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Chapter 14: What You Know

Connor woke up the next morning before Jess. They had slept the way they'd been sleeping since they began living with Gallant. Her arm slung over him, hugging his waist while her head rested peacefully on his chest with his arms wrapped protectively around her.

Connor ran a hand over his face; attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He went wide-eyed as the realization of what had happened, the emotions that overcame him, last night.

'Way to go,' he mentally scolded himself. 'She'll never forget that first kiss.'

Connor didn't want to confront what happened last night quite so early in the morning. He looked down to see that Jess was still sleeping.

He slowly eased her arm away from his waist and gently lifted her head to rest it on the pillow before covering her up with the blanket they rarely used, because of the heat, as he slipped out of bed. This morning, however, was fairly chilly.

Jess groaned a bit before turning over and remaining still. Connor breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled on his shoes and left to go find Gallant to leave before Jess woke up.

Becker sat in his kitchen with a glass of whiskey. It was his turn to take a short leave. Lester had ordered everyone to do so, saying that everyone needed a rest. Everyone was taking theirs simultaneously. Matt, however, had managed to talk his way out of it.

It was nearing the three month mark and still no sign of Connor or Jess.

It was obvious that people were starting to waiver on their hope. Abby spent most of her time in the menagerie, while Matt would put up his smug front and stay in his office unless an anomaly alert came through.

Becker had also noticed that the only person who seemed to be getting through to Abby was Anderson.

Becker was trying to keep hope that Connor and Jess were still alive out there, somewhere in time. It was his fault that they were stranded on the other time, just like Sarah's death was because he had taken someone's advice, apart from his own and didn't do his job properly.

He downed the shot of whiskey and poured another one.

"They're coming back." He muttered.

They had to.

He needed to tell Jess that she would work better off the field. He needed to apologize for not noticing her at the anomaly site in the first place.

Jess woke up and glanced around the room. It was bright from the sunlight pouring in. She glanced around and searched with her hand, as the sleep still lingered in her eyes, for Connor.

She couldn't find him. And that's when she realized that she'd slept in and he probably already left with Gallant for the day.

"Oh my God, how long did I sleep for?" Jess shrieked as she jumped out of bed, throwing the blanket across the room.

About an hour later, after speed cleaning and starting her work on supper, Jess found herself glancing out the window nothing to occupy her thoughts as last night came rushing to her.

Her cheeks heated up as she reminisced how her first-kiss redo that Connor had insisted upon had turned into one of the most intimate moments of her life.

She could still feel Connor's lips on her neck, his stubble tickling her skin. Jess shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, but she couldn't. They'd never been that close, barely any space between them when they were kissing.

She kept thinking about how gently, yet protectively Connor had held her as they kissed, all their pent up emotions flowing out into the open.

She couldn't figure out why she'd pulled him on top of her as they kissed. She caused them to break so many rules by doing so. She had managed to convince herself to stop things before they had gone any further, which she seemed thankful for.

They both had people waiting back home for them.

Jess's mind now wandered elsewhere.

What if they didn't make it home? What if they were stuck here forever? Would what happened last night make a difference then?

And why did Jess suddenly find herself getting pulled more and more in the direction of wanting to be with Connor?

Abby was in the menagerie feeding the creatures. The mammoth trumpeted as Abby gave him fresh water and food.

"You're welcome." She smiled.

Rex flew down and landed on her shoulder.

"Can't forget about you, Rex." She spoke softly as she lifted her hand up and offered Rex a piece of fruit.

Rex chirped happily before grabbing the piece and eating it.

"Come on, I've got some more for you up in my office."

Matt was on his way out of the ARC for the night. On his way past the menagerie, he noticed that Abby was still in her office. She was feeding Rex and looked exhausted; wearing the sad smile she'd worn since he'd convinced her to come back to the ARC.

Matt typed in the code and entered her office.

Abby looked up. "Matt."

"Hey, how are you?"

Abby shrugged. "Fine. Just finishing feeding the creatures before I get started on this paperwork."

Matt glanced briefly at the large pile of paperwork sitting on her desk that she'd gestured to.

"Do you know what time it is?" He asked.

"Not really." She replied nonchalantly. "I haven't looked at the time since I came in this morning."

"It's nearly seven." Matt commented.

"Oh."

"The paperwork can wait until tomorrow. You need some sleep and a decent meal."

Abby shook her head. "I can't leave now. I've got too much to finish and I'll only be piling onto whatever work I have to do tomorrow."

"Abby, you can't work yourself until you fall asleep, it's not healthy and it's definitely not safe."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Abby replied as she stood and walked over to her desk, Rex flying back into the menagerie.

"Yes, you do." Matt spoke sternly. "You think if you only work until you're too exhausted to function properly, all of your problems are just going to go away."

Abby didn't look up as she started to fill out her paperwork.

"Abby, listen to me."

Abby continued to ignore Matt in the hopes that he would just give up and leave her be.

"Leave your paperwork here and go home. Get something to eat and rest."

No response.

Matt sighed as he took a couple steps over to Abby's desk and stole the pen from her hand.

"That's a direct order."

"Is it now?"

"Yeah, I can't have you working yourself sick because of this."

"I'm not working myself sick, I'm doing my job."

"Abby, I'll ask nicely once more. Please leave your office, before drastic measures are taken."

"Like what?"

Matt walked around the desk so that he was standing to the side of Abby's chair and pulled her out of it.

Abby kicked him in the shins. "I told you I'm not leaving."

Matt bit his lip to suppress the pain as he dragged Abby from her office and typed in the master code to lock her out before releasing her.

"What did you do?" She gritted her teeth.

"I locked you out." Matt replied simply. "I'm taking you to get something to eat and then taking you home so you can get rest."

He gestured to the door. "That won't unlock without my say-so or until 24 hours later."

"I hate you." Abby glared.

"Hate me for making sure you're alright. It really doesn't matter, either way; you're still not getting back into there until tomorrow."

"Lead the way." Abby sighed as Matt turned and led her away from her office and the menagerie.

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