Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or it's characters.

Secrets

Chapter 9 – Guardianship

Jess was sitting at the ADD bored out of her brains. They were back down to only a couple of anomalies a week, which Connor thought was normal after the events of convergence. The only down side was that it meant a lot of the ARC's staff didn't actually have anything to do while at work. A fact that was starting to get on Jess' nerves, and not just because she was one of the people that often had nothing to do. It was frustrating her because the people who had no work tended to linger in the hub, chatting, and making it harder for her to focus when she actually had work she could be doing.

She often found herself envying the other members of the core team, who didn't have positions that depended on the anomalies being active. Abby still had her work in the menagerie, and the animals to care for. Matt and Emily had dedicated their time to ensuring the woman knew everything she needed to about life in the twenty-first century. While Connor had thrown himself into his research. He still believed he could find a way to reopen the anomaly that Becker had been lost through. They all believed he could do it and waited anxiously for the day when he would come running out of his lab declaring that he had.

Jess sighed, and wished—not for the first time—that Becker were there.

I wouldn't mind it if he was one of the people loitering in the hub distracting me.

It was around mid-afternoon when Lester asked Jess to come to his office, telling her he need to speak with her. Handing the ADD off to one of the lingering techs she entered the office, shutting the door behind her.

"You wanted to see me sir."

"Yes, have a seat Miss Parker."

Jess sat down and waited for Lester to continue.

"I just received a call delivering the judge's decision in your case."

Jess sucked in a breath. The case had been decided, she may now be Lily and Maddie's legal guardian.

"And?"

"The judge has decided to allow you to be Becker's daughters legal guardian until such a point were progress has been made in the Captain's missing person case."

"Which means?"

"It means, when the Captain is either found or pronounced dead, your case will be reopened and a permanent solution will be decided on. A day that may come sooner than either of us want."

"How? Connor still isn't close to having his device ready."

"The Minister is under the impression that if we haven't been able to go after Captain Becker by now, we're not going to be able to go after him at all. He wants to have the Captain pronounced dead and close the case. I managed to buy us some time, but I can't say how long."

"He can't do that! He can't pronounce Becker dead!"

"Unfortunately Miss Parker, he can. I'll do what I can but I can't imagine we have a lot of time left."

"I-I… I have to go tell the others."

Jess left Lester's office in shock. Using their radio links she contacted the rest of the core team and asked them to meet in Matt's office, telling them she needed to speak with them immediately.

###

The team met as Jess requested, each of them waiting anxiously for the woman who had called the meeting to arrive.

"Jess, what is this about?" Matt asked the moment the woman walked in.

"We received the verdict in regards to my request to be the girls' legal guardian."

"I'm sorry, this is a good thing, is it not?" Emily queried.

"Well, it is and it isn't. The judge granted me guardianship on a temporary basis."

"What's that mean?"

"It means I'm their guardian until Becker's either found or pronounced dead, at which point the case would reopen. If Becker is found custody will just revert back to him, which is what I want anyway, so that's not a problem. But in the case of Becker being pronounced dead, I'd be assessed and either remain Lily and Maddie's guardian, or they'd go into foster care."

"So after all this, they're still at risk of going into the system?"

Jess nodded.

"That's not fair!" Connor exclaimed, clearly upset.

"It gets worse."

"Jess, how could it possibly get any worse?"

"Lester told me the Minister wants to have Becker pronounced dead."

"What!" They exclaimed simultaneously before breaking out into a chorus of angry chatter.

"He can't fucking do that!"

"Is that the thanks Becker gets for putting his life on the line every day?"

"There has to be something we can do."

"Lester's spoken with him and he managed to buy us some time, but he doesn't think the Minister will hold out long."

"Connor, have you made any progress towards reopening the anomaly?" Matt asked, the first to recover his composure.

"I have the data from the anomaly that I need, and I think I'm close to having the design for the device done. Then it's just a matter of building it."

"Well you might want to hurry, it doesn't look like we have a lot of time left."

"Right." With that Connor was gone, hurrying through the ARC's hallways back towards his lab, he was determined to get his device done. He wasn't going to abandon Becker, and he certainly wasn't going to risk having Lily and Maddie put into foster care.

I just hope he gets the device done in time.

That night Jess made the girls one of their favourite dinners. She decided that, despite the fact that they had received some horrible news that day, the fact that she was now Lily and Maddie's legal guardian was something worth celebrating. Especially as she was sure the news would make both of them happy. She'd worry about the possibility of the case being reopened once they know if they have a chance of rescuing Becker.

"So I got some interesting news today at work." Jess said as they were eating dinner.

"What?" Lily asked, always willing to talk.

"The judge that was handling our case called my boss today, and I am now your legal guardian."

"So no one can take us away from you?"

"That's right." Jess didn't tell them about the judge's stipulation, or the Minister's decision. There was no point in worrying them when they weren't sure what would happen next.

Both girls were happy at the news. It was clear that this provided them with a sense of security that they hadn't had since Becker disappeared. Jess just hoped that that security would last.