Title: Comfort
Author: DrawnToDarkness
Pairing: Jess/Becker
Summary: A difficult day leads to a member of the team needing some TLC

Birthday request fic for Mijo54. Joyeux Anniversaire! xxx

It was one of the worst incursions they'd had in a while. Becker wasn't sure if it was because they'd gotten complacent, believing they could handle whatever the anomalies threw at them in the aftermath of convergence, or if it was just an extremely bad day.

The creatures that came through weren't big, but what they lacked in size they made up for in viciousness. With claws like raptors and teeth as sharp as any carnivore the ARC Captain had had the displeasure of meeting, Connor was still trying to identify the dinosaurs that had come through and torn three poor office workers to shreds. Even those who had escaped the massacre would no doubt be traumatised for life by what they'd witnessed.

Having seen the aftermath, Becker couldn't blame them and sympathised completely.

Despite that, it wasn't until the tired and frustrated team returned to the ARC that it dawned on them that one of their own had witnessed the horrific scenes, too. Jess had had to sit at her station in front of the ADD, guiding the team to the anomaly while keeping it under constant observation.

She'd watched the bloodbath, reported the casualties as calmly as ever without giving away the true terror of what she'd seen. It was admirable of her in a way, more useful that hysterics in their earpieces as she'd warned them of what they would find.

None of them had really considered just what she'd had to sit through to get them that information, and it wasn't until they trooped into Ops and found Lester in the hub waiting for them, the ADD seat conspicuously empty, that they realised it.

"Where's Jess?" Abby asked the question they were all thinking, concern for her former flatmate clear in her voice.

"I sent her home." Lester looked at each of them in turn, his gaze lingering for a few seconds longer than necessary on Becker, trying to convey either a silent message or order to the stoic Captain. "Via the medical bay."

"Medical bay?" Matt's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to their boss. "Is she okay?"

"She insisted she was fine." Lester shrugged, his tone conveying his disbelief. "She was sent home with some sleeping pills, I believe, and orders not to come in tomorrow. Orders I expect you to ensure she follows, Captain."

Becker nodded, relinquishing his black box when Matt held out his hand. "I'll make sure of it."

Lester gave him a mildly approving look. "Good man. Now, I'm sure you've all work to do. Get to it, people."

The team filed out of Ops, one by one. Each of them stopped by Becker momentarily, murmuring messages of sympathy and support for him to pass on to the absent Field Co-ordinator. While his relationship with Jess was in the very early stages – they'd only been on two days since he'd eventually worked up the nerve to ask her out – it was assumed that he would be the best person to help her through the difficult days ahead. It was a responsibility he was only too willing accept, having taken a special interest in Jess's health and well-being long before their professional relationship had shifted to a more personal one.

Becker didn't linger at the ARC any longer than he needed to. He left his second-in-command in charge, with clear instructions that he was to be contacted if there were any anomalies, grabbed his spare clothes from his locker and put them into a backpack before heading straight for Jess's flat.

She was expecting the knock at the door but still jumped when it came. Pulling the blanket she'd wrapped around herself more tightly around her shoulders, Jess got up from her place on the sofa and walked towards the door. She opened it just as he lifted his hand to knock again but couldn't bring herself to smile at the surprise that momentarily stole across his features.

"Jess." His expression softened, his dark brown eyes shining with concern. "Hey."

"Hi." Though she was aware that she must look a right stage – she'd cried in the car on the way home and hadn't bothered fixing her make-up, not to mention the shivers that kept wracking her slender frame no matter how high she turned up the heating – Jess couldn't bring herself to care that he wasn't seeing her at her best. She turned her back on him, leaving the door open in silent invitation, and went back to the sofa.

The sound of the door closing and the click of the lock being turned told her he was following her even before she heard the tell-tale tread of his booted feet on the floor. She'd barely sat own when Becker joined her, sitting close and wrapping an arm around her trembling shoulders to draw him against her without a word.

She listened to the soothing beat of his heart beneath her ear and felt his fingers begin to stroke through his hair as she cuddled against his chest. She didn't really know when she started crying again but Becker made all the right noises, murmuring reassurances and promises that he was there.

Quietly, at his urging, Jess told him what she'd seen, her voice faltering on more than one occasion. How she ended up sitting in his lap, his arm wrapped tightly around her, Jess wasn't entirely sure but she made no attempt at moving away from him.

If there was one place in the whole world she felt completely safe, it was when she was wrapped in Hilary Becker's arms.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Becker told her sincerely, pressing his lips to her forehead in a tender kiss.

"It's my job." Her words were muffled against him as she turned her face into his neck, inhaling deeply to calm herself. "You've seen much worse."

He wasn't sure it was true but wasn't going to argue. "I signed up for this, Jess. You didn't."

"I knew what I was getting into." She'd seen footage, after all, of dinosaurs in the House of Commons amongst other places as part of her interview. "I just... I feel so helpless sometimes. I couldn't warn them, couldn't stop it. I'd already set off the fire alarms to clear the building but it wasn't fast enough for those people. And even I was watching, even as I sat there and saw..." She broke off with a sob that caught in her throat, shaking her head wordlessly for a few moments before composing herself. "All I could think about was how it'd feel if I had to watch that happen to you. The others, too," she added, lifting her head to look at him. "But mostly you."

The worst part about what they did was that Becker couldn't promise her it would never happen. He couldn't look her in the eye, hold her in his arms, and swear that she'd never have to sit and watch either himself or one of their friends meet a nasty end at the claws and teeth of the creatures they fought to protect the rest of the world from.

Instead of lying to her, Becker tightened his hold on her and held her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead again when she lifted her head to look at him. "I can't promise that it'll never happen," he told her quietly, his voice hoarse with emotions he tried to keep hidden most of the time. "But I promise I'll do my best to come back to you at the end of the day, no matter what we end up facing."

As far as promises went, it was the best he could do while they worked at the ARC and she knew it. So Jess attempted a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and stretched up to kiss him softly. It wasn't their first kiss by far but it was still sweet and almost uncertain. They'd decided by silent agreement to take the physical side of their relationship slowly, neither wanting to rush headlong into something they were both sure would be so important.

Becker let his hands move to her waist but made a concerted effort to hold them still, letting the woman in his arms control the embrace. When he felt her lips part against his own, the tip of her tongue tracing the seam of his mouth, he eagerly but cautiously opened up to her, allowing her to deepen their kiss while reining in his own impulses.

When it came to a natural end, she let her forehead rest against his, her eyes closed as her hands curled around his shoulders. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," she admitted quietly.

"With a bit of luck, we'll never need to find out." Shifting her in his arms, Becker moved so they were lying on their sides, with Jess tucked into the space between his body and the back of the sofa.

They lay together in almost complete silent, drawing warmth and comfort from one another's presence. He tugged the blanket she'd had wrapped around her shoulders up when he'd arrived up and over them and kept watch over her even when he felt her relax against him and heard her breathing grow deeper as she slipped into slumber.

The night ahead would no doubt be long and fraught with nightmares but he was determined to protect her as best as he could.

Finis.