Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, no copyright is intended

A/N: Set early in series 2


The thin strip of light filtering through the crack under the door told Abby that Cutter was working late yet again. She sighed; this wasn't good. She was worried about him. All this talk about a woman that had never existed was bad enough, and then the awkwardness between him and Stephen – two men who had once been such close friends now at odds with each other since the revelation that Stephen had slept with Helen before she'd disappeared through the anomaly.

She knocked on the door and went straight in, not waiting to be invited. Cutter barely looked up from his paperwork. "Security asked me to check how long you were planning to stay?"

Cutter blinked and looked at his watch. "I hadn't realised it was so late," he said. "I need to get this finished. Could be some time." He nodded at the pile of papers on the desk.

"What is it?" Abby picked up a sheet of paper, barely able to read the scrawly handwriting.

"Young Connor has been doing some … experiments. I'm trying to make sense of his findings."

"This is Connor's work?" Abby was surprised; she thought Connor was practically welded to his laptop and would do all of his notes on there.

"Oh no, these are my notes. I prefer the old fashioned way." He smiled. "I leave the technology to Connor. I just focus on the theories."

"Then at least let me help you."

"Thank you, but with respect... I'm having trouble deciphering these readings and I have a degree in this stuff!"

Abby blushed. Cutter turned back to his papers and Abby watched. He had dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, and she was certain she heard his stomach growl. "When was the last time you ate properly?"

Cutter's smile faded. "Define properly."

"I mean, something that you didn't get from the vending machine down the corridor." Abby knew she was right to be worried about him. What was it with these Science types? Connor was the same; if she didn't practically shove a plate of food at him sometimes, he'd forget to eat. At least, that was the case before Caroline came along. She took Cutter's silence to mean that he couldn't remember and shook her head. "You need to eat a decent meal."

"You sound like my mother," Cutter laughed.

"Then she's a wise woman. Wait there, I'll be back in a minute." Abby turned on her heels and disappeared, leaving a slightly bemused Cutter at his desk. When she returned a little while later, she had a tray with two steaming mugs of tea and a plate full of sandwiches. "Sorry it's not a proper meal, but best I could do." She placed it down on front of Cutter and took one of the mugs for herself and picked up a sandwich from the plate.

"You didn't have to do this," Cutter said.

"I know. But I wanted to. Now, eat!"

Cutter did as he was told and took a large bite from one of the sandwiches. It was good. The diet of crisps and chocolate he'd been living on for the last few days was not ideal; he knew that, but he'd just got himself into some kind of rut. He muttered a 'thank you' and ate as he scrolled through to the next part of Connor's research notes on the computer.

Abby watched him again. He was certainly a bit of a mystery. What was going through his head right now? Why didn't he just take this work home with him where he could relax? Then she realised he probably didn't want to go home and be reminded of just how alone he was. Abby knew that feeling too well; especially recently.

"You don't have to stay with me, Abby. I promise that once this section has been done, I'll head home."

"I told you, I want to help. Even if its just filing." She picked up the pile of paper he'd already worked on and flicked through. "Is there any particular order to all of this?"

"Abby. Go home."

Abby frowned, then ignored him and continued looking through the papers.

"Abby. What's wrong? Why are you avoiding going home?" Cutter's voice had softened, and Abby felt something turn in her stomach. He had her; he'd seen through her act.

"It's Connor," she sighed. "Well, Connor and his girlfriend. They've kind of taken over the flat a little."

"It's your flat right? If they're making you feel uncomfortable in your own home, then perhaps you should say something to Connor?"

"Connor pays rent, and half the bills. It's as much his home as it is mine, and he's entitled to have whoever he likes over." She sighed again.

"You're jealous!" Cutter smiled.

"Am not!" The twist in her stomach came again, this time with more force. Perhaps Cutter was right; she was jealous of Caroline – though not in the way he thought. Until she came along, things with her and Connor had been good. Abby had always lived alone previously, but having Connor around had been quite nice. He made her laugh, and she'd begun to actually like his company in the evenings. But then Caroline came on the scene and that all changed. If Connor was home, Caroline would be draped over him possessively and glared at Abby if she even glanced at Connor. Caroline had taken her friend, and she missed him.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much!"

"It's not like that! I just miss Connor's company that's all." Cutter was nodding his head with amusement. "And Caroline's a bitch."

"So you're avoiding going home because you don't like your flat mate's girlfriend, and it just rubs salt in the wounds reminding you that you're single?" Abby pouted. "Come on! It was pretty obvious for a while that you had a wee crush on Stephen, and I'd have laid bets on the two of you getting together in those early days." Cutter's eyes saddened.

"Hm, well Stephen's recent revelations have put an end to that."

"Stephen's disappointed all of us in one way or another." There was an awkward silence, and Abby swallowed nervously. Finally Cutter broke the silence. "I find it hard to believe that a pretty girl like you doesn't have a long queue of men waiting for her. You shouldn't be sitting at work talking to an old man at this time of night, you should be out at some club enjoying yourself."

"You're not so old, Cutter! You should be out there too! There must be a lovely lady out there waiting for you to find her."

"Claudia Brown," Cutter said sadly. "That's why I sit here each night. Going back to my flat reminds me that I'm alone, and that I never told her how I felt."

"It'll be OK," Abby whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it. Cutter smiled, squeezed her hand back and released it.

"Sometimes I think life would've been a whole lot easier if I'd stayed on that project in the Galapagos Islands."

"You worked on the Galapagos?" Abby's eyes widened. "I love that place! We went there was I was ten. It was what got me hooked on reptiles in the first place."

"That's some place for a ten year old to go to!" Cutter said. "I took a year out from my studies to work there, soaking up Darwin's theories of evolution and finding myself in the process. What were you doing there at such a young age?"

"It was my mum. She went through a bit of a hippy phase at one point; wanted to save the world!" Abby allowed herself a small smile at the thought. "She'd spent some months out there herself when she was 17... she said I was conceived out there." She felt her cheeks burn red.

"I couldn't think of a more perfect place for a new life to be created, but 17 is very young."

"That was the whole problem with my childhood," Abby said. "She got lucky; met a nice guy when she was five months pregnant with me and he looked after her, married her and raised me as his own."

"Takes a special kind of man to raise another man's child," Cutter said. "He must have been a great guy."

"He was, until the drink got the better of him. I was always jealous of the fact he was Jack's real father, but he used to tell me I was more special because he had chosen to be my father. But mum grew up and she wasn't the seventeen year old he'd first met and they drifted apart..." She found herself blinking back tears and she turned away from Cutter, not wanting him to see her cry.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to say anything else. I read your files." Abby was grateful for that. She'd never shared any of this before, and it was incredibly painful. Her father had become abusive, and Abby the main focus of his anger. She was hospitalised at the age of 13 after she'd stood between him and Jack and took the full force of his fists that had been aimed at Jack for spilling blackcurrant juice on the dining room carpet. Abby's mother had sent him packing after that, but she fell into a deep depression and couldn't cope with two children. Finally, when Abby was 14 and Jack 9, they were taken into State care.

"Did they ever try to find your real father?"

"I don't think mum even knew his name. She said he was some kind of conservation worker on the islands and that he was kind to her, looked after her after her friends deserted her. Back in 1985 she was a bit on the strange side... changed her name to 'Rainbow Skye' and dyed her hair bright red."

Cutter spat out his tea and almost choked.

"I know! Ridiculous name isn't it? She changed it back to Sarah when she met David, thank god!"

Cutter suddenly began gathering up the papers hurriedly and looking at his watch. "We should go home. Security will be waiting to lock up." He practically shoved her out of the door. Abby was confused, trying to rack her brains for what she'd said that had rattled him. He bid her a hasty goodbye and told her she should lay down a few ground rules with Connor about his girlfriend.

Abby didn't know what to think as she started her car to drive home. If this was what happened when you opened up and confided your past to someone, then it was probably better to keep it to yourself.