After losing his job at Downton Comprehensive, John Bates is attempting to rebuild his life. Former student Anna Smith is on the verge of small screen stardom. A school reunion brings new perspectives and second chances, bringing two different worlds together once more. Modern Anna x Bates AU. M rated from Chapter 12.

Modern AU: John Bates is a football coach, an injury forcing him to retire from playing football at an early age. A visit from an old friend changes his life forever. Has John finally found something more important than football?

After going through a bitter divorce, the last thing John Bates is looking for is love. Upon arriving back in Downton to work with his old friend, Robert Crawley, John meets and falls for a lovely waitress named, Anna Smith. Anna is a single mother trying to escape and forget a troubled past. Will the two finally find the happy ending they are both searching for?

Modern A/U - Anna Smith is an up and coming fashion designer while John Bates is trying to put his life back together while working as a personal assistant to TV Executive Robert Crawley. John and Anna are convinced by their close friends to try online dating in order to find love, but will they be successful?

"No man can regret loving... as I have loved you." He'd spoken the words before he knew the true meaning of regret.

A ficlet for each episode - revealing a little more of what happened between Anna and Bates each step of the way, through the good and the bad. (Trigger warnings for Chapter 20 and 29.)

Bates and Anna au that takes place during the logging boom in the Santa Cruz mountains of California in the late 1800s. M for mature themes. It is really not as far-fetched as it sounds. Come on, give it a chance. You won't be sorry. Seriously. Read the reviews if you won't take my word for it.

Modern AU. John Bates is struggling to get his life back on track after a traumatic experience. He follows his mother's advice and seeks help with a therapist, Anna Smith. Can she help him get through this difficult period and ignore the growing connection between them?

Can lovers who were ripped apart in one life find each other and reconnect in the next? AU Anna/Bates reincarnation story. What would have happened if Bates had hanged? Romance with a heavy dollop of mystery as Anna and Bates's paths cross once again and they are inexplicably drawn to each other. Will they figure who they were in the past? And how does that affect their future?

John and Anna, along with their children, take a trip to Ireland to visit John's cousin. After his eldest daughter drops a bombshell on their faery hunt, John is determined to spoil his wife, but Anna has a secret of her own.

What would the world be like without John Bates? That is the question that Mr. Bates is forced to ask himself as Christmas is fast approaching and his wife Anna is awaiting her fate in prison. Will his guardian angel be able to show John his true worth? And what would have happened to his family, friends, and co-workers had John not existed?

A letter to Scotland Yard and the mystery of Mr. Green's death ***series 5 spoilers*** this is not speculation. it's not even a wild guess. it just kinda happened. RnR if you feel so inclined. thanks.

Bates writes to Anna and then visits her in jail. Spoilers for S5E8, speculation for S5CS

Series 2/AU - After John leaves with Vera, Anna is devastated. But what if someone had come along to mend Anna's broken heart? When John returns about to be free from his wife, and ready to marry Anna; he may not find things exactly how he left them. Will John fight to keep the love of his life? Or will he let his insecurities get in the way, and watch her slip away to another man?

This fic is inspired by the 1963 movie of the same name starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. While it isn't exactly the same, I will borrow on some of the movies themes and more well known lines.

Sometimes, in the face of extreme loneliness and melancholy, the mind creates a mechanism whereby a person can cope with their hopelessness. Almost physically wanting her into being, he could picture Anna in the drawing room seated next to him in his mother's chair.

AU Series 4 ending. SPOILER WARNING!

Post-S4E3: Anna returns to live at the Abbey, but the spectre of Green becomes too much to bear (major trigger warning for mature themes)