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, starryeyes10, kirsten, soonerfan, another tracy, tomcat-all, lori4, carol and eliv.thade for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
Thanks to CapriceAnn too for extra info - I can use it on another story sometime! I totally forgot about imdb!
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MATTIE'S SCHOOL
1530 HOURS - THURSDAY
As Mattie walked out of the main school doors she spotted Mac waiting by her car. The Marine Lieutenant Colonel was dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt, but the military was still in evidence in the semi-relaxed pose as Mac leaned against her car. As soon as she spotted Mattie she waved and began walking towards the teenager.
"Hi, Mac. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Mattie. Just a change of plans. Jennifer has to work late for the Admiral today, and she's got class after, so I've taken some time due and I finished just after lunch and arranged to meet Sue and Jack back at your place. Or Harm's. Your choice."
"I guess if Jen's out, it's not going to be too crowded in ours. Great. Can we leave now. I need to get out of here."
"I... sure. Here you go," Mac said as she pulled open the passenger door on her way round to the driver's door. As Mattie slipped into her seat, she heard her name called from the entrance. With the door closed, she pretended not to hear, and just called across to Mac to please pull out of the space before the principal could get across to the car. Mac did just that, prepared to give Mattie the benefit of the doubt, and plead ignorance if needed. It wasn't often Mattie sounded so desperate, and this was one of those occasions.
As Mac swung her car out into the afternoon traffic and headed for the beltway, she turned to glance at Mattie.
"Okay. Want to tell me what that was all about? That was the principal calling you, wasn't it?"
Mattie nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude. It's just... since Sue and Jack's visit today he's really been on my case. I don't know if it's because of what I said earlier, or because of my being involved in the 'Say No' group, or something else."
"Something else like what? Has he said anything to you directly? I mean, if he has, maybe we need to check with Harm."
"He's been on my case about calling me 'Johnson', and I keep reminding him that my surname is Grace." Mattie paused, and then gave a big sigh before continuing. "I may have screwed things up for Harm. The principal said that the only way I would get him to change saying my name, would be for me to change parents. So I told him I would be doing just that, soon."
"Oh." Mac pondered that thought. "So, being a Rabb is what you want?"
"More than anything!" Mattie nodded vehemently. Smiling at Mac, she added "... it even comes in ahead of going to the Academy!"
"For any particular reason, other than loving Harm?"
"Yeah. It's going to be so great having another Rabb on the Academy roster!"
"God help them!" muttered Mac, and then she and Mattie burst out laughing. As Mac took the turn-off for Union Station she managed to speak again through the laughter.
"Seriously, Mattie, I doubt you've caused Harm any problems. If your... if Tom Johnson were to pull any kind of stunt between now and the court re-assessment, I can put hand on heart and tell you that the only thing he is going to get is the loss of you in his life. Harm's worked hard to try and make you understand that, even if you don't want to be with Tom, you should at least keep in contact. Maybe not for right now, but later in your life you may want to know that at least he's there in your life, however small a part he may play, but by the same token, Tom has to respect your wishes too. If you decide not to have him there, Harm will understand."
"You know, between the two of you, you've got my options pretty well covered. How did I get so lucky?" Mattie spoke softly, watching Mac's face, and the secret smile that came to her lips and her eyes.
"I guess we're both lucky. We have Harmon Rabb in our lives."
"Yeah," said Mattie, absently agreeing with Mac, while thinking that there was something 'different' about her, but it just wasn't possible to figure out what - yet!
MATTIE AND JENNIFER'S APARTMENT
NORTH OF UNION STATION
1655 HOURS
"I'll get it!" Mac called out to Mattie as she heard the knock at the apartment door. Sue and Jack stood in the doorway, with Levi between them. Mac beamed at the pair of them and welcomed them in to the apartment as Mattie appeared from her bedroom, grinning at the three adults.
"Welcome to my world, guys!" she laughed, and waved a hand around the apartment. Sue nodded and smiled.
"Now I know why you want to redecorate," she added, and laughed at Mattie's delighted expression. Mac grinned too, knowing that Mattie had only been teasing before, and while she and Jennifer may well decorate again, it wouldn't be before Harm returned from his assignment. Jack took a seat on the sofa, and Levi came and flopped at his feet; Sue glanced over in surprise, and Jack raised an eyebrow in question, before speaking.
"What, you don't think us guys should stick together when outnumbered three to two?" he said, to the accompanied laughs of Mac and Mattie. Sue made a mock pout and then smiled, and Jack leaned over to pat Levi's coat.
"Never mind, Levi, you and me will do just fine," he pretended to reassure the golden retriever, and the dog huffed in response before settling back on the floor, his expressive eyes going back and forth between Jack and Sue.
"Can I get drinks for everyone before we sort out what's going on?" Mattie offered, and took the requests for tea and two coffees along with her own selection of juice to the kitchen, shooing Mac out to rejoin Sue and Jack. "I'll be with you in a tic, Mac."
Mac grinned and nodded, returning to the lounge area and taking one of the two 'director' chairs that were part of the furnishings. That the furnishings were mixed was not unusual given the differences in taste of Mattie and Jennifer, but somehow the differing tastes seemed to complement each other and made for a warm, inviting environment.
Sue glanced at Jack and then across at Mac before speaking. "We really need to get into Mattie's school, Mac, but if it's going to cause her problems, we'll find another way to get our information."
"I doubt that it will cause her problems, but I'm not sure if the principal will find a way to get at her. It would seem he's riding her about something, and I'm not sure what. Do you have anything on him personally?"
"We have some information from Tara that he is ex-military. Came out after Vietnam. He had an honorable discharge, and went into teaching shortly after that. Exemplary record, strict but fair, fast advancement up the ladder to vice principal at a couple of private schools, and then principal at a state school. Nothing unusual in that. Felt he could give something to the kids whose parents perhaps didn't have the means of providing a private education." Jack's brief explanation of the rise of the man who was Mattie's current school principal was concise, and didn't raise any flags of consternation with the three adults in the room, except perhaps with the exception of his anger at Mattie over her surname. Sue pointed it out as Mattie came back into the room with the drinks and set the tray down on the coffee table.
"The guy just isn't used to me yet, that's all," she said, looking round at the three faces. "Harm'll tell you, I'm a little too outspoken... sometimes," she added, and Mac laughed softly.
"I'll grant you that, Mattie." In the short time she had known the teenager Mattie had been blunt about Mac and Harm, and Mac's 'other' relationship, with a certain 'spook'. (Mattie had taken to using Harm's nicknames for people, too!)
"Mattie, this is an important investigation for us," Jack started, waiting for Mattie's full attention, which came immediately. For all her youth, Mattie was focussed enough to know when to act up and when to be serious. It was one of the reasons she had joined the 'Say No' program in the first place, to help her peers; if helping Sue and Jack would put an end to drugs in her school, she would do whatever she could. Jack knew he had Mattie's attention and continued talking. "We've had information that drugs are being passed to students from a source outside the school, leaving the staff, shall we say... untainted, but someone on the staff is very aware of what is happening, condoning the actions, and more than likely even profiting from them. Do you know of any of the staff that are, perhaps, acting any differently, or have any changed material things lately. Clothes, cars... stuff like that?"
"I don't think so..." Mattie answered, and then raised a finger. "Our chemistry teacher got a new bike last week, but I don't think that's what you're after. It's a push-bike, and he's retiring next semester anyway."
Sue smiled. "You're right, Mattie. I don't think that he would really qualify for a drug-pusher." Jack grinned too, and looked across at Sue and Mac before speaking again to Mattie.
"Sue and I are due back in school tomorrow as the new counselors. We're going to be seeing kids on an appointment basis as they choose. We don't want to make it too obvious that we are singling out the anti-drugs group. We can say we have spoken to you as their representative, and that was enough. If we have any other questions, or you do, we get together on a regular student/teacher basis. You have to remember to use our surnames."
"Okay, I will." Mattie acknowledged the request.
"Mattie, we have no way of knowing what might happen if we press the wrong buttons on someone. They could react violently, and there is no way we want you caught up in that. None of the students, but especially you. If we feel that there is something going on, we'll get you out. It might not be Sue or I, but it will be one of our team, and they'll identify themselves."
"Could we use a word? I'm sorry, I just heard it's pretty easy to flip a badge and say 'FBI' or 'Police' these days. I'd hate to screw up your investigation by getting myself caught by the bad guy because he yelled an agency name and I came running!"
Jack nodded, smiling at Mattie's ingenuity. "You're right. Think of some word, and we'll tell the rest of the team. If necessary, they will use that word to identify themselves."
"Stearman." Mattie's response was prompt, and even Mac was surprised at the name she had chosen.
"Someone you know?" asked Jack, curious.
"Something," Mattie replied, smiling at Mac. "It's Harm's plane. She's a Stearman."
"Okay, so that's the word we'll use. We have a number of males and females on the team, so if they need to use the word, they'll be told to identify themselves as Mr or Mrs Stearman."
"Great!" Mattie smiled round at the three adults, and stroked Levi's fur. "Is anybody hungry yet?" she asked, knowing instinctively that Mac, Sue and Jack trusted her to be her usual self at school, and Mac trusted her two friends to make sure that Mattie was kept as safe as possible during their investigation.
"I'm always hungry," replied Mac, and as if on cue her stomach rumbled. "Told ya!" she added, and all four of them laughed. Jack offered to escort them all to a restaurant for dinner, and his offer was accepted with much discussion on where they should take such a 'dishy-looking' escort. The Chinese restaurant around the corner from Harm's was the mutual choice, and so they rang and made a reservation, and then carried on talking for a while until it was time to leave for the meal. Mattie left a note for Jennifer, in case she returned and found Mattie still out of the apartment.
One of the conversations Jack was privy to during the half hour they waited was that of Mac and Sue agreeing to make a date for another 'girls' night in' to discuss past and present and 'future' boyfriends. While it was said in jest, and knowing full-well that Mac was with Harm and Sue was with Jack, it still brought a troubled look to Jack's eyes as he admitted something to himself. Sue had, by her own admission, been in very few relationships in her past, and none of them intimate, until she had met Jack. Their intimate relationship was exclusive, as it should be, but while Jack had experienced more relationships than Sue and now knew that she was the only one for him, Sue had little to compare, and absolutely nothing when it came to intimacy in previous relationships. What if she were to decide one day that she needed more?
He left the apartment with a smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. Sue noticed, but kept that fact to herself.
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To be continued
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, starryeyes10, kirsten, soonerfan, another tracy, tomcat-all, lori4, carol and eliv.thade for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
Thanks to CapriceAnn too for extra info - I can use it on another story sometime! I totally forgot about imdb!
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MATTIE'S SCHOOL
1530 HOURS - THURSDAY
As Mattie walked out of the main school doors she spotted Mac waiting by her car. The Marine Lieutenant Colonel was dressed in casual jeans and t-shirt, but the military was still in evidence in the semi-relaxed pose as Mac leaned against her car. As soon as she spotted Mattie she waved and began walking towards the teenager.
"Hi, Mac. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Mattie. Just a change of plans. Jennifer has to work late for the Admiral today, and she's got class after, so I've taken some time due and I finished just after lunch and arranged to meet Sue and Jack back at your place. Or Harm's. Your choice."
"I guess if Jen's out, it's not going to be too crowded in ours. Great. Can we leave now. I need to get out of here."
"I... sure. Here you go," Mac said as she pulled open the passenger door on her way round to the driver's door. As Mattie slipped into her seat, she heard her name called from the entrance. With the door closed, she pretended not to hear, and just called across to Mac to please pull out of the space before the principal could get across to the car. Mac did just that, prepared to give Mattie the benefit of the doubt, and plead ignorance if needed. It wasn't often Mattie sounded so desperate, and this was one of those occasions.
As Mac swung her car out into the afternoon traffic and headed for the beltway, she turned to glance at Mattie.
"Okay. Want to tell me what that was all about? That was the principal calling you, wasn't it?"
Mattie nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude. It's just... since Sue and Jack's visit today he's really been on my case. I don't know if it's because of what I said earlier, or because of my being involved in the 'Say No' group, or something else."
"Something else like what? Has he said anything to you directly? I mean, if he has, maybe we need to check with Harm."
"He's been on my case about calling me 'Johnson', and I keep reminding him that my surname is Grace." Mattie paused, and then gave a big sigh before continuing. "I may have screwed things up for Harm. The principal said that the only way I would get him to change saying my name, would be for me to change parents. So I told him I would be doing just that, soon."
"Oh." Mac pondered that thought. "So, being a Rabb is what you want?"
"More than anything!" Mattie nodded vehemently. Smiling at Mac, she added "... it even comes in ahead of going to the Academy!"
"For any particular reason, other than loving Harm?"
"Yeah. It's going to be so great having another Rabb on the Academy roster!"
"God help them!" muttered Mac, and then she and Mattie burst out laughing. As Mac took the turn-off for Union Station she managed to speak again through the laughter.
"Seriously, Mattie, I doubt you've caused Harm any problems. If your... if Tom Johnson were to pull any kind of stunt between now and the court re-assessment, I can put hand on heart and tell you that the only thing he is going to get is the loss of you in his life. Harm's worked hard to try and make you understand that, even if you don't want to be with Tom, you should at least keep in contact. Maybe not for right now, but later in your life you may want to know that at least he's there in your life, however small a part he may play, but by the same token, Tom has to respect your wishes too. If you decide not to have him there, Harm will understand."
"You know, between the two of you, you've got my options pretty well covered. How did I get so lucky?" Mattie spoke softly, watching Mac's face, and the secret smile that came to her lips and her eyes.
"I guess we're both lucky. We have Harmon Rabb in our lives."
"Yeah," said Mattie, absently agreeing with Mac, while thinking that there was something 'different' about her, but it just wasn't possible to figure out what - yet!
MATTIE AND JENNIFER'S APARTMENT
NORTH OF UNION STATION
1655 HOURS
"I'll get it!" Mac called out to Mattie as she heard the knock at the apartment door. Sue and Jack stood in the doorway, with Levi between them. Mac beamed at the pair of them and welcomed them in to the apartment as Mattie appeared from her bedroom, grinning at the three adults.
"Welcome to my world, guys!" she laughed, and waved a hand around the apartment. Sue nodded and smiled.
"Now I know why you want to redecorate," she added, and laughed at Mattie's delighted expression. Mac grinned too, knowing that Mattie had only been teasing before, and while she and Jennifer may well decorate again, it wouldn't be before Harm returned from his assignment. Jack took a seat on the sofa, and Levi came and flopped at his feet; Sue glanced over in surprise, and Jack raised an eyebrow in question, before speaking.
"What, you don't think us guys should stick together when outnumbered three to two?" he said, to the accompanied laughs of Mac and Mattie. Sue made a mock pout and then smiled, and Jack leaned over to pat Levi's coat.
"Never mind, Levi, you and me will do just fine," he pretended to reassure the golden retriever, and the dog huffed in response before settling back on the floor, his expressive eyes going back and forth between Jack and Sue.
"Can I get drinks for everyone before we sort out what's going on?" Mattie offered, and took the requests for tea and two coffees along with her own selection of juice to the kitchen, shooing Mac out to rejoin Sue and Jack. "I'll be with you in a tic, Mac."
Mac grinned and nodded, returning to the lounge area and taking one of the two 'director' chairs that were part of the furnishings. That the furnishings were mixed was not unusual given the differences in taste of Mattie and Jennifer, but somehow the differing tastes seemed to complement each other and made for a warm, inviting environment.
Sue glanced at Jack and then across at Mac before speaking. "We really need to get into Mattie's school, Mac, but if it's going to cause her problems, we'll find another way to get our information."
"I doubt that it will cause her problems, but I'm not sure if the principal will find a way to get at her. It would seem he's riding her about something, and I'm not sure what. Do you have anything on him personally?"
"We have some information from Tara that he is ex-military. Came out after Vietnam. He had an honorable discharge, and went into teaching shortly after that. Exemplary record, strict but fair, fast advancement up the ladder to vice principal at a couple of private schools, and then principal at a state school. Nothing unusual in that. Felt he could give something to the kids whose parents perhaps didn't have the means of providing a private education." Jack's brief explanation of the rise of the man who was Mattie's current school principal was concise, and didn't raise any flags of consternation with the three adults in the room, except perhaps with the exception of his anger at Mattie over her surname. Sue pointed it out as Mattie came back into the room with the drinks and set the tray down on the coffee table.
"The guy just isn't used to me yet, that's all," she said, looking round at the three faces. "Harm'll tell you, I'm a little too outspoken... sometimes," she added, and Mac laughed softly.
"I'll grant you that, Mattie." In the short time she had known the teenager Mattie had been blunt about Mac and Harm, and Mac's 'other' relationship, with a certain 'spook'. (Mattie had taken to using Harm's nicknames for people, too!)
"Mattie, this is an important investigation for us," Jack started, waiting for Mattie's full attention, which came immediately. For all her youth, Mattie was focussed enough to know when to act up and when to be serious. It was one of the reasons she had joined the 'Say No' program in the first place, to help her peers; if helping Sue and Jack would put an end to drugs in her school, she would do whatever she could. Jack knew he had Mattie's attention and continued talking. "We've had information that drugs are being passed to students from a source outside the school, leaving the staff, shall we say... untainted, but someone on the staff is very aware of what is happening, condoning the actions, and more than likely even profiting from them. Do you know of any of the staff that are, perhaps, acting any differently, or have any changed material things lately. Clothes, cars... stuff like that?"
"I don't think so..." Mattie answered, and then raised a finger. "Our chemistry teacher got a new bike last week, but I don't think that's what you're after. It's a push-bike, and he's retiring next semester anyway."
Sue smiled. "You're right, Mattie. I don't think that he would really qualify for a drug-pusher." Jack grinned too, and looked across at Sue and Mac before speaking again to Mattie.
"Sue and I are due back in school tomorrow as the new counselors. We're going to be seeing kids on an appointment basis as they choose. We don't want to make it too obvious that we are singling out the anti-drugs group. We can say we have spoken to you as their representative, and that was enough. If we have any other questions, or you do, we get together on a regular student/teacher basis. You have to remember to use our surnames."
"Okay, I will." Mattie acknowledged the request.
"Mattie, we have no way of knowing what might happen if we press the wrong buttons on someone. They could react violently, and there is no way we want you caught up in that. None of the students, but especially you. If we feel that there is something going on, we'll get you out. It might not be Sue or I, but it will be one of our team, and they'll identify themselves."
"Could we use a word? I'm sorry, I just heard it's pretty easy to flip a badge and say 'FBI' or 'Police' these days. I'd hate to screw up your investigation by getting myself caught by the bad guy because he yelled an agency name and I came running!"
Jack nodded, smiling at Mattie's ingenuity. "You're right. Think of some word, and we'll tell the rest of the team. If necessary, they will use that word to identify themselves."
"Stearman." Mattie's response was prompt, and even Mac was surprised at the name she had chosen.
"Someone you know?" asked Jack, curious.
"Something," Mattie replied, smiling at Mac. "It's Harm's plane. She's a Stearman."
"Okay, so that's the word we'll use. We have a number of males and females on the team, so if they need to use the word, they'll be told to identify themselves as Mr or Mrs Stearman."
"Great!" Mattie smiled round at the three adults, and stroked Levi's fur. "Is anybody hungry yet?" she asked, knowing instinctively that Mac, Sue and Jack trusted her to be her usual self at school, and Mac trusted her two friends to make sure that Mattie was kept as safe as possible during their investigation.
"I'm always hungry," replied Mac, and as if on cue her stomach rumbled. "Told ya!" she added, and all four of them laughed. Jack offered to escort them all to a restaurant for dinner, and his offer was accepted with much discussion on where they should take such a 'dishy-looking' escort. The Chinese restaurant around the corner from Harm's was the mutual choice, and so they rang and made a reservation, and then carried on talking for a while until it was time to leave for the meal. Mattie left a note for Jennifer, in case she returned and found Mattie still out of the apartment.
One of the conversations Jack was privy to during the half hour they waited was that of Mac and Sue agreeing to make a date for another 'girls' night in' to discuss past and present and 'future' boyfriends. While it was said in jest, and knowing full-well that Mac was with Harm and Sue was with Jack, it still brought a troubled look to Jack's eyes as he admitted something to himself. Sue had, by her own admission, been in very few relationships in her past, and none of them intimate, until she had met Jack. Their intimate relationship was exclusive, as it should be, but while Jack had experienced more relationships than Sue and now knew that she was the only one for him, Sue had little to compare, and absolutely nothing when it came to intimacy in previous relationships. What if she were to decide one day that she needed more?
He left the apartment with a smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. Sue noticed, but kept that fact to herself.
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To be continued