The flurry of back to school work meant that Dawn didn't return to the ARC for several weeks. Sarah and Becker seemed to be taking it in turns to sleep in the spare room, and when she'd complained she'd been strongly reminded that it was them or a foster home. The only time she did make an appearance was when Sarah came home with the story about Abby's idiot younger brother, prompting Dawn to declare she was glad she was an only child and to promptly rush to the ARC the next day, hugging all involved tightly.
"Dawn? What does it mean when a girl kisses you?" Connor asked her suddenly. Dawn choked on the water she'd just sipped, turning to face him fully.
"Shouldn't it be the teenager asking you that?" she questioned amusedly, smiling wider when he blushed crimson. He muttered something incomprehensible, scurrying out the room. "It usually means she likes you!" she called after him, giggling when he simply reddened even further.
The next few days passed quickly, until one morning Dawn woke to a note from Sarah telling her that'd she's already been called into the ARC. She swung herself out of bed, quickly dressing and getting ready to go out, grabbing a slice of toast to munch on the way to the bus stop. The ARC seemed bizarrely normal- until she got to the break room that was.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Dawn paused, smiling shyly as she stared in surprise at the surrounding group. "Didn't think we'd forget did you?" Abby beamed, bouncing forward to hug her tightly. Dawn giggled softly, thanking her as Abby held out a gift. "For you."
She tore into it and promptly burst into laughter, holding up the stuffed Coelurosauravus with a grin. "I'll call her Abby!" she declared, kissing its namesake on the cheek. The mini party went on, and by the end of it Dawn had a new laptop (courtesy of all the other personnel in the ARC, who had all chipped in to help buy it- there had been a lot of squealing when she'd opened it), a beautiful pendant necklace from Becker, several new CD's from Sarah, a TV box set from Connor and a new set of dance shoes from Lester and his wife.
"Thank you all, really." Dawn told them sincerely, smiling happily at them. They all began to wander off, until only Sarah remained.
"This is for you too." She handed Dawn an envelope but before the teenager could ask anything she'd disappeared. Dawn frowned, opening the envelope.
Dawn,
Happy birthday sweetheart.
I miss you… but I understand. You have my address when you're ready.
Love Jenny
Dawn felt a tear slide down her cheek, which was quickly followed by another when she pulled out tickets to a show she mentioned months ago that she wanted to see. She stared at them for a long moment, before she slowly- deliberately- ripped them up along with the note and let the pieces scatter into the bin.
Dawn was waiting in the operations centre for the team to return, swinging on her chair uninterestedly until she spotted who had just strode in. She bolted upright, eyes wide. But Christine Johnson said nothing to her, instead simply making her way confidently to Lester's office.
"Well crap." Dawn muttered once they were out of earshot. She nibbled her lip nervously until Lester appeared on the catwalk.
"Where's Quinn?" he mouthed. She shrugged, looking faintly alarmed but he shook his head, silently telling him not to worry. That didn't stop her though and she waited impatiently until Danny walked in with Abby and an unfamiliar woman.
"The boss would like to see you." A soldier relayed.
"What, now?"
"Yeah."
Danny sighed. "Stay here." He ordered the woman before turning to Abby. "Watch her."
"Danny!" Dawn called, attracting their attention and she didn't miss the way the woman's eyes widened. "Chri-"
"Not now Dawn!" he said distractedly, jogging upstairs. "Oh, and happy birthday!" he yelled before vanishing into Lester's office.
"Oh bloody hell." Dawn groaned. Abby frowned.
"Language." She reproached. "But what is it?"
"Christine Johnson is here!" Dawn flopped into a chair. "Prepare for fireworks."
"Again." Abby sighed. Dawn looked at the dark haired woman and smiled weakly.
"Hello. I'm Dawn." She greeted. The woman smiled unsurely.
"Eve." She introduced before she began to wander around, looking at the artefact especially. Dawn watched lazily, glancing at the calculations on the table in front of her. She frowned.
"Abby? Did Sarah mention what vectors she was measuring these against?" she questioned. Abby shook her head.
"No. Why?"
"These equations… they're impossible. They'd put her in completely the wrong era…" Dawn bent her head, not seeing the surprised look Eve gave her. She lost herself in the equations until she heard the doors burst open and Connor and Sarah bolted through, panicked.
"What's going on?" Johnson questioned, just as Eve leapt forward and grabbed her, holding a gun to her head. Dawn shot to her feet, gripping the table as she stared with wide eyes.
"Thanks for bringing me here Danny." Eve said coolly. "I really don't know how I would have done it without you." Lester walked up, not entirely sure what was going on but unhappy about it all the same. "You know I'm not bluffing."
Dawn's eyes snapped to her face as she realised her voice had changed and was stunned to see her face shifting in front of her eyes as she watched. "Now give me the artefact, or she dies."
"Mum?!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Helen?!" Abby said at the same time.
Dawn watched in horror as her mother proceeded to try to snatch the artefact when Connor offered it to her, after much deliberation. "Just… just tell me how. How you could try to kill your own husband? The father of your child?"
She stared at him in shock. "Try? What are you talking about?"
"You don't know?" Abby questioned. Helen looked furious.
"Know what? What are you talking about?"
"Cutter's not dead." Connor told her. "He survived."
Helen froze. "No…"
"Wait, you mean you haven't seen him?" Dawn demanded. Helen looked at her questioningly.
"Why would I have seen him?"
"Because he came after you! He went through an anomaly to find you!" Dawn cried. Helen looked at her.
"Then he's probably dead anyway." She told her. "The past is a dangerous place."
"How can you be so uncaring? You tried to kill him!" Connor cried.
She looked at him. "I had no choice." She told him softly. "I loved him, Connor. But he was part of all this. Part of everything that goes wrong. This… is the beginning of the chaos. It all starts here."
"You sound insane." Dawn told her. Helen smiled faintly.
"What are you talking about?" Enquired Lester.
"You know I thought that killing Nick would be enough but it wasn't. So now I have to finish it… once and for all."
She began to move towards the door, dragging Christine with her. "Mum, stop! Let her go!" Dawn protested.
"You follow, she's dead!" Helen yelled.
"Dawn, stay here!" Lester ordered as Danny sprinted out the door.
"Like hell I will!" she snapped. "She's my mother."
She rushed out after Abby and Sarah, jumping in the car with them and digging her nails into her palms nervously as they drove after Connor and Danny. "This is Christine Johnson's headquarters." Abby realised. "What does Helen want here?"
"The anomaly." Sarah said quietly. They pulled up outside and ran through, surprised when the soldiers didn't even try to stop them.
Dawn felt her stomach clench when she saw Danny and Connor standing dejectedly in front of her, knowing instinctively what it meant. "She's gone."
Danny glanced at her sympathetically before suddenly the anomaly opened again and Christine Johnson threw herself through, screaming. They all lunged forward to help her; Dawn didn't like the woman but that didn't mean she wanted her to die. But then the predator came through and snarled, and Dawn instinctively leapt back, crying out. To her horror, she realised everyone else had too and the predator dragged Christine through the anomaly a second before it closed.
"Oh my God…" Dawn whispered, looking faintly ill. The blood pounding in her ears made it hard to hear anything, until she felt someone touch her arm.
"Are you ok?" Connor asked her in concern. She nodded silently. "Did you hear what we said?" he questioned. She shook her head. "We're going after her."
Dawn's eyes snapped to his face. "Then I'm coming too." She told him, her voice rough. He shook his head.
"Dawn…" he began but she cut him off sharply.
"No! My mother did this. I need to help."
Connor looked unconvinced, looking to the others for help. "Your dad would never forgive us if we let you go through an anomaly."
"My dad is most likely dead and far past caring whether I follow in his footsteps or not!" Dawn said harshly. "I'm coming. And if you don't let me I'll simply go through a different one without you. I helped you build the detectors Connor, you know I can do it again."
Connor looked sheepish when Danny raised an exasperated eyebrow at him. "Fine." He conceded. In a tense silence, they drove to the race track with Danny calling Lester on the way and filling him in.
"Alright. So what've we got?" Danny asked once they'd pulled up and circled around Becker.
"Stun grenades." Becker held one up. "Future predators have hyper sensitive hearing, yeah? These should stop them dead in their tracks."
"Got any earplugs in there?" Connor questioned.
"Use your fingers." Came the dry answer. "And if you don't want you eardrums to burst, I suggest you keep your mouth open."
"That won't be difficult for Connor." Abby teased, her face serious. Dawn smiled in amusement.
"Don't be too close when you throw them." Becker instructed.
"Alright." Danny said grimly. "Let's do this."
They were walking towards the anomaly when Dawn heard the familiar bleeping coming from Connor's pocket. "No! Not now!" he hissed as he pulled it out.
"It's Johnson's HQ." Sarah sighed.
"D'you think it's Helen?" Abby asked. Dawn stiffened.
"It could be." Danny nodded. "But if we go back there and we're wrong, then…"
"We could lose them completely." Dawn finished. Danny ran a hand over his head, looking stressed.
"Danny? You need to make the call." Connor prompted. He nodded.
"Right. Becker- you check it out." he ordered. "Sarah and Dawn, you go with him." At least you'll be safer, he added silently. "Abby, Connor, you're with me. Wherever she is, we'll stop her."
"Danny, I want to go with you!" Sarah protested.
"Look." Danny began. "I need you to do this for me."
"Yeah but what if you don't-"
"Look, no one's saying goodbye here." He told her. "We're all coming back. Now, once we're through close the anomaly- it's far too dangerous to leave it open. Unlock it in two hours. Okay?" he placed his hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"Here." Becker handed over his gun. "Take care." Danny nodded at him in thanks.
"Oh for Gods sakes- Danny, would you kiss her already?" Dawn said in exasperation. They all stared at her. "What? You were all thinking it! She likes him, he likes her and he's about to jump through an anomaly!" Dawn rolled her eyes. By mutual agreement, they all drifted away to give the two some privacy.
"Really Dawn?" Abby raised an eyebrow at her. Dawn shrugged.
"What? I'm tired of you lot dancing around each other! You and Stephen did it, Jenny and my dad did it, you and Connor do it and those two were doing it. I figured the first two are out, you and Connor are slowly getting there so that just left Danny and Sarah."
"Let's move out!" Danny called to them. Sarah had a faint blush over her cheeks but she stepped over to the computer obediently, unlocking the anomaly.
"Connor!" Becker called.
"Yo?"
"Might need this." He chucked the rucksack over. Connor looked faintly surprised, but nodded.
"Thanks."
Dawn moved to crouch next to Becker and Sarah, nerves clear on her face as she watched the three glance back one last time, before they stepped through the anomaly.
"What did he say to you?" she asked Sarah quietly.
"He asked me to wait for him." The woman answered, sounding slightly dazed as she raised her fingers to touch her lips. Dawn smiled when she saw the gesture.
"Let's get going." Becker pressed.
"What about Johnson's people?" asked Sarah.
"They won't be happy to see us." Agreed Dawn.
"The operation's been closed down." Becker said, casting a glance at the anomaly. "The place should be empty- come on."
He lead them out and drove them back the way they'd come, driving straight into through the former security checkpoints and into the underground area. "Nobody on the gate then." Becker commented. "Let's hope it's all that easy."
"I wouldn't bet on it." They climbed out once the car had halted, Dawn peeking at the detector over Sarah's shoulder. "Over here." She instructed.
They hurried through the corridors until they emerged into a large, open reception-type area. A strange noise had them all looking around. "What… was that?" Dawn asked softly. It happened again, along with a thud. They looked up.
Sarah reached out and pulled Dawn in closer to her and Becker, eyeing the surrounding area as the thrumming noise became louder until with a flash of horror, she saw the creature. "Becker!" she cried. He spun, pushing her and Dawn roughly behind him. Dawn tripped and stumbled, looking around only to see him on the floor, almost under the creature.
"Run!" he shouted at them, scrambling to his feet. They did so, ending up on a walkway, only to find another one aiming straight for them and yet another in front of them. "Throw them over the side!" Becker yelled, catching hold of a large grey back and hauling it over the railings. He didn't wait, picking up Sarah by the waist and lifting her over. She screamed. Dawn grinned, pushing herself up while Becker helped and she jumped.
"Weehee!" she laughed, scrambling out of the way once she'd hit the bags as Becker followed her almost immediately. They climbed off and ran down the next flight, Becker turning to glance behind them as they ran back to the car.
Dawn had just enough time to breathe a sigh of relief when the creature appeared again. Sarah shrieked while Becker simply grabbed Dawn and yanked her with him, intending on reaching the driver's side but the creature was there, smashing through the window.
"Watch out!" Dawn yelled as the other came back to Sarah, who opened the door straight in front of it, causing it to smash into it.
"Run!" Becker hollered, grabbing their hands and pulling them with him. They sprinted up until Becker bustled them into a grated room, shutting them firmly in before they backed away.
"There's no way out, Becker, there's no way out!" Sarah realised, panicking.
"I'll call the backup team. We can tell them exactly where we are." He rationalised.
"I think it's a bit too late for that now!"
"Guys!" Dawn cried, staring at the creatures.
"Oh my god, they're coming through!" Becker exclaimed. "Right- we need to get both of them on the grill at the same time!"
"You what?" Sarah questioned.
"C'mon- we've only got one shot at this!" he urged them. Dawn stepped forward.
"Hey! Hey, over here!" she called but Sarah hesitated.
"Come one Sarah, you can do this!" Becker barked.
"C'mon!" she yelled, trying to attract them. Finally Becker finished what he was doing and he slammed the wires onto the grill, electrocuting the creatures. They all stepped back, breathing heavily and slid down the wall. "Do you think that's the last of those things?"
"Let's go find out." he hauled them to their feet and they rushed through the building to the site of the anomaly.
"The anomalies closed!" Sarah said. Dawn was looking at the body, wrinkling her nose slightly.
"Let's get out of here." Becker said, following her gaze.
"Oh my god!" Sarah suddenly cried. "We're going to miss the time to open the anomaly!"
"C'mon!" they sprinted back through the building and broke every speed limit on the way back to the race track.
"We made it!" Dawn glanced at her watch.
"It's time." Sarah panted, glancing at the soldier Becker had taken the gun from. He unlocked it and they waited tensely.
"Where are they?" Sarah asked, reaching out to slip her hand around Dawn's.
"C'mon Quinn! Hurry up!" Becker hissed, half to himself. Dawn swallowed thickly.
"What're we going to do?" Sarah asked, pacing slightly. Dawn wrapped her arms around herself.
"They'll be back." Becker said confidently.
"When?" Dawn questioned softly. There was a silence.
"I've got an idea." Sarah declared suddenly. Becker raised an eyebrow when she hurried over to her bag and pulled out her laptop, crossing her legs as she sat on the floor and started it up.
"Sarah?" Dawn questioned, moving closer.
"If I can check the fossil records, I can find anomalies. Tech and materials that shouldn't be there- we might be able to pinpoint if they went back to the past." Sarah explained. Becker frowned.
"Sarah… they went to the future." He reminded her. She shook her head, eyes bright.
"Yeah, but there's this page in the diary. It's talking about hominids." Sarah pointed out the page she'd been studying on the drive over.
"If mum wanted to change evolution she would go to the past. She must have needed some tech or information and that's why she went forwards, and then through another anomaly to the past!" Dawn realised. Becker nodded, sitting himself on Sarah's other side.
"Then let's get to it."