A/N: Wow, great response on my first chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews. Feedback is so fantastic.

Since I'm essentially re-writing S2 to suit myself, some of the scenes and dialogue will track the show a bit. I've tried to adjust the show timeline the best I can but feel free to attribute any deviations to artistic license.

Having the afternoon off from his job at the pub, Bates set off on his mission after his shift ended at the restaurant. Steven wished him well in the venture having already given up on trying to talk him into just walking up to the door and knocking.

"I can't do that," Bates had told him. "Not only did I break Anna's heart, but I left on bad terms with His Lordship."

He regretted the damage to his relationship with the Earl. Under other circumstances, he would have confided in him the truth about Vera's blackmail scheme. But not when it involved Lord Grantham's own daughter. He could not do that to the man.

Finding the house easily, Bates bought a newspaper and installed himself a short way down the street at the corner of a building. Using the paper as both a cover and a shield from others' eyes, he peeked over the top in hopes of spotting her.

An hour passed and nothing. No one entered or left, at least not through the back door which the servants used. He began to suspect that she had no reason to leave the house, and that the growing pain in his knee would force him to give up the venture for that day.

But then he saw her.

His breath caught in his throat and the fingertips holding open the newspaper went numb. She looked so lovely in her fitted coat and woolen hat, the dark colors of both contrasting with her fair skin. She carried a basket and a purse, as though she were out to run errands and pick things up in the city. Bates' heart filled at the sight of her and he involuntarily let the newspaper drop. At the same moment, she looked up.

Her face was so full of sadness that he could have wept. He agreed with Mrs. Hughes - the light in her had dimmed. Her blue eyes, obviously grown used to searching and never finding, made their way down the street to his position, and in an instant, Bates knew that she had seen him.

She froze, her expression one of shock verging on horror.

In that instance, Bates knew he had to escape. He had no intention of her seeing him, and any confrontation would go badly at this point. Dipping around the corner of the building where he'd posted himself, he ducked into an alley and then behind a pile of trash and debris. Littered cigarette butts and empty bottles betrayed the place as a hiding spot for some local youths. He listened to her footsteps as she ran down the alley, obviously following him.

But Bates remained silent and concealed. For a moment, he heard her breaths coming in quick gasps from running so fast.

She'd run after him. He had left her, broken hearted, to return to London with his wife over two years earlier and still, she broke into a run at a tiny glimpse of him. Anguished, he wanted to cry, to let out his pain in heavy sobs and a river of tears. But Anna would hear him. Instead, he brought his fist to his face and pushed it against his lips, hard. When he would have cried out at the sound of her retreating steps, he bit into the flesh of his fingers instead, reveling in the physical agony that so closely mirrored what he'd seen in her face at the sight of him.

He stayed hidden in the alley until he was certain she'd gone.

"How did it go?" Steven asked him the next morning.

"Terrible," he responded miserably. "She spotted me."

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing. I ran away."

Steven chuckled at him wryly. "A real Casanova, you are."

"I never should have gone," Bates sighed. "I was being selfish. Now I've likely stirred up all her old memories again."

"Then maybe you should go and see her, proper-like?" the other man put out. "Now as you've got nothing to lose."

But Bates shook his head. "I'm no closer to a divorce from Vera. Until that happens, I have no business pursuing Anna."

He walked through the rest of the day in a fog, the encounter with Anna weighing on him heavily. How could he have been so stupid to have let her see him? He'd likely only hurt her again, and he hated himself all the more for it.

Vera was in top form that night, tipsy and waiting for him as he returned home.

"I don't know why you won't let me in your room at night," she remarked saucily. "What we do in the bed was always the only thing that worked in our marriage."

"I don't love you," he told her bluntly. "And I have no desire to be with you."

He's said the words to her before, and she cast them off just as readily. "Who said anything about love, my dear? I was talking about having some fun. Surely you can save your love for that harlot at Downton. I doubt very much she ever put out for you-"

"You will not speak of her in that manner, not to me," Bates said sharply, finally having enough.

"Ah, I have hit a nerve," Vera gloated. She eyed him like a cat which had found a juicy mouse hidden in the barn and marked it as prey. "Really, Batesy, do you think your precious Anna will have waited for you all this time? She's probably stepping out with a farmer by now. You know, someone who can actually do something in life."

"If only she was," Bates murmured to himself unhappily, "maybe I could let her go..."

For all her faults, Vera had excellent hearing and a sharp mind. Her general good humor evaporated immediately, replaced by daggers stabbing from her eyes.

"What do you mean?" she demanded. "Have you seen her? You know the rules."

"I haven't seen her," Bates responded quickly, glad that he could inject some truth into that statement.

"You better not have done," Vera warned. "Because if I found out you've gone back on your word..."

Anna's world would be torn to pieces, along with the rest of the people he knew at Downton. Bates could not stand the thought of such an occurrence, not when he had brought this scourge of a woman upon them all.

Vera had no success in enticing him to her bed that night, and he felt great satisfaction at the click of the lock on the bedroom door. If only he could find some proof of her infidelity. The lawyers had said that if he had enough evidence, he could force through the divorce despite Vera's wishes. But his wife was a clever woman. She concealed her affairs well.

He had the next morning off at the restaurant, but he went in anyway just to see if Steven needed help. Any occupation was preferable to dealing with Vera, hung over and irritable. As he entered the kitchen through the back door, he heard the cook talking to someone out in the dining area, Steven's usual laugh carrying through the otherwise empty room. The restaurant would not open to the public for another hour, and out of curiosity, Bates stuck his head out to see who the man conversed with so early in the morning.

His heart nearly stopped dead in his chest.

There she was - Anna. She was sitting at a table opposite Steven, talking like they were old friends. He could not see her face, only her hat and the soft curves of her neck, but he knew it was her.

"So then I says to him, if you can peel a potato as fast as you poured that drink, I've got a job for you," Steven finished his story. The man looked up as he spotted Bates entering the dining area through the kitchen door. "And speak of the devil."

Anna turned towards him, instantly standing from her place at the table. Ten feet, perhaps, separated them. Ten feet and two and a half years, but there she was, looking at him as though no one else in the world existed.

"She came by looking for you this morning, mate," Steven advised him. But Bates could say nothing, unable to take his eyes off Anna. "I'll just leave you to it then," the cook added and disappeared just as quickly.

Bates could not keep the smile off of his face. Even with everything he'd done, all the pain he'd caused her, he could not overcome the sheer joy of being in her presence once more, selfish or not.

"Mrs. Hughes said she saw you, out on the street," Anne explained. "I did some digging and found out you work here." He only nodded. "I had to see you," she went on, "Especially after I thought I spotted you."

"It was me," he confessed. "Mrs. Hughes said everyone was in town for the season, and I so longed for a glimpse of you."

Shrugging shyly, Anna allowed, "Well now you've had it. What next?"

Gesturing to the table she'd just vacated, Bates circled around to take the seat across from her Steven had left. "Would you like to talk?" he asked.

Nodding nervously, she sat down with him. Her gloved hands looked so tiny against the table - he'd forgotten how small and delicate she was. He could also see the resentment in her eyes. Not hate - never hate - but she did betray her anger at him having left her.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, "Perhaps a cup of tea?"

"You can give me an explanation," Anna responded archly.

Ducking his head, he answered, "I wish I could. I've treated you horribly, and for that I can never forgive myself, let alone ask for your forgiveness."

She frowned before stating, "Mrs. Hughes said you haven't been able to get a divorce."

"I've been trying," he said, "but it seems this particular mistake is likely to follow me for the rest of my life. I had no right to involve you, Anna, not before I was sure I could be free."

"I told you how I felt about that," Anna said. He could see that she still clung to her anger at him like a lifeline, but it was quickly slipping through her fingers.

"I can't let Vera hurt you."

She shook her head. "But you already have. Nothing she could do to me would be half as painful as these years spent apart from you."

With a sigh, Bates focused his eyes on the table. Her burning gaze, so full of both love and betrayal, tore at his soul.

"I am so full of regrets, Anna. Had I my life to do over again, I would change so many things."

He'd never have married Vera, that was for certain. He'd have stayed out of the bottle and avoided prison. And upon arriving at Downton, he would have courted Anna properly, free to do so and a much more worthy man. They'd likely have married within a year of meeting, if she'd agreed. And even now they would be happy together, perhaps even with the makings of a small family.

Instead, Anna stared at him across an empty table, the longing of her heart showing through her eyes and the sadness of her expression. "I wouldn't change anything except the day we parted," she told him.

Bates looked away from her, the pain in her eyes scalding his heart.

"We don't have to wait for the divorce," she continued. "We could go away. I would throw up everything and come with you, if you'd let me."

Bigamy was a crime, Bates knew. If he took Anna to another county, perhaps even another country, and tried to marry her, he could face prison again, not to mention what the scandal would do to her. "I can't marry you legally, and I won't break the law," he said.

Anna cocked her head at him as though he had missed the substance of her offer. Clarifying, she said flatly, "It's not against the law to take a mistress, Mister Bates."

I'd live in sin with you.

She spoke so casually of it that he could hardly breath. What Anna was suggesting, what she'd offered to do before... He despised himself for considering the offer, knowing how much of a sacrifice it would require of her. Anna may not be a great lady with a bank full of money or an estate or a noble title. But she was a good woman with a good name and an honest occupation. Being with him would strip her of all that, at least in the eyes of society. Even if they found someplace quiet where others did not know them, one hint of scandal would destroy everything they worked to attain.

And Anna would be the one to shoulder most of the burden. Men had been conducting illicit affairs for centuries, possibly even since time began. They were not looked on favorably, of course, but much of the time such indiscretions were overlooked. But for a respectable woman to do such a thing... it was unthinkable. Her reputation would be forever sullied.

"I know you Anna Smith, and I love you and that is not the right path for you," he told her sincerely, wishing that there was more he could offer her.

But Anna shook her head, determined. "Any path that leads me to you is the right path for me," she insisted.

He could not fathom a reply. Her love and commitment absolutely astonished him. Never could he have imagined someone like her, truly an angel sent from heaven above. An angel and a temptress both.

"I couldn't live with myself for bringing ruin down on you," he sighed.

Sighing at his refusal, Anna stated, "At least tell me what she's threatening. You refused before, and I think I have a right to know."

Bates nodded. She did have a right to know.

"She used my name to get a position working for Lady Flincher. While there, she became privy to a rumor about Lady Mary, something that could destroy her socially."

Anna swallowed. "What?"

"Something about that Turkish gentleman dying in her bed, and that she made you help her carry him back to his own room in the morning."

Anna's mouth fell open and she looked away in shock and shame. So the story was true, Bates instantly deduced.

"She didn't make me," Anna said quietly. "She asked and I was glad to help her. She was beside herself."

"That must have been very difficult for you."

She shrugged. "He was heavy, but I'm hardly a shrinking violent. Lady Mary actually knew the gentleman, so it was much more difficult for her. Of course, you're right - the scandal would do her in if the story ever got out."

Lady Mary and Anna both, although she did not acknowledge that fact.

"You see now, why I left with Vera," he said quietly.

"I feel a little better knowing it wasn't only for me," she allowed. "But I refuse to let you give up on us because of this and I refuse to let you waste the rest of our lives pining. We will be together, Mister Bates. If you cannot get a divorce, then I will love you outside the sanctity of marriage. And I will do so as the happiest woman on earth."

Standing up from the table, Anna added, "I'll be back tomorrow and we can discuss this further. But before I leave, Mr. Bates... I want you to kiss me."

Smiling at her ruefully, Bates got up and circle the table to her side. She stood primly, her shoulders straight and her chin tilted upward as she looked at him. The years of their separation had been kind to her despite the anguish he'd put her through. She still looked as beautiful as the day they'd met, even if her blue eyes seemed a bit darker and more wizened by time.

He wanted to kiss her - oh how he'd dreamed of it - but Bates hesitated, his desire warring with his honor in not wanting to compromise her virtue. They'd kissed once before, but that moment was born of his inappropriate proposal to her. This kiss would be wholly improper.

Anna decided the matter by threading one hand behind his neck and forcibly pulling his mouth down to hers. In an instant, years of restraint vanished, and she melted into his arms. He kissed her deeply, furiously, her lips parting to grant him access to her mouth. The heat of her drove him on, and he pulled her body flush with his, suddenly unable to get enough of her.

She kissed him back with equal abandon, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him in desperation. Her enthusiastic response only stoked his need for her, and when she groaned into his mouth at the feel of his hand on her waist, he almost lost himself.

Finally, he pulled away from her. Her lips were swollen and red from their kiss and her eyes shone as bright as he'd ever seen them. Bates knew that if she did not leave soon, he would be in great danger of embarrassing himself with his growing desire for her.

Sensing his quandary, she told him simply, "I'll be back to see you tomorrow," and dipped out of the empty restaurant.

Taking a moment to collect himself, Bates walked back into the kitchen. Steven looked up from his work as he entered.

"Was it as bad as you feared?" the other man asked.

"Worse," Bates answered honestly. "She still loves me and she wants us to run away together."

"Oh, how awful, mate. I'm sorry," Steven responded sarcastically. His voice switching back to normal, he demanded, "Are you a daft fool, man? That woman is pretty and kind and aside from being head over heels for you, I couldn't see a thing wrong with her."

"Aside from her feelings for me, she is absolutely perfect," Bates confirmed, still remembering the feel of her lips against his and her lithe body molded to him. "And I don't think I have the strength to keep fighting this, Steven. I'm going to give Vera one more chance to grant me the divorce, but if she refuses..." He let out a halting breath. "If she refuses, I will do as Anna wants, the consequences be damned."

His friend clapped him on the back cheerfully. "That's the spirit."

TBC