Fic - Call it Fate (part 6 of 6)
Title: Call it Fate
Author: Prehistoriccat
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Abby/Connor, Matt, Becker
Genre: Gen, angst, romance
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, no copyright intended
“How can there be two of you?”
“Abby, what's happening?”
Becker's voice in her earpiece made Abby shake herself out of the shock she'd been in for the last minute or so. “South corridor and second to the left. We've found Connor and... well, you'd better come see for yourself.”
She glanced first at the Matt she knew, and then at the second Matt before turning her gaze to Connor, hoping for some kind of explanation from one of them. She could hazard a guess as to what was happening since Connor had spent many hours plotting out various theories about Matt after New Dawn. Some of those theories had seemed very unlikely and she'd all but dismissed most of them, willing to just go with the flow and see what happened next.
It was Alice that finally broke the silence between them. “How can there be two of you?”
“I'm glad someone asked that,” Connor piped up. “We should've guessed something like this could happen. It's what happens when you start messing about with time. Diverging timelines, alternate universes in parallel with... ouch!” He glared at the soldier who had dug his gun into the small of his back to try and shut him up. It had worked.
“Release my friend and then I think we need to talk,” Matt said, addressing the other version of himself.
“Oh we'll talk, but he stays in my custody. Perhaps you don't realise what he's responsible for?”
“Oh believe me, I know exactly what he's capable of,” Matt sighed. “OK, at least call your heavies off him and let his girlfriend look after him whilst we try to sort this out. I promise you that no-one will do anything stupid, right Abby?”
Abby nodded. There was a part of her that wanted to just punch the soldiers and grab Connor, but she also realised that this was not just a straight forward rescue and held back, willing to follow Matt's lead for the time being at least. The second that the soldier's grip on Connor was relaxed, Abby was at his side. He slumped against her, and for a moment Abby tried to hold him up but realised it was better to let him slowly slide down to the floor.
“What have you done this time, eh? Can't even do a simple courier job without getting yourself into bother.” She cupped his face with her hand and wiped the single, stray tear that was falling down his cheek with her thumb.
“M' sorry, Abby, I was just driving and this...”
“Shh, doesn't matter.” She leaned closer, capturing his lips in a kiss she'd been longing for ever since he'd left home to drive up north. Savouring the familiar taste and warmth of Connor's mouth, she closed her eyes and shut out the confusion that had unfolded in front of her in the last few minutes.
The clatter of soldier's boots in the corridor made everyone turn around. Becker and his men stood there, weapons raised and confused expressions on their faces. Becker looked at Abby questioningly before directing his own EMD at the Matt stood directly opposite him. In response, the soldiers that had been holding Connor raised their weapons and aimed them at Becker and his men.
“Becker, drop your weapon. This is all in hand,” Matt said calmly.
“Not unless they lower theirs,” Becker hissed defiantly, staring directly ahead at his intended target should things take a turn for the worse.
“Captain Becker, this is an order. Lower your weapons.”
Reluctantly, Becker nodded the instruction to his two men and they stood down. Becker kept his finger firmly on the trigger though. The opposing soldiers also lowered their weapons and looked to both Matts who were still trying to work out what the other was doing there.
“In here,” Matt finally said, pointing to the side office. The other Matt followed and the door closed behind them.
“Can we at least get a wheelchair for Connor?” Abby pleaded. “He needs proper medical attention.”
“No-one is going anywhere until Matt says so,” Alice said.
Abby stood up and faced Alice directly. “He's badly hurt. If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible.”
“Abby, it's OK,” Connor said, clutching his ribs as he tried to sit up. “Alice has been looking after me. She's trying to get into medical school and Weston's been... You're not a student are you?”
Alice smiled. “I met Matt about a year ago. My father was one of the last scientists to work on the anomaly project before it was passed to military control ten years ago. He always feared that someone would try to abuse them if they weren't monitored properly, so he kept up his own secret project with my help. Matt had been watching them too and our paths crossed when we both stumbled upon an anomaly that hadn't been picked up by any of the detecting equipment.”
“That sounds familiar,” Abby said. “We've been looking for Connor for two days and could only assume he'd been taken through a new kind of anomaly that we couldn't pick up.”
“It's not a new kind, Abby. Remember Christine Johnson's mysterious anomaly? That was Weston. He developed a way of cloaking the anomalies for her, and has been using it ever since to travel backwards and forwards in time un-noticed.” Connor said, addressing Abby but glancing at Alice occasionally to include her in the explanation.
Alice nodded. “Matt found the equipment that Weston was using and confided in me what he thought Weston was doing. Matt's from the future. His world was destroyed by someone interfering with the anomalies and he was sent back here to the 23rd century to try and stop it from happening.”
Abby and Connor glanced at each other before Connor tried to stand up. “I need to tell Matt who Weston is and what he was trying to do.” He then swayed and grabbed hold of Abby for balance. “Please, you have to help me talk to both of the Matts!”
-o-
Matt took a deep breath and tried to push his unease at meeting another version of himself to the back of his mind. The priority at this moment was to decide how to deal with the situation; he would get his head around everything else later. “Connor's not the bad guy,” he said eventually.
“No? So he's not the scientist that was helping Weston do something to the anomalies that makes them unstable and destroy the entire world?”
“He was taken against his will, dragged through an anomaly in 2013.”
The other Matt leaned back against the desk. “That's where you were sent? The 21st century?”
“Same scenario as you I suppose, except the source of the interference was traced to some time around 2012. I thought I'd dealt with the problem when we destroyed Philip Burton's anomaly. I can only guess that we changed the timeline that I was from, and that you are from the new future that was created because New Dawn failed.”
“A future that was still destroyed, but by Weston, and your Connor, from here in the 23rd century,” the other Matt said.
“Connor's the only person alive that had any idea how New Dawn worked, which I suppose is why Weston abducted him and brought him here to help. The question is, how did Weston know about Connor in the first place?”
“He's from our time, Matt,” Connor said, as Abby helped him through the door. “He worked for Prospero, and before that he worked for Christine Johnson.”
Matt closed his eyes. Why had he not even contemplated the possibility that there would be others at Prospero with the ability to try and continue Burton's work? They'd not been able to do a full check on the surviving employees after New Dawn since most of them had fled and not returned, and the employment records for the facility were all but destroyed. Had they been able to do so, perhaps Weston would have been stopped before he'd even gone through the anomaly into the future. When he opened his eyes, he could see Becker stood behind Connor and Abby. The look on his face told Matt he was thinking the same, and no doubt blaming himself. Pulling himself back together, Matt nodded to Becker. Playing the blame game was destructive. All they could do now was learn from this experience and examine the implications for their operations moving forward.
“Captain, when we get back to our time, I want you to personally oversee the concealment of the anomaly in Blackburn and the destruction of whatever equipment Weston used to cloak it that remains there.”
“Gladly,” Becker puffed out his chest. He would not be sorry to see the end of that particular anomaly and move on from the painful memories he had of the place. “And my men will also ensure the anomaly at the race track is resealed once we're all safely back.”
“Hang on, let's not be hasty,” Connor said. “Ever since we worked out that Christine was somehow managing to keep her anomaly from being detected I've wanted to know how. Can we at least take the equipment back to the ARC for me to look at?”
“I don't see any problem with that,” Matt said. Then he turned to the other Matt. “I can leave Weston and any other issues here with you and your team?”
“We have him and his doctor friend in custody already. Alice has been working undercover here for months and knows the operation back to front, she can oversee the closure. The people that were working here are all traceable. We'll recover all of their hard drives and paperwork and ensure it's destroyed. There wont be anyone in this time interfering with the anomalies.”
With that, everyone began to disperse and go their separate ways. Abby was anxious to get Connor back to the ARC so their medic could check him over and then get him home where she intended to pamper him and make sure he followed whatever orders the doctor gave him. She knew he would fight her over it; he'd want to be at the ARC helping Matt with the fallout from this, but she would put her foot down. If Matt needed his help, he could come over to them or use Skype. After all, wasn't that the point of having all of the technology that Connor raved about so much?
With the room emptied, the two Matts turned to each other and shook hands. It felt weird and Matt was certain that even the act of being in the same room as each other would be causing all sorts of time related issues. The sooner they both left, the better.
“Disaster averted,” the other Matt said “At least in this time anyway.”
Matt nodded. “If you and I have anything to do with it, it won't happen again.”
“I wish I could believe that.” He left, leaving Matt alone for a few moments before he too stepped out into the corridor to go back home. He watched Abby help Connor into the wheelchair that Alice had found for him, smiling to himself. He'd already known how much Abby cared about Connor whilst she'd been helping him to try and find out what Connor and Burton were doing, but the last two days had shown him that they were a stronger couple for that experience, not weakened by it as Abby had once feared. He envied them. He'd had it drilled into him for most of his life that he couldn't get close to anyone and he found it difficult to shed that. Even with Emily he'd not been able to give himself to her completely and she'd grown tired of it, leaving the ARC to go in search of the new life away from her Victorian upbringing that she craved.
“Matt?” Becker said, interrupting his thoughts. “We're ready to leave if you're satisfied that Alice and … you... are going to deal with Weston appropriately.”
“Yes, Captain. I'll be right behind you.” He watched Becker march off after Connor and Abby and took a final look around him. There were many lessons to be learnt from all of this; the first being that he would need to ensure that some clause was put in place that would mean there would always be an ARC keeping a close eye on what was happening with the anomalies. Then there was the question of what to do about Connor.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It had been two days since they'd found and rescued Connor, and Abby was concerned. After he'd been given the all clear by the ARC medic and told to take things easy for a few days, Abby had taken him home, put him straight to bed and they'd spent the night curled together in each other's arms. Abby had wanted more, but with Connor's ribs still being incredibly sore and any movement making him feel dizzy and sick, anything other than a kiss and cuddle was out of the question. She was happy though. Connor was back where he belonged, relatively well and safe, and as she stroked his hair and watched him drift off to sleep she counted herself incredibly lucky. It could have ended so badly.
Connor had been out of sorts, but Abby had expected that. He'd been through a traumatic experience after all, so she'd given him some space. She'd made him soup for lunch and set up the TV he used for his Xbox in the bedroom so he could watch whilst she did some housework. But after two days, she had thought he would have opened up a little and talked to her about what had happened to him. In the Cretaceous, they'd both learnt that talking about the things that hurt or scared them made them seem less harmful. The strength of their relationship now came from the fact they had known how the other thought and felt.
She'd decided enough was enough. Marching into the bedroom and grabbing the TV remote from him, she sat down on the end of the bed and glared at him.
“Abby?”
“How are you feeling?”
“M' Okay, ish. Ribs are still a bit sore but the doc did say they'd be... that isn't what you meant is it?”
Abby leaned forward and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. “You're worried about what everyone will think?”
Connor simply nodded sadly. “It's alright, Connor. You don't need to be ashamed. Weston was the one at fault, not you.”
“You don't get it though, do you Abby?” He sniffed angrily. “The people in the future, they had to send another Matt back in time to sort out the mess... again. A mess I was responsible for... again.”
“No, Connor. Burton was responsible for New Dawn, Weston was responsible for the latest disaster.”
“And the common denominator is me. Neither of those would have happened without my work.”
“But Matt stopped them both. And he will again if he has to.”
“Yeah, good old Matt. No matter how many times we change the future by dealing with the likes of Burton and Weston, there will always be someone waiting to step into their shoes. It seems it's the fate of the man called Matt Anderson in every new version of the future we make to be sent back to deal with them... and me.”
Abby blinked. Fate. She wasn't sure if she believed in it or not. If Matt's fate was already determined, then why did they, and he, bother to try and change the future? There weren't many things Connor was wrong about when it came to things like this, but she was almost certain that he was on this occasion. She looked at him and recognised the look on his face. He was fighting back his tears, and losing.
“Matt's always going to have keep travelling through time because of what I know. The only way to stop that is if... If I wasn't alive.”
“Stop it!” Abby placed the palm of her hand on Connor's cheek, forcing him to look at her. “Don't you dare think like that!”
“Why? I can't undo what I know, and that knowledge will be desired by every megalomaniac in the Northern hemisphere throughout time. All they need is access to an anomaly and they can come and get me, just like Weston did. I'm not afraid of dying, but they'd still be able to force me into doing it because they'd threaten to harm you. It would be safer all round if I was dead.”
“You're an idiot, Connor!” Abby released his hand and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “There's more than one way to deal with a situation. Do you have any idea what Matt and Becker have spent the last two days doing? They haven't been sitting around wallowing in self pity - which I might add may have been understandable given that that anomaly in Blackburn was the one where Sarah died, and Matt could very well have just decided to give up seeing as he thought he'd saved the world when all he'd done was prolong it. They've been attempting to hack into as many government and Prospero databases as they can, trying to find out exactly who worked for Burton and where they are now. They're also trying to locate anyone who worked for Christine Johnson, looking for connections to Prospero... it's not easy, even with Jess's help, but they're trying. If you were to help...”
“There's no point,” Connor sniffed. “Burton kept me away from all but the most essential members of staff. The only other person I could name on the New Dawn project is April. I was under the impression that all of the others in that lab were just button pushers.”
“And that's it, is it? End of? You're going to just give up and kill yourself? What about us, Connor? Our wedding plans, a baby?
Connor dipped his head, silent tears falling over his cheeks and onto the bed sheets below. He didn't attempt to wipe them. After a few moments, Abby moved towards him and ran her thumbs over the apples of his cheeks before pulling his head to her chest and wrapping her arms around him, enveloping him in her embrace.
“I don't know what to do, Abby,” he finally whispered.
“Neither do I,” Abby replied, stroking his hair. “All I know is, if you give up, then they win. The knowledge you have is wonderful and can be used for great things. You have to believe that. You will work out what Cutter set out to do. The rest of us... we just have to keep you safe. Becker's been talking about improving security around you, setting up CCTV around our flat, making sure you're never sent off on your own like that again...”
“And you're OK with living like that? Having our every move watched by one of Becker's security cameras?”
“If it means I get to spend the rest of my life with you then yes. Yes, I am OK with it.”
Connor looked up. The look of complete love in Abby's eyes made his heart ache. He didn't deserve such devotion after what he'd done, but he had it and that was what mattered. His lips sought hers, and when they connected the electricity was almost as intense as it had been that first time they'd properly declared their feelings for each other on a stormy night in the Cretaceous.
“I don't know if I can do this,” he said quietly.
“You can. We can. All of us, we're a team and each of us has a part to play. You can call it our fate, or our destiny, or maybe we're just a bunch of people doing a difficult job and making up the rules as we go along.”
There was a silence. Connor held onto Abby, breathing in her scent and relishing the warmth of her soft body against his. After some moments he released her and sighed. “Don't suppose there's any of that soup left you made for lunch? And that bread?”
Abby rose to her feet. “Thinking of your stomach? I guess you're feeling a lot better? I'll see what I can find.” As she got to the doorway, she paused and allowed a small smile to trace across her lips.
“I love you, Abby. And I'm sorry if I scared you.”
She turned and smiled at him. “Love you too. Now, soup.”
The door to the bedroom was closed behind her, and she leaned back against it. For the moment, she had her Connor back, but she sensed that the road ahead was going to be rocky and it would take all the energy that she, Matt and Becker had to keep him on the right path and not allow him to believe the only solution was for him to end his life. She had to cling to the promise they'd made each other one dark night in the Cretaceous that whatever they did, they'd do together.
.
Author: Prehistoriccat
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Abby/Connor, Matt, Becker
Genre: Gen, angst, romance
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, no copyright intended
“How can there be two of you?”
“Abby, what's happening?”
Becker's voice in her earpiece made Abby shake herself out of the shock she'd been in for the last minute or so. “South corridor and second to the left. We've found Connor and... well, you'd better come see for yourself.”
She glanced first at the Matt she knew, and then at the second Matt before turning her gaze to Connor, hoping for some kind of explanation from one of them. She could hazard a guess as to what was happening since Connor had spent many hours plotting out various theories about Matt after New Dawn. Some of those theories had seemed very unlikely and she'd all but dismissed most of them, willing to just go with the flow and see what happened next.
It was Alice that finally broke the silence between them. “How can there be two of you?”
“I'm glad someone asked that,” Connor piped up. “We should've guessed something like this could happen. It's what happens when you start messing about with time. Diverging timelines, alternate universes in parallel with... ouch!” He glared at the soldier who had dug his gun into the small of his back to try and shut him up. It had worked.
“Release my friend and then I think we need to talk,” Matt said, addressing the other version of himself.
“Oh we'll talk, but he stays in my custody. Perhaps you don't realise what he's responsible for?”
“Oh believe me, I know exactly what he's capable of,” Matt sighed. “OK, at least call your heavies off him and let his girlfriend look after him whilst we try to sort this out. I promise you that no-one will do anything stupid, right Abby?”
Abby nodded. There was a part of her that wanted to just punch the soldiers and grab Connor, but she also realised that this was not just a straight forward rescue and held back, willing to follow Matt's lead for the time being at least. The second that the soldier's grip on Connor was relaxed, Abby was at his side. He slumped against her, and for a moment Abby tried to hold him up but realised it was better to let him slowly slide down to the floor.
“What have you done this time, eh? Can't even do a simple courier job without getting yourself into bother.” She cupped his face with her hand and wiped the single, stray tear that was falling down his cheek with her thumb.
“M' sorry, Abby, I was just driving and this...”
“Shh, doesn't matter.” She leaned closer, capturing his lips in a kiss she'd been longing for ever since he'd left home to drive up north. Savouring the familiar taste and warmth of Connor's mouth, she closed her eyes and shut out the confusion that had unfolded in front of her in the last few minutes.
The clatter of soldier's boots in the corridor made everyone turn around. Becker and his men stood there, weapons raised and confused expressions on their faces. Becker looked at Abby questioningly before directing his own EMD at the Matt stood directly opposite him. In response, the soldiers that had been holding Connor raised their weapons and aimed them at Becker and his men.
“Becker, drop your weapon. This is all in hand,” Matt said calmly.
“Not unless they lower theirs,” Becker hissed defiantly, staring directly ahead at his intended target should things take a turn for the worse.
“Captain Becker, this is an order. Lower your weapons.”
Reluctantly, Becker nodded the instruction to his two men and they stood down. Becker kept his finger firmly on the trigger though. The opposing soldiers also lowered their weapons and looked to both Matts who were still trying to work out what the other was doing there.
“In here,” Matt finally said, pointing to the side office. The other Matt followed and the door closed behind them.
“Can we at least get a wheelchair for Connor?” Abby pleaded. “He needs proper medical attention.”
“No-one is going anywhere until Matt says so,” Alice said.
Abby stood up and faced Alice directly. “He's badly hurt. If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible.”
“Abby, it's OK,” Connor said, clutching his ribs as he tried to sit up. “Alice has been looking after me. She's trying to get into medical school and Weston's been... You're not a student are you?”
Alice smiled. “I met Matt about a year ago. My father was one of the last scientists to work on the anomaly project before it was passed to military control ten years ago. He always feared that someone would try to abuse them if they weren't monitored properly, so he kept up his own secret project with my help. Matt had been watching them too and our paths crossed when we both stumbled upon an anomaly that hadn't been picked up by any of the detecting equipment.”
“That sounds familiar,” Abby said. “We've been looking for Connor for two days and could only assume he'd been taken through a new kind of anomaly that we couldn't pick up.”
“It's not a new kind, Abby. Remember Christine Johnson's mysterious anomaly? That was Weston. He developed a way of cloaking the anomalies for her, and has been using it ever since to travel backwards and forwards in time un-noticed.” Connor said, addressing Abby but glancing at Alice occasionally to include her in the explanation.
Alice nodded. “Matt found the equipment that Weston was using and confided in me what he thought Weston was doing. Matt's from the future. His world was destroyed by someone interfering with the anomalies and he was sent back here to the 23rd century to try and stop it from happening.”
Abby and Connor glanced at each other before Connor tried to stand up. “I need to tell Matt who Weston is and what he was trying to do.” He then swayed and grabbed hold of Abby for balance. “Please, you have to help me talk to both of the Matts!”
-o-
Matt took a deep breath and tried to push his unease at meeting another version of himself to the back of his mind. The priority at this moment was to decide how to deal with the situation; he would get his head around everything else later. “Connor's not the bad guy,” he said eventually.
“No? So he's not the scientist that was helping Weston do something to the anomalies that makes them unstable and destroy the entire world?”
“He was taken against his will, dragged through an anomaly in 2013.”
The other Matt leaned back against the desk. “That's where you were sent? The 21st century?”
“Same scenario as you I suppose, except the source of the interference was traced to some time around 2012. I thought I'd dealt with the problem when we destroyed Philip Burton's anomaly. I can only guess that we changed the timeline that I was from, and that you are from the new future that was created because New Dawn failed.”
“A future that was still destroyed, but by Weston, and your Connor, from here in the 23rd century,” the other Matt said.
“Connor's the only person alive that had any idea how New Dawn worked, which I suppose is why Weston abducted him and brought him here to help. The question is, how did Weston know about Connor in the first place?”
“He's from our time, Matt,” Connor said, as Abby helped him through the door. “He worked for Prospero, and before that he worked for Christine Johnson.”
Matt closed his eyes. Why had he not even contemplated the possibility that there would be others at Prospero with the ability to try and continue Burton's work? They'd not been able to do a full check on the surviving employees after New Dawn since most of them had fled and not returned, and the employment records for the facility were all but destroyed. Had they been able to do so, perhaps Weston would have been stopped before he'd even gone through the anomaly into the future. When he opened his eyes, he could see Becker stood behind Connor and Abby. The look on his face told Matt he was thinking the same, and no doubt blaming himself. Pulling himself back together, Matt nodded to Becker. Playing the blame game was destructive. All they could do now was learn from this experience and examine the implications for their operations moving forward.
“Captain, when we get back to our time, I want you to personally oversee the concealment of the anomaly in Blackburn and the destruction of whatever equipment Weston used to cloak it that remains there.”
“Gladly,” Becker puffed out his chest. He would not be sorry to see the end of that particular anomaly and move on from the painful memories he had of the place. “And my men will also ensure the anomaly at the race track is resealed once we're all safely back.”
“Hang on, let's not be hasty,” Connor said. “Ever since we worked out that Christine was somehow managing to keep her anomaly from being detected I've wanted to know how. Can we at least take the equipment back to the ARC for me to look at?”
“I don't see any problem with that,” Matt said. Then he turned to the other Matt. “I can leave Weston and any other issues here with you and your team?”
“We have him and his doctor friend in custody already. Alice has been working undercover here for months and knows the operation back to front, she can oversee the closure. The people that were working here are all traceable. We'll recover all of their hard drives and paperwork and ensure it's destroyed. There wont be anyone in this time interfering with the anomalies.”
With that, everyone began to disperse and go their separate ways. Abby was anxious to get Connor back to the ARC so their medic could check him over and then get him home where she intended to pamper him and make sure he followed whatever orders the doctor gave him. She knew he would fight her over it; he'd want to be at the ARC helping Matt with the fallout from this, but she would put her foot down. If Matt needed his help, he could come over to them or use Skype. After all, wasn't that the point of having all of the technology that Connor raved about so much?
With the room emptied, the two Matts turned to each other and shook hands. It felt weird and Matt was certain that even the act of being in the same room as each other would be causing all sorts of time related issues. The sooner they both left, the better.
“Disaster averted,” the other Matt said “At least in this time anyway.”
Matt nodded. “If you and I have anything to do with it, it won't happen again.”
“I wish I could believe that.” He left, leaving Matt alone for a few moments before he too stepped out into the corridor to go back home. He watched Abby help Connor into the wheelchair that Alice had found for him, smiling to himself. He'd already known how much Abby cared about Connor whilst she'd been helping him to try and find out what Connor and Burton were doing, but the last two days had shown him that they were a stronger couple for that experience, not weakened by it as Abby had once feared. He envied them. He'd had it drilled into him for most of his life that he couldn't get close to anyone and he found it difficult to shed that. Even with Emily he'd not been able to give himself to her completely and she'd grown tired of it, leaving the ARC to go in search of the new life away from her Victorian upbringing that she craved.
“Matt?” Becker said, interrupting his thoughts. “We're ready to leave if you're satisfied that Alice and … you... are going to deal with Weston appropriately.”
“Yes, Captain. I'll be right behind you.” He watched Becker march off after Connor and Abby and took a final look around him. There were many lessons to be learnt from all of this; the first being that he would need to ensure that some clause was put in place that would mean there would always be an ARC keeping a close eye on what was happening with the anomalies. Then there was the question of what to do about Connor.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It had been two days since they'd found and rescued Connor, and Abby was concerned. After he'd been given the all clear by the ARC medic and told to take things easy for a few days, Abby had taken him home, put him straight to bed and they'd spent the night curled together in each other's arms. Abby had wanted more, but with Connor's ribs still being incredibly sore and any movement making him feel dizzy and sick, anything other than a kiss and cuddle was out of the question. She was happy though. Connor was back where he belonged, relatively well and safe, and as she stroked his hair and watched him drift off to sleep she counted herself incredibly lucky. It could have ended so badly.
Connor had been out of sorts, but Abby had expected that. He'd been through a traumatic experience after all, so she'd given him some space. She'd made him soup for lunch and set up the TV he used for his Xbox in the bedroom so he could watch whilst she did some housework. But after two days, she had thought he would have opened up a little and talked to her about what had happened to him. In the Cretaceous, they'd both learnt that talking about the things that hurt or scared them made them seem less harmful. The strength of their relationship now came from the fact they had known how the other thought and felt.
She'd decided enough was enough. Marching into the bedroom and grabbing the TV remote from him, she sat down on the end of the bed and glared at him.
“Abby?”
“How are you feeling?”
“M' Okay, ish. Ribs are still a bit sore but the doc did say they'd be... that isn't what you meant is it?”
Abby leaned forward and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. “You're worried about what everyone will think?”
Connor simply nodded sadly. “It's alright, Connor. You don't need to be ashamed. Weston was the one at fault, not you.”
“You don't get it though, do you Abby?” He sniffed angrily. “The people in the future, they had to send another Matt back in time to sort out the mess... again. A mess I was responsible for... again.”
“No, Connor. Burton was responsible for New Dawn, Weston was responsible for the latest disaster.”
“And the common denominator is me. Neither of those would have happened without my work.”
“But Matt stopped them both. And he will again if he has to.”
“Yeah, good old Matt. No matter how many times we change the future by dealing with the likes of Burton and Weston, there will always be someone waiting to step into their shoes. It seems it's the fate of the man called Matt Anderson in every new version of the future we make to be sent back to deal with them... and me.”
Abby blinked. Fate. She wasn't sure if she believed in it or not. If Matt's fate was already determined, then why did they, and he, bother to try and change the future? There weren't many things Connor was wrong about when it came to things like this, but she was almost certain that he was on this occasion. She looked at him and recognised the look on his face. He was fighting back his tears, and losing.
“Matt's always going to have keep travelling through time because of what I know. The only way to stop that is if... If I wasn't alive.”
“Stop it!” Abby placed the palm of her hand on Connor's cheek, forcing him to look at her. “Don't you dare think like that!”
“Why? I can't undo what I know, and that knowledge will be desired by every megalomaniac in the Northern hemisphere throughout time. All they need is access to an anomaly and they can come and get me, just like Weston did. I'm not afraid of dying, but they'd still be able to force me into doing it because they'd threaten to harm you. It would be safer all round if I was dead.”
“You're an idiot, Connor!” Abby released his hand and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “There's more than one way to deal with a situation. Do you have any idea what Matt and Becker have spent the last two days doing? They haven't been sitting around wallowing in self pity - which I might add may have been understandable given that that anomaly in Blackburn was the one where Sarah died, and Matt could very well have just decided to give up seeing as he thought he'd saved the world when all he'd done was prolong it. They've been attempting to hack into as many government and Prospero databases as they can, trying to find out exactly who worked for Burton and where they are now. They're also trying to locate anyone who worked for Christine Johnson, looking for connections to Prospero... it's not easy, even with Jess's help, but they're trying. If you were to help...”
“There's no point,” Connor sniffed. “Burton kept me away from all but the most essential members of staff. The only other person I could name on the New Dawn project is April. I was under the impression that all of the others in that lab were just button pushers.”
“And that's it, is it? End of? You're going to just give up and kill yourself? What about us, Connor? Our wedding plans, a baby?
Connor dipped his head, silent tears falling over his cheeks and onto the bed sheets below. He didn't attempt to wipe them. After a few moments, Abby moved towards him and ran her thumbs over the apples of his cheeks before pulling his head to her chest and wrapping her arms around him, enveloping him in her embrace.
“I don't know what to do, Abby,” he finally whispered.
“Neither do I,” Abby replied, stroking his hair. “All I know is, if you give up, then they win. The knowledge you have is wonderful and can be used for great things. You have to believe that. You will work out what Cutter set out to do. The rest of us... we just have to keep you safe. Becker's been talking about improving security around you, setting up CCTV around our flat, making sure you're never sent off on your own like that again...”
“And you're OK with living like that? Having our every move watched by one of Becker's security cameras?”
“If it means I get to spend the rest of my life with you then yes. Yes, I am OK with it.”
Connor looked up. The look of complete love in Abby's eyes made his heart ache. He didn't deserve such devotion after what he'd done, but he had it and that was what mattered. His lips sought hers, and when they connected the electricity was almost as intense as it had been that first time they'd properly declared their feelings for each other on a stormy night in the Cretaceous.
“I don't know if I can do this,” he said quietly.
“You can. We can. All of us, we're a team and each of us has a part to play. You can call it our fate, or our destiny, or maybe we're just a bunch of people doing a difficult job and making up the rules as we go along.”
There was a silence. Connor held onto Abby, breathing in her scent and relishing the warmth of her soft body against his. After some moments he released her and sighed. “Don't suppose there's any of that soup left you made for lunch? And that bread?”
Abby rose to her feet. “Thinking of your stomach? I guess you're feeling a lot better? I'll see what I can find.” As she got to the doorway, she paused and allowed a small smile to trace across her lips.
“I love you, Abby. And I'm sorry if I scared you.”
She turned and smiled at him. “Love you too. Now, soup.”
The door to the bedroom was closed behind her, and she leaned back against it. For the moment, she had her Connor back, but she sensed that the road ahead was going to be rocky and it would take all the energy that she, Matt and Becker had to keep him on the right path and not allow him to believe the only solution was for him to end his life. She had to cling to the promise they'd made each other one dark night in the Cretaceous that whatever they did, they'd do together.
.