Really sorry i haven't updated recently. Life as usual got in the way. Hope to have the next chapter up by the weekend. Thanks again to everyone reading and feedback would be really appriciated.

Chapter 6: Meanwhile

It had been one month, three weeks and five days since he'd last seen her. Nick leant back at his desk chair, tapping a pencil on the stack of unmarked dissertations that he should have been marking. His eyes fixed on the picture on his desk. He'd removed the photo of Helen when he'd met her for the first time since her disappearance. She had made it very clear that the woman he married no longer existed.

When she had come though last week, she had brought with her some future predators. Savage beasts that had killed dozens before they were themselves destroyed. Helen had been cold, unaffected by the bodies of the three special forces officers that he and Captain Ryan insisted on burying before they returned, intent only on her agenda. The future. She had asked him to go with her but he knew she didn't want him, she was lonely and wanted company .He had refused. He wanted nothing to do with her.

Helen never went with out having the last word though. Stephan's betrayal hurt more than his former wife. The fact that his former friend seemed to think that because it happened so long ago, it wasn't such a big deal didn't help. He could barely look at him. Connor was the only one he really paid attention to these days. The young student had thrown himself into finishing his dissertation, (toning down on the far-fetched extraterrestrial angles). Though his 'consultancy' with the home office he was able to keep Abby's flat, convinced that his friend would appreciate it when she returned. Connor refused to hear otherwise no matter what Lester and Stephan said. Cutter wouldn't do anything to dent that belief, because he wanted so badly to believe it too.

Despite knowing that the odds were against them, Nick couldn't bring himself to believe Claudia was dead. Helen had been amused to learn that Claudia and Abby had been lost in the past. She'd make a callous remark about how long she thought they would last. Her cruel comment only added to the painful knot in his stomach every time he tried to picture his missing friends.

How could they survive with no supplies, in a dangerous world?

Stephan watched him from the door, trying to decide whether to enter or not. He wished Nick would get angry, shout at him or even hit him. Just outwardly react to his stupid mistake instead of this calm withdrawal. The older man looked tired, he had aged since the incident with the raptors.

He took a deep breath and entered the room, catching the professor's attention.

"How's the marking going?" He asked looking at the piles of printed sheets.

"Nearly done."

"Fancy a drink?" He asked, as he had every evening for the past four days, trying to bridge the sudden gap between them, knowing that Nick would refuse.

"I've got a lot of other work to start to start."

Steven watched angrily as Nick refused to even raise his head to look at him, choosing to stare down at the unmarked paper. Deciding to force the issue, he sat down in the chair opposite, his temper spiking as he watched Nick tense.

"Well let me help you then."

"I rather do them on my own, Steven , if you don't mind,"

Steven stood violently, sending the chair back into the far wall on its wheels and leant over the desk.

"For God's sake, Cutter, how long is this going to go on for!" He half shouted, wincing at the look that Nick sent him. "I'm sorry for what happened with Helen, it was a long time ago and it meant nothing. So why can't we just move past this."

"Because it may have been years ago to you, Steven, but it was a week ago to me!" And finally Nick snapped. "You were supposed to be my friend. I've trusted and relied on you for years only to find that you've been laughing behind my back for years."

"Of course I haven't."

"Well I don't know that do I? I don't know you. Tell me this, how the hell am I supposed to trust you now? Now back off and leave me alone!"

"We need to sort this out." Steven told him, a little shaken by the truth in the older mans words.

"No. You want to sort this out, so you can get on with your life without feeling guilty. Sorry, Steven, but making you feel better is way down on my list of priorities."

The two men stood staring angrily at each over before Steven broke the look and stormed out of the room.

Cutter just stood there, feeling just a bit of the pressure ease off now the other man had left. Dropping back into the chair he banged his head once on the desk before reaching for the next paper.

That was when the phone rang.

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