Shattered Promises 3a: Starting Over
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended by this series, which is being done solely for recreational purposes. JAG and all of its characters are the property of Don P. Bellisario et al.
No profit is being made from this series.
I'd really appreciate any feedback you wish to give me!
Author's note: This piece is part of a series that consists of twelve parts;
Things Fall Apart.
2. Picking Up The Pieces.
3(a & b.) Starting Over.
4. Getting It Right.
5. Getting To Know You.
6. Happy Endings.
7. Sleepless Night
8. See You In My Dreams.
9. Scattered Photographs.
10. Dreams Really Do Come True.
11. Celebrations.
12. Turning Full Circle.
Classifictaion: Adventure, angst, tiny bit of UST (Planning on some Harm/Mac shipperiness, later on in the series.)
Summary: This part of the series takes place in the year following Cathy's placement in her Uncle Jim's home. During this year, everything from Goodbyes' up until Body Talk' takes place.
OOOO
Ch. 1
As Captain Andrew Lundt swept through the crime scene, he was
approached by one of his deputies, who had just descended the
stairs.
"Sir I just found in the victims room, I thought it might shed a bit
of light on the perpetrators motive."
"We know his motive Carl, he was drunk up to his eyeballs.
Still, I think that the Colonel might want to see this, once she gets
here."
OOOO
Later that day...
1925 Zulu
Bethesda Naval Hospital,
Maryland.
Mac sat in the Hospital waiting room. It had been four hours
since she had arrived here and her head was still swimming from what
little she had been told. How on earth had she not seen
this coming? She had, after all, come from an abusive
household herself, but she had somehow missed all of the signs, all of
the little indicators that should have suggested that something was
very wrong, and set off the little warning bells in her
head.
As she leaned forward and put her head in her hands, she
uttered a silent prayer that Harm would be there soon.
She then sat up and began to thumb through the little purple diary
that sat in her lap, searching for any indication as to when
this had all started.
OOOO
The previous year...
Dear Diary,
I don't want to be here, I want to be back home with Harm and
Mac. If I were still there, we would go out and see a movie or go to
McMurphy's, like we always used to do on a Friday night. Harm and
Mac promised to call me last Monday night, but they never did. I got this strange feeling that something be wrong, so I called AJ Chegwidden. He said that they had been called to go out of town on an urgent case, but said that he'd get them to call me once they got back home. I hope they do call soon. Anyway, at least I get to start school again on Monday. Then at least I won't be stuck in The House anymore.
OOOO
The Following Week...
0530 Zulu
Davidson Residence
Catriona quietly shut the front door behind her as she slung
Her backpack over her shoulder. As she made her way down the
deserted dirt road, she made a mental checklist in her mind,
making sure she had done all she needed to and had all that she
needed with her. The sun had not risen yet, but the glow on
the horizon indicated that it would not be long before it did so.
Catriona actually adored these early morning walks to school,
because it meant that she could get away from the chaos of The
House. She always looked forward to the beginning of the next
school week, because it meant that she could escape into a
normal life, if only for the rest of the day.
Just then, Catriona was struck by the suspicion that she had
left her diary behind in her bedroom. She began to panic as
she remembered that there was no lock on her door, so anyone was
able to wander in and out as they pleased.
"God help me if Jim finds that diary and reads it," Cathy
thought to herself, "but what if he finds something in my room
that he doesn't like? Let's see, all of the few things that I
have should all be in order and out of his way, my dirty
laundry is in the washer."
Everything else seemed to be done, apart from the AWOL diary;
she had even left a note to remind Jim that she would be home
late after softball practice. Goodness knows that she didn't
want a repeat of last week's performance, with Jim showing up on the
practice field and dragging her off and bundling her into
the truck. She had only just gotten over that episode, in terms of
embarrassment, hurt pride and otherwise. She couldn't risk
Jim finding and reading that diary, she would have to check her bag
again and go back for it if it was not there. Even the risk of an
after school detention for tardiness was a dream in
comparison to Uncle Jim's punishments. Swinging her bag off
her shoulder, she rifled through her bag packed with textbooks and
let out a huge sigh of relief as she found the small purple ring-bound
diary at the very bottom. Today would be a good day.
Free from worry for the time being, she set off once more to
walk the remaining two hours to school.
OOOOOOO