A/N 1:

Well, it's been a couple of weeks (...months!) *Hangs head in shame* But I managed to finish this during the heatwave that baked my little country over the weekend! There is a lot of talking and explaining in this chapter. I guess it was too hot to write action scenes...just lifting the pen felt like an action scene in itself ;-) But fear not - there will be action aplenty in the upcoming chapters.

This chapter hasn't been beta-read. All mistakes are genuinely mine! I will blame the heat though!

Big, big thanks go to all of you who have patiently followed, favourited and reviewed this story and encouraged me to continue. YOU are ALL FABULOUS, LOVELY people!

A/N 2:

Primeval is not mine! I just borrow to play. Don't sue!

Chapter 11

It had been an exhausting day, Lester thought, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly between his thumb and index finger. And despite the late hour, it wasn't over yet. He sighed as he realised that he wouldn't leave the ARC until way after midnight possibly.

The marathon budget meeting with the Minister had proven to be as tricky and tiresome as Lester had expected. He had managed skilfully and yet subtly to dodge most of the budget cuts the Minister's team had presented the Head of the ARC with.

Lester just shrugged, thinking back to that moment when Milton, the Minister's chief accountant gravely looking at him: "In these dire economic times, it is our duty as a responsible government to make the necessary budgetary sacrifices…" The voice of the bureaucrat had sounded bumptious and Lester briefly wondered what he would sound like, were there some future predators to disrupt their budget negotiations. What a twat! The man clearly had no idea what it cost to operate a menagerie full of prehistoric creatures!

Lester straightened his dark purple silk tie and adjusted his cuffs. His hand-tailored navy blue suit fit impeccably, as usual. At some point he would have to tell Abby that the planned extension of the menagerie with an outdoor area for their herbivores was not going to happen. But that could certainly wait until she was out of medical bay and no longer at risk of losing her baby.

Nor would Becker get his tank. But all in all, the meeting could have gone much worse. None of the funds for research, technology or weaponry were cut. Although Lester knew they were understaffed, he also knew there was no way the Minister would let himself get talked into raising their number of staff. He had fought tooth and claw to protect the ARC against budgetary cuts, but extensions were a different story.

Lester considered the benefits of a nice glass of whiskey for a brief moment, but reasonably decided against it! His long day wasn't over yet. Jess Parker was still locked up in an arrest cell, much to his annoyance. And it affected the team greatly. Connor was hiding away in his lab. Matt and Emily were nowhere to be seen and Becker…Lester sighed deeply. Earlier, the Captain looked like a caged tiger, ready to rip off the head of anyone foolish enough to get near him.

'Let's get that mess cleared up' he thought, got up and walked through his glass office door and down into OPS.

~oOo~

It was with a great deal of regret that Becker finally left Jess behind in her arrest cell. He didn't like leaving her, but he knew Lester was going to be back and this whole situation needed to be straightened out, the sooner the better.

Before talking to Lester, Becker needed to see Connor. As much as Becker hoped he was on the right track, he wanted to be sure about it and the best way for this was to rely on Connor's considerable computing skills.

He went to the staff's break room and opened the door. Emily was busy pouring herself a cup of tea. Turning her head around when she heard the door, she saw Becker look around the room, his face unreadable as usual. He looked exhausted, though.

"Would you like a cuppa?" she said, lifting her own tea invitingly.

Becker glanced at her briefly. He really didn't feel like another lecture about his love life. The whole situation was stressful enough without him having to confront Emily twice in the same day. And he wasn't looking forward to discussing the meaning of duty and order with her, yet again.

But having the entire team in disarray and fighting, when there was a psycho out there threatening Jess, was a crucial mistake they couldn't afford

As Emily was still waiting for his answer, Becker decided to approach her.

"Thank you."

~oOo~

"So, how is Jess?" Abby asked after lifting a forkful of mashed potatoes with gravy off her plate and carefully putting it in her mouth. Although the head end of her bed was elevated in order to allow her a comfortable meal in bed, she still found it tricky to eat in bed without spilling anything or ending up with a sheet full of crumbs.

Connor was sat next to her on a metal chair, slowly munching a sandwich. Becker was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He'd dropped in a few moments ago, after a quick visit with Lampard.

The injured soldier was asleep when Becker arrived, still looking pale, but his vital signs were steady and much stronger than in the morning. The medic told Becker that Lampard had regained consciousness briefly around noon. He had lost 3 toes in the incident with the runners, but luckily his foot could be saved.

Becker hesitated and quickly looked at Connor. He wasn't sure how much Abby knew about the recent events, and he clearly remembered Doctor Burns' advice to spare her any further stress.

After Connor gave him an affirmative sign to continue, Becker said "Emily is with her at the moment."

"And is she going to be fine?" Abby tried to keep her voice free of accusation, but Becker still took the hint.

He still felt raw. Guilty. He had lost Terry and Lampard was still in medical bay. Jess was still in the arrest cell. And Frank was out there, somewhere, determined to hurt her. What would his next move be?

Becker hated to fight invisible enemies. He preferred direct combat. But he was given no choice. He would do anything in his power to protect Jess. Anything.

"Yes, she will be fine" Becker said and the tone of his voice left no doubt that this was nothing less than a promise.

Abby shared a look with Connor. They were both unsurprised to find Becker go to instant protection mode when one of the team member's safety was at risk. And when the team member in question was Jess, Becker's reaction would be even more vehement.

As if he had read their thoughts, Becker pushed himself off the wall. "Well, I'm going to do some work now. Connor, I'll meet you at your lab in half an hour. I need you to confirm some information."

"Sure mate, I'll be there" Connor said, taking another bite of his sandwich. With a short nod towards the couple, Becker left.

"That was rather cryptic" Connor mumbled.

"That was rather Becker" Abby smirked. "I'm sure this information he wants you to check out has to do with this psycho who is after Jess."

~oOo~

When Lester opened the door to Connor's lab, he found him and Captain Becker bent over a considerable amount of printouts scattered all over the work table.

"Becker, what is this urgent message you sent me all about?" And after a quick look around the room, he added "Good God, Connor, how can you get any work done in this mess?"

Ignoring Lester's cranky mood, Becker started speaking.

"Jess had been bullied at university by a fellow student. A man called Frank Sinclair. A brilliant mind, highly talented in IT, but also a misogynist with criminal tendencies. He might be responsible for arson at Jess' former home. It was sheer luck that she and her roommate were able to escape the fire and not perish. This incident happened during her last year at Uni.

A few weeks after the fire, he disappeared. He seems to literally have vanished from the surface of the earth. There is no death record for the Frank Sinclair in question, but that is about it. No address, no job record, no income tax declaration. No credit card record. Nothing."

"He lives under a different identity?" Lester pondered.

"I'm afraid that is the logical conclusion" said Connor. "There is more, though. Some of the manipulations our systems suffered lead me to believe that someone tinkered with them directly."

"We have reason to believe that Sinclair does have access to the ARC. Not just remotely, by controlling our systems, but also physical access" Becker said slowly. And if we believe, and I certainly do, that Jess is not using any drugs, then who put the powder in her locker?"

Lester frowned at his Head of Security. "And how did he manage that? I thought the security of this place was impeccable?"

"Absolute security doesn't exist" Connor interjected.

"So, how did he get in? All employees of the ARC have undergone a profound security check. They wear ID-bracelets that won't work if stolen or forged. And as far as I'm informed, there was no attempt of a forced entry and the ventilation shafts …, since you and Quinn had that little abseiling adventure, oh well…"

Lester paused and looked at Connor and Becker for an answer.

"I think he might have gained access posing as a delivery person, a cleaner, a repair man, someone like that" Becker speculated.

Lester rubbed the back of his nose again and sighed. "Did we hear back from the lab about that powder?"

"Baxter phoned earlier. Their analysis found it to be cocaine." Becker stated.

Lester pondered the information he was just given. "Very well! I want Matt and Emily to join us in my office in 5 minutes. And Becker, get Jess out of that cell now and bring her back to my office."

~oOo~

When they arrived at Lester' office, Becker had made sure Jess was given enough time to freshen up and remove the mascara streaks under her eyes. With almost no make-up remaining, Jess looked very young and vulnerable.

Becker gave her a short but encouraging smile before Jess sat down next to Emily. Becker stood close to Jess, with one hand on the back of her chair. Connor was typing on his laptop when Lester and Matt entered the office together.

Lester took seat behind his impressive desk.

"As I'm sure everyone has been informed of the current situation, let's deal with the facts. Becker and Connor have spent the better part of the evening to find out more about Frank Sinclair. We know that he left university a few weeks before graduation and he seems to have disappeared since then. Did you find any additional information regarding the fire at Jess' house?"

Connor looked up from his laptop.

"I was able to get a hold of the police report. During their investigation, the police came to the conclusion that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning boiler.

Although initially, it was suspected that the fire could have been caused by arson, the house had been so badly damaged that possible clues as to what had caused the fire were not 'conclusive enough'.

Manipulations on the boiler were impossible to prove, even if they were not fully ruled out. Also the type of boiler used in the house was rather often at the source of domestic fires, according to the insurance company."

"So Sinclair got away with it!" Matt said with an undertone of anger in his voice. "What about the bullying? Surely there must have been some records about it in the university's files?"

Becker shook his head. "The bullying incident was not mentioned in Jess' university file, as she had been the victim and not the offender. I had Jess' name cross-referenced with any incident at university during her entire studying years in his search, but she did really have a clean slate.

Frank's file on the other had mentioned the bullying incident, and Anna's name was mentioned, but not Jess Parker's. As she was still under age at the time of the incident, her name was not mentioned, but anonymised. There was just a reference to a "student A" being involved."

Lester looked over his desk and straight at Jess.

"Why did you never mention this incident?"

Jess fidgeted nervously with her bracelet.

"Frank had just disappeared. He was gone and I never heard or saw of him again. I was just glad he was gone and honestly thought it was over!

Also, I hadn't done anything wrong. There was no misdemeanour on my part. I was the victim of a bully when I was a student. I didn't think it had anything to do with working as a Field Co-ordinator. Would you have hired me, if you thought, I was some victim, who needed protecting?"

"I hired you because you are the best Field Co-ordinator there is." Lester says, trying very carefully to keep his face emotionless.

"Are there any hints regarding who put the cocaine in the locker?" he continued.

Becker folded his arms across his chest. "I have been over the security footage and there is no-one except Jess approaching and opening her locker.

However, if this bloke is just half as good with computers as Jess is, then he surely could have altered the footage or deleted incriminating parts."

Jess spoke up for the first time since she entered Lester's office.

"I would like to volunteer a hair sample in order to prove that I'm not consuming drugs. You will have certainty that I am clean." Her voice was low, but carried noticeable determination.

"Very well! As Sinclair's whereabouts are still unknown, and given the highly disturbed state the man is in, we need to work fast. I'm afraid we all are going to spend the night at the ARC."

A/N 3: I hope someone phones the pizza delivery service, so at least they get to eat while working through the night! On the other hand, it might be evil Frank showing up instead of the pizza guy...

Sooooo, I hope that wasn't too confusing.

Reviews are always welcome! The help me getting better at this!