Memes: prompt me, please

You know, when I clicked behind the cut to read "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" knowing that I was about to read a John Reese/Nikki Betancourt (Person of Interest)/(Numb3rs) fic, I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, I really didn't know how that even worked.

But you showed me how it worked... and it worked HOT AND SPICY but in this subtle, non-explicit, almost unspoken way. Mr. Reese - a man of few words and Nikki Betancourt - a woman who says exactly what she's thinking was just that perfect blend of attitude and electricity that makes for a good romance. You certainly made a good point about Nikki having a thing for emotionally unavailable men, starting with Ian Edgerton and then moving to Billy Cooper (like going from a sniper/tracker to a fugitive recovery specialist would make the cell phone reception better? Oh, Nikki.) And then she finds herself in New York and there he is, John Reese. Long lost love? One that superseded his thing with that red head in the airport? I think so. That's what I got out of it anyway.

Oh, and by the way, I laughed so hard when Nikki didn't even flinch when she met Finch and he was talking all about numbers and technology... and she couldn't help thinking Finch was that combination of Larry and Charlie and her favorite conspiracy theorist Roy McGill. That was quite an image there. I'm still laughing.

All in all, definitely going into my "favorites." Will there be a sequel? Or better yet... a prequel that tells me more about how they met way back when?

Originally... I had thought of having Charlie or Amita be the one whose number came up. But then I remembered what was once said about how Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe are so smart the story *has to* be told from the POV of Watson and Archie (otherwise the story's over before the second paragraph)...and then the original plot fell away, leaving a Reese story and a Nikki story and then The Big Ship Surprise.

Nikki/Reese? Process of elimination, back in the plot bunny stage...Liz wanted to play tourist, and the subplot with Colby and Carter worked better if Granger didn't know either of them.

That said, once I established Nikki/Reese, I had fun with it. Why do you think Colby joked about "All this time, there's a reason why you've been talking for two." (riff on the pregnancy joke)

Though it's also why Liz asked Nikki if Nikki was trying, with Edgerton and Cooper, to have an echo of what she had with Reese.

The First Line: Once again, Reese and Finch were not the only ones in pursuit of the person whose number the Machine brought to light.

The Final Line: And who knows - maybe the Machine will align us again.

References? I thank Barnes&Noble for the use of Making out in Burmese, though Nikki never said where she learned it, and Reese hovered warningly when I thought about asking him.

Nikki met Finch and... glad you liked that scene; when I was posting it, I couldn't remember if I had left in (or deleted) Reese's line to Nikki that "you handled that better than most would," which is where that scene came from.

Things that hit the cutting-room floor: I'm one of several people who think The Machine has ties to SkyNet, which is why I had to go back and remove all Terminator jokes. (Nikki: 5, Liz: 17)

Also had to cut what I felt was a charming scene where Colby and Carter are sitting at a table, discussing bullets. It didn't really bring much to the table as far as the storyline (it was more an aside), but it is where the kept-in line Liz said when she got to where Nikki and Reese were keeping an eye out: "You do not want to know what they're up to."

Prequel? The Machine insisted I write some prequel scenes/drabbles before writing the fic itself - 1) so there's no contradictions, 2) in case they showed up in the fic itself, like in Person of Interest...one of those scenes made it in - oh crap, I removed it during one of my "nah, make it more like Numb3rs - no flashbacks" moods.

so definately a prequel. or a sequel. or both in one.

The Foyle's War/Primeval crossover "Barbarossa". My favourite bit was Sam's stare-down with Helen Cutter.

The First Line: "There's a war on!"

Samantha Stewart heard this and nodded. The Nazis had to be defeated, or the world would be a nightmare, and she'd had some horrific doozies.

Helen Cutter heard this and nodded. This was a tiny theater in her war, but it was not one she was willing to lose.


The Last Line: "You be careful."

"Yes, Grandmother," Helen said, hoping she would still have tears left to shed when it came time to make the hardest sacrifice: Nick.

"Grandmo-" Sam asked. "D'you mean -" but Helen was already gone.


Why was this written?: I felt it was time for (another?) theory explaining the change in Helen between S1 and S2 in Primeval...in comparison with that alteration to her character, S2 to S3 is more a change in severity.

That led to one of Helen's discussions with Sam and Milner about the analogy of an isolated farm which finds itself shelled by a passing army, and what do the farmers think has just happened?... The rest of the fic grew around that isolated snippet.

That and I wanted to write something where Helen helps do good - yet in the process, becomes the person some fans describe as a moustache-twirling villain.


Where was Foyle?: Not that he said as much, but he was likely visiting family.


If this were a filmed episode, who would have had more fun?: I like to think (or at least hope) I gave both Sam and Helen plenty of meat in their scenes. Milner, I'm afraid, got the short end of the stick, in terms of airtime.


Was the "Tommy" who was given a cameo in the fic, a Torchwood reference?: Yep. Only, as there's no Rift, no Jack, and no aliens, Tommy's a distinguished officer of high rank.


A "time war"? Really?: Well, whether you consider Anomalies to be a side effect or the desired outcome, the questions of "why do they exist?" and "why are nearly all the Creatures deadly dangerous?" have to be addressed.

(and I wanted it to be a threat that would take a toll on a nomad of the time stream like Helen - I've already done one or two fics where it's her vs another nomad of time)


Whose fault is this fic?: Two people, actually -
'The Soviet use of deception as a tactic is made evident. Their willingness to sacrifice men to gain time [...]' -from the dust jacket of Operation Barbarossa: strategy and tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941 by Bryan Fugate.

"We are in the presence of a crime without a name." -Prime Minister Churchill, 24 August 1941.

they were the genesis of the fic.

Interesting! Wouldn't have thought of Sam as Helen's grandmother, but I can see some things she might have inherited: they both have tallish, solid physiques, for example.