She almost hadn't recognised him at first- he'd put on a little weight and he was the last person she expected to see coming out of the ARC vehicles. Then when he barely acknowledged her and formally introduced himself, she thought she was mistaken and it wasn't him.
But now, sitting opposite him as he interviewed her, she was certain it was him. There was no mistaking the accent, or those eyes, yet there was still no acknowledgement of their former relationship from him. Perhaps he hadn't recognised her? She did look very different and he had only ever known her as Abby, but surely if he'd been at the ARC for a while he would have seen her files, seen the old photos of her and made the connection.
"I think that's all, for now," he said, leaning forward and switching off the camera. "I've arranged for Jess to sort you out with some food and drink, if you want some?"
Abby nodded and forced a smile. This was a slightly awkward situation, but if she didn't say something now, it would get worse. "Matt... I suppose it must have been a bit of a shock to find me here... or not here... when you took on this job?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "All I knew about this job when I agreed to it was that they needed someone with a military background and proven leadership skills, along with some knowledge of evolutionary sciences. I thought I was going to be leading some kind of scientific expedition into a remote jungle or something. Then they made me sign the official secrets act and handed me the files."
"Mind blowing, eh?"
"At least now I understand why you never called me. I was disappointed. I thought that there was a chance we'd... never mind. I gather you're with Connor now? From what Becker tells me it's no real surprise."
"I wouldn't have got through the year without him. Like I said, we kept each other alive."
"I'm glad you've let someone into your heart. Look, I haven't let on that I knew you before, and I'm happy to keep quiet if you want me to."
"I'd appreciate that," Abby said. "And it's not that I'm ashamed of what we did, far from it. But Connor's a bit insecure as it is, convinced I'm going to just dump him now that we're back to reality. If he knew that you're the guy I slept with a few weeks before we disappeared then I think it would throw him into a real panic."
"Then it's our secret, Abby."
She smiled gratefully then left the interview room to find Connor waiting outside for his turn. "What's he like then?" Connor asked.
"He's okay, I think. Seems to know his stuff."
"We'll see," Connor sniffed. "Anyone who agrees with us being pushed aside can't be that great."
Abby watched Connor go inside, his whole body language indicating his annoyance and anger. She wouldn't like to be in Matt's shoes right now.
##
Weeks and months passed. After earning their places back on the team, Abby found that working alongside Matt was good. She felt the ARC really did need someone who was experienced in leadership, as much as she liked Cutter and Danny, neither were natural leaders and had inherited the role by default. The team was much tighter now, slicker in their responses to anomalies, and even though she knew Matt and Becker occasionally clashed, they had a mutual respect for each other that worked well.
When Emily arrived, Abby sensed that she and Matt connected. She wanted Matt to be happy, having not seen that sparkle in his eyes that she'd once known since she'd come back. Emily came with many complications though, and Matt was being professional, holding back. When she went through the anomaly back to her own time, Abby saw the disappointment in his eyes.
Connor in the mean time was also concerning Abby. He'd changed since they'd been back, spending more time shut away in his private lab doing work for Philip Burton than he did with her and the rest of the team. Whenever she tried to show an interest in what he was doing, he shut her out. It was having a negative effect on their personal relationship too. He would often not come home until the early hours. She'd given up on waiting until he come home now and made herself dinner and went to bed when she was ready. If this continued for much longer, she wasn't sure if she could remain in this relationship.
Then, she caught Matt in Connor's lab, trying to access something on his laptop. It seemed he was concerned about Connor's behaviour too but he wouldn't go into details, he just asked Abby to trust him. She was torn, she did trust Matt but at the same time she didn't understand why he would be so secretive either. Part of her did wonder if it was jealousy, but she pushed it away. It was only when she watched Matt's reactions as they tried to deal with the giant beetles that things started to make sense.
"You've seen them before... in the future. Which means one of two things. Either you've been to their time, or you came from there in the first place. So which one is it?" she challenged. Her heart raced when she thought of what either possibility meant. He had known about the anomalies before he came to the ARC, and he probably knew about them when she had slept with him.
"Come with me." he said simply, removing his ear piece and beckoning for her to follow him. He took her to one of the interview rooms, switched off all the recording equipment inside and locked the door. Then he leaned on the table and took a deep breath.
"In the future the planet is dying. This is my only chance to save it. If I fail, all life on earth will come to an end."
"What has that got to do with the ARC?" Abby rested her hands on her hips and stared defiantly at Matt.
"Something goes wrong with the anomalies in this era. I'm here to find out what it is, and if I can, stop it."
Abby couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "So your whole identity is a lie. And you've been investigating us all since you got here. Connor..."
"Abby, I need to know what he's been doing for Philip."
"You think it's him?"
"I've got to show you something." Matt removed what Abby had thought was his watch, then he placed a small circular object onto the table and flicked something on his wrist. A holographic screen opened and Abby took a step back as images of familiar landmarks cycled through in front of her, but those buildings were in ruins. She swallowed nervously.
"What you're seeing is your future," Matt continued. He nodded and asked if she was okay. She said she was, even though she felt sick to the stomach. Then he bought up an image of Connor. "If you're going to be a part of this, you have to know what you're dealing with. I need you to help me."
"Help you? Matt, why should I even believe what you're saying? You've lied to everyone... lied to me..."
"I know it sounds crazy, and yes I lied. I had to. If I'd told anyone what I really was, then whoever is responsible for this disaster would be on their guard."
"When you came to the zoo that time, and you talked to me... did you know that I was involved with the anomalies?"
Matt nodded. "I'd been watching you for a few weeks. I was at the anomaly site where you found the Coelurosauravus. I'd been waiting for someone to show more than just a passing interest in the anomalies for months, and you were the first one."
"So you only came to me hoping I'd lead you to the ARC?" Abby's blood began to boil. She'd been used as well as lied to, and she couldn't believe that she'd actually thought he'd been interested in her.
"In the beginning, yes... but..."
"I've heard enough." She stormed over to the keypad on the wall to enter the security code and unlock the door. Matt grabbed her wrist.
"Abby. I'll admit that I had an ulterior motive when I asked you out for a drink, but the other stuff... sleeping with you... I didn't expect to actually fall for you, and despite the fact I wasn't supposed to be getting close to anyone here I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"That's supposed to make me feel better is it?" Abby spat. "And now you want me to help you spy on Connor?"
"I believe that he and Philip hold the key to what happened. I have to know what they're doing that's so secret, and you're the only one that can get close enough to Connor to find out." He placed his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off. "You're upset and need to time to digest what I've told you..."
"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it, Matt." She punched in the code and the door opened, and she practically ran to get away from him. Matt came after her, trying to stop her. She swung around angrily and met his eyes.
"Abby, I have to know that you won't share any of this with anyone. If Connor or Burton were to..."
Abby sighed. "Your secret is safe with me, for the moment anyway. I have to decide how I deal with all of this myself before I even contemplate telling someone else."
"Thank you," Matt replied, relieved. "That means a lot."
Abby sniffed and turned away again, striding down the corridor and determined that she would not look back. She was on the verge of tears, but would not allow them to fall whilst Matt could possibly still see. She forced them back and held her head high until she reached the safety and privacy of her own office next to the menagerie. She locked the door and turned off the security camera, then sat in the chair and buried her head in her hands. The tears finally fell.
Matt's story made sense, why would he make something like that up? It was the fact she'd been taken in by his charm way back when she had only just discovered what an anomaly was that made her angry. She'd even been contemplating a proper relationship with him after the day he'd comforted her. Did he know about Cutter's death when he called her out of the blue? He probably did, and was hoping he could get more information from her. She recalled how kind he'd been and how it had felt so right to have him make dinner for her whilst she showered. Then she thought about how she'd woken up next to him the following morning and had been reluctant to leave him and how she'd felt an unusual spring in her step as she went to work. Jenny had even commented that Abby had a glow about her and asked if she was in love.
But none of it meant anything. Matt's attentions were purely just to try and get information about the ARC from her. He was just like every other man in Abby's life, except for Connor – and even he was becoming a stranger to her now. What if he was the one that Matt was looking for? Why had she ever allowed any of them to get under her skin?
She'd been sat for at least half an hour when the door opened. She didn't look up – it could only be one of two people who could have got in through the coded door lock and she didn't particularly want to speak to either of them at the moment.
"Abby, I need you to understand..." Matt began.
"I don't want to talk to you."
"I'm not asking you to talk. I'm just asking you to listen, and then I'll be out of here."
Abby looked up and sighed, resigning herself to Matt's persistence. He sat opposite her, leaning on the desk. "When I came here, I spent the first few months just finding my feet. My father spent a lot of time setting us both up with appropriate documents, inventing a history for ourselves and then making sure we both knew enough about the current time to blend in. After that, I began looking for evidence of anomalies."
"The forest of Dean seemed to be a 'hot spot' for them. I read enough on the internet to realise that anomalies were opening there and it seemed the best place to start. That was when I came across you and the others."
"And that was when you decided to target me," Abby spat. "Did you think because I'm female I'd be easier to get to? That I'd be the easiest one to manipulate?"
"It wasn't like that. You were the easiest to get to because the others were all based at the Universtiy campus, and unless you're a student or a lecturer it's not easy to get on site, let alone get to speak to the likes of Professor Cutter. The zoo, and you, were my easiest option."
Abby blinked. She supposed that made sense. She remembered trying to get to Cutter's office herself once and not being able to get any further than the main reception area and had to call him to come and get her.
"I realised that you weren't going to open up whilst you were at work, so I hoped that you'd relax more in a more social situation. I didn't bargain on actually finding your company interesting, or that there'd be an attraction between us. And I certainly hadn't planned on getting you into bed." His face turned pink before he swallowed and continued.
"My father was so angry when he worked out what had happened. I wasn't supposed to get that close to anyone and he told me I risked jeopardising our whole mission, so I stayed well away from temptation for a long time and shifted my focus onto Helen Cutter. For a long time, I thought she was the one I was looking for but, like Burton, she was very good at keeping her activities a secret."
"So if you followed Helen, then you knew about Cutter being killed..."
Matt nodded. "I did, but the only reason I contacted you was because I was concerned about you. You'd never been far from my thoughts in all that time and I... You have to believe that I wasn't using you. My father would've had a fit if he'd known I'd been in touch with you again, let alone had sex with you... three times..." he grinned, and Abby couldn't help returning the smile despite herself.
"I'm sorry if you feel betrayed or used, Abby, that really wasn't my intention. I actually cared about you, had feelings for you... still do if truth be told..."
Abby's eyes widened and then she pushed aside a feeling she knew she shouldn't be experiencing. "I've been lied to all my life, Matt. I thought the people around me now were trustworthy, people I could trust my life with..."
"And you still can, Abby. Maybe it's hard to see right now, but when you've had time to take it all in, you'll understand why I had to keep my true identity a secret... and I still have to keep it that way. I just need you to help me."
Abby did understand, but was Connor really the one Matt had been looking for all of this time? If he'd told her this a month or so ago, she'd have dismissed him straight away, but Connor's odd behaviour lately concerned her too. "What makes you so certain that Burton is connected to the anomalies? Maybe he and Connor are working on some big invention and they don't want anyone else to steal their ideas"
"I spoke with Danny Quinn briefly before he left to go after his brother," Matt said. "He told me that Helen Cutter had paperwork with her, paperwork with Philip Burton's name on it. She had questions she wanted to ask him about anomalies."
"Philip knew Helen?"
"It seems they were aware of each other's work at least." He watched Abby's face, almost seeing her heart sinking and shattering apart. He reached for her hand and squeezed it, tangling his fingers into hers. She squeezed his hand back and took a deep breath.
"Okay. I'll help you. I'm not entirely sure what this will do to my relationship with Connor, but some things are bigger than individuals, right?"
Matt nodded and leaned forward, kissing Abby softly on the lips before leaving. Abby stared after him for several long seconds, wondering what on earth she'd got herself into.