Fic: Back Where We Belong

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Back Where We Belong
Chapters: 1/1
Author: csi_sanders1129
Genre: Romance. Comfort.
Ratings: T
Word Count: 1,200
Pairings/Characters: Connor Temple/Hilary Becker, mentions of ARC team members dead and alive.
Synopsis: Connor missed a lot of things during his time spent in the Cretaceous. Like beds. And Coffee. And Becker.
Comments: Written in response to cottoncandy_bingo prompt: bed. Takes place during 401, but ignores the Abby stuff. Characters not mine, please enjoy! Comments are awesome.

Sleeping on a bed again after spending a year in the Cretaceous period is kind of like the best feeling in the world, Connor thinks, as he sprawls across as much of the sizable bed as he possibly can. It's like a cloud. His own personal cloud. Or floating in calm water. Clean, cool sheets move softly against the bare back, and his hair (still lingeringly damp from a long, hot shower (also an awesome feeling since the Cretaceous was decidedly lacking in anything more than rain or waters infested with sharp-toothed creatures intent on eating those who dare intrude)) is spread out messily beneath his head.

"This is amazing," he mumbles, rolling onto his stomach and just rubbing himself all over the sheets. "I missed so many things while I was gone, but I clearly underestimated where beds were on that list."

The bed dips to Connor's right, with the solid weight of another person joining him.

It takes effort not to jump in surprise (it's going to take effort for a while, with how vigilant they had to be in the age of the dinosaurs), but he finds himself relaxing into the warm hand that settles on his back, the lips that press lightly against the back of his neck.

"And was I on that list?"

"Mm. Of course," Connor replies, tilting his head to the side so that he can claim a kiss. "You were right under a decent cappuccino and an internet connection."

Becker laughs at him and curls up against his side, one arm casually tossed over Connor's back, his hands running over newly defined muscles and pointier bones (because the Cretaceous demands an impressive level of physical ability to survive) with soft touches, like he still can't believe Connor's back. "I'm okay with that."

They lapse into comfortable silence (eerie as that is for Connor, silence typically means something big and scary is coming, but not now, he reminds himself) as the January sun slowly sets. Becker pulls the blankets up around them and pulls Connor closer.

"So," Connor mumbles out. "Almost a whole year."

"A very, very long year for all of us, yes."

"Sometimes I didn't think we were gonna make it back. There were some close calls. Especially at the beginning when we really didn't know what we were doing," Connor admits, and even though he talked about all of this was he was debriefed, it wasn't like this - Becker hadn't been there. "And Abby... she didn't like talking about home, so it was just..." The bed creaks as Connor rolls to his side, so he can face Becker. "And you and I'd only been together for a little while and..."

"And I never would've stopped looking for you." There's another kiss, this one long and drawn out. "I was afraid you were dead, both you and Abby. Everyone else thought you were, I know. Lester didn't want to, but he did. And the ARC had already lost so many people."

He doesn't have to tell Connor that. He was there for all of them. First it had been one of Connor's best friends - Tom, and then they'd lost Stephen. Becker was there when they lost Nick and now Sarah and Danny are gone, too, not to mention all the civilians they've lost in dealing with the anomalies. He and Abby are the only members of the original team left now. And now there are all these new people - Matt and Jess and the ever mysterious Philip Burton - running around like they own the ARC, but time has gone on in the year since he and Abby have been missing, so he supposes they kind of do now.

"I know," is all Connor can say to that.

"I should have been better," Becker says, dropping his hand from where it's been dragging through Connor's long hair. "We knew how crazy Helen was... we should've, I should've..."

Connor catches his hand and squeezes lightly, relishing in all of these touches after so much time spent without. "We've known how crazy she was since she got Stephen killed. But I don't think any of us were expecting her to think that humans were so bad that wiping out the entire evolutionary process from the start seemed like a viable option. Danny stopped her. He had to have stopped her or else none of us would be here." A sigh, and a sad look exchanged for their lost friend, and then Connor's jabbing his finger at Becker's chest, "and you. You were backing up Sarah when we went through the anomaly. You couldn't protect all of us at once."

"But I could've been protecting you," Becker answers, because he's always strived to do that, it seems. Even before they were together. "If I'd gone through with you and Abby and Danny, then maybe..."

"Then maybe all of us would've been trapped."

"We would've had guns."

"Guns aren't tremendously helpful when faced with hordes of raptors. Especially when you have no way of replenishing your ammo supply, Action Man," Connor says, teasing with his old nickname for Becker. But telling Becker a problem isn't solvable with guns is kind of an impossible thought for him to grasp. As much as he's accepted the usual 'don't kill the creatures' philosophy of the ARC members, he still always carried back-up pieces loaded with actual heavy-fire bullets along with the high sedative rounds they used to take down anomaly creatures. He was always prepared. But, Connor and Abby had taken a different approach in the Cretaceous, since they lacked the firepower either way. "We found running and hiding usually worked better. Generally. As a rule."

"No more of that, now," Becker says quietly and apparently, that's enough talking for now because it's all he can do to roll them both, letting himself hover over Connor's form, just the same as he remembers it from before. "Just this. Us. Okay?"

Connor nods and lets his hands slide Becker's t-shirt out of the way, hands on scarred skin for the first time since he's been back, exploring everything he'd missed. "Okay." He agrees, the words lost in a rough, desperate kiss.

Becker's hands push at the sweatpants Connor's wearing, impatient and needy for now, as he scrambles to get them out of his way. Connor bucks into his touch when Becker's hands are finally where he wants them and admittedly, it doesn't last long - not for either of them - but it's been so long that they're not surprised.

"I love you," Becker says, as he presses kisses all down Connor's neck, rough stubble scratching against his skin. "I didn't say it before. But I am now. And you don't have to-"

But Connor's hands attack Becker's head, pulling him down for another passionate kiss and then it's, "yes, I do. I totally do. I love you, too."

And pretty soon, Connor and Abby will be back at work at the ARC. There will be more dinosaurs and future predators and there'll be close calls and near misses, but it won't matter in the end. Because Connor's back and Becker's got him and that's more than enough.