Connor woke up in a bit of a fog. Everything hurt, but especially his ankle. The smell of pine and cold fresh air filled his lungs as he gingerly attempted to shift his weight a bit. The first thought that went through his head was that he hadn't dreamed it. He was up in a tree, stuck far in the past with Abby. His body hurt even more than it had yesterday and something was holding him down. Something soft and warm was snuggled against his chest. He slowly opened his eyes and peered down at the top of Abby's blonde head. She was sound asleep. Connor took the opportunity to press a kiss to the top of her head before she woke.

As soon as he did, Abby stirred slightly and mumbled "good morning". A second later, fully awake, she scrambled back from Connor, eyes downcast to gruffly say, "I thought you might be cold, so I was trying to share my body heat. How do you feel this morning?"

Connor sat up wincing, "A bit like a G-Rex stepped on me. I need to take a look at my ankle. It still hurts quite a bit."

"Here, let me" said Abby, swatting Connor's hand out of the way and moving to inspect his ankle. "Oh, its swollen and turning a brilliant shade of yellow with some green mixed in. You shouldn't have been walking on it yesterday"

"It's not as if I had a choice. Can you wrap it or something?" replied Connor.

"Yeah, let me see what I can do." As Abby began to assemble supplies out of the backpack, she said "Connor… do you think Danny stopped Helen? Do you think we'll be able to find him and get back home?"

Connor took a moment to look out at the snow-capped mountains and listen to the distant sounds of creatures waking for the day. "We're still here, so that's a good sign. If Helen had succeeded, we would have ceased to exist. Scary thought, that. After you get me fixed up, we'll go look for Danny and find out what has happened."

Connor watched Abby work on his ankle for a moment, then said, "Abby, when we get back home, can I take you on a proper date?"

Abby stared at Connor. He looked more terrified than he had when facing the raptor yesterday. She smiled and said, "Yeah, you can."

Connor scooted closer to Abby and stammered, "I don't mean as mates, Abby, I mean as a boyfriend… I think we… you know, we get on well, don't we?"

Abby smiled and looked down, "Yeah, we do."

Abby finished securing the wrapping on Connor's ankle, then turned to gather her backpack, "All right boyfriend, let's go look for Danny."

Connor watched Abby as she prepared to climb down the tree. He didn't know how to interpret her words. Did she mean it? Or was she just going along to avoid any unpleasantness between them? Putting the problem out of his thoughts, Connor slowly stood, using the trunk of the tree for support. Carefully, he put his weight on his swollen ankle. The ace bandage was helping, but he knew he would still need his walking stick and Abby's support to get anywhere today.

Abby was a third of the way down the tree when she stopped to look up and monitor Connor's progress. He was such a mystery to her. Brilliant about the creatures and the devices he built, but so thick when it came to her. Abby was amazed that Connor had finally taken the lead by asking her for a real date. Of course, his timing couldn't be worse. Abby tried to stay upbeat and positive, but what if they couldn't get back? The fear and worry kept running through her mind, but she had to stay strong for Connor.

The first rays of the sun shone over the mountains as Connor and Abby prepared to face the dangerous walk across the forest.