Happy New Year - Part 2

Author:  Ava E-mail:  mmmThatAJ@yahoo.com Rating:  PG-13 Summary:  AJ and Mac attend a New Year's Eve celebration at the White House. Author's comments:  This story is dedicated to Kelly and Rob on the birth of their first son, Tristan. Congratulations!! Oh, and as always, characters' speaking parts are in double quotes ("text"); characters' thoughts are in single quotes ('text').     Disclaimer:  JAG and all its characters belong to Belisarius Productions, Paramount, CBS, Viacom, and probably endless others. I've used a little bit of the dialogue from the episode, "A Girl's Best Friend". That doesn't belong to me either.

Wednesday, 31 December 2003
2155 EST
The White House
Washington, DC

The main course was served, and Mac was in Heaven!  As her plate was set in front of her, she unconsciously moaned.  AJ turned and whispered, "Something wrong, Sarah?"

She looked up at him, surprised.  "Wrong?  Absolutely not!  Prime rib is my favorite, and it's cooked to perfection.  Just look at this piece of meat," she was almost drooling.

AJ chuckled, "So that was a moan of ecstasy, I take it?  Not displeasure?"

Mac's eyes grew wide and she blushed, "I moaned?"

He nodded and his mouth turned up in a crooked grin.  "You moaned."

She almost giggled.  "Oops.  I'll try..." Mac stopped speaking and her smile faded.  She listened intently.  When AJ would have said something, she shook her head and put her finger to his lips.  He raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't say anything.  Obviously she was listening for something.  "Excuse me," she muttered as she quickly rose from the table and made her way out into the hall.  She was up and gone so quickly, the men at the table didn't have a chance to rise. 

When the others at the table raised questioning glances to AJ, he just shrugged.  "She'll be right back.  I hope."  He winked, and the women at the table smiled; the men chuckled.  When Mac didn't return after 5 minutes, AJ grew concerned.  It wasn't like Mac to just get up and leave without saying anything... and her hushing him was totally out of character.  'I wonder if she heard the voice in Farsi again?' She had told him as they moved to the State Dining Room what she thought she'd heard.  'She shouldn't be out there by herself if that's the case,' he knew. 

Just as he was going to try to find her, he saw her making her way back to their table.  As AJ stood, so did the other men.  AJ seated Mac, and she smiled at the others.  "Thank you," she said, including all of the men.  Then she turned to AJ and leaned in to whisper, "I definitely heard someone speaking Farsi.  I couldn't make out what they were saying exactly, but it had something to do with tonight and the party."

"Was it just one voice?  Did you see anyone?" he asked just as quietly, also leaning toward Mac.

"Just one voice.  But I couldn't find anyone.  I kept looking even after the voice stopped; still nothing.  I can't even be sure if it was a man or a woman.  It could have easily been a woman with a low voice or a man with a high voice.  It was right in that range where it's hard to tell."

"Could you tell if it was..."

"Hey, you two!  Whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears?  Can't that wait until you're dancing after dinner?" teased one of the women at the table.  The others laughed lightly.  AJ and Mac jerked apart and Mac blushed profusely.  "Ah ha!  I was right!"

"No, actually..." Mac started to protest.

"Don't bother denying it, Sarah.  You're blushing like a peony!" giggled Linda Rumsfeld.

"Guilty as charged!" laughed the first woman.

"Can you blame her?" asked the only other woman at their table.  "With someone as handsome as the Admiral..."

"Lisa!" admonished her husband.  "That'll do," he warned her.

She rolled her eyes.  "He's the jealous type, you see," she explained.  She patted his hand and smiled genuinely, "Don't worry, Darling.  You know I can't resist admiring a bald head."  Then she glanced around the table, "I look, but I never stray."

AJ smiled his thanks for her compliment.  He turned to speak to Mac again, but she was already talking with Rumsfeld, who was seated on her other side.  AJ didn't interrupt; there was no need to.  He knew she'd have followed instructions and reported what she heard to the agents in the Map Room.

Dessert and cordials were served at 2230, and the large group of people moved from the State Dining Room back into the East Room.  A small orchestra was set up at one end and were already playing when the first guest entered the room.  There were two vocalists, a man and a woman, but they seldom sang together.  The music was perfect for dancing and yet not so loud that people had to yell to be heard. That was fortunate, because it allowed Mac to hear two voices speaking in Farsi just outside one of the side doors.

She and AJ were dancing and he was trying to move her back into the main stream of the room, but Mac wasn't cooperating.  "I do prefer to lead, if you don't mind, Sarah," he grinned.

Mac leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "They're right out this door.  We have to stay so I can listen," she said urgently.

She felt AJ stiffen but his dancing didn't show it.  He did, however, stop trying to move her away from the doorway.  He even changed the style of dancing to an intimate posture so it wouldn't look so odd for them to remain in one place this long.  After another minute, Mac looked up and said, "Map Room.  Now."

They quickly left the room and made their way down the hall to the Map Room.  They'd barely closed the door when Mac started talking, interrupting several men, including General Jenks.  She hadn't finished her first sentence when Jenks bellowed, "Get her out of here!  This is a private meeting room!"

The guards stepped forward to remove her, but AJ stepped up and said, "Belay that order."  The guards, recognizing that a 2-star Admiral outranked a 1-star General, stepped back.  "Colonel, report," AJ snapped.

But Mac wasn't listening now.  She was staring at Clayton Webb... who was staring back at her, a sheepish look on his face.  Webb finally asked in resignation, "What do you have for us, Colonel?"

Mac took a deep breath and spoke.  "As I reported earlier in the evening, I heard someone speaking Farsi on two occasions.  Just now in the East Room, I heard two people speaking.  Neither of them were the person I heard earlier, so there are at least three people we're looking for.  Of the ones I just heard, they were both male.  I wasn't able to determine if they are guests here or workers.  They were in the hall, and I didn't risk alerting them by making myself known."

"Wise choice, Sarah," AJ agreed.  At his use of her given name, Webb's eyes widened in surprise.

She smiled at her CO and continued.  "They were discussing the fireworks display and how everyone here was going to get a much bigger 'blast' than they expect for the finale."

"We can fix that," Webb said. 

"Also, they mentioned the champagne toast at midnight; it sounded like the bottle intended for the Bushes will be laced with a slow-acting poison, just in case the explosion at midnight doesn't kill them, the poison will."

"We can fix that, too," Webb said.  "Anything else?"

Mac shook her head.  "That was all they said."  Without another word, Webb grabbed the phone and started spouting orders to the person on the other end.

"Good work, Colonel," said one of the Generals she had interrupted earlier.  He stepped forward and shook her hand.  "Nathan Flaherty," he introduced himself.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, USMC.  Nice to meet you, General," Mac replied briskly.

He smiled.  "You certainly don't look like a Marine in that gown, Colonel.  But you certainly did a good job getting us this information."

"Thank you, Sir."

Webb had hung up the phone and approached Mac.  "Sarah, what are you doing here?" he almost hissed.

"I would think that's obvious," she retorted.

"You're with your CO, damn it!  You're a lawyer; you know what the consequences are of frat..."

"The SecNav approved it, Clay.  We're here for one purpose only.  To help prevent a terrorist attack at this party, and failing that, to provide assistance where needed."

"We won't fail," Webb said emphatically.

"I hope not," Mac replied.  "So this is your op, I take it?"

"Sarah, I couldn't tell you," Webb said, putting his hands on her arms and running them down to reach her hands.  "You must know that.  It was need to know."

"And I didn't need to know.  Of course I understand that, Clay.  But why did you lie to me and say you were going to Iran?  You could have just said you couldn't tell me.  That would have been preferable to being lied to."

"I'm sorry, Sarah.  I'm not used to being honest with women about my job.  I forget that you really do understand about my work."

"Yes, I do.  What I don't understand, though, is why you felt it necessary to lie to me about the coat."

Webb's eyes shifted from her to AJ and back.  "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It's a real mink, Clay.  You never exchanged it for a faux fur.  It's the same coat, isn't it?  You just had someone switch the label.  But it's still real mink."

"Sarah, you deserve the real thing, not some fake..."

"I don't want real fur, Clay!  I told you that!  I told you why!  And still you lied to me and tricked me!  I understand about your work, Clay.  But this?  No, this I don't understand."

Webb tried to pull Mac into his embrace, but before he could, AJ had stepped forward and slipped his arm around Mac's waist.  "We should get back inside before we're missed," he said to Mac.  "Don't want to tip our hand, now do we?" he said this last directly to Webb.

Mac didn't reply in words; she merely turned and walked out with the Admiral, slipping her own arm around his waist.  That gesture was words enough.  Webb wondered if she'd ever agree to see him again.  He doubted it.

When AJ and Mac exited the Map Room, she was close to tears.  "Want to take a side trip to the Vermeil Room, Sarah?" he offered.

She shook her head.  "Actually, I'd rather not be alone just now," she sniffed.  "How about we take a walk outside?"

AJ shook his head, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Sarah."  She looked up, a question in her eyes.  "It's rather cool; you'd need your coat, and I think that's part of why you're upset right now."

Mac sighed, "You're right, of course."

"Come on," he said, turning her and walking down the hall.  They came to a closed door.  "I believe this is the Red Room," he whispered, "and it should be empty this evening."  He turned the doorknob, and sure enough, the room was empty.  They walked inside and AJ closed the door behind them.  He walked Mac over to one of the loveseats and they sat down.  He put his arm across the back of the sofa.  "You want to talk about it?" he offered.

She shook her head.  "Not especially.  I just don't understand why he had to lie to me."

"He's a spook, Sarah.  He lies for a living."  Sarah started to object, but AJ continued, "You know it's true as well as I do.  But what you may not realize is how difficult it must be for him to remember that he doesn't have to lie all the time.  Can you imagine?" He glanced at her, and her face showed no understanding at all.  "Think about it, Sarah.  A man in Webb's position, a spy, has to lie to do his job.  He has to lie to keep others alive.  He has to lie to keep himself alive!  And he has to be good at it, so no one can guess that he is lying... because if they do, he's dead."

"But he doesn't have to lie to me!"

AJ continued as though she hadn't spoken.  "Lying that way all the time, it has to be difficult to remember that he doesn't have to lie to some people.  I doubt that he lies to his mother.  She probably knows the truth all the time... unless it's something he can't tell her.  And then, he most likely tells her that... that he can't tell her."  AJ took Mac's hands in his and patted them gently.  "Sarah, if you're serious about Webb, you have to give him time to realize that he can be completely honest with you, just like he is with his mother."

She sniffed as she nodded.  AJ reached in his pocket and handed her his handkerchief.  She dabbed at the corner of her eyes to keep her tears from falling. 

"Are you serious about him?"

"I thought I was," she whispered.

"Past tense?"

She nodded and looked up into AJ's eyes.  "I can understand the lies about his work.  But not the trickery.  There was no excuse for that.  If I can't trust him in something as little as that, how could I ever trust him with my happiness... with raising a family?"

"Sarah..."

"He didn't argue with me at all when he gave me the coat.  I told him I didn't want a real fur.  I told him why.  I was very specific; I told him I appreciated the thought and I loved the coat, if it just wasn't real fur.  And I asked him to exchange it for a fake one.  He only said one time that he especially wanted me to have a real one.  I disagreed, and he said he'd exchange it.  The next day, he brought me what he said was a faux fur just like the real one he bought.  But it wasn't.  It was the same coat with a different label in it."  Mac blew her nose and then looked up into AJ's eyes.  "You would never lie to a woman that way, AJ.  I know you wouldn't.  So why do I always pick the ones who do?  It's just not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Sarah," AJ said softly, pulling her into his arms as she began to cry.  He held her gently as she wept.

After a couple of minutes, Mac turned in his arms and lifted her face to his.  "I suppose we really ought to go back."

"Not until you're ready, Sarah."

She straightened up and dabbed at her face with his handkerchief.  "Much damage?" she asked.

He smiled as he cupped her cheek with his hand and rubbed his thumb along her lips.  "From where I sit?  Not a spec; you're beautiful.  But I think you'll disagree when you look in a mirror.  So, we'll stop by the restrooms before we go back to the East Room."

Mac took one look at her face in the bathroom mirror and gasped.  "How could he say 'not a spec'?!  Look at me!"  Her mascara was smeared, her eye shadow creased, her blush all but wiped off of one cheek, and her lipstick was nonexistent.  She opened her little purse and pulled out her cosmetic bag.  She couldn't do anything about the eye shadow except smooth it out with her finger, but she did have a blusher, mascara, and lipstick with her.  She was applying the blusher when the door opened and a young woman entered.  Mac smiled at her.  "Hello."

The woman smiled back.  "Hello."

That one word was all it took.  Mac recognized her voice as being the one she'd heard earlier... before dinner and during dinner.  Just to be sure, though, she said, "Nice party," hoping the woman would speak again.  She did.

"Yes, it is.  Very nice," the woman agreed.  She entered a stall and closed the door behind her.

Mac finished fixing her makeup and purposely left her lipstick on the counter.  She closed up her purse, fluffed her hair, smoothed her dress, and exited the room.  AJ was waiting for her.  She looked around and didn't see anyone else, so she whispered urgently, "Did you see the woman who went in there after me?" AJ nodded.  "Have you seen her before?"

He shook his head.  "No, should I have?"

"She's the one I heard earlier; I'm sure of it."

"Damn, we need to know what she's doing in there," AJ said.

"I left my lipstick on the counter so I could go back inside."

"Smart move.  Okay.  Go ahead; see if she's making a call or anything."

Mac nodded and quietly opened the door.  She immediately heard the woman's voice speaking in Farsi.  Mac was as quiet as she could be walking to the counter and picking up her lipstick.  The conversation soon ended, and the woman would be exiting the stall any second.  Mac purposely made a noise as she opened her purse and dropped the tube of lip color inside.  The stall opened and the woman all but glared at Mac.  Mac smiled back at her through the mirror.  "Left my lipstick on the counter.  Can't go anywhere without my lipstick, you know," she joked.

"No, of course not," the woman replied shortly.

"What language was that you were speaking when I came back in?"  Then she shook her head, "No, don't tell me... let me guess... Was it Hebrew?  No, that's not right... I know!  Indian, right?" Mac asked.

"Indian?" the woman repeated.  Mac looked at her expectantly, until the woman finally agreed.  "Yes, Indian," she nodded with a pert grin.

"I knew it!  Which tribe?  Cherokee?  Apache?  Arapaho?" Mac was afraid she was stretching it a bit, but she didn't want the woman to suspect that anyone was on to her.

"No.  Indian from the country of India.  Not one of the native American tongues."

Mac sighed, "Oh.  No, I wouldn't have recognized that.  Spanish, French, German, Italian... I can usually recognize those.  But that's about it.  I took French in school, and my teacher said I was hopeless at foreign sounds," Mac shrugged.  "Oh well."  She snapped her purse closed again and walked to the door.  "Happy New Year!"

"And to you," the woman replied.  Mac heard her mutter under her breath in Farsi.  She followed Mac out the door and watched as Mac took AJ's arm and leaned into him.  Mac knew the woman was there; she had to make her believe there was no leak.  So Mac slipped her hand around AJ's waist and cupped his bottom.  She hoped he'd realize why she was doing it.  He did.

He stopped in his tracks and turned her quickly, pulling her into his arms.  His lips were over hers in a moment and she slid her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him.  As the woman passed, he pulled away slightly and said, loud enough for her to hear, "Let's get out of here as early as we can, Darling.  I want you out of that dress and in my bed."

Mac giggled and raised her lips to his again.  AJ was keeping an eye on the woman, and when she finally disappeared around the corner, he pulled himself away from Mac, whispering, "Coast is clear... I think.  We should head back, but stay close."

Mac was still reeling from his kiss and his saying he wanted her in his bed.  She knew it was all an act, but still!  She pulled her arms back and laid her hand on his arm as they walked down the hall. She said, "Isn't there a room full of maps in the White House, AJ?  You know how I love maps; can we see them?"

"That would be the Map Room, Darling.  But it isn't really a room full of maps.  There's an old Colonial map on the wall, and there's a case of world maps, but that's about all."

"Please, AJ?  I'd love to see them."

He chuckled and pulled her close to his side, putting his arm around her shoulders.  "Anything you desire, Sarah."  And they headed for the Map Room. 

As AJ opened the door and Sarah stepped inside, he caught a glimpse of the young woman watching them.  Fortunately, Mac gushed loudly, "Oh, AJ!!  Look at this map!  It's magnificent!!" just before he closed the door behind him.

"What the hell?" barked General Jenks.

Mac, upon hearing the door click shut, turned and began talking quickly.  "The woman I heard earlier was just in the ladies room with me.  She was on a cell phone speaking in Farsi.  She was confirming that bombs were set in the East Room, the State Dining Room, the Vermeil Room, and the Blue Room.  They're all set to go off at 0015, as the fireworks finale begins."

Webb grabbed the phone and scrambled the bomb squad.  The Bushes had refused to vacate the house unless there was a bomb found that could not be dismantled.  They simply would not give in to terrorist threats when they could easily be empty threats.  Webb knew there wasn't much time to find the bombs and make that determination. 

Mac continued, "She also said that the poisoned champagne had been detected, so they couldn't depend on that."

"Anything else?" asked AJ.

Mac nodded and said quietly, "She said that the General's wife would not be found."

"What?!" bellowed Jenks.  "Which General?  Whose wife?"

Mac shook her head.  "I don't know.  Evidently she saw something they were doing.  All the woman said was 'Sally' and that she was a General's wife."

Jenks blanched.  "Sally?"  He backed up against the desk.  "Sally?" he croaked.

AJ walked over to the General.  "She didn't say her 'body' wouldn't be found, Gordon.  She could still be alive.  And we will find her."

Mac paled when she realized it had to be Jenks' wife.  She walked over to him.  "Where was she when you saw her last, Sir?" she asked quietly.

"I left her in the Vermeil Room after dinner," he choked out.  "I thought she'd be safer in there.  I shouldn't have allowed her to come at all."

Mac turned to AJ.  "I'll go check around in there and see if I find any clues."  She hurried to the door.  "You ready?" she said to AJ.  He looked at her oddly.  Ready for what?  She pulled the door open and immediately said loudly, "Well, I never!  All I wanted to do was look at the other maps!  Men's retiring room, of all things!  Why couldn't you have chosen a room with nothing interesting to look at?" she complained.

AJ knew instantly what she was up to.  Covering them... just in case.  He hurried to the doorway, "I'll be along in just a minute, Sarah.  Let me just finish my drink.  You go wait in the Vermeil Room.  I'll collect you from there and we'll dance the rest of the night.  How's that?" he placated loudly.

Mac sighed.  "Oh, all right.  But don't be long!  I don't want to sit with a bunch of women.  I want to dance with you!" 

She strode away and AJ closed the door in the Map Room again... but not before he saw the young woman.  She had been watching... Mac was right.  She did suspect something.  He turned around and described the woman.  Webb immediately passed the description on; she'd be picked up in no time.

Mac reached the Vermeil Room at the same time as did the bomb squad.  She looked around carefully on the pretext that she'd left her gloves in the room.  No one knew she hadn't been in the room before now.  She found a small drop of fresh blood on the rug.  One drop could mean other drops.  She looked over the entire room and found none.  So she headed out into the hall and found another.  Twenty feet further, there was another.  "Sarah!" she heard AJ's voice behind her.  Mac stopped and turned.  "They've arrested the woman, and the bomb squads already found and dismantled 3 of the 4 bombs.  They're searching the Vermeil Room now."

Mac nodded, "I saw them.  AJ, there's a trail of blood that starts in the Vermeil Room and goes down this hall.  It has to be the General's wife."

"I'll get..."

"There's no time!  She's obviously hurt... or worse."

"They probably shot her."

"Let's hope they didn't use a knife on her," Mac said as she turned and started down the hall.  AJ followed her and as they rounded a corner, he tapped her shoulder.  She looked back and he handed her a gun with a silencer.  She smiled her thanks, and they continued on their search.  The trail led them down a staircase and stopped in front of a closed door.

AJ tried the doorknob, but it was locked.  It was an old door with a keyhole lock, so Mac bent over and peered through it.  She could see a woman tied up, lying on the floor, and two men pulling a canvas bag over her prone body.  Mac cringed at the sight.  She stood up and motioned for AJ to look.  When AJ saw the woman, he recognized her as Jenks' wife.  He nodded to Mac.  "That's her," he mouthed.

"Is she dead?" Mac mouthed back.

AJ shook his head.  "If she was dead, they wouldn't have tied her up." 

Mac's eyes brightened at that ray of hope.  She bent over and looked through the keyhole again.  The men were just about to tie the bag closed.  She heard one of them curse in Farsi and tell the other one that he forgot to put the rocks in the bottom of the bag so she'd sink to the bottom of the river.  The other man opened the bag and threw the rocks inside.  Mac knew he'd hit Mrs. Jenks with them; there was no way they could have missed her. 

When she knew by their discussion that they were the only two in the room, she stood up and nodded to AJ.  He kicked the old door in, splintering it.  Their guns trained on the two surprised men, they both fired when the men reached for their own guns.  Mac ran forward to untie the bag and check on Sally Jenks while AJ rolled the men over, one at the time.  They were both dead.  Sally, however, was not.  But she did have a bullet in her chest and one of the rocks had evidently broken her left wrist and her right foot.

AJ picked her up and carried her up the stairs, Mac trailing behind.  As they reached the main hall, Mac went ahead of them to ensure no one was milling about.  She motioned for AJ when it was clear, and he hurried into the now-empty Vermeil Room, laying Mrs. Jenks on the sofa.  Mac went to the Map Room and informed the General that his wife was alive but needed an ambulance.  "One's already on the way," Webb told her.

Soon AJ was back in the Map Room.  "The ambulance crew is taking care of her," he told Mac at her questioning look.  She nodded.  "What else?"

Webb looked up.  "Nothing.  That's it."

"What do you mean, 'that's it'?" AJ queried.

"That's it.  The dogs found the bombs and the squad disassembled them.  They got rid of the poisoned champagne; brought in a whole new case, in fact.  And the woman we apprehended spilled the rest of the plan, too.  The fireworks finale wasn't just fireworks.  They were laced with specially-made bombs to look like embers until they were 5 feet off the ground.  Then they explode.  Right along with the bombs inside the building.  The whole place would have been one massive fireball if all had gone according to their plan."

"So you're sure that's all there was?" asked Mac.

Webb shook his head.  "That's all we know of.  We're still keeping a watchful eye and the dogs are on standby just outside.  We have another couple of hours of party time, you know.  It's only 2345."

"Then I guess you and I should go back to the East Room, Sarah," AJ smiled.  "Shall we?"

Mac returned his smile.  "Sounds lovely, AJ."  She took his arm and they left the room through one door, just as President and Mrs. Bush entered through another.

"I understand that all the terrorist threats against us for this evening have been neutralized."   Everyone in the room snapped to attention stance at the sound of Bush's voice.  "And I have all of you to thank."

"We have all of you to thank," corrected Laura Bush.

"We," he agreed, putting his arm around her waist.  He looked at Webb.  "And I understand you spearheaded the entire thing, Clayton?"

Webb looked a mite uncomfortable.  "Yes, Mr. President."  The President began speaking again, but Webb spoke a little louder, "But I'm not the one who uncovered the plan, Sir.  And there could still be more that we don't know about..."

Bush looked surprised.  "Was it just one man?  I'd have thought it was your whole team."

Webb shook his head.  "No, Sir.  Actually it was one woman.  Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie."

"Where is she?" Bush asked, looking around and not seeing a woman except for his wife.

"She left the Map Room just as you entered, Sir... through the other door."

"I don't believe I've met her," commented Laura Bush.

"She's here with Admiral AJ Chegwidden this evening, Ma'am," said General Flaherty.  

"Lucky woman," grinned Laura.

"They make a lovely couple," Flaherty added.  "But I'd heard the Chegwidden was engaged to a college professor?"

Webb quickly stated, "He is!  He and Sarah are not a couple.  She's one of his lawyers."  At the quick intake of breath by several officers in the room, he added, "The SecNav approved their attending together tonight... to assist us.  And I think you'll all agree, without Colonel MacKenzie, we'd either have evacuated this building or we'd all be dead in less than half an hour."

"We'd like to meet the Colonel, Clayton," Laura said.  Her husband nodded his agreement.

"I'm sure she'd be delighted to meet both of you, Ma'am," Webb replied.

"Excuse me, Mr. President," said one of the Secret Service men.  "You mentioned that you'd like to watch the fireworks at midnight, Sir.  They'll begin in 5 minutes."

The first couple made their way quickly back to the East Room where everyone was being handed flutes of champagne for the New Year's toast.  AJ took his flute, but Mac refused one.  AJ quickly grabbed another and asked that she hold his while he disappeared down the hall.  He returned just in time and traded flutes with Mac.  She looked at him questioningly, and he just smiled at her.  Mac felt her knees shaking; it wasn't often... ever?... that she'd had his devastating smile directed at her.  'Oh to be loved by this man,' she sighed.  'Why do there have to be regs standing in our way?'  

She had no idea she sighed aloud, nor that her gaze was so fixed on him, he knew exactly what she was thinking.  "Damned regs," he whispered to her.  Mac was so taken aback that he seemed to be reading her mind, she totally missed the Presidential toast, until she heard the ringing of the crystal flutes as couples toasted the new year.  She blinked and realized AJ was waiting for her to tip her glass.  She blushed slightly and did so, meeting his flute half way.  Then they each took a sip from their flute.  Her eyes lit in surprise as she tasted tonic water with a splash of lime.  "Happy New Year, Sarah," AJ smiled.

Mac's return smile was radiant.  "Happy New Year, AJ."  They both tilted their heads back and finished the liquid in their flutes.  As they glanced around, every couple there was kissing.  Mac bit her lips together, wishing, but not daring to look up at her CO.

She was surprised, then, when she felt his left arm wrap around her back and his right hand tilt her face up to his.  She couldn't help but look him in the eye.  "Damn the regs," he mouthed as he captured her lips beneath his.  Mac was melting; she knew she'd end up in a puddle at his feet in moments.  But she didn't care.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his hard body... and their kiss continued.  It wasn't until the orchestra began playing and the crowd sang Auld Lang Syne that they separated.  Both breathless.  Both completely shocked at their behavior.  But it didn't keep AJ from leaning forward and breathing in her ear, "Happy New Year, Sarah."

Mac blushed to the roots of her hair, "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

AJ shook his head, "I'm not.  I'm only sorry there are regulations in our way."  AJ took the empty flute from her hand and laid them on a tray close by.  He slipped his arm around Mac's waist, and they joined the others making their way outside to enjoy the fireworks.

Continue to Part 3.