Title: Future's Folly
Author: DrawntoDarkness
Rating: T
Pairings: Jess/Becker primarily, with Connor/Abby, Matt/Emily and Danny/Sarah
Spoilers: General knowledge of all five seasons.
Summary: The return of a familiar face isn't quite as good news as it should be.
Disclaimer: They're still not mine :( But if anyone wants to change that, I'd much appreciate it ;)

By all accounts, it started as a perfectly normal day. She got to the ARC early as was her routine, waved a hello at Lester as he sat behind his desk talking on the phone and made herself a cup of coffee before taking her seat at the ADD. Minutes later, Becker arrived in the hub to collect the nightly security report to check there was nothing he needed to deal with from the nightshift and they spent a few minutes bantering back and forth – definitely not flirting, no matter what the others said – before he left for his office to officially begin his day.

Mornings, particularly quiet ones, were amongst Jess's favourite times at the ARC. She liked having a moment of calm in an otherwise hectic work week, enjoyed the opportunity to just catch up on the everyday tasks that tended to get forgotten about in the aftermath of an anomaly.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind did the ADD alarm start to go off. As the lights flashed and bathed her in a red glow, Jess's fingers moved over the keyboards in front of her, zeroing in on the anomaly and sending the coordinates through to the black boxes that were soon being deftly distributed to the other members of the team by the black clad Captain, who seemed to materialise out of thin air to stand beside her.

Bringing up the nearest CCTV feeds, she was able to secure a visual on the anomaly, keeping it on screen as she started to work in one of the other screens so she could help the departing team navigate London traffic and hopefully get to the site before anything could come through.

The rush of adrenaline that always came with an anomaly alert was nothing new but she accepted the boost, using it to keep her wits about her and her responses sharp. Still, when the anomaly fluctuated and admitted not a creature as she'd been expecting but two people – one of which she knew she shouldn't be seeing – she found herself faltering for a split second.

"Any sign of an incursion, Jess?"

"No. Um. Not exactly." She swallowed her surprise, zooming in on the impossible image. She knew she had to warn them, had to give them a head's up, but the words got caught in her throat and it took her two attempts. "It's Danny. Ah, Danny Quinn. He has... He has Doctor Page with him."

There was a stunned silence from the others, followed by sounds of disbelief and mutterings that she must be mistaken.

"There's no mistake." It was Lester who confirmed it, his voice as surprised as Jess felt. He moved to stand behind her, peering over her shoulder at the screen. "It's Doctor Page alright."

As the two people at the ADD watched, Danny turned to Sarah and touched her cheek. His lips moved but the camera feed was too grainy to make out what he said. He took a step backwards, away from the archaeologist and towards the anomaly. Sarah reached out for him, her hand latching onto his. Danny gave her a small smile and moved closer again, close enough to brush his lips against her forehead, before he broke contact with her and jogged back through the anomaly, which closed seconds later.

"Danny's gone," Jess informed the team, her voice quiet. "So has the anomaly."

"Doctor Page is still there," Lester added before anyone could ask. "She appears to be... waiting."

"Then we best not keep her waiting for long." It was Emily who spoke, apparently the first of the team to recover her voice. "Jess? You were saying something about road works...?"

"Yes. Of course. Sorry." Her cheeks pale rather than flushed as Lester had expected, Jess swallowed reflexively before tearing her gaze away from the pretty dark haired woman on screen to check the data she'd pulled up before Danny and Sarah had appeared. "You'll want to take the next left instead of going straight ahead, Matt. It's not an official detour but it means you'll miss most of the traffic..."

She held herself together, gave them concise directions on how to find the former anomaly site, and watched on the CCTV feeds pulled up. She watched, wrapping her arms around her middle, as Doctor Page's former teammates approached her, cautiously at first, before the three of them wrapped her in an embrace with Sarah at its centre.

Beside her, Lester finally understood the reason for Jess's subdued reaction, his hand lingering on her shoulder for an awkward but oddly comforting moment.

"I'll make arrangements for guest quarters to be prepared," Jess said quietly to her boss, excusing herself from her station.

Believing the risk of danger to be over, Lester agreed silently and let her go.

Yay, Sarah! ;)