Title: America's Couple
Author: rooster dawn
Pairing: Harm/Mac
Disclaimers: The characters of JAG are the property of Donald Bellisario and Bellisarius Production, Inc. Used without permission. No copyright infringement intended. May be reproduce if unchanged, author given full credit, and no financial transaction is involved.
Summary: It's a New Year and the new General sees what the rest of America sees.
Feedback is greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Author's note: What is a General to do when his best team is love by all America?
Author's note 2: This is a follow up story to Number One Couple in Washington DC.
part 1
0800 hours
Wednesday
12 Jan 2005
Jag Headquarters
The General was sitting in his office enjoying a cup of coffee. For the second time in a matter of two weeks he had seen Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie in each other's arm dancing. Actually it was the third times. He was there in person the first time.
He and his wife had gone out New Year's Eve celebrating the arrival of the New Year. They had gone to a very nice place recommended by Petty Officer Coates. It had been a favorite of the previous JAG.
It was four stars in everyway possible. It had a great atmosphere, excellent food, a wide variety of wines, and dance floor with a band meant to have a good time.
Despite some of her obvious flaws that sometimes grated on his nerves, she was an excellent choice for the job she had. He was beginning to see why Admiral Cheggewidden was so high on her. If only she would stay out of his personal life and his office until he called for her.
He was surprised to see Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie at such an upscale restaurant. The Commander was in his dress whites. The Colonel was in a deep burgundy gown. Her hair was done up above her head instead of behind like she wore at work.
He had to admit the Colonel was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She had poise, beauty, intellect, and she knew how to carry herself. It shouldn't have been a surprise to him when he saw so many photographers taking pictures of her and the Commander, but it did.
At times there appeared to be a feeding frenzy around them, but she didn't seemed to be aware that they were taking her picture. Then again maybe this was a common occurrence for her, maybe it was a normal part of her life any time she went out.
So maybe he shouldn't have been surprised to see pictures of her with the Commander all over the newspaper. It did surprise him though that they had made the front page of every newspaper in Washington and Baltimore. But what upset him the most was the headline
America's Number One Couple Bring in the New Year
as They danced the night away in Grand Style
He had been hesitant to let them be together in the first place. They could be a major distraction whenever they didn't agree on something, which was putting it mildly. He had heard all the stories from Turner.
They had agreed to keep their relationship quiet and not let it affect their work. So far they had been doing fine at work, but being on the front page of all the newspapers in Washington wasn't exactly his idea of keeping their relationship quiet.
He was getting a headache. No one had told him when he accepted this job that he would have to contend with the likes of MacKenzie and Rabb. They were like no one he had ever commanded before.
How in the world had Cheggewidden been able to put up with them for eight years? They were driving him nuts in the short time he had known them. MacKenzie was supposed to be this hard nosed, no nonsense, squared away marine.
What he had found in the first few months was someone who wasn't sure of herself and was more concerned about what she did over ten years ago when she was a first lieutenant. She had definitely been with these squids too long.
Rabb was another story. As tentative as the MacKenzie had been, Rabb was like a brick wall. Rabb was strong and unyielding. No matter what he threw at Rabb, it didn't faze him one iota. In fact Rabb took it as a challenge.
Rabb was someone who needed to be taken down a peg or two, but he was at a lost as to how to accomplish it. He had quizzed Turner about any weaknesses Rabb might have. He was totally useless as Turner was trying to get back in the good graces of Rabb and MacKenzie.
Coates was right about them. Rabb was indeed the heart and soul of this command. They all seem to rally around him whenever there was a need. They also seem to respond to MacKenzie. They all seem to seek her approval.
They all seem to ignore Turner. For some unknown reason he hadn't found out about yet, Turner wasn't a very likeable person. He must have had a run in with Rabb or MacKenzie. No, that couldn't be it, he went to academy with Rabb.
That meant that they were friends for life. He would have to question Coates about it later. She seemed to know everything about what was going on between the people here at headquarters. Maybe it had something to do with him being acting JAG for four months.
God! Why was it he couldn't focus when he was dealing with them? He had lost his train of thought once again. What was he thinking about? Oh yeah, MacKenzie and Rabb ability to draw attention to themselves.
He looked down on his desk at all the magazines. There were three of them lying there. Each one of them had a picture of MacKenzie and Rabb dancing cheek to cheek. Each one of them had a pictorial and several articles inside about them.
Each one had at least one picture of them kissing. He shook his head. What was he going to do? Should he do some recon work first? Should he get Coates into his office and grill her? Should he contact the SecNav and head off any trouble before it became too big?
Or should he get one of them into his office to explain what was going on? Would that be fair? Maybe he should just get both of them in here and chew them both out. He liked that idea, but he didn't think it would change anything.
He knew with his thirty plus years of experience that chewing out two people in love only caused resentment. That usually led to productivity going down. Something he didn't need right now since they were short staffed.
He decided he might as well call Coates and tell her he wanted to see MacKenzie. He might get more out her than Rabb. She still feared him a little. She was the weaker of the two or so he thought. She might give him more info.
Rabb on the other hand might get too defensive. He was pigheaded to a fault. He would fall on his sword before saying anything. He figured he wouldn't learn anything from Rabb.
He didn't want to talk to them together because they seem to be stronger together than when they were alone. He pushed his intercom button.
"Coates! Find MacKenzie and tell her I want to see her ASAP!"
"Yes Sir." replied Jen.
Jen got up out of her chair and went to see if the Colonel was in her office. The General seemed to be in one of those snitty moods of his. She wondered what it was about. Probably something anal.
The door to Mac's office was open when she arrived, but she didn't see the Colonel inside. She glanced over to the Commander's office. If the Colonel wasn't in court or her office, she was usually with the Commander.
But she didn't see either of them in the Commander's office. Maybe they were in the break room. It was early in the morning. Maybe they were getting a cup of coffee before getting started.
She walked over and heard them in the break room. She sighed as she heard them. They were bantering back and forth teasing each other. She heard Commander Turner open his mouth. Big mistake she thought.
With the Colonel and the Commander in such a good mood, Commander Turner was in trouble. The Colonel and Commander were sure to gang up on him as they always did. She wondered why Commander Turner hadn't figured it out yet.
Maybe it was his way of doing penitence while he was the acting JAG.
She gave them another minute for them to finish before walking in. She never did like interrupting officers.
"Excuse me Ma'am." interrupted Jen.
"What is it Coates?" asked Mac.
"The General would like to see you ASAP." replied Jen.
"Do you know why Coates?" asked Mac.
"I think it might have something to do with your activities with the Commander on New Year's Eve Ma'am." replied Jen.
"I should probably go with you then." suggested Harm.
"Sir, he only wants to see the Colonel. You know, marine to marine. I think he stills has difficulty dealing with squids, especially you Sir." explained Jen.
"Me? I can't imagine why?" smiled Harm.
"You mean besides the fact you tower over him, that he can't intimidate you, and you won't bend to his will." smiled Jen.
That brought out a laugh from Sturgis and Mac. Harm smiled.
"That's probably why he chose the bubblehead here for his chief of staff. He can't bully me and Mac would eventually put him in his place. Sturgis still hopes to be the JAG some day. Something I don't really care about or want." smiled Harm.
"I don't want it either if it means putting up with you Harm. Mac is the only one who can keep you in line." replied Sturgis shaking his head. Four months was enough for him.
"I better get going then. I shouldn't keep him waiting." sighed Mac.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come along with you Mac?" asked Harm.
"I'm sure Harm. Besides he already played his whole card dealing with Japan. I no longer fear the little man. I can handle him." smiled Mac.
Mac knocked on the door and waited for the command to enter.
"Come In!" ordered the General.
"Colonel MacKenzie reporting as ordered Sir." reported Mac.
"At Ease Colonel, have a seat. I have something I need to discuss with you." ordered the General.
"Yes Sir." replied Mac.
"Have you seen these?" asked the General as he slid the magazines over to Mac along with the newspapers.
"No Sir." replied Mac as she quickly scanned the magazines before a small smile appeared on her lips.
"I thought you were going to keep your relationship with the Commander below the radar Colonel. I thought you, being a Marine, would have been able to handle it. Obviously I was mistaken." express the General with a tone of disappointed.
"Are you talking about these articles about the Commander and myself?" asked Mac with interest.
"Yes Colonel. I don't understand why you were somewhere to draw this much attention to yourself. You should have stayed home." answered the General.
"I don't think that's a realistic request Sir. I mean you and your wife were at the same party. There were over a thousand people there. There are always photographers at these parties. It's not our fault that they like to focus their attention on us." replied Mac.
"Harm and I attend over twenty high profile events every year. Most of them will always be heavily covered by the media. The media have people they like to cover. And in this day and age with the war against terrorism, the military is in the news everyday." continued Mac.
"And you're what the media wants? You don't think maybe the SecNav, Pentagon officials, or high ranking Naval and Marine officers are in higher demand?" asked the General.
"When was the last time you read anything about any of them that wasn't an attack on America's policy concerning Iraq and Afghanistan Sir? Harm and I are a human interest story. They have been covering us for many years." answered Mac.