Characters: Abby, Connor, and Nick
Disclaimer: I am definitely not affiliated with the show in any way nor do I make a profit from this. Also, the kombalagos is a creature that I have invented based on the nagapie and any names of people/creatures that resemble anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.
P/L: A curious little creature from the future has arrived in the care of Abby and Connor however trying to convince Nick to let them take the furry animal home may be out of the question. Will taking the kombalagos back to its home prove disasterous?

III. Goodbye, Little Friend

For a moment Nick said nothing and Abby simply focused her attention on the kombalagos. Surely they knew that this had to happen one day. Slowly Nick said, "Come on guys, this is what we were hoping for, a quick return for the little creature. Now she can go and be with her kind again. Abby..."

But Abby was still preoccupied with petting the little primate who was playfully swatting at her hand and chirping excitedly. Nick let out a little sigh and tilted his head some. "Abby, you can hold her if it will make you feel any better but if you prefer that she stay here well, you're going to have to give her to the scientists so they can do their job."

That would not do. Abby's gaze stiffened and she looked up at Nick with a sudden spark of determination. Cradling the kombalagos close, Abby turned her shoulder to her team leader and replied curtly, "Well we can't let them deprive our little darling from returning home."

The scientists exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what to say. After all, they were only doing their job. However they had little time to dwell on Abby's remarks for the woman promptly marched past them, her head tucked down as she spoke to the kombalagos. Her tone had changed to that of a mother speaking to her child and laughed as the curious little primate continued to try and snatch at her fingers. Seeing this sort of joy in Abby allowed both Connor and Nick to breathe a slight sigh of relief. At least they wouldn't have to worry about her being angry at them.

As they made their way to the truck, Connor quickly caught up to Abby while Nick remained silent in the rear. It seemed inevitable that he would have to face this sort of emotion for when dealing with creatures it was difficult not to get attached to some. And while many of the creatures that had wandered through the anomalies had evoked deep fascination (even the future predators had been something that Nick wanted to study more closely) most of them Nick and team were eager to send back the way they came.

On the rare occasion that the creature was actually docile, it seemed to carry with it something that was quite harmful to both the creature as well as mankind or it had a devilish disposition. The kombalagos had been the only one to not exhibit any of these traits. In fact she had been the most curious of the creatures. Perhaps her future wasn't so distant as they had originally thought. Her mannerism reflected that of a mix between an African bushbaby as well as the Australian koala bear.

And there was no doubting the kombalagos's intelligence. The way she looked about the room, no studied... there was a great amount of intellect behind those abnormally large eyes. And her songs, they sounded like it belonged to both the animal kingdom as well as the human world. Certainly birds sang but a little savannah primate forming human words? Surely this was ridiculous!

"No you can't hold her!" Abby suddenly protested, her words breaking Nick's thoughts. He looked over at her briefly and saw her deliver a forceful slap to Connor's hand.

Immediately Connor yanked his hand away. "I only wanted to hold him for a second! What's with the hitting? Abby!" He quickly opened the back door to the silver truck and darted into the backseat before Abby could smack him again. "Being a bit defensive are we?"

Shrugging, Abby slid into the passenger seat and with a small, apologetic frown she replied, "Sorry Connor, I'm just not sure if this is the right thing or not."

"How could it not?" Connor inquired as he buckled his seatbelt. He leaned forward to get a better look at Abby up in the front as Nick shut his door. Ignoring their leader, Connor continued, "Our job is to protect little creatures like that and because she's not some nasty thing that either wants to take us over or eat us, we can't help but want to keep it."

Though she was listening to Connor's words, Abby sank into her seat and gazed down upon the little kombalagos. Her fingers glided over the velvety fur of the creature while it slowly began to close her eyes. Abby could almost laugh with happiness. "She's such a trusting little creature, like Rex. It is almost as though that she has had prior contact with humans before. Maybe she was tamed in her world..."

"All the more reason to return her," said Connor hopefully. He didn't want to give any reason for Abby to be upset but at the same time he did not want her to deny the kombalagos its homeland. "She could be somebody's pet. After all, we don't know when we're sending her to and who knows, she could be some little boy's pet... and he could be looking for her right now wondering..."

Nick shot Connor a warning glare, immediately rendering the youth silent. He quickly adverted his gaze out the window and remarked cheerfully, "Oh look... that guy with the sign is back on the corner again."

While Abby ignored Connor completely, for a brief moment Nick allowed his thoughts to subside for a brief moment as he looked to the street corner. He noted the sign with absolutely no interest and quickly looked back to the road. However Connor was greatly amused by this appearance and exclaimed, "Hey Abby it's that guy you saved from being eaten by the compys! It seems like nobody can keep him away! What did his sign say?"

Again Abby continued to pay no attention to her colleague and let her fingers stroke even lighter over the kombalagos. Nick's voice filled the vehicle as he responded to Connor with a slight smirk on his lips, "I do believe it said, "Dinos ate my other sign, can I please have a real job?"

"Really?"

Nick laughed and gave a slight nod of his head, "I'll let you come up with a hypothesis on that one Connor." He looked over at Abby and saw that the little one was nearly asleep now. It was amazing how such a little creature could bring comfort to all those who shared its company. In a quiet voice so not to awaken the kombalagos, Nick remarked, "She seems to enjoy the presence of humans."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Abby asked, looking up at Nick. They were nearly at the park now and being that it was one of the first days of spring with decently warm temperatures, cars were abundant in the parking lot.

Nick looked back at Abby and saw the worry in her eyes. "She'll be just fine Abby. You know she needs to go back to where she belongs."

"But something doesn't feel right," said Abby. She looked out her window as they pulled into a parking spot. Families were milling about the area with the small grills lit for a family barbecues. Everyone had a family that they had to return to, even the little kombalagos had kin. With a sigh, Abby undid her seatbelt but sat in her seat for a moment, silently contemplating her options. But then again, what options did she have?

Turning off the engine, Nick turned to Abby and quietly said, "This is the first creature that we have encountered who hasn't been aggressive or shown any signs of danger. She is very easy to love, anyone can see that about her... well, maybe not Lester but he might have warmed up to her if he liked the mammoth...but the point is Abby, she can't stay here. In our world she would be in danger from us but back in her world, she'll have a chance to live the way that nature intended."

"I know but..." Abby let out a tired sigh and looked down at the furry little primate in her arms. The kombalagos was awake and looking up at her with a pleasant smile on her face. Seeing this only made Abby want to keep her even more. "Nick, will you see her through the anomaly? And make sure that she isn't going to get eaten by some sort of futuristic hyena?"

The little kombalagos suddenly lifted her head and chirped with an air of disgust, "Aeh! De'baa... ana bakiah el'debaa!"

This brought a chuckle from Nick despite him not realizing that the kombalagos had understood what Abby had said and had added in her own little disdain for the four-legged predators of the Serengeti. Then he gave a soft sigh and said, "All right, let's get her home. This is what we do."

Abby nodded and tried her best to smile back at Nick but found it hard to do so with her mind constantly protesting this action. She got out of the truck and left the door open so that if she needed to make a hasty retreat, she didn't need to worry about the door blocking her. As she followed Nick and Connor into the woods, Abby stayed near Nick. She had nothing against Connor but at the moment his little jokes about the smell of the barbecues being so strong only wore on her nerves instead of helping to calm them. And to make matters worse, the kombalagos was now fidgety and chirping loudly.

"Bi 'temili eih? La! La-la-la-la!" chirped the kombalagos. They were now at the anomaly and Abby was still trying to calm the creature down by petting her fur.

"Hey, it's all right," Abby spoke quietly to the kombalagos as she lifted her, "You're going home now. And Cutter is going to make sure that you are going to have a safe journey back." She looked over at Nick before handing him the primate.

Nick smiled a little, ignoring the kombalagos's repeated cries. He lifted her to eye level and tried to speak calmly to her, "It's all right, calm down... you're going home now where you belong."

In desperation the kombalagos licked Nick's nose and fiercely nuzzled her furry head against his cheek. But all of her efforts went ignored as Nick chuckled and took her over to the anomaly. The air smelled of smoke but as Nick remembered, there were families about in the park and so surely it was just carrying over. He gently rubbed the kombalagos's fur and told her softly, "It's all right, it's just the barbecues about. You have nothing to fear. I'll take you through the anomaly and you'll see that you're back home safe and sound."

Suddenly the kombalagos jerked her head around and in a shrill voice she exclaimed, "La'aaaa!"

She leapt from Nick's arms, her tail corkscrewing in the air as she bounded across the ground. With a little bound and another swish of her long tail she disappeared through the glittering light. This sudden action of the kombalagos drew a stunned silence from the team. Connor's face fell and he looked to Nick in disappointment.

"I thought she'd want to stick around for at least a little bit." He watched as Abby turned her back to the anomaly. Of course Abby would be the one most hurt by this. She had developed a fondness for the adorable little mammal that had so quickly won over them all. With hesitation marking his steps, Connor approached Abby and let his hand rest on her shoulder. "Abby?"

The woman spun around suddenly, exclaiming, "The smoke is coming from the anomaly! Can't you smell that?"

Closest to the anomaly, Nick tuned his senses towards the phenomenon and slowly walked towards it. The scent was growing stronger with each step he took. As he put his hand up to the anomaly he could feel an extreme heat radiating from the light. This had been even hotter than when he and Stephen had ventured into the desert to rescue the girl from the rocks.

"Stay here," was all Nick said as he stepped through the anomaly.

Abby and Connor exchanged looks. Something terrible was occurring on the other side of that anomaly and they were not going to let Nick face it alone. They quickly raced in after him and instantly upon reaching the new world a scorching heat beat against their faces. So intense was the heat that immediately the pair had to shelter their faces from it. But of what they could see, it was as though they had left reality and stepped into hell.

The horizon was lit with dark orange flames that gingerly licked into the sky and what the flames didn't touch, the thick smoke covered. Their visibility was only made possible by the moving line of fire twenty feet in front of them. To their side it was even closer but neither Abby or Connor had time to evaluate this as they were suddenly pushed back through the anomaly by Nick. Stumbling through the anomaly, Connor coughed harshly against the smoke that had filled his lungs and immediately sank to his knees.

"Cutter... what the hell happened? What was that?"

But Nick had no time to respond for Abby suddenly lunged for the anomaly again, exclaiming, "The fire will kill her! Cutter I've got to go back for her!"

"No, Abby!" Nick caught hold of Abby and pulled her away from the anomaly but the young woman was as strong as she was feisty. It was like trying to calm a cat that was about to get a bath! But fear coursed through Nick as the thought of losing Abby to the fire filled his mind. Using all the strength he had, Nick forced himself between the Abby and the anomaly. And though Abby tried to push past him, the stubbornness of Nick prevailed.

"It's closing..." Connor remarked as he rose to his feet. He wanted to help Nick but at this point he wasn't in favor of getting kicked and instead continued to cough up the smoke that he had inhaled. "Abby, don't go... you can't save her!"

"He's right," said Nick as he tightened his hold on the struggling Abby. "You would only wind up killing yourself..."

"Quitter!" shouted Abby as tears stung her eyes. She could see past Nick's shoulder as the anomaly flickered. Suddenly it seemed to breathe a great sigh before vanishing. Anger surged through Abby's throat erupting into a loud yell.

Nick held her still but relaxed his hold on her. His heart grieved over knowing that the little creature was trapped on the other side now. It had been his fault. He had ignored Abby's pleas and even the kombalagos's cries just before going into the anomaly made sense. Of course the creature had sensed the danger and tried to warn them. But what didn't make sense was why it willingly lept through the anomaly if it knew that nothing but death awaited it?

Abruptly Abby's cries of anger turned into sobs of grief and she wept bitterly over what had happened. When Nick tried to gently rub her back in comfort, Abby weakly pushed his arm away. But she did not try and leave. Her broken heart could not cope with such disaster alone. Abby let her head rest against Nick's shoulder as she cried.

"How could you let this happen?" Abby demanded between her sobs. "How could you!"

"I'm sorry Abby," Nick whispered. His eyes went to Connor, who was now on his feet looking absolutely helpless. Indeed, Nick had failed them all.

"I told you that something was wrong!" Abby exclaimed, "But you wouldn't listen!"

"I'm so sorry Abby, I really am." But even as he spoke those words Nick knew that no amount of apologizing could ever erase what had happened. His eyes fell shut and he struggled against a burning knot of shame and grief. "I'm so sorry."

Abby could say no more and simply let her grief roll endlessly down her cheeks as she wept on Nick.

Meanwhile, down in the parking lot a small grey creature the size of a large cat peered out from underneath Nick's truck at the surrounding vehicles. Her large eyes took in every detail of the place. It was finally safe now. The kombalagos crawled from underneath the truck and with a single bound she landed in the cabin. Now all she needed was a hiding place. Go back to that fiery inferno? Those humans had to be crazier than the ones in her world. Home indeed! The kombalagos knew precisely what she was doing.