When Ghosts Turn Flesh and Blood (S4 AU)
***
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Helen says as she sees Lester, Abby, and Connor in Becker’s living room, and her fleeting glance at him tells Becker she was counting on him calling in the remainders of the original team as some sort of backup.
“Where’s Danny,” Connor asks immediately, eyes flaming with anger that obviously amuse Helen.
“Tell us and we might not get you arrested.”
Lester meets Helen’s smirk with one of his own but she just makes herself comfortable on the sofa, making it obvious whatever is about to happen here will be on her terms. Becker wishes to god he couldn’t see the way every carefully planned movement was an act hiding pain. He watches Helen look at Abby, as if waiting for her to start bargaining as well but Abby’s jaw just tightens a fraction and she looks away, and not for the first time since her return Becker is hit by the realisation just how much like Helen she’s become. The slight twitch of Helen’s lips tells him she noticed too.
“How much do you know about Matt Anderson?” she suddenly asks, earning surprised glances from everyone.
Lester folds his arms across his chest and narrows his eyes, Connor looks confused and not sure if he really wants to hear all this, while Abby just watches Helen quietly.
“We know enough,” Becker says firmly. Helen smiles.
“Then I presume you know he’s a clone.”
“What?” Connor gapes. Lester shakes his head in disbelief.
“That is entirely impossible. No clone could have passed the extensive tests and interviews we included in the hiring process.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time a clone fooled you,” Helen shrugs.
“For half a day but not a whole year,” Becker hisses angrily. “I’ve worked with him every day for a year, Helen. I’ve… I would know if he was a clone.”
The look she gives him tells Becker she knows very well why the thought of this makes his stomach turn.
“No you wouldn’t. He’s of a new, much improved model from the future.”
“Go on,” Abby says quietly when Helen stops, and the twitch of Helen’s lips tells Becker that’s what Helen’s been waiting for.
“Using the DNA of young men and women that die unexpectedly in accidents clones are created and then trained to fight and kill. With the programmed knowledge of machines but human levels of adaptability. They talk and act like humans do, they understand subtleties of human behaviour, they lie just like we do. They feel just like we do. They are just like humans in every possible way but better.”
“Why the hell should we believe you?” Connor snorts but Abby’s light touch on his arm hushes him.
“So you’re saying he’s a threat?” she asks.
“On the contrary,” Helen smirks. “He’s the best ally you could imagine.”
“Fine,” Lester nods. “Let’s presume for a moment that we believe you. Why would he then get mixed up with the ARC?”
“These clones are specifically trained for one reason: to go back in time to prevent certain events that could have disastrous consequences. Matt is on a mission, looking for whoever will cause the chain of events he was charged with preventing.”
“How do you know all that?” Abby asks. Helen just smirks but Becker is almost certain he’s not just imagining the slight shadow that creeps across her face.
“Very well, I will look into the matter,” Lester says grimly. “Until then none of you talks to anyone about this.”
“But…” Connor starts.
“I said no one else can know about this,” Lester narrows his eyes and turns to leave but Helens voice makes him stop.
“You know about Philip then.”
“What about him?” Connor asks, disbelief still thick in his voice and posture.
“Ask him,” Helen nods to Lester who gives her a warning look, but it’s too late. Connor is quite obviously heading towards a kicked puppy look, Abby’s warm touch against the small of his back only a small comfort, and Becker can already feel a headache coming up. This is not promising to be good.
“He,” Lester starts and clears his throat. “He was involved with Christine at the time of her death…”
“That’s ridiculous,” Connor cuts in but Abby calmingly squeezes his arm.
“Let him speak, Connor.”
“We weren’t the ones to approach him to join the ARC. He came to us with an offer the government couldn’t refuse.”
“Money?” Abby sneers. Lester gives her pointed look.
“His silence.” Lester rubs the bridge of his nose. “He claims he didn’t know about Christine’s work until after her death.”
“But you don’t believe him,” Becker says.
“No,” Lester sighs. “I don’t trust him.”
Everyone’s silent and no one quite wants to look at Connor.
“What is it that Matt supposedly came to stop, Helen?” Abby asks quietly. Helen pauses for a moment and then shrugs.
“Don’t you dare,” Abby growls. “If you know this much you must know that as well.”
Helen stands up and approaches Abby very slowly and Becker can’t help but be fascinated by how masterfully she hides any sign of weakness. Connor makes a move to stand between Abby and Helen but Abby stops him with a hand on his chest and doesn’t break eyecontact with the other woman.
“Your worst nightmare,” Helen says finally and Becker swears he can hear the “our” in there somewhere. “The past as a themepark for anyone willing to pay enough. A playground for men and their high-tech weapons. Ancient creatures sold as pets, most species on the brink of extinction long before their time. Do you want me to go on?”
Abby blinks, a pained look on her face, but her voice doesn’t waver when she speaks.
“Prove it.”
Helen smirks and pulls a worn, slightly torn flyer out of the pocket of her coat. It shows a Brontosaurus munching peacefully on leaves but it is surrounded by children and adults taking photos eagerly, in the background there’s a hotel surrounded by a high protection fence. Only a few words can be made out on the battered paper: dinosaur petting zoo, for the whole family, T-Rex steak - new recipe!... A perverse Jurassic Park imitation with the actual past. Even Becker feels slightly nauseous at the thought.
“That can be faked,” Connor says angrily. “You can do anything with photoshop these days.”
But Abby isn’t listening to him, she’s looking at the flyer with a stony expression for a long time before giving it back to Helen.
“If Matt is here to stop this from happening then we need to help him.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?” Lester cuts in. “We need check our facts first. You two,” he points at Abby and Connor, “come with me. And you,” he gives Becker a sharp look, “don’t let her out of your sight until this is cleared up. Understood?”
“But, sir…” Becker starts to protest but he’s silenced by a warning look.
“It wasn’t a request, Becker.”
“Yes, sir,” he nods reluctantly and he can almost hear Helen’s smirky voice. Well trained puppy. Lester gives him a look that in his standards almost counts as amusement.
“Cuff her to the bed if you have to.”
With that he leaves, followed by Abby and a still reluctant Connor. As soon as they’re gone Helen sits back on Becker’s sofa with a smirk.
“Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while.”
Becker has to swallow the urge to strangle her, there’s just too much bad blood between them for comments like that. He keeps quiet and walks to the window, watching Abby and Connor get into Lester’s car. It looks like Connor is still trying to convince them Helen is lying but Lester is no nonsense as always and Abby is quiet.
“You can say it, you know,” Helen says in a voice Becker has never heard from her before and it makes him turn around. Without the calculating smirk she looks worn and wounded and Becker almost snorts because he knows she would only let him see that for a reason.
“Say what, hm?” he asks sharply. “That I’d rather get shot than spend even a minute longer here with you?”
It feels good saying that. It’s a blatant lie, Becker knows he’s fighting a lost battle against Helen’s pull, but it still feels good saying that. She looks down and lets a small, almost sad smile spread on her lips. It almost seems honest. Almost.
“That you hate me.” she says. “You wouldn’t be the first.”
As she stands up one of her legs gives out under her but Becker is at her side in a flash, wrapping his arms around her to keep her from collapsing. It’s a ruse, he knows that with utmost certainty. The weakness is real, the lasting damage she openly displays now is not an elaborate act, but he knows she would only reveal it like this to lure him back in her web. He wishes it wasn’t working.
His mind is screaming at him to step away but before he could stop himself his fingers brush against her cheek gently.
“I could never hate you,” he whispers. Helen chuckles humourlessly, too many shadows in her eyes for him to bear.
“Of course you could.”
He doesn’t want to believe her. All he wants is to forget what was, forget what might be and let for the first time since her return intense relief wash over him that she’s back, that she’s still around to torture him with love that was never meant to be. He knows it’s an unforgivable mistake, much more so than any of his previous actions, because now he knows exactly what she’s like. And yet all he feels is need when their lips finally meet in a deep, hungry kiss. It feels like after a year of starving to death he’s finally tasting heaven, Helen’s lips fit perfectly against his, her body is strong and tempting against him, as it used to be, her fingers dig into his back like they want to mark him all over again.
He tries to swallow the words but they are out before he could stop them…
“God, I’ve missed you…” he whispers into the kiss. She looks at him with an unreadable look and for a moment he’s not sure if she wants to say it back, or leave, or roll her eyes at him. In the end she does none of those just pulls him into another deep, urgent kiss, silencing any more foolish words he might feel inclined to let slip.