Author's note: Frame of Reference - this story fits into Series 3 somewhere before Jack's visit. Abby and Connor haven't kissed yet. I've made up a new person to give Abby some competition. I'm writing this story to see if I can pull off a stand alone episode that still fits within Series 3. Somehow, this seems harder to me than my other story "All in the Past" which was a logical continuation of episode 3.10. As Connor would say, "This isn't as easy as it looks." Hang in there while I introduce the new character. The story will move to the other character's perspectives soon.
Please, please review. I'm a new writer and any suggestions to improve my writing would be really appreciated. Heck, just responding with "like it" would make me happy.
I own nothing. If anyone connected with the show ever reads any of this… love you guys!!
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Chapter 1 - Jayne
Jayne Anne Sheffield loved her new job working at the A.R.C. She spent most of her time filing and doing data entry of James Lester's paperwork and the team's notes (which made for some very exciting reading), but she really wanted to talk to someone about the things she read. What in the world was a future predator and what did it feel like to go through an anomaly? Jayne also wanted to know more about the Anomaly Detection Device. The rest of the staff was friendly but reserved and much older than she.
This morning would be the end of her first week. She walked into Lester's office carrying his morning coffee, "Here you are, Sir. Two creams just as requested," said Jayne.
Lester looked up from a stack of papers, "Thank you."
She turned to go, just as three people filed into the room.
"Jayne, this is Danny Quinn, Dr. Sarah Page and Captain Becker. They are part of the anomaly team," explained Lester.
"Nice to meet you," said Jayne smiling at each person in turn. Her smile faltered when she noticed the very large gun Captain Becker was holding. Jayne quickly excused herself and walked back to her desk.
Intending to make a trip to the file room, she gathered a stack of paperwork. A petite blonde girl stopped at her desk. "Can I help you?" asked Jayne.
"No, I'm just popping into Lester's office. My name's Abby Maitland"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Jayne Sheffield, his new assistant."
"Happy to meet you; are you reading something good?" asked Abby when she noticed a well-worn paperback on Jayne's desk.
"Just an old favorite of mine; a science fiction story by Robert Heinlein."
"Oh… well, better get back to work. See you around" said Abby. As she walked away, Jayne could have sworn she heard her mumble, "It had to be science fiction."
Jayne shrugged, guessing she and Abby wouldn't be very close friends. She picked up her pile of papers and walked toward the file room. She was struggling to balance the stack of papers, plus her pad and pen when someone ran headlong into her. Papers flew everywhere.
The man who bumped into her stepped back with a worried look on his face, "Oh god. I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. Are you O.K? I'm Connor Temple."
Jayne looked up to make eye contact and felt stunned. His chocolate-brown eyes seemed to look right into her. His dark hair was somewhat long and currently hanging in his face. He looked young, but the light stubble along his jaw made her think he was probably a few years older than she. "I'm Jayne" she finally managed to say.
Connor dropped to his hands and knees, gathering up papers and still apologizing. Jayne waited patiently while he scooped up the last of the stack and stood up to hand them to her.
"Sorry," said Connor, grinning, as he reached out to hand the stack back to her.
Jayne was so distracted by the sight of his dimples that she fumbled the papers and scattered them all again. "Oh no," she said. She and Connor both laughed and dropped to the floor to retrieve the papers a second time.
Abby poked her head around the corner, "Connor what are you doing? Lester's waiting."
"Sorry, got to go," said Connor as he got up and jogged toward Lester's office.
Jayne sat on the floor surrounded by her papers as she watched Connor disappear around the corner. She smiled, blew the hair out of her face and announced to the empty hall, "This job just got so much better!"
