This is set loosely between the time of Anna's attack in S4 and her arrest in S5.

Warning: This is a little dark.

For my friend, Skeeter0003 who requested "more chapters." ;)

With his Lordship dressed for the afternoon, Mr. Bates had been on the final landing of the stairs before reaching the servant's hall when he heard that voice, dripping with honey for a rapturous audience. In a moment his mind was made up.

At the base of the stairs, he shrugged off his jacket and set it meticulously on the handrail. He smiled to himself as he rolled up his sleeves, exposing his forearms. Approaching the doorway, he stretched and flexed his hands a few times when his target was in his sights.

"That smug bastard," John thought, as he watched him unnoticed. As the seconds ticked by, he fanned his rage into an inferno, silently justifying his decision until all of his reservations fled. And then he moved in, with the agility of a man half his age. It only took two strides with his long legs. One arm wrapped around the man's chest to grip his shoulder, while the other took hold of the chair, spinning him in one forceful motion. The shock was apparent as he had been taken by surprise in the middle of regaling a fleet of mesmerized servants with tales of his self-inflated grandeur. John's fist came down brutally, meeting Mr. Green's nose with a sickening crunch. The dam had broken.

With a primal roar, John unleashed with untamed fury, pummeling the man against the table in the servant's hall. It wasn't lost on John that his punishment was meted out in the very same seat Anna was forced to sit the morning after her attack. This was the man who violated his dear wife. This was the man that violated their marriage. There could be no regrets for this.

With finality, he grabbed Green by the lapels, lifting him up entirely before slamming him down on the stone floor. A chorus of frightened voices rang out on the outskirts of the room, but John was only vaguely aware of them. He placed a foot on each side of Green's prostrate body and looked down.

On the floor below him, the man struggled for consciousness. In a daze, Mr. Green tried to focus his eyes on Mr. Bates.

"Please...I...pl-" The words were garbled, punctuated by the splutter of blood welling inside his mouth.

John's head tilted to the side, saying calmly, "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard that right."

"Plea...please…"

"That's what I thought you said." He braced himself as he bent to kneel over Green, hovering as near his face as he could reach. He continued serenely. "You see, the problem is that you're asking for mercy. And, I'm a firm believer that we reap what we sow. You didn't show mercy to my wife, and now you're asking me for mercy. Well Mr. Green...I'm afraid I have none to give."

The man's eyes widened and followed John's hands. Pulling the necktie steadily, he set a bloodied fist firm at the center of his throat. Green's own hands clawed desperately against John's, but nothing could deter him from his mission. Seeing red, Mr. Bates watched with singular fascination as the life drained from Green, his flails becoming increasingly lethargic until they ceased completely.

"John." Anna's voice called out behind him, sending ice down his back. The enormity of what he had done washed over him and he sat up straight to find the servant's hall empty, the onlookers vanishing in a blink. The room was deafeningly quiet. Confused, he looked down where he knelt alone, with Green nowhere in sight. Spotting his unmarred knuckles, his brow furrowed.

Then Anna's voice whispered in his ear as a hand caressed his back, "You've done well, my love."

He jerked awake suddenly. Tangled in his half of the bedsheet and with his pillow tossed to the floor, he twisted to find Anna still sleeping peacefully beside him. Undisturbed by his movements, her body was curled tightly; but in her unconscious state, one hand stretched out towards him, instinctively longing to be near him. It struck him that in her waking moments she was still reserved with him, but her heart revealed its hand to him when she was like this.

After sorting his pillow and blanket, he examined his knuckles, marveling at the flawless skin there. It all felt so real. Moreover, it was satisfying. Too satisfying. He wasn't lying when he confessed that when he thought on what happened to her, he wanted to murder. Nothing would give him greater pleasure than to deliver his justice in that way. He released a shaky sigh, and running his hands through his hair, he looked over at Anna again. He promised her he wouldn't do anything stupid. He intended to keep that promise. She just never said he couldn't imagine it.