Time Entangled (1/9)
Title: Time Entangled
Author: not_from_stars
Artist(s): skylar0grace
Media Link: Art Here
Word Count: 24,395
Fandom: Primeval
Genre: Angst; Het
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Abby Maitland/Connor Temple, Stephen Hart/Abby Maitland
Summary: Having worked for the Anomaly Research Center for a few years, Nick, Stephen, Tom, Abby, Connor and Claudia thought they had seen everything. But when an incursion turns out to be people instead of rampaging animals, that's not the only shock they get. Abby and Stephen are the first on the scene when Abby and Connor come through the anomaly. Abby and Connor are from a time line where some things have gone horrible wrong. Now, not only do they have to convince this time line's version of their friends what has happened, they need to find their way back to their own home and time line. Back in their world, Becker, Danny, Sarah and Jenny are working frantically to find a way to locate their friends and bring them home. Armed with two years of notes and several journals, they're doing their best to open an anomaly and get their loved ones back because they know something that the other time line doesn't. They're running out of time.
Warnings/Spoilers: This is a complete AU and there should be no spoilers for anything.
Author’s Notes: I want to thank my beta and cheerleader, enochiansigils, for holding my hand through this and not letting me give up. skylar0grace made me lots of awesome art to accompany this fic and I can't thank her enough for everything she did for me!
It was Stephen and Abby who reached the sight of the anomaly first, and what happened next was hard for them to believe.
The two of them saw something coming through the anomaly, and raised their guns in readiness. When they saw the two people come through, they lowered their guns but stayed defensive.
"Connor?" Abby was the first one to get her voice as she stared at the two people in front of them.
For his part, Stephen was just staring at the woman who looked like Abby, but whose eyes seemed so different.
Connor and Abby stayed close together as they looked around them, before their eyes came back to rest on Stephen and Abby.
"Stephen?" The older Abby asked, her voice deeper than his current companion's had ever been. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, I'm really me," he said, glancing at his own Abby to see what she was thinking about all of this. "Is that really you... and Connor? What the hell?"
A look passed between Connor and Abby. "I've got to, love," he said, brushing hair from her face. "He really does kind of deserve it and all."
Abby nodded in understanding. "Just remember to pivot and not use all of your strength, yeah?"
Before Stephen and his Abby could figure out what was going on, Connor stepped up to Stephen.
"Sorry, mate, but you've had this coming for three years or more."
Abby had time to blink before she heard the sound of fist hitting flesh and saw Stephen go sprawling to the ground.
"What the hell, Connor?" she demanded as she bent to check on Stephen who looked as surprised as she felt.
"Did Connor just punch me in the face?"
Abby looked back to the other to, and saw that Connor was already standing with the other Abby, and they had linked hands. The other woman didn't say anything, but Connor shrugged.
"He had it coming," Connor said again.
Stephen got back to his feet, shaking his head slowly. He was confused about just what the hell was going on. The Connor he knew would never have tried to punch him, not to mention actually send him to the ground. He stepped forward, but stopped when he saw how the older version of Abby immediately tensed and placed herself slightly in front of Connor in a defensive position. He frowned, looking the two of them over carefully. He really didn't like what he was seeing.
The two people in front of him looked like Abby and Connor, but the changes in them were more than just a little shocking. The two of them looked older, harder. Abby's hair was much longer than he was used to seeing it; Connor had a beard, and a scar over one eye. They were both thinner than they probably should be and that showed in the planes of their faces. Neither one of them had yet to smile, and that was probably the most telling thing of all. He couldn’t remember seeing Abby or Connor without easy smiles to give to those around them. The way the two of them were standing, it looked to him like they were the only two they had relied on for a very long time.
He stepped back to his Abby, and this was starting to give him a headache, and saw the other Abby relax her stance with Connor.
Something really bad had happened. Something bad had happened that had caused these two versions of his friends to look like they had gone through a war - and may not have come out the other side yet.
"Radio Cutter and Ryan," Stephen finally said quietly. "Let them know that we have a situation."
The anomaly crested brightly and then just as suddenly died.
There was nothing but silence for a long moment until an roar of emotion filled the building.
"NO!"
"Becker --"
"Damn it, we were so close! We saw them this time!"
"Becker --"
"If we had just moved faster!"
"BECKER!"
Captain Becker rounded on the man next to him. "WHAT?!"
"We'll get them back," Danny Quinn said quietly. "Now that we've gotten this close, we won't let them out of our grasp that easily."
If it was anyone else, Becker might have hit him for getting his hopes to flicker to life again. "It's been so long, already," Becker finally said. "They're going to think we gave up on them."
Danny laughed quietly and shook his head. "If there is one thing that I know about Abby and Connor, mate, it's that you are the last person they would believe who would give up on them." He gestured with his head and the two men walked away from where the others were frantically trying to figure out how to open the anomaly again. "Look, we know that they're alive now. Before we had only hopes to get us through, but this time we saw them."
Becker sighed, holstering his sidearm. "It's been over two years, Danny. I don't like thinking of what they might have gone through and are still going through. If it wasn't for Helen --"
"She would have killed them already if she wanted them dead, Becker."
"She certainly seemed to be set on killing Abby that day."
"Probably because she knew that only threatening Abby would get us to back down... and get Connor to do what she wanted." Danny said calmly. "I don't think she would have really killed Abby, but I wasn't willing to take that risk. Were you?"
The look Becker gave him spoke volumes.
This time it was Danny who sighed, running a hand over his face. "I curse the day that I ever met that woman. I should have let Christine Johnson keep her."
"You thought she was a kidnap victim who needed help," Becker pointed out. "It wasn't in your nature to turn your back on her."
"Things change."
Yeah, a great many things had changed the day they lost Abby and Connor two years ago. Lester had hired a new team to go out on alerts in order to give the original team the ability to focus on getting their lost people back. Becker and Danny didn't like the leader of the new team too much. They were suspicious of him and how perfect he seemed. Sarah and Jenny both defended him -- and the new computer genius that was hired to take Connor's place. Danny just wished she would spend less time trying to flirt with Becker. All that did was make Becker's usually even temper start to rise.
"Danny?"
Speak of the devil, Danny thought as he heard Jess' voice come over his earpiece. "Yeah, Jess?"
"Did Becker lose his communications device again? I can't get him to respond and the computer says he's with you."
Danny looked at Becker, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, it was lost on the other side of the anomaly when it opened up," he lied smoothly. "Becker had to make a choice between trying to hold onto it or his gun. He chose the gun."
Becker bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He could just imagine the look on Jess' face at that bit of information.
"All right, then, I'll get him a new one."
"You're the best, Jess."
"Of course I am." She chirped. "Oh, Lester would like a word with you when your team gets back."
"We weren't planning on coming back just yet."
"Yes, you are," Jess said firmly. "You've been out at that sight for three days. Sarah and Jenny both say that the two of you need proper food and a good rest."
"Fine," he muttered, turning his device off.
"She's not the best," Becker grumbled when they got into the truck. "Connor is the best."
"Give her a break, Becker," Danny said, like he had many times before. "She doesn't know."
When Cutter and Ryan responded to Abby's call, the two men were shocked by the appearances of the doppelgangers of their friends. There was no recognition when they glanced at Ryan -- and that wasn't a good sign -- but the look of pain in their eyes when they looked at him didn't bode well.
When Ryan's men arrived with weapons at the ready, Connor looked at Cutter and his lips twitched slightly.
"We're dangerous creatures, are we?"
"It's normal procedure anytime something comes through an anomaly, Connor," Cutter said quietly. "You know that, Connor." He winced. "The other you... our you knows that."
"Oh, now we're things," Abby said bitterly from his side. "Hear that, Conn? Because we came through an anomaly, we're not even considered humans yet."
Stephen flinched, then looked at his Abby. He couldn't imagine her ever sounding that hurt and angered by them. For her part, Abby was more than a little shocked as she examined her doppelganger.
"It's better than being on a velociraptor's menu, I guess," Connor said, his own voice sounding betrayed as he grasped Abby's hand. "Much better than being held hostage by that crazy bitch."
That caused everyone to become more than a little concerned. What exactly had happened to this version of their friends? More importantly, who had held them hostage and caused them such pain?
Before Cutter could ask any of the many questions going through his mind, another member of their team arrived. When he saw the familiar brown hair and careless smirk, Connor barely had time to sidestep into one of Ryan's men before Abby leaped at her.
Abby hit the woman with all of the force she could muster behind her swinging fist. At the same time, she used her leg to sweep the other woman's legs out from under her. Abby went down on top of the woman, hitting her again as she kneed her in the ribs as best as she could. The other woman only had time to cry out once as Abby attacked her.
What happened next might have been prevented if Ryan or Cutter had been closer. It might have been avoided all together if one of Ryan's men hadn't placed the barrel of his gun against Abby's head and told her to cease her attack.
"Not again," Connor whispered, causing Stephen's head to jerk up in alarm.
All Connor saw was the gun. The gun that was trained on Abby and that was threatening her. He wasn't going to let either one of them go through that again.
"No," Stephen said, stepping forward, but he could see by Connor's eyes that he wasn't going to be quick enough.
Connor exploded.
With a series of unexpected jabs and kicks, he got past the men who had surrounded him and Abby. As soon as he was free of them, he was on the man threatening Abby with a viciousness that surprised those that knew the younger version of him. All Connor was aware of was the man pointing the gun at Abby and he wasn't going to let go of him.
There was the sound of shouting and then a scream for them to stop. When the echoes faded, both Abby and Connor were crumpled on the ground. Ryan grabbed a gun from one of his men.
"I said to hold your fire! What the hell were you doing?"
"Trying to stop them, Captain," the soldier replied. "They were crazy. You saw them attack us."
"They were scared," Ryan barked. "Any idiot with half a brain could have seen that." He shoved him away and tossed his gun to Stephen. "It's a good thing that these were loaded with tranquilizers and not real bullets. You could have killed them." He pointed to two of the men. "You and you, see to Professor Lester. The rest of you head back to base. We'll take care of Abby and Connor."
After everyone else had cleared out, Ryan crouched next to the two unconscious people and watched as Cutter carefully examined them. There was small touch on his shoulder and he looked up into Abby's pale face. Her eyes were dark with worry.
"Are they going to be all right?"
Ryan nodded. He hated to think of how hard it must have been for her to see herself shot like that. "They will wake up, Abs," he said gently. "I promise you that. They're going to have one hell of a headache and probably be a bit sick, but they'll be okay."
Abby nodded and turned to Stephen, who pulled her close to him.
Ryan suddenly felt a lot older than he thought anyone should feel. He looked from Stephen to Cutter and then sighed. "You know we have no choice -- not when so many of my men saw what happened."
Cutter nodded, but he didn't look any happier than Stephen did about it. "If she hadn't attacked Helen like she was determined to kill her, maybe Connor wouldn't have seen fit to try to break the bones of your men."
"He was fine until that idiot put his gun on Abby," Stephen said angrily as he started searching their backpacks. "He probably would have been able to calm her down until that. You didn't see his eyes, Ryan. As soon as that gun touched her, it was like he was seeing another scene in his mind. He wasn't focused on anything but getting to her."
"We can't just lock them up in a cell!" Abby protested. "We can't do that to them! It's not right."
"Abby, until they wake up and Claudia can assure everyone that they're not a threat, there's nothing we can do." Cutter didn't sound like he was pleased with the idea.
"I promise you, my best men will be watching over them. As soon as they're cleared, we'll move them to the apartment or a hotel so we can talk to them."
Stephen muttered a curse as he held up the handmade wooden tools and the two small knives he had found. "Whatever happened to them, it's a good bet that it's been rough on them. The way they've acted since we found them, they haven't been around anyone but each other for a very long time." He turned one of the wooden machetes over in his hand. "It's good workmanship, which means they had awhile to perfect it."
None of the four of them liked the implication of that.
"What happened to them?" Abby asked softly. "And why was I trying to kill Helen?"
Two
Author: not_from_stars
Artist(s): skylar0grace
Media Link: Art Here
Word Count: 24,395
Fandom: Primeval
Genre: Angst; Het
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Abby Maitland/Connor Temple, Stephen Hart/Abby Maitland
Summary: Having worked for the Anomaly Research Center for a few years, Nick, Stephen, Tom, Abby, Connor and Claudia thought they had seen everything. But when an incursion turns out to be people instead of rampaging animals, that's not the only shock they get. Abby and Stephen are the first on the scene when Abby and Connor come through the anomaly. Abby and Connor are from a time line where some things have gone horrible wrong. Now, not only do they have to convince this time line's version of their friends what has happened, they need to find their way back to their own home and time line. Back in their world, Becker, Danny, Sarah and Jenny are working frantically to find a way to locate their friends and bring them home. Armed with two years of notes and several journals, they're doing their best to open an anomaly and get their loved ones back because they know something that the other time line doesn't. They're running out of time.
Warnings/Spoilers: This is a complete AU and there should be no spoilers for anything.
Author’s Notes: I want to thank my beta and cheerleader, enochiansigils, for holding my hand through this and not letting me give up. skylar0grace made me lots of awesome art to accompany this fic and I can't thank her enough for everything she did for me!
It was Stephen and Abby who reached the sight of the anomaly first, and what happened next was hard for them to believe.
The two of them saw something coming through the anomaly, and raised their guns in readiness. When they saw the two people come through, they lowered their guns but stayed defensive.
"Connor?" Abby was the first one to get her voice as she stared at the two people in front of them.
For his part, Stephen was just staring at the woman who looked like Abby, but whose eyes seemed so different.
Connor and Abby stayed close together as they looked around them, before their eyes came back to rest on Stephen and Abby.
"Stephen?" The older Abby asked, her voice deeper than his current companion's had ever been. "Is that really you?"
"Yeah, I'm really me," he said, glancing at his own Abby to see what she was thinking about all of this. "Is that really you... and Connor? What the hell?"
A look passed between Connor and Abby. "I've got to, love," he said, brushing hair from her face. "He really does kind of deserve it and all."
Abby nodded in understanding. "Just remember to pivot and not use all of your strength, yeah?"
Before Stephen and his Abby could figure out what was going on, Connor stepped up to Stephen.
"Sorry, mate, but you've had this coming for three years or more."
Abby had time to blink before she heard the sound of fist hitting flesh and saw Stephen go sprawling to the ground.
"What the hell, Connor?" she demanded as she bent to check on Stephen who looked as surprised as she felt.
"Did Connor just punch me in the face?"
Abby looked back to the other to, and saw that Connor was already standing with the other Abby, and they had linked hands. The other woman didn't say anything, but Connor shrugged.
"He had it coming," Connor said again.
Stephen got back to his feet, shaking his head slowly. He was confused about just what the hell was going on. The Connor he knew would never have tried to punch him, not to mention actually send him to the ground. He stepped forward, but stopped when he saw how the older version of Abby immediately tensed and placed herself slightly in front of Connor in a defensive position. He frowned, looking the two of them over carefully. He really didn't like what he was seeing.
The two people in front of him looked like Abby and Connor, but the changes in them were more than just a little shocking. The two of them looked older, harder. Abby's hair was much longer than he was used to seeing it; Connor had a beard, and a scar over one eye. They were both thinner than they probably should be and that showed in the planes of their faces. Neither one of them had yet to smile, and that was probably the most telling thing of all. He couldn’t remember seeing Abby or Connor without easy smiles to give to those around them. The way the two of them were standing, it looked to him like they were the only two they had relied on for a very long time.
He stepped back to his Abby, and this was starting to give him a headache, and saw the other Abby relax her stance with Connor.
Something really bad had happened. Something bad had happened that had caused these two versions of his friends to look like they had gone through a war - and may not have come out the other side yet.
"Radio Cutter and Ryan," Stephen finally said quietly. "Let them know that we have a situation."
The anomaly crested brightly and then just as suddenly died.
There was nothing but silence for a long moment until an roar of emotion filled the building.
"NO!"
"Becker --"
"Damn it, we were so close! We saw them this time!"
"Becker --"
"If we had just moved faster!"
"BECKER!"
Captain Becker rounded on the man next to him. "WHAT?!"
"We'll get them back," Danny Quinn said quietly. "Now that we've gotten this close, we won't let them out of our grasp that easily."
If it was anyone else, Becker might have hit him for getting his hopes to flicker to life again. "It's been so long, already," Becker finally said. "They're going to think we gave up on them."
Danny laughed quietly and shook his head. "If there is one thing that I know about Abby and Connor, mate, it's that you are the last person they would believe who would give up on them." He gestured with his head and the two men walked away from where the others were frantically trying to figure out how to open the anomaly again. "Look, we know that they're alive now. Before we had only hopes to get us through, but this time we saw them."
Becker sighed, holstering his sidearm. "It's been over two years, Danny. I don't like thinking of what they might have gone through and are still going through. If it wasn't for Helen --"
"She would have killed them already if she wanted them dead, Becker."
"She certainly seemed to be set on killing Abby that day."
"Probably because she knew that only threatening Abby would get us to back down... and get Connor to do what she wanted." Danny said calmly. "I don't think she would have really killed Abby, but I wasn't willing to take that risk. Were you?"
The look Becker gave him spoke volumes.
This time it was Danny who sighed, running a hand over his face. "I curse the day that I ever met that woman. I should have let Christine Johnson keep her."
"You thought she was a kidnap victim who needed help," Becker pointed out. "It wasn't in your nature to turn your back on her."
"Things change."
Yeah, a great many things had changed the day they lost Abby and Connor two years ago. Lester had hired a new team to go out on alerts in order to give the original team the ability to focus on getting their lost people back. Becker and Danny didn't like the leader of the new team too much. They were suspicious of him and how perfect he seemed. Sarah and Jenny both defended him -- and the new computer genius that was hired to take Connor's place. Danny just wished she would spend less time trying to flirt with Becker. All that did was make Becker's usually even temper start to rise.
"Danny?"
Speak of the devil, Danny thought as he heard Jess' voice come over his earpiece. "Yeah, Jess?"
"Did Becker lose his communications device again? I can't get him to respond and the computer says he's with you."
Danny looked at Becker, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, it was lost on the other side of the anomaly when it opened up," he lied smoothly. "Becker had to make a choice between trying to hold onto it or his gun. He chose the gun."
Becker bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. He could just imagine the look on Jess' face at that bit of information.
"All right, then, I'll get him a new one."
"You're the best, Jess."
"Of course I am." She chirped. "Oh, Lester would like a word with you when your team gets back."
"We weren't planning on coming back just yet."
"Yes, you are," Jess said firmly. "You've been out at that sight for three days. Sarah and Jenny both say that the two of you need proper food and a good rest."
"Fine," he muttered, turning his device off.
"She's not the best," Becker grumbled when they got into the truck. "Connor is the best."
"Give her a break, Becker," Danny said, like he had many times before. "She doesn't know."
When Cutter and Ryan responded to Abby's call, the two men were shocked by the appearances of the doppelgangers of their friends. There was no recognition when they glanced at Ryan -- and that wasn't a good sign -- but the look of pain in their eyes when they looked at him didn't bode well.
When Ryan's men arrived with weapons at the ready, Connor looked at Cutter and his lips twitched slightly.
"We're dangerous creatures, are we?"
"It's normal procedure anytime something comes through an anomaly, Connor," Cutter said quietly. "You know that, Connor." He winced. "The other you... our you knows that."
"Oh, now we're things," Abby said bitterly from his side. "Hear that, Conn? Because we came through an anomaly, we're not even considered humans yet."
Stephen flinched, then looked at his Abby. He couldn't imagine her ever sounding that hurt and angered by them. For her part, Abby was more than a little shocked as she examined her doppelganger.
"It's better than being on a velociraptor's menu, I guess," Connor said, his own voice sounding betrayed as he grasped Abby's hand. "Much better than being held hostage by that crazy bitch."
That caused everyone to become more than a little concerned. What exactly had happened to this version of their friends? More importantly, who had held them hostage and caused them such pain?
Before Cutter could ask any of the many questions going through his mind, another member of their team arrived. When he saw the familiar brown hair and careless smirk, Connor barely had time to sidestep into one of Ryan's men before Abby leaped at her.
Abby hit the woman with all of the force she could muster behind her swinging fist. At the same time, she used her leg to sweep the other woman's legs out from under her. Abby went down on top of the woman, hitting her again as she kneed her in the ribs as best as she could. The other woman only had time to cry out once as Abby attacked her.
What happened next might have been prevented if Ryan or Cutter had been closer. It might have been avoided all together if one of Ryan's men hadn't placed the barrel of his gun against Abby's head and told her to cease her attack.
"Not again," Connor whispered, causing Stephen's head to jerk up in alarm.
All Connor saw was the gun. The gun that was trained on Abby and that was threatening her. He wasn't going to let either one of them go through that again.
"No," Stephen said, stepping forward, but he could see by Connor's eyes that he wasn't going to be quick enough.
Connor exploded.
With a series of unexpected jabs and kicks, he got past the men who had surrounded him and Abby. As soon as he was free of them, he was on the man threatening Abby with a viciousness that surprised those that knew the younger version of him. All Connor was aware of was the man pointing the gun at Abby and he wasn't going to let go of him.
There was the sound of shouting and then a scream for them to stop. When the echoes faded, both Abby and Connor were crumpled on the ground. Ryan grabbed a gun from one of his men.
"I said to hold your fire! What the hell were you doing?"
"Trying to stop them, Captain," the soldier replied. "They were crazy. You saw them attack us."
"They were scared," Ryan barked. "Any idiot with half a brain could have seen that." He shoved him away and tossed his gun to Stephen. "It's a good thing that these were loaded with tranquilizers and not real bullets. You could have killed them." He pointed to two of the men. "You and you, see to Professor Lester. The rest of you head back to base. We'll take care of Abby and Connor."
After everyone else had cleared out, Ryan crouched next to the two unconscious people and watched as Cutter carefully examined them. There was small touch on his shoulder and he looked up into Abby's pale face. Her eyes were dark with worry.
"Are they going to be all right?"
Ryan nodded. He hated to think of how hard it must have been for her to see herself shot like that. "They will wake up, Abs," he said gently. "I promise you that. They're going to have one hell of a headache and probably be a bit sick, but they'll be okay."
Abby nodded and turned to Stephen, who pulled her close to him.
Ryan suddenly felt a lot older than he thought anyone should feel. He looked from Stephen to Cutter and then sighed. "You know we have no choice -- not when so many of my men saw what happened."
Cutter nodded, but he didn't look any happier than Stephen did about it. "If she hadn't attacked Helen like she was determined to kill her, maybe Connor wouldn't have seen fit to try to break the bones of your men."
"He was fine until that idiot put his gun on Abby," Stephen said angrily as he started searching their backpacks. "He probably would have been able to calm her down until that. You didn't see his eyes, Ryan. As soon as that gun touched her, it was like he was seeing another scene in his mind. He wasn't focused on anything but getting to her."
"We can't just lock them up in a cell!" Abby protested. "We can't do that to them! It's not right."
"Abby, until they wake up and Claudia can assure everyone that they're not a threat, there's nothing we can do." Cutter didn't sound like he was pleased with the idea.
"I promise you, my best men will be watching over them. As soon as they're cleared, we'll move them to the apartment or a hotel so we can talk to them."
Stephen muttered a curse as he held up the handmade wooden tools and the two small knives he had found. "Whatever happened to them, it's a good bet that it's been rough on them. The way they've acted since we found them, they haven't been around anyone but each other for a very long time." He turned one of the wooden machetes over in his hand. "It's good workmanship, which means they had awhile to perfect it."
None of the four of them liked the implication of that.
"What happened to them?" Abby asked softly. "And why was I trying to kill Helen?"
Two