Hey everyone. After 3 months I finally updated.

Grimlock1992, thank you for reviewing and following this story, and to answer your questions- yes this is an Abby/OC story and I do have more planned for this story that just having Nathan take Connor's place, including a sixth season.

Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval.

Enjoy the chapter.

The team was forced to wait in the observation room while Lester and Claudia interrogated Helen. Abby, Connor, Nathan and Stephen exchanged glances while Cutter's expression remained unreadable, stonily watching as his wife was interrogated.

"Presumably there are still laws against kidnapping?" Helen asked, leaning back in the chair, showing no anxiety at her situation, which made sense to Nathan after living in the past for eight years with some of the most dangerous creatures ever- being threatened by two civil servants probably wouldn't seem that intimidating.

"Hmm. Though, officially, you're dead. We can't have kidnapped someone who doesn't actually exist, can we?" Lester smirked while Helen gave him a small frown, but otherwise showed no outward reaction. "The only way you can get out of here is by telling us everything you know about the Anomalies."

Helen remained silent for a moment before leaning over the table. "I'll tell you one thing; you're the spitting image of a Utahraptor I once met in the Jurassic." Lester gave her a clearly false and irritated smile.

"I'll take that as a refusal to co-operate, shall I?" He asked flatly while a man walked into the room and handed Claudia a paper.

"We've got another one. In a block of flats in the city centre." Claudia said looking at the one way window the team was standing behind, giving them a discrete nod. They began to file out of the room to head to the incursion sight. Cutter was the last one out, giving Helen one last glance before leaving.

"Happy now?' Lester asked sarcastically.

Captain Ryan and his men arrived at the flats in the back of a van. They jumped out and ran into the building. The kids who were playing football stood and watched them, their hands raised in the classic 'surrender' pose, but after seeing that they soldiers weren't interested in them they started to play their game again. Cutter, Stephen and Connor arrived in Cutter's 4x4. Nathan and Abby pulled up in Nathan's car behind them. They followed Ryan's group into the building. Stephen paused for a moment to kick the football that the kids had resumed playing with. It hit a sign that read 'No Ball Games'.

"Fluke." Connor said.

"Jealous." Stephen retorted. Ryan and his men arrived at the flat. They pointed their guns at it and looked ready to kick the door down. Ryan nodded to one of his men, who knocked on the door. They secured the room and signaled the team to enter. Inside the flat, Cutter was getting ready to open the bathroom door, while Ryan and a few other soldiers had their guns aimed and ready for any creature that might be on the other side.

"I didn't expect the SAS." said Mrs. Davies, the owner of the flat, stood behind them as they prepared to enter to room.

"The town council takes pest control very seriously, Mrs. Davis." Cutter whispered, not want to startle whatever creature was lurking behind the door.

"Are you ready?" He asked Ryan. Ryan nodded, and the door was opened. Ryan and another soldier cautiously entered the room, closely followed by Cutter and Stephen. Nathan, Abby, Connor and Mrs. Davis waited by the doorway.

"Relax everyone. It's only a python." Cutter told them breathing a sigh of relief. Mrs. Davies let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"ONLY a python? What the hell were you expecting?" Mrs. Davies said in a shrill, panicked voice.

"Ow." Connor winced as the shrill scream resounded on his eardrum.

After determining that the creature sighting was false, Cutter left to go talk to Lester and Claudia. Nathan stayed with Connor, Abby and Stephen to take care of the snake. Nathan held a bag open while Abby picked up the python, which hissed at being handled.

"Don't worry," Abby said to Stephen, who was standing by the door with a slightly nervous look. "This one's just a baby. Fully grown, they can be up to 20 feet long."

"That makes me feel so much better," Stephen said sarcastically.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love snakes," Stephen said, though he remained where he was.

"Sure you do." Nathan said. Stephen glared at him, but he just chuckled.

"We're going to need a bigger bag," Stephen said, trying to do anything to leave the room. Once he had gone, Abby and Nathan looked at one another and burst out laughing at Stephen's predicament.

A minute later Stephen returned with a bigger bag and held it out, "How's this?" he asked.

"That's good," Nathan replied as Abby eased the snake into the larger bag. Stephen closed the bag on the hissing snake.

"Right, see you in a minute," Abby said.

"Where you going?" Stephen asked looking up at her as he still held the bag that now contained the python.

"Tea break," Nathan answered as he followed Abby out of the bathroom.

"I ain't touching it," he heard Connor say from the bathroom and he stifled a chuckle, following Abby down to the cars.

Abby, Nathan and Connor met the others in the kitchens of the stadium as Helen walked up to the door of a walk-in refrigerator. They had received a call from Cutter saying that Helen was talking and was going to lead them to an Anomaly that supposedly was going to form next to a pride of saber-tooth cats.

"In there?" Claudia asked.

"Yup. In there." Helen told her.

"Connor?" Claudia asked. Connor looked at Cutter who gave him a nod of approval. Connor approached the fridge, and pulled out his compass, while Helen and Claudia engaged in a glaring contest. The compass remained pointed at magnetic North.

"There's no trace of a magnetic field." Connor said, looking up from his compass.

"The doors are too thick, it can't penetrate the metal." Helen interjected.

"Is that true?" Claudia turned to Cutter for confirmation.

"Possible." Cutter confirmed eyeing the door warily, as if the door would burst open at any moment with a horde of savage prehistoric cats behind it.

"Watch her." Claudia told Ryan. She went to unlock the fridge as Ryan moved closer to Helen with his gun ready to shoot either Helen or any creature that might be behind the door.

"Hey! What if the cats have already come through? They could be right behind that door." Helen protested. Claudia stepped back and shook her head.

"You know what; she's really starting to get on my nerves." She told Cutter.

"I can understand that." Cutter told her sympathetically.

"She does have a point." Nathan interjected, but immediately regretted it when Claudia gave him a nasty glare.

"You're bluffing." Claudia accused, bringing her attention back to Helen.

"Try me." Helen's expression was blank and unreadable. Claudia backed up and looked at Stephen.

"Stephen." Stephen went to open the fridge, stopping when he noticed that it was locked with a padlocked chain. Helen handed him a knife from her belt and he broke open the lock. Why he handed the knife back to Helen and why the soldiers hadn't confiscated it in the first place didn't make much sense to Nathan, but he chose not to comment on it. The soldiers stepped into position as he and Ryan opened the doors. The Anomaly was inside, and its magnetic field started pulling various metal items across the room.

"Get down!" Ryan shouted as various metal objects flew towards the open Anomaly.

Everyone except Connor dropped to the floor. Luckily, Stephen caught a metal sieve just before it hit Connor in the head.

"This is where you duck." He told Connor, who gulped.

"Okay." He hit the deck. Everyone remained on the floor as any metal object not bolted to the floor was pulled into the magnetic field.

"You know, you'd make a terrible poker player." Helen said to Claudia. She and Claudia shared another look. Things had stopped flying about, and Connor walked into the fridge.

"Anybody hungry?" Connor asked as he nicked a meat-pie from the walk-in fridge.

"Oh my God. We've got to get rid of them. The meat will act like bait." Helen tried to rush into the fridge, but Ryan and another soldier grabbed hold of her. Cutter went past her into the fridge. Helen grabbed hold of Ryan's tac vest in desperation.

"Unless you want your men to be breakfast, I suggest you do something." Helen told them, and Cutter started passing boxes of pies out to Stephen.

"Here." Cutter said, and Ryan shook Helen off and moved to help.

"Okay, clear them out." Ryan instructed his men, and they moved to help.

"Quickly, here." Cutter handed another box to Helen.

"Okay." Helen took the box and handed it to one of the soldiers.

"Take this." Cutter rolled a trolley out to Stephen and for a moment the fridge was clear of soldiers, and that is when Helen made her move. She rushed past Cutter into the Anomaly, the trolley preventing the soldiers from reaching her before she made it through.

"Get her back!" Claudia shouted.

"Helen!" Cutter shouted, and Ryan went after her. Cutter tried to go after them but was held back by a pair of soldiers, he looked at Stephen who took off into the Anomaly.

"For God's sake, someone stop him!" Claudia shouted. Abby, Nathan and Connor could only watch the Anomaly cautiously for any sign of Saber-Tooth Cats. A few minutes later Ryan and Stephen both came back through the Anomaly unharmed, but there was no sign of Helen, or any saber-tooth cats.

The core team stared at the laptop looking at a photo that showed them the other side of the Anomaly. Dozens of Anomalies were open, presumably each going to a different time period.

"It's incredible." Cutter said amazed at the sight of so many Anomalies in such a small area.

"It's the spaghetti junction of Anomalies." Connor said staring at the screen in awe.

"There's no way I could follow her. It would be like running into a Hall of Mirrors." Stephen told them apologetically.

"Let me guess, not one saber-toothed cat in sight." Claudia said frostily.

"Not even a kitten." Stephen said annoyed.

"You tried to follow her." Claudia accused Cutter.

"To stop her. What possible reason could I have for wanting her to escape? I want answers more than anyone." Cutter told them. Suddenly, there was a chirping noise, and the Anomaly rippled.

"Incoming." Ryan said, and his men raised their guns, aiming at the sound of ominous squawking that could be heard from the other side. The noises continued as a bunch of dodos came through. They knocked one soldier over, and then chaos descended as everybody began to chase them.

Don't let them get out!" Nathan shouted, and they did their best to contain the flightless birds. In the commotion, once poor soldier ended up sliding across the floor on his belly as the dodo he was chasing moved out of his way. Cutter and Nathan used their coats to herd one into an office and Stephen managed to trap one underneath an upturned bin. In the chaos nobody noticed one of the dodos eating Connor's Roswell key ring and waddling out of the stadium.

"They're great!" Cutter said, absolutely gleeful as he sat on the floor with three of the Dodo's around him. Abby and Connor stood in the doorway, looking amused. Claudia and Ryan were with them, looking... not so amused.

"Dodos." Claudia said, clearly shocked.

"Oh, they're so cute." Abby cooed.

"And so dumb." Connor said, as one of the Dodos walked into a wall.

"They're not stupid, just trusting. It's not their fault they became extinct." Abby protested.

"Funny, you weren't this sentimental about the Gorgonopsid." Connor remarked.

"Dodos aren't the size of a car and have razor sharp teeth." Nathan countered.

"Is that the lot?" Claudia asked.

"Yep, that's it." Stephen said as he walked up behind Connor.

"We better ship this lot back before we upset Darwin. Now everybody, um … grab a dodo." Cutter told them, and they began to herd the dodos through the anomaly. Abby assisted Stephen with a particularly stubborn one.

"Go on." Cutter said, shooing them through.

"They're so cute!" Abby cooed again, watching them go.

"Come on. Hey, hey, wait." Cutter leapt out of the way as the dodo's started rushing through.

"Professor, we have a dodo down." Ryan shouted from behind them. The last dodo was lying on the floor, obviously dead. Cutter and Stephen crouched down to check it out.

"Oh no." Claudia said sadly.

"What happened?" Nathan asked turning back toward them to look at the now dead dodo.

"Maybe it ate one of the pies." Connor said jokingly as he looked down at the compass checking strength of the Anomaly's magnetic field. Cutter gave him a dirty look.

"Sorry." Connor apologized.

"Poor little guy. We should do an autopsy to find out how he died." Cutter said.

"Could have been the shock." Stephen suggested.

"Well we've both been through and we're alright." Cutter answered, dismissing the theory.

"As far as we know." Stephen muttered.

"Cutter!" Both of them turned towards Connor, who was staring at the flickering Anomaly. "The Anomaly is fading."

Back at the labs; Cutter, Stephen, Abby and Nathan stood around the body of the dead dodo that they had brought back to the lab, ready to do an autopsy. Cutter was about to make an incision when the dodo jerked violently. The four of them jumped back, surprised.

"Whoa, whoa. It's … its muscle spasm." Stephen said, trying to reassure them all.

"No. It's been dead for hours. Okay." Cutter them, and they approached the dodo again. As Cutter moved, once again, to cut the bird open, it jerked. But this time, its mouth opened and a screaming, worm-like creature wriggled out. It fell to the floor and started wriggling toward Abby. She backed up against the wall.

"Stephen, grab that." Cutter shouted, pointing to a bell jar, which Stephen quickly grabbed and out down over the worm, trapping it. They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Lester and Connor joined Cutter, Stephen, Nathan and Abby in the lab, where Nathan was examining the parasite.

"It looks like some type of larva." Stephen said, looking at the worm.

"No, it's an adult." Nathan informed them as he got a better look at it.

"It's some kind of giant cestoid. It's destroyed the internal organs and attacked the central nervous system." He told them; pointing to the x-ray they had taken of the dodo, showing them the damage the parasite had done.

"I thought the trick of being a good parasite was to live off the host creature without killing it." Lester asked dryly.

"No, this one doesn't compromise. It enters the blood stream as larvae, it feeds off the host, and then it moves up the body to lay its eggs." Nathan said morbidly.

"Keeping itself alive just long enough to reproduce itself." Stephen continued.

"And then mission accomplished, they both die together." Cutter finished.

"Isn't nature wonderful?" Lester asked sarcastically.

Nathan stood in front of Lester as he skimmed through his report. "So how does this thing pass itself on?"

"Biting, but in this case kissing would be fine." Cutter answered.

"Well that doesn't look like that will be much of a issue." Lester said, looking at a photo of Tom. "I take it this things an automatic death sentence?"

"If we can get to Tom before the parasite matures we might be able to remove it, but were talking hours at the max- this thing matures faster than anything I've ever seen." Nathan said. "But even then…" Nathan trailed off, but a questioning look from Lester made him go on. "This thing is tearing apart his central nervous system to get to his head and it is massive; even if we can get to Tom it may be already too late to save him."

"And who knows how many people Tom could infect." Claudia started. "Three, four? And if they infect three more?"

Lester waved her off, "Yes, yes I can do the math. You know this is all Helen's doing. Unleashing a pandemic on us is one more part of her twisted plan." Nathan glanced at Cutter who had tensed at Lester's accusing words.

"What plan?"

Lester glared at Cutter, "You tell me."

"Helen hasn't done any of this on purpose, the dodos being contaminated is pure chance." Cutter argued.

"Who knows what Helen is capable of? She's left us behind. All of us. I think you're the only person who can't admit it" Lester held Cutter's gaze for a moment before sitting back down. "Doors open, thank you. I suggest you all hurry up and find him."

Nathan carefully set the dead dodo that they had found in Connor's apartment. "Be careful not to get cut by its beak, I don't know if the parasite can still transmitted once the host and original are dead." He warned Abby.

"Gottcha." Abby said as she set two of the knives on the table. "Do you think we'll be able to save Tom?"

Nathan sighed. "I don't know. The parasite may have already progressed too far." He really didn't want to say that, especially to Connor. He had only mentioned him a few times but Connor had admitted that Tom was one of his closest, and before he met them, only friends. To lose one of your best friends like this. Nathan cast a sidelong glance to Abby. This whole parasite deal had really hit close to home. Before the victims had been strangers and while it was gruesome they had managed to pull through. But this was someone one of them knew and if it could happen to a friend, it could happen to them. Nathan really didn't want to think about what could happen if Abby was attacked. Pushing those thoughts aside Nathan said, "Now let's see if we can't find some way to help him."

Nathan was about to make the first incision when he and Abby froze at the sound of someone breathing heavily. "Hello, can we help you?" Abby asked a figure that was obscured by the plastic sheet.

"They're after me. I-I need proof-I need your help." Abby pulled to curtain aside and Nathan's eyes widened at the sight of Tom. Abby suppressed a gulp and backup again as Tom moved closer. "Are they watching us now?"

Nathan frowned and exchanged a look with Abby. "No one's watching." Nathan assured him. Tom moved forward, pushing away the curtain to get closer to the dodo. Nathan and Abby remained motionless, not wanting to startle Tom. With the parasite in his system he was unpredictable, and the last thing they wanted to do was get infected. Tom switched off the lights and removed his hood and sunglasses. "So what's going on with these things?" When neither of them answered he shouted. "Tell me!" Tom regained control of himself and bent over the table in pain.

"Tom just take it easy." Abby said as she approached him, only to be stopped by Nathan's hand.

"No! Stay away, I don't want to hurt you." As Tom was talking Nathan placed himself between him and Abby.

Suddenly Tom's eyes dilated and shifted to an icy blue color and his voice deepened. "What have you done to me!"

Nathan maintained his position in front of Abby as Tom moved around the table. "What-what are they growing in me?"

"Tom," Abby started, trying to calm him down. "The dodo bit you; if let us we can help."

Tom laughed. "Do you think I'm stupid? Dodoes are extinct. What are they really doing?" When neither of them answered Tom's eyes dilated again and he changed towards them. Nathan moved to block him, but instead found him being pushed aside with a surprising display of strength from Tom. Nathan's head struck the wall with enough force to get knocked unconscious. However Abby didn't have any time to check on her friend when Tom grabbed her by the arms. Abby tried to shake herself free, but the parasite seemed to be releasing Tom's adrenaline when provoked and right now his grip was like a vise. Abby glanced at Nathan to see if he was okay, but she couldn't see past Tom.

"Tom listen, there's a parasite inside of you, come-on let us get rid of it for you." Abby tried to calm Tom down, but instead it seemed to have to opposite effect. Tom threw Abby to the ground in anger and grabbed her wrist, pulling them closer to bite them. "Okay! Wait!" Tom stopped to look down at Abby. "You want the truth; I'll tell you the truth."

Mere minutes after Tom and Abby left the building the rest of the team burst in.

"Abby, Nathan!" Cutter called out as the SAS scoured the room.

"Over here." Someone groaned. Cutter looked over to see Nathan pulling himself up, his hand holding his head. "I- ABBY!" He suddenly screamed, looking frantically for any sign of his friend.

"Nathan calm down, tell us what happened." Stephen asked.

"Tom came; he wanted to answers, he knocked me unconscious." Nathan paled. "He must have taken Abby."

"Were would he go? This is where the tracker was." Cutter asked looking at Duncan and Connor for any insight.

"The stadium." Cutter looked at Stephen. "He wanted answers right, and if Abby wanted to avoid getting bitten she would take him to the Anomaly."

"But the Anomaly was fading when we left." Connor interjected.

"If he doesn't find what he wants…"

"We need to get over their NOW!" Cutter barked.

By the time she and Tom had reached the stadium her heart was ready to burst. Two times during the drive the parasite had almost gained control off Tom, only the promise of showing him the truth prevented her from being bitten.

"You poor thing." Tom muttered as he stoked the dead dodo. "You killed it." He accused, looking at Abby.

"We didn't kill it." Abby protested, moving to get out of the car only for Tom to grab her by the wrist.

"Don't lie to me again. Things just don't happen, you're connected."

"I'm on your side." Abby protested, trying to appease Tom. She knew that if she could delay him long enough Nathan would wake up and call for help. She had been able to check Nathan while Tom had picked up the dodo. She had sighed in relief when she found he was only unconscious and would recover quickly. "You can trust me." Tom released her wrist and allowed her to exit the car.

Abby showed her ID to the SAS guard. After confirming her ID the guard looked at Tom warily. Abby glanced back a Tom. She could tell the guard the truth and tell him to stop him, but if the guard wasn't fast enough they could both be infected or he would shoot and kill Tom, and as much as she didn't want to get infected she didn't want Tom to die either."…He's a new scientist from Homeland, this is his orientation." The guard seemed to accept this and allowed them to enter.

Abby led him to the walk in refrigerator were the Anomaly had formed, only to find it empty. "This is where the Anomaly was."

Tom walked into the refrigerator and looked around before angrily knocking some of the meat-pies to the ground. Abby backed up as Tom turned around and ripped off his sunglasses. "It's a trap isn't it? Their coming here to kill me aren't they?" Abby didn't have any time to answer as Tom angrily marched towards her. She grabbed one of the shelving units and shoved it into Tom, knocking him over. Abby ran down the kitchen, only stopping to kick Tom in the chest when he got to close.

She ran down the hallway beating on the doors, hoping that one of them was open. Abby turned around to see Tom charging down the hall. Abby finally found an open door into the stadium's locker room. She jumped into a open locker and closed the door praying that Tom wouldn't find her. She heard Tom crash into the room and look around for a moment before screaming, "Were are you!" Knowing that she couldn't hide in the locker forever Abby jumped out, kneed Tom in the gut before he could react and threw him into the lockers.

Abby raced out of the door and into the seats, almost making it to the field, but Tom jumped over the chairs and landed on top of her. Abby tried to pull away, but Tom's had a very good grip on her. As Tom's mouth approached her wrist she did what any sane person would do. She screamed.

"TOM! NO DON'T DO IT!" Nathan heard Abby's terrified screams coming from the seats.

"Over here!" Captain Ryan shouted as he and his men ran out into the stands, guns trained on Tom who was inches away from infecting Abby. "I can take him out."

"NO! No!" Connor shouted, running in front of Tom.

"Connor he's going to bite her!" Nathan shouted, moving to get closer to Abby. Nathan felt a hand grab his shoulder and he turned glare at the person holding him back only to find Cutter giving him a stern look.

"We have to let him try." Nathan shrugged the professor's hand off angrily, but didn't try to get closer to Abby.

Connor turned to face Tom. "Tom, Tom. It's me... let go of her mate." Tom's gripped tightened as Abby tried to back away a little. "Easy, easy." Connor said, trying to calm Tom down.

"You remember Thursday nights, don't you?" Connor asked, "Battlestar Galactica? Blakes 7? Pepperoni pizza?"

"Connor?" Tom asked, looking up at Connor.

Connor smiled, "Yep, those were good times weren't they? You can fight the dark side mate."

Nathan let out a huge sigh of relief as Tom let go of Abby. Abby pulled herself away and ran to Nathan and pulled him into a hug, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Nathan returned the hug and pulled away after a moment to get a good look at her. "You okay?" Abby shook her head mutely. She turned to face the scene before them, but not without looping her arms around Nathan and half-hiding herself behind him. Connor's words with Tom grew too quiet to hear, but everyone tensed when Tom's eyes dilated again. Tom moved towards Connor ready to spread the parasite… only to let his head fall against Connor shoulder and for his body to start shaking. Connor took Tom and gently laid him against the ground.

The threat was over.

Nathan glanced at Abby as he made the first incision into the dodo. Despite the fact that the parasite, and Tom, were dead Cutter still wanted the two of them to study the parasite.

"Tom died today because we weren't ready; we need to know more about this thing." Cutter had told them after driving Connor home to give him a time off to mourn his friend.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nathan asked. Abby hadn't said much on the way back, just staring out of the window in silence.

"Yes." Abby answered quietly.

"You know I'm here for you right?" Nathan questioned. "You don't have to deal with this alone." When Abby didn't answer he turned back to the dodo.

"Hey Nathan." Nathan turned to face Abby who was speaking very quietly. "Could you- could you stay with me? Just for a few days." She added hastily. Nathan smiled; he knew that Abby didn't want him to think she was weak by asking for help. But he also knew that she had just gone through a very traumatic experience, being that close to being infected.

"I'll go take care of my pets and drive over when we're done here." Nathan said.

"Thanks." Abby said, now smiling for the first time since leaving the stadium.