Disclaimer: If I owned JAG, Gunny would have been working for Andie a long time ago.
A/N: The quote from MASH was BJ telling Hawkeye, "You're not wearing that, are you? You wore that the last time we went to the front!" Expect more quotes as time goes on, as google and I renew our quote-searching relationship.
One of the following will not appear in the next chapter: Webb, coffee, H/M schmoopyness, a reference to Russia and/or Jamaica, waiting in line at the baggage claim, hand-holding, making new friends. Which of these things is not like the others?
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Judge Advocate General Headquarters
Chegwidden
I'm going to kill the man in front of me. I may have done him some minor bodily harm in the past, but this time he's a goner.
"Whose fault is this?"
He clears his throat. "Actually, AJ, it isn't anyone's fault-"
"The hell it isn't!" I'm furious. Snapping-Webb's-neck furious. "How long have you known about this?"
"Four hours."
I stop in mid-rant. "Four hours?"
Webb sighs. "There was traffic on the Beltway. Plus, I had to tell the rest of their team before I came to tell you." At the look on my face, he backpedals admirably. "Mac's orders."
My heart leaps. "You talked to her?"
"If it makes you feel better, she called here first."
"What? I didn't hear about it! I can't believe anyone in this office would have kept something like that from me, Webb."
"I believe she spoke to your yeoman."
I raise an eyebrow, pressing the intercom button.
"Tiner, get in here."
Less than a second passes before he's in my office, managing to stand at attention and give Webb a suspicious eye at the same time.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Tiner, did you get any interesting phone calls this morning?"
"Ah, yes, sir. A prank call." He gives Webb another look. "Does this have anything to do with that, sir?"
Suddenly I realize what must have happened. Tiner thought the major was actually someone pulling a prank. I can't imagine what he said to her. I hope she doesn't kill him for it.
"What was the call, Tiner?"
"Someone claiming to be Major Mackenzie, sir."
"What did you say?"
He flushes and I have my answer. "Forget it, Tiner. I can guess. I probably would have done the same thing. However, we have reason to believe it wasn't a prank."
He looks confused for a moment, and then shocked comprehension dawns on his face. "Major Mackenzie – she's alive?"
The hope in his voice makes me smile. "It appears she is, Petty Officer. Mr. Webb here was just explaining to me how the CIA came to believe she was killed when she wasn't."
Now Tiner looks as angry as I am. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
Here we go. I want to hear this. "Granted."
Tiner turns to face Webb. "You bastard!" Hah. Here it comes. "You let us believe she was dead! Commander Rabb –" He stops. I don't blame him. I'm not sure what to say about Rabb, either. "When the major died, he might as well have gone with her. How could you do that to him? How could you let him – all of us – suffer like that?"
Webb looks beleaguered. "Our intelligence was incorrect. That's not my fault!"
"You should have known!" This I didn't think I'd ever see; Webb and my yeoman in a shouting match. "You're supposed to be some hotshot spy! You should have made it your responsibility! The major was your friend. So was the commander."
Webb grows quiet and I realize Tiner may have gone too far. I know Webb doesn't have many close friends, and I think Tiner's just voiced what Webb's probably been thinking to himself since he heard from Mac.
"That was why I told him in the first place," he says, his tone clipped. "I guess I shouldn't have bothered."
Tiner's quiet now, too, and I take the opportunity to forestall any more arguing. "Tiner, call Rabb in here, will you? I think he should hear the good news straight from the source."
He disappears out the door and I turn my back on Webb, trying to give him a moment to pull it together without seeming to care too much. He and I do have our reputations to uphold, after all.
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Judge Advocate General Headquarters
Harm
The admiral is looking out the window, pointedly ignoring Webb, who looks like he's just taken the verbal beating of his life. When I shut the door behind me he turns, giving me a smile the likes of which I haven't seen from my commanding officer in weeks.
"At ease, Commander," he says, before I can even come to attention. "Mr. Webb has come across a development I believe you'll be interested in hearing."
I'm fully prepared to give Webb the same uninterested attention I've been giving everything in my life since I lost Mac, but something about the way Chegwidden is grinning makes me wonder what Webb could possibly have to share.
"Mac's alive," he says without preamble. "She and Monroe were playing dead to ensure the success of their mission. They're in the air right now, headed to Dulles."
My jaw moves, but no sound comes out. For the first time in my life, I can't find the words. I'm completely speechless.
"You did hear the man, didn't you, Commander?"
That's Chegwidden, my addled brain reminds me. The admiral. Have to answer the admiral when he asks you a direct question. I manage a stiff nod in response, still unable to form intelligible words.
"Well, then, get going."
I give him an odd look. Go where?
"Don't you want to go get her?" My eyes light up. Do I? Oh, do I ever. She's alive. Sarah's alive. Suddenly, instead of having no words, I have too many. They're fighting for the right to be heard. All the things I never told my partner.
"Webb, get him over to Dulles." Chegwidden looks at me, and I know he knows I'm not over the shock and firing on all cylinders yet when he tells Webb, "And don't let him walk into any walls on the way."