A/N: Hey my dear readers,
this is the last chapter of this story. The last chance Becker has, to finally voice his feelings. Cross your fingers that he will do. ^^
First of all, Get well! - greetings to Andrewleepotts. I hope you're feeling better by now.
At Juls124. Like you said, you wanted to shoot Becker ^^. So, I'll let you, hope you like it :o)
A big THANK YOU to lovingthis for the beta-read.
And now, please enjoy the final part.
:o)
Jenkins walked at a quick pace directly towards the shooting range, heading for his 2IC.
"Um, can I ask you a question?" The Private asked as he came to a halt next to the Lance Corporal.
The tall man nodded, placed the gun down and turned to the man. "Go ahead!"
"Well, for the last three days the Captain, somehow, is behaving odd." Aiden blurted out. "I mean, he is focused at the missions like always but he is coming later, leaving earlier, shutting himself away in his office. He doesn't yell when someone of us isn't doing their training duty. Yesterday, I made a mistake and he didn't order me to armoury cleaning duty; he didn't even rebuked me for it. He's moody and quiet, needless to say that he hasn't teased anyone for days."
Donalds knew what the Private was driving at but he was loyal to his Captain and he knew when he had to keep shtoom about certain things. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he replied in a calm voice. "I didn't hear your question yet."
Jenkins wrinkled his forehead at his opponent, knowing that Cian was anything but a chatterbox and that he had to worm it out of the man when he wanted to know why the commander behaved strange, so he asked right out. "Is the Captain on drugs?"
The 2IC rolled his eyes and slightly shook his head at the question. Raising his hand, he slapped the Private on the back of his head.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Aiden asked annoyed.
"For being stupid!" The LCpl answered, compressing his lips to a thin line to keep his mouth shut.
The Private folded his arms, huffing like a bull ready to attack. "Tell me!" He demanded in a loud voice, knowing what the expression on the other man's face meant.
"That's none of your business." Donalds replied, keeping his temper.
Jenkins put on his I'm-keen-to-do-something-really-stupid-and-childish-if-you-won't-tell-me look and the other man eventually gave in and declared. "Well, since I don't want to have my car EMD'd. The Captain is lovesick."
"Huh?" The younger man raised one corner of his mouth in disbelief. "But everything was fine after I -", he paused shortly, correcting himself, "after someone wrecked Miss Parker's car."
Cian grinned sardonically. "Well, you missed the last incident." Being the kind of person you can talk to easily about your problems and knows that he wouldn't blat them out, the soldiers were used to tell him all their issues, even a certain Head of Security used to do that from time to time.
As he heard the hint, Aiden's eyes went that wide, they nearly fell out of its orbits. "Allright. I'm all ears, tell me!" He pleaded eagerly interested.
The other man shook his head. "Nope! I'm not the right person for this. Go and ask someone else!"
Jenkins frowned briefly but then turned around, heading for the door.
"Private!" The 2IC alerted him. "Don't go too far!"
"Yeah, yeah." The soldier waved his hand, leaving the room.
/-/
The Private gazed into the hub, seeing only one tech and his subject he spurted forward, grabbing a chair and placing himself right next to the FCO, moving as close as he could and leaning his forehead to her ear.
"Miss Parker?" He whispered, looking around to make sure that nobody was listening.
The brunette giggled at the soldier's secretiveness, facing him with a wide grin she questioned back."Yes?"
"What did bad happen between you and the Captain?" He went like a bull at a gate.
The woman's face dropped instantly, she scowled and turned her head back to the ADD. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about the strange behaviour of our Head of Security the last days and I'm pretty sure you know the reason." The soldier replied, being profoundly convinced of that.
"I don't know anything and I don't care!" She answered brusquely.
Jenkins took a brief look, realising her frown had turned into a sad face he grabbed inside his pocket, pulling out his secret weapon.
The woman was startled as the soldier held the chocolate bar in front of her face, then she crossed her arms and shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks." She answered in a steady voice.
Aiden smirked, taking the chocolate back and ripping the wrapping paper open. He broke off a little piece and held the rest in front of her face again.
"Yummy!" He commented as he put the piece in his mouth and chewed appreciatively, swaying the chocolate bar.
Jess' eyes started to follow it's movement, then she turned her head away. "Don't want!" She refused again.
Thinking that the Captain must have really hurt her when she didn't even want some chocolate, he helped himself with a little lie. "Well, then I'll go and tell Becker that you didn't want his chocolate."
Her head spun around and she stared at him in disbelief. "You're lying!" She accused him but couldn't help her heart beat a little faster and her tummy tingled - one part of her wanted to believe it.
"I'm not!" He replied with a cheeky grin.
"And why isn't he bring it by himself then?" The younger woman questioned sceptically, her other part still doubted it.
"Because he is an idiot!" Aiden replied, swaying the chocolate again.
Knowing the truth in his words, Jess gave in. She gazed at the candy and whipped it out of his hand, pulling off a big piece and putting it into her mouth. As she tasted the delicious familiar flavour a contented smile ran across her lips and she felt her body relax inside the chair.
Sensing that his powers of persuasion had worked he questioned again. "Well, Miss Parker, what happened?"
"He is … well … he is -" Jess tried it again, but no way, the used-to-be bubbling Field Co-ordinator was struggling for the right words to say, actually she didn't know what he is, rummaging inside her brain for a couple of seconds to find some usable descriptions but having no luck she finally gave up. "Damn it!" The FCO panted, pulled off another piece of chocolate and put it into her mouth. "He did nothing!" She declared still chewing on the chocolate inside her mouth, looking with desperate eyes at the Private.
Jenkins perked his eyebrows up, having no clue what she meant by that. Thinking that he should say something he asked. "Um, what was he supposed to do?"
"Say something! Or simply turning around and looking at me … just, doing something … anything." She replied tearily, looking at the bar in her hands and quickly placing another piece in her mouth to soothe her feelings.
Aiden looked even more puzzled. Sighing loudly, he spoke out. "I'm sorry, Miss Parker, but I have no idea what you're talking about."
Jess looked baffled at him, normally the soldiers were the persons who gossiped about anything at first and Jenkins was one of the biggest blabbermouths inside this building so she was visibly surprised that he didn't knew it.
"Well," she decided to tell him the general story. "There was an anomaly inside a shoe store I was in. Newt rescued me. At first Becker was worried about me, he hugged me. But after he found out that Newt and I had met there for a coffee he backed off!" She stated with a blankly tone, looking at the soldier as if he should tell her why his commander behaved that way.
"So you asked him why?" Jenkins combined the pieces of information.
"What? No!" Jess denied, shaking her head. "Later, we went to a pub and Caleb joined us. Becker was nothing but moody. As I danced with Caleb, he went to the bar. I followed him and asked him what was the matter, but he only closed up. I was angry at him and told him that he either tell me his feelings for me or leave me alone. And he left." The women stopped, breathing in and thinking about the words. Looking away from him, her eyes fixed at an invisible point at the ADD, she added. "He made his decision and I made mine. I'm done with him!" Her voice was shaking as she declared it.
The Private looked sceptically at her. Cocking his head to the side he softly questioned. "Can you say that again? With looking into my eyes and trying to sound like you really believe what you say?"
She turned back at him and he noticed the little tears that filled her eyes and started to run down her cheeks. Aiden raised his hand, wiping with his forefinger her tears away and smiling warmly at her. "The Captain loves you." He asserted her.
"He doesn't!" She denied with tearful voice. "He's not coming to me at the ADD; he's not joking with me or teasing me about my shoes. He didn't even looked me into the eyes. And I am tired of this. I am tired of waiting. I have no strength anymore."
"Just give him another chance. He will tell you his feelings, believe me." The soldier assured.
"And when?" Jess questioned dejectedly. "Tomorrow is the last day before we all go away for Christmas and he doesn't even want to join us in going out."
"Where to do you want to go?" Jenkins asked.
"Caleb invited us to his gig in his favourite pub." The FCO answered.
The Private nodded confidently. "Just be there and I'll promise you he will be there, too."
Clinging firmly to his promise the woman smiled faintly and nodded her OK.
Aiden stood up, stretching himself and putting his hands in his pockets. "Well, then I'm off. There's a lot to do till tomorrow. Bye, Miss Parker."
"Bye." The woman replied with a thankful smile, feeling much more better after the talk.
/-/
Making out what all he had to do to let Operation Turtle Doves - as he called his plan - succeed, he headed straight to the training room, being aware that the persons he needed for this would be right there.
Entering the room he made a beeline for the little women in front of a punch bag.
"Juls!" He spoke out loud, rushing the remaining few steps forward.
The soldier paused in her training, turning around to face the other Private. "Yeah?"
Laying his arm around her shoulders as he stopped beside her, Jenkins asked. "Can you do me a biiig favour?"
The woman raised her eyebrow warily, stating. "I'm not going out with you!"
"I know!" The soldier replied boldly. "Do you still have the shooting training with the Cap, tomorrow?" He asked nonchalantly.
"Yup!" The smaller Private replied with a nod.
"Excellent!" Jenkins declared, grinning like the grinch.
/-/
'So far, so good. One task done, one left.' Jenkins thought as he went through the hallways, looking for a particular person.
"Neeewt!" He shouted as he spotted the Private walking down the corridor, making him stop and spinning around. The older soldier sprinted forward. "My friend!" He declared, patting him on the back.
The little Private looked up at him, looking half scared and half skeptical. It was clear that Newt knew the sudden change in behavior meant that Jenkins was up to no good.
"How was your day?" Aiden asked, gesturing the other man to move along.
Newt looked sceptically at him. "Fine." He answered as they walked around the corner, wondering what he intended by this.
Spotting the storage room they passed, Jenkins quickly grabbed the other man by his arm and dragged him in. "We need to talk!" He demanded, stony-faced, and shut the door.
/-/
Juls stood in the shooting range, pointing with her EMD towards the target and pressing the button. Fully focused as she was, she easily hit the bull's eye. Becker stood beside her, but nearer to the target to have a proper look, noting every shot. His eyes were fixed to the metal disc they used for the EMD's instead of the cardboard discs.
Silently, Jenkins opened the door and scurried inside, nodding towards the other Private as she got sight of him. Jules nodded back, ready for what would coming next.
Hearing the lack of the next shots, the Captain turned his head, looking to the soldier and seeing that she was distracted.
"Focus, Private." He alerted her and instantly Juls rivet back on the target.
"Hey, Cap!" Aiden called his commander, walking towards him. He carried two big boxes.
The other man ordered the Private to keep on practising before he turned around, devoting himself to the incoming soldier. "Is something wrong?" He questioned, pointing with his finger at the boxes.
The lasting sounds of electricity hitting against metal sounded through the room as Jenkins put them down right in front of the Captain. He walked around the cases, making sure that he was right between them and his commander as he kneeled down, his back facing Becker, and opened the upper box.
"Well, these EMD's have been malfunctioning. I've fixed them but I think we should test them before we use them on a mission." The Private replied, sounding concerned and serious.
Becker nodded, realising that the soldier couldn't see him he added. "Good thinking, soldier!"
He leaned forward to have a better look at the 'pea shooters'.
Waiting for this, Aiden grinned cheekily. Being sure that the Captain was as close as he needed him to be, he suddenly stood up, leaning backwards and stepping back as he acted a stumble and thereby pushed Becker directly into the line of fire.
Juls turned slightly to better aim at her target and shot. A shiny blue electric ball hit Becker's right shoulder and sent him with a loud thud to the ground.
"Ah!" He hissed as the pain rushed from his shoulder through his whole body.
The Private looked down to the man on the ground, squirming in pain and holding his arm. "Sorry, Captain. You suddenly crossed my line." She excused, hiding her grin. With a worried voice she added. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry." He replied through gritted teeth.
Jenkins mimed the little innocent, rushing to his commander's side. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." He apologised, sounding like he really was concerned about his well being although he knew that hitting a body with an EMD at such a low setting didn't cause any damages.
"It's OK." Becker assured, feeling the pain slowly disappear. Supported by his arms he brought himself into a sitting position before he blinked several times, trying to get back an exact sight of his surroundings.
"I … I stumbled … and you stood right behind … I'm sorry, Captain." The Private apologised a second time holding a hand towards said man to help him up.
Becker shook his head, instantly stopping and regretting that he did as he felt the headache getting worse. "Like I said, Private. It's OK. After all it wasn't on purpose."
Jenkins nodded worriedly, silently thinking 'if he would knew'.
"Do you want to sit down, taking a rest? Want some water? Shall I inform the medics?" Aiden kept on asking questions.
The soldier's voice sounded through his head, increasing the sharp pain. "Jenkins." He called the man with a low and calm voice to order. "I'm fine. Just leave me be, OK?"
"Yeah, sorry." Jenkins apologised again, waiting a moment before continuing with speaking.
This time he lowered his voice, too. "Can I make up for that? Like inviting you to a beer tonight?"
"No, no." Becker declined. "You don't have to, really, I'm fine."
"But I want to. After all it was my fault you were hit by the EMD. You really don't want to drink a beer with me? Like in the olden days?" Aiden suggested again, worried about the other man's acceptance. His whole plan stood and fell with his boss' OK.
Having time to consider again about the soldier's offer, Becker came to the decision that the words sounded really good. After all he cancelled Matt's question about the six of them going out with the excuse he already had something else to do, which he indeed could have right now. And, more importantly, the idea of just the two of them, sitting in front of the bar table, drinking beer and talking about old times sounded super. Jenkins was a life of the party and he knew with him around, he would get a really good distraction from the thoughts running around in his head for the last days.
"Well, I think I really could need a break. Beer sounds good." The Captain eventually agreed.
Jenkins mentally jumped with joy. Being glad that he finally accepted. His plan was save. "Great! At the usual place? Shall I pick you up from your office after my shift?" He questioned excitedly.
Becker only nodded his approval.
The Private grinned from ear to ear. Quickly, he spun around heading for the door. "C ya!" He stated and left the room, fearing the commander could make a retreat.
The Captain turned his attention back to the other Private. "I'm … um … going to do some security stuff." He declared, using his familiar excuse.
By the time, all his soldiers knew, when saying this, the Captain was in a really bad condition and needed some time to regain himself. To get back his control and to calm himself down.
That's why Juls simply nodded. "All right, Captain. I'll take care of the guns." After she watched the commander walking away and disappear, she let her grin spreading all over her face.
/-/
Jenkins drove the car through the snow-claded streets, while Becker, sitting in the passenger seat, looked out of the window, watching the street lights and staring at the cloudless night sky. Being EMD'd had the disadvantage that he wasn't able to proper handle the car by himself so he let his Private play the chauffeur.
A fact both men knew, because after Matt shot at him, he tried it and nearly had an accident due to the affected capacity of reaction. The Captain gazed back at the streets, slowly wondering about the direction the soldier drove into.
"Did you take the wrong turn?" Becker questioned concerned, looking at the man to his right.
The Private glanced briefly at his commander and looked back at the road, fully concentrated. "Why?"
"That's not the way to the pub." The other man replied, by now he knew the streets of London very well.
"I know. I thought this time we'll go to another one. Don't worry, you'll love it." Jenkins declared, turning into the next street.
Becker frowned at his soldier but he was too tired and too knackered to start an argumentation so he complied, staring back at the stars.
Finally they arrived and Jenkins stopped the car on the car park in front of the house. The Captain looked up, glancing at the brightly shining nameplate and wondering about the familiar sounding name. Both men got off the vehicle. Becker took another, closer look at the plate and finally it came up into his mind.
"This is the pub Newt has his gig tonight." He declared, pointing at the building and frowning at his Private.
Knowing what the man wanted to say but playing dumb the soldier replied with a shrug. "I know that."
"No!" The commander hissed. "Choose a different pub." He ordered.
"Why?" The Private questioned, suppressing the urge to grin broadly.
"Because -", he throw his arms in the air, stifling the drive for punching his fists against the cool metal. Taking a deep breath he declared. "Jess is in there!"
Hearing that he used her name instead of saying 'the others', 'the group' or simply 'they' like he did as usual, Aiden couldn't help smirking.
Seeing the grin, the Captain realized that he was taken in by this put-up job. He couldn't hold himself back and rammed his clenched hands onto the car top, making a loud boom. "I am not going inside!" He demanded.
Holding the car keys, the Private knew that he had the upper hand. He simply pressed his key button; the orange headlights flashed up and the little peep sound made sure that the car was now locked.
"If you like." He replied, shrugging his shoulders again and heading for the entry. His footsteps in the snow sounded muffled and scrunched. "The bus stop is right there", he pointed with his finger towards the direction, "if you hurry you'll catch the next one coming in five minutes."
The Captain gave his Private the evil eye and turned around.
Seeing that the commander was really about to walk away, Aiden quickly added. ""But you really should go in there and tell Jess what you feel for her."
Becker froze. Why in hell did everyone have to interfere in his private affairs. He knew what he wanted to do - what he had to do - for himself and didn't need to hear it from everybody. And the worse was, he couldn't even be angry at his soldier. All he felt was the huge sadness that he had bungle it.
Clenching his fists and shaking his head he contradicted. "It's too late!"
"It's never to late!" The soldier countered.
Taking a deep breath, the Captain's words were faster out that he thought about them. "I lost the fight."
"What?" The Private couldn't believe the stupidity of the words he had just heard. "Captain! You didn't even start to fight for her! You simply gave up at the first hurdle. That's not what you're supposed to do. What sort of soldier are you? Throwing your weapons in the ground and wagging with the 'white flag' as soon as you eye the enemy! What about fighting till the bloody end?" Aiden rebuked his commander with all the words someone ought to have said a long time before.
"I tried -" Becker started to defend himself but was cut off by the other man.
"No, you didn't! And now get your ass in there and recapture your girl, for Gods-sake!" Jenkins yelled back, being infuriated at the cowardly behaviour of the man he looked up to.
The Captain knew he was right. He darned himself for being that wimp when it came to his feelings, that he always backed off. He knew what he felt for her and he wanted to tell it her long ago but after what happened he just was afraid she could say that she didn't want him anymore right into his face. And just the thought at that simply ripped him apart. But feeling the rage building up inside now, he decided to finally make a real job of it.
He stepped forward, but hesitated again, looking into the Private's eyes with a pleading for help.
"What?" Jenkins questioned irritated. "Shall I carry you over the threshold?" He folded his arms and looked provoking at his commander.
Becker shook his head, took a deep breath and with all the courage he could collect together he stepped up to the stairs and walked through the door.
The heated up air inside the pub stroke right into his face. Blinking and breathing in and out to become accustomed at the huge difference in temperature he gazed into the room. Looking around for the special person. Figuring her out he wanted to step towards her but somehow his feet quitted the service again.
"What's now?" Jenkins asked, rushing to his side and making sure that he didn't change his mind and back off again.
"I, um, just go and order a drink." The Captain explained away.
"Nope! The service comes to the dishes. And now get your ass over there, Captain!" The Private ordered with a wide cheeky grin, being a little inebriated by the power he had over his commander right now.
Becker nodded again. It was time that he did what he had to do. Finally he stepped forward, heading for the group sitting in the centre of the bar.
The team was chatting easily around but abruptly became silent as they spotted their Head of Security standing in front of them.
"Changed your mind?" Matt questioned in a teasing tone.
"Yeah, um, can I sit down?" He asked a little shy, unsure about how the group would react.
All smiled warmly and welcomed him, making space so he could take the seat next to the Field Co-ordinator.
Becker nodded thankfully and placed himself down, his heart was pounding like mad. He took another deep breath, gearing up for his talk. Facing the woman to his side, he started "Jess, I -" but was interrupted by a friendly young waitress appearing at their table.
"Your drink, Sir." She stated, placing a glass, filled with cold dark beer, in front of him.
With a quizzical look he replied "err, thanks", taking the drink and helping himself to a big gulp.
The cool liquid ran down his gullet and calmed him down. He placed the beer back and turned his attention back to Jess. Forgetting with what he wanted to start he simply said a sheepishly and friendly "hey" to her.
"Hi", she said, smiling back, but he could see the hurt in her eyes.
Jess looked like she was about to start to cry and he felt the overwhelming urge to throw himself at her feet and beg for her pardon. Summoning a little self control Becker formed the words he wished to say in his brain and, just before he managed to open his mouth, he was interrupted again.
"Here! I have something for you." Jess pronounced, rummaging inside her bag and pulling out a big present, wrapped in colourful paper pictured with little reindeer, trees and Santa's, laying it into his hands.
Becker was flabbergasted. With a blank mind he looked from her to the present inside his hands and aback.
"Thanks." He replied truly surprised. "I haven't deserve this." The words slipped out of his mouth before he even could think about them.
"Yup. I know. But I already bought if for you. Therefore, I can give it to you anyway." She answered.
The Captain looked bewildered at her. He absolutely didn't bargain for her words but as he detected the smirk on her face he knew that she was just teasing him. A light smile flashed over his lips and he started to unwrap the present.
It was a wooden box he held in his hands with a little hinge to keep it close. Opening it gently and taking a look inside he gazed wide-eyed at the content.
"But ..." Becker stammered, staring at the weapon inside. To be more exact, at the model of the only weapon which was missing in his weapons collection. He looked aghast at the little woman and back to the gun. "But ..." He tried again but re-failed at building words in his mouth.
Becker looked again to Jess, seeing her grinning from ear to ear. His speechlessness made her really happy, knowing that this was the perfect gift she could have make him. Taking another, proper look at the gun he realised the four empty bullet holes. Making the rest up in his mind he asked wondering. "Err, is this the weapon Newt shot the insects with?"
Smiling sheepishly Jess nodded, trying to explain. "I really have no clue about weapons and I wanted to give you the perfect present so I asked Caleb for help. And he bought it for me." Looking into his questioning eyes, she added. "He couldn't give it to me in the ARC. You're the Head of Security, you would have noticed it and I couldn't take the risk. So we met in the shopping mall."
Becker realised how badly he had messed up and that he really needed to apologise for more than he had first known. "Jess, I-"
He was cut off as a harsh sound rushed through the pub, caused by a microphone, which was placed onto the middle of the bandstand. All eyes were fixed to the stage. As the little young man with black hair and green eyes stepped onto it, sitting down on a stool behind the micro. The crowd cheered.
Matt, Emily, Abby and Connor, who up until that moment had been busying with eavesdropping on the conversation between their Captain and Field Co-ordinator, also turned their attention to the stage, cheering and applauding the small man with the rest of the pub.
As his band members took their places around him, Caleb started to speak into the microphone.
"Hello, everybody." He greeted friendly, a wide smile on his face.
The people applauded again, clarifying that he was very welcomed here.
Newt chuckled and looked behind into the smirking faces of the others, waiting till the audience silenced again before he continued.
"You know in a couple of days it's Christmas." Waiting for a few men in the back of the pub who had happily "whooped" at the short statement to calm down, he continued. "But before I start singing the Christmas songs, I wanted to share a very special song with you. A friend of mine wished for it so I'm doing my best. This song is called 'When I find you'. It was written and performed by the great singer Joshua Radin and his Co-Singer Maria Taylor. And therefore welcomed with me, my friend and Co-Singer Liz. She'll accompany me." He waited again, as the crowd cheered and applauded to the girl sitting on the stool next to him.
"And now, I want you to clasp the woman of your heart in your arms and holding her tight." Caleb prompted in a deep gently voice.
The couples did as they were told to, hugging to each other. Even Matt and Emily as well as Abby and Connor obliged.
Newt eyed into the audience. Espying that there were two special persons still left, he animated again. "All of you, also the shy ones. Don't think about it, just listen to your heart and do it - hold your beloved close to you." Caleb looked again at the soldier.
Becker felt the man's eyes gazing at him and looked back for half a second. He realised how far the set up had extended, chuckled, rolled his eyes and raised his arm to wrap it around Jess, pulling her towards his body and resting his hand on her belly.
"That's right!" Newt spoke into the micro as he saw the Captain did his bidding. "Now, I wish you all a lovely song, hope you like it." He ended, nodding at the piano man who started to play.
"Something is said, it sits in my head"
"It's been there too long, it's killing me slow"
"It's rolling around, it's pushing me down"
"It's keeping the good part of me closed"
Ignoring everything and everyone around him, Becker did nothing but feel the warm body of the FCO lightly resting on his chest. His heart raced as he felt Jess' little fingers started to touch his hand and rushed between his large ones. He opened them so they could intertwine their fingers while they listened to the song.
"Can't you see that when I find you, I'll find me"
Jess felt his whole body, the familiar warmth and tenderness he held her with, like he did on the balcony once. Her cheeks were filled with heat and her heart pounded. She was happy, not wanting this moment to ever being over.
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
The Captain listened carefully to the words of the unknown song and he was certain that this song reflected everything what he felt. Somehow it lightened his heart. Giving him the strength to keep on doing what he wanted to do, saying what he wanted to say. Yes! This song was perfect.
"My only weakness, is knowing your secrets"
"and holding them close, and holding them tight"
"I know the way to silently make you"
"smile with my eyes, when you're trying to fight"
She rested her other hand right under his large forearm on her belly, smiling brightly and looking straight to her friend sitting on the stage and singing her favourite song. The song she found perfect for telling Becker how she felt. So many times she just wanted to play it to him, to let him know that she was there for him no matter what. And finally, they both sat here, holding each other and listening to the music, it couldn't have been any better.
"Can't you see that when I find you, I'll find me"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
Becker rushed with his free hand over her arm, caressing her soft skin before he lowered his hand, clasping around her and hugging her closer. It felt heaven as he buried his face into her hair, smelling her fragrance, relishing her figure on his body. Moving his lips to the side of her head he gave her - with his eyes closed - a dear long kiss. He started to relax and he felt sure that both their hearts beat in the same time. He breathed in, lowering his chest with every exhale. After he broke the kiss, he rested his lower cheek against her head, not wanting to lose the pleasant contact.
"Cause when I find you, I'll find me"
[Cello solo]
"You know," Jess started in a low voice, "I really like Caleb. We are good friends", pausing shortly she appended, "but that's all we are - just friends." She paused again, awaiting the needed reaction from him which promptly came in form of his thumb, stroking gently across her fingers. Jess took a breath before she kept on speaking. "There is another man inside my heart, and I know there will never be somebody else. I know I will wait for him forever." She admitted. Her eyes fixed to the stage to prevent her from blushing deep red. But both her hands clutched his ones, fearing he could take them back.
"Can't you see that when I find you I'll find me"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
"Oh I need you to know today I'll wait for you always"
Becker squinch his eyes shut as he heard her words. He pressed himself firm against her, kissing her once more on the head before he started to tell. "The day you came back from medical leave, I wanted to tell you … I wanted to tell you what I feel for you but I saw you and Newt, hugging, and after I saw you dancing together I just thought it was too late." He paused feeling sad as the memories rushed back, breathing in and out to calm himself down and giving her another kiss. This time on her cheek bone, caressing her skin with the tip of his nose after he broke the kiss.
"When I find you..."
"When I find you..."
"...I'll find me"
Applause and cheers started to fill the room after the song ended and the melody stopped.
Jess kind of knew what he felt for her, she could feel it. But she wanted to hear it from him; she needed to hear it with her own ears, spoken with his own words. She turned her head and looked into his eyes. "Tell me, Becker. Please, tell me what you wanted to tell me that day, what you feel for me."
Becker sighed and nodded smilingly. He was about to start as he suddenly felt the eight eyes staring at him, literally sticking to his lips and awaiting his confession. He peered to the right, seeing they had the full attention of the rest of the group: Matt grinned boldly. Emily's eyes were filled with happy tears, smiling like they would just get married. Abby smiled her all-knowing smile, her head rested on the shoulder of her fiancé, and Connor gaped at them with eyes and mouth wide open, crossing his fingers like he would watch a snail race, eagerly waiting for his snail, he backed on, to win.
Their stares made him choke his throat and the words didn't want to pass his mouth. Helplessly he looked to Jess and back to them. "I ..." He tried to start but he couldn't. Suddenly it seemed that everyone inside the pub was looking at him and he couldn't say what he wanted to. He didn't want anyone but Jess hearing his words. In a quick decision he stood up, taking her with him.
"Come." Becker pleaded, holding her hand tight.
/-/
Jenkins took a seat at the bar, overseeing the Captain's acting. Ready to interfere in case of emergency and helping him with another shot. But shortly after the music started to play he felt confident that Becker would have success. Nodding towards his commander and sipping on his beer he decided to dedicate his fullest attention to the good looking waitress, he just had sent to his commander, bringing him the beer.
He flirted like a world champion, playing every trump card he had to make sure he wouldn't go home alone tonight. The waitress giggled and smiled at his jokes, now and then lightly stroking with her hands across his forearms and he knew he had her.
Suddenly he felt a strong arm clasping around his neck. Turning his head, he felt himself looking right into his LCpl's eyes.
"Hey, darling. Did I keep you waiting?" Donalds questioned and pecked him on the lips.
Jenkins was flabbergasted and froze. The waitress in contrast wrinkled her nose, rolling her eyes and frowning at the still baffled Private.
"I knew you were gay!" She hissed and walked away.
Finding his voice back, Jenkins tried to put it right. "Hey, what? No, wait!" But it was too late, the woman disappeared behind the staff door.
Jenkins frowned. "Damn it!" He swear and throw his fist on the counter.
The man next to him burst out laughing. Bending his upper body in laugher and clapping the Private on his back he took the seat next to him.
"Was this really necessary?" Aiden asked angrily.
Cian still laughed, holding his belly. "You should have seen your face!" He answered, patting him on his back again.
"I could have had her tonight, bloke!" He rebuked the higher-ranked soldier.
The 2IC still grinned at his mate. "You deserved this." He replied.
"No! I did not! I did a good job! Look at them." Jenkins declared pointing towards the Captain and his girl, watching them leaving the pub.
Donalds nodded his approval. "Your right! You did a good job. The joke was for ordering Juls to shoot at the Captain." He explained in a sudden serious voice.
Aiden looked sheepishly. "She did it freely!" He bluffed it out, pouting.
Nodding and giving him a look of commiseration, the older man replied. "Yeah! Poor little soldier. Doing only kind things and helping with the commander's love life." He patted him again on his back.
"I did good!" Jenkins confirmed.
The other man hugged his friend, kissing him on the temple. "I know, little bro. You're a gem!" Donalds declared, hugging and kissing him again on his temple.
"Yes, yes. I know!" Aiden ordered, but the other man kept on teasing him. "Stop that!" He ordered again, looking wobbly around and becoming aware of several eyes, fixed on the men's acting.
"Hey, Donalds. Stop! The people are already watching us!" He warned, trying to shush the soldier away.
Cian chuckled and let go, slapping him slightly on the back. Lowering his head he whispered into the Private's ear. "If you ever shoot at the Captain again, I'll tell every woman in London that you're gay!"
"All right, Sir! I got the message!" Jenkins huffed, taking a big gulp of his beer.
Donalds smiled at the Private. He really did a good job, but shooting at the Captain really went too far.
/-/
Becker headed for the door and stepped out in the snow. Standing on the ground he turned around. Jess stopped on the last step to look him into the eyes. It was cold outside but she didn't feel it. She only had eyes for Becker and for what he wanted to tell her.
Being positive about they were in private he finally started, looking everywhere but into her eyes while he spoke to make sure he would say everything he wanted to say and not just only crush onto her lips.
"Jess, I think I love you. I don't know whether I really do, because I never felt such feelings before." He took a breath before continuing. "After my sister died, I locked my heart. I let nobody come near me. My parents weren't that emotional and after I joined the army … well, I never learned to show my feelings, and I never cared about them. But then came you. And all I can do is thinking about you whenever you're not around. I dream about you. You drive me crazy … you make me laugh … you scared the death out of me, twice! I already found grey hair, because of you, I think."
He stopped, thinking about the words he would speak next. "I don't know nothing about such things like sharing life, or how it will be to feel happiness for more than five minutes. But what I know is that I want you to be around me. I want to hear your laugh, and your babbling, and I want to smell your fragrance. I want to touch your lips, I want to feel your skin against my skin again. I want to do it all … " He suddenly stopped, thinking about the words he just used. "Yeah, and I definitely want to do it with you!" He confirmed, nodding his head.
Pausing shortly to take a second breath he went on. "I don't want to miss a single minute with you, Jess. I can't think when your not around. I can't sleep when your not around. Jess, I can't even breath when you're not around. And if you have the slightest doubt about this, about me, about us, then just say 'no'. I will accept it. But if you really, really want this then I beg you, please be mine."
Jess stood still, fully baffled, not knowing what to say in the slightest. It was like they changed their minds. Becker bubbling his heart out while she just stood there and listened to his words; his wonderful words; his lovely words.
Seeing her stoney-face, Becker added. "Now that I made a complete fool out of myself, could you please say something?"
She saw his eyes gazing at her, awaiting any reaction and getting nervous by her silence. Still having nothing to say, she did the first thing that came up into her mind. She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him closer, holding his cheeks with both her hands as she gently pressed her lips against his, giving him a passionately kiss.
Becker felt his heart thumping away, rushing the blood through his body. He gasped, taking quick, short breaths and feared he could collapse every minute if he wouldn't get his nerves under control. Still feeling her soft skin on his lips and the barely withstanding feeling of a millions of butterflies flying inside his stomach, turning his tummy into a single formication and sending shivers all over his body.
Leaning forward and clasping his arms around her waist, he pulled her tight against him, lowering the space between them. Rushing down onto her lips, he stole another long passionately kiss from her. The little woman wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as they broke apart, gasping for air. Both their foreheads rested against each other.
"You're mine?" He questioned, just to be sure and to hear her approval.
Jess nodded at him, answering "yours forever" before she closed the gap and they continued with kissing, deeply and hungry for each other. Her hands found their ways up into his hair, gently scratching across the skin and playing with his strands.
Becker pressed her firmer against his body, rushing with his tongue inside her half opened mouth and playing with her tongue, caressing it with long, deep, gently strokes. His hands moved up and down her back, making her feeling warm and pleased.
After a long, never-ending kiss they broke apart for the last time. The Captain could feel her shiver in his arms and he was certain that it wasn't because of her arousal.
"Do you want to go back inside? It's really cold out here." He asked gently, kissing her briefly on her lips again.
Jess nodded but didn't want to let go off him, so it took another couple of minutes before they really walked back into the warm pub.
A/N: Yay! He finally did. And they kissed. Sadly this story is over, but like I told you at the beginning, this is the first part of my trilogy. And the sequel is already at the ready. But you'll have to wait until after New Year's Day, because I'm off.
I wish you all a merry Christmas, lots of presents, lots of happy moments with your family or what else you want to do at that time ^^ and a Happy New Year!
Now, I'll just use this to give some little thanks.
First of all: BIG thank you to lovingthis and YouHaveLovelyHair for doing the beta-read of the chapters. You two did a great job and I know I already said this but you two are AWESOME :o)
Second, I want to say thank you to all my lovely reviewers:
YouHaveLovelyHair and juls124 (wow you reviewed every single chapter, thank you!), Heyarandomgal, lovingthis, JohnLennonLuvva, SveaR, Andrewleepotts, MyWonkySocks, B and B are Back, Mijo54, pincat4569, The Sheep of Destiny, Beth Becker, Cehsja, Jnevadub232, PrawnCrackers, Jo, babycakes10121, ceciilee, Esmeralda Diane Parker and Primevalfan32.
:o)
Then I wanted to say thank you to: BrightBlues123, AdeleAwesome, Mountiegirl, Kendern, Xxchristabellex, Zeus's-little-Girl14, jojokidi, ghostlydoves, Abbeyroadgirl13, Zagreb-girl, Rawwwwwr and TipsyLady for adding my story to your story alerts. You never left a review, so I hope you liked it. ^^
And last but not least a biig thank you to: JohnLennonLuvva, Heyarandomgal, Beth Becker, juls124, JustNormalCrazyMe, B and B are Back, readingdeamon, SveaR, nightmist379, bellabella123, Mijo54, Jnevadub232, babyscardinal and dramaqueen321 for adding my story to your favourite stories.
Wow! That was a really long thank you.
Enjoy your holiday!
:o)