Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The lights were flickering. That was the first sign. The second was the man covered in blood. The third was the dead woman.

The fourth was so quiet he didn't even know it was there, until a pair of claws were ripping his head from his body.

* * * * *

“Did he say where he was?” Cutter demanded, grip tight on the steering wheel in front of him.

“No,” Jenny replied, with an anxious shake of her head, “but Connor managed to track his mobile's signal through the ARC computers. I didn't get the impression that he was planning on going anywhere.”

Cutter nodded but thankfully paid more attention to the cars he was weaving through than the information Jenny had just relayed. She was sitting in the car next to him, holding on for dear life but just as determined to get to their destination as he was. It was strange how strongly the news that Stephen was in trouble affected them all. That it made them panic and feel the tight grip of fear far more than if it was anyone else on the team. After all he'd been through perhaps it wasn't so surprising, but Jenny had barely even known him before, before he'd been ripped to shreds by prehistoric creatures and then patched together again in a future world by Helen Cutter. Helen Cutter, a name that always conjured up trouble, just as it did now. But Jenny knew Stephen now, through his friends and his mistakes, through his determination to make things work; through slowly becoming a friend in her own right.

“Turn left here,” she said, forcing herself to focus. It wouldn't help Stephen if they got in to an accident on the way to help him. Or to cover up what had happened.

“Tell me again what he said.”

Jenny sighed. “Cutter...”

“Tell me.” He glanced sharply at her then away again, his eyes blazing with a fury she couldn't quite pinpoint, his jaw set in a painful looking angle.

“Just that Helen was dead. And there was a lot of blood.”

Cutter nodded. It was the scantiest of information to go on and yet it was all they had. She wondered, vaguely, impossibly, if Cutter's obvious fury was meant for her, because Stephen had called her and not him.

“He knows if there's trouble I have to be his first phone call,” she told him. She hated the way she sounded like she was apologising for instigating the rule in the first place, as if in their line of work it didn't make perfect sense.

Cutter's shoulders relaxed slightly. “Aye,” he acknowledged with a small nod.

Jenny turned away and tried to gather herself and her bearings. They were arriving at their destination far faster than she had imagined they would. “It's right there.” She pointed at a building which Connor had identified as a Premier Inn marked for refurbishment. The last few guests were supposed to leave this week, and then the place was being transformed into a more upmarket hotel.

Cutter skidded the car next to the kerb and was about to jump out when Jenny's tight grip on his arm forced him to stop.

“Look,” she whispered, voice disappearing into quiet shock as she took in the scene before them.

Stephen was being led to a waiting police car in handcuffs, his t-shirt drenched in blood, his hair matted with it. His eyes looked sunken and his skin pale. He was walking with a limp, which meant his old injuries were playing up. Behind him, being carried on their way to a waiting ambulance, were two stretchers, each with a body on them. Stephen looked up, just once, eyes meeting Jenny's and then he shook his head. It was a small movement, barely noticeable unless you were staring straight at him, but its meaning was clear.

“If one of them is Helen, who the hell is the other one?” Cutter asked. He didn't try to leave or shake Jenny's hand away, so he must have seen Stephen's signal as well. Jenny was grateful she wouldn't have to try and force Cutter into seeing sense, into not creating more problems than they already had to deal with. Though the soft shaking she could feel from his arm told her he wanted nothing so much as to go out there and start taking control.

"I don't know," Jenny replied, despite recognising that Cutter's question had largely been rhetorical. "But I do think our day just got a whole lot worse."

Chapter Text

Danny Quinn wasn't your average policeman. He knew that, his friends on the force knew that, his superiors especially knew that. And he was perfectly okay with that as his reputation. Wore it like a badge or the proverbial chip on his shoulder. It came in handy when connections needed to be made, connections out of the ordinary, when believing in the weird and wonderful was all part of the job.

Which was why, he supposed, he was staring down at the freshly killed body of a woman declared dead over eight years ago, and who looked like she'd lost a round with Freddy Krueger.

He turned towards the coroner, and raised an eyebrow.

The coroner, in turn, shrugged.

Danny shook his head and carried on reading the report in his hand. The man they'd brought in for questioning had named her – in fact it had been pretty much the only thing he'd said, according to the arresting officer. But identifying the victim and having a clear suspect in custody were, surprisingly, not the the end of the matter. Which is why Danny had been assigned the case. He had something of a reputation for fitting impossible pieces together.

He looked down at the body again and frowned. Helen Cutter sure did have a lot of unexplained injuries, scratches from claws and teeth marks featuring regularly. It almost looked like she'd been fighting in a zoo, or maybe she'd run away and joined the circus. That would explain why all the wounds showed signs that they were old, that they'd healed years ago. This though, this was clearly a fresh kill. And a brutal one at that.

“Do you think a knife did this?” he asked, finally.

“Did you find a knife?” the coroner asked.

“No,” Danny said. “Not yet.”

“Well then,” the coroner replied. A large built man who waddled rather than walked, he approached the body and stared down at it. Her missing persons photo showed that she'd been striking in life, if not someone you could label beautiful. Here her face was scratched and disfigured, eyes bulging as if in shock. He imagined it would take quite a lot to shock this woman.

Danny watched the man, waiting. Patience wasn't really one of his virtues, but he could apply it when absolutely necessary.

“No, I'd say a knife couldn't have made these wounds. But I'll be damned if I know what did.”

* * * * *

“Well?” Connor asked. He was twitching, moving his hand across the surface of the desk, tapping and hitting at it, legs beating to an internal rhythm that was starting to drive Abby mad.

“I don't know!” Abby finally snapped. “But you're not helping!”

Connor flushed guiltily and then stopped. It lasted only a few seconds before he was tapping anxiously at the desk again, clearly unaware of what he was doing. Abby sighed, giving up.

“I'm going to make some tea. Stay here.” She headed off to the kitchen, nodding tightly to some soldiers that she passed. They nodded back, just as grim; even now Stephen spent more time with them than her and Connor and they were just as worried as the rest of them. Even Lester could be seen in his office, pacing like a caged animal.

In the kitchen, Abby absently fixed herself and Connor a drink and put it on a tray. Then she paused, grabbed Lorraine's secret stash of chocolate biscuits from the back of the cupboard and decided she really should make Lester a drink too. That done she was finally heading out of the room when the alarm to the Anomaly Detector went off.

“Oh, for -” Abby grumbled. She slammed the tray of drinks down on the table, not caring for the moment that hot tea was sloshing everywhere. They were really in no state to go out, none of them, but she knew they didn't have a choice. There wasn't any one else who could do their job – not until Lester managed to get more funding for the Project, at least.

Some days she really hated her job.

“You're not going to believe this,” Connor cried, skidding around the corner and nearly careening into Abby. She marvelled for a moment at his cheerful face. She knew it was just a defense mechanism, that focusing on the anomalies and the creatures they brought through distracted him from worrying about Stephen, but it still stung.

Something of her annoyance must have shown on her face because he suddenly sobered up.

“Um...?”

Abby was stopped from apologising though by the appearance of Captain Becker behind Connor.

“What do we have, Connor?” he asked. His expression was grave and he looked more like a seasoned soldier today than he normally did. He and Stephen had got off to a rocky start, partly Abby suspected because their ages were so close and yet Stephen considered himself the more experienced of the pair. And expected to be treated as such. Plus Stephen didn't make friends easily and the respect he'd had for Captain Ryan was hard to replace. Still, they had begun to bond on the shooting range and out in the field, and she knew his concern for Stephen was genuine. Besides, Becker didn't seem to make friends easily either and she sometimes worried that the ARC team were the only ones either of them had.

“This,” Connor said, gaining Abby's attention back on the matter at hand. Connor flipped out his new iPhone with a flourish (a birthday present from the whole team) and started to play a video. “It's already up on YouTube.”

“Jenny'll love that,” Becker muttered. Then he frowned and exchanged glances with Abby, remembering what Jenny was doing right now.

“Is that -?” Abby asked, turning her attention to the video.

“Hyde Park,” Connor said, nodding.

“And those are -?” Becker asked.

“I think,” said Connor, with a gleam in his eye, “they're Titanophoneuses.” Becker looked blank. “It means “titanic murderer.”

Abby gave a short intake of breath and Becker looked like he was struggling for an expression that wasn't amused or shocked. He settled on concerned.

“I mean - “ Connor began, realising belatedly that his enthusiasm might be a little misplaced, but he didn't have a chance to finish.

“I wasn't aware we had opened up a branch of the Women's Institute,” Lester drawled from the doorway. He glared pointedly at the mugs of tea on the table. “Unless of course the kitchen is to be our new operations room?”

Abby winced at his glare and Becker straightened up so quickly she thought he was about to salute. “We're just heading out now,” she said.

Lester nodded and then caught sight of Connor's phone. “Tell me that isn't on the internet?”

“Um...” Connor replied. He attempted to hide the phone behind his back, then realised that was ridiculous, so handed it over.

Lester stared down at it for a good 5 seconds, as if it were personally responsible for all his troubles.

“Can you handle the press?” he asked Abby abruptly. Abby opened and closed her mouth a few times; dealing with people wasn't exactly her best skill. “I'd rather not drag Jenny away from the Stephen situation just yet.”

“Right,” Abby nodded, hoping she sounded confident. “Sure, I can. I'll do my best, anyway.”

Lester nodded, his eyes softening slightly before he turned away. “Get out there and make this a one problem only kind of day.”

“Yes, sir,” Becker said. Lester nodded at him and started to walk away.

“Uh – my phone?” Connor asked.

Lester threw it behind his shoulder, without looking to see where it landed. Connor flailed in an attempt to reach it but Becker easily grabbed it and slid it into Connor's back pocket.

“Let's get the gear and head out,” Becker told them, moving towards the armoury.

“Do you think he's heard from Jenny and Cutter?” Connor asked, absently patting his phone.

Becker shrugged. “We'll find out, soon enough.”

“Do you think he did it?” Abby asked at last. It was the question everyone else was avoiding, but she simply couldn't do that anymore.

“Who did what?” Connor asked.

“Stephen,” Abby hissed. “Who else?”

Connor looked downtrodden. “He wouldn't. He couldn't.”

Abby turned to Becker, wanting his more clinical judgement rather than Connor's understandably emotional one.

“Do I think Stephen's capable of murder?” he asked. He paused and looked off into the distance. “Yes. Is he capable of killing Helen?” Becker took a deep breath. “She's not exactly his favourite person.”

Abby nodded. That's what she thought too.

Chapter Text

Cutter wanted very much to punch something. Something that was very hard and that would crumble under his onslaught with a satisfying crunch. Something that he could break and smash and that would lessen the tension in his shoulders and the rolling of his gut. Something that was clear and easy to understand.

His ex-wife was dead. How was he supposed to react to that? When he'd already mourned her once, been tricked by her more times than he cared to remember, been hurt by her arrogance and her knowledge, the very things he'd fallen in love with in the first place. How could he process it – having wished her dead for what she'd done to him and then, lately, to Stephen, and now knowing finally that she was gone?

“Your name's Clarence,” Jenny said, approaching him from wherever she'd disappeared to. He stopped his frantic pacing by their car and blinked stupidly.

“What?”

“I could hardly tell them your name was Cutter, could I? When they eventually identify Helen's body, it'll come up,” Jenny pointed out with an exasperated sigh. “I managed to convince the very nice PC over there,” she turned to wave at him and gave him her most beaming smile, “that we are conducting a Home Office investigation into random acts of violence so that we can see the crime scene.”

“Shouldn't we...?” Cutter asked, motioning vaguely in the direction in which the patrol car had taken Stephen.

Jenny shook her head. “He's safe enough where he is for the moment and we'll do a better job of helping him if we know exactly what we're dealing with.”

“Should we call for back-up, then?”

Jenny frowned. It wasn't like Cutter to want to wait around. It was hard to remember, sometimes, that he'd loved Helen once; sometimes it was just as hard to forget.

“I think we'll be all right.” She turned to give him a reassuring smile but she couldn't help but feel that she'd failed somewhere along the way. “Do you think a creature - ?“ she added. The thought hadn't really crossed her mind up until now. All she'd really been allowing herself to concentrate on was getting to Stephen, assessing the damage and then fixing whatever the problem was.

“I don't know what to think.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in all directions. “But you're right. We can't help Stephen if we're stuck out here, can we?”

Cutter turned to look at Jenny and stared at her for a moment, unblinking. She stepped forward and absently brushed a speck of dirt from his jacket.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“As I'll ever be.”

* * * * *

“Name?”

“Stephen James Hart.”

“Age?”

“33.”

“Occupation?”

Stephen paused and the doctor filling out the chart looked up from his clipboard.

“Hardly a trick question.”

“I'm a research assistant.”

“There now, that was easy, wasn't it?” The doctor patted Stephen's arm and it took all of Stephen's concentration not to flinch.

The room was too cold and he was too warm. Conversations in the corridor were reverberating towards him, the sound waves dancing at the periphery of his vision. His flesh stank of blood. Fresh blood.

Helen's blood.

He wanted to throw up. For the pounding in his head to stop. For something, anything, to happen.

The door opened and a ginger haired man strolled in. The doctor turned and glared at him.

“Look here!”

“Got a minute, doc? Great.” He started to hustle the doctor outside, ignoring his attempt at protest. “Cup of coffee, just what you need.” He slammed the door shut and then locked it with an exaggerated flourish. “There, that's better isn't it? Just me and you.”

He pulled over a stool and sat down. “Quite a mess you've got yourself in to, eh?”

Stephen watched him warily but didn't say anything. He knew he shouldn't say anything, not until someone arranged for a lawyer. Not until Jenny and Cutter got there.

“My name's Danny. Danny Quinn.” Stephen nodded but didn't respond. “And you are Stephen Hart.” Danny pulled out a notebook and flicked through it absently, though he seemed to be reciting from memory rather than reading his notes.

“Quite a record you've got. Olympic hopeful, conservationist, know your way around guns, and knives.” Danny smiled to himself at Stephen's non-reaction. “And this,” he handed it over and waited till Stephen had taken the piece of paper he was dangling in front of him. “This is a copy of your obituary. Helen Cutter had one of these, too.”

Stephen handed the piece of paper back, looking paler and slightly more green than he had when Danny had entered.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, moving closer to Stephen.

“I -” Stephen began. And then he leaned forward and promptly vomited all over Danny's legs.

* * * * *

“Harry, have you got a moment?”

Lucas North strolled into Harry's office before Harry had even finished looking up from his notes.

“And what can I do for you today?” Harry asked.

Lucas smiled and sat down in the chair opposite Harry's desk, perfectly aware that he was cutting into Harry's admin time, and that Harry would welcome any excuse not to have to fill out more paperwork. “It's about one of my contacts at Scotland Yard. He's raised a red flag about a murder investigation.”

“Oh?”

“Two dead bodies with horrific injuries. One suspect in custody.”

“Case closed, then,” Harry said before Lucas had finished. He put down his pen and settled back in his chair, knowing full well that Lucas wouldn't have come to him if it was really that simple.

“Suspect and the female victim had both previously been declared dead. Both have Home Office notations on file.” Harry raised an eyebrow at that. “The suspect, Stephen Hart, supposedly works for the Central Metropolitan University, the same place the victim, Helen Cutter, used to work.”

“Supposedly?”

“His pay is coming out of a Home Office research budget.”

“I see. Intriguing, but not necessarily in our remit...”

“And Danny Quinn is involved.”

Harry sat forward in his chair and Lucas gave him a moment to remember exactly why that name was so familiar. He smiled as Harry's eyes widened, he could almost see the light bulb hovering over his head.

“The same Danny Quinn that nearly caused a diplomatic row between Romania and Austria?”

“The one and only.”

Harry leaned forward and pressed a button on his phone. “Ruth? I need you to go dig up all the information we have on Danny Quinn.”

“The policeman? From the Embassy Gala - ?”

“Yes, yes, that's the one,” Harry interrupted; it wasn't an incident any of them were likely to forget in a hurry. “Lucas is going to pass you some other names. I want to know everything about them, including who is paying their wages, what exactly their remit is and where their base is.”

“Okay, got it,” Ruth replied before clicking the intercom off.

Lucas stood up to leave but Harry stopped him with a question.

“What about the other one?”

“I'm sorry?” Lucas asked.

“You said there were two dead bodies. Who was the other one?”

“Ah,” Lucas said, looking grim. “That was the policeman on his second week in the job who'd been called in to investigate a disturbance. If this Stephen Hart is responsible, he's a cop killer.”

Chapter Text

Jenny sauntered past the policewomen guarding the door, nodded and smiled to the receptionist who looked like he could use a stiff drink right about now and headed straight for the lifts. As if on cue the doors opened before her and she stepped in, only pausing to allow Cutter to catch up.

Once he had done so she pressed the button for the eighth floor and then pulled out her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Abby,” Jenny replied, putting the phone to her ear and shushing him quiet.

“But we don't know anything yet.”

Jenny graced him with a withering stare. “We know Stephen's in one piece. That's more than we could be sure of earlier.”

Cutter nodded and then turned away, prepared to zone out. That is until he heard the word “anomaly.”

“What creature is it, do they know yet? Casualties?”

“For god's sake Cutter, give me a minute.”

Cutter snapped his mouth shut and glared at her. Then, as she continued her conversation and the doors opened, he stormed off.

“Room 810,” she called after him, slipping through the doors and following at a much slower pace. He waved his hand in the air to show he'd heard but didn't wait for her to catch up. She was too intent on her conversation to worry about Cutter's delicate ego just then anyway.

Cutter found the room easily enough, the police tape would have given it away even if the fresh blood stains hadn't already. He ripped the tape from the door, ignoring the itch in the middle of his back that meant that Jenny was glaring at him, and pushed his way inside. He'd already decided on the ride up that he had to treat this like a plaster, and rip it all off in one go.

He almost reeled fully back as the smell hit. The stench of the blood he was becoming increasingly used to filled his nostrils, strong enough for him to taste.

“Good god,” Jenny murmured from behind him. “I – I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.”

Cutter could only nod as he too took in their surroundings. Blood covered everywhere – the bed, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Furniture was overturned, the window smashed, curtains ripped. The greatest concentration of blood seemed to be near the bathroom and Cutter braced himself to look inside. Nothing in there except more carnage.

“How could - “ Cutter started to ask and then stopped himself. No good would come from finishing that sentence. Not yet. Possibly not ever.

Jenny wasn't listening to him anyway. Instead she was concentrating on taking photos with her phone and making notes of where everything was and what state it was in.

“Just being thorough,” she said upon catching Cutter's eye. “In case the police aren't.”

Cutter nodded. “Good idea.” He side-stepped a patch of blood and moved towards one of the beds. It didn't seem right, somehow, that Helen was dead in the here and now. Why not the future or the past?

As he tried to avoid contaminating the room anymore than he already was he knocked something under the bed and it flew out to the other side.

“Cutter!” Jenny hissed.

Cutter ignored her in favour of retrieving the object. He held it up for Jenny to see and they both sighed, wearied by experience. It was a transmitter, like one they'd both seen in action before.

* * * * *

“And?” Connor was saying.

He was bouncing about in the back seat of the truck, Becker driving and weaving perilously through the traffic and Abby sitting at the front, twisted round so she could speak to Connor and offer Becker's driving skills an occasional glare.

“Stephen's been arrested, by the sounds of it. Helen's definitely dead. There was another body too, but they don't know who that was yet.”

“Bloody hell,” Connor muttered. “Is Stephen all right?”

“Seemed to be, but they were going to check out the crime scene first and then see about getting Stephen a lawyer.” Abby looked glumly between Becker and Cutter. “It doesn't look good, does it?”

Becker pulled the car into an abrupt stop, causing Abby to knock her knees against the dashboard. “Neither does this.”

* * * * * *

“I think we need a doctor in here,” Danny called out, unlocking the door.

The doctor he'd earlier kicked out came barging past, sneering at the state of Danny's trousers. “Really? How extraordinary.”

Danny grinned despite himself at the man's sarcasm; he appreciated a bit of humour on the job, even if it was directed at him.

“Is he going to be all right?”

Stephen was sitting forward with his head between his knees. He felt a little better now, but not what he'd called 100%. Then again, Stephen wasn't 100% anything any more.

“I think I'd like to transfer him to a hospital. Just to be sure.”

“You know he's a murder suspect, right?” Danny asked. “A cop got killed.”

Stephen groaned, but as to why Danny wasn't sure. He just knew that there was more to this than met the eye.

“I'm aware,” the doctor said. He turned away from Stephen and stared at Danny. “I really do think it's necessary.”

Danny nodded. Despite the needling the doc usually came through when he was needed. And if he said that Stephen needed to be in a hospital, to hospital he would go. Might be safer for him in the long run too, Danny mused, judging by the gawkers waiting outside.

“Johnson,” he called out to a young wet behind the ears policeman who wanted to join the firearms squad but had trouble tying his own shoelaces. “Get a car. I want to take him over there myself.”

“You do?” Johnson asked, before flushing and turning away. “Right, sure boss.”

Danny turned back to Stephen, frowning at the scars he could just about make out on the young man's back as his shirt rode up. Yeah, definitely more to this than met the eye.

“Think you can walk?” he asked Stephen. He kneeled down to try and get a look at Stephen's face, ignoring the squelch of his trousers. He'd have to get changed before he got into a car; the shower though would have to wait.

“Yeah. But I don't think I need a hospital. I'm fine, I just...”

“You'll be safer there, than here, trust me,” Danny said. Stephen's eyes widened as he understood what Danny was saying.

“Makes a change,” he muttered, “humans wanting me dead.”

Danny's face crumpled up into confusion but before he could ask what the hell that meant, Johnson was at the door, keys and a clean pair of trousers in his hand.

“You, son, are a bloody lifesaver,” Danny said, stripping into his boxers right there and then. A few of the police officers outside wolf whistled, and the tension lessened, allowing them to move on. Just Danny Quinn, up to his usual tricks. Nothing to see here.

Danny smiled at himself. Mission accomplished.

“Come on, then, Hart, let's get you out of here.”

Stephen nodded, took a deep breath and then hauled himself upright. He was limping as he moved, wincing ever so slightly. Danny eyed him cautiously but Stephen seemed used to that gait, as if it were his normal walk, cluing Danny in that it was an old injury, not a new one. Something to do with those vicious looking scars probably.

Stephen Hart clearly had one hell of a story to tell. And Danny wasn't about to rest until he got it out of him.

With or without his cooperation.

Chapter Text

Becker hadn't been with the team long enough to feel anything less than astonishment at the sight of dinosaurs roaming around London. He still marvelled at the fact that a bunch of amateurs had managed to keep all this secret from the press for so long. That marvel had slowly started to turn into pride that he was one of them. It hadn't been an easy assignment, he'd made more mistakes in his first few months with the ARC than he had in all his time at Sandhurst. But usually he couldn't imagine a better assignment to find himself on.

Usually didn't count for today.

“What are we going to do?” Connor asked from the backseat. Becker shook his head, brain whirring.

“I think a strategic retreat is called for,” Becker said finally. He put the car into reverse, tyres squealing as he sped up, moved, twisted the steering wheel, kept his foot down and tried to find an escape route, all in the blink of an eye. This, this was definitely not a good day.

“There's at least half a dozen of them,” Abby whispered in horror.

“We're never keeping this out of the press,” Connor added. Abby nodded, wide-eyed.

Hyde Park looked like a theme park, dinosaurs sauntering about everywhere, stomping on benches, knocking over trees and ice cream vans. People were running and screaming in all direction and Abby couldn't blame them. They might not be as big as Giganotosauruses, but they were big enough.

“Looks like Jurassic Park,” Connor said, awe tracing his voice.

“Yeah, it does!” Abby said excitedly.

Becker pulled the car over a safe distance away, glancing in the mirror to note that the rest of his military team were pouring out of a van behind him. At least they'd had the sense not to go tearing in – he hadn't been able to handpick his own men and some of the ones he'd been lumbered with left a lot to be desired in the common sense department.

“I trust you have an idea?” Becker asked.

“Jurassic Park IV.”

“Eh?”

“Jurassic Park IV is in the works, some PR guru had the idea of staging a publicity stunt in Hyde Park. Next thing you know some of the animatrony things go walkabout after the special effects crew have a few too many in the pub at lunch time!” Abby beamed at the two men as they exchanged bemused glances.

“Works for me,” Becker said. “Now, are you going to tell the dinosaurs they aren't real, or am I?”

* * * * *

Stephen was quiet on the drive to the hospital, his head and shoulder resting against the window. He felt a bit better now he was wearing some clean clothes Danny had grabbed from the Lost and Found Box, but his head was still pounding. His stomach didn't feel like it was going to explode any more though, so that was something. Now if only he could stop hearing the pounding of Danny Quinn's heart over his own. Or the flicker of vibrations he could see, like dancing streams of light. They were only getting worse, louder. Or brighter. He knew he should have told the ARC doctor that they were getting worse, but he'd been worried that he'd be locked up. Stupid, but there it was. Being part of the team once more didn't mean he didn't know how quickly he could lose their trust all over again.

Danny didn't ask any questions, in fact he didn't say a word, for which Stephen was inordinately grateful. He imagined there'd be some sort of price to pay for that though; this policeman didn't strike him as the “let sleeping dogs lie” type. Dog with a bone, more like.

The vibrations he could see continued to get stronger, and as Danny pulled up at some traffic lights by the corner of Hyde Park the familiarity of their shade started to dawn on him. Sound, he'd discovered, had colour, and colour had sound, if you knew how to look. He'd started doing his own experiments, even as he denied to himself that anything was wrong. That anything was changing.

One thing he knew above all though, was what type of creature would be causing those vibrations in London. When he looked up and saw a transplanted tree fall from a great height into the middle of the intersection, he knew that he wasn't the only one having a very bad day.

* * * * *

“What do you mean, he isn't here?” Jenny demanded.

Once she and Cutter and realised that a future predator was involved somehow they had hurried to the police station to check up on Stephen. Both of them were worried, but as it turned out for very different reasons.

The experiment that Helen had done on Stephen in the future, saving his life by transplanting future predator organs and blood with his own, had left him with a connection to the creatures. A connection that none of them really understood, let alone Stephen himself. He could occasionally make a predator do as he wanted, in a fashion, but his reactions were unpredictable and as far as Jenny knew he tried to keep that part of himself buried.

Perhaps then it was only a matter of time before it surfaced.

“Where is he?” Cutter asked, pulling himself to his full height, and scowling at the young woman behind the desk.

“Detective Quinn took him to the hospital,” she said.

“Which one?”

“St Mary's. By Hyde Park.”

“Hyde Park?” Jenny repeated. “Oh my god.”

Cutter frowned. “What's wrong with that?”

“That's where the anomaly is,” she whispered, turning away from the curious policewoman.

Cutter snorted. “Of course it is.” He shook his head and then froze, an idea suddenly forming. Jenny didn't like the expression on his face and took a step forward, wanting to curtail whatever outburst he might be about to make. He had a knack for causing more problems than he solved.

“Good way of escape, an anomaly.”

He turned to Jenny who looked incredulous. “You don't think...Stephen didn't plan this.”

“Didn't he?” Cutter asked. “Can you be sure of that?”

“Of course I – Aren't you?”

Cutter looked away. “If Stephen got mad enough. If his control slipped...”

“You're seriously suggesting... How did Stephen get a future predator here without us knowing? How did he manage to train it? Control it? He couldn't keep that kind of thing secret from us.”

“Stephen is very good at keeping secrets,” Cutter pointed out. “Better than anyone else I know.” He paused. “Save Helen.”

“I don't – I don't believe it. I can't. And neither do you.” Jenny stepped in front of Cutter, grabbing his arms. She'd shake the sense into him if she had to.

“You'd be amazed at all the things I believe these days.”

Jenny squeezed his arm, trying to reassure him. She knew from Abby and Connor, and even from Stephen, that Cutter hadn't used to be this bitter. That the anomalies had been a source of joy. But somewhere along the way that had been lost. And she was afraid that he'd never find it again.

The phone on the desk started to ring, startling them all. The policewoman answered it and frowned. “Ma'am, if you could just slow down. Monsters? Ma'am, have you been drinking?”

Then the second phone started to ring. And a third. And then the only sound in the small police station was that of ringing phones. And panic out on the streets.

Chapter Text

Lucas North stood behind Ruth's chair, flicking through the preliminary report she had compiled. Considering Ruth's talents at gathering information from recalcitrant sources, there was very little new knowledge to be gleaned. It seemed as if Stephen Hart, along with another colleague, Nick Cutter (“Yes, Helen's husband”, Ruth had told him when he'd raised an eyebrow) were working at a Home Office facility just outside London called the ARC.

“And before you ask, no, I don't know what A.R.C. stands for,” Ruth bristled. Lucas tried not to show his smile; clearly not being able to track down this information was eating at her.

“We can probably rule out any connections to Noah though, eh?”

Lucas chuckled at his own joke and missed Tariq and Ruth's eye rolls.

Ruth's phone began to ring and as she answered it her other line lit up. And then the other, until all the phones in Section D, including the ones you never ever wanted to ring, were lit up like Christmas trees.

Harry sauntered out of his office more perplexed than alarmed. “Ruth?”

Ruth pointed at Tariq's computer which was playing a video from the BBC news website. Tariq turned up the volume and they all strained to hear over the ringing phones.

“We're receiving reports of a situation developing in Hyde Park. Remember, as we've just been discussing, a Nuclear Disarmament protest is due to pass by the vicinity shortly.” The reporter, a chirpy blonde with too much make-up on, pressed her hand to her ear, trying to filter through the conflicting information she was being given. Harry could sympathise.

“We're receiving word that the protesters are not directly involved, although hospitals in the area are on alert after reports of casualties.” The reporter, Angela Roberts, as the caption helpfully provided, looked milliseconds away from a helpless shrug.

“Ruth, get me the Home Secretary.”

Ruth jiggled the phone in her hand. “He's on line one.”

Harry moved across the floor, glaring at anyone who wasn't moving to answer a call, and took the phone from Ruth.

“Home Secretary. It appears we have a situation...Ark?” He looked quizzically at Lucas who held up the file Ruth had given him and pointed at a picture of a steel monstrosity that Harry understood to be connected somehow. “I see, well...of course.”

He hung up with a frown. “He wants to meet. Now.”

“Are this morning's murders connected with - “ Lucas waved at the computer screen, “whatever's going on?”

“I haven't the faintest idea,” Harry replied grumpily. “Tariq, track all electronics – see if you can use the CCTV to find out what's happening and shut down any other prying eyes. Ruth, get Danny Quinn on the phone and patch him through to my mobile. Lucas, you're with me.”

The BBC reporters' voice cut through the suddenly silent room. “Video footage from those on the ground, including the protesters, suggests that there are wild animals loose in Hyde Park...”

“Dinosaurs!” One witness shouted, his face suddenly taking up the whole of the screen, sweat dripping down his face, and a microphone waving about in front of him. “They look like bloody dinosaurs!”

Lucas snorted. “Dinosaurs? Come on, Harry,” he said, turning towards the other man, “this has to be some geeks practical joke.”

Harry didn't disagree, and yet, “Practical jokes don't get you summoned to Downing Street.”

Lucas was rather beginning to hope that they did.

* * * * *

“One problem at a time,” Lester was muttering. “That's all I ever ask. Just one problem at a time.” He strode down from his office into the atrium, his purposeful strides meaning that Lorraine, his personal assistant, had to run to catch up with him.

“You're going out?” she asked.

“Evidently.”

“Where - “ She halted abruptly as Lester changed directions on her.

“I have been summoned. To No. 10.”

“Oh,” said Lorraine, eyes going wide. “Oh dear. Today's not going well, then?”

Lester sighed at Lorraine's unfailing ability to state the bleeding obvious. “No.” He closed his eyes a moment, the few scant years in change of the ARC suddenly seemed like they were pressing down even more than usual on him. “Call Jenny and Cutter. I'm going to need them in on this too. Stephen will, well...” He shrugged. It wasn't as if he wasn't worried about Stephen, but there was only so much damage control he could deal with himself.

“Um, that was actually Jenny on the phone a minute ago.”

“Yes, and?”

“They don't know where Stephen is?” She made it sound like a question, worried how Lester was going to react.

“What?” Lester asked very quietly. Too quietly for Lorraine's liking.

“A detective was driving him to the hospital. But they haven't shown up.”

“And I suppose you're about to tell me that Stephen has gone missing in the vicinity of Hyde Park?”

“Um, yes?”

“Patch Jenny through to my phone. Now!”

* * * * *

Stephen savoured the incredulous look on Danny's face for a moment, before opening the car door and bolting out. Danny was quick to follow.

“What the hell is that?” Danny asked.

Stephen shrugged. “Would you believe me if I said it was a dinosaur?”

Danny nodded. “Makes sense.”

Stephen shot him a baffled look. “It does?”

“Yeah,” Danny said, distracted, his thoughts flying faster than he could decipher them. But something was there at the back of his mind, just waiting for the pieces to slot into place.

“We need to get these people off the streets,” Stephen shouted, above the cacophony of screams and car alarms. “And I need to make a call.”

“Good point on the first, not so much on the second.” He looked over the top of the car at Stephen. “You're still in my custody.”

“And when I'm done I'll answer any questions you might have.” Stephen leaned forward, hands resting on the roof of the car, ready to push himself off and away if he had to.

“Did you kill her?” Danny asked suddenly. Stephen hesitated, the denial not quite making its way out.

“Yeah,” Danny said with half a smile, “be grateful I don't handcuff you to the car. Come on.”

Danny went to the left, where a bunch of teenagers were eagerly taking pictures on their phones. Stephen turned around, looking off into the opposite direction. It would be so easy to step off into the crowd, to disappear and go find the others, to find the anomaly, or maybe just disappear altogether.

It was a comforting thought, for a fleeting moment, but Stephen knew he couldn't do that to his friends, not again. And for some reason, he couldn't do that to Danny Quinn either.

* * * * *

“Move!” Becker shouted.

Connor started pulling at his seat belt, fumbling with the lock until the reassuring click of the release echoed throughout the car. Frowning, he paused, with his hand resting on the door handle – when did it suddenly become so quiet?

The soft snort of breath had him turning his head very slowly. One of the dinosaurs was leaning down and staring through the windshield at Abby and Becker. Outside a hush had gathered in the crowd, a collective breathtaking as they paused in their own panicked escape to see what was going to happen.

“It's all right,” Connor whispered. “I'll distract it.”

“What?” Abby shrieked, whipping her head around so fast she winced at the shooting pain. “No!”

But it was too late. Connor was out of the car and slamming the door shut as hard and as loudly as he could.

“Oi! Come on then! All the interesting stuff's happening down here!”

The dinosaur blinked and stepped forward, jaws open. Connor scurried backwards – at least it wasn't focused on Abby and Becker any more. But then Connor tripped over something in the road and fell, and he raised his arms in front of his face as the dinosaur lunged and he was going to die, he knew it...

Only nothing happened.

He opened his eyes and saw that Becker was slamming his car door against the creatures foot. It wasn't doing any damage but it was clearly irritating and the dinosaur, having had enough, roared and kicked out its feet.

The sudden movement had Becker tumbling out of the car and launching himself into a roll as he tried to avoid being trampled on. But the car flipped in a roll of its own, finally coming to a stop on its roof, Abby still trapped inside.

* * * * *

Jenny was pushing Cutter out of the door even as she was fishing out her ringing phone. Cutter was warring between worry and anger, and not a little annoyance that no one was ringing him.

“Lorraine,” Jenny said, “any news?” She paused, her mouth forming a perfect O. Cutter stared at her, just about stopping himself from grabbing the phone out of her hand.

“Well?” he asked after a moment, when it became clear that Jenny wasn't about to fill him in as she went along.

Jenny took pity on him and switched to speakerphone. “Sorry, Lorraine, what did you say?”

“Connor said they looked like Titanophosphates, or something, before he left. But we haven't had an update since. And the press have it – it's all over over the news. I don't know what to do...”

“It's all right, Lorraine,” Jenny said. “I don't know what to do either.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep control over her own panic; giving in to her own emotions wasn't about to help anybody. Least of all those at Ground Zero. “Where's Lester?”

“He's been summoned to No. 10,” Lorraine said, awe lacing her voice. “We're really in trouble, aren't we?”

Jenny looked over at Cutter, but he no longer appeared to be paying attention.

“I'm sure it'll be fine. You say you haven't heard from Connor and the others yet?”

“No, I can't get a hold of anybody.”

“We need to find the anomaly,” Cutter interrupted. “If they are Titanophoneuses, that's late Permian. There isn't much known about them except they're meat eaters, and large, but not skilled predators.”

“Only as far as you know,” Jenny pointed out. “Lorraine -”

“I'm sending you the coordinates now. And Lester wanted to talk to you.”

“Patch him through,” Jenny said with a long-suffering sigh. Then she turned to Cutter. “Guess that means you're driving again.”

* * * * *

Lester had opted to drive himself to Downing Street. He needed a moment to think. Certainly this latest crisis had caused a larger splash in the public sphere than usual, but there were ways in which that could be managed. An inventive story here, a few thousand pounds there. A subtle word from Jenny and a myriad of problems could be easily solved. The end of the ARC wasn't inevitable, indeed this latest incident proved how valuable its existence still was.

His only question was whether he would be found just as valuable.

He hit the steering wheel in frustration as he was forced to stop at yet another red light. Exactly what they did at the ARC was a closely guarded secret – which meant that everyone in government had a fair idea of what was happening. And like all government funded agencies there was a convoluted paper trail that if deciphered would be the biggest breaking story in the history of the world. Maybe Cutter's original idea of a privately funded research group had been along the right lines after all. Government interference could be wearisome, especially if you had no alternative but to answer to said government.

He pulled up at the gates and showed his credentials to the policeman on duty. He nodded and waved Lester inside.

Lester parked and took a deep breath. And then of course there was the Stephen situation. An update for which was still forthcoming. He found it hard to believe that Stephen would have cold-bloodily murdered Helen Cutter, though god knows it was no great loss to humanity. In a fit of rage, perhaps, at what had been done to him? Stephen seemed to be adjusting well though, the therapy sessions that Lester had ordered him to attend all seemed to be doing the trick. Stephen certainly hadn't exhibited any of the usual signs of instability, unlike the erstwhile Professor. Self-defense then? Helen lashing out when Stephen refused to do as she asked, and Stephen retaliating, not knowing his own strength?

Too many questions. Too many unknowns. It was days like these that Lester longed for retirement. Or an alien invasion. At least they had plans in place for one of those.

His phone rang and he answered it quickly. He'd already been sitting, unmoving, in the car for far too long; the police were beginning to look jittery.

Lester looked up and around and paused, his eyes narrowing. “Jenny,” he said, “do you have any good news?...Then call me back when you do. I've just spotted Harry Pearce.”

* * * * *

The couple slinked further into the shadows in the doorway, watching the delicious spread of chaos. Despite the fact that Helen Cutter was dead, events did not seem to be setting themselves back on the right path.

“Stephen should have changed things by now,” the man hissed. “That's what's supposed to happen.”

“You're being too impatient,” the woman replied. “Helen's death is only the first snowflake. Now we just have to wait for the avalanche.”

Chapter Text

“My god!” Cutter gasped as they slowly and cautiously made their approach to Hyde Park. He hadn't been in London himself at the time of the July bombings, but he'd seen enough television footage to know that this looked eerily similar. Emergency personnel were creating a perimeter, their well-practised emergency drills slotting efficiently into place. Never mind that this was dinosaurs, not terrorists, the essential needs were the same – get as many innocent civilians out of the way as possible.

“We could evoke the terrorism laws,” Jenny said, thoughts drifting in sync with Cutter's own. “They're already evacuating the area without any word from above. It wouldn't take much. If we can keep the creatures contained, and near the anomaly...”

Cutter nodded. “My thoughts exactly. If only we had an idea of how many there are...”

“I need to find the Bronze Commander, or appoint one. We need to shut off the gas and electricity in the area too – in case the creatures do any more damage. I -”

“Go on, it's fine,” Cutter told her. “This is what you're good at.” He hesitated a moment before leaning over and putting a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “I'll call you once I've found the anomaly.”

“I don't like the idea of us splitting up.”

“Neither do I – but we're running a little thin on the ground right now.” He patted Jenny's shoulder and kept his hand there. She stared at it a moment and then up at him. He considered moving closer, until a bang on the windscreen made them both jump apart.

It was a woman's shoe. With no sign of the woman.

* * * * *

“Abby!” Connor shouted. He rushed across the road as the creature ambled towards the quickly dispersing crowd, clearly sensing an easier source of food.

“Abby! Can you hear me?” He kneeled down and pushed at the door which wouldn't budge. “Abby!”

He could just make out her mop of blonde hair, but couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

“Let me smash the window,” Becker said from behind him. Connor turned, flushing guiltily that he'd forgotten about the military captain. He had a nasty looking scrape going up one arm, but other than that he looked unhurt. He removed his gun from its holster and used the butt end to carefully smash at the window.

“Abby?” he asked.

“About time,” she muttered. She scrambled towards them, glass cuts evident around her face and on the palms of her hands. “Are you two okay?”

Connor nodded for the both of them, missing Becker's exasperated look. “We need to get out of here.”

Becker started to help Abby up. “We need back-up. I didn't see where my men headed.” He pointed at the soldier's truck, which was now lying uselessly on it's side. “The radio's busted though.” He held up its broken pieces, smashed when he fell out of the car.

“Guys - “ Abby started to say.

“The detector's working okay though,” Connor said, pulling it out of his jacket pocket. “We could find the anomaly, lure the creatures there...”

He was forced to trail off as Abby put her hand over his mouth. Becker slowly stood from his crouched position and flicked off the safety on his gun. Connor turned around, Abby moving her hand from his mouth to grab at his arm.

The creature lunged forward and then screeched and turned to the side. The three of them looked over to see a man firing a weapon at the creature's head. The creature growled but with a hit too close to its eye for comfort it started to lumber away, back the way it had come.

“Everyone okay?” the man asked.

“Yes, thanks,” Becker said, futilely putting his own weapon away. “Who - “ But he paused on spotting a familiar figure lingering in the background.

“Stephen?” Abby cried. She moved up to him and then paused, not sure whether she should hug him or not, considering everything.

“Hey everyone. Are you all all right?”

“We're fine. Same old, same old,” Connor said with a grin. Stephen returned it with a small smile of his own before he turned to the armed man.

“What the hell are you doing with a gun, anyway?”

“Never know when it might come in handy,” the man grinned. “You gonna introduce me or what?”

Stephen sighed. “Everyone, this is Danny Quinn. DCI Quinn. Danny – Captain Becker, Abby, Connor.”

Danny nodded and pointed at each of them in turn. “Top of his class at Sandhurst. Dropped out of college to work in a zoo. Geek.”

“Oi!” Connor muttered, but Abby interrupted.

“How do you know - “

“Oh, I know a lot of things.” Danny grinned in a way that was quickly becoming insufferable, ignoring the completely surprised look that Stephen was giving him. “But you guys are the real experts. So – how do we fix this?”

* * * * *

“James Lester. This is a surprise. I thought you were nearing retirement?”

Lester smiled. “I could say the same about you Mr Pearce. How are your spooks? Still fighting the Cold War?”

Harry's smile turned into a grin. “You never change, do you James?”

“Change is a sign of inconsistency.”

Harry laughed. “Lucas North, this is James Lester. He was a government hatchet man, but I imagine there's a lot more to his job title these days.”

“Mr Lester,” Lucas said, extending his hand. Surprised, Lester shook it. “Any idea what's happening?”

Lester pursed his lips. There was still the chance that this could all be dealt with without anymore unnecessary complications. He certainly didn't need MI5 sticking their noses in.

“Let's just see what the Home Secretary has to say, shall we?” He didn't miss the looks that darted between Harry and Lucas but he ignored them in favour of staring straight ahead, his hands clasped behind his back. He hadn't got where he was today by being intimidated by the intelligence services.

“If that's how you want to play things,” Lucas whispered quietly, almost innocently.

Lester's retort was cut off by the doors in front of him opening.

“He'll see you now,” the Home Secretary's assistant told them.

They stepped through the doors and over to the fireplace where the Home Secretary was sitting, sipping at a glass of brandy.

Lester had made sure that he had been the first through the doors, which now didn't seem like such a good idea as he stopped abruptly, forcing Lucas to put one arm out to stop Harry careening into the back of him.

But Lester barely paid any attention. Instead he was staring at the space behind the Home Secretary's chair, where Helen Cutter was standing.

Chapter Text

A second bang against glass had Cutter and Jenny jumping, but this time it was someone tapping against Cutter's window.

“Professor Cutter? Are you okay?”

“Sarah?” Cutter started to roll down his window. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Sarah shrugged. “I came out to think about Lester's job offer. Somewhere peaceful,” she added with a rueful smile.

“This is great,” Jenny said, getting out of the car. “You can go with Cutter and get some hands on experience, while I try and manage an evacuation.”

Sarah looked startled and started to move away from the car. “Oh, I don't know, I mean, I'm not sure I could...”

“You'll be fine,” Jenny reassured her. “You did brilliantly with the creature at the Museum. And Lester would never have offered you a job at the ARC if he didn't think you were capable. If we didn't all think you were capable.”

Sarah looked down at herself. She was wearing a flowing top and skirt, not exactly the sort of clothes designed for running around after dinosaurs. “But he wants a researcher. Not someone who doesn't know what they're doing running around.”

“Sarah,” said Cutter with a half-edged smile, “we're all just running around not knowing what we're doing.”

“Oh, well, if you put it like that. How can a girl refuse?” She smiled and hoped it didn't show just how terrified she was currently feeling. But then she'd never let a small thing like fear stop her from doing what she wanted.

She quickly swapped places with Jenny and buckled her seat belt securely; she'd seen Cutter driving before.

“Be careful,” Jenny told them.

“Aye, you too. Keep in touch. And let me know if you hear from...anyone.”

Jenny nodded. “Of course. Same goes for you.”

As Cutter and Sarah headed off together Sarah looked around, trying to get to grips with how fast things were going. She had to admit her last run in with the ARC team had been exhilarating, and certainly more interesting than dealing with the brats she'd ended up having to teach again. She'd joined the British Museum because of her love of Egyptology and, she supposed, because of her love of adventure. Perhaps the ARC was where she was better suited.

“So,” she said, “are the others already at the anomaly site?”

Cutter shot her a hard look. “Not exactly.”

And as he started to fill her in, Sarah began to think that exhilarating was definitely not the word she had been looking for.

* * * * * *

“Who's in charge here?” Jenny asked. She strode purposefully in to one of the already erected emergency tents, marvelling at how well prepared they were. Perhaps she could persuade them that this was an unannounced drill after all.

“That would be me, Miss...”

“Jenny Lewis. Home Office.” She flashed her credentials at him and then surveyed the scene again. It didn't look too bad, considering, but appearances were often deceiving in their line of work. “Have you set up evacuation procedures?”

The dark swathed man with a rather distracting moustache nodded at her. “Of course, I know protocol.”

Jenny inwardly groaned. That's all she needed, a jobsworth. Outwardly she smiled even more brightly. “Excellent. Perhaps you can give me a run down of what still needs to be done and we'll have this drill wrapped up in no time.”

“Drill? What drill?” the man asked. “I thought this was about the bomb.”

“Bomb?” Jenny asked, certain she hadn't heard correctly. “What are you talking about?”

“Your colleagues over there said the gas board had found an unexploded WWII bomb. That's why we were diverting the anti-nuclear people. Damned ironic if you ask me. Without nuclear weapons there would still be a war on...”

“What colleagues?” Jenny interrupted. She wasn't remotely interested in one man's witterings about the state of the world today.

The man looked around and finally pointed. “There, those two.”

Jenny frowned. The man was pointing to a couple huddled in the doorway of a building opposite the tent but Jenny couldn't recall ever having seen them before. One thing was for sure, they didn't work for the ARC.

The young man glanced up and Jenny's eyes locked with his. He seemed dreadfully young.

Suddenly he was grabbing the girl by the hand and they started running towards the anomaly site.

Despite her better judgement, Jenny gave chase.

* * * * *

Stephen followed the others into the abandoned Tesco's and they all crouched down behind the vegetable display. He winced as he did so, feeling the pull of muscle and the familiar ache that told him he was doing too much, that he needed to slow down. But he ignored it, just as he ignored the exasperated look Abby threw him.

“So, again, how do we fix this?” Danny asked. Despite his apparent cockiness he did seem eager for the others to tell him what to do. Or more likely show him what they could do. Stephen was beginning to realise that Danny Quinn's involvement with his case had a lot more to do with Danny than it did with him.

“I don't think - “ Becker began to say, attempting to take back some sort of control from the chaos.

“No,” Danny said, putting a hand up, his palm facing Becker. “You're not about to tell me that this isn't a job for a civilian, that this isn't what it looks like, and that you've got it all under control. And,” he added, jerking his thumb in Stephen's direction, “I haven't forgotten that Chuckles here is a murder suspect.”

“Yeah, but he didn't do it,” Connor said, as if it were obvious.

“Yeah? That's not what he says,” Danny replied.

“I didn't say I did it,” Stephen said quickly, as all eyes turned to him. He looked down at his scuffed shoes, wondering how to explain all the things he was feeling. How to tell them that he could feel the soft vibrations of the creatures as they rumbled backwards and forwards, the uncertainty of their movements as familiar to him as his own.

“I may be responsible, though,” he settled on, finally.

Abby seemed the least surprised he'd ever seen her. Connor looked shocked, or maybe just sceptical. Becker looked the same as ever and Danny...Danny just nodded and carried on.

“Brilliant. Hallmark moment over. How do we get these dinosaurs back where they belong?”

Stephen shook his head. He couldn't wait for Danny to meet Cutter.

“He's probably just confused,” Abby said, and it took Stephen a moment to realise that she was talking about the creature. “All these weird new smells and sounds. I bet he just wants to find the others and go home.”

Becker nodded. “Makes sense. If only I could get my men on the radio.”

Danny held up his own. “Tuned to local military frequencies. Including the ARC's.”

“You didn't say you knew anything about the ARC!” Stephen snapped, completely exasperated. Just who the hell was this Danny Quinn?

Danny shrugged. “I was waiting.”

“For what?”

“To see whether or not I thought you were a murderer.”

“And do you?” Connor asked, when it was clear that Stephen wouldn't.

“Believe me, son, I wouldn't be wandering around London chasing bloody dinosaurs with him if I thought he was.”

Stephen released the breath he was holding and Connor patted him on the arm and gave him what was supposed to be a reassuring smile.

“You any good at hot-wiring cars?” Becker asked suddenly. He was peering over a display of carrots to look through the glass window. “It only started causing havoc when the cars got close...”

“Use the cars to herd them back to the anomaly site!” Connor said. “Brilliant.”

“And no need for hot-wiring,” Danny said. “I bet most of those cars still have the keys in the ignition.” He turned to the others with a smile. “Nothing like a rampaging dinosaur to make you forget about your precious BMW.”

“Okay, I'll coordinate with my men and get them to do the same at their end, we can get the lot of them carolled in no time,” Becker said. “I'll go first to...”

He trailed off as Danny shot through the door and across the road.

“Is he always like that?” Becker asked.

“Hey, don't ask me,” Stephen replied. He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I can't be held responsible for the actions of the people I get arrested by.”

Connor grinned and looked at the others. “Are we ready, then?”

Before he could move though Stephen suddenly had his arm in a vice-like grip.

“Hey w-”

Stephen's other hand clamped over Connor's mouth. Connor rolled his eyes. He was really getting fed up of people assuming he couldn't be trusted to keep quiet when necessary.

But then he heard it too. The click-clack of nails against the tiled ceiling. The one place none of them had thought it necessary to look.

Stephen inwardly cursed. He should have realised that it wasn't the anxiety of the creatures outside he was picking up on.

But the one in there. With them.

Chapter Text

“So, your wife's dead?” Sarah asked, trying to get all the details straight in her head.

“Ex-wife,” Cutter corrected automatically.

Sarah nodded. “And you think Stephen did it.” It wasn't a question, which surprised Cutter; the others had all assumed he would fight for Stephen's innocence no matter the truth.

“We found evidence. Evidence the police wouldn't know to look for. The future predators can be controlled by a device, a device we found in the room where Helen...In the room. They could do a lot of damage to a person, those creatures. I've seen the kind of damage they can do first hand. It wasn't pretty.”

Sarah nodded. It all made sense. In the wacky, out-of-control way anything made sense since she'd learned that time and space weren't as fixed as she thought they were. Hard to believe that that was only a couple of months ago.

And yet...

“But if Stephen's ...part future predator, why would he need the device to control them? Couldn't he just...use his mind?”

Cutter pulled up by an over-turned ice cream truck, face showing real emotion for the first time. It was a strange mix of hope and fear. “Just because he doesn't need to, doesn't mean he wouldn't. He might want to throw us off the scent.”

“Doesn't sound like Stephen to me.” Sarah shook her head. “Not the Stephen I met. The one who would do anything to protect his team...”

“Anything covers a lot of ground,” Cutter replied, before getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

* * * * *

“You're looking remarkably sprightly, for a dead woman,” Lester said.

Harry raised an eyebrow and Lucas took a more defensive stance, eyes darting towards possible escape routes.

Helen smiled, but didn't say anything.

“Yes, indeed,” the Home Secretary began, “that's one of the reasons I brought you all over here. Mrs Cutter appears to be suffering from amnesia.”

Lester opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. “What?”

“Can't remember a thing, I'm told. Just stands there.” The Home Secretary finished his drink and poured himself another. “Anyone else? No? Excellent.”

Lucas sidled over to the edge of the room as Harry stepped forward. “Home Secretary...what in god's name are you doing?”

The Home Secretary laughed. “I'm going to get fired. Any moment. Dinosaurs! On the streets of London! The whole ARC project will be exposed to the world. What are we to say? How will we explain it to the Americans?” He finished his second drink and poured another. “Or the Russians? The French? The Chinese?”

Harry sat down in the chair opposite the Home Secretary, keeping a wary eye on Helen Cutter. Lucas moved even closer to her and Lester stood, rooted to the spot, thinking.

“Helen, what year is it?” Lester asked suddenly.

“2234,” she answered, expression never wavering.

Lucas stopped in his tracks. “Amnesiacs don't normally think they're from the future.”

“Yes, well,” Lester sighed, “she doesn't have amnesia. I rather think she's a clone.”

* * * * *

Danny was fumbling with the keys of the Ford Mondeo in front of him when he looked up, wondering where the others were. For a team of supposedly trained professionals they didn't seem to know what the hell they were doing. He'd read their files, but that had made them sound like a ragtag bunch of amateurs.

He hadn't realised how true that was until now.

But still, right now they were London's, maybe the world's, only defense which made them valuable. And maybe when this was all over...

“No, Danny, don't get ahead of yourself. One thing at a time.”

His brother's disappearance, talk of odd creatures that didn't belong, it all made a terrifying kind of sense now. He'd been doing his own investigations on the side for years, digging into the more obscure corners of scientific research. That's how he'd known about Helen Cutter, before he'd even read the report from the arresting officer. He'd stumbled across some of her unpublished works on how various species of dinosaur could show up in odd times and places. It hadn't been easy to track down, but then it seemed as if even her husband didn't know about the lock-up where her research was kept hidden. If this Cutter bloke turned out all right, Danny might even show it to him. And Danny was nothing if not persistent. He'd tracked the notes down, deciphered them as best he could, and started the serious digging. Figuring out along the way that the ARC and it's personnel were up to something seriously wacky.

Just how wacky that really was he'd had no idea.

If he could help, and maybe get answers, real answers to what had happened to his brother...well, he joined the police force because he wanted to help people, but the adventure was usually lacking. At least this way he'd never be short of adventure.

“Oi, you lot, are you coming?” he shouted out. But there was no response.

Starting to get worried, Danny re-loaded his gun and got out of the car. Something wasn't right.

Slowly he started to move towards the Tesco's, his heart beating faster. If this was some sort of joke, he'd kill the lot of them.

“Danny, get down!” Stephen shouted and Danny did just that as a grey streak of something flashed past and over him, disappearing down the street.

“What the hell was that?” Danny gasped.

“Future predator,” Stephen panted. “Someone's controlling it.” He helped Danny to his feet as the others ran over.

“It wasn't you?” Abby said. “You didn't make it leave?”

“No, “ Stephen shook his head. “I was trying, but, it didn't seem to be responding to me.”

“It had on one of those transmitters,” Connor said, “bet that's why.”

“But what's it doing here?” Becker asked. “Did it come through the anomaly with the other creatures?”

Stephen shook his head. “I don't think so, though anything's possible where they're concerned. It could be one of the creatures that killed Helen.”

“So a future predator did kill her?” Abby asked. “And you weren't controlling it?”

“No,” Stephen said. “I – god Abby, I might have no love left for Helen, but I wouldn't...I couldn't...It was horrible,” he finished in a whisper. He shuddered and winced at the same time. “I couldn't do anything then, either. If it had wanted to kill any of you back there, I couldn't...I can't see that again.”

Abby stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. “We're okay,” she whispered.

Danny, whose expression had been flickering between mildly confused and totally confused during this entire exchange, finally spoke up.

“So, hang on, creatures come from the future too? And you can control them? Only not all of them? And Helen Cutter was killed by one of them? Is that it?”

“Sounds about right,” Connor said with a nonchalant shrug.

Danny opened his mouth and then closed it again. Definitely not what he had been expecting

“Yeah,” said Becker, slapping Danny on the shoulder, “welcome to my world.”

* * * * *

Jenny came to a stop, her heart pounding. It was no good, she'd lost them. Whoever the hell they were, they were fast. And knew exactly where they were going.

She fumbled for her phone and opened the text message Lorraine had sent her with the coordinates for the anomaly site. Then she checked on Google maps and found that she was only half a mile away herself now.

She looked back the way she had come, where her expertise in organising people and making up outrageous stories to cover everyone's backs, was needed. And then she looked forward, to where her team, her friends, should be heading.

There was no way she would be happy just sitting on the sidelines. It might have been where she'd imagined herself when she'd first been assigned to the ARC project, but it certainly wasn't where she wanted to be now. She couldn't imagine not being in the field, with this team of people.

So she started to move forward until she heard a noise, like the crackling of twigs underfoot. Before she had a chance to turn around though, the world went dark.

Chapter Text

“I'm sorry,” Harry said, looking up at Lester and then at the woman standing behind the Home Secretary, “a what?”

“A clone,” the Home Secretary said, before Lester could. “From the future.” He laughed humorlessly. “I wasn't expecting you to realise what she was quite so soon.”

“She's from the future?” Lucas scoffed. “April Fool's was last week.”

The Home Secretary smiled indulgently at Lucas. “Yes, hard to believe I know. What is it Professor Cutter said?” he asked Lester, “The fabric of space and time ripped to shreds? Insufferable man but he knows what he's talking about. At least as far as I'm told.” He took another drink. “The PM is concerned about how we're going to cover up this latest snafu. Dinosaurs on the 1 o'clock news! Suggestions?”

“My team are working on that as we speak,” Lester said smoothly, his concerned gaze not leaving the other Helen Cutter's face for a moment. “But the more pressing problem is getting the civilians out of the way...”

“You have my full authority to invoke whatever you need,” the Home Secretary interrupted. “God knows I may as well go out with a bang.”

“Of course if Mr Lester's team do pull this off,” Harry said, “you'll receive all of the credit.” He sat back in his chair and let that thought sink in for a moment.

Meanwhile Lucas had walked right up to Helen and was staring at her. She didn't blink. Didn't even twitch. He'd had KGB officers crumble under his stare before, so this was certainly an interesting development. From her file he'd discovered that she, or, he amended, the real her, was just a scientist.

“Why was she declared dead the first time?” Lucas asked.

Lester rolled his eyes and grumbled before answering. “She went through an anomaly into the past. Messed around in the past and the future, messed around in the present, and then came back to make all our lives hell.”

Lucas turned very slowly to stare at him. “You're absolutely serious, aren't you?”

“I always am.”

“And she's definitely a clone?”

“Why, what are you thinking?”

Lucas shrugged. “Could be the real Helen Cutter pretending to be a clone.”

Lester eyed Lucas up appreciatively. He liked the way the man thought. “Very true. She'd be better off in custody than just...actually, why is she here?”

The Home Secretary shrugged. “Oh, she had a note addressed to me”.

“What?” Harry snapped. “And the police just let her in here?”

Lucas grabbed Helen and started patting her down, searching for weapons or anything else out of the ordinary. Lester watched anxiously, and Harry tried to get the Home Secretary's full attention.

“No,” the Home Secretary was saying, his words noticeably slurred, “she came to my house. Talked to the nanny. Said I had to call you here. You'd be safe here. And my children wouldn't be harmed.”

“My god,” Harry muttered under his breath. “Lester, can you -?”

Lester nodded at Harry's hand wave and went over to the door, ready to get help from the protection officers outside. He tugged at the door handle and then frowned. He tugged harder, but still the door wouldn't budge.

“Why are these doors locked?” he asked nobody in particular. He started banging on them and called out for some assistance. But nobody answered. He turned to look over at Lucas, who was busy securing the clone's hands behind her back with his tie, and then kneeled down to look through the keyhole.

For a moment he couldn't believe what he was seeing. And then he took a deep breath and started to back away from the door.

“What is it?” Lucas asked. “Lester?”

Lester turned around, face ashen. “I'm afraid everyone out there is dead.” He decided not to complicate things by mentioning the future predator sitting out there either, not yet at least. Instead he turned to look at Helen as Lucas and Harry stared at each other in surprise. “Just what is it you're planning, Helen? Or whatever the hell your name is.”

The clone shrugged, but otherwise remained as expressionless as before. “It's time for a change of management,” she said. “Time for the animals to take back what's theirs.”

* * * * *

Sarah stood next to Cutter and stared at the anomaly floating in front of them. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She took a cautious step forward and felt the buttons on her skirt start to tug towards its magnetic pull. She'd only caught a brief glimpse at an anomaly before, at the British Museum, where she'd been too focused on trying not to get herself or anyone else killed to admire the beauty of this portal. To step through into a new world, full of mystery and wonder, how marvellous must that be?

“Aye, I know,” Cutter said, smiling at her. “Hard to believe anything so beautiful can be so deadly.”

Sarah frowned and turned around to face him. “Surely there are some benefits to the anomalies, though? You could research...”

“Absolutely not,” Cutter said. “No one is to go through those bloody things unless absolutely necessary. We have to find a way to stop them, not play research scientist in the past. That's not why I wanted you on board.”

Sarah quailed slightly under his tirade. Part of her knew that it wasn't really her he was mad at, yet she didn't appreciate being treated like a child either.

“Well I'm sure you've only ever gone into the past for the most noble of reasons,” she snapped.

Cutter looked surprised, then apologetic. “Look, Sarah, I'm sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “This whole thing with Stephen and Helen has got me completely rattled. And these...” He pointed at the anomaly. “I was like you in the beginning. I couldn't believe how wonderful it all was; this used to be fun, in its own madcap way. But I underestimated the danger and people died. Good people.” He shook his head. “And now we're stuck with a problem we don't know how to fix.”

“I'm sure you will though,” Sarah said. “Connor seems like he has plenty of ideas.” She smiled at the thought of the younger man. He'd surprised her at first, with his thoughts clearly coming faster than he could talk, and his way of making everything a Star Wars reference, but she'd also recognised a fellow geek and had been looking forward to swapping stories with him.

Cutter smiled indulgently. “Aye, Connor's a genius all right. It's easy enough to dismiss him but he's got a good head on his shoulders, most of the time.”

Sarah was enjoying the conversation, almost forgetting that Hyde Park was currently dinosaur central, when a soft rumbling caught her attention. Cutter was saying something about the anomalies, how you could pick up their frequency by radio, but Sarah wasn't listening. Instead she knelt down and put her hand on to the grass. Yes, definitely vibrations. She looked up and scanned the horizon. There didn't appear to be...

And then there they were. Three giant creatures being chased by...

“Um, Professor...”

“Sarah, you don't have to call me....”

“Get out of the way!” Connor yelled and Cutter spun around, took one look at the scene before him and grabbed Sarah's hand, hauling them both out of the way. They fell in a heap just next to the anomaly and quickly scrambled upright as Connor jumped out of the car Danny had been driving.

“All right, you must be Cutter. Danny Quinn.” Danny extended his hand and Cutter shook it automatically.

“And you are?”

“He's the policeman that arrested Stephen,” Connor helpfully supplied.

“What?”

“Hey,” Stephen said softly. He got out of the car Becker had been driving and watched as Becker reversed and went back to join his men who were having difficulty corralling the rest of the creatures the last step of the way. Abby was in the middle of them, trying to direct them, but without much success.

“Stephen - “ He stopped, stared and then came forward again, pulling Stephen into a quick hug before letting him go. “Are you all right?”

Stephen nodded. “Yeah.” Then he shook his head. “No. There are some things I need to tell you.”

“I rather thought there might be.”

“If it helps, I don't think he's a murderer,” Danny told him. Cutter looked at him sharply and Danny shrugged. “Just throwing that out there.”

Sarah was watching the scene from the sidelines, trying to work out where she fit in all of this. And what this Danny Quinn was doing here. She straightened her skirt a little, removing the hem from the top of her boots, when she realised that she could no longer feel the pull of the anomaly. She stepped a little closer to it, as the others began to talk behind her, her presence seemingly forgotten for the moment.

It didn't look any less clear than it had before, though she acknowledged that she was no expert. But surely the others would be able to tell if it was fading? She looked back at them, but they all seemed to be busy, either in getting the creatures to move up towards the anomaly or deep in discussion.

Scientific curiosity getting the better of her she moved even closer to the anomaly and seriously considered stepping through. But then she didn't want to nix her chances of joining the team properly. After a seconds thought she reached inside her satchel and removed one of her souvenir British Museum metallic pens; they were the only ones that made her writing look half decent. She held it up and let it go. It fell uselessly to the floor. Frowning, she picked it up and then did the same experiment. And then again.

“Um, Professor...”

But Cutter was too busy questioning Stephen to pay her any mind.

“Um, Professor? Connor?” Then with a sigh and deep breath she raised her voice. “Cutter!”

Surprised, Cutter turned around. “Sarah? What is it?”

Sarah didn't say a word. Instead she conducted the experiment with her pen for a fourth time. And still it just fell uselessly to the ground.

The anomaly might be shining as brightly as ever, but it was locked tight.

And none of them had the key.

* * * * *

Jenny shifted and bit back her groan. Her muscles ached, as did her head which was throbbing enough to make her nauseous. So this is what concussion feels like she thought to herself. Then she slowly blinked open her eyes a crack.

She was lying on the grass underneath some trees. She could make out a few park benches a little way off, though no one was sitting on them. It seemed like the same time of day as earlier but she couldn't check – even if she wanted to alert her attackers to the fact that she was awake, her hands being tied behind her back was preventing her from looking at her watch.

Instead she very calmly ran through a scenario of who could be behind this. And came up blank. With Helen Cutter dead there really were no other suspects.

Then two sets of shoes came within her eye line and she hurriedly closed her eyes completely, willing to just listen for the moment.

“There was no need to attack her,” a male was saying. “She's harmless enough.”

“Pfft,” a woman replied, “don't you believe it. She's cannier than she looks.” A pause and Jenny felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. “Pity we can't kill her now, but she still has a part to play in all of this.”

“I've never understood why you didn't like her. Abby and Connor do.”

Jenny bit the inside of her cheek to stop from gasping in surprise.

“Yeah, well, they believed a lot of things. And look where that got us.”

“It wasn't their fault.”

“No more than it was Stephen's you mean? Or Cutter? Or any of the other idiots at the ARC?” The woman laughed. It was a cold, bitter sound that sent shivers down Jenny's spine. “All they had to do was kill Helen when they had the chance and none of our problems would have happened.”

There was the sound of a match being struck and then the pungent aroma of a cigarette. “We should go back, see if things have changed.” A pause. “We should unlock the anomaly too. Let the ARC1 team finish their job.”

“And let them cover up the truth again? No. Let them deal with the anomaly crisis now instead of forty years from now. Gives them more time to fix things.”

“Or longer to screw things up.”

There was a long pause then, punctuated only by the sounds of someone taking inordinately long drags of a cigarette.

“They know the anomalies can be locked now,” the man was saying, “which is more than they knew before. We don't even have to leave the Unit here for them to find, just them knowing is enough. Maybe they'll be able to fix things on their own.”

“And what if they don't? We can't leave things to chance anymore, Tom, that's where Abby and Connor went wrong.”

“They just did the best they could. How were they supposed to know?”

“Well their best wasn't good enough, was it?”

“At least they were trying to help people. The deaths they caused weren't intentional. You can hardly say the same, Kelley.”

“I'm doing this because of them, don't you see that? If the ARC project becomes public they'll be forced to have an enquiry. Then Jenny won't keep hiding the truth from everyone. And the other countries with anomalies will make contact and everything will be so much better!” Her voice started to rise and Jenny didn't have to strain to hear any more. “Russia's experiments on the future predators will come out. And China's underground dinosaur trade. The UN will step in and clean everything up and our home will be like this one. Instead of overrun with creatures that should have stayed where they belonged...Mum will still be alive.”

“Or she might never be born.”

Kelley huffed dismissively. “You could have turned back at any time, I didn't force you here.”

“Yeah, well,” said Tom, voice getting fainter as he and Kelley started to move away, “Abby and Connor are my grandparents too, you know.”

Chapter Text

“I'm sorry, what?” Lucas demanded. He stood up and moved across to the door.

“I wouldn't do that...” Lester told him, grabbing at Lucas' arm. Lucas just shoved him off with a disdainful look. Lester turned to Harry, hoping he would be able to stop Lucas, but Harry seemed even more annoyed than Lucas.

“Just what kind of operation are you running, Lester?”

Lester remained silent, considering.

“I'm not messing around, Lester,” Harry said, standing up and moving towards the other man. “I am not in the mood for any civil service prevaricating. You -”

But whatever Harry was about to say was cut off by a loud bang, as something heavy smashed against the door, and it began to sway and crack.

“What the hell was that?” Lucas asked, moving backwards at a rapid pace.

“That – that is what we have dubbed a future predator.”

“A – what?” Harry asked.

“The short version? Rips in space and time have been opening up. Creatures from the past and the present have been coming through. My operation is containing them and trying to find a way to stop them.”

“Oh yes? How's that going for you?” Lucas asked dryly.

Lester scowled. “Everything was perfectly under control, until Helen bloody Cutter got involved again.” He glared over at the other Helen, who appeared perfectly at ease in her trussed state. “The predators can be controlled, we know this. Though why Helen wants us trapped here with the Home Secretary...”

“He's not the Home Secretary,” the other Helen replied. Everyone except the Home Secretary, who was now much the worse for wear, were staring at her. “Everyone else is dead,” she responded. “He's the Prime Minister now.”

Harry frowned. “Constitutionally I don't think...”

“It doesn't matter,” Lester said. “That's what she's been gearing up for... but...”

“When he was the Prime Minister all the future predator projects were green lit. We are just moving things ahead of schedule.”

“Future predator projects? What projects?” Lester glared over at the Home Secretary as if his present form could be responsible for what his future one had done.

“I don't know,” the Home Secretary slurred. “I don't know.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Lucas. “You're telling me this woman can control creatures from the future? That she is trying to change the future?” Lucas and Harry stared at each other for a beat. Transplant terrorists for creatures and this really wasn't as far fetched as most of the plots they had to deal with on a daily basis. "All right, say I buy it. What does she control them with?"

"Usually a small metallic device attached to the creature's head – I couldn't tell if the one outside had one."

"It does," Lucas confirmed. "I got a good look," he explained, making a head-butting motion to explain the creatures loud attack on the door.

"Well, then."

"Doesn't she need a computer for that?"

Lester shrugged. He'd been thinking the same thing, but given that she came from the future...

"The brain is one massive supercomputer," the other Helen replied. Lester could see that Helen's smugness had been safely transplanted to the clone. "I can make it do whatever I want."

And even as she said it, the creature was making a final effort and breaking down the door. It ambled inside and turned to stare at them all. Harry moved to stand in front of the Home Secretary, while Lucas took up a protective stance near Lester; he wasn't sure what he would do just yet, but his eyes were constantly darting around, planning.

"What happens if the computer fails? What does the creature do?" Lucas asked.

"Kill whatever's in the way, usually," Lester replied smoothly. He still had nightmares about his last encounter with a predator.

"I see," Lucas replied. "Straight away, or is there a bit of leeway?"

Lester shot him an incredulous look. "How the hell do you expect me to know what that thing will do?"

"You're the expert in the future creature department," Lucas said, with a grim smile. "I presumed you would know these things. Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again."

And in one swift movement Lucas turned around, and shot the clone Helen Cutter in the head.

* * * * *

"I take it this isn't supposed to happen, then?" Danny asked as he stepped far too close to the anomaly and tried to poke it with a finger. Becker, who was standing next to it with a rifle in his hand, merely sighed loudly and rolled his eyes; he'd already told Danny not to get too close, but after the fifth time he'd simply given up. Instead he scanned the horizon, keeping his eye on his men, and the creatures they were, against all odds, managing to contain. He had to admit, this Danny Quinn might be reckless, but he got results.

"No," Connor replied, enthusiastically bouncing on his heels, "not usually. But it means we can stop the creatures coming through. There is a way to contain them, the anomalies."

"If only we knew what that was," Stephen observed dryly. Connor waved a hand in his direction, as if details were unimportant right now.

"Are you sure this doesn't just happen naturally?" Sarah asked. She'd been somewhat relegated to the sidelines since her discovery and wasn't sure how useful she could be to the team.

Or when she was going to tell them she'd made up her mind, and that she definitely wanted in.

Connor looked over his shoulder at Sarah, as if seeing her for the first time. "You know, that's interesting....we haven't watched all the anomalies, all of the time...it could be a natural phenomena. If I could study it, get some proper equipment here."

"And what about the creatures?" Becker asked. "We need to send them back before they do any more damage. My men can't keep them contained forever."

"I'm surprised they can keep them contained at all," said Danny. "They hardly look like the best and the brightest."

Becker bristled. "I just deal with what I'm given."

Danny grinned and slapped Becker on the shoulder. "No offence meant."

Becker glared at Danny's hand, which was still resting on his shoulder, but didn't reply. Instead he looked over to where Cutter and Stephen had moved off to and were now in hushed conversation. If only they weren't so far away.

"Stephen's explaining that he thought Connor had texted him with coordinates for a new anomaly and he headed straight there. Straight to where Helen wanted him..."

The others all turned to stare at Sarah.

"You can lip read?" Abby asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I know sign language too."

"What else is he saying?" Danny asked.

Sarah turned back to Stephen and Cutter and furrowed her brow in concentration. "Helen had a plan she wanted Stephen's help with, but Stephen told her he wasn't interested. Then Helen brought out a future predator. Said it would help her change the future, put her own people in charge of the government. She wanted evolution to start all over again, without humans...But something went wrong. Suddenly she couldn't control it, her controller wouldn't work and it..." Sarah drifted off, deciding that the others could do without hearing that from her. "It didn't touch Stephen though."

Abby nodded. "It probably got confused, thinking Stephen was a predator too."

Danny looked between Stephen and Abby and then back again. "What?"

"Long story, mate," Connor said. He was still staring at the anomaly and the others could practically see the cogs whirring in his head as he tried to figure out how it had locked itself.

"You don't know everything, then?" Sarah asked with a cheeky grin which Danny returned full force. It would take a lot more than that to keep him down.

Abby took out her phone. "I ought to call Jenny, let her know what's happening." She looked over at Stephen, who was now slumping to the ground, Cutter moving to sit down next to him. "You don't think Stephen did it without realising, do you? Made the predator do what he wanted?"

"I'm not sure it matters," Danny replied. "Though if it helps, I don't think he's got it in him. Subconsciously or not."

Abby looked up gratefully at Danny and then down at her phone. "I'm not sure that it does, actually."

She called Jenny and frowned as it went straight through to voice mail. She left a quick message and turned to watch as the others mingled about, all of them unsure what to do next. They didn't have any of their own equipment with them yet, for a start. And Abby hoped she wasn't the only one who realised what Stephen's story meant.

That just because Helen Cutter was dead, didn't mean that her plan had failed. Far from it.

* * * * *

Jenny waited a few minutes, listening and counting slowly to ten under her breath. She never thought she'd see the day on this project when she regretted not wearing high heels, but at least then she would have had something sharp that she could have used to work at the ropes on her hands and feet. As it was she wriggled around, trying to find a rock or something that would help.

Her phone started to ring and she tried to reach for her pocket, lifting her arms and ignoring the burn in her shoulders, but it was no good. With one last effort she tried to pull the rope apart, and though it was starting to give, it wasn't happening fast enough. Certainly not in time for her to answer the phone before it suddenly went silent.

But as Jenny concentrated she realised that the sound of ringing had been replaced by another sound entirely. Heavy breathing, close by.

She looked up and tried to keep calm. But when the future predator dropped down from the branches of the tree next to her, she couldn't stop the scream that escaped.

Nor the sudden, unbidden thought, "I wonder if Claudia's last memories were like this."

Chapter Text

Abby looked up and turned around, trying to pinpoint the sound of screaming. Becker's men had eventually cleared enough of the gawkers and injured out of the way that there was no one else around except them. No one else would be allowed through the cordon. Except...

"Jenny!" she shouted, and took off at a run, Stephen and Becker following. She heard the pounding of another set of feet and was surprised to see that Danny was with them. She didn't quite know what she felt about him yet, the way he just barged in as if he'd always belonged, but at least he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

"There!" Becker shouted, pointing his gun in the direction of the creature.

The team all slowed to a jog as they saw Jenny, lying on her back on the ground and kicking up at the future predator's face. Jenny was keeping up a steady rhythm and the predator looked like it was about to bolt away as blood dripped from its face.

"Why doesn't she run away?" Abby asked.

"I think her hands and legs are tied," Becker said incredulously.

"Can you stop it?" Abby asked Stephen as they all tried to get closer. Throwing a rock at one had saved Connor before, maybe the same trick would work again.

"Sure," Stephen replied, mouth set in a tight line. Then he grabbed the gun from Becker's thigh holster, took aim, and fired.

"Don't hurt it!" someone yelled, grabbing Stephen's arm and knocking him to the floor. The creature cried out and started running at speed towards the anomaly, where the others were looking on in horror.

"Oi! Mate, what you playing at?" Danny asked, grabbing hold of the boy by the back of his shirt and pulling him off of Stephen.

"It's not his fault. He didn't mean anything," the boy said.

Danny and Stephen exchanged puzzled looks. Abby went to help Stephen up but he waved her off. "Go check on Jenny."

Abby did, hurrying down to find her pulling at the ropes around her as they finally gave way.

"Are you all right?"

Jenny looked up at her. Her hair was falling out all over the place, her clothes were covered in mud and grass and yet, somehow, she was smiling.

"I'm alive!" she said cheerfully.

Abby couldn't help but smile back in return. "Glad to hear it. What happened?"

But before Jenny could answer a series of shots were fired off near the anomaly.

"Damn it," cursed Becker. "You good?" he asked Danny, who still had the boy by the scruff of the neck.

"Yeah, go on, do your soldiering trick."

Becker took off at a run, not dignifying Danny with a reply.

"Who are you?" Stephen asked. "Hey, I asked you a question."

But the boy seemed to be staring at Abby who had come over to join them, a sweet smile on his face. "You look so different," he whispered.

"I'm sorry," Abby said, "have we met?"

"No, no, no..." said Jenny hurriedly stepping in between the two of them. "No you haven't." She'd recognised the boys shoes and she'd been around Connor long enough to know that Abby and Tom interacting could lead to all sorts of complications. As if they hadn't already.

The others looked at Jenny, surprised. "Did you hit your head?" Danny asked.

"Yes, but that's not the point...And who are you anyway?"

"Danny Quinn," he said, extending a hand which Jenny shook automatically. "I arrested Stephen earlier."

"Oh." She frowned. What did it say about her day that that seemed like a perfectly acceptable explanation? "Jenny Lewis."

"Shouldn't we be asking him who he is?" Abby asked. Her eyes darted between the scene in front of her and the one near the anomaly that she couldn't quite make out.

"No!" Jenny shouted again. "That's not important," she added in a quieter tone.

"I beg to differ," Stephen said, voice icy. "That thing could have killed you."

"It was only playing," Tom said.

"Playing?" Stephen spluttered. "Are you out of your - " Abby put a hand on his arm to calm him down and he just about managed to swallow his indignation.

"Why don't we start from the beginning?" Danny suggested.

But then the ground started to shake. And all hell broke loose.

* * * * *

Lester turned around and stared as the other Helen's body seemed to fall in slow motion until she tumbled to the floor. He could feel the creature's breath on his neck and had a sudden, terrifying flashback to being chased by one, to having another human being want him dead so much that they'd see him ripped to shreds.

The creature moved but before Lester could think to react four more gun shots rang out and the predator slumped to the floor, dead.

Lester turned around, his expression giving nothing away. He stared down at the creature, then over at Lucas who was already reloading his gun.

"How did you get that past security?" he asked, surprising himself that those were the first words that came to mind.

Lucas smiled with half his mouth upturned, making him seem both amused and sinister, but it was Harry who answered.

"Needs must, James. I'm sure you're more aware of that than anybody. You realise we're going to need a proper debriefing and that I'll be wanting to inspect all of the ARC's files."

Lester sighed; trust MI5 to want to mess around where they weren't wanted. "I hardly think we need MI5 interference. Besides..."

The familiar snuffle of breathing and of claws against wood alerted them all to another predator standing in the doorway, looking almost mournfully at its fallen companion. Lester's eyes widened slightly more than usual, the only change in expression that Lucas could detect.

"How many more of these things are there?" Harry hissed.

Lester shook his head. He'd have a better idea when he could talk to his team. Provided they were all in one piece themselves. He sincerely hoped that they weren't having to deal with future predators too; especially not Stephen, wherever he might be.

Lucas raised his gun and prepared to fire when a high pitched buzzing made all the humans in the room wince. The creature looked up suddenly and then took off, bounding straight at Lester. Lester threw himself to the floor, covering his head with his hands, as the creature launched himself over Lester and the Home Secretary's desk and through the window, sending glass shards flying. Lester scrambled to his feet as Lucas hurried next to him. Thankfully for them the creature seemed to be travelling along the rooftops and at such speed that no member of the public was likely to notice it.

"What the hell was that?" Harry asked.

Lester looked around the room, considering. "Something took back control..." He walked over to the dead predator and with a sharp tug he pulled off the control device. "Someone changed its orders..."

Lucas nodded. "Where would it go then? To this – anomaly – site you were talking about?"

"Possibly. Which means my team are in danger." He handed the device to Lucas. "Get this to Connor Temple. He may be able to use it to stop the predators."

Lucas pocketed the device. "Send all the coordinates and I'll get going. And here." He handed Lester his gun.

"Won't you need this?"

"I have another. I trust you know how to use it."

Lester nodded. "Very well, thank you."

Lucas started to move swiftly towards the door; he wasn't sure who would have a harder job, himself or Harry, who would need to deal with the political ramifications of all these dead bodies. And a Home Secretary who was hardly fit for purpose.

"Lucas," Harry said. "Be careful."

Lucas turned back and nodded once, sharply. And then he was gone.

Chapter Text

"Connor, get out of the way!" Cutter yelled.

Connor, who'd been sitting cross-legged on the grass in front of the anomaly making notes on the back of a take-away menu he'd found in his pocket, looked up to see a future predator heading straight for him.

He tried to scramble to his feet but he knew how fast the predators could move, far faster than he could. Certain for the second time that day that he was about to die, Connor blinked in surprise as the creature changed direction. Then he saw why.

The new girl, Sarah, had just thrown a rock at its head.

"Come on, then..." Sarah yelled, trailing off into silence as the ferocious looking creature did just that. Making a mental note to remember to ask to read all of the ARC's files in the very near future, she braced herself for impact.

But it didn't come from in front of her. Instead it came from the side. She tumbled to the ground, hearing her skirt rip and feeling the breath squeeze out of her body. She looked up in time to see the predator disappear into the trees above her before turning towards the man who was now lying on top of her.

"I don't think we've been introduced properly. Danny Quinn," he said, without making any sort of move to get off of her.

"Sarah Page," she replied. Then she hit him on the shoulder. "Move."

Danny grinned. "If you insist." He stood up and helped Sarah to her feet. "Pretty brave what you did just then."

Sarah blushed slightly and shrugged. "I'm sure they'd all do the same for me."

"Yeah," Danny said, with a wistful edge to his voice, "they do seem the type."

"Where'd it go?" Cutter asked as he breathlessly ran up to join them.

"In the trees somewhere," Sarah said. She shrugged apologetically. "Sorry."

"As long as you're all right," Cutter said distractedly. "But we need to do something quickly. Their presence is affecting the Titanophoneuses."

Sarah looked over at the chaotic scene behind them. She'd thought the vaguely sea-sick feeling she had was from the tumble, but in fact it was the vibrations of the Titanophoneuses as they attempted to stampede. Becker's men had them under control, just, having produced rope's and chains from somewhere that they were using to tie the creatures necks and legs to the cars and trucks they'd used to corral them there in the first place.

"They're going to hurt them!" Abby yelled, running at full speed towards the soldiers. They could just about make out Becker shouting a similar sentiment to his men.

Although Cutter was pleased that Abby's concern for the creatures' well-being was rubbing off on Becker, if not his men, he'd spotted another problem that needed his attention, namely the future predator standing in front of Stephen.

"Stay still," Stephen was saying as Cutter cautiously approached. "That's it, stay still."

"Can you..." Cutter began, not even sure what he was going to ask.

"There's another one!" Danny shouted as a second predator ran at full speed towards them.

The first predator gave a painful sounding cry and Stephen lost his concentration, falling to his knees and grabbing at his head. Cutter ran towards Stephen as both predators ran towards the anomaly.

"Bloody hell," Connor squeaked, "they've opened it!"

Before anyone could ask what he meant the future predators ran through the anomaly.

"We have to stop them," Cutter said. "We have no idea where that anomaly leads."

"It's all right. They're programmed to return back to their own time."

Cutter looked up in surprise to see an extraordinarily dishevelled Jenny with a young man he'd never seen before.

"Who's this?"

"This is Tom," Jenny replied. "He won't tell me anything else."

"Tom, what do you know about the predators?"

Tom smiled, his attention focused solely on where Connor was standing. "If I didn't tell Miss Lewis, why would I tell you, Professor?"

Cutter bristled but his attention was distracted by a moan from Stephen.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Stephen?"

"Yeah," Stephen replied, looking anything but okay. "Just a stabbing pain in my head. It's starting to fade now, though."

"It's probably shock," Sarah said, trying to be helpful.

"Watch out!"

Becker's shout startled them all. They looked up to see the Titanophoneuses running towards the anomaly. All but one of them had split the ropes attaching them to the soldiers' trucks and were free from all the soldiers' efforts to keep them contained.

"We can't let it take the truck with it!" Cutter yelled.

"On it," Danny replied. And then he started to run towards the anomaly.

"Danny!" Sarah shouted, but it was no good, he wouldn't be stopped.

Danny reached the truck and started pulling at the rope, trying to untie it. Thankfully the creature's run was the equivalent of a human's full tilt jog so he was at least able to keep up, but it was still an awkward manoeuvre. He looked up to see Becker on the other side, hacking at the rope with a knife.

"How long we got?" Danny asked, the creature's rump making it difficult for him to see where the anomaly was.

"Not long enough," Becker replied.

Then with a sudden jerk the rope came free, the creature ambled through the anomaly, and it closed, inches from Danny's head.

* * * * *

"Wow," said Connor. "Wow."

"Yes, Connor, we got that," Abby said with an affectionate smile.

"Yeah, but did you see – Oh," he turned to Danny, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right, kiddo."

Connor frowned. "I'm not a kid," he muttered as Danny moved off to join Sarah.

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Becker muttered to himself.

"Are you okay, Captain?" Abby asked with mock solemnity.

"Yes, thank you, Abigail." He grinned and laughed outright as Abby stuck her tongue out at him.

"If only we knew how the anomaly unlocked itself," Connor said. He turned back to stare at the space where the anomaly had been.

"I think I might be able to help with that."

Connor, Abby and Becker turned around to see a man standing there with a predator's controlling device in his hand.

"And you are?" Becker asked, already running through the list of punishments he was about to inflict on the men he'd been lumbered with; what was the point of having a secure perimeter if they were just going to let anybody through?

"Lucas North," the man replied. "MI5".

Chapter Text

"And I've already told you, I'm sorry," Jenny was saying to Cutter.

It was later that evening and everyone had showered and changed and were assembled in the conference room for a debriefing. Even Lucas North was there, Lester having just appointed him to the position of Security Consultant.

"I'm not saying it's your fault," Cutter replied, though it seemed as if that was exactly what he was saying. "I'm just saying we could have done with some of that Tom's input."

"Yes, well," Jenny said, looking down at her hands. "One moment he was there, and the next he wasn't."

Cutter shook his head. "Aye, story of my life."

"Could he have gone through an anomaly?" Sarah asked.

"The detector didn't pick another one up," Connor pointed out. Then he looked sheepish. "But it could have been on a frequency we don't know to look for. I'll work on it."

Lester nodded. "Excellent. So, to sum up. We have people from the future coming back to meddle in the past. Said people can apparently control future predators. We have Helen Cutter using technology from, apparently, even further in the future, who was able to clone herself. And all these people can lock anomalies at will and no doubt open them as well. Not to mention the likelihood of anomalies that are opening god knows where and when that we have no way of detecting....Am I missing anything?"

The others around the table all looked at him glumly. Even Danny Quinn's usual optimism seemed momentarily dimmed.

"Well, Stephen's cleared of Helen's murder at least," Danny said after a moment. "And the scientists here have determined it was definitely her and not a clone that died in the hotel. She and the policeman were just another casualty of today's terrorist attack."

"Terrorist attack?" Connor asked. "What....?"

"That's what we're telling the public," Jenny explained. "Mass hysteria brought on by a devastating attack that `struck at the heart of parliament'." Jenny shrugged. "With the news about the PM and the Cabinet everyone seems to have forgotten about supposed dinosaur sightings, which, thanks to our MI5 colleagues, can no longer be found anywhere on the Internet."

Lucas chimed in. "Most of the press have bought it. And the few more discerning journalists are happy to play along for the time being in return for a juicier scoop in the future." He gave a lazy smile. "And the world keeps on turning."

"And who exactly are we blaming this attack on?" Cutter snapped. He still felt that this story was taking things too far, but had ultimately had to concede to Lester.

"Does it matter?" Lester asked. "The public are more than capable of drawing their own, fool-headed conclusions. What we need now is a clearer plan of attack ourselves." Everyone straightened up in their seats. "We now have the means of determining how to lock the anomalies, isn't that right, Mr Temple?"

"Yeah," said Connor. He flushed slightly as everyone turned to look at him. "It looks like the frequency used to control the predators is close to that of the locking device. I've examined the one that attacked Helen that Cutter gave me and the one from the Downing Street attack from Lucas, and taken readings timestamps of what frequency was working when. So I can work out roughly when a unit was having its signal overwritten and what wavelength it was on."

"If only we had some way of finding out who was responsible for overriding them in the first place," Stephen said. "And what their ultimate goal was. They have a lot of questions to answer."

Jenny shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Anything else Connor?"

"Oh, er, yeah. I think I can match up how the override worked. At least close enough to get a few frequency options. Give me a week or two and I should be able to make a locking device of my own, then we can start testing it in the field."

"Very good. Now, if that's everything, I want to see written reports on..."

"Actually," Jenny interrupted Lester, "there is one more thing." She looked over at Lucas and he nodded back at her. She felt terribly guilty that this stranger was the only one she'd told about what she'd overheard Tom and Kelley saying, but Lucas had agreed with her assessment that the next piece of news would make far more sense coming from him. And would forestall any potentially awkward questions, and the lies she would no doubt have to invent.

"I think we need to start looking into the possibility of other governments covering up the existence of anomalies," Lucas said.

"We do?" Lester asked, in that quiet tone that made everyone take notice.

"Some intelligence has come to light to suggest that we do, yes. Countries with, shall we say, less of a handle on their internal security than ourselves? I hardly think I need warn you of the consequences should a terrorist organisation get access to an anomaly. Or worse, future technology."

There was a heavy silence as everyone tried to take in what Lucas was telling them. Just when they thought one problem was solved, an even worse one appeared.

"Well," said Lester after a moment, "lets hope your worst case scenario doesn't come to pass. Because if it does...God help us all."