A/N: Thanks to those who left reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! I apologize for the delay in updating- I live in one of the areas hit by the tornadoes in Alabama. My family and I are alright, but between the storms and school, it has been difficult to find time to write.

Chapter Two- A Quiet Calm

Becker was bored. It was the fourth day in a row without a single anomaly sighting and he was beginning to feel restless. He enjoyed a quiet day from time to time as they gave him a chance to catch up on paperwork, train with his men, and inspect the ARC's security systems. Unfortunately, he had proven to be far too efficient a worker for his own good and by lunch on the third day he was completely out of things to do.

Such a long break between anomalies had become unusual as they were growing more and more frequent as time passed. What Becker found most disconcerting was the lack of explanation for the shift in the anomalies' behavior. Of course, as Connor was always quick to point out when Becker mentioned this, there was still no logical explanation for the very existence of the anomalies, and so it was unreasonable to expect him to be able to explain this newest development. While most people accepted this unpredictability as part of life at the ARC, Becker found it intensely frustrating. Fighting an enemy he could not understand was hard enough, but now the enemy was changing tactics, evolving into something different, and he had no way of stopping it.

Most everyone at the ARC loved these quiet days. Even Lester could seem almost cheerful on days without incident. But the military personnel, especially Becker, had a hard time enjoying these days as much as their scientist colleagues did. Most of the soldiers resented quiet days simply for their lack of action, but Becker personally felt that quiet days could be just as dangerous as those packed with anomalies and creature incursions. He knew from experience that it was usually in those peaceful moments when you were not on your guard that tragedy would strike. Matt frequently pointed out to him that living in constant fear was a rotten way to exist, but Becker disagreed. Fear keeps you fast, keeps you sharp, he had argued. People make foolish mistakes when they become too sure of themselves.

However, after four days of waiting, even Becker was finding it difficult to remain focused. His men were becoming increasingly rowdy as a result of the pent up tension. He had given them every task he could think of the past few days to keep them occupied, including ordering the inspection and testing of every gun and EMD in the armory, but now they were just as bored as he was. Their energy was doing nothing to improve the sullen mood he found himself in and so after lunch on the fourth day he retreated to the relative peace and solitude of the locker room to disassemble and clean his own guns for the third time in as many days. It was something he usually found relaxing, as the familiar chore usually afforded him the chance to escape from whatever was bothering him and focus entirely upon the task at hand. But as he settled into his work his mind slowly drifted to the very subject he had been so carefully avoiding thinking of for nearly two weeks.

Jess.

Slamming the pistol in his hand down onto the table in frustration, he leaned back in the chair and rubbed his face with one hand. He had been avoiding thinking about her since the incident with Ethan's bomb, but not thinking about her was proving to be an even greater distraction than thinking about her. Before that fateful night, Becker had always spent a great deal of time hanging around the ADD, more than was really necessary for his job, if he was being honest. But since then he simply could not bring himself to face her. He was having an even more difficult time facing the reasons why he had been so affected by what had happened.

Jess was a complete enigma to him. He had been fascinated with her since the first moment he laid eyes on her. Of course, in his defense, she was hardly easy to miss.

The first thing he had noticed about her, once he had recovered from the initial shock of her age and exceptionally cheerful disposition, were her shoes. Whereas nearly everyone who worked in the ARC wore comfortable shoes to work in as a safety precaution- even Lester had learned to wear shoes he could run in- Jess seemed to have a different philosophy. Nearly every day she displayed a different pair of ridiculously feminine heels that Becker was impressed she could walk in.

Even more shocking than her ability to walk in those shoes was her ability to skip in them. Jess walked with a spring in her step that he himself and many of the more seasoned team members had long since lost. She had an innocence about her that went beyond her age and lack of experience: she was sweet. It was really the only word to describe her. While he worried constantly about whether or not his people were carrying enough ammunition and training hard enough, she worried about people remembering to eat a good dinner and that they dressed warmly enough while they were out chasing monsters.

However, Becker had quickly learned that Jess was as capable at her job as she was cheerful. He had not expected the strength and skill with which she commanded the ADD to come from someone so young. Whereas in person she was sweet and hardly intimidating, when she was behind the ADD she was professional, organized, and completely in charge. He trusted her with his life, something he had not considered possible after the tragedies of the last year. No matter how badly a mission was going, her voice in his earpiece helped keep him focused and calm and her guidance and technical support had saved his life more times than he cared to admit.

Becker could not help but be drawn to her by her joy and warmth. She was beautiful, brilliant, witty, and the most caring person he had ever met. He found himself constantly plotting ways to make her smile- bringing her chocolate, teasing her about her shoes, even whispering jokes about Lester in her ear so no one else could hear. He even liked how much she talked. It was amazing that the same quality he found so annoying in Connor he found sweet and endearing in another. He loved how flustered she would get when she talked herself into a corner without ever having to say a word himself. He barely recognized the person he was turning into. Seeing her was the highlight of his day and he often caught himself thinking of her even when he was not at work. Jess was proving to be a dangerous distraction from the isolated life he had made for himself.

He had lost far too many friends to the anomalies to ever allow himself to drop his guard. His job was too dangerous for him to allow himself to become attached to people. Stephen, whom Becker had never met but had often heard the others speak of, had been the first from the original team to die, and his death had shocked the whole team. Until then, the risks of the job had not seemed real. They had all had too many close calls that they could laugh about later. Then Cutter. Abby and Connor. Danny. Even though Abby and Connor had returned, he could not let go of the pain he had felt in losing them.

Sarah's death had hit him the hardest. It had been so sudden, so soon after the others. She had been his partner in searching for the others, the only one he truly believed understood how he felt and felt the same sense of responsibility for finding them. But she had been ripped away from him by a creature from another time, his last ally snatched away before his eyes. The others had simply disappeared- presumed dead, but hope remained that they could be saved. Becker had watched Sarah die in front of him, torn to pieces before he could even react. Her screams still haunted his dreams and his guilt over having failed her had consumed him.

The incident from a few weeks earlier with the bomb was simply unacceptable. Not only had he been foolish enough to walk right into Ethan's trap, but he had allowed Jess to put herself in danger as well. She had performed admirably, handling herself with more composure and bravery than many new recruits did their first time out in the field, but he knew it should never have come to that. As grateful as he was for having saved his life, he could not overcome the gnawing guilt that she had nearly died in order to do so. She did not seem to understand the fact that seemed so obvious to him: He was replaceable. She was not.

Which was exactly why he had been avoiding her ever since. He missed her terribly, but it could not be helped. The situation had opened his eyes to a threat he had not previously considered: he had been so concerned with keeping himself from developing emotional attachments to the people he worked with that he had not bothered to consider that someone might become attached to him. He knew he needed to push her away before he grew any more dependent upon her, but part of him simply could not let her go.

Somewhere along the way he had fallen in love with Jess Parker. And he simply could not let that happen. He believed that someday his luck would run out in the field and he would share the same fate as Sarah and the others. What was more, he deserved nothing less. Jess deserved nothing short of a prince and a fairy tale happy ending and no matter how desperately he wished that she might settle for him, he refused to rob her of what she deserved.

A locker slamming behind him jarred him from his reverie and he turned quickly to face the intruder.

"Time to call it a day," Matt announced, pulling on his jacket and stepping back from his locker.

Becker glanced at his watch and was surprised to find that he was right. He had been working in the locker room for nearly three hours and had not noticed. He stood up from the small table, shrugging his shoulders to release the tension in them from sitting still for so long and began clearing away his things. Matt appeared at his side and surveyed the freshly cleaned weapons Becker was packing away.

"Looks like you had a fun day," he remarked dryly as he picked up a pistol to inspect. "Personally, I'm not really sure how much more of this sitting around and waiting I can take." He returned the pistol to its place on the table and turned to face Becker. "Want to get a drink? I know a place not far from here."

Becker stopped packing away his guns and raised his eyebrow questioningly at Matt. "A drink?" He and Matt worked well together and had even become friendly over the past few months, but they were far from drinking buddies. "Isn't Emily expecting you?"

Matt glanced at his watch and shook his head. "Nah, not for a while yet. Come on," he persuaded him, "I know you. You've been as on edge as I have these past few days. And let's face it- you need to get out of this place. When's the last time you went out somewhere besides the shooting range?"

Becker sighed. He could not deny he was desperate to get away from the ARC. He was hardly eager to return to his solitary flat where there was nothing to distract himself from his thoughts. Also, he was intrigued by Matt's sudden attempt at friendship and suspected an ulterior motive lurking behind the simple invitation. "A drink, then," he conceded, curiosity getting the better of him, as he locked his weapons' case in his locker. "Alright."

"Good." He paused for a moment. "You don't want to change first?" Matt asked, glancing at Becker's uniform.

Becker shrugged his jacket on and began checking his pockets. "What's wrong with this?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Do you even own civvies?"

Becker ignored him and held up the keys to his truck. "I'm driving."

A/N: Two chapters down! The action will pick up pretty quickly in the next chapter. Please review! Thanks so much to those who already have! I love feedback!