Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended

A/N: So this is the final chapter (although I do have another M rated missing reel type thing that slots on before the epilogue, more on that at the end because I don't want to spoil this hehehe) I know people are reading this, would really like a few comments though :)

Danny and Abby are finally home, so what does the future hold for them, and for Connor.

"I'm taking you to the new ARC building; we had to move premises when Lester lost the government funding. There's a whole new team, but you can meet them later. We should just let the doctor take a look at you and then you can come back to my flat and I'll run you a hot bath." Connor said as he drove. He glanced over at Abby and realised she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. "You'll be OK, Abs. You're back where you belong now."

Abby just nodded. She hadn't expected to feel like this at all. She thought coming home would make her ecstatically happy, but she just felt deflated. A major chapter in her life had come to an end, and she wasn't sure she wanted it to. As they pulled into the car park, the soldiers were parking up beside them. She got out of the car and allowed Connor to take her hand and lead her inside. She glanced behind her and saw Danny being carried on the stretcher. She caught his eye and smiled at him. He smiled back, then looked away, taking in his new surroundings.

They walked along the corridor of this strange new building. There were various doors, all closed. Abby wondered what was behind them, and who. Connor had mentioned at least two names she hadn't recognised already, and she was certain there had been many more changes. Still, she would worry about that later. Her priority now was getting a clean bill of health from the doctor and then that hot bath Connor had promised he would run for her.

"So the rumour is true. Temple has actually done something right for a change." The familiar voice of Lester boomed out from an open office at the end of the corridor. At least some things hadn't changed, although she didn't like the fact it was that Connor was still being treated as a joke. Connor rolled his eyes.

"We owe a lot to Connor." Danny said. "We were in a pretty desperate situation out there, I don't know how much longer we'd have lasted."

"Of course." Lester said, looking Danny up and down. "We'll have a full debriefing tomorrow. Get yourselves checked over and cleaned up." He began to walk away, then turned and said "Good to have you back."

"Wow, did I detect a hint of a human being there?" Danny laughed.

"He's had a pretty hard time of it." Becker said. "When you guys didn't come back, he almost lost the ARC altogether. If it wasn't for Philip coming in with funding, we'd have been shut down completely."

"He's a bit of an eccentric, but he keeps Lester in line. I think you'll like him." Connor added.

Abby's head was spinning, all this new information to think about when all she wanted was to be clean and have a decent night's sleep. She was ushered along with Danny into the medical wing, and Danny was sent into one room whilst she was pushed into another. Connor had muttered something about their clothes and things being in storage, and that he would go and find them some clean clothes whilst the medics saw them.

-o-

The medical exam went pretty much as Abby had expected. She was weighed and told she'd lost a couple of stones in weight, which wasn't a surprise. The doctor looked into her eyes, took her blood pressure and listened to her heart and lungs. "You seem in reasonable health, all things considered." He said, smiling. "I'll run a few blood tests though, just to make sure there's nothing lingering that we can't see." He put a needle into her and Abby winced. "Did you have any illness out there at all?"

"Not really. I had an upset stomach a couple of times, but it only lasted a day or so."

"That's good. Anything else?"

Abby sighed. She'd avoided thinking about it, but now she needed to stop hiding from it and know for certain. "There's a possibility that..." she took a deep breath. Saying it out loud at last was scaring the hell out of her. "I think I could be pregnant."

"I see. Let's find out shall we?" He handed her a pot. "Bathroom's just across the corridor."

Silently, Abby shut herself into a cubicle in the bathroom. She was shaking. Of all the terrifying things she and Danny had faced, this was the most terrifying. She tried not to cry but the tears came anyway. She took a moment to try and compose herself before going back into the office. She handed him the sample and sat and waited. She watched him do a few tests, her stomach tying in knots. How long would this take? It felt like forever.

The doctor looked at her after a few minutes and took a deep breath. "It's positive. You're pregnant."

Abby was stunned. She'd almost convinced herself she wasn't pregnant, it had made things easier. The doctor was talking to her but she wasn't really taking any of it in. The only thing she heard was something about a scan to make sure the baby was OK and to determine just how far into the pregnancy she was. Her fears suddenly changed; what if something was wrong with the baby because she hadn't been eating properly?

She made her way out to where Connor was waiting for her. He had a bag of clothes and another containing what looked like toiletries. He smiled when he saw her come out. "Everything OK? You were a while?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Where's Danny?"

"Becker's taken him to the hospital to get his leg properly x-rayed. Come on, I bet you can't wait for a hot bath eh?" Connor said, taking Abby's hand. She just let him lead the way, feeling guilty. She could sense he was holding back, giving her a little space. Eventually she was going to have to break his heart. He was sweet, kind, wonderful and she cared about him very deeply – but she wasn't in love with him. It was Danny she was in love with, and it was Danny's baby she carried inside her.

-o-

After her bath, she had curled up on the sofa next to Connor. He'd made her some toast, but despite the fact she felt ravenous, two slices made her feel bloated. The doctor had warned her not to try and eat too much. She had to build up slowly, eating little and often. She'd laughed when Connor told her he'd tried to stuff himself with pizza when he first got home and threw up because his stomach couldn't handle it.

Connor found himself becoming braver. He pulled Abby into him, stroking her hair. "You must have been through hell out there?"

"It had its moments, but at least I had Danny. I'd never have survived without him." Abby decided this was the right time to tell Connor. "We became very close out there."

"Close?" Connor said. She looked at him, seeing the realisation of what she meant slowly cross his face. "Are you ... are you in love with him?"

"I think so. It wasn't the real world out there, and maybe we'll end up hating each other now, but I need to at least try with him." She took a deep breath, seeing the hurt in Connor's eyes. She hated doing this to him, but the sooner he knew the better. The biggest mistake she'd made with him before was giving him false hope. She couldn't do that to him again. "I'm pregnant, that's why I was so long with the doctor earlier. Danny doesn't know yet, so please don't say anything!"

"I won't." Connor said quietly. He swallowed and forced a smile. "Congratulations. I hope it works out for you."

"Thank you. I'm really going to need my best friend around you know. " she squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be here, Abs. If you ever need a babysitter..."

Abby laughed and snuggled into him. She could almost hear Connor's heart breaking, but she knew he'd eventually get over it. He was too sweet a guy to be alone for long if he opened himself to the possibilities.

-o-

Telling Danny about the baby had been surprisingly easy. He wasn't the slightest bit shocked. "I suspected you could be. We weren't exactly careful out there were we?" he smiled, hugging her close to him. "And I did see you stroking your stomach a couple of times. Kate used to do that when she first found out she was expecting, like she was willing the bump to grow. Except, you looked scared; like you didn't want it. That's why I didn't say anything."

"I have to admit that I'm petrified! But now I'm getting used to the idea, I think it could be OK."

"I meant what I said before, about being a better father if I had my chance again. I'll be there, no matter what." He placed his hand on her stomach. "It won't be easy watching another guy bring up my child, but as long as I can..."

"What are you talking about? You'll be with me, bringing up this baby!"

"What about Connor?" Danny said. "Everything we talked about, you finally telling him how you feel and all that? I saw the pair of you yesterday."

"I did tell Connor how I feel. I told him I was in love with you."

Danny was stunned. He wasn't expecting that at all. "Really?" he said.

"Yes! I don't know how things will pan out with us here, but I want to try ... if you do too that is?"

"Course I do! I've been in love with you for a while, but I couldn't say it because I thought you'd just end up getting with Connor when we came back." They kissed, tongues dancing together. Danny's hand rested on Abby's stomach and he felt an overwhelming rush of emotion. They couldn't possibly know what their future held, but they had to make the best of it.

-o-

EPILOGUE – 12 years later

Damian Quinn checked himself in the mirror one last time. Today was a big day for him, he was 'passing out' after completing his initial training in the army. He wished his mum was going to be here, but she had not liked his decision to join the army and refused to support him. Their relationship had broken down when he was 14 after he finally learned the truth about his parents' divorce. For years, he'd been led to believe that his father had walked out and abandoned him when he was three years old, and that Abby had been the evil bitch that took him away.

He'd hated his father with a passion, and when he tried to come back into his life just before his 8th birthday, Damian rebelled against it. He was forced to spend one weekend in four with his father and Abby and their screaming baby boy. He was awful to them, even more so when they got married and a second baby, a girl, came along.

It was an accident that he'd overheard Abby and his father talking about his mother and the affair she'd had. Damian had got angry with them, how dare they talk about her like that? His father had calmly told him he should just ask his mother who Scott was. He did, and he was shocked to find out it wasn't his father that had broken the marriage after all. His mother had lied to him for years. After that, Damian's relationship with his father improved vastly. He even found he liked Abby, and often babysat young Nick and Hannah when he stayed over so that they could go out.

Now, it was his father and Abby that were here on his big day, supporting him. He could see them sitting proudly in the stands as he marched in front of them with the rest of his group. After the ceremony, he found them waiting for him, huge grins on their faces.

"Look at you, son! You're a man now. You make me feel old!" Danny said.

"That's because you are old, dad!" Damian replied, laughing.

Abby pulled the camera out of her bag. "Come on you two, I want some photos of the pair of you together." She stared through the eyepiece of the camera, noticing with pride how alike father and son were. She took a few photos and was about to put the camera away when Damian spoke.

"Dad, will you take a few photos of me with Abby?"

"Of course!" Danny said with a grin, taking the camera from Abby and kissing her cheek. He knew what this would mean to her and he could see her blinking away tears. As they posed for the photos, the familiar voices of Nick and Hannah were heard. They'd got bored playing with the other kids and had come over to see their big brother.

Danny grabbed someone from a nearby group and asked if he would take a photo of the whole family together. It was a photo that both Abby and Danny would have proudly displayed on their desks at the ARC. Danny, looking every inch the head of the family, with his beautiful wife on one side and his handsome, uniformed son the other. In front of him was his other son, the eleven year old Nick who had inherited his father's looks too. Things hadn't been easy when he was born, Abby had struggled to gain the weight that she should have, and Nick was born with his own share of health problems. They had got through them all though, and the only sign now that Nick had been a sickly child was that he was a little smaller than other boys his age. Finally, in front of Abby on the photo was eight year old Hannah, she was every inch her mother's daughter; from her crop of white blonde hair and big blue eyes to her headstrong attitude, and she knew exactly how to wind her father around her little finger and get what she wanted. Everyone thought they were the perfect family, except for one person – and he had his reasons to believe there were tiny cracks there.

-o-

The party to celebrate Damian's passing out was in full swing at the Quinn household. Abby was exhausted, it had been a long day and she didn't really like being the hostess. She just wanted to sit down and have a beer. Connor was sat in the corner, watching Hannah play with his daughter, Lucy. The girls were close in age, but worlds apart. Lucy had inherited Connor's lack of self confidence, and she struggled to socialise. She'd become even worse since Connor and her mum had split up.

"Hey, glad you came." Abby said, sitting beside him. "How's it going?"

"As of next week, I lose half of everything I own to Rachel. At least the divorce will be done with and I'll be officially single again. I guess it's all my own fault. I was the one that slept with someone else, not her, wasn't I?" Connor looked Abby straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, Conn." Abby said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Rachel and I should never have married in the first place. I settled for the first woman that paid me any attention because I was lonely. I watched you and Danny; happily married and a second child on the way and I just fell into Rachel's arms." Connor looked down at his feet and then glanced over at his daughter. "She's the only good thing to come out of our marriage, and now I could lose her too."

"Rachel's still fighting the custody agreement?"

Connor nodded. "She wants my access reduced to supervised day visits only, no overnights."

"She can't do that! You do know that Danny and I are more than happy to be your character references if it helps your case?" Abby said.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea, considering you're named as the third party involved. Apparently, a man who sleeps with his best friend when her husband is away for the weekend isn't fit to look after a child."

"Don't say it so loud!" Abby hissed. "If Danny knew what happened, it would kill him!"

"Don't worry, it's bad enough I ruined my own marriage. I'm not going to wreck yours too. At least that's one thing Rachel and I agreed on and your identity is only known to the lawyers involved. I don't regret any of it though. We came so close to having an affair, didn't we?"

"No we didn't! It was a one off and it should never have happened. It was a moment of weakness because I was angry with Danny for not telling me he was going away until the last minute." Abby stood up. "I love him, and I love my family. We made a huge mistake that afternoon."

"The only mistake in my eyes was getting caught. What if Rachel hadn't come home early and found us in bed together? Would you have slept with me again? Would we have had an affair?" Connor said.

"I can't answer that, Connor." Abby said simply. "Now, I have to see to my guests and go back to my husband." She walked across the room, feeling Connor's eyes on her. Damian was stood chatting to his friends, Nick was tearing around the room and Hannah was sat on the floor with Lucy Temple. Danny was in the far corner, sharing a joke with Becker. She loved all of them, and there was no way she would risk losing any of them. Not even for Connor.

hehehe ... I am evil and twisted ;) There'll be an M rated fic up shortly, what happened on that afternoon between Abby and Connor? ...