Again, this is a very old story just putting on the site for fun. Harm is gonna act a little weird...
All mistakes are mine. :)
PART 4 – Welcome To My Nightmare
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Welcome to my nightmare
Welcome to my breakdown
I hope I didn't scare you
"Welcome To My Nightmare" By: Alice Cooper.
Thursday
July 22, 2004. . .
Harm was running hard as rain pounded the streets of some strange town. He was following someone who was walking towards a cemetery. The man eluded him again and he had to run faster, increasing his stride. His blood was pumping hard in his veins, heart threatening to hammer out of his chest and Just when he was about to give up, he was spotted. Squatting behind a headstone, Harm took cover and brought out his side arm. He pointed and shot, the rest was history. Or, it was supposed to be. But, when Harm got close to make sure the man was dead, his own corpse looked up at him.
Shooting up in bed, drenched in sweat Harm looked around and sighed. The time on his clock read 0800, which mean, he was going to be late. . . again. "Shit." He cursed, rolling out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. . .
1007 Local
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Harm stood and faced the bench. "Objection your honor, the Colonel is leading the witness."
"Overruled." Judge Sebring was witnessing the latest sparring match between the Colonel and the Commander. A match that the Colonel was clearly winning. The case had been a pathetic one to toss at either of their dockets, but with so many men and women fighting the war on terror, such cases had to be dealt with, no matter how petty or pointless they were. Petty Officer Andrew Larson was caught urinating into one of his crew member's coffee. Unfortunately for Harm, he was the poor soul selected to defend. What PO Larson needed, Harm figured, was a good old fashioned spanking. With a sigh, he sat back down and stared at Larson who keep this angelic face that Harm wanted to smack off of him
Harm and Mac had discussed terms, all of them no more than a slap on the wrist for a kid that shouldn't even be allowed to wear the uniform. Larson had refused them all, against Harm's suggestions and wound up in court wasting valuable time and money.
"We'll break until tomorrow. . ." Sebring said, before the resonating sound of the gavel brought the day's proceedings to an end.
1110 Local
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Mac walked out towards the tables outside of JAG HQ, with Harm in tow. She sat down in one of the chairs and Harm sat across from her. "Well, that was fun in there. . . not." His hands came to the side of his head where he was running circles on this temples. The day was nice, warm and bright and all he wanted to do was crawl into some dark place for several hours until the headache passed.
"Headache?" Mac knew she didn't have to ask' his headaches had become a daily occurance. It started over the weekend when they were working on a difficult case. The fact that he was sleeping less and less, maybe have also compacted the issue.
Harm nodded. "Yeah."
Mac frowned. Everyday he had a headache and they were seemingly getting worse. There were also the circles under his eyes and palor to his skin that she only saw when he'd been sick in the past. "Have you been sleeping much?"
"Not really." He offered with a drained sigh. Her questioning was starting to irritate him - they were the equivalent of nails on a chalk board.
"You need to rest, Harm. . . How about taking a few days to yourself?" She kinda wished they both could take some time off. The months with the last JAG and now the return of Chegwidden had proven to be stressful on the senior officers. Being Chief of Staff, Mac was literally being driven nuts. The last JAG, was a complete 180 from Chegwidden and wasn't exactly a big fan of the Marines. "I should take some time off myself."
Harm dropped his hands and looked up with a grimace. If only. . ."Can't, Mac. . . my docket is overfilling."
"How about the weekend then?" She offered, two days being better than none.
"What did you have in mind?" His idea would likely involve 'Sarah', his bi-plane, something he was sure Mac wouldn't go for. That one time they went flying was the first and the last that she had ever set foot in Blacksburg. He couldn't really blame her for it. Mac certainly did NOT like planes.
Mac smiled sweetly. "Me, you, maybe a bed and breakfast out in Norfolk?" During the week, she had managed to see her doctor at Bethesda once again and was happy to get the news that life could go back to normal. Which meant, she'd be able to be intimate with Harm. She wanted him badly and was tired of waiting.
"Can't, Mac." Harm said and after a long pause, he looked up at her and shrugged. "I need to head over to Langley . . ." The moment the words came out, he felt like zipping his mouth shut. His mind was suddenly screaming at him - telling him to stop what he was sayin, that he was divulging classified information.
"Langley? What about?" She tensed a bit and he noticed it. The CIA was certainly not something she wanted him to get involved with ever again.
Harm bit the inside of his cheek and sighed. How could he put it lightly? "It's classified." But, the moment the words flew out, Mac's look changed from concerned, to irritated, to anger. The CIA was definitely not something to bring up lightly around her and he didn't blame her.
Mac stood. "Oh, I see. . . Well, let me not keep you from something classified, then, Commander." He didn't fight her, didn't stop her. Instead, Harm just sat outside and watched Mac walk away. It wasn't like he could do anything about it. He had to go to Langley over the weekend and that was that.
Saturday
July 23, 2004
0230 Local
Washington, DC
The tall Naval officer, was walking by the reflecting pool near the Washington Monument. Taking a seat on one of the benches, he sat in wait. Minutes later, a shorter, chubby man, made his way over to the officer and sat down holding a briefcase which was chained to his wrist. "You're employer is very secretive, Commander." The man said with a thick accent of unknown origin. It was a cross between French and Middle-eastern. "I normally like to know who and what I am doing business with."
The Commander just chuckled and remained sitting patiently still. "My employer is a big secret all on its own. They find it works better that way."
"And what works for you?" The man chuckled and rapped his fingers gently on the briefcase he was carrying.
The Commander shrugged and smiled. "To do what they say." Taking out a gun from his breast pocket, he pointed it at the other man. "Now, unlock the briefcase from your wrist and lock it onto mine." The man quickly did as told. "Good." Nothing else was said and no words were needed, especially since the other man was 'lucky' enough to be on the wrong side of the blast from the Commander's gun. Looking over his handiwork, the Commander stood and calmly walked out of the area. His employer would be pleased, again.
Monday
July 26th, 2004
1040 Local
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
"We need to talk." Mac said, her Marine colonel façade perfectly rooted in place. She was getting irritated with Harm. First he promised to wait, now that she was sure that she was ready, he wasn't anywhere to be found.
Friday, before they left JAG HQ, in an attempt to smooth things over, he told her he'd call and they would have dinner. That his "classified" work wouldn't get in the way. If she recalled correctly the words he used were, "I promise won't let anything come between us seeing each other, Mac." If anything he promised to call and tell her that he was still busy, but he didn't.
Mac called, left messages and even went by his place on Sunday afternoon. His cars were there and she was sure he was home. So, dejectedly, she went back to her place with the notion that Harmon Rabb was officially avoiding her. He'd done one of the only things she swore he'd never do – break promises.
Harm glared at her intrusion and gritted his teeth. He wasn't in the mood for this or her. Between the headaches and the fact that he was sure he only slept about two hours the night before, Harm was livid. "I don't have the time now, Colonel." She HATED when he said her title with such contempt and he decided to use it as a tactic. "In case you forgot, we have court in twenty minutes and I have to pull a rabbit out of my fucking hat."
Mac just glared back, equally irritated with this complete one eighty. "What the hell is going on with you?"
Sighing, Harm slid into his chair and placed his elbows on the desk. "I am busy, Mac, can't this wait?"
"No, no, it can't, because the moment we push things aside they conveniently get left behind and I am not going there with you again." She stood at the front of his desk, her voice hard and edgy. Mac was tired of the dance, tired of being held back for whatever reasons. This time, she vowed to fight and stick to her guns, no matter how much a certain pig-headed Commander tried to hold her back.
"Mac, I have a lot of shit on my mind, I don't need you hanging around driving me fucking crazy all damn day!" He yelled in a menacing voice which did nothing more than irritate her more. "This isn't a game, okay?" And there went his headache again, slowly starting to pound. For the last month he'd have some of the worst headaches of his life. He figured they were residual, from all of the times he was banged around as a fighter pilot. Mac yelling at him wasn't going to make it any better and he was all out of aspirin. Grabbing the empty bottle off of his desk, he hurled it across the office watching the white bottle bounce off the wall and roll under his desk. "Get the hell out."
Mac gritted her teeth and flexed her fists, she wanted to slap him so badly and she did just that. Leaning forward, her hand connected with his cheek. "You are a jerk, Harmon Rabb. A self-centered, egotistical ass."
"And you're acting like a real bitch, MacKenzie." The moment the words flew out of his mouth, Harm grimaced. He wasn't the type to disrespect women, especially Mac. So he wasn't too shocked when the angry Marine slapped him a second time. He looked up at her and frowned. "Mac, I'm. . ." But she wouldn't hear the rest of it, instead, she stormed out of his office, slamming the door on her way out. "Sorry. . ." Sighing, he collapsed back into his chair and put his head in his hands. "Christ, what is wrong with me?"
1123 Local
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Mac was killing him, completely. Then again, it didn't help that his client, for lack of a better word, was an idiot. All of the planning, all of the guidance that Harm had given him and he still let Mac bring his guard down. True, she was pissed off at him, which meant that she was pissed off at his client. Which meant that Sarah MacKenzie, was on the warpath. His client completely fell to pieces on the stand, confessing every little last detail and even things NOT pertinent to the current case.
Harm knew he didn't stand a chance, but that didn't mean he shouldn't do the job. He stood and motioned towards Mac. "Your honor, the Colonel is clearly badg. . ." But his entire body began to betray him. Damn them, the headaches. It started pounding harder and harder until he could feel even his pulse sounding off in his head. "Sir, the Colonel. . ." He doubled over, his hand coming up to the front of his head, his other hand hoping to hold him up before he passed out.
"Commander? Are you alright?" Sebring said, momentarily standing from behind the bench. "Corporal, get him some water."
"Harm?" Mac whispered across the aisle, when he looked up and towards her his eyes were different, almost as if someone else was looking back at her, a stranger. The look frightened her.
Harm blinked a few times and tried to will the headache to stop. He felt something slimy running down his nose which he wiped with his fingers. Looking at his hand, he saw a bright red fluid. . .blood. His mind was spinning and racing at the same time, he started getting tunnel vision and before he had a chance to compose himself, his body hit the floor.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Mac yelled, coming to his aid. She kneeled next to him and cradled his head in her lap, her hands gently caressing his face. "Harm?" Sighing, all she could think about was the amount of concussions he'd confessed to having in his life. Had they finally caught up to him?
