Jess sighed deeply. She pulled her cardigan from her locker and slipped her arms through the sleeves. It had been such a long day, even without an anomaly. Jess tied her cardigan and grabbed her purse form the hook. She slung her purse over her shoulder and closed her locker. She turned around and collided with someone. Jess gasped and quickly stepped back.
"I'm so sorry." She said. She looked up and froze.
Becker stood in front of her.
"Becker, sorry. Twice in one day. Gosh." Jess joked. She brushed her hair behind her ear nervously. He was the last person she expected/wanted to run into today.
"Jess-"
"You certainly have a way of sneaking up on people."
"Jess-"
"But then you have to be with this job."
"Jess!" Becker snapped.
Jess quickly closed her mouth.
Becker winced and shook his head. "Sorry. But I…I need you to stop rambling for a moment. I need to tell you something."
Jess nodded slowly.
Becker hesitantly reached out for Jess' arm. He led her to the bench and sat down across from her. "The last time I went through an anomaly, prior to three days ago, was over a year ago. When we sent the last rescue party in search of the others. The day Sarah…"
Jess nodded. She knew what had happened to Sarah Paige that day.
"After I lost Sarah…I thought bout quitting. I didn't I could do my job after losing her, and so many others. I stayed on to prevent anyone else from dying." Becker explained. "I swore to myself I'd never go through another anomaly and I'd do everything I could to make sure no one else made the same mistake of entering them either. And for a time, I thought it was working.
"But when I realized you'd gone through the anomaly… I thought… I thought I'd lost you the same way I lost Sarah. With the way things have been going here, it…it never occurred to me that I could lose you. I always figured that I would be the likely one out the two of us to…to die on the job. I was the one in the field with the creatures, not you. That's why I was so furious with you. You shouldn't have been there." Becker took a breath. "And when Matt said he was going in after you, I couldn't bring myself to go in with them."
Jess gave Becker's hand a squeeze. "But you did."
Becker nodded slowly. "I did. And wasn't easy to step through that anomaly. But I knew that if I didn't go through after the others, I would lose you. And when we got you back, , I knew that I couldn't take the chance of losing you again…without telling you how I felt. But I went about it the wrong way." Becker paused. "I'm not sorry for kissing you, Jess. But I am sorry for nothing finishing what I'd started. I pushed you away and left you alone."
Jess dropped her gaze from him.
Becker lifted his hand to Jess' chin, gently lifting her face. Jess met Becker's gaze. "The thing is, I…I care about you, Jess. More than just another colleague. And I don't…I don't think… I don't think I could ever recover…if I lost you. I'd do everything to keep that from happening. It's my job to keep everyone on this team safe and I…I thought I'd failed you."
Jess was at a loss for words. In all the months of working with Becker, getting to know him, and fancying him, Jess never knew any of what Becker had just told her. She never knew he'd been just as scared of losing her, just as she had been terrified of losing him to those creatures in the school. Jess saw the fear in his eyes; Jess had shared that look dozens of times over simply by watching him over camera feeds. But there was something more in his gaze. Something that touched her, warmed her heart.
Jess shook her head. "You haven't failed me once, Becker. If it hadn't been for you, none of us would have come back through that anomaly. I don't think you could ever fail me."
Becker snorted lightly. The corners of his lips turned up slightly. He gently ran his thumb over Jess' cheek. He leaned toward her slowly. Jess closed her eyes as her lips met his. Becker pulled her close to him, wrapping his free arm around her waist. Jess laid her hands against his chest, gripping the curve of his shoulders. She marveled how his arms felt around her. All her doubts and fears melted from his touch. Her heart swelled in her chest.
Becker pulled from her slowly. His forehead pressed against her. "I love you, Jess Parker."