:O This is rare, I didn't take three years to update this chapter! This probably won't happen again any time soon, so make the most of it.
I would like to thank everyone who faved/alert added this story or me since chapter four, and I would like to shout out to Heyarandomgal, GODISAWESOME and Prawn Crackers for reviewing. I love you guys!
I would also like to just throw in a little Stassia Appreciation Notice right here. Cos she's cool.
Enjoy the chapter!

Becker hadn't been aware of closing his eyes, and he opened them to see the young Spaniard slump and fall to the floor, his eyes wide with surprise. Becker stared, mirroring his expression. His heart was attempting to drill a hole through his chest and leap spectacularly onto the floor, and he felt himself go dizzy. It wasn't until he heard boots striding across the polished floor towards him that he thought to look up. Another man was approaching and he too was holding a pistol, but this time, instead of having it pointed at him, Becker found himself being offered the firearm. He took it gratefully and watched its bearer scoop the Spaniard's out of his inert hand.

"You're welcome," he said. Becker was somewhat relieved to find that the newcomer was British.

"Who are you?" Becker asked, annoyed at how shaky his voice sounded. The other man walked past him, forcing Becker to follow at a fast pace.

"A more appropriate question would be who he was," he explained, checking the magazine in the pistol as he walked.

"Go on then, who was he?" Becker decided to go with it.

"I have no idea. But he specifically isn't the issue. It's the organization he works for that you have to look out for."

"Look, will you stop being so cryptic and tell me what's going on in here?" Becker snapped, not in the mood for putting up with the man's games.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I was getting to that." The man paused for a moment to look around a corner before continuing. "The people invading your building belong to a Spanish government extremist group headed by a very dangerous woman named Kesara Ortega. As to why they targeted the ARC, I'm still trying to figure that one out, but what I do know is that if they want something from you, they will get it, no matter how many people they have to go through." The man described the situation so calmly; Becker got the impression that he had done it many times before. The name, however, struck a chord in Becker's memory. Ortega... He was sure he'd heard it before, and it was going to bother him no end until he figured out where and why. The man in front of him was also unnervingly familiar. There was nothing remarkable about him; he was roughly the same height as Becker, had short brown hair and the build of a Spec-Ops soldier, muscular but agile. It was the eyes that did it, though. Cold, calculating dangerous dark brown eyes that looked like they could see right through Becker in seconds, making him unsure of whether he wanted to trust the man or not. He was certain, however, that he had seen them before. He just couldn't for the life of him remember where.

They had come to one of the many cross-junctions of corridors that formed the layout of the ARC building, and the man peered down the adjoining halls before continuing on.

"You never answered my question," Becker said. "Who are you?"

"I don't think that's important right now," The man decided. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Where are we going?"

"We are getting out of here and then I am going back in and dealing with the deltoids while you wait outside. Oh don't give me that look; I thought I made it clear that you don't know what you're dealing with."

"And you think you can take them on? Alone? You don't even know your way around the building."

"It's not up for debate, Action Man. I am going and you are not, that is the end of it."

"Fine," Becker said through gritted teeth, even though it wasn't. "But I'm getting Jess out of here first."

"Who?"

"The field co-ordinator, Jess."

"Dude, I hate to break it to you but if she was in here when they arrived, she's probably dead." The man stopped walking and faced Becker straight on, sympathy tinting his expression. Then it clicked. Everything that had been pestering at him since he'd met the man fell into place, and he remembered where he'd heard the name Ortega before.

"I was born Teresa Catalina Ortega. That's about at generically Spanish as you can really get." He remembered, if somewhat hazily, West saying that earlier when they'd been trapped in the cave. Which meant that everything she'd said about her mother centred on this organization, and Kesara Ortega, the leader of it all, was... West's mother. The realisation hit Becker like a slap in the face. With West in his mind, he instantly recognized where he'd seen the man in front of him before too. Teresa West had those eyes, those eyes that had terrified him when they'd first met due to their ability to change so dramatically in milliseconds. But that meant that this man was... No. That was impossible, Teresa had said so herself. Still, Becker decided to test his theory.

The man had moved a little way ahead of him, checking the rest of the corridor ahead of them and didn't seem to realise that Becker was no longer following him.

"Jack West." Becker said, and the man froze. He turned slowly and started back towards Becker, a dangerous look on his face.

"How the Hell do you know my name?" he demanded. Becker suddenly felt very powerful.

"You should be dead."

"Answer the damn question, how do you know who I am?"

"Not until you tell me why you lied to your sister." Becker looked Jack straight in the eye and raised an eyebrow. Jack backed down, refusing to meet his eye.

"I had to. I needed to get things done and she needed to be as far away from me as possible. So I pulled a few strings and got some official people to tell her I had died." he rounded on Becker again. "It's none of your business, anyway."

"No, but it is hers."

"You are not going to tell her."

"I don't think you're in much of a position to be telling me what I can and can't do."

"No, but I could just shoot you." when no response presented itself, Jack continued. "Now you tell me how you know Teresa."

"She works here. Got drafted in a few days ago."

"Oh holy..." Jack launched into a string of expletives that Becker was convinced he was mostly making up, but a good portion of which were extremely rude.

"How is that a problem?" Becker interrupted.

"They're looking for her!" Jack exclaimed. "Oh dear lord, it all makes perfect sense now. Attack the building while no one's here, and then lie in wait for her to turn up in the morning. Clever, I have to give them that one. Is she here now?"

"She shouldn't be. But why are they looking for her?"

"Because Ortega wants her. It's complicated..."

"She's your mother, I know that." Becker stated. Jack stopped and blinked a few times, as if re-evaluating his initial impression of Becker.

"What else do you know?"

"That's it, actually. Teresa didn't go into much detail."

"Great." Jack muttered. Becker couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Okay, change of plan. Does this building have a central control room kind of place?"

"Of course."

"Well lead on. We need to get this lot out now before something really bad happens."

"Even I had figured that out," Becker muttered, leading the way towards the elevator. No more conversation passed between them until the elevator doors came in sight.

"Is there any other way in? I just think using the lift is a little conspicuous if they're already up there."

"Not unless you want to crawl through ventilation shafts for an hour."

"Conspicuous it is then," Jack shrugged. He pulled his pistol out of the back pocket of his jeans and stood so that he could see who was in the compartment, but they wouldn't see him. Becker mirrored his stance on the other side of the doors, his own pistol raised. The doors opened with a quiet ping, revealing nothing but the back of the elevator carriage, and Jack led the way in. Becker followed, trying to force himself to stop being so tense; it only made him feel paranoid.

"Well this is either really good or really bad," Jack announced in a far too cheery voice. Becker raised an eyebrow, which Jack mistook for an indication that he should continue. "The fact that we've got this far means that they're either sweeping the lower levels before taking the control room, or they're already in there and we're walking straight into an ambush which we will not survive. So it's either really good or really bad."

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," Becker quoted.

"Something like that, yeah." The carriage stopped, and Jack had his pistol back out and raised in milliseconds. The doors opened, and both men advanced. Becker headed straight for the ADD, even though it was clear there was no one manning it. It had gone into sleep mode; no one had been in here for at least half an hour.

"There's no one in here," Jack called from the other side of the room. Becker waved a hand in acknowledgement and began to search the room. "If she's not in here, we're not going looking for her," Jack shouted again.

"I'm not going to ask you to come with me, if that's what you mean." Jack's attitude was starting to get on Becker's nerves.

"It wasn't, but what the Hell," Jack sat in Jess' chair and woke up the ADD.

"Do you know how to use that?" Becker asked.

"It's a computer. It's not going to take me long to work it out."

"Good luck getting in," Becker muttered. He didn't think Jack heard him. Becker walked around the Hub, calling Jess' name over and over again, concern multiplying within him every time his call went unanswered.

"I don't think she's in here mate," Jack called casually. Becker, tempted though he was to tell him to shut up, kept quiet. He could be right. She could have gone for a coffee or something and been found. Becker just didn't want to admit it. He leant against the glass wall of Lester's office and supressed a sigh.

A muffled thump reached his ears from opposite him, and his eyes found the door of the utility cupboard. It sounded like something had fallen against the door on the other side.

"Jess?" he called, going to investigate. The door thumped again, and Becker pulled down on the handle. It didn't budge, so he leaned his whole body weight into it and nearly fell over when it did swing open, revealing a wide-eyed Jess crouched in the corner, wielding a mop in both hands. Upon seeing Becker, the mop was discarded as she launched herself off the floor and into his arms.

"Oh my God, you have no idea how long I've been in there," she babbled, hugging him tight.

"Whoa, hey, it can't have been that long," Becker said, a laugh in his voice as he tried to pull her arms off. She remained defiantly attached to him for a number of seconds, during which his resistance vanished as he realised he liked the feeling of Jess hugging him, until she pulled away and smoothed down her skirt, refusing to meet his eye.

"Sorry," she said, trying to regain some composure. "I just didn't know what was going on, and..."

"What do you know?" Jack demanded, appearing behind Becker like a ghost.

"I... Um... Who's he?" Jess asked Becker, causing Jack to roll his eyes impatiently.

"Jack West, Teresa's brother," Becker explained.

"I don't know if you'd realised, but I don't actually want everyone to know that," Jack snapped.

"He's a bit grumpy and has a serious attitude problem but I think we can trust him," Becker told Jess, ignoring Jack completely.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Jack snorted, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Now that we have all the minor details out of the way, can you answer my question?"

"I don't really know anything, I just saw a group of men doing something to the door to the loading bay, and then Teresa told me to get back here and hide. I've been shut up in that cupboard ever since."

"Wait... You called Teresa? Please tell me she's not on her way here," Jack looked at Jess with what was probably the first display of sincerity Becker had ever seen him show.

"There was an anomaly alert, only there was no anomaly, and she was calling me to tell me that when I heard a noise, and I went to find out what was going on, and she told me to keep the line open. Look, who are these people, and what do they want with the ARC?"

"You don't want to know and nothing, nothing at all." Jack turned away from Jess and Becker and turned back to the ADD. "Would you mind answering this please?" He held up Jess' phone, which was vibrating for Britain and telling them all that Matt was calling. "Tell him to go home; he doesn't need to get caught up in this too." Jess took the phone and pressed green, Jack's instructions fresh in her head.

"Hey Matt... Yes, I know, West beat you to it... No, nothing... Yes..." Becker turned to face Jack while she talked.

"How are you planning on getting us out of here?" he whispered.

"I wasn't actually planning anything further than this point, so I was going to leave that bit up to you."

"Oh, so you choose now to stop telling me what to do."

"Oh get over it and think. You know the layout of this place, Mr Head of Security. I'm just the guy that saves the day and disappears, always have been."

"Is that what happened? You saved the day and disappeared, leaving Teresa behind?" Becker's words caused Jack to stop and turn and face him.

"Why do you keep bringing that up? You don't want to know, okay. You shouldn't even be here, caught up in this."

"Well I am, so..."

"Listen, okay, and listen good 'cause I'm only gonna say this once." Jack's voice was low and dangerous, and Becker decided it was a good idea to pay attention. "This is bigger than you think it is, and if you dig too deep into this kind of thing, you won't be able to climb out again. That's what happened, if you must know. I can't let Teresa know that I'm still alive because I'm in too deep for her to get involved now. The less she knows the better, and the same thing applies to you. So just let me deal with this, and then I will disappear. Like I always do." He turned away and resumed his work at the ADD.

"You need my help," Becker stated. "No one knows this place better than me, and layout maps will only do so much for you. Let me help you." Jack shook his head sadly.

"You don't want to get involved. You really don't. Now I'll help you get out, but then you leave this to me. And for God's sake don't say a word to Teresa."

"If she asks I'm not going to lie."

"Then make sure she doesn't ask." Jack's eyes bored into Becker's and he realised that he wasn't just being the Alpha Male anymore; he was trying to save his life. So Becker nodded and accepted the fact that this time there was nothing he could do.

"I've convinced Matt to stay home, and he said he'd call Abby and Connor and tell them the same," Jess chirped from behind them, bringing them both back to Earth. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Jack announced, completely unphased, "Is that we get you two out of here." He picked his pistol off the desk. "Any questions?"

"What about the men downstairs?"

"We will probably have to take a few detours through the vents, so do keep up, and you may want to lose the shoes."

"I meant what about the fact that the whole ARC is swarming with them."

"I know what you meant. That part of the plan just doesn't concern either of you."

"But aren't you..." Jess looked up at Becker, expecting him to start the argument again.

"No," he said, much to Jess' obvious disappointment. "Let's leave that to the experts this time." He turned to Jack. "You ready?"

"Always am." With Jack in front, the three of them began back across the Hub towards the elevator.

They'd only got three steps when the doors opened in front of them.

"Get down!" Jack screamed, throwing himself under a desk. Becker grabbed Jess and spun her across his body before shoving her hard onto the floor, where she landed in an extremely unladylike position behind the ADD. Becker knelt down next to her and watched as all Hell broke loose in the Hub. Twelve black-clad men came through the elevator doors, all of whom were brandishing guns. Jack didn't let them get ten metres into the room. He opened fire instantly, and six of them dropped to the floor before the others even realised what was going on. Becker leaned out from behind the computers and fired, felling three more. The remaining three turned and ran back to the elevator, two of whom didn't survive the time it took the doors to close. In the silence that followed, Jack swore loudly.

"That was too close. He's going to bring more; we have to get out of here." He began rummaging through the Spaniards' pockets, looking for more pistol magazines and any other type of ammunition he could find. He threw a handful to Becker.

"What do we do now?" Jess squeaked. Becker turned back to her, at a loss for an answer. She was pale and shaking a little, her blue eyes that were usually so bright and cheery were now wide and reflected sheer terror.

"You said the vents led out of here," Jack said to Becker.

"I did, but..."

"It's coming back up!" Jess cried. Without a word, Becker slid back down behind the ADD and positioned himself where he could see the elevator but whoever came through it hopefully couldn't see him. Beside him, Jess tried to suppress a sob.

"Hey," he said, turning to face her, "It's going to be okay. I'm going to get you out of here." Jess stared at him, reading his face for any sign of doubt, any indication at all that he didn't think he could keep his word. She didn't find any; if it was the last thing he did, he was going to get Jess Parker out of the ARC alive. He leaned towards her and pressed his lips against her forehead, trying to convey the sense protection he felt towards her in that simple gesture.

"Becker..." Jack's shout forced him to return to the task at hand, and he fixed his sights on the elevator once again.

"I've convinced Matt to stay home, and he said he'd call Abby and Connor and tell them the same," Jess announced, bringing the phone down from her ear and walking towards Becker and Jack. She seemed to have interrupted a pretty tense conversation, but she was eager to get going. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Jack announced, "Is that we get you two out of here." He picked his pistol off the desk. "Any questions?"

"What about the men downstairs?"

"We will probably have to take a few detours through the vents, so do keep up, and you may want to lose the shoes." Jess was starting to dislike Jack almost as much as she did his sister.

"I meant what about the fact that the whole ARC is swarming with them."

"I know what you meant. That part of the plan just doesn't concern either of you."

"But aren't you..." Jess looked up at Becker. A moment ago he had been stubbornly telling Jack that he would stay and defend the ARC with him. There was no way he was just going to let this go.

"No," Becker said. "Let's leave that to the experts this time." Jess wanted to argue, to tell him that he shouldn't leave the fate of the ARC to some stranger, and that there was no way Jack was going to be able to fight them all off himself, but Becker turned to Jack before she could formulate a sentence. "You ready?"

"Always am." Jack seemed to have no idea the gravity of the situation. The three of them began across the Hub, Jack in front and Jess staying at Becker's side. She didn't trust this Jack character at all, and she was honestly too scared to let go of Becker's arm.

She didn't see the doors of the elevator opening until Jack started yelling, and then she was suddenly face down on the floor behind the ADD as gunshots started firing all around her. No more than a dozen shots went off, and then it was over half as suddenly as it had started. She sat, shaking in fear, until Jack began swearing explosively, something she was beginning to think was a habit of his. "That was too close. He's going to bring more; we have to get out of here." He climbed over a few bodies and seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about digging through their pockets.

"What do we do now?" Jess squeaked. Becker turned to look at her, his mouth half open in response, but then he shut it again. He didn't have an answer. Jack began talking again, and Jess looked past the two men to the little blue dial on the elevator.

"It's coming back up!" she cried, since the other two hadn't seemed to notice. Becker slid back down next to her, and she felt herself begin to shake. She didn't want to start crying. She really, really did not want to start crying now. But it didn't seem avoidable, and without her consent a sob escaped her lips. Becker turned to face her.

"Hey. It's going to be okay," he whispered. His face was only centimetres away from hers and she had an overwhelming urge to bury her head in his chest and cry. "I'm going to get you out of here." Jess stared into his eyes, looking for a sign of that tell-tale look that he always got when he knew he couldn't keep a promise he made. She had seen it before, just a couple of times, but this time there was no trace of it anywhere. And because of that, she suddenly felt stronger. Becker leaned towards her and, before she could make sense of what was going on, he kissed her forehead. Something clicked inside her then, and she wanted to put her arms around him and pull him closer and kiss him back, properly, on the lips, and tell him that she loved him. That was the important bit, the telling. But before she could, at a command from Jack that she didn't properly hear, Becker slid away from her and aimed his pistol on the elevator again. Jess, blinking back tears, made herself as small as possible and waited for Hell to break loose for the second time in five minutes.

And all Hell did break loose, just not in the way Jess had expected. This time, before anyone could start shooting anyone else, one of the panels in the vent system above their heads fell to the ground with a clang, and Teresa West dropped from the ceiling. The men emerging from the elevator began talking fast and loud to one another, and then Jack opened fire. Teresa dived behind Jess and Becker just as a bullet smacked into the ground where she'd previously been crouched, and she too started taking pot shots at their opponents. A bullet hit the ADD, sending glass and sparks everywhere, and Jess screamed.

"Teresa!" Becker yelled over the noise. He went unanswered, and Jess looked up at the Sargent. She wasn't firing anymore. She was still crouched behind the ADD, but she was staring straight at Jack, a look of confusion and amazement on her face. For some reason, she hadn't expected to see him here, and she didn't quite know how to process the fact that he was.

"Sargent West!" Becker shouted again, and Teresa blinked, coming down to Earth with the proverbial bump. "Get Jess out of here, now," he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. Teresa nodded once and got to her feet, still using the ADD as a shield. She pulled Jess up off the floor and fired two shots through the computer system.

"As soon as there's a pause, run for the shaft," Teresa whispered in Jess' ear. Jess nodded, far too terrified to point out that the shaft Teresa had dropped in from was completely exposed. "I'll go up first and pull you up after me, got it?" Teresa didn't wait for Jess' reply. "Okay, go!" In the sudden and slightly disconcerting silence, the two of them ran for the middle of the room.

Hehehe. Is it wierd to love your own characters? Cos I really love Jack :P
So yes, did you enjoy? Did you hate? Please leave a review and tell me!