Primeval Fic: Touchstone Becker/Jess

[hiddencait]

Crossposted here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7141167/2/Just_Kiss_Her_Already

Request: What if the episode with Ethan's bomb had ended differently? They kissed. Composure shattered, Becker refuses to let Jess go when the bomb squad finally arrived.

Warning: Vague spoilers for Episode 4.6! Rated T again.

Touchstone

 

Anyone who'd ever been active duty military, especially anyone active duty and deployed in a war zone, learned very quickly that a near death experience has a variety of effects on a person, both mentally and physically.

There was the adrenaline rush, for one. Becker had gotten used to his breath coming fast and shallow and his entire body trembling sometimes for hours. It might be imperceptible to some, but he knew when his own hands were shaking. Usually he could keep it hidden until he had time to decompress alone somewhere after the furor died down. He tended to be overprotective as hell in this phase too; if one of his men were injured, he'd be prowling the medical facilities fully armed and ready to shoot anyone who threatened the now helpless soldier under his command. It was just instinct: protect the men who protected your back, especially when they were in no state to do it themselves.

Occasionally the adrenaline overload manifested itself in…ahem… other ways. There was a reason most soldiers kept condoms on them, even on the front lines. Becker was just a prone to the "find someone to fuck to prove you're still breathing" reaction as any other soldier; he just liked to think he was better at controlling that reaction. Usually. It really didn't do to have the men under his command see him give in to that on a regular basis, so, well, he just didn't give in.

So, yes, he was used to this sort of thing. He just wasn't used to having to deal with Jess dealing with this sort of thing. When she'd lunged in for a hug after brilliantly disarming the bloody bomb, Becker had returned to embrace on instinct, needing that physical connection as much as she did.

"You are truly brilliant!"

"I was! I am!" Her grin was infectious, and Becker couldn't help grinning back in sheer relief that they both were alive and well. That might have been a mistake, he realized in retrospect; it was hard to keep his teammate at arms length when they shared a smile like that. He could see the exact moment when sheer relief shifted to something else in her eyes. Then she moved, or perhaps he did. Regardless of who started it, the next thing he knew, his mouth was on her's, needy and hungry. He swallowed her faint sound of surprise at the sudden onslaught, and a voice in the back of his mind tried to pull him back, tried to tell him to rein himself in, that he needed to keep himself under control. He didn't though, at least not until the backup Jess had called crashed in all around them.

He managed to pull himself away from her for all of a moment as he barked orders to his men, but then he reached more her again, gathering her back to his side, and wrapping his arms around her. He wanted, needed, her within reach, close enough that he could hope keep her safe if one of the men triggered another of Ethan's gifts. He kept her that close while the room was cleared of any other devices, and then another man entered and approached the pair.

"Is she hurt? Let me look, now," the man, a medic, said, and then he made the mistake of reaching for the woman in Becker's arms.

"Don't touch her!" Becker nearly faltered at the panicked and possessive sound of his own voice in his ears, but it wasn't like he could take back the words. The medic took a shaky step backs, hands up in the universal sign for 'I swear I'm not threatening so please don't hurt me.' Jess was still shaking like mad in his arms. Wasn't she? He risked a bewildered glance down to see her eyes were wide but clear as she stared up at him, and her hand was steady as a rock as it came up to touch his cheek.

"I'm alright, Becker," she said, flattening her palm out to cup his face. Her voice was soft, a tone Becker was shamed to realize he recognized as one someone might use to soothe a skittish animal. "Really, I'm alright. We did it."

Mortified that the others in the room, that she herself, was seeing him crumble, he jerked away from her hand as if stung. He tried to put distance between them, but his traitorous body had other plans, and once again, his hand reached out as if on its own to grab a hold of Jess, clinging to her like a lifeline.

"Sir." The voice was one Becker knew, one he trusted almost as much as the team, as much as the woman who was once again wrapping her arms around him, centering him in the midst of his near hysteria. Michaels, one of the few soldiers Becker had specifically requested for the ARC, stood at parade rest at the medic's shoulder, his eyes focused on his former CO's shaking form. Becker swallowed, but didn't bother trying to hiding his reaction from the man. They'd survived two tours in Afghanistan together: secrets rarely survived on the front line. "Sir," the soldier said again, yanking Becker out of his reverie, "perhaps you should escort Ms. Parker out of here. There might still be other traps left behind, and she's not cleared for field duty."

Part of Becker was laughing hysterically that his Jessica, who'd just dismantled a bloody bomb with very little help from him, wasn't considered cleared for field duty, but the last shred of his mind that was still clear recognized the escape route Michaels was offering him. He didn't risk speaking again, too aware of how raw his emotions might make his voice. Instead he just nodded gratefully to his former 2IC and then forced himself to nod to the medic as well. The medic didn't look nearly as convinced as the soldier that the pair could just stroll on out of the building, but Jess gave a sharp shake of her head and a glare that nearly rivaled Abby's, stalling any objection before the medic could even say anything. Then Jess was walking out of the room, her hand softly tugging Becker's unresisting form behind her.

It wasn't in him to care where she led him, just as long as it was somewhere away, and as long as she allowed him to stay with her.

 

Comments

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

Yeah I had to take a class in HTML once upon a time. It was one of VERY few classes I was ever afraid that I was just flat going to fail lol.

I don't speak Mac either.. must be a the techyfail kicking in lol.