A/N: We're unaware of what the 2008 Democratic Primary Schedule will look like so we made one up. We also accidentally placed the New Hampshire Primary ahead of the Iowa Caucus; in reality, it isn't and we apologize because we like to keep the story as factual as possible so we apologize for this glitch but it is fiction………right?

1320 ZULU

ROSS FOR PRESIDENT HQ

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

THE DAY AFTER THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY

"You've been here all night, sir?" Nate's campaign manager Charlie came walking into the large high school gym.

"The feeling of adrenaline never really left my veins, I didn't feel right unleashing it all on my wife last night, and I would like the poor woman to be able to walk without looking like she's trying to carry a watermelon between her knees." Nate joked as Charlie walked over by his side.

"Fifty-four percent in New Hampshire is good. Most incumbents and eventual nominees win New Hampshire; we've got Iowa next week. If we take Iowa, we've got Virginia, Louisiana, Michigan and Oregon in the following weeks and we'll have the momentum. It all bodes well for us." Charlie took a seat on the stage next to Nate.

"Why did you join my campaign, Charlie?" Nate asked.

"Because I believe in what you say. You talk about really helping the kids of taxi drivers and mechanics and janitors. You want America to have a better future. That's something no Democrat has talked about in maybe sixty-five years. That's something no Republican has really been serious about since Lincoln. You've got the ideas; it's my job to make sure the American public hears them." Charlie answered. A staff member pushed through the doors into the gym and walked up to Nate.

"Sir, I think you may want to see this." The staffer handed the paper to Nate whose face suddenly went ghost white. Nate put a hand over his mouth and looked up at the staffer.

"Tell Mrs. Ross; have her send the kids to visit with their Aunt and Uncle in McLean, Virginia." Nate gave the directive. "Get the plane on the tarmac ready to take me to Arlington." Nate turned to Charlie. "Go on ahead to Des Moines; I'll join you some time this weekend." Nate gave Charlie a pat on the back before heading for the door at the back of the gym.

SAME TIME

THE PENTAGON

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

"What's up with having the flag at half mast?" Harm asked Bax as the two of them went walking into the Pentagon.

"You don't watch ZNN before you get in your car in the morning?" Bax returned a salute to a passing Lieutenant before opening the doors and stepping inside the building.

"The kids like watching their cartoons in the morning before they go over to AJ's for the day." Harm answered as they turned through the corridors toward their offices. "Why, what did I miss?"

"Harm, think about it, why do most people lower flags?" Bax turned to face his former classmate.

"Alright, and this is the Pentagon, so if our flag is at half staff, chances are, whoever died probably served in the military." Bax concluded.

"You know, a few years ago, I would have been able to put all this together with minimal prompting but after five years of command posts, I think my investigative skills have dulled." Harm shook his head as they stopped in front of Bax's office.

"You know what you need?" Bax pointed a manila folder at Harm.

"A night of hot unbridled sex with my wife?" Harm ventured with a laugh.

"I was going to say a weekend fishing with Keeter and I on the Potomac River but your idea is good too." Bax joked.

"See you at lunch?" Harm asked as he headed for his office.

"Remember that we've got that meeting with the Deputy Commander of the Atlantic Fleet. We've got to do something about operating in the Virginia Capes with the recent step up in hurricanes over the last few seasons." Bax ducked into his office and left Harm standing in the hallway. "Oh, and Harm, I'd suggest you find out who died, chances are your house is going to be flooded with little rugrats on Friday."

Harm furrowed his brow and headed down the hallway toward his office. "Morning, Petty Officer." Harm buzzed passed his yeoman and into his office.

"Sir!" The yeoman called after him. Harm stopped halfway through the door and turned around to face the Petty Officer. "Admiral Chegwidden on line one for you, sir."

"Thank you, Petty Officer." Harm nodded and headed into his office. He took a seat at his desk and picked up the phone. "Rabb."

"Harm, it's AJ." Admiral Chegwidden started.

"My yeoman told me, what's going on, Admiral Baxter alluded to something but he couldn't come right out and say it." Harm was beginning to ramble.

"Harm, slow down. Last night, General Jack Ross died. He suffered a massive heart attack just after 2200, in his living room near Quantico." Admiral Chegwidden continued to explain. "From what my mother-in-law tells me, the funeral is going to be Friday at Arlington. I was just wondering if you might mind taking care of four kids under the age of five on Friday."

"Why four kids?" Harm asked as he began to doodle on the legal pad in front of him.

"My son, and then my nephews Tim, Jack and Brad." Admiral Chegwidden replied. "I have to go to the funeral and I hate to push this on you but I was just informed that I would have my nephews present so that my brother-in-law could attend the funeral. I need you to take the ball on this one."

"Will do, sir, thanks for the notice." Harm sighed heavily.

"And for God's sake, Harm, you're the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, you don't need to call me 'sir', I'm retired." The Admiral lectured.

"Yes, sir." Harm chuckled before setting the phone back down in the cradle. Friday was going to be a long day but thankfully he had a lot of leave time on the books so one day where he, along with half of the Pentagon, would be otherwise occupied.

1314 ZULU FRIDAY

RABB RESIDENCE

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

A knock came at the door early in the morning. Mac came walking down the hall toward the door with little Sasha on her hip. She got to the door and she saw Nate and Nicole Ross. Nate had two young boys asleep against his chest and Peach was cradling one in her arms. "Harm told me that you guys would be here today, come on in." Mac waved them in. "It's been a long time since I've seen the boys." Mac smiled as she saw the three of them fast asleep. "Sorry about your dad, Nate."

"You know what they say, Mac. Old soldiers don't die." Nate placed Tim and little Jack down on the Rabb couch.

"They just fade away." Mac concluded the old MacArthur quote.

"Thanks for taking care of the boys today." Peach hugged Mac after she set Bradley down with his brothers. "We haven't sat down and talked in a long time."

"Since you guys moved to Pennsylvania." Mac informed her. "But it's understandable. He's the governor, I'm not sure how many vacations you guys have taken in the last four years." Mac chuckled.

"Nate, nice to see you again." Harm came down the stairs with his son. "Been to long."

"Certainly has." Nate smiled and shook Harm's hand. "Thanks for taking the kids today. I'd like to take them but the idea of letting four year old boys see their grandfather buried, even if it is at Arlington, I think that would be too traumatic for them."

"Yeah, I understand. Did you know if he had any heart problems?" Harm chanced to ask.

"I had no idea. I mean it shouldn't have struck me as a surprise. I don't think we have a picture of dad where he doesn't have a glass of Jack or scotch or a bottle of beer in his hand. He ate nothing but rare steak and baby back ribs with loads of barbecue sauce and he loved French fries. I think his being a Marine and working out was the only thing that made this heart attack happen at seventy-five instead of fifty-five."

"You seem to be taking this well." Harm commented.

"I've been facing my dad's mortality for as long as I can remember, that's how long he's been commanding Marines. I know he would have preferred to die leading some valiant charge and my only regret is that he didn't because he really would have loved that." Nate smiled and chuckled to himself. "Death by a pork hand grenade, that's what he used to call it."

"I heard about your numbers in New Hampshire, congrats." Harm gave him a clap on the shoulder.

"That's the only thing that sucks about running for President, I don't even have time to properly mourn my father because by Saturday night I have to be in Des Moines, Iowa giving a speech on ethanol and farm subsidies." Nate shook his head. "I really need to thank you for today."

"Not a problem, man, I understand what you're going through, we'll see you at the wake later." Harm answered with a nod. Nate walked with Peach over toward the door.

"Thanks again, you guys." Peach said as they retreated through the door.

"Well, they appear to be sleeping, we can thank God for that at least." Harm yawned.

"Don't be too quick to thank God, flyboy." Mac giggled a little as she pointed to the couch where Sasha was sleeping next to little Jack.

"I'm going to have a talk with that young man when he wakes up." Harm commented as Mac pulled him into the kitchen.

1405 ZULU

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

The crowd gathered around the burial sight in Section One of Arlington Cemetery and there were seas of the midnight blue of Marine Dress Uniforms, and the white of Navy dress uniforms and even spots of Army green and one purple Air Force uniform that stood out like a sore thumb. There was a collection of suits in the crowd as well including the current President of the United States.

Nate was dressed in his Marine dress uniform complete with Mameluke sword. He walked alongside the rest of his family up the green grassy hill toward the graveside under the shade. Nate walked up and shook hands with the Generals and Admiral that has served with his dad on the Joint Chiefs and the Presidents he had served as Commandant of the Marine Corps before General Jack retired.

The Minister delivered the service and then he called on Nate to deliver the eulogy. Nate stepped up to the head of the casket to deliver the eulogy he had prepared. "My dad used to tell me that the one thing he wanted his sons to be, were honourable men. For the first eight years of my life I barely saw my father, he did four tours in Vietnam through out the course of the war until he was brought home for the last time in'74. Even after the war ended, dad was out with an MEU in the fleet or assigned to commands abroad, he was always working but at night, if we couldn't sleep, dad used to tell us what it was to be a Marine, and he used to instil in us the ideas of what it was to be a good American. My told us that above all, a Marine was honourable and so was an American. He used to tell us that our honour was all we had as men and I think that element of who and what my father was, is the greatest part of his lasting legacy.

You may call him a war hero. You may call him just about anything but I think that when people remember my dad, that are only three things that I think he would have liked to have said to describe him. That he was a Marine, that he was an American and that above all, he was an honourable man. I love you, dad. I'll miss you." Nate touched the casket and moved back over to join the crowd. He stopped for just a second when he remembered something. "The President told me that he wanted to say a few words, so I figured that I should announce him. Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States." Nate motioned for Andrew Russell to step forward.

"I got to thinking about what tribute I could pay for one of our nation's greatest warriors. I served one tour in Korea and that was as part of the draft, so it's impossible for me to fathom someone like Jack who would option to run into a war zone like Vietnam not just once but four times. On top of that, to win the medal of honour for saving your entire platoon of Marines despite being discouraged, as a Senior Officer from being that close to the front. What kinds of men do these things? The answer is three words; United States Marines. So, in my new found appreciation for the Marine Corps inspired by the actions of General Ross, I researched and learned that there is no O-11 flag billet for the Marines like there is for the Navy, Army and Air Force. So, I'm issuing a Presidential decree to create one to honour such men. There are to be three men posthumously awarded this new five-star rank: Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller Sr., Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune and General Jonathan Horatio Ross Sr. are all hereby promoted to the rank of General of the Marines." Andrew Russell walked over and handed the pentagon of five stars insignia to Eileen Ross, the widow of the deceased. "On the behalf of a grateful President." He whispered.

"Thank you, Andrew." Mrs. Ross replied. As she accepted the stars, she gave the President a pat on the hand. The Marines gave a twenty-one gun salute and the Navy contributed a missing man flyby. The Marine guard folded the flag and handed it to Mrs. Eileen Ross. Soon after this, the bugle played the Last Post and the casket was lowered into the ground.

1643 ZULU

CHEGWIDDEN RESIDENCE

MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

The mourners from the funeral earlier had come back to the Chegwidden house where they were joined by a few others, including the Rabbs, had gathered with mourners who had come from Arlington. Beverly Chegwidden was, as was to be expected, a gracious hostess as she, Nate, their brother Steve and their sister Anna received the condolences of the others as the wake then progressed. An overall ban on saluting out on the porch was considered but it was ultimately decided that the General wouldn't have tolerated such a lapse in decorum. So, in keeping with what the Ross family believed the General's orders would be, saluting outside wasn't halted and as such, it seemed to happen quite frequently.

Nate stood outside on the Chegwidden porch alone once the food tables opened up. He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and ran it under his nose before biting off one end and firing up his Zippo to light the thing. "Those things will kill you." Nate heard a voice say behind him.

"I've heard that, but I figured that I should smoke one in his honour. It's what we did together when his dad died back in '92." Nate let out a puff of smoke. "You want to smoke one with me?" Nate handed the cigar to Harm.

"You do realize that this is a two hundred and fifty dollar cigar, right?" Harm asked as he and Nate leaned on the rails of the porch.

"Running for President, can't smoke Cubans so I have to buy the expensive Dominican stuff. It was nice of Sergei to fly all the way in from Camp Lejeune to support Anna. I know she wishes Mikey Roberts could have been here but I imagine that it's tougher to pull Surface Warfare officers out of the fleet then chopper pilots off of training drills they've done a thousand times." Nate rolled his eyes and puffed on his cigar. The door behind them opened and little Jack Ross came waddling out silently, his presence not being noted until he clung to his dad's leg.

"Daddy, grandma told me that grandpa wanted you to have this picture." Little Jack tapped on his dad's leg until Nate picked him up and sat him down on the railing. Nate took the picture that his son handed to him. "Daddy, who are the guys in the picture?" Little Jack pointed at the old black and white photo. Nate motioned for Harm to lean in and look at the picture. When he saw it, Harm's eyes went wide. He knew the Ross family was a Marine Corps institution he just assumed that they were Fort Niagara, the picture he just saw made them look more like the Alamo.

"Well, son, you're a little too young to understand this but I'll try to explain it. On September 2nd, 1945, the Japanese signed the instrument of surrender onboard the USS Missouri, thus ending World War Two. This picture was taken shortly after that signing at the request of President Truman who said he wanted a 'team photo' of the men who won the Pacific War. In the centre of the photo is General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz." Nate pointed to the two men to show his son. "Next to Admiral Nimitz, there are two more Navy Admirals; one is Admiral Bull Halsey and the other is Admiral John S. McCain Sr." Nate pointed to each of them men as he said their names. "Standing next to General MacArthur, is your Great-Grandpa and my Grandpa, Major General Horatio Ross and next to him is his old Academy roommate, Admiral Arleigh Burke." Nate rubbed his son's head before his son launched into his arms.

"Daddy," Little Jack chanced. "I want to be a Marine when I grow up just like you and grandpa and Aunt Anna is."

"Alright, buddy, go help your mom and your aunts, they need the Marines." Nate pointed his son toward the house and gave him a little tap on the head. "Another Ross Marine, I'm not sure the Corps could take another generation of us." Nate chuckled as he and Harm returned to their talk.

"Just think about this one, he's got the right kind of influences. Your dad was infantry, your grandfather was infantry, your brother was infantry, you were a sniper and your sister is a Hornet pilot." Harm argued.

"My sister is only a Hornet pilot because she was spending too much time with Rabbs." Nate joked as he puffed again on his cigar. "I can't believe my old man is gone. I think I have a whole new admiration for you."

"Why's that?" Harm asked as the two of them continued to smoke.

"Because you were only six when you lost your father, I'm forty-two and I don't think it would hurt any less." Nate sighed in a self-deprecating way. "My dad got to stay in the Marine Corps two years past mandatory retirement age because President Clinton thought he was the best Marine in the Corps to continue as Commandant. I just wonder sometimes what the hell he thinks of me."

"You know how many times I've laid awake at night wondering what my dad thinks of me?" Harm asked. "I used to think like that a lot. Now, I just look at Sasha and at Tommy and I think that my dad looked at me the same way I look at them and he'd be proud of anything I've done as long as I'm happy doing it. He'd be proud of me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I think that about my kids every second of the day pretty much but my dad and I have different fathering styles. I'm not sure that the Commandant with a five generation Marine pedigree would be so kind to having a politician as a son." Nate blew a puff of smoke.

"That's where you would be wrong, Nathan." Dr. Eileen Ross came walking out on to the porch with tears in her eyes. "If you knew your father's last words, you would have bitten your tongue before saying anything. Your father said that he had only one regret and that was that he only wished that he could have had the chance to vote for you."

"I know, mom, there are just some things about my relationship with dad that still linger over my head. I know he was a good man but there's just something about the way we used to butt heads that I think will just stick with me for a while." Nate shook his head.

"Nathan, as your mother I consider it my duty to advise you and as a woman who practiced psychiatry for twenty years in the nation's capital dealing with Senators and Congressmen I feel I'm qualified to give some political advice. Scrap your long memory of unjust wrongs done to you by people who are consistently on your side. You need to build bridges some times, Nathan, know when to build and know when to burn." Eileen Ross gave her son a pat on the shoulder before heading back into the house.

"Wise woman." Harm joked as Nate stood there kind of stunned. "So, about New Hampshire." Harm led in, this was one of the few elections that he had been able to vote in that he was paying intensive attention to.

"I signed more wooden eggs then I'd ever seen before in my life. I had my staff pulling their hair out because apparently I am the only Presidential nominee since 1776, to go into General Stores in Dover and Manchester and actually answer uncensored questions from townspeople about healthcare and education and outsourcing. The hardest thing about it all is to hear people speculate about whether or not I'm lax on family values because I met my current wife while I was still married." Nate shook his head.

"Why don't you hit back? Attack them?" Harm asked. "You're a Marine, you've got to be itching to."

"The thing is, I'm not. I won't hit back at them, because the campaign I'm running has me so far ahead of them that if I resort to their tactics, it'll look like I'm threatened by them." Nate answered as he finished his cigar and stepped on it.

"And you aren't?" Harm asked.

"Lord forgive me for my hubris but I'm not. I just keep looking forward and it scares me to think of what would happen if Vice President George Hunt not only wins the Republican nomination but also wins the general in November." Nate shook his head.

"The Republicans are eating their young. They've got a Senator from Nevada and a Governor from Tennessee, both of whom are running right down the Vice President's neck. You've got one Senator from Maine who thinks you're too conservative and another Senator from Colorado who thinks you're too liberal, neither of which ran within twenty-five points of you in New Hampshire." Harm answered.

"Since when are you a political analyst?" Nate asked as the waiter brought out a pair of scotches on a tray.

"I have to pay attention to this race, I'm a flag officer, if you get elected it could have serious effects on my career." Harm mused as he took the scotch off the tray. "I don't recall us ordering scotch."

"We didn't, I signalled to the caterer for them, he's a former Marine, hew caught the signal." Nate informed his friend.

"There's a Marine signal for scotch?" Harm asked in disbelief.

"There are Marine signals for every alcoholic drink. You're married to one, you didn't know that?" Nate asked.

"Mac doesn't drink, remember?" Harm shot back.

"Of course, the point is, we have our scotch now and you are currently a one star Admiral sitting in a three star billet." Nate said almost in passing. "Now, you're hoping either that the next President likes you enough or thinks you serve the Department of the Navy well in your current post, in which case, he'll pin three stars on your shoulders. If the President doesn't think you best serve the Navy in that position, in which case, he will likely still stick an additional star on your shoulder and put you in AJ Chegwidden's chair. Either way, you stand to get a promotion after the next election. It's a pretty good promotion either way you slice it, which one would you prefer?" Nate leaned his elbows down on the railing.

"I was at JAG longer then any other branch of the Navy. It would be nice to head up JAG but then again, there's something to the power of being the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations." Harm had to chortle a little.

"Something to the fact that any Admiral, anywhere in the fleet has to pick up the phone if they know it's you calling?" Nate chanced.

"That helps, yeah." Harm nodded. "You know what it's like, you were the Secretary of State for three years, almost anyone in the world who had you calling them, had to pick up. There's just something that comes with the ability to get things done." Harm slightly shook his head. "It's not the power. It's that ability to feel like you're making a difference."

"Mac's turning you into an idealist." Nate mused.

"I think my kids might have something to do with it, too." Harm replied. "I think Bax likes being a DCNO, three stars make him think that he's looking at the Navy from the moon."

"I knew you had a sense of humour. Maybe it's just buried under that Annapolis demeanour." Nate ventured as he moved to sit on the railing.

"That picture you showed your son earlier, that really was something, your grandfather really that close to the five other men in that picture?" Harm moved toward the door slightly.

"McCain and MacArthur? No. I think that was the only time after the war that my grandpa ever even stood near them. Nimitz, I think he sent my grandfather a Christmas card every year until 1960. Halsey came to fish at the cottage on Lake Erie a few times before he died in '59. Burke and my grandfather remained close friends until my grandfather died in'93; Burke delivered the eulogy at my grandfather's funeral." Nate paused. "Imagine, being friends with someone for seventy years."

"I've been friends with Keeter, Bax and Sturgis for close to thirty." Harm added with a chuckle as the two of them moved out on to the lawn.

"Almost halfway there, congratulations." Nate laughed as the two of them paused on the lawn. "So, this is the backyard where the famous engagement party kiss took place?"

"I forgot that you heard about that. Yeah, this is it. Hard to believe that was almost eight years ago." Harm sighed. "I think we may have talked about just about everything. I think we're actually caught up. What started all this?"

"Cigars and New Hampshire." Nate answered simply.

"Yeah, New Hampshire." Harm stated simply as the two men looked out on the dreary Friday that had befallen them.