Title: Happy

Fandom: Primeval

Pairing: Becker/Jess

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Neither the show nor the characters belong to me, they belong to ITV1. Nonetheless, I love to borrow them from time to time. The idea of the story as well as the story itself – including all possible pre- or sequels published afterwards – are mine.

Summary: Following "Atonement". Becker and Jess learn a few things about each other – and we learn about the reactions of the team to their relationship. ;)

Warnings: once again not beta-read

AN: This might be the last chapter, so I'll consider the story as finished for now. I think it's a nice end. There's a lot of love and even more fluff – so I hope you like it. Thanks a lot for reading and for all the lovely, encouraging comments feeding my muse. :)

"You know, I really wouldn't have thought it was possible, but this was even better than last night," Jess whispered against his chest, letting her fingers draw invisible patterns on his bare chest.

"Really?" Becker asked, letting his hand run up and down her arm. "I thought last night was perfect."

"It was," Jess assured him, smiling up at him. "But tonight was… even more perfect."

"In this case, we have a problem," he said, grinning at her. "It means there's only one time left, or can you think of anything better than most perfect?"

She giggled. "I don't know, I think it was more because this time, I could fully enjoy it. Well, without the… apprehension, you know."

He lifted her chin to make her look at him, concern written all over his face. "I did hurt you, didn't I?" he asked in a low voice.

"No, you didn't," Jess assured him. "It wasn't like I… never tried anything. I just… didn't have any experience with a partner."

He frowned at her, her words slowly sinking in, and suddenly it dawned upon him. His grin got naughty. "You mean you have toys?"

She blushed, and nodded ever so slightly.

"I'd really like to see them sometime," he told her, grinning even more when her cheeks turned bright red. "Maybe we can… you know, integrate them."

"I… I don't know," she mumbled, her cheeks feeling like they were burning up.

He smiled. It was cute how shy she was about sex – except when they were actually having sex. And he couldn't stop teasing her, just because he loved seeing her blush. He found himself wondering if he could ever talk her into having sex at the ARC.

"I guess I was more afraid that you might notice anything," she said, mostly to change the topic. "Or maybe I was afraid that reality wouldn't be as good as any of my dreams." She bit her lip. Thinking before speaking, Jess!

Becker raised both his eyebrows. "You've been dreaming about me?"

"Ridiculously often," she mumbled.

He frowned, suddenly a little nervous himself. "And… could reality match your dreams so far?"

"No," she whispered, going back to drawing patterns on his chest. "It was so much better. Especially your stripping qualities."

"So, you've been dreaming about me stripping for you," he stated, grinning down at her. "You're a naughty girl, Jessica Parker."

She blushed again. "I wasn't… I mean…" she stuttered.

Becker interrupted her by lifting her chin again and leaning in for a passionate kiss. "You know, I've been dreaming about you, too."

"Really?" she exclaimed. She'd never thought she was the kind of girl men dreamed about.

"Really," he replied, nodding. "And the way you dressed only exalted my imagination. Those short skirts revealing so much of your perfect legs were driving me crazy every day."

She was sure this was a good moment to blush. But she was much too touched by his words. He had been dreaming about her. He thought her legs were perfect. He really thought she was beautiful.

Leaning up, she kissed him passionately. "I never thought men would dream about me," she admitted in a low voice. "Let alone you would."

"I've been in love with you for quite a while, Jess," he replied. "But I only just realized it when I was about to loose you."

"Well, on my part, the butterflies in my stomach every time I saw you were pretty telling," she told him with a giggle, as she placed her head back on his chest.

Grinning, Becker wrapped both his arms around her. "And I thought I had eaten the wrong food," he joked, causing her to giggle.

His hand automatically started running up and down her arm again. He enjoyed the warmth radiating from her body and the intimacy of this embrace. Becker had never been fond of cuddling. But he knew he could get used to this.

"Can I ask you something?" Jess's soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sure," he answered. He had decided not to keep anything from her ever again.

"Well, I… I don't know much about you, so… what's your favourite colour?"

He chuckled. But he had to admit that Jess had a point. They didn't even know the simplest things about each other – yet. "Black," he replied.

"That's not a colour," Jess objected.

"Okay, um… Purple or yellow, but only in form of a short skirt you're wearing," he said. "Even though I have to admit that I like every colour on you. What about you?"

"Blue," she replied. "Every shade of it. What about your favourite drink?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging slightly. "At work, I drink a lot of water. After work I sometimes drink beer or wine. But I wouldn't call any of it my favourite.

"Let me guess. Yours is cappuccino."

"Guilty," Jess admitted with a giggle. "What's your favourite meal?"

"Spaghetti Bolognese," he told her with a chuckle. "Not exactly the haute cuisine."

"It's my favourite, too," Jess objected. "And I think it's totally haute cuisine."

He chuckled at that.

"When…" she started, but it took her a moment to find the courage to pose the question. "When did you loose your parents?"

"When I was twelve," Becker replied. "My dad was working for doctors without borders, and my mom sometimes went with him when he helped building hospitals or treating patients in foreign countries.

"They were building a hospital, providing the people with medication and helping the poor in Angola. Their truck hit a landmine. They were killed outright."

"I'm so sorry," Jess whispered. "Is that… Why you joined the army?"

"Basically, yes," he admitted. "I always thought that a gun is the best protection against almost anything out there."

She just nodded. "What happened afterwards?"

"My grandma took me in," Becker answered. "But… She got cancer when I was fifteen, so I spent three years in foster care. The youth welfare service didn't think she could handle a pubescent boy in her condition."

Jess didn't say anything. She didn't dare asking if his grandmother was still alive.

"You know what's worse about the foster care?" he whispered.

She raised her head to look up at him. "That you get a trash bin for your stuff – as if everything you possess is just that. Trash."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"There's a reason I never mentioned my family," Jess whispered. "My mum had a lot of problems, depressions, that is. When I was six my dad left and she committed suicide – and the youth welfare took me in."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I… never thought of you as someone from the system."

"I was lucky," Jess told him. "I didn't have to stay in foster care very long, and I don't remember much of all this, just the trash bin. It turned out that my mom had a sister, and my aunt was willing to take me in."

"Where is she now?" he quietly asked.

"San Francisco," she replied. "She'd always dreamed about going to America, and when I was old enough she emigrated. She wanted to take me with her, but I wanted to stay here. We basically communicate via email. But she comes to visit me for my birthday and for Christmas."

"I'm lucky you decided to stay," Becker whispered into her hair. "I love you, Jess."

"I love you, Becker," she mumbled against his skin, repressing a yawn.

"You know, it's sad I can never introduce you to my parents," he added, kissing the top of her head. "They would have loved you."

"I would have liked to meet them," she whispered. "I'm sure they would be really proud of you."

"I wouldn't be allowed to tell them anything about us saving the world every day," he objected in a low voice.

"I wasn't talking about your work," she mumbled, already half asleep. "I was talking about the person you are."

He whispered something else to her, but she couldn't quite understand it anymore as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

She woke up when the scent of coffee wafted to her nose. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and saw the blurred image of a tray standing on her bedside table. She felt warm skin under her cheek and fingertips, and heard his steady heartbeat; and she knew this was the way she wanted to wake up for the rest of her life.

"Good morning, beautiful," Becker whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Good morning," she mumbled, unwillingly rising and stretching a little. "You made breakfast," she noted, smiling at him.

"I hope you like coffee and croissants," he said, balancing the tray onto his lap. "I didn't have anything else."

"To be honest, I need coffee in the morning to wake up," she replied, taking one of the cups. "And I love croissants. I've never been too fond of eggs and bacon."

They enjoyed the breakfast, and afterwards shared a shower that lasted much longer than they'd intended it to be, which led to them almost being late for work.

"Someone seems to have had a memorable night," Abby stated, when Jess entered the ADD.

"I did have a very nice evening, that's right," she replied as she sat down on the chair.

"Aw, come on," Emily exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Share some details."

"Your turn first," Jess told her, giving her a challenging look. "How was your first night with Matt?"

"Well, I… We…" Emily stuttered.

"Don't avoid the question," Abby intervened. "How is the food at Gordon Ramsay's? Is it really as good as everyone says it is?"

Jess smiled at her. "Yes, most definitely. And the wine was just as good. The sea scallops were perfect, but the best was the Granny Smith parfait."

"Okay, I'm officially jealous," Abby stated, trying hard to hide the grin that wanted to appear on her face. "What happened after dinner?"

"We took a walk at Battersea Park," Jess replied, trying to look busy.

"Aw, that's totally romantic," Abby said with a sigh. "And… after that?"

"That really is none of your business," Jess tried to defend herself.

"Come on," Abby pressed her. "You said the first time was perfect. All we want to know is if last night was just as good."

Jess sighed. For the first time since she had started working here she really wished for an anomaly to open and save her from the nosy questions Abby and Emily were pelting her with.

"Don't you have some work to do?" Jess heard Lester's stern voice behind her. "The menagerie doesn't run itself, does it?"

"Right," Abby said with a smirk, and disappeared through the main corridor.

"And you," Lester turned to Emily. "While you're here you can as well try making yourself useful. I heard Matt and Becker need some help refilling the armoury."

"Yes, sir," Emily mumbled, bowing out as well.

Jess sighed with relief. The last thing she wanted to do was answering questions about her night with Becker.

"And you can run a complete system check while you're at it," he told Jess, his voice just slightly softer than before.

"Yes, sir," she replied, smiling. "Thank you."

He didn't even try to hide the smirk on his face as he turned to walk back to his office.

The day was quiet, and Jess was looking forward to an equally quiet evening. But her friends had different plans. Abby and Emily decided to have a night out as a team. Both Jess and Becker tried to get out of it, but it was impossible.

"Abby and Emily have tried grilling me about us all day long," Jess said as they were sitting in Becker's truck heading for the bar Abby had chosen. "At least, Lester saved me and sent them away."

"Yeah, Matt and Connor tried the same," Becker told her with a chuckle. "Basically Connor. I guess Abby told him to question me."

"What did you do?" Jess wanted to know.

Becker shrugged. "What I always do. I didn't say anything."

She remembered the moment she'd tried asking him if he had a girlfriend. He'd been silent, just looked at her with the hint of a smile on his face – making her feel incredibly embarrassed. "Yeah, you're pretty good at that."

"You know, you can tell them whatever you want to tell them," Becker said all of a sudden.

Jess turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean it," he assured her. "I don't mind if you want to talk to Abby or Emily about us. I don't want to keep anything between us a secret. Well, except for the stripping maybe."

She giggled. "Trust me, I'm not going to discuss any details with them."

"And I thought it was the gentleman who never tells," Becker mumbled, grinning at her.

"Well, I don't know about Emily and Abby, but I don't want to share bedroom stories with anyone other than you," Jess replied.

This drew a low growl from somewhere deep in his throat. "Do you think they'll notice if we just disappear?"

"I'm afraid we won't make it very far," Jess said, pointing her head towards Abby who had already spotted them and was waving them over.

Becker swore silently. "I'd much rather spend the evening alone with you on my couch, cuddling while we watch a movie. Or in your bed testing your toys."

"Becker," she scolded him. But then a naughty grin appeared on her face, and she leaned over whispering, "That's for later."

He growled again. "If you keep turning me on like this we'll never make it inside that bar, but I'll take you right here and I won't care who'll be watching us."

"How shall we explain to Lester if we're arrested for indecency," Jess asked with a giggle.

She definitely had a point there. The last thing Becker wanted was Lester giving them a sermon. "Well, I guess there's no way we're getting out of this." Sighing, he got out of the car, opening the door for Jess.

"We can as well consider it another date and enjoy the evening," she suggested.

Grinning, Becker put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "Now you're talking."

"Guys, there's something we have to announce," Connor said when they had all gathered around a table in a rather quiet corner of the bar. He tried to sound very official, causing Abby to smirk.

"Abby and I are going to get married," he told them, obviously overflowing with happiness.

"Congratulations," Jess exclaimed, hugging her two friends. "That's great. I can't believe you finally asked her."

"Well, actually, I asked him," Abby corrected.

"Really?" Emily burst out. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Welcome to the twenty-first century," Jess said, grinning at her.

"Jess, Emily, I'd like you to be my bridesmaids," Abby told them, causing both girls to squeal slightly.

"And, of course, I want you two to be my groomsmen," Connor told Becker and Matt.

"And Lester's going to perform the ceremony," Becker joked.

"No, actually, he's walking me down the aisle," Abby replied.

Everyone stared at her flabbergasted for a second, only Jess was smiling.

"Oh, by the way, Emily," Abby said to break the silence. "I don't know if you're familiar with the rite of throwing the bridal bouquet."

"Of course, the maid who catches the bouquet is next to get married," Emily replied.

"Exactly," Abby said with a grin. "And there will only be very few unwed women at the party." She waggled her eyebrows at both Emily and Jess, grinning at Matt and Becker.

The latter took Jess's hand to lead her to the dance floor. "Don't think you're going to scare me off," he told Abby with a grin.

Jess gasped as Becker pulled her dangerously close against his body, turning her knees into jelly. "What are you doing?" she panted. She was sure everyone else in the room was already watching them.

"I'm dancing with you," he whispered into her hair.

Jess's eyes fluttered shut, and a heat ran through her body she shouldn't feel right now, not with so many people around. "This is… not dancing," she objected.

"No?" Becker asked, trying to sound innocent. "Then what is it?"

"Very… inappropriate… for a public place," she panted. "If you keep doing this, we'll really get arrested."

Becker chuckled, swaying her across the dance floor for a little while, her body still pressed mind-blowingly close against his.

"Can I ask you something?" Jess mumbled, basically to keep her brain working.

"Sure, go ahead," he whispered into the crook of her neck, his hot breath sending pleasurable shivers down her spine.

"Would it really not scare you off," she asked quietly, "if I caught the bridal bouquet, I mean?"

He lifted her chin to make her look into his eyes. "No, it wouldn't," he assured her. "I'm serious about us, Jess. I don't want to spend a single day without you again, because you make me very happy, something I haven't been in a very long time, and without trying to rush things, I can say that I can imagine marrying you in the not too distant future. And I… I wanted you to have this." He reached into his pocket and held out a key for her.

Jess blinked at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. He wanted her to have the key to his apartment? "Wow," she said. "Can you… pinch me? Because I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming."

Grinning, he let the key slide into her purse, and then pulled her closer, making her gasp again. "Does that feel like a dream?" he whispered.

"Hey, behave," Abby scolded right next to them, giggling when the couple jumped. "If you're going to dance like this at our wedding, it's going to turn into revelry."

"You were the one depriving us of being on our own tonight," Becker countered. "So you'll have to deal with the consequences."

"You're oversexed," Connor said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it took him long enough to finally make a move on her," Matt jumped in, swaying Emily a little closer to the other two couples. "I guess he just has to make up for the time he missed."

"Oh, look who's talking," Becker responded sarcastically.

"Boys, can we just enjoy this evening," Emily asked with a sigh, "without charging at each other when there're no dinosaurs around?"

Becker and Matt exchanged a grin, but decided not to contradict the girls. They got back to swaying across the dance floor, each couple lost in their own little world for a few moments.

"You know, I didn't dare giving it to you so far," Jess whispered when she was sure the others were far enough not to overhear the conversation. "I thought you might think I'm… you know, possessive or something, but…" She reached into her purse, and a second later let a small key drop into his hand.

He lifted her chin to steal a kiss from her. "I love you," he whispered. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You're great, lovely, hot, wonderful, perfect, sweet… And I love you and am absolutely crazy about you. Plus, you make me feel happy, beautiful, safe, loved… shall I continue?" she replied, smiling up at him.

Grinning, he leaned down again to kiss her deeply.

And he didn't mind kissing her with dozens of people and almost the whole rest of the team around, she mentally added to her daily growing list of things she loved about Becker.

Becker had to admit that he really enjoyed this evening. As much as he'd have loved to have Jess all to himself, he also enjoyed the time off with the rest of the team, people he indeed considered his family.

Abby couldn't stop grinning. Everyone certainly thought it was due to the fact that she and Connor had announced their engagement, so no one was asking her about it. But as a matter of fact, what really had her grinning from ear to ear tonight was seeing Becker and Jess act like a real couple – and not hiding the fact that they were crazy about each other.

After two years of dancing around each other, they had gotten together at last – and they were obviously happy. Finally, she thought.