Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.

6.1 - Don't Be Ridiculous –

Matt groaned in frustration. "Argh!" Why, he thought to himself, if he was going to come back and tell himself something, hadn't he been more clear with his message? Go back where? When?

Emily. She was speaking again. Oh, she had asked him what's wrong. "Nothing, he replied, "Fine." Shaking his head, he turned to join her and decided to focus on the here and now… do the job at hand.

"We're ready to go," said Emily.

Matt followed Emily into the parking area, but the sight that met their eyes was not the loaded SUV ready to go. The SUV was there, doors open and the equipment loaded, but nobody was in the vehicle. Connor was standing with his back against the garage wall, body bent forward with his hands on thighs. Abby was leaning in close, talking quickly to Connor in a low voice that Matt couldn't hear. Becker was standing a bit apart, eyes narrowed, watching intently…hmm it was almost as if he were watching a creature for some sign of danger, thought Matt.

"What's up?" asked Matt, "Why aren't we ready to go to the anomaly site?"

The three all spoke at once.

"Connor," began Abby.

"I'm fine!" huffed Connor, "No need to worry…"

"He was staggering," Becker said in a no nonsense tone of voice.

Turning to Matt, he continued "And walking sort of off kilter. He almost fell down. Reminds me of the time at the airport…," tilting his head back to look at Connor, he asked, "Remember Connor? With the G-Rex? And the concussion?"

Abby's head jerked upright at the last word. She looked directly at Becker, then slowly turned her head to look at Connor, narrowing her blue eyes. "Conn…what concussion?"

"It's nuthin' to worry about," he began.

Matt walked forward, until he was toe to toe with Connor. "Look up at me Connor," he demanded.

Connor tilted his head up, his dark brown eyes squinting to tiny slivers in the bright light from the garage ceiling.

"Does the light hurt your eyes?" asked Matt quietly.

"It's bright," admitted Connor.

"Does your head hurt?" continued Matt in an even quieter voice.

"Well… yeah," began Connor closing his eyes against the brightness "a bit…"

"Have you hit your head today?" interrupted Matt in a steely tone.

"Yeah…" Connor sighed, "more than once."

Bloody fool, thought Matt, doesn't he realize how serious this could be?

"Connor," Matt ordered, "You are going to medical. Now. You can't keep going on an adrenaline rush. No field work for you until doctor says you are cleared."

Ignoring Connor's sputtering, he turned to Abby and continued, "Take him into the ARC, make sure he gets to the clinic. We don't want him falling down in the halls some where."

Abby's face paled, but she grabbed Connor's hand and started him moving. "C'mon Conn."

A sudden crackling of static filled Matt's ear, then Jess's voice calmly asked "Are you there Matt?"

"Yes," Matt confirmed. He continued to confer with the field coordinator for another minute.

Turning to face Becker and Emily again, Matt directed Becker, "See if you can raise Bravo team and get them to meet us at the station…all teams are short handed."

Watching as Abby and Connor slowly left the parking garage, Matt shook his head. He knew he had to keep them alive, but they sure weren't making it easy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Abby walked slowly with Connor's arm draped across her shoulder. "Connor," she began, "What was Becker talking about? He said something about that time at the airport…"

Connor sighed, he really loved being this close to Abby. Walking down the halls together, leaning on her, it was almost like that time in the Cretaceous… but he was really having to concentrate right now on putting one foot in front of the other.

"Abby," he said, "Really it was no big deal."

"No big deal? A concussion?" she exclaimed indignantly.

"No, no… I mean, yeah…" Connor fumbled with his words, "it was just…you had left to go back to the flat, and after we loaded up the anomaly locking device, Becker and Jenny insisted I get my head stitched up…"

"Stitched up," yelped Abby.

Oops, thought Conner… should have left that part out. "Well, yeah…the baggage cart was really hard," he continued, "and doctor stitched me head up and said it might be a mild concussion and to make sure someone kept waking me up for the next 24 hours."

"So why didn't you tell me then?" asked Abby quietly.

"Well, I was going to," stammered Connor "but when I got back to the flat, Jack was there…" his words trailed off into silence, as he remembered his first sight of Jack. It still made his stomach hurt to remember…there was a man wearing nothing but a towel running around Abby Maitland's apartment and it wasn't him.

Abby listened to Connor's rambling words, letting them sink in. She swallowed hard.

Connor sighed again, "And then it just didn't seem like a good time to talk."

"Connor," she said in a tiny voice, "I heard you stayed in the ARC for a few days… before moving into Lester's flat…"

"More than a few days actually," he chuckled.

Abby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. Looking at Connor, she started again, "What did you do for the next 24 hours?"

"Played Babylon 5 all night with Becker," he responded with a grin.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Entering the ARC's control room, the pair made their way to the control center where Jess was sitting. She looked up at them in surprise.

"What are you two doing here," she asked.

"Connor needs a medic," Abby started to explain as Connor leaned back against the console.

"Don't touch the communications feed," exclaimed Jess, smacking Connor's arm, "I only just now got it back on…"

The swish of the ARC's external doors opening on the other side of the room interrupted her tirade. The three turned as one to stare at the soldiers pouring through the doorway

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Soldiers!" Jess's voice squeaked through the coms. On the garage ramp Becker slammed on the brakes of the SUV. He turned to look at Matt with a puzzled expression on his face.

"All our teams are out," he whispered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Inside the control room, the soldiers set up a perimeter, guns pointed at the ready. Then, the sound of footsteps could be heard, stiletto heels clicking on the tile floor.

Jess saw the shoes first. Louboutin's she thought to herself. Her eyes travelled up from the shoes, following the slender legs upward to the classic black dress, and to the piercing eyes of the tall woman.

"Who are you," she asked, "and what are you doing breaking in here?"

"Yeah," chimed in Abby, knowing the coms were on, "What kind of woman invades the ARC with eight armed men?"