Disclaimers: The characters used here belong to David Belissario etc, I
don't own them.
Authors note: This is the first fanfiction I have ever written. I hope you like it, I speak Dutch so I hope I didn't make too many mistakes. Feel free to contact me with your feedback.
Special note: Thank you Angel for reading this through and supporting me like you always do.
Friday 22:30
Iraq
Meg looked around her nervously, the room was crowded and people were talking passionately with each other. She wondered what the discussions were about, although she had learned some Arabic during her mission they were talking too fast in a dialect she had trouble understanding. So she turned to her companion. He was also engaged in what looked like a heated conversation. Meg knew that everyone around her was excited about what was going to happen. If they had their way, the US would be engaged in a new Gulf War two weeks from now. It was Megs mission to prevent that. Everyone seemed to be having an occupied discussion about the future events so this would be her best chance. She placed her glass on the table in front of her and turned to her companion, placing her hand softly on his arm. He diverted his eyes from the dark man he was talking to. His dark eyes twinkled from the alcohol he had been drinking.
"What is it, darling?" He asked her in his best English, an infatuated smile lighting up his face. Meg knew she was lucky he had been there. Over the past four years she had used all her charm to gain his trust. It had been hard but seeing that she was now on this party, it had been worth it. She was just happy she had succeeded in keeping him out of her bed.
"Do you know where the bathroom is?" She replied, her hand gently caressing his arm as she forced herself to smile at him. It was hard to smile, she felt so nervous, so much depended on her succeeding tonight.
Her companion nodded, he pointed to the stairs in the hall. "Go up the stairs, go to left and it's the third door on your right." Meg nodded and gave him a peck on his cheek before she left.
She knew exactly where she had to be, it just wasn't the bathroom. She looked behind her making sure no one was following her before she climbed the stairs. She took left and entered the bathroom. She opened the tap and then left the bathroom again, closing the door behind her. Then she entered the door opposite to that. The room was completely dark but she knew where she was going. As silently as she could she approached the bed and knelt beside it. She put her purse down on the ground and took a black box out of it. A noise startled her, she heard footsteps in the hall. Meg drew in her breath and didn't move a muscle as she heard the footsteps pass by the room. Her hands were shaking and she felt a little beat of sweat run down her back. *They are gone,* she thought to herself. *Ok Lieutenant, pull yourself together, we're almost done. Place the bomb, walk out of here like nothing happened and before you know it you're on a plane back home.* Meg opened her eyes again and searched the box for a button to activate the bomb. As her finger felt what she was looking for, the door of the bedroom suddenly burst open. Three men barged in, aiming their spotlights and guns at Meg. They were yelling at her in Arabic, telling her to put down what she was holding and face them with her hands raised. Slowly she placed the box on the ground, she put her hands in the air and turned around slowly. The men were still yelling as she stood up as calm as she could. She held one hand in front of her eyes, trying to hold back the lights that they were aiming right in her face. Then three new men entered the room, one of them turned the lights on. Meg cursed under her breath, she knew there was no escaping now. She turned her face towards the window, considering if she would recover the fall fast enough to start running again. *Run to where?* A voice asked her, they were surrounded by the desert, even if she got out, she would never make it through that hell. She bit her lip angrily, four years of work down the drain, not to mention the lives of all the people who would be send to war.
"I should have known it," one of the men that entered last finally spoke. He walked up to Meg and looked her in the eye. It was her companion, the man who had brought her this far, the man she had used for all those years. His name was Abdul-Aziz Zafir, an Iraqi admiral who served under Umarah, the man who was supposed to be sleeping in the bed she was going to blow up. Zafirs eyes were hard, he couldn't believe that in those four years he had never once considered Meg to be a spy. He yelled something in another dialect to the men who were still aiming their weapons at Meg. Then he turned back to her and grinned. Meg had seen that look in his eyes before, it terrified her but she pulled herself together. She wouldn't let him see her fear so she just stared in front of her, trying not to think about what would happen next. Zafir saw her stare right through him as if he wasn't there. He hated it to be ignored, he hated it how much his men would laugh with him for being deceived by a western woman. He balled his hand, his knuckles turning white and then he hit her right on her cheekbone. Meg staggered, she hadn't expected the blow. She tried not to lose her balance and keep to her feet. Zafir was laughing hard as he shouted something to the guards behind him, still in that dialect she didn't know. She heard them snigger as two hands grabbed each arm and pushed her out of the room. She knew they wouldn't take her to her hotel room.
Two weeks later
Monday 7:30am
JAG headquarters
Harm made his way towards his office, he picked up a cup of coffee along the way and took large steps to disappear as fast as possible into his office. Bud greeted him as he walked by his desk but Harm just mumbled a " 'morning" and kept speeding towards his goal. He made it, he closed the door behind him, put his hat on the desk and placed the cup right beside it. As he wanted to sit down, the door swung open and Mac entered.
"Goodmorning," she said, "good to see you're on time."
Harm wanted to reply but before he could say anything Mac went on.
"The Admiral wants to speak to you. It seemed very important so you better go to him first."
"He wanted to speak to me alone? About a case?" Harm picked up his cup and emptied it as fast as he could.
"I'm not sure what it is he wanted to talk to you about, he just asked me to give you the message. So you better get going if you want to find out." She left the office again, leaving Harm behind with his questions. He picked up his hat again and made his way to admiral Chegwiddens office. He knocked on the door and immediately the admiral replied him to enter.
"Lt. Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir." Harm greeted.
"At ease Commander," Chegwidden replied, his face was looking serious. "Take a seat," he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. Harm complied and sat down, he studied the face of the admiral who didn't seem happy about what he was about to tell his officer.
"OK, commander, lets cut to the chase. Do you remember Lt. Meg Austin?"
Harm smiled, how could he forget his previous partner? "Of course, sir." Looking at the admirals face, he knew that something was wrong. His smile faded and a worried look replaced it.
"The Lieutenant disappeared two weeks ago in Iraq…"
Harm shifted uncomfortably in his chair, Meg had gone missing. How? Where? He had so many questions but he kept quiet, letting the admiral finish what he was saying.
"As you might know, general Umarah was assassinated last friday. Now the Iraqi government is trying to place the blame on the US. Apparently they took Lt. Austin prisoner two weeks ago as she tried to place a bomb under the generals bed."
"You mean she was on a mission, sir?" Harm was trying to comprehend the words he just heard.
"According to these files, commander, she was acting on her own behalf." Chegwidden browsed through the files in front of him.
"Then why is JAG involved, sir? I mean, if she wasn't acting out orders…" Harm didn't want to sound like he didn't want the case. On the contrary, if anyone had to defend Meg, he sure hoped it would be him. They had worked together for a year and he got to know her pretty well, he didn't want anything to happen to her. But did he know her well? He couldn't believe she would act out of her own. She must have had orders to do so but if the files said she wasn't that meant that she was working for secret service and they decided to sacrifice her for the greater good.
Admiral Chegwidden knew what Harm was thinking, he feared the same. "I am hoping they will allow JAG to take this case." He paused for a second, looking Harm in the eye, "I am counting on you to make sure you will be allowed to take this case! Commander, you are the best shot Lt. Austin has got to get out of there. You and the Major are to fly over at once, your plane leaves in three hours."
"Aye aye, sir." Harm replied.
Chegwidden ended the formal talk there. "I want you to get her back home, Commander." The admiral said it quietly but he stressed on every word. He handed his officer the files and the airplane tickets to Baghdad.
"Keep me posted, Commander Rabb," Chegwidden said as Harm was heading for the door.
"I will, sir!" Harm replied, he looked over his shoulder at the admiral and saw the troubled look in his eyes. He knew how the admiral felt, he didn't like this at all.
Monday 13:30
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
Harmon Rabb closed the file he had just read and pushed it back in the manila envelope. In the seat next to him Major Sarah MacKenzie was sipping from a glass of orange juice as she read through a copy of the files he has just finished reading. Harm felt tired as if he hadn't slept in days, his bones were aching and his stomach felt upset. For a second he considered he was airsick but the idea was ridiculous. Still, he wish it was that. The files he had just read didn't sound good. According to this Meg Austin was transferred to NCIS after she left JAG. It hadn't lasted long though, after six months she had been forced to resign from her function. Her official file didn't contain the reason why she had to leave but Admiral Chegwidden had managed to get hold of another file that did explain it all. According to this Meg had obstructed the investigation into a certain petty officer Abdul-Aziz Zafir. The man had been suspected to be a spy and saboteur for the Iraqi government. When the NCIS started investigating the case, it had soon become apparent that Meg was romantically involved with the petty officer. She was taken off the case and soon there was evidence against her that she was holding back evidence. Harm didn't know how or what happened next but the day after the accusations were made against her, she had resigned her post. NCIS had planned on arresting Meg the same day but she had just disappeared and so had petty officer Abdul-Aziz Zafir. So theory had it she had fled the country together with him. Now four years later she turned up in an Iraqi prison, captured for an attempt on assassinating general Umarah. Did Zafir have anything to with it? It had turned out that he was an admiral under Umarah. Maybe this was his attempt on getting a promotion? But why did Meg helped him out?
"Harm, are you alright?" Mac asked with a worried voice. She looked at her partner who had become very pale and sat cramped up in his seat. He had been acting funny ever after he had come out of the briefing with the Admiral. Sarah had read the file on Lt. Meg Austin, she had been surprised to find out that she was the former partner of Harm. She knew this was bugging Harm, he probably couldn't accept how she could betray her country. But Bud had always spoken of Meg as a kind and loyal person, not someone who would be capable of doing this. "Harm?" She insisted.
"Yes, Mac, I'm ok." Harm finally replied, he looked at his partner. Her brown eyes showed concern. "It's just …" Harm sighed, he could see Meg before him. The image he had of his junior partner didn't correspond with the Meg he read about in these files. She had been a very promising officer, she might have looked naïve but he was sure she wasn't. She had worked hard to get to Lieutenant and he couldn't see her toss it all away for a romance with an Iraqi. Or could she? Her leaving JAG had been very sudden and he never understood why she left without saying a word to anyone. Did that have anything to do with this?
Harm hadn't noticed he had been quiet for a long time when Mac asked him: "It's just what?"
He startled and snapped out of his train of thoughts. "It's just that Meg, I mean Lt. Austin, isn't the person to do this. All these files, that isn't the officer I knew." He said it without hesitating although he was doubting everything right now, he knew he felt this way deep down. Meg wasn't a traitor, she would never do this. There had to be an explanation, something these files didn't tell them.
"I can understand you feel disappointed, betrayed even. She was your partner for a year and…"
Harm didn't let her finish. "Yes, she was my partner," he interrupted. "And I knew her, Mac. She would never do this. You don't work with someone that long without getting to know them at least a little. I KNEW Meg well enough to be sure she would never betray me or her country. She didn't do this, Mac. I know that without a doubt. These files are holding back something and we're going to find out what!" He sounded determined, his eyes were flaming with anger.
Mac knew he had made up his mind and arguing would not get her anywhere. Still, she couldn't help wondering if he was the right person to take on this case. He was emotionally involved, to say the least. Would he be capable of seeing the truth when he found it? "Harm, do you think you could handle finding out she isn't the person she let you believe she was? Or you sure you can take on this case and remain objective?"
Harm didn't reply at first, he knew what Mac was insinuating. What if Meg was guilty? What if she really had been playing a role all the time she was his partner? Harm shook his head, trying to get rid of the doubts. He felt sick just considering them. "Mac, I don't think I have a choice. If she wasn't who she let me believe she was, then I'm sure I want to know no matter how much it would hurt. The thing is, the admiral made it clear that I have to take on this case. I am the best chance she had, and I'm not going to let her down."
He had spoken slowly, his voice almost whispering but Mac knew what had driven him to say these things. She knew he would do the best he could but his loyalty lay with Meg and he would do everything in his power to get her out of there. She hoped he would succeed. After seeing the hurt in his eyes, she couldn't but believe that Meg Austin wasn't guilty of treason. If Harm believed in her this much, she would too. She owed him that much. So Mac just nodded and for a brief moment took Harms hand and squeezed it showing her support. Harm smiled, a soft twinkle returning in them. "We'll get her out." Mac told him reassuringly.
Authors note: This is the first fanfiction I have ever written. I hope you like it, I speak Dutch so I hope I didn't make too many mistakes. Feel free to contact me with your feedback.
Special note: Thank you Angel for reading this through and supporting me like you always do.
Friday 22:30
Iraq
Meg looked around her nervously, the room was crowded and people were talking passionately with each other. She wondered what the discussions were about, although she had learned some Arabic during her mission they were talking too fast in a dialect she had trouble understanding. So she turned to her companion. He was also engaged in what looked like a heated conversation. Meg knew that everyone around her was excited about what was going to happen. If they had their way, the US would be engaged in a new Gulf War two weeks from now. It was Megs mission to prevent that. Everyone seemed to be having an occupied discussion about the future events so this would be her best chance. She placed her glass on the table in front of her and turned to her companion, placing her hand softly on his arm. He diverted his eyes from the dark man he was talking to. His dark eyes twinkled from the alcohol he had been drinking.
"What is it, darling?" He asked her in his best English, an infatuated smile lighting up his face. Meg knew she was lucky he had been there. Over the past four years she had used all her charm to gain his trust. It had been hard but seeing that she was now on this party, it had been worth it. She was just happy she had succeeded in keeping him out of her bed.
"Do you know where the bathroom is?" She replied, her hand gently caressing his arm as she forced herself to smile at him. It was hard to smile, she felt so nervous, so much depended on her succeeding tonight.
Her companion nodded, he pointed to the stairs in the hall. "Go up the stairs, go to left and it's the third door on your right." Meg nodded and gave him a peck on his cheek before she left.
She knew exactly where she had to be, it just wasn't the bathroom. She looked behind her making sure no one was following her before she climbed the stairs. She took left and entered the bathroom. She opened the tap and then left the bathroom again, closing the door behind her. Then she entered the door opposite to that. The room was completely dark but she knew where she was going. As silently as she could she approached the bed and knelt beside it. She put her purse down on the ground and took a black box out of it. A noise startled her, she heard footsteps in the hall. Meg drew in her breath and didn't move a muscle as she heard the footsteps pass by the room. Her hands were shaking and she felt a little beat of sweat run down her back. *They are gone,* she thought to herself. *Ok Lieutenant, pull yourself together, we're almost done. Place the bomb, walk out of here like nothing happened and before you know it you're on a plane back home.* Meg opened her eyes again and searched the box for a button to activate the bomb. As her finger felt what she was looking for, the door of the bedroom suddenly burst open. Three men barged in, aiming their spotlights and guns at Meg. They were yelling at her in Arabic, telling her to put down what she was holding and face them with her hands raised. Slowly she placed the box on the ground, she put her hands in the air and turned around slowly. The men were still yelling as she stood up as calm as she could. She held one hand in front of her eyes, trying to hold back the lights that they were aiming right in her face. Then three new men entered the room, one of them turned the lights on. Meg cursed under her breath, she knew there was no escaping now. She turned her face towards the window, considering if she would recover the fall fast enough to start running again. *Run to where?* A voice asked her, they were surrounded by the desert, even if she got out, she would never make it through that hell. She bit her lip angrily, four years of work down the drain, not to mention the lives of all the people who would be send to war.
"I should have known it," one of the men that entered last finally spoke. He walked up to Meg and looked her in the eye. It was her companion, the man who had brought her this far, the man she had used for all those years. His name was Abdul-Aziz Zafir, an Iraqi admiral who served under Umarah, the man who was supposed to be sleeping in the bed she was going to blow up. Zafirs eyes were hard, he couldn't believe that in those four years he had never once considered Meg to be a spy. He yelled something in another dialect to the men who were still aiming their weapons at Meg. Then he turned back to her and grinned. Meg had seen that look in his eyes before, it terrified her but she pulled herself together. She wouldn't let him see her fear so she just stared in front of her, trying not to think about what would happen next. Zafir saw her stare right through him as if he wasn't there. He hated it to be ignored, he hated it how much his men would laugh with him for being deceived by a western woman. He balled his hand, his knuckles turning white and then he hit her right on her cheekbone. Meg staggered, she hadn't expected the blow. She tried not to lose her balance and keep to her feet. Zafir was laughing hard as he shouted something to the guards behind him, still in that dialect she didn't know. She heard them snigger as two hands grabbed each arm and pushed her out of the room. She knew they wouldn't take her to her hotel room.
Two weeks later
Monday 7:30am
JAG headquarters
Harm made his way towards his office, he picked up a cup of coffee along the way and took large steps to disappear as fast as possible into his office. Bud greeted him as he walked by his desk but Harm just mumbled a " 'morning" and kept speeding towards his goal. He made it, he closed the door behind him, put his hat on the desk and placed the cup right beside it. As he wanted to sit down, the door swung open and Mac entered.
"Goodmorning," she said, "good to see you're on time."
Harm wanted to reply but before he could say anything Mac went on.
"The Admiral wants to speak to you. It seemed very important so you better go to him first."
"He wanted to speak to me alone? About a case?" Harm picked up his cup and emptied it as fast as he could.
"I'm not sure what it is he wanted to talk to you about, he just asked me to give you the message. So you better get going if you want to find out." She left the office again, leaving Harm behind with his questions. He picked up his hat again and made his way to admiral Chegwiddens office. He knocked on the door and immediately the admiral replied him to enter.
"Lt. Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir." Harm greeted.
"At ease Commander," Chegwidden replied, his face was looking serious. "Take a seat," he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. Harm complied and sat down, he studied the face of the admiral who didn't seem happy about what he was about to tell his officer.
"OK, commander, lets cut to the chase. Do you remember Lt. Meg Austin?"
Harm smiled, how could he forget his previous partner? "Of course, sir." Looking at the admirals face, he knew that something was wrong. His smile faded and a worried look replaced it.
"The Lieutenant disappeared two weeks ago in Iraq…"
Harm shifted uncomfortably in his chair, Meg had gone missing. How? Where? He had so many questions but he kept quiet, letting the admiral finish what he was saying.
"As you might know, general Umarah was assassinated last friday. Now the Iraqi government is trying to place the blame on the US. Apparently they took Lt. Austin prisoner two weeks ago as she tried to place a bomb under the generals bed."
"You mean she was on a mission, sir?" Harm was trying to comprehend the words he just heard.
"According to these files, commander, she was acting on her own behalf." Chegwidden browsed through the files in front of him.
"Then why is JAG involved, sir? I mean, if she wasn't acting out orders…" Harm didn't want to sound like he didn't want the case. On the contrary, if anyone had to defend Meg, he sure hoped it would be him. They had worked together for a year and he got to know her pretty well, he didn't want anything to happen to her. But did he know her well? He couldn't believe she would act out of her own. She must have had orders to do so but if the files said she wasn't that meant that she was working for secret service and they decided to sacrifice her for the greater good.
Admiral Chegwidden knew what Harm was thinking, he feared the same. "I am hoping they will allow JAG to take this case." He paused for a second, looking Harm in the eye, "I am counting on you to make sure you will be allowed to take this case! Commander, you are the best shot Lt. Austin has got to get out of there. You and the Major are to fly over at once, your plane leaves in three hours."
"Aye aye, sir." Harm replied.
Chegwidden ended the formal talk there. "I want you to get her back home, Commander." The admiral said it quietly but he stressed on every word. He handed his officer the files and the airplane tickets to Baghdad.
"Keep me posted, Commander Rabb," Chegwidden said as Harm was heading for the door.
"I will, sir!" Harm replied, he looked over his shoulder at the admiral and saw the troubled look in his eyes. He knew how the admiral felt, he didn't like this at all.
Monday 13:30
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
Harmon Rabb closed the file he had just read and pushed it back in the manila envelope. In the seat next to him Major Sarah MacKenzie was sipping from a glass of orange juice as she read through a copy of the files he has just finished reading. Harm felt tired as if he hadn't slept in days, his bones were aching and his stomach felt upset. For a second he considered he was airsick but the idea was ridiculous. Still, he wish it was that. The files he had just read didn't sound good. According to this Meg Austin was transferred to NCIS after she left JAG. It hadn't lasted long though, after six months she had been forced to resign from her function. Her official file didn't contain the reason why she had to leave but Admiral Chegwidden had managed to get hold of another file that did explain it all. According to this Meg had obstructed the investigation into a certain petty officer Abdul-Aziz Zafir. The man had been suspected to be a spy and saboteur for the Iraqi government. When the NCIS started investigating the case, it had soon become apparent that Meg was romantically involved with the petty officer. She was taken off the case and soon there was evidence against her that she was holding back evidence. Harm didn't know how or what happened next but the day after the accusations were made against her, she had resigned her post. NCIS had planned on arresting Meg the same day but she had just disappeared and so had petty officer Abdul-Aziz Zafir. So theory had it she had fled the country together with him. Now four years later she turned up in an Iraqi prison, captured for an attempt on assassinating general Umarah. Did Zafir have anything to with it? It had turned out that he was an admiral under Umarah. Maybe this was his attempt on getting a promotion? But why did Meg helped him out?
"Harm, are you alright?" Mac asked with a worried voice. She looked at her partner who had become very pale and sat cramped up in his seat. He had been acting funny ever after he had come out of the briefing with the Admiral. Sarah had read the file on Lt. Meg Austin, she had been surprised to find out that she was the former partner of Harm. She knew this was bugging Harm, he probably couldn't accept how she could betray her country. But Bud had always spoken of Meg as a kind and loyal person, not someone who would be capable of doing this. "Harm?" She insisted.
"Yes, Mac, I'm ok." Harm finally replied, he looked at his partner. Her brown eyes showed concern. "It's just …" Harm sighed, he could see Meg before him. The image he had of his junior partner didn't correspond with the Meg he read about in these files. She had been a very promising officer, she might have looked naïve but he was sure she wasn't. She had worked hard to get to Lieutenant and he couldn't see her toss it all away for a romance with an Iraqi. Or could she? Her leaving JAG had been very sudden and he never understood why she left without saying a word to anyone. Did that have anything to do with this?
Harm hadn't noticed he had been quiet for a long time when Mac asked him: "It's just what?"
He startled and snapped out of his train of thoughts. "It's just that Meg, I mean Lt. Austin, isn't the person to do this. All these files, that isn't the officer I knew." He said it without hesitating although he was doubting everything right now, he knew he felt this way deep down. Meg wasn't a traitor, she would never do this. There had to be an explanation, something these files didn't tell them.
"I can understand you feel disappointed, betrayed even. She was your partner for a year and…"
Harm didn't let her finish. "Yes, she was my partner," he interrupted. "And I knew her, Mac. She would never do this. You don't work with someone that long without getting to know them at least a little. I KNEW Meg well enough to be sure she would never betray me or her country. She didn't do this, Mac. I know that without a doubt. These files are holding back something and we're going to find out what!" He sounded determined, his eyes were flaming with anger.
Mac knew he had made up his mind and arguing would not get her anywhere. Still, she couldn't help wondering if he was the right person to take on this case. He was emotionally involved, to say the least. Would he be capable of seeing the truth when he found it? "Harm, do you think you could handle finding out she isn't the person she let you believe she was? Or you sure you can take on this case and remain objective?"
Harm didn't reply at first, he knew what Mac was insinuating. What if Meg was guilty? What if she really had been playing a role all the time she was his partner? Harm shook his head, trying to get rid of the doubts. He felt sick just considering them. "Mac, I don't think I have a choice. If she wasn't who she let me believe she was, then I'm sure I want to know no matter how much it would hurt. The thing is, the admiral made it clear that I have to take on this case. I am the best chance she had, and I'm not going to let her down."
He had spoken slowly, his voice almost whispering but Mac knew what had driven him to say these things. She knew he would do the best he could but his loyalty lay with Meg and he would do everything in his power to get her out of there. She hoped he would succeed. After seeing the hurt in his eyes, she couldn't but believe that Meg Austin wasn't guilty of treason. If Harm believed in her this much, she would too. She owed him that much. So Mac just nodded and for a brief moment took Harms hand and squeezed it showing her support. Harm smiled, a soft twinkle returning in them. "We'll get her out." Mac told him reassuringly.