And here is part 9! Not very chatty tonight, I have a bad cold can't function well :P

Thanks to: XBlueShadowX, Aimee5, Charmboy4, starryeyes10, Nikki, dansingwolf, jag4ever, lei, Jackia, EternalSleep, Cristina, Tina Frank, achaon, Abigaile, Hieros Gamos, froggy0319, joanoa, JadeAlmasy, SpaceMan546, dansingwolf, carbygirl , JAGJenni, Manda, starryeyes, BiteBeccy, ng59678, LtColDevilDog, martini, mizukimarr, jtbwriter, Macaroon, Lissie, n.k, Lt.jgMegAustin, cbw, dansingwolf, Apion, alix33, jnp, MacHarm4Ever, Tania, Macaroon, harmfan, Jagnut, Claire Vincent, Navy Babe, Nix, Martini, jaggurl, Laura, CoolCat, sunnysky, smithknk, mjag, FoxyWombat, carbygirl, moonlight, socgrl, NinjaTurtle, Sunny, kristie, mjag. Aserene, Dessler and anyone else I missed for the Feedback

Part 9 – Explained Absence

1301 Zulu
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia

Creswell didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit, not knowing how his people were doing. It was the plan for them to maintain incommunicado until the end of this cat and mouse game, but it unnerved him. Now, he had another problem to deal with – Major Chris Steele had gone UA. He'd called Sturgis and Bud out to the patio area, in front of JAG ops, just in case anyone was 'listening.' "I know it's a long shot, but do you think Steele is involved with what happened to Rabb?"

Bud took a sip from the coffee he'd been nursing. "I wouldn't put it past them, sir. . .Mrs. Webb knows how the CIA operates. If she believes that someone on the inside is dirty, then I believe her. Unfortunately, she's not saying who she suspects it is. . . Guess it's some CIA pride."

"Yes, Bud. But, how would Steele be involved?" Sturgis asked, still not wrapping around the idea that a lame officer like Major Steele would be involved in any conspiracy.

Creswell believed the same, but after hearing of the man's attack on the Colonel, he believed Chris to be more than he said he was. "Have you unconverted anything in his files?"

"Some." Sturgis confirmed with a frown. "But other things are. . . classified."

"I'll make a few calls and believe me, that file will be unclassified before noon." And he would definitely see to that. Gordon Creswell wasn't one to sit back and let anyone tell him what he could or couldn't do. Unlike his predecessors, Creswell was a Marine first and with that came the need to take care of his people, damn the consequences. He did not like the political role that came with being a JAG, seeing as it had no baring on lawyers defending and prosecuting their own.

Bud squeezed the water bottle he'd set next to the coffe a few times, the stress of it all was beginning to be a bit much. It was difficult to go on with his life knowing his friends were in a harrowing situation, again. "I just wish we knew something. . .I hate not knowing if they're okay or not."

Creswell padded the young Lt. Commander on the shoulder and smiled. "If the stories I hear about Rabb and MacKenzie are true, they'll come out of this just fine." Or so he prayed.

1501 Zulu
North East Of Corner Brook
Newfoundland, Canada

Ever since the sun rose, Harm took on the daunting task of creating a place for the two dead bodies to lay. It was done more for his and Mac's piece of mind than anything else. After what they'd went through, he would never be able to forgive the two. Still, even they deserved a place to rest and he would hope, that if, God forbid, he was killed in action, someone would afford him the same courtesy. He slipped out of the cabin without waking Mac, leaving a note with a pen and paper that he found, telling her to stay put. Since then, he'd retrieved both their packs and managed to put the two bodies in the ground.

Harm took a rope from inside Pete's shack, criss-crossing it along two sticks in order to make a cross. He pushed the cross into the ground, between the two piles of earth, marking Marcy and Pete's final resting places. With a sigh, he raised his head up to the Heavens. "Do with them what you will."

Inside the cabin, Mac had used the old range in order to heat up the breakfast MRE packs and some coffee. Earlier, she'd tried heading into the woods, but after taking a few steps out of the cabin, Mac realized she wouldn't know what direction to head. With an annoyed huff, she headed back inside, going through the packs that he'd brought back about an hour and a half earlier. It was nice to be able to take a 'cat bath' and slip into warm clothes. The clothing that she'd stretched out on a line over the fireplace were still damp, the jeans would never air dry with their current weather.

The sound of someone heading up the wooden steps of the cabin had her springing to action. Quickly she reached to the back of her jeans, pulling out the 45mm that Harm had brought along with their packs. She pushed herself up against the wall, sliding down to hide behind a small wooden table in the kitchen area. Using all of her Marine training, she controlled her breathing and slipped her finger over the trigger, preparing to fire. The person stepped into the house and immediately her arm went down. "Jeez, Harm."

Harm held his hands up in surrender. "Jeez yourself, Mac. . ." He took a deep breath, then walked over to her. "It's done."

She placed the gun in the back of her jeans then walked back over to the stove to check on the MREs. "You should have let me go with you."

"I didn't want you to see that." He confessed. Death was something neither of them were fond of, but this was his mission and he was intent on not letting her shoulder more than she could handle.

Mac placed her hands on her hips and eyed him coyly. "Harmon Rabb, Junior, are you doing the macho thing?"

"Yes." He took one of the MRE packets she offered him and smiled. "Thank you."

Taking her own MRE pack, she sat at the small wooden table and sighed. "You do know that I am a Marine, right?"

Harm nodded, he knew that 'I'm a Marine' speech would show up eventually. "Yes, I do and I know you're probably the best female Marine out there, but. . ." He shoved some of the eggs and ham into his mouth and munched on them before continuing. "I am the one who needs to shoulder this, Mac. Not you. . .non of this was your fault."

"Please don't tell me you are blaming yourself for what happened?" She was afraid of this, Harm's penchant for blaming himself even when things weren't his fault. "Because you couldn't have known that your flight had been sabotaged."

"I could have said, 'no.' When they diverted me to Groom Lake, I could have just continued onward to Fallon, like it was originally planned."

She took the coffee pack and swallowed the warm liquid down. "And what would you do, Harm? Pretend you didn't hear the order? Disobey the order? That isn't like you. . .and this. . . non of this is your fault."

What he wouldn't give to be back in that F-18 and do exactly what she'd just suggested. He should have ignored orders and gone with the gut feeling that something would go wrong. Screw it if his Naval career went down the drain as a result, at least he'd been home, with her. "It's my fault you're here. I should've never shown up at your apartment."

"It was my choice to come, remember? Like it was my choice to follow you to Russia, twice. . .and your choice to follow me to Paraguay." She knew he would give her another argument, but it wouldn't happen. "That's what is so special about us. We follow each other wherever, consequences be damned. . .I won't lie that I'm scared of what's going to happen, but as long as we do this together, it'll be fine. . .we'll be fine."

Harm believed that once, but as his mind drew him back to Marcy and Pete's bodies, now laying several feet under ground, it was difficult to think positive. For that matter, he wasn't even sure what direction to head anymore. "And if it's not fine?"

"Then, at least, we'll die together." Death was hardly the romantic subject, but the way Mac spoke, touched him. She would be willing to risk it all for him as he would for her. "I spent months not knowing what was going on and that isn't going to happen again."

1645 Zulu
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia

Within the last three hours, Creswell, Turner and Roberts had met outside twice. When each of them was busy contacting someone else for information, notes would be passed along through Petty Officer Coates who was confused, but wisely kept her mouth shut, over the odd occurrence. One by one they headed outside and to the table and chairs that had been their designated meeting area. Creswell had just gotten off the horn with the SECNAV and though the channels were barring them information on CIA problems and Major Steele, Bud had used his laptop and several untraceable programs to hack into the CIA mainframe. It had nearly taken him two hours, but the results were impressive.

With a grin, he walked up to Sturgis and Creswell, a grin on his face. "I got him." He placed an inch thick stack of papers between the two of them. "Major Christopher Montgomery Steele III. Son of Christopher and Megan Steele. . . Both of his parents were CIA as were his grandparents before that."

Sturgis leafed through the family history. "What did they do?"

"Well, it appears that death ran in the family. . .The Steele's had a penchant for being excellent marksmen, heading up the CIA ladders as hitmen. . . Major Steele's father was also in the Corps, dishonorably discharged without confinement for the death of his Unit leader back in 1976, he passed away in 79 while on a mission in South Africa. . . His mother, Megan Steele, passed away in 1980 when the Major was only 12. Mr. Raymond Levine became his legal guardian and on his 18th birthday Steele joined the Corps. . . Now, if you move to page three, you'll see all of the missions he's been on. . .Almost all of them were classified and CIA sanctioned."

Creswell sat back, taking a moment to digest all of this information. "Jesus Christ. So he's been playing us. . . All of us."

"That's not all. . . Apparently this Raymond Levine, Steele's uncle, took over the CIA when Kershaw passed on a few days ago."

Sturgis shook his head. "Other than their family ties, what's the correlation?"

"Levine was the Assistant Director of the CIA when the Commander was sent to fly the F-18 to Fallon. . .He's the one that got on the horn with the higher ups to change Harm's flight plan and have him head to Groom Lake instead." Bud, sat back in his chair. "He's also the one that's been having every agency after Harm for treason. . . which leads me to believe that, he knew Harm was alive. But, how would he know unless he was in contact with the man that captured Harm?"

Creswell stared between the two men and chuckled. "As much as I think that our office is an asylum, I have to admit that I have a very smart group. . . So Mr. Roberts, how do we go about validating this information?"

"I say we go to the source itself. . .We question Raymond Levine."

1700 Zulu
North East Of Corner Brook
Newfoundland, Canada

Harm stepped out of the cabin and walked down the steps noting that the clouds in the area were starting to disperse. After their breakfast, a downpour had made it impossible to set out. It was raining so hard, it seemed like a big white sheet had been tossed over the cabin. But, now it was time to head out again. Mac stepped up next to him and handed over his pack. "Mac, should we take their rifles?" He pointed back to the cabin and the two rifles that were resting near the doorway.

Another voice, this one definitely male responded, "How about we ignore the rifles and you two hand over any weapons you might have on you?"

Mac turned to her right only to be greeted by a dazzling smile and a man holding an AK-47. "Chris. . ."

Cristina – Ack! That happened to my cousin's wife with their first, she was bored with bedrest, but the outcome was a beautiful baby boy to add to our family. :) Hope everything is okay and thanks for the feedback!

Britanny – I wouldn't hold my breath about them remembering 4 solution, apparently TPTB have forgotten about it :P

NK – These germs are NOT friendly! I feel like roadkill :P

LtMeg – Okie dokie, you get Harms Clone 3 LOL!

Martini – I was never angry with DJE even when it was first thought that he jumped ship. But it's still sad that the writing has suffered so much that they don't bother giving him a grand exit.

Alix – Thank you! I thought I was nice, the whole ring part was cool to write. Unfortuantely, we still have some dark stuff to wrap up, but they'll see it through together. 

BiteBeccy – Yea, lucky woman all cuddled up with a naked Harm :swoon:

JTB – Yea, the idea was for them to have "the talk" during the whole story. So in the ned, they don't have to have "the talk" because they've been doing just that LOL!

Mjag – Didn't even realize that and at this point, the cold meds have claimed most of my brain functioning. LOL

Xblue – Calix – Get off the meds dood! Like now! Sheesh! And Blue – Yes! Whip out the story damnit! Us ff writers will prevail! ;)

Froggy – Aye aye! The order has been processed and you'll get those outfits. Also, there was a special Free silk boxers. ;)