Chapter 12 (Alternate) - "Farewell, For Now"

Chapter 11 (Alternate) – "Farewell for Now" (This alternate ending ties in with Hail and Well Met)

Interview Room; USS Theodore Roosevelt; CVN-71; 12 September 1994; 1745hrs

Harm looked over at SSGT Helms as the Marine Staff Sergeant sat in the chair looking over at him. "So you were present at Hill 175?

"Yes, sir."

"And you witnessed the events that Commander Nakamura was in?"

"Yes, sir." The man stated.

"Can you tell me what you saw?"

"Well, sir. When the North Koreans started attacking; he told the downed crew and us to get back to the helo, sir. Gunnery Sergeant Enders protested saying that the Commander could possibly get killed. The Commander told the Gunny that he would hold off the men until we could make it back to the helo and told Gunny Enders to leave him the bag of grenades, sir. He made it a direct order, sir."

"And then what happened?"

"Sir, the Commander fought like a man possessed by a demon. Every North Korean that came after him; he managed to kill, sir. I don't say this about very many Navy guys other than the SEALs that I've had the chance to serve side by side with in SpecOps when I was operating; but the Commander fought like a Devil Dog, sir. He inflicted major casualties on the other side and he did it with minimal weaponry."

Meg's eyes had opened as wide as pie-plates listening to the Staff Sergeant's accounts of what had happened that morning. Her man had gone through hell. Was it any wonder why he was having those horrifying flash-backs?

"He saved our lives, sir…" the Staff Sergeant said, "There was a North Korean that was about to bulls-eye our helo with a RPG. He took him out with the last round that he had in his M-4. When I checked the M-4 that magazine was empty; he didn't have anymore. He killed the man with one shot; one handed too. His left arm was hanging useless by that time. He'd forced it into use all that time; but by the time he got near the helo, he could barely use it anymore." He paused for a long moment. "Henderson and I dragged him back to the helo; he was wrung out, bleeding and he had a bullet crease to the side of his head."

Harm looked at Meg and then back at the Staff Sergeant; "And then what did he do?"

"When I informed him of that; he barked that if he had brains exposed, he wouldn't be here now…and asked why was the other M-60 not firing? Even wounded and heavily bleeding he got to his feet and started firing on the North Koreans with the M60 waist mounted gun; with his one good hand; pulling his left hand to the other handgrip to steady it. And he took out at least thirty North Koreans with the M60 as Captain Wild Crow lifted us off." He paused for a moment. "When I told him he had one round left in his M9 he told me, "Gimme," and when I handed him the M9, he leaned it out the helo; aimed it with his right hand at the North Koreans that we'd left behind and fired the last round; then he puts the M9 in the bag while saying, "Now…it's empty…" That's a devil-dog comment…there, sir. One more thing too, sir, he brought back the unused grenades instead of leaving them. Said he didn't want to leave the North Koreans a souvenir. If I may say something? Sir? Ma'am? He deserves the Medal…and more, sir. He saved all of our lives…"

"Thank you, Staff Sergeant. That will be all…" The Staff Sergeant stood up, locked to attention and about-faced marching out the door.

Harm looked at his partner; "Looks like every single one of the witnesses pretty much told us the same thing in their own words. Animal did what he had to do in order to save the men and the helo…" Meg was speechless. She hadn't realized just how much Animal had gone through. She had only known that you had to go through a lot to even be considered for the Medal of Honor. The words Above and Beyond…rang through her mind: the words that preceded every Medal of Honor citation that she had ever read. Above and beyond the call of duty… and these were the actions that were the very epitome of those words. He'd risked his very life for the men in that helo; so that each and every one of them could return home to their parents; safe and sound. A lot of those men who had been awarded the Medal had had the words posthumous after them; they had given their lives for the other men in their unit. To know that her man had fought like a demon to be able to save his men and still walk out of there alive; there were very few alive who could stand before the President and receive the Medal; mainly because too many of those citations ended with the recipient being killed in action, just made her unable to speak for a long moment. She gave thanks to whatever deity was up there that allowed her man to walk out alive and thus for her to be able to meet him and to fall in love with him.

"Meg…are you alright?" Harm was looking at her as she drew a shuddering breath.

"I didn't know…" she whispered…her eyes shiny; tears unshed… "I didn't know just what he went through…and…to hear these men, the men that were there with him, talk about him in such glowing terms…that he saved their lives; that he fought for them."

Harm stood by her, "I know…Meg…it's hard to believe that someone could come through that and still be alive after all that."

"What he's going through right now…the doubts, the fear…the flashbacks…of what could have happened but didn't…" She said looking at the wall… "He has to go through all that because of the love that he felt for his fellow men; that he wanted to keep them safe; to bring them through the gates of hell and back to safe ground so that they could go home to their families." Harm nodded silently. That was what each and every Medal of Honor recipient went through…hell…for the love of their fellow man.

Hangar Deck, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71); 12 September 1994; 1945hrs

Animal stood looking up at his F-14 Tomcat; Fast Eagle 104; the bird that had brought him through that early morning hell; where he saw his wingman go down. He reached up to the nose of the Tomcat with his right hand and gave it a good pat. "Thank you…for bringing me home…" he said softly. Its big bulk was a comforting presence; he knew it wasn't sentient; it was a hunk of air-grade aluminum honed into a bird of war; but he felt an affinity to it. Remembering how many times he had flown this thing. Maybe two or three times in the entire cruise; he'd gotten to fly his named F-14, but on the one mission that had counted; she was his mount and she brought him, like a faithful steed, home to the farm.

"If it wasn't for you…girl…it could have been me…that went down…" he looked up at the cockpit of the F-14. "But you brought me home safely." He rested his forehead against the nosecone closing his eyes as his forehead touched the cool metal…breathing in deeply, the emotions churning in him. Good ol' faithful One Zero Four; his own named bird. The maintenance techs had been working on her bodywork and the bullet holes in the wings were gone. She'd gotten injured just as he had. Footsteps distracted him from his conversation with his F-14. Looking up he saw Harm and Meg standing off to the side. He brought his hand to his lips and then patted the nosecone of the F-14 as Harm and Meg looked on. "I won't be able to fly you for the rest of cruise...but others will...and hopefully, they'll keep you safe."

Harm whispered, "Every naval aviator always has the other woman…" he said looking over at Animal's F-14; wondering if his own Aces Tomcat was still even in one piece; his Howler's Tomcat was in pieces that were shoved overboard off the deck of the Seahawk.

Meg knew what he was talking about; the aircraft was the other woman…and she wasn't jealous in the slightest. This other woman had the task of keeping Animal safe and bringing him home to her. Meg walked over to Animal and looked up at the F-14. She whispered up at the airplane, "Thank you…for bringing him home to me…" She patted the Tomcat on the nose as well…and somehow she got the feeling that she heard a faint You're welcome. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her.

On the Prifly

Harm looked over at his friend. "Are you sure about this. That wound was pretty serious. You really should have it looked at." He paused looking out at the Indian Ocean, "The simple fact is that there could be complications and you don't want a medical downchit from flying if it heals the wrong way."

"I'm sure the docs on board can keep an eye on it until we reach home port." Animal grinned. "Tie-up is at San Diego, Pier 2 in December, y'know."

"I know..." Harm grinned back at his friend and mentor who was wearing a VF-41 ballcap with scrambled eggs on the brim, but there was no CO or XO embroidered on the brim. "So what did RDML Pointer task you to do on-board?"

Animal looked over at him, "Well, he said I was pretty scary...to the enlisted, the cones and JOs. So he wanted me to be disciplinary officer for the time being. He said, the rank, being third O-5 in the group. Rattler got the XO position for Forty One. He got Commander just after I did, time served in rank; he was senior to me in time in rank before I got my battlefield O-5."

"So you're odd-man out...but shouldn't you..."

"Looks like it, doesn't it? Naw...I'll get my XO tour. CO's heading to the Pentagon after this cruise." Animal's reply was nonchalant as he looked out over the deck at the crew working the F-14s and F/A-18Cs around the deck. "Any hints for being judge, jury and executioner?" he asked flippantly.

"Just be fair..." Harm gave the barest hint of a smile, "...and always make sure to look at both sides of the argument. You need a copy of the UCMJ? I can always send you out one."

Animal snickered, "If it comes down to that, I'm going to have you come out to the boat. I figure I'm going to mostly be dealing with what amounts to non-judicial punishments and situations that don't require the intervention of the Judge Advocate General." he lifted his hand, index and middle finger and crossed them, "fingers crossed..." he said, chuckling.

"...so...if I hear a scream for help..." Harm laughed.

"Aren't you on the East Coast?" Animal asked Harm.

"Well, I do go out and see my mother, every so often..."

"So how's she and Frank?"

"They're doing alright."

They heard footsteps on the decking. "So there you two are...sirs..."

"Meg..." Animal said.

"Sir." She turned to Harm. "All reports are done, sir...and ready to present to RADM Chegwidden."

"Great, Lieutenant." Harm grinned.

"...and then the circus will descend on this..." Animal sighed.

"Sir," Meg asked Harm, "I need to speak to the Commander, alone..." Harm raised his eyebrows at this with a slight grin.

"Alright, Lieutenant, I'll see you at the COD...tomorrow." He left, with a knowing, irritating to Meg, smirk on his face.

"I'll be there, sir." Once the hatch had closed, Meg turned to him, "Are you sure you aren't going to come back with us?"

"You know I can't, Meg. I have to do this."

"But, sir. You're a third O-5...with no duty station that requires the presence of an O-5." Meg protested. "Are you sure that your shoulder isn't going to be affected by this decision, sir?"

"Meg, there's fully qualified surgeons on board the TR and they'll be able to give me the highest quality care possible..."

"I still think you should come with us." Meg stated sadly.

"...are you talking about us?" Animal asked. Meg turned away from him with a sigh, looking at the deck.

"I...need to know that you're OK..." she admitted...retracing her steps back to him and moving in closer. "I need to know that your wound is healing and that you are getting back to flight status..."

Animal nodded. "...it still doesn't change my mind."

"I know...Tosh...and you wouldn't be you if you didn't do your duty..." she swallowed the lump in her throat. "But...it still doesn't make me wish any less that you were with me..."

"I'll write you every week. Hell, I'd be risking disobeying orders if I didn't." Meg raised an eyebrow at Animal's statement. "Captain Cartwright told me that if I didn't, he'd make sure to remind me...and he made it a direct order."

"Do you need one to write me regularly?" Meg raised her eyebrows and leaned in...her voice low...

"No...not at all..." Animal said, his own voice soft and resonant. "I tie up at Pier 2, on December 20th, in San Diego" he said.

"Almost four months of letters..." Meg smirked at him, "You'd better write me every day..."

"I love you...Meg..." Animal stated.

"I love you too..." They found a little nook in the panels where they could discreetly kiss each other. When they separated for lack of oxygen, Meg asked him, "So since you can't fly until you get green-lit again, what are you going to do for the rest of the cruise."

"I get to freak out my fellow sailors and junior officers." Animal grinned at Meg, who looked rather puzzled, "I'm now the ship's disciplinary officer. I get to mete out non-judicial punishment for erring sailors and junior officers."

"oh?"

"...by virtue of rank. Shipboard JAG is a lieutenant so...he gets to call you in if there is something more serious that requires the attendance of the JAG Corps." Animal stated.

"Are you sure there isn't any way to persuade you to come home with me?" Meg asked. Animal detected a note of plaintive-ness in her query.

"Meg, you know that I have to stick with the crew until they reach home-port. We have three more months on station doing combat missions doing perimeter checks of the DMZ overhead to make sure that no MiGs are breaching the DMZ. Well...not me of course, but they still want me to help out with planning those missions and overseeing the intel that comes in on the wire. There are so many things that need to be done and it seems as though Jong-Il seems to want to turn the temperature on on the furnace. Y'know...no end to the Kim family saga."

"How to make the Korean Peninsula a war zone in just three days." Meg returned sardonically – she was well aware of the family Kims' desire to make the Hermit Kingdom much bigger. But the simple fact was that there was the United States opposing their every move and that did not make Jong-Il very happy at all. In fact, that evoked a very comical image of Jong-Il dancing around like a little enraged monkey every time the United States said "no" to his territorial ambitions which amused Meg greatly. "I worry about your safety even though you're not going to be flying over the DMZ..." she indicated his shoulder injury, that would prevent him from setting foot in the cockpit for the duration of the cruise...and then some.

Animal marvelled at the fact that she was already so fond of him that she worried about him and whether he was safe or not. He'd never really had anyone else do that with the exception of his mother who doted over him. His mother hadn't wanted him to go into the Navy, but she recognized his restlessness and his desire to get out of the little town that he'd grown up in and thus she'd kept her desires to herself and allowed her son to stretch his wings. When Animal had lost his mother and father in his second year of studies at university, he'd been devastated, however he knew that she'd wanted him to persevere at whatever he did...and thus he kept his nose to the grindstone. Now looking at Meg who was gazing into his eyes with her blue eyes, he felt that same intent in her to always seek the best for him "I know..." he said, as he leaned down and gave her a soulful kiss.

...that she could feel to the tips of her toes. "I love you, you know that..." Meg whispered softly in his ear.

"...I love you too, Meg..." he replied, still marvelling how much he did love her. "Thank your uncle for me."

"I will..." Meg smirked at him. "You know I'm going to be waiting on the dock at Pier 2 when you pull in, San Diego..." she murmured, her lips against his; she felt his strong arms around her.

Marine Corps Base Okinawa, Okinawa, Japan,

"It's going to be hard losing you, Captain Mackenzie." The CO of Marine Corps Base Okinawa commented, "You've been a good infantry officer for our 3rd Marine Division. Now this isn't going to be a quick transfer, you still have at least six months to serve here before I can transfer you over. This is just formalities so that we can get the process started. Your law degree is going to be an asset in moving that transfer forward."

Captain Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie straightened up, "I understand, sir. However my love is the law, it's what I majored in, in Georgetown University."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that Colonel Farrow's indiscretions don't follow you to DC."

"Thank you, sir." That was a bad fumble as far as Mac was concerned, she wanted to put as much distance as she could between it and her. And for her, that meant a transfer out of Okinawa. She was returning from a stint in Bosnia where she had distinguished herself on the battlefield...and a promotion order was also winding its way up the chain of command where she could put on gold oak leafs.

"Very well, resume your duties...and I will notify you when I get the orders to send you on your way to DC." Major General Doug Fossey nodded as he closed up Captain Mackenzie's personnel folder.

"Yes, sir!" Mac came to attention.

"Dismissed." Fossey's dismissal had Mac about-face and march towards to the door, exiting the base commander's presence.

The Next Day, Onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Somewhere in the Indian Ocean

Animal stood by the hatch of the island. Meg and Harm were in service whites, ribbons and gleaming shoulder-boards, while he was in ship-board, working khakis, which meant that he only had metal rank insignia on his collars: the silver oak leafs, his gold naval aviator wings, gleaming polished belt buckle and shipboard leather shoes. Both his trousers and his shirt were crisply ironed. Covers were off as they could become foreign object damage (FOD) if they ended up sucked into a jet engine.

Harm grinned at his friend, "You take care of yourself, sir...no jumping into jet aircraft and flying missions..." He indicated Animal's injured left shoulder. "Captain Cartwright may tie you to the yard-arm to keep you from getting in the jet."

"No doubt...Lieutenant Commander." Animal grinned back at him. "No worries..." Animal felt an arch eyebrow raise from Meg without even having to look in her direction. "I'll be a good boy."

"Are you sure about that, sir?" Meg asked him; she wished that she could take him into her arms at the very moment, but military decorum won out.

"Absolutely..." Animal grinned at her. Meg was unsure of whether he was kidding or not, while Harm's grin nearly split his face in two. Animal turned to look at Harm. "Besides...isn't that your schtick? I heard how you got Boone to let you go up...sneaky shyster." Meg burst out laughing. "He told me."

"Well, De Palma would have blabbed restricted information all over the net if he hadn't gotten his ride so I facilitated his ride, so to get me back, Tom Boone had me go up with him."

"He didn't crank up the heat in the rear seat?"

"He tried, I told him to not touch the heater in the back."

Animal snorted. "De Palma's lucky he didn't go up with me, or he'd be swimming back to the CONUS to file his report."

"Waste of a GRU-7." Harm replied. "De Palma couldn't stop regurgitating his last meal."

The master chief plane captain came over to let him know that the COD was ready to load passengers. "Sir..." Harm came to attention in front of Animal as Harm knew that this was the debarking signal.

"I'll see you on shore, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant JG". Both Meg and Harm came to attention and saluted Animal who returned their salute.

"I'll see you in four months, sir." Meg said softly, trying to convey as much love as she could in the formal words. Harm raised his eyebrows.

"San Diego..." Animal grinned at her.

"San Diego it is, sir."

Harm and Meg turned to head towards the COD. She looked back over her shoulder to see Animal still watching her. A warm feeling suffused her entire body. She missed him already as she made to step up the ramp of the C-2 Greyhound and she turned to look at him. He raised his hand again in yet another salute as she turned to salute him back.

Harm looked over at her, noting...and raising his finger to wick away a tear that was running down her cheek and realized that he'd lost her. "Meg, you're crying..." Harm said as they went to take their seats.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, "I..." she tried to "I miss him already..."

"It's four months...write him..."

"I'm going to..."

"Good, I'm sure he'll like that."

As they settled in, she looked out the starboard window which was facing the island, where Animal stood watching the COD taxiing to the number one catapult. When the cat-shot came, she was startled.

"We're airborne." Harm pronounced as he looked over at her. "You gonna be alright? Meg?"

Meg sighed. It was going to be a long four months before she could see Tosh again. But he was going to be riding the boat in and not flying into Lemoore, he was staying onboard and riding the boat into San Diego. And she would be waiting for him standing on the dock at Pier 2.

Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, CA

They had transferred to a C-130J which would take them from Okinawa to Hawaii, then refueled and transported over the Pacific to NAS North Island. Then from there, they would have their choice of flying via C-130J back to Washington DC which would take them almost eight hours or taking an Air Force C-141, which would land them in DC inside of four hours and forty five minutes depending on headwinds. Harm grinned at his partner who tried to look cheerful. "We'll be home in a little under five hours if we take the C-141...it's 0800hrs, so we can report into the admiral and file our award report and then probably take the rest of the day off."

"I know... Harm, I want to take the C-141...I was going to ask the admiral if I could take the rest of the day off once I'm finished handing in the report. I don't have much of a case load to deal with, so I can afford to take the rest of the day off." Meg said, not saying that she just wanted to curl up with a nice cup of coffee and just be alone to miss Tosh in peace and quiet.

"I'm sure he'll understand."

"I hope so..." Meg returned.

Once they got their particulars straightened out, they boarded the C-141. Enroute to home...and who knew what else awaited them.

This ALTERNATE STORY ENDING leads to "Hail and Well Met"