Author's Note- Thanks to all reviewers, please keep it up!

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He glared at her, sweat making his dark hair stick to his forehead. She laughed scornfully at him.

"Just tell me how I can get back." He begged, his blue eyes pleading with the woman before him.

"You are funny." She came so close that he could feel her breath on his skin, then she whispered, "They don't want you back."

"Don't be stupid Helen." He growled, though doubt was beginning to form in his mind.

"I was there the other day Stephen." She said, "They're better off without you. She said it herself."

"Who did?" Stephen felt dread pound at him as Helen leant over his shoulder so that he couldn't see her face and grinned as her plan fell into place.

"The blonde one." She whispered in his ear.

"Abby." Stephen whispered, his face drooping.

"Yeah," Helen felt her grin get bigger, "But I want you." She said.

"Get off me!" Stephen pushed her away, "You're a crazy, scheming bitch!"

"Now, now, Stephen." Helen raised her eyebrows, "That's a bit harsh- I'm just protecting you from yourself... and her."

"Abby wouldn't do that."

"Well, a few weeks ago... maybe not, but now?" Helen sighed, "Well, she's got the geek now." She watched Stephen's expression as he thought about it- it did seem possible that Abby would be perfectly happy with Connor, but she would never say that... would she?

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Abby gazed at the photo Cutter had given her.

"Abby..." Connor started as he gave her a concerned glance from across the room. Abby knew what he was getting at, but decided to ignore it. So what if she carried the photo everywhere with her- she was mourning. As she looked at his face she realised how desperately she wanted to see him again. She'd give anything just to see him again, even her own life. It was in that split second that she made up her mind.

That night, she lay awake for what seemed like hours until she knew that Connor was asleep. Then she got up and began to pack the things that she would need for her trip through the anomaly in an old worn backpack...

When she thought she had everything, she got back into bed, her mind ticking. What if it was a trick? A trap? Merely bait in another of Helen's elaborate schemes? What if she was dead by tomorrow? Abby decided that she didn't care- life was barely worth living without Stephen there. Slowly, sleep crept over her body, claiming it and the dream kicked in...

"Abby!" someone called her name. She turned, desperately looking for who it was, but all she could see was white light. It was everywhere and there was nothing else there.

"Abby!" they yelled again, but this time the call was laced with desperation. Abby tried to shout something back, but no sound came out of her open mouth. The whiteness was too much, too bright, too everything that it scared her. Abby ran her fingers through her hair, panic beginning to set in as she realised that there was no way out. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the white, but the darkness was just as overwhelming as the white on the outside, so she opened them again. But the glaring white had gone and she was standing on thin air. Suddenly the same image passed her over and over again. It was a white circle with two parallel lines going through the middle. Abby stared at each repeated image until she thought that it was imprinted on the insides of her eyelids.

"Abby?" someone said again, though it was a different voice now and closer. Then, a door appeared. Through it, she could hear hushed voices and, though she could only hear one word, that word, meant the world to her. The word was "Stephen". Abby started towards the door and reached out to the handle when someone called her name again.

"ABBY!" Connor shook her awake, spluttering and gasping for breath.

"Something's not right!" she shook with fear in Connor's arms and he held her close, shaking his head.

"Abby, you're scaring me." He whispered.

"Connor, listen." Abby said, "Something's wrong. They're gonna do something to Stephen. Stephen's in danger." She whimpered. Connor looked at her sadly.

"Abby..." he said gently, "Stephen's dead." Abby didn't speak. She knew that. But she didn't want it to be true, not after waking up for so many mornings and wishing it to be a dream. After the meeting with Helen nearly five days ago, Abby's life and emotions had slowly fallen apart. She knew that Stephen was dead, but she didn't intend him to be for much longer- not if she went through with it.

"You…" Connor hesitated, "you do know that don't you, Abby?" she nodded slowly.

"Yeah," she muttered after a pause, "Please, Conn, I just had a bad dream- that's all. Go back to bed and don't worry about me." She sighed.

"Yeah," Connor looked at her again, before getting up and walking to the door. He watched her lie back down and pull the duvet back over her cold body, heaving a huge sigh before going into the kitchen and dialling Jenny's number into his mobile.

"Connor?" she answered warily, "Why are you calling at this time in the morning?"

"It's Abby." He said in a hushed voice so she couldn't hear, "I'm really worried about her and I just don't know who to talk to."

"Oh, Connor," jenny sighed sympathetically, "What's wrong with her now?"

"She was having bad dreams again," Connor admitted quietly, "Yelling and screaming in her sleep."

"But that's happened before," Jenny pointed out.

"But it was worse this time- she's really beginning to get to me. It's like... I dunno... But I thought that she'd get over it, if slowly, but she'd get over it, but she's just getting worse... not better. I'm really worried about her."

"I know Connor, so am I. I wish she'd accept the time off that Nick's offered her, but she won't have it- you know what she's like with all the "I'm not ill" stuff."

"I'm not so sure about that- I think she may be getting that way." Connor said, his voice catching in his throat as he remembered, "When I woke her, she said: "Something's wrong. They're gonna do something to Stephen. Stephen's in danger.""

"Who's they?" Jenny wondered.

"I don't know. She said that it was just a dream- denied everything, but just seconds before, it had seemed very real- like she meant it. It was like... it was like she didn't know he was dead, like she was in denial..."

"Maybe she is." Jenny said. Connor sighed again.

"We'll keep a close eye on her tomorrow. In the meantime, just... take care of her and call me if something else happens." Jenny advised, before ending the call. Connor put his mobile on the table and bit his lip, deep in thought. He could remember what Abby was like when Stephen was still alive. When he had died, it was like she had died with him- the girl too alive to die had perished with the man she loved.

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Please review!! Constructive criticism welcome. I've given up on bribery and turned to begging instead. Please??