Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Chapter Summary:After a restless night Jess has come up with a new plan of action.

Chapter Length: 1818

Open Mic Nights

Chapter 25 – Plans

Jess didn't get a lot of sleep that night. She kept replaying the day in her head, over and over again she saw herself walk into the armoury to find Becker kiss that woman. She couldn't help but think that if she had just gone to see him earlier, the day may have turned out differently.

Stop kidding yourself, it doesn't matter when you went to talk to him, he would still be with that tramp. For all you know he's been with her since he dumped you.

Not wanting to dwell on her pain any more Jess shifted her attention to trying to work out what to do now. Briefly she considered going to talk to him again tomorrow. Despite what had happened her friends were still right; this wasn't something she'd be able to hide—she only had another six weeks before she would start to show—and Becker did deserve to know he was going to be a father.

It was as she was considering this that a picture of what her life would look like began to form in her mind.

She could see herself, living in a small house with her son, constantly trying to find the balance between work and family life. Not wanting to make him feel like she was never there for him, but also needing to work long days so she could support the two of them. Then Becker would be around on the weekends, he and his lab technician girlfriend there to spend time with his son. The two of them would be able to take him out to do fun things because neither of them had to worry about the cost of keeping a house running and raising a child. She was sure Becker would help her out, but she would want to put any money Becker gave her for their son aside so he could go to university one day.

Every week her son would be hanging out for the weekend to come around, not because it meant she had time off, but because it meant he got to spend time with his father. The fun parent, the one who actually had time to take him places. He's a child, he wouldn't care that Jess was working hard to provide for him, all he'd care about is which parent spent time with him, something Jess wouldn't be able to do as much as she'd like.

He'd spend the weekends with his father, at the flashy flat he shared with his stunning blond girlfriend, and he'd come home not understanding why his mum didn't have a place that nice, not understanding that Jess was already giving him everything she could. Then, one day, he'd come home and tell her that he didn't want to live with her anymore, he wanted to live with his dad, and naturally she'd let him go, wanting him to have whatever would make him happy. Then Jess would have lost them both; she had lost Becker and now she'd lost her son—the only connection she had to the man she'd once loved.

Tears sprung to Jess' eyes as she thought about her future, she didn't know if she could go through a life time of that. Watching Becker be happy with someone else, and being a better parent to their child just because she had to work all the time. There had to be another way this could turn out, a way that avoids all the pain. Surely there was a way she could have this baby and avoid the pain of being forced to watch Becker move on with his life,

Slowly a plan began to form in her mind, and Jess was finally able to fall asleep.

###

By morning Jess was feeling a lot better; she got ready for work quickly and then went down stairs in search of something she wouldn't immediately bring back up. Reaching the kitchen, she was surprised to find Abby and Connor sitting at her bench having breakfast.

"You guys didn't have to stay the night." Jess said while pouring herself a glass of juice.

"We wanted to make sure you were okay." Abby told her.

"Are you? Okay, that is."

"Well I'm not feeling like I'm going to throw up, so that's good. And yeah, I'm okay. Sorry about being so weepy yesterday, I guess the hormones are starting to go haywire." Jess joined her friends at the counter.

"Don't apologise, you had a pretty intense day."

"Yeah, well, like I said, I'm feeling a lot better today, and I think that's because I've come up with a new plan of action, so to speak."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Well, technically I'm going back to my original plan of action. I've decided not to tell anyone else that I'm pregnant."

"I thought we covered that this isn't exactly something you can hide." Connor reminded her.

"That's why I've decided to leave the ARC and stay with family in Manchester, at least until I find a new job."

"What!?" Abby and Connor exclaimed simultaneously.

"What happened to telling Becker and giving him the chance to be involved in his kid's life?" Abby asked, being the first to recover.

"I thought about it a lot last night and I realised I can't do it. If I tell him, one of two things will happen; he'll either freak out and want nothing to do with me or the baby, or he'll want to be involved and I'll have to spend the rest of my life watching him be happy with someone else. I can't go through that."

"But Jess, you know no matter what happens you've got us to help you through it. You don't have to leave."

"I know, and I appreciate all the support you've already given me, but I feel it would be better for me—better for both of us—if I left and got a fresh start somewhere else. Don't try and talk me out of it, I've made up my mind."

With that Jess got up and left for work, planning to give Lester her notice as soon as she got there.

Connor had spent the morning in his lab, working on an improved version of the locking device. Or rather he was trying to work on an improved version of the locking device, in realty all he could focus on was what Jess had told them that morning. He couldn't believe that she was actually going to leave, Jess loved her job, she was good at her job, and she shouldn't have to leave just because her life took an unexpected turn. He also couldn't believe that Becker had managed to move on so quickly, the last time they had talked about it, it had seemed like he was still in love with Jess.

The longer Connor thought about it, the surer he was that yesterday had been some sort of horrible misunderstanding. He knew Becker and he wasn't the type of person to move on quickly, and he certainly wasn't the type of person to start making out with someone in his office in the middle of the day. No, they were missing a vital piece of information, they had to be, yesterday's events just didn't make sense.

Knowing he wasn't going to get any work done until this was sorted out Connor went in search of Abby, hoping his wife would be able to shed some light on what was going on.

###

He found Abby in the small lounge area attached to the locker room. Luckily the room was empty, most people preferring to have their lunch in the larger break room upstairs. Sitting down next to Abby, Connor told her everything that had been running through his head since their conversation with Jess.

"You're right," Abby said when Connor had finished talking. "Something does seem strange about it, Becker isn't like that. Plus I caught him staring at Jess this morning and you should have seen the look on his face. It was this sad cross between longing and agonizing; like he wants nothing more than to be with her and yet the very thought of her tortures him."

"See, I know they'd end up back together if one of them would just make the first move."

"I don't think that's going to happen Con, Jess is pretty determined about leaving."

"Well, we need to convince her to stay."

"I have a feeling the only person who could do that would be Becker, and I just don't see that happening."

"Well, then we just have to make him realise how much he'd miss her if even the little contact they have now was gone."

"I don't know…"

"Come on, we have to at least try. We both know they'd be happier together again; and, I don't know about you, but I want to watch Becker try and raise a kid."

Abby laughed at his comment. "Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

Together they began to formulate a plan. They knew finding out Jess was leaving would put a crack in Becker's resolve, and they needed to take advantage of that. But first they had to make sure the processing of Jess' resignation was delayed.

###

Once he was finished speaking with Abby, Connor went to see Lester. Knocking on his office door he waited for a response before entering the room.

"Lester, by any chance, has Jess come to see you today?" He asked, not bothering with formal greetings.

Lester sighed. "She has."

It was clear by the expression on his face that Lester knew why Connor was asking about Jess.

"So, I take it you know she wants to leave her job here?"

"I do."

"Well, that's why I'm here. Abby and I were wondering if you could, maybe, hold off on processing her resignation?"

"And why would I do that? If Miss Parker wishes to leave the ARC she has the right to."

"That's the thing, she doesn't want to leave, she feels like she has too, and me and Abs think we can change her mind."

"Why would she feel like she has to leave the ARC?"

"I can't say."

"Does this have something to do with a certain emotionally inept captain?"

"Can't answer that either."

"Well if you can't tell me anything, why shouldn't I process her request?"

"Because I know her, and this isn't what she wants. Please, just give Abby and me a week. If she hasn't come to you and told you she's changed her mind by the end of the day on Monday, then put it through."

Lester gave a resigned sigh. "Fine. But only because I'm loath to do all the paperwork this would require."

"Thank you."

Connor left Lester's office feeling like they actually had a chance to get this done.