Chapter 3A

Sunday, 22 June 03
1030 EDT
Chegwidden Residence
McLean, VA

Last night, after returning home from Jules' house, he'd tended to the dog and taken a cold shower. He gave a lot of thought to what they could do together today, and still he wanted to take her to Callisto's, but he wanted to spend more time with her than just dinner. He thought perhaps they could take in a movie. Perhaps Hollywood Homicide or the new Matrix movie, or anything else that appealed. He just wanted to sit in a darkened movie theater with her, holding hands and necking.

He picked up the telephone and dialed her home number. When she answered, she was out of breath. "What were you doing?" AJ asked right away, and then realized how possessive that sounded.

"Sorry about that, AJ, I'm just in from my run. Got a bit of a late start this morning." Not that she could tell him why, Jules thought. His clearance wasn't approved yet.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"No, AJ. It's fine." Jules assured him. She didn't mind him being a little overprotective if not jealous. She grinned.

"I'm sorry, Jules, really." AJ couldn't believe how strongly he'd reacted. He wasn't even sure what he was reacting to.

"AJ, I don't mind." Jules tried to get him back on track, "How did you sleep, AJ?" She couldn't think of anything else to ask without asking outright what the call was about. She knew why he was calling, but thought it better for him to get there in his own time.

"Not well." AJ admitted.

"Neither did I. I wonder if it was for the same reasons." Jules dared.

AJ confessed, "I couldn't stop thinking of you when I got to bed."

"I know, AJ. I had the same problem."

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to see a movie with me this afternoon, and then maybe dinner at Callisto's after." AJ asked.

Sighing, nearly inaudibly, Jules responded, "I'd like that AJ."

"There are several afternoon movies to choose from, why don't I pick you up around 1400; I'll make reservations for 1830."

"AJ, it's an awful long way for you to drive to come pick me up." Jules tried, "Why don't you let me drive over? I can meet you at the theater or maybe at your house if that's alright."

AJ instantly bristled, saying in a mock serious tone, "You called me a gentleman last night, and a gentleman always picks up his date. You, my dear, may expect me at 1400."

"Then I shall be ready, kind Sir." Jules giggled then asked, "AJ, would you mind giving me your numbers? I realized last night I didn't have any of them but the main number for JAG."

AJ rattled off the numbers and said, "I'll see you in a few hours."

"I'll be ready, AJ."

AJ said, "Wear another dress, like the one you wore yesterday, Jules," before hanging up.

Jules just gasped before she, too, hung up.

Sunday, 22 June 03
1230 EDT
Merriweather Residence
Indian Head, MD

JC was on the telephone when her doorbell rang. "Yes, General, he's here now. I just need to grab my gear and I'm ready. Yes sir, I'll see you at the Pentagon." JC hung up and answered her door.

"Give me just a minute Hauer. I was getting ready to go out." JC walked back into her bedroom as Hauer acknowledged her statement.

JC stripped out of her dress and donned her black t-shirt and BDU's. She stuffed her cell phone and the slip of paper with AJ's numbers into one of the many pockets that were synonymous with BDU pants.

She grabbed her gear bag and rifle sock, a moment later they were out the door heading for D.C. at top speed.

JC had the fore thought to ask the General what the mission was before she hung up with him. Now, just a few minutes outside Indian Head with Hauer's driving giving her heart failure, she was waiting for AJ to pick up his house line. She hoped he wasn't going to be very mad.

"Chegwidden."

"AJ, its JC."

AJ noticed her tone of voice right away; it was a version of her professional mask. "When will you be back?" He asked, knowing before she told him that she was being sent on an assignment.

"I don't know AJ. I haven't gotten my assignment yet. I just wanted to call you before you left." JC sighed.

"I'm glad you did." AJ could hear the wind whipping over the cell phone. "You're driving in an awful hurry, where are you going?"

JC looked over at Hauer. His clearance wasn't very high, but he knew things. "I'm on my way to the Pentagon to get my assignment."

"The Pentagon?" AJ asked. He had to know, "Why are you going to the Pentagon on a Sunday?"

"Because that's where my CO is AJ." JC hoped he didn't ask anything else, she couldn't tell him anything anyway.

"General Jones is giving you an assignment on a Sunday afternoon?" AJ asked, incredulous. He wished he knew what she did for the Corps, but didn't want to ask just yet.

"I'm a Marine, AJ. I go where I'm sent, when I'm sent. I'll try to call when I know what's going on, but I may just have to disappear." JC hinted. She knew from General Jones' voice that this wasn't a standby mission. She was leaving as soon as she got her orders.

"You'll call me the minute you get back?" AJ asked.

"You bet I will, AJ."

"What ever it is you do, be careful, Darlin'."

Sunday, 22 June 03
1330 EDT
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C.

JC was in the bowels of the Pentagon, in the Cone of Silence, listening to her CO give her parameters for the latest mission. It was going to be a simple Op to carry out. Go in, get it done and get out. Sometimes that was worse than waiting and carrying out a difficult mission.

Thirty-five minutes later she was boarding a plane at Andrews Air Force Base. She didn't have time to call AJ.

Monday, 23 June 03
0730 EDT
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Despite not talking to Jules again on Sunday afternoon, AJ was in a good mood for a Monday morning. He anticipated no problems with his weekly meeting with the SecNav later in the morning and he hadn't been informed of any serious cases that happened over the weekend. All in all it was a good Monday morning.

He just wished he knew what Jules was doing. He was surprised by how much he missed her, missed her call on Sunday, and missed the opportunity to talk with her.

AJ was just getting the coffee ready when Harm strolled in the break room. He was actually in the office early.

"Admiral, how was your weekend, Sir?" Harm asked as he got another carafe of coffee brewing, decaf this time.

"Rabb, you stood up a Bird Colonel on Friday." AJ wasn't going to let that slide. "She arrived on time for a meeting she said you not only knew about, but knew the exact time she would be arriving."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I forgot all about that, I wanted to get down to Quantico and deal with that new case." Rabb tried to charm his way out of the situation. "I'm going to call the Colonel this morning and apologize."

"You'll do better than that, Rabb. This next meeting is set up at her convenience at her office when she's available." AJ poured his coffee and prepared to leave the room, tossing over his shoulder, "You can call her CO this morning and tell him you'd like to arrange it. He already knows you stood her up."

"Who's her CO, Sir?" Harm wondered why he had to call her CO to request a meeting.

"General James Jones. You'll find him at the Pentagon." AJ strolled through the bullpen, trying to suppress his grin.

General Jones, Harm gulped. The Commandant of the Marine Corp was her CO? Oh boy.

Monday, 23 June 03
1330 EDT
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

His good mood from earlier this morning was no longer in sight as he returned to JAG from his weekly meeting with the SecNav. Lunch at a local restaurant wasn't enough to restore his good mood.

AJ stomped into the bullpen and called, "Tiner!"

Harriet trundled over to the Admiral as fast as she could, supporting her tummy. "Sir, Tiner wasn't able to get away from his desk for lunch until a few minutes ago. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Harriet, do you know if we have any Tylenol hanging around? I haven't replaced the bottle in my office yet." AJ slammed his briefcase and cover on his desk.

"Yes, Sir. The Colonel has a nice big bottle; I'll get it for you." Harriet waddled out of the Admiral's office and across the bullpen. She made a stop in the break room for a bottle of water and fixed the Admiral a nice strong cup of coffee before heading to Mac's office.

Mac heard the knock and said, "Enter," before looking up.

With her eyebrows pulled together in confusion, she asked, "Harriet?" Why was Harriet carrying a cup of coffee, she wasn't allowed to have any.

"Oh, Ma'am. The Admiral needs some Tylenol; can I borrow your bottle for a minute?" Harriet asked, approaching Mac's desk.

"Sure." Mac dug it out of a bottom drawer where she kept it. "Is he in a bad mood?"

"I think the headache is making him kinda grouchy, but I don't think he's in a bad mood." Harriet assured her. At least she hoped he wasn't in a bad mood. "Thanks for the bottle; I'll bring it right back."

Again, Harriet waddled across the bullpen toward the Admiral's office. In one hand she carried the mug of coffee and in the other hand was the bottle of water, under that arm she carried the Tylenol. Setting down the coffee on Tiner's desk, Harriet snagged the Admiral's messages and reclaimed to coffee mug before just walking into his office.

AJ's head snapped up at the familiarity with which someone was entering his private domain. But when he saw it was Harriet he hurried from behind his desk to help her.

"Sorry about that Sir, I've got my hands a little full." Harriet handed the Admiral his coffee and the bottle of Tylenol.

"I can see that, Lieutenant. Thank you for the coffee, Harriet, I could use it after my morning with the SecNav." AJ sat down at his desk and opened the large white bottle of pain relievers.

"I thought you might, Sir. I also grabbed your messages from Tiner's desk." Harriet set down the bottle of water within easy reach and handed her CO the stack of messages.

AJ grabbed his glasses to read the messages, but when he donned them and saw Mac's bottle of Tylenol, he asked, "Harriet, what's this?"

"Sir?"

AJ held up the bottle and pointed to Mac's familiar handwriting on the side. Written in bold black marker were the words, which AJ read aloud, "In case of irritating male coworkers, take two capsules and find a punching bag, preferably an Everlast." AJ quirked an eyebrow saying, "Thank the Colonel for me, will you Harriet, for letting an irritating male coworker raid her Tylenol bottle.

"I will, Sir." Harriet gave a small grin, taking back the bottle. "If there's anything you need before Tiner gets back, Sir, just let me know."

"Thank you, Harriet, I will." AJ leaned back in his chair and swallowed the pills with a sip of water before settling down to go through his email, faxes and phone messages. I swear I spend half of my Monday's returning correspondence. Can't get a damn thing done.

AJ was going through his email when something from the Office of National Security caught his attention. Why would they be emailing him?

Admiral AJ Chegwidden, Your former security clearance of Top Secret has been permanently elevated to Top Secret SCI by order of the SecNav. If you have any questions, please contact his office for further information. Stanley Kushner Office of National Security

AJ wondered what the increased clearance was all about, but didn't have the time to talk to the SecNav now. There was still a mountain of faxes to go through. He hoped that there was nothing so sensitive coming across his desk in the future that would require him to have Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. That's the highest clearance available.

When Tiner returned half an hour later, AJ was just finishing the follow up on the faxes and was getting ready to start on the phone messages.

"Sir, I'm sorry I wasn't here when you got back." Every time Tiner tried to get away from his desk for lunch, the phone would ring. Finally, there had been a lull and he made a brake for it.

"Don't worry about it, Tiner. Take care of these faxes would you." AJ handed Tiner a sheaf of papers just as the phone rang on Tiner's desk.

AJ watched his harried yeoman as he hurried out of his office, closing the door behind him. A moment later Tiner came over the intercom, "Sir, there's a Colonel Merriweather on line one for you. Sir, the line has been scrambled by the operator." Tiner was shocked, why would the Colonel be calling on a scrambled line?

"Thank you, Tiner." AJ picked up the phone saying, "Jules?" When he didn't get a response right away he raised his voice, "Darlin', are you there?"

"I'm here, AJ. It just takes a few seconds for your voice to come through." JC was sitting in a soundproof communications room.

"Where are you Darlin'? AJ sat back in his chair and got comfortable. He didn't know how long he'd have on the phone with her, but AJ wanted to take advantage of every second.

"Not where I wanna be, that's for sure." JC grumbled over the line. "I don't have much time, AJ; I just wanted to let you know that I'll be gone for a few more days."

"I'm glad you're letting me know." In the background, AJ heard a scuffle and Jules muffle the phone as she talked to someone.

"AJ, I have to go, I'm sorry. I don't know if I'll get to call you again." JC grabbed a few things and shoved them in her gear bag as she prepared to sever the connection.

"Just call me when you get back to D.C." AJ insisted.

"Will do, gotta go." JC rushed.

"Jules." AJ hurried to say, "Darlin', be careful."

"I'm always careful, AJ." JC severed the connection and ran to make her Helo.

AJ sat back and thought about the sounds he'd heard come over the static filled connection. It was obvious she was overseas, and Tiner said her line had been scrambled. What ever her assignment was, it was important. He was beginning to think that Jules had a highly dangerous job in the Marine Corp.

Tuesday, 24 June 03
1900 EDT
McMurphy's Tavern
Falls Church, VA

AJ sat at the bar nursing a sixteen ounce Smashing Scottish Skulls while he thought of Jules. He'd hoped to hear from her again today, he'd stayed as close to his office as he could, but she hadn't called. AJ tried not to be disappointed even as he understood that she couldn't call him every day any more than he could when on an assignment.

How could be miss her so much in such a short period of time? They'd only been out once! He felt as though something was missing and that scared him. He wasn't long single after he broke his engagement to Meredith, but he wasn't worried about rebounding. He was worried about how important Jules had become in such a short time, more important than Meredith ever had been.

Jules was on his mind from time to time during the day where as he used to be able to work nearly the entire day without sparing Meredith a thought unless they had lunch plans.

Did he ever really love Meredith?

As AJ pondered his thoughts alone at the bar, the senior staff ambled through the doors. Actually, Harriet just waddled as best she could.

"Sir!"

"Admiral."

"Good evening, Sir."

Every one situated themselves around the bar. Mac to AJ's right and Harm next to her. Bud helped Harriet onto the stool on AJ's left and sat next to her. "Where's Sturgis?" AJ asked.

"Last minute meeting with a client." Mac assured him.

When everyone had his or her drinks Harm mentioned, "Admiral, I was able to get in touch with General Jones office today, but the yeoman wouldn't let me make an appointment with Colonel Merriweather, Sir."

"Wouldn't let you make an appointment?" Bud asked, confused.

"I tried to get the Corporal to allow me to make an appointment, but all he said was that he would call me back when Colonel Merriweather was available. Doesn't he know how busy we are at JAG?" Harm asked. He'd fought with Corporal Hauer for over twenty minutes this afternoon, trying to set an exact time and day to see the Colonel, but all he could get out of Hauer was that he'd call when the Colonel was free. "I'm supposed to drop everything to meet with the Colonel?"

AJ's temper flared, "Yes, Commander you are. She outranks you. For that reason alone when she tells you to jump you should ask how high." Warming to his topic, AJ let him have it, his slight insubordination got on AJ's last nerve of the day. He needed to hear from Jules tonight, he missed her. "She dropped everything for you, set up an appointment on a day she'd returned from an assignment and you stood her up. Don't be surprised if you have to jump through several hoops before you get to see her." AJ would make sure of that, he thought as he threw a few bills down on the bar and grabbed his cover before storming out of the bar.

"He's been grumpy all afternoon." Harm muttered.

"He's had a headache all afternoon." Harriet said, defending her CO as she watched him stalk to his Escalade. He was going to be an absolute bear tomorrow if he didn't get rid of that headache. There was something else going on, too, Harriet thought, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She would find out soon.

Thursday, 26 June 03 2100 Local Time Middle of No Where Undisclosed Location

Colonel JC Merriweather hoisted her gear bag and rifle sock over her shoulder and ascended the ladder that was dropped from the hovering Helo. When she got to the chopper floor, strong hands pulled her in and handed her into a seat where she strapped herself in as the Helo veered off to the nearest Marine Base.

"Did you boys have to pick me up so far from civilization?" JC asked, slouching into her jump seat.

"Where were you, Ma'am?" A Corporal asked.

"About three klicks from anything even remotely resembling life." JC answered, knowing the Marines in the Helo would have no idea where she had been. In reality, she'd hiked closer to ten klicks to get to the pick up point.

The boys chuckled and said, "Well, Ma'am if you'd like to rest your feet, we've got about a thirty minute flight before we set down at base."

JC closed her eyes and pulled her cover over her eyes, saying, "Wake me when we land."

After stopping and refueling the Helo at the nearest Marine base, they picked up a few Marine Recon boys and were off to the Marine Airbase in Taszar Hungary where JC hoped to grab a shower and some clean BDU's before heading back to D.C.

Thursday, 26 June 03
1730 EDT
Merriweather Residence
Indian Head, MD

After a grueling two hour debriefing Corporal Hauer drove JC home where she promptly dropped her gear, stripped and despite her weariness donned a bathing suit and plunged into the Potomac. She intended to swim until her mind was as numb as her body. Perhaps then she could clean her gear, eat something and sleep for two days. The dreams would come, but she could hope they would be mild. She knew they wouldn't be, however.