"Grave of the Witch": *ALTERNATIVE ENDING*
A/N: AU. This is a fictional story, in a fictional Alternative Universe, about fictional characters who entertained us in a fictional TV series between 1995 and 2005. Mike. Characters borrowed with love and appreciation for the great team who brought us "JAG"; may your following careers blossom.
A/N: AU: "they aren't mine, I'm just playing with them - apart from any fictional character created by myself". See Phase One of this story for the whole disclaimer A/N. Feel free to PM me if you spot any typos - my goal is 100% error-free. Feedback and comments are also welcome; I see plenty of followers and visitors to this story. Your opinions, critiques (and requests as PMs) are always welcomed.
A/N: link to Canon Episodes: S08Ep20 "Ice Queen" airdate: 22APR2003: S08Ep21 "Meltdown" airdate: 29APR2003.
A/N: Publication date: 29-OCT-2022: I was pleasantly surprised by the number or review comments and PM contacts which have asked for Loren to survive. Well, in the magic world of FFN, your wishes are my command. Here is a *one-shot* happy ending as we close out my AU approach to the life and times of "Loren Singer" and the run-up to "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown". Please note a linkage to my earlier story "Loren Singer - a necessary lie". Mike 29-10-2022
*Updated 30-10-2022: Corrected a continuity gap.
Characters from FFNET – Loren Singer, Clayton Webb, Mattie, Jennifer, AJ, Galindez and (obviously!) others…
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*Flashback*:
Sunday 5th January 2003, 17:03hrs EDT
Loren Singer's office: Main floor, JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA
She had shut down her PC, locked her office one last time and was ready to head out, leaving JAG HQ for a few months during her maternity leave.
Loren would later be setting off for her fateful meeting with Teddy Lindsey, on an ice-covered bridge over the Potomac near Great Falls…
It was cold outside. She lamented having to leave her winter boots behind - USN regulations mandated pumps or courts for female officers. Her CIA locator beacon was hidden in the heels of her courts, so she stepped up into those, packed her office pumps and winter boots into a shoe bag and closed up her office. She did not expect to be back for a while - and would probably be allocated to a different office anyway as space in JAG HQ was at a premium.
She lobbed her shoe case into the trunk of her car and headed off to meet "Saint Harmon" at Benzinger's Bar. She was so pissed off with him, in fact, that she ordered a beer. She only took one sip before the "discussion" with "Saint Harmon" sparked off again.
The irony of Harm's final, fatuous, suggestion was not lost on her. As if she would give up *her husband's* child to this obsessive unmarried aviator in his mid-40s, who had seen more girlfriends murdered than he had enjoyed long-lived and stable relationships!
As if!
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Then Harmon Rabb messed up her schedule (and the planning of the CIA surveillance team who were sitting on Teddy Lindsey) with *yet* another request for a chat about the baby in her car after leaving Benzinger's.
The telephone call to Sergei in Moscow – to confirm to him that he was not the father of her unborn daughter – had *seriously* pissed off Loren Singer: however, it finally got Harm "off her case", but "Loren" was now behind schedule.
She headed out from the parking lot, rapidly realising that the road surface was treacherous. She pointed the nose of her convertible towards Great Falls and gently stepped on the gas pedal.
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Sunday 5th January 2003, 18:53hrs EDT
En-route to Great Falls National Park, USA
By the time that she had escaped from the earnest inquisitive interest of Harmon Rabb (including that excruciatingly-annoying final chat in her car), "Loren" was seriously behind schedule for her meeting with Teddy Lindsey.
Fortunately, he had called her - from a Pentagon landline (not his own) – to inform her that he was running late.
**Alt-ending branch point**
Unfortunately, her annoyance at Harmon Rabb junior's multiple intrusions into her life had also messed up the scheduling of her CIA cover team.
They were struggling to get ready for the "sting". It was felt that the "Koloshenko twin" (aka Teddy Lindsey who was actually Koloshenko's cousin) might turn violent. In that event, the CIA planned to bury him. A "firm and forceful" armed response was in the plan, which would benefit from the darkness (and potential confusion) on the bridge which Teddy had himself nominated for the handover of the $5k for "the baby". Teddy Lindsey would be the architect of his own demise.
The detailed CIA planning scenario had been triggered by the discovery of a dead, pregnant heroin addict a week earlier. A "bad batch" of heroin had made its way onto the street just after Christmas and a dozen deaths had occurred. But the young blonde cadaver had promise for "Project Koloshenko".
The dead junkie could be made to look like a fair approximation to "Loren Singer" and so the trap was set. The CIA (working in conjunction with the FBI who had overall responsibility for the case of the spying Koloshenko family) realised that this could be a perfect way to enable "Loren Singer" to "retire" from her undercover life at JAG and to get back to being Mrs Rene Webb full-time.
Thanks to the influence of the Webb dynasty behind the scenes, Clayton's "exile" in Suriname was coming to an end. "Loren" had laid a false trail to Shannon in Ireland for January 6th and she was set to escape to Manderley, where she would rest up out of sight until her baby arrived in May.
Despite slithering around in the snow, the members of the joint FBI/CIA task force were in place before Teddy arrived. Their anonymous matt-black painted trucks were nearly-invisible in the swirling snow, although CCTV and IR surveillance kit was doing its job.
"Loren" played her part to perfection, "slipping on the ice" at the appropriate moment just as the task force moved in to spring their trap. In all the noise, darkness and confusion, it was easy to spirit "Loren" away whilst Teddy was blind-sided and being arrested.
Suddenly, one of the female officers – right on cue – shouted out, with a tone of terror in her voice:
"Oh my God, Loren's gone into the river!"
That was sufficient motive for several burly and threatening-looking operatives to grab Lindsey and take him off to captivity. He would never how he had been duped – but he would eventually pay a terrible price for his association with the slaughter of Vanessa Steed, the British agent murdered in the Manderley stables during the invasion some years earlier by his cousin.
A while would pass before Teddy would be able to make bail, thanks to his wife's fortune.
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"Ok Mrs Webb, please strip."
The rear section of the nondescript CIA mobile Ops center was lovely and warm, so "Loren" had no problems in removing every stitch of clothing, ear-rings, fake ROTC ring and hair pins. Wearing only her thin wedding band, she stood bare-foot on a warming mat as her uniform and clothing was inventoried.
The female CIA operative took everything and laid the items out on a side table. She left Loren's shoes with the cryptic comment "keep these - her feet are one size smaller". She then disappeared through an access door, set into the back of the truck; "Loren" sensed a faint chill in the air as the door opened then closed.
Warm underclothes, a blouse and a warm woollen sweater and skirt were laid out on a heated side table, along with a pair of winter boots and winter-weight stay-ups. With a camel-coloured outer coat, the long-haired "Mrs Webb" was ready to resume her life – hopefully with her husband when he returned from Suriname.
Pulling her hair back into a pony-tail, she decided to follow her old "Loren" uniform and under-clothes into the chilled section.
The dead junkie's body had been thawed out earlier in the evening and she was struck by the similarity – apart from the pierced nipples! Still, she reasoned, no-one knew for sure what body-decoration the self-centred "Loren" had undergone...
A hairdresser and manicurist were doing their best with the corpse's long hair and slightly-scruffy fingernails (having embarked on an earlier clean-up when the corpse first became available). False nails were eventually glued into place.
She watched dispassionately as the corpse was re-dressed, from panties and bra upwards, to become a good facsimile of "Loren Singer".
"My god, she could be me!"
"Well, we will have a tame ME lined up, plus this lady's first impact on entering the water will be face-first onto rocks".
She felt slightly sad as the intended use of the dead girl. "Surely someone must know who she is?"
"Sorry Mrs Webb, nothing has shown up and – unusually – her fingerprints are not in the system."
Loren placed a hand flat on the "Singer" name plate on the left breast of the now-dressed corpse.
"Rest in peace and thanks for covering for me. We thank you for your service to our country."
With her convertible car abandoned onsite as part of the "invention", a CIA car set off to take Mrs Rene Webb (formerly known as "Loren Singer") home to Manderley to await Clayton's arrival.
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The plan had been to hold Teddy in JAG/NCIS brig confinement until the corpse showed up; eventually, he was granted bail. Finally, in the event, three months would pass before the "Ice Queen" would make her appearance...
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April 2003:
Eventually, more than three further months would pass before a Boy Scout, imitating William Tell, would launch an arrow which would penetrate the badly-decomposed corpse of a female, pregnant JAG lieutenant, wedged in a tree on the flood plain below Great Falls. The corpse had only become visible as the winter torrent faded and water levels dropped.
NCIS gathered evidence and Donald Mallard took a DNA sample - which (courtesy of Mallard's pre-planned leger-de-main), swiftly identified the faceless corpse as that of Lt Loren Singer.
Agent Gibbs and his team gathered evidence around the site of the discovery. After a short period of due process and autopsy work, Donald "Ducky" Mallard was able to absolve Harmon Rabb of parental responsibility – on the basis of simple blood group information taken from Loren's "dead foetus". A preserved foetus of approximately-similar developmental age had been procured from the local medical school and sat in a large glass jar in the mortuary to maintain the illusion.
Apart from "Ducky" Mallard and Clayton Webb, no-one would ever know.
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* Flashback *
Tuesday 22nd April 2003, 06:37hrs EST
Autopsy bay, Basement, NCIS HQ, Washington DC
"Autopsy".
"Hello; is that Dr Mallard?"
"Speaking".
"Hello Dr Mallard; my name is Clayton Webb, special assistant to the undersecretary of state. I believe that you worked alongside my father back in the jungle."
"Yes indeed; he always spoke highly of you Clayton, although it was decades ago when you were probably just ten years old. I understand that you followed him into the family "firm". So how may I help Neville Webb's son after all these years?"
"Well; as you have spotted despite the job title, I followed my father and mother into the Agency - and that is the reason for my call today. I am calling to activate the Koloshenko plan from early January – you now have the DB of Loren Singer.."
"Ducky" Mallard sighed; whenever "spooks" broke cover, there was usually pain involved for - someone - and never (usually) the spooks!
"Go on, what's the scam today, Clayton?"
Webb chose to ignore the dig – in all honesty, Ducky's response was mild compared to the usual derision from Harmon Rabb and Sarah Mackenzie. His nose still twitched whenever Admiral Chegwidden's name was mentioned!
"OK, in around one hour you will receive a sample by courier. It needs to be substituted as the DNA sample which you will submit to the Armed Forces DNA Registry to identify the deceased, pregnant, blonde female JAG officer who is currently lying on your table in autopsy."
"Hmm, this is most irregular; so tell me, dear Clayton, what ID will come back from this sample?"
"It will confirm that the recovered body in your morgue is that of JAG Lt Loren Marie Singer."
"Hmm - and the real Lt Singer?"
"...is recovering from giving birth (slightly prematurely) to our daughter yesterday. She will then continue her deep-cover real-life identity as part of a long-running Agency operation vital to the security of this nation."
Webb's voice dropped a half-octave: "Doctor Mallard - we need your help."
"Very well, but only in exchange for an honest answer to my next question. Who will identify the lady on my morgue truthfully and will she eventually be laid to rest under her true name?"
"Yes Doctor Mallard, absolutely; but for now, this is a necessary lie. The young woman is, sadly, a Jane Doe."
Mallard began his autopsy on the badly-decomposed body which lay on the gurney. She had clearly been frozen until recently, but the carrion birds had stripped away the flesh which had been exposed above the ice. The US Navy uniform stretched around her body gave a very good impression that a dead foetus was lying within her mother. Both of the bodies would, of course, be treated with respect.
Looking at her arms, Mallard recognised the signs of faded needle tracks. No way was this a serving Naval officer. Indeed, were it not for the pregnancy, the CIA could have been responsible for plucking a dead junkie off a street somewhere. He sighed, picking up his scalpel to begin the detailed examination.
Within ten minutes, he knew the game.
Her hair had been styled into a military-compliant length and style but had been coloured – it was evident that she was not a natural blonde. Her fingernails had been supplemented with false nails – very good ones, but masking real nails which had not been cared for as a professional lawyer would have protected – and taken pride in - her appearance.
Her feet were one size different than those recorded for Lt Loren Singer and somehow Ducky doubted that the "real" Lt Loren Singer would have faced the world with pierced nipples.
Mallard stood back and summarised his evidence.
This had all the hallmarks of a re-modelled dead pregnant junkie, dressed up to pass a cursory inspection and to provide a distraction from the whereabouts of the real Lt Loren Singer, latterly of the USN JAG Corps.
Reluctantly, he prepared two files; one in the persona of "Lt Loren Singer" which he filled up with the details from the corpse. He vaguely recognised the CIA operative who was escorted into his lab by the NCIS security detail. He signed for the package and made the fateful exchange into the ID bag which would be sent off to the Armed Forces DNA registry.
Samples of the real body were filed away under "Janine Doe" for now.
He prepared to bury her deep, pending the day when "part two" of the scheme could be put into effect.
Damn the CIA and their spook games!
* END FLASHBACK*
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Tuesday 22nd April 2002: 14:15hrs EST
Courtroom One, JAG HQ, Falls Church, VA
Clayton found himself sitting in on the bizarre trial of Harmon Rabb for the murder of Lt Loren Singer. The prosecution had assembled a fine network of circumstance, rumour and innuendo. This sham trial was a necessity whilst the final parts of the Koloshenko spy network were traced and dismantled.
Harm's defence counsel, described as an "anally-retentive obsessive who cannot start her day without 20 sharply-pointed pencils" did her best. It was also clear that Harm did not trust anyone – including his defence attorney – so Faith Coleman was working with (at least!) one arm tied behind her back.
Eventually, good detective work by Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo would find Harm's cover on the river bank below Great Falls. Chemical analysis by Abby Sciutto would prove that it had – only recently – arrived on the riverbank, enabling a search to be carried out leading to the "guilty party".
After Harm identified the photograph of his visitor who had carried out the "switcheroo", Teddy Lindsey headed off to the Penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
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Clayton Webb, now grateful that his wife's alternate persona of "Loren Singer" was "officially" dead, eventually visited her gravestone (in the name of "Loren Singer") whilst he planned his next operation.
[*Over 15 years later, genetic genealogy would start to home in on the DNA of the dead junkie to locate a family, all of whom who had died in the meantime (she had been their only daughter) so that the trail went cold. *]
Back home in Manderley, Rene Webb was getting accustomed to breastfeeding her new daughter Vanessa, who had arrived a little ahead of schedule.
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Thursday 27th July 2006: 09:55hrs CST
Main floor, Military Penitentiary, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
By the time that anyone noticed Teddy Lindsey's corpse in the shower stalls, the hot water had been lashing over him for some 15 minutes – thereby destroying any hope of gathering forensic evidence. A loose bar of soap nearby gave strength to the "likely" conclusion that he had slipped.
Some people recalled seeing a strange Corrections Officer on the hall. Some remembered him arriving, with thick-rimmed glasses and a pencil moustache, and a name-plate reading "PORTER". Others remembered a CO making his way out of the prison block with the name-plate of "NEVILLE".
No-one was ever able to identify the phantom prison guard. The slaughter of MI6 operative Vanessa Stted had been avenged.
The "Koloshenko" back-story died with Teddy Lindsey. His wife – who was confirmed to be entirely unaware of his "Koloshenko" connections and activities – looked after their three children and eventually re-married.
Teddy Lindsey slowly faded from history.
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Monday 24th July 2006, 12:00noon EST
Loren Singer's grave, Arlington National cemetery, Virginia USA
"You probably know this, but we are grateful that we were able to use your body, young lady. You helped to protect this country and I shall always honour your (unwilling) contribution to Project Koloshenko."
Clayton bowed at the foot of Loren's make-believe tombstone. He had left Rene at home with her children – in the summer of 2005, she had produced a brother for little Vanessa. Porter Webb had been delighted when she had once again found herself on the path to becoming a grandmother. Porter and Rene always hit it off - something about strong women who shared an interest in Clayton Webb...
He placed a stone on the "Loren" headstone, in the Jewish tradition of marking a visit; it also reflected her family connection back to the Sorlingbergs.
He had brought fresh flowers with him. He had refreshed the order for fresh flowers to be delivered, on the 24th of every month for the coming 11 months. This would mark the birth date of Rene Maria Sorlingberg back in 1969 and was conveniently close to the legend's birth date (as Loren Vogelsang) of her alter-ego Loren Marie Singer on 27th July 1971.
His annual visits to the grave would continue for the rest of Clayton's life, marking Rene's birthday on July 24th. He had decided, jointly with Rene, that they would mark the 5th, 10th, 15th anniversaries of the "night to remember" – January 5th, 2003. They never identified "Janine Doe" despite coming closer via DNA in 2018.
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Friday 24th July 2015, 12:00noon EST
Loren Singer's grave, Arlington National cemetery, Virginia USA
"Hello my young imposter. Another year and am proud to share our memories. Once again, your country is grateful for your service."
Clayton marked the visit with a stone on the headstone, then headed off home to his family. Following Porter's passing, the Webb family now resided in Manderley, with a Georgetown townhouse as their residence for "operational" days in DC. Rene Webb was rising through the analysts' ranks and was well-regarded around Langley.
Her years as "Loren Singer" were used as a case study to instruct new CIA case officers in the tricks and techniques needed by undercover operatives. Rene also taught some modules of that course, illustrated with photographs of her "alter ego" in her USN JAG uniform.
Rene was happy with her children – and was pleased that Clayton (probably with the stern advice of his mother ringing in his ears) abandoned his "habit" of drinking excessively when he returned from Suriname.
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Summer 2015 - 25th August 2015.
Arlington Military Cemetery, Washington DC
The broad-leafed trees provided shelter from the summer heat as the ginger-haired woman led the two children along the path between the rows of neatly-tended headstones which stretched almost to the horizon. Her hair was neatly gathered at the nape of her neck. Years of military service had enabled her to control the tresses whilst working, but she – and her husband – enjoyed the days when she could go for full-on "big hair" days. Also, the pony-tail allowed a little of a cooling breeze to circulate around the back of her neck.
She had put off bringing the twins until this year when they were eight years old. Previously, she and Danny had visited alone, observing the sad anniversary which had deprived her of her second father and his wife, whilst simultaneously thrusting her without warning into an unexpected career of motherhood. Fortunately, with her Navy family connections (and a few unexpected friends who emerged from "the woodwork" to ease the problems of her circumstances) she had been able to reserve her commission for a while, before resuming as a Growler driver.
The two adjacent markers seemed to appear a little quicker every year as she walked along the path. In her pocket, she carried two stones from the family farm in Belleville PA, ready to place on each headstone in the Jewish tradition of marking a visit to a grave.
Meeting Victor and Jennifer Galindez – and their daughter Rosalee – was an added pleasure for Danny and Mathilda Rabb-Walden.
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After observing the time and anniversary of Harm and Mac's passing, the gathering split up. Jennifer, Victor and Rosalee walked steadily across towards the section of the cemetery where they would locate Loren's headstone. Jennifer marked off the rows as they moved steadily towards their target.
On arrival, they were surprised to find that several "visitor" stones adorned the top of Loren's headstone. Even more surprising – and intriguing – was the inscription on the card attached to a fresh bouquet of flowers which, supplied with water in a small disposable plastic pot, adorned the front of Loren's grave.
Releasing Rosalee's hand, Jennifer Galindez squatted down, to read the card.
"To my darling Loren and our lovely baby, taken too soon.
5th January 2003
From your loving Husband,
CW"
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"What the…?"
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Jennifer Galindez was genuinely perplexed. She thought that she had known everything that there was to know about "the Wicked Witch of Washington", especially when they had shared the ship-board JAG office on the Seahawk.
After considering the matter, she decided to let sleeping dogs lie. Collecting Rosalee, she led Victor back to the parking lot.
This footnote in history could remain unexplained – until everyone met up at the 15th anniversary of Loren Singer's reported death.
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Friday 5th January 2018, 14:05hrs EDT
Arlington Military Cemetery, Washington DC
It was a collision of haphazard events which brought the Galindez family and the Rabb-Waldens together at Loren's gravesite in early 2018.
Mattie and Danny wanted their children to start learning about Harm and Mac - their biological Rabb parents. The Walden-Rabb children, now teenagers, were blessed with fine inquisitive minds and it was time to explain to them the unusual Rabb family history and their gene pool.
Jennifer and Victor Galindez, with their daughter Rosalee, had been on a Christmas USMC re-union party at Eight and I, after which they stayed over to show Rosalee what snow in DC looked like. Snow was amazingly rare in New Mexico!
The broad-leafed trees were bare, affording sharp-eyed Jennifer a clear view of the family group clustered around the approximate location of Loren Singer's headstone.
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She took off across the cemetery, leaping over and round headstones as she closed in on her prey.
"Holy Crap – LOREN!"
A 63-year-old Clayton Webb turned and smiled. "Hello Jennifer, I guess you caught us."
Jennifer relaxed as she caught her breath; behind her, she could hear Rosalee protesting as Victor dragged her in the direction of her Mommy's shoeprints.
"Loren Singer" had aged gracefully and was now aged 50. Her two early-teenaged children – whom she introduced to Jennifer and Victor as "Vanessa and Sergei" were well-dressed and well-behaved – typical of the "next generation" of children who would benefit from Manderley and its facilities and legacy.
"Well, Jennifer, I reckon that we can tell the story after 15 years. Look Jenn, it's cold – shall we go and find somewhere warm to chat whilst our kids thaw out and enjoy hot chocolate?"
Jennifer readily agreed.
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She kept looking sideways at the blonde woman as they walked across Arlington, with Clayton and Victor bringing up the rear and shepherding the children. It was amazing to see "Loren Singer" alive and well after these past 15 years, even if her reappearance stretched her belief.
As they sat down in the café, "Loren" began: "Well Jenn, the first thing to say is that my real name is Rene Webb. Clayton is my husband."
Suddenly, for Jennifer Galindez, a lot of things fell into place.
"Well, Mrs Rene Webb, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."
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Thus it was that, 15 years after the events on the Potomac, the story of "The Grave of the Witch" was finally disclosed. Victor and Jennifer agreed to respect the confidence.
Jennifer, Victor and Rosalee returned to New Mexico, with a plan for the 20th anniversary on 5th January 2023.
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Alternative ending for "Grave of the Witch": the alternate path."
Mike: England, 29-OCT-2022
A/N: thank you for joining me on this AU journey through the life and times of "Loren Singer". I appreciate your company on this second journey. Sincerely, Mike
*END
*FIN
