Name: The Carnival (Part I)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.
Rating: PG (warning: mention of drugs and a few swear words)
Spoilers: 'Capital Crime' and a little bit of 'Lifeline'
Note: This kinda popped into my head, and then a plot developed and it became long and complicated. So it has to be in two parts. This is the second part. Enjoy!

0130 ZULU
Glen Fest Carnival
Outside of Washington, DC


"Did you have fun?" Sturgis asks me, sarcasm in his voice.

"I think the answer is obvious, Sturgis, don't you?" I reply quietly. Harm is playing with AJ as we decide what to do next.

"That's what I thought," Sturgis says, then walks away.

"Did you enjoy your ride with Commander Rabb?" Lauren asks. I turn to face her. She flashes me a mock-perky smile. I don't reply to her right away. "Well?" she probes.

"Are you implying something, Lauren?" I test.

"I'm not the one implying anything. I'm gathering the evidence."

"What evidence is there of anything?" I say, turning away from her. I start walking toward the rest of the group. I realize in mid-step that's a bad idea if Lauren keeps up with this conversation, but I can't stop walking now.

"Not everyone is blind in the dark," she says. Lauren continues toward the group, leaving me standing. Sometimes she makes me so mad. Like now, for instance. Okay, so she can see through the darkness. And she manages to see me and Harm in the Ferris Wheel. But does she have to be so damn smart about it?

I walk to the group and see that Harm has gotten himself a drink. He glances at me from behind the plastic cup. I grab the cup from him and sip some of it. It turns out to be Spirte. Sturgis and Lauren both give me looks. I immediately stop drinking and give Harm his drink back. Okay, not good. Sturgis knows for certain how I feel, Lauren suspects something. Definitely not good.

Harm takes his drink and looks inside, as if wondering what's wrong with it. He drinks the rest and discards the cup into the trash can. He's about to turn back around when he stops moving and stares at something up the pathway. I glance ahead and see a brown leather wallet, just like his. Harm starts walking toward it and I lose him in the crowd.

A group of teenagers walks in front of me, even further screening everything off. I can't see anyone else anymore, and then I feel something prod me in my lower back.

"Listen to what I say or I'll shoot."

****

0140 ZULU
Glen Fest Carnival
Outside of Washington, DC


Yes! My wallet! Whoever stole must've been either really stupid or really clumsy. I'm feeling great right now; I was just on the Ferris Wheel with Mac and now I find my wallet. Finding my watch could only make things better.

"Did you find it?" Sturgis asks.

"This is it," I say, slapping it against my hand. "Oh, Harriet, I owe you for ice cream. How much was it?"

"I'm not going to accept you money, sir," Harriet says. AJ is in her arms.

"It's Harm, Harriet, and how much was it?"

"I won't accept," she repeats.

I'm defeated. "I also owe Mac a dollar.... Where's Mac?" We all look around. I can see Bud, Harriet and AJ. Sturgis is by my side and Lauren is standing here, looking impatient.

"She's not here-."

"Mac!" I yell over the din. It's hopeless. "Who saw her last?" My good mood just crashed at seventy miles an hour. I left everyone to go get my wallet, everyone followed, except Mac. Maybe she got lost in the crowd? I doubt it.

"Commander," Bud says, "we all saw her take your drink." That's right. Okay, so I threw my drink away and went after my wallet.

"Did you all follow me to get my wallet?" I ask. They all nod mutely.

"Sir, she wouldn't have left on her own," Harriet said, biting her lip.

"That's what worries me." I've been through this before. We've been through this before. Mac's been held hostage before, so I shouldn't be completely surprised. The only reason I'm worried is that we are at a carnival, out of uniform, not prosecuting or defending anyone. Who on earth would take Mac? First my wallet and watch, now Mac.

Then it dawns on me. It was so nicely planned that my wallet turned up just as Mac disappeared. Whoever took my wallet and watch in the first place is most likely who took Mac. There are just too many coincidences at one carnival to convince me otherwise. I glance at everyone else. They seem to be coming to the same conclusions.

AJ suddenly yawns loudly, jarring us all from our thoughts.

"Harriet, take AJ home, will you?" Bud says, obviously concerned.

"I should stay..." she starts, looking at her son. Bud kisses her on the cheek.

"I'll call you if anything happens. And I'm sure I can get a ride," Bud assures. Harriet nods, starts to walk past me, then stops and faces us all.

"Find her. Good luck."

She's gone. I mean Harriet, not Mac, but I guess it applies to both of them. No, Mac isn't gone...she's just indisposed. Right, Rabb, think.

"All right, we're lawyers who defend and prosecute criminals. Think," I order.

"It's obvious that whoever stole your wallet took Mac," Sturgis said. "The timeline fits too nicely."

"We need to find her. They just took her a few minutes ago. They couldn't have gotten out of the carnival yet," Bud says.

"Split up?"

"In groups," Lauren says. We all look at her. She rolls her eyes. "So we don't all get lost?" For once she's composed a decent thought. It's a miracle.

"I'll go with Lauren," Bud says. "We'll meet back here in ten minutes if we can't find anything." They leave. I turn to Sturgis. In my mind I'm thinking of everyone who would want to get any kind of revenge on me.

"Who wants anything to do with me?" I ask for help.

Sturgis raises his eyebrows. "You? Isn't Mac the one missing?"

"My wallet, my watch, my partner," I say. The last word is a stretch. Sturgis nods, then concentrates. I think of everyone I've come in contact with that knows I'm here. I can think of quite a few people, but they don't seem like people who would sneak off and pick-pocket me.

"Drugs," Sturgis says. I look at him, confused. Drugs? What is he on about? "The kid who you busted for drugs. Did he have any friends with him?"

I try to remember. "Do you have any friends with you?" "Maybe...yeah." "Where are they?" "Dunno." "He had friends. I'm sure that if that kid was smoking a joint, the rest of his pals were following. If they're all drugged up, they might not be thinking rationally...."

"And they might be blowing things out of proportion. Thinking things that you and Mac took their friend. They might want revenge," Sturgis said carefully. I nod. We're thinking along the same track.

"Logically, they'd try to get out of the carnival." We both look towards the exit, then at each other. We take off toward the exit. I look around me as I shove myself through the crowd. Everything catches my eye. We reach the entrance and I approach the guard stationed there.

"Excuse me, sir, have you seen a woman walk past? She was with a group of teenagers?" I ask. I have to look down to meet the guard at the eye. He screws up his face in thought.

"Uh, yeah, matter of fact I think I did. Brownish hair? Good looking?" the guard asks.

Who are you calling good looking? "That's her."

"Yeah, they went somewhere over there," the guard says, pointing behind him. We nod and thank him, then walk into the parking lot. The temporary parking lot is dim, only lit by the carnival lights.

"Now we have no idea where they went. Her car? Their car?" Sturgis asks. Through the darkness I can tell he's worried. He's doing a good job of hiding it, but I know how to hide worry, and Sturgis is hiding it.

"Let's get my car and drive around the lot. We'll be less suspicious that way," I say, bitterness biting at my voice.

****

For the tenth time I try to coax the teen to lay the weapon down. "It won't do any good," I say. The burly boy turns to face me. Good lord, he's taller than I am. When he speaks, I can smell the foul odor of some drug and alcohol on his breath.

"Shut up, woman," he snaps, his eyes quivering. Great, so I'm being taken hostage by a drunk teenager. And his friends. There are three of them around. One of them is a girl. The burly boy told me not to 'try anything funny' as we passed the guard. When we passed the guard, he stared me down. I don't think it was because I was surrounded by teenagers.

Luckily the Marine in me has kicked up. I've been paying attention to my surroundings. I know we took a right at the entrance, away from my car. We stop behind a pick-up truck and the burly boy points the gun at me again.

"Where's your car?" he asks, slurring. I think hard. Where will the rest look first? My car? They don't know where I parked, so that won't do any good. Maybe I should look for one of the others' car? I squint through the darkness without looking obvious. I can see someone walking, carrying a child.

The teens see the person, too. "Don't panic. Look like you're having fun. We have a gun," the girl tells me. She's heavily drugged, too, but not drunk. I try to see the person through the night. Suddenly I realize who it is.

"Fine," I say, "I'll play along." When she's close enough, I let out a laugh. She looks at me and obviously realizes who it is.

"Good," the burly boy says. I laugh again. I'm so glad Harriet's walking past that I don't even fake the laugh. She stares at me for a moment before discreetly pointing down the lot to my right. She mouths the words, "Harm's car." At least, that's what I think it is. I pray that's what it is. Harriet quickly disappears into the night with AJ.

"So where's your car?" the girl asks again, pointing her finger into my chest. They all had their backs to Harriet.

"Over there," I say, pointing to the right where Harriet pointed. "What do you want with me?"

"To have some fun," says a black boy. The girl suddenly looks disgusted.

"Oh, please, you're not going to that. I'm leaving if you are," she says. I suddenly know what the boys want from me. There are two against me, and even if I do have the military training, there's reality to think of. They're both bigger than I am. My mouth slackens a bit at the thought.

"C'mon," the burly boy says, jamming the gun into my back. I swear, as drunk as he is, he might shoot on accident. I see Harm's SUV looming in the dark. I try not to wonder what will happen when the kids realize I don't have keys to the car. One thing at a time, Marine.

The burly boy grabs my wrists suddenly and turns me to face him. Lost in my anger I turn weak and he has control. He grins lopsidedly and his eyes rove over me. I try to jerk away from him but the black boy is behind me, holding my waist. I'm utterly disgusted. I throw myself, trying to break away from them. I'm blind with anger. I feel the butt of the gun against my throat.

"You better cooperate," he says. The alcohol reeks. Again I ignore the threats. I know he won't kill me; he wants to do other things first. I shudder and twist around.

"Put the gun down," says a voice. Two things happen at once. I turn my head to look who spoke, though I'm pretty certain that I know who it is. At the same time the burly, drunken boy moves his head down to kiss me, but instead places his lips on my cheek. I can smell the over powering alcohol on him. It seems to be sinking into my skin because of the contact. I'm disgusted at the thought of alcohol on me.

Sturgis emerges from the darkness. Have I ever mention how much I appreciate him? I think now's a good time. The burly kid jerks his head away from my cheek to look at Sturgis, surprised. Sturgis is avoiding my eyes. And through all this I can't help but wonder where Harm is. I try to ask Sturgis with my eyes, but he's still avoiding them.

"Who are you?" the kid asks, pushing the gun closer to my throat so I almost gag. Sturgis notices and stops advancing. The teen backs against the car behind him. We're smashed between Harm's SUV and the other car. The boy pulls me with him, unfortunately.

"Drop the gun!" Sturgis almost yells. Sturgis, don't panic! The boy pulls me against him, his amazingly strong arm wrapped around my back. His hand is dangerously close to my six and I'm praying that he doesn't notice. I feel his hand move downward. I feel sick to my stomach.

Suddenly someone grabs the boy by his arm, dragging the gun away from my neck and upward. Sturgis is on the other side of him, holding his other arm. I notice that Harm is the one holding the boy's other arm. They pin him against the opposite car. Still nauseous, I try backing away. The other teens seem to be paralyzed by fear and shock. In my weakness I stumble. That's when I hear the gunshot and feel the pain.

"Mac!"

The bullet is in my leg and I fall. I feel like my leg is on fire. The pain starts in my calf, slowly spreading up my leg. I'm lying face down. Using my military training, I scoot myself by my stomach to the back of Harm's car. I watch Harm and Sturgis struggle to keep the kid down, and his gun away from anyone else. Harm is able to wrench the gun from the kid's hand and he tosses it. It lands just by the tire. I scoot forward and grab it.

I manage to sit up and crawl so that I can see the two other teens. I point the gun at them. "Don't move," I warn. Warm blood is running down my leg. I try to ignore the pain. It's overwhelming. My hand that holds the gun trembles.

There are sirens in front of me. Three cop cars pull up to the area. The amount of relief that floods me is unexplainably huge. I watch, as if in slow motion, the cops pulling the drunken, burly kid from Harm and Sturgis and forcing him onto the ground. They search him and force him into the cop car. The other two teens are put into another car. The last thing I see before I black out is an ambulance.

****

0800 ZULU
Naval Hospital
Bethesda, MD


"Sir?"

I turn around to look at the petite nurse. I smile a little. She blushes.

"I need to perform a few tests," she says. I look back at Mac. She's been sleeping since she blacked out at the carnival. That's about five and a half hours. I look back at the nurse who's standing on the other side of the bed.

"Is she supposed to sleep this long?"

The nurse smiles a bit. "She's unconscious out from shock and loss of blood. Now she's just sleeping. Don't worry, she's had a rough night. Why don't you go get some sleep, Commander?"

I turn the idea in my head. "No, coffee will do." The nurse laughs softly and nods, then begins prodding Mac. I remember how the nurses had poked me when I had my accident earlier that year. Quickly I walk from the room and join Sturgis and Bud in the waiting area. They both have coffee. Lauren, it appears, has gone home.

"How is she, sir?" Bud asks.

"Sleeping, still."

"She'll be find, Harm," Sturgis assures me. I nod and grab a Styrofoam cup of warm coffee. I sip it. Okay, so it's hospital coffee and not the best, but it still has caffeine in it. Suddenly Bud's cell phone rings, startling the three of us from our thoughts.

"Hello?" Bud listens to the other line, then nods. "I'll get a ride, Harriet. You should be in bed.... What? Oh, Mac? She's sleeping.... No.... Yes, it's fine. How's AJ?.... Good. I'll see you in a little bit." Bud shuts the phone off and stands up.

"I can give you a ride," I offer.

"No, Harm, I'll do it. You should stay with Mac," Sturgis says. "You're her friend." I was going to mention that Sturgis is her friend too, but decide against it. Sturgis and Bud gather their things and get up to leave.

"Bud, thank Harriet for calling the police," I say. Bud smiles a bit.

"Yes sir. Goodnight."

"Do you want me to come back?" Sturgis asks. I think about it. I tell Sturgis to go home and rest. He agrees eventually. They leave and I relax with my coffee again. I never thought carnivals could get so out of hand. Just because I did a good thing and busted a kid for drugs, his friends seek revenge. They took my wallet, my watch, and my girl.

My girl? Excuse me? Where did that come from, Rabb? I better pull the horse's reigns a bit harder. I shake my head. Luckily, after all this, I've gotten my wallet, watch, and Mac back from the teenagers. I see the big kid's arms wrapped around Mac and I see white. I can see why she's hesitant to trust men. I'm glad that we found Mac as soon as we did. Any later and she might have been....

"Commander Rabb?"

I look up into the face of the nurse. I blink and focus on her. "Yes?"

"Colonel Mackenzie is awake, sir."

"Thank you," I say. I enter her room. Mac's eyes meet mine sleepily. The only light is the dim side lamp and it casts shadows on her tired face. The dirt that covered her face has been washed off. She's still plagued by fatigue, but at least she's awake.

"Hey."

"Is it all right if I come in?" I ask.

She laughs a bit. That's a good sign. "I'm not going to throw my ice cream up on you."

"That's not what I'm worried about," I say seriously. She sobers up a little. I sit in the chair next to her bed. Unsure of what to do with myself, I grin at her. "How are you?"

"My leg hurts like hell," Mac says, wincing. She looks at me curiously. "Tell me the story."

"Mac?"

She laughs again. "How you found me."

I tell her how we all split up to search for her. I explain that Sturgis and I walked into the parking lot, going to my car to drive around to look for her. I explained everything to her; how Harriet pulled around in her car, frantically telling us to get to Mac, who was by my car; how Sturgis and I found her in the teenager's hands; how I creeped around the back of the nearby car, and at the right moment caught the kid's arm.

After my tale I look up to Mac. Her eyes are wet. I grab her hand without thinking. "Mac, what's wrong?"

Her breath shudders. "The teenager almost...almost," she looks down, unable to finish. The water escapes her eyes. I put one hand on her cheek, wiping away a tear. "I feel sick," she whispers, still not meeting my eyes. I lift her chin with my hand so that she is forced to look in my eyes.

"Throw up all you want," I tell her. She smiles warily and wraps her arms around me. I return the hug and we sit like that, awkwardly embracing each other over the hospital bed. Mac doesn't smell the same; the scent of the hospital has replaced her familiar smell.

"When do you get out of here?" I ask her, speaking through her hair. She pulls back. I'm reluctant to let her go, but I remind myself that now isn't the time.

"Whenever I can walk."

"The Admiral won't be happy."

"No, I won't," said a voice from the doorway. Mac and I turn to find the Admiral standing there, out of uniform. I wonder how much he saw. "You two can't go to a damn carnival without getting yourselves killed?"

"Sorry, sir," Mac says, grinning all the same.

"Don't let it happen again," the Admiral says, then smiles. "Morning, Commander."

"Good morning, Admiral."

"I assume you're the hero of this drama once again?"

"Turner helped," I reply. The Admiral looks at Mac.

"Make sure you get walking ASAP, Colonel. You've got the weekend to heal."

"I'll be sure to tell my leg that, sir."

"See to it that you do," the Admiral says. I guess that was his was of telling Mac to get better soon. Nodding to both of us, the Admiral walks briskly from the room. I exchange a look with Mac.

"Emotional, isn't he?"

"I'll say. You'll be leaving soon, right?"

"No, I've got everything I need here," I tell her. I realize how that sounded after I said it.

She grins mischievously. "You're wrong, flyboy." I raise my eyebrows at her. "Your Ferris Wheel seat is still the same size."

FIN