3/3/08
Title: Forgotten
Chapter: 4 – Reconnecting
Author: Squeezynz
Setting: Post S2Ep7
Pairing: Stabby
Author's Note: Just to clarify. Stephen is known as Steve to Abby, who is known as Abigail to Stephen/Steve. It may seem a stretch that she doesn't recognize him, but he doesn't look the same, behave the same or sound the same. And she's not expecting it to be him, so she doesn't 'see' him.
He doesn't recognize her because she also doesn't look the same, is using her full name not her pet name, and he has amnesia as his excuse.
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The ringing of the phone jerked her out of a dream involving herself, a beach and someone who really knew how to kiss. Muttering to herself, she reached out from under the covers and snagged the offending piece of technology and pulled it to her ear.
"Yeahmmm?"
"Miss Maitland?"
"Speakin'."
"There's a gentleman here who says he's expected."
For a second her brain refused to interpret what the hotel manager was telling her.
"Pardon?"
"He says you were expecting him for breakfast?"
An image flashed into her head of a long lean body served up on a silver platter with nothing more than an apple in his mouth.
"Oh...er...sure...I did?"
"I can tell the gentleman to leave, if you would like?" She heard another voice talking to the manager, then that voice came on the line.
"Hey Abigail, it's Steve...I know you said meet at the library, but the day's too nice to be shut up indoors. I thought you might prefer to do something else."
The slightly hoarse male voice sent a wash of warmth prickling down her body, making her shiver.
"Um...sure...er...has it stopped raining?"
"Yeah. Get dressed, I'll meet you in the dining hall."
"Sure...yeah...see you in a tick."
She continued to hold the receiver even after he'd hung up the other end. After a second to process what he'd said, she practically hurled the phone back onto its holder and scooted out of bed. Flinging back the curtains she could see clear across the lake to the distant hills. Sunlight made her squint and shade her eyes, the sparkling water bringing a smile to her face.
It was too nice to be indoors. Rushing through her morning ablutions, she dithered over what to wear. Her wardrobe was limited at best, Abby not expecting to be doing much other than sitting and researching. She had packed some gear for tramping, in case she had an opportunity to explore, so she donned a pair of black jeans, hiking boots, a thick jumper over a thermal and a long sleeve t-shirt, topping the whole ensemble off with her trademark long scarf, beanie and gloves.
Giving her damp hair a casual glance, she jammed the beanie down on over her dark locks and dashed out the door, her phone and wallet crammed into a small knapsack. She was only on the second floor of the hotel so took the stairs, jumping down two at a time to reach the ground floor flushed and breathless. In all it had only taken her thirty minutes from the phone call to skidding to a halt on the parquet flooring, a record in anyone's books.
At a more sedate pace, she walked into the breakfast room off to the side of the foyer and scanned the room. She spotted him sitting near to one of the huge bay windows that looked out over the grass slope leading down to the lake. He was pretty much wearing what he'd worn the previous day, except the dark cargoes were now a pair of casual fit caramel cords, ending in sensible leather tramping boots.
Taking a detour to the table holding the breakfast choices, she filled a bowl with muesli and fruit, topped with yogurt and snagged a couple of slices of toast. There was already a teapot and mugs at his table so she didn't bother with a hot drink, just wended her way through the tables towards him.
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Stephen sat half turned with his shoulder to the room. He usually opted to have his back fully to the room, to avoid the glances and looks he sometimes intercepted, but he didn't want her to think he wasn't expecting her, so he sat in semi profile, her chair pulled out ready for her.
Just before she reached their table, he looked up and encountered her wide blue gaze, brimming with good humor, her lips pulled back in a welcoming smile.
"Good morning...I'm glad I chose the right stuff to wear." She glanced down and he did likewise, noting that they were both wearing rugged footwear.
"I thought we could take advantage of the fine morning and maybe take a drive, or hike somewhere."
He waited for her to put her bowl and plate on the table before offering to pour her a mug of tea. She smiled her acceptance, shaking her head when he offered the sugar, nodding when he offered the milk.
Abby sipped the scalding brew and hurriedly put it back down. "There are any number of trails that start right from this hotel, if you haven't already done them?"
Stephen shook his head. "Apart from a couple of forays to the hills around Bowness, I haven't done much."
"We could try our luck and see what fossils we can find?" Abby suggested, munching on a spoonful of muesli and glancing out the window at the view.
"I was hoping you might say that," Stephen hoisted his backpack which rattled enticingly. Abby raised an eyebrow, so he flipped back the opening and angled it so she could see inside.
"My landlady had a kit that her son used when he came to visit. Said I could borrow it."
"Cool. So you know what you're looking for?"
"Nope. But she said there was a good site, known to the locals, just up in the hills behind here. She drew me a map."
"Oh good. Can't get lost then." Abby grinned and sipped her tea. She felt energized and excited, feelings that had been missing from her life for a very long time. She had no particular feeling for fossils, having seen the real things in the flesh more times than she cared to remember, but it was a chance to get to know Steve that much better, and she wasn't about to turn down the opportunity.
They finished their breakfast, making inconsequential small talk about the hotel and the location, then rose to leave. Stephen approached the reception while Abby waited by the front door. A few minutes later he joined her, hoisting the back pack and pulling on his gloves.
"They supply an excellent packed lunch for rock hounds," Stephen explained, holding the door for her when they left the hotel, the sun almost blinding in the clear sky. Outside, he pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and studied the lines on it. Abby tried to peer at the map as well, but could read little of the handwritten instructions.
"We take the road around the lake for about half an hour then head up into the hills. Look for a gate with a red tag on one of the bars."
With those simple instructions, they set out walking side by side, the road empty of traffic that early in the day. Abby kept glancing sideways at her walking partner, noticing that with the woolen hat pulled over his usually weed-whacked hair, more of his face was visible in profile. She hadn't mentioned it when she'd first seen him, but she had noticed he'd made an effort to trim and tidy the full beard hiding his jawline and chin. Also, she'd certainly noticed that his mouth was now easily visible, the top lip well defined and the bottom strong and full.
Stephen also noticed her glancing at him and had to suppress a grin. His attempt to neaten his appearance had obviously worked. "I there something stuck in my beard?" He teased when Abby tripped because she wasn't paying attention.
"What? Oh...er...no. Sorry...didn't mean to stare."
He watched the blush stain her cheekbones and thought it adorable. "I thought it was time I took it in hand. Haven't been keeping much company lately, and I tend to get lazy if I don't think anyone is noticing."
That brought a smile to her face. "I noticed."
They walked on a little further and Abby was the first to see the gate described on the map. There was a style to help trampers and they climbed over, into the sloping paddock beyond. The trail now took them diagonally across the field to the far corner, the going now uphill and steep. When they reached the far corner they looked back and stopped to admire the view down Lake Windermere.
"Worth it just for the view!" Abby puffed, her cheeks pink from the exertion.
Stephen was feeling a little blown himself and merely smiled his appreciation. Over the next style and they were in a small wood, the shade welcome after the bright sun. Birdsong was loud as they followed the faint track, the sun dappling the ground, the leaves damp underfoot.
Out of the wood and they faced a steeper climb zig zagging their way up to the summit of the ridge,
Stephen announcing it was known locally as Lickbarrow hill, a series of cropped open spaces and low scrubby bushland with a sudden drop off and exposed rocky scree slopes.
A strong wind was blowing when they reached the top, the view simply breathtaking. It was still only midmorning, so they decided to find a sheltered spot and have a hot drink. A collection of jumbled rocks provided a comfortable lee out of the wind where they sat and admired the view. Stephen unpacked the thermos and poured a cup, handing it to Abby who took it gratefully.
"You said you were working for a company that specializes in the study of extinct species?"
"Ur...yeah." Abby replied cautiously, sipping her drink and starring straight ahead.
"How does that tie in with you working for a Zoo?"
Abby gave a small laugh. "I guess it doesn't, not really. I'm actually here on a research project, looking up information on someone from the more recent past."
"Recent?"
"Sixteenth century to be exact."
"Oh." He let the seconds tick by, then asked another question. "That's the Tudor period, isn't it?"
"That's right, Henry the eighth, and all that."
"Right." Another pause. "This doesn't have anything to do with Dodo's does it?"
Abby swung her head around, a little shocked. "Um...maybe. How did you know that?"
"Not entirely sure. Must have read it somewhere." He sipped the hot tea, blowing on it to cool it down further. "But I'm right aren't I? They were still just about around in the sixteenth century?"
"Yes...the last reported sightings were around the mid sixteen hundreds."
"And that's what you're researching at the library?"
Abby turned away and downed the last of her tea. "Not exactly."
Stephen caught on that she wasn't exactly forthcoming about her work. "I'm sorry, you must think I'm insufferably nosy. Don't worry, I won't ask any more dumb questions."
"No...they weren't dumb. I just...I'm not really at liberty to talk about it."
She found herself under the intense scrutiny of a pair of vivid blue eyes. "A secret? Not on a treasure hunt are you?" He teased, giving her a crooked smile.
"I wish. Would certainly be more exciting that chasing down some long forgotten character who doesn't want to be found." Abby huffed, shaking out her cup before handing it back.
"Curiouser and curiouser," Stephen murmured, screwing the lid back on the thermos and tucking it into his back pack. "Come on Abigail...let's see what the locals have left us to find."
He got up first and held out his gloved hand for her to grasp. He lifted her easily to her feet, but didn't instantly release her, his thumb rubbing softly over the back of her hand before he let her go.
Abby felt a tingle run up her arm, her cheeks still warm from her reaction to his lop sided smile. Up close, as they'd been sitting in the lee of the rocks, she noticed a number of thin scars marring the skin of his face, one bisecting his eyebrow, another running from the inner corner of one eye down the length of his cheek. Most were hidden by the hair or his beard, even his nose bearing an assortment of thin lines as if he'd been scratched by a cat several times across the bridge. They contrasted with the deeper tan from the sun, and looked still shiny and recent. A legacy of his accident she assumed, maybe made when he went through the windscreen of whatever vehicle he'd been in. She assumed it was a car, otherwise what else but glass would mark someone like that.
He led them across the headland to look for the path leading down the face. Looking down, it seemed a mess of rock buttresses and overhangs, interspersed with slippery gravel slopes and goat or sheep tracks. The wind added another dimension by buffeting them as they negotiated the slope, Abby glad of Steve's strong hand when the going got difficult.
Halfway down, Steve stopped on a wider ledge and shucked his back pack. There was a natural, shallow cave that blocked some of the wind and towards the back was the start of a small breakaway leading to a shale scree.
"I'm going to see what I can find here..." He pointed to another part of the rock face, "you could try here...looks promising."
Abby nodded and accepted the hammer he handed to her.
"Keep the strike point away from you, don't hit the rock too hard, and pry rather than smash, okay?"
Abby nodded her understanding, watching as he lay on his side and started to carefully chip away at the layers of shale already loosened by weathering. She approached her area of the rock face and took a moment to inspect the layers, opting for one that looked flaky and easily loosened.
They worked back to back for several minutes before Abby gave a cry of surprise.
"I think I've found something!"
Stephen turned over and sat up, leaning over her shoulder to better see her find. A large flake of rock had peeled away from the face, revealing an unusual pattern imprinted on the palm size specimen.
"Talk about beginners luck...hang on, I'll get a bag." He patted her shoulder and turned to rummage in his pack for the bundle of plastic bags for that purpose.
Abby held the fossil of a plant in her gloved hand and stared at it in wonder. To her eyes it looked like a common fern, complete in every detail down to the curl in the leaf. Steve returned and held open a zip-lock bag for her to slip the slice of rock into. Abby couldn't stop the smile that lit up her face. Under the overhang, she and Steve were in very close proximity, their eyes meeting as he held her prize up for her inspection. They stayed like that for several seconds, suspended in time, until a gust of wind blew a cloud of dust into the small cave, making them both shield their eyes and duck their heads.
"Damn that winds getting up," Stephen remarked, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand. Abby scrambled out of the cutting and used her sleeve to wipe the grit away.
"Maybe we should think about getting back?"
"You want to stop now?" Stephen asked, disappointed.
"No...but I don't want to be caught out in a storm either."
"Of course...you're right." He looked up at the sky, still achingly blue, but further away he could see clouds once more massing over the higher peaks. "Look, why don't we go a bit further down and get out of this blasted wind. Then if it starts to rain we can shelter in that barn," he pointed to a lone building sighted in the far corner of the field that butted up against the base of the ridge.
Abby nodded, no more keen than him to end their day so early. Together they climbed down the steep slope, sometimes on their butts on the slippery gravel, until they reached the bottom. An ancient stone wall marked the start of some farmers property, and acted as a very effective windbreak, as well as collecting many of the rocks that fell down the slope from higher up.
Stephen went to look at the rocks, using a small hammer to split them open. He called Abby over after trying out several rocks, the fifth revealing a hidden treasure in it's heart.
"Who needs to climb mountains when they're laying about on the ground?" He indicated the rock field up against the stone wall, another stone rattling down from above even as they stood there.
"Looks like a great place to have lunch," Abby suggested, peering over the wall to the other side which was lush with green grass. "We could sit here, then hop over and crack some fossils afterwards."
Stephen bagged the fossil he'd found, then joined her on the other side. Here they looked out over a fallow field, the grass long and uncropped for several months. Trees made a shelter belt around the perimeter broken only by the barn in the far corner and a gate down one long length.
Taking off her woolly beanie, Abby scratched at her hair and fluffed it out, the wind making it swirl around her head until she jammed the hat back on again. Stephen was busy getting out the sandwiches and fruit the hotel had provided, a closer inspection revealing one to be chicken, the other ham.
"Which do you prefer?" He asked, holding them out, one in each hand, and moving them up and down just out of Abby's reach. She laughed and snatched one, not bothered which it was, too hungry to care. He grinned back at her, then settled with his back against the warm stones. Down in the shelter of the wall, the wind was shut off as if by a door, leaving them basking in sunshine and listening to the distant lowing of a herd and the twittering of a skylark somewhere high above them.
There was just enough tea in the thermos for one shared cup, which was passed back and forth with more shared glances and half smiles.
"I feel like I'm wagging school," Abby announced after finishing off her sandwich. "It's almost as if there's nobody else in the world but the two of us."
"It is peaceful here. Did you ever wag school?"
"Nope...but I always thought it would be fun, just never had the courage to do it."
"I bet you were a shy kid."
"Me! Shy? Never...miss rowdy, that was me...always disruptive and noisy..."
"Nagh...don't believe it." Stephen grinned at her and she laughed.
"You're right...that wasn't me at all. But I did make up for it later. You wouldn't believe some of the dreadful things I did in my twenties..."
"Oh come on...you can't be more than early twenties even now!"
"Twenty six, if you must know."
"Positively ancient," Stephen murmured, receiving an elbow for his teasing. A fat drop of rain chose that moment to fall into the near empty tea cup with a loud splash.
They both looked up and saw the black cloud about to obscure the sun and shed it's load of rain on them if they didn't move.
"Start running, I'll catch you up...go!" Stephen yanked Abby to her feet and shoved her away in the direction of the barn. While she started to run, he gathered up the scattered lunch things and crammed them in the back pack, not bothering to put it on but carrying it in his hand as he ran after Abby.
"Run Abigail...it looks like a cloud burst!" He shouted after her, his longer stride soon catching her up. The rain spots were starting to come more heavily, fat and wet as together they loped over the uneven ground, heading towards the looming barn on the far side of the field.
Of the two, Abby was probably the fittest, keeping up with Stephen's stride as he labored to reach the barn. They were only a few feet away when he tripped and sprawled headlong, the back pack flying out of his hand as he landed heavily. Abby skidded to a halt and went back for him, the rain starting in earnest and stinging where it hit exposed skin.
"Get up you lump, I can't carry you..." she shouted over the sound of the rain hammering the barn roof. Stephen was winded but staggered to his feet and accepted her help covering the last few feet to the relative protection of the side wall.
"Have...to find...a way...in..." he panted, Abby leaving him for a moment to peer around the corner of the barn, looking for the door.
"Here...around here...come on." she led them around the corner to a side door, smaller than the main door. Their luck held and it wasn't locked, the wind snatching it out of her hand and slamming it back against the wall. Stephen pushed her inside and managed to close the door, the closure plunging them into darkness until their eyes got used to the gloom.
The rain was rattling heavily against the metal roof and sides, only slightly muffled by the mountain of hair piled up two of the walls. Stephen and Abby walked further into the barn looking for somewhere to sit down. Finding two square bales, they used those and gratefully sank down on them.
"Are you alright?" Abby asked, noticing that Steve was still breathing heavily and clutching at his side.
"Not...as fit...as I...should be." He replied, dropping the back pack to the floor and bending double to relieve the pain in his chest.
Abby sat undecided whether to offer more help. She hardly knew the man, but she couldn't sit there if he was in pain. She cast about for something to aid him, and spotted some sacks and a heap of loose straw.
"I'm just going to see about making you something comfortable to lie on, I'll be right back." Not waiting for an answer, she made her way to the pile and started to lay the sacks over the straw to make a semblance of a bed. Remembering that he'd been in an accident, she figured he'd be better off lying down and recovering than pretending he was alright. Satisfied with her efforts, she returned to where Steve still sat, hunched over and breathing heavily.
"Come on, I've made you a bed." She slid her arm under his and tugged. He didn't protest but accepted her help, his lips pressed together as his ribs protested any movement. At last they reached the sacks and he sank gratefully onto them, hissing and clutching at his side until the pain subsided.
"Shit...shit..shit," Stephen muttered, his eyes squeezed shut as he waited for the wave of discomfort to subside. He'd felt the impact of the ground through his entire body, but centered on his chest, the rock he'd landed on finding a bone and cracking it. On top of his chronic lack of fitness, it all conspired to make him feel closer to seventy than thirty, his breathing erratic as he fought the pain.
Abby knew it was more than just a fall causing him so much pain, but was at a lost at what to do for the best. In the uncertain gloom of the barn it was hard to see anything of his condition, only the sound of his harsh breathing an indicator that not all was right. Stripping off her gloves she knelt beside him and rested the back of her hand against his cheek. His skin felt cold and clammy, not a good sign.
Stephen felt her hand touch him and turned to where she sat beside him.
"Sorry Abigail, not exactly how I expected the day to turn out."
"Don't sweat it. It's better than poring over musty books any day."
He laughed, the sound turning into a groan as he jostled his ribs. Abby made a decision and pulled out her phone, but when she flipped it open the screen displayed the error message "searching for signal" and no where she held it changed the message.
"Damn."
"What is it?" Stephen asked.
"The bluff must be blocking the phone signal from the closest tower."
"Who were you thinking of calling?" He asked, the pain starting to recede now he was horizontal.
"An ambulance for starters," Abby retorted, snapping her phone shut and tucking it into her small pack.
"I'll be fine...just need to rest for a bit."
"If you're fine I'm a Scutosaurus!"
"A what?!"
"Big herbivore, late Permian...large anapsid reptile?"
"Of course...I knew that." She could hear the smile in his voice and it warmed her. "I have a feeling you know more about my hobby than I do," he commented, having to speak up over the rain still hammering on the roof.
"Hardly. I prefer the living to the extinct." She mentally crossed her fingers on that little obfuscation, hoping he wouldn't pursue the topic.
He lay there listening to the rain and wondered at the fates placing a woman in his path who just happened to have a knowledge of exactly what fascinated him about fossils, imagining them alive rather than just impressions left behind in geological records. The pain in his chest had eased as he thought it over, taking a deep breath without thinking only to have agony blossom everywhere and rob him completely of his breath. At the same time a bright flash behind his eyes sent him reeling, the barn spinning around his head as voices crowded in on him, all of them shouting at once...
"Don't let go" "Open the door" "How could you keep that from me, for so many years?" "Stephen!"
"Well, are you coming?" "Open the door!" "Poor Stephen..."
"Shut up...for God's sake shut up!" He groaned, his sight narrowing down to a pin prick then blackness and relief from the pain in his head.
Abby heard him groan out loud and thought he was telling her to shut up, but then his body arched in a spasm before relaxing back onto the sacks, his head lolling boneless as he lapsed into unconsciousness. Thoroughly alarmed, she shuffled over to him and cupped his face in her hands. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow, unresponsive to her calling his name and slapping his face. At one point she couldn't be sure he was breathing, panic making her freeze for a second, her own heart pounding in her ears. She leant over him and pressed her ear to his chest, but couldn't hear anything through his thick coat. Calling his name, she unbuttoned the duffel and laid it open, again she tried to listen for his heart but his jumper muffled any sound. Frustrated she lifted the hem of his jumper and wormed her hand up to the middle of his chest, laying it palm flat against his thin undershirt, the heat of his body hot against her fingers.
Now she could feel the faint pulse of his heart against her hand, his chest rising a fraction as he breathed, still unresponsive to her calls for him to wake up. Unsure what to do next, she did up his coat to keep him warm and checked his breathing every few seconds. She had no idea if this was something that happened regularly – a side effect of his accident – or this was the first time. Feeling helpless, she could do no more than keep him company and wait for him to return to his senses. Possibly he was an epileptic and this was a fit, in which case he would recover given time. She had a feeling he'd done something when he took the fall outside, possibly something that affected his chest, but she couldn't be sure. The light was too bad to see any bruising, and anyway she wasn't about to strip the poor man to add to his discomfort. The temperature had dropped several degrees with the onset of the rain despite the shelter of the barn and it was getting colder by the minute.
She would simply have to wait out the storm and his state of insensibility and hope no irreparable damage was being done. She checked her phone again but it still showed no signal, so she shut it in disgust.
What a wretched end to what had started as a perfect day.
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to be continued...
