Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue! ;D

Chapter 25: Falling Into Place

Connor walked up to Jess's bedroom carrying a tray with soup and hot tea. She'd been sick for a few days and he and Abby had taken turns looking after the field coordinator.

Connor knocked on the door and entered. Jess looked as if she were still asleep. Connor set the tray on the night stand and sat on the bed.

"Jess." He gently shook her.

"Hm?" She mumbled groggily.

"How're you feeling today?" He asked quietly.

"Better than yesterday." She replied; her eyes closed.

"I brought you some soup and tea, if you're feeling up to it?"

She rolled over and opened her eyes slightly. "What time is it?"

"Eleven o'clock on Christmas morning." He replied seriously.

Jess shot up straight.

"What?" She asked in a panic.

Connor bit his lip, trying to hold in the smile that was forcing its way to the surface.

"You liar." Jess narrowed her eyes.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." He beamed.

"I can't believe you made me think I've been asleep for nearly two months!" She cried, grabbing the pillow next to her and throwing it at Connor.

Connor caught the pillow and shifted closer to the edge of the mattress.

"You've only been asleep for two days straight." Connor assured her.

"Doesn't feel like it." Jess mumbled, as she lay back down on her pillow.

"Seriously, though, what would you do if you really didn't wake up until Christmas morning?" Connor asked curiously.

"Go into panic mode that nothing would be ready: like presents wrapped, dinner cooked, decorations, the tree…" Jess trailed off.

"I'd just be glad I woke up in time for the holidays." Connor smirked, holding onto the pillow.

"That too." Jess whispered.

"So, I've read pretty much everything there is to read in the flat except for those weird paperback romance novels and the GQ magazines laying around." Connor stated.

"And?"

"And I was just wondering—where's that novella you were working on a few days ago?"

"I told you, not for your eyes until it's finished." Jess answered sternly.

"Please?"

"You'll just have to settle for the paperback romance novels until then."

Connor made a gagging noise. "That's like, my worst nightmare."

Jess lifted her head to glare at him. "If I didn't need this pillow, I'd toss it at you like I did with the other one."

"I don't understand how you read those things. Fabio's on practically every cover."

"So?"

"Fabio's a dirty old man, Jess." Connor gave a pointed look.

"If you don't mind my asking, how do you even know who Fabio is?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"I pay attention to the commercials." Connor replied knowingly.

Jess threw her other pillow at Connor knocking him off of her bed.

"What was that for?" Connor asked, lying on the floor.

"You needed it." She replied.

Connor tried to get to his feet and gave up before he sat all the way up, his head hitting the floor.

"I think I broke something." He whined.

"How?" Jess asked puzzled.

"The fall isn't that far and you fell on soft carpeting." She pointed out.

"I'm in need of assistance." He begged.

"What was the last commercial you watched?" She asked sarcastically, climbing out of bed and walking over to him.

"Life-alert?" She inquired, holding out her hand to him.

Connor grabbed her hand and pulled her down to him.

Abby was hurrying with her paperwork.

She had to finish filling it all out, sort it and turn it in before six. After that, she had to meet up with Matt to talk about what they were going to do about everything that had happened between them now that Connor and Jess had returned.

She also needed to find the time to stop distracting herself so that she could sit down and properly think about who she wanted to be with.

"Someone's going to get hurt." She whispered to herself. "No matter whom I choose."

She had an idea.

She could explain the situation to Jess in a manner that the field coordinator would assume it was a problem belonging to someone else on staff in the hopes that Jess could help her figure out what to do.

Problem.

She scoffed at the word choice.

Neither Matt nor Connor was a 'problem' to her. Abby's feelings for both men had her torn in different directions.

On one hand, she had Connor, who had always been there for her even when she treated him horribly. Who had kept her alive with hope when they were trapped millions of years in the past. Who she had also pushed away because of his secret work with a man she despised.

On the other hand, there was Matt. The mysterious leader of the team, who kept her together during Connor and Jess's disappearance and who had persevered through her hateful words and depression and got her to stop beating herself up about what happened even though she still partially blamed herself.

Abby shook her head and glanced at the clock on the wall. Five fifty-five.

She glanced down at the paperwork.

"One more page and I can run down to file them in time."

Her phone buzzed.

She ignored it and quickly filled out the last page before racing down the hallway to turn everything in.

"I thought we decided that nothing else should happen between us until the whole couple's thing was sorted?" Jess asked.

"When did we decide that?" Connor asked, looking Jess in the eyes.

"A couple nights ago, during the coffee escapade in the kitchen, remember?" Jess asked.

"Nothing's happening." Connor replied innocently, reaching up and running a hand through Jess's long hair, pulling the hair tie out in the process.

"Nothing inevitably leads to something." Jess spoke as she grabbed one of the pillows she had thrown at Connor and placed it back on the bed, before climbing back in.

"Not always." Connor countered as he walked to the other side of the bed with the pillow.

He set the pillow down and climbed into the bed next to Jess.

"In my experiences, it has." She said propping her head on her hand, staring at him.

Connor did the same. "Well, look, here we are in this cozy bed, talking and nothing's happened yet."

"True."

"There's nothing to worry about." Connor spoke softly. "I've thought a lot about everything and Abby and I are going to talk about it later, okay?"

Jess nodded.

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of what happened in the last six months." She spoke quietly.

Connor moved closer and gently kissed Jess. "It's going to work out and everything will be fine, yeah?"

"Yeah." Jess gave a small smile before returning the kiss.

Connor pulled Jess to him, hugging her. "Feeling any better?"

"After sleeping for two days? No doubt." She smiled, hugging Connor closer.

"Brilliant." Connor smiled back, kissing her again.

Jess inadvertently deepened the kiss.

"Nothing's leading to something." He pointed out, half-teasingly.

"Hm?" Jess asked, trailing kisses down his throat.

"Nothing." He muttered with a smile, rolling over.

Abby slowed her pace down on her way back to her office and was somewhat surprised to see Becker standing outside her office.

"Becker, thought you might've already been on your way home by now?" She questioned.

"Just wanted to catch up. Been stuck with double shifts and paperwork lately."

"Yeah." Abby laughed. "Tell me about it."

"How's it going? Having Connor and Jess back home?"

"Good. Well, Jess's been sick the past few days, which is to be expected from the strict diet she and Connor were on during their time in the past." Abby explained.

"What about Connor?"

"He's…not been eating much; but when he does, it's very little."

"Is he alright?"

"I don't know. He won't talk to me properly. All he's really said was that his mind's still on the fight we had before he and Jess disappeared.

"I see." Becker nodded.

"I've got to stay a bit later than usual; but you're free to pop up to the flat if you like. I'm sure they'd be glad to see you." Abby spoke.

"I'll try to stop on my way home. I'll see you later, Abby." Becker smiled before leaving.

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Next chapter: The love triangle-er, pentagon? comes into view. xD