AN: So those lines I said would be in this chapter? I lied. They'll be in the next chapter 'cause I don't want to rush anything. :p Sorry for the wait, though it was shorter this time! Things. Stuff. Anyway.
She knew he was there. call her crazy but Abby was pretty sure the hairs standing up on the back of her neck meant Connor was somewhere nearby. And she felt bad for giving him the cold shoulder- giving her dead husband's spirit the cold shoulder, hah- but she just needed time to think.
His death...it was hard to deal with, and knowing that he'd decided to stay with her instead of going on or whatever, it was just a bit much to deal with at the moment.
Getting back into the field helped, a lot, even though things were all off because Connor wasn't there and the two of them used to work together like cogs in a machine and she had to remind herself not to call his name.
After a few days back, however, curiosity, and some other jumble of emotions, made her want to break the silence between them. Abby wanted to know why, how, the specifics to his current state...especially the why.
With his limitations in mind, Abby worked quietly and didn't look in the direction she guessed he was, until it was time to go home and she headed to the car, still ignoring him though the sun was setting as she drove. Finally they were at the flat, and she resolutely headed to the sofa, sitting down in her seat and turning towards his. Trusting that he was there and she didn't look like a fool- and, well, if she did then who was there to see her but Connor anyway?
"Conn?" Abby asked, eyes searching for his. After a few seconds, he slowly faded into sight, his eyes warm and loving and alive, and, disconcerted, she dropped his gaze. "...Why?"
He swallowed- nervously - and when she met his eyes again he looked at her like he wasn't sure what to say.
"I dunno where to start." She'd expected his voice to rasp from disuse and wondered at the lack of it- was it just a spirit thing, or had he been trying to talk to her for days, too unsure to actually make it so she could hear him? He was Connor, of course it was the latter, wasn't it? Abby smiled at him, and he couldn't help but smile back, a little less nervous now.
"Why did you decide to stay?" She asked quietly.
"Because I didn't want to leave you," he answered immediately, and tilted his head slightly. Like it should've been obvious.
Abby chuckled. Connor flickered like a hologram fading out, and her face fell.
"Q-and-A time over, I guess?" She said lightly, trying to inject humor into her tone. He nodded, expression twisted with regret. With a small sigh Abby leaned over and pressed her lips to his- and felt the touch, just for a moment, before he was just gone. She closed her eyes and pretended that those weren't tears running down her cheeks.
xXxX
Connor touched his lips and felt like crying watching her cry. Frustration burned, he felt inept and useless.
That's okay, he reminded himself, even though... not so much right now. But not needing to protect her is a good thing.
"It means she's not in danger she can't get herself out of. Which is a very good thing." Connor said out loud.
It didn't help as much as it ought to have, since he was still floating here watching his wife cry.
For the hundredth time or so Connor wished he wasn't dead.
Abby took a deep, shuddering breath and calmed herself, managing a small smile in his direction.
"I'm okay." She said, whether to herself or him neither of them was sure, and neither fully believed it. But that was ok too.
Rex swooped down from sunbathing in the rafters and settled on her shoulder's, chirping, and Connor counted the seconds 'till the Diictodons would come running in. He grinned when, as he got to three, he could hear the pitter-patter of their claws on the wood growing louder. Connor watched them, feeling more comforted by this than by any words. Abby smiled at Sid and Nancy when they rushed right over to her, one clambering onto her lap, the other sitting on her foot, and she stroked Rex.
xXxX
He zoned out, the closest he could get to sleep, a couple of times that night, floating an inch above his side of the bed, 'woken' more than once when Abby rolled over and reached out for him in her sleep, her arm going right through his spirit's form.
He was happy to see her sleep through the night, though.
One of the thoughts he kept coming back to was a worry that despite how well-intentioned and heartfelt his choice to stay, what if he was hurting Abby by sticking around instead of going on and letting her move on?
But then it's really too late and making another impulsive decision without at least her input would leave her alone all over again... and possibly questioning her sanity because if their roles were reversed he probably would be, just a little.
No, he'd have to discuss this with Abby and see what she thinks.
Abby's alarm goes off as he comes to a decision, and she's up and out of bed so fast she walks through him - Connor shudders, he'll never get used to that.
There's something lighter to her movements now that she has work to look forward to, he thinks, even though work is dangerous creatures and running and risks, and she never used to really enjoy it per se. Still doesn't, he thinks, but it's something to do.
Sure, while she was home, grieving, she left the house to go food shopping and the like, but that's not the same thing as being active like they do at work, and even the downtime in the labs is distracting in its entirety.
xXxX
"It's a future time period." Matt said, his face carefully blank of any of the anxiety surely roiling in his gut. Connor decided to stay close to Abby. The detector had gone off about two hours after Abby had arrived at the ARC. Now, they were probably about to find out if their actions had stopped the future predators from being created, besides the original intentions of avoiding an apocalypse where the very air was toxic, or not.
They all had the same doubts.
If it didn't get rid of the predators then they needed to be ready, and this was going to be dangerous with a side of very potentially deadly. Of course they all knew that.
"Stay close to each other, and if there are predators through there, then they already could've come through." Becker warned, standing between Matt and Abby and facing the anomaly, Emily on Matt's other side. All of them were in constant low levels of motion, not leaving their backs undefended for too long either facing towards or away from the anomaly.
Like always, it twinkled benignly at them.
TBC
