Title: Shining Armour and Silver Linings
Author: Drawn-to-Darkness
Rating: T
Pairing(s): Jess/Becker primarily. Background Abby/Connor, Matt/Emily, Sarah/Danny.
Summary: Every cloud had a silver lining, apparently. That was what she kept telling herself.
Author's Note: An amazingly big thank you to 'youaretrulybrilliant' for the absolutely brilliant graphic she made that relates to this story before it was even written. It's helped inspire me to write this niggling idea that wouldn't leave me alone and is well worth a look (and is very sigh-and-squee-worthy!) The link is in my profile so check it out - I only hope I can do it justice with this story! :)
Author's Note 2: This is the first story that'll feature the return of two much loved characters – I've got another on the back-burner I'm hoping to be able to work on properly soon.

Every cloud had a silver lining, apparently. That was what she kept telling herself as she fought against both the ropes tying her wrists together behind her back and against another wave of unconsciousness as the drug he'd given her worked its way through her system.

Ethan – Patrick – whatever the hell his name was – had survived his trip to the past. That meant there was a pretty good chance his brother had, too, right? So… Silver lining. Even if she hadn't actually seen Danny Quinn and there was a pretty good chance the former team leader might be dead even though the psychopath he'd gone after was far too fit and healthy for her liking.

Especially since he'd decided, for some reason she couldn't understand, to come after her.

Emily, yes, though Jess wouldn't wish it on her friend for anything. Emily and Ethan – Patrick – had a history; he'd abducted her once before and Emily had, after a glass of wine too many on a rare girl's night in, admitted to a sympathetic Jess and Abby that Patrick had blamed her for the death of Charlotte, one of their fellow travellers and Emily's best friend who the psychopath had formed an attachment to.

But why her?

Maybe because she was so easy to get to, Jess mused, taking in a deep breath to quell the nausea rolling through her stomach – another side effect of whatever he'd drugged her with.

She'd been running in the park, her usual route, when Patrick had appeared out of nowhere. She'd struggled, fought, done everything she could remember from the self-defence class Abby had insisted she attend when her former flatmate had discovered Jess's hobby of going running on her own first thing in the morning.

It hadn't helped.

He'd been too big, too strong. The drug on the cloth he'd held over her mouth was too powerful.

Even knowing all of those things, Jess couldn't keep from berating herself, a little voice at the back of her mind taunting her that he wouldn't have been able to kidnap Abby so easily. The blond woman would've kicked his arse, Jess thought as her eyes closing for a few seconds before she remembered why that wasn't a good idea.

The car he'd bundled her into hit something in the road – a pot hole or speed bump, she couldn't tell – and she was jostled in the cramped quarters of the boot. Her body protested, and she couldn't stop a muffled cry from escaping her.

Concentrate.

The sharp command sounded so much like Becker's voice that it took her a second longer than normal to realise it was inside her head and that the Captain wasn't squashed into the boot of the car with her.

And that was a shame, Jess lamented. A big shame. She wouldn't necessarily have objected to being forced into such a tightly confined space if there was a particular warm body to snuggle into, arms wrapped around her, holding her tight against a chest she vaguely remembered being held against once before…

Jessica! Focus!

She blinked rapidly in the darkness surrounding her, trying to use the memory of Becker's voice to cement herself in the real world. She had to do something; she couldn't just lie there and wait for someone to magically save her – especially since she was pretty sure no one knew she needed saving. It all depended on how much time had passed between her initial encounter with Patrick and waking up in the car boot; if it was after 8am, someone at the ARC might have raised the alarm but chances were it'd be later before someone noticed she wasn't at her desk. She was always one of the first of the day staff to arrive though technically wasn't expected to be at her desk before 9am.

Someone would notice eventually, but she couldn't count on it being in time for them to help her.

Damn it.

It would be so easy, though, to just give in to her body's demands and go to sleep. So very easy to let her eyelids flutter shut...

The car stopped suddenly, jolting her from her thoughts. She froze in place, listening intently as a car door opened and then slammed. She heard footsteps – something crunching under foot, like gravel or twigs or...

The boot opened abruptly and she found herself blinking at the unexpected light that suddenly swamped her.

Patrick Quinn loomed above her, a humourless smile quirky his mouth as he reached for her. He lifted her effortlessly, despite her best efforts at getting her drug-addled body to fight back, and kept her pressed against him even as he set her on her feet. She might have been grateful for the support in staying on her feet if it hadn't come in the form of an arm pressing against her neck, the other around her middle in a painful clinch.

"Walk," he ordered, his breath hot against her ear. "Quickly."

She was about to refuse when she felt the sharp sting of the point of a knife against her throat. Swallowing, she forced her body to obey and let him lead her into what she could see was a densely wooded area.

Having half expected him to find some sort of clearing in which to kill her – or worse – Jess was surprised when she heard a number of different voices, most of whom sounded familiar the closer they got.

"What..?"

"Ethan?"

"Jess!"

She looked around as much as she could with the arm tightening around her windpipe, her vision growing a little cloudy as her air supply was restricted. She saw Matt move protectively in front of Emily, Abby lift her EMD as Connor stared at them open-mouthed. She saw Becker take a step towards them, a look of grim determination etched across his features.

"Any closer and I'll kill her." She heard Patrick's voice as though from far away and felt it rumble in his chest at her back. "Open the anomaly and move away from it."

"What are you planning, Patrick?" It was Matt who asked, his voice as calm as Jess had ever heard it.

"Open the goddamn anomaly!" Patrick all but roared, making Jess wince against him.

"Okay, okay. We can open it." Matt nodded to Connor, was still crouched beside the locking device. "We can open it but you have to stay calm." When Patrick didn't respond, Matt's gaze shifted to Jess. "Jess, are you okay?"

How she was supposed to answer that with a knife at her throat and a maniac at her back, Jess wasn't entirely sure. Becker, it seemed, agreed with her.

"Of course she's not alright," the Captain muttered, his EMD pointed at Jess and Patrick. "She's got a bloody knife to her throat."

Jess saw Matt gave the soldier an exasperated look before the team leader turned his attention back to her. "Jess?"

"Swimmy," was all Jess managed to choke out. "Drugged."

Patrick pulled her tighter against him, making her whimper. "Move away from the anomaly and she won't get hurt."

Becker snorted. "Let her go and then we'll move away."

"Nice try, Captain. Don't you remember how this ended last time?" Even without looking at him, Jess knew there was a smirk on Patrick's face. She shuddered, remembering the moment she saw Becker crumple to the floor under the firepower of two EMD shots, and prayed the Captain wouldn't do anything foolhardy. "Now move."

"Please." Jess was surprised when she realised the plea had come from her. More so when it actually worked and Becker slowly stood aside.

Connor unlocked the anomaly and Patrick started ushering her towards it. Before they could get close enough to go through, its surface shifted and not one but two familiar faces ran through it.

Danny Quinn. Sarah Page.

Jess heard the gasps of those around her, heard someone whisper Sarah's name almost reverently, and then she was being pulled towards the golden lights of the anomaly.

"Move!" Patrick yelled, desperation in his voice. "Move or I'll swear I'll cut her throat!"

Knowing that the 'her' in question was herself, Jess did her best to move with him. She was dimly aware of Danny trying to get his brother to calm down, of Becker telling the man to let her go...

... and then she was on the other side of the anomaly, staring at green fields with not a single person in sight.

"You'll be useful to me here," Patrick told her, a grim sort of satisfaction in his voice. "Do as you're told and I might even let you live."

Whether it was the drugs or the shock of actually being on the other side of an anomaly, Jess wasn't sure. Regardless, her eyes rolled back into her head and she let herself fall into oblivion, not caring if Patrick caught her before she hit the ground.

"We have to go after them!"

"We can't."

"Matt!"

"They're your rules, Becker."

"Screw the rules! He has Jess, Matt."

The two men stood facing each other, in front of the anomaly that Connor had locked on Matt's orders. Becker glared at Matt, his grip on his EMD tightening as he thought about Jess, about the seconds Patrick was gaining on them.

About what dangers she could be exposed to on the other side of the anomaly.

Distantly, he was aware of Connor and Abby talking to Danny and Sarah – Sarah! – about where they'd been and how they'd both come to be alive and well and in the present time. His main focus was the Field Co-ordinator, though, and the fact that he'd failed her by letting a psychopath like Patrick take her through an anomaly.

"We don't know what we'd be up against on the other side, Becker." Matt spoke in his frustratingly calm way, his eyes sympathetic and worried but his stance unrelenting as he blocked the way to the locking device – and to Jess. "It's too dangerous to go through unprepared. We can't help her if we don't know what we'd be facing."

"We can help you with that." Sarah broke away from the small group that had formed around her and Danny, exchanging a knowing look with the former team leader as she smiled wanly. "We know what's on the other side of the anomaly."

Matt looked torn, his gaze flickering between the locked anomaly and the desperate man standing in front of him. With a sigh, he realised that no matter what he said, Becker would be determined to go through – and he didn't have the heart to stop him. "Okay, but make it quick. We don't know how long the anomaly will stay open."

Sarah nodded, her smile unsteady, and reached behind her instinctively to take the hand Danny held out for her. "The anomaly leads back to fifteenth century England. If you're going to go through it, you'll need to know what to expect on the other side – and you won't be able to take that gun, Becker. Not without them immediately knowing you don't belong amongst them."

"You'll need a change of clothes," Danny chimed in, arching an eyebrow when Becker gave him a dark look. "And a couple of other things, as well. Is there any way we can send someone to go shopping...?"

"Tell me what you need. I'll see to it that it's there." The voice that answered came over the comms, and belonged to no other than James Lester, the Director of the ARC. "Officially I will deny all knowledge of this rescue attempt, Captain."

"And unofficially?" Becker asked quietly, knowing the answer even before Lester spoke.

"Unofficially, do whatever you have to to bring her home."

:)