1522 ZULU
Potomac Naval Annex
Washington, D.C.
Six years earlier
Harm and Mac had been assigned a case – a different kind of case than they usually had to deal with. This time the lifeless body of a 6 year-old child had been found on the floor of the toilets of the Potomac Naval Annex, and here they where now meeting NCIS agent Mary Holland to get some information about the child – the problem was they had almost nothing to go on. The little body was covered by a white sheet.
Harm went to where the body was laying, crouched down, and lifted up the sheet a little to take a look. It was not long before he had to look elsewhere. Now his face was as white as the sheet. Harm needed air, he needed to get out of there. He was nervous and Mac sensed it.
"Are you all right?" Mac asked concerned.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you."
Mac knew him all too well. There was something wrong. She'd seen his face going blank the minute he'd laid eyes on the small lifeless body. She saw him head to the door to get outside of this place. He seemed to feel uneasy.
"Do we know for how long she's been lying here?" Harm asked Mary Holland.
"Twenty-four hours."
"Good, this should be enough for someone to notice she'd disappeared..." Harm asked while going outside.
He was followed by Agent Holland, and by Mac, who closed the thick metal door marked "RESTRICTED AREA – NO ADMITTRANCE" behind her.
It was then that something happened. The same little girl that was lying in there, her body covered by a white sheet, appeared to him through the wreck of an old plane that had served during the war. Harm blinked but she was already gone. Mac, who had seen him stare for a brief moment, asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, not sounding really convinced.
"Let's get out of here. There's nothing we can do," Mac, said ready to leave.
"You go, I'm staying here. I'm sure Agent Holland will agree to bring me back," Harm said, following Agent Holland, who was about the reenter the place the little girl had been discovered.
1842 ZULU
Chief Medical Examiner
Washington, D.C.
Harm was still by the child's side when they'd brought her to the chief medical examiner. He was standing in front of a glass window and presented himself to Dr Vaughn.
The doctor was examining the little girl's body, recording his notes and impressions into a tape recorder, so that he could refer to them later.
"What are you doing here Commander?" Dr. Vaughn asked him.
"I don't want her to be alone." Harm said, his voice almost a whisper.
"She's dead, Commander, she won't know the difference."
At the doctor's last words, Harm flinched slightly, thinking that the man was probably immune by now; he surely had seen a lot of things in his career, but still... How could someone made of flesh and bone become immune to such cruelty?
Harm stood there, listening to all the enumerations – all the scars and the tortures the little girl had been suffering of through the years... not to speak of the possibility of sexual abuse. Harm felt a wave of anger flow through him once again. How could someone do this to a defenseless child?
A child doesn't ask to be born. A child comes into the world because of the love his parents share and is not welcome to world at first to be bitten down next. No, things weren't supposed to go that way. The wave of anger was still floating through reach his eyes. The man who did this would pay for what he did... No matter what, no matter how long it would take...
1435 ZULU
Mac's office
JAG headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Still a week earlier
Harm and Mac were still in each other's arms, enjoying the warmth of each other. Mac was beginning to feel better. She'd always felt safe in her partner's arms. Mac started to disentangle herself slowly from Harm's embrace. She took a step backward and looked intently in his wonderful eyes.
"Thanks, stick-boy," she smiled.
"Anytime, jarhead." Harm smiled back at her.
"I'm sorry," Mac said sheepishly.
"There's no need to be," he assured her.
"Harm? Can you promise me something, please?"
"Yes?"
"Promise me that we'll nail the guy, and find the truth about those two kids," she said, her voice trembling.
"I promise, Mac... I promise," Harm told her, a reassuring tone in his voice.
More to come soon in Part 2!
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