Title: Journey to Homecoming Pt. 21/?
Author: Sheila
Category: Romance
Pairing: Clay/Sarah
Rating: R
Disclaimer: As If
Spoilers: Up through 'Need to Know'
Summary: Clay and Sarah come together during an investigation
AJ's POV
Thursday, August 7th
1700 Hours
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
"And that's he last one Sir. Captain Sebring and Admiral Morris and the other judges have decided to delay all current trials and article hearings until Monday and grant a three day weekend. Everyone has been working sixty hour work weeks for months and they felt it was in the best interest of staff efficiency and morale pending your approval." Said my exhausted Chief of Staff. Since her fiancé had been undercover she had lost a significant amount of weight and I knew for a fact that she rarely got more than four hours of sleep a night.
"Consider it approved. Now Mac, you are going home tonight and going to bed and you are going to sleep. Morgan and I are will be there and if I have to force the sleeping pills down your throat you are going to get some sleep!" Morgan had finally convinced her to get her doctor to prescribe a sleeping aid which Mac took only under duress.
"Sir, have I told you how weird it is to have you dating my pseudo sister?" She joked.
"Yes, many times. And it's just as weird for me as it is for you, but don't change the subject. You have got to get some sleep. If the spook gets home and sees you like this, he'll break MY nose, I promised to take care of you. And before you get on your high horse about taking care of yourself, exactly how much weight have you lost? Hmm?" She didn't answer me right away and when she did she avoided answering me.
"AJ, I've always had insomnia, but since he's been gone it's been so much worse. I can't help but worry about him and Ramon and after Gunny told us about the dealers the nightmares only grew worse." She shuddered at the memories.
I knew about the nightmares. She had woken me several times with her screams and I had gone running to comfort her until she could calm down enough to go to back to sleep. Morgan said that when I did not stay over she slept with Sarah; it saved the trip down the hall to wake her.
An excited Tiner buzzed in on the intercom, "Sir, Mr. Roberts said he just received an e-mail from Mr. Webb." Sarah was off like a shot to Bud's office and I was just behind her. Bud was just standing allowing Sarah to sit when Rabb, Manetti, Turner, and Harriet also came running in.
The arrival of a Valley Girl E-mail, as they had come to be known, was now an event in the office. It had become a very serious game to see who could interpret Clay's missives.
Dear Victoria,
Life really sucks. I mean Mother and Father, the PARENTS from HELL; have dragged us to a lovely place on the Amazon River in the middle of the GOD DAMN rain forest. There are gang members galore here. Are they out of their ever loving minds? Ray is having the time of his life here, I thought he was on my side but he has crossed to the dark side, I swear. I just want to slap him silly sometimes. Mom is just impressed with the wild life and taking pictures with her damn digital camera and as usual ignoring me. I'd steal the damn thing and send pictures but I don't have the software program for this Palm Pilot to send them. This thing is really cool by the way. Thanks for giving it to me for my birthday. It's better than the thing the parents gave me, a lovely Mont Blanc fountain pen, with no ink. Planning is not their thing.
There are no places for a normal human being to go. I mean, like there are only soldiers and natives around here. I really don't even see any women or anything. It's like an f'in armed camp, like you see on TV, like what, al Queda, on ZNN or something that hottie Stuart Dunstan would report on. You know I've got it bad when I've resorted to thinking he's a hottie! And I would kill for a Big Mac. Rice and beans suck.
But at least they are telling me we are going home soon. Finally! Maybe my whining is paying off. I mean, I've whined at every chance I could. I could be a professional.
They won't leave me alone, but won't let me do anything. Signing off.
PIA062003@yahoo.com
"Holy shit! I think they've hit the mother lode." Rabb exclaimed, voicing everyone's opinion. Sarah had said nothing and I looked at her face. She had turned completely white.
"Everyone out!" When they didn't move quickly enough I added, "Now, People!" That got them moving. "Harriet, get me some water."
"Yes Sir." She said and rapidly left to carry out my order. I turned Sarah in the chair and squatted down in front of her. "Mac, he's OK. He sent the e-mail and we know he's OK." She still hadn't said anything and was staring off into the distance. Harriet returned with the water and I put the glass to Mac's lips. While I was trying with the water Harriet closed the blinds giving us some privacy.
"Darlin' come on drink this please, open up," I pleaded softly. There was no reaction. "Harriet, would you please try."
"Sarah, open your mouth and drink this water!" She said sternly with no gentleness. Sarah blinked her eyes and sipped slowly from the glass. After several moments color returned to her face.
"I'm so sorry; I don't know what happened, when I read al Queda the danger of the situation overwhelmed me. I knew how dangerous this mission was but this just brought it all home."
"I know Sarah, we all know. Let's get you home. Sir, will you drive her home? Bud and I will get her car to the house."
"That sounds like a good idea Harriet, but with a small change. Would you drive her home? Bud and I will do the car ferrying. There are a few things that I need to take care of here. Tell Morgan, no I'll call Morgan from my office."
"Yes Sir. Ma'am, are you ready to go?" Sarah nodded and allowed herself to be docilely led to her own office in preparation to making her way home. Webb better get his ass home quickly before his fiancée worries her self to death.
I walked back to my office gathering Roberts, Rabb, Turner, and Manetti on the way.
"Tiner get Gunny and Jim Morrison on the horn ASAP. People this last development is, as Cmdr. Rabb so eloquently put it, the mother lode. Clay and Ramon have been extremely lucky to gather the information they have and get it out to us and not get themselves killed. We have got to be ready to extract them at anytime."
"Sir, I've got Gunny and Cmdr. Morrison on the line." Tiner buzzed through.
"Thank you Tiner." Clay had been sending copies of his e-mails to Gunny and Jim after the first one had been sent. We had replied to the several e-mails but Clay had never replied directly and had never mentioned any of our replies in his e-mails. We planned on asking him why when he got back.
"Gunny, Jim we're all here. What did you think?"
"Sir, this is where everything has been leading. I've talked with the DCI. As soon as we have a location we are sure the Brazilian government will cooperate in a take down on the camp, but our guys have got to get out of there first." Gunny stated.
"Jim, are we ready to simultaneously shut everything down at all the bases?" He had been coordinating the NCIS/FBI/CIA investigations at the over thirty facilities where the arms thefts had taken place. It had been decided to allow the thefts to continue and close them down when we knew the scope. Tracking devices had been placed in most of the stolen equipment and so the location of most of it was known.
"Yes sir, we are just waiting for the word. All the teams are in place and ready."
"Hey Jim, Bud here, how is Marita?"
"As well as can be expected. He's been undercover many times before, but this was totally unplanned and contact has been so minimal. The wife and I have been spending as much time as possible with her. How's Sarah?"
"Sir, do you want to answer?" Bud asked.
"Not that well Jim. She sort of lost it when she read the e-mail this afternoon. She hasn't been sleeping well. If we can get them home soon I'm sure she'll be all right." I replied.
"From the sound of this e-mail it won't be long now. We'll have everything ready to go on this end Sir. I'm going to go talk with Marita now. I'll talk with you when we receive the next message."
"Sir, I'd like to talk with you if I could." Gunny said.
"Hold on a minute Gunny. People thanks to the Judges you all have tomorrow off so go home and relax. The barbecue that was going to be at my home will be at the Webb residence. I'll be staying there for the duration as Morgan won't leave Sarah alone at night. So I'll see you there on Sunday. Bud will you assist me in driving the colonels car to her home?"
"Yes sir, I noticed Harriet leaving with the Colonel when we came in here. I'm sorry this is affecting her so much."
"I am too Bud. Thanks for your help. Turner and Roberts you are dismissed." Manetti and Rabb looked perplexed as I let them stand there a minute.
"Cmdrs. Manetti and Rabb the SecNav has approved Cmdr. Manetti's appointment to the Pentagon's Legal Council office officially 8 August, so the engagement can begin publicly anytime after that. Which means, I believe, the ring can come out from underneath the uniform blouse Saturday Tracy." They saluted, but couldn't help the huge grins on their faces as they said "Aye, aye Sir." I saw them embrace as soon as they got to Tiner's office and they were off.
I heard a chuckle come out of the speaker, "Sir, you haven't lost it. Did Cmdr. Rabb look like a fish out of water when you mentioned the SecNav?"
"Exactly Gunny, you've got him pegged. Now what did you want to discuss?" I thought I knew but I wanted him to say it.
"It's the Colonel Sir. Just how bad is she? I saw her two weeks ago and it look like she lost ten pounds and hadn't slept for a month." He said with a worried tone in his voice. He had always been protective of Mac, a fellow Marine in a naval office.
"She has probably lost more weight now, and she still isn't sleeping. She is having nightmares and tonight she will probably have a doozy. Why don't you come over tonight for dinner? Hell, why don't you cook dinner? She loves your enchiladas and salsa, maybe that will coax her to eat."
"Sounds like a plan. Now where exactly is Morgan wearing her engagement ring?" He asked with I swear, a patented CIA smirk.
"Crap Gunny, don't even mention that aloud!" I whispered into the phone while looking to see if Tiner was doing his usual eavesdropping. He had the temerity to laugh, and I calmed down and laughed with him. My staff knew that Morgan and I were dating and for all intents and purposes living with each other but our engagement had not been announced.
"So where does she wear it?" He insisted, lord he was as stubborn as Clay.
"On a chain Gunny, on a chain."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback
June 27th
Regan National Airport
Washington, DC
To say Morgan and I fell in love at first sight would be pushing it, but the night that Clay left on this mission was the beginning of a whirlwind courtship that ended up with our being engaged the Sunday we moved Sarah into her new home. We hadn't told anyone about the engagement and Gunny had found out about by accident. When he returned home from Suriname I picked him up from the airport. When I removed a bill from my wallet for the parking the receipt for the engagement ring fell onto the seat. Gunny picked it up and noticed what it was for and gave me a look with a raised eyebrow.
"This is a receipt for an engagement ring Sir. Anyone I know?" He asked with marked curiosity.
"Yes, I'm engaged Gunny. Her name is Morgan." I deliberately left off the last name. I didn't know if he knew Clay's cousin or not. I didn't necessarily want to go into detailed explanations.
"Morgan! Morgan Webb! Congratulations Sir! She's a great woman. Clay must be ecstatic. He has wanted her to get married for ever. What does the Colonel think?" I couldn't believe how excited he was by this.
"Gunny they don't know. Clay had left for the mission before we became engaged and we didn't want to rub it in Sarah's face since her marriage was postponed."
End Flashback
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So are you going to come over and cook dinner?" I asked.
I knew Sarah cherished her friendship with Gunny. It was much more than the Marine thing. Since she and Clay had returned to DC he had been a frequent guest in their home. Apparently Clay was grooming Gunny to be his partner and she trusted him to keep Clay safe. But he wasn't with Clay and it was killing her. Ramon was a good agent but Gunny was a Marine.
Webb Residence
1930 Hours
"Victor, I'll never order enchiladas in a restaurant again in my life. You've got me spoiled!" Said my over-stuffed fiancée. When Gunny had brought the pan of enchiladas to the table I couldn't figure out why he had made so many. Now I knew. The two ladies had eaten their fair share of the spicy food and I was glad that Mac had eaten as much as she had.
"Any one up for Flan?" Gunny asked as he began to clear the table.
"Gunny I'll get that. You cooked." Mac offered.
"Mac, sit down. Gunny and I will clear and serve dessert. Why don't you two go sit in the den and we'll bring coffee and dessert in a few minutes.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Come on Morgan, let's go put our feet up and relax and let the men to the drudge work." After fifteen minutes we found the two of them going through a family photo album laughing at the hair styles that Morgan and Clay had worn over the years.
I sat between Mac and Morgan and Gunny sat on the back of the couch as Morgan described when and where the photos were taken. Mac's favorite of Clay showed him with long hair in Paris sometime in the 80's on his European Tour. His facial features were the same but the clothing was typical of the times and she planned on blackmailing him with it. My favorite of Morgan had the blonde big hair of her heroine Morgan Fairchild in a sequined dress with the big shoulder pads. It looked gosh awful now, but I'm sure it was very chic then. We laughed for an hour until our sides hurt.
I noticed Mac begin to yawn and signaled to Morgan, she instantly got the cue.
"Sarah, time for bed young lady, and no arguments, you are going to take a pill. Got me?" Mac started to argue, but gave up after Gunny and I both gave her one of our looks.
"OK, OK. I'll go to bed, and I'll take a damn pill. Satisfied?" She said with vexation.
"Yes." said three satisfied voices.
"Good night all. Gunny thanks for making dinner, I can't remember when I enjoyed a meal more. It's late; do you want to stay the night? It would save you the drive all the way to Olney. You do know you'll always have a room here?" She asked in a wistful manner. Having Gunny stay was, in a way like having Clay closer at hand and he knew it.
"Thanks Mac. I'll take you up on that. Goodnight." She kissed the three of us good night and went up stairs. Morgan yelled up the stairs.
"Take a damn pill Webb to be!"
"Nag, Nag, Nag" She yelled back.
"I'm nothing next to Cnew." Another retort was bellowed.
"Him I can bribe." Sarah retorted back.
"What can you use that you can't use with me? Morgan asked curiously.
"Sex!" With that we heard the bedroom door slam. Gunny and I almost fell out of our chairs laughing and Morgan turned red and the face and did fall on the floor giggling.
"Oh, it's so good to here her joking again. She's been spiraling down into depression. Do you think they are really on their way home honey?" Morgan asked with hopefully.
"From what we could figure out from the message they found a terrorist cell where the arms ultimately are ending up. The message also said they were probably on the way home. She lost it when he worked al Queda into the message. That's when I sent her home with Harriet." I explained.
"I've got to hand it to Clay; he's tried to tell us what's going on and reassure her at the same time without blowing anything."
"And he did a damn fine job of it." Gunny added.
"Why don't you two go on up to bed. I'm going to finish up in the kitchen and then dial into work and finish some notes. Then head up stairs. If she wakes up I'll go to her. Neither one of you have gotten a full night sleep either recently if the nightmares have been as bad as you say."
"That won't be nece…" I started to say when Morgan put her hand over my mouth and started speaking.
"Thank you Victor. We appreciate it. If she has a nightmare it's usually between two and three, her cries aren't very loud, but if you don't wake her she won't wake her self and the nightmare will just go on. I'll make the room up next to their bed room. When you go up open their door and keep yours cracked to hear her."
"Good night then. I don't have to be into the office until ten in the morning, so I guess we can all sleep in. See you all for breakfast at six-thirty?" Gunny said jokingly.
"Over my dead body! And make me decent pot of coffee in the small pot, you know normal coffee. You can make the sludge the three of you drink in the regular pot." Morgan said as she led me up the stairs. I spoke over my shoulder.
"Good night Gunny. I'll see you in the morning, and thanks again for looking out for Mac."
"Good night guys. Try to keep the noise down. I am an innocent youth here." Morgan broke into a belly laugh and I chuckled. Gunny has been hanging around the spook too much.
We checked on Mac and saw that she was sleeping, then we made up the bed in the guest room.When we got inside our room Morgan jumped into my arms and started kissing me and running her hands over my head and down my back. I automatically reacted and grabbed her under her butt as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Lord, the woman could kiss in just a few seconds I was fully aroused.
"Darlin' as much as I love kissing you, I want to get these pants off before I get hurt." When she didn't let the death grip of her thighs go I gently pulled her arms away, then bent down over the bed and knelt down and pulled her legs loose. She lay sprawled legs spread waiting for me to begin my measured assault on her body. From the beginning of our intimate relationship neither one of us cared who had the upper hand and tonight it seems she obviously wanted me to take the lead.
I began a slow teasing strip of my clothing. First I toed off my shoes by flipping them randomly off my feet, she just grinned evilly in reaction. Then I slowly pulled my belt from it's' loops and sent it following the shoes. I began unbuttoning my shirt at a snail's pace one button at a time. She continued tolay there, slowly carressing her body, and the sight of that was increeasing my arousal ten fold.
I quickly pulled my shirt and t-shirt from my slacks and tossed them aside. I unfastened my slacks and gradually lowered the zipper and worked them down my legs. She know had her blouse and bra off and was working on her jeans. By the time we were both completely naked we were both panting and beyond aroused.
I knelt between her legs and began placing small nipping kisses on the smooth skin of her thighs and gently stroking the soft skin of her belly. I continued the kisses and nips until I entered her an began slow measured movements.
We moved together knowing what movement pleased each other the most. Every once in a while I would shift or swivel when I usually didn't. She loved it and so did it. I bent to kiss her breasts and then moved to the spot just under her chin which was one of her favorite erogenous zones, a few moments later we both smothered our screams of completion.
"Wow. This just gets better and better. OK, we didn't use a condom. Again. We are really tempting fate my man and I don't think you forgot. I think you want children as bad as I do, don't you." Morgan said knowingly.
"You are really smart, and yes I want children. I know we've talked in general terms, but the way we've been chancing it lately I think we should set a firm date, and start really trying to have those children." I said as I laid my head on her chest.
"OK, we set the date for two weeks after the Spook and the Marine finally ties the knot."
"Fine with me, now when to we make the announcement?'
"Sunday at the barbecue? Everyone will be there and I think it will make Mac happy even though Clay is still not home.
"OK, now let's go shower and get some sleep, short stuff." We showered in the in-suite bath and made love again under the warm spray. Clay and Sarah bought the house primarily because of the bathrooms and I really appreciated their choice; the bench in the shower made shower sex very safe!
I woke at 0430 to the sound of whimpering coming from the master bedroom. It had become a habit to open our bedroom door after our nighttime activities so we could hear Mac. I got up and went to check on her. Gunny had beaten me to it as promised . He was sitting on the side of the bed holding a quietly weeping Mac in his arms speaking gentle Spanish endearments to her. I stood in the doorway un-noticed by either of them. After ten minutes she quieted completely and he tenderly helped her lay down. He brushed her bangs from her face and kissed her on the forehead.
He sat there for a few more minutes until he was sure she was asleep. He stood, turned and smiled at me as we walked into the hall.
"Good morning Sir." He showed no embarrassment from being 'caught' with another man's fiancée in his arms.
"Morning Gunny. Did she remember anything about the dream?
"Yes Sir, she said that there was something wrong with a plane and that Ramon and Clay were on the plane they needed help, and that's when she woke up. Does she have these nightmares every night?"
"Not every night, but often enough. When they don't occur, she has insomnia." I shook my head at the sadness of the situation.
"Come on Gunny, let's go get some coffee. There is no way I'm going back to sleep now." We made our way to the kitchen and planned what to do once Clay contacted us with his final instructions.
TBC
Author: Sheila
Category: Romance
Pairing: Clay/Sarah
Rating: R
Disclaimer: As If
Spoilers: Up through 'Need to Know'
Summary: Clay and Sarah come together during an investigation
AJ's POV
Thursday, August 7th
1700 Hours
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
"And that's he last one Sir. Captain Sebring and Admiral Morris and the other judges have decided to delay all current trials and article hearings until Monday and grant a three day weekend. Everyone has been working sixty hour work weeks for months and they felt it was in the best interest of staff efficiency and morale pending your approval." Said my exhausted Chief of Staff. Since her fiancé had been undercover she had lost a significant amount of weight and I knew for a fact that she rarely got more than four hours of sleep a night.
"Consider it approved. Now Mac, you are going home tonight and going to bed and you are going to sleep. Morgan and I are will be there and if I have to force the sleeping pills down your throat you are going to get some sleep!" Morgan had finally convinced her to get her doctor to prescribe a sleeping aid which Mac took only under duress.
"Sir, have I told you how weird it is to have you dating my pseudo sister?" She joked.
"Yes, many times. And it's just as weird for me as it is for you, but don't change the subject. You have got to get some sleep. If the spook gets home and sees you like this, he'll break MY nose, I promised to take care of you. And before you get on your high horse about taking care of yourself, exactly how much weight have you lost? Hmm?" She didn't answer me right away and when she did she avoided answering me.
"AJ, I've always had insomnia, but since he's been gone it's been so much worse. I can't help but worry about him and Ramon and after Gunny told us about the dealers the nightmares only grew worse." She shuddered at the memories.
I knew about the nightmares. She had woken me several times with her screams and I had gone running to comfort her until she could calm down enough to go to back to sleep. Morgan said that when I did not stay over she slept with Sarah; it saved the trip down the hall to wake her.
An excited Tiner buzzed in on the intercom, "Sir, Mr. Roberts said he just received an e-mail from Mr. Webb." Sarah was off like a shot to Bud's office and I was just behind her. Bud was just standing allowing Sarah to sit when Rabb, Manetti, Turner, and Harriet also came running in.
The arrival of a Valley Girl E-mail, as they had come to be known, was now an event in the office. It had become a very serious game to see who could interpret Clay's missives.
Dear Victoria,
Life really sucks. I mean Mother and Father, the PARENTS from HELL; have dragged us to a lovely place on the Amazon River in the middle of the GOD DAMN rain forest. There are gang members galore here. Are they out of their ever loving minds? Ray is having the time of his life here, I thought he was on my side but he has crossed to the dark side, I swear. I just want to slap him silly sometimes. Mom is just impressed with the wild life and taking pictures with her damn digital camera and as usual ignoring me. I'd steal the damn thing and send pictures but I don't have the software program for this Palm Pilot to send them. This thing is really cool by the way. Thanks for giving it to me for my birthday. It's better than the thing the parents gave me, a lovely Mont Blanc fountain pen, with no ink. Planning is not their thing.
There are no places for a normal human being to go. I mean, like there are only soldiers and natives around here. I really don't even see any women or anything. It's like an f'in armed camp, like you see on TV, like what, al Queda, on ZNN or something that hottie Stuart Dunstan would report on. You know I've got it bad when I've resorted to thinking he's a hottie! And I would kill for a Big Mac. Rice and beans suck.
But at least they are telling me we are going home soon. Finally! Maybe my whining is paying off. I mean, I've whined at every chance I could. I could be a professional.
They won't leave me alone, but won't let me do anything. Signing off.
PIA062003@yahoo.com
"Holy shit! I think they've hit the mother lode." Rabb exclaimed, voicing everyone's opinion. Sarah had said nothing and I looked at her face. She had turned completely white.
"Everyone out!" When they didn't move quickly enough I added, "Now, People!" That got them moving. "Harriet, get me some water."
"Yes Sir." She said and rapidly left to carry out my order. I turned Sarah in the chair and squatted down in front of her. "Mac, he's OK. He sent the e-mail and we know he's OK." She still hadn't said anything and was staring off into the distance. Harriet returned with the water and I put the glass to Mac's lips. While I was trying with the water Harriet closed the blinds giving us some privacy.
"Darlin' come on drink this please, open up," I pleaded softly. There was no reaction. "Harriet, would you please try."
"Sarah, open your mouth and drink this water!" She said sternly with no gentleness. Sarah blinked her eyes and sipped slowly from the glass. After several moments color returned to her face.
"I'm so sorry; I don't know what happened, when I read al Queda the danger of the situation overwhelmed me. I knew how dangerous this mission was but this just brought it all home."
"I know Sarah, we all know. Let's get you home. Sir, will you drive her home? Bud and I will get her car to the house."
"That sounds like a good idea Harriet, but with a small change. Would you drive her home? Bud and I will do the car ferrying. There are a few things that I need to take care of here. Tell Morgan, no I'll call Morgan from my office."
"Yes Sir. Ma'am, are you ready to go?" Sarah nodded and allowed herself to be docilely led to her own office in preparation to making her way home. Webb better get his ass home quickly before his fiancée worries her self to death.
I walked back to my office gathering Roberts, Rabb, Turner, and Manetti on the way.
"Tiner get Gunny and Jim Morrison on the horn ASAP. People this last development is, as Cmdr. Rabb so eloquently put it, the mother lode. Clay and Ramon have been extremely lucky to gather the information they have and get it out to us and not get themselves killed. We have got to be ready to extract them at anytime."
"Sir, I've got Gunny and Cmdr. Morrison on the line." Tiner buzzed through.
"Thank you Tiner." Clay had been sending copies of his e-mails to Gunny and Jim after the first one had been sent. We had replied to the several e-mails but Clay had never replied directly and had never mentioned any of our replies in his e-mails. We planned on asking him why when he got back.
"Gunny, Jim we're all here. What did you think?"
"Sir, this is where everything has been leading. I've talked with the DCI. As soon as we have a location we are sure the Brazilian government will cooperate in a take down on the camp, but our guys have got to get out of there first." Gunny stated.
"Jim, are we ready to simultaneously shut everything down at all the bases?" He had been coordinating the NCIS/FBI/CIA investigations at the over thirty facilities where the arms thefts had taken place. It had been decided to allow the thefts to continue and close them down when we knew the scope. Tracking devices had been placed in most of the stolen equipment and so the location of most of it was known.
"Yes sir, we are just waiting for the word. All the teams are in place and ready."
"Hey Jim, Bud here, how is Marita?"
"As well as can be expected. He's been undercover many times before, but this was totally unplanned and contact has been so minimal. The wife and I have been spending as much time as possible with her. How's Sarah?"
"Sir, do you want to answer?" Bud asked.
"Not that well Jim. She sort of lost it when she read the e-mail this afternoon. She hasn't been sleeping well. If we can get them home soon I'm sure she'll be all right." I replied.
"From the sound of this e-mail it won't be long now. We'll have everything ready to go on this end Sir. I'm going to go talk with Marita now. I'll talk with you when we receive the next message."
"Sir, I'd like to talk with you if I could." Gunny said.
"Hold on a minute Gunny. People thanks to the Judges you all have tomorrow off so go home and relax. The barbecue that was going to be at my home will be at the Webb residence. I'll be staying there for the duration as Morgan won't leave Sarah alone at night. So I'll see you there on Sunday. Bud will you assist me in driving the colonels car to her home?"
"Yes sir, I noticed Harriet leaving with the Colonel when we came in here. I'm sorry this is affecting her so much."
"I am too Bud. Thanks for your help. Turner and Roberts you are dismissed." Manetti and Rabb looked perplexed as I let them stand there a minute.
"Cmdrs. Manetti and Rabb the SecNav has approved Cmdr. Manetti's appointment to the Pentagon's Legal Council office officially 8 August, so the engagement can begin publicly anytime after that. Which means, I believe, the ring can come out from underneath the uniform blouse Saturday Tracy." They saluted, but couldn't help the huge grins on their faces as they said "Aye, aye Sir." I saw them embrace as soon as they got to Tiner's office and they were off.
I heard a chuckle come out of the speaker, "Sir, you haven't lost it. Did Cmdr. Rabb look like a fish out of water when you mentioned the SecNav?"
"Exactly Gunny, you've got him pegged. Now what did you want to discuss?" I thought I knew but I wanted him to say it.
"It's the Colonel Sir. Just how bad is she? I saw her two weeks ago and it look like she lost ten pounds and hadn't slept for a month." He said with a worried tone in his voice. He had always been protective of Mac, a fellow Marine in a naval office.
"She has probably lost more weight now, and she still isn't sleeping. She is having nightmares and tonight she will probably have a doozy. Why don't you come over tonight for dinner? Hell, why don't you cook dinner? She loves your enchiladas and salsa, maybe that will coax her to eat."
"Sounds like a plan. Now where exactly is Morgan wearing her engagement ring?" He asked with I swear, a patented CIA smirk.
"Crap Gunny, don't even mention that aloud!" I whispered into the phone while looking to see if Tiner was doing his usual eavesdropping. He had the temerity to laugh, and I calmed down and laughed with him. My staff knew that Morgan and I were dating and for all intents and purposes living with each other but our engagement had not been announced.
"So where does she wear it?" He insisted, lord he was as stubborn as Clay.
"On a chain Gunny, on a chain."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flashback
June 27th
Regan National Airport
Washington, DC
To say Morgan and I fell in love at first sight would be pushing it, but the night that Clay left on this mission was the beginning of a whirlwind courtship that ended up with our being engaged the Sunday we moved Sarah into her new home. We hadn't told anyone about the engagement and Gunny had found out about by accident. When he returned home from Suriname I picked him up from the airport. When I removed a bill from my wallet for the parking the receipt for the engagement ring fell onto the seat. Gunny picked it up and noticed what it was for and gave me a look with a raised eyebrow.
"This is a receipt for an engagement ring Sir. Anyone I know?" He asked with marked curiosity.
"Yes, I'm engaged Gunny. Her name is Morgan." I deliberately left off the last name. I didn't know if he knew Clay's cousin or not. I didn't necessarily want to go into detailed explanations.
"Morgan! Morgan Webb! Congratulations Sir! She's a great woman. Clay must be ecstatic. He has wanted her to get married for ever. What does the Colonel think?" I couldn't believe how excited he was by this.
"Gunny they don't know. Clay had left for the mission before we became engaged and we didn't want to rub it in Sarah's face since her marriage was postponed."
End Flashback
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So are you going to come over and cook dinner?" I asked.
I knew Sarah cherished her friendship with Gunny. It was much more than the Marine thing. Since she and Clay had returned to DC he had been a frequent guest in their home. Apparently Clay was grooming Gunny to be his partner and she trusted him to keep Clay safe. But he wasn't with Clay and it was killing her. Ramon was a good agent but Gunny was a Marine.
Webb Residence
1930 Hours
"Victor, I'll never order enchiladas in a restaurant again in my life. You've got me spoiled!" Said my over-stuffed fiancée. When Gunny had brought the pan of enchiladas to the table I couldn't figure out why he had made so many. Now I knew. The two ladies had eaten their fair share of the spicy food and I was glad that Mac had eaten as much as she had.
"Any one up for Flan?" Gunny asked as he began to clear the table.
"Gunny I'll get that. You cooked." Mac offered.
"Mac, sit down. Gunny and I will clear and serve dessert. Why don't you two go sit in the den and we'll bring coffee and dessert in a few minutes.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Come on Morgan, let's go put our feet up and relax and let the men to the drudge work." After fifteen minutes we found the two of them going through a family photo album laughing at the hair styles that Morgan and Clay had worn over the years.
I sat between Mac and Morgan and Gunny sat on the back of the couch as Morgan described when and where the photos were taken. Mac's favorite of Clay showed him with long hair in Paris sometime in the 80's on his European Tour. His facial features were the same but the clothing was typical of the times and she planned on blackmailing him with it. My favorite of Morgan had the blonde big hair of her heroine Morgan Fairchild in a sequined dress with the big shoulder pads. It looked gosh awful now, but I'm sure it was very chic then. We laughed for an hour until our sides hurt.
I noticed Mac begin to yawn and signaled to Morgan, she instantly got the cue.
"Sarah, time for bed young lady, and no arguments, you are going to take a pill. Got me?" Mac started to argue, but gave up after Gunny and I both gave her one of our looks.
"OK, OK. I'll go to bed, and I'll take a damn pill. Satisfied?" She said with vexation.
"Yes." said three satisfied voices.
"Good night all. Gunny thanks for making dinner, I can't remember when I enjoyed a meal more. It's late; do you want to stay the night? It would save you the drive all the way to Olney. You do know you'll always have a room here?" She asked in a wistful manner. Having Gunny stay was, in a way like having Clay closer at hand and he knew it.
"Thanks Mac. I'll take you up on that. Goodnight." She kissed the three of us good night and went up stairs. Morgan yelled up the stairs.
"Take a damn pill Webb to be!"
"Nag, Nag, Nag" She yelled back.
"I'm nothing next to Cnew." Another retort was bellowed.
"Him I can bribe." Sarah retorted back.
"What can you use that you can't use with me? Morgan asked curiously.
"Sex!" With that we heard the bedroom door slam. Gunny and I almost fell out of our chairs laughing and Morgan turned red and the face and did fall on the floor giggling.
"Oh, it's so good to here her joking again. She's been spiraling down into depression. Do you think they are really on their way home honey?" Morgan asked with hopefully.
"From what we could figure out from the message they found a terrorist cell where the arms ultimately are ending up. The message also said they were probably on the way home. She lost it when he worked al Queda into the message. That's when I sent her home with Harriet." I explained.
"I've got to hand it to Clay; he's tried to tell us what's going on and reassure her at the same time without blowing anything."
"And he did a damn fine job of it." Gunny added.
"Why don't you two go on up to bed. I'm going to finish up in the kitchen and then dial into work and finish some notes. Then head up stairs. If she wakes up I'll go to her. Neither one of you have gotten a full night sleep either recently if the nightmares have been as bad as you say."
"That won't be nece…" I started to say when Morgan put her hand over my mouth and started speaking.
"Thank you Victor. We appreciate it. If she has a nightmare it's usually between two and three, her cries aren't very loud, but if you don't wake her she won't wake her self and the nightmare will just go on. I'll make the room up next to their bed room. When you go up open their door and keep yours cracked to hear her."
"Good night then. I don't have to be into the office until ten in the morning, so I guess we can all sleep in. See you all for breakfast at six-thirty?" Gunny said jokingly.
"Over my dead body! And make me decent pot of coffee in the small pot, you know normal coffee. You can make the sludge the three of you drink in the regular pot." Morgan said as she led me up the stairs. I spoke over my shoulder.
"Good night Gunny. I'll see you in the morning, and thanks again for looking out for Mac."
"Good night guys. Try to keep the noise down. I am an innocent youth here." Morgan broke into a belly laugh and I chuckled. Gunny has been hanging around the spook too much.
We checked on Mac and saw that she was sleeping, then we made up the bed in the guest room.When we got inside our room Morgan jumped into my arms and started kissing me and running her hands over my head and down my back. I automatically reacted and grabbed her under her butt as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Lord, the woman could kiss in just a few seconds I was fully aroused.
"Darlin' as much as I love kissing you, I want to get these pants off before I get hurt." When she didn't let the death grip of her thighs go I gently pulled her arms away, then bent down over the bed and knelt down and pulled her legs loose. She lay sprawled legs spread waiting for me to begin my measured assault on her body. From the beginning of our intimate relationship neither one of us cared who had the upper hand and tonight it seems she obviously wanted me to take the lead.
I began a slow teasing strip of my clothing. First I toed off my shoes by flipping them randomly off my feet, she just grinned evilly in reaction. Then I slowly pulled my belt from it's' loops and sent it following the shoes. I began unbuttoning my shirt at a snail's pace one button at a time. She continued tolay there, slowly carressing her body, and the sight of that was increeasing my arousal ten fold.
I quickly pulled my shirt and t-shirt from my slacks and tossed them aside. I unfastened my slacks and gradually lowered the zipper and worked them down my legs. She know had her blouse and bra off and was working on her jeans. By the time we were both completely naked we were both panting and beyond aroused.
I knelt between her legs and began placing small nipping kisses on the smooth skin of her thighs and gently stroking the soft skin of her belly. I continued the kisses and nips until I entered her an began slow measured movements.
We moved together knowing what movement pleased each other the most. Every once in a while I would shift or swivel when I usually didn't. She loved it and so did it. I bent to kiss her breasts and then moved to the spot just under her chin which was one of her favorite erogenous zones, a few moments later we both smothered our screams of completion.
"Wow. This just gets better and better. OK, we didn't use a condom. Again. We are really tempting fate my man and I don't think you forgot. I think you want children as bad as I do, don't you." Morgan said knowingly.
"You are really smart, and yes I want children. I know we've talked in general terms, but the way we've been chancing it lately I think we should set a firm date, and start really trying to have those children." I said as I laid my head on her chest.
"OK, we set the date for two weeks after the Spook and the Marine finally ties the knot."
"Fine with me, now when to we make the announcement?'
"Sunday at the barbecue? Everyone will be there and I think it will make Mac happy even though Clay is still not home.
"OK, now let's go shower and get some sleep, short stuff." We showered in the in-suite bath and made love again under the warm spray. Clay and Sarah bought the house primarily because of the bathrooms and I really appreciated their choice; the bench in the shower made shower sex very safe!
I woke at 0430 to the sound of whimpering coming from the master bedroom. It had become a habit to open our bedroom door after our nighttime activities so we could hear Mac. I got up and went to check on her. Gunny had beaten me to it as promised . He was sitting on the side of the bed holding a quietly weeping Mac in his arms speaking gentle Spanish endearments to her. I stood in the doorway un-noticed by either of them. After ten minutes she quieted completely and he tenderly helped her lay down. He brushed her bangs from her face and kissed her on the forehead.
He sat there for a few more minutes until he was sure she was asleep. He stood, turned and smiled at me as we walked into the hall.
"Good morning Sir." He showed no embarrassment from being 'caught' with another man's fiancée in his arms.
"Morning Gunny. Did she remember anything about the dream?
"Yes Sir, she said that there was something wrong with a plane and that Ramon and Clay were on the plane they needed help, and that's when she woke up. Does she have these nightmares every night?"
"Not every night, but often enough. When they don't occur, she has insomnia." I shook my head at the sadness of the situation.
"Come on Gunny, let's go get some coffee. There is no way I'm going back to sleep now." We made our way to the kitchen and planned what to do once Clay contacted us with his final instructions.
TBC