A/N: Well, I've had this written for a while, but I haven't found the time to post it. It's set somewhere in S4, around winter, but doesn't have a specific point, and, as such, no spoilers. I've never posted a Primeval fic before, so if you guys could just tell me what you think when you're done?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Primeval. Do you think if I did that Becker and Jess would still not be together?
Sneezes
Becker walked in to the locker room at 7:01am to find...no-one there. He frowned slightly. That was odd.
Jess was usually putting her things in her locker, and he was always there to scare her.
It worked every single time, and it meant that he got to see that adorable face she pulled when she was annoyed. It was a brilliant start to the day.
But she wasn't there.
He felt tentacles of worry seep into his stomach. She was always on time; just as punctual as he was.
Where was she? Was she okay?
Putting all that aside, he put his things in his locker and proceeded to casually stroll through the Ops room, to see if she was early.
"Have you seen Miss. Parker? Her shift started five minutes ago. I expect punctuality from my staff." Lester called to him. Under other circumstances, Becker would've smirked. Lester was just as worried as he was.
"I haven't. Sorry, sir." Becker responded. The tentacles in his stomach now had a vice-like grip on him. He glanced around surreptitiously, before pulling out his phone and texting her; asking where she was.
Of course, after this, he headed to the barracks, pulling out his phone every few minutes and glaring at it when Jess hadn't replied to him.
Half an hour later, he was passing the locker room when he caught a glimpse of her.
"Someone's late." He commented teasingly, holding back a sigh of relief.
"I overslept. Your text woke me up. Thanks, by the way." came the reply. Her voice was husky and slightly hoarse. She turned to face him, and he raised his eyebrows at her appearance. She was dressed in baggy grey hoody and loose-fitting jeans, teamed with a pair of dirty-white trainers. She had no make-up on and her face was extremely pale, though the tip of her nose was red and her gorgeous blue eyes were dull and watery. She looked beautiful.
Jess blushed slightly under the intensity of Becker's gaze.
"Yes. I know. I look horrible." She told him. His eyes widened as he shook his head.
"No. No, you don't. But...are you alright?" His reply was soft and tender, and Jess felt her heart warm. He was wonderful.
"I'm fine." She responded with a slight smile, her first of the day, before sneezing daintily.
"Bless you." Becker couldn't help but smirk as he said it.
"What?" Jess asked as she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose gently.
"Nothing." He told her, still smirking in an infuriating, but incredibly sexy, way. Jess opened her mouth to say something, but then she felt her throat tickle and groaned.
"Wha-" Becker began to say before Jess started coughing. Unsure of what to do, Becker just stood there, watching for the minute or two before she stopped.
"Ugh." Jess moaned, sniffing. Becker frowned.
"You're ill, Jess." Becker told her. Jess made to roll her eyes, but thought the better of it, instead retorting,
"Astute observation." She didn't know whether to laugh or blush at his annoyed, yet concerned face, "It's just a cold. I'm-" She gave another dainty sneeze, "atchoo -fine." She blew her nose again as Becker rolled his eyes.
"I'm taking you home." He said firmly. Jess glared at him, her hands resting on her hips. As much as she was glad he was concerned, there was nothing to do at home, and she'd just sit there worrying about the team all day.
Not to mention going the whole day without seeing him...
"No, you're not." And with that, she breezed past him and out of the locker room.
It was three hours later, and Jess was sitting in the passenger seat of her bright red Mini Cooper as Becker drove.
"Take the next left." Jess said automatically, still sulking slightly. Lester had ordered her home. Ordered her home! There was nothing wrong with her; it was just a cold, nothing she couldn't handle. And she certainly didn't need taking home. But she couldn't be annoyed. Becker was taking her home, so at least there was an upside to it. And she did feel terrible.
"Jessica, I know where you live." Becker retorted coolly, rolling his eyes and turning left.
"That sounds creepy; like a stalker. 'I know where you live.' Not that I'm saying you're a stalker, or anything, it's just that what you sa-"
"Jess." Becker cut through her ramblings with a smirk. She blushed.
"Sorry." She mumbled. He fought the urge to laugh.
"It's okay. At least I know colourful, cheerful Jess is still in there somewhere." He joked. She gave him a weak smile before feeling it fall off her face as her nose began to itch.
"Atchoo!" She sneezed again. Groaning and sniffing, she pulled out a tissue and rubbed her nose with it.
"What?" She asked at Becker's smirk, genuinely curious. She wanted to know what amused him so much when she sneezed.
"Just...don't worry." Becker told her as they pulled into the parking space.
"No, seriously, what?" She asked as he cut the engine. She sneezed again and his smirk grew.
"What?" She demanded as they got out of the car.
"It's just...the way you sneeze." He shrugged, holding back a bubble of laughter. Jess blushed.
"What's wrong with the way I sneeze?" She asked.
"It's so..." He looked for a word to sum it up, "Well, it's so you." He told her eventually. Jess shook her head, bemused, before stopping abruptly and hissing through her teeth as her head pounded angrily. Her vision swam slightly, and she felt Becker's arms wrap around her waist securely as she swayed.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly. She went to nod, before realising that that was what had brought it on in the first place,
"Yeah." She replied. His arms disappeared from around her waist and she instantly missed their warmth.
"Don't shake your head with a headache." She murmured to herself.
"It's rather stupid." Becker agreed as they reached her flat. She scowled at him and he smirked in response as they stopped at her flat door.
They stood there for a while, before Jess became aware of the fact that Becker was watching her amusedly.
"What?" She asked, catching his smirk. That damned, infuriatingly sexy smirk!
"Are you going to open the door and let us in?" He asked casually. Jess went bright red and started fumbling around in her bag for her keys. She found them and let them in hastily.
She dumped her bag on the side and her keys in the bowl before her vision swam again.
Becker's arms shot out and steadied her immediately.
"Go get into bed. I'll see if you've got any cold and flu tablets and some soup." Jess' breathing hitched as she felt Becker's own breath hit her neck.
"Don't like soup." Jess murmured, finding it hard to form a coherent sentence as she tried to fight the blood rushing to her cheeks, again. God, he made her feel like an obsessive school girl with a crush sometimes. (Well, okay, all the time).
"Have you got anything like, I dunno, instant noodles?" He asked softly.
"There's some packets in the cupboard next to the fridge, the jugs are in the cupboard above the sink, the bowls are in the cupboard next to that, cutlery in the first draw and Beechams in the medicine cabinet; the one with a lock on it. I don't like the flavouring that comes with the noodles, so put some Aromat in instead. That's the-"
"I know what Aromat is, Jess. I can cook." Becker's lips were millimetres away from her neck. He saw Jess' neck constrict as she swallowed and saw her already racing pulse point begin to throb faster. Oh, it would be so easy to-
He shook himself mentally. He was here to take care of Jess, not to take advantage of her whilst she was ill. Thoughts like that would only distract him.
"Okay." Jess responded, moving out of his grip. Becker felt the disappointment flood through him as he suddenly felt a lot cooler.
Jess peeled off her clothes and pulled out a baggy pair of winter pyjamas which were light blue with little penguins on, wearing pink hats and matching scarves. She walked to her bathroom and pulled out a cotton wool pad from the cupboard behind the mirror, proceeding to try and meticulously scrub off the carefully-applied make-up she had put on earlier that morning. It was then she realised that she hadn't bothered. Giving a small laugh at her stupidity, she walked back into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed, utterly exhausted. She could hear Becker bustling around her kitchen and winced as something metal-sounding hit the floor. She smiled as his quiet curses reached her ears.
She's never pegged him as the type to cook, but looks could be deceiving. What other hidden talents does he have?...
Becker knocked on the open door, rousing her from her thoughts. If she hadn't a pounding headache, she would've rolled her eyes. Only he would knock on an open door.
"Come in." She told him, giving a wry smile. Becker was carrying a tray, laden with a glass of water, a packet of Beechams, a steaming bowl of noodles and a fork lying next to it. He looked incredibly domestic like that. Very very hot. Jess thought. Maybe being ill wasn't such a bad thing after all...
He laid the tray on her lap gently and watched as a grateful smile graced her features.
"Thanks." She murmured, picking up the fork. She immediately put it back down, grabbed a tissue from the box on her bedside table and proceeded to sneeze three times into it.
"Bless you." Becker smirked down at her.
"Seriously!" Jess groaned, blushing lightly, "What is wrong with my sneezes?
"I told you – they're so you." Becker responded.
"How do you mean?" Jess questioned. She could've sworn his cheeks weren't that pink before...
"Well, they're...they're small, and fragile," He mumbled. Jess opened her mouth to object, but he cut her off by quickly finishing, "And very cute." Jess stared up at him.
"Cute." Her eyebrow raised and she watched as Becker, rather satisfactorily, blushed.
"Yeah. Listen I'd better get back-" Jess looked at him. Her blue eyes were wide and pleading, and he could feel himself beginning to cave already as he found himself rooted to the spot.
"What?" He sighed, though not unkindly.
"Please don't go." She said softly. Becker swallowed. Don't cave, don't cave, don't cave, don't-
"Okay." He agreed. NO! No. Very, very bad idea-
"Thank you." Jess' grin was enough to send the small voice in the back of Becker's head away.
"No problem. Now, eat up and take some medicine." He instructed, "Oh, and by the way," He smirked, "Nice pyjamas." Jess' cheeks gained a slight pink hue, but nonetheless, she returned evenly,
"Yes, very cute, aren't they?" It was Becker's turn to blush and Jess couldn't help but grin. She finally had something over him.
"Touché." He conceded. "Now, do I have to feed you myself, Jessica?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Jess' cheeks got redder as she huffed, unable to retort.
"No." She picked up her fork and began to eat.
After an awkward five minute silence, Jess spoke up,
"Y'know, you can sit down." She told him, amused.
"There is nowhere to sit down." Becker replied, nonplussed.
"Am I floating in midair?" Jess questioned. Becker's cheeks coloured again and Jess smirked. She was definitely enjoying this.
"But that's your bed." He replied dumbly.
"Really(?) I never would've guessed(!)" You could hear the drops of sarcasm hitting the floor, like dog spit. "Just sit down, Becker. I promise I won't take advantage of you." She said sweetly. Becker chuckled,
"I'd like to see you try. What're you gonna do, seduce me with sneezes?" They both laughed.
For the next few hours, they both lounged on Jess' hot pink duvet, talking and laughing, and, somewhere along the way, falling asleep and entwining themselves.
So that's how Connor and Abby found them that evening. Jess' head resting on Becker's shoulder and his head lightly on top of hers. Becker's arm was around Jess' waist, holding her to him, while Jess' was flung across his stomach and Jess had a bare, multicolour-toenailed foot in between both of his thick black socked ones.
It looked absolutely adorable.
So, of course, Connor has to take a picture.
And send it to everyone at the ARC.