From: Coast2C@aol.com
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 21:34:32 -0400
Message-ID: <960430213331_387231442@emout16.mail.aol.com>
Subject: Convergence:  Part 23 of 25

Convergence
by
Dana Anderson

Part 23 of  25      (Author's Notes and Disclaimer found in Part 1) 

*               *               *               * 

Al woke again in the late afternoon.  Jenna was changing into shorts 
and a T-shirt.  "I'm going for a run" she announced as Al swung his 
feet out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed.  "If 
you're ready to get up you might want to check on Joe and Sam.  
One of them might be hopelessly trapped in an item of clothing and 
slowly starving to death on the floor of his quarters."

Al looked up at her.  "You didn't check on them when you came 
upstairs?"

Jenna shook her head as she approached him.  She sat down on the 
bed next to Al and put one arm around his waist.  "The hangover 
cure I render to non-husbands extends to first aid only.  After that 
it's every man for himself, unless the carousers band together in a 
pact of survival."

Al chuckled as he kissed her cheek.  "Never fear" he said.  "You go 
have a good run.  I'll see to the needs of the rest of the wedding 
party."

After Jenna left, Al showered and dressed and left his quarters.  He 
found Joe somewhat groggy but partially dressed.  "Come on over to 
Sam's quarters when you've finished dressing" Al suggested.  "We'll 
all go for dinner."  Joe nodded.

Al was not too surprised to see that Sam was not quite as alert as Joe 
had been.  Sam was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in 
his hands, moaning weakly.  "Come on, Sam" Al encouraged him.  
"You'll feel better after a shower."  Al took his friend by the arm and 
led him into the bathroom.  Once he saw that Sam seemed to 
recognize the form and function of the facilities, he left him there 
and went to the kitchen to make more coffee.  

Joe arrived and the two of them started on the coffee while Sam 
finished with his shower.  When Al heard the shower cut off, he rose 
and went into the bathroom.  He gave Sam a shave, not wanting to 
have to clean up any blood or explain to Donna how her husband 
had managed to kill himself accidentally in his own bathroom.  Joe 
brought Sam a cup of coffee while Al chose some clothing for him.  
By the time he was dressed, Sam felt that he might live after all.

The three of them managed to find the cafeteria and Al went to the 
kitchen for food while Sam and Joe chose a table.  Al brought them 
soup and some non-threatening side dishes and a more substantial 
dinner for himself.  The meal began in a subdued fashion, with Al 
respecting the state of disorientation of the other two.  Once Sam 
and Joe got some soup into their stomachs they perked up 
considerably.

"I think I might actually be able to keep this down" Sam said in 
surprise.

"Sure you will" Joe agreed.  "Jen's hangover cure is effective stuff."

"What was in that anyway?" Sam asked.  "It sure tasted nasty."

"Everything tastes terrible in the state you were in, Sam" Al offered.

"As far as I know, Jen has never divulged the recipe to anyone; but 
she's famous for it on three continents"  Joe said, and began to 
laugh.  "That and her hands.  She's got the best pair of hands on the 
planet."

"I'll say" Sam agreed.  "I think that massage saved my life."

"Or at least gave you a glimpse of heaven, huh?" Joe chuckled.

"Hey!" Al said, sternly.  "I put up with her giving you guys a 
massage, but I don't intend to sit here and relive it, okay?"

Joe gave Al a serious look.  "Al, I'm going to give you some advice.  
Give that little green eyed fella the heave ho.  You don't need him 
now that you've got Jen."

"I know" Al said quietly, staring at his plate.  He heaved a deep 
sigh.  "I guess I have to retrain my reflexes.  She's just so different 
from every other woman I've ever known."

"Or ever will know" Joe agreed.  "She's one of a kind.  I've never 
been able to understand how someone as completely female as Jenna 
can be so much like a guy in so many ways.  If you asked any man 
she ever served with who they'd like to have at their back in a tough 
situation I'd bet that every one of them would have her in their top 
ten."

"You don't think too much of her, do you?" Al said with a smile.

"I value her a fair amount over my own life" Joe replied.  "Which is 
why I'm giving you advice instead of twisting your head off for 
doubting her even for a second.  I've known her for over twenty five 
years and I've never seen her happier or more at peace with herself 
than she is when she's with you."

"Not even when Paul was still alive?" Al ventured.

"No" Joe admitted.  "Not even then.  And since she never paid that 
bastard back in kind I don't see why you should have anything to 
worry about."

Al choked on his coffee.  "You knew Paul cheated on her?"

"Told you about that, did she?" Joe assumed, nodding.  "Well, why 
not.  It wasn't exactly a secret.  The guy was almost proud of the fact 
that everybody knew he was sleeping around."

"How come you didn't kick his ass?" Al challenged.  "You sure 
didn't waste any time laying down the law to me."

"What makes you think I didn't?" Joe asked.

Al glanced at Sam, who had a concerned look on his face.  Al 
couldn't tell Joe he knew Paul was still cheating on Jenna on the last 
day of his life.

"Well, I figured that if it was common knowledge that he was 
stepping out on her, you must have known about it for awhile" Al 
reasoned.  "If you had, ah, applied corrective action he wouldn't 
have done it again; or anything else for the months he was in 
traction."

"Damn right he wouldn't have" Joe growled.  "But Jen wouldn't even 
let me talk to him about it.  I was never so mad in my life, but I 
promised not to lay a finger on him."

"But she didn't tell you to lay off me?" Al asked.

Joe shook his head, grinning.  "I guess she figures either that you 
can take care of yourself or that I'll never have a reason to get mad 
at you."

"Or better yet, all of the above" Al said.

Joe laughed and slapped Al on the back.  

Jenna came into the cafeteria and brought a tray with a bowl of soup 
and a glass of milk over to the table where Al, Joe and Sam were 
sitting.  "How is everyone feeling this evening?" she asked.

"We've decided we're going to live" Joe replied.  "With no small 
thanks to you, as usual" he added.

Jenna nodded.  "You're welcome.  I forgot to ask earlier.  Are we on 
the lookout for any branches of law enforcement?"

Joe considered this for a moment.  He looked at Sam and Al.  
"Anybody remember sirens or uniforms last night?"  Al and Sam 
shook their heads.  "I guess we got away scot free, runt.  No need to 
exercise your other skills."

"What other skills?" Al asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Joe laughed again.  "Your future wife is a positive genius at 
decoying, confusing and misguiding the gendarmes.  She's a fair 
hand at planning and implementing jail breaks, too.  She was always 
a hot commodity on pay day.  Everyone wanted her to come along 
when they went out on the town.  They knew that if they had Jen 
with them their chances of coming back from whatever fool mess 
they got themselves into were one hundred percent."

"You forgot about that time in Hong Kong" Jenna reminded him.

"Okay, nearly one hundred percent" Joe corrected himself.

"What happened in Hong Kong?" Sam asked.  This was interesting.  
He had never been on the wrong side of the law until he started 
leaping into other people's lives.

"I sprung Joe and five other guys, but got caught when I went after 
the last two" Jenna said with a shrug.  "Joe had to come back for the 
rest of us and then get us out of town."

"That was a harrowing night" Joe remembered.  "Too bad you were 
unconscious for so long.  You're much better at arranging 
emergency transportation than I am.  She can hot-wire anything on 
wheels" Joe confided to the other two with pride.

"Unconscious?" Sam and Al echoed together.

Jenna rubbed the side of her head in memory.  "Yeah.  Those Hong 
Kong police have an active dislike for people who arrange to relieve 
them of their prisoners."

Sam and Al exchanged shocked looks.  "How many foreign 
countries and U.S. states have outstanding warrants for your arrest?" 
Al wanted to know.  

"None" Jenna said.  "I'm a stalwart citizen.  Ask anybody, except Joe 
that is."

"It's true" Joe said.  "She's really slick.  She's never been identified 
or charged, ever.  I guess it's a good thing you use your powers for 
good instead of evil, runt, or there'd be a world wide increase in 
crime statistics."

"How often were you involved in this sort of thing?" Al asked.

"Well, I've lived through three hundred and sixteen pay days in the 
Army" Jenna began, then shook her head.  "Too often" she 
concluded.

"Don't take it so hard, Al" Joe advised him, seeing the concerned 
look on Al's face.  "She never started the trouble.  She just got her 
friends out of whatever they got into."

"You're forgetting about Munich" Jenna reminded him.

"He was asking for it" Joe scoffed.

"Never mind" Al interrupted weakly.  "Sorry I asked."

"Anyway, it's been years since we've been that young and stupid, 
right pip-squeak?" Joe said.

"You're forgetting New Orleans, Miami and Panama City" Jenna 
said.

"Oh yeah" Joe responded.

Sam was speechless.  He was simply following the conversation by 
shifting his gaze to the person who was speaking, his mouth 
hanging open in astonishment.

"Maybe I should forbid the two of you to play together if you can't 
stay out of trouble" Al said.

"I'd rethink that decision if I were you, Al" Joe recommended.  
"Remember, you get to come along from now on."

"You have a point" Al conceded.

"Well, I hate to put an end to this character assassination" Jenna 
said, rising from her chair "but I'm ready for some after dinner 
coffee and a smoke."

"You're just trying to get Al out of here before I tell him about 
Singapore" Joe accused her.

"That hadn't occurred to me, but it's all the more reason to leave" 
Jenna said.

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow, Al" Joe promised as Al got up to join 
Jenna.

"That's okay, Joe" Al said.  "Maybe I should let Jen tell me in her 
own way and in her own time."

"Chicken" Joe accused.

"Damn right" Al replied, as he and Jenna walked away.

*               *               *               * 

The wedding took place on Saturday, as planned.  Joe and Sam had 
completely recovered and Joe insisted that he and Jenna ride to 
Santa Fe in a separate car.  "You're not supposed to see the bride 
before the wedding, you know" he reminded Al.

"Come on, Joe" Al said in exasperation.  "She was right there when 
I woke up this morning."

Joe shook his head, a serious expression on his face.  "Man, you 
guys who kiss and tell give me a pain."  

Al looked to Jenna for help.

"Humor him, Al" Jenna suggested.  "We have to take two cars 
anyway."

Al wasn't pleased, but he agreed.

*               *               *               * 

Joe and Jenna left an hour before Sam and Al.  The men were 
already dressed in their tuxedos, but Jenna planned to change 
clothes at the chapel.  Joe drove in silence for a time, but Jenna 
could tell that something was bothering him.

"Come on, let's hear it" she finally said.

Joe sighed.  "Are you sure this is the right guy, kid?  I just can't 
stand the thought of you getting hurt again."

"He's the right one, Joe" Jenna insisted softly.  "In fact, I think he's 
the only one.  I loved Paul and he loved me, in his way; but he never 
really understood me.  Al understood more about me before we fell 
in love than Paul ever did.  Since then we've become part of each 
other.  If one of us gets hurt, both of us will."

Joe reached over and squeezed Jenna's hand.  "Then I hope both of 
you are happy forever."

"That's my plan" Jenna replied.

*               *               *               *

Al drove in silence for quite a while, too.  Sam fidgeted in the 
passenger seat, constantly adjusting different parts of his tuxedo.

"You got ants inside that monkey suit or did you forget to go before 
we left?" Al inquired.

"Ever since Donna stood me up weddings make me jumpy" Sam 
explained.  "Aren't you nervous?  You're supposed to be, you know."

"Sorry to disappoint you, pal" Al said calmly.

"I'm not disappointed, exactly, just surprised.  I thought you told me 
you were nervous the other five times you got married" Sam said.

"I was" Al replied, then fell silent for awhile.  "This time is 
different, though" he added in a quiet tone.

"Why?" Sam wanted to know.

"It's Jen" Al replied.  "This ceremony is just a formality.  She's 
already more my wife than any of others ever were."

Sam gulped.  He was almost afraid to ask the question, but his 
curiosity demanded an answer.  "Even more than Beth?"  

"Yes" Al said simply.  Sam subsided into stunned silence.  *At least 
he stopped fidgeting* Al thought.

When they arrived in Santa Fe, Al parked his car in the lot next to 
the small non-denominational chapel he and Jenna had chosen for 
the ceremony.  Al and Sam got out of the car and Sam started 
toward the chapel.  

"Sam" Al called, still standing next to the car.

Sam turned and walked back to his friend.  "Did you get nervous all 
of a sudden?" Sam asked.  "Legs stopped working?"

"No" Al said.  "But there's something I want to tell you.  I think 
maybe I owe it to you after what I put us through when you leaped 
back and met Beth."

"Al" Sam interrupted.  "Don't do this to yourself.  You don't owe me 
anything."

"Hear me out, willya?" Al complained.  "You're always griping that 
I never talk about how I feel.  Well, here's your chance to get an 
earful."

"Okay" Sam said.  "I'm listening."

"When I volunteered for my second and third tours in 'Nam it was 
partly because I knew Beth was trying to get up the nerve to leave 
me and I figured she wouldn't divorce me while I was in combat" Al 
said, all in a rush.  He took a deep breath.  "I guess you could say 
she was my Paul Tyler" he added, more slowly.

Sam's mouth dropped open.

Al realized what his friend was thinking and shook his head.  "No, I 
don't mean she was cheating on me.  I mean that I was more in love 
with her than she was with me.  You saw that picture of Paul and 
Jen.  She was crazy about him, but he couldn't love her that much.  
It's taken me a long time to tell myself the truth, but that's the way it 
was with Beth and me."  

Al looked down at the ground for a moment, then looked back into 
Sam's eyes.  "You were right.  Beth and I weren't meant to be 
together.  If you had done what I had asked, I might never have had 
a chance for the real thing.  Thank you, Sam."

As Sam met Al's frank, open regard he finally understood the 
difference he had been seeing there for months.  This wasn't just Al 
in love.  This was Al in love and purged of the painful wound he 
had clung to as the only remnant of Beth.  

"You're welcome"  Sam replied, smiling and putting a hand on Al's 
shoulder.  "But I think someone else deserves the thanks more than I 
do."

"And she'll get it every day I draw breath" Al confirmed.

*               *               *               * 

The ceremony Al and Jenna planned was simple.  No music, no 
flowers, no herd of friends and relatives in attendance.  Sam stood 
up with Al, Joe came to give Jenna away.  Al and Sam were 
standing at the altar when Jenna appeared in the side doorway of the 
chapel.  Al's heart skipped a beat as he caught sight of her and he 
heard a sharp intake of breath from Sam.  She looked every bit an 
angel of peace and love come to earth.  As Joe escorted her to the 
altar, Al suppressed the urge to pinch himself.  He couldn't believe 
he could be this lucky.  When Jenna put her arm in his, Al felt a 
surge of ecstasy overwhelm him and when she answered the vows 
with a soft, firm "I do" he thought his body would float away into 
the sky.

Their first kiss as man and wife was gentle and brief but carried the 
promise, from one to the other, of a lifetime of passion to come.  
They all shook hands with the minister and left the chapel.  The 
group paused for a moment on the steps and Joe turned to Jenna.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Calavicci" he said tenderly and kissed her 
cheek.  Sam, momentarily speechless, pounded Al on the back in an 
excess of emotion.  Joe faced Al and offered his hand.  The two men 
locked gazes as they shook hands and there was an unspoken 
changing of the guard.  Jenna was now Al's charge; Joe would 
always come to her aid if asked, but she was Al's to hold, love and 
protect.

 Sam kissed Jenna as well, then stepped back.  He reached out and 
took one of Jenna's hands and one of Al's and put them together.  
"Mr. and Mrs. Calavicci, a long and happy life together" he said 
with a smile.

The couple descended the stairs, climbed into Al's car and drove 
away.  Sam and Joe remained on the stairs, watching the car 
disappear into a side street.

"Is it just me" Joe asked "or is there something incredibly powerful 
and, well, right about the two of them being together?"

"It's not just you" Sam said.

Sam drove Joe to the airport and returned to Stallion's Gate alone.

*               *               *               * 

End Part 23 of 25