[I'm sorry it's a been a little while longer than usual, I've been having a little writer's block, arrghh! Partially caused by the build up to A-Level results but thankfully that's all over now! I left my writing alone for a few days to see if that would help and voila here we go.
So now it's back to 'original' Becker, so to speak. We catch up with what's been going on at the ARC whilst Jess is 'missing'. There shall be more of this in time too as everything takes effect.]

CHAPTER 9

Plans

The mid-afternoon sun shone brightly over the city, making every tree cast lengthy shadows over the maze of pavements and roads. Pedestrians milling around going about their daily lives carried their coats and scarves in hand. It was an unusually warm for a February day; spring was on its way.

Becker glared at the sky one last time before turning into the ARC, passing security and parking his truck roughly. How could he appreciate it when the one person he wanted to share it with was gone?

He'd just returned from studying the Regent's Park anomaly, the one Jess had slipped through, with a small group of his men. Matt had given them strict orders to not venture through the anomaly, no matter the temptation. Becker had wanted to send someone through to see where abouts it led in terms of geography, but rules were rules. Plus, Becker had his own reasons.

It had been over fourteen hours since Jess had disappeared and Becker was still having a hard time comprehending exactly what she'd done. It was mainly shock more than anything keeping him from disobeying orders.

After setting his security team fitness tasks in the training room, Becker headed straight to the armoury in the hope of clearing his head by cleaning his personal collection of guns. He had no idea how long he was there before Matt appeared in the doorway; it could have been minutes or it could have been hours.

"How are you doing, mate?" he asked quietly.

"Fine." Becker retorted.

"Look, I know what I told you earlier about not going through but hear me out, yeah? I've had a word with Lester and he's agreed that if after twenty-four hours she's still not back then we go after her."

"No."

"I'm sorry?" Matt asked incredulously.

"You know the rules, no one goes through."

"Not even to save Jess?"

Becker stood up and walked towards Matt who was frowning at him. "Who says she even needs saving, Matt? 2009 is hardly a threat to her; no dinosaurs or future predators otherwise I would already be in there after her. I want to figure out why first, Matt. Why would she do this? What's her motive?"

It was the one thing that stunned him. Just exactly what had caused Jess to take such drastic action?

"Well from what I've read and heard, there are many things that happened that year. Is that why you don't want to go through, Becker?"

"It's much more complicated than that." The soldier sighed, calming himself down so he wouldn't explode. "When Abby, Connor and Danny were stranded, Sarah and I did everything we could to get them back. They were stuck in the prehistoric past, a time way before humans. Of course I want to go after Jess, Matt, I love her and I want her back. But, that anomaly leads to February 2009. Nothing of what I currently know has happened! Cutter will be still alive, I won't even have joined the ARC, and Sarah, Abby, Connor and Danny are all safe. I've got to discipline myself so I don't…mess things up."

"Mess what up?"

"If any of that changes I won't have Jess. I've just got her and now I've lost her, I don't know what I'd do if I did anything that kept us apart."

"I understand. But Becker we don't know how long that anomaly will remain open. It could close any second now before she's had a chance to get back through."

"But do we risk it Matt?"

"Come back up the hub, you're not helping by moping around down here."

"I'm not moping I'm...thinking." Becker replied defensively, but he followed the team leader anyway.

Once back at the hub he checked with Kyle to make sure everything was fine before seating himself down at his desk and accessing the CCTV footage. Being Head of Security had its advantages. Jess would have to hack, but he was allowed unrestricted access in a heartbeat.

He brought up the clip of Jess running through the anomaly and placed it on a loop. Once again the anomaly in the park was locked and undisturbed before it cut to Jess going through the now open anomaly before it relocked seconds afterwards. It appeared to Becker that Jess had deliberately tampered with it so she would be undiscovered, but something went very wrong as it revealed her interference as she stepped through.

He clicked onto a different camera; one located the opposite side of the anomaly. This one Jess hadn't touched but that didn't surprise Becker. As it led to only a few years ago there was no reason to worry about an incursion and so the camera had been solely trained on the anomaly and not the surrounding area. However Becker was now watching Jess approach the gateway into the past. Foster's team hadn't be able to guard the area as they'd been called away to another anomaly the other side of London. Lucky for Jess…

She walked as if she was in a trance and he suddenly realised this was the very first time she'd seen an anomaly with her own eyes. It was obviously having a breath-taking affect on her. He watched as she tore her eyes away for a few seconds to press the required keys on the pad of the device before stepping back as the anomaly sprung back to size. She stood a few seconds more, admiring the golden sphere of crystal shards before looking over her shoulder and running.

Becker rubbed his hands over his face. That explained why her timing was out. She'd stared at the anomaly for too long, her time loop had ended and she'd been revealed. If it wasn't for that detail, Becker wasn't sure what he'd think had happened to her and that made his stomach churn.

He started to go over possible reasons for doing such a thing, for sneaking out under his nose and deliberately running through an anomaly. What had happened in the past few months that would give her reason to break ARC regulation? Then he remembered a critical turning point; Hannah Bails. Since her cousin's death Jess had been quite frankly all over the place.

"Do you think it has something to do with her cousin, Hannah?" Abby asked over his shoulder making him jump.

"What?" Becker asked, taken aback.

"Me and Con think it makes sense, as does the scribbled notes in front of you it seems." She gave him a teasing smile. He looked down on the desk and saw he had indeed been making notes - all over his due paperwork.

It was as if a light bulb had appeared in his head.

"Abby, Jess told me all about Hannah the day she heard about her death. They went to University together and they were practically sisters, more than you and her are now." His mind was whirring as he fitted together the pieces. "The reason she was so upset and was on the edge of a breakdown was because she blames herself for what happened. She thinks she could have prevented it if she'd have known that Hannah was coming back from the States on that day."

"You think she's gone to get Hannah back, to warn her?" Abby asked, a frown on her face but unmistakable worry in her eyes.

"Without a doubt. We've got to go after her. Matt." He stated, the last word into his comm.

"Yeah?"

"Get up here, we've got to go after Jess. We know what she's doing."

"On my way."

Matt and Emily joined Abby, Connor and Becker in the hub.

"I don't know how we're going to do it but we've got to get her back. Damage might already be done but we won't stop until she's back here safe with us." Becker began, heading for the lifts.

"Wait!" Kyle Thompson called from the ADD, making the team whip around outside Lester's office.

"What is it, Thompson?" Becker growled.

"It's gone." He said with a very worried look on his face. "The anomaly's just closed. Jess is stuck."

Becker violently punched the nearest wall.

. . .

"Messing with time is dangerous. The best we can do is estimate what Jess has gone and done, and figure out the possible consequences." Matt was saying. They were all in Lester's office trying to figure out the best course of action. The bureaucrat was currently absent, having a meeting with the Minister at the Home Office.

Becker was stood against the back wall, arms folded over his chest, listening to the conversation without any input. Jess was gone. It was something he couldn't quite get his mind to accept.

"Me, Connor and Becker think it's to do with her cousin, Hannah, killed at the airport anomaly last November? Knowing Jess, she's had this planned for a while, maybe since the day she died." Abby replied.

"Has anyone got an explanation as to how she would know the existence of the anomaly?" Matt asked.

"She stole the portable detector from my lab." Connor said quietly. He was staring at the table, seemingly ashamed of leaving it lying around. "I noticed it was missing a few days ago but I didn't think anything of it. I lose stuff all the time."

"Either that or she's been monitoring the anomalies from her laptop."

Everyone, including Becker, stared at Matt in shock.

"How-" Becker began.

"Jess is the Field Coordinator, chosen for her expertise with computers and flawless organisation skills. I wouldn't be surprised if she's got the ADD software downloaded to her laptop. Mine is the same, I did it as soon as I started here. It allows us to monitor everything from home, as if the ADD was in your living room. My guess is that she's been monitoring every anomaly, and date, from home since before Christmas. That's how she knew the 2009 one existed."

Becker sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She was on her laptop last night at my flat but I didn't think anything of it. That must have been when she found out."

He felt like such a fool. If he'd have kept a closer eye on her, if he'd allowed her to help him with dinner, kept her occupied, she wouldn't have known.

"Why would she do all of this? More importantly, in secret without anyone knowing?" Abby demanded.

"She must have known we'd prevent her, no matter how honourable her intentions." Emily replied. "I would have done anything to save my friend Charlotte. We risked getting discovered by bringing her to a modern time in the hope she would be cured. But we lost her before we'd even left the anomaly's sight."

"Of course she knew we'd stop her. That's precisely why we didn't know." Becker said quietly, gritting his teeth to quell his anger. "It was a completely reckless thing to do. There are just so many things that could go wrong. And now we've lost her for good."

"I'm sorry, mate." Matt said sincerely, walking over to place a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we can do now."

"Woah, hold up!" Connor cried. "We're just going to give up? Abby and I would not have survived a week in the Cretaceous if we ever lost the hope of making it back. Did Becker ever give up hope that we'd make it back alive? Matt you even went through that anomaly to bring Emily back!"

"Connor, I didn't mean-" the team leader began but Connor cut him off.

"No, Matt! This is Jess; we can't give up on her! Becker didn't give up on saving her when she got bit by that beetle. The situation was far worse then than it is now. We've got to find some way to help her!"

Abby gave her fiancé's hand a squeeze. "Con, we'll get her back."

"All I meant was we can't do anything to help her as we have no way of getting to her. The chances of another anomaly opening to the same time are incredibly slim, but didn't mean we should give up altogether. I want her back as much as any of you do." Matt answered quietly.

"We monitor the anomaly site." Becker decided. "I don't care what the odds are. I'll have men stationed 24/7. Connor can do some technical stuff to make sure we're notified the second there's any change. I'd like to borrow an anomaly detector to have with me at home. Jess took all her stuff with her, I don't have access to her laptop."

"I'll go get one now." The scientist nodded, heading from the room.

"Right. Becker, get your men on a rota and make sure that site is observed at all times. You'll have to do it yourself in the absence of Jess." Matt ordered and the soldier nodded in response. "Abby, catch up with Connor and get him all the help you can. Emily, we're going to tell Lester what's happened, and that we have a plan."

"And after that?" the former Victorian asked.

"We wait."

Becker felt a sharp tug in his chest as they exited the office and headed in separate directions. The fact that Jess was gone had broken his heart but not knowing how long it would take to get her back was just too painful to think about. But he promised himself, just like he'd done with Sarah about Danny, Abby and Connor all those years ago, that he would never give up until Jess was back, safe and sound in his arms.

. . .

To be continued