Whatever happened to Chief Daniel? James shakes someone down and et tu uncle Jeff?


Twenty Eight


"Send her in." Commander Ainsbright twitched his jacket sleeves straight and folded his hands on his desk. Aside from the bandage taped over a gash on his left temple, and a bruise the size of a mango on his jaw, he appeared the very picture of composed, military dignity. He watched as the door opened, and Chief Daniel walked in. "Chief."

The Chief walked to the edge of the desk and saluted, then stood at ease.

"Report." The commander requested.

"It seems the training exercise caused a great deal of damage in three areas, sir." The Chief replied. "Primarily in the computer center, the telecom room, and the programming center."

The commander nodded. "And?"

"I expect the systems will be down until we can replace about twenty percent of the hardware." Chief Daniel said. "Apparently the backup systems were damaged as well, and we lost a good portion of our data storage."

The base commander leaned back, and propped a knee up against his desk. "All right." He said. "Write up the damages, and I'll charge the SEAL program for them. They had their instructions. They failed to follow them."

"Yes sir." Chief Daniel kept her gaze firmly fixed on the desk.

"Anything else you want to report, Chief?"

"No sir." Came the quiet reply.

"Anyone asks you for anything, we don't have it."

"No, sir."

"Dismissed."

The Chief turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Jeff Ainsbright sighed and shook his head. The phone rang, and he picked it up. "Yes?"

"Clean up almost done." A terse voice answered him. "We got lucky. Damn lucky."

"Tell me." The base commander snorted. "You get rid of everything? We'll have a security team down on us at oh seven hundred tomorrow morning."

"Everything." The voice answered. "Scrubbed to the bare steel. I brought a dog in just to be sure."

Ainsbright nodded. "Good." His eyes narrowed. "I"ve got those guards on court martial for letting that damn bastard West in here on off hours. You know how close that was? They were in the goddamned computer center. I just hope we got everything."

"We did." The voice held infinite assurance. "She thought she was so smart. That data stream she has won't tell her anything. We made sure of that." A chuckle. "Don't worry, Jeff. All they'll find is some ruined equipment. I already reconstructed the database. It's clean."

"All right." Ainsbright nodded. "It was too damn close, I tell you. We should have shut down the minute that bitch came on the base."

"You were supposed to take care of that." The answer came back sharply. "You and that kid of yours, remember? He was supposed to distract her. Hell, I thought he'd end up screwing her.."

"That's enough." Ainsbright snapped. "Forget about it. We found another solution." He checked his watch. "I've got to go. Chuck's ship's leaving and I want to make sure he's on it."

"Right. Out of sight…"

"Out of my hair." The commander snorted. "Bye." He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. It had been close. Far too close, and the problems weren't over yet. He wasn't stupid enough to think he was rid of Jade West, for one thing. She'd dug enough into the base to report back to Washington, and now it was up to his team to do damage control.

Negligence? Sure. Someone would be court martialed for it. Shoddy records keeping, Sloppy processes. Every base had them, and all it would generate was a damn study and recommendations as long as West hadn't found anything worse.

And she hadn't. He was sure of it. All he had to do was get Chucky out of here, then wait for the rep from DC. Thank god the damn JAG had called to warn him. With a sigh, he put his hands against his desk and pushed himself to his feet, wincing at the ache in his bones.

Too dark, he'd been told, to see who hit him. "Sorry sir. It was just too dark." The SEAL captain had maintained stiffly. Yeah? Too dark my ass. Jeff Ainsbright scowled, as he circled his desk and headed for the door.

Only to find it blocked.

He stopped in complete shock, and stared at the dark blue clad figure standing silently inside the door. There hadn't been a sound. How in the hell…. He took a cautious breath. "Jim."

Ice blue eyes watched him steadily. "'Lo, Jeff." James drawled very softly.

Ainsbright took a step back. "Didn't hear you come in."

Frighteningly, that caused a smile to appear on the scarred face. "Folks never do." The retired SEAL allowed. "That's how come I stuck around this long." James moved forward, towards the commander, with a curiously smooth amble It combined an economy of motion with an impression of prowling energy that caused the commander to take another step back, then turn and retreat behind his desk.

"What can I do for you, Jim?" Ainsbright forced a tense smile. "I've got a meeting I'm due at…"

"On Sunday? You ain't visiting the preacher now, are you?" Jim asked.

The commander hesitated. "No.. no, just a lunch date with my wife." He was very conscious of the cold menace radiating from his old friend, who though retired, and with all that gray in his crew cut still posed a very potent threat he knew he had no hope of countering.

Jim had always been like that. A big man, made bigger by weight training and a SEAL's fitness regimen with lightning reflexes and lethal combat skills. Cool in action, level headed, steady, reliable… but with a blind spot a mile wide all centered around his family, and that damn, stubborn, pigheaded, bitch of a daughter of his.

Jade was dangerous because she was so fucking smart. Jim was dangerous just because he was dangerous, and anything that touched or threatened his kid sent him past reason.

"We need to chat." Jim told him. "So sit yer ass down."

Ainsbright slowly sat down and folded his hands. "James, this ain't a threat, but I can call the guards and have you taken out of here. You're not in the Navy anymore."

"That's all right." James told him. "When I'm done with you, you ain't gonna be either." He sat down on Ainsbright's desk. "So if you have half a brain left, you will sit in that chair, and start talking about what you all are doing here."

Ainsbright looked steadily at him. "James, I have no idea what you're talking about. I think you need to leave."

Jim leaned closer. "Listen, you jackass. How'n the hell you think you got that crack on the side of your haid?"

Unconsciously, Ainsbright lifted a hand and touched it.

"Ah took that damn gun you had out of your hands and smacked you 'cross the face with it." Jim continued, standing up and circling the desk, his temper rising. "So you will, sir, you will tell me what is goin' on here that makes a career jack like you point a damn gun at mah kid!" The retired SEAL's voice rose into a low roar. "NOW!"

Ainsbright froze, staring at the dark form looming over him, seeing the fire in those pale blue eyes surging towards the edges, ready to consume him. James's hands were tensed, and his body coiled, center of balance up on the balls of his feet, full of a stillness that bore its own warning.

"Jim, take it easy." Ainsbright kept his voice low. "I'll talk."

"Yes." A low, fierce growl. "You surely will."


"Dr. Dodie…" Jade inhaled, visibly holding her patience. "They've taken enough pictures to star me in the next Sears Roebuck catalog. I'm fine. Let me the hell out of here."

Dr. Dodie patted her arm as he reviewed a chart. "Just hold on to your britches, rugrat. You've still got a ton of swelling up in that rock head of yours." He made a mark on the chart. "We're not taking any chances with you."

Jade peered over the doctor's arm to where Tori was curled up on the daybed, watching. Her brow creased as she scowled. "I'm not spending another night in this place." She decided. "I can sleep just as well at home."

"Ain't got nurses there." Dr. Dodie didn't even look up. "Though you gave the ones here a story to spread over the water cooler over."

Jade glared at him. "I don't give a damn." She growled. "They can kiss my ass."

Dr. Dodie looked up to see a pair of very truculent blue eyes looking at him. "Lord, you must be feeling better. "He teased her, reaching over and chucking her on the chin. "That's the Jade I know."

Tori watched in bemusement, resting her chin on her forearm. She could see Jade getting more and more annoyed, and wondered briefly if her sometimes mercurial lover wasn't better off going home. "Hey, Dr. Dodie?" She called out.

The doctor turned and put the chart down, walking over to her and looking down. "How'd you get that bump, Squeeky?" His fingers touched the side of her head cautiously. "That hurt?"

"A little." Tori admitted. "I had a close encounter with a door. Nothing major." She took advantage of his proximity. "Dr. Dodie?"

"Hmm?" The doctor crouched down and continued to examine her bump. "You feeling all right, Victoria? You look a little pasty." Behind him, Jade sat up and peered over, her brow creasing.

"I'm fine, really." Tori assured him "Just a little headache, and I haven't had my lunch yet."

"Mmhm." Dr. Dodie turned her face a little towards the light from the window. "Feel a little shaky?"

Tori sighed. "A little."

"Uh huh. When was the last time you had your blood sugar levels checked?"

That caught her by surprise. "Um…" She took a breath "I usually don't have a problem."

"That's not true." Jade spoke up.

"Jade." Tori peered around the doctor's arm, annoyed.

"It's not." The sandy haired woman gave a little shrug of her uninjured shoulder. "You get dizzy when you don't eat, and you know it."

"That true?" Dr. Dodie asked.

Tori sighed again. "Sometimes." She said. "I try to make sure it doesn't." She met his gaze. "I ran out of granola bars today."

Dr. Dodie fished in his pocket, and came out with a package of cheese and peanut butter crackers. He handed it over to her. "Here."

She accepted them, then changed the subject. "Does she really need to stay here?" Tori asked quietly. "I think she'd rest better at home."

The doctor rested his hand on her knee and gave her a direct look. "Would you go home if I said no?"

Tori shook her head, opening her crackers and removing one. She put it between her teeth and bit down, chewing the salty snack slowly. "Where she goes, I go."

Dr. Dodie let out a chuckle, then pushed himself to his feet and returned to Jade's bedside. "Found you a good match, JaeJae." He shook his head. "Two of a kind, I can see that."

Jade tore her eyes from Tori's face, and looked at him. "What?"

The doctor picked up her chart and made a comment on it. Then he looked up as footsteps sounded outside, and a young man carrying an envelope entered. "Ah, that the last of them?"

"Yes, sir." The man agreed, handing over the envelope. He gave Jade a professional smile, then turned and left. Dr. Dodie removed some papers from the envelope and read them, scanning over the first page and concentrating on the second. Finally, he grunted and folded them over.

"All right, rugrat." He turned and put his hands on the bedrails. "I'll let you go on one condition."

Jade's eyebrows hiked up in pleased surprise. "What?" She glanced over at the watching Tori. "Name it." The doctor's attention to her lover had caused a twinge of unease, even though she knew Tori was conscious of her body chemistry and usually had little problem with it. She had seemed a little wrung out when they'd gotten back, but Jade had put that down to her stair climbing.

"You." Dr. Dodie took hold of her chin and force her to look at him. "Will get your ass in bed, and stay there for at least three days."

Jade took a breath to answer.

"Promise me." Dr. Dodie stated, flatly. "I mean it, Jade. This is no joke. You want to go home? Well, I've known you since you were born, and I know you'll get more rest there then here with all them nurses poking at you. But you must, I'm saying must, Jade – stay in bed and let your body heal." His manner was unusually no nonsense. "Yes or no?"

The blue eyes flickered, then narrowed slightly. "Just stay in bed?" She countered. "Not asleep?"

Dr. Dodie warily eyed her. "Flat on your back." He qualified. "No gymnastics or anything like that."

Well. Jade sighed inwardly. That meant three days of using her laptop, but there was probably enough data and crap she had to sort through to keep her busy for at least that. "All right." She nodded. "I promise."

Dr. Dodie looked relieved. He reached over and ruffled her hair lightly. "Okay. I'll go process your paperwork."

Jade watched him leave, then looked over at Tori. "Hot damn."

Tori finished up her crackers and dusted her fingers off, feeling much better. She got up off the daybed and went over to Jade, curling her fingers around the bedrails and leaning against them. "Three days, huh?"

"Three days." Jade agreed. "You should get plenty done at the office with me stuck at home."

"Mm." Tori made a noncommittal noise. "Well, let's get you packed up." She slid her hand through the bars and circled Jade's wrist with her fingers, rubbing her thumb against the soft skin. "And get you into that comfortable bed."

Jade smiled. "Keep me company there?" She waggled an eyebrow.

Tori grinned back.