Here's the next chapter people ;) I hope you like it,

Disclaimer applies as per usual

This should be wrapping up soonish. I have to say I'll be sad to see this finished :/ I think this has been my best fic so far, or at least one of my favourites

This one is dedicated to The Sheep Of Destiny because I'm so glad that this is the first of this type of story for this fandom that you like ^.^ (if that makes sense, i may have worded that oddly)

I would like to thank all of you for reviewing and keeping with this story, it means so much to me that you like it

Enjoy ^.^

Over the next week everyone had noticed the dramatic change in their Field Coordinator. She never wore skirts anymore, or short sleeves, or high heels. Her hair was always down and the colours that she wore had become dimmer.

Jess had had to replace her entire wardrobe with trousers and long sleeved tops and cardigans and sensible shoes. But even though there was no room for them, she couldn't bear to throw away her bright, cheerful, rainbow clothes and kept them in various suitcases under her bed. Jess now sported large bangles on her wrists in case her sleeves rode up to reveal the bruises that never faded, because Darren kept replenishing them. After that second time, Darren had stopped pretending to be nice behind closed doors. Every night, in one way or another, Jess would have to meet up with him and suffer the consequences. She remembered her former self, and how she had been shocked when Darren had slapped her and she laughed bitterly. On a good day, Darren would give her no more than a punch or two to the gut; on a bad …

Jess stopped that train of thought quickly as she limped over to the ADD and gingerly lowered herself into her chair, trying not to think about the beating she had gotten last night. She had broken a glass. That was all, and seeing as Darren had been at her house anyway you wouldn't think that he'd have minded. But apparently he had

'Pathetic' and 'useless' were his words of choice, he spat them at her again and again as she cowered on the floor, trying in vain to deflect his blows as they rained down on her stomach, her legs, her back, anywhere that he could reach that she could cover up.

He was right, she thought as she tapped a few keys. She was pathetic. Why did she keep making him hit her? Why did she always do something wrong?

Jess sniffed and impatiently wiped away a tear, forbidding the rest to fall I have to be strong she told herself it's no good ignoring the pain when it deserves to be there. I have to feel it and deal with it without making a mess of myself.

Nonetheless … it did hurt very badly. Jess had barely been able to eat anything without her abused stomach fighting back, so most of the time she didn't bother. This had caused her to lose weight, which gave her less protection against Darren who hurt her stomach more which didn't let her eat … it was a vicious cycle which just gradually increased the agony she was already in. Her colleagues had mostly given up on asking her what was wrong, they knew she wouldn't tell. But they worried about her, and that made her feel worse. I'm a terrible friend on top of everything else she thought. Jess sat very still and straight, knowing that leaning either forward or back would hurt even more, but the effort of keeping that way was making her shoulders ache. It was a no win situation, so Jess lost every time.

'Hey Jess' She jumped, she hadn't heard him approach, she squelched the wince and spun in her chair to smile at him

'Hi Becker' her smile was reserved. It was friendly but didn't invite conversation. It was a fine balance between being rude and friendliness that Darren would accept for the appearance of normality.

'Are you alright?' it was a stupid question he knew, she didn't look alright. Her make up had gone back to normal now but there were dark circles under her eyes, which were slightly red, as if she had been crying. Her hair was lank and lacked its usual glossy shine; she was wearing a thin, blue shirt and beige linen trousers that reached all the way down to her sensible black shoes. She was thinner than she had been this time last week, when she had told him she'd be going on a diet.

'Yeah' she said absently, going back to the screen, even though it was blank of any information 'you?'

'Yeah' Becker mimicked, with the air of someone who had had this conversation every day for the past week. They had.

'I see your diet is going well then' Becker said, desperately trying to come up with something original to say.

'What!' Jess squeaks, her eyes wide as she faces him again

'The diet' he repeated, gesturing to her frail frame. 'What size are you now? You were a …' he wracks his brains '12?' Jess nodded and her face relaxed slightly 'Oh, yeah. I'm a 10 now.'

'Well done' he said; voice hollow. He knows that women like to be thin, but Jess doesn't look happy with her sudden downsize.

'Thanks' she gave him a wry smile and turned back to the ADD. Becker sighed as he recognized that as a dismissal… he really needed to shoot something. He headed off to the shooting range, dropping a hand onto Jess' shoulder as he passed. This had become routine now, the only physical contact that they shared, what Becker hadn't expected was for Jess to wince as he gave what he thought was a comforting squeeze.

'Jess?' the question was clear in his voice; the answer was also clear in her eyes, but her voice lied to him

'It's nothing' Becker's eyes narrowed at her and Jess sighed 'I was carrying around a laptop bag all day yesterday and my shoulder got a bit bruised. That's all' her eyes said differently, and Becker contemplated them suspiciously as he tried to figure out what exactly her eyes were saying. Before he could figure it out however, a shout of laughter came from behind him

'Jess, sweetheart. Are you up for tonight?' Jess closed her eyes for half a second before spinning around to face him with a huge smile

'Hey Darren' she said brightly 'of course I am, can't wait' Darren kissed her on the mouth and pulled her up from her chair, he wrapped an arm securely around her waist, holding her to him,

Becker noticed that Jess's smile faltered when he squeezed, and she looked as if his hold was too tight, but it didn't look like it was. Maybe Jess just wasn't so keen on the contact. Then he noticed that he was standing there like an idiot, watching this happy couple and trying to find fault just to soothe his ego.

'Everything alright mate?' Darren asked him, smiling as if he couldn't believe his luck in wooing Jess, Becker grunted in reply

'Yeah' he said, realising that he sounded like Jess had been recently 'fine' he then turned on his heel and hurried towards his beloved guns.

Only now did Jess allow her fear and pain to show, the hub was pretty much deserted and no one was paying attention

'Darren' she whispered 'You're holding me too tight, it hurts' Darren glared down at her, his grey eyes like steel as they flashed angrily, Darren tightened his arm and Jess let out a breathy squeak that didn't attract any attention.

'You'll pay for that' he murmured in her ear 'for talking to him, you looked as if you were about to tell him something that you'd regret' Jess shook her head, eyes wide and fearful

'No' she insisted 'no I'd never…'

'Just in case you ever did want to blab' he cut her off 'I'm going to show you why you should keep quiet' he then pushed her back into her chair, with the air of someone playful, then he gave her a wink, and strolled off. Jess just sat there for a minute, shocked, now that Darren had put pressure on the bruises on her stomach and sides and Becker had unwittingly pressed on the ones on her shoulder it was going to be painful to move, it was a good thing she could just sit in her chair all day, even though the tiniest jolt would send agony through her, she would have to live with it. And she would bet her favourite flip flops that she would be feeling much worse by tomorrow.

Later on, in the armoury, Becker stopped packing up suddenly. It had been bugging him all day and he finally got it. That message in her eyes, the one that had been hidden as well as she could, masking it with joy and amusement, Becker closed the last EMD case and sprinted out of the room, heading towards the hub as quickly as he could.

Too late. She must have left already. Becker ran a hand through his hair. He would address the message tomorrow he thought; to make sure that he was certain that he was right, even though his gut told him he was.

He had realised just as he was replaying the part when Darren came in, as he held her against him Becker had seen that message flash in her eyes

Help me

So ... what do you think of Jess's silent plea? And Becker picking it up?

Should Becker wait until tomorrow? Or should he go now and bust down the door while Darren is in the act? Should Becker feed him a chocolate orange as punishment?

Let me know ^.^

I love you all

Love Tibbins xx