Title: Rips in Time
Author: DrawntoDarkness
Rating: M
Warnings: Allusions to violence, sexual assault (past tense) and adult situations.
Pairing: Jess/Becker, with background Abby/Connor, Matt/Emily
Summary: The team are taken through a future anomaly and are given a stark warning about one of their own.
Disclaimer: If they were mine, season six would be well on its way.
Author's Note: I know there are parts of this that are cliché and parts that may be squicky for some – hence the warnings and the rating – but the idea wouldn't let me be until I put pen to paper and started to write.

A glance at the calendar on her bedside table told her time was running out.

'Today,' Jess thought to herself, pushing back the quilt and getting out of bed. She bustled around the quiet, otherwise empty flat as she got ready for work, giving herself a pep talk. 'I'll tell them all today. Together. No backing out.'

No putting it off, either, like she had every other time she'd started to tell the team – her friends – the truth. No matter what happened, no matter how many bloody anomaly alerts there were, Jess resolved to tell them the truth by the end of the day. They needed to know – deserved to know – and she really needed to know what they thought and felt about the revelation.

Time was running out, after all.

If she was going to stay, it wasn't really an issue. The flat was almost ready; all she needed to do was redecorate the spare room, empty now Connor and Abby had found a place of their own, and that was something she thought might be best doing later, anyway. After...

And if she was going to go, well, that's why she needed to know as soon as possible. She needed time to pack up one life and started a new one, to put the back up plans she'd spent many a late night/early morning fretting over into practise.

She'd need to start again, and fast, so she could prove to her father that the time was right, that she was not only ready but was capable of finally having it all.

A secure job, safe home, good friends and a family.

A real family.

'Finally.'

Today was the day, that was her mantra as Jess Parker hurried out of her flat and down to her car. Come hell or high water, anomalies or not, today was the day.

There was something wrong with Jess. Captain Hilary Becker watched surreptitiously as she arrived at the hub, taking her place in front of the ADD without a word or smile to anyone.

He'd noticed she seemed more and more preoccupied – more and more distant – in the last month or so and it was starting to worry him. She was still friendly and warm when drawn into conversation but the bubbly, carefree, happy Jess who'd happily babble away at anyone, asking a dozen questions on one thing while talking a mile a minute about another was gone.

Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, he would have been glad of the change. Would have welcomed it, even. After almost eighteen months of working with her, though, Becker found himself surprised at how much he really missed the old Jess – and wondering, quite desperately if he was honest with himself, what he could do to bring her back.

He knew he wasn't the only one who'd noticed, either. He'd overheard Abby and Emily discuss it in the break room a few weeks ago, both sharing his concern at the sudden shift in Jess's demeanour. Abby worried if it was something to do with her and Connor moving out of Jess's flat, as since then Jess seemed to be pulling away from them, making excuses for why she couldn't join them for either a film and takeaway night at their new place or a quick drink in the pub after work. The Victorian woman had likened Jess's behaviour to that of a wild animal, the kind that was wary and easily spooked. It was, Emily had said, like Jess was waiting on tenterhooks for something bad to happen.

Whatever it was, Becker was determined to get to the bottom of it. If she was in some sort of trouble, he'd help her – they all would. He'd thought she'd realised that they all considered her to be a full member of the team, even if she – thankfully, in his opinion – did stay behind at the ARC instead of joining them in the field. She was brilliant at her job and he knew he wasn't the only one who appreciated her intelligence and calm, quick thinking under the stressful circumstances they faced on an average work day.

Without Jess, a lot more lives would be lost on a weekly if not daily basis.

Without Jess... Becker stifled a shiver at the thought. It was a possibility he couldn't bring himself to think about, one his subconscious tormented him with on his worst nights when memories of the past clashed with the nightmares conjured by his darkest thoughts.

Squaring his shoulders, he straightened and looked towards the ADD. There was no time like the present, he told himself. If he was going to confront her, force her to tell him what was wrong – beg, if he had to – then he might as well just get it over with.

He only made it two steps towards her when the ADD's alarms went off.

Focusing on the task at hand, Jess directed the team to the anomaly site. It only took ten minutes for them to get there, given that it was in a building not too far away from the ARC itself. Jess was thankful it was an as-of-yet unoccupied office building, unfurnished and available to rent, hoping that meant the team would be back in time for lunch so she could finally share her burden.

That hope didn't live for long.

It wasn't that there was a creature incursion or that the locking device malfunctioned as it sometimes did. She watched over the CCTV cameras, installed by the building's owner in the hopes that the added security would draw a premium-paying renter to the property, as the team approached the anomaly. She listened to the familiar banter over the comms, feeling a dull ache in her chest as she realised just how much she'd miss it if they didn't react the way she desperately wanted them to.

"Nice and easy." Connor Temple grinned cheekily, kneeling beside the locking device he was assembling. "If only they could all be like this, eh?"

"Don't jinx it," Becker warned, his EMD armed at the anomaly. "Just lock it."

"Alright, mate. Keep your shirt on." Though the picture wasn't the clearest, Jess knew Connor had rolled his eyes. "You seem an edge, Action Man. Even for you."

"I'm fine, Temple. Just get on with it." Jess frowned, her keen gaze taking in the stiff line of Becker's shoulders. He did look tense, she noticed, and his expression was dark and moody, not the relaxed-but-still-focused look she would expect to see with a creature-free anomaly.

"He's right, Connor." Matt Anderson, team leader, seemed to have picked up on it, too, if the concerned look he shot the Head of Security was anything to go by. "The sooner it's locked, the sooner we can all relax."

No sooner had he spoken, Jess noticed the anomaly flicker ominously, a shadow in its centre the only warning they were going to get.

"Incoming, Connor. Lock it now." Abby hurriedly warned her fiancé even as Jess opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm sending a back-up unit to you," the Field Co-ordinator announced, reaching for the internal intercom as she spoke. "Just in case."

"Good thinking, Jess." Matt's tone was appreciative and Jess thought she saw Becker give the camera watching him an approving glance but couldn't be certain.

Just as she couldn't be certain that the Captain really did tense further every time she spoke but it seemed to look that way from the CCTV feed.

Connor locked the anomaly and Jess couldn't help a relieved sigh. She caught Becker glancing up at the sound but before she could dwell on it, the anomaly unlocked and the shadow reappeared.

"What the...?"

Jess watched the team ready their EMDs only to have a small, silver ball roll out of the active anomaly instead of the creature they'd all been expecting. As Connor moved forward to investigate, the ball opened and released a thick gas into the room.

"Back up needed now!" Jess almost shouted, her eyes widening as one by one, the team succumbed to the gas and fell where they stood.

She could only watch in horror as a group of men, clad in the same black uniforms of the soldiers at the ARC, strode out of the anomaly, each of them grabbing an unconscious member of the team before dragging them back through.

"No, no, no." Unable to believe her eyes, Jess could only shake her head in disbelief, fear causing her body to tremble. She watched, her heart in her throat, as the anomaly closed, just seconds before the back-up team finally arrived, taking any hope of tracking the main team – her team – with it.

Nausea accompanied a pounding headache, reminding him unpleasantly of the morning after a heavy session with his men. Becker breathed slowly, using the time to steady his churning stomach before gingerly opening his eyes.

The grey ceiling of the medical bay at the ARC wasn't what he was expecting to see but he found himself feeling strangely relieved that it was. His memories of what had happened were hazy at best but he could recall an anomaly and hearing Jess frantically call for back-up before passing out.

"Woah." Connor's familiar voice set him further at ease and he allowed himself a smirk at the scientist's accompanying moan. "Why'd I feel like I went head to head with the mammoth?"

"I'd say it's more like a T-Rex myself," Matt returned and Becker hear the rustle of material as the team leader sat up. "I don't suppose either of you know where Emily and Abby are? Or us, for that matter?"

"Did you hit your head, mate?" Connor sounded both amused and faintly concerned. "We're at the ARC."

At Matt's question, Becker sat up and studied his surroundings with a critical eye and a deepening frown. "This isn't the ARC," he said eventually, his earlier relief fading. "Not our ARC."

The doors to the room slid open with a hiss and an older grey-haired man in a white doctor's coat, completed with the ARC logo embroidered onto its pocket, entered. "It will be, given another fifteen years or so, Captain. I apologise on behalf of the facility for the method in which you were brought here but we had the opportunity and it was felt by those above that it was one we couldn't let it pass us by."

"The opportunity to what?" Forcing himself to ignore his body's demands to lie back down, Becker pushed himself up and stood on legs that weren't one hundred percent steady. "Where are Abby and Emily?"

Two beds down, Matt copied the action while Connor sat up at the reminder that his fiancée wasn't present, only to go ghostly pale and lie back down again with an audible groan.

The grey-haired doctor approached Connor's bed, a look of concern on his face. Becker and Matt moved immediately, blocking his way to their weakened team mate.

"I mean him no harm." The doctor said, holding his hands up in the universal gesture of surrender. "The sedative we used is perfectly harmless, I assure you. It can just take a little longer to leave the system, depending on both the body's metabolism and the person's proximity to its release. Professor Temple was closest to the cylinder when it opened, I was led to believe."

"Professor Temple?"Matt and Becker exchanged looks. "Who are you and what year is it?"

The doctor smiled sheepishly, as if he'd given something he hadn't meant to away. "I'm Doctor Michaels, and the year is 2027."

"2027?" Becker and Matt repeated together.

"Professor Temple?" Connor cracked one eye open, a grin on his face. "Cool!"

"I understand you all have questions but here isn't the place for answers. I was asked to take you to Mr. Simpson as soon as you were awake. I believe Miss Maitland and Miss Merchant are already there."

Matt and Becker helped Connor to his feet, supporting him when he stood unsteadily. The three men faced the doctor expectantly, eager to get answers – and find a way home.