Missing Temple
Three months ago, Connor Temple vanished in an anomaly. Now the team searches, hoping to somehow bring him back. Will they find Connor, or is he gone forever? Seasons 1 and 2 only.
…
…
"CONNOR!"
Stephen's eyes snapped open. It took him several long, silent seconds to realize that he was lying safe in his own bed in his apartment. With a heavy sigh, Stephen ran his hands over his face, pressing at his eyes, before pushing himself into a sitting position and looking around the room. Everything was so normal. No one would ever suspect something was wrong with the world.
He left his bed and walked to the bathroom, stripping his clothes off as he went. Even with a steady stream of cold water pouring down over his body, Stephen still felt himself trapped in that dream. No. Memory. But he wished it were a dream. He placed his hands on the cold tile wall and took a deep breath.
An anomaly had opened and ADD caught it instantly. The whole team went out and arrived at the anomaly point only two hours later. There was a small heard of Psittacosaurus lounging about in the sun around the glowing anomaly, and it brought a smile to their faces.
"Herbivores," Abby breathed out.
It was a piece of cake herding the gazelle-sized creatures back into their own time. They didn't even have to sedate them. Connor did get a bit too into it and actually chased one of them all the way through the anomaly. Stephen and Cutter instantly ran through it too, grabbed him, and brought him back.
"Whoo!" Connor let out with a smile. As soon as he was released, he flipped so his back was to the anomaly and grinned widely at his three scientist friends. "Traveling through time. Brilliant."
Abby smiled too. "Yea. And we didn't have any trouble getting them back this time. It was an easy one. While a bit unnerving, it's also really nice."
Cutter nodded. "Right. We'll let the rest of the men take care of sealing off the area around the anomaly, just in case something more dangerous decides to come through."
Connor pulled his handheld ADD out from his pocket and stared at it for a moment. "No need, professor," he announced easily. "ADD says it's already closing." He clicked his tongue almost sadly. "No more worrying about this one."
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the anomaly gave a little lurch. Before Connor could even begin to turn around, another Psittacosaurus came through. It bypassed Connor without seeming to realize he was even there, but stopped abruptly upon seeing its path blocked by Abby, Stephen, and Cutter, not to mention the military men in black uniforms waiting a little ways further back.
It let out a startled grunt and turned to go back through the anomaly and finally noticed Connor. It gave another of those grunt noises and Abby frowned.
"It's feeling threatened," she said. "It might-"
Before she could finish, the Psittacosaurus charged the two feet between itself and Connor. His eyes widened the moment before its head collided with his stomach. Connor went backward into the anomaly, the Psittacosaurus vanishing right after. His three teammates all stepped forward in shock but the anomaly shivered and vanished before they could do anything more. Connor's hat lay on the ground, but otherwise all signs of the little computer whiz were gone.
"No," Abby breathed out. She shook her head, stepping forward and reaching into the air where their resident geek used to be. "Connor," she said softly. Her eyes squinted as she started to cry. "CONNOR!"
…
…
When he stepped into the ARC one hour later, Stephen was greeted by some of the other scientists and guards. He nodded silently back or gave a wave to the ones he recognized more. He placed his bag in his locker, letting his gaze flick down the line of lockers fleetingly, before heading for the main atrium. His steps faltered once the doors shut behind him. Abby was sitting in a rolling chair in front of the ADD, her left leg bent at the knee and sitting in the chair with her while her right foot pushed off the legs of the super computer, making her spin back and forth a bit but never letting her eyes stray from the screens.
"Abby," he greeted with a sigh, stepping up behind her softly. She placed her foot on the ground to stop her movement. "Staring at it won't bring an anomaly."
"I know," she murmured, her chin resting on her left knee. Her fingers gripped her pants a bit tighter. "But I keep hoping."
Stephen nodded, silently agreeing with her. How long had he and Abby sat in the alley, praying the anomaly would reopen and Connor would return? Three days? It felt like years. He pulled a chair over and sat next to her, also staring at the computer screens of the amazing system Connor had developed.
He let himself remember.
It had been three months. Three months had passed and yet still Stephen dreamt about that day when they lost Connor. The youngest man on the team, the one who called himself 'back up', the one with all the brains: he vanished in an instant. Even now, several anomalies and three months later, they were still searching. A man was posted near the alley every day in case the anomaly reopened and Connor reappeared. Every time they finished dealing with the immediate threat of dinosaurs from whatever era, Cutter and Stephen always went through and tried to find any trace of Connor.
They hadn't even found his scarf yet.
As much as they tried to seem ok, it was obvious they weren't. Lester could see it; so could Jenny. Cutter was always pacing, always muttering, always searching for something they overlooked that would tell them how to bring him back. Abby sat in front of the ADD whenever she was in the ARC and not working with a dinosaur. Stephen trained and tried to cope.
He'd always pretended he didn't like Connor; that Connor was just annoying and naive. But Connor was bright and happy and he kept the team's morale up, even if that was only because they could call him stupid and move on from whatever incident had just occurred. He'd be hard put to say it aloud, but anyone who knew him at all could tell: he missed Connor just as bad as Abby and Cutter did.
The ARC seemed colder without him here. He knew Abby thought the same about her flat, even with the temperature up for Rex. They needed Connor, but he wasn't there anymore. He was gone; lost in time.
Suddenly, alarms went off and both Stephen and Abby jumped at the red words across the computer screens: Anomaly Detected! They moved out of the way as one of the other technicians appeared and clicked some buttons. In ten seconds, the computer had zeroed in on the anomaly's location: a forested area about fifteen miles away.
"Let's go, let's go!" Cutter shouted from nearer the doors. Abby and Stephen were gone in a flash.
Maybe this time. Maybe this time.
…
…
Abby gasped as the car stopped in the middle of a forest. A raptor stood about six feet from a large, glowing anomaly. It was eating something: some sort of animal. As the car skid to a stop, the raptor lifted its head to stare straight at them. It let out a hiss of a roar and bolted into the forest just as the military cars came up behind their car.
"What is it?" Abby asked. "It had feathers."
Cutter nodded almost absently, staring at where the beast had been. "Recent findings have suggested that some dinosaurs might have had feathers. I guess we just saw living proof of it," he said airily, clearly in awe. He cleared his throat. "Let's go. We've got to get it back before it eats something a bit larger than rabbits and squirrels." He was already getting out of the car himself.
Abby wasn't listening to the orders Stephen was now giving to the military. She knew the drill already. They'd set up a perimeter and tranquilize anything that might come through, shoot anything that didn't go down. But first they had to get that perimeter locked and find that feathered raptor. In any case, her eyes were locked on the glowing anomaly.
Was Connor on the other side of this anomaly? Would today be the day they finally found him and brought him home? Could Connor survive three months in the Cretaceous alone, without food or supplies…or weapons? She had to believe he could. She wanted to believe this was the one. This was it.
"Abby."
She jolted out of her thoughts and turned to see Cutter standing just behind her. "What?" she asked.
He held out a gun and she took it. "Stephen's already gone. Let's go help him find it." He saw the expression on her face and nodded encouragingly. "We'll look once we've got everything else under control."
With a slight smile, Abby gripped her gun and took off into the woods in the direction the raptor had vanished.
In truth, she wasn't sure why she bothered. Stephen was an excellent tracker. He'd find the dinosaur long before Abby would. But she couldn't just stand around and do nothing.
…
…
Stephen had followed the raptor's tracks through the forest. He had to give it credit: it moved fast. It also seemed to know that it was being followed, because it took sharp turns in odd places and through bushes that would be hard for humans to follow through but wouldn't hurt its hard skin; like brambles.
It was smart.
Then Stephen stopped. He knelt down in the dirt, his eyes narrowing at the tracks before him. These tracks weren't that of a raptor. They'd come from the side abruptly into the trail left by the raptor, and the raptor's steps were different in the area. Stephen couldn't understand what it meant, but he knew what kinds of tracks he was looking at besides raptor.
A human was here recently; as recently as their dinosaur friend. That meant someone could've become lunch. They had to find the raptor, and fast, before things got out of hand.
Stephen heard the raptor's roar and turned his head to the left, away from the trail. He couldn't see it from here, but it was definitely in that direction, and angry. A sharp, short cry echoed through the air and Stephen tensed.
"Shit. Abby."
He tore through the forest as fast as he could, gun held tightly in his hands. He saw Abby lying on the ground a little ways off and darted towards her. He passed a large bush and caught sight of what Abby was staring aghast at, and saw one of the most amazing things in the world.
…
…
Abby was further into the forest now, quite a ways from the camp, and she heard next to nothing. The animals were quiet and even the wind seemed to stop blowing. A snapping noise to her left had her on edge and she raised her gun in that direction, taking a deep breath to stay calm. She didn't see anything. The snapping sounded again a little further down the path she'd been walking and Abby again faced it. Whatever it was was close enough that she could hear the ground shift as it stepped through the underbrush and loose dirt.
Then the raptor stepped into view, its nose to the air, sniffing. Abby almost lowered her weapon as she took it in. It stood at just over six feet tall and probably twenty feet long. It was several shades of green: darker on its head and in a line down its back, lighter near its feet and at the tip of its tail, and medium everywhere else. The feathers spread down its arm just like the rest of its body, but its arms were so short that Abby knew it would never fly. From its mouth, even though it was closed, she could see several serrated teeth. Its head was easily more than twice the size of a human's head. Its feet almost looked like a chicken's feet, but it only had three toes: two of them had sharp claws on them, the third was massive with a sickle shaped claw more than ten inches long that looked capable of ripping Abby open in one swipe.
Abby aimed her gun. The raptor tensed, its head snapping down and sideways so it could stare at its foe. It gave that same hiss of a roar and charged. Abby pulled the trigger, sending out a volley of shots, but the raptor dodged to the right and kept coming. Abby let her weapon lower, turned, and ran.
She could almost feel its breath on her neck when she threw herself to the left and into the brush. She heard its jaws snap shut, no doubt right where she used to be. Abby shoved herself to her feet and took off running again, leaving the gun where it had fallen in the bushes. She heard it crunch beneath the weight of the raptor as it charged after her. Her breathing came in sharp gasps as she weaved her way through the trees, trying not to keep in a straight line so it was harder to follow her. Still she heard the raptor roar again as it kept up the chase.
Suddenly, Abby felt her foot catch in some unseen root or another and she went crashing into the ground. She felt the sticks and small rocks scrape her cheek but she didn't care right that moment. Just as she managed to get herself up onto her hands and knees, the raptor was upon her. It rammed her with its head, sending her skidding across the ground a few feet, landing solidly on her back with a short cry of pain.
The raptor stalked up to her, its feathers shivering. It considered her for a brief moment before seeming to decide to eat her. It pulled back, its jaw opening wide. Abby squeezed her eyes shut, praying Stephen would save her.
Then the raptor let out a roar and staggered backwards. Abby heard a low grunt and opened her eyes. The raptor was stumbling around, off balance, as it attempted to turn its head around and bite something on its back…Something very human on its back. With black hair and dark, though torn, clothes, Connor was a shock to Abby's eyes.
He had his left hand firmly attached to the back of the raptors neck, holding the feathers, and he looked like he was a cowboy riding a wild bucking horse. As she looked on, Connor used his right hand to pull his tattered red scarf from around his neck. Then he let go with both hands, keeping his grip with his legs, and wrapped his scarf around the raptor's eyes.
It bucked worse than ever and sent Connor flying from its back, the scarf going with him. Abby gasped, fearing what the fall would do to him, but Connor managed to land on his feet. He rolled forward and completely over once, then regained his footing. His scarf was wrapped around his right hand. The raptor looked between Connor and Abby, as if deciding who was more of a threat or if either of them were worth it.
Connor whistled and waved his scarf in the air, catching the raptor's attention again. He gave a sardonic grin and a soft, matching laugh. The raptor's feathers bristled as if in anger and it scratched the ground hard, leaving a gash. The largest claw seemed to grow three inches before Abby's eyes and she looked between the large reptile and Connor worriedly.
When the raptor charged at him, Connor bobbed a bit back and forth. Just as it got within four feet of him, Connor dodged to the left and pulled a large, if not crude, hunting knife from somewhere Abby didn't see. He plunged the knife into the raptor's neck and scurried away as the beast began to flail. It snapped at him and Connor jumped further out of its reach with a soft "whoa." Then it shuddered once more and fell, the earth vibrating beneath their feet.
It was over. Connor stood staring at the knife for another minute or so. He shut his eyes and his lips parted to take in a deep breath of air, like he was grounding himself.
Abby looked him over as she stood. He was dirty and ragged. His hair looked like it'd been hacked off by an amateur, and Abby was pretty sure he'd used the knife now in the raptor's neck. It still hung at about
the same length as before, though it was a bit shorter on one side. He had a bit of a beard, again looking like an amateur barber cut it. She could see his skin in some places, but in others the hair was still thick enough to hide it. He'd probably done that himself too, but she had no idea what with. His scarf was still wrapped around his right wrist and dangling to the ground. She narrowed her eyes in scrutiny. Above his left eye, just low enough on his forehead to peek out below his hair, was a jagged scar about two inches long.
"Connor?" she breathed out. Stephen half stumbled from the bushes, his eyes wide and never leaving Connor's still form.
Connor seemed to shiver where he stood. He opened his eyes and turned to face Abby more completely. "Abby..." he responded uncertainly.
A wide, bright grin overtook Abby's face. "CONNOR!" She ran forward, throwing her arms around Connor's shoulders in a tight embrace as tears threatened to spill. "You're back! You're really back!" Connor slowly, hesitantly, wrapped his arms around her too. She pulled away just far enough to look at his face and gave a laugh that was almost a sob. "You look terrible." A few tears slipped down her cheeks, gently washing away the dirt.
Connor managed a shaky smile. "Yea. I bet. What- What year is it? How long have I been gone?" He glanced around them at the forest almost nervously.
"Three months now," Stephen answered, his tone lighter than usual, as he walked over to them. Connor turned toward him a bit, now with only his right hand around Abby's waist. Stephen stopped about two feet to Connor's left and couldn't keep the grin off his face. He looked a bit worse for wear, but Connor was alive and standing before him. "Three months as of two days ago."
Now Connor's eyebrows shot up behind his hair. "Only three months?" he nearly breathed out.
"How long did you think it'd be?" Abby asked cautiously, pulling away a half a step.
Connor glanced between Abby and Stephen a few times. "A year. I counted. Three hundred and ninety-seven days."
Stephen stared for a few moments before shaking his head and motioning to the dinosaur to his right. "Well, let's get rid of the body and get back to base. We can talk more there," he suggested.
The other two agreed, both looking shaken but determined.
…
…
Connor was oddly quiet and methodical about disposing of the body. He stayed with the body while Stephen went to fetch Cutter and some men, and maybe a truck or something. Abby stayed with Connor. They didn't talk, but Abby was soaking in the sight of him so she didn't mind. Connor reclined against the dinosaur's side like it was a couch and shut his eyes, simply listening as the sounds of life came back to the forest around them.
When Cutter arrived, Connor jumped to his feet. They stood there, simply facing each other, for several long moments. Then Cutter couldn't stand it and he surged forward, embracing Connor like a lost son: and maybe he sort of was.
"We never stopped looking. Stopped hoping," Cutter nearly whispered into Connor's ear as he held the younger man close.
Connor's eyebrows came together in a sure sign of his emotions. Sure enough, Stephen and Abby saw a few tears leak out a moment later as Connor squeezed his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around the professor in return.
Connor insisted on taking the raptor – a Utahraptor, he called it – into the anomaly himself. Abby nearly had a fit at the thought so Stephen and Cutter went with him through the anomaly, just in case. They watched him rip his hinting knife from the raptor's neck, wipe it on his already filthy pants, and slip it into an old leather holder on his belt.
"Connor," Cutter said simply as they trudged back to the anomaly, leaving the body behind them.
"Hm?" Connor responded quietly, giving the professor a curious look. He looked generally tired.
"Where'd you get that knife?" Cutter asked, pointing vaguely toward the weapon.
Connor blinked a few times before the question seemed to register. "Oh." He put his hand on the knife hilt. "Oh, this?" Cutter nodded. "I went through another anomaly once, trying to get back, and I traded my jacket for it and a night in an inn in the middle ages. Sexy, right?" he asked with a grin that didn't quite meet his eyes.
They stepped back into the present and Abby instantly had her arms around Connor's neck again.
"Wh-" was all Connor managed.
"God, I thought I'd been dreaming," she breathed into his shoulder.
Connor stood still for several long moments before finally hugging her too. "Same here," he breathed into her hair. When Abby loosened her hold on him, Connor pulled away a bit. He looked conflicted for a moment, then shook his head and turned to face Cutter and Stephen. "Can I go home now? I'd like to change my clothes."
"And shower," Abby said in a slightly teasing voice, wrinkling her face up. "You smell terrible."
"And maybe see a barber," Cutter noted with a smile.
Connor sent him a heatless scowl. "Yeah, well, you try getting a clean cut in the Cretaceous Period," he pouted.
Stephen let out a soft chuckle.
…
…
Nick Cutter was sitting at his desk at the ARC. In his hands was a photo of Connor before he'd disappeared. He looked vibrant and happy with a huge grin on his face and a hat in place on his head. His eyes drifted to the hat that sat on the side of his desk, where he'd had the picture propped before he'd picked it up. He'd have to give it back to Connor now that he was back.
There was a knock on his door and then Stephen walked in. "Hey," he greeted in his usual quiet tones.
"Hey," Cutter responded, leaning back in his chair.
Stephen took the seat across the desk from him easily and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. His eyes flicked to the back of the frame in Cutter's hands, to the hat, and to Cutter's face. He sighed. "So I'm not the only one worried."
"No. You're not," Cutter said.
Stephen sighed again, briefly running his hands through his hair. "I mean, he seemed alright, but he spent a year alone in the past. Now I know Helen did it for eight years, but she was prepared for it. Connor wasn't."
Cutter nodded, setting the picture back against the hat. "He was quieter than I remember," he noted. "I think we may have to face facts that Connor's changed. It's probably nothing too serious. I agree, he seemed ok. But we may need to give him some time to readjust."
"But you think he'll be fine," Stephen asked, but it was practically a statement.
"In time, yes," Cutter answered with a nod of his head. "Connor is stronger than we give him credit for."
Stephen let out a breathy laugh. "I think I'll be giving him a bit more credit from now on," he said with a shake of his head. He locked gazes with his friend across the desk. "You didn't see him take on that Utahraptor. He beat it with a scarf and a hunting knife," Stephen emphasized. "One strike."
Cutter shook his head good naturedly and smiled a bit. "Like I said."
"Cutter. Stephen," Jenny said, leaning into the room. "Abby and Connor are in."
Both men stood from their seats and exited the room. They hurried to the main atrium while attempting to look relaxed. Abby had taken Connor to get his hair done this morning and, while he didn't start work again for a few days, he was coming in for a short while today.
"Oh!" Connor's voice echoed up to them. When they saw him, Connor was in the rolling chair in front of the ADD with his hands wrapped around whatever parts they could reach and his head resting soundly on the keyboard. Amazingly, he wasn't pressing any codes in. "Oh, sweet heavens, I missed you!" He practically cooed at the machine.
When he pulled away, Stephen and Cutter got a good look at the new Connor. He was wearing a light pink shirt with a dark purple vest and dark pants, with a dark purple hat on the ground behind the keyboard. It probably fell off when he hugged the ADD. He glanced at them as they drew nearer and flashed a bright smile. His hair was a lot shorter, barely reaching his ears but cut in a young and handsome way. The scar above his left eye was more visible now with the shorter hair and clean skin, but it was clearly very old and didn't do anything to take away from the energetic and thankful look on Connor's face.
Connor only paid his teammates a minute of attention before messing with his computer program. He let loose a happy laugh and then a sigh of contentment. Abby moved from his side to stand by Stephen and Cutter.
"He's got more than one scar, you know," she said softly, so as not to distract the resident geek. The two men turned most of their attention to her. "Yea." She nodded. "I caught sight of them just before he pulled his shirt on. Across his right side." She vaguely gestured to the area with her left hand, again trying not to catch Connor's attention. "He doesn't know I saw, but it looks like three big claw marks."
"How'd they look?" Stephen asked, glancing with concern at Connor, still reveling in the technology around him.
Abby shrugged. "Alright. Newer than the one on his face, but still pretty old, I suppose." She let out a breath. "I think he'll be alright."
"Really?" Cutter asked, curious at her lighter tone of voice. "Why's that?"
"Cause when he saw his scar in the bathroom mirror after his shower, he asked me if women find scars sexy, all worried about his chances or something," she informed them with a fond smile.
Stephen grinned, crossing his arms. "And what'd you tell him?"
Abby's smile widened. "I told him I thought it was pretty sexy, so he had a good shot at getting a girl."
They could just imagine the brain explosion that had happened within Connor that morning. It brought a bit of a smile to all their faces.
"Professor!" Connor called, unnecessarily loud. They saw him wince when it echoed all around the room.
Cutter moved from their little huddle over to Connor. "Yea? What is it, Connor?"
Connor stopped his speedy typing and faced his old teacher. "I'm gonna update the database with stuff I learned during the Cretaceous. It might help make future identification faster and help us deal with different dinos more efficiently," he informed the older man. "And I'd like to run some ideas about the anomalies by you later."
Cutter nodded in agreement. "Alright, Connor. Sure thing. But not until Monday. You're off the clock now." Connor's eyes widened and Cutter nodded again. "Get some rest. You look tired."
"R-really? But what if another anomaly-"
Abby cut him off with a shake of her head. "They'll call if they need us. But the professor's right. You need to sleep. You didn't sleep last night, right?"
Connor seemed stunned that Abby knew that, or simply shocked at being caught. His cheeks tinted pink and he averted his eyes.
"Knew it," Abby pegged him. "Come on, I'll go home too."
Without a word, Connor exited whatever he'd been doing on the ADD and stood from his chair. "Alright," he agreed, already sounding more tired.
"Don't worry," Stephen spoke up. He placed a hand on Connor's right shoulder. "There'll be plenty of anomalies to deal with when you get back. And we'll need your help when they come."
His words seemed to bring a bit of light to Connor's eyes and the younger man nodded with a smile. "Y-yeah."
Watching their two youngest members leave the ARC together, both Cutter and Stephen knew that they'd be alright. Connor was back, alive, and ok. He'd be fine, so they'd be fine. They hadn't lost him.
...
...
Fin.
My first ever Primeval fic, complete. Please review and let me know how I did!