Harmon Rabb stood in the airport and watched the retreating form of his former partner and her fiancé. Mac was leaving him to go with Mic Brumby to Australia. Where they would marry. He sighed and turned around. He had been invited to go with them to the wedding, but he figured it was for the best that he stayed in America.

And the worst of it was that Mac wasn't coming back. She had quit JAG and was transferring down to Australia. He began to walk out of the airport and back to his car. Bud, Harriet, and everyone else at JAG had seen them off the night before, so he was all by himself as he put the car into drive and looked back one last time.

He hadn't been able to put it into words when he asked her to stay. She looked at him sadly, and then told him she couldn't, that she didn't love him. He could see in her eyes that she was fighting tears, and he knew that it wasn't true. But he didn't want to see her any unhappier, so he accepted it.

And that brought him up to speed. He was alone and she was gone. He sighed again and told himself that he shouldn't be feeling sorry for himself.

The next day at work was pure torture. Tiner was helping to empty out what was left of Mac's office, and everyone kept giving him pitiful looks. Bud came in his office to talk, but Harm couldn't concentrate and found himself lost in thought.

"Sir, are you going to be okay? The Admiral offered you that vacation time you have left, and you could take a little time at home before getting right back to work."

"No, Bud, if I was at home, I'd go crazy with all that time to myself. I'd rather be here, even if everyone is giving me pity."

"Alright sir. Oh, Harriet and I would like to know if you'd like to have dinner with us tonight. It's been a while since you saw little A.J. and we'd enjoy your company."

"Now that I can do. Thanks Bud."

Bud nodded and walked out of Harm's office. His computer chimed a moment later, and the email notification bar popped up. His head shot up and he clicked on it. It was from Mac. He almost didn't want to read it, but he shook the thought out of his mind and read it anyway.

All it contained was a short message telling him that they were there and finding a new place. Harm sighed for what seemed like the millionth time since he'd seen Mac leave. It didn't seem that life was going his way right now, and he didn't feel like it would ever get better.

Two weeks later little had improved for him. Harm knew their wedding had been two days previous, and now they were on their honeymoon. The happy couple now married. His life seemed empty without her; there were no arguments, no little glances across the bullpen, and no smiles to share with a certain marine.

At least most of the pity had stopped by now. Most everyone else had their own problems to worry about now, so they didn't have time to pity him. He was extremely grateful for that small fact because he had never been one to enjoy being looked upon as weak. He was supposed to be the strong person, the one who never showed the hurt. But he didn't bother to hide the fact that he was hurting immensely. Harm didn't care anymore.

Her office was completely empty and the dust had begun to settle again. No one went in, and her nameplate was gone. So it took Harm by complete surprise when a female he didn't recognize walked through Mac's old office door with a box.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Harm got up from his seat and knocked on the door. "Enter," she called in a rush. "Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked before standing up and looking at him.

She didn't seem fazed by his good looks or the slight frown on his face. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. I was just wondering, have you been assigned to this office?"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Marine Colonel Rachel Alt. And yes, I've just been assigned to this JAG office. Why do you ask?"

"No…well my partner just transferred and this was her office. I just had no idea that someone else was filling her spot."

"I'm sorry. But this is now my office. Would you do me a favor? Grab that box out there and bring it in for me?"

Harm looked dumbfounded. Here was the first person who wasn't going to take his crap and treat him gently. Slowly, he moved and retrieved her box from the hall. "Well, I look forward to working with you," he said as he walked out her door and back into his office. She looked after him with a smile on her face.

Harm sat back down at his desk and watched her as she put her nameplate on the office door. He observed for the first time how beautiful she was. Her medium-length honey blond hair had a slight curl to it, and her eyes were a dark shade of green. She looked nothing like Mac had, and Harm was very grateful for that. And for the first time since Mac had left, he smiled a real smile.

The next morning, the Admiral called Rachel and Harm into his office to give them their new assignments. "Commander, you'll be defending, and Colonel, you'll be prosecuting. Here's the case file. And Colonel, we're glad to have you here."

"Thank you sir."

"Dismissed."

"Aye sir."

Rachel walked out in front of Harm, and he caught up to her side. "Would you like to go over these at lunch, or when?" he asked.

"Um…lunch would be fine. Where would you like to go?" she said carefully, hoping she wasn't misleading him.

"Do you like health food?"

"I wouldn't eat anything else," she said as she broke out into a grin.

"Okay, meet me at The Garden at noon and we'll start working on it then."

"Alright," she called as she walked into her office. From across the room, Harriet watched Harm and the new officer, Rachel Alt. Her first thought was that it was good that Harm seemed to finally be getting out of his depression mode and trying to make friends with Rachel.

Right at noon, Rachel's car pulled into the parking lot and she hurried inside to find Harm waiting at a table. "Sorry I'm a bit late. I was working so hard I didn't notice the time."

"That's okay. Let's order before we look at the file." After ordering their lunch, their conversation turned to the case. The two worked well together, and soon they had come to a compromise about it.

When their lunches arrived, the two became silent until they began talking about their personal lives. "Are you married?" asked Rachel.

Harm held up his hand. "Nope. You?"

"No. I don't want to give you the wrong idea or anything, but I'm not really looking for a relationship, just maybe a friend since I don't know anyone at JAG yet, except you."

Harm's face also looked relieved. "Don't worry, I'm not either. The partner I told you about? We…well I…"

"I get the gist."

"If you don't mind my asking, why aren't you looking for a relationship?" Harm asked.

Rachel was silent a moment. Then she reached for her purse and pulled out a picture. She handed it across the table to Harm, and he took it. The picture showed a baby boy about a year old, and Rachel and a man next to her.

"You have a baby, and a boyfriend?" he asked, a little shocked from what he was looking at.

"Yes I have a little boy. His name is Caleb, and he's eighteen months old. And that was my husband. He died about six months ago in a plane crash," she said with a tight smile to help her keep from crying.

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"Thank you." When they left the restaurant after lunch, they both felt a little less alone in the world.

A few weeks later, after Harm had beat Rachel in court, she invited him over to her house to have dinner with her and Caleb. Within the first few minutes of meeting Caleb, Harm was attached.

"He's a charmer, I'll say that," said Harm as Caleb played with his food in the high chair.

"Thank you. He's a great little boy."

"We should do this more often," said Harm as Caleb reached his messy hands out to Harm and giggled.

Rachel laughed. "I think the both of us would enjoy that." Then the two adults both grabbed paper towels to keep from being hit by the remains of Caleb's dinner.