A/N: Apologies for the goof with the 'update'. Here is chapter 2, for real.

Lt. Meg Austin ran a hand over the familiar smooth wood surface of her desk. She took a seat in her chair and leaned back slightly, slowly taking in the details of her office. All the file cabinets and usual office accoutrements were just as she remembered them. The carpet, though, felt different underfoot, somehow.

Meg peered down at her feet and realised the carpet looked – and taking a whiff, smelled – new. With a small smile, she wondered if it was some sort of 'welcome back' present, or if new carpet for all the JAG offices was in the Navy budget.

"Lose a button?"

Meg looked up and saw her partner, Lt. Harm Rabb, standing in the doorway, a teasing smile on his face; a bouquet of assorted flowers in hand.

"No, sir," Meg said, clearing her throat. "Just admiring the new carpet. When did they replace it?"

The question caught Harm slightly off-guard. He wasn't sure he should explain the whys of the replacement. The truth might be disturbing to his partner. Instead of cleaning the bloodstains left behind after Meg had been gravely wounded by an armed assailant, the carpet had been replaced entirely.

Hemlock.

The code-name for the hired killer still brought chills to Harm whenever he thought of the incident that had put Meg in a coma.

"They put it in a few weeks ago," Harm answered. "You like it?"

"Well...It looks the same as the old carpet we had," Meg said reflectively. "Maybe the Navy gets a discount. But new is nice."

"These are for you," Harm said, approaching her and presenting her with the fragrant blossoms.

"Thanks, Harm," she said, admiring the combination of roses, orchids, and carnations with sprigs of baby's breath.

"Welcome back, Meg," Harm said warmly.

"It's good to be back, sir." Meg took the flowers from him and sought out a vase.

"Well, I'm glad you're back, too. Krennick has still been assigning the same amount of work for two people while you were away."

"Great," Meg said sarcastically. "I'm just going to run to get some water for these flowers. Then it's back to work."

"I'm not going anywhere," Harm replied.

He watched his blonde partner hurry out of the office with the flowers and an unused vase she'd found on a shelf.

Indeed, it was good to have his partner back. Whether it was just plain luck or a miracle that allowed Meg's return, Harm still hadn't decided. She'd been at the brink of death after being shot in the back of the head.

As Harm waited for his partner to return from her errand, he recalled the shock he experienced when informed of the shooting. He'd rushed to Bethesda and found Commander Allison Krennick waiting there, her usually pristine uniform stained with blood; Meg's blood.

Krennick had been blunt about the young officer's prognosis: Meg was in surgery, and if it took the doctors too long to remove the slug from her head, the results could be devastating – even if she somehow managed to survive.

Harm remembered he'd been almost speechless. How could this have happened? The Commander detailed to him what she'd witnessed: A man claiming to be a Commander 'Keith Nelson' of the Royal British Navy had been the one to pull the trigger, and had very nearly shot her, too.

Almost of their own volition, Harm's eyes turned to the office wall safe. It was there he'd placed the errant fax Meg had received detailing the classified itinerary of a visit by Boris Yeltsin. Few were even supposed to know of the dignitary's arrival on US soil. He would be there to sign a non-proliferation treaty, one of the reasons for the secrecy of the visit.

But enemy Russian hard-liners had contracted the hit-man for hire, 'Hemlock', to kill Yeltsin. Considered to be a CIA myth, Hemlock had been thought to be responsible for numerous politically-motivated killings.

It hadn't taken long for Harm and Krennick to put two and two together: The man posing as Commander Nelson had obviously sent Meg the stolen itinerary details by mistake. He had then tried to kill her when he traced his mistake to her office and recovered the fax.

As the only person other than Meg to have seen Hemlock alive and lived to tell, Harm knew Krennick was a danger to the killer's safety. He tried to insist she place herself in protective custody, but the headstrong Commander would hear nothing of it.

The phone on Meg's desk began to ring, breaking Harm's recollections. He wondered if he should answer it for her, but decided to let it go to her voice mail.

She's going to have a lot to catch up on, Harm thought to himself.

By the fifth ring, Meg's pre-recorded message kicked in, informing the caller to leave their name and number, and that she'd get back to them.

Harm listened in surprise to the voice on the other end:

"Uh, this is JD Gold, Lt. Austin...I know you're probably real busy, but I have a niece down here who's been waiting for you to make good on a promise you made to her a few months ago. This is the second or third time I've tried to call you. I don't mean to sound rude, but you'd better have a damn good explanation for disappointing Cathy like this. She took a real liking to you, Lieutenant...and she's had a tough enough time of it to be let down again. Just...call me, Okay? My number's 830-555-2719...Remember, there's a little girl got her heart set on getting a ride on your horse, Lieutenant...'Bye..."

The line went dead just as Meg returned, flowers nicely arranged in the vase.

"You just missed a call, Meg," Harm said as she passed him on her way to her desk.

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh. JD Gold. Ring a bell?"

Meg set the down the vase carefully and paused. "JD Gold?" she murmured thoughtfully.

"We were down near Del Rio a few months ago...before you..."
"Cathy..." Meg said in sudden realization. "I was supposed to take her riding! Oh, Harm, how could I have forgotten?"

"I can think of one really good reason," Harm said soothingly, acutely aware that Meg was distressed about her unintentional omission. "But why don't you stop beating yourself up and give JD a call back? He left his number on your machine."

Meg reached for her answering machine to play back the message. She listened carefully to JD's recorded voice. Harm watched as her face fell when she heard of Cathy's disappointment.

"Poor Cathy. Harm, I've got to make it up to her! What am I going to tell them? The truth might be a little too much for Cathy to handle."

Harm shrugged. "That's up to you, Meg. Look, I'll let you have some privacy so you can call JD now, okay?"

"Thanks," Meg said appreciatively.

Harm closed the door quietly behind him, leaving Meg to her thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up her phone and dialled JD's number.

He answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"JD? Hi, this is Meg Austin..."