| Subject: Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi! - Part 6/25 |
Author:
Teacup
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Date Posted: 06:33:00 07/06/07 Fri
In reply to:
Teacup (aka Ever-Xmas)
's message, "Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi!" on 23:51:19 06/30/07 Sat
Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi!
Part 6
“We’ll head to your apartment first, Jen,” said Sturgis. “I want to make sure we get you in safe and sound.”
“Thank you, sir. Will you be okay with the warrant officer?”
“We’ll manage. I might let him stay at my apartment for the night if the weather doesn’t get better. And to be honest … it’s probably best that he sleep it off before trying to direct me to his house.”
“It’s nice of you, sir. … Taking both of us home.”
“It’s not like I have anything else to do tonight,” he said.
“You were really good with the warrant officer this evening – talking to him, making him feel welcome.”
“How about you?” Sturgis asked Jen, knowing it had been her first day at JAG Headquarters. “Are you feeling welcome? Being in a new place is always tough.”
“Well, I’m used to moving around. Taking care of myself. … Colonel MacKenzie has been great. … I guess we bonded some last Christmas. And I know Commander Rabb, of course. But I don’t really expect to fit in. I’m kind of a loner anyway.”
“Me too,” Sturgis reflected. “No family to speak of except my father. I’m still relatively new at Headquarters, … and sometimes I feel like … I haven’t quite made my way into the heart of JAG. I’m sort of on the outside looking in, if that makes sense? … Not really fitting in with the … style of the core group.”
“So, we’re a couple of misfits,” Jennifer concluded.
Sturgis laughed. “I guess you could say that. … I’m going to stop at this gas station here. It looks open. I want to fill up my tank – weigh the car down so it’ll drive better on these roads.”
He pulled into the station that was gleaming with bright lights coming from various advertisements. The overwhelmingly blue neon reflected off the snow.
Before getting out of the car, Sturgis asked, “You doin’ alright back there, Warrant Officer?”
“You’ll be doin’ alright,” sang Officer Scoggins from the backseat. “… with your Christmas all white …”
“I think he’s fine, sir,” said Jennifer.
Sturgis left the car and began to top off the gas tank. As he finished, he looked up to see the blue light shining off of the open hood of a car. He squinted though the snow and recognized the confused looking man pondering the contents of the engine area.
He approached the disabled car. “Tiner?” asked Sturgis.
“Sir? … Oh, it’s good to see you,” breathed Tiner with relief. “… You know about cars, right?”
“I’ve tinkered around my fair share. What’s the problem?”
“Well, …” Tiner paused and took in a huge breath as if getting ready for a long explanation, but then simply conceded, “… I don’t know.”
“… I was driving, and the car started making this noise …” He imitated the sound, “… Thumpety, thump, thump. … I thought it was just the car adjusting to the cold, but then I heard it again.
“… Thumpety, thump, thump. Thumpety, thump, thump. … Then my brake warning light came on, and I panicked.
“So when I saw the station I pulled over. I tried to call my friend – whose house I just left. … Turns out I left my cell phone there, so I needed to use the payphone to call him. But he’s too drunk to do anything, and I just didn’t know what to do …”
Tiner was getting himself quite worked up and was actually whining by this point.
“Petty Officer, calm down,” Commander Turner told him. “That’s an order.”
“Yes, sir. … It’s just … when I came back to my car, it wouldn’t start.”
“So you opened the hood, and that’s how I found you. Anything else?” Sturgis asked.
“No, sir. … Yes, sir.”
“Which is it, Tiner?”
“Yes, sir. … I was looking under the hood and … well, I got a new watch for Christmas. It’s really nice. And really expensive. My mom sent it to me.”
“Tiner …” Sturgis said with a tone that told him to move along.
“Right. Well, umm, … I decided to take my watch off, so that it wouldn’t get dirty or anything while I tried to find the problem with the car.”
“And?”
“And … my hands were cold. You ever notice how when your hands are cold they don’t work as well? You have a harder time …”
“Tiner. The watch,” Sturgis reminded him.
“I dropped it. … In there.” Tiner pointed to the area under the hood. “I don’t know where it went. I don’t know if it’ll jam something up in the car. And my mom will kill me if I don’t have that watch in good shape when I see her. … She’s coming in to visit late tomorrow.”
Sturgis sighed, and took the flashlight from Tiner.
“What does it look like?” he asked.
“It’s, um, … stainless steel and gold.”
As Sturgis looked for the wristwatch, Jen approached. “Sir, the warrant officer is getting impatient.”
“I thought he’d be asleep,” admitted Sturgis.
“No such luck,” stated Jen.
“Hmm. Well, … speaking of luck, the petty officer over here is fortunate that we happened along when we did.”
“Respectfully, sir,” replied said petty officer, “If we don’t find that watch – I’m not sure I’ll consider myself lucky at all when my mom finds out.”
“Tiner?” Jen, who hadn’t seen him on the other side of the hood, recognized his voice and moved around to see him.
Jason Tiner smiled nervously, but couldn’t seem to come up with any words.
Sturgis answered Jen’s unspoken questions. “He’s having car troubles and accidentally dropped his brand new watch under the hood.”
“Mind if I look?” asked Jennifer.
“Not at all,” replied Sturgis, handing over the flashlight.
“What color is it?” she inquired.
Tiner finally found his voice. “Gold and steel.”
“Steel is silver, … so, silver and gold,” she said to herself, and began repeating what she was looking for. “… Silver and gold, … silver and gold, … silver …” Something caught her eye. She reached her hand down. “… and …” Jennifer Coates lifted the watch out from a deep down crevice. “… gold.” She held the timepiece in her hand with triumph.
Tiner sighed with relief, and he blurted out, “Thank you so much!” He took the watch from her and, without thinking, gave her a big hug, declaring, “I love you!”
His clenched eyes suddenly popped open as he realized what he said and what he was doing. He quickly released her and awkwardly tried to straighten out her coat, disheveled from his bear hug.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just – my mom would’ve killed me.”
“No big deal,” Jennifer assured him. “Let’s just say I have a lot of past experience spotting shiny things and lifting them.”
“So long as that stays in the past,” Sturgis told her.
“Is there any chance we could get my car working, sir?” Tiner asked.
Commander Turner shook his head. “In this weather, we don’t have the time to mess with it. Driving conditions are getting worse by the minute. Anyway, brake problems aren’t something to take lightly. We’ll leave the car here; I’ll give you a ride.”
“That would be great, sir. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Tiner. You have to share the backseat with Warrant Officer Scoggins.”
Not knowing who that was, Tiner asked, “That’s a bad thing, sir?”
“It remains to be seen, Tiner,” was the reply.
Just as the three made their way back to Sturgis’ vehicle, they looked up to see a car on the main road lose control and spin out. Fortunately, it was not a major accident, but it easily could have been.
“On second thought,” said Sturgis, “if we make it to one place it’s probably best to stay put. … My apartment is not far, if you don’t mind? I was going to have the warrant officer crash at my place anyhow.”
“That’s fine with me,” answered Tiner. “Thank you, sir. I’m not sure what I’d have done if you hadn’t come along. … I’m kinda by myself.”
“Come along,” invited Sturgis, opening the back door for Tiner. “Join our merry band of misfits.”
Then Sturgis turned to Jennifer. “Coates, I had hoped to get you home, considering …”
“It’s okay, sir,” she interrupted, knowing what he was trying to say. “I’ve spent plenty of time being the only woman who’s crashed somewhere for the night.”
Commander Turner was hesitant. “Still …”
“Sir, I hardly think we can worry about the appearance of impropriety under the circumstances,” Coates assured him. “Plus, there are three of you – so it’s not like I’d be alone with any one man here. … I mean, I can take care of myself, and I don’t believe any of you would try anything,” she clarified, “… but for appearances sake, you’re all there to keep an eye on each other.”
“It doesn’t appear we have much choice now,” Sturgis admitted. “… You make a good case though.”
“She sure does …” agreed a starry eyed Tiner.
---------
TBC ...
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