Once again, I don't own Primeval. But if I could, I'd crawl into an anomaly to the ARC and never come back. Maybe I'll find an anomaly someday…

Chapter 3

Abby took Sarah's request, stepping out of their room in the dress. It was white and yellow and pink, and it didn't feel like her at all. In addition, Sarah insisted on applying Abby's makeup. She now wore less eyeliner, and Sarah gave her a 'natural' look, which she thought was simply ridiculous. After losing to Sarah with the argument "If I wanted to look natural I'd lose the makeup altogether", however, she was forced to her friend's will.

Danny and Becker eyed Abby with interest as she stepped out with Sarah, though Becker's gaze flicked between the two girls before settling on Sarah. Connor was fiddling with something on his cell phone; Becker flicked his wrist and nodded to Abby. Connor looked up and Abby could've screamed. His gaze was as blank as it had ever been.

"Oi," he said. "Where we off to today?"

"Abby and I were thinking we could have a picnic," Sarah said. Her face was as desolate as Abby felt for a moment, but she flashed a winning smile in an instant. "Right, Abbs?"

Abby nodded emptily. The trip to the park was a blur; she didn't even know for sure what park they were at. Most of her energy was focused on not destroying Connor where he sat, so Sarah placed herself between them diplomatically.

They had gone to the store first. Sarah went along picking things up for the picnic, and pretending for Abby's sake that her friend was paying attention and cared. Abby knew she should be as uplifted as Sarah, but she didn't have the energy.

They reached the park and laid out a blanket. They all took part in setting the picnic up without a fight, which was a good change after all the bickering. Abby and Becker made sandwiches. Sarah walked around, taking pictures of the statues and the other tourists. Connor busied himself playing some racing game on his cell phone while Danny watched with interest.

Then, suddenly, they heard a beeping sound and Connor froze.

"You just crashed, moron--" Danny furrowed his brow when he saw Connor's horrified expression. "What happened?"

The others turned to face them. Connor sputtered.

"You know, we were leaving the ARC for three months," he said breathlessly. "I decided--on Lester's suggestion--to take a Handheld ADD."

Abby's eyes widened. "There's an anomaly here!?"

He nodded, reaching into the bottom of the bag they brought, where he had hidden the detector. It was beeping, displaying the direction to the anomaly. Danny pointed the direction to the others and said, "Come on."

They followed him without question, dropping their picnic and heading out through the streets. They rushed across crosswalks and finally stopped before an alleyway. Danny was the first to look up, and he furrowed his brow in confusion. Connor looked up and dropped the detector. Abby gasped. Becker reached instinctively to his waist for a gun, but his hand came away empty.

"Hello, there," Stephen said, his tone dry. "I didn't expect such a warm welcome."

***

Lester slammed the phone down. It had started out amusing, but eventually he grew furious. He did not want a promotion, no matter what the Minister thought.

He didn't want to be surrounded by soldiers and government hacks, not like Christine Johnson always had been. While soldiers were never as disheveled or difficult as the foolhardy scientists he had to work with, and soldiers wouldn't usually disagree with a direct order while the scientists made it second nature, there was something about the silent obedience of a soldier he found unlikable. Though he would never admit it at work, he had a tiny, tiny soft spot inside him for his employees. Even Connor with his deplorable interest in seemingly everything geeky had a few idiosyncrasies that weren't totally laughable.

Lester grimaced, looking hopefully at the clock. Nine Friday night. Time to retreat home for the weekend. Hopefully he could leave trouble at work.

Though he rarely let it be known he had a personal life, his family was the only reason he kept coming to work each day…next to national security of course. He entered the door tiredly and was greeted by his daughters Angeline and Vanessa, 14 and 6, respectively. Vanessa was in pigtails; he'd have to ask how that came about when the child often insisted her mother leave her hair alone.

"How are you, darling?" he asked, lifting the younger girl up in his arms.

"I got a gold star on a math test!" she cried out happily.

"Did you now?" he asked. He saw Jade appear from over his daughter's shoulder, smiling.

"That she did," she said. "And Angeline's shooting for the top of her class in Geometry."

"Most of the sophomores work for passing grades," Angeline smiled. "Freshies in advanced math just get A's without trying. I'm not the only one with a 99%, mum."

"No," Jade conceded, turning to James, "but she is the only one teaching her baby sister sine and cosine functions."

Lester set down his daughter and stepped towards his wife. "Any leftovers?"

"Hope you feel like pizza," she shrugged. Lester smiled easily.

"I'd love some," he said, leaning forward before Jade turned to land a quick kiss. She rolled her eyes and led the way to the kitchen.

He felt his mobile buzz. He reached to his pocket and saw it was Quinn. He read it, then dropped his phone.

STEPHEN HART TOOK SARAH.