Premise: Harm and Mac must re-evaluate their relationship when someone from Harm's past comes to visit.

Notice: I do not own the characters contained herein. I just feel like I've known them for years.

Chapter 3

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

Friday May 21, 2004

1400 Zulu

Harm was whistling as he walked to the break room to grab a fresh cup of coffee. Still. He'd been whistling in the shower this morning, and he'd been whistling on the drive into work with Jen and Mattie, he'd been whistling when he dropped Mattie off for school. And he was still whistling. Obviously others had noticed it as well. Bud and Harriet had both looked at him in shock more than once this morning, as had the Admiral when he came in.

"Attention on deck!" rang out across the bull pen.

"As you were people." Admiral AJ Chegwidden said. "We'll be having our staff meeting a little later than normal this morning. All senior staff please report to the conference room in half an hour. That will be all. Commander, in my office."

"Aye aye sir." Harm said. So much for another cup of coffee. Following the Admiral into his office Harm almost ran his senior officer down as the Admiral suddenly stopped just inside his doorway.

"Are you whistling Commander?" the admiral asked without turning around.

"I suppose I am sir…I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry son, just don't do it in my office."

The fact that the Admiral had referred to him as son both set Harm at ease and put him on edge. So he hadn't done something else wrong, but apparently the Admiral was going to break his 'don't get involved in my people's personal lives' rule again.

Sitting down at his desk the Admiral motioned Harm to take a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk.

"Harm…I've got a couple things I need to ask you. First of all, I know that Lieutenant Commander Austin left her posting here suddenly, coming as a shock to you. I need to know that having her around here for awhile won't cause tension."

"Sir, that was eight years ago…I'm long over the shock that I received. In fact the Lieutenant Commander and I discussed it last night and it will be good to have her back here for awhile sir."

"Last night?" the Admiral asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Aye sir. Meg came over for dinner last night with Mattie, Mac and Jen…I mean Petty Officer Coates sir."

"Relax Harm." The Admiral said with one of his rare chuckles. "Son, I've got ask you something else. Its personal, and you know how much I hate to pry into my people's personal lives. I'll get to the point son. What's going on with you and the Colonel?"

"How do you mean sir?" Harm asked.

"I can't help but notice a certain level of…tension between the two of you. After you returned from your brief…vacation…I thought it would level off the way it normally does, but it doesn't appear to be happening this time around. Harm…I've had complaints from some of the senior officers when the two of you go TAD. Their comments are not flattering, and to the tell you the truth I expect better of the two of you. I feel I've given this enough time and now I want you to know that I expect the two of you to work it out. Yesterday! Do I make myself clear?"

"Aye sir you do. May I speak freely sir?" Harm asked and waited for the inevitable nod. "Admiral…AJ…I don't know what to do about Mac. Sir, I thought about it a lot…I mean I've thought about it a lot over the last eight years. About her and me…about how I feel about her. She says I'm not willing to fight for her, but sir I was willing to give everything up for her…but she just won't see that."

Standing up from behind his desk Admiral Chegwidden moved around to the front and sat down in the chair next to Harm. "Commander…Harm. Son I've watched you both for eight years. I've watched the dance you two do, I've watched the fights you've had. I've watched you hurt her, and I've watched her do the same thing right back to you. I've watched her almost get married to a man she didn't love, and I've watched you run away to an F-14. And yes I watched you walk away one too many times. And to be honest with you son, I'm sick of watching all that. You thought going to Paraguay would show her how you feel, only one more time she turned to someone else because you waited too long. You broke up her wedding to Mic Harm…maybe not intentionally…but hearing about you going down that night almost tore her apart Harm. You want my advice?"

Harm nodded silently, not wanting to interrupt his commanding officer's unusually long winded speech.

"As your friend and not your commanding officer…make up your mind son. Either fight for her, or let her go so she has a chance of being happy with someone else. Now as your commanding officer I can not officially give you advice on this matter, because to do so would be condoning the fraternization of two officers within the same chain of command. Now…with that out of the way I just want to give you a heads up. I'm going to be sending Bud and Sturgis on assignment to Lejune. I'm going to be utilizing Lieutenant Commander Austin when I can to pick up some of the slack; she assures me that she hasn't forgotten how we run around here. However it will mean an increased workload for both you and the Colonel. Can I trust you both to be professional about it from now on?"

"Aye sir, you can." Harm said.

"Good. That will be all."

"Aye aye sir." Harm said as he stood up and stood to attention. Turning around sharply he moved towards the door.

"And Harm?" the Admiral said.

"Yes sir?"

"I've seen you fight for a lot of things son. If you really love that girl, fight for her the same way you fought to find your father or you fought to take custody of Miss Grace."

"Aye aye sir. Oh, sir. Speaking of Mattie…"

"Yes?"

"She and Petty Officer Coates are going to be going camping this weekend and I was wondering if it would be possible for Petty Officer Coates to secure from her duty station early this afternoon?"

"Are you stealing my yeoman Rabb?"

"No sir, its just I thought…"

"We'll see Commander."

"Aye sir, thank you sir." Harm said and with that he left the Admiral's office.

"Jen?" He said as he moved past Petty Officer Coates' desk.

"I heard sir…and thank you sir."

"You're welcome Jen…have fun this weekend. And if you want, you can consider that an order." Harm said with a smile.

"Aye aye sir." Jen said with an equally big smile.

Moving through the bull pen Harm once more started to whistle, once again getting confused looks from more than a few people in the duty area. Enough was enough.

"What?" he demanded.

With embarrassed looks most of the people looked back down at their desks, resuming whatever task they were doing. All except one. One smiling sunny face.

"Harriet? Something you want to share?"

"Well sir, its just been a long time since we've seen you this…happy. Its good to see again sir." Lieutenant Harriet Sims said.

"What are you talking about Lieutenant?"

"You're whistling sir. And you just look so happy." Harriet said happily.

"As you were Lieutenant." Harm said in a exasperated tone. Shaking his head he started back to his office.

"Harm…do you have a second?" Mac asked from the door of her office.

"Sure Mac." Harm said, giving up on ever getting back to his office before the staff meeting.

"Thanks." Mac said as Harm came into her office and took a seat.

"What can I do for you?"

"It's the Gonzalez case…" Mac started and then stopped. She glanced around her office uncomfortably. "Harm…I'm sorry about the way I acted last night. I had no right to act out at you like that."

"Its ok Mac…really."

"I just feel bad about it…I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted Mac. Anything else?"

"About the Gonzalez case…can we get together tonight to go over our notes?"

"Oh…I kinda made plans with Meg for tonight…but I can cancel if you want to go over the notes." Harm added in a hurry. Maybe the Admiral was right…wasn't it time they both stopped acting like teenagers and started acting like adults.

"No, that's fine Commander."

And so its back to Commander. One minute he was good old 'Harm' the next it was all formal. "You sure Mac? I can always reschedule with Meg…we need to go over our notes, and I know you have depositions all afternoon."

"Don't put yourself out on my account Commander."

"I've got an idea. How about we do a working lunch. We'll go out for lunch and go over our notes over dinner. How's that sound?"

"If you don't already have plans for lunch then fine." Mac said.

"Great…maybe we can slip out early to make the most of it." Harm said with a smile.

"Fine. Look…we better get a move on if we're going to be on time for the staff meeting…its 0927. And thirty seconds."

"Oh damn…the staff meeting. Right…I'll meet you there." Harm said as he jumped up and rushed out of Mac's office to run back to his to grab a notepad and a pen.

Old Hickory Grille

Falls Church, Virginia

16:35 Zulu

Harm looked up from the menu at Mac and smiled. "Ever been here before?" he asked.

Shaking her head Mac didn't even look up from the menu. 'Great' he thought to himself 'this is going to be a fun lunch.' "Sturgis said the catfish is pretty good if you're looking for something a little different."

"Hi, my name's Becky. Have you two decided what you're going to have?" a sunny faced young blonde server came over to their table.

"Well Becky, we're not too sure. You see my friend and I have never been here before, and you've just got so many things that look good. What would you recommend?" Harm asked with his best "flyboy" grin.

Giggling, Becky leaned over to point out a view items on his menu. "Well, the catfish is really tasty…and these applebutter ribs are just tickle your belly good."

"Well why don't we let the lady decide first. Mac? Have you decided?"

"I'll have the applebutter ribs with a side of fries. Can I get some gravy with the fries please? Oh and a glass of iced tea." Mac said, finally looking up from her menu, if only to hand it to the server and then she started to look at the décor, other diners, anywhere but at Harm.

"And you sir?"

"Can I get an order of fajitas please? And instead of steak, can I just get some extra vegetables? And can I get a glass of water please? Thank you Becky." Harm said as he handed over his menu with another smile.

"Oh you're welcome sir." Becky said with a giggle.

"Great…now you're picking up teenaged waitresses." Mac muttered after Becky left with their orders.

"Excuse me? What's that all about Mac?"

"You and your 'look at me…I'm a pilot' routine."

"Wow…where did that come from?"

"Nevermind…lets just get some work done." Mac said as she pulled a notepad out of her briefcase. Setting the pad on the table Mac looked down at her notes. "I don't think we know enough about the Chief Petty Officer who commanded Gonzalaz's section…CPO West. He's the weak link in our defense and I think Mattoni is going to pick it apart."

"I think you're giving Mattoni too much credit Mac. And I don't agree, I don't think the Chief is going to be our problem."

"Don't get cocky on me Rabb. Mattoni's good, you know that. He's beat you before."

"Yeah, he's good, but I have ninja girl on my side." Harm said with a grin.

"Don't call me that." Mac muttered.

"Pardon me?"

"I said don't call me that!" Mac said loudly.

Glancing around at the people seated at the tables around them Harm smiled in apology. Turning back towards Mac the smile fell off his face. "Look…are we having a problem here? Where did all this new hostility come from? Damn it Mac, I told the Admiral that we could be professional."

Sighing, Mac looked up from the notes before her. "Professional? Fine…we'll be professional. But please don't call me that anymore."

"Why not? You've never had a problem with me calling you that before." Harm asked curiously.

"It's just that…well…it rem…just I'd prefer if you didn't call me that anymore? Alright? Please Harm?"

Holding up his hands Harm sighed. "If that's what you want, I won't call you…that…anymore. I'm sorry." Harm said.

'Damn it...can't I do anything right?' he thought to himself.

"Now, about the chief petty officer." Mac began again as they waited for their food to arrive.

JAG Headquarters

Falls Church, Virginia

1717 Zulu

Walking through the hall on his way back to his office from the law library Harm saw a slender woman with short blonde hair wearing a Lieutenant Commander's uniform in the hall in front of him. Now there was something to brighten his afternoon.

"Hey stranger!" he said with a smile. "We still on for tonight?"

Laughing Meg turned around and nodded to Harm. "Uh-huh. You bet."

"Just get back from the cement bunker?" Harm asked as he fell in beside her.

"Yup. And don't ask, I can't tell you."

"Wasn't going to. So has the Admiral given you anything to do yet?"

"Just on my way to see what he's got for me." She said as they came to the bullpen. "I'll stop by later and we can chat then."

"Sounds good." Harm said with a smile. Turning towards his office he was almost there when he was stopped once more.

"Harm."

"Yeah Meg?" he said turning around.

With a grin she held up one hand, with the index and pinkie fingers extended over the rest of her fingers.

"Those better be 'hook em horns'" he said as they both started laughing.

"Am I missing something?" Admiral Chegwidden asked from the door to his office.

"Ah, no sir. Just an inside joke from years ago." Harm said trying hard to keep from smiling.

"Well then, Commander I'm sure you have something to do for the Gonzalez court martial. Lieutenant Commander, with me."

"Aye aye sir" the both said at the same time.

Turning to enter his office Harm couldn't help but smile as he heard the Admiral ask "Lieutenant Commander Austin, are you aware of what that means in Europe?"

1930 Zulu

"Hey Harm."

Looking up from his work Harm smiled at the sight of Meg standing in his doorway.

"Hey Meg. Come on in." he said as he stretched his arms over his head. "What time is it?"

"1430. Hey…you still need a ride home tonight?"

"Oh damn…I forgot to ask Bud and Harriet." Harm said as he craned his neck to see if he could spot Harriet.

"Don't worry about it Harm…I'll drive you." Meg said as she sat down in one of his visitor's chairs.

"Great…thanks. I'd really hate to have to put Bud and Harriet out…its not exactly on their way home."

"No problem. Hey…what's this I hear you're the godfather of their son?"

"Yeah…little AJ. He's adorable…he's almost…" with a sigh he added "five."

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right…spill Commander. Remember I learned how to read you over a year."

"Really…its nothing. Just thinking about something I did a long time ago. Anyway…you'd love AJ."

"I'm sure I would. Darn Harm…you've changed." Meg said shaking her head.

"Me? No way…I'm still the same old Harm as always."

"No…you're not. You drive an SUV, you've pretty much adopted not one, but two girls. And you get all soft at the thought of your godson. And I didn't get to see any of what changed you."

"I'm not that different.." Harm said, changing tactics. "Besides…you're different as well."

"Time has a way of doing that to someone. So who's the godmother?" Meg asked innocently.

"Well if you've heard that I'm the godfather, you've probably been talking to Harriet, which means she's been showing you pictures, which means you've seen the christening picture. So I'm guessing you already know its Mac."

"You caught me. I was just curious what you'd say. Which leads me to my next question councilor. How is it that Harmon Rabb Jr. always ends up with the pretty girls as his partners? First Kate, then me, and then Colonel MacKenzie."

Smiling Harm shrugged his shoulders. "Just lucky I guess."

Laughing Meg stood up. "Anyway…whenever you're ready to go just come and find me…I'm set up in conference room 2."

"I'll track you down."

"I'll hold you to that." Meg said with a little smile on her lips as she left.

'What's that all about?' he wondered.