Sometimes, the nights were hard and the ARC team found themselves gravitating towards one another. Sometimes they'd stay over one another's flat, just to feel close to someone, just to feel like they're not alone in any of this…just to keep what sanity they had.
Abby often found herself at Becker's simply because he could understood. It used to be Jess who found her waking up with a scream, waking up as if she was drowning and the girl would make her a cup of tea and put on a dumb romance movie and keep a light on, but she could never understand. Jess could never relate and though Abby found herself appreciating those times with her, it wasn't quite the same as being with Becker. And not just Becker…Captain Becker, the man from the military, the man who's seen war.
And she wakes up screaming and he comes running, always defensive, always protective…and he asks her what it was about and she'll say the Cretaceous or she'll say her father or an incursion. She'll say a creature was lurking about and he'll grab a packet of strawberries or chocolate and turn on the telly and practically mute it because shows and movies are much funnier when you don't know the context and then he'll hold her because she needs to feel someone there, she needs to feel loved…and he'll call Connor and they'll just spend an hour on speaker-phone talking about nonsense and it's okay. It's a well-practiced routine.
Yet, after all the conversations, all the nonsense their lips had spoken; they never talked about him. They never talked about what he dreamed about or what monsters his nightmares were filled with. He was an untouched, he was well-reserved. Abby knew about him, of course, they'd bonded through the years. His father was a bitter war-veteran, but never hurt him physically. His mum was the best mum anyone could ask for. He had no siblings, but he had enough cousins to make up for the fact and most of his family lived the military lifestyle. It wasn't the best life, but it wasn't the worst. It just was.
She had gotten better and no longer awoke screaming and knew she was not in the Cretaceous anymore and most of the time, even managed to sleep through the night with only minor disturbances, as she was a light sleeper to begin with. But Becker still came and checked on her and made sure she was alright. Abby was his friend, he wanted her to feel as safe as possible. It was his job to protect the team, it was his job to protect her.
"Becker?" Abby questioned, opening her eyes.
He silently cursed in his head. "Go back to bed," He said lightly. "I was just getting a drink."
"You know I don't like going back to bed after I've woken up."
"It's three in the morning, I don't care what you like. You have work tomorrow."
"Can't you stay with me for just ten minutes? Just to talk me to sleep?"
"Fine, Abigail," He sighed. "but then it's back to bed for both of us."
"Of course, captain." She gave a small smirk and moved over on the pull out bed for him to sit.
"What should I talk about this time? My grocery list?" He had a habit of telling her his plans and other minuscule things about his life, it worked wonders for getting her to sleep.
"No, no…" She shook her head. "What do you dream about?" It'd been a question on her mind for quite some time.
"What do I dream about? I don't know, it's kind of different each night, isn't it?" He quirked an eyebrow towards her.
"Yeah, but…like…do you dream about the war or your family or something?"
"Sometimes." He told her. "Sometimes I dream about the team. Sometimes I dream about finally having a tank."
Abby smiled. "You dream about the team?"
"Well, it's pretty normal to dream about people you know. I'd say the team knows one another exceptionally well."
"You ever have a reoccurring dream about us?"
Abby was a bit funny. When she wanted to know something, she could never leave it alone. She could never take no as an answer or take a hint that it's not something to be talked about and yet when the same is done to her, she'd send you a death glare and you'd just know to not mess with her.
"Yes." Becker stated.
"What about?"
Her questions never ceased. He wished he could just give her something and knock her out for a couple more hours. Instead, he just rolled his eyes. "Abigail,"
"Please just tell me? Sometimes I'm genuinely curious to see if anything goes on in that brain up there,"
"My most reoccurring dream is about where we'll end up." He finally answered. "After we disband, after everything's over and done. I guess most people either dream about where they're going or where they've been."
"Are we happy in the dream?"
"Of course." He nodded. "It is a dream after all." Becker looked down at his watch, ruffled her hair and stood up. "Now it's been fifteen minutes, go to bed or I'll give you something that will make you." He winked before closing the door.
It wasn't as if it wasn't a good dream.
He just hoped it never happened.
While others might argue that the ARC was home, Becker happened to think that instead, it was in fact the team that was home.