Primeval WIP: Talking (3/...)
Title: Talking (3/...)
Author: TalliW
Pairings: Lester/Cutter
Rating: PG, hints of slash, but really harmless
Disclaimer: Primeval are the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun. So don't bother me.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to fredbassett for beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without you.
Cutter had thought it over, again and again. It was time to move on, finally. But to do this he had to get rid of the past or more accurately one particular person from his past. But that wasn't going to be so easy as it sounded.
So when he strode right into James Lester's office, without even a greeting he came straight to the point.
"I want a divorce!"
Lester blinked. "Good morning to you too."
"Ah, yeah right. Good morning." Cutter answered embarrassed.
Then he continued, with barely a pause:
"For the last 8 years I thought Helen had died in the Forest of Dean and I started to glorify our marriage, I blocked out all the problems we'd had. Now she's back, messing up everything in my life, telling me she had an affair with my former student and eventual friend. And to top all this, de facto, she is still my wife and apparently wants me back." Nick visibly cringed at the thought.
"So I want a divorce and I want to get rid of her once and for all. I want to be rid of this.... this...."
"... bitch of hell..?" Lester supplied, helpfully.
Cutter had to suppress a chuckle. The topic was too serious to make fun of it, wasn't it? Maybe not.
"Of course, I can help you." Lester said. "I know enough about awkward affairs. I've just got a divorce myself."
Cutter looked shocked. "And here was me thinking you were a happily married man."
"No, I'm just a happily divorced man." Lester answered, in his usual deadpan manner.
Now Nick Cutter couldn't hold back his grin. Who would have thought a government employee could have such a sense of humour?
James Lester merely raised his left eyebrow, then got back to business.
"Officially she's still dead and you're a widower. But after she's jumped in and out of our timeline this much, there is no denying she's still alive. So what we have to do first is acknowledge that she never died, but rather left you deliberately. Then it will be easy to convince the court your marriage is truly over and that she is the one responsible. I can get the procedure on the way whenever you want, discreetly, of course."
Cutter was relieved. He knew James Lester was nothing if not efficient. With him pulling the strings, Nick could be sure he would be a divorced man soon.
"Yes, please. And thank you!" he answered, then smiled gratefully at Lester.
At that moment the Anomaly Detector went off and a screeching sound carried through the ARC. Both men winced and started to move down to the others already gathering around the Detector.
Half down the ramp to the ground floor, Nick turned around to Lester. "Look, I'm really grateful for your help. So when you need something...." he trailed off at James Lester's intense look. Hell, this was awkward. He tried again. "I mean... perhaps we could meet ... after work... .... and discuss the matter in more detail?"
Lester gulped: "I think I have all the information needed right now."
Dejectedly, Nick walked on, but he had to give it one last try. He was sick of his seclusion. Ever since coming back through the Anomaly in the Forest of Dean he'd felt separated from the others. He missed his former friend Stephen and the good intellectual conversation they'd shared. Now they hardly tolerated each other.
Abby and Connor were still enthusiastic kids and with Jenny he'd barely formed a tentative cooperation after ticking her off once too often by calling her Claudia. Lester was the only one he could still have a decent chat with, even though they did rub each other up the wrong way all too often. Besides he was the one who seemed to be able make him smile without even trying. Nick needed to laugh, needed to loosen up or he would fall into the living hell his lovely wife had created for him.
So he fought down his pride and nearly pleaded: "We could ... you know... just talk, have a nice conversation about ... anything you want."
James Lester regarded him watchfully then gave a tentative nod. "Perhaps later, when we have the latest anomaly under control again. I'm sick of looking at the wall in a hotel as a evening entertainment anyway."
"Hotel?" Nick asked, instantly curious.
"Yes. My ex-wife got the kids, the house and the car. All I've got left is an old manor in need of too much repair and an even older hunting lodge which is more ruinous than the manor."
With an impish grin he added: "As you can see I'm not a great catch anymore."
Nick chuckled at this and strode on to where his team were waiting for him.
He had an anomaly to secure and an appointment to look forward to.
And there was also the remote chance that he might make, well, maybe not a great catch, but certainly a really nice one.
Author: TalliW
Pairings: Lester/Cutter
Rating: PG, hints of slash, but really harmless
Disclaimer: Primeval are the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun. So don't bother me.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to fredbassett for beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without you.
Cutter had thought it over, again and again. It was time to move on, finally. But to do this he had to get rid of the past or more accurately one particular person from his past. But that wasn't going to be so easy as it sounded.
So when he strode right into James Lester's office, without even a greeting he came straight to the point.
"I want a divorce!"
Lester blinked. "Good morning to you too."
"Ah, yeah right. Good morning." Cutter answered embarrassed.
Then he continued, with barely a pause:
"For the last 8 years I thought Helen had died in the Forest of Dean and I started to glorify our marriage, I blocked out all the problems we'd had. Now she's back, messing up everything in my life, telling me she had an affair with my former student and eventual friend. And to top all this, de facto, she is still my wife and apparently wants me back." Nick visibly cringed at the thought.
"So I want a divorce and I want to get rid of her once and for all. I want to be rid of this.... this...."
"... bitch of hell..?" Lester supplied, helpfully.
Cutter had to suppress a chuckle. The topic was too serious to make fun of it, wasn't it? Maybe not.
"Of course, I can help you." Lester said. "I know enough about awkward affairs. I've just got a divorce myself."
Cutter looked shocked. "And here was me thinking you were a happily married man."
"No, I'm just a happily divorced man." Lester answered, in his usual deadpan manner.
Now Nick Cutter couldn't hold back his grin. Who would have thought a government employee could have such a sense of humour?
James Lester merely raised his left eyebrow, then got back to business.
"Officially she's still dead and you're a widower. But after she's jumped in and out of our timeline this much, there is no denying she's still alive. So what we have to do first is acknowledge that she never died, but rather left you deliberately. Then it will be easy to convince the court your marriage is truly over and that she is the one responsible. I can get the procedure on the way whenever you want, discreetly, of course."
Cutter was relieved. He knew James Lester was nothing if not efficient. With him pulling the strings, Nick could be sure he would be a divorced man soon.
"Yes, please. And thank you!" he answered, then smiled gratefully at Lester.
At that moment the Anomaly Detector went off and a screeching sound carried through the ARC. Both men winced and started to move down to the others already gathering around the Detector.
Half down the ramp to the ground floor, Nick turned around to Lester. "Look, I'm really grateful for your help. So when you need something...." he trailed off at James Lester's intense look. Hell, this was awkward. He tried again. "I mean... perhaps we could meet ... after work... .... and discuss the matter in more detail?"
Lester gulped: "I think I have all the information needed right now."
Dejectedly, Nick walked on, but he had to give it one last try. He was sick of his seclusion. Ever since coming back through the Anomaly in the Forest of Dean he'd felt separated from the others. He missed his former friend Stephen and the good intellectual conversation they'd shared. Now they hardly tolerated each other.
Abby and Connor were still enthusiastic kids and with Jenny he'd barely formed a tentative cooperation after ticking her off once too often by calling her Claudia. Lester was the only one he could still have a decent chat with, even though they did rub each other up the wrong way all too often. Besides he was the one who seemed to be able make him smile without even trying. Nick needed to laugh, needed to loosen up or he would fall into the living hell his lovely wife had created for him.
So he fought down his pride and nearly pleaded: "We could ... you know... just talk, have a nice conversation about ... anything you want."
James Lester regarded him watchfully then gave a tentative nod. "Perhaps later, when we have the latest anomaly under control again. I'm sick of looking at the wall in a hotel as a evening entertainment anyway."
"Hotel?" Nick asked, instantly curious.
"Yes. My ex-wife got the kids, the house and the car. All I've got left is an old manor in need of too much repair and an even older hunting lodge which is more ruinous than the manor."
With an impish grin he added: "As you can see I'm not a great catch anymore."
Nick chuckled at this and strode on to where his team were waiting for him.
He had an anomaly to secure and an appointment to look forward to.
And there was also the remote chance that he might make, well, maybe not a great catch, but certainly a really nice one.