A/N: Here it is- the final, fluffy (and unapologetically so) final chapter (excluding the epilogue) of our saga. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me through the long, long process of writing this story- I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!

Chapter Fourteen- Happiness

Becker had been standing in front of the door to her flat for nearly five minutes trying to work up the nerve to knock. Matt had seemed completely unfazed by Becker's request to be dropped off at Jess' flat rather than his own when he picked him up from the hospital that afternoon. The only comment he made was a knowing smirk, a wink, and a promise to return for him if things did not go well.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered quietly to himself as he raised his hand to knock only to drop it to his side again for the sixth time in a row. He could not remember being this nervous before in his life, not even in armed combat. In fact, he would much rather have had to fight someone at that moment than he would admit his feelings to Jess. Of course, he suspected that if he gave into his fears and retreated in defeat, he might actually have to defend himself against Abby the next time he saw her. He did not fancy his odds against her when she was properly angry, especially in his current condition. His head hurt. His side hurt. He was groggy from the medication that had been forced on him all week. All he really wanted to do was go back to his flat, take a handful of painkillers and pass out for a few days. But he also knew that if he did not talk to Jess now, he might never do it, and that was simply not an option. Steeling his nerves, he raised his fist once again and knocked three times.

He listened intently for any movement inside the apartment and wondered if she was even home. Abby could have been wrong about Jess' plans. Perhaps she had felt well enough to go out with friends or visit her family, in which case he had gone through all that inner turmoil for nothing. However, after several tense moments, he heard soft footsteps approaching the door and a moment later it swung open.

"Becker?" Jess looked confused and surprised at his sudden appearance at her flat. "What are you doing here?"

He had to force himself to keep from grinning at her appearance. Apparently Jess took dressing for her sick days just as seriously as she did dressing for work. She was wearing long pajama bottoms covered in brightly-colored cupcakes with a matching tank top, a bright pink bathrobe, and fuzzy slippers. Her face was free of makeup and she wore her hair down around her shoulders, which made her look even younger than usual.

"Becker?" he heard her ask again and she took a step toward him with a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything all right?"

He snapped out of his reverie, realizing that he had been staring at her without saying anything since she opened the door.

"Right, sorry," he apologized quickly. "Everything is fine. I just wanted to see you- to talk to you," he corrected himself hastily. "About… you know… Could I come in?" he finished awkwardly. He really did not want to have this conversation standing out in the hallway where any of her neighbors could walk out and overhear them talking.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, as though she had temporarily forgotten where they were standing. "Yes, of course!" Please, come in." She stepped back to allow him entrance to her flat.

As he stepped into the front hall of her apartment, he was suddenly struck by the fact that he had never been there before. He took a moment to take in his surroundings; it was just as he might have imagined it to be (not that he had ever spent any time imagining her flat)- colorful, quirky, and very, very organized. He could immediately identify the clutter piled on top of the kitchen table as Connor's- according to Lester, clutter was one of the many hazards of living with Connor.

"Sorry it's a bit of a mess," she apologized as she rounded the corner ahead of him, disappearing from his view. "I haven't felt much like cleaning the past few days, and anyway, Connor's things always seem to return within hours of me putting them away, so…" Her eyes lit on an object on the counter. "Oh, I almost forgot- I have your flashlight," she said, motioning to it.

"Keep it." He answered. "I'd hate for you to get caught in the dark again without one."

"Oh. Thank you."

He nodded to her hands. "Connor told me you were hurt. What happened?"

She hastily tried to pull the sleeves of her bathrobe down to cover her bandaged hands. "It's nothing, honestly," she said quickly. "There was a lot of broken glass, you know. The doctor said he would take the stitches out in a day or so."

"Right. Good," he said awkwardly.

"Um, can I get you anything?" she asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Tea? Coffee? Water? Juice? I'm not really sure what we have in; Connor did the shopping last night and I haven't looked at what he bought yet," she babbled nervously, flitting about the kitchen, opening random cabinets as she spoke. "I could make you something if you're hungry, or we could order something in." She blushed furiously, whirling back to face him. "Not that you're staying long. I'm sure you want to go home and rest. Unless you want to stay, I mean, you're perfectly welcome to, I'd like you to, I just-"

Becker sad down on a barstool behind the counter and allowed her to continue her nervous rant, knowing from experience she would run out of things to saw eventually if he left her alone long enough. Besides, it gave him an extra few moments to collect his thoughts and things about what he was going to say. He turned his full attention back to Jess as she continued to babble, sensing her rant was coming to an end. She was looking at him with a concerned expression again as if something had just occurred to her.

"You just got out of the hospital, didn't you? Abby mentioned you were going to be released today. Are you feeling all right? Why didn't you go home to rest? Did you take your medication?" She sucked in a deep breath of air as she fiddled absently with the edge of one of the bandages on her hands. "Becker," she began slowly, "Becker, why are you here?"

He took a deep breath and stood, wincing slightly as he pulled the stitches in his side with the movement and crossed the kitchen to stand a few feet in front of her. He found he had no idea what to do with his hands, finally settling for crossing them awkwardly over his chest.

"I missed seeing you at the hospital," he said, remembering his carefully rehearsed speech he had worked on which waiting to be discharged.

Jess's blush deepened more than he would have considered possible.

"Yes, well, you were… and I was… after that night… I didn't know what to say," she finished in a voice barely above a whisper, now focusing all her attention on her bandaged hands, nervously picking at the frayed edges. "You'd been so distant for the past few weeks before the… the thing that happened and I thought you were upset with me and then…"

"Jess, I wasn't upset with you. That night in Ethan's flat scared me. I thought you would be safer if you stayed away from me."

"I'm a big girl, Becker," she said. "I don't need you to make decisions for me about my safety."

"I worry about you, Jess. That isn't going to change."

She nodded grudgingly and he took that as his signal to continue.

"I talked to Connor and Abby today," he said, hoping his voice sounded calmer than he felt. "Well, mostly Abby. Lester should consider letting her run interrogations from time to time. She can be absolutely terrifying when she wants to me," he joked, trying desperately to ease the tension In the room. There was no change in the expression on Jess's face, so he swallowed and continued awkwardly. "Anyway, they told me why you hadn't been to see me at the hospital since that first night."

Jess flushed with embarrassment again. "I-"

He held up a hand to cut her off before she took off on another nervous rant. He remembered Abby's words from the hospital and now, looking at Jess, he knew that she had been right. Jess had expected that he had come here tonight to take back what he had said. He wanted to say what he had come to say before he lost his nerve and before Jess could jump to any more conclusions.

"Jess, it's fine," he reassured her, "and I understand. I want- I need- to talk to you about what happened. And what I said."

She nodded slowly, still avoiding his gaze and biting her lower lip, he suspected to keep herself from interrupting him again.

He took another shaky breath in. He wished he had spent more time practicing his speech, but it did not matter now. It was amazing how much more difficult it was to speak about his feelings here in the safety of her well-lit kitchen rather than bleeding to death under a collapsed building.

"I want you to know," he began, "that I meant everything I said. I didn't say it because I was trying to make you feel better or because I had lost a lot of blood. I said it because I wanted you to know how I feel about you if I died, and I meant every word."

Her eyes grew wider as she listened to his speech and he hoped he was not making a fool of himself. Surely if she had been upset, it was because she felt something for him too. He was struck by the insane fear that perhaps he had imagined the whole thing, that Abby had been wrong about why Jess had been upset and that she was really more concerned that his confession would ruin their friendship.

"So, I want to be clear this time: Jess, you are the most brilliant woman I have ever met. You are beautiful, funny, brave, kind, and a million other adjectives I can't think of right now. I spend inappropriate amounts of time thinking about you. If I don't talk to you every day, I miss you. I tried to push you away because I wanted you to be safe, but I don't think I can do that anymore."

By this point she was staring at him as though he had lost his mind, but it was too late to stop now.

"Unless… if you don't feel the same, I'll completely understand. You deserve… well, you deserve someone better than me," he said desperately, wishing she would say something. "And I know I don't deserve you. After everything that's happened, I don't know if I deserve to be happy or not. I just know that without you in my life, I never could be. And… I love you, Jessica."

Jess had been silent as she listened to Becker's speech, staring at him in utter disbelief. The whole situation was completely absurd. If she wasn't living it now, she was certain she would not believe it had ever happened. She had never heard Becker speak this much- not ever. Even at briefings, he kept his speeches short and to the point. He was a man who did not waste words so the things he did say meant that much more. She was not sure she could even believe it was happening now, but she certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity pass her by if it might never come again.

She took a step forward and threw her arms around his shoulders, carefully minding his still mending injuries, and pulled his mouth down to hers in a passionate kiss.

She was as surprised by her actions as Becker was, judging from his momentary hesitation before wrapping his arms around her waist, but she could not stop herself. Here he was, standing in her kitchen, alive and on the mend, telling her he loved her. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Perhaps a slightly cheesy, awkward fairy tale that had far too many dinosaurs and far too few opportunities for wearing fancy gowns, but it was hers.

After what felt like hours, they broke apart to catch their breath.

"Can I safely assume from that display that you might be harboring some affection for me as well?" Becker asked, their faces just inches apart

She giggled breathlessly before answering, "No, Becker. I love you. Too. I love you, too. I have been in love with you since the day I met you and it's about time you caught up."

"Oh. Well, good," he said, relief washing over his face before flashing her a rare, heartfelt smile. "Excellent. That would have been incredibly embarrassing otherwise."

"So… what happens now?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

He pretended to think for a moment before answering. "Well, I can think of a few things…"

She raised an eyebrow at him innocently. "Why, Captain Becker, that's very forward of you. Whatever could you be suggesting? "

He cleared his throat and took a step back. "Things like dinner. There should definitely be dinner involved."

She shrugged and reached for him again. "Eventually."

A/N: This was always meant to be the end of the story, but on reflection, I decided I didn't like how it just stops, so… Onward to the epilogue!