FIC: Matters of Dragons and Their Humans - Chapter 13 - Sharing a World AU - Connor, Abby, Ryan, OCs
Title: Matters of Dragons and Their Humans
Characters: Connor, Abby, Ryan, OCs
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Ryan, Connor and Abby belong to Impossible Pictures, Rees is telperion_15’s. I promise I’ll put them all back when I’m done.
Summary: Because Connor has to do things his own way.
A/N 1: This is a big jump into the AU world. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even an ARC. There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons.
A/N 2: Finally we got to the main storyline all the prequels have been building up to so far. This takes place around what would have been season 2 of the series, in 2008.
A/N 3: For a full list of all Sharing a World AU stories please have a look here. Thanks to fredbassett as always for the great beta, all remaining mistakes are mine.
“You don’t understand, we can’t do this.” Connor was pacing in front of Ryan and Monroe while the soldiers were kitting up. Both captains had agreed, entirely too quickly in Connor’s opinion, that the Parvudens Dracos were too dangerous to take any chances with and they were currently looking like they were getting ready to hunt boar rather than round up two scared dragons.
“I’m sorry, Connor, but venom spitters are nasty little buggers. We can’t afford to have a pair flapping around the countryside putting people in danger.” Ryan’s tone was firm and Connor had known the soldier long enough to know it wasn’t very likely he’d change his mind on the subject.
But it wasn’t enough to stop him from trying.
“These dragons come from the late Pleistocene, no more than 60,000 years ago. Nearly all scientists agree that this is the time dragons first started becoming sentient. These are not velociraptor, they’re not just predators, Ryan. They are feeling, thinking creatures. It would be like shooting down a Homo Sapiens, just because he was scared and attacked us!”
Ryan finally finished loading his vest with enough weaponry to take down a herd of elephants and looked the young scientist straight in the eyes.
“I know, Connor and we’ll do our best to take them down without killing them but I’ve seen before what a venom spitter can do and neither I nor Captain Monroe are willing to put our men, or anyone else, in that kind of danger unnecessarily.”
Connor was about to tell the captain that the danger was not unnecessary, that they could seriously alter dragons’ entire evolution if they killed the creatures, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a very grim-looking Lieutenant Rees.
“How’s Thomlin doing?” Captain Monroe asked the medic, forestalling any further attempt from Connor to stick his nose in to what had obviously been now labeled as a ‘military issue’.
To the young man’s surprise the Lieutenant shook his head sadly.
“There was very little I could do, even with the limited amount of antidote I had available. This thing’s venom is strong enough to put down one of those furry hippos. Mark didn’t stand a chance.” Monroe’s lips tightened at the news and the dark-skinned captain nodded briefly before she shouldered her weapon.
“I need to let Chester know. We’ll be ready to go in a few minutes, Ryan.” Before heading towards her dragon, Monroe turned to Connor with a hard look on her face. “It’s better if you and Ms. Maitland stay here at the camp, I’d really rather not have any more casualty today.” And then she was gone leaving a - for one of the few times in his life - completely speechless Connor behind.
The effect didn’t last very long and Captain Monroe was still talking quietly to Chester by the time Connor had gone looking for Abby. The young scientist found her attending to the Diprotodons the soldiers had managed to round up so far, a small group of about half a dozen who had appeared to have decided that these humans were a much friendlier lot than the ones they were used to. This had been aided by the fact that the two dragons had managed to pile up enough vegetation to keep several herds of the large creatures happy.
“Abby, can I talk to you for a moment?” Connor knew this wasn’t going to be easy but he put on his patented innocent yet concerned smile and did his best.
“Whatever you’re plotting this time, Connor, you’re not dragging me in it.”
Right, that had gone well, for all of about fifteen seconds. Not that it would make him desist of course but it did make him realise it was time for a more direct approach.
“Listen, Abby. Ryan and Monroe don’t understand and you know Lester is going to agree with them if we call him. With the Professor and Stephen all the way back in London it means we’ve got to make sure these creatures are sent back to their time unharmed.” That was much better, it sounded positively Jedi-like actually.
“You know Cutter wouldn’t allow it.” Connor pushed a little harder.
Abby finally turned her head away from the large female Diprotodon she had been feeding and eyed him seriously.
“Maybe, but then Cutter always has Stephen watching his back.”
Connor was glad that she hadn’t pointed out that both men also usually knew what the hell they were doing around these creatures a lot better than a geek like him.
“That’s why I need you to come with me. We can take a couple of tranq rifles and you’re as good with those things as Stephen by now. Even if we catch just one of the pair we can use it as bait to catch the other and then we can send them both back without hurting them.” Connor knew just how much his friend cared about all the creatures, dangerous or not, that they met. She always wanted to save them and make sure they found their own way home.
Abby hesitated, turning to the Diprotodon who was gently nudging her for more food before glancing to the soldiers heading back into the woods, weapons in hand and resolute, if not downright hostile, looks on their faces.
“We’re taking two rifles and you are not to shoot yours for any reason, I just want a back up in case I need a fast reload. If we do something this bloody stupid I’d rather focus on the dragons trying to kill us with their snot and not have to worry about getting shot in the arse with a tranq dart from you.”
~.~.~.
Within half an hour, Connor and Abby had managed to discreetly collect two of the tranquiliser rifles from Chester’s equipment and some of the fallen Diprotodon to use as bait, a task that Connor had found remarkably gross even after the last two years hunting anomalies and the stray creatures that were randomly thrown through them. The two had then made their way into the forest, doing their best to keep away from the soldiers’ path while looking for the two Parvudens.
After a time, they had found what Abby had been fairly positive was a good place for an ambush, a modestly sized meadow surrounded by tall trees and with a stream nearby. Hoping that the presence of both water and easy prey would be enough to attract the creatures, the two had set up their bait before settling in to wait.
Close to three hours later the dragons had not shown hide nor tail. Connor had confirmed through his monitoring of the radio that the soldiers had not had any better luck so far with the Parvudens even though they had managed to gather what they were positive was the entire herd of Diprotodons. It was as if the dragons had disappeared into thin air - or maybe back through the still elusive anomaly.
Abby glanced over at Connor from her position, tranq rifle resting comfortably - a little too comfortably nowadays for her liking- on the crook of her arm. Her friend had, as always, brought his laptop with him, and had been busy quietly typing away for close to an hour, most likely updating his database - or possibly playing Diablo III like he had done every spare second of his day since the blasted thing had been released a couple of weeks earlier. A quick check of her watch had confirmed what she had already noticed and as much as she didn’t like the idea of leaving the dragons to roam the woods freely, she was also not looking forward to the idea of making their way back to the camp once darkness had settled.
“Conn, it’s going to be dark soon. I don’t know about you but I don’t fancy breaking my neck trying to find our way back to the camp in the dark,” Abby whispered, not mentioning the fact that she also wasn’t overly enthused about the possibility of meeting the Parvudens in the same conditions.
Connor closed the laptop quietly and put it back in his pack before sliding closer to her and whispering back.
“We can’t go yet, Abby, I was just thinking about it. They have to be crepuscular hunters. It makes perfect sense. The smaller size would put them to a disadvantage in plain daylight and the venom only has a limited range so they’d have to relay heavily on surprise in order to catch their prey.”
Connor’s hands had started what Abby referred to in her head as the ‘lecture dance’ and she had to quietly repress a small smile before the seriousness of the situation chased it away all too effectively.
“They might be twilight hunters, Connor, but we aren’t. We don’t have any night vision goggles and if we don’t catch them before night falls we’ll be stuck trying to make our way back in the dark with the possibility of someone getting struck by the idea we look like a very tasty snack.” Abby wasn’t entirely sure when she had started playing the voice of reason but she was quite positive it had begun shortly after Connor had moved in to her flat.
“No, no. We’re going to be fine. I saw them up close,” which Connor had, even though at the time it has seemed a tiny bit too up close. “They’re not nocturnal hunters at all, their eyes are too small and they were entirely too comfortable in the daylight. Once night falls completely they’ll find a place to settle down so even if we don’t catch them we’re not going to have to worry about turning into supper on the way back.” They might have to worry about getting a through bollocking from Ryan first and then from Cutter as well as soon as the Professor heard about it but it wouldn’t be the first time for either of those things.
“But it’s not even going to come to that because as soon as the sun goes down a little more they’ll come out to hunt and once we catch them we’ll just have to radio Ryan to come get us.”
Abby sighed softly, she really knew better but sometimes Connor’s enthusiasm was hard to resist. “Fine, we’ll stay a little longer but if this ends up badly you’re stuck cleaning Rex’s litter for the rest of the year!”
“Deal!” Connor’s smile could have probably lit up half the woods and she couldn’t stop herself from returning it.
They settled back in for their wait. This time Connor ignored the laptop as they did their best to keep both sets of eyes and ears trained to pick up any changes in the woods around them. The sun had nearly disappeared and the shadows had turned the trees into long and slightly intimidating figures when Abby felt a chills run down her spine. A moment later she realised that the forest had gone completely still; no more birds chirped, no more squirrels chased each other through the trees above them, there were no sounds around them but the soft whistling of the evening breeze.
She turned to Connor but her friend had noticed the change as well and was holding a finger to his lips, eyes wide as he looked around for the arrival of their prey.
Heart now hammering in her chest, Abby started doing the same, looking through the foliage for any movement while doing her best not to give their position away.
There was nothing.
No sound, no movement, just the feeling that something was out there waiting and not for the first time since they had left camp she wondered if they were not well in over their head.
A hand squeezed her arm and Abby nearly jumped right out of her skin. She was about to whisper a soft curse to Connor before she realised what the young man was pointing to.
The pieces of Diprotodon meat they had used as bait were gone.
Abby didn’t have the chance to say or do anything. A branch above them creaked gently, a faint enough sound that she could have mistaken it for nothing more than a burst of stronger wind but a heartbeat later, the stillness of the woods was broken by a shrill high-pitched cry.
Over the years, first at the zoo and then with the anomaly project, she had heard plenty of predator cries; the one time they had come face to face with a fully grown T rex still gave her nightmares from time to time. This call would probably have the same effect; if they survived long enough to sleep again.
Characters: Connor, Abby, Ryan, OCs
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Ryan, Connor and Abby belong to Impossible Pictures, Rees is telperion_15’s. I promise I’ll put them all back when I’m done.
Summary: Because Connor has to do things his own way.
A/N 1: This is a big jump into the AU world. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even an ARC. There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons.
A/N 2: Finally we got to the main storyline all the prequels have been building up to so far. This takes place around what would have been season 2 of the series, in 2008.
A/N 3: For a full list of all Sharing a World AU stories please have a look here. Thanks to fredbassett as always for the great beta, all remaining mistakes are mine.
“You don’t understand, we can’t do this.” Connor was pacing in front of Ryan and Monroe while the soldiers were kitting up. Both captains had agreed, entirely too quickly in Connor’s opinion, that the Parvudens Dracos were too dangerous to take any chances with and they were currently looking like they were getting ready to hunt boar rather than round up two scared dragons.
“I’m sorry, Connor, but venom spitters are nasty little buggers. We can’t afford to have a pair flapping around the countryside putting people in danger.” Ryan’s tone was firm and Connor had known the soldier long enough to know it wasn’t very likely he’d change his mind on the subject.
But it wasn’t enough to stop him from trying.
“These dragons come from the late Pleistocene, no more than 60,000 years ago. Nearly all scientists agree that this is the time dragons first started becoming sentient. These are not velociraptor, they’re not just predators, Ryan. They are feeling, thinking creatures. It would be like shooting down a Homo Sapiens, just because he was scared and attacked us!”
Ryan finally finished loading his vest with enough weaponry to take down a herd of elephants and looked the young scientist straight in the eyes.
“I know, Connor and we’ll do our best to take them down without killing them but I’ve seen before what a venom spitter can do and neither I nor Captain Monroe are willing to put our men, or anyone else, in that kind of danger unnecessarily.”
Connor was about to tell the captain that the danger was not unnecessary, that they could seriously alter dragons’ entire evolution if they killed the creatures, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a very grim-looking Lieutenant Rees.
“How’s Thomlin doing?” Captain Monroe asked the medic, forestalling any further attempt from Connor to stick his nose in to what had obviously been now labeled as a ‘military issue’.
To the young man’s surprise the Lieutenant shook his head sadly.
“There was very little I could do, even with the limited amount of antidote I had available. This thing’s venom is strong enough to put down one of those furry hippos. Mark didn’t stand a chance.” Monroe’s lips tightened at the news and the dark-skinned captain nodded briefly before she shouldered her weapon.
“I need to let Chester know. We’ll be ready to go in a few minutes, Ryan.” Before heading towards her dragon, Monroe turned to Connor with a hard look on her face. “It’s better if you and Ms. Maitland stay here at the camp, I’d really rather not have any more casualty today.” And then she was gone leaving a - for one of the few times in his life - completely speechless Connor behind.
The effect didn’t last very long and Captain Monroe was still talking quietly to Chester by the time Connor had gone looking for Abby. The young scientist found her attending to the Diprotodons the soldiers had managed to round up so far, a small group of about half a dozen who had appeared to have decided that these humans were a much friendlier lot than the ones they were used to. This had been aided by the fact that the two dragons had managed to pile up enough vegetation to keep several herds of the large creatures happy.
“Abby, can I talk to you for a moment?” Connor knew this wasn’t going to be easy but he put on his patented innocent yet concerned smile and did his best.
“Whatever you’re plotting this time, Connor, you’re not dragging me in it.”
Right, that had gone well, for all of about fifteen seconds. Not that it would make him desist of course but it did make him realise it was time for a more direct approach.
“Listen, Abby. Ryan and Monroe don’t understand and you know Lester is going to agree with them if we call him. With the Professor and Stephen all the way back in London it means we’ve got to make sure these creatures are sent back to their time unharmed.” That was much better, it sounded positively Jedi-like actually.
“You know Cutter wouldn’t allow it.” Connor pushed a little harder.
Abby finally turned her head away from the large female Diprotodon she had been feeding and eyed him seriously.
“Maybe, but then Cutter always has Stephen watching his back.”
Connor was glad that she hadn’t pointed out that both men also usually knew what the hell they were doing around these creatures a lot better than a geek like him.
“That’s why I need you to come with me. We can take a couple of tranq rifles and you’re as good with those things as Stephen by now. Even if we catch just one of the pair we can use it as bait to catch the other and then we can send them both back without hurting them.” Connor knew just how much his friend cared about all the creatures, dangerous or not, that they met. She always wanted to save them and make sure they found their own way home.
Abby hesitated, turning to the Diprotodon who was gently nudging her for more food before glancing to the soldiers heading back into the woods, weapons in hand and resolute, if not downright hostile, looks on their faces.
“We’re taking two rifles and you are not to shoot yours for any reason, I just want a back up in case I need a fast reload. If we do something this bloody stupid I’d rather focus on the dragons trying to kill us with their snot and not have to worry about getting shot in the arse with a tranq dart from you.”
~.~.~.
Within half an hour, Connor and Abby had managed to discreetly collect two of the tranquiliser rifles from Chester’s equipment and some of the fallen Diprotodon to use as bait, a task that Connor had found remarkably gross even after the last two years hunting anomalies and the stray creatures that were randomly thrown through them. The two had then made their way into the forest, doing their best to keep away from the soldiers’ path while looking for the two Parvudens.
After a time, they had found what Abby had been fairly positive was a good place for an ambush, a modestly sized meadow surrounded by tall trees and with a stream nearby. Hoping that the presence of both water and easy prey would be enough to attract the creatures, the two had set up their bait before settling in to wait.
Close to three hours later the dragons had not shown hide nor tail. Connor had confirmed through his monitoring of the radio that the soldiers had not had any better luck so far with the Parvudens even though they had managed to gather what they were positive was the entire herd of Diprotodons. It was as if the dragons had disappeared into thin air - or maybe back through the still elusive anomaly.
Abby glanced over at Connor from her position, tranq rifle resting comfortably - a little too comfortably nowadays for her liking- on the crook of her arm. Her friend had, as always, brought his laptop with him, and had been busy quietly typing away for close to an hour, most likely updating his database - or possibly playing Diablo III like he had done every spare second of his day since the blasted thing had been released a couple of weeks earlier. A quick check of her watch had confirmed what she had already noticed and as much as she didn’t like the idea of leaving the dragons to roam the woods freely, she was also not looking forward to the idea of making their way back to the camp once darkness had settled.
“Conn, it’s going to be dark soon. I don’t know about you but I don’t fancy breaking my neck trying to find our way back to the camp in the dark,” Abby whispered, not mentioning the fact that she also wasn’t overly enthused about the possibility of meeting the Parvudens in the same conditions.
Connor closed the laptop quietly and put it back in his pack before sliding closer to her and whispering back.
“We can’t go yet, Abby, I was just thinking about it. They have to be crepuscular hunters. It makes perfect sense. The smaller size would put them to a disadvantage in plain daylight and the venom only has a limited range so they’d have to relay heavily on surprise in order to catch their prey.”
Connor’s hands had started what Abby referred to in her head as the ‘lecture dance’ and she had to quietly repress a small smile before the seriousness of the situation chased it away all too effectively.
“They might be twilight hunters, Connor, but we aren’t. We don’t have any night vision goggles and if we don’t catch them before night falls we’ll be stuck trying to make our way back in the dark with the possibility of someone getting struck by the idea we look like a very tasty snack.” Abby wasn’t entirely sure when she had started playing the voice of reason but she was quite positive it had begun shortly after Connor had moved in to her flat.
“No, no. We’re going to be fine. I saw them up close,” which Connor had, even though at the time it has seemed a tiny bit too up close. “They’re not nocturnal hunters at all, their eyes are too small and they were entirely too comfortable in the daylight. Once night falls completely they’ll find a place to settle down so even if we don’t catch them we’re not going to have to worry about turning into supper on the way back.” They might have to worry about getting a through bollocking from Ryan first and then from Cutter as well as soon as the Professor heard about it but it wouldn’t be the first time for either of those things.
“But it’s not even going to come to that because as soon as the sun goes down a little more they’ll come out to hunt and once we catch them we’ll just have to radio Ryan to come get us.”
Abby sighed softly, she really knew better but sometimes Connor’s enthusiasm was hard to resist. “Fine, we’ll stay a little longer but if this ends up badly you’re stuck cleaning Rex’s litter for the rest of the year!”
“Deal!” Connor’s smile could have probably lit up half the woods and she couldn’t stop herself from returning it.
They settled back in for their wait. This time Connor ignored the laptop as they did their best to keep both sets of eyes and ears trained to pick up any changes in the woods around them. The sun had nearly disappeared and the shadows had turned the trees into long and slightly intimidating figures when Abby felt a chills run down her spine. A moment later she realised that the forest had gone completely still; no more birds chirped, no more squirrels chased each other through the trees above them, there were no sounds around them but the soft whistling of the evening breeze.
She turned to Connor but her friend had noticed the change as well and was holding a finger to his lips, eyes wide as he looked around for the arrival of their prey.
Heart now hammering in her chest, Abby started doing the same, looking through the foliage for any movement while doing her best not to give their position away.
There was nothing.
No sound, no movement, just the feeling that something was out there waiting and not for the first time since they had left camp she wondered if they were not well in over their head.
A hand squeezed her arm and Abby nearly jumped right out of her skin. She was about to whisper a soft curse to Connor before she realised what the young man was pointing to.
The pieces of Diprotodon meat they had used as bait were gone.
Abby didn’t have the chance to say or do anything. A branch above them creaked gently, a faint enough sound that she could have mistaken it for nothing more than a burst of stronger wind but a heartbeat later, the stillness of the woods was broken by a shrill high-pitched cry.
Over the years, first at the zoo and then with the anomaly project, she had heard plenty of predator cries; the one time they had come face to face with a fully grown T rex still gave her nightmares from time to time. This call would probably have the same effect; if they survived long enough to sleep again.