Thanks for the reviews gang! I forgot I've had this part written for like 3 months. LOL! I suck. :P

Enjoy!

Jackie

PART 45 - I Was Just Looking For A Pen

Today is one of those tedious, never gonna end, look up at the clock and it's only budged 30 seconds even though it feels like you've been sitting there for three hours, kinda day. Sigh.

The General, I swear, is trying to kill us. Well, alright, so it's the SECNAV who told the General to kill us! The man's nephew decided to steal a Humvee and run rampant through a base, nearly killing two officers, all to impress a girl.

I'm stuck defending the moron and Mac's having a jolly old time prosecuting. Needless to say, we're arguing, which isn't a bad thing, mind you. Passionate arguing leads to passionate sex and, let's face it, have you taken a good look at Mac? I'll take all of the sex I can get and just a little extra if I could squeeze it in. Good God, the woman has turned me into a hormone driven teenager. Alright, fine, so it didn't take much.

Heaving another sigh, I start to write my notes using a legal pad. The computers are being non-cooperative since the computer, techie guy decided to 'change our system.' Right now, the only thing we can do is send internal e-mail. We can't even print! If you ask me, not all change is great.

We're still in 'hiding' as Mac and I are choosing to call it. No one really knows much about the engagement. Sarah's hiding the ring behind her corps ring and I am waiting for Harriet to run crazily down the halls once she spots it. From time to time, when I find her and Mac deep in conversation, I can't help but break out in a cold sweat. I know it's dumb and that everyone should know and that I should shout it from the top of the building but, frankly – I don't want to. This is still new to us. We are still finding ourselves and I would like for that discovery to continue without so many people on the sidelines. Lord knows the moment people know about the engagement, they'll be pressuring us to marry right away and that's not something I want either. It's my first wedding and, technically, it's Mac's too. Alright, so it's not the first time she walks down the aisle, but from what I've heard about her wedding with Ragle, it may as well be. It needs to be done right.

Men lie when we say we don't think about weddings and such. Ever since she said 'yes', I keep picturing her in a gorgeous white gown, walking down the aisle and giving me that smile of hers that is reserved just for ME. Course, that dream fades away to our honeymoon, which, I hope, will be some place warm, tropical and sunny. . .Screw that, I hope it rains all day so I can keep her in my bed as long as possible. Yea, I got it bad. But, kissing Sarah MacKenzie just. . .addicting.

As my mind gets carried away, I find myself not concentrating on work and not noticing that the pen has run out of ink. "Shit." Great, I've scribbled away about a whole page of. . .nothing. Opening up my drawer, I check around inside to find it empty. I would check my briefcase, but I stupidly left that at home with another set of notes I spent all night working on. Sighing, I stand up, walk around my desk and head out of my door. I walk towards the conference room and another supply closet which holds only office supplies.

Stepping inside, I start to glance around. "Pencils, markers, paperclips. . .where the hell are the pens?" It's when I step in further that I smell it. . .A stench that would wake the dead. "Jesus Christ, what died in here?" I try to ignore it as I step onto this little ladder and reach for the box of pens. "C'mere!" I yell at the box, which ends up flying OFF the shelf and straight down onto. . .

"OWW!"

The box, and I mean a WHOLE box, has just fallen on Mac's head. From my perch, I watch her stumble slightly and crash into the bottom shelves.

"Oh no." I hurry down, trying to see if any damage has been done. In the process, I manage to step on a pen wrong and the last thing I remember was my legs coming out from under me. "Ugh!" Then it's lights out.

I start to come to only to feel a presence over me, definitely female, by the smell of perfume and a gentle touch. "Harm? You alright?" Definitely Mac.

"Shhhhhh! Stop yelling!" I groan out, my head feeling like someone took a baseball bat to its skull.

Mac chuckles. "I'm not yelling. . .Can you sit up for me?" I feel her hands wrapped around my arms tugging me upwards and I comply with a great deal of cursing. She leans me back against the shelving and it's then that I pop open an eye. The room is illuminated by a tiny overhead light and when she turns slightly to get. . .something. . .I see the shiner.

"Oooh, jeez, Mac." It's all flooding back to me. . .the pens, the box falling, me. . .slipping? Wait. . .Why isn't it a little brighter in here? My eyes adjust quickly, noticing that the door. . . "Noooooo." I say, glancing between the door and Mac who's now taken up residence next to me. "What are the odds?"

"Not sure, Harm, but really, stay the hell away from me when we are around supply closets." She takes an imaginary piece of lint off of her skirt and sighs.

Woah, woah, woah, as far as I'm concerned. "I was here first!" I yell, then immediately cringe as my head feels like it's going to explode. "Ugh, why me?"

"I feel I must say it. . .Aleutians, here we come." It's clear that if we're caught, Cresswell probably won't be as forgiving. I mean, how many times can we possibly. . .

The door is thrown open and to our horror, the one person we'd hoped would not show up is standing there, in all his Marine glory, glancing down at us with, what I have to describe as contempt. Mac and I crawl to attention. His arms instantly fold across his chest in one of those commanding officer, better than thou posture that sometimes makes me sweat. "Commander, Colonel. . .Is there a closet at JAG you two haven't christened?"

Christened? It's not like we've actually. . .Well, we tried once but. . . Mac's mouth opens and closes but no words come out. Apparently she's too shell shocked to breathe a word. "We didn't do this on purpose." She finally says, then nudges me to continue.

I nod in agreement. "Sir, I swear, I was just looking for a pen." Yes, I realize how 'the dog ate my homework', lame, it sounded. But it's the truth! What was that about the truth setting you free?

Cresswell postures just a little bit longer then notices a few key elements. "Colonel, why do you have a black eye? And Commander, why is your forehead bleeding?"

"Well you see. . .I came in here to find a pen and then I used the step ladder to grab a box and in the process it fell and clobbered the Colonel. When I went down to help her, not seeing one of the pens on the floor I slipped on it and. . .and. . .well, I don't remember the rest." I ramble off and then Mac picks up.

"He slipped on the pen and ended up clocking himself against the edge of one of the shelves and then he was knocked out for two minutes and three seconds. . .In the process of falling and me trying to help him, the door closed on us and. . .it looks like this one closes from the outside as well. . .ah, sir." I have to commend Mac for going through all of that with such Marine precision.

The story, though seeming like a skit off of the Three Stooges does seem to appeal to Cresswell who sighs deeply. "Look, your closet shenanigans are really starting to get. . .irritating. . .The next time I find the two of you in a closet, at ops, together. . .I might just make good on that Aleutians promise." He still keeps us at attention as he closes in. "Now, find someone to drive the two of you to Bethesda, it would be nice to check those injuries out."

"Yes, sir." Mac and I reply in perfect unison, waiting for him to leave before we break attention.

As he turns on his heel, the General doesn't see two pens that had managed to slip out of the door and lay right at his path. The next thing we know, his legs come out from under him as his six hits the floor. Mac and I snap out of attention and quickly try to help. "You alright, sir?" Mac asks, trying to help him sit up.

Cresswell just looks between me and her and breaks out in laughter. "Rabb, next time, order someone to get the pen for you. . .These closet adventures are turning out to be more dangerous than they are worth."

Mac and I can't help but chuckle at our closet misfortunes. "I guess you'll be riding shot gun when you join us on the way to Bethesda?"

"Hello no!" Cresswell yells. "You two are not staying in the back seat alone. . .MacKenzie, you ride shot gun, Rabb, you're in the back with me. . .It's obvious you two need a baby sitter."

At some other point in time, I might have disagreed, but this time. "Aye, aye, sir." It sounds like a good idea.