Disclaimers: None of this is mine
Setting: The second half of season 9
A/N: Sorry this took so long to update. I was having computer issues. One of those wonderful bugs that masquerades as a security program telling you you have a problem, then doesn't let you run your real anti-virus programs.
1915 local time
North of Union Station
Washington DC
Knock Knock Knock
"Mattie, can you get that?" Jennifer called from the bathroom where she was putting the finishing touches on her make-up.
Jen waited a moment for a response from her roommate. Not hearing one she tried again.
"Mattie?"
Knock Knock Knock
Jen sighed and grabbed her crutches out of the corner. It wasn't that Mattie was deliberately ignoring her. She had been doing her homework and she had a tendency to put her headphones on when she started studying. Jen shook her head, wishing she had been able to do that when she was that age.
Moving as fast as she could she went over to the door. If it was who she thought it was, he wouldn't just let himself in, even though he did have a key. Opening the door she found her suspicions confirmed. Commander Harmon Rabb stood just outside the doorway, his hand raised as if he had been just about to knock again. He lowered it slightly self-consciously and smiled at her, causing Jen's heart rate to accelerate.
"Hey Jen."
"Evening sir." She said, smiling back at him. She moved a little so she wasn't directly in front of the doorway. "Come on in. I think Mattie's finishing up her homework."
"You look nice Jen." Harm said as he stepped in and closed the door behind him.
"Thank you sir." Jen said, blushing. You don't look so bad yourself.
"Going out somewhere tonight?"
Jen nodded, his words pulling her out of her thoughts. "I'm meeting my friend Carla for coffee in a little bit."
"Oh. So you won't be joining me and Mattie for dinner?" Harm tried to keep his disappointment out of his voice. It had become one of the things he looked forward to every day - these 'family dinners' he and Mattie shared with Jen.
Jen shook her head, her thoughts turning briefly to Clay and how he wasn't aware of just how much time she was spending with the Commander off duty. "Sorry sir, not tonight." And was it just her imagination or did the Commander seem disappointed about that?
"It's Harm, Jen. We're both off duty." Harm shook his head in amusement, the look on her face telling him he was just wasting his breath with his repeated reminders.
Jen started moving towards the bedroom, presumably to let Mattie know he was there, and he glanced around the apartment, trying to find something else they could talk about. His gaze landed on her crutches and then the cast on her leg that was the reason for them. She'd come back with that after a weekend with friends, refusing to say what had happened other than that it had been an accident.
"You're going to be getting rid of that thing soon, right?"
Jen looked back over her shoulder and grinned at him. "Any day now sir. I can't wait. It itches like crazy."
"Me too." Seeing the look she gave him and suddenly realizing how that had sounded, he hastily tried to explain. "I meant about getting the cast off. I was just starting to get used to having a jogging partner again when that happened. It'll be nice to have you out there with me again...that is, I mean-"
"I know what you mean sir." Something else she had kept from Clay. "You'll have to go easy on me though."
"I think I can do that."
He grinned down at her in a way that sent little sparks of electricity through her body. Before either of them could say anything else the bedroom door opened, breaking the moment. Jen took a step back, surprised at how close she and the Commander had gotten to each other, as Mattie stepped out of the room, slipping a pair of headphones off her ears as she did.
"Harm! When did you get here?"
Harm turned his attention to his ward, at the same time trying to ignore the strange feeling in his stomach that he'd been getting lately whenever he spent time around Jen. "Just a minute ago Matts. Are you finished with your homework now?"
While Mattie answered Jen took the opportunity to slip back into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning against it once she was inside. It was getting harder and harder to hide how she really felt whenever she was around him. And that, in turn, was making it harder and harder for her to be able to do her real job.
She had been smitten with him from the first moment she saw him, the picture Clay had shown her during her briefing not doing him any justice at all. She'd ignored it though, like she'd been trained to do, because she had a job to do. But the kindness he'd shown to a belligerent stranger, and the genuine care and concern she'd seen in his eyes in the week that followed, hadn't been as easy to ignore. And it hadn't taken long for her to really start falling for him.
Jen sighed and pushed away from the door. Leaving her crutches in the corner, she hopped over to the sink so she could look at herself in the mirror, at the same time trying her best to shake off that line of thought. Her job required her to be around the Commander and that wasn't likely to change any time soon so she needed to find a way to deal with her feelings before they became any more of a liability than they already were.
After quickly brushing her teeth Jen left the bathroom, coming out to find the Commander going over some of Mattie's math homework with her. She quickly gathered up her coat and purse.
"I'm not sure how late I'll be, Mattie, so make sure you lock up when you go to bed. Okay?"
"Got it." Mattie said, looking up from her textbook. "Have fun."
If only this was that kind of thing, Jen thought.
Instead of responding she just smiled and nodded at the girl. With another nod in the Commander's direction, Jen started towards the door.
Harm watched her go. His gaze dropped slightly, unable to stop himself from admiring the way her jeans clung to her curves in all the right places. The door closed behind her and Harm looked away, only to find Mattie giving him a strange look.
"What?" Harm asked a little defensively. "I was just...making sure she didn't need help with the door."
"Riiight." Mattie said, the look on her face expressing her disbelief as clearly as her tone of voice had. She continued speaking, her tone becoming conversational. "You know, she's been doing that a lot lately."
"Doing what?" Harm asked absentmindedly as he double checked the rest of her homework.
"Having coffee with Carla." Mattie paused. "If it wasn't for the fact that I've actually talked to this Carla once or twice when she's called, I'd say it was just a cover story."
That got Harm's attention. "Cover story? For what?"
Mattie rolled her eyes. "For what do you think Harm? A secret boyfriend."
Harm frowned, not liking the idea of Jen being involved with someone. He glanced over at the door again, a thoughtful look on his face.
1945 local time
Federalist Coffee and Tea
Washington DC
Jen stepped into the coffee shop, glancing around for Carla. But instead of her CIA handler, sitting at a table in the back she saw Clayton Webb. Jen's eyebrows rose.
She made her way back towards him. As she got closer she saw him focus on her crutches. He pursed his lips, the only indication he gave of what he was feeling.
Jen sat down in one of the empty chairs at the table and signaled one of the waiters for a cup of coffee. Only after he had brought it over and she had taken a sip did she say anything.
"Where's Carla?"
Clay waved his hand dismissively. "Doing whatever it is she normally does on a Friday night. Nice to see you too Jennifer."
Jen grinned into her coffee cup before schooling her features into a more serious expression and setting it down. "Sorry Clay. Just wasn't expecting to see you tonight is all. What's up?"
Clay raised a finger, asking her to wait a minute, as his gaze was drawn to something over her shoulder. Jen turned slightly in her chair to see a familiar blond haired woman making her way towards them. A huge smile on her face, Jen stood up and warmly embraced the other woman, who returned the hug just as wholeheartedly.
A-hem
Clay cleared his throat, causing both women to compose themselves somewhat and sit down.
The smile still on her face, Jen turned towards her friend. "Loren, how are you? I haven't talked to you since..." Jen trailed off as both their gazes were drawn to her crutches.
Turning her gaze away from the crutches, Loren Singer looked back at her friend. "Well, Abby's great of course, getting bigger every day. Dylan's convinced himself she'll start walking any day now." Loren shook her head in bemusement before continuing. "You need to come over sometime soon for dinner."
Jen smiled at the thought of her goddaughter. "Of course. I've actually been meaning to drop by, but with everything else I've got going on right now..."
Loren nodded in understanding.
"Give them both my love though."
"Are you two about done? Because we do have some business to discuss whenever you've finished catching up."
Jen and Loren both turned their attention to Clay, instantly all business.
"So what's going on Clay?" Jen asked.
Clay gestured toward Loren, and Jen turned slightly to face her friend.
"In the last few weeks I've been tracking a series of emails that strongly indicates the existence of a domestic terrorist cell. The email accounts themselves can't be linked directly to anybody and so far they've only been accessed using public computers during high traffic periods of the day. Despite this we've been able to identify and place under surveillance a couple of people we suspect of being members of this cell."
"I hear a 'but' coming."
Loren nodded her head. "But, these individuals don't seem to be very important members of the cell and we haven't been able to definitively identify any others by watching them. And the emails themselves have been vague to the point of uselessness. So we have no idea how large this cell is, who the leadership is, and their immediate goals and long-range objectives also remain a mystery."
"Okay." Jen's brow furrowed slightly. "So why haven't you taken this to the FBI or NSA? Domestic is more their turf than it is ours." She looked back and forth between Loren and Clay, narrowing her eyes. "There's something you haven't told me yet."
Clay nodded and spoke up for the first time since the briefing started. "There are strong indications that this group was organized by, or at the very least is getting advice from, a foreign element."
"One whose identity and motives are unknown." Jen said, her tone that of someone parroting something she'd heard a dozen times before.
"Exactly. While Loren's been working on the domestic angle, I've been trying to identify and track down this person or persons. If he was willing to help these guys, it probably means he's got his own agenda where they're concerned. Or, for all we know, he could be going around setting up cells like this throughout the country."
Jen was silent a moment, digesting everything she had just heard. She felt her stomach turning at the idea that anyone could despise their country that much. "So why am I here? You guys are bringing me in for a reason. Am I helping Loren, or you Clay?"
"Actually, you'll have your own part to play." Clay answered somewhat cryptically.
Jen looked at him in confusion before turning to Loren, hoping the other woman would explain.
"The last couple of emails we've intercepted seem to be making references to the military."
Jen nodded, things making more sense now. At the same time she felt her blood run cold. "Do you actually think military personnel are a part of this cell?"
"We don't have enough information to say definitively one way or the other. That said, the chances of them actually being able to recruit active duty military personnel is small. While we can't rule anything out, we're currently operating under the assumption that they're attempting to use military personnel as sources of information, or as unwitting accomplices."
"So what am I doing then?" Jen asked. A hint of a smile tugged at her lips as this brought back memories of her original assignment in the Navy.
"Trying to get them to approach me? Or trying to infiltrate a group that's already been approached? Both?"
"Neither." Clay said, speaking up again. "Given your current 'rehabilitated' status, it would take too long to get you back to a place where you would be appealing to these people. Not to mention ruining your usefulness to us where you're at now. No, your job is to try to identify anyone they've already gotten to as well as identify personnel who would be ideal candidates for them to approached so that we can put them under surveillance.
"You are going to be working pretty closely with Loren though. Your normal reports will still go through the regular channels, but anything you even suspect of having to do with this case goes straight to Loren. Got it?"
"Yes sir." Jen said absently, her mind already on what needed to be done to get started. First up would be an in-depth look at everything Loren and Clay had found so far. That would mean spending hours pouring over emails and surveillance photos and listening to sound bytes. So much for a nice, relaxing weekend.
"Make no mistake, until we have these guys in custody, this has top priority."
A/N: I know what you guys are thinking, if this takes place in season 9 how can Loren be in it since she was killed in season 8. Rest assured I do have an explanation for that, you're just going to have to wait a little bit because it doesn't come until later (much later) in the story. Also, if you've noticed she's a little out of character, that too will be explained. Just bear with me.
