Shades of Grey Chapter 11
Title: Shades of Grey Chapter 11
Author: TalliW
Characters: Stephen Hart, Tom Ryan, Nick Cutter, James Lester, Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, Jenny Lewis, Oliver Leek, Lyle, Finn, Helen Cutter, Ditzy
Rating: K+, T in later chapters
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Lyle belongs to Fredbassett.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the wonderful Fredbassett for beta duty.
Summary: Ryan has survived but he isn't the man he was. Can Stephen and Cutter manage to work together to help him? Perhaps Ryan has changed in more ways than it appears on first sight.
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Ryan perched on Lester's desk and sucked on his lollipop whilst Lester rummaged around in his drawers and finally came up with a little toy fire engine and police car, still wrapped up in plastic.
"Here. I'd bought them for my son but at the moment he preferres to play with dinosaurs and Barbie dolls."
"Dinosaurs are cool too." Ryan happily grasped the offered cars and started to peel the plastic away.
"If they are in miniature size maybe," Lester muttered under his breath before he turned to the stack of reports his secretary had heaped in his in-tray.
Lester was pulled out of reading the latest budget report by a small keening sound.
Ryan, who had played contently with the cars for over an hour now lay there, curled up on the floor like a baby and weeping his heart out.
"He left me," were the only words Lester could make out under all the sobbing.
Kneeling down next to Ryan, Lester watched in concern when Ryan flinched away from him.
"Tom, what's the matter?"
"He left me," Ryan whimpered. "He promised not to. But he's gone. I want my Stephen."
A little awkwardly Lester touched Ryan's head, who trembled under his touch but didn't pull back this time.
"Shhh, Tom. He hasn't left you. Stephen will be back soon. He didn't want to go but there were people in danger. He had to protect them."
"And he will come back to me?" Ryan asked in a small voice.
"Of course. He told you so, didn’t he? Stephen always keeps his promises."
Snuffeling noisily, Ryan sat up and wiped his tear-stained face on his shirt.
With a sigh, Lester pulled a pristine white handkerchief out of his jacket and handed it to Ryan.
"Here, clean yourself up before we go to the dining room. I think it's time for a little snack."
Lester tried to hide his wince as Ryan blew his nose forcefully in the expensive handkerchief. It always was unsettling having to deal with people who were crying.
Leek was watching with barely concealed disgust how Lester had taken Ryan by the hand and strolled towards the lunch room with him. Here he was, working his arse off to impress Lester, and he never got a nice word from the bastard. But if one of the pretty soldiers played little lost lamb Lester got all cosy.
It was good he still had an ace up his sleeve.
Once again Leek checked his wristwatch for the current time. In about six hours he would met the woman who would make him the most powerful man in the world.
Ryan stared wistfully at the contents of the vending machine in the lunch room. The biscuits Lester had got him him were nice but the chocolate bars or crisps would be even better. But like most adults Lester had babbled something about healthy teeth and cholesterol levels as he had asked for the sweets and snacks and had given him an apple instead.
Lester himself had chosen a low-cholesterol salad but didn't look like he was enjoying it much.
"Have you ever eaten a whole ton of candy floss?"
"My doctor would have a fit if I had."
"I have. With Stephen last night."
Lester raised his eyebrows doubtfully, prompting Ryan to admit. "Okay, it was in my dreams. But it felt quite real. Stephen and I sat on a cloud made only of candy floss and we ate and ate but the cloud never got smaller."
"You didn’t by any chance have a harp in your hands and were wearing a nightgown?"
"No. Just my boxers and a shirt and there wasn't any harp. If you want you can go with us next time. There's still enough candy floss up there."
"Thanks, but I prefer to stay down on earth instead of sitting on cloud nine."
"Can I try some of your salad?" Ryan asked hopefully a while later. "You can take a bite of my apple for that."
Lester forcefully shoved the dish over to Ryan. "Here, finish it off." If he was honest with himself he wasn't really very hungry.
"Tastes like cardboard," Ryan said as he chewed on a leaf of lettuce.
"Unfortunately, a very astute estimate."
Still that didn't stop Ryan from shoving another spoonful of salad into his mouth. "But the dressing is good. And the tomatoes. I like tomatoes."
"I can see that."
While Ryan polished off the salad, Lester had angled for the package of biscuits. Turning a deaf ear to the advice of his physician he now munched appreciatively on his fourth ginger nut.
Lester was still talking with his secretary as Ryan bounced ahead to the office to get back to the toy cars.
When he walked through the door he discovered Leek on the floor with the fire engine in his hand.
"What are you doing with the cars?" Ryan asked, outraged.
Startled, Leek dropped the toy car and watched horrified as the ladder fell down beside the fire engine, not longer attached to the car.
"You have broken it. You have broken Uncle Lester's car. That will get you in trouble."
"Wait. That was an accident. Just an accident. The ladder was probably already broken. Perhaps you damaged it yourself," Leek tried to talk his way out.
"No, the car was okay. You’ve broken it. I'll tell that to Uncle Lester."
Leek pulled a grimace. Falling in disgrace with Lester was the last thing he needed right now. Until everything was set in motion he'd to keep a low profile.
"There's no need to tell him it was me. The little mishap could have happened to you just so well."
"That would be lying and my Granny always said lying is bad. You have to be straightforward with people and say what has taken place."
Leek glared at Ryan and for a moment it looked like he was going to hit him. He certainly hadn't yet forgotten the insult Ryan had thrown at him the day before. Then a sly smile crossed his face.
"But you don't have to say anything, do you? Then it wouldn't be lying. If you keep your mouth shut I'll give you money so you can buy your own toy car, all right?"
Ryan's eyes darted to the door to check if Lester was still busy then he extended his hand with a consenting nod. As Leek fetched a 50 pence piece out of his wallet Ryan declared steadfastly, "Fire engines are expensive."
Snorting angrily, Leek handed him a five pound note and then hurried out of the office, just in time before Lester finished his talk with Lorraine.
Ryan had put the money away and held the fire engine in his right hand and the ladder in his left hand when Lester walked in.
"Already broken? You are just as bad as my oldest. She tends to demolish her toys as soon as she gets them. Come, give it to me."
Dolefully, Ryan turned the little toy car over to Lester who inspected it carefully.
"Well, it looks like it isn't broken, just out of joint. I'll see if I can get it back on."
Lester put the ladder in place and applied some pressure until the ladder hooked in again.
"See, already repaired. Now look out that you don't damage it again."
Worrying his lower lip Ryan eyed the repaired fire engine, "Uncle Lester?"
"Um, yes?"
"That wasn't me. Mister Leek broke the car. He gave me money so I wouldn't tell you," it flushed out of Ryan. "Have I got to give the money back now?"
Lester cracked a brief smile. "Keep it. Leek deserves a little punishment for his nosiness."
"Cool. I'm going to buy chocolate and crackers and crisps and icecream..."
"Ryan, wait a minute. You’ll only be sick if you eat all that and then puke all over the ARC. And Stephen will hold me responsible for your misery."
"You have said that name again. Why do you keep doing that? And who is this Ryan anyway?"
Lester tugged sheepishly at his tie without giving a reply. Now he had made exactly the mistake he had frantically tried to avoid.
"I'm sorry. It just slipped out. Ryan was someone we knew and you remind us a little of him."
"I don't like that name."
"Well, I will try not to call you that again. How about I get you a chocolate bar and you keep your money for something else."
Ryan tilted his head slightly,"Okay. But you called me Ryan yesterday too. And I really don't like that name."
"Don't take it too far, Tom. One chocolate bar. And only because you ate that awful vegetable salad for lunch."