In the Dark, a primeval fanfic

Now really, I've got to stop writing Primeval fics. I have to finish my Merlin fics. But I can't help it! I love Primeval and the ideas just keep popping into my head!

In the Dark

While searching for a new anomaly, a cave-in separates Connor from the team. There are dinosaurs underground. The team must find Connor before the ancient predators do. Becker/Connor. Set Season 3.

…

Abby blinked her eyes open. It was dark and there was dust floating in the air. She could barely see it in the light from the torches lying in the dirt nearby. Coughing, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and winced when her arm gave a shock. She picked up the nearest torch and pointed it at her arm. It was red all over. Abby shined her light to her left and couldn't hold in her gasp.

Three feet away was a solid wall of rock rubble. The dust in the air was from the rocks falling, no doubt. Abby was up in a split second, crawling over to the rubble while favoring her left arm. She gripped the rock carefully with her left hand while her right searched for any holes in the wall.

"Connor?" she called. "Connor, can you hear me?" A groan came from behind her but Abby didn't even think to turn around. "Connor?"

A hand joined hers against the rock and another light began scanning the rock. "A cave-in," Becker murmured, almost to himself. "Perfect." His eyes scanned the rock along with the light and he cursed, barely keeping himself from punching the rock and possibly causing another cave-in. "Connor?" he yelled, just like Abby, at the wall. They heard the captain's voice echo around them, but no response.

Another groan, not as deep as Becker's, was let out and then, "Bloody hell," Danny cursed, sitting up and holding his head with his right hand, "What happened?"

The few of Becker's men that had come with them were also waking up, but more quietly. Abby shone her light on Danny while Becker continued to survey the rock wall. "There was a cave-in. Are you alright?" she asked.

Danny shook his head and made to stand up. "I don't know. I think my head was used as a landing pad for those rocks, there. And not the small ones." Danny didn't even bother looking for his torch, he just looked around using the dropped lights on the ground and Abby's own torch to survey the scene. "Hey. Where's Connor?" he asked, turning his attention on the two nearest the rock.

Abby shook her head and faced the wall again. Becker was frowning deeply. "Connor?" the captain shouted. "Connor, answer me! Are you alright?" His voice was tinted in vague panic. Danny pretended not to notice.

"Ok," he let out, his eyes roaming back to Abby. "So how'd this happen?"

Abby shook her head again. She brought her eyebrows together, obviously worried. "Connor must've heard something or, I don't know, something."

"Right. He shouted," Danny agreed.

Abby nodded this time. "He pushed me forward and….and then this." She flicked her light over the rocks.

Becker smacked the rock with his hands and let out a heavy sigh. "Alright. The rock is sealed solid. Any attempt to move it would probably just bring more down on top of us," he told them in a slightly resigned tone, still facing the rocks. "We'll have to….find another way around."

"But that could take hours," Abby rushed out, shining her light on the back of Becker's head. "What if Connor's hurt?" she half demanded, like she was accusing their official protector of abandoning Connor.

For a long, silent, tense moment, no one said anything. Everyone was waiting on Becker, it seemed. Finally, his shoulders lifted with a deep breath and he turned to face them, squinting at the light in his eyes. Abby tilted her hand a bit, lowering the light to shine on Becker's chest instead of his face.

"We'll go back out. This area has a lot of caves. There's bound to be a map, a layout, of this cave somewhere; something to tell us how to go about getting to Connor. If we can't find a way, we'll bring in machines to dig our way through." He shook his head a bit. "It won't cut down on time, but it's the best we can do."

Danny nodded. "That sounds like a plan to me, and a good one at that." He nodded at Becker. "Leave two of your guys here just in case." He turned to Abby while Becker decided who would stay. "We still have to find the anomaly and seal it before anything dangerous comes through."

"But-" Abby began, but Danny shook his head.

"Connor has his own detector with him, right?"

"Rght…"

Danny shrugged. "Once we get a map of this place, we'll use our detector to find a way to the anomaly. I bet we'll find Connor sitting there waiting on us."

His idea seemed to calm Abby and they set off quickly in search of a map of some sort with Becker and most of his men.

…

"Oh."

He groaned. He felt terrible. His head was pounding and his left leg ached, like his left arm. He squinted his eyes open and found himself in complete darkness. Even without being able to see, Connor knew he was covered in dirt and rock. He coughed and tried to curl up into a ball, but he couldn't move his left leg at all.

"What?"

Connor sat up and felt his way down his leg in the dark to his knee. There he felt the problem. His leg was held under several rocks. He reached into his pocket as best he could and pulled out a mini torch, twisting it on and shining it over his leg and the rocks there. It wasn't so bad. None of them were crushing his leg, just holding it down with their weight.

The light from his torch landed on the wall created in the cave-in and Connor gasped. He shoved the rocks away from his leg and stumbled to standing, falling against the rubble wall a moment later and gripping at anything he could get his hands on.

"Guys?" he shouted. "Becker! Abby! Danny! Can you hear me?" There was no response. Only silence. "Hello!"

A low keening noise came from deeper in the cave and Connor turned around, torch held high. His eyes were wide. He knew what that noise meant. He was on the side of the cave-in with the anomaly and something had come through….and that something now knew he was here.

"Oh please let it be friendly," he murmured to himself as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his detector. "Oh, wait." He flashed his light across the ground, praying. In the corner, half buried, he found his box. Connor stumbled over to it and ripped it from under the rubble. He put his torch in his mouth and opened the snaps keeping the case shut. Inside he found his anomaly closer still intact. "Good," he sighed. "Now…," he trailed off. Connor shut the case and stood up. Then he glanced down at his detector and nodded. "Ok….Attempt number two, er, four." He started walking: slowly, quietly, and with a slight limp.

They knew the anomaly was down here, but they hadn't thought about how twisted a cave was. The detectors told them what direction the anomaly was in, but not if there was a wall in the way. They'd gotten lost and hit a dead end several times. It was on their way back to try once again that Connor had heard the rumble and pushed Abby out of the way of the falling rocks. Judging from the many aches of his body, especially from his left arm and leg, Connor would guess he wasn't quite so lucky as he hoped the others had been.

…

Becker brought his hand down from his ear with a soft sigh. He glanced at Danny next to him. Danny noticed his look and walked over. Abby was asking a man in a wooden info box if he had a map of the cave they needed and everyone else was hanging back because they were dressed for battle and looked military.

"What's the report?" Danny asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Becker crossed his arms over his chest and kept his face impassive. "My men say they heard something from the other side of the cave-in, but they aren't sure if it was Connor or not. He didn't respond when they called back."

Danny assessed him for a moment. "So what are you thinking?" Becker set his jaw but didn't say anything. Danny watched him quietly. "I'm thinking it was either Connor trying to make contact, in which case great, he might be just on the other side of the rocks. Or, I'm thinking something came through the anomaly."

"In which case, Connor is on his own with no weapons against any manner of creatures," Becker half-forced out, his voice deadly quiet. He hated to even think of what might happen should Connor be alone with a predator. In the small area of the cave, a G-Rex was an unlikely repeat, but any smaller meat eater could tear Connor to pieces just as easily. "We have to get back in there and find him."

Danny ran his eyes over Becker once, taking in his stiff posture and hard expression. "He's going to be fine. You know that, don't you?" Becker glanced sideways at him before focusing his attention back on Abby. He didn't say a word. Danny let out a sigh of mild annoyance. "You know, most of the time you're a bloody mess to read…but you choose now to be an open book?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" Becker asked, his voice as stiff as his posture.

"This," Danny said with a gesture to all of Becker. "I can understand attraction, mate, really I can. I'm human too. But I'm just curious-"

"Leave it, Danny," Becker ordered.

Danny shook his head. "No. This is important." He nodded his head like he was agreeing with himself. "Connor's a great kid. He's lucky you care about him so much…." He gave Becker a scrutinizing glance. "He does know, doesn't he? Because if you're this hung up over him and you haven't said nothing yet, I'm afraid I'd have to shoot you myself." It was a weak joke, but it made Danny smile anyway.

Becker shook his head. "It's none of your business, Quinn."

"Ooh, getting serious now, aren't we?" Danny said, his lips quirking into a smirk. He pat Becker on the shoulder. "Just tell the truth, and I'll leave you alone. I swear it." He drew an 'x' over his heart and pretended to pray. "You're head over bullet shells for the little genius. You wanna take him in the ventilation shafts where the cameras don't shine and have your naughty way with him. You'd love to just rush back in those caves, with no map, and tear right through that cave-in to get to him. It's killing you that he might be hurt and you aren't there to help him. You're-"

"Shut up, Danny!" Becker nearly yelled, shooting a glare at the light haired man. Danny's grin vanished. "What does it matter to you how I feel? Why are you so bloody interested in my personal life?" he demanded in a hiss.

Danny kept his face neutral. "I'm not. I just think it's important for you to have a clear head when you go raiding the enemy fort, if you catch my meaning." He tilted his head a little and let a tiny smile alight on his lips. "Besides, I think it's sort of sweet. With all he's been through, the kid deserves something good in his life…and I'm sure you'll be good to him, or I won't hold Abby back when she comes to kill you." Again, a joke, and this time Becker smiled too.

"Understood."

As if on cue, Abby rushed over with a folded paper in her hands. It was a colorful pamphlet. "I've got it," she announced almost calmly, unfolding the paper as she stopped next to them. "This shows all the levels of the cave and all the tunnels they know of."

"Right." Becker nodded and turned around to head back to the cave. "Let's get to it then." With a simple nod to the men standing in the distance, Becker had his little army in tow.

…

Connor leaned against the wall for support, taking in a few deep breaths. His leg hurt really bad and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep a hold of the anomaly closer with his left hand. It was putting a lot of strain on whatever injuries he had.

"I'll rest….just for a minute," he said aloud, though quietly. He wasn't sure who he thought he was talking to, but talking aloud had always helped him in pretty much any situation. He looked at his detector for a moment before sliding to the ground. "The anomaly's got to be close…"

The area around him was still dark as death, so Connor could only see what his little light was facing. He really wished he had one of the bigger lights, like Abby or Danny had had; being in the dark had always frightened him. What if there were zombies about? Like this was an ancient grave site and the anomaly reanimated the bodies and now they were out for blood because they were killed in some horrible way and they were hungry because they'd been dead for who knows how long and now he's the only food for miles and-

Something shifted in the dark and Connor froze. Part of him wanted to quickly shut off his light, but the rest of him desperately needed to know what made that noise. He scanned the area he was in, slowly. Rocks, stalagmites, stalactites, rocks, dinosaur, rocks, rocks-wait, what? His light shot back a bit and Connor gasped.

Dinosaur! It was probably almost six feet tall when standing up, but this one was crouched down in a corner, much like Connor was. Its skin was a sort of sandy color, with lines of green and burnt orange creating delicate patterns across its head and back but not its sides or limbs. Connor felt his heart rate slowing.

"Parasaurolophus," he breathed out. "Herbivore. Duck-billed dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous era," he murmured to himself.

The Parasaurolophus was blinking dazedly in the light Connor shone on it and he flipped his torch and set it on the ground so that the light hit the roof and slightly illuminated the corridor they were in. Connor watched the Parasaurolophus watch him. Slowly, it began inching its way closer to him. He stayed very still. It might be a herbivore, and not a fully grown one either, but it was still big enough to kill him if he aggravated it. He watched as it nudged the torch with its bill-shaped mouth, not a foot away from him. The light fell over, throwing most of the room into darkness and blinding Connor for a second when the light flashed in his eyes. The Parasaurolophus jumped back in shock, but then came back over quicker this time to further investigate it. It opened its mouth and tried to eat the torch and Connor threw his hands out. It stopped moving abruptly, watching Connor in what was obviously fear.

"No," Connor said quietly. "No, you're alright, just….Don't eat my only source of light, yea? I don't know about you, but I don't have night vision." He slowly lowered his hands and the Parasaurolophus calmed down, relaxing. Connor grabbed the torch from just in front of its mouth and set it up again. With the dinosaur so close, he got to examine it like no one else ever had: from the tip of its long tail through the long legs and short arms to the headdress-like bone on the back of its head and the tip of its duck bill-like mouth. "Wow….You're beautiful," he complimented.

The Parasaurolophus must have understood what that meant, because it tilted its head like it was bashful and settled down into a sitting position. Connor took a deep breath and, slowly, lifted his right hand from the ground toward the Parasaurolophus. It watched him carefully as he reached cautiously forward and kept his eyes locked on its eyes. His hand touched its nose and the Parasaurolophus didn't try to bite him. After a few tense seconds, Connor let out a breathy laugh and smiled at it.

"Brilliant."

He pet the Parasaurolophus gently, slowly, and he could see it calming and opening up to him. He could hardly believe it: diictodons, sure, but befriending a large Parasaurolophus? It was obviously young, because it could fit in the small pathways of this cave, but it was still a Parasaurolophus.

The ADD beeped at him and Connor glanced down at it. "Oh." He turned his attention back to the Parasaurolophus he was petting. "I've got to get to the anomaly. My friends'll be looking for me and I've got to close the portal before anything more dangerous comes through. And I've got to get you home too."

Connor pulled his hand back and carefully lifted himself up off the ground. The Parasaurolophus rose with him, keeping their heads at the same height until Connor was at full height and it was just a mite taller than him. He reached down and grabbed his detector, case, and torch. The Parasaurolophus mimicked him, watching him closely and trying to do what he did. Connor smiled at the dino next to him.

"I think I'll call you Ditto," he announced quietly. "Cause you're trying to be me. Don't know why you would though – I'm not all that awesome." He began to walk slowly down the cave hall and Ditto followed. "If you wanted to be someone amazing, you'd pick someone like Captain Becker. He's the best. I'll let you in on a secret, Ditto," he whispered conspiratorially, leaning his head a bit. Ditto leaned closer too, as if trying to hear the secret better. "I sort of fancy him, and he kind of fancies me too. No one else knows though."

Ditto pulled back and shook his head like he didn't understand, but kept up with Connor in every step. Connor laughed quietly.

"Oh, I feel so much better with someone to talk to."

…

Becker led the group through the cave. Abby watched the map and told him which way to go, but Becker checked with his men before anyone took a step around a corner. They'd brought heavy duty lights this time that lit up pretty much the whole tunnel at once. The one they were in currently was only about three feet across so they were walking in a single file line. Becker and three of him men were in the front, with Danny and Abby behind them, and the rest of Becker's men in the rear.

"Alright," Abby announced. "According to ADD and the map…we should turn right up here. We're close now."

Becker nodded without a word and turned down the next corridor. The light on his gun shone down the new tunnel, just a tad smaller than the one they'd just been walking, and Becker cursed. "Dinosaur!" he shouted at the same time that the creature hissed out a roar and charged. Becker backed up a step.

The dinosaur, and all Becker knew was that it was likely a kind of raptor, was coming fast, its mouth open and teeth out ready to kill. It came within three feet of Becker and jumped toward his face. He pulled the trigger. The bullets went straight into the three foot tall dino's mouth. It was dead before it hit the ground.

"Becker!" Abby shouted.

Becker turned a glare on her, but he was more aggravated than angry. "What? It was going for the kill. I have to protect you."

Abby was still pouting, but she shook her head and let it go. "Whatever. What kind of dinosaur is it?" she asked.

Becker's men, and Danny, moved aside as best they could to let her through and closer to the body. They focused their lights on it so she could see as she examined it. It was mostly a dark brown color, with lighter brown stripes down its back. It had skinny, long back legs and short arms with sharp claws on all fingers and toes. Its neck was long but its head was small. It was a small, meat eating dinosaur.

"It looks like a type of raptor…but I'm not one hundred percent sure what kind," Abby said. "I think it's a Deinonychus….or a Saurornitholestes." If Connor were there, he'd know it in a heartbeat probably. Abby shook her head and looked up to Becker. "Do you think-"

"No." Becker shook his head in negative. "It was on this side of the cave. Connor is on the other." He was convincing himself at the same time he was convincing Abby. Connor wasn't dead.

Everyone's heads shot to the path where the raptor had come from as the last vestiges of a noise managed to reach them. Even just barely hearing it, they all knew what it was: a yell. Only one person was down here and they knew Connor's voice when they heard it.

"Alright," Danny began with a nod, locking gazes with Becker. "Alright, let's get moving."

Becker was already hurrying down the path, his head ducked low to avoid the ceiling. The rest of the team charged after him, doing their best to keep up. They rushed down the tunnel for a short while and then suddenly the roof opened up at an apex of three tunnels. The room was more rounded than the tunnels, at least six feet across at any given point, and seven feet high. In the center of this hub was the glowing anomaly.

It was sealed.

Connor's case was on its side near one of the openings leading away from this room and the machine that was usually in the case was set up next to it. Connor's detector lay in the dirt near the other opening. Becker stepped over and picked up the detector. He shown his light down that tunnel but it turned off quickly to the left and he couldn't see any sign of Connor anywhere.

"He was here," Abby murmured.

Danny nodded. "But now he's not. Where do you suppose he went? That way," he pointed to the tunnel near the anomaly closer, "or that way?" he pointed to the tunnel behind Becker.

Becker faced the darkness of the tunnel behind him. "Connor!" he yelled.

His voice echoed, even in the tunnels he hadn't yelled into, for several long and silent seconds. He held the detector tight in his hand as he waited. Then suddenly there was a hiss of a roar from down Becker's tunnel and then Connor's voice, "Becker!"

"This way!" Becker hurried down the cave tunnel and turned left, hurrying as fast as he could toward Connor. He heard the rest of the team behind him but paid them little mind. Connor was more important.

…

Connor could barely believe what had happened.

He and Ditto got to the anomaly site without a problem. Connor set up his machine to lock the anomaly until everyone else got there. Before he could use it, however, a Saurornitholestes (three of them actually) charged through and into the modern day.

"Whoa!" Connor gasped as the three foot tall dinos took in their new surroundings. One of them gave a low growl to the others and they all turned on Connor and Ditto. "Oh no."

A fourth Saurornitholestes came through. Connor eyed the little pack and the anomaly. He dropped to the ground and hit the final button on his machine. It sent out a wave and the anomaly closed before any more dinosaurs could come through, but the action also caused the Saurornitholestes that already had come through to attack. Connor's eyes widened when he saw the claws coming straight for his face and then he shut them against the inevitable.

The Saurornitholestes made a squawk-like noise and Connor heard something hit the ground. Opening his eyes, he saw two of the Saurornitholestes were on the ground across the room and Ditto was standing protectively in front of him. Ditto let out a low growl of a noise from deep in his throat. One of the Saurornitholestes that had been thrown across the room turned tail and bolted down one of the other two tunnels.

The three remaining Saurornitholestes paid no attention to their fleeing comrade. Instead, they began closing in on Connor and Ditto again. Ditto made the growl noise again, but the Saurornitholestes dinosaurs just gave their own hissing growls in return. They pounced forward, into the air and a bit above Connor's head. Backed into the wall, Connor had nowhere to go.

"Ahh!" he cried out as the claws sunk into the skin of his right arm. He snapped his left hand against the skin and yelled again at the pain that caused. It took him several seconds to realize he wasn't being torn to shreds, and when his vision had cleared from the pain Connor couldn't see anything. "Wh-hn?"

The cave was whizzing past him quickly. He only knew that because of the wind on his face, since the whole area around him was pitch black. He was being carried….Connor squinted as best he could up at the creature holding him. When had Ditto-? He hadn't even known Parasaurolophus were capable of carrying something like a human, let alone running with it.

The sound of the hissing growls of the Saurornitholestes wrenched Connor's mind back to the present: the darkness, the danger, the damage. He hissed at the cold on his wound and wondered how bad it was. Even while they kept running, Connor tried to flex his fingers. It hurt like hell, but he could move every one of them. His heart slowed down just a bit.

Ditto let out a keening sound as he tripped. Connor flipped from the dinosaur's grip and bounced on the ground of the cave before hitting the wall and smacking his head against the stone there. "Ahhhhh….," he hissed. He threw his right arm against his chest and shot his eyes around the darkness, wishing he could see. "D-ditto?"

Ditto made another keening noise and Connor heard what must have been the dinosaur standing up. Then he heard the Saurornitholestes as they closed in. They were so close he could hear them running. He couldn't see, he was injured, and he had no weapons. He was as good as dead. So was Ditto.

An image of Becker flashed through Connor's mind and he felt tears jump to his eyes. It'd only been a month since he'd had the courage to admit to the captain that he felt something for him, and Becker had accepted his feelings and returned them. One short month and now his life was over.

"Becker," he breathed out. "I-"

"Connor!"

Connor's head snapped up, his eyes wide open even though he couldn't see. That was-That was Becker's voice. He could hear the Saurornitholestes hiss from back the way they'd come. They were practically right on top of Connor and Ditto, but if Becker was nearby….then Connor could hope.

He took a deep breath. "Becker!" he shouted as loud as he could.

He felt Ditto's bill tap his cheek and jumped. The Parasaurolophus made a small keening noise, the noise Connor had heard when he first woke up but softer, and Connor realized Ditto was trying to comfort him. He gave a small smile.

"Thanks a lot, Ditto," he huffed out. His arm was beginning to hurt worse and worse, probably from all the cave dust. "Good boy." He leaned his head back against the wall and winced when the uneven surface touched the wound on the back of his head from smacking it so hard only a minute ago. "Becker…Becker'll be here soon….with an army. He'll save us. Right?"

Ditto suddenly pulled away and a clicking growl sounded in the dark. The sound of a Saurornitholestes growl responded and then all Connor knew was the noise of a battle going on less than three feet away. He felt a breeze go by his face at one point and he tried not to think about what it might have been. Ditto and the other dinosaurs were growling, likely yelling at each other in dinosaur language, almost constantly as they fought. Connor put his left hand on the ground and felt it hit a rock. If only he could see, he could throw it at one of the Saurornitholestes.

Breath on his face. A low hiss that somehow sounded pleased. The fight was still going on…that meant…

Connor tightened his grip on the large rock, lifted it, and smashed it as hard as he could against the side of the dinosaur breathing on him. He heard the squawk and then the thud as the Saurornitholestes hit the floor and immediately began scooting in the opposite direction, away from the body.

"Connor!" Becker's voice called again.

"Connor!" Abby said a breath later.

Light was coming down the tunnel. "H-here," Connor tried to shout, but ended up half-coughing out instead. The scuffle was kicking up a lot of dirt.

The light lit up the whole tunnel before Connor. He was leaning against the dead end side of the tunnel. One of the Saurornitholestes was lying a foot away from him and twitching every once in awhile, another was on the ground near where the lights were coming from and not moving at all. Ditto had cuts all over and was bleeding.

"Ditto!" Connor gasped. He made to get up, but it jostled his arm and he gasped out a short yelp of pain. "Yahhh…"

Becker came into view through the lights in Connor's eyes, his gun held high and pointing at the fighting dinosaurs.

"Only shoot the raptor!" Connor shouted quickly.

Two gunshots ripped loudly in the small space, making Connor's ears ring, and the Saurornitholestes hit the ground. Ditto turned around and kicked it across the small path into the opposite wall, then snorted – almost like a sneeze. He backed up into the far 'corner' of the dead end, away from the rest of Connor's team, looking nervous.

Becker didn't seem to give the dinosaur more than a spare glance. His gaze focused in on Connor on the ground, arm covered in blood and held against his chest, other arm turning purple with bruises, and covered in dust. "Connor," he let out, hurrying over and kneeling down. He reached out to place a hand on Connor's shoulder, but Abby beat him to it.

Her hand hit his right shoulder and he let out a 'yipe!' She pulled her hand back and instead used it to keep herself balanced. "Are you alright, Connor? What happened?"

"I got attacked by a pack of Saurornitholestes raptors, that's what happened!" he said like a complaint. "There was a cave-in and I lost my torch," he explained with a pout.

Abby let out a light laugh and Becker managed a small smile. Danny was close by but keeping his distance and simply watching the scene. "Right. Let's get out of here, hm?"

"Hm," Connor agreed. He looked to Becker and they locked eyes. Becker's smile grew a little and Connor grinned. "Help me up, Action Man?"

Becker let out a small laugh, as did Abby, and he handed his gun to Abby so he could use both hands. He slid one arm around Connor's back and one around his front and tried to lift him as gently as possible. Connor hissed anyway but otherwise managed to keep quiet. Once standing, he stumbled a bit but Becker had a firm hold of him now.

"I think I sprained my ankle again," Connor half-whined. "Or my wrist….Or everything really."

"Alright then." Before Connor could question him, Becker had lifted Connor into his arms like a blushing bride on her wedding day. "No walking or you might make it worse," he said seriously, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes and in the smirk on his face.

He carried Connor only three steps, almost at Danny's side, when Connor stopped him. "Wait."

"What?" Danny asked.

"Ditto! Come on," Connor called easily. "It's alright."

Becker and Abby turned, since everyone else was already facing the right direction, and watched as the Parasaurolophus in the corner came slowly over. Connor smiled at Becker, then Danny, then Abby, and back to Becker.

In the most innocent way he could muster, Connor asked, "Can I keep him?"

…

When Connor woke up, he didn't recognize his surroundings. It didn't take long for it to register that he was in the hospital. What took a bit longer to register was how he'd gotten there.

When had he fallen asleep? He didn't even remember getting out of the cave. He remembered putting Ditto back through to his own time. He may or may not have shed a tear, but he wasn't telling. It had taken all he had for Connor to get Ditto to walk back through. It seemed the little Parasaurolophus had grown quite attached to him in the short time they'd known each other, and he didn't want to leave. In the end, they managed to convince him to go, and then….

Then he didn't remember.

Connor had always heard that after being badly injured, when a person wakes up it's hard to keep their eyes open. For him it was the exact opposite. He couldn't seem to keep them shut. His eyes flickered around the room as best they could without him actually moving. That told him nothing. He tried to sit up a little, but both of his arms groaned at him in protest….or screamed, in the case of his right arm. Connor fell back onto the bed with heaving, gasping breaths, trying to will the pain away. He lifted his arm a bit and glanced down at it through squinting eyes and saw the heavy duty gauze wrapped around his arm from his elbow to his wrist

The door to his room opened and Connor heard a familiar intake of breath. He lowered his arm and caught sight of Becker standing in the doorway. "Becker," he said, and it came out breathy and scratchy at the same time. He winced at the feeling in his throat.

The door shut and Becker was in the chair next to the bed almost instantly. "Connor," he breathed out, his hands hovering just over Connor's cheek and neck, like they weren't sure if they were allowed to touch. "Are you alright?"

Connor nodded and the motion felt weak. "I'll be fine," he managed in a murmur. "Might get some sexy scarring from this wound, actually," he joked, lifting his right arm carefully. He still winced as he felt the motion pull at the wound under the bandages.

The look on Becker's face was strained. He leaned his forehead against Connor's and simply breathed deeply for several long moments. Connor stayed quiet and let him. Becker let out a heavy breath and then tilted his head and placed his lips against Connor's. Connor was pleasantly surprised and eagerly joined in. It wasn't a kiss of passion, like Connor expected from all the movies he'd seen and books he'd read about couples when one gets injured. Instead, it felt like Becker was trying to memorize Connor's very essence through this one, heart searing kiss. It felt like safety and comfort and a promise.

When the kiss finally ended, Becker didn't back off very far. He leaned back just far enough to make out Connor's face in better detail, his lips pulled down into a deep frown. "I thought I'd lost you," the young captain whispered at length, his voice telling Connor everything he would ever need to know about how Becker felt about him.

A small smile crept across Connor's face. "Don't worry," he promised, also whispering, "I'm not going anywhere."

Fin.

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