have the chance, just forget all this ever happened" she turned to walk away before stopping and turning back to him "Oh, and get some flying lessons…" she smiled and turned away. She was stopped by Becker.
"What do you want us to with our kamikazee pilot?" Becker asked, nodding his head in Danny's direction
"I was just -" Kara cut off, as she turned to look at Danny, but found the spot he had just occupied empty "Oh, you've got to be -" she looked towards the doors, and sprinted past Becker and out into the open air.
Danny had just disappeared up the road leading out of the air stripped on his bike. Kara, slowed to a walk as she watched him go. It was no use, hurrying, she'd never catch him now, he was gone, even from view. She heard shuffling behind her, and turned to see it was Connor. She stuffed her hands into the pocket of her jacket and walked towards him.
"How's the head?" she asked, him with a slight smile
"Eh," he said "Don't know. Might have knocked some sense into me"
Kara laughed softly "Well done today," she said "Dad would have been proud of you"
"Yeah," Connor said, he looked down at then back up "And you…" he pushed her shoulder lightly. Kara bit her lip and nodded, tears welling up in her eyes once more. "Are you okay?"
She nodded slowly, as a few stray tears fell, and rippled down her face, "Come on" Connor said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they headed back towards the hanger together.
Once back at the ARC, Kara was met by Grace and Nick. She smiled as she took the baby from Grace, and hugged him tightly.
"What happened to you?" Grace asked, touching the small cut on her cousins forehead
"Minor injury," Kara said as she made her way into the main Ops room, and up to Lester's office. She pushed on the door and let herself in, she needed to report what had happened.
"Everything turn out for the best?" Lester asked
Kara nodded, as Nick lay into her shoulder, and his eyes started to close. It seemed tonight was going to be quiet. Grace was going out, she had an actual date this time, Nick would be in bed before 8:00 tonight it seemed, and she could curl up on the sofa with a movie or something, just something to put her mind off of things. Hey, maybe she could even get some sleep.
"I appreciate how hard things have been on everyone" Lester said, breaking through her thoughts "So I wanted to say thank you for everything you've done"
"Calm, controlled and slightly dull," Kara said "Just like you asked for, except for that G-Rex, of course"
At that moment Jenny entered the room behind Kara, and stopped beside her, as Nick's eyes closed fully, and his breathing became shallow.
"Oh! Minor detail" Lester said before turning to Jenny "I spoke to Christine Johnson"
"Oh," Jenny said "Did she tell you anything?"
"Um, as fun as this sounds, im gonna go," Kara said, "I got a lot to do tonight. Jenny can you fill me in on this in the morning?"
"Sure," Jenny said with a soft smile "Goodnight"
"Night," Kara said over her shoulder as she made her way down the ramp and back out towards the car, where Grace was waiting for her. When she approached, Grace was talking quietly on the phone, a smile on her face. Kara smiled softly, as she clipped Nick into the car seat in the back of the car, and moved towards the drivers side. Becker had just appeared in the doorway leading to the ARC, and Kara smiled at him, as she got into the car and closed the door. Grace mimicked her actions, beside her, and Kara reached for her seat belt. She clipped it locked and started the engine, with one more smile at Becker, she pulled out and drove home.
That night, at around 9:00pm, Grace entered the Phoenix cinema with Adam Blake, he was at least 6 ft tall, with short black hair, and midnight blue eyes. He had a medium build. He was gorgeous, she still couldn't believe that she was here with him, he wore usual black pants, shirt and shoes, and a black leather jacket. This was their second date together, and just like the first had decided to go see a movie.
Grace had left her cousin, half an hour after they had gotten home from work. Adam had asked Grace where she had been all day, but she had been told repeatedly by Kara, not to mention anything about the ARC. It was an 'don't ask, don't say' job, so she had to keep it a secret. It was the best way to start a relationship, but she wasn't allowed to say about the ARC, so she would have to suffer the consequences.
"Im glad you made it," Adam said, in his deep voice, that sent thrills through every nerve in Grace's body, it sent a ripple of Goosebumps over her arms, and she smiled up at him.
Grace was wearing, a fine black silk suit, it was made of fine brocade with shadowed patterns, the classy black blouse was designed in an asymmetric style, with the right side over the left, mandarin collar and short sleeves, fastened at the front side with 6 handmade frog buttons. The matching pants were designed baggy styled. Grace had loved it the moment she had seen it, and was surprised that Kara had even managed to get it, her cousin had said it was to make up for not being able to go out in the field today, and after this amazing gift, Grace couldn't stay mad. It had come with a LV handbag and Jimmy Choo shoes, in which she was wearing and using at that moment.
"Yeah," Grace said "me too,"
And together, the two made their way towards theatre three. Grace had agreed to see the unborn, although she was terrified of Horror Movies. She would stick it, if she could hide behind Adam.
It was nearing 9:30pm. Kara Cutter, lying alone on the sofa, in her living room, the TV was on, but she wasn't watching it, infact her eyes were closed. They had been like this ever since her cousin had left. She couldn't believe how tired she had been. Around 8:00pm, Nick had awoken, and Grace had bathed him, before Kara changed him and readied him for bed. Giving Grace a chance to shower and dress. Once Kara had gotten, Nick to bed, she had helped her cousin dress, by giving her the gift she had managed to track down for her. It was a Chinese style Black V-Neck matching shirt and pants. Grace had loved it, and after dressing into it, Kara had fixed her hair and make-up and sent her on her way.
She had then showered, and changed into her pyjamas, they had been a gift from her auntie Jess Hunter, all the way from LA it consisted of a silk camisole and boy shorts with a short wrap. It was all black, and Grace had an identical pair in all white. It was gorgeous, but Kara had yet to wear it, she had put it on tonight, and was wrapped up tightly in a blanket. The TV was on low as she slept, but what woke her up wasn't the TV. It was a small knock on the door.
Pushing herself up, rubbing her eyes, Kara glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:02pm. Who was calling at this time of the night? If it was Grace she would have walked straight in, unless she had forgotten her keys, which wasn't unusual. She had done it before. The knock sounded again, and Kara knew she wasn't dreaming, pushing off the blanket, she got to her feet, and reached for the small wrap that came with her pyjamas, she threw it around her shoulder, but didn't bother to tie it, as she made her way out of dark living room, and around into hallway.
The dark silhouette in the door way, wasn't Grace's. It was too tall for Grace. Half asleep, and yawning, Kara reached for the door and pulled it open. There stood Captain Becker.
"Kara, hi" he said, before realizing she was hardly wearing anything, Kara looked down and yelped as she tried to cover herself with the wrap, but it was no use.
"Becker, what are you doing here?" she asked him, giving up trying to cover herself up, at least she was wearing something, instead of nothing at all. Although she couldn't fight the blush that was forming, on her face, of having him standing before her, and she was like this.
"I wanted to apologize," Becker said "For earlier"
Kara sighed, and stepped aside, "Come in," she said, not wanting him to apologize on the street, where anyone could be listening. When he stepped into the house, she closed the door and pointed towards the living room, before leading the way. She took a seat on the couch she had just woken up from, and pulled the blanket over her, legs. "Please," she said motioning to the seat in front of her.
He sat down. "Um…I just wanted to say, Sorry, if I got at you, earlier" he said
"Its okay," Kara answered "It was pretty tense back then for a moment"
"You did a great job,"
"Thanks" she smiled
"Your dad would have been proud of you, of the way you handled everything"
There it was. The dad card. Kara felt her throat close up, and she turned her head away from Becker, her eyes closed, against the wave of tears that wanted to fall. She had cried enough, she couldn't cry again.
"Are you okay?" Becker asked, and Kara felt the side of the couch sink, as he moved to sit beside her. She breathed deeply and nodded.
"Yeah," she answered, cursing herself as her voice cracked. He had reached out now, his arm brushing against her back as he wrapped it around her waist. And knowing full well, this would possibly change how they looked and worked around one another, Kara didn't care, as she turned to him and buried herself in his embrace. His arms closed tightly around her, holding her relatively close to him.
And at once, Kara felt the familiar feeling that she had felt from only one other person, who had ever held her this close, and how she felt this strongly for. She felt safe.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, and adding's to story alerts and favourite stories. You know who you are. I thank you. I hope this is fast enough update. I wanted this chapter out ASAP, so I put my other primeval fic on hold, so I could write this. Only problem, I chose to write it, on one of my busiest weekends. I had been out all day yesterday, and all day again today. So some of it might seem a little rushed.
I hope no one minded that little bit, where Becker and Kara were in the storage unit, I know its supposed to be Jenny and Connor, but I had my reasons behind it being them too. So. I hoped you enjoyed this last chapter. Oh, and the last part, we meet the OC, Grace ends up with soon. Not next chapter. Sorry, but hopefully the chapter after. Can he be trusted? Or does he had a secret to be revealed? All will be solved soon.
Also, whilst on the topic of the last bit. I hope the second Kara and Becker alone scene, is okay. In my opinion it seems slightly crappy, but it seemed better in my minds eye, I just couldn't find the right words to write it down. But I hope you all get what I mean.
The pictures of Grace and Kara's clothing will be posted, on my Profile, if you want to see what they look like. I would recommend it, helps you understand what I am talking about. Lol.
Anyway, please read and enjoy…and leave me a review on what you think. That's all I ask. Thank you.
~Kara
x
