CHAPTER 9
CONNOR
Connor Temple was not having a good day.
He had a hangover, his fiancee had a hangover (and was therefore extremely cranky and someone to avoid), and his boss was mad at him.
And when Lester shouted, the noise felt like someone was drilling holes into his eardrums.
But the real reason he was having a bad day was that Jess was in hospital.
Poor Jess, blah, blah, blah. She banged her head, had a concussion and a few stitches, and slept for a million years.
He felt sorry for her, and everything; but he had a dilemma that Jess was going to help him solve, and so with her absence, he was thrown even deeper into the pool of mystery surrounding his drunken night with Abby.
She'd promised that she'd help him retrace his footsteps that day, and find the Anomaly Locking Mechanism that had gone missing on Tuesday night.
But of course, the one and only person he'd entrusted to help him with this task had been injured because Abby suggested getting drunk.
So it was Abby's fault.
But he wouldn't tell her that, because he was a gentleman.
And because he was extremely scared of her.
So Connor sat around the A.R.C all day, dreading the thought of an anomaly showing up and everyone pointing fingers at him for losing the device.
He'd gotten lucky when the kids came through— everyone had been too distracted by them to really care about its whereabouts.
Everyone except Becker, who Connor suspected knew it was he who had misplaced it. Naturally, though, Becker had taken the day off too, to look after Jess.
Just his luck.
He sat at the A.D.D, staring off into space and absent-mindedly drumming his fingers on the desk, his head filled with worries.
That was when Sid strolled over.
"Hiya mate." he said, leaning against the desk.
Connor snapped out of his daydream and looked up at him.
"Oh... Hi."
Connor had intended to leave his three house guests at home that day, but with Jess and Becker's absence, they were short of two people in the A.R.C.
Abby had suggested bringing Sid and Nancy to work— however, that would mean Molly was left alone.
So, only Sid tagged along in the end, just to lend a helping hand if one was needed.
"You alright?" Sid asked.
"Yeah, fine." he replied.
"You look worried."
Connor sighed.
"It's nothing. Forget about it. Nothing you can do." he shrugged, swivelling around in Jess' chair.
Sid scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"So... This is 2012, huh?" he asked.
Connor grinned.
"Yeah. Pretty cool, innit?"
"Alright. Bit old fashioned, but whatever..." Sid mumbled, looking around the room in an almost arrogant manner.
"Hey, this is state of the art technology at the moment." Connor laughed, standing up and crossing his arms.
"Well, it's boring. No offense." Sid said.
"None taken. You're just here on a quiet day— when we're out in the field, and everything's going super fast, you see how fantastic this technology really is." Connor told him.
"Well, I believe that... But like you said, it's a quiet day. I hate quiet days. I can see why you get drunk so much."
Connor's face dropped.
"Hey, we don't get drunk that often." he lied.
Then he remembered that he was in a bad mood today because of an incident that had taken place when he was drunk two nights ago, and it couldn't be fixed because of an incident that happened when the entire team were drunk last night.
"Actually, you're right... I need to stop drinking." he sighed. "Being stuck in the cretaceous does that to you, I think. Makes you want to party hard."
Sid grinned.
"Oh yeah, the cretaceous. I've heard some stories about that period of time." he chuckled. "But I've never been stuck on the wrong end of an anomaly until now. My parents are very protective of me and Nancy that way."
Connor considered asking Sid about his brother, Lester (with the middle name of Luke, as in 'Skywalker'), who Molly had mentioned last night and was apparently dating. But he just kept his mouth shut for the time being.
"Well, it's a good job you've not been stuck in the wrong time, because apparently the after-effects cause hangovers." Connor laughed.
"That why you're in a bad mood?" Sid asked him.
Connor put his hands in his pockets.
Without realising it, both he and Sid were now stood in the exact same positions on either side of Jess' chair. People walking past might have thought one of them was a reflection of the other.
"Yeah, kind of. I... Misplaced something important when I was 'inebriated' the other night, and now I don't know how to get it back." he explained.
Sid paused.
Something seemed to 'click' in his mind.
"Hold on," the boy said. "The other night... Did you go to an "Agnostic Front" concert?"
Connor looked at him, wide-eyed.
"Okay, that's scary. How did you know that?" he asked.
"Not all of the stories I've heard have taken place in the cretaceous." Sid said, not even bothering to suppress his smirk.
"Do you know what happened? On Tuesday night?" Connor asked.
If he knew what happened, or where he would end up finding the Anomaly Locking Mechanism, his problems would be long-gone.
Sid thought about his answer for a moment, looking around the area cautiously as he did so.
"I can't tell you everything I know." he said quietly.
Connor groaned and his face dropped again, the hopefulness taken away from it once more.
"...But." Sid added. Connor perked up again and stepped in closer.
Sid leaned towards the man and lowered his voice even more.
"I can guide you, if you will, to finding what you lost. Understand?" he whispered. Connor nodded. "I can't tell you everything, but I can direct you to where you are supposed to go. Because I happen to know exactly what happens to you today."
Connor was delighted and utterly intrigued.
Within the next minute, the pair had discreetly left the A.R.C and were in Connor's car, heading towards Jack Maitland's flat.
BECKER
The cold winter wind whipped against Hilary Becker's face as he stepped out of his truck, causing him to hug his coat tighter to him as he walked towards his block of flats.
It was dark already, even though it was only seven o'clock, and the surrounding street lamps made patches of rain glitter in their light in contrast to the surrounding darkness.
His breath turned to condensation before him and then disappeared again, the bitterness of the damp, chilly evening assaulting absolutely everything that it could.
It was January 22nd, and the weather was as miserable as ever, with no signs of spring coming any time soon.
Jess' birthday was in four days, on Monday.
If she didnt look like she was recovering or stable enough to go to work soon, there might not be a party at the A.R.C, after all.
But he didn't really care about the party at this point. All he wanted was for Jess to get better.
The poor girl had smacked her head wide open, and the first thing she did when she properly came back around was apologise to him for saying stupid things when she was drunk. And she didn't even have her own bed to sleep in at the moment.
He sighed as he ascended the stairs towards his flat on the third floor. In his hand he carried a paper bag from the chemist, containing Jess' painkillers, and an Asda bag with maltesers, lucozade, Cadbury's milk chocolate and the January edition of "Hello " magazine inside.
He unlocked the front door and stepped inside his familiar home, glad to be out of the cold and back inside his flat.
"You're ba-ack," Haley sang cheerfully from the kitchen. "How was your trip?"
Haley and Derek had stopped speaking mid-conversation when he opened the door, but he was too tired to really care about what they'd been saying.
He gave Haley a funny look.
"Err... Good? I just went to get the painkillers and chocolate and stuff. Why?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's just that when you get home we always ask you—" Haley began, but Derek nudged her and she fell silent. "It was a stupid question." she muttered.
"Everything been okay here?" he asked them.
"Yep. Fine. Jake woke up. Jess is still sleeping, I think." Derek said as Becker brought the bag over to the kitchen counter.
Becker eyed Derek as he pulled the contents of the bag out and set them onto the counter.
He seemed like a nice boy, from what Becker had gathered; polite, well-mannered, respectful... He clearly had a sense of humour, but wasn't an idiot- he was obviously intelligent.
Not that Becker cared, of course. Why should he?
He was just someone lost in the time.
Someone that walked through an anomaly yesterday morning.
Someone that looked an awful lot like Danny Quinn, and behaved an awful lot like Danny Quinn.
The similarity was scary.
Becker got a glass of water and read the label on the little bottle of pills that the doctor had prescribed for Jess last night.
"Good... Okay. Well, I'm going to go and wake Jess up, give her these." he said. He picked up the chocolates and magazine in one hand, pills and glass in the other, and went to his bedroom.
It had only been an hour since he'd spoken to Jess, so she hadn't fallen too deeply asleep in that time. She had drifted off, however, and it took her a moment to wake up when he gently shook her shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, hi Becker." she said quietly , smiling sleepily when she saw him, her eyes barely open.
"Hey. How are you?"
"Ugh.. My head hurts..." she grumbled, sitting up slightly.
She yawned, and tucked her messy hair behind one ear.
"Well, I've brought you your painkillers. Here..." he said, handing her the pills and the glass of water.
She took them gratefully, and then laughed.
"You're not going to give me an overdose, like in 'Misery', are you?" she giggled.
Becker smiled at her. She was already making jokes. Weird jokes, but nonetheless, jokes.
"Well, I did plan on doing that," he said matter-of-factly. "But then I decided to get you a magazine and some chocolate instead."
He presented her with the 'Hello' magazine and the Cadbury's, and her face lit up immediately.
"Oh! Thank you, Becker!" she said, leaning forward and hugging him tightly.
"You're welcome. Now, lie back down. I don't want you getting up— you need to rest." he instructed, rearranging the pillows behind her.
She sat back and eagerly began looking through her magazine while he switched on lamps and his TV, placing the remote on the bedside table.
"Oh, poor Demi. I hope Bruce kicks Ashton's ass, don't you?" she said.
Clearly that bump on the head hadn't effected Jess' obsession with celebrity gossip.
"I certainly hope he does." Becker replied, tidying up his room a little and not realising that the only reason any objects were out of place was because Jake had moved them.
He listened contently while Jess went on, enjoying hearing her sounding lively and happy and well.
"And I wish everyone would just leave Brangelina alone... Oh, 'True Blood' is starting again soon! I can't wait for Season 5 to begin!" she squealed. "And there's an article in here about whether or not Jennifer Lopez will remarry. She should, I want to be happy... And oh, ha— Fashion Face-off: Diana Aggron vs Lea Michelle. Oh, I don't like Lea Michelle, she annoys me."
Becker didn't actually know who or what Jess was talking about right now, but he smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Okay, well. If you need anything, just tell me. I'm going to make you some soup." he said.
"Oh, thank you. You're so sweet, but you really don't have to." she said, looking up from her magazine and smiling at him in appreciation.
"No, no, really, it's fine. My pleasure. You just stay here, and don't crack your forehead open while I'm out of the room." he said.
She beamed at him and giggled tiredly.
"Okay. Thank you, Hil'."
"You're welc— hold on, what did you just call me?"
Jess had just called him something other than 'Becker'. Was it because of the head injury, she was acting a bit loopy, or something?
She looked worried, like she might have offended him.
"...Hil?" she said, timidly. "Sorry, it was an accident, Becker. I know you don't like your name."
"No, no, my family call me Hil, actually. I, err... like it." he said.
He was surprised at himself, and at her, but even more surprised at the fact that it had sounded nice when she called him that.
She smiled meekly at him, and he back at her assuringly, before leaving the room again.
"Bed."
"What?"
"Bed, now."
And so went the conversation that erupted between he and Haley when he set foot in the kitchen.
She was pointing towards the spare bedroom door, one hand on her hip, while Derek and Jake watched his reaction smugly from behind her.
"No, I'm going to make Jess some soup." Becker said.
"I will make her the soup, and we will keep her company. You need to sleep, or else you're going to be no help to anyone." Haley told him.
He was flabbergasted. This girl was telling him what to do, bossing him around all of a sudden, when he had only met her yesterday morning.
"What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" he said.
"Because, Captain," she said, taking a step towards him. "You are tired. You have not slept since the early hours of yesterday morning, and you've been working hard and running around looking after everyone. It's been a hectic couple of days, and all you want to do is snuggle up in your bed covers and drift off to sleep. Understood?"
Becker frowned.
"I'm a soldier. I do not 'snuggle up in bed covers'."
Haley raised her eyebrows at him. He sighed.
"Fine. I will go and get some sleep. But look after Jess, you hear me? And stay out of trouble. Jake, don't eat my chocolate, it's not for you."
CONNOR
"Okay, we are in Jack's flat..." Connor mumbled, stepping over a pile of rubbish as he opened the front door.
The door was unlocked, and Jack didn't seem to be home. Connor wondered of he'd even returned home since he and Abby last saw him.
"This place is a mess!" Sid complained, looking disgustedly at a mouldy sandwich that had been left on a counter. "Where the hell is Jack?"
"I don't know. When me and Abby woke up here, she found a note that said he'd gone to apologise to some people." Connor explained.
"Why?" Sid asked. "Apologise for what?"
Connor made his way through heaps of clutter and looked out of the window. The JCB digger that had stood there yesterday morning had disappeared.
"We... Stole a digger." Connor admitted.
Sid looked surprised at first, but then grinned.
"Wicked." he laughed. "Funny, how that wasn't mentioned when I heard the story."
"Yeah, well, I'm starting to think that the digger belonged London's equivalent of the Corleone family, because it looks like Jack Maitland had been absent for a couple of days." Connor muttered.
"We should check his bed for a horse's head." Sid laughed. Connor laughed, too.
"Okay, so... I remember being told that the first place you went was Jack's flat. That didn't work out, as proven. Then..." Sid listed the order of events off of his fingers.
Today was predetermined, apparently— Connor wondered what Sid knew that he didn't, and why this date in particular was so special.
After all, Sid hadn't even been born yet; it had to be significant if he'd heard stories about whatever was going to happen.
The thought of it scared him slightly, but Sid seemed excited by the events he knew were going to occur, so he just decided to trust the teenager.
"Oh, I know where you go!" Sid said, suddenly remembering.
"Where?" Connor asked.
"Ugh, I can't tell you directly. So... Just, just go through the things you found in your jeans on Wednesday morning." he instructed.
Connor scratched his head.
"I don't have those things with me, obviously, but I can remember them... Let's see: I had my phone, someone else's phone, half a Mars Bar, a note that said 'Matt-FLOWERS', an unopened toothpaste tube, a—"
"Stop!" Sid yelled interrupting his list. "There! The toothpaste tube."
Connor was confused.
"What about it?"
"What can you remember about that toothpaste tube?" he asked.
"Nothing, really. It was mint, I think… It was weird, though, because the writing on it was in another language. Japanese, or something." Connor replied.
Sid stepped over a basket of laundry, and stood close to Connor, nodding his head slowly in a scary sort of manner.
"Yes. And who is the only weird person you know that would spend basically all of his money buying large amounts of Japanese toothpaste and having them shipped across to England?" he asked Connor, whose mind drew a blank at the question.
"I'll give you a clue," Sid continued. "With it being 2012, this person has become very paranoid about the end of the world. If it's possible, they've become even stranger than they were originally."
Connor had an idea, but it was a shot in the dark.
"Duncan?" he asked.
To his surprise, Sid nodded.
"Duncan."
Connor and Sid hopped back into the car, making sure they left all of Jack's crap just the way they had found it.
Connor decided, because Sid was being kind and helping him, not to bring up the fact that the trip to Jack's place had been an entire waste of time.
The pair soon arrived at the shabby little house in the bad neighbourhood that Duncan called his home, and were greeted by the sounds of sirens wailing, a vicious-sounding dog barking violently nearby, and shouting and screaming echoing onto the street from somewhere around the corner.
"Always a lovely place to visit..." Sid mumbled sarcastically under his breath as he and Connor stepped inside Duncan's dirty little building.
They walked down the darkened corridors until they reached the set of security cameras that were mounted on the wall at one end.
The young men stared up at them, knowing they were being watched by someone on the other side of the worn door before them.
"Duncan," Connor said to the camera. "Are you home?"
They stood waiting, anxiously listening to any noises that could possibly be heard from inside the sad excuse for a house.
Sure enough, there were a few shuffling sounds, the muffled clanging of several locks being unlatched, and the door creaked open.
Duncan stood in the gap, staring at them with beady, spectacle-clad eyes.
"Hello, Connor." he said quietly,
"Hiya, mate, how are you doing?" Connor asked him politely.
"Good." he replied. He paused for a minute, and then said, "Come in."
Connor stepped inside Duncan's house, but Duncan held a hand out to Sid to stop him from proceeding further.
"Who's this?" he asked Connor, sounding like some sort of bouncer.
Connor spun around, and saw Sid's brown, puppy-dog eyes pleading for help.
Duncan had let his hygiene standards drop a lot over the past couple of years, and wasn't the nicest smelling person; Connor knew that Sid's nostrils were now burning alive with the sweet-scented odour of Duncan.
"Err, I— I'll tell you when you let him inside. Really, you can trust him, Duncan. He's good." Connor said.
Duncan glared at Sid, and stepped aside, allowing him into the house.
Sid scurried over to Connor's side, where he stood nervously fidgeting with the loose threads on his fingerless gloves.
"Thanks, mate." Connor said. Duncan looked at him expectantly. "Err, Duncan... I have something to tell you."
Sid snapped his head up to look at Connor, wondering what he was going to say. Connor glanced at him quickly, but then looked back at Duncan and sighed.
"This is my seventeen year old son. His name is Sid." Connor announced.
Sid opened his mouth in awe, while Duncan blinked in shock.
"Oh. I thought he was your brother, or something." he said.
That might've been easier to say, Connor thought.
"Err, no. I fathered him when I was seventeen myself. I only recently found out about him, and Abby does not know of his existence yet. So you must keep him an absolute secret, understand? He is never to be mentioned outside of these walls. I'm trusting you, Duncan." Connor said, as seriously as possible, causing Duncan to nod furiously.
Sid breathed a sigh of relief— Connor was joking, just to make Duncan trust him. He wasn't serious.
Nancy wasn't going to murder him.
"Right. Your secret's safe with me." Duncan breathed. "Sid... Your dad is a good man. Although, I never really pegged him as someone who'd have a secret accidental love child."
Sid mumbled something incomprehensible, and Duncan began scuttling around, moving various items around on his cluttered desk.
"How can I help you Connor?" he asked after a minute.
"Right. Secret sons aside, I'm here to ask for you a few questions. Firstly— did I show up here a few days ago, drunk?"
Duncan looked at him, eyes narrowed.
"Yes. You did. You were completely hammered, and just a general nuisance. So I sent you home."
"Did I take a bottle of toothpaste from you, by any chance?" Connor asked.
"Yes. I don't know why, but you kept asking for some. I think you were high, to be honest." Duncan spat.
"High? No, I don't do that, mate." Connor scoffed.
"Well, you seemed like you had the munchies, anyhow." Duncan muttered. "You had just come here from the Red Lion pub down the road. Drove a massive fucking digger, you did. You don't remember?"
"No, sorry. I'm sorry for being a nuisance, but I'm sure the drunk state of me just wanted to stop by and see an old friend." Connor laughed.
Duncan smiled lopsidedly, and shrugged.
"It's okay."
"Well, I better be going. To the Red Lion." Connor said, heading towards the door. "Come along, Sid."
Sid obliged, and followed Connor, who opened the door once more. Duncan watched them leave.
"Come round any time, Connor. And remember tell me if there's any—" he paused and looked suspiciously at Sid. "—Alerts. You know?"
"Yeah, I know. Thanks mate, see you later."
Once they were in the car, Connor shuddered.
"Mental bastard."
They laughed together, and headed off towards the Red Lion.
