Title: Life is not Fair
author: Sandy
Summary: Missing scene from "Critical Condition"
Clayton Webb slowly climbed the steps. He was tired, emotionally and
physically. He desperately wanted to go back home and get out of that
hellish desert. He entered the aircraft where a Marine Major greeted
him.
"Good morning, Major. Are we leaving on time?"
"Yes. You must be the... company man we were expecting"
"I must be" Webb found a seat in the middle of the plane.
"We took most of your guys back a few days ago. Guess you are the lucky
one that had to wrap things up?"
Webb smiled.
"Oh that's right you guys don't talk to anyone but each other" The
Major smiled and sat in the co-pilots seat.
Webb leaned back on the seat. Wrap things up? Not quite. He was
ordered to stay away from DC while the hearings took place. What a witch hunt
that was. He had never liked the SecNav, never liked his methods, but
he did not like seeing someone set up the way that poor man had been set
up by his own people. Of course the CIA had helped. Sad part was that
nobody seemed to care. That hearing proved that the CIA was not the
only one with dirty deals. The Congress and Navy had all been a part of
this one. Webb closed his eyes and got comfortable. He decided he was
not going to lose any more sleep over it. It was not worth it. The
mission had been a success and that is all that mattered to him.
"Hey Webb!" Webb opened his eyes to see fellow CIA employee Wally,
walking towards him.
"Man, I am so glad we finally get to go home! I am tired of eating
desert dust." Webb leaned back and closed his eyes again.
"So did you hear? The SecNav is out of a job"
"Big surprise"
"Aren't you mad?"
Clayton opened his eyes and looked at Wally incredulously.
"Mad that the SecNav lost his job? Why? I never liked the man."
"It is not fair. Besides, you know what I mean" Wally sat next to
Webb, leaned over and whispered.
"It wasn't the Navy who put Kabir away, it was us, and we got none of
the credit!"
"That was a Naval pilot flying the plane, Wally" Webb smiled. He still
got a kick out of the guys who still thought the CIA ever got the
credit for anything. It was fun to watch them being so naive.
"Yes, but only because our investigation...."
"OUR investigation?" Webb opened only one eye to looked over at
Wally.
"You know what I mean. You were after Kabir for almost a month! You got
out here before those legal weenies even came out! You went to Russia,
you moved around the country in search of leads and they get all the
credit? That is not fair! And for the director himself to ignore the
truth and say we knew nothing about it, when we did all the work, that
makes me mad!"
"SHHHHH" Webb sat up and stared at Wally.
"I'm sorry, it just makes me furious to see other people get all the
credit!" Wally whispered again.
"You should know by now that this is the way the agency works. I don't
understand why you are so upset."
"It isn't fair! You know, I bet you that pilot even gets a medal out of this."
"And he should, he risked his life for his country."
"Well, damn it so did you!"
"Wally, this is the way we operate. If the Director says we were not
there we were not there. End of story."
"That's why they kept you and me out of DC all this time, right? So we
would not be anywhere near the hearings."
Webb did not respond. Wally was right. Sure, in the past it used to
upset him to see others take all the credit. That feeling that nobody
cared, that they were basically non-existent, it took a while to get
used to. But it was the nature of the job. It did not bother him anymore.
If the Director said he was never in Afghanistan, if the Director said
they did nothing about Kabir, then that was the way it happened. Of
course this time the lie had involved more than the CIA. Dozens of
people had seen him aboard the carrier, hell he had even testified in
court! Sailors, Marines even Russians had seen him and knew he was CIA.
But nobody had said anything. Everyone kept quiet. Even Admiral
Chegwidden. Webb shook his head. A lot of powerful people had to hate
the poor SecNav a whole bunch to get away with those hearings.
"You should get a medal too, you know" Wally would not let it drop.
"Wally, we just did our job. Nothing heroic, or special. Just another
day on the job"
"Still, I think..."
"Wally, drop it already. Look, the only time one of us gets a medal is
when we get killed. And of course they cannot give it to our relatives
until 15 or 20 years after our death. And if you are really heroic
when you died, you may get a star on the wall. Of course there is no name
on the star, and the memorial is away from the public, so ...." Webb
was smiling, he could see Wally getting more upset by the minute.
"Why the hell do you do this kind of work?"
"A few days ago a terrorist was going to set off a bomb, a terrorist
was going to take the lives of Americans. We stopped that from
happening, and kept our fellow men and country safe another day. That's
why I do it, Wally"
"I still think this is not fair!" Wally whispered one last time.
Webb was about to close his eyes when a Marine boarded the plane.
"Damn it guys, did you hear? One of ours stepped on a mind, lost one
of his legs, may even die"
Webb sat up.
"Marine?" The pilot turned around visibly upset.
"Navy. Poor guy was an attorney. Goes to show nobody is save out here"
"An Attorney?" Webb suddenly got a sick feeling in his stomach.
"Yes"
"Do you have a name?"
The Marine turned to the Gunny behind him.
"Hey Gunny, do you remember the name of the guy who got his leg blown
off?"
"A Lt. Roberts from the JAG Corps."
Webb's heart ached. He could not believe something like this would
happen to Bud. He immediately thought about Harriet and Bud's son. Life
was going to be a lot harder for that family now. Such a perfect, happy
family. Such a nice, honest man like Bud. Why did stuff like this had to
happen to good people like them?
Wally noticed Webb's hand was now a tight fist. The news had shaken him
up, something that did not happen often. Webb always kept his emotions
under control, but right now the look in Webb's eyes was one of anger
and pain.
"Webb, what is wrong?"
Webb avoided looking directly at Wally. He slowly leaned back, closed
his eyes and regained control of his emotions.
"You're right Wally, life is not fair. Not fair at all"
The End