Disclaimers: None of this is mine
Setting: Season 8
A/N 1: Almost done with this. Only two more chapters after this one.
A/N 2: Make sure you read the note at the end of the chapter :)
1905 local time
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
The evidence presented by the government does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt...
Loren paused and stared down at what she had just written. With a growl of disgust she tore the sheet off of her legal pad and crumbled it up, tossing it in the general direction of the trash can in the corner. It fell just short of it, landing on the floor in the middle of a pile of about a half dozen other crumbled up papers.
Loren stared at the pile with more than a little annoyance, then sighed and rested her elbows on her desk. She leaned forward so she could rub her temples with her fingers. She'd been trying to write her closing arguments all afternoon without any success. No matter what she wrote or how she wrote it, something still seemed to be missing. And she was running out of time to figure out what it was.
With another sigh Loren straightened up. Break time was over. Time to get back to work.
Two more crumbled up sheets of paper later Harm stopped by to see how she was doing. He rapped his knuckles against the door frame then walked in without waiting for Loren to acknowledge him. Loren looked up, smiling when she saw it was Harm.
Instead of taking one of the seats in front of her desk Harm walked around it so he was standing behind her. He rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. For a moment his gaze rested on the small picture frame sitting on the corner of the desk. His lips curved up in a small bittersweet smile. Loren had set out the picture of her unborn baby after her talk with Harriet. He chose to believe it was a sign she was finally starting to heal.
Looking away from the sonogram picture, Harm focused back on Loren. "How's it going?"
Loren held up her nearly used up legal pad for him to see. "How does it look like it's going?"
"I like that one." He said, pointing to one of her doodles in the margin. It was of a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.
He dropped his hand back onto her shoulder and started to gently massage them. Loren sighed in pleasure, feeling all her tension slowly begin to leave.
"Don't worry." Harm said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "You'll get it."
His continued confidence in her was overwhelming.
"Thanks." Loren said huskily. She reached up and rested one of her hands on top of his.
"Are you hungry? You've worked way past dinner time."
Surprised, Loren glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that he was right. She hadn't realized it was thislate. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she'd skipped lunch too.
She turned her head a little to look back at him. "Starving actually."
As if to emphasize her point her stomach growled again.
Harm grinned. "Okay. I'll go order us some take out. Any special requests?"
Loren shook her head. "Surprise me."
Harm chuckled and left her office. Loren watched him go then turned her attention back to the task before her. It all came down to the close. After all the preparation, the investigating, the questions and the cross-examinations, it all came down to whether or not she could find the right words for her closing arguments. It wasn't fair. A man's life shouldn't hang in the balance, his fate determined by who had the more persuasive - Her train of thought cut off as it suddenly hit her. Realizing what she had been missing all this time, Loren picked up her pen and began to write.
1000 local time
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Loren stood before the members, her confident expression masking her nervousness. She'd never given a closing argument like this before. Usually her closes were a straightforward presentation of the facts of the case. But given all the circumstantial evidence and lack of any real witnesses, something else had been called for this time. An emotional plea.
Loren took a deep breath, trying to will away the butterflies in her stomach. Running her hand along the wooden banister, she began.
"Good morning ladies and gentleman. This case is about a lot of things. But at its heart it's about love." She turned to point at McCallister. "Chief Petty Officer Kevin McCallister is a man in love. He's not a perfect man, by any means. He has his flaws." She turned back to the members. "But he's aware of those flaws and he's taking steps to try to work on them. That's why, on the night in question, when he and his girlfriend got into a fight, he left. He left so he wouldn't hurt the woman he loved. What happened next was a tragedy. And someone does need to be held accountable. But not Chief McCallister. It won't bring justice to Leslie and it won't give closure to her family. Don't add to this tragedy by convicting an innocent man. Thank you."
She looked down the row at the members, holding each one's gaze for a moment, then nodded and turned around. She found Harm smiling at her from his seat at the defense table. He gave her a firm nod. She'd nailed it.
Loren fished some change out of her pocket then fed it into the vending machine and made her selection. She watched a bag of honey roasted peanuts slowly spin out, only to stop a second before it dropped as the machine jammed up. She stared at it incredulously for a moment then, temper flaring, she slammed her hand against the side of the machine in the hopes of jarring it loose. It didn't work, though, and she raised her hand to hit it again.
"You've got to go a little higher."
Without waiting for a response, Harm reached around her and smacked it about three inches above where she had struck it. With a shudder the machine started moving again and a second later her peanuts fell down into the dispenser slot.
Loren stood staring at it, mouth gaping open, so Harm reached down and pulled it out. He held it out to her, smirking, and she snatched it away from him.
"Show off." She muttered, tearing the bag open. She held it out to him, offering him some.
"No, I just got a lot of practice dealing with these things recently." Harm said, taking a small handful of peanuts. He popped a couple into his mouth, then continued. "You shouldn't take out your frustrations on those things anyway. It doesn't move them and you're left with a sore hand." Harm paused. "Your close was fine."
"But what if it wasn't. It seemed like a good idea last night but now..."
"It was fine." Harm repeated.
Loren took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. I guess I'm just gonna have to trust you on that."
She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them again she was back to her normal calm, collected self again. "So where did they put Chief McCallister?"
Harm helped himself to another handful of peanuts, noting that Loren still hadn't eaten any of them herself. "He's downstairs in one of the empty officers."
"How's he doing?"
"About how you'd expect."
Loren grimaced. "Come on. Let's go keep him company for a while."
She tossed her bag of peanuts, still half full, in the trash and they started for the elevators. Before they got there, though, the bailiff came out of the courtroom and signaled to them.
"Verdict's in."
Loren turned sharply to Harm. "That was too quick. That can't be a good sign."
Harm pursed his lips but didn't say anything.
A few minutes later, once everyone was back in the courtroom, the members filed in followed a minute later by the judge. Loren watched with apprehension as one of the members handed the verdict to the bailiff who walked it over to the judge. The judge glanced at it, his expression revealing nothing. He handed it back to the bailiff.
"Will the defendant please rise."
Chief McCallister rose a second or two after Harm and Loren and stood at attention. His face had gone deathly pale.
"On the charge and specification of second degree murder, we find the defendant...not guilty."
McCallister let out his breath in a woosh. He almost fell forward before dropping back into his seat. Loren let out the breath she had been holding as relief flooded through her. She felt Harm grab her hand and squeeze, and she had a sudden irrational urge to throw her arms around him. She settled for squeezing back. They turned to McCallister in unison.
"Congratulations Chief. You're a free man." Loren said.
"Thank you ma'am, for everything. I know this couldn't have been easy for you."
"But it was worth it Chief." Loren said sincerely.
"How does dinner sound Chief? A real meal, no more of that brig food. On us." Harm said.
McCallister hesitated a moment. "I appreciate the offer sir, ma'am, but there's somewhere else I have to go tonight."
Loren nodded. Of course the first thing he would want to do would be to go say goodbye to Leslie.
Harm nodded as well. "Some other time then Chief."
"Congratulations Lieutenant." Mac said, walking over to them. "I thought I had you there. That close was a stroke of genius."
"Thank you ma'am."
Harm took a few steps away so Loren and Mac could continue their conversation. He couldn't help turning back to them though, his gaze resting fondly on Loren. Chief McCallister walked up to him.
"Piece of advice Commander?"
"Sure Chief." Harm said, turning to look at the other man.
Chief McCallister nodded towards Loren. "Don't wait too long to tell her how you feel. You think you have all the time in the world...until the day that you don't."
Harm started to deny having any feelings for Loren, then looked into the other man's eyes, saw the haunted look in them. He shut his mouth, the words dying unsaid. Instead he nodded his head.
"Thank you Chief."
Harm held out his hand and the other man grasped it firmly for a second then let go. Without another word he turned and left the courtroom. Harm watched him go, wishing there was something more he could do for him. A minute later Loren walked up to him. She too stared after Chief McCallister.
"And that's the greatest tragedy of all this, that even though he won he still lost."
Harm looked down at her, McCallister's final words echoing through his head. "Yeah."
They were silent for several moments then, with a grin, Harm nudged Loren. "That offer of a celebratory dinner is still open. You did win your case after all. And you beat Mac."
"I did, didn't I?" Loren said. Then she smiled up at him. "Alright Commander, lead on."
Harm offered her his arm and Loren looped her own through it. They walked out of the courtroom side by side.
A/N 3: That's basically the end of things with Chief McCallister. Now I know everyone is asking "who's the real killer?" And the answer to that is, originally, no one. That's because when I was developing the case I actually came up with scenarios for McCallister being innocent andguilty. (And for anyone curious in the McCallister was guilty version Loren's close failed to persuade the members and he was found guilty. Loren started to tell him how sorry she was after the verdict was announced and he declared 'the bitch got what she deserved' along with something about Leslie having cheated on him. And as he was being led away he smirked and said he had a perfect argument for his appeal: a lawyer who was recently a victim of an assault herself and so couldn't possibly have done the best job she could have on his case.) I finally decided to go with him being innocent because I didn't think it would help Loren's progress to have him turn out to be lying through his teeth after she'd believed in his innocence so much. His advice to Harm was an added bonus.
That said, after I decided on him being innocent I went back and looked at the 'facts' of the case and realized the killer was actually the neighbor who had called the police. He was in love with Leslie (anyone else would call it a dangerous obsession) and managed to work his way into her life as a friend. He probably put the bug in her ear about McCallister being unfaithful. And after their fight he went over to comfort her/make his move. When she rejected him (because she really did love McCallister) he didn't take it very well.