Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.
Summary: There's someone new in Jess' life and it's having an affect on her relationship with Becker.
Genre: Humor/Romance
Rating: K+
Puppy Love
Walking out to her car Jess stopped in her tracks. Huddled up against her apartment building was a small dog trying to escape the heavy rain. She had never seen the Scottish terrier around before, and wondered if it was a stray.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Jess said in a quiet voice, moving slowly toward the pup, like she had seen Abby do when approaching creatures in the menagerie.
The terrier lifted his head, watching Jess as she got closer.
She reached out her hand and scratched behind his ear, surprised when the dog didn't try to move away. Scottish terriers weren't generally a trusting breed. He had no collar, confirming Jess' theory that he was a stray.
"Come on, we need to get you out of the rain."
The dog let out a high pitched yelp as she picked him up, and it was then that Jess noticed the large cut on one of his hind legs.
"Oh you poor thing, you're hurt. Let's get you to Abby, she'll fix you up."
Jess jogged quickly to her car. She lay the picnic blanket she kept in the boot over the passenger seat, before gently laying the pup down on top of it.
Getting in the car she made her way to the ARC, calling Abby as she drove.
"Hey Jess."
"Abby, are you at the ARC yet?"
"Yeah, me and Con just got here. Why, what's up?"
"I need you to meet me at your lab, I'm gonna go straight there when I get to the ARC, I'm about five minutes away."
"Sure Jess. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'll explain when I get there."
"Okay, I'll see you soon."
Jess disconnected the call as she pulled into the ARC's parking lot.
"Now comes the hard part. Getting you inside without anyone seeing."
Struck with a moment of brilliance, Jess went to get the picnic basket out of the back of her car.
Thank god I was too lazy to unpack after we all went to the park last week.
Emptying out the contents, she went around to the passenger side and carefully lifted the dog into the basket, covering him with the blanket to hide him from anyone that may pass them.
"I need you to be really quiet for me," Jess told the Scottish terrier as she made her way to the entrance. "No one can know that you're here."
They made it into the building and through the security checkpoint without incident. Jess was beginning to think that she would actually make it to Abby's lab without running into anyone.
"Jess!"
Damn it! So close!
Stopping, Jess spun around to face the person who had called out to her.
"Becker."
She smiled as he came over and kissed her good morning.
"It was weird waking up without you this morning."
"Well that's what you get for deciding to work until late into the night."
"You could've stayed at my flat anyway."
"Becker, being this cheerful in the morning requires at least a solid eight hours of rest, I wasn't going to risk not getting all my beauty sleep."
Becker put an arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple. "You're always beautiful."
Jess smiled at him, her face heating up. She loved that even after months of being a couple he could still make her blush.
"Let me carry that for you." Becker reached to take the basket from her.
"No!" Jess said moving the basket away from him, the word coming out harsher than she had intended it to. "I mean… thanks, but I've got it."
"Oh-kay, what's in there anyway?"
"Nothing, um... Lester… had me pick up some stuff on my way in."
"Jess, are you okay?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"You're acting kind of strange?"
"Am I?"
The dog chose that moment to growl from his place hidden in the basket.
"What was that?" asked Becker.
"That was… um… my stomach. I didn't get a chance to eat before coming in."
"Well then, let's get you something from the break room before our shift starts. Can't have you going hungry."
"I can't. I have to… help Abby… with something. But I'll see you later yeah?"
Jess hurried away before he could ask her any more questions.
###
Pushing her way into the lab, Jess was happy to find Abby and Connor there waiting for her.
"Jess what's going on? Why did you want to meet in my lab?"
"Because I need your help." She told them as she put the basket on the large work bench in the middle of the room.
"With what?
"With this." She pulled back the blanket revealing the small dog inside.
"When did you get a dog?" Connor asked, reaching out to pat the terrier, who started to growl the moment he got too close. Connor snatched his hand back. "Not exactly friendly is he?"
"Be nice," Jess scolded the dog, scratching him behind his ear. "I found him this morning outside my apartment building. He was curled up against the wall, trying to get out of the rain."
"Kay. But why'd you brim 'im here?"
"Because he's hurt."
Abby instantly snapped into business mode. She moved Connor out of the way, cleared her work bench, and had Jess take the pup out of the basket and lay him on the cleared space. While she got to work Jess tried to keep the terrier clam, scratching him on the head and behind the ears.
Cleaning the wound, Abby noticed something embedded in his leg. She removed it as gently as possible, before placing it in a petri dish. Wanting to know what it was, Abby grabbed a cotton swab and cleaned the object.
"It looks like he's been chipped." She told the others.
"What?"
"His owners had a computer chip with his information implanted into his leg. God, I hate people who do that. You wouldn't put a piece of software in your children, why do it to your pet? It's not right."
"Not everyone shares your thoughts Abs," Connor reminded her.
"I know. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with them."
"Maybe I can use it to locate his owners." Jess said, only caring about finding the small dog his home.
"Go ahead. But I'm not putting it back in. This cut is going to need stitches and I'm not performing another surgery on him so soon."
"I understand." Jess didn't want to put him through any more pain than necessary.
Abby worked quickly. In no time she had the leg stitched up and wrapped in bandages. They moved the terrier into Abby's office, so she would be able to watch him throughout the day.
Glancing at her watch, Jess saw it was now after nine, and her shift had already begun.
"I better get to the ADD. I'll see if I can find the little guy's owners, providing there aren't any alerts. Thanks for the help Abby."
"There's no need to thank me Jess."
Stuffing the dish containing the computer chip into her pocket, Jess made her way to the Hub, hoping that so far her absence had gone unnoticed.
###
Jess spent the morning dividing her time between working through the pile of paperwork on her desk, and searching the information on the computer chip. It was moments like these when Jess was glad she had access to a super computer. It made it a lot easier for her to switch between tasks. She had one screen set up to continue scanning the country for anomalies and creature sightings. The middle screen she had various documents open on, as she worked through the—in her opinion ridiculous—pile of paperwork Lester had dumped on her upon arriving at the ADD. While the screen to her left ran searches to locate the whereabouts of the owners listed in the information on the chip. Yes, having a super computer definitely had its perks.
But after three hours she was nowhere near finished with the paperwork, nor had she turned up the information that she wanted to find. Really, the only good bit of information that she had found was the dog's name. It had been a frustrating morning.
A shrill noise rang out through the Hub. Glancing at the phone on her desk, Jess saw that it was the menagerie extension calling.
"Operations room, Jess Parker speaking."
"Jess, it's Abby. How's the hunt for the owners going?"
"Badly."
"Don't give up, you'll find them."
"Oh, I found them. That's not the problem. The problem is they moved to Australia a month ago."
Abby let out a breath. "Some people shouldn't be allowed to have pets. Taking in an animal is no different than having a kid, it's a lifelong commitment. You can't just abandon them when they don't fit into your life anymore."
"Unfortunately most people don't see it that way."
"Well, this is going to pose a problem."
"How so?"
"The dog's going…"
"Alex."
"What?"
"Alex, according to the information on the chip you removed from his leg, that's his name."
"Right. Well, Alex is going to need be watched constantly until his leg heals, which probably won't be for about a week. I can watch him during the day, but what are we going to do during the night? I'd suggest leaving him here, but that new guy has taken over the night shifts in the menagerie and I don't trust him to keep Alex a secret from Lester, Matt, and Becker. I swear, if I wasn't his boss, he'd go running to them every time I did something that goes against protocol."
"I'll take him home with me when I finish work."
"You sure about that?"
"Mmhmm. I found him I should be responsible for him, and he can't go to a shelter in the condition he's in. Besides, he seemed comfortable around me."
"He did seem to trust you. Okay, I'll write you instructions on how to care for his leg. And speaking of who he's comfortable with, I'm trying to feed Alex, but every time Connor or I go near him he starts growling. Would you be able to come down and try to feed him?"
"Sure, I'll be there in a second."
Jess disconnected the call and pushed away from the desk. She hadn't got further than the Hub's exit when she was stopped.
"Jess, I was just coming to see you." Becker said, approaching her from the corridor to her left. "I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch?"
Jess stifled a sigh. She hated lying to Becker, but she couldn't tell him she had brought a stray dog into the ARC. It was a breach of security, and while she was sure he would let it slide, she couldn't put him in that position. He was head of security and he couldn't be seen to be playing favourites. If people thought he was letting her brake protocol because she was his girlfriend, he could lose his job. Jess would never forgive herself if that happened.
"I'd love to…but I've already made plans with Abby."
"Oh, okay. You're still coming over tonight, right?"
Crap! I didn't even think about whether he was expecting me to spend the night at his flat when I told Abby I'd take Alex home.
Which was stupid considering we've spent every night together for the last month. We should really talk about moving into one of our flats permanently. Or getting a new flat together. We're practically living together as it is.
Focus Jess! Not the time or place for this.
"I…can't. I have… stuff… I need to get done at home."
"No big deal, I can come to your flat."
"You don't have to do that. I'll just be doing errands all night."
"Really, Jess, I don't mind."
"That's sweet of you, but it's okay. You spend a quiet night at home. Besides, I think we both know I'll get nothing done with you around. One night apart won't kill us."
Becker frowned. "If…if that's what you want."
"It is. I've gotta go meet Abby, but… I'll see you around."
Jess reached up and gave Becker a long kiss before turning and walking away. She hated seeing the hurt that crossed Becker's face when she told him to spend the night at his place. She was the only person he let see his pain, and the fact that she was the one to cause it hurt her more than any physical wound ever would. But she couldn't have him over while she had Alex. If she did then he would know she was bringing him to the ARC, which would put his job at risk. Jess wasn't going to put him that position, not if she could help it.
One night apart won't kill us.
That's what Jess had said. But that was a week ago now and they had done nothing but spend time apart. Becker wondered what he had done to cause Jess to pull away from him. He thought their relationship had been going well. They had been spending every night at each other's flats and Becker had got used to waking up each morning with Jess curled up into him, her head resting on his chest. He had been about to suggest that they move in together officially; either selling one of their apartments and moving into the other, or selling them both and getting a new place of their own.
But maybe they had been moving too fast for Jess. Becker often forgot that she was quite a few years younger than him. She always acted so mature, it was easy to forget she was only just twenty.
Becker could easily see himself marrying Jess one day, and spending the rest of his life with her. But what if that's not what Jess wanted? What if she wasn't looking for a long term relationship? She was young after all. It wouldn't be surprising if she was just looking for someone to spend time with until the next guy came along. Maybe Jess had met someone new and just waiting for the right time to break up with him.
Becker mentally shook himself. He was being ridiculous. Jess hadn't met anyone else, and she wasn't waiting to break up with him, she was just busy.
Entering the break room Becker found Abby and Emily sitting at a table together. Thankfully they were too engrossed in their conversation to take notice of him, and he was able to slip in and quietly make himself a cup of coffee.
As he waited for the pot to finish brewing, parts of the women's conversation drifted over to him.
"He is quite handsome," Emily was saying.
"He gorgeous. And she's completely in love with him. If that's even possible after only a week."
Becker rolled his eyes. Did they really have nothing better to do than discuss some poor couple's relationship?
"It does not surprise me. Jess has always seemed to me like one who forms attachments quickly."
Becker froze. They weren't talking about his Jess, were they? Had she really met someone else?
No. Not possible. Jess would never do that to me.
"Yeah, she does tend to fall hard and fast."
"However, I am glad they found each other."
Becker left the room, not wanting to hear any more. He was certain Jess would never cheat on him, but the longer he stayed there, the more his resolve faltered. What if she had met someone and was planning to end their relationship? It wouldn't be surprising that Abby and Emily knew first, they were her best friends and she probably went to them for advice on how to dump him.
But why were they talking about her already being in love? Jess wouldn't move on that quickly. He knew Jess and even if her feelings for him had changed, Becker was sure she wouldn't move on with someone else until she had ended their relationship.
Becker sighed. There was only one way he was going to get this straightened out. He needed to talk to Jess.
Walking into the Hub, he saw Jess and Connor by the ADD having a conversation. Becker hung back a bit, waiting for them to finish talking before he approached Jess. He didn't particularly want an audience for the conversation they needed to have.
"I'll say one thing Jess; you definitely have a type." Connor said, capturing Becker's interest.
"I do?"
"Oh come on. You can't tell me you haven't noticed the similarities between Becker and Alex."
Alex? Who the hell is Alex?
"Similarities?"
"Yeah. Let's put aside the obvious dark brown eyes and hair that they both share. They both sulk ninety per cent of the time and hate having other people around, but instantly perk up the moment you walk into the room. Then there's the little fact that they're both insanely protective of you."
"Huh. I guess I do have a type. What can I say? I can't help but fall in love with a tortured soul."
Becker felt like he'd been hit in the chest with an EMD. She was in love with him? She really had met someone and moved on.
I've lost her.
###
That afternoon Becker found himself in the ARC gym, taking out his frustrations on one of the punching bags. He had been in a foul mood ever since he had overheard Jess and Connor's conversation, and keeping active was the only thing allowing him to keep his emotions under control. Or as under control as possible after finding out his girlfriend was cheating on him.
Anger surged through him and he let it out on the punching bag, imagining it was the guy that had managed to steal Jess away from him.
It was clear to everyone who came within five meters of him that he was in a bad mood. His voice was more clipped than usual, his posture was stiffer, and he had put his troops through a number of gruelling training sessions in an effort to burn off the adrenaline coursing through his veins. But nothing was working. He seemed to be getting angrier the longer the day went on. He was just glad Jess hadn't come to try and find out what was wrong with him. He didn't think he would be able to look at her at the moment.
Becker heard the gym door open and close, followed by the sound of footsteps crossing towards him, but he kept his attention fixed on the punching bag. He really didn't care who it was or what they wanted. Whatever it was, unless it meant the end of the world, he didn't want to know about it.
"I hear you've been training your soldiers harder than usual." Matt said, stopping a few feet away from him.
"Your point?" Becker grunted.
"My point is I want to know what gives. You only ever work 'em this hard when your upset about something, and there haven't been any bad alerts recently, nor has Jess had any near death experiences."
Jess' names caused Becker's fury to rise up again and he punched the bag so hard it almost flew off its chain.
"Ah, so it's Jess. What's going on? Are the two of you fighting or something?"
"Or something."
"I get it; girlfriends can be frustrating at times. But you can't bring that stuff into work with you. And you certainly can't kill the people in your command because of it. I know working with her makes it harder, but you need to separate work life and your personal life."
"Yeah, well, I'd like to see you react differently after you found out your girlfriend was cheating on you."
"Jess is cheating on you?"
"So I hear."
"She can't be. Jess is the type to."
"That's what I thought. Turns out. We were both. Wrong." Becker said between jabs, his final one causing the bag to fly back again.
"Mate, you gotta stop before you hurt yourself." Matt caught the bag as it swung back again. He unclipped the punching bag from the chain suspending it from the roof and returned it to the pile of equipment in the corner of the room. "Look, I don't think Jess would do that to you. She cares about you too much to do something that would jeopardise your relationship."
Sinking down onto one of the benches, Becker sighed. "But what if she is? What if she was never looking for a long term relationship? Maybe she's had her fun and is now just trying to find a way to end it."
"Not possible. Jess has fancied you almost as long as I've known her."
"But she's young, why would she want a long term relationship."
"Everyone knows Jess isn't like most people her age. Have your feelings changed? Because it sounds like you're looking for an excuse to end it."
"No! Of course not. Jess is the most important person in my life."
"Right, well then you need to talk to her and sort things out. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."
Becker sighed again. "Yeah, maybe."
Matt left, happy he seemed to get through to the captain.
Becker remained in the gym, lost in his thoughts. Could Matt be right and this was all just a big misunderstanding? He was right in saying Jess wasn't like most people her age.
He was more confused than he had been to begin with. But he knew one thing was certain; things would only get worse unless he talked to Jess.
###
Becker stood outside Jess' apartment, his hand raised to knock. He knew they needed to talk, but he was dreading it. He knew that after tonight, there was a chance he would have had his heart broken and lost the love of his life.
Stealing himself for what was to come, he knocked on the door. He could hear the sound of Jess' high heels on the hard wood floor as she came to answer it.
"Becker," Jess smiled as she opened the door.
She moved to kiss him but Becker took a step back, he couldn't kiss her until he knew what was going on and where they stand.
"Hey what's wrong?" Jess asked, concern clear in her voice. "People at work were saying you were in a bad mood. I'm sorry I didn't come see you; Lester and I were dealing with the Minister's office all day."
"Can we talk?"
"Of course." Jess moved aside to let him in.
As Becker walked through the corridor to the living room he wondered how he was going to go about having this conversation with Jess. How does someone tell their girlfriend they know she's cheating on them?
Stop thinking like that! You don't know that for sure. Alex could just be a friend.
A friend she's in love with?
Feeling like all his strength had been drained from him, Becker sat down on the couch. "Look, Jess, I know what's going on."
Jess froze. "You do?"
"Yeah. I overheard you and Connor talking at the ADD today. Why would you do this?"
"I'm sorry I kept him from you, but I thought it was best if I didn't tell you. I didn't want to put you in an awkward position. Besides, I thought it wouldn't matter. He was only meant to be around for a couple days then he'd be out of my life, but now…"
"You love him."
"I do. And I'm sure you will too once you meet him."
"What?"
What was Jess playing at? What kind of relationship was she expecting them to have? Becker certainly didn't have any intention of sharing her.
"In fact, you can meet him right now, he just upstairs."
"He's here now?"
"Of course, where else would he be?"
What the hell was the matter with Jess? Having both of them here at the same time could only end badly. Becker was sure the moment he saw the other bloke he would knock him flat on his back.
Jess went to get Alex from her room upstairs, where he liked to spend most of his time. She couldn't believe that Becker had found that she had been bringing Alex to the ARC all week. Though, she supposed, she shouldn't be that surprised. He was head of security after all, he was bound to find out eventually. But she had thought she was being so sneaky. She had managed to get him into the ARC all week with only Emily finding out. Yet all it took was one ill-timed conversation for Becker to learn she'd been bringing a dog into work.
It was probably for the best though. He needed to find out about him eventually, especially now that Jess had decided to adopt Alex. Originally she was just going to look after him until he was healed and then take him to a shelter. But she had fallen in love with the little dog over the past week and knew there was no way she could part with him.
Entering her room, she found Alex curled up on her bed.
"Come on," she said, scooping him up. "There's someone downstairs that you need to meet, and you better be nice because Becker's going to be around a lot."
Downstairs, Becker was pacing the living room. "Jess, I don't think it's a good idea for me to meet… is that a dog?"
"Becker I'd like you to meet Alex."
"Wait, this is the Alex you're so in love with."
Jess nodded.
Groaning, Becker fell back on to the couch. "God, I'm an idiot."
Alex started squirming in Jess' arms, wanting to be put down. Jess released him before joining Becker on the couch.
"Why are you an idiot?"
Becker rubbed his hand over his face, groaning again. "Jess can you ever forgive me? I thought you were seeing some other guy behind my back."
"What!? How could you think I'd do something so horrible?"
"You were pulling away from me. Then I hear Abby and Emily talking about how you fell in love after only a week. Then you and Connor were talking about Alex and you told him you couldn't help but love him. What was I supposed to think?"
"How about that you heard those conversations completely out of context and that there's no way I would ever do something like that to you. I love you, you big idiot."
Alerted to the rising tension in the room, Alex put himself between the fighting couple and begun growling a warning at the captain.
"I guess this is what Connor meant when he said he was protective of you?"
"Yes. Connor found that out after he accidently upset me and Alex tried to bit him. But that's not what we're discussing at the moment. How could you think I would cheat on you?"
"Because I'm an idiot Jess. An idiot that loves you more than I've ever loved anyone. I may chase down dinosaurs for a living, but it's the thought of a life without you that is truly terrifying. I freaked out and jumped to some horrible, untrue conclusions. Please forgive me, I love you."
Jess sighed. "I love you too. But next time you feel that way, talk to me instead to jumping to conclusions."
"I will. I promise."
"Good." Jess lent forward and kissed Becker deeply. "Mmm. We definitely haven't been doing enough of that this week."
"What I don't understand though is why you didn't tell me about him."
"Oh, well… that's because… I've kinda… been… sneaking him into the ARC all week."
"You what? Jessica that's a breach of security."
"I know! But when I found him on Monday he had this big cut on his leg, so I took him to Abby and she stitched him up. But the stitches meant he needed constant care, which is why I couldn't take him a shelter straight away, so Abby and I agreed that she would watch him during the day and I'd watch him at night. And after spending a week with him I've grown attached, so I've decided to keep him."
"What about his owners?"
"He doesn't have any. I looked."
"You still should have told me. I wouldn't have stopped you from taking him to see Abby."
"I know you wouldn't. But if people thought you were letting me break the rules because I was your girlfriend, you could've lost your job. I wasn't going to be responsible for that."
"I love how much you care about others."
"I'm just sorry that's what almost broke us up."
"That's never going to happen. I love you."
"I love you too."
Becker pulled Jess in for a passionate kiss and soon enough they were lying on the couch, pressed against each other.
Sensing that all was well between his owner and her mate, Alex went back to Jess' room to claim his favourite spot at the foot of her bed, leaving Jess and Becker to make up properly.