A/N: Since you all have been so patient in awaiting Season Four, we figured we'd give you a little treat. The Season Premiere is two parts! Now, the debate here was whether or not to post both parts together or not. We decided to post them together but we want you guys to know that doesn't let you out of having to review both of them so let's get a separate review for each part of the Season Premiere, pretty please! We love you guys, so show us some extra love on this one.
2 Months following the Season Three Finale
0614 LOCAL
NORTH OF 34th PARALLEL
SOMEWHERE IN AZAD, KASHMIR
"Boss, we've been sitting in this godforsaken part of the world for six weeks. I can tell you minute by minute what Ziyda does through the day. Can we just go get him and haul his ass home?" Gunny was noticeably frustrated as he hid with the others in the brush across from the safehouse.
"Something's been bugging me about this whole thing. Why would Ziyda hide in a part of the world like Azad where he would be right under the nose of Indian intelligence who would rather shoot him themselves then risk another Muslim, especially a terrorist, entering their borders." Webb wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Webb, think like an Islamic terrorist. There are a few places in the world where hatred of you is so fierce that the thought of you hiding anywhere near there would make your enemies laugh. For Ziyda, places like Israel, India or America would practically order a shoot on sight notice just on the suspicion that he might be in the country. So, he would hide out on the doorstep because they wouldn't check. Places like the West Bank, Kashmir or even Mexico are perfect because the internal instability allows them to go unnoticed." Harm dropped his eyes from the binoculars for a second. "Speaking of which, Bax, Gunny's right; can we just boat this bass already?"
"Just a little while longer. Our orders are to apprehend Ziyda without getting ourselves killed or causing a big international stink." Bax was still looking through his binoculars.
"I thought our orders were arrest Ziyda and eliminate his bodyguards." Harm stated. "What about that is avoiding a big international stink?"
"You have a silencer on your gun don't you?" Bax fired off a retort.
"That's the Secretary's idea of avoiding a big international stink?" Gunny was in disbelief.
"Your tax dollars at work." Webb joked. "If I had a guess; I'd say that the reason that no one went to any real measures to prevent this from making headlines is that they want it to make headlines."
"What the hell kind of screwed up sense does that make, Webb?" Harm turned to face the spook.
"No, think about it. Webb, idiot though he is, is right; the Secretary can't just call up Osama Bin Laden and tell him to fuck off but if he publicly had a high-ranking member of an Al Qaeda shura apprehended by American mercenaries, it would be the same message but in a much more threatening delivery." Bax realized that he was still looking at two blank faces. "It's like when the mob breaks your brother's legs to get you to pay up on your debt. They want you to know that they can get to you. That's the message we're giving Al Qaeda leaders just by being here."
"We're also risking our asses without a lot of cover." Harm responded with a weary tone.
"But we're covering for each other. We know that if we look out for each other we should make it through unscathed." Gunny chuckled at his turn to have a revelation. "So that's what you get when you combine a Marine and a politician."
"What's that, Gunny?" Harm asked.
"One sly son of a bitch, sir." Gunny answered.
1342 ZULU
NATE ROSS' CONDO
FOGGY BOTTOM, DC
The alarm clock buzzed and was punched for the third time this Sunday morning as Nate rolled back over into the bed to lie face to face with Nicole. He watched as her eyes flickered open. "Morning." She whispered drowsily and quickly kissed his lips. "Honey, no more black tie galas for a while okay? If I have to have one more Senator or diplomat commend me on that essay I wrote for Time while they stare at my breasts, I may scream."
"I agree, there are far too many men staring at your breasts." Nate smiled weakly. "I agree with you on the black tie thing, too many people want to shake my hand."
"Wait until you run for President, they're going to want you to kiss their babies too." Peach smiled as she cuddled into his chest.
"Who says I'm going to run for President?" Nate seemed to be slightly unnerved by the question.
"Honey, the Presidential election is in two years; thirteen months until the filing deadline and the New Hampshire Primary and let's face it, you're the Democrats best chance to beat Andrew Russell." Peach's tone softened. "Everyone thinks you're going to run."
"No sitting cabinet secretary has ever ran against the sitting President." Nate was slowly beginning to come awake.
"No cabinet secretary has ever been from the other party." Peach retorted.
"I'm not even sure that I can run against him and still be in the cabinet. Besides, I'm not sure that I want to run just yet." Nate bowed his head to kiss her knuckles.
"What do you mean, just yet?" Peach raised her eyebrows.
"Well, I've only just found you, I'd like to get married, settle into being your husband and even start that family you want and I would find it hard to do that while either running to be the Leader of the Free World or actually being the President."
"Are you actually saying that I mean more to you then being President?" Peach was stunned, just when she thought that she had Nate all figured out, he could still throw a curve ball.
"Without a doubt. I'd rather take a smaller post and have the time to spend with you then take on the big job right now. Doesn't mean I won't do it eventually, I'd just like the decision to be one that we make together." Nate began to work on that soft spot on her neck.
"Okay, this is totally not fair. I have to go and do bridal party stuff for your sister's wedding and you decide to start this? Oh no, mister, I have to go and get ready and you'll just have to wait until I get home." Peach crawled out of bed with the bedsheet wrapped around her.
"Would getting ready involve taking a shower?" Nate asked.
"I guess." Peach furrowed her brow then her eyes went wide as Nate got out of the bed.
"Then I'll join you." Nate chased her into the bathroom as she giggled in hilarity.
1405 ZULU
MAC'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN, DC
"Come on, Jarhead." Mac gave the back of her thigh a pat as the dog followed her into the apartment. "You're getting too big, pooch." Mac chuckled as the dog jumped up from the floor on to the couch and nearly went soaring over the back. She filled his food and water bowls and gave his head a quick pet as the dog lapped happily at his water. His mistress was one of a kind, that's for sure and he seemed to really take to her. "Alright, boy, you be good until I get back okay?" Mac knelt down and cradled his head in her hands. "Mrs. Svenson will be by in a few hours to take you for a walk."
Mac quickly showered and changed. She ran a towel through her hair as she walked through the living room toward the door. She through on her jacket and headed for the door. "Middle of November and I'm headed outside with wet hair." She mused aloud as she waved goodbye to Jarhead.
Mac was going to meet the other bridesmaids for a few more touch ups on the wedding next weekend. In the last few weeks, she had certainly spent a bit of time with Peach, Anna and Bev and found them to be a most enjoyable group of women even if they weren't her regular circle of friends. Harriet had been busy with Bud since he'd gotten home from sea duty after the attack on the courthouse in Kandahar a few months earlier.
Peach had stopped by to pick her up as they were to meet Bev and Anna (on weekend liberty from the Academy). Mac came downstairs to see Peach leaning against the passenger side door of her car. "Leave it to a Marine to be right on time." Peach joked as Mac came walking out of her apartment building.
"You live with one; you'd think you would be used to it by now." Mac retorted as she stepped on to the sidewalk.
"I don't think I'll ever be used to how squared away you Marines can be. The thought of having a kid like Nate who can look down at his watch and tell me exactly how many seconds until we have to be in the car in order to make it to school on time would be frightening if it wasn't so adorable." Peach walked around the front of the car and watched as Mac stood stalk still next to her door on the sidewalk.
"Are you……you know?" Mac asked cautiously.
"What?" Peach retorted looking confused.
"Well, I just assumed, you know a woman in a serious relationship, talking about kids, one assumes that she's…" Mac stopped for a second a shrugged her shoulders suggestively which cause Peach to chuckle.
"Expecting? Sorry, not the case." Peach put the car in drive and headed to the flower shop in Georgetown where they were going to meet Bev and Anna for one last double-check on the floral arrangements. "A bridesmaid's work is never done, huh?"
"Don't let me think about it, I'm a bridesmaid at a wedding for which I have no date." Mac rolled her eyes.
"Still no word from Harm then, huh?" Peach asked as she took a corner.
"You don't mince words, huh?" Mac was shocked by the forthrightness of Peach's approach. She stopped for a second before venturing on. "Has Nate told you anything?"
"As far as I know, there are only four people in the United States who know where they are and that's Nate, The President, the Director of Central Intelligence and the Chief of Naval Operations. Other then that, no one has security clearance to know and no one who does know, is telling. Sorry." Peach put the car in park along the side of the street in front of the flower shop.
"It's just kind of hard you know? It's tough for me to know that he's out there and in danger and no know where he is, what he's doing or if the people he's with, give a damn whether he lives or dies." Mac paused again to compose herself. "I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from."
"I do, it's okay, Mac. I know there are times and circumstances where I could see myself feeling the same way." Peach and Mac moved over the sidewalk and into the shop.
The bridal party spent a few minutes talking with each other and then they spent more then a half an hour going over the floral arrangements with the shop owner. The four of them took a pause. Young Anna Ross threw herself down in a chair and with a heavy sigh, she raised her hand to her forehead.
"Anna? What's wrong? You look like you've been run through the washing machine during the spin cycle." Beverly knelt down next to her sister.
"I've just got a lot on my mind." Anna answered dismissively. Mac and Peach turned to look at each other.
"Men problems." They said simultaneously and then pulled up chairs so that they could all sit down and have a talk with Anna. "Alright, honey, who's causing the problem?"
"My boyfriend, he's being such a petty jerk." Anna started rubbing her temples. "I've never seen any guy get so jealous so quickly."
"What happened?" Beverly asked, unable to resist falling back on the counselling part of her job training.
"Well, I've been trying to help this young Midshipman that I know, get used to Academy life by helping him with a few of his classes since his grasp of English is less than completely proficient. Anyway, my boyfriend Dave is this guy's Midshipman-Lieutenant and now, every time his insecurities get the better of him, he makes this poor guy's life hell." Anna was obviously moved by her predicament.
"Sounds like a quality man." Peach mused sarcastically.
"Nicole!" Bev turned quickly eye to eye with her brother's girlfriend. "She's having a hard enough time without you being critical."
"Fine, sorry, Anna I know this must be tough for you." Peach squared herself up in a way that would have made a Marine proud.
"Well, you know how Midshipmen are supposed to participate in sports, right?" Anna started and she got nods from the other women. "Well, Dave was last year's Captain of the hockey team and hence, he's this year's captain as well. He and Sergei have to play on a line together, the coach was ecstatic to have a Russian skater like him. Well the two of them came to blows at the last practice and Dave said that I had to choose, between being his girlfriend or Sergei's friend. I told him that it wasn't fair to make me choose but he said that being in a relationship shouldn't involve competing for my time. Have any of you been in this situation? I could really use some help."
"Yes." Mac and Peach said simultaneously once again.
"What did you guy's do?" Anna asked hopefully.
"I never stopped being friends with your brother, and as a result I ended up breaking up with the guy I had been dating at the time. Not until after he and your brother had beaten the hell out of each other." Peach had to laugh lightly.
"In my case, it was a little different but the eventual end was the same, I'm still friends with the one guy but I've long since ditched the boyfriend." Mac put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "And I've long since learned that those kind of men just aren't worth it."
0908 LOCAL
NORTH OF 34th PARALLEL
SOMEWHERE IN AZAD, KASHMIR
"Alright, Webb, Gunny and Harm, you three have to go in together, I'll stay out here and cover you. Remember, as far as we know; only Ziyda and his immediate bodyguard team are in there. You have two hundred and ten seconds to get in there and get him out before the local Al Qaeda cavalry come rushing in. That means that you have to be back out this exit to the cave. The Marines are already in the air, a transport from the Truman was launch an hour ago and they're expected here any minute. It's been a pleasure serving with you guys." Bax shook hands with each member of the team.
"Just make sure that those jarheads stick around to get us out of here, Commander." Webb loaded the clip into his gun.
"Marines never leave a man behind, Mr. Webb; even if he is an ungrateful spook." Gunny retorted.
"I wouldn't take on the Marine Corps, Webb. They're more highly trained and slightly crazy then any group of Company men that you can put together." Harm brought the AK-47 down into his hands and checked the magazine before turning toward the cave. "It's two hundred and ten seconds starting with the first shot, right?"
"Yeah, it's been good seeing you again, buddy." Bax reached out and shook his old Academy buddy's hand.
"It's been too damn long for me to die doing something as simple as this. You just make sure that those Marines are here when we get back out of the cave." Harm pulled him in for a quick bear hug. "See you in five minutes." With that, Bax took his post as Harm, Gunny and Webb entered the dark subterranean cavern. Webb led the way with Gunny in the middle and Harm bringing up the rear. There were caves like this one all over Pakistan and Afghanistan but the intelligence that they had gathered told them that Abu Ziyda was in this one and there own observations over the last few months confirmed that intelligence.
They were a long way from Washington now. Their orders were simple. Take Ziyda alive and kill everyone else in the cave. They got regular messages from Langley and from Nate and the State Department. The basic idea of these operations was to prove to Osama Bin Laden, that no on in untouchable. If they could get Ziyda, then they could get Zawahiri or anyone else in the Al Qaeda command. The SAS had made a capture of a terrorism suspect in South Africa earlier in the week but news of that wasn't going to reach them, they were too far removed to know of that news.
The rounded a bend and Gunny checked around the corner and nodded in the affirmative to Harm. Sure enough, Ziyda and his personal body team were there at what looked like a convergence of three other caves besides the one that they themselves had come down. Their intelligence said nothing about such an elaborate system. Gunny had his gun drawn and he and Harm exchanged a set of silent signals that basically amounted in an agreement to open fire.
There was no time for precision in this operation. With the discovery of the new routes into the cave system, their time window was exponentially shorter. Within seconds, the sounds of rounds of automatic rifle fire rang through the caves as the members of Abu Ziyda's team fell like lead weights. Webb ducked under the gunfire and roughly grabbed Ziyda around the neck and hauled him up into the retreat. "Didn't waste any time, Webb." Harm commented.
"Not as if we had any to waste, Rabb." Webb answered as he handed off Ziyda to Harm. The Arab man was cursing at his western kidnappers in a linguistic fury as he was being manhandled on the way up to the cave entrance. The gunfire began to build behind them as they worked up the slope to their eventual escape. As they hit the straight, unwinding climb that led to the light of the Pakistani morning, bullets began to whiz passed.
"Y'ever get the feeling that you're being followed?" Harm joked to Ziyda who was unable to understand him and rather looked at him curiously. The shots seemed to get closer to them as they got closer to the exit until eventually they saw Webb fall to the ground. Gunny instinctively reached down and took Webb by the arms and dragged him from the cave and out into the open clearing where the team was greeted by the sound of a Marine UH1 helicopter and their friendly Navy SEAL team leader.
"How bad is he hit?" Bax asked as everyone clambered on to the chopper.
"Looks like he took one in the lower abdomen. The bleeding's not too bad. If we keep pressure on it, it may even stop." Harm answered, slightly out of breath.
"How far out from the Truman are we, sir?" Gunny asked, looking up at his CO.
"A little more then an hour, Gunny." Bax answered and then turned to confront Abu Ziyda. "As for Mr. Ziyda, the Secretary gave me very specific instructions for how to talk to him." Bax then began to rhyme off a prepared speech in Arabic.
"I didn't know that you spoke Arabic." Harm inquired as he pressed down a pressure bandage on Webb's wound.
"I don't, the Secretary prepared the speech and told me to memorize it. It's sort of the Miranda rights for a terrorist." Bax had one of the Marines put a pair of shackles on Ziyda's wrists. "Basically it states that since they were not participants in any armed conflict and are not American citizens, we are perfectly within our rights to make their lives absolute hell and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it.
0113 ZULU
REHEARSAL DINNER
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
"AJ, don't you think you should really have a best man? I mean, honey, I know that you wanted Harm to be here but it doesn't look like he's going to make it." Bev walked over to the Admiral and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Rabb will be here; this is just how he does things." The Admiral protested. In truth, no one with the exception of Nate knew where Harm was or had any reason to believe that he would be back in the DC area in time for the wedding or the rehearsal. Nate largely kept to himself, standing near the back of the chapel with his brother and father, partaking of the scotch that the Commandant had brought to the rehearsal.
"It's good scotch, dad." Nate gave his head a quick shake after chancing another taste. Steve had to cough after he took a drink.
"Damn good, dad." Steve added as he tried to breathe normally again after his coughing fit.
"I should have taught you two how to drink like Marines, for God's sake, it's only a little scotch." General Jack gave his youngest boy a hard slap on the back. Peach came walking over when she saw that the three of them had managed to rope in the reverend and Sturgis to their drinking circle.
"What are you three up to now? You do know that you're here to rehearse for Beverly's wedding tomorrow." Peach sternly put her hands on her hips.
"Now simmer down, Nicole. AJ wouldn't let us throw a bachelor party for him, so we're throwing one in his honour." General Jack answered as he poured the next round of shots.
"By drinking scotch in the back of the Cathedral of the Navy?" Peach asked, looking thoroughly disappointed with the retired Marine four-star.
"Damn right!" The Reverend answered as the scotch glasses clinked together and everyone downed the next drink.
"Besides, AJ has already stated that he has no intention of starting until his best man gets here." Nate blatantly checked his watch. "We'll serious up and sober up the minute Harm walks through those back doors, if that happens any time tonight."
"You know something, spill." Peach elbowed her boyfriend in the shoulder.
Nate chuckled before answering. "I know nothing."
"I'll verify that." Steve added which caused the group of men to laugh.
"You checked your watch after you mentioned that the Admiral wouldn't start until Harm got here, it's as if you're expecting him. What do you know?" Peach goaded him, knowing that she was unlikely to break that Marine stoicism even if he did have a few drinks in his system.
"In the words of Sergeant Schultz; I know nussing, NUSSING!" Nate answered with a quick smile as his dad poured him another drink.
"Alright, folks, we're going to start now, since it doesn't look like the best man will be showing up any time soon." The Admiral called from the front of the chapel. The Reverend, Sturgis and two of the three Ross men moved up toward the front few pews of the chapel. "Lieutenant Roberts, you'll assume the responsibilities of best man in Commander Rabb's absence. Commander Turner, you'll stand in Lieutenant Roberts place as the usher." The wedding party assumed their positions to run through the rehearsal. The General kind of staggered as he guided his daughter down the aisle but the trip was pretty smooth considering.
Nate and Steve tried to sit stalk still in the pew next to their mother but they couldn't resist acting just a little childish, lightly smacking each other and exchanging insults. Eventually, the bride reached the front of the church and was standing, facing the groom. Of course, almost perfectly on time according to the blurry numbers on Nate's watch, the back doors of the church swung wide open.
"I hope we're not late." Harm announced to the open church as he and Gunny came walking down the middle aisle. Everyone smiled as they saw the normally truant Naval aviator strut confidently down the aisle toward the bridal party at the front of the church.
"Rabb, you are so lucky you're not under my command any more." The Admiral chuckled as Harm came up and stood by his side. "Alright, sorry Lieutenant Roberts but it looks like we're back to our original places everyone."
"Our original place was here, wasn't it, Abbott?" Nate turned to his brother Steve.
"Sure was, Costello." Steve answered; both young men got a nasty look from their mother.
"Alright, Reverend the ball's in your court." The Admiral turned to the reverend who was watching with amusement the latest cast change. The rehearsal service went as planned. At the end, after bidding the soon to be bride and groom farewell, a small group gathered out on the steps in front of the chapel.
"Nice to see you again, you got good results. Not as good as the British, but good enough." Nate gave Harm a pat on the back. "Where's Webb? I thought for sure he would be here."
"He got shot." Harm stated simply. "Hit in the lower abdomen, they had to fly him into Landstuhl. He was bleeding pretty badly; he needed two units of blood on the way to the hospital, he crashed on us once." Harm watched Mac's facial expressions; her face seemed to freeze when he mentioned that Webb had crashed. He tried to lighten the mood a little. "How's my little jarhead?" He moved up the steps toward her. His choice of words probably wasn't the best since everyone around them: Bud, Harriet, Sturgis, Bobbi, Gunny, Tiner, Nate and Peach just stood there in a silent state of shock, unwilling to say anything. "I mean the dog; how's he doing?" Now everyone but Mac went from shocked to just confused.
Mac recovered from the shock of the initial question in her usual graceful manner. "Oh, yeah, the dog, he's uh doing fine, growing like a wild weed." She forced a chuckle. There was an awkward silence.
"I think we'll be going." Nate moved down the steps and flagged down his limo. "Can we give anyone else a ride back to the hotel in town?" Nate stood in the door to the car. Bud, Harriet and Tiner walked over and climbed into the car. "Anyone else? Alright, see everyone later tonight or tomorrow then." Nate sunk down into the car and closed the door.
Harm took a few hesitant steps toward Mac. "Any chance I might be able to go with you to the wedding tomorrow?" He asked.
"Sorry, Harm, I wasn't sure if you were going to be here today so I found someone else to go with." Mac fought to maintain a straight face as she screwed with him.
"Who?" He asked, looking slightly defeated.
"Keeter." Mac deadpanned, if Harm had looked at Sturgis who was threatening to erupt in laughter, he would have caught on to the gag but he didn't and instead, he just reacted.
"KEETER!" Harm practically shouted. "Tell me you're not dating Keeter."
"You're so easy." Mac openly laughed along with Sturgis and Bobbi. "And you might want to check your responses counsellor; someone might read into them more then you intend."
"So does that mean I can go with you tomorrow?" Harm chose to ignore the fact that he'd been had.
"Yes, Harm, you can go with me tomorrow. By the way, since you and Gunny are late in showing up, you two have to share a hotel room tonight." Mac, being the matron of honour, had set up the hotel arrangements.
"Not a problem, ma'am. The Commander and I have spent the better part of the last two months sleeping in close quarters with the other members of the team." Gunny nodded at Mac.
"You're really going to have to tell me what happened out there." Mac said to Harm with all the seriousness she could muster, showing in her eyes.
"We'll see." Harm answered as they all moved toward their cars in the parking lot.