Light - 2/2
Title: Light 2/2
Author: Still me. (Basched.)
Characters: Becker (focus) Connor, Jess, Matt, Lester, OCs,
Genre: Angst,
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warning: None.
Summary: Becoming Captain Becker.
Word Count: 3,355
Author's Note: My second part of my Becker focus fic for Primeval Denial's team fest. My thoughts on how Becker got to be at the ARC and where he is now. This is again, a companion fic with my Matt story "Darkness" and there will be an epilogue to tie these two stories together more. I just hadn't got the time to sort it for the fest, but it will answer a lot! This was beta'd by Fifi--again much thanks to her for the army details. Mistake are mine not hers. Enjoy!
When Colonel Becker allowed his son to return to his assignment, it was far from normal. Weston explained to Hilary that it wasn’t actually Special Forces he was posted to, it was the Lieutenant Colonel himself.
It was arranged for Lieutenant Becker to have personal training under Weston’s tutelage, a much more rigorous and demanding regime than most. He was given several years-worth of study and training all in one go, he was pummelled with so much that on more than one occasion Hilary came close to quitting. He badly wanted to throw everything away, he wanted to ditch the army and everyone he knew, but that never happened. Hilary carried on, he continued to struggle, to prove to the whole world that he was capable of doing anything that was thrown at him.
Weston demanded so much and if Becker wasn’t up to the set standards he wasn’t given any slack or leeway. If he met all expectations or excelled beyond them, if he impressed his superiors, Hilary was given more responsibility, he was given and allowed to have more experiences in the field and abroad.
A lot of his ‘leave’ was used up with study as well, and so much routine and extensive hard work was working him to the bone. He didn’t mind blowing things up or shooting things, in fact Hilary loved it; holding a weapon, firing a gun or engaging in combat was exhilarating but the constant pressure he was put under and the little time he was allowed to breathe and relax was taking its toll on him. Thankfully Weston noticed and allowed him-at last-some free time.
It had seemed liked heaven. Actual leave and free time was bizarre and a strange concept. He would have been quite happy to inventory the armoury, but it was insisted he do something that wasn’t gun related.
So Becker went back to the club he visited after his graduation night. The music was still terrible and the drink was just as bad, but the moment he walked through the door, he felt confident and it certainly helped when a young woman in the crowd of many caught his eye.
Calleigh.
He found out that she liked guns too, and tanks, so there was plenty to talk about.
However, they never got round to doing much talking, they never even left her bed for almost two weeks except for when it was necessary. It was the best time of Hilary’s life, for Calleigh made him feel loved and he felt that he could love her back. It was one of the worst times of his life when he had to leave to return to duty and study.
He never heard from her again despite all the letters he had sent her.
From then on, it was the same with any woman he met and hooked up with over the years. No attachments and no relationships, that was what Weston had told him but Hilary couldn’t help but become emotionally involved. All the years of being told to repress his feelings towards others, he found himself doing the opposite.
Sometimes he found himself being overwhelmed by the emotions and he had to restrain them, but at least now he knew that he had them and that he was capable of feeling rather than being nothing but stone.
Weston and his father never gave him any explanation as to what they were planning for him, or what they wanted him to achieve, but when he was twenty-four a controversial mission soon gave him the answers he had been looking for, even if they weren’t the ones he wanted.
Becker had been sent along on a very important mission, but because of some mistakes made by other superior officers, lives were lost. In that situation, in that moment, abroad and away from the comforts of home, Hilary saw a lot of death, a lot of people he had worked with, fought with and respected died and it nearly broke him, just as his own first kill had done.
However, Hilary ended up making a decision on that mission, one that ended up saving the remaining members of his team and Weston. It was also the decisions he made afterwards that got them all home safely.
Lieutenant Hilary Becker was praised for that. He was commended by his team mates for his bravery to such an extent that the only thing they would accept as a reward was for Becker to be made Captain.
It was made to happen. He was one of the very few to make that rank at such a young age. Hilary Becker earned that right and from then on proved to the men under his command that he was capable and worthy of that rank. There was still a lot to learn, but Weston and the others encouraged him a lot more, instead of buffeting him.
It was at this point in his career that Captain Hilary Becker was at his happiest. With the pressure off-or most of it -he was able to slip into his role and fit in it comfortably. He was content. Even going home and telling his parents was a joy.
Whilst Colonel Becker restrained himself, Hilary noticed the overwhelming pride in his father’s eyes. His mother had cried, tears had rolled down her face, but still neither of them could bring themselves to hug him or say anything more than “well done.” Although he knew they showed as much emotion as they could, it still annoyed him that his own parents couldn’t bring themselves to do more.
“You will fit in under my command quite nicely, son.”
Weston had laughed when Hilary told him about that and then he asked what only one other person had ever asked him.
“What do you want, Captain? What do you want to do? Serve under your father’s command, or… stay here for another year?”
There was only one option and that certainly didn’t please the elder Becker, not one bit.
So for the next six months or so, there was a tug of war with Hilary as his father and other influenced officers tried to get him posted elsewhere, mostly to the worst postings ever. Weston tried to do as much as possible to keep the exceptional young officer with him and with the team who had all come to respect him, but it was a losing battle.
“You have no choice in the matter, Lieutenant Colonel Weston. Captain Becker will be reassigned as of next week, failure to comply will be deemed as disobeying orders and you will be court martialled.”
Becker was beyond furious. They were playing games, his father was playing one huge fucking game with him and it was coming down to this? He was going to take away everything good in his life for his own selfish needs and he would use his power and influence to get his own way.
After smashing up the mess tent-actually making it a mess-Becker had walked out and lobbed one of Harrison’s soup pots way over the rest of camp site, only missing Bennett by a couple of inches. The other men of the troop were quickly made aware that their Captain was not in a good mood.
-----------
“At ease, Captain! Or do you want me to put you down with my fist?!”
Expletives and bouts of incomprehensible angry mutterings came to a halt and Becker then stood to attention, huffing with rage through his nose.
“I understand your resentment, your father is a very difficult man to say no to.”
Hilary didn’t need to be told that. He knew his father better than anyone else and knew all too well what Gregory Becker was capable of.
“However…” Weston stood directly in front of Becker. He placed a hand on Hilary’s shoulder and smiled warmly, “while you may not be able to stay with us, Becker, there is one option left. A friend of mine has a position open in his department in London. They’ve recently suffered a couple of losses in their team and they need a replacement Security chief.”
Becker scoffed with disgust.
“A security guard? My only other option is to be a security guard?”
Weston shook his head.
“Far from it. Becker, this is no ordinary team. It’s a civilian science team and the nature of their work requires strong military back-up. They need one of the best and, well, I’ve told my friend all about you and he’s seen your record. He’s… keen is too strong a word for James… he wants you in on this. He’s requested you.”
“I’m to babysit a bunch of civilian scientists? Seriously, sir? I don’t think so.”
“You think it’s beneath you?”
“I’m not leaving my men, or you, sir, to be a nanny for geeks in lab coats and glasses, or guard test tube experiments!”
“You really are a fool, aren’t you Becker? You are a soldier and you will follow orders and take a reassignment! Now you do actually have a choice in this, you can go and serve under your father’s command or you can take what my friend is offering you!”
“And your friend can prevent me from being stuck with my dad? I seriously doubt that.”
“You don’t know James Lester.” Weston smirked. “The guy is an annoying, snarky bastard, but he gets things done. If he requests you and wants you for the ARC…aside from your refusal, he will get you. I wouldn’t pass up on it, Captain. It’s a good opportunity, it will get you out from your father’s clutches.”
“But I belong here, Colonel! With you, with the men… this is where I feel I should be! Where I have to be!”
Weston understood. More than anything he wished the young man could stay. He was a good soldier, but this whole business with his dad wasn’t going to go away. There had been many times when Craig Weston wanted to tell the young man everything, he wanted to explain why he had this special treatment and why he was being used.
Hilary Becker was being used and all for the selfish means of a few high ranked officers, not just his father.
Weston wasn’t going to admit to any of that, not yet. Right now, all that was important was that the young Captain was kept safe and away from those who would use him as their tools, or kill him.
The ARC was the best place for him. James Lester would see to it.
“Hilary…” Weston used his first name for the first time. He placed a hand on his shoulder and while he’d seen Gregory do the same, the Colonel never got the surprised reaction from Hilary that Weston got now. “Trust me when I say that the ARC is the best place for you.”
“Why is that, sir?” There was a slight waver in his voice.
“Why? Because you are nothing like your father. You’re a good man, and you are the one who has upheld the reputation and honour of the Becker name. If you stay here, you will end up like him and none of us want that. I don’t want that.”
Then Weston did something that surprised them both.
He embraced Hilary Becker in a crushing hug, like a father would do to a son.
-----------
Dinosaurs?
Really?
He had been given the details in a top secret file and Hilary thought it was a joke. He had laughed about it and thought the world had finally gone mad, or he had. He was supposed to be guarding a team investigating strange anomalies that went into the past? He had to keep them safe from creatures long extinct?
His life officially sucked. He was taken away from his men - his brothers - and reduced to nothing more than a shopping mall security guard.
James Lester had shown him what there was of this damaged ARC and told him exactly what was expected of him. The joke Becker made about his experience in dinosaur handling didn’t exactly get the amused reaction he was expecting, but he could tell his new boss liked the sarcastic remark.
Weston was friends with this man? It was difficult to believe.
“Oh by the way…Professor Cutter won’t like you and he’ll go out of his way to make your job as difficult as possible. Try not to take it personally.”
Take it personally? There really couldn’t be anything that this Cutter or the rest of the ‘rank amateurs’ could do that his father hadn’t already done to him. They couldn’t come close.
Cutter was actually a nice bloke, very focused and passionate about the work they did and yes, he did have this tendency to take risks and ignore Becker when it suited him and it did make his job more difficult, but it was a challenge.
Abby Maitland he liked well enough, she seemed pretty centred and with it, but her partner Connor was a strange oddity. He wore hats, scarves and gloves indoors, he was a complete and utter geek and was very prone to getting into trouble, but Becker eventually warmed to him. In some ways Connor felt like a little brother to him, despite the fact that the man was older than Hilary.
Then there was Sarah.
Doctor Sarah Page.
She was beautiful, Hilary was attracted to her straight away, but then the whole dinosaur or prehistoric creature thing in the museum kind of overwhelmed him. He was in a completely different league with this team, he was in way over his head and despite his fondness for Sarah, he never pursued her because if he made one mistake...he could lose a member of his team.
His friends.
He didn’t want to lose any of them.
So when Nick Cutter died, Becker grieved along with the others. He hurt, and seeing his new friends hurt was just as bad. Connor was affected the most and the usually chirpy goofy guy became but a shell. A huge brotherly concern for Connor overcame him, but Becker still felt uncomfortable showing that.
Gregory Becker was wrong. Emotions didn’t make you weak. After Cutter’s death, he saw how these people picked themselves up and how their emotions and their bonds made them closer. Despite losing one of their own, they did become stronger, and when Danny joined the team, they became even more so.
Danny Quinn was a laugh. He reminded Becker greatly of Smithy, but Danny wasn’t as ginger and didn’t have the tendency to shoot spitballs at the back of your head, but Danny did share Smithy’s wicked sense of humour. He also had some similar traits to Cutter, especially for taking risks and ignoring what Becker ordered, but it was because of Danny that weekly trips down the local pub came into effect and the local had really good beer and always showed the six nations rugby on big screens.
The ARC was where Becker finally fitted in. He found his place and his purpose in life, he was a part of a team and he was part of a family. He had never been happier and despite the dangers and the wonder of the creatures they came across, there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be.
Hilary’s father never bothered him here. This was a secret organisation that not even someone of his stature had access to. Becker here was safe from his clutches and influence, he was finally his own man.
-----------
“Ask her out! Go on, mate! I know you like her!”
“This advice from someone who still can’t admit his feelings for the woman whose flat he’s living in? Jeez, Connor, how long have you known and felt like this towards Abby?”
Connor scratched the back of his head and plonked his hat down on his sweat-soaked hair. There was an awkward almost guilty smile before the bright blinding grin.
“Yeah…we’ve know each other a little while now, but I’m working on it! I’m getting there! My plan is slowly unfolding! You, on the other hand, are just pining like a sick little puppy dog! Ask Sarah out! I’m sure she’d say yes! I mean all that black and sexy military get up, how could she say no?”
“Sick little puppy dog? Really?”
“A sick little puppy dog with guns! Go on, action man! Ask her out!”
----------
Everything fell apart. His world crumbled around him.
Before he could even pick up the courage to express his feelings about Sarah, or ask her out on a date, events at the ARC took a turn for the worst.
Connor, Abby and Danny were lost in the past. His friends were missing in a hostile environment, stuck with no way back and on one of the missions to try and find them… he failed to protect the woman he loved.
Sarah died because of him, he had failed to protect her, and her last words as she died in his arms made the regret of not having told her how he felt even more agonising.
“I love you, Becker.”
He quit after hearing that.
The pain was too much and everything hurt beyond measure. He couldn’t function or work, he could barely do anything and if it hadn’t been for Lester giving him a place to stay, Hilary surely would have lost everything. He was a mess and the grief for Sarah and for not knowing what had happened to his friends was unbearable.
But Lester made him come back. They were interviewed about what happened with Connor, Abby and Danny, and it was only when he realised that Lester hadn’t given up on them that Becker decided to stay.
But he resigned his commission. He quit the army and he got hell for that. He got some letters and messages from his parents, even Weston risked a communiqué from whatever location he was in at the time. He didn't care about them.
He would carry on at the ARC, only in the hope of getting Connor and the others back. He would do as he was ordered, but Hilary swore that he would not allow himself to get close to anyone else again.
Jess Parker pretty much put an end to that as soon as he met her.
She was not what he expected at all for a field co-ordinator.
She was very much like Connor, cheerful and bubbly and so small. Her vibrant clothes were a little eccentric but her cheerful and happy nature was infectious. She welcomed him back to ARC and babbled on in such a startling but endearing way. When she mentioned Connor, Abby and Danny her cheerful charm wasn’t so endearing any more. He didn't blame her, he just wished she hadn't said anything to remind him of his pain.
Things didn’t get any better when she mentioned the new field leader.
Matt Anderson.
He looked at the file Jess gave him and felt a strange mixture of revulsion and hope. He let Jess babble on again-“You’d think he’d be old and crusty, but he’s young! Fit too!”- and prevented himself from saying anything further other than the “hmm” he replied with.
This was the guy who was going to be the boss now? He had some impressive qualifications, he was even ex-military, but Hilary saw Anderson’s requests for the security team to be in plain clothes and thought it beyond ridiculous, along with the absurd statement that that he had climbed Everest.
This Matt Anderson was not going to be easy to work with.
“Pleased to meet ya.”
When he finally came face to face with the Irishman, it took all his strength not to flip out there and then, or to criticise him for not being Cutter or Danny. He kept his mouth shut when he wanted to tell him that he could never replace his lost friends.
Anderson was completely stoic though. He was hard to read as he didn’t show a single emotion until they reached the armoury.
When they were alone, when Hilary looked down into those familiar blue eyes, that same beautiful and charming grin spread across Anderson’s face.
“So, ‘sweet thing’, we meet again! This is going to be interesting, isn’t it?”
Author: Still me. (Basched.)
Characters: Becker (focus) Connor, Jess, Matt, Lester, OCs,
Genre: Angst,
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warning: None.
Summary: Becoming Captain Becker.
Word Count: 3,355
Author's Note: My second part of my Becker focus fic for Primeval Denial's team fest. My thoughts on how Becker got to be at the ARC and where he is now. This is again, a companion fic with my Matt story "Darkness" and there will be an epilogue to tie these two stories together more. I just hadn't got the time to sort it for the fest, but it will answer a lot! This was beta'd by Fifi--again much thanks to her for the army details. Mistake are mine not hers. Enjoy!
When Colonel Becker allowed his son to return to his assignment, it was far from normal. Weston explained to Hilary that it wasn’t actually Special Forces he was posted to, it was the Lieutenant Colonel himself.
It was arranged for Lieutenant Becker to have personal training under Weston’s tutelage, a much more rigorous and demanding regime than most. He was given several years-worth of study and training all in one go, he was pummelled with so much that on more than one occasion Hilary came close to quitting. He badly wanted to throw everything away, he wanted to ditch the army and everyone he knew, but that never happened. Hilary carried on, he continued to struggle, to prove to the whole world that he was capable of doing anything that was thrown at him.
Weston demanded so much and if Becker wasn’t up to the set standards he wasn’t given any slack or leeway. If he met all expectations or excelled beyond them, if he impressed his superiors, Hilary was given more responsibility, he was given and allowed to have more experiences in the field and abroad.
A lot of his ‘leave’ was used up with study as well, and so much routine and extensive hard work was working him to the bone. He didn’t mind blowing things up or shooting things, in fact Hilary loved it; holding a weapon, firing a gun or engaging in combat was exhilarating but the constant pressure he was put under and the little time he was allowed to breathe and relax was taking its toll on him. Thankfully Weston noticed and allowed him-at last-some free time.
It had seemed liked heaven. Actual leave and free time was bizarre and a strange concept. He would have been quite happy to inventory the armoury, but it was insisted he do something that wasn’t gun related.
So Becker went back to the club he visited after his graduation night. The music was still terrible and the drink was just as bad, but the moment he walked through the door, he felt confident and it certainly helped when a young woman in the crowd of many caught his eye.
Calleigh.
He found out that she liked guns too, and tanks, so there was plenty to talk about.
However, they never got round to doing much talking, they never even left her bed for almost two weeks except for when it was necessary. It was the best time of Hilary’s life, for Calleigh made him feel loved and he felt that he could love her back. It was one of the worst times of his life when he had to leave to return to duty and study.
He never heard from her again despite all the letters he had sent her.
From then on, it was the same with any woman he met and hooked up with over the years. No attachments and no relationships, that was what Weston had told him but Hilary couldn’t help but become emotionally involved. All the years of being told to repress his feelings towards others, he found himself doing the opposite.
Sometimes he found himself being overwhelmed by the emotions and he had to restrain them, but at least now he knew that he had them and that he was capable of feeling rather than being nothing but stone.
Weston and his father never gave him any explanation as to what they were planning for him, or what they wanted him to achieve, but when he was twenty-four a controversial mission soon gave him the answers he had been looking for, even if they weren’t the ones he wanted.
Becker had been sent along on a very important mission, but because of some mistakes made by other superior officers, lives were lost. In that situation, in that moment, abroad and away from the comforts of home, Hilary saw a lot of death, a lot of people he had worked with, fought with and respected died and it nearly broke him, just as his own first kill had done.
However, Hilary ended up making a decision on that mission, one that ended up saving the remaining members of his team and Weston. It was also the decisions he made afterwards that got them all home safely.
Lieutenant Hilary Becker was praised for that. He was commended by his team mates for his bravery to such an extent that the only thing they would accept as a reward was for Becker to be made Captain.
It was made to happen. He was one of the very few to make that rank at such a young age. Hilary Becker earned that right and from then on proved to the men under his command that he was capable and worthy of that rank. There was still a lot to learn, but Weston and the others encouraged him a lot more, instead of buffeting him.
It was at this point in his career that Captain Hilary Becker was at his happiest. With the pressure off-or most of it -he was able to slip into his role and fit in it comfortably. He was content. Even going home and telling his parents was a joy.
Whilst Colonel Becker restrained himself, Hilary noticed the overwhelming pride in his father’s eyes. His mother had cried, tears had rolled down her face, but still neither of them could bring themselves to hug him or say anything more than “well done.” Although he knew they showed as much emotion as they could, it still annoyed him that his own parents couldn’t bring themselves to do more.
“You will fit in under my command quite nicely, son.”
Weston had laughed when Hilary told him about that and then he asked what only one other person had ever asked him.
“What do you want, Captain? What do you want to do? Serve under your father’s command, or… stay here for another year?”
There was only one option and that certainly didn’t please the elder Becker, not one bit.
So for the next six months or so, there was a tug of war with Hilary as his father and other influenced officers tried to get him posted elsewhere, mostly to the worst postings ever. Weston tried to do as much as possible to keep the exceptional young officer with him and with the team who had all come to respect him, but it was a losing battle.
“You have no choice in the matter, Lieutenant Colonel Weston. Captain Becker will be reassigned as of next week, failure to comply will be deemed as disobeying orders and you will be court martialled.”
Becker was beyond furious. They were playing games, his father was playing one huge fucking game with him and it was coming down to this? He was going to take away everything good in his life for his own selfish needs and he would use his power and influence to get his own way.
After smashing up the mess tent-actually making it a mess-Becker had walked out and lobbed one of Harrison’s soup pots way over the rest of camp site, only missing Bennett by a couple of inches. The other men of the troop were quickly made aware that their Captain was not in a good mood.
-----------
“At ease, Captain! Or do you want me to put you down with my fist?!”
Expletives and bouts of incomprehensible angry mutterings came to a halt and Becker then stood to attention, huffing with rage through his nose.
“I understand your resentment, your father is a very difficult man to say no to.”
Hilary didn’t need to be told that. He knew his father better than anyone else and knew all too well what Gregory Becker was capable of.
“However…” Weston stood directly in front of Becker. He placed a hand on Hilary’s shoulder and smiled warmly, “while you may not be able to stay with us, Becker, there is one option left. A friend of mine has a position open in his department in London. They’ve recently suffered a couple of losses in their team and they need a replacement Security chief.”
Becker scoffed with disgust.
“A security guard? My only other option is to be a security guard?”
Weston shook his head.
“Far from it. Becker, this is no ordinary team. It’s a civilian science team and the nature of their work requires strong military back-up. They need one of the best and, well, I’ve told my friend all about you and he’s seen your record. He’s… keen is too strong a word for James… he wants you in on this. He’s requested you.”
“I’m to babysit a bunch of civilian scientists? Seriously, sir? I don’t think so.”
“You think it’s beneath you?”
“I’m not leaving my men, or you, sir, to be a nanny for geeks in lab coats and glasses, or guard test tube experiments!”
“You really are a fool, aren’t you Becker? You are a soldier and you will follow orders and take a reassignment! Now you do actually have a choice in this, you can go and serve under your father’s command or you can take what my friend is offering you!”
“And your friend can prevent me from being stuck with my dad? I seriously doubt that.”
“You don’t know James Lester.” Weston smirked. “The guy is an annoying, snarky bastard, but he gets things done. If he requests you and wants you for the ARC…aside from your refusal, he will get you. I wouldn’t pass up on it, Captain. It’s a good opportunity, it will get you out from your father’s clutches.”
“But I belong here, Colonel! With you, with the men… this is where I feel I should be! Where I have to be!”
Weston understood. More than anything he wished the young man could stay. He was a good soldier, but this whole business with his dad wasn’t going to go away. There had been many times when Craig Weston wanted to tell the young man everything, he wanted to explain why he had this special treatment and why he was being used.
Hilary Becker was being used and all for the selfish means of a few high ranked officers, not just his father.
Weston wasn’t going to admit to any of that, not yet. Right now, all that was important was that the young Captain was kept safe and away from those who would use him as their tools, or kill him.
The ARC was the best place for him. James Lester would see to it.
“Hilary…” Weston used his first name for the first time. He placed a hand on his shoulder and while he’d seen Gregory do the same, the Colonel never got the surprised reaction from Hilary that Weston got now. “Trust me when I say that the ARC is the best place for you.”
“Why is that, sir?” There was a slight waver in his voice.
“Why? Because you are nothing like your father. You’re a good man, and you are the one who has upheld the reputation and honour of the Becker name. If you stay here, you will end up like him and none of us want that. I don’t want that.”
Then Weston did something that surprised them both.
He embraced Hilary Becker in a crushing hug, like a father would do to a son.
-----------
Dinosaurs?
Really?
He had been given the details in a top secret file and Hilary thought it was a joke. He had laughed about it and thought the world had finally gone mad, or he had. He was supposed to be guarding a team investigating strange anomalies that went into the past? He had to keep them safe from creatures long extinct?
His life officially sucked. He was taken away from his men - his brothers - and reduced to nothing more than a shopping mall security guard.
James Lester had shown him what there was of this damaged ARC and told him exactly what was expected of him. The joke Becker made about his experience in dinosaur handling didn’t exactly get the amused reaction he was expecting, but he could tell his new boss liked the sarcastic remark.
Weston was friends with this man? It was difficult to believe.
“Oh by the way…Professor Cutter won’t like you and he’ll go out of his way to make your job as difficult as possible. Try not to take it personally.”
Take it personally? There really couldn’t be anything that this Cutter or the rest of the ‘rank amateurs’ could do that his father hadn’t already done to him. They couldn’t come close.
Cutter was actually a nice bloke, very focused and passionate about the work they did and yes, he did have this tendency to take risks and ignore Becker when it suited him and it did make his job more difficult, but it was a challenge.
Abby Maitland he liked well enough, she seemed pretty centred and with it, but her partner Connor was a strange oddity. He wore hats, scarves and gloves indoors, he was a complete and utter geek and was very prone to getting into trouble, but Becker eventually warmed to him. In some ways Connor felt like a little brother to him, despite the fact that the man was older than Hilary.
Then there was Sarah.
Doctor Sarah Page.
She was beautiful, Hilary was attracted to her straight away, but then the whole dinosaur or prehistoric creature thing in the museum kind of overwhelmed him. He was in a completely different league with this team, he was in way over his head and despite his fondness for Sarah, he never pursued her because if he made one mistake...he could lose a member of his team.
His friends.
He didn’t want to lose any of them.
So when Nick Cutter died, Becker grieved along with the others. He hurt, and seeing his new friends hurt was just as bad. Connor was affected the most and the usually chirpy goofy guy became but a shell. A huge brotherly concern for Connor overcame him, but Becker still felt uncomfortable showing that.
Gregory Becker was wrong. Emotions didn’t make you weak. After Cutter’s death, he saw how these people picked themselves up and how their emotions and their bonds made them closer. Despite losing one of their own, they did become stronger, and when Danny joined the team, they became even more so.
Danny Quinn was a laugh. He reminded Becker greatly of Smithy, but Danny wasn’t as ginger and didn’t have the tendency to shoot spitballs at the back of your head, but Danny did share Smithy’s wicked sense of humour. He also had some similar traits to Cutter, especially for taking risks and ignoring what Becker ordered, but it was because of Danny that weekly trips down the local pub came into effect and the local had really good beer and always showed the six nations rugby on big screens.
The ARC was where Becker finally fitted in. He found his place and his purpose in life, he was a part of a team and he was part of a family. He had never been happier and despite the dangers and the wonder of the creatures they came across, there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be.
Hilary’s father never bothered him here. This was a secret organisation that not even someone of his stature had access to. Becker here was safe from his clutches and influence, he was finally his own man.
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“Ask her out! Go on, mate! I know you like her!”
“This advice from someone who still can’t admit his feelings for the woman whose flat he’s living in? Jeez, Connor, how long have you known and felt like this towards Abby?”
Connor scratched the back of his head and plonked his hat down on his sweat-soaked hair. There was an awkward almost guilty smile before the bright blinding grin.
“Yeah…we’ve know each other a little while now, but I’m working on it! I’m getting there! My plan is slowly unfolding! You, on the other hand, are just pining like a sick little puppy dog! Ask Sarah out! I’m sure she’d say yes! I mean all that black and sexy military get up, how could she say no?”
“Sick little puppy dog? Really?”
“A sick little puppy dog with guns! Go on, action man! Ask her out!”
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Everything fell apart. His world crumbled around him.
Before he could even pick up the courage to express his feelings about Sarah, or ask her out on a date, events at the ARC took a turn for the worst.
Connor, Abby and Danny were lost in the past. His friends were missing in a hostile environment, stuck with no way back and on one of the missions to try and find them… he failed to protect the woman he loved.
Sarah died because of him, he had failed to protect her, and her last words as she died in his arms made the regret of not having told her how he felt even more agonising.
“I love you, Becker.”
He quit after hearing that.
The pain was too much and everything hurt beyond measure. He couldn’t function or work, he could barely do anything and if it hadn’t been for Lester giving him a place to stay, Hilary surely would have lost everything. He was a mess and the grief for Sarah and for not knowing what had happened to his friends was unbearable.
But Lester made him come back. They were interviewed about what happened with Connor, Abby and Danny, and it was only when he realised that Lester hadn’t given up on them that Becker decided to stay.
But he resigned his commission. He quit the army and he got hell for that. He got some letters and messages from his parents, even Weston risked a communiqué from whatever location he was in at the time. He didn't care about them.
He would carry on at the ARC, only in the hope of getting Connor and the others back. He would do as he was ordered, but Hilary swore that he would not allow himself to get close to anyone else again.
Jess Parker pretty much put an end to that as soon as he met her.
She was not what he expected at all for a field co-ordinator.
She was very much like Connor, cheerful and bubbly and so small. Her vibrant clothes were a little eccentric but her cheerful and happy nature was infectious. She welcomed him back to ARC and babbled on in such a startling but endearing way. When she mentioned Connor, Abby and Danny her cheerful charm wasn’t so endearing any more. He didn't blame her, he just wished she hadn't said anything to remind him of his pain.
Things didn’t get any better when she mentioned the new field leader.
Matt Anderson.
He looked at the file Jess gave him and felt a strange mixture of revulsion and hope. He let Jess babble on again-“You’d think he’d be old and crusty, but he’s young! Fit too!”- and prevented himself from saying anything further other than the “hmm” he replied with.
This was the guy who was going to be the boss now? He had some impressive qualifications, he was even ex-military, but Hilary saw Anderson’s requests for the security team to be in plain clothes and thought it beyond ridiculous, along with the absurd statement that that he had climbed Everest.
This Matt Anderson was not going to be easy to work with.
“Pleased to meet ya.”
When he finally came face to face with the Irishman, it took all his strength not to flip out there and then, or to criticise him for not being Cutter or Danny. He kept his mouth shut when he wanted to tell him that he could never replace his lost friends.
Anderson was completely stoic though. He was hard to read as he didn’t show a single emotion until they reached the armoury.
When they were alone, when Hilary looked down into those familiar blue eyes, that same beautiful and charming grin spread across Anderson’s face.
“So, ‘sweet thing’, we meet again! This is going to be interesting, isn’t it?”