November 24, 2003

JAG Headquarters – Falls Church

1423 Eastern

The day had been almost a repeat of the last week. Harm would come in, work inside his closed office until it was time to head for staff call. Once staff call was concluded, he would be back at his desk working his way through the piles of paperwork that had been left for him. Now it was the backlogged cases that he was dealing with. What he was finding was that these were actually the more minor cases, ones that had been left to drift when more serious and more urgent cases had been assigned.

That was actually fortunate for Harm, in that many of these were able to be handled with a simple series of telephone interviews. He'd actually finished four of them today and was in the process of grabbing another file when his phone rang. With a sigh, he turned towards the object and grabbed the receiver.

"Commander Rabb, Sir," Harm answered.

"Hey, Hammer, how you doing, Sir," came a decidedly feminine voice.

"Skates, is that you? How in the heck are you?"

"I'm doing great. Just got my promotion to Lieutenant Commander and I've been stationed at Annapolis as an instructor in Aerospace Engineering since August."

"Congratulations, Skates. That's excellent news. What does your fiancé think about the new billet?"

"Um, well. We're not together anymore, Harm," Skates told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Harm replied, not that he was entirely surprised. The separations that came with six month deployments were often relationship killers and he had a number of friends who'd been through breakups and divorces.

"What's been going on with you, Harm?" Skates asked, desperate to get off the subject. "I tried to contact you last month, only to be told that you were no longer with JAG. Then, when I happened to be over at the Pentagon this morning, I heard that you were."

"That's a very long and complicated story, one that would take too long to tell right now."

"Well, then what are you doing for dinner, Harm?"

"Is that you way of inviting yourself over, Skates?" Harm asked, a teasing note to his voice.

"Absolutely, Sir," she came back with a full blown laugh, one that sounded wonderful to Harm.

"Alright. How about 1830 at my apartment?"

"Sounds like a date, Hammer," Skate came back, the laughter evident in her voice. "Bye."

Harm started to say his farewell, only to realize that she had already hung up on him. Unable to help himself, he started laughing. It felt good to be able to laugh, especially as he realized how Skates had just handled him. It was only a cough at the doorway that made him realize that he was no longer alone in the office.

"Something funny, flyboy?" Mac asked, wondering what was up with Harm. She'd knocked twice before opening the door. When she'd stepped in, it was to find him laughing for no particular reason that she could see.

"Oh, just a stray thought," was Harm's cryptic answer, the smile never leaving his lips, but somewhat dimming in the eyes. "Was there something that you needed?"

"Just came by to see if you were busy this evening?"

"I've actually got plans already."

"New girlfriend?"

"That's need to know and …."

"I don't have one," Mac said, rather than asked.

"No, ma'am, you don't. I've decided to keep my personal life out of the office from now on," Harm told her, trying to keep a level tone to his voice. Still, he could see Mac arching an eyebrow at him.

To say that Mac was surprised by Harm's response was an understatement. Yes, she knew that he'd said before that he wanted some space and she knew that her being involved with Webb was an issue between them. Still, she had rarely had him say that he didn't want to get together with her and never in a tone quite that cool. However, being a Marine, she did know what battles to fight and this wasn't one.

"Well, I'll see you later, Harm," Mac said as she turned and walked out the door.

Harm was silent for a long moment, before slowly exhaling. The whole merry-go-round that was his relationship with Mac was something he was beginning to become annoyed with. She was involved with Webb, yet here she was wanting to have dinner with him. Then when he'd told her he had plans, she instantly assumed that it was a girlfriend and he could have sworn he'd heard jealousy in her voice. This was just another part of the reason he hadn't wanted to come back to JAG. He needed distance from her, space to heal his heart after their words in Paraguay.

Harmon Rabb's Apartment – North of Union Station

1823 Eastern

As soon as he'd gotten home, Harm had raced into the bedroom and stripped. He had been running late leaving the office and knew that Skates would be punctual. Therefore, he had precious little time to get ready before she arrived. Still, he wanted to at least freshen up and change before he started dinner for them.

A brisk shower was followed by quickly dressing in slacks and a pullover, along with deck shoes. Harm then made his way to the kitchen, when he set a large pot of water to boil on the stove top. He planned on pasta with clam sauce, along with a salad and butter pecan ice cream for dessert if either of them were so inclined. A bottle of dry white wine was in the refrigerator, along with an assortment of juices and sodas. He would leave it up to Skates as to which she would prefer.

Putting another pan on the stove top, he opened a jar of sauce and set that to heating. Then it was time to shred some lettuce for the salads, along with grating some cheese to go with it. A knock at the door caught him just as he was reaching for the refrigerator door's handle, planning on getting out some Italian dressing for the salad. A smile came to his face as he crossed to the door, quickly checking to see who was there before opening it.

Looking at Skates, Harm's jaw nearly hit the floor. While he'd seen her in civilian clothing before, nothing could have prepared him for the vision that was before him. Rather than being done up in its usual fashion, her long hair was loose and flowed over her shoulders in silky brown waves. The teal silk blouse and black slacks looked amazing on her, emphasizing her trim figure.

"Harm?" Skates asked in a laughing tone, her eyes dancing with merriment.

Harm blinked his eyes several times, as his brain worked to comprehend what he was seeing. Fortunately, there was enough space between him and the doorframe that Skates could step into the apartment. From there, she walked over to the kitchen area and surveyed the work that Harm had been doing. This gave him time to recover from the shock and fully come to the realization that this was a date. With that realization came another, that he wouldn't call her Skates.

This, rather, was Beth Hawkes and Beth was a beautiful woman. When Harm had been flying with her on the Patrick Henry, he had been attracted to her and that was the main reason he'd always thought of her as Skates. Skates was his RIO, his shipmate and his friend. Beth was the woman, denied to him through a combination of regulations, distances and circumstances. Now, here she was and she was smiling mischievously.

What Harm didn't know, indeed couldn't know, was that Skates had planned this. She had been interested in him for years now, but had been stopped by the same things he had been. So, she had tried a relationship with someone else. Unfortunately, that had ended badly when she'd managed to surprise her fiancé by coming back from deployment a couple of days early. Instead of surprising him, it was she who had been surprised when she'd entered their apartment and found him in bed with another woman.

"Wow, Beth," Harm said, "you look amazing."

"Why, thank you, kind Sir."

Stepping around her, Harm checked the sauce and gave it a quick stir, before adding the pasta to the boiling water. Skates elected to sit at one of the kitchen stools watching him as he finished cooking. She took some delight in just watching the way he worked. There was no unnecessary items just laying around, everything was neat and organized.

"So, when do you want to tell me that story, Harm?" she asked softly.

For a moment, it looked as if he wasn't going to answer her. In reality, it was simply that he was trying to decide where to begin. Even now, he wasn't really sure where the actual beginning was. In all honesty, it may very well have dated back to his trial for Lieutenant Singer's murder. That was probably when the wheels on the bus stopped going round and began instead to come off, when he stopped trusting and respecting the people he'd worked with.

So, that was where Harm began the story. He talked all through dinner and dessert and then as the pair settled onto the couch. As he talked, Skates watched his face and the play of emotions that moved over it. She also felt a certain bitterness at the actions of many of the players, the way they had treated him. It was little wonder, she felt, that he hadn't wanted to return to JAG now.

"That is some story," Beth said when he had finally finished.

"That is an understatement," Harm replied with a light laugh.

"So, where's Mattie?"

"She's still down in Blacksburg until I complete the purchase of the house, then she'll move up here and stay with me. The judge was very understanding about Mr. Peabody keeping an eye on her I could arrange better living conditions for us."

"I'd love to meet her," Beth said, wondering if he realized what she was really saying.

"I'm sure that can be arranged at some point," Harm replied, turning so that he could look her in the eyes. "Things are a little complicated right now, though."

Beth lifted her left hand from her lap and reached for his face, gently stroking along his jawline. She could quite easily read the fear and uncertainty that shone in his eyes, so she decided to proceed very carefully. Leaning into him, she softly kissed his cheek, not pulling back as she finished.

"Harm, I'm willing to take as long as you need to. You're so worth waiting for."

"Thank you, Beth. You have no idea what that means to me," he say, wrapping an arm around her and gently pulling her to him.

They sat like that for a while, before a soft yawn from Beth brought with it the shocking realization that it was past midnight. Beth stood to leave, saying that she had to teach in the morning. When Harm offered the couch, she politely refused. She doubted her willpower would be strong enough to resist the thought of the two of them in bed. She did promise to call later in the week so they could get together again. It was only when she left that he realized he didn't have her phone number.