AN: Along the idea that there are alternate realities. And also that rather than the possibility of changing the timeline by one's actions, those actions just split off into more alternate realities. And whether its and alternate timeline root or a branch-off, there will always be an Abby and a Connor, and they're fated to be together. (more info at end)

Connor.

Connor Gregory Temple was sure that at the best of times he looked an absolute fool, and at the worst, a buffoon. Tom had laughed that he was such a genius that he was stupid. Maybe it was true. He knew that he embarassed himself more often than he'd once thought possible.

Connor shook his head roughly, concentrating on where he was going; he'd run into an upperclassman last week, and he still had the bruises to show for it. He had thought he'd be done with being bullied after he'd stood up for himself in secondary school, but he could deal. He was technically a freshman, but was currently a sophmore due to his advancement a year early. At least he wasn't the only geek on campus. He'd quickly found best friends in Tom and Duncan, who teased him as often as he teased them, but all in all they got along, and they let him kip on their sofa when his roommate brought a girl back and Connor obviously did not want to be there for that. And of course, there were the Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, and a ton of other science fiction flicks that varied from B-grade to brilliant. The three of them had Thursdays free, so Thursday nights turned into the general movie concensus, though it was unusual they'd agree right off the mark on which movie to actually watch.

Today was a Tuesday, and Connor absolutely hated them. His Paleontology Professor and advisor never showed up for the lectures, and the guy that did hold them, a man with a beard so long he'd've given Gandalf the grey a run for his money, was absolutely boring. Connor usually ended up crawling the creature report sites, or working on his database of dinosaurs during the hour-and-a-half long classes. The girl who sat next to him would ocassionally peek at what he was doing, and then show him the drawings she was doodling in the margins of her papers. She always drew whichever dinosaur she caught a glimpse of on his screen. He didn't really know the brunette's name... it was Alison, or maybe Alice? He wasn't quite sure, and was altogether too shy to actually say anything to her, prefering to stick to their silent commeraderie.

Because once he opened his mouth, people usually got this glazed-over look in their eyes, and as much as he joked and grinned, it hurt a little. But he didn't want to change his personality; that was one of those things primary school teaches had told them not to do. They were all unique, or something like that, and shouldn't pretend to be anybody they weren't.

Connor glanced both ways before crossing the parking lot, knowing full well that the lorry drivers sometimes didn't pay attention as they drove through to drop off food deliveries and such, and headed, almost on autopilot, towards the Science building. He'd taken only a day to memorise the routes: from his dorm room to the entrance, dining hall, cafe, bookstore, and the buildings and halls to each of his classes, as well as from one class to another, and back. He still wasn't sure where the gym was, but the computer labs were top priority, and how often did he go in the gym if he wasn't being forced to run laps in PE back in primary and secondary? (He'd gotten out of the real tough stuff 'cause of his asthma, but Connor was actually a good runner, and it was rare that his asthma actually bothered him. He hadn't bothered mentioning that to any of his teachers back then.) The top road to the third floor of the building led into a cafe of sorts, and Connor hadn't had time to grab a cup of coffee earlier this morning. His psychology class began earlier than he would've prefered - 9:25 to be precise- and he always had a hard time waking up in time. His body would prefer 10 hours of sleep to 6... if he bothered to go to bed before 4 in the morning each night, he might not have had such an issue with getting up in time, but Connor, between procrastinating and assignments, was lamost always up that late.

He scuffed his fingerless-glove-clad hands against his trousers, and headed into the building, trying not to drag his feet.

Abby.

Abigail Sarah Maitland, who prefered to be called Abby, was reconsidering sending the acceptance letter back with a 'yes' to CMU. It wasn't that she didn't like it, per se... but she'd much rather have taken her dream job at Wellington Zoo. They didn't want a part time lizard girl, even though she'd said that she could manage to do both schoolwork and the full job, somehow. Her dad wanted her to go to uni first, before she got a job. Abby had reluctantly agreed, even as she watched the job of her dreams slip away. By the time she graduated, the position would be filled. Which was a shame, because - not to get a big head or anything - she knew much more about lizards than any of her fellow herpatology students combined.

Abby strolled across the quad, her bag slung on one shoulder and notebook held loosely in one hand, towards her next class. She'd had a long morning of lectures, starting at 8 in the morning and ending only a few minutes ago. Her stomach was rumbling and she was reminded that she hadn't eaten breakfast this morning. Usually, she was up as soon as her alarm rang, showered and dressed in time to dart over to the dining hall for breakfast. But today... she'd clearly gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Apparently she'd forgotten to set her alarm last night, and her oft-absent roommate who'd actually been there for once had chosen not to wake her. She'd been running ten minutes late to begin with, and it was twenty minutes after that before she entered the lecture hall. She didn't have time to get something to eat just yet, a thought that set her stomach to growling louder.

Times like this were when she regretted listening to her father.

Cutter and Stephen.

Professor of Paleontology Nick Cutter did not like going to lectures, nor did he enjoy giving them. He liked the lab sessions, and he liked staying in his office, and going out on digs. But lectures... something about them irked him. Perhaps it was his own experiences in university. Or maybe his lab assistant Stephen Hart was right, and he had become a veritable hermit since his wife's dissapearance eight years ago. Maybe. Or maybe he just didn't like lectures.

Even worse than regular lectures were the was definately not going to today's, even though he felt a little twinge of sympathy for hi students. He knew the old geezer that gave the lestures and seminars in his place was a complete bore.

His gaze travelled around his office, lighting on the picture of Helen for a moment before he deliberately looked away, to a fossil on the opposite side of the room. He got out of his chair and made his way to it. It was one of those things that was out of place, found in a location they'd never thought this type of fish would ever have lived in. And yet, it clearly had. A knock on his door made the Professor look up.

"Come in!" He called. The door swung open and Stephen Hart entered, grinning. The younger man lifted the two bags of takeaway, one in either hand.

"Thought you might be forgetting lunch again, Nick." He said with a chuckle. Nick rolled his eyes. "I brought enough for two." Stephen added with a smirk.

"As long as its not the indian food from on campus, clear a space 'n sit down."

Unexpected.

Connor pulled his laptop out of his bag and groaned in irritation as the bag then flopped to the ground, letting its contents spill out onto the floor of the cafe. He paused for a moment, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again, and lay the laptop down on the tabletop carefully. Then he slipped out of his chair and scrambled to gather everything and stuff it back into the messenger bag, muttering under his breath.

"Erm, hi." He looked up in surprise, peeking over the top of the table at a girl about his own age with white-blonde hair. "I was going to ask if anyone's sitting here," She continued, gesturing to the seat across from him, "but... do you need help?"

"What? Oh, erm, I..." He glanced down at the mess. "My mobile's slid away..." He finished lamely, pointing to the phone laying on the ground a few feet away. The girl smiled, darting away to pick it up before someone stepped on it. She continued on to his side of the table, crouching next to him and handing him the phone. He stared at her for a moment before his cheeks turned pink, and he took it from her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Here, why don't you hold the bag open, and i'll toss things in? It'll be easier that way." She suggested, picking up his planner.

"Erm, oh... okay, er, thanks." He complied, and quickly enough all of his things were back inside his bag. The girl got to her feet, smiling at him like that again, and extended a hand towards him. His brain felt like it was running klicks too slowly, and he blinked a moment before accepting her help and standing up.

"I'm Abby."

"Me name's Connor." He told her, finally smiling at her in return.

"That's happened to me before, and I'd always spent forever righting everythin' again, until someone showed me an easier way. Nice to meet you, Connor."

"Oh. Er, nice to meet you too. Are you a freshman?"

"Mhm; you?"

"Yep." He answered, popping the 'p'. Abby giggled, then inclined her head towards the table.

"So, is it okay if I sit there, or are you waiting for someone?"

"Ah, no. I mean, yes, you can sit there, no-one else's gonna." Connor fumbled over the words.

"Good. I've been looking for a seat and can't find any, and it's getting ot the point where I feel like people are judging me." The blonde told him, shrugging a little as she walked around the table and pulled out her chair.

He scrambled to sit as well, glancing down at his laptop, at war with himself between opening it, and talking to Abby. The fact that someone as beautiful as Abby was actually talking to him and hadn't gotten bored or weirded out yet was confusing. He looked at her and then flushed again as he realized she was watching him. He coughed.

"Er, sorry, just got distracted." He paused, then his eyes brightened. "That happens to you, too? I mean..." He trailed off, looking embarassed. Abby chuckled, and he relaxed a little bit.

"Well, I'm absolutely starving, so I'm going to go buy lunch."

"I should get something to eat as well, b'fore me next class. That one goes for hours." He said, copying her as she got up and headed off to buy food, eagerly following her.

Friends.

The boy she'd met was following her like a puppy. It was endearing, and a bit irritating. She didn't let the irritation through, though. He was a boy, and obviously flustered, and it was more adorably dorky than annoying, anyway.

They'd bought different lunches, and he'd offered her some of his chips. She took a glance at her chicken salad and then to his spicey, waffle-shaped chips, and snagged one, mucning on it as they paid for their food and made their way back to the table. He'd been glancing nervously back at the table the whole time, even though he couldn't see it from the angle they were at. Maybe he was worried about the laptop he'd left in the open. She'd almost suggested packing it away again, but had the feeling that would end up with everything all over the place again.

Abby felt herself grinning, heard herself laughing. It was the first time in months that she'd felt comfortable enough to let go and have fun, and even though the boy, once he'd gotten over the flustered part, never stopped talking except ot eat, and babbled about science fiction shows she'd never even heard of, Abby was glad she'd met him.

She knew people thought that she would be one of those people who could walk into the room and immediately make friends, but she never pulled her punches - metaphorical or not - and she sometimes ended up talking about lizards and science and thigns like that. And this Connor Temple, unlike those others, could not only keep up with her, but also was interested in that sort of thing.

He was studying to become a paleontologist, apparently, and he'd assured her he didn't always prefer his lizards (and other cold blooded animals) dead, as was assumed about paleontoligsts and their ilk. He'd had a pet snake for a few years, when he was younger, and a gecko once as well. But, he told her, there was something exciting about studying things that were no longer living. Investigating the past, that was what he liked. Neither of them were the best with people, and found that they had a lot more in common than they'd ever expected to. That first lunch together had turned into every Tuesday spent talking and debating and laughing. And Abby was very glad to have met Connor by the third week.

TBC

AN: So, what do you think? to clear this up a bit : I've started this with them younger than they are in S1E1, and they're both in their first year in CMU when they meet and become friends. Stephen was supposed to graduate the year before but stays on as Cutter's lab assistant. The basic gist is that Abby and Connor don't get involved with the Anomalies (yet), even though they know Cutter and Stephen... And I'll not reveal any more! :3 Also, luff reviews, they will keep my muse fed!