A/N: I apologize in advance for the length of this chapter. I promise to have the next chapter up sooner than humanly possible to make up for it.
Chapter Six- Too Little, Too Late
After pausing to secure the heavy metal grate that closed off the entrance to the garage, Matt and Abby carried Connor between them away from the building. It was against every instinct in Matt's body to leave Becker and Jess behind, but he knew without weapons or backup there was nothing he could do to help them now. He had to trust that Becker could get himself and Jess out on his own.
Matt steered them back along the rough road that led to the entrance to the construction site. Not far from the building was a small trailer that Matt guessed housed the foreman's office.
"Let's get him inside," Matt said, nodding towards the trailer. Connor was surprisingly heavy for his size.
With a bit of careful maneuvering, Abby and Matt succeeded in getting into the trailer where they laid Connor on an old couch.
"Keep an eye on him," Matt instructed Abby as he turned and walked back to the open door of the trailer to watch for Becker and Jess.
"Connor?" Abby asked, leaning over him. She brushed his hair back away from his face and called his name again. "Can you hear me?"
He groaned and turned his head toward her without opening his eyes.
"I'm fine," he mumbled as he cracked open his eyes. "We have got to find less exciting jobs."
"I'll keep that in mind," she promised, peering into his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"
He nodded, grimacing slightly as he pressed his fingers to the wound at the base of his skull. "Absolutely fine." He repeated firmly.
Abby did not believe him for a moment. In the years she had known him, she had seen Connor react to a paper cut like a mortal wound and a cold like the plague. His stoic attitude worried her as it was generally an indicator of serious injury. She would make sure the medics checked him out as soon as they arrived and decided to drop the issue until then.
"Help me sit up?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She helped sit up carefully so she could inspect his injury. It was not deep and had mostly stopped bleeding, but from the slightly dazed expression on his face, she knew it had done some damage.
"I think you'll live," she told him. "Do you want to stand?"
He nodded and tried to stand, but quickly fell back to the couch as the sudden movement caused a wave of nausea to hit him. "I think I'll just sit here for a bit," Connor said, swaying slightly. "Why don't you go check on Matt?"
She nodded and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek as she stood and joined Matt at the open door of the trailer.
"Is Connor all right?" Matt asked her without taking his eyes off the front door of the building.
"He probably has a mild concussion," she answered. "But I think he'll be fine."
Matt nodded his acknowledgement and raised a hand to his earpiece. "Becker, can you hear me?"
Abby raised an eyebrow questioningly and Matt shook his head. "He's not answering."
"They should be here by now, Matt." Abby said in a low voice to avoid alerting Connor to her concern. "Something might have happened to them."
Matt shook his head. "We don't know that." He turned away from her to face the building again. "Becker, what's going on?"
Abby looked more concerned. "Still no answer?"
Matt sighed heavily and turned away from the open doorway. "No, and backup is still ten minutes away."
"Maybe one of us should go back." Connor suggested, joining them at the door and leaning a hand against the wall to steady himself.
"No," Matt answered firmly, but he looked worried as well. "It's too dangerous. Becker knows how to look out for himself. And he would never let anything happen to Jess."
They passed the next few minutes in worried silence, broken only by Matt's continued attempts to contact Becker on his earpiece and checking in with the ARC for backup. As more time passed, they each grew more concerned and Matt began to question his judgment about leaving them in the first place. It was becoming clear that something must have happened to prevent them from getting out
"That's it," Matt announced suddenly, taking a step forward. "I'm going back. Abby, you and Connor wait here for backup."
Before he could take another step, an explosion ripped through the building before them, causing the ground to shake violently as dust and glass were propelled away from the building with deadly force. The equipment around them rocked dangerously and Abby stumbled when the shockwave hit the trailer. Connor caught her arm before she fell and pulled her back against him. The three watched in shock as the office building began to crumble inward, collapsing into the ground. An eerie silence followed in the wake of the explosion as the dust began to settle.
"Oh, God," Abby gasped. "Jess…"
She started to run forward but Matt followed her and caught her wrist.
"Abby, you can't just run in there; it's dangerous. We have to do this right and wait for backup."
She wrenched her arm out of his grip and stepped backwards, bumping into Connor who had followed them away from the trailer. "We should never have left them behind." She snapped. "They could be dead now and it's your fault!"
"Abby, I promise you, we're going to find them. But we're going to do this the right way- I'm not going to risk anyone else's life."
She nodded bitterly and then turned to Connor who pulled her into a tight embrace. The look on Connor's face told Matt that he agreed with her, but that he also understood the need to wait for backup.
Matt turned away from them to face the wreckage of the building before him and took a moment to organize his thoughts.
"This is Matt," he said into his earpiece. "I need more backup and a search and rescue team sent to the anomaly site immediately. We have a serious problem."
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the finale of series 5 that aired last night! I know I did. Here's hoping there's a sixth series! As always, please review if you have a moment. Thanks to all those who have!