Title : Where Do We Go From Here… (at last, Part III of the Trilogy!)
Author : Jaggie 107
Disclaimer : JAG and NCIS characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. 'Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye' belongs to PAX TV – and I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you. (I remembered to add NCIS to the Disclaimer – missed it for a few chapters. Sorry!)
Rating : T (I think!)
Thanks for the reviews to : jtbwriter; Radiorox; DD2; Nikki; froggy0319; anna7; Jbird7986; beegirl; JAGFANWI; Abigaile; Judy; roxy; KJFlygirl87; mayaresi; alicia; starryeyes10; skyefire; jnp; JAGJenni; laura carr; AnniGH4ever; Arian04; aserene; rosan; achaon; martini1988; Sarah; wheels04; BlueJay; chawkchic; Manda; BrittanyLS; jaggurl; DushiNoSushi; prymtns; Mey80; kchs123; Sariana of Wind; daisymh; TV Angel 711; Michelle UK
prymtns
Thanks for your lovely review, and for your insight…you're kind of on the right track! No fuzzies (more next time!) – a bit serious now – but I hope you like this next chapter, and please keep reading!
daisymh
Thanks for your review. I hope you like this next chapter, and please keep reading!
TV Angel 711
Thanks for the lovely review, and for the compliment. That's the best of 'creative' writing – I can still picture that pout! I hope you like this next chapter and please keep reading!
jtbwriter
Hiya! So pleased to see work is 'working out' for you, and happy to oblige re the treats online! Pinkie luck is holding! As for the story, not much romance this chapter – had to be serious this time! – but I'll make up for it… Thanks as always for your review and I hope you like this next chapter – come what may – and please keep reading!
froggy0319
Happy to keep you smiling and don't worry, I'll never get tired of getting such wonderful reviews from yourself and others…it makes my day! Thank you, and I hope you like this next chapter. You know the rest! ;o)
MiDushiNoSushi
Thanks for your review and I hope you like this next chapter. Please keep reading!
Michelle UK
Hello and welcome to the story! Thanks for your review and please keep reading!
starryeyes10
Thanks for your review! I hope you like this next chapter, and please keep reading!
BrittanyLS
Happy to make you smile! Thanks for your lovely review. I hope you like this next chapter, and please keep reading!
Louie's Bar – Downtown DC – Friday, Early Evening
DiNozzo saw Harm enter the bar and, as agreed, he got to his feet, drawing Harm's attention to the corner table, out of the way of the main bar, but still with a view of the entrance. Without any obvious acknowledgement, Harm took the vacated table and sat down. Almost immediately someone was at his elbow.
"Drink?"
Harm looked up at the woman standing beside him. Jaded features, bleached hair tied up with a ribbon and a clip, tired eyes not even looking at him as he placed an order for a bottled beer.
"Gotcha." The woman was gone as silently as she had appeared. Both she and Jennifer turned up at the table at the same time a few minutes later. As Jennifer looked around she nodded her head at the bottle on the tray.
"I'll have one of those too, thanks. Put it on his tab." Her request was met with indifference from the waitress, and a look of surprise from Harm. Given her past history, he was aware that Jennifer was street smart, but he hadn't known her before she was put in his custody, and he had only really come to know her again when she had helped save Bud's life. This 'attitude' was not something he was used to, and it showed. When they had been discussing setting the scene for the meeting, Jennifer had asked that she be allowed to 'wing it', stating that if she was to try and remember something scripted, it would sound as false as it actually was. Harm had given her a reassuring smile, but had murmured something to her that had made her laugh.
"You're not taking Comedy 101 along with that psychology degree are you?"
"I just feel more comfortable working this way, sir. I promise I won't screw up."
"I know you won't," Harm acknowledged, and Jack had nodded in agreement.
Back in the present, Jennifer leaned down, as if looking in her purse. Quickly she murmured a confirmation to Harm that Torrance had entered the bar. When the man took a seat without looking around him, Harm let go a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He and Jennifer had been making small talk, anonymous in their surroundings, but as soon as their intended target had arrived the conversation grew louder, and Jennifer began to get to her feet , still not quite sure just what she was going to say to Harm to bring attention to the pair of them. Specifically, Torrance's attention. Harm had already informed her of the man's knowing look the night he had gone into the bar with Jack, and it wouldn't have taken long to figure out just who Harm was, and why he was meeting an enlisted Petty Officer in a dive like Louie's.
"You're not drinking," Harm stated, pointing at the bottle that had mysteriously joined his. Neither one of them had noticed the waitress returning with the bottle and the tab, and Jennifer gave him a wide smile as she figured out her next move.
"Oh, I didn't have any intention of drinking, Captain Rabb. Geez, you men are all the same!"
"Jen, sit down!" Harm hissed, trying to see who was actually watching Jennifer's 'performance' as he spoke to her. When he caught Torrance's eye he paused, not sure of the other man's reaction to the scene they were setting, then he saw the man smile at the same time as he felt the wetness in his lap. The bottle! Harm looked in absolute horror at the stain forming where the beer had been poured, and then up at Jennifer's face as she returned the bottle to the table.
Harm got to his feet as Jennifer turned on her heel and walked towards the toilets in the rear of the room. With a quick glance around the bar, and the amused faces around him, Harm mustered his dignity, dropped a bill on the table to pay for the drinks, and walked out.
Outside Louie's Bar
'I can't believe she did that!' Harm thought to himself, glancing up at a smiling Tony DiNozzo."Not a word,"he muttered, passing the younger man and walking across the street to the SUV. Out of sight of the bar, DiNozzo caught up with him, and Harm opened the door of his car.
"She's very good," DiNozzo commented, and Harm laughed out loud. He was wet, in a very inappropriate place, and he stank of beer, but in all honesty he had to admit, Jennifer had taken him by surprise, and because of that their 'scene' had gone over far better than even he had expected!
"Yeah, she is," he agreed, and looked at DiNozzo closely. "I need to go get changed. You watch her, Tony, and you don't let her out of your sight. I expect to see her tomorrow, in one piece." Harm's tone was deceptively light, but DiNozzo understood the message.
"Yes…boss," he murmured, and both men understood each other perfectly. Harm's trust in DiNozzo, and DiNozzo's respect for Harm. "I'll see you tomorrow for the debrief."
"We'll be there," Harm acknowledged as he climbed into the driver's seat, having put down his jacket as a cover. "When you get a moment, Tony, tell Jen I'll be putting this on her dry-cleaning tab."
"Will do," DiNozzo nodded, grinning as he waved and turned away, heading back to the bar entrance. Harm started the engine on the SUV and drove away.
Louie's Bar – Same Time
Jennifer returned to the room and found a number of people giving her a silent round of applause. Making a mock bow in acknowledgement she then took a seat at the bar itself, ordering another beer at the same time.
"You going to drink this one?" asked the bartender, giving her a smile, but not quite sure what was on her mind. Jennifer returned his smile and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm going to drink it. Now the jerk's gone, I don't intend to waste another good drink." Lifting the bottle in salute, Jennifer tipped it to her lips. As she drank she was aware of the seat next to her being occupied.
"That was quite a scene. Boyfriend troubles?"
"Are you kidding? That jerk? Nah!" Jennifer closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them to find Torrance looking straight at her. He was smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, and a cold feeling settled in her body as she gave him a smile in return. "I have got boyfriend troubles, but they're not with him."
"I'm a good listener."
"Yeah, but I'm not a good talker. At least, not to strangers."
"Then let me introduce myself…Jim Torrance."
"You're military too?"
"Most of the people who come in here are services. Whether it's police, military, whatever… We just come to get away from work or home. So?" Torrance turned Jennifer's question back at her, leaving his own response vague.
"So? So what?" Jennifer took another drink of her beer, and Torrance laughed softly.
"You're a tough cookie. What's your name? I mean, I've introduced myself. It's rude not to return the gesture."
"Jen Coates. Petty Officer, First Class, JAG."
"You're at JAG?"
"Yeah. Transferred in a couple of years ago, off sea-duty. I saved some poor schmuck in Afghanistan, and they gave me a commendation and a choice of shore stations. Go figure! I should've stayed at sea. At least I wouldn't have met him there…" Jennifer's casual flick of her wrist as a dismissive gesture about Harm wasn't lost on Torrance, and he settled closer to both the bar and to Jennifer. For her part, Jennifer was silently apologizing to an unsuspecting Bud about using him in such an offhand manner! As she brought her attention back to the situation, she noticed the invasion of her personal space.
"Hey, back off! Just because I've said so long to sailor-boy doesn't mean I'm back on the market!"
"Of course not. My apologies." Torrance did move back a little bit, but he was still close, and Jennifer was still feeling the coldness. "You did mention a boyfriend. Does he know about you and…sailor-boy?" The laughter in Torrance's tone was snide, and Jennifer gave him a sidelong glance.
"You know who he is?"
"You did say his name, honey."
"Yeah, I know. But do you know him?"
"He's the poster boy for JAG. Everyone knows him, I would have thought. Wearing wings as a JAG? He's a Navy legend."
"Don't let that fool you," Jennifer muttered, deciding to bring the conversation to a close. "My boyfriend…make that my ex-boyfriend…got hung up on my relationship with the Captain, and he split. I thought at least I'd got Rabb to turn to, but it seems he's had a sudden guilt trip and feels that he should spend more time with his wife." Jennifer knew this conversation, although not taped, would be transcribed by the time she and Harm went to the meeting at NCIS the next day. It was time to go.
"Hey, hey…not so fast. Let me buy you another drink at least?"
"No…not tonight." Jennifer was already off her stool and standing when Torrance put his hand on her arm. With a long look at his hand, and then at him, Jennifer watched as he lifted his hand off her. It almost seemed as if she could lose the contact if she wasn't careful, and so she gave him a smile and sighed. "Look, I'm beat. It's been a long day. Can I take a raincheck?"
"A pretty thing like you? Anytime."
"I'll see you back in here sometime then?"
"Not if I see you first," Torrance answered, and Jennifer suppressed the shudder she felt, even as she nodded acceptance.
"Bye."
Torrance wasn't the only one watching as Jennifer left the bar, and as she reached the door to the street outside a hand came up over hers, and an achingly familiar voice filled her ears. Bobby!
"Seems like you've been busy, Jenny. I didn't know you were this involved with Harm; and to move onto the next guy so fast…"
Jennifer turned around, her face pale.
The sound of her palm connecting with skin as she slapped Bobby Manning's face left the interior of the bar in sudden silence.
From outside, DiNozzo was heard to mutter, 'Aw, hell!'
To be continued