Disclaimer: don't own anything to do with Primeval, except a love of the show and these words...

CHAPTER ONE - IN THE CAR PARK

Jess was making coffee. It was a quiet day at the ARC for a change. Connor was over at Prospero, trying to keep a discreet eye on Philip. Jess had to smile when she used the words "Connor" and "discreet" in the same sentence (even in her head). Abby was somewhere in the menagerie, feeding her pre-historic creatures. Matt was in his office, studying computer reports and plotting against Philip, no doubt. Emily was at Matt's flat having an enforced "Adjustment to the 21st Century" day, which she detested but Lester insisted upon. And Becker? Jess smiled again as she thought about their Head of Security. Becker was in the armoury cleaning his beloved guns.

Jess folded her arms across her chest as her mental cataloguing of everyone concluded with Captain Becker and she allowed herself to think about him more freely. Their relationship had been strained since her near-death experience with the beetles. After his attentiveness during her anaphylactic shock, she had hoped their relationship would move forward. She hadn't expected him to declare his undying love for her, but she had hoped for something more. Instead, he was uptight, angry and over-protective. And when he wasn't, he avoided her, spending most of his time in the armoury. Worst of all, he had stopped bringing her chocolate…

Jess sighed, the coffee pot was full and she absently poured herself a mug. She didn't remember too much about the "Beetle Incident", as it was now referred to. She'd had second hand snippets from Abby and Emily regarding Becker's behaviour and this had allowed her to get her hopes up. Only for him to crush them again, just like a beetle, under his size 12 army boots. She smiled wryly at her analogy as she clicked in her heels back towards the ADD. She remembered Abby's briefly encouraging words:

" He's always been very private, particularly about his feelings. The beetle incident hung those feelings out to dry for everyone to see - and he's not ready to deal with that yet. Basically, he's hiding…"

Her memories were interrupted by the claxon blaring and the ADD bathing the Ops Room in a bright red glow. Startled, Jess almost spilt her coffee as she raced, heels clacking, across the room to the ADD. Sliding easily into her chair, she tapped on the computer, the screen flickering immediately with information.

"Right everyone, listen up!" she announced, her voice all clipped and efficient. "We have an anomaly alert. Just retrieving the co-ordinates now."

Becker and Matt both appeared in the Ops Room together. In a move that would have won them a starring role in a circus, Becker threw Matt an EMD with one hand and caught the Black Box simultaneously thrown to him by Matt in the other. The men nodded to each other before Matt turned his attention to Jess.

"Where is it Jess?" he asked sharply.

"Hang on," Jess tapped a few keys rapidly, aware of the attention on her. "OK, receiving co-ordinates now…..oh!" She paused, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

"Where is it Jess?" interjected Becker, impatiently. She turned to stare at him, her blue eyes wide and a little fearful.

"Its here, in the car park," she told them.

Becker and Matt exchanged a look, then began to move towards the exit. Becker stopped momentarily and looked back at Jess.

"Stay here!" he commanded. "Bring up the CCTV in the car park and tell us what you see."

"OK," Jess turned back to the ADD, glad to have something to occupy her other than the fear that was beginning to creep its way into the pit of her stomach. She had a job to do - she was not going to freak out just because the anomaly was in the ARC car park. Tapping on her keys, she easily brought up the CCTV in the relevant part of the car park.

"Dammit!" she muttered to herself, forgetting that even the quietest words were often amplified over the Comms.

"What is it, Jess?" came Becker's clipped response.

Startled, Jess automatically told the truth.

"The CCTV has a blind spot in this part of the car park. I can't see the anomaly, so I can't see if anything has come through it. Sorry." She bit her lip anxiously as she heard Becker sigh in her earpiece.

Matt glanced over at Becker with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds like some security stuff needs doing, mate," he said dryly.

"Very funny," grumbled Becker.

Moving cautiously between the pillars of the underground car park, exchanging a series of looks as they went, Matt and Becker edged closer to the flickering light of the anomaly. Un-slinging the holdall from his shoulder, Becker knelt and unpacked the locking mechanism.

"Lock the anomaly, I'll check for an incursion," instructed Matt.

"Guys, what's happening? I can't see you!" Jess's voice had a slight tremor in it.

Her nervousness was steadied by Becker's calm, low voice in her ear.

"Jess, we've found and locked the anomaly. No sign of an incursion."

She audibly let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Send someone down with a camera, Jess, to splice into the CCTV feed. I'd like to keep an eye on this one until it closes," Becker's concern was obvious in his tone.

"Already on his way down," Jess was now back in business, any fears quelled, as always, by Becker's calm and confident manner.

Matt and Becker remained with the anomaly until the new CCTV feed was in place and Jess confirmed she was monitoring it. As they left the car park, much more jovially than they had arrived, they failed to notice they were being watched from the shadows beyond the reach of the CCTV…