Shades of Grey Chapter 38
Title: Shades of Grey Chapter 38
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 and Finn belong 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.
AN: For the former chapters look at my Masterlist
Sniggering, Ryan shoved a warm cookie in Stephen's mouth before he tasted the result of their labours himself. Ryan's desire to bake cookies had been met with resistance first but then Stephen had given in, in the hope of taking both their minds off the events of the day.
Stephen was surprised how much stirring and rolling the dough had relaxed him. And Ryan was so engrossed in the task of cutting out the cookies afterwards and stealing small piece of dough under Stephen's watchful eyes that he completely forget about his aching bruises. When Stephen finally remembered the painkillers he was allowed to give Ryan with Ditzy's permission Ryan's bruises had already started to fade and the swelling on his nose was completely gone.
Although Stephen had made sure they weren't turning the kitchen into a battlefield, he had not be able to prevent any accidents. With a smirk, Ryan had puffed into the bowl, strong enough to blow up the flour and cover them both. Furthermore, an egg had ended up on Ryan's leg instead in the bowl. But the fun they had togtrher through Ryan's little antics outweighted the chore of cleaning the kitchen. At the end, Stephen had even willingly engaged in a small food fight with raisins on the proviso that they had to collect the raisins they’d dropped on the kitchen floor immediately afterwards.
Now they got themselves comfortable on the couch, relaxed and cleaned up, while the cooling cookies were spreading their appetising scent all over the flat.
Stephen had compromised on testing three warm cookies each, afraid that eating more might upset their stomachs at this late hour but Ryan was content with that decision and wasn't begging for more. However, he had announced loudly that he was going to eat cookies for breakfast.
With a happy hum, Ryan leaned against the back rest of the couch as the end credits of his favourite Disney film started rolling. Then he turned his head and stared at Stephen, as if he had never seen him before.
Stephen felt slightly self-conscious under Ryan's intense gaze and started to get fidgety. For a moment he held the hope that Ryan had began to remember but immediately he berated himself for believing that it might happen in such a simple way. Mark had said there were still a lot of traumatic events from Ryan's past to work through.
"Is anything wrong?" Stephen finally asked with apprehension as Ryan continued to stare at him.
Ryan shook his head and gave Stephen a brilliant smile whilst he pulled something out of his trouser pocket. The next moment, Stephen felt a thin metallic band slide along the skin of his collarbone and slowly close around his neck.
Ryan fumbled a little with the clasp but finally the chain with one half of the split heart pendant was firmly in place around Stephen's neck.
"Now you put that around me."
Ryan dangled the other half of the necklace in front of Stephen's face and Stephen recognised it as the necklace Ryan had worn when they found him at the warehouse, a farewell gift from Oliver Leek. Ryan had to take it down at the ARC so it could get checked for bugs or anything dangerous but he had regained it before Ditzy had examined him.
Feeling a lump raise up in his throat, Stephen carefully touched the filigree pendant. It really was a fine piece of craftsmanship.
"Are you sure you want me to have this?"
"Yep. You’ll wear one half and I’ll wear the other. And we stay together forever."
Now the lump in Stephen's throat grew to the size of a tennis ball. He searched for something to say, but Ryan drew him into a bear hug before Stephen had found his voice again.
After releasing Stephen from an embrace that had Stephen gasping for breath, Ryan gave Stephen a quick peck on the mouth and demanded again that Stephen should put the necklace on him. This time Stephen complied with Ryan's wish.
Ryan was practically glowing with joy. Again and again he smoothed over the pendant, laying against his skin below his Adam's apple, and admired its partner on Stephen's chest.
"I will never take it off ever again. Promise me you won't either."
"That would be impractical. Besides there might be a time you don't want me to wear it any more."
"Never. You said you will always be there for me. Were you lying?"
There was suddenly so much hurt in Ryan's voice that Stephen was unable to force himself to bring up the fact that Ryan might think differently about that once he'd regained his memories.
"Of course not. I meant what I said. As long as you want me to I will remain at your side and take care of you."
"Then you have to wear it always. It proves that you belong to me."
Stephen swallowed thickly, quite aware that the adult Ryan would most likely be deeply embarrassed about this conservation.
"I promise I'm going to wear it for the rest of my life," Stephen declared solemnly. He was planning to keep this promise. He would treasure Tom's gift and wear it, even if Ryan was back to his old self and probably had chucked his own necklace in the bin long since.
Satisfied with Stephen's answer, Ryan snuggled against Stephen's shoulder and operated the remote control for the DVD player. Stephen gave a silent sigh as Disney's Dinosaur started to play from the beginning again.
Lester was preparing his dinner when the door bell chimed. Cautiously, he opened the front door. Only a few people knew about this flat and none of those would pay him a visit at so late an hour.
"James Lester, I assume," the older man with militarily short grey hair greeted him.
"And you are?" Lester enquired, still not knowing with whom he was dealing.
"Major Ryan. I think we should talk."
Ryan bounced into the ARC, his caster board under one arm and the protective gear in a bag slung over his shoulder, then abruptly stopped as he noticed the man standing in the middle of the atrium. There was something so strict about him that it immediately revealed he didn’t belong to the ARC staff.
"Hello," Ryan said tentatively.
"Hello. Do you remember me?"
"Nope. Are you a friend of Uncle Jon’s? You look like a soldier."
The man's face twitched for a miniscule moment before the emotionless mask slid back into place.
"Maybe I am a soldier."
"Uncle Jon is probably in the armoury. It's his favourite place. I'm not allowed to go there."
"But you like guns?"
"The tranquiliser guns are cool. I don't like the others through, the one which are for killing."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah. Stephen and Uncle Nick don't like them either. They’re animal protectors. I'm going to be one too when I'm grown up."
There was a slight frown around the man's eyes and mouth now. Ryan looked at him with uneasiness, pondering what he had said or done to anger the stranger.
When Stephen walked through the swing doors with Cutter, both animatedly discussing the changes in the schedule for the current term the Dean had unexpectedly come up with, Ryan rushed, relieved, to Stephen's side and grasped Stephen's hand.
That seemed to displease the stranger even more. Ryan watched with wariness how the frown on the man's face deepened and prepared himself for a fight should the man plan to give vent to his anger. Since the accident in the shopping centre Ryan knew he could put a man down when necessary. No one was going to hurt his Stephen.
"That's Uncle Nick and this is Stephen. My Stephen."
The man raised his eyebrows at the rather possessive term Ryan used to introduce Stephen and mumbled, "Ah yes, the animal protectors." More loudly he said "Nice to meet you. My name is Major Rya..ees."
Ryan eyed the major skeptically. It had sounded as if the man had wanted to say Major Ryan, a name he had learnt to dislike after Lester and a few other people had addressed him that way at the start. From the way Stephen had winced, Ryan deducted that however the man was named he was still bad news.
Determined to bring Stephen out of the danger zone, he tugged gently at Stephen's hand. "Come on, we’re going to say hello to Uncle James and Aunt Lorraine.
Under Cutter’s amused and Major Ryan's irritated looks, Ryan led a less-than-willing Stephen up the ramp.
"Nice that you've decided to finally show up, Major Ryaees," Cutter said with pungent sarcasm. "But as you see we are handling the situation perfectly well. So thanks for your visit. We'll call you should any major changes in Tom's condition occur."
Suddenly, the major started to snort. Then his baritone chuckle rang through the atrium and turned Ryan's and Stephen's heads.
"James Lester said exactly the same to me," the major gasped out between his laughing fit. "Have you studied the speech?"
Cutter pulled a face as he realised that in his attempt to come across more intimidating he had copied Lester's style of wording. And a furtive look at the railing told him that of course Lester had observed the whole event.
"I guess that means you aren't planning to leave yet," Cutter muttered.
"Quite the contrary, Mr. Cutter. I'm happy to leave my son in the capable hands of the ARC personnel. After all where else would I find such a bunch of devoted nannies?"
With the air of a man who'd accomplished what he'd come for Major Ryan left the ARC.
Cutter looked enquiringly up to Lester but Lester just turned away to greet Ryan and Stephen.
In a few steps Cutter was on the first floor, ready to corner Lester to get the answer to what that strange visit had been about.
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 and Finn belong 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.
AN: For the former chapters look at my Masterlist
Sniggering, Ryan shoved a warm cookie in Stephen's mouth before he tasted the result of their labours himself. Ryan's desire to bake cookies had been met with resistance first but then Stephen had given in, in the hope of taking both their minds off the events of the day.
Stephen was surprised how much stirring and rolling the dough had relaxed him. And Ryan was so engrossed in the task of cutting out the cookies afterwards and stealing small piece of dough under Stephen's watchful eyes that he completely forget about his aching bruises. When Stephen finally remembered the painkillers he was allowed to give Ryan with Ditzy's permission Ryan's bruises had already started to fade and the swelling on his nose was completely gone.
Although Stephen had made sure they weren't turning the kitchen into a battlefield, he had not be able to prevent any accidents. With a smirk, Ryan had puffed into the bowl, strong enough to blow up the flour and cover them both. Furthermore, an egg had ended up on Ryan's leg instead in the bowl. But the fun they had togtrher through Ryan's little antics outweighted the chore of cleaning the kitchen. At the end, Stephen had even willingly engaged in a small food fight with raisins on the proviso that they had to collect the raisins they’d dropped on the kitchen floor immediately afterwards.
Now they got themselves comfortable on the couch, relaxed and cleaned up, while the cooling cookies were spreading their appetising scent all over the flat.
Stephen had compromised on testing three warm cookies each, afraid that eating more might upset their stomachs at this late hour but Ryan was content with that decision and wasn't begging for more. However, he had announced loudly that he was going to eat cookies for breakfast.
With a happy hum, Ryan leaned against the back rest of the couch as the end credits of his favourite Disney film started rolling. Then he turned his head and stared at Stephen, as if he had never seen him before.
Stephen felt slightly self-conscious under Ryan's intense gaze and started to get fidgety. For a moment he held the hope that Ryan had began to remember but immediately he berated himself for believing that it might happen in such a simple way. Mark had said there were still a lot of traumatic events from Ryan's past to work through.
"Is anything wrong?" Stephen finally asked with apprehension as Ryan continued to stare at him.
Ryan shook his head and gave Stephen a brilliant smile whilst he pulled something out of his trouser pocket. The next moment, Stephen felt a thin metallic band slide along the skin of his collarbone and slowly close around his neck.
Ryan fumbled a little with the clasp but finally the chain with one half of the split heart pendant was firmly in place around Stephen's neck.
"Now you put that around me."
Ryan dangled the other half of the necklace in front of Stephen's face and Stephen recognised it as the necklace Ryan had worn when they found him at the warehouse, a farewell gift from Oliver Leek. Ryan had to take it down at the ARC so it could get checked for bugs or anything dangerous but he had regained it before Ditzy had examined him.
Feeling a lump raise up in his throat, Stephen carefully touched the filigree pendant. It really was a fine piece of craftsmanship.
"Are you sure you want me to have this?"
"Yep. You’ll wear one half and I’ll wear the other. And we stay together forever."
Now the lump in Stephen's throat grew to the size of a tennis ball. He searched for something to say, but Ryan drew him into a bear hug before Stephen had found his voice again.
After releasing Stephen from an embrace that had Stephen gasping for breath, Ryan gave Stephen a quick peck on the mouth and demanded again that Stephen should put the necklace on him. This time Stephen complied with Ryan's wish.
Ryan was practically glowing with joy. Again and again he smoothed over the pendant, laying against his skin below his Adam's apple, and admired its partner on Stephen's chest.
"I will never take it off ever again. Promise me you won't either."
"That would be impractical. Besides there might be a time you don't want me to wear it any more."
"Never. You said you will always be there for me. Were you lying?"
There was suddenly so much hurt in Ryan's voice that Stephen was unable to force himself to bring up the fact that Ryan might think differently about that once he'd regained his memories.
"Of course not. I meant what I said. As long as you want me to I will remain at your side and take care of you."
"Then you have to wear it always. It proves that you belong to me."
Stephen swallowed thickly, quite aware that the adult Ryan would most likely be deeply embarrassed about this conservation.
"I promise I'm going to wear it for the rest of my life," Stephen declared solemnly. He was planning to keep this promise. He would treasure Tom's gift and wear it, even if Ryan was back to his old self and probably had chucked his own necklace in the bin long since.
Satisfied with Stephen's answer, Ryan snuggled against Stephen's shoulder and operated the remote control for the DVD player. Stephen gave a silent sigh as Disney's Dinosaur started to play from the beginning again.
Lester was preparing his dinner when the door bell chimed. Cautiously, he opened the front door. Only a few people knew about this flat and none of those would pay him a visit at so late an hour.
"James Lester, I assume," the older man with militarily short grey hair greeted him.
"And you are?" Lester enquired, still not knowing with whom he was dealing.
"Major Ryan. I think we should talk."
Ryan bounced into the ARC, his caster board under one arm and the protective gear in a bag slung over his shoulder, then abruptly stopped as he noticed the man standing in the middle of the atrium. There was something so strict about him that it immediately revealed he didn’t belong to the ARC staff.
"Hello," Ryan said tentatively.
"Hello. Do you remember me?"
"Nope. Are you a friend of Uncle Jon’s? You look like a soldier."
The man's face twitched for a miniscule moment before the emotionless mask slid back into place.
"Maybe I am a soldier."
"Uncle Jon is probably in the armoury. It's his favourite place. I'm not allowed to go there."
"But you like guns?"
"The tranquiliser guns are cool. I don't like the others through, the one which are for killing."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yeah. Stephen and Uncle Nick don't like them either. They’re animal protectors. I'm going to be one too when I'm grown up."
There was a slight frown around the man's eyes and mouth now. Ryan looked at him with uneasiness, pondering what he had said or done to anger the stranger.
When Stephen walked through the swing doors with Cutter, both animatedly discussing the changes in the schedule for the current term the Dean had unexpectedly come up with, Ryan rushed, relieved, to Stephen's side and grasped Stephen's hand.
That seemed to displease the stranger even more. Ryan watched with wariness how the frown on the man's face deepened and prepared himself for a fight should the man plan to give vent to his anger. Since the accident in the shopping centre Ryan knew he could put a man down when necessary. No one was going to hurt his Stephen.
"That's Uncle Nick and this is Stephen. My Stephen."
The man raised his eyebrows at the rather possessive term Ryan used to introduce Stephen and mumbled, "Ah yes, the animal protectors." More loudly he said "Nice to meet you. My name is Major Rya..ees."
Ryan eyed the major skeptically. It had sounded as if the man had wanted to say Major Ryan, a name he had learnt to dislike after Lester and a few other people had addressed him that way at the start. From the way Stephen had winced, Ryan deducted that however the man was named he was still bad news.
Determined to bring Stephen out of the danger zone, he tugged gently at Stephen's hand. "Come on, we’re going to say hello to Uncle James and Aunt Lorraine.
Under Cutter’s amused and Major Ryan's irritated looks, Ryan led a less-than-willing Stephen up the ramp.
"Nice that you've decided to finally show up, Major Ryaees," Cutter said with pungent sarcasm. "But as you see we are handling the situation perfectly well. So thanks for your visit. We'll call you should any major changes in Tom's condition occur."
Suddenly, the major started to snort. Then his baritone chuckle rang through the atrium and turned Ryan's and Stephen's heads.
"James Lester said exactly the same to me," the major gasped out between his laughing fit. "Have you studied the speech?"
Cutter pulled a face as he realised that in his attempt to come across more intimidating he had copied Lester's style of wording. And a furtive look at the railing told him that of course Lester had observed the whole event.
"I guess that means you aren't planning to leave yet," Cutter muttered.
"Quite the contrary, Mr. Cutter. I'm happy to leave my son in the capable hands of the ARC personnel. After all where else would I find such a bunch of devoted nannies?"
With the air of a man who'd accomplished what he'd come for Major Ryan left the ARC.
Cutter looked enquiringly up to Lester but Lester just turned away to greet Ryan and Stephen.
In a few steps Cutter was on the first floor, ready to corner Lester to get the answer to what that strange visit had been about.