Cry 'Uncle'
Bethesda Naval Hospital
Washington DC. VA
05.00 EDT Sunday
AJ pushed his way out of the elevator and ran to the desk,

"I'm Admiral Chegwidden, my niece was just brought in a while ago...gunshot wound."

The nurse at the desk looked at the 2 Star Admiral addressing her and nodded.

"Her name Admiral?"

"Casey...Casey McDaniels."

"She's in a locked down ward Sir. You need clearance to see her."

"Clearance? What do you mean clearance...she's my..."

"AJ...it's alright nurse. He has security clearance."

AJ looked across to find Tim Fawkes his mentor and friend standing next to him.

"Tim, where is she...how is she?"

Tim lead AJ down the hospital corridor to an elevator, as they got in, he looked at his old friend a grim expression on his face.

"I'm not gonna lie to you AJ, she's in bad shape."

"What happened...I want to know every detail. And where the hell is Clayton Webb?"

Tim looked at AJ's stormy expression.

"Take it easy AJ, he's in the same place he's been for the last 3 hours...by her side."

The elevator doors swung open revealing a set of steel doors defended by 2 armed Marine Guards.

"Sergeant, this is Admiral Chegwidden, Miss McDaniels is his niece. Please make him a security clearance card."

"Aye Sir."

Minutes later AJ walked through the door to the secured hospital ward that held Casey.

Harm and Mac were already sitting in the waiting room when he arrived.

"Sir, I..."
Harm began, but at the look on AJ's face he stopped.

"Where's Webb?" He asked, his voice flat and lifeless.

Harm nodded towards the window of the small room.

AJ looked in, Casey lay pale and small against the white hospital sheets.
To look at her she appeared to be asleep.
He looked from his niece to the man beside her. 

Clayton Webb sat by her side, her hand held firmly in his, tears rolling unheeded down his cheeks.
His normally impeccably pressed suit was nowhere to be seen, the white cotton t-shirt and jeans he wore were covered in bloodstains.
He looked like a man who had fought a war...and lost.

Clay looked up and saw AJ standing there, and AJ was almost undone by the expression of torment in the younger mans eyes.
If he had had any doubts about Clay's affection for Casey, they vanished in that instant.
Clayton Webb was in love with his niece and the thought that he could lose her was killing him.

AJ walked into the room.

"You must want to kill me AJ." Clay said though his tears.

"No Clayton." AJ said quietly taking Casey's hand in his. " I want to kill whoever did this to my niece."

"Your daughter." Clay said softly.

AJ exhaled loudly.

"How did you find out?"

"I found those letters in her coat pocket this afternoon."
He said nodding to the small collection of letters on the nightstand.

"So she knows?" AJ asked.

Clay nodded.

"How are you holding up?" AJ asked.

Clay looked at Casey lying so still in the bed and then at AJ.

"I can't lose her AJ..she's everything I have."

AJ placed his hand on Clay's shoulder a silent recognition of the one thing they had in common.

"That makes two of us." AJ said softly. "I'm going to get some coffee, you want some?"

Clay nodded.

"Thanks AJ."

Tim Fawkes walked into the room looking at Clay sitting beside Casey holding her hand in his.
He had never seen Clay so upset before , never seen him cry...not even as a small boy at his fathers funeral.
If Casey died Clay would go off the rails, it would destroy him.

"So tell me what happened."
Tim said, looking at Clay's face.

Clay took a deep breath.

"It all started 2 days ago, after AJ and the others helped us rescue the daughter of an MI6 agent, who had been kidnapped...."
 
FLASHBACK 2 DAYS


19.25 EDT Friday
Casey McDaniels Apartment
Alexandria, VA

Casey McDaniels was uptight, she paced her bedroom a glass of water in her hand as she popped two aspirin in her mouth.
Calm down... she told herself as she stopped pacing the floor and sat down on the bed.
She checked her reflection in the mirror opposite the bed and grimaced.

'You'll have to work on that relaxed look McDaniels you look about as jumpy as a cat.' she thought to herself.
After all the ops she'd run for the Agency she shouldn't be  nervous, but every this was no ordinary Op.
This time, an innocent life was at stake.

She started her deep breathing exercises, forcibly relaxing her body to a state of tranquillity and clear headed calm.
A few minutes later a knock on the front door sounded the arrival of Clayton Webb.
She opened the door and let him into the small but tastefully furnished apartment.

He walked in, his overcoat on his arm, looking impeccable as always in his tuxedo.
You could say a lot of things about Clayton Webb, but you could never say that the man didn't know how to dress.

"I have something for you." He said with a smile as he took a black velvet box out of his coat pocket. "Here wear this tonight."
He opened the box and took out the necklace of brilliant Diamonds intertwined with sparkling Aquamarine's in a white gold setting, teardrop earings to match lay beside it.

Casey looked at him her eyes wide.
"Oh my, Clay where did you get that?" she asked.

"Do you like it?  A friend of mine owns a jewellery store and he let me borrow this for the evening, so for God's sake dont break it!" he said with a smile.
'
He didn't tell her that he had already purchased the necklace and earrings as a Christmas gift for her. He had brought it out tonight to see if she liked it.
He could see now that he chosen wisely.

"Do I like it? Clay it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Turn around." he said.

He placed the necklace around her neck, his fingers brushing her throat as he fastened the necklace, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"Perfect." he said as he looked over her shoulder at the reflection in the mirror.
The necklace offset the strappy black dress she wore, catching the lightand reflecting it back subtly.
"Well almost perfect, here put these on."  He said smiling as he handed her the earrings.

She quickly put them on and turned to look in the mirror again.
The woman that stared back at her was someone she didn't quite recognise.

"Perfect." he said again. "Shall we go?"

He offered her his arm and she took it, grabbing her wrap and purse from the sofa as she left.


20.00 EDT
Singapore Embassy
3501 International Place.
Washington D.C


Admiral AJ Chegwidden sat in a nondescript van 200 metres from the entrance to the Embassy.
In the back of the van a screen showing the guests arriving at the party glowed.

"Colonel, Commander can you hear me?" he asked speaking into the headset.

"Loud and clear sir, we?re just pulling up now."
Rabb said as he helped Mac out of the limousine Clay had organized to pick them up.

"Let me know when Webb and McDaniels get there." AJ said sternly.

"Aye Sir."

Ten minutes later, as they stood sipping club soda in the grand ballroom, Mac noted the arrival of Webb and his partner.

"They've just arrived Sir." she said softly.

"Woah!"   Rabb said looking at Casey as she moved across the floor an Webb's arm.

"Woah WHAT Commander?"  AJ asked in his best CO voice.

"Nothing Sir, have you got a visual of the interior here?"

"No, Webbs organizing that." AJ replied exasperatedly.

"I think he's just gone to do it Sir, he's left McDaniels on her own talking to the Ambassador."

"Keep an eye on her...y' know how Webb's missions always seem to go wrong!"

"Aye Sir." he said softly.

A few seconds later the other 5 wall mounted screens flickered to life inside the back of the van as Webb tapped into the surveillance camera system and he could see all areas of the Embassy.

"Got that AJ?" Webb's voice came through the earpiece.

"Got it Webb."

"I'm heading down to the ballroom again, we'll be making our move at 21.30."

"Copy that." AJ said as he followed Webb's image down into the ballroom on the second floor of the Embassy.
He watched as Webb approached Casey, shaking hands with the Ambassador and gently guiding her towards Rabb and Mac.

"Casey did he pick that dress or did you?"
 
AJ said looking at the neckline trying to remind himself  she wasn't a little girl any more.

"Uh...I did AJ" she said, smiling as she lied through her teeth.

Mac, Harm and Webb all smiled, they could hear everything the Admiral was saying, just as he could hear what they were saying.

"Liar." he said smiling. "Webb we're gonna have a talk when this is over...a long talk!"

Webb smiled at Casey knowing that AJ could see him in the monitor.

"Look forward to it AJ" he quipped.

"Might want to duck this time Clay." Harm said softly.

Clay gave him a dirty look, but couldn't help smiling. Casey stifled a giggle.


21.26 EDT

"Ready to make your move Webb?" AJ asked.

"Almost, they change the guards over at 21.28pm, we'll use that time for Mac and Harm to create a diversion while Casey and I slip upstairs to get the little girl out."

"What are they going to use as a diversion?"
Casey asked Clay as she watched Mac and Harm dancing on the ballroom floor.

"I don't know. But it better be good." he said softly.

"You got everything we need?" she asked Clay.

"McDermot was here yesterday, he left everything we need in a bag taped under the vanity in the bathroom upstairs." He said. "When I say go, we move upstairs to the bathroom, change into  blacks and then it's out the second story window up to the third floor balcony. You sure you're gonna be up to this Case?"

Casey looked mildly insulted.

"Hey, eat my dust spy-boy"  she quipped smiling.

AJ smiled at the picture of Casey standing there, glaring at Webb one second, smiling the next. If Webb was anything like AJ, he was usually in a complete state of confusion when it came to Casey's moods.

"We'll see" Webb said leaning close to Casey.
"Time to go to stage two now" he said looking at his watch.
He caught Rabb's eye and gave him the thumbs up signal, Harm nodded and whispered something to Mac. 
Clay pulled his partner into his arms...to everyone else (including AJ) they looked like two lovers locked in a passionate embrace, but in reality they were talking quickly and quietly to each other.

"OK, On three, we move up the stairs to the bathroom. AJ we will be exactly 2 mins 30 seconds, we need you to be on the ground to take the little girl back to the van and keep her there. Harm and Mac will be out in 3 minutes, Casey and I will be out hopefully at the same time. If we're not...take the little girl...her name's Anya...to my place, Harm knows the way...and keep her there."

"Copy that...stay safe you two." he said gruffly.

"Copy...out."

"What do you mean, you're marrying Jordan?"
Mac screamed at Harm on the dance floor.

That was their signal to go.


21.30pm EDT

Clay and Casey moved quickly and quietly up the stairs, unnoticed by the security guards and most of the crowd below...who were now interestedly watching the lovers quarrel in full swing downstairs between Harm and Mac.

21.30: 16sec

They entered the bathroom pulling the hidden bag from under the vanity, Casey stepped out of her evening gown revealing the bottom half of shadow ops blacks.
She pulled the jacket and hood on, taking care to hide her hair and the necklace carefully underneath. Slipping into the soft soundless boots she hooked up to the harness dangling outside.
Clay took off his jacket slipping the black ops gear over his shirt and tie and slipping into the boots.
With a soft clicking sound, he too hooked up to the harness.

The whole transformation had taken less than 30 seconds.


21.30 :49 secs

They silently scaled the outside of the Embassy, grabbing hold of the third floor balcony railing Casey dropped silently to the floor, silencer equipped pistol in hand.

Clay dropped down beside her and motioned to take up position on opposite sides of the room covering the greatest available area.
All the windows were open and in what little light was available Casey could see the little girl  Anya bound and gagged on the floor of the room.
She appeared to be asleep, but with these kind of monsters she might very well be dead.

Clay gave the sign that there were 3 guards, he signalled their location and then gave the count down. 
He raised his hands showing his fingers.

They would go in 5 Seconds: In 5...In 4...In 3...In 2...In 1...go.

He dropped his hand and they leapt through the open windows, the silenced pistols making low whipping sounds as the three guards dropped to the ground dead.

The little girl woke, here eyes wide as she stared at the two strangers wearing black masks.
She muttered something against her gag and began to struggle.

"It's OK sweetie, we're taking you home, just lie still and don't move OK?." Casey said reassuringly.

Anya nodded her eyes like saucers.
Casey picked Anya up and helped Clay place her inside a specially modified bag and stepped back out onto the balcony.

She attached the bag to the harness and lowered it down to where AJ waited.


21.31 :40 secs EDT
AJ grabbed the bag, slinging it over his shoulder and leapt back over the Embassy wall to the area where the van was parked.

Once inside the van he untied the bag and helped the little girl out, sitting her on the seat next to him.

"Hi Anya, my names AJ. I'm gonna untie you now and I need you to not make any sound for me OK?"

The little girl nodded her head.

"Promise?" he asked

She nodded solemnly again.

"OK, " He untied the little girls hands and feet and then slowly pulled the gag from her mouth.

She made no sound at all.

"Good girl, OK would you like something to drink?" he asked smiling.

She nodded and he handed her a box of juice, he watched as she sat there and drank, apparently she knew she was safe and didn't mind being there at all.


21.32 : 55secs

Clay and Casey made their way down the stairs to the ballroom again.
No-one had questioned where they had been and no-one noticed anything unusual about the couple walking down the stairs hand in hand.
Clay wiped at the smudge of lipstick on his cheek, it had been Casey's idea to give them an alibi as to their whereabouts during the abduction.
No-one would question a romantic interlude between them after seeing them embracing downstairs in the ballroom earlier.

They had packed the black ops gear into a bag and thrown it from the second story window into the ally behind the Embassy, they would pick it up as they left.
They watched as Mac slapped Harm across the face and stormed out of the ballroom  heading for the door...exactly 3 minutes after the start of the operation.

Clay took Casey's hand and led her to the Ambassador to say goodbye.
The Ambassador shook hands with the young couple, noting that Webb had lipstick smudged on his check and that his companion's hair was a little mussed.

"A pleasant evening I trust?"  he said smiling knowingly at Webb.

"Most pleasant Ambassador, we must do this again sometime." he said with a smile.

Casey managed a manufactured blush as they said goodbye to the Ambassador and left.


21.33 EDT

Clay and Casey retrieved the bag of black ops clothes and equipment as they walked to the van.
Climbing in the back and settling themselves next to Anya, Clay and Casey relaxed their tired muscles.
AJ revved the engine and they sped away from the scene.



Clayton Webb's Apartment
Alexandria, VA
22.00pm EDT Friday

AJ set the little girl down on the kitchen counter and smiled at her, she had not said a word since he told her not to speak. She took orders better than most sailors he knew, he thought with a wry grin.

"How about some icecream?" AJ asked and Anya nodded her head vigorously her deep blue eyes sparkling.
"It's OK , you can speak now honey." AJ said softly.

Anya looked at him and then to Casey and Clay who were watching her intently.
They smiled at her reassuringly.

"Yes please." Anya whispered softly in her English accent.

Clay let go of a breath he didn't know he'd been holding on to...she was going to be alright.
Casey looked at Clay and smiled, she had been worried by Anya's silence too.

Clay flipped open his cell phone and dialled the number Anya's father had given him.

"The phone you have dialled is not in service or the number has been changed, please contact directory assistance for further details."

The British Telecom pre-recorded message rang in his ears.
Clay tapped Casey on the arm and nodded towards the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked walking in just behind him.

"Fielding's number is out of service."

"What do you mean out of service?"

"Like he's changed the number or it's been disconnected."

"Shit! You don't think he's been taken out do you?" she asked.

Clay picked up his phone again.

"Only one way to find out." he said dialling Langley.

12.15pm

Harm and Mac approached the door of Clayton Webb's apartment arm in arm.

"Y'know the last time I was here Webb was dead." Harm said to Mac with a grin on his face.

Mac smiled, she had quite enjoyed herself tonight.
It wasn't often you got to yell at your partner for no reason at all and get away with it.
The slap in the face had been a nice touch too, she thought smiling to herself.

"You're thinking about that slap again aren't you Marine?" Harm asked smiling at her.

Mac tried to look innocent.

"What slap?...oh you mean THAT slap!" she said laughing.
Harm shook his head.

"I'm never gonna live this down y'know, my reputation is gonna be tarnished forever."

He said grinning as he dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Hmph not likely Fly-Boy." Mac quipped as she extracted herself from her partners arms.

She pushed the buzzer and AJ, gun in hand opened the door for them.

"Who were you expecting Sir?" Harm asked looking at the pistol pointed at them.

"Trouble." he said looking pointedly at Harm.

"Colonel, Commander nice to see you made it. I must commend you on your diversion tonight it was quite...convincing" AJ said with a mock stern look.

Over the past few months he had noticed a change in the way Harm and Mac had been getting along, there was a closeness between them now that you would have to be blind not to be able to see.
The whole office had been speculating for weeks now as to the extent of their involvement...even Bud had noticed it.
They arrived and left work within minutes of each other every day and when one of them was stuck working back, the other always managed to find some reason to stay behind too.
He smiled and wondered if they knew they weren't fooling anyone.

"Thankyou Sir." Mac said smiling at Harm.

"The mission was a success Admiral?"
Harm asked his expression bland, he had an idea that the Admiral knew all about his and Mac's personal involvement.
AJ motioned to come into the kitchen, where a chocolate ice cream covered Anya sat on Clay's kitchen counter making a mess of her ice cream.


Clay sat back and watched as Anya scooped up another spoonful of the ice cream and moved it to her mouth. He had noticed that she put the exact same amount of ice cream on her spoon each time. At that moment she looked up at Clay and gave him a little smile, and his heart went out to her.

He smiled back at her and she looked down at her near empty bowl and tears welled in her eyes.

"You can have some more later." he said sensing her distress.

"I want my daddy," She whispered to him. "He likes ice cream too."

One big tear rolled down her cheek, that tear was Clay's undoing.
He picked her up and held her on his lap as she cried into his impeccably pressed dress shirt, leaving soggy chocolate ice cream stains in her wake.

Casey watched from Clay's bedroom doorway as he held the little girl in his arms, trying to comfort her.
Clay was not an impulsive person by nature, for him to be so affected by this little girls tears, was unusual to say the least.

It was one of the things Casey loved about her partner, you never knew which Clayton Webb he was going to show you next.
The man was the very definition of an enigma.

AJ, Harm and Mac had left Clay in the kitchen and walked into the living room to sit down. Casey walked into the lounge and sat down heavily on the sofa.

"Your partner is a surprising man Case."
AJ said shaking his head again to get the image of Clayton Webb tenderly holding Anya on his lap , out of his head.

"He's human too AJ." she said smiling  "I know it comes as a surprise to all of you, but he is."

"You two close?" AJ asked.

"Subtle Uncle AJ, very subtle." She said smiling.

She knew AJ wanted to know if she and Clay were romantically involved but after all that had gone on tonight she didn't feel up  to an interrogation.

"You didn't answer my question." he said grinning at her.

"No, we're bitter enemies. We're actually planning on shooting each other after you leave!" she said sarcastically.

"Good...it'll save me the trouble!" AJ muttered with a small smile.

"Cut him some slack AJ, this job isn't easy y' know."

AJ looked at his niece standing there defending her partner to him.
Her unswerving loyalty to the people she cared about was one of  the things he admired about Casey, 

"Answer my question and I'll get off his back." He said smiling.

Casey took a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

"Yes, we're close. He's my best friend. I trust him with my life. He knows me better than anyone in this world with the exception of maybe you ...satisfied?" she said glaring at AJ.

"No, but it'll do...for now!" he said with a half smile as he sipped the cup of coffee he was holding. "So what happens now?"

Casey began to take the pins out of her hair, letting it slide down her back.

"We try again to get hold of Anya's father."

"What do you mean try again?' Harm asked leaning forward on the sofa.

He had watched the interplay between the Admiral and Casey carefully.
She could handle the Admiral better than anyone he had ever seen...better even than Francesca.
Casey leaned back in the sofa resting her head against the cushions.

"The number he gave us was out of service, we're trying to track him down now. For all we know he may be dead."

Mac looked at Casey,

"What happens if her father is dead?"

"Then we hand her over to her next of kin, or to child services in the UK."

AJ looked at his niece, she was tired and it showed.

"So what happens tonight?"

"Tonight, well without Anya's father being available, we're going to have to find some place to stash her until he can be located."

"Orion's Reach?" AJ asked

"Most likely, we'll head up there tonight. Clay and I should be able to keep her out of danger up there.
And if anyone does come after us, we have the home ground advantage."

"Webb knows the place too?" AJ asked raising his eyebrows.

"He's been there before yes, we've been riding up to Weeping Maiden Falls a few times " she said explaining.

"How civilised." AJ muttered. "Did he fall off?"

"Hardly AJ, he represented the US for Modern Pentathlon at the 88 Olympics!" Casey said smiling at the shock that registered on AJ's face.

"Hmmm...did he win?" AJ said smugly.

"Silver...I won the Sliver medal." Clay said smiling from the doorway.

Anya's tears had been brief and she had quickly quieted at the promise of more ice cream.

For the last few minutes he had sat and listened to his partner defending him to her Uncle, she had defended his honour, his integrity and had called him her best friend.
It was all he could do not to laugh out loud at the expression on AJ's face when she had said he knew her almost as well as AJ did.

"Silver...not Gold?"  AJ said nodding as if that proved something.

"Silver."
Clay said again sitting next to Casey on the lounge and putting his arm on the headrest behind her head just to annoy AJ.

"We better head out soon if we want to get her settled." He said to Casey.

"Yeah, you want to drive?"

"Yeah well, if we want to get there tonight, I guess I better drive." He said teasing her.

"Oh, stuff it Clay."  she said giving him a mock dirty look.

Clay laughed.

"You must be tired, you're too easy to annoy tonight!"

The easy familiarity Webb had with Casey was aggravating the hell out of AJ, and both Casey & Clay knew it.

"C'mon, I'll get Anya in the jeep, your sports bag is still in my car. We can stop by your place and pick your other bag up."

Casey nodded wearily.

"In a second, I just wanna relax for a minute."

Clay got up and pulled her to her feet.

"Move it McDaniels, you can relax up at Orion's Reach all you want. We both can."

Casey nodded, turning to Harm and Mac, who were still sitting together on the sofa.

"Thankyou for your help tonight, we really couldn't have done it without you two." she said.

"Any time, it was worth it."  Mac said smiling at Casey.

"Hmm, maybe not any time." Harm said correcting Mac. "But it won't be the last if I know Webb."

Casey laughed.

"Well, we appreciate your help."

She turned to her Uncle who sat on the sofa glaring at both her and Webb.

"Thanks for all the help Uncle AJ, we couldn't have done it without you." she smiled.

AJ looked at his niece and saw the mischief in her eyes and grinned.

"Stay out of trouble Sprite." he said getting to his feet and hugging her tightly. "And stay away from your partner's room."

He said softly so that only she could hear.



10 Minutes Later a black jeep rolled out of the parking garage beneath Clay's building and onto the street.
To anyone on the outside the three passengers looked like a young family heading out on vacation.
AJ Chegwidden watched the jeep disappear into the cold clear night.

"You better keep her safe Webb, or I'll kill you myself." He muttered.
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