Chapter 3
It was always terror birds. No matter where he went, there were always terror birds. And they were never happy to see him. Danny Quinn, former ARC leader, sprinted through the sparse savanna landscape of the Pliocene era. As he ran, he tightened his grip on Molly, preparing for the inevitable fight to survive. While he was running from the large, flightless birds right behind him, Danny saw an impossible glint over the top of a dune to his right. He knew what that glint was, he just never thought he'd see one again. With a quick feint left, followed by a hard turn to the right, Danny was off like a shot, running for the crest of the dune.
Luckily, years spent running for his life from prehistoric predators had honed his body into an unstoppable machine, and he soon began to get a small lead on the terror birds. As he reached the top of the dune and ran down. Danny could see the object of his dreams gleaming in the bright midday sunlight ahead of him. After hearing one last screech from his ravenous trio of hunters, Danny ran through the anomaly, unsure of what he would find, but ready to face it all the same.
XXXXX
"Steve, get those people into the back." Ben yelled, trying to make himself heard over the commotion the baby Iguanodon was causing. The four foot tall Iguanodon in question swung it's tail and knocked over another rack of movies.
Ben looked around the movie store. He had Lucien keeping people, and the baby dinosaur, inside, while Taylor and Darren tried to calm it down. Meanwhile, he upped the frequency on the signal jammer Steve had developed to keep people from calling anyone during an incursion. Steve was corralling the frightened customers and employees into the storeroom until the baby was taken care of. Ben allowed himself a small smile, after only one month after the Mer creature incident, they were already working as a fully bonded team.
"Gotcha!" Darren yelled suddenly. Ben turned to see what he'd done and immediately burst into laughter. To avoid the dangerous thumb claw the Iguanodon had been waving around, Darren had put the four foot dinosaur into a full nelson. He crouched behind it wearing an enormous smile, holding on while the baby writhed trying to get free.
Taylor moved to one side and secured its arm by sliding on one of the claw gloves Darren had created. Using discarded parts of shark suits, which were designed to withstand shark bites, Darren had stitched together a glove that could be slid over most clawed creatures hands, allowing the team to stop worrying every time they tranquilized a creature that it was going to get back up when they weren't looking.
Taylor stood back and allowed Lucien to tranquilize the dinosaur with a syringe to the neck. Steve walked away from the storeroom door and clapped his friend on the back.
"Good job with the nelson." He congratulated, "Looks like that one season of wrestling team finally paid off." Ben and the others looked at Darren in shock.
"You wrestled?" Taylor asked, looking surprised. Darren shrugged.
"Only for one season," He replied, "It wasn't really my thing." Ben looked down at the baby Iguanodon that was now passed out on the floor.
"OK," He said, looking at the others, "Darren, make sure you get a picture and document it." Darren nodded as he took the lens cap off of his camera. "Lucien, after Darren gets the photo, take this poor guy back to the anomaly and let him go. Taylor, you go with him."
"And Steve," Steve said, looking dramatic, "you go tell a room full of people that they didn't just see a dinosaur trash the shop. And be creative. And make sure they believe you. And don't hit on any of the traumatized women. And-"
"Stop being a smart ass." Ben finished with a grin. "You wouldn't need so many rules if you could just tell people something that makes sense."
"I do," Steve argued, walking back to the storeroom. "my stories always make sense."
"What about the time you told that McDonald's employee that her fridge had been attacked by a pack of deranged rabbits?" Taylor asked
"Or when the woman asked how her front door had been smashed in and asked why we were in her house, you told her we'd been chasing a rhino that got out through her kitchen window." Lucien added, hoisting the Iguanodon onto his shoulders.
"That one was actually true," Ben said, grinning at Lucien, "From a certain point of view."
"OK, fine," Steve said loudly, holding his hands up in defeat, "Occasionally my stories are a bit hard to believe, but do you know how hard it is to cover up a rampaging dinosaur?"
"That's what I pay you for, isn't it?" Ben asked, still grinning, "Now go lie to the uninformed populace." Steve gave a dramatic bow and walked into the storeroom, closing the door behind himself.
"Since when did we get paid?" Darren asked, screwing the lens cap back onto his camera. Ben gave a look of fake shock.
"I bought you dinner just last week." He said, trying to look offended.
"I remember you getting everyone a honey bun out of a vending machine." Taylor added, preparing to leave with Lucien.
"But that's all you ate, so it counts." Ben argued.
"That's all we ate because we spent the rest of the night chasing a herd of Stegosaurus around a storage facility." Lucien said, walking out the door. Ben looked away as Darren grabbed Taylor's arm.
"Be careful." He murmured. Taylor smiled back at him.
"I always am." She replied, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll be back as soon as the anomaly closes." Darren nodded as she walked out of the door after Lucien.
Darren walked over to Ben and stood next to him, both of them watching the storeroom door.
"How long do you think it'll take him to come up with a cover story that covers all of the angles?" Ben asked, still watching the door.
"Given that most people saw the Iguanodon, and over half of them tried and failed to record it on their phones, plus the fact that he's been in there for three minutes already, I give him three more minutes tops." Ben looked at Darren in surprise.
"You want to put a little money on that?" Ben asked
"Five pounds?"
"Works for me."
Two minutes and forty-three seconds later, Steve walked out of the storeroom, leading the group of tired and scared looking people behind him. Ben and Darren stayed silent, they'd learned by now to wait for Steve to tell them the cover story instead of asking it.
Silently, the group of shoppers and workers left the store, leaving Ben, Steve, and Darren standing alone. After a moment, Steve broke the silence.
"Did you know that meerkats can get rabies?" He asked. Ben and Darren began laughing uncontrollably.
"You didn't," Ben said, struggling for breath, "there's no way you got twenty plus people to belive a baby Iguanodon was a rabid meerkat in less than six minutes." Steve looked surprised.
"Was I under six?" He asked, looking at Darren. At Darren's nod, Steve smiled to himself. "That's a new record." Ben pulled out a five pound note as Steve walked away to look at the wreckage. Darren shook his head.
"Keep it," He said, pushing Ben's hand away, "Put it towards your 'team dinner' fund."
Steve laughed while looking through the scattered DVDs. "Is he still trying to pass off those honey buns as dinner?" He asked, looking at the back of a cover. "Hey Darren, do we have this one?" As Darren went over to see, Ben cut in.
"No," Ben told the pair loudly, "You are not stealing a movie just because they won't notice."
"Well maybe I'll buy it with that paycheck you aren't giving me." Steve shot back.
"No." Ben repeated, "C'mon, we have standards."
"Speak for yourself." Steve muttered as he stood up, tossing the case aside. At that moment, Taylor and Lucien came jogging back into the store.
"Anomaly's closed." Lucien said, "But the copppers on on the way." Ben nodded.
"Let's get out of here." Ben said, looking at his team. They rushed out of the store and piled into their respective cars, driving away as the police sirens got closer to the demolished movie store. It had been yet another successful mission.
XXXXX
It was always something. Steve groaned as he forwarded the location of the newest anomaly to the rest of the team. Unfortunately, he still had to work.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Perkins." Steve said into the headset as he grabbed the handheld detector, "What did you say it was doing again?" While listening to Mr. Perkins describe what sounded like the effects of a standard malware program, Steve snagged his keys off the pegboard and went out to the car. He got into his car, tossing his equipment in the backseat.
Steve started the car up and began backing out of the driveway.
"Hello?" Mr. Perkins asked, sounding confused, "Are you still there?"
"Still here, sir. It sounds like you need a new virus protection." Steve responded. His phone began to vibrate, someone was calling him. As Mr. Perkins began to respond, Steve cut him off. "I'm sorry sir, I need to put you on hold for a moment." Steve pulled the headset off and put it on the dashboard while turning the radio up to full volume. He answered his phone.
"Steve here." He said, trying to make himself heard over the radio, but unheard by Mr. Perkins, who seemed to be singing along with the music.
"It's Ben," The fearless leader told him tersely, "I can't get a response from Darren or Taylor, are they with you?"
"No such luck." Steve replied, rapidly switching stations as the DJ came back on.
"Fine, well, try to get in cont- can you turn down the music? It's hard enough trying to focus without having to tune out Elvis Presley as well." Ben sounded stressed and harried.
"Have some respect for the King." Steve responded, "and no, I can't turn it down, I'm using it for hold music."
"What?" Ben asked, sounding confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"No time to explain, boss." Steve said, checking the directions to the anomaly site, "I'll see you there, good luck with Darren and Taylor." Steve hung up his phone and grabbed the headset, turning the radio back down.
"Hello again, Mr. Perkins, I'm back. Now about that problem."
XXXXX
Darren sat leaning back against Taylor's couch watching a movie, Taylor snuggled up beside him. As the movie progressed, Darren began thinking about the amazing turn for the better his life had taken.
When he finally got a photograph of a live dinosaur, that had been impressive. When he had helped form the new ARC, that had been even better. But when he'd rammed a truck into the Mer creature and asked his beautiful teammate out for a drink, that had been the crowning moment of his life.
Darren thought back to his time in the hospital, when she'd asked him if he remembered what he'd said immediately after the collision. Darren had panicked, he couldn't remember much of anything after he made the decision to ram the creature and he was terrified that he'd said something stupid. Luckily, having known Steve for years had given Darren some small ability in the art of bull crap, and he'd told her that he remembered everything.
That seemed to have been the right choice as she immediately brightened up. Then she told Darren that she would wait until he was feeling up to it to go out for their drink. Darren had frozen in fear as he realized what he must have asked her, but before he could say anything, the other team members poured into the room, all continuing to check up on him.
After everyone but Steve had left, Darren confided in his friend what he'd done. Steve, as usual, made a joke out of it. He actually made several jokes out of it. But eventually, he helped Darren see the positive side of the situation, namely that he'd already asked her out and she'd already said yes. So when he'd gotten out of the hospital, they'd gone out for a drink, and now they were dating, and Darren felt like the luckiest man on Earth.
Midway through the movie, Darren looked around. He could have sworn he heard something. After a few more moments, Darren heard it for sure.
"Do you hear that?" He asked Taylor. She looked at him with a quizzical expression.
"I don't hear anything." She replied. Darren frowned, it sounded like it was coming from the table behind him where Taylor had set her purse.
"I think it's coming from your purse." He said after a moment. Suddenly, Taylor's eyes widened.
"My phone's still on vibrate." She said. Darren was confused until he realized what the implications of not being able to hear their phones was. He pulled his out of his pocket and groaned.
"It's been on silent," He said, worried, "And I've missed five calls from Ben, four from Steve, and two from Lucien." Taylor shot up and went to her purse, pulling out her phone.
"Seven from Ben," She read hastily, "two from Steve, and four from Lucien." They shared a worried look.
"It's an anomaly." Darren said, standing up as well. Taylor scrolled through her phone to get Steve's location text.
"I've got the location." She said loudly, "It's in the abandoned textile factory. That's only a few minutes away." She grabbed her jacket and keys and headed out of the door. Darren rushed after her.
"I'll call Ben now." He said, getting into the passenger seat of her car. Ben picked up after only one ring.
"Steve, where the hell have you been?" The harried team leader shouted into the phone. "Is Taylor with you? Why haven't you been picking up?"
"I'm sorry, Ben." Darren apologized as Taylor pulled out onto the street. "Our phones were turned down and we couldn't hear them, we're on our way. What's the status?"
"Nothing yet." Ben replied, "But get here as quickly as you can, just in case."
"Got it," Darren said, still trying to sound apologetic, "we're on our way." Darren hung up the phone and filled Taylor in.
Taylor pulled into the textile factory parking lot only a few minutes after Darren got off of the phone with Ben and the pair rushed inside. The anomaly was located in the center of the cleared factory floor and the rest of the team were surrounding it, looking anxious. Darren noticed Steve was wearing his headset, which meant he was working.
Darren clapped Steve on the shoulder as he walked past him to take his place in their standard semi-circle surrounding the anomaly. Steve gave him a distracted nod as he argued with the person on the other end of the phone.
"I understand the computer is operating slowly, Mrs. Harris." Steve said, his voice tinged with exasperation, "But you need to understand that I need you to start it up so I can help you figure out what's wrong with it." Steve looked at Darren and made a face of boredom, miming with his hands that Mrs. Harris was droning on and on. Darren smiled at him and shook his head.
Suddenly, the anomaly pushed outwards. Darren and the rest of the team took a step backwards, preparing either for it to close or for some creature to rush out. What none of them were expecting, however, was for a man to run out of the anomaly. This man had clearly been living rough for a long time. His t shirt may have once been white, but it was now a permanently stained brownish color. The red plaid shirt he had on was unbuttoned and was sporting several holes and tears. The man's face was weathered and bronzed by constant exposure to the sun, and he had a large gash running across his cheek, no doubt from some encounter or another. The man looked at the new ARC team with a small amount of surprise, but recovered quickly.
"Hi there." He said, looking around. "Give us just a sec." The man turned back around and faced the anomaly, hefting the large walking stick he had with him like a baseball bat.
Darren heard a loud screech from the other side of the anomaly and it expanded again, bringing with it a large, angry looking ostrich-like bird. It screeched again and charged at the man, who swung his stick upwards, connecting it with the birds head, causing it to snap back with a sickening crack. The bird fell, dead before it hit the ground. Two more birds came through the anomaly and looked at everyone assembled.
"Stand your ground." The man instructed calmly, staring warily at the remaining birds, "If they can see I've killed one, they'll back off. They're mean, but terror birds aren't stupid." After a few tense seconds, the remaining terror birds backed away slowly into the anomaly, still glaring at the man with the stick. As they left through the anomaly, the stranger turned to face the team. They stood in silence as they watched the man silently while he watched them. Suddenly, Steve broke the silence.
"No, no, I'm still here, Mrs. Harris." He said loudly, looking apologetically at the others. The strange man looked at him in confusion. "I'm sorry," Steve repeated, "things are just busy, I was horribly, horribly distracted. What was your problem again?" Darren and the others waited while Steve looked progressively angrier
"Well there's no... I said I'm... Just listen here..." Steve sputtered, obviously being yelled at by the woman on the other line. The stranger gave Darren a confused look.
"He works as tech support." Darren explained in a whisper, "You caught us at a bad time."
"Oh," The man replied in a whisper, "sorry about that." Suddenly Steve exploded into the headpiece.
"Well, if you're going to be so rude when I'm in the middle of a situation, then you can go bake your cookies in hell you old crone!" He tore the headset off and threw it in a random direction. Ben looked between the man and Steve. Finally, he stepped forward.
"Ben Trent," He said, extending his hand. "New ARC team leader." The man frowned before reaching out and shaking Ben's hand.
"Danny Quinn," He replied, "old ARC team leader."
XXXXX
Ben didn't recognize the name, but he could tell Steve and Darren did. Steve's eyes got wider and Darren gave a small gasp of surprise. As Danny turned to face him, Steve's short range anomaly detector began beeping loudly.
"I thought you turned that off," Ben said, looking at Steve.
"I did," He replied, frowning at the device. "I acknowledged that I reached the anomaly when I got here. It keeps flashing from one spot to another." Steve kept frowning as he slapped the device against the palm of his hand. Danny moved over to him.
"Here," He said, holding out his hand, "let me see it." Steve looked over to Ben for confirmation. Ben nodded and Steve handed over the device. Danny stared at it for a moment.
"What the hell is this thing?" He asked with a confused look, "I've never seen a detector like this before. I thought you said you were ARC."
"We are ARC," Steve replied, taking the detector back, "sort of." Danny's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean, sort of?" He asked. Ben noticed he tightened his grip in the stick he was carrying. He heard Lucien moving out from behind him, still carrying his hunting rifle, to get a better angle on Danny if things got ugly. Danny apparently noticed too and moved away from Steve, putting his hands up slightly.
"I don't want any trouble." He said calmly, looking between everyone. "You just don't look like the ARC I remember." Ben started to explain, but Darren gasped loudly. He had been looking at the detector and was holding it up to show Ben.
"Another anomaly just opened up in the building." He said quickly. "The two anomalies are interfering with each other, that's what's causing the detector to act up." Ben nodded, processing the new information.
"Darren and Taylor, come with me." He said, "We'll go secure the new anomaly. Lucien, Steve, you two wait here. Lucien, keep a look out for any more terror birds."
"I'm coming with you too." Danny said, jogging up to Ben. Ben sighed, he didn't have time to argue, there could be a creature incursion any minute.
"Fine." Ben replied, turning to follow Darren, who was running ahead with the detector. "But stay close and do what I tell you."
"You've never read his file," Steve called as Ben and Danny raced off after Darren and Taylor. "I don't think he followed his own orders sometimes."
XXXXX
Danny followed the new team leader and tried to process what was going on. He was obviously back in modern times, and these kids seemed to know what the ARC was. But none of them acted like ARC members, especially not the high-efficiency, paramilitary ARC Danny had met when he'd been back for a few hours, almost five years ago. Danny almost stopped as the shock hit him, he'd been gone for for over six years in total. There was no way he should be alive at all.
The guy with the long black hair and camera around his neck turned suddenly into a side room, and the others followed. Sure enough, the camera guy had been right, there was a large glowing anomaly right in front of them. Unfortunately, there was also a Roman centurion standing in front of the anomaly with his sword out, looking dangerous. When he saw the group of people standing by the doorway, he waved his sword threateningly at them.
"Quis novus abyssus est is? Quare operor filiolus persevero imprecor mihi?" The Roman yelled angrily, stepping forward. Danny sighed, he thought back to how much fun it had been to convince the knight he wasn't in hell. Danny doubted the Roman would be any easier. He looked at the kids claiming to be part of the ARC team.
"He said, 'What hell is this? Why do the gods continue to curse me?'" Danny translated as he moved to the front of the group, holding Molly in front of him in a defensive stance.
"You speak Latin?" Ben asked, sounding confused. Danny gave another internal sigh, why was everyone surprised that a copper had a classical education?
"Vos es non in abyssus, nos vilis vos haud vulnero." Danny told the centurion. Danny looked over his shoulder, "I told him he's not in hell and we don't mean him any harm."
"Look out!" The blonde woman screamed suddenly. Danny was able to turn back just in time to block the centurion's sword with Molly. Danny grunted with the effort as he pushed the centurion back. Danny sighed and shook his head, if he wanted to play rough, Danny was going to play rough.
Danny and the centurion circled each other, both eyeing one another warily. With a wild shout, Danny launched his attack, jabbing at the centurion, pushing him back and keeping him on the defensive. Suddenly, the centurion dodged one of Danny's jabs and swung for his head. Luckily, Danny had been waiting for that move and he ducked, swinging Molly at the centurion's knees.
Danny's attack, coupled with his own failed slash, threw the centurion off balance, causing him to topple to the floor. Danny stood up quickly and gave the centurion a quick rap over the head, knocking the misplaced Roman unconscious. Danny turned to see the stunned faces of the others. They were all staring at him, open mouthed in shock and awe. Danny shook his head, looking at the unconscious centurion.
"They just aren't making these guys like they used to." He said, trying to sound casual.
Ben opened his mouth to respond, but whatever he'd been about to say was drowned out by the screeching of a pair of Pterosaurs as they flew through the anomaly and circled the high ceilinged room before swooping down to the group.
One of the Pterosaurs landed in front of Danny, between him and the centurion, and gave another loud screech, marking its prey. Meanwhile, the second landed in front of the other group. It began cawing and waddling towards them, making quick jabs with its sharp beak.
Danny moved away from the first Pterosaur and tried to help the others with the second. It kept backing them up and they didn't seem to have an effective weapon against it. The Pterosaur made another jab at the blonde woman and the taller guy with the camera put his arm in front of her, pushing her behind him. As it made another jab, the guy lifted his camera and set off the flash.
The Pterosaur jerked its head back in fear and pain. That was all the opening Danny needed. He rushed forward and swung Molly as chest level into the unlucky Pterosaur. It was knocked backwards, stumbling away from Danny and the others. Danny waved Molly threateningly at it and the Pterosaur took off back through the anomaly.
As the camera guy pulled the blonde woman into a tight hug, Danny heard moaning from behind him. He turned to see the Roman centurion trying to raise himself. Unfortunately, the Pterosaur saw him as well. Thinking quickly, Danny threw Molly at it, hoping to scare it away. He couldn't believe that it worked, but as soon as the stick hit the Pterosaur's back, it took off, flying back through the anomaly as the glowing ball of light closed behind it. Danny sighed and looked at the struggling centurion, it looked like he was stuck here as well.
As Danny moved to the centurion, he heard gun shots echoing from the main floor where the first anomaly had been located. Without even sparing Danny or the centurion a second glance, all three of the ARC members rushed off to see what happened. Danny shook his head as he crouched down next to the centurion, tossing the man's sword out of his reach. Despite his initial thoughts, these kids were definitely ARC. Even if they were some type of unofficial ARC, they'd still proven themselves to him in the past ten minutes.
Danny put his hand on the centurion's shoulder as he tried to sit up. The Roman stopped and looked at Danny with confusion.
"Quis everto servo vita damno primoris?" The centurion asked, looking up at Danny. He translated in his head: What demon saves the life of the damned first? Danny gave the man a small smile.
"Unus ut uest non a everto. Operor vos narro ullus English?" Danny responded, lifting his hand.
"Then you are not a demon?" The man asked, surprising Danny with his fluent English. Danny nodded.
"No, and this isn't hell." Danny added, standing up and extending his hand to the Roman. The man took it and allowed Danny to help him to his feet.
"Then where am I?" The centurion asked. "And what were those creatures if not demons?" Danny sighed to himself, this was going to be complicated.
"It's... hard to explain." Danny told him. "But I'm Danny, What's your name?" The centurion looked at Danny for a moment and then he bowed.
"I am Gartus Iorta, commander of Caesar's fifth legion, at your service." Danny nodded, this was going to be very complicated.
XXXXX
Taylor looked at the other members of the team who were all sitting in a circle on boxes that they'd found around the factory, and she was instantly reminded of the first time they all met. Of course, last time, there wasn't a member of the original ARC and a Roman centurion present; nor had there been two dead terror birds in another room of the factory. She squeezed Darren's hand as she thought about the Pterosaur again. She'd been terrified when it had begun to jab at them, but Darren had been there to protect her, and she'd made sure he knew how grateful she was for that. She looked back as Danny as he sat down and looked over everyone.
"So, first things first." Danny said, rubbing his hands together. "What year is it?"
"2013." Ben told him plainly. Danny nodded, looking thoughtful. Then he suddenly perked up.
"That means you've had another World Cup." He said excitedly. "Who won?" Taylor was taken aback as his sudden change of topic, but Steve, as usual, was unfazed by the odd transition.
"Spain." He replied casually. Danny looked interested.
"Good match?" He asked. Steve shrugged.
"It wasn't too bad." He said conversationally, "They might have lost but the other teams goalie choked in the last quarter." Danny nodded again.
"Right, so we've gotten the important stuff out of the way. Now, what happened to the ARC, because you definitely aren't the ARC I left or the ARC I met four years ago." Ben leaned forward.
"The ARC you knew has been shut down." He told Danny, "It's been closed up for years."
"Why would they do that if there are still anomalies?" Danny asked, beginning to look angry.
"There was something called convergence." Steve cut in, "Basically hundreds of anomalies that opened up on the same day. Then after convergence, the anomalies stopped appearing." Danny frowned, looking at the spot on the factory floor where he'd come through an anomaly only an hour ago.
"So why hasn't the ARC opened back up if anomalies are appearing again." He asked, still looking confused.
"Steve and Darren got into the ARC database," Ben explained, "they found out that all of the old ARC members are under constant government surveillance." Now Danny looked more confused than ever.
"Why would the British government monitor the ARC?" He asked, looking angry. "Especially after everything we did for them."
"To make sure they didn't tell anyone about the anomalies." Darren said quietly. "During convergence, there was complete chaos. Dinosaurs in the streets, people looting, the churches overflowing with last minute converts; real end of the world stuff."
"And then when it ended," Steve picked up. "the government convinced everyone that there were drugs in the water, and that there had been a terrorist attack."
"So now they monitor the old ARC in case any of them tell people what really happened." Taylor finished, looking at Danny. Suddenly the Roman, Gartus, spoke up for the first time. He'd been so quiet the entire time, Taylor had forgotten he was even there.
"What is the ARC? And what are these 'anomalies'? And how can the world have a cup, and what must you do to win it?" He asked with a severely confused look on his face. Taylor saw Ben give a small sigh.
"The glowing ball of light, that was an anomaly." Ben explained. "They're like doors to another time, like from here to Rome." Gartus frowned.
"The light door you found me at did not lead from Rome." He told them, "It led from a forest where demons dwelled. I followed one of the anomalies, as you call them, from Rome into the forest of the damned, where I was stranded for three months." Taylor and the others looked at the centurion in shock. He'd survived in the past for three months on his own. Danny merely shrugged and patted Gartus on the back.
"Maybe later we can go over the best ways to cook a dinosaur, aye?" Danny told him with a smile. Gartus frowned again.
"What is a dinosaur?" He asked, looking at Danny in confusion.
A few hours later, after the team had caught Danny up on the past five years of current events, and Gartus on the most important events of the last two thousand years, they were heading back to their cars. Lucien had volunteered his spare room to Danny, who was legally dead, and Steve and Darren had demanded that Gartus come and live with them. Taylor knew Steve just wanted someone to explain everything to. Steve didn't have many vices, but Taylor had discovered in the past month that he really did like to demonstrate his knowledge to anyone who was willing to listen which was usually Darren. And now that she had begun to occupy more of Darren's time, she knew Steve needed a new audience.
Taylor was walking back to her car with Darren, who had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Steve and Gartus were walking behind them while Steve attempted to explain how the cars worked. Suddenly, Danny came running up to them, calling Darren's name. Darren turned around to face him.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Danny asked as a greeting. Darren shrugged.
"Yeah, what's up?" He asked. Steve and Gartus stopped walking as well and stood close by, listening in the the conversation.
"Firstly, good job with the Pterosaur." Danny congratulated. "That was a quick bit of thinking to use the flash on your camera." Darren looked the ground, clearly a little embarrassed to receive such good praise from one of the original ARC.
"Secondly," Danny continued, "Ben says you're the guy to talk to about the other ARC members." Darren nodded.
"Yeah, I always liked reading the files, especially yours." He admitted, "I guess you want to know about Connor Temple and Abby Maitland?"
"Yeah," Danny replied, looking hopeful for some good news. "and Captain Becker and Lester."
"Well, Abby Maitland is now Abby Temple." Darren told him. Danny grinned widely. "They got married four years ago and have a four year old boy named Nicholas Stephen Temple, and a two year old girl named Sarah Paige Temple." Danny looked upset about something, but quickly hid it beneath a smile.
"I wonder what they'll name the third one." He asked with a grin. Steve laughed and Darren smiled, but Taylor missed the joke.
"I don't get it." She said, looking at Darren.
"Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, and Sarah Page are all core ARC members that died in the line of duty." Darren explained. "Danny was just saying that they've run out of names." Taylor frowned at what she didn't think was a very funny joke. Danny seemed to notice.
"Bad joke, I know." He apologized, "I haven't spoken with anyone for a while, so I'm still trying to remember what I should and shouldn't say." He gave her a small smile before turning back to Darren. "And what about Captain Becker, what happened to him?"
"He's been promoted to Major Becker." Darren told Danny, "And he married Jess Parker, the former ARC field coordinator. Their wedding was only about six months ago." Danny nodded, digesting the news.
"The old ARC leader, Matt Anderson, where's he now? And Lester, what happened to Lester?"
"Lester retired from the civil service after the ARC shut down." Darren said, "And no one has seen Matt Anderson or Lady Emily Merchant since the last anomaly alert."
"By all accounts, they dropped off the face of the Earth." Steve added. "No one has seen them for years." Danny nodded, looking thoughtful.
"OK," He said after a moment, "Thanks, Darren." Danny turned and walked back to Lucien, who was waiting by his car. Darren held Taylor's arm as Steve and Gartus walked to Steve's car.
"I think things are really going to start changing around here." He confided in a whisper. Taylor looked at the concern in his eyes.
"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.
"This isn't just a little group anymore." He said, sounding worried. "Now we've got a dead man and a Roman centurion on our team, and the anomalies are getting worse. There were three today alone." Taylor nodded, she saw his point but didn't share his concern.
"Then we'll just have to start doing even better than we have." She told him with a small smile. "Don't worry, we can handle the anomalies." Darren nodded.
"I know," He said, "but the more anomalies we respond to, the more chance we run of getting caught." Taylor noticed the look of worry in his eyes. "I just don't think this will work as a government operation again, not after convergence day. The government isn't concerned with keeping people safe, they just want to keep them from knowing about anomalies." Taylor sighed as she wrapped her arms around Darren, he had some good points, but there was no point in worrying about it now. All that mattered was that they'd survived again.
AN: To start, I know that Romans wouldn't have spoken English because English hadn't been created yet. Just go with it, I need Gartus for some later plotlines and I wanted a Roman. Sorry for the delay, this chapter wasn't easy to write; there's always one. So extra reviews would be great because I didn't think this one was one of my best. The next one will be better, I promise.