Huge thank you's to everyone who reviewed the story. It's really helped me push forward with the story, seriously they make my day. I hope you enjoy this next installment. ;D

Jess' POV

Jess put her hands on her hips and glared at Matt and Connor suspiciously, as they both had their hands behind their backs and their too innocent expressions.

"What are you too doing here? Abby said we were having girl talk." She said still glaring at the men. She wasn't all that surprised to see her look mirrored on Abby's face, who quickly came to stand next to her blocking the door to the Armory.

Connor was trying to hide the mischievous look on his face and failing miserably.

"We just wanted to see how you're doing," he said. Matt nodded next to him. At least Matt could pull of a fake look of concern. Abby threw her hands up.

"You guys are so stupid," she said stomping out. At least she pretended to, as soon as she saw what was behind their backs she came right back to stand next to Jess.

"If you're just here to check on Jess, than why do you have makeup behind you?" she asked her eyebrows raising into a "got ya" expression. The boys looked defeated and pulled their loot from behind them. It took Jess less than a minute to figure out their plan.

"You heard me tell Abby Becker was taking a nap and decided to pull a prank didn't you." Connor had the decency to look ashamed. Matt however just pointed at Connor.

"It was his idea," he said, not even trying to hide his amusement of the whole situation. Jess turned her glare on him immediately and he didn't flinch, of course.

"Traitor," Connor mumbled under his breath. Jess could see Abby melt at the crestfallen look on her boyfriend's face.

"And you went along with it because?" Jess asked Matt before he could try and leave.

"Becker annoys me." He said with a shrug. Jess looked at the two men with disbelief etched on her face.

"And you thought it would be a good idea to startle a soldier, who's already on edge, while he's surrounded by lethal weapons?" Connor looked appalled at her words. He turned to Abby his mouth opening and closing silently.

"I hadn't thought of that," he said finally. Jess saw Matt sneaking out the door and turned to Connor.

"Your partner in crime just headed out the door," she said pointing at Matt's retreating form. Connor spun around to look where Jess was pointing before turning back to the two women who were looking at him expectantly.

"Yeah, I should probably go," he said as he walked backwards. Once he hit the door he broke into a run, leaving the girls laughing in his wake.

Becker's POV

Becker rubbed his tired eyes with the palm of his hand and rose slowly to his feet. It took a moment for him to realize that Jess wasn't in the chair she been in when he'd fallen asleep. He quickly grabbed the nearest pistol and loaded it, intent on finding Jess. He was running through all the possible things that could have happened to her, none of them good, when the sound of laughter caught his attention and he headed out into the primary room of the Armory. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jess talking with Abby. He cleared his throat, causing the women to jump out of their seats. He was happy to see Abby drop into a fighter's crouch, but Jess' reaction was less than pleasing. She just sat in her chair looking around with a curious look on her face. Abby relaxed when she saw him and Jess broke into a smile.

"I think I need to give you some lessons in self-defense," he said walking over to where Jess was sitting. She stood to meet him and the only thing that kept him from kissing her senseless was Abby's presence. It turned out Abby could tell what was on his mind. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh for God's sake, kiss her already," she said. Becker started to deny it only to have Jess stop him by placing a hand on his chest.

"She knows," she said. Becker looked at her flabbergasted.

"You told her?" he asked in what he hoped didn't sound angry. Luckily it seemed like Jess didn't take the question the wrong way.

"She… uh, kind of figured it out?" she said, a pink blush racing up her slim neck.

"How?"

"Well," Abby said walking over to him. She tugged on the sleeve of his shirt, exposing the bruise that still marked his shoulder. "You didn't do a very good job hiding the bite mark." Becker quickly matched Jess' color as he tried to fumble for an explanation, but his mind was going blank.

"By the way," Abby said righting his collar, "she said you were earth shattering." With that Abby walked out the door, leaving Becker staring open mouthed after her and Jess doing her best not to break into laughter. Becker was the first to recover.

"Earth shattering?" he asked her with his eyebrow raised. Jess seemed to get even redder, though Becker thought it may just have been his mind playing tricks on him. She recovered quickly and sent him a playful smile.

"Well, I may have embellished a bit," she said trying to squeeze past him. She let out a squeal of delight as his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her back into the recesses of the Armory. He backed her gently against the wall and pressed his lips to hers in a sensual, knee melting kiss that had her gasping for air when he finally ended it.

Jess' POV

The first thing Jess noticed when Becker pulled his firm lips away from hers was that she was clutching the front of his shirt in her petite fists, trying to pull him back down, and that he had a smug look on his face. Turnabout's fair play, she thought with a smile. She grabbed his hair roughly and pulled him down for another kiss, not missing the groan he emitted as the distance between them closed. She knew just how to get him ramped up and was more than happy to use it to her advantage. A nip at his lower lip had him groaning again and pressing her harder against the wall. As soon as Jess felt one of his hands start to dip under the hem of her shirt she pulled back.

"I believe it's almost time for the shift change," she said ducking under his arm with a teasing smile. Becker groaned, for an entirely different reason this time, and took a few deep breaths. She could tell he was doing his best to calm himself down and decided it was the perfect time to get her stuff together before they headed to the locker room.

"That was unfair," he whispered in her ear. Jess jumped a little at the feel of his breath against the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Stop sneaking up on me," she said with a faux pout that always managed to get Becker laughing. This time she was rewarded only with one of his signature smirks.

"Ready?" he asked eyeing the bag slung over her shoulder. Jess sighed, resigned to the fact that once they walked out the door Becker would become the reserved soldier once again. She nodded and they left the relative safety of the Armory. They had been walking in silence for a while when Becker's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"How do you want to play this at work?" he asked. Jess looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Our relationship? Do you want it out in the open, or do you want to keep it secret?" He clarified. Jess took a moment to consider it. A few months ago she would have wanted to tell everyone she knew that she was in love with the man standing next to her, but now she wasn't so sure. She bit her lip, not sure what to say.

"Jess," Becker turned her to look at him and drew his thumb across her lower lip, releasing the tender flesh from her teeth before she could do any damage.

"Can we talk about this tonight," she asked. Becker looked concerned, causing Jess to hurry to reassure him.

"It's nothing bad," she said quickly, "I just don't think this is the time and place to make this kind of decision. I mean we don't have much time before we need to be at work and," Becker cut off her rambling before she could go any further.

"It's fine Jess. We can talk about it when we get home," he said. Jess couldn't help the little thrill that shot through her when he said home rather than, back to my place or something equally ambiguous. She let him steer her into the unisex locker room while she did her best to try and stop the idiotic grin that wanted desperately to spread across her face. She entered the familiar numbers for her combination lock and the locker door sprang open with a pop. She spared a quick glance at Becker who was engrossed in opening his own locker, before turning back to find the ear piece she left in there while digging for her lipstick. She stuck her hand in the locker without looking and recoiled when she encountered something fuzzy. Taking her eyes away from the hunt in her bag she gasped and threw her hands over her mouth in horror. Becker was next to her instantly, pulling her away from the wall of lockers.

"Shit!" He growled, Jess turned her head into the safety of his chest and did her best not to cry. Nestled amongst her spare closes and a few extra headsets was a bright red teddy bear. A picture of Becker and Jess cuddling on the couch in his flat had been tied around the bear's neck with a snow white ribbon. The words "You Belong With Me!" printed boldly in red across the glossy photo surface.