Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval, which belongs to Adrian Hodges and Tim Haines. I also don't own Torchwood which belongs to Russell T Davis. I am reposting this series with some serious edits so please bear with me as I do so and I will complete all five seasons.

Episode Seven: Future Epidemic.

Staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, Rachel tapped her fingers as she tried to work out what she was going to do for the day; it had been a couple of weeks since she had taken the much-needed time off. Being away from the ARC had allowed Rachel to deal with everything that had been put on hold after Nick had died; there was much to be sorted out and she had been surprised that her father had included her in his Will.

The break had allowed her to slowly come to terms with everything that had happened; she was glad that she hadn't gone traveling like she had done when she had lost Stephen. Glancing at the clock, Rachel groaned before she burying herself in her duvet; she hated to admit that she was completely bored right now. Rachel had kept herself away from work and she was a little relieved that everyone else had been so understanding of her need to take a break.

Jenny had reassured her that she could hold down the fort while Rachel was taking a break; things had been quiet from what Rachel had heard and she was glad since she was sure Jenny was suffering as well. Waiting for a moment, Rachel huffed annoyed before she threw back the covers and climbed out of bed; she threw on some clothes and grabbed her keys so that she could head out.

Leaving her apartment, Rachel decided to head down to the local café to grab some breakfast; she was sure that something would come to her mind while she was there. Making her way down the street, Rachel couldn't help but wonder what was going on at work; she was surprised that she was missing work so much. As she approached the café, Rachel furrowed her brow as she spotted Abby in the street; she couldn't help but be curious about the fact that she seemed to be showing a picture to someone.

"Excuse me… have you seen this man?" Abby asked stopping people as they walked along the street, they both shook their heads before carrying on making Abby groan; she had been at this for an hour and still nothing. Time was of the essence and she wasn't sure that they would be able to find the man that they were looking for; he had been infected with some kind of fungus and they needed to find him before it was too late.

"Not having any luck," Rachel guessed making Abby jump, she smiled at her friend who looked relieved when she realised that it was her; she hadn't meant to sneak up on her and she peeked at the picture of the man that was being shown. Abby smiled at Rachel, she had missed having her friend around at work and she was glad to see that she looked a lot better than the last time she had seen her.

"Not really," Abby replied with a shake of her head, she looked around not seeing any sign of the man that she was searching for and she doubted that any of the others were having any luck. It wasn't what they had been expecting when they had been called out to deal with this and it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack trying to find this man.

"How has your time off been?" Abby asked, work had been rather dull without Rachel around and things just didn't feel right without her. Losing both Nick and Stephen, had shaken the core group and Abby couldn't help but worry just who might be next; she had seen how stressed Jenny had looked in the last two weeks.

"Honestly. I am bored out of my mind," Rachel admitted all of her friends were working and she was determined not to just disappear off like she had the last time. Running into Abby seemed to have brightened her day and she was more than willing to help her friend out.

Opening her mouth to reply, Abby quickly stopped when she noticed a familiar face disappearing into the train station; she didn't even have to look at Rachel to know that her friend would have her back. The two women rushed after the man, only to reach the train platform and find that he was much too far ahead of them; they rushed towards him hoping to catch them.

"Sir Richard," Abby called out as they drew closer to him before he suddenly disappeared from sight; they reached the spot where they had last seen him but there was no sign of them. Looking around confused neither of them could work out how he had managed to get away like that; he had been right there and couldn't have been out of sight for more than a moment or two.

"Let's check the streets again… he can't have gotten far," Rachel insisted heading towards the other exit, she was sure that if they were quick then they could catch him. Abby grinned glad to see Rachel acting more like herself, she had been so worried that what had happened might cause her friend to leave for good.

Hurrying to the other exit, the two looked around trying to see if they could spot the man but there was no sign; they hesitated confused for a moment before they heard a sound from the subway beside them. They shared a look and nodded to each other before heading towards where they had heard the noise; it was almost pitch dark and damp down there, almost perfect conditions for a fungus.

"Sir Richard?" Abby called as they walked through the darkness, she had no way of reaching the rest of the team to let them know what was going on. The only reply her call received was a growl from the darkness around them; something that only made Abby wished that she had a radio or something to call the others. The two women looked at one another, it was clear that Sir Richard was here however he had changed and the fungus had taken over.

The tunnels were darker than anticipated and the two of them did their best to navigate their way through the tunnels with as little light as possible; neither wanting to know just what they were walking through. Reaching for her gun, Abby swallowed nervously not wanting this to go wrong; no one knew where her and Rachel where and she doubted that her friend was carrying a weapon right now.

"These tunnels must go on for miles… we're gonna need better lighting," Rachel mumbled not wanting to fall back, she didn't want to run head first into trouble when they could barely see in front of them. Abby nodded her head, the two of them slowly backing out of the tunnel that they had entered; it could take them days to find what was left of Sir Richard. Stepping out of the tunnel, the two shared a look knowing that this was going to be far from easy; they were going to have to act quickly if they wanted to track him down.

"Any ideas?" Abby asked reaching for her phone to call Becker, he would have some ideas on how to track down what was left of Sir Richard before he attacked someone else. Rachel shook her head, it wasn't as if this was something that she did on an everyday basis; she was sure that they could use some help on this one especially since she wasn't meant to be here.

"Becker… he's disappeared down some tunnels," Abby said once she reached the head of security, she was sure that he would know what to do and she wasn't going to stick herself in danger just so they could track this thing down. They had suffered enough loss in the last couple of years and Abby feared just what might happen should they go after this thing unprepared. Rachel watched Abby, she guessed that sticking around to help out and it seemed like a better option than sitting around and doing nothing but twiddling her thumbs.

"I thought you were taking some time off," Lester mused greeting Rachel, he hadn't expected to see her so soon after her decision to take some time; he was sure she'd be gone even longer than she had been when Stephen had died. He wouldn't deny that it was good to have her back in whatever way, things were a mess and he hated to admit it but they needed her right now.

"Guess I couldn't stay away," Rachel replied with a shrug of her shoulders, she wasn't going to admit how much she had missed the place and it looked a lot better now that repairs were underway. Lester didn't say anything only nodded his head before he moved away, he had other issues to deal with right now and he wasn't pleased with the fact that Christine Johnson was meddling again. He wanted to handle this himself while he could before he bothered Rachel with whatever this was; he was sure that he could handle her meddling for now.

"It's good to have you back," Connor said wrapping Rachel up in a hug, he had been worried that she would leave even if he didn't blame her for doing so. After everything that had happened, it was clear that the ARC wasn't going to be the same without Cutter here and they were all going to have to get used to it.

"Fill me in on what's happening… Abby gave me the run down but I feel like I'm missing something," Rachel asked wanting to know everything she could if she was going to stick around and help them with this. She paused spotting Danny working with Sarah, she had to admit that she hadn't been expecting that and she wondered just how that had happened.

Of course, she had suggested that he take over as the team leader but she had thought that Lester would have let her know when he had started working here. Connor was quick to start filling Rachel in on what she had missed while she had been away; he was pleased that she was here and he hoped that this was a sign that she would be staying.

The two of them made their way down the corridor as they talked, it was nice to be back and Rachel was surprised how not uncomfortable this was; she had worried that it would be too hard to be here. Entering the office that Connor had claimed as his own while working was being done on the main area of the ARC; she came to a complete stop when she saw what was inside.

"Are you living here Connor?" Rachel asked looking at the items that were scattered around the office that he had been using recently; she frowned sure that he had been living with Abby. She suddenly felt like a terrible friend if she hadn't realised that Connor had somehow become homeless; she wondered why he wouldn't have said anything to her.

Connor hesitated for a moment, he looked down at the floor not knowing what to say for a moment; he had hoped that no one would notice and he was sure that it wasn't allowed. With moving out of Abby's flat while her brother was in town, he had been left with nowhere else to go; he didn't have many friends anymore outside of work. After what had happened with Tom, Connor had kept his distance from everyone else not wanting to endanger anyone else; he would never forgive himself if anyone else was killed because of him.

"Abby's brother came to stay and I had nowhere else to go," Connor explained with a shrug, he knew it was a mess but he had been meaning to clean up and it wasn't like anyone used this office. Rachel stared at him, she shook her head and opened her mouth to say something when the alarms started blaring signalling that something had gone wrong.

"What do we do when we find this thing?" Abby asked walking through the corridors, they had discovered that the only way to defeat the fungus creature was to freeze it at the expense of one of Christine Johnson's men's lives. The idiot had broken into one of the labs and touched a sample of the fungus that they had; it had triggered the alarm system since he had rapidly succumb to the infection. They had finally tracked down Sir Richard and had brought what was left of him to the ARC when he had broken free and now, he was on the loose in the building.

"We force it down this corridor… and into the Main Operations room," Connor explained, everyone was rushing around preparing to either leave the building as they dealt with the situation or help in whatever way that they could. Becker nodded though his thoughts weren't completely on this mission, he glanced at Rachel a little surprised at how quickly she had returned and he worried that she might be pushing herself to hard.

No one had forgotten what had happened when Nick had died and Becker couldn't help but feel like he could have done more to make sure that Helen hadn't been able to get into the building. He was learning from his mistakes and he wasn't going to allow that woman to get away with what she had done; she was planning something and they were going to stop her.

"We'll use freezing Carbon Dioxide… and whatever you do don't let the creature touch you," Connor said collecting his fire extinguisher, he glanced at the team around him not knowing what he would do if he lost them. They had been through so much and he hated the idea that he could lose anyone else; they had just buried Nick and it was hard to ignore the fact that he was gone considering just how much he worked on the ARC. The team split off with Rachel and Jenny heading for the Main Ops room to collect the last two fire extinguishers; they shivered entering the room which had been turned into a freezer for the creature.

"Let's get these extinguishers and get out of here…" Rachel said wishing that she'd grabbed her jacket, she doubted that they would have long before they ran into the creature if the plan worked. Jenny nodded her head, she was glad to have Rachel back especially with everything that was going on in her head; she knew that there was something that she had to talk to Rachel about. The sound of Jenny's phone ringing made her pause after they had collected the extinguishers, she nodded to Rachel to go on ahead knowing that she'd be right behind her.

"Danny, hello," Jenny said once she answered the call, she gripped her phone knowing that she had to get out of her quickly since her hand was already starting to go numb. Jenny went completely still when Danny informed her that the creature was on it's way to her; she closed her eyes when she heard snarling behind her.

"But I'm still in here…" Jenny whispered before disconnecting the call, she slowly turned around as she picked up her fire extinguisher and fixed the top on it as she came face to face with the creature. She removed the pin from the extinguisher and started to squirt the cold air out at the creature as she moved back away from it. The creature continued to stalk towards her as she heard the team coming towards her; her heart pounded in her chest knowing that she was in big trouble.

"The creature's searching for heat," Connor said through the intercom, they couldn't risk opening the doors in case the creature escaped and infected any of the team. They could only watch from the window as Jenny was forced to face the creature alone; something that should never have happened. Rachel swallowed the lump in her throat, she should have never left Jenny alone even if she had thought that the creature wasn't close; she would have been able to help her instead of being stuck outside watching Jenny try and fight the creature.

"It's freezing in there…" Abby protested not sure how the creature would find any heat inside, she could see how cold it was and she wished that she could help in some way. The last thing she wanted was for Jenny to suffer the same fate as anyone else that came into contact with the fungus.

"It's Jen's body heat… it's drawing it towards her," Rachel explained, she couldn't believe this and she cursed when Jenny's fire extinguisher started to run out of air. Everyone was silent as the air died all together, the creature getting back to its feet and stumble towards Jenny; the cold starting to get to it and they knew it wouldn't be long before the cold killed it off.

"No, no, no. Stay on your feet, Jenny," Connor said scared for his friend as Jenny started to stumble, before she slid to the ground beneath her shivering as she started to succumb to the cold. All they could do was watch. Watch as the creature approached the freezing form of Jenny, in its search for heat; they couldn't enter the room until the creature was dead.

As Jenny tried helplessly to raise the extinguisher to protect herself in any way that she could, the extinguisher fell limply at her side with a thud since she had no strength to lift it. She was too cold and she knew that she wasn't going to make it out of this, she would slowly freeze to death or the fungus would consume her.

"Danny with me," Rachel said knowing that he would be better help to her than Connor or Abby; he nodded his head before the two of them left the observation window and headed for the room. Danny was more than surprised that Rachel had ordered him to come with her, he had thought that she would ignore him or see him as nothing more than an issue.

"Over here," Rachel yelled letting out a puff of frozen air from the fire extinguisher that she was carrying; she was sure that between her and Danny that they would be able to stall the creature until it died. They made their way over towards the creature which was now looming over Jenny and was so close that it could nearly touch her; it sensed their approach and quickly turned to attack them.

The creature saw them as another source of heat that it craved so badly that it needed to survive; it was slow as the cold continued to get to it. Making sure that the creature couldn't touch them, the two baited the creature until it suddenly froze; it stilled like a statue making them stand still waiting to see if it had really frozen. Danny waited for a moment before he heard a cracking sound and the creature shattered like a piece of glass that had been dropped on the floor.

"Let's get her out of here," Danny ordered skidding over to Jenny however he was stopped by Connor who had quickly entered the room with Becker hot on his heels; his eyes focused on Rachel for a moment before looking at Jenny. The room was so cold and there was a stillness too it that seemed unnatural, Rachel stood beside Jenny praying that her friend was okay before looking at Connor.

"The only chance she's got is if the cold kills the fungus… we wait, okay?" Connor said making the team look at him; it was freezing in the Main Ops room even with the large coats that some of the team were now wearing. They waited for several moments before they quickly grabbed Jenny and carried her out of the Main Ops room; they lay her on a table before they tried to revive her.

Rachel quickly started giving chest compressions, her hands feeling numb from the cold while Abby squeezed air into Jenny's lungs and checked for a pulse. Jenny's face was frozen her eyes were closed and she was a grey colour; none of this pointed to this ending well and they knew that they had a time limit to bring their friend back.

"If she stays like this for another few minutes, we've lost her…" Abby said shaking her head, she didn't want to believe it and she looked at Rachel who paused in her compressions to see if they had a strong pulse. They worked quietly for a moment before Abby smiled, relief filling her as she felt something; she couldn't believe that their luck might have finally turned for the better.

"I've got a pulse…" Abby announced making the others sigh in relief, she couldn't believe it and she watched as Jenny slowly started to come around; she looked to Becker who quickly handed her blankets to cover Jenny with. Rachel stepped back, her heart pounding in her chest and she almost jumped when Becker rested a hand on her shoulder; he gave her a reassuring smile knowing that it was all going to be okay.

"Nick…" Jenny whispered making Rachel freeze, she stared at Jenny for a moment before Connor quietly explained to Jenny that Nick was gone; she saw the sadness on Jenny's face and it broke her heart. Jenny nodded her head, she had wanted to believe that it might have been a bad dream; she glanced at Danny who was holding her hand tightly in her own.

"Can I have that back now?" Jenny asked him since he still hadn't let go, she watched as he blushed before releasing her hand and taking a step back. Her eyes searched the room taking in the faces of her friends and she knew that it was time for her to decide; it wasn't going to be easy but she knew that she couldn't say here anymore.

Stepping out of her office, Rachel sighed knowing that Jenny had made the right decision for her; she didn't blame her friend for deciding that she was done with the ARC and she hoped that she stayed in touch. Lester had agreed with her decision on hiring Danny and the former policeman had been rather surprised by the offer; he hadn't thought that they'd agree to hire him so quickly.

"I can't believe she's going," Connor whispered from where he was leaning against the railing, he had been sad when Jenny had announced her decision to leave. It was something that he hadn't seen coming and the last thing that Connor had wanted; there was no denying that the team just didn't feel right now. With Stephen and Nick gone, Jenny leaving and all these new people around him; it didn't feel like it had done when they had started out and he sort of missed the old days.

"I know but sometimes you have to do what's right for you," Rachel replied with a shrug, she would miss Jenny but she understood why she had to leave; this job wasn't easy and things hadn't been easy for them. Connor nodded his head at that, he was quiet for a moment while he thought about the past few months; he had heard Danny had been hired as their leader and Rachel was coming back as well. It would be nice to have some of the original team around and Connor was sure that it would be awhile before he got used to Danny running things.

"Hey Connor… I've got more than enough space at mine, why don't you come stay with me? It'd be better for you than staying here," Rachel offered giving him a smile. She felt bad for him staying here and she did have that spare room, she could only imagine just what sleeping here was doing to him. Connor smiled at Rachel, he hadn't wanted to bother her when he had moved out of Abby's place especially while she was dealing with the loss of her father; he was almost glad at the idea of sleeping in a bed that night.

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