No Fate But What We Make - Primeval Drabble Series
Title: No Fate But What We Make
Author: Clea2011
Word Count: 100 x 15
Characters: Ryan/Stephen, Cutter/Claudia, Becker/Jess, Connor/Abby, Matt, Danny, Lester, Sarah, Jenny
Rating: 15
Spoilers: S5
Warning: Not the most feelgood or fluffy story in the world. Character deaths, lots of them.
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, I'm just writing for fun and non-profit.
A/N: For the
primeval100 challenge 250: Past Challenges. Uses prompts: 48 - Captain Tom Ryan, 51 - Stephen Hart, 66 - Nick Cutter, 89 - Fools Rush In, 226 - Sarah Page, 120 - Danny Quinn, 215 - Trapped on the Wrong Side of an Anomaly, 206 - Matt Anderson, 64 - The Future, 44 - Connor Temple, 19 - Abby, 218 - Jess Parker, 171 - The Road to Hell, 97 - Extinction, 22 - Ryan
Thanks to lsellersfic for the gorgeous cover!
No Fate But What We Make
48 - Captain Tom Ryan
He was dragged from his grave in the Permian, too dazzled by the sunlight to see who or what had found and revived him.
"They died," the spirit told him. "Every last one of them, but you could save them. It's easy enough, if you have the answers. This is where Hart died. This is when Helen shot Cutter. These people came later. You could help them too, if you listen to me."
Time and fate were his to correct. A different roll of the dice. He walked through the anomaly after Cutter, and saw the astonishment on their faces.
***
51 - Stephen Hart
Stephen Hart hadn't been feeling suicidal on the day Leek tried to kill them all. With Ryan still alive he had something to live for, someone who stood by him through Helen's manipulations and made them unimportant, someone to love.
Ryan was there with him, and when Stephen punched Cutter and ran for the door he made sure that he stopped him. But Stephen wasn't going to let Ryan die in that room either.
Ryan and Stephen fought for the door, blocking each other. When they realised their mistake it was too late and Cutter had already closed the door.
***
66 - Nick Cutter
Cutter had seen his ex-wife turn into something he didn't recognise. Helen's revelation had torn the ARC team into two camps. Abby and Connor were with him, but they were just kids really. Ryan stayed professional at work, but outside he was just another one of Stephen's conquests to Cutter. And Lester? They'd fought from day one. He couldn't confide in any of them.
The worst thing was that he'd seen Claudia Brown vanish from history. Jenny was lovely, but she would never be Claudia. God, he missed Claudia.
While Ryan and Stephen battled to be heroes, Cutter became one.
***
89 - Fools Rush In
By the time they managed to force the door open, most of the creatures had already turned on each other and Cutter was long past help. Stephen still tried. Saving him again earned Ryan a near-fatal bite that put him out of action for months.
When Ryan returned, freshly promoted to Major and with a new Captain under him, Hart was in charge. It wasn't a disaster, but it came close. Stephen's feelings of guilt over Cutter, and his hatred for Helen had him making rash decisions based more on instinct than judgement.
Time and again Ryan kept him alive.
***
226 - Sarah Page
She was an Egyptologist, apparently. Stephen seemed to think her knowledge would be useful. He really was clutching at straws these days, Ryan thought.
Lester had dropped her file on his desk, unable to see the point of taking someone on to study myths and legends. Ryan agreed with him.
"She'd definitely be a disaster. Don't take her on."
That was one person saved, anyway.
Years later, during convergence, Sarah met a dinosaur for the second time in her life. It was the last time as well.
By then, Ryan had begun to doubt his ability to change people's fates.
***
120 - Danny Quinn
He'd been warned about Danny Quinn.
There was no vacancy for team leader, not with Stephen still around. But the ex-copper had discovered the project and turned up at the most inconvenient times. He ran rings around Becker's security systems, infuriating the young Captain.
Lester and Stephen both wanted to hire him. Ryan was running out of excuses that wouldn't make him sound insane.
Danny would find his brother eventually, and would die at his hand, millions of years in the past.
"He's reckless," Ryan told Stephen. "We don't need two of you endangering the project."
Stephen hired him anyway.
***
215 - Trapped on the Wrong Side of an Anomaly
This time five of them went through the anomaly after Helen. Five of them that headed for the future but got trapped in the past.
Some things stayed the same: Helen kept her appointment with the raptor and the cliff; Connor and Abby still got lost in the Cretaceous for a year.
Stephen and Ryan were trapped with Danny, all three trying to fight the terror birds and find their way home. Ryan dreaded what they might find on their return.
By the time they made it back, only to almost immediately lose Danny again, things had changed once more.
***
206 - Matt Anderson
Matt was the new team leader. Apparently there was some rule in place now about not hiring civilians. If it meant Stephen wasn't first in the firing line, Ryan didn't care too much. But he took Matt to one side at the first opportunity.
"I know who you are. I can help you."
Matt looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"It's Philip you want. And Connor. They create New Dawn and bring about the future you're dreading. You need to stop them."
Matt watched Ryan very carefully after that, certain he'd found the one he was looking for.
***
64 - The Future
Lester didn't want to listen to Ryan any more. The Major was constantly worrying about the future, talking about things that should've happened differently. He wondered if he should put him in for a psychological evaluation, perhaps the strain of the job was getting too much for him? It was like Cutter and Claudia all over again.
He was also concerned about Philip, who was taking up more and more of Connor's time. Matt didn't seem to be interested in either of them. He stalked Ryan, night and day.
Despite all his mistakes, perhaps it was time to reinstate Stephen?
***
44 - Connor Temple
Connor's world was falling apart.
He'd lost Abby, he knew that. She was tired of him rarely coming home, never making time for her.
Part of him hoped that he could win her back, but the realist knew there was no chance.
Philip, though, was going to destroy the world. Connor still enlisted Abby's help, and the two of them invaded New Dawn once convergence began.
This time, when Connor fell through the anomaly, it was just Abby who followed. They had no knowledge of the location of the subterranean world, so there was nowhere to shelter from the creatures.
***
19 - Abby
For a few moments that day, she thought she'd got the old Connor back. The one she used to know before Philip manipulated him.
He was sorry. She was right. She was the most important thing in his world.
Except she wasn't, not quite. The most important thing was trying to stop what he and Philip had done before it was too late.
Racing through the huge anomaly, guns blazing, Abby prayed she could save him.
But Connor had breathed too much of the poisoned air, and he was too heavy for her to move alone.
The predators moved quickly.
***
218 - Jess Parker
Jess was very good at her job, there was no getting away from it.
She was also distracting Captain Becker so badly with her short skirts and bright smiles that his work was suffering and his life had already been put at risk more than once.
Ryan had Becker block Jess's personal number from his work phone to reduce the unprofessional distraction.
It worked well. Becker never forgave him. When the ARC was invaded by future predators during convergence, Jess couldn't call Becker for help. After that, neither Lester nor Jess distracted anyone ever again.
Ryan hadn't seen that coming.
***
171 - The Road to Hell
It had all gone horribly wrong. They couldn't close New Dawn without Connor, and the predators were getting through. There were just the four team members left.
Becker wouldn't speak to Ryan unless he had to, and was chasing down every future predator with nothing short of a death wish.
Matt was having trouble reconciling the failure of his mission with the fact that Ryan had been telling him the truth all along. Stephen took in both their stories, then decided they were quite mad
Ryan lived with the terrible knowledge that somehow his interfering had actually made things worse.
***
97 - Extinction
It felt as if he were the last man left on Earth.
Holed up in the ARC, watching the predators rapidly destroying civilisation, there had been little they could do to stop it.
Matt and Becker had chosen to leave, and the last he saw of them was in a truck heavily laden with arms and supplies. He knew where they were headed. They did too.
Stephen stayed with him. He'd saved Stephen, but at what cost?
In the end, a predator took Stephen from him after all.
Ryan went through an anomaly, their only chance was changing the past.
***
22 - Ryan
Ryan stood over his own body in the Permian.
Now he'd failed, he knew how and why he'd been saved all those years ago. Blinded by the sun, he hadn't recognised himself.
He could end this, let himself go and never face all the failure and death that was to come. Or he could try again, but who knew how many times he had tried and failed already?
His decision: "You have another chance to save them."
He was never going to choose otherwise, stuck in an endless loop.
But who, he wondered, had saved him the very first time?
***
Author: Clea2011
Word Count: 100 x 15
Characters: Ryan/Stephen, Cutter/Claudia, Becker/Jess, Connor/Abby, Matt, Danny, Lester, Sarah, Jenny
Rating: 15
Spoilers: S5
Warning: Not the most feelgood or fluffy story in the world. Character deaths, lots of them.
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, I'm just writing for fun and non-profit.
A/N: For the
primeval100 challenge 250: Past Challenges. Uses prompts: 48 - Captain Tom Ryan, 51 - Stephen Hart, 66 - Nick Cutter, 89 - Fools Rush In, 226 - Sarah Page, 120 - Danny Quinn, 215 - Trapped on the Wrong Side of an Anomaly, 206 - Matt Anderson, 64 - The Future, 44 - Connor Temple, 19 - Abby, 218 - Jess Parker, 171 - The Road to Hell, 97 - Extinction, 22 - Ryan
Thanks to lsellersfic for the gorgeous cover!
No Fate But What We Make
48 - Captain Tom Ryan
He was dragged from his grave in the Permian, too dazzled by the sunlight to see who or what had found and revived him.
"They died," the spirit told him. "Every last one of them, but you could save them. It's easy enough, if you have the answers. This is where Hart died. This is when Helen shot Cutter. These people came later. You could help them too, if you listen to me."
Time and fate were his to correct. A different roll of the dice. He walked through the anomaly after Cutter, and saw the astonishment on their faces.
***
51 - Stephen Hart
Stephen Hart hadn't been feeling suicidal on the day Leek tried to kill them all. With Ryan still alive he had something to live for, someone who stood by him through Helen's manipulations and made them unimportant, someone to love.
Ryan was there with him, and when Stephen punched Cutter and ran for the door he made sure that he stopped him. But Stephen wasn't going to let Ryan die in that room either.
Ryan and Stephen fought for the door, blocking each other. When they realised their mistake it was too late and Cutter had already closed the door.
***
66 - Nick Cutter
Cutter had seen his ex-wife turn into something he didn't recognise. Helen's revelation had torn the ARC team into two camps. Abby and Connor were with him, but they were just kids really. Ryan stayed professional at work, but outside he was just another one of Stephen's conquests to Cutter. And Lester? They'd fought from day one. He couldn't confide in any of them.
The worst thing was that he'd seen Claudia Brown vanish from history. Jenny was lovely, but she would never be Claudia. God, he missed Claudia.
While Ryan and Stephen battled to be heroes, Cutter became one.
***
89 - Fools Rush In
By the time they managed to force the door open, most of the creatures had already turned on each other and Cutter was long past help. Stephen still tried. Saving him again earned Ryan a near-fatal bite that put him out of action for months.
When Ryan returned, freshly promoted to Major and with a new Captain under him, Hart was in charge. It wasn't a disaster, but it came close. Stephen's feelings of guilt over Cutter, and his hatred for Helen had him making rash decisions based more on instinct than judgement.
Time and again Ryan kept him alive.
***
226 - Sarah Page
She was an Egyptologist, apparently. Stephen seemed to think her knowledge would be useful. He really was clutching at straws these days, Ryan thought.
Lester had dropped her file on his desk, unable to see the point of taking someone on to study myths and legends. Ryan agreed with him.
"She'd definitely be a disaster. Don't take her on."
That was one person saved, anyway.
Years later, during convergence, Sarah met a dinosaur for the second time in her life. It was the last time as well.
By then, Ryan had begun to doubt his ability to change people's fates.
***
120 - Danny Quinn
He'd been warned about Danny Quinn.
There was no vacancy for team leader, not with Stephen still around. But the ex-copper had discovered the project and turned up at the most inconvenient times. He ran rings around Becker's security systems, infuriating the young Captain.
Lester and Stephen both wanted to hire him. Ryan was running out of excuses that wouldn't make him sound insane.
Danny would find his brother eventually, and would die at his hand, millions of years in the past.
"He's reckless," Ryan told Stephen. "We don't need two of you endangering the project."
Stephen hired him anyway.
***
215 - Trapped on the Wrong Side of an Anomaly
This time five of them went through the anomaly after Helen. Five of them that headed for the future but got trapped in the past.
Some things stayed the same: Helen kept her appointment with the raptor and the cliff; Connor and Abby still got lost in the Cretaceous for a year.
Stephen and Ryan were trapped with Danny, all three trying to fight the terror birds and find their way home. Ryan dreaded what they might find on their return.
By the time they made it back, only to almost immediately lose Danny again, things had changed once more.
***
206 - Matt Anderson
Matt was the new team leader. Apparently there was some rule in place now about not hiring civilians. If it meant Stephen wasn't first in the firing line, Ryan didn't care too much. But he took Matt to one side at the first opportunity.
"I know who you are. I can help you."
Matt looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"It's Philip you want. And Connor. They create New Dawn and bring about the future you're dreading. You need to stop them."
Matt watched Ryan very carefully after that, certain he'd found the one he was looking for.
***
64 - The Future
Lester didn't want to listen to Ryan any more. The Major was constantly worrying about the future, talking about things that should've happened differently. He wondered if he should put him in for a psychological evaluation, perhaps the strain of the job was getting too much for him? It was like Cutter and Claudia all over again.
He was also concerned about Philip, who was taking up more and more of Connor's time. Matt didn't seem to be interested in either of them. He stalked Ryan, night and day.
Despite all his mistakes, perhaps it was time to reinstate Stephen?
***
44 - Connor Temple
Connor's world was falling apart.
He'd lost Abby, he knew that. She was tired of him rarely coming home, never making time for her.
Part of him hoped that he could win her back, but the realist knew there was no chance.
Philip, though, was going to destroy the world. Connor still enlisted Abby's help, and the two of them invaded New Dawn once convergence began.
This time, when Connor fell through the anomaly, it was just Abby who followed. They had no knowledge of the location of the subterranean world, so there was nowhere to shelter from the creatures.
***
19 - Abby
For a few moments that day, she thought she'd got the old Connor back. The one she used to know before Philip manipulated him.
He was sorry. She was right. She was the most important thing in his world.
Except she wasn't, not quite. The most important thing was trying to stop what he and Philip had done before it was too late.
Racing through the huge anomaly, guns blazing, Abby prayed she could save him.
But Connor had breathed too much of the poisoned air, and he was too heavy for her to move alone.
The predators moved quickly.
***
218 - Jess Parker
Jess was very good at her job, there was no getting away from it.
She was also distracting Captain Becker so badly with her short skirts and bright smiles that his work was suffering and his life had already been put at risk more than once.
Ryan had Becker block Jess's personal number from his work phone to reduce the unprofessional distraction.
It worked well. Becker never forgave him. When the ARC was invaded by future predators during convergence, Jess couldn't call Becker for help. After that, neither Lester nor Jess distracted anyone ever again.
Ryan hadn't seen that coming.
***
171 - The Road to Hell
It had all gone horribly wrong. They couldn't close New Dawn without Connor, and the predators were getting through. There were just the four team members left.
Becker wouldn't speak to Ryan unless he had to, and was chasing down every future predator with nothing short of a death wish.
Matt was having trouble reconciling the failure of his mission with the fact that Ryan had been telling him the truth all along. Stephen took in both their stories, then decided they were quite mad
Ryan lived with the terrible knowledge that somehow his interfering had actually made things worse.
***
97 - Extinction
It felt as if he were the last man left on Earth.
Holed up in the ARC, watching the predators rapidly destroying civilisation, there had been little they could do to stop it.
Matt and Becker had chosen to leave, and the last he saw of them was in a truck heavily laden with arms and supplies. He knew where they were headed. They did too.
Stephen stayed with him. He'd saved Stephen, but at what cost?
In the end, a predator took Stephen from him after all.
Ryan went through an anomaly, their only chance was changing the past.
***
22 - Ryan
Ryan stood over his own body in the Permian.
Now he'd failed, he knew how and why he'd been saved all those years ago. Blinded by the sun, he hadn't recognised himself.
He could end this, let himself go and never face all the failure and death that was to come. Or he could try again, but who knew how many times he had tried and failed already?
His decision: "You have another chance to save them."
He was never going to choose otherwise, stuck in an endless loop.
But who, he wondered, had saved him the very first time?
***