Title: Friends
Category: R (Harm/Mac)
Ratings: PG-13
Spoiler: We the people (FF plays in the 5th season, but I have to say that there has never been a man named Brumby)
Summery: What friends are for, you wanna know? Read my FF then!
Disclaimer: Don't belong to me. They belong to Donald P. (Bellisario), Belisarius Productions, CBS and Paramount. The other persons don't belong to me either. They are my friends and belong to themselves!
Author's Note: This is a story for all my friends who I got to know over the German Jag Fanclub. I want to show them with this story how much they mean to me! You did a wonderful job! (By the way English is not my native language!)
Feedback: Feedback is always welcome!! J
Date: 10th June, 2001
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08.30 EST (1330 Zulu)
JAG-Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
"Cal! Cal! Please stop it" shouted Lt. Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie.
"Hey! Calm down! I do that every da...!" But Major Cal Talayeh couldn't answer any further. The copy machine which Cal had tried to repair burst and black ink sprinkled all around in the bullpen of the JAG-HQ. All persons who stood next to the explosion got the color on their uniforms, faces and so on.
Mac got the color too and she wasn't very happy about it. But as she watched over to her friends of the USMC, who she met on Parris Island during her training and who she wanted to show her work while their visit in Washington DC, Mac realized that they were black colored too. That made her smile again and she said in her normal commanding voice to the other JAG officers who had been looking up after the explosion: "Get back to work! That's an order! And find someone who can repair this copy machine!"
The people did as ordered except for one: Commander Harmon David Rabb JR. He walked out of his office towards Mac and her friends with a bright flyboy grin on his face: "Hi, Mac! Are you ill? You're looking so black!"
Putting her anger away Mac ignored Harm's remarks and replied: "Harm, these are my friends who I met on Parris Island: Major Cal Talayeh, Major Ariane Bauer, you can call her Ari, Major Danny Jackson and Major Andrea McNeill, her nickname is Sunny. Girls, this is Commander Harmon Rabb of who I told you about once." The women of the USMC stood at attention.
Harm shook each women's hand and said: "At ease, Majors. What has she told you? Only the best I think."
"Wow, Mac! You never told us that he is that kind of cute!" whispered Danny over to Mac.
"You never asked" she replied in a low voice.
"Ah, and you are the woman who destroyed our copy machine!" Harm said to Cal as he stood in front of her.
"Uh, if you want Sir, feel free to sue me." She answered with a forward undertone in her voice. She was that kinda woman who doesn't cry after certain things at all.
"And then you'll take Mac as your lawyer and I will lose! No, I'd rather not sue you." Harm laughed.
"Oh, there's someone who is sure he will lose against me in court. Can I have that in black and white please?" Mac teased her partner.
"Mac, that was a joke. If we were in court I would win, of course. No question! I'm always the winner."
"Oh, and what about the Barnett case two years ago? You lost it, flyboy!" Mac crossed her arms and stood in front of the Ex-Pilot.
"That was only because ..."
Harm was interrupted by Sunny: "Excuse-me, both of you. But we were here to see Mac's working place not to discuss who is the better lawyer."
"Right, and if you go on discussing this Cal has to destroy the next copy machine. Slowly she's getting better with every machine, don't you know?" Ari added.
"Hey!" Cal poked her right elbow into Ari's waist. "That isn't true! You are mean!"
"Okay, you're right. We should go, change our uniforms and wash our faces! Harm, will you please tell the Admiral that I'm at home changing my clothes and that I'll introduce my friends to him in an hour?" Mac requested.
"Why should I do that?"
"Oh, c'mon, get out of your altitude flight and do it please!" Mac said angrily.
"Okay, but only if I may invite you and your friends to my place tonight. Some friends of mine will be there too."
"Is 20.00 EST okay?"
"Perfect! See ya!" He turned around to tell the Admiral as Mac had ordered him to do.
"They look like old married people, don't they? But both say that they aren't interested in each other." Danny whispered over to her friends. "I don't believe this. They just don't want to confess their love!"
"Danny! I've heart that. Stop thinking like that, okay? That goes to all of you. You are much more terrible than Granny, Harms Grandma!" With these words she left the JAG-HQ followed by her old friends of the USMC.
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13.00 CST (1900 Zulu)
Military Airport
San Antonio, Texas
Lt. Commander Meg Austin and her two friends, Lt. Commander Juliane "Jule" Baum and Lt. Commander Britta Hawkens, got into the military plane which would transport them to Washington DC. They took three seats next to each other. There weren't many other passenger on the flight to DC.
"I still can't believe this. Harmon Rabb invited us to visit him! I always thought of him as ... you know .... kinda arrogant. Dress white and Gold wings. And that he remembers us, wow, I don't believe this. Yes, we worked with him but only for a year!" Britta said excitedly to her best friends.
"Yeah, after we had been ordered to work in a JAG field agency in Texas we've never heard from him until .... until one week ago. Why did he invite us? Why now? Not earlier?" Jule asked.
"Hey, hey, hey! Calm down. It's only Harmon Rabb. And what you say isn't true, he phoned me some times." Meg replied while taking a book out of her handbag.
"What???? He phoned you? And you didn't tell us??? Why???" Britta said furiously.
"Should I? Why? As I told you before, calm down, it's only the Commander. It's only Commander Harmon Rabb." Meg answered while trying to act like she isn't as excited as her friends. Actually she was as excited as Jule and Britta. Sure! It has been such a long time since she had seen him and she was really looking forward meeting him again.
"Oh, yes. You of all people say that. You have been working with him really 'close'. Didn't you miss him? I mean, after being so 'close' with him?" Jule teased her.
"You're not a good actress. We know you are as excited as we are!" Britta added smiling.
"That isn't true!!! I've never been 'close' with him, and you know that! So please stop saying stuff like that, okay?" Meg was getting angry now. Okay, she had loved him once but she never ever told anyone, not even here friends knew about it. And it was over now. She was happy with her boyfriend in Texas.
"Uh, I guess, we should change the subject, Jule. She's getting angry on that topic." Britta whispered over to the woman with blond hair next to Meg.
"Does anybody know who is actually Harm's partner? I've heard something of a Lt. Colonel MacKenzie. A Marine. Oh, Harmy-Boy can you suffer that?" Jule said. "First working with an emancipated woman who didn't like men who don't respect her rank because she's a woman and then working with a 440 pounds Jarhead!"
"But Jule, didn't you forget something?" Meg replied to her friend. "The Jarhead is a woman too!"
"What? You're kidding!" And as Britta and Meg sword they wouldn't be kidding, she went on: "Oh God! Poor Harm! Do you think he can suffer that?"
"I think he will!" Britta laughed. "One of his cute flyboy grins and she will do all what he wants her to do!"
"No, don't agree with you! She is a Marine, and she will be the first and only person, except for us, who can control his altitude flights and his ego trips!" Meg was sure that Mac would be able to do that.
"How will she look like? I can't imagine anything! Is she as blond as we are? Or did Harm changed his favorite hair color of 'his' woman?" Jule considered.
"I saw a picture of her in the 'Navy times' three or four years ago. She had helped saving the 'Declaration of Independence'. The colonel is really beautiful, I think. Dark brown hair and brown eyes. Harm likes her, I guess. Do you think they work very 'close'?" Britta asked.
"No, not Harm. You know him. He wouldn't do anything against the rules because of a woman. He has often broken the rules and strained the budget but never because of woman." Meg replied.
"Okay, what do you think about getting some rest now? We had a busy morning today and tonight we will talk a lot with Harm!" Jule proposed.
"Okay!" The other two JAG-Lawyers agreed and every Lt. Commander tried to get some sleep.
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17.45 EST (2245 Zulu)
Military Airport
Washington, DC
After the military plane which had taken Lt. Commander Austin, Lt. Commander Baum and Lt. Commander Hawkens to DC landed, the three Navy-officers got out and looked around for Harm who had promised to pick them up at the airport. But they couldn't find him, so they decided to wait in the lounge.
Harm was late and he knew that. So he hurried up to get out of his car and to find his three friends. He went inside the main building and looked for the lounge. As he reached it he saw three blond women sitting in the lounge and discussing something. A smile spread over his face remembering the great times he had together with these women.
He went over, but they didn't notice him until he stood in front of them.
"Harm", Meg shouted out and gave the Commander a big hug. So did Britta and Juliane.
"It's good to see you three again! How have you been doing? Life at JAG has been pretty boring since you don't work there anymore!" The Commander said.
"Oh, he's missing the jokes we played on the crew", Britta whispered over to Juliane.
"Yeah, think so. Maybe we should prepare something for the whole crew for tomorrow morning when we'll be at JAG!" Juliane replied in a low voice.
"Excuse me, what did you say?" Meg wondered what was going on between her best friends.
"Nothing, Meg. Really!" Britta tried to act like there was nothing, but in vain.
"You better spill it, Britta. Or should I make that an order?" Harm asked, already knowing that Britta and Juliane were going to play some jokes again. How he'd missed that. He was very happy that the three women were visiting him.
"Uh, sorry, Commander. But you better shouldn't make an order which she's not going to obey!" Juliane answered in Britta's place.
"Okay, then. Let me take you to my place now. You must be very tired. But I hope you don't mind me inviting some friends tonight!" Harm glanced over and was surprised to find none of the women looked tired. "It'll be fun I guess! Who is it?" Meg asked while following the Commander to his car.
"Lt. Colonel MacKenzie – my new partner since you've left. Some friends of her are in town and I invited all of them to my place."
"Wow, a gang of Jarheads. That will be funnier than I thought. Squids against Jarheads. Who will be the winner?" Jule wondered.
"Interesting question! We'll see!" Britta replied as she settled down in Harms car. So did Meg and Jule and Harm drove off the airport.
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18.30 EST (2330 Zulu)
Harm's Apartment
Washington, DC
"Okay, Ladies first! Welcome to my apartment!" Harm opened the door and put the suitcases down on the floor.
"Whoa, nice apartment. But why did you move?" Meg wanted to know as she had entered the livingroom.
"Don't know, maybe I needed a change. Okay, ladies. I will put your suitcases in my bedroom where you can get yourselves changed. And after Mac and friends have left we'll prepare your sleeping places, okay?" He took the suitcases and brought them in his bedroom. After he returned he put on one of his flyboy-grins and asked: "Uh, ladies. Would you do me a favor???"
"That's the Harmon Rabb we used to know. Hey flyboy, you remember that you never got what you wanted with this grins." Britta giggled.
"Yeah, that's right. But sometimes it works!" Jule added.
"And? Does it work now?" Harm asked.
"Mhm, maybe. What do you want us to do?" Meg settled down on the sofa after she had inspected the apartment. Somehow she felt kinda sad. She loved working with Harm but she had to change her working place. If she had not, she and Harm would maybe have fallen in love. But he has always been her Senior officer and there was no chance that they could have become lovers. Now it was too late. She knew that and she felt jealousy sneaking in because of this Colonel MacKenzie. *She is the lucky person who can work with Harm. Who can joke around with him. Who can see this damned sweet flyboy grin. Why in hell did I leave? Okay, I did what I thought was the best to do in this situation. You're chance is over Meg*, she thought to herself. *You missed it and now it's the turn of this Colonel.* From this moment Meg knew that she wouldn't be able to like Colonel MacKenzie.
"Earth to Meg! Earth to Meg! Please answer! Have you heard what Harm wants us to do for him?" Britta stood in front of Meg who seemed miles away.
"Uh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Meg apologized. "What did he say?"
"He wondered if we could help him getting the dinner ready in time for his guests!" Jule answered.
"Oh, why not? I mean he lets us stay here so why shouldn't we help him a little?" Meg stood up and went into the kitchen area. "Where should we start?"
The others followed and together they prepared dinner.
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20.00 EST (0100 Zulu)
Harm's Apartment
Washington, DC
Bing! The doorbell rang and Harm opened the front door. "Hi Mac. You're in time as always. Hey Ladies, come in!" He said to Cal, Ari, Sunny and Danny.
When all the women were in the living room they stood apart – the Squids face to face with the Jarheads.
Harm introduced them to each other.
"Okay, Jarheads. These are Lt. Commander Meg Austin – my former Junior partner-, Lt. Commander Juliane Baum – she used to work at JAG and is Meg's friend – and Lt. Commander Britta Hawkens. She's the third person of this trio. They are all from Texas and know how to deal with ex-pilots." Harm grinned and they laughed.
"Okay, Squids. This is Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie. She is my partner at JAG now. And these are her friends Major Cal Talayeh – our copy machine 'specialist' –, Major Ariane Bauer – her nickname is Ari –, Major Danny Jackson and Major Andrea McNeill – you can call her Sunny."
The women shook each other's hands.
Harm realized the strange tension in the air between the Squids and the Jarheads. *Oh, oh. I hope they'll get along with each other!* He prayed to God as he and the women sat down at the table and started eating.
After a while the woman were talking and they got along very well, except for two of them – Meg Austin and Sarah MacKenzie. They only said something if it was really necessary. Cal and Danny were talking with Britta and Jule about tricks and teasing. In the end they talked about Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb.
"You know, the two of them look really great together." Britta said and went on after being sure that neither Harm nor Mac were listening. "I mean, I have seen Harm with women before but he never had this special look on his face."
"Yeah, they really look like an old married couple. They seem to know each other very well." Jule added.
"Hey, listen. I've got an idea." Cal lowered her voice. "What about us playing Cupid and help their love a little?"
"Good idea. But we better should make it fast because we'll leave around noon tomorrow." Danny answered. "Oh, shh. They're approaching!"
"What's going on here?" Harm wanted to know. "Anything you should tell us?"
"Nooo, we don't have anything to hide!" Cal was a good actress but Mac realized that there was a secret which the four women shared.
"Well Cal, we only would like to know if you want some ice cream!" The Commander asked and he got a positive answer from everyone. "Mac, would you help me in the kitchen please?"
Mac nodded and followed Harm in the kitchen area.
After they were gone for some minutes, Cal called the other women together and told them in a low voice: "We decided to play Cupid for Mac and Harm. What about first saying Good-bye to them and then to encase them in the elevator when they want to go back to work?"
"Great idea!" Everyone liked this plan except Meg, but she didn't show it.
When Harm and Mac returned with the ice cream, everything looked normal to them, not like there was a big plot. They didn't notice anything about a secret their friends might be sharing.
Few hours later after Mac and her friends were gone Meg laid in her 'bed', on Harm's sofa, and was thinking about the evening. *Well, it wasn't that bad. But I can't stand this Colonel. She's so .... I don't know how to say. There's something about her that I don't like. If only this was the problem, I could live with it. But there is this damned idea of playing Cupid. Oh God, could you please tell me what's so special between Harm and Mac? Nothing! I mean, does he really like this woman? Guess so, he used to work with her and they seem to get along very well. Oh, Meg. Please calm down! You're pretty jealous! No, I'm not. I'm only in love with a man who is unattainable for me. I had my chance and I missed it.* A tear made its way down Meg's cheek. *Damned! Why has this to be that difficult? I should better give up hope and set me free from Harm. There are enough men who are waiting for their chance with me. Yeah, but that isn't that easy. And if Cal and the others are really going to put this damned idea into action, I might lose him…forever.* Meg felt sadness and the tears which were now rolling uncontrollably down her face. *It's too late, Meg. You're too late!* She thought and after an hour she had cried herself to sleep.
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Next day10.30 EST (1530 Zulu)
JAG-Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Cal, Ari, Sunny, Danny, Jule, Meg, Britta, Mac and Harm were standing in front of the JAG building. The suitcases were already in the taxis and they had said good-bye to the Admiral.
"Time to say good-bye again", Harm said and gave Meg, Britta and Jule a big hug and he shook the hands of the other woman.
Mac hugged her friends and said good-bye to the others.
"Was a nice time here, Sir!" Cal stood at Attention in front of Harm. "Maybe we'll come back again to your wedding!"
Sunny poked her right elbow into Cal's waist and whispered: "Be quiet. Are you stupid???? Are you going to tell him what we'll do if they are in the elevator?"
"What did you say, Cal?" Harm asked because he wasn't sure if he had understood that right.
"Nothing, really nothing. We better should hurry, our plane won't wait for us!"
"Good-bye!"
They all waved theirs hands as the woman entered the taxis.
Harm and Mac watched the going around the next corner and stepped then back into the HQ. What they didn't know was that the taxis stopped behind the next house and that Cal and Danny went back just right in time to see Harm and Mac entering the elevator. When the doors were closed, Danny and Cal walked over to the elevator and pressed the 'stop'-button.
"They have two hours before someone will find them. I talked to the Admiral and the other members of the crew, and they'll act like there has been an accident!"
"Great Cal! Give me five!" Danny answered and they left the building going back to the taxis to catch their flights in time.
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10.45 EST (1545 Zulu)
JAG-Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
When the elevator stopped, Harm and Mac were surprised and shocked at the same time.
"Oh no, that can't be true! I have a lot of work to do and now I'm stuck in the elevator and wasting time!" Mac sighed.
"Hey, calm down. That will take the mechanics only some minutes to find out where the defect is and how to solve it." Harm answered and pulled out his cell phone to ask Bud what was going on.
Bud lifted the phone on the other side of the line.
Lt. Roberts, JAG-Corps. What can I do for you?
"Hey, Bud. It's me, Harm. Colonel MacKenzie and I got stuck in the elevator. Could you please find out what's going on?!?"
Of course, Sir. Just one moment please.
Harm stared at Mac's legs. He realized how lovely they were – how lovely every curve of her was. But this was not the right moment, not the right time to think about his love for Mac. His thoughts were interrupted by Buds voice.
Sir? The mechanics say that they'll need a little more than 1 ½ hours.
"Bud? That's a joke, isn't it?"
I wish, Sir. I really wish.
"Okay, thanks Bud."
"And? What did he say?" Mac wanted to know.
"He asked the mechanics and they answered that they'll need a little more than 1 ½ hours to bring the elevator back to work."
"You're kidding, aren't you?"
"No, Mac. It's true. I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God." He replied grinning. "We should better make ourselves comfortable." With these words he sat down on the floor and Mac did the same.
After a while they had fallen asleep.
When Harm woke up an hour later, he realized that Macs head was lying against his chest. He could smell her perfume. It reminded him of how much he loved her and that he never told her how he felt. Without noticing that Mac was awake too he whispered: "I love you, Sarah!" Harm kissed her forehead softly.
Mac opened her eyes and whispered back: "Did you mean what you said?"
"Yeah, but I know you don't fell the same way about me and ..."
"Shhh", she put her finger on his lips to make him stop talking. "I love you too, Harm!" And then she kissed him. It was a kiss filled with all the passion that had been pent up during the years they worked together.
"Mac! The elevator, the elevator is moving again."
"Yeah. Harm, would you come to my place at 2000 EST?" She smiled at him as he answered 'yes' right before the doors of the elevator opened.
They stepped out and Bud asked: "Are you okay, Ma'am, Sir?"
"Yes, we are. So, let's get back to work."
And the love has found two new 'victims'. If the two knew that they were lovers now because of their great friends, they would be very thankful to them. Maybe, in 10 years or so, they will tell Harm and Mac what their friends have done for them!
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The End
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