Fic: Several Miles from the Sun: Book 2 - Part 2 (Primeval, Abby/Connor, 15)
Title: Several Miles from the Sun: Book 2
Author: alyse
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing: Abby/Connor
Rating: 15
Spoilers: This is an AU from 2.04, so spoilers up until the end of that episode
Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. This is fanfiction, written solely for love of the show.
Word Count: ~41,000 words in total. This part around 3,400.
Status: WIP
Author's Notes: Book One was originally written for temaris. Many thanks to her and to aithine for the whip cracking and beta services. Yeah, it's been a while.
The title - and quotes - are from 'The Sun' by Maroon 5.
Summary: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Chapter Listing and Links
~*~
Day 7
Nick was on his fourth cup of coffee by the time that the ARC's lights switched over from their night-time settings to the brighter lights of day. They were too bright for Nick and he blinked a little as they flickered on over his head, wiping his hand tiredly over his face before taking another gulp from the cup he held. His watch might insist that day had dawned but his body clock was still mired in the depths of night and he was getting too old to pull all-nighters.
The coffee had gone cold but he swallowed it anyway. It didn't help much. Nothing helped much at the moment but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make the effort. But as soon as the bitter taste hit his tongue he knew this was one effort that was going to be wasted, and he finally pushed himself away from his desk to go in search of a fresher cup, one that tasted less like burnt acorns.
It took him a few moments to get going, and not all of that was due to the early hour. Too little activity and too much stress. Or he really was getting too bloody old for this gig. But at least there wasn't anyone around to see him staggering out of his door, willing his legs to loosen up. The lights may have switched over but it was still early and the ARC was quiet, almost eerily empty. The night staff were packing up, ready to go home, and the day staff had not yet started to trickle in.
He was safe for an hour or so at least, by his reckoning, at least until he realised that it wasn't just the lights in the main body of the ARC that were on. In spite of the early hour, Lester was already in his office when Nick strolled back towards his sanctuary, fresh cup of coffee clutched to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Damn it. Nick ducked his head, trying not to catch the man's attention, hoping that whatever paperwork had dragged Lester in at this hour would keep him engrossed until Nick was safely past the window. Didn't the man ever sleep? Nick was really starting to believe not, given that Lester was here even more often than Nick and that was saying something. Maybe Connor was on the ball with his blood-sucking vampire comparisons, the ones Nick had always pretended not to find funny, not wanting to do anything that encouraged Connor to ramble on more than he already did.
But when Connor got back, he'd have to share that observation with him, let Connor know that he got it now. Connor would get a kick out of it.
He made it to the far side of the glass window separating Lester's office from the rest of the hurly burly of the ARC without Lester seeming to notice, much to his relief. He'd had to deal with Jenny all night, meaning that in spite of the hour he'd had his fill of bureaucracy already today and didn't feel like a repetition. Jenny had been in far from fine fettle; it had been cold, dark and wet at the coast, something that Jenny had commented on at length and high volume. He could sympathise to some extent; after freezing their balls off nothing had come through the anomaly, which was a let down after the heavy-handed way they had gone in, complete with extensive backup at a no doubt exorbitant cost. He half expected Lester to be commenting on that today, a rant probably just as long and at just as high a volume as Jenny's night-time sharing of her feelings for all that it had been Lester's decision in the first place. Didn't want to lose any more of his scientific team, he suspected, and there was resentment in the thought.
He could have used the distraction of something dangerous coming through last night, or this morning. Something with teeth and claws to take the edge off this mingled feeling of impatience and helplessness. He suspected that they all could, but he wasn't paid enough - or stupid enough - to deal with Lester before breakfast. There was only so much sarcasm a man could take on an empty stomach, especially when old, cold coffee wasn't the only bitter thing he'd had to swallow recently.
He continued to skirt his way along the top platform that wound its way around the interior of the ARC, sipping absently at his cup of coffee as he watched the day staff finally file in one by one. He wasn't the only one greeting the day with caffeine. Stephen was down there, too, leaning against the wall, his own cup clutched negligently in his hand. There was something about his pose - deceptively relaxed - that had Nick tensing, looking around for whatever Stephen's sharp eyes had caught. Stephen, it seemed, was watching Leek as the man walked through the door, already fussing with a big sheaf of paperwork.
Nick's spider senses started tingling - another thought, another phrase he must have picked up from Connor via osmosis in the time he'd spent with his ex-student - and he began to head down the ramp towards the floor. He was too late; even as his foot stepped off the ramp and came to rest on the cold, concrete floor, Stephen pushed himself away from the wall and headed towards Leek, angling his path so that he intercepted him before Leek could reach the safety of his office.
Nick quickened his steps, eyeing the both of them. Stephen's body language stayed tense but that alone wasn't cause for alarm; they were both tense. In fact, the entire ARC seemed tense these days. It wasn't until Connor and Abby were both gone that Nick realised just how much of the ARC's space they took up and how much of a hole they left behind. No. What concerned Nick was the heated look on Stephen's face now; Stephen, who was normally so cool, calm and collected, who seemed to let most things flow off his back. Leek must have really pissed him off and this Nick had to see.
He might even have to break it up if the finger Stephen suddenly planted in the middle of Leek's chest was any indication.
Leek took a couple of steps back, Stephen following him, head bent low, close to Leek's face, speaking quietly but with an intensity that set all of Nick's alarm bells ringing. Not spider senses, not any more. These were full on blaring sirens.
"Stephen -"
Stephen didn't even turn his head, gave no sign that he was even aware that Nick was there, at least not outwardly, but Nick had known him too long to be fooled. He moved fractionally closer, waiting to see what Stephen would do, and even though this intensity on Stephen's part, this underlying simmering anger, wasn't familiar, the act of moving closer, waiting for Stephen's cue, was.
It hurt, just another reminder of how everything had changed.
"Leek," Stephen said eventually, never taking his eyes off the subject of conversation, "has apparently informed Captain Harrison that the ARC budget isn't infinite." His voice was even, almost calm, but he stayed far too close to Leek for Nick's comfort, even if his finger was no longer poking into Leek's chest.
Leek made a slightly disgruntled sound, his fingers smoothing along the line of his tie, straightening it again. He didn't seem at all perturbed by Stephen's outburst, his face also smoothing out into that slightly smug, condescending look that always made Nick want to plant his fist in it, to rearrange his features in the same way that Stephen had ruffled his clothes.
It took a second for Nick to place the name with a face and then he got it. Ryan's replacement - or maybe not. Maybe Harrison had always been here, in this version of the world, and it was Ryan who had been out of time. He'd never know which now that Ryan was dead.
Ryan had never even made it to this version of the world.
"I'm sorry," he said. "What's Harrison got to do with anything?"
It was Leek, not Stephen, who answered him.
"Well," Leek began, his tone as oily as always, "we are a publicly funded project, after all. We have a responsibility to the taxpayer to spend their tax monies wisely."
Stephen's breath hitched next to him but he barely twitched when Nick placed one hand on his arm, ready to stop him from landing a blow if needed. Nick was too bloody tired to work out what the hell Leek meant, and this whole situation was just draining him further.
"Okay, why don't we all pretend for a minute that I have no bloody idea what you're talking about and start from there?"
Stephen's bicep was like steel under his fingers and Leek smirked, eyes darting between them like the little weasel he was. He opened his mouth, probably to say something as smarmy as his expression, but this time Stephen beat him to it.
"Lester has decided to veto some of the equipment we need."
"I'd hardly say 'need'," Leek interrupted, moving to flick some invisible fluff off his sleeve, now that his tie was straightened to his apparent satisfaction.
Nick - tired of all of his posturing - wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush.
"Lester's already approved it."
"Within reason, I think you'll find." Leek's fingers smoothed down his tie again, probably to stop the little bastard from making air quotes. He looked the sort. "And I'm afraid that some of the equipment requisitioned doesn't really fit into the 'reasonableness' zone."
This time he did make air quotes, and Stephen's arm twitched. Nick tightened his grip instinctively, at least as much to prevent him taking a swing at Leek as to prevent Stephen.
"What equipment?" He didn't think that Stephen would requisition anything that wasn't required - the man was too used to the even tighter purse strings of academia. Harrison was an unknown quantity, at least to Nick, but he doubted the captain would exactly be asking for go-go dancers.
After a long pause, one in which Leek's smirking look at Stephen made Nick's fingers itch, Stephen answered, his voice toneless.
"RIBs," he said and then, at Nick's look, clarified, "rigid inflatable boats. Scuba gear. Marine survival equipment, spear guns, that type of thing. The stuff we'll need in an aquatic environment."
"The expensive stuff you say you need for an aquatic environment," Leek interjected, then added, "Assuming, of course, that you'll ever encounter another aquatic environment. And even if you do..." He spread his hands helplessly, "we already have boats."
"As I've already told you," Stephen spat out, his body language moving towards more openly aggressive as he shook off Nick's hand, "the boats we used at the reservoir aren't suited for oceanic use. They're too small - any wave size and we'd be swamped. We need something bigger but still portable."
Leek continued to smirk. "Something more expensive and as I've already told you, we simply don't have the budget for frivolities."
"It's not frivolities when you're talking about lives." Stephen's voice was rising and the morning shift, now trickling in, were turning to look at them as they passed.
Nick bit back on his instinctive agreement and rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the stubble catch at his fingers. "What if we just escalated this straight to Lester? Ask him whether he thinks a few pennies saved are worth losing more people..."
Leek bristled like a bantam, his eyes narrowing slightly as he rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. It would have been funny if anything about this whole fucked up situation could be.
"Sir James," he huffed, "is far too busy to be bothered with minor details."
This time it was Stephen who held Nick back, his fingers tightening on Nick's arm to the point of pain and bringing Nick back to his senses. "Abby and Connor," he growled, shaking Stephen's hand off much as Stephen had shook his off earlier, "are not 'minor details'. Nor are the lives of anyone going after them."
Perhaps it was something in the way that Leek's face cleared of irritation, the lines smoothing out into that insincere mask he wore day in and day out, but he knew Leek's response a beat before the man delivered it, his voice full of mock sympathy. "That's assuming, of course, that there's any chance of anyone going after them." Nick at least had the gratification of watching Leek take a step back, his hands spreading helplessly with a false look of piety on his face. "I'm sure that we're all hoping otherwise, but it does pay to be pragmatic in these cases."
"You little..."
He grabbed at Stephen as Stephen lunged past him, a look of fury on his face. God only knew why - maybe because he wanted to land his own punch - but it slowed Stephen down just long enough to stop him from doing anything irreversibly stupid.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Lester's dulcet tones cut across the tension and Stephen rocked back on his heels, turning away from Leek to face Lester instead, his face like stone and his eyes narrowed. After a second of watching Stephen warily, his hand still half raised, just in case Stephen made a lunge for him as well, Nick turned as well, dismissing Leek from his line of sight if not entirely from his thoughts.
He opened his mouth but once again Stephen beat him to it.
"We need the equipment you're refusing to requisition."
The words were hard and flat, and Nick recognised the tone - Stephen at his worst, brooking no argument and refusing to back down. Lester, however, didn't seem at all fazed by it. He simply raised one eyebrow, a little superciliously.
"I wasn't aware I'd refused to requisition anything," he said urbanely. "I'm assuming, of course, that everything you're trying to requisition is legal? And that there are no items that might result in me answering awkward questions posed by any House Select Committee?"
"Yes." Still flat and hard, and Stephen's eyes didn't waver from Lester's face, challenging in spite of Stephen's expressionless face.
Now a small frown appeared between Lester's eyes, and his gaze darted from Stephen's face to Nick's and only then to Leek's.
"Oliver?" he asked mildly, and maybe it was only Nick who caught the irritation underneath because Leek preened slightly, casting a look towards Stephen that was already edging into the triumphant.
"I was explaining the budget situation, James," he explained, puffing his chest out again. "While obviously I have every sympathy, at the moment there is simply not a strong enough argument to lay out that amount of expenditure."
Lester huffed, the irritation coming clearly to the surface now. "Would anyone care to elaborate on what exactly the expenditure in question relates to? Or am I simply supposed to guess?"
"Boats," said Nick simply. "Other stuff as well, but I suspect the boats are the sticking point because they'll be the biggest expense."
"And you already have boats," Leek interjected, throwing a simpering look in Lester's direction when the eyebrow rose again. "I don't see why - "
"And you think differently, do you, Hart?" Lester cut across him, ignoring the sudden look of frustration on Leek's face, which vanished almost as soon as it had arrived. Perhaps he hadn't seen it, as oblivious to it as Leek had seemed to be to his irritation.
"Yes." Still flat, still giving no ground.
When Stephen didn't elaborate, not even when confronted by Lester's politely astonished look, sarcastic in a way that only Lester could manage, Nick leapt into the fray, trying to sound like he knew what the hell he was talking about and trying not to resent Stephen's silence.
"These are ocean going, better suited for what we might find than the ones we've already got."
"I see." Lester rocked back on his heels, never taking his eyes off Stephen. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but the Earth is about two thirds covered in water?"
"That's right."
"And that's been fairly consistent? And likely to be in the future?"
"Well..." He glanced at Stephen, but his lab tech was no help. His gaze didn't move from Lester's face, although there was a slight frown between Stephen's eyes now, his lips pinched the way they always got when there was a conundrum he couldn't quite work out, one that was unsettling him. "It varies, but it's fair to say that there have been large bodies of water present since life originated. No water, no life. Even when sea levels have been at their lowest, there's still been water - just locked up as ice."
"Yes, yes, thank you. I get the point. Lots of water. And we've already had at least two incursions that have been water based, right, Leek?"
Leek was caught off guard at the question, his gaze having been flickering backwards and forwards between Stephen and Lester as though at a tennis match, even though Stephen's volleys were few and far between.
"I... I believe so, James, yes."
"So even if we haven't had one yet that involves the ocean - and frankly, I don't even want to consider the implications of something that pops up where it shouldn't in international waters - it's only a matter of time. And even if we're lucky enough not to have plesiosaurs trying to eat trawlers in the North Sea, that doesn't mean they aren't going to show up in something larger than a reservoir. Of course, this means that no one is to mention Loch Ness in Mr Temple's hearing when he gets back, is that clear?"
Nick's mouth curled up in a brief, involuntary smile. "I suspect Connor's already thought of that one all on his own."
"Undoubtedly. But that doesn't mean we have to encourage the boy." Lester finally tore his gaze from Stephen's face, the matter apparently having been settled to his satisfaction. "Sign the requisitions, Leek," he said, already sounding bored with the discussion, "There's a good man." He turned on his heel and headed back to his office, throwing back over his shoulder, "We'd better make sure that we're properly equipped or I'll be having to explain that to the House Select Committee."
"Of course, James." The words were pleasant enough but the look Leek threw the pair of them before he headed back to his office was anything but.
Nick watched him go before turning back towards Stephen. "Well, that was..." He trailed off when it became obvious that Stephen wasn't listening. He was watching Lester make his way back to his office instead, his brow still furrowed and the look on his face forbidding.
"Lester came through," Nick reminded him, his voice sharp.
"Yes," said Stephen slowly, still watching Lester and Nick bit back his response to that. "Don't you think that's a bit... odd?"
"In what way?"
"Overruling his right hand man like that. For us."
"For Connor and Abby," Nick reminded him again. "And he has a point."
"No," Stephen corrected him, finally turning to look at him. "We had a point. And he agreed with it."
"Yes. And your point?"
Stephen shrugged, his gaze drifting back to the window of Lester's office and his brow still creased. "Just thought it was worth pointing out that it's not exactly like Lester to be that helpful. That's all." Then he turned his gaze back to Nick, but his face stayed thoughtful, still frowning. "I'm going to find Harrison. Make sure Leek signs those requisitions before either of them has a chance to wriggle out of it."
"Do you really think that's likely?"
"Don't you?"
He didn't answer and, after a moment, Stephen turned on his heel and stalked away, his hands buried deeply into his pockets like he didn't trust them loose. Nick could only stand there, staring at Stephen's retreating back until his assistant disappeared behind the corridor doors, the brief sense of victory fading in the face of Stephen's last riposte.
He really was too bloody tired for this.
Author: alyse
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing: Abby/Connor
Rating: 15
Spoilers: This is an AU from 2.04, so spoilers up until the end of that episode
Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. This is fanfiction, written solely for love of the show.
Word Count: ~41,000 words in total. This part around 3,400.
Status: WIP
Author's Notes: Book One was originally written for temaris. Many thanks to her and to aithine for the whip cracking and beta services. Yeah, it's been a while.
The title - and quotes - are from 'The Sun' by Maroon 5.
Summary: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Chapter Listing and Links
~*~
Day 7
Nick was on his fourth cup of coffee by the time that the ARC's lights switched over from their night-time settings to the brighter lights of day. They were too bright for Nick and he blinked a little as they flickered on over his head, wiping his hand tiredly over his face before taking another gulp from the cup he held. His watch might insist that day had dawned but his body clock was still mired in the depths of night and he was getting too old to pull all-nighters.
The coffee had gone cold but he swallowed it anyway. It didn't help much. Nothing helped much at the moment but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make the effort. But as soon as the bitter taste hit his tongue he knew this was one effort that was going to be wasted, and he finally pushed himself away from his desk to go in search of a fresher cup, one that tasted less like burnt acorns.
It took him a few moments to get going, and not all of that was due to the early hour. Too little activity and too much stress. Or he really was getting too bloody old for this gig. But at least there wasn't anyone around to see him staggering out of his door, willing his legs to loosen up. The lights may have switched over but it was still early and the ARC was quiet, almost eerily empty. The night staff were packing up, ready to go home, and the day staff had not yet started to trickle in.
He was safe for an hour or so at least, by his reckoning, at least until he realised that it wasn't just the lights in the main body of the ARC that were on. In spite of the early hour, Lester was already in his office when Nick strolled back towards his sanctuary, fresh cup of coffee clutched to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Damn it. Nick ducked his head, trying not to catch the man's attention, hoping that whatever paperwork had dragged Lester in at this hour would keep him engrossed until Nick was safely past the window. Didn't the man ever sleep? Nick was really starting to believe not, given that Lester was here even more often than Nick and that was saying something. Maybe Connor was on the ball with his blood-sucking vampire comparisons, the ones Nick had always pretended not to find funny, not wanting to do anything that encouraged Connor to ramble on more than he already did.
But when Connor got back, he'd have to share that observation with him, let Connor know that he got it now. Connor would get a kick out of it.
He made it to the far side of the glass window separating Lester's office from the rest of the hurly burly of the ARC without Lester seeming to notice, much to his relief. He'd had to deal with Jenny all night, meaning that in spite of the hour he'd had his fill of bureaucracy already today and didn't feel like a repetition. Jenny had been in far from fine fettle; it had been cold, dark and wet at the coast, something that Jenny had commented on at length and high volume. He could sympathise to some extent; after freezing their balls off nothing had come through the anomaly, which was a let down after the heavy-handed way they had gone in, complete with extensive backup at a no doubt exorbitant cost. He half expected Lester to be commenting on that today, a rant probably just as long and at just as high a volume as Jenny's night-time sharing of her feelings for all that it had been Lester's decision in the first place. Didn't want to lose any more of his scientific team, he suspected, and there was resentment in the thought.
He could have used the distraction of something dangerous coming through last night, or this morning. Something with teeth and claws to take the edge off this mingled feeling of impatience and helplessness. He suspected that they all could, but he wasn't paid enough - or stupid enough - to deal with Lester before breakfast. There was only so much sarcasm a man could take on an empty stomach, especially when old, cold coffee wasn't the only bitter thing he'd had to swallow recently.
He continued to skirt his way along the top platform that wound its way around the interior of the ARC, sipping absently at his cup of coffee as he watched the day staff finally file in one by one. He wasn't the only one greeting the day with caffeine. Stephen was down there, too, leaning against the wall, his own cup clutched negligently in his hand. There was something about his pose - deceptively relaxed - that had Nick tensing, looking around for whatever Stephen's sharp eyes had caught. Stephen, it seemed, was watching Leek as the man walked through the door, already fussing with a big sheaf of paperwork.
Nick's spider senses started tingling - another thought, another phrase he must have picked up from Connor via osmosis in the time he'd spent with his ex-student - and he began to head down the ramp towards the floor. He was too late; even as his foot stepped off the ramp and came to rest on the cold, concrete floor, Stephen pushed himself away from the wall and headed towards Leek, angling his path so that he intercepted him before Leek could reach the safety of his office.
Nick quickened his steps, eyeing the both of them. Stephen's body language stayed tense but that alone wasn't cause for alarm; they were both tense. In fact, the entire ARC seemed tense these days. It wasn't until Connor and Abby were both gone that Nick realised just how much of the ARC's space they took up and how much of a hole they left behind. No. What concerned Nick was the heated look on Stephen's face now; Stephen, who was normally so cool, calm and collected, who seemed to let most things flow off his back. Leek must have really pissed him off and this Nick had to see.
He might even have to break it up if the finger Stephen suddenly planted in the middle of Leek's chest was any indication.
Leek took a couple of steps back, Stephen following him, head bent low, close to Leek's face, speaking quietly but with an intensity that set all of Nick's alarm bells ringing. Not spider senses, not any more. These were full on blaring sirens.
"Stephen -"
Stephen didn't even turn his head, gave no sign that he was even aware that Nick was there, at least not outwardly, but Nick had known him too long to be fooled. He moved fractionally closer, waiting to see what Stephen would do, and even though this intensity on Stephen's part, this underlying simmering anger, wasn't familiar, the act of moving closer, waiting for Stephen's cue, was.
It hurt, just another reminder of how everything had changed.
"Leek," Stephen said eventually, never taking his eyes off the subject of conversation, "has apparently informed Captain Harrison that the ARC budget isn't infinite." His voice was even, almost calm, but he stayed far too close to Leek for Nick's comfort, even if his finger was no longer poking into Leek's chest.
Leek made a slightly disgruntled sound, his fingers smoothing along the line of his tie, straightening it again. He didn't seem at all perturbed by Stephen's outburst, his face also smoothing out into that slightly smug, condescending look that always made Nick want to plant his fist in it, to rearrange his features in the same way that Stephen had ruffled his clothes.
It took a second for Nick to place the name with a face and then he got it. Ryan's replacement - or maybe not. Maybe Harrison had always been here, in this version of the world, and it was Ryan who had been out of time. He'd never know which now that Ryan was dead.
Ryan had never even made it to this version of the world.
"I'm sorry," he said. "What's Harrison got to do with anything?"
It was Leek, not Stephen, who answered him.
"Well," Leek began, his tone as oily as always, "we are a publicly funded project, after all. We have a responsibility to the taxpayer to spend their tax monies wisely."
Stephen's breath hitched next to him but he barely twitched when Nick placed one hand on his arm, ready to stop him from landing a blow if needed. Nick was too bloody tired to work out what the hell Leek meant, and this whole situation was just draining him further.
"Okay, why don't we all pretend for a minute that I have no bloody idea what you're talking about and start from there?"
Stephen's bicep was like steel under his fingers and Leek smirked, eyes darting between them like the little weasel he was. He opened his mouth, probably to say something as smarmy as his expression, but this time Stephen beat him to it.
"Lester has decided to veto some of the equipment we need."
"I'd hardly say 'need'," Leek interrupted, moving to flick some invisible fluff off his sleeve, now that his tie was straightened to his apparent satisfaction.
Nick - tired of all of his posturing - wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush.
"Lester's already approved it."
"Within reason, I think you'll find." Leek's fingers smoothed down his tie again, probably to stop the little bastard from making air quotes. He looked the sort. "And I'm afraid that some of the equipment requisitioned doesn't really fit into the 'reasonableness' zone."
This time he did make air quotes, and Stephen's arm twitched. Nick tightened his grip instinctively, at least as much to prevent him taking a swing at Leek as to prevent Stephen.
"What equipment?" He didn't think that Stephen would requisition anything that wasn't required - the man was too used to the even tighter purse strings of academia. Harrison was an unknown quantity, at least to Nick, but he doubted the captain would exactly be asking for go-go dancers.
After a long pause, one in which Leek's smirking look at Stephen made Nick's fingers itch, Stephen answered, his voice toneless.
"RIBs," he said and then, at Nick's look, clarified, "rigid inflatable boats. Scuba gear. Marine survival equipment, spear guns, that type of thing. The stuff we'll need in an aquatic environment."
"The expensive stuff you say you need for an aquatic environment," Leek interjected, then added, "Assuming, of course, that you'll ever encounter another aquatic environment. And even if you do..." He spread his hands helplessly, "we already have boats."
"As I've already told you," Stephen spat out, his body language moving towards more openly aggressive as he shook off Nick's hand, "the boats we used at the reservoir aren't suited for oceanic use. They're too small - any wave size and we'd be swamped. We need something bigger but still portable."
Leek continued to smirk. "Something more expensive and as I've already told you, we simply don't have the budget for frivolities."
"It's not frivolities when you're talking about lives." Stephen's voice was rising and the morning shift, now trickling in, were turning to look at them as they passed.
Nick bit back on his instinctive agreement and rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the stubble catch at his fingers. "What if we just escalated this straight to Lester? Ask him whether he thinks a few pennies saved are worth losing more people..."
Leek bristled like a bantam, his eyes narrowing slightly as he rocked forward onto the balls of his feet. It would have been funny if anything about this whole fucked up situation could be.
"Sir James," he huffed, "is far too busy to be bothered with minor details."
This time it was Stephen who held Nick back, his fingers tightening on Nick's arm to the point of pain and bringing Nick back to his senses. "Abby and Connor," he growled, shaking Stephen's hand off much as Stephen had shook his off earlier, "are not 'minor details'. Nor are the lives of anyone going after them."
Perhaps it was something in the way that Leek's face cleared of irritation, the lines smoothing out into that insincere mask he wore day in and day out, but he knew Leek's response a beat before the man delivered it, his voice full of mock sympathy. "That's assuming, of course, that there's any chance of anyone going after them." Nick at least had the gratification of watching Leek take a step back, his hands spreading helplessly with a false look of piety on his face. "I'm sure that we're all hoping otherwise, but it does pay to be pragmatic in these cases."
"You little..."
He grabbed at Stephen as Stephen lunged past him, a look of fury on his face. God only knew why - maybe because he wanted to land his own punch - but it slowed Stephen down just long enough to stop him from doing anything irreversibly stupid.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Lester's dulcet tones cut across the tension and Stephen rocked back on his heels, turning away from Leek to face Lester instead, his face like stone and his eyes narrowed. After a second of watching Stephen warily, his hand still half raised, just in case Stephen made a lunge for him as well, Nick turned as well, dismissing Leek from his line of sight if not entirely from his thoughts.
He opened his mouth but once again Stephen beat him to it.
"We need the equipment you're refusing to requisition."
The words were hard and flat, and Nick recognised the tone - Stephen at his worst, brooking no argument and refusing to back down. Lester, however, didn't seem at all fazed by it. He simply raised one eyebrow, a little superciliously.
"I wasn't aware I'd refused to requisition anything," he said urbanely. "I'm assuming, of course, that everything you're trying to requisition is legal? And that there are no items that might result in me answering awkward questions posed by any House Select Committee?"
"Yes." Still flat and hard, and Stephen's eyes didn't waver from Lester's face, challenging in spite of Stephen's expressionless face.
Now a small frown appeared between Lester's eyes, and his gaze darted from Stephen's face to Nick's and only then to Leek's.
"Oliver?" he asked mildly, and maybe it was only Nick who caught the irritation underneath because Leek preened slightly, casting a look towards Stephen that was already edging into the triumphant.
"I was explaining the budget situation, James," he explained, puffing his chest out again. "While obviously I have every sympathy, at the moment there is simply not a strong enough argument to lay out that amount of expenditure."
Lester huffed, the irritation coming clearly to the surface now. "Would anyone care to elaborate on what exactly the expenditure in question relates to? Or am I simply supposed to guess?"
"Boats," said Nick simply. "Other stuff as well, but I suspect the boats are the sticking point because they'll be the biggest expense."
"And you already have boats," Leek interjected, throwing a simpering look in Lester's direction when the eyebrow rose again. "I don't see why - "
"And you think differently, do you, Hart?" Lester cut across him, ignoring the sudden look of frustration on Leek's face, which vanished almost as soon as it had arrived. Perhaps he hadn't seen it, as oblivious to it as Leek had seemed to be to his irritation.
"Yes." Still flat, still giving no ground.
When Stephen didn't elaborate, not even when confronted by Lester's politely astonished look, sarcastic in a way that only Lester could manage, Nick leapt into the fray, trying to sound like he knew what the hell he was talking about and trying not to resent Stephen's silence.
"These are ocean going, better suited for what we might find than the ones we've already got."
"I see." Lester rocked back on his heels, never taking his eyes off Stephen. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but the Earth is about two thirds covered in water?"
"That's right."
"And that's been fairly consistent? And likely to be in the future?"
"Well..." He glanced at Stephen, but his lab tech was no help. His gaze didn't move from Lester's face, although there was a slight frown between Stephen's eyes now, his lips pinched the way they always got when there was a conundrum he couldn't quite work out, one that was unsettling him. "It varies, but it's fair to say that there have been large bodies of water present since life originated. No water, no life. Even when sea levels have been at their lowest, there's still been water - just locked up as ice."
"Yes, yes, thank you. I get the point. Lots of water. And we've already had at least two incursions that have been water based, right, Leek?"
Leek was caught off guard at the question, his gaze having been flickering backwards and forwards between Stephen and Lester as though at a tennis match, even though Stephen's volleys were few and far between.
"I... I believe so, James, yes."
"So even if we haven't had one yet that involves the ocean - and frankly, I don't even want to consider the implications of something that pops up where it shouldn't in international waters - it's only a matter of time. And even if we're lucky enough not to have plesiosaurs trying to eat trawlers in the North Sea, that doesn't mean they aren't going to show up in something larger than a reservoir. Of course, this means that no one is to mention Loch Ness in Mr Temple's hearing when he gets back, is that clear?"
Nick's mouth curled up in a brief, involuntary smile. "I suspect Connor's already thought of that one all on his own."
"Undoubtedly. But that doesn't mean we have to encourage the boy." Lester finally tore his gaze from Stephen's face, the matter apparently having been settled to his satisfaction. "Sign the requisitions, Leek," he said, already sounding bored with the discussion, "There's a good man." He turned on his heel and headed back to his office, throwing back over his shoulder, "We'd better make sure that we're properly equipped or I'll be having to explain that to the House Select Committee."
"Of course, James." The words were pleasant enough but the look Leek threw the pair of them before he headed back to his office was anything but.
Nick watched him go before turning back towards Stephen. "Well, that was..." He trailed off when it became obvious that Stephen wasn't listening. He was watching Lester make his way back to his office instead, his brow still furrowed and the look on his face forbidding.
"Lester came through," Nick reminded him, his voice sharp.
"Yes," said Stephen slowly, still watching Lester and Nick bit back his response to that. "Don't you think that's a bit... odd?"
"In what way?"
"Overruling his right hand man like that. For us."
"For Connor and Abby," Nick reminded him again. "And he has a point."
"No," Stephen corrected him, finally turning to look at him. "We had a point. And he agreed with it."
"Yes. And your point?"
Stephen shrugged, his gaze drifting back to the window of Lester's office and his brow still creased. "Just thought it was worth pointing out that it's not exactly like Lester to be that helpful. That's all." Then he turned his gaze back to Nick, but his face stayed thoughtful, still frowning. "I'm going to find Harrison. Make sure Leek signs those requisitions before either of them has a chance to wriggle out of it."
"Do you really think that's likely?"
"Don't you?"
He didn't answer and, after a moment, Stephen turned on his heel and stalked away, his hands buried deeply into his pockets like he didn't trust them loose. Nick could only stand there, staring at Stephen's retreating back until his assistant disappeared behind the corridor doors, the brief sense of victory fading in the face of Stephen's last riposte.
He really was too bloody tired for this.