A FEW VISITORS

CHAPTER 6

JESS

By her own admission, Jess had been worried when Becker had had a momentary freak-out back at his flat.

He'd actually stammered.

He never stammered, it was uncharacteristic of him; he was the soldier, the brave one, always in control. It was weird.

Weird, or maybe she was overreacting.

Probably the latter.

Either way, when he demanded she go for a walk with him, she had done as he said without any hesitation. A quiet, possibly romantic walk in the park with hunky Becker? Who the fuck would say no to that?

The air outside was pretty chilly, so as they strolled along, Jess found herself getting more and more agitated with the changing colour of her nose.

It had turned red as the wind nipped at it, and she could tell she looked like Rudolph right now. Unless Becker was weirdly attracted to reindeer, she wasn't going to seem particularly sexy and elegant looking like that.

"Jess?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you listening to me? You just looked like you were crossing your eyes behind my back."

Becker gave her a funny look as he asked her the odd question, and Jess realised that, in order to see her nose, she must have been pulling the freakiest faces.

"Sorry. Go on..." she squeaked, and he sighed.

"What I wanted to talk to you about..." he began.

Asking me on a date? Marrying me? Having lots and lots of babies with me? Jess' brain suggested eagerly, as she tried to keep her face straight.

"... These kids. That came through the anomaly." he continued. Jess listened. "Have you noticed anything—"

"Familiar? About them?" she finished.

"Exactly!"

Jess nodded.

"I know! It's the weirdest thing, isn't it? It's as if they know us! And obviously they do- in the future, I mean- but I feel like we're somehow—"

"Connected to them?" Becker finished.

She nodded.

"And we know they're A.R.C employees. But what if they're... You know... Our kids?" Jess said.

Becker stopped walking and stared at her, his face turning slightly red.

"No! Not our kids, as in me and you!" she corrected herself quickly. "No! That's not what I meant! Silly..." she falsely laughed.

Becker breathed a sigh of relief, and they continued walking.

Jess had covered up her little blunder, but in her mind, she suspected that a certain brother-sister pair that they had met that morning were the exact mix of herself and Captain Becker.

And a part of her (the same part that noticed how he was staring at Jake when he freaked out, and took note of how red his face had just turned when she suggested that) knew that he was thinking the exact same thing.

"I mean the children of the team, in general." she said. Becker nodded.

"I agree. I mean, just look at Sid and Nancy. Are they clones of Abby and Connor, or what?" he chuckled. Jess giggled.

"I know! Connor totally had a panic attack when he saw that boy this morning!" she said.

The pair laughed, and sat down on a bench.

"Okay, so Sid and Nancy are Connor and Abby's kids, that's for sure." Jess said. "What about the others?"

Becker pondered this for a moment.

"Well, don't tell anyone I said this, but little Molly looks an awful lot like Emily," Becker said. "She could be her and Matt's, hence the slight Irish accent."

"What about Derek?" Jess inquired. Becker looked sad for a moment.

"Actually... He reminds me of..." he trailed off, as she stared at him awaiting the answer. "You know, I feel quite stupid even saying this, but... Danny."

Jess had never really met the famous Danny Quinn, but from what she gathered, Derek would have fit the description as his son.

"Good. I see you have been thinking about this too, then." she told him. Becker shrugged.

"So that's Sid, Nancy, Molly, Derek..." he counted.

Did she dare ask him? Yes.

"What about... Jake and Haley? Who might their parents be?"

There was a silence between them.

Becker looked over at her, and she gazed back at him.

She glanced over his features: the hazel eyes that Jake had, the hair, the eyebrows, the nose, the lips, the jawline, the ears, the cheekbones... So similar, in every aspect.

And herself? Haley's height and figure, Haley's blue eyes, Haley's nose and lips and chin and cheeks.

Someone could have said that Jake was Becker's son, and Haley was Jess' daughter, and that they weren't even related to one another. But there were flaws with that scenario.

Firstly, Jake and Haley had already admitted that they were siblings.

Secondly, Jake completely had Jess' personality, and Haley completely had Becker's.

It was undeniable.

Becker knew it; Jess knew it.

The air didn't feel so cold anymore, as Jess has completely forgotten about the weather altogether. She had forgotten about the time, she had forgotten about the park. She had forgotten about the new living arrangements; she forgot about anomalies, and all about her very red nose, for just a moment.

All she could think about was that she and Captain Hilary Becker might end up together, with two beautiful children.

That was what she wanted, after all; she thought about it all the live-long day. She wanted him to ask her on a date, and marry her, and have lots and lots of babies with her.

Becker cleared his throat, pulling Jess back into reality.

"I don't know." he said, quietly. "I don't know who Jake and Haley's parents are."

She smiled halfheartedly at him, and he back at her.

"Well... I wonder what year they're from?" she asked cheerily, changing the subject.

Becker sat up straight, and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah... If Sid and Nancy are, say, seventeen... Then we'd just have to figure out what year they're from, and we could work out when Abby and Connor had them." he stated.

A lightbulb went off in Jess' brain.

"Oh my god! Becker, you're a genius!" she cheered, smacking him on the arm. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Why?"

"Because! That's it! We'll figure out when Sid and Nancy were born, and then work out how many years from now it'll happen!" she laughed.

"Are we allowed to do that?" he asked quietly. She glanced around cautiously.

"It could be our little secret. We don't have to tell Connor or Abby, or anyone." she whispered.

Becker grinned.

"I think that is a very interesting idea." he said in a hushed voice. "Jessica Parker... I never would have suspected you to be so much of a rule-breaker."

Jess smiled cheekily.

"We may as well take advantage of the situation. After all, it's not every day six kids from the future, that look exactly like us and work at the A.R.C, walk through an anomaly, is it?"

He shook his head.

"No, it is not, Miss Parker."

Of course, Jess' real intentions were far from announced.

She actually wanted to confirm that Haley and Jake were the children of she and Becker, and then find out when they were born.

That way, she could work out how long it would be before she and Becker got together, and when she would have her first child.

"Wow!" she squealed as they stood up and began walking back the way they came. "This is so exciting!" She was, of course, excited about her own future- Becker didn't know this.

"I know." he laughed. "Abby and Connor are gonna have babies. And we'll know when, even before they do. I like the idea of that. It's good to be prepared."

Jess laughed at how very right he was.

BECKER

"I wonder how old we'll— I mean, Abby and Connor— will be?" Jess wondered out loud.

Becker glanced at her in amusement. She was such a character.

"I mean, Abby's only young, and Connor's like a kid himself. I— personally— wouldn't want to have a baby too young. Right now I'm only 21, for god's sake!" she laughed.

Becker laughed along with her, but stopped when he remembered that fact. She was 21. Turning 22 in less than a week.

He had a birthday party to plan.

"Oh, god..." he said, a little too loudly.

"What?" she immediately asked.

"Oh, nothing... Just, I forgot something... And now I've remembered it..." he mumbled.

Jess shrugged, thinking nothing of it, and continued babbling on about why she would like to have a baby girl first.

He would have to spend tomorrow shopping for cake and food and presents, and even though it was for Jess' surprise party, he still hated shopping.

They arrived back at the flat, and found Jake, Haley and Derek sat quietly on the sofa. Jake was avoiding making eye-contact with Becker.

Becker sighed, and tried to push the idea that Jake was his son to the back of his mind. He needed to be professional, be a soldier, and stay in control. He hadn't been hired to involve himself in the lives of people he came into contact with, even these kids.

But he was still going to help Jess find out what year Sid and Nancy were born.

And, truthfully, by 'Sid and Nancy', he meant 'Haley and Jake'.

"Well, guys, here's what we're going to do. Me and Jess just had a talk, and we're going to take you over to her flat this afternoon so that you're not separated from the others. That way, things won't seem so hectic." Becker said. Jess nodded.

"Okay, great." Derek said. He stood, as did Haley, and finally Jake.

Jake was being quiet; clearly the other two had instructed him to do so.

Jess noticed this, and feeling sorry for the boy, offered to take him for a milkshake in her car on the way. That way, he wouldn't have to make awkward conversation with Becker.

Haley, Derek and Becker got into Becker's car, and drove to the other flat while Jess and Jake took the milkshake detour.

"You two seem to be dealing with this whole thing very well." Becker said after a few minutes of sitting quietly in the car.

"Well... Me and Haley have been stuck on the wrong end of an anomaly before." Derek admitted.

"Really?" Becker asked.

"Yeah. We were in the Jurassic together for about six months, a couple of years ago." Haley said from the back seat.

"Wow... The only people I know who have done that and survived are Abby and Connor... And Danny, of course." he said..

"Danny?" Derek asked suddenly, flinching slightly.

Becker glanced at him, before turning his attention back to the road. Perhaps he would have some more information for Jess before they even arrived at the flat.

"Danny Quinn," he said. "My old teammate."

Derek nodded, and stared out of the window.

"Why? Do you... know a Danny?" Becker asked him. He didn't want to seem like he was prying, but at the same time he was incredibly curious.

"Yep."

"Do you know Danny Quinn?"

"Yep."

Becker suddenly had a million questions. Did Danny come back in the future? Was he okay? Did he rejoin the team? What happened?

"Wow." was all he could get out.

Derek smiled crookedly and looked over his shoulder at Haley, who Becker could see grin back at him in the rearview mirror.

"I know Danny Quinn very well, actually." he laughed.

Becker smiled widely. He supposed there was hope for Danny in the future, then. That was good. That was awesome.

He hoped to find out more about how exactly Derek knew Danny, but the question was left unanswered. Deliberately, Derek had given him a little hint, but then cut him off.

Well, Danny would have done the same thing, wouldn't he?

CONNOR

Connor was having a very strange day. And one of the strangest parts of it was when he and Molly, of all people, were driving in Abby's car to Matt's flat.

Everything was so muddled.

He had to admit, though, that the drive was fun. With all the stress of the day, spending time with a twelve year old (and a smart twelve year old at that), was kinda fun.

Jess and Becker had showed up at the flat ten minutes before hand with Derek, Haley and Jake in tow.

Sid and Nancy and the other three went and sat in the lounge, and Connor could see that they were trying to have a serious conversation; but with Molly sitting by, intently listening in, that wasn't going to happen.

Abby had gotten out a bottle of 'Apothic Red' wine (her new favourite) for herself, Connor, Becker and Jess, and then realised that there was only a quarter of the bottle left.

So, deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Connor had offered to take Molly out with him while he went to get some more wine.

That way, the older kids could talk without worrying about upsetting her, and he could pick up some well-needed booze at the same time.

So, they played eye-spy for a while, he told her who Bruce Springsteen was, and she told him what her favourite flavours of ice-cream were.

Then, she asked him something that would result in him driving to Matt's apartment.

"Can I have some popcorn when we get back?"

"Yes."

Then, Connor remembered his experiment that took place about a week ago involving melting a beer bottle; it failed, and Abby and Jess had been very upset that they no longer owned a working microwave.

"No. Sorry. No microwave." he said. Molly sighed. "Unless... Jess used to have a popcorn machine, one of those that you add the oil to and the kernels, and put the lid on and it popped them... I think she leant it to Matt."

Molly sat up giddily.

"Can we go and get it from Matt and Emily's flat? Please?"

Connor told her that he didn't want to bother them. Molly asked again. And again. And again. She was persistent, determined, and damn manipulative. In the end, he found himself driving to Matt's flat.

The conversation changed, and Molly decided to ask Connor all about his relationship with Abby. It was funny how a car ride with a twelve-year old could help you organise your thoughts.

"So what about you?" he asked her.

"What about me?" she giggled in turn.

"Well, I've told you about my life. What about yours?"

Molly shrugged.

"I can't tell you too much... But I can tell you a little, tiny bit about my boyfriend." she whispered.

"You have a boyfriend?" Connor asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes. His name is Lester."

Connor looked at Molly with utter confusion and horror.

"What? Not James Lester- he's a bit old for you, isn't he?"

Molly laughed loudly.

"No! My boyfriend is just named after James Lester!" He's twelve, too, silly." she giggled.

"He's named after our James Lester? Who the hell are his parents?" Connor asked. Who would name their kid after James Lester?

Molly smiled.

"Can't say." she said.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No!"

"I'm going out of my way to get you a bloody popcorn machine, remember?"

"I still can't say!"

"Tell me, and I'll give you all of my old Pokemon cards."

Molly broke into another laughing fit, finding everything Connor said utterly hilarious.

Then she gasped in realisation.

"What?" Connor asked.

She fumbled around in her jeans pocket, before pulling a worn Pokemon card out. Pikachu was pictured on the front.

"Is this... Yours?" she asked, waving it in his face.

All the while trying to avoid crashing the car, he took a peek at the card.

"It certainly looks like mine. Who knows, it could be." he said.

Molly turned the card over: it had the letters "CT" written in large, red permanent marker on the back, and a smiley face scribbled onto the corner.

"Okay, that's freaky, because this card is in a box somewhere at my mum's house." Connor said, snatching it off her and studying it.

"Where did you get this?" Connor asked her, handing it back.

"Lester gave it to me." she muttered.

"And where did Lester get it?" he asked.

"His dad gave it to him."

Connor paused.

"Molly, is Lester related to Sid and Nancy?" he questioned.

Molly waited a moment, before nodding very slowly.

"What's his middle name?" Connor tried asking.

Molly sensed that he was serious, and decided not to tell him she'd get in trouble if she answered.

"Luke."

"After—"

"—Luke Skywalker."

Of course.