Thank you so much for the lovely words and adds for this story! I'm kind of amazed and just really hope it/I doesn't disappoint as the story continues! *hugs to all*
A sword.
Clothes befitting of the time.
A leather bag with an assortment of things Danny had insisted he'd need including a smaller EMD that could be kept from sight and a basic anomaly detector they'd used to locate their way home.
"It's what Patrick will be looking for," Danny told him quietly, after demonstrating how the device worked. "He's obsessed with travelling through them. I don't know what he wants to find on the other side but he won't stop until he finds it." A troubled expression flittered over the older man's features. "I'm sorry, mate. I should've ended this when I had the chance."
While part of him agreed, another appreciated how difficult – how impossible – that would've been for Danny to do. Becker gave him a small nod. "I wouldn't have expected you to," he said honestly, holding Danny's gaze as he continued. "But if I have to..."
"Do it. Don't hesitate." There was no hesitation from Danny, his expression solemn. "He's not my brother anymore, Becker. I don't know who he is."
They were silent for a moment, letting the bitter moment pass.
"What else is in here?" Becker wondered aloud, rummaging through the bag of things Danny had insisted he needed. "What's this...?"
It was a piece of paper, neatly folded. Frowning, Becker opened it up, his eyebrows arching in surprise when he saw a sketched image of Jess smiling up at him from the paper.
"You can't take a photograph," Danny told him with a one shouldered shrug. "I asked Lester if he could have someone sketch a quick image of her. A portrait. It might come in handy if you need to ask around."
Becker nodded but he wasn't really listening. He stared at the picture he held in his hands, the simple sketch such a good likeness that he felt something in his chest ache at the thought of being without her.
What if he was too late? What if their preparations meant he got there only to find her lifeless body on the other side of the anomaly and Patrick nowhere to be seen?
The logical thing to do in that situation would be to come straight back, to bring Jess's body home for her family. But logic would go out of the window, Becker suspected, and a need for vengeance would take its place.
"Let's do this." He didn't notice that he'd interrupted Sarah mid-sentence, having been oblivious when she joined the conversation and started to dispense advice on how he could blend in with the locals. "I can't waste any more time," he added, a touch of an apology in his voice as he looked at his long thought lost friends.
Sarah gave him a speculative look that turned into a knowing smile. "Go and get your girl, Captain," she told him teasingly. "We'll be here when you get back."
His hand tightening on the drawing, it didn't even occur to him to deny that that was indeed what Jess was. His girl. His. And if Patrick had hurt her in any way...
The anomaly reopened as Becker walked towards it, stopping only to acknowledge his teammates. Matt didn't look pleased in the slightest, but Becker suspected that was more to do with Lester's order that no one else be allowed through the anomaly than anything else. "One rogue team member with a hero complex I can explain to the minister, the whole lot of you going off on an unauthorised rescue mission is something else entirely."
"You sure about this?" Matt asked quietly, his gaze shifting from the anomaly to Becker. "There'll be no back up, no way we can help if you run into trouble."
"It's Jess, Matt." And it was as simple as that where Becker was concerned. "Would you still be standing here if it was Emily he'd taken with him?"
The answer was no and they both knew it. Just as Connor – or Abby or Emily – wouldn't have been able to stand back and do nothing if it'd been their other half Patrick had kidnapped.
Not that Jess was his other half. Not officially. Unofficially, though, they'd been getting closer. Moving towards the line between strictly friends and colleagues and something more. They'd been spending a lot more time together, both during and outside of work. They'd been having lunch together a lot more than usual – well, alone together. It wasn't unheard of for the team to meet in the break room – usually purely by chance than by arrangement – but recently, he and Jess had been eating alone rather than with the rest of the team. Whether it was coincidence or their teammates playing matchmaker, Becker wasn't sure and hadn't been about to complain.
It was... nice, getting to know her better. Nicer than nice. He'd been surprised at first at how much they'd found to talk about. At how much he enjoyed listening to her – and how easy it actually was for him to open up a little bit, too.
"We'll keep a team standing by," Matt said eventually as their other teammates slowly joined them to say goodbye. "But if it closes, mate..."
"I know." It was a risk he had to take. "Fifteenth century England, though. There are worse places to get stuck."
"Just be careful." Abby gave him a small smile and a quick, impulsive hug that took him by surprise. "Bring her back, yeah? I can't get married without my wedding planner."
He gave her a small nod as she pulled away, knowing Jess was more to her than that and not doubting for a second that the Temple-Maitland wedding would be indefinitely postponed until the unofficial wedding planner – and official maid of honour – was back or at least until...
No. The other alternative wasn't one he wanted to think about.
"Good luck, Becker." Emily's expression was grave and he wondered if she was remembering her own time as Patrick's captive. "Give Jess my love when you find her."
Before he could agree, Connor cut in. "It's not Becker that needs luck." The scientist's grin was confident but concern lurked in the depth of his eyes. "It's Patrick who's gonna need it when Becker catches up to him."
The vote of confidence aside, Becker knew what his teammates were thinking: that this might be the last time they saw each other.
He'd never thought he would willingly walk through an anomaly, not after what had happened to the others – to Connor and Abby, Danny and Sarah. Even knowing they were all somehow back and alive – even Sarah, when he'd heard her screams as she'd died at the claws of a future predator – he knew the odds were stacked against them that he and Jess would be as fortunate.
He thought briefly of his family, of his mother and siblings. His father would probably handle the news of his disappearance best; he was a military man through and through and almost expected the worst to happen but his mother... His mother had once begged him not to join the Army, crying bitterly when her youngest child had denied her one request and broke her heart.
'I'm sorry, Mum,' he thought as he moved towards the anomaly. His last thought before stepping through was of her, and how just a few days ago he'd caught himself idly wondering what she'd make of the woman he was going after.
There was someone beside her; she could hear them breathing. Jess froze, her heart beginning to pound in her chest as she held herself still and tried to remember where she was – and how she'd gotten then.
It came back to her, gradually at first and then at a dizzying rate. Patrick. The team. The anomaly. Becker. Danny. Sarah.
... Sarah?
Shaking herself mentally, Jess decided there'd be time to figure that out later. First thing first – she needed to know where she was and what had happened in between blacking out and waking up.
The person beside her moved fitfully, causing the bed they were lying on to dip. Bed? Alarm spiked inside her but she tampered down the accompanying nausea and forced herself to open her eyes.
Not Patrick.
Not even a man at all, thank god.
The woman – girl – beside her could be no more than six or seven. She was pretty with a mass of red hair, but even in sleep, the girl looked troubled. One side of her face was already coming out in a large, purple bruise and there were visible tear tracks on her face from where she'd been crying.
Not wanting to disturb her companion, Jess sat up slowly. Her head protested the move and the room spun for a few moments before righting itself. She looked around at the sparse decor, all dark wood and no source of light but for the candles flickering in plain iron holders, and felt like she'd stepped onto the set of one of the historical dramas she was secretly fond of.
Glancing down at herself when she realised what she was wearing wasn't as restrictive as she remembered her running gear feeling, Jess gasped and that caused the girl beside her to wake up with a jolt.
"Hello." Fighting the urge to cover herself with the blanket even though the white garment she'd somehow come to be wearing still preserved her modesty, Jess fixed what she hoped was a friendly smile on her face.
"Hello." The girl sat up and tucked her knees against her chest as she stared warily around the room before turning her attention back to Jess. "Did he kidnap you also?"
Assuming the 'he' was Patrick, Jess nodded slowly. "I think so. To be honest, I don't really remember."
The girl gave her a strange look but said nothing, just continued to stare.
"My name is Jessica," Jess introduced herself, deciding to use her full name before realising that, depending on where and when she was, Jessica might seem like just as odd a name as Jess.
The girl was silent for another moment or so before replying. "My name is Mary."
"It's nice to meet you, Mary." Jess smiled again but the girl – Mary – didn't smile back. "It's a lovely name," Jess offered, "my grandmother was called Mary, too."
"My mother is Elizabeth," Mary answered slowly, her grey eyes narrowing almost expectantly. "And my father is... My father is Henry."
Sensing the girl wanted some sort of reaction but not sure what kind of reaction to give, Jess instead chose to change the subject. "Do you know where he is? The man who brought us here?"
Mary shook her head. "He is gone. He said he would send word to my parents. I believe he seeks a ransom." And it was a ransom the girl clearly wasn't sure would be paid – or wasn't sure she wanted to be paid. "Will your parents pay your random? Or your husband?"
"Oh, I'm not married." Jess ignored the shocked look on the young girl's face but felt obligated to add a "not yet" to her denial. Just as she felt obliged to force out the mental picture of the man who immediately appeared in her mind at the word 'husband'. "And I doubt he will be able to send word to my parents."
Especially since they probably weren't even born yet, Jess mused, having a feeling that the era she was in was quite considerably before their time. She was wondering how she could ask Mary what year it was without appearing like a complete idiot when the sound of footsteps clomping up wooden stairs towards their room made both of them turn towards the door.
At the naked fear on Mary's face, Jess pushed her own aside and climbed out of bed, tugging the unresisting girl with her. She positioned them so their backs were against the wall and so she was between the door and the child just as it swung open.
Patrick's gaze searched first for them in the bed, a frown creasing his brown when he found it empty. When his gaze landed on them, his brown creased and he smiled instead, throwing the bag he'd brought with him onto the bed.
"My lady, Your Highness." His bow was mocking to say the least. "Please, dress quickly. We have places to be and people I cannot wait for you to meet."
A whimper escaped Mary as Jess glanced between her captor and the young girl with wide eyes. 'Your Highness?'
There was nothing but trees on the other side of the anomaly. No Patrick, no Jess. No body lying on the ground at his feet.
Slipping the sketch he belatedly realised he was still holding onto into his pocket, Becker took a moment to get his bearings before deciding to follow what looked like a well-trodden path away from the anomaly and though the trees.
He didn't know how long he'd been walking before a sound made him stop in his tracks. Getting louder, he quickly identified it as horse hooves and managed to move aside, pressing his back against a tree, just as a group of men riding horses appeared on the narrow path.
Expecting them to continue passed, Becker was surprised when the leader of the group tugged sharply on the reins of his horse, a dapple-grey stallion, and held up a clenched fist in a signal for the others to come to a halt.
"You there! Have you seen a man pass this way?"
Taking a step forward and noting the armour the man who'd spoken was wearing, Becker shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't seen anyone. I'm looking for someone myself. A man who kidnapped my-" He stopped himself from saying colleague, hesitating only a second longer before finishing his sentence, "betrothed."
It felt odd to say, and sounded even odder. But Sarah had warned him against calling Jess just a friend as she'd said it wouldn't convey the sense of urgency he had in finding her. A friend might have left willingly with another man, but someone he was betrothed to might not – or at least if she had, his need to find her might be better understood by those he needed to question.
The man frowned and slid from the saddle of his horse. "Describe him," he demanded, his tone brokering no room for argument.
With only a slight hesitation, Becker did so, describing Patrick as clearly as he could. As he watched closely, the expression on his rapt audience's face grew darker. "You know of him?"
"He is the man we are looking for. He has taken your betrothed?" The man gave Becker a sympathetic look.
"He has. This is her." Pulling the sketch from his pocket, Becker quickly unfolded it and passed it to the stranger. "You haven't seen her, have you?"
The man shook his head but took the piece of paper. "Sir Lawrence," he called, turning as one of the other men – another knight, if his armour was any indication, got down from his horse. "You saw the man we seek earlier with another woman. Was it this man's betrothed?"
Sir Lawrence took the proffered sketch, his expression grave as he nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. I believe so."
'Your Grace …' Becker did his best to school his features as the man – apparently of someone of high standing – turned his attention back to him.
"This man has kidnapped the Princess Mary, daughter to King Henry and Queen Elizabeth. Join us, and we will help you find your woman."
Not sure if he really had a choice in the matter but grateful for the help in finding Jess, Becker found himself nodding his agreement. "I would be honoured to join you," he said, adding a nod he hoped was respectful enough.
Apparently it was, as the man – Earl Henry Crompton of Wallington, Becker would later learn – had a spare horse brought forward for him.
Oooh, royalty and intrigue! And still Jess is waiting for Becker... Ho hum... ;)