Disclaimer: JAG is the property of Donald P. Bellisario, Paramount Pictures, CBS Television and Belisarius Productions. I hope I spelled all of that stuff right.

"Unfinished Business"

by e-dog

Chapter Three: Trying to Reconnect

September 24, 2014

Jenn was looking inside the mansion with the door half way open and she whistled. Mattie Grace was next to her also taking in the beauty of the deteriorating house. They eagerly wanted to get inside. The ocean air was chilly, plus they wanted to explore.

"Mac, you let them get past!" Harm complained, slightly irritated.

She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "It's not like I can stop them!"

He floated past her and tried to catch up with Jenn and Mattie. A part of him was so excited to see them; to see someone from his previous life. Another part was terrified. If he could reconnect with them, would they run? Would he frighten them? Lastly, another small part of him feared he would never be able to reach them. That they would leave and both he and Mac would be alone again. He was determined not to let that happen. Before he could attempt at grabbing Jenn's shoulder, he heard the voice of another gentleman.

"Ensign Tiner! Please wait for me!" a stout man in a business suit ordered. "I really think you should've waited for your husband before checking out the house!"

Harm exchanged a confused look with Mac at the scene playing out before them. What was going on? Why was Jenn really here? Wait a minute....

"Did he just say Ensign. Tiner?!?" Harm glanced over at Mac, who seemed to be smiling at that revelation. Harm continued flabbergasted, "As in Jason Tiner?"

"I think it's cute!" Mac mused as Harm still gave a look of surprise.

"What's wrong, Mr. Batt?" Jenn asked as she walked past the two ghosts, completely unaware of their presence. They in turn watched her every move. "Why are you so nervous?"

Mr. Batt let his shoulders slump and he tried to smile, "Please understand, Mrs. Tiner, I've been trying to sell this house for 7 years now and I'm eternally grateful that you want to buy it...."

"But...," Jenn smiled amused with her realtor, still wanting to peek inside.

"They say this place is haunted!" Batt exclaimed, as if Jenn was entirely naive. "Don't you know two people were murdered here?"

Before Jenn could reply, Mattie answered for her in a very sullen tone, "That's why we want the house."

Seeing nothing would change their minds, Batt finally gave up and led them inside. Harm watched them enter the house with his jaw hanging open. They wanted to buy the house? Mac was also very surprised as she took her place at Harm's side. They both stood there staring on in disbelief until a chilling, invisible force flew by them. They both whirled around to find Simon smiling as he said in his annoying accent, "It's actually three people. Three people were murdered here."

"You scared the hell out of me," Mac said, glaring at him.

"Well, I am a ghost, darling," he joked, his eyes giving off an evil glint.

"A ghost we never should have been afraid of," Harm muttered, trying to control himself. "Your bark is worse than your bite, Tanveer."

"Well, we'll see what Jenn and Mattie think of my bite, now won't we?" Simon threatened. "I'll leave them alone, if you forgive me."

"Never," Harm shook his head, knowing he looked like a stubborn mule, but there was no way he would ever forgive Simon. "Just leave all of us alone."

With that, Harm and Mac entered the house to rid themselves of their fellow apparition. Simon wanted to follow, but knew it would do no good. They would never forgive him and for that they would pay. He disappeared pondering his next appearance. It was time to end this nonsense of only showing up around their "anniversary". It was time to take matters into his own hands. Once Harm saw his "girls" were being spooked and haunted, he would instantly drop everything and forgive him. If not, Simon would be forced to float around for the rest of time and after ten years of this crap, he was ready to be put at ease.

Harm and Mac found the two young women checking out the kitchen and they momentarily forgot about Simon. Harm leaned against the kitchen table and mumbled to himself in awe, "Look at them...they have no idea what happened in this room."

Mattie was staring curiously at the tea cup Harm was trying to move the day before. "There's only one tea cup?"

"Well, here's the pot," Jenn inspected and then turned her nose away. "With tea...or something rotting inside..."

"Well, you can just throw that away..." suggested Mr. Batt.

"No!" Mattie objected, to which everyone in the room (including ghosts) jumped in surprise. Mattie cleared her throat wishing she didn't blurt out her disapproval like that. "I mean, this stuff was here when Harm was....here. Let's find a way to save it."

Jenn just gave a small, promising smile letting her know they wouldn't throw anything away. The realtor gave them a curious stare, wondering who Harm was. For a moment, he suspected that his clients knew the poor souls who had been murdered here. He shook that thought from his mind and decided to lead them into the dining room, "Let's go this way..."

They all walked in and Mattie immediately stopped and pointed, "Jenn, look!"

"What?" Jenn asked, then spotted one candle sitting in the center of the long dining table. She stared at it bewildered and wondered aloud, "Was someone in here before us?"

"No, why?" Mr. Batt asked, then he too spotted the candle. He began to shake and suggested, "Let's move on to the upper level and finish this tour as quickly as possible!"

Harm cringed a little because he didn't realize one of the candles was never blown out. He had come down before sunrise and lit another candle so it wouldn't be dark. It took Jenn a little coaxing to get Mattie to follow them upstairs, but finally she did leave with them. Mac watched on still in disbelief. They wanted to buy the house and she had a good feeling that no matter what the asking price was, they were going to buy it. She hugged herself and glanced at Harm who had no emotions reading on his face. It was safe to say he didn't expect this either.

"You think they'll buy it?" Harm asked finally.

"Most definitely," Mac answered, not taking her eyes off the stairs. She wondered how long it would take for them to find the blood stained sheets in the "forbidden bedroom". At some point Mrs. Webb had changed the sheets, but for some reason she didn't throw the bloody sheets out. Instead, she folded them up and put them in the closet. Mac focused her attention on the floor and asked, "The real question is, why are they buying it?"

"Because they found out what happened to us," Harm said simply. "Maybe they believe if they live here, they'll feel like they still have a piece of us."

There was a shriek from one of the girls and Harm and Mac flinched again. They both said simultaneously, "They found the sheets."

One week later

October 1, 2014

Despite finding the bloody sheets and the mysterious lit candle, Jason and Jenn bought the house. After they had signed the papers, hired some contractors to fix up the place and then bought a ton of cleaning products, they were finally ready to move in. Jason did most of the heavy moving; rearranging the old furniture and bringing in what little furniture they had from their previous abode. From what Harm and Mac overheard from the three of them, they were newlyweds. The conversation went a little something like this:

"I didn't think we would be able to own a home so quicky," Jason smiled at Jenn, then gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She made eye contact with him and they had a small moment, both understanding why it was so easy to buy this particular house. Mattie coughed and broke their stares.

"Well, no one ever thought you two would walk down the aisle, let alone own a house," Mattie smiled mischievously.

"You are never going to stop teasing us, are you?" Jenn rolled her eyes as she unpacked some groceries.

"Everyone at JAG knew you were in love," Mattie said and opened a bag of chips. Jason took the bag and closed it. She whined, "Hey!"

"And you never stop eating!" Jason scolded playfully and handed the bag to Jenn to put away. "We are letting you live here because you wanted to...not to eat us out of house and home."

The three of them carried on while Harm watched from the kitchen table. He was sitting there, brushing his hand over the freshly stained wooden table. The color of the wood was now more vibrant and made it look brand new. He was sitting in one of four brand new chairs. The old kitchen chairs went out in the shed. Jenn claimed not to like the style. They were too "fancy". The new chairs looked very modern and Harm wondered how much had changed since he had died. Were cars sleeker? Did computers run faster? Even Mattie's clothes looked different. Not as revealing as most teenager's clothes had been in the past, but still he could see the change in her. Then it hit him. She was ten years older. The clothes merely reflected her growth and maturity. His face grew sad as he realized how much he had missed.

Jason had been promoted to Lieutenant and evidently was a terrific lawyer. Jennifer was now an Ensign and was allowed to remain stationed at JAG. Similar to how Bud and Harriet were allowed to continue to work together.

He was broken from his thoughts when Mattie plopped down in a chair across from him. She had stolen the bag of chips back and Jason and Jenn had left the room. She chomped loudly, obviously quite hungry. Harm smiled as he remembered her appetite and how his food bill had skyrocketed after adopting her. He mustered up some courage and whispered, "Mattie?"

No response. He tried again, louder this time. "Mattie? Please, talk to me."

After she didn't respond again, he looked down in defeat. What could he do to get her attention without spooking her? There was a loud ruckus in the family room and Mattie instantly jumped to her feet. Harm also got up and flew down the hall to see what was going on. Within seconds, Mac passed through a wall and was in the family room as well.

"Oh Jason!" Jenn laughed and landed on the couch trying to suppress her amusement. Several boxes of

their linen had come crashing down after being stacked on top of each other. He bumped them on accident and they all opened up and covered him in different shades of blue and white. The colors of their bed sheets.

Mattie laughed too and helped to find Jason under all the sheets. When he emerged with only his face showing from under a white sheet, Mattie pointed at him and said, "You look like a ghost! You should be that for Halloween!"

Jason turned red with embarrassment, then suddenly rose up and laughed evilly, "Mwahahaha! I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!"

"Jason!" Mattie giggled as he tickled her. "Stop it, I'm not a little kid!"

"Are you sure?" Jenn asked, jokingly. "Sometimes I wonder if you're still 16 and getting into trouble."

Harm and Mac watched, pleased to see that some things never changed. While it appeared Jenn was more responsible and not as nosy as she had been in the past, Jason Tiner was still clumsy , awkward and had managed to retain his sense of humor. Mac glanced up at her partner and asked, "You okay, Harm?"

"Yeah, it's just, I wish I could join them," he forced a smile. "If only I could get their attention..."

"Hey, we talked about this," Mac reminded him. "No scaring. If we scare them..."

"They could leave and never come back," Harm finished and folded his arms in disappointment. Without another word, he left the room. She watched until he disappeared into another room and then shut her eyes in frustration. He was being so impatient, but deep down, she felt there had to be a better way to get their attention than by spooking them.

She returned her attention to the people now occupying their home. It had been weird having people in the house after having it to themselves for so long. They quickly learned they couldn't just roam anywhere anymore. Harm was passing through walls from room to room one night and accidently...walked in on the happy couple. For the last week, Mac couldn't stop teasing him. Harm just ignored her and complained that Jason and Jenn stole their master bedroom and he really went in there to scare them out.

As the laughter progressed and the jokes continued, she slowly let a sad smile cross her face wishing she was joining in on the fun too. Mattie was heading out and she brushed by Mac's arm without even noticing. Or did she? Mattie paused and slowly looked over her shoulder looking directly in Mac's direction. Mac perked up and stared back. The young girl in front of her looked very confused and then she brushed her arm as if trying to warm it up. Jenn walked up and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just got a chill up my arm," Mattie mumbled and walked away. Mac felt a flicker of hope wave through her, but ignored it. Maybe it was a coincidence. No, it was a coincidence. Mattie must've felt a chill at the exact same moment she brushed by her arm. That had to be the reason.

Manderlee

October 3, 2014

Harm leaned on Jason's car and shook his head. "Jason, you are just going to break it..."

The young man was under the hood of the car intending to change the oil but he got curious and was messing with different parts and pieces. Harm waved his hand in front of Jason's face but it was of no use. There was a loud clang and he heard the former Petty Officer groan. "Oops..."

"Told ya," Harm sighed and closed his eyes in disgust. "But you never hear me." He stood next to the panicking Jason and tried to shake him, but his hands just couldn't grasp the living lifeform in front of him. He continued to complain, "You can't feel me! You can't hear me! You can't see me!"

Jason started to mumble to himself, wondering how he was going to tell Jenn he broke something in the car. Harm shook his head and sighed, "You're never going to hear me..."

"It's quite depressing, isn't it? Knowing they will never, ever hear you?"

Harm cringed and turned around. It was Simon, much to his surprise and chagrin, leaning against the house. In the past, Simon only showed up around the day they died. This was the first time he had shown up at any other time. It made Harm wonder what he was up to now. "Aren't you a little early for Halloween, Tanveer?"

"No, I think I'm right on time," Simon smiled, keeping his distance. "It's never too early to give someone a fright."

Harm watched Simon disappear and he began to panic. He was going after Tiner to scare him. And if he could, possibly hurt him. Harm quickly turned around and apologized ahead of time, "Sorry, Tiner...."

Harm hopped in the car, turned the keys and started the car. Jason jumped back and his eyes widened in fear. He stuttered incoherent words and looked at the front seat. No one was there, but the car was still running. He then ran off in search of his wife and yelled, "Honey! Honey!!"

Harm watched until Jason was safely inside and turned the car off. He hopped out and saw Simon show up with a look of disappointment, "Now, now, Harmon. You always suck the fun out of everything, don't you? But you finally accomplished what you wanted."

"What's that?" Harm asked.

"You communicated with them," Simon told him and put his hands in his pockets. "You started the car and scared the pants off of your friend Jason. Now, start using that head of yours and find a more creative, less frightening way to keep in touch."

"You're helping me?" Harm asked, confused. "What game are you playing?"

"This is no game, Harm," Simon said seriously. "I want you to see I'm not your enemy. Not anymore. If you forgive me, all of us will finally be at peace."

Harm remained silent and studied Simon. Despite the words he was hearing, Simon was still a dark, ominous ghost. His eyes were black and menacing and highly untrustworthy. No matter what he said, it was just too hard to believe him. "How do you know this? If I forgive you, how do I know I will finally be at peace?"

"Think about it, Harm! I killed you and you have resented me ever since! I have felt nothing but guilt for what I have done! Forgiving me will put all of this behind us," Simon said, trying to sound convincing. The funny thing was, he sounded so sure of himself, it sounded like the truth. Harm could hear Jason coming back, most likely pulling Jenn along. Mac was next to him suddenly, wondering what he did. When he looked back up, Simon was gone. Harm groaned and said, "Not now, Mac. Just give me a minute..."

He went under the hood and studied what Jason broke. It turned out he didn't break much of anything; he just unplugged a hose. Harm reattached it and stepped aside, just as Jason came back to find the car wasn't running anymore. Jenn already looked upset that he interrupted whatever she was doing. Now that the car was off, she was even more upset with him. "Jason, you're starting to sound just like that crazy realtor! There are no such things as ghosts!"

"But....the car...it just started....even after I broke this hose!" Jason pointed and they both looked inside. Jenn frowned when she found the hose was still intact. She glared at her husband and instead of yelling at him, she did something much worse. She gave him the silent treatment. As she walked off, Jason followed, "Jennifer! C'mon honey, you have to believe me!"

Mac stared at Harm who wanted to hide, but knew he had nowhere to go. They were confined to the house, so she would find him eventually. She put her hands on her hips and asked, "You scared him?"

"Not on purpose...I thought," Harm mumbled.

"You thought what, Harm? That if you started the car, Jason would automatically go, 'Oh hey Harm! I didn't see you there!'" Mac almost yelled.

"Aw, c'mon Sarah!" Harm finally exploded back, making her back up in surprise. "I've waited ten years for someone to come back and look into our deaths! I've waited ten years to find out if I could tell someone I'm still here! Maybe I'm not here physically, but I could at least tell them that I can still see and I can still hear! I want to shout out and say I still love you and I've missed you..."

Harm stopped there, his face looking so flustered and disturbed. He slowly lifted from the ground and began to drift away from her. Mac went to follow and said, "Harm...wait...I didn't mean to..."

"No, just...just let me be alone for a while," Harm requested as politely as he could. He knew she meant well, but he needed a minute to himself. He went off towards the beach and all Mac could do was watch. She wanted to kick herself for yelling at him. She was trying to think of other ways besides scaring them to let them know they were there, but Harm... He was doing anything he could to talk to them. She looked up when she saw Jason was guiding a man in a blue uniform through the gate. He was dragging a huge box along on a cart.

"Mattie, your new computer just arrived!" Jason called. Mac scrunched her forehead in thought. Computer? She let a wry smile cross her lips as a possibility came to mind. It was time to take a page out of Harm's playbook...

After many hours, Mattie had the new computer set up. She thanked her lucky stars the electrician had finished wiring up the house to have internet connection. Even at the age of 26, she would die if she went another day without instant messaging. She opened a word processing program and turned away for a moment. For a week, she had neglected her college studies, helping with moving into this house. She was a grad student now, getting her Masters Degree in Law. She had intended on learning to fly F-16s, but after Harm had died she couldn't bring herself to do it anymore. Her father maintained Grace Aviation without her.

Instead, after high school and two years of a dead end job, she finally went to college. After flipping through several books and notepads, she finally found what she was looking for. When she came back to her computer, she found two words already typed on her screen. They said: Hello Mattie.

She looked around nervously, gulped and tried to laugh it off. No way. There was no way. She felt a chill run down her spine anyway and she choked, "Who's there? Jenn? Are you playing a joke on me?"

She then heard the clicking sound of the keys. Someone was typing, but whoever it was, she couldn't see them! She shivered and watched as the new message typed on her screen:

No Mattie. This isn't a joke. Please don't be scared. This is Mac and we need to talk.

To be continued...