Title: Unexpected Surprises
Author: Jessica
Classification: Jess/Jack (AU fiction)
Spoilers: None
Summary: Surprise! Read to find out
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the show characters, I do own Jessica Brynn McCaye though so don't take her away from me. Any other AU characters belong to the inventors of said characters. No profit is being made from this endeavor it is just for fun.
JB's Apartment
1936 EST
Jessica walked into her home dead tired. The Admiral was pushing them especially hard lately. Her brief case was full of paperwork that needed to be finished she just could not find the motivation to do. Harm and Sarah were going on a vacation with their girls and there were tons of things that needed to be done before the Admiral would let her partner leave. That meant that JB had to pick up the slack for Harm, sometimes she had to wonder what women saw in pilots, and herself included. To make matters worse she could not even talk to Jack as he was away on some assignment. He said he could contact her when it was over to let her know when he would be home, but who knew how long that could be.
She needed to relax. She thought about a bubble bath but then changed her mind; she did not want to fall asleep. She decided to take a run instead, the evening was cool enough. She had first discovered the enjoyment as a child when her father would take her out. It was their time alone. None of the others there to infringe on the privacy. Sometimes they would talk but more often then not, Just being together. After her parents died she just stopped, unable to bear the pain of the memories.
She rediscovered the joy of running during her brief marriage to Michael McCaye. It was an excellent way to get away from him, because he would rarely put himself to the effort of chasing her down, knowing that she would come back. He had been her high school sweetheart. All during their school years he was the best, even her older brother Brendan [no, that is not Brandon, it is Irish] liked him (something that was rare). The men in their family had always protected the O'Hara girls, even though they could take care of themselves. Shortly after the wedding Michael began verbally abusing her, so she put on her shoes and went running it was an escape plan. When he started physically hitting her she just ran harder and further. After her second hospitalization due to the beatings, she went to the bank and withdrew all of her savings and some of the money from their joint account, bought a plane ticket and flew off to Japan. This was about twelve years ago, and she was 20. Since then her life has turned around for the better. Her brother helped her file for a divorce and make sure that every thing went through. At the same time convinced her to go to college and get a degree, little did he know that the mediocre high school student would turn out to be a Magna cum laude graduate and go to Yale for law school. She had originally chosen Law so that she could help other women like herself, but soon found that she enjoyed other aspects of law as well. She joined the Navy to help with the bills she was massing; though she knew that this was a career choice. Her father was Navy and now so was she.
Running, was once again a pleasure not an escape. Sometimes she would still talk to her father as if he were running beside her like in days of old.
Jessica McCaye was a woman with one thing in her sights, her job. That became what she lived for. Then her cousin Sarah had married her sailor, Harm. The wedding was every girl's dream, right down to the men in uniform all over the place. The best man was obviously a pilot, like the groom was once, and Jess fell for him, fast and hard, never to recover.
With her shoes on she quickly grabbed her house keys and attached them to the long neckband so as not to loose them. She was out the door before she had time to even think about work again. She was gone before she even heard the phone ringing.
Rabb Residence
1945 EST
Harm hung up the phone with a frustrated sigh. "I guess she is not home." He said to no one in particular.
"Who isn't home, Daddy?"
"Your Aunt Jessica, Jackie"
"Oh, why is she not home?"
"I don't know, sweetie. Let's go see what mommy is making for dinner."
"Yeah!" cried the overeager little girl.
JB's Apartment
2010 EST
He knocked on the door. No answer. <Funny, she should be home from work by now.> He pulled out his keys and went searching for the familiar one that would gain him entrance. He walked into the living room and noticed that her briefcase was lying in its usual spot at the end of the couch. Thinking that maybe she was at the back of the place and maybe could not here him he called out, "J?" Still no answer. He was getting just a little worried. He walked into the bedroom and noticed that her uniform was just thrown on the floor (not something she usually did). Looking around he noticed a few things, she apparently went somewhere that she could either walk to or was with someone else because her car was there (he had noticed that earlier). As he turned to leave the room and go wait for her in the living room he noticed that her running shoes were not in their usual place. A smile slowly crept across his face.
Park
2014 EST
Jess had been running for some time following her usual path. She had already been around three times and was starting another lap. She was feeling better then she had in a long time. She felt freedom; she may even feel up to finishing that paperwork when she got home.
Park
2017 EST
He knew her route well; he had even joined her a time or two. As he walked into the park he saw her familiar form running down away from his position and knew that it would take her about 10 minutes to return to this point. Just enough time for him to find the perfect place.
Park
2025 EST
She knew she was making some good time. <Just one more lap and I will go home.> She picked up her pace just a little as she passed what she mentally called the starting point and settled into her next lap. She passed by the little maintenance building, when suddenly she was grabbed around the waist and picked up. She let out a scream just before she heard in her ear, "gotcha." When she finally touched back to the ground she spun around and through her arms around his neck.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I wanted to surprise you"
"Well you certainly did that, Jack."
He grinned unrepentantly back at her. "Hey, don't look innocent at me, you scared me half to death grabbing me like that!"
"What? You mean men don't grab beautiful women off the streets?"
"That is not funny, and you know it!"
He bent down and kissed her solidly, "But you don't mind do you?"
"Well I guess not this time, just don't do it again."
"Can we go to your place now? Or do you want to finish your run?"
"Oh I can run anytime, you I have not seen in a long time." she said as she started dragging him out of the park.
JB's Apartment
2033 EST
They walked through the front door hand in hand. "All that running made me hungry. Want to order a pizza while I go take a quick shower and change?"
"Sure, the usual?"
"Yes, everything on it!"
He smiled to himself, he loved the way she could eat anything and keep her figure just the way it was. In that respect she was just like her cousin.
Half an hour later they sat in the living room eating the pizza. "You know we really need to tell Brendan about us."
"Yeah, I just don't want him to overreact. He does that a lot. Especially after Michael, Chris, and what happened to Missy."
"Hey none of that was his fault."
"Yeah but he blames himself. He is the oldest and the only guy in the family and he is just protective of us to say the least."
"He approved of Harm, didn't he?"
"Yeah, but his life is decidedly less dangerous now that he is not a pilot on a regular basis."
"Hey he has a lot of room to talk. He is a pilot himself."
"I know."
"Would it help if I told you that I am leaving Black Ops?"
"What?"
"This was my last mission. I told Webb I would not do it anymore. He was a little upset about it, but he understood. I am being transferred to Andrews."
"Really?" she did not want to sound to excited.
"Really. And I know you like the idea of having me around more."
"Sorry, I know how much you liked what you did."
"Yeah, but I like being with you more. Besides it was getting a little redundant, and I wanted to be here for you. I love you too much to leave you alone like that. Besides it was hard for me to concentrate knowing you were so far away and I could not even talk to you."
"Thank you, Jack."
"For what?"
"Loving me."
"Oh, that was the easy part." He said just before he kissed her again.
"I love you, Jack."
"I love you, Jessica."
"I guess when I talk to Brendan next I will tell him."
"Why not now?"
"Because it is the middle of the night in Germany!"
"Oh"
"And I would wake up Lisa and the kids."
"Fine, tell him later, just remember I love you and would never hurt you. So don't be afraid of what he might think."
"I'm not." By this time they were on the couch and she was curled up next to his side with her feet underneath her. Her head resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her keeping her close. She truly was not scared of anything.
They both feel asleep sitting on the couch, knowing that everything would work out in the end.
Finis