The ARC - London

[itsananomaly]

It was late in the evening by the time they made it back to the ARC, Cutter was miserable and exhausted and he imagined that Connor was feeling the same, so he decided to not do any more work on the Anomaly Prediction Model and was trying very hard to not think about that house and DC Quinn and their arrest, he just wanted to pretend that everything was fine for a moment that he and Connor could just have an evening off. They were sitting on Cutter's couch, not really doing much of anything, Cutter glanced over at Connor and wondered if it was asking too much if he curled up against Connor ... he had found it comforting at the station but he hesitated, shifting a little closer to Connor but not too close in case he didn't want that. He also didn't really know what to say ... "at least the press didn't seem to get a hold of the fact that we were arrested," he said quietly, even though as he said it, he really wouldn't put it past that Quinn guy to use it as ammo against them and release their arrest details. [preplayed with the amazing anomaly_research_nerd. Adapted from Series 3 episode 2 'Haunted House'. NFB but OOC welcome!]

Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor was still on edge, finding himself still trembling now and then as he sat there. "I... I hope that's the last we see of DC Quinn" Connor said softly. He looked over at Cutter, and he hesitated a moment and slowly leaned his head over against CUtter's shoulder, trying to calm his breathing with a heavy sigh.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter trembled slightly as Connor began to lean his head on his shoulder and then very slowly he began to rest his head on Connor's, so they were touching. "I hope so too," he said softly, "I think there's got to be something up with the house, he wouldn't be so possessive of it otherwise ... I just don't fancy another run in with him," Especially if he ended up getting arrested again.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"I'd rather not run into him either..." Connor said softly. "But you are right. There's something going on at the house... especially if Quinn is so interested in it. There has to be more than just wanting to know what we are doing." Connor sighed and thought for a moment. "Do you think... he saw something or knows something about the house that we don't?" "I wouldn't be surprised. The question is what is it?" Becker asked as he walked into the room.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"I think there was something he wasn't telling us, I think that's why he was so interested in what we do ... " Cutter mused as Becker walked into the room, " he lifted his head up slightly, "maybe he saw an anomaly?" he looked between Connor and Becker, "and he can't prove it so that's why he needed us to tell him?"
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"That could be... if there had been an anomaly there at some point... that might be why we were picking up weak signals and weird readings?" Connor said thoughtfully, shifting a little but still leaning against Cutter slightly. "If Quinn saw an anomaly or a creature of some kind... he'd want to know what it was and get proof of what he had seen."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"Which means he's desperate and he would have no problems rearresting us again," Cutter sighed, "so how can we get back to the house without having to deal with Quinn, somehow I have a feeling that even if Jenny were able to get permission for us to enter the house, he wouldn't leave us alone,"
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker considered the two of them for a moment and then walked over and sat down on the far end of the couch. "I'm pretty sure the Home Secretary will make sure we have peace from Quinn," he said with a reassuring nod. "And I do not plan on letting you both out of my sight. But that is for then, right now I... I want to apologize" Becker said as he looked from Cutter to Connor with a guilty look on his face.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter looked up at Becker as he sat on the end of the couch, "but it wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known Quinn was hanging around the house ... I ..." it was here that he looked guilty, "I kind of made things worse, I resisted getting arrested ... I tried kicking him," He looked very sheepish at that.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"I think given your history with everything Nick, trying to resist is understandable" Becker said gently. And then he looked down at the floor for a moment. "And it was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten so distracted with the phone call. As it was you two got arrested by Quinn. It very well could have been Christine!" "But it wasn't" Connor pointed out gently. "And ya can't be everyone at once, mate."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"And you were still doing your job, Lester wanted you to check in," Cutter said softly, "no one could have predicted that this would have happened and you were able to get us out of jail without Christine or the media figuring out that we were there," he added.
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker had to give a small grin at that. "And let me tell you that is the only reason I didn't end up decking that pain in the neck DC Quinn. Because if it had just been me I was worried about, I'm pretty sure he would have learned what a mistake it was to call me soldier boy!" he said with a small laugh. "So, I guess I owe you two a thanks for giving me a reason to keep my cool."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter returned that small grin, "well I'm sure he would have loved an excuse to put you in the jail cell with us, I'm just glad he didn't decide to separate us," he had to give a small shudder at the idea of being trapped in a cell on his own again, "but thank you for coming to free us, I'm sorry that Lester lectured you though," he added softly.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"We got there as fast as we could. Took forever to get a hold of the Secretary or we would have been there sooner" Becker admitted. "And I am glad you both are safe. I... I don't want to ever put any member of the team at risk." "Awww solider boy really does care about us" Connor said with a smirk and a quick dick as he Becker took a playful swat at him. "But ya know the feeling is mutual Becker right?"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter grinned as he watched Becker and Connor, "we would never have gotten this far without you, you've helped us so much," he told Becker, "with everything, not just these last few weeks, thank you, we wouldn't want anything to happen to you either," he agreed with Connor.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"Any time you two, you know how important this team is to me, How important the two of you are." Becker gave them both a small grin. "Gonna do my best to not screw it up. No punching annoying coppers. Though I won't deny the pleasure of being able to arrest him and give him a taste of his own medicine would be quite nice!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter gave a soft smile at, "well maybe Lester could ask the Home Secretary and see if you can arrest him if we do come across him," he said, he had no idea if that was actually within the Home Secretary's powers or not but well he had just gotten both him and Connor out of jail so it was safe to assume he had a lot of pull, "I'd like to see him try and get his way out of that one," he felt a lot better imagining Quinn being the one arrested.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"Believe me, if the opportunity arises I am taking it. He went too far when he started interfering with our work. " And when Danny made it clear he was targeting Cutter and Connor but Becker wasn't about to say that out loud. "I just hope got the message and stays out of our hair. We have work to do and I have a job to do. And no Detective Inspector or whatever is going to keep me from doing it!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter relaxed a lot at that, he felt better knowing that Becker was going to be with both him and Connor this time and that he'd be there to directly deal with Danny. "Well, when we go back to the house we'll be able to do our job properly this time," Cutter gave a small smile at that, "and this time we'll have the upper hand when we have to face Quinn," He was still a little scared of going back to the house but he knew this time was going to be different.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"It'll be better this time" Connor said confidently. "We'll actually be able to get our work done and figure out what is going on with the house, and the anomalies, and everything. Without you know who mucking things up!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled, “it will be better,” he agreed, “and we’ll be able to see where the house fits in with the anomaly prediction model, we can get so much research from it,” he cheered up quite considerably at that prospect.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"When do you think we could go back? There's no telling when an anomaly might be opening and I'd really not want to miss it. This is a good opportunity to test our model and get some great data. We cant miss this opportunity!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter looked over at Becker, “is tomorrow too soon? Connor’s right, we might miss the anomaly opening and there’s so much research we can access at the house, do you think Jenny or Lester could guarantee that we’d be able to work uninterrupted and without getting rearrested?”
Becker(thearcfamily)	"We will do everything we can to secure the premises for you both," Becker said with a nod. "I can bring a few of my men to help monitor the site and keep any pesky DC busybodies away."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled at that, feeling rather relieved that they’d be able to get to that research after all, he looked at Connor, “will you be okay going back to the house?” he asked softly, knowing how unsettling all of this was after their experience today.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"I... I'll be ok. You and Becker will be there" Connor said with a small nod. "It will be good to... to get to work. It'll keep me distracted from everything. I-I'll be fine." "Aye you both will be. Nothing like this is going to happen again. I am going to personally make sure of that!" Becker said before standing up and turning to look at them. "Now, enough talk about what happened. How about we get some nice cold drinks? I believe I saw some in the break room fridge. Got any specific requests?" he asked as he headed towards the door.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled at that, “honestly after today I think I could go for a beer,” he admitted, “was there anything alcoholic in the fridge?” he asked hopefully.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"I could go with a beer or something alcoholic too to be honest " Connor said with a somewhat sheepish grin. "I'm pretty sure the stash is still there in the back" Becker said with a grin. "I'll be back in a bit. See if I can round up some food as well. You two take it easy." And with that Becker headed out to take care of the evening food and drink requests.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter’s stomach started rumbling loudly at the mention of food as Becker left, “when was the last time we ate?” he looked at Connor, he honestly couldn’t remember, he had been too caught up in the model to think about food.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Hummm... I cant remember either. Too long based on how my stomach is growling right now" Connor said as his own stomach echoed Cutters just then. "I know we had those granola bars this morning but I don't know if that even counts as food really." And it had been the only think either of them had eaten in over a day so, yeah the sudden hunger pains were not that surprising. Connor looked over at Cutter with a concerned look as he shifted slightly on the couch, moving a little closer as he did. "You.. you doing ok Nick?"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"I don't think that counts as food," Cutter admitted and his stomach rumbled even louder. He hesitated for a moment and then shifted slightly and moved closer to Connor on the couch. "I'm ... I'm better than I was," he said softly, "it's just ... today could have gone really bad, we might still be in that jail cell or Christine could have found us..." he shivered at the thought, "how are you holding up?" he asked gently as he looked back at Connor.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"I'm ok...still a little shaken and... sore..." Connor said, rubbing his wrist slightly where the handcuffs had bruised a little. "But I'm looking forward to getting back to the house. It... will be good to really be back in the field, checking out anomalies, gathering data... I didn't realize how much I had been missing it."
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter nodded as he stared down at his gloved hands for a moment, he hesitated slightly at the mention of field work, it still terrified him and after what happened today it had shaken his confidence. "I ... " he was tempted to just bury his feelings and shrug off what happened but Dr. Taylor had been stressing the importance of being honest with his feelings, "I .. .maybe I came back to the field to soon," he said softly, "I ... I want to go back to the house, to finish the research but ..." his voice trailed off, "and everything with this cop ..." he shivered slightly as his voice trailed off.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Hey, you'll be fine" Connor said as he gently put a hand over Cutter's. "Baby steps remember? I... I am sorry I couldn't keep Quinn from.... from doing that to you. I.... I'm sorry I was so weak." Connor stared down at his own gloved hands.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	"It wasn't your fault, you weren't weak Connor," Cutter said gently, as he stared down at Connor's hand on his, "I was weak .. I'm sorry I reacted like I did ... that I panicked ... so badly," he said softly, he glanced back up at Connor.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Hey it's alright... anyone would panic in a situation like that after everything. But we made it out alright. Christine didn't find us. And we are safe here at the ARC again. Just one more adventure for the team!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter gave a small smile at that, "hopefully we don't have to go through something like that again," he said softly, "I think that's one's kind of adventure I can do without repeating,"
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Aye, same" Connor said with a laugh as he leaned over and rested his head against Cutter's shoulder fully. "Would love to have a boring normal week, or even a couple days really" he said with a small laugh.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter laughed as well as he settled back and leaned his head against Connor's as it rested against his shoulder, "a boring week sounds amazing," he agreed, "I don't even know what that would look like to be honest," he admitted.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Yeah, I guess the whole week? We would end up getting bored by the end" Connor laughed. "But a few days at least would be nice. Sleeping in. Movies and bad TV. Ordering in food. Just enjoying time together. Like the good ole days before everything. It just sounds really nice" Connor closed his eyes and smiled slightly.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled, "all of that sounds amazing," he agreed, "a few days of doing nothing, being together ... I would really like that," he said softly, "maybe once we figure out everything that's going on with the anomalies, we can spend a few days together and not do anything but eat takeout and watch tv, if you would like that, that is," he added, not wanting to push Connor if he wasn't ready.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Sound good to me. Would be a nice way of rounding out the trip before heading back to Fandom." Connor looked over at Cutter and smiled. "I definitely at least want one of those milkshakes before we head back if nothing else!"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled warmly, "sounds like a plan then and yes I could definitely go for a milkshake as well," he agreed, "maybe we could even go for a walk or something to get the milkshakes, now that the press has died down, we should hopefully be able to do that, I mean if Becker agrees to it or comes up with us ... I can't imagine him letting us go alone after what happened today," he admitted.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	Connor had to give a small laugh at that. "I'm sure at the very least Becker and Lester would insist on one of Becker's men be with us if we are leaving the ARC. But I'm sure Becker won't mind" he nodded in agreement. "We... can ask him when he gets back and see if we can make it happen sometime before we head back to Fandom next week?"
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter grinned, "well I mean the worst he can say is no right?" he considered, "but that does sound great, once we finish with the house and before we head back to Fandom, it would be good to do something that's a bit different," he added.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Maybe see if Becker joins us if Lester wants to come as well? Could be our treat for them after all of this" Connor said with a slightly sheepish grin.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	“It’s the least we could do after everything,” Cutter agreed with a sheepish grin of his own, “well we can ask Becker if we can go for a walk for milkshakes and then see if he and Lester want to join us, especially if we offer to buy them,” he added.
Becker(thearcfamily)	"Did I hear someone mention my name?" Becker asked as he walked into the room again. In one hand was a bag with several bottles in it and in the other was what suspiciously looked like to-go food containers.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	“You did,” Cutter grinned up at Becker, even though his gaze did flicker to the bags that Becker was holding and his stomach grumbled loudly again. He blushed slightly, “Connor and I were talking about the possibility of going for a walk to get milkshakes at some point, once we figure out what’s going on at the house and before we go back to Fandom,“ he explained, “we thought you and James would like to join us, we’d buy the milkshakes as a thank you for putting up with us these last few weeks,” he added with a sheepish grin.
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker lifted an eyebrow at that and then smiled. "I'm sure we can arrange a time for a milkshake run. But you two definitely won't be going alone" he said with a knowing tilt of his head. He set the bags down on the table and started setting everything out. "Im sure Lester would accompany us to if his schedule permits. I will run it by him when I report in to him in a few hours. And in the meantime, it is time to eat!" Becker stepped aside to reveal several beer bottles for each of them as well as some soda bottles. There were also to-go boxes of pizza as well, which he opened up to reveal all of their favorites.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter did look sheepish at that, “we did kind of figure we wouldn’t be able to go alone,” he admitted and then he was distracted by the pizza as his stomach grumbled loudly again, “I think my stomach is definitely telling me that I need to eat,” he said as he went to grab a slice off pineapple, chicken and ham, “this looks amazing, thank you Becker,” he said as he also took one of the bottles of beer.
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker smiled and watched as Connor grabbed a slice of the pineapple pizza as well as a slice of the mushroom and sausage pizza along with one of the beer bottles. Once they were situated, Becker grabbed a few slices of his own and a beer and made his way over to the couch as well. "This definitely hits the spot" Connor said between bites.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter had managed to eat one slice of pizza and quickly grabbed another, he took a swig of his beer as he settled in for his second slice of pizza, “this was definitely needed,” he agreed, glad to have good company and food as a distraction from the events of earlier today.
Becker(thearcfamily)	Becker smiled in agreement and nodded as he finished off his pizza. "There's not much that some good pizza and cheap beer won't fix- or at least make better," he said with a lift of his bottle before taking a swig. "Good company helps also," he added with a quick wink.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	“It definitely does,” Cutter smiled at that, already feeling a lot better than he had been since the events of earlier that day, “I know all of this has already helped, even though the last time we ate was this morning, so I was definitely overdue for food,” he admitted sheepishly as he took another bite of food.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Was actually more like yesterday sometime really," Connor said after taking a drink of his beer. "I mean, a granola bar really shouldn't count as food- it's basically sawdust anyways" he added with a laugh. "But this was wonderful and greatly needed, so thanks Hills." Becker narrowed his eyes into a mock glare that quickly faded into a grin at that. "Good thing I like the two of ya so much" he teased.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled at that as he took another bite of pizza, "oh yeah it was more like yesterday, I've just really lost track of time with all the work we've been doing on the anomaly prediction model," he admitted and then he took a swig of beer. "We're really glad of that too, there's no way we would have made it this far without you Becker," his smile widened.
Connor(anomaly_research_nerd)	"Here's to Becker" Connor said with a grin as he raised his beer bottle and took the last swig. Becker waved it off but gave a quick toast as well and sat enjoying the rest of the pizza on his plate. This was nice- something normal for a change. He just hoped tomorrow would go a lot more smoothly than today had.
Cutter(itsananomaly)	Cutter smiled as he raised his beer in a toast as well, "here, here" he said and then took another swig. He settled down to enjoy the rest of his pizza and being able to spend more time with Connor and Becker, he was feeling a lot better than he had earlier, even though he was still nervous about going back into the field and to the house and potentially running into that cop again but he was trying to not think about that and just focus on the present.