Chapter 22
"What?" Abby gapped as Jenny took another shot of Nick's whiskey that she had been given to calm her nerves. "Your son is the kidnapper? That's - that's not possible . . ."
Jenny slammed the glass down on the table, looking up at her with slightly smudged eyes. "Really?"
"Little Ben?" Sarah interjected, frowning as she slid into the seat next to Jenny. "No - he could never turn into something like that."
"Well he does," Jenny replied, staring down at the table blankly, too numb to even cry. "And he ain't so little anymore."
The ride back to the ARC had past her in a blur as her mind had gone over every little detail of her encounter with her fully grown son. Nick had tried to ask her questions about what had happened, but she didn't reply - she couldn't reply - not when she knew she'd have to relive it all again as soon as she was with the rest of the team anyway. She knew that she should really tell Nick first, in private, to prepare him for the shock, but quite frankly, she was having a hard time remaining conscious without the effort of explaining the ordeal twice. And in any case - how do you tell a man that he's fathered a monster?
So she had waited until the whole team were gathered together, and she began to explain as best she could, about everything that had happened since he had first threatened her with the gun in the interrogation room. She didn't know whether it was her suppressed maternal streak or not, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to bad-mouth Ben more than was really necessary. She had no loyalties to him of course, but it just seemed wrong. She tried not to look up at Nick as she told the story, but she could sense that he was listening intently as he stood next to her - she could practically feel the waves of shock radiating off him as she spoke in an empty voice.
After she had finished explaining how she had escaped - sans the part about her necking with the guard of course, as she didn't think Nick would be thrilled about that particular part - the team stood in a subdued silence for a few moments, everyone seemingly too stunned to speak.
"You said this . . . this Matt," Lester began eventually, clearly using Ben's false name to depersonalise the situation, making it easier for everyone to do their job. "He informed you that our Locking Mechanism won't work?"
Jenny nodded, looking up at him with tired eyes. "Yes, he said it didn't have enough power behind it."
"But he has one that works?" he pushed, his uncharacteristically gentle tone not quite hiding his tenseness.
Again, Jenny nodded.
"And he's planning on gassing us all?"
"No, he's planning on gassing the creatures that come through before the anomalies are closed," Jenny corrected him, feeling a tiny pulse of protectiveness that she immediately found herself feeling disgusted at.
"But that, in essence, will mean gassing us too," Becker added, looking solemn.
"I suppose," Jenny murmured reluctantly, feeling so overwhelmingly tired that she couldn't summon the strength to take any further part in the discussion, but doubting whether the grilling would let up any time soon.
However, surprisingly -
"Go and get some sleep Jenny," Lester said, surveying her with mild-concern. "You've told us everything you can."
"No, m'alright," she lied immediately. "I can stay up."
"You need to rest," he argued sternly. "Tomorrow's our last day to prepare, and I need everyone at their best - and that includes you." He glanced around at Nick, who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation, looking incredibly drawn and pale. "Take her to bed."
Nick nodded in appreciation, and immediately put his arm around Jenny's waist. "Come on," he said in a gentle tone.
Unable to protest any further, she stood and allowed herself to be escorted out of the main room and down to one of the double bedrooms. Nick's arm stayed around her, steadying her as she staggered with exhaustion. She half-considered pushing him away and arguing that she could walk by herself, but after the day she'd had, it felt nice to know that he was there for her. He lowered her down onto the bed, and she fought with every instinct she had not to give in to her tiredness and lie down. There were a few things she still needed to get off her chest, and he was the only person with whom she'd confide in.
"He hates me Nick," she whispered, looking up at him, her eyes stinging with the effort it was costing her not to cry.
He crouched down in front of her, his expression a mixture of sympathy and shock as he took her hands in his. Thankfully, he didn't try and convince her that he was sure she'd misread the situation, and that everything was going to be fine. He clearly knew her well enough to know that wouldn't comfort her, and that aside, he knew what a good judge of character she was, and obviously was wise enough not to challenge her.
"Why?" he asked in a soothing tone. "What does he think you've done?"
"I - " she began, but her tired brain managed to set off an alarm bell in her head, stopping her before she made a huge mistake. She couldn't tell him the reason why Ben hates her. She wanted to, but she couldn't because that would mean explaining about his predictions of her death on day zero, and she knew, without question, that Nick would refuse to let her go out there point blank if she told him. And she needed to be out there. It wasn't in her to let the people she cared about walk directly into danger without her.
"It was just a feeling I got, that's all," she lied, everting her eyes from his so she couldn't see that she was being untruthful. "Well, that, and the fact that he kidnapped me at gunpoint."
"I'll kill him if I ever see him," he said bitterly, squeezing her hands. "I don't care what sort of world he grew up it - it still doesn't excuse what he did to you - "
"He's our son Nick!" she exclaimed, taken aback by his aggressiveness. "And nothing he's done, or going to do will change that."
"Jenny . . . he's evil - "
"No, he's not evil!" Jenny insisted, not quite knowing why she was arguing his case, but feeling the need to anyway. "He stopped one of his men from attacking me. There's some good in him - I know there is."
"Why are you so adamant to defend him?" Nick asked with a frown.
"Because - " she began, but her voice cracked and she dropped her gaze down to the floor as the tears that had been threatening to come for a long while finally claimed her.
He reached forward and took her face gently in his cupped hands, forcing her to look directly into his calming blue eyes. "Listen to me," he said firmly, his thumbs wiping the wetness away from under her eyes. "That man is not our son. He's not our Ben. He's just a possibility of what Ben might turn out like if we fail in containing the anomalies. And now, thanks to what he told you, that's not going to happen. Okay?"
She bit her lip slightly, knowing that he had a point, but at the same time, unable to shake off the terrible emptiness that had opened up in her stomach. "Okay," she breathed eventually.
He offered her a weak smile, before tilting her chin up, pressing his lips to hers slightly in a tender gesture that she wasn't sure was appropriate since the separation, but couldn't seem to stop herself from allowing.
"Get some sleep," he said softly as he straightened up. "I'll come and check on you in a little while."
She nodded without really taking in what he said and lowered herself down onto the bed. She was asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.
Cutter waited a few moments until he was sure that Jenny was in a deep sleep before he gently lifted her legs onto the bed and draped the heavy blanket over her. With a sigh, he perched lightly next to her, resting his hand on her hip as he watched her, sleeping soundly. A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips as the sight brought back the countless beautiful memories he had of waking up next to her each day.
x x x
Cutter's eyes opened suddenly as he felt Jenny turn onto her back next to him with a groan. He looked round at her, feeling the familiar fluttering sensation in his stomach that he had long grown accustom to since they had started dating. No matter how much time passed, and no matter how long they had been together, one look from her could make him feel twenty-one again. He reached forward and pushed a silky strand of her hair back from her forehead, suppressing a laugh as he marveled how such a beautiful woman could sleep like the dead. Unable to resist, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against her exposed neck. She sighed in a contented manner and tilted her head back, clearly more awake than he had assumed, and she clumsily stroked her hand back through his hair as he continued to plant a trail of soft kisses upwards, until he reached her lips. He felt her smile as he kissed her, although she stubbornly refused to open her eyes.
"Morning," she exhaled with playful sleepiness, reaching her arms up against the headboard and stretching.
"Morning," he smiled, pecking her on the nose, causing her to scrunch up her face. "You planning on opening your eyes at any point?"
"That depends - what time is it?"
He glanced round at their bedside clock. "It's half six."
She let out a small cackle. "Um, then no - I think I'll keep them shut thanks."
"Lazy."
"If you're expecting a booty call at half six on a Saturday morning Nick Cutter, then you can get lost,' she informed him, although her stern tone didn't quite hide the warmth in her voice. "And if you keep this up every weekend, you're banned from staying over."
"You wouldn't do that," he guessed with a smile as he let his finger trace lazy lines on the creamy skin of her arm.
"Try me," she stated with a suppressed smile.
"Okay," he said simply, before rolling on top of her, causing her to shriek.
"Get off me you idiot!" she laughed, making a feeble attempt at pushing him off.
"I'll will as soon as you open your eyes."
She sighed in playful reassignment and, with difficulty it seemed, her eyes fluttered opened, her gaze meeting his. "Better?"
"Tonnes," he smirked, leaning down for another kiss, and despite her previous convictions, she made no attempt to push him away again . . .
Her mobile buzzed, and she immediately wrenched her lips away from his and groped on the bedside table to answer it.
"Leave it," he sighed with disappointment as she casually flipped the phone up to her ear.
She rolled her eyes at him, before speaking in her forced polite telephone voice, "Hello?"
"Just tell whoever it is to piss off - "
"James," she interrupted, widening her eyes at Cutter in warning before continuing talking into the mouthpiece. "What is it?"
"Anomaly alert," Lester's bored-sounding voice drawled out of the mobile.
Cutter ignored the conversation, and instead focused on the more interesting and supremely satisfying task of kissing down her collar bone.
She giggled slightly, before putting her hand over the mouthpiece. "Stop it!" she mouthed at him, pushing his head away, "No, I'm still here James . . . "
Smiling, he reached down and ran his hand across her stomach, deliberately moaning softly in her other ear, nibbling her earlobe, causing her to stutter her words as she spoke down the phone.
"Um, yes . . . we'll meet them . . . what? . . . no, I'm just a bit . . . distracted . . ."
Unmistakably clear, Cutter caught the man's last snipping sentence, "When Cutter's quite finished man-handling you, I need you both there. Now Jenny."
"Of course - bye," Jenny said, flushing bright red as she closed the mobile with a snap. "You are so dead!" she hissed at Cutter, smacking him in the shoulder.
"Shut up, you loved it," he grinned.
"He thinks we're bloody nymphomaniacs now! I won't be able to look him in the eye!"
"Well you didn't have to start moaning down the phone to him, did you?" he pointed out, raising a teasing eyebrow.
"I was not moaning down the phone!" she protested hotly.
Chuckling, he daringly planted a quick kiss on her forehead before getting out of bed. "You are so cute when you're angry."
"Well then I'm about to get adorable!" she retorted, mirroring him by flinging her legs off the bed also. "What am I meant to say to him now?"
"How about - 'Lester, just because you're not lucky enough to be getting any doesn't mean we all aren't'-"
"You're not funny!" she exclaimed as she hopped into her pants.
x x x
Cutter chuckled fondly at the memory as he reached down and pushed a stray piece of hair back behind her ear in much the same way he had done that morning all those years ago. She looked as beautiful as she had done back then, although her present appearance made his blood bubble with fury. She looked like she had been roughed up; her hair was tousled, her arms bruised, and there was a clear mark across her cheekbone that looked as though she'd received a slap of someone. But that wasn't the worst thing about it all; no, that was the pain that was evident behind her dark eyes, as though something inside her had died.
And that . . . man . . . had caused it.
Mind made up, he quietly left the room, closing the door softly behind him so as not to wake her. Then, before he could talk himself out of it, he marched back to the main room, and directly up to Lester, who was talking to Becker in a hushed voice by the detector.
As he approached, Lester looked around. "Ah, Cutter - "
"I want him found, do you hear?" Cutter ordered sternly. "He can't be allowed to roam free after what he's done, especially seeing as he's got access to lethal gas - "
"Yes Cutter, as usual, thank you for stating the bloody obvious," Lester sniped sarcastically. "Of course we can't let him go, but I thought you'd take a bit of persuasion. After all - "
"After all nothing," Cutter finished his sentence for him, turning his attention to Becker. "You still remember how to get to the house?"
"Yes," Becker confirmed.
"Right then, I don't see the problem," Cutter shrugged, trying to keep an emotional detachment.
"Indeed," Lester stated, before addressing Becker. "Take as many men as you can, and bring them all back here - alive is preferable, but dead if you've no other choice. We can keep them locked in the cells downstairs until this is all over."
"And their anomaly locking mechanism - you need to bring that back too," Cutter added firmly.
"Hang on," Abby's voice interjected from behind them; she had clearly overheard the conversation. "Does Jenny know about this?"
"No, she's asleep. And she doesn't need to know," Cutter replied in a colder tone than was necessary - after all, it wasn't really Abby he was mad at.
Abby looked in disbelief from one face to the other. "But surely she should at least be consulted - ?"
"Surprisingly, Miss Maitland, there are much bigger things at stake here than being unfair," Lester snapped sarcastically. "The boy - man - hasn't given us any choice. And as he's neglected to give any reguard to our safety, I say we extend him the same curtsey."
Jenny woke up suddenly with a slight gasp, not knowing where she was or how she had gotten there. Her eyes took in the generic white ceiling and she smelled the sterilised odour before she eventually reaslised that she was safe and sound in one of the ARC bedrooms. Calming slightly, she shut her eyes again, wishing she hadn't woken at all because being conscious meant that she had to deal with thinking about everything.
She could hear two people talking in soft but tense voices, although she couldn't take in any of the conversation. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes again, and spotted Abby and Sarah, apparently in the midst of a heated discussion in the corner.
"What's the matter?" she asked in a croaky voice as she hoisted herself up on her elbows.
They both looked around, hitching identical fake smiles onto their faces.
"Nothing," Abby answered in a tone that was a little bit too cheery to be believable. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine," she replied impatiently as she sat up, narrowing her eyes as she studied their guilty-looking faces. "What's happened?"
They exchanged a fleeting worried-looking glance between them, making her feel even more panicked - what had she missed?
"Well someone please tell me what is going on?" she snapped, looking from one to the other. "Is it Nick?"
Abby sat on the bed next to her, fixing her with a grim look. "There's something you should know . . ."
"How dare you!" Jenny's voice yelled, causing Cutter and Lester's head to snap around.
She was marching over to them, her eyes flashing dangerously, looking utterly livid. Abby and Sarah were following her, looking throughly harassed. Clearly, they had told her that Cutter had given his permission for Ben's - or Matt's as Cutter made his brain think instead - capture.
"Jenny - "
"Why didn't you tell me first?" she demanded, her angry expression not adequately hiding the hurt and betrayal she clearly felt.
"I thought it'd be easier this way," Cutter tried to explain, determined not to let himself feel guilty about it. "It's for the best."
"That was for us to decide together!" she gapped.
"Actually no, it was for me to decide," Lester interjected in a calm tone. "And for once - and I can't believe I'm actually saying this - I'm in full agreement with Cutter. He's a dangerous man, and we need his technology. End of story."
"It is not end of story - " she began hotly, but was cut off by the door opening behind them.
They all turned as a group of soldiers strode in, looking bruised and battered, but triumphant as they marched their captures in. At the front, Becker was holding a struggling young man, who had his hands bound behind his back. Cutter's stomach clenched uncomfortably as he noticed the man looked remarkably familiar. He knew immediately that it was him, but he was quite taken aback to see that although young three-year-old Ben looked like Cutter, fully grown Ben resembled Jenny more so.
"What have you done?" Jenny breathed at his side, shaking her head at Cutter.
"And there he is," the young man sneered to Cutter in a cold, emotionless voice as Becker stopped in from of them, holding the man tight. "What's the matter dad? Not happy to see me?"
Cutter took a moment to look at him - to really look at him. Yes, there were those blue eyes his son had inherited from him, although they were not alive and shining with happiness as little Ben's were - they were cool and dead-looking, giving him the air of someone who had seen some horrific things in his short life. Immediately, Cutter squashed the small quiver of paternal instinct that threatened to flare up inside him, reminding himself that this wasn't his son. He wasn't. He was a murderer. And he had nearly gotten Jenny killed.
The man turned his cool eyes on Jenny, shaking his head and tutting, an amused smile on his lips. "Just when I thought we could be friends."
"Don't you talk to her!" Cutter barked immediately, feeling a pulse of anger.
"Oh, and he speaks!" Ben exclaimed with a cold laugh, turning his attention back to Cutter. "Why, what are you going to do to me if I talk to her?"
Before he could stop himself, the anger exploded in the pit of Cutter's stomach and he punched him, causing him to stagger backwards into Becker.
"Nick!" Jenny gasped from beside him, clamping her hands to her mouth.
Ben straightened up, laughing as though he found the whole situation funny. "Why don't you make it hurt next time old man?"
Cutter knew he was just doing it to taunt him, but he was damn good at knowing how to push his buttons. He saw red, and punched him again, hard. Blood burst from his nose and he fell backwards onto the ground.
"NICK!" Jenny yelled, pushing him in the chest hard so that he moved backwards a few paces. "Stop it!"
"Oh, the joys of family," Lester interjected, his voice seeped in sarcasm. He was watching the scene unfold with mild-interest, his arms folded tightly. He glanced round at Becker. "Take them down," he ordered with a sigh. "Separate cells I think - we don't want a Shawshank situation on our hands."
Becker nodded and pulled Ben to his feet roughly, gesturing to his men to follow with their captures.
Jenny looked round at Cutter, her eyes wide with fury, literally shaking head to toe. "You're no better than he is," she whispered, looking hurt and confused as she turned her back on him.
"Jenny - " he began in an apologetic voice, reaching forward and grabbing her arm.
"Get - off - me!" she snarled, wrenching herself away and shoving him hard in the chest.
She shot him a dirty look before storming off in the direction Becker had taken the prisoners.
A dense silence followed as everyone in the room stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do next. Abby and Sarah were giving Cutter a look that clearly said 'I told you so', but thankfully, they refrained from saying it.
Lester cleared his throat. "I think that went rather well, don't you?"