Fic - A New World (part 2 of 5)
Title: A New World
Author:
prehistoriccat
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Characters/pairings: Danny Quinn, Connor Temple, Eric Tremblay (OC) Lauren (OC) with references to Abby/Connor
Disclaimer: Canon characters are not mine, no copyright intended
Warnings: set post series 5, so some spoilers if you haven't seen series 5 yet. Nothing major though.
Danny introduces Connor to the Vancouver team, and they encounter their first anomaly
“Hungry are we?” Danny commented, looking at the huge pile of food that Connor had in front of him.
“Didn't eat much last night; flying always makes me feel a bit queasy. Can't wait to try proper Canadian pancakes and maple syrup - Matt says you can't beat them!” Connor poured a huge globule of syrup onto the stack of pancakes and grinned. Danny laughed at him and began to eat his own breakfast of bacon, tomatoes and scrambled egg. “So, have they had anomalies here for long?”
“Not sure. I got the impression they only came across them about 3 months ago.”
“Ah, the Convergence,” Connor frowned. “We had a hard time covering all of that up.”
“Eric and Lauren were involved in the cover up here, but it just led them to investigate further. You'll like them. Both Scientists.”
“Good, Scientists I can work with... soldiers and ex-cops on the other hand...” He grinned and ducked as Danny took a playful swipe at him. “Seriously though, just Scientists? No army?”
“No, Eric seems to fancy himself as a bit of an action man, but they don't have anyone with any kind of formal military experience,” Danny replied, then leaned forward. “They don't seem to have a creature expert either. Abby could be of some use here... you should suggest....”
“Is that the time? I should go up to my room and sort out everything I need to take with me.” Connor suddenly stood up and wiped his face with the napkin. “I brought over my laptop and a load of files. I'm here to do a job and I intend to do it properly.”
Taken aback, Danny just said he'd meet Connor in a few minutes in the hotel lobby when he was ready. He shook his head and watched Connor almost run to get out of the dining room. He was definitely not himself, and Danny had a terrible feeling he knew why.
-o-
The University seemed an entirely different place when there were students around. Connor didn't seem phased at all, but Danny felt on edge. He'd got so used to being alone these last 18 months, being around people didn't feel right.
“Just down here,” he said, guiding Connor down towards the security doors.
“Geophysical Disaster... Interesting,” Connor said. “Weather forecasters.”
“You're not a Science snob are you, Connor?”
“'Course not. All Science has it's place. It's just not the kind of people I thought would be interested in anomalies, that's all.”
Danny pressed the buzzer and waited. The door clicked open and he pushed it, beckoning for Connor to follow. Eric's lab was busy, students were at virtually each computer terminal. Connor's face lit up and Danny nudged him. “Get off on all this do you? Nerd's pornography right?”
Connor was about to respond indignantly, but then he spotted a woman walking towards them. “Danny, good to see you again. Have you caught up with your sleep yet?” She smiled making Danny blush, much to Connor's amusement.
“Almost, thanks. The hotel is fantastic. Lauren, this is Connor Temple.”
Connor held out his hand and shook Lauren's. “We meet at last! It feels almost as if I know you already. Your computer system at the ARC took some cracking, I'm very impressed.”
“Obviously not impressive enough if you hacked in,” Connor pouted. “Pleased to meet you too, Lauren. I'm guessing you and I are going to be working together for the next few weeks?”
“You guessed correctly,” a man's voice said. “Eric Tremblay, you must be Connor. Danny's been telling us all about you. I can't wait to get started.” Eric shook Connor's hand. “Lauren, could you show Connor the office space we've cleared for him to work in?”
“Sure! This way.”
Connor turned and gave Danny a look. “Bad luck,” he whispered. “I guess you wish you were the computer nerd right now eh?” Danny gave him a dark look and watched as he followed Lauren into a side office. Suddenly, Danny felt like a spare part. He had three days before his flight home and no idea what to do with them; doing the 'tourist' thing didn't really appeal.
“Those two will probably be busy for the rest of the day; I know what these computer types are like when they get together,” Eric said. “I'm happy to use the software, but as soon as anything goes wrong, I have to rely on Lauren.”
“Same here; more trouble than they're worth sometimes.” Danny nodded. A thought struck him, remembering the conversation he'd had with Connor at breakfast. “Speaking of trouble; how do you deal with creature incursions? Surely it's not just you, Lauren and that small rifle you pointed at me the other day?”
“As I said, this is all top secret. Our government denies the existence of the anomalies; as does yours. We have no assistance, other than a couple of the students here.” Eric nodded in the general direction of a group of students at the far end.
“Then maybe there is something I can do to assist you. You're going to need weapons, and someone who knows how to handle them. I was divisional champ in firearms back in my days on the Met Police... I'd be happy to give a few pointers.”
“That would be appreciated, Danny, but don't you want to make the most of having a few days rest before you head back to the UK? No doubt they'll have you working as soon as you set foot on that tarmac at Heathrow.”
“Rest? What's that?” Danny grinned.
The remainder of the day was spent with two young students, Scott and Glenn, training them in some basics of how to handle a small pistol and a rifle. They learnt quickly and were enthusiastic. Danny envied their youth and the fact that life hadn't yet jaded them. Did he warn them just what they were getting into with the anomalies, and the self sacrifices they'd have to make? He'd seen Connor change in a short space of time; affected by the death of Professor Cutter, and that saddened him. He'd at least chosen to join the team; Connor had become involved by default and because of the things he'd seen he would never be allowed to actually leave, except in a body bag. Danny shook that thought from his head and tried to focus on the task of training these two young men. They seemed intelligent; they'd work all of that out for themselves.
Connor was enjoying showing Lauren all of his research. Unlike most of the people he encountered, she seemed to actually understand what he was talking about. Her degree in Physics gave her a slight edge on Connor when it came to technicalities, but Connor liked having his mind challenged.
After lunch, Eric joined them and began making a list of all the parts Connor would need to build an ADD and a locking device. They chatted excitedly about how the ADD worked, and Eric showed Connor the data they'd collected - tracking anomalies as if they were electrically charged storms using weather satellites. Connor was already wondering how he could incorporate a weather satellite system into the existing ADD at the ARC; Jess would love it.
“Well, I think we've had a productive day,” Eric finally said, glancing at his watch and realising it was almost 6pm. “Let's go and get Danny, and I'll take you both out for dinner - my shout of course.”
“Sounds great!” Connor grinned. “Thanks.”
-o-
The restaurant turned out to be a steakhouse, with velvet seats, dark wooden décor and a nice warm, homely feel to it; the entire eating area bathed in the glow from an open coal fire burning in the far corner. Danny ate in near silence, listening to Connor, Lauren and Eric chat. He was quite content to just savour the wonderful taste of tender meat cooked perfectly, and a nice cold beer that slid down his throat beautifully. It was a far cry from the meals he'd had the last 18 months, and it tasted like heaven. He found himself having to force the food down; his stomach wasn't used to being so full and he felt slightly bloated.
He leaned back; full, happy and relaxed. Connor certainly seemed more like his old self too; he was talking quite animatedly to Lauren and lapping up the attention she was giving him. Clearly it was just jet-lag that had been bothering him before. If he didn't know Connor better, he'd say he was actually flirting with Lauren. He was probably completely oblivious to the fact she was making gooey eyes at him. Danny couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy, but realised Lauren was probably not the sort of woman that was into a casual fling with someone who wouldn't be around in a couple of days time.
They took a taxi back to the hotel, and he left a still animated Connor on the third floor as he continued up to the fourth. He shook his head and smiled. Tomorrow, he'd go and do a bit of sight-seeing; Eric was right, he would be thrust straight back into the thick of it when he got back so he should have some time for himself. He'd also make a point of trying to get Connor on his own for a while too and catch up. Connor had said very little about what had happened since he had last seen them, and he was curious to know what this convergence thing was he'd mentioned, and what had happened to Philip Burton. And then there was Abby. Whilst Connor had spent the evening retelling their adventures with the anomalies in the early days, he hadn't mentioned her once.
-o-
The phone at the side of the bed was ringing. Danny squinted; it was barely light and for a moment he was disorientated. He picked up the receiver and heard the familiar voice of Connor - “We've got an anomaly! Meet you in the lobby in two minutes!”
Despite his tiredness, Danny felt a rush of adrenaline. He pulled on his clothes and arrived in the lobby just as Connor did. “Almost like old times, eh?” Connor grinned as the pair of them left the hotel. Eric was waiting for them just across from the entrance, and they climbed in the back of his car.
“Good morning, you ready for this?” Eric said. Danny and Connor nodded. “It's a little way out of the city, area called Surrey - Lauren got a call from the overnight monitoring team about half an hour ago, the satellite picked up electrical activity on the Pattullo bridge and she intercepted some police radio messages indicating sightings of a glowing light.”
They sped along the roads; being so early in the morning there were few cars out. Lauren called to say she was there already with Scott and Glenn, and that it was indeed an anomaly.
“OK, don't do anything until we get there. Use your University credentials if you have to; make the police believe you're conducting a weather experiment.” Eric told her.
“Understood. It's a shame Connor hasn't had chance to put together that locking device; I would've liked to have seen him in action.”
Connor blushed and Danny elbowed him in the ribs. “Jealous are we?” Connor said under his breath. “If you fancy her, why don't you just ask her out?”
“Says the man who took three years to ask Abby out... or did she have to make the first move?” Danny hissed back. He saw something change in Connor's eyes that bothered him; he was definitely going to have to do some 'catching up' with Connor before he went back. Connor leaned forward to ask how much further they had to go; he clearly did not want to continue the discussion.
They arrived at the bridge about ten minutes later, and parked up alongside Lauren's car. The anomaly glowed bright in the dim early dawn light; a sight that both sent tingles of both excitement and fear through both Danny and Connor. Connor reached instinctively for his EMD, then remembered he hadn't got one. He was going to have to depend on the others; a reminder of the old days he didn't like.
“It seems pretty stable,” Lauren said as they approached, addressing Connor more than anyone else. “Wonder how long its been open for? The satellite doesn't pick them up straight away like your detector.”
“That's what I'm worried about. Something could've come through already,” Eric said.
“Nothing on the police comms channels,” Glenn pulled his earpiece out. He'd been listening in for any sign of a radio call for anything that sounded vaguely like a possible creature sighting.
“Good, just how I like it.”
Just as the team began to settle into position to wait for the anomaly to close, Connor spotted something moving from within the anomaly. Something was coming through! Eric, Danny, Glenn and Scott released the safety catches on their guns and held them at the ready, pointed at the anomaly.
A large, almost birdlike creature lumbered through. It had clawed feet like a bird, and arms that almost resembled wings but would almost certainly not allow the creature to fly. It shook it's body, making its feather like coating shimmer before turning it's head in the direction of the waiting humans.
“What the hell is that?” Eric's mouth dropped open.
“Hagryphus by the looks of it... late Cretaceous, fairly common in North America.” Connor's brain always seemed to go into an automatic mode when it came to identifying dinosaurs. Cutter had once joked that his brain was faster and contained more information than Google.
“Do we need to be worried?”
Connor wrinkled his nose. “It's an omnivore, a scavenger mostly... but if it's hungry enough it might have a go at one of us.”
Danny took charge. “We need to get it back through the anomaly before we find out how hungry it is.” He nodded his head at Glenn and Scott, “Like we discussed yesterday; we shoot in its direction to scare it back to where it came from.”
Connor and Lauren took a step back to allow the four men with guns to go forward. A few shots were fired, but the creature seemed barely startled, and instead of going back it moved closer. Connor grabbed Lauren's hand and dragged her into her car. “Drive at it!” he hissed. “In this, we're bigger than it is.”
Lauren started the car and drove slowly toward the creature. It made a snarling noise at them, and for a moment Connor was concerned it was going to smash through the windscreen, but then it began to move backwards towards the anomaly. “Keep going! It's working!”
Suddenly, there was a rapid succession of gunfire, and the creature slumped to the ground. Lauren stopped the car and Connor was out in seconds; his face red with anger.
“What did you do that for? It was going back through!” He looked down at the creature; it wasn't moving. The bullets had fatally wounded it. Then he turned angrily to Eric who had fired the shots.
“This is a public area, there's already a number of people around even at this early hour. We can't risk these creatures being seen.”
“What kind of outfit are you running here?” Connor yelled. “You haven't got a clue have you? Do you realise the potential consequences of killing them? Even the most subtle change in the past could have disastrous implications for our present!”
Danny placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. “Easy, mate. Come on.” Connor shrugged his hand away and stomped towards the car again. Danny followed.
“Even before we got the EMDs, we only killed the creatures as a last resort. Cutter always insisted we tried to get them back where they belonged. You're an idiot, Tremblay! You haven't even considered how you're running this team. You asked for mine and Danny's assistance but then just go and do your own thing! - you should've had tranquillisers on standby. Abby always had some available...” He stopped and bit down on his bottom lip, fighting tears welling in his eyes. Danny could see he was shaking and put a friendly arm around him. This time, Connor allowed it to stay.
“Let's go back to the hotel, eh?”
“Good idea, Danny,” Eric said. “We'll clean up here. Take my car and I'll go back with Lauren.” He threw Danny his car keys. “And then when we've all had time to reflect on what happened here, we'll discuss how you think this should be done.”
Danny guided Connor over to Eric's car and opened the passenger door. Connor slid inside silently and closed the door whilst Danny walked around to the driver's side. They pulled away and Danny waited until they were well away from the bridge before speaking.
“So, what was that all about back there?”
Connor turned and gazed out of the window. Danny sighed, annoyed. He was getting fed up of Connor avoiding questions. “This isn't like you.”
“I'm just frustrated that's all. There was no need to shoot that creature; it wasn't a threat to anyone and it was heading back to the anomaly. Another couple of minutes and it would've been home.”
“Agreed... but there's more to this than you're letting on.” Connor responded with more silence, but Danny could see in the corner of his eyes that Connor was on the verge of breaking down “You've hardly said anything about what happened after I went after Patrick... and every time I mention Abby you change the subject. Talk to me, Connor.”
“I messed up, Danny. I trusted Philip Burton and he used me. I created a machine that made anomalies and almost destroyed the world!”
Danny was not surprised. He'd realised Burton was bad news when he found his name on papers that Helen Cutter had on her when she died. He'd done the right thing warning Matt about him then. “But you sorted it out, right? That's what matters. You're still on the team.”
Connor sniffed. “Yeah, I'm lucky really... well, in some things I am.”
“Ah. Abby wasn't quite so forgiving?”
Connor sighed. “We were supposed to be getting married in three weeks time.”
“Supposed? What happened?”
“Her bloody waste of space brother, that's what happened!” Connor blinked, and wiped the tear falling down his cheek. “It was all going so well. We'd decided not to wait too long to get married and we got lucky, managed to get a slot at the venue we wanted; she'd brought her dress, I was trying to decide if I should ask Becker or Matt to be my best man... and then she decided she wanted Jack to give her away.”
“Well, that's hardly a surprise Connor. She did say he was her only family.”
“I know, and even though I don't particularly like the kid, I understood why she'd ask him. Trouble is, he's off travelling around Europe for the next six months and said he couldn't do it... So Abby wanted to postpone the wedding until he was back.”
“Postpone doesn't sound too bad, Connor.” Danny smiled. “You waited 4 years, what difference will another 6 months make?”
“We argued over it. We'd already paid for things, sent out invites... my mum had booked a hotel for the weekend so she could come. I suggested that if Jack really cared, he'd be there. What's a couple of days out of his trip for his sister, right? Abby flipped; said I clearly didn't understand her at all and if that was the case then why were we even getting married in the first place.” Connor sniffed. “So I said that I wondered the same thing too and stormed out. I spent the night on Becker's sofa, and when I got to the ARC the next morning, she'd left her engagement ring on my desk and Matt said she'd asked to take a few days compassionate leave.”
“Oh, Connor, I'm sorry,” Danny shook his head. “Have you even spoken to her since?”
“Nope. Lester told me about this job that afternoon; said it might do me good to be away for a little while.”
Good for whom? Danny wondered. He couldn't believe that either of them had allowed Jack to come between them; somehow he had to help put things right.
Author:
prehistoriccat
Rating: PG
Genre: Gen
Characters/pairings: Danny Quinn, Connor Temple, Eric Tremblay (OC) Lauren (OC) with references to Abby/Connor
Disclaimer: Canon characters are not mine, no copyright intended
Warnings: set post series 5, so some spoilers if you haven't seen series 5 yet. Nothing major though.
Danny introduces Connor to the Vancouver team, and they encounter their first anomaly
“Hungry are we?” Danny commented, looking at the huge pile of food that Connor had in front of him.
“Didn't eat much last night; flying always makes me feel a bit queasy. Can't wait to try proper Canadian pancakes and maple syrup - Matt says you can't beat them!” Connor poured a huge globule of syrup onto the stack of pancakes and grinned. Danny laughed at him and began to eat his own breakfast of bacon, tomatoes and scrambled egg. “So, have they had anomalies here for long?”
“Not sure. I got the impression they only came across them about 3 months ago.”
“Ah, the Convergence,” Connor frowned. “We had a hard time covering all of that up.”
“Eric and Lauren were involved in the cover up here, but it just led them to investigate further. You'll like them. Both Scientists.”
“Good, Scientists I can work with... soldiers and ex-cops on the other hand...” He grinned and ducked as Danny took a playful swipe at him. “Seriously though, just Scientists? No army?”
“No, Eric seems to fancy himself as a bit of an action man, but they don't have anyone with any kind of formal military experience,” Danny replied, then leaned forward. “They don't seem to have a creature expert either. Abby could be of some use here... you should suggest....”
“Is that the time? I should go up to my room and sort out everything I need to take with me.” Connor suddenly stood up and wiped his face with the napkin. “I brought over my laptop and a load of files. I'm here to do a job and I intend to do it properly.”
Taken aback, Danny just said he'd meet Connor in a few minutes in the hotel lobby when he was ready. He shook his head and watched Connor almost run to get out of the dining room. He was definitely not himself, and Danny had a terrible feeling he knew why.
-o-
The University seemed an entirely different place when there were students around. Connor didn't seem phased at all, but Danny felt on edge. He'd got so used to being alone these last 18 months, being around people didn't feel right.
“Just down here,” he said, guiding Connor down towards the security doors.
“Geophysical Disaster... Interesting,” Connor said. “Weather forecasters.”
“You're not a Science snob are you, Connor?”
“'Course not. All Science has it's place. It's just not the kind of people I thought would be interested in anomalies, that's all.”
Danny pressed the buzzer and waited. The door clicked open and he pushed it, beckoning for Connor to follow. Eric's lab was busy, students were at virtually each computer terminal. Connor's face lit up and Danny nudged him. “Get off on all this do you? Nerd's pornography right?”
Connor was about to respond indignantly, but then he spotted a woman walking towards them. “Danny, good to see you again. Have you caught up with your sleep yet?” She smiled making Danny blush, much to Connor's amusement.
“Almost, thanks. The hotel is fantastic. Lauren, this is Connor Temple.”
Connor held out his hand and shook Lauren's. “We meet at last! It feels almost as if I know you already. Your computer system at the ARC took some cracking, I'm very impressed.”
“Obviously not impressive enough if you hacked in,” Connor pouted. “Pleased to meet you too, Lauren. I'm guessing you and I are going to be working together for the next few weeks?”
“You guessed correctly,” a man's voice said. “Eric Tremblay, you must be Connor. Danny's been telling us all about you. I can't wait to get started.” Eric shook Connor's hand. “Lauren, could you show Connor the office space we've cleared for him to work in?”
“Sure! This way.”
Connor turned and gave Danny a look. “Bad luck,” he whispered. “I guess you wish you were the computer nerd right now eh?” Danny gave him a dark look and watched as he followed Lauren into a side office. Suddenly, Danny felt like a spare part. He had three days before his flight home and no idea what to do with them; doing the 'tourist' thing didn't really appeal.
“Those two will probably be busy for the rest of the day; I know what these computer types are like when they get together,” Eric said. “I'm happy to use the software, but as soon as anything goes wrong, I have to rely on Lauren.”
“Same here; more trouble than they're worth sometimes.” Danny nodded. A thought struck him, remembering the conversation he'd had with Connor at breakfast. “Speaking of trouble; how do you deal with creature incursions? Surely it's not just you, Lauren and that small rifle you pointed at me the other day?”
“As I said, this is all top secret. Our government denies the existence of the anomalies; as does yours. We have no assistance, other than a couple of the students here.” Eric nodded in the general direction of a group of students at the far end.
“Then maybe there is something I can do to assist you. You're going to need weapons, and someone who knows how to handle them. I was divisional champ in firearms back in my days on the Met Police... I'd be happy to give a few pointers.”
“That would be appreciated, Danny, but don't you want to make the most of having a few days rest before you head back to the UK? No doubt they'll have you working as soon as you set foot on that tarmac at Heathrow.”
“Rest? What's that?” Danny grinned.
The remainder of the day was spent with two young students, Scott and Glenn, training them in some basics of how to handle a small pistol and a rifle. They learnt quickly and were enthusiastic. Danny envied their youth and the fact that life hadn't yet jaded them. Did he warn them just what they were getting into with the anomalies, and the self sacrifices they'd have to make? He'd seen Connor change in a short space of time; affected by the death of Professor Cutter, and that saddened him. He'd at least chosen to join the team; Connor had become involved by default and because of the things he'd seen he would never be allowed to actually leave, except in a body bag. Danny shook that thought from his head and tried to focus on the task of training these two young men. They seemed intelligent; they'd work all of that out for themselves.
Connor was enjoying showing Lauren all of his research. Unlike most of the people he encountered, she seemed to actually understand what he was talking about. Her degree in Physics gave her a slight edge on Connor when it came to technicalities, but Connor liked having his mind challenged.
After lunch, Eric joined them and began making a list of all the parts Connor would need to build an ADD and a locking device. They chatted excitedly about how the ADD worked, and Eric showed Connor the data they'd collected - tracking anomalies as if they were electrically charged storms using weather satellites. Connor was already wondering how he could incorporate a weather satellite system into the existing ADD at the ARC; Jess would love it.
“Well, I think we've had a productive day,” Eric finally said, glancing at his watch and realising it was almost 6pm. “Let's go and get Danny, and I'll take you both out for dinner - my shout of course.”
“Sounds great!” Connor grinned. “Thanks.”
-o-
The restaurant turned out to be a steakhouse, with velvet seats, dark wooden décor and a nice warm, homely feel to it; the entire eating area bathed in the glow from an open coal fire burning in the far corner. Danny ate in near silence, listening to Connor, Lauren and Eric chat. He was quite content to just savour the wonderful taste of tender meat cooked perfectly, and a nice cold beer that slid down his throat beautifully. It was a far cry from the meals he'd had the last 18 months, and it tasted like heaven. He found himself having to force the food down; his stomach wasn't used to being so full and he felt slightly bloated.
He leaned back; full, happy and relaxed. Connor certainly seemed more like his old self too; he was talking quite animatedly to Lauren and lapping up the attention she was giving him. Clearly it was just jet-lag that had been bothering him before. If he didn't know Connor better, he'd say he was actually flirting with Lauren. He was probably completely oblivious to the fact she was making gooey eyes at him. Danny couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy, but realised Lauren was probably not the sort of woman that was into a casual fling with someone who wouldn't be around in a couple of days time.
They took a taxi back to the hotel, and he left a still animated Connor on the third floor as he continued up to the fourth. He shook his head and smiled. Tomorrow, he'd go and do a bit of sight-seeing; Eric was right, he would be thrust straight back into the thick of it when he got back so he should have some time for himself. He'd also make a point of trying to get Connor on his own for a while too and catch up. Connor had said very little about what had happened since he had last seen them, and he was curious to know what this convergence thing was he'd mentioned, and what had happened to Philip Burton. And then there was Abby. Whilst Connor had spent the evening retelling their adventures with the anomalies in the early days, he hadn't mentioned her once.
-o-
The phone at the side of the bed was ringing. Danny squinted; it was barely light and for a moment he was disorientated. He picked up the receiver and heard the familiar voice of Connor - “We've got an anomaly! Meet you in the lobby in two minutes!”
Despite his tiredness, Danny felt a rush of adrenaline. He pulled on his clothes and arrived in the lobby just as Connor did. “Almost like old times, eh?” Connor grinned as the pair of them left the hotel. Eric was waiting for them just across from the entrance, and they climbed in the back of his car.
“Good morning, you ready for this?” Eric said. Danny and Connor nodded. “It's a little way out of the city, area called Surrey - Lauren got a call from the overnight monitoring team about half an hour ago, the satellite picked up electrical activity on the Pattullo bridge and she intercepted some police radio messages indicating sightings of a glowing light.”
They sped along the roads; being so early in the morning there were few cars out. Lauren called to say she was there already with Scott and Glenn, and that it was indeed an anomaly.
“OK, don't do anything until we get there. Use your University credentials if you have to; make the police believe you're conducting a weather experiment.” Eric told her.
“Understood. It's a shame Connor hasn't had chance to put together that locking device; I would've liked to have seen him in action.”
Connor blushed and Danny elbowed him in the ribs. “Jealous are we?” Connor said under his breath. “If you fancy her, why don't you just ask her out?”
“Says the man who took three years to ask Abby out... or did she have to make the first move?” Danny hissed back. He saw something change in Connor's eyes that bothered him; he was definitely going to have to do some 'catching up' with Connor before he went back. Connor leaned forward to ask how much further they had to go; he clearly did not want to continue the discussion.
They arrived at the bridge about ten minutes later, and parked up alongside Lauren's car. The anomaly glowed bright in the dim early dawn light; a sight that both sent tingles of both excitement and fear through both Danny and Connor. Connor reached instinctively for his EMD, then remembered he hadn't got one. He was going to have to depend on the others; a reminder of the old days he didn't like.
“It seems pretty stable,” Lauren said as they approached, addressing Connor more than anyone else. “Wonder how long its been open for? The satellite doesn't pick them up straight away like your detector.”
“That's what I'm worried about. Something could've come through already,” Eric said.
“Nothing on the police comms channels,” Glenn pulled his earpiece out. He'd been listening in for any sign of a radio call for anything that sounded vaguely like a possible creature sighting.
“Good, just how I like it.”
Just as the team began to settle into position to wait for the anomaly to close, Connor spotted something moving from within the anomaly. Something was coming through! Eric, Danny, Glenn and Scott released the safety catches on their guns and held them at the ready, pointed at the anomaly.
A large, almost birdlike creature lumbered through. It had clawed feet like a bird, and arms that almost resembled wings but would almost certainly not allow the creature to fly. It shook it's body, making its feather like coating shimmer before turning it's head in the direction of the waiting humans.
“What the hell is that?” Eric's mouth dropped open.
“Hagryphus by the looks of it... late Cretaceous, fairly common in North America.” Connor's brain always seemed to go into an automatic mode when it came to identifying dinosaurs. Cutter had once joked that his brain was faster and contained more information than Google.
“Do we need to be worried?”
Connor wrinkled his nose. “It's an omnivore, a scavenger mostly... but if it's hungry enough it might have a go at one of us.”
Danny took charge. “We need to get it back through the anomaly before we find out how hungry it is.” He nodded his head at Glenn and Scott, “Like we discussed yesterday; we shoot in its direction to scare it back to where it came from.”
Connor and Lauren took a step back to allow the four men with guns to go forward. A few shots were fired, but the creature seemed barely startled, and instead of going back it moved closer. Connor grabbed Lauren's hand and dragged her into her car. “Drive at it!” he hissed. “In this, we're bigger than it is.”
Lauren started the car and drove slowly toward the creature. It made a snarling noise at them, and for a moment Connor was concerned it was going to smash through the windscreen, but then it began to move backwards towards the anomaly. “Keep going! It's working!”
Suddenly, there was a rapid succession of gunfire, and the creature slumped to the ground. Lauren stopped the car and Connor was out in seconds; his face red with anger.
“What did you do that for? It was going back through!” He looked down at the creature; it wasn't moving. The bullets had fatally wounded it. Then he turned angrily to Eric who had fired the shots.
“This is a public area, there's already a number of people around even at this early hour. We can't risk these creatures being seen.”
“What kind of outfit are you running here?” Connor yelled. “You haven't got a clue have you? Do you realise the potential consequences of killing them? Even the most subtle change in the past could have disastrous implications for our present!”
Danny placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. “Easy, mate. Come on.” Connor shrugged his hand away and stomped towards the car again. Danny followed.
“Even before we got the EMDs, we only killed the creatures as a last resort. Cutter always insisted we tried to get them back where they belonged. You're an idiot, Tremblay! You haven't even considered how you're running this team. You asked for mine and Danny's assistance but then just go and do your own thing! - you should've had tranquillisers on standby. Abby always had some available...” He stopped and bit down on his bottom lip, fighting tears welling in his eyes. Danny could see he was shaking and put a friendly arm around him. This time, Connor allowed it to stay.
“Let's go back to the hotel, eh?”
“Good idea, Danny,” Eric said. “We'll clean up here. Take my car and I'll go back with Lauren.” He threw Danny his car keys. “And then when we've all had time to reflect on what happened here, we'll discuss how you think this should be done.”
Danny guided Connor over to Eric's car and opened the passenger door. Connor slid inside silently and closed the door whilst Danny walked around to the driver's side. They pulled away and Danny waited until they were well away from the bridge before speaking.
“So, what was that all about back there?”
Connor turned and gazed out of the window. Danny sighed, annoyed. He was getting fed up of Connor avoiding questions. “This isn't like you.”
“I'm just frustrated that's all. There was no need to shoot that creature; it wasn't a threat to anyone and it was heading back to the anomaly. Another couple of minutes and it would've been home.”
“Agreed... but there's more to this than you're letting on.” Connor responded with more silence, but Danny could see in the corner of his eyes that Connor was on the verge of breaking down “You've hardly said anything about what happened after I went after Patrick... and every time I mention Abby you change the subject. Talk to me, Connor.”
“I messed up, Danny. I trusted Philip Burton and he used me. I created a machine that made anomalies and almost destroyed the world!”
Danny was not surprised. He'd realised Burton was bad news when he found his name on papers that Helen Cutter had on her when she died. He'd done the right thing warning Matt about him then. “But you sorted it out, right? That's what matters. You're still on the team.”
Connor sniffed. “Yeah, I'm lucky really... well, in some things I am.”
“Ah. Abby wasn't quite so forgiving?”
Connor sighed. “We were supposed to be getting married in three weeks time.”
“Supposed? What happened?”
“Her bloody waste of space brother, that's what happened!” Connor blinked, and wiped the tear falling down his cheek. “It was all going so well. We'd decided not to wait too long to get married and we got lucky, managed to get a slot at the venue we wanted; she'd brought her dress, I was trying to decide if I should ask Becker or Matt to be my best man... and then she decided she wanted Jack to give her away.”
“Well, that's hardly a surprise Connor. She did say he was her only family.”
“I know, and even though I don't particularly like the kid, I understood why she'd ask him. Trouble is, he's off travelling around Europe for the next six months and said he couldn't do it... So Abby wanted to postpone the wedding until he was back.”
“Postpone doesn't sound too bad, Connor.” Danny smiled. “You waited 4 years, what difference will another 6 months make?”
“We argued over it. We'd already paid for things, sent out invites... my mum had booked a hotel for the weekend so she could come. I suggested that if Jack really cared, he'd be there. What's a couple of days out of his trip for his sister, right? Abby flipped; said I clearly didn't understand her at all and if that was the case then why were we even getting married in the first place.” Connor sniffed. “So I said that I wondered the same thing too and stormed out. I spent the night on Becker's sofa, and when I got to the ARC the next morning, she'd left her engagement ring on my desk and Matt said she'd asked to take a few days compassionate leave.”
“Oh, Connor, I'm sorry,” Danny shook his head. “Have you even spoken to her since?”
“Nope. Lester told me about this job that afternoon; said it might do me good to be away for a little while.”
Good for whom? Danny wondered. He couldn't believe that either of them had allowed Jack to come between them; somehow he had to help put things right.