A Different Kind of Predator - WIP Challenge
Title: A Different Kind of Predator
Author: aunteeneenah
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 5,311
Pairing: Connor/Abby, Philip/April
Participants: Connor, Abby, Burton, Lester, Ryan, Becker, Blade, April, Stephen Hart, Matt Anderson, mention of Ditzy and Cutter.
Spoilers: For S4E7
Warnings: Attempted non-con and dub-com
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. I just bend them to suit my needs and then put them back together. I make nothing from this.
Summary: Burton will do anything to achieve what… or whom… he wants.
A/N: Thank you so much to fififolle for her beta and encouragement. This fits on my bingo card under unrequited lust love. It was also one of my WIPs so I think I’ll get a few points for it. Also, thank you to fredbasset for creating Blade and Ditzy. Mods, may we have a tag for WIP Challenge? Thank you.
Philip Burton was locked in his office, although, he was not alone. April Leonard was on her knees, his cock down her throat, trying to keep up with Burton’s thrusts into her mouth. As far as he was concerned, April was a handy means to masturbate and was of no more importance to him than a knot hole in a tree. In fact, he had her backed against the wall, his hands flat on the wall in order to give himself more purchase. In this position, he was brutal, shoving his cock down April’s throat as far as he could, causing her to choke and when he came, he pulled out and spurt all over her face and shoved her away.
His voice was cold as he said, “Clean yourself up and get back to work.” He cleaned himself up and tucked himself away and then left the office, shutting the door behind him.
April lay where he left her, a coldness about her that belied the tears streaming down her face.
*****
Burton was striding down the hallway of the ARC when his attention was grabbed by the sight of Connor Temple in his lab.
Burton had seen old photos of Connor wearing layers of bulky clothing that hid his body, however, since he’d returned from the cretaceous, he’d taken to wearing more form-fitting clothing that showed off his lithe body. Burton was not necessarily gay, but he could appreciate a fine piece of arse when he saw it and in his eyes, Connor Temple did, indeed, have a fine arse and burying himself up to his balls in that self-same arse was a frequent fantasy.
Burton entered Connor’s lab while Connor watched him carefully. Burton slithered up to Connor and placed his hand in the center of the younger man’s back and began rubbing in small circles.
“Well, Connor, how goes progress on the dating calculator?” he asked with a smile that made Connor’s blood run cold.
Connor slowly moved away from Burton, watching him from the corner of his eyes and tried to answer his question. “It’s actually coming along very well. I think I’ll be ready to test it at the next anomaly shout.”
Burton followed along as Connor shifted away, moving his hand down his back until it was resting on the waistband of Connor’s trousers, still moving in small circles.
“Philip, is there something I can do for you?” Connor finally asked, moving away yet again.
“Why, yes, Connor, there is. Why don’t you join me for lunch and we’ll discuss it.” Again, that smile from Burton.
*****
Unbeknownst to Burton, he was being watched. Across the corridor, Abby was standing with Lester watching the proceedings, and seeing how uncomfortable Connor was, Abby moved into his lab.
“Excuse me, Philip. Connor? Are you ready to go to lunch?” She smiled a sweet smile at Connor, moving between him and Burton, effectively stopping Burton’s groping of Connor.
“Oh, I don’t believe Connor has time to go to lunch. He has much too much work to complete here,” Burton interrupted.
“Of course Connor should go to lunch.” Burton hadn’t noticed Lester moving into the room. “It wouldn’t do to circumvent health and safety standards by skipping meals. Connor, Abby, you two go to lunch and enjoy yourselves.” His smile at Burton was every bit as cold and calculating as Burton’s had been.
“Um, yeah, lunch.” Poor Connor wasn’t certain what was going on but spending time with Abby was not to be missed and he hurried after her. He glanced over his shoulder at Burton, frowned, and moved more quickly.
Burton watched him walk away with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
Abby could see that Connor was bothered. “Conn, what is it?” she asked, reaching out to touch his hand.
“I don’t understand what the deal is with Philip. I try to do my work and he seems pleased but sometimes, I get the feeling he’s asking for far more than I can, or want to, give.” He smiled, “I know, that sounds ridiculous.”
“Not at all,” Abby responded. “Anyone can see that he wants you for more than your brain. Lester sees it, Becker and Ryan are ready to stuff him through an anomaly, heck, even Cutter sees it and he never sees anything that’s going on around the ARC.”
Connor laughed. “Well, it's not going to happen. My heart belongs to only one person and she’s the one currently nicking my pudding. Oi! Order your own!”
Abby leaned over and gave Connor a quick kiss and laughed. “Haven’t you heard? Stolen sweets are that much sweeter.”
The lovers laughed but Connor couldn’t help remembering the look in Burton’s eyes and feeling a tingle down his spine that somehow, things weren’t right.
***
Lester called Becker and Ryan into his office.
“Gentlemen, there is something afoot that is causing me a headache of major proportions and it concerns our resident genius and Philip Burton.”
Becker and Ryan exchanged glances. “Does this have something to do with the way Burton is, shall we say, pursuing Connor?” asked Ryan.
Lester was not surprised that his head of security knew. “Yes, it has.”
Becker asked, “Does Connor reciprocate Burton’s feelings?”
“No, and from what I’ve seen, he’s at a loss as to what to do about it. I’m certainly loath to get involved in anything that is not related to his work, but I’m afraid Connor just doesn’t know how to handle this, and that it will, eventually, impact on his work. Burton is as slimy as they come and if Connor returned his favor, I wouldn’t get involved but he doesn’t and Burton doesn’t like being refused so this just cannot end well.”
“What do you want us to do?” asked Ryan.
“I just want you to keep an eye on things. Make sure Connor stays safe.”
As they two men were leaving, Lester stopped them. “Oh, and keep an eye on Professor Cutter. He may seem clueless as to what’s going on around him but in this instance, I’m afraid he is very aware and he may try to chuck Burton through an anomaly and the thought of the paperwork involved in that.. well, it just doesn’t bear thinking about.”
As the two men walked away, Major Ryan was heard to say; “Personally, chucking the bastard through an anomaly is a brilliant idea, but I do understand Lester’s side of things. It certainly would create a PR nightmare for Jenny.”
The men laughed and as they walked, worked out how to set up a circumspect security guard for Connor.
*****
The next few days brought much excitement in the wake of multiple anomalies in one spot, with not only Terror Birds appearing, but Danny Quinn as well. His face to face meeting with Ethan, who turned out to be his brother, Patrick, did not end well and Danny decided to go back through the anomalies after his brother, much to the disappointment of all concerned.
Connor’s theory of convergence was an exciting discovery which he tried to share with Philip Burton.
“Connor, come with me. We need to discuss this in more detail and I don’t think the ARC is the place for such an important discussion.” Connor stepped back away from Philip. “You trust me, don’t you, Connor? This discovery of yours is much too important to share just yet. I really believe we need to go somewhere private to discuss it and my flat isn’t far from here.” As Philip was speaking, he opened the door of his limo and firmly pushed Connor towards the open door.
Connor looked him in the eye and saw the same look he’d seen before. It was as if Philip Burton was hunting and Connor was his prey.
Connor shook his head. “Of course I trust you, Philip. I just think this is news that everyone needs to hear. If I’m right, we need to make major preparations in order to be ready for it.”
As he was speaking, Philip was doing his best to push him into the car, however, Connor’s ever-present security guard, Blade, stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Burton. But Lester has just radioed that he needs Connor’s presence in the hub immediately. It’s vitally important.”
The look Burton threw at Blade would have felled a lesser man but that’s why Blade had been chosen for this detail, he gave as good as he got and the bright green stare he returned made Burton’s mouth go dry and he threw himself into his car, slammed the door and ordered the driver to leave.
Blade simply smiled and led a very relieved Connor back to the hub.
*****
“Connor, why did you go looking for Burton?” Abby asked later on after he’d explained his theory of convergence to Lester and the rest of the ARC personnel.
“I thought it was important that he knew what I was thinking. Abby, Philip Burton is an important man and a brilliant scientist. He just makes me so uncomfortable, that I can’t stand to be alone with him but I honestly thought this was something he needed to hear and besides, he knows I’m spoken for and that I don’t go for blokes so why would he want me?”
Abby laughed gently and pushed Connor’s hair back off his face. “Connor, do you know why I love you?”
“Because I was the only bloke in the cretaceous?” Connor joked.
“No, you idiot. I love you because you are the most unaffected person I’ve ever met. You don’t know how gorgeous you are, both in mind and body. You can’t see that your gentleness shines out of your eyes. You are kind to a fault and to top it off, you’re brilliant. Of course Burton wants you. He only wants the best and that’s you.”
By the time she was finished speaking, Connor was blushing fiercely.
Abby smiled and moved closer and Connor took her into his arms where she snuggled happily. He was her Connor and she’d fight Burton to the ends of the earth for him.
*****
A few weeks later, Connor had stayed late to work out some calculations with regard to convergence when Philip entered his lab.
“Philip, what can I do for you?” asked Connor nervously.
“I just wanted to speak with you, Connor. It’s about this convergence nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense, Philip. It’s going to happen and we have to be ready for it. We need to be certain that the world is ready for it.” Connor’s hands were waving around as he spoke vehemently, needing to convince Philip of how important this was.
“Connor, you’re being ridiculous. If you complete the project I’ve asked you to work on, convergence will take care of itself with no lives lost, no creatures, all nice and tidy.” Philip’s voice became soft, almost gentle, as he tried to convince Connor.
“No, Philip. You’re being ridiculous. You want to control something that cannot, and possibly should not, be controlled. We cannot control the anomalies. I’m hopeful that eventually we’ll be able to, at the very least, predict them, and that’s what we’re working towards here. Not control.”
Philip continued on. “Don’t you see what I’m offering, Connor? With your mind and my backing, you could go farther than you can imagine, you could be rich and powerful.”
Connor looked at Philip quizzically. “Philip, I wish you’d understand. I have everything I’ve ever wished for. A woman I love and who, amazingly enough, loves me, and a job that keeps me on the cutting edge of science. I have no need of your riches or power.”
There was a look on Philip’s face, quickly gone, that Connor thought he’d imagined. He could have sworn Philip was pleased with his answer.
Philip nodded and two security men that Connor hadn’t realized were there, grabbed hold of him. He tried to yell for help but a hand was clapped over his mouth.
“Oh, Connor,” Philip purred as he stroked Connor’s face, “I really wish you’d have seen things my way.” His other hand moved to Connor’s crotch. “You know, you’ve brought this on yourself. You should have just worked with me.”
Connor felt a pin-prick in his neck, and the last thing he saw was Blade unconscious on the floor.
*****
James Lester was, to put it mildly, livid. “Can someone please tell me how it is that a highly trained, psychopathic, assassin managed to get himself knocked out and my top scientist has disappeared off the face of the earth?” His voice rose as he spoke until his last word was shouted at his security chief.
Major Ryan, with Captain Becker at his side, correctly assumed that this was a rhetorical question and stood mute.
Matt Anderson interrupted with the voice of reason. “Lester! Calm down. This isn’t getting us anywhere. Stephen and Abby are reviewing the camera footage. We’ll find him.”
“You’re right, of course, Mr. Anderson,” Lester ground out while never removing his eyes from Ryan and Becker, “we aren’t going to get anywhere standing around so will you all just get the hell out of my office and find Connor Temple!”
“If I may, Sir?” asked Capt. Becker, “we may want to see what April Leonard has to say about this. She’s been very interested in what’s happening here but has yet to come out of her lab and ask about it.”
“That has not escaped my attention, Capt. Becker, and since we know she works hand-in-glove with Burton, it would come as no surprise to find that she’s somehow involved.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” interrupted Major Ryan, “do we have evidence of Philip Burton’s involvement in Connor’s disappearance?”
“No, Major Ryan, we do not and thank you very much for bringing that to my attention!” snapped Lester. “Now, get out of my office!”
As they left Lester’s office, Ryan turned to Becker and Matt and ground out, “I’ll wager a month’s pay that Burton is behind this and when I get my hands on him, he’s going to beg to be fed to a raptor! Come on, I want to speak with Blade.”
*****
Abby’s initial reaction to Connor’s disappearance had been to storm into the ARC med bay and go after Blade. “Where’s Connor!? How could you let this happen!?”
Becker grabbed her. “Abby! Abigail! Stand down. We need to find out what happened out there and Blade’s our only link.”
Her blue eyes flashing, Abby glared at Blade. “And a weak link he is!”
Even Blade had to shrink back under Abby’s attack. “Abby, I swear to you, we’re going to find him.” Everyone in the room was amazed at Blade’s quiet tone. “I failed him. It was my job to protect him, and I failed.” His voice trailed off and Abby’s façade cracked.
“I want him back, Blade. You have to bring him back to me.”
Blade moved to Abby and she allowed him to wrap his arms around her. “I will, Abby, I’ll bring him back to you.”
“Well,” said Ryan, “as much as I hate to break up this little love fest here, we do need to find out what the hell happened out there. Blade, how the bloody hell did you end up on your arse, down for the count?”
Blade thought about it. “When I woke up, my head was splitting so the only thing I can think is I was drugged somehow.”
“Makes sense,” interrupted Ditzy, “I found traces of Phenobarbital in your system. I just don’t know how it got there.”
“Would it dissolve in tea?” Blade asked.
Ditzy looked confused. “Yes, it would, but why? You don’t usually drink tea.”
“I do if a pretty girl brings it to me,” responded Blade.
“Who? Who brought you the tea?” asked Ryan.
“April Leonard. She said I looked as if I was going to fall down and … flirted with me.” Blade looked at Ryan and knew he was in for it.
“You left your post?” Ryan said with deceptive calmness.
“I’d only gone to take a piss and on my way back, I met April and she said she’d made a brew for herself and offered some to Connor and to me. I drank mine as I was walking, gave Connor’s to him, and then moved back into position outside his lab. I saw Connor put his cup down and then I heard the doors opening. I started moving towards Connor and that’s the last thing I remember. Boss, I honestly did not see April Leonard as a threat. I figured she was a geek like Connor.” Blade looked at Abby. “Miss Maitland, I am so sorry.”
*****
Connor awoke with a throbbing headache. He also found upon awakening that his wrists were being held in place by leather cuffs attached to a chain attached to the side of a hospital bed.
“What the bloody hell,” he said aloud, “what did I do to myself this time?”
“Actually,” came a voice beside him, “it wasn’t so much what you did, but what you weren’t willing to do that has caused your current… detainment.”
Philip, bloody, Burton!
Connor closed his eyes to calm himself. He needed to get Burton talking because Burton, like all good film villains, had an immense ego and enjoyed bragging about his accomplishments, and Connor intended to use that to his advantage.
“Philip, what’s this all about?” asked Connor. “What is it I was supposed to do for you? I’ve done the research you’ve wanted. I thought I was doing a good job for you.”
“Well, aside from your dalliance with Miss Maitland, your work has been extremely valuable to me but I think you know I wanted more from you.” Burton’s smile made Connor’s blood run cold.
“More? What more did you want from me?” asked Connor, using his innocent dark eyes to his advantage.
“I wanted something on a more personal level and I believe you were very much aware of that.”
“Well, I think you should know that Abby thinks my worst fault is the fact that I seem to be oblivious to the effect I have on people around me.” Connor looked up at Philip through his long dark lashes and smiled.
Philip preened. “Are you saying you wouldn’t be averse to spending some pleasurable time with me?”
Connor shook his wrists making the chains rattle. “We’ll never know, will we, as I seem to be tied up at the moment.”
Philip reached for Connor’s right wrist. “That’s easily corrected. As you can see, there’s a clasp here that allows the chain to loosen, giving you more range of motion.”
Connor moved his hand away from the bed and used it to stroke along Philip’s thigh. “Don’t you think you’re a little far away for our purposes?” Connor smiled, once again looking up at Philip though his dark lashes.
What Philip did not see, was the fleeting look of disgust in Connor’s eyes. It just never occurred to Philip that his advances would have been unwelcome so he could only assume that Connor had been covering up because of his involvement with Abby.
Philip moved closer to the bed, running his hand up Connor’s body as he leaned in for a kiss.
*****
Abby and Stephen were reviewing the footage, again.
“There’s something here, something just doesn’t feel right,” murmured Abby.
“What are you talking about?” asked Stephen.
“I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right.”
They were reviewing each frame of footage.
“Okay, now here’s Connor working in his lab.” Stephen had to listen carefully as Abby seemed to be speaking to herself. “He looks up at something down the hallway and look here,” Abby pointed at an image, “there’s a shadow here moving closer to him and then, all of a sudden, we see him walking out of the lab. The shadow is gone and so is whatever he was looking at.”
They looked at it over and over and it never changed, Connor was working, he looked up, he walked out and then there was footage of him walking through the car park.
Abby was tapping her finger, “There's something wrong, why can’t I see it!”
Stephen placed his hand over hers, stopping the tapping. “Come on, Abby, let’s go get us some tea and take a load off our feet. Look at the clock, we’ve been at this for hours and I don’t know about you, but these new boots are killing me.”
“That’s it!” screamed Abby.
“What!” Stephen jumped back from her.
“Connor’s boots! Don’t you see it?” Abby was yelling now and everyone was running into the lab they were working in.
“Miss Maitland, please calm down and tell us what you’ve found.” Lester was quietly standing beside them.
“Look at this,” Abby indicated, “the clock behind Connor, look at the clock. When he’s in his lab and looks up, it’s midnight, but when he’s shown walking out of his lab, it’s 1:00 a.m. Where’d that hour go? And then, look at this image of Connor in the car park. Look at his feet.”
Stephen looked and smacked himself in the forehead. “He's wearing trainers!”
“That’s right,” chimed in Abby, “he’s wearing trainers but I know for a fact that he was wearing those damn brown boots yesterday because I teased him about it before we came in to work.”
“Connor, why do you always wear those boots? You have much nicer shoes and boots.”
“Aw, come on, Abs. I love these boots.”
“I know, Conn, but you wore them to your cousin’s wedding… with a black suit!”
Connor laughed and grabbed Abby, pulling her into his arms. His kiss effectively stopped the discussion and by the time Connor let her up for air, Abby had forgotten what they’d been talking about.
The memory made Abby’s breath hitch and tears threatened to fall. She shook her head, she had no time for this, they had to find Connor.
*****
Lester was talking to Ryan. “Is the signal block in place?”
“Yes, Sir. She’s been all over the ARC trying to get a signal.”
“We have to be certain Burton is there when we go in. That’s the only way we’ll be rid of him.”
“Don’t worry, Sir. Everything is in place, but we’ll need to move soon and, of course, you’re going to have to tell Abby we’ve known where Connor was all along.”
Lester pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’d sooner kiss the smilodon than tell Miss Maitland that we’ve known where Mr. Temple was but it has to be done. I don’t suppose you could convince Lt. Richards to tell her?”
“Sorry, Sir. Blade is a very brave man with psychopathic tendencies but even he has his limits.” Ryan smiled.
*****
Lester walked out of his office and entered April’s lab. “Miss Leonard, I believe it’s time you and I had a little talk.”
*****
Burton had loosened the chain so Connor had more mobility and as he leaned in for a kiss, Connor threw his arm out and wrapped the chain around Burton’s neck, pulling it tight. Immediately, Burton’s men moved in, grabbed Burton and began to beat Connor.
Burton moved away from the bed and, rubbing his neck, began to scream at his men. “Harder! Teach the little bastard that he can’t fuck with me!” As he was screaming, he tripped over Connor’s boot, picked it up and threw it across the room. A slight glitter caught his eye and he moved in and found a small disc on the floor that had become dislodged from Connor’s boot.
“What the bloody hell,” he murmured, taking a closer look and then whipped around. “They know where we are. This is a tracking device. Kill him, kill the little shit now! “
*****
Abby was deceptively quiet. “Are you telling me you’ve known where Connor was this whole time? All this time that I’ve been worried sick, you’ve known?” The look in her eyes made every man in the room take a step back.
“Please understand, Miss Maitland… Abby, we couldn’t take the chance that April would warn Burton and if you’d been calm about this, she would have been suspicious.” Lester’s voice was smooth as silk and he spoke as if he were trying to calm a wild animal.
“You’ve known?” Abby’s voice was a growl now and the men took another step back.
“Look, Abby, you can take it out of our hides later but we have to move if we’re going to get to Connor before Burton does him some serious harm.” Ryan did his best to sound reasonable.
Abby whipped around. “Serious harm? Serious harm? I have news for you, if he touches one hair on my Connor’s head, I will use your balls for target practice… while they’re still attached!” She was screaming by the end.
Now the men didn’t just back up, they squeezed their thighs together.
“Let’s move!” shouted Abby, running out of the room.
“Are you sure she should come with us?” asked Becker.
“Capt. Becker, do you intend to tell Miss Maitland she cannot accompany you to retrieve her fiancé?” asked Lester.
“Um, yeah, no, I don’t think I’d be too keen to do that,” said Becker looking after the straight back of Abby Maitland.
“Good decision,” nodded Lester, “now, get moving and bring me back Connor Temple!”
*****
The sound of painful grunts came from the next room. As his men were beating Connor, Burton was making his move to get out before the ARC team got there.
“Stop messing around and shoot him. Then dispose of his body in an area well away from here but in a location where he’ll be found. He should have known better than to spurn my advances. He brought this on himself.” Burton was so certain of his plan to distance himself from Connor’s murder that it just never occurred to him that he’d be caught and as he finished speaking and turned, he walked right into the right fist of Abby Maitland, just as a gunshot sounded from the next room.
“Connor!” screamed Abby as she followed the sound of the gunshot.
Burton was thinking fast. “I just got here. I figured out where Connor was being held and got here as fast as I could, but I’m afraid I was too late.” Burton’s downcast face fooled exactly no one and he was slammed against the wall by Blade who took the opportunity to show him one of his nice sharp knives that was currently being held against his throat.
“Just where do you think you’re going?” purred Blade. “Seems to me that you and I have a few things to talk about.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but you should be in there with Abby. Connor Temple is dead and you’re all standing around . We need to find his murderer.” Burton was talking fast, still thinking he was going to get away with this.
His blood boiled when he heard a familiar voice.
“One of my favorite American writers said; ‘The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated’.”
Conner moved into the room, leaning on Abby. His face was badly bruised, one eye was already swollen shut, and he was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his upper arm. “Luckily, your guys are crap shots, especially when their prey won’t lie still. Oi, Abbs, you might want to grab those restraints.” Connor tried to waggle his eye brows but only managed to cause himself pain. “Ow,” he whined. Abby smiled.
“Noooo!” Burton lunged at Connor but before he could get to him, he was taken to the floor by Blade who whispered, “Try that again and no one will find even one piece of your body and you will not die quickly. I can promise you that.”
Burton stopped struggling.
*****
Connor was in the medical wing of the ARC with Abby by his side holding his hand. He’d been treated by Ditzy for the gunshot wound and injuries to his face from the beating and was now pleasantly buzzed from pain killers.
“Connor,” Abby asked, “how is it that Lester was able to find you so quickly and why didn’t I know about it.”
Connor smiled at her. “Actually, Abby, you did know about it… kind of. Do you remember back when Lester was kidnapped and we were able to find him because I’d put a tracker in his shoes?”
“Yeah, I remember but I thought you were told to take all the trackers out of our clothing?”
“Well, yeah, that’s what Lester said but you really didn’t expect me to agree, did you?” Connor looked surprised.
“Wait a minute. Do you mean to say that I have a tracker on me somewhere? How can you know what I’ll be wearing?” Abby asked.
Connor looked uncomfortable. “Um, the thing is, it’s not in your clothes. Do you remember when the entire ARC personnel had to have inoculations against that prehistoric infection?”
“Yesss. Connor? What did you do!”
“Well, we sort of added a teeny, tiny little microchip, smaller than a pinhead, and we track everyone using that.” Connor tried to move away from the look in Abby’s eyes.
“Why weren’t we told!?” Abby snapped.
Connor thought about his answer because he knew it was important that Abby understand. “We’re in a dangerous business, Abby. More and more people are learning about the anomalies and it stands to reason that there are those who are going to want control of them for their own personal gain. In this case, Philip wasn’t really interested in the anomalies, although, I do wonder about some of the research he had me doing…” Connor trailed off as he thought about what Philip may have been doing with his research.
“Earth to Connor, come in Connor.” Abby laughed.
“Oh, sorry. Where was I… yeah, the trackers. When I went to Lester and Ryan with my idea, they were resistant until I explained how important it is that we be able to find our personnel no matter where they are and then, when you and I were lost in the Cretaceous, they realized that a way of tracking us may have made it possible to find us.”
Abby nodded. “I understand your reasoning, Connor. I just don’t understand why we couldn’t be told.”
“Because if one person knows, eventually, everyone knows. At this point, the only ones who specifically know, are you, Lester, Ryan, Ditzy, and me. It’s better for all of us if this isn’t widely known.”
“But what were the SFs told when Ryan took us right to you?”
“That April had told them where Burton had taken me.”
Abby shivered and tears came to her eyes when she thought about what Burton’s plans were for Connor.
Connor enveloped her in his arms. “Abby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Abby whispered, “Connor, he was going to kill you because you wouldn’t submit to him.”
“Aw, Love, I knew you’d find me and I also knew that they had to find Burton there in order to get rid of him. It was a risk, but one I was willing to take in order to free the ARC from his influence. He’s been up to something and once Ditzy lets me out of here, I intend to figure out what it was.”
Abby smiled sweetly. "Conn, the only place you’re going after Ditzy lets you out is home with me. I’m going to take care of you.”
Abby leaned down and kissed Connor gently so as not to hurt him. He put his good arm around her and said, “I am so looking forward to that,” and promptly fell asleep with Abby in his arms.
Author: aunteeneenah
Rating: NC17
Word Count: 5,311
Pairing: Connor/Abby, Philip/April
Participants: Connor, Abby, Burton, Lester, Ryan, Becker, Blade, April, Stephen Hart, Matt Anderson, mention of Ditzy and Cutter.
Spoilers: For S4E7
Warnings: Attempted non-con and dub-com
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. I just bend them to suit my needs and then put them back together. I make nothing from this.
Summary: Burton will do anything to achieve what… or whom… he wants.
A/N: Thank you so much to fififolle for her beta and encouragement. This fits on my bingo card under unrequited lust love. It was also one of my WIPs so I think I’ll get a few points for it. Also, thank you to fredbasset for creating Blade and Ditzy. Mods, may we have a tag for WIP Challenge? Thank you.
Philip Burton was locked in his office, although, he was not alone. April Leonard was on her knees, his cock down her throat, trying to keep up with Burton’s thrusts into her mouth. As far as he was concerned, April was a handy means to masturbate and was of no more importance to him than a knot hole in a tree. In fact, he had her backed against the wall, his hands flat on the wall in order to give himself more purchase. In this position, he was brutal, shoving his cock down April’s throat as far as he could, causing her to choke and when he came, he pulled out and spurt all over her face and shoved her away.
His voice was cold as he said, “Clean yourself up and get back to work.” He cleaned himself up and tucked himself away and then left the office, shutting the door behind him.
April lay where he left her, a coldness about her that belied the tears streaming down her face.
*****
Burton was striding down the hallway of the ARC when his attention was grabbed by the sight of Connor Temple in his lab.
Burton had seen old photos of Connor wearing layers of bulky clothing that hid his body, however, since he’d returned from the cretaceous, he’d taken to wearing more form-fitting clothing that showed off his lithe body. Burton was not necessarily gay, but he could appreciate a fine piece of arse when he saw it and in his eyes, Connor Temple did, indeed, have a fine arse and burying himself up to his balls in that self-same arse was a frequent fantasy.
Burton entered Connor’s lab while Connor watched him carefully. Burton slithered up to Connor and placed his hand in the center of the younger man’s back and began rubbing in small circles.
“Well, Connor, how goes progress on the dating calculator?” he asked with a smile that made Connor’s blood run cold.
Connor slowly moved away from Burton, watching him from the corner of his eyes and tried to answer his question. “It’s actually coming along very well. I think I’ll be ready to test it at the next anomaly shout.”
Burton followed along as Connor shifted away, moving his hand down his back until it was resting on the waistband of Connor’s trousers, still moving in small circles.
“Philip, is there something I can do for you?” Connor finally asked, moving away yet again.
“Why, yes, Connor, there is. Why don’t you join me for lunch and we’ll discuss it.” Again, that smile from Burton.
*****
Unbeknownst to Burton, he was being watched. Across the corridor, Abby was standing with Lester watching the proceedings, and seeing how uncomfortable Connor was, Abby moved into his lab.
“Excuse me, Philip. Connor? Are you ready to go to lunch?” She smiled a sweet smile at Connor, moving between him and Burton, effectively stopping Burton’s groping of Connor.
“Oh, I don’t believe Connor has time to go to lunch. He has much too much work to complete here,” Burton interrupted.
“Of course Connor should go to lunch.” Burton hadn’t noticed Lester moving into the room. “It wouldn’t do to circumvent health and safety standards by skipping meals. Connor, Abby, you two go to lunch and enjoy yourselves.” His smile at Burton was every bit as cold and calculating as Burton’s had been.
“Um, yeah, lunch.” Poor Connor wasn’t certain what was going on but spending time with Abby was not to be missed and he hurried after her. He glanced over his shoulder at Burton, frowned, and moved more quickly.
Burton watched him walk away with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
Abby could see that Connor was bothered. “Conn, what is it?” she asked, reaching out to touch his hand.
“I don’t understand what the deal is with Philip. I try to do my work and he seems pleased but sometimes, I get the feeling he’s asking for far more than I can, or want to, give.” He smiled, “I know, that sounds ridiculous.”
“Not at all,” Abby responded. “Anyone can see that he wants you for more than your brain. Lester sees it, Becker and Ryan are ready to stuff him through an anomaly, heck, even Cutter sees it and he never sees anything that’s going on around the ARC.”
Connor laughed. “Well, it's not going to happen. My heart belongs to only one person and she’s the one currently nicking my pudding. Oi! Order your own!”
Abby leaned over and gave Connor a quick kiss and laughed. “Haven’t you heard? Stolen sweets are that much sweeter.”
The lovers laughed but Connor couldn’t help remembering the look in Burton’s eyes and feeling a tingle down his spine that somehow, things weren’t right.
***
Lester called Becker and Ryan into his office.
“Gentlemen, there is something afoot that is causing me a headache of major proportions and it concerns our resident genius and Philip Burton.”
Becker and Ryan exchanged glances. “Does this have something to do with the way Burton is, shall we say, pursuing Connor?” asked Ryan.
Lester was not surprised that his head of security knew. “Yes, it has.”
Becker asked, “Does Connor reciprocate Burton’s feelings?”
“No, and from what I’ve seen, he’s at a loss as to what to do about it. I’m certainly loath to get involved in anything that is not related to his work, but I’m afraid Connor just doesn’t know how to handle this, and that it will, eventually, impact on his work. Burton is as slimy as they come and if Connor returned his favor, I wouldn’t get involved but he doesn’t and Burton doesn’t like being refused so this just cannot end well.”
“What do you want us to do?” asked Ryan.
“I just want you to keep an eye on things. Make sure Connor stays safe.”
As they two men were leaving, Lester stopped them. “Oh, and keep an eye on Professor Cutter. He may seem clueless as to what’s going on around him but in this instance, I’m afraid he is very aware and he may try to chuck Burton through an anomaly and the thought of the paperwork involved in that.. well, it just doesn’t bear thinking about.”
As the two men walked away, Major Ryan was heard to say; “Personally, chucking the bastard through an anomaly is a brilliant idea, but I do understand Lester’s side of things. It certainly would create a PR nightmare for Jenny.”
The men laughed and as they walked, worked out how to set up a circumspect security guard for Connor.
*****
The next few days brought much excitement in the wake of multiple anomalies in one spot, with not only Terror Birds appearing, but Danny Quinn as well. His face to face meeting with Ethan, who turned out to be his brother, Patrick, did not end well and Danny decided to go back through the anomalies after his brother, much to the disappointment of all concerned.
Connor’s theory of convergence was an exciting discovery which he tried to share with Philip Burton.
“Connor, come with me. We need to discuss this in more detail and I don’t think the ARC is the place for such an important discussion.” Connor stepped back away from Philip. “You trust me, don’t you, Connor? This discovery of yours is much too important to share just yet. I really believe we need to go somewhere private to discuss it and my flat isn’t far from here.” As Philip was speaking, he opened the door of his limo and firmly pushed Connor towards the open door.
Connor looked him in the eye and saw the same look he’d seen before. It was as if Philip Burton was hunting and Connor was his prey.
Connor shook his head. “Of course I trust you, Philip. I just think this is news that everyone needs to hear. If I’m right, we need to make major preparations in order to be ready for it.”
As he was speaking, Philip was doing his best to push him into the car, however, Connor’s ever-present security guard, Blade, stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Burton. But Lester has just radioed that he needs Connor’s presence in the hub immediately. It’s vitally important.”
The look Burton threw at Blade would have felled a lesser man but that’s why Blade had been chosen for this detail, he gave as good as he got and the bright green stare he returned made Burton’s mouth go dry and he threw himself into his car, slammed the door and ordered the driver to leave.
Blade simply smiled and led a very relieved Connor back to the hub.
*****
“Connor, why did you go looking for Burton?” Abby asked later on after he’d explained his theory of convergence to Lester and the rest of the ARC personnel.
“I thought it was important that he knew what I was thinking. Abby, Philip Burton is an important man and a brilliant scientist. He just makes me so uncomfortable, that I can’t stand to be alone with him but I honestly thought this was something he needed to hear and besides, he knows I’m spoken for and that I don’t go for blokes so why would he want me?”
Abby laughed gently and pushed Connor’s hair back off his face. “Connor, do you know why I love you?”
“Because I was the only bloke in the cretaceous?” Connor joked.
“No, you idiot. I love you because you are the most unaffected person I’ve ever met. You don’t know how gorgeous you are, both in mind and body. You can’t see that your gentleness shines out of your eyes. You are kind to a fault and to top it off, you’re brilliant. Of course Burton wants you. He only wants the best and that’s you.”
By the time she was finished speaking, Connor was blushing fiercely.
Abby smiled and moved closer and Connor took her into his arms where she snuggled happily. He was her Connor and she’d fight Burton to the ends of the earth for him.
*****
A few weeks later, Connor had stayed late to work out some calculations with regard to convergence when Philip entered his lab.
“Philip, what can I do for you?” asked Connor nervously.
“I just wanted to speak with you, Connor. It’s about this convergence nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense, Philip. It’s going to happen and we have to be ready for it. We need to be certain that the world is ready for it.” Connor’s hands were waving around as he spoke vehemently, needing to convince Philip of how important this was.
“Connor, you’re being ridiculous. If you complete the project I’ve asked you to work on, convergence will take care of itself with no lives lost, no creatures, all nice and tidy.” Philip’s voice became soft, almost gentle, as he tried to convince Connor.
“No, Philip. You’re being ridiculous. You want to control something that cannot, and possibly should not, be controlled. We cannot control the anomalies. I’m hopeful that eventually we’ll be able to, at the very least, predict them, and that’s what we’re working towards here. Not control.”
Philip continued on. “Don’t you see what I’m offering, Connor? With your mind and my backing, you could go farther than you can imagine, you could be rich and powerful.”
Connor looked at Philip quizzically. “Philip, I wish you’d understand. I have everything I’ve ever wished for. A woman I love and who, amazingly enough, loves me, and a job that keeps me on the cutting edge of science. I have no need of your riches or power.”
There was a look on Philip’s face, quickly gone, that Connor thought he’d imagined. He could have sworn Philip was pleased with his answer.
Philip nodded and two security men that Connor hadn’t realized were there, grabbed hold of him. He tried to yell for help but a hand was clapped over his mouth.
“Oh, Connor,” Philip purred as he stroked Connor’s face, “I really wish you’d have seen things my way.” His other hand moved to Connor’s crotch. “You know, you’ve brought this on yourself. You should have just worked with me.”
Connor felt a pin-prick in his neck, and the last thing he saw was Blade unconscious on the floor.
*****
James Lester was, to put it mildly, livid. “Can someone please tell me how it is that a highly trained, psychopathic, assassin managed to get himself knocked out and my top scientist has disappeared off the face of the earth?” His voice rose as he spoke until his last word was shouted at his security chief.
Major Ryan, with Captain Becker at his side, correctly assumed that this was a rhetorical question and stood mute.
Matt Anderson interrupted with the voice of reason. “Lester! Calm down. This isn’t getting us anywhere. Stephen and Abby are reviewing the camera footage. We’ll find him.”
“You’re right, of course, Mr. Anderson,” Lester ground out while never removing his eyes from Ryan and Becker, “we aren’t going to get anywhere standing around so will you all just get the hell out of my office and find Connor Temple!”
“If I may, Sir?” asked Capt. Becker, “we may want to see what April Leonard has to say about this. She’s been very interested in what’s happening here but has yet to come out of her lab and ask about it.”
“That has not escaped my attention, Capt. Becker, and since we know she works hand-in-glove with Burton, it would come as no surprise to find that she’s somehow involved.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” interrupted Major Ryan, “do we have evidence of Philip Burton’s involvement in Connor’s disappearance?”
“No, Major Ryan, we do not and thank you very much for bringing that to my attention!” snapped Lester. “Now, get out of my office!”
As they left Lester’s office, Ryan turned to Becker and Matt and ground out, “I’ll wager a month’s pay that Burton is behind this and when I get my hands on him, he’s going to beg to be fed to a raptor! Come on, I want to speak with Blade.”
*****
Abby’s initial reaction to Connor’s disappearance had been to storm into the ARC med bay and go after Blade. “Where’s Connor!? How could you let this happen!?”
Becker grabbed her. “Abby! Abigail! Stand down. We need to find out what happened out there and Blade’s our only link.”
Her blue eyes flashing, Abby glared at Blade. “And a weak link he is!”
Even Blade had to shrink back under Abby’s attack. “Abby, I swear to you, we’re going to find him.” Everyone in the room was amazed at Blade’s quiet tone. “I failed him. It was my job to protect him, and I failed.” His voice trailed off and Abby’s façade cracked.
“I want him back, Blade. You have to bring him back to me.”
Blade moved to Abby and she allowed him to wrap his arms around her. “I will, Abby, I’ll bring him back to you.”
“Well,” said Ryan, “as much as I hate to break up this little love fest here, we do need to find out what the hell happened out there. Blade, how the bloody hell did you end up on your arse, down for the count?”
Blade thought about it. “When I woke up, my head was splitting so the only thing I can think is I was drugged somehow.”
“Makes sense,” interrupted Ditzy, “I found traces of Phenobarbital in your system. I just don’t know how it got there.”
“Would it dissolve in tea?” Blade asked.
Ditzy looked confused. “Yes, it would, but why? You don’t usually drink tea.”
“I do if a pretty girl brings it to me,” responded Blade.
“Who? Who brought you the tea?” asked Ryan.
“April Leonard. She said I looked as if I was going to fall down and … flirted with me.” Blade looked at Ryan and knew he was in for it.
“You left your post?” Ryan said with deceptive calmness.
“I’d only gone to take a piss and on my way back, I met April and she said she’d made a brew for herself and offered some to Connor and to me. I drank mine as I was walking, gave Connor’s to him, and then moved back into position outside his lab. I saw Connor put his cup down and then I heard the doors opening. I started moving towards Connor and that’s the last thing I remember. Boss, I honestly did not see April Leonard as a threat. I figured she was a geek like Connor.” Blade looked at Abby. “Miss Maitland, I am so sorry.”
*****
Connor awoke with a throbbing headache. He also found upon awakening that his wrists were being held in place by leather cuffs attached to a chain attached to the side of a hospital bed.
“What the bloody hell,” he said aloud, “what did I do to myself this time?”
“Actually,” came a voice beside him, “it wasn’t so much what you did, but what you weren’t willing to do that has caused your current… detainment.”
Philip, bloody, Burton!
Connor closed his eyes to calm himself. He needed to get Burton talking because Burton, like all good film villains, had an immense ego and enjoyed bragging about his accomplishments, and Connor intended to use that to his advantage.
“Philip, what’s this all about?” asked Connor. “What is it I was supposed to do for you? I’ve done the research you’ve wanted. I thought I was doing a good job for you.”
“Well, aside from your dalliance with Miss Maitland, your work has been extremely valuable to me but I think you know I wanted more from you.” Burton’s smile made Connor’s blood run cold.
“More? What more did you want from me?” asked Connor, using his innocent dark eyes to his advantage.
“I wanted something on a more personal level and I believe you were very much aware of that.”
“Well, I think you should know that Abby thinks my worst fault is the fact that I seem to be oblivious to the effect I have on people around me.” Connor looked up at Philip through his long dark lashes and smiled.
Philip preened. “Are you saying you wouldn’t be averse to spending some pleasurable time with me?”
Connor shook his wrists making the chains rattle. “We’ll never know, will we, as I seem to be tied up at the moment.”
Philip reached for Connor’s right wrist. “That’s easily corrected. As you can see, there’s a clasp here that allows the chain to loosen, giving you more range of motion.”
Connor moved his hand away from the bed and used it to stroke along Philip’s thigh. “Don’t you think you’re a little far away for our purposes?” Connor smiled, once again looking up at Philip though his dark lashes.
What Philip did not see, was the fleeting look of disgust in Connor’s eyes. It just never occurred to Philip that his advances would have been unwelcome so he could only assume that Connor had been covering up because of his involvement with Abby.
Philip moved closer to the bed, running his hand up Connor’s body as he leaned in for a kiss.
*****
Abby and Stephen were reviewing the footage, again.
“There’s something here, something just doesn’t feel right,” murmured Abby.
“What are you talking about?” asked Stephen.
“I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel right.”
They were reviewing each frame of footage.
“Okay, now here’s Connor working in his lab.” Stephen had to listen carefully as Abby seemed to be speaking to herself. “He looks up at something down the hallway and look here,” Abby pointed at an image, “there’s a shadow here moving closer to him and then, all of a sudden, we see him walking out of the lab. The shadow is gone and so is whatever he was looking at.”
They looked at it over and over and it never changed, Connor was working, he looked up, he walked out and then there was footage of him walking through the car park.
Abby was tapping her finger, “There's something wrong, why can’t I see it!”
Stephen placed his hand over hers, stopping the tapping. “Come on, Abby, let’s go get us some tea and take a load off our feet. Look at the clock, we’ve been at this for hours and I don’t know about you, but these new boots are killing me.”
“That’s it!” screamed Abby.
“What!” Stephen jumped back from her.
“Connor’s boots! Don’t you see it?” Abby was yelling now and everyone was running into the lab they were working in.
“Miss Maitland, please calm down and tell us what you’ve found.” Lester was quietly standing beside them.
“Look at this,” Abby indicated, “the clock behind Connor, look at the clock. When he’s in his lab and looks up, it’s midnight, but when he’s shown walking out of his lab, it’s 1:00 a.m. Where’d that hour go? And then, look at this image of Connor in the car park. Look at his feet.”
Stephen looked and smacked himself in the forehead. “He's wearing trainers!”
“That’s right,” chimed in Abby, “he’s wearing trainers but I know for a fact that he was wearing those damn brown boots yesterday because I teased him about it before we came in to work.”
“Connor, why do you always wear those boots? You have much nicer shoes and boots.”
“Aw, come on, Abs. I love these boots.”
“I know, Conn, but you wore them to your cousin’s wedding… with a black suit!”
Connor laughed and grabbed Abby, pulling her into his arms. His kiss effectively stopped the discussion and by the time Connor let her up for air, Abby had forgotten what they’d been talking about.
The memory made Abby’s breath hitch and tears threatened to fall. She shook her head, she had no time for this, they had to find Connor.
*****
Lester was talking to Ryan. “Is the signal block in place?”
“Yes, Sir. She’s been all over the ARC trying to get a signal.”
“We have to be certain Burton is there when we go in. That’s the only way we’ll be rid of him.”
“Don’t worry, Sir. Everything is in place, but we’ll need to move soon and, of course, you’re going to have to tell Abby we’ve known where Connor was all along.”
Lester pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’d sooner kiss the smilodon than tell Miss Maitland that we’ve known where Mr. Temple was but it has to be done. I don’t suppose you could convince Lt. Richards to tell her?”
“Sorry, Sir. Blade is a very brave man with psychopathic tendencies but even he has his limits.” Ryan smiled.
*****
Lester walked out of his office and entered April’s lab. “Miss Leonard, I believe it’s time you and I had a little talk.”
*****
Burton had loosened the chain so Connor had more mobility and as he leaned in for a kiss, Connor threw his arm out and wrapped the chain around Burton’s neck, pulling it tight. Immediately, Burton’s men moved in, grabbed Burton and began to beat Connor.
Burton moved away from the bed and, rubbing his neck, began to scream at his men. “Harder! Teach the little bastard that he can’t fuck with me!” As he was screaming, he tripped over Connor’s boot, picked it up and threw it across the room. A slight glitter caught his eye and he moved in and found a small disc on the floor that had become dislodged from Connor’s boot.
“What the bloody hell,” he murmured, taking a closer look and then whipped around. “They know where we are. This is a tracking device. Kill him, kill the little shit now! “
*****
Abby was deceptively quiet. “Are you telling me you’ve known where Connor was this whole time? All this time that I’ve been worried sick, you’ve known?” The look in her eyes made every man in the room take a step back.
“Please understand, Miss Maitland… Abby, we couldn’t take the chance that April would warn Burton and if you’d been calm about this, she would have been suspicious.” Lester’s voice was smooth as silk and he spoke as if he were trying to calm a wild animal.
“You’ve known?” Abby’s voice was a growl now and the men took another step back.
“Look, Abby, you can take it out of our hides later but we have to move if we’re going to get to Connor before Burton does him some serious harm.” Ryan did his best to sound reasonable.
Abby whipped around. “Serious harm? Serious harm? I have news for you, if he touches one hair on my Connor’s head, I will use your balls for target practice… while they’re still attached!” She was screaming by the end.
Now the men didn’t just back up, they squeezed their thighs together.
“Let’s move!” shouted Abby, running out of the room.
“Are you sure she should come with us?” asked Becker.
“Capt. Becker, do you intend to tell Miss Maitland she cannot accompany you to retrieve her fiancé?” asked Lester.
“Um, yeah, no, I don’t think I’d be too keen to do that,” said Becker looking after the straight back of Abby Maitland.
“Good decision,” nodded Lester, “now, get moving and bring me back Connor Temple!”
*****
The sound of painful grunts came from the next room. As his men were beating Connor, Burton was making his move to get out before the ARC team got there.
“Stop messing around and shoot him. Then dispose of his body in an area well away from here but in a location where he’ll be found. He should have known better than to spurn my advances. He brought this on himself.” Burton was so certain of his plan to distance himself from Connor’s murder that it just never occurred to him that he’d be caught and as he finished speaking and turned, he walked right into the right fist of Abby Maitland, just as a gunshot sounded from the next room.
“Connor!” screamed Abby as she followed the sound of the gunshot.
Burton was thinking fast. “I just got here. I figured out where Connor was being held and got here as fast as I could, but I’m afraid I was too late.” Burton’s downcast face fooled exactly no one and he was slammed against the wall by Blade who took the opportunity to show him one of his nice sharp knives that was currently being held against his throat.
“Just where do you think you’re going?” purred Blade. “Seems to me that you and I have a few things to talk about.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but you should be in there with Abby. Connor Temple is dead and you’re all standing around . We need to find his murderer.” Burton was talking fast, still thinking he was going to get away with this.
His blood boiled when he heard a familiar voice.
“One of my favorite American writers said; ‘The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated’.”
Conner moved into the room, leaning on Abby. His face was badly bruised, one eye was already swollen shut, and he was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his upper arm. “Luckily, your guys are crap shots, especially when their prey won’t lie still. Oi, Abbs, you might want to grab those restraints.” Connor tried to waggle his eye brows but only managed to cause himself pain. “Ow,” he whined. Abby smiled.
“Noooo!” Burton lunged at Connor but before he could get to him, he was taken to the floor by Blade who whispered, “Try that again and no one will find even one piece of your body and you will not die quickly. I can promise you that.”
Burton stopped struggling.
*****
Connor was in the medical wing of the ARC with Abby by his side holding his hand. He’d been treated by Ditzy for the gunshot wound and injuries to his face from the beating and was now pleasantly buzzed from pain killers.
“Connor,” Abby asked, “how is it that Lester was able to find you so quickly and why didn’t I know about it.”
Connor smiled at her. “Actually, Abby, you did know about it… kind of. Do you remember back when Lester was kidnapped and we were able to find him because I’d put a tracker in his shoes?”
“Yeah, I remember but I thought you were told to take all the trackers out of our clothing?”
“Well, yeah, that’s what Lester said but you really didn’t expect me to agree, did you?” Connor looked surprised.
“Wait a minute. Do you mean to say that I have a tracker on me somewhere? How can you know what I’ll be wearing?” Abby asked.
Connor looked uncomfortable. “Um, the thing is, it’s not in your clothes. Do you remember when the entire ARC personnel had to have inoculations against that prehistoric infection?”
“Yesss. Connor? What did you do!”
“Well, we sort of added a teeny, tiny little microchip, smaller than a pinhead, and we track everyone using that.” Connor tried to move away from the look in Abby’s eyes.
“Why weren’t we told!?” Abby snapped.
Connor thought about his answer because he knew it was important that Abby understand. “We’re in a dangerous business, Abby. More and more people are learning about the anomalies and it stands to reason that there are those who are going to want control of them for their own personal gain. In this case, Philip wasn’t really interested in the anomalies, although, I do wonder about some of the research he had me doing…” Connor trailed off as he thought about what Philip may have been doing with his research.
“Earth to Connor, come in Connor.” Abby laughed.
“Oh, sorry. Where was I… yeah, the trackers. When I went to Lester and Ryan with my idea, they were resistant until I explained how important it is that we be able to find our personnel no matter where they are and then, when you and I were lost in the Cretaceous, they realized that a way of tracking us may have made it possible to find us.”
Abby nodded. “I understand your reasoning, Connor. I just don’t understand why we couldn’t be told.”
“Because if one person knows, eventually, everyone knows. At this point, the only ones who specifically know, are you, Lester, Ryan, Ditzy, and me. It’s better for all of us if this isn’t widely known.”
“But what were the SFs told when Ryan took us right to you?”
“That April had told them where Burton had taken me.”
Abby shivered and tears came to her eyes when she thought about what Burton’s plans were for Connor.
Connor enveloped her in his arms. “Abby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
Abby whispered, “Connor, he was going to kill you because you wouldn’t submit to him.”
“Aw, Love, I knew you’d find me and I also knew that they had to find Burton there in order to get rid of him. It was a risk, but one I was willing to take in order to free the ARC from his influence. He’s been up to something and once Ditzy lets me out of here, I intend to figure out what it was.”
Abby smiled sweetly. "Conn, the only place you’re going after Ditzy lets you out is home with me. I’m going to take care of you.”
Abby leaned down and kissed Connor gently so as not to hurt him. He put his good arm around her and said, “I am so looking forward to that,” and promptly fell asleep with Abby in his arms.