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!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCAL HOSPITAL
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Mac sat outside in the hospital corridor and waited for the doctor to come out of Mattie's room. As she waited, Jack and Sue appeared around the corner of the nurses' station. Immediately she was on her feet and both her friends greeted her with a hug.
"How is Mattie?" asked Sue, her arm around Mac's shoulder.
"Lucky to be alive, but that may change when she wakes up!" Mac threatened, and then got to her feet as the door to Mattie's room opened. Dr Morgan stepped out into the corridor.
"Well, now her stomach has been pumped, Miss Grace is feeling very sorry for herself even though she says she feels better. However, she is still stating that she took nothing. It is feasible, Miss Mackenzie, that your ward was slipped something, but to have both alcohol and drugs in her system, it seems a little hard to believe that she didn't know."
"Thank you, Dr Morgan. I take it she'll be a guest of yours for the evening?"
"It might be best. I'll check her in the morning, and we'll take it from there."
"Thank you." Mac shook hands with the doctor, and then clenched her hand into a fist as she banged it against the wall beside her. "I can't believe she'd do this!" she muttered, not quite ready for going into see Mattie, afraid she might say the wrong thing and set back both her and Harm's relationship with the teenager.
"Mac, don't be too hasty to judge her. I did that with a friend of mine, and almost lost him. I refused to believe that he hadn't gone back on drugs after being clean for a few years." Jack spoke up, resting a hand on Mac's arm, as she turned to look at him and understand what he was saying.
Mac took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right. Mattie's wouldn't risk a life with Harm, and going to the Academy, on something so stupid. With the alcohol problems Tom has having taken her mother as well, it would be the last thing she would do. Thanks, Jack."
"I'm glad to be here. We both are," he added, looking across at Sue who nodded, and leaned in to kiss Mac's cheek.
"We'll wait out here. If Mattie's up to seeing us, we can pop in for a minute afterwards."
"Okay. If she's up to it, I'll tell her you're here." Mac took another deep breath, releasing it as she opened the door into the room, and walked across to the figure in the bed. Almost immediately Mattie scrambled up and put her arms out to Mac, who's instinctive reaction was to hold and comfort her, stroking her back as Mattie sobbed.
"I didn't do anything, Mac. Please, I wouldn't drink, not with what happened to Mom, and as for drugs... I'm on the school 'Say No' program!"
"Ssh, Mattie, I do believe you, sweetie. We're going to have to go through what happened to you; where you were? The police have some questions for you, and they'll be back tomorrow. I managed to put them off until then. You don't have to talk about anything right now. You can tell me tomorrow, before the police interview you, if you want."
"No! Mac, I have to tell you everything! I've found out something, and it does involve staff too..."
"What is it? Does the principal know?" Mac fired quick questions at Mattie.
"I don't know how far... how far up the school it goes. There are drugs involved, and maybe more. I think that's why I had this happen to me, because of my running the program."
"Well, the Principal called me from the school to say that you hadn't appeared for the remedial class. I called Jack and Sue, and met them at the school, and by then you'd been found in the gym, under the bleachers, out cold and holding an empty vodka bottle. The doctor found some prescription drugs in your system too. Luckily you'd been sick, and that got rid of a lot of stuff, otherwise we might not be having this conversation."
"Ew, yeuch! I'd never do that!" Mattie protested, and if nothing else were to convince Mac, that alone would have done it.
Having woken up a few times in a less than pleasant state herself, she had known she would be the same way again before the day was out. Alcoholics didn't care about anything other than the next drink, unless in the rare sane moments they decided they needed help, or failing that, someone else decided for them! Mac knew she would always have her Uncle Matt to thank for her own life. Mattie had both Harm and Mac, and the JAG team, plus now she also had Sue and Jack. With a 'family' that large, and with such illustrious credentials, there was never any doubt that the teenager was in good hands.
"Mattie?" Mac waited while she had the teenager's attention. "Sue and Jack are outside. Do you want them in here while you tell what you know? Otherwise, I can pass the information on to them."
"Oh, bring them in! Please!" Mattie asked, and Mac nodded, moving to the door and smiling at Sue and Jack.
"Mattie's asking for you both."
When all three adults were in the room, Mattie told them what she had gone through - at least what she remembered of it - that morning. From the time Mac had dropped her off at the school entrance, to where she had been called by the vice principal into her office, with an offer of a drink while they talked; to the telephone call she overheard the woman make, about a 'drop' and a 'payment', and 'planting' something to make a big enough noise. When Mattie had made a move to leave the room, she had collapsed on the floor instead. Aware of the vice principal coming over to check on her, and then being picked up and carried out of the room, Mattie had been trying to leave the office to get to her remedial class, act as normally as possible, and then tell Mac what she had overheard. The next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital.
"I checked with the doctor out there while we were waiting. The drugs in your system were relaxants. Enough to dope you, but mixed with the alcohol, that's what knocked you out. However, even the acohol was minimal. Nothing was meant to endanger your life, just make you ill. Create an illusion. Possibly you were just making them nervous and they wanted you out of the way for a while." Jack explained.
"It doesn't excuse what they did to you, Mattie, but we don't believe they intended any great harm to you. However, with what you've just told us, there are the more serious issues of drugs, and the possibility of terrorist activities. Targeting a school is an act of cowardice, but not beneath zealots. We're running checks on the principal and vice principal. So far the principal is clean, just a man who runs his school like a boot camp, being ex-military. The vice principal, however, has a few problems, which could have been exploited by a cell. We're still trying to trace her history."
"Perhaps I can help with that," said the principal as he entered Mattie's room. "I did knock, but you were talking." Mattie instinctively leaned into Mac for protection. If the man noticed this, he didn't say anything, choosing instead to face Sue and Jack.
"I made a call to the FBI this morning, to offer my services in investigating my school vice principal. I was more than surprised to find I already had agents on the premises! Mr Hudson, and Miss Thomas, no less." Although this was said gruffly, there was a smile that accompanied the words.
Jack shook hands, and introduced himself. "I really am Jack Hudson, but you're right, I'm not a counselor. Neither is Miss Thomas. Although she is an authority on ASL. What is it you have to tell us?"
"Mrs Van Meer, the vice principal, came with me from my last private school. At the time I thought nothing of her giving up a private school salary - she said she had the same ideals as myself. To give back to a community. It was only when she started showing up in designer suits, driving the sports car, taking expensive trips out of town during vacation time, I began to wonder just where the money was coming from. Although, at the previous school, there were so many perks, maybe I just hadn't noticed her lifestyle being any different. It became more obvious in a less wealthy environment. Too flashy, perhaps."
"Were you aware she had drugs problems herself? We have a police sheet on her that covers quite an illustrious career."
"No, I didn't know that. Although it shouldn't surprise me, it does. I've never been aware of any inappropriate actions on her part in school. And she does have the teaching qualifications she professes to hold. Her class are proof of her professionalism. There is no way you can fake being a high-school teacher."
"I can agree with that," Mattie added quietly, entering the conversation. "Mrs Van Meer has taught me a lot in the time I've been at school. I guess that's why I was so surprised by what happened in her office too. Maybe because of her, that's why I'm still here to tell you all what I remember."
"Ah, a criminal with a heart." Jack smiled at Mattie. "It isn't the first time, and it won't be the last. Unfortunately for Mrs Van Meer, her teaching career is over."
"How will this affect your investigation now?" Mattie asked Jack, and he put a hand out to hold hers.
"Not a problem. We have enough to follow up and arrest Mrs Van Meer. Perhaps she has conscience enough to give us information on her associates. At the very least, the school will lose its contact, and so the dealer will move on. We'll follow up on what you overheard, Mattie. That gives us grounds for warrants in a few areas. You did good, kid!"
Mattie smiled at Mac, Sue and Jack, but her expression wavered as she looked at the principal, who stepped forward and offered her his hand.
"I owe you an apology, Miss Grace."
Mattie's eyebrows rose at that admission, and the name he used, but she said nothing, waiting for the man to continue.
"I'm a man who was raised in a military family, and in a time when children were seen and not heard. To that end, my ethics in teaching are based on my own childhood, and while it was a kind home, it was also strict. It didn't do me any harm, and it doesn't seem to have done the school any harm either. We do have a good teaching standard in the community, and I'm proud of that achievement. However, every once in a while a student comes along to push the envelope when it comes to my level of standards, and you, my dear, have pushed that level to a height even I didn't think was possible. I am aware of your personal history, and your present state as the ward of a naval officer. I'm very proud to have you as a student in my school, Mattie, and I hope you won't let this incident stop you returning."
"It won't. Thank you, sir."
"You are welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business I believe with Agents Hudson and Thomas here, and hopefully we will be able to redeem something from this turn of events." As the principal turned away, he nodded at Mac and uttered a single, polite, 'Ma'am'.
"You were military; what rank?" Mac asked, aware of the deference in the man's demeanor.
"I retired from the Marine Corps as a Major, ma'am. Three tours in 'Nam and I'd seen all I needed to for that lifetime."
"Semper Fi," Mac murmured, shaking hands.
Sue and Jack said goodbye to Mattie, with a promise to come back later and visit. Mac went out of the door with them, and then returned within a few minutes. Mattie was lying back against the pillows, and turned her head to face Mac when she returned.
"What are we going to tell Harm, Mac?" she asked, plaintively. "I'm worried this will affect the court hearing. My father... Tom, I'm supposed to see him on Sundays. He'll find out about this now."
"I'll let Harm know what happened, Mattie. As for Tom Johnson, I'll go and meet him and explain what happened. A short version, I promise. I won't lie to him, but I won't go into details either. It should be enough for him to be told that there was a problem at school and unfortunately it involved you through your work on the 'Say No' program. If he asks more, I'll tell him what I think he needs to know."
"Okay." Mattie accepted Mac's reassurances, and then settled back against the pillows, her eyelids drooping. Before she dropped off to sleep again Mac leaned forward in the chair, holding on to Mattie's right hand.
"Hey, I forgot to tell you in all the rush lately. Harm's been promoted! He's Captain Rabb now."
"That's wunnerful..." Mattie grinned, and settled her face against Mac's hand, closing her eyes and falling asleep at last. Mac grinned at the apparent ease with which Mattie accepted her news, and aware that she had so much more to tell the teenager who now held part of her heart too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCAL HOSPITAL
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Mac sat outside in the hospital corridor and waited for the doctor to come out of Mattie's room. As she waited, Jack and Sue appeared around the corner of the nurses' station. Immediately she was on her feet and both her friends greeted her with a hug.
"How is Mattie?" asked Sue, her arm around Mac's shoulder.
"Lucky to be alive, but that may change when she wakes up!" Mac threatened, and then got to her feet as the door to Mattie's room opened. Dr Morgan stepped out into the corridor.
"Well, now her stomach has been pumped, Miss Grace is feeling very sorry for herself even though she says she feels better. However, she is still stating that she took nothing. It is feasible, Miss Mackenzie, that your ward was slipped something, but to have both alcohol and drugs in her system, it seems a little hard to believe that she didn't know."
"Thank you, Dr Morgan. I take it she'll be a guest of yours for the evening?"
"It might be best. I'll check her in the morning, and we'll take it from there."
"Thank you." Mac shook hands with the doctor, and then clenched her hand into a fist as she banged it against the wall beside her. "I can't believe she'd do this!" she muttered, not quite ready for going into see Mattie, afraid she might say the wrong thing and set back both her and Harm's relationship with the teenager.
"Mac, don't be too hasty to judge her. I did that with a friend of mine, and almost lost him. I refused to believe that he hadn't gone back on drugs after being clean for a few years." Jack spoke up, resting a hand on Mac's arm, as she turned to look at him and understand what he was saying.
Mac took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right. Mattie's wouldn't risk a life with Harm, and going to the Academy, on something so stupid. With the alcohol problems Tom has having taken her mother as well, it would be the last thing she would do. Thanks, Jack."
"I'm glad to be here. We both are," he added, looking across at Sue who nodded, and leaned in to kiss Mac's cheek.
"We'll wait out here. If Mattie's up to seeing us, we can pop in for a minute afterwards."
"Okay. If she's up to it, I'll tell her you're here." Mac took another deep breath, releasing it as she opened the door into the room, and walked across to the figure in the bed. Almost immediately Mattie scrambled up and put her arms out to Mac, who's instinctive reaction was to hold and comfort her, stroking her back as Mattie sobbed.
"I didn't do anything, Mac. Please, I wouldn't drink, not with what happened to Mom, and as for drugs... I'm on the school 'Say No' program!"
"Ssh, Mattie, I do believe you, sweetie. We're going to have to go through what happened to you; where you were? The police have some questions for you, and they'll be back tomorrow. I managed to put them off until then. You don't have to talk about anything right now. You can tell me tomorrow, before the police interview you, if you want."
"No! Mac, I have to tell you everything! I've found out something, and it does involve staff too..."
"What is it? Does the principal know?" Mac fired quick questions at Mattie.
"I don't know how far... how far up the school it goes. There are drugs involved, and maybe more. I think that's why I had this happen to me, because of my running the program."
"Well, the Principal called me from the school to say that you hadn't appeared for the remedial class. I called Jack and Sue, and met them at the school, and by then you'd been found in the gym, under the bleachers, out cold and holding an empty vodka bottle. The doctor found some prescription drugs in your system too. Luckily you'd been sick, and that got rid of a lot of stuff, otherwise we might not be having this conversation."
"Ew, yeuch! I'd never do that!" Mattie protested, and if nothing else were to convince Mac, that alone would have done it.
Having woken up a few times in a less than pleasant state herself, she had known she would be the same way again before the day was out. Alcoholics didn't care about anything other than the next drink, unless in the rare sane moments they decided they needed help, or failing that, someone else decided for them! Mac knew she would always have her Uncle Matt to thank for her own life. Mattie had both Harm and Mac, and the JAG team, plus now she also had Sue and Jack. With a 'family' that large, and with such illustrious credentials, there was never any doubt that the teenager was in good hands.
"Mattie?" Mac waited while she had the teenager's attention. "Sue and Jack are outside. Do you want them in here while you tell what you know? Otherwise, I can pass the information on to them."
"Oh, bring them in! Please!" Mattie asked, and Mac nodded, moving to the door and smiling at Sue and Jack.
"Mattie's asking for you both."
When all three adults were in the room, Mattie told them what she had gone through - at least what she remembered of it - that morning. From the time Mac had dropped her off at the school entrance, to where she had been called by the vice principal into her office, with an offer of a drink while they talked; to the telephone call she overheard the woman make, about a 'drop' and a 'payment', and 'planting' something to make a big enough noise. When Mattie had made a move to leave the room, she had collapsed on the floor instead. Aware of the vice principal coming over to check on her, and then being picked up and carried out of the room, Mattie had been trying to leave the office to get to her remedial class, act as normally as possible, and then tell Mac what she had overheard. The next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital.
"I checked with the doctor out there while we were waiting. The drugs in your system were relaxants. Enough to dope you, but mixed with the alcohol, that's what knocked you out. However, even the acohol was minimal. Nothing was meant to endanger your life, just make you ill. Create an illusion. Possibly you were just making them nervous and they wanted you out of the way for a while." Jack explained.
"It doesn't excuse what they did to you, Mattie, but we don't believe they intended any great harm to you. However, with what you've just told us, there are the more serious issues of drugs, and the possibility of terrorist activities. Targeting a school is an act of cowardice, but not beneath zealots. We're running checks on the principal and vice principal. So far the principal is clean, just a man who runs his school like a boot camp, being ex-military. The vice principal, however, has a few problems, which could have been exploited by a cell. We're still trying to trace her history."
"Perhaps I can help with that," said the principal as he entered Mattie's room. "I did knock, but you were talking." Mattie instinctively leaned into Mac for protection. If the man noticed this, he didn't say anything, choosing instead to face Sue and Jack.
"I made a call to the FBI this morning, to offer my services in investigating my school vice principal. I was more than surprised to find I already had agents on the premises! Mr Hudson, and Miss Thomas, no less." Although this was said gruffly, there was a smile that accompanied the words.
Jack shook hands, and introduced himself. "I really am Jack Hudson, but you're right, I'm not a counselor. Neither is Miss Thomas. Although she is an authority on ASL. What is it you have to tell us?"
"Mrs Van Meer, the vice principal, came with me from my last private school. At the time I thought nothing of her giving up a private school salary - she said she had the same ideals as myself. To give back to a community. It was only when she started showing up in designer suits, driving the sports car, taking expensive trips out of town during vacation time, I began to wonder just where the money was coming from. Although, at the previous school, there were so many perks, maybe I just hadn't noticed her lifestyle being any different. It became more obvious in a less wealthy environment. Too flashy, perhaps."
"Were you aware she had drugs problems herself? We have a police sheet on her that covers quite an illustrious career."
"No, I didn't know that. Although it shouldn't surprise me, it does. I've never been aware of any inappropriate actions on her part in school. And she does have the teaching qualifications she professes to hold. Her class are proof of her professionalism. There is no way you can fake being a high-school teacher."
"I can agree with that," Mattie added quietly, entering the conversation. "Mrs Van Meer has taught me a lot in the time I've been at school. I guess that's why I was so surprised by what happened in her office too. Maybe because of her, that's why I'm still here to tell you all what I remember."
"Ah, a criminal with a heart." Jack smiled at Mattie. "It isn't the first time, and it won't be the last. Unfortunately for Mrs Van Meer, her teaching career is over."
"How will this affect your investigation now?" Mattie asked Jack, and he put a hand out to hold hers.
"Not a problem. We have enough to follow up and arrest Mrs Van Meer. Perhaps she has conscience enough to give us information on her associates. At the very least, the school will lose its contact, and so the dealer will move on. We'll follow up on what you overheard, Mattie. That gives us grounds for warrants in a few areas. You did good, kid!"
Mattie smiled at Mac, Sue and Jack, but her expression wavered as she looked at the principal, who stepped forward and offered her his hand.
"I owe you an apology, Miss Grace."
Mattie's eyebrows rose at that admission, and the name he used, but she said nothing, waiting for the man to continue.
"I'm a man who was raised in a military family, and in a time when children were seen and not heard. To that end, my ethics in teaching are based on my own childhood, and while it was a kind home, it was also strict. It didn't do me any harm, and it doesn't seem to have done the school any harm either. We do have a good teaching standard in the community, and I'm proud of that achievement. However, every once in a while a student comes along to push the envelope when it comes to my level of standards, and you, my dear, have pushed that level to a height even I didn't think was possible. I am aware of your personal history, and your present state as the ward of a naval officer. I'm very proud to have you as a student in my school, Mattie, and I hope you won't let this incident stop you returning."
"It won't. Thank you, sir."
"You are welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business I believe with Agents Hudson and Thomas here, and hopefully we will be able to redeem something from this turn of events." As the principal turned away, he nodded at Mac and uttered a single, polite, 'Ma'am'.
"You were military; what rank?" Mac asked, aware of the deference in the man's demeanor.
"I retired from the Marine Corps as a Major, ma'am. Three tours in 'Nam and I'd seen all I needed to for that lifetime."
"Semper Fi," Mac murmured, shaking hands.
Sue and Jack said goodbye to Mattie, with a promise to come back later and visit. Mac went out of the door with them, and then returned within a few minutes. Mattie was lying back against the pillows, and turned her head to face Mac when she returned.
"What are we going to tell Harm, Mac?" she asked, plaintively. "I'm worried this will affect the court hearing. My father... Tom, I'm supposed to see him on Sundays. He'll find out about this now."
"I'll let Harm know what happened, Mattie. As for Tom Johnson, I'll go and meet him and explain what happened. A short version, I promise. I won't lie to him, but I won't go into details either. It should be enough for him to be told that there was a problem at school and unfortunately it involved you through your work on the 'Say No' program. If he asks more, I'll tell him what I think he needs to know."
"Okay." Mattie accepted Mac's reassurances, and then settled back against the pillows, her eyelids drooping. Before she dropped off to sleep again Mac leaned forward in the chair, holding on to Mattie's right hand.
"Hey, I forgot to tell you in all the rush lately. Harm's been promoted! He's Captain Rabb now."
"That's wunnerful..." Mattie grinned, and settled her face against Mac's hand, closing her eyes and falling asleep at last. Mac grinned at the apparent ease with which Mattie accepted her news, and aware that she had so much more to tell the teenager who now held part of her heart too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued