Chapter Nineteen

Naval Station Three Rivers, Oakville, WI 1900hrs CST

"You're saying WHO is coming?" Animal stood in front of Harm, as they stood on the sidewalk outside the main headquarters building, glowering so malevolently that Harm wondered if he should start worrying about his own continued existence.

He wondered why Animal was taking it so badly when all he had mentioned was that they needed to pick up Lieutenant Commanders Austin and Gracen and Lieutenant JG Roberts from the airport and that their plane was due in by 2157hrs; their time. It wasn't like the world was ending. Harm thought as he looked at Animal who was so angry-looking, his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his skull. "Sir, I couldn't tell him to pick another investigator" who won't piss off my commanding officer; he finished the sentence in his mind.

"That damned woman is a thorn in my side!" Animal erupted as he paced the room. "I'm supposed to have her here complaining about the way I do things? And she won't have any raspberry donuts because, the baker won't bring any raspberries for only one person!" He threw up his hands in frustration. "The reason being, is that nobody on this base likes raspberries!" he opined as he let out a breath in a huff.

Harm grinned; if there was one thing that Lia knew how to do extremely well, and she did a lot of things well, admittedly; but the one thing she was able to do consistently and extremely well was get under Captain Nakamura's skin and be a major irritant. And it was so nice to have her near him. Harm grinned to himself, then paled as he noticed Animal glaring at him.

"You have nothing to say?" Animal blustered.

Harm shrugged his shoulders. He really couldn't say much. There was no VOQ on base as this base was secure. And Oakville had only two shady looking motels which he had seen as they had drove in so staying in Oakville for the duration of the investigation wasn't even a remote possibility. He'd have to figure out some accommodations for all of them. There was a hotel in Madison, at least that much, he knew. Madison was a sleepy college town, with the UoWI a main attraction. The hotel that he had seen was the Hilton Monona Terrace; a modern concrete building with a substantially large parkade where they could park discretely. It was also close on a sliver of land between Lakes Mendota and Monona and on the waterfront next to the latter. Of course, he would wait though to figure out the logistics of how the rooms would be rented. NAVINSGEN was going to freak out over the cost, but he wanted to be comfortable and not cramped, as hotel beds usually were.

Animal let out an irritated grunt as he noticed Harm was woolgathering and ignoring him. "I hope you're happy!" Animal said crossly as he looked over at Harm. "If that woman bugs me just this much…" he raised an index finger and a thumb separated by only a sixteenth of an inch, "I'm going to bust her down to O1." He finished with a smug air of spite.

Harm snickered as he flashed a grin at Animal. "I know you wouldn't. You're too nice of a guy…"

"Yeah, just try me…" Animal muttered.

COD enroute Andrews AFB to Dane County Regional Airport 2120 hrs CST

The vibration of the C-2 Greyhound was definitely preventing Lia from getting any sort of viable sleep; the twin drones of the Allison T56s were loud enough to make concentration impossible and the heaviness of the flight deck crewman's helmet that they were supposed to wear made her neck sore. The AW1 loadmaster had grinned as he passed three flight deck crewman helmets to them and ordered them with due politeness to put them on and keep them on during the flight with the usual "sir" tacked on the end.

Meg gazed at her friend trying to doze without much success and gave her a look of sympathy when their eyes met. Talking over the incessant drone of the props was not possible without screaming at each other; it was too loud to be heard without raising one's voice to the detriment of one's throat.

So Meg, Lia and Bud tried to catch some shut-eye and hope that the aviator up front could land this monstrous ugly beast at their destination. Of course they realized that this airport was a fully operational regional airport, it had the proper lights and communications to operate after sundown.

Dane County Regional Airport, Madison WI, 2150hrs CST

Animal checked his watch as he looked over at Harm as they sat in the car watching the aircraft take off and land. "I thought you said their arrival was going to be 2145hrs. They're running late." He growled.

Harm nearly laughed out loud. "For a guy who's not fond of Lia, you're sure anxious for her to get here…" That comment earned Harm a frosty glare.

"It's not Lia, I'm looking forward to seeing. You schmuck."

Harm paled. Animal hadn't struck him as a serial Lothario. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Meg in place of his Maegyn…was he?

"I'm looking forward to seeing Meg and Bud, because the more they take on in terms of getting this shit sorted out, the sooner I can get back to the squirrel cage and possibly plan a trip out to Fallon and see Maegyn!" Animal growled inferring the horrified look on Harm's face and resisting the urge to give him a headslap to the back of his head.

It was only about ten minutes later that they saw the lights of the COD in the distance. This would not be an announced arrival and they would park at Truax Field to the side of Dane County Regional. Harm started the engine and pulled out to head for the Truax Field main gate, stopping only to flash the gate guard their Navy IDs, which were thoroughly checked and vetted, then drove through to park at the main parking. Their Navy IDs were scanned by the main checkpoint guard before they were allowed access to a building where all flight crews were to come through. Aside from the usual greetings and check of ID, the Air Force personnel that comprised the Wisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing, didn't converse much with the two Naval officers who tended to hold themselves apart from the men of the other service. Staring out the window, Harm could see the C-2 Greyhound trundling over to park where two Air Force airmen guided it to a stop. It was yet another five to ten minutes before the first person out of the aircraft was Lieutenant Commander Megan Austin, then Lia emerged, followed by Bud.

"They're here." Animal said, obviously, though Harm as junior officer two ranks under him, wouldn't give voice to those thoughts. Animal moved towards the door to await the three officers' entrance.

As Meg pushed through the door, Animal greeted her with a perfunctory, "Good evening, Lieutenant Commander Austin."

"Good evening Captain Nakamura." she said casually although flashing a subtly flirtatious grin at him, though more for the benefit of the Air Force enlisted who seemed to have their tongues hanging to the floor, "Good to see you this evening."

Lia came through the door before Bud did and Harm grinned a casual grin at Lia who smirked at him. "Good evening, Lieutenant Commander Rabb…" she said softly as she looked over at him.

"Evenin', Lieutenant Commander Gracen, glad you arrived in one piece, knowing how those bus drivers fly." Harm quipped, looking at the two C-2 cockpit crewmembers who were just now coming up to the door after post flight inspection.

"Whatcha yackin' about?" The Lieutenant Commander COD pilot looked at his Lieutenant co-pilot snarked back at him as they came through the door. The Lieutenant Commander and Lieutenant looked at Harm and Animal, noting their naval aviator wings.

"Must be fighter pukes…" the Lieutenant said audibly then gulped as he saw quite a few malevolent eyes on him, most being air force, as well as five rather not amused pairs of eyes from the other navy contingent.

"Do you have a return flight to plan?" Animal glowered at the Lieutenant who paled noticing the eagles on Animal's khaki collars.

"Uh, no, sir…we were planning on finding ourselves a motel and then returning tomorrow at 0500hrs, sir."

"Well, then I suggest you find accommodations at the VOQ quickly."

"That would actually be an AF Inn, sir." One of the flight-suit clad Air Force majors, an F-16C with senior pilot wings, said. "But we'll make them…comfortable…" he promised emphasizing the word comfortable; his tone promising the exact opposite of his assurance. "…sir."

Animal chuckled evilly as he looked back at the C-2 Greyhound aviator and his co-pilot as Meg, Lia, Bud and Harm followed him out the building and to their borrowed vehicle. They each had a go bag containing their change of clothes and carried over their shoulder a spare uniform in a garment cover bag. Animal popped the trunk of their rental vehicle.

"Shotgun." Meg called out as Harm glared at her. "…what? Sir."

"Do you want me to be able to walk, Meg?" he complained. Harm was just complaining for effect as the 1998 GMC Suburban's back seat was a little more spacious than a '67 Chevy Corvette Stingray.

"Oh, Harm, just shut up and get in the damned vehicle before I can't keep my eyes open." Lia growled as she tossed her go-bag, little more than a black webbing backpack filled with personal effects and intimate apparel such as panties and bras. She had two sets of khakis in her garment cover bag, so she figured that she was fine for the short term. Plus she also had a set of woodland BDUs if necessary in the go-bag.

"Have you all eaten?" Animal said feeling the first twinges of complaint from his stomach as both he and Harm had been too busy to eat anything for dinner.

"Nope. They didn't feed us on the plane and we were too pressed for time to grab a bite when we got to Andrews." Meg informed them. It had been a bit of a downer when they had reached Andrews AFB finding out that they were promptly hustled out to the COD which had in fact been waiting ready to depart immediately upon their arrival.

That clinched it. Animal got the drive this time after holding out his hand expectantly. Harm looked confused for a moment until Animal growled under his breath. "Keys, Rabb!" in a tone that sounded so like AJ Chegwidden, that Lia did a double-take. It must have been the time of night. They all piled into the Suburban, buckling, while Meg smirked at Harm and as she had called out, took the shotgun seat beside Animal. Poor Bud was stuck in the middle between Lia and Harm, the two Lieutenant Commanders sandwiching him in. Unfortunately there was no third-row seating in the Suburban because the Suburban they had rented was only equipped with front seats and one row of rear-seats and then their luggage had been piled in the back.

Bud sighed tiredly. He would have preferred to be home with Harriet, but unfortunately, he'd had to come on this investigation. Perhaps this would give him a better chance at promotion as he was in the zone, within the next year.

Animal pulled out of the Truax Field Parking lot, tossed a salute to the main gate guard on Mitchell Street and pulled out on to Wright to head south. It took only thirty minutes to get to the hotel after stopping in at a Wendy's to satisfy both Lia and Meg. Harm looked askance at the salad offerings at Wendy's but considering the hotel restaurant usually closed at ten PM, Harm had to suffice with the Baja salad, which he upturned his nose at the chili, but subsided, when both Meg and Lia shot a pointed glare his direction. Animal chose to stick with two Baconator Doubles and a large chocolate Frosty. Bud figured, he'd go with what Animal was having just to simplify matters.

Upon arrival at their hotel, Animal was disgusted to learn that the hotel only had three rooms available: apparently, two rooms with two double beds and one room with one queen. That was all they had. And the hotel manager mentioned that due to the number of people in their party that the rooms available should suffice. Evidently, the C SCOW NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS REGATTA was on that week and since it was on Lake Monona, every bloody damned hotel was booked up solid.

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to just take the three rooms, then, Harm and Bud, you can take one room, Meg, Lia you can take the other…and I'll take the third room." That started a row between Harm, Bud and Animal about who was supposed to take the third room solo which Animal quashed by pointing to his eagles. "Rank hath its privileges…" Animal smirked.

Harm and Bud gave him a sour look.

Animal continued smirking at them, "Besides, the third bed is a single queen. Honestly, do you really think that would work for two? Also, having the UCMJ to consider." He said altruistically as he mentioned that key point. "Would you really want to risk the problems that could arise by two officers co-habitating in the same bed?" By this time Meg was smirking too as she knew that Animal was doing this for selfish reasons, not just the fact that he wanted to be altruistic and allow the investigators time to talk things amongst themselves. Even though Animal was the head investigator for NAVINSGEN, he wasn't above sneaking a perk for himself, all legal and above-board though.

Collecting the keys, he distributed two keys to Meg and to Harm; the keys that went to the rooms with two doubles. The queen sized bed room, he kept to himself.

As Meg and Lia headed up to their room, Lia whispered to Meg. "See, he's opportunistic. He's taking the best bed for himself. How can anyone sleep in a double bed?"

"Well…I've done so." Meg opined casually, the gears working in her head and a plan came up. She was certain that Harm was going to pay a night visit, that night and she'd have to make other arrangements for a bed to sleep in and at least one other officer was not about to sleep alone that night. Not that she was intending any hanky-panky, but she didn't want to hear Lia and Harm's pillow-talk at any rate. And she sighed. She sure as hell wasn't going to disturb Bud's beauty sleep by sleeping in the bed across from him in his room. She smirked knowingly. Some Navy captain was going to get rudely interrupted if he thought that he was going to get his bed to himself that night. She justified that she wasn't about to horn in on a relationship that the captain was in, but she needed a place to sleep, but that would have to wait until after Harm made his move. Then she would make hers.

Bud and Harm's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison, WI 2330 hrs, CST

Bud looked over at Harm who had just dumped his go-bag in the corner and appraised him with a woebegone look.

"What's wrong? Bud." Harm asked.

"Well, sir, it's just that, well…sir, it's that it's the first time I've been away from Harriet for a long time, I mean we're gettin' married and all, but it's just that I've gotten used to her being there…and I think…"

"You think you're gonna find it hard to fall asleep? Bud?" Harm grinned at him. "Well, Bud, you can always count sheep."

"Well, whenever I do, sir, one always kicks down the fence, then I have to start all over."

"Take a warm shower and drink honeyed milk. Guaranteed, it'll put you out like a light."

Meg and Lia's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 2330 hrs, CST

Meg looked at Lia who was humming as she put away things in her go bag as she rummaged for a bra, panties, t-shirt and a towel. "You seem a bit chipper for a girl who was all about ready to fall flat on her face." She observed her with an appraising look.

"Well, I'm going to take a nice warm bath to soothe these aching joints, after I eat."

"You realize that it's 2330?"

"I don't expect that we're going to do much in terms of investigation until about 0900hrs." Lia replied. "First we have to get some breakfast and there's other things to consider."

"So we won't get charged with dereliction of duty if we get up at 0730hrs." Meg jested.

"Well, we are JAGs." Lia replied with a cheery grin. "We'd first have to admit to ourselves that we were in dereliction of duty, then we'd have to charge ourselves."

"Fat chance of that happening." Meg smirked, then casually asked. "So…you think you'll see Harm tonight?"

Lia nearly dropped her towel, "What?"

"Well, he was giving you bedroom eyes, y'know."

"You're seeing things." Lia said as she headed to the washroom to freshen up.

Animal's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 2330 hrs, CST

Animal muttered to himself. Staying in a hotel solo sucks. At least if Maegyn was there they could be celebrating with some athletic endeavors that would leave them sweaty and sated. He smirked to himself as he unwrapped a Baconator and started chowing down on it. Considering the aspects of this investigation, he wasn't allowed to call out personally, so he could do nothing but pick up the remote and watch TV.

CBS was on Channel 3 or 58. And it was the last half of news. Bloody effing Brewers game. Animal preferred hockey over baseball, but if he went to a ball-game, he was a Mets fan. Bobby Valentine was managing the team and they had just picked up Mike Piazza in May. Flipping through the channels he found nothing and decided to just shut off the TV and savor his burgers and his Frosty before grabbing his toothbrush and going into the washroom to brush his teeth.

Bud and Harm's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison, WI 2350 hrs, CST

Harm finished his salad with a distasteful look at the rest of it and then tossed the remainder in the garbage bag. "I didn't know that Wendy's could destroy salad." He grumbled and gave Bud an even more disgusted look as Bud demolished the remains of his burger, chowing down and finishing his Frosty as a chaser.

"I don't know, sir, my burgers and Frosty were really good." Bud replied swallowing to prevent a mouthful of burger from going down the wrong way.

Harm looked out the door, as he grabbed his go-bag that he had thrown carelessly in the corner. "I gotta go somewhere." He said by way of an explanation. "I might be really late, Don't wait up. I'll leave you the key…" He said passing Bud the key and then grabbed his go-bag and headed out before Bud could venture a protest, the door shutting behind him.

Bud shook his head as the door clicked. "I guess I'm all by myself tonight and even worse, I can't phone out."

Meg and Lia's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 0010 hrs, CST

Meg answered the soft knock on the door as Lia was showering. She opened it to find Harm on the other side. "Harm? What are you doing here?"

"Would you believe I couldn't sleep."

"Meg, who's at the door?" Lia's voice called out from shower.

"Harm." Meg replied as Lia let out a squeak of protest.

"What's he doing here?" Lia protested, her voice muffled through the door with the shower running.

"He says he couldn't sleep." Meg smirked; she was sure that Harm was trying to pull a fast one.

"He couldn't sleep?" Meg heard Lia say incredulously, as the shower shut off.

"Yeah…Bud's snoring kept me awake." Harm said as an excuse. "Can I come in? Meg?"

Meg shook her head amazed at the brazenness of Harm, but stepped aside to let him in.

"Can you toss me in a set of my sweat pants?" Lia growled, irritated that Harm assumed he could come in not knowing that Meg let him in. "I don't think he just wants to see me in just panties and a t-shirt. Damn that man!" she said vehemently. Harm pretended he hadn't heard that.

"OK…I'm outta here." Meg replied…sarcastically. "I don't wanna hear both of you having pillow talk."

Harm's eyebrows nearly met his hairline which was a feat in itself in response to Meg's snarky comment as she grabbed her go-bag and amscrayed out the door, despite his protests…that he was only there to talk. The door shut behind her as Harm wondered just how he could get out of this mess that he now found himself in when he heard the bathroom door open as Lia stepped out, her damp hair wrapped up in a towel, a rather not-pleased expression on her face wearing a Navy T-shirt and Navy sweat pants. Both hands were on her hips and she was tapping her toes on the carpeted floor. "So…what do you want, flyboy? I thought we were going to sleep…in our proper rooms?"

"Would you believe that Bud is having an attack of paranoia about sleeping alone without Harriet?" Harm grinned sheepishly.

Lia smirked as she headed over to sit on the bed. "So…you think you're sharing a room?" Harm turned on his grin. Damn that man.

Animal's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 0030 hrs CST

Animal sighed as he looked at the garbage can and the empty food and drink containers that now resided in there. He sure as hell wasn't about to touch the alcohol fridge. That bar fridge ran up charges like one wouldn't believe. He thought about getting out of his clothes and getting ready for bed because it was going to be an early morning, when a soft knock on the door startled him.

"Who is it?" He said as he twisted the doorknob and opened the door to show a smiling Meg Austin on the other side of the door. "Uh…Lieutenant Commander? What brings you here?"

"I seem to have gotten kicked out of my room…" She smiled softly as she canted her head to one side.

"Oh, you have, have you?" Animal smirked at her.

"Mind if I get out of the hallway. Don't want other people to get ideas." She asked, leaning in slightly, her voice husky. Animal sniffed a whiff of her perfume and felt a stirring that had nothing to do with his heart. "My only other option was to bunk in Lieutenant JG Roberts room and that would have driven Harriet crazy." She remembered that when she had initially joined the JAG office, the petite blonde was observing her like a hawk eyeing prey. And knowing that, she knew that Harriet Sims wouldn't be pleased in the slightest if she learned of Meg bunking with her husband-to-be; investigation or not. So, as she thought to herself, her only option was hanging out with Captain Nakamura since she was evicted from her shared room with Lia by Harm playing musical hotel-rooms.

"Yeah…" He stepped aside to let Meg in the door. He didn't know much about Ensign Harriet Sims to render a verdict as to how Harriet would react to a female officer bunking with her fiancé "…I could sleep on the couch provided." He said indicating the couch in the corner.

"Nonsense, we're both adults." Meg smirked as she noted the blush that was permeating Animal's skin making him flush. She appeared to be making him hot and bothered. "Mind if I take a shower? It's been a long day coupled with a long flight and my back sure hurts."

Animal gulped, "Sure, be my guest…" as he gestured to the washroom, while he tried to calm his raging hormones. Lieutenant Commander Meg Austin was a statuesque blonde, with a girl-next-door beauty and she was something to behold.

"Thanks…" She leaned in and gave him a thank you peck on the cheek and grabbed her underthings from her bag that she had put in one corner of the room, withdrawing a pair of panties, and long t-shirt as well as a towel for her hair and disappeared into Animal's shower-room. Animal sat down on the bed wondering what the hell just happened.

As the shower started, Animal heard the room phone ring. He groaned.

Lia's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 0045 hrs.

Harm heard a gruff "Hello?" on the other end of the phone line.

"Hey, Animal, do you know where Meg went to?" he asked curiously.

Animal's snort was distinctly sarcastic. "And just where do you think she went?"

"Uh…all she said was something about not listening to my and Lia's pillow-talk and went out the door." Harm pressed his ear closer to the receiver. "Hey…is that a shower running in the background."

"Yeah…" Animal's voice was low, irritated and a low growl. "And I don't want the bathtub to overflood…now will you let me get back to what I was doing?" Just then a familiar voice started singing in the background…in the shower, audible to Harm's ear emanating from the receiver and Harm grinned. It was distinctly familiar because he had heard it so many times in the JAG office while she was puttering around going over her files. She did obfuscate about singing as she said that she couldn't sing to save her life, but she still sung when she thought she was alone. It wasn't that bad. His smile grew wider.

"Uh…Animal…I think I know where she is now. Thanks, Have a nice night." Harm could barely suppress a chuckle.

"We're not doing…aw shit…I'm not doing anything…" Animal protested vociferously as Harm hung up on him.

Harm grinned at Lia, "Well, at least we know where Meg is…" He smirked at Lia

Animal's Room, Hilton Monona Terrace, Madison WI, 0100 hrs, CST

Animal muttered to himself. "That conniving assuming sonofabitch." As he slammed the phone down on the cradle. Just what did Rabb think that he was doing with Meg? She was tired, hot n' sweaty from her travels on a COD and she needed a shower and she just didn't feel comfortable asking Bud for the use of his bathroom for her shower. Plus on top of that, if Maegyn found out, he'd be castrated and singing castrati mezzo-soprano.

Pretty soon the bathroom door opened, and Meg, her damp hair hanging around her shoulders, emerged wearing a t-shirt that went down past her waist and thighs almost to her knees. "I use this to sleep in." she explained as she eyed the bed with a wistful expression.

"I can sleep on the couch." Animal reiterated his offer.

"No, that's all right." Meg said softly as she drew closer to him as warning signals went off in his head. "Besides I'm too tired for this to become a potentially dangerous situation. So let's get some sleep before we can't see straight and we're too tired to do anything in the morning..." Animal's eyeballs nearly popped out of his head. "…I meant…anything to do with the investigation. I know you're with someone already, so I won't do anything." Meg promised.

"Oh…"

"My back is still sore…though." Meg hinted casually as she slipped under the covers of the bed as Animal stood to the side

"Yeah…?" Animal inquired "Need a backrub.

"That would be nice…" Her voice was almost a purr. Animal nodded, slid into the washroom, stripped down to his boxers and grabbed a pair of his shorts which he had put in the bathroom, then stepped out of the washroom.

He slipped under the covers, sitting up against the headboard. "If you lean back close to me I can give you a backrub…" he said. "Perfectly safe…" as Meg grinned at him.

"Thanks…" she patted his cheek. He kneaded her shoulders and the back of her neck. "Mmmmm, I could have you do this for hours." He grinned back at her. "Oh…that feels so good." As he worked down her body, Meg moaned softly. "You are darned good at this. I think you could open up a masseur shop."

"Hmmmm, if that was in my future, it might be a plan." He teased her. "Would you be a client."

"You certainly convinced me…" she teased back gently. As Meg's muscles relaxed, she found her eyelids grew heavy with fatigue. "Lets go to sleep."

"OK…" They separated long enough to curl up underneath the blankets and sleep overtook them almost as quickly as their heads hit the pillows.