It was hard for Abby to admit to herself, but she was a little disappointed when the future Connor left them, he was a lot more… interesting than she'd expected Connor to turn out and she couldn't help being morbidly curious about her future self. Had she changed as much as he seemed to have done? Connor had mentioned that they had been in the menagerie together which piqued her interest in what creatures they may have collected and suggested that whatever outward changes had taken place in the last seven years, she was still largely herself. She hoped the same applied to older Connor, despite his grin and joke cracking he had seemed somehow different, in an older, wiser and more mature kind of way. That wasn't a bad thing in itself, of course, but there had been a certain tiredness to his gaze that she recognized as the look of someone who had learned some tough lessons the hard way and he looked like perhaps he hadn't slept well in a little while. Maybe it was silly, but it made her want to protect the dumb, goofy Connor that she had finally resigned to considering her flatmate. Once her annoyance at his ongoing presence had worn off, she'd started to become oddly fond of his light-hearted demeanor and it worried her to think that something bad enough to change that would happen to him.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Lester's entrance, or more, by Connor's frantic shaking her arm and pointing out to her that Lester had arrived. It was relieving to see that some things, at least, hadn't changed and Lester looked exactly as she remembered him. Well, perhaps there were a few more crows feet at the corners of his eyes, but his crisp navy suit, neat brown comb over and stern gaze were unexpectedly comforting consistencies between this time and theirs. His stern demeanor took on a slight, well covered air of shock as he took them in, his lips parting slowly as though he might have something to say before pressing back into a firm, disapproving line.
"Right." He huffed, eyeing them cautiously, "I suppose I should have expected something like this from you lot sooner or later."
A bit of the tension in the room seemed to lift at his comment and Abby realized she'd been holding her breath waiting for a reaction, perhaps Connor had been as well because his voice sounded a little weak as he offered up a lame, "We didn't mean to…"
"Of course you didn't, Connor, you never mean to do anything." Lester sighed, crossing his arms, "Do you have any idea how much paperwork I'm going to have to do with two of you here?"
Most of the room, Abby included, couldn't help a small chuckle, but Connor at least had the good sense to look sheepish. Seeming to notice that the younger man may appreciate a rescue, Becker piped up, "Sir, the anomaly that brought them here closed. They're stuck here."
"Of course they are." Lester drawled, his gaze shifting to Connor and herself in an accusatory manner that she didn't quite understand, "You know, I'm beginning to expect this sort of thing from those two."
"I don't really like the sound of that." Connor admitted, shooting Abby a worried glance and she was obliged to agree.
"Do this a lot, do they?" Cutter inquired, an unmistakable tone of amusement in his voice.
"Certainly more often than we would like." Becker admitted with a slight smirk, "Once we even got to declare them dead."
"Ah yes." Lester scowled, "That was a nightmare to have reversed."
"It may be best," Matt interjected, his tone firm and commanding, "If we avoid discussing events that haven't happened yet from their perspective and just focus on what to do with them until we can find them a way back to where they should be."
"It could be years before their anomaly opens again." Becker pointed out, "We've never seen that one before."
"Well, they can't stay with me." Lester declared, "I did that once, never again."
"I don't have a spare room." Becker pointed out.
"I do!" Jess announced, breezing through the door behind him with a tea tray in hand. Setting it on the table, she deposited two of the mugs on the table in front of Abby and Connor, "Cream and two sugars and black for Abby. Sorry, I wasn't sure how the rest of you take it, so I just brought the works. Anyway, I can take Abby and Connor back to mine if you like, they've stayed with me before."
"We have?" Abby wondered aloud, looking Jess over more seriously than she had before. She didn't look like the kind of person Abby would usually be friends with. She seemed quite young, for one thing, and her general appearance suggested she was more… frivolous and soft than the people she usually found herself being friends with. Not that Abby had a lot of friends, she tended to prefer cold blooded creatures, but maybe she'd broadened her horizons by this time and Jess did seem... sweet.
"Mhm, you two spent a few weeks at my place when you got back from…" She faltered as she caught Matt's eye, making Abby curious about what she'd been about to say. "When- when you were between flats for a bit."
Abby was tempted to ask where they'd been and for how long that it had forced them to find somewhere new to live, however the sneaking suspicion that it was related to them being declared dead gave her pause.
"I don't think we need to go there yet." Matt pointed out, "For all we know they may not be here that long and it would be better to keep them quarantined from unnecessary access to the outside world for the time being. We have a few rooms set up here for temporary accommodations. Like the one Emily stayed in when she first-"
"Oh my god, you weren't kidding!" The voice that interrupted Matt knocked the wind out of Abby. She had been hoping to catch a glimpse of her future self, but she wasn't quite prepared for how jarring the experience would be. She gave her doppleganger a once over as she entered the room. Objectively speaking, she'd aged well, Abby had always feared she'd look more like her mother as she got older, worn out and saggy in all the wrong places with that bitter twist to her lips, but frankly she looked as good as ever, if a little tired. Like Connor, her style had matured a bit, ditching hoodies, miniskirts and leggings in favor of a simple jeans and t-shirt look, finished off with a dark leather jacket that she couldn't wait to own. She'd grown her hair out, which was a surprise as Abby herself could never actually tolerate the growing process long enough to make it pass her ears, and she had it pulled up in a messy ponytail like she didn't care what it looked like. Again, an interesting choice, Abby thought to herself as she gave Becker and Matt a once over, factoring in all the fit army boys who had been milling about in the hallways, it seemed to her there was more reason to dress to impress than ever. Unless, of course, maybe she was seeing someone.
"Why would I joke about that?" Older Connor protested, pulling her from her wandering thoughts about what kind of boy she might have attracted with her fit new look.
"Because it's you." Older Abby shot back with a roll of her eyes, causing Conner to don an all too familiar pout. Much like Connor had done when he had first seen them, she threw her arms around first Cutter, then Stephen, holding on to each for a good few seconds like she was greeting an old friend who had been away for a long time. Not a comforting thought. "It's so good to see you guys."
Cutter nodded, clapping her on the shoulder, "It's good to see you too, though, I'm going to guess I've seen you more recently than you've seen me?"
As he mentioned them, her double's focus turned to herself and Connor. For some reason Abby suddenly felt a little nervous, taking a small step backwards and grabbing at the closer of Connor's coat sleeves as the other version of her stepped up to examine them. She wasn't sure if she meant to protect him or herself but she felt a little better being closer to someone familiar. Noticing her apprehension, the older blonde stopped moving towards them, but seemed to continue her appraisal, "Gosh, we were young. I forgot how young."
Beside her, Connor seemed to finally stir out of staring at her future self, puffing up his chest a little defianty, "I'm twenty-three!"
"That's not as impressive sounding as you think, mate." Older Connor pointed out, trying to hide a wince. She felt her Connor shrink a little in embarrassment, ducking his head to avoid having to make eye contact with anyone.
"Hey, I think it's cute." Older Abby chuckled, giving them a sympathetic look, "And I kinda miss that coat."
"I miss that hat." Older Connor pouted, causing her future self to wrinkle up her nose, shaking her head. "You didn't like the hat? I loved that hat."
"Connor, it takes a very specific kind of person to pull off a fedora without looking like a..." Becker made "you know" motion.
"A douche?" Future Abby suggested, trying to hide a laugh.
Future Connor looked like he might add something else, but Lester seemed to have noticed her Connor's slumped shoulders and nervous fidgeting and, much to her surprise, came to the rescue, interrupting him with an annoyed huff, "Alright, that's enough, stop ganging up on him."
Both of their doubles muttered sheepish apologies and backed off, though they exchanged a few looks that led Abby to believe that they had a little more to say on the subject. Catching Lester's eye, she gave him a grateful look which he shrugged off in true Lester fashion. While at first Lester could seem generally disagreeable and cold, every once in a while she got this odd feeling that he might actually care about them all more than he let on. Maybe even Cutter.
"I agree with Connor." Emily, bless her soul, piped up in defense of both versions of Connor, "I think the hat makes him look distinguished."
"Not in this century, Em." Matt informed her kindly, though his apologetic look was directed her and Connor's way.
That brought a slight smile to Abby's face. Matt had a fairly serious, maybe even intimidating aura to him that had made her a little apprehensive since their arrival, but that slight glimpse of a softer side soothed her nerves. Maybe he, like Lester, was just putting up a hard front.
"Are they going to stay here are the ARC?" Older Abby inquired.
Lester nodded, "That does seem to be the best course of action for the time being. We don't want them learning anything they shouldn't know."
"Particularly to Abby and Connor Junior over there." Matt agreed, "And we should establish when exactly they come from to be safe."
"And maybe we should nickname Abby and Connor Junior to avoid confusion." Becker suggested, a mischievous smirk crossing his face.
Abby felt a flicker of annoyance at that suggestion and his expression, "I'm not responding to Junior."
"Yeah, I want a cool nickname." Connor announced, a little too excited sounding for her taste. Shooting him a look, she elbowed him lightly in the side.
"Why do we have to be the ones with nicknames." She questioned, crossing her arms, "Why don't they have to have nicknames."
"Because we're the ones who are supposed to be here." Her double countered, a similar tone of annoyance in her voice, "If we get a call while you're here, we're not screwing around with silly names on the coms."
"Fine." She huffed, vaguely aware that while her older self, Becker, and the two Connors had grouped around here to tackle the name issues, Cutter seemed to be over with Stephen and the rest of the future team actually addressing the important questions. Best get this over with so they could join them, she decided. "Well, what about just middle names then?"
Her Connor winced at that idea, "I would rather not, thanks."
"I'm going to have to agree with him there. Don't think he could pull off Gerard." Older Connor offered in a joking tone, though the look on his face suggested there was some deeper reason the two of them were opposed to it. "And your middle name is Sarah, so-"
"No." Becker added quickly, shaking his head, then, catching her curious look admitted, "We already had a Sarah on the team."
That felt like a topic that it was best not to press, or at least, not with Becker, so she let it drop and tried to think up a good alternative. Lester, on the other hand, seemed to be growing impatient with their side conversation, crossing his arms and glaring at them, "Look, you can nickname Bonnie and Clyde later. Those of you who actually woke up here today may actually want to listen to what is being said over here."
"As I was just explaining," Cutter continued as the attention focused back on him, "That we've come from October 17th, 2007. We got a call about a disturbance at a grocery store, found four fully grown velociraptors eating the janitor. We returned them through the anomaly, but when we went to go back, we came out here."
"I think I remember that one." Older Abby announced, "Connor slipped in the frozen food isle and used it as an excuse to get out of helping around the flat for a week."
Her Connor rubbed his shoulder thoughtfully, "Well it does hurt…"
"Don't even think about it." She warned.
"Right, Jess, can you pull up all the mission reports from before October 17th, 2007." Lester requested, "I want everyone to review them this evening so we don't have any mishaps."
"Oh yay, homework!" Older Connor muttered sarcastically, earning himself a sharp look.
"I'll get that done." Jess confirmed, trying to hide a smile at her teammate's comment as she headed out the door.
"Connor and I can take them to get settled in their rooms." Older Abby volunteered.
"Good." Lester approved, "Well, I'm sure the rest of you have something you could be doing. If you need me, I'll be in my office trying to figure out what kind of paperwork this calls for."