Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.

Any references to people, places, businesses, etc. are entirely fictitious.

Rex

believe

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Connor felt drained by the time he got home. It was far later than usual, and he was glad at first that Jack had fed both Sarah and Tommy and put them to bed. Glad until he saw the sink. Connor picked up the yellow peels and turned to look at his brother-in-law.

"Bananas?" asked Connor. "Seriously? That's what you fed them for dinner?"

"Sarah had cereal too," replied Jack. He picked the empty plastic bowl up off the table and tossed it towards Connor. "They're both a pair of monkeys anyway."

The little pink bowl bounced off Connor's hand causing him to drop the banana peels. The dark haired scientist sighed and knelt to pick up both the bowl and the peels. Jack looked at him curiously.

"Are you all right?" asked Jack. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Connor looked up at the sandy haired man. How was he supposed to tell Jack that a younger version of his sister had arrived in London from an alternate universe?

"In a way," began Connor, "I sort of have, only she's not a ghost."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lester stared at the young woman seated across his desk. Her face was so familiar, but there was no bright smile and the blues eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle. The bureaucrat swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking.

"We'll have to get you some new identity papers," began Lester, "but we've got a place for you to stay."

"New identity papers?" asked the young woman.

"We've already had an Abby Temple in this timeline," reminded Lester. "And while you look like her, she would have been thirty-six next month. We don't want to confuse anyone that knew her."

Realization dawned on the blonde as she began to understand what Lester meant.

"You can stay at the high rise," added Lester. At the woman's expression, the bureaucrat explained. "The ministry of Temporal Affairs maintains a flat for visitors from other ARC locations across the world. It's currently available."

"But I want to go home," objected the blonde.

"Your home," reminded Lester gently, "was ten years ago, in another timeline."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Danny took the blonde over to the posh flat. The dark haired archeologist smiled brightly as she pointed out the shiny metal kitchen appliances. Sarah opened the refrigerator. She quickly shut the door on the bare shelves and opened the freezer compartment. Two ice cube trays sat on the empty shelves.

"Right," said Sarah with a forced smile, "what's your favorite takeaway?"

Sarah flipped open her cell phone and called in the order for delivery. Danny shook his head as she hung up.

"Can't believe there was no food in the fridge," muttered the former copper.

"Jess is on maternity leave," reminded Sarah.

"What?" exclaimed Danny looking puzzled.

"Who's Jess?" asked the petite blonde.

"Jess is the best field coordinator you'll ever find," answered Sarah. "If she had been working there would have been food in the fridge and the freezer. You better check the bedroom for sheets."

The blonde disappeared down the corridor towards the bedroom while the dark haired woman turned to Danny.

"You met Jess eight years ago, remember?" asked Sarah.

"Yeah, bright young woman, high heels," nodded Danny, "when I spoke to Lester, she was running the ADD."

"Yeah," agreed Sarah, "that was right before you left again."

Danny's jaw dropped for a moment at Sarah's tone, but before he could respond to Sarah's comment, the blue eyed woman returned.

"There are clean sheets, blankets, towels and all sorts of bath things, including a robe," said the petite woman, "but I'm going to need something to wear tomorrow for work."

She plucked at the tattered shirt she was wearing and sniffed.

"I smell," added the woman.

"Work?" asked Danny.

"I work at the ARC," replied the blonde, "remember?"

For a moment, Danny wondered if he still worked at the ARC, but then the doorbell rang. The delivery person arrived. Sarah paid the man and turned to face the pair of time travelers.

"Hungry?" asked Sarah.

Over dim sum and vegetable lo mein, Sarah brought Danny and the blonde up to date on the year 2019.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Jenny arrived at the club in time for the first set. The music was great and if she hadn't been waiting for Michael, she might have accepted some of the invitations she received to dance. At intermission, the smiling musician joined her at the tiny table for two.

"How was work?" asked Michael.

Jenny rolled her eyes. She picked up the slender glass from the table in front of her. Most of the beverage was already gone.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," chuckled Jenny in response.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Becker took off his heavy black boot and set it quietly on the floor next to the other one. He then began to peel off his wet socks. Through the open bedroom door, he could see into the hallway. Jess exited the baby's bedroom and pulled the door shut behind her.

"Ssh," admonished his wife as the cat entangled itself between Jess's ankles and started to meow. "Georgie's sleeping."

Jess headed towards the bathroom and Becker heard the sounds of squeaky faucets turning, followed by a rush of water. The soldier began to peel off his wet shirt. The damp fabric clung to his chest and then got stuck on his head. He heard Jess giggle.

"Let me help," said Jess as she began to tug on the fabric.

The shirt finally released the soldier and Becker found himself staring at his wife. As always, the sight of Jess took his breath away. Jess's dark hair was pulled off to one side where Georgie couldn't pull it. The bright floral button down shirt Jess wore was stylish and summery, and made it easy for her to nurse the baby. Her body had changed some with childbirth and motherhood, but in Becker's eyes she was more beautiful than ever.

"So tell me," began Jess, "what's she like? Is she anything like the real Abby?"

"Huh?" asked Becker. "How did you hear about that woman?"

The soldier had only just arrived home from the second anomaly outing of the day and hadn't had time to tell Jess anything about the arrivals from the first anomaly.

"Oh puh-lease," replied Jess with a roll of her eyes, "I have my sources."

Becker arched one eyebrow up as he thought about Jess's statement. He knew Connor wouldn't have said anything about the woman, and Emily had been out today. Jenny, decided Becker, was the most likely source of Jess's information.

"So you want to know about the woman Danny brought back from the cretaceous," said Becker in a teasing tone, "before you ask why your husband is all wet?"

Jess shook her head with a knowing smile.

"A giant lizard knocks you into the Thames River," replied Jess, "and I have three different people calling to tell me you're alright and two send pictures from their cell phones."

"It wasn't just a lizard," replied Becker, "it was a megalania. The biggest land lizard known… or at least that's what she said when we brought the creature back to the menagerie."

Jess looked up at Becker.

"So this other Abby," said Jess hesitantly, "she's good with creatures, like our Abby?"

"God, don't call her Abby," replied Becker, "Lester and Connor will have a fit, but yeah, she's good with the creatures. Especially Rex."

"Rex?" asked Jess.

"Yeah," replied Becker. "When we brought the megalania into the ARC, the woman followed us into the menagerie. Kept telling us we shouldn't treat a lizard like that… as if we had a choice while we were trying to get that creature under control..."

"And how does Rex fit into this story?" interrupted Jess as she moved towards the door.

"Well you know how Rex has been droopy, not chirping much and sort of just not being himself," said Becker as he began to wiggle out of his wet cargo pants, "ever since… you know."

"Yeah," replied Jess. She looked at her husband. Her chin trembled just a bit. "I know."

Becker looked at his wife. Yes, he knew Jess understood. They both worried about Connor and the children, even Rex and Jack sometimes, but Becker worried about Jess. She had lost her best friend nearly eight months ago. He inhaled deeply and pretended they were only talking about Rex.

"Well the little green guy saw her and took off," continued Becker. "Rex flew straight across the menagerie and jumped into her arms and began chirping like crazy."

His trousers dropped to the floor around his ankles and Becker stepped out of the wet clothing, stepping towards Jess.

"Hot bath should be ready by now," replied Jess.

She led him by the hand towards the bathroom. Becker sank into the steaming warmth with a grateful sigh as Jess turned off the faucets. Jess began to slip out of her clothes.

"What did Connor say when Rex flew towards her?" asked Jess.

"Nothing, he wasn't there," replied Becker. The soldier held his hand out towards Jess. "Connor left the ARC as soon as Matt called to say we were on our way back."

"Maybe she'll be alright," said Jess as she took his hand and stepped into the hot soak bath. "Abby always did say that Rex was a good judge of character."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Danny followed Sarah to her car. The talk over dinner of the events of the past eight years had been somewhat overwhelming. Connor and Abby finally getting together was something the red head would have bet money on. And while Danny was glad that Becker had finally gotten a girlfriend, a wife now, it was surprising to think of the taciturn soldier as a married man that could change a nappy as easily as he could take apart and clean a Mossberg.

"You know," began Danny as Sarah inserted the key in the ignition, "I wasn't expecting to be gone this long."

"Nobody's saying goodbye," said Sarah. The archeologist turned to look at him. "That's what you said before you went into that awful anomaly."

"I wasn't saying goodbye," agreed the redhead with a nod.

"But when you came back again," said Sarah, "you left right away."

"My baby brother," said Danny, "I had to…"

Sarah tilted her head sideways and regarded him quizzically. When she had first arrived at the ARC earlier this evening, the archeologist had just been so glad to see Danny that she hugged him impulsively, but now, Sarah needed to know where she stood with him.

"Are you going away again?" asked Sarah. "Is Patrick more important than me, than us?"

"No!" exclaimed Danny. "Nothing, no one, is more important than you."

"Then why did you leave?"

For a moment, Danny's shoulders slumped. His craggy face crumpled, then he sighed and straightened up.

"What's a beautiful, smart woman like you want with an old codger like me?" asked Danny. "I'm at least twelve years older than you, maybe more now."

Sarah's smile curled up in a smirk. Laugh lines crinkled around her dark eyes. She turned the key and the engine started.

"You've been gone a while Danny," reminded Sarah as she backed the car out of the space. "I've had a few birthdays to catch up. I'm forty now."

"Really, you haven't aged a bit," said Danny. An answering smirk starting to grow across his face. "So where do we go from here?"

"Our place," replied Sarah.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

At the high rise apartment, the blonde woman made up the huge bed with crisp white sheets smelling faintly of the lavender scented shelf paper in the linen closet. Her damp hair was drying quickly in the dry climate controlled air of the flat. The filthy clothing she had worn from her time, to the cretaceous, through half a dozen other timelines, to this present, was now in the bin. The woman shivered out of the bathrobe she was wearing before climbing into the big empty bed.

"I don't want a new name," whispered the woman. "And I don't want this fancy flat, I just want to go home."

Her fingers grasped the chain around her neck and pulled the dangling rings up in front of her eyes. She had thought that seeing Connor fall from that tree was the worst thing she would ever see, but that picture on the other Connor's desk… the picture of what might have been… what should have been… what would never be for her and Connor... in some ways that was almost worse.

"Oh Conn," whispered the woman.

-x-x-x-x-x-x