JAG - "Ciao, Francesco"

"Ciao Francesco"

Author: CdnJAGScribe

E-mail:

Rating: M

Classification:

Spoilers:

Summary: An unwanted interruption into the newlywed lives of Meg Austin-Nakamura and Toshio Nakamura.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.

1502-2472 Admiral Byrd Way; Norfolk, VA; Friday, September 27, 1996; 1845hrs

Meg Austin-Nakamura dropped her briefcase off by the door as she let out a groan. The first day back at work from honeymoon had pretty much driven her around the bend. Her husband was probably on his way back from his squadron duties and she was absolutely exhausted. She figured that she would wait until Tosh got home and then they could figure out what to eat tonight. Rear Admiral Chegwidden had indicated prior to the wedding that he was assigning her to the JAG office at Norfolk, VA mainly due to the fact that it would allow Meg to be closer to her husband than having to commute to the Falls Church annex office every single day. It allowed Meg to be able to find a home in Norfolk to be close to work and it was, equally, a quick commute for her husband to head for Oceana.

Her new commanding officer, Captain Bill Henley, JAGC, was quite the tough commander. He piled on about six cases on her at staff meeting. "Welcome to the Norfolk office." He'd said before handing her what looked like a small mountain of cases. All she could say was thank you, sir… From what she'd heard from the other staff with whom she'd had the chance to make an acquaintance, he was tough but fair and most of the men and women under his command were more than willing to do whatever duty-related thing he asked them to do and Captain Henley was by-the-book; straight-arrow.

At least the nice thing was that the Norfolk office mainly dealt with investigations on the base as well as the neighboring Virginia Beach Naval Air Station Oceana and the Naval Shipyards at Newport News. So travel wasn't too much of a concern. She was in her second year as an O-3 and her fitreps from HQ were putting her on the fast track to O-4.

Her husband was a Commander and the executive officer of VF-41 Black Aces. Her husband was getting the squadron ready for a deployment that was scheduled to start in February of 1997; which meant that she was going to be very lonely and missing him terribly for the six months following her husband's departure to the Mediterranean.

And evidently Jack Keeter had reported into VF-41 as well. Her Tosh had terrified Jack in Reserve Air Group back when Jack and Harm had first started learning to fly the F-14 Tomcat and now that poor Jack Keeter was assigned to Rattler and Animal's Black Aces, poor Jack had nearly dislocated his jaw when he'd walked into report to Commander Dale "Rattler" Kinnick and had gotten his ass chewed out for losing that F-14 in Cuba and told that he'd be fed to the sharks if he lost one of VF-41's F-14As. Then of course, Rattler had stated that Keeter was to wait in his office while Rattler called the XO to come to his office so that he could formally introduce his exec to the new squadron member. Lieutenant Commander Jack Keeter stood at attention in front of Rattler's desk, while Rattler was on the phone with the exec, and not more than five minutes later; nearly dropped biological matter in his trousers when he heard a growl that he'd hoped he'd never hear again at least any time within the 15 years post-RAG…enunciating, "So…THIS is our new squadron member?" Animal had circled around to stand nose to nose with Keeter…or at least as nose to nose as someone 5'10" could get to someone who was 6'2".

"I heard you got FNAEB'd…" were Animal's first words to the new squadron member and promised that if Keeter dropped any Black Aces Tomcat in the water that he would take his sorry hind-end out to the Florida Keys and dump him in the swamps for the American Alligators to chew on his ass; actually it was more of a quiet, sinister voice: "Lieutenant Commander Jack Keeter, should you drop a Black Aces ride into the drink, I will personally assign you TAD in the Florida Keys where you can spend the rest of your service career as a chew-toy for an American Alligator. Are we clear on that, Lieutenant Commander?" Needless to say, Keeter's day had gone from bad; after getting chewed out by CO, to worse; running into his old RAG instructor, now XO, who was more than happy to make him as "comfortable as possible" in-processing into VF-41.

Meg snickered to herself as she remembered Tosh telling her about meeting up with Jack and how petrified Jack was when he got called on the carpet when he got in-processed to VF-41. She remembered the investigation in Cuba when Jack had managed to get lost and ended up landing in Cuba which started the whole process of Harm and Meg having to go down there and make sure that certain bits of software and codes didn't get into Cuban hands, which ultimately ended up with them having to destroy the F-14 Tomcat by making sure that a belt-buckle got into the fan blades. When the Cubans had fired up the F-14 to try and get the data, the F-14 blew sky-high into several million pieces. Needless to say the higher-ups didn't appreciate the loss of a thirty-six million dollar airframe and thus Jack was brought before a Fleet Naval Aviator Evaluation Board, which determined that Jack was at fault for the capture of the airframe by the Cuban Air Force and the subsequent loss of the airframe due to having to sabotage and destroy the F-14 in order to keep military secrets from getting into the hands of a hostile power. The upshot was that Jack was supposedly going to serve an extra year as an O-4 before being eligible for promotion. Needless to say it didn't look very good for Jack and he'd gotten raked across the coals, as it was his navigational error that had allowed the Cuban forces to get their hands on the Tomcat in the first place. Evidently the JCS hoped that a stint with VF-41 would straighten Jack out. Hopefully her husband would be able to straighten Jack out and make him fly-right.

It was about twenty minutes later that her husband walked through the door, putting his flight-helmet bag in the hallway closet, along with his summer-weight Nomex flight jacket.

"I'm so glad that you're home, sweetheart…" Meg sighed as she wrapped her arms around her husband's torso and brought him close to her.

"I missed you today…" He murmured softly in between kisses from his beloved Meg. It had been a sublime three weeks of honeymoon. Even though they were familiar with each other's bodies; it was a whole new set of emotions actually making love knowing that they were husband and wife; that they were bonded together officially with a marriage certificate; that Meg now carried his last name (hyphenated with her own) and she'd insisted that she would work professionally as Meg Austin-Nakamura. And that was how she was to be referred to at the Norfolk JAG annex.

And the ring; from the exchange of rings at the altar to the fact that the two carat diamond engagement ring on her finger was now matched by a gold band edged with platinum; inset with three one carat diamonds; matched by her husband's ring which was a thicker copy of hers, made her still occasionally look at her left hand out-stretched with a sense of awe. The wedding had been a big event in their lives; with friends from the Judge Advocate General Headquarters, as well as Tosh's squadron showing up and forming the sword arch; Harm was included in the wedding sword arch detail; in fact he got to announce the new couple and gave Meg the corresponding swat across the six with the flat of his Navy Officer's sword which he did with aplomb. He'd made a big deal of the statement "Welcome to the Navy…" then pausing… "Oh…wait…" to a chorus of laughter as everyone at the wedding knew that Meg was already a Naval Officer. And Tosh had included the fact that she was a naval officer in the proclamation of the new couple "Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing for the first time in public; Commander Toshio and Mrs. Lieutenant Meg Nakamura…" and that just made Meg love Tosh even more if that was even possible.

If Paris was for lovers and Hawaii was an escape from their everyday lives; Meg and Tosh decided that they were going to go somewhere else for their honeymoon. Meg had always wanted to see the country that her ancestors came from and they'd agreed that they would go to Ireland and the UK for their honeymoon. It was certainly a change from the norm and they'd spent quite a bit of time wandering the British Isles, hand in hand; wiling away the hours and Tosh pulling out his camera every so often to take a picture of the scenery as well as snapping shots of Meg smiling indulgently at him with either a lake, a castle or greenery as a background. She and Tosh had also spent some time researching her genealogy and it made for some very interesting reading. The Austin families had made both the Isles their home; with some members of the family living in Ireland from whose line she'd descended from while another branch of their family connected had made their home in England and it was that English branch that had been granted lands and a title. Tracking down one's ancestors and current living relatives was quite the eye-opening experience for Meg and it was made even more special with Tosh being there beside her to experience every new discovery. She wished that there was a way of finding out more about Tosh's side of the family and sharing those experiences however his family records were locked away in a temple and access to them was only granted by the family patriarch who had lost a grandson to the United States Navy F-14s while flying for the JASDF and it was tragic circumstances that the F-2A piloted by the patriarch's grandson had met in the air with Tosh's F-14 and the Tomcat and the F-2A had gotten into an air-to-air engagement with Tosh coming out the victor. So there definitely was going to be no access coming at all from that direction. So Meg resolved to be his family…and to always be there for him. After all, the vows that they'd spoken to each other and the promise of "For better or for worse; in sickness and in health; till death do us part..." was not just a pinkie promise; but a formal vow that she would always remain by his side.

As she'd said to Tess McKee…during the investigation into Lieutenant Pendry's death, when Tess had asked her if she'd ever consider sleeping with someone else if she was married, "No…That's not a possibility; Because that's not who I am…and that's not who he is…" Tess was referring to her and Harm, however that statement certainly fit her and her now-husband; she was faithful and so was her Tosh – they'd only had eyes for each other ever since the Medal of Honor investigation and Harm would forever be just a good friend and co-worker now that she had Tosh's ring on her finger. The twist of fate that had her meet her husband-to-be during the investigation into his heroic stand on Hill 175; the Medal that resulted from the investigation and the fact that the ribbon that he wore on his uniform; the blue ribbon with the five white stars, would forever be a testament to how they'd met.

It was said that life was a series of twists of fate and Meg felt that it was a fortuitous, yet welcome twist of fate that had led her to her now-wed state, as she responded eagerly to her husband's returned kisses and caresses. "Mmmmm…" she murmured, her lips on her husband's…and in between kisses she managed to get out, "I see…you…missed me…"

"Of…course…" Tosh stated.

"Even…while…flying…?" hands questing as they each sought each other's touch.

Tosh nodded as he kept kissing her. Dinner could wait… Meg thought to herself as she grabbed Tosh by the hand and they headed to the bedroom.

NAS Oceana, Naval Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Squadron VS-63, Friday, September 27, 1996; 1935hrs

There were times that the militaries of various allied nations trained with the United States military. This was one of those times. The helicopter squadron of the Italian Navy had elected to send a few of their staff to get trained on anti-submarine procedures. Even though NAS Oceana was a master jet base for the East Coast, it was its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean that allowed the US and its allies to train their helicopter pilots from that base. Anti-submarine warfare was crucial to the survival of fleets as submarines could travel undetected underwater. And eliminating submarines was the first line of defense for any naval fleet. Thus it was crucial work for those instructing foreign nations to help others.

Lieutenant Francesco Cuzzoni was familiar with US soil; he had studied at the University of Texas helped by a very helpful young American woman. She'd been quite a vivacious young blonde woman, far different from the Italian type and she'd often study with him, go out to grab lunch or dinner and he'd developed a crush on her; he'd wanted to ask her to go steady with him, but the romance had only gone as far as flirting. She was strict in her upbringing of not taking just anyone to her bed; only the person with whom she actually would wed. She'd expressed interest in serving in the Navy and that in turn had made him interested in the Navy of his country. Just like any other Navy, the Navy of his country had a fleet air arm – though nowhere as in-depth as that of the United States. The Italian Navy had a carrier, the Vittorio Veneto but he did not have the skill to fly the fast jet fighters off her carrier deck.

It had been seven years since he'd last seen her; their last time that they'd laid eyes on each other was when she and he had graduated from university and they'd gone their separate ways. He'd often wondered how she was doing, whether or not she was still available and what he would say to her if their paths ever crossed and he'd resolved to himself that he would certainly not be so shy as to not speak his mind about how much he'd wanted her. Perhaps there was still a chance for the two of them.

The American jet fighters were extremely attractive, Francesco thought to himself as he walked back from the flight-line. They were what the Americans called, the Tomcat, with such sleek lines, such a beautiful warplane. He'd wished that he could actually fly one of those, but the Italian Navy didn't have such aircraft and the skill required to fly one of those aircraft was not within his grasp; Francesco knew that he didn't have what it took to be a fighter pilot. It took a special breed of pilots to fly those speedy birds of war. That was how come the fighter pilots were sought after by women, the mystique of those who had the ability to fly aerial combat was highly prized. Perhaps Meg would be satisfied with someone who piloted a helicopter.

JAG Annex, Norfolk, VA, Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 0845hrs

"It appears there's been an accident at Oceana." Captain Henley stated to Lieutenant Meg Austin-Nakamura; "Your old partner from the DC office will be coming down to investigate and you'll partner with him for the duration of the investigation."

"Yes, sir." Meg grinned; she was getting to partner with Harm again; they'd had some fun times teaming up on investigation – the fun banter and camaraderie. It would be good to see her friend and former co-worker and catch up on how things were going in his life.

"The accident involves an Italian helo and a US Navy Seahawk that were in anti-sub training twenty miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The Italian authorities want to get to the bottom of this and we want this to go away. Right now we don't know if the Italian helo was at fault or the SH-60. Your job is to find out who was at fault."

"When will Lieutenant Commander Rabb be available to speak to; Sir?" Meg asked her commanding officer.

"He said that he'll be down at 1245hrs. I believe that he's just getting briefed from the JAG at this time and he'll be on the road as soon as he can. He'll meet you over at VS-63's office."

"Aye-aye, sir." Meg replied. "I'll head down to Oceana as quickly as possible, sir."

"Good, Lieutenant Nakamura."

VS-63 Headquarters; NAS Oceana; Virginia Beach, VA Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 0930hrs

"Lieutenant, all we saw was the Italian helo making a starboard turn to sweep the area for a second time. I don't know if he checked to see if there was one of our birds in the area, but he was about three quarters of the way into the turn when the SH-60 crossed track with his helo. There was a flash and both helos came apart…in mid-air. The destroyer USS Thompson was in the area and they recovered a lot of the wreckage however our guys and theirs didn't survive." The VS-63 commander stated.

"Was circling the area SOP?" Meg asked.

"Yes, in anti-sub warfare, you do concentric circles to clear the area of submarines. When you get a hit on a sub on radar, you need to make sure that there are no others in the area, so we widen the circle each time to allow further coverage so that we can find any subs that are still hiding – the sonar we carry allows us to get information regarding underwater objects."

Meg nodded, "So, sir, would you say that the Italian helo was doing the standard procedure?"

"As far as we could tell…it just happened that the two helos intersected each other's patrol area"

Meg nodded again. She wasn't going to try to solve this one before Harm got there. She was just gathering information that they could both use in order to get down to the bottom of the accident. "So, sir, were there any other crews in the area that could have seen what went on before the two helos collided? That way it can give us a bigger picture as to how the situation developed. Were the Italians training in the area as well at the same time? And didn't the briefing give the crews any indication as to who would be there in the area to avoid such collisions?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Miller's SH-60 and Lieutenant Cuzzoni of the Italian Navy's antisub helo squadron. You can interview them. I hope that you get some better information out of them, since all I saw was the collision. They probably would have had a better view of the whole situation as it developed. Yes, Lieutenant, the Italians were in the area. We figured that it would be much more useful to transfer knowledge by operating in close proximity to our students. We thought that the briefing that we conducted jointly would have prevented such an incident from occurring however it appears that the language barrier was such that they weren't as clear on what we would be doing as we thought they would be. "

"Thank you, sir." Meg stated. "I'll set up interviews with them as soon as my partner arrives so that he doesn't have to interview them a second time on his own." She got up as the VS-63 CO came to his feet and nodded his dismissal to her.

She figured she probably had enough time to grab breakfast with her husband; if not breakfast then lunch at some point, over at the VF-41 Headquarters. In Meg's eagerness to rendezvous with her husband; she didn't even register the Italian helo pilot standing by the pool-table in the lounge area who did a double-take at Meg in service blues striding through headed for the exit or his muttered comment, "That is her…" His jaw dropped open. She was in the United States Navy as she said she would join when she graduated university.

Of course, Francesco never even noticed that Meg was wearing a wedding ring as he was on her starboard side holding a pool cue waiting for his next shot and her hand was blocked by her torso.

"Your break, Frankie! You gonna keep playing or gawking at the women?" An irate hail returned his attention to the game.

Inbound SH-60B Seahawk; NAS Oceana; Virginia Beach, VA Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 1030hrs

"I don't know what the heck happened, but I intend to find out…helo operations out of a master jet base; not sure why they decided to do that?" Harm stated to his investigative partner of a year; Major Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie who was seated beside him. "I'm supposed to be working together with another investigator from the Norfolk office. The admiral told me it was Lieutenant Nakamura; I figure it has to be Meg."

"I figured as much…" Mac raised an eyebrow; she wouldn't dare admit it, but working with Harm had grown on her and she couldn't help but notice just what a fine specimen he was in his uniform – in conjunction with that; her attraction to him had grown from when they'd first met in Japan as a brief stint of sitting side by side in the C-2 Greyhound taking them from Tofugi to Okinawa; then the penultimate meeting where they were formally introduced by the admiral to each other at the Rose Garden where Harm had just received his DFC. And she couldn't help the little green monster that tended to crawl out when Harm referred to any of his former partners; Kate Pike being the one that got the most response from the little green fiend. She breathed a sigh of relief that Meg was married.

Harm looked over at Mac, "We're here…" as the forward momentum of the SH-60B came to a halt and they started to descend towards the tarmac of the air base. "Let's go meet the Norfolk investigator…I betcha I know where she is at this point…" He smirked.

"And where would that be?" Mac asked peering at him with curiosity evident in her eyes.

"…where her husband is…" Harm smirked as the helo settled on the tarmac and the hatch was opened by the air-crewman. "Thank you, AC2." He nodded as both he and Mac got out of the bird. The October weather was still warm enough to be able to dress in just their service dress blues; no overcoats needed. But the breeze coming off the water was quite cool.

"And…her husband works out of here, I suspect…" Mac stated looking around at the F-14s dotting the tarmac.

"Yeah, he's here…" Harm replied sighting one particular VF-41 Black Aces F-14A Tomcat and pointing it out to Mac; with nose-art indicating the name Texas Gal, a not-so-subtle tribute to that particular aviator's wife's place of birth.

"Texas Gal?" Mac asked looking over at the Tomcat that Harm had gestured towards.

"Yeah…Meg's from Texas."

VF-41 XO's Office; NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA; Tuesday October 1, 1996 1045hrs

"You're down here for an investigation?" Animal looked over at his wife.

"Yeah…" Meg said; they were in his office and the door was shut so she didn't have to keep up the formality unless someone came into the office. "Evidently there's been an accident off the coast of Virginia Beach and they wanted me to investigate. I figured that this would be the best place for Harm to be able to find me, since he knows that every time I had an investigation here when I was still working up in Falls Church, I'd always try to see you at the same time…" she smirked at him. "Very convenient that you work here…" she gave him a wide smile, her blue eyes held a hint of mischief. "You don't have to do a flight today?"

"Around 1500hrs…" Animal replied, "It's an afternoon hop…and it's basically bumping off the coast." Meg knew that meant that it was an aerial combat training mission over water. She did worry about him when he was up in his F-14, but well, that was par for the course for most spouses of combat naval aviators.

Sure enough, not more than five minutes later, there was a knock on the door of Animal's office.

"Enter!" Animal called out.

Harm and a Marine Major stepped into the office.

"Morning, sir." Harm snapped to attention; as did the Marine Major. Animal looked over at the Marine. She looked familiar.

"Major" Animal stated; they had met several years earlier as she had been a captain second in command of a group of Marines enroute from Tofugi to Okinawa who had ridden the COD with Animal, Meg and Harm. "Glad you were able to make it to the wedding." And it had been the second time then that they had met since they had initially met when the Japanese spitball fight had happened in 1992.

"Yes, sir." Mac stated. "Good to see you again, sir." She had been at the wedding since Harm had elected to take her as his plus one for the reception after the ceremony though they hadn't talked too much since Animal was just all eyes for his newly wed wife. At least she had grown to be a good friend of Harm's and by extension Animal's and Meg's

It'd been a rough year for Harm after finding out that his friend, Diane, from back home, had been murdered on the pier at Norfolk. He'd been waiting for her at dinner; she hadn't shown and well, he'd never thought that the victim in the case that he'd gotten the next morning could have been her. That was a shock and a half to the system. It took quite some time for him to get back to a state of equilibrium. And that fact that Mac, who looked so much like Diane, had just transferred in not more than a few months after being bailed out of jail by Animal and Meg after that idiot NCIS investigator Agent Turque had tried to pin the murder of Diane and the subsequent murder of the officer who harassed Diane; a Lieutenant Lamm; on him; didn't help him find any closure yet. Eventually the detective work of Meg had made certain that any of the bogus charges that were laid on Harm were ultimately removed. And Animal had made certain that Agent Turkey had been made absolutely aware of just who they were dealing with; that if Turque did an investigation on his squadron, that Animal would be keeping an eagle eye on him. "Hey, Agent Turkey…You fuck up an investigation with my Aces, I'm going to make damned sure your badge is sitting on my desk as a paper-weight. You and I understand each other?" The ominous threat made an impact on Turkey; all Animal would have to do was whisper two words to NAVINSGEN and his ass would be toast for fucking up by pressing false charges; and he'd gobbled something about making sure that t's were crossed and i's were dotted – he knew that he'd fucked up and jumped to conclusions, incarcerating an innocent individual. Tosh was sure that Turque had pissed his pants.

"Lieutenant…" Harm grinned at Meg. "Good to see you…how are you settling in…"

"Just fine, sir…" Meg replied as she looked over at Harm who gave her a nod. "It's been an interesting two days so far. It seems like the third day is getting off to an interesting start too. I figure I'd better tell my husband that I'm going to meet him for lunch before we get the interviews under way so that he can meet me at 1200hrs. We have two scheduled, one with a Lieutenant Susan Miller, pilot of another SH-60 in the area at the time of the incident and an Italian Navy helicopter pilot named Lieutenant…" she paused for a moment as she looked at the file folder…"Francesco?" she breathed. "What's he doing here?"

Harm looked over at Meg. "Who's Francesco?" he asked curiously.

Animal looked over at her with raised eyebrows and a rather piqued expression, "Who's Francesco?"

Meg looked up at Harm with a shocked expression. "Cuzzoni… I knew the name was familiar." Harm and Animal pigeonholed her with an identical expression of cough up the details…NOW… She looked at them and continued, "Sir, do you remember the investigation that we did at the Marine base regarding the gang that was selling the drugs? And I told you about the Italian pilot I dated in university?" Harm raised up a hook'em horns…along with a questioning look. She nodded.

Animal's eyes narrowed and his expression darkened, he didn't like what he was going to hear. Meg turned to him, "Don't worry, sir, it didn't get beyond flirting…" He knew that she didn't get beyond flirting with the guy. What he didn't like was the fact that the little vermicelli-eating turd was on U.S. soil within range of his Meg; And Meg was well aware of those vibes coming off her husband and she warned him. "Sir, let me explain to him that I'm married to you before you go about breaking him in half, sir." Meg eyed Animal with a raised eyebrow. "I don't believe that Lieutenant Cuzzoni will be able to comprehend anything if he's suffering from a concussion."

Harm nearly cracked up laughing; whether it was at Meg's comment or Animal's apparent desire to go over to the VS-63 headquarters and smack Lieutenant Cuzzoni repeatedly about the head with the back end of a pool cue, it wasn't certain; while Mac was looking at the three of them with a confused expression.

"Better let Romeo know who he's dealing with, Lieutenant." Animal growled ominously. "Because he won't like it if he has to see me in person…"

"I will, sir." Meg smirked at him; she loved Animal and he knew it. It was all show meant for that Italian lieutenant.

Harm had seen Animal in several bar fights and he knew that the Italian lieutenant didn't have a snowball's chance in hell if he went toe to toe with the American commander. The bar-fights that Animal was in during their time in RAG usually ended up with Animal controlling the bar fight in the general area of where he was standing with the challenger usually coming out with a concussion or a broken limb; sometimes even both. As someone thirty-eight and now wearing silver oak leafs, he usually sat in judgment at the squadron level as the Executive Officer of VF-41 of those who got into bar-fights; those were usually young lieutenants and junior who still had a lot of piss n' vinegar in them. But make no mistake; if he was asked to drop the gloves, he could and he would still give as good as he got, possibly even more so. Hell, Harm thought, if he had to bet money on a fight between Animal and a Recon Marine, he'd put his money on Animal.

As a Lieutenant, Animal had put two Recon Marines in the hospital when they insulted his ethnic origin at a bar; and one of the Recon Marines had the brilliant idea to take a swing at Animal. In fact it was the battle of Guadalcanal all over again, except the other side was the victor this time around, Harm smirked, Animal was a proud American, but knock his ethnic origin and well, damned the torpedoes; the Recon Marines deserved every bit of what they got. Animal was always studying the habits of his enemies and knowing the MCMAP as well as several other martial arts, learned in his youth, was a good way of making sure that he always had the upper hand in a fight – the two barely got away with no broken limbs or ribs…or internal organs relocated from their usual position inside their body to somewhere else inside their body; and that was primarily due to Animal's restraint on his part. It would have made breathing rather difficult if their lung sacs had swapped positions internally from blunt force trauma. Whether it was upright strikes or ground n' pound, Animal could do either and be lethal at both. So Harm hoped for Francesco's sake that he had the common sense to leave the now married Meg Austin-Nakamura alone.

Meg looked over at Mac, "I assume, ma'am; that you're here as a third… I was told that I was partnering with Lieutenant Commander Rabb for this investigation."

"That's correct." Mac stated. "Admiral Chegwidden wanted a third person here to act as a third set of eyes, as well, as I will be defense if this investigation results in a negligence charge under the UCMJ."

"Understood, Ma'am." Meg replied.

Animal, by this time, grinned, "So I'll see you for lunch, Lieutenant?"

"Of course, sir. I presume you'll be coming home late?" she smirked.

"It appears to be that way. Lieutenant." Animal grinned at her. "Of course, I'm going to want to have a discussion when I get home…" Animal raised an eyebrow at her.

"I assumed so, sir." She gave him yet another one of her smirks that he loved.

Damn the uniform and damn being unable to take her into his arms and give her a toe-curling kiss. And DAMN having to adhere to the protocol of military rank structure. "Very well, Lieutenant, I'll see you at 1200hrs."

The three officers, junior to Animal, snapped to attention. "Sir!"

Animal grinned at Meg, "Dismissed."

Mac shook her head as the three left the office. "It must get really interesting with you and your husband during these investigations."

"Well, ma'am, having to maintain proper decorum in uniform, we get in whatever little bits of time that we have together. He's heading out on deployment in the New Year and well, I won't be able to see him for six months after that since he'll be in the Mediterranean, so we have to get as much together time as we possibly can." Meg explained as they walked back towards VS-63's hangars, "Sir, I'd like for you to be present when we interview Lieutenant Cuzzoni…I just don't want him to get any ideas, sir." She stated to Harm.

"OK, Lieutenant. Mac?"

"I'll go and interview Lieutenant Susan Miller." Mac stated agreeably. "Then we'll swap." She figured that Meg didn't want to have to deal with a lieutenant with amorous feelings for her on her own. After all when that Italian lieutenant would have to go toe-to-toe with an American O-5; the poor lieutenant would be out ranked and considering if what Harm had told her about the Commander was true, then the Italian lieutenant would be out-gunned too.

VS-63 Office; NAS Oceana; Virginia Beach, VA; Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 1115hrs,

"Lieutenant, you said that you were inbound to their position at the point of impact…" Harm stated to Lieutenant Cuzzoni.

"Ah, yes, sir…I was coming up on the position of the…uh…my squadron-mate's aircraft when the Seahawk hit my squadron-mate's helicopter."

"So who initiated the turn?" When Lieutenant Cuzzoni was confused, Harm said, "Who started the turn."

"It was the American helicopter…" Cuzzoni insisted.

"Sorry, I'm late, sir…" Meg stepped into the office as they'd planned, fifteen minutes apart, so that Harm would already be in the interview when Meg came in.

"Meg…Meg Austin?" Lieutenant Francesco Cuzzoni appeared rattled. "I haven't seen…"

"It's Lieutenant Nakamura…Lieutenant." Meg stated; her tone stiff with military bearing as she stared down the surprised look of Lieutenant Francesco Cuzzoni. "And I am one of the investigators who will be investigating this incident between your Italian Navy and our forces."

Lieutenant Cuzzoni recoiled as if he'd been slapped. He'd expected a far warmer welcome than she was showing him – in fact it almost seemed as though she'd forgotten him. It had been far too long since they'd parted company. And she'd given a last name that was no longer the one that she'd had when she was in university.

She brought both hands down on the table in front of him…and Lieutenant Cuzzoni's eyes bugged out. On her left hand, the North Americans usually used the left hand for their marriage ring fingers; on it were two rings: a very expensive engagement ring and a very, very expensive wedding band; gold and platinum. Who was this husband of hers? Who ever he was had a lot of money? "I expect that you will cooperate with any investigation into your Navy's aircraft with regards to this incident." She was married?!

"Yes, Lieutenant, we will cooperate fully with any investigation that you have planned." Cuzzoni was thoroughly rattled.

"I certainly hope so…" Their roles were switched for this investigation. Harm was usually the guy who brought the hammer down on any investigation; they'd decided just for this once, that Meg would get to drop the hammer on her ex-date thus shattering any impressions that the Lieutenant might have had about her from university. It was the good cop; bad cop routine and this time Meg was giving it her all as the bad cop in making Lieutenant Cuzzoni uncomfortable.

"Lieutenant, I hear that you and my investigative partner have had an acquaintance…a while back. I hope that won't interfere in your cooperation with us…" Harm grinned amiably referring to Meg. "Her husband has a tendency to get green eyes…" Lieutenant Cuzzoni looked confused, "extremely jealous"…Harm explained… "…when one of her exes pops up…out of the woodwork." Meg resisted the urge to jam her elbow into Harm's side. That didn't make Lieutenant Cuzzoni comfortable in the least.

"Uh…no no…it will not interfere at all with the investigation. We went to the same university; that is all…"

"Well, that's good." Harm stated. "So you were saying that it was the Navy helicopter that turned into your squadron-mate's helicopter?"

"As far as I could tell from my position." Lieutenant Cuzzoni stated. "After all, I was heading in towards my next turn which was to be to the, what you say, star-board side; to drop my sonar in parallel with him."

"OK…so you were able to see exactly what happened. Did your squadron-mate turn away from the incoming helicopter at any point to avoid contact."

"He tried to evade the Seahawk, but it was too late. He could not and the Seahawk hit his aircraft in the middle." Harm looked over at Meg at Cuzzoni's statement.

"So your squadron-mate's aircraft was hit in the port side door panel? Meg, we'll have to go down and take a look at the wreckage of the Italian helo." Harm made a point of noting to Meg that they would have to go down and check to make sure that Lieutenant Cuzzoni's witness statements checked out. "We'll also check the Seahawk wreckage as well."

"Who volunteered their hangar to house the wreckage?"

"VF-41…Commander Dale Kinnick, Commanding Officer and Commander Toshio Nakamura; XO." Harm answered her question regarding the whereabouts of the wreckage of both the Seahawk and the Italian Helo.

"Thought so…" Meg nodded. "Looks like that's why there's so many of VF-41's Tomcats out on the flight-line…I'm sure Commander Nakamura isn't happy about that." She emphasized his last name so that Cuzzoni would make the connection; evidently Cuzzoni was too rattled at that point with the knowledge that Meg was married to even manage to muster up any sort of connection at all. In fact he was wondering just how he could scuttle away from this interview without managing to make a fool out of himself.

"I didn't think so…even though they volunteered the hangar for use to the accident investigators. They're still not too enamored of the helo squadrons contaminating their master jet base." Harm snickered as he looked over at Lieutenant Cuzzoni, "Well, Lieutenant, thank you for your cooperation; I will interview you again at some point. It looks as if this incident will probably be heading to trial. Just letting you know that you may be subpoenaed for your testimony…"

"Lieutenant, I did not mean to be familiar…" Lieutenant Cuzzoni apologized profusely to Meg. "It's just that we haven't seen each other for so long. It was a surprise."

"Lieutenant. The past is the past…" Meg replied as she looked over at Lieutenant Cuzzoni, "…its better that it stays where it is." She looked at him with a stern expression, "I really don't believe that you'd like to make an acquaintance of my husband…really…" She exited the room with that ominous statement left hanging in the room.

"Yeah…she's right. Lieutenant Cuzzoni…I wouldn't press her if I were you. I know her husband…and he's not very friendly with any one of her exes." Harm stated, giving him a sympathetic grin which didn't seem to calm Francesco's nerves any. "What do you say we take a walk along the flight-line…It'll be OK, since you're with me." Harm meant to make sure that Francesco didn't get any ideas to approach Meg outside of her work. That would get quite ugly.

Francesco nodded as he stood up; He was short: five-nine in comparison to Harm who was six-four and Meg's husband had an inch of height on Francesco. The Italian lieutenant and the American Lieutenant Commander walked out of the VS-63 offices and walked towards the flight-line to take a look at the Tomcats.

"Used to fly one of those off the USS Seahawk." Harm grinned amiably at Francesco. "Meg's husband flies one too." He pointed out Fast Eagle 102 which was the XO's bird. Francesco's eyes nearly bugged out, "Commander Toshio Nakamura; he's the XO of VF-41. That's his aircraft…"

Francesco's eyes followed Harm's pointing finger to the F-14 Tomcat which was sitting on the flight-line. On the canopy rail in Franklin Gothic font was the name CDR TOSHIO NAKAMURA; underneath was his callsign ANIMAL and under that were the two letters denoting his position in the squadron: XO (executive officer – second in command). Meg had married a fighter pilot; a US Naval Aviator. It finally clicked in Cuzzoni's brain that Nakamura was the last name that Meg had stated was her own when she had come into the office.

"How he got his call sign was quite the event too…from what I hear…" Harm stated; it was an ominous portent belied by the cheery tone that Harm used.

"I hear that it takes a lot to fly one of these beautiful aircraft." Francesco was thoroughly cowed by this time. There was no way that he could ever think of winning Meg Austin-Nakamura's hand especially when her husband was an F-14 Tomcat pilot.

"You know…I'm sure that someone on this jet base might be persuaded to take you up for a ride." Harm grinned at Francesco; Francesco's ease of mind was not in the forecast on this very day.

Francesco thought to himself…if Meg's husband took me up for a flight, he would probably eject me at twenty thousand feet and be perfectly happy doing it too.

What Francesco was thinking was clearly written on his face and Harm read it loud and clear. Frankie-boy didn't know how right he was Harm thought to himself; and Animal would have had a pie-eating grin on his face launching him out the cockpit too.

Harm thought that he'd be perfectly happy letting Meg do the interview solo on Lieutenant Susan Miller; he'd get the information that she gleaned in the interview later from her and maybe he might be able to get some play-time with a Tomcat if he could convince her husband to let him take up a VF-41 F-14.

When Meg was finally finished with her interview and she figured that Harm was on the flight-line she walked over and raised her eyebrows when she saw him with Francesco. "Well, sir…I'm heading off to lunch with my husband…" she mentioned casually to Harm, who nodded.

"You know, Meg, I need to ask your husband. You said he's going up with a few aircraft to do a bit of ACM today, right?"

"Yeah, 1500 hrs."

"Do you think he might be OK with me taking up a VF-41 Tomcat and showing Lieutenant Cuzzoni just what it takes to fly these things? At least if I'm up there, Animal won't be tempted to shoot him down…since he's interested in what it takes to fly these things and is eager to have a familiarization flight…" He snickered as he threw a thumb back towards Francesco – that did not give Lieutenant Cuzzoni the slightest bit of peace of mind.

"Try to avoid your snap-rolls…or Tosh will make him clean up the cockpit…with his tongue." Meg stated.

"Oh…there you are…" Lieutenant Cuzzoni turned sheet white when he saw the tall Asian Navy officer in khakis striding out to meet Meg. "Any ideas where you want to eat lunch?" the Asian Navy officer smiled at Meg then pigeonholed Cuzzoni with a taciturn stare – Cuzzoni knew from the uniform that he, himself, was wearing; Meg's husband knew exactly who he was. He wished at this point that he could sink into the ground and disappear.

"I don't know…right now…but I'll figure that out…" Meg replied as she walked over to her husband. "Harm wants to take up a Tomcat to give the Italian lieutenant a bit of a ride." She had a nasty smirk on her face.

Animal had a nasty grin on his face as well…as he looked Cuzzoni up and down. So that was the little spaghetti-eating creep who had a crush on Meg during her time in university. "Sure seven G's won't split the guy in half?" Animal inquired acidly.

Cuzzoni thought to himself. The Asian commander was built like an American football player.

"I don't know…maybe…" Meg smirked at Cuzzoni. "Sure you can handle it?"

"I have no idea…" Cuzzoni was not about to show weakness in front of Meg's husband, nosirree. "But I am perfectly willing to go with Lieutenant Commander Rabb to see what it is like to be in the cockpit of a Tomcat…"

"Just make sure that you don't prang the ride…Harm, I want the ride you borrow back in one piece." Animal stated as he looked over grimly at the Italian lieutenant.

"Sir, you said you were going up at 1500hrs for an ACM session, mind if I tag along…with Lieutenant Cuzzoni as my rear-seater?"

Animal's evil sadistic expression grew even wider. "Oh, he's a glutton for punishment, isn't he, Harm? You think you're up to it, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir…" Lieutenant Cuzzoni decided that he'd better show some backbone.

"Just so you know…" Meg smirked at Lieutenant Cuzzoni, "Commander Nakamura shot down a MiG 29 and a Sukhoi Su-27 during Desert Storm as well as two aircraft over Japan during that war in 1990. He's also got a MiG-23 kill over Serbia bringing his total to four confirmed; one unofficial." Harm was certain that all the color drained out of Lieutenant Cuzzoni's face.

"Knife-fight in a phone booth?" Harm grinned at Animal in challenge. Cuzzoni was trapped; there was no way that he could get out of going up with Harm without losing face in the eyes of Commander Nakamura.

"You're on, Harm…" Animal grinned back; his grin was malevolence personified. Meg looked over at her husband and smiled…indulgently – she knew this ACM engagement was going to be no-holds barred and her husband had flown flight lead to Harm so he knew exactly how Harm flew. They may be in a dogfight, but they'd be safe. "So…you want a ride too?" Animal asked his wife. She grinned at him…with a wide smile on her face. The last time she'd ridden a Tomcat was with Harm. "This isn't the easy ferry ride you took with Harm over to Vandenburg AFB…this is a fangs-out knife fight…" he warned her.

"Oh, I'm more than ready…" Meg winked at him in response. "…plus it'll give us an overview of the accident site…" she winked at Harm. At least that would be the explanation that she'd give to her commanding officer as to why they decided to take a Mach 2 F-14 out to the crash site instead of a helo.

"So there you are…" Mac came out to the flight-line to meet up with Harm and Meg. "I was wondering where you two went to. Luckily the VS-63 operations officer told me that you were on the flight-line."

"Well, galley it is…" Animal decided. There were certain preps that had to be made in order to get non-flight personnel suited up to be able to fly in a high-performance jet fighter and that would eat up time till 1500hrs. "Feel up to taking a ride in an F-14, Major?"

Mac paled. "I think I'll stick to the ground, sir." She didn't particularly feel like revisiting her breakfast or what she ate for lunch today.

"Suit yourself, Major…" Animal grinned at her, then turned to Harm, "We're going to have a tanking evolution as well…after the knife fight, so I suggest you make sure that you're ready to gas up. Don't worry, Harm, we'll get you back before the sun sets…so that you can put her down on the ground."

"Roger that, sir." Harm replied, at least Animal would be taking Harm's night-blindness into account…besides…this wasn't a combat air patrol that would take six hours in the air.

There would be four aircraft on that evolution – two simultaneous dogfights going on at one time. Metalman and Kimber were in the other flight.

They elected to eat in the galley where lunch was a good one: spaghetti and meatballs, just right for the little twerp sitting to the right of Harm and Harm who was flanked by the Italian Lieutenant on one side and Mac on the other. Meg was sitting to Animal's side with Mac right across the table from her. At least one good thing for that little fettucini-eater, spaghetti doesn't taste all that bad when you have a gastronomical reunion with the food you ate five hours ago. And guaranteed this little bastard was going to make a reunion with the food; Animal would make damned sure of it. Harm was more than capable of being able to fly and fight in the F-14 Tomcat. Animal had taught him the ropes of the F-14. And Cuzzoni was going to get his insides turned inside out.

There were several hours of prep as Animal made certain that Meg's helmet was the proper fit and the bag that she was wearing would fit her nicely as well. On top of that the oxygen mask fitting and the test to make sure that she was being fed oxygen properly as well as the g-suit to make sure that it properly constricted around her waist and legs to make sure that she was able to keep blood flow to her brain to keep from passing out when Gs were pulled were necessary. He wanted to make sure that his beloved wife didn't have a bad experience in the cockpit of the F-14; as far as Cuzzoni was concerned he could care less; just so long as he was kept within the margins of safety protocol. "Meg, in order to keep the blood flow to your brain, you help out your g-suit like this…" Animal demonstrated by blowing up his face to the expression of a puffer fish and letting loose three sharp shallow grunts – it looked comical.

"Yes, sir." She grinned at him…

"You also squeeze your pelvic muscles…like you're dropping a load in the can. That helps to keep your blood flowing to your brain so you don't pass out. If I snap turn and load up 7Gs on the Tomcat you'll be in dreamland so fast your brain won't have time to think the word what?" He grinned savagely at her. "And trust me; we'll be pulling a lot of g's in the course of this ACM evolution."

"Sounds like fun, sir." Meg said as she looked at him with an irrepressible grin on her face at her husband, "So…I guess I get to compare if flying in an F-14 Tomcat is like having sex…" She gave her Tosh a wink and Harm nearly choked on his inhale. Her grin grew wider as she saw the open-mouthed, shocked expressions on both Harm and Animal as they looked at her. Needless to say, Cuzzoni wisely kept his mouth shut. After all, he'd never even got to first base with Meg; in fact, neither had Harm.

After the briefing when the four crews proceeded out to the flight-line, Mac was there watching by the no-go line. On a military base, there was a line on the tarmac that people weren't supposed to cross for security reasons unless they had legitimate reason for being there or were accompanied by people who did have legitimate reason for being there. If they didn't and they stepped one foot over the no-go line, they'd be flat on their backs or fronts with their stomachs filled with five point five-six.

"Not gonna be like Top Gun…the movie." Harm told Cuzzoni, "It's gonna be a three dimensional fight: up and down as well as left and right; not just level flight" Cuzzoni marveled at how heavy the flight gear was that would keep them alive. He was more and more certain that he could never do this. He'd be unable to operate the controls in the cockpit wearing this much gear on him. In fact they had a personal flotation device designed to keep a navy pilot afloat if he had to eject over water. "If I say eject eject eject…You'd better be gone on the second eject. If you say "huh?" you're going to be talking to yourself." Harm stated; they were carrying their helmet bags. He passed him what appeared to be a paper bag… "If you need to throw up, you use this or your glove. If you vomit all over the cockpit, you're going to be cleaning it."

Cuzzoni nodded. Just how intense was this dogfight going to be anyway?

When they'd buckled into the F-14 cockpit, Harm grinned over at Cuzzoni. His left hand subtly tipped the heat to warm…in the rear cockpit: that would make Cuzzoni's stomach kind of twitchy after a midday meal. And more than likely the Italian helo pilot would lose his lunch after a few yank n'banks.

Animal helped Meg into the rear ejection-seat of his Tomcat and then grinned. "Just so you know, Meg… they say ACM is like having an orgasm." He gave her a comical wink as he watched her expression change to a smirk. Animal made sure that the rear cockpit was nice and cool…so that she wouldn't lose her lunch.

"Hmmmm…that awesome, huh?" The twinkle in her eyes promised a comparison much later…

Meg grinned over at Animal who was watching over her getting strapped into the ejection seat. "OK, hon, if I say eject, eject, eject…get your hands above your head on the loops and yank down. The rear-seater's seat fires first and then three seconds later, mine will fire." Meg nodded an affirmative that she'd gotten that information. "Let's hope we don't have to…" Animal said to his wife. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best…" He stated. "Love you." He whispered just clearly enough for her to make it out over the whine of the huffer carts.

If her smile was any brighter it would outshine the sun as she whispered, her lips moving enough for Animal to make out, "I love you too…"

Animal then stepped into the cockpit of the Tomcat and took his place in the front seat. "Ready for some air combat maneuvering today, Meg?"

"It'll be quite the experience, sir." She said.

"Closing canopy, keep your hands clear of the rails." Animal announced. "Alright…" he said to the Tomcat, "You're carrying your namesake today…keep her and me safe…" Fast Eagle 102, Texas Gal's engines started right up as the ground crewmen ran around getting all the remove before flight tags off the aircraft and making sure that the TACTS pod was on and ready to record hits. Running through the pre-flight checks for dry-land takeoff, he made sure that the canopy was locked and in place. Meg could hear through the radio "Oceana Tower, Fast Eagle One Zero Two; Taxi takeoff runway three-two right transit TACTS Range Bravo Angels three-one five." They were going to transit towards the TACTS range at thirty one thousand five hundred feet before getting ready to bump.

Oceana Tower radioed back, "Roger One Zero Two, Oceana Tower, clear taxi takeoff, runway three-two right, transit TACTS Range Bravo Angels three-one five."

Harm made the same call, only differing by his aircraft's nose number and got clearance. Both F-14 Tomcats moved slowly out as the chocks had been cleared and started making their way down the taxi-way towards the runway. In their brief they had determined who was flight lead in to the range and who was flight lead on the return flight after they dry tanked; there would be no gas passed on this evolution, it was just a test to make sure that they knew that they could do it if necessary. Animal also made sure to let Harm know that his tendencies on the Delta needed to be curbed since the Alpha would flame out if the throttles got slammed. The TF-30s were temperamental beasts and those engines needed a delicate touch.

When the F-14As lined up on the runway; One Zero Two started the roll out first, then fifteen seconds later, Harm eased the throttles forward and released the brakes; pushing the throttles into full military power. Cuzzoni, in the back seat, felt a massive kick in the back as well as a pressure on his front pressing him into the back of his ejection seat as the F-14 charged forward down the runway. At about the midway point, Harm felt the aircraft go light on its main-mounts and pulled the stick back…as the F-14 rotated and went airborne. Animal's aircraft was orbiting the field to make certain that Harm could join up on his starboard wing before they headed for the TACTS range. When Harm joined up, Animal cranked his nose ten degrees left; hitting Zone Three and pulled up. Harm waited two seconds then hit Zone Three afterburner him-self and cranked his nose up. Watching the altitude indicator wind up ten…twenty…thirty thousand feet, at thirty one thousand five hundred, Harm rolled his Tomcat inverted and then rolled his wings level and upright.

One mile off Harm's left wing and three hundred fifty feet in front Animal was flying flight lead. "So how was that, Meg?"

"Absolutely terrific, sir." Meg said glowing over the speed of the Tomcat. "You can feel the power in this thing." It was just like the ferry ride that she took with Harm to Vandenburg AFB. But she knew that it would get rougher from hereon in when they got to the TACTS range.

It was a short flight, transiting past the site of the helo accidents to make certain that the JAG officers could see the area where the accident occurred and they made mental notes to jot down the locations where they were pointed out by Cuzzoni on the radio.

"We're at Angels three one five, Meg, thirty-one thousand five hundred feet." Animal stated. "We're heading for TACTS Range Bravo where Harm and I are going to turn our Tomcats loose and start an air to air engagement. If we get a guns kill on Harm, he gets to play trailing attacker on the next one and we get to evade. If he wins, he continues to play target until we win."

"That sounds like fun, sir." Meg replied, her eyes twinkling from what he could see from behind her oxygen mask.

"TACTS Range ten miles. Maintain tactical separation…" Animal radioed Harm.

When they got to the TACTS range…Animal called out cheerily "You ready; Harm…"

"Affirmative…Animal…" Harm radioed; there was a note of challenge in his voice as he said this…well…pride goeth before a fall.

"Fights on…fights on…" Animal grinned as he radioed that. Meg's eyes widened as Harm's Tomcat instantly yanked into a hard right turn as if he had bounced off an invisible rubber wall. Animal yanked back on the stick, rolling the Tomcat into a hard right turn, horizon spinning as Animal imparted a roll into the turn to keep his nose on Harm's aircraft. Meg's eyes nearly crossed seeing a Tomcat blur past the top of their canopy. She tried to remember the G-Loc maneuver to keep blood flowing to her brain to prevent blacking out. One part of her still functioning brain wondered at Animal's ability to talk while under this g-load. "OK…Meg…here we go…forcing him out front…rolling scissors…" Sea and sky swapped places in the canopy glass. She noticed in her narrowing field of vision that Harm had traded altitude for airspeed and was going inverted and pulling down out of the fight. "Extending..and trying to bug out." Sea swapped places with sky as Animal rolled inverted too and pitched down following Harm. "Got Winder lock on him…" Animal grunted as he grinned behind his oxygen mask. Meg was under too much G-load to speak. "Fox Two…"

"Got me…" Harm grunted. It appeared that Lieutenant Cuzzoni was in no condition to speak from what Harm could see in his rear-view, because Cuzzoni was too busy wretching into his barf bag to even notice that the G-load was off. "Hey, Frankie, need another barf bag, I got another one here…if you need it. Might save your glove…"

When Animal and Harm set up for another engagement starting at Angels three two; with Harm again as the target as the kill was a missile kill and not a guns kill. When the fights on fights on call came over the UHF, Harm did a split-s while Animal kept his altitude…and turned hard right into the maneuver for horizontal separation to prevent Harm from rolling wings level and pitching up to meet his aircraft with a belly shot. Animal rolled inverted, inadvertently bouncing Meg's head, thankfully protected by her flight helmet, off the inside of the canopy; she thought she saw stars. And pitched down to keep him-self from losing energy – lose energy; lose the fight.

As Harm was trying to extend and clear the range in order to come around and re-enter the fight, Animal played lag-pursuit on him and waited for Harm to over-extend himself energy wise…the lag pursuit allowed him to creep into guns range and the guns…guns…guns…call along with the self-satisfaction in his voice caused Harm to roll his eyes.

"Ready for another knife fight? Frankie?" Harm grinned at the Italian lieutenant who looked a little green. His oxygen mask was off…and the bag was close by his face. "one hundred percent oxygen might help you, you know…" Harm suggested. This time Harm was the attacker and Animal was the target.

When Animal called out fights on fights on; he instantaneously broke left on the last on and rolling the Tomcat so all Meg saw was an alternating sea-air-sea-air-sea interchanging positions in her rapidly narrowing line of vision, Animal reversed direction hard, forcing Harm to rapidly trade altitude for airspeed. "He's better than I thought." Animal commented as Harm rapidly rolled overhead while Animal yo-yo'd out with a right turn and then reversed direction to continue to force him out front. Dropping in on his tail, Animal held the twenty mike-mike reticle on the HUD steady for two seconds. "Guns, Guns, Guns." Most of these engagements only took about twenty seconds at most. If the fight went on any longer than that in a real fight the odds of getting out of the engagement alive were not good. "Knock it off…Knock it off, Knock it off…" Animal radioed indicating the end of that particular fight. "Ready for round four, honey…" he keyed the ICC.

Meg chuckled weakly as the two F-14s set up for their next match. Air Combat wasn't like an orgasm; it was like a brutal boxing match. Considering her head had made contact with the inside of the canopy several times over the course of the ten seconds of air combat that they just had, she felt like she'd gotten her bell rung several times in fact.

Setting up about a mile in trail, Harm radioed "Fights on…Fight's On!" At that instant Animal made a hard right turn, rolling the aircraft and split-s'ing to level out two thousand feet below Harm in an instant, as Harm reacted by rolling inverted and pulling down in turn keeping his nose on Animal's F-14. But Animal wasn't in guns range at all as he then turned hard and then reversed direction so that he was coming towards Harm's F-14. Cuzzoni nearly crapped his drawers as he saw the F-14 flash past by the canopy, nearly at canopy to canopy. How these men did this was beyond his ability to understand.

Harm grinned as he sighted his guns reticle on the suicidal charge. He pulled his nose up…to track Animal. Just as Animal did a left turn to cut across Harm's line of sight in what appeared to be a dark-grey blur fast enough so Harm couldn't react fast enough on the "Guns" call.

"Missed!" taunted Animal as Harm could see Animal reversing in the distance as Harm tried to turn the Tomcat towards Animal's. They seemed to be like prize-fighters circling each other at a distance occasionally trading punches by darting in to try something but not daring to get too close. As they circled, it seemed like the fight was getting slower and slower, but then all of a sudden, Animal's Tomcat rolled over the top and then down…and slotted right in on Harm's six. A TACTS kill tone and Harm's disgusted "You win!" indicated Animal's fourth win of the contest. "He got me low and slow…" He mentioned to Cuzzoni who wasn't in any condition to say anything. And this was why Harm considered his friend, Animal, one of the top naval aviators in the US Navy.

"That's four zip…" Animal crowed looking up at the merriment on Meg's face from the backseat.

"Like they say in Texas, sir. Hook 'em Horns." Meg grinned as she held up her right hand in the sign.

"European meaning?" Animal smirked in the rear view.

Meg nodded. "Yup…you could say that Harm got himself cuckolded in the completely screwed over sense of the word not the cheated on." The result of the match was 8-2 with Animal winning eight out of ten in a decisive win over Harm. Harm did hold his own, but just barely – getting at least two wins against an active-duty fighter jock was impressive for someone who was rusty in flying aerial combat. But this was the difference between an active duty naval aviator and someone who only flew Tomcats irregularly – Animal royally beat Harm in the aerial combat arena since his skills were fresh and constantly being tested. Meg felt like she sweated buckets and figured that she'd better take a shower. Meanwhile over on TACTS Range A, Metalman and Kimber had traded a 5-5 even match. And all four Tomcats were now set to take a dry tank off the tanker; a USAF KC-10 with a drogue attached.

"Texaco, Fast Eagle Flight, vector zero four five. Squawk three one six point six "

"Roger Fast Eagle Lead, read vector zero four five, squawk three one six point six." And adjusted his radio to 316.6 for the tanker refueler.

"Roger Fast Eagle Two." Harm radioed. "read vector zero four five, squawk three one six point six."

"Fast Eagle Three" Metalman called in "read vector zero four five, squawk three one six point six."

And last but not least, "Fast Eagle Four read vector zero four five, squawk three one six point six." Kimber's dulcet tones on the radio came over the UHF.

Fast Eagle Lead, "Fast Eagle Two, you take the tanker… we gotta get you back home to the nest." Animal noted the receding light in the sky.

A deft touch on the stick allowed Harm to meet up with the drogue… "Fast Eagle Two, Locked in tight and green. Disengaging." This was a dry tank – they had more than enough to reach home still in their tanks. As each Tomcat headed to the drogue, to hook up and then detach, it was quite the evolution. At least they knew how to do this and it would come in handy over the Med where they had to do it for real.

"OK…Fast Eagle Flight, form up on my wing, RTB…" Animal took flight lead back to the base and Harm and the rest of the Tomcats tucked into tight formation. As they crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to set up for final circuit in order to head in for landing, Harm grinned as he looked in the mirrors back towards Cuzzoni…he was ashen white and looked as though he would heave whatever was left of his cookies as soon as he got back on terra firma, if he could just make it back to the base before doing so. The Italian lieutenant looked absolutely miserable.

Animal looked back in his rear-view. Meg was doing just fine; she had a mile-wide smile that lit up her entire face. This was the first time that she'd ever flown with him and she was ecstatic and bubbling over with happiness. Counting off the seconds; he broke left in a tight turn towards final approach. Seven seconds later, Harm would do the same…they went into the break clean (gear up) and would dirty up as they headed in for landing and spaced seven seconds apart the other two would follow. By the time they all landed and taxied to the tarmac parking spots, Meg was practically bubbling over with a wide grin on her face.

When the canopy lifted, Harm looked over at Cuzzoni who looked green around the gills.

Animal lifted up thumbs up to the other aviators who were unbuckling and getting ready to deplane. The ground crewman helped Meg with unbuckling from the ejection seat after he safed the seat for her. Animal safed his own seat and then unstrapped from the GRU-7.

Animal noticed sadistically that Cuzzoni needed to be helped from the cockpit of the F-14 and they had to bring over a crewman's ladder to enable Cuzzoni to reach terra firma without falling out of the cockpit onto his head. There was no way that he could negotiate the footholds and the F-14's ladder without it being dangerous to his health. Animal grinned wryly as he helped Meg down. She was more than capable of getting off the Tomcat by herself, but heck, she was his wife. As they reached the bottom and feet touched terra firma. Meg leapt into Animal's arms as they twirled around "That was one hell of a ride, sir!" she said loud enough that Harm and Lieutenant Cuzzoni could hear and then whispered. "And I loved every second of it." She gave Animal a loving look, the sheer delight at having a chance to go up in such a high performance aircraft, even more so, a high performance aircraft piloted by her husband and experience the thrill of aerial combat playing across her face; her eyes shone with excitement and said. "I'd love to do that again some time. You're damned good, sir."

"I thought you'd enjoy a flight up there." Animal grinned as he heard Cuzzoni be sick in the background. He was bent over throwing up the contents of the spaghetti lunch that he'd had. The barf bag he had was chock full almost to the brim.

Harm grinned at the spectacle and threw Animal a thumbs up.

"You two are so bad…" Meg smirked at him and looked at Cuzzoni who was still on his hands and knees, while Kimber, Metalman and their RIOs walking by smirked at the hapless Italian lieutenant.

Kimber said to her RIO, "Guess he doesn't have the stomach for air combat."

Metalman grinned back at her paced by his own RIO, "Yeah…he looks like he got on the wrong end of a bucking bronco."

In his abject misery, Cuzzoni realized that Meg Austin was forever out of his reach. He'd had come to the realization that Meg's husband was far more capable than he was; that Francesco could never compete with a combat aviator. On top of that her husband and his friend knew just the right way to make him miserable without resorting to a physical beating. The aerial combat arena was not for the faint of heart. And Meg's husband had the intestinal fortitude to compete and win in that arena. Why did he even have the pipe dream that Meg would even consider settling for a second-rate helicopter pilot such as himself when she had an F-14 fighter pilot as her husband? It would never happen. Even the staff officer Harmon Rabb; the Judge Advocate lawyer had naval aviator wings on his uniform and could handle a jet fighter far better than he could ever dream of being able to. With capable officers like this to compete against; he had no chance to even be considered in the running for Meg's heart. His emotional misery was compounded by yet another desire to upchuck what was left of his lunch. Nothing else came out…it was just painful dry heaves.

"Anybody want dinner?" Meg's husband's voice was heard.

Lieutenant Cuzzoni groaned. He couldn't keep anything down. "Better head over to the showers and get out of your flight gear." Harm said as he looked over unsympathetically at the Lieutenant, "The VF-41 showers…you need to leave the flight gear at flight gear maintenance and collect your own uniform."

Cuzzoni got to his feet, shot a miserable look at Animal, who gave him a grin and thumbs up, and staggered off to the showers to clean himself off.

Harm walked over to Animal, "Figure that's the last we'll see of him?" he asked wryly with a big grin on his face.

"If we could only be so lucky." Animal smirked at his friend and gave him a knowing grin, "So what temperature did you have it?"

"Bake…" Harm snickered evilly. Meg rolled her eyes. Both the men that she cared for deeply; her husband and her dearest friend were both juvenile in their attempts to make Francesco miserable but that was effective. At least it got their point across that Meg was no longer available.

"You two are so bad…" she repeated, leaning against her husband. Mac walked over to them after watching the power-puking spectacle from the flight-line.

"So what caused him to throw up so badly?" Mac asked.

"Excessive amounts of G-loading and his cockpit heater set to broil." Harm grinned at her unrepentantly.

Mac rolled her eyes. Men; walking bags of testosterone, who loved juvenile acts of stupidity. Mac wondered about her partner and even more about her partner's friend. How they could make someone else so miserable in the name of competition was unbelievable. She shook her head and looked over at Harm and Animal. "That was what made him so miserable?" She asked wondering if she was ever going to get a straight answer out of either of them.

"That and the fear of death…" Harm commented casually while grinning heartlessly over at Animal who grinned back just as equally sadistically

"Let's get these bags off and go grab a bite to eat." Animal suggested. The VF-41 showers were generally now split into two; one set of showers for the men in the squadron; one set for the women in the squadron and considering how much of a workout an aerial combat match was, Meg's hair was completely soaked with sweat from the flight helmet that she wore during the course of that aerial fight. So were Animal's and Harm's. Their bags also had sweat stains. Pulling g's was not for the weak and it showed in Harm's and Animal's physiques. And especially since Tosh had gotten back to the cockpit it was even more evident in her husband's physique. His muscles were rippling and his chest definition was something to behold, Meg grinned to herself, especially when they were alone in their shower at home.

Harm grinned at Mac, "I don't think we're going to make it back to DC from investigation tonight…" he grinned at her. "Guess we'd better book a hotel." Mac nodded in agreement; yeah it was a little too late to try a four and a half hour drive from Norfolk all the way back to Falls Church and the helo that they had caught a ride there on, was already back at Joint-Base Andrews.

Hitting the showers at her husband's squadron headquarters was an experience for Meg. She figured she'd just get the sweat off her hair by dunking her head under the shower…just enough to get the sweat out of it…she'd have to wait to shampoo her hair after she got home…but Tosh surprised her with a full bottle each of the shampoo and conditioner she regularly used which he had in a drawer in his desk. She gave him a questioning look.

"I figured that one of these days that you might have need of it here…turns out my hunch was right." He smirked at her. She gave him a loving look as she took the two bottles from him and headed for the women's shower to change out of her flight gear; he was always thinking of her in ways that she was always surprised about. She would bring out the flight gear after her shower and hand them over to the flight gear equipment supervisor so that they could be returned and cleaned. And she had a nice shower soothing the aches of the g-loading on her body as she lathered her hair; rinsed and conditioned it. This wouldn't prevent her from taking another shower when she got home however. She wanted her husband and it certainly wasn't going to happen here.

When she was finished with her shower she dressed in her uniform and got ready to head for dinner with her husband, Harm and Mac. Francesco Cuzzoni was nowhere to be seen; hopefully she'd seen the last of him. Her husband met her outside the women's change room. He'd quickly showered and gotten dressed in his khakis which was the usual aircrew UOD. They walked her flight gear that was borrowed back to the equippers and they would deal with the maintenance care of it and cleaning. Once they were finished with that, they met up with Harm and Mac.

"So where to? Sir." Harm asked.

"No Beltway Burgers around here…" Animal replied apologetically looking over at Mac who looked disappointed. She frequented Beltway Burgers – Harm swore that it was her second home. Animal had an idea of going to a pizza joint that would cater to both their and Harm's individual tastes. Mac, Meg and Animal all ate meat. Harm on the other hand was a vegetarian who preferred no meat on his plate. The only meat that he would even consider was fish. Anything else was a no-go. Technically that made Harm a pescatarian – one who only will eat the meat of fish; however that was too difficult to remember; referring to himself as a vegetarian was much easier.

"Pizza's good." Harm agreed. "Of course, you still like Texas Pizza, right? Meg?"

"Yeah, but Tosh isn't too keen on spicy…stuff. I can tolerate spicy to a point, but the only spicy that Tosh can stand is mild Tex-Mex or Japanese style curry.

"OK…that works for me…" Mac stated. "I can only stand spicy to a point too and well, the Commander can get himself a pizza without the spice." She looked over at Animal who nodded in agreement. "That work for you, sir?" She asked him.

"So we're all in agreement?" Animal asked. "Pizza?" Nods all around.

VS-63 Office; NAS Oceana; Virginia Beach, VA; Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 1945hrs

Lieutenant Francesco Cuzzoni was abjectly miserable; his stomach was still roiling and it was extremely doubtful that he'd be able to eat anything tonight for fear of it coming straight back up. And his emotional equilibrium was not on an even keel either considering how much of a devastating blow to his psyche happened when he'd run across Meg Austin, now Meg Austin-Nakamura after seven years of separation. Certainly they'd never gone beyond the flirting stage, but after all those years of daydreams of Meg saying "yes" to him and visions of their life together and to have it so brutally crushed was not what he'd been expecting.

In fact what was he expecting? For her to leap into his arms and to say, "Francesco, I've been waiting for you for so long!"? And evidently it must have been; for the convulsing of his broken heart he could do nothing, as Meg had shown him unequivocally that he was no longer in the cards for her future. The two men who were Meg Austin's protectors had pretty much shown him what to expect if he tried to seek her out again. What else could he do but go back to Italy once the training was over…what could he do but forget that he ever saw her? Perhaps he would find someone who would love him for himself; a pretty young woman who would fall head over heels for him, his uniform and his helicopter wings; someone whose hand he wouldn't have to compete with a fighter pilot for.

As an Italian, he was passionate…and his broken heart rued the day that he'd ever decided to go to the University of Texas. Certainly they'd had good times…going to the American football games at their university; singing the University of Texas fight song and all the good times that he had with her, but they were all in the past; she'd even told him, "The past is the past…better to leave it where it is…" And now she was another man's woman. Someone, who was now her husband, knew everything that he didn't know about her; was receiving the benefits of her love and her carnal wants and desires. Life certainly knew how to make him miserable. Ah dolore…what misery.

"Hey, Frankie, you down in the dumps?" The VS-36 squadron lieutenant in Public Affairs grinned at him; she'd noticed that he looked down and out of sorts. Lieutenant Teresa McEwan grinned at him. "You look like the dog ate your breakfast." She was a cute brunette, who had the same sense of humor as Meg and in ways; she was just as vivacious as Meg.

"It is worse than that…" Francesco looked down at his feet. "The woman that I knew at University of Texas rejected me."

Tessa grinned at him. "Well, Frankie…them's the breaks…y'know…if you've been separated from her for seven years…chances are she's moved on."

"She did move on…she's married…"

"oooh…that sounds like a kick in the teeth." Tessa replied as she looked over at him. He looked like he was sick to his stomach and green around the gills.

"She is married to an F-14 pilot."

Tessa looked over at him. "Well…yeah, looks like you're outta luck there…" Fighter pilots/combat naval aviators were the pinnacle of the flying community. There were women who went around looking for a fighter pilot as a potential mate, mainly because it was an assured way of gaining status. And then there were those to whom status didn't matter and did marry someone just because of their emotional links with the men that they dated no matter what they did for a living – to those; whether their mate was a fighter pilot wasn't even an issue – they'd married them for who they were as an individual not their career track. Those were the more level-headed women. "So…I take it your tracks crossed today?"

"yes…she was one of the legal officers who were from Washington." his voice sounded like he was annoyed and didn't want to keep picking at his wound. "And it was not good. Her friend, the legal officer took me up for a ride in a Tomcat…"

"You mean that tall handsome naval aviator from the JAG office in DC?"

"Yes, the very…" Francesco said dourly.

"So how did it go?"

"I get very sick…" Francesco said, "I make re-acquaintance with my spaghetti…and meat balls…they are now all over the ground out on the air field…"

"What? A simple ride in a Tomcat doesn't usually end up with you heaving your cookies like that…"

"Heaving cookies?" Francesco asked. "What you mean?"

"Throwing up your stomach contents…" Tessa explained.

"It was not a mere ride in a Tomcat. It was how you say, air combat…"

"oooh…" Tessa nodded understandingly and tsk'd sympathetically. "Some people have it, some people don't…" Francesco didn't know if that was supposed to make him feel any better. "I take it your stomach won't stand up to dinner?"

"No…if I look at meal…I will probably throw it up…"

"They say Coca Cola usually helps to calm one's stomach…" Tessa suggested. "Why don't we go get you a Coke? Frankie…maybe it might help your stomach settle down…"

"OK…Tessa you are very nice…" Francesco looked over at Tessa; she definitely was very cute…very attractive…Perhaps he could…

"No worries, Frankie…my boyfriend won't mind…my helping you out with your stomach. He's understanding."

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he flies for VFA-86…Flies the F-18C…Hornet…" Ah crudele; Cruel fate; yet another fighter pilot…

Crushed again…

1502-2472 Admiral Byrd Way; Norfolk, VA; Tuesday, October 1, 1996; 2235hrs

Meg grinned at her husband. The shower was nice and toasty. "Well…I guess you took care of Francesco…" she grinned at him as he looked over at her while standing under the shower. They had a nice rain-shower and the wet room was exactly what they'd wanted; especially since they were practically on the top floor of their apartment with a great view of Chesapeake Bay. In fact the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was visible out their living room window. "I doubt we'll ever see him again…" she smiled as she caressed him. The scars on his shoulder were still visible; forever marking his body with the harrowing experience that he'd gone through. She was nestled against his hard chest as the water ran down both their bodies.

"Yeah, I figure Harm and I scared him a good one today." He grinned at Meg. He looked thoroughly self-satisfied with his accomplishment.

"You two are so evil…" she stated trying to restrain herself from laughing; "But good riddance to Francesco." Animal nodded in agreement. "Now…tell me, sweetheart…what do you want to do to me?" She batted her eyelashes; the water running through her hair making her look adorably sopping wet, the rivulets tracking down her body arousing Animal to the point where he just wanted to take her and ravish her. Animal ran his hands through her soaked hair that had contoured itself to the shape of her head with it being constantly pounded by water. Her eyes were smoky blue which meant that she was highly aroused.

Animal growled deep in his throat… "oh…I'd rather show you…" he grinned lasciviously… as he brought her tight against him face to face; her breasts pushed up against his chest…and her right leg lifted to hook around his waist to lock him in position as she sucked her breath in; in anticipation of what was to come.

Meg purred at him, "Well…so what are you waiting for?"

***The End***