Bend It Like Becker

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Thanks to everyone who's sent me reviews! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I had planned to reply to each of you, but I figured it was better to get more scenes out. :D But yes, LOTS more embarrassing situations and miscommunications will be coming shortly (plus the next few chapters actually have some plot!) Enjoy!

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Chapter 6 - A PRACTICAL PROPOSITION

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Walking through the ARC, it was easy to spot who had been at practice yesterday - they all looked as sore and out-of-sorts as Becker felt. Some bore it stoically, only frowning at the aches; others whined at every opportunity, as if grousing would somehow make the pain go away; whilst a few seemed to be taking their misery out on everyone else. Was it any wonder that the entire ARC staff was giving Lester's office a wide berth today? And the thought that they were going to have to do it all over again today...and tomorrow...and the NEXT was enough to make anyone despair.

Yet despite having fallen flat, Jess seemed to be handling it all with more grace than the rest. Of course, Becker reflected, if everyone had fallen asleep before half eight last night, perhaps they'd be doing as well.

Not that he blamed her - clearly she'd needed the sleep. But he had to wonder if she'd actually seen any of the film. The opening credits had barely finished before he'd noticed that her weight as she leant against his arm suddenly doubled as her breathing steadied. He kept on watching, thinking she'd soon wake up, but instead she grew heavier and heavier, like a large puppy leaning against him with all its weight. Finally his arm was so numb from the lack of circulation that he had to move it, even though he feared awaking her.

He needn't have worried! With his arm out of the way, Jess's head fell against his chest, her sleepy breaths heavy with exhaustion. After finally getting some feeling back in his arm, he tenderly wrapped it around her shoulders. She reacted automatically, snuggling in closer, cringing slightly when her skinned palms brushed against his shirt before visibly relaxing again.

Clearly she wasn't going to be waking up any time soon, and since he was certain she'd make him watch the film again anyway, Becker strained for the remote, successfully turning off the telly. As the room descended into stillness, Jess stirred, and Becker worried that he'd accidentally awoken her, which was the last thing he'd wanted to do. She obviously needed the rest, and he was afraid that any more movement on his part would awaken her. At least that's how he'd justified it to himself - he simply must stay put, holding Jess close, merely for her own good, at least till he was certain she was deep in REM sleep.

But sitting there, he reminded himself of what he'd kept mentally repeating at dinner. He needed to be practical about this. Getting together with Jess was simply a bad idea because, no matter how great she was, he'd still find a way to mess it up. He always did - his track record made that clear. Once together, it wouldn't be long before she'd want to have "the talk". The "you're-emotionally-stunted, you-care-more-about-your-gun-than-you-do-about-me, I'm-so-over-you" talk. It had become something of a tradition; hell, he'd even gotten it on the second date on more than one occasion, which probably explained why he hadn't even been on one in over two years.

But a lot had happened during those two years. He'd changed, he'd grown, he'd matured in that time. And if losing Danny, Abby, and Connor hadn't been enough, watching Sarah die had really made it hit home that there were things in life more important than rules and guns. Friendships mattered; relationships mattered; PEOPLE mattered. His emotions had been stripped raw by those losses, and now he finally felt ready for a mature, serious relationship - he was certain that he wouldn't blow it this time.

Though he wasn't quite certain enough to test this theory, at least not with Jess. It was different with Jess. What if he was wrong and blew it. They were friends, close friends. In the past, after "the talk", he'd been able to simply walk away. But with Jess, that wouldn't be an option. He'd be forced to see her every day, to hear her voice in his ear on every mission, all the while knowing that he could never have her.

Of course, that wasn't much different from the way things stood now, but at least, for the time being, he had a glimmer of hope that maybe someday...

But not today.

Even though waking up this morning with her in his flat had felt strangely comfortable. After years in the military, he was used to being around others first thing in the morning, and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather share a morning coffee with. It was this comfort level, this familiarity that had caused him to suggest she leave a toothbrush at his house. See? He was blowing it already!

Yet Jess hadn't seemed upset by the comment, and she'd been her normal friendly self all morning, so hopefully no harm had been done.

Thus Becker kept finding excuses all morning to stick near the hub - merely as a practical reminder, of course, that they were such good friends.

Maybe someday he'd actually listen to his own advice!

Glancing up from his laptop, where he was typing up his latest mission report, he saw Jess exiting Lester's office and cheerily returning to her seat, looking beautiful and confident, nothing like the innocent child who'd drooled on his shirt last night.

And Becker couldn't believe she'd made it out of the lion's den unscathed. "You actually went in there?"

Jess gave him a blank smile. "Where? Oh, you mean Lester's office? I had to."

Becker raised a questioning eyebrow, so she continued. "I couldn't let there be a repeat of yesterday." Becker was still confused, but Jess finally clarified, "Lester WILL be wearing trainers at practice this afternoon, I promise."

The soldier laughed. "How'd you manage that?"

Jess gave a coy shrug. "I just threatened to call his wife...again!"

Becker shook his head. "You're brilliant."

"I know."

From anyone else, the comment would've seemed conceited, but on Jess it was just...cute.

And she WAS brilliant - she'd come up with the perfect solution for "the Emily problem". It wasn't difficult to see that Emily simply couldn't take her eyes off the football. While this wasn't exactly catastrophic in practice - hell, they had only just started learning to play - in the game she'd also need to watch her teammates, her opponents, and the goal. Even Ghani had mentioned to Becker that this was liable to become a huge deal, but he doubted there was any way they could change Emily in less than a fortnight.

But thanks to Jess's solution, they wouldn't need to change Emily. In fact, all the traits that Becker found frustrating in the bossy girl who never seemed to remember she was technically under his command were exactly the traits the team could use to their advantage.

"So we're going to talk to Emily at lunch, yeah?" Jess asked, as if reading his mind.

Becker simply nodded, even though her back was now turned to him, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

Such nimble fingers. He imagined they'd feel amazing trailing up the back of his neck and into his-

"Yes, we should...definitely let Emily in on the plan," Becker blurted out simply to stop his imagination from going any further.

He must stop thinking about Jess that way! Why couldn't he keep that simple fact in mind? And really, what kind of Captain was he if he couldn't even follow his own orders? If he was going to survive this whole football fiasco, he needed to start thinking like a coach. Emily might be taken care of, but a pair of trainers certainly wasn't going to turn Lester into Beckham!

That thought definitely put everything into perspective - thinking of the practice ahead of them that afternoon was exactly the cold shower he needed.

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"Emily," Jess called as she wound her way through the canteen tables. Reaching her friend, Jess sat down across from her and blurted out, "We have a proposition for you."

Emily turned and gave Matt a confused look, so Jess quickly clarified, "Not THAT kind of proposition."

Jess then turned to Becker, who had sat down at her side, waiting for him to proceed. After all, he was the coach, so the invitation should come from him.

"Emily," Becker began, "we'd like you to be our goalkeeper."

"What's a goalkeeper?" Emily asked.

"The player that defends the goal, of course," Jess explained.

"What's the goal?"

Jess heard Becker's frustrated sigh, so she quickly blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "You get to use your hands."

Emily nodded. "Oh yes, I'd like that."

"Emily," Matt warned. "Perhaps you should find out more before agreeing to anything. You don't even know the rules of the game. And the goalkeep is the most important player on the team. This isn't something you should rush into it."

Becker was glaring daggers at Matt, and Jess could tell he was about to boil over, so it was once again up to her to diffuse the situation.

"True, the goalkeeper is very important - it's her job to directly prevent the opposing team from scoring," Jess began. "Per Neela, the goalkeeper has to be fearless. She can't be afraid of the ball; she must be able to stop or kick or head it and be willing to do anything, even dive, to make sure the ball doesn't go into the net, or the goal," she quickly clarified, remembering how little Emily knew about the game. "She also has to be willing to go one-on-one with her opponents and not be intimidated by them. And yes, there are special rules for the goalkeeper, including being able to use your hands, but we can teach those to you later. So what do you think?"

Emily had nodded as Jess defined each requirement, clearly feeling up to the task. At Jess's question, Emily looked to Matt, who merely shrugged.

"Don't let me stop you."

Emily grinned and turned back to the coaches. "Sounds like fun. I will do it."

Becker gave an audible sigh of relief, and Jess knew he was thankful that at least one headache was taken care of. And she'd talked to Lester once again before lunch and confirmed that he was just heading out to buy his trainers, so that was another thing to tick off the list. Slowly their team was coming together.

"So what are you lot discussing so intently?" Abby asked as she and Connor joined them at the table, the latter emitting a mumbled "Ow...ow...ow," as he slowly lowered himself into his seat.

"Emily's going to be our goalkeeper," Jess announced proudly.

Abby smiled at the news, but Connor did not look pleased.

"Are you insane, mate?" he blurted out.

"Connor!" Abby scolded, but Connor felt his outburst had been justified.

"The goalkeep is the toughest position on the team - why would anyone want to tackle that? Hell, I'm not sure I'm even up for the position of benchwarmer at this point."

"You're not a benchwarmer, Temple," Becker said, his patience clearly growing thin. "You have to play - we all do."

"Yeah, I'm been meaning to ask you about that," Connor said. "Why exactly do we only have eleven on the team? Shouldn't we have substitutes or something?"

Jess had wondered that herself and even asked Becker about it. The truth was, Becker had had a hard enough time getting four soldiers to volunteer...and by volunteer, he'd meant he'd been forced to bribe them. Not Neela, of course, because she truly enjoyed the sport, though after last night's disastrous practice even she might soon be demanding some kind of payback for volunteering.

However, Becker probably didn't want to admit any of this to Connor, so Jess quickly answered, "The RSID team doesn't want us bringing in any ringers at the last moment."

Of course, this had nothing to do with what Connor had asked, but she'd said it so matter-of-factly that he seemed completely satisfied with her answer. Becker, however, gave her a discrete nod, indicating he was thankful for her clever diversion.

Abby also gave her an amused look, indicating she, at least, was aware that the last question hadn't really been answered, before she herself asked, "How late is practice likely to go tonight?"

Becker shrugged. "Till 1930 or so."

"Why do you ask?" Emily inquired, curious.

"I have my yoga class tonight, and I was hoping that I could still make it."

Jess was amazed. "After practicing footy for two hours, you're planning to go do yoga?"

"Yep," Connor confirmed. "She's certifiable, ain't no question."

"You know, Connor," Abby pointed out, "if you came to yoga with me every week, you'd be in better shape and wouldn't be in such pain today."

"Really?" Emily asked, intrigued, obviously feeling achy herself. "What is yoga?"

"It's ancient Sanskrit for agony," Connor answered before Abby launched into a real explanation.

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to be continued