AN: Piltdown - ahh, hmm... that's one way, and it makes the most sense of how it could have happened... but then think about what the anomalies mean, how the creatures move through from their times into ours... why not into each other's times, explaining why a creature that should be in one place... is found somewhere else? And maybe a year or two difference between the anomalies? Cutter talks about a fossil at the beginning of the season that existed out of its time/place, yeah? I dunno, just speculation! But it's just as likely that he moved through several anomalies. Oh, and for everyone: I have muse for this story into S4 and even S5, now! There's gonna be a lot of Connor learning about how to not just survive but also live within the Cretaceous, as well as some Abby and Danny dealing with their situation, and then how this all affects them all and the future... ;3 And that's all I'll say for now.

AN 2: Another update while the muse is cooperating with me :D Hope you Enjoy this chapter!

Connor grabbed the pack and pulled out one of the granola bars,. He was still feeling weak, and he didn't feel guilty at all in finishing one of the two little bars in the package… and then the second.

"Okay, next time I have to just take one bite, not two." Connor mused out loud as he stood on

trembling legs. "Not that it would've really changed much, but still… shouldn't have been fooled by the taste." He muttered. Connor stretched and rolled his shoulders, breathing in and out through his nose. His stomach roiled a little still, and the even breaths helped settle it.

He hadn't had time to really dwell on his situation, filling his mind with ideas and plans, a million ideas of what he could do to survive here…. that the realization that he was

seriously out of his depth had his heart racing. If he wasn't careful, he could just die here, never to see Abby or anyone else ever again. But at the same time, there was no way he could be too careful, no matter how dangerous his surroundings were, because he had no other way to survive than to step into this unknown and somehow make it work.

He swallowed the sudden knot in his throat, shaking his head. If Helen had managed to survive for 8 years, he could survive 'till he found a way home. (He just hoped it wouldn't be that long for him… she'd survived but had gone insane. Then again, he was nothing like her. He had to stop thinking in circles, he'd give himself a migraine with all this!)

"Water." Connor said, a little too loudly. He was thirsty, and the container was empty. He'd been lucky, picking this spot: the stream was not too far away.

He put the rest of the veg back in the pack, picked it up, and limped over to his tree, where he climbed up in order to place the bag snugly between branch and trunk before shimmying back down to the ground, huffing as his layers lifted up and his ribs scratched against the bark.

Thankfully it seemed that the aches from falling on his back were fading, and his ankle only twinged now if he stepped too heavily upon that foot. It was one less thing to worry about.

He kicked dirt onto the wood to make sure the coals were completely dead, grabbed the canteen, and then set off towards the stream. Plans for various tools and a second water container ran through his weary mind as Connor walked quietly through the cretaceous forest.

x_x_X

The woodlands were hot and humid, and before too long Connor was sweating heavily, panting.

The stomping, heavy footfalls of Titanosaurs had Connor hesitate, grinning as he leaned against a tree and waited. Soon into his sight lien came first one, and then two other, slowly plodding, Aegyptosaurus. It was an amazing sight, watching them walk by.

"They're beautiful." He breathed, almost disappointed as they didn't pause, and moved on, not interested in the leaves of this tree. (Which maybe meant that he shouldn't eat them either, Connor mused.) He had no time to dawdle, though, and continued walking towards the stream. As he stepped, his boot-clad feet sank slightly into the loamy soil.

x_x_X

The rustling sounds that signaled the movements of the small mammals of the Cretaceous in the underbrush made Connor think about survival again. He thought about Cutter's theory, that changing the past changed the future. He could kill some of these little things, or a dinosaur, or anything - and might return home to find that something had changed completely.

Usually Connor was more in favor of a multiverse theory, but that really didn't mean that his actions now would not affect the future. At the same time, there was absolutely no other choice. Living with Abby, who's a Pescatarian, Connor had mostly gotten used to eating less meat in his diet, at least in their flat. But fish were part of this time's eclogy. He would not be able to adjust to living on veggies alone. Risks were absolutely unavoidable.

The stream was in sight, and his shoulders dropped with relief. Connor had been distracting himself from how thirsty he was. with all sorts of plans and thoughts, but at the sight of running, fresh water, every other thought in his head vanished.

Connor quickly untied and slipped off his boots, and then splashed his way into the water, cupping his hands to drink several times. He drank more slowly after his initial thirst was soothed, and then splashed his face with the cool water, before filling the canteen to the top and capping it off.

Connor straightened, and smiled. He felt better, like he could actually do this.