I think I fare better with humour, but I gave this serious scene a good go! Please let me know what you think, I hope it's up to par with the last chapter! Also, a HUGE thank you to everybody who read/reviewed/favourited/alerted this story! It means a lot to me.

I hope you like it!

I don't know how I'd ended up asleep on his shoulder, but I wasn't complaining.

I drifted in and out of consciousness - I'd never been very good at sleeping whilst travelling, cars were just uncomfortable.

Suddenly I was roused from sleep by Becker's urgent voice: "Dammit, he's in the house."

I slowly sat up, not taking in his words. "W… What happened?"

Becker grabbed the EMD on the dashboard and opened the car door, "I'm going in. Call for backup. Wait in the car."

As he took off towards the stairs, I dug my phone out my pocket, hitting speed dial (Was it sad that work was on speed dial? Maybe I needed a hobby… Not now, Jess!). "Backup needed! Can we get a unit down here now?"

My heart raced. What if something went wrong?

Becker had gone blindly into the building, without backup, in too much of a hurry to get to Ethan. What if Ethan had planned this? What if he wanted to lure Becker in, to attack him, or kill him?

You've watched way too many dramas on TV, Jess.

I flipped my phone in my hand. I tapped my feet on the floor. I twiddled the radio dial, even though it wasn't on.

Becker had been in there for a while, yet nothing had happened. What if something had gone wrong?

I fidgeted in my seat again.

Well, I couldn't just sit here, could I?

I opened the glove compartment and, sure enough, Becker had an EMD stashed there.

How many did he own?

I shook my head, clearing it of that unnecessary thought. Now wasn't the time.

I took off towards the staircase as well. If anything, I could buy Becker time until the backup arrived. I may as well be useful and sitting in the car was not useful.

I was shaking.

I couldn't help it!

Slowly, Jess, slowly…

I jumped at the movement in the next room as I rounded the corner, ready to do god knows what with the dangerous weapon in my hands.

The room was dark, but Becker's voiced stopped me from doing anything impetuous.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot! It's me." He announced, obviously knowing by my loud heels and clumsy movements that it was me. "Don't move, this place is rigged with traps. Walk slowly… that way, yeah."

I sighed, half in relief. At least I hadn't run into Ethan himself.

I followed Becker's eye line, carefully picking my way around the edge of the room. I was controlling sometimes, but I knew when to shut up and listen to him.

Becker was standing in the middle of the room, wrestling with something. No, he was holding something.

"Where's Ethan?"

"Not here," He replied simply, quickly. "But he's left us a little gift."

I took a better look at him. I still didn't fully understand what was going on, just that it wasn't good.

As if Becker could read my mind, he continued, "There's a pressure pad under my left foot, it's attached to that metronome." I followed his gaze, only noticing the metronome sound once he'd pointed it out. I could feel myself going numb. Something was definitely wrong. "And I think that's a bomb."

I gasped quietly. This was not good.

Understatement of the year, Jess!

Still, if I had to choose somebody to be in this situation with, it was Becker. His voice was calm, surprisingly so, until I remembered he was a trained soldier. This wasn't throwing Chinese food at targets, this was real danger. This was what Becker was trained for.

"This counter weight hits the floor… well, I think that detonates the bomb as well. I need you to come over here, and tell me if I'm right, okay?"

I hesitated, not because I didn't want to help - because I did - but because I didn't want to do anything… well, anything like me. I was clumsy and careless when I walked, and I was in heels. If I did something wrong, I could really hurt Becker. I wasn't trained for this type of situation, I was trained to be back at the office directing people out of this type of situation.

You're not back at the office, you're here. With Becker. In trouble. Do something!

"Okay, okay," I agreed, starting towards the large object behind Becker.

"And there's a trip wire there," He pointed out calmly. I stepped over it, trying not to panic too much. He was composed on the outside, probably so as not to scare me too much. "Now just really… really gently pull that off."

I placed my hand on the cool fabric. Oh no, oh no, what if I messed this up and something went wrong? Oh no…

I gripped the material, took a deep breath, and tugged it off the object.

I gasped, "Oh god!"

From my peripheral vision I sensed Becker close his eyes in… concern? Anxiety?

I didn't exactly know what I was looking at, but it was huge. And it looked bad. Plus, Becker had mentioned a bomb, so I was guessing it wasn't good.

"That could destroy the entire building. You need to get out of here - now."

"No! I-"

"Go, now!"

He was firm, but I wasn't just going to run. I couldn't just leave him here whilst the building blew up! "I'm not leaving you…. I'm not leaving you."

Becker hesitated, then angrily breathed out, "He knew we were watching him!" He turned his head to look at me, "You need to leave now."

I fidgeted, uneasy. There was no way I was leaving him. Even if it wasn't Becker stuck with the bomb - even if it was Connor or Matt or Abby, even Lester - I wasn't going to just leave.

And I couldn't leave Becker.

So that left me with one option. "Becker, you tell me what to do. You can tell me…. come on," My voice almost came out as a plead. I wasn't leaving him.

He grunted, the weight he was holding up obviously becoming a dead weight in his hands. I took that as a yes.

Oh god, what had I just got myself into!

I hurried carefully round the back of the canister.

"Tell me what you can see," Becker directed.

I didn't really know what I was looking at.

"Um, yeah, there's a… there's a black box."

Well done, Jess. I mentally scolded myself. Real helpful.

"What's inside it? Take the back off it." I carefully reached out, hesitant to touch anything lest I might break it. "Tell me what you see."

I managed to carefully unclip the back of the box, heart racing.

"Umm, loads and loads of wires," I called back to him.

I hope he knows what to do now.

Apparently he did, because he continued instructing me, the only hint of apprehension was the strain in his voice because of the weight in his hands. "There should be a small cylinder, the detonator, with two wires. A red and a green wire coming out the bottom of it."

Detonator? That sounded even worse.

Cautiously I tried to move the wires apart so I could see better into the box. Yes, there was the cylinder and if I just moved some wires to the side I could-

The object released a puff of air in what can only be described by me as a mini explosion.

I screamed.

"Don't touch anything!" I heard Becker reprimand me a little angrily. Don't take it personally Jess, he probably just doesn't want to be blown up… oh god, oh god, what if I blew us up? His tone became calmer again, warmer, trying to reassure me. "Can you see that? You're okay, you're okay, breathe." He nodded and smiled over at me. Oh god, even at a time like this he could be caring… Focus, Jess. There's a bomb, remember? "You're doing brilliantly. Now you can see the cylinder, can you?"

There was just something about Becker that meant he was able to make me feel warm and fuzzy by complimenting me and completely terrified by reminding me that I was standing next to a bomb in the same sentence.

"Yes, I can see… I can see a cylinder," I rushed to tell him, relieved that I could see it.

"Good," Becker responded. "Now, I want you to come over here…"

"Okay," I told him eagerly. Anything to help, especially if it got me away from the huge explosive in the room.

"There's a pair of pliers on that table," He told me. As I hurried over, I noticed he seemed to really be struggling. Of course it wasn't because he was weak - Becker was probably the strongest man I knew - but that weight was really heavy. "Quickly now."

"Okay," I breathed again.

"Use those. Most carefully, okay, cut the red wire. Do not touch the green wire."

"Okay," I repeated. Red wire, red wire, red wire…

As I hurried back to the detonator, I decided to take my coat off. It was heavy and unnecessary. If I didn't mess this up, I could put it back on later, and if I did mess it up… well, the coat wasn't really going to help, was it?

Focus, Jess!

I heard Becker mumble something under his breath.

I peeled back the cover to the black box again.

"Hurry, Jess."

Then I realised the problem. I swear my heart skipped a beat. I didn't want to tell him that there was a problem, the situation was bad enough as it is, but I had too. "Umm…"

"It's getting heavy," He calmly told me.

"Th-There's… there's no green wire. It's just… two red wires. Which do I pick?"

The metronome sound suddenly picked up, getting louder and quicker. It was a countdown without numbers. I just knew something bad was going to happen soon.

Becker finally lost a little of his composure. "Get out now! I mean it, Jess!"

"Stop!" I shouted back. "Okay, just… hang on! I can… I can do this, okay?"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it for myself, or for Becker - I didn't want to die, but I wasn't going to leave him holding that weight to die alone. If I clipped the wrong wire the bomb would go off, and we'd be blown up along with the building, but that was going to happen if I did nothing anyway.

I hesitated, the pliers hovering above one of the wires. The metronome suddenly picked up, dashing back and forth almost in a frenzy.

Oh god, I was going to die.

Which one would Becker clip? Think, Jess, think!

The left one - I remembered watching a film. Okay, so it was a movie, and they weren't really renowned for being correct, were they? But it was the best advice I had, the only advice I had.

I didn't think after that, I just did it.

As I clipped the wire, the metronome abruptly stopped.

Becker dived onto the floor, releasing the weight, probably more as a reflex to get away from the explosion which we both thought would happen.

Then nothing happened.

I looked up, then exhaled, surprised, confused, relieved. Becker and I shared a look as he lay on the floor, exhausted.

"It worked!" I exclaimed as Becker hurried to his feet. We were alive! I ran towards him in the euphoria. "I did it! I did it!"

I couldn't believe it! I'd disarmed a bomb. I hadn't died and I hadn't killed Becker! We were alive.

I didn't even think, I ran into his willing arms. He hugged me, smiling, his hand pressed firmly on my back, almost as if to make sure he was alive.

"You are truly brilliant," He stressed.

"I know," I pulled away from him, grinning. "I am."

I just diffused a bomb! Oh my god!

We smiled at each other, and I felt wonderful. If there was anything that Becker should see about me to prove I wasn't insane, it was this. Yep, the ability to diffuse a bomb was a positive quality in a person.

He hugged me again, burying his face in my hair.

Becker is hugging me! My internal fan girl squealed. I was so hopelessly falling for him.

Suddenly, he pulled away at the sound of approaching soldiers. He obviously didn't want to give them anything to tease him about. Becker liked to keep an air of mystery about him.

They entered the room in formation, guns at the ready. A little late, aren't you?

Becker was immediately in control, despite just facing a near death experience. "I want you to search the area - now. Now, come on!"

I placed my hands on my head, then sank to the floor, moving my hands over my heart, checking it was still beating and that I was alive.

I was completely overwhelmed.

What had just happened?

Beside me, Becker was in hurried conversation with another soldier. I looked up at him and caught his eye.

He smiled widely.

Please let me know what you think! :) Thank you for reading. Last chapter up should be up soon. Hopefully it's cute and you all like it! :)