A/N This entire story was a means to an end. I had a scene in my head after finishing the series and I wanted to write it. So I did, then I killed my darling and only half of it made the final cut. This one is a little more complicated that what I normally write. I hope it works as well for you as it does in my head. Enjoy.

A Primeval Wedding

The day dawned bright and clear. It was the perfect day, the kind of day one always pictures when thinking of a wedding day. Jess was up early. It was going to be a great day. She put on a kettle before waking Abby and Emily.

"Rise and shine ladies. We wouldn't want Abby to miss her big day would we?"

He cheerful greeting was met with groans and one very unladylike word coming from Emily. She chuckled as she ducked the pillow from Abby and headed for the bathroom. She might as well take advantage of the fact that she liked mornings. The others began to stir when the kettle started singing. Jess took compassion on her friends and silently moved to the kitchen and made them both very strong cups of tea.

"No offense, Jess," Abby said, "but I'm going to need something stronger than tea."

"What time did we go to bed last night?" Emily's voice was still muffled by her pillow.

Jess smiled as she got out the coffee. "Late. So that makes now early."

There were more groans as the trio sipped their tea and waited on their coffee. Abby was the first to offer Jess a return smile. "It was fun though. Right?"

"It was certainly more fun than I had the night before my wedding. Is that really how women celebrate before their weddings?"

"Only ones that keep mastodons at work," Abby replied.

"Not that part, everything else."

"I've been to some really crazy bachelorette parties. So, I'm going to say we were middle of the road," Jess said.

"Thank you both so much. This is the best send off a girl could – ooh, coffee's ready."

The three women ate breakfast while they drank their coffee. It was going to be a long time until lunch. Once they were properly fueled they set about turning themselves into a beautiful bride and her lovely bridesmaids. It was indeed a gorgeous day for a wedding.

"Connor, it's headed right toward you," Becker yelled into the coms.

"Yep," he replied running as best he could down the alley in the middle of a shopping center. He had sliced his left leg open just below the knee when the carnotaurus' tail caught him in the ribs and knocked him into an unknown sharp object. He was pretty sure there may be some cracked ribs to go with the gash. He spotted a fire escape ladder to his left and began the painful climb. He was halfway to the roof when the very large carnotaurus caught up to him. The creature turned its head and sniffed the air before lowering its head and ramming its horns into the ladder where Connor's foot had been seconds before.

"Uh, guys, need a little help here!"

Matt was the first one to the alley. He raised his EMD and fired just as the horns made another attempt at Connor's feet. He fired several times remembering how many shots it took to take down that tyrannosaurus, and this beast was even bigger. As he fired the horns made another attempt at Connor's feet. Seconds later the combined EMD hits from both men rendered the animal unconscious, and Connor returned to the ground with a grimace. Abby and Emily came running up the alley behind Becker.

"Jess," Becker spoke into his comm. "We need a containment team to get the carnotaurus back through the anomaly. We're going to do a search and see if anything else got through the evacuated area."

"Sending containment, and Becker, be careful."

"Yes ma'am," he smiled.

Matt surveyed the group. "Alright. Connor, get back to the SUV and bandage that leg. Abby and Emily, take the shops by the SUVs. Matt, take the south side and I'll head west. Everyone meet back at the here. And be careful."

Emily eyed Abby as they made their way toward a clothing store. The display window was shattered and the mannequins were broken and scattered. Cautiously Abby entered the store and motioned for Emily to head to the music store next door. Emily saw no sign of a large dinosaur, or people for that matter, in the music store so she returned to the larger store next door to find a path of wreckage. She followed the path toward the back of the store, but paused when she heard a noise. Fearful of leaving an injured victim she turned to her right and plowed through the clothing that had been dumped.

Abby emerged through the warehouse doors. "It looks like people did all this."

Emily pointed to an overturned rack of piled up clothing. With Abby at her back she continued toward the pile containing the noise. Just four feet away a blue and purple flowered skirt popped up and ran toward them. Emily could just see the scaly, bumpy legs of a juvenile carnotaurus as it slammed into her and knocked her into a table. She vaguely heard Abby yelling into the comms announcing its presence to the team as she tried to regain her breath against the pain.

"Emily! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Go."

Emily styled Abby's hair in an elegant updo while Jess applied her makeup. Once Abby was done they set about making up each other all the while dancing around to the radio. With the sun shining through the windows Emily and Jess left Abby to pace while they dressed. Their bridesmaids' dresses were a pale pink with spaghetti straps. The A-frame skirt came just above the knees. Abby had let Jess pick the shoes, therefore, they were gold with four inch heels. Once they were outfitted it was time to help Abby into her dress. It was as unconventional as she was and it was perfect. It had cap sleeves and an empire waist, and just like her bridesmaids, it came just to her knees. Her shoes were the same gold heels as her friends'.

Three hours later they ate a small lunch of sandwiches and salads from the shop on the first floor of Jess' building. Afterward Jess took her place by the large window trying not to chew her freshly painted pink thumbnail. Emily was sitting on the couch watching Abby pace the rug in front of her. Soon, Jess perked up and turned from the window with a huge smile on her face.

"The car's here."

"Matt, there is a juvenile headed your way," Jess' voice came through the comms.

"Got it. There's one down at my location. Can you tell how many more there are?"

Abby was breathless when she answered, "I just got one in the car park by the clothing store. I see two more heading north."

"Abby, come up from the west and I'll swing around and we can block the in," Connor answered.

"Matt," Becker said, "I'm tracking two more. It looks like they are circling back to Connor."

"Hey guys," Connor said, "Why don't we herd them to a central location? It might be easier to get them back through the anomaly without anything else coming back."

With a chorus of agreement in his ear Matt began the hunt anew. His right foot was sore and he had a host of new bruises from landing in a ditch by the road when he was charged by a small carnotaurus. Scowling toward the now unconscious creature he sprinted down an alley. He could hear the trio of juveniles and hoped their choice of meal was not human.

"I've got two outside the hardware store. Make that three, another one just showed up." Becker was panting as he spoke. "That makes eight juveniles so far, plus the adult. I sure hope the other teams are having better luck than we are. Jess, let us know if you see any more."

There was very little talking as everyone set to the task at hand. There was no way Matt could take three carnotauruses on his own, even if they were not full grown. The most he could do was keep them contained. A few minutes later Connor came sneaking through the alley behind him. Alerted to the scent of blood coming from his leg, the dinosaurs turned and charged the humans.

"Plan's changed!" Matt yelled. "Take 'em down! We'll just have to haul them out."

He did not hear the replies of his team because Connor was knocked into him by a large tail. He barely had time to raise his EMD before another one had lunged to bite off his arm. He rolled to avoid the teeth and got stepped on by one of Toothy's brothers. His hips felt like they had been crushed. However, he had been rolling and that caught Heavy off balance enough for Connor to stun it before he too was diving for cover under a Land Rover that was definitely going to need body work. Matt noticed that Connor was now trailing blood from his right shoulder as well as his leg.

"Connor, are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's just a scratch. Can you walk?"

"Don't know yet. Watch out!"

Suddenly the two remaining carnotauruses were attacking Connor's shelter together. He was able to crawl out the other side of the vehicle and make his way Matt's position next to the curb before they noticed. It was a matter of moments before the reptiles began chasing the scent of Connor's blood once more.

"Come on Matt. Let's get you up."

It was near torture for Matt to stand. Running was out of the question, especially since the two Abby and Emily were chasing were headed straight for them, up their only escape route. The women, dresses now dirty and torn, were chasing their prey barefoot. The dinosaurs were within fifty feet when they stopped and caught the scent of blood. At that moment Toothy and Tail charged the injured men. Hanging on to each other for balance they took aim and fired multiple EMD blasts at the creatures. The noise of the beasts crashing to the ground distracted the women's duo just long enough for them to open fire. Before the last one was unconscious there was a loud cry from the loading dock behind the hardware store.

The carnotaurus was a real creature and was bigger than the T-Rex, had two horns on its head, and smaller forearms than the T-Rex. It is believed they used their horns to butt their opponents in battle, although it is unknown if they used them against prey. There is also no evidence they tracked prey through scent, but it made for a better story. According to Wikipedia, they were some pretty nasty creatures. Also, they were located in the western hemisphere, but I figured the anomalies could be from anywhere, so I kept them.