Abby sat on her kitchen floor, in a rare idle moment, playing with Rex. Her flying dragon swooped around the light room and chirped, and she tossed him biscuit crumbs from her knapsack. She was supposed to meet up with some of the others for dinner in an hour, and, never good at sitting still for long, decided to use that time for clearing out her bag. Crumbs, a few bits of electronics, a scrap of newspaper Lester had dangled before her face that morning while drawling that their team needed to keep a lower profile and avoid report-worthy news. Fair enough. She frowned as she pulled out a chewed set of earphones - darn small creatures - and a tattered, mud stained notebook she'd kept for info earlier in the year and never gotten around to replacing. As she dropped beside her on the ground, a few photos fell out. She picked them up curiously... they must have been stuck in the back. She wasn't much of a photo and cheesy moments girl... someone else must have taken these and she'd gotten a copy. Her and Connor at Jenny's wedding, a hyena wrecked room in the background. Jenny composed again, and happier than she'd ever seen her. A good friend. Or something. How did you relate to people who had been your teammates, but weren't any more? She'd gone out for coffee with Jenny last month, caught up on old times. Jenny had made a few innocent remarks about how distracting men could be to a career, pretending she was paying more attention to her own wedding band than to Abby's face. Abby had said very little on that subject, though she knew that Jenny had picked up on Connor's accidental "We should get married here!" comment. Abby herself didn't know what to do with Connor at times, and it was generally just a good idea not to say things until one was sure about them. He did make her smile, and she was happy to have him back in the neighborhood, his cute sleepy face when they carpooled to work, and...

She shook her head. Cute as he was, Connor would have to make the first move before she would do anything about their relationship. Or lack of. Something Jenny would also have found interesting. Sarah, now, would have talked right on through. "How do you feel about him? How do you think he feels about you? You know, in ancient Egyptian times, the courtship rituals..." Abby had to laugh. Oh, Sarah. She missed her. Another friend lost in the past. They had worked well together, and Abby had appreciated her constant enthusiasm and creative ideas. And just her sweetness. Jenny had come a long way from the prim and pressed PR representative, but Sarah had an innate sensitivity to the people around her. Just like Cutter. Abby started looking through the small pile of photos and eventually found one of their team, from the old days. She missed Cutter the most. Sarah's death had happened while Abby and Connor were lost in the Cretaceous for a year, and was somehow easier to bear. Jenny had moved on, without closing the door. But Cutter had been ripped away from them, and there were so many more things Abby wished she had said. "Thanks," mostly. For bringing us together. For being your patient self, and listening to all our voices. Abby knew she wasn't always easy to get along with. She prickled, and talked too fast at times, and had built up a very solid world of her and her reptile friends. People were much more difficult to understand, and while she enjoyed the camaraderie with her coworkers, she wasn't the type to make many overtures of friendship.

That wedding day, when Abby and Connor and Matt were keeping watch on the anomaly, she expected to crash on a couch somewhere, guard against predators disturbing Jenny's special day. She would have done the same for anyone, and wasn't surprised by Jenny's practical invite to the wedding. But then Jenny had invited her and Emily up for girl time, and even loaned them pretty dresses for the ceremony. Abby knew she'd go back, help Jenny in a heartbeat. Emily, she didn't know as well, but she had wanted to help her too. Jess was sweet, but young. Very young. But nice. A new addition to a world where it had been her and Jenny and Sarah, with all the guys, for a while. But Sarah had died, and Jenny had moved, and it wasn't improbably that Jess or Abby herself would move on before long too. They had a great working relationship, and a lot of fun. Whether she actually wanted to be friends, and stay friends, beyond the occasional run in, she didn't know.

She sighed a little and leaned her chin on her up-drawn knees. How did you even work on being a friend? That whole taking time to listen, which Jenny and Sarah had done so well. Inviting silence, inviting trust. Abby was more of a problem solver, an idea lover. The idea of an official relationship or marriage with Connor was sweet, if confusing. But at least that was something you could work on together, like a working partnership with extra hugs and smiles. She knew it was more than that, of course, but it at least made sense, and friendships with the other girls... was confusing. What if she couldn't offer anything more than practical advise and an occasional shoulder to cry on? She scratched Rex's head as he perched on her shoulder. Rex was simple, and loyal. And she knew how to show him she cared.

She wondered if maybe she could learn that with the girls as well. It would take time, and learning to listen instead of offer solutions. It would take learning to be interested in their worlds, instead of only focusing on them while they were in the ARC or out on searches. It would definitely take more energy and trust than Abby Maitland was used to. But it might be worth it too....