Coming Full Circle {4/8}

[shadowcat]

Title: Coming Full Circle {4/8}
Author: enochiansigils and not_from_stars
Artist: azarsuerte
Fandom: Primeval
Pairing/Characters (if no pairing): Kahlil Pierce/Niki Becker
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Completely AU and makes mention of things that happened in the past for Niki's family. Some events made up or embellished for explanations of attitudes.
Word Count: 26,403
Summary: Being in love with the daughter of Captain Becker, Abby Maitland and Connor Temple isn't easy. It's even harder when you're the exact image of your uncle -- a man who hurt them more than anyone else ever has. However, Kahlil Pierce hasn't let that deter him -- especially when he knows that Niki Becker loves him just as much. When Niki doesn't return with the rest of her team after an excursion through an anomaly, Kahlil doesn't stop to think before he goes in to look for her. Finding his injured girlfriend was the easy part. Trapped on the wrong side of anomaly with no way to get home, Kahlil has to use all of his skills to keep Niki safe while at the same time having faith that her family will find a way to bring them home.
Notes: Written for oc_bigbang 2011. We do not own Primeval or the concepts, but Kahlil and Niki are all ours.






Becker had gotten Connor to calm down and at least attempt resting, but no such luck with Abby. Not that he was surprised by it -- and truth be told, he was expecting Connor's attempt to be more full of tossing and turning than actual rest. He was pretty sure the other man had agreed only to placate him.

He found Abby pacing the halls -- because of course they hadn't left the ARC, probably wouldn't until they knew something more.

"Abby my girl," he said softly. He hated seeing the pain on her face and in her movements, hated knowing that there was nothing he could do to help.

Abby lifted her head and it took her a second to register that it was Becker speaking to her. She stopped walking, waiting for him to reach her. She hadn't been able to rest since Niki had failed to come home. She knew that neither of her husbands had rested, either, and she wondered if they were having as many problems with their minds racing as she had.

"Conn's crashed... I'm not sure where he went and tucked himself away at, actually, I just made him promise to go take a nap. Probably on a bench in the locker room or something." Becker reached Abby and pulled her into his arms.

Abby nodded slowly, letting him pull her against him. She leaned into his body, trying to feel the comfort that she usually felt when he or Connor held her. "It's like a nightmare I can't wake up from."

He resisted the urge to cling to her simply because he knew she needed him to be the strong one. "We'll get her back, Abby. I promise you, we'll get her back."

"It's like when Connor and I were gone, only worse."

"They won't be gone as long as you were, Abby," Becker said softly. "I won't let it happen. You're not going to suffer like that. I won't let you and Connor end up suffering like that. I couldn't help you then, but by God I can now."

Someone still had issues even after a little over two decades.

She tightened her arms around him. "I'm scared, Hilary. I don't let Connor see it because I don't want him to tear himself apart worrying. I try to keep you from seeing it, too, but I don't know if I can do it any longer."

"Don't hide it from me," he whispered, not quite begging. "Don't shut me out like that, love. I can't help you if you don't let me in."

"I'm not trying to shut you out," she assured him. "I just know that you are every bit as worried as I am."

"Worrying about you is easier than worrying about myself, though," he told her. "I don't know how to fix my own pain, but I can damn well try to fix yours."

"We can't fix it until we get her back," Abby said softly. "You won't feel better until we do."

"I'm not worried about my pain," Becker said. "I'm worried about yours and Connor's. We have to get her back for him. He'll spend the rest of his life hating himself otherwise."

"But he didn't do anything wrong."

"They fought before she left," Becker said. "They fought and he walked away from her. To him, that's enough."

Abby shook her head and then sighed softly. "This is all so messed up, love."

"Yeah," Becker agreed. "It is."

"I just want her home," she whispered. "I'd trade places with her if I could."

"No!" There was no mistaking the stark panic in his voice or the wild look in his eyes. "I couldn't lose you like that again. I couldn't."

She reached up to cradle his face between her hands. "Breathe, love. Breathe. I'm not going anywhere. You've got me and that's forever."

"Don't scare me like that." His voice was quiet. "I need you too much."

"Mothers say things like that all of the time," she said softly.

"Doesn't mean it scares me any less."

"The idea of losing you scares me, too. You and Connor... I couldn't handle being here without you."

"Thankfully, you'll never have to." He pulled back, just enough to tip her head up and kiss her lightly. "And we'll get our daughter back, love. I promise."

She kissed him back and then lay her head back against his chest. "She has to be all right. She just has to be."

"Of course she's all right. She's with a man who'd lay down his life for her." He still didn't entirely like Kahlil, but he could separate that from everything else. The fact that Kahlil had taken off after Niki without a thought had done a good bit to raise him in Becker's estimation.

"I don't want him to have to. It would destroy something within her, I think."

"It would," Becker agreed. "But right now, the knowledge that he would if he had to is the only thing keeping me from breaking down."

Abby nodded. "I know. The fact that he went after her means that she has a better chance of coming home alive."

"We just have to believe in that."

Abby wanted to believe, but it was just so hard when one of her girls was trapped a long way away from home.



Niki had managed to stay awake and let Kahlil sleep for quite a long time. When the sky turned dark, she moved only slightly to make sure he was warm enough. When the sky started turning light again, she started keeping a close eye on him because she knew he would start waking up soon.

Usually.

And this time was no exception. Kahlil opened his eyes slowly, groggily. "Jesus, how long was I out?" He could tell instantly it'd been longer than the two or so hours he'd been planning on.

"Overnight," she answered him immediately. "You needed the rest."

"So did you!" he protested. "You're the one who's injured." He couldn't deny that he felt better, though.

"You can't take care of me like you want to unless you get the rest you needed."

Kahlil sighed. She was right, he knew. "Did you at least get a little more rest or were you awake the entire time?"

"I was your watcher," Niki said quietly. "I was supposed to stay awake."

"You must be feeling like shit right about now, then," Kahlil guessed. "Tell me you at least drank a little more of the water while I was out."

"I did drink a little of the water," she assured him.

"Good." He managed a faint smile as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. "How're you feeling? Aside from tired, that is. Head still bothering you?"

"Yeah it is. Vision got a little blurry but it could be that I'm tired."

"I want you to get some more rest. If it's still blurry after you get some sleep, then we'll worry."

"I can't yet," she said softly. "You wanted to go get more water. I'm not going to fall asleep while you're out there."

"But as soon as I'm back, it's more sleep for you," Kahlil said, reaching for the canteen and the empty one. "Deal?"

She gave him a wan smile. "Deal."

"Until I get back, you make yourself as comfortable as you can in here," he instructed as he got to his feet.

She nodded slowly. "All right. I'm going to move a bit back from the opening. No need to make it too easy for a predator to find me."

"Of course not," he said. "Want me to help you move or are you good on your own?"

She took a breath and tried to stand on her own and winced. "I'd appreciate the help." That was a good indication of how she was feeling.

Kahlil set the canteens aside and moved to help Niki move. "Okay, here we go... not too fast..."

She leaned against him, trying to keep most of her weight on her non-injured leg. "This is not something I ever wanted to have happen -- get wounded on the job."

"Wounded in the line of duty sucks," he agreed. "It sucks a lot."

"I'm only sorry that you got stuck here, too."

"I'm not," he said simply. "If I wasn't here, God only knows what would've happened to you."

"I love you so much."

"We make it home, I think we should move in together." Yes, Kahlil. Startling your shaky and physically unstable girlfriend was such a good idea.

She blinked at him and then blinked again. "Move in together?" Her voice was a squeak. "Are you teasing me?"

"Would I really tease you about something like that?"

"I... I'm not sure right now, love?" She said honestly. "Everything is so twisted up in my head right now." She looked into his eyes. "Do you really want me to?"

Kahlil stiffened. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't," he said, his voice clipped.

Some kind of emotion flared in Niki's eyes at the tone of his voice and she stopped moving, pulling away from him and swallowing. "I think this is far enough from the mouth of the cave," she said, not looking at him as she leaned against the wall of the cave.

Kahlil was smart enough to know when he'd said something wrong. "I'm sorry," he said awkwardly. "I love you, Nik. Of course I want you to move in with me. But if you don't want to, I'll understand."

"My parents didn't get together until Mom and Dad -- Connor -- came back from being stuck on the other side of an anomaly. Mom and Connor didn't admit they loved each other until they were lost like that." Niki said quietly, not looking at him. Hopefully he would be quick enough to pick up on the fact that she thought he was only asking because of her being injured and them being stuck here.

And he was.

"But that's not our situation, love. It's a little too close for comfort, but it's not us. I knew well before we got stuck here that I love you and I knew well before we got stuck here that I want to be with you. I thought it'd give you something happy to worry about for the time being until I get back." Well, at least he was trying to explain himself.

"You sounded mad at me," she said quietly. "You know how much I love you. I just wasn't sure you wanted to deal with the reactions of our families for making that kind of commitment."

"It hurt that you actually had to ask if I was teasing you," he admitted, not looking away. "I know I picked a poor time to bring the subject up to begin with, but... it hurt and I lashed out and I'm sorry."

She swallowed and looked at him. "I asked because right now, love, I'm not sure what things I'm hearing and what I'm not." There. She confessed that there was more wrong from her head wound than the pain she had complained about. "It's like buzzing and voices and pain all at once. I asked because I didn't know if you said what I heard."

Well, didn't that just make him feel like a heel.

"Well, I said it," he said, giving her a faint but real smile. "And I'll say it again if you want me to. When I get back, you are definitely taking a good solid nap and you don't get to argue with me about it. If that doesn't help your head... well, we'll worry about that step when we get there." He picked up the canteens again. "I'll try not to be gone too long, love, I know you're tired."

"Please be careful," she said softly. "Promise me that you'll be careful."

"I promise," he said solemnly. "I promise, Niki."

She smiled faintly at him and slid down the wall to sit. "I love you."

"Love you, too." He flashed her a grin and then was gone.

Niki watched him go, then leaned her head against her knee as she continued to watch the opening of the cave. She had to believe that he would be okay, because if anything happened to him, she wouldn't know what to do.

Besides feel even more guilt over the fact that he wouldn't even be in this situation if it hadn't been for her.



Three || Five