After losing his job at Downton Comprehensive, John Bates is attempting to rebuild his life. Former student Anna Smith is on the verge of small screen stardom. A school reunion brings new perspectives and second chances, bringing two different worlds together once more. Modern Anna x Bates AU. M rated from Chapter 12.

The question comes as she sits at the little table she uses for work.

He imagined the scene now; a normal day up at Downton Abbey. Anna, sitting in the servants' hall. The others surrounding them at the table. Anna's status would be there for everyone to see: the dearest person in his heart, a heart that took every sole beat for her like a clock tuned to its master's hand.

Anna and John try to enjoy themselves at the beach, but a conversation with Mrs. Hughes leads John to contemplate the issue of misunderstanding. Can he and Anna use the unexpected turn of events that arise to reassemble their lives properly?

Oneshots based on Anna and John's relationship, from the fledgling days of friendship to the horror of his imprisonment, stretching beyond into their happy life together.

John Bates knows that he's not destined for great things, not after the life that he's had. But perhaps he can show the measure of himself in other ways.

Anna and John ruminate on each other through the five senses. Prompted by anon on Tumblr.

Anna notices one of John's quirks; John discovers that a mundane activity is more exciting to Anna than he'd initially thought. Prompted by a-rabbit-hearted-girl on Tumblr.

An early night beckons for Anna, but like so many before this one, she finds that rest isn't coming so easily to her. But then it occurs to her that being wide awake in the middle of the night isn't a new problem...a series of some of Anna's sleepless nights, from DA Series 1 to an imagined S3. [Winner of 2013 Highclere Award - characterisation of Anna, characterisation of Bates]