Disclaimer: Primeval and the characters belong to Impossible Pictures and ITV, not me :( No Copyright intended

A/N: ... well, this is it, finally finished my first story. I've really struggled to bring the story to a conclusion and I'm not sure I'm 100 % happy with it still. Thanks to those who have added this to their alerts and favourites, and for the reviews and comments - its meant a lot :)

Over the next few days, the team slipped into a routine. They made sure there was someone with Connor at all times, Abby insisting she should be there most of the time. Sarah and Jenny tried to make Abby go to the hotel they were staying at to get some sleep and food, but she would not leave for longer than a couple of hours. Jenny had finally allowed Becker and a couple of the other soldiers to go through the anomaly. When they returned, Becker asked Sarah to lock it. He had seen Danny, and now conceded that he wasn't coming back.

The doctors said Connor was getting better, that his vital signs were approaching normal levels and it would just be a matter of time before he woke up. Abby kept looking for a tiny glimmer, a small reaction from him, but nothing came. She slept with him every night, the nurses turning a blind eye to the fact she wasn't using the camp bed they had supplied in the room. She was always wary of the wires and tubes attached to him, afraid to get as close to him as she really wanted to. Having to just content herself with holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder each night, this became Abby's nightly routine, one she vowed to continue until he woke up – however long it took.

During those long nights, Abby found herself thinking, a lot. What she now knew about Connor had her head spinning. She'd been angry, and hurt, why hadn't he shared something as important as this with her? But then, as she thought more about it, it didn't seem to matter. What had happened to Connor in his past had made him the Connor that she loved now, and he had his reasons for not telling anyone. She thought about the secrets in her own past, and realised she and Connor were probably the same. They just wanted to get on with their lives, in spite of what had happened to them. She was also quickly realising that she wanted Connor to be a major part of her life, and as soon as he well enough, she would forget about the "not crossing a line" and "no weird stuff" worries and concentrate on what mattered.

One morning, when one of the nurses came in to give Connor his daily wash, she had said "do you want to go and get a drink whilst I bathe your boyfriend?" She didn't correct her, it almost seemed OK to call him that. Abby took her usual stroll outside the hospital, enjoying the fresh air. She had a bar of chocolate and the usual watery coffee from the vending machine in the reception area, and sat on a bench in the gardens. Abby had been alone most of her life, in and out of foster homes, looking out for her brother, learning the hard way how to take care of herself, but she had never felt as alone as she did right now.

Refreshed, Abby returned to the room. She'd got a newspaper from the hospital shop, and began reading out to Connor, something she did daily. She had felt it important he kept up to date with what was happening in the world, though why she didn't know. As she read, she heard a sigh. Putting the paper down, she could see Connor's eyelids twitching. "Connor?" she stroked his forehead, and then found herself looking straight into those familiar big brown eyes. "You're awake!" Her heart leapt, he was OK!

He tried to speak, but his throat was dry. Suddenly he panicked, where was he? What were all these wires? He began pulling at them, and the monitors went crazy, setting off numerous alarms. Abby tried to calm him. "Connor, it's OK … you're in the hospital, do you remember? Connor.."

Two nurses came rushing in, followed by a doctor. Abby stepped back, allowing them to take control. It took both nurses to pin him down, his arms flailing around wildly, whilst the doctor injected something into him. Connor seemed to calm down then, and the nurses began to clean up the little wounds left from where he had pulled out his wires.

The doctor led Abby out of the room. Her heart was pounding, she was frightened "What just happened there? Is he OK?" Abby said

"We get that reaction sometimes. Imagine how scared you would be, waking up and finding all that attached to you. It's a combination of fear, and the drugs he's on, and a rush of that good old basic survival instinct that causes some patients to react like that when they first wake up" The doctor placed a reassuring hand on Abby's shoulder. "I gave him a mild sedative, he'll just feel very tired now. You can talk to him, but don't alarm him with details of his condition yet, just see what he remembers for himself" Abby nodded, and followed the doctor back into Connor's room

Connor had been disconnected from everything apart from the drip, and was propped up with pillows. "Mr Temple, it's good to have you back with us" The doctor said "You gave us all a bit of a scare for a while"

Abby was grinning from ear to ear, it was so good to see him awake after so long. Connor looked over at them both a little sheepishly "Sorry" he croaked.

"No apologies needed Mr Temple, just concentrate on getting well again so this young lady can finally go home and get some proper rest" The doctor scribbled something on the chart at the end of Connor's bed. "I'll come back in about an hour and see how you are"

Alone again, Abby sat by Connor's side on the bed. She squeezed his hand, as she had done every day since he had fallen unconscious, but today was different – he squeezed hers back, allowing his fingers to lock into hers. "Hey!" she whispered "It is so good to have you back"

"How did we…." Connor tried to say, but his throat hurt too much. Abby leaned forward and stroked his face, before kissing him gently on the lips.

"Questions later Conn, OK" she whispered. "All you need to know is you're home, and safe"

Connor's faced screwed up, and he gripped Abby's hand harder. "What's wrong? Are you in pain? Should I call a nurse?" Connor shook his head. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "Connor?"

He could barely get out the words "Abby, hold me" That was exactly what she had been longing to do, and she wrapped her arms around him. It was so much easier to do now that all those wires had been removed. She felt her own tears starting to flow as the warmth of his body touched hers. "Don't cry Abby" he whispered, his arms wrapping around her body, the protective arms she needed. It felt so good to be there at last. They were still laid like that when the doctor returned. He cleared his throat loudly, making Abby jump.

"I'm sorry, I just need to give Mr Temple a full assessment" the doctor said

Abby reluctantly unwrapped herself from Connor "I should call the others, let them know you're awake" she said "They've all been worried about you too"

--

Later that evening, Connor was finally alone. He'd had a steady stream of visitors all day and his head was spinning. Most of the ARC team had been, except Danny, and when he'd asked about him, they all seemed to want to change the subject. Connor guessed he was probably in the hospital too somewhere, and they didn't want to worry him. He'd been surprised, and delighted, to see Jenny Lewis. Was she back for good? He had so many questions, but people just told him "all in good time, Connor". He'd managed to persuade Abby to go home for the night. She looked exhausted, and he suspected she'd spent a lot of time at the hospital. He thought he could remember her there with him, but he wasn't sure he could rely on his memories at the moment.

The only things he knew for certain were what the doctor told him. He'd been brought into the hospital in a "critical condition", he'd needed emergency surgery and had been unconscious for several days. The last thing he remembered was getting angry with himself because he couldn't fix the anomaly openers. Had Abby managed to fix them, or did Helen appear? Maybe it had been Becker and Sarah that rescued them?

He tried to get to sleep, but his head was too full of questions and thoughts. He remembered being scared, kissing Abby, and falling asleep in her arms … or was that wishful thinking? Whatever it was, it was a nice thought anyway, and he eventually drifted off to sleep with the image of Abby's arms curled around him making him feel calm and safe.

--

A week later, the doctor said Connor was well enough to go home, as long as he took it easy for a while. Abby had joked that the only reason they were allowing him home was because he was boring all the nurses to death. Truth was, Connor had become a bit of a star patient, he'd been the youngest on the ward by several years and the nurses liked having someone their own age around. His smile and big eyes charmed all of them, and Abby was certain he didn't need checking on as often as they were doing. As they left, Connor gave the nurses a huge bunch of flowers that he'd asked Abby to get on her way in, and as a result he got massive hugs and kisses from them. His face was flushed bright red by the time he and Abby got to the car.

Abby had gradually filled Connor in with the details of what had happened. He'd listened as she described how she'd dragged him through the anomaly and gone off on her own to find Danny. He couldn't imagine a tiny girl like Abby carrying him, but nothing about Abby surprised him anymore. He wasn't that surprised to learn that Danny has decided to stay behind, just sad that another member of the team was gone. Then, when he discovered just how ill he had been, his stomach twisted into knots. Abby must have been through hell, he thought. Looking at her now as she fastened her seat belt, she looked beautiful, you would never know what had happened.

Connor didn't speak for several minutes as Abby drove. He was deep in thought, looking out of the window. "Abby" he said at last. "There's somewhere I'd like to go, whilst we're here"

"Oh? Where's that?"

"The anomaly site"

"It's not there, Connor. Becker had it closed, and it disappeared completely a few days later"

"I know. I just need to …."

"Ok, I'll take you there. But we shouldn't hang around too long, it's cold and you're supposed to be resting"

Abby parked up, and Connor got out quickly and set off at a pace. "Wait for me!" Abby called after him, running to catch up. He took her hand and led her through the trees, he seemed to be a man on a mission. Then he stopped, a huge smile spread across his face.

"I think this is it" he said. Abby looked puzzled for a moment. This wasn't where she and Connor had come through, she was sure of it. Connor read her expression "This is where we first met, you were chasing Rex with that boy, and I was with Cutter and Stephen"

Abby smiled "There was a cow stuck up in one of these trees if I remember correctly"

"That day changed my life" Connor said. "Changed all our lives" Abby just nodded. "I knew, even then, that you were someone special"

Abby blushed. She wished she could say the same. Back then, she only really had eyes for Stephen. Connor had been an annoyance. It wasn't that long ago really, but so much had happened, she'd changed, grown up perhaps, changed her priorities and realised just what, and who, was really important to her. "If you'd known back then what you know now, would you have stuck around?"

"Wouldn't change a thing" he said "You?"

"There's a few things I should have done differently maybe, but I guess we learn from our mistakes and it makes us a better person" They both stood, holding hands, staring into the space that had once contained a bright glowing anomaly. "Conn?"

"Abby?"

"Do you remember that first night when we were in the tree?"

"I still have the bruises, course I remember!"

"Your happy place, let's go there!"

"A beach?... you in a bikini?"

"If you like" Abby smiled. "After everything we've been through, we deserve it eh?"

Connor nodded. It sounded perfect. They both just stood in silence, thinking. After a few minutes, Abby readied to leave "Come on, let's go home"

"Not yet" Connor said "There's still one more thing"

Abby was puzzled. She was about to question him when she realised he was pulling her towards him. With a big sigh, his hand slid around her waist and he pressed his body against hers. He leaned towards her, and kissed her on the lips, lightly at first. Abby responded, kissing him back, and then they were locked in a tender embrace which left both feeling breathless and giddy.

"I never said thank you" Connor said. "For looking after me, for getting me back here" Abby had her head buried in Connor's chest as he stroked her hair.

"I couldn't just leave you could I" she said "Things just wouldn't be the same without you"

"Not sure I would have coped as well as you did, I think I would have fallen apart"

Abby had no doubt, he would have done exactly the same as her, and probably would have done it a lot better. She was rapidly realising just how strong a person Connor was behind the bumbling idiot some people thought he was. "You find an inner strength, Connor. Something just takes over and you get on with it. I suppose that's what…." She stopped

"Abby?" Connor said.

"Nothing. We should go, it's cold" Abby tried to move, but Connor was holding her tightly.

"What were you going to say?" Connor had an idea what she was going to say, but he needed to hear it. He needed her to finally admit it out it loud even though he already knew deep down. "What is it that took over and got you through?"

Abby felt beaten into a corner. It was a word she had always struggled to say because she'd never really experienced it in the true sense of the word. Until now. With a deep breath, she finally said what she should have said a long time ago "It was love Connor. It was realising that I couldn't go on without you, it was being in love with you that kept me going" He wrapped his arms tightly around her, protective, loving. He gently kissed the top of her forehead, before taking her hand and leading her back towards the car.

The drive home was silent, Connor had closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Abby glanced at him, he looked so peaceful, happy. This holiday to the beach would be the start of a new chapter for both of them. They'd grown so close over the last few months, but both denying they way they felt. Now it was all out in the open and she felt a sense of relief. She'd decided not to tell him what she knew about his parents and Alice, for the moment anyway. She knew at some point, she would have to confess, and opening that can of worms would also mean she'd have to talk about her past. If she was going to share the rest of her life with Connor, she would have to share everything, even the painful stuff.

He was still sleeping as she pulled into the parking space outside the flat. It was almost a shame to wake him. He smiled groggily at her as she handed him the door key. "We're home" Abby whispered. She followed Connor up the stairs, waiting for the excited sounds of Sid, Nancy and Rex as they greeted him. They were round his feet like playful puppies. Connor knelt down "hey guys, I missed you!"

"I'm going to put the kettle on, and then we should get you to bed" Abby said. Connor grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"The doctor said I had to take it easy Abby"

"I didn't mean …." Abby was embarrassed, but then she could see Connor was laughing. "There's plenty of time for …. that … when you're back to full health" she said, throwing a tea towel at him "go and get yourself into bed, I'll be up in a minute"

She watched him slowly climb the stairs up to his room, Rex was following him, circling around Connor's head. Yes, she thought, plenty of time. She followed a few minutes later, hot drinks in her hands. Connor was sat up in bed, Rex on his lap. Without a word, she placed the mugs on the drawers at the side of Connor's bed and sat with her back to him on the edge. She took of her t-shirt and jeans before sliding herself under the duvet and next to Connor. He put his arm around her and kissed her tenderly. "Love you" he whispered

"Love you too" she whispered back