Fic: Calculations (Mirror!Verse - Numb3rs Crossover) 2/2

[goldarrow]

Title: Calculations
Author: goldarrow
Word Count: 3,825 of 7,224
Characters/Pairing: Stephen (enhanced clone)/Cutter, Abby, Ryan, Connor, Claudia
Rating: 13
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, not me. Unfortunately. Sigh. And I haven't the foggiest idea who Numb3rs belongs to, but I promise I mean no harm, and I make no profit except satisfaction.
Synopsis: An anomaly opens in Los Angeles. Charlie is horrified by the anomaly, Don is fascinated by Stephen, Cutter is jealous. Primeval / Numb3rs crossover.
A/N 1: From Numb3rs - Don Eppes, Charlie Eppes, Terry Lake, Larry Fleinhardt
A/N 2: You don't need to know much about Numb3rs, just that Don Eppes is an FBI agent. Charlie is his younger brother, a professor at Cal Sci and a mathematical genius. Larry Fleinhardt is an astrophysicist at Cal Sci, Charlie's former advisor/mentor and now friend.
Part 1
 

Calculations - Part 2
 
Don Eppes was getting frustrated. Not just with the length of time it was taking to block off the 'anomaly' thing, but also with Charlie. In the past, he'd been happy that Charlie didn't seem to have the words 'give up' in his vocabulary, but right now his younger brother was really starting to irritate everyone. Including the kid who was typing notes into his computer and now completely ignoring Charlie's demands for more information.

Shaking his head, Don wandered over to where Hart and Cutter were standing, staring at the rip in time – and wasn't that something he'd never thought he would ever have to say.

Feeling slightly tentative – and annoyed that he was – he stepped up beside Hart.

"I know you guys have a lot of talent among you, but could you – I dunno – maybe use some input from an astrophysicist?"

The two men traded a glance and then Cutter nodded. "That's actually a pretty good idea," he said, his Scottish accent having faded a bit now that things had calmed down. Then he grinned, an expression that lightened up his entire face. "I'm guessing you have someone in mind?"

Don chuckled. "I do." Then he waved over at Charlie, who was starting to look frustrated himself. "His name is Larry Fleinhardt, he was Charlie's mentor at Cal Sci, and he's got as high a security clearance as Charlie does."

"Get him," Cutter said quietly, glancing over at the American mathematician. "We need to be on the same page here, and your Charlie is tearing up the book."

"Yeah, he does that," Don said dryly. "Most of the time it's a good thing. But just occasionally, not so much."

With a quick nod to the two men, and doing his best to not allow his gaze to linger on Hart's face, he pulled out his mobile and rang a familiar number. He could see the amusement on the faces of the Englishmen – or based on the accents was it a Scotsman and an Englishman? – as the gobbling noises sounded clearly through the speaker after he explained what was happening. "Thanks, Larry, see you in half an hour."

"Success?" Hart asked, lips twitching.

"Success," Don replied with a laugh. "He sounded like he was running for his car before I even finished asking him to come."

Cutter gave Charlie a minatory look. "I hope he can rein in your genius," he said, still sounding grumpy. "He's upsetting my genius, and I don't like that."

Don's answer was drowned out by the clanging of the latest steel bar as the workmen raised it into place and started welding. He was glad of that. He really shouldn't say things that could be misinterpreted as insulting either of the scientists.

"How much longer?" Hart asked, starting to look a little nervous.

"Probably about an hour," Agent Adams said, wandering up to them. "They say it's going faster now that the base has been erected."

"Good." Hart paced toward the anomaly through the opening that had been left for the end. He walked up to it and held his hand out.

Don looked over at Cutter and raised an eyebrow. Cutter's eyes were narrow as he watched Hart.

"Problem?" Don asked Cutter, who jumped in surprise. He must have been concentrating pretty damned hard on Hart and the anomaly.

"Maybe," the professor replied. "Stephen has exceptional hearing." He looked slightly shifty as he said it, which raised Don's hackles a bit. Cutter noticed, of course, and shook his head. "The important thing is if he's picking up something, then we might want to prepare for a possible 'issue', I think you people call it."

Suppressing a grin at Cutter's phrasing, Don waved to Terry. When she got close, he spoke softly. "The shit might be about to hit the fan. Get everyone ready, just in case."

She nodded and headed back over to the FBI and Homeland Security teams who had started to relax as the big cage neared completion. With just a few words, she brought them back to close attention and readiness.

The workmen started on the final welds as Hart continued to circle the anomaly, looking intent. Cutter and Ryan were at full attention, and Don was pleased to see that the man whom he now knew – to his relief – really was a UK Special Forces captain was holding ready for action at a second's notice.

"Stephen, should you come out?" Cutter called softly, but Hart shook his head.

"Ask Abby for my tonic," he replied, just as softly, as he backed up to the big grate and held out a hand.

The young platinum-haired woman brought over a thermos – and how the hell did they get that quantity of liquid through TSA, along with the weaponry? – and passed it through to him. He drank the fluid down rapidly and gave it back. With a quick glance around, he stepped back to a position about halfway between the edge of the anomaly and the steel bars of the cage.

"Why did they make the cage so big?" Don asked Cutter, suddenly realising that there was a good ten feet between each edge of the cloudy rip in time and the cage bars.

"Sometimes metal, especially metal that could be affected by magnetism, will interfere with an anomaly in return," Cutter replied, still watching Stephen. "If the Predators see nothing but a normal anomaly they might not bother with it, but if they see an anomaly that's acting strangely, they will be sure to investigate."

"Gotcha." Don went back to watching the anomaly. "What was the tonic?" he asked casually, just to make conversation, really. "And why is Hart the only one who is inside the cage? If it's too dangerous for us with our guns, isn't it too dangerous for him? He's even left his tranq gun with – Abby, is it?"

Cutter looked shifty again, which grabbed Don's attention. "It's a vitamin drink. Stephen needs it sometimes." He didn't answer the other questions.

"Uh-huh." Don made sure that Cutter would notice his scepticism, but he didn't feel the need to pursue that issue. But he did want to know about the danger to Hart. "So, they're going to close Hart inside? Alone?"

"He can squeeze out between the bars if he needs to," Cutter said absently, "but the predator is a little too big. Once the cage is completely closed up, the creature will have to stop and push through, and that will give us a chance to shoot it."

Don glanced behind at Ms Maitland, who was now holding both the tranq rifle and her pistol. "Will the tranquilisers work?"

Cutter shuddered. "No. This thing we kill. On sight. Full weaponry, full shots."

Don was about to ask for details when the shit did hit the fan.

~*~

Stephen waited. He could hear faint traces of the peculiar little bleeps, clicks, pops and whistles that to his enhanced hearing usually signalled a Future Predator on the hunt. He concentrated most of his attention on the sounds, still able to hear Cutter telling Eppes that they needed to kill the predator, then hearing the sound of a classic car pulling up on its narrow wheels behind the official vehicles.

"Wow," one of the workmen whispered. "Joey, that's a 1931 Ford!"

He glanced quickly over toward the sound to see a small, sandy-haired man climb out from behind the wheel, gaping at the sight of the anomaly and the huge cage covering it. This must be Charlie's mentor and friend. Stephen hoped so.

Charlie and Connor were well matched intellectually, but recognising how Connor reacted to people telling him he didn't know what he was talking about, Stephen could see the same instability in Charlie Eppes. And that could make it difficult for them to work together. But right now, it didn't matter. If he couldn't take care of one of the future creatures if it decided to investigate their time, then the likelihood of them all ending up dead was pretty damned high.

Just as Stephen turned back to the anomaly, it gave the curious little bulge that signalled something was coming through. Engaging his enhancements, Stephen stepped forward as a Predator burst through the shining shards that continued to circle serenely, seemingly not affected by the creature that ran through them.

The creature tried to leap past Stephen, heading for what was left of the opening in the cage. Knowing that he was possibly giving out more information about his abilities than he should but not really caring in this case, he stepped rapidly in front of it and then lured it to the side with a shout and a wave of his hand. It turned and leapt at Stephen, lashing out with its massive claws as it came near. Knowing that he could surprise it with his own speed, he pulled his hunting knife from its sheath and slashed across with perfect timing. The creature screamed as its clawed hand was sliced off, then spun and tried to gash Stephen with its other hand.

He ignored the scything claws, stepped inside the long arm and slashed across the creature's throat. It gurgled, still trying to disembowel him even as it started to drown in its own blood, but he spun out of its reach and stepped around behind it to slash across its upper spine. It finally ran out of energy and life, collapsing into a heap at his feet.

Stephen stepped back, pace by slow pace as he dropped out of his enhancements, still keeping an eye on the creature as he put some distance between them. All he could do now was hope that the people who'd seen the speed of his actions would be willing to keep their mouths shut.

He slid to the ground, leaning up against the metal cage as the usual post exertion exhaustion took hold of him. Abby ran up to him with his after-effort drink and he gulped it down with relief.

Glancing out of the cage, he saw that most of the people were paying no real attention to him, simply staring at the creature with their eyes wide and their mouths gaping. The exception was the Homeland Security man, who was having a slight altercation with Ryan and Cutter. Stephen looked a query at Abby, who shrugged.

"They want to keep the carcass, Cutter says they don't need to, we have all the information they need and we can send it to them." She grinned impishly. "I'm not sure they believe him."

Stephen groaned as he clambered to his feet, but stepped back as Ryan and Adams, having got over their tiff, slid through the opening, grabbed the predator by its front legs, and proceeded to sling it back through with matching grunts. Once it disappeared, Ryan picked up the creature's clawed hand and tossed it through after the body.

~*~

Don couldn't resist the chance. He slipped through the opening in the cage and walked over to Hart. Standing close and looking down, he grinned as he held out his hand.

"That was quick," he said, knowing he sounded like he was laughing inside, but not caring.

Hart snorted as his expression turned as shifty as Cutter's had been a few minutes ago.

Don laughed. "Yeah, dude, secrets are my life, too. I'm not worried, unless it was that drink that lets you move so fast. In which case, I want some of it."

Hart smiled as he reached up and took Don's hand, pulling himself to his feet. "Sadly, no. It's really nothing but an energy drink. Moving that fast tires me out."

"Gotcha." Don nodded, letting his smile fade with a nod as he released Hart's hand. "Like I said, I understand secrets. And as long as it's not something that can come back to bite us in the ass, I'm okay with you keeping yours." He turned his head, catching a glimpse of a furious looking Cutter glaring at him as if he wanted to strangle him. "Um, you and Cutter together?" he asked, with a slight gesture of his head toward the professor.

"Yes," Hart replied, not even bothering to glance over at Cutter. "And you picked up on it faster than anyone we've ever met."

"I am a trained observer, thank you very much," Don said, allowing his amusement to colour his tone.

He walked beside Hart over to Cutter, raised an eyebrow and said, "Damn it, I'm always too late."

With a grin to the flabbergasted Cutter, he headed back over to where Connor and Larry had their heads together over Connor's machine. Larry was talking a mile a minute, and Charlie was finally getting over his little snit, having actually seen the creature they were up against.

He heard Larry babbling about gravitational waves and electromagnetic flux points, and Charlie objecting to their relevance, convinced that time only flows one way.

"Therefore, I can accept past 'anomalies', but there's no way I can accept that future 'anomalies' are possible in any way, shape or form." Charlie was sounding at his most adamant.

Don winced a little, but relaxed as Larry chimed in again, moving his hands in his usual explanatory manner as he made each point.

"Charlie, remember, there are some branches of physics that say that all times are one, and that at most times, yes, everyone agrees that it only flows in one direction. But, and I posit this with confidence, if all times do actually happen at once, then if the gravitational waves and electromagnetic flux points coincide at the perfect moment, then a portal between certain times could possibly open for a short length of time."

Connor and Charlie both sat up, staring at him, and Connor yelped, "Of course! That's it, that's what my machine has been missing – the electromagnetic counter-point that needs to be activated." He turned to Charlie. "Mate, if you can come up with a calculation to describe the amount of electromagnetism needed to counteract the anomaly's signature, I'll owe you forever."

Charlie brightened. He, Larry and Connor put their heads together and started spouting mathematical terms at each other at a rate that made Don's head spin.

He turned to glance at the others, and saw Cutter shaking an indulgent but proud head at Connor. Don knew exactly how he felt. Seeing Charlie actually able to connect with another brilliant person and work in conjunction rather than alone – or in competition – was a sight that Don would treasure.

He still wanted to find out what could have caused Hart's speed, though. But on that subject he wasn't sure he was going to get the chance.

~*~

Stephen glanced back at Connor and Charlie, with Larry fussing around them like a mother hen as they finished the last bit of work on the new iteration of Connor's Anomaly Locking Device. The two young men closed the lid and pointed it toward the anomaly.

"Is everyone ready?" Connor asked, holding his left hand up with his fingers crossed.

"More than ready," Ryan said, sounding annoyed as he stared at the anomaly and the bars surrounding it.

"Yeah, I'm catching some irritated Predators starting to get interested in the anomaly," Stephen said quietly, stepping back a bit.

"Okay." Connor started counting down with his fingers. "Three. Two. One. Now."

He and Charlie pressed the button together, bright grins on their faces. The machine hummed, and a wavering light slowly pushed out from the machine and washed over the anomaly. There was a hesitation for a moment, then the shards of time slowly contracted inward, fitting together like the facets of one of the old disco balls. Once it was solid, the anomaly stayed floating in the air, no longer even rotating.

Charlie and Connor cheered, and Larry clapped them both on the back. "Great, guys!" he exclaimed.

Everyone else just sighed in relief, with the exception of Professor Cutter, who strode over to the two young geniuses and clasped them both on the shoulder. "Thank you," he said quietly. "You've saved a lot of lives today."

They all turned to look at the closed anomaly.

"What now?" Don asked. "Will it stay like that forever?"

Connor shook his head absently. "Once it's time for it to close, it should close just like normal." He looked too busy checking data to really care. Charlie was waving his hands and poking at various bits of information on the screen. Connor was grinning and nodding.

It looked like they had succeeded.

"What do we do with the grating?" the lead workman asked, wandering up to Eppes and Vasquez.

The two agents shrugged. "Not a clue," Eppes said, glancing over at Cutter with his eyebrows raised.

Cutter shook his head. "Leave it," he said. "We have had anomalies re-open, and if they do it a second time, it's usually in the same place. At least if this does open up again, you'll have the grating to hold the creatures for long enough to kill them."

"What, we're supposed to leave someone here on watch – forever?" Eppes was starting to look very unhappy.

"No, not at all," Cutter replied, holding his hand out to Connor, who slapped a portable Anomaly Detection Device into it without even taking his eyes from the data scrolling down his laptop screen. "This will let you know if it opens again."

He handed it over to Eppes after receiving a nod from Ryan, who had already been on the 'phone with Lester to report and get permission for a little more cooperation than they'd originally planned.

Eppes turned the device over in his hands, then gave Cutter a slightly mischievous look. "And if we take it apart and make more?"

To his overt surprise, Cutter shrugged. "You're welcome to it. In fact, I'm going to check when we get back on whether we can send you the specs for the main ADD." He glanced over at Stephen, who couldn't hold back his grin, then at Ryan, who simply shrugged. "Now that we know that anomalies aren't limited to the United Kingdom, maybe some international scientific cooperation might be helpful. Once we get permission, you'll have something that should help you track any anomalies in any area that has radio waves and mobile phone service."

"Thank you," Eppes and Vasquez said at the same time, then grinned at each other.

"I do appreciate international cooperation," Eppes added, echoing Cutter's words as he shook hands with Cutter and Ryan.

Vasquez and Adams followed suit.

Stephen nodded at Eppes, who gave him a wink.

It seemed that the American FBI agent was willing to keep Stephen's secret. Now all he could do was hope that the rest of them would, too.

As everyone started to pack up, with Connor briefing Charlie and Larry on how to work the ALD since they were leaving it behind, Stephen glanced over at Eppes. Even after the show of willingness to keep Stephen's secret, the FBI agent was still studying him in a manner that was more than slightly panic inducing.

Taking the bull by the horns, Stephen walked up to Eppes and faced him directly. "Ask. I can't guarantee I'll answer if it puts me in danger, but you can ask whatever you want."

Eppes gave him a slightly sad grin. "That careful attitude I know," he said, nodding over to his brother. "I'm always scared to death when Charlie comes into the field."

Bracing himself, Stephen nodded.

Eppes sight. "Okay, I'll keep what I saw you can do confidential, since it seems that whatever it is, you can't pass that ability on. Right?"

"Right." Stephen took a deep breath, deciding that perhaps a little bit more trust was warranted. "Cutter's ex-wife Helen is a nutter. She's been tripping through time like a manic squirrel, and she learned how to do some DNA recombination from some future place. She did it to me. Spliced some other DNA onto mine, and made me fast and strong." He shrugged. "But it only lasts for a few seconds, and it exhausts me."

"Hence, the drinks," Eppes replied, nodding over to Abby with an expression of sudden comprehension on his face.

"Yes." Stephen braced himself, waiting for the next question, but it didn't come.

Instead, Eppes just looked him straight in the eyes and said firmly. "I'm not going to ask what DNA your Helen used." He gestured slightly toward the now-locked anomaly. "I can also say, with confidence, that I don’t want to know."

Stephen smiled slightly. This man was very quick on the uptake. Stephen nodded slowly, just once.

Eppes shivered. "That must be damned scary."

"That it is." Stephen turned back to smile at Cutter. "But it's also given me a gift that has saved some lives, so I'm okay with it."

"Good enough for me." Eppes waved to his agents. "I'll talk to Vasquez. Giving due merit to your status as guests of the US Government, we'll gloss over a few details."

"Thank you." Stephen held out his hand, and Eppes reached out without hesitation to return the grip.

Eppes must have noticed his slight tentativeness, because he smiled. "One of the phrases we tend to use in the FBI goes like 'it is what it is'."

At Stephen's quizzical look, he shrugged. "Meaning we can't always do something about things that are happening – or things that we learn. And sometimes we just shouldn't. Your ability has nothing to do with us."

Stephen smiled as Cutter and Ryan came up behind him. They had to have heard, because both of them thanked Eppes.

The agent grinned and waved over at Connor and Charlie. "Now all I have to do is peel my genius away from your genius, so we can all go home."

Stephen and Cutter both laughed, and even Ryan couldn't hold back a smile.

"Let's go, people," Eppes called, waving his team over to their cars. "We keep a watch, and then bring the machine back to the office when this anomaly thing closes."

He turned to his car, then stopped. "Professor Cutter, you wouldn't happen to have a photograph of your ex-wife, would you?"

Stephen winced, and Cutter stared at the agent. "Why?"

"Well, if she's been messing around with time, I'd like to be able to keep an eye out for her."

Cutter grimaced, then pulled a photo from his wallet. "Here."

Eppes took it with thanks and put it in his pocket.

Stephen glanced around. It looked like both teams had finished up and were packing their cars again. One man was standing behind the ALD, watching the anomaly with his hand on his gun. Good. It looked like between Homeland Security and the FBI, this anomaly wasn't going to be any trouble again.

And if Agent Eppes kept his word, then Stephen might not be in any trouble, either.

Comments

[telperion-15.livejournal.com]

That was exciting! I really liked the international cooperation element too — that's something that was only really covered in the novels and it's a shame it didn't come up more in the show.

[goldarrow]

Thanks.

Yeah. I never really thought the anomalies were just in England. Too bad they were so restricted in the show.