Disclaimer: The characters of JAG don't belong to me. I just borrowed them from Bellisarius Productions, Paramount and CBS for this story. No infringement intended.

Victim of the Game

1330 ZULU
Tuesday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

" Imes, Rabb, Mackenzie, in my office." Admiral Chegwidden bellowed through the bullpen as he made his way from the elevator to his office.

Harm closed the door to the Admiral's office after Mac and Lt. Cmdr. Carolyn Imes had entered. The two women took a seat, Harm standing behind them.

"Imes, I have a DOO case that needs your attention. Consider Lt. Singer as your legal aid for this case."

The Admiral handed a file over to Carolyn Imes and then dismissed her.

"Admiral?" Mac asked, irritated by why Harm and she had been called in as well.

"Doo, disobedience of a direct order. Does this sound familiar, Colonel?"

Harm's mouth dropped open, "Sir, you are charging Mac?"

"The United States is charging her, Commander."

"But..."

"Harm, it's okay." Mac cut in.

"No, it's not. Admiral, she saved three lives. How can you possibly think about charging her?"

"Please, take a seat, Commander." Admiral Chegwidden said. "I will assign Imes as prosecution, and I want you, Commander, to be the Colonel's defense counsellor in the upcoming hearing."

"With all due respect, sir, it's Mac we are talking about here."

"I can speak for myself pretty well, Commander." Mac shot at him to silence him. "I did not agree with an order I was given and have to face the consequences now."

"To be honest, Colonel, I would have acted the same way." the Admiral admitted before he turned back to Harm. "Commander, I will assign Lt. Roberts to your help. I want you to get Mac out of this with all charges dropped. You are going only against Imes, remember that. I know you can beat her."

"Aye aye, sir." Harm said and sprung up from his chair.

"Dismissed, Commander. Colonel, a word with you in private."

Harm left his CO's office and returned to his office while Mac remained in her chair.

"Mac, I don't think I have to tell you about the consequences you have to face when you are being charged guilty."

Mac shook her head, "No, sir. I was fully aware of them when I went after Harm. I couldn't let him and the two others die. All three officers are respected members of the United States Navy, and I felt it was not right to leave them behind in Iran."

"You don't have to defend yourself in front of me. I am not the enemy, Mac."

"I know, sir."

"I thinks it's the best you take some of your vacation days, come to terms with all this. The moment it's public that you saved a State Senator's daughter's life, it is going to be in the news. Maybe it would be a good idea to leave town till the hearing is set."

Mac nodded solemly, "Yessir, I will take some vacation days, but I am not going to leave town. I am not going to run away from this."

"I knew you'd say that. Dismissed, Colonel."

Mac snapped off a sharp salute before she left the Admiral's office. She went straight to her office to gather her stuff from the desk and put it into her briefcase. She looked up when she heard a knock on her door.

"What are you doing?" Harm asked upon entering her office.

"The Admiral suggested I take some vacation days till this is over."

"Mac, I am sorry."

Harm placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Mac immediately shrugged it away.

"Don't be sorry for me."

"But I am. I put you into this situation."

Mac sighed and plopped down in her chair, "It's not your fault, Harm. I was fully aware of the consequences. We discussed this countless times before."

Harm sat down on the desk in front of Mac and picked up her hand, squeezing it lightly.

"I couldn't let you die, Harm. You mean more to me than my career and being a marine, don't you understand that? I love you, and I need you. Alive."

"I'll get you out of this, I promise."

Harm got up from the desk and left Mac's office in search for Bud.

"Bud!" he called when he saw him on his way to the elevator.

"I have a meeting in ten, sir." he called back.

"Whatever it is, it can wait. My office."

Bud closed the door after he had entered Harm's office.

"What can I do for you, sir?" he asked and put down his briefcase on the chair in front of the desk.

"I know you are not used to my leg work anymore, but the Admiral assigned you to help me with my current case."

"I thought you wrapped up the Roebuck case in court yesterday."

"We did, Bud. I want you to bring me anything you can find on an General Joshua Mannings."

"What for, sir?"

"They are charging Mac for a DOO, Bud."

"Sir? You wouldn't be joking about something like that, would you?"

"Do I look like I am joking, Lieutenant?" Harm exclaimed, but lowered his voice immediately. "Mac is being charged for saving three lives, mine included. I want you to help me prove that what she did was not only disobeying an order, but also saving several lives that some people were ready to sacrifice. I want to nail those people, and you will help me."

"Yessir. Can I go to my meeting now?"

"Call this meeting off, Bud. We are going down to records."

Harm left his office, with Bud in tow.

"How was that friend of yours called that had to do this essay about article 92 hearings at law school?" Harm asked and pushed the call button for the elevator.

"Lt. Keating, sir."

"Call him and ask him for every little piece he gathered. We might need it, and it saves us a lot of time digging for it outselves."

The door to the elevator opened, and the two Navy officers stepped in. Bud reached for the button labeled 'b', basement.

"How is the Colonel holding up, sir?"

"She seems to take this a lot easier than I do."

They reached the basement and walked down the long, dark corridor towards records.

"Bud, I know you probably don't want to hear this since you are having family, but you will put 24 hours a day, 7 days a week into this case, got me?"

"Yessir, I will, sir."

Harm shortly smiled at Bud before he pushed the door to records open.

1405 ZULU
Tuesday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Lt. Harriet Sims watched Mac out of the corner of her eyes. She had seen Harm trying to comfort her a moment earlier, and she had noticed Mac's reaction. Something was not right between those two. Harriet tugged at her uniform before she headed straight to Mac's office, trying to find out what was going on.

"Ma'am?"

Mac looked up from her desk to see her standing in the doorway.

"Harriet, this is a very bad time. I am in a hurry."

"Ma'am, I saw Cmdr. Rabb heading for the elevator with a look on his face that could have killed. Is everything all right?"

"He is my defense counsel in a DOO hearing, and I think he's not very pleased with that."

"Ma'am, I don't quite understand." Harriet stuttered.

"When Harm was held captive, I was given order to stay out of what was going on in Iran, but I did not. They are trying me for that." Mac responded and closed her briefcase. "The Admiral suggested I take some vacation days."

Harriet nodded solemly, "Colonel, permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead, Harriet."

"Is everything okay between you and the Commander? Privately I mean. I saw he was trying to comfort you earlier."

Mac shook her head no. She had learned that it was safe to confide in Harriet about her relationship with Harm.

"He thinks it's all his fault, but it's not. It was my decision to go, not his. Though he's not telling me, I know he feels responsible for what is happening. It's been bothering him ever since we came back from Iran. He knew they'd sue me sooner or later. I accepted the consequences, but it seems he can't or doesn't want to."

"Mac, he's in love, what do you expect him to do? He's just trying to protect the woman he loves, and you just seem to be giving him a hard time doing just that. It's all about a man's ego."

A man's ego... when it came to that, Harm sure would beat every other man in this whole world in that category.

"Frustration."

"'Scuse me?"

"Frustration, ma'am. I know that from Bud. Every time things just won't work out the way he wants, he gets frustrated. And the only two things that work to get him back to normal is talking about it and s..."

"Stop right there, Harriet!" Mac exclaimed and raised her hand. She didn't need to know about that.

"Sleep, ma'am." Harriet finished her sentence nevertheless, a mischivous grin on her face. "But I guess the other word starting with S would work as well."

"Okay, so what do you suggest I do? I tried the talking part with no avail."

"Why not try the third thing we just talked about?"

"Harriet!" Mac giggled. "You as a married woman have to know that this is sure not the answer for everything."

Harriet nodded, "True, but a little adventure now and then can't be wrong, especially when he's mad at you or worried about you. It makes him either wild as an animal or really gentle."

"You talking out of experience?"

Harriet blushed before she nodded silently. Mac had to really control herself not to laugh out loud. She just couldn't picture Bud being 'wild like an animal'. He was... just Bud!

"Ma'am, if I tell you something Bud said the other day, will you tell him I told you?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"Bud had to pick up something in the basement a couple of days ago." Harriet started. "Well, you know he can be lost in his thoughts sometimes, so he told me he stepped out of the elevator without further thinking, suspecting nothing wrong down there when he saw you and the Commander kissing."

Mac cringed shortly as she continued to listen to Harriet.

"He gave me a perfect description of where his hands were and what they were doing that I had to think for a moment I might be married to some sort of sick voyeur. He said you looked like two wild animals jumping on each other as soon as you were out of sight from anyone else. And then he started complaining why we never were like you and the Commander."

"Do I have to take this as a compliment?"

"What I am trying to say is, loving each other makes you grow closer, ma'am. You share your feelings, your ups and downs, your most intimate secrets. If I hurt, Bud does as well, and if he hurts, I do the same. I don't think it's different with you and the Commander. And I also think you don't take this miserable situation as easy as you let everyone believe. Open your heart to Harm, tell him you are afraid of what might be. Show him you can be weak as well. He will understand."

"I am Marine, Harriet, and Marines don't show emotions, nor are they weak."

"With all due respect, Colonel, the moment you walk out of this building after a long day of work, the moment you change out of your uniform, you are only Sarah Mackenzie. And that Sarah Mackenzie is allowed to be weak and show emotions. If you were such a politically correct Marine, you shouldn't have gotten involved with the Commander in the first place."

Harriet snapped off a salute before she left Mac's office, leaving her behind to think.

1805 ZULU
Tuesday
Njam Njam Restaurant
Washington DC

Harm had left a message on Mac's machine to meet him for lunch at the Chinese restaurant close to his apartment. She was out of her uniform, and running late when she finally entered Njam Njam Restaurant.

"Sorry, I got caught up in traffic." she apologized as she joined Harm at the table.

She sat down in the chair opposite him and reached for the menu. Harm stopped her by placing his hand on top of hers.

"Why did you leave the office without telling me? Why didn't you answer the phone?" he asked. "I was worried about you."

"I am fine, you don't have to worry about me." she snapped.

"I don't believe you are taking this that easy. If you end up guilty, it will put a strain on your career. You may even end up in jail."

"Don't you think I don't know that?" Mac took a deep breath to keep calm. "I told you I knew about the consequences, and I am ready to deal with them, but..."

"But what?" Harm cut in when she didn't give him an answer right away.

"But I was not ready to deal with your death, and never will. They were ready to sacrifice you, Zapper and Ice, but I was not. It was in my hands to get you back alive. If it was for them, all that was left of you was a tombstone at Arlington. Even if they had put me under arrest, I would have found a way to get to you. Hell, I am scared of what will happen in that trial, is that what you wanted to hear from me?"

Harm pushed his chair around the table close to Mac.

"No, I don't want you to say what you think I want to hear, I want you to tell me what you really feel. Truth."

"Okay, truth. I don't like it when you treat me like damaged goods cuz I am not. Just because they are trying me doesn't mean I've changed in any way. I am still Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie, I am a Marine, and I am a lawyer, Harm. I've thought about all this crap of disobeying an order while being out there in Iran to find you. And do you know what, Cmdr. Harmon Rabb JR? I did what I did cuz I wanted to, it was my free will. I didn't feel my decision was wrong until you started all this 'I am sorry' stuff. You don't help me with that. You just make me feel bad."

"I never intended to..." Harm's voice trailed off, Mac's words sinking into his head. "Mac, I just feel bad that the heroic thing you did is going to be turned against you. You don't need to be sued for that. If it was me to decide, you have to be awarded with the Medal Of Honor."

A smile broke out on Mac's face and her hand reached out to touch Harm's cheek.

"I don't need some Medal Of Honor. All I need is you, Harm. I want you to understand that. I did it out of love, my love for you. That night in Turkey, I said something to Clay that scared me."

"What did you say?"

"That I'd rather die than being left behind without you. The worst thing I can imagine is having to live my life without you by my side."

Harm didn't reply verbally. He put a comforting smile on his face and cradled her hand in his. They sat in that position until the waiter came to take their order.

"Since we are talking truth here, Harm, I want you to know something. I don't feel very good about you being my defense counsel."

"Why? Am I not good enough for you?"

"No!" Mac exclaimed. "The Admiral thought it was for the best when he assigned you to my defense, but I feel like you are putting too much into this case. You are too close."

"Hell, yeah, you are my best friend, Mac. Not only that, you are the woman I love."

"That's exactly what I am talking about. I am not going to question your objectivity, I just don't feel very comfortable. I know everything that happened when Diane got murdered. You beat an officer of lower rank and got arrested for her murder just because of your strange behaviour. It almost ended your career. I am afraid that something like that may happen again as I know you are ready to sacrifice everything for the people you love. I don't want to be the reason to end your career."

"Please, Mac, don't tell the Admiral to pull me off your case. Just from partner to partner, I want to be there for you like I've been before. I promise you something like that will never happen again, I have grown up. The Admiral and I, we both want the best counsel for you. I may sound conceited now, but I am the best you can get."

"I know you are the best, and I know you want the best for me, but that doesn't change my feelings. I... I can't explain this, Harm. We agreed that we would separate work from our private life, but suddenly it all merges into one big mess."

"We'll pull out of this, Mac, together. I promise."

Harm leaned over the table and placed a tender kiss on Mac's lips.

"I love you, Sarah, forever. No matter what will happen, I will always be there for you and love you."

Mac smiled, "I love you."

2025 ZULU
Tuesday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Harm was lost in his thoughts when Bud knocked at the open door to his office and entered.

"Sir, Imes and Singer are flying off to Turkey to question General Mannings. He is at Izmir AFB, waiting for his call to Bahrain."

Harm raised his eyebrows, and reached for the phone. He dialed a number, while he said, "Bud, reserve us two seats for the next flight. We'll fly to Turkey as well."

"Yessir."

Bud turned and left the office. Harm placed the receiver between his ear and shoulder while he searched for something in the top drawer of his desk.

"Geez, Mac, why do I always have your machine picking up today?" he uttered into the receiver and pushed the drawer close. "Listen, Bud and I will fly to Turkey tonight. I'll call you later."

Harm placed the receiver back in the cradle and started putting the files into his briefcase. He picked it up and left his office. A grinning Carolyn Imes met him on his way to the elevator.

"You heard Singer and I will fly off to Turkey?"

"Yep."

"Mannings is currently stationed at Izmir AFB."

"I know."

"Gee, you are very talkative today, Harm."

Harm turned to her, "Sorry, I am just not into this chit chat right now. This case is far important to me than the usual crap we investigate."

"I know. Look, Harm, Mac is my friend as well. I really don't feel very good charging her for something that I think was right."

"Don't let the Admiral hear that or he'll pull you off the case."

Carolyn smiled, "If you see her, tell her I will call before we leave for Turkey. Just from friend to friend. I guess she can need one right now."

Harm stepped into the elevator and glanced at Lt. Cmdr. Carolyn Imes one last time before the doors closed. On his way to his car, he picked his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Mac's cell, hoping he would reach her there, but she was not answering, and her mailbox picked up. He sighed and dialed his own number. Maybe he was lucky there. He heard his machine pick up.

"Mac, are you there? Please, pick up." he uttered and fumbled for his car keys in his pocket. He waited for some time, until Mac finally picked up.

"Hold on a second." he heard her say and disconnect the machine. "All right. What's up, sailor?"

"I left a message on your machine. Imes and Singer are flying to Turkey tonight. Mannings is currently stationed at Izmir AFB. Bud and I will fly to Turkey as well. I am on my way home to pack my stuff as we speak."

"Turkey? I definitely had different plans for us tonight."

"I am sorry, Ninja Girl. I will make up for that, I promise."

"Does this mean I have to get dressed before you get home?"

"MAC!"

"Just kidding." she teased. "Would I do that to you?"

"Yes, you would. I can clearly remember a time about a week ago when I knocked at your door and you opened buck naked."

"I told you I had just gotten out of the shower when you knocked."

"Yeah right, as if I bought that." Harm chuckled. "By the way, what are you doing at my place anyway?"

"I feel really bad about a couple of things I said to you during lunch. I thought I could make up for it tonight. I was planning a surprise, but I guess I can forget about that now."

"Look, I'll be home in about 20 minutes. Whatever you are just doing, finish it fast! I want to see this surprise."

"Don't worry, I'll be ready by then. Harm?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, Sailor."

A smile broke out on Harm's face, "I love you, too, Marine."

Harm disconnected his cell phone and then pulled out of the parking lot in front of JAG Headquarters.

2205 ZULU
Tuesday
Harm's apartment
North of Union Station
Washington DC

" Who was on the phone?" Mac called from the bedroom area, placing one of Harm's uniform shirts back in his bag.

"Bud." Harm called back. "Our flight leaves at 1935 from Dulles. What are you doing there?"

Harm eyed her rearranging his clothes in the bag.

"Now I know why your uniform always looks crumpled. Did your mother never show you how to pack this the right way?"

Harm grimaced and rolled his eyes. Women!

"Now leave that bag alone and help me fill my notes. I need to be prepared."

Mac joined Harm on the couch a moment later. On the small coffee table, a lot of papers lay scattered, and Harm was sorting through them.

"What do you want to know?" Mac asked, crossing her legs in front of her on the couch. "I thought I told you everything at least a dozen times already."

Harm picked up one of his notes from the table, "I need to go over this with you once more, just to know if everyting is a hundred percent correct."

"Are you questioning my story here?"

"No!" Harm raised his hand in defense. "I just need to know if what I wrote down is correct."

He handed the paper over to Mac who quickly read it. Then she nodded and handed it back to him.

"That's exactly what happened. Mannings called Harris in, he told me he would blow up the Tomcat, Mannings gave me order to stay out of it, I didn't. End of story."

"Something doesn't fit here. Webb told me that Milton had called in all favors to get his daughter out of Iran alive. If it hadn't been for his insistency, no ransom would have been paid. So why would someone then give out an order to Harris to blow up the Tomcat, meaning the death of Milton's daughter?"

Mac shrugged her shoulders silently.

"I need to get a hand on this order. I feel like someone is trying to guide us in the wrong direction here, and you are their scapegoat, Mac."

"I think I lost you here..."

"Look, it's quite simple. Orders get written and faxed. Say, some high ranking officer wants to send out an urgent fax. What would he do?"

"Probably have his assistent type it."

"Right. And what does the assistant then do? They print the fax and have it signed off by their Superior."

"I can follow you there."

"Now, this is an urgent fax that needs to be sent out on a safe line. What would the assistant do?"

"Probably hand it over to someone to deliver it to communications."

"Okay. The fax is delivered and sent out. How many persons have touched that piece of paper until it actually was sent out?"

"4, maybe 5."

"Okay, watch this."

Harm picked up a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. Then he picked up a letter from his briefcase and placed both in front of Mac.

"If you hadn't seen me writing this, what would you think?"

Mac picked up the small piece of paper and studied it.

"I'd say this looks remarkably like the Admiral's signature. Harm?"

"I used to forge a lot of signatures when I was in high school, including my mom's and the Principal's. I have never used Chegwidden's signature for anything illegal. But back to the case. So we had 5 people seeing that fax after it was signed off. 5 people that had the ability to change it."

"Assuming someone would forge the signature."

"Right. The order came from the Pentagon. If I call the SecNav, I hope he will tell me who signed it off. It's easy to find out the way it made from being signed to actually being sent out. Okay, I will have to leave this to..." Harm rubbed the back of his head. "Shit, I need Bud with me in Turkey, but I also need him back here in DC for research. Remind me next time I talk to the Admiral to tell him that we are really short handed at the moment."

"I'll take care of the SecNav."

"Mac, this is your case we are talking about here. You can't just head off to the SecNav and request an order concering your own trial."

"I know that. Just let me take care of it, okay? One thing less you have to worry about. I can't just sit by the side and watch. Give me something to do. Even if it is only digging in books or whatever, I need to occupy myself."

"Okay, I surrender." Harm smiled and placed a quick kiss on Mac's lips. " I think Bud and I can handle everything else from Turkey. You get me the order from the SecNav, I get the order Mannings received. And then we will compare those two."

"And what do you expect to find?"

"Mac, if this order was forged, if the fax Mannings received said something completely or partially different, the whole operation was some sort of a fake."

"Meaning what?"

Mac knew very well what this meant when she formed the question, but she needed to hear this from Harm.

"Meaning you are being charged for nothing."

0015 ZULU
Tuesday
Dulles International Airport
Washington DC

Harm was running late when he checked in for his flight to Izmir. Mac had offered to drive him to the airport, and they had gotten stuck in a traffic jam on the Beltway.

Bud had already boarded the flight to Izmir 10 minutes earlier with Imes and Singer. Unintentionally, the three of them had given Harm and Mac some time to theirselves for their goodbyes. They were holding hands while making their way to the departure gate.

"I wish I didn't have to go. Or at least could take you with me." Harm whispered.

His hand let go of hers just to put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"It will be only for a couple of days," Mac replied, "I will be fine, and so will you."

She smiled at him with a smile that made it almost irresistable for Harm to leave.

"Will you miss me?"

"Every second of the day, Harm."

Harm stopped and placed a tender kiss on Mac's lips. Unwilling to let go, Mac wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Mac," Harm shortly broke their kiss, "I have to go."

Finally, they pulled apart. Their gaze was locked, as were their hands. Over the PA, Harm's flight was announced for the last time.

"Have to go." Harm repeated, his head indicating the departure gate.

Mac just nodded, putting a reassuring smile on her face to let him know that she would be fine. He would be gone just for a couple of days, and it was not like they had never slept in separate beds before. Mac had to giggle when Harm put his puppy dog face up.

"You know what, Fly boy? You look like a boy who is forced to leave his favorite toy behind with that face."

"Can you say that again, please?"

"Jerk!"

Mac playfully slapped him on his upper arm, before she gently shoved him towards the gate.

"Why do I have this strange feeling you want to get rid of me, Mac?" Harm pouted as he picked his briefcase from the ground and finally started walking off towards the gate.

"I do not want to get rid of you, I just want you to do the work you've been so eager to do. C'mon, Bud is waiting for you. Heaven knows what he already suspects why you are late."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I didn't tell you, okay?"

"Cross my fingers, swear to die."

"Well, he saw us kissing down in the basement the other day." Mac started. "He told Harriet later, giving her a perfect picture of where your hands were - a spot where they certainly did not belong regarding the place we were in. Anyways, she told me this morning, telling me he called us two wild animals jumping on each other as soon as we were out of sight from anyone who'd report us to the Admiral."

Harm broke out in loud laughter. He stopped immediately when he saw the flight staff closing the gate doors to his flight to Izmir.

"I love you, Mac. I'll call you later."

He placed a quick kiss on her lips before he rushed to the counter, presented his ticket and ran down the corridor to catch his plane.

"I love you too, Harm." Mac whispered as she saw the doors getting closed behind Harm.

Inside the plane, Harm rushed down the aisle past Imes and Singer who were seated in the front. He shortly nodded his head in their direction, only to see that both of them were trying to stiffle their laughter. Harm shortly shrugged his shoulders before he spotted Bud in the very back end of the plane.

"You are late, sir." Bud uttered and got up to give Harm access to his seat at the window.

Without saying anything, Harm stored his briefcase in the overhead compartment and then got in his seat and buckled up.

"Bud, wipe that naughty grin off your face. We got stuck in a traffic jam on the Beltway."

"We, Commander?" Bud chuckled.

"Yes, we. The Colonel drove me. Case closed, Lieutenant."

"Yessir."

Bud snapped off a mock salute, trying to stiffle his laughter.

"Bud!" Harm addressed him again.

"Excuse me, sir, but you, ugh, got lipstick..."

Bud indicated Harm's lips. Embarrassed, Harm wiped it away immediately. Groaning, he realized why both Imes and Singer were trying to hide their laughter.

"Sir, I know you want to be very discreet about your relationship with the Colonel, but don't you think you should remember to wipe off her lipstick after you two..."

"Red light, Lieutenant. You're in waters where you have no business."

"Aye, sir."

To keep himself occupied, Bud reached for the airline magazine and began to thumb through it.

"Sir, have you seen they are having a Tom Cruise special? His new movie is on first, then it's A Few Good Men. I love this movie." Bud uttered excited and handed the magazine over to Harm.

"Bud, this movie is a little unrealistic, don't you think? What kind of lawyer would put so much into such a case, risking their career? Whatever Tom Cruise and Demi Moore did in that movie would have ended our careers. That's called too much personal involvement."

Suddenly, Harm grew quiet. Something Mac had mentioned earlier that day came back to his mind. Too much personal involvement. No, this was not going to happen to him, he could stay distant and objective to this case. He needed to - for Mac.

1310 ZULU
Wednesday
Bolling Air Force Base
Washington DC

Admiral AJ Chegwidden walked down the long corridor. He was going to meet a friend this morning, a man he hadn't seen in over 10 years. He knocked at the door to his office and entered.

"AJ Chegwidden." the man behind the desk greeted him. He saluted him before they shook hands. "I was surprised to receive your call. How long has it been since we last saw each other? 10 years?"

"12, I think." AJ replied and took the offered seat in front of the desk. "Captain Stephen Harris, I never thought you would make it that far as a SEAL."

A smile played across Harris' face, "I learned only from the best. Now what is the pleasure of your visit, Admiral?"

"Oh, I thought you could shed some light into a case my people are just investigating."

"Sure," Harris nodded, "what do you want to know?"

"Turkey, 3 weeks ago."

Captain Stephen Harris leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So that Colonel Mackenzie is under your command? As well as Commander Rabb?"

"Yes, Stephen, they are. They are the best I have. Will you tell me what happened in Turkey?"

"There is not much I can tell you. I was not first choice on this command, but Lambert sprained his ankle in a squash game so they sent me. When I arrived on location, Mannings gave me my orders."

"Written?"

"No," Harris shook his head, "verbally. I never saw a written order. I only arrived an hour before Col. Mackenzie and Agent Webb did, which basically gave me only 3 hours to instruct my SEAL team."

"Where you present when Mannings gave the Colonel the order to stay out of Iran?"

"He didn't really tell her to stay out of Iran, he just told her not to get involved. Whatever he meant with that. I never got along pretty well with Jarheads, you know that."

AJ chuckled, "You will change your mind about at least one Marine when we call you to the stand. Col. Mackenzie is one of the finest Marines I have ever met. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that."

"What is going on between your two officers that one of them is willing to sacrifice their career for the other?"

"They are both good friends and very close."

"Sleeping together?"

AJ shook his head, "Not that I know of, and not that it was any of your business anyway."

"She's an attractive woman you know."

"That she is, but neither the Commander nor her would be that stupid to put their careers in question."

AJ sighed. He hoped that what he had just said was the truth. Though deep in his heart he knew that those two were meant to be together. After all, why was he still putting money into the office pool if he didn't believe in a future together for Mac and Harm.

"AJ, I don't know how I can help you. I would lie if I said I didn't hear Mannings giving her such an order."

"Nobody wants you to lie. I want you to tell the truth. That you heard Mannings giving Mac the order and that you never were given a written order about your command in Turkey."

"What are you implying with this?"

"Do you know any background information about what was going on in Iran?"

Harris shook his head, "I get orders, I don't ask questions. I just wondered why someone was ready to blow up a Tomcat and sacrifice three lives."

"That is just what I am trying to find out. I have this very bad feeling this will end in a CM though I assigned my best lawyer to her defense, Cmdr. Harmon Rabb JR."

"Cmdr. Rabb? Why him? He was the one your Marine Colonel rescued."

"He is the best I have, Stephen, and Col. Mackenzie deserves nothing but the best."

"Now I get it! You have the hots for her yourself! It's not that Naval Aviator, it's you!"

"Stephen! I don't have the 'hots' for her as you so crudely put it. I care what happens to her, and respect her both as an officer and a friend. Over the years, Cmdr. Rabb and her have grown to be like children to me. On the one hand, Rabb would be dead if Mac hadn't rescued him. On the other, she's being charged for just that. I always loved being the JAG, but when it comes to such cases, I just hate it. Nobody who saved a life, let alone three, and risked their own should be charged. This is not what I became a lawyer for."

"Don't you think I was thinking the same thing? I did not join the Navy to kill our own people. I joined the Navy to protect and defend my country in war. For a moment, I hoped, no prayed that Col. Mackenzie would head off to Iran and rescue those three officers."

"Would you repeat that in court?"

"Yes, AJ, I would. Col. Mackenzie, Mac, she has more courage than any man I have ever seen."

AJ raised from his chair, "Stephen, remember, this talk never happened."

"Yessir, Admiral."

Captain Stephen Harris stood at attention as AJ left the office.

1412 ZULU
Wednesday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Mac walked into the bullpen dressed in civillian clothes. All she wanted was to pick up a couple of things in her office she had forgotten the day before and to call the SecNav's office about the order she had promised Harm.

"Ma'am, I didn't expect to see you here today." Harriet said surprised, looking up from the fax machine.

"I just wanted to pick up a couple of things I left in my office. Also, there is something you can help me with, Harriet."

"What may that be, Ma'am?"

"I need to call SecNav for some papers. Would you be able to pick them up at the Pentagon? They are too important to be delivered via a courier."

"Yes, Ma'am. May I ask what kind of papers you want me to pick up?"

"It's for my hearing. I can't get them myself, you understand?"

Harriet nodded silently.

"Attention on deck!" they both heard Tiner suddenly yell.

They turned towards the elevator, stood at attention and saluted Admiral Chegwidden.

"Colonel, I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to see here unless it's for your hearing."

"Yessir." Mac replied. "I needed to pick up some things I forgot yesterday."

"Colonel, a word with you in my office." Then AJ turned to the other officers in the bullpen, "As you were!"

Mac shortly looked at Harriet before she followed her CO to his office.

"Any word from Cmdr. Rabb and Lt. Roberts yet?" he asked and sat down in his chair. Then he gestured for Mac to sit down as well.

"No, sir. It's a long flight to Izmir." Mac replied and sat down in one of the leather chairs.

"Your hearing is set for Monday morning, 0930, Colonel. I had a word with the SecNav last night. He wants me to sit second chair for your defense if this is going to a CM."

"Sir?"

"Word leaked out to the press about this. ZNN and local papers are putting it off until after the hearing to give us time to investigate. It's hard to explain that you are about to be tried for something that officially never even happened. Congress is very concerned about Senator Milton's involvement in this case."

"I understand that, Admiral."

"You know that with you on leave, and Rabb, Roberts, Imes and Singer in Turkey there are not many people left at JAG. I took the liberty to question one of the people involved in this. Captain Stephen Harris is an old friend of mine. He is currently stationed at Bollings. He told me some very interesting things. What can you tell me about the Commander's research so far? If he is as clever as I think, he has the same suspicions I do."

"I am sorry not very much, sir. He has this crazy idea though that someone forged orders."

AJ whistled softly, "He's smarter than I thought. I had the very same impression when I talked to Harris. He never received any written orders about his command. Even I got a written order to send Rabb to the Seahawk."

"Do you think this is all still connected to Forbes and Monnahan?"

"I hope not, Mac. If it is, we still have Iranian spies among us. I don't even want to think about that."

"But why else would someone forge an order to kill people?"

"Colonel, the order said to blow up the Tomcats. What would be the benefits for the Hisbollah to blow up the ransom they just received?"

"I don't know, sir. Maybe they were trying to prove a point here."

"Nah, this is too far fetched. Maybe this is some sort of personal revenge."

"Revenge? For getting back at whom? Harm? Me?"

"Not necessarily." AJ picked up the cup of coffee on his desk and took a sip. " Politics, Mac. We have a State Senator's daughter involved in this. Who would benefit from her death?"

"It sure would have been an uproar in the media if she was killed in a highly classified operation. Not to say killed by our own people."

"You are absolutely right. Senator Milton wouldn't have been able to contest his involvement in this. The fact he sympathizes with the countries Far East would have been enough to end his career. It probably would have worked out if one stubborn Jarhead didn't get involved. They probably didn't know not to mess with you."

Mac chuckled, "No, sir."

"Let's leave it up to the Commander to find out what was really going on in Turkey. Sometimes, we just miss the most obvious."

1635 ZULU
Wednesday
Izmir Air Force Base
Turkey

It had been a long flight and drive until the 4 JAG lawyers finally arrived at Izmir AFB. None of them actually had gotten much sleep that night as they had hit turbulences over the Atlantic Ocean. And of course, Bud had decided to watch a certain movie, and his constant comments - aloud - didn't only keep up Harm in the seat next to him, but also the people sitting in the row in front of them and across the aisle.

Finally, they were assigned to their quarters, and all Harm wanted was to get out of his uniform, call Mac and get some rest. He placed his bag on the bed, pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and tossed the bag on the floor next to the bed. He changed quickly out of his uniform and plopped down on the bed.

With a smile on his face, he reached for the phone on the night stand and dialed a familiar number. After a couple of rings, a machine picked up on the other end.

"Hello, you just reached Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie. I am currently not home. Please leave your name and number after the beep and I will call you back. - BEEP - "

Harm sighed, "Mac, this is really getting frustrating. I am calling you, not your machine. Where are..."

"Harm!" he suddenly heard Mac's voice exclaiming cheerfully on the other end. A click, and she had turned of the answering machine.

"Hey ninja girl, how are you doing?"

"I missed you last night. Other than that, I am doing fine."

Harm smiled, "I miss you, too. Look, we just got here and I am ready to hit the sack. I didn't even get 5 minutes of sleep during the flight. They were showing A Few Good Man, and Bud thought he had to prove me how good a lawyer he is. He gave me a real headache. I just thought I'd call and tell you that I love you and miss you."

"Now that is nice, Cmdr. Rabb." Mac giggled. "Do you have any idea when you will be back?"

"Probably by Saturday. We're trying to wrap this up as fast as possible. Chegwidden left us a message that your hearing is set on Monday morning, so we have to wrap this up before."

"I know, I just came in from a meeting with him when I heard the phone ring. He told me he talked to Harris earlier today. He didn't want to butt in your investigation, but Harris apparently is an old friend of the Admiral's back from his SEAL days. Apparently, Harris only heard his orders out of Manning's mouth. Maybe there really is something going on here we don't know about."

"Told you so. First thing in the morning I will ask Mannings to show me those faxes. Imes and Singer have agreed to let Bud and I question him first. Bud is also trying to locate everybody else in that tent that night as we speak. We'll call in really everyone who was involved if necessary. Uhm," Harm stopped for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to ask Mac, "ah, yeah. Can you call Harriet and tell her to locate Zapper and Ice and inform them about the upcoming trial? I want them in DC on Monday."

"Chegwidden already had Harriet do just that. He's taking a lot of investigation out of your hands. Maybe you should call him and ask him about what he has come up with. I also called the SecNav's office about the order you wanted. Told his secretary I was your assistant and that I needed that order yesterday. I told her to contact you on your cell if necessary. If everything goes smooth, Harriet will pick it up this afternoon."

"Okay, I will call the Admiral first thing in the morning. And the moment that order comes in, have Harriet fax it to my email account. That way I'll be sure to be the only one to see it. Also tell her to store it securely. I don't want to see it vanish or end up in the shredder."

"Will do."

"So, what are you doing all this time without me?"

"Maybe I will ask Harriet if I can spend some time with AJ and Christina and take them to the zoo. We still owe AJ a trip to the monkeys, remember?"

"Uhm hum." Harm murmured into the receiver sleepily.

"Harm, why don't you just get some sleep?"

"I think I will do that. Sarah? Promise me something."

"Sure, Harmon." Mac giggled.

"I had a lot of time to think about what you said, and maybe you are right, I am too close to this case. I need your help to stay objective once we hit the courtroom and not let the heat of the moment take over. Will you help me?"

"Of course. I wouldn't be your partner if I did not. And now you listen to me. Hit the pillow and get some sleep. Call me tomorrow and let me know what Mannings had to say, will you?"

"Sure thing, Ma'am."

"Sweet dreams, sailor. Love you."

"Love you, too. Night, Mac."

Harm hung up the phone and turned around in bed, shifting into a comfortable position. Within minutes, he had drifted off to dreamland, dreaming about the woman he loved.

0625 ZULU
Thursday
Izmir Air Force Base
Turkey

Harm and Bud were to meet General Mannings in one of the many meeting rooms on Izmir AFB. They made their way through a labyrinth of corridors in the main building until they finally found their destination. Mannings was already waiting for them.

"General, you were informed about our investigations?" Harm asked and sat down at the round table.

"Yes, Commander, I was. You are investigating a DOO."

"Yessir, we are. I am Lt. Col. Mackenzie's defense counsel."

"JAG are investigating their own people. I always thought lawyers were infallible."

"We are only human, General."

"You know, I never thought combat was the right place for a woman. Too many emotions involved. See where it took your Colonel."

Harm and Bud exchanged looks for a moment. General Mannings seemed to be a very tough cookie, but if any one could break him, it would be Harm.

"Sir, we want to talk to you about your command in Turkey, not about what you think about female officers. is it possible that we could get the listing for your chain of command?"

"Why would you need that, Commander? You are investigating a DOO, I don't know how my order of command will help you."

"It's just a formality, sir." Harm explained.

"You should be able to get a hold of it at communications."

"Lt. Roberts," Harm turned to Bud, "would you care to get me this order once we are finished?"

Bud nodded, "Aye, sir."

"Now, General Mannings," Harm turned his attention back to the older man in the room, "Col. Mackenzie was not under your command in Turkey, was she?"

"No, sir, she wasn't. She suddenly appeared with some Agent Webb. He's the Special Assistent to the Undersecretary of the State."

"We know Mr. Webb, General. Please go on."

"I didn't request anyone from JAG. It was a simple hostage situation we had to deal with. There was no JAG presence needed."

"A simple hostage situation, would you please care to define this for me?"

"We refer to a simple hostage situation if less than 5 people are held captive and no women and children are involved. To our knowledge, we had two hostages 15 miles East of the border in Iran. We only needed to monitor what was going on as a ransom was paid. Simple hostage situations require no military interference, just monitoring."

"Sir, does monitoring include sending out a SEAL team?" Bud cut in, looking up from his notes.

"No, Lieutenant. The SEAL team was for backup only. I had left orders instructing Captain Stephen Harris to send them out 24 hours after the ransom was paid. From that moment on, we would have had to refer to a hostage situation with possible threat to the hostages lives."

"General Mannings, what happened that night after Col. Mackenzie and Agent Webb arrived at your camp?"

"Col. Mackenzie was offering her help. She told me she was able to communicate with the captors in Farsi if necessary."

"You accepted her offer?"

General Mannings let out a sarcastic chuckle, "What do you think, Commander?"

"So you did not."

"No, Commander, I did not. I was very much capable of handling that situation on my own without any JAG involvement. Your Colonel asked me some standard JAG questions before she stormed out of the tent."

"What do you refer to as standard JAG questions?"

"Questions about the operation. When the ransom was paid, how much time was left until I had to send out the SEALs. I had Captain Harris join us and explain to her what his order was."

"What was her reaction?"

"In her eyes I saw fright and concern over the hostages, and yes, maybe even anger."

"Anger about what?"

"You have to ask your Colonel this question. I'd be speculating if I gave you an answer."

"What did you tell her before she left the tent?" Harm went on further.

"I had the feeling she wouldn't stay put, do something stupid and risk not only her life, but also those of the hostages in Iran. Therefore I ordered her not to get involved in any way."

"So you were concerned about the hostages?"

Mannings nodded, "Yes, I was, Commander."

"Then how comes you don't remember my name, General Mannings?"

"Your name, Commander?"

"I am Cmdr. Harmon Rabb, JR, USN. I was the one who flew the Tomcat to Iran, and I was the one Col. Mackenzie was trying to save. You were ready to sacrifice my life, General!"

0820 ZULU
Thursday
Izmir Air Force Base
Turkey

" Sir, here is the paper you wanted from communications." Bud uttered as he entered the small room Harm and he had gotten for their work. He waved the paper shortly in the air before he placed it down on the table and sat down.

"Thanks, Bud. I am just reading the order Harriet sent me. What does yours say?"

Bud began to read out the paper aloud. When he finished, he looked up at Harm to see him frowning.

"Sir?"

"Bud, will you please read this one as well?"

Harm turned his laptop around and let Bud read the email Harriet had sent him.

"There's a difference in those two papers."

"Right, Bud."

"But, sir, this is the original fax that came in, how can that be?"

"There are two versions of this order. One the SecNav saw and signed off, and one that Mannings was given."

"But this was signed off by the SecNav as well." Bud uttered and indicated the signature on the paper that was lying in front of him.

"It's a fake, Bud. Can you see this little circle the SecNav uses at the end of his signature? It's missing here."

"With all due respect, sir, but my signatures vary as well. They do not always look the same. Basically, they are, but sometimes I use these little..."

Harm cut in, "That's all fine, Bud, but this circle is one of the things that make the SecNav's signature unmistakable. I've never seen his signature without it."

"Sir, this case is getting too confusing for me. First, we start off with a DOO, and now we are on to some kind of conspiracy or whatever this is. Why was this not discovered in the Monnahan/Forbes court martial?"

"It is not connected, that is why no one discovered it. Assuming Mac wouldn't have gone after me, Harris and his SEALs had gone to Iran and blown up the Tomcats, killing Zapper, Ice and me. That is what whoever forged that paper had in mind. They probably never thought about a Marine lawyer going after us and blowing up the whole operation."

"So you think this is some sort of personal revenge, sir?"

"Sort of."

"And who was the target?"

"I think it was Lt. Milton. I had a talk with the Admiral earlier today. Senator Milton made a lot of enemies when he officially admitted that he thought the Israeli had no right to occupy the Security Zone in Southern Libanon. He said in Congress that this part of the country belonged to the Shiites, and like every other country they had the right to fight for their property."

"He said that in Congress? I can't believe that. Wasn't he one of the Senators that practically screamed for revenge when over 80 US citizens got killed in Beirut a couple of years ago?"

"He was, Bud, he was. And what would be better to get rid of him than having his daughter killed in a higly classified operation in Iran? It is still not public knowledge that classified information was given to the Iran by two Navy officers. If Ice had died in Iran, there was practically no proof that she wasn't one of the Iranian spies on the Seahawk. The slightest doubt about her integrity would have been enough to impeach her father and end his career in Congress."

"If you bring all this up in court, the Admiral is going to kill you, sir. This is just a simple DOO hearing."

"The Admiral said he wanted Mac to go out of the court room with all charges dropped. Meaning, this should never go as far as a CM. I am just trying to do that. Besides, he was the one who brought up the Milton issue in this case. He's also going to sit second chair to me."

"Pardon me, Commander, but I thought I was going to sit second chair to you."

"This was a request from the SecNav himself. Apparently word has leaked out to the media. They are putting it off until after the hearing, but then it's going to be one hell of a week, no matter how the hearing ended."

"Sir, why do such things always happen only to the finest people I know? The Colonel is one fine woman who respects law and order, but this is the second time you have to defend her in court. She doesn't deserve to be treated like this."

"No, she doesn't, Bud. But rules are rules, and neither you nor I can change them."

"Will the charges be dropped if we proove that the order Mannings received was forged and the Colonel just did what the original order said?"

"I hope so."

1310 ZULU
Thursday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

It was very quiet in the bullpen when Mac stepped out of the elevator. No sign of the usual hectic conversations, and people rushing from one end of the bullpen to the other, it was just plain quiet. Gunny sat at his desk, engrossed in reading something on his computer screen.

Mac spotted Tiner at the file cabinet behind his desk, but other than those two, the bullpen was empty and quiet - until Mac heard a fast tapping sound behind her.

"Mac, Mac, Mac, Mac!" a small boy giggled and ran in circles around Mac's legs. "Go see monties!"

"Yeah," Mac smiled and scooped the boy from the ground, "we'll go see the monkeys today."

"AJ ROBERTS! Get your six back here wherever you are!"

Mac chuckled and went in direction where she had heard Harriet's calling come from. She found her in the coffee room.

"You might not be looking for this, Harriet, are you?" she said and sat the toddler down on the counter.

"Thank you, Ma'am." Harriet smiled at Mac and then turned to her son. " AJ, how often do I have to tell you that the bullpen is no place to play? You will only get mommy in trouble when the Admiral sees you."

"Untle AJ!"

"Yeah, Uncle AJ, the Admiral. He doesn't like it very much when you run around in the bullpen and cause trouble."

Suddenly, someone made a coughing sound behind Mac and Harriet. They turned around to see AJ Chegwidden standing behind them.

"Lt. Sims?" he addressed Harriet and raised his eyebrow.

"Untle AJ!" little AJ squealed with delight and raised his arms to be picked up.

AJ did as he was told and lifted his namesake from the counter.

"Lt. Sims, how often did I tell you that this office is no day care center. And Colonel, I thought I told you yesterday and the day before that I don't want to see you back here until Monday."

"Sir, I just came to pick up my godchildren to take them to the zoo." Mac apologized.

"We see monties!" AJ exclaimed. "Chwissie and I see monties."

"So, Christina and you are going to see the monkeys. Will you tell Uncle AJ about them while your mommy and Mac are talking about a fax from the Pentagon?"

AJ nodded eagerly. With a smile, AJ picked up the carrier in which Christina was sound asleep and turned to the door of the coffee room.

"You can pick these two up in my office when you are ready, ladies."

With that, AJ left the room, leaving a stunned Mac and Harriet back. The two women shortly looked at each other. Then Mac picked up a cup and filled it with coffee.

"The fax the Admiral was talking about..."

"Oh, it was the paper you requested from the Pentagon, Ma'am. I picked it up last night and faxed it to the Commander right away."

"Can I see it, Harriet?"

Harriet nodded, and they left the coffee room. They went to Harriet's desk, and Harriet handed Mac the paper she had asked for.

"Ma'am, I know I was not supposed to read it, but there was no cover on it when I picked it up."

"It's all right, Harriet."

"This paper says something else than what you told us it said."

Mac quickly scanned the paper and then looked up at Harriet.

"You said you already sent this on to Harm?"

"Yes, Ma'am, last night."

"When you hear from Harm and Bud, will you please call me on my cell? I want to know what they have to say about this."

"Yes, Ma'am, I will, Ma'am."

"Okay. Then I now will pick up my godkids and take them to the zoo like I promised."

"Are you sure you want to take them over night, Ma'am? They can be a handful." Harriet uttered and followed Mac to the Admiral's office.

"Harriet, I am a Marine, I went through boot camp. I think I can deal with those two pretty well."

"Okay. I have a couple of things in the minivan that you will need."

"Let me get the kids and we can unload that stuff and pack it into Harm's SUV."

Mac walked over to the Admiral's office. The door was open, and she heard little AJ squeal with delight. The toddler was crawling on the floor, the Admiral right behind him. Little AJ giggled as he crawled under the desk.

Mac tried to stiffle her laughter. She had never seen the Admiral like this before. And much to her surprise, he seemed to enjoy it!

"Uhm, Admiral?" she finally cleared her throat.

"What is it, Colonel? OUCH!"

With a loud bang, the Admiral hit his head against his desk as he got up. He rubbed the back of his head and turned towards Mac.

"I just wanted to pick up those two rascals, but I can come back later if you want me to."

"No, no, Mac. As I heard little AJ here is very eager to see the monkeys."

"Monties, monties!" little AJ exclaimed and bounced on the ground.

"Then let's get going, munchkin, wait are you waiting for?"

Mac didn't have to tell the toddler twice. He scurried out of the office immediately. Mac shook her head about the boy and picked up Christina's carrier from the chair.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" she asked and looked over at her CO who had sat down in his chair.

"Go ahead, Colonel."

"You'd make a good grandfather one day, sir."

"Thank you, Mac. Now get out of here and spend the day with your precious godkids."

"That I will, sir."

0034 ZULU
Thursday
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, DC

" AJ Roberts!" Mac scolded at the toddler in front of her. He was kneeling on the floor in the bedroom, going through the contents of the lowest drawer he could reach.

The boy looked up at Mac. Carefully, he slid the drawer close and smiled at Mac sheepishly.

"C'mon, let me change you in your pjs."

"Hungwy." the toddler exclaimed as Mac picked him up from the ground.

"I know, munchkin. The pizza must be here any minute. How about we dress you in your new pjs and then you help me feet your little sister till the pizza man gets here."

AJ nodded eagerly. 5 minutes later, he was dressed in a pair of dark blue pjs with yellow dots all over. He smiled broadly at his little sister Christina when Mac set him on the kitchen counter next to the girl's carrier. The baby girl was dressed in an identical pair of pjs, just that hers were colored in a shade of red instead of blue.

"Chwissie hungwy." AJ exclaimed and turned to Mac who opened the microwave.

"I know, munchkin. See, here is Chrissie's bottle. Do you want to give it to her?"

AJ nodded, and took the bottle out of Mac's hand after she had made sure it was not too hot for Christina.

"Eat." the boy ordered and held the bottle in front of Christina.

Mac couldn't help but giggle. She placed her hand on top of AJ's and maneuvered the bottle right into Christina's mouth. The girl accepted the bottle eagerly and reached for it, holding on to it herself.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The pizza! Mac set AJ down on the ground before she picked up Christina and headed for the door. On the way, she grabbed her purse.

"You ordered pizza, Ma'am?" the young man standing in front of the door asked her after she had opened the door. "I have a medium pepperoni pizza here."

"Yeah, that would be me, one moment."

Mac let go of Christina's bottle, feeling the girl would hold on to it herself. Then she fumbled for money in her purse. Meanwhile, AJ had reached the door as well.

"Hey pizza man, got me pizza?" he inquired and looked up at the tall, young man.

Suddenly, something else had caught AJ's eyes and he started running out of the door and down the hallway.

"AJ!" Mac called after him. "Get your six back here!"

"Got you, mister!" a male voice suddenly exclaimed and scooped AJ from the floor.

"Harm!" Mac called suprised. "I didn't expect you back today!"

"Surprise!" was all he said and placed a gently kiss on her lips. He sat AJ down on the ground and gave him a pat on his bottom to let him know to go inside. Then Harm turned to the pizza boy and lifted the top of the box he was carrying.

"Pepperoni?"

"I didn't know you were coming home today."

"Uhm, excuse me, but I really need to get going." the pizzy boy cut in.

"C'mon here, Chrissie."

Harm took Christina out of Mac's arms, seeing she was slowly drifting off to sleep and had difficulties keeping on to her bottle. Then he vanished in the apartment.

Mac paid the pizza boy and closed the door a moment later. She turned to see that Harm was sitting on the couch with Christina in his lap, feeding her the bottle. She placed the pizza box on the table and sat down next to Harm.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home today? I would have picked you up at the airport."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Oh, that you definitely did!!" Mac chuckled and absentmindedly brushed Christina's blond hair.

"What are AJ and Chrissie doing here? I thought you wanted to take them to the zoo?"

"We saw monties!" little AJ exclaimed.

"Yeah, we saw the monkeys today. I told Harriet I'd take them over night to keep me company. If I had known you'd be coming home today, I wouldn't have asked her. I guess we now gave her and Bud a night without kids."

"Oh, Bud is still in Turkey with Imes and Singer. I told him I had some very important things to check out here in DC. He'll be back by tomorrow afternoon."

"And what is that important thing you had to check out?" Mac asked and leaned closer to him.

"What do you think it is?

Harm's lips joined Mac's in a passionate kiss. They first broke apart when Christina began to fuss - and both Harm and Mac realized that AJ had been very quiet.

"AJ, don't!"

AJ stuffed the last piece of a pepperoni into his mouth. He had flipped the box open and was picking out the pepperoni from the toppings. Harm handed the fussy baby girl in his arms over to Mac and swept AJ from the ground, placing him on the couch between him and Mac.

"I will quickly change out of my uniform. Can you get us some plates?"

"As soon as Christina is finished with her bottle."

Harm disappeared in the bedroom. He opened the walk in closet and picked a pair of his jeans and a shirt. He was just glad Mac had given him part of her closet to store his clothes. After all, he was never sure where he would wake up since they had become an item, and part of his closet was already stuffed with Mac's chlothes.

He changed quickly into the jeans and shirt, and on his way back to the living room picked up some toy trucks AJ apparently had scattered all over the floor. He opened the door, and almost bumped into Mac. In her arms, Christina had fallen asleep.

"She's such an angel." Harm smiled and gently brushed Christina's cheek.

"That she is. Let me put her down and then we'll have dinner. Make sure AJ stays away from the pizza though."

Harm nodded and left the bedroom. Much to his surprise, AJ was still seated on the couch.

"You stay put, mister, hear me?" he warned AJ and got a nod in response.

Harm quickly retreated to the kitchen and picked up three plates and napkins. Then he returned to the living room.

"Hungwy, wanna pizza!" AJ pouted as Harm sat down next to him.

"Plates and napkins, what do you think they are for?"

Harm picked up a slice of pizza and placed it on one of the plates. Then he cut it into several small pieces and handed the plate to little AJ.

"Eat slowly, all right? We don't want you choking on a piece."

"No, no." AJ replied and stuffed a piece of pizza into his mouth.

Mac joined them a minute later. Much to her surprise, she saw that Harm himself was nibbling on a piece of pepperoni pizza.

"Veggie-Man himself is eating pepperoni pizza?" she teased and grabbed the last plate from the table.

"Very funny. I checked your fridge and freezer while in the kitchen. Not much eatable food in there."

Mac laughed and sat down on the couch next to the toddler.

"How did it go in Turkey? What did Mannings say?"

"Can't we just eat first and discuss this later? I am starving here. Airline food is worthless."

"Sure, let's discuss this when the kids are in bed."

0405 ZULU
Thursday
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, DC

Mac returned from checking on AJ and Christina with the little girl sleeping over her shoulder. An occasional sob escaped the girl's lips.

"Where did we stop?" Mac asked and plopped down on the couch next to Harm.

In front of them on the table, several papers lay scattered.

"Right here. This is the fax Bud picked up at communications in Izmir. And this is what Harriet emailed me."

Harm placed the two sheets of paper next to each other.

"They are identical except one line that is missing in the fax Mannings received."

"No interference if the hostages haven't been released." Mac read out loud. "I already read that line when Harriet showed me the original. I was just wondering though if Mannings just *accidentally* overread that part."

"Apparently he did not. The order is signed off by the SecNav himself. We have no time to track down the way the order made from the SecNav's office to communications since your hearing is seat for Monday morning, but I don't think we'll need it anyway."

"Has Chegwidden told you that he thinks this might all be connected to Senator Milton?"

"Yes, he did. And if you ask me, it sounds somewhat logical. I doubt that Monnahan and Forbes are involved in this though."

"The more information we get, the more I think we are not only dealing with my DOO here."

"Right. We certainly will expose at least one person to play unfair in this game during the hearing. Sounds like another upcoming trial for the two of us, just with you as my partner and not the woman I have to defend."

"I can't wait till all this is over. I want to get back to work, I am tired of sitting aside with nothing to do on my hands."

Harm glanced at her over his shoulder, a warm smile on his face.

"What?" Mac asked.

"Christina." he replied. "You look so natural with a child. Like you've always done that."

"I guess that's a women's thing."

"No, it sure is not a women's thing. You are either born a mother or not. You are definitely born one."

Mac chuckled, "Where are you going with this, sailor?"

"Us having a baby."

"Excuse me?"

Harm sure had caught Mac totally off guard with that. Three weeks in their relationship, and he was already talking about kids.

"I know you want one, and I promised you one in three years. Why don't we just put a little rush on this? You are so great with AJ and Christina. Why don't we just trade them in for one of our own? Make all the fun we have with them permanent with our baby."

"Why? Because..." Mac stopped mid sentence. She couldn't come up with at least one good reason for saying no.

"It's not like this is going to happen right away, Mac, but I want us to think about it, consider the fact that someday we will have a baby together."

"Someday, yeah, I can clearly see a boy being the spitting image of you, stickboy. I just hope he won't be into that veggie food too much."

"Oh, and I hope *she* won't be as crazy about Beltway Burgers as you are."

"A baby needs a lot of practise, you know." Mac whispered as her lips brushed gently against Harm's.

"I know. Why don't we just start the practise and it happens when it happens. Planning something like that feels wrong to me. It either happens or it doesn't."

"This feeling is mutual. Why don't you let me put Chrissie back to bed, and we can start our practise right away?"

"Mac, there are two little kids sleeping in the bedroom."

"Fly boy, if you want more than one kid, you have to get used to the fact that at least one kid is sleeping in a room adjoining ours." she smirked and got up. "Besides, they are small and sleeping, they won't care."

Mac headed for the bedroom. Once inside, she carefully placed sleeping Christina down on her bed and covered her with the sheets. Then she went to the other side of the bed and untangled AJ from the sheets. She stood beside the bed for a while and just watched the two kids sleep.

She didn't even notice Harm had sneaked into the bedroom until his arms encircled her waist from behind. He placed his chin down on her shoulder.

"Wouldn't it be even greater if we were watching our kids like that?" he whispered as not to wake the children.

"Yeah, it would."

Mac picked up his hand and turned towards the bedroom door, but Harm held her back.

"Let's just spend the night here with AJ and Christina. I am sure they won't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am."

About 20 minutes later, Harm and Mac lay in bed with the kids sleeping between them. Christina was snuggled against Harm's chest, and AJ's little head rested on Mac's shoulder. The children were snorring softly.

"Sarah?" Harm whispered and his hand reached out to touch her cheek. " I didn't tell you I love you since I am back."

"So, do you?"

"With all my heart, Sarah."

Even in the dark, Harm could see the smile on Mac's face.

"This feeling sure is mutual as well." she replied before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

1225 ZULU
Friday
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, DC

Harm woke with a start when a little voice started to cry right into his ear. He popped his eyes open and looked down at crying Christina Roberts.

"Mac!" he mumbled when he felt her turning around on her side of the bed.

"Your call."

Harm sighed and picked up the crying girl. He placed her on his chest, supported her back with his hand and held her close when he got up.

"Chrissie, sweetie, I am here, uncle Harm is here." he soothed her, rocking her in his arms.

Christina lowered her crying to sobbing, but still wouldn't calm down completely. Harm crossed the living room with the sobbing baby girl in his arms and went right to the kitchen. He picked up one of the baby bottles in the sink and started filling it with milk.

He could barely keep his eyes open when he gave the bottle to Christina, so he didn't notice he hadn't closed it properly. Christina sucked at the bottle once, and then the top came lose and the whole milk was spilled across Christina's pjs and Harm's shirt.

"Terrific!" he muttered and placed Christina down in her carrier. " Now I have to clean you off. Where does Mac keep your spare clothes?"

Harm went in search for the girl's chlothes, but came up empty handed. Finally, he decided to wake up Mac. Silently, he snuck into the bedroom and placed a tender kiss on Mac's lips to wake her up. Well, she didn't open her eyes, but wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Morning." she finally said and opened her eyes.

"Morning to you, too." Harm smiled back down at Mac. "I am looking for Christina's clothes. I spilled the milk on her pjs."

"I think the diaper bag is in the bathroom. You will find some spare clothes for her in there."

Harm went to the bathroom and picked up the diaper bag. When he left the bathroom, he saw that Mac had fallen asleep again, her arm drapped across little AJ who apparently was enjoying this as he had put on a little smile in his sleep.

15 minutes later, Christina was changed, fed and content in her carrier.

"Do you want to help me make breakfast, Chrissie? How does omlett sound?"

Harm received a gurgling sound in response. He smiled down at the baby girl in the seat on the counter and then went over to the fridge. He was leaning down, looking for the eggs when he felt someone pinching him in his side. He jumped, and bumped his head at the top of the fridge.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry!" Mac chuckled and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him towards her.

"Geez, be careful, the eggs!"

Harm placed the eggs down on the counter, closed the fridge, and then wrapped his arms around Mac's body as well. He had taken off his wet shirt earlier, so Mac's head was now resting against his bare chest.

"Can I just hold you for a moment, please? I missed that."

"Do you even have to ask, Marine?"

Harm tilted her chin up and lowered his head into a kiss. Mac's hands roamed his bare back and she deeped the kiss. How she had missed having him in her arms, feeling his warmth and comfort.

They broke their kiss when they heard a giggling sound coming from the door. Little AJ stood in the doorway, covering his mouth with his hand and giggled.

"Definitely a Roberts!" Mac uttered.

The laughter in the kitchen was interrupted by the phone.

"Wing wing... wing wing..." the toddler immitated the ringing phone.

On his way to get the phone, Harm scooped up the boy and started tickling him. The boy squealed with delight.

"Hello?" Harm answered the phone, balancing the receiver between his ear and shoulder while trying to hold on to AJ.

"Commander, when did you get back from Turkey? And where is Bud?"

"Good morning, Harriet. Bud is still in Turkey, you don't have to worry he might get lost. I came back last night as I have some urgent business at the Pentagon regarding Mac's hearing today."

AJ was getting restless on Harm's hand, so he started to reach for the receiver while he giggled.

"I can hear my little boy is already up."

"Oh yeah, that he definitely is. As well as your precious little daughter. AJ, say hi to mommy."

"Hi momma!" the boy giggled into the receiver.

"Hello sweetie. I hope you were a good boy?"

"Oh yeah, he was." Harm put the squirming boy down on the ground. " Why are you calling?"

"Oh, I had told the Colonel I would pick up AJ and Chrissie later today. Now, I won't get off work until lunch time, so why don't we meet somewhere for lunch?"

"Sounds great. 1300 at that new Italian restaurant near JAG Ops?"

"That is fine with me. I also have two boxes of court files in the car that a Lt. Keating dropped off yesterday. He said you'd knew what to do with them."

"Yeah, I know. If you would excuse me now, but a little sailor is claiming for his breakfast. Talk to you later, Harriet."

Harm placed the receiver down and went back to the kitchen.

"That was Harriet. I told her we'd meet for lunch at that new Italian restaurant near headquarters to drop the kids off."

"We have to keep them till lunch? Aw, c'mon, Harm, I thought I'd have you all for myself today. After all, you were gone for two days."

"If I may remind you, I was not the one who agreed to take them over night. Besides, I need to run by the Pentagon this morning." Harm sighed and pushed a strand of Mac's tangled hair behind her ear. "I promise you this weekend I am all yours. You still owe me that surprise you were talking about."

"That I do, I didn't forget about it." Mac replied and ran her finger over Harm's lips. "Why don't you make the omletts and I head under the shower real quick?"

"Why don't I just join you?"

"As much I would like you to, who's taking care of the kids?"

Harm groaned and watched after Mac leaving the kitchen. Then he picked up the eggs and called out for AJ.

"Who wants an omlett for breakfast? Officers report to the kitchen immediately."

Like a whirlwind, AJ came running into the kitchen, his hand raised into the air.

"I want, I want!" he called.

"Then let's start making breakfast!"

1805 ZULU
Friday
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, DC

Mac held the door open for Harm who carried two heavy boxes of files. He dropped them on the ground next to the door and groaned.

"And you really made sure there were no stones in these boxes?"

"I checked. Twice. In the car and in the elevator." Mac replied annoyed and closed the door. "There are only files in there. What are they anyway?"

"All DDO court martials. Bud had a friend in law school who wrote an essay about it. He was nice enough to lend them to us."

"And you think they will help?"

"Maybe. But after what we have already found out, I think the trial might be dropped right at the stand."

"Are there any of our old cases in there?"

Mac bent over the top box and lifted the lid before she went thumbing through the files. Suddenly, Harm grabbed her by her waist and dragged her towards the couch.

"What are you doing?" she giggled as Harm pulled her down in his lap.

"I want that surprise you promised me."

"Hum, that surprise needs some preparations."

"What kind of preparations?"

"Just preparations. I promise you it will be worth the wait. Why don't we just sit here and cuddle a little."

Mac squirmed around in Harm's lap to make herself comfortable and placed her head in the crook of his neck.

"Cuddle?" Harm whined. "That sure was not what I was thinking about."

He started to placed little kisses on her neck as his hands wandered under her shirt and rested on her flat abdomen. He groaned audibly when he heard a knock on the door.

"Okay, that's it. All I want is to spend some quiet nice afternoon with the love of my life, but no..." he whined and lifted Mac out of his lap. "I am going to get rid of whoever is at that door."

He made a beeline for the door and swung it open.

"WHAT?"

"Ouch, I guess this is a bad time." the visitor on the other side of the door said.

"It sure is. What can we do for you, Webb?"

Clayton Webb stepped into the apartment and Harm closed the door behind him.

"I returned from vacation today only to find out that someone is asking around for a certain order of command at the Pentagon."

"So what? I guess you know they are charging Mac for what she did in Turkey."

Clay nodded, "I do. But please, stay out of this. Do not ask around anymore, you will only make more enemies than you already have."

"Why?" Mac asked and got up from the couch. "This order is crucial to my hearing. If we can't use it, it will go to a CM, that is for sure."

"I know. Call me to the stand if they decide to file charges, but don't go after that order. Don't even mention it."

"Why should we do this?"

"The CIA is already investigating the order issue for the last 3 weeks. Top secret. If you call me as your witness, I will say that I told Mac to go. Order from the Pentagon."

"Now I am totally clueless. You would lie?" Harm shrugged his eyebrows. "For what? Or better for whom?"

"Ra'figh Shiite. Or however you pronounce that."

"Friends of Shiites? What is this?"

"This is the organization Mannings and Forbes belonged to. They are not the only Americans involved in this. Two CIA agents are currently undercover investigating this group. This is all I can tell you."

"This still does not explain why you don't want me to mention the order in the hearing."

"If one word of what I am going to tell you is going to be public, I know who I have come to." Clay took a deep breath of air before he continued. "Only recently we learned that Senator Milton is supporting this group with financial means. Several CIA Agents were sent in to investigate. I think one of them took the law in their own hands when they learned about the hostage situation in Iran. Once the press had found out that the military blew up two Tomcats and killed four of their own men, questions would be raised and we had to tell the public about Ra'figh Shiite. It then would have been just a question of time until some clever media guy would have seen the connection between Milton, his daughter and Ra'figh Shiite and our whole operation would have been blown up in pieces."

"So you are telling us this whole operation was to take Milton down?"

"I guess that was whoever forged that order had in mind. And to find this person is matter of the CIA, not JAG. If you get involved in this anymore than you already are, you will blow our cover as well. To this date, the public does not know about Ra'figh Shiite, and we want to keep it that way. If people find out about Milton and his connection to this organization, there is going to be one major uproar. Your case already hit the media, Mac. You have to be really careful with what you say. For the people's safety."

"Okay, wait a minute." Harm cut in. "If this there is so much at stake when this case hits the courtroom, why did they charge Mac in the first place?"

"Protocol, Commander Rabb. General Mannings filed a DDO, and we just couldn't let that disappear. That is why I want you to call me to the stand. My statement will be backed up by several sources."

Harm and Mac shortly exchanged looks. Then Harm turned back to Webb.

"We have to think about this, all right? Meet me at JAG Monday morning 0830 and I will give you an answer."

Clay said his goodbies and left the apartment. After Harm had closed the door, Mac shot him a look that could have killed.

"What?" he asked and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh c'mon, are you mad at me for what I said to Webb??"

"No, I am mad at you because you even consider accepting Clay's offer to lie for me in court. I need no liar!" Mac exclaimed.

"Mac, this is the only way we can get you out of this with no charges if I don't bring that order in. Everybody knows what you did was the right thing, but still, you disobeyed an order. And Chegwidden can't just drop that, even though he is the JAG."

"I want a fair trial if one at all, not one based on lies. Even if it means being charged guilty."

"No, you can't possibly mean that. It will be the end of your career and they will put you in jail one year minimum. I don't want to see you going to jail, Mac."

Harm reached out for her and pulled her close. He lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers.

"We will talk to Chegwidden Monday morning and ask him what to do. Whatever he says I will do, all right? If he tells me not to call Clay to testify, I won't. But if he tells me to, I will."

"I just want all this to be over soon and go back to normal."

"I know, believe me, I know."

0735 ZULU
Saturday
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, DC

Mac turned around once again. As much as she wanted to sleep, she couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, the events that had happened in Iran came back to her, and not the good ones. She stared at the ceiling and crossed her arms over the sheets.

"I take it, you can't sleep." Harm murmured and turned towards her. "I can't either. What is going through this pretty mind of yours?"

Harm gently brushed her hair out of her face after she had turned towards him.

"This case, my life, everything." she sighed.

"Let's put your case aside for a moment. What do you think about your life?"

"Where is it going?" she mumbled. "What will be in a month, a year, ten years?"

"I can't tell you what will happen in a month, or in ten years, but I know that I will still love you then."

"But love is just not enough, Harm."

"Why?"

"When I dreamed about my future, I always saw a loving husband, kids, a big house with a backyard, a great career..."

"And lots and lots of comfortable shoes." Harm finished for her.

"Now I don't even see that anymore. It's just a huge black hole I am looking into."

"Oh, Sarah."

Harm gathered her into his arms and held her close.

"I feel like I am failing, Harm. Every time I think I have my life under control, someone - or something - comes up and I have to look at the shattered pieces of my life again. I am tired. I don't know if I want to gain control again."

"Listen to me, Sarah. It's not like you to give up. You are strong, Marine."

"I don't see the colors anymore. I feel like I have fallen into this deep black hole and can't get out."

"Then reach for my hand, cry for help. I am here, and always will be."

"And exactly that is my problem."

"Why?"

Mac put a light smile on her face and tenderly caressed Harm's cheek.

"I know how much you love me, Harm. And I also know you would do anything for me, but seeing the turn my life made, I don't think you can help me find my way back on the road. I will destroy your life, like I did with every man's life who has crossed my path."

"What are you talking about?"

"Harm, my case is going to a CM, I know that. Whatever the verdict will be, no matter how hard you try, I know it is going to destroy you."

"Geez, I thought you knew me better than that, Mac. I am strong, I can handle it. As long as I know where you are, and as long as I can see you, hold you, see your smile, I will be fine."

"I thought I was strong as well, now look at me. I am crying."

Mac quickly brushed the tears out of her eyes and sniffed.

"You have every reason to cry. Look, we need to talk about this whole shit of a DDO and what Webb said this afternoon. We need to get this straight for once and all. You will tell me how to handle this case, I will comply. You are one damn good lawyer, Mac, and I trust you."

"I don't want you to lose all your energy in the hearing. There will be no way charges will be dropped. I want to move it to a CM."

"All right. But you know that then there is no way back."

"I know that. I am guilty of a DDO. No one can change that, not you, not the Admiral, not even God."

"What do you expect from a court martial?"

"I don't know. I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. I don't want to waste two days in court for the hearing and another two for the trial. This finally has to end."

"One day, I will get back at Webb for all this."

"I guess then you have to wait in line."

"What do you say, you get the first punch, I get the second?"

"Deal."

Mac leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Sometimes I wonder why you fell in love with me in the first place."

"Why? You are a very charming, attractive, clever and sexy woman, Sarah. You know me better than anyone else, you are my best friend. You have made your way straight into my heart - though you can be a little hard headed and stubborn sometimes."

Mac giggled and gave him a light bump in his rips for the last comment.

"Why did you fall in love with me? Or better when?"

"Why? Because you are loyal, caring, charming... as for when, the moment I saw you in the White House rose garden. I just didn't know in which category I needed to put you then. You know what they say about gold wings and dress whites..."

"Oh, I do. I can't say I fit to that image very well, but I can say you pretty much fit what they say why a female Marine is like the Energizer Bunny..."

"Very funny, sailor."

"Why don't I just get us the oldest reciept for battling insomnia."

Mac pulled her head up on her elbow and watched Harm leave the bed.

"And what may that be?"

Harm turned around to face her with a smile on his lips.

"Hot milk with honey, what did you think?"

Mac chuckled, "Thanks."

Harm widened his smile before he turned and headed out of the bedroom.

1315 ZULU
Monday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Harm entered the bullpen and went straight to his CO's office. Tiner announced his presence to the Admiral over the speaker, and advised him to go in.

"Commander Rabb reporting as ordered, sir." Harm uttered firmly as he stood at attention in front of AJ's desk.

"Please sit down, Commander."

Harm did as he was told and took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Now, Commander Rabb, I want to hear the result of your investigation in Izmir. What is it about this mysterious forged order?"

"Sir, is what I am going to tell you going to be kept in private?"

"Sure. Go on."

"Mac's DDO is just the tip of the iceberg. One wrong move, and the Titanic will sink, sir."

"Excuse me, Commander, but what exactly are you trying to tell me with this?"

"The Colonel and I had a few words with Agent Webb on Friday. I don't know how much I am to tell you of what he told me, so I am going to keep this short. Webb told me not to use the forged order in court and call him to the stand instead. He will clear Mac - with a lie, sir."

"A lie? Commander Rabb, you and the Colonel did not accept this offer, did you?"

"I told her I would come to ask you about your opinion first and do whatever you want me to do, sir. But I ask you to please talk to Webb before you make a decision. You know Mac did nothing wrong, and we can't use the only proof we have because of a secret CIA investigation."

"Now this is getting better by the minute." AJ chuckled sarcastically. " One of my officers is charged with a DDO, and the CIA is withholding the only evidence to clear her name. Terrific."

"Sir, I am meeting with Agent Webb in 10 minutes. Would you consider being part of this conversation as well?"

"You can bet your six on that, Rabb."

1345 ZULU
Monday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Admiral Chegwidden paced the floor of the meeting room, listening closely to what Clay was telling him. Again, he shook his head in disbelief. He just couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Ra'figh Shiite, why had he never heard about that organization before? And why wasn't he - the JAG - informed about an undergoing investigation at the Pentagon?

"Admiral, are you following?" Clay asked when he felt AJ wasn't paying much attention to him.

"Yes, yes, Webb, please go on."

"We somehow maneuvered ourselves in a very delicate situation when I brought Mac to Turkey."

"You mean you put her right into that shit." Harm corrected him. "You knew exactly she would go after me so why did you even consider taking her to Turkey with you? She could have been killed!"

AJ shot him a look, and Harm excused himself for his outburst.

"I knew she would go after you, yes, Rabb, but until then I didn't know anything about the different order Mannings received in Turkey. I had my suspisions when he told us about his command, but I didn't find out for sure until Mac was long gone. It was too late to hold her back. Besides, there was nothing I could have said to hold her back, you know that. Mac is stubborn and hard-headed, and if she has made up her mind, there is hardly anything that can hold her back."

"I see this was not your fault, Agent Webb," AJ stated calmly, "but why on earth are you offering to lie for her?"

"I was not the one who came up with this idea, AJ, believe me. It is against my conviction to lie under oath, but if you want the Colonel to go out of the courtroom with all charges dropped, you have to accept my offer. The SecNav has been informed about this. He wasn't very pleased with it, but he said if you want to go through with this, he won't stop you. The CIA is offering you new evidence in return for your cooperation to withhold information crucial to your case."

"Sir?"

Harm looked at his frowning CO.

"Okay, I heard your points about this. Commander, what does the Colonel think about this?"

"As you might guess she is not very pleased with it, sir." Harm said. " Nevertheless, we both have agreed that we want this to go to a CM. We have no evidence why charges should be dropped due to Mr. Webb here. And we don't think his dirty little lies are strong enough so this will not go to a CM eventually. Hearing his lies once is enough. There is one thing though, Webb, that you should consider. If Imes calls Mac to the stand to back up your testimony, she would have to lie. And that she is not going to do."

"All right, Commander. Considering all facts, I don't think we have any other choice than calling Agent Webb to the stand in the court martial. I will advise Imes that under no circumstances she is going to call Mac to the stand, neither in the hearing, nor in the court martial."

Harm nodded as he raised from his chair.

"Commander? One thing though. Agent Webb will be your very last witness to call, understood? If you - or I - feel you can win this without his testimony, you won't call him to the stand. Understood?"

"Yes, sir, loud and clear."

Harm shortly nodded at his CO before he left the meeting room.

0135 ZULU
Monday
McMurphy's Tavern
Washington DC

When Zapper entered McMurphy's Tavern, he spotted Harm and Mac sitting at the bar. Harm waved his hand for him to come over when he spotted him.

"Hey, I see you found it." Harm greeted him and they shook hands.

"Thanks to your directions, Rabb. Ma'am."

Zapper shortly nodded in Mac's direction, who smiled at him.

"It's Mac, not ma'am."

"Then you can call me Zapper. Or Tom."

"Why don't you get yourself something to drink and we can take a seat at that table over there?"

Harm picked up his bottle of beer and got up. Then he picked up Mac's glass of tonic water and started walking over to the empty table. Mac followed him. They were already seated when Zapper joined them with a bottle of beer in his hand.

"I ran by JAG HQ this morning, but I was told you were in court. How did it go? I thought I was supposed to be called as a witness in the hearing."

"We will need you as witness in the court martial."

"This is going to trial? I thought you were such a damn good lawyer, Rabb."

"I wanted it that way." Mac stated calmly and sipped on her tonic water.

"Why? Your Admiral told me on the phone that there was a good chance it wouldn't even go that far."

"Zapper, there are things that you don't know about."

"I think I know all there is to know. I owe my life to you, Mac. If it was for some people in Turkey, I would be dead by now, and so would you, Rabbit. She is going to jail, and they walk? Where is justice in this?"

"Please, can't we just drop this discussion?" Mac pleaded, raising her voice a little too much. "I don't want to discuss this anymore, all right? We'll see what happens in court."

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to upset you in any way." Zapper apologized.

"It's okay, Tom. This just seems to follow me wherever I go, and I want just one night without even thinking about it."

Harm felt like he needed to break the tension at the table, so he indicated the pool table with his head.

"Want to play? You two against me."

"Two against one? Isn't that a little unfair?"

"You don't know how bad I am at pool." Mac chuckled.

"We'll make a bet." Harm went on further. "If you guys win, Zapper, I will show you how to pick a lock. I know you are dying to know how I did that. And you, my lady..."

Harm leaned over to Mac and whispered something into her ear that made her giggle and blush at the same time.

"And if you win?" Zapper asked curiously.

"Then you'll pay tonight."

"Fair enough."

Zapper and Harm shook hands. 5 minutes later, they stood next to the pool table, each of them a pool queue in their hands. Zapper picked up the chalk and applied it to the top of his queue. He and Mac were going first.

He played the white ball which hit the others with such impact that two solids and one stripes disappeared in the pockets at the back end of the table.

"We got solid." he announced and walked around the table to look for a clear shot.

2 minutes later, Zapper had sunk 3 more balls in the pockets, and Harm already wondered whether it was such a good idea to play pool. Zapper was good, maybe even better than him.

"Okay, okay." Harm cut in before Zapper could take another shot. "You and Mac are a team, so why don't you let her shoot the next ball?"

Mac looked at Harm in shock. She knew she would not be able to sink any of the balls in either one of the pockets. She just sucked at pool!

"Sure, go ahead, Mac."

"Mind if I show you?"

Harm grinned broadly when he leaned over Mac to give her some tips. His arms lay on top of hers, his chin on her shoulder. That was how he moved her hands on the queue and the queue itself.

"Remember what I promised you when you lose." he whispered into her ear seductively just as Mac aimed the queue at the ball.

Sure enough, she got distracted and missed the white ball. Her queue slid over the green felt and hit the black ball which rolled right into the pocket on the opposite end of the table. And to top it off, a great tear adorned the felt of the pool table. Mac squeezed her eyes shut ashamed.

Harm and Zapper just started to laugh. Without further thinking, Mac reached out and bumped her elbow in Harm's stomach. How dare he laugh about something like that!

"Jerk!" she groaned and headed off in direction of the ladies' room.

"Eww, I guess someone's really mad at you. What did you say to her?" Zapper chuckled and joined Harm at the back end of the pool table.

"I'll give you a hint, Zapper. Never give a jarhead any reason to be mad at you. They'll give you hell for it." Harm laughed and rubbed his stomach.

"Oh, that I can see. So what did you tell her?"

"What would you tell a beautiful woman to distract her?"

"You cheated!" Zapper laughed out loud. "You lost. So when and where will you show me what you promised me?"

"No, no, no, I did not cheat. Mac played the wrong ball. You guys lost."

"Yeah, but you said some pretty naughty things to her I assume."

"Kinky would be the right word for the Commander to understand." Mac uttered and joined them at the table.

"Am I forgiven?" Harm asked, giving her his best puppy look.

"Yes, but you lost. You cheated."

"I did not!"

"You did! Or would you have said such things to Tom?"

"Okay, I lost." Harm finally gave in.

"What are we going to do about this?"

Zapper indicated the ripped felt on the pool table with his queue.

"Let's see..."

Harm picked up the triangle to put the balls in. He placed it in its usual spot on the table and started putting the balls in. A moment later, the tear had disappeared under the balls.

"Do you guys see anything unusual?"

"Harm! You can't do that! I will talk to Sean about it."

Mac turned and started to walk off, but Harm grabbed her by her upper arm.

"Do you have any idea how much that is going to cost you, Mac?"

"No, but if I don't tell him, we'll never be able to come back if he finds out. Besides, you are going to pay half of it 'cause you were the reason why that happened."

Harm just groaned as he watched after Mac heading towards the bar.

"Boy, you really have to be madly in love with her." Zapper laughed and reached for his beer bottle on the table.

"Oh, I wouldn't trade her for anything in this world."

"I just hope I will find a woman like her as well some day."

"Have patience, buddy."

1535 ZULU
Thursday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

" Defense calls Captain Stephen Harris as their first witness." Harm announced and raised from his chair.

His glance shortly wandered over to Mac who was sitting in the chair next to him. Beside her, in the last chair, the Admiral was sitting.

Harm approached the stand after Cap. Harris was under oath.

"Sir, please state your name and rank for the record."

"Stephen Harris, Captain, United States Navy SEALs Team." Harris replied firmly.

"Capt. Harris, do you know the defendant?"

"I met her briefly, sir. In Turkey."

"Where in Turkey?"

"Western Turkey, near the Iranian border."

"Captain, what were you doing in Turkey?"

"I was sent to handle a hostage situation in Iran, sir. My SEALs team had an order to blow up a Tomcat."

"Blow up a Tomcat, sir? Would you please care to explain this to me?"

"Objection, your honor." Lt. Cmdr. Carolyn Imes uttered and raised from her chair. "This is irrelevant to the case."

"Your honor, Capt. Harris's order of command is a vital part of this case to understand why Col. Mackenzie is accused of disobedience of any order."

"Overruled. Capt. Harris, would you please answer the counsellor's question?"

"Yessir. The United States paid a ransom for the hostages in Iran. A Tomcat, sir. I was told it was just a bait so the hostages would be set free. Our mission was to blow up the Tomcat so it would be of no use to the captors."

"But the hostages were not released."

"As far as we knew, no, sir."

"And you still had order to blow up the F-14?"

"Yessir."

"Capt. Harris, how did the defendant react when she heard that?"

"Like I did at first, she was shocked."

"Why were you shocked, Captain?"

"At that point, we had to consider that four Naval officers were hostages in Iran. Blowing up a Tomcat with them still being held captive would have meant their deaths."

"Objection, your honor." Carolyn raised from her chair again, "The witness is not qualified enough to speak about the power of explosives."

"Your honor, he is." Harm presented a piece of paper to the judge. " Capt. Harris completed a special 4 week bomb squad training with the FBI at Quantico. He knows everything there is to know about explosives."

"Overruled. You may continue, Commander Rabb."

"Capt. Harris, what kind of explosive was used to prepare the F-14, and how much?"

"To my knowledge, a total of 12 pounds of Semtex were attached to the F-14 at different places, sir."

"A total of 12 pounds. So let's say, a person was standing about 5 yards away from the Tomcat when it was blown up, would this person be killed?"

"Objection, your honor. Speculation."

"You honor, I just proved to the court that Capt. Harris is qualified enough to answer this question.

"Overruled. Please answer the question."

"Yessir, 12 pounds of Semtex would have that effect. The detonation would throw you off your feet, and a wave of fire would wash over you right away. Even half of that would have blasted everyone away standing in a radius of less than 10 yards."

"Capt. Harris, can you tell us what General Mannings said to the defendant that night and how she reacted?"

"After I had told her about my mission, the General told her to stay out of it, whatever he meant with this 'it'. The Colonel said nothing and left the tent. That was the last time I saw her that night."

"Captain, is there anything you want to add to this?"

"If I may?" Capt. Harris looked over at the judge who nodded at him. "I joined the Navy years ago with the intention to serve my country. My job was to protect this country from its enemies, and not kill our own people. Col. Mackenzie had the courage to do what I was thinking but did not do. She saved three people's lives, and took a bullet in return. She did nothing wrong, your honor. She just did what every other male officer was too afraid to do. She is one fine Marine."

"No further questions, your honor."

Harm returned to his seat and sat down. He quickly looked over at Mac who was smiling at him, letting him know that he had done good. She reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly just when Lt. Cmdr. Carolyn Imes rose from her chair.

"Prosecution has no further questions, your honor."

"Commander Rabb, your next witness please."

"Defense would like to call Lt. Thomas Davidson to the stand." Harm uttered as he rose from his chair once again.

A moment later, the young Lieutenant was seated in his chair, and Harm started questioning him.

"Lt. Davidson, you are serving as a RIO on the USS Seahawk?"

"Yessir, I am."

"You also were the RIO who flew in the prepared F-14."

"That is right, sir."

"Lt. Davidson, please tell us what happened to you in Iran."

"Objection, your honor, this is not relevant to the case."

"I withdraw the question." Harm paced the floor in front of the stand. " Lt. Davidson, where were you when Lt. Col. Mackenzie found you in Iran?"

"Locked in a storage room of a hangar."

"Were you alone?"

"No, sir. Two more officers were locked inside the same room I was."

"State their names for the record please."

"Lt. Jayne Milton and Cmdr. Harmon Rabb JR."

"Lieutenant, how far was this storage room from the Tomcats?"

Annoyed, Carolyn raised from her chair, "Objection, your honor. This is irrelevant to this case."

"I will rephrase, your honor." Harm turned back to Zapper. "Lieutenant, Capt. Harris told us that in a radius within 10 yards all life would have been wiped out once the Tomcat was blown up. Would you and the two other Navy officers happen to be kept in that range?"

Zapper nodded, "Yessir. The storage room lay in approximate distance to the Tomcats, about 6 to 7 yards from the F-14."

"You said earlier that you were locked in. Who opened the door for you to escape?"

"The defendant, Col. Mackenzie, sir. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be sitting here today."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Defense has no further questions."

Harm returned to his chair and watched Carolyn approach the stand.

"Lt. Davidson, isn't it true that Cmdr. Rabb picked the lock when you were locked in?"

"Yes, ma'am, he did."

"So it was not exactly Col. Mackenzie who opened the door for you to escape?"

"Cmdr. Rabb may have picked the lock, but the door was blocked by a plank from the outside. Col. Mackenzie removed the plank and we could leave our prison."

"Who flew the Tomcats back to the USS Seahawk?"

"Objection, your honor." Harm sprung up from his chair. "Irrelevant."

"I withdraw the question, your honor. Lieutenant, I heard you had to be treated at sick bay upon your return to the USS Seahawk, is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. We all had to be treated for mild smoke inhalation. Col. Mackenzie also had to be treated for a gun shot wound."

"No further questions, your honor."

Mac leaned over to Harm and whispered, "Why did she ask that? It was totally irrelevant to her line of questioning. She just helped us with it, not prosecution."

"Maybe that was the reason she asked the question."

1835 ZULU
Thursday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Harm and Mac were in the coffee room and poured themselves each a cup of coffee when the Admiral entered the room.

"Rabb, you did a very good job in there."

"Thank you, sir. What is your impression, do we need to call Webb to the stand?"

Harm sipped on his coffee and watched the Admiral pour himself a cup as well.

"Mac, have you talked to John Farrow lately?"

Mac shook her head, "No, sir, why?"

"Oh, so you don't know the news? He was promoted to full Colonel a couple of weeks back and is now a highly praised instructor at Camp Pendelton."

With that, AJ picked up his cup and left the room. Mac turned to Harm.

"I guess he just gave you an answer. Call me to the stand, Harm, please."

Harm nodded and quickly turned around to check if the coast was clear before he kissed Mac.

2010 ZULU
Thursday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Harm still didn't know whether it was really the right decision when he raised from his chair to call Defense's last witness - Mac. He had asked Chegwidden to question her, and though he was irritated about this at first, he thought it would be for the best knowing how close friends Harm and Mac were.

"Defense calls Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie to the stand." he said calmly and sat back down to watch the Admiral's line of questioning.

"Col. Mackenzie, you are accused of disobedience of an order. You have heard the witnesses Defense has called and told us what happened the said night in Iran, but I would like to hear your version as well. Please."

"After my partner, Cmdr. Harmon Rabb JR, was called to the USS Seahawk, I was informed that he was chosen to handle a hostage situation in Iran. In Turkey, I then was told that Capt. Harris had received orders to blow up the Tomcat the Commander delivered to Iran in return for the hostages. What shocked me was the fact that they were ready to sacrifice three lives just to 'prove a thing to the Iran' as General Mannings said in his earlier statement. I felt it was not right to kill three people if there was a way to save their lives."

"You knew the hostages personally, Colonel?"

"Yes, sir, one of them. Cmdr. Rabb is my partner at JAG and a very good friend."

"That night, you were aware of the consequences it would had for you when you went to their rescue?"

Mac nodded, "I was, sir. If you need to put me to jail for what I did, then be it so, but I don't regret even one thing I did. As a Marine, my duty is to serve my country and protect it from its enemies. And as a Marine, I could not stand by and watch them kill our own people."

"No further questions, your honor."

AJ returned to his chair and took a seat. Carolyn raised from her chair almost instantly and walked over to Mac.

"Col. Mackenzie, was there any other reason why you went to rescue those three Naval officers?"

"What exactly do you mean, ma'am?"

Carolyn picked up a copy of the Washington Post from her table and showed it to Mac.

"According to the Washington Post, you are considered a potential recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for your actions despite the fact you disobeyed an order. You'd be the second woman ever to recieve this medal. You knew a State Senator's daughter's life was at stake as well. All the honor, the medal..."

Mac just stared at Harm and AJ baffled. She was shocked to say the least, and needed a moment to recover from what she had just heard.

"Uhm, no, ma'am, those were not my intentions at all. I didn't know about that article until you showed it to me. I was not after some sort of a medal if you meant that. I didn't even think about it. All that mattered to me were those three officers held captive in Iran."

"No furthers questions, your honor."

Carolyn retreated to her chair and watched Mac taking her seat between Harm and AJ. Then Harm raised from his chair.

"Defense has no more witnesses to call, your honor."

"The court will recess until tomorrow morning to hear Defense and Prosecution's closing arguments. Dismissed."

Judge Wilson hit his gravel on the table at least 3 times until he got up and vanished into his office.

1735 ZULU
Friday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

Harm and Mac sat on a bench in the backyard of JAG HQ. No words were spoken, they just sat there next to each other, holding each other's hand. They had finished their final statements about 45 minutes ago, and the court had retreated to make their decision.

Harm didn't know what he should think about the trial. On the one hand, he had a good feeling that Mac may be charged guilty with no further sentence, but on the other hand he felt bad she was charged guilty at all. There was no way they would charge her not guilty.

He was so lost in his thoughts, that he hadn't even noticed his pager had gone off. He reached for it and read the message.

"The jury has returned." he said and looked up at Mac. "I don't know if it is a good sign they came to a conclusion this fast or not."

"Look, Harm, I know you did your best. Whatever they say in there won't change who I am, nor what we have. Whatever their verdict is is worth for what I got return. I finally feel complete and not lost and lonely anymore. I just want you to know that there is nothing I can blame you for. If they put me in jail, don't be too hard on yourself. You did the best you could, and I will always love you. No matter what happens."

"You will always be my Sarah, the woman I love more than life itself, but for you and me, for us, I hope all charges will be dropped."

Harm gently caressed her cheek before he reached for her hands and pulled her to her feet. They both took a deep breath before they walked off towards the building, facing whatever lay ahead of them.

2155 ZULU
Friday
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA

" Would the Defense please rise while the jury reads their verdict?"

Mac, Harm and AJ raised from their chairs at the same time, anxiously awaiting the verdict. Mac's hands trembled, and as much as she wanted to reach for Harm's hand for support, she knew she couldn't. She bit her lower lip when the foreman rose from his chair.

"We the jury," he began to speak, "find the defendant guilty of disobedience of a direct order."

Mac closed her eyes and dropped her head. All the time, she had known she would hear this, but as much as she thought she was prepared for it, she wasn't. It had hit her like a wall.

"Jury, would you now please announce your sentence." the judge went on.

"We, the jury, have thoroughly thought about this whole case. From what we gathered, Lt. Col. Mackenzie is a Marine officer who respects law and order and given the fact she saved three lives, we think she suffered enough humiliation by going through this trial. We request that this DDO charge will be deleted from her personal record and no further charges will apply."

The judge hit his gravel on the table, "This court martial is adjured. You are dismissed."

Mac still couldn't believe what she had just heard. She looked up at Harm who smiled at her broadly.

"We've done it, ninja girl!" he laughed and gathered her into a tight hug.

At that moment, he didn't care what anyone else in the courtroom was thinking. He was so relieved that the next day this all would be only a bad dream for both of them and nothing more. When he released her from his arms, she was glowing all over her face.

"Good job, Harm." Carolyn said as she approached them and extended her hand in Harm's direction.

He took it immediately, "Thank you, Carolyn."

Then he turned back to Mac and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Now would you please excuse us? The Colonel and I have to celebrate our victory."

Mac just smiled when Harm picked up his briefcase and guided her towards the exit. They sneaked their way out of the building through the backdoor to avoid all the media.

"Am I really considered a possible reciepent of the Medal of Honor?" Mac asked still in disbelief when Harm opened the door for her and they stepped outside in the garden.

"Yep, you are."

"I can't believe this. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't find out until earlier. Chegwidden obviously knew what Carolyn had in mind, so he handed me the Washington Post right before he started questioning you. He was nice enough to mark the relevant chapter for me. Can you say I was shocked?"

"Hey, what do I have to say then? I guess this all has to sink in before I can come to grips with it."

"Let's go home. We have to celebrate!"

"Harm," Mac touched him on his upper arm and stopped him right where they were, "I know this sounds lame when you say it day in, day out, but I am madly in love with you, Commander Rabb."

"This feeling is mutual, Colonel Mackenzie. I am madly in love with you as well."

Their lips met in a tender, but passionate kiss. For a moment, they forgot where they were, and Harm dropped his briefcase to the ground before his arms wrapped around Mac's waist and pulled her close.

At a window above them, a tall man was standing, watching them closely. He shook his head, smiling, before he returned to his desk and sank down in his brown leather chair.

Finally, he could put his prayers to rest that one day, the two JAG lawyers he felt were like children to him would be able to open their eyes and admit their love for each other. He just wondered how long it would take those two to finally confide in him, their friend.

In his chair, he turned to the window one last time and watched Cmdr. Harmon Rabb JR and Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie walk off to meet their destiny.