So," Danny said as he climbed out of the hole a second time, having gone back to retrieve his backpack, "Which way?"
Sarah looked at him in surprise, "You mean you don't know the way back either?" She knew this should frighten her, but she had complete faith in Danny's ability to figure out a plan.
Danny shrugged, "I could get us back to the camp, but I'm sure Becker, Abby and Connor have moved on by now; I left them a note to. I figured we'd keep following your trail."
Sarah looked at him, surprised, "You believe me then, about their being something in this direction?"
"I trust your instincts, Sarah. Besides, you're always right."
Sarah chuckled, "And don't you ever forget that either."
Danny smiled, "Fair enough, as long as you don't forget that I'm always right too."
"Guess we'll always be in agreement with each other then."
"Right you are."
Sarah grinned and pointed west, "And to answer your first question, we go that-a-way."
Danny took Sarah's healthy hand in his own and they set off slowly in the direction she led.
Connor and Abby had stopped singing immediately after Becker began, mainly because they'd both been shocked into silence. Abby tried to lock eyes with Connor but, even though she knew he was looking her way, she couldn't see him properly with Becker between them pulling them both along. It suddenly really bothered her that she wasn't able to gain that extra little bit of contact with Connor that she need to read what was going on in his mind.
'Pathetic, Abigail,' she admonished herself. Since when had she become so dependant on Connor that she could miss him when he was two feet away?
"Maitland! Temple! Keep singing! That's an order," Becker commanded with a grin.
"Uh… right," Abby heard Connor say, getting over his shock, but still as surprised as before. He quickly joined back into the song.
Abby pulled her arm free of Becker's and quickly moved behind them to Connor's side, linking onto his elbow instead, leaving Connor in the middle. She ignored the surprised grins they'd both given her and joined in with the singing. After all, it had been a direct order.
About three songs later, Becker suddenly stopped and turned into his usual serious self. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked.
Connor and Abby shook their heads, "I didn't hear anything," Abby responded.
"Okay, you two stay here a bit. I'm going to head off the trail Northwest a moment. I thought the sound came from there."
"Shouldn't we go with you?"
"No, I need complete silence and stealth and, frankly, it'd be ridiculously hard to sneak up on something wearing as many colours as you two have on. Seriously, it looks like you were both attacked by a rainbow."
"At least we're not boring," Connor retorted. "Besides, the colours are good. They attract the creatures so they'll follow us back through the anomalies again."
"Fine, when I need Spinosaurus bait, I'll remember you volunteered. In the meantime, stay here and don't be loud," Becker warned them. "I'll be back soon."
Connor plonked himself down on a tall stump and Abby sat beside him, folding her hands in her lap, but leaning her head down onto his shoulder. Connor glanced at her and then back into the forest. She was definitely acting weird lately, but he knew better than to protest. Anyway, Becker's behaviour was even more bizarre.
Abby must have read his mind, because suddenly she lifted her head again, her eyes staring at the same distant tree that Connor's were. "What do you think got into Becker?" she asked.
Connor shrugged and looked at her, "I guess we did, yeah? That was way crazy. Might be the honey. Could've seeped into his scalp and made him act sweet."
Abby giggled, "Don't seem likely though, do it?"
"You know what else isn't likely? Live dinosaurs rampaging London, that's what."
Abby gave her head a tilt and pursed her lips as if thinking it through. Then she smiled at him and nodded, "Yeah, I've got no better explanation, so I'll buy the honey reason. It's the most fun explanation anyway."
Connor grinned at Abby, "You're fun, Abby. I like it when we team up together."
Abby grinned back, "I'm hard on you when I need to be, but I'm always on your team, Con."
Connor's smile grew even bigger, "We need a team name then, yeah?" He sounded so hopeful.
Abby groaned. He could really be a bit much on the geek factor at times, but she knew she could never disappoint him, not when he was making that expression at her. "Yeah, alright," she relented. "If you can come up with something I don't mind being associated with, we can have a team name."
Connor's face lit up so much that Abby couldn't resist. She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "And if I like the name enough, maybe I'll even consent to a secret handshake."
"You know," Danny said to Sarah after a long comfortable silence as they walked, "I've been thinking about what you said about Abby. Why do you think she wants to be so tough all the time?"
Sarah shrugged, "Could be a lot of reasons I guess, and we're not likely to find out. I'd guess she just loves her job and thinks she needs to prove herself to all the guys to keep it."
Danny shook his head, "No, that's not it. I've looked into her past work history, job related references et cetera. She's always been like this, before she worked at the ARC anyway. Besides, Abby's an original ARC member; she knows her job is secure."
"Then she may have had some reason to prove herself or toughen up in her earlier past. Childhood troubles, perhaps? She did take a lot of responsibility for Jack, didn't she? Maybe for some reason she'd had to be responsible for him when she was a child too. Still, it's not really any of our business."
"No, I know. Do you think, though, if she had gone through something in the past that hurt her that she would tell anyone? It's not good to bottle stuff up like that and I'm worried one day it'll come back and affect her, whatever it is."
Sarah sighed, "Well, I guess Jack would know, wouldn't he?"
"Not necessarily. She'd have gone out of her way to not tell him much, if I know her. She'd have wanted to protect him if possible."
"Danny, you worry too much sometimes about us all. If there's anything at all that is important, I bet she's at least already talked to Connor about it."
"You think?"
"I do. They're best friends and they're always together. He'd know."
"They're more than friends, even if they won't admit it," Danny corrected. "I just really have trouble picturing Connor being serious enough to discuss that kind of thing with her."
"I think that the reason they are so close is because they've seen sides of each other that no one else has," Sarah said. "She's probably seen him being strong and comforting and he's seen her vulnerability. At least, that's part of the reason, the other part is that she doesn't have to just act as tough as the guys when Connor is around, she really is. He lets her be the protector and that makes her happy and enjoy being around him."
Danny laughed, "When you studied Latin and Egyptian history, did you, per chance, do a side degree in psychology?"
Sarah smirked, "Maybe a class or two."
"I should've guessed."
Suddenly Sarah and Danny both stopped in their tracks. The view in front of them changed drastically as they reached the western edge of the forest. The stared in awed silence, hands gripping each other's tightly as they barely dared to breathe.
"Beautiful," Sarah said finally and Danny let the sincerity of the word wash over him as him.
"Breathtaking," he agreed, unable to come up with anything else to say that would describe the scene before them.