Chapter One - "Washington DC Relocation"

"Settling In"

Author: CdnJAGScribe

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Rating: M

Classification:

Spoilers:

Summary: [Animal/Meg Timeline] Animal relocates to DC where he and Meg feel out their burgeoning relationship and test the waters of mutual intimacy. (Author's Note: Rewrite to bring story in line with timeline laid out]

DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC charactersare the property of the author. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.

Author's Note: I have decided to redo the timeline as most of my standalone stories are all over the place in terms of my previous timeline. So I ended up trying to set up a definitive timeline that I am going to use now for all my stories. All the ones that are in the [Animal/Meg Timeline] will be prefaced by that designation. And I will be writing mostly all of the future stories in said timeline; except for certain stories that I'm currently still trying to finish off. The rest of the Animal/Meg stories will be edited to fit the new timeline and Wild Horses n' Aviators will be brought to a halt as it no longer fits the timeline as it stands now. I will edit each chapter and repost the newly edited (to fit the timeline) chapters of each story; so please feel free to go check out the stories for a second read…because they will probably run a bit different.

Chapter One - "Washington DC Relocation"

...Animal looked out the window at DC. He'd never been assigned to the nation's capital so this was all new to him. It was going to take some getting used to and as Bethesda Naval Medical Center was going to be his "duty station" as he was going to be rehabbing, DC was going to be his home for the foreseeable future until he was physically able to get back to flight status. It was a step in a direction that he hadn't foreseen just a little over two and a half weeks ago and he hadn't foreseen that in only two and a half weeks he'd go from being a front-line naval aviator to having to rehab his injuries; and now have the love of a very beautiful JAG Lieutenant JG. What a change in one's life fortunes could two and a half weeks bring?

And he was looking forward to getting to know Meg Austin…and wherever life's road led for the two of them.

Animal sighed taking in the view around him as he gazed out at the passing scenery and the DC skyline.

"A little overwhelming,isn't it?" Meg's soft voice caused him to start for a second before he realized that she was addressing him. He nodded; after all, this was the first time he'd been in DC. Most of his duty stations were on naval air stations or onboard a carrier. He'd never been assigned to DC nor had he need to come up for any reason. Most line officers tried to avoid a Pentagon assignment - it was anathema to any brown-shoe, even though most detailers were quick to recommend that one do a staff tour to enhance one's promotion prospects.

2145 ZULU, 1645 EST; JAG HEADQUARTERS, NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON DC

Chief Anders drove up to the main gate at the Washington Naval Yard. "Welcome back Sirs, Ma'am; Chief, you're good to go; parking garage slot six near the doors."

"Corporal." Chief Anders acknowledged the directions of the young Marine gate guard; the Marine corporal letting them through upon checking their ID... and drove forward after receiving the IDs back.

Upon parking, Chief Anders looked over and grinned, "Well, sirs, ma'am. It appears as though the JAG is waiting for you."...as he turned off the engine; got out and opened the door allowing Animal to get out of the vehicle, first followed by Harm and then by Meg.

Harm sighed, "...why do I get the feeling that I'm going to be getting roasted over a fire-pit."...as he gathered his luggage out of the trunk of the Navy sedan.

"Sir, I don't think it will be that bad..." Meg grinned at him, "After all, you didn't break any Navy equipment, get shot at or annoy any superior officers." Harm glowered at her as Harm, Meg and Animal walked up to the double doors of the parking garage leading to the elevators.

"That's not funny; Lieutenant JG."grumbled Harm as the elevator doors closed. Animal and Meg stifled identical grins - of course Animal couldn't resist shooting a smirk in Harm's direction. When the elevator came to a stop on the fifteenth floor; they all exited the vertical lift device and walked down the hallway towards the JAG office.

Entering the office through the double doors of the office, Harm and Meg were greeted by RADM AJ Chegwidden. "Welcome back, Lieutenant Commander Rabb, Lieutenant Junior Grade Austin. As to your presence here in the office;I'm to assume that your report is finished?" AJ gave the two junior officers. Then the JAG extended a look of greeting to Animal. "Good to see you again, Commander." AJ greeted Animal, extending a hand in greeting to the Commander.

"Admiral Chegwidden, sir…" Animal nodded as he gave AJ a brief smile as he snapped to attention. "...Admiral, It's good to see you again too, sir. Command on the TR told me to get my six to shore for my benefit in order to get me back to fighting fit, sir, so I find that my path brings me out this way as I've been assigned for recuperative measures as Bethesda has ordered me here for rehabilitation. I believe their words were as soon as possible or something to that effect."

"Considering you were with the Pacific Fleet, I'm surprised that Naval Medical Centre San Diego wouldn't be the ones supervising your recovery." AJ commented.

"Well, sir..." Animal grinned rather sheepishly; "perhaps I may have had something to do with it, sir"...

AJ was sure that there was definitely something to do with that; it appeared to somewhat have to do with something regarding the fact that a certain young Lieutenant JG during the course of her duties had appeared to have become smitten with a certain Naval Aviator Commander and XO of an F-14A Tomcat squadron. He nodded at the Commander's words and looked over at Harm who looked rather resigned at the turn of events regarding the whole situation of his legal partner's object of her affections "So...Lieutenant Commander Rabb; I trust that you and Lieutenant JG Austin have completed the impartial review?"

"Yes, sir..." Both Harm and Meg snapped to attention, "All testimonies of those present at the scene of the events taking place leading to the recommendation were corroborated by other personnel who were present." Harm paused and AJ knew that the rest of the report was confidential and that Animal needed to not be within earshot.

"Let's take this into the office," was his suggestion, "Commander" he hailed the naval aviator who was standing around looking lost. "I need to borrow Lieutenant JG Austin and Commander Rabb. Hopefully this won't take more than half an hour or so; I'll try not to keep them too long." He paused for a moment. "You are welcome to wait for them to help you out with finding accommodation."

Harm hoped that they would be able to find him a hotel in town. They were still clearing the wreckage of a Cessna 150 that had crashed on the lawn of the White House and FBI and TSB accident investigators were crawling all over the site causing the Secret Service no end of fits. Whether it was terrorism or just an unlucky aviator who'd wandered into the no-fly zone; it wasn't certain, but central DC was crowded.

"Thank you, sir..." Animal looked over at Meg who nodded at him and whispered...softly in his ear.

"Wait for me until I'm finished with the admiral." That caused both Animal's and Harm's eyebrows to make a bee-line for the tops of their heads.

Animal nodded in answer to her request while Harm suppressed a cough and the Admiral nodded at Harm knowingly; a look of commiseration. Women made the choices; men lived with those choices.

"Commander, we have a couple of couches in the reception area if you have need of them." AJ notified Animal. "I know you are tired from that travel so I will try to be brief."

"Thank you, sir" Animal stated formally, "Please...take whatever time you need, sir. I'll be fine." After all, one didn't presume to ask an admiral to hurry up for a subordinate officer's benefit. He'd sit down on one of the comfortable chairs and count the divots in the wall for as long as the admiral had business to conduct with the other two officers.

Before AJ turned to take the other two officers down the hallway towards his office he turned to Animal and raising his left hand to scratch his chin thoughtfully he stated, "Commander Nakamura...I heard that you had a battle injury to your shoulder prior to going on leave. Be sure to stop by Bethesda and get it checked out..." the Admiral said. "Legal ramifications, Commander. Don't want to make your injury worse than it currently is by failing to seek regular check-ups." He explained.

"Aye, sir. I believe I've retained counsel on that from Lieutenant JG Austin, sir." Animal replied. He knew that he was stretching it by not going to see a doctor immediately after landing at Washington National, but given that was an order from a two-star, he knew that he had better do as prescribed and go see a quack at Bethesda sometime within the next few days. Of course AJ had other plans regarding that.

"Very well, Commander, and…Lieutenant Austin, you make sure that he goes to see a doctor at Bethesda…tomorrow. " AJ emphasized as he shot Meg a knowing look. "You're excused from duty tomorrow morning, I'll see you at 1300 hrs. That should give you enough time to get Commander Nakamura to Bethesda and back." The admiral smirked knowingly.

Lieutenant JG Austin flushed red, wincing. "Aye-aye, sir." She said raising an eyebrow at Animal who was trying to studiously inspect the wall.

2205 ZULU, 1705 EST; AJ's OFFICE; OFFICE OF THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY; NAVY YARD, WASHINGTON DC

"Lieutenant Commander Rabb; Lieutenant JG Austin, you two have managed to draft up a concise recommendation to the Navy Department Board of Decorations and Medals?"

Harm and Meg stood at attention as they watched the admiral look over their report and recommendations.

"I see all the witnesses corroborated the events as they took place and that the actions for which the nominee has been recommended for have taken place exactly as witnessed. Now that the frivolous charges have been squashed, this recommendation can move forward." AJ continued peering over at the two officers raising one eyebrow, countenance grave. "It was an absolute shit-storm with Campbell making those empty accusations but those accusations had to be heard and rebutted under law. Now that the slate has been wiped clean, the award can go ahead for review. What's going to help this move forward is the unanimous decision from the jury that the complaints were unfounded and of a vindictive nature." AJ paused for a long moment flipping through the report pages and looked up finally shutting the folder. "I will be sending the Chairman of the awards committee my highest recommendation that they move forward with an unbiased review of the award recommendation and for it to proceed to Congressional and Presidential review."

"Since this has been a rather exhaustive investigation, I will be giving the both of you R&R Leave for fourteen days starting at 1830hrs tomorrow. Since you will be up at Bethesda for the majority of the morning, Lieutenant JG Austin; you can check in at 1300hrs before you leave for R&R. You may choose to spend it with your family in Texas or in any other way you see fit. The same goes for you, Lieutenant Commander Rabb. I believe you have family in California?"

"Yes, sir." Harm responded. "I haven't seen my mother for some time. She'll be glad to see me."

"Good, then I'll see you at 0730hrs tomorrow, Lieutenant Commander Rabb." AJ said. "At 1730, you will provide me with a case overview of your pending cases as well as your case folders and I will oversee your cases until the both of you return from leave."

"Good." The admiral stated as he placed the folder on his desk. "And Lieutenant JG Austin; have you been in touch with your mother since you were transferred in from Yokohama last year?"

"Yes, sir" Meg acknowledged the question. "She's aware that I am back in the States and so are my brothers." She paused for a moment, "Sir, you stated that it's likely the award recommendation will proceed to Presidential review. How likely is it that it will be approved?"

The note of keen interest from the Lieutenant JG regarding the course of the Medal of Honor process was unmistakeable to RADM AJ Chegwidden and he inclined his head upwards to affix the Lieutenant JG with a critical stare. "Any particular reason to want to be privy to such information, Lieutenant?" He asked.

"Um...sir..." Meg knew she'd stepped into a minefield and that she would have to tread very lightly in order to keep her sections of the report from being disqualified. "Just interested in the awards process, sir...". She paused then continued carefully weighing her words so as to not set off a cataclysmic explosion from her commanding officer. "I've never seen an award of this calibre's approval process go forward so hence my interest, sir."

AJ knew that was a load of horse-pucky. He'd seen Meg in Yokosuka Naval Station Navy Judicial Services courtroom throw her arms around Commander Nakamura and all but kiss him within sight of all and sundry.

However Commander Nakamura was in a different chain of command as a regular line naval officer under an Aviation Command structure and thus did not fall under chain of command of the Legal Services Command under the purview of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If the Lieutenant JG and the Commander opted to pursue a relationship; no-one would look askance at either of them. It was all legal under the optics of the UCMJ

However...with regards to her input on the awards investigation report, the relationship between one of the investigators and the nominee would certainly look suspect if it wasn't handled with kid gloves . "Lieutenant JG Austin, did you conduct your part of the investigation fully and impartially with no bias towards the nominee?" He asked sharply giving her a penetrating look.

Meg snapped to attention. "Sir, I conducted my part of the investigation fully and impartially with no bias in mind in either favor for or against the nominee, sir!"

AJ decided to take that statement at face value; but decided to table a verbal warning, "Lieutenant Austin, it's good that you conducted your investigation fully and impartially. The optics of this recommendation for the Medal of Honor are just as important as the actions that earned the nominee the Medal and any sort of bias no matter how small can snowball and crush the chances of the award going through during the review process. Any indiscretions will be taken into account." He paused for so long Meg started to get uncomfortable. Then he went on, "However..." another long uncomfortable pause, "...it is at the discretion of my office to allow benefit of the doubt..." he looked sternly over at Meg who just wished she could drop through the floor and disappear. "...and I choose to believe my officers when they tell me that they have done their job to the best of their ability with impartiality." He finished. "And since your part in the investigation is now concluded, you are free to pursue any sort of..." AJ took a brief moment to cough into his hand as Harm resisted smirking which was a dangerous prospect since he didn't know how Meg would respond or how his ribcage would survive. "...relationship with Commander Nakamura, should that be your intent."

Meg couldn't deny it since her actions in the courtroom at Yokosuka had pretty much outed her interest in the Commander at least to all those who had worked with her for any length of time. She just opted to say quietly in acknowledgment of the admiral's insight into the romantic affairs of his subordinates, "Thank you, sir."

"Just tread lightly in the future when it comes to those things, Lieutenant JG Austin."

"Aye aye, sir".

Harm noticed that his partner's poise was tense and she appeared to want to be on her way. Normally Meg was pretty outgoing, gregarious and easy-going so it seemed to be unusual to see Meg in this frame of mind and also seeing the tense stance of her outward body posture reflecting that.

That tenseness wasn't lost on the admiral either, "I believe we've covered everything that needs to be said..." AJ stated, laying both hands palm down on the table and standing up. Both officers in front of him snapped back to attention. "Lieutenant JG Austin, make sure the commander makes it to Bethesda tomorrow morning, That's an order."

"Aye aye, Sir!"

"Lieutenant Commander Rabb, 0730 tomorrow so that you can organize your files by secure."

"Aye aye, sir!"

"Dismissed..." At the admiral's clipped command; both officers about-faced and headed towards the door - they knew that the admiral tended to work late and he would be in the office long after they had gone home.

After they exited the admiral's office, Harm and Meg walked down the hallway headed towards the lounge. "Well, I'm headed home." Harm had a smirk on his face as Meg raised her eyes, inquisitively looking at him. "Your plans for tonight?"

"Not telling..." she said smugly, a grin on her face at Harm's probing which she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of getting an answer to. She locked eyes with Animal as she and Harm entered the lounge.

Animal looked over at the both of them. "Done?"was his simple query.

Meg nodded as each of them gathered up their duffle-bag and briefcase pausing briefly pausing their efforts to clear the area of their belongings as they conversed in the lounge.

"Planning on eating out somewhere?" Harm asked as he hefted his duffle and briefcase. They all knew the regs. You weren't supposed to go to any restaurant dressed in uniform as per the edicts of the Uniform Regulations of the United States Navy. Chapter One; Section 1301 (5) a. General. The prescribing authority may authorize working uniforms, except Navy Blue Coveralls, for commuting to and from work. Commuting is defined as a direct route from place of residence to place of work by means of a private vehicle, to include all travel aboard DOD-owned/controlled aircraft.

"We're going straight home and changing before we head out to eat..." Meg informed Harm who looked rather flummoxed as she grinned at him indicating Animal who was studiously studying the Colonial man o'war during the Revolutionary War painting on the wall in the lounge trying to ignore Harm's penetrating gaze. All of them in service khakis with collar insignia which were the uniforms they'd departed the carrier wearing. Service Dress Khakis; the ones with the ribbons, were the UOD (Uniform of the Day) at the location to which they were reporting to. "Of course that's if we decide to eat out. It's been a long day of travel, Harm and I, for one, would like to get a bit of rest before tomorrow." She told him. "I'm sure Commander Nakamura would like to do the same."

Somehow Animal had managed to scrounge up enough of his pay left over to pick up a khaki O-5/O-6 cover with the single row of scrambled eggs at the onboard ship NAVEX and was holding it under the crook of his arm. Harm smirked at Animal with an ingratiating grin as he turned to Meg "We?" he asked curiously knowing full well that reference to the inclusive first-person plural pronoun wedid not include him.

Meg rolled her eyes. "Yes, we..." the inference to the senior officer standing in the lounge clearly evident in Meg's sarcastic response.

Harm sounded disappointed that he wasn't invited along for their off-duty festivities if having dinner was to be defined as such, "Well, I guess tonight is just me, myself and I." He stated dramatically trying to elicit sympathy from his partner. None was forthcoming.

Meg summarily ignored any further inquiries from Harm as to what she and Commander Nakamura would be doing as they walked-towards the parking garage after getting off the elevator at the parking garage level. Harm's red 68 Corvette was parked in the parking garage while a few spaces down sat Meg's sedan.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow before we go on leave." Harm said resignedly. It had been a little too short of time with Meg doing the investigation onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. He'd wanted to get to know his partner a bit more and he'd felt that tension between them; the type of sexual attraction, at least on his part, that caused many to throw caution to the wind and do the unthinkable of getting personally involved with a co-worker. And that was strictly forbidden within the JAG chain of command. What he hadn't realized was that Meg would look outside the chain of command to satiate her desires and that had taken him by surprise; an unpleasant surprise.

"I'll see you tomorrow, sir" she said to Harm who sighed deeply and nodded getting into his car and shutting the door.

When Animal and Meg were settled in Meg's car, she turned to Animal who had mentioned that he could just get dropped off at a hotel near the Pentagon and that he could make his way via the subway to Bethesda but Meg resisted. She told him that there was no way that she was going to allow him to spend exorbitant amounts of money on accommodation when they could just share where she was living.

Animal knew that Meg was formidable when she put her mind to what she wanted and it was useless to try and resist.

In any case, Meg lived near the Navy Yard. It cut down on commute times and she was able to have the afternoon to relax in any case. As Meg pulled into the the apartment complex that had a sign with the name Capitol Hill Crest Apartments. Animal admired the white stucco, wood and concrete building as they went into the underground parking lot.

Meg parked in her spot near the elevators leading up into the building. "Bring your bags up. Even though this is a good neighborhood, I don't leave temptation for people to break into my vehicle." She stated.

"Are you sure you're OK with me bunking with you?" Animal asked her.

"Absolutely..." Meg responded as they entered the now open doors of the elevator. "Oh, Hello, Mrs. Hamilton." She addressed an grey-haired matronly woman who was wearing slacks a blouse and a button up white cardigan who was standing outside the elevator making sure that the two naval officers were able to join her in there.

"Why hello, Meg." The elderly lady greeted her warmly as Meg gratefully thanked the lady who'd held the elevator for them. "Just returned?"

"Yes. Had some out of town work for a few weeks." Meg informed her. "Hopefully I won't have need to go out again for a while."

"Well, dear; that's Navy life for you. Saul did it for twenty five years before he got out into the regular world." Mrs. Hamilton said as the elevator came to a stop on the sixth floor. "You two have a good day, dear. I have to get home and feed my cats." She waved back at Meg as she hurried down the corridor.

Animal had a mental impression of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland as he watched her scurrying away. Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! He just shrugged his shoulders while waiting for Meg to unlock her door.

When Meg pulled in the bags that she had, Animal was able to bring his in. His eyes widened. It was a nice compact studio apartment with an open layout. "i've only been living here for a few months." She informed him. "I moved in recently. The rent isn't too high and it's easy on the pocket book for a junior officer to maintain." Animal had to admit that this was certainly well worth the rent. "What do you say we order out?" Meg asked him forcing him to switch rapid mental gears from discussing her apartment to deciding what to get for dinner.

"I don't know." Animal stated trying to appease both their stomachs by deciding quickly, "Chinese sounds good." He looked at Meg questioningly.

Meg nodded, she agreed that Chinese was what she'd been considering too. Grand China Carryout had a delivery menu and well, they ordered at least fifty seven dollars worth of food plus tax. The restaurant stated that they would deliver within forty-five minutes. Animal insisted that he would pay for the meal since he had the greater income than Meg who had made a half-hearted protest but finally acquiesced to his paying his way.

Animal observed that the bed was up against the wall and the couch was right at the foot facing a TV and a stereo system. Meg was meticulous in making sure her bed was neat and tidy as anyone who entered her place would see the bed.

The bathroom was a separated room to the side which luckily had some privacy as her studio apartment's floor to ceiling windows were tall panes of triple-glazed glass with only a curtain spanning the lower half of the window and bare window spanning the upper half. The studio apartment had sixteen foot ceilings. Upstairs was an open area which would normally be a sleeping area for most people but it was where she'd turned into her office replete with filing cabinets and a desk with fax machine and a laptop computer.

Pretty soon a ring on the kitchen counter phone interrupted Animal and Meg's soft conversation. It was the Chinese food delivery-person and Meg gave her suite number, floor-number and hit the front door unlock for the main-door to the complex.

It took about three minutes from main door unlock for the knock to come on Meg's suite door. Animal handed over cash plus tip amount to the delivery driver and the man was on his way. Shutting the door, Animal brought the bags over to the kitchen counter and He and Meg started slowly portioning out the food. The main ingredient of a number of the Chinese dishes that they'd ordered was meat. Meg did prefer to eat healthy but unlike her legal partner, she couldn't go completely without meat. And meat-less dishes didn't give her the same digestive satisfaction.

"Lucky Harm isn't here..." Animal commented dryly, "he'd be having a fit with seeing chicken balls and BBQ pork."

"All things considered since he's a vegetarian..." Meg smirked with a deliciously wicked twinkle in her eyes, "...guess we can't say he'd have a cow...".

Animal nearly choked on his food.

1845 EST; MEG'S APARTMENT, NAVY YARD DISTRICT; WASHINGTON DC,

Animal dried the last few dishes as Meg handed them to him. The counter was light granite which matched the tiles on the kitchen walls.

When they were finished drying their hands, Meg looked over at him, "So what time do you think we should head up to Bethesda?" She asked him knowing that with traffic considerations it would be an early morning.

Animal looked at his aviator's watch on his wrist. "I have an actual appointment time of 0940hrs. Which means we should wake up about 0700hrs if we want to get up there. I'm not sure about the traffic situation so we need to get up there early." They walked from the kitchen to the main living area which meant the area where both the bed and the couch sat.

Meg gave him a slow grin as she said huskily, "so...I guess we should take a shower tonight then." Meg's eyes were locked on his.

"Flip a coin to see who gets first dibs on the showers?" Animal said trying to defuse the tension with a little humor.

"Who said anything about taking turns?" Meg's voice was a low purr as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him leaning in and locking her lips on his losing herself in an impassioned kiss running her hands along his back pulling his shirt up and Animal felt her bare hands under his shirt running along his bare skin sending tingles. Then her hands moved forwards sliding out from under his shirt and then unbuttoning his khaki shirt which dropped to the floor with a metallic muffled clunk as his CNT shirt hit the floor; his wings hitting the Certified Navy Twill followed immediately by the muffled thud of his ribbon rack the two objects hitting almost a single thunk on the hardwood floor. His white t-shirt also followed silently to cover his khaki shirt.

"I...want...you..." whispered Meg in his ear as she clung tightly to him. "...so...much..." This was a side of Meg Austin that Animal had never experienced even during that intimate kiss at the VOQ in Yokosuka. He was definitely not the one in control of this encounter as he sat down forcibly on the couch as Meg pushed him down to a sitting position and she sat on his lap straddling him face to face; her fingers in his hair.

His eyes widened as he felt her hands questing for his belt-buckle tugging at it to loosen it; her lips on his mouth hungrily kissing him. Animal's brains fled for parts unknown presumably Bermuda or Tahiti.

He'd be saying Acts of Contrition for the next six months at any rate.

OK...nine months. Animal amended his timeline as Meg slipped off his lap, grabbed onto his belt and tugged, slipping both khaki trousers and briefs off him. What minuscule portion of his mind that was left said a brief oh my God and disappeared and all that was left was animalistic instinct which was nothing but pleasure centered. His eyes were closed as he felt her touch against his bare skin.

His mind never even registered the fact that Meg was now back sitting on his lap and all he could feel was her bare skin against his bare skin and a cascade of moist sensations that he'd only ever dreamed about.

His eyes widened as Meg sighed softly in his ear a supplication to a higher deity of "oh...god..." Animal thought he also heard an "oh...yes." Yup he was going to be saying those Contritions for one full year. I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee...yeah, but it was something that was utterly pleasurable to the point where all his religious cares went out the window. He was Meg's and she was his. This was mutual consent; wasn't it? Animal rationalized as he felt Meg tighten around him and cry out with release as he let out a soft groan.

"Birth control?" Were the first two words out of his mouth when he could control his breathing. Meg nodded.

When she could speak she said "I've been on it since puberty." A light sheen of sweat covered her skin. "I think we need a shower." She said indicating their state of undress with a smirk. "If we didn't have reason enough before."

"This wasn't too quick?" Animal asked thinking that perhaps they'd jumped in with both feet too quickly after revealing how much they cared for each other.

"We're both adults." Meg rationalized as she gazed into his eyes. "Consenting adults..." she clarified. She was still on his lap and he could still feel her weight on him, a light weight barely perceptible to someone who worked out like Animal. "Tosh?" Meg whispered in his ear.

"...yes..." he answered Meg.

"Again?" She murmured as she reached down and his eyes widened. God, she was his everything. Passionate love-making ensued with her straddling him and his hand on her hips. Her eyes were wide with pleasure as she gazed into his and both sighed in pleasure as they went over the edge together.

After which Meg pulled him into the shower which his memory was hazy but it seemed as though not a lot of washing took place, at least for the first little while.

It was a rather wet and naked Meg who smirked at him as she wrapped her leg around his torso and guided him into doing whatever she wanted. And well, as a man, Animal went along quite willingly.

When they were finished with shower exertions, they washed off; hair and torso and exited the shower.

As Animal looked rather confused at any rate staring at the couch more of a loveseat trying to decide if he would fit, Meg informed him that he wouldn't be sleeping on the couch but in her bed with her. "It's a queen; plenty of space..."she informed him. "I want you sleeping with me..." she hugged him tightly, the feel of her bare skin still moist from the shower that they'd taken, the feathery light touch of tendrils of freshly washed damp hair against his cheek and the light peachy scent of her body wash wafted against his nostrils.

Animal smiled. Today he had seen and felt things with Meg Austin that Harm could only dream of. And well, Harm was just going to have to be satisfied with dreams as Animal had Meg Austin's heart and there was no way that she was ever returning on the market again.

It was with those thoughts that Animal and Meg turned out the lights, comfortable in their nudity, Meg's left leg draped across Animals thighs; Meg's naked core pressed up against Animal's hip. And her left arm across his chest, her breasts pressed up against his side and her head tucked against his; her breath tickling his ear. They fell asleep together as the moonlight fell over their slumbering bodies nestled amongst the sheets.