Fic- The Butterfly Effect
Title: The Butterfly Effect
Author: prehistoriccat
Rating: T
Genre: Angst
Character: Connor
Warnings: Minor spoilers for the series finale of Primeval: New World; major character "death"
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, no copyright intended
“What's worse is knowing how it's
supposed to be; being the only one that remembers.”
The words echoed around his head
repeatedly, hitting him exactly where it hurt the most. He'd spent
the last two years trying to get on with his life, just like he'd
told Mac to do, but being confronted with a situation very similar to
his own had thrust him right back to that fateful day when it had all
changed.
The key felt heavy
in his hand as he turned it in the lock, the stairs up to the first
floor flat felt like climbing a mountain and the open space of the
living area felt like a huge empty cavern. It had been a long time
since he'd felt like this. Clearly he hadn't moved on as well as
he'd thought he had.
Taking a bottle of
beer from the fridge, he slumped on the sofa and closed his eyes. It
was just like it had all happened yesterday...
… He had taken a
risk by going back through the anomaly, but he'd dropped one of his
gloves and he knew he couldn't just leave it behind. Abby called
after him, telling him to hurry because it looked like the anomaly
was weakening. If he'd known it would be the last time he'd hear her
voice, he wouldn't have been so annoyed with her for stating the
obvious.
The team had all
gone when he came back through. “Guys, OK you've had your joke. I
know I shouldn't have gone back but.. come on!” There was no-one
in sight, not even the sleek, black vehicles that they'd arrived at
the anomaly site in. As the anomaly began to fade behind him, he
pulled out his mobile phone to call Abby and tell her this joke
wasn't funny any more. He tried to dial her number but it wouldn't
connect. After three failed attempts, he tried Matt's number, and
then Becker's. All failed.
“Jess? Are there
problems with the mobile phone networks?” He waited for a
response, but the earpiece simply crackled. Trying to remain calm,
Connor began to make his way back towards the road hoping he would
either see the team waiting for him with stupid grins on their faces,
or be able to flag a car down and get a lift into town.
“You came through
the portal, didn't you?” A voice said. Connor spun around and came
face to face with a young man, probably no more than 19 years old
with a thick crop of ginger hair that hadn't seen a comb in days.
“I don't know
what you mean,” Connor responded, turning away and striding more
purposefully towards the road. The man came after him, and Connor
tried to shrug him away.
“I've been
watching them for the last three months, ever since that day they
were on the news. The officials said they were just freak
thunderstorms and that they wouldn't occur again, but I know better
and so do you.”
“I don't suppose
you saw which way my friends went, did you?” Connor tried to
change the topic of discussion.
“There wasn't
anyone else here. I was the only one until you came through.”
Suddenly it hit
Connor; a sense of complete fear and dread. He knew what had
happened. Completely ignoring the ginger haired youth, he ran
towards the road, struggling to breathe and blinking back the tears
in his eyes. This was surely just a nightmare; he was no stranger to
those, and he'd wake up any minute in Abby's comforting arms as she
mopped the sweat from his brow.
Three cars almost
ran him over before one stopped and the driver took pity on him,
thinking there'd been an accident and Connor was trying to get help.
Twenty minutes later, he was stood staring at a shopping mall which
was standing on the very site where the ARC should be.
There was just one
final shred of hope. He could cope with the fact the ARC wasn't
there. He could even cope with the fact that Matt, Becker, Lester
could be gone... but perhaps Abby was still here and a part of his
life. He somehow managed to find his way to the flat they'd bought
together only two months previously and breathed a sigh of relief
when his key fitted the lock and he could go inside.
It was the final
nail in the coffin. The flat he'd left this morning was a happy
living space, still slightly chaotic because they were in the middle
of decorating it to their taste, but it was theirs and was welcoming
and safe. The space he found himself in now felt empty, lifeless.
Still not quite wanting to accept what had happened, Connor rushed
around the flat trying to find even the tiniest of traces that Abby
existed. There should have been a photo on the coffee table that
Jess had taken of them on their official engagement day and had
framed for them, and there should have been an oil painting propped
against the back wall waiting for Abby to take into town to get a
proper frame for it. The shelves were full of books on
Palaeontology, pre-History, Archaeology, conspiracy theories and
weird sightings. It was definitely his place, but there was
nothing that said 'Abby'.
He'd done something
when he'd gone back to retrieve his glove - maybe he'd stepped on a
bug or perhaps his glove was meant to be there and had formed an
integral part of some creature's nest. A simple act had changed his
timeline, just as Cutter had done four years previously, except this
was worse. His entire world had come crashing down around him; he
didn't recognise any of it nor did he want to. If Abby wasn't here,
then he didn't want to be either.
Everything seemed
to go dark as Connor shut off everything and lost himself in his
grief.
-o-
“There's no going back.”
Three days had
passed before Connor emerged back into the world he hated. A need
for food finally got the better of him, and as he made himself a
toasted cheese sandwich he decided that perhaps all was not lost. It
seemed in this timeline he'd followed the original path he'd set out
on when he started at University. He'd found a security pass and ID
card that suggested he worked at the local Natural History museum.
He had managed to raise a small smile; at least that was a job he
could tell people about, and one his mum would be proud of. He
figured if he'd gone down that route, then maybe Abby had stayed on
her original path too.
He'd hoped to find
her listed on the staff at Wellington zoo, but she wasn't. Other
zoos drew blanks too, as did local colleges and universities. He'd
even tried local veterinary practises, wondering if maybe she'd
actually gone back to her studies and taken the course she'd talked
about doing whilst they were stranded in the Cretaceous. His final
search for Abby was at the bottom of several bottles of beer before
he slumped back into the void he'd existed in for the three previous
days.
It was the
insistent ringing of his doorbell that dragged him back again. He
tried to ignore it, not wanting anything to do with this world, but
it kept ringing and ringing. “OK! OK! I hear you!” he called
out, wearily making his way down the stairs to the door. Standing on
the step was the ginger haired youth that had been at the anomaly.
“Go away!”
Connor snarled.
“You did come
through that portal, and you know all about them. I need your help.”
Connor saw
something in the young man's eyes that he recognised and it scared
him. It could almost be himself standing there; the Connor Temple of
four years ago that had stood in the Forest of Dean watching a
Gorgonopsid lumber through that first anomaly.
“You're wasting
your time!” he snapped. “Those things are dangerous. You should
just walk away from them whilst you have the chance.”
“Don't give me
that!” The guy responded. “At least come and take a look at this
one with me.”
Against his better
judgement, Connor grabbed his jacket and followed. It seemed the
pull of the anomalies was too strong. “Who are you?” he called
after the young man who was almost running down the street.
“Jake.”
“Connor. Good to
meet you. Now, where are we going?”
The anomaly was in
a disused wrecking yard. Jake stood staring at it in awe, but all
Connor felt was sick. The anomalies had ruined his life, taken
everything from him that had mattered. He half expected to see a
group of soldiers show up, but they were the only ones there. Was
there really no-one monitoring these things here? Was that a good or
bad thing?
“How many of
these things have you been through?” Jake asked.
“Lost count,”
Connor muttered.
“And they lead to
ancient worlds? And the future?”
Connor could only
nod sadly. His entire body ached. Why was he doing this to himself?
He should just walk away now before he lost more, but the longer he
stayed the clearer it all was. He could recall a conversation he'd
had with Professor Cutter once. They'd debated whether Cutter had
jumped into an alternate timeline and Claudia Brown still existed in
another, or if there was only ever one timeline and it changed and
shifted as people interfered with the past. They'd concluded that if
there were other parallel timelines and the anomalies could connect
them, they'd have met other versions of themselves by now.
“We should be
setting up missions to go through these!” Jake exclaimed. “There's
endless resources we should be tapping into. Maybe we could even
find a cure for diseases like Cancer in future worlds!”
A cure for Cancer?
That was a new one on Connor, but it was effectively what Burton had
been trying to do with New Dawn - using the anomalies to make
things better but inevitably it would lead to disaster on a
catastrophic scale. Whilst Connor knew he would never be able to
bring his Abby back again, it seemed that everything had been re-set
for him. He had a second chance to do it properly this time; to make
sure that no-one else would suffer the same heartache that he and
Cutter had. They'd been doing it all wrong. It wasn't about trying
to control or predict the anomalies, it wasn't about working out how
to stop them either. It was about monitoring them, making sure that
whatever came through accidentally was put back where it belonged and
ensuring that no-one tried to take advantage of them.
Connor's new ARC
was born that afternoon. Over the following months, he rebuilt a
detector and locking device and gathered together a small team that
he trained. They knew his story and respected that he knew what he
was talking about. Connor was confident that this time they'd got it
right.
“It could drive you crazy.”
Connor moved out of
the flat; it was just too painful being in the place that he believed
was his and Abby's. He only had one photo of her, a passport photo
that he'd kept in his wallet, so he'd had several copies of it made
in case something happened to one of them. Over time, he thought
that perhaps his memories of his other life would begin to fade, and
that would be how he'd heal. He vowed that he'd never forget Abby,
that he'd never allow his memory of her to disappear. He wondered if
she'd simply just ceased to exist and would not have known any pain
or sense of loss. That was what he hoped, he couldn't stand the
thought that she would have suffered the way he was.
One morning, about
14 months after that terrible day, the team encountered an injured
Iguanadon. Without thinking, Connor called Wellington zoo asking for
a reptile expert with veterinary experience to help them out. It was
only afterwards that he realised what he'd done. They were sending
over their head keeper from the reptile reception centre, Holly
Kavanagh.
Connor had his back
to her when she first arrived on site. Jake greeted her and was
chatting to her as they walked towards the injured creature.
Connor's heart skipped a beat. He'd know that voice anywhere.
Hardly daring to look, he turned to look at the new arrival. It was
impossible, and he gasped for air, his stomach lurching and twisting.
Now he knew exactly how the Professor had felt the first time he'd
set eyes on Jenny Lewis. Holly Kavanagh was the spitting image of
Abby. Her long, white blonde hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense
ponytail and she wore simple but classy jeans and t-shirt.
She barely
acknowledged him, just shook his hand when introduced then set about
seeing to the wound that the creature had sustained. Connor tried
not to stare and kept a distance, but couldn't help watching her
work. It could be Abby crouched over the creature and Connor hurt
more than he had in months. After she'd gone, he told the team that
she was not to be involved again, but Holly wouldn't stay away.
She'd been intrigued how they had found that creature and wanted to
know more.
Connor had to admit
that the team needed her knowledge, but he kept his distance when she
was around. He had an ache in his heart when he saw her, he wanted
to hold her and have her hold him but he pushed that thought away.
He was mistaking her for Abby, that was why he felt that way, and
besides, falling for another woman would be like cheating on Abby.
It was better all round if he left her to get on with her work whilst
he got on with his.
-o-
“Connor?”
He was jerked back
to the present by the familiar and comforting voice. He looked up
and smiled. “Sorry, love. How long have you been back?”
“A few minutes.
I was worried. Doctor Greene said he'd been trying to call you, and
you didn't answer when I called either.”
Connor picked up
his mobile - 5 missed calls. He really had been lost in his own
mind after today's events. “What did Dr Greene want?”
“He said to let
you know that Kieron is going to be OK. His leg should heal fine,
but he'll be out of action for a few weeks. What happened? Must have
been pretty bad for it to have shaken you like this.” She sat
beside him and took his hand. “Want to talk about it”
“Creature
incursion,” Connor said simply. “Kieron got too close to the
anomaly. I had to go in after him.”
“And?”
“There were
others there. I met people whose timelines had changed because of
the actions of others.” He sighed and gripped his wife's hand
tighter.
“It made you
think about her, didn't it? You've been thinking about Abby?”
“I'm sorry,
Holly. It doesn't mean that I don't...”
“Shush now. I
told you, I understand.” Holly leaned in and kissed Connor softly
on the lips. “You loved her and she was a huge part of what made
you the man you are now, but you also have to stop beating yourself
up for allowing yourself to move on. She would've wanted you to be
happy.”
“I know.”
Connor closed his eyes. Holly had pursued him for months and he'd
continually pushed her away. They argued, screaming and yelling at
each other, until late one night she came to his flat to have it out
with him once and for all, demanding to know what his problem with
her was. He let it all out, told her about Abby and how she was
exactly like her. He'd broken down in tears and let Holly comfort
him, and for the first time he made love to someone that wasn't Abby.
Holly stood up,
tugging Connor's hand and he opened his eyes, looking up into her
blue-eyed gaze. “You are doing an amazing job. Whatever you did
today, you helped someone. That's huge. It's why I fell for you,
Connor Temple, you're not interested in what you can gain from those
things. Come on, I know exactly what you need to get some
perspective back.”
As he followed
Holly towards their bedroom, Connor pulled himself back together.
He'd said to Ange Finch that he needed to get back to his wife. He
was here, she was here and he could allow himself to be happy. That
was the perspective he needed to keep doing what he was meant to do.
Author: prehistoriccat
Rating: T
Genre: Angst
Character: Connor
Warnings: Minor spoilers for the series finale of Primeval: New World; major character "death"
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, no copyright intended
“What's worse is knowing how it's
supposed to be; being the only one that remembers.”
The words echoed around his head
repeatedly, hitting him exactly where it hurt the most. He'd spent
the last two years trying to get on with his life, just like he'd
told Mac to do, but being confronted with a situation very similar to
his own had thrust him right back to that fateful day when it had all
changed.
The key felt heavy
in his hand as he turned it in the lock, the stairs up to the first
floor flat felt like climbing a mountain and the open space of the
living area felt like a huge empty cavern. It had been a long time
since he'd felt like this. Clearly he hadn't moved on as well as
he'd thought he had.
Taking a bottle of
beer from the fridge, he slumped on the sofa and closed his eyes. It
was just like it had all happened yesterday...
… He had taken a
risk by going back through the anomaly, but he'd dropped one of his
gloves and he knew he couldn't just leave it behind. Abby called
after him, telling him to hurry because it looked like the anomaly
was weakening. If he'd known it would be the last time he'd hear her
voice, he wouldn't have been so annoyed with her for stating the
obvious.
The team had all
gone when he came back through. “Guys, OK you've had your joke. I
know I shouldn't have gone back but.. come on!” There was no-one
in sight, not even the sleek, black vehicles that they'd arrived at
the anomaly site in. As the anomaly began to fade behind him, he
pulled out his mobile phone to call Abby and tell her this joke
wasn't funny any more. He tried to dial her number but it wouldn't
connect. After three failed attempts, he tried Matt's number, and
then Becker's. All failed.
“Jess? Are there
problems with the mobile phone networks?” He waited for a
response, but the earpiece simply crackled. Trying to remain calm,
Connor began to make his way back towards the road hoping he would
either see the team waiting for him with stupid grins on their faces,
or be able to flag a car down and get a lift into town.
“You came through
the portal, didn't you?” A voice said. Connor spun around and came
face to face with a young man, probably no more than 19 years old
with a thick crop of ginger hair that hadn't seen a comb in days.
“I don't know
what you mean,” Connor responded, turning away and striding more
purposefully towards the road. The man came after him, and Connor
tried to shrug him away.
“I've been
watching them for the last three months, ever since that day they
were on the news. The officials said they were just freak
thunderstorms and that they wouldn't occur again, but I know better
and so do you.”
“I don't suppose
you saw which way my friends went, did you?” Connor tried to
change the topic of discussion.
“There wasn't
anyone else here. I was the only one until you came through.”
Suddenly it hit
Connor; a sense of complete fear and dread. He knew what had
happened. Completely ignoring the ginger haired youth, he ran
towards the road, struggling to breathe and blinking back the tears
in his eyes. This was surely just a nightmare; he was no stranger to
those, and he'd wake up any minute in Abby's comforting arms as she
mopped the sweat from his brow.
Three cars almost
ran him over before one stopped and the driver took pity on him,
thinking there'd been an accident and Connor was trying to get help.
Twenty minutes later, he was stood staring at a shopping mall which
was standing on the very site where the ARC should be.
There was just one
final shred of hope. He could cope with the fact the ARC wasn't
there. He could even cope with the fact that Matt, Becker, Lester
could be gone... but perhaps Abby was still here and a part of his
life. He somehow managed to find his way to the flat they'd bought
together only two months previously and breathed a sigh of relief
when his key fitted the lock and he could go inside.
It was the final
nail in the coffin. The flat he'd left this morning was a happy
living space, still slightly chaotic because they were in the middle
of decorating it to their taste, but it was theirs and was welcoming
and safe. The space he found himself in now felt empty, lifeless.
Still not quite wanting to accept what had happened, Connor rushed
around the flat trying to find even the tiniest of traces that Abby
existed. There should have been a photo on the coffee table that
Jess had taken of them on their official engagement day and had
framed for them, and there should have been an oil painting propped
against the back wall waiting for Abby to take into town to get a
proper frame for it. The shelves were full of books on
Palaeontology, pre-History, Archaeology, conspiracy theories and
weird sightings. It was definitely his place, but there was
nothing that said 'Abby'.
He'd done something
when he'd gone back to retrieve his glove - maybe he'd stepped on a
bug or perhaps his glove was meant to be there and had formed an
integral part of some creature's nest. A simple act had changed his
timeline, just as Cutter had done four years previously, except this
was worse. His entire world had come crashing down around him; he
didn't recognise any of it nor did he want to. If Abby wasn't here,
then he didn't want to be either.
Everything seemed
to go dark as Connor shut off everything and lost himself in his
grief.
-o-
“There's no going back.”
Three days had
passed before Connor emerged back into the world he hated. A need
for food finally got the better of him, and as he made himself a
toasted cheese sandwich he decided that perhaps all was not lost. It
seemed in this timeline he'd followed the original path he'd set out
on when he started at University. He'd found a security pass and ID
card that suggested he worked at the local Natural History museum.
He had managed to raise a small smile; at least that was a job he
could tell people about, and one his mum would be proud of. He
figured if he'd gone down that route, then maybe Abby had stayed on
her original path too.
He'd hoped to find
her listed on the staff at Wellington zoo, but she wasn't. Other
zoos drew blanks too, as did local colleges and universities. He'd
even tried local veterinary practises, wondering if maybe she'd
actually gone back to her studies and taken the course she'd talked
about doing whilst they were stranded in the Cretaceous. His final
search for Abby was at the bottom of several bottles of beer before
he slumped back into the void he'd existed in for the three previous
days.
It was the
insistent ringing of his doorbell that dragged him back again. He
tried to ignore it, not wanting anything to do with this world, but
it kept ringing and ringing. “OK! OK! I hear you!” he called
out, wearily making his way down the stairs to the door. Standing on
the step was the ginger haired youth that had been at the anomaly.
“Go away!”
Connor snarled.
“You did come
through that portal, and you know all about them. I need your help.”
Connor saw
something in the young man's eyes that he recognised and it scared
him. It could almost be himself standing there; the Connor Temple of
four years ago that had stood in the Forest of Dean watching a
Gorgonopsid lumber through that first anomaly.
“You're wasting
your time!” he snapped. “Those things are dangerous. You should
just walk away from them whilst you have the chance.”
“Don't give me
that!” The guy responded. “At least come and take a look at this
one with me.”
Against his better
judgement, Connor grabbed his jacket and followed. It seemed the
pull of the anomalies was too strong. “Who are you?” he called
after the young man who was almost running down the street.
“Jake.”
“Connor. Good to
meet you. Now, where are we going?”
The anomaly was in
a disused wrecking yard. Jake stood staring at it in awe, but all
Connor felt was sick. The anomalies had ruined his life, taken
everything from him that had mattered. He half expected to see a
group of soldiers show up, but they were the only ones there. Was
there really no-one monitoring these things here? Was that a good or
bad thing?
“How many of
these things have you been through?” Jake asked.
“Lost count,”
Connor muttered.
“And they lead to
ancient worlds? And the future?”
Connor could only
nod sadly. His entire body ached. Why was he doing this to himself?
He should just walk away now before he lost more, but the longer he
stayed the clearer it all was. He could recall a conversation he'd
had with Professor Cutter once. They'd debated whether Cutter had
jumped into an alternate timeline and Claudia Brown still existed in
another, or if there was only ever one timeline and it changed and
shifted as people interfered with the past. They'd concluded that if
there were other parallel timelines and the anomalies could connect
them, they'd have met other versions of themselves by now.
“We should be
setting up missions to go through these!” Jake exclaimed. “There's
endless resources we should be tapping into. Maybe we could even
find a cure for diseases like Cancer in future worlds!”
A cure for Cancer?
That was a new one on Connor, but it was effectively what Burton had
been trying to do with New Dawn - using the anomalies to make
things better but inevitably it would lead to disaster on a
catastrophic scale. Whilst Connor knew he would never be able to
bring his Abby back again, it seemed that everything had been re-set
for him. He had a second chance to do it properly this time; to make
sure that no-one else would suffer the same heartache that he and
Cutter had. They'd been doing it all wrong. It wasn't about trying
to control or predict the anomalies, it wasn't about working out how
to stop them either. It was about monitoring them, making sure that
whatever came through accidentally was put back where it belonged and
ensuring that no-one tried to take advantage of them.
Connor's new ARC
was born that afternoon. Over the following months, he rebuilt a
detector and locking device and gathered together a small team that
he trained. They knew his story and respected that he knew what he
was talking about. Connor was confident that this time they'd got it
right.
“It could drive you crazy.”
Connor moved out of
the flat; it was just too painful being in the place that he believed
was his and Abby's. He only had one photo of her, a passport photo
that he'd kept in his wallet, so he'd had several copies of it made
in case something happened to one of them. Over time, he thought
that perhaps his memories of his other life would begin to fade, and
that would be how he'd heal. He vowed that he'd never forget Abby,
that he'd never allow his memory of her to disappear. He wondered if
she'd simply just ceased to exist and would not have known any pain
or sense of loss. That was what he hoped, he couldn't stand the
thought that she would have suffered the way he was.
One morning, about
14 months after that terrible day, the team encountered an injured
Iguanadon. Without thinking, Connor called Wellington zoo asking for
a reptile expert with veterinary experience to help them out. It was
only afterwards that he realised what he'd done. They were sending
over their head keeper from the reptile reception centre, Holly
Kavanagh.
Connor had his back
to her when she first arrived on site. Jake greeted her and was
chatting to her as they walked towards the injured creature.
Connor's heart skipped a beat. He'd know that voice anywhere.
Hardly daring to look, he turned to look at the new arrival. It was
impossible, and he gasped for air, his stomach lurching and twisting.
Now he knew exactly how the Professor had felt the first time he'd
set eyes on Jenny Lewis. Holly Kavanagh was the spitting image of
Abby. Her long, white blonde hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense
ponytail and she wore simple but classy jeans and t-shirt.
She barely
acknowledged him, just shook his hand when introduced then set about
seeing to the wound that the creature had sustained. Connor tried
not to stare and kept a distance, but couldn't help watching her
work. It could be Abby crouched over the creature and Connor hurt
more than he had in months. After she'd gone, he told the team that
she was not to be involved again, but Holly wouldn't stay away.
She'd been intrigued how they had found that creature and wanted to
know more.
Connor had to admit
that the team needed her knowledge, but he kept his distance when she
was around. He had an ache in his heart when he saw her, he wanted
to hold her and have her hold him but he pushed that thought away.
He was mistaking her for Abby, that was why he felt that way, and
besides, falling for another woman would be like cheating on Abby.
It was better all round if he left her to get on with her work whilst
he got on with his.
-o-
“Connor?”
He was jerked back
to the present by the familiar and comforting voice. He looked up
and smiled. “Sorry, love. How long have you been back?”
“A few minutes.
I was worried. Doctor Greene said he'd been trying to call you, and
you didn't answer when I called either.”
Connor picked up
his mobile - 5 missed calls. He really had been lost in his own
mind after today's events. “What did Dr Greene want?”
“He said to let
you know that Kieron is going to be OK. His leg should heal fine,
but he'll be out of action for a few weeks. What happened? Must have
been pretty bad for it to have shaken you like this.” She sat
beside him and took his hand. “Want to talk about it”
“Creature
incursion,” Connor said simply. “Kieron got too close to the
anomaly. I had to go in after him.”
“And?”
“There were
others there. I met people whose timelines had changed because of
the actions of others.” He sighed and gripped his wife's hand
tighter.
“It made you
think about her, didn't it? You've been thinking about Abby?”
“I'm sorry,
Holly. It doesn't mean that I don't...”
“Shush now. I
told you, I understand.” Holly leaned in and kissed Connor softly
on the lips. “You loved her and she was a huge part of what made
you the man you are now, but you also have to stop beating yourself
up for allowing yourself to move on. She would've wanted you to be
happy.”
“I know.”
Connor closed his eyes. Holly had pursued him for months and he'd
continually pushed her away. They argued, screaming and yelling at
each other, until late one night she came to his flat to have it out
with him once and for all, demanding to know what his problem with
her was. He let it all out, told her about Abby and how she was
exactly like her. He'd broken down in tears and let Holly comfort
him, and for the first time he made love to someone that wasn't Abby.
Holly stood up,
tugging Connor's hand and he opened his eyes, looking up into her
blue-eyed gaze. “You are doing an amazing job. Whatever you did
today, you helped someone. That's huge. It's why I fell for you,
Connor Temple, you're not interested in what you can gain from those
things. Come on, I know exactly what you need to get some
perspective back.”
As he followed
Holly towards their bedroom, Connor pulled himself back together.
He'd said to Ange Finch that he needed to get back to his wife. He
was here, she was here and he could allow himself to be happy. That
was the perspective he needed to keep doing what he was meant to do.