Thanks again for the reviews! This chapter's quite short I'm afraid, but it felt right to end it here. I'm hoping to update again tomorrow but I'm out in the evening and at work all day. I'll try though!

Chapter Three

Becker saw the creature onto a trolley and into the care of four of his men – all armed with proper guns this time. He looked around the control room – chairs were overturned, tools and bits of computer were scattered under the ADD desk, and Jess' blood was all over the floor. Tiny droplets of it made a trail out of the door and into the corridor. Before he could talk himself out of it, Becker hurried out of the control room and towards the locker room. Jess was gone already, but Becker grabbed his car keys and ran out to the car park. Jess was still there, winding her way to her car.

"Jess!" He called after her, starting to jog after her.

Jess obviously heard him, because he saw her freeze when he called her name, but she didn't stop – if anything she started to walk faster. Becker narrowed his eyes and ran. They were having this out right now.

"Jess, wait up," he said as he reached her. "Stop."

She turned to face him, and the look on her face told Becker that she didn't appreciate his persistence. He didn't care though, they needed to talk. But looking at her, Becker suddenly found that he didn't know what to say. Or rather, how to say it. He wasn't used to Jess looking at him like that, like she wasn't happy to see him, and he didn't like it.

As luck would have it they'd stopped right next to the passenger side of his car. "Let me drive you home," Becker said after a moment.

Jess half-rolled her eyes. "I told you, I've got my car," she said.

Becker unlocked his car and reached for the passenger door handle. "You shouldn't be driving with your hand like that," he said, starting to pull open the door.

"I'm fine!" Jess exclaimed. She reached out and slammed the door shut before he could open it any further, but she used her bad hand. "Arr... damn it!" She hissed. She grabbed a paper towel from her coat pocket and pressed it to her palm, which was bleeding again.

Becker stepped forward. "Let me –"

Jess jumped away from him, shaking her head. He was shocked to notice that there were tears in her eyes. "Becker... please just leave me alone," she said quietly.

Becker swallowed. "Jess..."

She shook her head and looked him square in the eye. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She said, her voice falsely bright. "Just – tomorrow." And she turned and hurried away.

Becker let her go. He hadn't realised up until that moment how much he'd hurt her earlier. He'd figured she was embarrassed but that look she'd just given him... he'd felt it like a punch to the gut. He'd never meant to hurt Jess – god, it was the last thing he wanted to do. But he couldn't... if he could only explain. However, she clearly needed some space. Which he could give her... for now.

He watched Jess get into her car and drive away, and then sighed and headed back into the ARC.

The first person he saw when he walked in was Matt, and for the first time in a long time Becker felt some of his old resentment for the man boil up. He strode up to him.

"Jess and Connor were almost killed today because nobody was properly armed," he said.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Hello to you, too," he said.

"The EMDs don't work," Becker said in a clipped tone.

"Clearly they do," Matt said. "It's just they don't work that well on this particular creature."

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take," Becker said. "From now on everyone on the team carries a gun. A proper one."

"Becker –"

"I'm not backing down on this," Becker said, folding his arms and glaring at Matt. Matt glared back.

"I'll take that under advisement," he said cagily.

Before Becker could reply, the ARC alarms suddenly went off again. Becker scowled at Matt. "You'd better," he growled, before taking off for the control room.

XXX

"How did this happen?" Lester demanded twenty minutes later, as they all stared at the ADD screens. Connor was sitting in what was usually Jess' chair, pulling up CCTV feed after CCTV feed of the area surrounding the ARC.

"The EMDs don't work on this creature," Becker said through gritted teeth. "It woke up suddenly and overpowered two of my men – the other two tried to shoot it but it's incredibly fast."

"I'm amazed it didn't attack them," Abby said, shaking her head.

"And it jumped through a window and disappeared?" Lester asked.

"Yeah, the one by the lockers," Abby said.

"We were bearing down on it and it jumped through," Matt said. "By the time we got to the window it had gone."

There was a moment's silence as they all stared at the CCTV. Becker had already sent most of his men out to search the perimeter, but he needed to be out there too. He already had a machine gun in his hand, and he intended to use it – this creature was too dangerous to be at large.

"Any idea where we should look first?" He asked Abby now. "What will it head for?"

Abby frowned. "I don't know..."

"What do you know about it?" Becker prompted.

Abby bit her lip. "They're trackers," she said. "They usually hunt in packs. They... they don't stop until they get the kill."

Lester let out an exasperated sigh. "I want you all out there looking," he said. "I'm calling Jess back in."

Abby suddenly gasped. "Oh my god."

"What?" Becker demanded.

Abby blinked at him. "Jess," she said fearfully.

Becker did not like hearing her name spoken like that. He took a step towards Abby. "What about Jess?" He asked.

"She was bleeding, her blood was on the floor," Abby said. "That's why it went for her. That's why it went to the locker room. It was following her scent. It's after Jess."

For a moment Becker felt like he couldn't breathe. Then he span round to face Lester. "I'm taking a unit to her flat," he said. He turned back to Matt, Abby and Connor. "You three find the damn thing before it gets there." He started to head for the door, reaching for his radio as he went.

"And take actual guns with you," he threw over his shoulder.

"Becker!"

Becker turned round and instinctively caught whatever it was Connor had thrown at him. It was his keys to Jess' flat.

He nodded to Connor and ran out of the room.

To be continued...