Gravity

Chapter two: Eye of the tiger

(Set: S2, early on but before *the* S2E4)

Characters/ Pairing: S2 team, Connor/Abby pre-ship

"Connor." Cutter called.

"Did you know that the so-called Saber-toothed tigers weren't actually tigers at all? They're Smilodons, sabre-toothed cats, not tigers. They were around long before modern big cats began, from an early species called Machairodus, but Smilodon was the first true sabre tooth cat, it's canine teeth were much longer than the earlier ones, as well." Connor rambled, leaning on the bar next to a girl who, surprisingly, wasn't completely irritated with him. He didn't seem to realize both that she was bored, though, and that she'd taken his earlier enthusiasm to mean he wasn't in a relationship. Which, Abby thought, he was, unfortunately it was with a certain witch named Caroline Steele. Abby smiled from the other side of the girl, who was then saved from mroe babble by Cutter repeating his name louder and claiming his attention.

"Connor!"

"Hm? Oh, you want somethin' Professor?" Connor asked his mentor, grinning. He didn't even notice the poor girl run off. Abby smirked and moved closer so she could participate in whatever they were talking about. She looked over Cutter's shoulder and waved Steven over. The tracker gave up on his game of pool and headed towards them, too.

"C - Jenny called me before. It seems there's definately an incursion here."

"But how?" Connor easily ignored Cutter's slip up on Jenny's name, though Steven frowned for a moment. "I mean, we got here only a few seconds after the anomaly registered, and it closed almsot right away, so..."

"Apparently that was enough time for it to get through. Some sort of big cat, maybe Smilodon, but perhaps not." Abby could tell by lookign at his face that Connor's mind was awhirl with theories about both the anomalies and the creature.

"What did Jenny find out?" She asked Cutter, glancing at Connor, who looked like he was about to explode into more excited, utterly useless babble. That was mean. She might not like his girlfriend - the woman from hell itself - but Connor was her best friend, and she knew he was brilliant, despite how childish he sometimes behaved.

Abby looked over at Connor, hiding an amused grin behind an annoyed glare. Connor stuck his tongue out at her and she chuckled. He continued humming, "eye of the tiger" under his breath as they walked. Steven was ahead, tracking the big cat with his sharp eyes and easy loping stride. The trees were sparse in comparison to the sheer amount of low-lying brush, bushes filling a large number of gaps, and leaves and grass underfoot. Neither she nor Connor, especially not Cutter, could track as well as Stephen, and on terrain like this, where the imprints were faint and nearly invisible, Stephen's skills were definately needed. Connor was sticking close to her, Cutter was walking a little ahead of them, and as usual Connor was the only one without a proper weapon. He had a tiny pocket-sized torch for when it got dark out, and the handheld detector, but that would probably not do him a world of good. Still. after the other two incidents, recent incidents, she might add, she agreed with the decision. Connor was, at the moment, more useful with improv weapons than with a tranq pistol or gun.

"Weren't you the one going on about how they're not actually tigers, Connor?" She teased him. Connor rolled his eyes.

"You just don't appreciate classical rock, Abbs!" He told her.

"You who had no idea who ACDC were until I introduced you to their music?" She replied, scoffing. They continued bantering lightly back and forth as they walked, keeping their voices low despite the calm atmosphere. They knew the big cat - or cats - were out here somewhere, but with the sun shining on them and a slight breeze in the air, it was hard to imagine anything bad happening.

"Nick." Stephen's voice carried back to them, and they sped up. The Proffessor crouched next to te tracker.

"Well, tha's one bloody large pawprint." Cutter said with a low whistle. "Imagine the size of this thing."

"Can you tell which way it's gone?" Connor piped up, coming closer, peering at te imprint in the ground. Abby moved to the other side, looking at Stephen and then to the print. She froze as she heard a crack of a twig somewhere behind them over the sound of the guys discussing the wherabouts of the big cat.

"Guys..."

She said quietly, staying absolutely still. Connor looked up at her first, concern for her on his face. He furrowed his brow and she widened her eyes. The sound of more twigs snapping brought everyone's attention to it, and Connor grabbed her arm, pulling her back as Stephen hefted his larger tranq rifle.

"Connor, let go!" She growled at him, pushing him off. What was he doing? He knew she could take care of herself!

"Sorry!" He said, backing off and simply trying ot stay out of the way.

Three massive Dinofelis burst out of the underbrush, snarling at the four humans. Cutter grabbed the radio and tossed it to Connor, who fumbled ot get a good hold on it.

"Call Jenny , we'll need backup on this." Cutter told him. Connor nodded and walked aways a little to do so, grumbling a little about being left out of the action again.

"He,y Jenny? There're three Dinofelis - they're sabre-toothed cats - here, we need the SF's, but I'm sure Cutter still wants Tranqs, not bullets. We're about... 20 feet in an east of the main path." He told her.

A sigh came over the line. "OH, alright, they're on their way, just be careful."

"Will do." He told her, takign his finger off the button and slippign the radio into his belt loop.

Abby had just kicked a Dinnofelis, and the big creature was nsarling, backing off slightly. Connor wanted to help, was worried about them. Cutter and Stephen were back-to-back, dealign with the other two. Apparently the two shots of tranquiliser hadn't done anything to the Dinofelis, and Stephen and Cutter were arguing - again.

A low snarl sounded from nearby, and Connor froze, much like Abby had before. He shut his eyes for a moment, backing up until he felt the rough surface of the tree against his back. The resident geek opened his eyes and swallowed nervously. There was a fourth Dinofelis, as large as the others, and it was about five feet in front of him. The others were busy enough as it was. What could he do?

"Dinofelis, Pliocene-Pleistocene, 5 feet long and 250 lbs,meat-eater and menace of its time. Judging by its anatomy, paleontologists believe that Dinofelis wasn't particularly fast, meaning it probably stalked its prey in jungles and woodlands where long, tiring chases would have been impeded by the dense undergrowth..." He said under his breath, frantically trying to edge away form the big cat. It was watching him, low growling comign from its throat, but despite the tension in it's body, it wasn't moving... yet. He couldn't exactly call out to Abby or the others. IF he did, he'd probably garner the attention of all the beasts, anyway.

He pelled out the handheld anomaly detector and glanced at the screen, took a deep breath, and made a decision. The Dinofelis wasn't a great runner, probably more used to hiding in trees and leaping down on it's prey to kill it with a single bite with the long, thick canine teeth jutting from it's muzzle. Furthermore, this was not it's home world, and the undergrowth was sparser than in the Pleisocene, hopefully, so he might have an adventage. Connor had done track all through Secondary and even at Uni, and he was fast.

He had to lead the beast back to the anomaly... maybe he should try to lead them all back? He picked up the radio. Abby had one.

"Abby." He said quietly into it. She sent another tranquiliser at the other Dinofelis, and pulled out her radio.

"Connor? Oh my gosh!"

"Calm down, I'm going ot lead them all back to the anomaly site. Just had to tell someone so you wouldn't think I'd been eaten or something." He continued.

"ARe you crazy Connor?!" He had a brief thought of Caroline, and of Abby, and of the others. But hey, he wasn't nearly as important, and the creatures tended to think he would make a tasty snack, so why not take advantage of that?

"No, but what else can I do?"

"You can try not to have a death wish!"

"I don't, Abby. Wish me luck!"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I know." He said shortly, then tucked the handheld and radio away and waved his arms about, yelling to get the Dinofellis' attentions. And then started running as fast as he could.

Trees and bushes whipped by and he desperately tried to keep his footing, fighting a stitch in his side. The snarls nad growls were getting closer, and he wondered if they were speeding up or if he was slowing down. He took a gasping breath and swerved out of the way as one of the Dinofelis leapt at him, changing directions to head towards the anoamly in a more round-about way.

"Connor! Are you okay?" Abby's voice came from the radio. He shook his head, fighting to keep on his feet. He wasn't sure how long he'd been running, but he was worried he wasn't as close to the anoamly as he'd hoped. He didn't have the breath ot spare to answre her.

Suddenly something tackled him to the ground, and he screamed, involuntarily, expecting shredding, rending claws and teeth and a quick death. But the body holding his down was lighter than a Dinofelis', and had a familiar scent.

"Abby?"

"Shh."

He tried to turn hsi face to see what was going on, because he could hear people shouting and the sound of guns going off and thought it was the SF's and the rest of the team. He hoped they hadn't killed the creatures.

After a moment, Abby let him sit up, moving off him and staring at his flushed face for a moment. He sat there ,trying ot catch his breath again, and she slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Connor. Temple. You. Are. A. Bloody. Idiot." She yelled at him, slapping him with each word. He dodged a couple of the blows but was caught at the temple by one and stars filled his vision for a moment.

"Ow ow!"

"Are you okay?" Abby immediately stopped, looking at him in concern.

"Why'd you slap me?" He asked her, eyes wide.

"Because! Do you really think I'd be happy if me best friend went and got himself killed because he decided to become Saber-tooth bait?!"

"Sorry, but I needed to do something, otherwise that one was going to get me anyway, and the SF's weren't going ot be fast enough and the tranqs weren't working..." Abby pulled him into a hug and he relaxed, smiling.

"You're still a daft idiot."