#SUB FOLDER: verse six. arc tba

[unitleada]

So that's why you stopped coming home. The words rung in her ears long after she'd slammed her phone onto the table and sat down, head in her hands. 'Does Moira know Kate? No, it's alright. I'll tell her. One of us is just a wee bit more trustworthy when it comes to these things.' She should've seen it coming. She should've prepared for it. Stupidly idiotic not to have. Who'd been the one to break the news she wondered. Because apparently, they'd seen fit to put their own spin on it. There were a half a dozen names she could think of who would have loved to cause this, each a more crass, gossip mongering little... The knock at the door jolted her to her senses, hurriedly dropping her hands away. The door opened. Her heart sank as she saw him standing there. She had to tell him. No way around it. Hullo darling. I know you prefer the quiet life but I've caused a bit of a mess... nasty rumours and the like. ❝ She knows. ❞ Kate swallowed thickly, realising she'd said too much and not enough in the same breath. A small, bitter smile, gesturing for him to sit. God please do sit down. ❝ Sorry, I'm not making any sense. ... it's. it's Siobhan. She knows. About us. Well, not exactly. There's more... ❞

@strtravels

[unitleada]

 Barely off the plane from Geneva, and she'd already been informed there was a crisis. She stared at the screen in front of her now, reading glasses perched on her nose to give herself a better look, still struggling to make heads or tails of it. Her head turned, just a fraction in Vikram's direction, brow furrowing slightly. ❝ Bring me up to speed Colonel. What am I looking at? ❞ 

@spacereflected

[unitleada]

Ah, Mondays. Unequivocally loathed them. Well, actually. No. Not this particular Monday morning. She cleared her throat for the umpteenth time, catching herself from tucking her hair behind her ears because really, she was the commander-in-chief of the largest covert alien investigation taskforce on the surface of the planet. For gods sake! She certainly did not want one more ridiculous rumour trailing her every footstep. From Josh Carter's mouth to UNIT's ear. ——If only actual useful intelligence would circulate around HQ in the same manner. The organisation would never have another communications problem again! Back to Mondays then. Yes. Her opinion on Monday's had softened. Whether it had to do with the two small patterned cups in the kitchen sink this morning, or the fact that both sides of her bed appeared to have been slept in or even the fact that only one of their cars was parked in the lot this morning.... whether any of that had something to do with it? Was frankly, no one's business.

Kate cleared her throat one more time, settling back against the wall beside Edward, waiting for the supervising trainer to appear, the newest batch of trainees no doubt staggering in behind them, single file. No direct interference today. No, today was purely for observation purposes. She glanced to her left, lips curling into a smile at the sight of him.  ❝ I always think we've accounted for every safe house and then like clockwork, another one simply, appears. Right out of thin air. This one's been in UNIT possession since the mid 90's. Fallen right off every known catalogue. ❞ 

@strtravels

[unitleada]

❝ All solid theories ... whatever the case I'm just glad it wasn't anything sinister. This time. ❞ Her thoughts turned to Ealdon House at that. Kate felt the same eerie sense of foreboding here in these walls that she had felt back there along the Scottish border. She supposed that was to be expected. A disused house was nothing more than a space devoid of life. The gap between beginnings and the endings where existence happened. Now these walls would breathe life again, in an entirely different way. That was life too. Constant motion. The smile broadened, retracing the earlier conversation.

. ❝ —— You in nineteen ninety seven. I can't quite picture it. Were you much different .....Would I be surprised? ❞ She wondered if he would.The late 90's. God. She thought of the woman she'd been back then, casting her mind back to what felt like a lifetime ago. She'd been high spirited and unruly. To say nothing of that houseboat. An outsider would scarcely be able to reconcile the differences between the woman she had been and the woman she'd become. She liked to think Ed would pick up on it. He had a knack for that, that was why he was the very best head of personnel in her eyes. He saw people.

. ❝... I would've liked to have seen that.❞

“Mid 90s, you say? – I was posted not far from here around late 96’ to early ‘97, and I had no idea.” Of course, he hadn’t been in the position to know as much as he did now; these days his security level was higher and the amount of information he was told, definitely so, too. Back then, he had just been promoted and had waited for another long term assignment to come up. Because that was, what he had done back then, similar to what Sam Bishop was doing these days. In his opinion, Sam was doing a much more competent job, then he had been doing, even though – well, people surely hadn’t minded his work, or he wouldn’t be where he was now. However…

Nearly 20 years ago now, he wouldn’t have dreamed of being where he was now. And nearly a few months ago, he wouldn’t have dared to do the same, even though for different reason – and we were no longer just talking about job opportunities and the pay grade he found himself in now.

Blue eyes wandered to the person by and at his side; meeting her eyes and giving her a small smile, that still made him feel like a schoolboy who had been caught copying the answers from his neighbour. Being with Kate wasn’t awkward and neither was working with her, but PEOPLE… He didn’t even need his imagine to run too wild to know how they would react. Excited. Happy. He knew, he was.

“I suspect it might have been lost in the files? It wouldn’t be the first time something has been filed under the wrong year or letter – or accidentally been wiped with other information. Though, we can only assume it might have been an accident, since the scans show nothing out of the ordinary for this place.” The reason the new trainees could use it as a sort of training ground; a hint of a real mission, while they’d be asked to secure the perimeter and check the sightly overgrown house out for anything extraterrestrial.

[unitleada]

Expelled a breath. Shaken more to her core by this than any Dalek, Silurian, Nestene or any other alien she'd faced down in her time. Funny wasn't it. Always the things you never expect. His touch calmed her somewhat, the warmth of his hand taking away some of the cold of hers. It brought a smile to her face, despite the circumstances. Edward. Her Ed. Always so patient. So understanding... a balm to the soul. That small gesture gave her the moment she needed to compose her thoughts. Allowed the panic to subside inside of her, and that calm rationale she was known to adopt in a crisis to surface once more. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze to let him know, yes, she was very much back in the room and she was going to fix this mess.

❝ Someone else got there first. Someone with a grudge, or-or some grievance I cannot begin to fathom! ❞ The corner of her mouth twitched, barely masking the anger she felt. Or the frustration Oh, she would love to meet whoever set this all into motion. Kate cleared her throat, trying to phrase it as delicately as possible. ❝ ...Siobhan has it in her head that I was carrying on with you... behind her back.❞

She was paraphrasing of course. Her ex-wife's words had been a little more colourful than that. Despite it being complete nonsense, she couldn't blame her. If it had been the reverse, if she had thought that Siobhan had been unfaithful to her, she would feel every bit as angry and hurt and want to lash out too. The trouble was. It wasn't true. Never. Not in a million years. The idea appalled her. She was sure Ed would feel similarly. But when Siobhan convinced herself of something, it was difficult to dissuade her otherwise.

She feared the repercussions of this. Not the silly office gossip, grating as it was. No, what she feared was that her ex-wife would make good on that promise to tell their daughter. She feared what her daughter would think of her, and of Ed after hearing something as damning as that. She feared too, that Edward might wake up and realise he had gotten more than he bargained for with her. The mess in her life, was more than just paperwork and aliens. ❝ I'm so sorry Ed, this must be the last thing you expected. ❞

Two cups of coffee balanced in one hand, he had used his free hand to knock – out of courtesy really, simply because he wanted to give Kate a short, simply warning before he opened the door, just in case she was caught up in some important business again. Even if they had talked about meeting in her office this morning. Even though it was the usual time, he came around when it was looking like another long day at work. After the last mess they had had to deal with…

He had barely pushed the door open, looking at Kate with a smile on his lips, when he started to regret the choice of hot beverage. Perhaps a cup of tea would have been a better one, seeing the look on Kate’s face. Or a glass of single malt. With the expression lingering and the atmosphere in the room so thick, you could have cut it with a knife, it seemed like one of those nights where one could be tempted to start having a drink on the clock.

The door pushed back into the lock behind him, the question of WHAT HAPPENED? hadn’t even left his lips, when she told him. Not an alien invasion. Not Downing Street or Geneva calling. Briefly he wondered if he’d rather be dealing with the prime minister or the smug Colonel, whose name he kept forgetting, then he placed the cups down on the table, sat down in the chair Kate had gestured towards – and enclosed one of Kate’s hands in his, still warm from the cups he had been holding.

“I take it – this did not go the way it should have?” The question is asked even though he knew the answer; a thumb stroking absent-mindedly over the back of Kate’s hand, while he was thinking of just what this meant. She knows. A loaded statement.

“Please tell me what happened, Kate… Did you tell her…?” He doubted it, just seeing Kate’s reaction, but he hoped for an explanation; hoped, too, that the soft gesture – his hands still holding Kate’s – would manage to calm her down.

[unitleada]

❝ Yes, she was able to rule that out quite early. No wormhole activity and no energy signatures that raise suspicions either. ❞ She watched him with a grim sense of amusement, seeing the same sort of confusion written on his face that she'd felt when she'd first picked up the case file.

Could still recall her first cases, back when she'd started in scientific research oh, over a decade ago now. Somewhere along the road of alien threats and temporal events, she'd come to be more weary on first instinct .. she wanted the source located, assessed and contained. That was the first priority.

❝ Of course——that could indicate that it's beyond our capabilities; a temporal anomaly we can't predict or haven't accounted for...but I can't shake the feeling that there's a much more simple explanation to it. Osgood feels the same. We all do, in fact, no one quite understands why. ❞

Kate cleared her throat after a moment, chin resting on the back of a closed fist. Really should be getting a move on with this. ❝ Ed...about that coffee? ❞ 

“Milk, one sugar? – I’ll get on it, right after giving this a read.” He had picked up the file from the desk; lifting it a little more as a gesture to underline his words, before he opened it. A classic look to it. A report that had been handed in to UNIT by one of their various connections. A file just like any other they had – only this one being slightly more confusing than others. The line between his eyebrows deepened as he furrowed them, briefly wishing he had grabbed the cup of coffee before starting to read. He couldn’t shake the feeling that would have been the wiser decision.

“ – sounds like some magic trick gone wrong. A whole vehicle just going missing for a year. But I suppose we’re either looking at possible abduction or –“ There was something else; a familiar sound to a vehicle just vanishing close to a tunnel. While he hadn’t been actively involved in the case – on site –, he had been dealing with some of the aftermath. An ordinary bus making a small detour to another planet.

Flicking through the documents attached to the report he had just read through, he couldn’t claim to understand ALL the technical details described, but it answered at least one of the questions he would have otherwise directed at Kate. Now he could only place the file back down on the desk between them, a nearly silent sigh leaving his lips.

“I was going to refer to the whole mess with the wormhole in – 2010? – but it looks like Osgood has already ruled out similar, if I am deciphering this correctly…”

[unitleada]

The thought of Josh Carter hearing about anything at all was enough to elicit an exasperated groan and with it, the sudden need to down a glass of single malt. or two. ❝ ... Perish the thought. ❞ Perhaps they should put all thoughts of that to rest. She wasn't particularly superstitious, but where Josh and his propensity for gossip were concerned, a person could never be too careful....  ❝ I've read everyone's files. Had to know who was working for us I'm afraid. Actually, ❞

She paused. ❝ It may surprise you to know, that I was rather impressed by your less than exemplary record .... What I needed-what UNIT needed I should say, were people who thought outside of orders ....oh, I'm giving you the sales pitch aren't i? It's becoming a habit. ❞ A light chuckle escaped her.

With the rigid discipline of the military came an odd sense of comfort too. Ease. Soldiers didn't have to think for themselves, they simply followed someone else's instruction. It was that unyielding compliance that had helped to propel their descent ... if Edward had been a model soldier, well. He wouldn't be spending his mornings having coffee at her kitchen table for starters. But that was completely beside the point.

❝ Ninety seven? let's see. I think i'd just sold the houseboat. Put Gordy into school, oh, he hated it at first. I had this awful job that I hated too so really, I'd made both of us miserable and we only had a normal, rudderless house to console ourselves in. ❞ Another laugh, opening her mouth to go on, but before she could, out of the corner of her eyes, something caught her attention. It hadn't been anything really, just a flash of strange light on the staircase. Just there, on the landing. A blink and you'd miss it kind of moment. But it was the light itself that gave her pause, a strange, ethereal glow. Her eyes still glued to the spot where she had seen it, Kate opened her mouth once more.  ❝ ...Did you see that? ❞ 

“Must be the practice in losing files.” It’s nothing but a joke, said with a small chuckle accompanying his words, because he hasn’t lost any files so far – at least none they shouldn’t have lost, so perhaps there actually is a hint of truth in his words, too. And then there is also a feeling he can’t shake completely; a feeling to have forgotten something, without being sure that he actually had. Perhaps it was just this building – forgotten, too, and feeling like it had been stuck in time. Untouched since the late 90s. The layer of dust settled on the old-fashioned furniture alone could speak volumes.

His eyes wandered for a moment, the thought of having forgotten something – forgotten again. Especially when he heard Kate’s question and simply couldn’t hold back the laugh. 1997. More or less 20 years ago now. WOULD SHE BE SURPRISED? – His gaze wandered back to meet hers; lines on his face still turned to amusement.

“ – you mean apart from the fact that I was only in my thirties, always on the warpath with a full set of curls and my accent hadn’t mellowed out by living in London for too long? – Difficult question. I wouldn’t say I’ve changed any of my principles. Not completely. But it’s also been two decades and too much has happened… The only thing I could imagine would surprise you, if I wasn’t sure you’ve read my file, would be the case of disobeying orders. The repercussions… I’m sure Josh would love to hear about it…”

“ – What were you doing ‘97 then? This is some years before you officially joined UNIT, isn’t it?”