Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
2.8 The Long Weekend
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Connor had quite a headache. The lights hurt his eyes and the noise from Abby's phone sounded like all the car horns in central London blaring at once in the worst traffic jam imaginable. The ride home from work in the mini had been torture. He knew the shock absorbers on the car were overdue for changing, but not until today had he realized quite how overdue. Abby had held his arm, guiding him every step of the way from where she parked the car until she released him in the flat.
Normally, Connor would be ecstatic over such solicitude from Abby, but right now he just ached. He was lying down, stretched out across the sofa. Connor wasn't ready to face the stairs to his bedroom. He tried to pull the pillow over his face, but that hurt too. He groaned.
"Connor," scolded Abby "it can't be that bad… I know… I remember what it was like when you shot me."
"Abby," said Connor sounding pathetic "I never meant to hurt you…"
"Hush," she said as she sat down beside him jiggling the cushions. "Sit up… I've brought you some tea."
He tried. Really, Connor would try to do just about anything for Abby, but one sip of tea did him in. He was up and scrambling across the floor trying to make it to the lavatory. He almost succeeded.
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Percy turned off his cell phone and headed out of London.
He was going to Brighton… the rest of the team had talked of the place often and it had made him curious. And supposedly… it was a great place to meet girls.
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James Lester got home in time to have dinner with his wife and children.
And if their youngest daughter decided the peas were better on the floor than on her plate, well that was alright. He knew how to sweep up. James Lester was a man of many talents.
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Cutter grinned at the sight that greeted him when he opened the door to his and Claudia's flat.
Before they had married, the two had talked about what kind of home they wanted to create together. Her flat was too small for a couple, so she had let the lease go. His house was huge, but Claudia had been reluctant to move into the house he had owned with his first wife. And Cutter definitely understood. He didn't want Helen's memories to cast a shadow on his new life with Claudia.
Central Metropolitan University had been glad to have the home returned to their roster of faculty housing. Together, Nicholas and Claudia had gone searching London for a place to call their own. They soon found a cozy little place located between both their workplaces. It was near enough, but not too near.
By the time Nick and the team returned from the bear anomaly and met with Lester it was getting dark. A message on his desk phone told him that Claudia had already gone home. So he did what any newlywed man would. Professor Cutter shoved the files in his desk drawer, turned off the light, and pulled the office door shut behind him.
Now he was home, standing in the entryway grinning. Claudia's coat was dangling off the hook in the hall tree. One shoe was almost beneath it, while the other shoe appeared further down the hallway. He could see her purse setting on the closest kitchen counter.
Cutter followed the trail of her belongings into the kitchen. Next to the sink, a corkscrew showed evidence of use. While two goblets waited expectantly beside an open bottle of pinot noir.
"Nick," called Claudia from upstairs "is that you?"
"Well yeah," he replied as he poured wine into the goblets "were you expecting someone else?"
"Nick," Claudia called again "I need some help… would you please come up here?"
"On my way," Cutter responded with a chuckle. He started up the stairs, the drinks forgotten. As he reached the upstairs hallway, he noted that the blouse Claudia had been wearing earlier was now draped across the laundry basket sitting outside the bedroom door. The door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open.
Claudia stood there with her back to him. She turned to face him.
"I can't find a thing to wear," she said with a smirk.
Nick stepped forward into the bedroom. "I think you look beautiful," he breathed. "The birthday suit is very becoming on you."
Sometime later, they did remember the wine downstairs.
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Abby had thought at first that Connor was faking it.
She didn't remember being so miserable when he had shot her with the tranquilizer. But when he fell to the floor heaving the contents of his stomach, she knew he was having some sort of reaction. Somehow, she had managed to get him back into the car and drive him to the emergency clinic.
The nurse wanted to know what was making Connor ill. Abby's response of animal tranquilizer had just gotten a suspicious glare from the woman. From the expression on her face, Abby thought the woman must think that she and Connor were a pair of drug addicts. Pumping his stomach wouldn't work, he hadn't ingested the tranquilizer… it was already in his blood stream. Connor wasn't able to remember any previous allergic reactions, and calling his mother's phone number had just reached an answering machine.
So Abby was back at the ARC, picking up a package of the tranquilizer medication to show to the hospital. It wasn't until she looked at the label, that she realized what the difference was. Abby had been shot by one of their earlier tranquilizer darts. The medication they used then was a standard veterinary dosage of one drug. The medication that Connor had been shot with today was a combination drug… three different medications. No wonder he was ill.
Abby hurried back to the hospital, tranquilizer in hand. She just wasn't expecting to see a constable there when she arrived, nor was she expecting to see Connor hooked up to a heart monitor.
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Lester had to go back to London. He needed to convince a constable and some hospital administrator that Abby and Connor weren't illegally using controlled substances.
The doctor had administered a medication to counteract the tranquilizer the younger man had been injected with, but the man wasn't going to release Connor for twelve hours. The doctor insisted on monitoring Connor's blood pressure for that long. Abby insisted on staying with Connor. Lester grumbled and complained, but really he wasn't going anywhere without the two of them.
When he finally got the two out of the hospital, Lester drove Abby and Connor back to their flat. With stern orders to stay inside and not get in trouble, Lester headed the jaguar out of London once more. With any luck, he'd be home in time for dinner, and he could restart the weekend.
Good thing they all had Monday off.
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