My Best Human Friend

Alternative, extended ending to S2E04 of Primeval

Abby heard the door slam downstairs: the letterbox rattled with the impact and Rex flew, chattering indignantly, into the rafters. Then all was still.

She stood stranded in the middle of the room, feeling lost in her own home. Connor's words echoed in her memory as she replayed the scene over and over. She was sure she hadn't been mistaken.

"I love you."

Didn't they say that life and death situations can bring your true feelings to the surface? She was sure he had said it. But, then he'd stood right there – and she pointed though there was no one around to convince – and denied it.

She'd forgotten all about Caroline until she'd shown up. Of course he'd run off to see her, despite everything they'd been through that day.

Abby ran a hand through her bedraggled hair, wincing when her fingers tugged at a knot in the matted strands. No wonder Caroline had been offering her styling tips. She was a mess: physically and emotionally.

It took a lot of energy, much more than it should have, to move from her spot in the living room. She started to run a bath but couldn't bring herself to get in. The water, made murky by the bath salts she'd added, brought back memories of the Mer's lair. She pulled the plug and opted for a shower instead.

She rinsed the grime from her skin, washed the smeared make up from her face and untangled her hair. The temperature was about as hot as she could stand but it soothed her aches and pains. The only thing a hot shower couldn't solve was the mess of jumbled thoughts whirring around in her head. Thoughts of being dragged underwater by the Mer and scrambling up cliffs to get away and holding on to Connor's hand for dear life; the shock of "I love you", the relief of being rescued, and the confusion when he walked out the door and left her alone.

The adrenaline from being in danger had drained away, but the fear was still there, irrational though it may be. She was alone now and, without someone there to remind her that she was safe, she couldn't quite shake off a trembling feeling of trepidation.

She watched the water drain down the plughole, washing all the physical evidence of her experience away. The water, though harmless, reminded her too much of being trapped and suddenly even the shower curtain felt too claustrophobic.

Fumbling with the dial, Abby hastily turned off the water and wrestled to pull back to plastic hanging around the bathtub. The curtain rattled along its rails, making her jump. Gingerly stepping out of the tub, she told herself to get a grip and grabbed a towel to dry off.

Being out of the bathroom and dressed cosily in her favourite pyjamas and dressing gown made Abby feel a lot better. She settled down with Rex in front of the television, hoping to find something cheerful to watch and make the flat seem less empty and quiet. She couldn't stand the eeriness.

She flipped through the channels, finally finding a harmless soap. She wasn't really that interested but the over-played drama of the characters took her mind off everything else for half an hour. However, when the next show was announced, she immediately thought of Connor.

The familiar theme tune of Doctor Who began to play and Abby looked to Rex.

"He's going to miss it, Rex. It's a brand new episode too. He'll be gutted."

The little lizard didn't provide much guidance. Abby thought against phoning Connor and telling him to come home straight away or else switch on the nearest TV. Didn't Caroline say something about the theatre? She hoped for Caroline's sake that there was some time travel or alien invasion involved since it was likely Connor would doze off right there in the front row otherwise.

She managed to drag herself off the sofa and shuffled over to the television. Her back was starting to ache again and her arm was really painful from where Connor had pulled her out of harms way. She put a blank video in the rather ropey video recorder and set it up. She might have missed the first few minutes but she was sure Connor could catch up without too much difficulty.

She collapsed back into the sofa with a sigh; she hadn't realised she was so exhausted. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the Doctor chatting away to his companion in the Tardis, Rex joining in when he felt necessary.

She thought of the two men in her life – Rex and Connor – as she fell asleep, determinedly keeping the Mer creature memory locked away…

The ten o'clock news had just started when Connor got home. He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair and listened to the presenter announce some new war or disaster in the world. He thought that there must be something better on TV or else he still had the first Dark Brotherhood quest to complete on Oblivion now that he'd found the Cheydinhal sanctuary. He wandered up the steps and over to the sofa only to find a sleeping Abby was already occupying it.

For a moment, he stood frozen and watched her sleep. He had expected her to be tucked up in bed, not sprawled out in here. She looked so young when she was asleep, he thought, with her face relaxed and her skin free of make up. She had her arm stuck out at a funny angle and her foot dangling off the side of the sofa.

Connor covered his sleeping human friend in a blanket and made himself a nice hot mug of tea before settling himself on the floor by her feet, leaning his back against the sofa. Rex landed next to him and chirruped in his ear. He took a slurp of tea, enjoying the companionable silence between himself and his lizard friend.

He jumped, almost spilling his drink, as the video recorder whirred to life, suddenly coming to the end of a tape and vigorously rewinding. Rex vocalised his resentment at the disturbance. The tape came to an abrupt stop. Curious, Connor pressed play to see what Abby had recorded.

He grinned when his favourite TV show lit up the screen.

"She recorded Doctor Who for me, Rex. How thoughtful! I'd forgotten the new series started tonight. Excellent!" The lizard nodded his head in agreement.

Five minutes later, when a particularly angry Dalek exploded onscreen, Abby began to stir.

"Connor?" she croaked sleepily, slightly disorientated.

"Down here," he said from his spot on the floor and her gaze eventually found him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

He paused the tape and slowly got himself up and stretched. His bum had gone numb from sitting on the hard wooden floor and his shoulder ached from their adventures earlier in the day.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Ugh."

"That good, eh?"

"I feel like I've been dragged through an anomaly backwards!" Abby complained as Connor helped her sit up. She paused. "Oh, wait, that actually happened!"

Connor grinned and she tried to match it but it became a rather tired and timid smile. Once he was satisfied she was comfortable, he sat down next to her, covering their legs in the blanket, and resumed his programme.

"Thanks for recording this," he said, nodding at the television screen.

"S'ok," she replied, sleepily. "I knew you'd be annoyed if you missed it."

They watched together in silence. There were a few things Abby wanted to ask, a few things she was still curious about, but she wasn't sure where to start. Besides, she didn't want to interrupt Doctor Who. That was the excuse she gave herself anyway.

Eventually, Connor drained the lukewarm dregs of his tea and paused the tape. "Cuppa?" he asked and she nodded, holding back a comment regarding his tea obsession though it was on the tip of her tongue.

Abby hobbled over on stiff legs to the kitchen doorway. She leaned against the doorframe and watched Connor scoot about the kitchen.

"I wasn't expecting you to be home this early," she said over the noise of the kettle boiling, because she couldn't think of anything else to say. She cringed. She sounded like his mother, or worse, his wife!

Connor had his back to her and didn't seem to notice. "Yeah," he replied noncommittally, putting teabags in two ARC mugs they'd stolen from work. He poured the water and the milk into the mugs and stirred in some sugar: one teaspoon for Abby, two for himself. "Actually, Cutter called me. It was during the interval, luckily, or Caroline would have killed me," he rambled, "But he wanted to know if you were ok and I couldn't tell him because I wasn't here. He was furious that I'd left you on your own." He ran a hand through his hair. "I was pretty mad at myself too," he admitted.

"Oh." Abby didn't know what to say to that.

Connor turned to face her, with a mug of tea in each hand. "I'm really sorry." He held out one of the mugs to her, his version of a peace offering. "You weren't scared, were you?"

"No!" she insisted, a little too quickly and indignantly. He raised an eyebrow. "But I appreciate the company," she emphasised slowly.

"Ok." They retraced their steps back to the living room and sat primly side by side on the sofa, smiling awkwardly at each other.

"Cutter was doing a good Gordon Freeman impression earlier," Abby said to lighten the mood. "You know, waving that crowbar around."

"Actually, the crowbar was my idea." Connor smiled at the memory of them bashing through brick walls and prising open Victorian pipe work. Then he realised what Abby had said and frowned. "Hang on, how do you know about Gordon Freeman?"

She punched his arm playfully in reply. "I pay attention!" she insisted with a grin. "Plus I have a brother. You're not the only video-game obsessed male I've lived with."

"I'm impressed!" They both relaxed back into the sofa and Connor fed Rex some slices of apple he'd found in the fridge.

"So, did you have fun tonight?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't think she was being nosy, even though she was. "Up until the point that Cutter yelled at you, that is."

Connor screwed up his nose. "Not really."

"Oh… that's a shame."

"You sound surprised?"

"Well, yeah. You like hanging out with Caroline."

Connor shrugged and took a noisy slurp of his tea. Abby was looking at him expectantly, waiting for a reason. "Come on, Abby," he said, slightly exasperated that she couldn't work it out for herself. "Theatre. Shakespeare. Not really my thing, is it?"

She chuckled slightly. Caroline really had been pushing it if she'd taken him to see Shakespeare. "I guess not."

"Curled up with you, Rex and a mug of tea watching Doctor Who." He waved the remote controller at the paused TV screen in case she'd forgotten. "Now that's my thing!"

"I thought dinosaurs were your thing," she teased.

"That too… that's where Rex comes in. Sort of."

They fell into silence for a moment.

"I'm not sure Caroline would like to hear that," she ventured softly. "Wouldn't she be upset that you prefer hanging out with me and Rex?"

"It's not really any of her business." He paused before adding: "We've decided not to see each other any more."

"Oh," Abby said, taken aback. "I'm sorry!"

Connor let out a short laugh. "No you're not!"

"I am!" she insisted.

"You don't even like her."

"Very true! But…" Abby's tone softened. "But that doesn't mean I want you to be sad."

Connor looked into her face, surprised to see genuine concern for him. He lightly touched the back of her hand where it rested on her knee. "Don't worry. I'm not sad. Not at all. It's fine."

Abby smiled weakly and looked down at Connor's hand resting gently on hers. Slowly, as if testing something, she rested her head on his shoulder. Her heart pounded, worrying he'd read too much into it but also worrying he might not read into it enough. She was so confused.

Connor was confused too. What did this mean? He panicked a little, unsure of what to do or say next. It was only when he heard her exhale a tired sigh that he was able to compose himself. He realised that she'd had a really bad day – the worst possible – and that she probably just needed a bit of comfort from a friend. He was happy to oblige and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze as she relaxed into his side.

Now they were both comfortable, he pressed play and started to watch the TV again, enjoying the company of his favourite girl.

Abby was surprised at how content she felt right then. Maybe she was just so exhausted that she wasn't thinking straight. Maybe it was the caffeine and sugar combination in her tea that was giving her a warm glow inside. Maybe she was just… happy.

She glanced at Connor's profile and realised something. It didn't really matter what he'd said and it didn't really matter if he meant it or not. She still wasn't sure herself whether she wanted him to mean it, but that didn't matter either. None of it mattered. He was here now, looking after her, and that spoke volumes. It said much more than three little words uttered in the heat of the moment when he thought he was going to lose her.

Smiling up at Connor as he intently watched his favourite show, she felt a fondness for him that she hadn't really been aware of before. "I just worked something out," she said to him.

"Hmm?" he replied absentmindedly, his eyes focused on the screen.

"You're my best friend." Connor turned to look down at her and offered a surprised smile. Rex, however, protested. "My best human friend that is," Abby corrected.

Happy with this, Rex jumped down from his perch on the arm of the sofa and draped himself across their laps. Connor gave Abby another squeeze and tugged on Rex's tail playfully.

"I think I like that," he said.

Rex chittered loudly, interrupting the Doctor's rant onscreen, bobbing his head from side to side as Abby laughed.

"Oh, shush, Rex!" Connor scolded. "We're just getting to the good bit!"

Smiling together, all three companions turned their attention back to the television.