A/N: This is for Katey. Our thoughts and prayers are with you
and your DH.

Jakarta, Indonesia
Late Morning
Military Hospital

Clay's POV

I was drowsing in the hospital bed, and wondering if the headache
that I had would ever go away. It seems like my head had been pounding
forever, not since yesterday. The door to the room opened and
I thought it was another nurse checking on me. Hands gently combed
my bangs. Then lips softly kissed mine. I slowly opened the only
eye that worked and beheld, what was to my eyes, an angel. My
headache disappeared.

She softly greeted me, "Hello, Sleeping Beauty." There was a
tremulous smile on her face and her eyes were bright.

The only answer to that greeting was, "If I'm sleeping beauty, you
must be Princess Charming."

"If you want."

"Oh, I want beautiful, I want." I smiled as best I could and
said, "Can I have another kiss now that I'm awake to appreciate
it?" I thanked whatever gods for this good fortune, I must have
done something right to deserve this.

She leaned in and kissed me again. This kiss was very
different from the first. Her lips were soft on mine, and when I
swept my tongue over her lips they opened and I took every
advantage. My body was instantly on fire. Luckily she had
approached my right side. She was much too far away. I placed my
arm around her neck and pulled her closer. She placed a hand on my
chest and sensuously moved it back and forth. Her other hand swept
slowly through my hair. Our breathing came faster, and my pulse was
definitely elevated. She gradually moved fully onto the bed and I
held her to my side. I don't think she realized she had even
moved. I realized it because the body that I had been thinking and
dreaming about for years was finally pressed close to mine.

Then someone coughed and rudely broke the romantic bubble that we
encased ourselves in. I looked up to see two old friends. I looked
to Sarah and her face had a lovely rosy blush. She tried to stand,
but I held on tighter.

I greeted Jim and Ramon in my usual smart aleck manner, and traded
the usual barbs. They said they came to help. This was very
welcome. Then they mentioned Rabb. It was hard to be overly
concerned about the flyer with Sarah held snugly in my arms. Even
when I made a crack about his flying her gentle rebuke held no ire.

Sarah spoke again, and asked for a few minutes alone.

She moved as if to get up, I tightened my arm. She was next to me
and I wasn't letting her go until I absolutely had to. I bit the
bullet and asked, "Sarah, I need to know something before we go any
further. Does that kiss mean what I hope it means. I've felt a
change in our relationship over the last few months, and your
greeting was more than I had ever anticipated.

Her response was everything that I could wish for. When she said
she didn't think I was up to much, I couldn't help but look down at
my lower body, then back at her. I'm sure my grin was devilish.

"I don't know about that, I seem to be up very nicely." If possible
she blushed even more. I continued, "You're right, we've got a lot
to plan. But we are going to have some quality time together as
soon as this is over. Go ahead and call Mutt and Jeff in here. The
sooner we start the sooner we can further this relationship."

I reluctantly let her move from my arms. Having her there was
thrilling and gave me a profound sense of peace. As she walked to
call the guys, she turned and gave me a Mona Lisa smile. I was in
trouble, and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.
The three of them re-entered the room. I looked to Sarah as I
patted the bed.

"Come back, I'm not going to bite, there are too many witnesses in
here." She rolled her eyes, but perched next to me, and picked up
my hand. The two other clowns sat and struggled to contain their
laughter. I didn't feel any judgment coming from them. They both
knew of my long unrequited desire for Sarah. This having been
disclosed over a celebratory bottle of tequila at the conclusion of
a difficult operation several years ago. I knew that I was never
going to hear the end of this. The friendly ribbing I was going to
be subjected to would be relentless, but I was willing to put up
with it, for it meant Sarah was in my life.

"I can figure out what Sarah is doing here, but how did you get
involved?"

Ramon cheerfully replied to this. "Clay, do you know where your
laptop is?"

I thought for a moment. "No, I've been out of it for the last forty-
eight or so hours. Where is it? There's a bunch of classified data
on that thing. I can't believe I lost it."

"You didn't loose it Clay. It was in your backpack when you were
found. The military medics found your ID, and turned the computer
over to the investigators. Our NCIS guy here knew who you were and
more or less confiscated it. He gave me a call. Through my
technical wizardry I hacked into it."

My head snapped up at that. He went on, "Don't give me that look
Clay. You were totally out of it. Nobody knew how you managed to
get your self caught up in this and we figured that this was the
quickest way to find out. We reported Langley's lack of response to
your concerns. Needless to say the higher this news got on the food
chain the louder the roaring that came out of the Pentagon. I think
the DCI is not long for this world."

"You hacked into my laptop. I just told you there was classified
information on it. You do know what classified means?"

Jim finally spoke, "Clay, I don't think the picture you have of
Sarah set as your wallpaper is really considered classified."

I sputtered, and Sarah giggled as she spoke, "I guess the cat's out
of the bag now. You're a romantic softie. That's definitely a fact
worthy of classification. And I found the password very
interesting."

My face flamed. "Let's not pick on the sick guy. OK, back to
business. So you hacked into the computer. Other than accomplishing
the downfall of the DCI, what conclusions did you come to?"

The three of them, not surprisingly, were right on the mark.

"Clay, the only thing we can't figure out why Jakarta and not
Suliwese?" questioned Jim.

"The group that I believe is behind this is based on Suliwese. They
didn't want to have the investigators tearing around their back
yard. Bombing a location in Jakarta, gives them time to crawl back
into their holes. Two of my contacts said there had been movement of
Al Queda cell members to Jakarta prior to the attack. I also knew that one
of the US battle groups were in port, and giving liberty. The night
of the bombing there was a big celebration in the European quarter.
I had a bad feeling about the situation and was approaching the
night club when the bomb went off."

By the end of this description of events Sarah's grip on my hand was
more than a little uncomfortable. I looked into her troubled face;
She had tears threatening to fall. "Hey, I'm OK," I tried to
reassure her. "Have you had any rest recently? You need to get to
the hotel to and lie down."

"Yes, the two pharmacists over there made me take some pills on the
plane and I slept for several hours. I feel fine, really. As you
said you're the one who's injured."

"Yeah man, she slept like a baby. But the pills are the only reason
she slept. She was a bit worried about a certain someone who will
remain nameless. Clay, we're here to cover your backs, that means
making sure that we all are ready to handle events," this from an
embarrassed Jim.

"We've brought gear to connect us to world. Bud is ready in Falls
Church to assist in research. You're going to be getting out of here
tomorrow. Ramon and I will go get it settled if you can tell us
where it would be best."

"I've got a room over at the Hilton. Check in there and get set
up. Ramon you and Bud work more on the money trail. I'm sure that
is where we are going to hit pay dirt. My hacking skills don't
approach the level of the two of you. I wish Bud were here instead
of in DC, I've seen him connect unrelated data and come up with the
correct answer many times. I haven't let that innocent face fool me
for a long time."

"Well, we've got the next best thing. The video/satellite
technology that we'll set up will make you feel that Bud is in the
next room," spoke the resident techno nerd.

"Sarah, as much as I would like to have you here, I need you to talk
with the Indonesian security agency. When I first got here they
weren't very helpful. I think they'll be a lot more open now.
They've got to save face, and capturing the bombers will help that."

"Mr. Webb! You are supposed to be resting. You are recovering from
a serious injury. Your visitors will have to leave now." This was
from the local Nurse Ratched that had stormed into the room.

"OK, they'll be gone in a few minutes. But leave us alone now!"
The nurse huffed and left the room. I know I was more than a little
rude to the nurse, but between wanting to get the terrorists, being
injured, and seriously wanting to jump Sarah's bones I was more than
frustrated.

Sarah began patting my hand and making calming noises. I smiled at
her, "I'll calm down, and I'll rest but let's finish this. Sarah, I
know you were over here two years ago." I gave her a sheepish grin
at her questioning look. I knew I would have to explain this
later. "Didn't you make a contact?"

"Yes, a Captain Jarot. He helped me find the Lilianna, the little
girl that helped us out at the embassy. I'm sure he'll help,
especially for little monetary encouragement."

"He should be a good start. You'll need some cash. I've got quite
a bit in the room safe. The combination is 1492. Use as much of it
as you need, this is no time to be frugal. Jim, go with Sarah. No
one should be out there alone. That should be it. Guys give us a
few, would you?"

"We'll be outside, but this is the last time we are leaving the two
of you alone. It's obvious that you can't control yourselves!" Jim
ducked and ran out the door with Ramon as Sarah beaned him with a
plastic cup.

"Promise me you'll be careful. If anything or anyone sets off any
alarms, get the hell out. Jim is good, but I need to know you won't
take any risks. We've got an appointment to keep."

"I promise, I'll follow the rules. We'll be carrying. We've got
quite an armory with us. I don't want to miss the appointment
either. Now kiss me so I can get out of here. The nurse looks like
she's about to toss us out on our ears."

Not needing any further encouragement I kissed her socks off. I
have to get out of this bed!

Sarah gave me a final hug and quickly left the room. When I was
sure they had gone I rang for the nurse. When she arrived I asked
her for something for my headache. I finally drifted of thinking of
Sarah's smile.

TBC