Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Saturday

December 20, 2003

1500 HRS

The Memorial Wall

"Well dad, I wish you could be here today for the wedding. Mom is here and so is gramma. They send their love to you. I just stopped at Mac's grave to say hi. Dad, I miss you and Mac so much, but I know she has to be up there with you. She is probably telling me to get my six in gear and get ready. Telling me exactly how much time I have left right down to the second." Wiping a tear off his face, "Well, I'll talk to you soon. Bye dad."

1615 HRS

Wedding Chapel

AJ was standing out front of the chapel looking up to the stars and wishing that Mac was here. He had been seriously thinking of retiring after all that had happened; Bud losing his leg, Meredith leaving him and slapping that kid in the face. If it wasn't for Meg coming to talk to him and representing him, he might have just left then.

"Oh Sarah, I miss you more every day. Why did you have to leave?"

"Sir, are you alright?" Jen Coates asked. She had known how sad he had been, but thought it was because of Meredith leaving.

"I'm fine, Petty Officer, just waiting on a friend of Harms to come, and here he is. How are you doing, Gunny? It's good to see you."

Shaking his hand, Gunny said, "I'm doing good, Sir, I'm glad I could make it. I just came back yesterday and found the invitation. How are you, Sir?"

"Doing good, Gunny." Turning towards Jen, AJ said, "I'd like you to meet Petty Officer Jennifer Coast. She took over for Tiner when he left for school."

"It's nice to meet you, Petty Officer."

"You too, Gunny, but you can call me Jen," She said with a coy smile. 'Boy is he the sexiest man I've seen in forever!' She thought.

"As long as you call me, Vic." He smiled at her thinking she was beautiful.

"Why don't we all head in now, I'm sure that the bride and groom will want to get this show on the road." AJ could see the sparks fly between the two of them. Shaking his head he went in to find a seat.

1755 HRS

Reception Hall

The wedding was the most beautiful and loving one they had seen in a long time. The bride and groom could not take their eye off each other, and you could tell that they were in love just by looking at them.

Harriet and Bud were sitting with Jen and Gunny as he was talking about his time in Afghanistan and how he had to travel to Saudi Arabia to search for terrorists. He asked about their new son James who was at home with her parents. Bud pulled out his wallet and proceeded to show him all of the pictures.

As they were looking through them, Gunny grabbed Bud's wallet and stared at one that had Mac holding little AJ when he was about a year old. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was the same eyes that he saw in Saudi Arabia, but it couldn't be, she died.

'Wasn't she?' he thought, 'Oh God, what if I left her there and she wasn't dead? What would have happened to her? I need to talk to someone, but whom?' Looking up he saw the Admiral talking to Webb. 'Yeah, I'll talk to Webb; see what he can come up with.'

Bud being oblivious to what Gunny was thinking said, "Yeah, I think that was the last picture we have of the Colonel. We all miss her a lot."

"I do to, Bud, I do too. Hey, I'm going to talk to the Admiral and Webb. See you in a bit."

"Okay, Gunny, we'll be here," Harriet replied, she noticed his reaction to the picture and knew something was up, but couldn't imagine what.

She knew Gunny cared for Mac as a friend, but not like she knew how the Admiral felt. She knew that AJ was in love with Mac. Or the way Harm did, his and Mac's feelings were special, it was a love of best friends, but he wasn't in love with her either.

She was hoping that Meredith would have been the one for the Admiral, but that didn't work. Harriet knew that he was hurting and that everyone thought it was because of Meredith leaving. Harriet knew the truth, she could see it in his eyes and the way he tried to hide it in the stern looks he would give if they ever mention Meredith's name in front of him.

'Oh Mac, if only you hadn't left, but would Meg and Kate have return when they did and would Bud have been sent to the Henry? I guess everything worked out for the best.' She looked up to Bud and thanked God for him being here for her and the boys and for the soon-to-be newest little Roberts'. She had just found out that they were expecting again and hadn't told anyone yet, not even Bud, she was going to tell him Christmas morning.

Sturgis and Kate walked over and sat down. They had been dancing for awhile and she was getting tried. Being five months along, she tried easier. "Hey Bud, how are? I hear you will be back the beginning of the year. Congratulations!" Sturgis commented while reaching his hand out to shake Bud's.

Shaking his hand, Bud said, "Thank you, but it's because of everyone helping that I passed the physical."

"No, Bud, it was all you. We were only there to support and encourage you. You did great."

"So, Kate, did you two find out what you're having?" She knew they had a sonogram done the other day and was dying to find out.

"Yes, as a matter of fact we did. Do you want to tell them or should I." Kate knew Sturgis was overjoyed with the news and waiting to tell the world, so she gave him a look that told him to go ahead.

"We are having a girl!" Sturgis was so excited which for him was something to see.

"Wow! Congratulations Sir!"

"Thanks Bud, but you can call me Sturgis you know, even if we are in uniform this is a social gathering." He laughed knowing that both Bud and Harriet would always be like that. He was glad the misunderstanding they had was over. He knew Bud had his own problems to deal with and should have taken that into consideration. Bud had also said that he realized that he wasn't dealing with everything to well and should have handle things better. It was over now and they were back to being workout buddies.

Webb saw Victor coming toward him and AJ. "Gunny, I see you made it back. How have you been?"

"Good! I do need to talk to you though, in private, sorry Sir, this is a need to know kinda thing." He was looking at Webb when he said the last. He wasn't sure about telling the Admiral of his feeling about what he saw. Gunny remembered the way that Mac and AJ would look at one another when they thought the other wasn't paying attention when he was still at JAG. It was the look of love. Of course, no one else saw it, well, maybe Harriet. She should have been a Marine the way she picked things up so fast.

"Sure Gunny, I do understand. I wanted to go talk to Harm's parents anyway." AJ had a feeling something was up. He had seen him talking to Bud and Harriet and how he had reacted to seeing a picture. He wondered what picture it was, maybe he could get it out of Bud later, he knew Harriet was too quick and would guess what he was really asking.

"So, Victor, what can I help you with?" Clay was curious, as far as he knew; Victor wasn't involved in any CIA operations, unless he came across something in his travels.

Victor looked around and saw too many JAG people around. "Can we go someplace a little more private?"

Handing him a card, Clay said, "Sure, meet me here in two hours. I was leaving anyway, too much happiness and fun for me."

Victor knew he was joking by the smirk on his face. Victor knew that Clay considered Harm, as well as most of the staff at JAG, to be his friends.

He went to say his goodbyes to the couple and told them that he had to take off. But they understood, Victor just hoped that he would be bringing home someone they all missed.

Clayton Webb's townhouse

Letting Victor in and offering him a drink, which he accepted, they sat down in front of the fireplace. "So Victor, what's this about? As far as I know you aren't involved in any CIA missions."

"I'm not sure and now that I had time to think about it, it doesn't make any sense. I mean, she can't be alive, right? They checked. Of course they did. What was I thinking or maybe it was wishful thinking on my part."

"Victor, what are you going on about? Just start from the beginning, like from the time you saw the picture Roberts showed you. Who was in it?"

"How did you… Never mind." Victor started to ask but then realized who he was talking to. He continued, "It was a picture of little AJ and the Colonel. The thing is this past July I saw a woman with the Bedouins that had the same eyes as Mac's, I mean the same look too. I don't know what to believe, it just doesn't make any sense at all. What do you think? Is it possible that she made it out of the building before it exploded and is alive?"

Clay could see that Victor was getting worked up about this and wanting to believe it. 'Was it possible for her to have survived?' He wondered.

"Look, I know of only one way to find out. What was that little girl's name that helped you two and the rest to escape through the underground tunnel? I know she was supposed to have died with Sarah as well, so if we find her, then we know that there is a chance that you did see her."

"All I know is that her first name is Lilianna, I don't have her last name."

"That's fine, I'll work on it. Now where are you staying?"

"Well, I was going to go home to see my mom and sisters, but if there is a chance that the Colonel is a live then I'm coming to help."

"Okay, you can stay in my guest room. It's down the hall to the right. I'll let you know what I find out." Clay said, heading to his den to make some calls.