Disclaimer: Primeval and the characters belong to Impossible Pictures, I'm just borrowing them

A/N: Not sure whether to leave this as a stand-alone or whether to explore it further ....

Abby had a strange feeling that something bad was about to happen, if it hadn't already. She'd hardly slept, something was telling her not to sleep, but she didn't know what or why. She eventually drifted off to sleep in the early hours, convincing herself that if something was going to happen, there was little she could do about it. She kept her mobile switched on though, just in case.

When she eventually crawled out of bed, sometime after 9am, she still felt uneasy. She checked her phone to make sure she hadn't missed any calls, and even checked the ordinary phone for answer phone messages. Nothing. Maybe it was all just her imagination, a combination of working long hours, not eating properly and not sleeping well.

She made her way into the kitchen, expecting to be greeted by three hungry dinosaurs, but Sid and Nancy were curled up asleep in the corner, and Rex was perched up in his favourite spot in the rafters by Connor's room. She noticed the food dishes were out, and a quick check of the bin to find fresh peelings told her Connor must have fed them already. "Connor?" She called. No reply, and no sign of life from his room. He must have gone out early, which was unusual for him on a weekend. She didn't remember him mentioning going out today, but then again, he had been acting weird for a few weeks now. They'd barely spoken to each other in recent days, she'd been busy studying a small lizard type dinosaur that had been left behind after the last anomaly had closed. It had died shortly after bringing it back to the ARC, so Abby had been tasked with cataloguing everything she could find out about it. Connor kept disappearing into Lester's office, sometimes for hours at a time. Then he'd come back, busy himself with the computer, and head for home.

Abby showered, still trying to shake off the feeling of unease. She decided to make an effort to go out somewhere, there was a new CD she thought she might get, and a trip into town might just make her feel a bit better. She dressed, and headed out into the London shopping crowds.

She returned mid afternoon. Her mood still hadn't shaken off. "Connor, you home? I'm going to make chilli for dinner, do you want some?" she waited. No reply, and there was no sign he'd been back and gone out again. Most unusual. She busied herself, putting away the shopping and making herself a drink. Sid and Nancy were rolling around on the floor with each other, tugging at the blanket that usually lined the box they slept in.

"Bad Diictodons!" Abby said, trying to pull the blanket from them. She noticed their box was a mess, full of chewed up paper, what looked like the remains of one of Connor's socks, and one of her gloves. She began to tidy it, picking up the bits of rubbish, and that's when she found it – an envelope, with "Abby" written on it. It was Connor's handwriting.

She opened it, her hands shaking. It had been chewed somewhat, but the note inside was readable. As she began to read, she immediately knew this was the reason for her unease.

"Dearest Abby. I've been trying to find the words to tell you this, but you know me. It seems easier this way, even though you'll probably think I'm a coward"

Her heart began pounding hard and she felt a sense of panic. What had Connor done?

"Lester's asked me to work on a special assignment with an old friend of his. A team of archeologists in Tanzania have found some unusual fossils and bones, stuff that seems mis-placed for the time period. Sounds like anomaly activity right? I'm going out there to work with a team, set up some technology and see if they've got anomalies going on there too"

Tanzania? Abby stared in disbelief. Connor had gone out to Tanzania without so much of a goodbye?

"I almost turned it down, but things haven't exactly been good between us for a while, and being around you is killing me. You'll never return the feelings I have for you,and its time I moved on. We both need some space and time apart. All my love, always, Connor x"

Abby was fighting back tears, what did he mean by never returning the feelings? She had kissed him hadn't she? Didn't that tell him how she felt about him? Admittedly, since then, she hadn't made any other move. She'd been waiting for him to make the next one, thinking maybe he didn't want anything other than friendship now.

There was something else on the note. He had taken great care to give full details of his flight, but not where he was going to be staying. It was a test! He was giving her the chance to go after him and stop him leaving. There was still a chance, surely … Then she remembered that he had already left when she had woken. He must have left the note out on the kitchen work top, intending for her to find it. That was hours ago. Perhaps Rex had knocked the envelope off the side, and then Sid and Nancy found it, whatever had happened, she hadn't found it when she should have.

She raced up the stairs to Connor's room, she opened his wardrobe door, half expecting to find him hiding there. But it was empty. All of Connor's possessions cleared out, like he'd never been there. She made her way back downstairs, slowly.

Checking her watch, she realized the flight had left two hours ago. Maybe there was a chance the flight had been delayed? She picked up the phone and dialled directory enquiries, who then put her through to an enquiries desk at Heathrow. "Did flight BA145 leave on time?" she asked. She closed her eyes, it was her final hope. She could hear the assistant typing away on the computer

"Yes Ma'am, it took off about 5 minutes late. Is there anything else I can help with?"

Fighting tears she said "No thank you" and put the phone down. Then, she collapsed in a heap on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. She was too late. Connor had gone, thinking she didn't care about him. She felt like her heart was shattering into a hundred pieces, and the one person who was usually there to make things better was gone. Things were never going to be same again.