Listen To Your Heart

Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Warning: See Chapter One
Added:
There is a bit of fluff/lime and is a bit of nakedness in this chapter.
You have been warned so you can not complain.


A/N: Hey!

To clear a few things up, I would like to say, in my defense; that Becker is acting very close to Connor only because I think he doesn’t mind being touchy feely. I give you as evidence, the episode where Connor trips that T-rex and had a small concussion. When he was outside the car, Becker pulled Connor into the car and didn’t seem to mind having him sit in his lap. So, I’m sure if Connor were like a little bro to Becker, he wouldn’t mind giving him a hug or even resting his head on his shoulder. So yeah, try to fight that logic…besides, I love Connor and Becker as a couple. However, this isn’t a fan fic about them, but Danny/Connor/Stephen. So, to please my own ‘fetish’ and I’m sure many other people; I added a bit of Becker/Connor yet just a bit.

I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter. It is pretty long and has a lot of details. Now I tried to write this story in a way as if you were watching an episode. So I hope I was able to accomplish that. Please read and enjoy!

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Chapter Two:

Stephen was awoken by loud voices mixed with the aroma of some sort of delicious smelling breakfast. He gave a yawn as he got out of the bed that Connor had given him. He yawned and stretched as he sat up in the bed. He was wearing his boxers and nothing else as he stood up and proceeded to the closet. He would have had the best sleep of his life if it weren’t for two baby dinosaurs that were located in a small dog carrier cage, at the foot of the bed.

Stephen had been woken in the middle of the night of one of them crying. Connor called them Nancy and Sid. It was Nancy who had cried; according to Connor. Connor had run into the room wearing his boxers and a white shirt, closely followed by a grumpy Lester who wore jimmies. Stephen got the short story of how Nancy and Sid ended up with Connor before making the two babies ‘shut the bloody hell up’, as said by Lester.

Stephen chuckled at the memory. He couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how Connor took the crying dinosaur out of the cage and held it like a baby or rather trying. It was pretty heavy. Connor had made Stephen get some milk and heat it up to Stephen’s annoyance. However, it was worth the look on Connor’s face as it brightened as he bottle-fed the creature. Of course, once that one fell asleep the other one woke up wanting to be feed as well. He wasn’t able to fall asleep until two in the morning. It was now five-thirty two in the morning. Under normal circumcises, it was the best sleep he had in the past eight months. Considering, most nights he wouldn’t have slept at all. Fear of being eaten or even never waking up at all had kept him up most nights as he traveled through the anomalies.

Stephen gave another yawn and scratched the back of his head as he opened up the closet located in the room. Connor had said there were some of Lester’s clothes in there that he didn’t wear anymore. Stephen cringed at the clothes, none of which being his personal style. He sighed and combed his hand through his hair. His other hand was much better, only being bruised, nothing too serious.

When Stephen walked out of the room, he wore some black tight pants that he found and a white undershirt usually used to wear under a suit. He walked towards the racket and had found Connor pouting and Lester scowling, although it wasn’t as harsh as usual.

“How many times do I have to tell you, that I can make my own bloody breakfast?” Lester sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know, but I figured if I’m going to be living here I should do something, you know?” Connor said while handing Lester the plate of food he made.

Connor had made a beautiful breakfast. It consisted of flapjacks with maple syrup and butter, scrambled eggs, English Muffins that were buttered, and chips.

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Stephen said as he walked over to the table.

Connor’s eyes seemed to lighten at Stephen’s appearance, which made Lester relieved that he didn’t have to talk to the young man. He didn’t mind Connor cooking nor did he mind having the young man join him for breakfast. No, neither of those bothered him at all. It was the fact that Connor would make such a mess when making breakfast. That and the fact, it was too early for Lester to listen to him ramble. Especially before Lester had his cup of Joe.

“Yeah, I would cook for Abby all the time. She’d clean and I’d cook.” Connor said proudly as he made Stephen a plate and setting it in front of him.

“That would explain a lot.” Lester mumbled as he got up and poured himself a cup of joe that had finished brewing.

Lester hadn’t slept a wink after the ‘little monsters’ as he ‘fondly’ called them; woke him up earlier that morning. He was in no mood for much and his patience with was usually short; was shorter than normal.

“We are leaving in fifteen minutes, so you better be ready or I’ll leave you.” Lester comments as he went back to his seat.

Connor paled a bit, realizing he was still in his jimmies. He excused himself before running into ‘Stephen’s room’ to grab some clothes. Stephen chuckled before digging into the most delicious food he had eaten for the longest time. Lester pulled out the paper and began to read it as he munched on his own breakfast and sipped at his cup o’ joe.

“So, I guess you’re back working for me?” Lester asked, not looking up from the paper.

“Guess so.” Stephen said in-between bites.

“I have no real openings at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll find some use for you.” Lester said, his voice not so sarcastic or harsh as it was at work.

Stephen smiled. He knew Lester couldn’t have been that bad.

“I’m sure you can.” Stephen replied, earning a snort from Lester.

Connor had at this time, rejoined the two ready. He wore worn blue jeans, a long sleeve light blue shirt, his white hoodie, and his famous hat. Not to mention his fingerless black gloves. He made himself a plate and proceeded to shovel the food into his mouth.

“If you don’t slow down you’ll choke, and you know I can’t afford to send you to a hospital.” Lester said, glancing towards Connor for only a moment before returning to his paper.

Connor swallowed the food that was in his mouth before giving his boss a sheepish smile.

“Well, it was you who gave me fifteen minutes to eat.”

“I said to get ready, not to scarf down your food.” Lester sighed as he turned the page.

Stephen finished his breakfast first and dropped his dish in the sink. He turned around and leaned against the sink watching Connor slow down his eating just a bit. He smiled unable to contain it as he watched Connor chug down the orange juice that he had to go with his breakfast. Lester had set down the paper and looked at his watch.

“Finished eating.” Lester said as he picked up his plate and put it in the sink on top of Stephen’s plate.

“Almost.” Connor answered before putting another fork full of eggs into his mouth.

“It wasn’t a question.” Lester responded as he picked up the almost empty plate from Connor.

Connor’s mouth opened to protest but turned into a pout first.

“Awe come on! It’ll be the only thing I’ll eat all day! I never have time to eat at work.” Connor whined.

“We’ll stop and pick up something if and when an anomaly pops up.” Stephen said.

He walked over to Connor and rested his good hand on Connor’s shoulder. Connor looked up at Stephen and stared right into Stephen’s icy blue eyes. His own chocolate brown eyes were bright as he smiled up at Stephen with child like innocent.

“Really? We can do that?”

“Really, as much food as you like even.” Stephen answered smiling fondly down at the young man.

Connor’s eyes brightened more before he turned towards Lester as if in approval.

“Fine.” Lester sighed, as he looked into Connor’s eyes.

Connor’s smile grew bigger. Lester couldn’t help but soften his annoyed glare at the lad. It was hard to glare when looking into those eyes of Connor’s. Lester looked down at his watch again.

“Let’s get moving before everyone gets there.” Lester said, his voice slowly changing into its business tone.

Connor nodded before standing up, a grin on his face. Stephen walked beside Connor and the two men followed behind Lester. The group headed out the door and towards Lester’s car.

(At the ARC)

The drive over there was the longest twenty minutes Connor ever had. It was dead quiet in the car, no one really knowing what to really say to each other. Therefore, Connor sighed with relief when they finally reached the ARC. However, once he entered the building he found that his sigh of relief was short lived.

Lester narrowed his eyes as he found a woman wearing a business suit and skirt sitting in HIS chair in HIS office. She had long brown hair tied back in a low pony tail. Her hazel eyes looked as if they belonged to a predator. She had a smug smile on her lips as she gestured to Lester to sit across from her.

“Christine….what a ‘pleasant’ surprise.” Lester said with a scowl on his face; the word ‘pleasant’ was said in a sarcastic tone. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh, don’t be like that Jonathan,” Christine snickered as she leaned back in his chair. “I came to check on your team and see how you were doing.”

“How kind of you. As you can see, everything is fine. So why don’t you go on your way.” Lester said with a cold yet a professional stare.

“Actually, I’m here to discus the new member to your team. If I heard right, he was thought to be dead, was he not? And if I heard right, wasn’t he meant to be Cutter’s bodyguard? Now that Cutter isn’t…with us anymore, I think he isn’t needed anymore. Although, if you need another member, I would be more than happy to give you some men I believe would be perfect for your team?” Christen said in a smug manor.

“As…tempting as your offer sounds, I believe just because Stephen was once dead and is now alive should have no effect on his role on my team. Further more, yes, he was assigned to protect Cutter, however, that doesn’t mean that his job here is done.” Lester responded.

“Cutter is dead, Jonathan. There is nothing you could do about that. Stephen isn’t needed as a bodyguard for the rest of the team since Becker is already assigned to that job. That means Stephen has no reason to work on the team or with the company. He shouldn’t even be in the building as it is a top secret project.” Christine replied.

She had a smug look on her face.

“I know a lot about the anomalies.”

Christine looked in the doorway to find the subject of interest standing there.

“Oh do you now? What could you possibly add to the project, hm?”

“I’ve traveled through both the past and the future. I’ve seen plenty of species and can give you more information on each kind of anomaly and what kind of creatures would be coming out of them.” Stephen answered.

He had an unreadable look on his face as he stared back at the woman. He never met this woman in his entire life, and he already knew he didn’t like her. Although, he showed no emotion whether or not he liked her. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed in front of him in a comfortable manor; not hurting his bruised arm in the least. The only expression on his face was in his eyes. Those icy blue orbs sent shivers down Christine’s spine as they held a bit of arrogance and some defiance. However, it was the coldness in those eyes that caused her spine to tingle.

Christine stood up from the chair and made her way slowly towards Stephen. He raised an eyebrow as she continued her ‘predatory’ like approach. Lester took a side step as he watched her with suspicious eyes as she approached Stephen. Connor stood behind Stephen and was peeking into the room. He didn’t like the woman one bit. Becker had joined the group a few minutes after they had arrived and was standing next to Connor with his hand reflexively on his gun.

“Why not work for me then? I could use a man with your…” Christine began as she stood in front of him; her eyes giving him a look up and down in a seductive manor. “Skills.”

“No thank you ma’am. I work for Lester.”

This comment made Christine’s lips form into a scowl. She never enjoyed being rejected. However, being the business type that she was, her lips twisted into a smile that seemed evil.

“Suit yourself.”

Christine turned around to look at Lester, her eyes changing to business.

“I’ll be checking in on you every now and then, so be prepared.”

She turned back to Stephen.

“If you ever change your mind…” she said handing him a business card. “You’ll know where to find me.”

Christine walked past Stephen, who didn’t move out of her way. She gave an intimidating look towards Connor and Becker. Becker only stared coldly back. He made a mental note to have Danny conduct another security check. Connor couldn’t help but gulp at her glare. He had faced Raptors, Worms, and even a tyrannosaurus; but even those didn’t seem as scary compared to Christine’s glare; at the moment anyway. She turned around and swung her hips as she proceeded to head out of the building. Her lackeys appeared from what seemed like thin air and followed close behind her.

As she made her way out, she walked by Danny, Abby, and Sarah; all of who just got to the office. She turned a cold look their way before continuing on her way. They watched Christine’s retreating form for a moment before sharing a look between each other. They headed up towards Lester’s office, finding Connor and Becker outside of it, while Stephen leaned in the door frame.

Danny glanced at Connor’s face, which was a bit scared but had changed into an awkward smile at the group that just arrived. Danny turned towards Stephen who was in the middle of ripping up a business card and tossing it into a trash bin. The two mens eyes seemed to meet for a moment before Danny broke the contact and huffed; before storming into the office.

“Why was she here?” Danny asked.

Lester sighed as he puts a towel on his chair before sitting down.

‘I’m going to need to sanitize my entire office now.’ He thought.

“Trying to throw me out as usual.”

Danny glanced back at Stephen leaning against the door frame. Connor took a step into the door and ended up standing next to Stephen. Connor’s eyes were filled with a bit of worry. The site of Connor standing arm length away from Stephen made Danny’s stomach churn. He didn’t know why. He thought maybe it was his jealousy bubbling up. However, before he could ponder more on why he disliked Stephen; the anomaly detector went off.

Connor blinked before looking at Danny who blinked back into Connor’s eyes. Connor turned to Stephen who was already looking at Connor. Abby and Sarah were already looking towards the machine as well as Becker. Connor rushed down, with the rest of the group following close behind him. Lester was last in the group to make it to the machine; where Connor was now sitting in front of and typing away at the keyboard. After a few more keys, a map showed up on one of the tellies with a red box surrounding one particular area.

“It’s at an old abandon rail road station.” Connor said looking up at the screen.

“Let’s move out.” Stephen said before turning to Becker, “Do you have any extra guns I can use?”

Becker nodded before gesturing for the man to follow him to one of the vans. Stephen smirked. He should have known. They had always kept the weaponry in the back of one of the vans.

Becker opened the trunk and pulled out a wide variety of weapons, some powerful and others able to cause a flesh wound.

“Nothing’s changed.” Stephen said with a smile, looking over the weapons of choice and making a mental note of which one he should use.

Connor headed over to the two men and stood behind them.

“I’ll drive. You guys coming with me?”

Becker gave a nod and proceeded to close the trunk. Stephen smiled and nodded.

“I hope your driving skills have improved since the last time.” Stephen chuckled, heading to the front passenger side of the van.

“Hey, you should try driving with a man eaten creature running behind you.” Connor pouted while jumping into the drives seat. “Besides, I’ve got a lot better and got a lot more practice.”

Stephen raised his eyebrow at Connor. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know, what Connor considered ‘practice’. However, he figured he’d have time to ask the young man in full detail back at Lester’s flat.

Becker jumped into the back seat of the van and buckled up. He made sure his earpiece was in place and gave some instructions for a few men to follow behind in the other van.

Lester had pulled Danny aside and told him to keep an eye out for any more of Christine’s goons as it seemed a bit more than a coincidence that an anomaly appeared right after she left. Danny agreed, for once, with Lester and headed towards the van where Connor was getting into. He scowled when he noticed Stephen getting into the passenger side of that same van. He began to make his way over to see if he could go with the group.

“Come on Danny.” Sarah shouted from the other van as Abby jumped into the back.

Danny looked back towards the other van and saw it was already moving; a second van right behind it. He sighed in frustration before turning and running towards the other van with the girls in it. He climbed into the front passenger side and buckled up before Sarah proceeded to follow the other van.

(At An Old Abandon Railroad Station)

Three vans parked in front of an old rundown building. The building was located in the middle of a wooded area and had a long dirt road connecting it to the main high way. It was at least a twenty-minute drive from the main road, and an hour from the ARC’s HQ. The building looked as if it was an old time train station where people would wait for a train and buy train tickets. It looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Behind the building and attached to it, was an old rusty rail. If someone stood on the rail and looked down it in both directions, they most likely wouldn’t be able to see too far as the trees would obstruct most of their view. The forest seemed to have claimed the man made structure; both the rail and the building; as there were vines and roots sticking out from the ground. The station was located in a small clearing, only having enough parking space for possibly three more vans.

“You weren’t kidding when you said an old railroad station.” Danny commented as he stepped out of the van and slammed the door shut.

He took a few steps towards the run down building and rested his hands on his hips. He turned to the other van and saw Connor get out of the van and slam the door as he too stared at the building.

Becker got out of the van and headed back towards the trunk, being followed by Stephen. Abby and Sarah got out of the van and looked around, Abby more curious and Sarah a bit more cautiously.

Becker turned towards his men, who already had their standard issued guns in their holsters. There were three men, standing by the van and waiting for instructions. Becker whispered a few into his earpiece, which caused the men to head out, as if they were scooping the place to make sure it was safe. Becker turned back to the trunk and opened it. He stared at the artillery selection he had. It was impressive, however there was only one problem with it. They were mostly filled with tranquillizers. Abby had ordered that all of the weapons to be filled with tranquillizers as not to kill the creatures. Becker found that was being suicidal, which made him regret saying those exact words to Abby. However, he was able to make a compromise with her; although it was like pulling teeth. Eventually, she allowed him to keep the live ammo with the bigger guns and the guns the men carried in their holster.

Stephen stood behind Becker, his eyes looking over each weapon with a sparkle in his eye. He pulled out a rifle and gave a smirk as he looked down at the powerful weapon in his hands. Oh, how he missed the feeling of holding a gun. He glanced towards Connor who pulled out a mini anomaly detector from his hoodie and began to look at it. Stephen smiled as he continued to look at Connor who looked up with a bit of confusion on his face as he looked around. Stephen’s staring was interrupted by Becker who patted Stephen’s back.

“You know how to use one of those?” Becker asked nodding towards the rifle.

Stephen looked at Becker with a raised eyebrow and with a look that said ‘are you asking me that?’ He cocked the rifle, setting it up to be ready to fire. Stephen takes aim in the air and after looking through the scope fires. He lowers the gun and looks at Becker with a smug smile. A bird falls from a tree and lands with a thud, not dead but certainly out cold.

“Does that answer your question?” Stephen asked, cocking the gun again, his lips curled up in a cocky grin.

“Sure.” Becker said with a small curl of a smile at the corners of his lips.

Becker found Stephen amusing and likable. They had a lot in common and seemed to have the same type of humor. They both loved guns, as it was obvious by how Stephen held his and how he could aim at a moving target in mid air. Becker felt as if he had known Stephen forever. Although, Becker could give credit to Connor as he did talk about the man a lot; especially before Nick died. Becker found Stephen an interesting person and someone he could relate to on a personal level. However, that didn’t mean his guard was down. He didn’t let his trust be given freely and still didn’t completely trust Danny, even if they had spent a lot of time working on the security system together. The only person he felt he could trust was Connor, and that even took a while.

Sarah walked over to Danny who was standing behind Connor and looking over his shoulder. Connor could feel how close Danny was to him; however, it didn’t seem to bother him. He didn’t mind the closeness. Connor felt comfortable with Danny. For some odd reason, Danny made him feel safe at times. Although, he contributed that to the many times the older man had saved his life.

There was only one thing that bothered Connor by how close Danny was standing behind him, it was how Danny’s breath was right on his neck. It was giving the young man shivers down his spine, and he wasn’t even sure if it was a good thing or not. His cheeks flushed a light pink as his hand holding the device shook slightly.

Danny leaned closer and rested his head on Connor’s shoulder as he looked down at the device. He noticed Connor’s hands were shaking.

”Are you all right? You’re shaking.” Danny commented, his hot breathe beating against Connor’s ear; as his upper body pressed against Connor’s shoulders and upper back.

“Y-yeah..” Connor squeaked out before clearing his voice. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Abby had heard the comment and walked over to check on Connor. She came close and found that his hands were shaking. Although, she found it kind of strange that Danny would be practically leaning on Connor, especially if he was in that condition. She slapped Danny’s arm which made the man pull away from Connor with an‘ow’ and glare at her as he rubbed his arm.

“What was that for?” He said with a glare.

“If he’s shaking you shouldn’t be leaning on him.” Abby said with her hands on her hips and a mother like glare.

Danny was about to protest but found Sarah’s hand on his arm. He turned to find her smiling up at him, a slight tint on her cheeks.

“Abby’s right you know. Besides, you’re probably making him nervous, you looking over his shoulder as he’s trying to focus. I know I would…” she said.

The last part of her sentence was more in a whisper as she turned her face away. She began to blush, as she couldn’t believe she had said it aloud even if it was a whisper. Danny just looked at her with a bit of confusion but shrugged it off. The girl was a weird one to him and annoyed him to no end sometimes; although in the little sister kind of way.

During all of this, Connor had closed his eyes to re-group. He was thankful Abby came by, otherwise he didn’t know what would have happened. Connor opened up his eyes and looked back down at the machine. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke.

“It’s that way…I think.” Connor said pointing towards the railroad tracks.

“You think?” Abby asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well,” Connor began giving her a confused look, “it’s showing two, one going that way,” Connor pointed towards the building connected to the railroad, “and one going that way.” Connor pointed down the railroad tracks heading towards the left.

At this time, Becker and Stephen had joined the group. Stephen had caught the little ‘hug’ Danny had been giving Connor and found it quite odd. However, he wasn’t able to ponder it too long. Becker had also found it particularly weird of their leader to be close like that to Connor. He made a mental note about it and decided to keep an extra eye on Danny. However, after hearing what Connor found, everyone was silent.

“You don’t think there are two anomalies?” Sarah asked her eyes widening and her hand coming to her mouth.

“It couldn’t be…” Stephen mumbled to himself, his eyebrows furrowing in thought.

No one heard him, nor paid him mind as he glanced towards the old building. He blinked. He thought he saw someone in the window, for maybe a split second or two. He shook his head.

‘No, its too soon…’ he thought.

“We don’t know that for sure, we should check out both spots though.” Abby said looking over to Danny to see what he thought.

Danny thought over the idea for a moment before nodding.

“Sounds good to me. I’ll take Connor and Abby with me.” Danny said.

He glanced back at Stephen, giving him a look. To Stephen it seemed as if Danny was telling him, Stephen, to back off. Stephen would have taken the challenge, however, he didn’t know what Danny was telling him to back off from. The first thing to come into his mind was Abby. Abby seemed a bit close to the man, and Danny seemed to be fond of Abby; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let her hit him. That’s what Stephen thought anyway. Stephen shrugged, not caring for Danny’s threat as it had nothing to directly affect him if Danny brought Abby or not.

“Then I’ll take Becker and Sarah, we’ll check along the railroad.” Stephen said, giving Danny a ‘whatever’ look with his eyes.

It was here where Danny got confused. He thought Stephen would give some sort of reaction that pertained to being aggravated at Danny taking Connor in his group. He turned towards Connor who had a surprised look on his face. To Danny, it appeared Connor was surprised Danny had put Connor in his group. However, Connor was more surprised Sarah didn’t complain not being with Danny, as she always wanted to be paired up with him. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Well that leaves the building for us.” Connor said before handing Sarah another detector that he had in his hoodie pocket.

Sarah smiled at him as she took the device from Connor’s fingerless gloved hand. She glanced at Danny for a moment before looking down at one of the two blinking spots on the screen. She was disappointed in not being in Danny’s group however; she was interested in getting to know Stephen.

“Let’s go.” Sarah said, turning towards the railroad and leading the other two men after her.

Becker whispered a few words into his earpiece, before going after Sarah and Stephen.

(Along The Railroad Tracks)

Sarah held the small anomaly device as she led the guys along the track. Becker walked behind Stephen, keeping his eyes open as he held his gun ready for any sort of movement. The three men from Becker’s team followed behind the group. Becker had told them to follow just in case they did find the anomaly they could close it up with Connor’s device. Connor had taught Becker how to work it just in case there was an emergency where Connor wasn’t able to do activate it.

Becker turned his focus away from Connor and towards Stephen. Stephen walked in front of him and to the trained eye seemed to be looking around and getting a sense of their surroundings. This made Becker smile. It would make his job a whole lot easier to have a man like Stephen on the team.

“So how was your stay with Connor last night?” Sarah asked glancing at Stephen before looking down at the device.

“It was fine.” Stephen said.

“Oh good…” Sarah said.

There was an awkward silence. Sarah not knowing what else to say, and Stephen not sure what was on Sarah’s mind.

“So…” she started again, “You got to find out where Connor’s staying.”

“Yeah.” Stephen said with a raised eyebrow.

She didn’t really care or wanted to know where Connor was staying. It wasn’t like she didn’t like Connor or anything, it was just that she felt that if Connor wanted someone to know where he was, he would have told them all already.

“How is it like? You know, living with Connor?” she asked.

She was trying to get Stephen to open up, and since he seemed to be very close to Connor, she thought it would be a great subject to break the ice.

“Listen, if you want to ask me something, then just spit it out already. You obviously have something on your mind, so just ask already.” Stephen said as he lets out a frustrated sigh.

It was getting old the ‘ring around the mulberry bush’ talk. He hated how woman, or rather the ones he knew; wouldn’t say what they wanted to say. The only exception was Abby, but she was one of the better ones.

Sarah was a bit taken aback by the outburst. She was nervous and didn’t know exactly what she wanted to ask him. She just wanted to get to know him. It was somewhat hard to ask “Tell me everything about yourself”, that just would sound crazy. She turned around with an angry glare. She put her hands on her hips, this making everyone stop.

“Well, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to have a conversation. You’ve been a way for so long you probably don’t even know how to have one.” She said, however she regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth.

They stood there in another awkward silence. Stephen glared at her and she winced at the glare.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I mean…I just wanted to get to know you and I didn’t know how or what to ask. I mean, you are part of this team now and all. I just wanted to get to know you as a team mate.” She said with a sigh.

Stephen snorted at her.

“Try asking questions like ‘how did you meet Connor’ or ‘how did you know Cutter’.” Stephen said with a glare.

“How much further?” Becker asked.

He could feel the tension beginning to brew and he didn’t want to use his gun on his own team to protect them from each other. Sarah was more than relieved that the bodyguard had changed the subject. She turned back around and looked back at the device.

“I believe its not too much further.”

They walked a bit more before they found the anomaly. It would be the only time she would be happy to see one.

“Do you think anything came out of it?” Sarah asked staring in amazement.

No matter how many times she had seen one, she couldn’t help but be amazed. Stephen furrowed his eyes as he looked at the ground. Becker saw exactly what Stephen was looking at. There were four big footprints. They were heading out of the anomaly and appeared as if they were heading towards the railroad station.

“What is it?” Becker asked, as he bent down next to Stephen who was looking at the prints.

Stephen’s eyes squinted as he tried to make out what kind of footprint it was, so he could figure out what kind of creature came out. He blinked as he saw something on what appeared to be the front foot. There was a huge claw mark that appeared to be attached to the rest of the three imprints of the footprint. He stood up fast and looked towards the railroad station.

“They’re in trouble.” Stephen said as he cocked his gun.

Stephen took off running towards the railroad station.

Becker was on his feet in an instant too. However, he turned to his men.

“Contain that anomaly, make sure nothing else comes out.” Becker shouts, handing one of the men the box that controlled the anomaly container.

“Yes sir.” The man said before setting up the portable size anomaly container.

Becker quickly showed them what buttons to push before he headed off after Stephen. It didn’t take long for Becker to catch up and run along side Stephen. Sarah’s eyes widened at the news and she ran after the two; however, she was several feet behind the two men.

(Back At the Station)

After Stephen, Becker, and Sarah had vanished down the railroad, Connor turned to his team.

“Well, we should get moving too.” Connor said with a smile on his lips.

Danny felt his heart skip a beat at that smile. He loved it when Connor smiled. For some reason, it would make Danny feel better no matter what the situation. He smiled back and nodded.

“Right, let’s go.”

Connor had wasted no time walking towards the old run down building. However, when he got to the door he hesitated going in. He didn’t want to find himself walking into an anomaly. He felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump and turn around.

Danny was there with a small smirk on his lips.

“You scared me mate.” Connor said, taking in a deep breathe before letting it out slowly.

Danny chuckled.

“It’s just an old building, nothing to be scared of.” Danny said squeezing Connor’s shoulder in a comforting way.

Connor had a sheepish smile as he looked at Danny.

“I know, but what if there’s an anomaly right behind this door? That means we’d be walking straight into one of those things.”

Danny thought about that for a moment.

“I think we should peek in.” Connor said before turning back towards the broken down door.

Abby had a bad feeling in her gut. She looked at Connor who was looking cautiously into the building through a small hole in the door. She didn’t blame him for being so cautious. They had never had two anomalies appear on the anomaly detector before; so it was better to take it more seriously.

Danny watched Connor peak through a crack. Danny chuckled lowly to himself before resting both of his hands on Connor’s shoulders and pulling him away from the door. However, doing so brought Connor’s back close to Danny’s chest. Connor flushed slightly as his hands were still up in the air in the same position they were resting on the door. He blinked up and found an amused grin on Danny’s lips.

“I’ll go in.” Danny said.

Connor nodded before putting his hands back down before Danny pushed Connor gently to the side. He didn’t know why, but he felt cold with out Danny’s hands on his shoulders and without the feel of Danny’s firm chest on his back. He felt his cheeks heat up and slapped both sides of his face with his hands. This had earned him a weird look from both Abby and Danny.

“Ah…” Connor said, his light blush from embarrassment this time; “I had a bug on me…”

“So you slap both of your cheeks?” Abby asked with a bewildered look.

Danny just chuckled and shook his head.

“Well, I felt it on both of them!” Connor said in his defense, but not a very strong one.

Danny shook his head with a smile and refocuses his attention to the door. It creaked opened as it exposed the dark interior of the building. Danny took a careful step forward and looked around. It was unusually dark, even with the windows that were in the room. It wasn’t completely dark, however, it was dark enough where you couldn’t see two feet in front of you. Danny shivered and felt as if he walked into a horror movie. However, he wouldn’t show that he was crept out. He took in a deep breath and took a few more steps into the building, hearing creaking underneath his feet as he walked.

Connor wished he had a flashlight as he followed close behind Danny. Abby looked around the room as she entered, not as close to Connor; who was almost touching Danny’s back. She squinted her eyes as she looked around. She thought she heard someone or something breathing heavily in one of the dark corners.

Connor didn’t know why, but he felt that there was something eerily about this place.

‘Well of course its eerie, it’s like one of those horror movies.’ Connor thought to himself.

He looked back down at his anomaly detector and was surprised to see that the anomaly had seemed to disappear.

“Ah…guys?”

Danny turned around and found Connor close to him. Danny couldn’t help but grin at the closeness. However, Connor had his back towards him, as he was also looking towards Abby. She had been the one who spoke. Danny continued to ponder on how close Connor was to him. If he wanted to, Danny could have wrapped his arms around Connor and could have pulled him to his chest as he had done outside. However, it was harder to make up an excuse for pulling Connor into his chest. As Danny tried to think of a good excuse, it was interrupted by a growl. Danny looked at Abby and Connor who were looking at a dark corner at the other end of the room. Danny turned his attention to it as well.

“Oh boy…” Danny said as he found something coming out of the corner.

There was some light seeping into the room, though it wasn’t much coming through the cracks as well as the dirty windows. A long narrow snout that had sharp teeth appeared from the corner first, a small horn poking up in the middle of the snout. It took a step forward, showing that it had a huge claw on its left front leg. The claw was at least 31cm long. It took another step forward showing it had the same claw on its other front leg.

Abby slowly backed away as the creature continued to come out of the corner. It’s tiny black eyes looking at Connor and Danny. It gave a snort as it turned its head looking at Abby who continued to walk slowly towards the front door. Danny and Connor followed suit trying not to make any sudden movements.

The creature roared, as it seemed to stand to his full height on all fours, having its head hit the ceiling. That was their cue to make a run for it. Just as the group exited the building, out came the creature. It was a huge creature with a strong and long tail; which tore the old building apart. There was nothing left as the tan-ish brown creature came out on all fours.

The swishing of the creature’s tail had caused some debris to knock Abby and Connor to the side. Danny had been far enough away where he was able to run to the van and jump in. However, the creature came straight at him and with its head proceeded to try to turn the van over. Danny buckled himself in the seat and held on to the side of the seat.

Abby and Connor had stood up at this point and stood there wide-eyed at the site. Connor looked around and found the other van that held the weapons and ran to it. Abby called after Connor, however, he ignored her as he reached into the van and found something that looked like it could work against the creature.

“Hey!” Connor yelled as he ran towards the railroad tracks. “Over here!”

The creature didn’t seem to listen to Connor as it continued to try to flip over the van that had Danny in it.

Connor took aim and shot at the creature. He missed and had the recoil knock him back on his bum. He winched as he had landed kind of hard. However, that shot had gotten the creatures attention.

“Get up Connor!” Abby screamed as she saw the creature turn to look at Connor.

It gave a roar as if it was angry.

“Oh crap.” Connor said before standing up.

He ran along the railroad track in the opposite direction the other group had gone. In his hurry, he left the gun behind, leaving him completely defenseless against the creature.

Abby ran over to Danny to check and see if he was all right. Danny unbuckled himself and stumbled out of the van. He had a cut on his forehead from the banging around. He looked in the direction that Connor had run. The creature was fast; Connor wouldn’t be able to out run that thing for long. Danny ran over to one of the other vans.

“Be careful.” Abby said looking ready to freak out.

She had always felt like that whenever Connor pulled stunts like this. Danny nodded at her.

“Don’t worry.” Danny gave her a reassuring smile before revving up the van and putting the petal to the metal.

Connor hadn’t gotten too far before the creature had him cornered. Who knew that the reason the railroad was closed, was because of a cliff? Apparently, there were tracks on the other side but there was no bridge connecting them. Connor turned around and looked up at the creature. He could see his life flash before his eyes. He couldn’t help but think about all his friends that he had lost. Cutter was the first to come to his mind before Tom. He also thought about the friends he still had. Abby was the first to appear in his mind’s eye, then Becker, followed by Lester. The last two he saw in his mind where both Stephen and Danny, at the same time. He felt as if this was the end. However, he felt it was the best way to end it all; saving his friends.

The creature swiped its front foot that had the claw, whacking Connor to the side and cutting into his stomach. Connor had screamed when that happened and hit his head against a near by tree. He lay on the ground, in a daze. The creature slowly walked up to the young man, who was slowly loosing consciousness. The creature sniffed the air. He could smell the blood that came from the stomach wound and the small bump on the back of Connor’s head.

It was at this moment, Danny pulled up with the van and rammed into the creature, causing it to flip over the van and land hard on its side. It screamed out in pain and moved its legs as if it was trying to express the pain with its kicking. Danny shook his head as he had hit his head again. However, that wasn’t the important thing. He looked at Connor who looked back at him with glazed over eyes.

“Danny…” Connor whispered before falling unconscious.

Danny stumbled out of the van, which was too wrecked to drive away. Danny knelt next to Connor and looked at the big claw mark that ripped Connor’s shirt. It was a long slash from his belly button and stopped right under his armpit. Danny winched at how bad the wound looked. He tore what was left of Connor’s shirt and began to use it as a bandage. Danny wrapped the torn shirt around the wound before pulling Connor into his lap. Danny sat there, holding the unconscious young man in his lap. Connor’s back resting against Danny’s chest. Danny knew the rest of the team would be coming soon.

However, he wished it were sooner, as the creature was slowly trying to get up. Danny held the unconscious young man closer to his body as he felt himself starting to clear from his fogginess. He had two concussions from what he could figure. He felt it to be a miracle that he wasn’t knocked out cold like Connor was at the moment. Although, he wished he was unconscious as the creature got back on all fours shaking its head as if to clear it. It turned around and roared as it stared angrily at Danny. Danny scooted backwards, but found himself backed up against a tree. He tightened his grip on Connor. He looked up into the creature’s might jaws.

A noise from behind the creature caught Danny’s attention. The creature had caught the noise as well. It turned its head around and found the other van driving up at an alarming rate. It skidded to a stop with the side of the van facing the creature. The creature roared at the van before turning back around to its ‘lunch’.

Stephen stepped out of the van and aimed at the creature. He fired hitting it on it’s back. The creature roared before turning around, looking a bit peeved. But who wouldn’t be peeved at being shot in the back? It turned around, swinging its tail as it did. Its tail hit the tree Danny and Connor were under. Danny hugged Connor closer to himself and covered the unconscious young man’s body with his own. The tree didn’t fall over, however many branches fell from the force; coming down onto Danny who was scratched up a bit. However, he protected Connor from having any more injuries.

Stephen began to slowly walk backwards, cocking his gun again.

“Come on, this way. That’s it.” Stephen said, as the creature continued towards him at a slow pace.

Stephen fired another tranquilizer into the creature’s chest. It roared again however, it continued to come closer. Stephen cursed under his breath as he found he had to reload. He dug into his pocket as he continued to back up; however, he didn’t realize it was towards the cliff. He stopped when his foot touched the edge. He turned and looked behind him and down.

“That’s a long way down.” He mumbled to himself.

Stephen reloaded the gun as the creature was crouched low as if it was ready to pounce on him. He cocked the gun and aimed; making sure to try for in-between it’s eyes. The creature roared before rushing towards him. Stephen held steady as he fired the shot. It flew through the air and hit it’s mark, right between the eyes. The creature roared and fell on the ground, skidding in the dirt from how fast it was running. It continued to skid, right towards Stephen. However, Stephen didn’t move as the unconscious creature continued to skid closer to him. Just as it looked the creatures body was about to slam into Stephen and take them both off the cliff; the creature’s body stopped just at Stephen’s feet.

Stephen let out a sigh. He really took a chance there. He wasn’t sure the creature’s body would stop in time. However, he knew what kind of creature it was and what time period it belonged to. It was called a Baryonyx, or also known as “Claws” for it’s big claws on its front feet. It lived in this region; in London, back 36 Billion years ago. He had run into one of them, although he didn’t have a gun. He was able to barely escape it thanks to another dinosaur that happened to come along and get its attention and interest. It wasn’t hard to catch a Baryonyx’s attention, however, you would have to be fast to get away once it’s attention was re-focused.

Stephen looked over to where Danny was, however, his eyes focused on Connor. He was a mess. Not like Danny wasn’t a mess himself, however, Stephen was more concern for Connor than the ex-cop. Although, he did have some concern for Danny. He did, after all go after Connor and saved his life. He almost died to save Connor’s life. Stephen found that noble. However, it didn’t mean he liked the way Danny was holding Connor.

Danny had thought his heart stopped when he saw the creature’s body skid straight at Stephen. It was like watching an accident happening and unable to stop it or look away. However, once Stephen was safe, he let out a breath. He was really worried, even if he didn’t like the guy. Stephen had come, guns a blazing and was pretty cool at how he took down the creature. However, that didn’t mean he fully liked the guy.

Danny then noticed Stephen was looking in his direction. He thought, for a moment, he was looking at him with those concern icy blue eyes of his. He didn’t know why his heart skipped a beat, although he figured it was because of Stephen’s eyes, they were cold as ice no matter what emotion they displayed.

However, he realized that Stephen was really looking at Connor. Danny looked down at the still unconscious young man in his arms and in his lap. He sighed, relieved that it didn’t look like Connor was dead, his chest was still moving up and down at a steady pace.

Danny looked back up and saw Stephen coming towards him. However, that wasn’t the reason Danny tightened his grip on Connor nor was it the reason he pulled his body close. It was Stephen’s eyes. His icy blue eyes stared straight into his own green-blue eyes. He could feel the jealousy and the possessiveness in those eyes. Danny’s own eyes widened at the realization that Stephen was in love with Connor. He hadn’t realized it until that moment. He had thought that he was just jealous at how close Stephen was to Connor. He discovered that internally, he must have realized Stephen’s interest in Connor and had hated Stephen for that reason without even knowing it. Stephen appeared to be in love with the very young man that Danny loved.

Danny narrowed his eyes as the man came towards him. He didn’t want to let Connor go; nor did he want to give him over to Stephen. He didn’t know Stephen that well; only what he heard about him through stories that Connor would tell. Danny looked up with a defiant look, as Stephen looked down with a threatening one.

It was here that Stephen realized Danny didn’t mean Abby when he gave that ‘challenge’. It was about Connor. Stephen couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it. From the moment Stephen had come back, Danny had been cold towards him. Sure, he was only back for one day, this being his first full day back; but still, and it made perfect sense. Stephen narrowed his eyes down at the injured ex-cop. It didn’t matter if Danny had feelings for Connor; Stephen had those feelings long before Danny knew the young man. So in Stephen’s eyes, that meant a lot more.

This was when the rest of the team came. They had taken so long since Stephen did take the van and drove off with out them. Once he heard that Connor had led the dinosaur away to save Danny’s life, and then Danny took the other van after Connor; well Stephen seemed to be possessed as he jumped into the remaining van and drove off in the direction Abby told them.

Becker looked over to the dinosaur and looked at Stephen. He was impressed. He also made a mental note to never piss off Stephen. He looked over to where Stephen was and found him looking down at Danny. Danny was badly beaten up and was holding an even worse looking Connor. Becker’s eyes widen at how badly Connor looked. However, what made them widen even more was the fact he saw the looks that passed between the two men. It looked like they were having a mental battle and by how Danny was holding Connor; the battle was over the young man.

Abby sighed in relief however, she gasped after seeing how badly beaten up Danny looked as well as Connor. Sarah’s eyes were wide, as she looked horrified at Danny. She couldn’t believe how hurt he looked. He was a bloody mess, literally and figuratively speaking.

Becker calmly walked over to the two men. Sarah and Abby followed behind the bodyguard worry and concern on their faces for their friends. Danny and Stephen didn’t seem to notice the group approach until Becker cleared his throat. Danny turned his glare to Becker, who looked calmly down at the injured man. Stephen glanced over at Becker before finding Abby’s worry filled eyes as they looked at Connor. He calmed down at bit. Abby was like a little sister to him. He didn’t want to scare her with any nasty look he wore when he was looking at Danny.

“Sarah will look at your injuries Danny; I’ll take Connor and check him out.” Becker said his face not letting any emotion.

Danny was taken aback. He narrowed his eyes at Becker. He didn’t need another guy to hold Connor. He knew what Stephen’s feelings for the young man were; however, Becker was a hard book to read. He never showed that he loved Connor. However, he didn’t show that he didn’t care for him either. He was about to turn down Becker when Sarah knelt next to him with a look that made Danny feel he couldn’t say no to.

She had the same look that Connor would wear. However, to Danny, Connor’s was much more cute and harder to say no to.

“You’re hurt badly, let me look after you.” Sarah said her eyes filled with concern.

“Connor doesn’t look so well,” Abby said never letting her eyes leave Connor’s face, which looked eerily calm. “I should probably give him a look over…”

“It’s fine.” Becker said, bending down and easily taking Connor out of Danny’s hands.

Danny didn’t know how Becker was able to take the young man so easily away from him. It was then he realized how hurt he really was and nodded at Sarah. She gave a sigh of relief as she began to look over him and see which injury needed to be tended to first. She was the only one out of the group who thought to bring the First Aid Kit before leaving the train station. She took it out and began to ‘doctor’ up Danny.

Becker pulled the unconscious boy to his chest. He had Connor’s head resting against his shoulder, while his arm wrapped under Connor’s knees and his other arm wrapped around Connor’s shoulders. Unconsciously, Connor shifted in Becker’s arms and turned towards Becker’s chest, snuggling against it as he rested his hand flat on Becker’s chest.

Becker couldn’t help but chuckle and smile fondly down at the sleeping man in his arms. Abby smiled, wiping away a few tears that happened to appear when she saw Connor up close.

“And he says he’s not a cuddler.” She says with a small smile.

Danny looked up at Connor and felt his heart pang with pain. He wished Connor had snuggled up to him when he was holding Connor. Stephen looked at Becker with an un-readable look.

“Abby, stay with Sarah and help her fix up Danny.” Becker said before turning around and walking back to where the van was parked, courtesy of Stephen.

“I need to fix Connor up with the other first aid kit.” Becker finished as he walked away, not turning around.

Abby smiled after Becker. He was really a nice guy, even if he was mostly quiet. She looked down at Danny, who looked ready to pass out any minute. She knelt down on the other side of Danny and helped Sarah look over his injured body. Stephen looked down at Danny for a moment before turning and looking at Becker’s retreating form. He decided to go with Becker and make sure Connor wasn’t too badly hurt.

Becker somehow opened the back of the van without having to let go of Connor. Becker turned around and sat in the back seat. He lay Connor down gently next to him. He took out the spare First Aid Kit from a hidden compartment located in the back. He opened it and began to remove the ‘bandage’ that Danny had made. He winced at the long wound.

“That’s going to scar.” Stephen commented as he looked into the van.

Becker didn’t look at the man as he took out some antiseptic and began to clean the wound. Connor moaned in pain, not waking up but seeming to feel the pain even while he was sleeping. Becker stopped for a second before going again, this time gentle as possible.

“Someone should take care of that thing.” Becker said, not looking at Stephen.

Stephen knew what Becker was talking about. He sighed and pulled out a cell phone that he got before they all left the ARC. He called for a team to ‘clean up’ as well as a few more vans. Becker could hear the frustration in Lester’s voice as he agreed to send the things Stephen asked for. He snickered, as he could imagine their boss pinching the bridge of his nose and clenching his eyes as if his head was about to explode.

Once Stephen was done with the phone call, Becker was done with bandaging up all of the wounds. He had a small concussion on the back of his head, in the same spot as the one he had gotten on the last anomaly mission. He also had a bruise on the side of his face, although it wasn’t too bad. Other then the big wound across his chest; there were no major injures to Connor’s body. Stephen looked at Connor. He couldn’t believe the injuries that the young man had since he was gone. There were a few old looking scars on his forehead, both sides. There was a teeth mark looking scar on his upper arm. Stephen leaned against the open doors of the van.

Becker combed his hand through Connor’s sweat and a bit bloody black hair. He stared down at Connor’s oddly calm face. It seemed that Connor only looked peaceful when he wasn’t awake, or it seemed to Becker. He could feel Stephen’s eyes on him, as if he was analyzing him and his feelings towards Connor.

“He’s like a little brother to me. A bit annoying at times, but…” Becker said pausing to remove his hand from Connor’s hair and looked at Stephen, “I love him all the same.”

Stephen looked at Becker for a few moments. Becker’s eyes were stern. The look seemed to be asking Stephen what his intensions were towards Connor. Stephen stayed silent for a few moments before turning back towards Connor.

“I love him too. However, it’s not a brotherly love. I’ve felt like this towards Connor before I was thought dead.” Stephen said, keeping his eyes firmly on Connor’s calm face.

Becker studied Stephen’s face for a few moments, as if he was looking to see if there was any deception in his face or words. Satisfied, Becker looked back to Connor and began to run his fingers through Connor’s hair again.

“He’s been through a lot. He’s felt pain that you couldn’t even imagine. He acts like nothings wrong but it’s just an act. He hides his own emotions well, even if it appears he can’t bottle them. He hides the ones that he doesn’t want to show. Those are the ones that are hurting him inside and out.” Becker said.

He wasn’t much of a talker. This was the most he had said to anyone other than Connor. Connor had got him out of his shell. He felt safe with Connor. He felt he could tell the young man anything and wouldn’t be judged or made fun of. Connor was his first real friend. He was the first one to make him feel welcome to working at the ARC. If Becker weren’t straight, he would have gone after Connor the instant he made eye contact with the young man. However, he didn’t nor couldn’t feel anything more than love in the brotherly way for Connor. That’s how Becker wanted it to be anyway and was happy with it.

Stephen glanced at Becker before looking back at Connor’s face.

“I know that.”

This statement had thrown Becker off. He looked over at Stephen who looked coldly into Becker’s eyes.

“I know more then you know. I know how much pain Connor has gone through. I saw him watching his best friend die in his arms. I saw the fear in his eyes when he was spit out from that worm creature. I saw the pain in his eyes from just mentioning Nick’s name.” Stephen said, his own eyes saddening at the thought of Nick.

He turned his focus towards Connor, his face softening as well as his tone.

“I know he hides behind a mask. I know he pretends to be happy. He’s always been like that it seems. I don’t know. I think his entire life must have been full of pain. He must have adapted to smiling through the pain. I think it’s the only way he knows and if he didn’t…he wouldn’t be able to live on.”

Becker stared with an unreadable stare at Stephen before snorting with a small smile. He didn’t say a thing before turning is attention back to Connor stroking his fingers through Connor’s hair.

(An Hour Later Still At the Anomaly Site)

It was an hour before ‘back up’ arrived. They had put the unconscious dinosaur back into the anomaly and contained it until it disappeared. Danny was still under the tree, getting checked out by a real doctor that the ARC had sent out. They were going to check on Connor after Danny. Danny seemed to be feeling better, he kept insisting he was; however, he wasn’t able to get up from under the tree yet. This had worried Sarah and Abby, so they insisted that the doctor check to make sure he hadn’t hurt his spinal cord.

Connor was sleeping soundly during the entire commotion outside the van. Becker had moved the young man into resting his head in his lap as his hand combed through his hair. Stephen was sitting on the end of the van, Connor’s feet next to him. The other vans were brought out. The doctor finished examining Danny and went to the van to check on Connor. He gave him a once over and found he was well taken care of. It was after all this that Connor finally awoke.

He groaned as he felt every single bone in his entire body ache. He winched with his eyes still closed before they slowly blinked open. He stared up into happy hazel eyes. Connor blinked a few more times before realizing it was Becker. He could feel the hand that was still combing through his hair. Connor had a tint of red to his cheeks not expecting Becker to be this affectionate. He knew that Becker was a hugger, but this was a bit more than a hug.

“How are you feeling?” Becker asked, catching Stephen’s attention.

Stephen turned around and was relieved to see Connor finally awake.

“I feel like I was hit by a double-decker bus.” Connor groaned as he slowly sat up.

Becker put a firm yet gentle hand on Connor’s shoulder; avoiding the wound on his chest.

“Relax. You’re beat up pretty badly. You need to rest.” Stephen said.

Connor tilted his head up and smiled at seeing Stephen.

“You were out for a while.” Stephen added, smiling back.

“Really? I feel like I didn’t sleep long…wait? Where’s Danny?” Connor asked, his eyes widening.

The last thing he remembered was seeing Danny in the van looking over at him. However, he wasn’t sure if that was dream or not. Although, Connor was in the back of one of the vans with Stephen and Becker that being an obvious sign that that creature hadn’t eaten him.

“He’s fine.” Stephen answered, a bit too harshly.

Connor didn’t notice the tone of Stephen’s voice, as he was still foggy from sleeping as long as he had.

“Where is he?” Connor asked.

“He’s fine, the girls are with him.” Stephen answered again with the cold tone.

Stephen could feel himself feel a bit jealous at how Connor was asking about Danny. He wished Connor would ask about how he was; however, Connor was unconscious when he had gotten there. So of course, Connor wouldn’t have remembered or known it was Stephen who had saved both Danny and Connor’s life.

“I have to see if it’s okay.” Connor said starting to get up again.

However it wasn’t Becker this time that pushed him back down, but the pain in his chest. He cried out and covered his chest with his hand.

“Relax.” Becker said as his eyes filled with worry as they looked over the bandage that he had made.

“I…I got to check on Danny. He…he came to help me…” Connor started his eyes squinting in pain.

“He wasn’t the only one.” Stephen mumbled looking out of the van and towards the spot Danny was still at; however he was now able to stand, and walking towards the van.

“Huh?” Connor said not understanding what Stephen meant by that comment.

“Danny is coming over, so you can see how he is yourself.” Stephen said a bit coldly as he stood up and moved to the side.

Danny gave the man a glare as he walked towards the entrance of the van. He looked in and winched at seeing the white bandage that was wrapped around Connor’s chest and some of his stomach. He felt guilty. Connor had made that creature chase after him because he, Danny; was an idiot and had dived into the van. He hadn’t even started it and didn’t even try to drive away. He didn’t even use himself as a decoy. It was Connor who played the hero and saved him. Sure, Danny did come and knock the creature off its feet before it had a chance to eat Connor. However, Connor wouldn’t have been hurt if Danny used the van as a decoy.

“Are you hurt?” Connor asked, winching as he sat up.

However, Connor made himself deal with the pain. Becker didn’t show any emotion as he watched Connor shift away from him and towards the back of the van. However, inside he hurt for Connor. He knew Connor was in a lot of pain and he didn’t let it show as to not worry Danny. He envied Connor’s will power but at the same time he pitied him for making himself deal with the pain.

“I should be asking you that.” Danny said, shaking his head as he smiled.

It always amazed him that no matter how hurt Connor was, he worried about everyone else.

“I’m fine, just a scratch.” Connor laughed, although he couldn’t hide the wince in his face.

He gave Danny a sheepish smile, trying to hide the hurt. However, Danny had caught the pain even if it was for a split second.

“I think we should go home now. You need to rest.” Stephen suggested.

Connor looked ready to complain against that, however Danny beat him to the punch.

“I think you should too. You were hurt pretty bad when I reached you…I can take you home if you want?” Danny offered.

Abby had an emergency and had already run off home. Apparently her brother called her and asked her if it was okay for him to feed Rex dog food. Abby had checked on Connor before leaving and was reassured by Stephen that Connor was fine and that she should go home before her brother killed the lizard.

Sarah went back to the ARC. Danny told her that he was fine and that it would be a great help if she could do the paper work he needed done for this anomaly. She agreed to do it if he would buy her lunch sometime. He felt that was fair enough and agreed.

So it was a nice offer by Danny.

“I think I can take him home,” Stephen said before Connor could even answer the question. “We do live at the same flat. Besides, don’t you need rest too?” Stephen said with a smirk.

He had Danny there.

“Thanks anyway, Danny, but Stephen’s right. You need rest just as bad as I do.” Connor said, giving Danny an appreciative smile.

Danny wanted to melt at that smile. He glanced at Stephen with a triumphant look. Stephen snorted and rolled his eyes. He didn’t consider a smile from Connor to mean anything. Danny didn’t like the response he received from Stephen. Stephen looked at Becker, who figured they were going to use that van. He gave Connor one last look over before nodding at him. Connor looked up at Becker and smiled.

“Thanks Beck. For taking care of me and all that.” Connor said with a smile.

Becker smiled back and gave him a nod. He came out of the back of the van. He gave both Danny and Stephen a warning glare. It was obvious he was warning them to ‘behave’ while in front of Connor. The two men seemed to get the message, even though they both disliked it.

Stephen helped Connor out of the back of the van and helped him walk to the passenger side. He took the driver seat and they drove off. Danny looked after the van with a grim look on his face. He was now battling for Connor’s affection. It was going to be a challenge he knew that, however, he was up to a challenge especially for something he wanted. He loved Connor and he would battle against Stephen for him.

Becker offered to drive Danny home. Danny declined and took one of the vans that were left behind. Becker sighed. He knew that Connor would need some help especially with those two secretly battling for his attention and his love. Becker promised himself that he would be the ‘ref’ for this battle. He wouldn’t let the two mens battle hurt Connor emotionally, even if they wouldn’t mean to do it on purpose. He would prevent it.

(Back At Lester’s Flat)

Connor had passed out on the way back. It was an hour and thirty-five minute drive from the anomaly site and Connor was only awake for the first fifteen minutes. That didn’t bother Stephen. He enjoyed listening to the sleep mumblings that came from Connor. He snickered when Connor mumbled something about going to work in his undergarments.

Lester was staying late at work, cleaning up the ‘mess’ that his team had left behind. He had called Stephen to let him know that. Although, Lester in his own settle way; asked about Connor’s health. It made Stephen smile that Lester wasn’t as cold hearted as he acted in work. He could even hear the relief in his voice when he told Stephen to make sure ‘there are no bloody stains on my floors’.

Once he opened the door, Stephen carried the cuddling form to the bedroom. He wasn’t going to put the injured young man on the couch. He pushed opened the door with his foot and stepped in. Nancy and Sid were awake and seemed to be hyper. However, their happy cries turned to what sounded like worry. It seemed that they were able to sense something wrong with their ‘daddy’. Stephen winched at the sounds that they were producing. He carefully placed Connor on the bed. He let out a sigh before turning to the cage and trying to calm the two down.

“It’s ok. Connor will be all right. He just needs to sleep. So be quiet, so he can rest.” Stephen said in a tired voice.

Stephen couldn’t believe that he was talking to these creatures. However, to his amazement, they seemed to have understood what he had said, and became quiet. Stephen stared at the two creatures that stared back at him. He smiled and chuckled lowly.

‘I should tell Connor this trick so we can get some sleep.’ Stephen thought.

Stephen stood up and went back to cover Connor with the sheets. He smiled fondly down at Connor. Connor was laying with one arm over his head and the other resting over his bandage. His head was tilted up and to the side as his lips were partially opened. A few strands of hair fell over Connor’s face. Stephen couldn’t help but brush the strain away with his hand. However, his hand rested on Connor’s forehead, before slowly cresting the side of his face. He cupped his hand to spoon against Connor’s cheek. Subconsciously, Connor leaned into the warmth of Stephen’s hand.

Stephen didn’t seem to be able to control his hand, as it moved to Connor’s chin, tilting it up slightly and having a better view of Connor’s lips as they parted a bit more. Stephen’s thumb gently playing with Connor’s bottom lip. Stephen could feel himself heat up as Connor’s mouth parted a bit more, showing his tongue not too far away from his bottom lip.

Stephen licked his dry lips as he imaged himself pulling Connor’s lips to his own and having his tongue explore Connor’s mouth. Stephen felt himself begun to heat up as he sat down next to Connor on the bed, his right leg crossed on the bed while he used his left leg to keep his balance. He rested his other hand against the side of Connor’s face, stroking it. Stephen leaned his face close, mere inches from Connor’s delectable lips. Oh how Stephen wanted to taste Connor. His thumb pulled away from Connor’s bottom lip and Stephen was holding Connor’s chin.

Connor shifted in his sleep. Stephen removed the hand that was under Connor’s chin; his other hand frozen to Connor’s cheek. Connor mumbled a bit before he moved his hand to rest with his other on his stomach. He turned slightly on his side, his body tilted towards Stephen’s body. Stephen’s heart quickened, as the shifting had caused the bed to dip and had caused Connor’s thigh to rest against Stephen’s own thigh. Stephen licked his lips as they became dry again. He felt himself looking at those half parted lips as he leaned in close to Connor’s sleeping face.

Stephen’s lips were close enough to lightly brush over Connor’s lips. He was so close to those lips, so close to tasting the one he had dreamed of tasting. He was so close yet he just couldn’t do it. He pulled back, removing his hand from Connor’s cheek as he did. Connor’s lips released what seemed to be a whimper. Stephen blinked down at the slumbering young man. Stephen glanced at the bandage, thinking that maybe he had accidentally touched the injury. However, he hadn’t done such a thing. He looked back at Connor with a thoughtful look before shrugging.

‘I must be hearing things.’ He thought to himself.

Stephen let out a sigh, leaning back and running his hand through his hair. He was frustrated with himself, how he could let himself loose control as he almost had. He didn’t want to kiss Connor like that. He wanted to tell the young man how he felt before pulling him into his strong arms and giving Connor a kiss that would leave him breathless. He glanced back down at Connor, finding his features relaxed and calming. Stephen’s eyes moved back to looking at Connor’s lips.

Images of Stephen lying on top of Connor and nibbling on those lips popped into the man’s mind. He closed his eyes trying to clear his head. However, Connor’s hand shifted and landed right on Stephen’s inner thigh. Stephen’s eyes opened and he looked at Connor; afraid the young man was awake. He was happy to find those beautiful chocolate brown eyes closed. However, he looked down at the hand that was resting ‘innocently’ on his thigh. He could feel his skin heating up just by Connor’s hand resting there.

Stephen stood up and had Connor’s hand fall limp onto the bed. He felt his jeans seemed to grow tighter. He cursed lowly as he couldn’t seem to control his hormones. Stephen decided it would be best to take a shower, a long COLD shower. He took one last look at Connor, picking up the blanket that was located at the foot of the bed and covered him. He smiled down at Connor once more before heading off to cool himself down.

A half an hour later, Connor began to wake up. His head was a bit foggy as he blinked his eyes opened.

“Where am I?” he mumbled as he began to sit up.

He winced at the pain that came from his stomach. It took the young man a few minutes to remember what had happened and recognize that he was back at Lester’s flat. He gave a sigh of relief. He placed his right hand over the bandage that covered most of his chest and stomach. He knew that the wound was deep enough to become a scar.

‘At least I can make up a cool story of how I got it.’ Connor thought, having his mother in mind if he visited at Christmas and if she would happen to see his chest.

Connor realized something was wrong. He sat there pondering what it could be. There was something missing. He thought about it for another few minutes before realizing that he didn’t know where Stephen was. However, he also found he had to use the toilet. He yawned and stretched a bit, though not too much considering his injury. He got up and headed towards the bathroom.

Connor walked towards the closed bathroom door wearing only his jeans; the only article of clothing not damaged by the events of the day. As his hand reached for the doorknob, it began to turn on its own. Connor stopped, blinking at the doorknob with his hand frozen in position. Steam began to pour out as the door opened. Connor stood there, wide eyed at seeing Stephen behind the door, dripping wet. There was a towel in his hair and he froze in mid drying motion. The two men blinked at each other for a few moments. Connor’s hand was still in mid air and if he had taken another step forward; his hand would have rested just above Stephen’s navel.

Connor blinked a few more times before glancing downward. His face turned beet red at the realization that Stephen hadn’t wrapped a towel around his lower region and was standing there, in his full and big glory.

“I-I-I’m sooo s-sorry!” Connor said turning around, his face growing even redder if it was even possible.

However, before Stephen could respond, Connor rushed back towards his own room. Stephen stood there blinking after the young man. After his shock at the entire scene subsided, a smirk crossed his lips. He didn’t mind that Connor had ‘checked him out’. He also found it quite cute at how Connor reacted to the entire situation. However, it had caused him to need to take another cold shower. He sighed and went back into the shower and proceeded to take a quick shower. He decided that after he was finished he needed to talk to Connor.

(End of Chapter Two)

I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. It ended a different way then I planed. However, I can’t control my muses. Whatever they want to write I write. Also I figured I would leave you all in a short of evil cliff hanger. However, do not fret. I have already started working on the next chapter and if you all remember, I have this story outlined. Sooo, yeah. I hope you enjoyed this and please review. Thanks.

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