A/N: This was originally meant to be a One-Shot, but I'm afraid it developed a mind of its own. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Missing

Jenny's POV

I honestly hadn't expected to miss my job this much, but it wasn't really the work I wanted back, it was the ARC team; the people who'd quickly become like my family. Working in such a dangerous job and saving each others lives again and again created a sort of bond between us all and it was hard leaving it behind.

I'd had to leave though; I couldn't have stayed at the ARC once Cutter was gone. Everything there reminded me of him, I kept expecting him to walk through the doors and start lecturing us all about messing with time-lines.

I never did get to ask him for that drink. There was so much that I'd wanted to tell him. He was the person I missed most about my old job, but he left before I did and it was a stark reminder that working at the ARC could be deadly.

Nearly dying, because of a fungus no less, was the turning point for me; the only reason I'd stayed was because the team needed a leader and I was the only one suited for the job at the time. Then Danny Quin came along; charming, brave, handsome Danny who was so like and so different to Cutter.

I knew straight away that he was perfect for the job, but I tried to tell him to stay away anyway, warned him that this job could, and most likely would kill him. Of course, one thing Danny and Cutter had in common was their stubbornness and Danny just kept coming back. He got his wish and I gave him the team. I could tell he didn't want me to go, no one really did, but I needed to move on and grieve.

If I'd have stayed I don't know what would have happened, I know there was a small spark between Danny and I; he was funny, kind and a bit of a flirt. He was wonderful but I was broken. Maybe if we'd met months later and he had nothing to do with the ARC then he could have made me happy, but I'll never know and I find that I don't mind that too much.

Occasionally, I found myself thinking about how the team was doing; whether of not Lester had found someone else to talk to the press and make up cover stories. It was getting rarer that my thoughts turned towards the ARC and the anomalies, though sometimes I would be watching the news and try to guess which stories were cover ups for raging dinosaurs.

It had only been a few months since I'd left; I'd bought a new flat in a new town and was finally ready to move on with my life. I'd been on one successful date with a nice normal guy, and while I didn't think it would lead anywhere, it had been nice to get out again.

Unfortunately, all it took was a phone call to bring my life back to its former standstill. It was a normal Saturday night and I'd just sat down with a good book when the phone rang. I don't know who I expected it to be, but I certainly wasn't expecting to hear James Lester's voice on the other side of the phone.

"Lester?" I was sure that my voice portrayed my shock. "Why are you calling me?"

"Connor, Abby and Danny have been missing for months and have been declared dead. They went through a future anomaly after Helen and never came back. Sarah died during a rescue mission, Becker has quit and the whole ARC has been shut down while an investigation is taking place," there was silence while I tried to wrap my mind around what he said and Lester choked a little on the emotion that had shown in his voice.

"Why did you tell me that?" I asked hoarsely. I could feel myself getting angry but it was fighting with the grief that wanted to overwhelm me. "Why couldn't you just let me get on with my life thinking that everyone was fine?"

"I've just finished informing the other families and I thought you'd want to know," Lester paused for a second. "I'm going to ignore your anger because I know you would have been angrier if I hadn't told you."

We exchanged good-byes and hung up the phone. All of a sudden my book didn't seem to be as good or interesting and the last thing I wanted was to have a quiet night in. Not stopping to think about it, I grabbed my keys off of the table and left the flat and drove to the nearest bar.

The rest of the night passed in a blur and I still don't remember most of it, but I definatly remember waking up and feeling like there was a sledgehammer hitting the inside of my head.

The second thing I realized was that there were sounds coming from my kitchen. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I took a couple of aspirin and stumbled my way into the kitchen only to stop in shock.

A nice looking blonde haired man was busy making two cups of coffee; he was still wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and something about him seemed familiar. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped into the room and cleared my throat.

"I don't want to sound insulting," I began. "But who are you?"

The man let out a short laugh. "Well, to be honest that's just about the welcome I was expecting. I'm Michael Miller, I was in the bar last night when you decided to get drunk. At the end of the night I tried to chat you up and you started to cry. I brought you home and decided to make sure you were alright."

I felt a blush rising in my cheeks. "I'm so sorry about that, I must have been a right mess. I'm Jenny Lewis." I accepted the handshake and the coffee that he pushed into my hand.

"Well, Jenny, I do say that you owe me a drink. Do you fancy it?" He smiled at me and I found myself smiling back, even though I knew that I was about to turn him down.

"I would like to have a drink with you, but I can't, not yet. I just found out one of my friends is dead and that three others are missing in action and presumed dead. I need some time to grieve…again," I was grateful that he didn't comment on the 'again' and instead just wrote down his number on a piece of paper.

"Give me a call when you're ready for that drink," he nodded to me and then left leaving me alone and giving me the room I needed to break down and rebuild myself.

I felt like every time I'd finished mourning something else would come along and restart the cycle. It took me a few months before I thought about Michael again, but I knew it had been too long to actually call him; he most likely had a girlfriend now and wouldn't want to meet up with a girl that he'd only met once and just cried on him for a night.

I did go back to the bar though, just to see if he was there, because I knew that if I didn't that I would regret it. And there he was, playing the guitar up on stage with the band and I smiled at him when he noticed me.

We got a drink together at the end of the night and promised to meet up again. It was the first night that I didn't think of my lost friends or old life. Michael helped me forget everything else and just live in the moment.

He moved in with me two months later and was with me when my life changed again as my past was brought back into the present.