For You I Will

Pairing(s): Connor/Abby

Genre: Drama/Romance

Spoilers: None.

Other: Separate piece of fiction with no spoilers and no particular place of the series. Takes place after Connor has dumped Caroline.

I apologise in advance if anything seems off or OOC at all.

Disclaimer: Dragonfly-Zero does not own any aspect of Primeval.

The Future Predator prowled around the corner of the corridor, head raised so sensitive nostrils could catch the scent of living prey. The vibrations were minuscule, but the creature could still sense them.

Connor Temple watched it as he backed into a doorway. Abby Maitland, a few meters away, cocked her rifle in preparation to shoot. She was trembling slightly – with good reason. The future predator was a natural masterpiece; the perfect balance between dexterity and strength.

Connor, Abby, and their two team-mates, Stephen and Nick, had been tracking the latest anomaly escapees for two days. There were three of the beasts, all of them Future Predators, although Nick suspected there was at least one more, after a disturbingly recent Mer sighting. One of the Future Predators had been tracked to here – the city mall. Another had been caught the previous day by Stephen, just outside the Forest of Dean. The final one was near a reservoir on the outskirts of London.

Connor glued his eyes to the ugly beast, as its dust-grey skin rippled with muscle and lean flesh. It was four-legged, but it walked bipedal, with its forelegs dangling down towards the floor, like a chimpanzee or gorilla.

Connor sneaked a glance at his colleague, flatmate, best friend and secret crush, Abby. Her bright blue eyes were fixed in a squint as she gazed down the barrel of the gun, concentrating fiercely.

Her mouth was set in a tight line, although he personally preferred it when she was pouting. Like when he hid her pyjamas or refused to surrender the TV remote whilst watching an episode of Star Trek, just so that she could switch channels to watch Friends. The pout was usually followed by the pleading, and non-too-happy whine of:

"Connooor…stop being so immature."

He wouldn't, of course, wanting to prolong the pout. She would get him back later. By pretending to sell 'Timesplitters: Future Perfect' or 'Oblivion' for his Xbox on Ebay. Fill his shoes with reptile food. Little childish tricks which made his day.

Just as Connor began to relax, dwelling happily on Abby's uniqueness, the Future Predator's head snapped sightlessly towards them. Connor hardly dared to breathe. The Future Predator's head swivelled from side to side, trying to locate them.

"Connor…get over here…" Abby breathed, still staring resolutely down the barrel of the rifle. Connor understood. Even with the doorframe in his way, he was right with in the beast's sonar. He was very exposed, very vulnerable.

Slowly, he shifted, side-stepping cautiously towards Abby. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot.

He could hear Abby's breath behind him, being let out in steady whispers. Carefully, he eased himself into a tiny nook behind her. Now they were both…wedged…in the smallest hole imaginable. It was barely a crack in the wall. Connor had to stoop to fit. Her neck was barely four inches from his face, and he could smell her light scent of vanilla and daisies, with a hint of oriental spices. God. Talk about aphrodisiac.

Suddenly, the Future Predator turned its head, staring right at them. It clicked to itself curiously. Something had disturbed the vibrations in the air. Abby's finger tightened on the trigger. Connor could feel her heart racing.

Everything happened at once.

The Future Predator began to bound towards them, claws on its forelegs extended to rip. A bullet erupted from the gun, the recoil causing the butt to ram into Abby's shoulder and, in turn, Connors collarbone. The bullet smashed into the Future Predators skull. It seemed enraged, but it did not stop.

Connor frowned. What fresh hell was this? Every creature they'd caught so far would have been killed instantly with a bullet to the brain.

Abby's eyes widened with a combination of fear and shock. She fired the rifle again, the second bullet shattering into the Predators snout. It loped on, relentless.

It was not, Connor noticed, going at any particular speed. It was slow, as though it knew it had won this short battle. There was no need for it to rush. Connor was wishing that it would speed up, get this over and done with. As far as he could see, there was no hope left.

Oh God, where was Nick Cutter when you needed him? He was at the reservoir with Stephen and Jenny, the cover-up girl.

And why, oh why, had Connor volunteered he and Abby to go solo on this hunt, when Cutter had offered for Stephen to go with Abby, and Connor to go with Cutter and Jenny?

Abby was becoming desperate, he could plainly see. She was firing the gun wildly at the creature, as it closed the distance between them. Her bullets ricocheted off walls, blasting into one of the elevators with an explosion of glass.

Things had to get worse.

There was the echoing 'click' of an empty chamber, as Abby used up all her bullets. She shouted a curse, throwing the redundant weapon to the floor. She turned to face Connor, who had managed to stand up straight once the gun had gone. Her eyes searched his hazel ones or a sign of an idea, a plan, anything that would have the faintest chance of saving them. She found nothing, as Connor looked back at her blankly.

"Connor, what do we do?" She asked pleadingly, looking to him for a sign that he was in control of the situation. What a time for a role reversal. Connor was the one who wasn't trusted alone. He wasn't even allowed a gun, in case he shot someone innocent, i.e.: Abby (pure accident. He could swear it).

"I don't…I don't know." He replied. As far as he could see, they were as good as done for. That horrible Future Predator was only meters away now.

Then his eyes fell to the gun, discarded on the ground. A flash of adrenaline coursed through his body at the inkling of an idea. It could have been inspired or stupid.

He turned back to Abby, placing his hands on her upper arms. Even in the circumstances, electricity crackled between them.

"Abby, we probably won't get out of this alive, so I'm going to say this now." He paused for a moment, and watched her reaction. She nodded slowly a gesture for him to continue.

"I, Connor Temple, love you, Abby Maitland. So…uh…in the name of life and death…I do this."

That sounded like a superhero, Connor thought to himself proudly, as he gently pulled Abby towards him and lowered his head to hers. Their lips touched, and the Future Predator was momentarily forgotten as adrenaline swept through their bodies.

The kiss was brief, but passionate. As he drew back, Abby watched him pick up the gun. The creature was barely two meters away now; it would be on them in seconds.

He twisted the steel barrel in his hands, before settling with holding it like a tennis racket. It felt cool, strong.

"Connor…what are you going to…!"

Abby was cut short as the Future Predator, tired of the game, leapt at them with incredible speed. Connor leaned back over Abby to protect her. The Predators claws, razor sharp, raked into his left thigh. Connor yelled in pain, and Abby, behind him, cried out in fear.

Connor, forcing himself to ignore the pain, took a firm hold of the gun, and smashed it into the creature's face. He felt its skull shudder beneath the impact. He was in absolute agony. His thigh was bleeding steadily, scarlet pooling around his legs. He was half collapsed, half kneeling, as the injured limb couldn't support his weight.

As soon as he had hit it, the Future Predator fell to the floor, totally motionless before him. A white-blue liquid trickled out from a dent where Connor had smacked it. Abby moved forwards cautiously, and prodded it with her toe. She was poised to leap back, but it didn't move.

"Is it…dead?" She asked. Connor threw the dented gun to the floor, breathing in ragged gasps due to the pain. He slid down against the wall, pressing his hands against the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.

"I don't…know…" He replied, voice shaking. Abby turned to him, her eyes widening in alarm.

"Oh my God! Connor! You're bleeding!" She gasped. Connor smiled weakly.

"Just a little scratch…" He joked, trying and failing to bring some humour to the situation. Abby already had her mobile phone out, and was speed-dialling someone.

"I'm calling Cutter. You need to get to a hospital. You've lost tons of blood." She said. She pulled the jacket she was wearing from her shoulders and bound his leg with it, ignoring his protests.

He was beginning to see spots, his vision clouding as he faded in and out of reality. His forehead was beaded with sweat, a detail he only noticed when Abby pressed her palm to it.

"Connor, stay with me. Stay with me!" She commanded.

"Cutter? Cutter it's Abby. No. Yeah, we found it. Listen a second, Connor's really hurt, it got him and he's losing blood fast. Don't come here, go to the hospital, I'll meet you there."

Abby's conversation with Cutter had been very quick and precise, Connor noticed, in his vague, dreamlike state of mind. Like something else… what had happened before this horrible pain? Ah, yes. The kiss. Lovely.

His eyes were blurry now, as Abby dialled another number – for an ambulance or something he presumed. After the call, when all she could do was wait, she slid down next to him and put her arms around his neck as he gazed, unfocussed, into the distance.

"Connor…please stay awake…please." She murmured into his ear.

It was then that he closed his eyes.

To be continued…