AN1: This AU was based on a gifset of a professional weightlifter who reminded myself and some of my friends of Abby if she'd chosen a different path of life. That led to wondering about what the others would be like in this alternate universe tale... Each section will bring more to light about the path of each character, so for some you may have to be patient for the reveal of the specifics...
AN2: Written as a series of drabbles, each 'chapter' will have 3-9 drabbles each, depending on my mood/muse. I'll do my best to update this every week with a new set. :L
Drabble #1: AU series Neoteric : Adorkable
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The bell on the door jingled noisily, and Connor Temple looked up from the magazine he was looking through to smile at the young woman who had walked into the store.
"Hey, how c'n I 'elp ya?" He asked, when she hesitated at the front of the store.
With a grateful smile, Abby Maitland approached.
"I've just moved in nearby, and I have to buy food for my pets." She explained. Connor nodded.
"Lemme guess, lizards? Erm, iguana?" The young man guessed, a dimple forming in his cheek as he grinned at her. She chuckled, a bright, musical laugh.
"Yes, how did you guess?"
"Ye look like a lizard girl, if you don' mind me sayin'."
At that, Abby raised an eyebrow at the dark-haired young man in his layered shirts and trilby.
"You don't look like a pet shop guy, in that case." Abby said, easily bantering back. The man pouted, and then chuckled, shrugging.
"'M not, really. This's all temporary. Tech place 'round th' corner doesn't believe I'm as smart 's I actually am. … either tha' or they were serious about needin' experience…"
"I'm pretty sure it's the latter." Abby said, then paused, "so, erm, iguana feed?"
"Right, ah, this way, sorry."
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Abby got Connor's number before she left with the containers, having surprised the geeky young man with the ease by which she could carry them, despite their weight.
She laughed at the look on his face when she told him she was a professional weightlifter/kickboxer. He was sweet and dorky, but just the right side of maturity and seriousness that she was surprised to find she liked. He wasn't her usual type, but there was something unconsciously charming about him, and he wasn't intimidated by her strength or independence like so many other idiots were. Still, she had to feed her pets, and she couldn't find any more reason to dawdle, so she asked for his number, gave him her own, and then left the store, imagining the gormless expression he probably had on his face right now.
Maybe 'adorkable' was more her type.
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Drabble #2: Au Series Neoteric : Regrets
Stephen did not regret many things in his life. There were a few, specific, incidents that he regretted, but on the whole, he had no time to focus on self-doubt.
Still, he did wish that perhaps he hadn't chickened out of uni. Sleeping with Helen Cutter was another regret, tied directly to the former regret.
After he found out that he was one in a string of others, and her words were all false, not to mention that she was in fact married, he had decided to leave CMU and follow other pursuits. While he could not say that he disliked being a copper, or that the years between uni and this career in which he'd explored the world and learned to be a tracker as well as shoot a gun were wasted time, Stephen Hart could also not say that he mightn't be happier knowing all of that if he could have also stayed in university.
He regretted, specifically, being a coward.
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Drabble #3 : Au Series Neoteric : Watchful
There had been disappearances in the Forest of Dean recently. A couple on a walk along a frequently used trail had vanished, and searches had turned up no traces.
Two days ago, a family had been reported missing after camping in the forest. Apparently a boy named Ben, about 10 or so, had wandered out, babbling about monsters, blood on his cheek. He claimed to have seen the past, and that a monster had killed his family in the night. He had barely escaped.
Stephen was unsure what to think. He very much doubted there was a monster on the loose, or that the boy had truly seen the past, but something had definitely killed his family, and probably the couple on the walk as well. Rob and Jeffrey were a little ways away, speaking to a group of people. While they couldn't close off a whole forest, the other coppers were recommending that people stay out of the Forest of Dean until the investigation was completed.
Stephen agreed, but he wished they could do more than warn people away. In his experience, they tended to have minds of their own, that led them right into the danger they should've been staying far away from.
"Hi." Stephen turned to raise an eyebrow at the young couple standing there hand in hand. The dark haired kid had spoken, a big grin on his face. The girl elbowed him.
"We were just passing by - we heard on the news about the boy, and we were worried. Do you think there really is something dangerous in there?" The young woman asked, pushing a lock of white blonde hair out of her eyes. Her boyfriend's eyes were keen, brighter than the silly grin had led Stephen to believe initially, as he met his gaze.
"I'm not really at liberty to say." Stephen temporized.
"It's just that, erm, we had hoped to go on a camping trip, but…" The kid said, dark eyes not quite meeting his anymore. Stephen was pretty sure he was lying.
"But we'd obviously not want to risk our lives, you understand. If we knew for sure one way or the other…." The blonde added hastily, covering up her boyfriend's obvious fumble. She met his eyes with her own bright blue ones, calmly, but he was still not convinced.
"Unfortunately we can't tell for sure at this point. searches haven't turned anything up, but there is no doubt that something is going on in that forest. I'd recommend you two stay far from it. It seems to like couples." Stephen said, glancing at their hands. The girl's hand momentarily tightened on her boyfriend's fingerless glove - clad one, a protective gesture.
"Thanks for the advice, mate." the boy said, in a tone much too mild. Stephen watched them with narrow eyes as they walked away. A few moments after they walked around the corner of the lot, to where trees blocked the pavement from view, a blue mini cooper drove past. He thought she saw the girl at the wheel.
"So much for just passing by." He commented to himself, turning away to inspect the car beside him. It was that of young Ben's family, parked since the night they vanished.
Stephen decided to keep an eye out for those two - and their blue mini cooper.
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Drabble #4 : AU Series Neoteric : Suspicion
"This way." A young man, northern accent.
"Shh." A second voice, feminine and in an accent more like Stephen's own.
Stephen's eyes narrowed, searching the darkness. He recognized those two voices. Soon enough, he saw the tell- tale thready beams of a pair of torches, wavering with the footsteps of the people holding them. He hesitated, before deciding to hang back.
He would wait a few moment, and then follow them, rather than intercept them now and demand answers. He was more likely to find out by being circumspect about this.
The soft but still audible sounds of the two bantering began to fade, and Stephen checked his gun in it's holster before he locked his car door and started walking, finding it easy to track the young couple's path, even without the tell of the torch beams in the distance.
Whatever they were up to, he was going to find out.
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Drabble #5 : AU Series Neoteric : Auspicious
"Do you really think there's a…"
"Temporal Spacial tear," Connor provided.
"A rip in time and space," Abby said, rolling her eyes, "in the Forest of Dean, Conn?"
"Yes."
"I can't believe I'm going along with this." Abby grumbled.
"Shh." Connor imitated, but the humor had left his voice, and he was aiming his torch around them. Abby glanced at the compass which was lit like a watch from within, in his hand.
"Conn - the compass!" She hissed, aiming her torch around them while he glanced down. The needle inside was spinning wildly.
"Whoah." They stepped past some trees, and were met with the sight of a bright shimmering, swirling mass of what looked almost like shards of glass.
"I was right." Connor murmured, eyes wide and wonder in his tone. Abby stared at it, shocked.
" 's amazing… Can we get a closer look?" She said, darting towards it.
"Wait, Abby!" He followed her, and they peered through - into the past.
With a startlingly loud chitter, something greenish flew at them, and the couple fell back in surprise. The creature landed upon the leafy ground, looking up at them with surprising intelligence in its eyes.
"It's a lizard." Abby said, smiling.
"Coelurosauravus." Connor said, in awe.
"And that means?"
"It's from the Permian, Abby! This is so awesome!"
"It's too cold for him here, why'd he come through?" Abby mused, crouching and extending a hand. The Coelurosauravus shifted back, then chirped, and moved towards her hand, nuzzling gently. Abby took her scarf off, and wrapped the prehistoric lizard in the soft fabric to keep him warm, holding him in her arms as she stood.
"Maybe we should put him back…" Connor said slowly, thinking of the various things he'd seen or read about messing with time and the dangers.
Before they could do anything, though, a growl startled them, freezing the pair to the spot as they turned around to see a gigantic beast with huge saber-like teeth.
There was malice in the tiny eyes and scars on its hide.
Abby moved slightly, shifting Connor behind her subtly.
"Gorgonopsid." He muttered in her ear. Knowing what it was didn't much help her, specifically, at all. As much as she knew about animal behavior, she didn't know how to tell a prehistoric monster that they were neither prey nor threat.
A loud bang filled the night air, followed by a second of the same sound, and Abby glanced to the side at the creature's roar of pain and fury to see the copper from earlier - Hart, if she'd remembered correctly - standing with handgun out and aimed at the Gorgonopsid. The Coelurosauravus in her arms squirmed in fear.
Hart shot the giant beast again, but it still didn't go down. Now it was just angry, and huffed, starting to run towards Hart.
"Move!" She breathed, feeling Connor's hand gripping her's.
Hart backed away, not looking away from the creature.
A screeching of tires surprised them all, especially when a big Hilux came hurtling out of the darkness and rammed right into the Gorgonopsid, damaging the fender of the car and dropping the beast, unconscious, to the forest floor.
Connor let out a breath gustily, and he and Abby ran to Hart, helping the man from where he'd fallen.
"Are you Connor Temple?" A man asked from behind them, and he turned to see the driver of the car - the man who had just saved them - standing with a hand on the open door of the Hilux.
"Er, yeah." Connor said, voice hoarse.
"I'm Nick Cutter." Hart seemed to flinch at the name, and Abby wondered if they knew each other. "Can ye explain why.. how I just hit a Gorgonopsid from the Permian with my truck?" The man was Scottish, accent not so thick as to be unclear, but different enough for Abby to notice absently.
Connor chuckled uneasily.
"Erm, well…"
"There are rips in time and space, and this isn't the first." Abby interrupted, moving out of the way so the other two could see the bright spot of light in the dark forest.
"Wow."
"This is not what I expected to find when I followed you." Hart said, eyes a little wide and eyebrows raised.
"I Was just about to say the same." Nick commented, expression matching that of the copper.
A shifting alerted them to the fact that the Gorgonopsid wasn't dead, and Hart pulled his gun, shooting it in the head, making the rest of them jump.
Nick scowled at him, and Connor looked uncomfortable. Abby glared at Hart.
"Don't you know enough about time travel not to mess with it?" Connor exclaimed.
"There's no way we could get it back through there before it woke up and ate us all, and there's no guaranteeing it'd stay where it belonged." Hart snapped. "I'd rather have not had to do that, but I also like living, and it's my duty to protect the people that live around here." Hart added.
It wasn't the most auspicious of beginnings.
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Drabble #6 : Au Series Neoteric : Shop talk
"So… you're a professor of Paleontology at CMU?" Connor asked, reluctantly leaving Abby and Stephen to watch the anomaly, despite his own surging curiosity and awe over the spectacle. The blond haired man smiled, turning to face him.
"Yes. I heard you could've had a chance in uni if you'd stayed past a year." Connor blanched, then his eyes narrowed.
"That's how you knew to come 'ere! You watch me blog!" He paused. "Why?" Why did a Professor of Paleontology watch his blog?
"Your database is very good, and I've kept an eye on it, and the blog. I've even recommended students to your database." Cutter said, eyes twinkling. "In spite of your theory on these tears in the space time continuum." The man added.
"Oi, you've seen it with your own eyes, yeah? So, if me theories're a bit off, a' least I w's closer 'n anyone else!" Connor exclaimed.
"Don't worry. I believe you. I'd be stupid not to. Now what do you think about the compass?" Connor grinned at the older man, and the two dissolved into shop talk.
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Drabble #7 : Au Series Neoteric : Probably
Abby glanced at Stephen Hart, assessing him quietly. Stephen turned to face her, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Shouldn't you be watching the anomaly?"
Abby smirked. "Probably. I could say the same to you."
"I'm a tracker; I can talk to you and still know the second anything comes through there." Stephen said smugly.
"Well, I'm assuming we're going to end up a team; I need to see if we can all work together." Abby told him, crossing her arms.
"Well, those two seem to be hittin' it off pretty well, an' you and Connor are lovebirds." She noticed that Stephen didn't say Cutter's name.
"Did you know Nick Cutter - before this, I mean?" Hart flinched again, and Abby narrowed her eyes. He tried to cover the flinch by shifting where he stood. "Not Nick, then…"
"Don't."
"Tell me."
"Leave it alone. You want this team thing to work out? Leave the recent past undisturbed." Stephen said, crossing his arms and glaring at her steadily.
"Fine. For now. But whatever it is, it better not come back to bite us in the end, Hart." Abby said firmly.
"Thank you." Stephen paused, gazing at the anomaly again. "How did you meet Connor?"
Abby looked both relieved and frustrated with the topic change, but she'd agreed to let it drop, and the new topic made her smile.
"He was out of luck and working in a pet store, I'd just moved in nearby and wasn't sure where to find what i needed - I have lizards - and he helped me. He was charming in a dorky kind of way, and I couldn't resist exchanging phone numbers before I left. I think I called him the week after, and we've been together ever since." Stephen smiled; the two were cute together, and he said as much, making her cheeks flush slightly. Soon, the other two returned from their discussion, and Connor bounced over to Abby, kissing her cheek and grinning from ear to ear.
"Cutter likes me database." He told her.
They looked at Cutter, who smiled.
"As much as I'd love to, I don't think we can handle this on our own. I'll make a call."
"As long as this all doesn' turn into a cover up." Connor muttered grumpily at the news, "that's what they did with me first sightin'."
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Drabble #8: AU series Neoteric : Thoughts
"I told ya this was a bad idea." Connor muttered. Abby hid her smile and gripped his hand lightly. He wasn't entirely wrong. Abby wasn't completely against the possibility that this was the end of their involvement, because she could easily go back to her career (she did enjoy being a professional weightlifter/kickboxer. especially the look on people's faces when she told them!), or possibly find another, like her old dream job of working at a reptile house in a zoo. Dinosaurs and anomalies were amazing, but as much as she was curious and excited about them, Abby was sure she could go back to normal life. Not that she really wanted to; if they were allowed to, she would stay with the 'team'.
It was Connor she was worried about. He had committed his life to investigating the phenomenon he had seen years ago, so much so that he had given up on uni and a real job. His face when they had seen the anomaly had been quite a sight; she was almost sure she'd seen a tear. So, to have this theory of his, this focus of his, validated, to have this dream so close, torn out from beneath his feet like a rug, would wound him.
Nick was arguing with Claudia, trying to get her to convince her boss that he needed them as a team to deal with the anomalies. Abby sincerely hoped he succeeded.
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Drabble #9: Au Series Neoteric : The Team
The anomaly closed soon after, and none of them felt the lack of sleep just yet. They headed to the Home Office. Forms were signed, words spoken, and it was with a rush of relief that nearly rocked Connor off his feet that Claudia's boss declared them the Anomaly Team. He didn't even care that he couldn't tell anyone else about it all: the only person he would want to tell, was right here with him.
Connor turned to Abby with a grin, and she kissed him, the two ignoring Lester's snarky disinterest and Stephen, Claudia, and Nick's snickers and smirks.
"Out, out with you all. I have enough to deal with, without sitting here watching you two go at it in my office." Connor and Abby pulled back to look at the other man, Connor's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
The group left Lester's office after that, talking for a bit before separating. Stephen was of the opinion that, based on what Nick and Connor's speculations had turned up in theories, this was going to become the sort of thing that quickly took over their daily lives. Abby agreed. Apart from Nick, really, none of them had anything much to let go of. Stephen wasn't really that happy on the force, and Connor definitely didn't want to work in a pet store for the rest of his life. Nick kissed Claudia lightly before pulling Connor away from more shop talk. A few moments later, Stephen, Abby, and Claudia had followed them.
"There's no leaving us out of anything. You might have to slow down or simplify bits, or just ignore that we're here, but this is a team. We have to all be on the same page." Abby said, crossing her arms.
"How about we start with the basics. The anomalies… how often do you think they show up? Is there any way to track them opening? Do they lead to many different times and places, or just the same ones? What could come through an anomaly to a specific time and place? Will you allow special forces soldiers to accompany the team as protection and assistance?" Claudia took over, speaking firmly as she listed off each question and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend.
"Alrigh', so we've got a lot to cover." Cutter mused.
"We'll need to learn how to work as a team before the next anomaly happens." Stephen pointed out, "- because this is possibly the third anomaly in the last … 8 years or so, I think? And we wouldn't know if there have been any more."
"I don't quite know how we'd find anomalies… I only found this one 'cause of the creature sighting, but tha' was after it'd already killed." Connor interjected, brow furrowed.
"Yep, there's a lot of work to do." Claudia said, sighing.
TBC...