The One with the Accident (v1) (kind of almost a set up, too, accidentally)
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A mild concussion, and two bruised ribs.
A mild concussion, and two bruised ribs.
That's all it was, Jess repeated to herself. Nothing major. Nothing to worry about. At least that was what the doctor had assured them all of, several times in fact, every time someone else arrived to check on the status of the injured Captain.
She'd got there first. Technology, she'd got there before the patient himself, really. She was waiting when the team Becker had gone out with brought him back, pacing the hallway as she wrung her hands in front of her.
There'd been no anomaly so no need for the Field Coordinator to be watching. She didn't need to in order to imagine what had happened as Collins, one of the men with Becker at the time of the accident, filled her in on the details.
Becker had been out in the field with a small team of new recruits, putting them through their paces. Apparently the ground they'd been training on wasn't as firm as it should have been – Collins said something about it being weakened by a spate of flooding in the area but Jess didn't really take it in.
A sinkhole had appeared and the quick thinking Captain had reacted straight away. He'd pushed his trainee soldiers out of the way but hadn't had time to get out of the way and onto safer ground himself.
Bloody stubborn man, Jess thought furiously. Always had to go and play the bloody hero, didn't he?
Lester had been the second to arrive, looking harried. He'd been followed by Matt and Emily, with Abby and Connor arriving minutes later.
Once the doctor had assured them all – again – that he was fine and just needed a night under observation but would be released the following morning, the assembled group breathed a sigh of relief.
Abby and Connor went in to see him as soon as they were given the okay; Jess resisted the urge to insist she went in first since she'd got there first, knowing she'd already be the subject of some teasing for that fact. Instead, she excused herself back to the Hub, telling herself she could afford an hour or two to compose herself before taking her turn to make sure the injured man was, in fact, okay.
She heard through the grapevine that the others had all taken their turn in seeing him and that Becker was resting comfortably – the grapevine being Lester, who despite his protests to the contrary, actually did care about the people who worked for him.
It was Lester who stood behind her chair five minutes before her shift was due to end, a puzzled look on his face.
"Is there something I can help you with, Lester?" Jess asked, turning to face him when he'd been stood there for over a minute in silence.
Lester took a moment before answering. "No."
"Okay." Jess started to turn her chair back around but realised he was still there. "Are you sure there's nothing you need to me to do before I go?"
"Are you sure there's nothing you need to do before you leave?" Lester stared at her expectedly, sighing when she just continued to stare at him. "Like perhaps visiting a certain Head of Security who happens to be sleeping in the medical bay tonight?"
Jess felt her cheeks heat and turned away from him to start collecting her things. "I was going to go before I left," she said shortly, "but if Becker's asleep, I don't think he'd appreciate being disturbed."
"And if he's not asleep, I'm sure the medical staff would appreciate a break from trying to keep him from making a break for it," Lester retorted. "You and I both know the Captain is not the best patient."
The corners of her lips twitched in agreement and she got out of her chair with a sigh that was mostly for show. "Fine. I'll go and see him before I leave."
Lester nodded to her and turned to go back to his office. "Well, if that's what you want to do."
Jess rolled her eyes, picked up her bag and left for the med bay.
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Becker was not asleep when she got there, and she knew it by the relieved look one of the nursing staff threw her as the harassed looking woman hurried out of the private room to which he'd been assigned.
Shaking her head, Jess pushed the door open and peeked inside. She was pleased to see the grumpy expression on Becker's face – and there was no other word for it, he really did make a very bad patient – eased to a marginally less grumpy and more frustrated one when he saw her.
"I don't suppose you're here to break me out of here, are you?"
"No such luck, I'm afraid." Jess couldn't help but smile, willing the slight blush that she felt rise in her cheeks away. "How are you feeling?"
"Like the ground opened up and tried to swallow me whole," Becker groused. "I'm fine to go home. Really."
"I think we should let the doctors be the judge of that." Jess moved further into the room, noting the discarded magazines that someone had brought him. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"I've spent most of the day resting. There's only so much of it I can do before I go mad."
The corners of her lips quirked at the dour tone, and the sulky expression on his face. She thought about the evening she'd had planned; a bubble bath, an old favourite book with a glass of wine. With a sigh, she closed the distance between them and slid into the chair at his bedside, knowing those plans would have to be put on hold.
"They're not going to let you go because they want to keep you here for twenty-four hours, which I'm sure you've already been told numerous times." She struggled to keep herself from smiling at his eye roll. "And I'm not going to risk Lester's wrath by going against Doctor Mason's orders, because the doctor is one of the few people here who intimidates Lester, and Lester has the power to make me very unhappy if he wanted to."
"You're Lester's favourite," Becker pointed out, his dark eyes narrowed. "He wouldn't make you unhappy."
She laughed but didn't deny it. "No, he'd just make sure I spend the rest of the week in filing hell."
He heaved a rather put upon sigh and shook his head, though she thought she caught the beginnings of a smirk before a grimace took its place. "Ow."
"Head shaking with a concussion probably isn't the best idea," she pointed out helpfully, unable to stop a grin when he glared at her. She sighed internally at her inability to just walk away and looked at him expectantly. "What would keep you entertained enough to keep you from pestering the medical staff? Other than to make a run for it?"
For the first time since she'd entered the room, Becker looked uncertain. Because she knew him as well as she did – better, she thought, than he thought she did – she noticed the tips of his ears turn red. "I'm sure you've got plans. Your shift is over, isn't it?"
"It is, and I'm here so clearly don't have anywhere else to be." She arched an eyebrow. "I could go and get one of the tablets. Not to work," she added with a stern look. "But I'm sure Connor downloaded some games to the mainframe – not that I'll even admit to Lester I know it was him. We could play scrabble or chess or something if you want."
His eyes lit up. "I like chess," he admitted quietly.
"Chess it is, then." She started to get up from the chair, stopping only when he reached out and caught hold of her hand. "Becker?"
"You don't have to." He shrugged a shoulder, meeting her gaze but unable to hold it. "Honestly, Jess, if there's somewhere else you need to be..."
"There isn't." She smiled at him, despite the butterflies taking flight in her stomach. "There's nowhere else I need to be, and nowhere else I'd want to be."
His eyes searched hers, as if wanting to believe her but needing to be sure. Evidently finding what he needed to, he gave her a smile quite unlike any other he'd given her, accompanied by a very small nod, and squeezed her hand.
And just like that, something shifted.
Jess wouldn't be able to pinpoint what until a few days later, after Becker had been discharged and their working week was at an end – anomaly alerts notwithstanding.
Until she found him waiting for her by her locker and asked if she'd be willing to let him regain his pride in a rematch at his flat – with the promise of a shared takeaway and bottle of wine.
One forgotten game of chess later, and Jess happily had no problem pinpointing the shift in their relationship.
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I've changed the title of the story to 30 Ways, as I think that's more manageable for me than 35 (even though I do have 35 plotted out!). My muse has been kidnapped and held to ransom by the characters from the Tin Man fandom at the moment but our lovely Jess & Becker are always in my heart so I'm determined to get at least 30 of these little one-shots written and posted so I can mark this story as complete.