Written in the Stars
A JAG one shot

MARCH 1999

1330 EST
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

Usually they had lunch outside, but today it was raining, so Mac, Harriet, and Carolyn were all gathered in Mac's office to eat. That day was one of those gray, blustering days that were common in the transition from winter to spring. It also happened to be a particularly slow day at JAG HQ, so everyone had a little extra time on their hands. Everyone was also a little bored.

"Harriet, are you excited?" Carolyn asked. "You're finally in the third trimester."

Technically they should've been back to work by now; they'd been 'eating' in Mac's office for well over an hour now. But the Admiral was holed up in his office (apparently he was the only one who had work to do that day), and while the cat was away the mice would play. Everyone was going to avoid work as long as there was no one there to tell them to work.

Harriet smiled, bringing one hand to rest on her belly. "Oh I'm excited. And exhausted, and terrified, and fat. All the normal pregnancy emotions."

Mac smiled. She was perfectly content with her life, but she couldn't help but feel a little envious of Harriet. She was married, having a baby, and settled down with a family. Whenever Mac looked at Harriet, she couldn't help but feel like there was something missing from her own life.

"I looked it up today," Harriet continued, "The baby's going to be a Gemini."

"Oh really? My last boyfriend was a Gemini," Carolyn replied nonchalantly, while Mac looked between the two of them with mild confusion. She had no idea what they were talking about. She knew it had something to do with astrology, but its significance was unknown to her.

"What's that?" Mac asked. She felt a little dumb asking, but she wasn't going to sit there in silence while Harriet and Carolyn rattled on about the stars and planets until they moved on to the next subject.

"It's a zodiac sign, ma'am," Harriet told her, as if that would tell Mac everything she needed to know.

"Oh," Mac nodded, acting like she knew exactly what that was and what it meant. She had a friend in undergrad that was really into zodiac signs, but Mac blocked most of it out. Some aspects of the supernatural she bought into, but did she believe that her entire personality was based on how the sky looked the day she was born? No.

"Major, what's your zodiac sign?" Harriet asked.

"No idea," Mac replied.

Harriet and Carolyn exchanged a look, the look they always exchanged when Mac did something...Mac-like. They both loved Mac, but sometimes the stuff she didn't know was truly shocking. Discussing their horoscopes had become a daily thing for Carolyn and Harriet. It was just a little something to make work a little more interesting. It started off as a joke, but they soon discovered that there was some truth to it-as crazy as that sounded.

"Do you want to know it?" Carolyn asked.

Mac shrugged. "Sure."

What was the harm? It wasn't like it would change anything.

Mac's eyes widened as she watched Harriet whip out a magazine seemingly out of nowhere. Mac caught a glimpse of the title, and it said something about astrology.

Does she just carry that around with her all the time? Mac wondered to herself.

"When's your birthday?" Harriet asked as she flipped through the pages. She was using a serious tone Mac had never heard her use before, which Mac found a little amusing.

"May 6th."

Mac always liked her birthday. Even though her life growing up was less than idyllic, her parents made the effort to make her birthdays as good as they could be. At least her mother tried her best to make Mac's birthdays nice, the only exception being Mac's fifteenth birthday, of course.

It was also at the perfect time of year, in Mac's opinion. May 6th was near no major holidays she celebrated (except Mother's Day, but whether or not that was a major holiday was dependent on the relationship one had with one's mother), and the weather was nice. Mac always felt bad for the people who had birthdays in late fall or winter, because they didn't get to incorporate any of the fun, warm weather activities into their birthday celebrations.

For example, Harm never got to go to the pool for his birthday growing up, and Mac enjoyed rubbing that in whenever the topic of childhood birthdays came up. (and it came up more often than one would think)

Harriet flipped through a few more pages before finally finding what she was looking for. "Here it is. It looks like you're a Taurus, ma'am."

"What does that mean?" Mac asked, still utterly in the dark about what being a 'Taurus' had to do with her identity.

"Do you want to know how it affects your personality?" Harriet asked. Mac nodded.

"Well, let's see…" Harriet scanned the page. "Taurus are anyone born between April 20th and May 20th. This says that Tauruses-you are reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, and stable."

"Oh," Mac relaxed. She didn't know why, but she was worried being a Taurus would be a

bad thing. "That doesn't sound too bad."

In fact, the knowledge that she was a Taurus (had been her entire life, apparently) made Mac feel pretty good about herself. She was reliable, she was devoted, she was responsible and stable. The other eleven-or-so zodiac signs couldn't possibly top that.

Carolyn, who was reading over Harriet's shoulder, was about to burst Mac's bubble. "That's just the good traits, Mac," she said.

"The good traits? There are bad traits, too?" Mac felt her sense of pride deflating. It's not like this is accurate, she had to remind herself before she got too disappointed, they probably just put a bunch of random good and bad traits for each zodiac sign. Those traits can apply to anyone.

"Uh-huh," Harriet nodded. "It says here that you're…" she looked up. "Don't take offense to this ,ma'am."

Carolyn scoffed. "Come on Harriet, she's not going to shoot the messenger.'"

"Alright, alright," Harriet cleared her throat. "Tauruses are also stubborn, possessive, and uncompromising."

Mac's mouth dropped open and Carolyn laughed at her offended expression. "I'm not those things!" Mac exclaimed. "Am I those things?"

Harriet and Carolyn exchanged glances. Mac gaped at them. "I'm not stubborn, am I?" she asked. "I'm not possessive! Or uncompromising!"

Harriet and Carolyn exchanged another glance.

"Well, am I?" Mac demanded.

Carolyn shrugged. "To an extent? Yes. But not...completely…"

"Don't worry ma'am, you're also reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, and stable," Harriet said, reading directly from the magazine, "and those are all very good things."

Mac folded her arms over her chest. She supposed her refusing to accept her bad traits was very uncompromising of her.

This isn't real, she told herself, but if it isn't real…why is it so accurate?

"This isn't fun," Mac announced, sounding a little stubborn. "You two do this for fun?"

"Well, there's good and bad traits for each Zodiac sign," Carolyn explained. "I'm a Saggiatarius. I'm generous, idealistic, and I have a great sense of humor."

"But she's also impatient, non-committal, condescending, and impulsive," Harriet added. Carolyn nodded in agreement.

"Which sign are you, Harriet?" Mac asked.

"I'm a Virgo," Harriet answered. "So I'm loyal, analytical, kind, hardworking, and practical."

"And shy, and anxious, and overly critical, and she takes small things way too seriously," Carolyn finished.

"It's true," Harriet confirmed.

Mac didn't say anything. She was...surprised to say the least. Carolyn was generous, and she had a good sense of humor. She could also be a little condescending sometimes. And Harriet was loyal and kind, but she did have a tendency to freak out over things no one else seemed to care about.

Maybe this stuff is accurate, Mac thought.

"Hey, I have an idea," Carolyn said, being her usual impulsive, Sagittarius-self. "Why don't we go around and get everyone's Zodiac signs?"

Harriet looked eager, but Mac wasn't so sure. Maybe it was her being responsible, like any good Taurus would be. "I don't know, it's the middle of the workday-"

"Oh come on! No one's doing anything. Except the Admiral," Carolyn insisted, and it was true. The only closed door in JAG HQ that day belonged to Admiral Chedwiggen. Everyone else had their doors wide open, doing absolutely nothing.

"Isn't it a little intrusive-"

"It'll be fun, let's do it."

In the end, Carolyn's Saggitarius impulsivity won out to Mac's Taurus responsibility, and Harriet exercised her Virgo loyalty by deciding to go along with Carolyn's plan. The three women each went around to everyone's office and asked for their birthdays, like some weird version of a Girl Scout troop. Harriet even went to ask the Admiral what his birthday was, and nearly got her head bitten off before he replied, "January 5th!", making him a Capricorn.

Once their data was collected, the three of them reconvened in Mac's office. Harriet was armed with a legal pad and a pen, acting as a self-appointed scribe for Carolyn and Mac.

"Okay, so Mattoni's a Virgo, like Harriet," Carolyn said. Her and Mac were both crouched over the astrology chart that was in the back of Harriet's magazine.

"And Tiner told me his birthday was February 10th, so that means he's an...Aquarius."

"Bud's a Pieces," Harriet supplied. Both Mac and Carolyn looked up.

"I thought Bud was out sick," Mac said.

"Oh he is, but I still know his sign. He is my husband after all," Harriet said. "In fact, I knew he was a Pieces before I even knew his birthday. Only a Pisces can be that ruled by their emotions."

"Mic's a Leo," Carolyn said. "You should probably stay away from him, Mac."

Mac's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Leo's are the least compatible sign with Taurus. If you two dated, it would be a disaster."

"Good thing I'm not planning on dating him."

"The Admiral's a Capricorn," Harriet said. "Which probably explains why he's working when the rest of us are doing nothing."

"What's Harm's sign?" Carolyn asked.

"Scorpio," Mac answered before Harriet could even open her mouth. She immediately blushed.

Harriet and Carolyn looked at each other. "Well, that was a knee-jerk reaction," Carolyn said coolly.

"What?" Mac murmured, averting her eyes from the sly gazes of the two other women so they wouldn't see her blush. "I already knew his birthday."

"Ma'am, do you know the most compatible sign for Scorpios?" Harriet asked.

"No."

Harriet and Carolyn exchanged another glance. "It's Taurus."


Later that day, after the Admiral finally emerged from his office long enough to order everyone to get back to work, Mac was sitting at her computer. She was giving the illusion of working, but in reality she was looking up the compatibility between Scorpios and Tauruses. In fact, Mac had spent the past two hours doing her 'research.'

She had the perfect excuse, too. She was 'seeing how to improve her working relationship with her partner.

Taurus and Scorpio bring sensuality and sexuality in one erotic package.

Scopio's magnetic personality is captivating for the Taurus, who sees the Scorpio as something worth possessing.

In the bedroom, they're passionate. This is a bond that can last a lifetime.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't her working relationship that Mac was looking into improving.

Mac was debating whether or not it would be a good idea to search 'How to attract a Scorpio man' on her work computer when there was a knock on her door frame. She looked up, and there he was. Her resourceful, brave, passionate, and stubborn Scorpio. Harm.

"Did you, Harriet, and Carolyn get all of our birth charts organized?" he asked with a grin.

"No. We can, if you want," Mac replied, trying her best not to seem too flustered. She was trying her best to act as nonchalant as possible, as if she hadn't spent the past couple of hours using the internet to speculate on what Harm would be like in the bedroom.

"No thanks," Harm stepped into her office. "I already know it."

Mac's eyebrows shot up. "You do?"

Harm shrugged and sat down across from Mac at her desk. "I grew up in the 70s, Mac," he said. "Zodiac signs were the 'thing'."

"I grew up in the 70s too, and I didn't get into zodiac signs."

Harm laughed. "You were a child in the 70s."

"So were you!" Mac exclaimed. "You're only four years older than me."

"I'm just saying, you were in diapers when The 5th Dimension released Aquarius, so I have four more years of astrological experience than you do."

Mac rolled her eyes. "Did you just come in here to show off your astrology knowledge? Are you at least going to tell me my horoscope for today?"

"I am."

"You-you are?"

"Uh-huh," Harm nodded. "Your horoscope says that a tall, dashingly handsome Naval Commander is going to come into your office and proposition you with something."

Mac's wide-eyed expression was met with a grin from Harm. This conversation couldn't be headed where she thought it was heading…could it? She actually had read her horoscope for that day, and it did say that something unexpected was going to happen.

"Proposition me with what?" Mac asked slowly, not bothering to hide the anticipation in her voice. Maybe she wouldn't have to speculate on Harm's bedroom prowess for much longer.

"Well, after Harriet asked me for my sign, I did the research, and I imagine you did too," Harm said. "Scorpios and Tauruses are very compatible."

Mac nodded. "We are."

"So I was wondering if you would like to test that compatibility...tonight, maybe? If you're free."

"Oh I'm free. Are the stars aligned, though?"

"They better be."

Mac glanced at the clock, it was 1630. The Admiral was still holed up in his office, surely he wouldn't notice if she and Harm slipped out a little early. It was a science experiment. (astrology could be considered a science, if you had an open mind)

"My place or yours?" Mac asked.

"Mine."

Mac smiled. "Taking the initiative, that's very Scorpio of you. I'll be there at 1800."

If they were really going to do this, she didn't want to be wearing her uniform. According to her research, the best colors for Taurus were all shades of blue, but she didn't have any blue lingerie. She did have plenty of red and black lingerie, and those colors were-according to her research-very popular for Scorpios.

Harm smirked. "Being reliable, that's very Taurus of you."

"Can't wait to see what we're like together," Mac mused aloud. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. A part of her almost wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. She'd been attracted to Harm ever since that moment in Colombia where she almost kissed him. That had been awkward, but hopefully tonight wouldn't be.

"I'll check my stubbornness at the door if you promise not to be uncompromising," Harm said.

"Deal."


So...I decided to re-upload some of my one shots and (hopefully) some of my short stories as well. Some of them just need a little reworking first :) I started with this one because, as an astrology buff, it's always been one of my favorites. This one might get a second part added to it, but I'm still deciding on which direction I want to take it in.

I also have some new stories in the works to break up me updating The Case and reposting old stories, so stay tuned for that :)

Thanks for reading!

-Harper