Yay, over 900 updates / stories for Primeval now! This is just a one shot (:

Abby woke up from the same, recurring nightmare that she'd been having for weeks. She didn't know why she was having it, but it was one that she used to have as a child, and it scared her as much now as it had fifteen years before.

The nightmare was of her and Jack being beaten when they were children. She could still remember the first time her dad had repeatedly hit her. He had been fired from his job, and it had sparked some sort of fuse inside him that caused him to be more violent than he ever had before. He used to smack Jack and her if they were naughty, but he'd never hit them out of raw hatred.

He'd come home early, and Abby had run to the door, excited to see her daddy. She was five years old, so the fact that her dad came home early was great for her. She remembered thinking how she could play hide and seek with him before bath time. When she saw he was upset, she asked him what was wrong. At first he barely acknowledged her and just hung his coat up on the banister of the stairs. She asked him again, desperate to know what was wrong, taking hold of one of his hands. He pulled it away sharply and, without any warning to Abby, swung it hard into her face. It made her fall over, hitting her head on the edge of a step. It made her feel dizzy and she had just stared up at her dad in shock. She thought he would leave then; that it was just a one off.

He shouted at her, pulling her up only to hit her again, twice as hard as before. Abby curled up into a foetal position, covering her head to protect it from the blows. She bawled as the pain tore through her body, kick after kick, punch after punch. Her dad hadn't spoken since he first shouted at her, and her cries echoed off of the wall of their hallway. After what felt like a life time, the hits stopped, and she was alone in the room. Her dad had walked into the front room, turning on their television. She'd just lain on the floor after that, but she didn't know how long she was there, crying.

She'd begun to think of her mom and stood up wincing at the pain. She lifted up her shirt to see dark, ugly bruises forming. She ran up the stairs to where her mom was napping, waking her up. Her mom had shaken her off, and when Abby told her what happened, her mom had said it was her fault for aggravating her dad in the first place. She'd felt so alone from that day on. Her dad hit her regularly, had she had nobody to turn to. She couldn't belie-

"Abby?" Her thoughts were cut off by a voice at the door. She looked up to see Connor stood there, concern etched onto his face. "You're crying." He stated simple. Abby raised a hand to her cheek, frowning. She hadn't realised.

"Oh. Sorry." She mumbled, sitting up in her bed.

"Sorry? For crying?" Connor frowned. "What's wrong, Abs?"

"Nothing. You should go back to bed." She replied, looking at Connor. He stepped further into the room, perching on the bottom corner of the bed.

"Abby. We're mates, aren't we?" He paused for a little bit, waiting for a reply. She nodded. "Then you can tell me, right? I'm worried." Abby sighed and looked down at her duvet, fiddling with the edge of it.

"I've just been having nightmares, Con. That's all." She looked up to smile weakly at him.

"About what?" Connor wanted to know what was wrong with Abby. He cared about her so much, and didn't want to see her so upset. He'd woken up in the night, needing to get a drink, but as he'd walked past Abby's room he'd heard the muffled sound of crying.

"Just… Things. In the past. It doesn't matter Connor. Honestly, it's fine." she replied. Abby was terrified of looking vulnerable in front of someone. She was renowned for being tough and independent, and she didn't want anybody to break through this shell she'd built around herself. Connor, however, seemed to be doing exactly this.

"Abby, tell me. Please." he begged. He stood up to move round to Abby's side, sitting next to her on the bed. He held her hand, looking into her eyes to see if he could read her face. She breathed shakily, Connor's touch sending waves of electricity through her.

She swallowed, taking her time to think of what to say. She knew she had to tell Connor, she owed it to him for caring so much about her.

"They're dreams about when I was a kid. My dad… He used to…" She stopped, still thinking of what to say.

"He used to what, Abs?" Connor already had a niggling feeling of what she was going to say, and his gut began to feel funny, his heart wrenching for her.

"He used to hit us. Me and Jack I mean. Mom, it turned out, was an alcoholic, so she just blamed me for it, saying that I made dad angry. It started when I was five, and it didn't stop until I moved out at seventeen. Dad didn't hit Jack until Gran died, when he was twelve. There was nothing I could do Con. I tried to stop him, I did, but every time I did it made the beatings worse for both of us." Abby broke down in fits of tears and Connor leant over to hold her. After about ten minutes of crying and Connor comforting her as best as he could, Abby pulled back, wiping her tears away.

"Sorry," she sniffed.

"Don't be," Connor said, staring into Abby's eyes. God she was beautiful. He loved her, and being with her only made the feeling stronger. Without really thinking about what he was doing, Connor leant forward, bringing his hands up to Abby's cheeks, wiping away what was left of her tears. Their eyes were locked, and their gaze only broke as they both leaned in. They closed before their lips touched; the kiss gentle and loving. After a few seconds, the kiss became deeper; more passionate. The kiss was so much more than just a kiss. It was love and care and desire.

They eventually pulled apart, both needing air. They stared once more at each other. Connor started grinning, and Abby couldn't help but smile back.

"I love you, Connor," Abby whispered, holding his hands.

"I love you too, Abby," Connor whispered back, stroking her cheek. They talked for the rest of the night; about each other, about the Arc, about what they saw on the television the night before and about what to have for dinner the next. It wasn't until Abby's alarm went off that they realised how long they'd been up for.

"We'd better go to work," Abby said, climbing out of bed.

"Yeah," said Connor.

They left the flat that morning, holding hands as they headed towards the car.

* * *

That night, Abby was dreaming again. Her dad was back from work, and he was angry. Abby waited for the first blow to come to her as she stood in the front room. Her dad was stood, fist raised above his head. But then, the dream she'd been having for years changed. Another man came into the room. He was wearing a t-shirt with a waistcoat over it, jeans, and a hat. He walked over to Abby's dad and lifted up a finger. He jabbed it at his chest and he toppled over, frozen in the same position. Abby watched, amazed. Just like that, a man had walked into the room and defeated the toughest, scariest man she knew. The man then crouched in front of Abby.

"You're okay now," he smiled. He picked Abby up and hugged her close to him.

Abby woke up, smiling. She knew she didn't have to be terrified anymore of the nightmares. She didn't have to let the past affect her any more and she didn't have to keep everything to herself. Because she had Connor, and he had saved her.

Okay, so I don't know if I wrote that too well but I had this idea today so I thought that I should right it down and share it with you guys (: