Title: Bad vs. Good
Author: DrawnToDarkness
Rating: T
Pairing: Jess/Becker
Summary: Jess has one of those days when you wish you'd just stayed in bed.
Disclaimer: These wonderful, lovely characters aren't mine. I really, really wish they were :)
Author's Note: Pretty much had one of these days myself today, due to flooding and powercuts and sitting in the dark at work for about four hours. Just wish I had a Becker to make it better ;) Only good point = being able to sit down and write something again.

When the skies opened and unleashed a torrent of bitterly cold rain down upon her, Jess Parker wondered if she shouldn't call it a day and turn around.

It didn't matter that it was only 8.20am or that she was less than ten minutes away from her destination - and a good thirty to forty minutes away from her flat.

It didn't matter that she had a full day ahead of her - and that wasn't including any anomaly alerts that happened to occur.

Drenched to the skin in a matter of minutes, she was so very tempted to go home, call in sick for the first time in her life and hide under the blankets until the day was over.

She was sure no one would really blame her, either. Given how much had gone wrong since her alarm had failed to go off at 7am that morning, she thought she'd probably be excused for writing the day off as a bad one even though it had only just begun.

The alarm failing to go off - the result of a power cut during the night - was Bad Thing #1. The lack of hot water in the shower - and that she hadn't noticed until she'd stepped into it - was Bad Thing #2.

Bad Thing #3 was the power going off - again - while she'd been in the middle of drying her wet-and-dripping-icy-water-down-her-back hair and Bad Thing #4 was having to settle for plaiting her still-damp-after-vigorously-towel-drying-it hair and accepting that it'd be a nightmare to tame if the hair band keeping it tied up came free.

Good Thing #1 about the day - the new shoes she'd decided to wear to cheer herself up - had turned into Bad Thing #6 after Bad Thing #5 had happened. Her car, her lovely reliable little car, just stopped halfway to the ARC. No matter how many times she turned the key in the ignition, the engine refused to start.

So, forced to abandon her beloved motor, she'd decided to walk the rest of the way and call the garage from the ARC to arrange for it to be picked up. She would've called from her mobile but the battery was flat, having been plugged in to charge overnight - a pointless exercise given the lack of electricity in her flat.

Which, as she thought about it, made the car breaking down Bad Thing #6 as her mobile not working was Bad Thing #5 so that meant the blisters on her heels caused by her new shoes were actually Bad Thing #7.

Added altogether, she reasoned with herself that it was perfectly normal to want to go home, eat chocolate and feel sorry for herself. The unexpected rain - coupled with the lack of a waterproof jacket - was technically the 8th Bad Thing to have happened and it wasn't even nine in the morning.

If not for the fact the soldier manning the security checkpoint had already noticed her, she might've actually turned on her - very sore and possibly bleeding but still very pretty in her new bright red shoes - heel and gone home.

But Jess Parker was no quitter, no matter how much the universe appeared to be against her.

Squaring her shoulders against a shiver as rain dripped from her hair under the collar of her coat and the neckline of her dress, Jess forced herself to hold her head up high and strode into the ARC, almost daring the day to get worse.

Bad Thing #9 happened when Lester's afternoon meeting with the Minister was brought forward. Or really, that was Bad Thing #10. Bad Thing #9 was getting to the hub and finding out that his PA had phoned in sick so tea and coffee making duties would, inevitably, become her responsibility.

Not to mention the early meeting meant that instead of having the morning to prepare the relevant reports and check the budget she'd been passed down from the finance office, Jess found she had less than an hour to get everything ready. Her feet were aching, her dress was still damp in places and her hair was a soppy mess constantly dripping down her back and the last thing she wanted was to look unorganised.

Jess prided herself on being orderly and professional and polite but by the time the Minister and his entourage arrived at 10am, she was seriously considering telling them all to bugger off and come back when they'd originally said they would.

Bad Thing #11 happened when she was making the tea and coffees for Lester, the Minister and the two assistants he'd brought with him. Focused on the task at hand to keep her mind off the pain in her feet and the constant chill she couldn't seem to shake, Jess didn't notice she wasn't alone until her companion – the Minister's assistant with the beady eyes and smarmy smile – put his hand somewhere it really wasn't welcome.

The undignified yelp that escaped her wasn't caused by the unexpected groping so much as it was the boiling hot liquid that spilled from the coffee cup she'd been filling and onto her hand. Perhaps in hindsight deliberately stepping so the thin heel of her shoe pressed down onto the smarmy git's foot and then shifting all of her weight to that foot was an ill-advised gesture but the resulting crunch followed by his cry of pain was satisfying.

Until she moved away and realised the crunch she'd heard wasn't just the sound of the bone in his little toe breaking but was also Bad Thing #12 – the heel of her new shoe snapping in what she thought of as immediate payback of bad karma.

Good Thing #2 – or, really, #1, since the new shoe idea had failed quite spectacularly – took place almost immediately after – so fast, in fact, that it took her a few seconds to realise what exactly had happened.

Smarmy assistant was dragged quite roughly away from her, his cries of agony and bitter insults that she was a bitch and a tease and a number of other things that didn't quite register in her head going ignored as the person responsible focused completely on her and led her to the sink, holding her scolded hand in a strong but gentle grasp under the running water suddenly pouring from the cold tap.

Jess found herself shivering again but wasn't sure if it was the chill she couldn't shake, the cold water on her hand or the warmth of the body crowding against hers and shielding her from view of the man still spluttering insults and protests behind them.

"Are you okay, Jess?" Becker's voice was quiet, his eyes dark when she finally tore her gaze away from their hands to look up at him.

She was alarmed, irritated and completely mortified by the tears that sprung to her eyes and looked away, nodding instead of answering him. She reluctantly disentangled their hands and reached for a paper towel to dry hers, stiffening her spine against a wince at the sting of her tender skin.

"I'll take those in for you, Jess," Abby volunteered when she started to head back to the tray of almost-ready drinks. "And I'll gladly explain to the Minister why one of his assistants won't be returning to the meeting."

Not trusting her voice, Jess could only nod at the kind gesture, wondering if it made the Good list because it was sweet or the Bad list because it made her feel worse. Deciding it cancelled itself out because it could fit on either, she turned away from the counter and headed for the ADD, ignoring smarmy assistant bloke as he was escorted non-too-gently out of the break room and towards the medical bay by two of Becker's men.

"Jess?" Becker's voice and the arm he moved to block her way kept her from escaping the way she desperately wanted. He didn't say anything else, the questioning tone he used and the concern colouring his voice more than enough to get his point across.

"I'm fine," she lied, keeping her gaze fixed on his black-clad chest – not necessarily a bad view – instead of lifting her eyes to his so he wouldn't see the embarrassment she could feel burning her cheeks or the misery she suspected would be shimmering in her teary eyes. "Just having a bad day," she added, skirting around the arm he'd put in her way. "It's just a really bad day."

Hobbling back to her seat with whatever was left of her shattered dignity, Jess kicked her shoes off once she was sat down, letting the broken heels fall to the floor with a clatter as she stared at the screens with stinging eyes, glaring at the little clock that seemed to be mocking her.

10.23am.

Still far too many hours to go.

At two in the afternoon, Jess called a taxi and went to meet the mechanic who was going to tow her car to the garage. She was up to Bad Thing #15 on her list – Bad Thing #13 was the Minister's reaction to finding out one of his assistants had a broken toe, though he did apologise to her when he found out the full story from an only-too-pleased-to-elaborate-and-suitably-irate Becker.

Bad Thing #14 was the anomaly alert that happened just before lunch time. She sat at the ADD, shoulders aching with tension as she tried to convince herself that just because she was having a bad day, it didn't mean the rest of the team were – or that they'd be affected by her string of bad luck. Although there was no incursion – definitely, definitely Good Thing #2 – it did mean that she couldn't get away from the ARC for her lunch break until early afternoon.

Bad Thing #15 was the look on the mechanic's face as he gave her car a cursory once over and told her she'd be better off buying a new second-hand one rather than shelling out to have the engine replaced – and that, he assured, was the only way to get her beloved motor up and running again.

Taking his advice, she emptied the boot and the glove box – pleased to find a spare pair of shoes in the overnight bag she kept for emergencies, but not pleased enough about it to make it Good Thing #3 – and had the taxi driver take her back to the ARC while the mechanic towed her car away, promising he'd wait for her final decision before sending it to the scrap heap.

Her new old shoes were comfortable but still rubbed the tender skin of her heels, and the burnt skin of her hand – while thankfully not going to scar – still hurt.

After putting the items she'd rescued from her car into her locker, Jess slowly made her way back to the hub, telling herself that the day would soon be over.

Good Thing #3 was waiting for her when she got back to the ADD.

A bar of her favourite chocolate - complete with post-it note with a hastily scrawled 'Hope your day gets better – B' – made her smile for the first time since waking up that morning.

As four o'clock rolled around – thankfully without anything else making it onto the Bad Things list – Good Thing #4 happened: a cup of tea, made just the way she liked it on an afternoon, appeared in front of her.

Being honest with herself, Jess wasn't sure if it was the tea or the person who'd made it for her that actually made it on the Good list but she wasn't going to quibble – it was definitely a good thing, no matter if it was the warm beverage or the man standing beside her.

"I'm almost afraid to ask – is your day getting any better?" Becker stared at her intently, half-curious and half-concerned.

Picking up the tea – very gingerly, as it was likely she'd spill it on herself or her computer if she wasn't careful given the luck she'd been having – Jess took a cautious sip of it before answering. "It's looking like it," she said eventually, meeting his gaze. "Thank you. For the tea, and for before."

"Looked like you were handling it fine to me," Becker said with a shrug, easily deflecting the thanks as she'd known he would. "Do I want to know what's happened to make today so bad?"

"Probably not." But she shrugged and told him anyway – it felt good to get it off her chest and she'd reached the point where she was too fed up about everything that had happened throughout the day to be embarrassed about babbling at him when the little voice at the back of her head pointed out he was probably only asking to be polite.

For his part, Becker listened, his eyebrow arching higher as she continued to list the things that had conspired to make it a Very Bad Day and, by the end of it, he was reduced to staring at her wordlessly.

Not that he was usually a man of many words, but she allowed herself a moment of pleasure that she, Jess Parker, had managed to render him, the always composed Captain Becker, speechless for a moment – even if it didn't happen in quite the way she'd imagined it would.

"Is the electricity still out at your flat?" Becker asked eventually. It surprised her that he'd asked – and that she hadn't thought about it first.

Turning back to the ADD, mindful of the tea in her hand, she minimised the programme she'd been working on and logged onto the National Power Grid website, quickly clicking through the pages until she found the service status of her street.

Bad Thing #16 was the report that the electricity was out due to an exploded power cable and wasn't expected to be restored until early the following morning.

"I'll find a hotel or B&B," she said with a sigh. "Somewhere that has hot water and maybe a mini bar."

"I don't think alcohol is the answer. Not that I'd blame you," he added when she turned her head to glare at him. The tips of his ears turned red, a sure sign that he was going to say something he felt awkward about, but Jess was too distracted by the way he was looking at her – nervous and hopeful and almost embarrassed, too – to notice. "Why don't you stay at mine? I've got a spare room," he continued quickly, eyes widening slightly at the implication of his offer. "And electricity, I think."

"You might not if my bad luck spreads," Jess warned, trying to lighten the sudden nervous energy hanging in the air between them. "You don't have to. I mean, I don't have to. I mean... It's nice of you to offer, Becker, but it's okay. I can find somewhere."

Where, though, she wasn't sure. Abby and Connor were still very much in the newly-engaged-couple mode and, while she knew they'd offer her their sofa in a heartbeat, she didn't feel like being a third wheel when they were all loved-up. As for Matt and Emily, they were very much engaged in a strange, past-meets-future courtship that was sweet and endearing to witness at work but not something she wanted to inadvertently get in the middle of.

"I could stay here," she thought aloud, her tone conveying her distaste of the idea. The rooms at the ARC were basic and not exactly homely – not to mention there was no bath and the only showers available to her would be the ones in the locker rooms. The water would be hot, yes, but it was hardly the relaxing bubble bath she'd spent most of the day envisioning. "I'm sure if I explained Lester wouldn't mind..."

"Jess." His embarrassment gone, along with any traces of nervousness, Becker gave her a stern look. "You're staying at my place. I'll meet you at my truck at five-thirty sharp."

He was gone before she could argue – not that she really wanted to.

Turning back to the ADD, lifting the tea to her lips in a futile attempt at hiding her smile, Jess willed her heartbeat to settle back to normal and added Becker's offer – well, insistence, really – to her mental list as Good Thing #4.

The work day ended with only one addition to her Bad Things list: Bad Thing #17 was the unexpected glitch that caused some of the systems within the ARC to malfunction. It was only for a couple of seconds and no harm was done but it meant that instead of meeting Becker at his truck, at 5.30pm she was still sitting at the ADD, running several searches to isolate the problem so she could stop it from happening again.

At six-thirty, they finally left the ARC and headed to Jess's flat. The building was frigid, a lack of heating along with a lack of electricity making Becker glare at her when she nervously suggested that maybe she should stay at home after all.

The look on his face suggested he'd pack for her if she didn't so Jess left him alone in the darkened living room of her flat.

It was the first time he'd been in her home, she realised, but the sudden nerves that flooded her were soothed by the reminder that even if she'd left the place in a mess that morning – and she was almost certain she hadn't – it was too dark for him to see, anyway.

And that thought just reminded her that she was alone in a darkened flat with Becker and she was almost one hundred percent sure the shiver that worked its way down her spine wasn't to do with the chill in her bedroom. Convincing herself that it was a silly thought – it was Becker, after all, and nothing was ever going to happen between them no matter how much she wished it would – she quickly packed a pair of pyjamas, a change of clothes, her make-up and toiletries, her hair dryer and, after thinking about it, another pair of shoes just in case and hurried out of the bedroom.

Bad Thing #18 happened when she was halfway down the stairs to the living room, when she tripped over her own feet and started falling the rest of the way.

Good Thing #5 was Becker's quick reflexes and the fact his eyesight had adjusted to the gloom of her flat enough to be able to rush to her aid, catching her before she could hit the floor.

Bad Thing #19 was where one of his hands landed as he held her tightly, though upon further reflection, initial embarrassment aside, Jess thought that could actually make it onto the Good Things list.

Good Thing #6 was the way he stared at her for a few moments before lowering her to the floor – and lowering his face to hers.

Good Thing #7 was the way he shifted her in his arms, a hand moving to tangle in her hair as he kissed her the way she'd always dreamed but never allowed herself to believe he would.

Good Thing #8 was the kiss itself, so very good in fact that she wondered if it didn't deserve at least two places on the list on its own.

While she was debating that internally, Good Thing #9 (possibly #10 if she revised her position on the kiss) was that he held her hand as they made their way out of her flat and back to his truck.

Good Thing #10 was the half-grin, half-smirk he gave her in the truck. She'd never thought it possible for someone to look both confident and uncertain at the same time – and certainly not so very yum while doing it – but Becker managed it brilliantly.

Good Thing #11 was making it to his flat in one piece – and getting to go inside it for the first time in her life. Not that she really got to see much of it or explore it as her back was against the door, her arms around his neck and legs hitched around his waist practically within minutes of the lock being turned.

When her list got to Good Thing #14, Jess lost the ability to count as a Very Bad Day happily became a Very Good Night.

End :)