Title: What They Say Isn't True

Author: rooster dawn

pairing: Harm and Mac

spoilers: Tangle Webb II and some other episodes of season nine.

Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright infringement intended.

Summary: Harm and Mac deal with the repercussions of Paraguay and a new woman in Harm's life.

Feed back is always appreciated, it's how we grow.

part 9

2100 hours

15 Jan 2004

Roberts' House

It was a week later and Harriet was finally able to make some time to sit down and read the Sunday newspaper. Being the daughter of a socialite she had developed a taste for knowing what was shaking in Washington's Elite Society.

Even though she never thought her chances of becoming one of the social elite was possible, she and Bud were in the Navy after all, maybe if Bud was a partner in a major law firm. Still she liked to know what was going on.

She wanted to know whom the movers and shakers were. Was there any new blood on the Washington high society scene. She pulled out the society section of the Sunday paper.

She stifled a scream, but it was still loud enough to caused Bud to come running from the den where he was playing a Star Trek game on his big plasma screen TV.

"What's the matter honey cakes?" shouted Bud a little bit worried. His wife didn't scream often, but when she did something was usually wrong.

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed.

"What?" asked Bud noticing that she was sitting down reading the newspaper. He sighed with relief knowing it wasn't one of the boys.

"It's the Colonel! She got engaged!" chirped Harriet.

"Harriet, you knew that already. You told me about that last week. You even went out to lunch with her to celebrate." replied Bud trying to calm her down.

His heart rate was slowly returning to normal after he knew nothing was wrong with the boys. Harriet could be a ditz sometimes.

"Yeah, but I didn't know who she was engaged to. She wouldn't tell me no matter how much I begged and pleaded." explained Harriet.

"And you know now. Is there an announcement in the paper?" asked a confused Bud.

"No Bud." answered Harriet shaking her head.

"Come here, look!" she ordered him.

Bud sat down beside her on the couch. On the front page was a photo of Colonel MacKenzie dancing with a tall man. She was looking up at him.

"Yeah, that does look like the Colonel. She looks like she's dancing. So?" shrugged a confused Bud.

"Look at her hand Bud!" ordered Harriet wondering how obtuse he was going to be tonight. Was she going to have to explain everything to him? Why was he being difficult?

"She has it in the man's hand." teased Bud as he began to understand what was going on.

"The other hand Bud!" screeched Harriet impatiently.

"It's an engagement ring Harriet. And ... ?" asked Bud shaking his head.

What was with her tonight. She knew the Colonel was engaged. Why was it remarkable that he saw a ring on her hand? thought Bud.

"Think Bud. The Colonel didn't get engaged until the holidays. Look at whom she's dancing with. He's in a Navy uniform, ... with JAG insignia." cajoled Harriet.

"You think it's Commander Rabb?" teased Bud trying to play dumb now.

"Bud!! Colonel MacKenzie is engaged to Commander Rabb!" cried out a frustrated Harriet.

"I don't think so Harriet. The Commander left for his grandmother's farm early on Christmas day. He didn't return until 4 January. They can't be engaged." reasoned Bud.

"Bud! Read the caption at the top the page." ordered Harriet.

Bud sighed and looked at the paper again and studied what was written. What he read did surprised him. Apparently Commander Rabb wasn't away as long as he was supposed to be.

Holiday Fun at the Plaza

Washington's Social Elite Ring in the New Year

Meet Washington's Favorite Couple

Dancing the Night Away as a New Year Begins

Commander Harmon Rabb Jr and Colonel Sarah MacKenzie swing into the New Year. Washington's hottest new couple celebrated the new year dancing to the music from the big band era.

Harmon and Sarah are in the military stationed at JAG Headquarters in Washington. They recently got engaged Christmas Eve after Harmon was awarded guardianship of a young ward.

Harmon and Sarah have been partners at JAG Headquarters for seven years. Harmon was a former top gun naval aviator, now he's one of the top lawyers in the Navy.

Sarah is one of the best lawyers in the Marine Corp. She's the chief of staff. She speaks more than eight languages fluently.

Bud put down the paper. He was a little surprised, but then again it was long overdue in his mind. He had once told the Commander he didn't like seeing him and the Colonel fighting.

They were his mentors, it was like his parents were fighting. The Commander had just laughed as he said "I'm not that old Bud."

"Well Bud! What do you have to say now?" asked Harriet.

"Good for them." answered Bud as he got up to go back to the den and play Star Trek again.

"Bud! ... This is wonderful news! Aren't you excited?" whined Harriet.

"Yes Harriet." replied Bud as he walked into the next room.

Harriet began sniveling. She was so happy for the Colonel. Now the Colonel could have the life she had always dreamed of, a husband, a family, a couple of children.

Then she started wondering why, why didn't the Colonel tell her that she was engaged to the Commander. Wasn't she the Colonel's best friend. The Colonel surely was hers.

She couldn't wait until next week to see the Colonel again at work. She wasn't scheduled to work again this week. She didn't know how she was going to be able to contain her excitement. Maybe she could invite her to visit the boys this weekend.

Harriet moped around for the next hour until she heard Jimmy K crying upstairs. She went up to check on him. She changed his diaper before feeding him a bottle. She burped him and put him back to bed.

0900 hours

19 Jan 2004

Break room

JAG Headquarters

Harriet looked around the bullpen and the offices when she first arrived. She was hoping to catch the Colonel before she went to court, but she arrived too late to catch her. She walked into the break room and saw Jen and Sturgis standing there.

A big grin came across her face. Jen had become one of her best friends when it came to office gossip, especially when it dealt with the Colonel and the Commander. Harriet wasn't in the office every day anymore.

Between handling the USO holiday tour and two boys, her days were filled. She depended upon Jen to keep her informed. Bud was totally useless in that department.

He pretty much ignored what was happening in the office that wasn't related to work. She pulled out her newspaper and went to greet them.

"Hi Sir, hi Jen, how are you both doing?" asked Harriet chomping at the bit. She could hardly contained her excitement.

"Fine Ma'am." replied Jen.

"What's up Harriet? You seem anxious to tell us something." smiled Sturgis.

"Do either of you read the Sunday society pages?" asked Harriet hopefully.

"No." they both replied.

"What did you find out Ma'am?" asked Jen curiously.

"I found out who the Colonel is engaged to Jen." chirped Harriet excitedly.

"Was there an announcement in the newspaper Ma'am?" asked Jen smiling at her excitement.

"No, but there was something just as important." replied Harriet as she handed the newspaper to Jen.

She looked at it a little surprise. She wondered if the Colonel and Commander knew anything about the article in the newspaper.

"What is it Coates?" asked Sturgis noticing her look.

"It seems that the Colonel and the Commander were out celebrating together New Year's Eve. They were dancing with members of high society." replied Jen as she handed the newspaper to him.

"I thought Harm was out of town until the fourth." commented Sturgis as he scanned the headlines and read through the first couple of paragraphs.

"I thought Mac was dating Webb." continued Sturgis.

"How did she end up with Harm?" asked Sturgis shaking his head.

"That's been the story of their relationship ever since the beginning Sir. They fight, go their separate ways for awhile, but eventually they end up back together Sir." grinned Harriet.

She felt like jumping for joy as she was able to share her giddiness with someone. Even though Sturgis thought Harriet was spewing useless dribble as usual, he had to admit he had experience what she was saying first hand after he had first arrived at JAG.

They definitely weren't getting along the first month after he arrived, but eventually they did seem to be very close.

He knew he needed to see Harm and have a talk with the boy. How come Harm never said anything to him. He thought for sure Harm would have at least seek his advice about asking Mac to marry him.

"Well I got to get back to work." moaned Sturgis as he shook his head while he walked out of the break room.

"Did you know anything about this Jen?" asked Harriet.

Uh oh, thought Jen. Of course she knew about the Commander and Colonel's night out. The Commander had asked her to stay with Mattie while he asked the Colonel to go out dancing with him that night.

"No Ma'am." lied Jen. It was not her place to tell the world what the Commander and Colonel did on their own time. Their privacy should be respected. It was up to them to tell everybody when they were ready.

"I can't believe that they kept it a secret from everyone." wailed Harriet.

"It's so wonderful." sighed Harriet.

"What's so wonderful Ma'am?" asked Jen.

"The Commander and Colonel are engage. It must be a dream come true." chirped Harriet.

"A dream come true for who Ma'am?" asked Jen wondering if it was Harriet's dream or the Colonel's.

"For the Colonel Jen." replied Harriet shaking her head wondering why Jen didn't understand.

"Oh! I thought it was your dream come true Ma'am." replied Jen as she scooted out the door.

Harriet wondered what she meant by that. As it turned out Harriet wasn't able to get together with Mac on Monday. She would have to wait until the next day.

Meanwhile Jen was able to get ahold of Harm to talk to him about the newspaper article in the Sunday paper. She had called to talk to him about something important. She brought a extra cup of coffee with her.

"Come in Jen, what's going on? You wanted to talk to me about something?" asked Harm.

"Yes Sir. It seems that Lieutenant Sims found an article in the Sunday newspaper. It talks about your activities on New Year Eve." replied Jen as she handed the newspaper to Harm to read.

Harm scanned the headlines and studied the photos. He had to agree with the story. He and Mac did make a great looking couple. And for the first time he saw what everyone else saw when they were together. He wondered if they always looked like this when they were together.

"Thank you Jen for bringing this to my attention. I'll let the Colonel know so we can plan a course of action." replied Harm.

"I respect you and Colonel more than anyone else I know Sir. You both were there for me when I needed someone. You cared and believed in me. I think everyone should respect your privacy. When you're ready to tell everyone, you will." replied Jen.

"Thank you Jen. But it was up to you to change. All we did was give you the opportunity. You have a lot of potential Jen. And once again thank you for watching Mattie and keeping our secret. We really appreciate it." thanked Harm as he returned the paper.

"By the way Jen, do we always look like this when we're together?" asked Harm.

"If you mean do you look at each other with so much love, then yes Sir. It was the first thing I noticed when you took me to stay at her place the first night.

I had a conversation with Chloe about whether you two were involved. She said she didn't know for sure, but she knew you both were in love with each other." smiled Jen.