Title : Melted Ice
Author : Jaggie 107
Disclaimer : JAG/NCIS characters belong to DPB, CBS and Paramount. I hope all parties will allow me to have fun for a little while, and replace them all when I'm done. Thank you.
Rating : T (I think!) Some language!
Spoilers : Series 8
Summary : Mac proves loyal to Harm…and a lot more!
Notes :
Harm makes a trip to Kansas, but it's not just his past he's confronting…
You'll see I changed the spelling on Singer's first name; after I watched the episode again I realized I'd misspelled the name! Oops!
To Manic Penguin; thanks very much for the info on the Virginia laws on the fetus issue. I'll keep it for future reference!
Thanks to all who have read, reviewed and commented, and especially: jtbwriter, cbw, BlueJay, froggy0319, skyefire, daisymh, Manda, Lynnp, aserene, alix33, JAGfreak, JamieAKAaclassyone, Mey80, angie aka slaya, Vid Z, prymtns, Manic Penguin, KJFlygirl87, starryeyes10 and BrittanyLS
I know, I said it was 'the end', but one reader did ask for a tie-up between Harm and Lindsay, so here it is… then it's definitely the end!
JAG Headquarters – Harm's Office
Wednesday Morning
"You want to do what?" Mac's voice rose in volume, and Harm grinned at her expression, torn as she was between incredulity and anger.
"I've made a request to see Lindsay. I've got the weekend, as it's personal, but the Admiral has allowed me to secure early Friday, to make the flight. I'll travel on the red-eye Sunday night, and be back in the office on Monday."
"Harm…why do you need to see him? You were in the room during his court-martial. Wasn't that enough? It was for me…" Mac tailed off, recalling the robotic manner in which the former Commander Theodore Lindsay had sat through his trial. No visible emotion. Non-commital responses to questions. There was no doubt of his guilt, and he had bowed his head as the verdict had been read out. His only reaction at any time had been to jump slightly as the gavel had been dropped at the end of the proceedings. Throughout the trial, Mac recalled, Lindsay's wife had been the emotional party. As details were read out on her husband's behavior with Loren Singer, and his deep-seated hatred of Harmon Rabb that reached back as far as eight years before when Harm was just a Lieutenant, and Lindsay had been acting-JAG, her face had shown first her disbelief, then her disgust, and finally her acceptance that things had changed forever in her life. After the sentence had been given, Lindsay had turned to look at his wife, but all he saw was her retreating figure. Not once did she look back.
Harm watched the expressions cross Mac's face as she got to her feet and paced his office. When she paused to look at him with a question in her eyes he shrugged his shoulders.
"I just need to do this, Mac. I didn't get chance to ask him during the trial, but I need to know why he hated me so much. I know he did, that much was obvious. I even said as much to him when he came to see me during the audit."
"You did? I bet that went down well," Mac gave Harm and small smile, and he returned it with one of his own, reassuring her somewhat.
"I didn't see him much after the Admiral was appointed as JAG; we crossed paths so rarely from then on. Maybe the odd function here and there, polite conversation and all that, but nothing else."
"So, you really need to do this, hmm?"
"Yeah, I really need to. I'm not obsessing, Mac. It's just closure, you know?"
Mac nodded and turned to leave the room. As she got to the door she looked back over her shoulder.
"Okay, I do understand. You're still coming round for dinner tonight, right?" Harm grinned. Mac almost made it sound like an order.
"Yes, ma'am."
With a quick wave Mac left the room, and Harm settled back to working on his current case. As Mac had closed his door behind her, he wasn't aware of her heading toward Harriet Sims' desk.
"Harriet, I need a favor…"
JAG Headquarters – Parking Lot
Friday afternoon
"So, I'll be back Monday morning, and we have a date for Monday night. Somewhere special, your choice."
"My choice, huh? Could be expensive, Sailor."
"Not a problem," Harm countered, wishing they were alone so he could have one last kiss. If Mac's expression was anything to go by, she was wishing the same, and more! There was one thing they could do, without being accused of impropriety. "Permission to hug the Colonel?"
"Granted," murmured Mac, and put her arms around Harm's neck as he hugged her briefly. However brief, though, the gesture gave both some comfort, and as they released one another they grinned.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow…" whispered Mac, and Harm laughed.
"Yeah, but what a reunion!"
"Get out of here, Rabb. You're terrible!"
"But you love me anyway…"
"Yes, I do…now, GO!"
"On my way." Harm climbed into his SUV and started the vehicle. Mac waited while he pulled back and put the car in gear and then she turned away and walked back into the building.
From a window above the parking lot AJ Chegwidden smiled. He'd overheard Mac's brief conversation with Harriet, and he had an idea that his Chief of Staff wouldn't be spending her weekend in DC.
Leavenworth Military Prison
Kansas
Saturday Morning
"So, Rabb. What is it exactly that you want from me? Forgiveness? Or do you want to hit me?"
"Forgiveness?" Harm rocked back on his heels, stunned by Lindsay's words. As he recovered from the momentary shock he felt his anger rise, almost driven to the point of striking Lindsay, and then he recalled Mac's words during his own trial. 'Don't let him get to you, Harm…he's nothing.'
If Lindsay was aware of the struggle going on inside Harm, he showed no sign, blithely continuing.
"Of course, that would end your rank promotions. You'd end your twenty at the same rank you are now."
"I very much doubt that, Lindsay, but that's none of your concern. And the last thing I want from you is forgiveness. I want to know two things, and then I'll leave you in peace to rot out your days here." Harm waved a hand to indicate the surroundings of the prison.
"Go ahead, ask. I can bet your first question is 'why me'?"
"Why her? Why kill Loren? After what we heard in court, the baby wasn't even yours!"
"Like you care, Rabb! Loren Singer was a thorn in all your sides. Yours, Mackenzie's, even the great AJ Chegwidden feared her. She had guts, you know?"
Harm had the grace to nod his head in acknowledgement. He had never particularly liked Loren Singer, and he often questioned her tactics, but he did respect her single-minded determination to succeed at whatever she wanted to do. He just despised her methods, often muttering that if she just applied the determination to succeed with a little more humility and a lot less aggression, she might find friends along the way.
"When did you two meet?"
Lindsay gave Harm a long look, and then began to talk.
"A year last Christmas, at the chapel. If I recall, you were with the Colonel, and Petty Officer…oh, what's her name…Coates, that's it! Yes, Petty Officer Caotes. Another one of your lame ducks, Rabb?"
"Jennifer Coates has more integrity in her little finger than you have in your entire, miserable body, Lindsay. You were determined to cause trouble when you came to JAG, but luckily the SecNav saw through you. Do you know who it was that finally put two and two together and realized just why you were doing your utmost to screw the Department?"
"Obviously not you, or you would have realized long before I got hold of your cover…it was ridiculously easy, you know?"
Harm bit back the bile at the recollection of being duped by the man in front of him. The truth had come out in his own trial, along with a nifty piece of forensics courtesy of Abby Sciutto in the NCIS lab, and Lindsey's deception had been brought to the attention of the investigators. From then on it had been easy to determine that Lindsay had met the ambitious young Lieutenant when she had introduced herself to him over a year before. He had courted her in the belief that she was attracted to him, a great boost to his ego, and in a mutual need, or greed for more, they had plotted together to break up the status quo in the JAG office, in order to further their own careers. Singer had produced the information, Lindsay had brought it to the attention of the SecNav in his damning report. Neither had been aware of a third party in the matter. Tracey Manetti, on a special investigation of her own, had learned of their duplicity, and made the SecNav aware of her findings. That was why, even armed with such a concise rebuttal, AJ Chegwidden had been surprised to learn that an official apology would be made to himself and his staff for the distrust and the inconvenience caused. He was even more surprised when the SecNav called Lindsay in to the meeting, and fired him on the spot. Chegwidden had done well to hide his surprise, and his satisfaction, and his total dislike of the disgraced officer. When Singer had found herself to be pregnant, she had contacted Lindsay to inform him that she was leaving DC for a while, and why. He had panicked, believing that she was going to tell his wife about their affair, and he had lunged at her, causing her to fall back, hitting her head against the railing of the bridge. Lindsay, always a weak man, had the opportunity to call for help, but instead had attempted to rid himself of what he considered a 'problem'. In the NCIS interrogation room he had been told that the child Loren Singer had conceived had not been his, which came as a great surprise. In the trial it became even clearer that Singer had not attempted to blackmail him. He had taken the money out of his account with the intention of giving it to her – a parting gift, to help with her 'child'. When she had refused it was then he had panicked, and after he had thrown her unconscious body over the rail of bridge he had returned the money to his account, believing that no one would be any the wiser to his actions.
Harm realized that one fact stood out about the whole sordid incident. Although Singer had colluded with him to further her career, by calling Lindsay when she was leaving DC she was simply wishing to say goodbye to him.
Holiday Inn Hotel
Kansas
Saturday Afternoon
Harm pulled his rental into a space in the parking lot, near to the entrance of the hotel. Climbing out, he reached back in for the bottle of whisky he had bought on the way back from the prison, and then thought better of it. Getting drunk would give him some respite, but not much, and in all honesty he would much prefer to have Mac give him solace than a bottle. Except that Mac was back in DC, and he was here, alone, and it was only Saturday. He still had Sunday to get through, unless he could get an earlier flight. He decided he'd call from his room, check on flight times, and he might be able to surprise a certain Marine by turning up on her doorstep.
As he walked through the lobby of the hotel, the clerk drew his attention.
"Mr Rabb? I have a problem. Your wife asked me to locate a restaurant in town, but we have a convention going on at the moment, and the restaurant in question is fully booked. I wonder if you'd be happy to eat in your room, and I can have the restaurant deliver a meal."
Wife? Harm must have given the clerk an affirmative response, as the man nodded and smiled, and promised to get the matter sorted immediately. Who on earth…? But then Harm smiled. Who else?
Mac had fallen asleep on the bed in the room. Having taken the red-eye herself, heading for Kansas, she had discovered Harm had already left the hotel when she arrived. Deciding to arrange a meal for the two of them, whatever the outcome of his visit to Lindsay, she had enlisted the help of the desk clerk. In the meantime, she had decided to lie down and rest, just a little…
Harm's smile widened as he stepped into his room. Closing the door after himself, hoping the locking noise wouldn't wake her, Harm toed off his shoes and moved to the bed. Lying down, facing Mac, he lifted a gentle hand and brushed a lock of hair off her face as she slept. The movement stirred her though, and eyelids lifted slowly to reveal sleepy brown eyes.
"Hi," whispered Harm, giving Mac a soft smile.
"Hi," she returned, giving Harm a sleepy smile.
"Don't wake up yet, it's okay…close your eyes."
"Mmm," Mac murmured, her eyelids closing again, and then she burrowed into Harm's warmth, which he indulged wholeheartedly, putting his arms around her and pulling her into his body. As he felt Mac's body go limp again he knew that she had fallen back to sleep. It didn't take him long to follow her, drained as he was from the meeting with Lindsay.
Later…
"What're you thinking about, Harm?" Mac had looked up from her perch on Harm's chest, seeing him deep in thought, his eyes clouded.
"Just that we'll never know who the father of Loren's child was. Strange, isn't it? I could never really stand the woman in life, and yet there's a curiosity in how she lived her life now she's dead."
"There was something about her that put a person's back up immediately, but there were also times when you just knew she'd done something good, but it would ruin her 'image' if it ever came to light." Mac sighed and dropped her head to Harm's chest again, lying silent for a few moments, until Harm ruffled her hair and she looked up at him again. This time the look in his eyes was different.
This time they were clear, and knowing, and very, very dark…
"No more about Lindsay or Singer. We have a date for Monday night, right?"
Mac nodded, silent.
"And you're here till tomorrow night, right?"
Mac nodded, still silent.
"Good. So we can either hole up here and fly back on the red-eye as planned, or we can go back today, and spend all tomorrow together in at my place, or yours."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Sailor. I'd love to stay at your place, and I have a spare uniform in my holdall…"
"There's a but in there," Harm noted softly, and Mac smiled at him.
"Only a little one. We're already here, in a hotel that has nothing to do with JAG, other than you asked Harriet to book it for you. That's how I knew where you were," Mac murmured, kissing Harm's cheek as she explained her appearance. "And I've asked the front desk to arrange a table for dinner."
"Ah…yes, the table. The clerk at the front desk asked me to tell my wife there is a convention in town. However, the restaurant in question will arrange a delivery, and we can eat in our room."
"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so hun…" Mac stopped, suddenly realizing just what else Harm had said.
"Did I miss something? Did you propose while I was sleeping?"
"I was hoping you could tell me! I certainly don't recall proposing…" Harm began, and Mac pretended to bat his hand away.
"Harm! You don't think I'd delib..." Mac began, and then she grinned. "Harriet! Harriet knew where you were, and after I asked for the details, I bet she rang here and told them your wife would be arriving later. Just wait until we get back to JAG! No wonder it was easy getting them to give me a key…" Mac paused as she realized Harm had drifted into other thoughts. "Harm?"
"I've always pictured the Rose Garden…" Harm mused, a smile tilting his lips, and Mac wondered what he was thinking. Hoping it was the same thing she was thinking.
"The Rose Garden? Where we met?" Harm nodded, meeting Mac's puzzled gaze.
"I always thought it would be the perfect place to propose, to you, when we…when I…got my act together…" Harm stopped, realizing he was stepping into an area in their relationship that he wasn't really sure about, but that he wanted so desperately. "I realize that there is no better place or time than now…here…" Harm paused as he saw the look on Mac's face. "Mac…Sarah…I don't have a ring to give you right now, but I want to ask you…"
"Harm…"
"Will you…"
"Yes!"
"…marry me?"
Mac laughed softly at the expression on Harm's face. As she had responded he had raised an eyebrow, and finished asking the question, tailing off into silence as he realized he had the answer he wanted.
"Yes?" He still had to make sure…
"Yes," answered Mac, her voice strong and clear, following the one word with a kiss full of promise, which Harm was quick to pick up on, and it was only the polite knocking on the door to announce the arrival of their dinner that interrupted them.
Once the dinner had been set out on the table in the room, Harm and Mac returned to their very private celebration!
The End
