TITLE: New Beginnings

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Harm/Mac, Mac/Webb, Harm/?

TIMELINE: season 10, Going after Webb

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc of the TV show JAG are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fic. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTE #1: this fic is slightly AU, since Mattie left 2 months earlier than on the show, but other than that everything is as it was till Going after Webb. Cheggy is retired, Dining out happened, Harm promised Mac to always be there for her, Webb pretended to be dead... The fic starts in the middle of GAW, or Hail and Farewell 2 as it is sometimes called, with the scene in Mac's office when Harm tries to get Mac to open up to him about what is going on in her head and gets rejected again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: the core of this fic was written over 4 years ago. For this reposting I edited it very heavily because I felt it was too angsty and was written still under the steam of watching Going after Webb. I hope you like this version.

SUMMARY: When a man has no reason nor no way of going on, what can he do? Simple. He begins anew.

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"When?"

"When I'm ready." she states.

I sigh and hang my head. She's shutting me out again. Resumed doing it 3 months ago, even though she swore to me on the porch at the Dining Out that she'll never do it again. I've tried to help her, but she wouldn't let me. Time and again I hit the steel wall that is Sarah Mackenzie's determination to keep me out of her life.

Now, finally, years too late, I realize what I should've realized long ago: Mac doesn't want me in her life as anything more than a hopeful suitor whom she strings along for the purpose of making her feel desirable and swelling her ego; and as a safe bet for once she'd gone through the entire field of men and ends up alone, after every last one of them realizes she's only a great body, with vacuum where the heart should be and leaves her.

I'm done playing her games. This is it, whether she knows it or not, but she's just played her last card and unknowingly threw away her ace hidden in the sleeve. From now on she'll have to play the field without a safe net in case she fails at yet more relationships.

For the first time in years, I don't care whether she ends up alone and miserable and it's strangely liberating. I should've done this years ago.

She's staring at me, obviously expecting me to get out of her office. And I will. Just not right away. Instead, I confiscate her phone, pick it up and dial a number I have had in my mind for the past few days.

"Sheffield." answers the voice on the other side.

"Good morning, sir. This is Commander Rabb." I say.

"Good morning Commander, have you decided about what we talked about?" he inquires.

"Yes, sir, I have. I would like to accept the offer if it still stands." I state. With my peripheral vision I notice Mac looking at me curiously, but keeping quiet for the moment, though I know that won't last. Mac is rarely quiet and never hesitates making her opinion known, no matter how unwarranted, how unwanted or how dumb her opinion is.

"Excellent, Commander. You're in luck, I was already on my way there and have the package with me. I'll be there shortly." and he hangs up.

I hang up too and notice Mac is opening her mouth to say something. I raise my hand, cutting her off saying "Not now, Mac. Later" and quickly turn towards the door.

By the look in her eyes I immediately knew she was ready to pull rank again. I can't believe the galls of this woman! She's only a few months my senior and acts like she's a god damn 5 star General.

And all these years she made fun of the supposed extra large size of MY ego...

While all through that time it was she who was the one with the swelled ego, always ignoring the fact that not even once during our friendship when I was still the senior officer did I throw my seniority into her face.

Before she can say something I'm out the door and have it closed behind me.

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JAG HQ

15 minutes later

For the last 15 minutes I've been staying in the bullpen and it's vicinity, evading Mac with the skill, that if I were in a dogfight, would have made my Top Gun instructors proud. Hell, they were proud of me then, now they would've burst from joy. Just that I'm not evading an enemy, but my one-time best friend.

Suddenly hearing a commotion, I head out of the little break room. Upon arriving in the bullpen I notice the SecNav and the CNO, who has already summoned the senior staff and our temporary JAG, who is loving his position a tad too much, to attention.

The CNO notices me and orders me front and center. After repeating the Pledge of Allegiance, he announces "Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr.. I congratulate you on your promotion to Captain. After personally reviewing your record and yourself with the Secretary of the Navy, we have decided that some other decorations that you have deserved are due to be given to you.

First of all you are hereby awarded and ordered to wear the Navy SEAL trident for going through the training and qualifying as a SEAL, participating in other special warfare courses by them and participating in missions as a part of SEAL teams during some of your assignments.

Further you are ordered to wear the advanced marksman (sniper) badge for having attended advance

marksmanship school during your 6 Month TAD last year, where you qualified with the Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber sniper rifle.

For having attended and completed special training with the USMC Force Recon, you are hereby awarded and ordered to wear the badge of Recon Marines.

And last, for bravery and going above and beyond the call of duty in rescuing a fellow officer during your assignment with some other government agency, having destroyed a terrorist base and having aided in the destruction of a terrorist weapons cache, containing stolen Stinger missiles, having tested and helped in development of several top-secret experimental aircraft, landing a C-130 cargo aircraft aboard a carrier, for which you will also be awarded with your fourth DFC tomorrow, thus saving the governemnt alot of money and also saving the lives of the civilians aboard the plane,

having performed examplery while leading the defense of the Secretary of the Navy, you will be awarded the highest decorations of the United States, the Medal of Honor, which will be awarded to you by the President personally tomorrow morning in front of the White House.

Btw. Captain, you are to wear all these decorations on your uniform beside and under you Wings. Let the world see what a true hero looks like.

Because as a Captain you won't be able to serve at HQ anymore, you are given the command of the JAG office in San Diego, where you will assume the command Monday 2 weeks from now. Congratulations, Captain Rabb!"

The CNO turns to her and announces: "Since you're neither married nor engaged nor your significant other is present here to do the honors, the honor falls to a female officer present. LtCol Mackenzie, will you do the honors?"

Before Mac takes a step I address the CNO: "Sir, if I may, I would like Petty Officer Coates to do it. She's been a good friend during the last year and had she not looked after my ex-ward then I wouldn't have been able to defend Mr Sheffield this Spring."

I know it's a potentially risky request to have Jen do it, but I'm absolutely sure the CNO was fully briefed on our situation. Every candidate for the Medal of Honor is screened and screened again. Only to be screened 2 more times. Every single aspect and piece of their life is checked and re-checked a couple more times to make sure there isn't anything to cause a scandal later on. The US military had to learn the lesson the hard way with all the scandals following Greg "Pappy" Boyington during the last years of his life.

The point of this is that the matter of Mattie and Jen's co-habitation and Jen and me being neighbors had no doubt come up several times and the Admiral had probably had to inform them about it extensively. And since for the past few weeks I know we've been monitored I know that they know there is nothing more behind my request. The matter is that I have so much to owe Jen, so much I'm grateful to her for, that I can't imagine anyone better doing this than she.

Admiral Clark agrees and Jen steps forward, beaming as she pins the Eagles and other decorations on me. Then she salutes me and kisses me barely-there on the cheek and returns into the line. Mac looks angry, but quickly covers it up.

The CNO dismisses us and he and the SecNav leave. I head to my closet of an office and start packing. The doors are opened with such force that they hit the wall and bounce back.

She's here.

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