Short chapter which I'd written a while ago but forgotten about, just to show you I haven't lost interest in the story. Updating might be a bit sporadic for a while due to personal issues sorry x

Chapter 24

According to Connor, it was just as Ben said it would be. The Locking Mechanism wouldn't work for him, nor any one else. However, after hours of tinkering around with the thing, he came up with the half-hearted solution that he could transfer the power source of Ben's Locking Mechanism to his own, although he seemed unsure of whether it would actually work. Still, they all concluded, it was worth a try. Jenny liked the idea far better than Lester's suggestion that they should cut off Ben's hand to activate the Mechanism.

The day passed them all by in a blur of regimented procedures; of firearms training, of getting suited up, of meeting their team of soldiers and going over and over each and every detail of their positions and plans for the following day. In spite of everything, Jenny found herself desperate to go and see Ben in the cell again, but apart from the fact that she'd been completely forbidden by Lester, she knew that as hard as it was, she needed to keep herself focused, and not let him manipulate her any more. It was painful, and there wasn't a second of the day that she didn't think about him, but she knew it was for the best. Whatever that meant.

The whole time, Jenny had assumed Nick had been helping with the Locking Mechanism, but as evening fell, Jenny passed the room where he had set up everything, and found Connor quite alone, his brow furrowed in concentration as he fiddles with one wire or another.

"Where's Nick?" she asked, stopping and leaning against the doorframe.

"Hm?" he said, a distracted look in his eye as he rounded the machine again, his gaze not leaving it.

"You know, my husband? The farther of my child?" she added with a slight smile. "Ring any bells?"

"Oh right, yeah," he replied absently. "I haven't seen him in ages."

"What?" she said, surprised. "Well, what's he been doing all day then?"

He shrugged, squinting at two wires that were entwined together. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Confused, Jenny watched him work frantically for a few moments before straightening up and making her way towards Nick's office. She had been with training Abby, Sarah, Becker and the soldiers all day, and had assumed that Nick had been fulfilling his end of the bargain and was helping Connor. And if he hadn't been - where on earth was he?

Her thoughts were stopped as she passed the kitchen area of the ARC, and something caught the corner of her eye. She backed up slightly to get a better look, and with a jolt of surprise, she saw that Nick was slumped against the table, one hand supporting his head, the other clutched around a bottle of whiskey.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jenny gapped as she walked in.

He looked up at her, his blue eyes glazed as though he wasn't aware of anything that was going on.

"Nothing," he murmured, straightening up and reclining back in his chair.

"Nothing?" she repeated in disbelief, reaching forward and snatching up the alcohol. "What the hell is this?" she demanded, holding the bottle up.

"That, my love, is a bottle of whiskey," he stated drunkenly. "And that is where all my troubles are."

"Have you lost your mind?" she demanded, completely aghast. "Why are you getting drunk? Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"

"Aye," he slurred, looking down at the table with watery eyes. "Tomorrow is the day when everyone I've ever cared about will be out there risking their lives while I'm stuck here, doing nothing."

"You're supposed to be helping Connor with the Locking Mechanism!"

"He doesn't need my help here, and you guys don't need my help out there," he said quietly. "I'm completely useless to everyone."

"Oh, don't be so self deprecating," Jenny replied coldly, crossing her arms and looking him up and down.

"Why not?" he muttered, starring down at his hands. "My wife hates me - "

"I don't hate you - "

"My son hates me," he continued, ignoring her interruption. "For something I haven't even done yet. What's the point?"

She placed the bottle down on the table, her heart softening slightly. "Nick, come on. I know this has all been horrible, but drinking your weight in whiskey isn't the answer."

"My son turns out evil," he continued, as though he hadn't taken in a word she'd said. "He turns into Helen, and it's all my fault."

His confession took Jenny by surprise slightly, as she hadn't even known that the arrival of their future son had affected him so. After all, wasn't he the one who said that the man locked downstairs wasn't their Ben?

"It's just as much my fault as it is yours," Jenny pointed out gently. "He's my son too."

He laughed humourlessly. "Oh, but he loves his mummy, doesn't he? He tried to get you away from it all. He was going to gas me."

"Nick, he's a very disturbed man," she explained softly, heart thudding as she carefully tried to word it as though she didn't know what was supposed to happen in the future. "He doesn't know what he's doing - "

"We both know that's not true," he replied, his glazed eyes meeting hers. "He's a bloody genius, coming up with technology like that Locking Mechanism. He's thought through every single detail of his plan, and my death was part of it. What does that say about me as a parent?"

Jenny sighed heavily to herself and slipped into the seat next to him. "Do you not think that I'm feeling the exact same way as you are? Do you not think I'd love to just sit here and drink myself into oblivion as well?"

"I'm not stopping you - "

"But I can't," she continued, ignoring him. "Because we've got a job to do tomorrow, and drinking whiskey all night isn't going to help anyone."

"Well, like I said, I'm not helping anyone tomorrow am I?" he stated with a forced smile as he reached forward and picked up the bottle again. "Cheers," he added to her, putting it to his lips.

Sympathy rapidly dissipating into fury, Jenny grabbed the bottle off him and stood up, striding over to the sink and throwing it in so that the glass smashed into a dozen pieces and the brown liquid trickled off down the plug hole.

"Hey!" Nick yelled aggressively, standing up himself and staggering over to her. "What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded, his face red with anger.

"To snap you out of it!" she shouted back, shaking with indignance.

"It's none of your business if I chose to drink an entire brewery!" he bellowed, startling her slightly.

"Calm yourself down!" she snarled.

"Why? Being married to you should have driven me to the bottle by now anyway!"

Jenny laughed coldly, her blood pressure rising. "You know what Nick? Not being with you is becoming easier by the day."

"Yeah? Well the feeling's entirely mutual!" he yelled, taking a step towards her. "I'd forgotten how much of a nag you are!"

"And I'd forgotten how much of a bastard you are!" she exclaimed hotly, her temper threshold completely reached. "You sit here all night and drink yourself to death for all I care!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Good!" she shouted, pushing him away from her and storming out, blood boiling.