AN: Firstly, sorry for the delay. My computer's been acting funny, so typing this had to wait while I fixed it, sorry. Also, I have decided that Primeval High will be drawing to a close soon. I need to tie up a few loose ends, and then I have one final hoorah planned. But after that, I'll retire this story and shamelessly promote my next ones. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review.

Chapter 13

After his first class, Becker walked out into the hallways, automatically scanning the crowds for Jess. Usually after their first period, he would walk her to her next class, claiming it was on his way, and then sprint across the school to his second period, barely making it on time. It did make for a very interesting transition period. Today, however, he didn't see her walking towards him. His heart sunk. She was probably angry with him for leaving her that morning. Becker felt like a complete idiot, Danny was just making a joke and he'd frozen up. Becker still couldn't believe he'd run away like that, leaving poor Jess standing alone and confused. No wonder she didn't want to walk with him.

As he turned to go to his class, anticipating the look of surprise Mr. Jones would give him when he showed up early and not out of breath, Becker caught sight of Jess, standing next to the row of lockers, talking with someone. Becker felt hope rise up inside him. Maybe she was just talking, not angry with him. As he walked over to her, he saw exactly whom Jess was talking to.

As he saw Wilder, he felt revulsion and anger well up in him. Becker had never liked Wilder; he always took the JROTC rank to seriously and was a strict authoritarian, often punishing the new recruits for things they didn't know they had to do yet. As Becker walked up beside Jess, he automatically put his arm protectively around her shoulders and gave Wilder a slightly hostile look.

"Can I help you, Becker?" Wilder asked, venom in his voice.

"Not at all, sir." Becker replied, putting extra emphasis on the sir, "I was just here to walk Jess to class, can I help you?"

"I can walk her to class so you're not late," Wilder said, still glaring at Becker, "why don't you just go along."

"That's fine," Jess interjected, "You don't have to walk with me Dan, it's on Becker's way."

Becker feelings of joy rose again. Jess wanted to walk with him, not Wilder. But Wilder was persistent.

"Well maybe I could see you again." Wilder suggested, "Perhaps for dinner."

"Umm, no, that's fine." Jess replied as Becker began turning her around to go, "I'm usually pretty busy."

But as they were turning, Wilder grabbed Jess' arm.

"Just one dinner, that's all. Just to get to know each other."

When Wilder put his hand on Jess, Becker's protectiveness kicked in. He put a hand warningly on Wilder's arm.

"Let go of her before I get mad." he growled in a low undertone.

"This doesn't concern you Becker." Wilder replied angrily. Jess tried to pull her arm free, but Wilder tightened his grip. Becker saw Jess wince slightly, and he lost it. Becker reared his arm back and gave a low whistle. Wilder looked up just in time to see Becker's fist slam into his face.

XXXXX

As Connor and Abby walked down the hall, hand in hand, Connor thought about how lucky he was to have a great girl like Abby. She really did love him, nerdiness and all. He'd even gotten her started on Doctor Who, so he was making her nerdier by the day. As they walked, Connor saw Becker up ahead, talking with Jess and, to Connor's great displeasure, Wilder. Connor still hadn't forgotten the first day of school when Wilder had ganged up on him in the restrooms. Suddenly, Becker punched Wilder in the face, and at the same time, moving Jess protectively behind him. Connor was shocked. He'd never seen Becker get that angry. Connor saw one of Wilder's friends rushing towards Becker and Connor made a split second decision.

Letting go of Abby's hand, Connor ran forward, drawing his arm back as he did. As he got closer, he recognized the boy as one of the ones who'd been with Wilder on the first day of school. Connor allowed himself a small smile as he thought about karma. Then he punched the boy in the side of the head, before he could get to Becker. The other guy didn't even know what hit him. He'd been so focused on getting Becker that he didn't even notice Connor until it was too late.

Suddenly it became a mad house as more people were drawn into the fray. Connor could barely keep track of what was happening. He saw Matt throwing someone headfirst into a locker, while Stephen pulled Cutter to his feet, blood pouring out of the latter's nose. Danny and Becker were fighting back to back, each taking numerous hits from various opponents. Connor was being punched from all directions as he lashed out wildly.

Eventually, several teachers were able to break up the massive brawl, even managing to pull Becker off of Wilder, who was having his face beaten to a pulp by the former. After the pandemonium, the participants were led to various offices to await disciplinary measures. As he walked through the crowd of onlookers that other teachers were trying to disperse, Connor kept his head held high. He'd been there for a friend and he didn't run.

XXXXX

Becker sat quietly in the small office, staring at the other five guys that had been placed in there as well. He was surprised to see some of them had joined the fight; he'd seen all of them fighting people that associated with Wilder. In fact, the only person in the room whose presence didn't surprise him was Danny. He'd known Danny would help him, and he thought back to the fight, where he and Danny had fought back to back. Becker knew he could always count on Danny.

Connor's involvement surprised him, but he was also flattered that Connor would get into a fight for him. Becker looked over the others in the room. He barely knew Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, or Matt Anderson; yet, here they all were. Each person was lost in his own thoughts, waiting for the principal to get to their office for the punishments, when Danny suddenly spoke up.

"Is it just me, or did that get out of hand pretty quickly?" He asked with a grin. Becker laughed, the silence broken.

"It did seem to get ugly faster than most fights." Matt agreed.

"How did you get involved anyways?" Becker asked, looking at Matt. Matt just grinned.

"I barely need an excuse to fight someone, but Connor was getting his ass handed to him, so someone had to step in."

"I was not," Connor whined, "I was doing just fine, I was getting plenty of hits in."

"I just wanted to punch Wilder in the face some more." Cutter said, "We had a little disagreement on the first day of school. He wanted to beat up Connor; I didn't want him to beat up Connor. Things got heated, so I punched him in the face a few times. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd do it again."

"And when that didn't go exactly to plan," Stephen cut in, "I had to step in and from there, things just got progressively worse."

"I know you're not supposed to say this after a school fight," Danny began, "but that was pretty fun, I'd do it again."

"I'm glad you think that, Mr. Quinn." Came a stern voice from the doorway. All six heads turned to see Mr. Lester, James' father and principal of the school, standing at the door, looking at them with disapproval.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again, Mr. Quinn." Mr. Lester said, frowning, "But as for the rest of you, I'm ashamed to see any of you in this office. I expected better from all of you. You will receive a week of suspension where you are not permitted to set foot on campus, and a month of after school detentions afterwards. Be grateful I'm not expelling the lot of you; you'd have to graduate next year. But at least it was a fun fight, right Mr. Quinn?" He glared at Danny as he said it, but Danny, stubborn as usual, stood his ground.

"I had a good time, sir." Danny retorted, returning Mr. Lester's glare, "Next time, though, I'll probably make sure to not get punched as many times, you know, to improve the experience." Mr. Lester stared at Danny, rage temporarily rendering him speechless. Becker took this as his chance to keep Danny out of more trouble.

"We'll just go now, sir." he said, trying to sound respectful as he dragged Danny up. The others followed suit, hoping to escape before Mr. Lester could give them a bigger punishment.

As they left the office and headed for the front doors, Becker rounded on Danny.

"Why'd you have to argue like that, you know he hates that."

Danny shrugged, "I can't help it, you know that. I just get angry and then I can't control myself, sorry."

As they exited the school and entered the sunshine, Connor turned to Danny.

"What did he mean, he expected to see you again?" He asked.

Danny grinned at the memory. "That was a good time. Last year I kept giving Mrs. Murphy a hard time because she kept giving us wrong facts, urban legends and the like. So after a while, she sent me to see Mr. Lester. And he starts in on the whole, you're not smarter than the teachers or faculty, you don't have a diploma, learn your place stuff. I got mad and told him I could prove I was smarter, and I didn't need a stupid diploma to prove it. Well he got mad some more, gave me detention, and sent me back. He thought that was the end of it." Danny paused for dramatic effect as he looked at the others, all listening raptly to his tale, awaiting the joke. Becker sighed dramatically and motioned for Danny to keep talking, he'd heard the tale at least five times.

"So that night," Danny continued, grinning, "I snuck out of my house and went to the school. I climbed up on the roof, into the ventilation shaft, and down through the ceiling. Then I broke into Mr. Lester's office and stole his university diploma for teaching."

"I remember that." Connor interjected suddenly, "Mr. Lester came made an announcement the next day asking for anyone with information about the missing diploma to go to his office and tell him."

Danny grinned mischievously, "I snuck back in later that day and left it wrapped up on his desk with a note that said 'from your smartest student'. He called me into his office twenty minutes later. He was not happy at all."

The other guys in the group laughed loudly at Danny's exploits. They stopped at the intersection, looking at each other, waiting for one of them to head off for their respective homes and punishments first. Matt spoke up.

"We're gonna have to go home and face the music eventually," he said with a tone of defeat, "might as well go now." He turned and began walking towards his house. By unspoken consent, the others began trudging to their own homes as well. Becker turned and began walking back to the school.

"Where're you going?" Danny asked as he walked off.

"I'm gonna go walk Jess home." Becker shouted back, "After all, weren't you the one who said she needed to walk home with someone?" Danny just grinned at him.

"Good luck" he called finally before heading on to his own house. Becker smiled to himself, he knew he was going to have to wait several hours for school to end, but he also knew it would be worth it.

XXXXX

Jess walked out of her school building at the end of the day, talking with Abby and Sarah about the only thing anyone was talking about, the fight earlier that day.

"You said Becker started the whole thing?" Sarah asked for the hundredth time.

"Yes," Jess replied, Wilder wouldn't let go of my arm, so Becker punched him in the face, and then things got ugly."

Abby laughed suddenly, "And speak of the devil." She said, nudging Jess, "Looks like your knight in shining armor stayed here to see you."

Jess looked hopefully where Abby was pointing and saw Becker sitting against the base of a tree, across the street, his head lolling slightly to one side as he slept.

"He's probably been waiting for hours." Sarah said thoughtfully, "You can't blame him for catching a power nap."

"You better go wake him up." Abby advised, "We'll leave you two love birds alone."

Jess felt oddly nervous about the upcoming conversation and looked at her two friends.

"What if he just came to tell me he doesn't want to see me anymore, I mean, I almost got him expelled."

Abby shook her head, "Jess, he started a brawl for you, I'm pretty sure that means he likes you. Just go talk to him and tell him how you feel."

"Be confident." Sarah added as she and Abby walked away, "And good luck. We'll talk to you tomorrow." That left Jess standing alone, steeling herself to finally talk to Becker about her feelings for him.

She walked confidently across the street to where Becker was sleeping and crouched down in front of him.

"Becker," she said tentatively, "Becker, wake up. It's Jess." Becker still didn't move. Jess moved closer and called his name again, louder.

"Becker, wake up. School's over, you've got to get up." Becker still didn't move. Jess sighed with exasperation.

"Hilary Becker!" she shouted at him, "You get up this instant." Becker jerked up suddenly, causing Jess to topple backwards in surprise as he stood up. He looked around wildly before looking down at Jess sprawled in the grass. A look of confusion crossed his face.

"Jess?" He asked curiously, "What are you doing here?" Jess looked up at him in surprise. She'd just assumed he was waiting for her, but apparently not.

"I-I" she stammered, trying desperately to come up with an excuse.

"You should still be in school." Becker continued, "It's..." He looked down at his watch and his face fell. "Four o'clock" he finished lamely, "I was going to surprise you by waiting outside."

"If it's any consolation," Jess said, still on the ground, "you did surprise me."

Becker looked at her apologetically, "Sorry about that," he said as he pulled her to her feet. "My dad used to wake me up at five in the morning to do pt. He used a whistle and a bag of ice. So now, when I wake up, I wake up fast."

"It's fine." Jess assured him, "So, what did you came back for anyways, I thought you were suspended for a week."

Becker looked down at his feet, "I came back to walk home with you, if you want. If you don't want to be seen with me, that's fine."

Jess was taken aback. "Of course I want to be seen with you, and I love that you came to walk me home. Why wouldn't I want to be seen with you?"

Becker began walking, motioning Jess to walk with him. "I figured you didn't want everyone to think you were friends with the guy that started a massive fight."

Jess laughed, "I'm telling everyone you're my friend, after all, you started that for me." Jess blushed as soon as the words left her mouth. She couldn't believe she'd just said that. She glanced at Becker from the corner of her eyes as they walked along. He looked like he was fighting some internal struggle. Jess decided to go for broke.

"You know," she began, breaking the silence, "what I told Wilder wasn't entirely true."

Becker looked at her in surprise. "Which part wasn't true?" He asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

Jess took a deep breath, preparing herself for rejection. "The part where I told him I was normally too busy to go out anywhere."

Becker looked confused and Jess realized she was going to have to help him along.

"If someone else were to ask me out, I'd find time to go." she said slowly, waiting for Becker to catch on. He still looked lost. She gave an internal sigh, Abby and Sarah were right, he did have no clue about women or his emotions.

"I usually like military guys," She added, hoping she still had some subtlety to her statements, "but I just don't like Dan Wilder. If I were to date someone, I want it to be someone I knew, someone I already know I can count on."

Becker looked at her in surprise and she secretly rejoiced that he finally seemed to get it.

"So," he said, trying to sound casual, "are you doing anything this weekend? If not, I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me?"

Jess almost cried with joy. He finally asked her out, all she'd had to do was get harassed by someone he didn't like first. Jess looked at Becker with a wide grin.

"Yes, I'd love to go out with you, Becker." she said. She realized that she still had a huge grin plastered across her face, but when she realized Becker had the same thing, she realized she didn't care.

"Great," Becker said as they stopped in front of her apartment. "That's great. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"No you won't." she reminded him, "You're suspended for a week, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Becker said, still grinning widely, "well, I'll see you after school, then."

Jess was touched; he would wait after school for her, just to walk her home. She hugged him suddenly.

"That sounds good." she told him, standing on her toes to speak into his ear. "And thanks for hitting Wilder for me today." She let go of him and began walking back to her apartment. Jess gave Becker one last look before closing the door and was happy to see he was still standing where she left him, grinning like an idiot.