Title – Through The Eye Of A Shipper – S10 E20 Unknown Soldier
Author Name – Michi and Carol or Carol and MichiParing – Harm & Mac
Spoilers – Season 10 Episode 20 - 'Unknown Soldier'
Disclaimer – JAG belongs to DPB, CBS, and Paramount.
Summary- How 'Unknown Soldier' should've been continued when you saw it through the eye of a shipper.
Author's Notes-
1. The plan is it to revisit every episode from season 10. However, this series doesn't have any strict rule. Sometimes it may be a follow-up, sometimes it could be a changed scene, or even a change to the entire episode. And if that doesn't work we could always do a 'missing scene'-story. This means the length of the story is based on the way we want to 'handle' the revisit. But don't worry…we plan to use more than 150 words!
2. Thanks Vered for the great beta work! However, we can't post a FF without our usual C&M warning. English is not our native language (yup, even Carol wants to use this statement LOL). Take this as a fair warning! language.)
3. Since this series will deal with a just aired episode, it means that we risk having a FF that might seem like someone else's. There's hope that our ideas are unique, but should that not be the case we apologize and swear to our god and the chocolate that we did not know it or do it on purpose.
4. Feedback is always welcome.
Friday April 15, 2005
10:46 PM
Washington DC
Mac carefully walked down the white marble steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She stopped midway and admired the view in front of her. She could see down the reflection pond and focus on the lights of the War World II Memorial. If she looked hard enough she could see the water from the fountains. Her eyes moved to the tall Washington Memorial which proudly stood on the hill.
She took a deep breath and finished her walk down the steps. As she moved from the memorial to the crosswalk she noticed the people around her. There were a few joggers, some teenagers enjoying DC at night and laughing with their friends, there were also the usual tourists. She crossed the street and made the short walk towards the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. She passed by the Vets with their stands, selling the POW/MIA bracelets and postcards. The Vets smiled at her and she smiled back as she moved towards the memorial.
During the day The Wall is a sight to behold, but at night it's just breath-taking. She stood at the end and took in the reflection of the lights onto the black marble. It was like stars in the night sky. But here the lights were reflecting on the names of men and women who were angels in heaven.
She slowly made her way down the path. She stopped a few times and ran her fingers across some names. These were names of men her Uncle Matt would talk about. Some were names of people she had read about and others she was adding to her list to learn about.
She had made it midway down, where The Wall stands at its highest height and stared at one name. This name is one she knew a lot about. She stared at it and thought of the man who was behind that name. She soon found herself lost in her thoughts, but they weren't of the man behind the name. They were of another man.
"Who are you visiting?"
Mac looked into the granite and saw Harm's reflection as he stood next to her. She didn't turn her head to talk to him.
She just stared at his reflection. "A friend of Matt's." Harm nodded his head and Mac continued. "They went to high school together and both joined the Marines. Matt went off to learn how to fly the helicopters and his buddy became a medic. They both were shipped off to Vietnam. Matt was flying while Jimmy was attending to the boys in the battles. One day Jimmy was working on the field and Matt picked up some of the soldiers from that same field. It was the first time he and Jimmy had run into each other since they were shipped off."
Mac paused and looked at Harm's eyes reflected in the granite. He was focused on her conversation and wanted to hear everything. "Later that day," Mac continued. "Jimmy boarded a helo and went back to the base. He and Matt had a beer at the bar. The next day Jimmy went back out to take care of another batch of soldiers. He never came back."
There was silence between the two of them. Harm carefully looked at the names in front of them and found the one Mac was looking at. Harm stepped forward and rubbed his thumb across Jimmy's name. Then he turned to Mac. "I was just walking around."
"Me too," Mac told him.
"Want to walk together?" Harm asked.
Mac nodded her head. She leaned forward and rubbed her fingers across Jimmy's name, before she and Harm walked down the path of the Memorial. As they got to the end Mac took a few steps and they walked to the Nurse's Memorial statue. Harm watched as Mac walked around it and looked at the faces of the women in it. They had to make decisions in split seconds, there was nothing that made them different from the nurses and the doctors in today's military.
Harm joined her as she stood on the opposite side of the statue. "What are you thinking about?"
"Wondering what it must have been like for them?"
Harm looked at the face of the one nurse who was staring at the heavens above her. "Must have been hell. I think that is the one thing about war that has never changed."
"Yeah," Mac agreed before they walked away from the statue and up the path that headed towards the Mall.
They made their way down the dark path and the night air pressed against their skin. The silence was as soft as the breeze in the air. There was no pressure for them; both were lost in their thoughts of everything and nothing all at once.
Harm broke the silence. "You and Bud did a good job in court today."
"Thanks. You did a pretty good job, too."
"Thanks. It was..." Harm paused. "It was a little hard."
"I know." Mac glanced at him. "How is Mattie?"
"The same. Not much has changed," Harm said as he stepped aside for a jogger to move past them.
Mac nodded her head. She wanted to help, but knew Harm had to make the first move.
Harm looked forward and saw the lights of the War World II Memorial ahead of them. "It's very bright."
Mac smiled at his observation. "It is, they did a good job on it."
"They did." Harm glanced down at Mac and part of him was happy that he had run into her. "When was the last time you strolled through here at night?"
"It's been awhile. I love DC at night," Mac told him.
Harm glanced around them. The path they were on was a little dark and on the park bench they passed by there was a couple who was taking advantage of the darkness. "Not a lot of tourists."
"Which is part of its appeal at night." Mac joked.
Harm laughed and realized it was the first time in weeks that he had laughed. It felt good. He needed it.
The silence surrounded them as they approached the lights and the sound of the War World II Memorial's fountain. They stood at the side entrance and looked over the memorial. The sound of the water surrounded them and the lights reflected everywhere. The names of the battles below them shined and the stars on the wall sparkled. They both explored the memorial. Harm was slowly trailing behind Mac as she looked over the quotes and the sites.
They both stood in front of the stars. Mac looked down at the etched words in front of the stars 'The Price of Freedom'. She then looked at the Lincoln Memorial. "If you look close enough you can see Abe," Mac told Harm.
Harm looked and could see Honest Abe sitting in his chair. "Inside the memorial the Gettysburg Address is carved into one of the walls. It was less then five minutes long and one of the most powerful speeches in American history."
Mac turned around and looked up at Harm. "I read it every time I go there."
"Makes you remember what was fought for on this land," Harm said before they walked through the rest of the memorial.
They exited through the main entrance of the memorial. Mac ran her fingers along the metal pictures on the side walls of the entrance. Her mind thought about what it would have been like to be alive during this war that changed the world. She paused and looked at one frame. It was of men preparing the airplanes for an attack. Harm stood next to her and thought of his Grandfather who flew those planes.
Mac glanced up at him and smiled softly. She was surprised when Harm returned the smile. Then they both exited the memorial and crossed the empty street. They made their way around the construction of the Washington Memorial.
"Do you ever think about leaving?" Harm asked.
"Leaving what?"
"Everything."
Mac chuckled. "I tried that once and didn't like it much. Why?"
Harm sighed. "I just wonder if that's what Mattie is doing?"
"Harm, she's not going to leave you. She loves you," Mac told him.
"I know, but I'm scared she's not going to get better."
Mac looked at him as they walked towards the Mall. "She is going to get better. Don't start thinking that way. Just don't."
"It's too hard not to, Mac. I don't know what to do," Harm told her.
Mac stopped at the end of the curb and stared at Harm. "So are you going to give up? Are you going to forget everything? Are you going to stop praying and hoping? What are you going to do to, Harm?"
Harm raised his head to the heavens above him and waited for an answer. He knew he couldn't give up on Mattie. She needed him. Hell, he needed her. He also needed Mac. He lowered his head back and looked at Mac. He felt the walls around him start to fall as he gazed into her dark brown eyes. Those eyes had helped him before and now he needed them more then ever.
"Mac?" He softly said.
"Yes."
"Will you help me?"
"Always, Harm," Mac honestly told him as they stood at the crosswalk to the Mall.
Harm extended his hand to Mac and she took it in hers. "You up for a walk down the Mall? I could really use someone to talk to."
Mac smiled as the crosswalk sign changed to 'Walk,' "I would love to."
They crossed the street and towards the lights of the Smithsonian and the museums. Their hands locked together with their hearts in the right place. Harm told Mac of the pain in his heart and the thoughts in his head. Mac listened and offered her help. There wasn't much she could say, but she could hold his hand and hold him if he needed that too. They both needed each other and that is all they needed this night as the lights of the city passed by them.
The End