Returning Home Chapter 3
Title: Returning Home Chapter 3
Author: TalliW
Characters: Lester/Cutter, Becker/Connor, Abby, Sarah, Jenny, Danny Quinn
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the lovely Fredbassett for beta-reading.
Summary: Cutter and Connor have vanished in another universe through the artefact in episode 3x03. Now they are back in their own world but they are changed men after being held as sex slaves for years. Can they ever recover from that ordeal?
Warning:This story contains mentions of rape and violence.
In the afternoon, Jenny and Abby stormed into Lester's office.
"What happened?"
"Why weren't we informed instantly?"
"I believed it necessary to keep you focussed on your immediate task. To get you worked up before the conference didn't seem like a good idea. Well, how did the re-hearing go?"
Abby huffed angrily and crossed her arms in front of her chest while darting daggers at the senior civil servant. Outwardly Lester wasn't fazed in the slightest by her behaviour. But inwardly he was delighted. It was the first time in weeks Abby had shown any real emotion.
Jenny just took a deep breath. She knew she wouldn't get an answer from Lester before she had delivered her report about the hearing.
"It went a lot better than last time with Danny there. It was agreed that Nigel Marvin acted recklessly. We have been absolved of any responsibility for his death. However the loss of the chopper wasn't taken so well."
"Typical," Lester mumbled. "I guess that means another budget cut."
Then he switched to the topic Jenny and Abby were so anxious to hear about.
"They arrived yesterday evening in Lab 4 after an anomaly alarm. Connor woke up this morning and is currently resting under Becker's supervision in the recovery room. Cutter is still unconscious and hasn't shown any sign of improvement. We still don't know what has happened to them. But as soon Temple is feeling better I intend to rectify that."
Lester accompanied the women down the ramp but his PA, Lorraine, stopped him before he could vanish into the infirmary.
Six minutes later a piercing scream rang out through the ARC.
Abby stared in shock at the terrified Connor. That wasn't how she had pictured their reunion.
Kinsley shoved her aside and hurried to his patient, who tried to hide behind Becker's back.
When Danny appeared beside Abby, Connor started to yell, "You damned traitor. I believed in you. What did they pay you to sell us out?"
His voice went over into a gibber as the medic injected a sedative in the vein in his arm.
Shortly after, their attention was drawn to Jenny three doors up who screamed desperately for a doctor.
Jenny was still badly shaken when Lorraine handed her a cup of tea. Abby had refused the tea and hadn't spoken a word since Danny had led her away from Connor's room.
"God, James. I just touched his hand and mumbled some encouraging words," Jenny whispered aghast. "As soon he heard my voice he started convulsing, then his breathing stopped."
Lester rubbed his temple to alleviate his growing headache. Cutter was now on life support system and Temple heavily sedated. In a matter of seconds the situation had got out of hand. And apparently only because the two people who cared most about Cutter and Temple had visited them.
He just hoped the day wouldn't get any worse. If an anomaly showed up they’d be lost. The team was in no way fully operational
Abby hovered at the door to Connor's sick-room. Becker hadn't left the room since the incident. He and Lester seemed to be the only people Connor still trusted.
Currently both men were trying to convince Connor that he was in a place of safety.
"It's not a dream? I really made it home? And Cutter’s alive?" Connor asked through his tears, his eyes fixed on Lester. "You swear it’s really true? On Mara’s life?
Lester inhaled forcefully. No one but his uncle Edwin and his grandmother had known about Mara, the horse he had rescued from the slaughter after it had broken a hind leg at the first fox hunt he had attended. The chestnut mare was now old and limped a little on the leg that had been fractured back then but otherwise still lived in the best of health at the animal sanctuary.
However Connor had heard about Mara, he seem also to know how much the old mare meant to Lester. Lester still visited her at last once a month.
"You are home and Cutter as well. He's currently in a coma but he lives. I swear on Mara’s life," Lester said firmly and that seem to reassure Connor immediately.
"I'm home. I'm really home," Connor whispered with a dreamy expression before he closed his eyes and slipped into a blissful sleep.
Abby brushed the tears from her cheeks and hurried away before someone could notice she had been eavesdropping. Perhaps now things would get better. If only Cutter would wake up as well.
Connor slept for seventeen hours in a row. Becker guarded him the whole time and Abby came by every half an hour until Lester forced her to go home long after work for the day had finished.
Lester took up residence in the ARC's emergency sleeping quarters again.
The ventilator moved up and down and transported much needed air into the lungs of the patient.
Lester had learnt to hate the regular noises of the life support system over the last two days. The impulse was strong to just tear down all the various wires and tubes connected to Cutter. But his rational side won out every time. He knew turning off the life support system would kill Cutter. So he just sat down beside the bed and watched him, wishing the man would show some sign that he was on the way of recovery.
"Where's the boss?" Danny asked, puzzled. He hadn't seen Lester since the morning. Usually the man was sitting in his office, busy with paperwork until late into the night. But since Temple and Cutter had arrived, Lester's routine had changed.
Lorraine sighed. "Probably in the infirmary again. He vanished shortly after lunch."
She looked at her wristwatch and grimaced. "He’s never been gone for this long. I think it's time to remind him that a stack of papers is waiting on his desk for him to sign."
Danny and Lorraine found Lester in Cutter's room.
Lorraine's stern look softened at the sight of Lester resting with his head on the edge of Cutter's bed. Instead waking him up and scolding him for dodging today's paperwork she retreated quietly.
Danny stayed a moment longer, taking in the peaceful picture of his boss sleeping at the bed of the former team leader he had heard so much about, before he closed the door softly.
"How did you know about Mara?"
Connor had woken up two hours ago. After a shower, a healthy meal and a medical check-up he was in a relatively good shape so Lester had decided to resume the questioning.
"You told us. Me and Cutter. Two weeks before you tried to kidnap the Duke. You were worried about who would take care of your horse if something went wrong. I assured you that her Ladyship would never take revenge on an innocent horse. I think Christine Johnson was looking after Mara when you were gone."
"Tell me more about what happened after the explosion."
Connor screwed his eyes shut and tried to remember the events from over four years ago.
"Cutter was badly hurt and he had this artefact. Told me it was important and handed it to me. I didn't know it's a means of transportation, and accidentally activated it."
Lester watched how Connor ducked his head and hunched his shoulders as though he was expecting a punishment for that mishap.
"When I woke up I was still at the ARC. But an intact ARC. There hadn't been an explosion. Everything else was different too. My body hurt and there were these horrible noises. The whole section was filled with people on daybeds. And they moaned in pain. Then I saw them, Ryan and Professor Owen. They ... they walked around the room and checked on the people. I remember thinking something bad must have happened if they had to use the ARC as a spare hospital."
Connor paused briefly and glanced at Becker and Lester. Becker smiled encouragingly and that seem to give Connor the strength to continue.
"I looked around for Cutter. Saw him a few metres ahead. His hands were still pressed on his gunshot wound. As I was trying to crawl over to him, Ryan noticed me and all hell broke loose."
Connor whimpered softly as his brain brought back some images of that dreadful day.
"Sorry, I can't... don't remember much of the few next days... Everything is fuzzy. They asked questions and took blood samples. A lot of blood samples. That's all."
Lester nodded in understanding. Ditzy, currently monitoring them over the CCTV camera, had already warned him that Connor might have repressed some memories in order to protect himself.
"Just tell us what you remember."
"Okay. One day... I don't know how much time had gone by,,,. when I came around I heard people arguing down the corridor."
"Could you hear what they were saying?"
"Yes. A woman said: 'It would be a waste and you know it. You have got more than enough material for your experiments.' A man answered her, I believe it was Dr Ryan. 'We don't know where they came from. They don't have a citizen number on their wrist or an owner mark on their cheek and hip.' Her again: 'Good. That means they’re free game. No one else can put a claim on them. I want them, Tom. You know I'm short on servants since your last birthday party.'
Connor repeated the short conversation as well as he could remember, trying to convey the different persons by speaking in different tones.
Dr. Ryan: "They might be dangerous."
Female voice: "Stephen said you’ve calmed them down. Or has your bonny boy exaggerated again?"
Dr Ryan again: "Leave my assistant alone. He told the truth. But even though we taught them some manners there’s still some fight left in them."
Another woman cut in: "I assure you your wife and I can manage. Give us two weeks and I promise you they will be the best trained servants you have ever seen."
Connor's breath hitched in his throat as he mumbled, "I was shocked when I realised why the female voices sounded so familiar. Still a small part of me was hoping that was all a ploy and they had come to rescue us. Boy, was I wrong."
"Connor, who did the female voices belong to? Did you catch sight of them?"
"Oh yeah. They came in. Mistress Abby and Lady Jenny."
"And?"
"When they eyed me up like a piece of meat I knew I must have entered a parallel universe. My Abby hadn't had such cold, cruel eyes."
Connor doubled his fist when he repeated Abby's last words, before he had blacked out from the pain: "Quickly, get them branded and prepare them for transport. We take them both."
He had woken up naked and hog tied in a luxurious quarters in the palace with the slave sign of the House of Abingdon branded on his cheek and hip, Nick Cutter right next to him in the same condition. The next day the training had started.
Lester and the medic had decided to give Connor two hours rest and then resume the talk.
After taking a quick meal, Becker had returned to Connor's side. He'd fled when Abby and Jenny had walked into the rec room together. With the things Connor had said already about his time in the palace he wasn't able to face Abby and Jenny just then.
Punctually, two hours later, Lester walked into Connor's room again. Becker looked up in surprise as he smelt the faint scent of alcohol. So Lester hadn't been unaffected by Connor's report, either.
Author: TalliW
Characters: Lester/Cutter, Becker/Connor, Abby, Sarah, Jenny, Danny Quinn
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Primeval is the property of Impossible Pictures. I write just for fun.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to the lovely Fredbassett for beta-reading.
Summary: Cutter and Connor have vanished in another universe through the artefact in episode 3x03. Now they are back in their own world but they are changed men after being held as sex slaves for years. Can they ever recover from that ordeal?
Warning:This story contains mentions of rape and violence.
In the afternoon, Jenny and Abby stormed into Lester's office.
"What happened?"
"Why weren't we informed instantly?"
"I believed it necessary to keep you focussed on your immediate task. To get you worked up before the conference didn't seem like a good idea. Well, how did the re-hearing go?"
Abby huffed angrily and crossed her arms in front of her chest while darting daggers at the senior civil servant. Outwardly Lester wasn't fazed in the slightest by her behaviour. But inwardly he was delighted. It was the first time in weeks Abby had shown any real emotion.
Jenny just took a deep breath. She knew she wouldn't get an answer from Lester before she had delivered her report about the hearing.
"It went a lot better than last time with Danny there. It was agreed that Nigel Marvin acted recklessly. We have been absolved of any responsibility for his death. However the loss of the chopper wasn't taken so well."
"Typical," Lester mumbled. "I guess that means another budget cut."
Then he switched to the topic Jenny and Abby were so anxious to hear about.
"They arrived yesterday evening in Lab 4 after an anomaly alarm. Connor woke up this morning and is currently resting under Becker's supervision in the recovery room. Cutter is still unconscious and hasn't shown any sign of improvement. We still don't know what has happened to them. But as soon Temple is feeling better I intend to rectify that."
Lester accompanied the women down the ramp but his PA, Lorraine, stopped him before he could vanish into the infirmary.
Six minutes later a piercing scream rang out through the ARC.
Abby stared in shock at the terrified Connor. That wasn't how she had pictured their reunion.
Kinsley shoved her aside and hurried to his patient, who tried to hide behind Becker's back.
When Danny appeared beside Abby, Connor started to yell, "You damned traitor. I believed in you. What did they pay you to sell us out?"
His voice went over into a gibber as the medic injected a sedative in the vein in his arm.
Shortly after, their attention was drawn to Jenny three doors up who screamed desperately for a doctor.
Jenny was still badly shaken when Lorraine handed her a cup of tea. Abby had refused the tea and hadn't spoken a word since Danny had led her away from Connor's room.
"God, James. I just touched his hand and mumbled some encouraging words," Jenny whispered aghast. "As soon he heard my voice he started convulsing, then his breathing stopped."
Lester rubbed his temple to alleviate his growing headache. Cutter was now on life support system and Temple heavily sedated. In a matter of seconds the situation had got out of hand. And apparently only because the two people who cared most about Cutter and Temple had visited them.
He just hoped the day wouldn't get any worse. If an anomaly showed up they’d be lost. The team was in no way fully operational
Abby hovered at the door to Connor's sick-room. Becker hadn't left the room since the incident. He and Lester seemed to be the only people Connor still trusted.
Currently both men were trying to convince Connor that he was in a place of safety.
"It's not a dream? I really made it home? And Cutter’s alive?" Connor asked through his tears, his eyes fixed on Lester. "You swear it’s really true? On Mara’s life?
Lester inhaled forcefully. No one but his uncle Edwin and his grandmother had known about Mara, the horse he had rescued from the slaughter after it had broken a hind leg at the first fox hunt he had attended. The chestnut mare was now old and limped a little on the leg that had been fractured back then but otherwise still lived in the best of health at the animal sanctuary.
However Connor had heard about Mara, he seem also to know how much the old mare meant to Lester. Lester still visited her at last once a month.
"You are home and Cutter as well. He's currently in a coma but he lives. I swear on Mara’s life," Lester said firmly and that seem to reassure Connor immediately.
"I'm home. I'm really home," Connor whispered with a dreamy expression before he closed his eyes and slipped into a blissful sleep.
Abby brushed the tears from her cheeks and hurried away before someone could notice she had been eavesdropping. Perhaps now things would get better. If only Cutter would wake up as well.
Connor slept for seventeen hours in a row. Becker guarded him the whole time and Abby came by every half an hour until Lester forced her to go home long after work for the day had finished.
Lester took up residence in the ARC's emergency sleeping quarters again.
The ventilator moved up and down and transported much needed air into the lungs of the patient.
Lester had learnt to hate the regular noises of the life support system over the last two days. The impulse was strong to just tear down all the various wires and tubes connected to Cutter. But his rational side won out every time. He knew turning off the life support system would kill Cutter. So he just sat down beside the bed and watched him, wishing the man would show some sign that he was on the way of recovery.
"Where's the boss?" Danny asked, puzzled. He hadn't seen Lester since the morning. Usually the man was sitting in his office, busy with paperwork until late into the night. But since Temple and Cutter had arrived, Lester's routine had changed.
Lorraine sighed. "Probably in the infirmary again. He vanished shortly after lunch."
She looked at her wristwatch and grimaced. "He’s never been gone for this long. I think it's time to remind him that a stack of papers is waiting on his desk for him to sign."
Danny and Lorraine found Lester in Cutter's room.
Lorraine's stern look softened at the sight of Lester resting with his head on the edge of Cutter's bed. Instead waking him up and scolding him for dodging today's paperwork she retreated quietly.
Danny stayed a moment longer, taking in the peaceful picture of his boss sleeping at the bed of the former team leader he had heard so much about, before he closed the door softly.
"How did you know about Mara?"
Connor had woken up two hours ago. After a shower, a healthy meal and a medical check-up he was in a relatively good shape so Lester had decided to resume the questioning.
"You told us. Me and Cutter. Two weeks before you tried to kidnap the Duke. You were worried about who would take care of your horse if something went wrong. I assured you that her Ladyship would never take revenge on an innocent horse. I think Christine Johnson was looking after Mara when you were gone."
"Tell me more about what happened after the explosion."
Connor screwed his eyes shut and tried to remember the events from over four years ago.
"Cutter was badly hurt and he had this artefact. Told me it was important and handed it to me. I didn't know it's a means of transportation, and accidentally activated it."
Lester watched how Connor ducked his head and hunched his shoulders as though he was expecting a punishment for that mishap.
"When I woke up I was still at the ARC. But an intact ARC. There hadn't been an explosion. Everything else was different too. My body hurt and there were these horrible noises. The whole section was filled with people on daybeds. And they moaned in pain. Then I saw them, Ryan and Professor Owen. They ... they walked around the room and checked on the people. I remember thinking something bad must have happened if they had to use the ARC as a spare hospital."
Connor paused briefly and glanced at Becker and Lester. Becker smiled encouragingly and that seem to give Connor the strength to continue.
"I looked around for Cutter. Saw him a few metres ahead. His hands were still pressed on his gunshot wound. As I was trying to crawl over to him, Ryan noticed me and all hell broke loose."
Connor whimpered softly as his brain brought back some images of that dreadful day.
"Sorry, I can't... don't remember much of the few next days... Everything is fuzzy. They asked questions and took blood samples. A lot of blood samples. That's all."
Lester nodded in understanding. Ditzy, currently monitoring them over the CCTV camera, had already warned him that Connor might have repressed some memories in order to protect himself.
"Just tell us what you remember."
"Okay. One day... I don't know how much time had gone by,,,. when I came around I heard people arguing down the corridor."
"Could you hear what they were saying?"
"Yes. A woman said: 'It would be a waste and you know it. You have got more than enough material for your experiments.' A man answered her, I believe it was Dr Ryan. 'We don't know where they came from. They don't have a citizen number on their wrist or an owner mark on their cheek and hip.' Her again: 'Good. That means they’re free game. No one else can put a claim on them. I want them, Tom. You know I'm short on servants since your last birthday party.'
Connor repeated the short conversation as well as he could remember, trying to convey the different persons by speaking in different tones.
Dr. Ryan: "They might be dangerous."
Female voice: "Stephen said you’ve calmed them down. Or has your bonny boy exaggerated again?"
Dr Ryan again: "Leave my assistant alone. He told the truth. But even though we taught them some manners there’s still some fight left in them."
Another woman cut in: "I assure you your wife and I can manage. Give us two weeks and I promise you they will be the best trained servants you have ever seen."
Connor's breath hitched in his throat as he mumbled, "I was shocked when I realised why the female voices sounded so familiar. Still a small part of me was hoping that was all a ploy and they had come to rescue us. Boy, was I wrong."
"Connor, who did the female voices belong to? Did you catch sight of them?"
"Oh yeah. They came in. Mistress Abby and Lady Jenny."
"And?"
"When they eyed me up like a piece of meat I knew I must have entered a parallel universe. My Abby hadn't had such cold, cruel eyes."
Connor doubled his fist when he repeated Abby's last words, before he had blacked out from the pain: "Quickly, get them branded and prepare them for transport. We take them both."
He had woken up naked and hog tied in a luxurious quarters in the palace with the slave sign of the House of Abingdon branded on his cheek and hip, Nick Cutter right next to him in the same condition. The next day the training had started.
Lester and the medic had decided to give Connor two hours rest and then resume the talk.
After taking a quick meal, Becker had returned to Connor's side. He'd fled when Abby and Jenny had walked into the rec room together. With the things Connor had said already about his time in the palace he wasn't able to face Abby and Jenny just then.
Punctually, two hours later, Lester walked into Connor's room again. Becker looked up in surprise as he smelt the faint scent of alcohol. So Lester hadn't been unaffected by Connor's report, either.