Title: Now is the Winter
Word Count: 2140
Character(s): Becker/Jess
Summary: The snow's falling harder outside, and they can only hope they are prepared for the long dark season to come.
Warnings: Though Series 5 (though really vague). Oh, and smut!
A/N: Finally getting around to posting some of my Holiday fic gifts! This is my Secret Santa gift for Woodstock12. The prompts I used were "Snow" "Anomalies" and "Purple, green, and yellow." That last is probably was decided the pairing for me, though I probably didn't use it as expected. Hope you like it my dear!
As always - I own nothing you recognize guys!
Now is the Winter
A clatter had Jess raising her head. Silently she reached to heft the jury-rigged steak knife turned spear that she kept beside her at all times. Then she heard something whistle a distinct tune and relaxed – it was just Becker. At least she knew the perimeter/anomaly alarm they'd cobbled together out of flatware and serving platters was still working - equally jury-rigged though it might have been. She had Connor to thank for that idea, well Connor's file and the report on his year in the Cretaceous. She'd never really expected it to be research she would actually need to use on a practical basis… but she supposed she should have considering their luck.
The mass of furs that was Becker came around the bend in the cave and she stood to relieve him of the wood that he'd braved the snow to gather. They stacked it in the massive pile already against the wall. Then as one they muscled the tangle of bracken and bushes they'd scavenged over the past month into place at the bend in the cave. It wasn't much in the way of protection or insulation, but with a skin tossed over the top, it wasn't too bad serving as the latter at least. And they needed every bit of help they could get now. Becker tossed another branch onto their tiny little hearth, checking to make sure the smoke was still actually drifting out of the cave instead of just clogging up the air in their ramshackle home. Only then did he sink down to join her in the little nest of furs a safe distance away from the flames.
They each grabbed a handful of nuts and a piece of the dried meat, eating and drinking with slow deliberation. Jess chewed each bite far longer than was probably necessary in hopes of making the meal feel more substantial, and she tried not to think about how meager their supply of food actually was.
It was better than nothing she reminded herself firmly. Becker passed her the cup for another drink and she smiled her thanks. That was one of the more- than- merely- better facets right there: she wasn't alone, and of all the people she might have hoped to be stuck with on the wrong side of an anomaly, her favorite Special Forces trained soldier certainly topped the list. He was definitely more than capable of surviving in such a situation and of helping her survive as well of course. But it was Becker, and that undeniably made it better.
And he was hers now as he might never have been otherwise.
Or, perhaps he would have been, she thought, not for the first time since it had happened. At the very least, he'd invited her to the wedding of one of his Sandhurst mates. Granted, that invitation had led to them being trapped here in the past, but that was beside the point. He had asked her to a wedding. Even he wasn't thick enough to miss the connotations of such taking her with him to an event like a wedding. So maybe there had been some hope for him after all.
Shame about the wedding though – the ceremony had been lovely, but the reception had gone all to bloody hell. The guests had been having cocktails when an oh-so-familiar ball of flickering shards of light had sparked into existence not far from where Jess stood. There'd been roughly a beat of silence as everyone stared at the thing, and then a terrifying roaring form had bounded through, and everything had dissolved into chaos.
God only knew how many civilians had ended up dying at the cave bear's claws and teeth. Jess could only hope that at least a few of the many former and current SAS blokes among the guests were able to keep their heads in all the chaos. Otherwise, the situation she and Becker had accidentally left behind was probably quite bleak.
In the moments immediately after their arrival in whenever they were, Becker had been understandably angry and panicked for his friends caught in the chaos back in their time, but even more so for Jess. He'd worried she'd been injured, and after assuring himself that no predators were lying in wait, he'd tended to her wounds as best he could, though really her knees were a mess. She landed hard, both before and after the anomaly – once when she'd been knocked over during the panicked retreat of one of the other less courageous wedding guests, and then again when Becker had lunged, shoving her out of the way of the very testy cave bear's jaws. Unfortunately the only clear retreat had been through the anomaly and into this not-so-warm-and-cozy-as-they-would-have-liked cave. Then, of course, the anomaly had snapped shut. Bloody typical.
At least it had been late summer/early fall when they'd arrived. They'd had some time to prepare for the coming winter. If they'd had even a month less time… well they'd have been in even worse straits than they were now. There was a reason those bloody cave bears hibernated after all – winter was a frightening concept just to consider. It was no less frightening now that it had actually arrived.
The era had been a fairly lucky stroke too – at least there were furred mammals for Becker to hunt, both for food and for the hides that the two puny hairless humans needed so desperately for warmth and protection from the environment. Jess's dress certainly hadn't been of any use at all, and his suit wasn't that much better. As luck would have it they'd both been wearing fairly utilitarian shoes at the wedding. The weather had been ghastly that day and both had sensibly reverted to boots instead of Jess's tiny high heels or a pair of slick soled dress shoes for him. Becker'd actually worn his combat boots in a bit of a jest with the groom. They were still holding out well, though Jess's boots were rather worse for wear. Still, it was better than it could have been.
Jess took another sip of water and mused that "it was better than it could have been" might as well become her mantra here in whenever-the-bloody-hell they were. Whenever-the-bloody-cold they were, more accurately. She pulled herself up off the pile of furs and scuttled over to feed the fire again and to bring a few pieces of wood closer to their little nest so as not to have to go very far the next time. Becker simply watched her, as if more content to let her do the simple task than he might usually be. It was another bit of progress between them. She'd chafed at her helplessness just after their arrival. Her knees hadn't been too badly sprained - thank all that was holy - but walking hadn't been comfortable for quite a while. And she wasn't nearly in the prime physical condition Becker was – hiking off at ever greater distances looking for food and supplies took its toll until her body began hardening up with the lack of ready food and need for constant exercise. It had taken her longer than she would have liked to get to where she could keep up with him, but she could now.
She could. It meant more than she might have guessed, that they were equals now physically as well as professionally, as they had been back at the ARC. Well, perhaps not precisely equals considering his military background, but at least on a more even footing than being the soldier and the techie. Now they were both just survivors.
Jess sank back down into the warmth of their bed of leaves and moss covered by various furs. The whole mess was not exactly delightful to smell, but then, neither were she or Becker any more. It was comfortable, surprisingly comfortable, and that was the important thing when it came to a mattress. She was rather proud of it actually: Becker had gathered all the materials, but she'd been the one to craft it, complete with different layers and branches around the edges to keep the stuffing actually where she placed it. Of course, the branches weren't likely to survive the winter unscathed, but it was the principle of the thing.
Becker lifted up a corner of the mound of furs and reached out to tug her back underneath with him. Jess rejoined him with very little protest and he leaned in to give her a kiss that was met with even less.
This, she thought, was the one thing that kept her going, kept her believing that everything might be alright despite the odds against them. As long as he was hers and she was his, they'd manage to survive for each other.
The first kiss of the evening was slow and gentle as always, a welcome home from her and a sigh of relief from him at making it back to her through the hell outside. The next was deeper, both of them sinking into each other as if into a shared skin. Then, oh then, his lips moved, across her cheek and over to her throat, sucking a bruise on her pulse, adding a delightful memory to the others. The other bruises were all but a constant now across her pale skin – little constellations of purplish black fading to a sickly green and yellow, reminders of the dangers of the place they now lived in. She tried not to think about them, but Becker could rarely seem to think of anything else sometimes. Like now, when he mapped out the landscape of her skin from one mark to another, working a path across her body, removing the furs and wreckage of her dress to bare her skin, soothing it with his lips as if his kisses alone would heal each wound.
It worked well enough, making her forget the aches and pains for a while in the aftermath of his touch. His fingers trailed across her too, leaving her warmer than the fire or the furs ever could. When she was close, so bloody close it almost drove her mad, he finally slid into her, as deep as he could go, pulling a moan from each of their mouths.
He set the pace and Jess matched it stroke for stroke, rising up to meet him with a roll of her hips that had him groaning against her skin. They moved faster and faster, losing themselves in the rhythm and the sensation as best they could with their focus split between sex and the fire and the chance of an intruder. It made her dizzy and giddy and somehow anxious all at once, but the building heat at her core kept her distracted enough, pushing her higher until she came with a keen that she muffled in his shoulder. She clenched around him as she came, and it was enough to send him tumbling after her, fumbling to pull out and come in her mouth. She licked her lips after, then blushed when he caught her doing so; the salty taste was one she'd never liked before him but now had grown to crave. She just wasn't sure how she felt about Becker knowing that.
Still smirking slightly, Becker tugged his pants back on, and ventured out of the nest to check the bracken wall and bank the fire for the night. Jess tugged back on her dress and the fur leggings she'd haphazardly stitched together. Nude might have been the way she preferred to sleep back home, but here, they needed every layer to combat the cold. Becker crawled back in beside her, and she curled up against him, both for warmth and for the sheer comfort and safety of his arms. Then she drifted off to sleep, knowing he'd be on watch for several hours yet.
A clatter from the mouth of the cave woke Jess with a start, and she sat up to see Becker already standing to face the entrance, steak-knife spear in hand. A flicker caught her eye, and she turned to glance in the other direction and gasped. Becker turned to look too, and his eyes widened at the sight of the anomaly. In less than a breath, they both lunged into motion, wasting no time as they both knew the anomaly might close in an instant. With a memory of Danny Quinn and overlapping anomalies to warn them that home might not be on the other side, they gathered their essentials of a wrap of fur each, with the spears and a skin bag of food slung over a shoulder. Then side by side as they had been for months now, they stepped forward and through the anomaly to whatever awaited them on the other side.