Fic: Hold My Silence (Chapter 14)
Title: Hold My Silence
Author: casy_dee
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Connor/Abby
Spoiler: Series 3
Warning: Angst , mentions of abuse
Genre: Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Abby has secrets in her past, but is it right to keep them there? Can Connor accept it? Set in the Cretaceous...
Part: 14/?
Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5 , Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8 , Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11 , Ch 11.5 (M), Ch 12, Ch 13
A/N: Whew. Feel like I have toiled over this chapter. Like... blood, sweat and tears. I sure hope you like it, and as always… thanks so much to those that take a second to review. : )
Chapter 14
Connor recovered from his bout of poisoning, although it had taken a few days for him to shake off the symptoms fully. It would take him much longer to recover from what he had done to himself by breaking the anomaly opening device. Connor no longer attempted to repair it. He'd tucked it away with all the other remnants of the world they left behind and threw himself into surviving this one.
He had also stopped talking about getting home, changing the subject and dancing away from any mention of the life they'd left behind. Abby thought it was too painful for him; he wanted to get them home so desperately, and yet there was nothing he could do to make it happen. When he worked on the device, he had a way to actively attempt to do something to get them home. He still blamed himself for destroying it, and with it, any chance they could get themselves home. Now they just had to hope for someone to find them.
Connor had broken the anomaly opening device beyond repair, and something inside of him had broken along with it. He'd believed in himself, his technical skills were the one thing he was always fairly sure of. Connor knew he could fix it, but his failure to do so was a confirmation that his self-confidence was ill placed, despite how poorly equipped he was to repair the device with no tools or parts. Abby would bring it up in conversation, and he'd change the subject. Ordinarily she wouldn't allow him to avoid confrontation like that; they had promised to talk to each other, but seeing the near panic behind his eyes was enough of a warning to her that this time she should just let it be.
Abby had managed to get him to listen long enough for her to explain that it wasn't the end, that they still had to have hope, and Connor made the appropriate noises like he agreed with her but his heart wasn't in it. It was strange to be the one with all the optimism… that was Connor's role but he was certainly failing to fill it. It wasn't that he acted depressed or anything, it was just as if he'd walled off that part of himself, and perhaps he had. She hoped he wasn't losing it; she needed him sane if she was to keep her own sanity.
There were days that it hit her hard that they had been trapped in the past far longer than either one of them anticipated they would be. There were days that she'd lost hope, but ever optimistic Connor had pulled her through it; she was determined to do the same for him. As long as they could keep busy, she could put the thought out of her mind that they may never get home.
She tried to keep Connor busy with creating tools and gathering greens and anything else she could dream up to add to what they already did as part of their daily routine. Connor was having the same internal struggle now as she'd had many times before, but he was working so hard not to show it. He was trying to be strong for her (silly and unnecessary, but sweet), but neither Connor nor Abby were exactly comfortable living in a cave in the wild, even one that was as ideal as theirs. The thought that it might be permanent was enough to frighten anyone.
As far as living in a cave went, Abby was pretty fond of hers. The cave itself was not large, but they also made use of the sizable overhanging cliff that the cave was recessed into. The small size of the cave itself helped conserve the heat from the fire that they kept burning at the entrance, and they only used it for sleeping so they didn't need a lot of space. There was a tiny sparkling spring nearby, and the view from the cliff that it opened up into outside was spectacular. The trail leading to it was narrow and steep, but it served to make it more difficult for predators to reach their sanctuary.
The cave was situated near enough to the water that the journey wasn't a tough one, even when they were exhausted… which they often were. The problem with reaching the river lay more with avoiding the wildlife that used the river rather than the journey itself. Their preferred area had always been at the base of the waterfall, until a family unit of deinonychus had moved in. They had to scout carefully to be sure they were out of the area before they made the trip, and the traps were located down there, so that meant a nail-biting journey twice a day. They'd had a number of close calls.
The river feeding the falls was even closer nearby, but the river moved swiftly, the rocks surrounding the shore was slippery, and it was often used by creatures as a water source. Regardless, it had become their preferred source for water thanks to the dinosaurs taking over more aggressively in the past few days. Abby hoped they might move on, but they were acting as if they were settling down to stay. They were outnumbered here, but they could run into the exact same problem anywhere they went. She was getting tired of avoiding the area because the dinosaurs might be there. It was no way to live. She was determined to convince Connor to agree with her.
"Connor, I want a bath today, when we go to check the traps," Abby said casually as she took a sip of her pine needle tea.
"We can rinse off in the river, Abby. I don't fancy staying longer than we have to at the base of the falls," Connor disagreed.
"I want a proper bath, not just rinsing off," she argued.
"It's too dangerous. The deinonychus have been more active lately. Once they move out we can go back to using it like we did before," he appeased.
"I think they have come to stay. We can't just… live in fear. We'll be careful, and if they are too close then we'll try again later," Abby countered.
Connor shook his head, "Abby, I don't like it."
"If the dinosaurs are there, then we'll not try it. Simple enough," she shrugged.
Connor sighed heavily, but nodded, "Okay. Okay, but we'll be quick about it."
Abby grinned, happy to have scored her victory and kissed him on the cheek before flouncing away to get her gear.
They gathered what they would need for the trip to the falls, and Abby noticed that he'd grabbed his gaff along with the other supplies. She gestured to it and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.
"It would be nice to have some fresh fish, yeah? The dried is running low, and I figure if we are going to be down there anyway, perhaps we can get some fishing done," Connor explained.
"Good idea, but what I wouldn't give for a pizza," she replied plaintively.
Connor gave a short laugh, "Definitely no anchovies."
She smiled in return, cheered that he had actually commented on something that referred to the life they left behind. Maybe he was starting to come around.
"Yeah. I never want to see another fish, even if it is on a pizza," she agreed, trying to hide her relief.
They cut off conversation as they made their way down the trail and headed for the base of the waterfall, but she reached out and took Connor's hand in hers. He smiled one of his breathtaking bright dimpled grins at her and squeezed her hand. Any small gesture on her part was enough to make him smile, and she'd deliberately tried to do them more often. Despite the situation, she had to admit that she'd found more happiness being trapped here with Connor than she had in her entire life, once she'd stopped fighting so hard against it.
Connor gave her hand one more squeeze and let it go before moving into the point position. They were near the falls, and Connor was going to scout ahead to see if they could safely begin the climb down, or if they had to try back later. She kept her spear at ready, listening for any sign of trouble from Connor. His head popped up within view a few moments later and he waved her down.
Abby traversed her way down to where Connor waited at the bottom of the falls, picking her footing carefully. He held up a hand to caution her while he scouted in the field surrounding the pool that the falls emptied into. She watched him carefully, ready to come to his aid at a moment's notice.
"Clear. Go on, Abby. But quickly, remember?" he cautioned as he came back to her side.
"Yes, Connor, I remember. How could I forget?" she replied impatiently, rolling her eyes, but she was already stripping down.
After she entered the lake, Connor waded in so that he was nearer to her; he must be planning on going for a quick swim also, else he would have stayed on shore and she would have just bathed in the shallower waters. Abby ducked her head under and scrubbed as much dirt out of her hair as she could, before emerging far sooner than she would have liked. Mindful of the need for silence, she waded closer to Connor so she wouldn't have to raise her voice over the noise of the falls roaring in the background.
"Finished, Connor. Just let me get dressed," she said from right behind him.
Connor started at the sound of her voice; she must have moved more quietly than she thought. He glanced back at her, did a double-take and stared. She smirked as his eyes roamed down her body, finally lifting back to her face. She had gotten much more comfortable with being naked or near naked with Connor. They had shared a few more interludes that had ended in a measure of satisfaction for them both, and she was even beginning to feel comfortable teasing him a little bit… like now.
Connor's dark eyes darkened further and he swallowed and licked his lips before he tore his eyes away to fix on the horizon again.
"Okay," he replied, a little breathlessly.
She laughed to herself and pulled on her underclothes and vest before tapping Connor on the shoulder. Unlike Connor, she minded wearing wet jeans and boots. She'd put them back on when he had finished.
He handed off his spear to her and began stripping down. She peeked a few times while she was supposed to be watching for creatures, but she couldn't help herself. It was all that soft gleaming skin over hard muscle, she reasoned, and the way his wet hair always went every which way. A wet Connor was hard to resist, even if he'd left his jeans on. Still, she got a glimpse of his bare arse as he dropped his jeans to wash, but as tempting as the sight was, the danger of attack was real. She had to pay attention to their surroundings, as much as she'd like to pay attention to other things. If she had her way, she'd be seeing more of him later on this evening.
He was just finishing up when she spied movement in the distance. Abby narrowed her eyes and tried to make it out; it looked like a dinosaur of some sort, and it was moving closer… and it was big. She moved closer to Connor as quickly as she could in the thigh-deep water. He looked over at her as he heard her approach; his brows drew together and his face settled into a worried frown once he took in her expression.
"Connor. I think we need to go. I see something," she said as calmly as she was able to.
He focused on the area she pointed at, paled and cursed softly.
He nodded rapidly, "Get out Abby. I'm right behind you."
She made her way to the shore and scooped up the remainder of her clothes as she slid her feet into her boots. Despite Connor's instructions to go on without him, she waited by the shore as he gathered the rest of their gear. She wasn't leaving without him. He motioned for her to go but she crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrow. His jaw firmed and his nostrils flared in anger but he didn't bother trying to argue with her, he just hurried. For Connor, it was the equivalent of a temper tantrum. As soon as he had the remainder of the gear in hand, she turned to go.
She picked her way back up to the fork in the trail leading to either their cave or to the river. They still needed water, and it looked like the river would be where they would have to get it. No fresh fish for now.
She opened her mouth to ask what the dinosaur was as soon as Connor joined her, but he beat her to it.
"Acrocanthosaurus," Connor spit out angrily without even waiting for Abby to ask the question.
"Meaning?" Abby prompted; sometimes Connor forgot she was not a paleontologist.
"Right. Sorry. Theropod… like the deinonychus, carnivore, really, really big. Looked like that one was ten and a half meters at least. Remember the giganotosaurus? Very similar, just slightly smaller, and with neural spines," he described, waving his hand vaguely at his spine as he paced restlessly back and forth.
"Was it still coming?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah. And it saw me. Hopefully it moves out soon. That thing is an alpha predator, Abby. I'd hoped we'd not see one," he paused in his pacing and looked at her, anger simmering beneath the surface, "And damn it, the next time I ask you to go… you need to go," he fumed.
"Don't even try it!" she warned, "Like I'm going to leave you behind? You are the one that keeps harping on the fact that we should not be separated," she argued heatedly.
Connor growled in frustration, but dropped the subject. He knew she wouldn't back down; it just wasn't in her, especially when he knew she was right.
He cut her a sideways glance and nodded, "I'm going to move ahead to scout before we go to the river. A predator that big likely scared everything out of the area, but we want to be sure, don't we?"
"I'll be right behind you," she agreed.
She kept Connor in her sights, although he had moved pretty far ahead of her. She caught her breath as he froze, stock still. He held up a hand to warn her back. He looked at her and shook his head as he returned; he pointed back to the cave. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with an emphatic shake of his head. Abby furrowed her brow and headed back, curious as to why they had abandoned the trip altogether. They needed their water for the day, at least. They could have just moved further upriver. She hoped he hadn't overreacted.
"Why did you stop?" she inquired tersely.
She was proud of herself for asking before she attacked him for his decision, even if it came out a little snippy. She was working on it, but it was a constant struggle for her. She'd been trying to convince him that he shouldn't be so down on himself all the time, but it was pointless if she just reinforced that belief with her own words. It wasn't Connor's fault. It was her. Her with her superiority and her waspish retorts and her lack of patience. She wasn't going to treat him as his mother had. She could be a better person, for him. She was going to try, anyway.
"The deinonychus have moved to the river. They're spread over the whole plain. We're cut off, Abby. We're cut off from our primary food source and our water supply, as well," Connor replied, his voice rising an octave in his distress.
"We have the dried fruit and dried fish, and we can drink from the spring… half the time we do anyway," Abby soothed.
Connor's mouth firmed, "You're right, and we'll try back in a little bit, yeah?"
Abby nodded, and took his hand in hers.
They did try back, but they were well and truly cut off. Luckily they were able to access a portion their hunting grounds, even if they couldn't use the river for fear of attack. They would not starve, nor run out of wood for the fires. Abby was grateful of the tiny spring outside the cave; even if it was shallow, and a slow feed, it would ensure that they didn't die of thirst.
By that evening, Connor was attempting to come up with some way to scare off any dinosaurs that might decide that Abby and Connor were kibble. Ordinarily, they both were of the mindset that they were the invaders, not the creatures, but that was before they'd been cut off from their main food and water supply. Connor couldn't seem to sit still, and his anxiety continued to build to the point where Abby knew she had to do something.
"Connor, come sit down. You'll not do anything more tonight, anyway. Come sit with me," she cajoled.
He did as she asked, but he was still fidgety.
"You are driving me mad with all that twitching," she commented.
He chewed his lip and looked at her apologetically, "Sorry. I need to figure out how to keep them away. This is the only place we can feel safe, but if the dinosaurs move in any closer, we'll not even be safe here. They'll trap us here, and we will starve. I can't protect you from them, Abby. What if-"
"Connor. Stop it," she interrupted, "We're in this together and we protect each other. I don't much like the idea of confronting either the family group of deinonychus or the acrocanthosaurus. I'm all for using the areas when the dinosaurs are out of the area, but chasing them off? I don't know how we'll manage it."
"If I can pull the deinonychus away from the family unit one at a time-" he began.
"No. Out of the question. Trap them or barricade them, but if you think you are going to actively hunt them you can forget it," she argued.
"Well I've got to get them into the trap somehow, don't I?" he countered.
"I don't care how tasty you are, we are not using you as bait," Abby bantered.
"Din't stop Danny," he lamented, but he was grinning at her, bright and wide, his dark chocolate eyes dancing with mirth.
She laughed as she was meant to, "We'll sort something out, alright?"
He tilted his head so he could look at her; she smiled gently as she ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
Some of the tension seemed to leave him as he smiled back, "Okay."
"Connor?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he replied, his face open and questioning.
Her fingers fisted in his hair and she pulled him towards her, stopping a hairsbreadth from his lips, "Have I ever told you how hot you look half naked and wet?"
The left side of his mouth lifted in a half smile before he breached the distance between them to crush his mouth over hers in a searing kiss.
He broke off and gave a short laugh, "Likewise," he murmured.
She laughed as she saw the flush rising in his cheeks, but then he was kissing her again and she couldn't think at all.
TBC
A/N: Well, looks like they're going to have to figure something out with the dinos, eh? And Abby is still determined to get Connor to understand that abuse has many faces. They have jumped a lot of hurdles, I think. They're getting there.
Author: casy_dee
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Connor/Abby
Spoiler: Series 3
Warning: Angst , mentions of abuse
Genre: Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Abby has secrets in her past, but is it right to keep them there? Can Connor accept it? Set in the Cretaceous...
Part: 14/?
Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5 , Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8 , Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11 , Ch 11.5 (M), Ch 12, Ch 13
A/N: Whew. Feel like I have toiled over this chapter. Like... blood, sweat and tears. I sure hope you like it, and as always… thanks so much to those that take a second to review. : )
Chapter 14
Connor recovered from his bout of poisoning, although it had taken a few days for him to shake off the symptoms fully. It would take him much longer to recover from what he had done to himself by breaking the anomaly opening device. Connor no longer attempted to repair it. He'd tucked it away with all the other remnants of the world they left behind and threw himself into surviving this one.
He had also stopped talking about getting home, changing the subject and dancing away from any mention of the life they'd left behind. Abby thought it was too painful for him; he wanted to get them home so desperately, and yet there was nothing he could do to make it happen. When he worked on the device, he had a way to actively attempt to do something to get them home. He still blamed himself for destroying it, and with it, any chance they could get themselves home. Now they just had to hope for someone to find them.
Connor had broken the anomaly opening device beyond repair, and something inside of him had broken along with it. He'd believed in himself, his technical skills were the one thing he was always fairly sure of. Connor knew he could fix it, but his failure to do so was a confirmation that his self-confidence was ill placed, despite how poorly equipped he was to repair the device with no tools or parts. Abby would bring it up in conversation, and he'd change the subject. Ordinarily she wouldn't allow him to avoid confrontation like that; they had promised to talk to each other, but seeing the near panic behind his eyes was enough of a warning to her that this time she should just let it be.
Abby had managed to get him to listen long enough for her to explain that it wasn't the end, that they still had to have hope, and Connor made the appropriate noises like he agreed with her but his heart wasn't in it. It was strange to be the one with all the optimism… that was Connor's role but he was certainly failing to fill it. It wasn't that he acted depressed or anything, it was just as if he'd walled off that part of himself, and perhaps he had. She hoped he wasn't losing it; she needed him sane if she was to keep her own sanity.
There were days that it hit her hard that they had been trapped in the past far longer than either one of them anticipated they would be. There were days that she'd lost hope, but ever optimistic Connor had pulled her through it; she was determined to do the same for him. As long as they could keep busy, she could put the thought out of her mind that they may never get home.
She tried to keep Connor busy with creating tools and gathering greens and anything else she could dream up to add to what they already did as part of their daily routine. Connor was having the same internal struggle now as she'd had many times before, but he was working so hard not to show it. He was trying to be strong for her (silly and unnecessary, but sweet), but neither Connor nor Abby were exactly comfortable living in a cave in the wild, even one that was as ideal as theirs. The thought that it might be permanent was enough to frighten anyone.
As far as living in a cave went, Abby was pretty fond of hers. The cave itself was not large, but they also made use of the sizable overhanging cliff that the cave was recessed into. The small size of the cave itself helped conserve the heat from the fire that they kept burning at the entrance, and they only used it for sleeping so they didn't need a lot of space. There was a tiny sparkling spring nearby, and the view from the cliff that it opened up into outside was spectacular. The trail leading to it was narrow and steep, but it served to make it more difficult for predators to reach their sanctuary.
The cave was situated near enough to the water that the journey wasn't a tough one, even when they were exhausted… which they often were. The problem with reaching the river lay more with avoiding the wildlife that used the river rather than the journey itself. Their preferred area had always been at the base of the waterfall, until a family unit of deinonychus had moved in. They had to scout carefully to be sure they were out of the area before they made the trip, and the traps were located down there, so that meant a nail-biting journey twice a day. They'd had a number of close calls.
The river feeding the falls was even closer nearby, but the river moved swiftly, the rocks surrounding the shore was slippery, and it was often used by creatures as a water source. Regardless, it had become their preferred source for water thanks to the dinosaurs taking over more aggressively in the past few days. Abby hoped they might move on, but they were acting as if they were settling down to stay. They were outnumbered here, but they could run into the exact same problem anywhere they went. She was getting tired of avoiding the area because the dinosaurs might be there. It was no way to live. She was determined to convince Connor to agree with her.
"Connor, I want a bath today, when we go to check the traps," Abby said casually as she took a sip of her pine needle tea.
"We can rinse off in the river, Abby. I don't fancy staying longer than we have to at the base of the falls," Connor disagreed.
"I want a proper bath, not just rinsing off," she argued.
"It's too dangerous. The deinonychus have been more active lately. Once they move out we can go back to using it like we did before," he appeased.
"I think they have come to stay. We can't just… live in fear. We'll be careful, and if they are too close then we'll try again later," Abby countered.
Connor shook his head, "Abby, I don't like it."
"If the dinosaurs are there, then we'll not try it. Simple enough," she shrugged.
Connor sighed heavily, but nodded, "Okay. Okay, but we'll be quick about it."
Abby grinned, happy to have scored her victory and kissed him on the cheek before flouncing away to get her gear.
They gathered what they would need for the trip to the falls, and Abby noticed that he'd grabbed his gaff along with the other supplies. She gestured to it and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.
"It would be nice to have some fresh fish, yeah? The dried is running low, and I figure if we are going to be down there anyway, perhaps we can get some fishing done," Connor explained.
"Good idea, but what I wouldn't give for a pizza," she replied plaintively.
Connor gave a short laugh, "Definitely no anchovies."
She smiled in return, cheered that he had actually commented on something that referred to the life they left behind. Maybe he was starting to come around.
"Yeah. I never want to see another fish, even if it is on a pizza," she agreed, trying to hide her relief.
They cut off conversation as they made their way down the trail and headed for the base of the waterfall, but she reached out and took Connor's hand in hers. He smiled one of his breathtaking bright dimpled grins at her and squeezed her hand. Any small gesture on her part was enough to make him smile, and she'd deliberately tried to do them more often. Despite the situation, she had to admit that she'd found more happiness being trapped here with Connor than she had in her entire life, once she'd stopped fighting so hard against it.
Connor gave her hand one more squeeze and let it go before moving into the point position. They were near the falls, and Connor was going to scout ahead to see if they could safely begin the climb down, or if they had to try back later. She kept her spear at ready, listening for any sign of trouble from Connor. His head popped up within view a few moments later and he waved her down.
Abby traversed her way down to where Connor waited at the bottom of the falls, picking her footing carefully. He held up a hand to caution her while he scouted in the field surrounding the pool that the falls emptied into. She watched him carefully, ready to come to his aid at a moment's notice.
"Clear. Go on, Abby. But quickly, remember?" he cautioned as he came back to her side.
"Yes, Connor, I remember. How could I forget?" she replied impatiently, rolling her eyes, but she was already stripping down.
After she entered the lake, Connor waded in so that he was nearer to her; he must be planning on going for a quick swim also, else he would have stayed on shore and she would have just bathed in the shallower waters. Abby ducked her head under and scrubbed as much dirt out of her hair as she could, before emerging far sooner than she would have liked. Mindful of the need for silence, she waded closer to Connor so she wouldn't have to raise her voice over the noise of the falls roaring in the background.
"Finished, Connor. Just let me get dressed," she said from right behind him.
Connor started at the sound of her voice; she must have moved more quietly than she thought. He glanced back at her, did a double-take and stared. She smirked as his eyes roamed down her body, finally lifting back to her face. She had gotten much more comfortable with being naked or near naked with Connor. They had shared a few more interludes that had ended in a measure of satisfaction for them both, and she was even beginning to feel comfortable teasing him a little bit… like now.
Connor's dark eyes darkened further and he swallowed and licked his lips before he tore his eyes away to fix on the horizon again.
"Okay," he replied, a little breathlessly.
She laughed to herself and pulled on her underclothes and vest before tapping Connor on the shoulder. Unlike Connor, she minded wearing wet jeans and boots. She'd put them back on when he had finished.
He handed off his spear to her and began stripping down. She peeked a few times while she was supposed to be watching for creatures, but she couldn't help herself. It was all that soft gleaming skin over hard muscle, she reasoned, and the way his wet hair always went every which way. A wet Connor was hard to resist, even if he'd left his jeans on. Still, she got a glimpse of his bare arse as he dropped his jeans to wash, but as tempting as the sight was, the danger of attack was real. She had to pay attention to their surroundings, as much as she'd like to pay attention to other things. If she had her way, she'd be seeing more of him later on this evening.
He was just finishing up when she spied movement in the distance. Abby narrowed her eyes and tried to make it out; it looked like a dinosaur of some sort, and it was moving closer… and it was big. She moved closer to Connor as quickly as she could in the thigh-deep water. He looked over at her as he heard her approach; his brows drew together and his face settled into a worried frown once he took in her expression.
"Connor. I think we need to go. I see something," she said as calmly as she was able to.
He focused on the area she pointed at, paled and cursed softly.
He nodded rapidly, "Get out Abby. I'm right behind you."
She made her way to the shore and scooped up the remainder of her clothes as she slid her feet into her boots. Despite Connor's instructions to go on without him, she waited by the shore as he gathered the rest of their gear. She wasn't leaving without him. He motioned for her to go but she crossed her arms and lifted her eyebrow. His jaw firmed and his nostrils flared in anger but he didn't bother trying to argue with her, he just hurried. For Connor, it was the equivalent of a temper tantrum. As soon as he had the remainder of the gear in hand, she turned to go.
She picked her way back up to the fork in the trail leading to either their cave or to the river. They still needed water, and it looked like the river would be where they would have to get it. No fresh fish for now.
She opened her mouth to ask what the dinosaur was as soon as Connor joined her, but he beat her to it.
"Acrocanthosaurus," Connor spit out angrily without even waiting for Abby to ask the question.
"Meaning?" Abby prompted; sometimes Connor forgot she was not a paleontologist.
"Right. Sorry. Theropod… like the deinonychus, carnivore, really, really big. Looked like that one was ten and a half meters at least. Remember the giganotosaurus? Very similar, just slightly smaller, and with neural spines," he described, waving his hand vaguely at his spine as he paced restlessly back and forth.
"Was it still coming?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah. And it saw me. Hopefully it moves out soon. That thing is an alpha predator, Abby. I'd hoped we'd not see one," he paused in his pacing and looked at her, anger simmering beneath the surface, "And damn it, the next time I ask you to go… you need to go," he fumed.
"Don't even try it!" she warned, "Like I'm going to leave you behind? You are the one that keeps harping on the fact that we should not be separated," she argued heatedly.
Connor growled in frustration, but dropped the subject. He knew she wouldn't back down; it just wasn't in her, especially when he knew she was right.
He cut her a sideways glance and nodded, "I'm going to move ahead to scout before we go to the river. A predator that big likely scared everything out of the area, but we want to be sure, don't we?"
"I'll be right behind you," she agreed.
She kept Connor in her sights, although he had moved pretty far ahead of her. She caught her breath as he froze, stock still. He held up a hand to warn her back. He looked at her and shook his head as he returned; he pointed back to the cave. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with an emphatic shake of his head. Abby furrowed her brow and headed back, curious as to why they had abandoned the trip altogether. They needed their water for the day, at least. They could have just moved further upriver. She hoped he hadn't overreacted.
"Why did you stop?" she inquired tersely.
She was proud of herself for asking before she attacked him for his decision, even if it came out a little snippy. She was working on it, but it was a constant struggle for her. She'd been trying to convince him that he shouldn't be so down on himself all the time, but it was pointless if she just reinforced that belief with her own words. It wasn't Connor's fault. It was her. Her with her superiority and her waspish retorts and her lack of patience. She wasn't going to treat him as his mother had. She could be a better person, for him. She was going to try, anyway.
"The deinonychus have moved to the river. They're spread over the whole plain. We're cut off, Abby. We're cut off from our primary food source and our water supply, as well," Connor replied, his voice rising an octave in his distress.
"We have the dried fruit and dried fish, and we can drink from the spring… half the time we do anyway," Abby soothed.
Connor's mouth firmed, "You're right, and we'll try back in a little bit, yeah?"
Abby nodded, and took his hand in hers.
They did try back, but they were well and truly cut off. Luckily they were able to access a portion their hunting grounds, even if they couldn't use the river for fear of attack. They would not starve, nor run out of wood for the fires. Abby was grateful of the tiny spring outside the cave; even if it was shallow, and a slow feed, it would ensure that they didn't die of thirst.
By that evening, Connor was attempting to come up with some way to scare off any dinosaurs that might decide that Abby and Connor were kibble. Ordinarily, they both were of the mindset that they were the invaders, not the creatures, but that was before they'd been cut off from their main food and water supply. Connor couldn't seem to sit still, and his anxiety continued to build to the point where Abby knew she had to do something.
"Connor, come sit down. You'll not do anything more tonight, anyway. Come sit with me," she cajoled.
He did as she asked, but he was still fidgety.
"You are driving me mad with all that twitching," she commented.
He chewed his lip and looked at her apologetically, "Sorry. I need to figure out how to keep them away. This is the only place we can feel safe, but if the dinosaurs move in any closer, we'll not even be safe here. They'll trap us here, and we will starve. I can't protect you from them, Abby. What if-"
"Connor. Stop it," she interrupted, "We're in this together and we protect each other. I don't much like the idea of confronting either the family group of deinonychus or the acrocanthosaurus. I'm all for using the areas when the dinosaurs are out of the area, but chasing them off? I don't know how we'll manage it."
"If I can pull the deinonychus away from the family unit one at a time-" he began.
"No. Out of the question. Trap them or barricade them, but if you think you are going to actively hunt them you can forget it," she argued.
"Well I've got to get them into the trap somehow, don't I?" he countered.
"I don't care how tasty you are, we are not using you as bait," Abby bantered.
"Din't stop Danny," he lamented, but he was grinning at her, bright and wide, his dark chocolate eyes dancing with mirth.
She laughed as she was meant to, "We'll sort something out, alright?"
He tilted his head so he could look at her; she smiled gently as she ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
Some of the tension seemed to leave him as he smiled back, "Okay."
"Connor?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he replied, his face open and questioning.
Her fingers fisted in his hair and she pulled him towards her, stopping a hairsbreadth from his lips, "Have I ever told you how hot you look half naked and wet?"
The left side of his mouth lifted in a half smile before he breached the distance between them to crush his mouth over hers in a searing kiss.
He broke off and gave a short laugh, "Likewise," he murmured.
She laughed as she saw the flush rising in his cheeks, but then he was kissing her again and she couldn't think at all.
TBC
A/N: Well, looks like they're going to have to figure something out with the dinos, eh? And Abby is still determined to get Connor to understand that abuse has many faces. They have jumped a lot of hurdles, I think. They're getting there.