I held my cup of tea in one hand whilst I helped to unpack the last few boxes of things Connor had brought back with him from Lester's flat– things he'd taken that he'd deemed too valuable or fragile to leave in a flat with Jack: A couple of his favourite mugs, his Star Trek Next Generation Top Trumps, a cheque book, a glass fronted photograph of the two of us with Nana, but now that Jack had finally fucked off he'd been able to bring it all back.

I pulled a set off cards out his cardboard box and flicked through them.

'Connor?' He looked up at the sound of his name, and glanced over from the sofa where he was trying to reclaim the high score on space invaders.

*Do not drink from the carton.

*Do not keep any specimens in the ice trays.

*Do not answer the door.

*Do not answer the phone.

*Do not ask me why!

'What's this?' I asked as I held the cards up.

'Souvenirs.'

I quirked an eyebrow at him. '…okay,' I replied slowly, as I put them down on the kitchen worktop and reached back into the box to unload the mugs. 'Can't believe you stayed with Lester for him.'

'It wasn't actually that bad.'

'Really?'

He looked across from the screen to stare dramatically back at me. 'Compared to Jack.'

He had a point. I hummed, 'yeah. Don't know what would have been worse, him or the Dracorex.'

'Maybe we both should have moved out and let them stay here together.'

'I think they would have got on you know.'

'Still a better love story than twilight.'

My amusement brought a smile to my face. I put his mugs back in the kitchen cupboard and turned back to lean against the counter. 'I'm so glad you're back.'

He flashed a genuine smile. 'There's no place like home, A.'

Yeah. I folded my arms around my stomach and had to swallow the lump in my throat like it would distract me from the dull pain in my chest.

'You look nice,' he then added.

And glancing down at myself, I attempted a smile. 'Ran out of trousers,' I explained, as I tugged at the hem of my skirt, 'I need to do the washing.'

'Oh, I'll throw a load in,' he offered, 'I wasn't allowed near any of the electricals at the flat, so, I'm pretty low on pants.'

'Great,' I echoed, 'yeah thanks, if that means I don't have to touch them.' I lifted my hands. And I'd genuinely forgotten since Jack had been here that I didn't have to do everything around here myself. 'When they're clean I don't mind but–'

'You don't have to touch–'

'Okay. Thank you.'

'Course. I can't believe you managed to put up with him.'

'Can't believe I didn't stab him in the face.'

Again, Connor's attention shifted from the tv screen to me, and his eyes narrowed slightly. 'Yeah,' he said, 'feeling better?' he asked, 'feeling less angry?'

'Most of the time.'

'Okay, good. I didn't like seeing you like that, A.' There was a short noise from his PS3, as he died in the game, and he sighed, dropping his controller into his lap before he looked at me again. '… are you okay?'

'Hmm?'

'You still seem a little… I don't know… distant.'

'Lot on my mind.'

'When do you not have a lot on your mind?' he returned.

And as usual, he was right about that. Not fancying getting into any of it, I looked down at my watch, even though I already knew it was past the time we should have been setting off. 'We should probably go, you know.'

He pushed himself up off the sofa. 'Yeah,' he said, 'you're right, but what they gonna do, fire us?'

'Careful,' I returned, 'you say that in front of Lester and he'll have you cleaning out the mammoth enclosure again.'

There was a strange sort of vibe when we stepped into the hub. And apparently Connor had sensed it too because despite the fact it wasn't cold in the building, he shivered. 'Uh, can you feel that?'

I winced. 'Hmm. Why is it so empty in here? What day is it?'

'Saturday,' Connor answered, 'I think.'

I threw my blue jacket over the back of the stool at my workspace, just to get it out the way before I started shifting through the mounds of papers I'd left there.

Lester must have seen us coming in; the sound of his fist rapping against the glass wall of his office overlooking us brought my attention suddenly around to him. I held out my arms questioningly. He waved as though to beckon me up to his office in response, but if he wanted to talk to me he'd have to come down. I pointed through the hub to my lab as though by way of explanation and just about managed to see him roll his eyes.

'What does he want?' Connor questioned.

'No idea,' I replied. I caught sight of the waste bin beside the desk and immediately considered just sweeping everything into it, but knowing that wouldn't permanently solve any problems, I pulled the scattered pages into one big wadge and picked it up before I started walked back to lab.

Nothing ever got done with my papers, I just moved them around from whichever desk I was trying to work in to one of the others that had worktop space.

Connor followed me through the hub towards the doors. 'Where's Danny?'

I hadn't even noticed that he wasn't there until Connor had said that. We made our way through the various doorways and into my lab, I dumped the papers on the desk beneath the window and looked back through the glass in search for him.

I didn't have a clue about that either.

I did, however, see Lester pacing through the hub towards the doors. 'Connor,' I said, and he whipped his head up to me. 'Quick.'

'What?'

'Shut the door,' I said, and pointed at it.

He frowned. 'Huh?'

'Shut the door.' And realising he wasn't going to move quickly enough, I started towards it just as my words seemed to permeate and we both lunged. I wasn't quick enough. Just as I got there and put my hand against the metal, Connor reached out to push it from behind but Lester appeared in front of us in the corridor, and we both immediately jumped back. And I tried to look inconspicuous, pulling my hand back in one smooth move to rest on the back of my head, whilst Connor looked up to the ceiling.

'You're late,' Lester said, as he stepped into the lab.

'You told me to get some sleep,' I returned.

Lester eyed me wearily, 'you expect me to believe you've been sleeping that whole time?'

I frowned. 'Is it that unbelievable?' I questioned.

Lester just gave me another look. 'And as for Danny,' he continued, without answering me, 'he told me he was on his way half an hour ago but he has yet to appear.'

Connor sighed dramatically. 'Well…' he started, 'traffic's… bloody awful…' I turned my head to him, staring, as though by way of explanation because he hadn't sounded even remotely believable. He tried to send a wide–eyed expression back at me, but Lester turned his head, and he had to quickly wipe the look from his face and replace it with a smile.

'Hmm,' Lester hummed doubtfully, 'except I checked Ceefax, and the road's perfectly clear. No roadworks, accidents, nothing.'

Connor sighed again. 'I don't know what to tell you–'

'Is there something we can help you with?' I interrupted.

'Yes. I was actually hoping you'd know where he was.'

'Who, Danny?' Connor returned.

'Oh,' I said, 'no, but I'm sure if he says he's on his way–'

'Anna!' Kelly, from the palaeontology department three floors up, suddenly stopped in the doorway, out of breath, and wide eyed.

I hadn't seen her in ages. 'Kelly?'

She had to swallow, to give herself a moment to catch her breath before she continued, 'the ammonite's hatched.'

What? My brow furrowed. What ammon– 'Oh my god!' And as she stepped back, to give me space to come out of the lab, I immediately stepped past her and started running.

'Uh, Anna?' Connor called after me down the corridor. 'What's going on?'

I couldn't respond, a door opened just as I was about to bolt past it, and an unsuspecting Becker stepped out into the hallway. I collided with him.

He remained completely unfazed and perfectly balanced, whereas I bounced off him and was knocked off-course 'Oh, sorry, sorry,' I offered as I caught myself. 'The ammonite's hatched.' Overhead, there was a sudden almost deafening bellow from the anomaly alarm and I had to stop. Not now. No. Bad timing. 'Ahhh!' I groaned, in a mild sort of panicky way as I flapped my hands to try and communicate all those things without using the words.

'A, we've got to go,' Connor shouted. I looked back down the corridor.

'But the ammonite…'

'Can you bring it with you?'

I cocked my head. I suppose so… not ideal. 'Uh,' I said, in way of response. 'Let me get it. Maybe we'll get lucky. Maybe we can even send it back!' And I took off again down the corridor towards the main staircase. I ran past the open door of my office- wait. I retreated, 'Sarah,' I said, as I stumbled to a stop and caught myself again by bracing a hand either side of the sliding doorframe. She looked up from her work. 'Do you want to…' I gestured back over my shoulder.

Immediately she straightened. 'You want me to come with you guys again?' she clarified with an air of caution.

I shrugged. 'Don't know where Danny is,' I explained, 'but hopefully he's got a detector and he'll meet us there, in which case you can wait by the truck or something, but as it goes I might need all the help we can get.'

She looked back at me with a pained expression and shifted on her stool. Several of the papers and bits and pieces resting on the edge of the table in front of her fell to the ground. 'Do I… do I have to? I'm not sure I'm… cut out for all that.'

'Okay,' I replied, 'no worries.'

'You can call me,' she added quickly, 'if you really need me and of course I'll be there but I'm more logistics,' she said, 'and back-up. I should…' She gestured firmly to the papers on my desk, and I smiled knowingly.

'Okay.'

'Hey, Lovely,' she then continued, 'you're going to freeze out there like that.'

I looked down at my bare legs and winced. 'Oh, yeah. I need to do the washing, and I was kinda hoping for a quiet day, but I have a jacket,' I added, 'and, thankfully it's not that cold.'

'I have a spare coat,' she said, as she pointed to the hooks on the wall behind her, where a variety of different worksheets had been strategically propped up to hide the various pictures of Nick that laid beneath. 'Do you want to borrow it?'

'Oh, you sure?' I asked.

She reached back and plucked the camel trench coat from the hook before she tossed it towards me. 'Yeah.'

I nodded. 'Thanks. Okay, see you when I get back.'

'Good luck!' She called after me.