AN: I loved the numerous reviews and the wonderful feedback, but would like to say a few things. One, Harm is too honorable to "shove" her against the wall, sorry to those of you who wanted that. Secondly, another apology to everyone, especially the starving hdrexel, because I said I would post the next chapter sooner. It turned out to end at a good point, but I felt it was too short so I decided that I would write another long one to post with it. Hopefully, the two chapters will make up for the delay. (It's kind of two chapters, more of an addition to the last one and a chapter 14)

FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTER:

"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.

"Ma'am, I'm finished up here, and so if you don't need anything, I'll be heading home." Harm was regretting the words as soon as they flew out of his mouth. He really had to start thinking before speaking. He knew she would take his words to mean something else and that she would twist their meaning around completely.

He moved back to his desk, hurriedly gathering up files and stuffing them in to his briefcase half-hazardly. She moved to stand directly behind him.

"It's too bad, Harm, we could have had something years ago. Maybe we still could," she said alluringly.

He had just about had the last straw when she reached out to place a caressing hand on his lower back. That broke his control. He jerked away from her, out of her reach and snapped, "Will you stop it? You are way out of line, Allison. I have had enough of this harassment from you and I will-."

Her icy blue eyes narrowed and a threatening look crossed her face. "I will get you, Rabb, make no doubt about that. One way or another, you will get what's coming to you," she threatened before turning to storm out of his office.

Not wanting to spend another minute there, Harm quickly gathered his things and bolted from his office. He nearly ran all the way to his car before he finally settled down in the front seat, doors locked. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. He knew what he had to do, but unfortunately he hated to go about the task of doing it. After finally gaining control of his senses and surroundings, he put the keys in the ignition and began the drive home.

Allison Krennick was fuming. That little act could ruin her career, if he ever pressed charges. Even if she was proven innocent, there would still be that mark on her record. She couldn't have that. And she didn't dare just sit around and pretend like nothing had happened. No, there had to be a better idea. Maybe...just maybe...nah, that would never work. She could transfer him, transfer him to some little place in the middle of nowhere, far away from JAG HQ. No, she couldn't do that, he was all set up to receive the command over at Norfolk. There must be another solution, she thought.

She stared out one of the large windows of her office, watching as Harmon Rabb got in his SUV and drove off. Now only her red Mustang was left in the parking lot, plus a few government cars. He may be married, he may be under her chain of command, but that did not mean that he was off-limits to her.

Then all of the sudden, it came to her. Instead of giving him the chance to charge her with sexual harassment, she would charge him.

"Yes," she mused out loud. "Charge him with sexual harassment, make it sound like he's been the one chasing after me. We'll add on dereliction of duty for being late with several reports and not showing up that one morning. It'll ruin his career. It's perfect."

She finished gathering up her stuff and headed out to her car, the plan all coming together in her mind.

A pair of brown eyes had watched the whole scene play out between the Captain and the Admiral. That same person had also heard Allison's plan through the open office door. This person had packed up and left, almost out of the JAG parking lot when she realized that she had left her coat behind. In the process of retrieving it, she had witnessed everything. Her information could throw Allison's whole case, should she actually prove to go that far. But if Jennifer Coates knew one thing about the new Admiral, she knew that she would do whatever it took to get what she wanted.

Chapter 14: Overwhelming Stress

Harm arrived home, weary and exhausted, to the wonderful sound of his two girls giggling. He opened up the door and found them sitting on the couch, looking at bridal magazines.

"Hey, I'm home," he said, putting on a mask to hide his stress and pain from them. He still needed to deal with the incident involving Mattie's father.

But through their giggling, they didn't seem to hear him. They were too involved in looking at the hideous wedding dresses in the magazine. Mac wanted something flowing, elegant, and beautiful, not some slutty dress.

He quietly set down his briefcase and cover and snuck up behind them. His plan was to scare him, until he glanced down at the open page of the magazine. Mac and Mattie had stopped giggling and were staring at the picture in silent awe.

"It's perfect," she breathed. And indeed it was.

"But look at the price," Mattie pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Harm spoke up, causing both girls to jump in surprise.

"Yeah, it does. I can't afford this dress. I can find another one just as beautiful for a much cheaper price," said Mac.

"Mac...Sarah, would you be happy with any other dress?" he asked, his eyes gazing at her intently.

Under such an intense look, she couldn't lie to him. "No."

"Fine, then it's settled. We'll buy that dress," he announced, much to Mac's delight and Mattie's glee. He was determined to give Mac the grand wedding she wanted, no matter the cost. He had already talked to his mom and Frank about it. It was tough to swallow his pride to ask for the money but they insisted because he was their only son.

Mac leaned up and pulled Harm's face closer to hers, kissing him. When she pulled back, she whispered, "Thank you."

"You deserve the perfect wedding and that means that you'll get the perfect dress," he told her lovingly.

Mattie had gotten up when they leaned in to kiss, heading for the kitchen to get a bottle of water. She didn't mind having them kiss, it was just that they often got carried away when they did. It was awfully cute though, she thought. She wished that she could be half as in love with someone as Mac and Harm were with each other.

"So where's the wedding going to be?" she called out, walking back to them.

"Naval Academy Chapel," was Mac's immediate answer.

Harm just gaped at her. He had assumed that they would chose a location closer to home. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how hard it is to find an open date for there? Not to mention, getting all of our guests there."

"It takes at least a year to get a reservation. And I have to tell you, Mac, that I'm not waiting a year to get married to you. Again."

"Well, we might just be able to get in there in a couple months," she admitted.

"How?"

"I was talking to AJ and I briefly mentioned that that's where we wanted to get married and he said that he'd look into it for us," she told him.

"Are you sure that's where you want it?" he asked, repeating his earlier question.

"Yeah, I think it would be perfect. It's either that or a courtroom at JAG," she joked.

They continued to talk about the wedding plans all the way through dinner, Harm having nearly completely forgotten about the incident with Krennick after work. It wasn't until Harm and Mac were getting into bed that his day at work was mentioned.

"So anything happen with Tom Johnson?" Harm asked, pulling back his side of the sheets to climb into bed.

"Yeah, he's been arrested and being charged with assault, at least for starters. He's sitting in jail right now."

"How's Mattie doing with this whole thing?"

"She's okay. It helped having you there to pick her up this morning. She said that she wants to take him to court on this, though." Mac changed into her pajamas: a pair of Harm's boxer shorts and one of his large NAVY t-shirts.

"That might be interesting."

"Yeah, it would. So how was your day at work?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Good," he lied, not wanting to burden her with his problems and not realizing that she would only want to help him.

She took note of his short answer, something that was uncharacteristic for him when talking about work. "That's good. Just a typical boring day, then?"

"Yeah," he said, swallowing hard.

"Uh-huh," she said disbelievingly. She scooted over towards his side and snuggled up close against him. "You want to tell me what happened?"

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Harmon, I know you better than that. It's me, your wife, talk to me," she gently commanded.

"Krennick's back."

She was puzzled. "I know."

"And worse than ever. I was just trying to finish up some paperwork before I came home when she trapped me in my office. Everyone else had gone home, something that I hadn't noticed, and it was just the two of us," he began.

"Go on," she instructed, not moving her head from its place on his broad chest.

"She suggested that we could've had something years ago and that maybe we still could. She kept following me and touching me," he told her, shuddering at the memory.

Mac trusted Harm completely to do the right thing. He had never broken a promise and he would not start by breaking his marriage vows. Plus, he disliked Krennick with a passion. None of the officers under her command could understand how she had promoted to Admiral with her level of style and professionalism. So she waited patiently and listened to his story.

"I told her to back off and she told me that she was going to get me one way or another. She then stormed out of my office and I left."

"I'm sorry," Mac whispered.

"It's not your fault, honey," he said, placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"I know, but I'm sorry that she's bothering you."

"That's not all. She didn't get my message that I was coming in late this morning. She said that she'd forgive me this time but that she would be 'watching me carefully'. Hah, like she's already not," he said sarcastically.

Mac was silent for a moment, thinking hard. Finally she spoke her thoughts. "Can we charge her with anything? I mean, do we have solid evidence that she's been harassing you?"

"No one was around to see what happened tonight. And she does most of the stuff when there is really no one around. It would be her word against mine, unfortunately. And with her being the superior officer, the court would be more inclined to believe her than me."

"So we're stuck."

"Pretty much." He let out a low groan of frustration.

"You hate this, don't you? Not being able to do anything to stop her behavior, not being fully in control," she asked.

"I hate all these situations. I hate the fact that I wasn't there to protect Mattie when she needed it most. I hate it that I can't stop Krennick's behavior. I hate it that I can't protect you from the cancer, that I might lose the love my life because of some incurable disease that I can't stop. I hate being scared, that feeling of being afraid. Up in the air, a pilot's always in control. I can control my direction, my speed, I've been trained on how to react to nearly everything thrown my way. Down here, there are no rules to follow, no guidelines set down. Anything and everything can and nearly has been thrown my way and I don't know how to fix it. In the air, I can fight, retreat, attack, defend, or eject. There is always a way out of the situation. Here, I'm lost," he confessed.

"Down here, it's the same way, Harm," she told him. "You may not always be in control, but the reactions are still the same. It doesn't matter what happens, just how you decide to go about reacting to it. None of us are fully in control but that's okay. We don't have to be."

He hugged his wife tightly to him, mindful of her scars from the surgeries, eternally grateful that he had such a strength in his life.

"Come on, Harm, let's go to sleep. We'll deal with everything tomorrow," she instructed.

"I love you, Sarah," he murmured, pressing his lips against her soft hair in a gentle kiss before settling down in bed. They held each other throughout the night, relishing in the power of their love.

JAG HQ

STAFF MEETING

0936 LOCAL

"Captain Rabb, you will be receiving no cases," Allison Krennick repeated.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" He was in disbelief. "May I ask why?"

"Yes. Captain Rabb, you will be under investigation with the charges of dereliction of duty, disrespecting towards a Superior Officer, and sexual harassment," she announced.

Harriet gasped, then immediately shut her mouth. She wasn't the only one who was stunned. Harm fought the urge to scream at the woman and sat up straight in his chair.

"May I ask who is pressing the charges?" He already had a pretty good idea of who was.

"Yes, I am. You will be finishing up paperwork in your office until further notice. You have leave for today only though. You are dismissed, Captain," she finished.

He wouldn't lose control. He wouldn't lose control. He couldn't lose control. He waited until he had gathered up his things from the meeting, and from his office, and was sitting in his car to take a moment to think about things. It would be his word against Krennick's and he was sure that whoever she found to investigate would assume him guilty.

The rest of the staff was stunned and left speechless. How dare she accuse one of their own? They were all fuming as they separated to their own offices. By an unspoken agreement, they all met out in the courtyard for lunch.

They spent the next 35 minutes discussing the the ridiculousness of Harm's charges, the possibility of who would investigate, and what the outcome might be. None of them dared to comment about Krennick personally, not while they were so close to the office. By the end of the day, their fury and anger had only grown. Harmon Rabb Jr. was one of their own, like a big brother to so many. They had all seen the way Krennick had "chased" after him and how he was constantly refusing her and avoiding her. They were dangerously walking the line of mutiny, but in their eyes Krennick had already crossed over another forbidden line.

Jen hadn't brought up seeing Allison coming on to Harm in his office the day before, she was going to tell him what she saw before she would tell the others. If this thing went to trial, they knew they would all be witnesses, Jen more important than the others. She saw how the Admiral summoned Harm more to her office than any of the other officers, combined. She had seen how Krennick treated Harm differently than she treated Bud or Sturgis. Bud knew rumors of other incidents involving Krennick and he made a silent promise to himself to find out more details. They all silently vowed to find any way they could to help Harm out and defend him. They would not let her do this.