Primeval Fic: Always - Birthday fic for Luka
Title: Always
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 928
Characters: James Lester, Stephen Hart
Rating: 15
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: For Lukadreaming's birthday and her (extrememly old) prompt(s): Lester/Stephen - peace and quiet, or light at the end of the tunnel, or my brain hurts! Sorry it is so late. Also for Fixit and Fic finishing challenges.
A/N 2: Many thanks to Fredbassett for the beta.
I rubbed my tired eyes and wondered if I'd shovelled enough shit to even glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, I wasn't foolish enough to think this débâcle was over, but I might, at least, have gained a small respite. A moment of peace and quiet in which I could sit back and take stock of the situation. One that would not reflect well on me or on my team. I knew the Minister would happily blame the whole mess on me. Even though he'd had a hand in causing the near-disaster, considering he'd firmly suggested Oliver bloody Leek as my second. I shook my head, knowing exactly how the Minister would react if I reminded him of that uncomfortable truth. I knew I would have to find a... more palatable version if I was going to retain control of the ARC.
My gaze fell upon Ms Lewis' report. I had read and re-read it, I had even had Ms Lewis tell me about it in person, and I still had trouble believing it. For one thing, it would appear that the 'mad' Professor Cutter wasn't quite as unbalanced as I had believed, unlike his bloody wife. I couldn't doubt his sanity over his rants that this wasn't his world, not any longer. Somehow Helen Cutter had changed the present by altering the past. For all that I had spent my entire career thinking outside the box, I had to admit people altering the past had been one of the few things I had never prepared a contingency plan for. What scared me the most was that I hadn't even noticed my world had been changed, that scared me and made my brain hurt even more than the anomalies had ever done.
I bit back a sigh, it wouldn't do to be too dramatic, even if my façade had taken something of a battering in the recent events. As much as I just wanted to rest, to give my aching body time to heal, I knew it was a luxury I didn't have time for, smiling wryly at that irony. I forced my mind back to business, I had to have my report finished for the Minister, all the i's dotted and the t's crossed, if I was to have any chance of remaining the ARC's Director. More than that, though, I was determined to make up for my mistakes, for my errors of judgement that had almost destroyed the ARC, which had almost cost me someone I cared for more than life itself...
Bloody hell, I was becoming maudlin, not that my pounding head was helping matters. Gods, just what I needed on top of everything else, a fucking migraine. I felt hands grip my shoulders, a well-loved voice in my ear and I think I muttered, “My brain hurts!”. I wasn't sure if I had really spoken those words or if my lover just knew the signs, either way, I didn't care as his sure fingers worked their magic on my neck and shoulders, releasing the tension I had been ignoring for far too long.
Oh, I knew the coming hours, days or months, if not longer, would be difficult although not impossible. I would have to fight to keep control of the ARC, for the sharks would be circling for the kill, seeing my failure as a weakness for them to exploit. I sighed softly, worrying over it wouldn't solve the problem. No, I would have to be strong, I would have to prove myself - to the Minister, to my team and to myself. Most of all, I would have to prove myself to my lover, to the man I had let down when I had left him to struggle alone.
“You don't need to do this alone, James.”
I bit off my automatic sarcastic response at Stephen's words, considering how I had left him. It had chilled my blood when I had read the reports, of how Stephen had entered the cage room willing to die to redeem himself to Cutter. The thought that I would have lost Stephen because I had been too engrossed in my own problems and too willing to believe Stephen when he told me he could handle Cutter. I should have ignored him, not only was I his boss but I was his lover, I should have been there for him. If he hadn't called Ryan, knowing Helen wouldn't consider the good Captain a threat when he was on sick leave, still recovering from his own near death experience...
I shook my head to dispel the images those thoughts created and felt Stephen's grip loosen on my shoulders. Fuck! I was a bloody idiot for not realising he would see my action as a rejection of him and his offer of support. An aching head and body were no excuse for hurting my lover and I forced myself to stand, successfully - I hoped - in suppressing my wince at that action. My hands snapped out to grasp Stephen's arms and I dragged him in for a kiss. I rested our foreheads together and put every bit of my love into my gaze as I locked eyes with him. “Together.”
“Always,” Stephen replied.
And I knew that as long as I had Stephen by my side that I would make up for my mistakes, that I would retain control of the ARC and that, together with the rest of the team, we would find the answer to the anomalies and how to stop them.
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 928
Characters: James Lester, Stephen Hart
Rating: 15
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: For Lukadreaming's birthday and her (extrememly old) prompt(s): Lester/Stephen - peace and quiet, or light at the end of the tunnel, or my brain hurts! Sorry it is so late. Also for Fixit and Fic finishing challenges.
A/N 2: Many thanks to Fredbassett for the beta.
I rubbed my tired eyes and wondered if I'd shovelled enough shit to even glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel. Oh, I wasn't foolish enough to think this débâcle was over, but I might, at least, have gained a small respite. A moment of peace and quiet in which I could sit back and take stock of the situation. One that would not reflect well on me or on my team. I knew the Minister would happily blame the whole mess on me. Even though he'd had a hand in causing the near-disaster, considering he'd firmly suggested Oliver bloody Leek as my second. I shook my head, knowing exactly how the Minister would react if I reminded him of that uncomfortable truth. I knew I would have to find a... more palatable version if I was going to retain control of the ARC.
My gaze fell upon Ms Lewis' report. I had read and re-read it, I had even had Ms Lewis tell me about it in person, and I still had trouble believing it. For one thing, it would appear that the 'mad' Professor Cutter wasn't quite as unbalanced as I had believed, unlike his bloody wife. I couldn't doubt his sanity over his rants that this wasn't his world, not any longer. Somehow Helen Cutter had changed the present by altering the past. For all that I had spent my entire career thinking outside the box, I had to admit people altering the past had been one of the few things I had never prepared a contingency plan for. What scared me the most was that I hadn't even noticed my world had been changed, that scared me and made my brain hurt even more than the anomalies had ever done.
I bit back a sigh, it wouldn't do to be too dramatic, even if my façade had taken something of a battering in the recent events. As much as I just wanted to rest, to give my aching body time to heal, I knew it was a luxury I didn't have time for, smiling wryly at that irony. I forced my mind back to business, I had to have my report finished for the Minister, all the i's dotted and the t's crossed, if I was to have any chance of remaining the ARC's Director. More than that, though, I was determined to make up for my mistakes, for my errors of judgement that had almost destroyed the ARC, which had almost cost me someone I cared for more than life itself...
Bloody hell, I was becoming maudlin, not that my pounding head was helping matters. Gods, just what I needed on top of everything else, a fucking migraine. I felt hands grip my shoulders, a well-loved voice in my ear and I think I muttered, “My brain hurts!”. I wasn't sure if I had really spoken those words or if my lover just knew the signs, either way, I didn't care as his sure fingers worked their magic on my neck and shoulders, releasing the tension I had been ignoring for far too long.
Oh, I knew the coming hours, days or months, if not longer, would be difficult although not impossible. I would have to fight to keep control of the ARC, for the sharks would be circling for the kill, seeing my failure as a weakness for them to exploit. I sighed softly, worrying over it wouldn't solve the problem. No, I would have to be strong, I would have to prove myself - to the Minister, to my team and to myself. Most of all, I would have to prove myself to my lover, to the man I had let down when I had left him to struggle alone.
“You don't need to do this alone, James.”
I bit off my automatic sarcastic response at Stephen's words, considering how I had left him. It had chilled my blood when I had read the reports, of how Stephen had entered the cage room willing to die to redeem himself to Cutter. The thought that I would have lost Stephen because I had been too engrossed in my own problems and too willing to believe Stephen when he told me he could handle Cutter. I should have ignored him, not only was I his boss but I was his lover, I should have been there for him. If he hadn't called Ryan, knowing Helen wouldn't consider the good Captain a threat when he was on sick leave, still recovering from his own near death experience...
I shook my head to dispel the images those thoughts created and felt Stephen's grip loosen on my shoulders. Fuck! I was a bloody idiot for not realising he would see my action as a rejection of him and his offer of support. An aching head and body were no excuse for hurting my lover and I forced myself to stand, successfully - I hoped - in suppressing my wince at that action. My hands snapped out to grasp Stephen's arms and I dragged him in for a kiss. I rested our foreheads together and put every bit of my love into my gaze as I locked eyes with him. “Together.”
“Always,” Stephen replied.
And I knew that as long as I had Stephen by my side that I would make up for my mistakes, that I would retain control of the ARC and that, together with the rest of the team, we would find the answer to the anomalies and how to stop them.