Chapter Two - "Second Chances"

"Hail and Well Met"

Chapter Two - "Second Chances"

The Day After The Exercise; Temporary Visitors Quarters; Onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt; Somewhere in the Mediterranean.

0600 marked the dawn of a new day for Meg on the carrier in her temporary quarters still amatorily frustrated from being stuck onboard a carrier with the object of her affections for the past two days and no way to fix that situation at least in the way she wanted. If she could she wouldn't be feeling like this.

Harm and Mac had already said their good-byes to her as they'd left yesterday afternoon on the COD. They'd asked, or it was more like Harm had asked; Mac seemed quite cool and indifferent. Meg could feel the vibes of dislike coming off the woman; if she wanted to come with them back to Sigonella and then take a helo back to Naples. Instead of having to endure an uncomfortable COD ride seated near a person who distinctly hated her guts, Meg felt relief at turning down the offer.

After all, Meg had her orders, to steam back in with the ship and talk to the men and women who dealt with the missiles to see if they had any feedback about operational use of the missiles and what possible modification possibilities that they'd noticed it needed, better tracking of targets, time to lock on, ability to switch targets automatically on its own after being fired, self-destruct, etc. There was a ton of information related to the use of those weapons that she could send in feedback back to China Lake.

She sighed, there was a pile of work to do and she needed to get started on it. After all the report wouldn't write itself. Getting dressed, she got a cup of coffee from the mess and sat down with her laptop to coherently and concisely put in her view of the results of the missile test despite being what one would see as a successful ninety-five percent kill ratio. If five hundred missiles were fired at the battle group, that still meant twenty-five missiles got through and depending on the yield of those missiles, the damage could be as light as losing a few ships or as heavy as the entire battle group being destroyed; the latter scenario being the kickoff to a world cataclysmic war and would start and end with a nuclear exchange.

Tosh was already airborne flying yet another patrol and they would be ceasing flight operations in preparation for sailing into port That meant double duty for the fighters that would fly cover until cessation of operations when they were twelve miles out of Italy's territorial waters. TR would steam a race track pattern in the Med for as long as it took to recover all its aircraft then would steam full power directly towards Naval Facilities Naples and anchor in the deepest part of the harbor sending their launches to shore so that the sailors and officers could have a little liberty before sailing back out again. And from what Tosh had told her after liberty at Naples they were sailing west towards Virginia Beach and home.

How she wished she was heading that way herself instead of staying at Naples, but she intended to stick it out and just do what had to be done. She sighed as she sat and typed. She didn't want to go back to the unwanted attentions of Lieutenant Plante and all the other lovelorn young officers whom she had absolutely no interest in but kept bugging her for her time as well as for dates in which she had absolutely no interest in going on. It was frankly getting very annoying to come to work and seeing notes all over her desk from unwanted suitors who thought that constantly pestering her was the way to her heart. Trust her, they were mistaken on that account if they thought she'd be the slightest bit interested in those who'd left those pining epistles to her. In fact it frankly left her aggravated and more than a little weary of the unwanted attention. Did she somehow have a sign saying open for love, or needing to scratch an itch? At least to any one in her workplace...NO the smoking lamp was not lit.

She heartily wished for a solution to that aggravating problem; preferably not one that involved removing said pests with pesticides.

By 1100hrs she was done the report she would hand in and up on PriFly watching the skies for Tosh's F-14 which would be on its way back from its patrol. She rationalized that she was doing these things because it helped her to understand Tosh better as a naval officer and understand naval aviators better.

The CAG came out on the PriFly, he smiled at her and asked, "... watching for VF-41 XO's plane?". When she nodded he commented, "He drew 112 today so its not his bird that he's flying. But he's scheduled to be overhead in zero six." Six minutes. And like clockwork from the Tower, she heard a familiar voice, "Fast Eagle One One Two Platform,"

"Roger One One Two maintain flight level one zero, two seven niner, we have two Turkeys in the groove, say your state."

"One One Two, Homeplate, state nine point zero." Nine thousand pounds of fuel.

"They're gonna have to take him third. Don't want him going below two." The CAG turned to Meg. "Turkey is a good bird but guzzles JP like a sieve."

Meg nodded her head According to what she'd heard on the radio: Platform was at ten thousand feet and it was from that altitude that the aircraft made their final approach to the deck.

Numerous radio calls, two traps by other Tomcats (the ones ahead of XO's Tomcat -the one he was piloting today) and Tosh was finally in the groove making it look easy. The approach to the deck was as smooth as butter. Minimal wing rock, he barely was having to move stick and adjusting.

Unbeknownst to any observer below, the naval aviator's hands and feet were doing a great impression of a church organist, subtle corrections of attitude, application of throttle and minimal stick movement and eyes locked on the meatball(the landing signal array that would tell him if he was high, low or on correct glide-slope). His eyes would never leave the meatball until his jet crossed the fantail and was wire-bound. With so many traps to his credit, Animal made it look easy but his stress level was as high as it was when he'd made his first approach to the deck on the training carrier USS Oriskany way back in 1981 during advanced flight training in the T-2C Buckeye, a fat little jet that resembled a sparrow that had swallowed a nut too big for its body.

Except that this time he was flying a 40 tonne hunk of air-grade aluminum that could go two point four times the speed of sound and he did it well.

As a Category III at the FRS, his study of his NATOPS manual during his rehabilitation from shoulder wounds allowed him to ace the syllabus. During the carquals as an O-5 in an executive officer role in an active duty fighter squadron upon returning to the active fleet, he made it a point of demonstrating to both students and instructors alike that he was capable of flying the approach as if glued to the glide-slope and setting a standard as a former FRS cadre member that was going to be hard to best if ever.

"Fast Eagle One One Two, we have you on glide-slope at three quarters of a mile; call the ball

"One One Two, Tomcat, Nakamura, two point seven; ball" which meant he was flying the approach without aid from the ACLS needles. Animal disliked the Automated Carrier Landing System. Frankly he hated anything that took control of his aircraft away from him.

CAG grinned at her as she looked up towards the sky behind the wake of the carrier. "There he is," he pointed out the lo-vis Tomcat outlined against the blue sky. And the F-14A Tomcat crossed the fantail and right into the third wire going full burner as the Tomcat was yanked to a halt. "That's the sixtieth green three-wire in a row for him, he's setting a high standard for the rest of the air-wing to follow; they haven't beat him at all this cruise."

Meg grinned as the twin burner flames cut off, hook lift and taxi to the parking forward of the tower. She knew her Tosh was going to be unhooking from the seat restraints and she wanted to meet him down at the base of the tower as he walked in

The two crews walked in after the second of the two Tomcats landed and parked. Then the whole evolution of pulling the planes back and getting the next patrol launched started all over again. This whole back and forth went on time after time during the course of the day.

Each patrol overlapped the other's by an hour so that there was always several pairs of Tomcats in the air at a time. And there was always a Ready 5 on the number one cat. Most patrols launched off the number two and number three. Number one was the starboard nose cat, number two was off the nose port catapult, number three was the waist catapult and number four was right down the edge of the didn't launch two aircraft off the waist at a time because the catapult tracks ran right into each other and that would make every one on the flight deck have a really bad day.

Meg was more than happy to greet Tosh at the hatch to welcome him back from his patrol which greatly made her happy since he rewarded her with a wide smile.

"Hey, sir, did you have a good flight?" Dang all these superior officers (all O-4s and above) to her around him and needing to stick to strict protocol. She wanted some private time to talk with him.

And frankly there was definitely a hierarchy around the ship. Of the officers there were a whole flock of Ensigns, lots of Lieutenant JGs and Lieutenants. When the ranks got to Lieutenant Commanders they started to thin out as they were generally department heads. And there were only so many departments to go around. Commanders headed squadrons; were XOs of squadrons and were also heads of sections within the carrier. Engineering or Maintenance were headed by O-5s. Finally the main units within the carrier, the CO and XO of the boat were Captains, the Commander of the Air Wing was also a Captain and the DCAG could either be a junior Captain or a senior Commander. And right on the very top, the pinnacle of the hierarchy; there were usually two Rear Admirals (lower half); like the top of a Navy rank sundae with two cherries on top; the Battle Group Commander and the Deputy Battle Group Commander.

Meg had to admit that Tosh only had a few equals and even less superiors within the carrier rank structure.

They walked to the squadron ready room where she sat quietly in the comfy reclining briefing chairs and waited for Tosh to shower and change into a fresh set of working khakis. When he came out she suggested going down to the hangar deck and walking around the airplanes. Hangar decks were huge and there were places away from where the maintenance crews were working; where they wouldn't be noticed.

"OK, but can we do it after I eat?" Animal asked "I launched at 0800hrs on an empty stomach with maybe a chocolate bar or two in my pack and did a four hour patrol so I'm kinda hungry for some real food."

Meg gave him an affected look of disappointment, the twinkle in her eyes indicating that she was pulling his leg. "Oh...if you really must..." she stated. "I guess my really important discussion could wait an hour...or two." Implying that he might be hungry enough to eat for that long.

"Maybe there's apple pie and ice cream..." Animal said hopefully. Meg laughed. It was like Tosh to have his mind on dessert even before the main course. If they did Meg would look to see if his food vanished into his stomach as if it was vacuumed off his plate. It would be surprising if he had enough room left over for dessert especially if the meal was sliders or sausages and hash browns. Lowest on the appetizing category was rabbit poop and shitters or edible diarrhea otherwise referred to less crassly as beans and gravy.

Luckily the Mess Specialists were exceedingly skilled on this carrier and they certainly earned their pay as the meals on board made other services thoroughly jealous. It appeared that the Navy was number one in food services with the Air Force following a close second then the Marines who had a choice of eating in the Marine Corps chow hall or having MREs; as to what they picked.

Animal sometimes derogatorily said that the Marines had a standing mess contract with Crayola - reputedly the orange ones tasted the best; waxy with a hint of pumpkin or maybe that was all in their mind.

The Army came in dead last, mainly because half of the time each kitchen help was a soldier looking to get the hell out of the kitchen and into regular duty as either infantry or armored division. And most of the time the MREs that came out of the Army storehouse were packaged sometime around the time of the Korean War if not WWII.

In any case, morale was assessed on the stomachs of its officers and enlisted. If the food was good; morale was high. If the food sucked morale sank faster than a sub with a failed diving tank seal.

They got to the mess just as the officer's mess was starting to get the lunch trickle-ins. They were lucky to be first in line. The MS3 dished up a large dish of sausages from the breakfast rush that they were clearing out and potato salad. There was also three slices of toast and pats of jam and butter. Meg offered to clear out the remaining sausages so that the rest could have shepherd's pie that was freshly made. "Are you sure we won't be in a food coma after this meal?" She asked.

Animal wasn't sure. "Maybe". He replied.

They dug into the repast and surprisingly though it was a lot it didn't over fill them. And they still had dessert which was as Animal had hoped, apple pie and ice cream. The MS1 on the dessert counter dishing up two scoops each for the commander and the lieutenant as they looked as if they were together. Well it was the advantage of higher rank or at least in Meg's case; for a lieutenant dining with a commander.

When they were done eating; in other words, Animal and Meg had inhaled everything off their plates and sufficiently filled themselves to the brim, they put their used plates in the tubs and the utensils in the utensil tub and headed down to the hangar deck. There they picked a quiet out of the way corner to talk.

"It's tough at Naples." Meg said looking out at the open elevator that took the aircraft from the hangar deck up to the flight deck. "Every single guy at the place thinks that if they pester me enough they'll have a chance. No...I'm not interested in them and it really gets annoying that they leave me little notes on my desk telling me about them and how they think that l would want to go on a date with them somewhere to some restaurant. I mean if I were that kind of girl and I didn't care who I was attracted to, then maybe I might turn around and cache a few free dinners, but I'm not and they aren't my type. They can wish all they like but I'm...NOT...interested." It was an avalanche of words that came out, but that didn't intimidate her Tosh. He listened quietly to her complaints nodding that he understood her position. Plainly put; she was getting harassed and that was going to stop. And he had plan for it. Plus he'd been thinking about this constantly ever since she'd shown up on his boat.

"Would you be willing to go back to JAG if it gets you out of this situation?" He asked her.

"It would only happen if it was approved by the JAG." Meg replied, sadly looking out at the aircraft parked in the hangar deck. "And what if he doesn't trust me after I bolted from the office. Harm still works there and I don't know if I will ever be able to work with him."

"Let me talk with AJ and see. Maybe my silver oak-leafs are good for something." Animal said. "I'm sure he could use a good lawyer to take some heat off the case-load."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I've got a plan. You really threw me for a loop back at Yokosuka when you asked me about what I would do if I found someone who would want to share her life with me and if I could let go of my need to control my own life to be able to have a healthy relationship."

Meg nodded. He had looked like a deer in the headlights when she'd asked him the question; as if stunned and wondering how to respond. He needed to make sure that he was able to stabilize his life so that he could keep it in order so that it wouldn't spiral out of control; like a jet entering a flat spin.

"I'd often wondered if I met the right person and then let her get away." He said looking at her. "...that she'd disappeared so suddenly that I wouldn't be able to find her again"

Meg stared at him. This was starting to sound familiar. Was he talking about her? Was it really because his narrative about his right woman sounded a lot like her own life story over the past three years.

"And when she reappeared all of a sudden, she was all that I could think about. And the one realization that came to my mind is that I can't let her slip away again." Tosh said, "Not knowing where she went was torture enough. I'm not letting second chances get away from me." It was then that Meg realized Tosh; the man that she considered HER Tosh, was kneeling on one knee on the no-skid of the hangar deck holding up a felt covered box. "Meg Austin...".

Meg covered her mouth with one hand as his hands opened the box to reveal a diamond solitaire ring with the edge of the band where her finger would slip into was festooned with smaller diamonds around its circumference. This was no cheap ring bought on a casual whim. It was at least a $35,000 ring that had loads of thought put into its purchase.

"Will you consent to walk life's road with me?" He paused. "Meg, will you marry me?"

Meg's jaw dropped open. Here was the man she'd admired during the investigation that led to the awarding of his Medal of Honor; the man who against all odds managed to rise up out of adversity looking up at her as if she was his everything.

Her Tosh had stood steadfastly defiant at all the mud slung at him during a trial that never should have happened;as a lying, cheating scum of an XO tried to drag his name through the mud almost stymying his chances of the award,

In fact, his XO was arrested (at the trial where Tosh was acquitted of all charges brought against him) and was tried for statutory breaches of the UCMJ tampering with federal property, convicted and put behind bars for life and the man whose reputation that crooked XO tried to tarnish was now the renowned XO of VF-41 soon to be CO if she was correct in her assumptions and this man, the now XO of VF-41 was on bended knee in front of her. And the only single word answer that she would give with all her heart and soul was:

"YES!" Meg replied taking the ring and placing it on her finger. "I WILL" she said emphatically and it fit perfectly. Animal holding Meg's hands tenderly; he gazed into her eyes and away from the prying eyes of enlisted or officers they were able to have an intimate kiss and embrace.

"Meg...Thisisn't just to get your harassers off your case." Animal said looking at her as she marveled at the ring. "I want to really walk our road together for the rest of our lives..."

Meg choked out, overcome with emotion, "I know. That preamble pretty much told me that when I made the choice to disappear I wasn't thinking correctly. That I made you wonder where I went. I made us miss two years that we could have been together."

"None of that matters, Meg, what matters is us now." Animal told her "I love you."

"I love you too...so much" Meg replied, still in shock that she was now engaged to her Tosh and she was ecstatic.

"Now engagement isn't going to cut it with those pestering jackdaws. We really have to make it an emphatic statement." Animal said, "What would you say about us getting married? In Sicily; at the chapel at NAS Sigonella?"

Meg had no problems with that. After all with her hasty decision to leave JAG she'd thrown a haymaker into Tosh's life and she'd had enough with wasting time. They'd lost enough time. It was now time to take the momentous first step in getting married and becoming Mrs. Meg Nakamura.

Wait till Lieutenant Plante sees the ring on my finger when I tell him that his hopes of ever dating me has been flushed down the toilet as well as those hopes of his equally pesky compatriots.

She couldn't wait to bring her fiancé to her place of work and inform Captain Hamilton that she required three weeks because she was going on her honeymoon and she was requesting a transfer back to JAG. Captain Hamilton was going to have an aneurysm.

1345hrs, Bridge of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), Somewhere in the Mediterranean

"You're what?" Captain Decker asked, incredulous; staring at both the Commander and the Lieutenant. His eyes narrowed ominously.

Meg, trying to appear suitably chastised by a superior officer, resisted an amused expression. According to Tosh, Captain Decker had a good sense of humor but she was starting to wonder if Tosh had been mistaken.

"We're getting married, sir...I mean, we're engaged, but we're also planning a quick wedding too, sir." Animal grinned brightly at the ship's captain.

Captain Decker nearly rolled his eyes. "For the love of Christ, you know what kind of mess this glorious announcement of yours puts me in?" He growled. "You realize just how much BuPERS is going to bitch, piss and moan about sending out a replacement squadron XO just for the sixteen days it takes to transit the Atlantic back to Norfolk and to fly off and bring your plane back to Oceana?" All this was mock annoyance, Captain Decker was truly happy for his VF-41 XO, but he had to put on a show of mock outrage for his bridge crew so that they'd toe the line. "They're going to whine, piss and moan until they make my request for coverage look like the biggest favor they can do for me. You know what's even worse?"

Meg was starting to wonder if this really wasn't an authentic grade A chew-out from the Captain. He sounded really annoyed.

"I have to put up with both Yippy and Skippy complaining that they don't have you to drive crazy so they're going to use me as an alternative. Thank you very much, Commander!" Yippy was Metalman; Skippy was Keeter and Wrecker knew their antics all too well. The dripping sarcasm in Captain Decker's voice was sounding quite realistic except Animal knew better. "Next time, can you two do me a favor: send me a note after the fact or even better a telegram?" That was out of the question due to the rules set-out by the UCMJ. "Right now, between here and dropping anchor in Naples Harbor, you two are going to try to be good little officers... toeing the line, respecting the Navy regulations " he paused for a moment glaring at the two officers. "No public displays of affection; no sucking each other's faces off in public - you two are going to just be upright, regs-following, identical book-end Navy officers to every one else's perception." He looked at the two naval officers standing at attention in front of him with a sarcastic scowl on his face as he leaned in to face Animal nose to nose. "Try real hard " he said in a tone that spoke that he didn't believe that they could, at least to anyone who didn't know the friendship between the two senior officers (ship's captain and VF-41 XO) and who didn't realize that this was all an affectation.

"Yes, sir." They both chorused like a pair of Academy plebes. "Aye-aye, Sir!"

"Congratulations; get out of here, I got work to do!"

"Yes, Sir!" Both Animal and Meg snapped to attention acknowledging the Captain and departing the bridge.

After sufficient distance between the bridge and them were trod, Animal thoughtfully said "Wrecker's really happy for us." He grinned at her.

Meg looked at him rolling her eyes, eyebrows raised with a skeptical expression, "You think?" After that chew-out she wasn't sure.

"Oh, Wrecker was just putting on a show just so his bridge crew didn't think he was a softie." He paused for a long minute. "After all he has to maintain order on the Bridge."

Meg nodded, she wondered how her declaration that she was getting married and putting in a spousal co-location request to a different designator was going to go over with her own CO. That was going to be fun.

Next Day; 1523hrs, Approaching Naples Harbor.

Meg watched as smaller ships and yachts were out watching the aircraft carrier steam in. Tosh was in Service Whites with shoulder-boards and the full panoply of ribbons that marked the dress code for a port of call visit and he was lined up with all the other ships crew in service whites making a crisp white cordon around the battle gray of the flight deck of the carrier. Other smaller US Navy vessels were lined up on the dock at the port of call however, the TR's deep draft meant it needed to stay out in the middle of the harbor anchored. It also meant safety as well since only those who were on the rolls were allowed to get on the launches to and from shore. And the launches were protected by Marines armed with M-16A2s. Anyone unauthorized attempting to force their way onboard would be met with a particularly nasty case of lead poisoning.

When mooring in the middle of the harbor was complete, the personnel started thinking about liberty. Captain Decker had approached Animal to let him know that a fighter squadron XO from the Vincent which was now in port in Norfolk would be shipping out tomorrow by airliner and would be onboard by day after tomorrow so Tosh was cleared to leave the ship by Captain's authorization along with the well-wishes of the JCS and the CNO as well as the command staff of the carrier.

So Animal cleared out his entire locker of his stateroom and passed over the key. The Captain would let the XO replacing Animal for the rest of the cruise take Animal's cabin. Anything too large to be carried in his duffle-bag, Rattler would pack up and ship out by freight carrier back home to Animal's storage unit. The squadron CO held a copy of his key that he would mail to the storage unit in order for the personnel at the storage locker to be able to open and store the additional contents into his locker.

Animal was also assigned alongside Meg to be on the next liberty boat departing for shore. Meg was ecstatic. There was so much to plan for this whirlwind wedding. But of course they had to inform her CO of the plans and draw up all the necessary documentation for her change of station and designator.

1645, Naval Station Naples, Naples, Italy

Showing her ID card to security she and Animal stepped through; both had changed back into service dress khakis. Animal's ribbons as well as his naval aviator wings would garner a lot of attention. Hers, with Animal in lockstep, was a straight shot route to the CO's office.

The door was shut on her CO's office but pounding the pine brought a brusque "ENTER!" from her commanding officer.

"Sir, Lieutenant Meg Austin. Personal Request, sir, I will have my report on the exercise on your desk in twenty minutes." She said as she and Animal stood at attention in front of her Captain's desk.

Captain Hamilton looked at her curiously. "What is your personal request?"

"Sir, it is my understanding that becoming a married officer I would have to resign my position in weapons research due to the classified nature of our projects. Though that was not my original intent in going to the assignment it however became apparent in the course of my duties that someone dear to me from my past came back into my life. I accepted his proposal, sir."

"Have you put a great deal of thought into this. Lieutenant?" Captain Hamilton asked looking up from his desk to see another officer standing in front of his desk, a naval aviator, a quick glance at his ribbon rack had him rising from his seat in acknowledgement. "Commander. I presume you are the suitor in question?"

"Yes, sir!" Animal stated. "From what she told me her orders to the duty on the TR exercise were what had our paths cross again."

"You seem to have had quite the exciting career in naval aviation, Commander, giving it up for the sedateness of married life?"

"No, sir, just adjusting to include someone who is the most important part of my life to me."

"Behind every good man is a good woman?" Captain Hamilton asked.

"Beside every man is a woman that he respects and admires, sir" Animal amended the Captain's statement.

"So, Lieutenant Austin, you mentioned that you were getting married. What do you need?"

Meg stated, "Sir, I would need a spousal co-location and a change of designator."

"A change of designator? Lieutenant?" He asked curious.

"I'm going back to the law, sir, a change of designator to the Judge Advocate General Corps."

"I can detach you from this command and transfer your file to BuPERS for pending transfer so that you can go with your husband back to the United States after your honeymoon. I will sign it after you clean out your BOQ of your posessions. - I believe that stay you had at that BOQ is perhaps the shortest stay in history." Captain Hamilton said. "Just email me the report encrypted this evening and I will get it redacted for print. It has been a pleasure serving with you for the brief amount of time under my command, Lieutenant Austin. I would like to extend my congratulations to you. Lieutenant, Commander. The two of you are welcome to stay at the BOQ tonight however, due to the fact that Lieutenant Austin's quarters is only suitable for occupancy by one person, I will order a transfer of your accommodations to that of a married quarters within the same building as soon as you are able to return to your quarters. I did not think that the two of you would enjoy sleeping two to a single bed."

Meg nodded, "Thank you, sir, since I just bought a pile of groceries, may I make a substantial contribution of food items to the base food hamper drive?"

"That would be much appreciated. Lieutenant." Captain Hamilton remarked, "Allow me to sincerely congratulate you both on your engagement." He looked over again at Animal. "It is an honor, making your acquaintance, Commander, not very many serving officers can say they've had the pleasure of meeting a Medal recipient..." and turning to Meg, he grinned, "And I think there can be counted on one hand the number of service people who have been engaged to marry a Medal of Honor recipient, in fact, Lieutenant Austin, you may very well be the first to do so."

When they'd been dismissed from the Captain's presence and Meg made a special point of stopping to immediately e-mail an encrypted copy of her report to the Captain, she would have to also stop in at the IT specialist to have her hard-drive wiped clean of any sensitive files which would be placed on a separate copy which would be directly sent back to Captain Hamilton.

While that was being done by the Chief IT specialist, an enlisted who had the highest classification to do so, Meg and Animal headed over to the mess hall to grab a bite to eat. "God, I hope Lieutenant Plante and Ensign Pyle aren't in the mess hall this evening since they're the worst of the two." She muttered just loud enough for Animal to hear. She wore her engagement ring prominently on her finger to make sure that the officers who harassed her for attention would now know that she was spoken for; forever out of their reach.

Many staff officers' heads looked up as Meg and Animal entered the officer's mess hall. They could all read a line officer's uniform immediately. They knew right off the bat that he was a high ranking naval officer and a naval aviator to boot. The gold wings let the cat out of the bag that quickly. He outranked practically everyone currently in the officer's mess and would potentially terrify those who had been harassing her when they spied his ribbon rack.

She glanced over at the tables and groaned. Of course Lieutenant Plante was staring at the two of them and with him was at least six of his fellow cohorts who were all sitting with him; all eyes locked on Meg and who she was standing beside. All looked like sapling trees compared to Animal's sturdy mature oak-like frame that came from pumping iron. "Is that him and his buddies." Animal asked; his mouth curling up in a savage grin. Harass his beloved Meg, would they? Well heaven help them because the wrath cometh. He was well prepared to see them piss their pants.

Lieutenant Plante's Table, Officer's Mess, Naval Facility Naples, Naples, Italy

"Who's that with Meg?" Ensign Pyle said, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"I don't know, but he doesn't look like one of us. He's definitely not a staff officer. I think he's line: ranks on both collars. A Muscle-bound meathead. Didn't know Meg was into those kind of guys."

"Oh shi-" one of the others said. "He's looking over at us!" They could see the silver glints on his collars and they definitely weren't. single bars of a JG or the railroad tracks of a Lieutenant, the Asian officer in khakis was a silver oak-leafs wearing Commander; they could now see the one row of scrambled eggs on the brim of his officer's cap; tucked tightly to his side with his elbow. And on top of that, the guy had what appeared to be wings over his six row ribbon rack. Fucking decorated son of a bitch too judging from the number of ribbons on that O-5' s chest cabbage. Why the hell did the naval aviators have to get all the hot women?

On top of that, he was built like a brick shit-house -majorly muscle-bound or at least much more muscular than any of them. Most of the guys sitting at their table would huff and puff lifting a HP Officejet printer with stacking printer paper trays. This Asian commander naval aviator looked like he could lift three hundred seventy five pounds without breaking a sweat.

Meg had been their dream girl for all of them, pretty to the point of being classified as hot, sweet and thoroughly a nerdy computer geek like the rest of them, so they thought, so they crowded around her like a flock of jackals clamoring for her attention.

And they'd thought that she'd cave in eventually and pick one of them.

But now out of the blue this five ten Asian guy built like an NFL Linebacker comes in and swoops Meg off her feet. Where was the justice in the world? Meg was supposed to be their sweet pretty nerdy dream girl who was good with computers and could play video games with them.

But, hell, Meg was just like every woman in the world: quick to fall over a handsome jock who swept her off her feet and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. How could they compete with genetics?

Life wasn't fair.

"Afternoon, boys..." they both looked up out of their cups of misery to see the Commander standing in front of them. A ferocious looking grin showing teeth they would later dream were sharpened to fine razor points though that wasn't the case in reality. "Lieutenant," he said over the shoulder at Meg, "which one of these officers has been harassing you?"

Meg looked at all of them; the miscreants who had left all those unwanted notes on her desk were all there and they were praying for their lives while her fiancé was savagely sizing them up seeing which one to kill first for maximum terror inducing effect. She lifted her left hand showing her engagement ring for full effect to drive home the fact that she was now not available. "All of them..." she said simply giving her husband-to-be an affected distressed look which only served to raise Animal's ire even further.

"You seven..." Animal growled, "Get out of your chairs and lock it up! Now!" That was a direct order from a senior officer and understood that it was legitimate. "I'm sure you're aware of the NavRegs on harassment, not to mention the JAG might be interested in hearing about your behaviour. As a matter of fact, I have a meeting with the JAG three weeks from tomorrow." Animal told them ominously; no need to tell them he was talking to AJ to see if he could get Meg's old job back for her. "If you leave her alone from now on, I might be persuaded to forget all the..." He paused with a malevolent grin that spoke of dire consequences for all those who had harassed Meg Austin, "...evidence that she has that I could present to the JAG. Do you seven catch my drift? And I'll also conveniently forget about the conduct unbecoming charges that I could level on you for constant solicitation against the recipient's wishes. If that is not clear enough..." Animal stepped right to Ensign Pyle's side fastening an ominous stare onto Pyle that made him wish he could sink into the floor and disappear , "Should you forget yourself again, Ensign Pyle; YOU will cease to be an officer, Ensign and you will spend your remaining days in uniform as a permanent E-1 on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt assigned to clean out the entirety of the heads onboard and polishing them to a sanitary shine with the aid of a soft-bristle tooth-brush. Am I clear?!"

Animal's resounding growl right at Pyle's ear level made Ensign Stephen Pyle nearly shit himself. Out of the corner of Pyle's eye he could see the small five white-stars in a pale sky blue ribbon; the uppermost ribbon on this frightening officer's ribbon rack. He remembered that ribbon from the class in Navy Heraldy he'd taken at the Academy. This officer reaming him out was one of the few who'd been a recipient and lived to tell the tale. And he knew he'd better not get on this one's bad side or he'd be a smear on the gravel by the time Commander Psychopath was through with him. Each of the officers got a good look in at his ribbon rack and the general concensus was that they were in seriously deep dog-shit.

"If the rest of you forget yourselves, you will all end up being reduced one rank and ordered to complete sensitivity training with the exception of Ensign Pyle who will cease to be an officer and plummet to the basement of the Navy's enlisted hierarchy. And you will all lose one year's worth of promotion eligibility. Consider yourselves lucky if that is the only thing that happens to you because if the JAG hears about this, you could all end up being dishonorably discharged from the Navy. So I suggest you all step carefully. Consider this a verbal warning." He paused assessing all of them with a saturnine gaze that spoke of dire retribution should they go against his fiancée's wishes. "Gentlemen, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!" His voice was like a whip-crack in the suddenly quiet mess dining room.

"yes, sir..." they said.

"Speak up louder! I don't think I or the Lieutenant could hear you clearly." His snap was audible to all four corners of the dining room.

"YES,SIR!"

"Now, apologize to the Lieutenant and congratulate her on her engagement." Animal growled sadistically. "And better make it good, because I'm watching you."

The boys in men's officer's khakis suitably chastised and threatened each shook her hand and said "Congratulations on your engagement, Ma'am" or "Lieutenant Austin" according to their rank the former if they were junior to her rank or the latter if they were equivalent to her. Luckily there were no hinges in the pile. Or Animal would have gone doubly hard on them as they, being senior officers, should have known better.

He was however pretty sure Ensign Pyle had nearly shit himself. Meg finally had lost that pinched look that she'd had going into the officer's mess. She'd been backed up by her husband-to-be and for that she was grateful to him.

Animal on the other hand had the respect of the entire mess for handling the matter in line with what would ordinarily be done by any O-5 or senior if they had been paying attention to the under-currents of discontent.

These seven had done their harassment of her in public so he was giving them a reprimand in public where everyone would know what they did and how they would be dealt with if they got up the gumption to try again. He was, before they left the base, going to advise the JAG on the base about the verbal reprimand and for them to look into seeing if anyone else had been harassed by those reprobates. If other female officers or enlisted came out to say that any of those frat boys in uniform had solicited or made to feel uncomfortable any other service woman, he was seriously going to drop a grenade in their personnel jackets collectively.

Meg and Animal were able to eat their meal in peace and quiet. And after picking up Meg's cleaned laptop from the Chief IT tech, retire to Meg's new BOQ suite. Packing up her old room was relatively easy as was the move to the Temporary married quarters. Laying out her garb for tomorrow on the couch enabled her to ensure that she would have a uniform to change into in the morning in preparation for out processing. A quick call to her detailer would notify her that the paperwork from Captain Hamilton had been received and that her transfer was in the works.

Animal had switched into civvies and the BOQ was nice and comfortable. Meg was munching on an ice cream bar as she looked over the list of things needing to be done. "Tosh, you can dig into the perishables. We need to use them up before tomorrow." She noted. Proffering up an ice cream bar still in its package, "Here, hon, catch." Animal managed to grab it out of mid-air with one hand.

There were still quite a few perishables that needed to be eaten. The majority that weren't snacks were given away to neighbors to use in their cooking which were received gratefully by those being offered. Meg knowing just how much Tosh loved marsh-mallows offered him the bag of minis which were equally well received with a kiss on her lips.

When they'd munched everything that couldn't be taken anywhere as snacks including anything that could melt, they were down to just potato chips and candy. They took the non-perishables to the base food hamper to help needy service families. In any case Meg knew that at least her food was going to help a needy family through tough times. So that helped to ease the annoyance of her $200.00 grocery budget going out of her pocket but most of it not into her stomach.

Walking back arm in arm in civvies gave them a sense of anonymity that wasn't there when they were in uniform. Although there was an occasional sailor or Marine who recognized Animal on leave saying "Good evening, sir!" And so it went. Getting a few of their closest friends to Sigonella was going to be a headache and a half. So ultimately Meg and Animal just decided to do it at a justice of the peace. The office was now closed but with the aid of Meg's Italian knowledge they were able to decipher the sign's business hours as from 9:00. - 5:00. Monday to Friday. Today was Monday at 2200 hrs.

"Although I'm disappointed in not having that Sigonella Church wedding, I'm still glad that we're planning to tie the knot in the quickest way possible." Meg said sighing as she leaned into Animal's arm.

They strolled back to the BOQ and headed upstairs. Knowing that it was going to be a hot night temperature-wise Meg opened up the windows to let in the breeze.

Animal was on the phone with Rattler who said he would bring a couple friends and the female squadron intelligence officer who could be a witness the female intelligence officer would wear a non-white dress to be Meg's maid of honor, and Rattler and his friends would be witnesses as well as Rattler being Animal's best man.

Meg kept out a white sundress which she was going to use as her wedding dress and Animal would wear his formal dress whites which he'd packed here in addition to his duffle. Animal had told Rattler to save the sword arch for the actual formal wedding back in the United States.

Knowing that their plan to get married on the morrow depended on just how quickly they could get their papers together and signed, it would be a miracle with all the connections between embassies. Perhaps with the time changes they should fax over a lot of the papers that were needed tonight. So Meg got on the phone with the US Foreign Affairs Department letting them know that two US service people (one male, one female) were going to get married, what documentation did they need and whether it could be faxed over to the Italians in Naples immediately. When Meg let them know who the male half was a lot of busy started happening and within the hour all necessary forms from the US end were complete. Evidently the Chief of Foreign Affairs had sent a tersely worded message on blast that that he"didn't care if they had to work all effing day past close to get those papers done that they were going to get it done before the Italians opened the next morning so that when Meg and her hero fiancé walked through the door that their marriage ceremony could take place that morning and they would be in a ristorante in time for lunch; and on a plane bound for the States the next morning afterwards. GODDAMNIT!"

Now it was all up to the Italians.