Title: High School Reunion
Author: Maria Gade
Email: [email protected]
Summary:
It’s time for Clayton Webb to face his old demons.
High
School Reunion
It was a
perfectly normal friday at JAG. The coffee machine had decieded
to take the day off, making almost every officer in today,
grumpy. The elevator was out of order and had taken Bud as its
prisenor, again and Clayton Webb was looking at pure chaos in the
bullpen.
“Webb,
what new spy operation are you going to invovle us in now?”
Harm asked as he stepped out of his office and saw Webb standing
outside Mac’s office.
“None
Cmdr. I’m here on personal buisness,” Webb informed and
knocked on Mac’s door.
When he stepped inside he suddenly got a bit
claustrophobic. Mac had succeded in building a fort of casefiles
around her, making it impossible for Webb to see her and
impossible for him to move, afraid he might knock something over.
“Webb, what do you want?” a voice behind the
files asked.
“I need your help on a personal matter,” he
answered and tried to look over the files, so he could have a
conversation with her face to face. No such luck and when she
didn’t respond he continued: “I was wondering if you
had any plans for next friday? There is this High School reunion
thing of mine…”
Webb’s voice trailled off. He was uncomfortable asking
her for help and Mac knew it.
She removed some of the casefiles from her desk.
“Clayton Webb, are you asking me on a date?” She
asked bemused and looked him straight in the eyes.
“NO! Just as a friend….you don’t have to go
as my date.”
Mac nodded thoughtfully.
“Why are you asking me?” she finally asked. She
knew that Webb had some pretty lady friends…she had seen him
with quite a few during the last few moths.
“Christopher Wyle. We were friends in High School..in
the competetive kind of way. It was always who had the most
money, beautiful ladies, expensive cars. And if I know Chris
right, he hasn’t changed and he’ll be bringing a model
or some other beautiful woman, and you’re the only one I
know who’ll be able to outshine them all.” Webb
finished.
“My Webb, did you just give a compliment?” Mac
teased. For some reason she couldn’t picture Webb as a boy
in High School. It was too strange. After all, he was…Webb.
He was supposed to have attended a private school for rich kids.
Finding a nice, sensible girl he could take home and introduce to
his mother…but then again, the Webbs were CIA.
“Take it as you like,” Webb answered. It was
true. He had never met a woman who could measue up to Sarah
MacKenzie.
“So,
what do you say Mac?” Webb asked causiously.
“Well….how’s a girl supposed to say no when
you say it like that?” Mac smiled, and she could see the
relief wash over him.
“Thank you Mac,” Webb said, and then added with a
dry smile: “I guess I’ll owe you.”
“That you will,” Mac answered. She knew how much
Webb hated to be indepted to someone.
Next
Friday….
”So, where is our Clayton?” Chris asked with a wry
smile and looked at his clock. He was standing in the middle of a
group of old friends with a beautiful, young girl under his arm.
“Baby, why is it so important that this Clayton guy
shows up?” she asked and pursed her lips.
But before he had any time to explain, he saw his old
friend entering the room. Stylish….but alone.
With a big, satisfied smile on his face and the girl under
his arm, he crossed the room and greet Webb with a clap on the
shoulder.
“So
Webb, still haven’t found you a woman who’s willing to
put up with you?” Chris asked and tightened hisarm around
the girls shoulder., making sure Webb noticed.
“Candy, this is Clayton Webb. The guy we’ve been
talking about..” Chris started, but his words died off as he
saw the beautiful woman who had just entered the room.
Everybody noticed her, some even whisteled, but nobody
seemed to recognize her. Webb turned around and saw Mac, who
blushed at all the attention. Webb gave her a weak smile. He had
never seen Mac blush before, it made her all the more beautiful
in his eyes.
“Hi
honey, sorry I’m late, but the line at the ladies room was
terrible,” Mac said ad pulled Webb’s face down to hers
and kissed him passionantly, as Chris and the others looked on
with envy.
“I’ll
be damned,” Chris finally said, jealousy evident in his
voice.
Webb pulled away, slowly as he looked puzzled at Mac.
Searching her face for an explanation.
“So, Clay, who is this lovely lady and what the hell
is she doing with you?” Chris asked while admiring the woman
in front of him.
“Oh…” Webb started, but his brain was
refusing to co-opearate, so Mac decieded to help him out.
“Sarah MacKenzie. Nice to meet you. Me and Webb
go way back, but it wasn’t untill last winter Clay here
finally admitted that he had feelings for me,” Mac stated as
a matter of factly and looked lovingly at Webb,
Soon after Chris and
his date left Webb and Mac alone.
“You know for a spy, you sure are no good at
lying,” she teased, “so, do these people know what you
do for a living?”
“Of course,” Webb answered, and then with a big
smile he added as he saw the raised eyebrow, “I’m
Clayton Webb, computer engineer.”
Mac laughed and followed Webb to get something to eat.
As they ate Mac decieded to apologize about the kiss.
“Webb, I’m sorry about the…”
“Tonight I’m Clayton and you’re
Sarah..deal?” Webb said seriously and took another bite of
his cake.
Mac nodded and smiled shyly, “fine..Clay…I’m
sorry about the kiss, but I saw how Chris looked at you when you
entered the room alone and I just couldn’t help
myself..” she whispered angrily.
“Don’t apologize Sarah…I enjoyed it,”
Webb stated and gave her a small smile. She smiled back at him.
The reunion went less painfull than Webb had expected and
he got to see a while new side of Mac. She talked to him about
her past, which he already knew. He had read her files after
their first encounter. But he didn’t tell her that, so he
just sat and listened as she talked about her childhood, her wild
teenage years and her uncle and John Farrow.
Webb enjoyed her openness and wondered if she was this way
with Rabb too. He had often wonderd about the two and wether or
not they were romanticly involved. He knew that Mac had loved
Harm at a point, but he was unsure if she still did. She had
changed since their trip to the prison camp.
As the end neared Webb asked Mac for a dance.
“I didn’t know you could dance,” Mac said
with a smile. He was a terrific dancer and she almost felt as if
she was floating.
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know
about me,” Webb answered and dipped her, “for example,
my mother dragged me to dance school when I was 5, my first crush
was on the girl next door. Cathy Miles. I was 8, she was 9. She
gave me a kiss before breaking my heart. I was convinced that I
would never love again. I’ve worked at Burger King once when
I had upset my mother and she denied me any money for a new
car….and I do like Beltway Burgers, contrary to popular
beliefs,” Webb whispered the last part in her ear, just as
the song ended.
Webb drove Mac back to her place and walked her to the door
after the reunion was over.
“I had a lovely evening Webb, thank you.” Mac
softly placed a kiss on his lips and before Webb had anytime to
recover she was gone.
He stood at the door for some time and then turned and went
back to the car. Just as he was about to drive away, Mac opened a
window and yelled: “You still owe me Webb,”
Webb smiled. He knew Mac wouldn’t be able to see it,
because of the darkness so he just waved. As he drove away her
words echoed in her mind: You still owe me…this was going to
be interesting.
THE END