Disclaimer: Primeval and all its characters belong to someone else.

Double Wedding

***Warning- violence in this chapter***

Chapter Thirty Seven- Wedding Day!

Part 2

Becker, Matt, Danny and Connor ran into Jess' flat where Abby and Emily were watching Jess work at her laptop, looking worried as they passed electrical equipment to her now and again. All three girls were wearing full make up, and their hair was styled with curls, beads and flowers, all of which looked totally out of place in comparison with the clothes they were wearing- Jess and Emily in torn jeans and baggy t-shirts and Abby in maternity slacks and a huge baggy top which covered her 'baby bump'.

Matt went straight to Jess' side and she explained that she was trying to set up a mobile unit so that she could co- ordinate from the flat. She was just setting up the comms before attempting to hack into the CCTV cameras in the ARC. Connor was about to dash to help when Abby caught his gaze. She clutched at his sleeve and pulled him to one side for a moment. She looked into his eyes, her own softening at the sight of him.

"Connor! You look…you look wonderful! If I didn't love you so much already, I'd fall in love with you all over again!"

"Oh, my God!" Connor exclaimed. "I forgot…m'suit! You've seen me in it! It's bad luck!" Abby couldn't help but laugh, and Connor calmed down as he hesitatingly laughed too.

"Connor! You doofus! That's seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding! I don't quite think I want to get married dressed like this, so I'm sure we're OK! Besides… I think our bad luck's already started, don't you!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right! Anyway, I would marry you in what you're wearing, Abby! I think you look cute!"

They quickly glanced around and when they realised that no one was taking any notice, shared a quick but passionate kiss. When they drew apart, Abby looked seriously into Connor's eyes. "What's going on at the ARC, Connor?" she asked.

"I don't know…but I'm sure as hell going to find out! Come on, let's help Jess, OK?"

Abby nodded silently as Connor dashed to Jess' side and began hooking up his laptop to hers. They set up as quickly as they could and between both of them with a little help from Matt, they soon managed to get a comms system in place. Connor typed quickly as he tried to hack into the ARC's CCTV. The system was fundamentally his, so he had the best chance of finding a way through all the security. He suddenly stood up straight with a satisfied look on his face.

"Got it!" he exclaimed as the screen on his laptop showed several flickering views from the ARC.

"Right- good work, you two!" Matt said. "Let's see what's going on!"

"Those…those men look familiar…?" Connor began, frowning.

"Johnson's men!" Becker intervened. He'd had to work with them once before when Christine had tried to take the artefact…and Lester's job. He almost smiled as he remembered Christine's face when she failed. "They're all over the place, and heavily armed too…!"

They all watched as a grey uniformed man pointed his weapon at one of the ARC's technicians. It was the young boy, Archie. He seemed to be shaking his head at them, and held his hands in front of himself as if for protection. The soldier suddenly struck the boy with his gun, and the poor kid went flying! They looked at each other worriedly. This did not look good.

"Wait…where's Lester?" Abby asked.

"Here, hold on…" Connor said as he pressed a few keys, trying to get another view on the CCTV. "Here's his office. There's Christine, sitting at his desk! She has taken over the ARC again!"

"I think you're right- there's Captain Wilder too! They must have 'created' that anomaly! Christine said it wasn't over- I guess she just took her time, and this wedding provided her with the opportunity!" Becker added, angrily clenching his teeth.

"OK, we need to get back to the ARC. If this woman…?" Matt started, looking at Becker.

"Christine Johnson." Becker verified.

"Right! If she has taken over control, we need to stop her." Matt continued. "Connor- go and change whilst Becker and I check this out. We need to get an idea of how many men this Christine Johnson has at the ARC and where they're situated."

Connor nodded and ran off to his room to take off his wedding suit. Abby followed and hung it up for him.

"We'll need it later!" she said positively. "Come what may- we're getting married today, Connor!"

Connor looked sadly at her as he quickly pulled the first t-shirt he picked up over his head. He wasn't so sure, but said he agreed with her anyway- he hoped they'd get married today- he really hoped so! As they joined the others, he heard Jess recalling the staff who had been taken off the rotas, ordering them to meet the team at the ARC underground car park, bringing their weapons with them.

"Alpha- make sure you're not seen!" Jess stated. "Oh- and hurry! Out!" she finished. "We're all set, Becker. Teams Alpha and Beta are going to liaise with you at the car park in fifteen!"

"Great work." Becker told her, smiling slightly. "Right- let's go! Keep us informed, Jess!"

Jess nodded, and Connor gave Abby a few last minute tips on accessing the screens to show the different areas of the ARC, and then they were gone, Emily going with them. Jess and Abby looked at each other as they were left alone to co-ordinate as best they could. Jess looked concerned, and Abby took one of her small hands in her own.

"They'll be OK, Jess. They'll sort it all out and come back to us soon. It will all be alright, I promise!"

"I know." Jess nodded. She sighed, then threw back her shoulders as she prepared to do her job and look out for the team, and the soldiers…

~~oOOo~~

They reached the ARC in good time, and moved silently to the underground car park. Alpha and Beta hadn't arrived yet, and as Becker and the others crept under cover of the cars and from concrete post to concrete post, they quickly eliminated any guards they encountered from Christine Johnson's team. Alpha and Beta arrived shortly after and Becker gave them quick instructions. They were to split up and try to take out as many of Christine's soldiers as they could without alerting the rest of their presence. They were to take the captured men to the panic room and hold them there under the guard of Beta team. Their main priority was to close the anomaly, and Connor and his scientists could dismantle it at a later date. Once the anomaly was closed and there was no threat of a creature incursion, they could storm the rest of the ARC and disarm Christine Johnson's men and take control once more.

"Connor- you and Becker take Ives and Grimes with you from Alpha, and find the anomaly- it's imperative you close it!" Matt directed. "Emily and I will try to find where they've put Lester. The rest of you- split up into small teams. Try not to alert Christine of our presence for as long as possible. Let's do this, people!"

Becker led the way and Connor, accompanied by the two ARC soldiers, followed him silently down the corridor. Connor held his detector in front of him as he followed the signal leading them to the anomaly. Suddenly Jess' voice came clearly through the comms.

"Becker, there's two men coming down Sector 3. They're heading straight towards you."

"Copy, Jess!" Becker whispered. He motioned to Ives to position himself at one side of the corridor in the doorway, and Becker took the other side. Connor and Grimes, who was carrying the large silver metal case containing the locking equipment, held back around the corner out of sight. It didn't take Becker and Ives long to take care of the approaching guards, and Becker whispered through his comms where they'd left the men for Beta team to find them and take them away to the panic room.

"So far, so good." Becker thought as Connor pointed towards a room.

Connor looked very nervous as Becker nodded to him, and they flung the door open, guns poised as they entered. Two white coated men leapt to their feet as they entered, hands held above their heads.

"It's OK, they're ours!" Connor stated, recognising the men. "You two OK?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank God you're here! We've been terrified something would come through the anomaly. A head looked through a few minutes ago, but it went back in and we haven't seen it since. We were told to keep the anomaly open and to gather as much data from it as possible."

"It's OK, we're taking the ARC back. Come on, Connor…lock it!"

Connor grabbed the case from Grimes and quickly began to set up the closing device. It didn't take too long, and his hand hovered over the button ready to press it when the door suddenly swung open and four soldiers dressed in grey stood in the doorway. Connor ducked down low over the suitcase as Becker leapt over him to smash his EMD over one of the guard's head, before he had time to shoot.

The second Johnson's guard executed a kick to Ives, and he fell heavily and lay still. The guard spun on the spot and hit Grimes with the butt of his gun and he also fell on the ground, where he remained groaning, blood pouring from his head where the gun had struck. Meanwhile, Connor grabbed the two scientists and pushed them back against the wall, trying to protect them from the man who had now set his sights on them.

A grey uniformed man had grabbed Becker from behind and held him as another swung his fist. Becker raised his arms and dropped down and the blow missed its target, catching the man who had been holding him square in the face instead. Becker grabbed the guard who had swung the punch before he had time to move, and easily overcame him.

With three of the four intruders out of action, Becker ran to help Connor who was struggling with the Johnson's man. Connor had got a few good punches in, and was holding his own but the guard was strong and heavily armed. Connor was unfortunately caught by the gun that the guard swung at him, and fell heavily into the scientists and they all fell in a heap.

This gave Becker the opportunity to grab the man and they grappled with each other. Becker finally administered a double punch, knocking the man clean off his feet. As Becker helped Connor and the scientists up, he glanced around noticing that Ives had finally managed to struggle to his feet and was helping up their injured man, who was bleeding from his head wound.

"I'm OK!" Grimes stated, as Ives pulled him up. "It's just a graze."

"Good man!" Becker breathed. "Temple- lock that anomaly- now!"

Connor dived back over to the silver case and in a few short minutes, the anomaly closed into a tight golden ball. Everyone spent a moment to look at each other in relief, panting heavily.

"Anomaly taken care of, Jess." Becker said. "We're going to move out now and help the rest of the team.

Becker nodded to the others and they left two guards watching over the anomaly and sent the scientists to the underground car park for safety.

"Come on, Temple- let's move!"…

~~oOOo~~

Matt and Emily stealthily ran through the corridors, fortunately not meeting any of Christine's men. Jess hadn't been able to tell them where Lester was being held as he wasn't wearing a black box, but they guessed it would be in the interview rooms as an obvious choice. They thought it was worth a try at least. This had been where Ethan had been taken and questioned, and where Abby and Connor had been de- briefed after their return from the Cretaceous.

"Matt!" Emily suddenly cried in warning as a Johnson guard appeared behind him. He ducked down and Emily swung her EMD like a baseball bat and hit the man hard in the chest. He fell, wheezing to the ground, and Matt hit him again, and he finally fell unconscious to the floor. Matt grabbed the man's arms and dragged him out of view, and they continued forward. They finally reached the interview rooms, and entered the observance area, where all the rooms could be seen on the various monitors. They searched the monitors, until Emily cried out as she saw Lester pacing up and down in one of them.

"There!" she cried.

"Good work. That's interview room 6."

"Two guards in there, though." Emily pointed out.

"That's fine- there are two of us!" They smiled at each other for a moment, and then Matt asked Jess if she could see any guards outside interview room 6, in the corridor.

"Yes. There are three guards outside. Be careful!"

"Copy, Jess! Come on, Emily- let's go get Lester!"…

To Be Continued…