He screeched to a halt in a parking space and slammed his door shut, locking his car and then running into the zoo, leaping over the barrier and receiving harsh words from the attendant in the kiosk. He power walked through the zoo, looking for a zoo employee he could speak to; he saw a group of people moving away from one and hurried over.
'Abby Maitland... where is she?' he asked; the woman looked at him in shock for a few seconds before she recovered.
'I saw her go into the sea lion tunnel... is she okay-?' before the woman could finish her sentence Stephen was running towards the sea lions. As he approached the entrance to the tunnel he slowed down, taking deep breaths to get his heart rate and breathing back to normal before stepping into the cool underwater tunnel. Automatically his step became lighter as he saw her standing in front of the tank, her hands pressed against the glass and the light coming through the water to dance across her short blonde hair. He stood a few steps behind her, watching her as she stood, entranced by the sea lions dancing on the other side of the glass; for a few moments he was happy to bask in the peace in that tunnel, with only him and Abby in the exhibition and the light from the water in the tank bouncing around them. The sea lions the only witnesses to the two humans. Stephen smiled to himself as he continued to watch the girl that had been haunting his thoughts for the past few months. He was snapped from his musing as Abby started to move back from the glass; his smile grew slightly as the inevitable collision came closer.
Abby watched as the sea lions danced in front of her, swimming up to the glass to watch her and then dart away again. She loved to come here to clear her head. It was always quiet, even when there were other people in here, and the dim, cool tunnel had always been her favourite place in the zoo. As Abby watched the marine animals in front of her she found it easier to think about everything that had been happening recently, and the one person that had her more confused than she'd ever been in her life, including trying to understand how dinosaurs and future predators were running around in 21st century England. Stephen Hart was not the type Abby would normally go for; he was funny, brave, good looking. Usually she went for the guys who were good looking, ended up being more interested in themselves and their images than her, and wanted her to change her job. She doubted Stephen would try and convince her to change her job anytime soon, and he didn't care about how he looked so long as he was wearing something practical for his job, and Abby respected him for it. He was considerate, not just of her but of everyone on the team, including Conner when he wasn't annoying them all into the next century. No, Stephen was the type of person Abby should have been going for, the only problem was he was unreadable and it was this that confused Abby so much. She could hardly ever tell what he was thinking or feeling at any given time and it kept her wondering what he really felt for her. If he felt anything for her at all. Abby pressed her forehead against the glass; letting the coolness sooth her. Her boss was missing and, even though she didn't want to, she couldn't help thinking that he was dead. He'd been one of the few bosses that Abby had liked and gotten on with without much trouble, and she'd always felt that he had respected her. She sighed and pushed away from the glass, knowing that she had to get back to work soon, she continued to watch the sea lions as she stepped back, wondering if life could ever be as simple for her as it was for the sea lions in their tank.
Her back hit a solid object and she jumped forward, spinning round to see the person she'd been thinking about not a few moments ago standing in front of her, a slight smile on his lips.
'Don't creep up on me like that,' she said, breathing out a sigh of relief at the same time. Stephen took a few steps forward to stand by her side, 'I wasn't creeping I was walking. Normally.'
Abby felt a smile tug at her lips; Stephen felt his lips tug in a return smile before he remembered why he was here; his look turned to one of concern.
'You alright?'
'Why wouldn't I be?' Abby asked, wondering at the change of expression on his face; it was one of the few times she could tell what he was feeling, he was concerned for her. She felt her gaze travel down to his mouth of its own accord as he answered.
'There might be a creature here. We think it killed the lion and maybe your boss. The others are on their way,' Stephen watched her as she took a step closer. A teasing gleam in her eye.
'You came on your own just because you were worried about me,' she said; it wasn't really a question but he felt the need to answer anyway. He loved these conversations they had where they continuously teased each other, and he was feeling more a pull towards her than normal. He could feel his heartbeat speeding up and found his eyes couldn't leave the girl in front of him.
'You,' he replied, thanking God his voice sounded normal, because he was finding it hard to speak normally at the moment, 'And the sea lions. Hate it if anything happened to them.'
He managed to drag his gaze from Abby to the sea lions, taking a deep breath to try and get himself under control; if the creature was here then he needed to be thinking clearly if he was to stop it from getting to Abby. And the sea lions; nothing could happen to the sea lions. He blinked; since when did he silently ramble to himself? He looked back at Abby as she took a few steps closer, and raised herself onto her tiptoes, the teasing gleam in her eye replaced by something else. Just as he was about to lean down to close the gap between them a movement caught his eye further down the tunnel and he grabbed Abby by the shoulders and dragged her to the wall of the tunnel, pinning her against the side and using his hand to cover the squeak of surprise from her mouth. He pressed a finger to his lips.
'There's something down here,' he said, staring intently down the corridor.
Abby looked up at him as much as she could, the hand covering her mouth made it hard for her to turn her head. She looked up at Stephen, studying his face and features as she hadn't been able to before. His beautiful blue eyes were staring down the corridor, and the intensity in them made her shiver; his features were strong, and a few strands of hair were almost long enough to fall into his eyes. Her eyes finally landed on his mouth, she wondered how soft his lips would be and resisted the urge to reach up and run her fingers over his face and through his hair. The sound of clicking from further down the corridor was the first thing that alerted her to the creature's presence and snapped her out of her thoughts. She snapped her gaze back up to Stephen's eyes and saw the fear in them. She raised her arms from her sides to rest on his, grabbing hold of his shirt as she heard the clicking getting closer.
Stephen saw the creature making its way down the corridor, and all of his instincts told him to run, but his mind, used to tracking animals in the wild, told him to stay absolutely still. He felt Abby tense up and grip his shirt and pulled her a little closer; obviously she'd heard the clicking sound the creature was making. He frowned slightly as it looked towards the sea lion tank, seemingly distracted by the creatures swimming in the water. He hoped the others would turn up soon, if he wasn't careful both he and Abby could become the creature's next meal; he wondered if he could distract the creature long enough for Abby to get away. Before he could make a decision the creature started towards them again and he pulled Abby against him, pressing her cheek into his chest and curling his body around hers as he bent both of their bodies down towards the ground. The sound of footsteps and shouting made him look up as a blur of movement flew past them; Stephen looked behind them to see Ryan and Nick running towards them.
'Are you both alright?' Nick asked them, Stephen nodded, letting go of Abby as they both straightened up.
'Alright, we'll wait for more back up and then go after the creature. Come on let's get you two out of here,' Nick said.
& & & & & &
Twenty minutes later and Abby was stood in front of the sea lion tank again. She sighed as she stared at the sleek bodies that swam past her. The encounter earlier with the future predator had left her shaken and she'd come back here while Claudia talked with Helen to get her thoughts in order. Mainly those concerning the person who'd been here with her earlier. She heard a light footfall behind her and turned round. There he was, standing where he had been earlier.
'Did you bring another creature with you this time?' she asked him, Stephen smiled.
'Left it behind, I'm afraid. I'll remember for next time,' he replied. Abby laughed.
'Please don't. I think one encounter like that is enough for a while,' she told him; Stephen took a few steps closer.
'Didn't you learn your lesson about coming down here by yourself with that creature on the loose?' he asked; Abby shrugged.
'It seems you don't either,' she retorted.
'Well someone has to make sure you don't get into any trouble,' he replied; Abby crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows.
'And you don't?'
'At least I know how to get out of it,' he replied, taking a step closer to her.
'I seem to remember you needing us to get you out of trouble once,' she replied, taking a step towards him.
'What would I do without you?'
'More like what would you do without Cutter,' she replied, taking another step towards him. They were now only a few inches apart and Stephen could smell her perfume.
'Stephen?'
The two stood apart as Nick came into the tunnel.
'We're going after the creature in five minutes,' he told them, Stephen nodded.
'I'll be there in a minute,' he told him, Nick looked at the both of them and nodded.
'Okay, see you out there,' he said.
Stephen turned back to Abby and they stood looking at each other for a few minutes.
'I should go,' Stephen said, Abby nodded. He started to walk back outside.
'Stephen!' he turned as Abby stopped a step away. She stood looking at him for a few seconds, her courage failing her. Suddenly a memory came to the front of her mind and she saw Stephen lying on a stretcher about to be loaded into an ambulance after the centipede had bitten him. That seemed to bring her courage back and she closed the gap between them, stood on her tiptoes, and brought his mouth down to hers with her hand on the back of his head. She pulled away, blushing, and brushed back her hair.
'Good luck,' she said, taking a few steps back.
Stephen stood watching her, his mind trying to keep up with what had happened, but it was still focused on the softness of her lips and the warmth of her body against his. As she started to walk away his brain finally caught up. He reached out and caught her arm, turning her back around to face him. He looked into her eyes for a split second and then brought her against him, his one arm going around her waist to leave his hand splayed across the small of her back.
'Abby...' he didn't know how to say what he wanted to so he just lowered his face to hers and rested his forehead against hers. He felt Abby's fingers run through his hair and closed the gap between her lips and his. At first the kiss was gentle, neither sure if the other was going to pull away at any time, but at the same time knowing, hoping, they wouldn't; Stephen ran his hand through Abby's hair, feeling the soft strands, and brought her closer to him, deepening the kiss.
Abby was on cloud nine with no intention of coming down anytime soon. Her right hand gripped his shirt tightly, pulling him closer to her. Not that they could get any closer now. She hadn't realised they were moving until her back hit the wall of the tunnel; her hand moved from his hair to travel down his chest, she could feel the contours of his body through his shirt. Finally they broke apart, both of them breathing heavily.
'Promise me you won't get hurt,' she said, his forehead rested against her own, 'I don't want to find out what I'd do without you.'
'I promise I'll come back to you,' he replied, his fingers ghosting down the side of her body, making her shiver slightly.
'Good luck,' she told him, he smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
'See you soon,' he replied, slowly stepping away and walking down the corridor. At the entrance he turned around and smiled at her before running up the ramp to meet with Nick, Ryan, and the SAS.
From the shadows at the other end of the tunnel someone watched the two of them. Helen Cutter watched Stephen disappear and then turned to leave herself. If her attempt to make Nick join her on the other side of anomaly failed then she'd see if she could get Stephen to join her. Even if she couldn't she could make it so his relationship with Nick and Abby deteriorated so much that he had no choice but to join her. But first she had to make sure Claudia Brown was out of the way, and then she'd have both Nick and Stephen right where she wanted them. Helen smirked to herself as she slipped back out of the observation tunnel to rejoin the others. She always got what she wanted, one way or the other. If she couldn't have her husband Nick Cutter, she'd settle for second best. Stephen Hart.