Dancing in DC
Part 1 of 2
A/N: A sequel to Pensacola Punishment, but still before the events that occurred in Ooops!
Harm dropped his sea-bag and tossed his cover onto the side table, glad to be home. The investigation into the cause of Luke Pendry's fatal crash had been tough. It wasn't just that Luke was – or had been, he amended bitterly – a friend, but his family, Annie and young Josh, lived within sight and sound of the airfield at Miramar, and although he'd expected her to grieve, he hadn't expected her to be so... clingy... so needy... or so bitter against the Navy. And he certainly hadn't expected to experience the upsurge of feeling for her, the recurrence of the way he had felt about her before she and Luke had married. He had come very close to being very foolish at one point, and it was only the inadvertent and very timely interruption by Meg that had prevented what might have been an incredibly stupid move on both his and Annie's part.
And that was without even taking into consideration the attraction he had felt for Beth Hawkes down at Pensacola. The investigation into the wreckage of the F-14 had taken five days before the Air Accident Investigation Board had reached a decision. It had been a million to one chain of events that led to the crash. A blown fuse in one circuit and when the redundancy system had kicked in, a faulty actuator in the hydraulics had bled the system dry; there was no way on God's earth that any pilot, no matter how experienced, could have brought that jet into land with flaps and and landing gear both malfunctioning.
But the extra four nights had yielded four dates – all off-base – with Beth. And those dates had been highly pleasurable. He had found himself opening up to her to an extent that he hadn't opened up to anyone since Diane. He hadn't told her everything of course, some things were too dark to unload on anyone else; he'd made no mention of his 'adventure' in Viet Nam and Cambodia when he was sixteen, and of course no mention of Gym. Neither had he mentioned that he had been an aviator, or anything about his ramp strike or Mace's death. But he had told her all about growing up in California, about the loss of his dad, and about the hope that he still held on to that he was still alive somewhere.
In return, she had told him all about growing up in large family of mixed Turkish and Native American descent, which, she laughingly had claimed explained her permanent tan and her dark hair, and he had interjected, her wonderful deep brown eyes.
She had told him in mock-severe terms to shut up and listen. She was the first member of her family to join any of the forces in peace time, although eight of her uncles and her father had all served their one year in Viet Nam.
It was the casual mention of 'eight of her uncles' that had startled Harm, "Just how big is your family?"
"Well, I've got seven sisters and three brothers..."
"Your mom and dad had eleven kids?!" he had queried in disbelief.
Beth had shrugged, "Yeah, Mom was raised traditional Catholic... with all that it implies..."
"Oh, and you?" Harm had asked, not without some degree of trepidation.
"Hell no! I go to Mass when I can, and I try to make sure I keep my Easter observances, but there is no way I am going to let some celibate old guy who wears a skirt tell me what to do with my body! And if I go to hell for that, then so be it!"
Harm had nodded, "OK, but," he circled back to his original question, "You said eight of your uncles served?"
"Yeah, it was only Uncle Joe, Dad's youngest brother that missed the draft. He had TB and couldn't make the medical."
"He make it?" Harm asked.
"Oh yeah, he lives in Oklahoma and has a pretty loud voice in the tribal council!" Beth had chuckled, "Dad complains that he's gone native!"
Harm had searched his memory, "Oklahoma... tribal council... so that would make his people...?"
"Kiowa!" Beth had snapped, "His people and my people!" she had added defiantly.
"But you don't adhere to their culture and customs, though do you?" Harm had gently pointed out.
"No... no, I don't," Beth had agreed with a regretful sigh, "But that doesn't mean I'm not proud to identify with them!"
"So... the name Hawkes, where does that come from?"
"Oh... that was great grandpappy Thomas, way back in the day. His Ka'igwu – that is Kiowa – name translated into English as Hawk that Swoops, so when he adopted an English name and 'started wearing pants' he chose 'Hawkes' as being about the nearest he could to his own name."
"H'mmm... so you hold your heritage to blame for you being so feisty?" He had gently teased her.
Beth had frowned and then her face cleared, "Oh, you mean that idiot Harrington? No, nothing to do with being part Native American, and everything to do with being one of the smallest and youngest in a large family, where if you didn't fight for what was yours, you ended up with nothing!"
"You used to punch out your brothers and sisters?" Harm had asked, partly in shock and partly in amusement.
"No," Beth had giggled, "Well, not often... but I learned to stand up for myself at a pretty young age!"
Harm had nodded thoughtfully, before he and Beth had decided that mouths could be used for other things than talking or eating... like kissing...
He had been forcibly reminded of Beth when he had to literally carry Tess McGee out of a bar at Miramar when she'd picked on a Marine Corps Captain twice her size after he had made a crass, disparaging comment about Navy aviators in general and Luke in particular. Unlike Beth, Tess was a pilot, and had been Luke's long-time wingman, but like Beth she was petite, feisty and not inclined to take any crap from anyone, particularly when she was already upset over her friend's death . And when Harm had intervened she had grabbed a baseball bat trophy off the bar room wall, and looked as if she intended to use it.
Of course on that occasion, Harm had been busted in the chops by the aggrieved Marine, who when Harm had demanded what the hell was that for, he had replied that he didn't hit women.
"Neither do I!" Harm had snarled as he had returned the punch. What might have happened next would never be known, as it was then that Tess had grabbed the bat and Harm had literally picked her up, tucked her under his arm and carried her, kicking and cursing, out of the bar.
Now though, that was all behind him. He and Meg had proved that it was a computer software problem and not pilot error that had killed Luke Pendry and his RIO. Luke had been buried with full military honours and a grieving Annie had received the folded flag, while an equally grieving Tess had flown the Missing Man formation for her friend.
And now he was back at his half-finished apartment in DC, some three weeks behind schedule, thanks to all the investigations he'd been sent on, and looking forward to spending the weekend on making a start on getting the kitchen into shape. At least he now had electricity so he could use his power tools at last, and that would speed up his efforts. And, he grinned at thought, he could at last take a hot shower in the comfort of his own apartment instead of having to use the changing rooms at either JAG or the gym to which he belonged.
Moving into his bedroom, he stripped off his travel stained and crumpled uniform, and unpacked his toiletries but before he could take a step, his cell 'phone chirped. With an exasperated groan he contemplated letting it ring, but after a few seconds succumbed to its imperative summons, it might after all, be important, it might be the Admiral or his XO, Commander Lindsey with orders for him, although he hoped not!
It wasn't Admiral Brovo or Commander Lindsey, Harm was relieved to see, from the caller ID, but it was important. At least from his perspective. "Hi Beth," he smiled into the 'phone as he relaxed and lay back on the bed.
"Hey shyster, how're you doin'?"
"Hey, pretty good, considering I've just got back from the West Coast. How about you, been punching out any loud mouth jet-jockeys while I haven't been there to watch your six?"
Beth chuckled, "Hey, since when did you start talking aviator-speak?"
"Oh..." Harm floundered for a second or two before inspiration struck, "I guess I must have picked it up talking to all those cocky sonsabitches at Miramar," he laughed.
Despite his light tone, Beth picked up on an undercurrent in his voice, "Was it bad?" she asked gently.
"Well, it wasn't good." he conceded, "And I missed you."
"Nah," she joked, wanting to lift the conversation before it got too maudlin, "You just missed watching my six!"
"Well... there is that..." he conceded.
"H'mm... how would you like to watch it some more, and a little bit closer than in DC?"
"Sounds tempting... how, and why?"
"Well, as for the why... I've kinda missed you too, shyster, and as for the how, it's our winging ceremony and graduation exercise on Saturday week, how'd you like to come down and offer me some moral support, and help me rub Anne and Sarah's nose in it? They've been giving me grief about you ever since you left!"
"Oh, Beth... I'd love to..." but I can't afford a flight down there, and I doubt I could swing a MAC flight..."
"No need... Listen, my uncle Elwas has a G-One Hundred at Leesburg, and he's flying down on the Friday evening, to Ferguson airport and back up on Sunday afternoon, and he'll be happy to let you have a seat. I know it's a long flight for a short stay, but I'd really like you to be here. For me. Please?"
Harm considered for a moment, yes, he'd love to see Beth again, he had a feeling that there was a chance that they might have something special between them. True, he'd have to resolve his mixed feelings about Diane, was she just an Academy friend, or was she something more? And if so, why hadn't they done anything about that something more. He had been more physical with Beth in the short time he'd known her, than he had ever been with Diane in all the years that he'd known her, and he and Beth had only ever made out for a short while.
He nodded as Beth's nervous voice filled his ear, "Harm? Are you still there, Harm?"
"Hey, Beth, yeah I'm still here. OK, If I can get the weekend free, and you are certain your uncle is happy to fly me down there, then yes, I'd love to see you again, and yes, I'll be proud to see you graduate and get winged. Do I wear uniform or civvies?"
"Would you mind wearing your Dress Whites?"
Harm grimaced but said, "For you? I'd wear Full Dress Blues if I had to!"
Beth did laugh at that, "In this heat and humidity? I don't believe you! You complained enough last time you were down here, and then you were in Peanut Butters or Summer Whites! No, Dress Whites is all I ask."
"OK, Dress Whites it is!" Harm agreed.
"Good! I'll get onto Uncle Elwas and let him know that you're up for the trip... Do you... uh... mind if I give him your cell number? It would be easier for the two of you to liaise direct rather than through me. I'm going to be pretty busy for the next ten days..."
"OK, sure, yeah, go ahead... Just don't be too busy to either call me or answer my calls!"
"I'll make time on my calendar!" Beth promised with a laugh, and then sobered, "I really miss you, shyster."
"Yeah, I miss you too," Harm said.
"Good! So I'll see you Friday week, all being well. I'll pick you up at Ferguson..."
"Yeah... hey Beth? What about accommodation?"
"I'll fix that now. I'll book you a motel room as near the base as I can. They tend to get pretty full pretty quick on graduation weekends!"
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
If Harm had ever been in the dog-house at JAG, it was apparent that he had successfully rehabilitated himself. Admiral Brovo had agreed without demurral that he could have the following Friday afternoon off, provided that nothing blew up that would require Harm and Meg to leave town to investigate on a moment's notice. They weren't the only attorneys sent out on field investigations, but Brovo, and to a lesser extent, Lindsey were fast coming to perceive them as having a slight edge over the other partnerships.
As the uneventful, routine days rolled by Harm could feel his inner tension rising and he half-convinced himself that something would happen and that he would have to miss Beth's graduation from NFO School, and while he would be disappointed, he dreaded having to let Beth down even more.
So it was with relief on that fateful Friday that Harm had loaded his Corvette with his sea-bag containing casual civilian clothes and a suit bag in which was contained his Dress White Uniform. Securing it at lunch, he had bid a breezy goodbye to Meg, who had met Beth at Pensacola and had liked the shorter woman, but had had a field day teasing him about the way he had apparently fallen for an even tougher tomboy than herself, but at the last minute had relented and smilingly said, "But don't forget to say 'hi' to Beth for me, will ya?"
Beth's uncle Elwas proved to be a stocky man in his mid fifties who was happy to offer a seat to his niece's friend, and had eyed him measuringly, and finally nodded approval. Harm, in his Summer Whites was the almost the poster boy for, well, almost anything, and in Elwas' opinion was just the sort of young man he wished his daughters were dating, instead of the series of losers they seemed insistent on dragging home to meet their disapproving parents.
"So... Lieutenant Commander, is it?" He'd asked looking at Harm's shoulder-boards, "I'd like you to meet my wife, Miryem."
Harm turned to meet a slim elegant woman of medium height a couple of years younger than her husband and simply but elegantly dressed, and putting him strongly in mind of his own mother. Her dark brown hair was conservatively dressed and she smiled and confidently extended her hand.
"A privilege to meet you, ma'am!" Harm said and taking her offered hand was pleasantly surprised by the firmness of her grip.
"My pleasure it is to meet you, Commander," she said, with just the faintest trace of an accent.
"And this is my second boy, Iskender, he's coming along for the trip too." He glared at his son, "Free loading of course, well that was his idea, but no, it's not mine. He's going to be working his passage as flight engineer and flight attendant!" However his fierce words were given the lie by the pride that shone in his eyes as the young man, dressed in an Air Force flight suit stepped forward with an unabashed grin.
"Good afternoon, sir. Captain Alex Senturk, USAF."
"Harmon Rabb, I think we can skip the formalities as I'm your family's guest! Alex, you said?"
"Yeah, most of our generation have two names we use. The first one is the one mom and dad gave us, which is generally Turkish, and our second name, the one that we live with," he shot his broadly grinning parents a darkling look, "is either a translation of our Turkish name or a western name that sounds similar."
Harm grinned, "Damn, I wish I had that option, especially in high school! So... what your role?" he asked eyeing the embroidered badge on the younger man's flight suit, noting that the name on the badge was Alexander Senturk and also showed a pair of wings.
"I'm a wizzo – Weapons Systems Officer - on Lancers, offensive systems." Alex grinned, "It's been a race between myself and Beth to see who would get winged first. I beat her by three months!" His grin became as broad as his parents, "I don't think she'll ever forgive me!"
"Ouch!" Harm grinned.
"Hey If I can forgive him for not wanting to be a pilot, she can forgive him for that!" Elwas grunted as he led the way out the plane
"Hey Pops, why would I want to be just a driver?" Alex grinned and winked at Harm.
"Driver? Driver?!" Elwas spluttered, "That's it! Commander, would you like to sit up front this trip? He," with a jab of his thumb at his entirely unrepentant son, "can sit in back and keep his mother entertained!"
Harm automatically eased into the right hand seat in the cockpit, a circumstance that caused Elwas' eyebrows to rise slightly, but the older man said nothing as he began to run through his pre-take-off check list. Harm nearly gave himself away as his eyes became familiar with instrument panel and he found himself replying 'Check' to a couple of Elwas' questions before he realised what he was doing and fell into an embarrassed silence.
Elwas let his questions remain in abeyance until he had set the jet on its course, speed and altitude, and then engaging the auto-pilot he turned to Harm and tried to remember if the young man was wearing pilot's wings that would now be covered by his seat harness. He shook his head, no, he was certain he would have noticed gold wings on the white uniform, and even if he hadn't Beth would certainly have told him as well as telling him almost everything about her new friend. He nodded decisively, best to take the bull by the horns, if this Commander Rabb was hiding anything that might hurt his niece, he wanted to know about it before any damage was done.
"So, you are a pilot?" he asked
Harm swore silently to himself, "Um... yeah, I hold a GA licence, and I've got a Stearman based down at Charlottesville.
"So, so..." Elwas breathed, "But that's not all is it? You wouldn't have anything like this instrument panel in that old lady, but you were following my check-list, weren't you? No, don't bother to deny it!" he added as he saw the negative forming on Harm's face.
Harm sighed, "OK, but I don't need anyone else to know this. I used to fly F-14s for the Navy, but I developed night blindness and lost my flight status. So I re-trained as a JAG."
Elwas let an expression of sympathy flit across his face, as a pilot with more years of flying under his belt than he wanted to remember he felt deeply for the young man having his chosen career cut short. But for the moment he was more concerned about his niece. "Have you told Beth?" he asked.
"No, not yet... I want to be sure we have something before I unload all my dark secrets on her," Harm confessed.
"Well, don't leave it too long!"
"No, sir, I won't," Harm assured him.
Elwas nodded, "OK." He paused for a moment or two before asking, "Do you want to take her for a bit?"
Harm grinned like a school kid offered an unexpected treat, "May I?" he asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Sure," Elwas disengaged the auto-pilot, and put his hands on the yoke for form's sake, and Harm let his hands follow the slight movements for a few moments before Elwas said, "You have control!"
"I have control!" Harm confirmed
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The flight from Leesburg to Ferguson took just over two hours, and while it wasn't the most exciting flying Harm had ever done, it felt good to have more power under his control than the old Stearman. He wasn't rated on the G One Hundred, so Elwas had had to take back the controls for the approach and landing at Ferguson, but he was satisfied with the way that Harm had maintained course, speed and altitude, flying manually all the way.
As for Harm, he was so buoyed up by the experience that he almost didn't feel the twin hammer blows of the heat and humidity of Florida, still sweltering in the grip of one of the hottest summers on record anywhere in the forty eight contiguous states, and even the discomfort he felt was alleviated by the sight of Beth's grinning face as once they had dealt with the formalities they had unloaded their luggage and walked through to the air-conditioned comfort of the main airport concourse.
Beth kept her grin in place as she hugged and kissed her uncle, aunt and cousin, although she did glower at his wings patch on his flight suit, but then her grin broadened into a huge smile of delight and welcome as she turned to Harm, who had hung back until the family greetings were completed. Beth almost threw herself into his arms, locking her hands together at the nape of his neck and dragging his face down to where she could plant a soft, loving kiss on his lips, teasing him, by swiping her tongue along the seal of his lips, before breaking the kiss and, ignoring the disapproving looks of uncle and aunt, and the knowing grin of her cousin, she smiled happily up into his face. "I am so glad you could make it," she breathed.
"For a welcome like that, I'd fly twice the distance!" he assured her, his hands resting at her waist.
Beth giggled happily and then turned back to her family members, "Oh... I've shocked you, haven't I?" she exclaimed.
"Don't mind the old-timers," Alex grinned, "They'll catch up with the twentieth century one day!"
Elwas glowered at his son, but Beth interrupted, "Iskender! Don't be so impertinent to your parents. Aunt Miryem, I'm sure I don't have to tell you to ignore his rudeness, do I?"
"No, of course not, child" Miryem smiled, her surprise at Beth's forward behaviour apparently forgiven if not forgotten.
"OK, then, come on, I've got an SUV outside, I didn't think that my VW would fit you all in! Which reminds me, I couldn't get everyone in the same motel either. So, Uncle Elwas, I managed to get you two rooms at the Super Eight, but Harm, I could only get you a room at the Holiday Inn Express, sorry. The Super Eight is nearer so I'll drop you off there first uncle Elwas, and I think Uncle Bunyamin and Aunt Catherine are booked there too"
Elwas and family delivered to the Super Eight, Beth drove Harm to the Holiday Inn Express, and waited until he checked in and then gave him his seating ticket for the morning. Then with a quick but passionate and thorough kiss, she said, "Harm I really do have to go, I've got so much to do before tomorrow, I wish I could stay longer... If I get finished in time this evening I'll give you call, but don't delay eating just in case I can make it, I probably won't. But I'll see you tomorrow as soon as we dismiss. There's the usual buffet lunch meet and greet, and if I know my family, there'll be plans for a big family dinner in the evening – which you will attend, Commander! But I'll definitely try to make some us time, when that's over!"
"You'd damn well better had!" Harm growled in her ear, "I didn't come all this way for a weekend just for you to be kept at arm's length!"
"Oh, I'm sure we'll get a little closer than that!" Beth twinkled as she slipped out of his arms, and with a wink and a wave she was gone.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Beth's prognosis was all too accurate. Harm's phone remained stubbornly silent all evening, so after arranging with the concierge for a rental car to be picked up in the morning, he spent the early part of the evening setting his Dress Whites in order for the morning, he strolled along the street for a couple of blocks looking for either a restaurant with a vegetarian option, or failing that a seafood restaurant. He was in luck, finding a Mexican restaurant that served him spicy vegetable filled burritos with a cheese sauce, which he washed down with a couple of icy cervezas before wandering back to the hotel, and although it was only twenty two hundred hours, the dual temptation of the cool, air conditioned room and the comfortable bed was too much to resist.
A quick shower later, Harm was in bed his hand reaching for the light switch, and then his head hit the pillow and he was gone.
He awoke the next morning to the chirp of his cell phone, a glance at the clock told him that he would have only slept for another half an hour at the most, and as he blinked the sleep from his eyes he read the caller ID and smiled. Just reading her name made him feel so much better... so much more... alive.
"Hey, sailor," he murmured into the mouthpiece.
Beth felt shivers run up and down her spine as his voice did something to her that ought have been illegal in all fifty states, "Hey shyster... just making sure you got a head start on the day!"
"I'm about as awake now as I'm ever gonna be!" he grinned.
"Good. Get a good breakfast inside you. You need to be at the drill field by ten hundred hours, that's only three and a half hours away, shyster, so get moving!"
"Yes, ma'am. I'll see you later!"
"Is that a threat or a promise?" Beth chuckled throatily.
"Oh definitely a promise!" Harm assured her.
"Good! 'Til later, then..."
"Yeah, later..."
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Harm arrived on time, and his uniform and rank made it a simple task to find the right seating area, the flustered Seamen who had been given the task of ushering the guests to the appropriate seating allowing him more seconds of their time than they did the mass of civilians who were besieging them for information. He had only just take his seat when he was spotted by Elwas Senturk, who bustled across to him, shouting over his shoulder, "I've found them!" He was referring to the seats, but when he got to Harm, he grinned, "Thank God I saw you, Commander, none of those sailors seem to know where we are supposed to sit, but I know Beth booked a block of seats for us all!"
Harm smiled, "That's Harm to you, you're forgetting!" he gently reprimanded the older man
"Harm when you're in my right hand seat, maybe," Elwas allowed, "but here in that uniform you are definitely Commander," he seemed as if he'd finished but then he saw something over Harm's shoulder, "And you'd best be both just about now! Hi, John, Deniz," he called put and then in a rapid mutter to Harm, "Beth's parents, and two of her brothers, Keith and Errol; Errol's the taller of the two, and is very protective of all his sisters!"
Harm heard the implicit warning and inclined his head in thanks, and then turned to meet the newcomers.
John Hawkes was taller by far than his wife, but still shorter than Elwas; his face resembled his name, as if by some fluke of genetics the intervening generations had passed him by and given him the predatory aspect of his ancestors, who had chosen the Hawk as the most fitting name. He held his hand out and with a friendly smile said, "You must be this attorney Commander, my Elizabeth has been telling us so much about recently?"
"I am, sir. Or at least I think I must be. I doubt she knows any other JAG attorneys!" Harm smiled as he took John's hand.
"No probably not," John agreed, "But we'll just have to sort the wheat from the chaff and in time find out how much she has told us is true, and how much is exaggeration!"
"And for your sake, it had better all be true, young man!" The tiny woman standing next to John Hawkes interjected.
"Ma'am!" Harm said crisply, as he turned his gaze on the small woman, who although even shorter and slighter than Beth gave a good indication of what her daughter would look like some thirty or forty years down the road, and Harm , despite her bristling attitude and ferocious scowl rather liked what he saw. He could hardly not like her, Beth's eyes were all hers, and her Turkish ancestry matched well with the Native American heritage of her husband and had combined to perfection, in Harm's view, in Beth. It was pretty obvious too, at least to Harm, from just where Beth had gotten her feisty nature.
John gave his wife an amused look but said in an imperative tone, "Onu rahat bırak! Onu henüz uzakta korkutmak istemiyorum!"1
Harm blinked, "Kiowa?" he hazarded.
John laughed, "No... the only ones in the family that speaks Kiowa these days are my brother and his wife. No, that was her tongue! Impressive, ain't it?!" he demanded as he nodded in his wife's direction.
"Yes, sir!" Harm agreed as he felt the blood rising to his cheeks, acutely aware of the glares he was receiving from Beth's two brothers.
Deniz Hawkes turned her scowl on her husband for a moment and then smiled at Harm, a smile so like Beth's that his breath caught in his throat, "You must forgive my husband, he sometimes forgets his manners and speaks in a language that he should not in front of those who have no knowledge of it!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
He was saved from making any further faux pas by the boom of the tannoy announcing that the graduation exercises were about to commence and would spectators please take their seats.
The graduation ceremony took place according to a set tradition and Harm couldn't help feel a pang as graduand after graduand was called to front and centre to have their wings pinned on their tunics by the visiting Admiral. It brought back all too vivid memories of his own winging ceremony, but at last the inspection and the winging was completed, and the sweating graduands, in two companies, passed in review, the three female graduands easy to spot as their legs flashed brown beneath their white skirts, and marched off the field. The moment they were out of sight of the public a wild cheer was heard and Harm knew, although he could not see, that the air above them was thick with their covers thrown high in exuberance.
The last personnel to leave the field were the Navy Band South East District from Jacksonville, and as they played themselves of, the graduands returned and families and friends deserted the guest seating to find their hosts.
One again Harm's distinctive height was a help, this time in aiding Beth to find her family. She hugged her parents and brothers as well as Elwas, Miryem and Alex, responding to his rebuke for not saluting him, by pointing to the new Lieutenant's bars on her shoulder boards, all successful graduands from Aviator and NFO schools were promoted to Lieutenant. Beth then promptly spoiled the effect by reverting to her childhood ways and grinning impudently she poked her tongue out at her cousin.
"Now that is definitely conduct unbecoming!" Harm said unable to prevent a grin from spreading across his face.
Beth spun to face him, and coming to a rigid brace, she gave Harm a crisp salute, her hand quivering slightly from the tension as she stood tall.
Harm returned the salute just as crisply, "Stand easy Lieutenant, at ease!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Beth responded, and then looking around at the puzzled expressions on her family faces, she turned to Harm, "I think we've satisfied the needs of military protocol for the day, don't you?"
He nodded, "I'd say so!"
"Good!" Beth chuckled, "I'm starving! I couldn't face breakfast, I was so nervous!"
Harm regarded her wryly as she led the party towards the large white marquee, "You know better than to go on a formation like that with an empty stomach!"
"Oh, I know, and I did got to the mess hall for breakfast, and I even got a tray, but I just couldn't eat it! I haven't been so nervous since graduating from the academy, and God, that seems like years ago!" she grinned unrepentantly as she led them into the shade of the huge tent.
Harm was never comfortable trying to balance drink, paper plate and fork while eating standing up, and making small-talk, so gave it up as a bad job after only a very few minutes, content to drink the tonic water with which he'd had his glass filled. He badly wanted to to talk with Beth, but he could hardly deprive her family of her presence, neither could he deprive her of theirs, so after about half an hour, he managed to murmur in her ear, "I've had about all of this I can stand," he plucked at his dress tunic so that there should be no misunderstanding, "I'm heading back to the hotel, give me a call when you've sorted out the arrangements for tonight, but try not to make it too formal, I've only got a shirt and slacks with me!"
Beth nodded in understanding, "Yeah, you get off now. I'm the same, I can't wait to get out of this damn outfit! I'll see you later, shyster!"
Harm made his smiling farewells to Beth's family, and collecting his cover from the table just inside the entrance, he stepped out into the blazing midday sun and gritting his teeth squared his shoulders for the five minute walk back to the rental car.
"Oh, Commander, wait up!" the voice came from behind him. Harm sighed, he had a pretty good idea of who had hailed him and what they wanted to say. Turning, he cursed his luck, he was right on at least the first count.
"Keith, Errol," he acknowledged them, "What can I do for you?"
"We want to talk to you about Beth..." Errol said truculently.
Harm held up his hand, "OK, here's the thing. I've a pretty fair idea of what you want to say, but it's too damned hot out here to stand around chewing the fat all day, so let me say this: One, I have no intention of hurting your sister. Two, I don't know if we have a future together. We may be at the beginning of something long term, I don't know. If you count today, we've had six dates, so it's a mite early for any sort of halfway accurate prognosis. I like Beth, I like her a lot, and she seems to like me, for some unknown reason, so if we're left alone to find our own way forwards, it might just turn out alright. But although I've only known her a short time, I've a feeling that trying to push Beth into something is a sure fire way of making her back off, and of making her opinion heard. Am I right?"
The two brothers exchanged looks, taken aback by Harm's seeming self assurance and by his summing up of Beth's likely reactions if she found out that her brothers were putting any sort of pressure on Harm, "Yeah, I guess..." Errol mumbled, while Keith just nodded.
"OK, guys, I'll see you later!" Harm said with a grin and a nod and now sweating profusely and not all comforted by the fact he had been right on both counts, he headed for the parking lot and the relief of the air conditioned car waiting for him
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
An hour later saw a freshly showered Harm dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist laying flat on his back in the delicious cool of his hotel room, debating whether or not it was worth the effort of getting off the bed to raid the mini-bar for a cold drink, when his ruminations were disturbed by a rap at the door.
"Yes?" He called, "Who is it?"
"God-damn it shyster, open the God-damned door!"
"Beth?" he croaked almost levitating off the bed, "One minute," he called hopping on one foot as he pulled his boxers and pants on.
"Harm! Open the door!" Beth demanded.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm on my way!" he yelped as he struggled into a T shirt, and with his hair tousled and slightly out of breath he fumbled the lock open and stepped back to let a perspiration soaked and out of temper Beth into the room. She dropped a sea bag on the floor, glared at him and said, "You took your own sweet time!"
"S...sorry... b... but I wasn't expecting you... and all I had on was a t... towel!"
His obvious disarray and his panicky, stammering explanation was enough to tickle Beth's ready sense of humour, and she burst out into a fit of the giggles, standing in the middle of the room with the door still open behind her and her fist shoved into her mouth as she tried to stifle her mirth, while Harm slumped into a sitting position on the bed and scowled at her.
"What's all this about Beth? I wasn't expecting to see you until this evening, and what's that for?" he demanded as he pointed to her sea bag.
Beth gave him the sort of look that mothers gave a six year old who was having a hissy fit and pointed to herself, "I'm still in this damned ice-cream seller's outfit! It's hotter than hell, and I'm itchy! My bag has a couple of changes of clothing and my overnight gear. Now I am going to take a shower and get changed into something more comfortable!"
"But you can't do that here!"
"Ain't got nowhere else to do it, we're booked out of the course accommodation, and anyway, why do you think this room is booked for two guests?"
"B... but...but there's only one bed!" Harm almost wailed.
"Yeah, how 'bout that," Beth said uncompromisingly. "Looks like you'll be sleeping in the chair!" and she grabbed her sea bag and marched into the bathroom, leaving Harm to close the room door and sit on the edge of the bed waiting for her to emerge so that he could try and talk some sense into her.
It was about twenty minutes later that Beth came put of the bathroom, dressed in a comfortably loose T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts, but with a light blue blouse and a cream skirt on a hangar, which she hooked over the closet door. She regarded them critically, "They could do with an iron, but it's too damned hot to bother with that crap, and they should look alright by this evening," was her spoken verdict.
She walked around to the other side of the bed and lay down, propped on an elbow, and said, "OK shyster, what's got your panties in a wad?"
"Well this..." Harm waved a vague arm around the room.
"Looks alright to me!" Beth grinned. "Look, Harm, I've asked you to fly a thousand miles – give or take – to come and see me, and now I've managed to ditch my family for this afternoon, so I thought we deserved a little 'us' time, OK?"
"Oh, it's more than OK!" Harm agreed as he swivelled around to lie on his side facing her, "much more than just OK!" He added as he leaned in to kiss her.
"Well, I did sort of have some of that in mind," Beth confessed when they broke the kiss, "But we need to talk too."
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Harm queried as a sense of foreboding crept over him.
"That depends on whether you think Oceana is too near or too far from DC," Beth said with a twinkle in her eye.
Harm's face lit up, "Oceana? Your doing your OpCon Training at Oceana?"
"Yep, fourteen weeks at Virginia Beach, and then the Atlantic fleet!" Beth smirked.
"Shit! Don't do that! For a terrible second, I thought you were going to say North Island for the Pacific Fleet!"
"Well there are some perks in finishing fourth out of eighty two!" Beth grinned.
"Fourth overall?" Harm grinned, delighted for her success.
"Yeah, but I reckon if I'd been a guy, I'd have finished top!"Beth growled.
Remembering the arguments he'd had in preferring charges against Harrington, arguments with flight instructors who still tried to pass off the unhappy Lieutenant's illegal actions as 'youthful high spirits', Harm had no difficulty in believing Beth's claims.
Harm still grinned, "When do you report?"
"A week Monday."
"Ah... I suppose you're going home for the week?" Harm asked.
"Well, no... I don't know Virginia. Maryland or DC, so I thought I'd spend the week exploring before I report. Anne and I are driving up tomorrow in two cars with a couple of guys off the course. Anne has family in Greenville, South Carolina, so we're breaking the journey over night there. The guys are booked into a motel, and then we'll continue up to the DC area on Monday. Anne's folks live in Hagerstown. That's in Maryland..."
"Yeah, I know it," Harm said, "I pass it on my way to grandmother's place when I visit there..."
Beth nodded, "OK, so all I need to do is find a base while I explore the area for a week..." she looked at Harm. Not quite disguising or concealing the hope in her eyes.
"Um... don't take this the wrong way, Beth... but you could come and stay with me for the week... hell, make my place your base for the whole time you're at Oceana, it's about a four hour drive, so it's too far for a daily commute, but its doable for a weekend. There's only two things, first, I can't guarantee I'll be there every weekend, I can get sent on an investigation more or less any time of day or night, and secondly, I'm still fixing it up, so it's a bit of a mess. Most of the work's done, but it's still a bit untidy and... mmph"
"Sorry 'bout that," Beth giggled as she released his face, but looking not the slightest bit sorry, "but you were babbling..."
"So... I'll take that as a 'yes' then, shall I?" Harm asked, his eyes gleaming with hope.
"Yeah, I s'pose so," Beth said softly, and then looked at Harm again, "You know," she said seriously, "that is just about the sappiest smile, I have ever seen!"
"Not sappiest, happiest! Harm corrected her, as he lay down on his back. His hand on her shoulder pulling Beth down with him until her head rested on his chest.
"And what's all this for?" she demanded.
"Just thought we might want to get a couple of hours shut-eye before we head out again this evening!" Harm assured her.
"Oh, that's OK then!" Beth smiled as she closed her eyes and let herself be lulled to sleep by the beating of his heart a couple of scant inches from her ear.
xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
"Whew you guys certainly know how to party!" Harm exclaimed as he toed off his shoes and plumped down on the bed
"You're telling me!" Beth emphasised as she lifted each foot in turn behind her to unhook the strap of her sandals. "I'm so used to no more than three beers a night and in bed by twenty-three hundred hours that I'm almost dead on my feet."
"M'mm, know the feeling!" Harm murmured as he flopped backwards across the bed, "You go ahead and use the bathroom first, I can hang on a few more minutes!"
"Are you sure?" Beth asked a twinkle in her eye again, "I don't want to have to come out of the shower and drag your carcase off half the bed before I can lie down!"
"I'll manage it," Harm grinned, "Just so long as you don't take all night in there!"
"I won't!" Beth promised, "Remember the old Academy rule? 'he who bathes first bathes fastest!"
Harm just grinned as Beth whisked into the bathroom. She was as good as her word, reappearing in a little over seven minutes, dressed as she had been that afternoon in an oversized T-shirt and a pair of gym shorts.
Ham rose to his feet and grabbed his sleepwear from his sea-bag and headed for the bathroom to take his turn under the shower.
When he returned to the room, Beth was in bed, but still awake, and she smiled as her came into the bedroom still vigorously towelling his hair.
Harm smiled at her and made his way across to the armchair, where he sat and covered his legs in a second, dry towel, "OK Beth, you can kill the light now!" he said cheerfully.
But Beth sat up in bed. "Harm, what are you doing?"
"Going to sleep." He said in a puzzled voice, "after all, there's only the one bed... and you said..."
"Harm, how many bedrooms have you got?" she interrupted him.
"Uh... one..."he answered uneasily.
"And how many beds has it got?"
"Just the one..."
"So... when I spend my weekends with you, we're going to be sharing that one bed, right?"
"Well... uh... I got a couch in the lounge and I thought..."
"Shyster, stop thinking and get your six over here and into bed!" Beth said, her ready laughter not far from exploding again.
Harm gave her a sheepish grin, as he crossed to the bed and slipped under the covers.
"Now you can put the light out!" Beth told him.
There was 'click' as the room was plunged into darkness, and Beth leaned over and gave Harm a lingering kiss, her tongue probing at his lips. She kissed him very thoroughly, a thoroughness which he appreciated and fully reciprocated. Beth then took one of his hands and slid it under her T-shirt, allowing him to run his fingers up the smooth skin of her back, until with a gasp he realised the soft cotton shirt was the only upper body garment she was wearing.
She arched into the pressure of his hand as she kissed him again, and she could feel the evidence of his arousal with her thigh, as she squirmed against him.
"Beth" he groaned, as he wrenched his mouth free of hers, "If we don't stop now, I might not be able to!"
"And who said I wanted you to stop?" she asked huskily.
1"Leave him alone! We do not want to scare him away yet!"
