Summary: Only a few words could have changed everything. Matt never traveled back in time, but Destiny still catches up to him somehow.
Pairing: Memily
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, except for Matt's group
A big thanks to 'The Pieces That Dont Fit' and 'Athar Riordan' for somehow encouraging me to write this.
He was 19, when he decided which way his life would go. Of course Matt Anderson didn't know it back then. He and his father had a fight. His father, Gideon wanted him to train some more, but Matthew, being exhausted, wanted to stop and rest. He could have chosen between two reactions: Fighting back the exhaustion and train until he passed out, like he did, when he left his own time to find a home in the past. But if Matt Anderson had chosen the emotional, angry response, his life would have turned out differently: There was a part in him, he inherited from his mother, a very kind and emotional woman, who ultimately died protecting her son, though he couldn't even remember her. A part of her still lived in him. So when he chose to speak, his father almost saw his wife in him.
"Why do you never care about how I feel, father? Do I mean nothing to you?" Matt turned around and ran off, outside of the shelter, to get some air. He fully intended to stay close, in case of one of the toxic winds, but he never paid attention to his surroundings. So he never saw the small family of predators approaching, one large male with his smaller female and two young ones. Those creatures didn't usually hunt in family groups, but those did. The male was hurt, unable to fight on his own, so he chose to stay with his female, to seek protection. The 19 year old boy was easy prey for them. Matt stopped, as he heard the snarls. He started to run. Only the males injury gave him the chance to actually get away from them, until he ran the wrong way, trapping himself in a small valley. The creatures attacked and everything went black.
As Matt woke up again, his face and side were burning. One of the women of the group his father and himself belonged to, smiled down at him, he barely recognized her. She softly stroked his cheek, as she told him his father died, when they tried to safe him. Instead of crying or screaming, Matt looked away. Matt carried a long scar across the left side of his face from this day forth, a scar, that constantly reminded him, that he himself was the reason both of his parents were now dead. Both died, trying to protect him. He got colder, stricter and eventually became the leader of his group. He was still a fair and wise man, but he never allowed himself to become attached to his people and he pushed them away, as soon as it looked like they were becoming attached to him. He wanted to help them, but he wanted to protect them from any harm, too. Matt never left his time.
When the group changed their shelter once again, Matt saw something or someone lying on the ground, not too far away. He ran, to see what it was. It was a young woman, maybe a few years younger than him. She was still alive, so Matt picked her up and took her with him. The women of his group took care of her and called him, when she started to wake up.
Emily Merchant looked around confused. She didn't know this place and it certainly wasn't the place she arrived when she went through the gateway, which instantly closed behind her. Her scared eyes searched for something, anything familiar. There were two women, who gently took her hands.
"It's okay, girl. You're safe.", they said. She could barely see the man leaning against a wall, a shadow covering the left side of his body and face.
"Who are you? Where am I?" She looked at the women, but the man answered, his voice had a irish accent.
"I am Matt, and this are Chelsea and Lorraine. We're in one of the northern shelters." He looked into her eyes and he knew right away, that this meant nothing to her, as she wasn't from this time. Of course he knew about the anomalies. He might have been raised a soldier, but his father had constantly talked about the gateways in time. "When are you from?"
"1860.", she answered. Her voice gave away how confused she was. "What time is this?"
"Thousands of years in the future.", one of the women answered. She offered her an encouraging smile, but Emily was too confused to return it. She looked at Matt.
"Make her eat and drink and give her a blanket.", he ordered and stepped out of the shadows. Emily gasped as she saw the scar across his otherwise handsome face. He looked at her once again, before leaving the room.
"Who is he?", she asked. Chelsea smiled.
"Our leader. You can be glad he told us to offer you food and water. The last human we found outside wasn't that lucky."
"What happened?"
"He was from this time, from another group of people. Matt killed him." Emily was shocked. Why didn't he kill her then? Lorraine noticed. "This other group thought it would be a wise idea to steal from us. Water and food are limited, so we all refused to let the man live with us. He would have died a slow and painful death outside." Emily couldn't believe it. The women made it sound like Matt did a good thing, by killing the man. But he killed another human. Who would guarantee, that he wouldn't kill her? Neither Lorraine, nor Chelsea could. They fetched her some water and a strange looking mash. Emily didn't ask what it was, but instead ate wordlessly, using only her fingers. It felt like she hadn't eaten in days, so she was grateful for the food and water, and the blanket the offered. She had to sleep on the floor, like all the others did as well. Since she couldn't sleep, she decided to take a look around. She found the group inside a large room. There were four men, including Matt and only two women, if you didn't count her. And there were two children, about four and six years old. Every one of them had a blanket wrapped around their bodies, except Matt. Emily could only assume that she was the reason for that.
I know Matt appears to be darker in this. But the Matt we know from Primeval is still there, though the events changed him. You'll get to see his softer side eventually.
Tell me what you think