Chapter 8:-

Nick couldn't move. He was, quite literally, frozen to the spot, relief that she was safe, that she did actually exist, that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination, coursing through him with the force of a miniature tidal wave. From the look on her face, Claudia was in a similar predicament, staring at him, mouth slightly open, eyes wide with shock. To her credit, she recovered first.

'Cutter??'

'Cl..uh..' He attempted to reply, but the words somehow got stuck. Clearing his throat, he tried again.

'Hello Claudia'

At these words, the last of the tension left her body and she smiled; a warm, open smile that lit up her eyes. It was a look he could very easily get used to. The second big shock in under two minutes was delivered when she crossed the room and pulled him into a hug. Recovering more swiftly this time, Nick hugged her back, not quite understanding why she was so delighted to see him, but not about to complain if it brought her into close proximity. With her this close, he could unfortunately feel most of her body pressed against him, as well as being able to smell her hair. It was probably a good thing they weren't alone or he might have done something exceedingly stupid. He gave himself a mental slap and released her. She was still a work colleague. And it wasn't as if she had any interest in him in that way at all. She was just relieved to see them.

'Sorry to interrupt, but we have work to do. I'm sure you can continue all of this later.'

Briefly Nick wondered if killing Hawthead was an option. Everything about the man seemed to grate on his nerves and he'd only known him a couple of hours. It might have been because the sneering, sarcastic tone, reminded him strongly of Lester.

'Cutter? Are you listening?'

Hawthead's voice cut sharply through Cutter's thoughts. Irritated, Cutter turned away from Claudia and faced him.

'What?'

Claudia didn't pretend to know Cutter particularly well, but she knew he wasn't the most stable-tempered of men, and she could hear the anger in his voice, his accent heavier than usual, emphasising the consonants. She decided she should step in.

'Why don't I show Professor Cutter and Abby to their rooms?'

'Their rooms are at opposite ends of the centre.' Hawthead snapped. Clearly Cutter wasn't the only one getting wound up. Claudia was determined to stay calm.

'Then why doesn't Pippa take Abby?'

'Fine. Call me when all the domestic crap has been sorted.'

Hawthead vanished into the maze of corridors, his flapping coat reminding Claudia of an overgrown bat. Even after everything he had done for her, she still found it hard to nurture any kind of affection for the man. She turned back to the room at large. Cutter still looked shell-shocked, eyes drawn, slightly pale, his scruffy blond hair resembling a mop, and Abby looked like she'd been squeezed through a mangle. Both were covered from head to foot in dust. Claudia sighed.

'Okay. We have two spaces free in rooms, though they are at opposite ends of the centre. One is near the canteen, that's for you Abby, and then there's one down by the tech. room where you can go Cutter.'

Cutter nodded, seemingly willing to accept someone else in charge. Claudia resisted the urge to hug him again, but seeing him so close after all this time was a cross between almost painful and the best thing that had ever happened to her. Even stranger was the fact that he remembered her, after hearing Hawthead's theories on this, she had built herself up for him to stare blankly at her, but he hadn't, he'd remembered. She couldn't even think about what that might mean right now. Shaking off these thoughts, she turned to Pippa, who had slipped back into the room like a shadow.

'Pippa, could you take Abby to the room by the canteen please?'

The girl nodded, looking up at Abby. She turned and left the room. Abby stared at Claudia and opened her mouth. Claudia got there first, cutting across her.

'Look, Abby, I know you're curious and probably have five billion and one questions but it's easier to get this stuff sorted and then Hawthead can explain everything. And I know you probably have no idea who I am but that'll be explained as well. So, please, just go?'

Abby nodded and glanced at Cutter. He smiled reassuringly.

'I'll come find you later. Go and get sorted with a room. Clearly there is more to everything here than meets the eye.'

Abby still seemed to hesitate. Cutter gave her a gentle push.

'Go on. Else you'll lose your guide.'

With Abby gone, Cutter allowed his full attention to rest on Claudia. He was acutely aware that he was now alone in a room with her. Precisely the thing he had thought would be a bad idea. He ran a hand through his hair, causing a small cloud of dust. Claudia smiled wryly.

'Come on then. I'll show you your room and where you can get cleaned up.'

She moved off down one of the corridors, hips swinging slightly. Nick dragged his gaze upwards and followed. They walked side by side down the endless maze of white, sterile tunnels. The back of his hand brushed hers accidentally and her head snapped round. He gave her an awkward smile, thinking he should probably say something to break the silence.

'So how come we've ended up here? What is this place? What are they doing?'

Claudia smiled.

'This is the Anomaly Observation Centre. It's basically a massive observation and research centre, focusing on the activity of the anomalies, working towards the eventual aim of stopping them altogether. Hawthead will explain it better than I can. And with the recent problems, it's become something of a refugee centre as well. There are about fifty of us here, all ages, all nationalities, can't get home. We're just sort of...stuck. I must say I had been wondering how long it would take before one of our lot appeared. You've been lucky to last this long! I was starting to think I'd never see any of you again.'

Nick stared at her befuddled. There was a slightly sad tinge to her last words and only about 5 of what she had said had made any sense.

'Claudia, what do you mean? You're talking as if you've been missing for weeks; it's barely even been a day!'

Claudia stopped dead and swung to face him, a look of pure alarm on her face.

'What? What do you mean? Yesterday? Only a day?'

Nick could only nod. Claudia looked like she was going to be sick. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye.

'Nick, I've been living here for nearly two years.'