The Dracorex snarled, the menacing sound echoing through the air, and Connor backed away with his hands held up in surrender. His only hope now was that Matt and his new sidekick heard the battle unfold. Or he was, literally, dead meat.

"Okay, mate. Easy. I won't hurt you." Connor mumbled incomprehensively, stammering. Abby was the animal-mad one; she'd talk to them, and understand their actions. But she'd refused to come with them, and now...

She'd always said the creatures were just as scared as the people they encountered. Well, this one had a ridiculous way of showing it. Or was he frightened of Connor whipping out a gun and tearing him up in a hailstorm of bullets? Was that the animals' view of human beings nowadays? Cruel and heartless; fitted the bill, really.

"Look, we don't use real guns any more. Well, not much. Just these EMD zappers." Connor attempted to reassure the dinosaur. Sebastian, he'd call it. Things always seemed friendlier when they had a name; animals, and people. "So I'd really appreciate it if we could settle this without a fight..."

His opponent fell silent for a moment, his oversized head tipping slightly sideways in consideration. Connor felt his hopes soar; maybe this creature lark was simple after all. But then Sebastian groaned again, and Connor only had time to snatch up a discarded branch before the dinosaur pounced.

They wrestled on the floor, thrashing furiously at eachother. Trivia floated through Connor's brain; facts about the creature he now fought, as well as a whole load of abstract nonsense. Dracorex came from the late Cretaceous era, meaning there was an extremely old anomaly nearby... Would Abby, presuming he survived this, ever forgive him for whatever he'd done?

"Fine, Seb, if that's the way you want it." Connor aimed a forceful stab at Sebastian's throat, and he reeled back, moaning in pain. Connor took advantage and scrambled to his feet, but was knocked backwards as Sebastian dived forwards once more, collapsing into a great muddled heap directly beneath the great jaws of the dinosaur.

"Connor!" Matt yelled from somewhere in the distance, the worry in his tone evident.

Well, at least they weren't hidden, Connor supposed ironically as he forced his aching legs to obey, and stumbled back up. Dinosaurs weren't the subtlest at disguise. "Over here!"

The relief he felt as Matt's figure emerged from the shadows was overwhelming. Becker's temporary followed at a safe distance, his gun cocked edgily. But, as Connor felt himself losing strength under Sebastian's fierce attack, Matt raised his own weapon, firing directly at the creature as he ran.

A perfect shot, right at the muscly flank of his leg. Sebastian leapt away at the last moment, though, and Connor took the full force of the laser, feeling only a deep stab of pain in the stomach before he flopped to the earth, unconscious.

Matt's cursing cut through the bitter evening breeze as he reached Connor's fallen body, his second arrow a whole lot more effective at bringing Sebastian down.

"Get back-up!" he called to the hovering soldier, who scrambled away instantly. He checked Connor's responses, mentally noting to demand Becker came back before any more hopeless provisional team members were employed. The shot had been long distance, but nevertheless highly powered, and Connor was definitely going to suffer when he awoke.

As for Matt himself, he was never going to live this moment down – the day he missed his target. That was, of course, if he first escaped Connor's wrath, Jess's questions, Lester's lecture...

This was going to be a long night.

XxXxX

Jess was huddled up alone in her battered rocking chair, shivering. Whether it was the cold or the emotion, she couldn't be sure. Probably both. She didn't know when she'd last slept, or eaten, or even moved. All she could do was sit crying, her whole body shuddering with each ragged sob.

When she'd been told of her mother's condition, she hadn't been surprised; she'd known in her heart for a long time the severity of the illness. No one lived forever.

But...but somehow she'd convinced herself otherwise. After everything with Becker, she'd felt on top of the world; she'd pushed all her worries to the back of her mind, just hoping they'd disappear. If you wanted something enough, you could force yourself to believe it.

Her mum had given her this chair, she recollected now. She hadn't wanted her only daughter to move away, but she'd accepted it for Jess's sake, and supported her in everything possible. Why did you never appreciate someone until...until it was too late?

Her mobile beeped, and the screen lit up on the table in front of her; a text from Becker. Again. After she'd broken down in Lester's office, he'd assured her as long away from work as she needed, in a surprisingly supportive manner. Abby had driven her home, warming her a mug of soup and tucking her into bed before she'd left. All Jess had really wanted, though, was Becker. His passionate grip around her waist, his gentle fingertips on her cheeks. His promise that everything would be okay.

She couldn't say he wasn't bothered, either. He'd called her several times, and sent a constant stream of messages. She just couldn't bring herself to reply. She leant forwards weakly, lifting the phone and tapping the read option.

'Jess, please. I'm really worried about you now. Abby says she came round but you wouldn't answer the door. If you won't talk to me, talk to one of them. I just want to know you're okay. Xxx.'

She could barely bring herself to digest this new update. Becker wasn't exactly adept at the art of text speak, bless him, but the compassion and concern were genuinely unmistakable.

Her finger hovered over reply for a moment, but she couldn't press it. She wasn't ready to converse with anyone about her pain, and she wasn't sure she ever would be - accepting her parent's death, coming to terms with it, and moving on. Her world had stopped spinning, and she couldn't find a way to start it again. No talk with an undeclared boyfriend could change that.

XxXxX

"Why isn't she replying?" Becker groaned, dragging himself up in bed and facing Abby almost accusingly. He was growing better rapidly, and was now able to feed himself, and limp up the corridor on crutches, but his mood had worsened each time anyone had visited him.

Isolated for days at a time, with nothing to do but wonder if he'd ever recover, or worry about Jess, it wasn't really surprising, but it unnerved his colleagues to see him like this; edgy, irritated, distant...

"Her mum's just died. She's upset, she's scared, and she's confused. She needs time to sort herself out."

"She's had time."

"Death's not something you get over quickly." Abby sighed, her voice sorrowful, "It hurts, Becker. It really hurts."

"She can't hide away forever."

"You don't know what it's like, do you? You truly don't understand how it feels to lose someone you love? To love, or to be loved?" she snapped, suddenly angry at his apparent frostiness, "You know what, Becker? I pity you!"

"Abby!" he pleaded after her as she stormed from the room, shaking her head. He felt sudden tears prick under his eyelids as the door slammed behind her, his gaze falling on the only other patient in the ARC infirmary.

He didn't know her name. She was young, and pretty, and, judging by what he'd witnessed, a sweet girl. She'd obviously been attacked by some kind of creature, or she wouldn't be here. It wasn't as clean cut as that, though.

As he regained his strength, she lost hers. The doctors huddled around her as opposed to him now, stabbing needles into her arms or bandaging her head. Yesterday, her supposed son of around five had visited, cuddling up to her as she and her partner cried. And now...now, she just lay there. Her life was over, and nothing anyone said or did could change that. All the love in world couldn't save her life; not any more.

She was just a girl; bright, friendly, innocent, with family, friends, and colleagues. A future. Everything to live for, everything to lose. Yet he, with his detached, sardonic attitude, and no mentionable family or friends, was recovering, whilst she was drifting away. Could life get any more unjust? How did either of them, in any way, deserve their fates?

He slipped a hand under his pillow, and dragged out a pen knife, the blade gleaming in the artificial light of the miniature ward. His entire team hated him; Lester, Matt, Abby, Connor...Jess. And if the only person in the world who'd ever cared didn't any more, then what was the point?

With a deep, steady sigh as his lungs deflated one final time, he closed his eyes, and pressed the metal to his wrist.

XxXxX

Thanks for reading :) - please review, as I like to hear your feedback and advice. I don't own Primeval; I just love to write the stories! How will Jess cope now? Do Connor and Abby get the happy ending they deserve?