Letters From Baghdad
Chapter 1: Waking up Alone
The skies were clear and the sun was blazing as the convoy made it's way through the crowded streets. The too calm air was suddenly rocked by the sounds or gun fire and explosions. When the dust cleared from the air a crumpled heap of camouflage fatigues and gear could be seen lying on the ground, wisps of blonde hair escaping from under the bulky kevlar helmet. The blood splattered across the sand stood out immediately with its sickening shade of vivid red.
Tim jolted awake drenched in a cold sweat, "Just a dream." he muttered and reached to pull Tasha closer. "Well partly.." he mentally recounted as his arms returned empty.
It had been thirty-four days and seventeen hours since Tasha had boarded an Air Force C-130 bound for Kuwait, and Iraq beyond that.
She had only been gone for a little over a month and he was already having nightmares; there was no denying the next five would be hell.
The clock read 5:05 am, knowing it was useless to attempt to get back to sleep for the extra hour, Tim headed out for a quick jog. It was a stress relief tactic he had picked up from Tasha. It was amazing how many little things brought her up.
Two hours later Tim was staring blankly at his computer screen at NCIS, his mind in a much drier place then the damp spring of Washington.
"Not get enough sleep last night McGee?" Tony's taunting voice floated in as he rounded the corner into the bullpen.
"Something like that." He mumbled, snapping back to reality.
"This should help." Ziva called as she entered, balancing three tall cups of coffee.
"Don't worry too much McWorry-Wart, Tasha's trained for this stuff she'll be just fine." Tony teasingly comforted the junior agent. "That is as long as you didn't give her a ring. You didn't, did you?"
"What does that have to do with anything Tony?" Ziva questioned, suspecting he was being unnecessarily cruel to the younger man once again.
"Oh come on! Haven't you seen the movies, it's a curse!" He exclaimed "Whenever a couple falls all in love and gets engaged before one of them goes off to war something bad always happens."
"For heaven's sake, Tony that is absurd!" the Israeli cried.
"Yeah well you can handle DiNozzo's crackpot theories later, we've got work to do gear up." Gibbs barked as he grabbed his Sig from it's drawer and exited as quickly as he had entered.
Thankful for the distraction, Tim was quick to follow Gibbs out into the light drizzle.
Thousands of miles away, Captain Kelly and her team were attempting to stay cool in the 3 o'clock heat of Baghdad as she daydreamed of the cool rains of the East Coast and the soft bed she shared with the man she loved. Right now they seemed so impossibly farther away.
