A/N: This is the latest installment of my Lester/Becker 'verse that starts with "Promise Not to Try". It is six parts in total and is finished, hopefully I should have all parts up by next weekend. There are some references to the end of season 5 in it. As a refresher, Russ (Lt Ian Russell) is the Tom Hardy look-alike from "Sometimes It Hurts Instead". The title is from Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me".

Part One

Becker circled the anomaly, pointing his EMD into the trees, while the lads checked the perimeter and Connor set up the anomaly locking device. They had seen no traces of any creatures so far, but Becker's luck had been crap of late. He had a feeling they hadn't arrived in time to close the anomaly before anything wandered over.

"Do we know if anything's come out of it?" Matt asked.

"No reports so far," Jess said through the comms.

Russell was crouched down several metres away. "Um, boss? I think you should have a look at this."

Becker jogged over and knelt down. "Bugger," he said. There was an enormous footprint imprinted in the soft earth. Yes, his luck was still crap.

"Jess," Matt said. "We've got an incursion. Connor, any idea what this might be?"

Connor shrugged. "Something big and nasty? Judging from the print, it could be any of the big theropods, Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus. Fully grown, by the look of it. You know, some scientists think maybe Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus were actually the same, it would be cool if-"

"I'm sure it's fascinating, Connor, but maybe you could save it for your report?" Matt interrupted. "You stay here and keep the anomaly closed until I tell you to open it."

Becker allowed himself a moment to visualise Lester's reaction to receiving a report filled with Connor's theories and then said, "Davies, Singh, stay with Connor. Russ, you're with me."

Russ' eyes were gleaming with the anticipation of action. "Just what I hoped you'd say."

Becker clapped him on the back. "Let's hope you still feel that way when we find the bloody thing."

The day was cold and wet but Becker thought that was probably an advantage. It made the dinosaur incredibly easy to track and it also meant that the forest was emptier than it could have been. They followed the tracks left in the soft mud, covering ground as quickly as they could. Going by the amount of damage there was, broken branches in the trees and crushed logs, Becker was inclined to think they could find this particular dinosaur in the middle of the night.

Abby had veered off the trail, squatting down on her heels and peering intently at something on the ground. "Matt? There are more tracks here. Something else came through, something a bit smaller. It looks like there are two of them, maybe more."

"We're going to have to split up. Becker, take Russ and Abby and stay on the original path. Emily, you come with me."

"I'd prefer if Russ went with you," Becker said. "We have no idea what these things could be or how many of them there are. I- Abby and I can handle the big one ourselves." I'll feel better if you've got a soldier with you. Damn it, Matt, don't overrule me.

Matt considered for a moment before nodding brusquely. "Okay, Becker. If I can take out a T. rex myself, I think you can manage with Abby's help."

"Ha ha," Becker said and shared a glance with Russ.

Russ grinned at him. "Don't worry, boss, I'll keep these two out of trouble."

And he would, Becker knew that. It made it easier to watch them walk away, to turn and move off in another direction to where he wouldn't be able to help them if they needed it.

Abby padded along next to him, neither of them talking. They kept a steady pace, always with their EMDs at the ready. Abby wasn't military, but she was good. Becker always trusted her to watch his back and to do what was necessary. Of course, it helped that now they had the EMDs, she didn't spend half the time yelling at him for wanting to use lethal force. It saved them both a headache.

Through the trees, Becker could see a flash of colour, a red jacket or maybe a shirt. He held out his arm to keep Abby behind him and moved further into the trees. "Bloody hell," he said, kneeling down. The woman had been ripped clear in two, her bottom half laying some metres away. It looked like she had been gnawed on.

There was the sound of someone retching behind him and Becker got back to his feet. He put an arm around Abby's shoulders and ushered her away. "You should have kept back." It was enough to make even Becker feel queasy.

She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. "You know I never listen to you, Becker."

Becker rolled his eyes. "No one listens to me."

They kept walking, silently, both on-edge. Becker always hated this part, the waiting. Once the action started, he'd be fine- he sort of loved it, the adrenaline rush. But this tense stillness, the wondering, as much as he was used to it, it was still never easy.

A roar came from the distance and Becker looked at Abby. They took off running.

The dinosaur was enormous, tramping around in a clearing. He didn't think it was a Tyrannosaurus or a Giganotosaurus, but they all looked pretty much the same to him so he could've been wrong. What was the other one Connor had mentioned? Carcha- something? Could have been that. Whatever it was, they needed to take it down before it killed anyone else.

It hadn't seen them yet and Becker moved in a little closer, EMD at the ready, signalling Abby to approach from the other side.

Then someone shouted and the dinosaur jerked its head towards Becker's position. He cursed under his breath and looked around to a pair of men behind him, the two of them talking over each other and generally behaving in the sort of way that may as well have put fucking neon signs on all of them. "Abby!" he shouted.

"Yeah, I've got it, I've got them," she said and Becker started to move away, keeping the dinosaur in his sight.

It was coming towards them and Becker waved one hand in the air and yelled, feeling like an idiot, but wanting the thing to come at him rather than the civilians. It worked. Becker aimed his EMD and fired.

"God fucking damn it!" He'd been aiming for the head but the thing had moved just enough that his first shot glanced off its neck and his second missed completely.

And now it was running straight towards him. He rolled out of the way, ducking under a swipe of the huge tail. Becker sprang back up to his feet and fired the EMD again, catching the dinosaur twice in its hindquarters, but it just roared and twisted back around, forcing Becker to retreat again and dodge the tail.

Becker knew that if he was going to have any chance of bringing the dinosaur down, he needed to be able to get off multiple shots in a sensitive area. He circled around, staying out of range of the tail and the snapping teeth. It had started to rain again and Becker wiped water out of his eyes. "Abby, where are you?"

"Here," she said, her voice coming through the comms. "I've just got them out of the way, I'm- Hey!"

And then, out of the corner of his eye, Becker could make out one of the civilians running back through the clearing. The dinosaur saw him, too, and abandoned Becker for what must have seemed an easier target.

Becker swore and seriously considered allowing natural selection to run its course, but Lester would probably murder him over the paperwork. He ran after the guy. "Abby, what the fuck happened?"

"He said he left his bike," Abby said, panting like she was running. "I don't know, he just panicked, I tried to stop him."

The guy noticed the dinosaur rumbling towards him and froze. They always froze, but at least he wasn't screaming.

"Move!" Becker yelled, firing off a few successive shots of his EMD, again not even seeming to faze the huge creature.

As the dinosaur charged at him, the guy weaved around its legs and made for Becker.

"Your bike's going to be fucking useless if you get eaten, you pillock," Becker said. He lunged forward and managed to grab hold of the guy's jacket, throwing him down onto the ground just as the tail swung overhead. "Run," Becker said, pointing at where they'd come from, and the man stared at Becker with wide eyes for a few seconds before stumbling away.

The precious time Becker had spent saving that moron from his own stupidity meant that Becker was slightly off-balance when the dinosaur refocused its attention. Becker took aim, knowing it was risky but wanting to take advantage of the close proximity of the head. It was a bad move.

He was only able to shoot once before the dinosaur knocked him aside as though he was nothing more than a bug, jarring his EMD loose. He just managed to keep hold of it and scrambled onto his knees, but before he could really register what was happening the dinosaur had grabbed him around the middle and hoisted him into the air.

Oh, fuck me, Becker thought. Please don't bite down. Abby was yelling in his ear, his mind was racing, and he kept thinking that this couldn't be the way he died, some fucking dinosaur's snack, helpless and afraid. He hadn't even kissed Lester that morning. He twisted around as well as he could, the teeth tearing into his flesh, and just started shooting, depressing the trigger as quickly as he could and trying to aim for the eyes.

The dinosaur gave a shake of its head and roared, dropping Becker back on the ground. He landed awkwardly on his hip but struggled to his feet, trying to keep the creature in his sight. There was blood dripping down his skin but he didn't have time to even think about that, he needed to bring the dinosaur down or it was going to kill him. Becker moved in an attempt to regain some distance, bringing his EMD back up to his shoulder and firing.

The dinosaur seemed to be more unsteady now and Becker allowed himself a glimmer of hope. He could hear Abby shouting and knew that she must be attacking from the other side. The dinosaur started to swing around and Becker tried to get out of the way but his boots slipped in the mud. The tail caught him squarely in the chest and sent him flying.

Shit, Becker thought as he felt something crack. His head impacted what was probably a tree and then everything went black.

Becker woke up feeling groggy, the sterile smell and beeping monitors letting him know he was in a hospital. He took a breath and winced.

Fuck. That was definitely a broken rib, and probably more than one. He tried to assess the extent of damage. There was some sort of tube inserted into his chest and his head was bandaged. He pushed aside the hospital gown to examine the truly impressive bruising on his chest and his hip where he'd fallen, as well as the stitches from where the dinosaur had bitten him. The whole incident with the anomaly was hazy and it made his head hurt to concentrate on it.

After a few minutes, a nurse came in to check on him. "I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? Like sh- Sorry, like crap."

She laughed. "Well, at least you have a sense of humour about it." She went about checking his vitals and the drainage from the tube in his chest and then she instructed him on how to use the morphine to control his pain by himself.

Becker felt a little out of it but he asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"You were seriously injured, Captain. Your consultant is making her rounds now, so she should be by soon to check on you. She can answer your questions."

"Okay. But can I... Can I have visitors? Is there anyone here for me?" Becker hoped he didn't sound as pathetic as he thought he did.

The nurse smiled kindly. "You can, yes, on a limited basis. We're keeping you in intensive care overnight so that we can monitor you more closely, and as long you're here you're only allowed one or two visitors for no longer than fifteen minutes per visit. There were several people asking after you, but there was one in particular... your boyfriend, I think? He was quite forceful."

Becker had the distinct impression that that wasn't the word the nurse had wanted to use. "James," he said and felt something tighten in his chest. "When can I see him?"

"On the hour. Now why don't you get some rest before Doctor Thompson arrives? Please don't hesitate to send for me if you need anything."

After the nurse left, Becker closed his eyes and dozed until the doctor came in.

"Hello, Captain," she said, taking a look at Becker's chart. She was a friendly-looking woman in her forties or so, with straight black hair pulled back in a messy bun. "I'm Doctor Thompson. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better," Becker admitted.

"Yes, I'm sure. To be quite frank, you're lucky to be here."

With the way Becker was feeling, even with the morphine, and from what he remembered of the dinosaur, that didn't surprise him. He was lucky he hadn't been bitten in half. "I suppose I have you to thank."

"And your colleagues. They acted very quickly."

"So what did happen to me?"

"Well, the simple version is you suffered multiple lacerations, fractured four ribs, and punctured a lung. It was the broken ribs that caused the most damage; the sharp edges damaged your lung as well as the blood supply. You went into hypovolemic shock from the bleeding and your lung collapsed, but we were able to drain the blood and air from your chest cavity without surgery. Oh, and you have a mild concussion."

"Is that all? I was expecting something serious."

The doctor smiled at him. "Just a walk in the park for you, Captain, I expect."

"How long do I have to stay here?"

"Of course, I have to preface with saying every patient is different. But you'll need to be monitored to ensure you don't start bleeding again and I'd like the chest tube to remain in place for drainage for at least a few days. After the chest tube comes out, you'll need to have a series of tests to be sure everything's healing as it should. We're looking at roughly a week all together, barring any complications."

"A week?" Becker said in dismay.

Doctor Thompson nodded, her face set in a no-nonsense expression. "Joking aside, you suffered a massive haemothorax accompanied by a pneumothorax; you really could have died. Plan on being here a week. Once you're released, well, it's safe to say you won't be returning to duty for quite a while."

Becker leaned his head back. Fuck.

"Chin up, Captain," she said cheerfully. "Most people would be glad of an extended break from work. I know this must be a lot to take in and that you aren't feeling your best, so I'll leave you to get some rest. I'll stop by to see you again tomorrow so if you think of any questions, you can ask me then."

He gave her a half-hearted wave as she left. Bugger. He had really done a number on himself this time and he knew that Lester would never let him get away with trying to rush his recovery. Oh, God, Lester. What must he be thinking?

The nurse came back not much later, as promised. "You have a visitor. Are you well enough to see him?"

Lester was hovering behind her shoulder, lips pursed like he wanted to shove his way through but was trying to be polite and follow the rules.

"Yes, yes, please," Becker said, probably sounding desperate but he didn't even care.

"Fifteen minutes," she instructed firmly and backed out of the doorway, gesturing Lester in.

"Hi," Becker said.

Lester came over to the bed, stroking a hand through Becker's hair and down over his cheek. "Hi. You look awful, darling."

"Ta ever so," Becker muttered. "I'd like to see how you look after getting thrown about by a bloody great big dinosaur."

There was something vulnerable in Lester's face that Becker didn't like, something scared and lost. "There was that pesky future predator that took a chunk out of me. I'm sure I managed to look much better than you." Lester's tone was carefully modulated. He was still touching Becker's face.

"We can't all have your impeccable composure, sweetheart," Becker said and tried for a smile, but he couldn't quite manage it, not with Lester looking like that.

Lester moved away, finding the chair and sitting down. His posture was stiff, almost guarded, like he was holding himself back. He looked like there was something he wanted to say but he couldn't quite bring himself to say it.

Becker wasn't sure whether he should be glad of that or not.

"You look exhausted, Hils," Lester said eventually. "Maybe I should go."

"No, don't," Becker protested. That was the last thing he wanted. "I… Please stay."

That strange, vulnerable look was still there. It reminded Becker of the way Henry, Lester's son, had looked, sharing confidences with him at Lester's dining room table. "All right. But try and sleep, won't you? I'll stay here as long as they let me."

Feeling relieved and not exactly sure why, Becker tried to make himself comfortable, though it was a nearly impossible task. Too many tubes and a constant ache of pain, even with the drugs. Still, Lester's presence was a welcome source of normalcy and Becker was weary enough that he did fall asleep again.

He woke around dinner time and noticed that there was something on the table next to the bed, a child's drawing of a stick figure in dark clothes pointing a gun at a creature with big teeth. He smiled to himself and then looked to the chair for Lester, but it was empty. Becker tried not to feel disappointed.

The nurse came in again and Becker almost asked her if she knew if Lester was still in the building, but he stopped himself. Soon afterwards one of the staff brought in his meal and Becker forced himself to pick at it, but he didn't have much of an appetite and hospital food was always rubbish anyway. He was pushing around a piece of broccoli on the plate with his fork when a noise made him glance up.

Lester had come back, a Styrofoam cup in his hand. "Oh, you're up."

"I thought you'd gone," Becker said before he could stop himself. Fuck, that had sounded pathetic.

"No," Lester said, voice soft. "Only fifteen minutes every hour, remember? I was in the waiting room." He brushed his hand through Becker's hair and bent down to kiss his forehead, Becker's eyes fluttering closed for a moment. "I said I'd stay, didn't I?"

And he did.