***Spoilers for episodes 3 and 5 of season three***

"May have lost my way now, haven't forgotten my way home." ~Lifehouse

Jenny's P.O.V.

I walked into the ARC for the first time in two years, feeling my pulse pick up as I was surrounded by the familiarity of it all. After two years of staying away, of rebuilding my life, I had finally decided to come back and see the place I had once called home.

After leaving the ARC, I had become a much more free, easygoing woman than the cold, manipulative one that had walked out of this same building two years. I wasn't ever an evil, plotting woman like Helen Cutter, but I'd been in the government, meaning I had to maintain a cool, controlled exterior. I had managed to mostly block out the memories of my former team, but now all of those memories forced themselves painfully to the surface.

God, how I had missed them all. Connor, the sweet and easygoing Connor. Abby, so loyal and so crazy about Connor, although she didn't seem to realize it or had just ignored it. Sarah, so smart and so determined when it came to history. Even Captain Becker, so fiercely protective of his team, so willing to make sacrifices for them.

Soon, painful memories of those people gave way to memories of even more painful ones. Memories of the people I'd been closer to. Nick, who died not knowing just how much I cared about him. Lester, who was almost too similar to me for comfort. But undoubtedly smart, and even though he pretended not to care about his team, I knew that deep down, he did. And oddly enough, in an unorthodox way, we had sort of been friends. Or at least we tolerated each other.

Then I thought of Danny Quinn. I sighed, just as I had when he was actually around. Stubborn, headstrong, and unable to take orders, Danny had been both a friend and thorn in my side. He'd really been there for me, and I couldn't deny how much I had missed him after I'd left.

I pushed a strand of my long, dark hair from my face as I walked in and looked around, absently thinking that my hair, which fell to my waist now, probably needed to be cut. I stood there, at first unnoticed, in the main room of the ARC. I had kept the card given to me when I'd first been employed by Lester, which had allowed me to be waved through security without a problem.

It didn't seem like anyone had changed much, even though I only saw three members of my old team at first. Connor was standing at the Anomaly Detector, tweaking one of the monitors. Abby stood next to him, handing him stuff as he asked for it. A wire here, a small bolt there. Neither of them seemed to have changed a bit.

Sarah was standing behind them, seeming bored as she watched them work on the complex computer system. She just happened to glance over her shoulder as I walked closer, and her entire face lit up in a huge smile.

"Jenny!" she shrieked, running to me and sweeping me up in a bone crushing hug.

"God it is so good to see you," I said, hugging her tightly.

Abby grinned and walked over, hugging me after Sarah had let go. Connor did the same, and I was immediately engulfed in a flurry of "how have you been?"s and "what made you decide to drop by?"s.

"Jenny?"

I turned around to see Becker and Danny walk in, and I grinned broadly as Danny rushed over to give me such a crushing hug that it made Sarah's look frail. I hugged him tightly, still smiling as he pulled away.

"I see you haven't changed a bit," I said, looking him over and glad to see that the toughness of the job hadn't at all deteriorated his impulsive personality.

"I don't think you have, either," he said, releasing my hand when he realized he'd taken it in his own.

"Not a bit," I laughed, even though when I thought about it, I had become more easygoing than I had been.

Danny immediately engaged me in a lengthy conversation about everything that had happened since I'd left, and I listened intently, relieved when I heard that no one had been seriously injured as of recently. I nodded along, walking over to the Anomaly Detector with him as he explained all of its new renovations.

I was listening attentively until I saw someone over his shoulder, and I felt my gaze fix on him. Not on Danny, though. The man I was staring at hadn't changed a bit, and was still wearing an immaculately tailored suit with a flippant, bored expression to match.

"James," I breathed, feeling a smile yet again break across my face. I was surprised to feel even happier to see him than I had Danny. I had missed James Lester, my former boss, but I hadn't expected to feel this elated to see him again. He had just walked into the main room, talking while staring down at the clipboard in his hands.

"Alright, Connor, you need to get that confounded computer back online soon. It's already been offline for an hour now, and knowing our luck, the Loch Ness monster will be swimming through an anomaly anytime now," he said with his usual cold sarcasm. I had missed that sarcasm.

I grinned and quickly went over to him, throwing my arms around his neck, shocking both him and myself. My arms were locked tightly around his neck, and I knew my former team was behind me, looking at me like I'd lost my mind. I think it's hard to shock him speechless, but for a brief moment I believe I did.

"Hello to you too, Jenny," he said sarcastically. Well, he wouldn't be James if he wasn't greeting me with sarcasm.

"It is so good to see you," I said, still shocked by my reaction. What on earth had gotten into me? But even as I questioned my sanity, I still clung to a shocked and confused James Lester, catching a faint whiff of what I expected to be a very expensive cologne. Expensive and sarcastic. Two words to neatly sum him up.

"It's, ah, good to see you too," he said, still confused but seeming to relax a little.

"How have you been?" I asked him.

"Well, I will be more than happy to talk with you, but don't you think you should let go, at least for Danny's sake? I believe he is quite jealous," he said, seemingly amused by both my reaction and Danny's .

"Right, sorry," I said, blushing as I released him. Sure enough, Danny was glaring at us. I blushed even deeper, cursing myself for my stupid reaction. The only thing I had managed to do was make an idiot of myself.

Danny was glaring, Sarah's eyebrows were up, Connor and Abby were looking at each other with matching looks of puzzlement, and Captain Becker just walked off whistling. I was somewhat relieved to notice that Danny wasn't glaring at me, but it wasn't much better that he was glaring daggers at James.

"Don't you all have work to be doing?" James asked, looking between them irritably.

"Oh! Um, yeah, absolutely," Connor stuttered, returning to working on the Anomaly Detector. James had always intimidated the poor kid.

"That was mean," I whispered to him, knowing enjoyed his power over Connor. He simply shrugged and returned to looking at his clipboard, and yet again started barking orders. Within five minutes, Danny, Sarah, and Becker were off on one task or another.

"How have you been?" he asked as we walked up to office, which like him, hadn't changed at all.

"Fine. Rather well, actually. As you can tell, I've loosened up quite a bit," I added.

"Obviously," he said, arching one eye brow skeptically.

"I don't really know what made me decide to come back and visit all this time later, but I was sitting at home and the idea just came to me. I've missed everyone so much."

"Well, your replacement is a horrible excuse for a PR, and we could use someone that knows what she'd doing," he shrugged, settling down in his chair and folding his arms behind his head.

I blinked, taken aback at the offer. I had come to visit, but I had never imagined that I could again work here again. Even though I had been immensely enjoying my life as a normal, average woman, there was a certain allure to his offer. There was a small part of me that missed the constant motion of life at the ARC. And of course, I missed my friends.

"Feel free to think on it," he said, offering me a chair. I nodded, sinking down into one of the chairs across from his desk. I mulled over the options, feeling my head spin ever so slightly. Wasn't it true that I felt at home here? Wasn't it true that I knew every inch of the ARC like the back of my hand? Wasn't it true, more than all of it, that I couldn't let Claudia Brown, the woman I had been in the past, dictate my present life?

As I met his eyes across the desk, I started remembering my life at the ARC even more vividly than before. I thought of that last night here, when I had almost died. Yet against all odds, I had woken up. I remember Danny taking my hand, Connor and Abby's huge smiles of relief, the happiness sparkling in Sarah's eyes, the worry clear on James' face.

But even as I recalled my life here before, I couldn't help but doubt if I even belonged here anymore. While I could still hold a controlled, calm mask in any situation, look at what I had done in the main room today, launching myself at my former boss. It was glaringly obvious how much I had changed, but with those changes, could I still maintain my former job?

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, my mind blurred with "what if"s and "could I?"s. I fiddled with the cuff of my shirt, wondering why I was even considering it. I had died doing this job, only to come back to life against all odds. Shouldn't that say something? Yet why, even knowing all of that, I couldn't tell the man sitting across from me that the idea of me returning to my old job was the craziest idea I had ever heard? That was the thing. I couldn't. The word was on my lips, but I couldn't say no. I knew I needed to, but I just couldn't force the word out. Truthfully, I longed for my old job, and he knew it.

Frustrated at my own lack of will, I sat straighter in my chair, feeling the woman I had been two years ago coming back to me once again. A small smile curved my lips, and I felt the real Jenny Lewis return. James must have noticed the change and taken it as a yes, because he rose to his feet and walked me back to my old office, which hadn't changed at all.

Welcome home, I thought to myself, soaking in the familiarity of my office. I'd enjoyed my relaxed, simply life, but honestly it was getting a bit old. All the doubts I'd had of if I still belonged here vanished with one glance at James, who actually seemed genuinely pleased to have me back, even though he didn't show it much on the surface. Not to mention the rest of the team, who had welcomed me with open arms. Literally.

As we stood in the doorway, I felt the tension in me relax. I knew that I would still hold a piece of the free spirited woman I had become, but I also felt a measure of the stronger, more controlled me flow back into me as I turned to my old boss and somewhat friend. He took my hand and shook it firmly, meeting my eyes.

"Welcome back, Jenny."

"These places and these faces are getting old, so I'm going home." ~Daughtry

Author's Note:

Not sure about this fic yet. It took me three days to decide if I wanted to post it. Should I continue? I don't know if I should or not, so opinions would be greatly appreciated! I know that I currently have three unfinished Vampire Diaries stories in progress, but I love Primeval and wanted to a fan fiction with my favorite couples. This one will be center around sort of a Jenny/Danny/Lester triangle, with touches of Connor/Abby.

Well, enough of my rambling. Thanks so much to everyone who's read this and given it a chance, and of course to drodgers89, who repeatedly told me I should post this fic.

P.S. - Sorry if Jenny was too OOC in the start of the chapter, but I figured after staying away from the ARC for so long she'd lighten up a little :-)