Titel:
Gerberas
Autor: Swienegel
Kategorie: Shipperstory ;
Characterdeath
Timeline: 8te oder 9te Staffel
Spoiler: keine
mir Bekannten
Rechte: Alle rechte an der ferbsehserie Jag und
ihren Charakteren gehören Donald P Bellisario, Bellisarius
Productions, CBS und Paramount Televisions
Vilen Dank und großen knuddel an seahawk fürs betalesen
9:30
local time
JAG headquarters
Falls Church; VA
Colonel
Sarah MacKenzie stepped into the bullpen and looked around, looking
for a certain person. Because she didn't see
him, she went on going to his office.
"Tiner, I need to speak
to the Admiral." She adressed the Petty Officer.
"Sure Ma'am,
just a moment please…" he pushed some buttons on his phone and
exchanged a few words with AJ before letting Mac go into the office.
"At ease, Colonel." He leaned back in his office chair
and examined Mac standing in front of him.
"Permission to speak
freely, Sir?" She asked hesitantly.
"Permission granted."
"Sir, I'm worried about Commander Rabb. I haven't seen him
since yesterday evening, when he left JAG and nobody knows where he
is." Macs voice sounded worried and AJ knew why.
"Don't
worry that much, Colonel. It's not the first time that the
Commander is late. You know him better than me. There is something
else…" his voice trailed off.
Macs eyes were wandering all
over the room but avoided AJ.
He was right. There was something
she was worried about, but was she allowed to tell someone's
secrets because she was worried about her best friend?
"Sir,
you're right, there is something… but I don't know if I'm
allowed to tell you. In fact, if I tell you this, someone is going to
be very sad at me."
"Is this something about the Commander,
Colonel?" His voice was unemotional and Mac was a little bit
confused about what to do next.
"Er… Actually it's
something the Commander told me a few days ago…" Her eyes were
wandering over the room again.
"Are there problems the
Commander had to handle or something like that?" Aj was getting
more tired by the minute….
"No problems, it's something he
said to me…"
"You already mentioned that Colonel, come to
the point please…"
"Yes Sir…" Mac searched for words.
"Commander Rabb was talking about –" She was interrupted by
someone crashing the door.
"Nobody moves!" A voice jelled.
Mac and AJ exchanged a glance, Mac confused and angry, AJ very
angry.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" AJ
asked coldly.
"I'm the one asking the questions. We're
looking for a certain Commander. He has something that belongs to us
and we want it back." The man spoke with a deep and clear voice
that was as cold as AJ´s.
Mac and AJ exchanged another
glance… more than one… it said.
"Leave my office…"
AJ told the man with a quiet voice.
"Oh no. I'm not leaving…"
The man laughed and headed to the desk, until he stand only a few
inches away from Mac.
Then he lifted his hand up and winked at
Mac.
"Where is Commander Rabb." His gestures told both of
them not to do anything wrong or Mac would die.
"Here…"
A voice went through the room.
The black clothed man rushed
around and aimed at Harm.
Then the sounds of shots cut the air
and Harm broke down.
Blood ran down his temple. Motionless, he
lay on the ground.
Mac sprinted to Harm who had fallen to the
floor. She knelt down beside him and held his head in her hands…
"Harm… Harm!" she began to cry.
She felt live leaving
his body.
Mac was shivering, AJ a little bit shocked.
Having
served in Vietnam, he knew how to handle deaths of close persons, but
here in DC just at work he wasn't used to the experience of losing
people near to him.
"What's giving you the right of killing
people!" Mac yelled at the man.
They could see him smile under
his cotton mask.
"Whats giving you the right to live?" He
responded, before taking the pistol up again and shooting at both of
them.
After he was sure that he had hit them right he left the
office and together with his companions the building.
They were a
group of six: While he had been in the AJ´s office, the other
five had kept the other Navy Officers under controle.
Just as the
door closed behind the criminals, Harriet ran to AJ´s office
and saw Harm laying in a puddle of blood.
A few steps beneath
him, Mac lay on the floor. Harriet could see her breathing
hestitantly, unsteadily.
With a bad feeling she yelled at the
people standing behind her : "Get the paramedics! Quickly…
They're bleeding badly."
She knelt down beside Harm, checking
his pulse and quickly closing her eyes, from where tears began to
run.
She checked both Mac's and AJ´s pulses, both running
too fast and bleeding to much.
Just a few minuites later the paramedics arrived and tried to rescue Harms live and those of Mac and AJ.
2 days later
Bethesda hospital
Intensive Care Unit
Harriet and Bud had gone a few hours
ago, Sturgis was sitting in the waiting area with Tiner and some
others from JAG headquarters.
They took turns waiting here and
hoping for Mac and AJ to win the fight against death.
Harm
was dead, the paramedics hadn't been able to get him back to life.
If they had, Harm would have been a disabled person, physically
and psychically.
AJ and Mac were in a coma since they got to
hospital. The doctors were able to stabilizise their body functions
and everyone was only able to pray for them to wake up.
30
Minutes later the onlyone sitting and waiting in the room was
Sturgis. He was surprised when he heard soemone entering the room.
When he looked up he saw Clayton Webb standing in front of him.
"Webb… What has the CIA to do with this whole mess?" he
asked quietly. The loss of a very close friend upset him a lot..
"We're investigating in this "mess" as you called it."
He told Sturgis.
It was quiet in the room for some seconds,
before Sturgis shook his head and offered Clay to sit down.
"What
do you know about these people who shoot the three of them?"
Sturgis sounded tired.
"Not very much. Harm did me a favour. He
took very important informations from insiders of a group wich is
connected to the Hamas. They found out about his right identity and
you know what happened. Harm was able to let us know what they had
planned before they killed him." Clay took a deep breath before
speaking again.
"I'm, sorry about what happened. We tried to
get a team of specialists as an observation team to protect Harm but
they were to late.
The Hamas members wanted to attack several
important buildings, to name only two… the pentagon and a military
airbase in wich the airforce is researching new airplane programs…"
again he trailed off.
"Did Harm anything else because of that
they wanted him to be dead?" Sturgis asked.
"Harm's
knowledge on aircrafts was his most important skill… and that he is
a member of the military service. That helped him a lot when he tried
to get the information we needed. He gave the people of the Hamas
wrong information on how to use the programs and such things. He took
all his freetime in that job. I made myself guilty for what happened
to him. I asked him to do the job…"
"You gave Harm the
chance to back out?" Sturgis cut him off.
"I gave him…"
"So it's only half your guilt… It was Harms choice to go
into one of you silly employments…" In Sturgis voice there was
the sound of making Clay guilty for asking Harm into this…
Bethesda hospital
Intensive Care Unit
Macs Room
She slowly awoke. Her
eyes were dry and her mouth felt like she had been in the Sahara
standing in the sunshine for hours…
When she tried to open her
eyes she closed them quickly because of the lights shining so bright.
Because of the beeping of the instruments she knew that she was
in hospital… But she couldn't remember why…
After several
minutes she tried again to open her eyes. Hurriedly she blinked and
soon she saw colors, but everything was blurred…
All she saw
was a dense fog.
"Colonel Mackenzie?" someone asked her. She
didn't know the voice…
"Yes?" she managed to whisper…
"I'm Dr. Delacroix… Do you remember what happened to you?"
"I've got a headache…" she tried to remember how she got
here but the only things she could remember were Harm falling down to
the floor, shot down….
The Admiral discussing with someone…
Feeling herself being lost in darkness….
"How bad am I
hurt?" she asked with a very weak voice…
"Badly. The last
few days you were in a coma. But now it's getting better and
better."
"Is someone hurt besides me?" she looked up to Dr.
Delacroix and saw the worried expression on his face.
"Please…."
Her voice broke apart.
"Please…" She tried again. "How is
Harm? And the Admiral… How are they?"
"I don't think you
should think about other people right now. You're badly hurt and
you should take a rest." Dr. Delacroix turned his face down to the
paper wich he held in his hands. He wrote something down and put it
back into a folder.
"I'll come back this afternoon. Try to
sleep. Being in a coma is not like sleeping, you should remember
that. It's like being in a marathon…"
Only a few steps and
he would reach the door…
Mac felt that she wasn't able to
hold her eyes open and closed them.
She was so tired… But she
wanted to know how Harm was. She knew that the terrorist had shot at
him and AJ before shooting at her…
She fell asleep…
At the same time in AJ's room
There has
to be something I'm able to do…
AJ felt more bored by the
minute.
He stared at the clock standing at his bedside. After 15
minutes he felt that his neck began to hurt very much and now he was
staring at the wall on the end of his bed.
As minutes went on he
felt like going to be crazy…
He called after a nurse… Only a
minute later, one of them was standing at his bedside.
"What is
it?" She asked…
"I want to make a call…" He said as
strongly as he could.
"I don't think you're allowed to, I'm
sorry."
"I don't care about what I'm allowed to do or
not…" AJ sounded very angry.
"But you should care…" the
nurse answered him in a very maternal tone.
"Has anything
changed in the Colonel's condition?" his voice was normal again.
The nurse hesitated…
"I'm going to see how she is…"
She replied after some seconds.
5 minutes later…
"Sir?"
The nurse was back.
"How is she?" he asked and hoped for the
best.
"She awoke twenty minutes ago or so. She is asleep right
now. Dr. Delacroix had a chat with her. She asked about a certain
Harm and "The Admiral". You should take a rest now. Really…"
The motherly tone was back.
AJ agreed with the nurse and after
she left the room he murmured…
"You should rest now…
REALLY!" Who does she think she is? To talk to a SEAL in that
childish way…
He tried to get some sleep, but he had too
much thoughts spinning around in his head.
He remembered about
situations with him and Harm, Harm and Mac…
Fighting in the
court himself…
Bud and Harriet, Sturgis Turner… He thought
about all the people who had served under his command or were serving
under his command right now.
The most time he thought about Mac…
and Harm.
How would Mac react, when she became aware that Harm
was dead…? Her best friend… Maybe he was more to her than that…
He didn't know.
He hoped for her to be strong enough to handle
that situation…
17:30 local time
ICU
AJ's
room
Dr. Delacroix entered the room and greeted the awaking
AJ…
After rolling from one side of the bed to the other he had
fallen asleep after nearly an hour.
"Good afternoon, Admiral
Chegwidden." He greeted him.
"Good afternoon to you too, Dr."
AJ sat up a little in his bed.
"Have you taken a look at
Colonel MacKenzie already?" He asked promtly…
"I visited
her just before I went to check up on you, Admiral. She is just fine…
Not asleep at the moment and driving the nurses crazy by asking them
questions about the wellbeing of you and Commander Rabb…." He
stopped talking and got nearer to AJ.
"She was close to
Commander Rabb, wasn't she?"
"Yes. They were best friends
and she's not going to let herself take a rest until she knows what
happened to him…" and me he added in silence.
"I don't
think it's good for her wellbeing to tell her that Commander Rabb
died…" He gave AJ a questioning look.
"I think it's not
the best way, Dr… But she's not going to take a break until she
knows what happened. She's a Marine…" he grinned. For him that
explained everything.
"I'll see what I'm going to do about
that… We'll let you stay in the ICU for some more days to watch
your recovery and than we'll see if we're able to transfer you to
the normal unit…
I think we're able to allow someone to visit
you. But only one or two persons and only for 10 or 15 minutes…
That's the best we can offer at the moment…"
AJ's
expression changed again and Delacroix could see what he thought…
"No arguments accepted, Admiral. That's just for your
wellbeing." He paused again.
"Colonel Mackenzie is allowed to
get some visitors in a few days. She's more exhausted than you are
and the projectile passed her heart only about a few centimeters…"
"I know…" AJ sighed. "But it's not going to simplify
things. I'm scared of… She is a really tough person… Physically
and emotionally…" The last sentence was more to himself that to
Delacroix.
4 days later
A
few people had visited AJ since he had been transferred to the
regular unit.
Today Delacroix would let him know how long he had
to stay in hospital…
Most of the surveillance instruments were
not needed any more so AJ was able to stand up and walk a little bit
in his room… The nurses didn't want him to do so, but he didn't
care about them.
He was just walking around his bed, when
Delacroix entered the room.
"Admiral…" he had on the
mother-caring tone again…
"You know you should take it easy.
Don't strain your body more than it is able to…"
"I don't
care much for that. I feel better than before I was here in hospital…
If that's possible. So please let me decide when it's time to get
to rest again…" AJ answered.
"So… I have good and bad
news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"The bad
one please…"
"OK… You have to stay here for one more
week, I'm afraid, but we'll see than. The good news is that
Colonel MacKenzie is transferred to this unit, too. She's allowed
to get visitors, but not too many for the next days."
Delacroix
went to the door.
"Have a nice day, Admiral… There is
something you should know, too…" His face had a worried
expression. "She knows about Commander Rabb…"
With that he
left.
He left a very worried AJ who made a decision.
He took
his infusion and carrying it with one hand he slowly walked to the
door.
He paused for some seconds and then opened it and looked up
and down the floor.
He couldn't see Dr. Delacroix so he left
his room and walked the section up, looking for the name MacKenzie on
one of the doorframes.
The sixth door on the left side of his
room was hers.
Again he paused and took a deap breath befor
knocking on the door.
"Yes…" A very exhausted and sad voice
came to his ears...
He opened the door, entered the room and
walked to her bedside.
"Good morning, Colonel. Just wanted to
look myself how you are."
He sat to the chair next to the bed.
"Good morning, Admiral." Her eyes had lost that beautiful
sparkling and her face looked so dissapointed and so sad… It hurt
AJ's inside to see her like this.
"How do you feel, Mac?"
AJ's voice was deep and soft and remembered Mac of a time, when
Harm had hold her and tried to her stop crying.
Harm… She had
thought about him the whole time… Him and AJ.
But since she
knew that Harm was dead, she didn't know what her life was worth
living for..
Her best friend and so much more didn't exist
anymore and that hurted so much…
It felt like having lost a
part of herself and she missed him. She missed him joking with her..
She mised the kisses they had shared over the years and she missed to
talk to him…
Knowing that she would never be able to do or feel
anything of that again with him made her sad and weak…
Tears
were welling up in her eyes and she began to cry…
"I miss
him… I miss him so much…" Mac didn't care that her CO was in
the room. She needed to talk about what she felt or she would explode
of the weight that laid on her shoulders.
AJ took her hand so
that she knew that she wasn't in this mess alone…
Mac looked
in his face and saw understanding, sadness and friendship there.
Know she felt a little bit better. The hurt of having Harm lost
was still there and it hadn't lost any of it's weight but she
knew that she wasn't alone and that somebody cared about her and
that made her stronger. It didn't matter to her that this was her
CO she was talking to, now it was a friend listening to her and
understanding her feelings…
After Mac was able to controle the
tears wich had streamed down her face she began to tell AJ about her
feelings…
"I miss him…" She didn't know how to adress
him… this was a very personal thing, but…
"Call me AJ,
we're not in duty…" he took the decision off her.
"OK…
AJ – I'm sad because I'm thinking about how my life is going to
be without him… Not able to talk to him, fighting against him in
court… Eating pizza of just going put with him, Bud and Harriet to
McMurphy's…
It's just like feeling that a part of myself
died…" She broke apart…
AJ squeezed her hand a little and
answered her.
"I think that's the feeling of loosing someone
you love." His words went through his head over and over again and
he couldn't say from where they had come…
After some minutes
had passed, Mac turned her head to the window.
"Maybe you're
right…. We never talked about that… but once. He said he needed
me and I wasn't able to give him…"
"You're not guilty
about what happened. It's not your fault that he died without
knowing that…" AJ could see that she felt guilty… That she was
sad about that she hadn't told him how she felt… And now she
would never be able to do it… Harm would never kow what he had
meant to her.
"I want him back, AJ… I just wish this whole
thing is just a bad dream and I'm going to awake soon and be able
to laugh about it… But I guess tha's not going to happen, right?"
She turned her face to him again.
Agreement, understandment
and worry were shown on AJ's face.
"Mac… You're not the
only one who is going to miss Harm. I do know how you're feeling.
It's bad… its really worse. But remember… there are always
people caring about you. Harm would have wanted you to be happy. I
think now is maybe not the right time to think about hapiness, but
remember it. And he's not the only one wanting you to be happy."
A knock on the door break the silence lying over the room after
AJ had ended.
Dr. Delacroix entered the room and gave AJ a look
dracula would have been proud of.
"Admiral Chegwidden… I have
told you to take things easy and not to go wandering around in the
hospital. Never ever do that again without telling anybody where
you're going to!"
"Yes, Dr Delacroix…" AJ answered….
Knowing exactly that he wouldn't care about it later…
"Colonel,
how do you feel?" Delacroix adressed Mac.
"I feel a little
bit tired, but that's OK… I think I need some rest now…" She
turned her face to AJ.
"Thank you for listening. Hope to see
you soon again… And don't be worried."
She had seen this
expression only a second or so in his face, when he thought she
wouldn't see it…
"I'll get through this. I'm a Marine…"
"And Marines do have feelings…" AJ reminded her while
standing up and walking slowly to the door, where Dr Delacroix
waited.
With a look to the Doc AJ promised… "I'll come over
for a some minutes tomorrow…"
And then the two of them left
Mac in the cold white room with her thoughts.
3 hours later
Bethesda
hospital
Mac's room
Mac awoke abruptly because she had
had a nightmare in wich Harm had visited her….
The dream was
the same like all the others she had had in the last hours since she
knew that he was dead…. Gone from her side.
Flashback
…He was standing at her bedside and smiled at her. Then he
sat down and took her hand. After that he was just sitting there and
holding her hand in his.
That was the part of the dream when
everything was just OK…
Then the dream began to change….
Harms hand went to his heart and blood was dropping to the floor.
His face took on a very upset expression and his face turned white…
His mouth was open and it seemed that he was screaming but she
didn't hear anything.
Than he broke down to the floor and blood
was all over the floor…
Mac tried to get help but she wasn't
able to move… She wasn't able to call for help by screaming
because nothing came out of her mouth…
She had to see him dying
every time she fell asleep and she wasn't able to keep herself
awake because of the painkillers…
Flashback end
A
week after Mac was brought to the "normal unit" of the hospital;
AJ and she were allowed to go home.
Mac took a taxi driving her
home and so did AJ.
The both of them had driven the hospital
personnel crazy and Delacroix had decided to let them leave under
strict orders…
He hoped that they would care about them but he
was sure that this possibility was quit not the best…
The
flat was quiet when Mac entered… How could it be any other way?
She put her little bag wich Harriet had brought to the hospital
beneath the door on the floor and then she walked through the rooms.
She didn't feel good. How could she?
She remembered the
times when Harm was here and it hurt her much.
Not wanting
anything to do, she sat down on the couch and stared on the wall lost
in memories and thoughts.
AJ felt bad too… but
because of something different than the thoughts of Mac.
Sure, he
was sad about Harm being dead but also about his feelings for Mac.
He was worried about her wellbeing and her strenghth going to
break…
Even the strongest person reaches to a point at which
it's impossible to keep control about the things happening around
them…
Harm's death had taken a lot off of them all…
Everybody was disappointed and his jokes at work were not there
anymore to make many things easier to handle for a lot of people…
AJ had heard Bud and Harriet talking about how things at JAG
headquarters were…
It seemed like everybody missed Harm, Mac
and … maybe they missed him too.
His thoughts drifted
back to Mac. She had looked so... broken was the right word to
describe the mood she was in.
It seemed like she had lost
everything life was worth living for.
Her eyes were without that
sparkling, she looked older than she was.
It looked like she had
become older about ten years over night…
The loosing of beloved
people was a very bad thing and AJ was kind of angry about it
happening to Mac and Harm.
He was hurt himself… Hearing
Mac talking so freely about love and loosing the one she had loved
maybe most in this world.
He knew that Mac needed to speak about
that or she wouldn't have come straight (more or less) until
getting to the point where she was standing now.
She was without
anything positive right now…
He lost himself in his own
thoughts and a quarter later he had made a decision.
He grabbed
his phone and dialed a number…
"Good afternoon, this is
Admiral AJ Chegwidden…. Yes… I need information about a certain
phone number… Yes… the code is "1-3-5-Alpha-Delta-2"… No…
Yes, that's right…"
He began to write something at the
paper lying next to the phone.
"OK. Thanks." He interrupted
the call and began a new one.
…tuut…tuut… "Chloe
Madison?"
"Hello Chloe. This is Admiral AJ Chegwidden."
It
was quiet for some seconds…
"Chloe?"
"Yes, I'm
still here… Did something happen to Mac?" Chloes voice was a
little frightened… Why would Mac's CO call her if everything was
alright?
"Yes… It's Friday today and I think there is a
plane flying down here to Washington. I think she needs company."
"If Mac only needs company, why not call Harm or Bud or Harriet
to do that job?" Chloe asked kind of confused.
"That's the
problem, Miss Madison. Harm had an accident and Mac was in the
hospital because someone shot her. I think it would help her if you
would come down here…"
Saturdy morning
St
Andrew international airport
Chloe's airplane had just
arrived and AJ was waiting for her in the arriving hall.
A very
worried young girl came to his side and greeted him.
"Hy
Chloe." AJ greeted back.
"Let's drive to her flat. I
haven't told her that you'll come down and visit her. She
wouldn't have agreed but I think it's the best thing for her
right now."
"Maybe..." Chloe answered.
They hurridly
went to the carpark and sat in silence in AJ's car while driving to
Georgetown…
AJ stopped the car in
front of Mac's apartment. Both he and Chloe were sitting in silence
for some seconds before opening their doors and going over to the
entrance.
With a last look on Chloe's face AJ pressed the bell
and waited for a response.
After a minute of waiting he pressed
it again.
No answer…
He pressed the button beneath the name
MacKenzie and got a answer.
"Who's there?" a woman's
voice cake out of the speaker.
"It's Admiral Chegwidden. I'm
looking for Colonel MacKenzie but she gives no response…"
"Just
a moment please…" The women spoke again…
Two minutes
later the women was down at the entrance door and let them in.
"Would you mind showing me your identity card, Sir?" She
asked AJ befor escorting him uptairs.
"No, I won't." He
showed her the card and the three of them went upstairs.
There
the women knocked on Mac's frontdoor.
"Miss MacKenzie?" she
called….
Again no response.
The women knocked again.
"Miss
MacKenzie? Are you at home!"
This time they got an answer.
"Yea, Mrs Cole I'm at home. Something wrong?" Mac asked
while opening the door.
"No, you just got visitors…" With
that, Mrs Cole went to her flat and closed the door behind her.
Now
Mac could see AJ and Chloe. The expression on her face was a mixture
of surprise, sadness and disapointment.
"Sir… Chloe… What
are you doing here?" She asked.
"May we come in?" AJ asked
politley.
"Sure." She opened the door and closed it behind
them.
"Wanna sit down?"
"Hy Mac…" Chloe said as
highly as she could at the sight of an lethargic Mac and hugged her.
"Where do you come from?" Mac asked confused as they sat in
the living room.
"I'm coming from home to visite my sister…"
Chloe explained.
Mac looked confused first at Chloe and then at
AJ.
"Whose idea was that?" she sounded tired and exhausted.
"Mine. I phoned her and asked her to come over for the weekend.
If you don't want her to stay I'll take her with me…" He
stood up and walked slowly to the door, waiting for an answer.
"It's
Ok. She'll stay." Mac wasn't able to send Chloe away.
"But
I want her to know… I'm not the best company… right now."
Again she looked from AJ to Chloe….
"I know that Mac."
Chloe answered. "That's why I'm here."
Chloe and AJ
exchanged a look and AJ turned to the door.
"If the two of you
need something, juat call. Any time." With that he left.
Mac
stared at the closing door… Why is he doing that?
"Mac?"
Chloe sat down beneath her.
"Whats up, Chloe?"
"You
were there for me, when I needed you. Just know, I'm here… I'm
listening."
"Oh Chloe…" Mac leaned back and fought
against the welling tears.
"I just don't want to unload all
that stuff on you… I can handle that…" She turned her head and
saw the worried expression on the teenage girl's face…
It was
quiet for some time…
"You hungry?" Mac asked instead of
opening up her mind to Chloe…
4 and a half hour later…
Mac's Appartment
"I'll sleep on the couch…"
Chloe told Mac.
"You sure?" Mac asked again…
"Yeah…"
She hugged Mac. "Sleep well Mac."
!I'll try." She sounded
not very optimistic…
20 minutes later…
Chloe
walked soundlessly through the apartment. She wanted to know if Mac
was already asleep or not. She peeked into the bedroom and saw her
lying in the bed… sleeping.
So she walked back to the sofa and
grabbed the phone.
Because nobody answered
the phone, Chloe put it down and got to sleep.
When she awoke,
she saw Mac standing at the window, talking to someone.
"…Yes
Sir, I've understood…. Yes, I'll be there….. No Sir, no
problem… Thank you, Sir… OK…" Then she hung up.
"Mac?"
Chloe asked her…
"Oh, did I wake you up?" Mac asked
uncomforted.
"No, you didn't. Who was on the phone?"
"It
was Admiral Chegwidden. It's because of Harm… His funeral is next
Saturday at Arlington." She sat down and stared at her hands.
It
took a while but then Mac confessed: "Oh Chloe, I miss him so
much…"
Today would be Harm's funeral
Lots
of his friends were at Arlington, and his family. All of them were
sad and most of them looked terrible…
In the first line of
chairs there were sitting Trish and Frank Burnett and Harm's
brother Sergeij…
Mac wasn't able to concentrate on the
speech Admiral Chegwidden held. She looked on the coffin wich was
covered in a star-spangled banner.
When the coffin was lowered to
the bottom of the grave everybody threw flowers.
Mac's flowers
were a bunch of bright yellow gerbera…
They contrasted all of
the other flowers… Most people had brought white or red roses or
white lilies…
Mac was shaken out of her standing and staring at the grave, when someone grabbed her politley at her arm.
When she turned her face, she looked at AJ.
"It's
time to go…" he said and Mac realised that they were the last
people standing here.
"Where are the others?" She asked…
"Most of them left fifteen minutes ago… I thought you needed
the time to say goodbye to him, but now it's getting colder and
colder, you should go home now, too."
"It's right maybe…
but I just don't know what to do…." Mac answered him…
Together they walked to the carpark, there they parted ways and
every one of them went home.
A week later…
Mac went to the JAG headquarter. She didn't feel very well
going to work where the murder had happened.
She went straight to
Admiral Chegwidden's office…
"Enter…" AJ's voice came
out after she had knocked at the door.
"Good morning, Sir."
Mac greeted him.
"At ease, Colonel…" He looked at her with
a questioning look.
Mac on the other hand looked through the
office. Everywhere boxes were standing around…
Mac handed AJ a
folder…
"What's that?" He asked her.
"It's my
transfer request. I'm not able to work here after what happened."
She answered him.
"One of the lawyers in San Diego is
transferred to the Seahawk… His job is still open." With that he
signed the document…
"Thank you, Sir." Mac stood at
attention again..."Dismissed."
When the door had closed
behind her he stared at it…
They would see each other sooner than she could imagine…
After
she had left his office, he sighed and grabbed the phone…
"Good
Morning, Admiral Cabera, this is Admiral Chegwidden again… Yes,
I've got a problem… Yes, a transfer to San Diego… It's
Colonel Sarah MacKenzie… Yes, she's the
one… I've just signed her transfer request… Job still open?
Yes… Ok… Thanks a lot…"
4 days later
1100 local time
JAG Headquarters San Diego
Mac had
just arrived with a civilian flight and with most of her luggage she
had stopped at her new appartment.
From there she had gone
straight to her new workstation…
After a little fight with the security personnel at the entrance she got to the second floor, where the lawyers' offices were.
Without orientation she
looked around…
"May I help you?" a young Lieutenant asked
her gently.
"I'm looking for the CO… I'm the new lawyer,
Colonel MacKenzie."
"The Office of the Admiral ist just over
here…" the Lieutenant replied.
"Thank you." Mac greeted
the friendly Lieutenant before walking into the room.
"Ma'am?"
a petty Officer behind a desk asked her.
"I have to speak to
Admiral Noroso… I'm Colonel MacKenzie."
Mac answered his questioning look.
"Wait
a moment please…"
He pushed some buttons on his phone…
"Admiral, Sir? Here is a certain Colonel MacKenzie who wants to
speak to you… Yes, I'll send her in…"
Mac went over to
the door wich was leading to the Admiral's office…
With a
short sigh she knocked the door and soon entered.
"Colonel
Sarah MacKenzie reporting as ordered."
"At ease, Colonel. At
first three things… The next few days you have to share your office
with a second lawyer. second… I just got a new file. You're going
to defend the accused… It's a Navy Captain from the Seahawk. The
third thing is an invitation to my goodbye party. Ask Petty Officer
Michalsen for details. Dismissed."
"Aye Sir."
Again the
phone on the Admirals desk rang and he talked briefly into it.
Just
when Mac reached the door, it opened…
She had to step backwards
otherways the door would've hit her.
As she realised who was
standing just in front of her she gasped.
"Admiral!" was the
only thing she managed to say.
"Nice to meet you, too,
Colonel…" His smile was friendly but dissociated.
Behind her
back Admiral Noroso stood up.
"You two obviously know each
other. Colonel, Admiral Chegwidden is my successor. He'll lead the
office from tomorrow on."
"Sir…" Mac saluted and after
being released she headed out.
Her feelings were driving
rollercoasters…
He had known that they would work with each
other again…
Why hadn't he told her?
Now it was more
complicated for her to forget what had happened… It had been his
office where…
She put those thoughts away and tried to
concentrate on what to do next.
Soon she found the office with
her name and entered. There were two office desks inside, four
shelves beneath them on the wall and two small filing cabinets.
A
clock was ticking and at that sound she smiled a little.
Nobody
was in the office so she looked which one of the desks was used and
she took the other one.
She laid the file on the desk, sat
down and began to read…
After a short time she was quite sure
that she would win the case… It was obvious…
All accusations
were just based on indications wich were easy to refute.
The
captain's personnel document was without any absence rides…
After an hour she grabbed her things and went to the prison to
talk to the captain.
--AJ's point of view—
After
the discussion with Admiral Noroso, he headed to the Chief of Staff
to get an overview over his new staff.
It took him about one and
a half hour to get the most important things into his head.
When
he decided that it was time for lunch he thought of Mac again and
walked to her office.
When he opened, the only person he found
there was an unknown officer…
"Excuse me… Do you know where
Colonel MacKenzie is?" He asked him…
"No, I'm, sorry
Admiral. I saw her only a few minutes before she went to meet her
client."
"Thanks…" AJ said, leaving the office.
It
was already late when Mac returned to the office.
She was
exhausted and felt that she would get a headache… Her client was
rude and she disliked him… When she thought about him she felt a
bad feeling grow inside…
Because the only thing she wanted now
was getting home, eating and getting to sleep, she didn't care
where she went.
Just when she bumped into someone, she felt upset
and that it was definitly not her day.
"Ugh… I'm sorry,
Admiral." Why HIM! She thought…
"No Problem…
Something wrong, Mac?" he asked looking straight at her.
"It's
just not my day Sir." She answered him in an
I-want-to-forget-everything-what-just-happened-tone.
"Hold your
head up, Marine. Life goes on." He didn't knew why he had said
this and silence surrounded them.
Most people had left the
office, but AJ had had a lot of things to do, before starting his job
offically tomorrow…
"Good evening Sir." She greeted him and
tried to
on
but both of them headed for the same direction and so they stepped
together.
Mac could smell his tart comforting smell…
They
stood there for some moments like frozen statues and then tried again
walking past each other and again stepped togther.
Because she
was that nervous, Mac giggled a little. This whole situation was
upsetting… ridiculous!
They were so close they could feel each
other's heartbeat…
Hesitantly, Mac stepped backwards and
nearly would've fallen to the floor, because she slipped, but was
rescued by a strong arm grasping her.
Their faces were merely
inches apart and both of them breathed faster than normally.
Their
lips nearly had met and in AJ's head the thoughts were spinning
around.
Today he was not her CO… Only from tomorrow on…
Their lips met and they shortly played with each other before
parting again and both being confused and with hormones spinning
around in their bodies, they looked at each other and then around the
room.
"I'm sorry…" AJ told her … Knowing exactly, that
he felt sorry to have confused her, but definitely not sorry about
the kiss.
"You have no reason to be…" Mac answered him, now
looking right into his face.
"Oh god… I've said that loud?"
She asked right after the words had left her lips.
AJ smiled a
little bit.
"Oh yes…" He answered. "You said that loud."
Now neither of them knew what to say and they stood there for
what seemed endless seconds in the silence of the office.
Stroking
softly along her cheekbone, he whispered her name…
Mac sighed
slightly… Her heard was lightened up for the first time since
Harm's death.
Their lips met for a second kiss and this time it
was longer and more passionate and when they parted they saw the look
in each others eyes… Both of them knew that life was going to be
more complicated than it had been for them for the past years…
They kissed a third
time and then went in silence and agreement to AJ's car.
While
AJ concentrated on the road, Mac looked out of the window and shot,
from time to time, short glances at him.
She was only able to see
half of his face… The pretty nose, the marvelous lips…
A warm
feeling began to spread all over her and she sighed happily.
AJ's
face turned around and he studied her face.
Then his lips formed
a warm and loving smile wich let Mac's heart melt over and over
again for this incredible man…When the car stopped in front of AJ's
house they looked tenderly into each other's eyes and both felt the
overwhelming power their love gave them…
They smiled at each
other and got out of the car. AJ helped her out of his Pick-up
gentlemanlike.
When the front door closed behind them, they hung
their jackets to the hooks in the corridor.
They stood close
together and kissed… It was so passionate and electrifying that it
took their breath away.
Slowly Mac began to unbotton his office
jacket and then the buttons of his shirt, while he was unbuttoning
hers and stroking up and down her back…
They walked the few
meters to his bedroom where they let their desire take control…
It was around 4 o'clock in the morning when Mac awoke…
She felt a strong arm holding her tight to a comforting body. After
watching AJ sleeping for a while, she gave him a quick kiss on the
lips and then got out of the bed. While she clothed herself, she
watched him again.
He seemed so cute… all emotions except of
endless peace were washed away from his face.
His thorax was
going up and down in a regular, reassuring rhythm…
Mac was just
ready to go, when she sat down at his bedside and softly stroked over
his cheekbone.
She leaned forward and kissed his lips one more
time. It felt so good and she just didn't want to let this
relationship end… In fact she felt that she was not able to live
like before…
As she straightened her back to stand up, AJ took
her hand. Surprised Mac looked down at him and saw that he had opened
his eyes.
She saw the sadness in his eyes, and something that she
would have identified as love, but she was not sure…
"Hy…"
she whispered. Her voice was soft, mixed with a little sadness…
He
smiled back, with the same expression on the face and in his eyes she
had in hers…
"You're leaving…" It was a statement…
"Yeah…" she touched his cheekbone with her fingertips
again… Her face lightening up a little at the feeling of his skin
under her fingers…
AJ sighed at the feeling of this soft touch…
He didn't want her to leave…
"Please stay…" he
whispered.
Macs face drivted off to a expression of totally
sadness…
"It's against the rules if I'll stay now…"
She whispered back…
"Isn't it already against it?" AJ
whispered again…
Mac smiled at him. "Maybe it is, but it's
worth it."
With a last, soft kiss on his lips, Mac left…
AJ rolled on his back, starring onto the wall… Why were things always complicated for love? Maybe it was the nature of love, that there were always stones in the lovers' ways…
Mac in the
meantime walked along the road, to a near busstop and wated for the
next to arrive.
In her head and heart she was at AJ's house…
She couldn't stop thinking about the last night, the man who had
held her tight to himself and comforted her so much, that she had
forgotten all pain of the last weeks, month's and years…
The
only thing she was thinking about was how he felt about what happened
between them… How he felt about her… And how he thought about
their relationship… Relationship… She laughed at herself. They
had only shared one night together and she was thinking about a
relationship…
But she knew that it wasn't only that night…
She had realised, that she had had these feelings over a very long
time for him and that she had put them into a very far away corner of
her mind…
It began to rain and when the bus came, her clothes
were wet like she had been swimming in a lake with them…
After
an hour she was at home and the first thing she did was taking a very
hot and very long shower…
0900 local time
Briefing room
JAG HQ
San Diego
„Please sit
down, everybody." AJ told his new staff
Everybody except of Mac
watched him, the new CO with unhidden interest.
"I'm Admiral
AJ Chegwidden, from today on your new CO. I'd like to introduce you
also to Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie who was also trensferred to San
Diego from the JAG Office in Washington."
Everybody shot
interested glances at the two newcomers and send their welcomes to
them.
AJ began to hand the new files to the officers and
dismissed them.
He tried hard not to stare at Mac and imagine her
lying naked in his bed… Every time this thought switched into his
mind he pushed it away into a far away corner… Not far enough. He
caught himself thinking about her way too often…
And if he
interpreted the way she acted right, she was trying the same. She
managed not to look at him for nearly the whole briefing and he would
have given much to look her in the eyes…
Maybe it was better
not to have eye contact, because it would have caught him off guard…
He didn't know how to handle their new situation. What he knew
exactly was that he had fallen in love with this gung ho marine…and
with the lady behind it.
He sighed heavily and stood up, walking
over to his office, where he put all personal thoughts out of his
mind and tried to concentrate onto his workload…
Mac walked
straight to her office, shut the door and closed the blindfold.
When
she turned around, she was a little bit shocked, to see her coworker
looking curiously at her.
"Sorry…" she said, while walking
to her desk. "I have to get used to share the office with someone
else."
"No problem." The amused answer came, before both of
them got to work again… Or tried to.
She had several files
to work on and she tried to get them settled for the courtroom, when
a popupwindow blinked up at her computer desktop.
It was an
office memo…
Caught off guard, she stared some seconds on it.
It was from him…
Couriosity won over fear and she read what
it said…
Most of the message was office stuff, but the last
lines were attaching her… She sighed heavily and now she began to
fight with herself if she should or shouldn't write back…
At
least she wrote a short message back…
"Miss ya, too. Wish
there could be a way for us within the rules, Mac."
Checking
her internal clock she decided to go get lunch.
While she sat
in a little café near the headquarters, she remembered the
past evening. It was so perfect… Why had it to be so difficult…?
Why had it to be forbidden for them to do what their heards were
crying to get?
When she sat down at
her office desk after her lunch break, she saw a message blinking…
again.
She clicked on the pop-up window and it opened…
"You
know what? Were already stuck in this affair, I guess. There is going
to be a way for us if you want, within the rules… it just needs
time…"
Time… if that would be the only thing…
She
read the few lines over and over again and everytime one word was
hopping around in her mind… Time.
Her coworker, Commander
Sounders, was looking astonished at her…
"Are you OK,
Colonel?" He asked.
"Er… What?" She turned her head
slowly and looked at him in confusion. "Excuse me, what did you
say?"
"Are you alright Colonel?" Sounders asked worried.
"Yeh, I'm alright." She turned her head again and stared at
the PC…
5 minutes later…
It knocked on the door…
A Petty Officer was standing there and adressed Mac…
"Colonel, the Admiral wants to see you ASAP."
"I'm
coming…" She said and got ready for war… against letting her
feelings obviously show… to the Admiral and to others.
Hesitantly
she stood up and walked behind the PO to AJ's Office.
"Colonel
MacKenzie reporting as ordered!" Mac stood right in front of his
desk.
"At ease, Colonel. Have a seat."
The office door
closed with a nearly inaudible click…
With a puzzled expression
on her face Mac watched AJ moving.
"I just got a new file…"
He handed her a folder.
"You have to go to an Army Base, it's
not far away from here. A Major and a Lieutenant disappeared 8 days
ago. Their Commanding Officer is thinking that they ran away, but he
is the only one. Most people are thinking that they were kidnapped by
a militia group. Hand your current cases to Commander Sounders."
"Aye Sir." Mac answered him.
A soft smile was growing on
AJ's face.
"Take care." He whispered before barking a
"Dismissed!"
"Aye Sir!" Mac said again while standing at
attention.
Before she opened the door, she turned her head around
and gave him a quick smile, then she left.
AJ had wached her
leaving and he felt relieved… He knew that it would have been
difficult for him to hold the distance… He remembered her too much…
The look of her face, her skin…
Again he concentrated on
his work, his thoughts drifting off just a few times.
When
Mac had left his office, she went straight to her own and told
Sounders about her leaving.
Her feelings were running up and down
the road they had ran up and down the whole day, now they were just…
faster.
Then she took her things and drove to her Hotelroom,
packing her stuff and driving with a JAG-car to the Base.
After
a one-hour-drive she was at the location. While driving she had had a
lot of time to think about what had happened to her… She realised,
that the feelings she had for her CO were not just friendship and
respect and also no feelings about wanting a short affair… It was
love.
She had thought about it over and over again and everytime
she got to the same answer…
And then a new question came up in
her mind… Had he sent her away because he didn't respond to these
feelings? But that would stand against his little message…
And
against the little lovable smile he had given her before she had
left.
She put the thoughts away when she nearly had a crash with
a truck because she hadn't concentrated enough onto the road…
After a short briefing with the Commanding Officer, Mac decided to ask the coworkers of Leutnant Milano and Major Carahoff some questions about them…
"…
Why do you think they were kidnapped?" Mac asked again… She had
asked several people the same question and she got a different answer
from everyone of them …
Full of hope, she had begun to ask the
people about the two officers and at the beginning she had only been
getting a clearer picture of the people she had to work with…
The
only thing she was nearly sure now was, that the two hadn't
deserted…
But why was the CO so sure that they had?
That
was one of the questions circling around in her head…
She
leaned back in the chair, lost in thoughts and playing with a pencil
on the table…
And then the phone rang and shook her out of the
trance she had fallen into.
"MacKenzie"
"This is
Admiral Chegwidden…"
Quiet…
They heard the breathing of
the other through the telephone…
"How are things going?" he
asked…
I'm only 4 hours gone…
"I'm, not quite
sure, Sir." She answered him. "I'll let you know if I find
something out."
Again it was quiet and they could nearly feel
the tension over the line…
"Ehm… I have to get to a
meeting…" The connection ended apruptly…
Mac stared at the
phone and with half a smile she shook her head before putting the
phone down.
Let's go back to work Marine! She pushed herself
up and went to the door…
Outside the building she went over
to the gym and watched some people running…
Because she was
again lost in thoughts she didn't realise that someone sat down
beside her.
"You're the JAG Officer investigating the
disappearance of Major Carahoff and Lieutenant Milano, right?"
"Right." Mac turned her head and saw a young Lieutenant.
"Do
you know something about it?"
"Yes and no…" was the
answer. Mac was quiet… She saw the expression on the woman's face
and knew she would talk…
"I know that they werw kidnapped and
I know the place where they were brought to…"
She turned her
head and faced Mac…
"Do you really care about what happened
to them?" She asked.
"Yes I am." Mac said and meant it.
"First I'm going to tell you the why and then the when and
who… But do you have a place where nobody is listening?"
"Sure…"
They went to Mac's car…
Mac drove to a place near the gym and
parked in a remote corner…
"So?" she asked the Leutnant.
"Lieutenant Milano and Commander Akens had an affair. Major
Carahoff knew about it, she caught them in flagranti… Brigadier
General Casselli talked to Lieutenant Milano and Commander Akens…
and to Major Carahoff… I don't know what they decided to do, but
obviously they didn't take the official way…" Her voice was
nearly a whisper.
"Nine days ago we started a training camp…
And 8 days ago they disappeared without a trace… We followed their
footsteps as far as we could but it was useless… The footsteps
ended abruptly and there were only wheeltrails from a car. We lost
them on a street."
She paused.
"When we got back from the
camp at that evening, General Casselli told us not to talk about it
and that they would come back after some hours, but they didn't."
"You're worried about them right?" Mac asked politely.
"Yes." she whispered…
Just in this moment Mac's cell
phone rang… Admiral Chegwidden's name appeared on the display.
"Excuse me" Mac told the Lieutenant and got halfways out of
the car.
"Sir?" She asked…
"Mac, subject changed…"
quiet a moment. "…Attempted murder in two cases…"
Mac was
shocked a second.
"Where are they?" She asked quietly…
"In
a local hospital in San Diego. They were found just three streets
away from the HQ."
"How are they?"
He sighed… "Not
very good, but it's good enough that you can see them and ask some
questions…"
"Sir, I have a young Lieutenant here with me,
I'll bring her over to San Diego… I guess she wants to see the
Major and the Lieutenant… She has some interesting information
about the case…"
"Come over to the HQ first, I'll want to
speak to her before you are going."
"We'll be there in
about… an hour." Mac told him.
"I'll wait…" Again
there was a tension between them and they interrupted it only because
they had to.
"Be careful…" Mac heard his voice befor the
line went dead.
With a heavy sigh she sat back into the car.
"We're driving to my CO in San Diego." She told the
Lieutenant. "They found Major Carahoff and Lieutenant Milano.
They're in a hospital in San Diego."
While they were on their
way to the office of General Casselli Mac was worried if he would let
the two of them go…
"General, my CO wants me and the
Lieutenant in the JAG Office in San Diego."
"Something new
about the status of Major Carahoff and Lieutenant Milano?" He asked
her…
"They are not longer disappeared… they are in a
hospital."
"Dismissed." Casselli barked and stood up
himself, walking over to the window and stared at the landscape…
With a bad feeling Mac walked over to the car.
She didn't
know where it had come from but it was so clear… Following a
certain intuition she knelt down and scanned the bottom of the
vehicle…
But there was nothing…
Mac had decided to leave
the base with the young Lieutenant…
So they drove off …
AJ
sat behind his desk, staring at his phone…
One hour… he
sighed and looked at the report he had got from the Police Department
about the Major and the Lieutenant and where they were found…
About an hour later,
Mac stopped the car in the HQ carpark.
They went straight to
Admiral Chegwidden's Office and after a short talk they drove off
to the hospital.
Mac kept her expression expressionless… A
stranger would've thought the atmosphere between AJ and Mac was
cold… But the two of them only tried not to show anything than
professionalism and it was hard for them … very hard …
1855
local time
JAG HQ San Diego
AJ had left the hospital
early, because he had to do paperwork and other stuff…
Mac
arrived in her office; she had been in the hospital most of the day…
She sat down at her desk, studying the notes she had written.
After half an hour had passed by, she went over to write her
recommendation…
She hadn't written much when she fell asleep.
It had been a long day and she was exhausted… And she was nearly
the only one at the HQ except of the night watch… Nearly.
AJ
Chegwidden looked at his the clock hanging above his office door…
1940…
Time to go… he thought, straightened his back and
began to pack his stuff.
He took his coat and his cap and went
out into the bullpen.
He was surprised when he saw that he wasn't
the last one who left. Couriously he went over and then he saw Mac
sleeping in her chair, her head and arms on the desk.
He stood in
the doorway to her office like frozen, grasping every detail of what
he saw. She looked so peaceful… so soft.
He slowly walked over
to her, still watching her sleeping.
Then he softly shook her
shoulder…
With a very sleepy look in her eyes, she looked at
him and at first she didn't know where she was but she knew very
well with whom…
"AJ…" she whispered.
Hearing the
sound of his name and seeing her with this groggy expression in her
eyes made AJ nearly crazy.
Then Mac realized where she was and
she slowly stood up.
"I'm sorry, Admiral…" she began, but
was cut off.
"No excuse… I only woke you up because I know
how uncomfortable it is to sleep in a chair, leaned over on a office
desk." He gave her a smile which made her feel like a teenager…
"Thank you…" She said and began to rearrange her desk. Soon
she gave up and walked over to take her coat and her hat.
Mac and
AJ walked out of the door at the same time and each of them bumped
into one side of the doorframe…
Their eyes met and it was so
hard not to lose control…
Their lips met only for the fraction
of a second before parting again.
AJ's fingertips were
wandering along her cheekbone… Mac shivered… How much had she
missed him… With a heavy sigh AJ took his hand away…
"I'm
so sorry…" He whispered to her…
Their
eyes locked and they would've loved to kiss… it was against the
rules…
But why had it felt so damned right…
A voice shook
them out of their trance…
"Good evening…" the night guard
greeted them and walked through the bullpen and dissapeared through
the backdoor…
The spell was broken.
"I'll walk you to
your car…" AJ said and together they walked in silence to
the elevator…
It was a little bit scary walking over the empty
car park to their cars… which stood side by side.
"Good
night… "Mac said slowly when they stood at her car. No one moved…
"Mac…" His voice was rough and pleading…
When he
tried to go on talking Mac laid her finger on his mouth…
"AJ…"
she whispered… "I know… but we can't… we can't…"
Her
face was a mirror of the feelings deep inside of her…
What he
saw made him nearly speechless… Love, desire…fear… She was
frightened doing something she wanted to so much and breaking the
rules she had sworn to protect while doing it …
He leaned
forward and Mac thought he would kiss her… but he didn't… She
wished he had…
Their foreheads leaned against each other and
they closed their eyes in comprehension…
"Permission to hug
the Admiral?" Mac asked with a shaky voice after several seconds…
"Granted…" AJ whispered back and Mac leaned towards him,
enjoying the feeling of holding him…
AJ was the one who broke
the spell which had overcome them… again…
He knew that if
they would stay like that a little bit longer, he would not be able
to get a grip of himself…
"See you tomorrow…" Mac
whispered…
"Yeah… see you tomorrow, too…" He gave her a
smile and turned around to get to his car. Mac watched him walking
away and then she sat hin her car, not beeing able to drive off…
Helplessly she let hear head sink against the steering-wheel
She
had to fight the tears welling up inside her…
Why … she
thought… why…
And then she made a decision…
Whith new
confidence she drove out of the car park and to the hotel where she
stayed since she had arrived in San Diego… there had been no time
for looking for an apartment…
And maybe she needn't look for
it…
When she was in her room, she sat down at the small desk
and began to write on a sheet of paper…
While writing, she
thought about what would happen when she handed it in…
Meanwhile in AJ's house…
He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling…
In his thoughts he was with Mac…
She had given him a definitely
new perspective of how his life could be…
And he knew one thing
for sure… He didn't want to live without her… But things were
not so easy… they never were when it came to important decisions…
He sighed and rolled on his side, staring at his alarm clock…
Damn… He thought…
And then he thought of the
opportunities they had…
One of them would have to be
transferred… Or have to leave the military service… But both of
them wanted to serve in the military…
Over his thoughts he fell
asleep… after hours of thinking…
0825 local time
JAG
HQ San Diego
Admiral Chegwidden's Office
Someone
knocked on his door… He could only imagine one person who was at
the HQ this early except of him… Mac.
"Enter…" He called
out loud…
Mac opened the door, with a folder in her hands. In
front of his desk she got to attention.
"At ease, Colonel…"
AJ told her, studying her face.
"What's on your mind?" He
asked gently…
With a sigh Mac handed him the folder, explaining
"It's my transfer request, Sir."
"Have a seat, Colonel…"
His voice was indifferent…
Mac sat down nervously, not sure
what to expect…
"Tell me the reason." AJ demanded…
Mac
looked in his face, not sure what to say… then she turned her had
and stared at her hands…
"The reason is personal, Sir." She
looked in his face, her face a battlefield of emotions.
He was
just looking at her… No word, no response about what she just had
said…
Mac was getting more nervous every second she was in this
room, the words she had said… or better not said hanging in the air
and she still didn't get any response from him…
It was
driving her crazy…
"Colonel… Mac…" when she heard his
voice and the tone in which he spoke to her, she felt a little bit
released, but only a little bit…
"You know what's expecting
you, don't you?" He saked…
"I know…" She sighed. "I
might be transferred to a carrier or anywhere else…" Her voice
trailed off.
AJ only nodded and dismissed her…
When the
door closed behind her, he was released in one point and frightened
in another… He was glad about her leaving his command, so they
would be able to get together seriously… But he was frightened to
lose her, if she would be stationed on a carrier… Then they
wouldn't see each other as often as they did right now…
1623
local time
JAG HQ San Diego
Admiral Chegwidden's Office
"Colonel MacKenzie, ASAP…" AJ adressed his PO…
"Yes
Sir…" And he was gone.
Mac was just ready with the case
when a Petty Officer entered…
"The Admiral wants to see you
ASAP."
"Thanks, I'm coming." Said and done…
"Colonel,
have a seat…" he adressed her when she stood at attention.
"Thank you, Sir…" She sat down, without any colour in her
face…
"I've looked around because of your transferring
request…" he said and watched Mac's face emptying a little
more…
"There is an open assignment on one of our destroyers
in the Pacific fleet… I also heared about a JAG-lawyer who wanted
to transfer to San Diego… You could exchange positions… He is a
member of the staff at the NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND. Think
about the opportunities and make your decision… I expect an answer
up to Monday morning… Dismissed…"
"Aye Sir…" When she
had reached the door, she gave him a quick smile and then left…
She sat down in her office, not realizing, that her Co-worker
watched her…
"Something wrong, Colonel?" He asked her…
Again…
"No, it's alright…" And then she thought about
what AJ had told her…
All opportunities were in or near San
Diego… She asked herself if it was a sign…
1936 local
time
Mac's hotel room
She sat in the armchair, papers
of the different assignments lying in front of her...
In fact she
had made her desicion... A transfer to the Naval Airstation North
Island...
It was near San Diego, in a town called Coronado, the
whole northern part of the half of the island was owned by the
military.
She would have loved to call AJ, to hear his voice, to
tell him that soon they would be able to be together...
A look at
the comfortable bed and she was half asleep...
Next day
JAG HQ San Diego
Mac went over to AJ's Office, knocked
and entered…
"So you made your decision…" I hope she
hasn't taken the destroyer… he prayed and was soon released…
"Yes Sir…" She handed him the information she had gotten
from his PO…
"If it's possible, I would choose the
assignment at the Naval Airstation Northern Island…"
AJ
smiled at her… "I hoped you would take this one…" he grabbed
the phone and dialed the nummber of the Chief of Staff of the Naval
Base…
"Good morning, this is Admiral Chegwidden… Yes, we
already talked yesterday… Yes, I want to speak him… Yes, I found
someone for your JAG Office… Yes… Colonel Sarah MacKenzie… Yes,
a Marine… OK… Thank you… Yes…" He laughed and hung up…
"So, Colonel… your transferring request is approved… If you
want to… it is from tomorrow on…" He gave her a confident smile
and Mac smiled in response… She was glad to be sitting already…
"There is something else on the agenda…" he told her, still
smiling…
"The welcome party…" he smirked… "Or for you
now… the welcome and godbyeparty…"
"I would've loved to
get to know these people… It's Coronado for God's sake… Not
very far away… I could visit them from time to time…" She
smiled at him…
AJs phone rang…
"Chegwidden…"
It
was quiet… "Yes Sir… I understand… No problem… No… Yes…"
he hung up…
"I've got some work to do… You're getting
the rest of the day off duty, to get your things done… You don't
have a flat or a house, right?" He asked…
"Yeah… I'm
still staying at the hotel." Mac answered.
AJ gave her a note…
"That's the number of an estate agent I know. He knows the best
places… Call him and tell him I gave you the number, you won't
have any problems… And a house without blinking twice…"
"Thank
you, Sir."
AJ walked around his desk.
"I'm glad about
you being near… And not under my command." He said softly.
"I'm
glad about it, too." Mac answered, with sparkels in her eyes…
And then the phone rang again…
"Sorry…" He took it.
"Chegwidden…" He held his hand over the phone… "Dismissed,
Colonel… Hope we don't lose contact."
Mac smiled and
silently made a promise…
Then she shut the door behind and
walked to her office, collecting her things… And some confused
looks from her coworkers.
At 1705 she got a call on her cell
phone… It was from AJ Chegwidden.
"Sarah MacKenzie?" she
asked.
"Hello, Sarah, this is AJ Chegwidden… The welcome
Party is tonight in a pub near the HQ, it's called "Morning's
glow", if you want to come, the party begins at 1900."
"I'd
love to." She answered.
"May I pick you up at the hotel?"
"That would be great."
1845 local time
in
front of Mac's hotel
He stopped his car and saw Mac was
already waiting. When she saw his car, she walked over and sat down
in the car.
"Nice dress, Mac." AJ looked at her and couldn't
stop thinking about kissing her… She was so beautiful…
Mac
blushed lightly, when she realised how he gazed at her.
"You
look good, too, AJ." She had thrown the nasty "Admiral"
overboard … And she was glad about it.
They leaned forward
and their lips met for a tender kiss…
It felt like they had
thrown heavy stones from their backs… They felt released and it was
just great, doing what they had wanted to do all through the last
week and weren't allowed to do.
After the kiss they leaned
their foreheads against each other… like on the carpark…
Then
they their gazes locked and there was an unknown but also liberating
atmosphere between them…
The End