Across The Borders Of Time (6/14)

[deeperwonderment]

Title: Across The Borders Of Time
Author: not_from_stars
Artist(s): danceswithgary and whuffle
Media Link: DancesWithGary and Whuffle
Word Count: 37,255
Fandom: Primeval
Genre: Angst; Het and Slash
Rating: R
Characters/Pairings: Abby Maitland/Hilary Becker, Danny Quinn/Connor Temple
Summary: Captain Becker was forced to watch as Abby, Danny and Connor went through an anomaly to prevent Helen Cutter from destroying mankind. After Connor is hurt, Danny sends Abby ahead of them to stop Helen no matter what she has to do. Unfortunately, after killing Helen, Abby returns to the site of the anomaly -- only to watch it close before she can go through it. This leaves Abby trapped in the Pleistocene with no way of getting back home, and with no way of letting the people who love her know that she's alive.
Warnings/Spoilers: This is an AU of the last episode of Series 3 and into Series 4.
Author’s Notes: This story has been a labor of love, emphasis on the labor part. I want to thank my beta and cheerleader, enochiansigils, for holding my hand through this and not letting me give up. danceswithgary made me an awesome wallpaper I use on my netbook and a matching icon and she was so infinitely patient with me as I struggled with this story, I want to make sure she gets her thanks for that. I want to thank whuffle for making me extra pretties to go with this and also want to thank whuffle and morrigans_eve for adding their encouragement to that of enochiansigils so that I could stick to writing this.







It didn’t take Abby long to find her way back to the anomaly. Even from where she was moving through the brush, she could see the shards of the anomaly glinting through the trees in the sun. When she saw the shards getting smaller and smaller, Abby kicked into a run. She knew what that meant. Weighed down as she was, she knew she would never make the anomaly on time and so she discarded Helen’s pack as she ran and then she discarded her pack as well.

None of that helped her as she got to the site just in time to watch the anomaly fade and close in front of her.

“No!” She screamed, reaching her hand to where the anomaly had just been. “NO!”

No amount of screaming caused the anomaly to re-open and soon Abby’s throat was too raw from the screaming and the sobbing to keep it up. Her way home had just closed on her, leaving her trapped and alone in an unfriendly past.

After some time, her brain shifted into automatic pilot to focus on her survival for right now. Surviving here would be a lot harder that trying to survive on the streets as a runaway like she once had, but surely she could keep herself alive for a day or two. She could keep herself pulled together and safe until Connor or Sarah managed to open up an anomaly and come get her. When she didn’t make it back to Danny and Connor, they would know she needed help and the entire team wouldn’t rest until she was found.

First, though, she had to make sure that she stayed safe and alive for them to be able to find her.

Between her supplies that Becker had packed her – and god, was she ever going to see him again? – and the supplies she raided from Helen’s belongings, she had a pretty good set of tools and weapons. She kept the gun, even though she knew that the bullets would have to be conserved. (Not to mention what finding bullets in this time period would do to the archaeology records of this time in the future. Professor Cutter would be proud of her for thinking about that, she was sure. Although, the bullets in Helen's body would be difficult in their own way to explain.)

She spent the first few nights up in a shelter of trees that was near the anomaly site. She didn’t have any devices to predict them like Connor did – and she wouldn’t know how to work them if she did – so she had to watch for the anomaly to return.

It never did.



It was several hours later when Connor opened his eyes again and Danny felt a sigh of relief escape him when it happened. He had found them a cave to take shelter in when it started getting dark and had wrapped Connor's bruising ankle as best as he could. Now that he was conscious again, he'd have to better gauge the damage and wrap it again.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, mate," Danny said with a grin. "Such as it is."

"Danny? What happened?"

"You fell out of a tree. Knocked yourself out." He paused. "Don't do that again. You weigh more than you look like you do."

Connor sat up carefully and leaned his back against the wall of the cave. He looked around and then frowned. "Where is Abby?"

"She hasn't come back yet." Danny was trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

"Back? Where did she go?" He stared at Danny as realization slowly filled his eyes. "No. Oh Danny, tell me that she didn't!"

"She went after Helen."

"You let her go after Helen alone?! Why did you go and do a daft thing like that?"

"You were hurt and there was no way she could have carried you to get you out of danger from the raptors when they came back." Danny's tone was as level as he could make it. "She runs faster than me, Connor. She was the best choice to keep going. Don't you dare stand on that ankle!"

That last part was because Connor had tried getting up, and slumped back against the stone when his ankle wouldn't hold him. He winced inwardly at Connor's pale face.

"How long has she been gone?"

"Several hours," he answered quietly. "I went to look for her after I got you to safety, but there was no sign of an anomaly."

"So not only are we stuck here, Abby is stuck somewhere else." Connor shook his head, hating this information.

There was only silence in the cave for several moments. Danny leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, Connor?"

"Do you think she's still alive?"

"She's Abby." That should have been answer enough. "Besides, she knows that if she gets herself killed by Helen of all people, she'd have to deal with me."

Somehow, that made Connor feel a little better about the entire situation -- which was silly because if Abby was dead she wouldn't be dealing with Danny. He frowned.

"She faced down a Dracorex and a weird man with a sword, and went after future killers even when you told her not to." He sighed quietly. "She won't be beaten by Helen Cutter of all things. Not my Abby."

Danny hoped he was right.

When three days had passed with no sign of Abby, Danny watched Connor withdraw into himself. He hadn't thought anything could ever come close to breaking the other man's spirit, but apparently losing their tiny blond was one of those things that would do it. When Connor stopped talking on the fifth day, Danny was worried that something in him was breaking and would never be repaired. He wasn't going to let that happen. Connor was more than just his co-worker and teammate, he was family. Besides, the last thing he had promised Abby was that he would take care of Connor.

"Connor. She'll be all right and she'll find us."

Connor only responded with a nod and went back to working on whatever it was that he had found in the packs to busy himself with.

The second day of silence. "Connor. Abby has two guns with her. You know as well as I do that Becker has worked her to death with those guns. She can outrun and out shoot Helen Cutter on her worst day."

Again, Connor only shrugged in answer to what Danny was saying. His eyes were full of sorrow and there seemed to be nothing that could be said to make him stop shutting himself down like he was.

It was on the fourth or fifth day of silence that Danny lost his temper.

"Damn you, Connor Temple! Abby would never give up on us no matter what happened so don't you dare just give up on her! You owe her that much." They owed her that much.

He felt like a bastard when Connor's face crumpled and two tears slipped down his cheek. Without thinking about it, he pulled Connor against him and held him tightly.

"It will be all right, Connor," he whispered into his hair. "I promise you that it will be all right."

He prayed that God would allow him to keep that promise.




Chapter Five || Chapter Seven