Jack irritated Connor a little. First he gambled away Rex, then he dragged himself along with the whole team into danger but all the same the whiny boy was friendly and he was the only family Abby had. For that reason Connor said nothing. Her wellbeing was far more important than his own. This was why the words stung so badly.
"You'd be happy if he died wouldn't you!" Abby accused.
The worst part was that Connor could see that she genuinely meant it. Even after he almost sacrificed himself; after they saved Jack Abby wouldn't look at him.
It had been a long day. Jack and Abby returned to the flat; Danny, Sarah and Becker went home and Connor headed to Lester's apartment. He knocked on the door. Lester hadn't trusted his employee with a key of his own yet. After several minutes Connor's boss opened the door.
"I see Scrappy has arrived." Lester remarked.
Connor pushed past him and made his way to the tiny part of the flat which was cluttered. It was his section to live in and was the only bit of the room that wasn't covered in threatening post-it notes. He sat down, attempting to make himself comfortable in the little space he had.
Lester closed the door and watched curiously. For once Connor said nothing. Lester wasn't going to complain, but he did realise how unusual the situation was. He sighed to himself and made his way to his own room. As soon as the man was out of earshot Connor allowed himself to break down. Abby – that beautiful, amazing woman – hated him and he was going to have to endure that for the rest of his days at the ARC. Unless he quit. No, he'd give it a week or so and if things hadn't improved, maybe then. Connor doubted he'd be able to drag himself away from the magnetic wonder of the anomalies.
The next morning Connor woke up early before Lester. He took the time to make himself breakfast, dry his eyes and prepare himself for the day. By the time Lester emerged from bed he was alarmed o find the techie already yon his computer. As he got breakfast he noticed Connor was slightly red eyed but he put it down to too much time spent on the damn laptop. Other than that he appeared to be acting normally enough.
They drove to the ARC in the usual, uncomfortable silence they shared on a daily basis. When they arrived Lester went to his office and Connor attended to the ADD. Sometime later the others joined them. Becker headed straight to the armoury but Sarah, who was more than a little street-smart stopped to check on Connor.
"Good morning." she greeted.
"Hi." Connor replied, one hand typing, the other waving.
"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned by his still red-rimmed eyes.
"Yeah, fine."
Abby heard this as she walked past.
"Jack's not. I hope you're happy!"
Connor said nothing. Sarah stared after Abby in surprise; then registered Connor's reaction. He looked upset but that was an understatement. It was blindingly obvious, to anyone in a mile's radius of the geek, that he loved Abby.
Sarah frowned and headed to the menagerie after Abby. She was currently watering the plants.
"How is Jack?" asked Sarah.
"Coping. It was a bit of a shock at first but I think he's starting to come to terms with my job."
"Why didn't you tell Connor that?"
"Connor would be happy if Jack was dead!"
"That's not true."
"Yes it is!" Abby insisted.
"What makes you say that?"
"He sided with Danny and Becker."
This Sarah had been told about. Becker had been adamant to get back-up but Abby would have none of it.
"Then why aren't you angry with Danny and Becker too?"
"Because I trusted Connor! He always used to agree with me but now I know he hated Jack from the beginning."
Sarah sighed. She knew that couldn't be further from the truth but she also knew how stubborn Abby could be.
"Okay."
Sarah left, knowing there was no point in continuing the conversation.
Literally a few seconds later the anomaly alarm blared. The team rushed to the ADD.
"Sorry false alarm!" Connor yelled over the racket."
"What happened?" asked Danny.
"I think I may have pressed something." he said and started to type.
Lester joined the group.
"What the hell is going on!"
"It was an accident – " Connor began.
"Brilliant. Just what I need, a Connor moment to start the day off."
"Sorry."
"Hurry up and turn it off before I get a headache!" Lester huffed and went back to his office.
After a good five minutes of the noise Connor gave up and pulled the power plug.
"There."
Danny gave him a look.
"Connor mate, I could've done that."
Connor ignored him.
"I just need to make a few adjustments – "
"You mean fix it." Becker said bluntly.
" – then it'll be up and running in no time."
"Congratulations on your latest murder attempt." Abby spat.
The group stared at her in shock and confusion as she flounced off. Despite the pained expression on Connor's face he continued working.
"What is up with her?" said Danny.
"She hates me." Connor replied quietly.
Danny looked at Connor, then Sarah. She gave him a come with me and I'll explain look, hoping he'd get the message. She left and Danny followed, flanked by a curious Becker. Connor and Abby's relationship had always been interesting for lack of a better word. Sarah didn't blame the boys for wanting to find out what was going on.
The situation didn't long to explain. Fixing it was going to be the difficult part.
"I'll talk to her – " said Danny.
"I've already tried that. She won't listen." Sarah replied.
"We could try and keep them apart." Becker suggested.
"We wouldn't be able to keep that up for long." Danny pointed out. "I think or best bet is to hope that Jack says something to Abby."
The group exchanged glances. They were stuck for the time being.
Abby stared at Connor in anger from the menagerie windows. The ADD had been down for almost an hour, they were having to rely on monster reports like when the ARC first started off. It was not the most reliable method and she knew Lester hated being in the dark.
Much to her frustration Connor seemed to have given up on the ADD for the moment and had his head in his hands. He was just sitting there. Abby hoped he had a migraine, it would serve him right. All the same he should be working and still needed to get the ADD fully operational again. Abby walked over to him, intending to chivy him along.
"Connor?"