ENCOUNTER WITH DEMONS

AUTHOR: Nessie

EMAIL: methchick12@yahoo.com mailto:methchick12@yahoo.com

RATING: R – has the issue of rape (though it's not too graphic), and some coarse language. If this offends you, I advise you stop here, and click your back button.

GENRE: Drama. Life struggles.

PAIRING: Harm/Mac

DISCLAIMER: Don't own JAG, or Mac, Harm or any of the other characters portrayed in this piece... If I did do u think that I would be writing FF?? :) JAG and all its characters belong to Belisarius Productions, Paramount, and CBS.

SUMMARY: A horrifying encounter at JAG Headquarters leaves Mac traumatised. With a little help from Harm, can she put aside her fears long enough to confront her demons, and put her mind to rest?

AUTHORS COMMENTS: Feedback whether good, bad or ugly will be appreciated. Please review! Thanks!

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THURSDAY - 2045 EST

JAG HEADQUARTERS

FALLS CHURCH

Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie was writing the last paragraph of her report that was due in to the Admiral the next morning.

Her light was the only one remaining on, as most of the JAG staff had packed up and left at 1700, except, of course, Mac, Harm, and the Admiral.

Harm had poked his head around her door at 1800 to say that he was going home. Mac replayed the conversation in her head.

** Start flashback

"Hey Ninja-girl. You going to stay here all night?" Harm asked with his 'Flyboy' smile, as Mac liked to call it, on full force.

Mac looked up from where she was buried in paper work, and replied, "Sorry, Flyboy, but I have to finish this report for the Admiral by the morning, and if I don't do it now I know I won't get it done. But I promise that I won't stay all night!" She smiled slightly.

"Okay, but don't work yourself too hard, all right Mac?" Harm told her with concern etched into his words.

"Don't worry, I'll be out of here by 2000, Harm." Mac responded, already getting back to writing her report.

Harm looked fleetingly at her once again, then placed his cover on his head, and walked out towards the elevators.

** End Flashback

2000 came and went, and Mac was still hard at work on her report. Finally she finished the last sentence with a flourish, printed it out, and put it in its folder at 2048. She then stowed several files in her briefcase, powered down her computer, and turned off her lamp.

She was glad to be out of there, and she swore she could hear her tub calling her name.

Tiredly she slipped through the doors to the stairs and began making her way down the dimly lit stairway.

Suddenly a figure came at her out of the dark, and forcing her to the ground, causing her to land flat on her back and knocking the air out of her. Too shocked to respond, her attacker quickly pinned her to the ground. Only when her mind caught up with what was happening did her struggles become violent. The attacker did not let up the restraint even though she got in a few hard hits. Panic seized her; obscuring her senses, her struggles becoming more frenzied yet doing less damage.

A dirty makeshift gag was stuffed into her mouth, preventing all possibilities of alerting the guards. Still, she tried to scream unsuccessfully and was savagely backhanded across the face for her efforts. Her head struck the concrete floor with the force of the blow.

She was left slightly dazed from the blow, and her attacker used the time to roughly, but securely, tie her hands behind her back so that she couldn't cause any more injury to him.

Once she was secured, her unknown attacker began hitting her, focusing on her abdomen and ribcage, enjoying the pain and distress on her pretty features.

"Ah, you're not so pretty now, are you, Colonel?" He spat fiercely, and though his face was in the shadows she could feel the contempt he held for her. Why, she didn't know.

"I'm going to enjoy this immensely, you little tramp!" He ranted wildly, ripping her shirt open, recklessly, harshly fondling her breasts. Quickly switching his attention to her skirt, he bunched it around her waist, violently yanking her panties from her and ripping them in the process.

Looking into her terror and panic-filled eyes with so much hatred and malice, he smirked coldly.

When he finished, he got off her; snarled and spat, "You're a worthless whore, Colonel Mackenzie. A worthless whore who deserves everything she gets."

Savagely he backhanded her so that her head crashed against the concrete floor, leaving her more dazed than the previous blows. No longer able to stand the pain both from her head and the attack Mac willingly gave into the blackness that was beckoning her. Whispering to her that it could take her away from this nightmare, away from the pain, away from the humiliation.

Content that retribution had been paid, he turned and heading down the stairs two at a time and snuck out a back entrance, avoiding being caught on film by the security cameras.

(A/N: I know they probably have cameras in the stairways but in this they didn't.)

Time came and went yet Mac was oblivious, choosing to remain in her fantasy land, where everyone was happy, loved and loving. The perfect place one could say. If only it were reality, and not fantasy.

Finally at 2134, two Lieutenants; one male and one female, were making their way out of JAG HQ after finally finishing their paperwork that was due in the next day.

"I'm so glad we finished all that paperwork, Josh, it'll give us a pretty easy day tomorrow, hopefully," the redheaded Lieutenant sighed, starting down the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm glad too, Anna - hey what's that doing there?" he broke off suddenly and pointed to the briefcase that was lying haphazardly, slightly open at the top of the stairs.

A moan reached their ears, and both looked at each other, then quickly descended the stairs two at a time. They skidded to a halt when they discovered Mac on the landing.

"Shit!" Josh exclaimed as Anna quickly made her way to Mac's side.

"Ma'am? Ma'am?" she called loudly, trying to wake Mac up then looked up at Josh, "It looks like she's been raped, Josh. Look at her clothing, her hands. She's been tied up. Call an ambulance and the police, now!" Anna nearly yelled at her partner and began hastily untying Mac, and placing her hands by her side.

Josh quickly whipped out his cellular phone, called 911, explained the situation, and then alerted the guards as to what had happened.

Meanwhile Anna was still trying to rouse Mac by talking to her and patting her cheeks lightly, "Ma'am? Ma'am? It's time to wake up! Ma'am!"

Josh took off his coat and placed it over her body, covering her as best he could.

Mac moaned again, more loudly, then her eyes fluttered open, and she groggily took in her surroundings, looking up at the two Lieutenants that had come to her rescue. TO her dismay, it was not her knight in shining armour. She groaned again, and her eye slid closed, wanting to take her back to her fantasy land, but a persistent voice interrupted her and for some reason she felt obliged to comply with it's wishes.

"Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Krouting. Can you open your eyes again? Try to stay awake for me. Are you in much pain? The ambulance is on its way," Anna said gently, coaxing her to stay awake, even if she wasn't coherent.

Mac numbly nodded, looking at Anna with blurry, unfocused eyes. So much pain and distress was visible in her brown eyes, she then realised that there was someone else with them. When her eyes focused on Josh, her eyes became wide with fear and she shied away from him, launching herself backward until she hit a wall, muttering incoherently.

"Don't hurt me. Please, don't hurt me again," she sobbed.

"Ma'am, it's all right. Josh is my partner. He's not going to hurt you," Anna hurried to assured her in a soft voice, slowly creeping towards her, not wanting to frighten her off.

Mac's sobbing continued, as did her muttering. Anna embraced her, wishing that she could take some suffering off the other woman's' shoulders. She offered the only kind of support that she could think would help.

"Josh, go wait for the ambulance. And make sure there's a woman with them."

"Sure thing, Anna," Josh replied, hurrying to meet the paramedics.

A few minutes later a female paramedic made her assessment of Mac, as the police asked Anna and Josh questions.

Josh had found Mac's ID in her wallet that had been in her open briefcase, and gave it to the police so that they could identify her.

"How did you find, Colonel Mackenzie?" Sergeant O'Connell asked.

"We were on our way out, when we saw her briefcase open at the top of the stairs. Something just didn't feel right so we became a little cautious of our surroundings. When we heard her moan, we ran down the stairs and found her lying unconscious, with all her clothes ripped, and looking like she had been beaten. Then we called 911 and tried to help her as best we could. When she finally did come to, she started freaking out when she saw me, so my partner Anna stayed with her and I went out to wait for the ambulance," Josh explained.

"All right. Thank you for being co-operative, Lieutenants. You will need to make a formal statement down at the station tomorrow." Sergeant O'Connell stated.

"Sure. No problem," Josh said.

"Is she going to be okay? What hospital is she going to?" Anna asked anxiously.

The other paramedic, who was passing, stopped and said "She will be okay physically, just bruises to heal --- but mentally she'll need a lot of support from her friends, and may take a long time to get over her ordeal. She's being taken to Bethesda Hospital where her next of kin will be notified that she is a patient."

He turned around to help his partner put Mac on the gurney, and load her into the ambulance, which took off with a flurry of lights and sirens.

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END OF CHAPTER ONE