She lost track of time. It moved too quickly, each day passing her by. She was chasing dinosaurs nearly everyday and on her days off, she crammed in fights with her brother, days out on the town with Connor, yoga, kickboxing, and sleeping in all day. It was only obvious why she hadn't gone to see her old friends at the zoo, there was absolutely no time.

Besides, it was a little daunting. Here she was, in her brand new life. New friends, new monsters, and new mysteries. Abby Maitland had changed quite a bit from the little lizard girl she used to be—sitting in a tank, urging a bunch of scaly little critters to have sex. What if she went back to the zoo and realized how much she really did miss the simplicity? How much she missed the nice, normal animals and the people around her? She couldn't bear those thoughts, honestly…she couldn't think of going back. The ARC needed her, the zoo would always find a replacement.

Baby elephants and baby giraffes were not the priority anymore. Dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures were important these days, they were the ones she was caring for and they needed to be the ones she focused on because she had to get them home eventually. If there was a choice, she wasn't letting them die here. It wasn't their home.

It wasn't until a conversation with Cutter that she decided she had to go back. Even for a visit, just to see the people she had seen everyday for two years and relax a little bit.

"Cutter, you ever think about going back? Like, to how it was before all these anomalies?" She found herself asking one day while she sat in his office, her feet on his desk.
"Don't think I want to," Didn't mean he didn't think about it, just meant he knew being a professor who longed for his wife for eight years straight wasn't worth it.
"But do you?"
"Of course." He shook his head, refocusing his eyes on the words of a report. "Why?"
"Don't know. Just miss it sometimes, I guess." It wasn't something Abby was proud to admit. After all, she found herself loving the team, even with all it's imperfections.
"Ah." Cutter said, like he knew exactly what she felt and the answer to all her problems. He often sounded like that. She thought it might be because he pretended to know everything. "Well, I imagine a zoo would be more ideal than this—"

The ARC was a bloody mess at times. There was an awful lot of dying and suffering and brutal scenes played out in front of them. There were hard decisions to make and burdens they would carry around for years on end. It wasn't a fun job, no sane person would actively beg to join and no sane person would choose to stay.

"Maybe you should go visit." He offered. "You know, I'm sure a woman like you had friends there. Don't know if you kept into contact with them. Might be nice to take a day off and see them."

Guilt filled her chest. It'd been nearly two years since she left without a word. She went to the funeral of Tim Parker, their boss, but then vanished. When consulted, she claimed she just needed some time, that maybe she'd be back one day. Abby doubted that would ever be true, it seemed like anomalies would never end, there was absolutely no understanding on them or why they were here.

"Yeah, maybe. Hey—I've got to go feed a mammoth now. See you around," And she walked out of the office without another word and thought about the zoo the rest of the day. She wondered if they forgot her or if they still mentioned her from time to time. Lizard Girl Abby, the one and the only. There were bound to be loads of new people, though, people she hadn't bumped into or talked to at lunch…there might not even be anybody she knew at the zoo anymore.

Who knew?

She found herself standing at the entrance of Wellington Zoo anyways, shelling out the money to get in on a bright, sunny day in London. It'd been raining all week, so she forced herself to take that as a good sign and crawled out of bed at nine in the morning to get there early enough. Abby figured she'd spend all day here, remembering what it was like to all but live here.

Familiar sights and scenes overwhelmed her. Children laughing and parents tugging at their arms, trying to keep them in one place. Teenagers sitting on benches, wishing they'd done something better with their day, and the workers talking at length about the animals they've dedicated their lives to. She hadn't seen so many actual, genuine smiles in so long. It was like Heaven and she sat on a bench in front of the elephant cages for at least fifteen minutes, just watching.

Then she heard her name called and looked up to see Lily, a woman she used to eat lunch with occasionally and go bar-hopping with. "Abby? What are you doing here? Thought you left!"
"Just decided to visit. Been awhile, yeah?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Kind of missed this place,"
Lily scoffed. She always thought there were better zoos to work for. "Yeah, this shit hole's very easily missed. I dread those long vacations," She was also very sarcastic, how could Abby forget?
"Hey, I've seen worse. Like the zoo before Tim—that was horrid." She remembered him as the man that only cared about money and not the animals.
"I couldn't agree. Wasn't there," Lily sat down next to Abby. "So where have you been? Left without a word—I only assumed you were going to a better zoo and didn't want to create a big stir."
She scratched the back of her neck and bit her lip, trying to think of a decent thing to say. 'No, Lily, I didn't go to work for a better zoo. I decided to dedicate my life to dinosaurs—no, no, not fossils. Actual, living breathing dinosaurs!' That just wasn't going to fly. "No. I had a bunch of family stuff go on, you know? And I kind of got interested in the government and whatever."
Lily's jaw dropped. "Abby Maitland? The government? Don't they like—care about records and university scores or something? You are the last person I thought I'd hear that from!"
"I said I was interested. Didn't say I was in it."

It got quiet and they focused on the world around them more than each other. They were never the best of friends, Abby just liked having someone to party with when she needed to. Lily wasn't a shoulder to cry on or the first to hear good news—she was just there.

"Does Damian know?"
"Not yet."
"He's going to hate you."
"Yeah. I know." Abby stood up and walked towards the penguins.

She already knew she missed caring for these animals and the look on children's faces when they saw them for the first time and how four year old's enjoyed mimicking the walk of penguin, waddling to their mothers and fathers, big goofy grins on all of their faces.

"Miss Maitland?" A laugh sounded from an older man named Edward. He'd been working in the zoo for ten years with birds and said he hadn't regretted one day. "Hey, didn't think I'd see you here! Alright?"
"Just decided to stop by. It's almost surreal—I feel like I've been gone for a lifetime."
"Trust me, two years without you was harsh." He gave a wink. "What have you been up to anyways? Adopting more lizards?"
"Exactly. I've actually been working with a rescue team, you know, too many lizards are being mistreated in England and left on the side of roads so…it's my goal to nurse them back to health and get them where they need to go." Hey, that was pretty close to the truth, wasn't it?
"Very noble of you. A job worth leaving the zoo for, wish you said something, though! Would've thrown a going away party for you."
"I didn't need any of that. It was just my time." She claimed.
"Eh. I thought maybe you had a few years left—you really cared about these animals."
"I know."
"Have you seen Damian yet?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"No."
"You should get on it, he'll get tired of waiting eventually."
"Yeah, I know." Abby nodded, turning away. "Hey, I'll see you later, Eddie."
"Hope so!"

She went to see the monkeys. They were never her favorite animals, but she thought they provided a good laugh. Smart creatures, she couldn't deny, but she just never enjoyed working with them as much as she liked the reptiles or the elephants.

She stood in the background as the children made monkey noises and jumped about like fools, laughing and pushing at one another. Joanne, the one in charge, tried to control all of them and tell them fun-facts, but Abby knew well enough from her experience to know that they wouldn't absorb much of this information. Just enough to write about in school when prompted to.

It was awhile before the last batch of kids were ushered out and the worker got a break, enough to realize that she wasn't the only one left in the room. Looking up, a confused look colored Joanne's face. "Maitland? Back at the zoo? Thought you went and bloody moved to America or something!"
"Was that the rumor going around?" She asked.
"One of them. I mean, what were we supposed to think?"
"I don't know. Nothing, I guess. Just needed to leave, really."
"Tim's death affected you that bad or what?"
"It was just a weird time for me, I guess. I think I wanted something else and didn't know it."
"So what, are you trying to get a job again? I'll be the first to recommend you! The lizard house hasn't been the same since you left. I mean, they've got good workers…just not as amazing as you'll always be."
Abby felt herself smile a bit. Joanne was a nice woman, one that cared about monkeys as much as she cared about reptiles. They talked quite a bit, never anything too personal, but enough to understand where the other was coming for.
"Thanks and no, no, don't think I'm coming back for good. I loved it here, but I think I outgrew this part of my life."
"You were only twenty one, mate,"
"I grew up fast." She gave a sigh and a shrug, focusing on the monkeys climbing up the trees, seemingly oblivious to the two of the women outside of the tank.
"I bet Damian was in tears when you saw him!"
"Didn't see him yet,"

Truth was, Abby didn't fancy seeing Damian much. She feared he would hate her, like Lily said, wonder how on Earth she could just leave with a snap of her fingers. One day here, next day gone. He shouldn't hold on for that long, she hadn't even talked to him once in nearly two years.

Regret filled her bones and made her ball up her fists. Was she angry at herself or her circumstances? She'll never know.

"Oh. You two have a fight or something?"
"Haven't talked to him in like two years,"
"You know he's not one to hold grudges. He's a good man, he'll understand…"
"Yeah. Hopefully."

And no matter how much she wanted to, there was no stopping her feet from moving. She was heading towards the lion cages and her heart was beating fast. She worried things had changed, that he had found someone else, that he wasn't caught up in old memories. Maybe not even liked her anymore. That happened sometimes, didn't it? You just grew apart from someone you once shared wonderful memories with and you realized…they weren't that great anyways? No matter how much you laughed and smiled with them, no matter how much they helped you through dark times? Some people weren't meant to stay and she worried she was one of them.

She hadn't moved on from him, she knew that much. Because she once tried calling him after a nightmare before noticing his number had changed and she had called Connor by the name 'Damian' once after they watched a movie together and when she saw anything related to lions, she thought about giving it to him.

And she was moving quicker and then she saw him and they locked eyes and she watched them widen and she wondered if it was a good thing before he dropped the pen in his hand and he ran over to her and without a second thought, she was scooped off the ground and he squeezed her hard, laughs escaping his mouth.

"Abs! I thought you were dead or something bad happened, oh god don't you ever scare me like that again!"
Tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry—I didn't really mean to leave, it just happened and I got really caught up and never found time…and I missed you, Damo,"
He finally put her down and kissed her head and stared into her eyes for a few seconds, like he couldn't believe she was really here. "Thought I'd never see you again. Couldn't really find you anywhere, like your social media was really hidden or something, I don't know, girl, but I'm glad you're here."
"I thought you would hate me, to be honest. It was a stupid thought."
"Hate you? Hate my beautiful Abigail Sarah Maitland? My lizard girl? Never in a million years. Or a billion. Or a trillion. Never, ever, ever."
"You're dumb."
"I know."
"I tried calling you once, but your number was changed and I looked at your Facebook at least ten times, but never added you and I just got so involved in a new life…but I swear I never forgot you."
"Who could ever forget me?" He grinned. "Just…where have you been? Please tell me you didn't go to jail or almost die or something because I know you, Abby, I know how you used to be…"
"I can't tell you."
"Oh no. You did go to jail, didn't you! You got in a real bad fight, didn't you, Abby? Don't lie to me,"
"No, no, I mean—I made a promise."

His smile dropped because the last time she made a promise she couldn't tell, someone was hitting her and Damian wasn't going to let that slide.

"Where's the little fucker? I'll beat him senseless…or feed him to the lions." He glared.
"Not like that!" She shook her head. She didn't really have a good alibi, though, considering she was still bruised up from the last dinosaur rampage, but while she didn't want him to know she was working with dinosaurs, she didn't want him to think she was getting hurt by someone. "I mean, I literally signed a contract. After I left the zoo, I found a job with the government and well…you know government secrets…"
"Really? I mean, can't tell me one thing about this thing?"
"Uh…no. Sorry, mate, I would if I could."
"It's aliens, isn't it?" He let a small grin slip onto his face. He'd take her word for it. For now, at least, because when she said it, her eyes didn't squint like she did when she lied.
"Exactly." She put a finger to her lips. "Don't tell or I'll have to kill you."
"You could never!" He gasped.
"But I would have to. It's all part of the job. Already killed two," She teased, pushing him a little bit.

He laughed, shaking his head. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"You working with good people? Because you seem happier than when you left."
"Yes. Really good people—only wish you could be there."
"Well maybe I could join this super secret government business too."
"Nah. You're good here, these lions need you, you know."
"I just wish I could see you everyday again. Mum still asks me about you, dad still buys strawberry ice cream even though no one in the house eats it, and the girls think we 'broke up' even though we never dated."
"Sorry…I just…I just want you to work here forever, you know." Abby didn't want to watch him get brutally killed by a dinosaur or a future predator…it was hard enough worrying about the rest of the team.

He nods his head and stuffs his hands down into his pockets, walking aimlessly around with her. "My break only lasts so long, you know…"
"I know…"
"When will I see you again?"
"I honestly don't know…"
"Can you stop by at least once a year? So I know you didn't die or something?"
"Yeah. I could manage that and give me your number, will you, mate?"
"Of course." He wrapped an arm around her because he could stay a few more minutes and if he was ever fired for taking too long of a break, at least it'd be because of her.

And Abby never understood why she worried things would be different. He still smelled like lemons and likely had one for lunch and he still had the same sense of humor and the same smile and the same laugh and he still loved her and everything felt right again…

She was definitely going to visit more.

They both deserved it, didn't they?