Title : Where The Sea Meets The Sky
Author : Jaggie 107
Disclaimer : JAG characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. 'Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye' belongs to PAX TV – and I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.
Rating : G to PG-13
Thanks go to cbw; jtbwriter; beegirl, katydid13, ninjaturtle, capriceann and starryeyes10 for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
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SUE'S APARTMENT
WASHINGTON DC
SUNDAY MORNING
"Quals," asked Sue, not sure if she had read the right word.
"Qualifications, for flight status. Harm's got his medical and quals coming up next week. He's going to be offshore on the carrier, Patrick Henry, for a short time," Mac explained.
"What does he fly?"
"Fighter jets," Mattie piped up, pride showing on her face at Harm's skills.
"Wow, I didn't realise!" Sue fisted both hands in front of her with the thumbs raised and grinned widely, "… that's amazing! I thought he was just a lawyer. He's quite a man!" At the expression on Sue's face Mac laughed. Mattie joined in. As she watched Sue and Mac together she understood why their new-found friendship was important to them both.
While Sue got the extra cups out of a cupboard, Mattie helped fill the kettle, and Mac watched them work together. It made her happy that Mattie seemed to take so easily to Sue and Jack.
YARRIBA! MEXICAN RESTAURANT
ROSSLYN
VIRGINIA
SUNDAY LUNCHTIME
The five of them, Harm and Mac, Mattie, Sue and Jack had all piled into Harm's SUV for the trip to the restaurant. When they entered, they spotted Harriet and Bud planning to have lunch with their children. It looked like they had only just arrived themselves, with no food or drink yet on the table, apart from the baby rusks and juice.
"Mind if we join you all?" asked Harm, having first confirmed that Sue and Jack didn't mind joining in with the baby-food fight that AJ seemed to be having with his little brother, Jimmy.
"Of course not, Harm," Harriet spoke, knowing full well that Bud would have gone into the 'official' Sir/Ma'am routine that he still seemed unable to drop off duty when he was around Mac and Harm. "The more the merrier. Hello Sue, and Jack. Nice to see you both again. And Levi! Wow, this is really a full house!" Harriet knew Levi was allowed entry on the status of his being a service dog, even if he was unofficially 'off duty' when Sue had others around her to help her.
"It's great to see you again, too, Harriet. Hello, Bud. And who are these two gentlemen?" Sue asked, looking at Jack before returning her glance to the two children.
Mattie spoke up then, a grin on her face as she walked over to the two children. "This is AJ, named after the Admiral," at this, Sue looked at Mac for confirmation, and Mac smiled in remembrance of the time the Admiral had helped deliver his namesake. "And this is Jimmy," said Mattie, ruffling the baby's hair, and dropping a raspberry kiss on AJ's cheek, which made him giggle.
At that moment a waiter appeared at the table. "Excuse me, you have a reservation?" he asked, and Jack nodded.
"Hudson. Table for five, but we'd like to join our friends here."
"Not a problem, sir. If you would just give us a moment to rearrange seating."
It took very little time to add another table to the existing arrangement, and some more seats. With an extra table cloth and the requisite napkins, cutlery and glassware, the table was ready. All five took their seats. Mattie sat between Bud and the children so she could help Harriet, and give Bud a break from the continued food fight. Mac sat next to Bud, with Harm opposite, next to Harriet, and Sue sat opposite Jack so he could easily help her with speaking and signing, if necessary. Levi lay down behind Sue's chair, and with a bowl of water brought for him, he was set for the duration of their meal. Sue didn't encourage feeding Levi from the table at any mealtime, and politely asked that her friends understand. The golden retriever would be fed when Sue returned to the apartment.
Once everyone was settled at the table, and drinks ordered, menus were passed around. Mattie was a Mexican-food junkie, like Mac, and both would eat anything placed in front of them. Jack helped Sue choose something, both grinning at the shared memory of Sue's first taste of sushi with Jack, on assignment in New York. At their soft laughter Harriet looked across the table, and caught Mac's eye. Raising an eyebrow, Harriet smiled, and Mac nodded briefly. Harriet grinned then, and turned away on the pretext of helping her baby son as Sue raised her eyes from the menu when she felt someone looking at her. Mac appeared to have looked up at the same time, and the two friends acknowledged each other with a question of 'what are you having', speaking at the same time, and laughing as Sue added, "You first, Mac."
"Guacamole, with chilli to follow."
"I think I'd like the avocado salad, and some nachos with just a little chilli. I need to get used to this food slowly. I've never eaten such a variety of food since…" Sue had been about to say 'since I met Jack', but she amended it to, "…I arrived in Washington."
"Do you cook for yourself, Sue?" asked Harriet, knowing that many single women, Mac included, tended to live out of fast food outlets, and ready-to-eat meals from the freezer sections in supermarkets. Sue nodded in reply.
"I did a cookery course at college that helped supplement my income while I studied." It wasn't necessary to add that she had taken on a course that would not be hindered by her inability to hear – kitchens were notoriously noisy, and so people would come up to her to talk and at close distances she could read their lips, or that the course had been Cordon Bleu.
"Ah, so at least you'll feed me more than eggs on toast!" Jack said, grinning across at Sue, and the rest of the table laughed along with her at his comment.
Mattie looked down the table at the two agents, and smiled to herself. 'Jen was right,' she thought, 'they are like Mac and Harm.'
During the remainder of the meal all three couples told stories about themselves and others, and Mattie was included in the conversation with them, without making her feel self-conscious. When she was asked how she had come to meet Harm in the first place she glanced across at him and was given a smile of encouragement to continue.
"My Mom had a small aircraft business, running charters and crop-dusting. When she died I continued with the business. Harm's bi-plane was in storage at the field, which Mom bought over, and so I just kept it tuned and cleaned until he turned up. It was a long-term storage on continuous charged payment, so it went towards the upkeep, and paying some of the other bills too. I wouldn't let anyone take 'Sarah' out," Mattie looked again at Harm when she said this, and it was the first time he realised how honest a person she was; even though she didn't know who he was, she had kept his aircraft under lock and key, and would not even consider renting it out for others to use in his absence.
"Sarah?" asked Sue, looking across at Mac as she spoke, an eyebrow quirked.
"After Harm's grandmother," explained Mac in return, smiling. "She belonged to Harmon Rabb senior, Harm's father."
Mattie continued as Mac finished talking. Harriet and Bud knew that Harm had met Mattie at the airfield, but they hadn't been totally aware of just what Mattie's involvement in the business had been. Their belief that she was helping out at weekends was wiped off the slate when they realised that she alone had run *Grace Aviation*, a fact that Harm had found out only after he had worked for Mattie for a few weeks.
"What do you do with the business now that you're living with Harm?" Sue asked, really interested in Mattie, coming to understand that she was an incredibly gifted young woman.
"It's gone. My… father, took out a loan on the business without my knowledge, and it was called in when he defaulted on payments. The bank owns the business, and as I'm now in school, it's being run by a manager. I have first option to re-purchase, when I'm old enough, as a concession to my having run the business so well before Tom Johnson ruined it." Mattie's explanation was brief, and she dropped her head, fighting angry tears, before Harm spoke up, diverting attention to himself for a while, which she knew he had done to give her time to compose herself, and for which she was grateful.
"Something else Mattie hasn't told you about," he said, grinning at the memory, though at the time he'd almost throttled her. "When she drove herself into town to see me." Mac lifted an eyebrow at that one! She knew Mattie had been to see Harm at his apartment, and had been concerned that she had travelled alone through the Union Station district. It had never crossed her mind that Mattie would have driven herself! As Mattie lifted her head Mac saw the faint smile on her lips as she remembered too.
"Just wait till I'm sixteen, Harm… then I can drive legally," Mattie laughed, having won the battle with her tears. "Corvette, here I come!" she added, grinning at Harm's look of absolute fear over the future welfare of his hand-built (and re-built!), treasured Corvette!
"Not in this lifetime, young lady. You can take Driver's Ed at school, and then I might consider a sub-compact for you," Harm informed her, regaining some of his color as he came up with the compromise.
"Spoilsport," Mattie pretended to scowl at Harm, but spoilt it by laughing again.
Down the table Jack and Sue exchanged a look between them that spoke of the heightened respect they now had for Harm, and the admiration they had for Mattie.
They made quite a pair, the decorated Naval officer and the precocious teenager, but it was a relationship built on trust, and love, and their joint efforts to make their unorthodox union work were obvious to all, even the 'poking fun' at each other was taken in good humor by both.
Concluding the meal, the party agreed to go back to the Roberts' house for a final round of coffees, and then they would call it a day. All agreed it had been a very pleasant afternoon, and by the time they really did finish talking, it was the end of a very pleasant evening too.
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To be continued
A/N :
1. Since I started HNE-SNE not knowing how Jack and Sue met, I used creative licence and made up a situation based on information I had at that time. I have to go on using this line as it is a part of that story, and this is a continuation. However, in the series (which I have since seen in repeats) Jack meets Sue when she mistakes his office for the Personnel Department, and proceeds to tell him that she wants a transfer out of her current placement; fingerprint filing!
2. Still using creative licence; I doubt very much that there is a Mexican Restaurant in Rosslyn, Virginia, let alone one called 'YARRIBA'! (Where I get these ideas from, I have no idea!)
3. I must have missed the episode where Mattie moved to be with Harm, and so do not know what actually happened to GRACE AVIATION. If someone out there would fill me in, I'd appreciate it! (At least then I'll have the right info for a different story, if needed. Thanks!)
Author : Jaggie 107
Disclaimer : JAG characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. 'Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye' belongs to PAX TV – and I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.
Rating : G to PG-13
Thanks go to cbw; jtbwriter; beegirl, katydid13, ninjaturtle, capriceann and starryeyes10 for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUE'S APARTMENT
WASHINGTON DC
SUNDAY MORNING
"Quals," asked Sue, not sure if she had read the right word.
"Qualifications, for flight status. Harm's got his medical and quals coming up next week. He's going to be offshore on the carrier, Patrick Henry, for a short time," Mac explained.
"What does he fly?"
"Fighter jets," Mattie piped up, pride showing on her face at Harm's skills.
"Wow, I didn't realise!" Sue fisted both hands in front of her with the thumbs raised and grinned widely, "… that's amazing! I thought he was just a lawyer. He's quite a man!" At the expression on Sue's face Mac laughed. Mattie joined in. As she watched Sue and Mac together she understood why their new-found friendship was important to them both.
While Sue got the extra cups out of a cupboard, Mattie helped fill the kettle, and Mac watched them work together. It made her happy that Mattie seemed to take so easily to Sue and Jack.
YARRIBA! MEXICAN RESTAURANT
ROSSLYN
VIRGINIA
SUNDAY LUNCHTIME
The five of them, Harm and Mac, Mattie, Sue and Jack had all piled into Harm's SUV for the trip to the restaurant. When they entered, they spotted Harriet and Bud planning to have lunch with their children. It looked like they had only just arrived themselves, with no food or drink yet on the table, apart from the baby rusks and juice.
"Mind if we join you all?" asked Harm, having first confirmed that Sue and Jack didn't mind joining in with the baby-food fight that AJ seemed to be having with his little brother, Jimmy.
"Of course not, Harm," Harriet spoke, knowing full well that Bud would have gone into the 'official' Sir/Ma'am routine that he still seemed unable to drop off duty when he was around Mac and Harm. "The more the merrier. Hello Sue, and Jack. Nice to see you both again. And Levi! Wow, this is really a full house!" Harriet knew Levi was allowed entry on the status of his being a service dog, even if he was unofficially 'off duty' when Sue had others around her to help her.
"It's great to see you again, too, Harriet. Hello, Bud. And who are these two gentlemen?" Sue asked, looking at Jack before returning her glance to the two children.
Mattie spoke up then, a grin on her face as she walked over to the two children. "This is AJ, named after the Admiral," at this, Sue looked at Mac for confirmation, and Mac smiled in remembrance of the time the Admiral had helped deliver his namesake. "And this is Jimmy," said Mattie, ruffling the baby's hair, and dropping a raspberry kiss on AJ's cheek, which made him giggle.
At that moment a waiter appeared at the table. "Excuse me, you have a reservation?" he asked, and Jack nodded.
"Hudson. Table for five, but we'd like to join our friends here."
"Not a problem, sir. If you would just give us a moment to rearrange seating."
It took very little time to add another table to the existing arrangement, and some more seats. With an extra table cloth and the requisite napkins, cutlery and glassware, the table was ready. All five took their seats. Mattie sat between Bud and the children so she could help Harriet, and give Bud a break from the continued food fight. Mac sat next to Bud, with Harm opposite, next to Harriet, and Sue sat opposite Jack so he could easily help her with speaking and signing, if necessary. Levi lay down behind Sue's chair, and with a bowl of water brought for him, he was set for the duration of their meal. Sue didn't encourage feeding Levi from the table at any mealtime, and politely asked that her friends understand. The golden retriever would be fed when Sue returned to the apartment.
Once everyone was settled at the table, and drinks ordered, menus were passed around. Mattie was a Mexican-food junkie, like Mac, and both would eat anything placed in front of them. Jack helped Sue choose something, both grinning at the shared memory of Sue's first taste of sushi with Jack, on assignment in New York. At their soft laughter Harriet looked across the table, and caught Mac's eye. Raising an eyebrow, Harriet smiled, and Mac nodded briefly. Harriet grinned then, and turned away on the pretext of helping her baby son as Sue raised her eyes from the menu when she felt someone looking at her. Mac appeared to have looked up at the same time, and the two friends acknowledged each other with a question of 'what are you having', speaking at the same time, and laughing as Sue added, "You first, Mac."
"Guacamole, with chilli to follow."
"I think I'd like the avocado salad, and some nachos with just a little chilli. I need to get used to this food slowly. I've never eaten such a variety of food since…" Sue had been about to say 'since I met Jack', but she amended it to, "…I arrived in Washington."
"Do you cook for yourself, Sue?" asked Harriet, knowing that many single women, Mac included, tended to live out of fast food outlets, and ready-to-eat meals from the freezer sections in supermarkets. Sue nodded in reply.
"I did a cookery course at college that helped supplement my income while I studied." It wasn't necessary to add that she had taken on a course that would not be hindered by her inability to hear – kitchens were notoriously noisy, and so people would come up to her to talk and at close distances she could read their lips, or that the course had been Cordon Bleu.
"Ah, so at least you'll feed me more than eggs on toast!" Jack said, grinning across at Sue, and the rest of the table laughed along with her at his comment.
Mattie looked down the table at the two agents, and smiled to herself. 'Jen was right,' she thought, 'they are like Mac and Harm.'
During the remainder of the meal all three couples told stories about themselves and others, and Mattie was included in the conversation with them, without making her feel self-conscious. When she was asked how she had come to meet Harm in the first place she glanced across at him and was given a smile of encouragement to continue.
"My Mom had a small aircraft business, running charters and crop-dusting. When she died I continued with the business. Harm's bi-plane was in storage at the field, which Mom bought over, and so I just kept it tuned and cleaned until he turned up. It was a long-term storage on continuous charged payment, so it went towards the upkeep, and paying some of the other bills too. I wouldn't let anyone take 'Sarah' out," Mattie looked again at Harm when she said this, and it was the first time he realised how honest a person she was; even though she didn't know who he was, she had kept his aircraft under lock and key, and would not even consider renting it out for others to use in his absence.
"Sarah?" asked Sue, looking across at Mac as she spoke, an eyebrow quirked.
"After Harm's grandmother," explained Mac in return, smiling. "She belonged to Harmon Rabb senior, Harm's father."
Mattie continued as Mac finished talking. Harriet and Bud knew that Harm had met Mattie at the airfield, but they hadn't been totally aware of just what Mattie's involvement in the business had been. Their belief that she was helping out at weekends was wiped off the slate when they realised that she alone had run *Grace Aviation*, a fact that Harm had found out only after he had worked for Mattie for a few weeks.
"What do you do with the business now that you're living with Harm?" Sue asked, really interested in Mattie, coming to understand that she was an incredibly gifted young woman.
"It's gone. My… father, took out a loan on the business without my knowledge, and it was called in when he defaulted on payments. The bank owns the business, and as I'm now in school, it's being run by a manager. I have first option to re-purchase, when I'm old enough, as a concession to my having run the business so well before Tom Johnson ruined it." Mattie's explanation was brief, and she dropped her head, fighting angry tears, before Harm spoke up, diverting attention to himself for a while, which she knew he had done to give her time to compose herself, and for which she was grateful.
"Something else Mattie hasn't told you about," he said, grinning at the memory, though at the time he'd almost throttled her. "When she drove herself into town to see me." Mac lifted an eyebrow at that one! She knew Mattie had been to see Harm at his apartment, and had been concerned that she had travelled alone through the Union Station district. It had never crossed her mind that Mattie would have driven herself! As Mattie lifted her head Mac saw the faint smile on her lips as she remembered too.
"Just wait till I'm sixteen, Harm… then I can drive legally," Mattie laughed, having won the battle with her tears. "Corvette, here I come!" she added, grinning at Harm's look of absolute fear over the future welfare of his hand-built (and re-built!), treasured Corvette!
"Not in this lifetime, young lady. You can take Driver's Ed at school, and then I might consider a sub-compact for you," Harm informed her, regaining some of his color as he came up with the compromise.
"Spoilsport," Mattie pretended to scowl at Harm, but spoilt it by laughing again.
Down the table Jack and Sue exchanged a look between them that spoke of the heightened respect they now had for Harm, and the admiration they had for Mattie.
They made quite a pair, the decorated Naval officer and the precocious teenager, but it was a relationship built on trust, and love, and their joint efforts to make their unorthodox union work were obvious to all, even the 'poking fun' at each other was taken in good humor by both.
Concluding the meal, the party agreed to go back to the Roberts' house for a final round of coffees, and then they would call it a day. All agreed it had been a very pleasant afternoon, and by the time they really did finish talking, it was the end of a very pleasant evening too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued
A/N :
1. Since I started HNE-SNE not knowing how Jack and Sue met, I used creative licence and made up a situation based on information I had at that time. I have to go on using this line as it is a part of that story, and this is a continuation. However, in the series (which I have since seen in repeats) Jack meets Sue when she mistakes his office for the Personnel Department, and proceeds to tell him that she wants a transfer out of her current placement; fingerprint filing!
2. Still using creative licence; I doubt very much that there is a Mexican Restaurant in Rosslyn, Virginia, let alone one called 'YARRIBA'! (Where I get these ideas from, I have no idea!)
3. I must have missed the episode where Mattie moved to be with Harm, and so do not know what actually happened to GRACE AVIATION. If someone out there would fill me in, I'd appreciate it! (At least then I'll have the right info for a different story, if needed. Thanks!)