Okay
by phoebenpiper
...
"Matt and Connor got the sun cage safely into the truck," Becker announced as he rushed into Ops. "Let's go."
As Emily nodded and headed out, Abby approached Becker, explaining, "We did another check, and all the predators are dead." Having reached his side, she grabbed his forearm and whispered, "She's in a bad way."
Becker followed Abby's nod down to the floor. Jess was sat propped against a pillar curled up into a ball, hugging her knees against her chest. Lester's blood was still smeared across her cheek as she sat there shaking, staring in terror at the bodies of the two predators Becker had taken down.
Abby squeezed the soldier's arm, whispering, "We'll wait for you," before heading out.
Becker rushed to Jess's side, kneeling down and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Jess? You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah." Her voice was small and distant as she absently nodded, unable to peel her eyes away from the dead creatures.
Becker cupped her cheek and gently turned her face towards him. Looking into her eyes, trying to connect with her, he said, "Jess, we have to take the sun cage back to Philip's anomaly. We have to try and stop it." He could tell none of this was sinking in for her eyes remained unfocused, haunted by her recent trauma. A part of him wanted to shake her, to wake her up. But she looked so fragile and helpless, curled up like a frightened child, that the other part of him simply wanted to hold her, to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.
But he didn't actually know if that was true. No one knew if Connor's plan would work or if it would simply accelerate the whole "end of the world" thing. And Becker couldn't lie to Jess, couldn't give her false hopes.
Still, he needed to get through to her because they needed her; Lester needed her.
"Jess," he said, louder this time, as he gently squeezed her shoulder. "We need to go."
This word penetrated her fog.
"Go?" she repeated.
Becker nodded. "Yes, Jess. I have to go now."
"No!" Jess frantically grasped his forearm, her eyes now alive with fear, her voice nearly hysterical. "No! Don't go! I don't want you to go! I don't want you to leave me!"
"Jess, I have to go. We have to try to stop the anomaly."
"Then let me go with you. I don't want to stay here." Her eyes flickered over towards the dead predators, her voice growing quieter as she choked out through her frightened tears, "I don't want to be left alone."
A tear rolled down her cheek, and Becker brushed it away with his thumb, further smearing the blood there, making her appear even more vulnerable. It broke Becker's heart to see her so terrified, and he realised it was going to take every bit of his will power to leave her behind, but he knew he must.
"Jess, you have to stay here."
Jess frantically shook her head again, increasing her death grip on his arm. Becker loosened her hold by sliding his arm down from her shoulder and taking her hands in his as he gently stroked her cheek with his other hand. "Jess, the predators are all dead. You're gonna be okay."
Clearly she wasn't buying it for she shook with fear at the thought of being alone in the ARC. Yet she wouldn't be alone, and that was why she must, in fact, stay behind.
"Jess. JESS!" He looked intently into her tear-rimmed eyes as he stated firmly, "You've got to take care of Lester. You understand? He needs medics, Jess. He needs YOU."
Jess blinked, and for the first time since he'd kneeled down he could actually recognise Jess behind those incredibly blue eyes. Becker breathed a sigh of relief as her shaking ceased.
"Okay, Jess?" he asked, his voice tender once again. "You'll take care of Lester?"
"Yes," she promised, nodding her head vigorously. "Yes, I'll take care of him."
Becker was relieved to know that she would no longer balk at his leaving, but he was also aware that she wasn't quite in a state yet to do what he needed her to do. He was going to have to walk her through these first steps as though she were a trauma victim, which, in fact, she was.
"Lester's locked in the medical bay," Becker explained slowly and carefully. "You need to call in the medics, and then you need to go wait with him. Do you understand?"
Jess nodded. "Yes. Yes, I understand."
"Okay, good. Now, Jess, I need you to-"
"Becker!" Matt's anxious voice and pounding footsteps echoed through the silence in Ops.
Becker caught the team leader's eye and gestured silently towards Jess. Matt summed up the situation in an instant, giving Becker an understanding nod as he meaningfully tapped his watch before running out.
Turning back to Jess, Becker said in his most soothing voice, "Now I need you to get out your phone, Jess. Do you have your mobile?"
Jess nodded, stretching out her legs to pull her phone out and then holding it up in front of Becker as if looking for approval.
"Good, Jess," Becker said, smiling. "You're doing great. Now I need you to call in the medics. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes." Jess smiled and nodded. "Yes, I can do that."
Becker was relieved to see her open her phone and start to scroll through her address book. If he could have his way, he'd stay and hold her hand through the entire process, but he knew the others were anxiously waiting for him out in the truck.
"Jess," he said, gently caressing her cheek. "I have to go now." Her eyes immediately rose to meet his, some of the fear returning. "But you're gonna be fine," he soothed, squeezing her hands. "You're gonna call the medics and then you're gonna go sit with Lester and wait with him until they arrive. Okay, Jess?"
She gulped, trying to calm herself, before nodding, "Okay. Okay."
"And you'll keep me informed, yeah?" Becker said. "I'm only a text away, Jess. Okay?"
"And you'll text me?" she pleaded. "You'll let me know if..."
She trailed off, not wanting to say the words aloud, but they both knew what she meant - she wanted to know if Connor's plan worked or if, instead, this really was the end of the world.
Becker didn't know how he'd ever be able to tell her the truth if the worst happened, but he nodded, vaguely promising, "I'll stay in touch, Jess."
She smiled and, taking a steeling breath, said, "You best get going then. They're waiting for you."
Becker nodded - she was thinking outside herself, which meant she was on her way back to normal. "You take care of Lester, okay, Jess?"
She bit her lip as she nodded her assent. "And you take care of-" She stopped and simply restated, "You take care."
Becker gently stroked her cheek one last time before standing up. Looking down upon her, sitting there barefoot with Lester's blood upon her face, she looked so small and fragile that Becker didn't want to leave her. She must've sensed his hesitation for she looked up at him and gave him a smile. It wasn't as radiant as most of her smiles, but it was exactly what he needed right now.
"Go," she said simply before breaking their eye contact and returning her attention to her mobile, her fingers starting to fly across its keyboard.
Becker stood watching her for a moment before turning and running towards the exit.
...
It took numerous calls to finally ensure that medics were on their way. All the teams were still out in the field, and though the other anomalies had all closed, there were still incursions that needed to be dealt with, some of them deadly. However, Jess had finally been able to track down a team that had both secured their site AND had no injuries that required their immediate assistance, so they were now en route back to the ARC.
Ringing off, Jess realised that she could no longer put off what she'd been dreading ever since Becker'd left. She'd justified to herself that her top priority must be to get the medics on their way, but in her heart she knew she could've made her calls as she walked. Now she'd completed her primary task, so she had no excuse not to go check on Lester.
Except that she was terrified as to what she might find in the medical bay. She knew exactly how badly Lester was injured because she'd been there when the predator had attacked, knocking them both to the ground. She'd seen the creature's claws rip through Lester's side and heard her guv'nor's cry of pain. She'd clambered for the dropped EMD, but it'd fallen to the side, out of her reach. Thus unarmed, she'd helplessly watched in horror as the predator stared down at them, raising its claws to strike the final blow.
It had been then that the other predators attacked. Launching themselves through the air, they'd tackled the initial attacker, knocking it off its feet and, their limbs now entangled, tumbling away en masse like a field full of rugby players.
With the predators thus distracted, more intent on fighting each other than eating their prey, Jess had quietly crawled over to retrieve the EMD. As the violent altercation moved farther and farther away, Jess had attempted to drag Lester to safety. They were totally exposed here in Ops, but Jess soon realised she wouldn't be able to move Lester far...nor could she simply abandon him to his fate whilst she ran and locked herself away, no matter how much her survival instincts told her to do just that. Unwilling to leave him, she'd simply pulled Lester's head onto her lap and, despite the feeling that it was all futile, tried to remain vigilant, straining to see the predators through the darkness, hearing their ominous clickings sound from around every corner.
Thus holed up here together in the dark, Jess hadn't even tried to comfort Lester, to tell him it was going to be okay. This wasn't some survival instinct, an effort to stay as silent as possible to avoid alerting the predators to their location - instead, she simply hadn't felt up to such lies, convinced as she was that neither of them was going to make it out alive.
Yet they had. Becker had come, just as she'd said he would, and by some miracle he and the others had arrived in time. But Jess had noticed their looks of concern when they'd seen Lester's wounds; even they'd recognised he was in a bad way. They'd carried him away, and that was the last she'd seen of him.
Now she was expected to go check on him, and she was terrified of what she might find. Perhaps the others hadn't really arrived in time. Perhaps Lester's wounds were even more serious than they'd thought. Perhaps he was already dead. And Jess didn't think she'd be able to handle that.
But Jess could hear Becker's words in her head: "You take care of Lester, Jess." Like a post-hypnotic suggestion, Jess felt compelled to do as he'd instructed, despite her terror.
Deciding to employ one final stalling technique, she grabbed her mobile and texted a simple message to Becker:
"Medics on their way."
Then she stood and, taking a deep breath to steel herself, slowly headed towards medical bay. The ARC was eeriely quiet, and her bare feet barely made a sound as she walked the empty halls. Sooner than she'd hoped, she arrived at the door to her destination. Her hand started to shake as she reached for the lock, and it took all of her strength to simply open the door.
Lester lay on a bed inside, an IV drip attached to his arm. His eyes were closed, and the bandages pressed against his wounds were soaked through with blood. Jess stood frozen in the doorway, staring at her boss, not certain if he was alive or dead. Time seemed to stand still as she remained there, hoping for some sign that he was still with her. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Jess saw Lester's chest rise and fall with his breath.
Her relief must've been audible for Lester's eyes fluttered open. "Jess?"
She rushed to his side, taking his hand in hers. "Yes, Lester. I'm here."
"The predators?" he choked out.
"They're dead. We're safe now."
"And the others?"
"They're gone, trying to stop Philip's anomaly."
Lester nodded, but the simple movement must've caused a surge of pain for he winced.
Jess squeezed his hand comfortingly, wishing she could do more. "Just hold on, okay? The medics are on their way. You're gonna be fine."
"Always the optimist, aren't you, Parker?" Lester grumbled good-naturedly, and Jess let out a cheerless laugh as her eyes filled with tears.
Squeezing her hand, he closed his eyes once again. "Don't ever lose that, Jess."
Thus unleashed, the tears flowed freely down Jess's cheeks.
...
When the first text came through, Becker fished the mobile out of his pocket and tossed it haphazardly into the backseat. Abby recovered the phone from the floor and opened it.
"It's from Jess," she said, reading, "'Medics on their way.'"
"Good girl," Becker mumbled under his breath. The simple message made him relieved on several levels. Of course he was glad to know that the medics would soon be there to take care of Lester...and Jess as well. Becker was also reassured that Jess had managed to do her job and call the teams, even though he hadn't been there to walk her through it. But most of all, he was relieved that Jess had enough presence of mind to stay in touch as she'd promised.
And if he hadn't been driving, speeding his truck through the mostly deserted streets, he would've texted back. But what could he have said? They didn't know anything yet except that the storm was continuing to grow worse with each passing minute.
A short time later, Abby announced, "She sent another one. 'Lester says hi.'" Becker recognised it as Jess's shorthand for "He's not dead yet," but the absurdity of their acerbic boss sending such a cheery message lightened the mood in the truck considerably. No one had dared speak it aloud, but they'd all privately feared that the team had arrived too late, that Lester's wounds were too severe, that he wouldn't survive. Of course, just because he was still alive now didn't mean he was out of the water quite yet, but it was still the best news any of them had had in awhile, and they clung to it eagerly.
Not long afterwards the mobile buzzed again. This time the message read, "'Medics r here.'"
Becker breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that at least Jess wouldn't be alone now should the worst happen.
He and the others waited eagerly for her next text, hoping it would be good news from the medics. But the text didn't come. The minutes seemed to drag on and on as they waited with bated breath for some word on Lester's condition.
As more time passed, the tension in the truck slowly began to rise. No one knew whether to consider the delay a good sign or bad. Becker found himself driving at a breakneck pace, as if trying to make the time itself go faster. He silently cursed Philip for choosing a power station so far from the ARC for his apocalyptic experiments; if it'd been closer, they'd be there by now, and Becker wouldn't be stuck alone with his pessimistic thoughts.
By the time Becker's mobile finally buzzed again, the truck's occupants were all so tightly wound that they jumped at the sound.
Abby opened his phone and gave an immediate sigh of relief, letting them all know, even before hearing the text, that Lester was going to be okay. "'Medics say avoided major organs. Should be okay! Patching him up now.'"
However, this feeling of relief didn't last, for the truck rounded a corner and suddenly Philip's anomaly, surrounded by the ruins of the power station, loomed ahead of them, filling the horizon. They were almost there, the moment of truth almost upon them. They would soon know whether Connor's plan worked...or whether instead Helen had finally won.
Abby's voice broke the uncomfortable silence. "Jess just sent another text. 'Be careful. And stay warm.'"
"Stay warm?" Emily repeated, clearly confused.
But Becker instantly understood her message.
He didn't remember exactly when or how it had started, but Jess always told Becker this now whenever he was in the field. The phrase had become something of a joke between them, especially after she'd pointedly used it when he'd been stuck in a sauna all night, guarding an anomaly in an athletic club. It had become their own secret code, Jess's own special way of showing how much she cared for his well-being.
But this time the words had an additional meaning. Jess was purposely letting him know that she was okay. That despite the trauma she'd just been through, she was still Jess. That he didn't need to waste his time worrying about her anymore.
And that message couldn't have been better timed. The truck reached its destination and Becker slammed on the brakes, hopping out with the others, ready to put Connor's plan into action.
...
"I've stitched him up and given him some blood to replace what he lost," O'Neill was explaining. "I just administered some pain meds, so he should be able to get some rest now."
Jess nodded. She already knew all this, having stayed in the medical bay the entire time, watching quietly from off to the side, not wanting to get in the way but not wanting to leave Lester until she knew he was out of danger.
"It looks like you could use some meds, too," O'Neill said with a smile as he pulled out a Crunchie.
"Since when is chocolate considered medicine?" Jess laughed as she took the golden bar. "Not that I'm complaining!"
The medic shrugged. "Strangely enough I found an entire stash of them in the supply cabinet, right next to a brand new box of epipens."
Jess smiled. Becker had told her he'd brought in a new supply of epipens the day after her incident with the beetles, and clearly he'd placed the chocolate there as well, no doubt for her benefit.
But the warmth she felt inside as she reflected on his thoughtfulness was almost instantly replaced by a chill as she was once again reminded that she had still heard nothing from Becker since he'd left with the others. She knew it was a long way to the power station, but surely they must've arrived there by now. So the fact that she still hadn't received a single text or call from him filled her with dread. Perhaps Connor's plan hadn't worked after all. Perhaps this truly was the end of the world. Perhaps Becker and the others were already dead.
Jess shook her head, trying to clear these negative thoughts from her mind. Lester had told her to never lose her optimism, and she felt obliged to do as he'd ordered, despite the hopelessness that was growing deep within her chest. Taking a deep breath, she resolved to focus on the here and now instead of on whatever might be happening out there to her friends.
And now that Lester was settled, O'Neill's focus was changing as well. He turned towards Jess, taking a step closer as he said, "Now let's take a look at you."
Much to Jess's surprise, he grasped her chin and intently examined her face as he turned it from side to side.
"I'm not hurt," Jess insisted, confused by his scrutiny.
The medic nodded, clearly having come to the same conclusion as he released her chin. "You...uh...might want to go wash up," he suggested.
At the thought of leaving the medical bay, Jess's eyes involuntarily flickered over towards Lester. O'Neill noticed and quietly promised, "He should be fine, but I'll call you if anything changes."
Jess gave him a nod of gratitude before hopping off the exam table. The instant her bare feet landed on the floor, she remembered that she had yet to recover her shoes. She also realised she must look a right mess at present, and now that the other teams were slowly trickling back to the ARC, she needed to fix herself up. She gave a farewell to the medic and headed immediately for the loo, gasping when she entered and caught her reflection in the mirror. Unbeknownst to her, she had blood - Lester's blood - smeared all over her cheek and chin. No wonder O'Neill had checked her over for injuries.
Approaching the sink, she leant over, splashing water against her face to wash all traces of Lester's injuries down the drain. Drying her face on paper towels, she realised she should stop by the locker room later to refresh her make-up; in the meantime, she had more important things to do. Her first priority was to retrieve her shoes - it simply didn't do to have the field coordinator wandering about the ARC in her bare feet, even if the comms were still down.
She paused, trying to remember where she'd left her shoes, and then started striding meaningfully through the hallways towards the armoury. But halfway there, she suddenly realised that her present path would take her past Ops, past where she and Lester had been attacked, past where the bodies of the two dead predators still lay. She knew the creatures were dead - she'd watched Becker fire the fatal shots - yet she was terrified at the thought of having to see them again. She stopped in her tracks, frozen to the spot, afraid to go on. Then, remembering that she was no longer alone in the ARC, she pulled out her mobile and dialed Ledbetter's number, knowing he specialised in creature removal and had returned earlier with O'Neill. When he picked up, she began awkwardly, "I need you to...uh...I mean, near the hub there's-"
"Clean-up in Ops?" Ledbetter jokingly summarised her nervous stammering. "Already taken care of, Parker."
"Really?" Jess was more than a little relieved to hear that she wouldn't have to face her attackers again.
"Not all of us have been wasting our time hanging about medical bay," he teased good-naturedly before lowering his voice to ask, concerned, "How's he doing, by the way?"
"Lester's going to be okay." It was the first time she'd said the words aloud, and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.
Ledbetter breathed a sigh of relief as well. "I'll let the other men know." Regaining his customary soldierly attitude, he asked, "Anything else I can do for you, Parker?"
"No, I'm good," Jess replied cheerfully, adding a thankful, "And Ledbetter? Thanks!"
Just as she was ringing off, her mobile went off, startling her. Glancing at the screen, she recognised Becker's number and immediately picked up, asking frantically, "What's happened? Are you okay? If it's bad news, you can tell me!"
"It's okay, Jess." Becker's voice had never sounded so good to her ears. "We're all okay. The anomaly's gone - Connor's plan worked."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Jess said, tears of joy welling in her eyes at the sudden relief. "So are you all headed back then?"
"Not quite...Trouble is, Matt kind of lost the truck."
"Matt lost your truck?" Jess couldn't quite wrap her brain around what he was saying.
"Yeah, I'll explain everything later. In the meantime..."
"I'll send a couple men over right away to pick you up."
She was about to ring off, already planning whom she might send out, when she heard Becker ask, "And Jess - Lester?"
"He's resting comfortably," she assured him. "I think he's gonna be okay."
"Good," Becker mumbled under his breath before saying, "See you soon, Jess."
He rang off, and she instantly opened her phone book, eager to find an available team for this extremely important retrieval mission.
...
It took ages for the team to return to the ARC, which gave them all time to think. Other than the occasional buzz of Becker's mobile, the ride back was relatively quiet as everyone privately reflected on the enormity of what they'd just done.
To make up for his lack of communication earlier, and as an outlet for his nearly overpowering feeling of relief, Becker kept up a constant stream of texts to Jess. They began as simply informative - "Young just arrived" - but soon dissolved into silly chatter - "Young is slowest driver on planet. May be Old b4 we get back." Jess returned his texts in-kind, obviously as eager for the team to get back as he was.
Upon their arrival, the first sight that greeted them was Jess striding confidently across Ops, a radiant smile upon her face. She no longer looked like the frightened child that Becker had reluctantly left behind only a few hours before. Instead she looked like Jess - beautiful, confident, capable Jess.
It was the most lovely sight he'd ever seen.
"How's Lester?" Connor asked as she approached. He'd seemed the most affected by Lester's injuries, no doubt because he felt responsible, which, of course, he kind of was.
Luckily, Jess was able to quickly put his fears to rest. "He's gonna be okay," she reassured. "He's already threatening to sack the medic."
Becker gave Connor a comforting pat on the shoulder before hurrying down the stairs to the field coordinator.
"And how are YOU?" he asked warmly, placing a steadying hand upon Jess's back as the two of them headed off towards the medical bay.
Of course, he already knew the answer.
...
THE END