Meg rode in the passenger seat of Harm's corvette, having waited for
him. "It's what I miss most. I do get to see Mom whenever I like and
Ollie almost all the time, but I miss my car." She said, only half-
serious. "Here. Turn off here." She showed him to an almost-empty
airfield on the outskirts of Washington. "There he is."
Harm squinted at Keeter's tall form as he pulled his vette to a stop on the smooth surface of the tarmac. "Yep...there he is," Harm agreed. Glancing at Meg, he took a deep breath and swung open the car door.
She was already out and over to Keeter before he got there. "You got him." Keeter said, having no doubt she was capable of it. "Hey, buddy."
"Hey." Harm stuck out his hand and took Keeter's in a firm grasp, "So you ready to go play search and rescue in South America?" Meg hadn't given him specifics, but he knew where he was going and the gist of why. At least he was part of a good team though he still hadn't met this Marine that was joining them at some point in the future.
"Always." He smiled, but more at Meg.
Harm eyed the two and opened his mouth to inquire into just how well the two of them knew each other, but was interrupted by the arrival of a small plane coming in for a landing. He grinned. "Let me guess...our ride?"
"I know it's been awhile since you flew anything, but it'll get us there and back." He looked at Meg. "Galindez called. He'll meet us at the airport." She nodded.
"Your Marine is Galindez?" Harm stammered. "Victor Galindez?"
Meg nodded. "Yeah. He worked with the Marine and with Webb. He's been down there awhile, should make up for us not knowing the land well."
"Great," Harm nodded. "Gunny is a good man, knows what he's doing. If he's our guide, we'll be in good hands." After a second's pause, "I'm ready when you two are." Following Meg's lead, the two men began to lift luggage and equipment from the vehicles. When all three were loaded down with bags, boxes, and duffel bags, they began their long trek across the hot tarmac. "You know," Harm commented, "Mac's gonna kill me when she finds out that this mission involves flying."
Meg smiled. "Well, what do you expect? I'm surprised you've flown anything in the last two years."
Harm turned surprised eyes toward Meg. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that your accident two years ago was on ZNN and everything else. You didn't think I knew about it?"
Flustered, Harm looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, "One mistake and I'll never live it down." He sighed, "It wasn't my fault, ya know? Mechanical failure. Could've happened to anyone." He looked back at her and grinned.
She rolled her eyes, but grinned back at him. "You know, you have a much nicer partner than I ever was. You would have never been back in a Tomcat after that one." She teased.
"Yeah, well. Mac doesn't necessarily relish the idea of me climbing into a cockpit again, but she knows that it's a part of me. Plus I think she finds the danger attractive." Harm winked. "Don't tell her I said that though," he laughed, "she'd kill me. And she'd never admit it anyay."
Meg smiled, even more secretively. "Oh, I was supposed to tell you." Keeter said, breaking the conversation a little, "Galindez said that the Colonel is coming down to investigate too."
"Great. Just what we need." Meg said sarcastically.
"Mac's coming?" Harm looked confused, then hurt. "She didn't mention anything to me before she left this morning." He and Mac usually told each other everything, well almost anyway. Of course, if he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame her. He hadn't been exactly honest about what he was doing on this mission either in the message he'd left on her voice mail. "Is she meeting us at the airport too?"
Meg frowned, crossed between her desire to work with or at least meet Mac and the fact that Harm was pretty far gone on Mac, if every time he heard her rank it was automatically her. "No, not Mac, as far as I know." Keeter said, although he'd learned four years ago never to doubt her ability to do anything. "The girl's father is a colonel."
"Oh!" Harm couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed. He was relieved that she hadn't misled him about her whereabouts, but having her along would have been nice. How long had the only 'colonel' in his life been Mac? Mentally shrugging, he asked, "So if he's the girl's father, is it really the smartest thing for him to be involved?"
"You wanna tell a Marine colonel that?" Meg asked. "If it was the admiral or someone, I could see letting him come along." Even after all the years out of his command, he was still one of her favorite officers, one of the most capable in her eyes.
"Well, he may do more harm than good, but as long as he stays out of the way and doesn't put the team in danger by doing something stupid, we can't really send him packing before the mission even gets undway."
Meg nodded. "Yeah, but I don't really want to risk him putting the team in danger either." She knew there was nothing much she could do about it though. Even if she was out of the military loop now, she still had to obey the ranks. Besides, if someone she cared about was missing, believed killed, there would be nothing in the world that kept her from bringing them home. *****
Mac looked out the window as Harm always did, feeling guilty. She should have tried harder to find him, but wasn't sure how he would react. She'd just gotten back to Washington only weeks ago and now she was going into danger this time, but she didn't have much choice. Liz...Well, even if she wasn't in love with John, part of her still loved him and his daughter. But would Harm understand that, especially after what had happened nearly five years ago with Chris? She pushed those thoughts away and smiled slightly at John as the plane landed. God he looked old; when had that happened? They got off the plane and looked around; he said that someone would meet them here.
Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez stood as the passengers began to disembark from the plane. Stepping closer to the travlers, he looked for Colonel Farrow. He was certain he'd recognize him in civies, but it would have been easier if he could look for a uniform. Gunny froze in surprise as he did recognize someone. He certainly had not expected to see Colonel MacKenzie here. She looked like she was looking for someone. He realized suddenly that that someone was himself and that Colonel Farrow was with Mac. "Colonel Farrow. Colonel MacKenzie." He said as he closed the distance between them.
Gunny. She should have known he'd be here; she'd left him in Paraguay with Clay. Somehow though she was filled with forboding, a sense of knowing something wasn't quite right. "Gunny." She tried to smile, although her worry had intensified. "John, this is Victor Galindez. He was the gunnery sergeant in JAG ops."
John wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't looking forward to anything but seeing his Lizzie again. "Nice to meet you, gunnery sergeant." He finally, slowly, said.
Mac's mind was filled with a thousand questions, none of which she really wanted to ask in the airport. Besides, she knew John had to be somewhere between lost and impatient. She got her small duffel of civilian attire and pointed John's out to him. "Where can we talk?"
Gunny took Mac's duffel and, seeing how preoccupied John seemed to be, grabbed his from the carousel. "There's a quiet cafe here in the airport, but to be honest with you, I don't really have any information for you. I just got in on this myself." It had been a long flight and he knew how the food was on airlines, but he personally couldn't even think of eating until they had found Liz. He knew her father was in even worse shape. "Or, if you'd rather, we could just talk in the car."
"That's good." She hadn't eaten since the night before, but she wasn't hungry and John had declined anything to eat either. "The car sounds good. And you'll still have more information than either of us." Walking towards the car, she started the interrogation. "All we know is that she was reported missing, believed killed. I didn't even know she was down here."
Gunny breathed a sigh of relief. At least John knew that much. He hadn't wanted to be the one to tell him the 'believed killed' part. In fact, he wasn't even sure he could say those words. He was praying she was still alive. "I really don't know much more than that except that there's a team being put together to find her. If she's here, we'll find her." They reached the car and he tossed the bags into the trunk.
She nodded, glad of that. She'd witnessed Clay try to leave Gunny behind and wanted better than that for Lizzie. "Who's on the teams? Do you know any of them?" Part of her hoped that there would be some excellent agent or even another Marine that would take charge and just find her instantly, although she knew better. They would have to find Lizzie, but when they did, there was no doubt in Mac's mind that she would be alive. It was impossible to picture the younger woman otherwise; she had too much vitality inside of her for that.
The evening was hot and humide so Gunny rolled his window down as he started the car. "Sorry. No ac in this piece of junk," he commented, indicating that the others should roll their windows down as well. "The only one I know personally is Agent Austin. I met her on an assigment some time back. She's an excellent agent and is heading this operation." He glanced over at Mac. "She said she was a JAG attorney a few years ago. Other than Meg, I don't know who the other team members are. She said there will be two of the best pilots around. She didn't say anything to me about you coming down here, Colonel."
They rolled their windows down. "Yeah, she was Harm's partner, left about a month before I met him. It was short notice; I barely had time to tell the Admiral." She wondered if one of the pilots was Harm, but shrugged it off, thinking about Harm had long since become her favorite pasttime.
Gunny drove in silence for a few minutes. He thought back to the last time he and Liz had been together. It seemed an eternity. She had to be alive! He looked in the rear view mirror at John. The man looked absolutely worried sick. "We'll find Lizzie alive, sir. She has too much heart and determination to give up. I...we won't stop looking until we find her and bring her home." Gunny would never give up. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.
John nodded, coming more alive since Lizzie was being mentioned. "She's too stubborn." She seemed to be more like Mac than himself, no matter what anyone said. "You've known my daughter long?"
"We met in Afghanistan." Gunny began quietly. "Then we worked together in Paraguay. We became very close friends." Closer than he would admit to the woman's father. "I care very much for her, sir, and I intend to do all I can to find her."
John nodded and Mac silently breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it seemed to satisfy John for now, a sure sign that he was still pretty lost. "So do I." John said, looking out the window.
"How much did you know about the mission?" Mac asked, not sure how much he could tell them.
Gunny thought for a long moment. He knew the basics of Lizzie's mission and it wasn't something a father would like to hear. "There was a report of suspected terrorist activity down here. Something that would cause major destruction in a couple of port cities in the states." He hesitated, trying to find the right words for the rest of it. "Lizzie insisted on going into one of the local dives as a barmaid. She wasn't given any backup," he added bitterly. When Gunny had found out, he had begged to be sent in as backup, but for some reason, his request was denied. Now that Liz had disappeared, he was itching to get his hands around Webb's neck. Mac silently cursed, thinking the same. Clay could have easily approved and he had to have known, he knew about her and Harm. She would make him pay when she returned to Washington, right now, the only thing that mattered to her was getting Lizzie back. She looked behind her and saw that John had that look in his eyes, the same one he'd had when he first told her. Years ago, she would have held his hand or found some way to comfort him, but there was no comfort for any of them. She wondered how deep Lizzie had gotten into trouble this time and remembered her as a teenager that always seemed to get into scrapes and then laugh off the consequences, dismissing them as trivial in the war to get her way. This was a much bigger war, with much harsher consequences, and she wondered what Lizzie had been thinking when she'd taken the mission, when she'd accepted the job at all.
"I should have gone in anyway. I should have ignored my orders to stay out and gone in anyway. I'm sorry." Gunny's knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. "She told me she'd be fine. You know her bravado. Then Webb gave me another assignment. I should have stood my ground." He pulled up outside the hotel and parked. "This is it. Meg should be waiting for us."
John went ahead and Mac walked with her. "You did what you should have. I'm going to kill Webb this time. If it wasn't bad enough what he did to us, but now to Lizzie...he has all the power down here. He set her up." She paused. "John says it's happened before?"
At the reminder, Gunny felt the anger consume him once again. "yeah. A few months ago. Webb just left her after she was captured. He tried to stop me, but I went in and got her out. I think I'm going to pound some Corps values into that man." The Marines had taught Gunny, and Mac as well, that no man ever gets left behind. Ever. You bring them back. "That's the first thing I'm going to do when we get Lizzie back. And if she's dead..." Gunny still blamed Webb for the loss of another woman he had loved. He had pleaded with the man to let him get her out before the bombing started.
"Don't start. She's not dead. We just have to believe that. It would be like Chloe dying when she fell off Scout." He had been there for her then. "And you'll have to stand in line behind Harm. He still wants to kill Webb for letting me come before." *****
Harm was surprised to see the door open and John come in. He had never expected to see him again and was saddened to see him now, knowing that if John was there... "It's Lizzie?"
John nodded. "Yeah."
He looked at Meg. "Meg, this is Lt Col John Farrow. Col, this is Meg Austin and Jack Keeter. We're gonna get Liz back for you." He nodded. The door opened and Mac stood there, in shock.
Meg looked at Gunny. "Gunny. This is Jack Keeter and Commander Harm Rabb..."
Harm broke out of his stupor. "I know who he is, Meg. He worked with us before." He returned to staring at Mac, unable to believe she was there.
Gunny watched the exchange between Harm and Mac and couldn't help smiling. "I didn't know." He told them, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I honestly had no idea." He crossed the room and leaned in back in the corner to watch what happened next.
"I left a message on your machine." They said simultaneously. They knew that the other had to come, that John and Meg had meant too much to them to say no, and for that reason alone, left the conversation at that.
"You must be Meg. I'm glad to finally meet you. Bud and Harm have both told me a lot about you." Mac said, shaking hands with the blonde.
Meg surveyed the woman that Harm loved and smiled. "You must be Mac. You don't know how much I've looked forward to meeting you."
Mac smiled and then grinned at Keeter. "Hey, Keeter. Nice to see you again."
"Still keeping Harm in line?"
"Evidently not." Meg and Keeter both cracked a smile.
Mac looked back at John. "Come on. Let's get set up." She knew he needed to at least lay down, even if she couldn't make him sleep. He followed her into another room.
Meg looked at Gunny. "Is he okay?"
"No, he's not. I hope it's not a mistake having him here." He sighed. "I'm hoping once we get organized and give him something to do, he'll be better. We've got to find her, ma'am. Soon." He was getting anxious to get started himself. "What's the plan?"
"We need to have someone who hasn't been around here go to the bar."
Keeter looked at her. "Why don't the four of us go? That is, if Mac can leave the Colonel."
Mac rejoined them. "Go where?"
"The bar where Lizzie disappeared." Harm said.
Mac looked at Gunny. "Can you stay with him?" She knew what she was asking, but if he didn't stay, she wouldn't leave John alone.
Gunny frowned. Stay here? And do what? Pace? "You want me to stay here? You think I can sit back and do nothing?" He objected without thinking it through. "I suppose if you're going to the bar, I can't go." Some local might recognize him and put the others in danger. "Isn't there something we can do?" Victor was a man of action and he figured John was too. John wasn't going to be happy with being left behind either. He ran a hand through his short hair. "I'll stay. I guess it's all I can do." he was not happy about having to do as he was asked, but he couldn't think of any other solution to the problem.
"It is." Meg reassured him. "If someone spots you, she could be in even more danger. None of us knows who has her; the only way to do this is to start at the beginning."
Mac frowned. "Harm, you go with them. I'll stay here too." Three would be just as good as four and she had the feeling that maybe she could do more good being company for Gunny and John than she could with them.
"Mac..." Harm started to protest.
"I was here a few months ago, as a pregnant woman. I'd be risking as much as Gunny."
Meg nodded. "The rest of us better go change then." She and Keeter left the room.
"I don't like it."
"Harm, you know I'm right. Besides, what if we didn't get everyone who was involved? What if someone else knows about the mission and that puts Lizzie in even more danger? I need to stay here and you need to go." He nodded and went to change as well.
"Why did you do that?" Gunny asked Mac once they were alone. "You're right that you could be recognized, but I think that's a very remote possibilty. You look very different without that belly. You could have gone." He really would have felt better knowing a fellow Marine was with the others, but he supposed she was right. Even a remote possibility of recognition could put Liz in more danger.
"Maybe I owe John; maybe I don't." It was never clear after they were cleared. "But Lizzie...his wife died when she was a baby and then...Lizzie's all he had left. I don't like the idea of him being here, but since I couldn't talk him out of that, I'm not leaving him either. Harm sees me every day; he hasn't seen Meg in seven years or Keeter in four. And you."
Victor nodded, understanding her reasoning. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep. All I can think about is getting Lizzie back safely. I feel like I should be doing something, but I can't figure out what. This waiting is hell."
"Meg's right. We need to get this information first. Besides, there's some questions I have to ask." Harm, Meg, and Keeter came out. "Much better than what you wore the first time we were undercover."
Harm smiled. "You're sure you wanna stay here?"
"I'm sure. There will be plenty of things we can do to help later." Keeter and Harm left.
"I'll keep him out of trouble."
Mac smiled. "That's a full-time job. You know what she looks like?"
Meg nodded. "Yeah, I met her once in Afghanistan. Everything will be okay." Mac nodded and watched them leave.
Harm squinted at Keeter's tall form as he pulled his vette to a stop on the smooth surface of the tarmac. "Yep...there he is," Harm agreed. Glancing at Meg, he took a deep breath and swung open the car door.
She was already out and over to Keeter before he got there. "You got him." Keeter said, having no doubt she was capable of it. "Hey, buddy."
"Hey." Harm stuck out his hand and took Keeter's in a firm grasp, "So you ready to go play search and rescue in South America?" Meg hadn't given him specifics, but he knew where he was going and the gist of why. At least he was part of a good team though he still hadn't met this Marine that was joining them at some point in the future.
"Always." He smiled, but more at Meg.
Harm eyed the two and opened his mouth to inquire into just how well the two of them knew each other, but was interrupted by the arrival of a small plane coming in for a landing. He grinned. "Let me guess...our ride?"
"I know it's been awhile since you flew anything, but it'll get us there and back." He looked at Meg. "Galindez called. He'll meet us at the airport." She nodded.
"Your Marine is Galindez?" Harm stammered. "Victor Galindez?"
Meg nodded. "Yeah. He worked with the Marine and with Webb. He's been down there awhile, should make up for us not knowing the land well."
"Great," Harm nodded. "Gunny is a good man, knows what he's doing. If he's our guide, we'll be in good hands." After a second's pause, "I'm ready when you two are." Following Meg's lead, the two men began to lift luggage and equipment from the vehicles. When all three were loaded down with bags, boxes, and duffel bags, they began their long trek across the hot tarmac. "You know," Harm commented, "Mac's gonna kill me when she finds out that this mission involves flying."
Meg smiled. "Well, what do you expect? I'm surprised you've flown anything in the last two years."
Harm turned surprised eyes toward Meg. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that your accident two years ago was on ZNN and everything else. You didn't think I knew about it?"
Flustered, Harm looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, "One mistake and I'll never live it down." He sighed, "It wasn't my fault, ya know? Mechanical failure. Could've happened to anyone." He looked back at her and grinned.
She rolled her eyes, but grinned back at him. "You know, you have a much nicer partner than I ever was. You would have never been back in a Tomcat after that one." She teased.
"Yeah, well. Mac doesn't necessarily relish the idea of me climbing into a cockpit again, but she knows that it's a part of me. Plus I think she finds the danger attractive." Harm winked. "Don't tell her I said that though," he laughed, "she'd kill me. And she'd never admit it anyay."
Meg smiled, even more secretively. "Oh, I was supposed to tell you." Keeter said, breaking the conversation a little, "Galindez said that the Colonel is coming down to investigate too."
"Great. Just what we need." Meg said sarcastically.
"Mac's coming?" Harm looked confused, then hurt. "She didn't mention anything to me before she left this morning." He and Mac usually told each other everything, well almost anyway. Of course, if he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame her. He hadn't been exactly honest about what he was doing on this mission either in the message he'd left on her voice mail. "Is she meeting us at the airport too?"
Meg frowned, crossed between her desire to work with or at least meet Mac and the fact that Harm was pretty far gone on Mac, if every time he heard her rank it was automatically her. "No, not Mac, as far as I know." Keeter said, although he'd learned four years ago never to doubt her ability to do anything. "The girl's father is a colonel."
"Oh!" Harm couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed. He was relieved that she hadn't misled him about her whereabouts, but having her along would have been nice. How long had the only 'colonel' in his life been Mac? Mentally shrugging, he asked, "So if he's the girl's father, is it really the smartest thing for him to be involved?"
"You wanna tell a Marine colonel that?" Meg asked. "If it was the admiral or someone, I could see letting him come along." Even after all the years out of his command, he was still one of her favorite officers, one of the most capable in her eyes.
"Well, he may do more harm than good, but as long as he stays out of the way and doesn't put the team in danger by doing something stupid, we can't really send him packing before the mission even gets undway."
Meg nodded. "Yeah, but I don't really want to risk him putting the team in danger either." She knew there was nothing much she could do about it though. Even if she was out of the military loop now, she still had to obey the ranks. Besides, if someone she cared about was missing, believed killed, there would be nothing in the world that kept her from bringing them home. *****
Mac looked out the window as Harm always did, feeling guilty. She should have tried harder to find him, but wasn't sure how he would react. She'd just gotten back to Washington only weeks ago and now she was going into danger this time, but she didn't have much choice. Liz...Well, even if she wasn't in love with John, part of her still loved him and his daughter. But would Harm understand that, especially after what had happened nearly five years ago with Chris? She pushed those thoughts away and smiled slightly at John as the plane landed. God he looked old; when had that happened? They got off the plane and looked around; he said that someone would meet them here.
Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez stood as the passengers began to disembark from the plane. Stepping closer to the travlers, he looked for Colonel Farrow. He was certain he'd recognize him in civies, but it would have been easier if he could look for a uniform. Gunny froze in surprise as he did recognize someone. He certainly had not expected to see Colonel MacKenzie here. She looked like she was looking for someone. He realized suddenly that that someone was himself and that Colonel Farrow was with Mac. "Colonel Farrow. Colonel MacKenzie." He said as he closed the distance between them.
Gunny. She should have known he'd be here; she'd left him in Paraguay with Clay. Somehow though she was filled with forboding, a sense of knowing something wasn't quite right. "Gunny." She tried to smile, although her worry had intensified. "John, this is Victor Galindez. He was the gunnery sergeant in JAG ops."
John wasn't sure how to respond. He wasn't looking forward to anything but seeing his Lizzie again. "Nice to meet you, gunnery sergeant." He finally, slowly, said.
Mac's mind was filled with a thousand questions, none of which she really wanted to ask in the airport. Besides, she knew John had to be somewhere between lost and impatient. She got her small duffel of civilian attire and pointed John's out to him. "Where can we talk?"
Gunny took Mac's duffel and, seeing how preoccupied John seemed to be, grabbed his from the carousel. "There's a quiet cafe here in the airport, but to be honest with you, I don't really have any information for you. I just got in on this myself." It had been a long flight and he knew how the food was on airlines, but he personally couldn't even think of eating until they had found Liz. He knew her father was in even worse shape. "Or, if you'd rather, we could just talk in the car."
"That's good." She hadn't eaten since the night before, but she wasn't hungry and John had declined anything to eat either. "The car sounds good. And you'll still have more information than either of us." Walking towards the car, she started the interrogation. "All we know is that she was reported missing, believed killed. I didn't even know she was down here."
Gunny breathed a sigh of relief. At least John knew that much. He hadn't wanted to be the one to tell him the 'believed killed' part. In fact, he wasn't even sure he could say those words. He was praying she was still alive. "I really don't know much more than that except that there's a team being put together to find her. If she's here, we'll find her." They reached the car and he tossed the bags into the trunk.
She nodded, glad of that. She'd witnessed Clay try to leave Gunny behind and wanted better than that for Lizzie. "Who's on the teams? Do you know any of them?" Part of her hoped that there would be some excellent agent or even another Marine that would take charge and just find her instantly, although she knew better. They would have to find Lizzie, but when they did, there was no doubt in Mac's mind that she would be alive. It was impossible to picture the younger woman otherwise; she had too much vitality inside of her for that.
The evening was hot and humide so Gunny rolled his window down as he started the car. "Sorry. No ac in this piece of junk," he commented, indicating that the others should roll their windows down as well. "The only one I know personally is Agent Austin. I met her on an assigment some time back. She's an excellent agent and is heading this operation." He glanced over at Mac. "She said she was a JAG attorney a few years ago. Other than Meg, I don't know who the other team members are. She said there will be two of the best pilots around. She didn't say anything to me about you coming down here, Colonel."
They rolled their windows down. "Yeah, she was Harm's partner, left about a month before I met him. It was short notice; I barely had time to tell the Admiral." She wondered if one of the pilots was Harm, but shrugged it off, thinking about Harm had long since become her favorite pasttime.
Gunny drove in silence for a few minutes. He thought back to the last time he and Liz had been together. It seemed an eternity. She had to be alive! He looked in the rear view mirror at John. The man looked absolutely worried sick. "We'll find Lizzie alive, sir. She has too much heart and determination to give up. I...we won't stop looking until we find her and bring her home." Gunny would never give up. He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.
John nodded, coming more alive since Lizzie was being mentioned. "She's too stubborn." She seemed to be more like Mac than himself, no matter what anyone said. "You've known my daughter long?"
"We met in Afghanistan." Gunny began quietly. "Then we worked together in Paraguay. We became very close friends." Closer than he would admit to the woman's father. "I care very much for her, sir, and I intend to do all I can to find her."
John nodded and Mac silently breathed a sigh of relief, glad that it seemed to satisfy John for now, a sure sign that he was still pretty lost. "So do I." John said, looking out the window.
"How much did you know about the mission?" Mac asked, not sure how much he could tell them.
Gunny thought for a long moment. He knew the basics of Lizzie's mission and it wasn't something a father would like to hear. "There was a report of suspected terrorist activity down here. Something that would cause major destruction in a couple of port cities in the states." He hesitated, trying to find the right words for the rest of it. "Lizzie insisted on going into one of the local dives as a barmaid. She wasn't given any backup," he added bitterly. When Gunny had found out, he had begged to be sent in as backup, but for some reason, his request was denied. Now that Liz had disappeared, he was itching to get his hands around Webb's neck. Mac silently cursed, thinking the same. Clay could have easily approved and he had to have known, he knew about her and Harm. She would make him pay when she returned to Washington, right now, the only thing that mattered to her was getting Lizzie back. She looked behind her and saw that John had that look in his eyes, the same one he'd had when he first told her. Years ago, she would have held his hand or found some way to comfort him, but there was no comfort for any of them. She wondered how deep Lizzie had gotten into trouble this time and remembered her as a teenager that always seemed to get into scrapes and then laugh off the consequences, dismissing them as trivial in the war to get her way. This was a much bigger war, with much harsher consequences, and she wondered what Lizzie had been thinking when she'd taken the mission, when she'd accepted the job at all.
"I should have gone in anyway. I should have ignored my orders to stay out and gone in anyway. I'm sorry." Gunny's knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. "She told me she'd be fine. You know her bravado. Then Webb gave me another assignment. I should have stood my ground." He pulled up outside the hotel and parked. "This is it. Meg should be waiting for us."
John went ahead and Mac walked with her. "You did what you should have. I'm going to kill Webb this time. If it wasn't bad enough what he did to us, but now to Lizzie...he has all the power down here. He set her up." She paused. "John says it's happened before?"
At the reminder, Gunny felt the anger consume him once again. "yeah. A few months ago. Webb just left her after she was captured. He tried to stop me, but I went in and got her out. I think I'm going to pound some Corps values into that man." The Marines had taught Gunny, and Mac as well, that no man ever gets left behind. Ever. You bring them back. "That's the first thing I'm going to do when we get Lizzie back. And if she's dead..." Gunny still blamed Webb for the loss of another woman he had loved. He had pleaded with the man to let him get her out before the bombing started.
"Don't start. She's not dead. We just have to believe that. It would be like Chloe dying when she fell off Scout." He had been there for her then. "And you'll have to stand in line behind Harm. He still wants to kill Webb for letting me come before." *****
Harm was surprised to see the door open and John come in. He had never expected to see him again and was saddened to see him now, knowing that if John was there... "It's Lizzie?"
John nodded. "Yeah."
He looked at Meg. "Meg, this is Lt Col John Farrow. Col, this is Meg Austin and Jack Keeter. We're gonna get Liz back for you." He nodded. The door opened and Mac stood there, in shock.
Meg looked at Gunny. "Gunny. This is Jack Keeter and Commander Harm Rabb..."
Harm broke out of his stupor. "I know who he is, Meg. He worked with us before." He returned to staring at Mac, unable to believe she was there.
Gunny watched the exchange between Harm and Mac and couldn't help smiling. "I didn't know." He told them, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I honestly had no idea." He crossed the room and leaned in back in the corner to watch what happened next.
"I left a message on your machine." They said simultaneously. They knew that the other had to come, that John and Meg had meant too much to them to say no, and for that reason alone, left the conversation at that.
"You must be Meg. I'm glad to finally meet you. Bud and Harm have both told me a lot about you." Mac said, shaking hands with the blonde.
Meg surveyed the woman that Harm loved and smiled. "You must be Mac. You don't know how much I've looked forward to meeting you."
Mac smiled and then grinned at Keeter. "Hey, Keeter. Nice to see you again."
"Still keeping Harm in line?"
"Evidently not." Meg and Keeter both cracked a smile.
Mac looked back at John. "Come on. Let's get set up." She knew he needed to at least lay down, even if she couldn't make him sleep. He followed her into another room.
Meg looked at Gunny. "Is he okay?"
"No, he's not. I hope it's not a mistake having him here." He sighed. "I'm hoping once we get organized and give him something to do, he'll be better. We've got to find her, ma'am. Soon." He was getting anxious to get started himself. "What's the plan?"
"We need to have someone who hasn't been around here go to the bar."
Keeter looked at her. "Why don't the four of us go? That is, if Mac can leave the Colonel."
Mac rejoined them. "Go where?"
"The bar where Lizzie disappeared." Harm said.
Mac looked at Gunny. "Can you stay with him?" She knew what she was asking, but if he didn't stay, she wouldn't leave John alone.
Gunny frowned. Stay here? And do what? Pace? "You want me to stay here? You think I can sit back and do nothing?" He objected without thinking it through. "I suppose if you're going to the bar, I can't go." Some local might recognize him and put the others in danger. "Isn't there something we can do?" Victor was a man of action and he figured John was too. John wasn't going to be happy with being left behind either. He ran a hand through his short hair. "I'll stay. I guess it's all I can do." he was not happy about having to do as he was asked, but he couldn't think of any other solution to the problem.
"It is." Meg reassured him. "If someone spots you, she could be in even more danger. None of us knows who has her; the only way to do this is to start at the beginning."
Mac frowned. "Harm, you go with them. I'll stay here too." Three would be just as good as four and she had the feeling that maybe she could do more good being company for Gunny and John than she could with them.
"Mac..." Harm started to protest.
"I was here a few months ago, as a pregnant woman. I'd be risking as much as Gunny."
Meg nodded. "The rest of us better go change then." She and Keeter left the room.
"I don't like it."
"Harm, you know I'm right. Besides, what if we didn't get everyone who was involved? What if someone else knows about the mission and that puts Lizzie in even more danger? I need to stay here and you need to go." He nodded and went to change as well.
"Why did you do that?" Gunny asked Mac once they were alone. "You're right that you could be recognized, but I think that's a very remote possibilty. You look very different without that belly. You could have gone." He really would have felt better knowing a fellow Marine was with the others, but he supposed she was right. Even a remote possibility of recognition could put Liz in more danger.
"Maybe I owe John; maybe I don't." It was never clear after they were cleared. "But Lizzie...his wife died when she was a baby and then...Lizzie's all he had left. I don't like the idea of him being here, but since I couldn't talk him out of that, I'm not leaving him either. Harm sees me every day; he hasn't seen Meg in seven years or Keeter in four. And you."
Victor nodded, understanding her reasoning. "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep. All I can think about is getting Lizzie back safely. I feel like I should be doing something, but I can't figure out what. This waiting is hell."
"Meg's right. We need to get this information first. Besides, there's some questions I have to ask." Harm, Meg, and Keeter came out. "Much better than what you wore the first time we were undercover."
Harm smiled. "You're sure you wanna stay here?"
"I'm sure. There will be plenty of things we can do to help later." Keeter and Harm left.
"I'll keep him out of trouble."
Mac smiled. "That's a full-time job. You know what she looks like?"
Meg nodded. "Yeah, I met her once in Afghanistan. Everything will be okay." Mac nodded and watched them leave.
