Why Would The Navy, a jag fanfic

TITLE: Why Would The Navy...

AUTHOR: Vid Z.

PAIRING: Harm/Singer

TIMELINE: a few days after "If The Navy Wanted Me To Have A Wife..."

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 NOTES: a lot of questions have been raised over why the Navy would assign Singer for the "assignment" of being Harm's wife and that it should've been Mac to get this assignment. This fic answers these questions with, what I fully believe, are all valid and strong reasons. Because I fully belive in the validity of these reasons is why I stopped writing Harm/Mac fanfic years ago and why I am absolutely, positively, definitely certain that Harm and Mac in a romantic relationship would've been a disaster and would be fated to fail. Even after the show's finale, perhaps even more certain, as they went from not even friends to an engaged cople within minutes. NOT a recipe for success, if you ask me.

SUMMARY: another sequel to "If The Navy Wanted Me To Have A Wife...", Harriet wonders over the Navy's orders and their choice of wife.

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Ensign Harriet Sims stood at a table in the bullpen, watching the engaged couple interact with each other and others.

The news of the LCDR's engagement had been surprising, what was even more surprising (and shocking) was the way he had gotten engaged. Having a wife assigned to him... a very weird concept.

She knew that the Navy had some very weird traditions still, but this one took the cake.

And the cookies.

And the milk.

She caught sight of the culprit and slowly, subtly, had herself come up to the Admiral where he stood at the door of his ante-room.

When she looked up, his amused expression and raised eyebrow let her know that he knew just what exactly she'd been doing.

They stood together in silence, watching Harm and Loren talk to some other members of the staff, standing close together.

"So." started Harriet "I can't say I ever heard of anyone getting the order to marry, sir. Very... uncommon."

"Yes, it is." replied the man, frustrating Harriet by saying nothing more.

"Is that even legal, sir, does the Navy truly have the right to interfere with the lives of it's members on such a level?" blurted Harriet, but then realized just what she had implied. "Oh, sorry, sir, I didn't mean..."

"It's okay, ENS." replied the Admiral nonchalantly. "Fact is, the military is already interfering daily into the lives of it's members with the sole existence of the frat regs, so yes, it is legal, according to UCMJ. Or somewhere in the gray area. Looking at it this way, considering human rights and citizens' rights, the frat regs aren't legal by themselves... getting involved into the service members' private lives and telling them who and who not they can be with, taking away their basic human and natural rights to freely choosing companionship and life partners. I'm sure that if someone brought up charges on an international court against the military for breaking basic human and natural rights of it's own members and launch an extensive campaign, the military would lose. Badly. So, ordering two people to get married is practically the same as forbidding two people from being together, even though they love each other."

Harriet was listening to what he said and had to agree with him. But that wasn't all she was puzzled over.

"But why this LT Singer, sir, a before-unknown person?" cried she of the romantic heart. "Why not Major Mackenzie? They were made for each other, the LCDR is supposed to be with the Major and no-one else!"

She definitely didn't appreciate the patronizing smile Chegwidden gave her for her words.

"Come on, ENS, you'r a smart woman, think! Were Harm and Mac to ever get together, they'd kill each other within a week. Or sue each other for everything the other owned. Apart from them both being lawyers they have absolutely nothing in common, no shared interests, no shared hobbies, no similar childhood or growing up, the Commander was in the jungles of Vietnam learning how to kill a man in all possible ways and using this knowledge, at the same time as the Major was going to school in Arizona, even their being in the military is not something they have in common because they are members of two different branches, branches that had always been very hostile towards each other. Harm and Mac are different as night and day. Opposites may attract, but they don't make for a lasting and strong relationship. Which is also why even their friendship is so rocky much of the time. They are too different to co-exist peacefully for any length of time, especially not in such a close and intimate relationship as marriage. They would've been a failure as a couple, a failure of the scale of the Galipoli campaign."

Harriet was quiet then, thinking over everything he had said. Reluctantly she had to concede that he was right. But she was still not finished with her questions.

"Why this LT Singer then, sir? Who is she? What makes her so special to be the right one to be the LCDR's wife?"

Chegwidden smiled. "The LT is a true spitfire. She has immense energy and an amazing strength of will. Just as the LCDR, she can contain that energy, that force, and then focus it and release it focused on a single purpose with frighteningly devastating and thorough and positive results. The LCDR is also the only man who can handle her, she would eat and spit out others for breakfast. And she is the only woman who will know just HOW to handle him, she's the only woman who will be able to understand HIM, who he is, why he does the things he does, the way he thinks. They don't know it yet, but they both like many of the same things, music, politics, food, sports, culture,... We made sure to provide him with the most compatible mate possible."

"It sounds like a lot of research has gone into this, sir, into finding the LCDR the right wife and into making sure that the LT is the one." commented Harriet, impressed with the Admiral's knowledge.

"Most definitely, over a year of research, getting recommendations on female officers who would be good candidates, without their knowing, making a list of candidates, compiling every possible information on them and then finally choosing the right one. Of about 500 female officers that made the list LT Singer was the 'winner', the one to be chosen for this 'assignment'."

"Wow!" breathed Harriet with her eyes incredibly wide and quickly looked at the couple.

She had to admit, the decision had obviously been a good one, as the two really seemed to get along famously.

"Exactly." nodded Chegwidden "The Navy felt that it owed the LCDR for a life of committed service, starting with 16 years of age, being in the world of special ops one way or another since then. He's also 3rd generation Aviator and 5th generation Navy in general and that carries a lot of weight and leverage, it also makes him worth a lot to the Navy and, on the other hand, if he screws something up, he would be punished much more severely than anyone else. Such families usually give the best quality recruits and continue to do so for a long time and the Navy needs them. Not only that, but it also seemed that either he wouldn't been having any offspring, which was not exactly a prospect that the Navy liked, or he would've had it with the wrong woman, in a marriage that would eventually make him miserable, so we took it upon ourselves to find him 'the one'. As I'm his CO, it was my task to do the research and make the final decision."

Harriet noted how close Harm and Loren were standing, only after having known each other but a few days and nodded. "You've made the right choice, sir, much better than Major Mackenzie could ever be."

"I'm glad you approve, Ensign." smiled the Admiral mischeviously and Harriet blushed as she realized she had just evaluated his work.

They then lapsed into silence and continued to scrutinize the couple.

It was the right decision, indeed.

THE END

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