Part Two
Author: AD
Rating: PG
Pairing: Webb/Mac/AJ/Meredith/Various JAG Personnel
Category: H
Spoilers: None that I know of, but fairly current.
Disclaimer: Apologies to Paramount & Belisarius Productions for borrowing some JAG characters and taking them in a different direction.
Summary: A case of mistaken identity quickly gets out of hand.
Author's Note: Still having fun with it---don't care where it's going.
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NOVEMBER 4, 2003
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
While AJ and Meredith were arguing, Webb had edged closer to the open doorway. He was just about to gain his freedom when a strong hand reached in and yanked him off-balance.
Leaning into the wall just outside of the office door, Webb barely kept himself upright. Straightening the jacket of his suit, he looked up at his attacker and issued his warning: "Hey, don't muss the---Sarah!"
Mac grabbed the lapels of his suit, despite the warning and growled, "Webb, what the hell are you up to?"
Cupping her shoulders, Webb maneuvered her into the corner of the anteroom, as far away from Coates and the office door as he could get. Looking into her incensed features, Webb's expression maintained its innocence. "Up to? Why do you automatically assume I'm up to something?"
Mac snorted. "Well, you're here, the Admiral's upset, and," Mac gestured towards the bench just outside of the bullpen, "Coates just told me you tried to pass yourself off as that Caleb guy over there."
Webb winked at Coates, who blushed furiously. After a brief punch in the shoulder from Mac, Webb focused on the dapper gentleman nervously twitching on the wooden bench. "That's Caleb? Of `Weddings by Caleb'?"
Unable to drag his gaze away from the hapless wedding planner he'd been mistaken for, Webb missed the amused look Coates and Mac exchanged. Using her hand to pry his jaw towards her, Mac demanded, "Clay, what have you done?"
Shaking his head, he nodded towards Coates. "Why don't you ask the Petty Officer?"
"Because I'm asking you!" Mac grabbed his lapels again and leaned a little closer, "Anyway, I've already heard her version."
Webb gazed into her eyes and they shared a sweet smile. His lips nearly brushing her ear, Webb whispered, "Tell me everything."
Refusing to succumb to his charms, Mac pinched his earlobe and gave it a yank. "No, I don't think so. *You* are going to tell me what *you* are up to!"
Rubbing his ear, he gave her a slightly injured look and sighed, "You're not going to believe me."
"I will if you tell me the truth," she countered.
Placing his hands on the wall beside her head, he boxed her in, "I've heard that one before, Sarah."
"Clayton�.," she warned, but her hands were lightly mapping the knot of his tie.
"All right, but the truth is, I'm innocent." At her disbelieving look, leaned closer and promised, "I am not on assignment. I am not recruiting for an op. I am not setting the stage for a mission."
Pushing him away with both hands, Mac paced in front of Coates desk. "Well, you're doing something. The Admiral sounded like he was ready to gut you a few moments ago. And you were egging him on---I heard you!"
Reminded of his earlier remarks to AJ, Webb admitted to a bit of mischief, "Okay, okay. Maybe I did goad him a little. But there is no way I can be blamed for this little fiasco. I was minding my own business at Langley when AJ paged me to come over here. I came in good faith---really I did!" Mac was giving him a disgusted look, so he looked over to Coated for support. The Petty Officer was too busy trying to pretend she wasn't eavesdropping to help him out.
Mac took a deep breath and rolled her eyes, "Get to the point already, Clay."
"Very well, Sarah. Simply put, Meredith mistook me for that guy over there," Clay pointed to the little man on the bench, "---the wedding planner."
"The one polishing his glasses on a paisley hanky?" Webb took a good look at the plump little man squinting down at the delicate spectacles he was cleaning: damned if it wasn't a paisley hanky. Frowning in distaste, Webb nodded in confirmation.
"The one who looks like he has a hornet up his six?" Webb winced and nodded his head once again.
"She mistook you for that?" The disbelief was clear in Mac's tone.
"Yes," he ground out.
Mac laughed. "Do I look like I was born yesterday, Clay?"
"It's the truth," he repeated.
"Uh-huh. Well, what were you doing here in the first place? Why were you all alone with Meredith in the Admiral's office?" This time Mac had *him* backed up against the wall, not an altogether uncomfortable position from his point of view.
Webb smirked, sure of his facts on this point, "AJ called me."
Mac tipped her head to the side and considered Webb's answer very carefully, "Admiral Chegwidden called you?"
"Yes," he maintained.
"To be the wedding planner?"
"Ye---no! No!" Mac nearly grinned when Webb almost stamped his foot in frustration. "I told you, that was what the Petty Officer and Dr. Cavanaugh assumed."
"I see. And you couldn't correct that assumption? Maybe tell them who you are�," Mac forestalled his answer by turning her head away and holding out the flat of her hand, "-and don't give me any of that need-to-know crap. I'm not talking about your occupation, just your name."
Webb took a deep, cleansing breath, "I did that."
A bright voice piped up from the corner of the small ante- room, "He's right, ma'am. He corrected me on his name right away. It's just that it sounded so much like---"
"That'll be all, Jennifer. Let's allow Mr. Webb to make his own explanations, please." Mac turned back in time to see Webb mouth a `thank you' to Jennifer. The Petty Officer was beaming. "Clay?"
"I corrected her on my name right away Sarah," he meekly parroted. Mac pinched his side and leaned against the wall again.
"Ow, that hurt Sarah!" he complained, but it was obvious he was in no pain. Quite the contrary, actually: he was eyeing her relaxed form as though considering which area he'd pinch in retaliation.
"That was the whole point, Clay." Mac sighed and closed her eyes as he blocked her off from the rest of the room. "What am I going to do with you, spook?"
"Wrap me up and take me home with you?" Clay's expression turned hopeful as he widened his eyes innocently and edged her closer into the dark nook of the room.
Bracing her hands on his shoulders and kneading them, a reluctant smile escaped her stern features. "Right. As if---"
"Webb!" The deep voice boomed out from the open doorway, startling Webb and Mac to attention. "Get in here! Now! And bring the colonel with you---she might as well hear this, too!"
Shrugging his shoulders, Webb gestured for Mac to precede him as he placed a guiding hand at the small of her back. Staring straight ahead, Mac marched past the Admiral, but stopped short when she encountered a glowing Meredith.
"Come on in, Sarah. Everything's fine now. AJ assures me that we're just suffering from pre-wedding jitters. Come on, everything's truly okay. More than that, really."
Mac couldn't get over how satisfied Meredith appeared. Exchanging a puzzled glance with Webb, she wondered what exactly the Admiral had done to put such a pleased look on his fianc�e's face. After all, the door had been wide open.
They weren't left in the dark for long. "Colonel, Meredith and I have some wonderful news. After an exhaustive search throughout the entire tri-state area, we have finally chosen the perfect wedding planner."
Webb's stomach churned as a sense of unreality set in. He could feel it coming and looked to Sarah for some type of support, but she was experiencing her own sense of disbelief. Hoping to forestall what appeared to be the inevitable, Webb stood up and tried to take charge of the situation.
"You've made an excellent choice, Admiral! I'm certain Mr. Caleb will be thrilled. I'll go out and tell him the good news." Webb was almost to the door when two things happened at once: the Admiral's hand came down hard on his shoulder just as he heard a distinct thump on the floor behind him.
Webb turned around in time to see that Sarah had literally fallen out of the leather chair. Meredith was hovering over her, advising her to take some deep breaths, while Sarah's shoulders shook uncontrollably. She was having a difficult time standing up with her skirt stuck under one knee and one shoe that was cocked at an improbable angle.
Amid the gales of hysterical laughter Mac couldn't seem to control, Webb felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Maybe he could still get Mr. Caleb in here to take charge of the situation. With that thought in mind, Webb left Mac to Meredith's motherly ministrations and turned back to the door.
"Not so fast, Webb. I believe we have some fees to discuss."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
