Yes, finally I return from a fairly long delay. I can only apologise; I was ill for a few days (it doesn't happen often, I promise), so ended up being a bit behind in a few things.

Anyway, I am now back, ready to pick up from our escaped dinosaur hitting a switch in a gas filled room (tension please). Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval. Maybe it'll be an Easter present... if there were such things as Easter presents.

Abby breathed as sharply as she jolted down onto the menagerie floor. Straightening up, she glanced around, her eyes coming to rest upon a broken pet cage which should have contained Rex. The memory of her leaving that specific cage near Sid and Nancy earlier came back to her as she studied the particular gnawing pattern. She sighed the patient sigh of a mother and looked up at the creature that was being lowered down to her gently. Reaching out, she took hold of him, snuggling him closer to her chest and rubbing him between the ears.

"What am I supposed to do with you, eh?" She gazed over to the door to the room Rex should, according to regulations, be kept in with the other herbivores. "Come on. Don't complain. I need two hands for you."

There was a thump behind her as Connor landed heavily having jumped from the ventilation shaft, which was suspended by metal girders below the ceiling. Having positioned his hat, he immediately got to work, drawing out the EMDs which were kept in the room in case of emergencies; this was, after all, where the creatures where kept and, therefore, the most dangerous part of the ARC. The architects of this place were such optimists, he thought. Mainly the problem arose when the creature weren't in here.

He also pulled out Matt's hoop and some tranquilisers and placed them on the desk by the EMDs. Looking at his pile, he noticed Abby was still cooing over her reptile.

"Erm... Abby?" he said, unsure about how to express himself without causing another argument for sounding like he didn't care about Rex. "Maybe we should be trying to..." The sentence trailed off as Abby set her hardened stare upon him. It lasted a few seconds before she sighed in defeat.

"You're right."

"I am?" The hardened look shut his mouth again. Abby pulled out her pass and typed in the code for the door. Rex squirmed a little, but relented as Abby released him into the cavernous space. Shutting the door behind her, Abby looked at Connor.

"What else do we need?" Connor studied his pile with a critical eye.

"Another cage. Preferably a stronger one, not made of plastic." Abby paused for a second in thought before the idea came to her. She pulled open a storage cupboard beneath one of the desks and rooted around, the odd clang indicating she was moving equipment around.

Thirty seconds later, her head popped up, a confused frown gracing her features. She mouthed a few words in thought, then jumped up suddenly and rushed over to a desk the other side of the lab. Yanking open the cupboard door, she pulled out a few metal bowls and a set of cutlery used to prepare food for her creatures. After, she reached in with both hands and tugged out a large steel cage, meshed with a solid plate on the bottom and a simple, study handle on the top.

"This was left over from the original labs at Lester's government offices, before the ARC was built. Should be large enough to put that lot..." she gestured at Connor's pile, "... in on the trip there and the dinosaur on the way back." Connor grinned and ran over to kiss his girlfriend on the head.

Before he got to her, though, the whole room shook, making Connor fall forward. He grabbed the side of the desk as the room rocked from side to side, just saving himself from cracking his head on the edge. There was some clattering as metal equipment fell to the floor.

Abby was launched back against the wall, grunting at the force which powered her back. She caught Connor's failing hand and pulled him towards her to the pair was able to brace each other. The stayed there for a couple more seconds as the shaking died away.

Both were breathing heavily and standing very close to one another. Connor made an awkward smile before pulling himself away from such a position. Abby rubbed the back of her head where she had knocked it against the wall, but she didn't feel dizzy, so let out a heavy breath.

"What was that?" cried Connor, looking around for any clues. There was no evidence for the disturbance though, apart from the mess caused by it. The room still seemed stable and on a quick examination there didn't seem to be any cracks in the wall.

"It felt like an earthquake," gasped Abby. "Or an explosion...?" Realisation dawned upon the pair. "Connor, give me your phone. Quickly!"

Connor hurried over to the blond, pulling out his phone from his trouser pocket.

"Why? Who are you going to call? You don't think Lester tried to blow up the ARC to get in?"

"I don't think so. This was much larger than he'd need. I need to call Matt." She pressed a few buttons on the phone and held it up to her ear. "Think about which direction you were thrown." Connor looked down the lab, then peered in the opposite way. He frowned, before the idea hit him.

"It came from where Becker and Matt were." Abby nodded. "But if it was that strong here..."

Abby grim face told him everything he needed to know.

"Jess? Jess!" shouted Lester. He scrambled to his feet. All around him, there were sirens and people screaming and car alarms – always there were stupid car alarms. As if anyone was actually trying to break into them all at once.

The civil servant pulled himself to his feet and lurched sideways as the noise in his ears affected his balance. He grabbed a wall that was still solid (how was it still solid?) and steadied himself. He looked around. Bile rose in his throat as he saw Simons lying in front of him, a chunk of building debris protruding out of him.

He was dead.

Lester's head swam. He glanced up at the ARC. It wasn't as badly damaged as he thought it would be. The side closest to them had a hole blown in it at about the... third floor. Everything directly above was now scattered below, decorating the streets. The second floor hadn't fared well either, but the first was mostly intact. The surrounding rooms were gone, and the glass on the entire side was shattered, but about three quarters on the building seemed to have escaped further damaged.

Maybe there was hope that Abby, Connor, Matt and Becker had survived. That they were well away from the source. Then again, something needs to have triggered it and there were only them and the creatures.

"Jess!" Lester shouted again, tearing himself away from such terrible thoughts. He spotted the brightly coloured figure through the dust. How could anyone not spot her? He'd often disliked the garish combinations, but now he was determined to never criticise them again; they were like high-vis jackets.

Struggling through the materials, he grabbed hold of her arm and turned her to face him. There were tears tracks running down her face, clearing the dust away in neat lines. She was breathing heavily and there was blood trickling from scratches. Her skirt was ripped right up and Lester quickly slipped of his dinner jacket to cover her up a little.

"What happened?" she sobbed eventually.

"An explosion, I think," explained Lester, looking back at the ARC. "Come on. We'd best get you to an ambulance."

"But Becker..."

"Jess," warned Lester. "You're in shock. Besides..." he sighed, "... I don't think we're going to have such a problem getting in now."

Matt groaned and opened his eyes. At least, he thought he opened his eyes. It was still black. Maybe he'd just imagined he had. He imagined that he closed them again, to open them. Nope, they were definitely open. It was black around him.

He reached into his pocket with ease and pulled out his trusty torch, which he always had on him for call-outs. Pressing the switch the space was suddenly illuminated with a blinding glare. Matt shut his eyes tightly closed, then slowly – oh so slowly – opened them, giving them time to adjust.

Becker was staring at him, his skin glistening with sweat. His hand was caught where the top and bottom of the passageway behind them had decided to meet. Matt looked ahead, to where they had been going when... what had happened? Whatever had happened had caused concrete and brickwork to pierce through the thin metal tunnel with ease.

Something large then. Or, at least, close by.

"An explosion," said Becker, suddenly, breaking the silence, which sounded deadly. "Not large, but powerful and near-by." He breathed out in pain. "We're lucky to be alive."

Matt frowned, a slight headache pounding in his skull. He vaguely remembered a loud bang. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Instead, it felt like there was a sea sloshing about in there. Concentrate. He needed something to concentrate on.

Becker gasped out again as he tugged his hand in a desperate bid to be free. Desperate. Something about that didn't match up with Becker. But then, Matt wasn't quite thinking straight still; maybe it was just the crack on his head which was really starting to burn.

"Here, let me help," offered Matt, shifting over towards his friend. There were a few creaks and for a moment neither man even dared to breath, but the sound died away and there was no further stirring from the metal around them; they were stable, at least.

Easing over more cautiously, Matt took his torch and shone it on Becker's hand. It was wedged between the two pieces of metal firmly, but, with a bit of bending and denting, Matt reckoned it would be possible to get it out without bringing everything down on top of them. Hopefully. If he was being honest with himself, he knew he was only acting on a rough judgement that stemmed from the acknowledgement there was nothing else to do other than free Becker.

"Come on. I just need to..." Matt gasped as he pushed the thin metal upwards just enough so Becker could bend at his knuckles. Part of Matt's mind was worrying about how easily he was able the mould the malleable metal, the only material protecting them, but the rest ignored this concern and concentrated upon the job in hand.

Becker cried out in pain as Matt bent the next bit. Matt moved the torch to provide better illumination and found that as he tried to peel away the next part, the metal warped and dug into Becker's hand more. He sighed and shone the torch back at where he had been almost crushed only a couple of minutes before. Once more, he was acting in hope.

Hope seemed to pay off as he saw what he was looking for. A piece of metal had been torn away from the roof and was lying, unattached, on the floor. Grabbing it, Matt quickly slipped the piece on top of Becker's hand and used it as a larger lever, allowing Becker to free himself. After a little wriggling and a few choice swear words, Becker was cradling his hand to his chest, a trickle of blood being the only reminder of what had happened to it.

"There you are, mate," said Matt, smiling and slumping down. Becker looked up, a hunted look on his face. Matt frowned and sat up properly. "What's up?" Becker was sweating worse, his breathing was noticeably heavy and irregular, and his eyes weren't actually trained on Matt, instead darting about constantly as if there was a predator around.

"Haven't you noticed?" gasped Becker, hurriedly.

"Noticed what?"

"The walls are closing in."

Please please review. It would mean a lot to know people were still interested after such a long break.