Thanks for the reviews gang! I am holding up in a secret location to avoid the torches, apples, pears, flamethrowers, what have you. Hope everyone has a good and safe New Years!!

Thanks to: XBlueShadowX, Aimee5, Charmboy4, starryeyes10, Nikki, dansingwolf, jag4ever, lei, Jackia, EternalSleep, Cristina, Tina Frank, achaon, Abigaile, Hieros Gamos, froggy0319.

PART 2 – The New Partner

1680 Zulu
July 28, 2005
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia

"Colonel, come on in and close the hatch." Mac did as told and stood in perfect attention just in front of Cresswell's desk. The General took a deep breath and placed his glasses on the desk in front of him. "Do you know why I called you in?"

Mac bit her tongue, hoping her newly adapted cynicism didn't cause any more problems for her. If she were moody and rash about things before, lately, everything seemed to set her off. "I assume it's because of Major Steele, sir."

"You assume correctly, Colonel."

Major Christopher Steele was the latest addition to the JAG staff and, unfortunately for Mac, was just too similar to Harm. He was a bit shorter than Harm, but had a similar build, light eyes, dark hair and that trademark flyboy smile. He was a former Hornet pilot, grounded because, unlike Harm, he was a terrible stick with a penchant for being a trouble maker (something he swore up and down he'd grown out of after being grounded.) and had a huge chip on his shoulder. To say that Mac didn't like the Major was an understatement. She hated him from the moment he first stepped into her office – without knocking - to introduce himself. And we all know how much Mac dislikes people barging into her office. . .

July 25, 2005

Mac glanced up at the Marine officer that stood casually at her desk. "Colonel MacKenzie, I'm Chris Steele, Major Chris Steele." The Major reached out his hand to her and pulled it back abruptly when Mac offered her trademark look of disgust. "Okaaay."

She chucked her pen on the desk, stood and folded her arms across her chest. "Attention!" She yelled so loudly, that even Bud, from his office, automatically came up and stood ramrod straight. With a scowl, she walked towards her door, made sure that all other JAG employees knew her beef wasn't with them and then closed it, turning to the Major. "What in the HELL gives you the right to barge into my, or anyone else's office without knocking?"

Major Steele, turned and grinned at Mac. Yep, the man was obviously had a death wish. Well, maybe not a death wish, it's just that he'd briefly run into Mac on the Henry during the time she was playing fleet JAG until they found a replacement for Singer. To say that he was infatuated was right on the money. I guess one could say that the way he acted towards Mac was more towards the likes of one Mic Brumby. "Ma'am, the General told me to walk on in and let you know that I am to be your new partner."

She felt as though she'd been slapped. Whatever she believed would happen in JAG, the thoughts of having a new partner never factored in. What was the point anyway? "Major, I do not need a new partner, my old partner suited me just fine."

"With all due respect ma'am, I heard about what happened to the Commander. . .It's not like he's coming back or anything."

Mac stood face to face with the Major, well as much as you could with a person a few inches taller. "Whatever it is you think you know, or think you heard, is wrong. Now, get OUT of my office. NOW!"

"But, Ma'am, the General said to. . ."

She opened the door and pointed towards the bullpen. "I believe I said now. And unless you want your first day at JAG to be your last day, I suggest you get your six out of my office and out of my way."

As usual, the office scuttlebutt machine arrived to Cresswell who reprimanded Mac on her conversation with Major Steele. Things didn't end there though, their meeting was just the beginning of other things to come. . .

July 28, 2005

. . .Cresswell pointed to the chair behind Mac. "Sit down." He felt for her and the obvious amount of pain he knew she was still in. But, Mac was wearing his patience thin. From the time the he had announced Harm's MIA status, Mac was living on autopilot, doing things out of necessity and nothing more. Initially, she fought hard against the CIA until she was ordered to back off and let Harm rest in peace. From then on, she was just numb. If the office wasn't the same when Harm was playing-spook two years prior, it was even worse knowing he was truly gone. When Spring rolled around, she visited the Wall, praying for some sign, a proof of life or even death because she had this gut feeling that the remains in Arlington were not his. Maybe he really was dead and buried in some shallow or unmarked grave. The least she could do was find out the truth of his final resting place and pay him proper respect and maybe, just maybe, bring him home.

The General would often call her into his office to 'check up' and 'make sure' she was alright. She would listen to his friendlish conversation about loss and 'moving on', a term she was sure would never apply to her. Her work never suffered, in fact, she was sharper in the courtroom, more eloquent with her speeches. But, she never smiled anymore, not for anything or anyone, - well, except the Roberts' children who she loved and cared for as if they were her own – past that, there was nothing to smile about. Office get-togethers were off of her list unless she was ordered to attend or it was something that was specifically for the Roberts' children.

"Mac." And there he was, calling her Mac again, something that was starting to irritate her. It was as if she now had three counterparts, Sarah, Mac and the Colonel. Sarah being the most vulnerable, Mac being slightly less vulnerable and the Colonel, who was just a warrior. "It's been half a year. . . I realize we have to grieve, but you need to get on with your life. . . I do not understand why you have taken this so hard. You were not the only friend the Commander had, he was well liked and all of those close to him have moved on."

"Moved on because they had who to move on with. . . They moved on because you basically ordered us to." She spat back with the anger that was now coursing through her veins. It had been, roughly, a month back when the General had called in a meeting: Commander Rabb was not to be mentioned at JAG again. It wasn't an order meant with a malicious intent, he did it because he felt it would help Mac. All it did was alienate himself from the tight knit group. "Well, sir, I refuse to follow that order."

"Major Steele has told me that you all but clubbed him over the head on the investigation you were working on this morning." Cresswell was trying, really trying to be all business. In just two days Mac had managed to scare the living shit out of the Major.

Mac sighed. "Sir, the Major doesn't like following orders. I merely told him to let me do the questioning because I understand, first hand, the situation the young woman was allegedly going through." The investigation was that of an alleged attempt of rape on a woman about 23 years old, by a drunken sailor. Something about the case struck Mac as fishy, so her idea was to get on the woman's side and hopefully find a loophole in her story. Chris, on the other hand, was playing 'good cop, bad cop' and decided not to let her in on his approach. "He set us back and I had to waste two hours trying to pacify the woman."

"See, I do not believe that is it. . .you do not like the Major because he is Commander Rabb's replacement."

That did it. "No one could ever replace Commander Rabb. And I am sick and tired of the narrow-minded approach going on in this office. . . I have a gut feeling, a strong gut feeling that he is alive and do not believe, for a second, that the Central Intelligence Agency has been forthcoming with the Navy about his whereabouts." She punched one of her fists into her open hand making her point more poignant. "Until the day I get some real evidence. . . real evidence, like a corpse we can actually see, dental records that hadn't been tampered with and some believable story, I will NEVER stop believing that he is alive."

The General leaned back in his chair. "A gut feeling, Colonel, doesn't mean much in the world of facts and figures. If you keep on in this. . this. . self-tortured existence, I will recommend that your status in the US Marine Corps be terminated."

"If that is what you feel is needed, sir, then go ahead. . . It'll free up my time and seeing as I would no longer be linked to any military or government branch, it'll allow me to search for the Commander, something that was denied in January."

Cresswell had no reason not to believe Mac, though work was not suffering, he knew she was waiting for a reason, even a breadcrumb, to go after him. In fact, he was surprised she hadn't gone UA in some sort of suicide mission. He figured, the reason she hadn't was lack of intel. "I am curious, how would you find him?"

"I found him once, sir. I can find him again." Only, she couldn't find him, which was the reason for the recent influx in sleepless nights. She tried everything possible to reach out to him like she did once before and got nothing. Maybe she wasn't trying hard enough, maybe she was too tired, maybe the last time was just dumb luck. . . Maybe he really was gone. But, that didn't mean she would stop believing.

Cresswell sighed deeply, Mac was going to be the death of him. "Let's just stop for a moment. . . You are a damn good Marine and I don't want to see your career go down the drain because of something you can get over."

"With all due respect, sir, a good Marine wouldn't leave a man behind and that is what we are doing."

He knew that the battle would never be won, so he had to find another route. "Colonel, I order you to try and get along with Major Steele, you do not have to be best friends with the man, just deal with him like an adult, can you do that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, dismissed."

Mac stood at attention. "Aye, aye, sir." She executed a perfect about-face and headed towards her office. Not more than an hour later, she was pulled from the case and a stack of reports appeared on her desk. It was Cresswell's punishment. One that she knew she brought onto herself. So she sat there, writing away. Looking up, Mac saw the Major and General having some sort of conversation out in the bullpen. She watched them for a long moment, both engrossed in what seemed to be a serious conversation. With a shrug she ignored the two men and went back to work on the reports.

0430 Zulu
Mac's Apartment
Georgetown

It was nearing midnight when she finished the last report and once done, she headed straight home, needing for some serious downtime, specifically: a hot bath and a warm bed. What she got, was a visitor: Clayton Webb.

"How are you holding up?" He asked as he followed her into the apartment.

"What do you want, Webb?" Ever since their break up and his involvement in her current situation, Webb was really not one of her favorite people to have around. Since Harm's disappearance, he had a habit of stopping by, unannounced. She really should have read more into it, but she figured it was his way of trying to pacify things between them.

Clay glanced at her frowning at her obvious dislike of him. "Look, can't we just bury the hatchet? Be friends?"

"Oh, sure. . .I'd love to bury the hatchet – right into your back where it belongs." She headed into the kitchen, grabbed a bottled water and walked out to find the agent glancing at the vodka bottle. "I am fine, life is good. Now, unless you have some pertinent information, get out."

He looked between her and the bottle, frowning that some of its contents seemed to be missing. "What's this?"

"What does it look like?" She spat back, then softened slightly, realizing she was being a bit brazen. "Don't worry, I didn't have any."

But, Clay really wasn't worried about her drinking habits, he was more concerned that Mac seemed to care more for Harm than him. During the roller coaster ride that was their relationship, she never bought a bottle of liquor, she didn't even seem to mind much that they were arguing more than they were doing anything else. "Did you automatically buy liquor when I went missing?"

"Ah, so that's the problem. You hate that I grieve more for him than I did you?"

"Honestly, yes, considering you and I had something and he and you had noth. . ."

"Something. . .Harm and I had something that you could never understand." They bearly understood it. She downed half of the water bottle and placed the remainder on the coffee table next to the vodka. "Why are you really here?"

"I heard about you poking around, Sarah. . . you have to stop."

She really wasn't 'poking around' just keeping options open, checking in with friends she'd made in the agency, people who might find out exactly what happened. "I just want to find something to put me more at ease."

"Go to Arlington, that should put you at ease." He walked over to her. "I mean it, back away from this whole thing with Harm. There are things you can't know. Damnit, there are things I don't know. . . back away."

Mac nodded. "Okay, under one condition – tell me exactly what happened. Is he alive or not?"

"Sarah, you know I can't tell you anything, that's just how it has to be."

Mac came around him, headed towards the door and opened it. "Well, then we have nothing to discuss, good evening Mr. Webb."

Clay headed out the door, but stopped before crossing the threshold. "Something happened, okay. Something big and bad. . . let it go."

"Goodbye." She shoved him the rest of the way out, slammed the door and proceeded on dead bolting it. The fact that every time she asked a direct question which was never answered, got her mind reeling again. "I really must be stirring something up." She said out loud, conceding that it would make sense as to why people were keeping tabs on her. "Good." With a satisfied smirk, she headed towards the bathroom.
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froggy0319- Nothing happened to me, just taking a vacation off of JAG for a while. Needed the break. ;)

XBlueShadowX- Gimme a break, dood! I am playing catch up on stories I haven't read! Pssst. X-mas passed! Are they in paris yet? ;)

Aimee5- It is very emotinal, a bit dark. . .It's emotional and dark! A new concept! Ha!

Charmboy4- Don't feel TOO bad for Mac, she'll be okay, she's a Marine!

Nikki - Aha!! I have turned someone into liking angst!! Pigs are now flying!! WOo Hoo! Yep, I need help. LOL!

dansingwolf - I don;t wanna be a doll!! Damnit!! But I'll try to hurry up. :D

jag4ever - Happy endings will be considered!

lei - No crying!!! Marines don't cry!! Okay, well ::hands over the puffs:: go ahead and cry!

Jackia - Anytime Webb gets decked it's a good thing. :)

Cristina - You're crying too?! I am with you on the punching in other places. Castration would be better though. Muahaha. ;)

Tina Frank- You should e-mail me, we can compare notes. :) radiorox(at)bellsouth(dot)net

achaon- Wuuuuss!! C'mon!! Read it, read it, read it!! Okay, fine, don't read it. ::sniffles::: I'll live. ;)

Hieros - Woah, then who the hell is in my bed. oO

froggy - I am around, just needed a break. It'll be bumpy and you'll hate me, but, oh well. ;) I'll deal. ;)