In the back of his mind Becker new it was a bad idea for them to sleep together. A very bad idea but they were drunk and he had her in his arms and her kisses were so intoxicating, her body so tempting. His hands wandered over her as they stumbled into his apartment some time around three am. He guided her back to his bedroom leaving a steady trail of clothing behind them before they fell together on his bed in a mass of tangled limbs.
Then next morning he woke to find Jess pressed to him still contently fast asleep. Taking a moment to think back he remembered what it was like to have her how it felt to finally touch her, take her. Regret hit him full force. They had been drunk and made a mistake. He repeated it over and over again in his brain in an attempt to convince himself. This could not happen again, he had to make sure of that. It was going to be terribly awkward for them as it was and they needed to go back to normal as fast as possible.
Quietly he extracted himself from Jess and climbed out of bed before finding a pair of pants and exiting the room. He quickly made himself a coffee and sat at the small table in his living area contemplating the mess he had gotten himself in. Sighing he put his hands over his face rubbing the sleep from his eyes and just in general blocking the world out.
That was how Jess found him minutes later. She had woken to an unfamiliar bed and a strange room. Her clothes nowhere in sight, she had silently gotten out of bed before finding a discarded mans shirt by the door. Quickly slipping it on she had frozen with tension at the smell she had recognised as Beckers coming from the shirt.
"Becker?" her voice sounded so small and concerned as she stood awkwardly in the doorway, afraid to move any closer.
Slowly taking his hands away he took a quick look at her before noticing her attire and looking away. Clearing his throat he stood from the table and turned toward the kitchen. "I'll get you some coffee."
"I couldn't find my dress or shoes in the bedroom."
He nodded as he continued to make her a cup of coffee, just the way she liked it. "I think it's over by the front door."
She nodded before walking over that way looking over the apartment as she did. When she found her dress on the ground crumpled up mere feet from her shoes she gathered the items up before retreating to the bathroom which she had passed on her way to the kitchen. When she reappeared in her own clothes Becker could finally breathe once more.
He set the cup of coffee on the opposite end of the table to him and sat in his place. They sat in awkward silence together drinking their coffee. When her mug was empty Jess rose from her chair and crossed to the kitchen. She washed out her mug before leaving it clean on the sink and turning back to Becker.
"I, I'm going to go. I need to shower and change and you need to head to work soon." Before he could say anything however she was at the door. "Goodbye Becker."
He sat at the table and watched as she walked out of his flat. When the door clicked closed with a finality he couldn't help but think he had just handled this situation in the worst possible way. Sighing Becker put his mug in the sink before heading into the bathroom to shower before work.
Jess made it around the corner in the cab she had called before she burst into tears. She reassured the taxi driver she was fine as he glanced at her with concern in his rear view mirror. When the car pulled up outside her flat she paid the driver and apologised before exiting the cab and going inside to hide. After a shower and a lengthly cry Jess decided to leave the flat. It seemed too empty now that Abby and Connor had found their own place to live. Leaving the flat in one of her signature outfits she decided to go retrieve her car from the pub before going shopping to hopefully cheer herself up. She called another cab to go to the pub and was heading for the shopping centre when there was a flash of light and something plowed into her car from the passenger side.
Becker had been at work for less than five minutes before the ADD blared with an anomally. Jogging into the hub he found the replacement coordinator handing out black boxes. "What've we got Kelly?"
The forty year old computer tech rolled her eyes at his frown. "Looks like it's just out of town on the edge of a warehouse, pulling up camera feeds now. Looks like there's no incursion, I'll give you the coordinates when you're in the car. Traffic is light on that side of town so you're all clear but you have to go now."
Becker nodded and took off, the team not far behind him. When they reached the cars Kelly gave them the coordinates before Becker tore out of the car pack towards the anomally. It wasn't until they were clear of the security gate that Abby spoke up making Becker tense.
"Becker do you know what happened to Jess last night? One minute we were all there then the next thing I know they're closing up and Jess wasn't around. You were gone too now that I think about it."
Becker tried as hard as he could to seem unfazed though it didn't work one bit for Abby who was trained to observe the smallest of behaviours. "The last time I saw her she was fine, look can we focus on what we're doing right now I'm sure Jess is fine."
Abby raised one brow before sharing a look with Connor. "Fine we'll focus on the anomally for now but later I'm going to make sure you tell me exactly what happened between you and Jess, and I swear to god if you've hurt her there will be hell to pay."
The drive was silent from then on, neither Becker nor the rest of the team in the mood to attempt small talk to cover the awkwardness or the tension. When they reached the anomally they found what looked like large prehistoric Kangaroos. Procoptodon Connor had called them as he jumped around like a little kid at the zoo. It had taken forever to herd them back through and Becker was extremely irritated by the time they got into the car to return to the ARC. They had only just pulled out of the warehouse district when Kelly's panicked voice came in over the comms.
"There's another anomally, in the middle of a busy intersection. Oh god, something just came bounding through and t-boned a small car from the passenger side. Sending coordinates now and putting medics on route with team beta. Running the licence plate of the car, oh god."
Becker frowned. "Kelly, stay calm. What is it?"
"The car that just got t-boned. It's registered to Jess."
Becker tensed even further. "Jess who." he silently prayed it was another Jess but felt himself tense so badly it hurt when Kelly confirmed his suspicions.
"Jess Parker, our Jess is in the car."
They all waited with bated breath as Kelly gave them a running commentary on what the situation was as Becker drove as fast as he could through the busy traffic to where the anomally and Jess were. He had thought that starting a relationship with her would be a mistake. She deserved someone who she could go home to every night not a soldier who could die any day. He had wanted to talk to her when he finished and tell her all that and more. Make excuses for why they would be a bad idea and now all he could think was that he had been cold and distant to her after their amazing night together and he would never get the chance to tell her how much he cared about her. Hell he was basically in love with her and now he'd never have a chance to show her. Kelly's voice in their ears broke his thoughts as he weaved around another car, over taking them smoothly.
"She's okay, the medics and the soldiers got her out and they're bringing her back here for a quick check up. The anomally has been locked and the creature sent back through without harm."
Some of the tension eased from his shoulders as he redirected the vehicle towards the ARC. "How bad is she Kelly? Is she conscious?"
"She was knocked around some in the crash but she's conscious and responsive so they think it's just some cuts and bruises. ETA for their arrival is two minutes. ETA for you is ten minutes."
"Thanks Kelly, keep us posted."
Kelly gave the affirmative before disconnecting. Becker drove as fast as Matt would allow him before pulling into the parking garage. As soon as the car was out of the main entrance way he was out of the drivers seat walking as fast as he could without actually breaking into a jog to find her. He was in the hub before he could process his thoughts putting the black box in it's charger.
"Kelly, where is Jess now?"
"She's been cleared with some bumps and bruises by the medics. She stopped here to say she was okay and report in to Lester before heading to the locker room for a shower. She said something about needing a hot shower after the morning she'd had." Becker nodded and turned toward the locker room. "Captain?"
"I'll go and check on her."
Kelly smirked as she turned back to the five screens she was in charge of. "Mhmm, I'll just bet you are." she murmured to herself as she opened up a report.
Becker stepped into the locker room and listened carefully before coming to the conclusion that Jess was still in the shower. Sighing he lent back against the lockers and waited, reasoning with himself that it would not be a good idea to go storming into the showers no matter how worried he was.
It was ten more minutes before Jess felt good enough to move away from the hot water soothing her sore muscles. Rolling her shoulders and neck she checked herself over and found nothing more serious than some bruising, mostly caused by her seatbelt. Sighing she wound a towel around her body before exiting the showers, coming up short when she felt eyes on her. Looking up Jess found Becker watching her like a hawk, face carefully blank.
"Becker? What are you doing in here?"
"You were injured." He pushed away from the wall as he slowly started towards her.
"The medics cleared me with a few bruises. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"Well I am."
He was right in front of her now and she could feel his eyes on her shoulder. Nervously she covered the bruise as much as she could with her hand and arm. Without missing a beat his eyes rose to hers as his hand came up, pushing hers aside to touch the darkened skin. She sucked in a breath and took a step back.
"What are you doing here Becker?"
Taking a breath he sighed. "I thought I'd lost you today."
"So, you decide to come in here for a quick glad you're alive shag before being awkward and regretful and running away?"
He frowned. "Jess, I wasn't-"
"Oh sod off Becker this morning you retreated back into yourself and now you're probably in the middle of a major guilt trip curtesy of yourself and-"
"I was going to tell you how us being together was a bad idea. How last night was a mistake."
"You mean having drunk sex with me was a mistake and you want to try to forget it ever happened."
"I thought it was, I thought I did but now, god the whole time you were in that car and I didn't know if you were okay all I could think was that I never got the chance to tell you how much I care about you, whether you deserve someone that's safer or not."
Jess shook her head. "I don't care what you think I deserve, all I care about is what I want."
Becker felt his lungs stop working. "What do you want?"
A tear slipped out as she laughed bitterly. "If you have to ask then maybe it's best if we stay away from each other."
In that moment it hit him. She was crying because of him, she cared about him. Before he knew it he had closed the small distance between them. Swooping down he wound his arms around her waist and pulled her up off of the ground as he pressed his lips to hers. Less than a second passed before she responded. Her legs locking around his hips, her hands travelling up over his shoulders, her lips moving against his. After a few moments she pulled back.
"Wait Becker what-"
"I care about you so much and there's so many reasons this shouldn't happen but I don't think I can stop myself around you."
Jess grinned placing a sweet kiss to his lips. "Good cos I'm kind of crazy about you and I don't think I'll be able to stop myself either."
"I want to take you home so you can rest."
Her grin widened. "Rest huh?"
Chuckling he made a path of kisses from her lips to the back of her ear. "Oh you will, eventually."
She giggled and bit her lip. "Becker we should stop before someone comes in, this is the public locker room."
"Mhmm."
"So this is what's had you in knots all morning then."
Becker froze as Jess squeaked and dropped to the floor. "Abby! How long have you been there?!"
"Long enough to know I should punch him for upsetting you this morning."
"Abby it's fine we've sorted things out."
Becker cleared his throat. "She's right, I was an absolute jerk this morning. I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me?"
Jess smiled softly. "Of course," her smile turned into a smirk as she continued. "but only if you make it up to me."
Becker smirked right back before leaning down to whisper into her ear. "Oh I'll make it up to you, over and over and over again. Just for those noises you make." he pushed his point by nipping at her ear lobe with his teeth before pulling away.
Her breathing hitched as a blush spread across her face. Abby grinned from the doorway. "I'll tell Lester that you're taking her home to look after her. I'll make sure you guys get the rest of the day."
With that she left them staring at each other in the locker room. After a few moments Jess looked away and turned to her locker. "I better get dressed so we can leave." Becker merely nodded and watched as she pulled her clothes out of the locker. "Are you going to turn around?"
Becker smirked. "Why? I know what's under the towel."
Blush darkening Jess stuttered an answer out. "Well, I mean, it's just-"
"You're right I should be a gentleman since we're in public." he winked before turning his back to her.
When she was dressed and had everything she needed Becker guided her out to his car where they buckled up and drove back to her apartment. As soon as the door was closed behind them Becker was on her. Kissing, biting, licking, touching everywhere he could reach. Later that night as they cuddled on the couch, empty Chinese takeaway containers on the kitchen bench, Jess sighed in contentment while Becker toyed with the hem of his shirt that she had elected to put on instead of her own clothes. He was comfortably resting back against the cushions while Jess lay draped over him. His hand moved from toying with the shirt to softly tracing patterns over the leg she had bent over him. She hummed in appreciation as her eyes drooped dangerously.
"Are you going to fall asleep?"
"Mmm,"
"Want me to go?"
She shook her head and groaned. "No, stay."
He chuckled huskily and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Okay but we're going to move to the bedroom at some stage. We have work tomorrow."
His answer was a lazy kiss to the collar bone before she dropped her head back down, closing her eyes happily.