After a few moments, it was all over. Johns had emptied the gun, then had taken advantage of the chaos and fear to run. Everyone in the hallway held their breaths for a long moment before it finally sank that there would be no more shots.

"Is everyone okay?" Alan asked as he pulled him up off the floor where he had dropped, pushing Carolyn down with him.

"I'm fine ... I think," Carolyn answered as she took slow, deep breaths to calm her frayed nerves. "Harm? Mac?"

"Harm?" Mac said weakly, gasping for breath, from her position beneath Harm on the floor.

Harm breath a sigh of relief. "Glad to hear you're still with us," he teased as he moved to push himself up, his right hand slipping as it came into contact with something wet on the floor. Puzzled, he lifted his hand, his eyes going wide at the sight of the crimson liquid staining his fingers. His shock quickly turned to horror as he realized the source of the blood. "God, no," he cried as he gently rolled Mac over onto her back, revealing blood spreading across the right side of her uniform blouse.

"Dear God!" Carolyn gasped as Alan quickly stripped off his uniform blouse and handed it to Harm.

"Here, use this to press down on the wound," Alan instructed. Harm quickly folded the shirt and pressed it to Mac's chest.

"Hang on, Ninja Girl," he whispered to her. "Help's on the way."

"Hurts ... breathe," she gasped.

Carolyn moved over to her left side and grasped her hand. "Harm's right. Help is on the way. Try to relax," she said with a calmness in her voice that she sure did not feel. "Has anyone called for ambulances yet?"

"On the way, ma'am," Gunny said, coming out of the bullpen, his trained cop's eyes surveying the scene. As soon as he had heard the shooting start, he had called for help, not waiting to see if anyone would even need an ambulance.

Seeing that Mac was being taken care of, he moved over to Captain Sebring, who was leaning in a sitting position against the wall, his hand clutching his left shoulder. "Captain, how bad?" Gunny asked.

"Just my shoulder," Sebring managed to reply through gritted teeth. "I think it hit the collarbone. Gunny Dinkins is dead." He nodded to the Marine guard who lay still facedown just a few feet away.

"So is Petty Officer Hall," Gunny said softly, gesturing towards the entrance to the bullpen where a young woman lay curled on her side. "From what I've seen, four other people shot including yourself."

Sebring nodded. "Where's Chegwidden?"

"Downstairs," Gunny replied. "Tiner went to get him."

"Good," Sebring answered. "Check on the Colonel. She looks the worst off."

Gesturing to a nearby Petty Officer to keep an eye on the injured Captain, Gunny scooted on the floor the few feet to where the four lawyers were, Harm concentrating on stopping the blood flow while Carolyn whispered words of encouragement and Alan hovered nearby.

"How is she?" Gunny asked quietly.

Harm ignored him, concentrating on Mac while Alan answered, "She was shot in the chest and is having difficulty breathing."

Gunny nodded. He had seen many gunshot wounds during his years as a cop. The greatest danger was probably a collapsed lung. "Ambulance should be here in a few minutes," he reassured Harm as they all began to hear the faint scream of sirens through the building's open windows.

Within moments, Admiral Chegwidden made his way through the hallway, careful not to let the horror he was feeling show on his face, closely followed by the first of the paramedic teams. Gunny waived them over.

Going automatically into cop mode, Gunny began rattling off his observations of the scene. "Two dead," he said, fighting the shaking in his voice, "four more injured. This one appears to be the most serious. Gunshot wound to the chest, possible collapsed lung. She's ... how far along is she? Commander?"

"Twelve weeks," Carolyn answered for Harm, who continued to ignore everyone around him. "She said this morning it was twelve weeks."

"She's three months pregnant," Gunny continued as Alan and Carolyn moved aside to let the paramedics in, one of them gently pushing Harm out of the way so they could get a look at the wound. Harm slumped back against the wall behind him as AJ moved beside him, clasping his hand to Harm's shoulder.

"She'll be okay, Harm," he said. "She's always been a fighter." Harm still said nothing, staring down at the blood that stained his hands and uniform in a daze. He would have given anything to have been the one lying there.

Swiftly, the paramedics prepped Mac for transport and gently lifted her onto the gurney. Finally, Harm managed to find his voice.

"I'm riding," he said shakily, his eyes daring anyone to argue with him.

One of the paramedics had been about to do just that, but stopped when she saw the look in his eyes and nodded. Harm followed them down the hall to the elevator silently, praying harder than he ever had in his entire life.

"Alan, Carolyn," AJ said to them, "follow the ambulance to Bethesda. Keep an eye on him."

-----

1635 ZULU
EMERGENCY ROOM
BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND

"Major trauma incoming," the head nurse called out, having just gotten off the radio with one of the incoming ambulances. "GSW, four victims. Let's prepare some trauma rooms, people."

Within moments, the gurney carrying Mac was speeding into the emergency room, Harm almost running to keep up with it. Quickly, a paramedic rattled off Mac's stats to the attending physician, "Thirty-two year old female, GSW upper right chest, possible collapsed lung, twelve weeks pregnant, BP ninety over sixty-two, resps twelve."

"Okay, let's move her into trauma one," the physician instructed. "Get me an intubation tray and a chest tube kit. Also need a surgical and obstetrical consult. Sir, you'll have to wait outside." He tried to close the door to keep Harm outside, but Harm stopped the door with his foot.

"My fiancée ... " he began brokenly.

"We'll do everything we can for her," the doctor said firmly. "You need to wait outside and someone will come see you as soon as we know anything."

"Harm!" Carolyn called out as she and Alan rushed into the emergency room, having broken every speed limit between Falls Church and Bethesda. "Come on, let's go sit down." The two officers led their friend to the waiting area. As Harm and Carolyn sat down, she suggested, "Alan, why don't you go get us all some coffee?"

"Okay," Alan agreed, clasping Harm's shoulder briefly before leaving.

"Harm, she'll be okay," Carolyn tried to reassure him. "Mac is one of the strongest, most determined people I know. And I imagine that baby is too; look at who he or she has for parents."

"The baby," Harm whispered. "Dear God ... "

"Harm! Carolyn!" a familiar voice called out. Carolyn looked up to find Sydney Walden rushing towards them. "AJ called me and I rushed over from my office," she explained, out of breath, as she sat down on the other side of Harm. "How is she?"

"She's in a trauma room right now," Carolyn explained. "Something about a collapsed lung, intubation, chest tubes. Nobody really explained very much."

"I'm a doctor," Sydney reminded them, patting Harm on the shoulder. "Why don't I talk to one of the nurses and see if I can find out a little more?"

"Thanks," Harm whispered weakly as Sydney headed for the emergency room desk.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" a male nurse asked Sydney as she stood in front of the desk.

"I hope so," she replied. "My name is Doctor Sydney Walden and a good friend of mine was brought in with a gunshot wound. Patient's name is Colonel Mackenzie."

"Mackenzie?" the nurse asked. "Let me check." He glanced at the patient board and found the name, smiling to himself. "She's in trauma room one. Why don't I go in there and see what I can find out?"

"Thank you very much," Sydney said gratefully. "I know her boyfriend will be relieved. We'll be over in the waiting area."

The nurse walked into the trauma room, smiling to himself as he confirmed the identity of the patient. This was too perfect, he thought as he studied the activity in the trauma room. She was intubated and on a ventilator. The attending was busy inserting a chest tube in her right side while another doctor was studying the readout on a heart monitor, this one showing a rapid pace of 130 beats a minutes. He looked confused until the doctor at the heart monitor turned slightly and he could make out the letters OB on her name tag. An obstetrician. Quietly, he moved next to one of the trauma nurses and inquired about the Colonel's condition before heading back out to the waiting area.

Pausing just outside the waiting area, he stuck his head around the door and looked for the doctor who had approached him a few minutes earlier. He saw her in a back corner of the room with a red-headed Navy Lieutenant Commander and a very familiar face. Commander Rabb, he thought as he pulled a surgical mask over his face. Rabb shouldn't recognize him, but it didn't hurt to take precautions plus the mask would serve to disguise his voice. He entered the room and headed for the trio.

"Dr. Walden?" he asked.

"Thank you for getting back to us," Sydney said as Harm and Carolyn looked up expectantly.

"They are preparing to take the Colonel up to surgery to remove the bullet," he informed them. "According to the x-rays, it's lodged in one of her back ribs."

"X-rays?" Carolyn asked.

"It's okay," Sydney reassured everyone. "They have special precautions they take with pregnant women."

"She's on a ventilator for now," the nurse continued, "but that's only a precaution due to the injury to her lung to help her breathe. And there are no signs of fetal distress at this time. An OB is in there now monitoring her condition."

"Thank you," Sydney said. "Harm, that's very good news. The longer she goes without showing signs of fetal distress, the better the probably outcome."

"What about the surgery?" Harm asked quietly.

"They'll take precautions there, too," Sydney assured him. "There are special mixes of anesthesia for use with pregnant patients."

"Yes," the nurse agreed, "and the surgeon consulting on the case, I am told, has operated successfully on pregnant women before. Everything is looking good considering everything."

"Thank you very much for the help," Sydney said grateful.

Back outside the waiting room, the nurse leaned against the wall, a wide smile on his face. He couldn't have planned this better himself. Rabb obviously cared more for the Marine officer than he had previously thought. This was good for him. Very good.

-----

1715 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

AJ sat down at his desk with a heavy heart. This was the part of the job he hated most, notifying families that their loved ones had either been killed or injured in the line of duty. It was something he had done many times before, but usually in times of battle. What had happened today was just so ... senseless. But he did need to make the notifications and he needed to know why it had happened. He hit the button on his phone for the intercom.

"Gunny, my office, now," he barked. Gunny must have been waiting for the summons, for he was rushing through the Admiral's door within seconds carrying several folders, coming to attention in front of the desk.

"Reporting as ordered, Sir," Gunny said, his face not showing any of the turmoil of the last hour and fifteen minutes.

"Get me the personnel folders on the victims," AJ stated. "I want names and phone numbers of who needs to be called. Then I want you to get the captain of the guard in here. I want to know how the hell this happened!"

"Folders already pulled, Sir," he replied, handing the Admiral the seven folders in his hand. AJ flipped through the folders, pausing at one of them, a question in his eyes.

"I thought you would want to call the Commander's parents, Sir," Gunny explained as he glanced at the name on the folder that held the Admiral's attention.

"Right," AJ replied sadly, tossing all of the folders on his desk. "Now get me the captain."

"Aye, aye, Sir," Gunny said, rushing out of the office without waiting to be dismissed. Only once he was outside the Admiral's office did he allow the impassive mask to drop, his face showing his grief for the dead and the injured who were colleagues and friends.

-----

Within minutes, Gunny was back, Marine Captain Joshua Dawson in tow. Dawson came to attention in front of the Admiral's desk while Gunny started to leave to allow the men some privacy. "Gunny, stay," AJ ordered, getting up and walking around his desk to stand nose to nose with the captain of the guard.

"Would you care to tell me, Captain Dawson," AJ said angrily, "how the hell a defendant who was supposed to be under guard managed to grab the gun of one of those guards and start shooting? Why the hell hadn't he been restrained?"

"I don't know, Sir," the captain replied.

"'I don't know, Sir.' That is not an acceptable answer, Captain," AJ retorted. "I have two people dead and four more injured. I can't very well tell their families that we don't know how a guarded defendant managed to get a hold of a gun. You will find out who screwed up here and you will do it now or I will have your bars, Captain. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Dawson replied, swallowing nervously. Everyone knew the ex-SEAL did not make idle threats.

"Gunny, you will assist the MPs in their investigation," AJ said, turning to Gunny.

"Gladly, Sir," Gunny replied, thankful that he could help in some way to find out why this had happened.

"Dismissed," AJ said in disgust as he sat back down to call the next of kin. As he picked up Mac's personnel folder, an idea came to him and he punched the intercom again.

"Tiner," AJ ordered, "get me Webb."

Within a few minutes, AJ was on the phone with an impatient Clayton Webb, who was grumbling about being pulled out of a meeting with national security implications. Impatient himself, AJ cut off his complaints with a sharp, "I don't give a damn what your problems are, Webb. You owe me many times over and I am calling in one of those markers right now."

"Look, AJ," Clay tried to remain calm, but he and AJ had a way of always pushing each others' buttons, "I can't just walk away from this ... "

"Damn it, Webb," AJ interrupted angrily, "as much as you owe me, you owe Harm and Mac even more."

Clay was quiet. If this was for Harm and Mac, he'd do everything he could within reason. AJ had been right when he had once said that the two officers were the closest thing that Clay had to friends. One didn't make many friends in his line of work. "What is it?" he asked wearily.

"There's been a shooting at JAG," AJ explained, his tone more moderate. "Mac's been hurt; I don't know how bad at this point but what I saw did not look good."

Clay understood instantly. "You want me to get Matt O'Hara here," he said.

"I want him in the air as soon as possible," AJ stated.

"Look, AJ," Clay answered, "you know I'll do everything I can, but it's not that easy. I can't just walk over to the Pentagon and Justice and ask that a prisoner be furloughed from Leavenworth. Are you sure it is that bad that he needs ... "

"Mac is pregnant, Webb," AJ said.

"What?" Clay exclaimed. "How ...?"

"You're an intelligent man," AJ retorted, "I'm sure you can figure it out. In the meantime, I want to hear from you within an hour that Matt O'Hara either has boarded or is preparing to board the next vehicle with wings and an engine heading East. Understood?"

"AJ, I don't know if I can arrange anything that fast," Clay said even as he mentally began preparing a list of people to call for assistance.

"One hour, Webb," AJ repeated, hanging up the phone.

-----

1925 ZULU
BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL
BETHESDA, MARYLAND

AJ finally made his way to the hospital to check on his people after finally receiving assurances from Webb that Matt O'Hara had been taken by helo to Whiteman Air Force Base, where he would board a military transport for Andrews, where Webb had promised to pick him up and deliver him to Bethesda personally. Harm's parents were flying in by private jet from California, but it was nearly a seven hour flight, so they weren't expected until late in the evening. All the other victims had families in the area and all were already at the hospital checking on their loved ones.

AJ was directed by the emergency room personnel to the surgical unit on the second floor, where he found most of his staff milling around, waiting for news. Harm, Alan and Carolyn were in one corner with Gunny, who was taking their witness statements for the MPs. Bud and Harriet were in another corner conversing with Alfred and Loren, who appeared very shaken by the day's events. Sydney was hovering near Harm, keeping an eye on him when she saw AJ out of the corner of her eye. She walked over to him and gave him a quick hug.

"What's the word?" he asked softly.

Sydney glanced at her watch. "She should be out of surgery any time now," she replied. "Fortunately, they are very optimistic about her chances."

"And the baby?"

"No signs of fetal distress," she answered. "Her OB is observing the surgery."

"Thank God," AJ breathed a sigh of relief. "Harm?"

"AJ, I'm scared for him," she admitted. "I don't know how he will react if he loses either one of them. He's so devastated."

AJ nodded in understanding. After everything Harm and Mac had been through before they had found their way to each other, it would be the ultimate cruelty for them to lose each other now.

AJ noticed Harm look up and he turned around, finding a figure in surgical scrubs entering the room.

"Dr. Calder?" Harm asked, recognizing Mac's obstetrician.

"She is being moved to ICU," the doctor said, smiling, "and both mother and baby appear to be doing very well considering. We'll continue to monitor them both. I'm cautiously optimistic, but we should know more in about forty-eight hours."

"I'd like to see her," Harm said, allowing himself to hope for the first time in hours.

"Someone will come get you as soon as she's settled," Dr. Calder informed him before she left the room.

As a spontaneous display of joy and hope spread through the room, another figure in surgical scrubs stood just outside the doorway, watching silently. It was almost time.

-----

To be continued…