Previously on JAG (we have five years to cover, forgive us for the brevity)

January 23rd, 2003

"Will you marry me?" Harm was on bended knee in the middle of the JAG bullpen as onlookers and a very amused Admiral AJ Chegwidden looked on. Harm and Mac had been dating for a few months and in some way everyone has seen this coming. Now they all looked on as Mac's eyes welled up with tears and she raised hand to her mouth to hide her quivering lip.

"Oh Harm," she sighed, "yes, I'll marry you." She threw her arms around him and the crowd in the bullpen broke out into applause and whistles and Admiral Chegwidden walked over to commend the younger officer that he used to look upon as a protégé of sorts.

"Well, son, it took you some time but damn it, you finally got it right." The Admiral clapped Harm on the shoulder and the two men hugged. "You do realize that Mac, Bev, Harriet and Nicole will constitute a war council of sorts for wedding planning?"

"I had bet on that, sir." Harm answered with a chuckle.

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April 8th, 2003

"Come on, Mrs. Rabb, just one more push." The head of obstetrics at Bethesda was on call the night that Mac came in. Harm, having been promoted as Staff Judge Advocate to the Secretary of Defence, a billet that had him promoted to Rear Admiral Lower Half, had him reluctantly over in Okinawa modifying the Status of Forces agreements while still ensuring a proper Naval and Marine presence. So, as whenever Harm went abroad in his new post while Mac was pregnant, the duty of checking in on her was shared between Keeter, Sturgis and Bax. It was Keeter and Bax who were in between shifts and hence both at the Rabb house when Mac went into labour.

"Yeah, Mac, come on push!" Bax encouraged and Mac crushed his hand in response.

"Don't try to give me orders, Admiral!" Mac had her other hand on Bax's tie as she pulled him down and growled into his face.

"Keeter, get Harm on the damn phone!" Bax ordered as he struggled to get his tie loose from Mac's grasp. Keeter ran off down the hallway toward the administration desk and Bax continued down the hall with the gurney toward the maternity ward.

"Admiral Baxter, sir, we only have one room available and it's only a semi-private room. Will that be okay?" The Commander asked the two star who had his eyes popping out of his head due to the Marine that was crushing his hand.

"Mac?" Bax groaned through his teeth.

"Anything!" She screamed as they went down the hallway.

"Looks like we're going to have to forego the maternity ward entirely and go right to the delivery room. She's already at ten centimetres dilation." The gurney changed paths and took Mac to the delivery room. Keeter was, by now, chasing the gurney toward the delivery room and toward the delivery of his best friend's first child. He had Harm on the cell phone.

"Sorry, sir, you can't take that in there." The nurse stopped Captain Keeter at the door. Keeter was still only a Captain but he liked it that way. Sturgis was also still only a Captain but with Mac's move to the judiciary as Chief Naval Justice upon Admiral Morris' retirement and her subsequent promotion to Brigadier General, Sturgis was made the Chief of Staff at JAG.

Keeter somehow managed to patch the cellular phone into the intercom in the delivery room so Harm could coach Mac through the delivery process. That late night, Sarah Ashley Rabb, or Sasha to her family, was born to Sarah and Harmon Rabb.

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December 15th, 2006

"So, what's your official title this week?" Mac goaded as the two of them walked down the halls at JAG, with the '06 midterm elections having passed and the Democrats controlling the Congress while Republican President Andrew Russell still trudged on through his second term.

"As far as the Secretary of the Navy tells me, I'm currently the Fleet Judge Advocate for the Atlantic fleet, although, like all the other billets I've held over the last year, that seems subject to change." The two of them walked into Mac's courtroom.

"Now, just what would the Fleet Judge Advocate be doing in my courtroom? Surely you can't be trying a case in front of your wife?" Mac teased him lightly as she played with the hair on his forearm.

"I'm not, I'm here as an observer. Two of my attorneys are arguing a case today in your court, General. A young Marine Captain against an even younger Navy Lieutenant, kids doing a job it seems like I was doing not too long ago." Harm chuckled.

"Feeling like an old man, Admiral Rabb?" Mac went up to her bench.

"Just seems like I do more commanding then litigating these days." Harm sighed.

"What if I told you that I had some news that would make you feel like a young Navy Lieutenant Commander who just met a Marine Major that he would fantasize about for years?" Mac crossed her legs and leaned over the bench.

"And just how do you intend on doing that, General?" Harm challenged as he walked up to the bench.

"How about if I told you that you were going to be a father again?" Mac rubbed her nose against her husband's.

"Really? Well don't I just feel like a young Navy stud, being able to knock up a hot little jarhead like you all over again." Harm chuckled as he quickly kissed Mac in the empty courtroom.

"Alright, now that I've done wonders for your already over-inflated Navy ego, would you take your seat, Admiral, my court is about to commence." Mac sent him back to his seat and went to her chambers.

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November 29th, 2007

"I have an announcement." Admiral Chegwidden called the attention of everyone in the bullpen. "Since I was a teenager, I've dedicated my entire life to the Navy. In that time, I've seen more things then I care to mention and I've had the privilege of serving with some of the bravest men and women that this nation has to offer, including all of you in this office. But, I'm getting on up there in age and I'm no fool, I know that I'm reaching the age where the Navy tends to ask old Sea-Dogs like me to turn it in. There's more to it then that though, I've got a wife and a young son both of whom, I think, are starting to forget what I look like." The Admiral's son, Arleigh (named after the Admiral's hero Admiral Arleigh '31-knot' Burke who had also been a close friend of the Admiral's wife's grandfather) had been around JAG quite a few times in his five short years. "I have decided to tender my resignation as the Judge Advocate General of the United States Department of the Navy, effective after my Dining out this Friday."

The Admiral received congratulations and handshakes from every one at JAG. He announced that Mac would be the Mistress of the Mess at his Dining Out and hence the presiding officer. Harm, Sturgis and Bud had been the first to congratulate the Admiral. Commander Bud Roberts, Captain Sturgis Turner and Rear Admiral Harmon Rabb would all be named for top positions in the JAG corps with the new shuffle that would occur in the wake of Admiral Chegwidden's retirement. "The end of an era." Sturgis commented.

"Chegwidden was an institution at JAG; I don't know how they'll find anyone to replace him." Harm added.

"It won't be the job of this administration, sir. I was talking to Admiral Baxter and he said that President Russell has been awaiting the Admiral's resignation for some time, he has no intention of nominating another JAG with the Presidential election coming so soon." Bud decided now was the time to be heard.

"Not a surprise that's how politics and top billets usually work." Sturgis commented.

"This coming from the Senator's husband." Harm joked.

"So, we won't find out who the new Navy JAG is until next January? Isn't that something, sir?" Bud asked.

"It's something, Commander, we just don't know what yet." Harm answered

Previously on 'DC'

May 28th, 2002

"Bethesda, is there some reason that we have to go to Bethesda?" Peach asked as they loaded her into the ambulance. "What's wrong with Mercy or George Washington?"

"Honey, you're the wife of the Secretary of State. It's pretty much tradition that the kids of cabinet members or Presidents are born at either Bethesda or Walter Reed and being as I'm a Marine, I'd never hear the end of it if my kids were born at Reed." Nate joked as he held her hand in the ambulance.

"Oh, like the fact that you and your dad were born at Bethesda has nothing to do with it." Peach rolled her eyes. "Just let's get there then!" Peach went into long hours of labour but on May 28th, Secretary of State Nathan Ross and his wife Nicole welcomed their triplets Timothy Byron, Jonathan Horatio and Bradley Frederick Ross into the world.

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August 11th, 2003

"You wanted to see me, Mr. President." Nate stuck his head in the door to the oval office; it was well after hours but this was the only time the President had available so Nate rushed in from the new house out in Morningside.

"Yes, Nathan, come on in." Andrew Russell motioned for his Secretary of State. Nate walked into the office and took a seat on the couch. "Nate, I called you here to give you some advice and I hope you take it in the spirit intended."

"I'll try." Nate chuckled nervously.

"Nate, you've got a young family, so did I when I started out in Washington, but the thing of it is, that Washington isn't the best place to raise a family, especially a young one. Nate, as your friend and as the godfather to one of your kids, I'm telling you that once this term ends, I think you should go somewhere far from Washington. I know you have political ambitions and whether you serve three years or seven, you'll still be a former Secretary of State and that carries a national profile. I think it would be best if you just powered down for a while, you've been going non stop since you were eighteen." Andrew Russell poured them each a scotch.

"What are you suggesting? That I just forget the last fourteen years I've spent in Washington?" Nate went on a slight defensive.

"Don't sound the horn yet, Marine. I'm not talking about demoting yourself, just a side-step. What's your hometown? Where did you grow up?" President Russell asked.

"Dad was deployed most of the time so we never really lived on base anywhere. I guess I grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania." Nate answered.

"Why don't you go back to Pennsylvania and run for office? It's a good state, do that for a while and then decide when and if you want to come back to Washington. If you don't you can think of it this way, George Hunt is going to be running for President in '08 and if you were the Governor of Pennsylvania you'd control a state that he'd almost certainly have to win if he wanted to be President." President Russell laughed wisely.

"Thanks, Andy." Nate finished his drink and shook the President's hand before heading for the door.

"Nate," The President called after him, "how are the boys doing?"

"They can sleep through the night now, sir." Nate smiled amusedly before leaving the office.

Later, at the House in Morningside –

"Honey, what do you think of Harrisburg?" Nate asked as he climbed under the covers.

"I think it's the capital of Pennsylvania, why do you ask?" Peach looked over her reading glasses at him. "Thinking of cheaping out on the family vacation this year?"

"Thinking of running for Governor of Pennsylvania." Nate responded as he opened his book.

"Where did this come from?" Peach asked she picked her tea up off the coaster on the bedside table.

"Well the Pennsylvania Democrats left a message on my machine telling me that they wanted me to run against the Republican incumbent in 2004 but I hadn't given any thought to it." Nate squinted in the light. "And I was having a talk with Andrew Russell tonight and…"

"Oh, now the real reason comes out. Nate, of course Andrew Russell is going to send you off on some fool's errand to Pennsylvania, he's a Republican and Pennsylvania is still reeling from Reagan's trickle down economics, not to mention Three Mile Island. It could be a Republican way of tying an anchor around your neck." Peach warned.

"It's my home state; I have uncles that were put out of work when Bethlehem Steel went under and the President made a good point. Our family is young and it probably would do us some good to get away from Washington. Harrisburg is like halfway between my parents place outside Quantico and your mom in New York." Nate covered. "Nicole, my dad was never home, he was always out on deployments somewhere in the world. I couldn't hate him for it because being a Marine was all any man in my family ever thought about but I could get angry with him because he never saw me grow up. The only man that did, still lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania."

"Your Uncle Ben." Peach nodded finally comprehending. "Do what you think is best, you know I'll support you." She leaned against his shoulder.

"I know you will." He kissed the top of her head and lightly stroked her shoulder.

November 5th, 2004

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the great State of Pennsylvania, it is my pleasure to introduce your Governor-elect, Nathan Ross!" The announcer called as Nate made his way on to the stage. Nate kissed her on the cheek before heading up to the microphone.

"I've been a Democrat since I was fourteen. Not an easy thing to be when you're a Marine, not an easy thing to be when you're serving in a Republican administration but I will tell you one thing. I always felt at home in Pennsylvania. I grew up in Bethlehem with my brothers and sisters, the same Bethlehem that got crushed under the thumb of Republican trickle down economics. We watched as the people of nearby Allentown lost their jobs in record numbers and Ronald Reagan did nothing. We watched Three Mile Island happen while a Republican administration here in our very own beloved Pennsylvania stood by. Our proud Pennsylvania became the blue collar whipping boy for Republican economic experiments. Harry Truman once said that if you want to live like a Republican, you have to vote for a Democrat. But voting Democratic doesn't imply that you just want the best for yourself, but you also want the best for your fellow men. And by voting Democratic today, you showed the country that you wanted the best for your fellow Pennsylvanians!" A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as Nate paused.

"Now, our work begins. Now we band together and take our dream of a Democratic Pennsylvania to the nation not as an economic experiment but as an example of blue collar dreams, blue collar work ethic and blue collar equality. Now we take our rightful place at the vanguard of the nation, just as we did in 1776." Nate stepped away from the microphone and the cheering reached a near deafening level.

November 17th, 2007

"Here are the latest unemployment figures, sir." Lieutenant Governor John Dorscheim walked into Nate's office. "We're under three percent, sir." John smiled.

"That's excellent, John!" Nate got out from behind his desk and took the paper from his young Lieutenant Governor who had been an upstart young Democratic State Senator. "Do you realize we just posted the lowest unemployment figures since the end of World War Two?"

"Yes, sir, I had my secretary run the statistics before I came over. I also figured that you'd want this well publicized so I had her send it out to the major newswires in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and even the New York Times and the Washington Post picked it up, sir." John took a seat in front of Nate's desk.

"Can I get you a drink, John? I'd say we've earned it based on these numbers." The two men opened a bottle of wine. "I can't thank you enough for pulling the long hours, I try to get out of here by six most nights but I end up working on the laptop from home with the boys throwing their Micro Machines at my head." Nate chuckled.

"Not a problem, sir." John tipped his glass to Nate. "Is it true what ZNN is saying? That these latest numbers are just the last reason in a long list of qualifications for your Presidential run or are you going to run for re-election here next year?"

"You're as bad as my wife, John. She asked me the same question last night." Nate chuckled as he sipped from his glass. He took his reverie down a notch and maintained a straight face. "We talked it over, I'm going to run for President."

"Let me be the first to congratulate you then." John reached out and shook Nate's hand. "I assume you want me to keep this under my hat until the official announcement?" John asked.

"If you wouldn't mind." Nate answered.

"There's just one more thing, Nate, with you vacating the big chair, I decided to take a run at it. I just wanted to know if I could count on your endorsement to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor." John tested his boss cautiously.

"You got it, John." Nate answered with a wise smile.

November 29th 2007

"So, tomorrow's the big announcement." Peach mused as the two of them lay in bed in the Governor's mansion in Harrisburg. Nate nodded as he slowly stroked her hair. "Are you nervous?"

"With you by my side I can face anything." Nate kissed her forehead. "Honey?" She moaned in acknowledging his question. "Am I a good father?"

"Despite the demands of your job, you still play with the boys at least three or four times during the week and you spend most of the weekend with them. They still call you 'the Colonel'." Peach laughed.

"Great, my kids are turning into Jarheads already." Nate joked. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Peach kissed his chest.

1456 ZULU, NOVEMBER 30th

JAG HEADQUARTERS

FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

"Why are we all being summoned into a meeting with the SECNAV being held here?" Harm asked as he looked to his right at Bax and then to his left at Sturgis and Bud.

"Because the mass of top Naval brass resigning right now is alarming, so they need to appoint some temporary fill-ins to help stop the Navy from haemorrhaging brass." Bax answered as they entered Admiral Chegwidden's old office.

"I don't understand why you're a three-star." Sturgis shook his head, the door shut behind them and the SECNAV stepped out from behind it.

"Because he has Special Ops experience and Surface Warfare experience as the Captain of an aircraft carrier in the Pacific." The SECNAV walked into the middle of the room. "The four of you should probably take a seat and listen to what I have to say." The four officers took a seat in varying places around the office as the SECNAV paced the floor holding court. "The Navy has been losing top officers at an alarming rate in the last few months. The President, knowing that an election is under year away has decided to stick with temporary fills. There are two Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations, Admiral Baxter is nearing the end of his first term as a DCNO, Admiral Rabb, you will for the time being step into the shoes of Admiral Morton and serve as the other Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. That covers that. Now, as to the matter of the vacancy left by Admiral Chegwidden, Captain Turner, you'll be taking over that vacancy and Commander Roberts will be filling in for you. Are there any questions?"

"Just one, sir?" Bud piped up surprisingly.

"What is that, Commander?" The SECNAV demanded in no mood to mince words.

"Well, sir, I was just wondering why the President is so hesitant to announce the replacements for all these members of the Navy brass when the vacancies in Army and Air Force brass have been replaced almost instantly." Bud questioned, rather confused.

"This is just the standing order as it has come down from the White House, Commander. I've been told that it may change before next November and that it may not." The SECNAV answered. "This is all status quo pro-bellum, gentlemen, and the closer we get to election season, the more frantic things will likely get at the Pentagon."

"Thank you, sir." The men answered as the SECNAV left the room.

"Alright, so, we all have our assignments, I guess that means that Harm and I are away from our post." Bax gave Harm a pat on the shoulder and headed for the door. "You might want to tell Mac before we leave. My staff car is idling."

"Can't tell Mac, she's in court right now. Is there any reason that we need to get back to the Pentagon before noon?" Harm asked as the two of them headed for the bullpen.

"Yeah, Admiral Barris demands a briefing with his entire staff before noon every Monday and those briefings normally end up with us ordering both lunch and dinner into the conference room." Bax and Harm headed through the bullpen toward the elevator.

"This speaks volumes for the efficiency of this administration. They refuse to make appointments because they're worried about who's going to get the most votes next November." Harm shook his head. The elevator got to the bottom floor and the two of them walked to Admiral Baxter's staff car.

"Speaking of next November, let's see what's on ZNN." Bax clicked on the TV in his car.

SAME TIME

BEN'S TRANSMISSION SHOP

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA

"You sure you want to make the announcement at a garage? Most politicians would go to a school or a courthouse or even a hospital or university. You go to a transmission garage." Peach joked as she elbowed her husband in the ribs in the back room office.

"Honey, in 2004, we won the largest percentage of the popular vote that any Democrat has ever won in the state of Pennsylvania. We did it by making the Democratic Party the party of the working class. It doesn't take much to portray the Republicans as the party of big business and Klan members the only trouble that the Democrats have had problems doing that without coming out and tactlessly calling them that. We have to realize that at one point or another in the last forty years, most Americans have voted Republican. If we call them rednecks and white collar thieves then we look pompous and arrogant, however if we can just associate ourselves with being the opposite of what we believe them to be. Democrats are Democrats. Democrats are people like Harry Truman and leaders like Harry Truman." Nate got up out of the chair.

"See, now there's the reason that Democrats rally behind you. You just need to be the man who can convince the rest of the country and realize that anything he said to convince Democrats to give him their nomination may be used against him by Republicans to scare Independents in the lead up to November." Peach looked up at her husband who was wearing his blue dungaree work-shirt with his name tag over his left pectoral.

"I keep forgetting that you worked with the Clinton campaign in '96." Nate shook his head and kissed her cheek.

"You used to forget a lot when you were working for me. You were a first class grease monkey though." Ben Ross walked in, wringing his hands to clean some of the grease off them.

"Uncle Ben!" The boys shouted as they ran over to the aging former Marine and now small town mechanic.

"Now there's three little Marines right out of the General Ross mould if I ever saw any." Ben crouched down collected the boys in his arms. "They're getting really big."

"Tell me about it, they're four years old, I don't know where the time goes." Peach walked over and hugged Nate's aging uncle. "How have you been, Ben?"

"Working six days a week, you know how it can be." Ben gave Nate a pat on the back. "I set you up with a real easy one for the cameras, front seal pump." The two of them moved out into the garage and Nate watched as Ben ordered the car to be raised up on the lifts. Nate put on his eye protection and gloves and went to work on the car. The press showed up at precisely eleven and Nate raised his goggles and stepped out on to the open tarmac with his family, including his uncle, and the entire staff of the garage.

"Don't tell me, all your press trucks broke down at the same time, just as you were driving through Bethlehem?" Nate joked as he cracked a smile.

"You tell us why we're here, sir, you called us." One of the reporters remarked.

"I did? Well, honey do you remember a reason why I would call a bunch of reporters down here?" Nate turned to his wife who was smiling widely but shook her head like she didn't have the answer. "Right, I remember now. I was supposed to give some speech about how I believe that the direction that I see the leadership of the Republican Party taking American is endangering our interests abroad and diluting our values at home. Truth, Justice, Liberty, the American Way; these can't just be buzz words in an election campaign we have to live, breathe and in some cases even die for. I laid my life on the line for these values in the Gulf and thousands of Americans put their lives on the line for these values everyday. I cannot, in good conscience, stand by and let this happen. So, I'm here today to announce my intention to seek the Democratic nomination for President of the United States." And thus kicking off the 2008 Nate Ross for President Campaign.