You smile as you scoop Megan in her little Ladybird costume off the floor of Jess' apartment, scanning the room for Ben in his dragon costume. Across the room from you, Becker, dressed as a cowboy, holds your son up and you smile.

Jess had thrown the fancy-dress party as a second birthday party for Megan and Ben and a welcoming party for Chris.

Connor had come dressed as Edward Scissorhands and Abby had found an Indian-American dress. Matt had been forced into a pirate costume and Jess was dressed as an Egyptian Princess. Danny was comically dressed as an Oompa Loompa and Jenny as Medusa. Danny and Jenny had found a Caterpillar outfit for Chris. Jess found an outfit for you and you think it could be worse. The outfit consists of a gold dress and a gold headband in the shape of leaves. Apparently it's a goddess outfit. You only think it could be worse as Rob, who Jess only invited yesterday, is dressed as Mr Incredible and boy, does he look funny!

"Aw! You're going?" Jess whines as you near the door.

"Before these two get cranky, yes." you laugh. "And besides, we have work tomorrow." Jess groans and rolls her eyes, but you aren't sure as to which part of your excuse.

"Okay, fine." she eventually sighs as you feel Becker materialise over your shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow." she opens the door for you, standing in the doorway until Becker's pulled away from the curb a few floors below.

"Well, that was fun." you yawn, settling into the passenger seat. "It's certainly a change from chasing dinosaurs. Oh, and speaking of work tomorrow, what are we going to do with Megan and Ben? Clara's on holiday and there's no one else I trust. Burton's not at the ARC any more but I don't feel comfortable with bringing them in with us. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. But still, maybe Rob could look after them? It's unfair to ask Danny or Jenny because they'll be busy with Chris. Yes, I think that's what we'll do. We'll get Rob to look after them."

"The Combination of a late night and looking after the twins really doesn't do you well." Becker laughs, cutting off your rambling and you glare at him.

"Just because you're Mr Grumpy Guts when you're tired!" you laugh, jabbing his thigh with your index finger.

"I'm trying to drive!" he complains as he pulls up outside your house.

"And I'm trying to look after a stropy husband and two kids!" you laugh, sliding from the car and opening the back door to pull Ben out. Becker gets Megan, rolling his eyes whilst doing so.

The next morning and you're woken by something small but rather heavy landing on your chest. A few seconds later and something else lands on your legs. The two heavy packages start jumping up and down, turning your legs numb and knocking the breath out of you. You crack an eye open and groan as you come face to face with a grinning Ben. "Good morning." you mutter and there's a cheerful response.

"Morning Mama!"

"Mama!" Megan cries, launching herself from your legs to the pillow beside your head, thankfully devoid of it's normal occupant. You glance over at the door to find a smirking Becker leaning against the wooden frame.

"They wanted to get up and they wanted you. Thought you may as well have an early wake-up call." he shrugs by way of explanation and you roll your eyes at him.

"Gee, thanks." you mutter sarcastically. Reaching out to grab Ben and roll him off to the side of you. Megan seems to think this is unfair as she pops her head between your arms so that it's next to Ben's. They're both grinning manically. "Did daddy feed you sugar?" you ask and they both shake their heads, grinning like Cheshire cats. You laugh, rolling your eyes and dig your fingers into their sides, causing them to squeal. They thrash around on your bed as you tickle them, screaming and their limbs flailing, somehow managing to avoid hitting each other. You stop a minute later and they scramble up onto their knees, still giggling to themselves.

"Mama mean." Megan pouts, sticking her bottom lip out.

"Of course I am!" you laugh, ruffling her hair. Megan's brow furrows and Ben laughs from besides her. You glance up at Becker and he waves lazily, slipping from the room and heading towards the stairs. "Go pester daddy for some breakfast!" you encourage them in a whisper.

"Daddy!" Megan yells, jumping from the bed, closely followed by Ben.

"Breakfast, daddy, breakfast!" the boy yells, following his sister.

"Cheers!" Becker calls from the stairs. "Love you too!"

You laugh quietly to yourself, rolling out of bed and heading into the bathroom to get changed. As you do you spy the photo on the top of the cabinet of Becker, Megan and Ben, taken three weeks after the twins were born. You smile as you slowly come to the realisation that there's a picture of Megan and Ben in every room in the house, several in your bedroom and the front room. The sound of laughter from the kitchen makes you smile as you clip your black box to your jean pocket and heading for the stairs. Once you reach the kitchen you pause and watch as Becker attempts to get Megan and Ben to eat their breakfast whereas the two youngsters are more content to just throw it around the room. "Daddy clean up!" Ben grins before throwing another dollop of whatever he has for breakfast. You don't exactly blame the two of them for not wanting to eat whatever was in their breakfast. It has the consistency of something that came out of the rear end of a cow.

"Daddy had best clean up." you agree and Becker glares at you over his shoulder. You laugh, kiss his nose, and help Ben and Megan from their high-chairs. "Come on. Let's go get you dressed." The two scamper upstairs towards their room and you can hear them rummaging through their draws as you reach round Becker to hug him from behind. "You don't mind cleaning it up, do you?"

"'Course not." he laugh, shaking his head and loosening your hold on him so that he can turn you to face him. "As long as it keeps you happy." he tilts your head back so that he can kiss you, pressing your back gently against the kitchen worktop. You can feel the cold marble against the small of your back, the coolness seeping through your shirt. You pull him closer, deepening the kiss by nibbling his bottom lip and forcing his mouth open. You can feel him smile against your lips and your heart flutters. The moment is broken by Megan standing at the top of the stairs and yelling for you. "You go." Becker laughs, breaking contact and leaning his forehead against yours. "I'll sort this out and then meet you in the car in half an hour." he presses a quick kiss to your neck, both of your knowing what will happen if he kisses anywhere near your lips.

You smile to yourself as you head from the room and climb the stairs, ushering Megan back into her bedroom. Unsurprisingly, Ben wants to wear his dragon costume again. The only outfit he ever seems to want to wear now. He pouts for the best part of twenty minutes until you point out that, if he wears the dragon costume, he'll have to stay in the menagerie all day. You instantly feel bad as his bottom lip quivers, the subconscious part of his mind registering the fear he should be remembering from the beetle incident. You drop to his level, pulling him onto your lap to give him a cuddle. Of course, this means Megan wants one too. Your ten minutes late getting to the car, Megan and Ben both in trousers, their fancy dress outfits still in their wardrobe.

"I thought I was going to have to come in their and get the three of you." Becker smiles fondly as you strap Megan into her car seat.

"Can you sort Ben out please?" you ask, letting go of Ben's hand and nudging him towards Becker.

"You okay? Your mood's suddenly gone downhill." Becker points out and you wait until the back doors are closed before leaning over the top of the car to reply.

"I'm just worried about bringing them to the ARC. In the bedroom I said something about the menagerie to Ben and it seemed to have scared him. I just don't want him to be upset."

"We'll keep him away from the menagerie then." Becker smiles, reaching over the top of the car to take your hand. "Now get in or we're going to be late."

"Twenty three seconds to go." Jess smiles, spinning in her chair to face her as you approach. "Then you're officially late. It's great to see you bright-eyed and bushy tailed." she laughs before leaning around you and frowning. "Where's-" she begins but is cut off by the lift opening and Becker entering the room, Megan clinging to his back and Ben clinging to his front. "Aw!" Jess grins. "How cute!"

You roll your eyes, give Becker a pointed look and motion for him to turn around so that you can peel Megan off his back. "There's wanting to get the job done and responsible parenting." you laugh, balancing Megan on your hip. "What's your excuse?"

"Don't go there." Becker mutters, nodding at Jess. "Come on. Before Lester gets here." you allow Megan to wriggle off your hip before taking her hand and bidding goodbye to Jess before heading towards your office.

"Animals!" Megan demands with a smile though it comes out more like Ani-moe.

"Not right now." you smile, opening your office door and motioning for her to sit on the sofa next to Ben. "Daddy needs to go to his special place and you're not allowed in their. I need to do some work here so you're going to sit very quiet here and do some drawings to go on the fridge. 'kay?" Megan and Ben nod vigorously before fighting over who gets the blue pencil. Before you've even given it to them.

"Have fun." Becker smiles, almost a little too happily for your liking before kissing you on the cheek and heading from the room. You refrain from throwing some remark after him and decide on closing the door. You power up the monitor on your desk before fetching the paper and pencils for Megan and Ben.

"What should I draw Momma?" Megan asks as you turn to head back yo your desk. You end up turning full circle and crouching infront of them.

"And me?" Ben asks, seeming to want the same as his sister. You pause in thought, resting your hand on your fist.

"How about, Megan, you draw me Rex. You know – all lovely and green. And Ben, how about you draw me Sid or Nancy." the two nod happily and you smile, straightening up and heading back to your desk. Once there you open up the staff e-mail to get some paper-work sorted. The fact that you haven't been near your e-mail in two days is drawn to your attention due to the 268 items in your in-box. You groan, narrowing the list down to paper-work. 201 items of paper-work, four of which are high priority meaning that the other 67 items waiting for you are form and confirmation on cover stories. It's going to be a long day.

/Three hours later/

Response team: Matthew Anderson, Abigail Temple, Connor Temple, Captain Becker, Si Becker, Lieutenant Robinson.
Soldiers present: Martins, Williams, Lane, Cooper, Nicky, Herron and Hampton.
Confirm: Yes
Any Injuries: Hampton- damaged tendon in left leg. - Two weeks medical leave.
Any cover needed: Yes
State here if yes: Minor incident on the A228 near Marshleyharbour Wood.

18 reports down, 183 to go. Not including in-depth cover stories. You sigh, running your hands over your face. You've been typing for three hours straight and you've hardly made a dent. Each piece of paperwork has only taken ten minutes, but it all adds up. You've got at least 30 hours of this left and your only meant to work ten hours. Looks like you're going to have fun this week.

Across the room and Megan and Ben are currently attempting to draw Jess from a picture off your phone. They've already waded their way through Rex, Sid, Nancy, Princess, the Mammoth, the ADD, Connor, Abby, Lester, you and Becker each and now the sheets are beginning to pile up on the floor. You're pretty sure they nodded off at one point and made you miss being a child.

You've heard nothing from Becker or Jess, the ADD is staying silent but you don't know if that's good or bad, and the only sign of Connor was the sound of something heavy hitting the metal filing cabinet in the corridor and the shout of 'Temple!' from one of the techs. That was two hours ago. Now the room is quiet except for the soft scribbling sound of pencil on paper from the sofa and the soft hum of the computer. You drum your fingers against the desk as you wait for the next e-mail to load. It's just flickered open on the screen as your office door crashes inward and one of Becker's soldiers stumbles it, bleeding from several artificial cuts. "Mrs Becker!" the soldier yells, panting heavily. "Get out of here! Get out of here now!"

"What on Earth is going on?" you ask, getting to your feet. Megan and Ben have stopped drawing and turned to look at the soldier. The man opens his mouth to reply but a predatory roar drowns him out and he falls onto his stomach before being dragged backwards through the open door, a terrified scream bubbling from his throat and dying as soon as the door closes behind him. You stand stock still for a second, shocked by what has just happened. It's Megan and Ben beginning to whimper that snaps you from it and forces you into action.

You run to the door, lock it and press your ear to it in the hope of hearing something outside. There's nothing – the corridor is quiet. You don't take any chances and unplug the computer on your desk and push the metal desk up to the door, essentially sealing yourself inside. You fish your mobile and EMD from the top door, sliding one into your pocket and attaching the other to your hip.. "Shh shh shh." you smile, crouching down infront of a sniffling Megan and Ben. "This is all a game. A game to see how good you are at sneaking around." you say in hushed tones, pulling them to their feet. "But you'll need to be very quiet and come and sit with me over in the corner. Whatever happens, you don't make a sound. Okay?" they both nod and you force a smile leading them over to the corner next to the filing cabinet. You pull it away from the corner so that there's a small triangular space behind it and motion for Megan and Ben to slide in. you them close the gap with just enough space for the three of you to be able to make eye contact. You sink to the floor, fishing your mobile from your pockets. "Oh please, oh please, oh please." you mutter, pressing Becker's name and the dial button. You listen to the ring on the other end but no one picks up. You don't bother to leave a message. "What's happening?" you whisper to yourself, drawing your knees up to your chest and scanning the room. You have a feeling of Deja Vu and suddenly, you know exactly what you have to do if you have any chance of getting out of this alive. You jump to your feet and run to the other side of the room, using the chair to reach the ceiling. You use your keys to unhinge the grating of the air vent that's set into the roof. You jump back to the floor, removing the filing cabinet and scooping Megan and Ben into your arms.

"Part of the game momma?" Megan asks, nuzzling your neck.

"Of course." you smile. "Part one is to get through the air vents without making a sound. Can you do that?" they both nod and you smile. "Good. Now, wait in the vent for me." you push them both up inside and wait until they've moved far enough in before hoisting yourself up and re-attaching the vent. "Now, stay either side of me." you order in a whisper before starting to crawl along the vent. You move at a slower pace than nearly two years ago when it was just you. Of course, things were a lot different then. You didn't have to worry about if everyone else was alive or not or have to protect to very real children that weren't concealed inside of you.

You still remember the tricks that Danny taught you; move with the air, not against it; stay away from the warm spots; stop at the slightest hint of sound that you don't create; stop to listen every other minute.

Megan and Ben thankfully do what you've asked and stay quiet. When you reach a T-junction you pause before mentally tossing a coin. You decide to take the left tunnel and nudge the two of them into the new tunnel. You get a few feet in when your mobile starts to ring. You mutter a curse, wrenching it from your pocket and hitting the answer button. You lean back against the metal, pulling Megan and Ben close before speaking. "Hello?" you ask in such a quiet whisper you wonder if the person on the other end has heard you.

"Si?" the reply is yelled. "Where are you?"

"Becker?" you breathe happily. "Becker, where are you?" There's static from the other end, a few muffled shouts and gun shots and then he replies.

"Corridor 3 by Conference room 1. Where are you?"

"Just East of my office." you reply, unsure exactly of where you are. "Somewhere in the air vent." you astounded at how calm your voice sounds. "Megan and Ben are with me. What's happening."

"Get to the top floor, as far away from the hub as possible. Do you understand me?" Becker barks down the phone and you give him your approval. He ends the call and you're left slightly confused, worried and extremely scared.

"C'mon you two. You force a smile, starting off along the vents again. You crawl for the best part of half an hour, the space on the other side of the vents eerily quiet. You've been crawling up a steady slope for the best part of twenty minutes. When you finally come to a dead end with no other way out, you're forced to do what you've been dreading – drop into the room below. You charge your EMD, carefully prising the air vent away. "Okay, part two." you inform Megan and Ben as you work. "I'm going to drop into the room below and if it's OK to come out, I'll reach up and get you down. If I say 'slide' you head back down the shaft and keep going until daddy or someone else finds you. Understand?" you look up to find Megan and Ben both nodding and you smile, removing the last screw from the vent and dropping into the room below. You land in a crouched position and hold your breath until you're sure the room's secure and empty. Once you're certain you fetch Megan and Ben, not bothering to replace the vent in case you need to make a quick get away.

You motion for Megan and Ben to stay low before heading to the door and cracking it open. The corridor outside is quiet and tidy. Whatever's happening down below hasn't reached this part of the ARC yet. You wonder where the others are and if you're the only one who's made it this far. Every bone in your body is screaming for you to run and help the others but every cell is telling you stay and protect your children. You close the door but not before movement from the other end of the corridor catches you eye – another door closing. You pause, knowing you should close the door and retreat but some thing's telling you to investigate. "Stay here." you order your perplexed looking children. "And stay quiet." you level your EMD, stepping out into the corridor and closing the door behind you. You slowly make your way to the door that you saw close, keeping your back pressed against the wall and your eyes peeled. You take a deep breath when you reach the door, using your wrist to open it but pausing before you stick your head around it. From inside the room is the sound of a dozen real guns clicking into action.

Okay, I know I said this would be the last chapter but I felt bad for not updating in 17 [ :O ] days. I promise then next one will be up before the end of the year. :)