"Love Lift Us Up"
Author: Haruo Chikamori
E-mail: hhchikamori
Rating: M
Classification: Harm/Mac ; Animal/Meg
Spoilers: The events in this story happen after Gypsy Eyes – note Mac's AU upbringing will have changed things a lot. And frankly in order to make this whole story line fit, Mac doesn't meet up with Dalton (C)Lowne as…things transpire in this story…
Summary: Tosh & Meg plan their wedding; while Harm's jealousy over Meg having found a relationship causes Mac to enlighten Harm as to how she feels about him. (sequel to Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder)
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims-Roberts et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.
Author's Note: This is for Saissa…and yes, there's smut, not explicit smut, but smut nonetheless. Here's a basic timeline of the stories so far:
1995 – Animal's MOH Investigation
1996 – Gone Flying - "We the People" events
1997 – Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder (Animal's final deployment from July 1997-January 1998)
1998 – Love Lift Us Up (Late Summer 1998)
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
Friday Afternoon
Lieutenant Meg Austin was looking rather frazzled. It wasn't so much the caseload, as it was the amount of other things that were on her plate. The cases were relatively simple: two Article 133 Conduct Unbecomings, an Article 89, and an Article 87. None of which should have been ordinarily capable of driving poor Meg to a state where she felt like throwing something at the wall.
Major Sarah Mackenzie grinned at her rather cantankerous friend. "Plans going great?" She asked – the question being returned by a glare. "Ah…" she nodded knowingly.
"The chapel that Tosh and I selected pulled out. It turns out the place was double booked for another wedding and they didn't tell us that. The caterers that we are looking at just don't have the menu that I'm looking for and the invitations came back on yellow paper not as a rich cream 107lb card stock…" Meg growled, her demeanor evidently frustrated, "The way it looks. I may as well set up centerpieces on each table with bananas and oranges at the local grocery store! And I don't know which one to use, the Gladiolus, Blue Rose, Purple Orchid and Calla Lilli centerpiece or the freesia, hydrangea and hyacinth. We picked a blue/white/yellow-gold theme in our wedding because of the fact that we're both Navy." Meg sighed in frustration, "…but think that you can find stuff in those colors that coordinate well? Oh, no… I might as well be asking someone to put a moon rock in the middle of the table."
Lieutenant j.g. Bud Roberts was walking past the door and Mac accosted him. "Bud, come here a minute."
"Yes, ma'am." A confused Bud was led into the room.
Picking up the two pictures of the floral centerpieces, Mac held them up and said. "Which one do you think looks good. A or B".
"Uh…" stammered Bud who felt like he was placed uncomfortably on the spot. "Isn't that something that Captain Nakamura should be answering?"
"Bud!" Meg growled. Bud always seemed like he was always confused.
"Sorry ma'am, but I mean…shouldn't that should be Captain Nakamura's call." Bud continued to stammer.
"We just want your opinion. Bud." Mac said pointedly.
"Well, Ma'am. I think I like the first one, Ma'am. More variety in the flowers and it looks nice…" Bud smiled even though he felt like he had been skewered and pinned in place. "I'm sure Captain Nakamura would like that too." He said as he hastily excused himself. Wedding plans tended to make the other sex run the other direction…fast. As Bud left the office, Meg sat down on her chair heavily and palmed her forehead, elbow on her desk.
"How are you holding up…" Mac asked as she knew Meg was frazzled with the wedding plans. "Does Captain Nakamura help you out with the plans?"
"Oh, he tries." Meg said as she looked at Animal's picture with a fond look crossing her face. "…but you know how men are. If they're not uncomfortable with wedding plans and run every time they see a catering list, they're clueless about how weddings should be color-coordinated and that there's a color scheme involved and that everything that comes into a wedding scenario needs to match that color scheme."
"So which category does Animal fall into. Chicken or Clueless?" Mac asked, a wicked little smile crossing her face.
"Oh, most definitely into the clueless side. He wants to help, but he doesn't have the faintest idea of what goes with what color and the fact is that instead of white, he tends to lean towards the usual ghost and battleship greys. I guess it's what he's used to in terms of aircraft coloring." Meg replied, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Well, considering he tends to lean towards blue when he wears civvies, I'm surprised." Mac replied remembering Animal usually wore blue jeans and either a jean shirt, or synthetic fabric tee. After all, Mac, Harm, Meg and Animal, when off-duty, tended to stick together like a pack; either hanging out at McMurphy's or doing something recreational outdoors. Of course, it was a standing joke amongst them that Animal wouldn't go near Sarah, Harm's biplane. Open cockpit flying; though historically the realm of the barnstormers was something that Animal wasn't the slightest bit fond of.
"…but you're strapped down…" Harm had yelled over the prop noise of Sarah powering up.
"…yeah…and there's only that strap and 14,000 feet between me the ground should the restraint, built by the lowest bidder, snap…so thank you very kindly…but no thank you... I'll stick to terra firma…" Animal had yelled back.
"…then how the hell can you fly Tomcats?" Harm had returned back at Animal
Animal snapped back a retort "…the addition of plexiglass!"
"He may be able to wear blue, but tell him to find it or a yellow/gold color that matches with what the centerpieces are and that's a whole different story." Meg said dryly as she remembered some of the samples that he had suggested – not even close to the color that she was looking for. "He's pretty much banned from making suggestions."
NAS Oceana,
Virginia Beach, VA
Commander, CVW-8's office.
"Hey!" RDML Jason "Rattler" Teague grinned as he stepped into the office in khakis, a single star on each collar emblazoned brightly.
"Hey yourself. Rattler." Animal looked up from his files noting the informal address. If he had said Captain, Animal would have utilized the sir. "That star looks good on you."
"Thanks, Animal." Rattler replied. "So how are the wedding-plans going with you and Meg?"
"Oh…I've been banned from the decision making process. Evidently…according to my beloved Meg, I'm color-blind. I didn't know there were that many permutations to the color wheel. To me yellow is yellow…not citrine, chartreuse, amber, apricot. Hell, Aureolin and Yellow look exactly the same to me. Can you tell the difference between Mikado Yellow, Selective Yellow and AMBER?" Animal threw up his hands. "I can't tell the difference! I can't tell the difference between Schoolbus Yellow and Gold. Geez."
Rattler chuckled heartily. "Yeah…well…that's women for ya."
"So…pretty much, my contribution to the day is…show up in my dress whites and sword and kiss the bride…"
"...and…" Rattler insinuated waving a hand in a circular 'give me more info' wave "please continue…".
"Ha ha ha…" Animal snorted dryly. "You have a dirty mind, Rattler."
"Hey, a mind is a fun thing to waste…and a gutter is only as dirty as you think it is." Rattler snickered.
Animal and Meg's Apartment
Richmond, VA
1930hrs
"Hey, you…" Meg grinned as she leaned into Animal's embrace. "How was work today." Meg and Animal had decided on a luxury apartment in Richmond. At least they could afford it on Animal's salary as an O-6. The reasoning behind the move was Meg's idea and at her insistence. If they had stayed in Reston as he had mentioned, it would work out to almost 3 and a half hours drive for Animal which meant that he would get less than four hours sleep a day considering he had to drive back and forth from Virginia Beach and NAS Oceana. Looking at the map, they determined Richmond was the half-way point. When they split the distance between them, it each worked out to about an hour and three-quarters drive per person which seemed much more palatable, at least in Animal's case…and it allowed Animal more time with Meg which Meg enjoyed and he didn't have to get out the door at zero-two hundred hours in the morning.
"Rattler dropped by. He's now working out of NAS Pax River, part of the crew who do the test and eval on weapons systems." Animal replied as he replied between the kisses that Meg laid on his lips as a concerto for transverse flute by Vivaldi played softly in the background. Meg ignored it as she put her concentration towards seducing Animal.
One of the things that Meg enjoyed about her fiancé was the fact that he tended to lean towards classical music for entertainment instead of the more popular rock music that other guys she had dated had done. Even though it wasn't her favorite form of music, Meg realized that her husband-to-be had eclectic tastes when it came to music and hobbies as she could tell by his photography equipment, especially a ten-thousand dollar super-telephoto for photographing wildlife. Yet he was an alpha-male, fighter jock.
"oh…is that so…" she murmured, "You said he had his rear admiral lower half?"
"yeah…and Gomer's now with the Joint Chiefs on the staff of Admiral Bill Corrigan the third, SACLANT/USCINCACOM." Animal replied as he grinned at Meg between her kisses.
"mmmmm…" Meg said as she smiled endearingly, her left hand going to his khakis and slowly unbuttoning the shirt while her right brushed his chest, massaging as it moved lower. That pretty much did it for Animal. He stopped relating his day, growled amorously, picked Meg up and carried her into the bedroom amid a burst of delighted laughter from Meg. So much for dinner.
Much later
Meg sighed looking at Animal as she caressed his bare chest. Her heart rate was coming back down after the exertions they had "Sweetie…" she murmured as her blue eyes met his dark brown ones. "That never fails to work, does it?" the innuendo apparent in her smile.
"Nope…" Animal replied as he leaned in for a kiss. "It never fails."
"Then I'll keep doing it…" she grinned mischievously at him. "After all the results are spectacular."
"Minx." He teased her as his arms went around Meg's bare shoulders to draw her to him. She acquiesced with an endearing whimper of pleasure, while she wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him inside.
"…only with you, my love…" she whispered as they began that age-old dance d'amour and then all words became lost as they gave and took what they desired from each other.
Dinner came much later for the two of them.
Meanwhile
McMurphy's Tavern
Falls Church, VA
Harm sighed as he pulled at his drink. He was thinking long thoughts about his partner of over two years. Meg was a hell of a great partner. She had always backed him up in any situation whether it had been trying to go in to uncover a Defense Security Division (DSD) rogue operation or covering for him and getting shot in the head by Hemlock.
While they were on Shadow, he had put her on the spot about how good her code-breaking skills were:
"I can decipher computer codes in as little as 30 seconds, sir." Meg had responded,
"And as long as…" he had tried to throw her off her game just to prove a point that she wasn't as good as Kate.
"Three days, but that was in Chinese." Meg returned. And damn, she was good at verbal comebacks.
She also had a scathingly witty and raunchy repartee. Especially in Lima, when they went down to investigate a shooting incident of a young Peruvian boy by a Marine guard.
"If security gets any tighter, they'll be strip searching us." Harm grinned at Meg.
Her response shocked him right to the very core. "Don't get my hopes up, sir."
Or when they were investigating the death of a Navy pilot in evac drills for a space shuttle launch, she had shown him just how learned she was. Hell, he didn't even realize that particular physics law existed.
"First time supersonic, Lieutenant?" Harm asked with a cheesy grin.
"No, sir, just my first time as a lawyer." Meg riposted.
"How do I rate?" Harm asked curious to know her reaction.
"Could have done without the snap-roll." She retorted.
"I had to leave an impression." Harm grinned looking at her as they walked down the flight line.
"And you could have used a little more runway…" Meg said snidely.
"You want a long roll-out, fly the Air Force." Harm said cheekily as he grinned a great big Navy flier's grin.
"Oooh. Careful, Harm, we're in their territory." Meg said looking around to see if anyone heard the loudmouth Navy lawyer fighter-jock.
"There's a lot of friendlies around here, Meg, The space program likes Navy pilots, we make their best astronauts," Harm said with a self-satisfied grin.
"Yeah, I think I read that somewhere…" Meg said as she matched him stride for stride as they walked down the tarmac. "…in Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion."
"Hey…all I need to say is that the first American in space was not an Air Force jock…" Harm said smugly "they put up a man who knew how to make a trap."
"Then why was the first man in orbit a Marine?" Meg said. Pretty much…that ended that repartee. OUCH!
And the fact that she had stuck up for him ever since they found out that Diane had been murdered. But as Harm found out to his dismay, Meg's capacity for a relationship and her emotional maturity has far outstripped his when he found out that his old Reserve Air Group instructor and long-time friend had developed an intimate relationship with his legal partner. He realized that since Meg was in JAG's chain of command of which he was a cog, a relationship with her would be damned near impossible. And the fact that just recently when Harm saw that engagement ring on Meg's finger, that potential relationship road had just dead-ended abruptly for him. But that didn't stop him from melancholic reminiscences of "what could have been"…
"Hey, penny for your thoughts?" A voice intruded on his reverie. Harm looked up to see Mac's concerned look.
"Hi, Mac. What brings you here?" he sighed tiredly. He wasn't up for an interrogation and took a long pull of his drink.
"You look like someone told you your dog died." Mac said with a concerned look.
"Naw, just thinking on what could have been." Harm replied. "You know Meg and I were partners for well over an year…now going on almost two."
Mac looked at him. "Yeah…and now that she's engaged and planning her wedding, you're thinking you should have made your move for her, right?" Harm gave her a sharp look as if to say that Mac had touched a tender spot that still hurt. His silence spoke volumes. "You know, you've got to come to terms with her decision." Mac continued. "…and respect her choice. And don't forget that you have choices in front of you too." She continued, a small smile on her face.
"Oh, really, Mac?" Harm said, his tone dry, as he took another drink of his beer.
"Yes, really…Harm." Her face softened. "It's not like you haven't made an impression on other people in JAG as well…"
"But they're all in the chain of command." He protested softly looking into the bottle. How many had he drank? Oh, that's right, the other four were sitting on the table beside him.
"I wasn't saying that the choices would be easy, Harm." Mac said, giving him another smile. "But there are women who give a damn about you, besides your legal partner."
Harm took a long moment to decipher all that. "Would you count yourself in that list? Mac?"
"Probably pretty close to the top…" Harm's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Mac's eyes were holding his.
"Since when…?" Harm asked hoarsely – the alcohol was starting to affect his mind, he thought. He was hearing things.
"Red Rock Mesa." Mac admitted softly. "When I pulled you into the helo…and I fell for you hard when you said that you would defend Uncle Matt. You can't know just how much that meant to me."
"I'm just sorry it didn't turn out the way that you hoped it would have." Harm said.
"I know, Harm, but you got him a mitigation of sentence. Normally for that kind of treason, he would have been on Death Row at Leavenworth. Twenty-five years with possibility of parole is far more of a leniency than I would have imagined. I was hoping at best for Life without parole." Mac said, a glassy look in her eyes that spoke of tears behind those brilliant brown orbs of hers. "Now…did you come here in your car?" She cleared her throat to deflect the hoarseness in her voice.
Harm nodded. "Yeah, the Stingray's here."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to get you home…" Mac said as she extended the palm of her right hand. Harm looked at her. "Keys, Harm, you're drunk. You need to have a designated driver and as far as I know, I'm it."
Harm gave her a glassy smile. "Love you, jarhead…"
"Alright…save the PDAs for when we get you home." Mac replied, blushing. She looked at the bottles lined up on the table. Five bottles of Sam Adams Triple Bock. He would be swimming in alcohol. She shook her head as she mentally calculated just how much his blood-alcohol content would be if he had drunk that one after the other. Considering Triple Bock had an alcohol content of over 17%, Harm would be well over 0.08 in BAC and he had been sitting there for at maximum 2 and a half hours. Harm would probably be regretting his decision to drink tomorrow since his head would more than likely be splitting.
Walking him to the passenger side of the 1968 cherry-red Corvette Stingray, she bundled him in, buckling him, allowing him a beery kiss on the cheek. "Now, I'm going to drive you home…" she said as she buckled herself in after getting in on the driver's seat. She started the car and slowly pulled out of the parking space into the driving lane fully respecting the power of the vehicle that she controlled.
"Thanks for driving me home…" Harm said, slightly slurring his words. "I appreciate that… Mac."
"Not a problem. After drinking those beers, you'd be in serious trouble if you ran into a police road-check." Mac said. There was no answer. "Harm? Harm!?" She looked over. Harm had passed out in the passenger seat. She smiled shaking her head as she continued to drive on towards Harm's apartment in the Union Station area.
Harm's Apartment
North of Union Station
Washington DC
Harm had roused himself just long enough to get them into the apartment, via the elevator and by unlocking the door. He grinned an intoxicated smile at Mac and said again, "I love you…Mac." To which Mac wondered if it was the beer talking but she took it at face value.
He pretty much collapsed, his legs like gelatin into the sofa, sitting there with an inebriated grin plastered on his face. "You're taking this really hard, aren't you?" Mac said, stating the obvious.
"I thought at one point that I loved her." Harm said.
"…but you couldn't tell her…" Mac finished his sentence for him. He nodded, his intoxicated state making his head bob as violently as a bobble-head.
"It wasn't in the cards. She was in JAG, so was I. Chalk it up to love lost…" He said somewhat airily. Yes, it was the beer talking, Mac was sure of it.
"Well, think of it that way…if you want." Mac said, getting on knees beside him next to the edge of the sofa where he was propping himself up with an elbow to keep his head from slamming against the arm-rest. "I prefer to think of it as her allowing me the opportunity." She grinned at him.
"…opportunity…?" Harm asked quizzically, his eyes bleary. "Why would you want a washed up ex-fighter jock like me who couldn't cut it when it came down to the crunch?"
"Harm…" Mac warned, "Don't talk like that. You're a capable aviator. Remember, you gave Animal plenty of trouble up there when you went down to Oceana for air to air combat." She fastened a hard look at Harm. "I'm not going to have you talking yourself down into a pit of despair. Now I don't know about air combat, but to me, two wins out of seven fights against an aviator considered one of the top ranking fighter jocks in the Navy is what I would consider not 'washed up'. So Harmon Rabb, you stop talking like that." She paused. "…and as to why I want you…" She fastened her lips onto his, as she leaned in, her brown eyes fastening onto his steel-grey-hazel ones. "I told you why, at McMurphy's. Now you let me decide from hereon in as to why I want you and decide to stick with you. Why did you think I came with you to Russia when we found out about your Dad?"
Harm groaned solidly as her lips again fastened onto his. "Mac…I'll never forget that. You did come with me as far as anyone would ever go." he said softly…his voice almost soft enough to be a supplication. "But we're both in JAG…how will we make this work?" he protested weakly, his heart wasn't in the protest. He just wanted to be able to feel again. The thoughts of his father lying in his final resting place in the tundra in Siberia, and now his partner in JAG planning to marry someone else. There was only one person who had stuck with him through thick and thin and that was Mac.
Mac just smiled. "Well, when your head stops pulsating from all the drinking that you did at McMurphy's maybe we just need to figure out how we're going to fix that situation. Now you smell like a sailor that fell into the bilge tank. So what should we do to solve that problem, hmmmm?" She smiled.
"I guess I should take a shower." Mac smiled as Harm said this. "Maybe that might sober me up some." Harm said as he staggered to his feet, with Mac's aid.
"five times seventeen percent…hmmm. Probably doubt it, but it'll keep you from smelling like a plugged head." Mac replied, as she gave him another kiss. "At least you didn't drink enough to purge your stomach, but if you do feel sick, make sure you get into the head before you upchuck all over your nicely finished floor.
"Thanks, jarhead." Harm said sarcastically, his loving look taking away some of the bite.
"Don't mention it." Mac returned smiling affectionately at her sailor.
While Harm staggered into his shower, stripping clothes and throwing them onto the floor, Mac pulled out a glass, poured some water into it and threw three ice-cubes into it to keep it cold. Plain water was reputed to be the best antidote for the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Shaking her head, she went up to what passed for the bathroom in Harm's place and laid the glass on the counter. "Drink up." She said. "It's water, it'll help sooth that pounding head in the morning. And drink plenty of it." Harm groaned over the sound of the water pounding his body. Mac looked over to see him in all his glory. "Don't groan. You dehydrated yourself with all that beer, so chasing it away with a morning hair of the dog is out of the question. You'll just make yourself feel worse." Her tongue felt thick herself, speaking, as she saw him lean out, bare shoulders, bare waist, bare…everything. As much as she wanted to jump him right there and then, Mac realized that taking advantage of him being drunk was probably not the best way to start off an intimate relationship. So with some difficulty, she pulled herself away from what she thought of as a delicious vision and started to exit the bathroom, in the meantime thinking that she had to splash some water on her face or at the very least cool herself with a fan.
"Mac?" Harm's voice stopped her. "You wouldn't be taking advantage of me…" His eyes looked much clearer as she turned around to gaze at him. How the hell was it that he could read her mind? Or was she that blatantly apparent with her examining look of him?
"I…I…" Mac stammered. "This…could be…a…bad…" as Harm stepped completely out of the shower in absolutely nothing. His hair was plastered to his head and droplets of water streaked down his well-muscled body. "Oh…to hell with it…" she said, and started removing her own clothes. In two strides, Harm was beside her, helping her out of her clothes.
"Mac, I want you." He said hoarsely as he looked into her eyes. And he wasn't seeing his lost lover this time around. "You're not a rebound or an unrequited love. You're my friend and have been since Red Rock Mesa." Seeing her naked before him, he pulled her towards the shower. "Share the shower with me?" he said, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Are we going to get any showering done?" Mac asked snidely as she reached down to caress him.
"Maybe…" Harm said as he pulled her into the shower… "Maybe not…" and all their troubles and unrequited romances were completely forgotten as two unclothed bodies met under the showerhead.
In the middle of the shower, Mac asked him. "Harm…my clothes…my underthings. I'm gonna be clean, but they won't be…" The water pounded against her scalp as she looked up at him.
"I'll toss them in the wash and the dryer…when we're done…" Harm grinned as he looked at her.
"So that means, I won't be going home tonight." She breathed heavily as Harm lifted her against the shower glass block wall as she wrapped her legs around him to gather him in. "…oh god…yes…" she moaned.
Harm's Apartment
North of Union Station
Washington DC
Saturday Morning
0730 hrs
Mac's eyes slowly opened to the smell of bacon and eggs frying on the stove. Her mind barely registered the fact that this was a strange place to be waking up in since it wasn't her apartment in Georgetown. She felt deliciously satisfied and down there ached. She looked at the chair beside the large bed that she was lying in and realized her clothes were on the chair neatly folded with her clean under things on top. She blushed as what they had done flooded back into her memory.
"Harm?" she called out.
"In the kitchen." Was the reply back from beyond the glass block wall. Ignoring her clean clothing, she slowly got up. Wrapping a blanket around her naked body, she grinned to herself as she shamelessly walked over to him. "Hey…Good morning, squid." She murmured softly.
"Morning, jarhead." He grinned.
"Water helped?" Mac asked innocently.
"Yeah. A lot. My head doesn't hurt so much and my tongue doesn't feel like the end of a Q-tip." Harm replied, looking around at her dressed in a blanket and nothing else. "Don't feel like getting dressed yet?"
"Not really…" Mac answered insinuatingly causing Harm's eyebrows to shoot up to the general vicinity of his hairline.
"I stopped by the 24hr on my morning run." Harm replied. "I don't have any meat in my fridge so I figured I'd better get at least some eggs and your requisite morning helping of sliced dead pig."
"mmmm…" Mac sighed. "…and I'm sure that I should definitely thank you for that…" she replied. "Breakfast in bed?"
"Could be enticed." Harm replied.
"So let's eat breakfast and take a shower?" Mac suggested. "If I'm going to be hanging out here all weekend, I think I should get a change of clothes at my place."
Animal and Meg's Apartment
Richmond, VA
0900 hrs
"Good morning, sweetie." Meg rolled over on top of her husband-to-be. "I think we should get up."
"Mmmmm." Animal groaned almost inaudibly as he felt his fiancée on top of him. "Breakfast first or shower first?" he asked softly as he looked into Meg's eyes.
"I'm leaning towards breakfast first." Meg said, "I'm hungry." She purred as she reached down to caress Animal.
Animal gave her an amorous leer. "You do that, Meg, and we won't be having breakfast anytime soon."
"Promise?" Meg teased him with a twinkling of merriment in her eyes…and then gasped as Animal picked her up and sat her down on him filling her inside in an instant, his eyes darkening as they met her low-lidded gaze.
"Told you…" He growled as he bucked, causing her to moan audibly.
"Oh…yes…" she gasped out, her eyes closed and she purred softly. "I think I'll just think of you as my horse…"
At that…Animal wondered how many words there were for "Oh God!" in Japanese because if anything, Meg decided to set the pace of their lovemaking. (Author's note: Told you there was going to be smut! See, I warned you…)
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
Monday Morning
0730 hrs
"Sir, Major Mackenzie and I need to speak with you, sir." Harm stated to Rear Admiral (upper half) AJ Chegwidden as he and Mac stood there.
"What is it…" AJ sounded busy, he barely even looked up from his desk. "What can I do for you?"
"Sir." Mac said, her voice hesitant. "We need to discuss a change in our relationship status."
The file slammed to the desktop, as AJ looked up at them with a disbelieving look on his face. "Commander, Major, didn't I tell you to not get close? That you'd be working together?!"
"Yes, sir." They both locked up.
"Then how is it…" AJ's eyebrows went up "…that two years from the day that you two were assigned to work with each other on the Red Rock Mesa, Declaration of Independence theft you come walking in to my office telling me that you two are together…in a way that I don't want to even consider." His voice had gone from a low growl to a sheet of ice.
"Well, sir, it just happened, sir." Mac said wincing as AJ fastened a fiery glare at her.
"…and you have some input? Commander?" AJ growled at Lieutenant Commander Rabb.
"Well, sir, I want to explore our relationship, er…I mean, the Major's and my relationship, sir, I was hoping to request a transfer out of the JAG command in order so that we are not in violation of any rules and regulations…and or any part of the UCMJ, sir."
"Goddamnit, Rabb. You couldn't keep it in your pants, could you?" Mac blushed as AJ said this with no shortage of vehemence. "Just who the hell am I supposed to bring in to replace you? We're already short on experienced trial lawyers? Give me a week to figure this out, you two. No kissy-facey in the office. And if I see your door closed without both of you in there on opposite sides of the desk discussing a case with case-folders open, I'm going to run you up a yardarm with an Article 133 so fast your head will be spinning in both directions and civilians will mistake you for a goddamned weather vane in a twister." AJ snapped out. "Dismissed!" The two officers about-faced and headed for the door.
"Major. I'd suggest you walk off the ache in your legs." AJ growled ominously.
"Sir?" Mac turned around startled, a questioning look in her eyes.
"You came into my office looking like you just got off a horse!" Mac blushed again as she hurried to exit the office.
As the door closed, AJ chuckled to himself. "About goddamned time." He said to himself.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
Monday Morning
Mac's Office
0800 hrs
Mac looked up to see Meg come into the office. Mac's keen eyes noticed that Meg was kind of walking gingerly too. "I think you could use a walk…" Mac opined. Meg looked at her funny.
"What? Ma'am." Meg asked.
"Meg…were you riding over the weekend?" Meg's face turned beet red. "Ahhhh…" Mac grinned. "I just got told the same thing by the admiral no less…" Meg's face lost her confusion and then a smile came across it.
"You…" she started and then glanced towards Harm's office. "You…and…" a slow smile crossed her face. "I take it you spent the weekend?"
Mac blushed crimson…"Too much of the weekend…" she admitted. "Enough so that the admiral noticed. Of course he doesn't talk to you about it, because you two aren't in the same office. There's no possibility of contravention of frat regs." She paused for a moment. "We just talked to the admiral…" she stated. "One of us is going to have to transfer out so that the relationship works."
"I'm glad for you." Meg said as she looked over at Mac who seemed happier than Meg had seen her. Despite her normal ebullient nature, Mac did have a tinge of sadness about her. Meg recognized it as loneliness because until Animal had come into Meg's life, she felt the same way and knowing that Harm was in the same chain of command, there was no chance of a relationship.
"Harm was having a full-on drinking session…seemed as though he was depressed." Mac stated.
"Ah…" Meg said knowingly. "I know why…"
"You do?" Mac asked.
"It's because we were partners for so long. You don't go as partners for over a year without both drawing close to each other. I guess he did fall for me." The admission did pain Mac a little, but she knew that she now had Harm and would love him as best as she could. "You're good for him, Mac. I'm with Toshio and he knows that. Tosh and I have made a commitment to each other, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health…though we haven't said our vows yet. Harm needs to be able to love someone…and I'm glad that it's you." Meg said smiling, tears in her eyes for both of her friends. Mac got up out of her desk and smiled, extending her hands out to hold Meg's.
"Thanks…Meg. I wasn't sure if I was going to get your blessing…" Mac said gratefully.
"Why ever would you need it? I made my choice with Tosh." Meg said. "Take care of Harm for me. He's a sweet guy. And he loves you…if he's willing to sacrifice a career at JAG for you and get transferred out." She grinned. "Now, I think I'd better go have a talk with Mr. Lucky-Britches here and set his head on straight."
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
Monday Morning
Harm's Office
0815 hrs
"Hey, pardner." Meg grinned at Harm as she poked her head in the doorway. "How's things?"
"Well…great, I guess." Harm said, casually glancing over at Mac's office. "Just got chewed out by the admiral, nothing new…"
"I see…" Meg replied snidely. "So…which one of you is going to have to transfer out?" she said smiling at his reaction as his jaw hit the floor.
"How…How…" he stammered.
"Oh, just talked to your girlfriend." Meg winked as she raised the Texas Longhorns' sign. "She mentioned something about the entire weekend?"
"Uh…you're just fishing, Meg…" Harm tried to dissemble as he looked at Meg's disbelieving look on her face.
"Suuure…Harm." She said disbelievingly "…and pigs'll fly." She stepped in and shut the door, sitting down on the chair opposite Harm's on the other side of the desk. "Harm, you know Tosh and I love each other." Meg started, a serious tone to her voice.
"Yeah." Harm sat down too on his chair. "I noticed that, especially the engagement ring on your finger. That pretty much sealed the deal for me, that you and he were serious."
"Harm, you also know that when I gave my heart to Tosh, that I couldn't be with you." Meg said. "But now you have that lovely Marine Major who loves you so much."
"Is that what you two were talking about all those times you two were chatting over lunch?" Harm asked.
"The truth is, I can't hurt you, by telling you that at one point that I hoped that we would be an item, because the rules and regs prevented that." Meg stated firmly looking at him. "But suffice it to say, with the partnership that we had, there was something that always kept us together and that something was the fact that I did care for you. But then again, we both have people now that care about us." Meg said looking over at Harm. "You have to make some hard choices, Harm. One of them is to let me go. Don't let me hold sway over your heart. We'll always be friends but you have Mac now and you need to give her one hundred percent of your heart. The second is what do you do with your career and where can you go in the Navy that will enable you to keep on an upwards career path. And hey, you know Mac and I will be partners so you have the best of both worlds." She grinned.
Harm looked at her. "You came in here to tell me all that just to cheer me up?" He grinned. "Meg, you're a sweetheart. You're always caring for everyone. Animal is a lucky guy to have you. Make sure he knows that."
"Oh…more than he knows. Of course he thanks me for it every morning." She winked saucily at Harm whose eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "By the way, how are you feeling? Managed to fully recover from that hangover?"
Harm shot a look over at Mac's office. "I had the best of care." He said thinking back to the weekend. "I've never drunk so many glasses of water, thought I was about to get water poisoning. But she also made me eat a ton too so that I never was in any danger of that."
NAS Oceana
Virginia Beach, VA
0930 hrs
Animal grinned as he looked over at his wingman who was off his starboard wing on Runway 5R as they got ready to fly. Operational flying was drawing to a close for his career, but he was still the CAG of CVW-8 at least until they found a replacement CAG. His mount Texas Gal was in tip-top shape owing to a great crew-chief who took pride in Animal's aircraft being the best maintained Tomcat of the East Coast fighter squadrons.
Strapped to both starboard and port pylons were Mk. 76 practice bombs as well as four in the tunnel where normally 4 Phoenixes or 4 Sparrows would go.
"Scooter, you with me?" Animal asked his backseater.
"You betcha." Commander Joe "Scooter" Willis grinned as he looked over at Animal through the gap between the NACES ejection seat and the plexiglass just enough to make his face visible in the rear views.
"Metalman, you with me?" Animal asked his wingman whose ordnance was similarly equipped. After receiving the affirmative from Metalman. Animal radioed the tower. "Oceana Tower, Fast Eagle One-Zero-Zero, Departure Tidewater Clearance, enroute Dare Bombing Range, Takeoff requested Runway Five Left."
"Roger, that, Fast Eagle One Zero Zero, Departure Tidewater Clearance, to Dare Bombing Range; Takeoff Allowed Runway Five Left. Have a good flight, sir."
"Roger that." From years of practice, Animal eased the throttle up past its detents to full military power then to Zone 2 afterburner. The rumble and vibration of the TF-30s were comforting. Because Texas Gal was a "A" Tomcat, there would be no rough handling of her throttles. Two many times, coneheads had gotten into nasty situations where one engine would flame out, the other at full power throwing the F-14 into an irrecoverable flat spin – the reason behind this being the distance between the burner cans. Unlike the F/A-18 they weren't together, there was at least eight feet space between the burner cans which meant that the center of balance varied drastically from left to right. If the left engine cut out, full thrust on the right meant that the F-14 would pitch left, the opposite being the case if the right engine cut out. The only solution to prevent such a catastrophic spin was to chop throttle on the engine still at full power. That required a skill that most cones hadn't mastered yet. And it was only a finely honed pianist of a fighter pilot that could sense the initiation of a flameout, just by the feel of the vibrations through the fuselage.
Metalman matched Animal's throttle-power on his own F-14A Tomcat as simultaneously, they both released the brakes and commenced their takeoff roll. As they reached the second horizontal marking on the runway, Animal hit full Zone 5 afterburner. Anyone looking would have seen a blue tongue of flame coming out the back of the F-14 regardless of the daylight. Pulling up the nose, the Tomcat instantly got light on its rear wheels as if anxious to leave the ground. Animal felt the main-mounts leave the runway and pulled the lever for gear up. The lack of drag as the F-14's gear doors closed brought an extra burst of speed. And as Animal cleared the end of the runway, he cranked the F-14's nose into the sky; Metalman right behind him, as the F-14's TF-30s gave them thrust to claw for altitude at an eighty degree angle. The altitude indicator spun counting up the angels.
"Metalman! Angels three-two." Animal said. "Commencing pitch-over." Rolling over inverted, Animal pulled the stick back to put the F-14 in level flight, then snap-rolled to wings level.
"Roger that, Skipper." Metalman radioed to Animal. "Turning to Starboard… Enter Dare on VOR Radial Zero Three Zero?"
"Concur." Animal radioed back. "VOR Radial Zero Three Zero."
The two Tomcats arced in a wide turn towards the Dare County Bombing Range. The intended target was a series of hovels in an urban setting. The Mk. 78s would throw up smoke to indicate the hit or miss.
"Skipper, three minutes to target. Heading 030 degrees. Airspeed 635 knots." Scooter indicated from the rear bang-seat.
Animal kept an eagle eye on the HUD. The Bombing reticle hovered over the small little rectangles in the distance that appeared to be hovels. One couldn't miss the cutout of bombing range from the surrounding nature reserve so there was no danger of the F-14s dropping on an active street or, heaven forbid, into a neighborhood. As the center of the reticle aligned with the building, Animal released the Mk. 78s. A simple chunk sound indicated the bombs had released and dropped. "Fast Eagle One Zero Zero, ordnance away." Animal radioed as he cranked the F-14 skyward.
"Fast Eagle One One Four, ordnance away." Metalman radioed as he also turned his nose skyward and booted Zone 3, jinking against simulated anti-aircraft fire.
"Mission is good." Animal grinned. "Got seven of eight solid hits, How about you, Metalman?"
"Six out of eight, CAG. You still beat me, even with your eyesight deteriorating." Metalman grinned.
"HA, We'll see about that…" Animal retorted. "Let's RTB." The two Tomcats formed up on each other's wing and headed Northwest back towards Oceana.
Coming into the Oceana break, the two Tomcats peeled off as they set up for final.
Looking up from the tarmac, two of VF-241's aviators looked up to see the Black Aces Tomcats turning on to final with a snappy break. One Blackjack squadron member said to the other albeit with some note of envy. "Show-offs."
"Well, they got two Sukhoi kills, and three MiG kills and what do we have? One Hind to show?" the other returned.
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, VA
Meg's Office
Tuesday Morning
0930 hrs
Mac poked her head in the office door. "Hey, Meg. Did you ever manage to get a chapel rebooked?"
"Not yet."
"Well, Archbishop Mackey at Chapel of the Good Shepherd in Virginia Beach says that he has an opening…maybe we should contact him?" Mac asked gauging Meg's reaction, "That way you and Animal have a date booked, because it seems like everything else seems to have been taken care of."
Meg's smile brightened her office. "God, Mac…thanks…that would be great. The food and caterers are on notice…they're ready to go whenever we get a chapel booked." Picking up the phone, she dialed.
"Hey, sweetheart." Meg said as she looked over at Mac and grinned, lifting a thumbsup, then hit the speaker phone.
"Hey…there…sweetie." Animal's voice could be heard over the speaker-phone.
"Mac says that she found us a chapel. In Virginia Beach, no less." Meg replied. "Any chance you could check it out for us and book us in on that opening that they have."
"Not a problem. It's a four hour drive from where you are, so since I'm on base, it's easier for me to check it out." Animal's voice was cheery.
"It's Lutheran, I hope you don't mind, sir." Mac said.
"Not at all, Major." Animal's tone was cheery. "I'll go check them out and if they have an opening, as you say, I'll book it for Meg and myself and the rest of the wedding party."
Animal and Meg's Apartment
Richmond, VA
1800 hrs
Animal got home at about the same time that Meg parked her car in the parkade beside him. "Hey…sweetie!" Animal called out as he exited his vehicle, wrapping his Meg in a tight embrace as their lips met. Her eyes looked up at him questioningly. "We have the church in two weeks." He grinned. "It looks perfect." Her eyes gleamed as he said this.
"Oh, great." She smiled at him. This was perfect and that finally meant that they would be able to exchange vows and become husband and wife.
When the elevator stopped at their floor, they exited. This was Richmond, VA's newest tower apartment. Animal had managed to get a two bedroom apartment on the twentieth floor for about one point two million. They had put sixty-five thousand down as a down-payment, the majority of it Animal's money as he had the higher salary as a Navy captain and the monthly payment on the apartment was five-thousand, eight hundred and forty eight dollars a month. There was a maintenance fee to the homeowner's association and insurance premiums which Meg covered, and the mortgage payment came out of Animal's account. For now, Meg and Animal shared the second bedroom as a home office and used the primary master-bedroom for their sleeping quarters. The layout was open and spacious with what almost looked like floor to ceiling windows in the living room along with a nice spacious balcony to look upon the finer neighborhoods in Richmond. The kitchen was something that Meg loved. There was enough space to move around in and the one thing that Meg hated was not having enough cabinet space in some of the places that she had lived in previous to her relationship with Animal. The amount of cabinet space in this apartment was a prime consideration when moving to this place. It more than adequately filled the requirements that Meg required for this to be the perfect kitchen – enough cabinet space.
As Animal unlocked their apartment door, Meg sighed. This would be their marital home, she thought to herself. She looked over with affection in her eyes at Animal's questioning look. "It's been over a year since we moved into this place and I still feel like this place is new to us every time we open the door." She explained.
"I love the view." Animal replied as they stepped in, shutting the door and locking the deadbolts. After changing out of their uniforms into civvies, Animal grinned at Meg who was bustling around getting things together for dinner. She looked absolutely industrious. Stepping behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. "Hey, sweetie…what's for dinner?" he asked cheekily.
Meg gave him an annoyed swat on the arm. "Nothing, honey, if you don't let me cook. You know how much your kissing me on the neck arouses me." She turned in his arms and returned his kiss on the lips. "And just for your information, sweetheart, dinner tonight is stir fried chicken with noodles." She said saucily. "That should appeal to your palate." One of Animal's favorite asian dishes.
"mmmm…" he murmured softly. "that sounds good."
As he wrapped his arms around Meg and lovingly kissed her, she said, "Honey, if you don't let me go, the dinner's going to be burned." But said with a purr. "I will however take you up on your offer after dinner." Her twinkling eyes promised a night of fun.