"Is there a problem, Mrs Becker?" Philip asks with an expressionless face. He plays absent-mindedly with his jacket cuffs and you feel hatred boil up inside of you.

"No." You reply bluntly, trying not to glare at him. This man is the reason for the end of the world and for the start of the demise of Abby and Connor's marriage.

"Then why is there a meeting between you, Miss Maitland and Mister Anderson commencing?"

"They were filing me in on the anomaly." you reply through gritted teeth. In the lab, you hear the soft murmur of Abby and Matt's voices subside as they realise that Burton's mere feet away from them.

"I'm sure an intelligent woman like yourself could just read the reports?"

"Yes, but I need to know if there are any urgent matters to attend to involving the public." Philip holds your gaze for a few more seconds before glancing off down the corridor.

"You're the PR manager for the ARC, yes?" he asks after a while. You reply with a curt nod, looking for an escape and wondering if it's a trick question. "Then there is no reason for you to be in the field. You can manage the public after an anomaly, not during."

"Excuse me?" you raise your eyebrows, glaring at him.

"I'm removing you from field duty. You don't have the required military background so be grateful you're allowed to keep your job at all." The lift at the end of the corridor pings open and a woman with bleached hair and glasses steps out. She scans the corridor before catching Burton's eye and waving him over. "You are also no longer permitted to bring your offspring to work with you and neither your husband or yourself are permitted time off to babysit. That's what a baby sitter is for. You are also forbidden from entering the armoury and the laboratories." You gape at him for a second before snapping into action and stalking past him towards the stairwell, your blood boiling beneath your skin. You throw the white washed doors to the stairs open, storming down the two flights of stairs to the floor below. You take the long route to your office, slamming the door once you're inside. You grip the edge of your desk tightly, taking several deep breaths before bringing your hand to your ear and activating your bluetooth devise.

"Becker, I need to talk to you." you sigh, awaiting his reply.

I'm in the armoury. He replies a few seconds later.

"You'll need to come here. And bring Megan and Ben with you." you switch your devise of, removing it and placing on the desk infront of you. You wont be needing it anymore. One field operatives and soldiers are required to wear them. You wont need your black box anymore either. You seat yourself behind your desk and a moment later the door swings open.

"What's the matter?" Becker asks before he's through the doorway. Once he's in the office, he closes the door, sets the twins on the sofa in the corner and stands infront of you.

"You need to drop these off with Jess for me." you sigh, motioning to the earpiece and black box. "You'll also need to drop my EMD off in the armoury."

"Why? What's happening? Are you ill?" Becker demands, seeming to ask all three questions at the same time.

"No, I'm not ill." You reply evenly, picking up your phone and clicking on Clara's contact details. "It's under Burton's orders."

"Why are you doing what Burton says?" Becker demands, adopting a soldier stance. You run your hand over your face, hit send and lean back in your seat.

"Because I'm a PR. Burton sees no need for me to be out in the field. He's also made it clear that if Megan and Ben come to work with us we're fired and we're not allowed time off to look after them. I'm also forbidden from the armoury." You raise your hand, cutting off Becker's oncoming retort. "I'm lucky to be keeping my job, so don't press the matter." Becker's hands clench into fists at his side and his jaw set.

"How can I not?" he says slowly, his voice dangerously low. "I wont have you working here without access to an EMD."

"Becker." you sigh, getting to your feet. "If you press the matter, then you'll get fired. And I'll get fired for shooting Burton with an EMD." you walk around the desk, cupping his face in your hands. "And besides, the team need you out on the field." you pull him down to you, pressing a kiss against his lips. "I need to take the Megan and Ben down to Clara. Can you drop my stuff off in their respective places please?" Becker sighs, nods and kisses you again. You pick up the two baby carriers and leave the office leaving a seething Becker behind you. As you hit the button for the garage, the lift stops at level six and the blonde from earlier enters. She scans you before pressing button three. "You can't go to level three." you point out and she shoots you a glare.

"I have access from Philip Burton." she says in an accent that sounds fake.

"And you are?"

"April. Connor's assistant." she says and you decide that her knitted rainbow jumper really doesn't do her any favours.

"That's not something you want to be admitting infront me." you say curtly but she seems un-phased.

"Aw, they're adorable." April fake smiles, taking a step towards Megan and Ben. You set Megan's carrier down on the other side of you, out of her reach. She glares at you but says no more as the lift pings open on level three. She stalks from the lift without a backwards glance at you. You roll your eyes as the lift closes, making a mental note to reassure Abby that she has nothing to worry about.

X

"He did what!" Abby yells, slamming her mug down on the side board of the staff room.

"Abby, calm down." you sigh, sipping your own mug of tea.

"Calm down? Calm down! You're letting him walk all over you!"

"It could've been a lot worse." you point out, glancing over at a stony faced Becker and a pissed looking Matt. "I'm just grateful I'm still working here."

"But that's besides the point." Jess adds from next to you. "He can't seriously expect you to stay in the ARC and not permit you and EMD."

"There are over a hundred other workers here who go about their jobs without EMDs." you try to reason although you're sure it wont come to much. "If it makes you all feel better, I'll stay in my office for the whole day."

"Of course, Connor will only see him as more of a God." Abby mutters darkly and you sigh, setting your mug on the counter behind you.

"Probably. But you have nothing to worry about when it comes to his assistant." Abby's head snaps up, all of her attention settled on you. "April is the most annoying person I've met yet, bar the exception of Christina Jones, with an extremely odd accent. It sound flat, dull and fake. Her glasses, I'm pretty sure, are also fake and there's just something about her that makes you want to punch her in the face." as an afterthought you add. "Even Megan and Ben weren't keen on her."

"That settles it then." Abby grins. "I have nothing to worry about." as she finishes speaking the Anomaly Alert rips through the small room, momentarily deafening you. Jess runs from the room, her blue heels clacking as she goes, and Matt and Abby follow closely behind.

"Stay in your office." Becker smiles, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips and following them out. You smile after him, washing the cups and making a slow wander to your office. Only half an hour after they've gone and the lack of communication from the team is killing you. You can't even eavesdrop due to the lack of comms. Forty-five minutes after the alarm went off and the panel on the wall crackles into life.

Lester wants you in his office, pronto. Jess says and you can hear her fingers flying over the many keys of the ADD. As grateful you are for something to do, you can't help but wonder if this has something to do with Burton's new order.

Upon arriving at the hub, you find that Burton isn't in Lester's office. Lester himself is stood by the window of his office, facing the ADD with his hands clasped behind his back. He doesn't take his eyes off Jess' back as you enter the office. "You wanted me?" you ask, moving to stand behind him.

"What's Jess' job in the ARC?" Lester asks, not glancing at you.

"To coordinate the team." you reply with a frown on your face.

"And Matt's?"
"To lead the team."

"Becker's?"

"To take charge of security."

"Abby's?"

You pause for a moment, trying to round Abby's job into one sentence. "To care for the creatures and keep Connor's in check."

"What's Connor's job?"

"Is there a point to this?" you sigh, getting frustrated. When Lester doesn't reply you're forced to answer him. "To carry on Professor Cutter's work and invent knew contraptions that help with the anomaly situation."

"And what, primarily, is your job?"

"To deal with the public and get them to believe they didn't see something impossible."

"If that's the case and you're meant to help the public, why have I just receive a report of you harassing April Leonard?" Lester asks, finally turning to face you.

"Excuse me?" you blink in shock at his question.

"Philip Burton has just come to me to report that Miss Leonard was highly distressed about a member of staff that had been harassing her in lift two about an hour and a half ago. Miss Leonard's description of her harasser matches you perfectly. What do you say to that?"

"I say that she is sorely mistaken. I was in the lift with her and I admit that I didn't take a shine to her, but under no means did I harass her. I merely informed her that she wasn't allowed access to level 3 to which she informed me that Burton had permitted her. She proceeded to inform me that she was Connor's assistant and I then made it very clear that I didn't take to her and the fact that she was Connor's assistant didn't help the matter. She may have taken offence to the fact that I wouldn't allow her to inspect Megan and Ben but no harassment was intended." Lester sighs, moving to sit at his desk.

"Very well. I'll see if Jess can draw up the CCTV from the lift and we'll take it from there. One more question though, why aren't you with the team?"

"Burton removed me from field duty, informing me that I could deal with the public after the anomaly has closed." your reply with a shrug, gathering that Lester missed that memo. "I assumed you knew."

"I hadn't been informed but I'll see to it. I'd prefer you in the field. It gets the situations out of the way quicker." he turns his attention to the paper work infront of him and you take that as your queue to leave.

Once you exit the office, you start to make your way over to Jess. Upon nearing her though, her voice rises to a shrill cry, her fingers pick up pace and you can see the turmoil on the CCTV. The commotion only lasts for a few seconds and then it's over. Once the panic has subsided, Jess' hands stop moving and she becomes rigid in her seat. "Matt? Becker, Abby? Can anyone hear me?"

"Jess, what is it?" you ask, coming to a halt besides her, panic gripping you.

"I can't raise the team and their signals have gone." Jess leans back in her chair, not moving her eyes from the screen. "They've gone through the anomaly."

And that is that for the next seven days :(

Alas, I'm off to Cornwall for the week on a family holiday and so will be deprived of the Internet and my laptop. I will, however, be taking my notebook with me and will continue my stories there and copy them up ASAP when I get back.

Peace, Love, Primeval, Becker :)