Jess shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously as she waited for Becker to open his front door. It didn't take long; he opened it almost instantly after she rang the bell.

"Hi Jess!" he grinned at her, but his grin turned into a look of puzzlement when he saw the huge armful of stuff she was carrying. "What's all this? I already did the shopping."

"It's not groceries," Jess replied, "I wasn't sure if you had a griddle or not, so I brought one as well as a container to marinate the lamb, plus there's another container filled with the Cherry Cheese Danishes. I made some more last night for Connor, Abby and I and there was a lot left over, so I figured I might as well cheat a little by just bringing them with me." She shifted the load of stuff and Becker quickly took it from her and stood aside so that she could get past him and into the flat and slip off her shoes.

"You look nice," Becker complimented her. Jess glanced down at her lacy fuchsia coloured dress as if just noticing what she was wearing and blushed, "Thanks."

"No ringlets, though…"

Jess burst out laughing, "No, I need to concentrate on my work in the kitchen and I know for a fact that you pulling my hair every few seconds isn't going to help. And speaking of the kitchen, show me where I'm going."

Becker nodded and carried the armful of stuff she had brought ahead of her. Jess glanced around at his place as she followed him. The place wasn't quite as bare as she'd expected it would be. The walls were a plain beige, as was the carpet, but he did have pictures up. There was a large framed picture of a gun over the mantle in the living room, Jess noticed with a grin as she walked past. Becker put the stuff down on the kitchen table as they entered.

"Was that your gun?" Jess asked.

Becker looked at her puzzled, "Where?"

"The picture above your fireplace. Did you take the photograph?"

Becker chuckled, "Oh that, yes and no. Yes, it's my gun, but no, I didn't take the picture. A friend of mine took it as a joke once and had it blown up and framed for my birthday. He said I loved guns so much I should hang the photo over my mantle. He may have been kidding, but I thought it was a great idea."

Jess burst out laughing as she walked back towards the living room to take a closer look at it. "Somehow it suits you," she said with a smile.

Becker nodded as he came to stand behind her, "Yeah, he was a good photographer."

"Was?"

"Army buddy. It's a dangerous job."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jess blushed and looked down at her feet, wishing she hadn't brought up the picture.

Becker smiled at her, reading her mind, "It's alright, Jess. It was a long time ago now."

Jess nodded, but Becker could see she looked really sad still: sad about the death of someone she'd never met. Gosh was this girl compassionate. He put a hand on her shoulder and when Jess finally looked up at him, he drew her unexpectedly into a quick hug. "Cheer up, Jessica, that's an order. This is supposed to be a fun afternoon, alright?"

Jess did cheer up at the hug as she quickly hugged him back before pulling away somewhat reluctantly, but knowing she'd make a fool of herself if she didn't. "Sorry, alright, I should get cooking then. What are you going to do?"

Becker raised his eyebrows, "Help? Watch?"

Jess shook her head, "No way. You'll be in the way. Just, sit here and watch TV or something." The truth was, she thought that having Becker watch would make her more nervous and she didn't want him around in case she made any little mistakes or had to text Connor for some last minute questions.

Becker raised his eyebrows, "You're ordering me to watch TV?"

"Yes, I am: A direct order."

"I'm not certain you have the authority to do that. It is my flat, after all."

Jess giggled, "Yes, but if you want me to cook for you, I'm pulling kitchen rank."

"Kitchen rank?"

"That's right."

"In my kitchen?"

"Correct again."

Becker sighed and plonked himself down on the couch, but Jess could see the laughter in his eyes. "Fine, you win. Call me if you need something."

"I will." Jess turned and headed back to towards the kitchen when she suddenly noticed the framed picture on the table against his wall. She stared, startled, at her own face smiling back. "Becker?"

Becker turned around to see what she wanted and groaned, "Oh, that, I forgot to hide it."

"Becker, where'd you get a photo of me?"

"It was in the album that Abby made from the Christmas party last year. I borrowed it and scanned it."

"Okay, why do you have a picture of me?" Jess tried to act annoyed, but the truth was, she was thrilled with the idea that Becker had done it and she couldn't hide her grin. Anyway, it wasn't like she didn't have a picture of him hidden away in her wallet.

"Because, sometimes, when I come home alone after a hard day, I feel a bit down and I need something to cheer me up. Also, the picture reminds me of what's waiting when I get to work and convinces me to get up and go to work on the days I don't feel like it."

"Wow," was the only thing Jess could think of to say.

Becker stared at her, silent for a moment and then asked, "Do you mind?"

"No, no, of course not. I'm just surprised, that's all. Actually, I love that you have a picture of me, I mean, for the reasons you said, because I wouldn't want you to just not come to work because you had no inspiration to do so, but I kind of like it that I'm your inspiration."

Becker chuckled, "Alright then, as long as you don't mind, I'm keeping the photo. Now, weren't you going to cook me something?"

Jess nodded and scurried into the kitchen and started looking for the ingredients she needed. She found most of the stuff, but she couldn't find the mint. She looked for both the candies and the plant kinds. She was tempted to pull the sprigs out from her purse, but she didn't want to do that yet in case he had bought it and noticed she didn't use any.

"Becker," she called, peeking her head around the corner, "Did you get mint?"

Becker nodded, "Sort of. To be honest Jess, I didn't know what you meant. I asked the store lady for help with most of the ingredients and when she asked what kind I said I didn't know, so…" he stood and walked into the kitchen and pulled a plastic bag out of the pantry, "Mint."

Jess opened the bag and giggled. He did have the mint leaves, and some in a jar that were pre-crushed. He also had mint jelly, mint extract, and then a whole bunch of candy: scotch mints, peppermints, spearmints, tic tacs and candy canes.

"I just need the leafy kind," she informed him. "So you can put the rest back."

"Okay, but are you sure? I have one more kind of mint too."

Jess looked at him curiously and Becker produced a box of After Eight Chocolate Dinner mints from the closet.

Jess' face lit up, "Oh, yes, I most definitely need those ones too."

Becker laughed and held the box above her head, making her jump to grab them. She still couldn't reach, but he gave them to her after a couple of tries, "Yep," he said, "I thought you might say that. Now, what else do you need help with?"

Jess laughed and pushed him back out of the room, "Nothing, scurry along why don't you so I can get started."

Becker did so, but he protested profusely the entire way.