A 'Notorious' JAG
Epilogue
Disclaimers: As previously stated.
Spoilers: Any thing up to and including any Season 9 JAG episodes.
Rating T
1830
Friday
November 07, 2003
1845
Friday
District Tobacconists Club
Washington DC
Sadiq Fahd sat inside the bar reading his newspaper. He had been able to acquire the diamonds he needed to purchase the permissive action link, a triggering device for a nuclear weapon. He smiled, thinking that Americans would die because of the greed of their own people: from the CIA agents who betrayed them in South America, to the men who would sell him the action link.
The tone of his cell phone broke his reverie. He answered and heard only the melodic sound of the voice of Tahmineh, a singer in the bar, Shiraz. No one spoke at the other end of the line. This was a warning; they may have been discovered. Fahd closed his cell phone, stood and walked casually toward the back of the store. There had to be an exit onto the alley. For all he knew the cigar and smoking club could be under surveillance, giving him limited means of escape.
He found the exit, and opened the door to step out. He heard someone shout "Federal agents – no one move!" from inside the building.
With a smug smile, Fahd slipped quietly out and made his way down the alley toward the street. As he passed by a large truck he heard a great rush of wind. He looked around and saw that the trees on the street were still, and then everything went black.
Sadiq Fahd had escaped the federal agents pursuing him moments before, but his fate waited in the alley behind the tobacconists club. He and his diamonds were pulverized beneath nearly a ton of bricks that fell from a large pallet on the fourth floor. The establishment at the corner of the street was undergoing renovations. He had not had time to call out for help or to allow the two men unloading the truck to know he had been crushed. He was discovered early the next morning, when the damaged building materials were assessed by the insurance adjuster.
A terrible and unfortunate accident, it had been no one's fault, really. Whether the hands of fate or the hand of God, Sadiq had been denied his martyrdom and had not completed his mission.
1000
Saturday
November 8, 2003
National Naval Medical Center
Washington DC
Mac lay with the head of her bed elevated and her eyes closed. She felt as though she had lived a lifetime in the space of a week. A week ago she'd felt as though she and Harm were fated never to be together, and now they were inseparable. She had finally convinced Harm to go home late last night and get a full night's sleep. He had not left her side since they left Rio. Now she wished she hadn't let him go. The singleness of mind they both appeared to have seemed too good to be true. She still felt as though it were all a dream from which she would awake all alone.
She heard someone enter the room and raised her head from the bed, looking for Harm, but she was disappointed to see that it was Clayton Webb.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Sarah."
"I'm sorry, Clay, I was expecting someone else." Mac tried to be pleasant.
"Let me guess… Rabb?" He smirked at her sarcastically.
"Clay…" It was already beginning.
Harm had just passed the nurses station in the hall when he heard Mac speaking.
"Harm and I are no concern of yours." Mac said determinedly.
Harm began to quicken his pace, feeling a pride in Mac he could not explain. She had said 'Harm and I' as an established fact. Their connection finally spoken aloud. Webb's presence would never make him walk away again.
"Harm and I?" Webb said it as though he saw the statement as a joke.
"Webb, I am not going to have this discussion with you..."
"I don't see this relationship working, Sarah and in the end you'll be the one who is hurt. I can't understand why you would ever see Harm as a match for you. I told you he was oblivious, and frankly, you're complete opposites. I think in your heart you know that."
He couldn't believe she would even consider trying to get involved with Rabb when they had hurt each other so badly, his role in the fiasco notwithstanding.
"It's true we are opposites, opposite sides of the same coin." Mac's expression was thoughtful.
Harm decided to make his entrance at this point and added, "Yeah, one isn't worth anything without the other." He smiled knowingly at her.
Mac held out her hand to him automatically. Webb saw immediately that what her gaze held for Harm had never been close to what he saw when she looked at him. Their connection was immediate and palpable.
Webb turned to Harm, unable to keep from sparring with him, even though he knew that whatever hope he had for a relationship with Mac was gone forever. "Have you talked to Blaisdell yet?"
Harm turned and looked at him for the first time since he walked into the room. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did, just this morning." He sat down on the chair at Mac's bedside and looked at her now.
"I've got good news and bad news; which do you want first?" He focused Mac as though Webb had already left the room.
Webb interrupted him. "He got himself fired."
Harm never took his eyes from Mac and clasped her hand in his. He raised his brows and nodded slightly to indicate what Webb had said was true. Mac looked at him sympathetically and reached up to touch his cheek. Webb's revelation wasn't having the effect that he'd intended.
Mac's brow knitted and looked at him curiously. "Is that the good news or the bad news?" She couldn't be happier that he was no longer working for the Company.
The question suddenly struck Harm as very funny, and he began to laugh. Mac laughed along with him.
Webb looked at them both incredulously. "I'm leaving – you're both insane."
Their laughter followed him as he walked out the door and down the hallway.
Turning back to Mac, Harm took her hand in one of his and covered it with his other. "Blaisdell did fire me, Mac. He basically said I did a good job, but wasn't disciplined enough for the Company."
Mac looked at him, questioning. Harm explained how Sadiq had been warned just prior to a raid on a cigar store that he frequented right there in DC. The authorities thought he had escaped until he had been found that morning under the pallet, crushed to death.
"That was the good news; Sadiq will never torture anyone or plot against anyone in this country or any other."
Mac leaned back on her bed and closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of relief she thought she would have. It didn't come.
Harm squeezed her hand. "I told you, Mac, it might be a while before you can put it behind you."
She nodded. "I know it's not realistic to think it will all go away. It helps that you're here." Mac was quiet for a long moment. "Looks like I've cost you another job, Harm."
Harm looked at her directly. "Mac, I don't regret either time I went to South America or what I did there."
She looked at him, studying his features, wanting to believe everything he said. "Harm, you know you miss the Navy. I've missed you, and everyone at JAG has felt the loss of not having you at Headquarters."
Both Harm and Mac were startled by a voice coming from the doorway. "Colonel."
Admiral Chegwidden stood there, cutting an imposing figure.
"Admiral." Mac released Harm's hand and scooted to sit up straighter in her bed.
"Relax, Colonel." He gave her a dismissive wave.
Harm fought the reflex to stand in the admiral's presence. He looked at Mac. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He started to stand up and leave.
"If you don't mind, Rabb this concerns you too." The admiral glanced at him and then approached the opposite side of Mac's hospital bed.
Harm frowned and eased back into the chair.
The admiral pulled a chair up to Mac's bedside. "May I?"
"Of course, sir."
"Colonel, I have spoken to your attending physician, Captain Hayes. He says that you will need at least two weeks to recover."
"Yes sir." He had told her earlier that morning that she would need to remain in the hospital until Sunday and then be released on medical leave.
"I'll get to the point. It has come to light that Commander Imes never passed the Michigan Bar and that she is in effect not a lawyer."
Harm answered without a thought, "I could have told you that."
Mac was so stunned she didn't answer.
The admiral gave him a stern look but ignored his comment and continued.
"This is where you come in, Rabb. We still have the two attorneys TAD from NLSO North Island, but we will have to double our efforts to reconcile all the cases she tried over the past several years, many of which you were opposing counsel."
Harm looked at him directly; he knew now what the admiral was going to ask. He wanted him to come back – he was 'asking' him to come back. Things must really be bad at headquarters JAG if he was doing that. He sat quietly, studying the older man for a moment. The part of him that felt betrayed last spring wanted to tell him to go to hell. The other, more sensible side of him won: the side that wanted his life back, the part of him who knew now exactly where he belonged.
"You're an excellent attorney, Rabb, and as much as I hate to admit it, we need your help." His expression was guarded but held no malice.
Harm raised his eyebrows and huffed, "At least you're being honest."
The admiral drew his brows down. "Would you expect anything else?"
Harm answered and said flatly, "No."
"Well?" The admiral still had the look of someone squaring off with him. Even though he was asking him to come back, he still challenged him.
"I accept."
Admiral Chegwidden nodded. "Good." He looked at Mac and then at Harm. "I'll speak with the SecNav, and I'll expect you Monday morning. 0800 sharp, Rabb."
He stood to leave and this time Harm didn't fight the impulse to stand. He didn't come to attention, but it was a quiet gesture of respect and the admiral knew that. It was a start, for all of them.
"I'll be there."
1935
Friday
November 14, 2003
Harm's Apartment
North of Union Station
Harm walked from his Corvette to his apartment building, briefcase in one hand and a stack of case files in the other. Juggling his briefcase, he got into the elevator and started up to his floor. When he reached his door he heard music coming from the other side of it. Grinning, he sat his briefcase down and opened the door.
Mac stood at the kitchen sink and turned toward him. "Hey, sailor."
He stepped toward his dining room table and placed everything there. He walked toward her without removing his overcoat and cover. She met him in the middle of the apartment, slipping her arms around his neck and kissing him for all she was worth. When they finally broke the kiss he smiled down at her. "Hey yourself."
"Tired?"
"I was… about three minutes ago." His eyes held a now familiar light.
Mac raised her eyebrows. "So do you want to go out?" she asked, though she already knew the answer to the question.
"No." He pulled her more closely to him.
"Are you hungry?" She locked her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear.
"No." There were too many pieces of clothing between them.
Releasing her for a moment, he took off his cover and then began to remove his overcoat, which Mac was happy to help him with. Mac looked up at him with a mischievous grin on her face. "So…what do you want to do…Harm?"
She started to step carefully backward toward his bedroom, and Harm followed her, taking his uniform jacket off and loosening his tie. "Oh…I don't know…I was hoping you could help me think of …something."
Mac stepped carefully up the steps, holding on to the wall to keep her balance. She stood at the top of the stairs and Harm walked up until he stood directly in front of her. Reaching for her, he pulled her close as he stepped up, lifting her up into his arms. Mac rested her forehead against his and looked into his eyes already darkened with desire. "I think you already know what you want….don't you, Harm?"
They spent the first of many nights in each other's arms. Harm was still notorious for being a loose cannon; Mac was still notorious for her dispassionate plans. Their fights could still be called legendary, but now in addition to all of that, their love was notorious, too.
FIN
A/N: Thanks to those of you who waited patiently and not so patiently(smile) for this epilogue. I hope I can keep my worn out computer together long enough to get this posted.
A/N: Thanks to Karen and all the other people who encouraged me to keep going with this story, I nearly gave up. This is truly the most difficult time I've ever had. Whew!
A/N: Thanks again to Aerogirl and Karen for their excellent beta reading and input.