fredbassett | Fic, Out of Darkness into Day, Becker/Ethan, 15

Title : Out of Darkness Into Day
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Becker/Ethan
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : Becker is trapped in a frozen world with Ethan. Cooperation will increase their chances of survival but Becker isn’t sure his companion will see things the same way.
A/N: Written for

jaynedoll’s birthday. I hope you have a lovely day! This is a sequel to the fic I wrote for you last year, The Dark Before the Dawn.

Becker woke up with a start, jerking slightly and banging his head on the rough brick wall behind him. The survival blanket crackled and the noise coupled with the movement brought a muffled curse from his companion. Startling a potential mass murderer awake was probably not entirely advisable, but Becker would just have to hope that having rescued Ethan from Burton’s clutches would count for something.

Their escape through an anomaly had been an unfortunate case of out of the frying pan into the fire, but any associated heat had been – and still was, if the state of his fingers and toes was anything to go by – sadly lacking. They’d found themselves in the middle of a blizzard and had been forced to take shelter in the basement of a ruined building. After some initial verbal sniping from both sides, self-preservation had eventually triumphed over mutual distrust and the two men had resorted to sharing body heat in an attempt to stay alive. They’d been successful but Becker was going to have to sacrifice warmth on the altar of relieving the pressure on his bladder.

“I need a piss,” he muttered. “Shift up.”

“Told you before, you can hold your own dick,” Ethan retorted, but he did at least shuffle forward.

Becker noted but didn’t comment on the hiss of pain that his companion failed to suppress as he moved. Ethan Dobrowski – Patrick Quinn – had been brutally raped the previous day and was no doubt still feeling the after-effects of the assault, although the cold had probably had a numbing effect on the relevant parts of the other man’s anatomy, if the lack of feeling in Becker’s arse was anything to go by.

They were caught in an awkward tangle of limbs for a moment as Becker did his best to struggle upright on feet that he couldn’t feel and legs that felt both stiff and wobbly at the same time. He ended up steadying himself with one hand on Ethan’s shoulder and the other on the wall. To his surprise, Ethan didn’t tell him to keep his filthy hands to himself.

Becker made his way slowly across the rubble-strewn floor, feeling his way in the dark. He had a Maglite in his pocket but wanted to conserve the batteries as long as possible. They’d propped an old door up against the broken frame after they’d taken refuge in the cellar. Becker pushed it aside and stepped out into the ground floor of what had once been a two-storey house, but now the roof and the upper floor had mostly disintegrated, leaving the interior open to the elements. Snow was piled high against the door but at least it was now daylight. Dark grey clouds driven by a strong wind scudded across an unwelcoming sky. Becker shivered, but there was no way he could put this off.

He picked his way across the ruin of the house, avoiding fallen masonry and broken beams. His fingers managed to be both numb and painful at the same time, making progress awkward. Becker fumbled with the zip of his combat trousers, unable to grasp the small tab. With an irritated exhalation, he finally managed to pull the zip down. The soft flesh of his cock was warm to the touch and Becker was strongly tempted to run his fingers through the equally warm liquid that splashed out onto the snow in a widening yellow stain, but he knew it would only provide a temporary illusion of warmth. He shook himself off and then fought another battle to zip his trousers up again, pleased that he didn’t – as yet – need to perform any other bodily functions.

Becker turned around, only just managing to stop himself jumping when he realised Ethan was standing in the doorway watching him. In the weak light, he saw that the man’s face was shadowed with heavy stubble and his eyes were guarded, giving nothing away.

“I thought you were off cock at the moment?” Becker said as lightly as he could manage, throwing Ethan’s words of the night before back at him.

Ethan grinned. “That was a cock? I thought you were keeping an albino slug as a pet. Shift yourself, soldier boy, you’re not the only one who needs a slash.”

“Be my guest,” Becker commented, waving a hand at the patch of yellow snow. “The loo’s free.”

While Ethan relieved himself, Becker took the opportunity to look around outside the house. They were in a street of equally derelict property, with no clues as to why they had all fallen into such a uniform state of decay, other than maybe just the passage of time. Becker shivered, drawing up the collar of his jacket against the bitter wind that swept through the wrecked building and whipped up flurries of snow to dance in the freezing air. From the look of the clouds, another heavy fall was on its way.

“We need to see if the anomaly is still open,” he said when Ethan had finished.

“If it is, Burton’s goons will be out in force.” Ethan winced as he lifted his leg to clamber over one of the fallen beams to join Becker.

“Looks like you’re a glass half full sort of person,” Becker commented.

“I’m a realist, soldier boy, but never you mind, there’ll be another gateway along soon enough, there always is.”

The casual tone reminded Becker that Ethan had spent his entire adult life and a good part of his teenage years travelling through the gateways, as he called them, although there probably hadn’t been much about his early experiences that would merit the word ‘good’.

Ethan clearly saw something of Becker’s thoughts reflected in his eyes, because he growled, “I don’t need your pity and I don’t need your help either, so fuck off back to your own time.”

“You need medical attention,” Becker said. “Come with me. Hopefully by now Lester will have been able to take control of the project back from Burton.”

“I can manage just fine.”

“Bollocks. You can hardly walk straight. You don’t look fine. I saw the blood, Dobrowski, so stop playing me for a fool. Sooner or later you’re going to need a crap and the chances of getting an infection will be even higher then than they are already, you know that as well as I do.” And Becker knew from his own experience how quickly things could nasty without medical intervention. It had happened to him in the wilds of Helmand Province and by the time he’d made it back to base he’d been in a bad way.

Ethan titled his head to one side and Becker had the uncomfortable feeling that, like his brother, Ethan was skilled at seeing below the surface to what Becker had left unsaid. In response to the speculative look on the other man’s face, Becker schooled his features back into his blandest parade ground face and hoped that he hadn’t given too much away with his somewhat careless choice of words. To his relief, Ethan said nothing. He made his way to Becker’s side and looked up and down the street.

The white expanse of snow was unbroken by the tracks of any living thing, confirming Becker’s feeling that they were alone in an icy wilderness. Nothing, not even a bird or a rat, had disturbed the crystalline surface. That didn’t bode well for their chances of living off the land if they couldn’t find an anomaly.

Becker did his best to orientate himself on the direction they’d taken the previous night, stumbling through a blizzard, hoping that the wind would blow enough snow in the wake to cover their tracks.

“That way, soldier boy,” Ethan muttered, pointing across the street to a narrow alleyway between two broken buildings. He raised a dark eyebrow. “You want to take a look?”

Becker nodded. It might be the best chance they got. Fat flakes of snow were already starting to drift down from the leaden sky. It wouldn’t take much to turn it into another whiteout. With his hand on the grip of the EMD weapon holstered at his left thigh, Becker stepped out into the street and started to make his way through the snow. It came well up past his knees and progress was difficult. Ethan simply waited until Becker had gone a few metres and then followed in his wake, letting him do the hard work. The snow was falling faster now, swirling around him and settling on his hair. If the anomaly wasn’t open, or safe to approach, they were going to be in for an even more uncomfortable time in the cellar.

The alley gave way to another wider street and more ruined buildings. Becker replayed their frantic flight through the storm and turned left. From what he could piece together in his mind, they had had gone about 1,000 metres from the anomaly before they’d gone to ground, relying on the storm to cover their escape. He kept walking, hands thrust deep into the pockets of his jacket, shoulders hunched.

“Watch your step, soldier boy,” Ethan warned from behind him. “You should be able to see it when you get level with the next corner.”

Becker nodded and carried on walking, sticking close to the side of the buildings, hoping they would provide some cover but still feeling dangerously exposed even though they had still seen no sign of life whatsoever. He reached the final corner and peered cautiously around it. Even in the rapidly growing snowstorm it was obvious that there was no anomaly. A sharp spike of disappointment twisted in Becker’s guts. Wherever they were, they were a long way from home and now had no easy way of getting back.

“Maybe…” The words died in his throat. There was no maybe about it. They’d reached the right spot, he was certain of that, but there was just no anomaly, and no sign that one had ever existed. The storm of the previous night had totally obliterated their original tracks and the tracks of anyone who had come through after them but Becker knew perfectly well that this was the correct place, no matter how much he wanted to deny that. He did his best to suppress a shudder. Apart from a couple of energy bars in his pocket they had no food and no obvious means of obtaining any, and the idea of eating snow to keep themselves hydrated wasn’t exactly appealing. Nor was the company…

At his side, Ethan commented, “Never mind, princess, we’ll just have to keep from killing each other for a wee while longer.”

Becker shot the man an irritated look and received an amused smile for his pains. “So what do you suggest we do?”

Ethan shrugged. “Go back to the cellar. Not much else we can do at the moment. We won’t last long out here if it stays like this. If you see something that looks like it might burn, pick it up and carry it. If we’re lucky, this will blow over.”

“And if we’re not?” The words were out before Becker could stop them.

“Then we’ll freeze to death.” Ethan’s lips quirked into a half-smile. “There are worse ways of dying”

Without waiting for a response, the man turned on his heel and made his way back the way they’d come.

Becker followed, noting his awkward gait. Ethan Dobrowski was in pain but doing a good job of hiding it. On their way back, Becker did as his companion had suggested and picked up a few pieces of wood, but he very much doubted they would be dry enough to burn. He also took a good look at his surroundings. He still hadn’t seen any clues to where – or when – they were. The buildings appeared to have been constructed of a mixture of red brick and grey concrete block. There had been no shop fronts or advertising signs, but neither did the layout seem wholly residential.

Ethan picked up some wood as well, and they piled up the fruits of their scavenging in the cellar at the bottom of the steps. Becker remembered seeing a few items lying around on the floor of the square, single room and he swept the beam of his Maglite around, looking for anything that might be of use. A rusty tin can and a broken crate were the most potentially useful items. If they could get a fire going, the can could be used to boil drinking water. He took it outside and, careful not to cut himself to the jagged lid, did his best to clean out the inside using a broken stick and snow.

At the same time, he was making a mental inventory of anything he had with him that would aid their survival. It ended up being a depressingly short list. Two energy bars wouldn’t last very long. Beyond that, he had a knife, an almost fully charged EMD pistol, a cigarette lighter, a packet of antiseptic wipes, a roll of fishing twine and a couple of hooks, the USB memory stick he’d used to store the images of Ethan’s rape in case he needed them for evidence, a packet of water purification tablets and half a packet of painkillers.

Ethan had broken up the crate and, to Becker’s surprise, had managed to coax a very small flame into life on the lowest step. He was obviously hoping that the smoke would rise up out of the cellar towards the doorway rather than kippering them.

Becker set down the can full of snow on the step next to him. “I’ve got some purification tablets.”

Ethan nodded intent on the flickering flame that he was feeding with small pieces of wood.

“I’ve got some painkillers as well, and a packet of antiseptic wipes.”

“Quite the little Florence Nightingale, aren’t you?” The taunt was half-hearted, but Ethan obviously felt compelled to make the effort. “Save them for when you really need them.”

Becker pulled the wipes out of his pocket and held them out. “You’ll need them for your arse.”

“Have you got some sort of feckin’ obsession with my arse, princess?” Smoke started to drift upwards and Ethan fed some wood unto the blaze. “I told you last night, you’re not my type.”

“You’re not mine, either,” Becker retorted.

“That’s just increased your chances of survival.”

Becker rolled his eyes. “The macho posturing gets old pretty quickly, you do know that, don’t you? And anyway, you told me last night you weren’t a murderer, so you can’t have it both ways. How about we agree that, just for the moment, we’re in this together, and declare a truce?”

The grin that met his words showed a rare flash of genuine humour. “You’d rather I didn’t call you princess?”

“I’ve been called worse,” Becker commented. “Usually by your big brother.”

The mention of Danny had been a mistake. The closed off look descended again and Ethan fed another piece of crate to the flames. “If you want to stay alive, find me some more dry wood.”

For the next two hours, Becker combed the nearest buildings for anything that would help them stay alive. Like his list of useful items, it proved to be a disappointing haul, but hopefully it would be enough to see them through another night in the cellar. The can served its purpose and allowed them to produce warm water. After using one purification tablet, they agreed to dispense with the rest and save them for another time. The hot water went some way to warming them up, as did the glow from the fire. It needed constant tending to keep it alive, and their supply of wood would barely see them through the night, but it was better than nothing.

They huddled together at the bottom of the steps, sitting on the survival blanket to provide some insulation from the cold concrete with the rest pulled up around their shoulders. They took it in turns to go up the steps to fill the can with snow as soon as they’d finishing drinking from it. In the absence of food, Becker knew it was important to keep their fluid levels up.

Eventually, Ethan stood up and muttered, “Can’t put it off any longer.”

Becker raised his eyebrows, wondering what the hell the other man meant, then the penny dropped and he pulled the antiseptic wipes from his pocket, handing them over without a word.

Ethan stepped carefully around the small fire and walked stiffly up the steps to the outside world. The snow was still drifting from the sky, although not as heavily as it had been doing when Becker had last ventured out. They’d decided to check the site of the anomaly every five hours during the day. They were due out in another hour. If that brought no joy, they’d bank the fire up as well as they could and settle down for another uncomfortable night.

Ten minutes later, Becker heard the scrape of the door being moved aside. Ethan was moving even more slowly and carefully than he had been before. Becker knew from his own experience that what his companion had just endured wasn’t the sort of thing you were likely to want to discuss with anyone, so he said nothing. The usual awkward shuffling too place as Ethan settled back down next to him. When the next tin of water came to the boil, Becker set it aside for a moment to cool and then fished around in his pocket for the blister pack of painkillers. He handed one to his companion without a word.

Ethan took it and dry-swallowed the capsule. A moment later, he muttered, “Thanks.”

Becker smiled slightly into the semi-darkness. It looked like they might be doing all right on the not killing each other front.

Now all they needed to do was survive another cold night and see what progress they could make in finding a way out of the icy wilderness of a ruined world before they had to face the prospect of maintaining a truce whilst starving to death.

He wasn’t sure their fragile rapport would withstand that sort of pressure just yet.

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freddiejoey.livejournal.com

This is lovely and atmospheric. Love the interaction between the two of them.

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Fic, Out of Darkness into Day, Becker/Ethan, 15

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