Time Entangled (3/9)
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!
"You know that they won't be happy with you for killing yourself like this when they get back."
Becker looked up as Sarah slid into the booth next to him and Jenny sat down next to Danny. He had been studying his beer very closely while he and Danny talked. Sarah and Jenny were both carrying baskets of food.
"The two of you are going to eat if we have to sit on you and shove it down your throats." That was Jenny's no-nonsense voice and Becker managed a faint smile.
"I'm pretty sure that Danny has had that threatened before," he said, looking down at the basket of food that was placed in front of him. "I'm not really hungry."
"I don't care if you think that you're hungry or not," Sarah snapped. "You are going to eat. I can count on one hand the times I have seen the two of you eat anything resembling nutritious food."
Danny poked at the burger in the basket in front of him. "Nutritious?"
"I knew you wouldn't eat anything that didn't look suitably greasy," Jenny said tartly.
"We're worried, too," Sarah said gently. "They are our friends, too, you guys. Just because you're men doesn't mean you get to hold the market on guilt and grief."
"You're not the ones that failed them," Becker said, refusing to look at either woman. "It was my job to protect them and keep them safe. They loved me and counted on me and I failed them when they needed me the most."
"That's not true, nor is it fair," Jenny disagreed. "There was no way to avoid what happened. We've all been over it so many times. Helen was waiting and there is no doubt that she planned all of it out that day."
"I should have shot her when I realized who she was," Danny said sourly. "Maybe then she would never have been able to grab Abby."
"Could have, should have, would have," Jenny shook her head. "The two of you are forgetting the bigger picture. We know they're alive now. It's no longer just hope and wishful thinking. You saw them, and that means we now have a better chance to find them and bring them home where they belong."
Becker reluctantly took a bite of the burger and chewed while the others talked. To him, the burger tasted just the same as everything else had for the last two years. It was like he was biting into a mouthful of wood. Of course, he wasn't about to say that out loud and earn the ire of the two women with them. He took another drink of his beer before flagging down someone to bring them more. It wouldn't be long. He and Danny were well known here.
"We were so close," he finally said. "We yelled their names and we saw them start running our way. The blasted thing closed before we could get them through."
"It will open again," Jenny nodded. "We know that. That same anomaly has opened so many times since the day they disappeared."
"But there's no pattern to it, Jenny," Danny shook his head in disgust. "That's one of the most frustrating things about it. We don't know when. We never know when. It could be a few days or it could be another year before it opens. They may not have that much time!"
Sarah flinched and then she looked at Jenny. "I should."
Jenny sighed, her mouth tightening.
Becker looked between them at the same time that Danny spoke. "Tell us what."
"You are not allowed to throw a fit," Jenny warned. "Not either of you, and not here." She didn't relish having to get them out of lock up yet again.
"What are you hiding from us?" Becker's voice was low and the tone was harder than he was used to hearing from himself.
"We haven't been hiding anything," Sarah said, her usually compassionate voice taking on the hint of ice. "I've been researching some things and the other team brought something to my attention from their last mission."
"Sarah." Danny's voice held far more patience than anyone could have expected it to have. "Do you have some kind of news about Abby and Connor?"
She nodded, almost reluctantly. "I do. You're not going to like it, though."
Danny looked over at Becker and then clamped his hand down on his arm to hold him still. Without looking away from him, he spoke to both women. "If you know something, then I suggest that you tell us and quit dancing around it."
"Fine, but you both remember that you saw them both alive only yesterday, you understand me?" Jenny's voice was full of fire. "They are alive and we are going to bring them home. That is not a question up for debate. It's a cold hard fact."
"Damn you both, what the hell are you holding back?"
Sarah swallowed her retort when she saw the real fear that was in Becker's eyes now. He was expecting her to tell him the worst. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on where Danny was holding onto his arm. "I have a journal of notes. It looks like the journal was originally Helen's."
"Originally?" Danny's voice was so low that Sarah had to strain to hear it. "What do you mean originally?"
"The last several pages looked to be in Connor's handwriting."
"This should be good, right? It means that they've both been keeping track of what has been going on."
"And we can use their notes to help us get to the right place and bring them home," Jenny said firmly. She, of course, knew what was in the journal and she was determined to keep the two men focused on the fact that they knew their friends were alive.
No matter what Connor had written on those last pages of the book.
No matter what the journal said was happening.
"I understand things must be a little confusing for the two of you, but I'm not Jenny. My name is Claudia Brown. I work with James Lester, Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, Abby Maitland, Tom Ryan and Connor Temple here at the ARC." She gave them what she hoped was a comforting smile. "Sometimes we are joined at sights by Professor Helen Lester -- whom you met yesterday."
"Cutter." Connor said evenly as his hands clenched and unclenched on the metal table the three of them were now sitting at.
"Excuse me?"
"Her name is Helen Cutter," Connor repeated, looking up. "She's Professor Cutter's ex-wife and an all-around psycho."
Claudia didn't even blink. She turned to Abby. "And suppose you tell me why you attacked her yesterday?"
"Connor already answered that question." Abby said tiredly, looking away from her.
"Helen Cutter is Professor Cutter's ex-wife and all around psycho?" That was an answer? Apparently it was because they both nodded and Claudia closed her eyes a moment. "So, you tried to kill her." She was sure that this conversation would make sense at some point. She was hoping that the time would be sooner rather than later. She was beginning to get a headache.
"It's no worse than what she's done to us, or tried to do to Abby," Connor burst out. "She even tried to --"
"Connor, don't." Abby reached out to take his hand, to keep him from telling Claudia what Helen had done to her. "It doesn't matter. It's not like anyone here is going to believe us. They shot us, remember?"
Claudia didn't like the dejected tone from the woman that resembled her friend here so much. "That would be where you are probably wrong," Claudia said crisply. "On your feet. You need to come with me. Immediately."
"Where are we going," Abby demanded suspiciously.
It was a little painful that Abby didn't trust her. She hoped that she could find out why in due course and show the other woman that she wasn't a threat -- not to her. "It's classified. You'll be debriefed when we get you there."
Neither Abby or Connor liked that answer, but they looked at each other and the same resignation was in both of their eyes. What choice do we have?
As soon as they stepped out of the room with Claudia, a group of people surrounded them. Most of them looked like the same guards from when they arrived.
"It's alright, lass," a voice said from Abby's right. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."
Abby's eyes widened when she recognized the military man that had been in charge when they arrived through the anomaly. Her eyes darted to Connor and she saw that Stephen was on the other side of him.
"What's going on?" She asked quietly.
"We'll explain later," a voice said from behind her. She recognized the voice as being Nick's and her curiosity grew even stronger. Once outside of the ARC, she and Connor were loaded into a van. The military man and Stephen rode with them and a driver, while they others got into another van. Abby and Connor against exchanged looks, and she reached to squeeze his hand. This was making even less sense than anything else that had happened since they came through the anomaly into this time.
The drive didn't last very long and soon she and Connor were being escorted out of the van, into a building and then into a lift. Once the lift stopped, it opened up into a very wide living area of some kind. It was furnished modestly and Abby could see the edge of a breakfast bar from where they were standing. She was about to ask again what was going on, but she was distracted by the fact the other versions of her and Connor were engaged in an argument.
"We are not calling them Aragorn and Arwen, Connor! That's just too much, even for you."
"Look, we can't keep calling them Abby and Connor. It's going to get bleeding confusing while we're trying to put this mystery together."
"Not Arwen and Aragorn and not Luke and Leia. Luke and Leia were brother and sister and from what I'm seeing, they are not exactly of a sibling nature." She shook her head. "That would just be way too creepy."
"Then we could call them Han and Leia. Best love story in the movies! You can’t go wrong with Star Wars."
"They're people, not characters in a movie! Honestly, Connor."
From beside her, her own Connor cleared his throat, making their younger versions turn to them. He squeezed her hand and gave them a faint smile. "If you need new names for us to make this easier on you --" He stopped and looked at her. "You could call us Sid and Nancy?" When she nodded her agreement, he looked over the rest of the people gathered, his eyes falling on Cutter. "Sid and Nancy," he repeated again. "It was how you first introduced us to Captain Becker a few years ago."
"Captain Becker," the military man that had escorted them asked her. "Who is he? I don't have a Captain Becker in my unit. Nor any Becker, for that matter."
"And you would be?" Sid's voice was calm, all things considered. "We know everyone else, well sort of." He gave a small smile to Claudia. "But we've never seen you in our lives."
"Captain Tom Ryan," the military man said with a frown. How could they not know him? He'd worked side by side with them for the past few years.
"Oh." The name was familiar but he wasn't able to place his face at this point in time.
Nancy's bottom lip trembled slightly as she looked at Stephen for a long moment. Swallowing hard, she looked away from Stephen and then she looked at Abby, Connor and Nick. "Captain Becker is who Lester hired to protect us after Stephen was killed."
Two || Four
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!
"You know that they won't be happy with you for killing yourself like this when they get back."
Becker looked up as Sarah slid into the booth next to him and Jenny sat down next to Danny. He had been studying his beer very closely while he and Danny talked. Sarah and Jenny were both carrying baskets of food.
"The two of you are going to eat if we have to sit on you and shove it down your throats." That was Jenny's no-nonsense voice and Becker managed a faint smile.
"I'm pretty sure that Danny has had that threatened before," he said, looking down at the basket of food that was placed in front of him. "I'm not really hungry."
"I don't care if you think that you're hungry or not," Sarah snapped. "You are going to eat. I can count on one hand the times I have seen the two of you eat anything resembling nutritious food."
Danny poked at the burger in the basket in front of him. "Nutritious?"
"I knew you wouldn't eat anything that didn't look suitably greasy," Jenny said tartly.
"We're worried, too," Sarah said gently. "They are our friends, too, you guys. Just because you're men doesn't mean you get to hold the market on guilt and grief."
"You're not the ones that failed them," Becker said, refusing to look at either woman. "It was my job to protect them and keep them safe. They loved me and counted on me and I failed them when they needed me the most."
"That's not true, nor is it fair," Jenny disagreed. "There was no way to avoid what happened. We've all been over it so many times. Helen was waiting and there is no doubt that she planned all of it out that day."
"I should have shot her when I realized who she was," Danny said sourly. "Maybe then she would never have been able to grab Abby."
"Could have, should have, would have," Jenny shook her head. "The two of you are forgetting the bigger picture. We know they're alive now. It's no longer just hope and wishful thinking. You saw them, and that means we now have a better chance to find them and bring them home where they belong."
Becker reluctantly took a bite of the burger and chewed while the others talked. To him, the burger tasted just the same as everything else had for the last two years. It was like he was biting into a mouthful of wood. Of course, he wasn't about to say that out loud and earn the ire of the two women with them. He took another drink of his beer before flagging down someone to bring them more. It wouldn't be long. He and Danny were well known here.
"We were so close," he finally said. "We yelled their names and we saw them start running our way. The blasted thing closed before we could get them through."
"It will open again," Jenny nodded. "We know that. That same anomaly has opened so many times since the day they disappeared."
"But there's no pattern to it, Jenny," Danny shook his head in disgust. "That's one of the most frustrating things about it. We don't know when. We never know when. It could be a few days or it could be another year before it opens. They may not have that much time!"
Sarah flinched and then she looked at Jenny. "I should."
Jenny sighed, her mouth tightening.
Becker looked between them at the same time that Danny spoke. "Tell us what."
"You are not allowed to throw a fit," Jenny warned. "Not either of you, and not here." She didn't relish having to get them out of lock up yet again.
"What are you hiding from us?" Becker's voice was low and the tone was harder than he was used to hearing from himself.
"We haven't been hiding anything," Sarah said, her usually compassionate voice taking on the hint of ice. "I've been researching some things and the other team brought something to my attention from their last mission."
"Sarah." Danny's voice held far more patience than anyone could have expected it to have. "Do you have some kind of news about Abby and Connor?"
She nodded, almost reluctantly. "I do. You're not going to like it, though."
Danny looked over at Becker and then clamped his hand down on his arm to hold him still. Without looking away from him, he spoke to both women. "If you know something, then I suggest that you tell us and quit dancing around it."
"Fine, but you both remember that you saw them both alive only yesterday, you understand me?" Jenny's voice was full of fire. "They are alive and we are going to bring them home. That is not a question up for debate. It's a cold hard fact."
"Damn you both, what the hell are you holding back?"
Sarah swallowed her retort when she saw the real fear that was in Becker's eyes now. He was expecting her to tell him the worst. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on where Danny was holding onto his arm. "I have a journal of notes. It looks like the journal was originally Helen's."
"Originally?" Danny's voice was so low that Sarah had to strain to hear it. "What do you mean originally?"
"The last several pages looked to be in Connor's handwriting."
"This should be good, right? It means that they've both been keeping track of what has been going on."
"And we can use their notes to help us get to the right place and bring them home," Jenny said firmly. She, of course, knew what was in the journal and she was determined to keep the two men focused on the fact that they knew their friends were alive.
No matter what Connor had written on those last pages of the book.
No matter what the journal said was happening.
"I understand things must be a little confusing for the two of you, but I'm not Jenny. My name is Claudia Brown. I work with James Lester, Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, Abby Maitland, Tom Ryan and Connor Temple here at the ARC." She gave them what she hoped was a comforting smile. "Sometimes we are joined at sights by Professor Helen Lester -- whom you met yesterday."
"Cutter." Connor said evenly as his hands clenched and unclenched on the metal table the three of them were now sitting at.
"Excuse me?"
"Her name is Helen Cutter," Connor repeated, looking up. "She's Professor Cutter's ex-wife and an all-around psycho."
Claudia didn't even blink. She turned to Abby. "And suppose you tell me why you attacked her yesterday?"
"Connor already answered that question." Abby said tiredly, looking away from her.
"Helen Cutter is Professor Cutter's ex-wife and all around psycho?" That was an answer? Apparently it was because they both nodded and Claudia closed her eyes a moment. "So, you tried to kill her." She was sure that this conversation would make sense at some point. She was hoping that the time would be sooner rather than later. She was beginning to get a headache.
"It's no worse than what she's done to us, or tried to do to Abby," Connor burst out. "She even tried to --"
"Connor, don't." Abby reached out to take his hand, to keep him from telling Claudia what Helen had done to her. "It doesn't matter. It's not like anyone here is going to believe us. They shot us, remember?"
Claudia didn't like the dejected tone from the woman that resembled her friend here so much. "That would be where you are probably wrong," Claudia said crisply. "On your feet. You need to come with me. Immediately."
"Where are we going," Abby demanded suspiciously.
It was a little painful that Abby didn't trust her. She hoped that she could find out why in due course and show the other woman that she wasn't a threat -- not to her. "It's classified. You'll be debriefed when we get you there."
Neither Abby or Connor liked that answer, but they looked at each other and the same resignation was in both of their eyes. What choice do we have?
As soon as they stepped out of the room with Claudia, a group of people surrounded them. Most of them looked like the same guards from when they arrived.
"It's alright, lass," a voice said from Abby's right. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you."
Abby's eyes widened when she recognized the military man that had been in charge when they arrived through the anomaly. Her eyes darted to Connor and she saw that Stephen was on the other side of him.
"What's going on?" She asked quietly.
"We'll explain later," a voice said from behind her. She recognized the voice as being Nick's and her curiosity grew even stronger. Once outside of the ARC, she and Connor were loaded into a van. The military man and Stephen rode with them and a driver, while they others got into another van. Abby and Connor against exchanged looks, and she reached to squeeze his hand. This was making even less sense than anything else that had happened since they came through the anomaly into this time.
The drive didn't last very long and soon she and Connor were being escorted out of the van, into a building and then into a lift. Once the lift stopped, it opened up into a very wide living area of some kind. It was furnished modestly and Abby could see the edge of a breakfast bar from where they were standing. She was about to ask again what was going on, but she was distracted by the fact the other versions of her and Connor were engaged in an argument.
"We are not calling them Aragorn and Arwen, Connor! That's just too much, even for you."
"Look, we can't keep calling them Abby and Connor. It's going to get bleeding confusing while we're trying to put this mystery together."
"Not Arwen and Aragorn and not Luke and Leia. Luke and Leia were brother and sister and from what I'm seeing, they are not exactly of a sibling nature." She shook her head. "That would just be way too creepy."
"Then we could call them Han and Leia. Best love story in the movies! You can’t go wrong with Star Wars."
"They're people, not characters in a movie! Honestly, Connor."
From beside her, her own Connor cleared his throat, making their younger versions turn to them. He squeezed her hand and gave them a faint smile. "If you need new names for us to make this easier on you --" He stopped and looked at her. "You could call us Sid and Nancy?" When she nodded her agreement, he looked over the rest of the people gathered, his eyes falling on Cutter. "Sid and Nancy," he repeated again. "It was how you first introduced us to Captain Becker a few years ago."
"Captain Becker," the military man that had escorted them asked her. "Who is he? I don't have a Captain Becker in my unit. Nor any Becker, for that matter."
"And you would be?" Sid's voice was calm, all things considered. "We know everyone else, well sort of." He gave a small smile to Claudia. "But we've never seen you in our lives."
"Captain Tom Ryan," the military man said with a frown. How could they not know him? He'd worked side by side with them for the past few years.
"Oh." The name was familiar but he wasn't able to place his face at this point in time.
Nancy's bottom lip trembled slightly as she looked at Stephen for a long moment. Swallowing hard, she looked away from Stephen and then she looked at Abby, Connor and Nick. "Captain Becker is who Lester hired to protect us after Stephen was killed."
Two || Four