A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed
Title: A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed
Author: TalliW
Characters: Oliver Leek, James Lester, Mr. Mammoth
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the wonderful Lukadreaming for beta duty.
Summary: After Oliver Leek has gone through hell he needs help with recovering.
Written for Fredbassett as a belated birthday fic and a little thank you for being such a good friend to me.
AN: That is a follow up to Fredbassett's story Between A Rock And A Hard Place
where Leek and Ryan have been held captive by Helen's minions.
With dismay Lester looked down at the trembling man who was hiding under the desk.
Oliver Leek had been in bad shape when they had finally found him and Captain Ryan in the warehouse complex where they had been held prisoner by Helen and her clones.
By now his injuries had mostly healed and he had put on weight again. But unlike Ryan Oliver hadn't really recovered from the weeks of abuse.
Sure, Oliver had tried to reacquaint himself with his former life. He even had taken on the job offered at the ARC. But whilst he fulfilled his tasks as Lester's right-hand man with downright pedantry, he'd started to tremble the first time Cutter had raised his voice in annoyance. It had gone even more downhill from there.
Becker hadn't been amused when Oliver had dropped to his knees one day and offered to blow him in exchange for the chicken sandwich in Becker's hand, completely forgetting the fact that he wasn't a prisoner any more who had to earn his food.
A few days later Oliver had screamed in terror and alarmed the whole staff when his arm had been accidentally brushed by a passing soldier.
And today he had been startled by Lyle in the restroom and almost pissed himself instead of emptying his bladder into the wall urinal. Afterwards he had sat huddled under his desk where the cleaning lady had found him still there hours after closing time and informed Lester who was just about to call it a day.
Lester wouldn't have hesitated to ship the man off to a mental institution if it had been a soldier or one of the scientists. The Special Forces troops were trained to encounter the worst situations and scientists tended to rush headfirst into danger just to prove a theory. Temple and Cutter were the best examples that common sense usually wasn't part of a scientist's vocabulary.
But Leek was a lowly civil servant, an ordinary pen-pusher, only hired for administrative work in the background. His function was to help the ARC run smoothly. He certainly shouldn't have got caught up in the frontline of the quarrel between Helen and the ARC team.
It had made sense that Helen had gone for Ryan. The Special Forces captain was playing an important role in the anomaly project. Additionally, he had warmed Cutter's bed for a short time before he hooked up with Stephen permanently.
Most women wouldn't take it well to be scorned by husband and lover through the same man. But why she had kidnapped Oliver Leek was still a mystery. There hadn't been anything to gain from it. Leek hadn't been privy to any vital information at the time of his abduction.
Lester was sure that back then even the cleaning lady had known more about the anomaly project than Leek. Still, it had been Leek she had imprisoned first, long before Captain Ryan.
"I'm sorry, sir," Oliver sobbed, clearly realising what a pathetic sight he must provide for his superior.
Lester rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to deal with the distraught man. But a small part of him was feeling responsible for dragging Leek into the whole mess. If he hadn't requested him for the project then Oliver wouldn't have suffered at the hands of Helen's clone minions. But Lester had wanted one of the best administrative workers for the anomaly project and Oliver was the best. That hadn't changed. Even now, badly traumatised, he still fulfilled his tasks to everybody's utmost satisfaction.
"I'm sorry," Oliver repeated through his tears and started to hiccup.
Maybe it was Oliver's desperate attempt to hide his tear-stained face behind his hands that got to Lester, but in the short timespan between one hiccup and the next, Lester came to a decision.
Slowly he crouched down next to Oliver and put his hand on the small of Oliver's back. For a moment Oliver tensed then he relaxed into the touch.
When Lester started to draw soothing circles on Oliver's back, Leek's hiccups stopped and soon after also his snivelling subsided.
"Have you talked about it with anyone?" Lester asked quietly. He knew Ryan and Leek hadn't visited the shrink Ditzy had recommended.
Silently Oliver shook his head.
"Then you should. I know you only want to forget the whole ordeal but it won't leave you alone because you haven't come to terms with it. Talking about it will help you to put it behind you."
"I don't think I could trust a shrink as much."
"Then talk to someone else. A confidant, your best friend or maybe your lover."
"There is no one," Oliver revealed, embarrassed.
With a frown Lester remembered Leeks's personnel file. Single; parents passed away years ago; no close relatives.
'Good, so there's no one he can blab secrets to,' Lester had thought back then.
Now it seemed Oliver was even more lonely than Lester had assumed. The man didn't even seem to have close friends.
"There's really no one you could confide in?"
Oliver laughed harshly. "The only person I'm talking to outside work is the old lady next door and an American butterfly collector. I met him online on a discussion board and now we're chatting over Skype once a week.
"How about Ryan? He can understand what you have been going through. He has been there."
"Exactly. And that's why I can't go to him. It would only make everything worse for both of us."
Lester felt Oliver's increasing tension and didn't probe for a specific explanation. When Oliver thought he couldn't talk to Ryan than he had to accept this.
"Well, you know it doesn't have to be a human you talk to, as long as your confidant is a good listener.
"You mean something like a pet? I don't have any. Only dead butterflies. Besides I'm not really a cat or dog person and the smaller pets are too stupid for my taste."
With an expression of relief on his face Lester stood up, seized Oliver's hand and pulled him to his feet. He had just found the ideal solution for Oliver's dilemma.
"When I'm in distress I don't talk to a dog or cat. My animal friend is a lot bigger and a really good listener," he revealed sheepishly.
"A horse, then," Oliver guessed and a visible shudder went through his body. "I'm sorry but how anybody can feel comfortable in the presence of such skittish creatures is beyond me. A pony almost killed me when I was eight."
Lester just motioned Oliver to move down the ramp.
"Not a horse, Oliver, but one of the most intelligent and good-natured creatures earth has ever spawned," he explained.
With that Lester led Oliver over to the mammoth's holding area and quickly pressed the button to open the door.
Oliver stood ramrod-straight as the huge animal took a first step towards him. When the mammoth raised its snout and carefully sniffed him from head to toe Oliver trembled so much he could barely stand.
Lester watched the whole display with apprehension, hoping the mammoth wouldn't disappoint him and would see Oliver as the distressed victim he was.
The mammoth uttered a huff and then affectionately patted Oliver on the head.
Fresh tears welled up in Oliver's eyes at the easy acceptance of the big creature. Apparently just knowing the mammoth could tell the difference between him, the original Oliver Leek, and the nasty clone Helen Cutter had sent as replacement seem to make him feel better.
"Would he like an apple? I still have one in my lunchbox," Oliver asked Lester excitedly.
"Most certainly. It will be a welcome change from the bananas he usually gets."
Whilst Oliver ran to his office to fetch the apple Lester walked over to the mammoth and scratched him behind the ear.
"Well done, my friend," he said with fondness and smiled as the mammoth answered with a noncommittal sound, already peering at the apple Oliver held in his hand when he strutted down the ramp.
Oliver's recovery started that very evening. Like Lester had promised, the mammoth turned out to be a good listener.
And Oliver in exchange showed his gratitude for the animal's patience with many little gestures. He brought the mammoth a variety of snacks, scrubbed his back with a broom, polished the large tusks until they shone or helped Abby and the keeper with cleaning the mammoth's holding area.
These little activities between his regular work did help Oliver relax and the moments when he had a nervous breakdown got fewer and fewer.
Until on August 5, Oliver broke down in tears in front of everyone. Only this time it was tears of joy. His colleagues had actually thought of his birthday and arranged a little party in front of the mammoth's holding area with a delicious cream cake for Oliver and a fruit basket for the mammoth.
It was the first time Oliver actually felt a part of the team and he was very proud of this achievement.
After the birthday party, emboldened by pineapple punch and the Scotch Cutter had proffered him, Oliver found finally the courage to ask Lester if he liked opera and would he be interested in accompanying him to a play in London. He had been carrying the tickets around for over three weeks already.
Lester had lifted his eyebrows and waited in expectant silence for an explanation from Oliver for the unexpected invitation.
Oliver had flushed and just stammered something about the two tickets he'd got cheaply on eBay and that it would be a shame to let the second ticket go to waste.
The next morning Oliver told the mammoth that Lester indeed loved opera.
Oliver petted the mammoth gently on the snout. It was now almost a year since he had been freed from captivity and many things had happened.
Helen Cutter was dead, Professor Cutter had found a new love in Jenny Lewis and Ryan and Stephen were planning their civil partnership celebration. Only Abby and Connor were still pussyfooting around. But maybe that would change soon too. Lyle and Finn were planning to give Connor some lessons in flirting.
"Come on, let's get home, Oliver. They're broadcasting La Traviata from the Milanese Scala on the Cultural Channel." Lester's voice rang out through the atrium and interrupted Oliver's musings.
Quickly Oliver gave the mammoth the last apple and then shooed him back into his holding area. For nothing in the world would he miss the opportunity to snuggle up to his spouse on the couch whilst watching his favourite opera.
There was still a long road to go until he would feel comfortable in sharing more than gentle kisses and shy touches with his partner. But fortunately James Lester had turned out to be just as patient as his huge friend from the Ice Age.
"Good night, Mr Mammoth. And thanks for everything," Oliver said quietly and like every other evening the mammoth gave a loud huff in response.
Author: TalliW
Characters: Oliver Leek, James Lester, Mr. Mammoth
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the wonderful Lukadreaming for beta duty.
Summary: After Oliver Leek has gone through hell he needs help with recovering.
Written for Fredbassett as a belated birthday fic and a little thank you for being such a good friend to me.
AN: That is a follow up to Fredbassett's story Between A Rock And A Hard Place
where Leek and Ryan have been held captive by Helen's minions.
With dismay Lester looked down at the trembling man who was hiding under the desk.
Oliver Leek had been in bad shape when they had finally found him and Captain Ryan in the warehouse complex where they had been held prisoner by Helen and her clones.
By now his injuries had mostly healed and he had put on weight again. But unlike Ryan Oliver hadn't really recovered from the weeks of abuse.
Sure, Oliver had tried to reacquaint himself with his former life. He even had taken on the job offered at the ARC. But whilst he fulfilled his tasks as Lester's right-hand man with downright pedantry, he'd started to tremble the first time Cutter had raised his voice in annoyance. It had gone even more downhill from there.
Becker hadn't been amused when Oliver had dropped to his knees one day and offered to blow him in exchange for the chicken sandwich in Becker's hand, completely forgetting the fact that he wasn't a prisoner any more who had to earn his food.
A few days later Oliver had screamed in terror and alarmed the whole staff when his arm had been accidentally brushed by a passing soldier.
And today he had been startled by Lyle in the restroom and almost pissed himself instead of emptying his bladder into the wall urinal. Afterwards he had sat huddled under his desk where the cleaning lady had found him still there hours after closing time and informed Lester who was just about to call it a day.
Lester wouldn't have hesitated to ship the man off to a mental institution if it had been a soldier or one of the scientists. The Special Forces troops were trained to encounter the worst situations and scientists tended to rush headfirst into danger just to prove a theory. Temple and Cutter were the best examples that common sense usually wasn't part of a scientist's vocabulary.
But Leek was a lowly civil servant, an ordinary pen-pusher, only hired for administrative work in the background. His function was to help the ARC run smoothly. He certainly shouldn't have got caught up in the frontline of the quarrel between Helen and the ARC team.
It had made sense that Helen had gone for Ryan. The Special Forces captain was playing an important role in the anomaly project. Additionally, he had warmed Cutter's bed for a short time before he hooked up with Stephen permanently.
Most women wouldn't take it well to be scorned by husband and lover through the same man. But why she had kidnapped Oliver Leek was still a mystery. There hadn't been anything to gain from it. Leek hadn't been privy to any vital information at the time of his abduction.
Lester was sure that back then even the cleaning lady had known more about the anomaly project than Leek. Still, it had been Leek she had imprisoned first, long before Captain Ryan.
"I'm sorry, sir," Oliver sobbed, clearly realising what a pathetic sight he must provide for his superior.
Lester rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to deal with the distraught man. But a small part of him was feeling responsible for dragging Leek into the whole mess. If he hadn't requested him for the project then Oliver wouldn't have suffered at the hands of Helen's clone minions. But Lester had wanted one of the best administrative workers for the anomaly project and Oliver was the best. That hadn't changed. Even now, badly traumatised, he still fulfilled his tasks to everybody's utmost satisfaction.
"I'm sorry," Oliver repeated through his tears and started to hiccup.
Maybe it was Oliver's desperate attempt to hide his tear-stained face behind his hands that got to Lester, but in the short timespan between one hiccup and the next, Lester came to a decision.
Slowly he crouched down next to Oliver and put his hand on the small of Oliver's back. For a moment Oliver tensed then he relaxed into the touch.
When Lester started to draw soothing circles on Oliver's back, Leek's hiccups stopped and soon after also his snivelling subsided.
"Have you talked about it with anyone?" Lester asked quietly. He knew Ryan and Leek hadn't visited the shrink Ditzy had recommended.
Silently Oliver shook his head.
"Then you should. I know you only want to forget the whole ordeal but it won't leave you alone because you haven't come to terms with it. Talking about it will help you to put it behind you."
"I don't think I could trust a shrink as much."
"Then talk to someone else. A confidant, your best friend or maybe your lover."
"There is no one," Oliver revealed, embarrassed.
With a frown Lester remembered Leeks's personnel file. Single; parents passed away years ago; no close relatives.
'Good, so there's no one he can blab secrets to,' Lester had thought back then.
Now it seemed Oliver was even more lonely than Lester had assumed. The man didn't even seem to have close friends.
"There's really no one you could confide in?"
Oliver laughed harshly. "The only person I'm talking to outside work is the old lady next door and an American butterfly collector. I met him online on a discussion board and now we're chatting over Skype once a week.
"How about Ryan? He can understand what you have been going through. He has been there."
"Exactly. And that's why I can't go to him. It would only make everything worse for both of us."
Lester felt Oliver's increasing tension and didn't probe for a specific explanation. When Oliver thought he couldn't talk to Ryan than he had to accept this.
"Well, you know it doesn't have to be a human you talk to, as long as your confidant is a good listener.
"You mean something like a pet? I don't have any. Only dead butterflies. Besides I'm not really a cat or dog person and the smaller pets are too stupid for my taste."
With an expression of relief on his face Lester stood up, seized Oliver's hand and pulled him to his feet. He had just found the ideal solution for Oliver's dilemma.
"When I'm in distress I don't talk to a dog or cat. My animal friend is a lot bigger and a really good listener," he revealed sheepishly.
"A horse, then," Oliver guessed and a visible shudder went through his body. "I'm sorry but how anybody can feel comfortable in the presence of such skittish creatures is beyond me. A pony almost killed me when I was eight."
Lester just motioned Oliver to move down the ramp.
"Not a horse, Oliver, but one of the most intelligent and good-natured creatures earth has ever spawned," he explained.
With that Lester led Oliver over to the mammoth's holding area and quickly pressed the button to open the door.
Oliver stood ramrod-straight as the huge animal took a first step towards him. When the mammoth raised its snout and carefully sniffed him from head to toe Oliver trembled so much he could barely stand.
Lester watched the whole display with apprehension, hoping the mammoth wouldn't disappoint him and would see Oliver as the distressed victim he was.
The mammoth uttered a huff and then affectionately patted Oliver on the head.
Fresh tears welled up in Oliver's eyes at the easy acceptance of the big creature. Apparently just knowing the mammoth could tell the difference between him, the original Oliver Leek, and the nasty clone Helen Cutter had sent as replacement seem to make him feel better.
"Would he like an apple? I still have one in my lunchbox," Oliver asked Lester excitedly.
"Most certainly. It will be a welcome change from the bananas he usually gets."
Whilst Oliver ran to his office to fetch the apple Lester walked over to the mammoth and scratched him behind the ear.
"Well done, my friend," he said with fondness and smiled as the mammoth answered with a noncommittal sound, already peering at the apple Oliver held in his hand when he strutted down the ramp.
Oliver's recovery started that very evening. Like Lester had promised, the mammoth turned out to be a good listener.
And Oliver in exchange showed his gratitude for the animal's patience with many little gestures. He brought the mammoth a variety of snacks, scrubbed his back with a broom, polished the large tusks until they shone or helped Abby and the keeper with cleaning the mammoth's holding area.
These little activities between his regular work did help Oliver relax and the moments when he had a nervous breakdown got fewer and fewer.
Until on August 5, Oliver broke down in tears in front of everyone. Only this time it was tears of joy. His colleagues had actually thought of his birthday and arranged a little party in front of the mammoth's holding area with a delicious cream cake for Oliver and a fruit basket for the mammoth.
It was the first time Oliver actually felt a part of the team and he was very proud of this achievement.
After the birthday party, emboldened by pineapple punch and the Scotch Cutter had proffered him, Oliver found finally the courage to ask Lester if he liked opera and would he be interested in accompanying him to a play in London. He had been carrying the tickets around for over three weeks already.
Lester had lifted his eyebrows and waited in expectant silence for an explanation from Oliver for the unexpected invitation.
Oliver had flushed and just stammered something about the two tickets he'd got cheaply on eBay and that it would be a shame to let the second ticket go to waste.
The next morning Oliver told the mammoth that Lester indeed loved opera.
Oliver petted the mammoth gently on the snout. It was now almost a year since he had been freed from captivity and many things had happened.
Helen Cutter was dead, Professor Cutter had found a new love in Jenny Lewis and Ryan and Stephen were planning their civil partnership celebration. Only Abby and Connor were still pussyfooting around. But maybe that would change soon too. Lyle and Finn were planning to give Connor some lessons in flirting.
"Come on, let's get home, Oliver. They're broadcasting La Traviata from the Milanese Scala on the Cultural Channel." Lester's voice rang out through the atrium and interrupted Oliver's musings.
Quickly Oliver gave the mammoth the last apple and then shooed him back into his holding area. For nothing in the world would he miss the opportunity to snuggle up to his spouse on the couch whilst watching his favourite opera.
There was still a long road to go until he would feel comfortable in sharing more than gentle kisses and shy touches with his partner. But fortunately James Lester had turned out to be just as patient as his huge friend from the Ice Age.
"Good night, Mr Mammoth. And thanks for everything," Oliver said quietly and like every other evening the mammoth gave a loud huff in response.