I wanted to do something different than the whole transfer Mac to the Judiciary thing and I think I've done it. That having been said, please excuse any inaccuracies in this chapter and the next one, I had to make certain assumptions to make this work.

Mac's Office
1300 hours
09/06/2004

I'm sitting in my office trying to relax. I can't believe how much my life has changed since Friday.

I proposed to Harm on Saturday night. He said yes. We didn't get much sleep that night. Well, technically, we didn't get any sleep.

Sunday we had breakfast in bed and then went shopping for an engagement ring. Even though I'm the one who proposed, Harm insisted I needed an engagement ring. He said that he wanted everyone to know that I was marrying him.

I agreed, but only after I teased him about how I should buy him a ring so everyone would know that he was marrying me. He laughed saying he looked forward to my putting a ring on his finger in the near future.

My ring isn't a traditional ring, but since when are either Harm or I traditional? The ring has an emerald surrounded by 4 smaller stones of different colors. There's a sapphire for Harm and the others are the birthstones for each of the kids.

Mattie and Trish noticed the ring before we got out of the arrival gate. They both said it was about time and wanted to know when the wedding would be. We told them it would depend on how and when the work situation was taken care of.

The next step is talking to the admiral and we have an appointment in 2 minutes and 52 seconds.

"Mac?"

"Harm." I look up in shock.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, just thinking." I assure him.

"Okay." He sounds skeptical.

"You ready to go see the admiral?" I ask him.

"Yes and no, if that makes any sense."

"It does." I tell him.

We've arrived at Jen's desk and she tells us to go right in. We enter and stand at attention waiting for the admiral to acknowledge us.

"At ease and have a seat."

"Aye, aye, sir." "Yes, sir."

"What did you two need to talk to me about?" The admiral asks without looking up from the file on his desk.

"We're getting married." I blurt out.

That gets him to look up.

"You're what?"

"The colonel proposed Friday and I accepted." Harm sounds calmer than I feel right now.

"The colonel proposed?" The admiral is smirking at Harm.

"Yes, sir." Harm appears unfazed.

The admiral looks at me. "Well, he told me to decide the pace of our relationship." I shrug.

The admiral just chuckles.

"You realize that I probably can't keep both of you here?"

"Yes, sir. Any ideas what the options are?" Harm asks.

"Not really, but I'll do some checking. If I can find a way to keep you both here, I'd like to. Give me a couple of days and we'll talk on Friday. Dismissed."

"Aye, aye, sir." "Yes, sir."

Harm and I exit the office and head directly for mine. The blinds are already closed, and once the door is closed behind me, Harm pulls me into a hug.

"See that wasn't so bad." He tells me.

"Yeah, but we still don't know who has to leave." I tell him.

"It'll be okay, Mac. I promise." He smiles at me.

"Okay." Even though logically I know he has no control over keeping this promise I can't help but feel better.

JAG Headquarters
0800 hours
09/10/2004

Harm and I no sooner step out of the elevator then we hear the admiral call to us.

"Rabb and Mackenzie! My office!"

"Yes, sir." "Aye-aye, sir."

We leave our covers and briefcases in my office before heading to the admiral's office. We're both trying very hard to hide our nervousness without much success.

"Have a seat you two. We need to discuss your options." We sit. Something tells me the news isn't good.

"I talked to the SECNAV and Admiral's privilege is not an option in this case."

"So what are our options?" I ask. I'm terrified he's going to tell us that one of us will end up having to transfer out of the DC area.

"There are several options. Unfortunately most of them are not in the DC area. The one option that is in the DC area is for the Commander."

"Me, sir?" Harm looks shocked. I've learned recently that Harm truly believes his career to be at a dead end.

"Yes, the SECNAV would like to use you in a program he's trying to get started. You'd keep your office here at JAG but wouldn't be under my command. You'd also have an office at NCIS at your disposal. You'd still do some investigating and possibly some prosecuting. The position could eventually become a command position but to start with you'd report to the SECNAV."

"Sounds interesting. What exactly is the job?" Harm asks. His body language is saying that he's definitely interested in the job. Harm really didn't think any of the options for him would be anything but paper pushing positions with no real future.

"You'd be liaison to JAG and NCIS. The SECNAV is hoping by having a lawyer that interacts with both NCIS and JAG we can cut down on the number of cases that NCIS has tossed on technicalities. He's also hoping it'll help streamline the investigation process and get cases to trial more quickly and efficiently. The program would start with just you and then hopefully add others once we start to see results."

"And if we don't see results?" I ask. I can just see the SECNAV transferring Harm to Guam because this doesn't go like he planned.

"I think we'll see results. The SECNAV has a group of agents in particular that he wants Harm to start working with. He thinks adding Harm to the mix with one of these groups in particular will definitely get results. I'm just not sure they'll be good results."

"Who does he want me to work with?" Harm asks with a raised eyebrow.

The admiral looks at Harm for a minute. I don't think he wants to answer the question. "The team headed up by Special Agent Leroy Gibbs."

Oh, my God. What are they thinking?