Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.

As always, please read and review. :-)

Author's Note: This was written as a birthday fic for the awesome iEvenstarEstel. Happy Birthday. :-D She wanted: Prompt - An alternate ending to that scene in 4.05 when Connor thinks that Abby's dead. I want her genuinely concerned and sorry that Connor was devastated. I want her to return that kiss he gave her with all her heart and soul. (smut ensues if you're so inclined)

Getting A Clue

Connor stared in horror at the writhing creature in front of him. The creature that was in the exact same spot where Jess reported Abby's tracker said she should be. No! It wasn't possible. She couldn't be gone. Not after all they'd been through; all that they'd already survived. He just couldn't believe it, but the clear evidence of it was staring him in the face.No! Emotion sliced through him at a rapid pace. Pain. Literal, physical pain. Denial. No, this wasn't happening. Horror. Sadness. Loss. Despair. Anger. Rage. If this evil creature had killed Abby, then Connor would kill it, or die trying. Part of him wished for the latter. What was the point if Abby was gone? He couldn't bear the thought of continuing on without her. His life was over either way.

He picked up the oar and rushed at the creature screaming Abby's name, almost blinded by his own tears. Typical! Connor thought, as he landed a blow that barely phased the creature and then promptly lost his grip on the oar. Well, at least this would probably end quickly. If there was any justice in this world, then with any luck as soon as his eyes closed in death here, they'd open in the next world and he'd be with Abby, hopefully for forever. He stood tall and resigned himself to the on-coming attack as the creature reared it's head at him with his putrid maw wide open for the final blow. He dodged the attack and ducked around the creature. He wasn't even sure why he did it. Part of him was trying to whisper to himself that Abby would want him to go on, but he really didn't want to even listen to that. He told himself it was simply his fight or flight reflexes kicking in. He flung the petrol container at the Labyrinthodont in a wild last-ditch effort to get out of the creature's clutches. It missed and sailed passed the beast, landing in a puddle just below the anomaly. The anomaly promptly flared to full size. An image of Cutter flashed through his head. If Connor died, who would be there to safeguard Cutter's work? But without Abby? Cutter? Who was he supposed to follow? He didn't know what to do; all he could do was stare at the creature whose mouth kept getting impossibly wider as it prepared to make the kill.

BANG!

A gunshot? But…?

"Get away from him!" came Abby's shout.

"What the…?" Connor gasped in disbelief. Abby ran, brandishing the rifle in front of her. "Abby, you're alive?"

"Yep, last time I checked."

"No, no, no, no, no, don't shoot. There's petrol everywhere."

"Wha…" Abby switched her hold on the rifle to turn it into a bashing weapon for striking. There was no way she could take the chance of firing it again. The cave might erupt in flames if she did.

"They just want to go home," Connor called, his expression reflecting the calculating effort at problem solving working through his head. "The anomaly's fading, no that's not gonna…" He glanced at Abby. The creature was rearing his head and preparing to strike again this time with Abby as its target. "Abby! Move!" With all his effort, he threw the container, not at the creature, but towards the puddle at the base of the anomaly. Petrol gurgled up from the opening of the container, diluting the disruptive acid that was keeping the anomaly from opening up. As the anomaly swirled once more to full size and brightness, the creatures, mother and child, instinctively moved towards it and home. Connor had kept his eyes on the creature, but had seen Abby dive out of the way in his peripheral vision. He panted heavily, winded from the last several minutes of both effort and emotional turmoil. He turned his attention from the healthy anomaly back to where Abby was slowly getting to her feet from where she'd crashed to the ground. He stared at her in shock and disbelief; his eyes still swimming with an overabundance of emotion.

"Connor?" Abby asked.

"I thought you… I thought you'd been eaten. I…" He couldn't finish. Now that it came right down to it, he couldn't say it.

Abby took his hand and looked him in the eye. "Are you all right?"

"Yep, yeah. It's just… It's good to, um… For a minute there I thought you were gone. It'd be a pretty lonely place here without you."

"Well, I'm here."

"Yes! You are." He couldn't stand it any more. He took her face in both his hands and pulled her into a deep, desperate kiss. After a moment of what Connor guessed was shock, Abby responded by gripping his arms tightly, and then gliding her hands over his biceps. Her fingers slipped down to the hem of his shirt and skirted underneath before her shaking hands ghosted along the smooth skin of his back and locked around his slim waist. His lips were demanding but soft on hers. He held her head in vise-like grip, giving her no quarter to retreat to, not that she would have.

Abby pulled him in and held his body in just as tight a grip as he held her. Their tongues tangled and their lips danced, moving in perfect rhythm against each other. Neither wanted to let go; there had been so much tension between them ever since Philip had attempted to liquidate the Menagerie. Philip! He was the problem wasn't he? Connor thought. Well, Abby was worth more to him than a thousand Burton's. As this realization dawned on him so did the need for air. He pulled back, still panting and now very flushed, just enough to rest his forehead against Abby's.

"Please, don't do that to me again." His voice was thick with the emotion of what he'd almost lost.

"I'll do my best," Abby replied.

"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you," Connor apologized softly. "It wasn't intentional, I just got so wrapped up in everything."

"No, Connor. I'm sorry I haven't given you enough credit. I don't know why I've taken my anger at Burton out on you. You've done nothing but support me and be my friend. You're not him and I shouldn't have thought so little of you. I never even gave you a chance to defend yourself. I just assumed you'd side with him. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, though. I've been completely blinded to what Philip has been doing. He's been trying to drive a wedge between us. I'm not going to let that happen. I love you too much and we've been through too much to give up now. I almost lost you." He held her just a little bit tighter, his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Connor, I'm safe. Nothing happened to me. In fact, I'm pretty sure I saved your life."

Connor let out a small nervous giggle at this. "Yeah, yeah I guess you did." He went in for another kiss, this one sweet and joyous. He hadn't lost her; she really was right here in front of him, kissing him back. His body had still not calmed and his mind was still marveling that she really wasn't dead. Involuntarily he tightened his embrace.

"Connor," Abby whispered against his lips. "I'm really here. I'm OK. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know." Connor rubbed her shoulders. "I just need to feel you. That's all."

Abby brought her hands out from under his shirt and took his hands in hers. "Well, then, feel away." She looked around the cave. "Well, maybe not here. Let's go back to the car, and then head up to the headland. We'll find a nice, secluded place and just get back to each other." She kissed him, slow and tender, then leaned her forehead back against his. "Let's go."

Connor wrapped his arm around her shoulder like old times, and just like old times she laid her head over on his shoulder, leaning in to him and inhaling his scent, a scent that was so unique to Connor. She'd missed this so much over the last few months.

They got in the car and let Jess know that everything was taken care of; Connor had closed the anomaly Jess had called for a team to clean up what might be left of the mother and son that the creature had devoured. Lastly, they told her they'd be going off comms for a while, they needed to take care of a few personal things on the way back to the ARC. Jess got the message and let them know to take their time.

Connor drove faster than Abby had ever seen him drive. High up on the headlands they parked the vehicle and started walking. There was no destination, they just walked, holding hands and occasionally trading kisses, smiles, and warm looks.

Something had shifted between them, Connor felt bashful every time Abby looked at him and Abby felt timid and shy every time he caressed her face. It felt like how it was when it was just the two of them, like when they'd first got together back in the Cretaceous. They took their jackets off as they hiked farther up the rocky slopes.

They found a shallow cave, really just a hollow in the rock face, but it was cool, shaded and moss covered with a picture perfect view of the sea sparkling out as far as the eye could sea in the slowly setting sun. Connor laid them both down and they just lay there, staring at each other, re-memorizing the planes of the other's face and the curve of the other's body. They spent nearly an hour just touching and caressing. Connor slid his fingers under the hem of her shirt, his fingers splayed out across her ribs and his thumbs brushed the underside of her breasts. Abby had had enough of barriers between them. She reached down, seized the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. Connor reached around and unclasped her bra. Abby slid the straps down her arms as Connor pulled his two tee-shirts off. Abby straddled his lap and they wrapped their arms around each other.

Finally, topless and warm in each other's arms, there was nothing between them. They felt free for the first time in months. Abby kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his nose, and lastly his mouth. His hands languidly roamed the contours of her body, his thumbs lightly tracing her spine. After a few moments, Connor's fingers dipped below the waistband of her jeans and she ground against the bulge in his trousers in anticipation. He growled into her mouth and his hands became more insistent. With a practiced flip of his wrist he unbuttoned her trousers and she did the same for him after reaching down and cupping him through his jeans. He slid her trousers down past her hips and let his hands rest on the globe of her pert backside. Abby stood up and let her jeans pool at her feet along with her knickers. She kicked them out of the way and Connor, never taking his eyes off of her, shimmied out of the last of his layers of clothing. Once again, Abby straddled him and he pulled her close to him. Slowly she took him into her while she gazed into his eyes.

"I'm here, Connor. Feel me, take all the time you need. I'm really here." Connor smiled back at her, a single tear slipping down his cheek. She sank completely down onto him, taking him fully into her. "Just feel, my love."

Connor sucked in his breath; she hadn't called him that in a long time. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and buried his face in her neck. "Oh god, Abby, I've missed you. I love you so much and part of me is missing when we're at odds. I don't want to be at odds anymore. I'll tell Philip no. As soon as we get back, I'll tell him no."

Abby rocked her hips against his. "I've got some thoughts on that, but can we talk about it later? I kind of want to feel you too."

"Guh! Uh, yeah." Connor reciprocated and rolled his hips, bucking up against hers. Connor sat with his back against the wall of the cave and Abby on his lap. Abby arched her back and leaned away from him keeping her hands on his shoulders. She swiveled her hips and ground down against him. He needed to feel her; to be intoxicated by her scent; he needed to gaze into her beautiful, clear blue eyes; he needed to taste her; he needed to feel her with every fibre of his being; to reassure himself that she was really alive.

Connor leaned forward and, looking up into her bright eyes, he took her right breast into his mouth. He flicked his tongue lightly against the nipple and then circled it before sucking and nipping at it lightly. To think, he'd almost lost this. He nuzzled at her breast a little more, reveling in the feeling and taste of her, he never wanted to be without her. He laved his tongue over the nipple after each playful bite. He knew how much it drove Abby wild. He wrapped his right arm around her lower back and held her as his left hand grazed her other breast. She moaned and started to move just a little faster which in turn made Connor moan. The vibrations moving across her breasts as she did this went right to her core. She let her head loll back and Connor obligingly moved from her breasts up across her chest, leaving lovely little marks as he went, branding her as his own.

He moved on to her neck, sucking and biting his way up to her jaw. He reached the spot just behind her ear and elicited the desired response. Abby giggled. The pleasurable sounds ran all the way through both of them, she writhed against him and he thrust harder up into her. She felt so good, encasing him so tightly, her muscles contracting against his. He could feel her giggles all the way down to where they were joined. It was the most amazing feeling in the whole world.

Abby apparently wanted to get her own response from him so she clamped her inner walls down even tighter on him and he gasped and bit down at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He flipped her back completely so that she was lying beneath him. "Uh-huh! This time I get to be in charge," he growled. He leaned forward, bracing his arms on either side of her head, and kissed her as he started up a new pace.

He stroked in to her over and over, pulling his cock almost completely out of her with every thrust. He continued to kiss her passionately as she moaned and cried into his mouth. He loved that he could do this to her. It had been far too long since he had enjoyed this particular feeling.

Connor moaned into her as Abby found her center again and bucked her hips up to meet his. He reached back and grabbed her hands from around his waist. He entwined his fingers with hers and them pinned them hard against the ground next to her head. He nuzzled at her neck, on the opposite side from where he had marked her earlier. Abby leaned her head back to accommodate his nipping and sucking. He loved possessing her and marking her as his own and she was more than happy to be marked by him.

He continued his long, deep thrusting pace as Abby turned the tables on him again by wrapping her legs up around his waist. He moved his left hand from holding hers to gently trailing his fingers down the length of her body. He ran his fingers up her leg then tucked them under the back of her knee, and pulled her right leg up over his shoulder, opening her wide to his continued thrusts. He loved the fact that she was so incredibly flexible. He held her leg in place as he started to pound into her harder and harder. She arched her back at the new, slightly painful and totally exhilarating position.

Abby reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. His nipples rubbed against her breasts in perfect, sweat-slicked friction, but he kept his face far enough away that he could look into her eyes. He loved to watch her when she was in the throes of a satisfying orgasm. He could tell by the fluttering of her inner muscles against him and the way her cries came in short, ever increasing breathy gasps that she was very close. He quivered slightly at as the thought of her dead and gone rolled through him again. He closed his eyes against the horrible scenarios that his mind had created in those few horrible moments. Moisture dampened his eyelashes and they clung together.

Abby reached up and gently cupped his cheek. "I'm here, Conn. I'm here." She could barely pant out the words, but it was what he needed to hear, her voice, clear and whispering his name. "I love you," she breathed. He opened his eyes, turned to kiss her palm. Abby moved her hand to the back of his neck and Connor kissed her inner thigh, just above her knee before returning his gaze to her face.

He increased the pace of his movements and she circled her hips with each snap of her own. He moved his hand from her leg and gently cupped her breast before taking her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pinching. He alternated pinching and rolling the reddened nub between his fingers. She arched against him and cried out. He gasped as he felt her walls suddenly seize and then begin rhythmically milking his cock hard over and over.

This was exactly what he'd needed. Not just sex, but a connection, a perfect connection to Abby. He couldn't live without it. She was his other half, his Ezer Kenegdo, the sustainer beside him. He had a few seconds to relish the absolutely stunning look of pure bliss that settled into Abby features before he lost control himself. "Oh God!" He gasped, as a second later, with one last deep thrust, he also seized and came, spilling into her inviting channel. He continued to thrust into her several more times as their muscles worked together to rhythmically draw out the other's pleasure.

Finally, Abby's leg slipped from his shoulder and he collapsed on top of her, unable to support himself on one arm any longer. He cleaved tightly to her, not wanting the moment to end. They panted and kissed; caressing each other as they slowly caught their breath. He finally slipped from inside her and broke the connection, trembling slightly at the loss, as he rolled to her side. He pulled her close and tucked her in next to him. The sun's final rays were setting and the little cape with the cave they were ensconced in was bathed in sunlight. The sweat on their bodies glistened as they listened to their slowing heartbeats.

"I've missed you. I've missed this," Connor said, the tips of his fingers gliding up and down her arms.

"Mmmm, me too," Abby replied, still blissful. She cuddled in closer to him and kissed his chest just over his heart. He kissed the top of her head and they both lay there, silently reveling in the presence and feel of the other, watching the sun finish sinking below the horizon. "Connor," Abby final broached when the last golden beam faded to a white-purple. "I've been thinking, this job with Philip, I think you should take it."

"Wha-"

"No, just hear me out. Not full time, just, maybe as an extra project."

"You're not telling me that you trust Burton now, are you?"

Abby scowled. "No, no I couldn't ever trust him. There's something off about him."

"Then why, Abby? Why do you want me to take it?"

"I trust you, Connor. I trust you to do the right thing, no matter what. If there's something up with Burton, I trust you to do the right thing if you figure out what it is."

Connor looked at her gravely as comprehension dawned on his face. "You want me to spy? You want me to, like, be a double agent." That characteristic, brilliantly dimpled smile of his blossomed across his features. "Connor Temple, secret agent. Connor Temple, 007. Ooh, maybe we could, like, develop our own secret code or something."

"Connor, you are such a nerd sometimes."

"What?"

"I'm serious. We need to find out what he's up to. What he's planning."

"I am too, I was just thinking we could have a bit of fun with it while were doing all that." He leaned down and kissed her nose. "I love you. That's a brilliant plan and thank you."

"For what?"

"For loving me, even when I'm such a nerd, and for trusting me. I'm sorry if I've let you down. The days of Connor Temple, Burton groupie are over." He kissed her lips lightly and then leaned his forehead against her temple. "I promise. You and me against the world, forever. That was the plan right?"

"You and me against the world, forever. Yes, that's the plan. I'm sorry too, for not always remembering that."

"I think it's time we moved out of Jess's flat. She's nice and all, but we need our own space. If for no other reason than I really don't feel like hiking up here every time I want to shag me girlfriend." The both laughed.

"Agreed, we need our own place. I for one could do with quite a few more Connor induced orgasms. It's nowhere near as good when I have to do it by myself."

Connor's face changed dramatically and Abby suddenly felt something pressed hard into her thigh.

"God, Connor, you have the fastest recovery time I've ever seen. At this rate the ARC will be sending a search party out for us. I really don't fancy spending the night out hear on the headlands. It's going to get really cold soon."

"Well," Connor said as he pulled himself over on top of her again. "I guess we'll just have to find a way to keep warm won't we?"

The End

A/N 2: Sooooo? If you enjoyed this story, please let me know. They motivate me to write more. :-) Go ahead. Hit the button. You know you want to stop lurking. :-)