Primeval fic: Queen Takes Knight (1/3)
Title: Queen Takes Knight - Part 1
Author: knitekat
Word Count: ~3305 of 9725
Characters: Claudia Brown, Helen Cutter, Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, James Lester, Connor Temple.
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N: For the April Teamfest (Helen) and my muse has decided to set this in Series 1 - episodes 4 to 6. Thanks for Fred for the beta and paw-holding, cheers m'dear. All remaining mistakes are mine. Continues in part 2.
Helen sat in her bare cell and glared at the door. She was bloody furious, both with herself and with Nick. How could he have betrayed her like that? Their conversation in the past hadn't been the most productive or friendly one they'd ever had, but she'd thought they had agreed to an amicable parting of the ways, even if she couldn't understand how he could turn down the opportunity of a lifetime and still call himself a scientist.
She had become complacent. That was her only excuse and it rankled with her. She had never expected the soldiers to follow Nick through, never expected him to allow them to capture her by force.
Her mind returned to that moment. To being dragged through the anomaly and out of the house. The supercilious man ordering everyone about and the woman in his shadow ensuring his orders were carried out. Helen had spotted Nick, still damp, in the back of an ambulance, before she had been pushed into a car and driven away to... wherever it was she was being held captive.
Her head snapped up when she heard the lock on the door click open, but any hope of escape faded when it opened to reveal two armed soldiers flanked by two more down the corridor. Well, Helen hadn't survived eight years in the past for nothing, she could bide her time until the right moment to strike.
The room she was led to was too bright and barren, and she thought some might find it intimidating. She did wish they'd turn the lights down, but then, that was probably part of the whole intimidation idea. Helen glanced around as she waited and quickly spotted the cameras watching her every move. She realised any attempt she made to escape would end up with her being swiftly captured and no doubt locked up somewhere even more secure. No, she'd have to continue waiting and seize the opportunity when it came.
Helen scowled when the man from the house entered the room... what had the woman called him? Oh yes, Sir James. The man in charge of this operation, the man who had sent the soldiers through to capture her and drag her back to this world against her will. How dare he think he could treat her like that?
The annoying man sat at the table, almost ignoring the woman who had accompanied him. “Sir James Lester, Home Office. I have some questions for you.”
Helen almost sneered at him, of course he had, but if he thought she'd answer anyone who grabbed her against her will, he was wrong. Speaking of which. “Presumably there are still laws against kidnapping?”
Lester smiled. “Hmm. Though, officially, you're dead. We can't have kidnapped someone who doesn't actually exist, can we?” He leaned forwards slightly. “The only way you can get out of here is by telling us everything you know about the anomalies.”
Lester's attitude annoyed her. Thinking he could order her around... who the hell did he think he was? It would give Helen great pleasure to annoy Lester, to refuse to answer his questions no matter what threats he made. Helen almost smiled at the thought that she might be scared of him and what he could do. She'd met far scarier creatures on her travels. But, if she wanted to escape, she would have to deal with him without pissing him off too much. “I'll tell you one thing, you're the spitting image of a utahraptor I once met in the Jurassic.”
Lester's smile was almost reptilian. “I'll take that as a refusal to co-operate, shall I?”
Helen did love a challenge and Lester seemed so full of himself it would be entertaining to burst his ego. She tuned out their conversation as she made her plans - to escape and to bring Lester down a peg or two.
***
After having nothing but her own company for several years, Helen was more than comfortable to sit in silence as they waited for news from the field. Even if Lester seemed determined to try to out stare her. It was like looking at a predator, knowing whoever broke contact first invited an attack. In the end their staring match was broken by the women - Claudia - receiving a message.
Lester quirked an eyebrow at Helen. “Did you know it was a false alarm?” His tone was accusing. “You told your husband you knew how to find the anomalies.”
Helen almost snorted, he was nothing if not persistent. “What I said to Nick is between me and him.”
“Prior knowledge of anomaly locations would be priceless. If you can give us that information, it's your absolute duty as a citizen to do so.”
Helen gave a slight smile as she noticed his change in tactics. Either that or he had forgotten his previous comment. “But as you pointed out, I don't even exist, so how can I be a citizen?”
Lester sat back in his chair and smiled again. A smile that didn't reach his eyes. “You know, I have the power to make your life extremely unpleasant.”
Helen knew Nick would never allow Lester to harm her. She was sure Nick still loved her, even after all these years. Oh yes, Nick still loved her, believed in her and she could use that to escape. Let Lester send his hired thugs after her... she would find him when she was ready and then they would see who was in charge. But for now she'd see what Claudia had to say for herself. “How can you bear to work with this man?”
“At the end of the day this is about something very simple. Saving lives. Now, you can do that. So if you know anything at all, just tell us.”
Not quite the answer Helen had expected but, actually, it was an even better one. It gave Helen the opening she needed to put her escape plan into action. “Bring Nick to me and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Oh, she might have snapped at Nick for betraying her, but she knew her once-husband all too well, he was far too loyal to have ever thought of it. This was all Lester's doing and he would learn to regret it.
***
If Helen's time in the past had taught her anything, it was the value of being patient. She smothered a smile when the door opened and Nick walked in. If she played this right, he'd be eating out of her hand... not that it would be hard to make Nick believe her, the only question was whether she could convince Lester. Time to act the betrayed wife.
Nick took the seat opposite her, the same one Lester had occupied. “Are they looking after you properly?”
Good old Nick. She could always rely on him to care for her. Perfect. “If you cared about that you wouldn't have set me up in the first place.”
Nick bit, as expected, defending himself. “I didn't set you up.” His sigh, however, was unexpected when he just caved in to her view. “Okay. Believe what you like.”
Good. Time to play on Nick's distrust of the government and its interference in people's lives. “They're listening to every word, aren't they?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Probably.”
Helen looked up at the camera as if gauging her next words. “I need you to get me out of here, Nick.”
Nick voice rose with every word. “Well, then, tell me what you know! Tell me where the anomalies are. Tell me why they’re happening.” He paused and his voice dropped back to normal, “Then maybe I can help you.”
Time to bait the hook. “Right now, why is the least of your worries.”
“You see, what does that mean?”
And now to see if Nick - and Lester - would take the bait. “You want me to help? All right, I’ll help. Unless you act within the next few hours a pride of sabre-toothed killers will be rampaging through central London.”
Nick sat forward. “Sabre-toothed killers?”
Helen nodded, she almost had him. “Smilodon. A large pride has established itself near to an anomaly. It is only a matter of time before they find it and come through. Seeking new prey and... well, what could be a better hunting ground for them than London?”
“Where is it?”
Helen shook her head. “No. I want to take you there myself.” She looked up at the camera again before meeting Nick's eyes. She just hoped Nick would defend her to Lester's distrust. Nick always had seen the best in her and Helen hoped he would now.
***
It had proven incredibly simple to slip her captors. They had followed her into the football stadium and straight to the anomaly. The perfect one for her plan for more than one reason. Connor had tested and failed to find the tell-tale magnetic field - but not finding it was essential to Helen's plan. She needed them to open the fridge door with all the loose metal objects in the room - which she hoped would provide enough of a distraction for her to escape.
Helen lip had almost curled when Claudia ordered one of the soldiers to watch her. They were hardly professional - after all, they had not taken her knife from her or bound her hands. Stephen even gave her knife back after opening the lock on the fridge. Bloody hell, how did they think a creature would break out through a heavy and closed fridge door? Not that she was going to mention that to them, after all, that was her escape route.
Even with various metal objects flying through the air, Helen still had the problem of too many people watching her and standing between her and the fridge. Connor gave her the perfect reason to get them out of her way when he grabbed a pie from the fridge.
“Oh my God. We've got to get rid of them. The meat will act like bait.” To add emphasis to her cry, Helen tried to run into the fridge but was swiftly grabbed by two of the soldiers, as she had expected. She turned and grabbed one of the men’s tac-vest. “Unless you want your men to be breakfast, I suggest you do something.”
Helen waited for her moment, watching the team being preoccupied moving the boxes out of the fridge, she had to time it just right. Now! When they were all distracted, Helen dashed past them and dived through the anomaly. She could hear the distant yells behind her but didn't wait for them to follow her through. Instead she ran towards one of the many open anomalies and jumped through it, secure in the knowledge they would not be able to track her. That was the second reason she had chosen this particular anomaly over other, more useful times.
***
Helen slipped through an anomaly and found herself once more on the streets of London. A quick glance at a newspaper confirmed she was in the right time, mere weeks after her forcible return. She patted her pocket and smiled. It was time to pay a visit to the local version of the Utahraptor.
It was so easy to gain entrance to Lester's flat. Not that any security of this century could hold out against the lock-picking devices of the next. Helen spent a few moments looking around, quickly spotting the photographs of happier times and other signs that gave her an insight into her foe.
A key in the door gave Helen enough warning to conceal herself. She was impressed when Lester paused, sensing something was wrong. It looked as if the 21st century hadn't dulled every human's senses to uselessness. Unfortunately for Lester, he paused when he should have reacted and she had time to shoot him. Helen gave a satisfied smile when he crumpled silently to the floor.
***
Helen piled the dirty dishes into the sink. She certainly wasn't going to wash up. She paused on her way out and smiled at Lester, who looked furious as he struggled with his bonds. Helen couldn't help leaning over him, giving him a clear look down her cleavage, and pressing her lips over his gagged ones. Her hand drifted down to fondle his flaccid cock into hardness before she pulled away. “I'm sure your people will arrive soon, James.”
Helen walked away and grinned as she heard his frantic struggles and muffled commands. He really should have known that the female was far deadlier than the male.
***
Helen cursed herself. How could she have become so enamoured with watching the creature? She knew better than to let her guard down and yet, here she was, running for her life and jumping from one anomaly to another in an attempt to lose the bloody persistent creature.
The anomaly brought her back to London and only a few months after her last visit - hmm, she wondered how Lester had managed to explain the situation she had left him in to his people. She grinned, maybe she should find out, but how?
The answer came to her a few days later as she perused a newspaper. Several people had gone missing and she was sure it was the creature she had been hunted by. It would appear that she hadn't lost it as well as she had believed, but, really it gave her the perfect opportunity to see Lester. Not directly, of course, she doubted she'd receive a friendly welcome from him, not considering how she had left him the last time they had met. She smiled as she remembered that meeting. She really did want a re-match with the man. Hmm, she would need a go-between to arrange the meeting, but who? Nick was out of the question, he might still love her but he didn't trust her and he was far too interested in that Claudia woman. But Stephen, now he would be perfect. He was also in love with her and he had never been that bright when faced with her not-so-secret weapon. If she played nice with him, Stephen would do anything she asked. Not to mention she might as well have fun with him, he'd always been rather good in bed. Attentive and willing, if a little unimaginative.
Hmm, she wondered where to meet Stephen... Helen smiled as she remembered the perfect place and made her way there to wait for him. She shook her head at the people waking past her, oblivious to her presence. In so many eras of the world's history, they would be dead. All of them food for some better adapted creature.
Finally, Stephen existed the building and strolled down the path. Helen trailed him. She could have just called his name out but she was curious to see whether he would sense her, whether even Stephen's senses had been muted by this modern life. Watching his back, Helen realised the exact moment he sensed someone behind him and she quickly moved into cover. Helen moved around the low mound until she stood behind Stephen and had to hide her smile when he jumped as he turned and saw her there. It just proved her opinion that modern life made humans vulnerable.
“In most eras of the world's history, you'd be dead by now.”
Stephen recovered fairly well, although his gaze did flick down to Helen's cleavage for an instance. “Helen. What the hell are you doing here?”
“All this urban living's made human beings such lazy animals. Second-rate hearing, no sense of smell, no worthwhile instincts,” Helen commented, partly out of curiosity - to see how Stephen would respond - and partly as a way to introduce the subject she wished to discuss.
Stephen shrugged. “Well, man has no predators, we have nothing to be afraid of except each other.”
Helen sighed silently. Even knowing about the anomalies Stephen was still so confident about humanity's ability to deal with what lay through them. Maybe this creature was just the wakeup call humans required? “Well, that used to be the case, but times are changing, aren't they, Stephen?”
“What do you want?”
Stephen almost snapped that question at her and Helen realised she might have miscalculated with that last comment. Time to correct that error and she could think of no better way than: “A cold beer would be nice.” Helen turned and started to walk towards the university cafe, sparing a come hither look over her shoulder. A smile on her lips as Stephen followed, like a well-trained puppy.
Helen savoured the taste of the beer and the chance to relax, even if just slightly, for the moment. Soon she would have to be on her guard - not just for the creature but she knew Lester didn't trust her an inch and would have little hesitation throwing her in a cell again.
Stephen took a sip before frowning at her. “Why don't you just tell me what you want?”
Helen nodded and leaned forward, allowing her shirt to part and reveal more of the secret weapon conceal within it. “A meeting. With Nick and Lester. Tomorrow morning at 11.” She reached into a pocket, moving in such a way as to increase the gape in her shirt, and gave Stephen a piece of paper. “Here.” Helen sat back and watched Stephen unconsciously lick his lip. Her voice was low and confidential as she added, “No armed thugs, no ambushes. They'll want to hear what I've got to say.”
Stephen shook his head, although Helen was uncertain if he was shaking off the effect of her cleavage or disagreeing that they would want to hear what she had to say. “They don't trust you.”
Helen wasn't so sure about that, not as far as Nick was concerned. Oh, Lester didn't trust her, she knew that, but he would meet with her. He would have to; it was part of his job - if she laid the right bait for him. “I don't trust them, either. But this is serious.” Helen grabbed the newspaper from her rucksack and gave it to Stephen, pointing to an article. “Three people have disappeared in the last 48 hours. I know what happened to them.”
“A creature? What kind?” Stephen had always been quick on the uptake - about certain things, anyway.
Helen shook her head. She needed them to wonder about that, it would make them more likely to show up tomorrow and to do as she had instructed. The chance she was telling the truth would ensure Lester didn't try to have her arrested. He had already found out she wouldn't cooperate if she was threatened and he'd need her cooperation. But, for now, it was time to reward Stephen.
“It's good to see you again, Stephen. You know, you were always one of my better students. Not the very brightest maybe, but always full of idealism and integrity.” Just a little reminder to ensure he delivered her message correctly. She stood and pulled her backpack on and added the final seal to their bargain by leaning over and kissing Stephen on the lips. “I miss that.”
“Thank you. I'm touched.” Although Stephen's words sounded dismissive, Helen saw the truth in his eyes. He was hooked. Now all she need was to hook Lester... she smiled as she walked away.
Author: knitekat
Word Count: ~3305 of 9725
Characters: Claudia Brown, Helen Cutter, Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, James Lester, Connor Temple.
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N: For the April Teamfest (Helen) and my muse has decided to set this in Series 1 - episodes 4 to 6. Thanks for Fred for the beta and paw-holding, cheers m'dear. All remaining mistakes are mine. Continues in part 2.
Helen sat in her bare cell and glared at the door. She was bloody furious, both with herself and with Nick. How could he have betrayed her like that? Their conversation in the past hadn't been the most productive or friendly one they'd ever had, but she'd thought they had agreed to an amicable parting of the ways, even if she couldn't understand how he could turn down the opportunity of a lifetime and still call himself a scientist.
She had become complacent. That was her only excuse and it rankled with her. She had never expected the soldiers to follow Nick through, never expected him to allow them to capture her by force.
Her mind returned to that moment. To being dragged through the anomaly and out of the house. The supercilious man ordering everyone about and the woman in his shadow ensuring his orders were carried out. Helen had spotted Nick, still damp, in the back of an ambulance, before she had been pushed into a car and driven away to... wherever it was she was being held captive.
Her head snapped up when she heard the lock on the door click open, but any hope of escape faded when it opened to reveal two armed soldiers flanked by two more down the corridor. Well, Helen hadn't survived eight years in the past for nothing, she could bide her time until the right moment to strike.
The room she was led to was too bright and barren, and she thought some might find it intimidating. She did wish they'd turn the lights down, but then, that was probably part of the whole intimidation idea. Helen glanced around as she waited and quickly spotted the cameras watching her every move. She realised any attempt she made to escape would end up with her being swiftly captured and no doubt locked up somewhere even more secure. No, she'd have to continue waiting and seize the opportunity when it came.
Helen scowled when the man from the house entered the room... what had the woman called him? Oh yes, Sir James. The man in charge of this operation, the man who had sent the soldiers through to capture her and drag her back to this world against her will. How dare he think he could treat her like that?
The annoying man sat at the table, almost ignoring the woman who had accompanied him. “Sir James Lester, Home Office. I have some questions for you.”
Helen almost sneered at him, of course he had, but if he thought she'd answer anyone who grabbed her against her will, he was wrong. Speaking of which. “Presumably there are still laws against kidnapping?”
Lester smiled. “Hmm. Though, officially, you're dead. We can't have kidnapped someone who doesn't actually exist, can we?” He leaned forwards slightly. “The only way you can get out of here is by telling us everything you know about the anomalies.”
Lester's attitude annoyed her. Thinking he could order her around... who the hell did he think he was? It would give Helen great pleasure to annoy Lester, to refuse to answer his questions no matter what threats he made. Helen almost smiled at the thought that she might be scared of him and what he could do. She'd met far scarier creatures on her travels. But, if she wanted to escape, she would have to deal with him without pissing him off too much. “I'll tell you one thing, you're the spitting image of a utahraptor I once met in the Jurassic.”
Lester's smile was almost reptilian. “I'll take that as a refusal to co-operate, shall I?”
Helen did love a challenge and Lester seemed so full of himself it would be entertaining to burst his ego. She tuned out their conversation as she made her plans - to escape and to bring Lester down a peg or two.
***
After having nothing but her own company for several years, Helen was more than comfortable to sit in silence as they waited for news from the field. Even if Lester seemed determined to try to out stare her. It was like looking at a predator, knowing whoever broke contact first invited an attack. In the end their staring match was broken by the women - Claudia - receiving a message.
Lester quirked an eyebrow at Helen. “Did you know it was a false alarm?” His tone was accusing. “You told your husband you knew how to find the anomalies.”
Helen almost snorted, he was nothing if not persistent. “What I said to Nick is between me and him.”
“Prior knowledge of anomaly locations would be priceless. If you can give us that information, it's your absolute duty as a citizen to do so.”
Helen gave a slight smile as she noticed his change in tactics. Either that or he had forgotten his previous comment. “But as you pointed out, I don't even exist, so how can I be a citizen?”
Lester sat back in his chair and smiled again. A smile that didn't reach his eyes. “You know, I have the power to make your life extremely unpleasant.”
Helen knew Nick would never allow Lester to harm her. She was sure Nick still loved her, even after all these years. Oh yes, Nick still loved her, believed in her and she could use that to escape. Let Lester send his hired thugs after her... she would find him when she was ready and then they would see who was in charge. But for now she'd see what Claudia had to say for herself. “How can you bear to work with this man?”
“At the end of the day this is about something very simple. Saving lives. Now, you can do that. So if you know anything at all, just tell us.”
Not quite the answer Helen had expected but, actually, it was an even better one. It gave Helen the opening she needed to put her escape plan into action. “Bring Nick to me and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
Oh, she might have snapped at Nick for betraying her, but she knew her once-husband all too well, he was far too loyal to have ever thought of it. This was all Lester's doing and he would learn to regret it.
***
If Helen's time in the past had taught her anything, it was the value of being patient. She smothered a smile when the door opened and Nick walked in. If she played this right, he'd be eating out of her hand... not that it would be hard to make Nick believe her, the only question was whether she could convince Lester. Time to act the betrayed wife.
Nick took the seat opposite her, the same one Lester had occupied. “Are they looking after you properly?”
Good old Nick. She could always rely on him to care for her. Perfect. “If you cared about that you wouldn't have set me up in the first place.”
Nick bit, as expected, defending himself. “I didn't set you up.” His sigh, however, was unexpected when he just caved in to her view. “Okay. Believe what you like.”
Good. Time to play on Nick's distrust of the government and its interference in people's lives. “They're listening to every word, aren't they?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Probably.”
Helen looked up at the camera as if gauging her next words. “I need you to get me out of here, Nick.”
Nick voice rose with every word. “Well, then, tell me what you know! Tell me where the anomalies are. Tell me why they’re happening.” He paused and his voice dropped back to normal, “Then maybe I can help you.”
Time to bait the hook. “Right now, why is the least of your worries.”
“You see, what does that mean?”
And now to see if Nick - and Lester - would take the bait. “You want me to help? All right, I’ll help. Unless you act within the next few hours a pride of sabre-toothed killers will be rampaging through central London.”
Nick sat forward. “Sabre-toothed killers?”
Helen nodded, she almost had him. “Smilodon. A large pride has established itself near to an anomaly. It is only a matter of time before they find it and come through. Seeking new prey and... well, what could be a better hunting ground for them than London?”
“Where is it?”
Helen shook her head. “No. I want to take you there myself.” She looked up at the camera again before meeting Nick's eyes. She just hoped Nick would defend her to Lester's distrust. Nick always had seen the best in her and Helen hoped he would now.
***
It had proven incredibly simple to slip her captors. They had followed her into the football stadium and straight to the anomaly. The perfect one for her plan for more than one reason. Connor had tested and failed to find the tell-tale magnetic field - but not finding it was essential to Helen's plan. She needed them to open the fridge door with all the loose metal objects in the room - which she hoped would provide enough of a distraction for her to escape.
Helen lip had almost curled when Claudia ordered one of the soldiers to watch her. They were hardly professional - after all, they had not taken her knife from her or bound her hands. Stephen even gave her knife back after opening the lock on the fridge. Bloody hell, how did they think a creature would break out through a heavy and closed fridge door? Not that she was going to mention that to them, after all, that was her escape route.
Even with various metal objects flying through the air, Helen still had the problem of too many people watching her and standing between her and the fridge. Connor gave her the perfect reason to get them out of her way when he grabbed a pie from the fridge.
“Oh my God. We've got to get rid of them. The meat will act like bait.” To add emphasis to her cry, Helen tried to run into the fridge but was swiftly grabbed by two of the soldiers, as she had expected. She turned and grabbed one of the men’s tac-vest. “Unless you want your men to be breakfast, I suggest you do something.”
Helen waited for her moment, watching the team being preoccupied moving the boxes out of the fridge, she had to time it just right. Now! When they were all distracted, Helen dashed past them and dived through the anomaly. She could hear the distant yells behind her but didn't wait for them to follow her through. Instead she ran towards one of the many open anomalies and jumped through it, secure in the knowledge they would not be able to track her. That was the second reason she had chosen this particular anomaly over other, more useful times.
***
Helen slipped through an anomaly and found herself once more on the streets of London. A quick glance at a newspaper confirmed she was in the right time, mere weeks after her forcible return. She patted her pocket and smiled. It was time to pay a visit to the local version of the Utahraptor.
It was so easy to gain entrance to Lester's flat. Not that any security of this century could hold out against the lock-picking devices of the next. Helen spent a few moments looking around, quickly spotting the photographs of happier times and other signs that gave her an insight into her foe.
A key in the door gave Helen enough warning to conceal herself. She was impressed when Lester paused, sensing something was wrong. It looked as if the 21st century hadn't dulled every human's senses to uselessness. Unfortunately for Lester, he paused when he should have reacted and she had time to shoot him. Helen gave a satisfied smile when he crumpled silently to the floor.
***
Helen piled the dirty dishes into the sink. She certainly wasn't going to wash up. She paused on her way out and smiled at Lester, who looked furious as he struggled with his bonds. Helen couldn't help leaning over him, giving him a clear look down her cleavage, and pressing her lips over his gagged ones. Her hand drifted down to fondle his flaccid cock into hardness before she pulled away. “I'm sure your people will arrive soon, James.”
Helen walked away and grinned as she heard his frantic struggles and muffled commands. He really should have known that the female was far deadlier than the male.
***
Helen cursed herself. How could she have become so enamoured with watching the creature? She knew better than to let her guard down and yet, here she was, running for her life and jumping from one anomaly to another in an attempt to lose the bloody persistent creature.
The anomaly brought her back to London and only a few months after her last visit - hmm, she wondered how Lester had managed to explain the situation she had left him in to his people. She grinned, maybe she should find out, but how?
The answer came to her a few days later as she perused a newspaper. Several people had gone missing and she was sure it was the creature she had been hunted by. It would appear that she hadn't lost it as well as she had believed, but, really it gave her the perfect opportunity to see Lester. Not directly, of course, she doubted she'd receive a friendly welcome from him, not considering how she had left him the last time they had met. She smiled as she remembered that meeting. She really did want a re-match with the man. Hmm, she would need a go-between to arrange the meeting, but who? Nick was out of the question, he might still love her but he didn't trust her and he was far too interested in that Claudia woman. But Stephen, now he would be perfect. He was also in love with her and he had never been that bright when faced with her not-so-secret weapon. If she played nice with him, Stephen would do anything she asked. Not to mention she might as well have fun with him, he'd always been rather good in bed. Attentive and willing, if a little unimaginative.
Hmm, she wondered where to meet Stephen... Helen smiled as she remembered the perfect place and made her way there to wait for him. She shook her head at the people waking past her, oblivious to her presence. In so many eras of the world's history, they would be dead. All of them food for some better adapted creature.
Finally, Stephen existed the building and strolled down the path. Helen trailed him. She could have just called his name out but she was curious to see whether he would sense her, whether even Stephen's senses had been muted by this modern life. Watching his back, Helen realised the exact moment he sensed someone behind him and she quickly moved into cover. Helen moved around the low mound until she stood behind Stephen and had to hide her smile when he jumped as he turned and saw her there. It just proved her opinion that modern life made humans vulnerable.
“In most eras of the world's history, you'd be dead by now.”
Stephen recovered fairly well, although his gaze did flick down to Helen's cleavage for an instance. “Helen. What the hell are you doing here?”
“All this urban living's made human beings such lazy animals. Second-rate hearing, no sense of smell, no worthwhile instincts,” Helen commented, partly out of curiosity - to see how Stephen would respond - and partly as a way to introduce the subject she wished to discuss.
Stephen shrugged. “Well, man has no predators, we have nothing to be afraid of except each other.”
Helen sighed silently. Even knowing about the anomalies Stephen was still so confident about humanity's ability to deal with what lay through them. Maybe this creature was just the wakeup call humans required? “Well, that used to be the case, but times are changing, aren't they, Stephen?”
“What do you want?”
Stephen almost snapped that question at her and Helen realised she might have miscalculated with that last comment. Time to correct that error and she could think of no better way than: “A cold beer would be nice.” Helen turned and started to walk towards the university cafe, sparing a come hither look over her shoulder. A smile on her lips as Stephen followed, like a well-trained puppy.
Helen savoured the taste of the beer and the chance to relax, even if just slightly, for the moment. Soon she would have to be on her guard - not just for the creature but she knew Lester didn't trust her an inch and would have little hesitation throwing her in a cell again.
Stephen took a sip before frowning at her. “Why don't you just tell me what you want?”
Helen nodded and leaned forward, allowing her shirt to part and reveal more of the secret weapon conceal within it. “A meeting. With Nick and Lester. Tomorrow morning at 11.” She reached into a pocket, moving in such a way as to increase the gape in her shirt, and gave Stephen a piece of paper. “Here.” Helen sat back and watched Stephen unconsciously lick his lip. Her voice was low and confidential as she added, “No armed thugs, no ambushes. They'll want to hear what I've got to say.”
Stephen shook his head, although Helen was uncertain if he was shaking off the effect of her cleavage or disagreeing that they would want to hear what she had to say. “They don't trust you.”
Helen wasn't so sure about that, not as far as Nick was concerned. Oh, Lester didn't trust her, she knew that, but he would meet with her. He would have to; it was part of his job - if she laid the right bait for him. “I don't trust them, either. But this is serious.” Helen grabbed the newspaper from her rucksack and gave it to Stephen, pointing to an article. “Three people have disappeared in the last 48 hours. I know what happened to them.”
“A creature? What kind?” Stephen had always been quick on the uptake - about certain things, anyway.
Helen shook her head. She needed them to wonder about that, it would make them more likely to show up tomorrow and to do as she had instructed. The chance she was telling the truth would ensure Lester didn't try to have her arrested. He had already found out she wouldn't cooperate if she was threatened and he'd need her cooperation. But, for now, it was time to reward Stephen.
“It's good to see you again, Stephen. You know, you were always one of my better students. Not the very brightest maybe, but always full of idealism and integrity.” Just a little reminder to ensure he delivered her message correctly. She stood and pulled her backpack on and added the final seal to their bargain by leaning over and kissing Stephen on the lips. “I miss that.”
“Thank you. I'm touched.” Although Stephen's words sounded dismissive, Helen saw the truth in his eyes. He was hooked. Now all she need was to hook Lester... she smiled as she walked away.