Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible pictures

A/N: Have had this sitting on my laptop half finished for ages, thought it was time it got an airing and was finally completed.... As always, comments and feedback are really appreciated

Becker and his team had been guarding the anomaly at the test track for three days, fifteen hours and 35 minutes. That's how long it had been since Danny, Connor and Abby had gone through it. He was starting to think they would never return, but Sarah had refused to let him give up. He ensured there were always at least 4 men at the site, with orders to shoot anything that came through unless it was them.

Sarah waited by the anomaly too, anxious for her friends. What had happened to them? Why hadn't they come back yet? She feared Helen had killed them, but until she had proof that was the case, then she wouldn't give up on them, not ever.

The silence was suddenly broken by two of the soldiers jumping up and raising their rifles "Something's coming through, Sir!"

Becker and the other soldier also leapt to their feet, rifles raised, and all 4 clicked simultaneously. "Hold your fire until we know what it is" Becker said, his focus not shifting from the glowing ball in front of him.

Sarah took a step back, who knows what would come through this time? She too could now see something. It was a human, wasn't it? Becker could see it as well, he motioned for the men to lower their rifles. The figure stumbled forward and landed in a heap on the floor

"Connor!" Sarah ran to him. "Connor! Are you OK?" she knelt at his side.

"Are you a sight for sore eyes!" Connor gasped. "I'm OK, just busted me leg a bit"

"Where are the others?"

"They're right behind me, Danny pushed me through first" as Connor sat up, another figure came tumbling through. The anomaly seemed to swell to twice its size and what looked like lightning shot from it. It began to crackle. Connor had never seen one do that before.

Danny lay on the floor, laughing. "Home!"

"It's good to see you both" Becker said. Sarah had already helped Connor to his feet, and was now helping Danny.

"You've got no idea how good it is to see this place again" Danny said.

"Abby! Where is she?" Connor said, looking at the anomaly.

"She was right behind me, she should have been through straight after me" Danny said.

More sparks of lightning shot from the anomaly as Connor approached. "I don't like this" As he got closer, he saw something that made him gasp – he could see Abby inside the anomaly, but she was translucent, like a ghost. "Abby?" he tried to reach into the anomaly with his hand to help her through, but he was hit by a spark, like a massive jolt of static electricity. He tried again, and received a shock that threw him backwards and onto the floor.

"Why can't she come through?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know, we've never had this before. It's like there's a force field around it or something" Connor said, his voice trembling. Abby's image was there, ghostly, eerie. She was calling for Connor, holding out her hand, the fear evident across her face "I can't hear her!" He sobbed "Abby!!!"

No- one knew what to do, they all felt completely helpless. All they could do was stare at the pulsing anomaly, and Abby.

--

Abby had been right behind Danny. He had insisted Connor went first as he was injured. As Danny had stepped forward, she saw the anomaly swell and begin to shoot out sparks. She thought it was about to close, so ran forward. She'd done this a dozen times before and braced herself to land on the other side, but she didn't go through. It felt like hitting a wall. She tried to move forward, but every time she moved, a bolt of lightning shot out at her, sending an electric shock through her. She tried to turn and go back to where she'd come from, but the same happened. She was trapped inside the anomaly.

She was scared. She could see the others in front of her, Connor was there, she could see him saying her name … but why couldn't she hear him? "Connor!!" she shouted. She saw him try to reach into the anomaly, but he fell backwards. "Connor!!" she reached out to him, but knew he couldn't hear her, and that there was nothing anyone could do.

--

Danny was the first to make a move, someone had to take control of the situation. "Connor, I need you to go and get that leg looked at, we'll stay here and try to figure out something"

"No. I'm not leaving" Connor was defiant.

"I'm not going to argue with you, Connor, but you are not going to be any help to anyone, let alone Abby, whilst you are in this state. You're the one with all the knowledge of how these things work, we need you at your best" Danny placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. He knew what was going through Connor's head, but he needed him to be focussed if he was going to be any help. He couldn't concentrate if he was in pain.

"I'm not going anywhere whilst Abby is stuck there!" Connor shouted.

"Becker, take him to the infirmary" Danny said.

Becker approached and took Connor's arm. "C'mon mate" he said. Connor swung his fist in an attempt to hit Becker, but he'd seen it coming and grabbed his arm. "Connor, we can do this the easy way or we can do it my way" Connor knew he was defeated and began to walk towards Becker's car.

Sarah followed him and spoke softly "We'll make sure nothing happens to Abby" she stroked his arm. He looked at her, fighting back tears, exchanging a look that said "thanks" before getting into the back of the car.

Danny and Sarah watched them drive off then turned to the anomaly. They could see the ghostly form of Abby, her eyes wide in fear. Danny felt awkward staring at her, it felt like he was looking at some freak show at the circus. He turned his attention instead to the device set out on the ground, the device Connor had invented for locking the anomalies. Maybe a solution lay with that?

Sarah felt less awkward. She stood in front of Abby, holding out a hand as if trying to comfort her. "It's going to be OK, Abby" she said, hoping she could read lips well enough to know what she was saying.

"Where's Connor?"

"Gone to get his leg looked at. He'll be back" Sarah said. Abby nodded.

Danny moved to stand beside Sarah. "We're going to get you out of there, I promise" he said.

--

Abby was trying to stay calm. She knew every movement she made gave her a painful shock, so she focused on staying as still as she could. It was comforting seeing Danny and Sarah there, but their worried glances also frightened her. She was glad Connor was getting proper medical attention for his injuries, she'd been worried about him when they in the Cretaceous, but she desperately wanted to see him there in front of her too – he was probably the only one who could help her now, and the sooner he got back, the better.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she saw more activity. She felt a rush of relief when she saw Connor's familiar grin again. He was on crutches, his leg heavily bandaged. "Is it broken?" she said

"No, just torn some ligaments" he said. He was looking at her and she wanted to be able to reach out to him. They'd gotten really close in recent weeks, and they had both taken the little things for granted, like a comforting arm, a shoulder to lean on. She would give anything to be able to just rest her head on his shoulder right now. He was as scared as she was, she could see it in his eyes, despite him trying to hide it behind his smile.

"Now, let's get you out of there eh?" he said.

--

"Talk to me, Connor" Danny said. He had sat and watched Connor for the last hour and felt completely useless. Connor had not said a word the whole time, other than the occasional cuss when something didn't add up the way he wanted. He'd gone around the anomaly several times, taking readings, scratching his head with his pencil. He had then sat at the laptop that was connected to the locking device and began typing away furiously.

"I take readings at every anomaly, they're all similar, behave in the same way – but this one is different. The readings are all over the place, it's changing all the time. I've never seen one shoot out bolts of lightning. That's what makes this so hard. I just don't know what I'm dealing with" Connor looked at Danny. He was exhausted.

"OK, I get that part" Danny said. "What if … what if the anomaly closes?"

That thought had crossed Connor's mind too. "It's not going to" he said, matter-of-factly

"It's a possibility we have to face" Danny said. "It could just close, without any warning. We've both seen that happen. If it closes, and she's still inside …."

"Then we lose her" Connor said, looking away "But I won't let that happen. I'll get her out"

Danny admired Connor's resolve and wished he could be so optimistic. "Your locking device, could it help?"

"Maybe. It reverses the polarity of the anomalies, but this one changes so much I don't know what its polarity is. And besides, that thing fires out voltages more powerful than a lightning bolt. If I aim it at the anomaly, it could increase the power even more and …" Connor stopped, not wanting to think about what could happen.

"And what Connor?"

"It would kill Abby" Connor's face was ashen. At this moment in time, he really didn't have a clue how he was going to get Abby out. Danny had his head buried in his hands, he knew things were not looking good either.

Danny sighed. "Connor. You need to take a break, clear your head. Becker's sent one of his men for burgers, he'll be back in a minute"

"I'll take a break when Abby's out" Connor said, turning back to his laptop and running yet another test. Danny knew he would not be able to drag Connor away.

--

Abby could see it was starting to get dark. Becker's men were setting up a couple of floodlights, and Sarah had disappeared for a while, returning shortly after carrying blankets and sleeping bags. It looks like they were settling in for the night.

She liked to watch Connor work. He would get a line creased across his forehead when he concentrated, and she could see it now. She wished he'd take a break though. Sarah came over. "You OK?" Sarah had said. Stupid question, but at least she cared. How did she feel? She'd passed the initial panic phase of being trapped in what equated to a confined space, now she was just scared. She had faith in Connor's abilities, and knew he was doing everything he could, but standing here gave her time to think. She knew the anomaly could close any moment, and that thought frightened her more than anything. It was something no-one had any control over.

"Tell Connor I want a word" she said. She figured it would be the only way to get Connor away from the computer for a while. Sarah nodded, and went over to Connor. He came over straight away, like a well behaved puppy. Dear, sweet, Connor, he was so predictable. Now she'd got him away for a moment, perhaps she could get him to go and get some sleep. "You look tired" she said

"Yeah?" he said.

"Yes. Go and lie down. You've been working so hard, you need to rest"

"Sorry Abby, I can't hear you, I don't understand what you're saying" She knew he was lying.

"Connor!" she shouted. Why was she shouting? It was pointless. "Please, for me" she said. He looked at her. She gave him a stern look, the one she used when he hadn't cleaned out the bath after he'd used it. He knew he was beaten and he turned towards the makeshift camp that was being set up.

"Goodnight Abby" he said

"'Night Connor" she replied. She watched him hobble over to Sarah, who placed a blanket around his shoulders and pushed him towards the shelter. Abby finally allowed herself to cry. She moved her hand to try and wipe the tears, but received a shock. Her arm tingled for several minutes. The shocks were getting stronger, and she wondered how long it would be before they were so strong that they'd kill her. She was more scared than she'd ever been, and for the first time in her life, she was having to rely completely on someone else.

--

Connor had tried to sleep, but how could he when his best friend, the girl he loved, was stuck inside a giant ball of electricity. He crept past Sarah the best he could with his bad leg, and hobbled over to the anomaly. Danny was sat, crossed legged, in front of it. "You're supposed to be resting" Danny said

"I couldn't sleep" Connor said. Abby's eyes were closed. "is she asleep?"

"No, she's thinking. We were talking about you guys, and how she took your mind of your pain"

"The happy place?" Danny nodded. "When we get her out of there, I'm going to take her to the beach" Connor smiled, fighting back tears.

The anomaly suddenly began to pulse and make a loud humming noise. Connor was on his feet immediately, Danny was too. He looked at Connor "is it closing?"

Connor could see Abby's terrified expression, she was screaming "Connor, help me!". He reached out, trying to touch her, ignoring the shocks he was getting. She was reaching towards him too, and he could swear her hand looked more solid – she was coming through!

"Abby! Just a little further, you're almost here" he yelled. Then, he found himself flying backwards through the air and hitting the ground with a heavy thump. He rolled around in agony, the fabric of his jacket sleeve was singed and still smoking, his arm red where the lightning bolt had hit him. He lay there, gasping for air, then staring in horror at the anomaly. It looked like an angry thunderstorm, and Abby was still inside.

"Connor, we have to do something!" Danny said.

The noise had woken Sarah and Becker, who had now run over to Danny and Connor. "Connor, the locking device, we have to try" Sarah said.

"But it's not …. The readings aren't stable enough … it could do more damage than…." Connor gasped.

"If we don't try something now, Connor, that thing is either going to implode on itself and take Abby with it, or she's going to fry with all that electricity around her" Danny was practically shaking Connor. "Either way, we're going to lose her. We have to try!"

Sarah was already firing up the device, tapping away at the keyboard. "What setting Connor?" she asked.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed Sarah aside and took over the keyboard. "OK, we start with a low setting, and gradually increase it. Danny, watch Abby, if she shows any sign of distress, then tell me!"

Danny positioned himself so he could see Abby. Her eyes were wide, terrified. "Abby, we're going to try something. We don't know if it'll work, but we have to try" Abby nodded. She trusted Danny, she trusted Connor. She knew they wouldn't take a risk unless they had to.

Connor hesitated, glancing at Sarah. "You can do this Connor" she whispered. He pressed the button that set the locking device working. Nothing happened, so he increased the voltage slightly. He fiddled with a few switches, and watched for a response.

"She's still OK, Connor" Danny called. "She's nodding at me, she wants you to keep going"

Connor continued to increase the power slowly, all the time looking at Danny. The anomaly began to spit out sparks and the humming coming from it grew louder. Danny took a step backwards to avoid being hit, all the time watching Abby's face for a sign of her being in pain.

Suddenly, there was loud crack and a flash of light, sending Danny flying. There was a loud scream as Abby fell to the ground. Then silence. The anomaly had disappeared.

There was a moment of relief all round, and for a moment, they all stood just getting their breath back. Becker took a step forward towards Abby "Danny, she hasn't moved". Both men were at her side in an instant, and they went into an automatic mode, their first aid and survival training taking over. Becker felt her neck and placed the back of his hand above her mouth. "No pulse, and she's stopped breathing"

Danny began pumping her chest, as Becker prepared to give mouth-to-mouth. Watching a few metres away, frozen to the spot, Connor was sobbing "I killed her, I killed her, I killed her……"

"Sarah, call an ambulance, tell them she's been struck by lightning… and then try to calm him down" Danny said, nodding towards Connor. He and Becker continued their efforts as Sarah gave the ambulance directions to their location. Connor was shaking and getting more hysterical as the seconds ticked by.

"… I killed her, I killed her…"

Sarah came over to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her. "It's OK Connor" she whispered, stroking his hair. She was struggling herself, fighting back tears. It wasn't good. Danny and Becker were still at it, looking more and more desperate. Connor was now sinking to his knees, so she followed him down, trying to offer him some comfort. "It wasn't your fault, we had to try something"

The sound of the ambulance siren seemed just a dull noise to him, he felt like his whole world was collapsing around him. He heard shouting, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. The last thing he remembered was a male voice talking softly to him, and then being injected with something, just as he blacked out.