Not A Fairy Tale 16/16
Title: Not A Fairy Tale 16
Author: TalliW
Pairings: Lester/Cutter!clone
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Fredbassett for beta-reading. I couldn't have done it without you.
Lester cursed. His second week at work and Danny was going out of his way to make it difficult for him.
Christine Johnson marched in as if she owned the world and this time there was nothing he could do.
Breaking in into a military facility was a serious crime and could send Danny behind bars. His escapade would also cost them the artefact. This time Danny had screwed up royally. And it got even worse...
Nick walked through the corridors of the ARC after he had called Jenny to straighten out the chaos the Embolotherium herd had left behind and collided with the two woman dashing round the corner.
Helen stared in shock at the clone who had fallen to the floor.
Her mouth opened several times but no words came out. She pressed the gun firmly into the other woman as if the weapon could offer some stability in a world of madness.
Helen Cutter closed her eyes and shock her head in denial. "No," she whispered. "That can't be. You have to be dead. I shot you."
A mad glitter was in her eyes when she opened them again and she laughed shrilly.
"I will end it once and for all. I'm so sick of this nightmares. You will not haunt me anymore," she yelled and pushed her hostage towards him.
Before the clone had recovered from the accident and could say anything, the two woman were gone. Nick sprang up and raced after them but saw only a car speeding away.
"That other woman was Christine Johnson? The woman who's brought you so much trouble? And Helen has feed her to the predators?"
Lester nodded.
"Then you should sleep more peacefully from now on," the clone smiled, completely indifferent to the horrible fate of the woman he had only known as the enemy who had mistreated his little family. "I wish it was always that easy."
"You have no idea of the paperwork I'll have to fill out now and the explanations I will have to give the Prime Minister tomorrow about why his little toady got eaten by predators."
Nick grasped Lester's arm and pulled him to the exit. "No paper work for today. It's after hours now and the doctor's orders was easy work. But I think I know the right thing to relax you."
"You're still a horny little bastard," Lester muttered. "My horny little bastard." With a faint smile on his face he followed the clone out of the ARC.
"Oh God, you don't know how glad I am to see someone who isn't covered in ugly hair and chews on an an animal bone. How did you manage to find me?" Danny called in excitement.
"Sarah found a way to Abby and Connor who could tell us into which time period you had followed Helen. Lester is still arguing with Becker how much backup he will need so I've taken matters into my own hands."
Danny looked at the clone's dirty clothes and hands and noticed the tear-stains on his cheeks.
"I found Helen," Nick explained. "...and buried her. She doesn't deserve to rot in the sun."
Danny bit his lip. He couldn't say anything nice about Helen Cutter but he could understand the clone's reaction. Helen had been the first person in Nick's life. He was entitled to get emotional.
He put his hand on Nick's shoulder and squeezed. "It's over. Let's go home."
Nick pushed the small device Sarah had made and they stepped into the Anomaly.
They were welcomed by angry glares from Lester and Becker.
"Why wasn't I informed about your nice little holiday? There are regulations in the ARC you have to follow," Lester ranted. I can't leave you alone for two hours without you getting into a mess. You could have been stranded in the past forever instead of two days."
The bureaucrat turned to Nick and gave him a glare everyone else would have whithered under. "That applies to you, too. No trips in the past without proper backup."
"Sorry," the clone mumbled. Suddenly his expression changed and he asked mischievously "Do you want to punish me for my bad behaviour, James?"
Nick grinned, pleased, when Lester gasped whilst Becker was looking to the ground, a faint blush slowly colouring both men's cheeks.
Danny Quinn had barely heard a word Lester had spoken to him. His eyes were focused on the charming woman with long brown hair, he had missed so terribly. Ignoring Sarah who was busy ogling Becker's arse he walked over to Jenny Lewis.
"Welcome back, Danny," Jenny said smiling then was taken by surprise as her skin started to tingle under Danny's intense look.
"It's easy when you have the computer in front you. With a small hand-grip you can remove the BIOS battery for some minutes and the BIOS password will be reset. Or you can use a Linux distribution like Knoppix. After booting from the CD you can view everything on the PC without the administration password.
And then there are programs like...
"Hello Sir James, I'm just teaching him something about computers," Connor, still with his leg wrapped in plaster, announced cheerfully.
"I could hear that. Temple, I hope you haven't used this knowledge to get access to secret data on my computer."
"Of course not. I've seen your security clearance and I didn't want to know what is in your files."
"Good. Very sensible."
Lester mustered Connor with a speculative look before he turned around and walked over to the lab Abby was working in.
When Lester was out of audible range Nick whispered. "You have browsed through his data?"
Connor shrugged. "Of course I have, but my hairs stood up reading the first files and I stopped altogether. I hope you have some idea how dangerous your boyfriend can be."
The clone grinned and looked after his lover with affection. "I know he can be a very dangerous man. But I know his softer side as well.
By the way, Connor, you should wear some more covering shirts when Abby gives you such love bits. Now show me again how to get through that government security system. I've an idea for a birthday present for James...."
The END