Disclaimer: None of the JAG characters are mine, they belong to Donald Bellisario and CBS and whatnot.

I hate automata! Ok, over that now. So yeah, writing > homework. Anywho, here's another chapter. I'm thrilled at the responses, wasn't quite expecting the puppy to go over so well. :-P Who knew? He's actually based on a dog I owned in high school, acted pretty much exactly like Hammer does. Been thinking about the cancellation thing. On one hand it's depressing, JAG's one of the few shows I truly enjoy and now it'll be gone. On the other hand, I'm glad there won't be a Harm-less season, I'm not sure I could've beared (born?) to watch that. And a big plus, No More Vukovic! (happy dance)

Thanks to zeilfanaat, jaggurl, LiseGirardi (hope I addressed your concerns in this chapter:-) ), hardluckmarine, jaka, mjag, carbygurl05, jlhtbs, cbw, harmfan, snugglebug, Radiorox, martini1988 (I'd say soon but that's somewhat of a relative term so the best I can do is promise that he -will- be rescued eventually), starryeyes10, TomcatGM, and anyone I missed! And thanks to everyone who's reading! Also, thanks again to sithwitch for listening to me ramble on about my story and for answering all the crazy medical questions I can come up with! So read, review, and enjoy!

USMC Base Camp

Iraq

1600 ZULU

Gunnery Sergeant Victor Galindez sighed heavily as he rode the humvee into the camp. They'd continued the search ever since finding Colonel MacKenzie and Lieutenant Vukovic but there was no sign of Commander Rabb. The squad had located the buildings Mac and Vukovic had escaped from. Unfortunately a sand storm had demolished any clues as to where the trucks had gone, taking Harm with them.

Angrily he rubbed his hand across his hair, roughly brushing out the sand in it before replacing his BDU hat. His entire team was covered in sand and sweat. They'd been searching all day but had found less than nothing. Gunny knew if they didn't find anything soon the search would be drastically cut back. He could only be grateful this was the US military and not the CIA, at least Harm had a chance. But he couldn't help but feel a shiver run up his spine at the thought that of his friend being a captive somewhere. He hadn't liked it in Paraguay; he liked it even less now.

Muttering to himself he shook off the thoughts, jumping lightly down from the vehicle. Absently he saluted his second-in-command, a marine sergeant before heading off for the showers. He'd only gotten about halfway there when a corporal ran up to him, screeching to a halt and saluting. Gunny blinked, well this was new. Bemused he returned the salute and waited for the corporal to speak. "Sir, there's a phone call for you."

He was slightly taken aback, who would be calling him? Much less, who had enough pull to actually get put through out here? He frowned, "From whom?"

"Ah, he says his name is Webb." Now Gunny was truly confused, what the hell was Mr. Webb doing calling him.

He'd begun to get lost in his thoughts when the shifting of the corporal caught his eye. Rapidly collecting himself he nodded, "Thank you, corporal." The corporal saluted once more, waited for Gunny to return it then turned and trotted away. Gunny redirected himself to the headquarters building, pondering this development. He sincerely hoped Clay didn't want him for another CIA job, there was no way he was going to abandon this search. Not after doing everything he could to make sure his squad was one that was permanently assigned to the search.

Shaking his head slightly to himself he entered the building, tugging off his hat. He glanced at the petty officer sitting behind the desk, "I'm Gunnery Sergeant Galindez; I was told there was a call for me?"

The younger man bounced to his feet, "Yes, sir. Right through here, sir." He showed Gunny to a small side office with a simple desk and phone. Nodding briefly to the petty officer Gunny approached the desk, only half noticing the other man leave.

Remaining standing he picked up the phone, punching the line that was blinking, "Galindez."

"Gunny, this is Clay."

Gunny rolled his eyes; did the man really think they hadn't told him who was calling? "Yes, Mr. Webb?"

"How's the search for Harm going?"

Gunny frowned slightly, he considered lying but didn't see a point, after all Clay would be able to find out the truth if he really wanted to, "Not well." Clay nodded to himself on the other end of the line. When he didn't respond after a few moments Gunny asked, "Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Webb?"

Clay smiled faintly, "Actually, something I can do for you. I managed to convince the agency to allow our agents in Iraq to help with the search."

Gunny was shocked, that wasn't what he'd been expecting. He knew Clay and Harm were friends, or at least had been but he also knew the CIA was not big on rescuing people. He spoke slowly, still somewhat incredulous and wondering if this was a big joke, "Excuse me?"

Clay shrugged, idly glancing around his office at CIA Headquarters, "Not actively, nor even solely. But they have agreed to let them help if they want, basically they're aware that Harm is missing and will keep their eyes open for information about him or his location and pass it on to the military. It's not an active search by any means but it's the best I could do."

"Well, thanks, Mr. Webb. We appreciate any help we can get in finding the Commander." Gunny hung up the phone and stared at it thoughtfully for a moment. That had been an odd conversation, but he wasn't about to turn down any offers of help. Shrugging slightly he headed back out, resuming his original plan to head for the showers. With luck this would all make the searching go that much faster, unfortunately he had a feeling the CIA knew no more than the military did about Harm's location.

Mac's Apartment

Same Day

1700 ZULU

AJ watched Mac carefully as they made their way back to her apartment. He pondered the topic he'd wanted to bring up since he'd first shown up a few hours ago. Well, actually the two topics he wanted to talk to her about, one was the original reason he'd come over. The other was a topic brought on by his arrival. Every time he'd tried to broach either she'd deftly avoided him, which is exactly what makes her such a great lawyer, he thought ruefully. Finally he tried again, deciding to start with the easier topic and lead into the other, "Mac, tell me why Webb and Vukovic were here this morning?"

She sighed, pausing briefly in the act of unlocking the door, "I told you, they both kinda showed up." She opened the door and hobbled in, looking forward to sitting on the couch. AJ followed, quietly closing the door behind him. He smiled and patted Hammer on the head when he bounded over to meet them then grinned fully as the puppy turned and bounced over to Mac, trying vainly to hop on the couch next to her. Smiling herself Mac reached down and picked him up, cuddling the dog close as if he could protect her from things she didn't want to discuss.

But AJ was persistent. He moved over to the chair and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched his former Chief of Staff. He was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Mac, give me a straight answer."

She glanced at him, carefully preventing any reaction to the question from showing on her face, "I did; they showed up."

AJ arched an eyebrow, his expression clearly showing that he didn't believe her, "I know there's more to it than that. Last I heard you and Webb weren't really that close anymore." Mac's head shot up, her surprise clearly showing despite her best efforts. AJ chuckled in dry amusement, "I heard the scuttlebutt; I wasn't completely oblivious you know."

Mac sighed, leaning back on the couch though she still held Hammer close. For a moment she considered her answer, though she trusted AJ implicitly there was still plenty she didn't particularly want him to know. Finally she explained, "Clay showed up to try and talk about our relationship. I'd been about to have him leave when the lieutenant showed up."

"Right, why didn't you ask Clay to leave then?"

She smiled wryly, "I didn't quite get there; he decided to get into some verbal sparring with the lieutenant."

"I see," he studied her for a moment before trying a different tack; this line of conversation definitely wasn't going to allow him to broach the subject he really wanted to. "So this lieutenant, tell me about him."

Mac grimaced slightly, "He's new at JAG, had no court experience before he got there."

AJ looked mildly surprised, "He what?" Mac shrugged slightly, not particularly wanting to discuss Vukovic, even to point out his shortcomings. She knew if she started on that trend she'd reveal a lot more than she wanted to. "Huh, so you were training him I take it? That's why he was in Iraq with you and Harm?"

Mac nodded slightly, "Yeah."

"I see." He frowned, watching her. She was still avoiding the topic, answering his questions as minimally as possible. He took a breath and decided to tackle things head on, hoping she wouldn't kick him out, "What happened in Iraq, Mac?"

He almost missed the slightly flinch at the question and berated himself, he hadn't meant to hurt her with the question. He simply wanted to know what had happened, especially as it involved two officers he felt so protective of. But he waited silently, sensing that were he to push the issue, despite being her former CO, she'd push him away completely and quite probably avoid speaking to him for days. Finally Mac took a breath, steeling herself to recount the situation once more. Briefly she outlined the events of what had happened, skimming over her actual time in captivity, trying to be as vague as possibly about her own feelings. She should've known better, AJ picked up on a lot of what she didn't say, and like Gunny quickly drew his own conclusions.

Though she didn't explicitly state that Vukovic was at fault, indeed she actually listed the events so blandly as to blame no one at all, he could tell. The admiral frowned, leaning back in the chair as he watched her. She'd stopped talking and seemed to be in her own world, an action he noticed frequently over the course of the morning. Finally he asked quietly, knowing she'd follow his thinking, "Why did you let the lieutenant in this morning, Mac, after everything that happened?"

She looked up at him, her eyes distant and filled with such sadness it made his heart ache. She answered softly, her words fitting with her normal dry humor though the tone said otherwise, "What was I supposed to do, sir? I didn't want to cause a scene." He could read the subtext as clear as if she'd continued speaking; she didn't want to act as anything other than the consummate officer. For a moment he reflected on the insight into people's characters and personalities that being their CO for eight years had given him. He also knew that everything she'd told him, as well as many things she hadn't, would be outline in a clear and concise report for the new JAG. And unless he missed his guess, General Cresswell would have that report in hand a lot sooner than expected.

AJ had a feeling things weren't going to go so well for the lieutenant. He knew how much Mac believed in the law, she'd see to it justice was served, especially in light of Harm's continued absence. He could only hope she wouldn't completely burn out and withdraw. The admiral had seen how close the pair had gotten over the years and he didn't want to think of how Mac would react to Harm's absence if it continued much longer. Though not nearly as emotion driven as the Commander he had a feeling things wouldn't be pretty.

He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his head. Mac didn't appear to notice him; in fact she seemed to have completely forgotten his presence. After a few more minutes AJ asked softly, wondering if she'd answer him, "You're in love with him, aren't you?" He waited for her to deny it, to ask who he was talking about, to do a hundred different things in order to avoid the subject. But she did none of those, he wasn't entirely sure she was aware of what was going on anymore. When she continued to sit in silence he spoke again, voice still soft so as not to startle her, "Mac?"

His voice attracted the attention of Hammer, who blinked at him sleepily. It struck him at that moment just how close in color the back of the dog was to a Tomcat. He smiled sadly, at the puppy, hoping someday he'd get to see the blue eyes of his missing son again. Son? Where the hell did that come from? AJ was startled at his own thoughts. He contemplated it for a moment before conceding that his subconscious was right, over the years he had come to think of the sometimes reckless Commander as his own son. He looked back at Mac, accepting that somewhere along the line he begun to think of her as a second daughter also. Funny how our perceptions change over the years.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the realization that Mac still hadn't answered. AJ frowned; he expected some response by now. Slowly he stood and moved over to the couch, watching her carefully. Gently he touched her shoulder, "Sarah?"

Slowly she looked up at him. He resisted the urge to gather her up in his arms at the sight of such complete loss in her eyes. After a moment she smiled faintly, though it was a smile filled with such sadness and devastation he felt more like crying at the sight. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she finally answered his question, "Yes, I am." She saw no point in denying it, the admiral had probably already known anyways. And if he hadn't she was sure her reaction had answered the question long before she'd spoken. She had heard him, but somehow couldn't make herself speak, instead drowning in memories of Harm. It was as if the simple question had opened the floodgates of her mind and she'd been unable to close them, didn't want to close them.

The admiral smiled sympathetically and nodded, commenting with a hint of humor, "I had a feeling that was the case."

Mac returned the smile, this time with a little more cheer instead of sorrow. She asked, with a hint of dryness, "How long have you known?"

He laughed softly, resuming his seat in the chair, "I had a feeling there was something between you since you two met. But actually knowing for a fact you two were in love? Not quite four years ago, at your rehearsal dinner."

Mac laughed, a hint of bitterness lacing the sound, "Guess everyone knew but me then."

The admiral cocked his head, eyes narrowing slightly, "You knew."

She glanced at him, unfazed by his answer. Mac shrugged slightly, a slight smile on her lips, "Yeah, I suppose so." She let out a self-deprecating laugh, "For someone who's supposed to be such a great lawyer, my observation skills leave something to be desired."

AJ shrugged slightly and stood, commenting, "Love is blind, Colonel. Now I'll get out of your hair, you look like you could use some time alone."

Mac looked up and smiled gratefully at him, "Thanks, sir, for everything."

He grinned, patting Hammer on the head one last time, "Anytime, Mac." With that he let himself out. Mac sat for a long time on the couch, staring into space and thinking about everything and nothing.