Title: Coming Together III: Relationships Built, Part 1

Author: DayDreamer

E-mail: elizden@knology.net

Rating: PG

Classification: Story [Everyone]

Category: JAG Story

Spoilers: Oh, Baby (brief reference)

Added: 9-20-02

Summary: (Part 1) Three months have passed since 'Introductions' and the JAG crew has learned just what kind of lawyer Elizabeth is. Clay gets the flu and Mac takes care of him. (Part 2) Clay invites the JAG crew to a party. Mac and Harm argue. AJ learns something new about Meredith.

1800 hours,

One Saturday evening

Approx 100 miles outside of D.C.

Mac was glad to be almost home. The drive back from North Carolina had been peaceful, giving her time to think. She had spent the last week prosecuting a court martial. She had won the case, thank goodness. She'd lost several cases the past few months, like most of the other attorneys, and she was glad to have a win finally. Her thoughts turned to Elizabeth who was the object of everyone's losses. She had fooled them all. No, that wasn't fair. They had all underestimated her, believing that her lack of courtroom experience somehow meant she would probably lose more cases than she won. To date, she had only lost four cases. Cases she had actually tried, that is.

'We should have known what was in store for us after that first week.' thought Mac. Elizabeth had managed to second chair all of their cases though she had not had much input. It was more a getting familiar with courtroom procedures than second chairing. But she had been thoroughly up to speed on all of the cases, had asked pertinent questions about how each of them would proceed, and done some legwork that proved vital. She had also managed to dispose of all of the other cases that the Admiral had handed her that first day, all without going to trial. She hence settled the majority of her cases out of court, making her the brunt of many jokes. The senior officers were not the culprits but they had heard plenty. Each of them in turn had encouraged her to get her feet wet, to just jump right in there. Bud had done the same. They had even said the equivalent of 'better luck next time' when she had tried cases and lost. The going consensus was that her Internet education hadn't prepared her to argue cases in court so she always strove to find a way to settle out of court. Mac thought she must have really been disgusted with their superior attitudes, though she never let on that they bothered her or retaliated. Well, not unless you count the incident at Soups 'n Salads.

'Who would have thought she would plea bargain an attempted murder case?' Mac thought, shaking her head. But Elizabeth had done just that when most inexperienced attorneys would have taken it to court to add another notch to their belt. Singer had been outraged since it had been her big chance to first-chair a semi-highprofile case. Harm second-chaired the case with Singer and Mac had second-chaired with Elizabeth. Mac groaned inwardly remembering how she had learned the hard way, several weeks earlier in another case, not to 'second guess' Elizabeth. But anyway, Elizabeth had asked to meet with Singer and her client several hours before they were due to go to court. They had met in a conference room where Elizabeth had proceeded to lay out her offer.

Harm and Singer had sat on one side of the conference table flanking their client, Chief Wells. Elizabeth and Mac had sat across from Wells.

"Chief, I thought I should talk to you before we go to court, and tell you how I'm willing to proceed."

"Excuse me, what are you talking about?" asked Lt. Singer. "If you wanted to offer my client a deal, Ms. Halliton, you should have discussed it with me," she continued, indignantly.

"I could have done that, Lieutenant, but I was not obligated to. I only had to ensure you were present when I made the offer. But I haven't made an offer yet. I want your client to know my plans first."

"I don't think so, Ma'am. Chief Wells, will you wait outside, please?"

"Lt. Singer, I believe you work for Chief Wells, not the other way around. It's his decision whether or not to hear me out. Chief…?"

Chief Wells looked at Elizabeth for a moment, then replied "I'll hear what you have to say."

"Chief, I don't think that's…."

"With all do respect, Ma'am. It's my neck on the line here. I'll hear what she has to say."

Elizabeth sat forward, "Chief, you're not going to win this case. You attempted to murder your girlfriend's secret lover, that's a given. Now, there is a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing your way, but I'm sure your counselor has warned you that convictions have been won on much less. But the thing is I'm not going to convict you with circumstantial evidence; I'm going to convict you with the facts.

"These are the facts as I see them, and will prove in court; (1) you learned of your girlfriend's involvement with Chief Anderson months ago; (2) you deliberately staged the accident that almost cost him his life. I checked around; you obtained all of the information you needed from a mechanic 50 miles away; (3) over the course of weeks, you had several of your subordinates reporting to you on the usual habits of Chief Anderson. Now these sailors didn't know what they were doing, you were careful enough to ask just the right questions. For instance, you didn't always ask directly about the Chief; you sometimes asked about someone that you knew he travelled with, or lunched with regularly, or bowled, or work out with. Not to mention, you already knew where and when he usually met your girlfriend; (4) you stood back and watched as the news of the accident was delivered to your girlfriend. You sent one of your subordinates to tell her, saying you would miss dinner that night because you were going to check on the Chief. But you didn't go check on the Chief right away. Instead you went to your girlfriend's house and watched through binoculars as she received the news, broke down and cried, and started to leave to go be with him. But when the petty officer mentioned that you were going to be there, she thought better of it. You pulled away before the petty officer exited the house, then drove to the hospital; (5) you have a history of payback when it comes to women you believe have wronged you. When you were 15, your girlfriend dropped you for the quarterback, a senior. There was an accident at your school shortly after that where the quarterback injured his Achilles tendon. He accused you, but no one could prove that you had done anything since it had happened in a crowded hallway between classes. The quarterback described what you had used to hit him, but you managed to ditch the weapon before the principle could get to you. You had a plan all worked out. At ages 18, 24, and 27 you were involved in other 'payback' type actions, but nothing stuck.

"Now, I can see from the look on your counselor's face that she didn't know most of the information that I've imparted. Some might even call me negligent in revealing so much before the trial. But I can do this, Chief, because I know I'll get a conviction. Your attorneys can't even argue that you acted in the heat of passion. You are guilty of premeditated, attempted murder. I know this, you know it, and your attorneys now it. Given the fact that everyone in this room knows you're guilty, do you really think I'll have trouble convincing the Members of your guilt?"

"That's enough, Ms. Halliton!" said Lt. Singer angrily. "If you have any proof against my client, you can present it in court!"

"Are you interested in an offer, Chief Wells?" Elizabeth continued, as if Singer hadn't spoken. "Let me tell you what I propose. Eight years, no parole. In addition, you would be required to attend counseling. Your other option, face a conviction with a possible 15 year sentence. You could get lucky and get parole after 10 years, but I will fight to see that parole isn't part of the package. After all these years, I believe you know that you need help. By turning down my offer and proceeding with a trial, that tells me you're not willing to admit that you've been wrong and you'd rather try to get off without having to answer for the harm you've caused so many people -- just because you get angry or jealous.

Standing, Elizabeth said, "The choice is yours. Col. Mackenzie and I will leave you with your attorneys. Trial begins in two hours. You have one hour to make up your mind."

With that, Elizabeth and Mac walked out of the room. An hour later the case was settled.

Mac had been impressed; not only with how she handled the Chief, but her investigation of him had been thorough. Harm later told her that Chief Wells practically told Singer to shut up, just falling short of disrespecting an officer. He was convinced that Elizabeth would do exactly what she had said and decided to take the offer five minutes after they had left the room. It had been Lt. Singer's idea to wait the full hour before informing them.

Mac suddenly realized that she had driven into a pretty bad storm. It was snowing heavily but it was wet, not sticking to the roads. She had driven a little further when she noticed a car on the side of the road with a flat tire. A man was struggling to put a jack in place when he slipped and fell. He lay there for a moment , perhaps too stunned to get up. Normally she wouldn't have dreamed of offering a stranger a hand like this, but she took a chance. She had a heavy-duty hydraulic jack in her trunk and she could pop the trunk without getting out of the car. As she pulled up behind the vehicle, the man turned around and Mac saw that it was Clayton Webb.

1800 hours

North of Union Station

Rabb's apartment

Harm sat on his sofa reading the Constitution. He had to laugh at himself, realizing why he was home on a Saturday evening reading the Constitution. Elizabeth Halliton. He was confident that he was a good lawyer, but when someone walks in the door and starts mopping the floor with him, he had to admit that he still had something to learn. Elizabeth had beaten him soundly in a case that he had been sure he would win. And it had been largely due to the fact that he had taken her lack of courtroom experience for granted. At a particularly critical point in his cross-examination of a key witness, he had made the colossal mistake of quoting from a section of the Constitution, only to have Elizabeth correct his not-so-verbatim quotation and proceed to quote – verbatim – from another section of the constitution, making her case. She had won that point decisively, the judge ruling in her favor without hesitation. He even thought he saw Judge Helfman hide a smile. Harm had literally stared open-mouthed at his opponent for a second.

They had all underestimated her skills. Since she had settled most of her cases out of court, he and the rest had doubted her abilities to try a case. That misconception had been cleared up fairly quickly. But Harm recalled all of the jokes office staff had been making at her expense, calling her the queen of out-of-court-settlement. One day he heard Lt. Singer defending her with false concern. The next moment he heard the Lieutenant saying that she was glad the Admiral saddled Elizabeth with all of the petty cases. Thay way she, Singer, was free to try more important cases. That was, of course, before Elizabeth had settled the Lieutenant's attempted murder case out of court. Harm chuckled to himself over that one. Elizabeth had also cleaned house with Sturgis and Bud. Bud had been just as unprepared for his defeat as he had been. One day Bud had made a joke about Elizabeth at Soups 'n Salads when they had all met after work, not knowing that Elizabeth was there. Elizabeth probably had been feeling a little sensitive since she and Mac had had a misunderstanding over another case. It had happened three days before Elizabeth had gone on her first assignment for the State Department.

Elizabeth had been assigned to defend a Lt. Douglas on an assault charge and Mac was second-chairing for the first time with Elizabeth, mostly for guidance and moral support, or so they all thought. According to Mac it all began when they went into the conference room to meet the client, Lt. Lincoln Douglas, a 24 year-old special combat Marine assigned to a training squad at Camp Lajune.

Elizabeth walked in and introduced herself to Lt. Douglas, sat down and began talking with him. Mac was present, also, with note tablet in hand. Elizabeth didn't take notes, but talked to Douglas at length about his career, where he'd been stationed, life before the marines, etc. Mac, getting impatient with that line of questioning, had interrupted and began asking the client specific questions about the assault charges.

"Lieutenant, you said that you and Lt. Myers had argued and thrown a few punches, but you're sure that you didn't beat him the way he's said?" asked Mac.

"That's correct, Ma'am. I only hit him twice, and I didn't break anything."

"Lt. Douglas, will you excuse us for a moment," asked Elizabeth, as if she had forgotten something. "I'll be right back. Colonel, can you give me a hand?" They left the room and went into the library.

"Colonel, is there a problem?"

"No, but I do think you need to ask questions that are pertinent to the case," stated Mac a little impatiently.

"I believe I'm doing just that," calmly replied Elizabeth.

"I don't see how his boyhood, high school, where he's served and his parents have anything to do with these assault charges."

"Colonel, I realize we do things differently, but I would like to conduct this interview the way I believe is best."

"And I am attempting to help you conduct a successful interview, Ms. Halliton."

"But yet, you're succeeding in making my client doubt my ability to adequately represent him. Because you're the only one asking the important questions, right?"

"Look, I am…" began Mac, but Elizabeth interrupted.

"Col. Mackenzie, we don't need to argue about this."

"I agree, so I suggest we continue with the interview; I'll apologize to the client for the delay," said Mac as she turned to walk out.

"That's not necessary, Colonel. I'll finish the interview alone."

"Ms. Halliton, Adm. Chegwidden assigned me to second-chair this case…"

"Second-chair, Colonel, not second-guess."

At that moment Harm and Adm. Chegwidden made their presence known. They were in the library retrieving books when the two of them had come in and began to talk.

"Is there a problem?" asked the Admiral.

Elizabeth and Mac both turned in surprise to see the Admiral and Harm standing there.

"No, Admiral," replied Elizabeth.

"No, sir," added Mac. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No, Colonel."

"Admiral?" said Elizabeth.

"Carry on, Ms. Halliton."

Harm and the Admiral had looked at each other with raised eyebrows, but Harm wisely didn't comment. The Admiral went back to what he had been reading, but his mind was on the Colonel and Ms. Halliton. He wanted them to get along, but he had noticed the tension between them. That's why he put them on the case together.

Elizabeth returned to the conference room to finish the interview and Mac went to her office. Forty-five minutes later, Adm. Chegwidden stopped by Mac's office. She stood to attention when he entered.

"At ease, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

AJ casually walked in and gave the Colonel a thoughtful look. "So, how's the case going?"

"It's too early to say, sir."

"Really, you two seemed to be having an important discussion about it earlier."

Mac looked at the Admiral, knowing he referred to the argument he had overheard in the library. "Just a difference of opinion, sir."

"About what?"

"I thought Ms. Halliton should ask questions that had direct bearing on the case. She thought otherwise."

"You don't trust her judgement, Colonel?"

"Sir?"

"You don't think Ms. Halliton has had enough experience conducting interviews?" asked AJ.

Put that way Mac had to admit that Elizabeth had spent more time conducting interviews the last three months than anyone else in the office, given the number of cases she had settled or argued in her clients' favor. "I suppose she has, sir."

"Ok. Carry on, Colonel."

At that moment Elizabeth stopped by the Colonel's office.

"Oh, Admiral, I'm glad you're here. May I speak with you a moment?"

"Yes, what can I do for you."

"Sir, this is awkward, but I don't know any other way to ask. This isn't solely about what you heard between Col. Mackenzie and myself, but everyone in general. Sir, did you give instructions that I needed to be tutored?"

"No."

"Is there a blueprint on how things are done, rules for arguing cases, a quota for how many I should take to court?" asked Elizabeth. AJ could tell that she was upset, but she was calm and polite as always.

"No, Ms. Halliton," said AJ, not happy with her stance. She was questioning his authority, no doubt.

"Show me how it's done, sir?"

"No, Ms. Halliton. Do you want to try this case alone?" asked the Admiral with an edge to his voice.

"I'm not asking for that, sir."

"Do..you..want..to..try..this..case..alone?" repeated the Admiral.

"No, sir, two heads are generally better than one."

"Well, this time one head will have to do." Turning to Col. Mackenzie, AJ said, "Colonel, you're off the case. Commander Rabb…?" AJ called as Harm walked past Mac's door.

"Yes, Admiral?"

"The Weston case. You're no longer on it. Ms. Halliton will try that one alone."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed, Commander. Ms. Halliton, my office," said AJ. He was obviously ticked off.

Harm stepped back into Mac's office when they had left. With a questioning look on his face, he started to ask Mac what that had been about but Mac raised a hand and said 'don't ask.'

In AJ's office, he stepped behind his desk and ordered Elizabeth to close the door. When she stood before him, he turned his full gaze upon her with his arms folded.

"In the future, if you have an issue to raise with me, you'll do well to raise it in private, is that clear?" asked the Admiral, giving Elizabeth a hard stare.

"Yes, sir," said Elizabeth.

"Good. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

AJ let out a sigh and sat down, looking in the direction of her retreating figure. He felt partially to blame for her frustration. He had been spoon-feeding her and it was obvious she didn't need that anymore. Looking back, he really didn't think she had ever needed it, but he had no way of knowing that until he saw her in action. His team had taken their cue from him, but had gone overboard. He had heard the ugly jokes, but decided to let Elizabeth handle things herself. He noted that since she had been beating everyone that stepped into the courtroom with her, the jokes didn't come so readily. She had lost a few cases, but had won more.

Back in her office, Elizabeth silently berated herself for speaking to the Admiral the way that she had. She had taken her frustration out on him when she should have just gone and talked to him. She had tried to be understanding and patient with her co-workers. She understood her being there made them uncomfortable, she wasn't a member of the group, wasn't military. Still, she sometimes let things get to her. The Admiral didn't have to pay for it, though. He had been very supportive and they had an easy, open dialogue. Both he and Secretary Morgan had proven to be great bosses, treating her more as an equal (in private) than a subordinate. She didn't take advantage of their friendship, though, but gave them the respect due their respective offices.

Elizabeth had gone on the next day to win the Douglas case. The prosecutor's client had lied about who had assaulted him because he had an ongoing rivalry with Elizabeth's client. He had attempted to ruin Lt. Douglas' career, but had succeeded in ruining his own. Harm, the Admiral, Mac, and Sturgis had all observed the case. She had been good. Afterwards they had waited outside the courtroom to congratulate her but Lt. Douglas' mother arrived.

Lt. Douglas turned and saw his mother walking up to them. "Mom, hey, you missed it," he said, giving her a hug.

"I know, I got stuck in traffic for an hour and a half," she said.

"Mom, this is my attorney, Elizabeth Halliton."

Mrs. Douglas looked at Elizabeth quizzically because Elizabeth had given her a slight shake of the head.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Douglas," Elizabeth said with a conspiratorial smile.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you as well, Ms. Halliton."

Turning to her son, she said "From your smile, I take it the case went well?"

"Yes, I won. The truth won out."

"Good." Mrs. Douglas gave her son a closer look, and then said. "I know that look. What have you been up to?"

Elizabeth replied for him, "Oh, just telling the court that he and I went on a date."

"What?"

"Yes, he led the court to believe that the sandwich I bought him yesterday evening and ate in the 'park' outside the cafeteria was actually a dinner date. Technically, it was after 5 p.m. He unexpectantly used that incident to prove a point; that being, the sandwich in the park with me was no more a date than the evenings he'd recently spent with other women, including Lt. Myers' girlfriend."

"Had you going for a minute with that one, didn't I?" laughed Lt. Douglas.

"Yes, me and the rest of the courtroom! It's a long story, Mrs. Douglas. Your son has quite a sense of humor."

"Well, I had to do something. She all but told the Members that I wouldn't hurt a fly because I was a Momma's Boy. She made me tell the whole court that you come over sometimes and do my laundry. Now tell me, what did that have to do with the case."

His mother and Elizabeth laughed while Lt. Douglas looked embarrassed all over again.

"Well, thank you, Elizabeth, for saving his hide. I'm sure that charm of his is what got him into trouble with the Lieutenant's girlfriend to begin with. Will I see you at bible study, tonight?"

"Yes, I'll be there," said Elizabeth.

Lt. Douglas looked as if you could blow him away with a feather. He looked from his mother to Elizabeth, then managed to say "You two know each other?"

"Yes." They said in unison.

"Oh." Was all he said, now really embarrassed.

Elizabeth decided to have a little bit more fun at the Lieutenant's expense, "What is the pastor teaching on tonight, sins of the flesh?"

"You know, I think that's right," said Mrs. Douglas. "Will I see you there, son?"

The Lieutenant looked at his mother and then said, "Mom, aren't you hungry? Can I buy you lunch? Maybe I should call Pop and see if he's free for lunch, " while leading her away.

Mrs. Douglas laughed and waved a hand at Elizabeth as they walked off.

Elizabeth turned to the JAG crew, who had witnessed the exchange, and said, "Pop is the pastor of my church. I didn't find out that he was their son until this morning when I spoke with Pastor Douglas."

They laughed, recalling Lt. Douglas' antics in the courtroom. He was a good-looking young man with too much charm for his own good. But he was also an outstanding Marine.

"Well, congratulations on your win," said AJ. The others were offering similar well wishes when Webb walked up.

"Hey, Webb. What brings you this way?" asked Harm.

"Hello everyone."

"Hi, Clay."

"Webb."

Clay continued after returning their greetings, "I came to talk to AJ, and to deliver a message to Elizabeth if she hasn't already received it." Turning to her, he said "I believe you're about to hear from Secretary Morgan. They have an assignment for you."

Tiner walked up then to tell Elizabeth that she had a call on hold from Secretary of State Morgan.

"Thanks, Tiner."

Elizabeth excused herself and started to walk away when Clay called out to her.

"By the way, how's your Farsi?"

Elizabeth stopped and looked back at him before replying, "I can be understood." She suspected he already knew that.

"Okay," was all Webb said. He knew that she was fluent in Farsi and Arabic as well.

"What's up, Webb?" asked AJ, looking after Elizabeth.

"They're ready to send her on assignment."

"Were to," asked Sturgis.

"Saudi."

"So, she speaks Farsi. Mac, you and she can speak to each other and the rest of us won't know what the heck you're saying," laughed Harm with a teasing look at Mac.

"I'll have to remember that," said Mac.

AJ didn't say anything, but walked back to his office with Webb. He knew that Elizabeth spoke at least five different regional dialects of Farsi. And he knew she was fluent in Arabic. It was all in her personnel file. He hadn't mentioned it to Mac because he thought it was something that they would discover they had in common on their own.

Elizabeth had left a week later, but not before delivering a resounding defeat to Lt. Roberts. The Lieutenant had taken it pretty well, but was embarrassed by a few blunders that he'd made. Harm told him that he had committed the same mistake, assuming that she wasn't prepared to try a case and do well.

Elizabeth was gone a week, and then at the State Department for another two days. The day before she was due to return to JAG, all of them had decided to have dinner at Soups 'n Salads after work, including the Roberts who had a babysitter for the evening. The restaurant/pub was usually packed and noisy, but it was a great place to have light meals and the soup was the best. They were sitting in a particularly noisy and crowded area near the soup bar (you literally ordered soup like most pubs order beer), when they began to talk about Elizabeth's return. The topic eventually got around to how many cases she had won.

"What does she do, curl up with a law book every night?" asked Harriet.

"Are we sure she learned law over the Internet?" asked Singer.

"Well something is working for her, that's for sure," replied Harm.

"Who gets an Internet education, anyway? Maybe we should all get Internet educations," laughed Lt. Roberts. "Maybe sitting at a computer for three year, all of that knowledge just beams into your brain and you never forget it."

There was laughter all around the table at Bud's comments. They were laughing so much that they didn't see the crowd part and Adm. Chegwidden, Elizabeth, and Secretary Morgan step forward. The group hadn't seen them earlier because the Secretary's secret service agents who were in plain clothes had flanked them. Harm was the first to see them, and tried to get the other's attention but it was too late. Everyone else saw the Admiral at about the same time, followed by Elizabeth and the Secretary. It was obvious that all three had heard their comments. Elizabeth wore a dark gray wool suit with black knee-length boots. She had worn her hair down, something she rarely did at work, and she looked very nice.

Elizabeth walked up to the table first.

"May I join you?" she asked.

"Of course," everyone said. And they asked the Admiral and Secretary Morgan to join them as well.

Secretary Morgan said, "I'll just wait here for our order." AJ didn't bother to answer.

Bud started in apologizing, but Elizabeth held up her hand, "It's okay, Lieutenant. None of us go into the courtroom to lose and I realize you didn't expect to lose that last case."

"What I said about an Internet education, I didn't mean anything by it, Ma'am."

"I understand," Elizabeth said. "What school did you attend, if you don't mind me asking?" said Elizabeth.

"George Winston University, Ma'am, here in Washington."

"That's a good school. I thought about attending GWU, myself. They also have an Internet law program. But, I opted for Columbia instead."

"Well, there's nothing like the having the reputation of a prestigious school like Columbia on your resume, is there Ma'am?" piped in Lt. Singer.

"I suppose not. But really, it all boils down to the quality of education you receive. I chose Columbia because I found the program at GWU lacking." Turning to Lt. Roberts, Elizabeth continued, "Not that I'm implying that you're in any way lacking for having attended that university, Bud. When did you graduate?"

Everyone was looking on with dread, knowing that the other shoe was going to fall soon. Elizabeth was clearly upset, despite her calm demeanor.

"Three years ago, Ma'am."

"Well, having been a recent graduate, I'm sure you're better equipped to evaluate the merits of that program. But there is one thing you should keep in mind…I've had 10 years to prepare for my day in court, not three."

Elizabeth stood then, "If you all will excuse me," and turned back to the Admiral and the Secretary, who had listened to the exchange. "Mr. Secretary, may I take a raincheck?"

"Of course, here, let me walk you to your car," said Secretary Morgan. His secret service men flanked them as they left the building.

Adm. Chegwidden sat in the chair that Elizabeth had just vacated. Everyone knew better than to speak.

Finally, AJ looked up and said, "You know, it might be a good idea if all of you visit Columbia's website and peruse the requirements of their Internet law school program. But in case you don't, let me tell you a little about it. Columbia's Internet law program is said to be the best in the world. It is the blueprint by which other law schools have modeled their Internet law programs. And this is largely due to Elizabeth Halliton.

"Ten years ago, the program was considered one of the best. The average time that it took a student to graduate from their Internet program was five years. The requirements were much steeper for the Internet students because they didn't always have access to courtrooms. That's still the case today. Elizabeth completed the program in three years. At the end of each semester she critiqued every course and offered suggestions for improving the curriculum. Her feedback was so thorough and well thought-out that all of her instructors, as well as the dean of the law school, began to pay close attention to just about everything she had to say. Before she graduated, they offered her a teaching position at the law school. She turned the job down, of course, but they offered her another job rewriting their curriculum. Not the Internet curriculum -- the traditional, in-house curriculum. They had already rewritten their Internet curriculum based on the changes she had suggested over the three years she was in school. So the law programs that exist today at Columbia, Elizabeth Halliton wrote them.

"Over the next seven years, several universities contacted Elizabeth, wanting her to help design and implement new online law programs as well redesign traditional programs. George Winston University was one of those schools. She completed the rewriting of their Internet and in-house curriculums four years ago. I could go on, but I don't think that's really necessary. Considering Elizabeth's courtroom track record, it would appear that her Internet education may be superior to the traditional law programs that we all attended. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Admiral stood, then, not expecting an answer. The Secretary had returned and they went to find a table, far across the room.

Harm remembered how everyone had been embarrassed that they had been overheard, defensive when Elizabeth had responded to Bud with cool anger, and then shocked to hear all that the Admiral had told them. But like idiots, they had all opted to hang on to resentment over her remarks to Bud rather than admit that they were wrong and apologize to her. The truth was, with the Admiral's revelations, they had felt like she had been deceiving them from the beginning. They all knew in their hearts that she wasn't the one at fault. If she had tooted her own horn, they would have held that against her, also. No, the problem lay with them. She was an exceptional attorney with a gift for understanding, and they were in awe of her. She humbled them, and none of them were taking it well. Elizabeth inadvertently brought that home to him a couple of weeks after that dinner fiasco.

The Admiral held a meeting of the senior officers and Elizabeth. Before the Admiral arrived at the conference room, Harm had been asked to pass out some documents that the Admiral wanted them to have. It hadn't escaped anyone's notice that the Admiral had invited Elizabeth to a meeting that usually only involved Mac, Sturgis and Harm. Elizabeth had been polite, addressing him as Commander Rabb all morning. She had pretty much addressed everyone by their rank and name since the dinner at Soups 'n Salads two weeks before. Just as the Admiral walked into the conference room, Elizabeth addressed him as Commander Rabb again.

"Thank you, Commander Rabb," she said when he handed her the documents.

"You're welcome, and why are you Commandering me?" Harm asked, a little angry.

Elizabeth looked up at Harm and asked, "Why are you sitting on that side of the table?"

The Admiral heard the exchange but decided against getting involved. He waited a few moments to give them a chance to sort it out, but no one said anything further. Harm and Elizabeth stared at each other until the Admiral began to speak. Harm looked around and realized that he, Mac, and Sturgis were all sitting on one side of the table; Elizabeth sat alone on the other side, to the Admiral's right. He realized then just how badly they had been treating her. Whenever there was a conflict they all banded together, even when they were wrong. The incident at the diner was a prime example. They had all been wrong, but no one had apologized – except Bud when he'd been embarrassed at being caught.

After the meeting, Elizabeth was the last to leave the room. She stood gathering her things when Harm came back into the room and closed the door. Elizabeth looked up at him, warily, waiting.

Harm began slowly, but not avoiding eye contact, looking right into her eyes as he spoke, "You know, you've sort of thrown us all for a loop. You're not at all what we expected and just when we think we have a clue, we find ourselves tumbling again. You beat us in the courtroom with angles none of us even think of; you know law like it's some special language you've spoken since birth; and for the most part, you've put up with our crap without retaliating. Truth is, we…I, am a little bit in awe of you."

Elizabeth looked at him, unable to speak. Then she said, "I don't need anyone to be in awe of me, Harm. I need a friend," her voice thick with tears.

"You've got one."

That's all it took. They had hugged, Elizabeth had managed not to cry, and they had exited the room as friends.

Harm had since spent quite a bit of time with her, getting to know her. Funny thing was, he and Mac seemed to be at odds now. She hadn't called him since she left for the court martial and when he had called her, she didn't have much to say. He made up his mind that the two of them were going to have a serious talk, and soon. He knew that their current conflict had something to do with his friendship with Elizabeth, and he wanted Mac to talk to him about it.

Harm shook off his musings and went back to reading the Constitution.

Meanwhile, back to Mac

1910 hours

40 miles outside of D.C.

Mac jumped out of the car, hunching her shoulders against the cold.

"Clay, it's me, Mac. What happened?" Mac asked as she ran to help him up.

"Blew a tire," Clay said, struggling to his feet. He swayed and had to lean against the car. Mac noticed that he was flushed and warm to the touch.

"Clay, are you alright. You're warm, and you're weak," said Mac as she caught hold of him when he swayed again.

"I've been fighting off the flu, but I think it's caught up with me."

"Yes, I think it has. Why don't you sit in my car. I can change this for you."

"Better yet, leave the car. If you'll give me a lift to Mother's house I'll call a tow truck later. It's about 20 miles from here and I'm in no shape to drive even if you change the tire."

"That sounds good to me. You need to get in out of this weather."

They arrived at Porter Webb's house a short time later – really, the place looked like a mansion – and the day butler opened the door. He took one look at Clay and knew that he was ill.

"I would tell you good evening, but I can see that it isn't. You look pretty terrible," he said as he took their coats, said hello to Mac, and led them into the main living room.

"I think it's the flu," said Clay, slumping down into the sofa. "Robert Wilson, Col. Sarah Mackenzie. Mac works at JAG. I had a flat tire and wasn't having much luck changing it when Mac drove up."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Colonel," Wilson said. Turning to Webb, he said, "Mrs. Webb is in her study, but I'll let her know you're here." But at that moment Porter Webb came into the room.

"Oh, Clay. Hello, Son, I wasn't expecting you." She went to give him a hug when she noticed Mac. "Oh, dear, I didn't know you had company. You'll have to excuse my appearance, I was preparing to retire early since I have an early flight out tomorrow morning."

"Mother, this is Col. Sarah Mackenzie, JAG corps. Mac, my mother, Porter Webb. I had a flat, Mother, and Mac happened along at just the right time and gave me a lift here. By the way, Wilson, will you call a tow truck and have them pick up the car? Its 20 minutes south of here on Route 34."

"I'll call now, but they probably won't be able to do anything until tomorrow. This storm is supposed to last all evening, blowing over after midnight."

Porter turned to Mac and said, "Thank you, Colonel. I'm so glad you came by when you did." Turning to Clay, "Clay, you look terrible. What's wrong?"

Mac answered for Clay, "I think it's the flu. He's pretty weak, too."

"Oh, dear, you should go right up to bed, Clay. I'll cancel my trip and.."

"No you won't, Mother. I can get along just fine. You've been planning this trip for months and there's no need for you to cancel. I'll just stay here and rest a couple of days. You and Wilson can leave tomorrow on the 5a.m. flight as you planned. "

"Honey, I couldn't."

"Yes, you can and you will. Otherwise, I'm driving on to my place, Mother."

"Clay, will you stop being so stubborn. You're obviously ill and shouldn't be left alone."

"I'll be fine, Mother. I'll probably just sleep this off for a few days and be like new before you return Wednesday. Now, no more arguing, I don't have the strength. You should turn in if you plan to be up by 3a.m."

"Oh, alright. But I'm going to call and make sure you're okay." She gave his shoulder a squeeze before turning to go. "Colonel, may I offer you something warm to drink?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Webb. I'm fine."

"Well, goodnight, son, try to get to bed soon, okay?" Porter said as she left the room. In the outer room, Porter told Wilson to prepare a cup of soup for Clay and see if Col. Mackenzie would like dinner. She also told him to make sure the guest room next to Clay's suite had fresh towels. Wilson had already done so, when he brought Mac's bag in and placed it in the room.

"I think I'll just take a hot shower and relax," Clay said, leaning back into the sofa with eyes closed. He looked over at Mac and said, "Mac you're staying the night. There's no need for you to drive in this weather and that storm is going to rage for yet a while. I'll ask Wilson to prepare something for you to eat."

Wilson had returned, and he turned to Mac, "What would you like, Ms. Mackenzie?"

"It's Mac, Wilson. What do you have?" Mac asked with a smile.

"Everything," said Wilson, smiling back.

"Well, in that case, the usual fair – fruit, cheese, meats, crackers, caviar," she said, teasing him.

Wilson laughed, and Clay smiled at their easy banter.

"Come, I'll show you to your room, as soon as I'm sure Mr. Webb can navigate the stairs without falling."

"Okay, let me get my bag from the car."

"I've already brought it in, Mac. It's upstairs in your room."

"You work fast, Wilson."

"I have to, these Webbs, such impatient people," he said with a sideways glance at Clay.

"Ha, Ha. You'd better stop now, or I'll tell Mac some secret you don't want her to know."

"My life is an open book, Clay. You're the one with secrets, don't forget."

"I haven't a clue what you're talking about… and Mac had better not either."

They all laughed as they climbed the stairs. Mac and Clay showered and changed into pajamas and robes. Clay did look and feel a lot better after the shower and decided to let Mac use the dayroom adjoined to his bedroom to watch a movie or something. He went and told her and they retired to the dayroom. Mac was looking around when Wilson returned with a tray for her and a cup of tomato soup for Clay.

"Mrs. Webb has a small collection of movies, so I took the liberty of liberating several for you. I hope I chose wisely," he said while placing the tray on the coffee table.

Mac was checking out the tray and suddenly started laughing, Clay looked at the tray and gave his butler a 'you're pathetic' smile. "Thank you, Wilson, I'm going to enjoy this," Mac told him.

"My pleasure," Wilson said with a smile. The tray contained everything that Mac had mentioned earlier, including the caviar.

Mac looked over the movies that Wilson had brought in, grabbed one of them and spun around to face Wilson with a smile. "How'd you know?"

"Ah, we butlers know these things," Wilson laughed, turning to Clay. "If that's all, I think I'll retire now."

"Thanks, Wilson," Clay and Mac said in unison as Wilson left.

"So, what's the movie, Mac?"

"Only my favorite, 'An Affair to Remember'."

"Don't know it."

"Wanna watch with me?"

"Might as well. I feel a little better now."

They watched the movie in a companionable silence. Clay enjoyed the movie almost as much as Mac did, but for a different reason. By the time it ended, Clay could barely keep his eyes open but he managed to watch all of it. Mac noted that Clay had barely touched his soup and he was definitely worn out. They both went to bed, but an hour later Mac went back to check Clay. He was resting, but had kicked all of the covers off. He wasn't too warm, but she imagined that he would feel much worse before he got better. Clay had fallen asleep thinking how the movie reminded him of the four-month agreement that he and Elizabeth had made. Mac fell asleep thinking about the five-year agreement she and Harm had made.

Porter and her butler left around 4 a.m., after Porter had checked on Clay. He was restless, but still sleeping. At 6 a.m. Mac rose and went to check on Clay again. Just as she suspected, he was worse. He was trying to get out of bed and make it to the bathroom when Mac entered. She helped him there just in time for him to throw up. He threw up on and off for the rest of the day, so Mac decided to stay another night. Clay was obviously sicker that he thought and he didn't need to be left alone. She made sure he drank fluids and tried to keep him comfortable. Monday morning she phoned the Admiral at home and told him that she needed to take a couple of personal days to take care of a sick friend. She told him that she could be reached by cell phone in an emergency. The Admiral said that wasn't a problem, and that he hoped her friend would be okay. Mac said that they would, they just had a very bad case of the flu and she didn't want to leave them alone. AJ told her to take as much time as she needed. He had recently gotten over the flu himself, though he had only been out two days. But he knew several people who had been out over a week recovering.

The next day, Clay was still in bad shape so Mac settled in and decided to stay until he was completely better. That turned out to be around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. Mac had caught only a few hours of sleep each of the past three days. She had spent most of her hours trying to keep Clay comfortable and hydrated. He continued to throw up and ran a fever for a couple of days. Monday, she had had to put him in the shower under a cool spray to bring his temperature down as fast as possible. Clay wasn't exactly cooperative, either. He attempted to struggle but he lacked the strength. Instead, he kept talking about being stupid for waiting so long and how she could get into an accident in four months. Mac thought that he was remembering the movie 'An Affair to Remember' that they had watched Saturday night. She smiled, thinking 'Clay, it was six months, not four'. The phones lines went down Sunday and weren't repaired until Tuesday night. She had used her cell phone to call the emergency room for advice when she discovered that the melting snow had turned to ice by late Monday and there was no way she could drive him to the doctor. She had repeated the cool shower three times and kept dry sheets on his bed. She had even found the laundry room and washed a load of sheets. Clay's fever had finally broken after the third shower and Mac had gotten him dried, in fresh pajama bottoms, and in a newly made-up bed to rest. He had slept soundly the rest of the night.

Porter and Robert returned about 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, surprised to see Mac still there. They spoke outside of Clay's room, Mac filling them in; she told them that Clay was finally resting well, though he still needed to be wakened every few hours to drink fluids. Porter apologized to Mac for not having been able to reach them by phone and thanked her for staying to take care of him.

"I didn't mind, Mrs. Webb. Clay's a friend."

"He's very fortunate to have a friend like you, Mac," added Robert. "I'll go check on him, Mrs. Webb."

"Ok, Robert, I'll be right in. Mac, you must be tired. Why don't you lie down and rest. Robert and I will keep an eye on him."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Webb, I've napped whenever I could, and I actually had a good night's sleep last night after his fever broke. Please, go on in, I know you want to check on him yourself."

"Thanks, dear."

Mac watched as Clay's Mother checked her son, paying attention not to wake him. Mac then went to her room and began packing her bag. Porter Webb came looking for her and said, "Mac, I can't thank you enough for staying. Are you sure you don't need to rest awhile? You don't have to leave."

"I'm okay, really. I thought I would leave now in case there's freezing ice on the roads again tonight. This is the warmest part of the day, so the safest time to travel would be now."

"You're right, of course, but I don't want you to think that you must rush off."

Mac smiled and told her she didn't think that at all. She left then and drove home.

The End – Part III