Chapter 3

JAG Headquarters Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

17:00, Captain Krennick's Office.

"Thank God the day is over" said Meg massaging her feet," I don't think I would have been able to keep this up for long, two staff meetings and three court appearances in one day are enough even for me".

"Yes, especially when you haven't slept the night before. And don't start to deny it, I saw Cathy sneaking out of your room this morning wile you were out jogging. Do I have something to worry about?" asked Allison with a concerned look. She knew that whenever Cathy felt uneasy she would go to Meg for comfort. She was not jealous, Meg had been there for Cathy long before she and Daniel walked into her life. And she also suspected that the girl sometimes felt reluctant in telling her adopting parents everything for fear of disappointing or getting punished.

"No, everything is fine. She just had a dream about her mother" said Meg softly.

"Ok. Now lets get back to our work, I want to finish these papers so I can go home and take a long bath" she said turning to the papers on the desk. "And thanks for giving me a hand".

"I had to, otherwise you would have gotten annoyed and then I would have got stuck with the whole bunch. This way I only have to do half" said Meg with a smile.

"Smart move cmdr" said Allison, "To bad you couldn't use the same trick on a certain naval aviator".

"I learned the tick from him" said Meg laughing hard

"Glad to see that my officers have such a good time at the office" said the baritone voice of Admiral Smith that was standing by the door.

"Admiral, sir" said both women standing attention at their CO.

"At ease" said the Admiral coming in the office and taking a seat next to Meg in front of Krennick's desk.

"Good job today Meg, you really nailed them in court. And three in a row, that's a record even for you. You better watch it Allison or she will have your chair" said the Admiral with a small laugh.

When there were no other officers or naval staff around them he called the two women by their given names. He was very proud of having them under his command, especially Meg. If half the people that worked in the navy had her working ethic everything would go smoothly. No wonder Chegwidden had sung her praises when he called him for some references. What was unknown to the young Cmdr was that, her ex CO had kept close tabs on her career.

"I am not feeling threatened Admiral, Meg and I are on the same boat" said Allison

"What's wrong sir? You don't usually drop a compliment if there isn't a catch behind it" said Meg with a knowing look.

"Bold as always" he thought to himself. Was another reason he liked Meg, she was straight up.

"I just got off the phone with State" he said with a long sigh. This was not going to be easy, especially for Meg. "They want the Anderson case solved ASAP, thus pushing the deadline of the negotiations for this Monday. As you can imagine they won't be able to bring Anderson here with the rest of the accused, so Chegwidden and I decided to have two teams" he said pinching the bridge of his nose. He could see on their faces that they already knew what he was going to say next.

"So I have to stay here and run the things here, as I would also be in charge of the office while you are in Naples for the Court Martial" said Krennick with a tired voice, "And Meg will have to go to Washington help the other team negotiate with Captain Anderson."

She and the Admiral were silent watching Meg getting out of her chair and moving to the window. She spoke after a couple of minutes.

"When do I leave sir?" asked Meg looking out the window.

"As soon as possible, the Admiral wants you to prep the team before Monday, and as the weekend is coming up you will only have tomorrow" said Smith.

"Who is Chegwidden sending to help me Admiral?" Allison hopping to God that it won't be Cmdr Rabb. He may be the only one able to help Meg back there, they were very good friends once. And also it saved Krennick some scheming to get those two in the same room.

"I don't know Allison. We decided to first inform you of the situation, I'll call him right away to establish all the details and then brief you on our decision" said the admiral heading for the door. "You'd better go home and pack Meg. I'll call you with the details" he said giving Meg a soft smile.

"Ay, ay sir" replied Meg.

Before the admiral could leave the room Krennick addressed him "Admiral could I have a word with you before you speak to Admiral Chegwidden"

"Sure Captain. Come by my office in 15 minutes, that will give Chegwidden enough time to brief his staff" said Smith looking at his watch and closing the door behind him.

Meg was looking out the window, a million thoughts running through her head. She was going back to DC to face the man responsible for her husband's death but also the man that used to be her best friend and the love of her life.

She already knew how she would deal with Anderson she would stand her ground and show no weakness, she would not give him the satisfaction. She would do everything in her power to ensure that he did not try to screw them over, she knew all to well he was a slick bastard. She was afraid that when he got what he wanted he could decide to "forget" to keep his end of the bargain. She had a feeling that there was more to this than those stolen nuclear weapons it usually was when the State Department got involved.

Meeting Harm again was a different thing entirely. She always felt weak to her knees just thinking about him. Even after 5 years she had to finally admit to herself that her feelings for him were just as strong. But she knew all to well that her feelings we unrequited. She knew that he had cared and loved her but only as a friend. She was very sorry that she had left so abruptly, but she knew she could not say goodbye to him.

But she was starting to regret that decision. She knew he would never forgive her for that or the fact that she never called him back or answered his letters. She had been a coward and had thrown those letters away.

She always wished that she could see that beautiful smile of his.

She always wondered what would have happed if she had remained in Washington. If he would have been able to see her more than just her partner and best friend, if he would have been able to love her the way he loved Kate or Maria, or if she would have remained plain old Meg.

Sometimes when he would flirt and smile at her a certain way he would make her feel special, like she meant something more to him, but she easily became invisible whenever Kate was around.

Being her senior officer she had a lot to learn from him and for that she would always be indebted to him. If she was the officer she was now it was also because of him.

Maybe if she was lucky he would be sent here, and she wouldn't have to face him just yet. She would have to meet with him someday if she was going to move on with her life one way or the other.

"But I guess I'll find out tonight" she thought to herself.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't felt Allison's hand on her shoulder or the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Allison silently

"No, but I'll make it" replied Meg smiling through the tears. "Maybe we should call mom and ask her to come here a bit early so she could stay with Cathy. Daniel is leaving as well and you'll be stuck here for most of the week" she said moving towards the phone.

"Cathy is not ten anymore Meg, she will be fine by herself. But if it would make you feel better I'll ask Maggie to come a bit early" said Allison, "Now go home and take a long bath and try to get some rest. You'll have a long day tomorrow" said Allison in a serious tone.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. But call me as soon as you find out something" said a more composed Meg getting her jacket and her cover from the closet.

"Hey Meg" called Allison stopping Meg before she opened the door

"Yes" she replied.

"Good luck and try not to work too much. Have a safe flight" said Allison.

"Thanks, and take care" said a smiling Meg closing the door.

5 seconds after Meg had left her office, Allison was heading towards Admiral Smith's office. If she could have her way she would make sure that nothing would stop Meg and Harm from meeting again.

Allison knew Meg was thinking about Harm back in her office, that's why she had tears in her eyes.

She never could understand the love that Meg had for that arrogant flyboy. He was very attractive that was true, that was why she kept stalking him and throwing innuendo at him, but she never had any kind of feeling for him. And personally she thought that Meg deserved better than him but who was she to judge her. And she was going to make sure that this "problem" one way or the other.

She knocked on the admiral's office door and went in when he called "Enter".

"Admiral, sir" said Allison standing attention.

"At ease" said Smith. "So Captain, care to tell me why you wanted to talk before I called Chegwidden?"

"I wanted to be present sir so that I could make my own suggestion regarding the lawyers that would help us with the case. You know I worked there with Meg, and I know exactly the officer that would be able to help her and also support her. It will not be easy for her" said Krennick

"Don't worry Captain, the Admiral already took care of that" said Smith with a smile, "You will work with a Lt. Col. MacKenzei and Cmdr. Brumby and Meg is going to work with Cmdr. Rabb and Lt. Roberts" he said reading their names from a paper on his desk. "I suppose you are satisfied?" he asked arching an eyebrow.

"Immensely sir" replied Krennick with a mischievous look.

"Well let's call Meg and give her all the details, and when I'm done you can start telling me what's the deal with this Cmdr. Rabb", said Smith with a wink.

"Ay, ay sir" replied Krennick.