Title: Finding Hope
Spoilers: None, really. Could occur at any point during the JAG timeline, from Alan Mattoni's first appearance in 'The People v. Rabb' until 'Lifeline'…
Summary: When one of their own need help, the JAG staff answer the call…But will Mac's special abilities kick-in in time?
Rating: I'm no good at this but…hmmm…K?
Category: Harm/Mac UST. The ending does give some hope for the future, though…Basically feel-good fluff, a story like one during JAG's early years, with Harm and Mac working together to get the job done.
Disclaimer: JAG does not belong to me, nor do I make any money from what I write. I just get to exercise my imagination so that it doesn't get too out of control!
OOOO
Part 1
Harm, Mac and Alan Mattoni stood at attention in front of their CO, Admiral AJ Chegwidden.
"At ease…"
They all stood down, now happy to bask in the near glow that radiated from the Admiral.
"Here's to a job well done," he placed his personal stamp and signature on the document covering the entirety of their investigation. And an extensive investigation it was, too. It had been full of surprises and twists from the beginning to the end. Despite this, and the resulting havoc it had wreaked upon their 'liberty' time outside of office hours, they had succeeded in seeing this reach the eventual ending that they had been hoping for.
"Now that the world has resumed turning and all is right within this office once more, it is my great pleasure to tell all three of you that JAG has officially hit a slump in its caseload…By the way, the SECNAV wished me to express his sincere gratitude for handling this tricky matter so professionally."
All three officers had to fight to keep the corners of their mouths from being tweaked upwards. The humor in their CO's voice was obvious. The SECNAV had been riding them all pretty hard about this case (it was what he had described as 'a personal matter'; involving his own interests) and by the term 'handling it professionally,' it was clear that what the SECNAV really meant was 'successfully'.
"Anyway, in the meantime, we will only have a few petty matters to take care of today before the weekend…" AJ was cut off by the sound of the intercom buzzing.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Jen Coates' voice filtered through, "I know you didn't want to be disturbed, but Commander Mattoni's wife has just been on the phone and she expressed that it was very important that he call her back, ASAP."
All three officers covertly checked out their CO's immediate response to this, Mattoni with more trepidation than the others. He was in luck, however, because little would be able to shatter the Admiral's good mood today.
"Thank you, petty officer," he thanked Jen, before turning to Mattoni, "Well, I was basically finished talking anyway. Commander, go ahead and call your other half back. Dismissed."
"Aye, Sir. Thank you," Alan snapped off a salute before retreating from the office.
Harm and Mac didn't have the chance to think any more about the Admiral's jovial mood, for he launched back into his talk from where he left off and after an uneventful meeting, dismissed the two of them, as well. As they were entering their respective offices, both caught a glimpse of Mattoni deeply engaged in a phone conversation in his office.
OOOO
"What do you mean she's gone?" Alan asked his wife, his mind stupefied by her news.
"Janet and Peter woke up this morning and her bed was empty. Her coat was gone, her boots were gone and the front door to the cabin was wide open."
"How long has it been?"
"Around five hours."
"Five hours! She's only four years old! How far could she have wandered?"
"She's not on the premises and the whole place does look out onto a national forest."
"And what's being done?"
"There have been trackers out since breakfast, but it's been raining heavily and the resort is so busy, they haven't been able to find anything to suggest that Hope has been there. But they're going to be bringing in some tracking dogs within the next hour and they're hopeful that they'll find her."
"Okay," Alan nodded, reluctantly backing down for now, "Keep me posted."
OOOO
Over the next couple of hours, Alan could only sit helplessly, his paperwork sitting untouched, praying for his brother, sister-in-law and especially his niece and Godchild.
The call from his wife eventually stunned him out of his thoughts.
"Alan, you need to come home…Peter and Janet have asked for our help, we have to drive up there this afternoon."
"Is there any news?" Alan asked, his chest suddenly feeling restricted.
"No," his wife told him, "they haven't been able to find her, even with the dog teams. But they've taken Peter and Janet into custody and Peter says they're asking him all sorts of questions…He thinks you need to be there to convince them to keep sending out the search teams."
"I'll be home as soon as I can. Pack us up some clothes and supplies and we'll head straight there when I get home," Alan didn't hesitate for a second in jumping into action.
OOOO
Mac absently noted Alan Mattoni head back into the Admiral's office, but did not see him leave the bullpen, because Admiral Chegwidden was by that time already standing in her doorway. He quickly waived her down as she went to stand at attention, telling her, "At ease. Since your caseload is so light as of today, I just wanted to pass on a couple more matters that need to be taken care of. They're both quite light and I think you should be able to wrap them up with just a few phone calls."
"Of course, Sir," she nodded, "May I ask, are these the briefs that Commander Mattoni was handling?"
"That's correct," AJ nodded, "He's had a family issue requiring his immediate attention and he sends his apologies for having to resort to handing them off to you.
"It's no problem, Sir," Mac shook her head, already glancing through the files, "They shouldn't take much extra work at all and I've nearly got everything of my own wrapped up, anyway."
"Good," AJ nodded, "Carry on, Colonel."
OOOO
As the afternoon wore on, activity in the bullpen wound down. By 1430, most of the officers were finished with their work and so were either chatting together in groups or watching ZNN on the television.
Mac approached Harriet, who stood beside Bud, watching the tv screen.
"Bet you two are ready for the weekend," she commented to them, sipping the cup of coffee she had just retrieved from the break room.
"Ready and eager, Ma'am," Harriet nodded, asking Mac, "How about you, Ma'am?"
"Sure am," Mac expressed, enthusiastically.
"Am what?" Harm asked, approaching them from the direction of his office.
Harriet explained what they had been talking about. Then she told him about her and Bud's plans to get together with Harriet's parents, who were in town visiting.
"Hey, what's going on in Ranger's Creek?" Harm asked, recognizing the scenes on the television screen, referring to what Bud and Harriet had been watching before his and Mac's arrival.
"Oh, it's just awful," Harriet told him, "A little girl is missing from a lodge resort in Virginia."
"Apparently, she just wandered out by herself early this morning while her family were still asleep," Bud added.
They all watched for a little while longer, all expressing their sadness and horror at such an occurrence, when the Admiral exited his office. They all snapped to, as one, but their CO didn't even seem to notice that they were all standing around, not doing anything, mingling in the bullpen. They soon understood that he had other matters weighing on his mind.
OOOO