Bates' first servants' ball after his arrival at Downton Abbey.
Bates goes to see Lady Mary. S5 SPOILERS and speculation.
The slow yet inevitable evolution from strangers to friends and from friends to the promise of something more.
John wakes to find a naked woman in his bed, and it isn't Anna. Oneshot crack-fic-ish.
"Would you have ever told me, had I not gone to Mrs. Hughes?"
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.
A series of 100-word stories depicting moments from the lives of our favorite "spot of trouble" valet and head housemaid-turned-lady's maid.
When the shrapnel in Bates' knee shifts unexpectedly, the pain is nearly unbearable. Will he and Anna be able to cope with the change in his circumstances, or will it be enough to finally break them apart?
Months after Anna's attack, she decides she's ready to attempt intimacy again with her husband. But she was not the only one traumatized by the events of that night.
"I want to know why Mrs. Hughes said that 'at least there will be no baby.'"
A quiet life of shared love and small moments.
After weeks with no letters and no visits, Bates had finally come to one simple, awful conclusion. "She's given up on me." S3 episode filler.
Anna was distracted by a bright and colorful object which caught her eye peeking out from behind a flower pot by the front stoop.
He gazed across the bed at his wife's face, relaxed and innocent in slumber. In these moments, she looked as young and untouched by life as the first day they'd met. Rated M
After Anna lends Mr. Bates, the new valet, her copy of Jane Eyre, the theme of the novel follows them through their relationship.
AU S2 Unable to find grounds for a divorce from Vera, Bates stays away from Downton and Anna until fate intervenes with a chance meeting in London.
When Anna and Bates find out that they are expecting a child, they decide to wait a while before telling anyone. But some secrets are impossible to keep in a place like Downton.
S4 AU. After overhearing the conversation in the hallway between Mrs. Hughes and Anna, Bates decides that he does not need to find out Anna's secret. At least not right away. Last chapter rated "M"
AU After three years in prison, John Bates loses all hope of being released and decides to set Anna free.
Season 4 AU/Entire season spoilers – When Mrs. Hughes refuses to share Anna's secret with Mr. Bates, he leaves Downton Abbey.