Past Remembered

by ILLK

A little something from Webb's past jumps up

Title: Past Remembered
Author: Sherry Chen
E-mail: junruichen@aol.com
Rating: PG
Classification: JS, I think
Spoilers: I have no idea
Summary: Clayton Webb's past comes back up to haunt him and the rest of the world.


"Hello AJ." Clayton Webb greeted Admiral Chegwidden as he walked into his office at
JAG. AJ was at his desk.

"What do you want Webb?" he demanded

"Why do you always assume I want something?"

"Because you always do" Clayton sat down in front of the Admiral's desk

"Where's Rabb?"

"On a case, I guess you've just lost a opportunity to use my officers again." he answered sarcastically

"Where's Mac?"

"With Rabb."

"How about Bud?" at that point the Admiral could tell that Webb was getting desperate.

"He's with them too."

"You won't be able to use any of them." he added as Webb sat thinking. His eyes darted around as if he expect something to happen. AJ dismissed that. He thought it was another one of those spook things.

"How's Ensign Simms doing?"

"Don't even think about it!!!" AJ threatened as stood up towering above Webb.

"All right, sheesh you would think I was trying to use your officers in one of my missions again." he replied sarcastically.

"Aren't you?" said AJ. He was getting a bit suspicious now, what the hell was Webb getting at?!

"No, I quit." Webb replied simply

"You what?" Chegwidden couldn't believe what he was hearing. Once a spook, always a spook. There's no such thing as an *ex* CIA agent.

"I quit the CIA, or rather they threw me out." he said with out any emotion, but any idiot could see that he was hurting.

"At least now I know *even* spooks have good judgment." he said mockingly

"Oh very funny." Webb didn't even put up fight. "I need to know where Rabb is."

"I said he's on a case" AJ was getting annoyed. How many times does he need to say that until he gets it?!

"Do me a favor? The next time you hear from him tell him "esperidante". He'll know what it means." Webb got up and headed for the door.

"What the hell is going on here Webb?!?!" he demanded.

"I'm sorry AJ. For what it's worth I've always respected you." With that he left the room with Admiral Chegwidden standing speechless in the middle of his office.

What the hell is going on?

*****

Commander Rabb had just recently finished a case in the Pacific and had parked his car at JAG headquarters. He had gotten a message from Bud that the Admiral want to see him.

He and the Colonel had just flown in the night before and he was feeling a bit sluggish. He swung around a corner and was heading for his office. Tiner stopped him about halfway to his office.

"Sir, the Admiral wants to see you." he said curtly.

Rabb stopped, "Yes, Tiner, I know." Rabb sighed, "Do you what about?"

"I'm not sure, Sir." Tiner said hesitantly, "He seemed a bit upset, but I'm not sure what about."

"Thanks Tiner. I'll be there in a moment." Tiner snap to and left. Rabb walked over to his office and set down his briefcase and coat.

He then proceeded to Admiral Chegwidden's office. He knocked on the door. "Sir?"

"Come in" the Admiral's voice commanded.

Rabb opened the door and stood at attention in front of the Admiral.

"Commander Rabb reporting as ordered order, Sir!"

The Admiral stood up. "At ease!"

Rabb relaxed a bit.

"So how was the Ryan Case?" Chegwidden questioned.

"Fine, Sir. We managed to get him acquitted of all the charges." Rabb wondered what this was all about. It certainly wasn't about the Ryan Case.

"Good, good. Commander Rabb, guess who paid me a visit while you were away?"

"I...I have no idea."

"Sir." Rabb remembered.

"Clayton Webb was here yesterday." Admiral Chegwidden said bluntly.

"Webb? What was Webb doing here?" Most likely to involve Mac and I on another of his *Missions*. Rabb thought.

The Admiral keep talking, "I was hoping you can tell me, Commander. He wanted to see you but I told him that you were on a case."

"Sir, I have no idea why Webb would want to see me." Rabb said.

Admiral Chegwidden walked over to the Commander.

"He said to tell you esperidante. Commander do *you* know what the hell Webb wants?" he commanded.

"No, sir."

"Good. I would to see you in another of Webb's operations." the Admiral walked back over to his desk and sat back down. "Webb also mentioned something odd."

"Sir?" Harm asked questionably.

"He said that 'for what it's worth, he's always respected me'." the Admiral saw that Rabb had a funny expression on his face. "Is something wrong Commander?"

"No, Sir. It's just that it doesn't sound like Webb."

"I know what you mean."

"Permission to speak?" Harm asked.

"Go ahead."

"Sir, I'm not sure what Webb's doing but I intended to find out." he said as he hoped that the Admiral would let him.

The Admiral grunted, "Fine, Commander. Just don't let it interfere with your work."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Dismissed" AJ commanded.

*****

"Tiner" Admiral Chegwidden called.

Tiner stepped into the Admiral's office. "Sir?"

"Get Rabb."

"Yes sir." Tiner was about to get Harm when he stopped, "Sir? Didn't you just talk to him?"

"Yes Tiner I did." he said impatiently. "Well? Go and get him!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Tiner left for the Commander's office.

*****

"Hey, flyboy." Mac said as she knocked on Harm's door.

Harm looked up. He smiled, "Hey Mac."

"So what did the Admiral want?" Mac asked as she walked in.

"Oh it's nothing, just something about Webb." replied Harm.

Sarah smiled, "It's not another one of his *missions* is it?" Mac laughed, "I don't think I can survive anymore of those."

"Oh, it's nothing. Webb was just acting a bit strange, that's all. He-" Harm was interrupted by Petty Officer Tiner.

"Sir? The Admiral wants to see you in his office now, sir."

"What?! Again?! I just came from there." said Rabb bewildered.

"I know, Sir. He wants to see you again."

"Fine" he sighed. "I'll never be able to get any work done at this rate." grumbled Harm as he head for the Admiral's Office.

*****

"You wanted to see me Sir?"

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you something."

"What's that?" asked Harm.

"Webb said he quit." the Admiral said simply.

"He quit? What did he quit?"

"The CIA." Chegwidden said simply.

Harm just stood there, digesting what he had just said. "You have got to be kidding!" he finally said, "Webb would never quit, the CIA is his life, Sir!"

There was no way Webb could quit.

"I know." the Admiral sighed, "He said he was thrown out."

"But..., Sir! Webb wouldn't do anything to get himself thrown out."

"Like I said before, I want to know the whole story." Chegwidden stared at Harm.

"Yes, Sir! I'll find it out." AJ felt a bit better, he saw the determination in the Commander's eyes. Harm won't stop until he found out the truth.

"Dismissed!"

******

The next day.

Webb strolled into JAG and head for AJ's office.

He stopped by Tiner's desk.

"Is the Admiral in?" he asked quickly.

"Yes, Sir."

"I need to speak with him and Commander Rabb." he said impatiently, "NOW, Tiner!"

"Yes sir. Commander Rabb is already in there." Tiner said through his teeth.

"Good." Webb barged in to AJ's office.

"Hello AJ."

"Webb." Admiral Chegwidden said through gritted teeth, "Twice in one week. Lucky me."

Rabb just sat there not saying a thing.

Webb walked over to his desk, "I need your people."

"HELL NO, Webb!" burst Chegwidden, "The last they helped you they-" AJ stopped short. "Weren't you fired?" he asked questionably.

Clay looked a bit shocked, "I don't think so AJ." he said sarcastically, "I'm sure you'll would love that, but it'll never happen."

"What game are you playing Webb?!" demanded Chegwidden.

"What game?" he demanded.

"The other day you visited the Admiral and said the CIA threw you out." Harm finally said.

"Yeah, right." he scoffed.

"I was in Iraq for the past week, AJ. I only flew in this morning." Webb grinned, "I think your mind's playing tricks on you Admiral."

"I knew it was too good to be true." AJ said corrosively.

"I need the Commander and Colonel Mackenzie."

"No." AJ said firmly.

"Orders from the SecNav." Clay smirked, you could tell he was enjoying this.

AJ was fuming! There was nothing he could do.

"What is it this time?" Harm asked.

"Call the Colonel AJ."

"Fine." Chegwidden said bitterly. He pushed the intercom button. "Tiner!"

"Sir?" the meek voice of Petty Officer Tiner rang out.

"Get Colonel Mackenzie in here now."

"Yes sir."

*****

"Colonel Mackenzie reporting as ordered." Mac stood at attention.

Mac could tell that what ever the Admiral had asked to see her for was not good.

Chegwidden looked as if he was ready to kill someone and even Rabb looked a bit uneasy.

Plus whenever Clayton Webb was around there was going to be trouble.

"At ease!"

Mac relaxed a bit. "Sir?" she asked, "What is this about?"

"I'll let Mr. Webb explain that Colonel."

Webb quickly described the crisis in the Middle East.

"An extremist group calling themselves 'The Sons Of Allah' are demanding that all the money from the sale of oil from the Middle East be sent to their Swiss account. They believe that as the true people of Allah that they should get what is theirs"

"What does that have to do with us?" asked Harm.

"1 week ago the USS Tangent discovered that it was missing 4 of their nuclear war heads."

"What?!" gasped Mac.

"Why wasn't I informed?" demanded AJ.

"We need to keep this under wraps until we found out where the war heads are. We found them. 'The Sons Of Allah' have them and are threating to deploy them on the world if we don't deliver."

"Son of a Bitch" cursed AJ.

"Are you sure?" asked Harm.

"It's been confirmed." Webb ran a hand through his hair. "We think the theft was an inside job. Someone or someones on the ship was in on it."

"Why the hell are you worrying about how they got them?! We may be on the brink of a nuclear attack!" yelled Chegwidden.

"We don't, let me emphesize that for you, *DON'T* know where The Sons of Allah are hiding. Where ever they are, they're doing a damn well job of concealing it. They might know where they're hiding."

"Since they're Navy, they'll respond better to the Commander and the Colonel than they will me."

For once in his life the Admiral agreed with Webb.

"You and the Colonel ready for this?" he asked.

"Aye, aye sir!" they responded together.

"Good. We leave tonight." Clayton informed the team.

*****

Webb sat down and buckled his seat belt. He was glad he got the window seat, he'd always liked the view from an airplane.

But his good mood was short-lived. Rabb had just sat next to him.

"What are you doing here?!" Clay demanded. He had gotten that seat for Mac.

Harm grinned, "Mac wanted a window seat so I offered to trade. I guess it's just you and me."

Webb scowled, "Oh, shut up. I'm not in the mood."

"Geez Webb, you don't have to be so rude." Harm settled down as the plane prepare to take off.

Clay tried to concentrate on the case but he found that his mind kept wandering off.


"Hey Clay, I dare you!" a young boy shouted. He had light wavy brown hair.

"I don't know..." a boy said unsure of the task at hand. He was clearly Webb when he was younger. Even at a young age Clayton was pretty cute.

It was a beautiful day and the two boys were at a nearby pond. Running across the pond was a thin pipe and the boy had just dared Clayton to walk across it.

"Awww.... are you chicken?! Bawk, Bawk-Bawk, Bawk!!!" the boy mocked.

Clay's eyes flashed with anger, he had no right to call him that! "Let see you do it, Billy!" Clay snarled as he shoved Billy down. Billy jumped right back up, "Fine!" Billy then proceeded to the pipe.

Webb watched as Billy got on the pipe. The pipe was about 4 inches wide and a few yards long. Billy carefully balance his feet on it. He took a small step forward and teetered a bit. He regained his poise and took another step forward, this time with more confidence.

Soon Billy was almost halfway across. Suddenly his foot slipped, Clay's heart skipped a beat and waited for the splash but never heard it. He looked at pipe and there was Billy grinning at him. Billy had done it on purpose! Clay's face twisted in anger and yelled, "That's not funny!!"

"You should of seen yourself" Billy yelled back, "You were sooo scared." Billy laughed.

"Hurry up! I have to be home soon. Mother's having company over." Webb said with a grimace.

"Poor baby..." Billy cooed.

Webb's face turned a slight red, he should never of said that. "I'm leaving." he said bluntly, unwilling to lose what was left of his pride.

Suddenly Billy yelped. *Not again* Clay thought as he walked away, but then there was a loud thunk, the kind of something human hitting metal. Whirling around just in time to see Billy falling in the pond. "BILLY!!!"

*****

"Clay. CClllaaay? Clay!" Harm's voice broke into his thoughts. *Why now?!* he asked himself.

"What?!" Webb snapped.

"Just wanted to know you were still with us. What's up with you?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." Webb said quickly.

"Right" Rabb said unconvinced. Harm's face softened, "Really, what's wrong?" He had notice the Agent in a weird state, just staring out into space as if he was reliving something in his past. And by the way he was getting paler and paler Harm assumed it wasn't pleasant.

Webb sighed inward, "It's nothing, really. Just bad memories."

Harm raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Care to elaborate?"

"Not really. Look, Rabb, we've got a long week ahead. I've had about 6 hours of sleep during the last few days, I would appreciate that you leave me alone."

"Fine." Harm sat back into his chair and gave up the matter. He slowly dozed off.

******

Webb sat until he was sure that the Commander was asleep. He got up and went searching for Mac.

He found her, a few rows back with an empty seat next to her. She must of canceled at the last moment Clay thought as he recalled the young blond woman that had occupied the seat when the group was boarding.

Mac was reading the new Grisham novel when Clay sat down next to her. She looked up. "Hey."

"Hello Mac" Clay said casually.

Mac laid down the book, "Where's Harm?"

*Rabb again!* Clay knew he would never have a chance with Mac, but that never stopped him before.

"He's asleep. Look, Mac, I was wondering, could we talk?"

Mac smiled one those brilliant smiles of her's, "Sure Webb. What about?" she said with a laugh.

Webb opened his mouth as if to say something, he quickly closed it again. "Never mind, I uh... got to go." Webb got up quickly with a stunned Marine watching him.

"What's wrong with him?" Mac muttered.

******

Webb got back to his seat rather quickly. Rabb was still sleep and Webb slipped back into his seat. He had done it again! He tried, he really did, but in the end he failed and lost his nerve. *I should of told her. What was I so afraid of?! Esperidante? No, well maybe.* Clay thought glumly.

Clay thought back to that fateful day, the day that Billy fell down. *Of all the times that had to show up!* he silently cursed himself.

Webb remember his fear, his shock at seeing Billy's blood mix with the pond water. The pond wasn't very deep, but deep enough. Clay panicked, for the first time in his life he felt like everything was out of control.

Billy had hit his head when he fell, that's where all the blood came from. Clay had drove right in to save his friend. Webb couldn't remember clearly what had happen next few hours, but he remembered Billy's still form as he dragged him out, he remember all the blood, it just wouldn't stop! It just kept coming, coming and coming! Somehow someone called an ambulance and Billy was quickly taken away.

Clay shuddered as he remember all the blood and how it just keep on going. That scene had haunted him for nearly 2 decades.

******

"Come on Rabb, time to wake up!" Webb nudged the Commander as the plane landed. The flight over had helped Webb gather his thoughts about Mac, about Harm, Esperidante and even about AJ.

Harm slowly came back to the land of the living. Mac had already gotten to their seats and Webb was getting together his processions. Rabb tried to get himself presentable as they got off the plane.

"........ so a representative of the Iraqi government will be meeting us. He'll take us to the Hotel and afterward the US embassy." Webb informed the pair as they entered the airport.

"Fine, as long as I get something to eat soon, I'm famished." Mac replied.

"So what about the Tangent?" Rabb demanded

Webb groaned inwardly, why the **** had the director demand that *they* had to be involved? He could do this solo and he knew it.

"You will be flown there in a few days." he said curtly. He didn't have time to deal with this now, with the lack of sleep and Rabb he was more than a bit irritable.

"What about you?" Rabb said curiously

"I'll be coordinating the search from here."

"So who's the rep.?" Mac asked suddenly before Webb could have a chance to answer her a woman in her mid 30s approach them, "Clayton Webb?" she had a slightly British accent and had a petite figure. "I'm Amanda Knox." she smiled.

Webb's eyes narrowed, since when does the Iraqs send women? She isn't even Iraqi!

Miss Knox smiled once more, "Am I correct in assuming that you are wondering about who I am and why I'm here?"

"You could say that" Clay said slowly.

"Rasheed couldn't be here, I'm taking his place as the only one who's available." she seemed a bit pissed off at that.

"Fine."

Amanda directed the group over to the airport entrance and over to the car. A dark man who obviously was the driver took their bags and put them in the back. Knox got into the front while the trio went to in back.

"So here's the story. I'm Iraqi, at least nationality wise, but I was educated in Britain. Spent most of my life there. Had an offer to work for the Iraqis and decide to take up them up on it." Knox explained.

The car started off slowly and accelerated as they entered traffic. Clay glanced around, he noted that it was more dustier than when he had left. "It never gets less dusty, only more" he muttered under his breath.

Knox turned around, "You say something Mr. Webb?"

"No." he said coldly.

Knox laughed, "Is he always this warm?" she directed the question to Rabb and Mac.

"Usually." Mac said with a grin.

"Even more so sometimes" Rabb added.

"Let's get back to business."

"Fine" Knox grabbed her briefcase and handed them papers with the latest intel on TSOA. "We still don't know where their headquarters are but there is a slight break in their leadership." she paused.

"Well?!" Webb demanded when she stayed silent.

"Well...." she hesitated, "As you all know, we had always suspected that a Iraqi was leading TSOA, but the new intel suggests that it's an American." Knox waited for their response.

"What?!" exclaimed Rabb and Mac at the same time. Webb stayed silent, but his eyes enlarged a tad bit, so Knox was sure he was shocked as well.

"The Iraqis would never trust an American! That is absurd!" Up until now, Clay had tried to convince himself the *he* couldn't be responsible for this. But now....

Knox looked at Webb straight in the eyes, "Deny it all you want, Agent Webb, but it's all there." she gestured at the papers they had been given.

"Any idea who it is?" Rabb questioned

"Not a clue. Oh, by the way, there's a slight change in plans."

"Oh?" Rabb remarked.

"What sort of change?" Clay demanded. He was a bit shaken up, but he vowed not to let it affect his performance.

"I'll let the them explain it later." Amanda smiled wickedly. She turned back to face the front just as they stopped in front of their hotel.

*****

"So what's the change?" Clay demanded.

They were at the US embassy and Clay was tired of the cryptic responses he kept on getting. Harm and Mac sat in the spacious office of the US Ambassador while Webb was standing in front of the Ambassador's desk. The room was brightly decorated and the Ambassador an obvious art lover. He had some of the world's most prized and expensive pieces.

The Ambassador himself was not what most people would think of an diplomat. He was a enormous man, not fat, but big boned. He was often called the Big Giant, but never to his face for although he was a nice man by reputation, he hated called anything but his own name. Most people thought he was too unpredictable to be an Ambassador, and to Iraq no less! But Ambassador Ryan was not a man to be reckoned with, he could be your best friend one minute and the next be yelling down your throat. Marcus Ryan was clearly an odd man.

Ambassador Ryan sat behind his desk on a huge leather chair. He just sat silently listening to the Agent. Webb had been ranting and raving ever since he set foot in the embassy and quite frankly an enjoyment to watch. Ryan smiled inside while his face remained impassive.

*Time to deal with the pompous ass I suppose* Ryan thought. "Mr. Webb? I know you would like an explanation, but all in due time. Now will you just sit down."

Webb stared at Ryan. At first Ryan thought he was going to totally disregard his order but then he sat down next to Mac. Harm stiffen slightly. *Ah...there's something more to those two than just partners.*

"Now are you finished yelling Mr. Webb? Good, now as Amanda probably told you the suspect leader of TSOA is one of ours. Now we need to find out where their HQ is, now. So the Director has sent you a new set of orders." Ryan handed the papers he had just received today to Agent Webb.

Webb glanced at the papers. Ryan watched him intently, wondering how he was going to take this. To an untrained eye Mr. Webb would have seem emotionless, but Ryan had been studying people all his life. First shock hit, then curiosity, then anger and then most surprisingly fear. *He's hiding something....I can feel it.*

"What does it say Clay?" Mac asked all of a sudden.

"I'm to go with you to the Tangent. The Director to know where the TSOA are hiding ASAP. Miss Knox will be taking my place." Webb said irritably.

"Great, Webb on the same ship with us in the middle of the ocean." Harm mutters.

"Did you say something Commander?" Ryan asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Uh.. No Sir!" Harm responded.

"Now, Mr. Webb that you've got your new orders, I assume you will be leaving." *Aug... Leave already! I've got a golf game in 15 minutes!*

"Yes, sir." Webb got up with the pair of lawyers following him. Just as he was leaving Ryan could of swore he heard Mr. Webb said, "Look at what you've gotten me into Billy." Ryan shook his head, *Spies!*

*****

Clayton stepped out of the embassy with Mac and Harm trailing behind him. Miss Knox was standing there, obviously waiting for them.

Knox threw her hair back and looked at Webb. She smiled faintly, and addressed the group.

"Hello. Mr. Webb, I suppose you've gotten your new orders. You'll be heading out to the Tangent tomorrow at 800 hours. I suggest you all get some rest and something to eat. Colonel? You said you were hungry earlier. I know the best restaurant in Baghdad."

"Great!" Mac said relieved, "I was beginning to think I'll have to kill someone before I can get a biteto eat" she joked.

"I'm not very hungry" Clay said quickly, "You can go with out me."

"Fine. I'll have the driver take you back to your hotel. Commander? Colonel? If you'll come with me." and with that Knox lead the pair over to the car.

*****

Clay lay on his bed, his legs just hanging over the edge. Clay had spent the last hour on the phone demanding to know why he wasn't consulted on this change and why the hell were they trusting Miss Knox to head the search in Iraq. All he got were even more questions.

Then came the sudden knocks on his door. Clay didn't want to get up, but when the knocks became louder and harder he slowly got up and made his way to the door.

Clay opened the door.

"Miss Knox."

Outside his room stood Miss Knox. Webb tried to read the expression on her face, but was unable to identify it.

"Mr. Webb, may I come in? I feel as if we should talk" Miss Knox's face was red, but Webb thought it was just the heat. Before Webb could answer her, she stormed right in.

Knox whirled around to face Webb. "When were you going to tell me?" she asked toneless.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Webb said equally as cold. Knox's eyes flashed in anger.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Knox had started circling Webb and to Webb's surprise it made him feel disconcerting. Webb refused to have her get to him.

"Do you mind elaborating Miss Knox?" he said reserved.

"Does 8th grade ring a bell?!! Does Billy?!?" she demanded loudly.

"That's classified." he said curtly. *I have to get her away from me* he thought frantically.

"To hell it is! We are on the edge on a nuclear holocaust, and you are hiding information that is vital to the discovery of TSOA." she ranted.

"I fail see how this could lead to anything. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do" Webb said apathetically.

Knox stood there silently, she headed for the door but she turned back once more to look at Webb, "You're a spook Webb. You may not be afraid of dying, but there are a lot of other who do. What you fail to see, may kill us all."

Knox quietly exited and slammed the door. Webb stood there contemplating what Knox had just said. Miss Knox was wrong, he IS afraid of dying. But Billy is his problem. He can't get anybody else into this mess.

******

Webb took a tentative step on the ship.

The USS Tangent, one of the largest in the fleet. It's seen more combat that most Admirals in the Navy. Even with all the battle experience, the Tangent was one of the best, and certainly one of the most advance ships in the navy. It was a fairly new ship, only commissioned a few years before, but even after being almost blown up into a billion little pieces (5 times in the last year), it has came out undamaged everytime.

The Tangent has a odd tendency of having great luck. When ever something big happens, it's always the one sent. Where it goes something always happens, to get the crew almost killed but it's never gotten that far.

Clay looked out at the ocean, water around him where he turns. With the water surrounding him on either side, he felt strangely calm, even though he was on a war ship and fanatics have just stolen a few nuclear war heads.

"Hey, Webb! You okay?" a hand falls onto Clay's shoulder, waking him up from his stupor.

"Yeah, Rabb, I'm fine" Webb said a little dazed. *Wake up Webb! You've came here with a job to do and you are going to do it!* he scolded himself.

"Commander Rabb, Major Mackenzie? Agent Webb?" a young Lieutenant J.G stood unsure of herself nearby.

"I'm Lt. Johnson. I'll be your guide while you're on the Tangent." she motioned for them to follow her, "Sirs? Ma'am? This way."

*****!

Commander Rabb and the Colonel stood at attention on the bridge. Webb stood out like a sore thumb in this room of Lts and Ensigns. But that didn't seem to faze him one bit. He surveyed his surroundings making notes that might be pertinent to the case at hand later on.

"Commander? Colonel? At ease!" a crisp voice came from behind them. Captain Rosemary Wright. 50 years of age, divorced, 2 kids, one in college, the other a resident of St. Francis Hospital in Denver, Clay recalled. He had seen her file so many times in the past week, he knew it by heart.

The Commander and Colonel relaxed. Captain Wright had a reputation of being a no nonsense woman who did take any lip from the young men under her command. One has to be smart and cunning to get into her position, especially a woman. Captain Wright strolled over to the group, taking her time. She glanced over the Commander *Is that lust?* Clay thought, and the Colonel *Hmmm, distaste*. She then proceed to Webb.

"Agent Webb I presume?" she asked sourly.

"Yes Captain, That would be me." Webb responded crisply, he stuck out a hand.

The woman ignored it and walked over to the Commander. "Do you want to start questioning my people?"

*The nerve of that woman!*

"Captain?" Clay dryly said, "I'M in charge of this investigation." Webb glanced over to Rabb and Mac who at the time seemed to be trying to keep from laughing out loud.

"Yes, Webb's in charge alright." Rabb responded smugly.

"Fine." Wright grumbled, "I want to find out, SOON, please, how the hell did those nukes get off my boat!"

"Ship." The Lt. muttered, "Ma'am." she added quickly when Wright's withering gaze fell upon her.

"That's what we're here to do, Captain. So if you don't mind..." Clay said breezily.

"Lt?!" Wright motioned for the Lt. to come closer, "Take these people to my ready room." Wright stalked over to an Ensign and held out her hand, "Ensign Walker? My list." she said impatiently.

The Ensign look up at her CO and realize that she was talking to her. "Uhhh... Here ma'am." she said flustered, handing Wright the list.

"Webb? These are the people you may want to talk to. They're already at my ready room. The Lt. will take you over." She turned away, oblivious to the team. "Oh right, dismissed."

"Okay..." Rabb and the Colonel snapped to and followed the Lt. out with Webb trailing behind.

*****
"Let me get this straight, you, left your post, in the middle of the night, without leaving anybody to guard the missiles?!" Webb demanded. He was questioning, no interrogating is more like it a Petty Officer Second Class. *God!!! That has got to be the most stupid thing this kid has ever done.*

"I...I thought nothing could happen to them in just a minutes?" He responded lamely. He was extremely uncomfortable under this Agent's glare.

Webb had been in here talking to the crew for the past 3 hours and he still looked great where as the Colonel and the Commander looked as if they were just hit by a truck.

"Aw...lay off the kid Webb." Rabb said tiredly.

"How did they know you would gone?" Clay started again, deciding on trying a new approach. *Maybe if I'm nice to him, he might talk*

The PO2's eyes lit up, "I always get a smoke in at 3 am." he answered truthfully, glad that he was helping.

"And how many people know about this?" Mac butted in.

"Uh...not a lot. Just Ensign Thomas, Seaman Wilkes and Petty Officer Samson. I try to keep my 'midnight snack' a private thing." The PO2 started to fidget, "Sirs? Ma'am? I know what I did was wrong, but how was I suppose to know someone was going to make off with the nukes?!" he protested, "I mean, the Tangent has one of the most sophisticated alarm system in the world! Most art museums don't even have the system we have!"

"Most art burglars DON'T steal nuclear war heads from the United States of America!" Clay spat out, trying to hide his disappointment.

"So tell me again how it happened." Mac spoke up, ignoring the Agent's outburst.

The Petty Officer sighed, "Yes, ma'am. It happened like this. I was put in charge of the nukes on the night they were stolen. It was pretty quiet so I decided to sneak off and get a smoke. I had only left for 3-5 minutes. When I returned, it was about 3 am or so and I didn't see anything wrong. When Samson did the inventory, that's when I found out some of the nukes were missing."

"You didn't notice it before?" Rabb, who had been silent for most of the interview spoke up.

"No, Sir." he shook his head, "I didn't know there were 18 nukes on board. There was only suppose to be 15 of 'em."

"Then how'd Samson know there was 18 on board?" Webb demanded, now he was getting frustrated, after 3 hours, THIS was all they had to go on. *Plus there's still 3 more crewmen to question.*

"That's the weird thing, Sir. Someone in D.C radioed us about it. They had wanted to know why we were sent 18 nukes instead of 15."

"How many were there in the beginning?" Webb leaned forward and like his lips in anticipation. *Finally! A GOOD lead!*

The PO3 shrugged, "I don't know. You'll have to ask Wilkes. He did the count." The Petty Officer glance at his watch, "Are we done? My shift starts in 3 minutes."

"Sure, you are dismissed Petty Officer." The Commander responded before Webb could protest. "Oh can you tell the next one to come in?"

The PO3 snapped to before exiting the war room. Instead of the Ensign they were supposed to be meeting with next, Lt. Johnson stepped through the door.

"Mr. Webb?" she addressed Clay, "There's a on shore communication from a Amanda Knox. Something about new developments?"

"Fine. Where can I take it?" Clay grumbled, unhappy because the untimely interruption.

"If you'll follow me." she turned at her heels and started off even before Clayton was off his seat.

Webb turned to face the 2 lawyers, "I don't want you to interview anyone until I get back."

"Fine."

Webb got up and didn't even try to catch up with the Lieutenant.

******

"So what do you think?" Mac asked when Webb was out of the hearing range.

"What I think? I think this is a dead end and that's there's more than Webb's telling us." Rabb said fatigued.

*Webb hiding something from us? Nooo...*

"What makes you say that?"

Rabb rolled his eyes, "Since when was Webb ever straightforward? When has even told the whole truth? Besides, I keep getting this nagging feeling that something's wrong."

"Wrong?" Mac asked concerned

"It's probably nothing." Rabb sighed, "I just keep feeling like there's something I'm missing. You know, back when we were on the Ryan case, Webb took a trip to the Admiral."

"So?" Mac asked puzzled.

"Remember I said Webb was acting a bit strange?"

"Since when was Webb ever normal?" she replied laughing.

"Well normal for him. He actually said some nice things to the Admiral and that he was thrown out of the CIA."

Sarah's smile froze, "That's not possible."

"I know, I know." Rabb said shaking his head.

"What's really bugging me is that Webb doesn't seem himself."

"What do you mean?" Rabb asked intrigued.

"You don't notice it? He's a lot less aggressive and sarcastic for the matter. When you were asleep on the plane he came over to my seat."

"Oh?" Rabb raised his eyebrows, feeling jealous immediately.

"He want to talk to me about something, but I think he lost his nerve at the last moment."

"Webb? Losing his nerve? That REALLY doesn't sound like him."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Mac wondered.

"For now? Our jobs." Rabb shrugged, "After all-"

Rabb stopped in mid sentence, Webb had returned.

Webb had a grim look on his face and his eyes seemed to have lost the brightness that Mac had always loved.

"Bad news?" Rabb commented.

"Very bad." Webb replied dourly, "The Iraqi government had just announced that any attempt on TSOA will be met with force. The whole world has started taking sides with France and Britain on ours and China and Russia on theirs. If the TSOA make good on their treat, we have no choice but to retaliate. Which means...."

"Which means this could be the start of another World War." Mac finished for him.

******

Clay stared out into the wide, open ocean. Ever since Knox had informed them of this new development he's been a bit, well, I guess you could call it upset, but Clay doesn't upset very easily.

I walked over to him, and place a hand on his shoulder. He looks up, startled by the interruption.

"Hello, Mac." he said gravely. I thought about how Webb was like before this point, back when he was just an unfeeling person who would sell out everybody he could to get the job done.

"Hey." I smiled, hoping I could get some positive reaction from him.

He turned away from the edge of the deck and I could finally see him clearly. There was something about him, something that was very unwebb-like. *The eyes.* His eyes were dull and tortured, as if something was tearing him up inside. I could see the pain etched into his face, even though he was trying his best to conceal it from me.

"Are you okay?"

Webb just nodded his head, the impassive expression back onto his face. "I'm fine, Mac. Why do you ask?" he tried to sound as if the very notion of my question baffled him, but he just wasn't in it and he ended up sounding surreal.

"Well, for one thing, you seem trouble. Look Webb, I know we haven't been much of friends, but you can talk to me." I place a hand on his arm, hoping he would confide in me.

He took his arm away from my grasp and at first I thought he might leave but he turned back to me. "Have you ever had a good friend before?"

His question startled me, it was not what I was expecting. "I uh...I suppose Harm's a good friend." *I just wish it could be more.*

"Partners don't count. I mean have you ever had a really good friend? One that would stand by you no matter what? One who would forgive you in a bat of an eye?"

Webb was staring intently at me now, and I admit it was a bit unsettling, but it takes a lot to unsettle a Marine, especially this one. He was expecting an answer, yet I don't have one to give him. I never been close to anyone as I have to Harm, but if partners don't count...

"No...Not really." I finally admitted.

Clay turned back to stare into the distance, the sun was just starting to set so the view was spectacular. The sun was just over the horizon, it's mighty rays of light were dimming and the clouds looked like cotton candy in magnificent colors of read and purple.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

*Webb you just keep surprising me more and more. I wonder what's gotten over you?*

"Yes, it's gorgeous." I was getting tired of this, so I decide to be straight-forward about my thoughts. "Clay...what's really wrong? You're not...." I trailed off not know what word would be appropriate.

Clay finally cracked a smile, "Myself? I suppose I have been a bit out of character." He paused, "But I don't want to talk about it okay?"

Something was really bugging him, I could feel it. But if that's the way Webb feels, then I suppose I can't do anything to change it.

"Fine." I uttered one last word before Webb left me staring into the distance.

*****

iA few hours later.../i

Webb slowly went down the stairs. He made his way to the quarters that he was assigned. Luckily he didn't have to share. *No annoying roommates*

Webb glanced at his watch, one am. *Damn! I didn't know it was so late!*

"Sir, watch out!" a woman behind him shouted.

Plunck!

Webb fell to the floor as he hit a low over hanging beam. He sat in a perplexed silence when the woman who had forewarned him scurried over to his side.

She knelt down and grabbed one of Webb's arms. Webb made no attempt to stop her as she help him up.

Webb rubbed his sore spot attempting to soothe the pain. He looked up at his rescuer.

"Lt. Johnson?" he murmured, surprised as she came into focus.

The Lieutenant blushed, please that he remembered her name. She steadied Clay and looked him over with concerned eyes.

"Are you alright?"

Clay realized how cute she was when she was worried. Her beautiful brown eyes were relaxed and her features were more enumerated.

"Mr. Webb?"

"I'm fine" he stuttered, still in a sense of bewilderment.

"Come on, we should get some ice from the mess hall."

They started over to the mess hall, Webb still a bit whoozy started to stumble but the Lt. had a firm hold onto his arm and kept him from falling once more.

*

Lt. Johnson hurried over to Webb who was seated over at one of the mess hall tables. She had a piece of cloth over some ice cubes.

She went over to the side and carefully applied the ice, trying not to jar it.

"Here, let me." she said softly when Clay started to protest.

Clay settled down and watched the Lieutenant intently, wondering why she even cared. *I don't even know her first name.*

"I'm sorry I couldn't of warned you earlier. I had just came around a corner when you collided with that beam." she apologized.

"No, no. I doubt I would have noticed."

She smiled faintly and handed over the ice pack. She went and sat across from Clayton.

"So, Agent Webb, are you going to tell me what you were doing at level C?" she said with emphasis on 'Agent'.

"Please call me Clay, and I was trying to get to my quarters."

She raised her eyebrows, "Then you must call me Lila. And your quarters are on level B, on the other side of the ship." she smirked.

"Well no one has ever complimented my sense of direction."

"No I would think not."

She planted her elbows down on the table and her head on her hands.

"So...I don't want to pry, but you seem a bit down. Does it have anything to do with what Miss Knox informed you of?"

Clay opened his mouth to answer her, but closed it when he realized that she did have clearance.

*Heck the all she knows is that the nukes are missing!*

The Director didn't want anybody who wasn't directly involved to know anything about TSOA. Captain Wright wasn't even informed, all she knows is the war heads are gone.

"Can't, classified" Clay said apologetically.

"That's okay." Lila shrugged.

Clay had always taken his job seriously. He wouldn't make the mistake of trusting which was what most Agents did at one time or another, he would do what ever it took to get the job done. His job was his life, literally.

But now...

Now he was tired, tired of keeping secrets, of lying to his mother. You just don't know how it feels to be close to your mother while having to keep the truth from her. He was tired of not having any friends because it would endanger them as well as him. He was tired to being alone, while everyone else in the world had someone to rely on. Webb had no one. Everything he did was for the good of his country, not one was it ever for himself.

*Damn the consequences!* Clay need someone to confide in, to talk about Billy and his past. Lila would be the best choice. Her not knowing how Agent Clayton Webb acted would let Clay be himself for once.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you but you have to promise that you will not tell anyone." he warned, "Especially not Commander Rabb." he added while saying the Commander's name through clenched teeth.

"I promise." Lila moved in closer to hear what was about to be said.

"What do you know about the crisis in Iraq?"

Lila surprised him, "That a fanatic group stole the war heads and are threatening to deploy them," her eyes danced in beatitude when Clay looked into them.

"What?! How the hell did you....?!" Clay burst, furious that she had known.

Lila's eyes widened in shock, the brilliance gone from her face. It was quickly replace by fear.

"You mean it was true? Oh my god! I was joking!" she stuttered.

Clay suddenly felt a prang of guilt, he having confirmed this poor woman's fears was too much.

She regained her poise and stared into Clay's face, her intense eyes boring into him. "How?"

Clay sighed, and told her everything, from TSOA to the PO2's statement, to the speculation that an America head the group. Not once did she interrupt, she was hanging on every word, carefully not missing any details.

"So how much do they want?" Lila asked when Clay finished. *Since when did she become Lila?!*

"Well we estimate it to be about one trillion or so..." he trailed off.

"Fwew..." she whistled "That's a lot of money." she said shaking her head.

"I know." Clay said gravely.

They sat in utter stillness, each lost it their own thoughts.

"Oooh, oooh, oooh!" Lila jumped up suddenly.

"What?"

"You said that PO2 said that there was 18 nukes all together, right?"

"Yeah." Clay nodded slowly, not following her.

"And that there was 15 left which means..."

"Which means 3 war heads were stolen!" Clay exclaimed, he calmed down and stared at Lila, "So?" he asked in perplexity.

Lila rolled her eyes that a CIA agent couldn't get this. "You told me that you were informed that *4 war heads* were stolen."

Clay's eyes widened in shock as he 'got it'. "Oh my... He was lying about...."

"I think you just found out who was your 'inside man' is." she smiled triumphantly.

Clay smiled, "Yeah I guess we did."

*****

"So what are you going to do now?" Lila inquired

*18 on board, 15 left. 3 stolen, but there was 4 stolen. How the hell did I miss this?!*

"Stop beating yourself up."

*Huh? Oh.* Lila's sudden outburst brought Clay back to reality.

"I'm not." Webb retorted defensively.

Lila rolled her eyes upward, "Oh come on! I know when a person is beating themselves up. God knows I've done it a thousand times."

"Oh?" Clay's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Lila blushed, "Um...look it's late. And I'm pretty sure you need some sleep. Why don't you rest up and question PO2...." she paused, "You know you haven't mentioned what his is yet."

Clay blinked several times, *I haven't?* Then it hit him, he didn't even know who he was. *How many things have I missed?*

"I'm sure whoever he is he'll be here in the morning. I mean what's he going to do? Jump ship?" Lila joked.

"Lila, I can't sleep now. I have to go. If you excuse me...." Clay got up from his seat and exited quickly leaving Lt. Lila Johnson alone and baffled.

*****

"Rabb?!"

"Who? What?" a drowsy Harmon Rabb Jr. slowly emerged back into the land of the living.

Jet lag was really setting in. It was about 2 am. Usually Rabb would be more alert but with the late night flight to Iraq and the early morning flight to the Tangent, Rabb hadn't gotten that much sleep. Particularly since they arrived on the Tangent all they had been doing was questioning crew members. So he had gone to sleep right after eating, exhausted.

"Rabb?!" the voice came once more, this time with an insistent knocking.

The knocking or rather banging came faster and harder.

Rabb tried to use his pillow to block out the noise, no luck. He glanced over at his roommate who seemed to be a very heavy sleeper for he hadn't even budged an inch since the racket started.

"Rabb?!"

Harm stayed in bed until the ado got do exasperating that he couldn't take it anymore. Rabb yanked his covers off and went over and tugged the door open. *Webb.* he thought in aversion.

"What do you want Webb?" Rabb impatiently queried. "You'll wake up my roommate." he said sarcastically.

"Get the Major. Meet me in the Captain's War Room." Webb quickly left in the direction of the bridge.

Rabb shook his head in confusion and back inside to get dressed.

*****

"Agent Webb, why have you awakened us at 2 am of the morning?!" Captain Wright demanded.

"Rabb, who was that PO2 who left the war heads unguarded?" Clay asked, ignoring the Captain's harsh demeanor wholly.

"This what you woke me up for?" The Commander said in disbelief. "Why the hell couldn't you wait until the morning?!"

The Commander having hurriedly dress was a rumple picture and the Captain was no better off. Even Mac was dozing off in between exchanges.

"Who is he?" Clay repeated, his voice nonchalant.

"His name is Patrick Reynolds, Webb." Mac supplied.

"What does he have to with the theft, Agent Webb?" Webb questioned angrily.

"How many war heads were stolen?"

"Webb, I fail to see where you are heading with this. Mind letting the rest of the world in???" Rabb sardonically.

"Just answer the question." Webb stated curtly.

"Four. Four were stolen." Wright answered, trying to move it along.

Webb turned to Rabb who was still in a perplexed daze.

"How many did Reynolds say were stolen?" Webb hinted, expecting Rabb to get it.

He didn't but Mac did. You could of seen the exact moment when it hit her. Her eyes widened suddenly and the light that most people get when they finally figured
something out that they have been trying to figure out. The was evident on her face.

"Three...He said three war heads were missing when he got back...."Mac whispered.

Wright's face bunched up in anger and for a moment Webb thought she might even hit him, *It wouldn't be the first time.*, for implicating that one of her crew was in on the theft.

"You mean to tell me Petty Officer Second Class Patrick Reynolds stole those war heads?!" she practically shrieked.

Rabb feeling weak that he didn't realize it, spoke "No, he could of just left his post when TSOA wanted him to, so they could 'take' the missiles. You were in dock when they were stolen."

Wright stiffly walked over to the entrance of the War Room. "XO? Take some men down and arrest Petty Officer Second Class Reynolds." she ordered in a dejected voice.

"Aye, aye, Ma'am!"

*****

"Where are the headquarters of TSOA?" Webb demanded

"I have no idea! Why won't you listen to me? I told you I'm not part of them!" Reynolds whined. Webb had been interrogating the PO2 for the last hour or so. He hasn't budged an inch.

"It would be better for you to tell us, Petty Officer. We could tell the judge that you were cooperative with us." Rabb suggested.

"I told you I don't know where they are!" he yelled, he glanced around the room in agitation.

"Do you understand what they are trying to do?! They're going to blow up the world! Billions will die and it's all because of what you did!"

Webb hope this attack would work. Hopefully they had just paid the man and that he wasn't part of their organization. *He probably doesn't know the whole truth.*

And he didn't for the truth suddenly dawned on his face, his eyes glassed over when he realized that HE will be the one responsible for the deaths of people of many races and genders. But the fear was as there, and that was what kept him from telling them the truth.

"I...I can't." he whimpered, as he buried his head in his hands.

"The deals still there, Petty Officer. We can get you time off." Mac said quietly, "Do you have children?"

"I...I have a son." Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.

"Then do it for him. He'll die, along with your parents, your wife, everyone you love." Webb mentioned

He took a deep breath and started speaking, "Two men approached me when I was on leave in Iraq. They just told me to leave my post at that time on that day. I had to do it....I need the money. My wife's pregnant with our second child and is on maternity leave. I'm off here leaving her alone to raise a child." Reynolds desperately tried to explain why he had to do it.

"Just tell us what we need to know." Webb cut him off.

"I don't know a lot. They just paid me and left. They didn't tell where their HQ was, but I overheard one of them say that they had to get back to the island."

"What island?" Rabb questioned.

Reynolds shrugged, "That's all they said."

"Tell me about the men who approached you." Mac asked.

Reynolds rack his brain for the descriptions of them, "One was definitely an Iraqi. He's about 6 foot 2, black hair, brown almost black eyes. He had a muscular build, and a scar that ran from his eye to his chin. It looked as if he had done it himself, but what do I know."

"What about the other?" Clay cut in.

"He's was definitely an American."

Webb stopped breathing, "Are you sure?!" he demanded.

"Positive. He was white, about 5 foot 9, brown, curly hair with blue eyes. He had a slightly southern accent, from Virginia I think."

Rabb and Mac were busily taking down notes.

"Is that all you remember?" Webb demanded.

"There's something else." Webb's eyes rolled in aspiration

"What is it?" Rabb jumped in.

"Well the way they acted, the two men I mean, it seemed as if the America was in charge."

"Oh?" *This proves that there is at least one American on their side.*

"What do you mean in charge?" Mac pried.

"Oh not just the one in charge on the one thing, Ma'am, no." he shook his head, "I think he was the leader. I heard a phone conversation where he was ordering people around." *Damn! It is one of ours!*

"You did the right thing Petty Officer." Rabb comforted him.

"There's one more thing."

"What is it Petty Officer?" Rabb asked impatiently, annoyed at all the 'other things' he keeps remembering.

"I heard him, the Iraqi called the other one Billy. Billy McKeen."

*****

"I heard him, the Iraqi called the other one Billy. Billy McKeen." Petty Officer Reynolds last words were repeat itself in his head.

Clay sat in a shocked silence. *Oh my god, what have I gotten myself into??? Billy, why the hell can't you leave me alone?!* he cried in agony.

"Webb? Heeellllooo???" Rabb waved his hand up and down in front of Webb's face. *He was in another one of those states* Rabb observed, *Just like when he was on the plane* he recalled.

Mac peered worriedly at the pale Agent, wondering what was bothering him. Webb snapped out of it after a while and glanced at PO2 Reynolds anxiously, "Are you sure he called the American Billy McKeen?" he demanded

"Positive, it was loud and clear." the confidence in his voice lead Webb to believe that he had heard right. *Which means Billy is Esperidante.* Webb shivered at the thought of Billy leading this group of killers.

Webb got up from his seat at the table and went over to the door. He opened the door and motioned of one of the guards to come closer. "We're done here, you can take him back to the brig."

The guards came in and lead Reynolds out of the room, his head bent in shame.

Webb sucked the air in, the air tensed with electricity.

"You knew him, don't you?" Rabb accused Webb

"Why would you say that?" Webb scoffed

"Oh come on Webb! You think we haven't notice how you've been behaving?"

"Who is he?" Mac butt in.

"No one." Webb replied, defensively.

"You knew who he was, before hand, didn't you?" accused Rabb

"I may of had a suspicion" he replied, arrogantly

"And you didn't see it fit to let us in on it?!" Rabb cried angrily. *Webb should of never of did that. That information could have been useful to us.*

"How can you expect us to conduct a through investigation if you keep information like that from us???" Mac said as if reading Harm's thoughts.

"It was an unproven suspicion that was not vital to the discovery where the TSOA's Headquarters are, which I might add is what you are here to do." Webb calmly responded, "How the hell would knowing who the hell the Leader is help ?!"

Rabb was about to respond when Lt. Johnson came through the door.

"Sir! Mr. Webb is wanted on the bridge" she spoke stiffly, the unsure, shy Lt. persona back in place.

Webb sprang from his chair, jumping at the chance to leave.

Webb followed the Lt. for about 6 yards or so before she whirled around and grinned.

"Aren't you happy I got you out?" she smirked

Webb felt his face grow tense, "You mean I'm not needed on the bridge?" he said, his eyes narrowing.

Webb didn't like being deceived, no matter what the situation was. *What the hell does she think she's doing?!*

"I was walking by and heard your argument with the Commander." she explained, "So I-"

"We were not arguing?" Webb interrupted

"Anyway," she continued, ignoring the interruption, "I thought you might need some rescuing."

"I DO not need to be rescued." he replied, indignant.

"Right...what ever you say" Lila grinned, not believing a word he said. He smile slowly receded, "But you are needed on the bridge. Something about reporting to the Director about your progress and informing Miss Knox."

"Fine" Webb grumbled, talking to the Director was not a fun thing to do and when ever Webb has a conversation with Knox, nothing good always comes of it.

*****

"Yes sir. There has been a break through in discovering who the Leader of TSOA is." Webb informed. He had already informed the Director of the possibility of TSOA's Headquarters.

"Well? Who is it?" The Director demanded

"Our suspicions were confirmed. It's Esperidante." Webb took a deep breath, waiting to see how the Director would act.

"I see... So how are you holding up?" he asked, concerned for the younger Agent's well being.

"I'm fine. I just never realized that he could do something like this. He never showed any symptoms."

"I doubt this was brought on by insanity. Is this new revelation going to impair your performance?"

"No sir!"

"Good." he nodded before cutting the link.

*****

"So was I right?" demanded Knox.

Webb had finished reporting to the Director and was now, sadly, informing Miss Knox of the latest info.

"About what?" he asked, innocently, knowing full well what she was talking about.

"Who is the leader of the TSOA?"

"Billy McKeen."

"I told you so." she said smugly. Although Webb couldn't see Miss Knox, he knew she was smirking from the smug tone of her voice.

"So what are you going to do about it?" she asked

"I'M going to get off this damn boat and get back to Iraq so that I can coordinate the case from there."

"Ship, it's a ship."

"What?!" Webb asked in confusion, *What the hell does that have to do with it?!*

"A boat is something you can carry on a ship." she explained. "And I meant what are you going to do about Billy?" she demanded

"I know fully well what you meant and I don't see how I'm going to handled Billy any of your business."

"There are billions of lives a that are depending on how you handle him, myself included. Of course it my business!" if she wasn't mad before, she was now. "Is that all?!"

"Yes." Webb said impatiently, wanting this conversation to end.

"We arrested a member of the TSOA. He was part of the inner circle."

"Did he talk?"

"Not much. He committed suicide. At least that's what they wanted us to think. He was murdered."

"Damn."

"We did manage to find out however the location of TSOA's Headquarters." she said a matter of factly.

*Damn! I forgot to tell her about the island.*

"An island?"

"How the hell?! Never mind, yes, an island. It's about 20 miles off the coast of Kuwait named The Spirit. Just fits really well doesn't it?" she sneered

*The Spirit...yes it does fit very well.*

Webb rolled his eyes. "Oh spare me! I will handle this MY way and no one else's. I'll be in Iraq tomorrow. Don't do anything until I get there." he warned.

"Oh I wouldn't dream of it." she replied, derisively. Knox hung up after that last remark before letting Webb respond.

*I am really starting to hate her.*

*****

Webb grabbed his hotel room key from his pocket and slid it through the electronic lock. The light flashed from red to green and Clay opened the door.

He strolled into the room, placing his briefcase on the floor. He scanned the room for any anomalies as he often does. He took a glance at the clock, 8 am.

He had arrived the day before to find Miss Knox trying to convince her government that going over war because of the fanatics was not a good idea. Webb found Miss Knox to be an unsettling young woman. Albeit her connection to the Iraqi, she didn't seem to believe in their ideas. She seemed to be anti-war, which was made Webb feel even more uncomfortable and sge was also concerned for the well being of all people and not just her's.

*She's also a damn good Agent.* Webb knew she couldn't be a diplomat, she didn't have the qualities. Although there exceptions like Ambassador Ryan, but Clay would bet she was like him, a spook.

*There's no other explanation for her know about Billy* he thought, *She even knew about the incident in the 8th grade.* Webb was soon lost in thought, his consiousness not in that hotel room anymore. He was once again in Mrs. Rickly's Hoomroom class with Billy sitting at his side.

Webb shook his head, he will NOT let this occurrence in the past shake his up. Webb couldn't let anything to take away his attention from this case, now more than ever.

The Iraqi government had struck a deal with the US. They will not attack US or any allied troops as long as we don't attack first. It was a monumental deal, usually they wouldn't trust the US not to attack first. But somehow Knox got the deal through and at this point Clay didn't care how she did it.

TSOA finally gave a demand and Clay was right it was exactly one trillion dollars to be delivered into their Swiss bank account. They also gave a deadline, to be delivered in three days.

Webb suspected this was probably what had made the Iraqs to let the US try and take over the island where the TSOA are hiding.

He had arrived to find everybody in a state of panic. TSOA had bombed an inhabited island in US waters to show they had meant business. 15 were dead and countless others were injured. Somehow they had managed to contain the damage. They still had 6 more days before they start to deploy the war heads.

Clay flopped onto his bed, his head hitting his pillow. *Ow!* he cried in agony as his head hit something hard. There was something under his pillow. Clay cautiously picked up the pillow and looked under.

Under the pillow was a tin soldier at least 20 years old. Clay's stared at the little figurine in shock, his hand trembled as he picked it up. There was also a note accompanying the little guy.

Friends stick together, Clay. You let me down when I need you most, Clay. I won't forget that. You and I have unfinished business to attend to. Won't Caitlin be proud of you now?

It was signed Billy in a childish scrawl, his trademark of a ghost underneath. Clay dropped the note down. After so many years he still haven't forgotten. Webb took a deep breath and scrutinized the figurine. If Webb's memory served him right this little guy was named Guy. Billy's favorite soldier.

Webb's hand gabbed his cell phone to phone Knox of this occurrence, but he stopped in mid-dial. *God what I doing? I can't tell her, this is classified!*

He stopped dialing and decided to phone one of their guys that's over here.

"Micheal? It's Webb."

Webb listened for a while before saying, "Yeah. Esperidante just left me a little surprise in my hotel room."

"Yeah, he left a note too. It's a little toy soldier, one of his 'elite' was what he called them." Webb paused.

"You have got to be kidding! She wants me to..." Webb exclaimed in response to what ever Micheal said.

"Not tell her anything about this, I don't want her to know I've kept another thing from her. Tell her I'll be there in a few minutes." Clay ordered before hanging up abruptly.

*****

Webb walked into the room, the occupants were either running from one place or another of talking fanatically with each other.

The whole room was in a state of preparation. Webb spied Knox talking off to the side with a man and was also talking on the phone.

She looked up and meet Webb's gaze. She motioned for him to come over and dismissed the man. She had hung up by the time Webb got near.

"Did Micheal tell you the news?" she demanded, not wasting a second.

"Yeah, but I am not going!" Clay protested.

"Why? Are you afraid Billy might hurt you or are you afraid of hurting Billy?" she sneered, "Now's not the time to slink out of your responsibilities Webb."

Webb just glared at Knox, "Where are you going to be?" he demanded.

Knox looked into his eyes and answered, "I'm going to be with the team. I, unlike some people like to be where the action is." she said sarcastically.

Webb rolled his eyes, "Oh spare me! Remember don't do anything you can let someone else do for you." he smirked.

"Yes but no one knows McKeen as you do. You're going." she said firmly.

Webb didn't protest, he knew she would have convince the Director to order him to do as she asked.

"Fine." he said through clenched teeth, "When are we leaving?"

"2100 tonight."

*Spirit Island here we come.*

*****

Clay sat in the dimmed hotel room contemplating his thoughts. They were due to leave in a hour or so, but Webb felt he really shouldn't go. The feeling was a sense of dread, much more than he had ever felt in his life.

Of all his years at the CIA he had never encountered such a case, at least not one that hits so close to home.

*God, what am I going to do if Billy...* He couldn't even finish his thought. Billy was his best friend for so many years. He couldn't even think of hurt him in any way. He was always there for Clay; but when he was in trouble, Clay.....

Webb closed his eyes, silent tears running down his face. After years of practice he had mastered crying with out tears actually falling. This a ways he was allowed to cry without anyone noticing.

*Oh god this is all my fault! I should of never left him.... Oh god..."

This was all his fault. Years ago back in the eighth grade. But that wasn't the only occurrence, Caitlin was the big thing that drove them apart.

Webb glance at his clock, time was running out. He need to leave right now if he was ever to get there in time.

*****

"So where are we?" Webb yelled over the motor of the plane.

"It's about 10 minutes from Spirit." Knox yelled back. She was walking around the plane, making sure her team was ready. "You should put on your parachute soon!"

"What?!" *She never mentioned anything about a parachute.* "What are you talking about?"

"What? I'm sorry I didn't hear you!" Knox yelled back. She finished her rounds and sat down next to Webb, thumping a parachute into him.

"Oouff!" he grunted as the parachute knocked the air out of him, "What...do...you... mean... parachute?" he wheezed, trying to regain his breath.

Knox smirked and her eyes twinkled with mischief, "Oh, didn't I tell you? We're jumping in." she replied, making her voice and eyes seem as innocent as possible.

Webb blinked, the noise in the back ground forgotten. "Did you say jump?" he asked with a shudder, unconsciously closing his eyes, hoping this was all some bad dream. *It can't be a dream, my subconscious isn't that atrocious that I would make up Miss Knox.*

"And I suppose you just forgot to tell me?" Webb demanded, his anger getting the most of him.

Knox just smiled and shrugged before getting back to fastening on her parachute. Webb grumbled an incoherent word before he himself started to put on his chute.

"I don't suppose this your idea of a sick joke." he said sarcastically, more of a statement than a question.

Knox stared into his eyes, her eyes betraying cold fury. "No matter what you think Webb, I am here to do a job, NOT to annoy you, and I would thank you if you would do the same." she spat, "Parachuting in was the best way to get on to the island with out being detected." she explained with hostility, when she saw Webb eyes' shooting arrows at her.

*****

"We're here!" Knox yelled. "All right people buddy up! Mason and Gregory you're up first!"

Two bulky men, presumably Mason and Gregory stepped up to the door of the plane. They hefted it open. The first thing Clay heard was the mighty sound of the air as the plane whipped through it. Outside was pitch black, not a single light in sight. Mason and Gregory pulled their helmets on and gave Knox an ok sign before plunging into the darkness.

One by one, all the members of Miss Knox's team jumped off until only Webb and Know remained. "Time to go Webb." Knox yelled, motioning for Webb to get over there.

Webb slowly got up from his seat, his stomach queasy from brooding about the jump. He swallowed before looking down. *Damn that a long way down!*

"I can't do this." he replied shakily, backing away from the door.

"Oh no you don't" Knox murmured, grabbing Webb's arm and pulling him over, despite his protests.

"Just think of it this away, Webb. What ever happens tonight will change the course of history forever." she commented brightly just before pushing the stupefied agent out of the plane.

Knox shook her head, watching the falling Agent, before she too jumped out.

*****

*Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god* Webb's mind kept on repeating this over and over. Here he was, thousands of feet up into the air, falling after being pushed out of a plane by a woman! *They'll never believe this!*

Knox was to the side of him. She was gesturing widely. Webb could see she was speak but he could hear no words.

"What?!" he yelled. More, gesturing and words he couldn't hear. Webb's eyes went wide as he realized what she was trying to communicate. *The lever! She's telling me to release the chute!* Webb scrambled to pull the release and saw Knox, relieved and mirroring his exact actions.

The parachute opened with a swoosh and his descent was greatly slowed. Clay just allowed his body to relax and to his great surprise, found himself liking the slow descent. He had almost blocked the notion that he was going to see Billy again, after all these years.

Webb hit the cold, hard ground. The parachute engulfed him and he scrambled to get it off of him. He saw the rest of Knox's team gathering their chutes and securing the perimeter, making sure none of TSOA's members find them before they were ready. Knox arrived on the island expertly, landing on her feet with the chute coming down gracefully behind her.

Webb grabbed his chute and stated to pack it back into the pack. Knox was done before he, even though she had started later than him. She stalked over to Webb. The pitch black darkness proved to be excellent cover for her. If he hadn't heard the faint crackle of the twigs she had step on, he wouldn't have know about her approach.

"What took you so long???" she demanded, the night obstructing Webb's view of her face.

Clay's face became one of total confusion. *What?!* Clayton realized after a moment of thought that she was talking about why he had taken so long to pull the chute.

"I couldn't hear you." Webb replied stiffly.

Webb could almost hear her eyes rolling, "And my gesturing?" she asked dryly.

"It was dark." Clay justified, even though he had seen what she was doing. *But she doesn't have to know that.*

"Whatever." Knox snarled, "Do you have a gun?"

"What do you think I am, an idiot?" Clay retorted.

"Could've fooled me." Knox muttered under her breath, but Clay heard it fully. "There's only one installation on this whole island. That's where McKeen and the rest of his people should be." Knox toyed with her ear for a moment. *She's got a listening device!* Clay realized with a shock, not because she HAD one, but because she HADN'T provided him with one. *If I didn't know better, I would of thought she didn't trust me.*

"Teams One and Team Three you've got the front. Clear the way for us. Team Four and Five, take the right side. Team Six, you know what you need to do. Team Two, you're with us." Knox ordered in alarming rate. She turned back to Webb, "It's only a 3 minute hike. We'll be coming in through the back."

Webb nodded his agreement, albeit reluctantly. He didn't like not being in charge.

"Remember team, this is an OFFENSIVE strike. We aren't required to take prisoners. Shoot to kill folks, shoot to kill."

The rest of the others broke off, except for Mason and Gregory, whom Clay guessed was Team Two.

"What do you know about McKeen?" Knox demanded. Gregory had taken front, with Mason covering them on the back.

"Billy's always been overly cautious. He won't make it easy to reach him or the war heads." Webb told her with a snarl. They should of covered this before they got here!

"I never expected it to be." she replied smugly.

"He'll have men everywhere. In the installation and outside, guarding the perimeter. The war heads will be guarded as well, most likely more guarded than he would be. He was never afraid of dying." Webb informed. The memory of Billy and pond resurface with a vengeance. Webb quickly pushed it aside.

"Good." Knox answered, nodding. She spoke silently to the other teams, conveying this new piece of info.

"You know, we should have done this before we left Iraq." Webb pointed out, unable to keep his annoyance quiet any longer.

"I know." Knox replied quietly, she shifted something she was holding. *It's a rifle!* Clay realized, surprised. This was the first he had seen of her weapon. "My team works better unplanned."

They quickly neared the house. It was barely smaller than a warehouse and was only one story tall. "Alright. Just a quick reminder team. Our first priority is to get stop TOSA once and for all, but that doesn't mean we have to neglect the war heads. Just make sure no one detonate them while we're here. Let's try to be silent, after all this is a SURPRISE attack." Knox paused for a moment, "We are observing a radio silence. This means if you get caught, you won't be able to contact the others for help. Good Luck."

Gregory approached the back door. It was locked. He bent down and pulled a black case out of an inner pocket. Inside were lock picking tools. He quickly picked the lock and carefully went inside. Outside, Mason, Knox and Webb waited for an okay signal from Gregory to show it was all clear.

It was a full minute before Gregory appear again. He nodded to show it was all safe. Knox silently advanced the door, but not directly. She used the shadow of the large building as a cover. Webb quickly followed suit, mimicking Knox's actions.

Knox tentatively stepped through the door, her rifle raised. Inside it was pitch black, not a light was on. Webb held his gun up, preparing himself. Webb glanced around and closed the door. Mason was staying outside, making sure they didn't have an unwanted guest.

Webb couldn't see Gregory anywhere. Knox who was directly in front of him stopped walking. Webb stared at her in confusion. The lights suddenly came on, momentary blinding Webb. Knox didn't even flinch. She was staring straight ahead. At Billy.

When Clay regain his sight he saw a man with a gun leveled at Knox's head. Knox's rifle was trained on Billy. Gregory was laying in a pool on the floor. Someone had shot hit in the head, at point blank range. Nearly half of his head was missing.

"Welcome Clayton to my humble abode." Billy greeting with a smile that sent shivers up Webb's spine.

*****

Billy grinned and spread his arm wide to show his surroundings. "It is so nice to see you again."

Clayton glared at his old friend, "I can't say it's mutual." he responded dryly.

Billy rolled his eyes. "You were always a wet blanket." he smiled playfully. His face got serious, "Drop the gun." he ordered, "You too." he gestured to Knox. She stared at Billy, not speaking word.

The door to the building opened quickly.

"What the hell.....???" Mason cursed. He had seen the light coming from under door and was curios as to how Knox had got the lights on.

The man with the gun trained on Knox swerved around faster than Clay would have thought humanly possible and let out several rounds before Mason could even lift his gun. Mason fell slowly and was dead before he even hit the ground. Knox quickly took advantage of this sudden occurrence. She whirled around and gave the man a kick into his back. The gun momentarily fell out his hand as he fell down onto his knees. Clay leveled his gun at Billy, his mind tell him to shoot, but the command never reached his fingers.

Clayton's eyes went wide when he felt a the cold end of a gun on the back of his neck. "Drop it." a feminine voice hissed into his ear. When Clayton failed to respond she prompted, "I said, drop it!" she repeated through her teeth.

Billy gave one of his toothy grins. "I suggest you do as she says Clayton. Miss Thorpe has a itchy trigger finger. And call off your..." he trailed off, watching in amusement at Knox who was sitting on top of the man about to bring the butt of her rifle on the man. "I would do that." he called to her. Knox turned her head to view what had happen. Her gaze froze as she saw Thorpe with her gun to Webb's head.

Billy spoke again, "Sam, you have got to pull yourself together! How could allow this...this woman to topple you?!" he cried. Sam shook Knox off of him and grabbed his gun. With it once again trained on Knox, he relieved her of her rifle.

Billy glared at Webb, the air suddenly felt several degrees colder. "Drop it Clayton."

Webb reluctantly stooped down to place his gun on the floor. Billy grinned as Thorpe retrieve it, her gun never wavering from him.

"Now isn't that much better?" Billy's cold eyes stared at Clayton. Webb unconsciously shuddered when he saw the lack of emotion in his eyes. *That's not the Billy I knew.* Webb thought, finally acknowledging the fact that his best friend was truly gone, away from his grasp. *Where did it all go wrong?* he thought in wonder. *It's your fault, you know.* The whining voice of his conscience spoke and Webb knew it was right. IT WAS ALL HIS FAULT.

"I should of known they would of sent you after me." he continued speaking, "After all you of all people knew how I think, how I react. But knew is the operative word." Billy slowly made his way over to where Webb and Knox were standing. "Only for people Clay?" he remarked as he noticed how many people had entered his installation. "I would of thought you smarter than that."

"He's not the one in charge, McKeen. I am." Knox hissed. Billy turned his head to look at Knox, a sick smile gracing his face.

"Are you?" he grinned, walking over to Knox. He places a hand on her cheek, "Such a beautiful woman on such a dangerous mission." he murmured. Knox stared defiantly ahead, not moving an inch.

Webb suddenly felt anger that the woman didn't move or flinch away from the maniac. "Let her go, Billy. This is between you and me." he bravely spoke, hoping to spare Knox. Knox turned her gaze at Webb, her eyes fiery with anger. The gaunt features only made him more determined to protect her.

Billy lifted his eyes in surprise. Clayton Webb had never taken the lives of other above his own. "Oh,..." he searched for a name.

"Amanda Knox." the woman behind Webb informed him.

Billy smile gratefully. "Well Miss Knox here isn't going anywhere." His eyes fell on Webb, "Neither or you for that matter."

Clay scanned the room, oblivious to the fact the Billy was still talking. Now that there was light, he saw the building wasn't as massive as he thought. With doors to other parts of the installation, the room he was in was about the size of an apartment. Oversized chairs were off to the side and a computer was in a corner. The monitor was one with the lay of the island portrayed on it. Blinking red lights were systematically moving around, once in a while a blimp would go off the screen, vanishing. Knox's eyes were also in a similar scouring move, but when her eyes reached the computer her face literally went white with recognition.

Billy seeing the change in emotion and directed his eyes to where Knox was staring. "Sad isn't it?" he asked wistfully.

"You bastard!" Knox hissed. Webb forehead was wrinkled in confusion, not fully comprehending the true ramifications.

"It's not my fault." he smiled innocently, "After all YOU lead them to this island," he paused, "And to their deaths." Webb's eyes grew wide as he realized what the computer was showing. Each red dot represented one of Knox's team, and they were rapidly disappearing from the screen. The tortured look on Knox's face showed that she was pretty close to her team and was regretting sending them to this god forsaken island.

"Why don't you have a seat Clayton? You too, Amanda." Billy gestured to the chairs. When both failed to move her gave the pair a curt nod. "It was not a request."

Webb felt a firm hand one his should, squeezing it tightly. The hand steered him over to one of the chairs and pushed him into one. Knox was getting a similar treatment, but refused to allow Sam manhandle her and shook his hand off. She walked with pride over to the chair next to Clay's and flopped down. Her face remained as stoic as ever.

"You're not going to get away with this." Webb's voice spoke with conviction.

"Oh I already have." the once playful face vanished just as quickly as it came. McKeen's face was a cold hard mask. "The World powers have already started depositing money into my account. Those bureaucrats!" he mocked, "All they're concerned about is their own well being."

"The US doesn't negotiate with terrorists." he replied through clenched teeth.

"I know. But they will. Off all the countries, it has not given to my demands, but will see who is laughing when I blow Washington sky high." he laughed bitterly, turning around to walk away.

*Blow Washington D.C???* Clay's mind was going a mile per minute. Even though he knew he was probably capable of anything, but to blow up the nation's capitol? To even fire one his own country, the one he had spent so much of his life protecting? It was a shock, even to him.

"You can't be serious." Webb cried, incredulous.

McKeen whirled around, his face distorted by fury. His eyes angrily flashed. "Oh yeah?" he sneered, "Why can't you believe it???" he yelled into his face, "You couldn't believe I would pass that test, but I did, didn't I?" he accused. Webb looked him, his face surprisingly full of sympathy. "Yes, you did and I'm sorry." Webb cast his eyes downward, his voice soft, "You were right. About that test, about Caitlin, about everything." he brought his eyes to meet Billy's, hoping against hope that he could appeal to his humanity.

"You're damn right I was right." he muttered.

Clay ignored that remark, "You don't need to prove anything anymore, Billy."

"So that's it!" Billy cried, "You just want me to stop this don't you?" he laughed, "Why stop when I'm ahead? No, I'm seeing this through and you can't stop me." he told them stubbornly.

"Put them somewhere safe will ya Thorpe? We'll deal with them later." he muttered before turning around and walking away. Webb saw he had walked toward a door off to the far wall. He keyed in a password before the door unlocked and he stepped in.

Thorpe pointed her gun at Webb, motioning him to rise. Webb got up with reluctance.

"Hey, let go!" Knox shrieked. Webb turned to the disturbance. Sam had tried to forcefully lift Knox off her chair.

Webb took a step toward her, "She said, let go." Thorpe stopped him before he got to close.

"This way." Sam pointed to a door. Webb walked hesitantly towards the door with Knox following closely behind. Thorpe threw the door open and pointed her gun to Webb. "Get in."

Knox gave Webb a look, telling him to get ready. *My god, she's going to try and take them!* He realized with a jolt.

Almost synchronized, the pair whirled around on their attackers. Webb managed to knock Thorpe's gun out of her hand. They struggled a bit before Thorpe threw her weight into Webb and knocked him inside. Meanwhile, Knox and Sam were struggling with the gun. Sam tried to pull it away from her grasp.

Knox's eyes widened as a gasp escaped her lips. She fell backwards into the small room, landing only mere inches from Webb.

"I hope you enjoy your stay." Sam snickered as he closed the door and locked it.

Webb got up and brushed himself off, eyeing his surroundings. Only a while later he realized Knox hadn't gotten up. Webb stared in shock as a red blotch spread across her chest. *My god...*

*****

Clay had yanked his coat off to cover her. Knox, no Amanda, had started to shiver. All he could do now was make sure she stayed awake.

"What happened?" Amanda asked, disoriented.

"What happened?" he repeated, incredulous, "You were shot, that's what!" he exclaimed.

Knox was hit by a raking cough. He body surged upward as she coughed up blood. She winced as a rush of pain hit full force.

"I can see that." she replied dryly when her fit subsided.

"Hey, take it easy." Webb protested as Amanda tried to get up. "You should rest."

Amanda looked glanced around the room, "Have you found anyway to get out of this hell hole?"

Webb stood up. He had been crouching next to Amanda for the past few minutes and had to stretch for a moment. "From what I've seen, were surrounded by metal. Iron, I would say. The door is lock from the outside and there's no other way of getting out."

"Great!" Amanda mumbled, her voice soft. She closed her eyes for a moment as slowly fell back down.

Webb seeing this action immediately fell back down into a crouch. "Hey," Webb gently nudged her, "You have to stay awake."

Amanda lazily opened her eyes. They were unfocused blue globes. "Hmm...I feel so tired." she replied sleepily, "Just let me close my eyes for a moment."

"No!" Webb answered forcefully, "Listen to me Knox, you have to stay awake." *If she falls asleep, she might not wake up again.* Clay thought with a shudder. Only then did he realized he did not want her to die, no matter what she had done in the past.

"Tell me..." he trailed off, grasping for straws, "Tell me how you knew about Billy. He was classified."

Amanda turned her head to look at Clayton. Her eyes trying their hardest to focus on him. She opened her mouth to speak, but another quivering cough claimed her. As it declined she said, "You're not the only spook with secrets, Webb."

Webb grinned, "I knew it! I knew you were no Iraqi lackey." he smiled in triumph.

A small smile grace her face, "I...I am an Iraqi by nationality, but let's just say when I was in England I found myself leaning towards their ideals."

"So what are you? MI6?" Clay wondered, naming the British intelligence agency.

Amanda nodded, "Working with the Iraqs has been..." she searched for a word to describe her time with them, "a learning experience." she finished.

"So how did you find out about Billy?" Webb questioned quickly as he realized Knox's eyes were drooping.

Her eyes flew back open and she mumbled a thanks, "I did some digging. I was sure about you having a personal reason as to why you were assigned this case, especially since I had requested Agent Myers and they sent you."

Webb's eyebrows flew up, "You requested Bill Myers?" Myers was a good man and a capable agent, but still he wasn't as good as many others. There would be one reason as to why he would be wanted.

She nodded, "You seem surprised, why? You must have known this to be a British case."

"Well, yeah, but..." Webb shrugged, he had heard rumors that the Brits had the ball on this but it was unproved.

"I need someone who would be willing to follow orders and to be able to stay uninvolved."

"Basically a person who would stay out of your way." summed Webb.

"Yeah." She brought her hand up to wipe away the blood that was running down her cheek. She scrambled to bring herself up again. "Woah..." she breathed as dizziness overwhelmed her. She was just about fall again when she felt Clay's strong hand holding her upright. She looked gratefully into his face, "Thanks."

Webb helped her over to the wall, so she would have something to lean on. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" she laughed bitterly, "Oooh..." she moaned, "I shouldn't of done that."

Webb looked at her concerned. The pain was evident in her face, a hand holding her wound so it would stop bleeding, a trail of died blood down her chin.

"Well considering I've been shot and it hurts to breathe, I'm just peachy." Amanda responded sarcastically.

"Are you always this way?" Webb wondered out loud.

"No, it must be your attitude rubbing on me." Amanda rolled her eyes.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Webb demanded angrily, but his eyes suggest otherwise, twinkling merrily.

Amanda snorted, pushing herself upper, "I've read your profile. Smart, quick to come with a sarcastic remark." she recalled.

"You had quite a life, Clayton Webb. Who would of thought, the Olympics, CIA, a musician?" she paused, "But still I don't know what happened in the 8th grade."

"And here I thought you knew everything." Webb sighed. *I might as well tell her. I have nothing to lose anyway.*

"I was in 8th grade Spanish and Billy was in that class." Clay explained.

"I know that much!" Amanda scoffed.

"Well, that's how he got the name 'Esperidante'. Billy and I were best friends through and through. I was the rich kid, he the poor one. We were as different as night and day, but still we were the best of friends. I was trying to get into the 'cool' crowd, but Billy never wanted that. He was his own man, with his weird ideas."

Amanda's was watching Clayton as he spoke. It was clear that this was a touchy subject for him and that it was painful to remember. She gestured with her hand to tell him to go on.

"Well..." Clay paused for a moment, trying to recollect the past, "Billy wasn't a good student. We were having an oral Spanish exam and he forgot what 'spirit' was and guessed 'esperidante'. You've got to understand in my school people like him weren't tolerated, they were more terrorized."

"Kids can be so cruel." Amanda murmured, her eyes were slightly drooping, but Clay didn't notice, he was too caught up in his past.

"I...." he couldn't say it, "I laughed at him." his voice broke with emotion, "And he took it like it was the worse betrayal ever. I thought he was just mad, and I couldn't see the hurt I had caused him."

"And what about Caitlin?" she piped, hoping to stay awake for a moment longer.

"A girl Billy was trying to get." he responded vaguely.

"Let me guess, she couldn't resist your cool charms and fell for you." Amanda remarked dryly.

Clayton laughed, "Something like that."

Amanda was staring at him, a sweet smile on her face.

"What?"

Her smile got wider, "I was just thinking."

Webb turned his head to look at her, "Just thinking what?"

"That you should laugh more. It makes you look at least somewhat human."

Clay blinked in surprise. *Somewhat human?*

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.

"Hey..." she spoke weakly, "You just seen less real, like nothing could bother you."

"I have to be that way."

"Yeah, right." she said, not believing a word he is saying, "I'm a spook too but I manage to keep most of my humanity."

Webb was getting furious, how dare she call him less than human?! Did she understand why he had to be like that??? Doesn't she understand what could happen if he wasn't like that???

"I everything just a game with you?" he blurted out angrily

Her eyes flashed with a brilliant red anger, "I take things very seriously! Just because you can't relate to other human beings doesn't mean it's my fault!" she yelled.

Webb glared at her, "So I can't relate to other people now???" his tone insinuating.

"Yes!" she answered, "I've found time for family, for friends, can you say the same?"

Webb fell silent, knowing what the answer was.

Amanda's softened and decided this would probably be the best time to change the subject, "You know, your JAG lawyers are really naive."

"What?!" he exclaimed. Naive is not a word he would of associate with Mac and Rabb. Annoying, yes, a pain in the ass, even more so, but naive, no.

"They just dismissed my Webb alike." she was rambling now, trying to get everything off her chest before she...

"Your what?" he asked, skeptical.

Amanda shook her head, "Sorry. When I found out you were the Agent assigned to my case, I tried to get a sense on how you would think."

"Go on." he encouraged, his brow furrowing.

"Well...I'm ashamed to have done this, but I tried to get you to confide in your friends."

"You what?" he cried out.

She was avoiding his gaze now, "I knew that if you confided in Rabb or the Colonel, you would at least get the information out and thus it would get back to me." she finished lamely.

"So the Admiral wasn't kidding when he 'saw' me and that I was fired?!" his voice was going steadily louder, "This is just great!" he exclaimed dryly.

"Well do you blame me? I said I retained most of my humanity, not all." she scoffed, "You have got to admit, it was original. Can you seriously said you've had someone impersonate someone else to spark the interest of your friends? They look it, hook, line and sinker. As soon as you came back the next day, and said you weren't fired, they were immediately perked."

"Too bad the only one who got close was Colonel Mackenzie." she regretted, "And not that close, at that. Some friends huh? They just dismissed it, without question." she managed to spit out before launching into another raking cough fit. She lurched forward and the coughing overwhelmed her body. She stopped suddenly and fell back.

Webb was staring straight ahead silently. He sighed, *She's right. I don't have any friends. If Rabb and Mac were truly my friends I would have confided in them about Billy. Except I just pushed them away, just like I do all the time.*

"Hey..." he turned to Amanda. Her arms laid limply on her side and her head was drooped down. A gasp escaped his lips when he realized she wasn't breathing.

*****

Webb's eyes went wide as he momentarily forgot his training. His panic subsided as his training took over.

Clay tentatively reached out and took Amanda's pulse. His own pulse quickened as he realized with a jolt she was still alive, breathing, albeit barely.

If he had not felt it himself, he would have thought she was... *I can't let myself think like that!* He had to get her awake, or she might really... *Stop it!* He scolded himself, wondering why the hell was he so concerned for this woman's life.

"Hey..." Clay gently murmured, shaking Amanda gently to get her awake. No response. He then started to gently slap her on the check, hard enough to be able to get a reaction. After a while of this, he quickly became discouraged as nothing worked.

"Damn it, Knox. Only you would be this cruel." talking to no one in particular.

Clay slumped back, sighing. Resigning that there was nothing else he could do, at least until they got of this damn island. *At least the bleeding has stopped.* he thought brightly, observing the wound.

He closed his eyes, thinking this to be the end. *Billy will launch those war heads, we will launch our war heads, Iraq will launch their missiles...* It was just one big depressing future for the world. *A nuclear holocaust, maybe a nuclear winter...* He sighed again, opening his eyes. He brought his hand up to his check, rubbing it in sadness. *We have really done it this time.*

The sadness soon declined as it was replaced by anger. *You can't let yourself give up so easily! The whole world's depending on you!*

Clay thought about what he knew about Billy. He was always an egotistical bastard, and Clay smiled as he realized he could play this to his advantage. As a plan started to form in his mind, Clay relaxed and realized that all he had to do now was wait.

*****

He had almost dozed off when the door to the room squeaked as it open. Sam was standing stoically in the open doorway, his eyes gazing at Amanda's still frame before walking over to Webb.

Webb lifted his head so he could look the man in the face. He was holding his gun, his previous interest in Knox gone. He motioned with his gun, telling him to get up. Webb just stared coldly at him, not moving a muscle.

"Get up." he asked stiffly. When Webb again failed to do so, he cocked his gun, aiming it at him. "As much as I would love to kill you right now, McKeen would prefer to have you alive, but." he paused as he smirked, "But he never said it was a requirement."

Webb mentally shivered as he heard the coldness in the other man, his instincts telling him he was kidding. Webb slowly pushed himself up and off the wall.

Webb walked prominently out of the room, giving Sam a hard look as he grabbed his arm "Hey!" he cried in protest, wrenching his arm away from the man, "Take it easy!" he told him arrogantly, letting some of his usual manner seep through.

Sam's eyes were hard, and he grunted as he motioned Webb over to the room Billy had disappeared into what seemed hours ago.

As they neared the door, Sam rapidly punched in a series of numbers. *6483251* Clay remarked quietly in his head as the light on the device turn from a dark red to a refreshing green.

Sam twisted the handle and held the door open for Clay, expecting him to go through. Webb wearily walked through, expecting room full of who knows what, but instead found a long and dark flight of stairs. Webb rolled his eyes in annoyance. *Only Billy would build an underground installation only accessible by stairs.*

Webb slowly climbed his way down. Webb carefully stepped his way down, the way so dark that he could barely see what was to the front of him. He was barely even aware of the fact that Sam was following behind him. Barely aware, but not oblivious. He could still feel the gun trained on his backside, threatening to shoot if he made a wrong move.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Clay reached the end of the stairs, ending up in what seemed to be another door, protected by a similar device as above.

Sam hurried over to the device, brushing past Webb. He quickly keyed in some numbers but this time Webb wasn't able to see it, being abstracted by Sam's immense body.

Sam titled his head towards the open door. Webb's eyes narrowed and stalked in. Inside was pretty much how he expected. Full machinery and computers for who knows what. *Billy was always a stickler for technology.* Webb silent thanked the powers that be that Billy hadn't changed that much since he met him.

His eyes slowly scanned the room, searching for the one thing he knew would be there. *Bingo.* he cheered as his eyes fell upon the object in question.

Over at one of the consoles was Billy and Thorpe. Thorpe was sitting down in the front while Billy was leaned of to the side, listening to something she was saying,

"I was right wasn't I?" Clay loudly remarked.

Billy lifted his head and turned to look at Clay. "Did you know this installation is protected against practically anything?" he asked, ignoring Webb's previous remark.

*Oh no...* Webb felt a sinking feeling in him, *I'm am not going to like this.*

"In fact," he paused and grinned, "We could even survive a nuclear blast."

Webb tried to remain impassive as he digested this new piece of information. *Damn! He's going to do it!* Usually he wasn't this optimistic about his assignments, but...

"I was right wasn't I?" he repeated his question.

"Yes, Clay." he rolled his eyes, "The US wasn't willing to negotiate, nor to give into my demands." he sighed as he straighted himself up, "Guess I'll just have to show them."

"You'll be killing billions." Clay informed him, "How are you supposed to spend the money you've got if everyone's dead?"

Billy stared at Clay, "You know as well as I do this was never about money. If it was I would have gone into the family business." he paused to walk over to Clay, "No this is about revenge." he spat.

"For what?" Clay smirked, "Because a few kids made fun of you? Because you lost a girl?" he taunted, "We'll get in line. If everyone did what you did we would have got to hell a long time ago."

Billy's cold, unfeeling eyes stared at Webb. "Do you know what happen? During my disappearance?"

"You weren't the first." Webb snapped, "You were expendable, just like me. It wasn't my fault you panic."

Billy's face twisted in anger, one of the real emotions he's allowed to show since his capture. He spun around, "Sam, Thorpe. Go and check on the war heads." he barked.

Webb swallowed hard, wondering what the hell he was going to do As Thorpe and Sam clamored out of the room, Billy turned back around facing Webb.

"They're gone now, Clay." he paused. his eyes darting around, "Now you can tell me you side of the story." he said softly, "Tell me why you left me? Tell me why everytime I needed you, you were never there."

"That's not true. Look, Billy I was there-"

"Yes," he hissed, "You were there one time. Except you never were the same after that. You-" he raked his head for a word, "Acted as if I was fragile. Sure we stayed friends, but never like before."

"What did you expect?!" Webb cried incredulous, "I nearly killed you!"

Billy's eyes express shock, "You nearly killed me? I nearly killed myself! It never would have happened if I hadn't made fun of you."

Webb fell silent. He had never thought of that before. He had always assumed Billy had blamed him for the accident. He felt spark of hope, Billy wasn't all lost. For the first time he looked at Billy, really looked at him. He saw someone who was lonely, sad and tired. Billy had spent years alone, thinking that he had no one and that they need to pay for what they did to him.

"Why are you doing this?" Webb asked, still hoping he could talk him out of this.

Billy turned away from him, looking at a monitor. Webb's eyes darted back to the object, calculating how he could get to it. Webb inched forward, hoping he wouldn't make a noise. Billy turned back around and Webb suddenly stopped his moving.

Billy gave Webb a look over and sat down on the desk. "I'm doing this because I have to."

"You don't have to do anything." Webb urged, walking forward. Billy's hard gaze only made him stop.

"Yes I do!" Billy jerked and grabbed a walkie talkie, "Thorpe, are you ready?" he yelled into it.

"Yes, sir!" Thorpe's voice rang out of the small device. Billy sat down at a console and started typing rapidly. "Time to die." he muttered under his breath.

Webb looked from Billy to the object, back and forth, back and forth. Knowing he was going to launch the war heads soon, he decided to risk it. He lurched forward, grab the gun and cocking the barrel. "Stop it, Billy. I would hate to shoot you."

Billy turned, his eyes expressing shock.

"You shouldn't leave things laying around." Clay remarked.

"I'm sorry, Clay." Billy apologized before turning around to face the computer again. His hand reached to strike the key that would launch the war heads.

*****

"Noooo!!!" Clay's finger pulled the trigger. A single shot rang out, a cry of pain. Billy fell down, hand nearly meeting the key.

Webb rushed over to the fallen body, draped across the table. He tentatively took his pulse. He was dead. *Oh Billy...* He sighed, pulling him away from the key board. He gently laid him on the floor, sitting it the seat he had just occupied.

*Damn...* Apparently Billy wasn't as careless as Webb thought he was. From what he read from the screen of the computer, the war heads could be launched to ways: by pushing the return key on the board, Clay made sure he stayed away from that, and the automatic time release, launching the missiles in case he was there to launch them in 30 minutes, 4 seconds and counting.

Clay looked wildly around deciding what to do, careful not to touch anything. he suddenly wished he knew more about computers.

*What to do...what to do...* Clay was suddenly hit with a twang of hope, remembering Billy's incessant habit of writing down everything. Clay pushed away from the table, standing up and searching the room. Off to the side on a table lay some papers. *Blueprints.* Webb realized with a jolt. He hurried over to the table, looking over the plans. The fingered over the positions. The building wasn't as big as he thought it was, having only 4 rooms. About a kilometer away was the launch pad. *That must be where they're are.* Thinking of Sam and Thorpe.

Webb's eyes widen as he heard a creak behind him, behind the door. Whirling around, pulling up his weapon, he waited. The door open slightly, "Boss! Are you going to launch or what?"

The door open and Webb let off several of shots, hitting Sam. The man jerked back as each bullet him, his eyes betraying fear. He fell down with a trail of blood running from his mouth.

*Damn!* He would of preferred not to have killed him. Clay breathed in deeply. He turned around looking over the blueprints. He shuffled them around, trying to get a sense of what he had. He knew he had to hurry, Miss Thorpe will be wondering the same thing as Sam over there soon.

For the first time since this whole charade he felt like things were going to look up. Under a map of the island was Billy's notes. Skimming through them he realized that there wasn't as many members of TSOA as once thought. His eyes widened as he realized what would have happened if Billy had launched the war heads. *He was going to kill all of them.* He wasn't even going to save Sam and Thorpe.

Reading on, he realized how easy it was to disarm the war heads and to stop the count down.

He hurried over to the computer and proceeded to push 'delete, delete, delete'.

Webb could really remember what had happened afterward. It happened so fast, he hardly registered what happened.

*****

Webb opened his eyes, his whole body in pain. He groaned as a figure of a woman began to take shape.

"What happened?" Webb asked groggily, his mouth dry. Knox grabbed a glass from the table next to the bed and poured a some water into it. She held the glass to Webb's lips which he greedily drank.

"Why happened?" Knox asked in disbelief, "You blew us up!" she cried.

"I what?!"

Knox rolled her eyes and sat down in the chair placed next to his hospital bed. "You blew us up. I never thought you were stupid, just arrogant. Billy was a psychopath! What the hell would make you believe him???"

Webb stared in confusion. As he tried to sit up, he wince in pain as it surged through his abdomen.

Knox leaned in closer to help Clay sit up. As she help him Clay could see tiny scars indicating plastic surgery. He wouldn't have seen them if he hadn't been looking closely at her face.

Webb leaned back, pulling his pillow up. Knox was staring at him, waiting for him to speak.

"What did you say?"

Knox stared at him in disbelief, "You know, delete, delete, delete? That triggered explosives on the island?"

The lack of comprehension of Clay's face made Amanda sigh in exasperation. "Guess I'll have to start from the beginning." she muttered.

Webb eyes narrowed, "Go ahead."

Amanda took a deep breath before she explained what had happened, "From what our people summed to be what had happened, you pushed delete three times to disarm the war heads and to stop the count down right?"

Clay nodded in response.

"Well it did just that. What do you remember what happened afterward?"

Clay's brow became furrowed as he tried to recall what had happened. "I...I'm not sure what happen." he stammered, frowning, "The last thing I remember is pushing the delete key and then everything else is a blur."

Amanda snorted, "Off course it is. You blew up the island, killing all TSOA members on the island. The only reason we lived was the explosives were planted in every place instead of the building."

Clay eyes narrowed, "How have I been out?"

"About 2 weeks. I find it kinda hard to believe you took this long to recover."

"I survived an explosion!" he cried.

"Well so did I." Amanda grinned, "And I was above ground too. I saw you looking at my face. Why did you think I had to have all that work done on me?"

"I also was out for 3 days, and did you forget my gunshot wound? You on the other hand..." she allowed that to hang.

Clay glared at her.

She grinned, "Well Webb," she stood up, "We saved the world and were the only two who survived." she said sadly, intending to leave.

"Hey! Stay for a moment."

Knox hesitated and looked at Clay sadly, "You should really get some rest."

"I'm sorry." Clay abruptly said.

Knox paused, "About what?"

"Your team." Clay paused for a moment, "You seemed to be very close to them."

Amanda gave Webb a water smile, "Yes." she respond softly, "We were." Her got serious, "They knew what they were getting into and they died doing what they enjoyed doing most."

Amanda walked over to Clay. She bent over and gave him a peck on the cheek, "Get some rest, we'll see each other tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow..." Webb echoed before drifting into sleep.

THE END