Out with the Old, in with the New - Chapter 4

A/N: Notes and disclaimers can be found in Chapter 1

1610 Zulu/1010 Local

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

"Ten years confinement, with two off for good behavior and cooperating with NCIS."

Sturgis Turner slowly shook his head and crossed his arms. "Mac, the Corporal stole blank memory keys and alerted NCIS to what was going on. Five years confinement and eight off,"

"He's a Marine, Sturgis and he was going to resell those stolen keys until Agent McGee told him they were blank. Eight years with two suspended," replied Mac firmly.

Sturgis hissed out a frustrated breath and moved his hands to his hips. "C'mon Colonel, the man he was going to sell them to was the one he fingered. Five years, two suspended."

Mac fired right back. "He fingered him because Special Agent DiNozzo caught the Corporal with the goods. He didn't want to swing alone."

"Six years, one suspended. Take it or I'll see you in court." Colonel MacKenzie had thrown down the verbal gauntlet.

The Bubblehead gave the female JAG a thin smile. "All right Colonel, six years, one suspended…" Tony and Tim who had been standing there silently all along started to move from their place against the wall.

"…with a chance at a possible reduction in sentence after one year served."

Both Agents sighed and leaned back against the wall again.

Mac shook her head. "Two years served."

"One and half, Colonel…."

Harm was walking toward the conference room when Mac and Sturgis came out into the hall.

"Dealerships plural, Sturgis, more like he dragged me through them."

The Dolphin gave a deep chuckle "That sounds more like Harm, so how many?"

"I lost count after six…." She looked up and saw Harm, who gave her a wry smile.

Mac felt a blush rising up her neck. "Harm," she began.

"So are you ready to get your car from Toby?" The aviator/lawyer said quickly cutting off her apology. For his part, Sturgis looked as if he had been caught smoking under the house by his Dad.

"Well, I-"

Her answer and partial apology was cut off by a sharp voice cutting the air.

"Colonel,"

"General!" Mac and both naval officers came to rigid attention.

"Commanders, Colonel." The Marine JAG turned his attention to Mac. "Colonel, I heard you got a replacement for your Corvette," as 'corvette' came out of his mouth, he eyed Harm.

"Yes sir." she replied stoically.

"It isn't one of those luxury SUV's is it Colonel?" the disdain in his voice was evident.

Mac could see by the momentary look that crossed his face that Harm was stung by comment. Both he and Sturgis stood stiffly.

A wan smile passed over JAG Gordon Cresswell's lips.

Mac fought to maintain a neutral face. Harm really hadn't deserved that comment, but then she also knew the Major General was still getting used to working with Navy officers.

"No sir." she responded smartly keeping her eyes straight ahead. "But the Commander did help me pick it out, sir."

Harm's eyes momentarily flashed surprise at her defense of him.

Cresswell looked blandly from the Marine to the navy Commander. He cocked an eyebrow at her. "The Commander helped you pick out your new vehicle, Colonel?"

She looked momentarily straight into the General's eyes. "Yes sir, and he and Commander Turner are repairing my Corvette."

General Cresswell took this new information and added it to his knowledge of Harmon Rabb, Jr. "Why are you repairing her Corvette, Commander?"

Harm pulled himself to his full height. "It's a hobby of mine, sir. Rebuilding cars, that is. I rebuilt my Corvette after it was stripped by thieves a few years back."

A hint of a wry smile touched Cresswell's face – but only momentarily.

"Commander, I learn something new about you every day."

Harm wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or not. The General had been friendlier to him after he had driven to Pennington Medical Center to see how Mac was after the accident. It was after that he noticed the General being a little kinder toward him, asking about Mattie and the like. But there were other times, like now, when he pulled Harm and Sturgis up short.

Gordon M. Cresswell crossed his arms and looked directly into Harmon Rabb's eyes. "Are you and the Colonel close, Commander?"

Mac fought hard to suppress a sharp intake of air.

Harm looked momentarily flustered. "Well, uh, no sir, we're just good friends, general."

Cresswell nodded absently. "I see." He turned back to Mac.

"Colonel, do you mind if I take a look at your new vehicle? I want to make sure that the Commander didn't pressure you into buying something a Marine wouldn't be caught dead in."

Now it was Mac's turn to be momentarily flustered. "Um, no sir, that is, not at all." The Light Colonel stood out of his way as General Cresswell plowed past the two Navy Commanders.

As he headed down the hall toward the elevator, Harm threw Mac an aggravated look. She shrugged her shoulders helplessly in an 'I'm sorry' gesture, before she followed after the JAG.

"Where is it Colonel?" asked the General when they stepped outside.

Mac pointed to the red Liberty "Right over here, sir,"

Cresswell noticed the proximity to Harm's corvette. "You always park by the Commander, Colonel?"

Mac's faltering voice almost gave her away "I- uh, I never really thought about it, sir," the Marine JAG attorney answered, recovering quickly, "I've pretty much always parked here."

"Um hmm," the General responded noncommittally, as he did a slow walk around the cherry red vehicle.

"How does she handle?" he said as he put his hand to the side window and scanned the interior.

Mac tried to ignore his minute inspection of her SUV. "Very smooth sir," she replied confidently. "She handles the Beltway traffic well."

The General halted his inspection and turned to her. "I'm not talking about on the road, Colonel."

"Sir?" For a moment, Mac didn't know what to think.

Gordon Cresswell gave her a smile reserved for slow recruits. "I'm talking about off-road, Colonel," he elaborated patiently for her.

Mac decided to be honest. "I-I don't know, sir."

The General moved closer to her. His voice took on a hard edge. "You don't know? You mean you didn't try her out off-road?"

Now the Marine JAG officer was starting to feel as if she was on a slippery slope. "Well, the salesman did let me take it out on a dirt road…." That was a weak defense and Mac knew it. She wished she could take those words back.

The Marine JAG's voice cracked like a whip on her excuse. "You do not test an SUV by just taking it on a leisurely drive down a dirt road."

Mac wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

Cresswell gave her a steely look. "On my six, Colonel," he snapped.

"Aye, aye, sir."

They both proceeded back inside.

-TBC…