Author: TxJAG_b
Email:
Rating: G/PG
Classification: Another different kind of fluff….
Spoilers: Any episode where Harm or Mac have alluded to comic book heroes. Warning for language. Takes place mid Season 9 during a moment of truce between our feuding heroes.
Summary: Mac decides to bone up on one of Harm's interests and gets a different perspective of herself and the Commander.
The story archive for this story and others can be found at: ./ Thanks to Ashley the Marine Advocate for hosting my stories [and Karen's].
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of Donald Bellisario, Belisaurius Productions, Paramount Pictures and Columbia Broadcasting Service Entertainment – this story is for non-profit entertainment of JAG fans only. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.
0742 Zulu / 0142 Local
Apartment 201
2812 The Washington
Mac was sitting under the covers in her bed reading. On one side of her was a legal notepad with scribbled notes. In her hand was not a legal brief, not a transcript of a testimony, but the Adventures of Superman. Mac was reading intently, a pen held against her lower lip.
"Huh!" She shifted in the bed, scribbled another note on her pad and continued reading. Mac was nothing if methodical in her research. Harm from time to time, alluded to superheroes and she wanted to know more. She had sarcastically referred to him as Superman or Mighty Mouse on a couple of occasions, references to Saturday morning shows she had watched when she was growing up and frankly those comparisons were not too far off the mark. She honestly expected to hear him say one day, 'Here I come to save the day'
But she needed to know more. Why? Because of those cryptic references. She talked to Tiner for nearly a half hour before he relented and admitted he had a stash of these comic books at his apartment. Mac thought he was going to die of embarrassment when Coates found out.
Next, she consulted with Bud. He had been a little reluctant at first, but with Harriet's prodding, he spent the next two hours giving her a closed-door lecture on the history of superheroes. Mac had to admit it was kind of intriguing, listening to the origins of these larger than life characters, especially owing to the fact that some of them had come from family backgrounds similar to hers. In addition to the books Tiner had given to her, Bud let her borrow several of his, which discussed more in detail, the origins of many of these characters.
When she left the office, it had been all she could do to keep Commander Nosy at bay. He had tried several times, to find out what was going on in her office. Tiner had just flushed crimson and excused himself. Coates burst out laughing. Harriet smiled secretively, Gunny couldn't be found, and Sturgis just closed his door. All attempts by smooth talking Stickboy to get them to talk, fell on deaf ears. Luckily, the Admiral had been out of the office most of the afternoon at a meeting with the SecNav at the Pentagon, or Harm's attempts to find out what was going on would have resulted in a general dressing down of the entire staff.
She came home, dropped her keys and cover on the nightstand by the door, kicked off her shoes and popped some of Harm's leftover fettuccini, from their last working dinner, in the microwave. It wasn't nearly as good as it had been the first time, but at least it was better than frozen, cardboard tasting, chicken pot-pie. While the microwave sent heavenly odors drifting through her apartment, she headed to the bedroom.
She took off and hung up her uniform; then pulled on an old t-shirt that had a mean looking bulldog on it with the words underneath 'Did Someone Call the Marines?' and a pair of red running shorts with gold trim. Barefoot, she padded back to the kitchen just in time to pull the steaming pasta out of the machine.
Grabbing a bottle of spring water from the refrigerator, she sat down with her homework at the breakfast bar. She pulled a fork and knife from a caddie she had placed there for quick access, as she began with the origins of Batman. Between bites of steaming pasta, and sips of cool water, she learned all about millionaire Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter ego, the Darknight Detective.
When she finished her meal, she walked over to her couch; opening her briefcase, she pulled out one of her legal pads, and began scribbling notes about what she had just read. Just the facts Ma'am – real name, superhero name, relatives, how they became a superhero, their rivals, weaknesses, love interests and so on. Then it was on to Superman, Spiderman, the Hulk, the X-Men, Submariner, Captain America, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow and so on. She learned a surprising amount of trivia she had heard Harm and Bud refer to from time to time. Up to now, it had been juvenile gibberish, but now it made sense. A robber killed Batman's parents, Superman's weakness was Kryptonite, Spiderman had gained his powers from the bite of a radioactive spider, Dr. David Banner would turn into a green Neanderthal when he got mad, and so forth.
She also noted from Bud that Harm had in the last four or five years, occasionally bought some comic books that portrayed female superheroes. Batgirl, She-Hulk, Huntress, Supergirl, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and even that nickname that Harm gave her came from the name of a superhero Ninjagirl. She smiled at their depictions. She remembered how many times she had laughed off suggestions by Harm of going to see movies based on any of these characters. Now she wondered what she had missed.
It was going on 0200, but Mac's mind was going full throttle; she was surprised at how many times Flyboy had made reference to these characters. Her notepad had sixteen pages of detailed notes on everything she had learned. She was beginning to understand why Harm acted the way he did sometimes. Why he bent the rules, tried to help anyone he thought needed his help and, infuriating as it was sometimes, tried to be her protector.
She stifled a yawn. She had three hours and twenty-eight minutes left before her alarm went off. Even though tomorrow was Saturday, she didn't like breaking her early morning routine. Besides if she knew the Commander, he would be here shortly after she got back from her run, if he didn't join her at the jogging trail. And then the cross examination would begin.
Mac decided to call it night. She carefully put the comic books in a stack on the floor, along with her notepad and pen. Her teeth had been brushed hours ago, so all she had to do was turn out the lights and lay down on her pillows.
Light and shadows from her bedroom window danced across the room, as she settled in. She thought about all the characters she had learned about tonight. Which ones fit her and Harm? Superman for Harm? – Definitely. But also Batman. She almost laughed out loud at the thought of Harm and Bud as Batman and Robin…what about her as Robin? Most definitely; he always treated her like a junior member of the duo. But she was really stronger than Robin, yep…more like She-Hulk…or maybe Wonder Woman. Mac sighed, Yep, Wonder Woman…that suited her better….
"Ma'am."
"Ma'am?"
"Ma'am?"
Mac found herself looking squarely at Bud who was standing in front of her. But he was dressed strangely though…like an Army officer.
"Bud? What's going on?" She now noted that she was wearing horn-rimmed glasses. Fake ones with plain glass lenses. Mac wondered where the glasses, and the old female army uniform she was wearing, came from.
The Army uniformed Bud looked at her strangely, for a moment or two, but then seemed to dismiss her questions. "Ma'am, sorry to disturb you, but Major Trevor gave me these reports for you to file."
Her mind raced. Which character had been an Army secretary? That's right, Wonder Woman! He must think I'm Diana Prince, her alter ego.
"Uhhh, thank you, uh-" She looked quickly at his lapel pins. "Thank you Lieutenant, I'll take care of these right away." She took the folders from Bud, got up and walked over to the filing cabinet behind her.
Suddenly the room tilted sideways as a tremendous explosion shattered the noise of the busy office.
"Run!"
The Admiral, dressed in a General's uniform filled with ribbons and awards, came running past her door. "Get out of here Diana!" He shouted, "Before it's too late!"
She made her way to the window as soldiers scrambled to get past her. Standing on a massive tripod machine, a giant monster robot was firing some kind of laser cannon at the base buildings reducing them to kindling. Harriet, wearing a nurse's uniform, stopped as she saw Mac turn around.
"Diana, you have to get out here. Lex Palmer's monster is destroying the base. We'll all be killed. Oh, if only SuperHarm were here…."
"Oh please," Mac rolled her eyes. Mac took off her fake glasses, and began spinning around. With a thunderclap and iridescent glow, Mac's clothes transformed into the body hugging star spangled brief worn by Wonder Woman. Only hers had a Marine globe and anchor emblem on the chest.
"Don't worry nurse; I'll take care of this." Before nurse Harriet could say anything, Mac leapt out the third story window. Like a cat, she landed on her feet and sprinted over to the machine that was now being fired upon by three soldiers, who looked suspiciously like Gunny, Tiner and Coates.
The machine turned toward the source of the firing, and its massive arm started to swing down upon them. Mac launched herself off the ground and caught the swinging arm in mid-air. The three soldiers watched in amazement as Mac tore the arm off the thing and smacked its metal body with it. A hollow bong, bong, bong rang across the parade ground.
She turned to the soldiers who were standing looking at her in slack-jawed amazement. "Go on, get out of here, I'll take care of this jerk…"
As the three started to run, soldier Gunny pointed to the sky. "Look, up in the sky!"
"It's a plane!" gushed soldier Tiner.
"It's SuperHarm!" squealed soldier Coates.
"Here I come to save the day!" sang Harm as he flew toward Mac and the monster. He was dressed in a Superman suit and had a big pair of Navy aviator wings replacing the 'S' on his chest.
Mac wrapped another arm of the monster around its middle. "Can it Superham, I've got things under control, go back to Metropolis – or wherever you come from."
"Who are you?" asked SuperHarm grimacing at the comment, "And it's SuperHarm, not Superham."
"Yeah right. Look I'm doing okay here. The names' Wonder Marine, and this guy isn't as much trouble as he seems-"
A bald man looking like Clark Palmer opened the control hatch on the sagging metal giant. "That's watch you think Wonder Woman-Marine," he sneered, "Take that!"
He began to laugh evilly, as he fired his laser pistol at her. "BWAH-HAH-HA-HA-HA!"
A laser beam headed straight for Mac, but SuperHarm flew in between, taking the full blast. SuperHarm fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, which dug a hole in the ground.
"Harm!" Mac dove to his side. "Are you okay?"
SuperHarm looked out from the hole, and shook his head. "I'm fine Wonder Woman-Marine, just stunned."
"That's Wonder Marine," she corrected him
"Whatever," he grumped, rubbing his head. "Then he brightened, Hey, let's team up-"
Mac looked at him incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"
"No Wonder w- Marine, together we can defeat Lex Palmer."
"Then let's get him!" She grinned as she pulled Harm out of the hole. They looked toward the lumbering, damaged robot. Mac and SuperHarm raced toward the metal monster, and the evil Lex Palmer.
"So, my laser blast didn't stop you," fumed the villain. "This will-"
BRAZZZZZ!
Mac awoke with a start. It was her alarm buzzing. She threw off her covers and careful to avoid the stack of comic books, walked into her bathroom.
What a crazy dream, she thought as she brushed her teeth and combed out her hair.
Walking back to her bedroom, she pulled off the t-shirt and shorts and replaced them with a black jogging bra, gray t-shirt with the words Marines emblazoned across the front, a pair of olive green running shorts, grey socks, and a pair of dark green tennis shoes.
She thought about the dream, as she grabbed her keys and headed out the door. Harm as Superman, yep that's a good fit. She headed down her stairs, and into the parking lot. She walked over to her car, unlocked it, and got in.
1122 Zulu
Rock Creek Park
Washington, DC
As she warmed up for her run, she thought about Bud as an Army Lieutenant, the Admiral as a General, Harriet as a nurse and Tiner, Gunny and Coates as soldiers. The thought of Harriet as a nurse made her smile.
As she began her run down the wooded path, she thought about the darker images. Palmer as Lex Luthor-how he had tried to kill both of them. It made her uneasy, when she thought about Palmer shooting Harm. The circumstances may have been a dream, but her dreams had had larger meanings before. Though not in such weird circumstances before….
Mac concentrated on controlling her breathing. As she passed her first one mile marker, she noticed a certain naval Commander had joined her. Mac smiled slightly as Harmon Rabb, Jr. fell into step with her.
"You're late this morning." Mac turned slightly and smiled.
Harm, matching her pace, rolled his eyes. "Traffic" was his panacea answer.
She would have laughed, but it would have thrown off her pacing. Instead she smiled again and shook her head.
Harm smiled as well, as they continued down the path.
1201 Zulu
Mac walked slowly, dabbing at the sweat rolling off her forehead and upper body. Harm had already stopped and was working on a muscle that was threatening to knot up.
Mac looked over at him with a smirk, "I told you not to overdo it."
Harm worked on the kink, "For your information, I did not 'overdo' it.'"
Mac ignored his comment, looking instead down the path at four people standing facing each other. Mac had a feeling it was not a friendly meeting.
"Harm."
The tone in her voice immediately made him forget about his leg muscle. His eyes narrowed as he observed the group.
"You circle around to the left, I'll come in from the right." Nodding, Mac took off stealthily through the underbrush, getting closer and closer to the group. She could now pick up snippets of their conversation.
"Just keep quiet Congressman, and you and your lady will get out of this alive."
"Keep away from me!"
"Unt uh, sweetheart, now come here before my buddy hurts your man"
"I think you should listen to the lady."
The guy, a burly 6'4" linebacker –type, turned toward Mac who had just stepped out of the woods to their left. He lecherously looked her up and down.
"And just what are you going to do about it, sweet cheeks?"
Mac smiled seductively at the man. Why don't you come over here and find out."
With a growl, he started toward Mac.
His partner, smiling and enjoying his buddy's fun, didn't notice Harm sneaking up behind him. The Commander grabbed his arm and knocked the knife out of his hand. The next thing the guy felt, was a fist hitting his solar plexus.
The big guy closed on Mac. "You're a little bitty thing ain't cha?"
"Good things come in small packages…." Mac watched her adversary closely as she moved to his left. He countered by moving with her.
"Come on baby, I'm a good lover."
"I can hardly wait."
He thought he saw hesitation and lunged. He didn't see Mac's foot swing up and connect with his jaw.
OWWW! SONOFABITCH! He screamed, as he wobbled away from her. He whipped out a switchblade. Mac didn't relent. She bounced back, keeping her fists raised, as she maintained her distance until she was ready. As he started toward her, she moved in and swung her foot again, this time, at his nose. Everyone heard the audible crack as blood spurted.
Harm and the skinny guy were trading blocks, until the Commander feinted, causing the guy to lower his guard for a moment. Harm swung and connected, breaking his sunglasses, and laying him out cold on the ground. He turned to see Mac standing over the prone big guy, blood leaking from his broken nose.
"You okay Mac?" he managed to get out, trying to get his breathing under control. He looked over at her.
She nodded, keeping her eye on the man at her feet. "He's not my type." That comment elicited a shocked look. Mac shrugged smiling wryly, "He bleeds too easily." Her explanation made him smile.
"Whoever you are," said the Congressman, as he and his wife walked over to Harm, "I can't thank you enough for coming to our rescue."
"I'm Commander Harmon Rabb," He nodded toward Mac. "That's Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie."
"You're military," said the man, immediately recognizing their ranks. Behind them two park rangers were approaching. "Which unit are you with?"
"We're with the JAG Corps."
"You're lawyers?" blurted out his wife.
The rangers reached the group. "What's going on here?" said the first one checking out the bad guy laying at Harm's feet.
"I'm Congressman Bill Parr, ranger, and these two military officers saved our lives."
"This guy's nose is broken." Said the other examining the unconscious big guy.
"You might want to check his jaw," replied Mac helpfully, "It might be broken, too."
"Commander, I can't thank you enough for your-"
"-Stupid, dangerous stunt!" AJ Chegwidden got up from his desk, and walked over to the two officers standing at attention before him.
He stopped and turned to Harm, getting right in his face. "Commander, did you ever stop to think there might be more than just two of them?"
"Uh, no Sir." replied Harm. "Mac and I saw that the Congressman and his wife were in trouble and-"
"And you two just decided to swing in on your knotted ropes and do in the bad guys, right?"
The Commander looked straight ahead. "Mac and I did what we thought was best, Sir."
"What you thought was best," He repeated cynically. "Commander, this may come as a shock to you, but there was an emergency phone not twenty feet from where you two were playing superhero. Did it not occur to you to call someone first?"
Harm at least had the dignity to look taken aback when the Admiral announced that information. He didn't have an answer to his question, but Mac sure did.
"Sir, we really didn't have any time…."
AJ turned to Mac. "Colonel, I don't remember giving you permission to speak."
She went back to attention. "No Sir!"
He walked over until he was nose to nose with her. "I expect this kind of behavior from the Commander, Mac, not you."
Harm looked chagrined.
"Sorry to disappoint you Sir." Mac said quietly but with determination. She locked eyes with him. "Permission to speak Admiral?"
He pulled back from Mac's face and studied her for a moment. Sighing, he waved his hand at her, "Go ahead, Colonel."
"Sir, Harm and I could have never just 'stood by' and waited for help to arrive. We had to intervene. If we hadn't, they would have been injured, possibly even killed."
"Are you sure about that, Colonel?"
At that moment, Tiner stuck his head in the door.
"What is it Tiner?" snapped the Admiral
"Pardon the interruption Sir, the SecNav is one line one."
AJ sighed heavily. "Put him though, Tiner."
"Aye Sir." Tiner pulled the door closed again.
AJ went over to his telephone, and picked up the receiver. "Good morning Mr. Secretary."
"AJ, I trust you have good news for me?"
AJ was somewhat taken aback this. "Sir?" Harm and Mac tried to keep their faces neutral.
"I'm hoping you've had the chance to talk to Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb, about what happened at the park this morning."
AJ shot a look of disgust in the direction of his two top lawyers. "Why yes Sir, as a matter of fact, I have." He said keeping his voice even.
SecNav Sheffield was all business. "Then I trust you know what needs to be done."
AJ was stoic. "Yes Sir."
"Good, they can't be late for this ceremony, AJ."
The Admiral's face froze. "Uh, Sir? I'm not sure I understand-"
"They're heroes AJ," the SecNav's patient voice explained. "If there is one thing this country needs right now, its true honest to goodness heroes and Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie fit that description to a tee."
AJ couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you sure about this Mr. Secretary?"
"You heard me, AJ, Congressman Parr wants them there for that ceremony. Surely you know, AJ, that his wife would have been raped if they hadn't intervened."
AJ Chegwidden eyed the two lawyers, to make sure they were not smiling. They weren't. "Yes Sir."
"Good, then I trust they will be there for the ceremony. We need Parr's vote in the upcoming appropriation hearings, and every bit helps." AJ looked warily at his two O-5 officers.
"They'll be there, Mr. Secretary."
"Wonderful! Thank you AJ, I'll see you there with them this Thursday afternoon."
The Admiral fought the urge to sound disgusted with this 'pony show' but then he remembered that despite the headaches they gave him, Rabb and MacKenzie made the military, especially the Navy and Marines, look good. And the publicity wouldn't hurt their image. "Yes Sir, Goodbye Mr. Secretary."
AJ gently put the receiver back in its cradle, breaking the connection. He then he looked up and stared at the two JAG Corps attorneys, standing at attention in front of him.
Mac was the first to dive in. Relaxing a bit, she locked eyes with AJ – not the brightest thing in the world to do. "Admiral, we really didn't have any choice. You wouldn't have wanted us to just ignore what was happening. Not even if it meant we would get in trouble with you."
AJ mulled over Mac's statement. "Are you finished Colonel?"
"Yes Sir." she went back to standing at attention, and prepared for his rebuke.
"Well Colonel, I'm glad you told me that." They both looked at him with a mixture of puzzlement and confusion on their faces.
"Because, you see, the Congressman wants to thank you both in a public ceremony, and I just wanted to understand the full story behind your actions."
"Sir?" They replied in unison.
They both stood unmoving, still at attention as AJ walked back from his desk. "You see, the SecNav agrees that you two should be rewarded. It's good public relations."
They both started to relax.
He eyed them warily. "I don't believe I told you two 'at ease', now did I?"
"No Sir!" They came to attention again. AJ walked over until he was standing behind both of them. His words were laced with steel.
"Because I have some words of advice for you two superheroes. You try anything like that again and it backfires, I'll make sure you both get reassigned to the most desolate posts I can think of. Am I understood?"
"Aye Sir!"
"Good," he snarled. "Now get the hell out of my office and get prepared for that ceremony this Thursday afternoon!"
Both barked their reply, did textbook about faces, and left the room, closing the door behind them.
AJ looked at the door and smiled ruefully, shaking his head. He felt a headache coming on.
As they headed back into the active bullpen, she looked at the Commander and smiled. He returned her smile. Both separated and went to their respective offices, closing their doors behind them. Everyone in the bullpen stopped and looked at the three closed doors, and then went back to work.
1925 Zulu
Capitol Mall
Washington, DC
"…And so it is my privilege to honor, Commander Harmon Rabb, Junior, United States Navy and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie, United States Marine Corps for their actions at Rock Creek Park, early last Saturday morning."
"Thank you again, Colonel, Commander, for coming to our aid. Without people like you, this world would truly be a darker place to live in. You both are truly heroes for our times."
Both stepped over to the Congressman amid the applause from the assembled audience. ZNN caught the two camera shy officers, as they shook hands with the Congressman and his wife.
The media descended on them almost as soon as they had finished shaking the Congressman's hand. Though she was much better at handling the media than she used to be, Mac was still uneasy with all the attention. Harm on the other hand, seemed to handle it well. She even swore once she heard him say "We were just doing our job, protecting this fair city, and it's citizens." She shook her head, and realized that couldn't have been what he had been saying.
When the reporters ran out of questions, it looked as if the JAG Corps lawyers would finally be able to leave. After some brief small talk with the congressman, and accepting an invitation to Saturday lunch, the Colonel and Commander beat a hasty exit, from the throng that was still milling about on the Capitol Mall.
As they walked back towards their car, Harm breathed an evident sigh of relief. "Am I glad that is over."
Mac looked at her partner. "You are?" she said skeptically, not believing what she was hearing.
"Of course I am Mac," he said as if it were plain for all to see, which Mac, and anyone else who saw them, could say was far from the case.
Still, Harm could not believe Mac thought he enjoyed this kind of limelight attention. "You think I like I enjoy getting involved in situations like this?"
Mac smiled wryly. "Well Harm, I don't know, they do seem to pop up wherever you are. Remember, things happen when you're around."
Harm grimaced at her jibe. "Mac, I am not the man of Steel, nor do I have special mutant powers." He cut a sly glance over at her. "However Marine, you seemed to hold your own pretty good back there in the park…."
Mac began grinning. "Well if I'm going to be Wonder Marine, I have to be able to back you up."
Harm's head snapped around at that comment. He stopped and held out his arm to stop her. "Hold up Mac, Wonder Marine? What happened to being Robin?"
Now Mac was really enjoying herself. She made a weak attempt to stifle a giggle. "That's Mattie's job – she's your young ward after all." She struck a thoughtful pose and started to walk away from the aviator/lawyer. "I'm more like Wonder Woman-"
Now Harm was totally confused. "Wonder Woman?" His bewilderment was quickly replaced by suspicion. "What do you know about her?"
Mac continued her thinking out loud. The lilt in her voice, made it evident she was really enjoying this. "Well, I know she's an Amazon princess who works with an army
major-"
Harm, the comic book expert, jumped in, correcting her. "That's one version-"
Mac rolled her eyes at his so-called 'expertise' on this subject. "Well, that's the version I like." She looked back at Harm, and her voice took on that amused lilt again. "Come on caped crusader, I'll buy you lunch."
"Would you not call me that, please?" Harm was obviously taken by surprise by her comments, and more than a little embarrassed, afraid that someone, like the Admiral for instance, would overhear their conversation.
Mac didn't care about the Commander's discomfort. She was having too much fun. She pretended to pout. "Why not? I kinda like it. It fits you, you know."
He looked at her in disbelief. She reached their motor pool sedan first.
Mac smiled widely, as she opened her car door. "You know Harm, I halfway expected you to say 'thank you fair citizens, but I'm just doing my job.'" Without waiting for a response, she winked at him and got in the car.
"Maac," pleaded Harm as he opened his door and got in the sedan.
She laughed loudly, as the dark blue JAG sedan pulled out of the parking space, and sped back to Falls Church.
- FINI