Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me. This is fan fiction, not for profit.

Any references to people, places, businesses, etc. are entirely fictitious.

A/N Part of the Claudia story verse (AU) Transitions, Transitions Too, Continuum, Trimming the Tree, Missing

6.1 Back

…normal activities…

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Monday morning Abby woke up snuggled with her back against Connor's warm body. His arm was thrown across her waist and his thumb resting just below her belly button as if about to tickle her. She sniffed. The tip of her nose was cold, and the air she inhaled was cold. Abby opened her eyes to find Rex perched on the mattress in front of her. The coelurosauravus tilted his head and chirped. His entire body shivered.

"Rex!" exclaimed Abby.

She abruptly threw off the covers as she sat up and reached for the lizard. The draft of icy air woke Connor.

"What?" mumbled Connor. He blinked his dark brown eyes and shivered in much the same manner as Rex.

"The heat is out," said Abby as she wrapped Rex in her bathrobe.

"The furnace must have gone off," said Connor. "Maybe Sid and Nancy…"

Connor climbed out of bed and grabbed his robe. Abby watched as he headed downstairs. Connor was walking easily with no outward sign of the injuries he'd had several weeks earlier. Abby set Rex down on the bed and tucked the blanket over him.

"Wait," said Abby.

She dressed quickly in lots of layers. Tights were followed by red jeans. A long sleeved blue t-shirt nearly covered all of her bright yellow camisole leaving only a tiny triangular yellow spot peeking through which was soon covered by the bright scarf she wrapped around her throat. Abby scooped up Rex and followed after Connor.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

In the kitchen, she found Connor peering into a small gray monitor. Danny had brought some of the fiber optic surveillance cables retrieved from the ARC to their home shortly after convergence.

"To keep the invalids busy," explained Danny with a smirk.

Neither Stephen nor Connor dealt well with convalescent leave. Abby thought Danny's idea was a stroke of genius. The two men rigged up a monitoring system to watch Sid and Nancy in their underground burrow. Connor and Abby were both relieved to find their pets still safely hibernating. After the huge anomaly had encompassed their home they really weren't sure if the creatures were still going to be there or not.

"I thought you were going to check the furnace," said Abby. She tugged the blanket tighter around Rex.

"Jack's on it," replied Connor.

Her brother was the only one of their house guests remaining. Patrick had been the first to leave. The teen transferred to the same school that Charlotte attended and was now living in a dorm room. At the beginning of February, Danny and Stephen moved into their own flat near the ARCs newly planned relocation site.

"Figured I'd check on Sid and Nancy," added Connor. "They're still sleeping."

Abby rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, they'll hibernate until it warms up outside," responded Abby. She glanced out the window at the snow covered ground, "which probably won't be until August."

Winter had come back with a vengeance after convergence. Lester and Colonel Harper were trying to expedite the ARCs relocation to larger, safer facilities, but construction had been delayed by back to back snowstorms. Abby heard the sound of Jack's foot steps coming up the cellar stairs.

"Nothing much really," said her brother "just the burner tripped off during the night. I reset it, but you'll have to have it inspected to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong."

Abby looked at Connor. She knew how much he had been looking forward to his first day back at work.

"I can't stay home and wait for the furnace man," said Abby. "The menagerie meeting with the London Zoological Society is today."

"Abby," began Connor.

"I can stay," interrupted Jack. "You both go on now, and take the lizard… he looks a little chilly."

Abby gave Jack a crooked smile.

"Thanks Jack," replied Abby. She looked at Connor standing there in his bathrobe. "You should get dressed, yeah."

Connor glanced from Abby to Jack. Jack walked over to the sink and filled the kettle with water.

"Tea will be ready by the time you're done," added Jack.

Connor walked past Abby.

"Are you sure that's your brother?" whispered Connor.

Abby nodded. When Connor had been missing, and she'd really needed help, her baby brother had been there for her.

"Yeah Conn," replied Abby. "Now hurry up, and wear something warm."

-x-x-x-x-x-x

The dark haired scientist followed Abby into the conference room for Lester's usual Monday morning meeting. Lester looked around at the assembled group. He smiled in satisfaction.

"It's good to have you back Connor," said Lester, "but do take off the hat."

Connor set the fedora down on the table in front of him. His fingertips tapped nervously on the conference room table. Gray fingerless gloves disappeared under the sleeves of a red shirt. He wore a black waistcoat over that shirt and a heavy woolen scarf around his neck.

"Now then," continued Lester, "we have a facilities update."

"Facilities again," groaned Cutter. Beside him, Claudia reached out and patted his hand.

Danny snorted and leaned back in his chair.

"Just once," said Danny, "I'd like to start the week off without a meeting on Monday."

He gave Lester a cheeky grin.

"What do you say guv?" asked Danny. "Can we skip the meeting this week?"

Lester looked totally affronted. His nose narrowed as he inhaled. His back straightened and he shifted his shoulders.

"As long as there is an ARC," huffed the director "and I am in charge, there will be Monday morning meetings."

"But do we have to start with facility issues?" asked Sarah. "We all know construction on the new site has been delayed. Do we need to talk about it again?"

"I don't know," said Connor quietly. "I've missed the last seven or eight meetings, so I don't know all about the construction issues, or what's being done to make sure that Aurora person can't come back."

"Connor," protested Abby, "I've told you everything."

"Abby, you've told me about the two anomalies we've had since convergence and about the creatures," reminded Connor, "but you don't usually talk about the buildings and technical specifications."

Connor swallowed. He looked up at Lester.

"I really want to know why Colonel Harper wants to commandeer our home."

"Well I thought that part would be obvious," replied Lester. "Your home is on top of an anomaly junction."

-x-x-x-x-x-x