A/N: Well, I was screamed at last chapter for leaving it where it was – LOL. So I thought I'd better post this chapter before . . . you know, I was throttled any more than I was yesterday. LOL – threateners, you know who you are.
Thanks go out to reviewers: Bite Beccy, Bail's Other Daughter, Steelo, Starryeyes10, Kitty X, martini1988, QueenOfAces, froggy0319, alix33, mjag, moonlight, nursejay80, AnMaDeRoNi, snugglebug, jaggurl, Anne, ficchic, dansingwolf, Radiorox, cbw, wishwaters, Rocket Rain, sgcgirl52, tlk29, JJScottishGirl, Blueangel, aj, French-navy girl, Marge, Jane, Tina Frank, highplainswoman, mac AND harm fan, Ali Baba, super ducky, tumblebuttons, AB, Abigiale, macandharmlover, jazzy, vhosek malacath, Britainy, MartiniMac, HighHeel Shoe Lover, Sirus 745, Fan, Pissed off Poet 1, southernqt, BrittanyLS, sugar230, K, Ilovemyselftoday, eggy weg, xobabygurlxo, Reni-Maniac, Cille, ForensicsFreak1988, HMtogether4ever, MaritzaCarmichael, Lara783, janessab, tizy, June, vrbinkaCZ, Cherise, DD2, Bekka, Lani-LoveNPain, Dessler, mommie, daisymh, Laura, confused, basketball babe8, Strawberry Kittens, rainydays502, and S!
Note: this chapter starts off in Harm's POV.
Desperate Acts of Measure
1952
28 Belleville Drive,
Harm's POV
"Harm?" her voice falls soft against my ears and I can hear the pain in her voice. "Listen, Harm, there's something I've got to tell you."
My hand grips the phone hard, willing my voice to strengthen when I speak but all I can think about is whether Mac's in danger. I take in ever tense note in her voice, the way she speaks slowly and carefully, as if creating the words one by one so she knows exactly what she's going to say. I urge my voice back into my throat. "What is it?"
"I'm," Mac begins and then her voice breaks. The tension is of an enormous magnitude. I can hear her breathe slowly. I shut my eyes. "I'm pregnant."
The phone slips from my grasp and falls to the floor. I'm immediately on my knees scrambling for it. "Harm?" Mac's voice resonates from the speaker. "Are you still there?"
"Yes," I blurted, my brain searching for words. I can feel everything go fuzzy somewhere up in my mind. This can't be possible. I bite my lower lip, my eyes firmly shut. "What . . . how . . . when?"
I'm grasping for words, beginning sentences I have no shot at finishing. I can feel the phone sliding down my sweaty palm resulting in my fingers to lock tighter. More importantly: "mine?"
Mac issues a strangled laugh, "definitely."
I can feel something sting at the back of my eyes. I try and shove the emotion away but no cigar. My breath gets kind of heavy. I wipe my eyes with force. "What . . . how's . . ." I try again to make a sentence but words are failing me.
"The baby's fine," Mac says slowly and soothingly. "I had my first month check up today. And he or she is doing perfectly fine."
The words strike me emotionally. I sit there, silence overcoming me.
"Harm?"
"I'm here," I replied hollowly. I sit there, on the couch, cradling the phone in one hand and the other furtively rubbing my eyes. The incredulity of it all strikes me very suddenly. I laugh shakily. "Have you told the Admiral yet?"
"Uh huh," Mac voice suddenly sounds weary. "Today."
"And?" I prod gently.
"It was a fruitful little discussion," Mac's voice is weighted by the thirst for slumber. "Eighty percent yelling, and about twenty percent concern."
"Mac," my voice is filled with anxiety. "You ought to have someone help you. You can't –" I begin but Mac cuts me off.
"I do," she says strongly, confidently. "Jake . . . he's with me. You know, for protection and stuff. And he's helping me. Don't worry Harm. I'll be fine."
I feel something clamp down on me internally. "I always worry about you, Mac."
"I know," she said quietly. "You shouldn't."
Tell that to my heart.
"H – Harm, I've got to go," Mac's voice is suddenly hurried and panicked. "Jake and Clay are –"
And then the call disconnects. I sit there, my body a whirl of emotions. Panic, excitement, elatedness . . . and then the incomparably large amount of fright. I'm going to be a father.
And then . . . just like that, despair seeps into me. I'll be a father . . . but one my kid can not see, can not hear, can not know. I won't be there. I have a family that I can even – the thought hurts me too much. Not until Abbas is caught . . .
I set down the phone and stared at Vera who was sitting on the couch opposite to me, staring at me thoughtfully. "Vera, I," I begin but I stop, my eyes filling with unshed tears. Vera comes over to me, wrapping one arm around me.
"Vera, I know what I've got to do," I said slowly, weightily. "But I –" I break off.
"Harm, you don't have to," Vera begins but I interrupt.
"No, I DO have to do something," I said shaking my head, removing her arm from me and getting up slowly from the couch. "But this . . . changes everything . . ."
Same Time
Mac and Jake's Apartment
Mac's POV
"Jake! Clay! Stop it!" I scream, my throat hoarse. Jake whirls around and punches Clay in the face sending him staggering to the ground. Clay retaliates with a blow to the stomach. "Ugh, I told you two to quit it!"
I leap in the middle of them, pulling Jake off of Clay who was repeatedly bashing Jake's head into the coffee table. "Jake, left couch!" I hollered at him, practically pushing him to the sofa. I pulled Clay up by the collar of his shirt and shoved him into the opposite couch, taking a long and wary look at the both of them. Both of their faces were bloody. Clay's nose looked badly shaped, maybe broken. Jake's right eye was beginning to swell. Bruises had not appeared yet on their faces but would definitely show tomorrow.
"Wait right there," I ordered, disappearing into the kitchen and returning with two icepacks wrapped in paper towel. "Jake, put this one on your eye and, Clay, keep this on your nose. Do you think it's broken?"
Clay shakes his head slowly, careful not to move his nose.
"Well, that's too bad," Jake replied mercilessly.
I glared at him. "Too bad you didn't hit him harder, Clay."
No one spoke for a moment, I staring down at both of them with a harsh look upon my face. "Now, are either of you going to tell me what you were fighting about?"
A long cruel silence followed my question and then, "Ask him," Clay replied with menace, pointing at Jake. "He was the one that started it."
I looked at Jake.
"He insulted her," Jake replied callously, glaring at Clay. "He has no freaking clue. And he has the gall to . . ." Jake fell silence, heat seeping into his voice. "I couldn't stand it." Jake's eyes were wild. "He deserved everything he got."
I stared at the two of them uncertainly. "Care to elaborate, Clay?"
Clay stared for a moment and then, "Vera."
A long silence. I looked at them both incredulously. "You were fighting over Vera?"
"Not the way you're thinking," Jake mumbled in weak retaliation. "He . . . insulted her."
I raised my eyebrow. "And you felt it your duty to come to her rescue, did you?"
Jake glared at Clay. "He didn't know. He had no idea. He can't just go around . . ." Jake gestured with his hands. "He needed to be taught a lesson. And it's lucky for him that it was me and not Vera."
I have to admit, he's captured my interest. "What do you mean, Jake?"
Jake stares off moodily. "Vera's had a tough life. She's got a horrible past and Webb just loves to make it worse. Not many people could go through what Vera's been through and still turn out the way she did. And now she's got some ass who hasn't one idea in hell of what she's been through undermining her every move." Jake rises up to meet my eye. "I couldn't take it."
I stared at Jake and then turned around to Clay who was silent but rather than glaring he was staring at Jake almost thoughtfully. "What horrible past?"
Jake's head moved so his eyes met Clay's. "Why the hell should I tell you?"
Clay's chin jutted out. "You said I haven't one idea in hell what she's been through and I don't. She never told me." A long pause on his end. "But I want to know."
Jake shifted a little, resting his hand on the couch.
"Jake, put that ice back on your eye," I commanded, sitting next to Clay and removing his ice pack to see if his nose was looking any better.
"Tell me," Clay persisted, wincing as I touched the side of his nose to note the swelling.
Jake squirmed around a bit. "When Vera was six years old her parents died in a house fire. She was living in Italy back then. Her father was a politician and her mother an extremely important business official. One night someone threw a homemade bomb into their mansion. Fortunately, it wasn't very good and instead of blowing up the entire house, it blew down only a portion of it," Jake said slowly, his eyes capturing a fiery glow. "Vera was very lucky to get out alive. In her parents' will, they had entrusted the care of their daughter to an Arabian named Akheal Azhad – another politician. A friend of theirs, I think. He had a wife and a daughter, and they lived on the move. For a few years they lived in India, then Iran, Iraq, they traveled from place to place with two years in between. And Vera lived with them until she was fifteen."
Clay shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, and I don't believe it had anything to do with the pain of his nose. "Then what happened?"
"Akheal Azhad was murdered. Vera went to school one day and then when she came back she found his body with a knife through it in his study. The man that had killed him had taken the daughter and wife prisoner. That man," Jake broke for effect. "Was Abbas."
Clay leaped to his feet, ignoring me and the icepack. "What?"
"I assumed you knew that much," Jake retorted somewhat annoyed. "I mean, after you put her up to watch Harm – I thought you at least knew that."
"If I'd known that I never would have assigned her to this mission!" Clay bellowed, his face turning red.
"Clay, calm yourself and sit down," I demanded, yanking him down beside me onto the sofa.
"Anyways, Vera was sent to an orphanage in Italy. She was in and out of different ones until she was eighteen where she applied for American citizenship. She never graduated from college but almost immediately filed into the CIA," Jake continued. "One of the youngest ever to join."
Clay continued to sit there, silence overcoming the room. "Why didn't she tell me?" he suddenly broke out.
Jake looked at Clay almost sympathetically. "Because . . . she likes you too much. She doesn't want to hurt you. She wants to help you, and if you knew . . . you yourself said you wouldn't want her on the case."
"That's only because I don't want her to get hurt!" Clay exploded.
And the very typical Jake grin suddenly enveloped his face. "My point exactly."
A/N: Okay, um . . . yes, this chapter was fairly short. Oh well, I'll try and get a longer chapter out next time. Forgive me? Oh yeah, and I'm going to fast forward a few months next chapter. So . . . we can really get this story going.
Oh wait, and before I forget – I'm taking suggestions for names. You know, for the baby. I'd really appreciate it if you people each donated one name for a boy and one name for a girl. Actually, you can donate however many for either gender. And I GUARANTEE that one of the names suggested will either make first name or middle name – or maybe two of the names suggested will be first and middle. I don't know – depends how many names you people donate! Oh yes, and one more thing . . . can we make it a nice normal name? You know . . . normal.
BrittanyLS: Thanks for the vote of confidence. I've got their reunion all up in my head, but give me a little time to put it out on paper – and I'll be sure you get to read it!
vrbinkaCZ: lol, I WAS sitting on the computer when I got your review, typing up this chapter. LOL, wonderful sense of timing you have. Almost Macish.
S: LOL, there – he found out. Hope you liked this chapter!
Jazzy: thanks, and I hope you liked this chapter! I was kind of cruel ending it the way I did last chapter.
AB: LOL, as soon as I'm done with him I'll send Jake over to Australia! However there is quite a queue waiting for him . . . lol. Ain't the Admiral awesome when it comes to Webb? He won't take any of Webb's crap.
Southernqt: Teekfah? You're kidding me! LOL, I am DEFINITELY going to give the kid a normal name. Any name suggestions I would really appreciate. (See author's note at the end of this chapter). No Teekfahs . . . definitely no Teekfahs.
Froggy0319: "chewing your nails to nothingness" – lol. I chew my fingernails all the time, it's practically a hobby. Anyways, you can stop chewing now. I updated!
xLovexNxPainx: thank you for the name suggestions for a girl! I'll definitely add them to my list! I'm trying to get all my reviewers to donate names so if you could donate some for a boy too – you know, to keep it even then that's great! And if you have any more for either gender, I'd also appreciate that!
Dansingwolf: haha, you review was long! Sorry, and now let me see if I can keep THIS response short. Anyways, I really don't see a point in hating Webb. He's got a great character and I don't like to look beyond his faults because his faults are what make Webb – well, Webb. If he wasn't so rude he wouldn't be nearly as much fun as he is. And if he wasn't so interfering – sure, Mac wouldn't have dated him (which would have definitely been a good thing) but Harm and Mac also would have never been sucked into the death defying adventures that kept us all on the edge of our seats. Webb's way too good a character to be wasted as a villain. And anyways, Mac and Webb would never have worked out – not when Harm's around . . . o ya, and if you have any name suggestions, feel free to say them in a review . . . dang it, this response wasn't nearly as short as I'd hoped for. O well, looks like my willpower failed me too.
Daisymh: think this chapter was out soon enough? LOL – hope you liked his reaction!
Harmony1440: there wasn't all THAT much angst! Okay, there was a teeny tiny bit – but I'm warning you, if you couldn't take that – this story might kill you. LOL – if you have any baby name suggestions, please tell me!
Vhosek malacath: thanks, and if you have any baby name suggestions for either gender, please tell me!
Jaggurl: I'll update a lot more times before I go on my trip, or – at least, as many times as I possibly can. Hope you liked this chapter and if you have any ideas for names for the baby – either gender – please tell me!
Radiorox: ah, you're probably one of my few reviewers that actually appreciate cliffhangers! (and she pulls out a matching t-shirt). Never mind Harm pounding Dalton into oblivion, I wanted to see Harm pound Vic into oblivion during the series finale. When I found out at the end of that one episode that Vukovic was to be stationed in Iraq, I swear I jumped for joy. Oh, and if you have any suggestions for baby names – either gender – I'd really appreciate them.
Strawberry Kittens: ooh . . . a sequel, that's an idea I should look into. But I guess I've gotta finish this story first. That would be a good idea. Oh, and the JAG DVDs aren't out yet – I don't think they're anywhere near out yet. I heard on the radio that they will be coming out this Christmas, but I also heard somewhere else that they might be coming out in 2008! Let's pray it's the former. But if you have any questions about JAG, you know – to write your fic, you can always email me and ask them. I've seen . . . almost . . . all the episodes. Maybe another ten and I'll have seen them all. So you can always come to me. Oh yeah, and if you have any suggestions for names (either gender) I'd really appreciate them.
Bite Beccy: LOL, here – I gave you his reaction! And I'd really REALLY appreciate help with names! But I'm keeping the gender a mystery . . . you know, for now. So names for both genders would be a great help.
Snugglebug: yeah, don't cliffhangers rock? Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and if you have ANY suggestions for names for the baby (either gender) then I'd greatly appreciate them!