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

Chapter Summary:Connor is with Abby in the menagerie when Jess comes in with tears in her eyes, a bad feeling falls over Connor and it's all he can do to hope that he's wrong.

Chapter Length: 1537

Author's Note: I'll only be posting one chapter tomorrow, as—unlike the last few—the next chapter isn't followed by one that pairs with it. This is getting really close to finishing now, only five chapters to go.

Open Mic Nights

Chapter 24 – Confrontation

Connor was with Abby in her office having lunch when Emily and Jess came in. The couple had been laughing at the antics of Rex, Sid, and Nancy, but that died away when they saw the tears in Jess' eyes and the worry on Emily's face.

"What's wrong?" Abby asked, concerned.

Jess didn't reply, she just shook her head and sunk down onto the couch on the other side of the room, tears beginning to stream down her face. Abby moved to sit next to Jess while Connor joined Emily, who was still standing in the door way.

"What happened?" Connor asked Emily, hoping she could shed some light on the situation.

"I do not know." Emily told him. "I was on my way to see Matt when I passed Jess fleeing through the hallways, tears in her eyes and a hand pressed to her mouth. I followed her to the ladies room where she was sick, though I think that had more to do with being pregnant than it did with why she was crying."

Connor was at a loss as to what could be causing Jess such turmoil. It had seemed like she was in a better place when they spoke that morning, and every time Connor had seen her at her work station it had looked like her mood was continuing to improve. Sure, she had admitted to being overwhelmed by everything, but it looked like she was starting to get excited about what lay in front of her. She had even agreed that—regardless of where they stood—Becker deserved the chance to be a part of the baby's life. But now, it was like all those positive emotions she had been feeling had suddenly turned into misery, and her friends couldn't stand to see her like this.

"Thinking on it now though, I am certain I saw Jess coming from the direction of the armoury." Emily whispered.

Connor got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Jess was coming from the armoury it could only mean one thing, but he really hoped he was wrong.

They waited for Jess to regain her composer. Once she had, they tried again to find out what had happened.

"Jess, what happened?" Emily asked, sitting down on Jess' other side. "What caused you to go fleeing through the corridors?"

"B-B-Becker." Jess got out between hiccups.

Connor's bad feeling worsened. He knew Becker had been an idiot when he had called things of with Jess, but he had tried to stay out of what was going on between the two of them. Despite his brotherly feelings towards Jess, Becker was still his friend and he owed it to him to try and stay impartial. But, as his friend, Connor also knew how stupid Becker could be when it came to talking about his feelings. Though, surly, he wouldn't be such an arse when it came to discussing a subject as sensitive as this one. Would he? He wasn't one of those guys that got angry and blamed the girl.

"Come on Jess, tell us what happened. We're worried about you." Abby prompted when she didn't continue.

This time Jess just shook her head in response, causing Connor's bad feeling to intensify once again. Connor, Abby, and Emily shared a concerned look, whatever happened must have been pretty bad if Jess didn't even want to talk about it.

"What did he say when you spoke with him?" Emily asked, her voice gentle. But again all Jess did was shake her head in response.

"How did he react to the baby news?" Connor asked praying that his gut feeling was wrong.

Connor's question caused Jess to burst out into tears again, and bury her head in her hands. This was all the answer Connor needed, he knew what had happened. Jess had told Becker about the baby and he had reacted badly; probably blaming Jess for the entire thing and then telling her that she'd have to do this on her own.

Looking at Abby and Emily, Connor could see similar thoughts reflected in their eyes. None of them could believe Becker would treat Jess this way, and Connor wasn't about to let him get away with it.

Connor was angry; he had tried to understand what Becker was going through. He had even defended him when Abby and Emily had been bad mouthing him behind his back. Now it turned out the girls were right, and Connor was done defending his actions.

Jumping up, Connor rushed out of the menagerie. Fury coursed through his veins as he marched to the armoury, where he knew he would find Becker. He was going to give the Captain a piece of his mind.

"BECKER!" Conner yelled as he stormed into the room, anger resinating in his voice.

The soldier spun around in surprise and Connor used this to his advantage, taking a swing at him. Connor's fist connected with Becker's jaw, causing him to take a step back. The fact that Connor had actually managed to make contact was a testament to how surprised Becker was at seeing the young scientist so mad.

"What the hell?" Becker asked instead of hitting Connor back like he wanted to. What's your problem Temple?"

"What's my problem? What's yours? Why would you act like such an arse? You know, I've been defending you, telling everyone you're not a bad guy you've just got stuff to work out. But you had to go be a jerk and now I look like an idiot. What's worse is you've gone and hurt someone I care about, someone we all care about. Someone I thought you cared about."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Je…"

"Connor no!" Abby yelled bursting into the room. Pulling Connor aside so they weren't overheard Abby continued. "Please tell me you didn't say anything about Jess or the baby."

"No, I was just about to when you pulled me away."

"Thank God!" Abby exclaimed, relieved that she had got there in time. "You can't say anything; she didn't actually talk to him. He doesn't know."

"What? Why didn't she talk to him?"

"She was going too. But when she came down here to talk to him, she found him kissing some blond tramp that works here as a lab technician."

"What! The bastard, he said he couldn't be with Jess because they worked together, though we all know that's total bullshit. I thought he just needed to work through his fear; now you're telling me he just used her. Got what he wanted and moved on to the next girl."

"We don't know that." Abby said, trying to reason with Connor. She could tell he was getting worked up and she didn't want him trying to take on Becker again. All that would accomplish is landing him in the med-bay.

But it became apparent that Connor hadn't heard her when he continued speaking.

"He doesn't even care what this is doing to her. I can only imagine how he'd react to the baby."

"Would you keep your voice down! This isn't the type of news you want to hear by accident. Jess doesn't want to hang around so Emily's taking her home, and I think we should go with her."

"Why?"

"Because you're not thinking straight and Jess is going to need both of us."

As Connor's anger faded away he could see the logic behind Abby's argument; and he knew she was right about Jess. She was going to need both of them tonight. The break-up had been hard on her and learning that Becker had moved on so quickly must hurt. He knew that if Abby ever left him and then moved on that quickly he'd be devastated, he wouldn't know how to go on with life. He also knew that if that ever happened Jess would be there for him, so he was going to be there for her now.

Nodding, Connor followed Abby out of the room. Pausing in the door way he turned and looked at Becker again.

"I thought you were better than that."

Connor and Abby spent that night at Jess', not wanting to leave her alone. They were worried about Jess; she wasn't taking what she found out today very well. She had stopped crying, but had instead become catatonic. She spent the entire time from when they got home, to when she went to bed, just sitting on the couch staring blankly at the television. She didn't move, and she didn't respond any time either of them tried to get her to talk. It took reminding her of the baby growing inside her to get her to eat dinner, and even then she only ate a bowl of soup.

Jess went to bed early that night, claiming to be tired, but Connor suspected that sleep was the only way she was going to get a break from the thoughts that were no doubt plaguing her mind. He wished there was something he or Abby could do for her, but asides from being there and supporting her, there really wasn't a lot they were able to do.