It had really only been a matter of time before something like this happened and they all knew it. If the Anomalies could open to the distant past and the, hopefully, far future, what was stopping them from bridging smaller periods of time like, say, a few years. Or at least Nick Cutter hoped they had only jumped a few years, it was hard to say as the ARC, as the large floor decal announced this place to be, looked nothing like he was used to. Just slightly behind him he heard Stephen swear as they all took in the sight around them. Everything was shiny and new and lit in a way that seemed to almost give the room a blue tint. To their right, the ADD, which was currently wailing at their arrival, had been given a major upgrade and perched in front of it was a young woman, not much older than Connor and Abby, whom they had never seen before, staring at them with owlish eyes, like she couldn't decide if she was amazed or terrified.

Behind them, the anomaly that brought them there flickered and closed, setting off a small flurry of panicked whispers between Connor and Abby that Stephen did his best to quell. Cutter, on the other hand, focused his attention back on the young lady in front of them, clearing his throat in an attempt to gain any kind of reaction out of her, "Hello, I'm-"

"Cutter!" The woman exclaimed in a slightly panicked tone, "Prof-professor Nick Cutter! And Abby, Connor, Stephen Hart! I-I've read all your files! What on Earth are you doing here?"

"Well, we, uh, we don't really mean to be." He admitted. The had only stepped through the anomaly for a couple of minutes, long enough to deposit some stunned raptors back in their own time and then the anomaly should have taken them right back to the grocery store they'd originated in. "I'm not sure how-"

"Jess!" This time he was interrupted by the sound of voices and multiple sets of feet as a small group of people rushed into the room.

The man in the lead, a tall, clean cut commando looking man with dark hair, seemed to steal the young woman's attention away from them, which was understandable given that he was quite conventionally attractive. She gave him a slight, reassuring smile as he approached her, "I'm alright, Becker. Nothing dangerous came through."

She gave a slight hand motion towards them and suddenly everyone was staring. The two people who had come in with him, a young woman with a mass of dark curls and a slightly stockier fairer haired man, looked taken aback by their presence, but the commando's eyes displayed a broader range of emotion, shifting from recognition to confusion to what seemed to be something akin to joy. Striding purposefully towards them, he clapped Cutter firmly on the shoulder, "Professor Cutter, it's good to see you again, sir. How…?"

"We're not sure how." Cutter shook his head, giving the man a slightly apologetic look, "Do we know each other?"

The man's eyes drifted over towards Stephen, Abby, and Connor and his lips pressed into a line. Releasing Cutter's shoulder, he offered his hand instead, "Ah, perhaps not yet. Captain Becker. I replace Captain Ryan."

Ah, that made sense, he supposed there would be a new hire in the wake of Ryan's death. Clearly Becker's approval meant something to the others because the young lady, Jess, as he had called her, had made her way over to them, hand extended towards him, "Jess Parker, team coordinator. It's a pleasure to meet you in person. This is Matt and Emily, two of our field operatives. Guys this is the original ARC field team!"

"So you two have never met before?" Stephen questioned, a small frown pinching his brow as Jess shook her head, wheels clearly turning in his head.

He opened his mouth to reply, but Cutter raised a hand to stop him, "Stephen, maybe we shouldn't ask questions we might not like the answer to."

"Good call." Matt nodded, his tone suggesting that maybe he had some experience with situations like this.

They had all been vaguely aware that Connor and Abby had been whispering back and forth behind them for the last minute or so of the conversation, but they had been easily ignored until now, when Connor decided to pipe up behind them, "Right, important question though. This is the future, yeah? Have we met aliens yet?"

"Uh, no." Becker informed him flatly, though his lips twitched towards a smile and a similar expression crossed Matt's face, making Cutter wonder if perhaps they were used to Connor's antics and weird queries. Behind him, Emily was having a much harder time hiding her look of amusement and Jess failed to contain a small laugh.

It was Abby's laugh behind him that surprised them the most, however, drawing their gaze as she gave him a cheeky grin, "You owe me ten pounds."

Abby quieted down at a look from Stephen, but Connor didn't seem to notice, at least offering a helpful question this time, "So, what year is it?"

"2014." Matt informed them, which explained to obvious technological upgrades. It wasn't hard to imagine that there would be some new innovative leaps in the next seven years and some that must be applicable to their work.

That information did seem to quiet Connor as he did the mental calculations figuring out how old he would be in this time if he was, in fact, still alive and with the ARC. He opened his mouth to venture another questions, but was cut off by someone jogging into the room, "Sorry I'm late, I was helping Abby in the menagerie with the… whoa."

The young man's surprise was a common feeling in the room as they got a good look at him. There was no doubt that it was Connor, but this older version seemed to have made some improvements on the current model. For starters his clothes seemed to actually fit him properly and the cut of his long sleeve t-shirt did little to mask how well he'd filled out over the years, pulling tight over his chest and arms in a way his baggy button ups and vests never quite accomplished. His face still held much of his signature boyishness, but he'd cut his hair shorter and grown in a neatly kept beard that, when paired with the small scar over his right eyebrow, gave him a more experienced and almost authoritative presence. He looked good, but he also seemed alien to them, like some stranger masquerading as Connor rather than actually being him.

Behind him, Connor and Abby where exchanging hissing whispers again, no doubt in reaction to the new arrival, but Older Connor ignored them completely, instead heading straight for Cutter and wrapping him in a big bear hug. When he pulled back, his eyes shone lightly with the threat of tears. Maybe he was still their Connor after all, Cutter thought, watching him envelop a rather confused Stephen in an equally tight hug. "I missed you guys so much."

Abby snickered at Stephen's expression, earning her an acidic look, but older Connor didn't seem to mind. Their Connor seemed more concerned with what his older doppelganger had said on the way in, a little hope creeping into his voice, "So, Abby and me still work here? And we still hang out?"

"Oh yeah, you hang out." Becker smirked, squirming out of the way of a well placed elbow from Jess as though he'd been expecting it.

"I don't like the way he said that." Abby announced, her narrowed eyes darting back and forth between the two Connors, "Makes me think someone might still be sleeping on my couch."

"Hm? Oh no," Older Connor corrected, trying to hide a cheeky grin directed mostly at his younger self, "You gave me a dog bed and a water bowl in the kitchen eventually."

Their Connor looked sheepish, but Abby seemed to find the grin infectious, ducking her head in a lame attempt to keep the Connors from seeing it. Before she could add a follow up dig at her friend, Matt interceeded, "Perhaps we should relocate to the meeting room? Lester should be back from his lunch with the minister soon, he's probably going to want to see this."

Stephen tensed at the mention of Lester and Cutter himself fought the urge to roll his eyes, but no one could think of a reason to protest, so they allowed themselves to be ushered away from the where the anomaly had been and into what appeared to be a fairly standard conference room. Older Connor abandoned them somewhere along the way, making a comment about warning Abby about what was going on before she ran into them and got a shock, and Jess declared a need for tea and scurried off, leaving them alone with Becker and Matt who both seemed much more conservative with their small talk. They didn't have to wait long, however, they had barely settled around the large glossy conference table when a familiar irritating voice announced Lester's appearance in the room.

"What on earth is going on in here. Jess said there's something I have to see but she won't tell me…" His voice trailed off as his eyes landed on Cutter and the others, "Good lord."