Title: Where Phone Calls Lead
Author: Sheila
Pairing Webb/Mac
Summary: Who does Mac call for help?
Rating: R
Disclaimer: As If
A/N: Let's assume that Clay is back, and a few people know it.
The incident in Paraguay won't happen.
A/N 2: Nose tapping is being used with permission of Lynne.
Webb author
Extraordinaire and e-mail bud. Thanks.
"Webb!" Why in the hell was someone calling me at, I checked my bedside clock, 3 a.m. in the morning.
"Clay, it's me, Sarah." The disembodied voice whispered. She sounded distressed, more than that, panicked. We had spoken last two days ago when I arrived back in town, and we had plans for dinner tomorrow night. What had her so upset?
"Sarah what's wrong, tell me, let me help." I whispered back. I don't know why I was whispering to her but it felt right, like it would help her open up and not challenge her.
"They've arrested Harm for Singer's murder, and he won't let me see him. I've got to help him Clay, he's my best friend!" she said with a sob.
"Sarah, sit tight, I'll be over in a few minutes." I hung up and was on my way to her apartment within ten minutes. I knocked on her door and she answered almost immediately. When I entered she walked into my embrace and held on for dear life as she stood silently sobbing. I stood there holding her for several minutes until the sobs subsided then I led her to the sofa and we sat with her still enclosed in my arms. Thankfully she was dressed in pajamas rather than a slinky nightgown or it would have distracted me from the situation at hand.
"Tell me what's going on?" I asked as gently as I could. She began telling me the disjointed story as she knew it. Apparently Singer had been busy getting someone mad enough at her to kill her. And Harm had witnesses that overheard the two of them arguing on more than one occasion.
Only Rabb, I thought, could get himself in such a situation. And here I was sitting with his 'girl' in my arms. Lucky me! And God, did I want her sitting with 'me'. Not just be the guy that was going to help her get Rabb out of jail. This was déjà vu all over again, thank you very much.
When she finished her story she looked at me with tear filled eyes and asked, "Will you help me? I know he didn't do it. He doesn't have it in him to hurt a woman." She said earnestly.
"Doesn't haven't in him? Are you serious? Sarah he's been hurting you for years! He's hurting you right now. He won't even tell you everything he knows!" I stood suddenly and walked over to the fireplace mantle and leaned on it. She was as blind as he was if she didn't see that he DID have it in him to at least emotionally hurt someone. And I had seen enough of the world that any one of us was capable of the most despicable actions if the situation warranted it.
I felt her hand on my shoulder and I turned to face her. Her eyes were shining with still more unshed tears. She placed her hand on my cheek and gave me a watery smile. I moved my hands to her waist and we stood closely continuing to talk.
"I know he has hurt me in the past Clay, but he can't hurt me like that anymore. I left out a part. We tried to make a relationship work, and it didn't. We had a big blow up, and we decided that being friends is what works best for us and it has thus far."
"Then why isn't he telling you everything so you can help him?" I was getting dizzy from her closeness and natural perfume.
"I think he's trying to protect someone, and before you say anything, it isn't me this time. That's why I need your help." She moved her hand to the collar of my polo shirt and moved it back and forth along the lapel.
"If you help me figure who did this, I'm sure that we could work out a form of payment that would be mutually beneficial." She said with a seductive purr.
"Sarah, not that I'm complaining, and I'm definitely not, but where in the hell is this coming from?" I know I had a silly smile on my face, but she was going to explain this before things went any further. I didn't want to go down this road to find an unexpected roadblock.
"Well e-mail buddy 'o mine, we exchanged enough e-mails and IM Chats to get to know each other quite well during your exile. And the more I got to know you the more I got to like you, and with the like came trust. Do you get my drift here? So I would like to expand on the like, but first we need to get the boy-scout out of jail." She gave a smile and pecked me on the cheek. "Come over to the table, I've got a bunch of notes I want to show you."
At 5:30 a.m. we had concluded that the evidence that NCIS had was not only circumstantial, it was vaguely circumstantial. Neither of us thought that even if this case went to trial that the Harm would be convicted. But the problem was that if it went to trial Harm's career would likely be over. It was Saturday morning and since Harm wouldn't see Sarah, it was decided that I would do my 'CIA thing' and get in to see him. I would then probably have to browbeat him into telling me what was going on. The man was stubborn to the point of stupidity, much like most people in our line of work; myself included.
I yawned, and glanced over at the beautiful woman sitting next to me. She was trying to stay awake, but it was a losing effort. She held her head in her hand and was in danger of banging it on the table top if she nodded one more time.
"Come on sleepy head, into bed with you." I helped her to her feet and walked her to the bedroom. Her bedcovers were in a tangle and as she stood yawning I straightened the bed linens. When I was done she climbed in and pulled me in behind her. I lay on my side facing her and gently caressed her face.
"Aren't we getting al little bit ahead of ourselves here Sarah? Not that I don't want to be here, mind you." I said while brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Just stay here with me a while please. I had a nightmare earlier and the first thing I thought of when I woke up was you. I just had to talk to you, and you came over. I can't tell you how safe that made me feel." She said a bit shyly; her eyes looking downward.
"I'll stay with you but, fair warning. When I share your bed in the future it won't be just to sleep." When I finished speaking I tapped her gently on the tip of her nose. She blinked at the contact, nodded in agreement then closed her eyes to sleep.
Nose tapping was a gesture I had seen my father use with my mother. I had always been aware of its use, but it wasn't until I was a teenager did I realize it the significance of the gesture. It had many meanings, it could be a promise of something to come, reassurance, censure, I want to make love, but mostly it meant I love you. Did I love Sarah McKenzie? I think I did, but it was something we were going to have to explore together, AFTER we get Rabb out of jail one more time.
I awoke several hours later wrapped around Sarah's warm body. I moved carefully disentangling our limbs; I had never wound my self like this with any woman I had slept with in the past. Sarah already was proving to be one of a kind. I relieved myself and found a spare toothbrush in her medicine cabinet. When I left the bath she still hadn't stirred so I made coffee. When it was done I poured us both a cup and brought it to the bedroom.
I sat next to hip and bent to kiss her forehead. She blinked several times waking slowly. When she finally focused she looked at me owlishly.
"You made coffee?" She said huskily.
"Yes, it's about the only thing you have in the kitchen to make. You weren't kidding when you wrote that you can't cook, were you?" I joked.
"Nope, don't' cook, not can't cook. I'm a good cook when I set my mind to it, but food generally ends up rotting because of all the last minute traveling. I only pick up enough for one meal when I do shop. Stick around I will whip up a decent gourmet meal." She said with an confident grin and began to eagerly drink her coffee.
"OK, I'll take you up on that. When this is over I want a gourmet meal of my choice." Then I tapped her on the nose again.
"Hey, what's with the nose taps Spook?" She said with a un-Sarah like giggle.
"I'll explain later. I've got to leave to change and interrogate the pilot." I gave her another chaste kiss and left her sleep tussled and grinning.
I flashed the badge and used the National Security excuse and got into see Rabb again. These guys would never learn. To say Rabb was surprised to see me would be an understatement.
"Webb what are you doing here?" He said with his usual arrogance.
"Well Sarah called me a 3:00 a.m. in the morning worried out of her mind about you because you wouldn't see her and let her help. Now what is the HOLY HELL is going on Harm? You didn't do this but you certainly know more than you are telling your lawyer." I said with quiet menace.
"Oh God. I didn't mean to get her upset like that. I just wanted to keep her out of it; besides the SecNav has ordered the Admiral and the entire staff to keep their distance from me for the duration of the trial. He doesn't want to taint the trial with any sign of impropriety."
"Harm you could have at least gotten a message to her explaining this. She needs to know, to understand why you are shutting her out. Now tell me what the prosecution has on you." I asked him as calmly as I could.
He told me about his anal-retentive lawyer, I laughed inwardly, she so seemed so appropriate for the fly by the seat of his pants jet-jockey. The Marine prosecutor seemed to me a little too eager to jump on such flimsy circumstantial evidence. I had worked with Gibbs before several times and couldn't figure out why he was jumping to justice on this one unless he was being pressured from above to get this one finished and move on to something bigger.
"What made them arrest you? Everything is circumstantial."
"They think I did it to protect Sergei!"
"What does he have to do with this?" This situation had to be one for the books.
"He could have been the baby's father, but Singer denied it. Sergei admitted that they did the 'deed' once, but said the baby wasn't his."
"Well that's a help. He does know that it only takes once, doesn't he?" He gave me a lopsided grin and shrugged his shoulders.
"Damn, Harm. You can't protect him forever. He is a grown man, and if they convict you you're looking at life, damn it!"
"I know, but I can't let him take the fall for this. I know he didn't kill her, but if I tell them about it they'll go after him."
"Harm, he's in Russia, and extradite..." He was shaking his head and this wasn't good.
"Don't tell me he's here."
"No he's in Russia, but he was here when she was killed. That's why I was protecting him. I know he didn't do it. I just don't know who did. Listen the woman was a viper. Hell she could have slept with half of DC for all I know."
"Don't look at me. I was in South America, remember?" He grinned at me.
"Now is there anything else you've left out?"
"No, not that I know of. I was in her car; I was there when she made the phone call to Sergei."
"Rabb, I'll do what I can and turn over a few rocks myself. Your best friend is beside herself with worry over you and it's my intention to stop that worry. Do you read me?" I wanted to make sure he knew that I was going to pursue a relationship with Sarah. I wasn't asking permission, just informing.
"Yes, Clay, you are making yourself very clear. I appreciate your help with the case and with Mac." We shook hands and I left for Langley.
I had returned from my exile after breaking a drugs for arms
deals that landed an Army Major General, his Chief of Staff and various members of his command in Leavenworth for the foreseeable future. Sarah was the one who convinced me that I could use my time to either defeat or redeem myself. It was entirely up to me. I stumbled across the arms dealing completely by accident because I spoke Dutch. I overheard a conversation in an out of the way sidewalk café. One thing led to another and the rest they say is history. I was now in charge of South American Operations for Drugs and Counter-terrorism. It was a similar post to what I held before the Angel Shark incident and terrorism was heating up down there in a big way.
I pulled credit card records on Rabb and Singer and cross checked them. One thing popped out. Singer had dinner out once a week for over a year. That in and of it self wasn't unusual but it the amounts appeared to be for two. Most were for the same restaurant. It seems like Singer had a significant other that no one knew about. Rabb said Mannetti's investigation had turned up a sandy haired man. Well that only could mean a few thousand men.
I went back to Sarah's apartment to tell her what I had learned from Harm and discovered that she could cook very well indeed. We enjoyed the meal and settled down to discuss the situation. After more than an hour of batting ideas back and forth we were again at a dead end. I was going to have to wait until Monday to investigate some other leads.
"What do you want to do now, I think we've discussed Harmon Rabb and all his troubles as much as we can and still remain sane?" I asked as I lifted my brow.
"I don't really want to discuss anything. I just want to sit here and snuggle for a while. Then who knows where things will go?" She replied.
"Sounds like a plan." We snuggled up together on the couch and I told her about my new duties. It involved much more responsibility, about the same amount of travel, and no undercover work. She sighed when I said the last. When I was younger I know the danger involved was part of the thrill, but now I wanted a more settled life and the reason was here in my arms.
Our conversation gradually ceased and Sarah's breathing slowed to steady rhythm. I looked down at her sleeping face and traced the line of her brow. I knew I was in love with her, had been for years, and now it seems we were both on the same page. We had even cleared the major Rabb obstacle, except for annoying murder charge. Piece of cake, I hope. It seems putting her to bed was going to be a habit. I shook her gently and when she just snuffled, I maneuvered her so I could stand and pick her up and carry her to her bed.
I laid her down and removed her sneakers and jeans and then got her beneath the blanket. I wanted to stay with her but had a previous commitment with my mother to go riding. We had discussed it over dinner so she wouldn't be surprised by my absence in the morning but I still felt guilty leaving her. I wrote her a note and left it by the coffee pot where I know she was sure to find it.
Three weeks later
Teddy Lindsey was a piece of work. It had taken a bit of work but I had managed to lead the NCIS crew in the right direction and they figured out that Harm's cover hadn't been where it was found since January. Teddy tried to go down swinging but Gibbs and crew had enough humiliation from jumping the gun and took him down hard and swift.
Harm left right after his release for parts unknown for a well deserved leave. He did give Sarah a call telling her he was going to out of town and that he would talk to her when he returned. She told him to have a good time and hung up her phone.
I had been entering her office to offer to take her to lunch when he called. She had beckoned me to sit while she finished up with him. Her face had been very animated while she was talking, expressing her general frustration trying to get off the call. As she set down the receiver she rose from her chair and moved to close her door and the blinds. She then came and sat in my lap and wrapped her arms around me.
"Please tell me that you're taking me to lunch. I'm starving and I have got to get out of here." She explained before tying to kiss me senseless. She had no trouble; any sign of thought had just gone south.
"As much as I hate to say this, you've got to stop if I'm going to walk out of here." She sighed and touched foreheads with me.
"Oh, okay then; and just when this was getting interesting." She was interrupted by the insistent growling of her stomach. "I'll give you a minute to calm down while I let Tiner know I'll be out of the office. By the way I want seafood." I sat there trying to calm myself down.
When Sarah didn't return immediately, I began to think over our relationship. We had spent every free moment together trying to get Harm free and other than falling asleep in each other's arm we hadn't spent a lot of time working on us. In fact this evening was going to be the first 'Harm free' for us. I looked forward to exploring Sarah's untapped depths, and if she will have me, I planned on being the last to do so.
I originally planned on something elaborate but Sarah wanted a calm, quiet, stress-free evening. So I unmade reservations and we were going to cook dinner together.
"Sorry for that," she said as she returned. "The Admiral caught me talking with Tiner, and you'll be very glad to know I have the rest of today off. We can now start our evening very early. But I still want lunch."
"Then get your things and let's go Colonel because I just happen to have the afternoon free." I taped her on the nose and ushered her through the bullpen, down the elevator and into my car in short order. "We'll pick up your car after lunch."
"Since it's Friday and I don't plan on needing it until Monday, it can stay here. You will drive me to work on Monday won't you?" She said while giving me a seductive smile.
"Nooo problem." I returned with the same smile.
Lunch was eaten in short order and we went shopping for groceries; she said she didn't want to run out of fuel. I was amused at what she considered fuel as she tossed chocolate ice cream, Twinkies, strip steak, salad makings, Fruit Loops, pink sweetener, Diet Coke, phyllo dough, walnuts, butter, ground meat, and countless other items into the cart.
"What exactly are you cooking Piglet?" I asked preparing to duck at my choice of endearments.
"You'll pay later, Spook. But other than dinner and breakfast, I thought I would make Baklava. I haven't made it in a while but when I saw the dough in the case I decided to try it again." She explained as she rolled up to a check out line.
"You don't have to impress me Piglet; I already know you can cook." There was no immediate physical violence but the fact that we were in the middle of a grocery may have had something to do with it.
"Because Piglet is my favorite Pooh character I'll let you get by with it, but don't feel the need to get much more creative about my appetite mister." She said with her nose pressed to mine. I took a chance and gave her a kiss to which she responded, "later, and you'd better make it good."
We decided we would spend the weekend at my home and in thirty minutes we had unpacked the groceries and were busily tearing each other's clothes off on the way to the bedroom.
Sarah's POV
After the first Piglet comment I didn't know whether to deck him or laugh at him as I noticed him bracing for possible physical retaliation. I have never had a nickname other than 'Marine' or 'Jarhead'. The ridiculous 'ninja girl' of Harm's didn't count nor did 'Mac', it was just a shortening of my name that made me fit in better in an overwhelmingly male military. I rather liked Piglet so I guess I would let him keep it.
We tumbled naked onto his bed and began to explore each other, lovingly tracing each freckle and scar. We came up for air briefly and acted like the adults we were and cleared up the 'adult' questions. We were both clean, and yes I was on the pill.
"Thank God, because I forgot to pick up something at the store." He said as he caressed my bottom.
"You forget? Didn't you have this evening all planned?" I asked as I began moving my hand down his abdomen to his very erect shaft.
"I had it planned. After lunch I was going grocery shopping, and to the drug store. But you sort of changed the pl." He gasped as I began to seriously move my hands up and down.
His hands moved to caress my folds and I was then the one gasping. He pushed me onto my back and began kissing my breasts nipping here and there until I pulled his head to my nipple. He chuckled and suckled until I was writhing. His kisses wandered from my chest and he blew a raspberry on my belly. As I giggled he moved lower and began to work my body until I felt I would explode.
"Clay please, this first time I want us to be together." He acquiesced and repeated his trail of kisses until he was settled on top of me. I guided him into my warmth and we began moving to the tattoo of our beating hearts. It didn't take long for us to both scream out our release and we collapsed together catching our breath. Clay smiled at me and wiped the sweat from my brow, then tapped me on the nose again.
"It's later. Tell me what the nose tapping means." He rolled to his back and pulled me onto his chest. As I lay there he told me about his parents. It was lovely insight into his childhood.
"It basically means I love you, and I do." He leaned up and kissed me on the forehead.
I couldn't resist and returned the nose tap!
"If you feel that way Piglet, would you consider moving in and marrying me?" The hopeful look on his face was priceless and would be something I would remember for the rest of my life.
"What's the Webb family sign for yes?"
The End
Summary: Who does Mac call for help?
Rating: R
Disclaimer: As If
A/N: Let's assume that Clay is back, and a few people know it.
The incident in Paraguay won't happen.
A/N 2: Nose tapping is being used with permission of Lynne.
Webb author
Extraordinaire and e-mail bud. Thanks.
"Webb!" Why in the hell was someone calling me at, I checked my bedside clock, 3 a.m. in the morning.
"Clay, it's me, Sarah." The disembodied voice whispered. She sounded distressed, more than that, panicked. We had spoken last two days ago when I arrived back in town, and we had plans for dinner tomorrow night. What had her so upset?
"Sarah what's wrong, tell me, let me help." I whispered back. I don't know why I was whispering to her but it felt right, like it would help her open up and not challenge her.
"They've arrested Harm for Singer's murder, and he won't let me see him. I've got to help him Clay, he's my best friend!" she said with a sob.
"Sarah, sit tight, I'll be over in a few minutes." I hung up and was on my way to her apartment within ten minutes. I knocked on her door and she answered almost immediately. When I entered she walked into my embrace and held on for dear life as she stood silently sobbing. I stood there holding her for several minutes until the sobs subsided then I led her to the sofa and we sat with her still enclosed in my arms. Thankfully she was dressed in pajamas rather than a slinky nightgown or it would have distracted me from the situation at hand.
"Tell me what's going on?" I asked as gently as I could. She began telling me the disjointed story as she knew it. Apparently Singer had been busy getting someone mad enough at her to kill her. And Harm had witnesses that overheard the two of them arguing on more than one occasion.
Only Rabb, I thought, could get himself in such a situation. And here I was sitting with his 'girl' in my arms. Lucky me! And God, did I want her sitting with 'me'. Not just be the guy that was going to help her get Rabb out of jail. This was déjà vu all over again, thank you very much.
When she finished her story she looked at me with tear filled eyes and asked, "Will you help me? I know he didn't do it. He doesn't have it in him to hurt a woman." She said earnestly.
"Doesn't haven't in him? Are you serious? Sarah he's been hurting you for years! He's hurting you right now. He won't even tell you everything he knows!" I stood suddenly and walked over to the fireplace mantle and leaned on it. She was as blind as he was if she didn't see that he DID have it in him to at least emotionally hurt someone. And I had seen enough of the world that any one of us was capable of the most despicable actions if the situation warranted it.
I felt her hand on my shoulder and I turned to face her. Her eyes were shining with still more unshed tears. She placed her hand on my cheek and gave me a watery smile. I moved my hands to her waist and we stood closely continuing to talk.
"I know he has hurt me in the past Clay, but he can't hurt me like that anymore. I left out a part. We tried to make a relationship work, and it didn't. We had a big blow up, and we decided that being friends is what works best for us and it has thus far."
"Then why isn't he telling you everything so you can help him?" I was getting dizzy from her closeness and natural perfume.
"I think he's trying to protect someone, and before you say anything, it isn't me this time. That's why I need your help." She moved her hand to the collar of my polo shirt and moved it back and forth along the lapel.
"If you help me figure who did this, I'm sure that we could work out a form of payment that would be mutually beneficial." She said with a seductive purr.
"Sarah, not that I'm complaining, and I'm definitely not, but where in the hell is this coming from?" I know I had a silly smile on my face, but she was going to explain this before things went any further. I didn't want to go down this road to find an unexpected roadblock.
"Well e-mail buddy 'o mine, we exchanged enough e-mails and IM Chats to get to know each other quite well during your exile. And the more I got to know you the more I got to like you, and with the like came trust. Do you get my drift here? So I would like to expand on the like, but first we need to get the boy-scout out of jail." She gave a smile and pecked me on the cheek. "Come over to the table, I've got a bunch of notes I want to show you."
At 5:30 a.m. we had concluded that the evidence that NCIS had was not only circumstantial, it was vaguely circumstantial. Neither of us thought that even if this case went to trial that the Harm would be convicted. But the problem was that if it went to trial Harm's career would likely be over. It was Saturday morning and since Harm wouldn't see Sarah, it was decided that I would do my 'CIA thing' and get in to see him. I would then probably have to browbeat him into telling me what was going on. The man was stubborn to the point of stupidity, much like most people in our line of work; myself included.
I yawned, and glanced over at the beautiful woman sitting next to me. She was trying to stay awake, but it was a losing effort. She held her head in her hand and was in danger of banging it on the table top if she nodded one more time.
"Come on sleepy head, into bed with you." I helped her to her feet and walked her to the bedroom. Her bedcovers were in a tangle and as she stood yawning I straightened the bed linens. When I was done she climbed in and pulled me in behind her. I lay on my side facing her and gently caressed her face.
"Aren't we getting al little bit ahead of ourselves here Sarah? Not that I don't want to be here, mind you." I said while brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Just stay here with me a while please. I had a nightmare earlier and the first thing I thought of when I woke up was you. I just had to talk to you, and you came over. I can't tell you how safe that made me feel." She said a bit shyly; her eyes looking downward.
"I'll stay with you but, fair warning. When I share your bed in the future it won't be just to sleep." When I finished speaking I tapped her gently on the tip of her nose. She blinked at the contact, nodded in agreement then closed her eyes to sleep.
Nose tapping was a gesture I had seen my father use with my mother. I had always been aware of its use, but it wasn't until I was a teenager did I realize it the significance of the gesture. It had many meanings, it could be a promise of something to come, reassurance, censure, I want to make love, but mostly it meant I love you. Did I love Sarah McKenzie? I think I did, but it was something we were going to have to explore together, AFTER we get Rabb out of jail one more time.
I awoke several hours later wrapped around Sarah's warm body. I moved carefully disentangling our limbs; I had never wound my self like this with any woman I had slept with in the past. Sarah already was proving to be one of a kind. I relieved myself and found a spare toothbrush in her medicine cabinet. When I left the bath she still hadn't stirred so I made coffee. When it was done I poured us both a cup and brought it to the bedroom.
I sat next to hip and bent to kiss her forehead. She blinked several times waking slowly. When she finally focused she looked at me owlishly.
"You made coffee?" She said huskily.
"Yes, it's about the only thing you have in the kitchen to make. You weren't kidding when you wrote that you can't cook, were you?" I joked.
"Nope, don't' cook, not can't cook. I'm a good cook when I set my mind to it, but food generally ends up rotting because of all the last minute traveling. I only pick up enough for one meal when I do shop. Stick around I will whip up a decent gourmet meal." She said with an confident grin and began to eagerly drink her coffee.
"OK, I'll take you up on that. When this is over I want a gourmet meal of my choice." Then I tapped her on the nose again.
"Hey, what's with the nose taps Spook?" She said with a un-Sarah like giggle.
"I'll explain later. I've got to leave to change and interrogate the pilot." I gave her another chaste kiss and left her sleep tussled and grinning.
I flashed the badge and used the National Security excuse and got into see Rabb again. These guys would never learn. To say Rabb was surprised to see me would be an understatement.
"Webb what are you doing here?" He said with his usual arrogance.
"Well Sarah called me a 3:00 a.m. in the morning worried out of her mind about you because you wouldn't see her and let her help. Now what is the HOLY HELL is going on Harm? You didn't do this but you certainly know more than you are telling your lawyer." I said with quiet menace.
"Oh God. I didn't mean to get her upset like that. I just wanted to keep her out of it; besides the SecNav has ordered the Admiral and the entire staff to keep their distance from me for the duration of the trial. He doesn't want to taint the trial with any sign of impropriety."
"Harm you could have at least gotten a message to her explaining this. She needs to know, to understand why you are shutting her out. Now tell me what the prosecution has on you." I asked him as calmly as I could.
He told me about his anal-retentive lawyer, I laughed inwardly, she so seemed so appropriate for the fly by the seat of his pants jet-jockey. The Marine prosecutor seemed to me a little too eager to jump on such flimsy circumstantial evidence. I had worked with Gibbs before several times and couldn't figure out why he was jumping to justice on this one unless he was being pressured from above to get this one finished and move on to something bigger.
"What made them arrest you? Everything is circumstantial."
"They think I did it to protect Sergei!"
"What does he have to do with this?" This situation had to be one for the books.
"He could have been the baby's father, but Singer denied it. Sergei admitted that they did the 'deed' once, but said the baby wasn't his."
"Well that's a help. He does know that it only takes once, doesn't he?" He gave me a lopsided grin and shrugged his shoulders.
"Damn, Harm. You can't protect him forever. He is a grown man, and if they convict you you're looking at life, damn it!"
"I know, but I can't let him take the fall for this. I know he didn't kill her, but if I tell them about it they'll go after him."
"Harm, he's in Russia, and extradite..." He was shaking his head and this wasn't good.
"Don't tell me he's here."
"No he's in Russia, but he was here when she was killed. That's why I was protecting him. I know he didn't do it. I just don't know who did. Listen the woman was a viper. Hell she could have slept with half of DC for all I know."
"Don't look at me. I was in South America, remember?" He grinned at me.
"Now is there anything else you've left out?"
"No, not that I know of. I was in her car; I was there when she made the phone call to Sergei."
"Rabb, I'll do what I can and turn over a few rocks myself. Your best friend is beside herself with worry over you and it's my intention to stop that worry. Do you read me?" I wanted to make sure he knew that I was going to pursue a relationship with Sarah. I wasn't asking permission, just informing.
"Yes, Clay, you are making yourself very clear. I appreciate your help with the case and with Mac." We shook hands and I left for Langley.
I had returned from my exile after breaking a drugs for arms
deals that landed an Army Major General, his Chief of Staff and various members of his command in Leavenworth for the foreseeable future. Sarah was the one who convinced me that I could use my time to either defeat or redeem myself. It was entirely up to me. I stumbled across the arms dealing completely by accident because I spoke Dutch. I overheard a conversation in an out of the way sidewalk café. One thing led to another and the rest they say is history. I was now in charge of South American Operations for Drugs and Counter-terrorism. It was a similar post to what I held before the Angel Shark incident and terrorism was heating up down there in a big way.
I pulled credit card records on Rabb and Singer and cross checked them. One thing popped out. Singer had dinner out once a week for over a year. That in and of it self wasn't unusual but it the amounts appeared to be for two. Most were for the same restaurant. It seems like Singer had a significant other that no one knew about. Rabb said Mannetti's investigation had turned up a sandy haired man. Well that only could mean a few thousand men.
I went back to Sarah's apartment to tell her what I had learned from Harm and discovered that she could cook very well indeed. We enjoyed the meal and settled down to discuss the situation. After more than an hour of batting ideas back and forth we were again at a dead end. I was going to have to wait until Monday to investigate some other leads.
"What do you want to do now, I think we've discussed Harmon Rabb and all his troubles as much as we can and still remain sane?" I asked as I lifted my brow.
"I don't really want to discuss anything. I just want to sit here and snuggle for a while. Then who knows where things will go?" She replied.
"Sounds like a plan." We snuggled up together on the couch and I told her about my new duties. It involved much more responsibility, about the same amount of travel, and no undercover work. She sighed when I said the last. When I was younger I know the danger involved was part of the thrill, but now I wanted a more settled life and the reason was here in my arms.
Our conversation gradually ceased and Sarah's breathing slowed to steady rhythm. I looked down at her sleeping face and traced the line of her brow. I knew I was in love with her, had been for years, and now it seems we were both on the same page. We had even cleared the major Rabb obstacle, except for annoying murder charge. Piece of cake, I hope. It seems putting her to bed was going to be a habit. I shook her gently and when she just snuffled, I maneuvered her so I could stand and pick her up and carry her to her bed.
I laid her down and removed her sneakers and jeans and then got her beneath the blanket. I wanted to stay with her but had a previous commitment with my mother to go riding. We had discussed it over dinner so she wouldn't be surprised by my absence in the morning but I still felt guilty leaving her. I wrote her a note and left it by the coffee pot where I know she was sure to find it.
Three weeks later
Teddy Lindsey was a piece of work. It had taken a bit of work but I had managed to lead the NCIS crew in the right direction and they figured out that Harm's cover hadn't been where it was found since January. Teddy tried to go down swinging but Gibbs and crew had enough humiliation from jumping the gun and took him down hard and swift.
Harm left right after his release for parts unknown for a well deserved leave. He did give Sarah a call telling her he was going to out of town and that he would talk to her when he returned. She told him to have a good time and hung up her phone.
I had been entering her office to offer to take her to lunch when he called. She had beckoned me to sit while she finished up with him. Her face had been very animated while she was talking, expressing her general frustration trying to get off the call. As she set down the receiver she rose from her chair and moved to close her door and the blinds. She then came and sat in my lap and wrapped her arms around me.
"Please tell me that you're taking me to lunch. I'm starving and I have got to get out of here." She explained before tying to kiss me senseless. She had no trouble; any sign of thought had just gone south.
"As much as I hate to say this, you've got to stop if I'm going to walk out of here." She sighed and touched foreheads with me.
"Oh, okay then; and just when this was getting interesting." She was interrupted by the insistent growling of her stomach. "I'll give you a minute to calm down while I let Tiner know I'll be out of the office. By the way I want seafood." I sat there trying to calm myself down.
When Sarah didn't return immediately, I began to think over our relationship. We had spent every free moment together trying to get Harm free and other than falling asleep in each other's arm we hadn't spent a lot of time working on us. In fact this evening was going to be the first 'Harm free' for us. I looked forward to exploring Sarah's untapped depths, and if she will have me, I planned on being the last to do so.
I originally planned on something elaborate but Sarah wanted a calm, quiet, stress-free evening. So I unmade reservations and we were going to cook dinner together.
"Sorry for that," she said as she returned. "The Admiral caught me talking with Tiner, and you'll be very glad to know I have the rest of today off. We can now start our evening very early. But I still want lunch."
"Then get your things and let's go Colonel because I just happen to have the afternoon free." I taped her on the nose and ushered her through the bullpen, down the elevator and into my car in short order. "We'll pick up your car after lunch."
"Since it's Friday and I don't plan on needing it until Monday, it can stay here. You will drive me to work on Monday won't you?" She said while giving me a seductive smile.
"Nooo problem." I returned with the same smile.
Lunch was eaten in short order and we went shopping for groceries; she said she didn't want to run out of fuel. I was amused at what she considered fuel as she tossed chocolate ice cream, Twinkies, strip steak, salad makings, Fruit Loops, pink sweetener, Diet Coke, phyllo dough, walnuts, butter, ground meat, and countless other items into the cart.
"What exactly are you cooking Piglet?" I asked preparing to duck at my choice of endearments.
"You'll pay later, Spook. But other than dinner and breakfast, I thought I would make Baklava. I haven't made it in a while but when I saw the dough in the case I decided to try it again." She explained as she rolled up to a check out line.
"You don't have to impress me Piglet; I already know you can cook." There was no immediate physical violence but the fact that we were in the middle of a grocery may have had something to do with it.
"Because Piglet is my favorite Pooh character I'll let you get by with it, but don't feel the need to get much more creative about my appetite mister." She said with her nose pressed to mine. I took a chance and gave her a kiss to which she responded, "later, and you'd better make it good."
We decided we would spend the weekend at my home and in thirty minutes we had unpacked the groceries and were busily tearing each other's clothes off on the way to the bedroom.
Sarah's POV
After the first Piglet comment I didn't know whether to deck him or laugh at him as I noticed him bracing for possible physical retaliation. I have never had a nickname other than 'Marine' or 'Jarhead'. The ridiculous 'ninja girl' of Harm's didn't count nor did 'Mac', it was just a shortening of my name that made me fit in better in an overwhelmingly male military. I rather liked Piglet so I guess I would let him keep it.
We tumbled naked onto his bed and began to explore each other, lovingly tracing each freckle and scar. We came up for air briefly and acted like the adults we were and cleared up the 'adult' questions. We were both clean, and yes I was on the pill.
"Thank God, because I forgot to pick up something at the store." He said as he caressed my bottom.
"You forget? Didn't you have this evening all planned?" I asked as I began moving my hand down his abdomen to his very erect shaft.
"I had it planned. After lunch I was going grocery shopping, and to the drug store. But you sort of changed the pl." He gasped as I began to seriously move my hands up and down.
His hands moved to caress my folds and I was then the one gasping. He pushed me onto my back and began kissing my breasts nipping here and there until I pulled his head to my nipple. He chuckled and suckled until I was writhing. His kisses wandered from my chest and he blew a raspberry on my belly. As I giggled he moved lower and began to work my body until I felt I would explode.
"Clay please, this first time I want us to be together." He acquiesced and repeated his trail of kisses until he was settled on top of me. I guided him into my warmth and we began moving to the tattoo of our beating hearts. It didn't take long for us to both scream out our release and we collapsed together catching our breath. Clay smiled at me and wiped the sweat from my brow, then tapped me on the nose again.
"It's later. Tell me what the nose tapping means." He rolled to his back and pulled me onto his chest. As I lay there he told me about his parents. It was lovely insight into his childhood.
"It basically means I love you, and I do." He leaned up and kissed me on the forehead.
I couldn't resist and returned the nose tap!
"If you feel that way Piglet, would you consider moving in and marrying me?" The hopeful look on his face was priceless and would be something I would remember for the rest of my life.
"What's the Webb family sign for yes?"
The End