Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or its characters.

Rating: K+

Wives, girlfriends, boyfriends?

Connor looked at the keys Jess had placed in his hand.

'You don't know me' he said, wondering why she would offer the use of her house to someone she had only just met.

'I've read all the files. I know you.' Jess told him simply, then turned and walked back to the ADD.

She hadn't been back at her station long before Becker approached her. He stood at her side, leaning back against her desk—despite knowing she didn't like it when he did that—so he could face her.

'Jess?'

'Yes Captain?' She said, not looking up from her work.

'Did I just see you give Connor your flat keys?'

'Yeah. What about it?'

'You gave Connor—someone you don't know—your house keys! Don't you know how dangerous that is? Can you please stop typing, this is important!'

'Firstly, I can't. This program needs to be monitored as it updates.' Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she spoke. 'Secondly, you would've done the same.'

'Yes, but I know him. I can't even begin to understand why you would do this.'

'I trust him.'

'Why?'

'Because you trust him, and I trust you.'

Becker sighed, beginning to realise that this was an argument he wasn't going to win. 'I just… don't like the thought of you being at risk because you're too trusting of people.'

Jess's heart warmed at the amount of concern in his voice, and she wished she could stop what she was doing and comfort him properly, but these updates were too important.

'Becker,' Jess said, wanting nothing more than to be able to look him in the eye. 'These were special circumstances. I promise you, I will never give a key to my house to someone neither of us knows, or trusts completely. Okay?'

Sighing Becker ran a hand over his face. 'Okay, that does make me feel better. But I still think this was a bad idea.'

'And why's that?' Jess asked, only half paying attention now.

'You've just given Connor, someone who can get bored pretty easily, free reign of the apartment.'

'Connor's a big boy Becker, I'm sure he can find ways to amuse himself.'

'That's what you should be worried about.'

'Becker, despite appearances, these updates actually require a lot of my focus. Can you just get to the point?'

'What if he stumbles across something he shouldn't in his attempts to entertain himself. Like something you haven't shared with the people you work with.'

Jess froze. She hadn't thought of that. What if Connor found out about… no, there wasn't anything in the flat that would give it away. Except for all the photos. And the washing she had left airing in the kitchen that morning. And all the stuff by the front door. Shit. What if Connor told people? What would they do then?

She needed to calm down. So what if people found out? They'd learn the truth eventually anyway.

The ADD beeping at her to resume the updates pulled her from her worries. Quickly she began typing again, not wanting to risk having to start the whole process over again. 'I hadn't thought of that,' she told Becker quietly.

'Hey, it'll be okay. I'm sure Connor won't find anything he shouldn't.' Becker tried to reassure her. He hadn't meant for his words to worry her so much. 'it's too late to do anything about it now anyway, so don't think about it.'

Jess nodded. 'You're right. It'll be fine.'

Connor took in his surroundings as he stepped into the apartment. It was an open plan flat. The short hallway by the front door lead directly into the living room, which lead straight into the kitchen. Stepping over the threshold, Connor noticed a pair of boots, far too large to belong to Jess, sitting under the coat rack.

I hope her boyfriend doesn't come home while she's at the ARC. That would be awkward.

Connor made his way into the flat and over to the kitchen bench, where Jess's laptop was. But before he was able to make a start on looking for an apartment for him and Abby, his curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to know more about the woman that had opened her house up to him, and the man she evidently lived here with.

The decor suggested the apartment had been decorated by Jess. It was elegantly furnished. The couch was a crisp, clean white—I better avoid sitting on that—and all the wooden furniture was a deep mahogany. Beneath the coffee table lay a grey shag carpet, that Connor really wanted to run his feet through. This decor in any other apartment would make it feel cold, but not Jess's. She had added splashes of colour everywhere. The couch had bright pink cushions sitting on it, and a purple throw draped over the back. A vase sat in the middle of the coffee table filled with glass stones in varying shades of blue, bringing to mind images of the ocean. Across from the couch was a flat screen TV perched on top of a low mahogany cabinet. Sitting on either side of the TV were another two vases, these ones filled with multi-coloured flowers, that added more colour to the room. It was one of the nicest flats Connor had seen.

Wandering over to the bookcase Connor found that they had a wide range of books; everything from romance novels to crime thrillers. Alongside the books was an array of magazines; every fashion magazine he had heard of—as well as some he hadn't—sat on one of the lower shelves. Bending down to get a better look, Connor realised that not all the magazines were fashion ones, there were also a few gun magazines.

I'm guessing those are her boyfriend's.

Curiosity satisfied, Connor went back to his laptop. As he sat down he noticed the garment rack tucked away in the corner of the kitchen. Connor was going to ignore it—going through the items people put on display was one thing, going through the laundry they left out felt like he'd be invading their privacy—but as he turned his focus to searching the internet, one of the black tops caught his attention. It wasn't the fact that it was black—a colour which he had decided Jess wasn't likely to own—or that it was far too large for the petite girl that surprised him. He had already established that she lived with a man. It was the ARC logo embroidered on the top that surprised him.

Connor crossed the room and picked up the still damp top, running his fingers over the logo as realisation dawned on him. Jess was seeing someone at the ARC. He carefully put the top back where it had been, not wanting Jess to think he had been going through her stuff.

The shrill ring of one of the four retro style phones caused Connor to jump. He wondered briefly if he should answer it, but decided against it when he realised he couldn't even work out which phone was ringing.

With his attention on the phones Connor noticed a detail he had originally overlooked. On a shelf behind the four phones sat three framed photos. One was of Jess and two people he assumed were her parents. The one on the far right was of Jess and her friends at what appeared to be her university graduation. But it was the last photo, sitting between the other two, that Connor was truly interested in. It was of Jess and a man, and looked like it had been taken using a phone, selfie style. Jess was facing forward, her partner's arms around her shoulders and a smile on her face. The man's face, however, could only be seen in profile as he was caught in the act of placing a kiss on the young woman's cheek.

That guy looks familiar.

Connor picked up the photo, wanting a better look at the guy's face.

'No way!' He exclaimed upon realising who the boyfriend was.

Jess was kept busy all morning. Once the updates were done she set about helping Abby get settled into the new ARC. She was glad Lester was able to offer Abby a job. It wasn't fair that her and Connor had gone through everything they had to survive for a year in the cretaceous, only to return to the 21st century to find they had lost their jobs as well as their home. The only thing she hadn't got around to doing was setting Abby up with a password for the computer system. Though that was remedied easily enough.

It was around noon when she noticed Matt lurking around the computer station Abby had been using earlier. He had been acting weird—well weirder than usual—ever since Abby and Connor had come through the anomaly.

'Matt's acting strange,' she said turning to Becker.

'So?'

'So, I've worked with him for almost a year now, I've read his file front to back, and I still don't feel like I know him. Not really.'

'You've read his file?' Becker asked, completely missing Jess's point.

'Yeah. I've read all the files, it's my job. Not that I've read your file, I mean, not the personal bits anyway. Nothing about wives, or girlfriends, or boyfriends.'

Becker smirked at her as she rambled.

'But if you did have one of those, I'm guessing it would be a girlfriend. Instead of one of the other options.'

'Jessica, is this your way of getting me to talk about how my relationship is going?'

'Well, it's not exactly easy to get you to talk about it. Can you blame me for wanting to know where it's going?'

'Jess, I promise that if I get engaged, or suddenly realise I'm gay, you'll be the first one to know. And I can assure you, those are the only two ways this relationship will end.'

Jess tried not show her disappointment. This conversation had not gone the way she was hoping it would. 'Okay, but what should we do about Matt?'

'Leave it Jess, he knows what he's doing.'

She frowned. Just because Matt might know what he's doing, doesn't mean he should leave the rest of them in the dark.

Determined to find out what was going on, Jess sat at the ADD and tried to piece together what she could about what Matt was up to. In the end she was right, Matt clearly didn't know what he was doing and should have come to the team for help. Then they could've avoided him, Connor and Abby being chased by a creature through the docks. All in all, the incursion went pretty well, with back up arriving quickly and only resulting in one fatality.

As the team returned their black boxes, Becker slipped a bar of chocolate on to Jess's desk. He knew it had hurt her when he had blown her attempts to talk off earlier, he also knew that because they'd both been so busy lately, they had grown distant from each other. It bothered him just as much as it did her, and he intended to fix it, he just didn't want to have the conversation at work.

'Thank you,' Jess called after Becker's retreating form, resisting the urge to fling her arms around him and kiss him.

'You look flushed,' Abby said coming up beside her.

'Yeah, it's nice to see Action Man's soft side. Didn't know he had one. How long have the two of you been together.' Connor commented.

'What?' Jess hoped her face hadn't gone as pale as she feared it had.

'You and Becker, you're dating. Is that how you found out about the ARC, or is the ARC how you met?'

'Um. We… um… we met at the ARC. But we're not dating.'

'So how long have you been together? Because I'm kinda surprised he's ready for another relationship after what happened with Rachel. Do you remember Abs? He was a wreck.' Connor continued, ignoring Jess's protests.

'Connor, maybe you should leave it yeah.' Abby said noticing Jess's reaction.

'I just think it's weird, especially since it seems like they've been together for a while.' Connor turned his attention back to Jess. 'He did tell you about Rachel right?'

'He did. But we're not…'

'Oh good. He'd've killed me if I blurted that out.'

'Temple!' Becker called as he and Matt joined the group, having noticed how tense Jess was. 'What are you doing?'

'Just trying to get to know your girlfriend.'

Becker raised an eyebrow. 'And what makes you think Jess is my girlfriend?'

'How about all your stuff everywhere? Boots by the door, clothes airing in the kitchen. And don't forget the photo of the two of you smooching. Seriously, I ain't thick, I know what all that means.'

'Becker I'm sorry, I completely forgot about all that stuff when I offered Connor the use of the flat.' Jess said, feeling as though she had inadvertently betrayed his trust. They had agreed to keep their work and personal lives separate, and now, by something as simple has helping out a friend, the two aspects of their lives had collided.

'Jess, it's okay.'

'You're not mad? Or pissed off at me?'

'Why? You were just being a compassionate person. If you weren't you wouldn't be the woman I fell in love with. Besides, it's Temples fault. He's clearly never heard of being discreet.'

'Oy! What'd I do?'

'We hadn't told anyone here yet. But I guess that's not necessary now.'

Connor ran a hand over the back of his neck nervously. The thought that Becker and Jess might not have told people about their relationship hadn't occurred to him.

'We knew,' Lester said, coming out of his office.

'What?' Jess squeaked.

'How could you have possibly known?'

'We knew the moment you two got together,' Matt said speaking up for the first time. 'The sexual tension that'd surrounded the two of you since you meet had finally disappeared.'

'You've known for that long?'

'Yep. But if it makes you feel better, it took us a couple weeks to realise you were dating and hadn't just hooked up.'

'Why didn't anyone say anything?' Jess asked, surprised at her co-workers.

Matt shrugged. 'Figured it was none of our business.'

'Personally, I don't care what you or the captain do in your free time Miss Parker, so long as you continue to keep your relationship out of the work place.'

Jess was stunned, she had really thought no one knew about her and Becker's relationship.

Jess and Becker sat on the couch in the flat, unwinding after a long day. It was their evening routine. After having dinner, which they made together, the couple would watch TV or read before going to bed. But tonight Becker could tell something was off.

They had decided upon watching a movie, and like always, Jess had curled up next to him as soon as they sat down, tucking her feet under her and resting her head on his shoulder. But Becker could feel the tension in her shoulders, and he knew something must be bothering her.

'Jess, are you okay?' He whispered.

'Mhmm.'

Becker winced at her response, she only ever resorted to monosyllables when something was really worrying her.

Becker switched off the TV as the credits began to roll. 'Jess, I think we need to talk.'

'Okay.'

Jess pulled away from Becker, sitting at the other end of the couch and bringing her knees up to her chest. Something she only ever did when she felt like she needed to protect herself.

Becker breathed deeply. 'Jess, I can tell something's bothering you and I think I know what it is.'

'You do?'

'How long have we been together?'

'Almost as long as we've known each other.'

'Exactly. Meaning I've had plenty of time to learn how to recognise what you're feeling and the reasons for it.'

'I suppose you have.'

'I know you've been wanting to talk about our relationship for a while now, so have I, and I'm sorry I blew you off today at work. I just wanted to have this conversation when we were alone.'

'Well, it's only us now. Say what you have to.' Jess's voice was quiet and she had wrapped her arms around her knees, she was preparing for the worst. Becker cursed in his head, this wasn't going the way he had hoped.

'We've been together for a while now, and my feelings for you aren't what they once were.'

Jess's eyes glassed over, like they did every time she tried not to cry. Becker swore internally, this wasn't going how he wanted it to. She blinked and the tears she was holding back escaped her eyes.

'Shit. This isn't going the way it's supposed to.' Becker moved closer to her and tried to pull her to him. She resisted for a moment, before giving in to the familiar comfort his arms provided. 'Jess, sweetheart, don't cry. I'm messing this up. Honey all I mean is that I think we should move our relationship forward. I want us to move in together.'

Jess slapped his chest. 'You bastard! I thought you were breaking up with me.'

'I told you earlier today there were only two ways this relationship was going to end.'

'I'll take that to mean you're not gay.'

He laughed, then sobering asked, 'what do you think?'

Jess smiled, then lent up to kiss him. 'I think it's a great idea.'