Disclaimer: The characters are the property of Impossible Pictures and no copyright infringement is intended. I write for fun and make no profit.
A/N: It's been a while. Sorry. Life happened and overwhelmed me. I'm feeling a bit rusty with the old writing skills and need lots of love to keep going...
Matt took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. Then he hesitated, took another deep breath and returned his hand to his side. After a few seconds he sniffed, turned away and went back along the corridor he'd just walked down and returned to his office. He just wasn't quite ready to face what was on the other side of that door. Not yet. The moment he walked through, it would be the beginning of his last day. He'd told them he didn't want a fuss but he knew that they wouldn't let him go quietly, especially not Abby.
He'd already cleared most of the things out of his office and taken them home. All that remained were the small framed photos he'd surrounded himself with to keep himself grounded; reminders of what was important in his life.
He sat in his chair and stared at the blank computer screen. Retirement was an alien concept to him, it was just something that had never existed in his own time. He also realised that it was something that hadn't really happened at the ARC before either. Most of his friends and colleagues had all moved on long before that bizarre milestone of "old age" appeared.
Way back in his early days at the ARC, there had been a slightly sick joke that the only way you left the ARC was in a body bag. As he began to familiarise himself with the history of the place, he soon realised there was an element of truth to it; Captain Ryan, Stephen Hart, Professor Cutter, Sarah Page.. they'd all met an untimely end in the line of duty. Jenny Lewis had bucked that trend of course, and Danny Quinn's final fate had never really been determined. The team liked to think that he'd found himself a cosy place in history and settled down for a long and happy life, though they all knew it was far more likely that he'd ended up in some dangerous prehistoric era where he'd either become some deadly predator's dinner or had died breathing in toxic air.
The ARC now was a very different place to the one he'd first arrived at over thirty years ago. He remembered the chaos and confusion in the aftermath of Connor, Abby and Danny's disappearance and how he'd been drafted in to try and rebuild a team. Looking back, he supposed he'd been pretty successful on the whole. When things started to calm down after New Dawn and the convergence of anomalies, things changed. Just when the team seemed to be at it's strongest and tightest, Connor announced that he felt he didn't fit in any more. He'd tried desperately to make amends after what he'd done and despite everyone telling him it wasn't necessary, he couldn't quite get his head back into the right space.
Matt had feared Connor would walk away completely, but rescue came in the form of Evan Cross at the Vancouver equivalent of the ARC. He wanted Connor to help him with research and offered him and Abby places on his team. It was the perfect escape for Connor, so after the wedding he and Abby moved over to Vancouver to begin a new life.
That was the beginning of the break up of the team Matt had established. Not long after, Jess and Becker also got married, and Jess soon fell pregnant and left to be a full time mother. Management came and went, Lester was transferred to another department in the government which he tried to refuse, but his wife had other ideas... better pay, less hours and less chance of being eaten by a dinosaur... so off he went too. Emily followed not long afterwards, her sudden departure a shock to everyone but with hindsight was not that surprising. Matt tried not to think about it.
"Oh! You're here! I didn't think you were coming in until mid morning... would you like a coffee?"
Matt looked up. He hadn't even heard Lucy come in, let alone realise she was talking to him. "A coffee would be great, thank you," he smiled. He couldn't help liking Lucy, she was a clone of her mother, Jess, yet had apparently inherited Becker's height. It puzzled him somewhat though why Jess and Becker would let their daughter work at the ARC knowing what they did. He'd always thought that he would protect his own child from that life as best he could, although he'd never had the chance to see if he could work that in reality.
"I might even see if there's some biscuits seeing as it's a special day," Lucy was saying as she turned on her heels and practically skipped out of the office. Matt smiled and shook his head, glancing at the photo of Adam smiling at him.
Adam had been just five years old when he came crashing into Matt's life. A confused, angry boy grieving for his father and struggling to adjust to life in England having lived in Vancouver all his young life. Connor's death had been a huge shock to both the UK and Canadian teams, and Abby had made the difficult decision to bring him back home for burial alongside his mother and then decided to stay in England to be with her friends instead of returning to Canada. Whilst Abby tried to deal with her own grief and bring up a small child, Matt had stepped in to try and help her. He became a surrogate father, although at first Adam resisted any attempt Matt made to befriend him. He loved spending time with Adam, watching him grow. Having missed out on a childhood himself, Matt lived it through the young boy and Abby had commented many times that she wondered just who was getting the most enjoyment out of the things Matt planned.
Adam was every inch Connor's son, from the mop of dark unruly hair and big brown eyes to his love of dinosaurs. He was also very much Abby's son, and his fascination with dinosaurs extended into herpetology which he ended up studying at University. Right now, Adam was living the dream that Abby had once had and was working on a conservation project on the Galapagos islands.
Abby also liked having Matt around. She would often insist he stayed for dinner after he'd spent the day with Adam, and they'd sit talking into the small hours, sharing a couple of beers and putting the world to rights. It was, and still was, a strong friendship that both held dear. He could see why some might think he and Abby were in a relationship; even Adam had asked if "Uncle Matt" was going to be his new daddy on more than one occasion when he was growing up.
Truth was, there had been a time when romance had been on the cards. They'd slept together – twice in fact. The first time happened around two years after Connor died. Even now, they both claim it was the other that initiated it. It was wild and passionate and fulfilled a need at the time, but in the cold light of day it didn't seem such a great idea any more. Things got awkward and put a strain on their friendship for weeks until Abby decided enough was enough. She got Jess to come and babysit Adam for the evening so that she and Matt could go on a 'date'. Matt still smiled when he remembered the look on Jess's face as she realised that Abby's date was him. That evening was the second and last time they slept together. There was still a massive Connor shaped hole in Abby's life, and Matt just couldn't fill it.
After that, they settled back into a friendship. Over the years, Abby had tried dating but all ended with similar results, and Matt just never felt anything for anyone else. He was content to be a part of Abby and Adam's life. When he thought about it, he realised that it wasn't just Abby's issues that prevented them from being more than friends, he had his own demons to deal with.
He'd been all set to get married to Emily about three months before Connor's death. Their wedding was going to be a simple service at the registry office with their closest friends in attendance, followed by dinner at a local restaurant. Lester had even paid for them to have a couple of nights in a fancy hotel in lieu of a proper honeymoon. But as Matt and Becker waited at the registry office, he just got a terrible feeling something wasn't right. When Emily and Jess didn't turn up at the allotted time, Becker told him not to worry. It was traditional for the bride to arrive late apparently, and he was certain that if anything was wrong, Jess would have contacted them by now. As if on cue, Jess appeared in the doorway looking worried and beckoned for Matt to come over. For a brief moment he hoped that it was just illness or a minor accident, but in his heart he knew that it was far worse.
Jess had been awake most of the night trying to convince Emily that marrying Matt was the right thing, and that he'd make her very happy. When it was obvious that her mind would not be changed, Jess then tried to persuade Emily that she at least owed it to Matt to tell him face to face why she couldn't marry him. But again, Emily was determined to leave. She had thrown what few possessions she had into a case and was heading towards the train station. Jess had dashed to the registry office as quickly as she could - "There's still time, Matt! You can stop her... talk to her..."
But Matt had his pride. If Emily wanted to go then he couldn't stop her. He never did pluck up the courage to read the letter she left for him, but he knew Abby had before he made her destroy it some years later. He said he saw little point in dwelling on the past, but deep down he was never able to fully move on.
"What are you doing hiding in here?" The familiar voice of Abby interrupted his thoughts.
"I'm not hiding, I'm just... gathering my thoughts before I go in there for the last time."
"You're hiding." Abby came into the office and closed the door, perching herself on the edge of his desk. "You have to go in at some point."
"I know. But I said I didn't want a fuss, and I know that's not going to happen."
"If it helps, I did put a stop to the helium balloons and the streamers." Abby grinned and Matt gave her a playful shove. "Seriously though. I did say you would hate pretty much anything, but you have worked with some of these people for years and they just want to say goodbye properly. It won't be as bad as you think, promise."
Matt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn't put this off any longer. "Let's get it over and done with then, I suppose." Abby reached for his hand and he stood up, allowing her to lead him out of the office and down the corridor. She pushed open the door to the main hub and gave him a gentle shove so that he had to walk in front of her.
"Matt! At last!" Sam Wentworth practically leapt out of his seat by the ADD console and came over. Matt glanced over at Abby and then forced himself to smile as the younger man approached. He liked Sam, he'd joined the ARC just over five years ago as part of Becker's team but an injury forced him to go on light duties for a while, during which time he learnt how to operate the ADD and all the associated tracking and comms devices. He was now one of three that manned the ADD around the clock on a rota basis.
"I'm sorry I kept you all waiting," Matt said. "Today is... hard for me."
"Personally speaking, we can't wait to be rid of you." The familiar voice of Captain Becker drifted across the room and a respectful glance between the two long time colleagues and friends passed before Becker strode over and hugged Matt. When they parted, both blinked away tears threatening to fall down their cheeks before Becker reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.
"From Lester. He wanted to be here himself, but his wife is still in hospital."
Inside the envelope was a hand written letter, which Matt couldn't quite bring himself to read just yet. He would wait until he was alone so that he could allow his full emotional response to be let out. He folded it and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans, and then looked around at all the pairs of eyes fixed on him. The ARC team had grown considerably since he had first arrived here, grown and evolved.
The Science team had developed many useful devices over the years, building on the initial research that Connor had done with the support and finances of Cross Photonics in Vancouver. Some of their work was found to have military usefulness as well, and the Home office invested in the technology, providing vital funding for the research. Aidan Foster and Ramesh Krishnan were the leaders and very respected both inside and outside of the ARC, though it was always with a tinge of sadness that Matt spoke with them about their work, knowing that under other circumstances it would have been Connor in charge.
Then there was the field team. All with a military background and trained by Captain Becker, they responded to anomalies, dealt with any creature incursions and made the anomaly safe. They were a slick operation, guided by Becker from the ARC and until three months ago lead in the field by Matt himself. He'd passed the reins to Alexa Hammond, and she was now smiling at him from her seat next to Sam's, trying to get Matt's attention.
Choosing Alexa as his successor had been a no-brainer. Becker had earmarked her early on as a potential leader, and Matt had pretty much warmed to her straight away. In many ways, she reminded him of Abby in those early days after her return from the Cretaceous. Alexa had been studying Palaeontology at University when the war broke out, and everyone under the age of 25 had been expected to join up to something military. Two years later, when the war was over, she had found it hard to just go back to her studies and that was when she'd been recruited into Becker's team.
Alexa cleared her throat and stood up, all eyes turning to her. Matt's heart began to thump hard against the wall of his chest. He knew this was coming and he'd been dreading it, but he couldn't avoid it either.
"I know I haven't known you for as long as some of the others here, but they all felt that I should be the one to say a few words to mark this occasion." She swallowed hard, her smile becoming fixed rather than natural as she fought her own emotions. "What we do here, the reason we all keep going, is because of you and what you stand for. The ARC exists because we believe that the anomalies need to be respected and understood in order to prevent the kind of disaster that created the world you came from, and that belief has come from you."
Matt could no longer focus. His eyes stung with tears and he bit down on his lower lip to try and stop himself from losing it. He felt Abby's hand slip into his, squeezing it tightly and for that he was grateful. She anchored him and gave him the strength to refocus on Alexa's speech. She was talking about him being a father figure and was now wishing him well on the next chapter of his life.
"And this is just something from all of us... I asked Abby for some ideas and she thought... well, she thought this might come in useful for something she has planned for you." Alexa pushed a neatly wrapped package into his hands as everyone began to applaud. He ran his fingers over the silver paper and finally lost it, the tears streaming down his face. Abby offered him a handful of tissues and he wiped his face as the applause died down, and then he realised everyone was waiting for him.
"Wow, um... thank you. I'm overwhelmed by Alexa's words and your generosity. I..." He took another deep breath and looked to Abby for help. She read him perfectly.
"Why don't you open your present eh? Not everyone knows what we decided on in the end, I'm sure they'd like to see it."
Matt nodded and carefully began to unwrap the gift. He hated having so many pairs of eyes on him and he wished this was all over and done with. As he peeled the final piece of wrapping paper away, his eyes widened and he smiled. He'd been looking at these binoculars for some time now, admiring them in the shop window every time he and Abby had walked past. They were the latest technology, fitted with GPS tracking and electronic focussing.
"Thank you, everyone," he said, holding them up so they could all see.
"So, come on Matt, we're all intrigued what it is that Abby has planned for you so you can use them." Becker said. "Jess has a theory and I can't wait to see if she's right."
Matt laughed. He knew exactly what Jess's theory would be. Even after all this time, Jess was still convinced that Matt and Abby could make a go of a relationship if they tried and over the years she'd engineered a number of situations in the hope they'd realise their feelings for each other.
"I don't really have any plans," Matt responded. "I was just going to start renting one of those allotments by the old Olympic park and do some good old fashioned gardening... but I'm not sure where the binoculars fit in."
"I can answer that one," Abby said, clearing her throat and pulling out her own envelope for Matt. Her cheeks reddened as Matt gave her a puzzled look. "Open it... go on."
The envelope contained a plane ticket. A one way flight to Quito in Ecuador. Matt's mouth dropped open, he knew what it meant even if no-one else did. "Abby... I can't... this is..."
"It's all arranged. Adam's going to meet you at Quito and then take you over to the Galapogos the following day. He says you can stay with him as long as you like, that's why your ticket is only one way, though you'd have to renew your visa after six months. With your background it shouldn't be a problem keeping you there as a researcher if that's what you want."
Matt blinked and looked into Abby's eyes. She'd been talking about going to spend time with her son for years, but hadn't quite been able to tear herself away from the ARC. It was her last connection to Connor, and she had always said that her friendship with Matt was important too. By sending him away, was she also making things easier for herself to break the final tie to the ARC and follow her dream?
At that moment, the all too familiar sound of the anomaly alarm filled the ARC and the team all sprang into action. Matt stood back and watched as they all stood in position awaiting instruction. The anomaly was just on the outskirts of town, residential but not densely populated. Becker's team all began to check and load their EMDs and Alexa handed out earpieces to everyone who would be going out in the field. Abby stood next to him, watching his face.
"Not feeling the urge to join them?" she said softly.
"No. I've done my time. This is a young person's job and I'm happy to be finally passing the responsibility on. Never thought I'd say that, but I just realised it."
"I envy you. When Adam and I were making plans for you..." She swallowed and blinked back a stray tear threatening to fall down her cheek.
"You can still do it, you know."
"I can't, not yet. Officially I'm not due to retire for another couple of years, but the Minister has said I can go once a suitable replacement has been trained to take over the running of the menagerie."
"Abby, we need you... radio comms suggest a creature sighting." Alexa pushed an earpiece into Abby's hands as she surged forward towards the exit to the parking area. Abby gave Matt a look, one that asked what she should do.
"Go. You're needed. And when you get back, you start recruiting your replacement. You'll be joining Adam and I before the end of the year."
Abby nodded and began to fix her earpiece in place. She gave Matt a kiss on the cheek then ran to catch up with the others. She paused at the doorway to look back and call out. "I'll call you later. I'll help you make the necessary arrangements before you fly."
And then it was silent, except for the beep of the ADD scanner and the clicking of computer keys as Sam focussed on monitoring the anomaly before the team got there. Giving a final glance around the ARC to commit to memory, Matt turned and headed towards his office for the final time. As he picked up the photographs from his desk he gave a respectful nod to all those who had passed through the corridors with him before closing the door and leaving by the main exit.
For the first time in his life, he was about to do something for himself. The ARCs door clicked closed and he smiled. A major chapter of his life had come to an end, and he was about to start on a new, and hopefully exciting, one.