Primeval fic: Something Like Claudia Brown 5/5
Title: Something Like Claudia Brown: Epilogue
Author: SCWLC
Disclaimer: Still owning nothing of Primeval.
Rating: PG-13 at the outset, I may change it later.
Summary: Abby's going to get married. Then she goes through an anomaly, comes back out, and finds out just how upsetting the Claudia Brown phenomenon can be.
A/N: And the epilogue. Well, it's been fun, I hope everyone else had fun too.
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Unsurprisingly, there had been some birthing pangs of this new version of the ARC. Connor and Cutter had fought like cats and dogs over control of the project and the new offices, Jenny and Claudia were still sisters and that continued to inform all their battles, some of which degenerated into arguments about who'd taken who's dolls when they were six, Sarah had spent a great deal of time angry at being taken off the field teams and Lester had taken to harassing anyone within reach from Connor's group about creating a backlog of comprehensive reports, Cutter and Stephen about Helen and Abby about backing him up.
There were some surprises along the way, some of them even good. Stephen, once he'd got over losing his position as the only mad marksman of the anomaly teams got along shockingly well with Danny. They'd found some sort of shooting-related common ground, and Stephen held deep sympathy for Danny's previous break-ins when it became clear the other man had just wanted answers about his brother. Becker, despite all previous worries, had no trouble settling into a position as the man in charge of part of the SFs and security. Indeed, he was the one person from the new team that the SFs had no trouble accepting. Abby decided it was the hair. Its stern immovability just made you believe Becker was soldierly like that.
Connor and Cutter's fights over how the ARC was to be laid out turned out to be best handled by Emily. As a woman used to organising events and balls, households and house parties, she'd stepped in and made sure the facilities were equally distributed, handled seniority with the ease of someone who always knew who to seat where at the table, and Abby was particularly pleased when the things like the canteen, showers, locker rooms and the like were all of a much higher standard than before. Connor and Tom's new ADD, a combination of radio and geomagnetic field detectors, had pride of place in a central staging area, while Cutter's mad pile of tubing that was his model of the anomaly map was given a room designed to hold it.
Still, this was a new Connor, one who took a sort of mean joy in scaring people with his new knowledge from the other timeline. First it was Stephen's favourite kind of biscuits, eaten tauntingly in front of him, then it was Cutter's hatred of his major academic competitor, Dr. Parsons, whose work Connor used to great effect. He was nice to Sarah, handing over a set of geographical locations he'd determined through astronomical references in texts in the previous timeline, have had to take account of the shifting of the Earth's axis in order to do so accurately. Tom eventually put a stop to it by threatening to let Connor's secret about the personality merge out.
Abby took it out of both their hands by telling everyone. "Connor, stop taunting Stephen and Cutter. Just because you're angry with him over things he's said to you doesn't mean you should act like a vengeful brat about it. Also, you're scaring Sarah with the psychic act, stop it."
"But Abby-"
"Don't 'but Abby' me," she told him sternly. "Just because you can remember things people did in the other timeline doesn't mean you should use your powers for evil."
"Other timeline?" Cutter demanded. "What does that mean?"
Connor glared at her and she just smirked back. As much as she missed her original Connor, there was something infinitely more fun about this one who always gave as good as he got. "I didn't realise until Abby sent out that email of hers that I'd somehow been merged with the Connor from her timeline. I get intermittent memories from him about things."
"So, you're not really advocating Parsons' stupidity?" Cutter demanded.
"Pfft, no. The man's an idiot," Connor said. Soon he and Cutter were involved in the chapter and verse of everything wrong with Parsons' theories, and the whole thing settled the power plays between them because this Connor got really mean about people whose theories he didn't like.
Not long after they moved into the new building, Connor had moved in with her. It was like they'd never been apart some days as she plagued him about leaving his clothes in weird places and he made her play video games, they'd snog on the sofa and gave up on separate beds after only three days.
Other days it was like they were strangers, as they fought so much more now that Connor felt no need to back down, since he knew he'd already won her heart, and they both hurt each other more as a consequence. But with the larger teams and Cutter and Connor's relationship more one of equals than student and mentor there were a lot more evenings with the flat full of people, chatting and staring at Rex, Fred and Wilma, who got on as well as Abby remembered. And that was no bad change either. The way she and Connor had lived in each other's pockets had got a little weird after a while.
It was Lester who produced the biggest surprise in a way. He'd insisted that Connor and Tom build a central hub, somewhere they could have someone hack systems and relay information to everyone as needed instead of forcing Connor or Tom to do it in the field on the fly.
Abby came in one morning to the sight of Tom making annoyed noises and Stephen looking frightened as he hid in Tom's office. "What's going on?"
"Lester's brought some . . . teenager to act as a hub when we're in the field," Stephen announced. "There is something wrong with that girl. She took one look at me, said she'd read my file and practically knows me, then fluttered her eyelashes at me." He looked truly disturbed. "I think she might fancy me."
Abby rolled her eyes. "Stephen, all the girls fancy you, you're too pretty not to and you know it."
Then she headed for the hub to see, much to her delight, "Jess Parker! I can't believe it!"
Jess' eyes were wide, and then she broke into a smile. She was dressed in her usual highly colourful manner, her shoes impractical and bright blue, but gorgeous, getting her approving murmurs from Jenny, the skirt short and green, her top a swirling turquoise and blue that she made work as only she could. "You're Abby, aren't you? I saw in your file that you knew me in that other timeline. We were friends, then?"
"We were," Abby said with a smile. "Roomies for a while, too, after Connor and I got back from the past. He used to twit you about your Mac at home."
Cutter looked like someone had just told him they were putting a serial killing six-year-old on the team. "She's the Jess Parker you complained about missing?"
"She's the best field coordinator we could possibly have," Abby told him. "I mean, it's her first day, Becker told me there were some hiccoughs early on, but that's to be expected."
"You'd best have faith in her," Lester said dryly. "I think I've used up all my influence with the Minister for the time being to hire her on."
"You won't regret it," Abby promised him.
"Especially when you start trying to pretend she's your secretary," Connor said from behind. "I seem to recall something about abusing her position to get yourself out of traffic."
Jess' eyes narrowed at Lester a moment as she said, "Right. I've got your number, then."
"I think I like her after all," Cutter remarked idly at that. Anyone who bothered Lester was fine with him. Then she went and squealed at Danny about having read his file and the poor man looked ready to take to his heels.
"I knew she did it deliberately," Connor muttered in her ear.
All around Abby were the familiar sights of the ARC. The computers, the detector, Jess already happily harassing Becker, Stephen and Cutter joking to one side, Jenny twitting anyone around her and Danny trading quips with Sarah while Emily just enjoyed the atmosphere. Connor wrapping his arms around her and gently nuzzling into her hair, relaxed enough again to dispense with the fatigues and wearing his old waistcoats and scarves.
It was the unfamiliar that made her truly happy, though. Cutter smiling besottedly at Claudia, Stephen and Danny joking together, Tom and Jess chattering about the abilities of the ADD, Sarah and Emily bonding over being dragged arse-backwards into the whole anomaly mess. Connor bold enough to not care in the slightest for what anyone else thought as he kissed her.
It was practically perfect.
"Connor! Why have you put pink bows all over Priscilla?!"
Connor meeped and took to his heels, detouring to grab a tranq when the ADD went off and Jess said in suddenly crisply professional tones, "The anomaly's located at St. James' Park, close to the Churchill Museum. I think it might be in the lake."
Abby scooped up her brand new black box and a spare for Connor, grinning as Danny followed with his own and they headed for the car park.
"Becker! There's no need to be like that with my Leia action figure!"
Now it was perfect.
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