Professor Nick Cutter

Connor took the beer gratefully and took a long swig before he looked at Cutter and Stephen.

"Guess there's no easy way to start this conversation," Connor said with a sigh as he made his way over to the couch and sank down onto it. "You know how I said there's several different times lines... two versions of me walking around, one here and one back home where Nickn is from?"

Stephen nodded slowly as he walked over and sat on the chair across from the couch. Connor had done it again... used Nick's real name. He nodded as he took a drink of his beer as well.

"Yeah, something about diverging timelines and all that... Is... is that what you wanted to talk about?" Stephen asked as he looked over at Cutter.

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Cutter took a deep breath, "um ... kinda of? It's ... well it's a little complicated," he admitted.

He glanced over at Connor, maybe that would be the place to start with rather than start off with what went on with his Stephen, "um ... you see with the timelines there are some notable differences," he began, "and er ... well in my timeline my Connor is dating Abby but for a while ... when I moved to Fandom ... Connor and I ... well ..."

He stared helplessly at Connor, he really had no idea how to even begin to describe this situation to Stephen.

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Connor looked at Cutter and then to Stephen and was about to say something when Stephen interrupted.

"You two were together... in some way" Stephen said simply giving Cutter a small knowing look. "Am I close?"

"How... how did you..." Connor started as he stared at Stephen in surprise.

"You called him Nick several times already" Stephen said with a grin ad a nod towards him. "Not many people call him that... In fact, as far as I know, only two of us did. So... that was a pretty good indication something was different this time around."

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Cutter tilted his head, he had not expected Stephen to actually guess and he blinked a bit, "we ... Connor and I were together, we dated for a few months ..." he hesitated, "um ... my Stephen didn't take the news we were together so well...and well ... things got really bad ..." he said softly and his voice trailed off awkwardly.

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Connor couldn't help but give a small shiver at remembering how that encounter had gone down.

"Take it that version is a bit more a bastard than I was?" Stephen said, trying not to be totally weirded out by the idea of having Cutter and Connor talk about him but not really be talking about him. "Sorry." Stephen didn't know why he was apologizing, wasn't like it was him who had done anything and he couldn't do anything to fix it... but it still felt like he needed to say something.

"It... was just a bad situation all around," Connor said with a sigh. "Helen seemed to have gotten a really tight hold on you by then... "

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"You don't have anything to apologise for ... it wasn't you," Cutter said softly to Stephen, which still felt really weird saying that, "you didn't do the things my Stephen did ...he ... .he came around in the end, but it was ... it was still a lot that Connor and I went through and it's hard ... trying to work past what my Stephen did to us,"

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Connor nodded as he subconsciously rubbed at his neck and fiddled with the scarf he was wearing. Stephen had asked about the scars and Connor had said it was from Helen, which was the truth... he had just left out the bit about the other version of Stephen getting in on the action too. There was a delicate balance of how much to tell Stephen and how much wouldn't really make a difference if he knew or not. Connor bit his lip. he knew Stephen deserved to know at least the basics of what happened.... he just had no idea how to talk about what happened.

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Cutter stared down at his hands as he tried to think of how best to broach the subject of telling this Stephen what his counterpart had done, it wasn't fair for Stephen to have this burden ... this Stephen didn't do those things but at the same time, there were obvious questions that needed answering and they might not have this chance again.

He took a deep breath and looked up at Stephen, "Neither Helen or my Stephen took news of my relationship with Connor well ..." he began finally, "we ... they ended up kidnapping us and ... and torturing us for a week ... it was most Helen that did the torturing but ..." he glanced uncertainly at Connor, he knew that he had born the brunt of Stephen's anger at the time and he didn't feel it was his place to say what his Stephen had done to him.

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Connor sighed from where he sat on the couch. "Stephen... the other version... he hated me being with Nick, made sure I knew just how he felt about me... and my worth on the team. Helen also goaded him on and just made things worse.." Connor subconsciously rubbed at his neck, unable to look at Stephen jsuit then,

"Wait I... he... did that to you?" Stephen asked in horror.

"He and Helen... the shock collar was his idea... Helen egged him on... but he was the one to start with it." Connor looked up at Stephen and then dropped his gaze. It helped, in a way, not using his name when talking about it... but it still hurt thinking about it all.

"Fuck.... " Stephen said as he sat there trying to process that all. "Connor... I... I'm so sorry..."

"Wasn't you." Connor said simply trying t force a smile to help Stephen feel a little better.

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Cutter bit his lip, he felt bad that Stephen had to learn about what the other version of him had done but he knew they needed to be honest about this and have this conversation, "it's ... it's been a long road, to get to this point," he said softly, "we're still .. I don't think we'll ever be fully recovered from what we went through, at this point we're taking it day by day but some days are easier than others," he admitted.

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"I... I don't know what to say..."Stephen said, his mind still reeling a bit. He looked from utter to Connor and sighed. "No wonder your initial reaction to e showing up was like it was... frankly, Im surprised either of you didn't try and chase me out of the building! It would have been totally justified!"

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"It ... it was hard to remember at first that you never did those things, my Stephen did," Cutter admitted, "but it wasn't fair to you, you weren't the one who kidnapped us and tortured us and I'm sorry that we didn't tell you straight away," he said softly.

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"I... I understand why you didn't... But I... I am glad you did tell me." Stephen looked at them both somewhat sadly, still horrified to learn what the other version of him had done. "I just wish.... there was something I could actually do about it."

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"You deserved to know the truth," Cutter said softly, "its ... you being here, it's actually helped ...helped us try and process what happened, it ... it doesn't completely erase what my Stephen did but it does help knowing there's a version that ... that didn't do those things to us,"

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Connor nodded slowly in agreement. "It's been a process and there's been a lot to work through... what happened then and what happened after...but Nick is right. It... it helps knowing that was just one version of things... that the Stephen we knew and that we miss.. you... are still there despite it all.

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Cutter nodded as well, "we do miss you Stephen," he agreed, "and it's nice being able to talk to you and spend time with you, I'm glad that you got to visit us,"

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Stephen looked at Cutter and Connor sitting there on the couch next to each other. "As am I... I'm so thankful for this opportunity."

And with that, Stephen stood and walked the short distance to the couch and stood looking down at the two people had had always considered some of his closest and most trusted friends. Then without a word, he knelt down between them and put an arm around Cutter and one around Connor and pulled them close.

"I never could and never will forget you guys... and everything we did."

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Cutter trembled at that, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks as he leaned in close to Stephen and Connor.

"I will never forget you either Stephen, you're one of my oldest friends," he sobbed, "I'm so grateful we all got to spend the time we did together,"

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Connor leaned into the hug and held onto Cutter and Stephen tightly. "You can't ever be forgotten, Stephen," he said as a sob caught in his throat. "This all has been amazing, seeing you again."

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Cutter sat there sobbing as he held onto his close friends, "I never thought that I would get to see you again Stephen, this ... this has all been more than I could have ever hoped, thank you,"

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"Same. I... I don't know the how or why... but I'm grateful for this." He held onto them both for a moment and then slowly let go. "This was the one thing I always regretted, not being able to have a proper conversation with you both, to set things right. Im glad we have that chance now... and I am glad you both are well."

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Cutter let out a sob at that, "I'm glad we got that chance to say talk properly as well, that we got this chance, I ... I wish things had been different but it ... I'm glad I got to see you again Stephen," he trembled.

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"I'm glad too, Stephen.. it's... its helped... and its been nice, being able to talk and make... make new memories."Connor was also thinking it was nice in a way to have a somewhat nicer farewell ahead of them but he wasn't going to dwell on that.

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Cutter gave a small smile at that, "aye, it's nice being able to sit and talk and have a second chance at this, I never thought that this would ever have happen and I'm grateful that we can do this properly this time,"

Edited Date: 2023-07-10 10:16 am (UTC)

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"Definitly a gift... and I'm glad we can make the most of it. Just hanging out. Kinda like old times" he said with a fond smile.

"So how about you guys fill me in on some of the adventures you all got into once I as gone. I'm sure there were some cold creatures you helped wrangle..."

Connor smiled at that. "Oh there are some stories for sure" he said with a laugh. There were also some stories he would rather forget, but they could avoid those.There were still plenty of cool and exciting creatures Stpehen would have loved to hear about.

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Cutter smiled as he settled down on the couch and began to tell Stephen some of those adventures that he and Connor had had, he definitely wanted to avoid the unpleasant ones but he felt there were enough stories between them that they could tell Stephen about what they'd been up to.

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There were some good ones to share and Connor couldn't help but smile softly as he and Nick shared some of their adventures and the look on Stephen's face when he heard some of the things they had gotten up to. It was nice. Just sitting and talking. Drinks and food on hand. Just the three of them, like it had been, like it could have been. It was.... it was nice.

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