Disclaimer: I do not own anything of CSI Miami, JAG, or any of their intellectual properties. I own only my OC. Please don't sue me; my lawyer's in jail.

A/N: I originally wrote this story three years ago and had to make some major, major changes before reposting. My readers requested one major change be made to the story, and that's included in this version. My goal is to get this completely up in time for Memorial Day. Although I'm American, I'd like to dedicate this story to all military who have fought and died for their countries. I'd also thank the families who have stood by their soldiers and endured the hardships thereof.

When I wrote this story the first time, I was using my OC Emmie Stockburne as a focal point before I was able to write the characters without an OC. Hard as I've tried to rewrite this story without my OC, it just doesn't seem to be the same. Enjoy!

Chapter 1-Calling In Favors

Horatio stepped into the Miami-Dade computer lab to retrieve some files. Computer techs Emmie Stockburne and Tyler Jensen could tell that he was upset about something. His lips were tight and his eyes narrowed.

"Hey, Sir. You okay?" Emmie wanted to know. "You don't look too happy for someone who's going up in a fighter plane this weekend."

He met their eyes. "I was going to go up in a fighter plane. Until Stetler decided to pull some favors with the County. Now he's going up instead."

"What?" Emmie folded her arms and scowled. "That stinks! Tyler was all set to get footage of you! We were gonna make a video of you getting ready and show it to the whole department!"

Horatio put up his hand. "That's okay, Miss Stockburne. You and Tyler capture Rick in his big moment. It's for the MDPD, not for me." There was no hiding the fact that Horatio was disappointed, though.

The United States Navy was collaborating with the Miami-Dade Police and Homestead Air Force Base to stage the Salute to the Heroes Memorial Day Air Show in South Florida that weekend. Emmie Stockburne knew some high-ranking officials in the Department of the Navy who could arrange a special flight for one Miami-Dade police officer over the Atlantic Ocean in an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet. The Navy was more than happy to do this as a good will gesture . No doubt that Horatio would be the best choice for this honor, everyone agreed. But it seemed like the natural course of things for IAB agent Rick Stetler to try to steal the spotlight, especially when it involved his rival.

"They gonna let Stetler get away with that?" Tyler asked, also upset by what happened.

Emmie furiously clicked her keyboard, also upset by the turn of events. "You know, Tyler, I've been thinking. We can't do anything about Rick going up instead of Horatio." She then paused and a smile crossed her face.

"But we can certainly help make it memorable, can't we?"

"You're scaring me. What did you have in mind?"

"Have your camera ready for that day. Capture Rick getting outfitted for his flight. Make sure you get everything in detail. Make him look like something out of Top Gun." She turned to him and framed her face with her hands. "And above all, make sure the Navy has that cockpit camera, complete with sound recorder."

"And what are you gonna do?"

She smiled and picked up her phone. "I'm gonna make some calls."

Commander Harmon Rabb still had his eyes on the 1100 pretrial when his phone buzzed.

"Commander Rabb."

"Harm, you crooked lawyer! It's Emmie Stockburne, your old Quantico liaison! How are you?"

A huge smile crossed his face. "Agent Stockburne! How long's it been?"

"Long, long time. Hey Harm, I was hoping you could do me a huge favor. A little birdie told me you're in charge of rostering the F-14 stunt pilots for the air show here in Homestead this weekend. That true?"

"Yeah. A lot of pilots got sent to Iraq, so A.J. asked me to be in charge of it. You gonna be there when your boss goes up in the Tomcat?"

She hesitated. "Uh well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You know politics."

Harm smirked. "Don't forget, I still live in Washington."

"Well, anyway, it ends up our Internal Affairs agent Rick Stetler pulled some maneuvers, and Lieutenant Caine got pushed out of the spot. So it ends up Sergeant Stetler's going up, and not my boss."

"I see. So what can I do?"

"Well, since you're the one who rosters the pilots, I was just thinking. Since Sergeant Stetler really wants to be in the limelight that day, maybe you can make it something he'll remember. You see, he's never been in a fighter plane and thinks it's just like a rollercoaster ride. Do you have a pilot who will make this, uh, you know, memorable for him, if you know what I mean."

The JAG officer smiled and nodded. "Let me see what I can do. Emmie, I see you're still twisted and evil."

"Harm, you're just saying that because it's true. Thanks. This really means a lot to me. Tell everybody I said hello." With that she clicked off the phone.

Emmie sat with Horatio in his office as Commander Rabb called. "Hold on, Harm. Putting you on speaker." She clicked the speaker button while Horatio closed his door, away from curious ears.

"Emmie? Lieutenant Caine? Sorry to keep you waiting. I think I can help Sergeant Stetler with his glory ride. We got a guy here who just came back from Iraq. He used to fly with the Blue Angels, so you know he knows some good maneuvers. But he's a little crazy. I used to be a fighter pilot myself, and this guy scares even me."

"Sounds good so far, Commander" Horatio said, starting to feel better.

"What's his name?" Emmie wanted to know.

"He's Lieutenant Gill Marshall. Call sign Widowmaker."

Horatio smiled. "With a name like that I like him already."

"I need to warn you, Lieutenant. Like I said, Widowmaker's a nut case, even for a fighter pilot. Guy knows every stunt and dogfighting maneuver in the book, and I think he even made up some. My colleagues saw him do a negative 2-G dive over the Persian Gulf. We didn't think he'd recover. Must have missed the water by inches. Now a negative-2G is twice the speed of a freefall. I think Widowmaker would be glad to give Sergeant Stetler a day to remember."

Emmie laughed. "Not just Rick Stetler. Anyone else coming with you?"

"Mac's coming down."

"Looking forward to this?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. You just have Sergeant Stetler report to the main office at Homestead, 0900, and we'll take care of the rest."

"Oh, uh, Harm? Just tell Widowmaker not to give him a heart attack, okay? I don't think you want another investigation on your hands."

Commander Rabb laughed. "Can't guarantee that. Don't worry, we'll handle it."

"Thank you, Commander Rabb. See you Saturday morning." With that Horatio clicked off the speaker.