I do not own the JAG characters. Enjoy and please let me know what you think. Remember this disclaimer covers it for the entire story. This does not fall anywhere in the past few seasons. I don't happen to like the direction the show has taken so I am creating my own little world.

CHAPTER 1

1969

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our brother Colonel David Foster; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him , the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

1973

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our brother Neville Webb; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him , the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

1975

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our brother Admiral Markus Hudson; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him , the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

1984

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our sister Prudence Winston; and we commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless her and keep her, the Lord make her face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up her countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

1988

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our brother Addison Winslow; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him , the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

2000

"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord, we commend to Almighty God our brother General Parker Sinclair; and we commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him , the Lord make his face to shine upon him and be gracious unto him , the Lord lift up his countenance upon him and give him peace. Amen." The Priest bowed his head and threw a handful of dirt onto the casket. He then stood to the side as the family and other mourners placed flowers on the casket.

And so, it continued through the years, family and other mourners standing at gravesites bidding a final farewell to friends and loved ones. There were only a few remaining members of this group who had worked so hard for their country. They were getting on in years and it was only a matter of time before they were all gone.

1993

"Senator, I wish you would listen to me and walk on the inside," The woman said.

"That would be very ungentlemanly," The Senator replied.

"With all do respect, we aren't on a date," The woman stated. "My job is to protect you."

A few seconds' later shots were heard. She immediately pushed the Senator to the ground and shielded him. She felt the cold steel rip through her arm, unfortunately it was the arm that was covering the Senator's head – he never knew what hit him.

TODAY

A young woman sat on the trans-Atlantic flight with tears in her eyes. Normally, she never showed emotions, she was an expert at concealing them, but for some reason she couldn't control the tears that ran down her face.

"Are you alright, dear?" The passenger next to her asked.

"I'm fine," the young woman giggled, something else she rarely did. "It's so silly; this book was just so beautiful. I didn't think I would finish it so quickly."

"What are you reading?" The woman asked.

"Sam's Letters to Jennifer," The young woman replied and raised her hand to her chest. "It was so beautiful. Here read it, we have a long flight ahead, and it only took me two hours. I have another book in my bag."

"Did you connect from Barcelona as well?" The woman asked.

"Yep," the young woman replied.

"On holiday?" The woman asked.

"No, I was there on business. This is the first time I'll be back in the States in a very long time."

The young woman then got up from her business class seat and reached into the overhead compartment. Luckily she didn't have to stretch; being 5'10" in heels was a luxury at times like this. Other times like in junior high school, when the boys were still growing, she hated it because she was taller than them. Her height wasn't the only thing that made her stand out. She was a pretty person, not beautiful, but she had a striking look about her that would make the occasional head turn. She never noticed nor enjoyed any type of attention; she preferred to blend into the crowd. The older passenger watched as she reached for her bag. It was then she noticed the gun, on the young woman's hip.

"Would you excuse me?" The older woman asked as she rose from her seat. She immediately went to the flight attendant and reported what she had seen. This was such a breach of airline security. In this day and age, passengers were thoroughly screened before getting on to an aircraft. How could they have slipped and let someone get on board with a gun?

The flight attendant went to the cockpit and informed the captain of the situation. What could they do, they were two hours from London and 5 hours from Washington. They were in the middle of the Atlantic with a planeload full of travelers and a passenger, possibly more than one, carrying a gun. The captain requested a copy of the flight manifest and reviewed the name of the passenger in seat 5B. She was listed as having an American passport and according to the information was a citizen by birth, not naturalization. The captain handed the controls over to the co-pilot and left the cockpit. He was going to speak to the passenger, there could be a reasonable explanation for her having a gun, on the other hand confronting her might elevate the situation and start the wheels, whatever they were, in motion.

"Excuse me, Ms. Winthrop, might I speak with you a moment?" The captain asked.

"Of course," Edwina replied and rose from her seat. "Is there a problem?"

"Come with me please," The captain replied and escorted her to the upper level of the Boeing 747. Once in the lounge area, the captain ensured that the cockpit door was locked and turned to Edwina. "I am sure that this was a mistake, but I was informed that you are in possession of a firearm."

Edwina opened her suit jacket and revealed the Glock that was in the hip holster. "Yes I am, and I am permitted to carry." She then reached into her inside breast pocket and handed her identification to the captain.

"Are you serious?" The captain asked, as he looked at her ID.

"Afraid so" Edwina replied with a wink and a smile.

"Why the hell wasn't I notified?" The captain asked.

"Security cleared me at check in, I'm not sure why you weren't notified." Edwina replied.

"Captain," David, the communications officer, said walking into the lounge. "We just received notification from the tower, Edwina Winthrop the passenger in 5B is on board and…"

"Permitted to carry a hand gun," The captain finished. "I just found that out. Why didn't they notify us sooner?"

"They sent the information to the wrong flight." David replied.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," The captain said, he then returned to the cockpit and Edwina returned to her seat. She turned to the woman who was nervously sitting there.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Edwina said, holding out her hand. "My name is Edwina Winthrop, but I prefer Eddy. I work for the United States Secret Service."

"Oh my, I am so sorry. Did I get you in trouble?" The woman asked.

"No ma'am, it's perfectly fine. You were right to report me to the crew." Eddy replied.

"I just saw the gun," The woman whispered, "I didn't know what to think. There are so many crazies in the world."

Eddy winked and patted the woman's hand. "We'll just keep this our secret."

"You must lead a very exciting life," The woman said.

"At times there is excitement, but I prefer when things are dull." Eddy replied. "It means no one is being shot at."

"Oh of course," The woman replied. "Well, I feel safer now."

"I'm so glad," Eddy replied with a slight hint of sarcasm, if this woman thinks I am going to take a bullet for her, she's nuts. "Well, time to read book number two."

Edwina Rose Winthrop was an interesting woman, American by birth and based on her name, she assumed English by heritage, but she was never sure. She never knew her parents and spent most of her life in and out of foster homes. Her jet black hair and dark eyes lent themselves to her being of Mediterranean descent, but that god awful name, Edwina, what was her mother thinking, she often wondered, was most definitely English. In June 1981, she was 18 and no longer a ward of the state, so she joined the Marines Corps. In September of that year, she received a special appointment to Annapolis and in 1985 she graduated and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant assigned to Marine intelligence. In 1988 at age 25 she was taken from her duties in the Corps and assigned to a special detail of the Secret Service. After a six year stint in Washington, she was sent to various foreign countries to work on security details. She retired from the Corps in 2001, once her 20 years was up and became a full member of the Secret Service. Not having a family was a good thing considering her chosen career. Throwing yourself in harm's way for another person wasn't easy and if she had to worry about a family, it would have hindered her effectiveness. She did find time for romance. She married twice, both times were disasters ending in divorce. She had no real friends to speak of. Her work didn't really permit that. Actually, there were two people she considered friends. They were with her at the Academy and she always made it a point to keep tabs on their careers.

Eddy settled into her seat and opened the next book, same author and it also promised to be a tear jerker. Why she was reading these books was beyond her. Usually she read Tom Clancy. Romance novels always bored her because they were predictable and so unlikely. Never in her life did a man accidentally spill coffee on her and have it turn into a world wind romance. Never in her life did someone bump into her causing her packages to drop and then gallantly carry them home for her. Never did she once have an argument with a man that ended in a long hot embrace. Never, ever could she recall a guy offering to share his umbrella or newspaper to shield her from the rain. Never did she see a man across the room and hold his stare, knowing that they would end up sharing a walk later in the evening. Never did she run away from a man on the beach only to have him catch her and make mad passionate love right there in the sand. Besides, men don't look like the men on covers of books, nor do they act the way they are portrayed in books. Never had she been carried to and gently placed on the bed. Things like that didn't happen in the real world. Clichés, all clichés. Eddy always guessed that one woman had a really great experience way back when, wrote about it and it then was copied by other writers through the years. Honestly, when was the last time, the words 'throbbing member' were actually used in daily conversation? Sighing softly, she reluctantly opened the book and began to read. Two hours later she finished reading 'Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas', she rang for the attendant and asked for some tissues. She turned to the woman next to her and smiled. "This one was even better."

She checked her watch, two hours left on the flight. She was returning to Washington. It was the first time she would be back in six years. She had been assigned to various embassies throughout Europe and the Middle East. Her job was to ensure security and the safety of those assigned there. It wasn't the same as protecting the President, but she had requested the assignment. After the Senator was killed on her watch, she was broken and dejected. Not to mention she had been wounded in the process. She actually wanted to quit but her boss wouldn't hear of it.

James Crowley joined the Secret Service ten years before Eddy was assigned there. He was not thrilled to be working with a Marine and a woman. It pissed him off that he was the one chosen to show her the ropes. The last thing he wanted to do was baby sit a Jarhead and a female one at that. However, after watching her in action, his mind changed quickly. She proved to be an expert profiler and marksman. She was also in top physical condition and could run beside a limo better then any one he ever saw. After several years he was promoted to Director of the Secret Service and was glad Eddy was on his team. In the end he was sorry to send her to Europe, but he knew that it was the smart move. He would either have to get her out of DC, so she could rehabilitate, or accept her resignation. The latter was not an option in his mind.

As the flight descended into Reagan International Airport, Eddy began to wonder why she was called home. She knew her work was exemplary and there had been no negative reports.