Somewhere between Prequals/4x01

One-shot

Becker/Jess

Stalker Drive-By

Jess couldn't believe what she was doing.

Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, she scanned the corner signs looking for the correct one. When she spotted the name she wanted, she flipped the blinker, and turned her silver VW Beetle onto Becker's street.

Yes, Becker's street.

"I can't believe I'm doing this?" Jess said, voicing her earlier thoughts above the chorus of One Way Or Another pouring out of the car speakers.

I will drive past your house and if the lights are all down…

"Oh shush." She hissed, hitting the button on her radio and successfully cutting Blondie off before the end of the sentence. The last thing she needed was a cheesy chick-flick song setting the backdrop for what she was about to do.

Biting her lip in concentration, Jess drove slow, leaning close to the windscreen in an effort to get a better view of the tower blocks lining the right side of the slim road. Scanning the address numbers, she avoided parked cars, coming nearly to a complete stop as she found Becker's building.

Rolling forward, Jess studied the old-style structure. It was smaller than the others; she counted five stories, and wondered for a moment which one the floors the ARC head of security lived on. The structure itself was in better shape than most, with fancy brick work two quarters white-washed, and old, leaded, windows. The scene was complete with ivy crawling up the outside and a Victorian type iron-fence surrounding the premises.

As she passed the building by, Jess stepped on the gas and drove down the end of the street. Finding an appropriate spot to turn around, she did so, heading back up the opposite side for a second go.

At first she felt surprised at the sight of the place. For some reason she had imagined something a bit more posh, but the longer she thought about it the more Jess liked it. The feeling was similar to her reaction upon meeting Becker himself.

When he'd first entered the ARC main operations, exiting the lift, back straight, shoulders square, her first observation had been 'what a bore'. Once she'd introduced herself with a handshake, one he'd accepted with slight confusion on his handsome face, her second thought had softened to 'proper' –but it wasn't until he'd scanned her up and down with such an open and baffled look, that Jess knew she was going to like him.

Perhaps that was why she had come off as particularly flirty the rest of the day –something she'd never actually done before. In her defense, it had been just the two of them in the ARC, and if there was one thing Jess had learned very quickly it was that Becker wasn't a talker.

In order to fill the awkward silence it had been up to her to spark every conversation, which usually began and ended with her unintentionally teasing him. Still, he had eventually gotten her back by making her look in the mirror, which let her know he hadn't really minded. That was why she found herself driving passed his flat now, wanting to see where he lived, and nursing one of the biggest crushes she'd ever had. Yes, it was immature and probably just a wee bit creepy, but Jess found she couldn't help it.

In truth, when she'd started running errands that morning, pulling a stalker drive-by hadn't been on the agenda. It had just happened, and she had no idea how she was going to keep a straight face around Becker the next time she saw him. Jess put that thought on hold as she spied his black 2004 Ford F-150 pickup parked by the sidewalk out-front of the building.

I wonder why I didn't see that before?

The soft ping of her phone receiving a text message broke her musing. Grabbing for her purse on the seat beside her, Jess pulled off to the side of the road and shifted the gear into park. Pulling the mobile out of her bag, she opened the anonymous message.

'I see you.' It read simply.

Frowning Jess checked the number, she didn't recognize any of the digit combinations. A moment later, a second message flipped up on the screen. She opened it warily.

'Don't believe me? You're wearing green.'

Jess felt her heart skip a beat. Glancing down at her ribbed, three-quarter sleeve, green shirt she almost dropped the phone in her lap.

"Who is this person?" She said to herself, her finger hovering over the delete button. After a hesitation she typed back instead: 'Who are you?'

'I'm watching you.' The response came instantaneously. Jess checked to be sure the car was locked.

'How did you get this number?' She sent back, one message away from freaking out completely.

'I have a list.' The reply read. Suddenly there was a knock on the driver side door.

Jess jumped out of her skin at the unexpected rap, her hand slipping and hitting the horn with a loud honk. Looking over quickly, she was greeted by Becker's smirking face as he motioned for her to roll down the window.

Giving him a glare of mixed emotions, Jess didn't know whether to laugh or die of embarrassment at having been caught spying on his house. Pressing the button, she lowered the glass between them before turning the motor off.

"Hello Jessica." Becker said. Bending down to her level, he waved his mobile phone back and forth, indicating he'd been on the other end of the strange texts. "Are you lost?" He asked innocently, glancing around the interior of her car with interest. She flushed a deep red against her will.

"Um, I uh, I took a wrong turn on the way to the post office." Jess said. It was only a partial lie; she did really have to go to the post office. Reaching to her sun visor she yanked several letters out and held them up with a sheepish smile. "I need stamps."

Becker rested both hands against the door and leaned forward easily, seeing straight through her weak facade. "Ah, well then you are lost. The nearest post office is several miles from here." Tipping his head he studied her humorously.

Jess's face grew even warmer, and she was beginning to feel increasingly more mortified by the second.

"Oh, my mistake," She said lamely.

Lifting an eyebrow, Becker leaned in closer. He could sense her discomfort and felt inclined to tease, liking the reversal of their roles. The last couple of days, he had been the one searching for words to explain himself. Now he was going to make her squirm.

"How is it, that someone whose job is telling others exactly where to go, can loose herself so easily on such a simple errand?" He asked in mock amazement.

"I'm an enigma." Jess said, knotting her fingers in her lap to stop them from fidgeting nervously. "Aren't you supposed to be at the ARC?" she asked, trying to divert the attention away from her. She noted his civilian clothing –something she hadn't actually ever seen on him before. He was wearing faded jeans and an open gray, jersey lined, plaid shirt over a black ribbed tank. The fact that he looked so good made her even more self-conscious.

Becker slipped his finger through the ring on the truck keys he'd been holding, and spun them around once with a jangle. "I was going to head over there now actually. I had somewhere to be earlier and Lester let me off." The look he gave her warned against inquiring further.

Instead, he tipped his head inquisitively, repeating the question back at her. "Aren't you supposed to be at the ARC too?"

"I was in earlier –but Lester was busy squaring things away with Burton, and Matt told me since it was quiet I should just go home. At least until we got an alert, that is if we do. I guess you could say I'm on call, but I'm not really sure if that term applies since I'm not a doctor or anything…but I did notice you weren't in this morning." Jess cringed inside. Her mouth was running free again and the last bit had sounded a little too desperate.

"Ah, so you thought you'd ride by and make sure I didn't bunk off?" Becker said.

Jess felt suddenly grateful for his reasoning. For a brief instant she thought he was trying to make the situation less awkward for her, but the moment was short lived when she caught a mischievous glint in his brown eyes.

Her stomach dropped, he wasn't finished.

"I mean," Becker said, "why else would you ride passed my building in the middle of the day…?" He paused dramatically, "Twice."

"Damn it." Jess muttered without thinking. Her hand flew to her mouth a split second later, her eyes widening as she realized what she'd said.

Becker's face lit up with a surprised grin, his brow lifting as he stared at her with a new found perspective.

"Oh goodness! I'm sorry…I never…I mean, please forget you heard that." Jess begged him, her fingers pressed against her lips in horror.

Becker shrugged. "Answer the question Jessica and I'll forget it."

"What question?" She asked, wishing an Anomaly would open up and swallow her whole. The next time she got a crazy idea, Jess swore she'd ignore it.

"Why were you driving down my street?" He asked. Straightening, he folded his arms across his chest looking critically down his nose at her.

"I…" Jess started, desperately trying to think of an answer clever enough to get her out of this predicament with at least a semblance of dignity.

Just then the black-box sitting in her cup holder began to beep, a green light blipping in time with the sound. Less then a minute later her mobile rang.

The caller ID read: Matt A.

Ha! Jess thought, answering her phone and casting Becker a triumphant look.

"Saved by the bell." He whispered, loud enough for her to hear him.

"Matt." She said into the speaker, rolling her eyes at Becker's comment.

'Get down here, we have an Anomaly alert.' Matt said as polite as ever.

Well, it seemed one had rescued her after all.

"Yeah, I got that." Jess silenced the black-box.

'And call Becker on the way will you? You do have his number right?'

Smiling ever so sweetly, she gave Becker a long side-glance. "I do now." She said.

'Good. I'll see you both in ten minutes –I don't care where you are, get here NOW.' With that, Matt hung up abruptly.

Folding her phone closed, Jess slipped it into her purse.

"Anomaly alert." She said simply. "Matt wants us back at the ARC ASAP."

"This conversation isn't over." Becker said beginning to walk backwards.

"Yes it is!" Jess shouted out her window as he turned and dashed across the road to his truck. She waited for him hop in before twisting her keys in the ignition, hearing the engine trundle to life just ahead of his.

Jess knew there would be an unspoken competition to see who could pull out first, and she was fully prepared to win it.


A/N: This was born from a conversation with some friends about a guy they liked -they called it the stalker drive-by. Let's face it, what girl hasn't gone searching for her crush's house or at least thought about it? I placed this between the Prequals and episode one because Becker and Jess seemed easier around each other in the webisodes. I can imagine Becker being a tease if he caught Jess on his turf.

Thanks again to everyone who reads and/or reviews! I really appreciate it!