Connor watched the creatures in amazement. It still hadn't ceased to blow his mind that he was actually looking at real, living dinosaurs. At the moment there were four of them, about three or four feet long and about the size of a dog, but with small, nobby faces and long thick tails. They were in the corner of the barn, devouring a hay bale.
"What do you think?" Cutter's voice at Connor's shoulder startled him.
"Ceratopsian. Herbivore," Connor stated. "Judging by the size, and the shape of the head, I'd say Bagaceratops. From the late Cretaceous." He grinned in spite of himself, but the moment he did, he felt guilty for doing so. How could he be enjoying himself when Tom...
Cutter watched the young man's face fall, and gave a bit of a sigh. "Connor." He placed a comforting hand on his student's shoulder, but couldn't think of anything else to say.
Connor blinked furiously a few times. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's hard."
"I know," Cutter agreed. "But I don't think Tom would blame you for enjoying this."
Connor kept his eyes on the dinosaurs in front of him, but nodded.
Herding the hungry Bagaceratops back into the anomaly proved to be remarkably easy, much to Connor's relief. The creatures seemed relatively docile, and although one stamped and snorted slightly as Stephen and Captain Ryan approached, they showed no real sign of aggression or fear.
The two men grabbed the half-eaten hay bale and dragged it along the barn floor toward the anomaly, keeping it always within the reach of the animals, who followed slowly, still munching. It was likely the easiest food any of them had in their lives, and they weren't about to give it up.
Finally, the two men hefted what was left into the anomaly, and the dinosaurs followed willingly. Claudia and Abby ran up just as the last of the creatures disappeared into the fractured golden light.
"What were they?" Abby asked Connor, who was standing near the door watching.
"Bagaceratops," Connor replied. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. "One of the smaller ceratopsians from the Cretaceous period."
Abby sighed with relief. Herbivores, and small ones at that. When she had been told that there was a suspected creature incursion, she had been hoping for just such an outcome.
The anomaly was starting to fluctuate, starting to close. Connor took a deep breath, and headed out the barn door, uncomfortably aware of several sympathetic glances that were being shot his direction as he did so. He leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes, trying not to think about Tom, but the moment his mind was unoccupied, it was all he could think about.
If only he could have told Tom about it all. If only Tom had never taken the dodo. If only they could have reached him in time to save him. If only...
"Connor." He jumped when he felt a soft hand on his arm. He looked over at an apologetic Claudia Brown. She was biting her lip slightly and looked rather reluctant. "I have to talk to you about Tom," she said, softly.
Connor closed his eyes again, letting his head fall back against the barn wall. He looked about to cry, and Claudia felt terrible. But she had no choice.
She took a deep, steadying breath. Just get it over with, she told herself. "The autopsy is going to show that Tom died of an aneurism," she told him finally.
Connor didn't open his eyes, but he nodded. He knew what she was telling him. He had to play along – act as though Tom's death had been natural. "You're part of the conspiracy now Tom," he thought with a bit of a wry laugh. Then his eyes flew open and he blushed furiously as he realized that he had thought it out loud.
Claudia gave a bit of a strained chuckle and shook her head as she walked off to rejoin Stephen and Cutter.
…
Connor stood for a long time at the gate, holding a black fedora in one hand, a white rose in the other. Partway up the hillside he could see black-clad mourners, already standing around Tom's final resting place. He didn't recognize very many of them. He could see Duncan standing a little off to the side of the crowd, and standing by the priest, her face hidden by a black veil, was Tom's mother. Connor swallowed around the now-too-familiar lump in his throat as he watched her, knowing that she could never know the truth – what really happened to her son.
He placed his hand on the gate, but pulled it away again, like it had burned him. He let out a huff of breath. "You can do this," he whispered to himself, and reached for the gate once more.
Just as he did, he felt a warm hand squeeze his shoulder. He let out a little yelp, and spun around, suddenly realizing that he was not alone.
Cutter's piercing blue eyes met his with a look of solidarity. Connor stared at him, surprised to see him there. It was a long moment before he realized that Cutter hadn't come alone. Standing behind him, all dressed in the appropriate black, were Stephen and Abby and Claudia.
Connor choked slightly, and a tear rolled down his cheek He had thought that perhaps Abby might come, but he had not expected anyone else.
But they had all come – the whole team. His team. And he knew they had come for him.
"Thank you," Connor whispered, barely trusting his voice even for that. He reached out his hand, and pushed open the gate, and together they made their way up the hill to say goodbye to Tom.
...
AN: I had this mental picture of the five of them, all dressed in black, Connor in the middle, walking up the hill of the cemetary (one of those team moments - like a very different team had near the end of series 3). Not sure why that stuck in my head.
Hope you liked my story. There's a short epilogue...
Thanks for reading. Please review! It makes my day (and means a lot to me as a writer).