Disclaimer= I own nothing except the plot
Connor never spoke about his life before he started college, Abby had tried bringing it up casually while they watched some Star Trek movie and he suddenly declared he was tried though it wasn't even 8.30 at night. Sarah had tried asking about his parents at work one day because hers were visiting the next day and she didn't know how to explain her change of work and he muttered something about checking the ADD. Lester asked whether he should expect visit from Mr and Mrs Temple at some stage and Conner shook his head and walked away before Lester could say anything else. Danny asked him one night at the pub after a few rounds of drinks and Connor decided that was the perfect time to go home.
Everyone was concerned about Connor over the last few weeks he had steadily grown more and more withdrawn, he came to work did his job and went back to Lester's' flat. Each night he would get back before Lester and be in bed by the time his boss returned.
After a week or two of this withdrawn behaviour people started to notice that Connor was growing paler and he was steadily losing weight. Falling asleep at work was becoming a common occurrence for Connor, thankfully very few people bothered to come to his office when he was 'working' the only thing that distracted him was the anomaly alarm blaring around the building and more often than not that was what was waking him lately.
Abby was terrified for her friend and felt completely helpless since he wouldn't let her help him. Sarah was concerned for the man who had introduced her to this fascinating world of anomalies and would enjoy a good movie with her as long as it wasn't 'sappy' or too much of a 'chick flick'. Danny was worried about the team's brains and comedic relief. Lester, though he would never admit it, was concerned for the young man who he was coming to view as a son.
No one knew how to get through to him. Nothing worked; honest concern, interrogation, subtle hints and even getting him drunk they couldn't get him to open up.
One day Connor made his way quietly and slowly up the ramp leading to Lester's office.
"Lester? I need to talk to you." Connor said quietly.
"Connor? Is something wrong?" Lester asked, a concerned tone in his voice.
"I need to take some time off. About a week, it's fairly important." Connor explained shyly.
"Can I ask why?" Lester asked.
"Personal reasons." Connor replied.
"Connor we all know something is wrong, if you need some time off to deal with whatever is going on, fine take some time. But everyone here is worried about you; you need to let someone help you."
"Why does everybody assume something is wrong with me!" Connor yelled. "I'm fine, why can't people accept that! There is nothing wrong with me, and everybody keeps acting as if something is wrong but it's not." Connor was screaming and red in the face by the time he finished. He looked at Lester and promptly passed out.
"MEDIC!" Lester screamed at the top of his while rushing around his desk to reach Connor. He checked over the young man trying to work out why he had suddenly collapsed.
"What's going on sir?" Becker asked rushing into Lester's office followed closely followed by an ARC doctor. "What happened to Connor?"
"He was yelling at me and then he just fainted, I don't know what happened." Lester explained as the doctor checked over Connor.
"His breathing is shallow and his heart rate is erratic. We need to get him down to the med bay, but if I had to hazard a guess, extreme exhaustion coupled with dehydration. Becker I need some of your men to carry him down to med bay." The doctor said.
Becker just bent down and lifted Connor into his arms bridal style and carried him all the way to the med bay ignoring question questions from everyone on what had happened to Connor. Lester had followed Becker and they were both now standing out of the way as the doctors and nurses hooked Connor up to every possible machine imaginable, stuck needles into him and ran every possible test.
Hours passed and the rest of the core ARC team had joined Lester and Becker. Abby was silently crying into Dannys shoulder while he leaned against the wall to keep himself from collapsing into pitiful, unmanly sobs and Sarah just stared a Connor the horror written all over her face. Eventually the doctor came over to them holding a manila folder.
"The results of Connor's blood work was rather concerning, not only is he exhausted and dehydrated but he's also malnourished, it seems like he's been starving himself. We'll need to keep him in for observation and rest for a few days but he should be alright in the long run." The doctor explained looking through the pages.
"How did we not notice this?" Abby asked looking around at the others of their group.
"I don't know, I thought he was taking care of himself, he never acted like he wasn't eating." Sarah said going over and over everything in her head trying to work out when things had gotten so bad.
"He was living with you Lester, why didn't you make him eat?" Danny asked icily.
"He was always in bed by the time I got back to the flat, and I don't spend the weekends there with him, go home to my wife and kids. I don't know how it got this bad; it always looked like he'd eaten." Lester explained trying to rationalise even though internally he was asking himself the same thing.
"If you lot are going to argue take it outside. He needs rest not you lot arguing." Becker said pushing them all out the doors.
The doors were closed behind them and Becker locked the doors from inside effectively shutting them out and keeping their voices away from Connors form lying on the bed still unconscious.
"What's happening to you Connor?" Becker asked quietly sitting in the chair next to Connor's bed.
'Damn my head hurts. What's that beeping noise?' Connor thought coming around slowly. He slowly blinked open his eyes trying to work out what was going on. He was obviously in the med bay which means something had happened, the last thing he remembered was being in Lesters office.
"Hey Connor, how're you feeling?" Someone asked from his side. He turned to look at them and found Becker sitting in a chair next to the bed he was laying on.
"What happened?" Connor asked trying to sit up.
"Stay down please Connor; the doctor said you need to rest. You passed out in Lesters office after yelling at him about something. We brought you down here. Why didn't you tell us you weren't eating, Connor, or drinking enough water or sleeping? Did you not trust us?" Becker asked quietly stroking Connors hair back from his face gently.
"It wasn't that serious." Connor replied closing his eyes gently.
"Connor, not eating, not drinking water and not sleeping enough is serious. Especially in our line of work, we need you at your best here and out in the field. We need to talk about what's going on Connor, we can get someone for you to talk to, maybe your parents or a sibling or something." Becker was confused when Connor turned his head and looked away from him shrugging away from the hand on his shoulder.
"I don't need anyone, get out of here." These were the harshest words Becker had ever heard Connor say but he couldn't comply with his wishes.
"Everyone needs someone Connor, it's not a bad thing to admit that." Becker explained not trying again for physical contact.
"I've managed fine by myself for years and I'll keep doing just that. I don't need anyone, I haven't since I was nine and I'm not going to start now." Connor was upset.
"What happened when you were nine, Connor? What destroyed your faith in people?" Becker prodded gently, hoping to get some more information on Connor.
"My parents died in a car accident, about a month after that I was in foster care. The longest I stayed with any family was that first one. The mother she was always working and the dad...he had a drinking problem. He didn't like me, said I wasn't good enough to be his son and he started hitting me. I was with them for nearly a year before someone from social services found out and got me out of there. I didn't trust any of them after that. Professor Cutter was the first adult I trusted after I lost my parents and now I've lost him as well." Connor choked through his explanation.
"Connor," Becker said sadly. He moved up until he was sitting next t o Connor and pulled him into his arms. He held Connor against his chest as he cried himself to sleep, even after he just continued to hold him, afraid to let him go.
He leaned back so they were both lying down and eventually Becker joined Connor in sleep. That was how Abby found them an hour later.
A/N- I'm not sure if this will be a oneshot or a chaptered fic. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what it should be.