A/N: I did plan to perfect this chapter as much as I could but my head's spinning so forgive any mistakes or bad writing, I'll fix any problems you spot :)
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After another half an hour or so of Connor setting up the various equipments, ensuring that the sound of the muraenosaurus' calls would be audible underwater, and the plan was ready to be put into action. Connor seemed to be the only one who was wholeheartedly sure that it would work; everyone else had their uncertainties, they just knew well enough to give Connor the benefit of a doubt before voicing their opinions, the man seemed to have luck of the century when it came to plans, well, sometimes, usually after the first few ideas failed anyway.
"Think it'll work?" Jayme questioned, stepping up beside the ex-team leader as he tied the sound mechanism to a metal hoop on the side of the boat.
"That's not my main concern," Danny stated, grabbing the rope and lowering the device overboard, letting it sink under the dark waters until it could travel no more.
She paused at his words, making sure she had heard them right before turning to face him, "Then what is?" The brunette queried, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"All of the other creatures that could be on the other side; we don't want anything else getting through. We got lucky with this one, it isn't interested in snacking on the locals, that's a first with these things,"
"It's not going to be open long, we'll unlock it as the muraenosaurus approaches, close it when it goes through,"
"Trust me, that's long enough,"
"Everything ready?" Kate called, her finger hovering over the one button on the keyboard that would pull this whole plan into motion.
Jayme glanced down at the lake, watching the vague outline of Connor, Riley and Becker who were placed not far from the golden anomaly, the underwater locking mechanism set in place for when the creature approached them. "Ready," The brunette replied, listening intently as the soldier started the audio that would no doubt be playing in the water, hopefully drawing the attention of the muraenosaurus.
Half an hour passed, and for a moment the team assumed that the plan was beginning to fall apart, there had been no sign of any creature heading towards the anomaly. It wasn't until Danny straightened his stance that Jayme figured he had seen something. She stood up swiftly, following the ex-team leader's gaze in the direction of the faint grey shape in the waters.
"Open the anomaly," Danny ordered, glancing down at the three men underneath the surface of the lake, illuminated by the gateway through time.
Nothing happened. The anomaly still remained fixed in its locked ball, closed to anything that tried to enter. The brunette rushed over to the laptop, joined by Kate, in an attempt to reconnect the communications system. The space between the anomaly and the creature was rapidly deteriorating, they needed that anomaly open.
"Connor? Open the anomaly, now!" The ex-team leader shouted, pressing his finger to the device in his ear. Still, nothing happened.
"It's going to turn back before they see it," Jayme stated, slight desperation in her voice, the light from the anomaly would block their long-range vision, it wouldn't be until the creature was close enough to sense some form of a trap that they would see it.
Danny glanced back over at the creature, his gaze flickering between the anomaly, the men and the muraenosaurus. There was no way they would see it in time. Without a second thought, the man followed his instincts; there was only one way to get them to unlock it. Jayme spun around as the water splashed up against the sides of the boat, the surface of the lake showing serious signs of disturbance. She jogged over towards the boat edge, watching alongside her team members as Danny could be seen swimming down beneath the surface, with nothing but a mouthful of air to support him. She let out a relieved smile as the streak of light from the underwater locking mechanism hit the glowing ball of light, leaving the shards of energy to expand before spinning furiously in circles. It wasn't going to last long.
As the ex-team leader broke the surface of the water once again, gasping for air, the muraenosaurus passed through the anomaly, slipping through it as easy as an open door to the past. The light shrank swiftly, before disappearing altogether, leaving no trace of any prehistoric intrusion, restoring the lake to its original state.
"See..." Connor began, reappearing from the lake's depths, the diving mask hanging loosely around his neck, "No problem,"
Danny chuckled beside him, "Yeah, no problem," He repeated, his voice edging on sarcasm, before gently pushing Connor underwater, who bounced back up as quickly as he disappeared, coughing from the abrupt mouthful of water.
"It worked, didn't it?" Connor questioned, his pitch heightening slightly as Danny, Becker and Riley left the water, standing back onto the boat, removing the diving equipment and throwing it across the floor.
"Next time we should probably check comms are working," Kate suggested, reaching a hand out to help Connor back into the boat, "It'd be a little less... stressful," She added, glancing over at Danny, who was soaked from head to foot, and smiling. "But, yeah, your plan did technically work, at least no one nearly died," She admitted, turning back to face Connor.
"Don't jinx it," Scott warned, playfully.
"We should probably get Lester to get a team out here to do a full sonar reading, you know, just in case, check nothing slipped through," Connor stated, running his hands through his hair. "And Jess can label this site on the system, never know when the anomaly will decide to open again,"
"I say we should get back to the hotel, drinks are on Lester for tonight," Danny concluded, sending the team a cheeky smile, "He'll just think it's part of the hotel price,"
"Clearly you underestimate him, he always knows," Connor added, "But he'll not find out until tomorrow, and it was your plan, so we can just blame you,"
Danny grinned at him before uttering a response, "I'll take my chances,"
For every single one of the team members that night on the boat was a great way to loosen up. They all needed a break, a bit of relaxation, and a bit of fun, work like this tends to get highly stressful at times; and given the situation back in London, stress levels were seriously rocketing. A few drinks, a lot of banter, feeling like normal friends without any tension or responsibility were all things that they needed, especially considering they would all be reminded of everything the next day, all the tension would be back, and they would all have their jobs to do. It wasn't until around two in the morning that they had all trailed back into the hotel, one by one, migrating off to their rooms for the rest of the night, or morning, depending on the point of view.
"Was a good night," Scott stated as the three soldiers wandered into the room they were sharing, planting himself on one of the beds and collapsing into the soft world of duvets.
"Would've been better if Jess was here, it's weird not having her around when there's an anomaly," Riley added, pulling off the boots on his feet and tossing them beside the bed at the other side of the room. He always liked knowing she was on the other end of the comms, helping them out, keeping them out of danger, as best as she could anyway.
Scott chuckled to himself before speaking again, "I miss those short skirts of hers; it should be a requirement for the girls. Imagine it, Kate, Sam, Jayme, Jess, in those, no one would get any work done, but-"
"Cut it out, Lambert," Becker warned, briefly glancing over at Scott; the soldier could be a pain at times.
"C'mon, just because you've had a go doesn't mean we can't dream,"
"I mean it, Lambert, have some respect,"
"All I'm saying is that they're very beautiful women, no disrespect there, Captain. What's she like anyway? You know, Jayme," He questioned, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he watched Becker, who had chosen not to face him.
Becker gritted his teeth as he forced himself to just sit down and shut up. He knew that Scott had a tendency to be a dick, especially after a few drinks, the man just didn't know when to keep quiet. But it was the smirk that irritated him the most, which meant telling himself to not look at the younger soldier would be the best idea, it was just hard to not want to put the man's head on a stick. He wouldn't stand for anyone talking about Jess or Jayme like that, he respected his colleagues way too much to put up with that kind of shit; why did Danny have to suggest a couple drinks, more importantly, why did Danny have to put him in a room with Scott in the first place. It had always been the same for Becker, never disrespect the people you work with; he knew how men talked, it wasn't as if he didn't do it himself, it was just that he didn't talk about the people he worked with like that, especially not out loud.
"So, Becker, been with Jess too?" Scott queried, interrupting the soldiers thoughts with another series of completely insane questions.
"No, Lambert, I haven't," Becker responded, the flat tone in his voice evident, clearly showing how bored and frustrated he was with Scott's comments.
"What's Jayme like then? Bet she's got a lot of stamina, am I right?"
And that was the final straw. Becker didn't even believe what he had done as he found himself suddenly standing upright, in front of the younger soldier. All that reminded him was the slight tingle across his knuckles, the tingle that he usually got when he slammed his fist into a person's face. Riley jumped in shock, now sat up completely straight on the edge of his bed, watching Scott as he rubbed his jaw and the Captain who stared at his fist, possibly looking more stunned than himself. Becker didn't say anything, the frustration still bubbled inside of him, he wasn't even sure he could stand there any longer without saying or doing something else that he would definitely regret.
"I'm getting out of here," Was all Riley heard him say before the Captain dismissed himself from the room, not leaving any sign in his voice that he planned to come back.
Scott's gaze flickered over towards Riley, "What the hell was that?" He questioned, rubbing the mark on his jaw before sitting back on the bed beside him.
"Don't look at me, I can't say you didn't deserve it," Riley added, hiding back a smirk before jumping off the bed and heading to the bathroom, listening to the muttered swears of his friend all up until he shut the door behind him.
The firm knock on the door broke the silence of the abandoned corridor, where Becker stood awkwardly, a million things buzzing through his mind; no doubt the person on the other side of this door would mention and question at least half of them. Just as he hoped, the door swung open, revealing the blue-eyed brunette who stood in front of him, dressed only in pyjama shorts and a vest top, making Becker's head near explode as the extra thoughts packed themselves inside.
"What are you doing here, Becker?" She questioned, her hand still resting on the door as she spoke to him.
"Had a small disagreement with Scott," The soldier replied, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, leaving the brunette eyeing him suspiciously.
"What did you do?" She queried, raising her eyebrows at him, the tone of her voice suggesting that the piece of news wasn't a huge surprise.
"What makes you think I did anything?"
"Wow, feeling a little sensitive, are we?" Jayme stated, smiling at him, watching him more closely as she shook her head and began to explain, "Whenever something irritates or upsets you, you tend to wait it out, keep your cool and everything, until it gets too much then you usually go from calm to lashing out, normally by shouting, but I wouldn't put minor violence past you if the situation called for it. So, what exactly did you do, Becker?"
"I may have punched Scott," The soldier responded, furrowing his brow as he tried to explain what had gone down between him and his colleague.
Jayme's smile faded quite quickly as the words left his mouth, "Are you kidding? Do you realise how much trouble you could get in for that, you're the ranking officer on your team, not to mention its assault in the first place! Why would you do that?"
"Look, do you mind if I come in, I can't go back there tonight, I promise I'll explain everything," Becker stated, still looking rather exasperated, his eyes verging on the edge of Connor's expertise, puppy dog eyes; it was enough for the brunette to cave and move aside to let him through. She gave a glance down the hallway before closing the door gently behind her and moving over to the couch.
"Interested in telling me what happened now?" Jayme asked, sending him a sympathetic smile as he leant back against the cushions, sighing simultaneously.
"It was just about what he was saying, it got to me; a moments weakness, what can I say?"
"You punched Scott because he talked to you?" The brunette queried, taking an innocent tone to her voice as she spoke.
"He was talking about you, and Jess, well all of you; he deserved it,"
"So, being all noble and everything, you thought it would be better to punch him, for talking about us?"
"It wasn't like he was throwing innocent compliments your way," The soldier stated, his pitch rising slightly, "I just don't want you talked about like that, okay? I care about you, you deserve a lot more than the way he was going on about you,"
"Not to make things worse or anything..." She began, glancing down nervously before facing him once more, "But being the kind of guy you are outside of work, can you really criticise him?"
Becker's glance shot back up to her instantly, "Is this about what Zach told you? Look, I admit that I don't tend to do relationships very often, but I don't disrespect women, or the people I've been with, I just don't easily settle for long term things. I'm picky, that's all,"
"Never mind, I shouldn't have suggested that you were disrespectful in the first place, I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to people running to my defence," She admitted, feeling slightly pathetic in the midst of the conversation.
"You know I'll always defend you, Jayme," Becker stated, glancing over at her, "Always,"
"I'm going to stop you right there, don't want you breaking out into song or anything, soldier boy," The brunette stated, grinning at him, unable to miss the twinkle in his eyes as he returned her smile. She didn't hesitate for a moment as he leant over and pressed his lips against hers, cupping her face with his hand, smiling as they eventually broke away, finally being able to see her relax as everything in her mind floated a million miles away. That one weak moment was all it took for the two to completely give in to everything they were holding back, and the kiss was brought to life again as he shifted her body, so gently that she hadn't noticed she was lying flat on the couch until he appeared above her, holding himself up steadily with arms at either side, positioning himself so that their lips touched with ease.
Her hands slid up his back, gently feeling each muscle beneath the fabric of his shirt as he brushed his lips against the delicate skin of her neck. He blew a light breath over the moist spot, before his lips trailed across her jaw line. She shivered in his arms. How could she find the strength to resist him when his nearness alone drove her to distraction? Her back arched slightly as his lips returned to her neck. He was rewarded with a low moan as she shuddered. Each touch left her wanting more, needing more. Becker involuntarily gasped for air as she lightly dragged her nails down the extent of his back, his breath dancing across her neck, goose bumps playing along their skin. His arms shifted, hands moving underneath, lifting her up from where she lay and wrapping themselves around her body. His lips returned to hers as she held her legs firmly around his waist. He hesitated, not wanting to break the kiss, not wanting her body to leave his. The light headedness took control as he felt her arms slide around his neck, her body moving ever so slightly with the motion, completely obliterating any sense of sanity that he once had. It was like a wild fire rising up inside of him, and he was positive that nothing would stop him from fulfilling every need that pumped through his veins. Spinning around from the spot he was stood on, he gently lowered the brunette onto the soft bed behind them, not wasting any time until he was above her again, a familiar adrenaline rushing through his blood, sending his heart racing. She ran a gentle hand up his arms, the act seeming so much calmer than the urgency beating inside of them, and Becker lay in wait as her eyes followed the movement, flickering up to meet his own warm, brown eyes gazing down at her, glinting in the light.
Fire spread rapidly as the distance between them closed, the soldier no longer finding the strength to prolong the gentle moment they shared. Neither took notice of the clothes being shed, falling to the floor, becoming nothing but a piece of the distant past. All she could do was feel him, close to her, seducing her with every lingering touch. His hands traced her stomach lightly, followed by his gentle lips, leaving shivers dancing through her, the sharp increases of breath as skin touched skin, like sparks of electricity rippling through their bodies. Any self-control she could have thought to possess was quickly destroyed as he slowly trailed his tongue across the line of her hipbone, making her mouth go dry and her thoughts go numb. There was no point in fighting him anymore; she had no willpower left inside of her to do so. Nails dug further into the fabric sheets beneath them as time kept moving, and the rest of the night slowly became a blur, pulsing with shockwaves of blissful sensation, burning a memory in their minds of the pleasure and intensity between them, of the way they drove each other to absolute ecstasy.