When Jess Parker stepped into the main area of the ARC soldiers and lab techs alike stepped out of her way when they saw the petite brunette. One look at her usually cheery face told everyone to steer clear of her today. Entering Ops she marched past the team straight into Lesters office and unceremoniously dumped a plastic dry cleaning bag on top of his desk where he was filling out paper work. Lesters face contorted into a scowl as he raised his head to reply in some sarcastic manner until he laid eyes on his top field coordinator.

"Good God woman what in the world happened to you?" he asked shocked at her state.

The others had approached the office once they saw her and were now standing there waiting for the explanation they were sure was going to come bursting out very soon. Jess did in fact look like she'd been through a natural disaster or two on the way to work this morning. She was soaked from head to toe, her make up which was haphazardly applied had run down her face revealing the red tint to it from anger and her clothes didn't match. In fact nothing matched. Not to mention she was an hour and a half late for work.

Jess scowled at her boss. "What happened? I'll tell you what happened. My alarm didn't go off because my phone went flat after doing the extra long incursion yesterday which you wanted me here for so I was late getting up. I did a shotty job of getting dressed and doing my make up because I didn't want to be late. There were road works in my neighbourhood which delayed me further on the way to get your dry cleaning which you insisted I get this morning. There was a traffic jam from an accident on the way back and as I pulled in I didn't have my parking pass which is probably on my kitchen bench where I keep it next to my back up phone charger. So I had to park in the outside lot then to make matters worse it started pouring and I had to run to the building in the rain! That is what happened now if you'll excuse me I'm going to shower to get the chill out of my bones and cry for a while at my shitty day then I'm going to pull myself together redo my make up, get dressed and come out here to work."

She took a large shaky breath and looked at Lesters shell shocked expression. She sniffed as she felt the tears and tried to blink them away. "I'm sorry Lester. It's been a bad morning. I'll just go."

She bit her lip and turned to leave but was blocked by her friends. She bit her lip harder to keep it in but failed as the first tear fell. Becker stepped forward and pulled her lip free. "Hey bite down any harder and you'll draw blood. Come on Jess. It'll be okay."

Instead of answering she stepped forward and dropped her head onto his chest as the sobs took over. His arms came around her as she cried into his shirt. Silently he was glad that he hadn't put on his vest yet. They stood there for fifteen minutes while she cried out her frustrations and he held her. When the shoulder shaking sobs subsided Becker rubbed her back.

"Feel better?"

She nodded twice then spoke so quietly he almost didn't hear. "Becker?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you carry me to the locker room? My shoes are so wet my feet are slipping in my heels. I don't want to add injury to my list of bad things today."

He smiled and mentally rolled his eyes. "Of course Jess. Hold on."

Her hands slid up and clasped together around the back of his neck as he lifted her into his arms. Everyone watched curiously as he made his way to the door.

"I'm taking Jess to the locker room cos her heels are too wet to walk in."

Everyone nodded though the team were hiding their snickers or smirks as best they could. Once again all employees moved out of the way for their Captain as he carried the most respected field coordinator down the corridor. They all watched in fascination as the toughest man in the ARC disappeared into the locker room with the youngest woman under their bosses command.

When the door swung shut behind them Becker walked over to the bench seat and set her down carefully. Jess looked at his shirt and frowned. "I got your shirt all wet. I'm sorry."

He crouched down until they were eye level. "Hey, it's okay. I have plenty more shirts." he frowned slightly as a shiver racked her body. "Speaking of clothes yours need to come off." as soon as the words left his mouth he knew they were the wrong ones. Jess' jaw dropped open as his face heated. "I meant you're shivering you should get into the shower soon before you get sick."

She giggled at his hurried explanation and he produced a poorly attempted scowl to cover the smile at having made her look at least a little happy.

"Yes, I know but first I need to get these heels off or I'll either fall over or get blisters from the friction." she grimaced at the thought of having to wear flats or band aids on her feet.

He chuckled. "You're right you do need to get out of these death traps." Before she knew what he was doing Becker had taken hold of her left foot and slipped the red and blue block heel from her foot. He repeated the motion with her right foot and looked up. "Now you can safely move around the locker room. But please be careful in the shower. Don't slip."

She bit her lip. "What if I do?"

He smiled. "I guess I'll have to save you Maybe I should wait out here just in case."

A blush lit up her cheeks. "You'd come into the showers and save me?"

"I would. I would carry you out, make sure you're not injured."

She bit her lip a little harder as her blush darkened.

"Hey, what did I say about biting your lip?" He reached up and pulled her bottom lip from between her teeth and ran his thumb across the tender flesh.

"You said if I bit down any harder I would draw blood."

"I meant to say stop biting your lip before you hurt yourself."

"Oh." she shivered again and Becker stood up pulling her to her feet as well.

"Come on you need to get warm again your lips are purple. Which is only a step up from blue."

She nodded and reached for the hem of her bright green dress.

"Jess? What are you doing?"

"Getting undressed so I can get in the shower."

"Uh let me leave first okay."

Her blush intensified. "Oh right."

"I'll see you later okay?"

"Okay."

The rest of the day was marginally better. The rest of the techs left her alone and the soldiers were extra nice. Lester hadn't bothered her once and Becker had gotten her an extra large block of chocolate to help her feel better. He made her cups of tea and even brought her lunch when a glitch in the system had her work through lunch. By the end of the day she had a large headache from the glitch but was satisfied it had been dealt with accordingly. To make things even better there were no dangerous incursions from the anomaly's either.

Jess had her handbag on her shoulder and was on her way out the main entrance to the ARC when she heard her name. Turning she found Becker jogging to catch up to her. She smiled at him as he reached her and tilted her head.

"Did I leave something behind?"

Becker shook his head. "Just thought I would walk you to your car. You're parked in the outside lot and it's not safe for a woman to be alone out there after dark."

She smiled gratefully and nodded. "I would appreciate it Becker thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for making sure you're safe Jess."

"It's not just that. You've been trying really hard all day to put me in a better mood when something else has gone wrong."

"Did it work?"

She smiled and turned to him as they reached her car. She had parked as close to the main entrance as she could so that it wouldn't be far and she would be in range of the cameras if something went wrong.

"Yes. It did. Even though I had a terrible day you managed to make it a good one Captain and that's why I'm thanking you."

He smiled and pulled her into a brief hug. "You are most welcome Jess."

He pulled back after a moment and curiously watched her internally battle with herself over something. Making her mind up Jess rose onto her toes and pressed a very brief peck to his lips. She pulled away and backed towards her car all the while watching as Becker completely shut down. When he finally blinked and directed his attention to her she blushed.

"A thank you for letting me cry all over you then carrying me to the locker room and taking off my shoes and for making my day better. Thank you didn't seem to be enough."

"I uh, maybe I should follow you home in case you have car troubles."

She bit her lip to prevent the grin from appearing. "I'd like that. Maybe I could order some Chinese as a thank you and we could watch a movie afterwards. It gets kind of quiet in the flat now that Connor and Abby have moved out."

"I think that's a great idea. Get in your car and lock the doors while you wait." She nodded and unlocked the doors but before she could get in she was spun around and floored with a toe curling kiss from none other than the head of security himself. "I'll be back in a minute."

She merely nodded and got in her car locking the doors while she watched him walk away. When his truck emerged from the lot she started her car and drove her usual route home. When they arrived she called for Chinese delivery and enjoyed sharing small kisses while they cuddled on the couch. Hours later as she lightly dozed on his shoulder while the credits rolled she thanked god for the terrible start to her day.