**Happy (Early) Birthday Carlough! So first, I need to thank vampireluvr15 for all her help, I've never written slash before, so she was sort of my guide in writing this. Carlough, you said Connor and a guy, so I went with Becker as he's the only one I've been able to write recently. Hope you like it!
"Please?"
"No."
Connor pouted. "Aw, come on Becker!"
"I said no, Temple."
"Pretty pretty please?"
"I am not going to Comic Con with you!" the soldier yelled impatiently.
Connor huffed and crossed his arms. Lester had given them three days off; Matt was spending them in peace and quiet, Jess and Abby were spending them doing what Connor could only classify as "girl stuff," and Connor…well, he just wanted someone to go to Comic Con with him. And half an hour of persistent bugging later, Becker still wouldn't budge an inch.
"I've never asked you for anything!" Connor whined.
"I seem to recall you bribing me into helping you get Rex back for Abby after her brother lost him," Becker said dryly.
"Okay, that was just one time though…"
"Ask someone else."
"Everyone else has already left. And besides…I don't want to ask someone else," Connor said, fixing the hard faced soldier with his absolute best puppy dog look.
Miracles never cease: it worked. Becker sighed deeply and muttered an "okay," resulting in Connor grinning excitedly, throwing his arms around the taller man. He must have said "thank you" at least a million times. Becker sighed and didn't move to hug Connor back, the nerd hanging off of him like a suction cup.
"Connor?"
Still smiling, he asked, "Yeah?"
"Get off me."
Connor grinned sheepishly and stepped back, but not before taking a ticket and stuffing it in Becker's pocket. He thanked the soldier one more time before bounding off happily, in a better mood than he'd been in weeks. He was giddy and more excited than he really had cause to be, but for some reason going to Comic Con with Becker sounded like more fun than…well, anything.
Two days later found them arriving at Comic Con, Connor dragging the soldier around by the arm to every single place selling limited edition issues of his favorite comics. Becker was ready to shoot himself in the head, if only to be able to use a real gun again with the added bonus of escaping Connor's nerd-fest. Being pulled through a crowd of people in superhero costumes…god, just kill him now.
They spent the entire bloody day at Comic Con, Connor whining in protest when they finally had to go back to their hotel. Their return flight didn't leave for another several hours. The place was nearly booked solid, so instead of separate rooms they ended up with one room that had two full beds. By the time they arrived Connor was dead on his feet with exhaustion and Becker just wanted some peace and quiet, his head pounding as the screams of rabid fan girls and fan boys continued to reverberate inside his skull.
"That. Was. Amazing!" Connor said, kicking off his shoes and throwing himself down on one of the beds.
Becker sat down the bags of Connor's new comics and sat down on the edge of his own, heaving out a long suffering sigh. "That was the most profoundly miserable experience of my life."
"Aw come on, it was a blast!"
"If you mean did I want to blast it with my shotgun, then yes, absolutely."
Connor rolled his eyes and bounded over to Becker's bed, standing in front of the soldier.
"You had fun today. Admit it, Action Man!"
"I had no such thing." It was a lie.
Connor had picked up a few things after working alongside Becker for so long, so he knew what he was doing when he tickled the back of the soldier's neck, grinning. "Admit it."
"Stop that," Becker growled, fidgeting.
"Admit it!" Connor repeated, continuing the tickle torture.
Becker tried to back away, unintentionally bringing Connor with them and sending them both toppling onto the bed, grappling as Connor tickled the soldier until he screamed and cried.
"Okay, fine, it was mildly enjoyable!" It was the closest thing to Becker waving a white flag that Connor was going to get, so he settled for it and smiled as he flopped onto the mattress next to Becker.
"It's so nice being away from work for a change," Connor admitted, his shoulder brushing against Becker's.
The other man's eyes were distant, as if staring off into space. Becker's voice was soft and guarded when he asked, "If I told you something Temple, would you not tell anyone else? Not even Abby?"
"It's Connor, and your secret's safe with me," Connor assured.
Sighing, Becker propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Connor. "This job has become my life. I hear the anomaly alert, I run out the door, sometimes I watch innocent people die because I was too late to stop it, and then I come back to the ARC and pretend everything's okay. But it's not, Connor. And I'm the soldier, the hired muscle…how am I supposed to show weakness when it's my duty to defend this team?"
"Emotions aren't a weakness, Becker," Connor whispered, his eyes traveling over Becker's face. "And you don't have to pretend everything's okay. We're not just your co-workers, we're your friends. You can tell us anything."
"But that's not who I am," Becker said, frustrated. "I hate feeling this way. Hate feeling alone and cut off…but most of all, I hate wishing I had someone I could come home to, because that can never happen because of this job."
Connor had never heard Becker speak so openly about himself, never heard him lay his emotions out on the table this way. There wasn't really a proper response to something like that. There were a few tense moments when Becker and Connor simply stared at each other, their faces closer than they realized. Neither of them realized they'd been leaning towards each other until their lips touched.
The kiss was soft and gentle, but not just friendly. There was emotion under it, and a vulnerability neither of them had ever expressed before, not even Connor to Abby. It could have lasted forever, and the kiss melted seamlessly into Connor falling asleep with his head on Becker's chest, both of them still fully clothed. That night was not sexual by any means, but it was without doubt something sweet and new to both of them.
Their hands were clasped on the plane ride home…they both knew that everything had changed.
"All that I keep thinking throughout this whole flight
Is that it'll take my whole damn life to make this right."
-Snow Patrol