Blink once and four weeks pass by. Anyway, here goes Chapter two, enjoy reading and as always, reviews – positive or negative – are very much appreciated =)

Caitlyn Evans considered herself a very curious person, sometimes going as far as almost getting in the way of her professionalism as a doctor. She insisted on the 'almost' in that thought though and others – especially the people in charge - must have agreed with this or else she wouldn't be working in a covert government operational basis. But this case was something different, she knew that right from the beginning, as her boss himself informed her of her next patient and her curiosity had only been fuelled when Sir James Lester explicitly told her to not write a report. The young woman had doubts if Connor Temple would show up at all and after he did, if he would agree to her conditions. Of course, Lester was right in the end and now she found herself waiting the fourth consecutive day without her special patient checking in. She began to muse whether Connor maybe would simply take his medicine and just avoid her from now on, yet the part of his files that weren't available for her, including a brief psychological profile, didn't fit to that thought.

As she lingered on that thought, the doctor heard a faint knock on the stained glass door, as if the person who knocked hoped that no one would hear it.

Testing her detective skills, she answered, "Come in, Mr. Temple!"

The door opened to a small gap and a raspy voice said, "Only if you stop calling me that."

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, but made a mental note of the joke, as it was good sign. Perhaps some nights of good or at least better sleep had already helped him a bit, not that she believed he was fine by a long shot. Plus, if he now had already pushed the thoughts about the mission in Peru aside a little, it would sadly be more difficult and painful to bring them back to the front of his mind. Yet she didn't have a choice…

"Come in, Connor!" she finally replied and so he did. He looked a little bit better, but nervous, too. "Please, take a seat." She added and gestured towards the chair in front of her desk. It didn't come close the big stretches, which psychologists always had in the movies, but it was modern design, made from black leather and had comfy armrests, that would have to do. In general her office didn't do much for atmosphere. It was a simple, rectangular room without huge bookshelves and antiques all across the room and no dim lights. It looked more clinically clean than anything else, with the desk made from glass and bright, illuminated ceiling panels. She liked it that way and if she was lucky, Connor wouldn't associate it with being at shrink's place. He did as she asked and sat down slowly. She also sat back down again after she had stood up when her patient had entered the room.

When their eyes with silence, she gave him a friendly smile. "Thank you for coming. You can call me Caitlin by the way. If there's anything you feel like saying, even when I' talking or explain something, feel free to do so, okay?" He nodded. "Good. So, where do you want to begin?"

He hesitated. "I… actually I don't really want to begin anywhere. Tried most of the time the past few days not to think about it." Connor looked at her sheepishly and began to fidget with his gloves.

Maybe this was going to be a little harder than she expected. "Then you don't mind me asking you some questions, do you?" Caitlyn gave him a wink and smiled again.

The palaeontology student in front of her blinked a few times and a slight hue of red formed on his cheeks. "Guess not." He mumbled.

"Then tell me something about yourself. Since your files are classified I will have to get to know you the old-fashioned way." Another well-trained smile.

That was a little bit of a lie but it was for a good cause. She had to establish a relationship in which he felt safe; that was the most important right now and additionally it would give her an idea of how he saw himself, what his role in the team was and where he felt he belonged.

Connor shrugged, seemingly having resigned to the thought of really doing this. "Well, my name's Connor Temple, I'm 24 years old and I was born in Blackburn. Before joining the anomaly-team I studied palaeontology at the London Metropolitan University and Professor Cutter was one of my professors. That's how I got to know him and Stephen in the first place; Stephen was his lab assistant. When I wasn't studying or in classes I played a lot of videogames or I was hung out with my friends Tom and Duncan." He shrugged again, as if it was a signal that he was done.

It was a very generic introduction, like one you would tell at a meeting or a job interview of some sorts. But she would have to work with it gave him a nod. "And now? What do you do in your free time?"

"Mostly hoping that no anomaly opens and I get to have free time." He made it sound like a joke, but the way he couldn't laugh about it revealed the truth behind it.

Nonetheless she smiled to acknowledge the effort and made a hand gesture that he could continue. "Please, continue."

"Not that much, I guess." He said. "Still, lots of videogames, I do some tweaking on my database of prehistoric creatures. Sometimes Abby and I watch a movie together."

"What about your friends? Do you still see them? Are you going out sometimes?" she pressed the topic further.

Connor sighed and shook his head. "Not really. I'm not the club and party kind of guy. Plus, ever since Tom's… death, Duncan and I didn't see each other a lot."

"I'm sorry – I didn't know that…" the sympathy in her voice was meant honestly. "Who's your go-to person then? With whom do you share your thoughts and problems?" She added after he had frowned at her for the first question.

She could see the thoughts running through his mind. The longer he took to phrase his next words, the more interesting it got. A person that thinks hard about a question either honestly doesn't know an answer or is looking for one himself or it takes a lot of time for said person to construct a lie, an excuse or something else to divert from the real answer. He let out another sigh while resting his elbows on his knees and putting his head in his hands. Connor rubbed his eyes before tucking a fallen strand of hair behind his ears again and looking back up at her.

"If it's something important, Cutter would hear me out. And… I think I could talk to Abby."

It wasn't a lie, at least Caitlyn assumed that. "You could" she repeated after him. "But you didn't talk to neither of them about Peru, right?"

Connor swallowed at this. "Well, no. I-"

"Why not?" she interrupted him.

"I… can't!" His voice broke over the word. "I just can't." he said once more as drooped his head low.

The doctor slowly stood up and made her way around the table. The clicking sound of her shoes' heels was the only thing that could be heard in the office. When she got to him, Caitlyn carefully put her hand on Connor's shoulder, trying not to startle him. It was a personal gesture, one that indicated sympathy and understanding. She let her hand rest there for a few more moments before began speaking.

"Okay, Connor. There's nothing wrong with that." She gave him a gentle pat on the back before resting her hand there. "It would just make it easier for you if you'd talk to someone. That's even scientifically proven."

He looked back up at her and gave her a weak smile. "Can't argue with science, can I?" He murmured. "I just can't tell them about my problems."

"Then tell me. You'll feel better, I promise." She said softly.

Connor hesitated. Once again Caitlyn could see the gears shifting behind his eyes. "Okay." He finally gave in.

"Good." Her smile couldn't be more sincere. "But let's not rush anything yet. Maybe we can begin with why it's hard for you to talk to your teammates, okay?"

He looked conflicted, but he gave her the nod she needed. "Alright. What do you want to know?"

She took a few steps back and made a small circle through the room so that she ended up behind her desk again and leaned on the back of her chair. "You work with Jenny Lewis, Stephen Hart, Professor Nick Cutter and Abby Maitland, is that correct?" When he nodded once more, she added: "Then let's go through one by one… Jenny Lewis is first. What's keeping you from talking to her?"

Connor rubbed his neck uncomfortably with his right hand. He didn't like to talk about other people behind her back. "Well, that's easy to explain. I don't really know her. She has only been with us for… I don't know, 3 weeks? And she doesn't seem very eager to get to know us. I guess she's a real professional unlike the rest of us."

This time Caitlyn was the one nodding. "I understand."

"Aren't you writing any of this down?" he asked suddenly.

She was caught a little of guard by his question. "What? Oh, no. We said this was unofficial and that means no reports. Also, I like to think have a pretty good memory." She replied.

"Oh, okay." Connor simply said and leaned back, seemingly more relayed with that answer.

"Back to topic, then." Exclaimed Caitlyn. "What about Stephen Hart. You know him since the beginning of the project."

At this Connor weighed his head. "A little longer than that, but yes, we never talked much before the anomalies appeared. And… I'm not sure. I mean we know about him and Helen, Cutter's ex-wife-" He saw her questioning looks and explained: "Apparently she had an affair with Cutter's ex-wife when they were still married. That was hard for all of us to find out, we never thought that… I don't know, he just lost our blind trust with that."

When he hesitated to continue, she urged him on. "But that's not all there is?"

"No… You know, in high school he would be the popular, cool guy. I never really liked those, but that's not it. I think he's really great, despite his mistakes. This must sound so stupid, but I don't want him to see me as weak or as dead weight, for whatever reason, you know?" He shook his head as if he was angry with himself for that.

'It's getting interesting now.' Caitlyn thought. She was slowly grasping the social structure of the team, which would probably be the key to solving his problems. "I see…" She replied in a neutral manner. "The Professor?"

"Cutter is… kind of up the same alley. I mean he's not like the cool guy or something, but he has a brilliant mind and he is our leader, at least a little bit. When things got close he always kept us together until now." Connor spoke with the admiration sitting clearly in his eyes. "Though ever since he went through an anomaly and returned, something has happened to him…" Connor thought for a short moment before he continued. "He seems to be out of it somehow and he became more distant. Then again it isn't that new for him to lock himself in his office. I- I just feel like he has enough burdens on his shoulders already and shouldn't have to deal with mine, too." He let out his breath on the last word; making it obvious it wasn't easy for him to talk

"Okay. We're really making progress here, Connor." She encouraged him. "You're doing great. Now, just Abby Maitland and we are almost done for today. As far as I know, you live with her. She appears to be a reasonable choice for someone to talk to."

"I can see why you' think that." He gave that thought a chuckle but it faded quickly. "Sorry to disappoint you though. I guess it's just not how… it works with her."

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes. "Define 'it', please."

His face began to flush red. "See, Abby and I-"

Her eyes widened with false realisation. "Are you two…?"

"No, no!" Connor said that louder than he meant to and ducked his head awkwardly afterwards.

Then it dawned on her. "Oh… but you wouldn't mind. Rather the opposite."

He confirmed that theory by giving her a nod, preferring not to say anything at the moment.

Instead, the doctor spun her previous thought further. "And… you don't want her to think less of you." She said, more statement than question.

"Are you sure you aren't psychic?" Connor asked and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Look, you're right. Plus, she just seems like nothing can faze her. In Peru, Blaine - a soldier and a good man – bled to death in her arms after saving her life." He shuddered just thinking about it. "And Abby… I mean yes, she was a little bit quiet for a few days, but now she just keeps going. It's like I'm the only one who can't get over what happened."

Caitlyn waited a few seconds, making sure he had nothing to add. Then she said "Alright, Connor. I think we got very far today and I don't want to strain you any further. Did I scare you too much for a second appointment?"

He shook his head. "Wasn't as bad as I expected. You know. Lying on a leather couch with my eyes closed and stuff."

That got a chuckle out of her. "Good to hear. If you want, we don't have to be here to talk. How about I give you my number and when you're ready again you give me call."

She didn't even wait for his mumbled "Okay" before scribbling down the digits on a post-it note.

"Thanks. See you soon then." He said and extended his arm towards her to take the piece of paper.

"Hopefully." She said and waved her hand when he left her office closed the door.

A few moments went by before the door opened again, this time without a knock.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Evans. Can you give me good news about Mr. Temple's condition?" Of course it was Sir James Lester.

She nodded. "Indeed I can, Sir. He has been sleeping better thanks to the medicine I gave him and from what I got today I think the psychological issues can be resolved over the course of the next weeks. He'll be fully up to scratch next month."

"Very good. Go on, then." Lester said and then left the room.