Prompt: Decisions

Rating: K+

It was becoming something of a pattern, Lester decided, as he watched the couple in the hallway outside through the glass walls of his office. They'd once again asked to see him before their shift was due to start but had refrained from giving him any ideas as to what it was connected with.

Not that he didn't know, of course, which is why he was resisting the urge to reach for the whiskey he kept in the bottom drawer of his desk.

It was decision time, he knew, and he wasn't sure if he was going to like it.

The nervous expression on Jess's face didn't help, nor did the obvious way Becker stood reassuring his wife before turning to knock on the door. After he called out for them to enter, Lester watched Becker open the door and usher his wife through, noting the way Jess let both hands rest over her stomach as if protecting her unborn child.

"Please, take a seat," Lester offered without preamble, eyeing them as Jess took her usual chair and Becker stood behind her. "I assume you've come to a decision regarding what you'd like to do once the baby's born."

"We have." Becker answered for both of them, his hand clasping Jess's shoulder. "We've discussed it at length, both with each other and the other members of the team and we think we've come up with the best solution."

"It's a little bit different," Jess chimed in, giving Lester a small smile. "But when we talked about it, neither of us wanted to give up working here but, obviously, we can't keep doing the same hours and the same duties that we're doing now. Not all of the time. Not with the baby to consider."

"I understand." He thought he did, anyway. He still had his concerns but had begun to hope for the best at Jess's insistence that neither of them wanted to give up working at the ARC. "And just what is this solution you've come up with?"

"I want to cut back on field missions after the baby's born," Becker spoke up. "Not all of them. When I'm needed in the field, I'll be there. But I'd like to take on more of an advisory role for some of the lesser incursions. I could work from Operations, alongside Jess or whichever Field Co-ordinator is on duty, and it would mean I can introduce stricter training regimes with the military contingent, making sure everyone on a field team is as prepared for it as possible."

Lester nodded slowly, seeing the sense behind the idea. He frowned a little as he thought it through "You said whichever Field Co-ordinator…? I know we currently have back up staff but there's no one else on staff with the same job title...?"

Jess bit her lip. "That's where my part of the solution comes in. I don't want to cut back my hours, not really, but we were talking about it and thought, maybe, if I could train one or two back-up Co-ordinators so I wouldn't have to work from the ARC all of the time? Some of what I do when there isn't an anomaly can be done from our home office. General paperwork, ordering, collating reports… I'd obviously encrypt everything and we've got a good security system at home so it'd be safe and it would mean I can spend more time with the baby, at least until he or she starts nursery or school. I mean, I know we've got people who've volunteered to help with childcare but we don't want to take advantage of them."

"So you'd still be here what, three days a week?" Lester asked slowly.

"I was thinking maybe three days one week, four days the next? At least at first to see how it works out?" Jess sounded hopeful. "I mean, I know you'll have to run it by the Minister and get him to approve it but it's the only way we can think of to keep us both here but make provisions for the baby, too."

Lester nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I'll tell him I give the idea my full backing," he said eventually. "We don't want to lose either of you so the solution you've come up with sounds like the best possible option for all concerned."

"Thank you, Lester." Jess visibly relaxed in her chair, subconsciously smoothing the material of her dress over her unborn child.

"I have to ask, though, why you're not both sitting here handing me your resignations." He waited a moment, saw the surprise on their faces. "Not that I want you to, of course," he was quick to add, "but given the nature of your jobs... I would be disappointed but not at all unsurprised if you chose to walk away from it. Not one of us would blame you if you did."

"We thought about it," Becker admitted on behalf of both of them. "We talked about it at length but we both agreed not being here would probably be harder than being here. Not knowing what's going on, where the danger is... I can't protect Jess or our child if I don't know what's threatening them."

"We talked about convergence," Jess added, lifting a hand to cover her husbands, their fingers lacing together with ease. "What if there was another one? What if an anomaly opened up somewhere near one of us or God forbid at our child's nursery? Staying here won't stop those things from happening but at least we'd know about it. At least we'd be able to do something. We wouldn't have to sit and wait on the sidelines."

Lester gave them a thoughtful look. "What if one of you left and one of you stayed? Was that an option you considered?"

"Not for long." Jess glanced up at her husband, a small smile on her face. "It would be hell being at home or working somewhere else and not knowing what he's going through. At least this way, I still get to watch his back."

"And vice versa." Becker's expression was both affectionate and fiercely protective. "This is the only solution we came up with that we can both live with."

"Then I'll do my best to ensure it's one the Minister agrees makes sense, too." He was still owed a few favours, Lester thought to himself. There were a few strings he could pull to make it happen if the Minister didn't immediately see sense and realise this was the only way to keep two of their best people on the job. "I assume you'll want to know if it's approved before you tell the others?"

"Yes, Sir. We've discussed a number of options with them but we've not told them exactly what we've decided. We thought we'd hold off on telling them until we knew it was possible."

"A wise decision, Captain." Lester gave them nod. "I'll make some calls. Hopefully I'll be able to let you know by the end of the day."

Seeing the dismissal for what it was, Becker reached down to help Jess out of her chair. Lester stifled a grin at the muttered grumbling from the pregnant young woman as her husband all but pulled her to her feet, making sure he was looking down at the file on his desk when they left so she couldn't see. The wrath of a pregnant woman was not something he wanted to face.

As soon as he was left alone, Lester reached for the phone on his desk.

Three hours later, he was happy to deliver the news that their proposal had been approved.

Continued in 'Restless'.