** Operation Mariano **
CHAPTER TWO

Genre: Drama
Pairings: Dean/Shane
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Clara, Dean, Jess and all other recognizable "Gilmore Girls" characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, and the WB. There is no profit from the copyrighted characters or infringement intended.

Welcome back to "Operation Mariano." Hope you got a chance to see little Clara in her video on the Lost Girl of Stars Hollow profile page.
If you log back onto the profile page again, you can now see a picture of Clara Forester all grown up and there's also a picture of Lt. Amanda James and her dog, Ammo,
posted under "Operation Mariano, in the pictures section.

Clara tries to figure it out

Clara thought back to when it all began, the intricate triangle that made her brother a bitter man. The people who were hurt and the lives altered. She did not quite understand quite what happened when it happened. Through the years she pieced it together. Rory and Jess's little flirtation altered the lives of her brother, Shane Ryan, and ultimately Lindsay Lister. Her brother married Lindsay on the rebound from Rory and when Rory beckoned again he succumbed to her charms, destroying Lindsay. Of the three, only Shane did not seem bitter. Lindsay was remote, living with her parents; an untouchable icicle of breathtaking beauty.

Dean was bitter. He lost the two women he thought he loved, that is why he joined the army. Sadly, he came back from Iraq an even harder, bitter man, prone to bouts of prolonged drinking.

Right after she returned home from college, Dean entered Luke's diner drunk and Luke tried to throw him out. Dean and Luke really never got along ever since the time Luke had tried to prevent Dean from entering the diner after his first break up with Rory. Their animosity remained below the surface, and finally came to a head when Luke saw Dean staggering into the diner and slurring his words. Luke asked him to leave and when Dean refused, Luke grabbed him to force him out the door. Dean had learned hand to hand combat in the army, and easily shrugged him off, and proceeded to kick the crap out of him.

It was not pretty. Her brother spent two weeks in jail for the assault. Unfortunately, Dean's life was sliding right back into the same position he had occupied before he left Stars Hollow.

She shook off those unpleasant thoughts and shifted her thoughts towards a more pleasant wanted to get together with Jess. She knew for some reason he would not look at her as a woman unless she proved she was his equal. The six years difference in age did not bother her. In her mind it should not bother Jess either. If asked to explain her attraction to Jess, she could not. She just knew it was there.

Now she had a problem or two problems. How could she get her brother, who she loved, to sit down with Jess, a man she thought she could love. They hated each other. If Dean was angered he could easily kill Jess, and she was not so sure he wouldn't. The second problem was Rory. Even though she had put on a few pounds, she was still a young woman and she still had those amazing blue eyes and the little girl lost look. Would Jess fall for her again? She contemplated playing a dangerous game to somehow get her brother back with Rory, which would leave Jess for her and then maybe her brother's bitterness would wondered if Rory really understood the chain of events she started when she snuck around with Jess while going with her brother. Clara knew if she had been forthright none of this would have happened.

Clara also wondered how much bitterness Jess held toward Rory. Some guy named Logan eventually took what remained of the Rory Jess relationship and stomped on it. Good thing an advertising and marketing degree included strategic planning. Clara realized her dream of getting Jess was going to be tricky, and one false step and things could quickly spin out of her control.

Dean was twenty eight years old. His life was nowhere close to what he envisioned. He knew he was a borderline alcoholic. After a couple of fights, no one bothered him. He would go to Log Cabin Pub, and Rose the bartender would look out for him, making sure no one looking for trouble bothered him. Dean laughed to himself. Rose was probably the only woman he liked at the moment. Rose was about six years older and married to a nice guy, but she sure was a beautiful woman. Clara was back in town and he promised her that he would sit down and talk with her. She had something she wanted him to help her with. When it came to his little sister, there was nothing in the world he would not do, or so he thought. Dean actually sort of liked the army. He did not mind the regimentation.

By the time Dean's tour began in Iraq, the war was winding down, but it was still a dangerous place. In Iraq he found two things he loved: Amanda and her dog. It was one of the most unusual, inappropriate, illogical romances of his knowledge.

Lieutenant Amanda James was an army nurse. She was barely over five feet tall and he doubted that she weighed over one hundred pounds. Amanda had honey blonde hair she kept in a pony tail and the true gray eyes. Dean met her when he had to go to the field hospital for a long jagged cut on his arm that he had neglected until it became dangerously infected.

The arm was so infected that he had to stay there for a week to ensure the infection was controlled. The last thing they needed was a soldier out on patrol with an arm he could not use or to be tied up in the hospital for months with a difficult to treat infection. Dean walked into the aide tent and sat down to have his wound tended to and looked into the eyes of Lieutenant James. He was at a loss; he did not think he could love again. She held his gaze, looked down and looked back into his eyes. It seemed like she was trying to see him through his eyes. A Mona Lisa smile spread to her lips. She looked down at the folder in front of her, "So Corporal Forester, I see you did quite a number on your arm. Okay, we need to clean this up. I see it is already infected. What did you do, act like macho man and tie a rag around it and walk around for a few days?"

Dean smiled, "Lieutenant, I guess you know me too well."

"No Corporal, you all do it. The big guys like you do it to show how tough you are and the little guys about my size do it to show that they are tougher than you. So you all wind up back here and will be no good to your unit 'til we get rid of the infection."

Dean blushed a bit, "I think you're right, ma'am."

She then smiled at him and jabbed him with a needle right in the wound.

"Holy shit, are you crazy?"

Amanda laughed, "Hey, I thought you were a tough guy I just gave you some Novocain. Your arm will be numb in a few minutes, and then I can open it up and clean the wound."

When she was done, Amanda explained that she did not sew it up, as the wound needed to drain and he was to stay here for at least a week until. The infection subsided. That evening in the mess tent Dean was walking away from the chow line looking for her. He knew she was an officer and he had no business even thinking what he was felt a tap on his shoulder and there was Lieutenant James, holding her tray. "Looking for me?"

Dean stammered "No, ma'am, I was just looking around in general."

She smiled at him again with that Mona Lisa smile, "Come on, we can eat outside. They saw a deuce and a half truck and sat on the tailgate. "Ma'am, um I...why did you ask me out here?"

"I don't know, I really don't know, I just feel like I have known you forever. There is something about you that makes me feel safe."

They chatted while eating; she told Dean that she was from Kennett Square Pennsylvania, an outlying suburb of Philadelphia. The thing she loved the most was her dog she had rescued and was going to take back to the states, and her boyfriend.

The next day at evening chow she found him again, and asked if he wanted to eat outside again. "How did you find me so easy? She laughed, "You're well over six feet tall, and easy to spot." They walked out into the oppressive heat and found a Humvee to eat in. Again they just chatted about the things a girl and boy talk about. They had finished and Dean said, "Lieutenant, I'll take your mess gear back, It will save you the trip."

She put her hand on his cheek and kissed him on the lips for a second, "Thank you, Dean."

Dean walked back to the mess tent; he thought he was ten feet above ground. Dean also realized that they were in the middle of Iraq and officers and enlisted personnel were not supposed to be doing what just happened. They met again four more times and never kissed again. The doctor certified Dean fit to return to duty. He had one more night. As usual, they met and found a place to eat together alone. They did not mind leaving the cooled mess tent to eat in the heat. When they were together, they did not mind the heat.

"Lieutenant, I guess this is our last meal together."

"'Amanda,' Dean. Please call me 'Amanda.' I know it's our last meal together and I am going to miss you Dean, miss you more than you know. They ate in silence for the first time, both lost in their thoughts. Amanda turned to look at him. They stared into each other's eyes like it was the first time they'd met.

Dean and Amanda made love for the first time in the back of a dusty five ton truck. During the predawn they stirred. "Dean, I have to get back, and you have to check out and get back to your unit." She noticed Dean staring at her engagement ring. "I am going to write him today and break it off. I don't need a ring or words to tell me I am in love."

She looked back up into Dean's eyes and he replied, "I don't either, Amanda."

Dean found out that the nurses took turns riding out in an armored column to check the various outposts and to help out the field medics. Dean pulled every string he had, called in every favor owed to him, to be assigned to her vehicle. They managed to see each other every chance they had. Dean fell in love with her dog Ammo. The months passed and it was an open secret that the two of them were in some sort of relationship. Dean's First Sergeant pulled him aside one day and told him to watch himself as the relationship was starting to draw the attention of the higher ups.

Amanda had forty five days left in her tour, and Dean had three months left in his. He was getting his gear ready for his convoy escort duty, when the First Sergeant told him to stow it, he was not going.

"First, what do you mean I am not going?"

"Look, Forester, it is for your own good and also for the Lieutenant's. Her commanding officer sent word that you were no longer going to ride shotgun on her Humvee, and you were persona non grata back at the field hospital."

"That's bullshit First,"

"Forester, you know I am right. Anyway, there is nothing you can do about it. Do you want her to return home and be kicked out of the army in disgrace?"

"What is so disgraceful about love, First?"

"Forester, it is done. Suck it up and get over it."

Dean was sleeping, he knew something was wrong. He woke up and saw five or six guys by his bunk and one of them holding a flashlight. "What gives?"

There was shuffling of feet and silence. Finally one of the soldiers spoke up, "The convoy was attacked and there are five dead."

Dean felt the iron cold grip of fear in his gut. "Who was killed?"

Another soldier said, "Amanda."

"Where is she? Where is the body?"

"There is no body, Forester. The Humvee Disintegrated."

"Dean went berserk, he wanted to kill the First Sergeant. It took all five of the soldiers to hold him down. The First Sergeant entered the tent, "I see you have already been told," he said coldly.

"I want to see her!" Dean cried. "Please let me see her, please let me see her." Dean had tears streaming down his cheeks, "Please."

"Look at what, Forester? She is in a million pieces."

Dean lost his mind and threw the five soldiers off of him and grabbed the First Sergeant. By the time they pulled Dean off of him he had a broken nose, four broken ribs and a broken jaw.

The soldiers looked down at the whimpering First Sergeant lying in the dust. "First, when we are asked what happened, we are going to say you fell off the cab of a five ton and hit your face on a rock. If you don't agree, your life may not be worth shit.

One of the soldiers, Vance Loggins, had the foresight to get down to Lieutenant James' berthing area and spoke to one of the other nurses. The nurse went into her tent, went through her belongings and gave Vance what she thought Amanda wanted Dean to have. She also handed him a dog.

SELLING DEAN

Clara entered her home, No she knew where Dean was going to be. Clara walked down to the Log Cabin Inn. She walked in and spotted her brother sitting at the end of the bar nursing a beer, Ammo was asleep at his feet, Dean did not go anywhere without that dog. No one said anything to Dean about having a dog in the bar. They felt he served his time in hell, and if he wanted a dog in a bar so be it. Clara felt a large surge of sympathy for her brother. He did not deserve what happened to him with Rory, but she had to admit to herself that what went down with Lindsay was his own fault...

Clara did not know much about what went on in Iraq, but when he came back, he went back to work as a construction laborer. He was so smart, so well read, Clara could not figure out why he'd gone back to the same rut he'd been in before he'd joined the army. Clara sat next to him. "You gonna buy your lil sis a beer, bro?

Dean smiled at her, he could never refuse her, " Sure, hey Rose," he called out and held up one finger.

Rose came by with the beer, "You're Dean's sister, aren't you?"

Clara extended her hand, "Yes I am, and my name is Clara."

Rose took her hand. "Rose, glad to meet you," Rose made a mental note to get Clara alone one day and have a talk with her. Something or somebody had to snap Dean out of his dark cloud. He was too nice and to smart of a guy to waste his life like he was doing.

Clara was sipping her beer quietly. She was wondering how to approach Dean with her request. Should she tell him about Rory being in town. That may take her out of the Jess game. It would really suck right now if Jess ran into Rory and she was kicked to the side. Then if Dean and Jess got into it over Rory again, her brother would kill him, and she certainly did not want that. In fact she wanted all of Jess's parts intact and in good working order.

"So Clara what brings you down here?"

Clara toyed with the bar coaster. Then she looked up and stared at herself in the bar mirror. This is lame she thought to herself.

"Clara, what is going on?"

She took a deep breath, "Dean, I need to ask you a really, really, big favor and I mean BIG."

Dean started laughing, "What is it? Do you need me to fix your car? Or help you move?" Ammo stirred against his leg, and he reached down and scratched the dog between the ears.

"No, bigger than that. I want you to do an interview."

Dean sipped his beer, he wanted a shot, but Rose wouldn't give him any. "Interview about what?"

"I spoke to this guy and he is a well known author and he is doing a book about returning Iraqi war veterans. I told him about you and that you had brought a dog home with you. Anyway," Clara sighed, "I sort of volunteered you."

Dean popped a peanut in his mouth. "Sort of volunteered me, eh? I see no harm in that."

JESS

Jess was up in uncle Luke's apartment above the bar. He could never figure it out. The man had invested wisely and could probably buy any house in town, but he insisted on driving his old Chevy pickup and living in this old messy apartment. When he called Clara, she said that her brother had agreed to do the interview. That surprised him. He knew he could not do the interview in the diner. Dean had damn near killed his uncle. Jess figured maybe he would have Clara sit in on the interview, so in case idiot boy went nuts, she could calm him down.

He stopped for a second and thought about Clara, Wow had she turned into something. The chick was gorgeous, he knew that she liked him. Two things kept him at a distance. One, was that he thought of her as a twelve year old, and the other, was her brother Dean. To say that they did not like each other would be an understatement.

Jess thought back to his late friend, the one who was killed in Iraq. Jess looked down at the floor what a waste. Such a waste. He remembered the last letter he received from her. It was a Dear John letter. Of all the girls he had dated, this was the one. They had become engaged four months before she left.

Then came the letter…

Dear Jess,

This is going to be the hardest letter I have ever written. More so if you will continue to believe I still love you. I met a man. I looked into his eyes and I knew he was the one I wanted to climb a mountain with, speed down a highway in a convertible with, go fishing with, go dancing with, have children with. Jess it is not the time and distance that breaking us up. We could be on the altar being married and if he walked up and looked into my eyes. I would walk out of the church with him.

Please forgive me

Love,

Amanda

Jess knew that letter by heart. It ripped him apart. There was nothing he could do. He found out several months later, from her family, that she was killed.

That put an unsettled finality to her; he did not want to let her go. So that is how the interview quest began. Eventually to become a book.

THE INTERVIEW

Much to Clara's consternation, Jess chose the dining room of the Dragon Fly Inn. She just knew one way or another the choice of this location was going to spell trouble. Anything that had to do with Rory Gilmore or her mother, Lorelai, usually did.

Jess was seated when Clara walked in with Dean. Good God, he thought to himself, he was big before, but now he's filled out, too. Jess figured he would have to run like hell. It would not even be a contest.

Dean spotted Jess and turned to Clara, "What is he doing here?"

Several patrons turned at the sound of Dean's loud voice. "Ssshhhhh, Dean! Come on, act your age."

"I am not going to talk to him." Dean turned to leave, he was pissed anyway because they made him leave Ammo in his truck.

Clara stepped in front of him, "You promised Dean, he is legitimate. Just do it for me, please."

Dean turned around and walked to the table and sat, he also saw Michel off at the doorway, frowning at him.

Dean sat and stared at Jess, "Look, Jess, I am not going to shake your hand or make nice with you. Ask your questions and let's get this over with."

"Fair enough Dean, don't you think it is a bit ironic where we are holding this interview?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood, but regretting it the minute he said it.

"Not at all Jess, come on let's get this over with."

Jess proceeded to quiz Dean on various aspects of the army. How he felt the army was doing its job. How he thought morale was. Dean started to relax. Jess was asking insightful, thoughtful questions.

Clara was fascinated. She was gaining insight on her brother. Things she never would have guessed. Also she was quite impressed with Jess. He was handsome, articulate and…handsome.

"Okay, Dean, I just have a few more questions. These are going to be how you found the dog."

Dean paused and gathered himself.

Jess could sense this was not going to be easy for him.

Dean briefly said, "I met someone over there who had a dog,"

"And they were killed?" Jess added.

"Yes."

"One more question, Dean, would you mind if I asked for the name of the dog's owner?"

Dean took a deep breath, he was on the verge of breaking down and he knew it. "Yes, I owe it to her to give her name, Lieutenant Amanda James. I was in love with her, and she was in love with me."

Clara never knew Amanda James was Dean's girlfriend in Iraq. She'd never even known he'd had a girlfriend in Iraq. He'd told her family about Amanda when be brought Ammo home, but as far as she'd known, they were just good friends and nothing more. She saw that her brother was having a hard time. Then she looked at Jess to see if he was done with the interview. What she saw shocked her. Jess had knocked over his drink and was sitting there open mouthed with a tear running down his cheek. Something had happened, what had she missed? Her brother and Jess were both in tears. She half expected a fight, but not this.

Jess gathered himself. "Dean, did you say Amanda James?"

Dean could hardly spit the word out, "Yes."

"I was engaged to her when she left."

Dean raised his head up, "Amanda James?"

"Yes."

Dean reached into his pocket and brought out a ring he slid across the table, "Then this is yours."

The two men stood up. Clara braced herself to intervene, get in the middle. To her surprise, they walked toward each other and hugged.

Rory walked in with her mother and saw two men hugging in the dining room. She looked again at them in shock, realizing it was Dean and Jess who were hugging.

Lorelai was mighty tempted to crack a joke that the Weather Channel had just declared hell had officially frozen over, but forced herself to hold her tongue.

To Be Continued…