Title: Homecoming

Author: Ailendolin

Rating: PG-13 … just to be sure.

Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval and do not make any money with this story.

Summary: Taking a deep breath, Connor knocked on the door, telling himself that he had survived in a time with raptors and various other carnivorous dinosaurs for over a year. Coming face to face with Becker should not be so hard, considering. –AU set post 4x01.

Word count: 2147

Characters/Pairing: Becker/Connor, Sid and Nancy

Warnings/Spoilers: This is Slash. Spoilers include everything up to 4x01.

Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that this is my first Primeval fic and that I'm from Germany, so English is only my second language. I apologize for any mistakes I made in advance and hope that you enjoy the story nonetheless!

Homecoming

They were back.

Connor still could not believe their luck. It seemed almost impossible that they had found Helen's device after almost a year in the Cretaceous, and that it still worked. He kept pinching himself just to make sure that this was not one of his many dreams - or nightmares, depending on the outcome.

Fact was, they were back in the present, back home, back where they belonged, and he was glad they were. He loved dinosaurs, he truly did, and seeing them alive was any palaeontologist's dream, but being chased by them for a year, running away all the time and trying not to get eaten, had kind of put things into perspective. He felt a bit like Alan Grant must have in Jurassic Park. Maybe he should have stayed with fossils. At least those had never tried to kill him.

But then, if he had, he would have never met two of the most important people in his life. He was currently standing in front of the door of one of them, debating whether he should knock or simply leave and wait to see how things would go over the next few days. Connor had no idea how Becker would react when he saw him and it made him nervous. Becker had looked happy enough when he had found them at the anomaly site that morning but it had not been the reaction Connor had hoped for. He wondered how the last year had been for Becker, if maybe some things had changed while Connor had been missing, presumed dead.

Taking a deep breath, Connor knocked on the door, telling himself that he had survived in a time with raptors and various other carnivorous dinosaurs for over a year. Coming face to face with Becker should not be so hard, considering.

„Connor," Becker said, surprised, when he opened the door a moment later. Connor noted that he was in civvies, wearing a loosely fitting jeans and a grey sweatshirt. He looked good.

"Hey." Connor waved at him, a nervous smile on his face.

Becker frowned, looking confused. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to go with Abby to the hotel."

That was, again, not the kind of welcome Connor had expected.

"May I come in?" he asked, ignoring the question.

Becker sighed, but he opened the door wider and stepped aside nonetheless. "Of course."

Connor walked past him into the house. He could feel Becker's eyes watching his every movement. It made him even more nervous. Becker shut the door while Connor was hanging up his jacket and a moment later he motioned for Connor to follow him down the familiar hallway to the living room.

"You never answered my question," Becker pointed out once they had sat down on the dark blue couch. Connor could not help but notice the distance between them or how tense and defensive Becker looked, so different from the way things used to be between them. "Why aren't you with Abby?"

Connor gave him a look, trying to appear braver than he felt. "I've been stuck with her in the Cretaceous for the last year, Becker," he said. "We've grown pretty close, but I think we can both use a little space right now."

"Oh." Becker's voice was small and Connor narrowed his eyes. Before he could say anything, however, Becker cleared his throat.

"Now that you're here, I think there's someone who'd like to greet you. I'm a bit surprised they haven't come barging in yet, to be honest. But then again, I've always had the suspicion that they're deaf."

Becker whistled and a moment later two small creatures came bounding through the cat flap that led into the backyard.

"Sid! Nancy!" Connor exclaimed and the two diictodons immediately zoned in on him and jumped into his arms. "Oh, it's so good to see you! I've been wondering what happened to you two."

He laughed when Nancy licked his face.

"I took them in when you disappeared," Becker explained. He was staring at the creatures with a distant look on his face. "The ARC is no place for them."

"But your house is?" Connor asked, amused. The diictodons settled down on either side of him, obviously content. "I very clearly remember you telling me that neither one of those 'furniture-eating monsters' would ever set paw in your house."

Becker shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "After a few adjustments it was alright. Everything is creature-proof so they can't get out and all valuable things are up on shelves. I've learned my lessons, and they've learned theirs."

Connor could not help but reach out and take Becker's hand in his. He smiled gently at him.

"Thank you," he said softly. "I really appreciate you taking care of them."

Becker stared down at their entwined hands contemplatively.

"They've missed you, you know?" he said, quietly. "They kept running to the door whenever someone walked by outside or tried to gnaw through the boxes with your stuff."

"You've kept my stuff?" Connor asked, surprised.

"Some of it," Becker admitted. "Your DVDs, books. Some of your clothes. The stuff that was already here and all that I could get before they decided to clear out Abby's flat."

For the first time since he stepped into Becker's house Connor took a good look at his surroundings. Like the hallway, the living room looked familiar and yet some things had changed since he had last been here. When he looked at the bookcase in the corner he could see some of his palaeontology books on there as well as his version of The Lord of the Rings and his Discworld novels. His Doctor Who DVDs stood next to Becker's X-Files DVDs on the shelf above the TV. Upon closer inspection he discovered that Becker had even bothered to buy the new series that had not even been out when Connor went missing, even though Connor knew that Becker did not care for the show that much. With a lump in his throat he turned around and saw that various new photos lined the walls: Some featuring just him and Becker, others showing Abby, Cutter, Danny or Lester as well. He almost laughed when he saw one picture of Rex and two of Sid and Nancy.

Now that he was taking a closer look at the room Connor realized that Becker had done even more than just keeping his things and integrating them into his household. Through the open door that led to the kitchen he could see his favourite tea standing on the counter next to the coffee machine, obviously new and never used since Becker hated the smell of it. On the floor were Sid and Nancy's water and food bowels and in the corner of the living room lay a blanket Connor had thought about buying for them but had never gotten the chance to.

It was obvious that Becker had gone out of his way to make sure that Connor was still present in his house, in his life. Even the smallest things screamed 'Connor Temple', like the stuffed stegosaur sitting on the armchair or the miniature allosaurus skull standing next to the TV. His heart clenched painfully at the thought that Becker had tried desperately to hold onto him, in any way he could.

He turned to Becker only to find him staring at a picture that showed him and Abby smiling at each other. Connor squeezed his hand.

"You really thought I'd rather stay with Abby than come home?" he asked quietly.

Becker briefly glanced at him before he lowered his gaze. He tried to take his hand away but Connor did not let him. He could see that Becker was already trying to put up walls around him, to prepare himself for any kind of hurt that could come his way.

"A year is a long time, Connor," Becker finally said softly. "A lot can happen in a year, especially if you have just one other human being for company." He paused, swallowing. "I understand if you and Abby-"

"Stop that!" Connor said, squeezing his hand a little harder than he meant to. "Stop that right there. Nothing happened between Abby and me. We were friends when we got trapped there and we are still friends now that we're back. Friends, nothing more, alright?"

Becker kept staring at the floor, biting his lip and Connor knew that he did not believe him.

"You know what kept me going there?" he asked and gently pushed Sid from the couch so that he could move closer to Becker. "You," he stated, reaching for Becker's other hand. "There wasn't a day when I didn't think about you, about what you were doing here, how you were doing." He took a deep breath. "Abby gave up, you know? After a while, she just stopped hoping but I couldn't. I couldn't give up because that would have meant never seeing you again."

Becker's eyes were shining when he looked up.

"Sid and Nancy weren't the only ones who missed you," he confessed and Connor smiled.

"Glad to hear that," he said, trying to lighten the mood now that he knew that Becker understood.

He was surprised when Becker hugged him and buried his head into his shoulder. Connor could do nothing but wrap his arms around him and hold him, slowly running his hands up and down his back.

"Hey," he said softly. It reminded him of the day that Nick had died, when it had been Becker who had comforted him and not the other way around. That day seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then.

"After half a year," Becker whispered, "I didn't allow myself to hope anymore. It just hurt so much, not being able to look for you and just waiting in front of every anomaly for you to walk through, grinning stupidly and waving at me." Connor felt him take a shaky breath. "I feel like I let you down. I'm so, so sorry I gave up."

Connor held him even more tightly. "Don't do this to yourself," he said and pressed a kiss to the side of Becker's head. "You had no idea of knowing if I was even alive anymore. I understand."

"I'm sorry," Becker mumbled again against his neck, fingers digging into Connor's back. They sat like that for a while, with Becker desperately holding onto him and Connor silently listening to Becker's hitched breaths. It was only when Sid and Nancy started nudging their legs that they leaned slightly back.

"You two are bloody annoying," Becker grumbled half-heartedly while he wiped a hand over his eyes. "We're trying to have a moment here, you know?" Still, he petted both of them on their heads.

Connor laughed. "I guess the kids don't like seeing you like this," he said. "Me neither, by the way," he added with a smile. "Don't blame yourself, Becker. Please? Let's just be happy I'm here and you're here and we're here together. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," Becker finally said. "When did you get so wise?" he added with a fond look.

Connor chuckled. "Sometime between a hundred million years ago and today."

Becker smiled softly at him. "I love you, you know?"

Before Connor could react to that Becker was kissing him, soft and slow and intense, saying more with that one gesture than he could with a thousand words.

"Oh, I know," Connor said a little breathlessly after they broke the kiss, grinning. "Love you, too, soldier boy."

Becker mock-glared at him. "Don't call me that."

"You know you love it," Connor retorted with a smirk.

He expected Becker to roll his eyes at that like he usually did but instead Becker kept looking at him with fondness, affection and so much love that it made Connor's heart beat faster.

"Move in with me," Becker said, suddenly.

"What?"

"Move in with me," Becker repeated, more firmly and sure. He gripped Connor's hand tightly. "I don't want you finding your own flat or, god forbid, share one with Abby again. You belong right here, with me and those two trouble-makers." He hesitated a moment before he admitted, "I can't watch you walk away now that I've found you again, Connor. I just – I can't."

Connor shook his head, a fond smile on his face. "You can be quite daft sometimes, you know that? Of course I'll move in with you," he said. "I've thought of your house as home for quite some time now." He grinned mischievously. "You know this is permanent, right? You won't ever get rid of me again, just so you're warned."

"Good," Becker said with a smile, kissing him again. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The End