Okay, folks, here is the long-awaited Mack Bolan fanfic..Inspired by an IM session with Doug, who has a different twist on this scene. Everyone and everything that's referenced in this little dirge belongs to Gold Eagle. This takes places shortly after T.J. Hawkins becomes a part of Phoenix Force. Comments greatly appreciated. Oh, and all the characters here belong to Gold Eagle. I decided to throw them into the sandbox with the Highlander folks, after all. :-)

Thanks!

Communing with the Dead

by Raine Wynd

The two white headstones were tucked away in a corner of the Farm, away from prying eyes. It was probably one of the few places a security camera wasn't trained upon, which wasn't to say that it wasn't as secure. T.J. Hawkins hadn't come across this place before in his exploration of his new home, and he suspected he knew the reason why. It wasn't that he wasn't meant to find the little cemetery; it just was that it wasn't something that was discussed.

The names were unfamiliar to him, but as he read the inscriptions, he realized that whomever rested here had to have been part of the Farm. That much was obvious. The inscriptions weren't much more than names, but the simple fact that they were buried here said volumes about the importance of the dead. He wondered who they were, what they'd meant to the Farm. Instinctively, T.J. knew that he was standing on sacred ground. He wasn't a believer in ghosts, yet he couldn't shake the shiver of otherworldliness that seemed to dwell in this spot.

A throat cleared, and T.J. barely suppressed the urge to jump. He turned to see his commander standing just behind him. "I see you found them," David McCarter said quietly.

"Who were they?" T.J. wondered. Remembering the security briefing he'd been given earlier, he asked, "Or is that a question I'm not allowed to ask?"

A brief glimmer of smile crossed McCarter's fox-like features. "I was never much for following rules, and I don't think April or Konzaki would mind." He paused, remembering the woman he'd loved like the sister he'd never had, the man he'd considered a brilliant armorer. "They died when the Farm was attacked."

T.J. looked surprised. "With all this security?"

McCarter didn't answer. Clearly, while he was willing to bend the rules for a relative newcomer, there were some details T.J. would never be privy to.which suited him just fine. The silence was answer enough, anyway.

"April was one of a kind. We all loved her, but Mack and her.."

T.J. nodded his understanding.

"I watched her once when Mack was on a mission, and she was giving him information about his target. The moment the communication was severed, you could tell she was worried, but she tried not to let it show when she talked to him." McCarter took a deep breath. It had been years since April's death, and he realized abruptly that he hadn't been by her grave or Konzaki's in a very long time. Seeing it again brought the wave of emotion flooding back. If he closed his eyes, he could still see the Farm as it had been that fateful day, still remember the mission to the Soviet Union that had followed, and Mack's cold rage....

"She was the Farm's first mission controller. Konzaki was the armorer, and I quite honestly didn't think either of them — or this whole setup — could fly." He half-chuckled, remembering the humiliation of being proven wrong by Katz in their first mission briefing and the surprise he'd felt at the slick professionalism of the then-fledging operation, even with the limited resources they'd had at the time. "Don't know what I'd do without this place now."

In a move that surprised T.J., McCarter knelt and touched the cool marble of the headstones, his hand lingering over April's. T.J. barely heard McCarter's next words, and just was able to make them out past the stronger accent that suddenly made itself known. "Konzaki. Cowboy's good, but you , you had the dab hand. Miss you, April. Place just hasn't been the same without you, little sister."

McCarter swallowed past the emotion clouding his throat and rose to his feet. Gruffly, he told T.J., "Come on, there's something Hal wants to show you at the house."

T.J. glanced at the little cemetery. Somehow, he knew he'd be back. Whatever sacrifices these two had made, it was enough to reveal a side of McCarter T.J. hadn't thought the other guy had. With that thought in mind, the newest member of Phoenix Force, and of Stony Man Farm, turned to follow his commander back to the main house.

*** Finis***

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