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. (Here's the disclaimer for NCIS, as above...I'll leave it in for the rest of the story; makes life easier when I need to 'borrow' Gibbs and his team!)
Rating : G to PG-13
Thanks go to cbw, jtbwriter, beegirl, katydid13, ninjaturtle, capriceann, starryeyes10, kirsten, soonerfan, another tracy, tomcat-all, lori4, carol, eliv.thade, alicia5, fragmentpieces, kesh, claysmvl, chicmns, skyefire, tammy-jet, abigaile, kjflygirl87, anna7, nikki, jbird7986, angelab, pineapplehead, rosa, manda, rinkrat, bard2003, laura carr, tj, sahc, kstorm, arian04, deb and cj for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
Replies to previous chapter reviews :
cj Hello and welcome to the story! Thank you for the info on the plane, I didn't realize. Filed for future reference! Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
nikki Dunstan's 'hiding' will be explained in this chapter. Sturgis is one of the good guys, so I like to think of him looking after Mac and Mattie for Harm. Tom Johnson will be history soon, well - in the background at least. Thanks for the support, and please keep reading!
alicia5 Thanks for the 'push' - I do tend to get a bit long-winded sometimes. I like the reference to Hussein tho' - made me smile! Back in the 80's I got stranded at a hotel in Baghdad just 'cos he was moving across town! No-one was allowed on the road when he was in convoy. Talk about paranoid!!! I'd only gone out for dinner! Thanks for the support, and please keep reading!
arian04 Some confusion here - Harm went in by helo and parachuted. The F-14 is still in Bahrain waiting for him to get back with Dunstan, and then they will fly out to the carrier. As for the chute itself, as far as I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong!) it is part of the seat, which the airman is strapped into, and when it is ejected from the aircraft it activates the chute and then the bulk of the seat falls away, leaving the chute attached to the airman.
laura carr Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
jbird 7986 The big 5-0 is here! I never honestly thought this story would run so far - and I haven't finished yet! Not too much longer, though. Maybe I can run to the big 6-0 too! Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
jtbwriter Hiya! Oops! Good save on the computer! Ha, ha! Yay, Sturgis is turning into my next-best hero! If the Admiral is the paternal figure in the JAG family, Harriet is definitely the maternal one! Hope you like what's coming in the next few chapters. I've got an idea for an epilogue, and somewhere in the works (probably on another fan site) I can carry on with Sue and Jack's story on it's own. Thanks as always!
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SOMEWHERE IN THE DESERT
WEST COAST
SAUDI ARABIA
TUESDAY MORNING
Harm was still waiting, and he was getting ticked off. Wherever Dunstan was - and he didn't doubt it was Dunstan - he had left nearly a million dollars' worth of technical equipment out in the open. Harm's other gripe with the journalist was wondering what the performance in Bahrain had been all about. It was obvious that his behaviour there was all a front, for whatever he was doing now. The equipment was high-end, not available on any market, obtainable only through an agency. Harm would even guess that there were some in the CIA that would kill to have that kind of communications equipment. The CIA. Webb. Harm dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had come into his head. Dunstan was good at his job; he'd proved that he was zealous, and like any journalist would, he followed a story to the end. But he wasn't CIA material. Like Harm, he was too visible - everyone in the military theaters around the world knew his face. So, who 'would' recruit someone like Dunstan?
An idea came to him at the same moment as Harm heard movement above him. His hiding place was below a ledge, and he knew he was hidden from above - so whoever was there was unaware of Harm's presence. Suddenly there was the sound of whistling, and Dunstan appeared, walking past the ledge. Just as Harm rolled out of his hiding place and moved into a crouch behind him, Dunstan turned round and grinned.
"Hi, Rabb. I wondered who they would send to get me!"
"Dunstan, I could have killed you!"
"Nah. I know you don't like me much, but even you wouldn't resort to murder to get rid of me."
"Just shows how little you know me," Harm retorted.
Dunstan grinned, unrepentant. "Besides, I knew it was you. I saw you land last night. It was quite funny, watching you do your little recon routine and then settle into your hideout."
"How the hell...ah, night vision helmet."
"The very best, of course," Dunstan agreed, pulling the aforesaid item out of a smaller pack than the one that sat propped up against the transmitter.
"So why didn't you come and 'introduce' yourself last night?"
"I was on my way to get some food. I've found an encampment a kilometre or so away. They were quite generous. Of course, they don't know it's me. They think one of the animals knocked over the storage box."
"Very inventive." Harm couldn't hide the sarcasm, and Dunstan winced.
"You know, Rabb, you could be more amenable. I've brought enough for the two of us, after all."
"Jeez, Dunstan. You think you're James Bond?"
At that remark Dunstan actually stopped the banter and turned serious.
"No, Harm, I don't think I'm 'James Bond'. I know exactly who I am and what I do."
"Then what are you doing out here? And with all that technology sat out in the sun there?"
"I sort of hijacked it."
"What?"
"When you saw me out of the restaurant that night, in Bahrain, I went back to my hotel. There was a message for me to contact ZNN on a different number to what I usually used. Of course, the journalist in me picked up on this and I went out again that night and found a call center. I wasn't going to make the call from the hotel. It could have been traced."
"You sure you don't have a spy complex?" Harm asked, but his tone was friendlier, and Dunstan shrugged and continued.
"I was told that some equipment, that stuff," Dunstan pointed to the transmitter, "...was lifted from a US position in Qatar and driven up country into Saudi. As I was the nearest civilian with connections to the military, could I get across the border? Of course, as it was by special request, I also got the appropriate documents in the name of one Kent Clark. Get it?"
"Get what?"
"The name, Rabb, the name! Kent Clark, Clark Kent - Superman!"
Harm rolled his eyes and groaned. Dunstan laughed.
"I knew you'd like that one! Anyway, I come across the Causeway in a cab, hitch a ride with a Brit family going back to their compound, and they drop me off at a mall. My next contact is some Arab kid who comes up, pulls on my jacket, and points to a utility truck across the way. It's covered in tarp, and I manage to lift a corner and take a look. I can't believe it, but I'm looking at the transmitter! Talk about hide in plain sight!"
"I can't believe it either, Dunstan. Who the hell contacted you?"
"I don't know. It was done through ZNN, but to cover themselves, they've put out that I'm on medical leave - nervous breakdown."
"That I can believe!" Harm muttered. "Okay, we've established you've retrieved what you were asked to get. Now it's my turn. There is a helo coming in tonight to extract us to Bahrain. From there I get you back to the Sea Hawk."
"How come? I'm supposed to get this stuff back where it came from."
"It will be taken care of, Dunstan. Providing, of course, that those who took it don't come looking for it before we get out of here."
"No problem. I haven't seen anyone other than those I took the food from, and they're just nomads." Dunstan shook his head, and then looked across at Harm again.
"How did you know it was me, Rabb? I saw you, but you couldn't have known I was here."
"I didn't. You can thank Mac for that bit of information."
"Colonel Mackenzie? How the hell did 'she' know?"
"Woman's intuition, Dunstan."
"Some woman!"
"At last, I actually agree with you, Stuart!" Harm grinned, and settled down to eat some of the provisions Dunstan had brought.
HARM'S APARTMENT
NORTH OF UNION STATION
MONDAY NIGHT
Mac used her key to open Harm's apartment door, and before she could step through she was met by Mattie's tearful hug.
"Hey, sweetie, it's okay," Mac returned the hug, and drew back to brush the curls away from Mattie's face so that she could see the tear-stained face. "Can we go inside, Mattie, then I can tell you what's going on with Harm, and you can tell me what's going on with you, okay?"
Mattie nodded in response, and released Mac enough to let them both through the apartment door, and then she put her arms around Mac again, this time mumbling brokenly, "I'm sorry, Mac. I'm sorry! I didn't think...he'd really do...it, y'know?"
"Mattie, you said on the phone that Tom was going to bring charges. Did he say that to you when you went to see him yesterday, at the center?"
Mattie nodded, wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her dressing gown, and then took a deep breath before answering.
"He said he had had enough, and that I belonged with him. He wouldn't give up his rights to me, and that one way to get me back early was to charge you and Harm. I know I can use the emancipation order, and before all this you and Harm would have been able to stop the charges. But now..."
"What's happened now, Mattie?" Mac was a little confused.
"Well...you're pregnant, Mac! If he...if my father brings the charges, you'll be investigated, and they'll find out you're having Harm's baby."
Mac breathed a sigh of relief, and Mattie gave her a curious look.
"Mattie, it's going to be all right. I promise. After all, we have the Admiral on our side, or at least we will have when I speak to him tomorrow."
"Is that going to be enough?"
"I'm sure it is. When we go to the judge with your emancipation order, and the affidavits from your teachers and the JAG staff, I'm sure she will see what we do - that you've had a settled life with Harm this past six months. You attend school, your grades are all A's, you've made friends, and you're happy, as a teenager should be. We all know how capable you are, Mattie. You've proved that by doing what you did with Grace Aviation. But you missed out on a special time in your childhood, and while you can never really get that back, you've been able to make the most of what you have now."
"That's all about me, Mac. What about you and Harm? I don't want you getting into trouble because of me."
"It's going to be alright," Mac smiled at her. "We're family, Mattie. It's that simple."
"Yeah, I guess so..." Mattie sniffled once more, blew her nose on a tissue in her pocket, and then bounced on the couch to face Mac. "Okay, where is Harm anyway?"
"Right now, somewhere in the desert, but he should be on his way back to Bahrain by tonight, and then back onto the carrier. I have to speak to the Admiral tomorrow aobut the baby, and I also need to confirm the court date. It's due two weeks today."
"And Harm is going to be there, isn't he?"
"He's in trouble with me if he doesn't, and he daren't mess with this marine," Mac lowered her voice, making herself sound tough, no-nonsense, but broke the illusion by grinning.
"Are you staying here tonight, Mac?"
"Yes. Do you want to stay with me?" Mattie nodded.
"Jen's out with a college study group tonight. I left her a note that I was coming over here to see you."
"Okay. How about we make some of Harm's hot chocolate and get settled in for the night?"
"Sounds good." Mattie nodded, hopping off the couch to go and help Mac in the kitchen. "Mac?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad you're here."
"So'm I, Mattie."
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To be continued
A/N : I need to clear something up here - just realized when I re-read the story this morning on FF. Harm's bit, at the end, when he is in the desert. He landed the night before, buried his chute, and is now waiting in the daylight for Dunstan. Hope that clears up any confusion. This chapter should have made it easier too. Thanks to all and keep reading!
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. (Here's the disclaimer for NCIS, as above...I'll leave it in for the rest of the story; makes life easier when I need to 'borrow' Gibbs and his team!)
Rating : G to PG-13
Thanks go to cbw, jtbwriter, beegirl, katydid13, ninjaturtle, capriceann, starryeyes10, kirsten, soonerfan, another tracy, tomcat-all, lori4, carol, eliv.thade, alicia5, fragmentpieces, kesh, claysmvl, chicmns, skyefire, tammy-jet, abigaile, kjflygirl87, anna7, nikki, jbird7986, angelab, pineapplehead, rosa, manda, rinkrat, bard2003, laura carr, tj, sahc, kstorm, arian04, deb and cj for their reviews. As before, any reviewers I miss between posts will be added to the list for the next chapter!
Replies to previous chapter reviews :
cj Hello and welcome to the story! Thank you for the info on the plane, I didn't realize. Filed for future reference! Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
nikki Dunstan's 'hiding' will be explained in this chapter. Sturgis is one of the good guys, so I like to think of him looking after Mac and Mattie for Harm. Tom Johnson will be history soon, well - in the background at least. Thanks for the support, and please keep reading!
alicia5 Thanks for the 'push' - I do tend to get a bit long-winded sometimes. I like the reference to Hussein tho' - made me smile! Back in the 80's I got stranded at a hotel in Baghdad just 'cos he was moving across town! No-one was allowed on the road when he was in convoy. Talk about paranoid!!! I'd only gone out for dinner! Thanks for the support, and please keep reading!
arian04 Some confusion here - Harm went in by helo and parachuted. The F-14 is still in Bahrain waiting for him to get back with Dunstan, and then they will fly out to the carrier. As for the chute itself, as far as I understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong!) it is part of the seat, which the airman is strapped into, and when it is ejected from the aircraft it activates the chute and then the bulk of the seat falls away, leaving the chute attached to the airman.
laura carr Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
jbird 7986 The big 5-0 is here! I never honestly thought this story would run so far - and I haven't finished yet! Not too much longer, though. Maybe I can run to the big 6-0 too! Thanks for your support, and please keep reading!
jtbwriter Hiya! Oops! Good save on the computer! Ha, ha! Yay, Sturgis is turning into my next-best hero! If the Admiral is the paternal figure in the JAG family, Harriet is definitely the maternal one! Hope you like what's coming in the next few chapters. I've got an idea for an epilogue, and somewhere in the works (probably on another fan site) I can carry on with Sue and Jack's story on it's own. Thanks as always!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOMEWHERE IN THE DESERT
WEST COAST
SAUDI ARABIA
TUESDAY MORNING
Harm was still waiting, and he was getting ticked off. Wherever Dunstan was - and he didn't doubt it was Dunstan - he had left nearly a million dollars' worth of technical equipment out in the open. Harm's other gripe with the journalist was wondering what the performance in Bahrain had been all about. It was obvious that his behaviour there was all a front, for whatever he was doing now. The equipment was high-end, not available on any market, obtainable only through an agency. Harm would even guess that there were some in the CIA that would kill to have that kind of communications equipment. The CIA. Webb. Harm dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had come into his head. Dunstan was good at his job; he'd proved that he was zealous, and like any journalist would, he followed a story to the end. But he wasn't CIA material. Like Harm, he was too visible - everyone in the military theaters around the world knew his face. So, who 'would' recruit someone like Dunstan?
An idea came to him at the same moment as Harm heard movement above him. His hiding place was below a ledge, and he knew he was hidden from above - so whoever was there was unaware of Harm's presence. Suddenly there was the sound of whistling, and Dunstan appeared, walking past the ledge. Just as Harm rolled out of his hiding place and moved into a crouch behind him, Dunstan turned round and grinned.
"Hi, Rabb. I wondered who they would send to get me!"
"Dunstan, I could have killed you!"
"Nah. I know you don't like me much, but even you wouldn't resort to murder to get rid of me."
"Just shows how little you know me," Harm retorted.
Dunstan grinned, unrepentant. "Besides, I knew it was you. I saw you land last night. It was quite funny, watching you do your little recon routine and then settle into your hideout."
"How the hell...ah, night vision helmet."
"The very best, of course," Dunstan agreed, pulling the aforesaid item out of a smaller pack than the one that sat propped up against the transmitter.
"So why didn't you come and 'introduce' yourself last night?"
"I was on my way to get some food. I've found an encampment a kilometre or so away. They were quite generous. Of course, they don't know it's me. They think one of the animals knocked over the storage box."
"Very inventive." Harm couldn't hide the sarcasm, and Dunstan winced.
"You know, Rabb, you could be more amenable. I've brought enough for the two of us, after all."
"Jeez, Dunstan. You think you're James Bond?"
At that remark Dunstan actually stopped the banter and turned serious.
"No, Harm, I don't think I'm 'James Bond'. I know exactly who I am and what I do."
"Then what are you doing out here? And with all that technology sat out in the sun there?"
"I sort of hijacked it."
"What?"
"When you saw me out of the restaurant that night, in Bahrain, I went back to my hotel. There was a message for me to contact ZNN on a different number to what I usually used. Of course, the journalist in me picked up on this and I went out again that night and found a call center. I wasn't going to make the call from the hotel. It could have been traced."
"You sure you don't have a spy complex?" Harm asked, but his tone was friendlier, and Dunstan shrugged and continued.
"I was told that some equipment, that stuff," Dunstan pointed to the transmitter, "...was lifted from a US position in Qatar and driven up country into Saudi. As I was the nearest civilian with connections to the military, could I get across the border? Of course, as it was by special request, I also got the appropriate documents in the name of one Kent Clark. Get it?"
"Get what?"
"The name, Rabb, the name! Kent Clark, Clark Kent - Superman!"
Harm rolled his eyes and groaned. Dunstan laughed.
"I knew you'd like that one! Anyway, I come across the Causeway in a cab, hitch a ride with a Brit family going back to their compound, and they drop me off at a mall. My next contact is some Arab kid who comes up, pulls on my jacket, and points to a utility truck across the way. It's covered in tarp, and I manage to lift a corner and take a look. I can't believe it, but I'm looking at the transmitter! Talk about hide in plain sight!"
"I can't believe it either, Dunstan. Who the hell contacted you?"
"I don't know. It was done through ZNN, but to cover themselves, they've put out that I'm on medical leave - nervous breakdown."
"That I can believe!" Harm muttered. "Okay, we've established you've retrieved what you were asked to get. Now it's my turn. There is a helo coming in tonight to extract us to Bahrain. From there I get you back to the Sea Hawk."
"How come? I'm supposed to get this stuff back where it came from."
"It will be taken care of, Dunstan. Providing, of course, that those who took it don't come looking for it before we get out of here."
"No problem. I haven't seen anyone other than those I took the food from, and they're just nomads." Dunstan shook his head, and then looked across at Harm again.
"How did you know it was me, Rabb? I saw you, but you couldn't have known I was here."
"I didn't. You can thank Mac for that bit of information."
"Colonel Mackenzie? How the hell did 'she' know?"
"Woman's intuition, Dunstan."
"Some woman!"
"At last, I actually agree with you, Stuart!" Harm grinned, and settled down to eat some of the provisions Dunstan had brought.
HARM'S APARTMENT
NORTH OF UNION STATION
MONDAY NIGHT
Mac used her key to open Harm's apartment door, and before she could step through she was met by Mattie's tearful hug.
"Hey, sweetie, it's okay," Mac returned the hug, and drew back to brush the curls away from Mattie's face so that she could see the tear-stained face. "Can we go inside, Mattie, then I can tell you what's going on with Harm, and you can tell me what's going on with you, okay?"
Mattie nodded in response, and released Mac enough to let them both through the apartment door, and then she put her arms around Mac again, this time mumbling brokenly, "I'm sorry, Mac. I'm sorry! I didn't think...he'd really do...it, y'know?"
"Mattie, you said on the phone that Tom was going to bring charges. Did he say that to you when you went to see him yesterday, at the center?"
Mattie nodded, wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her dressing gown, and then took a deep breath before answering.
"He said he had had enough, and that I belonged with him. He wouldn't give up his rights to me, and that one way to get me back early was to charge you and Harm. I know I can use the emancipation order, and before all this you and Harm would have been able to stop the charges. But now..."
"What's happened now, Mattie?" Mac was a little confused.
"Well...you're pregnant, Mac! If he...if my father brings the charges, you'll be investigated, and they'll find out you're having Harm's baby."
Mac breathed a sigh of relief, and Mattie gave her a curious look.
"Mattie, it's going to be all right. I promise. After all, we have the Admiral on our side, or at least we will have when I speak to him tomorrow."
"Is that going to be enough?"
"I'm sure it is. When we go to the judge with your emancipation order, and the affidavits from your teachers and the JAG staff, I'm sure she will see what we do - that you've had a settled life with Harm this past six months. You attend school, your grades are all A's, you've made friends, and you're happy, as a teenager should be. We all know how capable you are, Mattie. You've proved that by doing what you did with Grace Aviation. But you missed out on a special time in your childhood, and while you can never really get that back, you've been able to make the most of what you have now."
"That's all about me, Mac. What about you and Harm? I don't want you getting into trouble because of me."
"It's going to be alright," Mac smiled at her. "We're family, Mattie. It's that simple."
"Yeah, I guess so..." Mattie sniffled once more, blew her nose on a tissue in her pocket, and then bounced on the couch to face Mac. "Okay, where is Harm anyway?"
"Right now, somewhere in the desert, but he should be on his way back to Bahrain by tonight, and then back onto the carrier. I have to speak to the Admiral tomorrow aobut the baby, and I also need to confirm the court date. It's due two weeks today."
"And Harm is going to be there, isn't he?"
"He's in trouble with me if he doesn't, and he daren't mess with this marine," Mac lowered her voice, making herself sound tough, no-nonsense, but broke the illusion by grinning.
"Are you staying here tonight, Mac?"
"Yes. Do you want to stay with me?" Mattie nodded.
"Jen's out with a college study group tonight. I left her a note that I was coming over here to see you."
"Okay. How about we make some of Harm's hot chocolate and get settled in for the night?"
"Sounds good." Mattie nodded, hopping off the couch to go and help Mac in the kitchen. "Mac?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad you're here."
"So'm I, Mattie."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be continued
A/N : I need to clear something up here - just realized when I re-read the story this morning on FF. Harm's bit, at the end, when he is in the desert. He landed the night before, buried his chute, and is now waiting in the daylight for Dunstan. Hope that clears up any confusion. This chapter should have made it easier too. Thanks to all and keep reading!