********** Popular **********

"Captain Becker!"

As he walked into Ops one week after his talk with Matt in the firing range, Becker felt himself turn at the sound of Emily calling his name.

"Are you still willing to help build the sets for the show?" she asked, not wasting any time once she made it to his side.

He appreciated her directness. "Completely. Just tell me when and where you need me, and what to do."

"Well, Connor's helping with the set design, but there are two things that we're going to have to figure out in the canteen." He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "We need to create this person-sized bubble-like thing for one of the characters, and it has to be able to lift off the stage with someone in it. The other is that we're going to need a rig that can lift one person straight up into the air."

"I can definitely help with the single rig, but you may want to talk to the tech department about the other. They'd probably be able to come up with some sort of design first, and then I can help with the construction."

"That's a great idea!" She beamed at him. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled at this sweet woman who had captured Matt's attention. "Would you be able to come to the canteen after your shift today? Connor should have the set basics sorted by then, and we could look at what's need for this."

"No problem," he replied, causing her to smile again. As she walked away, he turned back to his original destination: the ADD.

"Captain?" Emily's voice made him turn once more. "Thank you." Those two simple words were heavily weighted, and Becker knew that she wasn't just talking about his offer to help with the sets. Matt must have talked to her. He nodded to her, and she continued on her way as his eyes fell upon his own favourite distraction.

Jess was the picture of relaxation, despite being at work and in her version of business attire. She was leaning back in her oversized red chair, with her long legs crossed and a casual grin on her face as she looked at the screens in front of her. She wore a short green dress that reminded him of a pool table top, and had paired it with her usual ridiculously high heels (today's were a soft shade of purple). Her long auburn hair was swept up off her shoulders in a dark purple clip, and varying shades of purple jewelry completed her outfit. He tried to ignore the fact that his heart sped up a bit at the sight of her, but it was getting harder as each day went by.

He quietly approached her side, and slid a chocolate bar onto her desk next to her hand. She glanced down at the movement, and then raised her large blue eyes to meet his gaze. "Thank you."

"Two thank you's in less than a minute," Becker commented. "I'm on a roll today."

She loved that his sense of humour had been coming out more and more since she'd first met him. He'd been so sad and serious when she first came to work at the ARC, and she had made it a mission of sorts to try and lighten him up a bit. While she knew that it wasn't all her doing, she liked to think that she had gotten the ball rolling. "What do you mean?" she asked, her thoughts coming back to the conversation at hand.

"Emily," he replied. "I told her that I'd help build her sets."

Jess nodded. "Yeah, she's enlisted me too."

"You're going to help with that too?" he asked, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice.

She nodded again. "I was heavy into the drama programme at my school before I graduated. That and music and dance were my non-technological outlets. I had several hands in every production my school put on, even after I finished there. Set-building, lights and sound, stage managing and performing – they were how I got my stress out."

"You really are full of surprises, aren't you," Becker commented.

Feeling a bit bold, she shot him a saucy wink. "You have no idea." She could have sworn that she saw a flash of lust in his eyes at her comment, but it was gone before she could react.

"Jess!" Connor shouted as he ran into the room. Jess and Becker both spun to look at him.

"What's wrong?" they asked together, stopping Connor short.

He glanced between the two of them at their unison question. "Creepy." After a beat and a blush from Jess, he went on. "Anyway, wait until you see what I've come up with for the stage!"

"You can tell Becker too, Connor. We're both going to be working on building it."

"Fantastic! Thanks, Action-Man!"

"How's Abby doing with the costume ideas?" Jess asked, before Becker could comment.

"She's got loads! We're going to have to seriously narrow it down, but I know she's gonna make us look amazing!"

"You guys are both in the show as well?" Becker queried. When they nodded enthusiastically, he waited a second in the hopes that he'd get more details. Nothing, so he was forced to ask. "Who are you playing?"

"Action-Man, do you actually know the characters of this show?"

"I took my sister to see it a couple years ago. Don't remember too much about it though," he admitted. "It was pretty cool, for a musical." Connor and Jess looked at each other, realizing how high praise this was, coming from him. "So who's playing who?"

"Oh no, you're not getting that information out of us!" Connor declared, stepping away from the pair. "Emily would kill us, and I'd fancy making my stage debut before that happens." With that, Connor dashed off, leaving poor Jess to try and dodge Becker's question.

"Jessica…" he said in that slightly pleading tone that always got to her. She steeled herself inside, and looked up into those eyes that she constantly got lost in. "You wouldn't keep me in the dark about this, would you? How am I supposed to create these sets and special effects if I don't know who they're for?"

He was good, but she was determined to be better. She wouldn't let Emily's surprises slip for a handsome face, no matter how lovely a face it was. "Emily's enlisted me to help with the music. I'm not sure what my role with that will be yet," she stated simply.

"So you're playing in the band for it?"

"I don't know yet. Emily hasn't given me any details. She just asked if I would work with the band."

"What instrument do you play?"

Jess realized that he was venturing back into safe territory, so she relaxed a bit. "Violin."

"I had no idea you played," he said.

"I've played for fun since I was little."

"You're still little."

"Hardy-har-har. You know what I mean."

He thought on that for a minute. "Very cool."

Their quiet conversation was interrupted by the anomaly alarm. "No rest for the wicked," Jess commented dryly as the rest of the team hurried into the room.