He loves her.

But of course he loves her, he has probably loved her since the moment he laid eyes on her. Since the first witty remark came out of her mouth. Since the first time that she saved his life or that he saved hers. She made him feel like he wanted to be a better person. She made him feel complete. Whole.

He loves her.

His body hurts. He's in better shape than when he first joined the team, but falling from a tree still does it's damage. He winces as he struggles to get more comfortable in the tree that they've decided to spend in the night in.

He hopes Danny is okay.

He hopes Sarah and Becker aren't worry too much. (Of course they are, you fool.)

He hopes Helen Cutter is dead.

"...think of your happy place..."

He opens his eyes and studies Abby for a moment. His Abby. Hurt and terrified (not that she would ever admit it), and trying to comfort him. His heart swells then aches for a moment and he wants to do nothing more then to close the gap between them and hug her because he's terrified and the touch of her skin has always managed to calm his nerves.

"A nice, sandy beach."

Connor always has loved the beach. Even though he burns bright red, and there's lots of sand and it's hot, there's some deep buried, happy memory of the beach that he can't quite place but that always makes him smile a little. Even fifty feet up in a tree, millions of years in the past.

"Are you there?" Wondering if he's crossing a line but in the end not caring.

There's a smile in her voice. "If you'd like."

"Are you wearing a bikini?" He's probably going to get hit for it., but the words slip past his lips before he even realizes what he's saying.

There's laughter in her voice this time, soft and hesitant.

"If you'd like."

His beach is bright and sandy white, the sun is beating hotly down on him, but it's okay-he won't burn. He's standing with his feet in the water and it feels like Heaven. Beside him stands Abby in a yellow halter top bikini-he's not sure if he's seen it around their flat or if it's out of some other fantasy. Regardless, she looks magnificent.

"See you in the morning," she whispers through the space between them.

Something screams in the distance and he wants to pull her to him, comfort her, even though he's really the one that needs the comforting.

"I hope."

That night he dreams of Cutter.

It's not so unusual, Connor has dreamed of Cutter on and off ever since his death. Mostly he dreams of sitting there in the fire with Cutter, watching the only man who ever believed in him die. Watching the only father figure he ever had die.

This dream is different.

Cutter is on his beach with him.

"Hey," Connor says softly. That's how he always starts these dreams, because he's never really sure what to say when he dreams of the dead man.

Cutter smiles. He's looking out to the ocean.

"This is quite a mess you've gotten yourself into," the professor says and even if it is a dream, his voice sounds so real and Connor can't help but smile because it's Cutter.

"Yeah. I guess so. I don't know-" Connor's voice hitched suddenly. "I don't know how we're going to get out of this one."

Cutter nods. "You'll find a way."

"I'm not sure," Connor whispers. "I'm hurt Cutter, I could barely keep Abby safe, what if I fail, what if she-"

A small smile crosses Cutter's face, but he keeps his eyes on the horizon. "You will keep Abby safe, Connor, because you want to so badly. Because she is that important to you. And you will find a way out of here, out of this, because you are a genius, Connor Temple."

Connor laughs, darkly. "I don't feel like one, Professor."

Cutter tears his eyes from the horizon and turns to face the younger man. He grips the young man tightly on both shoulders and forces him to look him in the eyes.

"Connor, you solved the mystery of the artifact. You created a machine that tracks the anomalies and another that locks them. You-"

"Fell out of a tree and almost became raptor bait."

Cutter smiles, that little half smile that Connor misses. "You will find a way out of this. I know it."

Connor tries to smile.

"And Abby. Give Abby some time. She'll come around."

Connor looks up to thank the Professor, but he's gone with a whisper of something like feathers and sighs and he finds himself alone on his beach again.

The world tilts on it's side and he's home again, not Abby's home, not the dorm, but home. Home where he grew up. Home where his father died and his mother drank herself into oblivion.

Home is where the heart is, he thinks and then laughs because his heart hasn't been here in ages.

He sees his mother sitting on the couch with a bottle of rum and she's crying and his heart sinks.

"Mom," he whispers but she doesn't hear and he's falling from that damn tree again and the ground rushes up to meet him and somewhere he can hear Abby screaming.

Connor never believed in God. He never could believe in some omnipotent being that watched over them all. Watched over them but wouldn't help them. Wouldn't save them. He always had trouble believing that someone had created all of them, not that they had evolved. Maybe he was too science minded, but that was the truth.

But when he fell from the tree, he wondered vaguely if he was going to die. He'd wondered it a hundred times now-face to face with Giganotosaurus, watching as a deadly fungus creep towards him as the temperature dropped, on the wrong end of a sword protecting Abby's dinosaur-but for some reason, falling through the air, the thought hit him again.

He wouldn't mind dying, except that it meant that he would never see Abby again. He didn't believe in God, he didn't believe in Heaven or Hell, but that didn't mean that it wasn't possible that they did exist. He also hadn't believed that dinosaurs could walk the modern day Earth or that Abby would ever kiss him, but both of those things had already happened. Who knew what was possible?

"Just stay with me," Cutter whispered.

And he stayed.

He's on his beach again, with Abby. She isn't wearing her bikini anymore, but she still looks beautiful. Short skirt, black leggings, tank top, combat boots. His Abby.

They're standing, facing the ocean. He sneaks a glance at her. She's smiling against the sunshine, smiling like he hasn't seen her smile in years.

"I love you," Abby whispers.

It's just a dream.

He smiles.

"I love you too," he whispers back.