Disclaimer: Still don't own a thing…except Dani of course.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it makes me smile. Ashnic, I haven't been to California since a family vacation ten years ago, but next time I go I'll have to check out the Hornet. I saw the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk a couple weeks ago, which was very fun but lacked the supernatural. JMC, I don't know if people actually fly between Norfolk and DC but I needed a way to explain why Dani had no car. Even though it's only a 3 hrs and 15 min away according to mapquest, there were people who joined my connecting flight into Norfolk when we stopped in Baltimore and that's only a 4 hr drive. I don't know…Dani's spoiled. On with the story…
1718 ZULU
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
Harm and Mac sat in her office discussing their most recent case. Weeks had gone by since Dani first walked into JAG, and it was now late June. Dani and Mac kept in frequent contact with Dani finding herself spending more time in the DC area than with her family and work in Norfolk. The arrangement worked well for Mac who was happy to have her sister nearby and a stable friendship with Harm, as long as he refrained from offering her advice. Of course more than a friendship with Harm would be nice, but that just wasn't going to happen.
Because of the current sanity in her life, Mac was shocked to hear Bud greet her sister in the bullpen that Tuesday. Both she and Harm looked up to see Dani walking toward the office with her visitor's badge haphazardly clipped on to her white zippered sweatshirt, which hung open over a green tube top and matching camouflaged mini-skirt.
"Hi, Dani," Harm greeted as she all but burst into the office.
"Hey, Harm," she said distractedly and turned to Mac, "Can I talk to you for a minute?
"We can finish this later," Harm picked up a couple files and excused himself.
"I thought you weren't coming in until Saturday. What are you doing here?"
"I need a place to stay."
"You can stay with me, like you always do."
"No, I mean permanently," Dani said rather abruptly, "I moved out of my uncle's place."
"When?"
"About three and a half hours ago," she glanced at her watch.
"What aren't you telling me?" Mac eyed her sister's disheveled appearance.
"It's the clothes, isn't it?" Dani self-consciously zipped up her sweatshirt over her exposed midriff.
"No, it's cute."
"Thanks, but it's hardly office appropriate."
"Back to your uncle."
"We had an argument," she described vaguely, ignoring the cell phone ringing from her purse.
"About?" she eyed the purse, which was now playing the second verse of the Phantom of the Opera, "Are you going to get that?"
"No, my uncle's called me six times since I left his house."
"Have you answered?"
"Not exactly," the cell phone stopped ringing, "But I did listen to his message on my voicemail in which he threatened to charge me with grand theft auto."
"Are you guilty?"
"It's my car."
"But?" she prompted, knowing there was more to the story.
"But his name's on the title," Dani admitted as Mac's office phone rang.
"One sec," she picked up the phone, "Major Sarah MacKenzie," Dani watched Mac speak into the phone with a sinking feeling as she realized who it was on the other end, "Yes, she is. I'll get her, one moment," Mac covered the receiver with her hand, "It's your uncle."
"Why did you tell him I was here?" she whispered fiercely.
"As your attorney, I feel it's in your best interests to speak with him to prevent him from pressing any charges over the car."
"Fine," Dani reluctantly took the phone and greeted her uncle tersely in Russian.
Mac sat down at her desk to go through some files as she casually eavesdropped on the conversation. Surprisingly enough, the sisters had never discussed languages, so Mac felt a little guilty invading her sister's privacy, but as Dani's volume rose it became impossible not to listen.
"What is going on in there, Lieutenant?" the admiral asked Bud looking toward Mac's office.
"The major's sister is having a heated phone conversation, sir."
"I'll say," he paused to listen, "Is she shouting in Russian?"
"I believe so, sir."
"Dasvidanya!" Dani slammed down the phone and began pacing angrily
"Fell better?" Mac asked in Russian after Dani let out a string of expletives in a number of languages.
"A little, but my uncle is an outdated, egotistical–" she stopped pacing suddenly to stare at Mac, "You speak Russian?"
"Yes."
"So you–" she trailed off again, gesturing to the phone.
"I got the highlights."
"What do you think?" she returned to her pacing.
"Well," she was interrupted by a knock on the door, "Enter."
"As you were," the admiral said to Mac, who was in the process of rising from her seat, "May I ask what is going on in here?"
"My sister received a rather distressing phone call, sir," Mac explained.
"So I heard," he glanced at Dani, "May I have a word with your sister in private, Major?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well," the admiral addressed Dani once Mac had left.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to disrupt your office."
"Apology accepted," he sat down, "Now what seems to be the problem?"
"Just some family issues, nothing that important."
"It sounded important from the bullpen."
"Again, I'm sorry," she sighed taking a seat, "It's just that my uncle feels that my time in the next eight weeks would be better spent in France with my cousin Giselle and her husband Mika."
"I take it you don't want to go?"
"Actually, my cousin's place is gorgeous and I love Gigi, but I resent the fact that my uncle is shipping me out of the country because he disapproves of my behavior."
"Is he justified?" he asked, thinking of his own willful daughter.
"Not entirely," she caught a disapproving look from the admiral, "We had this huge argument during breakfast, and I may have whipped a scone at his head then stormed out."
"Is that all?" he hid a smile at the mental image of a scone being used as a weapon.
"No."
"Then by all means continue, Dani."
"How's Dani?" Harm asked Mac when she came out of her office.
"I believe infuriated would cover it."
"That bad?"
"Harm, are you kidding?" she raised an eyebrow.
"What happened?"
"She got into an argument with her uncle," Mac folded her arms, "She moved out."
"What prompted it?"
"Her uncle strongly suggested that she spend the rest of the summer with her cousin in France."
"Why?"
"In a nutshell, he feels that she's lost her focus because of the time she's been spending with me and 'that sailor.'"
"Tiner?" he guessed. Neither Tiner nor Dani had ever directly stated that they were seeing each other, but scuttlebutt said they were an item.
"None other," Mac looked through her office window at Dani and the admiral, "What could they be talking about?"
"According to my uncle, I've also been neglecting my duties to the family in favor of spending time here," Dani paused to remember his phrasing, "He feels Mac as well as Jason is a negative influences on me and that my association with the Navy is detrimental to my moral character."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"I wish."
"Dani, you're not a minor, so as long as you are not dependent on him there is no basis for his actions."
"I recently moved out of his house, but I lack the financial resources to support myself, especially with the three years of law school I need to finish."
"You've been working all spring haven't you?" he asked, finding it hard to believe that someone like Dani would have no money on which to fall back.
"Yes, but any money I made working for my family either went into my trust fund, which is controlled by my uncle, or my charitable work with the Russian orphanage system."
"As admirable as that may be, it's pretty unpractical."
"Personally, I would have gone with stupid," she agreed, "But that doesn't change the outcome."
"Well, Dani, what do you plan to do?"
"Initially, I was going to stay with Mac, but my uncle just informed me that he's coming to retrieve me," she paused, "Now I'm not sure what to do."
"Well, I've learned that in life there are some battles that are better not to fight," he offered sagely.
"So I should just give in?" she looked at the admiral with indignant disbelief, "Let him think he's right, that I agree with him?"
"You don't have to agree with him on everything, Dani. Lord knows I don't, but you can make some concessions."
"Concessions?" she questioned but not as harshly as before.
"Agree to stay with your cousin but remain in contact with whomever you choose and negotiate length of stay."
"I could do that," she considered rising to shake his hand, "Thank you for the advice."
"You're welcome."
"And I am sorry about the outburst."
"Just don't let it happen again," he walked to the door.
"I won't," she stopped him before he could open it, "Um you wouldn't happen to know if Petty Officer Tiner had any leave coming, would you sir?"
"You'd have to ask him," he chuckled shaking his head.
"I plan on it," Dani smiled, returning to her seat to wait for Mac to return.
The admiral left the office and walked back into his own without saying a word to Harm and Mac, who were doing their best not to make it look like they were waiting around expectantly. Mac left Harm lingering in the doorway and walked into her office to see Dani seated with her back to the door playing with her cell phone, "You seem calmer."
"The admiral and I had a talk," she said without looking up.
"I know," she walked over to her desk.
"Is Harm going to join us?" she looked up from her phone to meet Mac's amused eyes as she sat down behind her desk.
"I'll never understand that?" Harm walked in, shaking his head.
"What?" Dani turned to look toward the door for the first time since the admiral had left.
"That sixth sense you MacKenzie girls seem to have," he teased sitting in the chair next to Dani.
"Or you're just predictable," Mac smiled from behind her desk.
"Besides, I'm technically an Arkada, as I will be painfully reminded by my uncle in," she glanced down at her wrist but found only bracelets, so she looked at Mac expectantly."
"1254," she supplied without blinking.
"A little under an hour," she finished looking to Harm who was shaking his head slightly, "Problem Commander?"
"No, of course not," he looked at Mac who just smiled innocently.
"So, Dani," Mac began tentatively, not wanting to ruin the relaxed mood, "Have you decided what you're going to do when your uncle arrives?"
"Take my stolen vehicle and leave town," she told them seriously.
"You stole a car?" Harm leaned forward in his chair.
"It was borrowed," Mac explained, "There are mitigating circumstances, unless she decides to leave town."
"Which I won't," she folded her hands primly in her lap, "I've decided to make a few concessions to my uncle."
"You alone decided this?" Mac questioned.
"Thanks to the admiral's advice," Dani clarified, "I'll agree to visit my cousin in France, but I will not agree to cut off contact with everyone at JAG."
"Sounds reasonable," she nodded.
"It'll work," Dani shrugged, "I figure I'll just fly people to France to visit me."
"Where are you going?" Mac asked when Dani suddenly stood up.
"I only have forty-five minutes until my uncle gets here and if you don't mind I'd like to spend some of them eating lunch with Jason."
"Go right on ahead," she laughed.
"Yeah," Harm added, "Don't let us stop you."
"Bye," she waived, closing the door behind her.
"Not bad, Mac," Harm laughed, "You just got yourself a free European vacation."
"So did you."
"Are you inviting me?"
"Oh, I see enough of you around here, flyboy," she smiled, "I believe my sister made that invite. Not that I can blame her, she doesn't know you that well."
"That's harsh," he pretended to be wounded.
"Sorry," Mac apologized then scoffed under her breath, "Sailors."
"Marines," he muttered back.
"What?" she asked, even though she had heard him clearly.
"Nothing," he picked up one of the files they had discarded when Dani first arrived, "We need to get back to this case."
"Of course."