Fic - Aftershock (part 4 of 7)
Title: Aftershock
Author: prehistoriccat
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Abby (with references to Abby/Connor) Matt (with references to Matt/Emily) Nathan Somerville (OC)
Genre: Angst, Gen
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine, no copyright is intended
Warnings: Contains spoilers for series 5, also multiple deaths of canon characters.
A/N: Written for angstbigbang Thanks to my wonderful beta reader evenstar_estel and to the awesome luvconnor for the artwork
“The day it all changed; and now we're going to change it again.”
Abby wished she knew more about electronics; or at least understood how to interpret all of the calculations on Connor's laptop. It seemed almost cruel that she had been spared and not him when he was the only one who could put things right. Nathan had been working non-stop for almost 4 hours now, rubbing his eyes and only really looking up from his work when either Abby or Matt brought him a drink or something to eat.
The air in Connor's lab was practically toxic, and Nathan had an oxygen mask strapped over his face so that he could work. They'd tried to move the anomaly machine down into the panic room, but Nathan was concerned it would knock it out of alignment and it could take hours to recalibrate it - Time that they just didn't have.
Abby was struggling, not just with the physical act of breathing, but with this whole set up. It should be Connor doing this, not some stranger they'd only known for a day. She could watch him work for a few minutes before she had to leave, using the bad air as an excuse. Matt seemed to be coping a little better; his lungs were used to this air to a certain extent so he could tolerate it for longer than Abby.
“Do you think he can do it?” Matt said, as he followed Abby out of the lab.
“I have no idea. We just have to hope he can.”
“We need to give some thought about where we go back to... An appropriate point where we can get to Connor before he's been taken in by Burton.”
Abby sighed. She'd been trying to think when it all changed; when was the turning point that made Connor decide Burton was right? She'd always had her doubts about him, but Connor had practically hero worshipped him the moment he'd clapped eyes on him. Maybe that was it; they had to stop Connor meeting Burton in the first place - but how? There would be no way she could prevent Connor from going back to the ARC; it was all he talked about during their time in the Cretaceous and it was what had kept him motivated every day.
“How about we stop Burton from coming into the ARC?” Abby said.
Matt shook his head.”Without Prospero, the ARC would never have been re-commissioned. This place has to exist otherwise Burton would just conduct his research elsewhere and would be impossible to trace.”
“Then we go back to the time of the old ARC, before Connor and I disappeared. We warn our younger versions of ourselves not to...”
“Not to go after Helen Cutter and risk having her destroy all of humanity? We can't do that either. Think, Abby! There must have been something that Connor did to make Burton change his mind about him. He was reluctant to even give Connor the time of day when you first came home. He said that Connor was undisciplined in his Science; then suddenly he was taking him under his wing and making him keep secrets from us all.”
“The lockdown!” Abby said. Connor hadn't told her much about that afternoon, but Jess had. Connor had saved Burton's life by hacking into the computer system that Burton had thought impenetrable. It was also the day that Emily had come through the anomaly at the old theatre with Ethan.
“So, we drag Connor away and stop him from saving Burton?” Matt grinned. “I like it.”
For a moment Abby believed it sounded like the perfect plan, but then another thought hit her. “No, if he doesn't save Burton, he doesn't save Rex either. We have to stop the lockdown happening in the first place. It was Rex that triggered it because he escaped from the menagerie... we stop Rex from getting out, and we stop the lockdown... and Burton still thinks Connor's not worth anything.”
“There's just one flaw in the plan,” Matt sighed, glancing back at the lab door. All of this planning was irrelevant if Nathan couldn't work out how to control the anomaly.
-o-
Another couple of hours passed, and Abby felt herself almost drifting off to sleep. She'd warmed some soup for all them about an hour ago, and Matt had pulled out some bottles of beer from the stash of supplies they'd taken from the supermarket. Alcohol always made her sleepy, and right now she would love to curl up in a soft bed and just sleep. She wondered if she'd ever actually wake up if she did; and that thought wasn't as scary as it should have been. At least if she died she'd be with Connor again.
Nathan had looked really tired when she took his soup up to him, but he was focussed and said he thought he was making progress. She was worried about him; he needed to rest for a little while, but getting him to actually do it would be near impossible. Connor was exactly the same when he was working on a project. Matt was busy tinkering with an EMD in the corner, so she left him to go up to talk to Nathan.
She stood watching Nathan for a few moments, and then saw something that made her heart beat rapidly. He was holding something in his hands that looked familiar; it was almost the same as the device they'd used to follow Helen Cutter. Had Connor deliberately based his design on that, or had Nathan interpreted them in this way? Was all of this actually supposed to happen and it was Nathan and Connor that had invented the devices in the first place? Abby smiled to herself; Connor had definitely rubbed off on her with all his talk of time not being linear.
“I came to try and persuade you to take a break,” she said softly. “But that looks promising.”
Nathan nodded. “I was going to do a test before I called you and Matt in. I've followed all of Connor's notes and I think this is it.”
“We don't have to wait. I'll get Matt!” Abby ran down the corridor, feeling breathless almost straight away and her chest tightening. The lack of oxygen was becoming a major issue now, and they probably only had a matter of hours before their bodies would begin to shut down in protest. Matt saw her face and knew immediately that Nathan was ready to open an anomaly, so he raced with her back to the lab and stood by the desk.
“I haven't tested this yet,” Nathan said nervously. “If it doesn't work, I'm sorry.”
“Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Abby said, putting a reassuring arm around his shoulder. “Neither of us could have done this. We've given it our best shot, that's all that matters.”
“Abby's right. We had to take a chance. Now, let's fire this up and give it a try!”
Nathan nodded, took a deep breath and switched everything on. The machine hummed as it warmed up, and then the device in Nathan's shaking hands beeped. “OK, it's ready. What's the date you need me enter in?”
“7th March, 2011” Abby looked at Matt. “The day it all changed; and now we're going to change it again.”
A few button presses later, the device was being pointed at the anomaly machine and then it sprang into life. A chill ran down the length of Abby's spine as the small anomaly appeared between the two disks of the machine, no more than 50 centimetres tall.
“I thought it would be bigger than that,” Nathan commented. “Even if it is in the right time and place, we'll never know. None of us could get through that!”
“Abby could,” Matt said. He turned to her. “You have to go through; you're our only chance.”
“I'm not leaving you and Nathan here to die!”
“It's not about two people surviving, Abby. It's about saving millions. If you don't go through and stop Connor, then all that death and destruction you saw happens and this planet dies.” Matt placed both his hands on Abby's shoulders and lowered his voice. “It's down to you now. There's nothing else Nathan and I can do.”
“There has to be some way of making it bigger? I am not going without the both of you!” She shrugged Matt's hands away and moved over to the laptop. The rows of mathematical equations were meaningless, and she let out a cry of frustration.
“There's nothing in Connor's notes about size,” Nathan said. “The machine's fixed; we'd have to make a bigger one to get a bigger anomaly.”
Matt was removing his wrist band. “There's no arguing, Abby. Take this - it contains all those images that I showed you before. Show them to Connor if you have to and use this to prove your story to the other version of me. Where you're going, I haven't told anyone that I'm from the future.”
Abby slumped onto the desk, burying her head in her hands. Matt and Nathan had made up their minds but she hadn't. The small anomaly glowed in front of her and it seemed to be almost drawing her into it. This was all happening too quickly; perhaps a part of her had already resigned herself to the same fate as the others? The thought of dying no longer scared her, but being alone on the other side of that anomaly did. What if she made a mess of it and she had to watch everyone she cared about die again? Matt's arm rested over her shoulders for a moment and then she turned, burying her head in his chest and arms. “Abby,” he whispered. “You can do this. For everyone... for Connor.”
“OK,” she finally said. The mention of Connor seemed to pull her back together and she found something inside that gave her some much needed self belief. “If you're sure there's no other way...” Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, she pulled herself up onto the desk onto all fours and took a deep breath.
“Wait!” Nathan grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. “When you've saved the world, look me up eh?” He blinked away his tears and smiled. “Wouldn't mind meeting your Connor properly and maybe working with him on all this stuff.”
Abby pushed the piece of paper into her pocket and then leaned in to kiss Nathan's forehead lightly. “I think you and Connor would get on like a house on fire!”
Nathan pressed something else into her hands too; the hard drive containing all of Connor's research. “Might come in useful,” he said, winking. “It's Connor's work anyway, he should have it.”
“You have to go.” Matt looked serious. “If that anomaly has opened to the right place, it'll probably have set off the alarm at the ARC and the team will be on the way to deal with it. You don't want to run into anyone until you're ready.”
Abby nodded. This was it. With a deep breath, she began to crawl towards the anomaly. She paused for a brief moment to glance back at Matt. She needed the reassurance that she was doing the right thing, and his smile told her she was. That familiar rush of static as she approached the anomaly felt almost comforting, but behind her the sound of Matt and Nathan's coughing and wheezing made her heart ache and her stomach churn. Nathan probably only had a matter of hours once his oxygen tank ran out; Matt might last a day or so with his stronger lungs... but the inevitable would happen. She was leaving them to die.