Jess lay in bed awake for a long time, giddy about the entire evening. Becker had told her she looked nice and invited her to stay for a movie on Saturday, just the two of them. Plus, he'd dressed up and hadn't at all tried to deny it was to impress her and, even though she'd denied him, he'd wanted to be on her team for the game. Oh, and he'd said he liked her hair with ringlets. Jess wondered silently if it would be too obvious if she wore all her hair in ringlets for work the next day.

Becker lay in bed awake for a long time with a grin on his face and unable to get Jess out of his mind. He didn't really like to get too attached to people, but it was too late for that now. He should have known better than to confide in her, of all people, because letting himself trust her was truly the breaking point for him. Of course, it'd probably been a mistake to invite her to dinner and a movie too but, to be honest, he was looking far too forward to it to care. He grinned wider as he remembered the way she'd been staring out the window waiting for him to arrive.

At first he'd habitually told himself not to get too close, and he'd pulled away when he'd found himself playing with her ringlets, but hearing Abby say that they were trying to impress each other and not hearing Jess protest had put a bit of perspective on things. Abby was right, of course. Becker had been trying to impress Jess, though he hadn't admitted it to himself before then. And who was Becker to try and impress her and push her away at the same time? Surely that could only hurt her, right? It was his job to protect her, not to hurt her, so he had to pick one or the other and stick with it. Strong soldier that he was, he knew his weaknesses and Jess was one of them. He'd never really be able to push her away now, so the logical thing to do would be to try and win her over once and for all. He fell asleep with a smile at the thought.

Jess heard a soft knock on her bedroom door and she glanced at the clock: 2:08am. She sat up and whisper-yelled, "Come in."

Connor came in and shut the door quietly behind himself so as to not wake up Abby in the next room. He lay down on the edge of Jess' bed, hands behind his head, and looked at the ceiling. "So, Kiddo, I had a feeling you'd still be up. Let's chat. What was the bet Becker won?"

Jess grinned, "He said winner gets to pick the movie we watch after dinner on Saturday. He wants me to stay for a movie, Con!"

Connor laughed, "See, I told you he likes you."

"I hope so. Con, do you really think I'll be okay cooking on my own?"

"Of course, Jess. You're brilliant, remember? Stop fretting."

"Thanks."

Connor kissed her cheek and then said, "I better get back to bed before I fall asleep here. Have a good night, Jess."

Jess nodded and suddenly found that she was quite tired too. She let out a yawn, "Oooohaaacoaaaagnihaa."

"What?"

Jess giggled, "I said, "Okay, Connor, good night.""

The door opened suddenly and Abby appeared rubbing her eyes and staring at them sleepily, "What's going on?"

Connor stood up and went to her, "Nothing, Abs. Just giving Jess a little pep talk. Didn't mean to wake you, sorry."

Abby smiled and reached for his hand, "It's fine, Con, you didn't. I just woke up for a glass of water and wondered where you'd got to. Are you coming to bed?"

Connor nodded and they left the room, shutting the door quietly so as not to wake Jess who was already asleep.

Becker arrived early to work the next day. He knew that only Jess would beat him there and he wanted to give her the chocolate he'd brought before anyone else showed up.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her and grinned. She was even more dressed up than usual. She wore a dark green dress that had a bit of shine to it. It had a flared skirt and short rounded sleeves. She had it tied at the waist with a gold ribbon and she was wearing matching gold heels and her hair was partially tied back in a half-ponytail with a gold ribbon. He knew the look had to be for him, because she'd done all her hair up in ringlets again.

He snuck up behind her and grabbed one of the ringlets, giving it a gentle tug and watching it spring back into place when he let go. Jess whirled around in surprise, "Becker!"

He smiled at her, "What's the occasion?"

"What?"

Becker knew it was for him, but he wanted to see her blush so he reached out to make another ringlet bounce. "You've got curls again, must have taken a long time. Why'd you bother?"

Sure enough, Jess turned pink as she fumbled for what to say. "I, well, you know, I like to look nice and you said the ringlets looked nice, not that I did them for you, but I feel better about myself if I make the effort to look nice and it gave me the idea to curl my hair because you said you liked it, so it's kind of because of you I guess but…"

"But not for my benefit," Becker interrupted. He liked to hear her ramble, but the others would show up soon and he didn't really believe her anyway.

Jess blushed even deeper, "Well, I mean, I liked that you liked how I looked of course. I mean, I'd like it if anyone said they liked it and well, I hoped you would still, but you don't have to like the curls this way."

"Jessica! Of course I do. You're beautiful, as always."

"Oh," Jess stared, at a loss for words finally.

Becker pulled the box of chocolates out from behind his back then and presented them to her. "Here, these chocolates were pretty much screaming your name, so I had to buy them for you."

Jess stared at the bright yellow box shaped like a flower with a smiley face. "You brought me chocolate? I mean, of course you did since they are right here in front of me but… thank-you."

Becker grinned and gave her a wink, tugging one more time at her ringlets before walking away. Jess watched until he was gone and then lifted the lid of the box. Inside were a couple dozen small chocolates of assorted shapes and sizes and a small picture guide to show what kinds were which. Three of chocolates were already missing and there was a note in Becker's writing: Jess, I ate the orange ones so you didn't get them by accident. ~ Becker.

Jess grinned and popped a praline filled chocolate into her mouth before closing the lid and hiding the box before the others arrived.

Abby grinned when she arrived at work. Connor had gone right to the lab and Becker was alone in the staff room and she suddenly had an idea. She let out a huge, obvious yawn as she entered and Becker glanced at her.

"Tired still, Abs?"

"Yeah, woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't find Connor." She replied casually, leading Becker to the question that was sure to make her soldier friend jealous and hopefully get him to finally ask Jess out.

Becker played right into her hands, "Where was he?"

Abby gave a little laugh, "In Jess' bed, of all places."

Becker jumped to his feet, "What! With Jess?"

"Yeah, they were whispering about something or other and I finally heard her giggle and figured out where he was."

Becker frowned. He knew that nothing was going on between the pair; Abby would've killed Connor if she was at all worried about it. However, it still bothered him. It suddenly occurred to him that Connor got to see Jess in her, probably adorable, pyjamas. Connor probably saw Jess with messy hair and no make up and he probably knew what she liked for breakfast and how long she took in the shower and what kinds of music she enjoyed. Connor probably ate dinner with her everyday.

"Becker, is something wrong?" Abby asked, knowing full well there was.

Becker slowly turned to her, "Better say your goodbyes, Abby. I'm gonna go kill your boyfriend."

Abby just laughed as Becker stormed out of the room.

Connor was working in his lab when Becker appeared with an EMD, looking furious. "Temple! We need to talk!"

"Cheers, Mate!"

"Not this time. Abby just told me an interesting little anecdote. It was something about finding you in Jess' bed last night. Ring a bell?"

Connor gulped, "Now why would Abby say that? Does she not know you have a lot of guns? I was sure she still loved me."

"It is true?"

"Just a quick chat, Becker. Jess is like a little sister to me."

Becker hesitated, the word 'sister' calming him down considerably. "What colour are her pyjamas?" he asked. He half wanted to know so he could picture her in them, and half wanted to find out if Connor had been looking.

Connor frowned, "I dunno, it was dark and she was under the covers. Usually though, she wears her Christmas ones on Wednesdays, regardless of the time of year. Why?"

Becker frowned, "See, that's not right, that you get to know those little random things about her and I don't."

Connor grinned, "So you admit you like her then?"

"I admit to nothing. I just think it's important to know everyone's little habits, never know what could save a life."

"Ah, I see," Connor answered pensively, "And you're afraid you don't know enough about Jess yet to protect her."

"Exactly." Becker agreed, grateful that Connor was going to let him save face.

"So maybe you should spend more time with her outside of work."

"Good idea."

"She told me about your bet by the way. You might want to know this little random thing about her: her favourite movie is A Walk to Remember. However, she has also been dying to see Timeline and has never had the chance yet."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Becker?"

"Yeah?"

"Just in case I'm ever in danger and you need to save my life, I sleep shirtless with black pyjama bottoms." Connor grinned at Becker and then quickly ducked out of the room as Becker reached for the EMD.