Trial By Fire
Word Count: 2274
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of canon death
Summary: A long day at the ARC gives James Lester some perspective on his relationship with Alexis. (Season 2 AU)
"They're all gone, James. Off on Cutter's wild goose chase." Leek pauses, then adds, "Or dead."
Lester's first thought is of Alex, but he doesn't get chance to process the whirl of emotions because there's a Predator in the ARC, and it wants him for dinner. He runs out of pure instinct, but then his brain kicks in and he starts to think logically.
He remembers enough from his rifle shooting days to point the business end in the creature's direction. Satisfaction at hitting the damn thing is a temporary reprieve from the fear racing through his veins. But there's a report on how hard the Predators are to kill and he knows that he has no chance.
"Be careful, Lester. They can sense predators."
Abby was being snarky, but James wonders if there's truth to that statement. Short of the other getting back to save his skin, he needs a plan. Something off-the-wall crazy. At least it matches whatever Leek's come up with.
James tosses the rifle aside and stalks to the hub. Enough is enough. He will not run around the ARC like a frightened rabbit. Especially not for Leek's entertainment. He stares at the huge door that locks the mammoth away and a very stupid idea occurs. He presses the unlock button before he can think better of it, and then he stands, bloody but not beaten, closes his eyes and hopes that Abby is right.
Somehow a miracle happens; the Mammoth spears the Predator with a tusk and the horror is over. James braces his hands on his knees. Catches his breath. Noises from further out signal the return of the team and, he hopes, the missing security officers. Jenny leads them in and he notes to talk to her about that, but then Cutter arrives with Abby and Connor and Alex in tow.
He's a brief urge to throttle her for going out without informing him, but it's lost to the sheer relief of seeing her alive. She wouldn't be, had she stayed.
She yells on seeing him. Fortunately, Cutter's reactions are swift and he grabs her before she can run across the hub. Cutter says something and she sags. Takes an obvious breath. He lets her go and she edges around the room with frequent glances at the Mammoth.
"James," she says, gaze locked on his chest. He wonders how bad it looks. It feels pretty awful now the adrenaline is tapering off. He's been strictly hands-off since her arrival, but he can't not cup her cheek and lift her chin so she's looking at his face rather than the wound. Worries darkens her brown eyes.
"It's not too bad," he assures her. "Only a flesh wound."
She lays her hand on his and takes a moment. Then her expression hardens. "Leek," she snarls. "I'm going to bloody kill him."
"Not if I get there first." James drops his hand and plucks at his shirt. "This is coming out of his severance pay."
Alex's eyebrows lift, then she gives a soft laugh. "I'm sure. Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
James lets her lead him out of the hub. Cutter dogs their heels, asking about what had happened. He recalls it in snatches and not in any particular order. Once he's sat down and the nurse is cleaning the thankfully superficial wound, he straightens it out. The device on the Predator's head is significantly important, as is the question of how Leek got hold of the creature.
"He has more than one, doesn't he?" Alex asks, looking as worried as James feels.
Cutter nods. "More than likely."
"Shit."
"That about sums the situation up, yes," James says tartly, though his anger isn't aimed at her and she seems to realise that. He stares at Cutter. The man had been right about a traitor, though he'd not been able to assert his innocence. Maybe it doesn't make much difference in the long run, but he finds that lack of trust troubling.
After Connor realises he can track Leek - and finds the man's location - James refuses to let the team chase him. It's not their job. Plus he wants to watch as Leek's arrested. Alex catches him before he reaches the car park.
"What the hell are you doing?" she hisses at him, irate but not willing to make a scene in front of the ARC's soldiers. "Leek's tried to kill you once today. Why are you giving him another shot?"
"It's my job." He gently removes her hands from his jacket, though he doesn't relinquish his hold of them. "Whatever he's up to endangers not only my team but the entire country, if not the world. I have to see him arrested, Alex. I need to know everyone's safe."
She closes her eyes. He pulls her to him and kisses her forehead, which is worth it for her shocked look alone. "Be careful," she pleads, and he forces a confident smile.
"I've made it a rule that I have no more than one near-death experience per day."
"That's not funny."
James desperately wants to kiss her properly, but now is not the time nor the place. He lets her go and get in the car. The drive is short but the squad comes up empty-handed. He snatches the sticky note off the anomaly detector and swears that Leek will face justice, sooner or later.
Alex is in his office when he gets back. She jumps to her feet, relief written clear on her face, and checks him over.
"I'm fine," he grouses. "Leek set a red herring. I need Connor to try tracking him again, though I've little doubt the results will be very different."
"Connor's with Nick," she replies. "Now will you sit down before you fall over?"
"What? No, I'm fine. Really. Where's Cutter?"
Alex sinks into the chair. She's still very pale and her eyes keep flicking to his chest. It's nice that she's worried about him, but they have bigger issues than a scratch to deal with and he wishes she'd focus.
"Alexis."
She flinches. "Connor's girlfriend stole Rex after they broke up. He tracked her mobile. I don't think Nick could just sit around doing nothing."
"He could try doing what he's told," James points out and she smiles wanly. He sighs. "For the love of God, I'm not going to fall apart, Alex. It's just a scratch."
She meets his eyes. "The hell it is. That bastard divided us and left you to fight something from a nightmare. If he'd not been so determined to treat your life like a game, then you'd be dead, James."
He sits down. "I thought you were," he confesses, and sees her eyes widen. "Leek said that everyone was either chasing down the false anomaly or had died in the ARC. Since I'd no idea you'd absconded..."
"Oh James."
"Look, I know I've been a prickly bastard, but apart from hating having other people decide who works for me, I'd honestly no idea how to handle your coming back into my life." Alex opens her mouth, but James holds up a hand. "We can't get into this now. Not with everything that's going on. But later, perhaps? I've got some beer in the fridge and am not adverse to ordering pizza."
Alex huffs a laugh and looks away. When she turns back there's a gentle smile on her face and a light in her eyes that's been lost since she came back. "I'd like that," she tells him quietly. "In fact, I'd like that a lot."
Of course it's the moment they get past some of the hurt that the anomaly detector goes haywire. He looks at her and she offers a wry smile. He gets up and exits the office to find out what's going on. With Cutter and the rest still unreachable, he doesn't think that the system connecting to somewhere else is a good sign. He knows it's down to Leek before the man makes contact.
Alex stands next to him, her expression unreadable. James wants to pace but kerbs the urge. She cants her head and watches him for almost a minute, then shakes her head. "Amazing," she murmurs.
"What is?"
"You want to go after them, don't you?"
He scoffs at the notion. "Don't be ridiculous. What I want is that psychotic bastard in custody, before he causes any more death." He thinks of the scorpion and dead people on a beach. "All right, I want to ring his bloody neck, but apparently that sort of thing is frowned on."
She bumps his arm with hers. "You forget that I know you, James Lester. You hate not having control, and right now you don't even know what's going on."
"That doesn't mean I want to go out there."
"Liar." Alex notices Lorraine trying not to overhear and leans closer. "I think it's great," she tells him quietly. "I'm very impressed."
He preens a little, then catches Lorraine's glance. "Stop trying to get on my good side, Doctor Edwards. I gave it up."
Her face falls and she shifts away. "Yeah, I know how that is. It was the worst thing I ever did and I'd undo it in a heartbeat if I could."
Alex turns and walks out of the hub. James can only watch her go - he has people on the ground who need him right where he is - but her words haunt him, especially when Leek starts making demands. He can be the better person in this. Then Cutter takes that choice from him, and there's nothing to do but witness as the Predators tear Leek apart. It's far more cathartic than it should be, really.
Lorraine comes up to the office later, her face grave. "It's Stephen," she says, and though James has known there are risks, the loss hits hard. He can't mourn openly, because the others are shattered and someone needs to stand firm, but after the funeral, with them off investigating another anomaly because the damn things just won't quit, he closes the blinds on his office windows and helps himself to a brandy.
He feels the scab on his chest and wonders how things might have panned out if his wild scheme hadn't paid off. Life is so incredibly fragile. One wrong decision, one wrong move, and game over.
But sometimes - just occasionally - time allows a second chance.
James stands as Alex enters, pale and red-eyed, and drops all pretence that he cares. It could of been him today, or her. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? He's done holding her choice against her. It's better to hold her in his arms. She looks up and it's a spark to tinder; everything they've bottled up exploding in sudden, desperate need.
He's very glad the office is sound-proofed.
Alex straddles his thighs, her head on his shoulder. Hot fingers trace the edge of the patch and while she leaves no outward mark, her touch feels like a brand. He's never stopped loving her. He tells her that and she lifts her head, eyes misty.
"Same here," she says, voice husky. "James-"
"Forget it."
"I'm not sure I can. You at least deserve an explanation."
He sighs, not sure he really wants one. "Make it quick, then, and we can move on to the kissing and making out."
"Up," she corrects.
"Not from where I'm sitting."
She pinks, giggling. Then she sobers. "It was the dinner party. Everyone in Versace and Armani, and there was me in M&S. I realised how out of place I was, not just there, but in your life. I'd no idea which fork was for what and I'd no desire to learn. I couldn't be that sort of woman, James, not even for you."
"I would ever have asked that of you."
"No, you wouldn't, but you didn't see the problem. After that night, it was all I could see, and I knew that if we got married, your choice would have impacted your career. I had to leave to save you from yourself."
James stares, utterly taken aback. "So you left without a word? With no means of my contacting you?"
"I thought a clean break would be the best thing for both of us." Her fingers trace his chest and the look in her eyes is wry. "Except it didn't work and I never got over you."
"Good," he says and it's a little sharp. He slides a hand down her bare back. "Because I didn't recover either. I was angry and hurt, so I threw myself into politics and never surfaced. Not until two idiots stumbled on a sodding portal to the past and the prime minister decided I was the best person to head a dinosaur department."
"He was right," Alex asserts. "You hold us together, James. Especially now."
She doesn't need to specify why. Cutter is guilt-ridden, Abby and Connor grief-stricken. It's not surprising, with emotions running high, that he and Alex have come to this. He doesn't regret it, only the time they've lost.
It feels like a sort of purgatory. A trial by fire. They've not emerged unscarred, but James thinks they are through the worst of it. He's done with what was. It's time for now and, with any luck, the future.
"I love you," he tells her, and she cords her fingers in his hair and kisses him soundly on the mouth. Maybe he has been in purgatory, because she sure as hell feels like heaven.
It's a feeling he will not lose again.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mentions of canon death
Summary: A long day at the ARC gives James Lester some perspective on his relationship with Alexis. (Season 2 AU)
"They're all gone, James. Off on Cutter's wild goose chase." Leek pauses, then adds, "Or dead."
Lester's first thought is of Alex, but he doesn't get chance to process the whirl of emotions because there's a Predator in the ARC, and it wants him for dinner. He runs out of pure instinct, but then his brain kicks in and he starts to think logically.
He remembers enough from his rifle shooting days to point the business end in the creature's direction. Satisfaction at hitting the damn thing is a temporary reprieve from the fear racing through his veins. But there's a report on how hard the Predators are to kill and he knows that he has no chance.
"Be careful, Lester. They can sense predators."
Abby was being snarky, but James wonders if there's truth to that statement. Short of the other getting back to save his skin, he needs a plan. Something off-the-wall crazy. At least it matches whatever Leek's come up with.
James tosses the rifle aside and stalks to the hub. Enough is enough. He will not run around the ARC like a frightened rabbit. Especially not for Leek's entertainment. He stares at the huge door that locks the mammoth away and a very stupid idea occurs. He presses the unlock button before he can think better of it, and then he stands, bloody but not beaten, closes his eyes and hopes that Abby is right.
Somehow a miracle happens; the Mammoth spears the Predator with a tusk and the horror is over. James braces his hands on his knees. Catches his breath. Noises from further out signal the return of the team and, he hopes, the missing security officers. Jenny leads them in and he notes to talk to her about that, but then Cutter arrives with Abby and Connor and Alex in tow.
He's a brief urge to throttle her for going out without informing him, but it's lost to the sheer relief of seeing her alive. She wouldn't be, had she stayed.
She yells on seeing him. Fortunately, Cutter's reactions are swift and he grabs her before she can run across the hub. Cutter says something and she sags. Takes an obvious breath. He lets her go and she edges around the room with frequent glances at the Mammoth.
"James," she says, gaze locked on his chest. He wonders how bad it looks. It feels pretty awful now the adrenaline is tapering off. He's been strictly hands-off since her arrival, but he can't not cup her cheek and lift her chin so she's looking at his face rather than the wound. Worries darkens her brown eyes.
"It's not too bad," he assures her. "Only a flesh wound."
She lays her hand on his and takes a moment. Then her expression hardens. "Leek," she snarls. "I'm going to bloody kill him."
"Not if I get there first." James drops his hand and plucks at his shirt. "This is coming out of his severance pay."
Alex's eyebrows lift, then she gives a soft laugh. "I'm sure. Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
James lets her lead him out of the hub. Cutter dogs their heels, asking about what had happened. He recalls it in snatches and not in any particular order. Once he's sat down and the nurse is cleaning the thankfully superficial wound, he straightens it out. The device on the Predator's head is significantly important, as is the question of how Leek got hold of the creature.
"He has more than one, doesn't he?" Alex asks, looking as worried as James feels.
Cutter nods. "More than likely."
"Shit."
"That about sums the situation up, yes," James says tartly, though his anger isn't aimed at her and she seems to realise that. He stares at Cutter. The man had been right about a traitor, though he'd not been able to assert his innocence. Maybe it doesn't make much difference in the long run, but he finds that lack of trust troubling.
After Connor realises he can track Leek - and finds the man's location - James refuses to let the team chase him. It's not their job. Plus he wants to watch as Leek's arrested. Alex catches him before he reaches the car park.
"What the hell are you doing?" she hisses at him, irate but not willing to make a scene in front of the ARC's soldiers. "Leek's tried to kill you once today. Why are you giving him another shot?"
"It's my job." He gently removes her hands from his jacket, though he doesn't relinquish his hold of them. "Whatever he's up to endangers not only my team but the entire country, if not the world. I have to see him arrested, Alex. I need to know everyone's safe."
She closes her eyes. He pulls her to him and kisses her forehead, which is worth it for her shocked look alone. "Be careful," she pleads, and he forces a confident smile.
"I've made it a rule that I have no more than one near-death experience per day."
"That's not funny."
James desperately wants to kiss her properly, but now is not the time nor the place. He lets her go and get in the car. The drive is short but the squad comes up empty-handed. He snatches the sticky note off the anomaly detector and swears that Leek will face justice, sooner or later.
Alex is in his office when he gets back. She jumps to her feet, relief written clear on her face, and checks him over.
"I'm fine," he grouses. "Leek set a red herring. I need Connor to try tracking him again, though I've little doubt the results will be very different."
"Connor's with Nick," she replies. "Now will you sit down before you fall over?"
"What? No, I'm fine. Really. Where's Cutter?"
Alex sinks into the chair. She's still very pale and her eyes keep flicking to his chest. It's nice that she's worried about him, but they have bigger issues than a scratch to deal with and he wishes she'd focus.
"Alexis."
She flinches. "Connor's girlfriend stole Rex after they broke up. He tracked her mobile. I don't think Nick could just sit around doing nothing."
"He could try doing what he's told," James points out and she smiles wanly. He sighs. "For the love of God, I'm not going to fall apart, Alex. It's just a scratch."
She meets his eyes. "The hell it is. That bastard divided us and left you to fight something from a nightmare. If he'd not been so determined to treat your life like a game, then you'd be dead, James."
He sits down. "I thought you were," he confesses, and sees her eyes widen. "Leek said that everyone was either chasing down the false anomaly or had died in the ARC. Since I'd no idea you'd absconded..."
"Oh James."
"Look, I know I've been a prickly bastard, but apart from hating having other people decide who works for me, I'd honestly no idea how to handle your coming back into my life." Alex opens her mouth, but James holds up a hand. "We can't get into this now. Not with everything that's going on. But later, perhaps? I've got some beer in the fridge and am not adverse to ordering pizza."
Alex huffs a laugh and looks away. When she turns back there's a gentle smile on her face and a light in her eyes that's been lost since she came back. "I'd like that," she tells him quietly. "In fact, I'd like that a lot."
Of course it's the moment they get past some of the hurt that the anomaly detector goes haywire. He looks at her and she offers a wry smile. He gets up and exits the office to find out what's going on. With Cutter and the rest still unreachable, he doesn't think that the system connecting to somewhere else is a good sign. He knows it's down to Leek before the man makes contact.
Alex stands next to him, her expression unreadable. James wants to pace but kerbs the urge. She cants her head and watches him for almost a minute, then shakes her head. "Amazing," she murmurs.
"What is?"
"You want to go after them, don't you?"
He scoffs at the notion. "Don't be ridiculous. What I want is that psychotic bastard in custody, before he causes any more death." He thinks of the scorpion and dead people on a beach. "All right, I want to ring his bloody neck, but apparently that sort of thing is frowned on."
She bumps his arm with hers. "You forget that I know you, James Lester. You hate not having control, and right now you don't even know what's going on."
"That doesn't mean I want to go out there."
"Liar." Alex notices Lorraine trying not to overhear and leans closer. "I think it's great," she tells him quietly. "I'm very impressed."
He preens a little, then catches Lorraine's glance. "Stop trying to get on my good side, Doctor Edwards. I gave it up."
Her face falls and she shifts away. "Yeah, I know how that is. It was the worst thing I ever did and I'd undo it in a heartbeat if I could."
Alex turns and walks out of the hub. James can only watch her go - he has people on the ground who need him right where he is - but her words haunt him, especially when Leek starts making demands. He can be the better person in this. Then Cutter takes that choice from him, and there's nothing to do but witness as the Predators tear Leek apart. It's far more cathartic than it should be, really.
Lorraine comes up to the office later, her face grave. "It's Stephen," she says, and though James has known there are risks, the loss hits hard. He can't mourn openly, because the others are shattered and someone needs to stand firm, but after the funeral, with them off investigating another anomaly because the damn things just won't quit, he closes the blinds on his office windows and helps himself to a brandy.
He feels the scab on his chest and wonders how things might have panned out if his wild scheme hadn't paid off. Life is so incredibly fragile. One wrong decision, one wrong move, and game over.
But sometimes - just occasionally - time allows a second chance.
James stands as Alex enters, pale and red-eyed, and drops all pretence that he cares. It could of been him today, or her. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? He's done holding her choice against her. It's better to hold her in his arms. She looks up and it's a spark to tinder; everything they've bottled up exploding in sudden, desperate need.
He's very glad the office is sound-proofed.
Alex straddles his thighs, her head on his shoulder. Hot fingers trace the edge of the patch and while she leaves no outward mark, her touch feels like a brand. He's never stopped loving her. He tells her that and she lifts her head, eyes misty.
"Same here," she says, voice husky. "James-"
"Forget it."
"I'm not sure I can. You at least deserve an explanation."
He sighs, not sure he really wants one. "Make it quick, then, and we can move on to the kissing and making out."
"Up," she corrects.
"Not from where I'm sitting."
She pinks, giggling. Then she sobers. "It was the dinner party. Everyone in Versace and Armani, and there was me in M&S. I realised how out of place I was, not just there, but in your life. I'd no idea which fork was for what and I'd no desire to learn. I couldn't be that sort of woman, James, not even for you."
"I would ever have asked that of you."
"No, you wouldn't, but you didn't see the problem. After that night, it was all I could see, and I knew that if we got married, your choice would have impacted your career. I had to leave to save you from yourself."
James stares, utterly taken aback. "So you left without a word? With no means of my contacting you?"
"I thought a clean break would be the best thing for both of us." Her fingers trace his chest and the look in her eyes is wry. "Except it didn't work and I never got over you."
"Good," he says and it's a little sharp. He slides a hand down her bare back. "Because I didn't recover either. I was angry and hurt, so I threw myself into politics and never surfaced. Not until two idiots stumbled on a sodding portal to the past and the prime minister decided I was the best person to head a dinosaur department."
"He was right," Alex asserts. "You hold us together, James. Especially now."
She doesn't need to specify why. Cutter is guilt-ridden, Abby and Connor grief-stricken. It's not surprising, with emotions running high, that he and Alex have come to this. He doesn't regret it, only the time they've lost.
It feels like a sort of purgatory. A trial by fire. They've not emerged unscarred, but James thinks they are through the worst of it. He's done with what was. It's time for now and, with any luck, the future.
"I love you," he tells her, and she cords her fingers in his hair and kisses him soundly on the mouth. Maybe he has been in purgatory, because she sure as hell feels like heaven.
It's a feeling he will not lose again.