Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Chapter Summary: Jess goes to pick Abby and Connor up from the airport, while on their way back Matt calls, telling them Abby and Connor are needed at an anomaly site, and Jess ends up out in the field, much to Becker's dismay.

Chapter Length: 3062

Author's Note: So work has quietened down quite a bit and with uni not going back for a couple more weeks, I'm getting chapters done really quickly. If I keep going at this pace I should be able to update every couple of days :) I've got another long chapter for you, enjoy X

Open Mic Nights

Chapter 18 – Field Work

It had been ten days since the wedding and Jess was on her way to pick Abby and Connor up from the airport. They were returning from their honeymoon today and Jess couldn't wait to see them. The three of them had become best friends while living together and Jess had missed them both dearly. She was looking forward to seeing them and showing them their new house. She would miss living with them, but the fact that Becker had practically moved in with her made Abby and Connor moving out a lot easier to deal with.

Jess parked her car and then went to find the baggage claim area, where she told Abby and Connor she'd meet them.

Seeing her friends as they came through the gate, Jess shrieked and ran over to them, throwing her arms around them. Abby and Connor hugged her back, just as happy to see her again as she was them.

"I missed you both so much."

"We missed you too Jess."

"Though I doubt you missed having us around the flat." Connor said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Jess blushed at Connor's comment, she considered denying it but they all knew he was right. While she had missed hanging out with them, she had definitely enjoyed all the alone time with Becker.

Collecting the couple's bags the group made their way out to the car.

As Jess drove Abby and Connor told her about some of the things they had seen on their honeymoon. Though their trip had been short—they couldn't afford to take too much time away from work with the nature of their jobs—the couple had enjoyed it immensely. They had gone to Paris and had spent most of their time their visiting some of its most famous attractions. They had gone to see the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe—though when they went to see that last sight Connor had complained that they were on their honeymoon, and that they shouldn't have anything to do with arcs of any nature. At Connor's insistence, they spent a day at Euro Disney, going on rides, and seeing some of the shows and attractions the park had to offer. They had also done the Montmartre Walk, which had taught them a lot about the country they were in and was much more enjoyable than they had originally thought it would be.

They weren't far into their journey when Jess' phone started ringing. Fishing it out of her bag, Jess checked the caller ID, pressing the answer button when she saw Matt's name flashing on the screen. She put the phone on speaker, assuming whatever Matt was calling about was something they should all hear.

"Jess, have Abby and Connor arrived yet?" He asked in lieu of saying hello.

"Yeah, we're on the way to their place now."

"An anomaly has opened up and we need their help. Actually Jess, we could use your help too; can the three of you go to the ARC. Abby, Connor, take one of the trucks and meet us at the address I'm sending to you. Jess, pull up the CCTV footage, we know one creature has come through, see if there's any others." Finished giving his orders Matt disconnected.

"So much for a day to settle in before going back to work." Connor muttered from the back seat.

Abby and Connor's phones chimed, indicating that they both had messages.

"What the address?" Jess asked. "I want to work out how long it'll take you to get there from the ARC."

Abby read off the address they were sent and Jess put it into her GPS. The anomaly was at a leisure centre ten minutes from where they currently were. Jess turned left, changing direction and headed towards the anomaly sight.

"Jess, where're you going?" Abby asked.

"To the anomaly sight."

"But Matt wanted us to go to the ARC."

"It'll take us twenty minutes to get there and you another thirty to get to the sight, who knows what could happen in that time. They need back up now and this is the only way they're going to get it."

"What about the CCTV footage?"

"It's a leisure centre; I'll be able to access it there."

"But you're not trained to be out in the field." Connor said in a final attempt to get Jess to go to the ARC.

"I've defused a bomb and fought of future predators while trying to take care of a wounded Lester; I'll be fine."

Abby and Connor's protests died away, it was clear Jess had made up her mind and nothing was going to sway her.

Becker saw a car pull up in the gyms parking lot and felt a sense of relief wash through him. He was glad Abby and Connor were back, the replacements he'd had to deal with while they were away were clueless, and he thought if he had to work with them again he would end up shooting one of them. Maybe they'd be able to get through an alert quickly, and without incident for the first time since the couple went away; and this was definitely the type of alert where it would be best if it were incident free.

When the team had arrived at the anomaly sight they had set about getting the building cleared of civilians. As they were doing that a loud scream came from the weights room. Running in the direction it had come from, Becker found a teenage boy cornered by a sabretooth tiger. Acting quickly, he shot the tiger with his EMD, before preceding to escort the boy from the building. He reported what had happened to Matt and they decided that they needed to make sure all members of the public had been cleared, and find out if any other creatures had come through before doing anything else.

Becker started towards the car—intending to brief Abby and Connor—but stopped short when he saw that they weren't the only ones getting out of the vehicle. Jess stepped out of the car and his blood ran cold.

What the hell is she doing here?

Coming out if his stupor Becker marched over to the car, trying to keep the emotions he was feeling in check.

"What are you doing here Jess? You were told to go to the ARC."

"You need Abby and Connor, and time is of the essence. If we had gone back to the ARC it would have taken them almost an hour to get back here, coming straight here made more sense."

"Fine. But why did you get out of the car?" Becker was trying hard to keep his voice level.

"Well, I can't very well do my job from inside the car."

"No, but your job is back at the ARC." Becker's voice rose as he tried to make Jess see reason.

"Need I remind you that time is important; we'd be wasting it if you waited until I got back to the ARC to get the information you need. It makes more sense for me to stay here. I can just as easily do my job from one of the computers inside."

"But you're not field trained!"

"No, but I think my real life experience more than makes up for it."

"You can't be here Jessica! It's not safe, why can't you see that!"

"I know the risks Becker, and I'm staying whether you like it or not."

Jess glared at him and Becker knew that the argument was over, and that he had lost.

"Fine! But you're staying by me the whole time."

Jess nodded her agreement, and once everyone had been outfitted with an EMD they went in search of the anomaly.

Inside, they split up into smaller teams to search the building; Matt and Emily took the lower level, Abby and Connor searched the top floor, while Jess and Becker went looking for the security room, so Jess could try and pinpoint the anomaly.

Becker was hyper aware of Jess' presence at his side as they made their way through the now deserted halls of the gym. All he could think was that Jess shouldn't be there. She should be at the ARC, safe behind the screens of the ADD. The chances of her getting hurt out here were too high, and Becker didn't know what he would do if something happened to her. He was sure that if he lost her he would lose the will to live, and this time there wouldn't be any bright and bubbly field coordinators to bring him back from the edge.

They turned a corner that would lead them to the controls room, and came face to face with three sabretooth tigers. Drawing their attention Becker took off down an adjacent hallway, hoping they would follow him and leave Jess alone. He heard a clicking noise echo through the corridor, and knew that Jess had had run off as well, hopefully in the opposite direction to him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw that two of the sabres were chasing him.

Shit! One of them has gone after Jess.

Becker ducked into a room at the end of the hallway, and hid behind the open door. The tigers followed him, slowly, into the room. When they reached the centre Becker jumped out from his hiding place and fired two quick shots, taking out both sabres. Doubling over in relief, Becker paused to catch his breath.

"Jess!"

Still breathless, Becker sprinted back in the direction he came from, hoping with every fibre of his being that she was okay. Why had he left her alone? Drawing the sabretooths attention had seemed like a good idea at the time, but all he'd done was make her more vulnerable.

He reached the place he and Jess had split ways and continued on in the direction he had seen her run off. Rounding a corner Becker found Jess facing the tiger that had chased her, her EMD missing. The sabretooth pounced before Becker had a chance to shoot it, and took Jess down.

In that moment Becker felt like his heart had stopped, but thanks to his training he was able to act quickly and shoot the tiger, knocking it out. He ran over to Jess and carefully pulled her out from under the tiger. The fall had knocked her out and there was blood coming from the back of her head—though not enough to suggest a serious injury—there was a large gash on her left hip from where the sabretooths claws had sunk into her skin.

"Come on Jess, wake up. You're okay, wake up Jess. Please wake up. Please." Becker pleaded.

"We've located and locked the anomaly, any creatures found?" Matt's voice came through the radio link, but the words didn't register in Becker's mind. Nor did any of the responses that followed; the only thoughts that occupied his mind were thoughts of Jess. He had spent months denying how he felt because he was scared of losing someone else close to him, and now he was living his worst fear. Jess was lying in his arms—unconscious and injured—and there wasn't anything he could do for her.

"Becker! Snap out of it Captain!" Emily's stern voice—followed by a slap across the face—cleared the fog from Becker's mind and he brought his attention back to his surroundings. Looking around he realised he had been joined by the other four members of the team.

"We…we got separated, one of the sabretooths gave chase, i-it got to her before I did." Becker had tried to keep his voice calm, but even he could hear the tremble in it, he was glad none of his soldiers were around to witness his loss of control.

Matt nodded and raised his hand to his ear, turning his ear piece back on.

"Carlson, we've found them. Becker's fine but Jess has been injured. I need you to gather the rest of the soldiers and begin clean up, Abby and Connor…" The couple's heads shot up at the mention of their names. Matt knew from the looks on their face that—like Becker—neither of Jess' former flatmates had any intention of leaving her.

"Emily and I will be over shortly to help get the creatures back through the anomaly and liaison with members of the public."

Turning his ear piece off again Matt re-joined the group huddled around the unconscious field coordinator.

"Becker, you, Abby, and Connor, get Jess to the ARC and have her treated. Emily and I will join you as soon as everything here has been taken care of."

Becker wanted nothing more than to get Jess to safety and stay by her side until she woke up; but he still had a job to do and he knew Jess would want him to make sure everything here was securer. He had to make sure the tigers were safely transported back to their own time, and that the anomaly was properly locked and guarded.

"I need to make sure-"

"What you need…" Matt said cutting him off. "Is to make sure Jess gets the treatment she needs. You're not going to be helping anyone hanging around here when you're worried about Jess. Get her to the ARC and have her looked at, then once she's been cleared, take her home and ensure she gets some rest. We can handle everything here."

Becker nodded. Matt was right, he wouldn't be any help while he was so worried about Jess.

Becker picked Jess up and made his way out to the car park, Abby and Connor following behind him. When they reached his truck Connor climbed into the driver's seat while Abby helped Becker get Jess into the back of the car. They lay Jess across the back seat—her head resting in Becker's lap—and strapped her in as best as they could. Becker was reminded of the last time they had been in a car like this and hoped Jess wasn't as close to death as she had been then.

###

They drove in silence, all of them too worried about Jess to try and make conversation. When they arrived at the ARC Abby helped Becker get Jess out of the truck and they rushed to the medical bay. As Becker carried her through the ARC's hallways, he was again reminded about the last time he was carrying her limp form through the ARC, and again he prayed that she would be okay.

Dr. Fray looked up as they barged into the infirmary. She paled slightly when she saw the unconscious field coordinator, but quickly schooled her face back into a look of impartiality.

"Lay her down over there." Dr. Fray instructed Becker. He laid her on the bed and the moment Jess was out of his arms he was pushed aside.

Becker watched on as the doctor and nurses tended to Jess. One of the nurses tried to see to the cut on his cheek—an injury he hadn't even realised he had, nor did he know how he got it—but he pushed them aside, insisting he was fine, and went back to watching Jess worriedly.

Why did I let her stay? I should have fought harder to get her to leave; put her in a car and drove her back to the ARC myself if that's what it took.

After what felt like an eternity, the nurses were done treating Jess and Dr. Fray came over to speak to Becker.

"How is she?"

"Physically she's fine, we've treated the gash on her hip and the head injury isn't too serious. She'll have a headache for a while but as long as it doesn't last more than a couple days, I wouldn't worry about it."

"If she's fine, why won't she wake up?"

"Her body went into shock as a defence mechanism; she's unconscious so she doesn't feel the pain from her injuries. I've given her something to counteract the pain; she should wake up once it takes effect."

Becker nodded and went to sit by Jess, taking her hand; he wasn't going anywhere until she woke up again.

Come on Jess, you're okay; it's time to wake up.

###

Jess woke up an hour later, and after Dr. Fray had cleared her the two of them left the ARC and returned to Jess' flat; though not before they were visited by Abby, Connor, and a distraught Lester, though he tried to hide this fact from them.

Once back home Becker made sure that Jess followed Dr. Fray's instructions to get rest and not do anything too strenuous. He set her on the couch and made sure she was comfortable, insisting that if she needed anything she let him get it for her.

Though he was being attentive to her every need Jess could tell there was something bothering Becker. He had been distant ever since they had arrived at her flat and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Becker, what's wrong?" she asked grabbing his hands and pulling him down beside her.

"Nothing Jess." He tried to reassure her but it sounded weak even to his own ears. All he could think about was how he had failed to protect her, just like he had failed to protect Cutter, Danny, Abby, Connor, and Sarah.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay." Jess pulled him towards her and kissed him, trying to reassure him further that she was okay.

Becker smiled at her when they pulled apart.

"I love you Jess. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do, and I love you too."

They settled in together to watch a movie, but try as he might Becker couldn't focus on the film. All he could think about was how close he had come to losing someone else he cared about because of their job. He had felt a pain today he had hoped to never feel again, and he would spear Jess from feeling that if he could. Today he had been reminded of why he built up his walls in the first place, and he was beginning to wonder if taking them down had been the right thing to do.