Rating: T
Prompt: Homecoming
Author's Note: And here we have the end of Milestones II. I wasn't quite planning on it ending on this kind of note but... it just happened this way. More babble at the end of the chapter :)

After what felt like far too long, they were finally going home.

Together.

Given that the last time she'd been at their flat was when he'd been lost in time on the wrong side of an anomaly, Jess had once thought it was something they'd never do again.

She was relieved beyond words that she was wrong; thrilled that she was sitting beside him in his truck, her hand on his knee as he drove them home. Occasionally, when he didn't need his hand for driving, he'd lace his fingers with hers, the contact reassuring to them both.

There'd been numerous offers from family and friends to drive them home from the hospital. Becker had declined them all, only accepting a lift from Matt back to the ARC so he could collect his own car and drive Jess home himself.

At the time, she'd been a little confused – it would've made more sense logistically for one of their friends to drive them both home – but, sitting beside him, she understood why and was grateful.

It was his homecoming as well as hers, and it was a moment they wanted to share with no one but each other.

Jess breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled into his regular parking spot, reaching to unfasten her seatbelt so they could make their way into the building. She wasn't surprised when Becker hopped out of the truck first and jogged around it so he could open her car door, smiling at him in thanks and keeping hold of the hand he offered her.

For a moment, they stood outside of the building, looking up at it in silence.

"It's good to be home," she murmured, a contented sigh escaping her.

Beside her, Becker let go of her hand only to wrap his arm around her shoulders, drawing her against his side so he could place a kiss against the top of her head. "It is. But it's cold and we should get you inside in the warm instead of standing here admiring the architecture."

Rolling her eyes, Jess let him lead her into the building, a small smile playing on her lips as he used the familiar security code to get inside. Holding hands, they walked up the stairs to their floor. She started rooting in her handbag for her keys but Becker beat her to it, digging his keys out of his pocket and unlocking the door.

Before she could walk into the flat ahead of him, Becker reached for her, causing a squeal to escape her as he scooped her up into his arms and held her bridal style.

"What are you doing?" She asked a little breathlessly, wrapping her arms around his neck as he adjusted her in his arms. "I can walk, you know."

"I know." He grinned at her but the slightly pink tinge to the tips of his ears gave him away. "But we're celebrating."

Jess arched a sceptical eyebrow. "We are?"

"We are." He kissed her sweetly. "You're home, I'm home. That's cause for celebration, isn't it?"

Her answering smile lit up her whole face. "I think I'd agree with you there." She leaned in to steal another kiss but suddenly pulled back with an arched eyebrow. "You do know this could be misconstrued, don't you? The whole carrying-me-over-the-threshold thing?"

Her mind was still full of talk of weddings and celebrations, whirling with thoughts and ideas she could put forward to Abby and Connor – the former who'd asked if she'd help plan their wedding, the latter who'd been thrilled when she agreed because it meant, in Connor's words, that the wedding would finally happen come hell or high water.

Quirking an eyebrow at her, Becker was careful to keep his expression otherwise neutral as he carried her inside the flat, keeping his hold on her as he kicked the door shut behind them. "Well, we can look at it as practise for, you know, whenever."

"Practise?" Surprise made her voice a notch higher than usual, her arms around his neck tightening slightly. "You think we need to practise?"

"It's a thought." He kissed her again to distract her, relieved when she kissed him back enthusiastically. "There's something else we haven't done in a while," he murmured against her lips, carrying her further into the flat. "Not that I'm saying we're out of practise or anything..."

"Oh, but it has been a while." Her fingers got to work on the buttons of his shirt – the ones she could reach – as she kissed her way to his ear, a laugh escaping her when his grip on her tightened reflexively. "Am I distracting you, Captain Becker?"

"In the best possible way, Miss Parker." He adjusted his hold on her before attempting the stairs up to their bedroom, keeping a firm grip on her until he made it to their bedroom.

Once there, he lay her down gently, following her onto the bed. Instead of immediately moving to resume their earlier activities, he propped himself up on an elbow and gazed at her intently, smirking when his stare made her blush.

"Stop staring," she admonished him quietly, but turned to lie on her side so she could gaze at him in return.

"Why would I want to do that?" Lifting a hand, he smoothed a fingertip over her cheek before tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

"Because there are other things you could be doing instead?" She reached her own hand up to catch his, tangling their fingers together as she moved their hands to the rest on the mattress between them. Her expression grew serious as she studied him just as intently as he was studying her. "I thought you weren't coming back."

He couldn't make her the promise he really wanted to, couldn't lie and say he'd always find his way back to her, no matter how much they both wanted it to be true. "I'll always try to come back," he said eventually, the words a vow he had no intention of breaking. "I'll never give up on hoping there's a way home and trying to make it happen if anything like this happens again."

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear but she knew it was the best he could do and she loved him for meaning it. Lifting their joined hands to her mouth, she pressed her lips to his knuckles, her smile tremulous. "And I'll always be here waiting for you," she promised in return, untangling her hand to press a finger to his lips when he started to protest. "It's my choice, Hil. I know it's not what you'd want for me but it's what I want for myself."

"You'd want to be alone?" It was clear from his expression that he didn't like the idea. No – that he hated it, as much as the thought of Jess with someone else ate him up inside, he despised the thought of her being on her own for the rest of her life even more. "Jess..."

"I'd hardly be alone," she argued quietly, lifting an eyebrow when he looked at her. Between her family and his, and the family they had in the team, they both knew that what she said was true. "And I happen to think you're worth waiting for. No matter how long it takes."

Before he could argue, she covered the gap between them and kissed him, smiling again when she felt his lips part beneath hers after only a few moments of gentle coaxing.

"Enough talk about what might never happen," she murmured after a long pause, rolling onto her back and drawing him down on top of her. "I believe you mentioned something about this being a celebration?"

Chuckling, Becker followed her lead all too willingly, the sombre moment pushed to the back of their minds as they celebrated their reunion and welcomed one another home.

And while that's the end of this particular story, there will be a Milestones III because there's a scene in my head I've had from the very beginning of Milestones I that I haven't been able to write into the series yet. It'll be a shorter story (10 - 12 chapters) focusing on one rather big milestone in Jess and Becker's relationship and will, for the moment at least, be the last story in the series.

A huge, huge, tremendous and sincere thank you to everyone who's been with me during this story: Katdemon1895, Prawn Crackers, PrimevalYank, Mijo54, Nikki, YouHaveLovelyHair, SandyLee Potts, SveaR, lezzles1956, Fluff-n-utter-1, Aithion, Clea2011, JustEllee, spaceman-earthgirl, AGoodOmen, CKC8867, ponyperson, Fairepeacock, TsukiBooks, Scotsfangirl, Emelie, Rubytronix, Finchozombie, tripwatcher2, Janve, holleyberry3, NightmareOfTheDark, Julie Winchester and the various 'guests', whether you're the same person or not. And if there's anyone I've missed, I'm truly sorry and thank you with extra *hugs* to make up for it. You are all amazing, lovely, wonderful people who've made me squee, grin like an idiot and giggle at various times over the last couple of months and it's been a pleasure every time your names have popped up in my inbox. *group hug*

And that's it from me for a while you'll be pleased to know. If all goes well and with a bit of luck, I'll be back in a few weeks, hopefully with some new stories to share. In the meantime, feel free to write lots of Jess/Becker fics for me to come back to! Teehee ;)

Take care, all, and again, thank you,
A xxx