A Man Call Ghost
Chapter 24
Harm paced restlessly in the outer office of none other than Director Kershaw. Apparently there was something the high and mighty needed to discuss with Harm on his first day back in the office. Wearily Harm ran a hand over his face before sitting down in one of the leather chairs once more. This was the first time he'd been able to get out of Mac's sight since Friday night when she'd found him down at the Hole. She'd all but moved in, going back to her apartment long enough on Saturday to pack a few days worth of clothes and grab a few uniforms. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, part of him was glad she was there.
It hadn't done much for the nightmares though. That first night on Friday was the worst. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep before he was once more throwing himself out of bed. Only this time Mac was there to be startled out of her own sleep and witness his insane behavior. He couldn't shake this new nightmare, and there was something about it that was worrying him. The more he remembered when he woke up, the more it worried him.
He could remember that at some point the nightmare switched from him being chased through the jungle by the cat, to him driving in his car. The next thing he recalled was being tossed from the car as it rolled over. On some level he simply assumed his subconscious was dredging up memories of the accident because from what he understood, he'd been thrown from the car as it flipped over and rolled.
His mind wandered from the memories of the nightmares to the memory of Mac's arms wrapped around him as he struggled through them. He hated that she saw him like that; hated that she saw him at his weakest, unable to even deal with what he did for a living.
"Mr. Rabb?" Kershaw's secretary interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah?" he answered absently.
"The Director and DDI will see you now."
Oh great, Spider was going to be there. Fucking lovely. "Thanks." He muttered as he moved towards the door leading to the inner office.
"Agent Rabb, glad to have you back with us." Kershaw said pleasantly when Harm had wandered into the office. "How are you feeling my boy?"
Shrugging absently Harm plopped down into one of the chairs in front of the Director's desk without even looking at where Webb was standing behind the Director. "Well enough I guess."
"Well, you've been through quite a lot Harm, what with Iraq and those hostages and then your car accident." Kershaw said glancing down at Harm's file on his desk.
"Nothing I can't handle." Harm answered tersely.
"Do you feel up to going out again in a couple of days?" Webb asked from where he was lurking behind Kershaw.
"If you need me Spider, I'll be there." Harm said with a shrug.
As Webb opened his mouth to protest Kershaw held up his hand silencing him. Webb settled for shooting Harm a murderous glare and then moved around the desk to sit down in the chair beside Harm's.
"We do need you Harm." Kershaw said briskly. "Something's come up that I'm assured you are uniquely suited to handle. Your file indicates you trained with SEAL team 2."
"About ten months ago, yeah."
"How much of their training did you partake in?"
"Hostage rescue, assault, recon, insertion." Harm answered briefly.
"By insertion, can I assume you've been trained in the various wet insertions the SEALs utilize?" Kershaw asked without looking up from Harm's file.
"Look, Director. It would be a lot easier if you told me what you want to know. Can I do 30/30s? Yes."
"How about HALO?"
"Did my first one ten years ago." Harm said with a hint of a smile and a touch of pride. It wasn't everyone who could jump out of an aircraft and perform a High Altitude, Low Opening jump. The Few. The Proud. The Insane.
"Ten years ago?" Kershaw asked in shock, looking up from the file.
"You won't find it in there. I did it as part of a JAG investigation."
"Some investigation." The Director said with a smile. "Excellent. You are indeed the best suited for this. Clayton?"
"Rabb, here's what you need to know. You'll be on a transport to the Patrick Henry tomorrow morning. They're currently in the Gulf of Sidra. Once there you will stay out of sight, and I mean that Rabb. You're too damn well known for your own good on that ship. While you're on the ship you'll be some faceless Lieutenant with the SEALs. We'll have them separated from the rest of the crew, so stay with them."
"Easy enough. Now what's this all about?"
"Reports indicate that Ben Hassa is aboard a ship just off the coast of Saudi Arabia."
"Ben Hassa? The arms dealer?" Harm asked.
"That's right. From what we can tell he is the primary dealer to the Iraqi insurgents. In fact he's pretty much funding and supplying two of the most violent groups. If we can grab him, we cut off the flow of money and weapons to these groups, eliminating a huge threat to our troops in Iraq. That's where you come in. We want you and SEAL Team 6 to make a wet jump and approach the ship. Once on board you will sweep it for Hassa, and after you've located him you will remove him from the ship, quietly. Use whatever force you deem necessary to achieve your objective. Questions?" Webb asked as he handed Harm a file folder with the details of the mission.
"Why not just eliminate him?" Harm asked as he opened the file to look at a picture of his target.
"We feel that Hassa will most likely have a great deal of information that will helpful in our war on terrorism. We need him alive, Rabb."
"Extraction plans?"
"Hassa has his own personal helicopter and landing pad on the ship. I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing it." Webb said with a smirk. Apparently he'd thought of everything.
"What sort of helicopter?" Harm asked absently as he finished flipping through the file.
"What does it matter?" Webb's smirk was starting to slip.
"Well, if it's a Sea King, we don't have a problem. If it's a Jet Ranger, we might have a problem." Harm pointed out as he closed the file in his hand.
"What are you talking about?" Webb asked testily.
"You expect me to extract eight men on this helicopter. The devil's in the details Spider. You want me to get out with the arms dealer and my team; I need to know the helicopter is big enough for all of us." Harm said tossing the file onto Kershaw's desk. "What's the back up plan if the helicopter fails?"
"You get back in the water and wait for a SAR chopper from the carrier group."
"How long will that take Webb? If we've got wounded they're not going to be up for a swim in the Gulf of Sidra while we wait."
"You're worrying too much about it Rabb."
"No, I'm not Webb." Harm said angrily. "Listen, this is your op. Things always go to shit on your ops. Ergo, I will have wounded and or dead SEALs to extract, if I'm not wounded or dead myself. I want to cover all the bases. Who's running this op on the ground? You or me?" Harm stood up and looked down at Webb with a steely glare.
"You are, but I have final control."
"Fine. Find out how long for an inbound chopper from the Pat. And while you're at it, get me all the info on the ship we're boarding you can. And I mean more than those security specs you've got in the file. I want builder's specs, engine specs, hell I want to know what kind of radio and radar he has in the thing and when it was last in port for an annual inspection. If I need to, I'll drive the damn thing out of there."
"I'll get it." Webb said briskly, standing up and nodding at the Director. "Director, I think we're done here."
"Thank you gentlemen, and good luck." The Director said as he turned back to more paperwork on his desk, dismissing them.
Following Webb out to the hallway outside the Director's office, Harm shook his head slowly muttering to himself.
"What's your problem?" Webb rolled his eyes in Harm's direction.
"You really haven't planned this all that well, have you Spider?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't have any idea how long it will take to get the back up plan in place. Fuck, you don't even know what kind of chopper Hassa has on board. I thought for sure you would at least know that seeing as you want me to steal it."
"You'll pull it off Rabb, you always do." Webb snapped back without bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice.
"Yeah, I probably will. But it won't be because of you Mr. Deputy Director."
"Whatever. I'll have the information you want waiting for you when you get to Andrews. Your flight leaves tomorrow morning at 0400, as you military types say. Now, go downstairs and get yourself fit out as a SEAL, Lieutenant." Webb said as they entered the lobby and passed through the security checkpoint.
"Do I have a cover already, or do I get to play it by ear?"
"Oh I'm sure you'll come up with something." Webb said waving his hand dismissively. "If not, check with the boys downstairs. They might have something put together for you."
"Great, thanks." Harm said shaking his head. Webb ignored him and wandered towards the glass doors when Harm thought of something. "Spider?"
"What?" Webb snapped, turning around to look at Harm.
"Mac says hi. She also says you can go burn in hell." Harm smirked. He was amused at how quickly Webb shot a glare back at him. Yeah, it was petty to play this game with him, but it was somewhat enjoyable. Webb didn't bother replying but spun abruptly on his heel and shoved the glass doors open, almost knocking over some poor young kid coming in.
Harm stood there idly watching Webb walk out towards a late model silver Jaguar. Focusing on Webb open and enter the car, Harm's eyes narrowed, his lips pressing together tightly. So, it was Webb who was following him. The question now was why.
Lost in thought over this new revelation, Harm turned and passed back through the checkpoint. His next stop, Operations where he would draw a Naval uniform and find out who he would be for the foreseeable future.
A/N Now hold on kiddies. Put down the rotten fruit please. I know that I was just getting to the shippery goodness, and now all of a sudden Harm's back at work, we missed a weekend of Harm and Mac dealing with his nightmares and drinking, and on top of that Harm's shipping out on some deep dark secret mission. Trust me, not a lot happened over that weekend; I was there, I saw it all. But I do have good news, Harm and I were talking about this mission of his and when he told me about how it ended I couldn't believe how much time he and Mac had to spend together after all was said and done. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it too.
Chapter 24
Harm paced restlessly in the outer office of none other than Director Kershaw. Apparently there was something the high and mighty needed to discuss with Harm on his first day back in the office. Wearily Harm ran a hand over his face before sitting down in one of the leather chairs once more. This was the first time he'd been able to get out of Mac's sight since Friday night when she'd found him down at the Hole. She'd all but moved in, going back to her apartment long enough on Saturday to pack a few days worth of clothes and grab a few uniforms. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, part of him was glad she was there.
It hadn't done much for the nightmares though. That first night on Friday was the worst. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep before he was once more throwing himself out of bed. Only this time Mac was there to be startled out of her own sleep and witness his insane behavior. He couldn't shake this new nightmare, and there was something about it that was worrying him. The more he remembered when he woke up, the more it worried him.
He could remember that at some point the nightmare switched from him being chased through the jungle by the cat, to him driving in his car. The next thing he recalled was being tossed from the car as it rolled over. On some level he simply assumed his subconscious was dredging up memories of the accident because from what he understood, he'd been thrown from the car as it flipped over and rolled.
His mind wandered from the memories of the nightmares to the memory of Mac's arms wrapped around him as he struggled through them. He hated that she saw him like that; hated that she saw him at his weakest, unable to even deal with what he did for a living.
"Mr. Rabb?" Kershaw's secretary interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah?" he answered absently.
"The Director and DDI will see you now."
Oh great, Spider was going to be there. Fucking lovely. "Thanks." He muttered as he moved towards the door leading to the inner office.
"Agent Rabb, glad to have you back with us." Kershaw said pleasantly when Harm had wandered into the office. "How are you feeling my boy?"
Shrugging absently Harm plopped down into one of the chairs in front of the Director's desk without even looking at where Webb was standing behind the Director. "Well enough I guess."
"Well, you've been through quite a lot Harm, what with Iraq and those hostages and then your car accident." Kershaw said glancing down at Harm's file on his desk.
"Nothing I can't handle." Harm answered tersely.
"Do you feel up to going out again in a couple of days?" Webb asked from where he was lurking behind Kershaw.
"If you need me Spider, I'll be there." Harm said with a shrug.
As Webb opened his mouth to protest Kershaw held up his hand silencing him. Webb settled for shooting Harm a murderous glare and then moved around the desk to sit down in the chair beside Harm's.
"We do need you Harm." Kershaw said briskly. "Something's come up that I'm assured you are uniquely suited to handle. Your file indicates you trained with SEAL team 2."
"About ten months ago, yeah."
"How much of their training did you partake in?"
"Hostage rescue, assault, recon, insertion." Harm answered briefly.
"By insertion, can I assume you've been trained in the various wet insertions the SEALs utilize?" Kershaw asked without looking up from Harm's file.
"Look, Director. It would be a lot easier if you told me what you want to know. Can I do 30/30s? Yes."
"How about HALO?"
"Did my first one ten years ago." Harm said with a hint of a smile and a touch of pride. It wasn't everyone who could jump out of an aircraft and perform a High Altitude, Low Opening jump. The Few. The Proud. The Insane.
"Ten years ago?" Kershaw asked in shock, looking up from the file.
"You won't find it in there. I did it as part of a JAG investigation."
"Some investigation." The Director said with a smile. "Excellent. You are indeed the best suited for this. Clayton?"
"Rabb, here's what you need to know. You'll be on a transport to the Patrick Henry tomorrow morning. They're currently in the Gulf of Sidra. Once there you will stay out of sight, and I mean that Rabb. You're too damn well known for your own good on that ship. While you're on the ship you'll be some faceless Lieutenant with the SEALs. We'll have them separated from the rest of the crew, so stay with them."
"Easy enough. Now what's this all about?"
"Reports indicate that Ben Hassa is aboard a ship just off the coast of Saudi Arabia."
"Ben Hassa? The arms dealer?" Harm asked.
"That's right. From what we can tell he is the primary dealer to the Iraqi insurgents. In fact he's pretty much funding and supplying two of the most violent groups. If we can grab him, we cut off the flow of money and weapons to these groups, eliminating a huge threat to our troops in Iraq. That's where you come in. We want you and SEAL Team 6 to make a wet jump and approach the ship. Once on board you will sweep it for Hassa, and after you've located him you will remove him from the ship, quietly. Use whatever force you deem necessary to achieve your objective. Questions?" Webb asked as he handed Harm a file folder with the details of the mission.
"Why not just eliminate him?" Harm asked as he opened the file to look at a picture of his target.
"We feel that Hassa will most likely have a great deal of information that will helpful in our war on terrorism. We need him alive, Rabb."
"Extraction plans?"
"Hassa has his own personal helicopter and landing pad on the ship. I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing it." Webb said with a smirk. Apparently he'd thought of everything.
"What sort of helicopter?" Harm asked absently as he finished flipping through the file.
"What does it matter?" Webb's smirk was starting to slip.
"Well, if it's a Sea King, we don't have a problem. If it's a Jet Ranger, we might have a problem." Harm pointed out as he closed the file in his hand.
"What are you talking about?" Webb asked testily.
"You expect me to extract eight men on this helicopter. The devil's in the details Spider. You want me to get out with the arms dealer and my team; I need to know the helicopter is big enough for all of us." Harm said tossing the file onto Kershaw's desk. "What's the back up plan if the helicopter fails?"
"You get back in the water and wait for a SAR chopper from the carrier group."
"How long will that take Webb? If we've got wounded they're not going to be up for a swim in the Gulf of Sidra while we wait."
"You're worrying too much about it Rabb."
"No, I'm not Webb." Harm said angrily. "Listen, this is your op. Things always go to shit on your ops. Ergo, I will have wounded and or dead SEALs to extract, if I'm not wounded or dead myself. I want to cover all the bases. Who's running this op on the ground? You or me?" Harm stood up and looked down at Webb with a steely glare.
"You are, but I have final control."
"Fine. Find out how long for an inbound chopper from the Pat. And while you're at it, get me all the info on the ship we're boarding you can. And I mean more than those security specs you've got in the file. I want builder's specs, engine specs, hell I want to know what kind of radio and radar he has in the thing and when it was last in port for an annual inspection. If I need to, I'll drive the damn thing out of there."
"I'll get it." Webb said briskly, standing up and nodding at the Director. "Director, I think we're done here."
"Thank you gentlemen, and good luck." The Director said as he turned back to more paperwork on his desk, dismissing them.
Following Webb out to the hallway outside the Director's office, Harm shook his head slowly muttering to himself.
"What's your problem?" Webb rolled his eyes in Harm's direction.
"You really haven't planned this all that well, have you Spider?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't have any idea how long it will take to get the back up plan in place. Fuck, you don't even know what kind of chopper Hassa has on board. I thought for sure you would at least know that seeing as you want me to steal it."
"You'll pull it off Rabb, you always do." Webb snapped back without bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice.
"Yeah, I probably will. But it won't be because of you Mr. Deputy Director."
"Whatever. I'll have the information you want waiting for you when you get to Andrews. Your flight leaves tomorrow morning at 0400, as you military types say. Now, go downstairs and get yourself fit out as a SEAL, Lieutenant." Webb said as they entered the lobby and passed through the security checkpoint.
"Do I have a cover already, or do I get to play it by ear?"
"Oh I'm sure you'll come up with something." Webb said waving his hand dismissively. "If not, check with the boys downstairs. They might have something put together for you."
"Great, thanks." Harm said shaking his head. Webb ignored him and wandered towards the glass doors when Harm thought of something. "Spider?"
"What?" Webb snapped, turning around to look at Harm.
"Mac says hi. She also says you can go burn in hell." Harm smirked. He was amused at how quickly Webb shot a glare back at him. Yeah, it was petty to play this game with him, but it was somewhat enjoyable. Webb didn't bother replying but spun abruptly on his heel and shoved the glass doors open, almost knocking over some poor young kid coming in.
Harm stood there idly watching Webb walk out towards a late model silver Jaguar. Focusing on Webb open and enter the car, Harm's eyes narrowed, his lips pressing together tightly. So, it was Webb who was following him. The question now was why.
Lost in thought over this new revelation, Harm turned and passed back through the checkpoint. His next stop, Operations where he would draw a Naval uniform and find out who he would be for the foreseeable future.
A/N Now hold on kiddies. Put down the rotten fruit please. I know that I was just getting to the shippery goodness, and now all of a sudden Harm's back at work, we missed a weekend of Harm and Mac dealing with his nightmares and drinking, and on top of that Harm's shipping out on some deep dark secret mission. Trust me, not a lot happened over that weekend; I was there, I saw it all. But I do have good news, Harm and I were talking about this mission of his and when he told me about how it ended I couldn't believe how much time he and Mac had to spend together after all was said and done. I'm sure you'll all enjoy it too.