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fredbassettTitle : Snakes Alive, Part 3
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Stephen/Ryan, Claudia, Nick, Abby, Connor, Ditzy, Finn, Fiver, Blade, Kermit, DI Jamie Cross
Disclaimer : Not mine (except the OCs), no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Word Count : 6,200 (in three approximately equal parts)
Summary : The team have to deal with something large that doesn’t show any signs of wanting to go home.
A/N : Set in my Stephen/Ryan series, and written for the ‘heatwave’ square on my![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
primeval_denial bingo card.
Ryan emerged from the anomaly to see the titanoboa frighteningly close behind the girl on the pony. Amy was still doing a remarkable job of controlling her mount, despite the terror of being hunted by something out of one of Ryan’s nightmares. She was crouched low over the pony’s neck to avoid low-hanging branches.
Fiver, behind the wheel of the Land Rover, had abandoned any attempt to use the cow carcass to distract the snake. He’d reeled in the hunk of meat so that it was only a metre behind the speeding vehicle and he was now doing his best to run interference for Amy, cutting across the titanoboa’s path attempting to slow it down. The vehicle bumped over fallen wood, and Ryan was amazed the young soldier hadn’t turned it on its side, but somehow the Land Rover was still upright and still managing in get in the snake’s way, despite the obstacles on the ground.
Stephen had managed to land a couple of tranq darts in the snake, obviously hoping to slow it down now that they had it back where it belonged, but it was impossible to tell if the drug was having any effect or not.
Amy glanced over her shoulder, and watched as Fiver managed to cut right across the snake’s path again, making it swerve to one side, clearly uncertain how to react to the Land Rover. Amy bunched the reins in one hand and gave Fiver a thumbs up.
As far as Ryan could see, the trees thinned out a little way ahead and it looked like the girl was directing the white pony in that direction. There was little between the two in speed, but Fiver would be better able to run interference in the open and that might just give the girl the edge she needed to make a break back to the anomaly.
“Christ, she’s doing well,” Stephen said, smoothly dropping another dart into his rifle and readying himself for another shot.
Finn brought his M4 carbine up to his shoulder and looked at Ryan expectantly. “Boss?”
“Hold your fire,” Ryan told him. “Stephen, what are our chances of bringing it down with live rounds?”
“It won’t even notice,” Stephen said.
“It would if I stuck the grenade launcher on,” Finn commented.
“Get ready, but don’t loose until I tell you,” Ryan ordered. “She’s got the pony under control but if we spook it even more, she’s stuffed. Stephen, get as much tranq into the sod as you can.”
Ryan heard Fiver gun the engine on the Land Rover. He swung the wheel and used the vehicle to batter at the side of the titanoboa’s head and then cut across its path again. That finally succeeded in diverting its attention for a moment from its original prey. They watched as Fiver yanked hard on the wheel and took off across the long grass, bouncing over rocks, but still managing to maintain control.
The snake took its attention off Amy and as soon as she realised what had happened, she swung the now-tiring pony around and started to ride back towards the anomaly, encouraged by shouts from Ryan and the others. For a glorious moment, Ryan thought she was going to make it, but the pony stumbled, dropping its shoulder on the right side and coming crashing to the ground.
Ryan and Blade promptly started running.
The white pony thrashed on the ground, but Amy had been thrown clear. The girl jumped up, still clutching the reins, and promptly started to encourage her mount to get back on its feet. To Ryan’s amazement, the plucky creature scrambled back up, seemingly with no bones broken. Amy hauled herself back into the saddle and urged the pony on. It had lost speed and was clearly on the brink of exhaustion, but it rose to the challenge.
“Boss!” Finn’s voice was low and urgent. “The anomaly’s fading!”
Ryan glanced back over his shoulder. Finn was right, the anomaly had lost a fraction of its brilliance. Not enough to make him panic – yet – but it wasn’t a good sign, although if they were lucky, they could turn this to their advantage…
“Fiver,” he said into his radio mic. “Keep it occupied for another minute then I want you back through the anomaly as fast as you can. We haven’t got much time left.” To Amy, approaching on the pony, he yelled, “Come on, you can do it!”
She gave him a nod and carried on urging her pony on. The animal’s mouth was flecked with foam and it was limping off one foreleg, but it was now closing on the anomaly, still some distance away from the titanoboa.
The snake appeared to be torn between chasing prey it understood and battling with a foe that it clearly didn’t. Fiver took advantage of its confusion and got in another couple of glancing blows from the Land Rover. The snake retaliated with a head-butt that almost turned the Land Rover on its side.
“Go back through, miss!” Blade yelled, pointing at the anomaly.
Amy did as she’d been told, setting the pony’s head at the middle of the anomaly and riding through.
“Fiver, get back here now!” Ryan ordered. “Finn, drop a grenade in front of its nose. Don’t hit it. Blade, as soon as he’s through, I want a wall of smoke across here when we get back. As soon as we’re out of here, toss a flashbang back through. I want it to go off just on the other side.”
“On it, boss,” Finn said, taking aim.
“Fiver, peel off now!” Ryan ordered. “Grenade incoming!”
There was no one else Ryan knew who’d be able to pull off what he’d just asked for, but with perfect coordination, Finn put a 40mm grenade about three metres in front of the titanoboa just after Fiver accelerated away from it to one side, putting as much distance as he could between his vehicle and the impact.
The M406 high explosive round had a 5m kill zone, but the snake wasn’t a human being, and he hadn’t ordered a direct hit. But if this didn’t slow it down, he didn’t sodding well know what would.
The grenade sent earth and stones flying into the air. The blast checked the snake’s forward momentum, sending it veering off to one side, slower than before. They’d gained precious time. It was now moving at less than a walking pace.
“Fiver, get your arse out of here!” Ryan ordered.
The Land Rover changed course and came bumping back through the trees. For a moment, Ryan thought the vehicle was going to end up on its side when it lurched unsteadily over a partially-hidden chunk of wood but Fiver kept on coming, and bounced through the anomaly at speed.
“Go!”
Ryan waited until Stephen, Finn and Blade had leaped through before he followed them. Behind them, the titanoboa had recovered from the concussive impact of the grenade blast frighteningly quickly and was still intent on following its quarry.
Once Ryan had dived through the anomaly, Blade lobbed a flash-bang back through as planned. Hands grabbed Ryan and hauled him away as strong netting was hastily erected around the anomaly. Dirt blown up by the grenade flew back at them out of the now-dimming shards of time.
For a moment, Ryan thought it was over. He stared at the anomaly, positively willing it to close.
He was out of luck.
The titanoboa’s head shot out of the anomaly. It was covered in clods of earth and had a streak of blood down one side, but even so, the netting strained under the onslaught, and Ryan could only stand by and watch as the two Land Rovers acting as anchor points started to move, despite their weight.
“The anomaly’s fading!” Connor yelled, taking that day’s prize for stating the bleeding obvious.
“Its head’ll get cut off!” Abby exclaimed, distressed at what was about to happen to the titanoboa,
“Try this,” DI Cross said firmly.
A sudden jet of water blasted past Ryan, hitting the titanoboa full on its blunt nose and spraying up into its eyes.
Cross stood there, holding the nozzle of a pressure washer that had clearly been cranked up to full power. Under the onslaught of a very effective water-cannon, the titanoboa recoiled. The detective kept the water trained on the anomaly, aiming at where the huge head had been only a moment before.
The anomaly shimmered, making Ryan think the snake was coming back for another go, but instead, the ball of light abruptly closed in on itself and vanished, leaving everyone staring in dazed jubilation at the empty air that only a moment before had looked likely to decapitate the titanoboa.
“We did it!” Connor yelled, throwing his hat in the air.
Blade caught it and tossed it back onto Connor’s head with the ease of long-practice and then everyone was laughing and talking at once.
*****
“He seems fine,” Abby said, stroking the pony’s grey nose. “He did well – you both did.”
“She’s a brave girl,” Ryan said quietly, watching as Amy chattered happily to Abby, seemingly none the worse for her experience.
“That incident has just shortened my life expectancy by at least a decade,” Professor Malinson declared.
“You look well on it,” Nick commented.
“You’re not too old to slap,” she said briskly.
Ryan would have paid good money to see that, but he kept quiet, not wanting to attract her ire.
Next to him, Jamie Cross was lounging on the veranda with a glass of beer in hand, clearly in no hurry to get back to work. “So, you do this sort of thing all the time?”
“Is that a leading question?”
The DI raised his glass in salute. “Ryan, I’ve just seen a giant motherfucker of a snake and been through a rip in time. I think that means we can stop dancing around each other like a couple of virgins on a first date.”
“Not my call,” Ryan said, glancing over at Claudia.
Claudia shot the pair of them an amused glance. “I’ll ask Lester to talk to the Chief Constable. Apparently they’re members of the same club. In the meantime, I take it we can rely on your discretion, Jamie?”
Ryan interpreted the use of the detective’s first name as an indication that they could lower their defences around him. The man had kept a cool head in the middle of a difficult situation and had almost certainly saved the titanoboa’s life.
On the far side of the now less than pristine lawn, Finn and Fiver were busy hosing down the half cow that had been unceremoniously dragged around behind the Land Rover. It looked very much like beef was going to be on the menu at the weekend’s barbecue. Finn had taken his mother’s words on the subject of waste being a sin very much to heart.
Cutter and Eleanor Malinson were now deep in debate about the evolution of snakes and Amy was busy feeding carrots to her plucky pony. When Stephen joined them on the veranda carrying a bottle of cold beer, Ryan was feeling relaxed enough to snag the bottle from his lover and take a welcome drink.
At least he wasn’t going to have to be the one to report the day’s events to Lester. He could very happily leave that to Cutter and Claudia.
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 15
Characters : Stephen/Ryan, Claudia, Nick, Abby, Connor, Ditzy, Finn, Fiver, Blade, Kermit, DI Jamie Cross
Disclaimer : Not mine (except the OCs), no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Word Count : 6,200 (in three approximately equal parts)
Summary : The team have to deal with something large that doesn’t show any signs of wanting to go home.
A/N : Set in my Stephen/Ryan series, and written for the ‘heatwave’ square on my
primeval_denial bingo card.Ryan emerged from the anomaly to see the titanoboa frighteningly close behind the girl on the pony. Amy was still doing a remarkable job of controlling her mount, despite the terror of being hunted by something out of one of Ryan’s nightmares. She was crouched low over the pony’s neck to avoid low-hanging branches.
Fiver, behind the wheel of the Land Rover, had abandoned any attempt to use the cow carcass to distract the snake. He’d reeled in the hunk of meat so that it was only a metre behind the speeding vehicle and he was now doing his best to run interference for Amy, cutting across the titanoboa’s path attempting to slow it down. The vehicle bumped over fallen wood, and Ryan was amazed the young soldier hadn’t turned it on its side, but somehow the Land Rover was still upright and still managing in get in the snake’s way, despite the obstacles on the ground.
Stephen had managed to land a couple of tranq darts in the snake, obviously hoping to slow it down now that they had it back where it belonged, but it was impossible to tell if the drug was having any effect or not.
Amy glanced over her shoulder, and watched as Fiver managed to cut right across the snake’s path again, making it swerve to one side, clearly uncertain how to react to the Land Rover. Amy bunched the reins in one hand and gave Fiver a thumbs up.
As far as Ryan could see, the trees thinned out a little way ahead and it looked like the girl was directing the white pony in that direction. There was little between the two in speed, but Fiver would be better able to run interference in the open and that might just give the girl the edge she needed to make a break back to the anomaly.
“Christ, she’s doing well,” Stephen said, smoothly dropping another dart into his rifle and readying himself for another shot.
Finn brought his M4 carbine up to his shoulder and looked at Ryan expectantly. “Boss?”
“Hold your fire,” Ryan told him. “Stephen, what are our chances of bringing it down with live rounds?”
“It won’t even notice,” Stephen said.
“It would if I stuck the grenade launcher on,” Finn commented.
“Get ready, but don’t loose until I tell you,” Ryan ordered. “She’s got the pony under control but if we spook it even more, she’s stuffed. Stephen, get as much tranq into the sod as you can.”
Ryan heard Fiver gun the engine on the Land Rover. He swung the wheel and used the vehicle to batter at the side of the titanoboa’s head and then cut across its path again. That finally succeeded in diverting its attention for a moment from its original prey. They watched as Fiver yanked hard on the wheel and took off across the long grass, bouncing over rocks, but still managing to maintain control.
The snake took its attention off Amy and as soon as she realised what had happened, she swung the now-tiring pony around and started to ride back towards the anomaly, encouraged by shouts from Ryan and the others. For a glorious moment, Ryan thought she was going to make it, but the pony stumbled, dropping its shoulder on the right side and coming crashing to the ground.
Ryan and Blade promptly started running.
The white pony thrashed on the ground, but Amy had been thrown clear. The girl jumped up, still clutching the reins, and promptly started to encourage her mount to get back on its feet. To Ryan’s amazement, the plucky creature scrambled back up, seemingly with no bones broken. Amy hauled herself back into the saddle and urged the pony on. It had lost speed and was clearly on the brink of exhaustion, but it rose to the challenge.
“Boss!” Finn’s voice was low and urgent. “The anomaly’s fading!”
Ryan glanced back over his shoulder. Finn was right, the anomaly had lost a fraction of its brilliance. Not enough to make him panic – yet – but it wasn’t a good sign, although if they were lucky, they could turn this to their advantage…
“Fiver,” he said into his radio mic. “Keep it occupied for another minute then I want you back through the anomaly as fast as you can. We haven’t got much time left.” To Amy, approaching on the pony, he yelled, “Come on, you can do it!”
She gave him a nod and carried on urging her pony on. The animal’s mouth was flecked with foam and it was limping off one foreleg, but it was now closing on the anomaly, still some distance away from the titanoboa.
The snake appeared to be torn between chasing prey it understood and battling with a foe that it clearly didn’t. Fiver took advantage of its confusion and got in another couple of glancing blows from the Land Rover. The snake retaliated with a head-butt that almost turned the Land Rover on its side.
“Go back through, miss!” Blade yelled, pointing at the anomaly.
Amy did as she’d been told, setting the pony’s head at the middle of the anomaly and riding through.
“Fiver, get back here now!” Ryan ordered. “Finn, drop a grenade in front of its nose. Don’t hit it. Blade, as soon as he’s through, I want a wall of smoke across here when we get back. As soon as we’re out of here, toss a flashbang back through. I want it to go off just on the other side.”
“On it, boss,” Finn said, taking aim.
“Fiver, peel off now!” Ryan ordered. “Grenade incoming!”
There was no one else Ryan knew who’d be able to pull off what he’d just asked for, but with perfect coordination, Finn put a 40mm grenade about three metres in front of the titanoboa just after Fiver accelerated away from it to one side, putting as much distance as he could between his vehicle and the impact.
The M406 high explosive round had a 5m kill zone, but the snake wasn’t a human being, and he hadn’t ordered a direct hit. But if this didn’t slow it down, he didn’t sodding well know what would.
The grenade sent earth and stones flying into the air. The blast checked the snake’s forward momentum, sending it veering off to one side, slower than before. They’d gained precious time. It was now moving at less than a walking pace.
“Fiver, get your arse out of here!” Ryan ordered.
The Land Rover changed course and came bumping back through the trees. For a moment, Ryan thought the vehicle was going to end up on its side when it lurched unsteadily over a partially-hidden chunk of wood but Fiver kept on coming, and bounced through the anomaly at speed.
“Go!”
Ryan waited until Stephen, Finn and Blade had leaped through before he followed them. Behind them, the titanoboa had recovered from the concussive impact of the grenade blast frighteningly quickly and was still intent on following its quarry.
Once Ryan had dived through the anomaly, Blade lobbed a flash-bang back through as planned. Hands grabbed Ryan and hauled him away as strong netting was hastily erected around the anomaly. Dirt blown up by the grenade flew back at them out of the now-dimming shards of time.
For a moment, Ryan thought it was over. He stared at the anomaly, positively willing it to close.
He was out of luck.
The titanoboa’s head shot out of the anomaly. It was covered in clods of earth and had a streak of blood down one side, but even so, the netting strained under the onslaught, and Ryan could only stand by and watch as the two Land Rovers acting as anchor points started to move, despite their weight.
“The anomaly’s fading!” Connor yelled, taking that day’s prize for stating the bleeding obvious.
“Its head’ll get cut off!” Abby exclaimed, distressed at what was about to happen to the titanoboa,
“Try this,” DI Cross said firmly.
A sudden jet of water blasted past Ryan, hitting the titanoboa full on its blunt nose and spraying up into its eyes.
Cross stood there, holding the nozzle of a pressure washer that had clearly been cranked up to full power. Under the onslaught of a very effective water-cannon, the titanoboa recoiled. The detective kept the water trained on the anomaly, aiming at where the huge head had been only a moment before.
The anomaly shimmered, making Ryan think the snake was coming back for another go, but instead, the ball of light abruptly closed in on itself and vanished, leaving everyone staring in dazed jubilation at the empty air that only a moment before had looked likely to decapitate the titanoboa.
“We did it!” Connor yelled, throwing his hat in the air.
Blade caught it and tossed it back onto Connor’s head with the ease of long-practice and then everyone was laughing and talking at once.
*****
“He seems fine,” Abby said, stroking the pony’s grey nose. “He did well – you both did.”
“She’s a brave girl,” Ryan said quietly, watching as Amy chattered happily to Abby, seemingly none the worse for her experience.
“That incident has just shortened my life expectancy by at least a decade,” Professor Malinson declared.
“You look well on it,” Nick commented.
“You’re not too old to slap,” she said briskly.
Ryan would have paid good money to see that, but he kept quiet, not wanting to attract her ire.
Next to him, Jamie Cross was lounging on the veranda with a glass of beer in hand, clearly in no hurry to get back to work. “So, you do this sort of thing all the time?”
“Is that a leading question?”
The DI raised his glass in salute. “Ryan, I’ve just seen a giant motherfucker of a snake and been through a rip in time. I think that means we can stop dancing around each other like a couple of virgins on a first date.”
“Not my call,” Ryan said, glancing over at Claudia.
Claudia shot the pair of them an amused glance. “I’ll ask Lester to talk to the Chief Constable. Apparently they’re members of the same club. In the meantime, I take it we can rely on your discretion, Jamie?”
Ryan interpreted the use of the detective’s first name as an indication that they could lower their defences around him. The man had kept a cool head in the middle of a difficult situation and had almost certainly saved the titanoboa’s life.
On the far side of the now less than pristine lawn, Finn and Fiver were busy hosing down the half cow that had been unceremoniously dragged around behind the Land Rover. It looked very much like beef was going to be on the menu at the weekend’s barbecue. Finn had taken his mother’s words on the subject of waste being a sin very much to heart.
Cutter and Eleanor Malinson were now deep in debate about the evolution of snakes and Amy was busy feeding carrots to her plucky pony. When Stephen joined them on the veranda carrying a bottle of cold beer, Ryan was feeling relaxed enough to snag the bottle from his lover and take a welcome drink.
At least he wasn’t going to have to be the one to report the day’s events to Lester. He could very happily leave that to Cutter and Claudia.
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no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 07:42 pm (UTC)You kept the action going beautifully, and I loved how you got them back through, and just when I thought it was over, you pulled a switch!
Brilliant.
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Date: 2017-07-01 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-02 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 09:13 pm (UTC)Good action, very interesting characters and wonderful teamwork. Really a great reading, I enjoyed it a lot *kudos*
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Date: 2017-07-01 09:14 pm (UTC)Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
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Date: 2017-07-01 11:02 pm (UTC)I'm glad they found something to help save the snake-even though it was going to eat the pony.
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Date: 2017-07-02 07:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-02 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-02 08:13 am (UTC)Brilliant to get more Cross, he's a good guy.
Well done Fiver and Finn!
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Date: 2017-07-02 12:22 pm (UTC)I like Cross, I definitely think I'll keep him. *g*
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Date: 2017-07-02 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-02 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-02 11:29 am (UTC)Indeed a great team fic! Competence is so sexy.
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Date: 2017-07-02 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-10 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-10 08:06 pm (UTC)