I'm knee-deep in ScoRose fic ideas and half written stories for them, but... when Primeval wants your attention, who are we to resist?

So I literally sat down and just... wrote this. It came from nowhere, and it wasn't going to be anything like this (I think it was going to be a short, cute, fluffy one-shot set in the ARC, but I've written that, so I rather like this). It's different from my usual standard fluffy one-shots, but I hope you like it. Also, don't be put off by the fact that it's multi-chapter - it was either a really long one-shot, or a short multi-chapter, so I did it in multi-form. Possibly 5 chapters, but I've written them all, so they'll be up quickly. :D

Anywaaaays, thank you for electing to read this! It's dedicated to all of you - every person in the Primeval Fandom on here, because you guys are seriously amazing. It's lovely to see that people who read my fics, and whose fics I read, read each others, making us a really awesome community. (Am I rambling? Sorry!) So, here it is: enjoy!


Jess had been enjoying her day.

It was cool in the hub of the ARC, the air conditioning keeping the open planned room from sweltering in the heat of the summer sun outside.

Jess had persuaded Lester - which wasn't hard considering she'd really just told him it was necessary - to let her uncover and open the large glass window behind the ADD, pointing out that nobody could see inside the secret headquarters and, even if they did, it would just look like a normal office. It wasn't like she was asking for the menagerie to be uncovered.

She was, therefore, sat curled up in a comfortable ball in her soft chair, playing Angry Birds on the huge ADD screen because there had not been an anomaly all week, she was, for once, up to date on the admin and - she had to admit - the prospect of watching Becker shuffle about the hub, organising provisions, tactics and weaponry for the army was just too pleasant to pass up.

Yes, she was aware that that made her a little sad and pathetic.

She sighed somewhat angrily at herself for being so pathetic and sat up in her chair, turning her attention away from the dark-haired soldier talking (arguing) to a technician across the room and back to the ADD, desperately searching for something to keep her busy. Angry Birds was becoming monotonous.

It was only three in the afternoon on a day in late spring, so the sun was still filtering through the window, illuminating the whole hub area. The other workers seemed invigorated by the increase in light and their moods seemed to lighten at the fact that they were no longer stuck working in a gloomy office.

Before Jess could pull up some files onto the screen, a voice by her ear made her start out of her seat a little.

"Slacking off?" He teased.

As she spun to face Becker, an expression of half-warning half-joking on her face, she realised that his face was dangerously close to her own.

It seemed that all of a sudden he did too, because, although his smirk remained in place, he pulled back sharply to lean on the wall beside her computer screen, crossing his arms over his chest and keeping his distance.

Jess quickly tapped a few keys on the keyboard, bringing up some work, then spun back to face him.

She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips in a pointed response.

He let out an unexpected laugh. "Okay, so you're… managing your time?"

"Exactly," Jess grinned back. "Which is more than I can say for you."

"I've been organising the upcoming retraining expedition," He seemed proud of himself. "And I'm willing to bet you anything, Jess, that I've done more work than you today."

"Hey!" Jess complained, but smiled at his teasing. "I did work this morning. I'm… taking a break."

"So I can see," He teased again, pointedly looking her up and down to emphasise her relaxed position, the fact that her shoes were unbuckled and strewn across the floor. All the same, Jess couldn't help but blush - he might as well have been checking her out.

Which he was, but she didn't know that.

Jess tried to divert the conversation. "So, do you leave on Monday?"

"Yeah," Becker grinned, his whole face lighting up at the prospect of retraining current soldiers and new initiates. "I got Lester to agree to have the two week expedition abroad in the jungle - and I know you will anyway because you're so stubborn and curious, but don't ask which jungle because I'm not allowed to tell you."

Jess grinned, then the smile faded as suddenly as it had come when she took in his words. "T…Two weeks? In the jungle?"

She was aware her voice came out painfully quiet and small, but Becker apparently did not interpret it correctly.

"That's got to be your worst nightmare, Jess? Two whole weeks in the jungle without technology, or chocolate, or… shoes."

Now he was definitely teasing her to provoke a reaction.

Instead, Jess changed the direction of the conversation, tossing all thoughts of not speaking to one of her closest friends for two whole weeks from her mind.

What if he got eaten by a giant spider or something?

She suppressed a shudder.

"While I do admit that the jungle should have more time for shoe shopping," She began, crossing her own arms, "you are definitely wrong in one respect there, Becker."

His eyebrows creased. "Is that so?" He challenged, curious.

Jess turned back to the ADD, trying to avoid his eyes now. "You didn't quite get Lester to agree… I may have suggested to a reluctant Lester that it was in his best interests to ensure that the security team at the ARC was the best it could be… you know, for the defence of his government employees, and the general public."

He didn't respond for a few long seconds, so Jess finally gave in and glanced at him.

He was leaning on the wall, in the same position he'd been standing in since he'd come over, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted at an angle. The only thing that had changed was his expression: he was staring at her with a hint of surprise in his eyes, and admiration, and respect, and thankfulness.

To be honest, it was an odd mixture of emotions. The only thing she was sure about was that he was suddenly looking at her intently.

"I…" She felt a little unnerved. "Was… was that okay? I mean, I didn't want to overstep or anything, but I just… I knew how important it was to you-to the team, so I figured… I could… oh god, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

She grimaced, causing Becker to smile.

Then, surprising her completely, he pulled away from the wall, crossed the short space to her in one step, and hugged her.

It was short, but Jess was aware how rare and bizarre it also was for Becker to be hugging someone, especially in the middle of the hub - although, now she looked, she realised hardly anyone was around anyway.

"Thank you," He told her sincerely as he stepped away. Jess was painfully aware that her cheeks were blazing a violent red. "Seriously, Jessica, that's just… how about we… go out for drinks tonight, I'll pay, as a thank you?"

He looked her in the eye when he said it, stood firmly on both feet, but Jess knew him too well - the corner of his mouth twitched in nervousness.

He was nervous! Nervous to ask you out, Jess! No, not ask 'out', as such, just… for drinks. Like friends.

Like friends, but maybe not as friends.

"I… yeah, of course, that sounds… nice," She managed to breathe back in reply.

Then the anomaly alarm interrupted them.

"Guess there's no slacking off for us now," Becker muttered dryly, then he stalked off to gather up his men.

The hub was chaos, and Jess was completely preoccupied with GPS tracking, satellites and hacking into CCTV for five minutes.

When she next blinked back to the reality of the hub it was because Abby, Connor, Matt and Emily were heading out. They'd already acquired EMDs but rushed past to collect black boxes, Abby and Emily calling a goodbye, Matt instructing her to keep them up to date (to which she responded with a very Becker-like sarcastic comment), and Connor calling a stupid aside about asking her to use the ADD system to hack into their Sky box and put The 50 Best Star Wars Moments on record because it was likely they were going to miss it that evening.

Just as Connor reached the doorway, Lester emerged from his office and called him back.

"Connor!" He sounded like a father reprimanding his son. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Err, to fight dinosaurs?" He asked hesitantly.

"And how did you imagine you'd be able to do that without field-work clearance?" Lester sighed.

"Err, I…"

"Jess," Lester interrupted him abruptly but not unkindly, "swap placed with Connor. You said the anomaly's viable to interference from the hospital's radiology machines, so we need one of you there. Heaven knows at least one person needs to be capable of stopping vicious rampaging creatures from coming through that anomaly. The paperwork would be a nightmare."

"Wait," Jess and Connor were still staring at each other in surprise, but Lester, completely ignoring the unusual nature of his request, had made to turn back to his office. Jess's voice stopped him. "I… swap places with Connor? In the field? Actual site work?"

Lester's eyebrows creased a little as he glanced between the two of them rather lazily. "You've encountered creatures before, and you've got clearance… Is there a problem?"

"Nope."

"No," they both responded quickly, then swapped places. Connor took up Jess's seat at the ADD whilst Jess, buckling her heels as quickly as possible and picking up her own black box, joined the others by the door. Jess gave Connor one last apologetic look as he handed over his EMD, and Abby shot him a sympathetic one, then the team hurried to their cars.


This is setting the scene mostly, but I'd love a review to see what you think of it so far, and what you think is going to happen? If you can't be bothered to wait for the chapters as they are posted, I'd be forever grateful if you checked back in, like, four days when it's all uploaded?

Thank you all! Much love, Kerry. x