All those who were going piled into Sharon's minivan. Mainframe was
in the middle and James and Cadence were in the back. As soon as they
were out of sight from the house, Cadence leans forward and shows
Blaine the ring.
"What do you think this means, Blaine?" asked James.
He looks at the ring and then over at the pair in the back, grinning widely. "When's the wedding?"
"We decided to have it right after the "funeral"." James explained, "And there's another reason we wanted you along today."
"Security for you guys?"
"Nope. Security for the girls, you see, we're going to split up when we get downtown, you're going with the girls to do some shopping, and Dad and I are going to the courthouse. And there's another reason why you're going with the girls."
"What is it?" Mainframe asked, amused.
"We're going to need a man's perspective, and James is much too biased." Sharon stated from the front.
"Why me, if I may ask?"
"Simple, Blaine. You keep secrets better than anyone else on the base. We figured if we could trust anybody to keep a lid on it, it would be you. Add to that the fact that you have four sisters and wound up having to be in their weddings and ...well...you've been married before...so..." Cadence spoke up.
"We'll meet you here at 6:00," Ronnie said, dropping Sharon, Blaine and Cadence off at the corner of Main Street at 3:00.
Before he gets back in the van, James pulls Cadence close to him and kisses her passionately. "Better get something that'll shock the snot out of me, Widget. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you girls pick out."
Mainframe gallantly offered his arm to both women as the other men left on their way to the courthouse. As Cadence decided on dresses to try at the bridal gallery, he was making arrangements for Hawk and James. When he got back to the dressing rooms, Cadence had just come out wearing the first of the dresses that they had chosen.
"No, Cadence, there's something that's not quite right with that one. It brings too much attention to your lovely little backside," he said. Sharon agreed.
Cadence panics and immediately looks behind her, to try and see if they were right. She tried on several more dresses. All of them with the same result: too tight, too loose, it brought attention to the wrong areas on her; something was wrong with all of them. At last she tried on the last dress that she had found. It was too low cut, she saw with dismay.
Mainframe looks around, and suddenly, one of the dresses hanging on a rack seems to jump out at him. He gets up and gets it, holding it out to Cadence. She takes it and goes back into the dressing room. When she comes out, the sight shocks him. The dress was perfect! It hid her flaws, yet highlighted her assets perfectly.
"We'll take it," he declares, flatly, brooking no argument. He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket.
"Blaine, no," complained Cadence. "I can take care of it myself," she says, pulling her wallet from a hidden pocket in her pants. Blaine just reaches forward and snatches it from her.
"Think of it as my contribution to your happiness, little one. You'll be the most beautiful bride that the Joes have ever seen."
The argument goes on for a couple of minutes and ends with Blaine winning.
"Don't pout, little one. I'm sure you'll find something in the store across the street to spend your money on, and no, I'm not looking this time. I don't have that much of a death wish."
Cadence looks out the window and blushes, realizing what he was talking about. The store across the street was a lingerie shop. Sharon and Cadence came out of the bridal boutique weighed down with packages that contained the accessories that Cadie had bought to go with the dress. Blaine was carrying the dress and a number of packages that he had bought when the ladies weren't looking. He followed them into the lingerie shop and waited for the girls.
More than once he was tempted to sneak a peek, but he held himself back, knowing what kind of damage that Cadie was capable of when she got pissed off. And she got seriously pissed when she found someone peeping on her. He shuddered, remembering what she had done when she had found the hidden cameras that a couple of the guys had set up in her quarters. Disaster central was what they referred to their quarters as now. Besides, if his girlfriend ever found out, he would be dead meat in a matter of seconds.
"Blaine, can you come here a moment? I think we need a little help," Sharon called out, panic evident in her voice.
Mainframe instantaneously jumps up and runs back to the dressing rooms, where he finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. A large man held Cadence hostage, his forearm wrapped around her throat.
She was dressed in only a lacy white teddy, and he could see blood beginning to seep through the bandage on her chest from stitches that had split during the struggle, as Cadie had fought like a tigress. He had obviously grabbed her just after she came out of the dressing room to consult with Sharon about whether it would be able to be used under the dress. Her face was deathly pale.
Without delay, the large, lean, mean computer jockeying Marine Sergeant goes into action. He slowly made his way over to where the man had Cadie while she kept him distracted, and swings out in a short arc, knocking the gun away from Cadie's head.
As soon as the man felt him hit the gun away, he loosened his grip on Cadie, who bursts into action herself, slipping out from under his arm and pivoting, lacing her fingers together in a double fist and slamming it into the man's ribs, shattering four of them with one shot.
While the man collapses, Mainframe grabs Cadie and hauls her close to him, hugging her like he would never let go. As soon as his breathing and hers got back to normal, he lets loose of Cadie, helping her over to a chair and sitting her down. He grabs an offered towel and attempts to clean up the blood, before it hits the lace of the teddy and ruins it.
Cadie takes the towel from him and resumes the pressure on it. "Call James. Let him know what has happened before the hospital or the cops have to call him. If that happens, we're all in deep sludge. He'll accuse us of having tried to keep it a secret from him."
"Too true, Cadie. I'm on it." He grabs his cell phone and calls James. She goes back into the dressing room to change back into her street clothes. When Blaine relates what happened at the lingerie shop, Cadie and Sharon can hear James yelling from across the room. Cadie motions to Blaine to bring her the phone and let her talk to James.
"James," she huffed as soon as she got to talk to him, "I'm fine. So I tore a couple of stitches. No biggie. I've survived far worse."
"Cadie, you're hurt! I need to see you for myself, to verify for myself that you're okay, you understand, baby?"
"I understand. Thank God you decided to bring Blaine with us. He saved me, James. He saved my life."
"Do you know the man that grabbed you?"
"The ambulance just got here, darling. I'll tell you when I see you. Okay. I love you too. Bye." She hangs up on him and hands the phone back to Mainframe and leans back in the chair, letting the paramedic look at the wound. He decides to put a pressure bandage on it for the time being and let the doctors in the emergency room take care of the stitching.
James and Ronnie meet Cadie, Blaine and Sharon at the hospital. James bursts through the door to the room where they were working on Cadie, startling everyone but her. He strides across the room to her and takes her hand in his.
"Are you okay?" he asks, anxiously.
"Yes, James, I'm fine. As the old saying goes, you should see the other guy," she replies, laughing.
"Speaking of which..." James starts.
"Not with innocent ears around." She gestures to include the entire room besides them.
"Good call. Dad and I stopped by the store on our way here and picked up your purchases. The girl was nice enough to keep an eye on them for us, and there's a reason."
Cadence looks at him quizzically, one eyebrow arched.
He face reddens and he fidgets, shuffling from one foot to the other and rubbing the back of his neck. "She's an ex-girlfriend of mine," he squeaks, embarrassed. "She's the only one who ever gave a flip about how I felt, besides you. And you don't have to worry, honey, she's married now, and I never felt very deeply about her, or any of my girlfriends, come to think about it now. I love you so much, that I can barely stand it."
"As long as you didn't peek, I have no problem with that."
"I didn't. I want to be surprised on our wedding day. Just think, less than a day and a half left, give or take a couple of hours, and you'll be Mrs. James Barney, or however you want to do it. Personally, I like the sound of Lieutenant Cadence Barney."
"I can't wait, James. I love you so much."
The doctor finishes stitching the wound, and looks up at the couple. "What was the original wound that you had?"
"GSW," both Cadie and James answer at the same time, offhandedly, looking deep into each other's eyes.
"Gunshot wound? That's hard to believe, considering how you're able to move your left arm and how much energy you have."
"Not only that, but they just released me two days ago for it."
"Oh, you're the superwoman that Dr. Sheridan was complaining about."
"I'm no superwoman, just someone who can handle pain and has a couple of combat medics to keep an eye on her."
As soon as the doctor gets to his feet and leaves the room to get the paperwork, James pulls Cadie into his arms, holding her tightly against him like he'll never let go.
"God, Widget, don't scare me like that again. You scared ten years off my life! I don't know if I can survive if I ever lost you."
"I'm sorry, James. I just didn't have a choice. If Blaine hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here now."
"Thank God for Blaine. Charlene said that she thought that he was the groom, the way you two worked together to thwart the bad guys."
"I figured someone would think that. Now what are we going to do? Did you get done what you needed to?"
"Yes, I got it done, and I have the paperwork in the car. We're going home, and you are not leaving the bedroom, much less the house, again until the funeral. I'm not taking a chance on losing you again."
"Works for me."
The doctor returns with the paperwork, and after Cadence signs it, and convinces the doctor that both she and their friend Edwin are both combat medics and can handle just about anything that comes up, they leave the hospital.
When they get back to the house, Mainframe refuses to let Cadence walk, instead, he scoops her into his arms and carries her into the house, sitting her down in the living room to explain to the rest of the group what had happened.
"Seriously? You shattered four of his ribs with one shot? You must have been really pissed," Taffy asked, after they had explained what had happened while they were gone. There was a strange look on her face, almost as if she was disappointed that her ally had failed, yet a gleeful smirk was in her eyes, almost as if she was happy about losing another helper.
James, on the other hand, had a look on his face of pure pride in his fiancée, although only Mainframe so far knew about their engagement. As he listened and looked on from the doorway, the last few pieces of the puzzle fell into place for him and he realized who the traitor was, and why Cadie had decided to go scorched earth on the group stalking her. He hid his rising anger as much as he could and then grinned tightly as he realized that everyone was getting up and heading into the dining room to eat. He grips Cadie's arm as she passes by him. "We need to talk to Hawk."
She thought a moment and agreed. "Hawk," she called, "Can we talk to you a moment?"
"Sure. Just a second, and I'll be in there," he called back to her.
James takes her hand and leads her over to the couch, sitting down and drawing her down into his lap, kissing her deeply. "God," he whispers, when they surface for air, "You wreak so much havoc on my anatomy, baby girl. I can't wait until day after tomorrow, when you become my wife."
"Somehow, we'll make it through the next few days, James."
Hawk chooses that moment to come into the room. James motions him over to the chair next to the couch, so that there is little chance of them being overheard unless they raised their voices.
"I have a question for you, General, but I'll wait for a little bit to ask you, until James has a chance to bring you up to speed on the newest covert op that the Joes are running," Cadence tells him.
He looks at the pair, genuinely puzzled.
"Mainframe is the only one besides my parents, us, and now you that knows what we've got planned. Cadence, show him your left hand."
She does, and he notices the ring at once, comprehension flooding his face, as he understands what it meant. "You two are getting married? And Mainframe and I are the only two Joes that know about it?"
"We don't want everybody to know just yet. We want them to be surprised. It started as just a stray thought and then developed into the plot that we've got now. James has got all of the paperwork. That's why we went into town. We want to do it right after the "funeral", General, and that's where my question comes in. Will you do me the honor of walking me down the aisle?"
"If that's really what you want, then yes, I will," he tells her.
"Hawk, you've been more of a father to me than anyone I've ever known. Of course, that's what I want."
"There's also another reason we needed to talk to you, Sir. We know who the traitor really is, and we have a plan to trap them. We need your help to repair some of the damage that has been done," James revealed.
"No problem. I should be able to undo most of the damage that has been done. Are you two going to eat?"
"I'm not. I'm just not hungry. I guess it's from the medicines, but I'm just not hungry," Cadence replied, yawning. "I just feel like going to bed and sleeping for a couple of days."
James gets up with Cadie securely in his arms. "That we can get by with. I'll tuck you in, and then I'll come back down and eat."
He carries her up the stairs to her room, stopping on each step to kiss her to the cheers and catcalls of the rest of the group. He gently lays her down on the bed, and kisses her one last time before he goes downstairs to eat with the rest of the group.
"What do you think this means, Blaine?" asked James.
He looks at the ring and then over at the pair in the back, grinning widely. "When's the wedding?"
"We decided to have it right after the "funeral"." James explained, "And there's another reason we wanted you along today."
"Security for you guys?"
"Nope. Security for the girls, you see, we're going to split up when we get downtown, you're going with the girls to do some shopping, and Dad and I are going to the courthouse. And there's another reason why you're going with the girls."
"What is it?" Mainframe asked, amused.
"We're going to need a man's perspective, and James is much too biased." Sharon stated from the front.
"Why me, if I may ask?"
"Simple, Blaine. You keep secrets better than anyone else on the base. We figured if we could trust anybody to keep a lid on it, it would be you. Add to that the fact that you have four sisters and wound up having to be in their weddings and ...well...you've been married before...so..." Cadence spoke up.
"We'll meet you here at 6:00," Ronnie said, dropping Sharon, Blaine and Cadence off at the corner of Main Street at 3:00.
Before he gets back in the van, James pulls Cadence close to him and kisses her passionately. "Better get something that'll shock the snot out of me, Widget. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you girls pick out."
Mainframe gallantly offered his arm to both women as the other men left on their way to the courthouse. As Cadence decided on dresses to try at the bridal gallery, he was making arrangements for Hawk and James. When he got back to the dressing rooms, Cadence had just come out wearing the first of the dresses that they had chosen.
"No, Cadence, there's something that's not quite right with that one. It brings too much attention to your lovely little backside," he said. Sharon agreed.
Cadence panics and immediately looks behind her, to try and see if they were right. She tried on several more dresses. All of them with the same result: too tight, too loose, it brought attention to the wrong areas on her; something was wrong with all of them. At last she tried on the last dress that she had found. It was too low cut, she saw with dismay.
Mainframe looks around, and suddenly, one of the dresses hanging on a rack seems to jump out at him. He gets up and gets it, holding it out to Cadence. She takes it and goes back into the dressing room. When she comes out, the sight shocks him. The dress was perfect! It hid her flaws, yet highlighted her assets perfectly.
"We'll take it," he declares, flatly, brooking no argument. He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket.
"Blaine, no," complained Cadence. "I can take care of it myself," she says, pulling her wallet from a hidden pocket in her pants. Blaine just reaches forward and snatches it from her.
"Think of it as my contribution to your happiness, little one. You'll be the most beautiful bride that the Joes have ever seen."
The argument goes on for a couple of minutes and ends with Blaine winning.
"Don't pout, little one. I'm sure you'll find something in the store across the street to spend your money on, and no, I'm not looking this time. I don't have that much of a death wish."
Cadence looks out the window and blushes, realizing what he was talking about. The store across the street was a lingerie shop. Sharon and Cadence came out of the bridal boutique weighed down with packages that contained the accessories that Cadie had bought to go with the dress. Blaine was carrying the dress and a number of packages that he had bought when the ladies weren't looking. He followed them into the lingerie shop and waited for the girls.
More than once he was tempted to sneak a peek, but he held himself back, knowing what kind of damage that Cadie was capable of when she got pissed off. And she got seriously pissed when she found someone peeping on her. He shuddered, remembering what she had done when she had found the hidden cameras that a couple of the guys had set up in her quarters. Disaster central was what they referred to their quarters as now. Besides, if his girlfriend ever found out, he would be dead meat in a matter of seconds.
"Blaine, can you come here a moment? I think we need a little help," Sharon called out, panic evident in her voice.
Mainframe instantaneously jumps up and runs back to the dressing rooms, where he finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. A large man held Cadence hostage, his forearm wrapped around her throat.
She was dressed in only a lacy white teddy, and he could see blood beginning to seep through the bandage on her chest from stitches that had split during the struggle, as Cadie had fought like a tigress. He had obviously grabbed her just after she came out of the dressing room to consult with Sharon about whether it would be able to be used under the dress. Her face was deathly pale.
Without delay, the large, lean, mean computer jockeying Marine Sergeant goes into action. He slowly made his way over to where the man had Cadie while she kept him distracted, and swings out in a short arc, knocking the gun away from Cadie's head.
As soon as the man felt him hit the gun away, he loosened his grip on Cadie, who bursts into action herself, slipping out from under his arm and pivoting, lacing her fingers together in a double fist and slamming it into the man's ribs, shattering four of them with one shot.
While the man collapses, Mainframe grabs Cadie and hauls her close to him, hugging her like he would never let go. As soon as his breathing and hers got back to normal, he lets loose of Cadie, helping her over to a chair and sitting her down. He grabs an offered towel and attempts to clean up the blood, before it hits the lace of the teddy and ruins it.
Cadie takes the towel from him and resumes the pressure on it. "Call James. Let him know what has happened before the hospital or the cops have to call him. If that happens, we're all in deep sludge. He'll accuse us of having tried to keep it a secret from him."
"Too true, Cadie. I'm on it." He grabs his cell phone and calls James. She goes back into the dressing room to change back into her street clothes. When Blaine relates what happened at the lingerie shop, Cadie and Sharon can hear James yelling from across the room. Cadie motions to Blaine to bring her the phone and let her talk to James.
"James," she huffed as soon as she got to talk to him, "I'm fine. So I tore a couple of stitches. No biggie. I've survived far worse."
"Cadie, you're hurt! I need to see you for myself, to verify for myself that you're okay, you understand, baby?"
"I understand. Thank God you decided to bring Blaine with us. He saved me, James. He saved my life."
"Do you know the man that grabbed you?"
"The ambulance just got here, darling. I'll tell you when I see you. Okay. I love you too. Bye." She hangs up on him and hands the phone back to Mainframe and leans back in the chair, letting the paramedic look at the wound. He decides to put a pressure bandage on it for the time being and let the doctors in the emergency room take care of the stitching.
James and Ronnie meet Cadie, Blaine and Sharon at the hospital. James bursts through the door to the room where they were working on Cadie, startling everyone but her. He strides across the room to her and takes her hand in his.
"Are you okay?" he asks, anxiously.
"Yes, James, I'm fine. As the old saying goes, you should see the other guy," she replies, laughing.
"Speaking of which..." James starts.
"Not with innocent ears around." She gestures to include the entire room besides them.
"Good call. Dad and I stopped by the store on our way here and picked up your purchases. The girl was nice enough to keep an eye on them for us, and there's a reason."
Cadence looks at him quizzically, one eyebrow arched.
He face reddens and he fidgets, shuffling from one foot to the other and rubbing the back of his neck. "She's an ex-girlfriend of mine," he squeaks, embarrassed. "She's the only one who ever gave a flip about how I felt, besides you. And you don't have to worry, honey, she's married now, and I never felt very deeply about her, or any of my girlfriends, come to think about it now. I love you so much, that I can barely stand it."
"As long as you didn't peek, I have no problem with that."
"I didn't. I want to be surprised on our wedding day. Just think, less than a day and a half left, give or take a couple of hours, and you'll be Mrs. James Barney, or however you want to do it. Personally, I like the sound of Lieutenant Cadence Barney."
"I can't wait, James. I love you so much."
The doctor finishes stitching the wound, and looks up at the couple. "What was the original wound that you had?"
"GSW," both Cadie and James answer at the same time, offhandedly, looking deep into each other's eyes.
"Gunshot wound? That's hard to believe, considering how you're able to move your left arm and how much energy you have."
"Not only that, but they just released me two days ago for it."
"Oh, you're the superwoman that Dr. Sheridan was complaining about."
"I'm no superwoman, just someone who can handle pain and has a couple of combat medics to keep an eye on her."
As soon as the doctor gets to his feet and leaves the room to get the paperwork, James pulls Cadie into his arms, holding her tightly against him like he'll never let go.
"God, Widget, don't scare me like that again. You scared ten years off my life! I don't know if I can survive if I ever lost you."
"I'm sorry, James. I just didn't have a choice. If Blaine hadn't been there, I wouldn't be here now."
"Thank God for Blaine. Charlene said that she thought that he was the groom, the way you two worked together to thwart the bad guys."
"I figured someone would think that. Now what are we going to do? Did you get done what you needed to?"
"Yes, I got it done, and I have the paperwork in the car. We're going home, and you are not leaving the bedroom, much less the house, again until the funeral. I'm not taking a chance on losing you again."
"Works for me."
The doctor returns with the paperwork, and after Cadence signs it, and convinces the doctor that both she and their friend Edwin are both combat medics and can handle just about anything that comes up, they leave the hospital.
When they get back to the house, Mainframe refuses to let Cadence walk, instead, he scoops her into his arms and carries her into the house, sitting her down in the living room to explain to the rest of the group what had happened.
"Seriously? You shattered four of his ribs with one shot? You must have been really pissed," Taffy asked, after they had explained what had happened while they were gone. There was a strange look on her face, almost as if she was disappointed that her ally had failed, yet a gleeful smirk was in her eyes, almost as if she was happy about losing another helper.
James, on the other hand, had a look on his face of pure pride in his fiancée, although only Mainframe so far knew about their engagement. As he listened and looked on from the doorway, the last few pieces of the puzzle fell into place for him and he realized who the traitor was, and why Cadie had decided to go scorched earth on the group stalking her. He hid his rising anger as much as he could and then grinned tightly as he realized that everyone was getting up and heading into the dining room to eat. He grips Cadie's arm as she passes by him. "We need to talk to Hawk."
She thought a moment and agreed. "Hawk," she called, "Can we talk to you a moment?"
"Sure. Just a second, and I'll be in there," he called back to her.
James takes her hand and leads her over to the couch, sitting down and drawing her down into his lap, kissing her deeply. "God," he whispers, when they surface for air, "You wreak so much havoc on my anatomy, baby girl. I can't wait until day after tomorrow, when you become my wife."
"Somehow, we'll make it through the next few days, James."
Hawk chooses that moment to come into the room. James motions him over to the chair next to the couch, so that there is little chance of them being overheard unless they raised their voices.
"I have a question for you, General, but I'll wait for a little bit to ask you, until James has a chance to bring you up to speed on the newest covert op that the Joes are running," Cadence tells him.
He looks at the pair, genuinely puzzled.
"Mainframe is the only one besides my parents, us, and now you that knows what we've got planned. Cadence, show him your left hand."
She does, and he notices the ring at once, comprehension flooding his face, as he understands what it meant. "You two are getting married? And Mainframe and I are the only two Joes that know about it?"
"We don't want everybody to know just yet. We want them to be surprised. It started as just a stray thought and then developed into the plot that we've got now. James has got all of the paperwork. That's why we went into town. We want to do it right after the "funeral", General, and that's where my question comes in. Will you do me the honor of walking me down the aisle?"
"If that's really what you want, then yes, I will," he tells her.
"Hawk, you've been more of a father to me than anyone I've ever known. Of course, that's what I want."
"There's also another reason we needed to talk to you, Sir. We know who the traitor really is, and we have a plan to trap them. We need your help to repair some of the damage that has been done," James revealed.
"No problem. I should be able to undo most of the damage that has been done. Are you two going to eat?"
"I'm not. I'm just not hungry. I guess it's from the medicines, but I'm just not hungry," Cadence replied, yawning. "I just feel like going to bed and sleeping for a couple of days."
James gets up with Cadie securely in his arms. "That we can get by with. I'll tuck you in, and then I'll come back down and eat."
He carries her up the stairs to her room, stopping on each step to kiss her to the cheers and catcalls of the rest of the group. He gently lays her down on the bed, and kisses her one last time before he goes downstairs to eat with the rest of the group.