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Chapter Two, Torture

"Jess? You OK in there?"

"Yes, Abby," she said through the stall. "I'm...fine."

"We must leave."

"I know, Em. I heard the announcement, toxic eels. Be careful."

Jess heard the door. She waited to make sure they both left. Then she cried. She didn't know why she was so upset. The man was a maggot. He was a killer, a monster.

'Monster's crush people,' she thought, seeing the image of Becker breaking the man's fingers. "Monster's...skin...people," she said aloud, with a gag. "Oh...I feel ill."

Slowly she walked out of the stall and to the mirror. She reapplied her makeup and gargled with a small bottle of mouthwash she kept for such occasions. She sighed. She knew he was lethal. She knew he could...kill. She never thought of him...torturing people. She saw that sick smile. It was like...he enjoyed it.

"Of course he didn't," she said quickly. She brushed her hair. "He had to do it. He had no choice. He saved...millions."

She stared at her reflection. So why did the picturing of his face suddenly make her ill?

Becker was disturbed when he went back to Ops and she wasn't there. No one seemed to know where she was. He half expected everyone in Ops to be staring at him. Apparently they hadn't caught the show. He didn't really care. He only cared about one person's opinion and he was fairly sure it had changed. At least toward him.

He wondered if she'd gone to the ladies' room. He decided to check, running into her as she came out.

She looked startled.

"You've been crying."

"Oh. I'm OK," she said, looking down.

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Then why won't you even look at me?"

She forced herself to. She even tried a smile, but was certain it was pathetic.

He sighed. "I asked you not...I didn't want..." He sighed again. "I had to."

"I know. I know," she said, reaching out to touch his hand. She gasped and quickly drew her hand away. "You...missed a spot," she said.

Becker looked down and saw a small, reddish spot on his thumb.

"Excuse me," she said quickly and moved away.

"Jess..." he called after her, but she ignored him. He stood alone in the hallway listening to the sound of heels moving faster and further away.

Jess avoided him. She had to. She couldn't help...the revulsion she felt. She didn't want to feel it for him, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't forget what she saw.

It was different now. She knew he was capable of awful things, but to actually see...and hear it? She never imagined anything so bad.

She went blindly through the day. She directed the teams on the water, the eels hadn't gotten out. They easily found the large warehouse near an abandoned boat dock. They had confiscated the eels, the boats, and about ten perpetrators.

Abby was happy they had the eels in case they needed an anti-toxin in the future.

Matt was worried. Where did the toxin and the eels come from? Were they naturally infected? Were the eels brought through the anomaly? Was the toxin man made? Who was behind it all? He was fairly sure this was a larger group.

Becker shared his concerns, but he was a soldier. He went where ordered. Let Matt and Connor figure out where that was. He had learned not to get overly worried or emotional over the 'big picture.'

And then there was Jess. He was overly worried and concerned with the picture she had of him. She was definitely different now. Of course, it hadn't been a whole day yet.

"So, we've wrapped up every loose end we can for the moment," said Matt. "We've got units out monitoring all the water ways."

"You believe there are other eels out there?" asked Lester in alarm.

"Not that we've found," said Matt. "We have to be on guard."

"Agreed," said Lester.

"Jess found something," said Becker.

She jumped at the sound of his voice. "I did," she said. It had been ages since they caught the man that Becker...She'd nearly forgot about the device he had. "It's not exactly future tech," said Jess, handing Lester a flash drive.

"So maybe they aren't devotees of the Helen Cutter School of Future Terrorism?"

She laughed. "Hardly. I've already de-crypted it and sent teams to two other sites to investigate. Plus, the drive also includes other locations, possible sites and a long list of names. It's actually rather embarrassing, leaving all their info on a puny flash drive."

Connor laughed. "I have to agree."

"Could they really be just low level crack pots?" asked Lester.

"With enough toxin and eels to kill the population of London?" asked Becker.

"There is nothing that we've collected," said Emily, "to infer that they are from another time."

"The toxin doesn't seem abnormal," said Abby. "We're early in the stages of study of course, but we're rather relieved at this point. We're fairly sure we can combat it if it is released."

"Thanks to more info on the drive," said Jess, "which I easily decrypted. Repeating that. Just for fun." She smiled.

"Yes, you're brilliant," Becker said with a smile back.

She looked at him with a frown, which she tried to cover with a smile. But from the look on his face, she could tell it didn't work.

"So...disaster averted," said Lester.

Everyone nodded.

"For now," said Matt, making them groan.

"We'll have more information by tomorrow," said Connor, with Jess nodding.

"And I doubt they're even aware of how much we do know," said Jess.

"Which is always good," said Becker.

They all agreed.

"I suggest that we should regain our energy," said Emily.

"Fine. Call it a night," said Lester.

They milled out. Jess dashed quickly away, to Becker's disappointment. She gathered her things from the locker room and walked to her car.

A man appeared in front of her. She screamed.

"Easy. It's me, Jess."

Becker. Jess was ashamed that she wasn't relieved. "Um...hi."

"We need to talk."

"No. I mean...not now. I'm...knackered," she said, with an awkward smile.

"Jess, please," he said, grabbing her arm.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed.

Becker stared in alarm.

She stared back, biting her lip. She felt awful. She couldn't help it.

"S-sorry," he said, his face completely fallen. He turned abruptly and swiftly left.

"B..." she began, but stopped. She sighed. She felt a tear well up. 'He couldn't help it,' she kept saying.

She heard footsteps behind her. She sighed. "Becker, not now, please. I need time..."

She was grabbed from behind, a bag thrust over her head. She screamed, but the bag muffled it. She was lifted off the ground and carried away.

Only her bag with spilled contents were left laying by her car.

Becker had barely gotten a block from the ARC when his mobile pinged. It was the emergency tone from Security. "What's wrong?"

"Sir...I don't..."

"Thompson? What's going on?"

There was a pause. "I think I just watched someone abduct Miss Parker."

End of Chapter Two