unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 16

A/N: kind of a boring filler chapter, but also sort of necessary. even so, I hope you enjoy!

While Abby and Connor headed straight home, Clara and Jenny went back to the ARC. Jenny was summoned by Lester almost immediately, so Clara mooched around the various offices for a while, waiting for Jenny to finish.

She ended up at the office she always went to: the one containing what was left of Nick's matrix. Well, it had partly been cleaned up now, and Clara knew that, one day quite soon probably, it would be taken away completely. She let out a sigh, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"I always end up here, too," a voice came from behind her, and Clara turned to find Jenny stood there, a sad smile on her lips. "It's like I can't escape it."

"I know the feeling," Clara nodded. There was a slight pause. "Do you want to go for a drink?" She offered, surprising Jenny completely. "I could really use one after today."

Jenny's smile widened, and she sent Clara a nod. "Yeah," she said. "I think a drink would be nice."

"Great," Clara returned the smile. "Let's go."

——

After just a few drinks, Clara and Jenny had left the bar still sober, wanting to be somewhere else instead. They hadn't said exactly where they wanted to go to each other; they both kind of just knew where the other needed to be.

Clara stopped in front of the headstone, Jenny next to her. Their arms were linked to support each other, but at the sight of the grave they both sunk to their knees. There was silence for a long while before either of them had the courage to speak up; they knew that this was the place where they should talk properly about everything that happened.

"I'm sorry," Jenny started, her words aimed at Clara but her eyes not leaving the headstone. "For being so angry at you. I blamed Cutter's death on you because I was jealous at the thought of you two together, and I shouldn't have. So, I'm sorry."

Clara sighed. "I don't blame you, Jenny," she told her kindly. "I would have done exactly the same if I were you."

"I do need to know, though," Jenny continued, and Clara had had a sense that this was coming. "What exactly happened between the two of you? I mean, I know that Stephen left, but that was all you told us. What really happened with Nick?"

Clara took a deep breath, preparing her answer for a moment before spilling everything to Jenny. "Nick fired Stephen from the ARC. Officially, this time. Stephen signed the papers that ensured he would never talk, or even think, about the anomalies or the ARC ever again. But then he left, to get away from it all, and said he'd be back in a couple of weeks. I didn't want to live in his flat all alone, and I still didn't want to go home, so I wound up at Nick's house. I lived there until. . . until he died."

"But there was more, wasn't there?" Jenny pressed gently. "That kiss before he went to find Helen didn't come from nowhere."

"About a month went by, and Stephen still hadn't come home," Clara recalled. It felt strange to relive it all. "He hadn't even phoned to tell me he was okay. So Nick was there for me; he looked after me and made sure I was alright. And then, after we had sent that horrible little gremlin creature back through the anomaly, he set something up for me." She shifted position, feeling Jenny watching her and listening intently.

"In his office with the matrix, he'd projected stars across the ceiling, and he'd made the model light up with little orange lights to represent anomalies," Clara continued, eyes shining at the memory. "I kissed him that night. I slept with him that night." She felt Jenny tense a little. "It just felt right, at the time. I know now that it wasn't. But it carried on, right up until the day he was killed." A couple of tears splashed onto the earth below.

"He really loved you," Jenny told her, wrapping an arm around Clara's shoulders and squeezing her gently. "And he was so proud of you."

"Really?" Clara asked, her eyes large. Jenny nodded.

"Apart from dinosaurs, you were all he ever talked about," she chuckled, causing them both to shed a few more tears.

"He loved you, too," Clara sighed. "Much more than me. I hope you know that."

"I know," Jenny whispered.

Clara suddenly laughed quietly. Jenny turned to her, brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" She asked.

"Could you imagine if he was here now, listening to this?" Clara giggled. Jenny nodded in agreement, a smile forcing its way onto her face.

"He'd say that he didn't love either of us," she agreed. "He just tolerated us because he had to."

"And then he'd go on some crazy ramble about predicting anomalies and how they link to ancient myths," Clara snickered, and Jenny laughed as well.

The two of them sat there, in front of Nick Cutter's grave, for hours, talking and laughing and reminiscing about all the good times - and the bad - that they'd had with the man himself. While they were talking, they completely forgot about all the other troubles they had, including their grief, and it was absolute bliss.

——

"So?" Stephen questioned the moment Clara walked through the front door. "How was it?"

"It was. . ." Clara sighed, recalling her day. She suppressed a smile. "It was okay." She tossed her keys into the bowl near the front door and sat down on the sofa next to Stephen, who wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"Did it help at all?" He asked softly.

"You know what?" Clara tilted her head so she could look at him. "I think it was just what I needed."

"Good," Stephen smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Though I kind of missed having you here with me."

"Well, you'll have to get used to that," Clara told him, the smile not leaving her face. "Because I'll be gone quite a lot. There are still lots of anomalies out there; lots of creatures to face. And if I'm not there, the whole world of evolution could fall into shambles."

"Well, the world of evolution is lucky to have you around," Stephen nodded. "Even if you aren't supposed to talk about it."

"Oh, sorry," Clara realised. "I forgot. Let's just hope Lester doesn't have hidden cameras anywhere so he can send trained assassins to kill us."

"Lester's clever but I don't think he's that clever," Stephen pointed out with a small laugh.

"Yeah, you might be right," Clara sighed, settling into Stephen's arms. "Well, let's just forget about all that and focus on right now. I am exhausted, aren't you?"

Stephen rolled his eyes fondly. "Absolutely."

He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bed, lying her down despite the fact she was still fully dressed. Carefully, he got her changed into one of his t-shirts and tucked her under the covers. He himself then got into the bed, and cuddled her close. This was almost like their life before, when they worked together and hadn't experienced the deaths and the hardships they had since. It was nostalgic, and that was the last thing Stephen thought about before he fell asleep with Clara in his arms.