AN: Thanks to JBird7986 for her correction of my NAVY insignia in the last chapter. I truly appreciate it. Also, if someone could tell me the name of the SECNAV, that would also be truly appreciated.

Chapter 13: Criminal Actions

HARM & MAC'S APARTMENT

Harm sat on the couch, Mac snuggled up against him, thinking about his day. Becoming a Captain meant that he would get his own command somewhere else. But the SECNAV had taken him aside and privately told him that there wouldn't be a command position open for him for another couple months. Someone in Norfolk was retiring and it had been decided that Harm would be given that position when the other Captain did retire. Harm was just grateful that he and Mac would not have to move. (AN: I realize that this may not seem realistic, but let's just say that a) Krennick wants to keep him close to home (hers) and/or b) because of his current record, they want to keep Harm close so they can keep an eye on him)

"Did you know about my promotion?" asked Harm.

"I knew that AJ put you in for one before he retired. That's why Harriet called after lunch and told me to come to the office," explained Mac.

"But after everything that's happened...," he trailed off.

"You deserve it. Now stop complaining and questioning why," she gently commanded. She leaned up to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. He was so cute. When she first met him, she never would have guessed that underneath that cool, cocky, arrogant flyboy exterior lay a man who needed to be loved, needed, and assured of himself. It was good to know that heroes were human too. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind and she sat up suddenly.

"You okay?" he asked. She sat there, staring at him, her body almost frozen.

"You're a Captain."

"Yes...Sarah," he said slowly. "You were there when it happened, as I recall." He saw the fear in her eyes and grew worried.

"You'll get your own command."

Ahh, now he understood what was going through her mind. "Sarah, I talked to the SECNAV. We're not going to be moving anywhere."

"We're not?"

"No, as soon as Captain Rawlings at Norfolk retires, I'll be taking over his command."

Mac was relieved, to say the least. Moving was a regular part of military life, but she and Harm had been living there for so long. They had been living together for just a few months and she didn't want to move away from all her friends in the area; the Roberts, Jen, the Admiral, Turner, and especially Mattie.

They continued to talk late into the evening, sipping hot chocolate, before finally dragging themselves off to bed. Both fell into a deep sleep, holding onto one another.

HARM & MAC'S APARTMENT

0322 LOCAL

Mac found herself being pulled to the surface of consciousness by the incessant ringing of the phone. She reached over to pick up the phone, causing Harm to mumble something when she moved.

"Hello?" she answered, trying to hold back a yawn as she wondered who would be calling them this early in the morning. She could only hope that it was a wrong number.

"Mac?" the trembling, scared voice of a normally strong and defiant, confident teenager filled the silence.

Mac sat up straighter, suddenly wide awake. "Mattie? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Instead of an answer, she heard sniffling from Mattie. "Mattie? Do you need to talk to Harm?" Maybe she would be more comfortable talking to Harm about whatever was bothering her.

"He came home late...said he was out looking for jobs...he was drunk, Mac," Mattie cried.

Mac drew a sharp breath. They had all had such high hopes when Mattie had moved back in with her dad. As a recovering alcoholic, Mac, too, knew how hard it was to stay away from the alcohol when times were tough and life was low. But before she could say or ask anything, Mattie continued on.

"When I asked him if he had been drinking, he became angry...he started screaming at me...then he started throwing anything he could get his hands on..." Mattie paused to take a deep breath.

"Did he hurt you?" Mac asked sharply.

"Mac, he threw my mother's favorite vase at me..."

Mac turned over and shook her husband awake. She mouthed to him that Mattie was in trouble and that she was hurt. She then pointed at the car keys lying on his dresser. Harm nodded in understanding and hurriedly got dressed while Mac listened to Mattie.

"He threw anything he could at me...I couldn't get away...he knocked me against the kitchen counter...Mac, I'm so scared."

"Where is he now?"

"He passed out and I dragged him down to the basement and locked him in there."

"Mattie, Harm's on his way to get you, okay?" Mac watched as Harm grabbed the keys to the SUV and his wallet and raced out of the apartment.

"Don't hang up on me, please?" begged Mattie.

Mac's heart was only hurt more by this simple plea. She had never heard Mattie sound so insecure, so helpless, so needy.

"I won't, honey, I'll stay here until Harm shows up," promised Mac.

Mac kept Mattie talking for 20 minutes, trying to get her mind off of the matter at hand. Finally, Mattie heard a car pulling up outside.

"Mac, thanks. Harm just pulled up."

Harm had raced through the streets, pushing the speed limit to get to Blacksburg. He only had a slight idea about what had happened and his worry and fear for Mattie was what was driving him at this early hour.

He pulled up in the large driveway, barely putting the car in park and yanking his keys out before jumping out and heading for the front door. Mattie opened it just as he stepped onto the porch. It took just one look to see the tears running down her face before Harm was pulling her into a warm and comforting hug.

They stood like that for several minutes, Mattie drawing strength and security from the man who had once been her simple guardian, but who was now, so much more.

"Come on, let's take you home," he said softly. They silently gathered up some of her things before heading out to his car.

Mac was up, pacing the apartment, waiting for Harm to return with Mattie. When they finally did arrive, Mac threw the door open, having heard the elevator creaking, and immediately pulled Mattie into a hug, no words spoken, but none needing to be. When they finally pulled apart, Mac took a good look at Mattie and couldn't help but gasp. There was a large bruise forming on her left cheek, running right up to her eye. There was another bruise about the same size on her right forearm, a scratch on her forehead where fresh blood was still apparent. Her green eyes were red and puffy from crying and Mac recognized the look of a broken-down, lost, and defeated young girl in those eyes. If she was guessing correctly, Mattie was blaming herself for not only getting hit but also for her father getting drunk.

"Why don't we go get you cleaned up?" Mac's tone was nothing but loving and motherly, as she put her arm around Mattie's shoulders.

As Mac led Mattie off to the bathroom to clean up her scratches, Harm pulled in the rest of her stuff from the car. He then worked on making the bed on the pull-out couch before joining them in the bathroom. He stood in the doorway, watching as Mac gently cleaned the blood off and put band-aids on the smaller wounds, bandages on the larger ones.

Harm's worry was slightly dwindling now that Mattie was safe with him and it was becoming replaced with anger and rage for the man who dared lay a finger on his little girl. He hadn't stopped thinking of Mattie as his little girl. He wanted to go beat the hell out of Tom Johnson; the only thing holding him back was his need to make sure that Mattie was truly okay.

Harm wasn't the only one feeling like this; Mac was about ready to go into full "Marine mode" on Tom, too. How dare he do this to his daughter? He had taken her back in, telling and convincing them all that he was doing better. He had just barely regained the trust of his daughter and in one night, had shattered it again. This time, it would not be so easily put back together, if ever at all.

"Mattie?" Harm finally spoke.

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do about your father? We need to report him for abuse, if you want to."

"Harm," Mattie started. "Let's do what you think we need to do. I gave him his second chance and he just lost it."

JAG HQ

1242 LOCAL

Harm yawned once again as he walked in the bullpen and headed to his office. He had no court sessions that week, just doing paperwork and starting a few new cases.

Last night, following Mattie's wishes, he had called the cops to report what had happened. They had sent some cops to go and free Tom Johnson from his basement and arrest him while a couple other officers had come over to talk to Mattie, Harm, and Mac.

It had been a late night and Harm had called in to the office, explaining to Jen the barest of details and telling her that he would be in at lunch. Mattie was still sleeping when he left. She was emotionally and physically exhausted and he and Mac had decided that she wouldn't have to go to school for a few days. Or at least, until this whole thing settled down.

A petty officer hurried up to the Captain, interrupting his thoughts and worries.

"Captain, the Admiral needs to see you in her office ASAP," the young man informed him nervously.

"Thank you, Petty Officer." Harm set down his things, straightened his uniform, and headed off to Krennick's office. He glanced at Coates' desk but it was empty. That's weird, he thought.

He knocked on the big wooden door, waited for permission to enter and when it came, he walked in, coming to attention before Krennick's desk.

"Captain Rabb, nice of you to finally join us," Krennick greeted, a sly grin on her face.

"Sorry, ma'am, I had to deal with some personal issues early this morning," Harm tried to explain, not wanting to tell her the whole story. Had it been AJ, he would have. But then again, AJ had a vested interest in the "young Miss Grace's" life, thinking of her almost as a granddaughter.

"Personal?" queried Allison. "Why didn't you call in and let us know?"

"I did, ma'am."

"There was no such message received, Captain. I'm rather inclined to believe that you were just skipping work." There was an unspoken challenge in her words, one that he dared not rise to.

"I'm sorry I'm late, ma'am," was all he could, and would, say.

"Captain, I'll forgive you this time, but be warned, I will be watching you carefully. This better not happen again." Her words were a loaded statement and both recognized that.

"Dismissed, Harm."

Harm almost frowned at her, but instead turned on his heel and headed out of the office. He honestly couldn't wait until he got his own command at Norfolk, if nothing else he would be free of Krennick.

He worked hard at his desk all afternoon and partially into the evening. Mac knew that he would need to stay late to finish up the work that he should have done that morning. She was actually glad, it would give her more time to talk to Mattie. Harm grinned at the thought, if he knew either of them at all, Mattie would be helping to plan their wedding the second she found out about it.

Harm looked down at the pile of files in front of him and sighed. It was slowly diminishing but not fast enough. He grabbed the next folder in the pile, a rather thick one, and began to read through the final report so he could sign off on it. Next thing he knew, there was someone in a white naval skirt sitting on the edge of his desk. He looked up to find Allison Krennick sitting there, arms folded across her chest, a smirk on her face. He supposed that she would call her pose seductive but to him, it was a major turn-off. He was married and she was still trying to get in his pants.

"Still working, Captain? Isn't it a little late? Don't you have a wife to go home to?"

"Just trying to finish some paperwork, ma'am," he said, gritting his teeth. The rest of the office had gone home and he had thought that he was the only one left. He should have just taken his work with him. Then he wouldn't be in this situation. "And yes, my wife is waiting at home for me."

"That's too bad that she's at home and you're stuck here with me," Allison said, reaching out to run a finger down his arm.

At her first touch, he pulled away and jumped out of his chair. "Admiral, I don't know what you are doing, but I can assure you that I am a happily married man."

"And I wasn't suggesting otherwise, Harm," she said, getting off the desk to move closer to him. There was no one in the office and if he reported something, it would be his word against hers. She would have Harmon Rabb Jr. and there was no longer any question about it.

AN: What will Krennick do? How far will she go? How far will Harm let her go? What's happening to Mattie? AHHH, so much drama. (yes, I'm running a little low on sleep and high on energy)

The next chapter is already done, and I must say that it is pretty long. Depending on how well this one is received will determine when I post it. (College, homework, friends, and life in general also play a factor!) Reviews welcomed and loved, but not necessarily needed!