DISCLAIMER: For all intents purposes, no one has died on the show (except Diane). I claim author's privilege on this one and say that many of these characters just mysteriously disappeared from the lives of Harm and Mac, or if you like, I brought them back from the dead. I own very little…Webster's defines the words, Bellasario owns the characters, I create the plot.
AN: Only about 3 chapters left, including this one. Enjoy! Also, random idea, but I'd love to hear where y'all are from. Leave it in a review, but I'm just curious!
Sorry, hardest chapter to write.
CHAPTER 6: Sturgis, Harriet, AJ
JUDGE Q. PIDD: Order! Order! Everyone take your seats. Prosecution, please call your next witness.
PROSECUTOR: Would Commander Sturgis Turner please take the stand?
Sturgis arose from his seat in one of the front rows and walked up to take his seat.
PROSECUTOR: Commander Turner, you first met Commander Rabb when you both were attending the Naval Academy, right?
TURNER: Yes, we were roommates.
PROSECUTOR: And you then joined the Commander and Colonel MacKenzie when you were transferred to JAG HQ, correct?
TURNER: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: What was Commander Rabb like at the Academy?
TURNER: He studied hard, incredibly focused on becoming a pilot. But don't let that fool you. Him, Keeter, and I committed our fair share of pranks.
PROSECUTOR: The three of you were good friends with Diane as well, weren't you?
TURNER: Yeah, we were. I know that Harm and Diane dated for a while after the Academy, but I never really knew that until after Harm's crash.
PROSECUTOR: His crash?
TURNER: Harm crashed while trying to land. It was bad enough to put him into a coma for a couple of days and then he had a hard time trying to walk after that. He went up to his Grams' farm to recover. He knew his flying career was over after that and was suffering a lot. Grams called me up, and Keeter and Diane as well.
PROSECUTOR: What did she want?
TURNER: Grams wanted us to come see him, try to pull him out of his slump. So the three of us went up to the farm. He and Diane were very close, she helped him a lot through the whole situation. I had to go back to duty, so I don't know what happened after that.
PROSECUTOR: Did you ever find out?
TURNER: When I ran back into him, years later, when I was transferred to JAG, I asked him about Diane and he told me.
PROSECUTOR: Ever have any interesting conversations with him about Mac?
TURNER: We were playing basketball once and I was asking him about girlfriends. I asked him if he had a girl.
PROSECUTOR: And what was his answer?
TURNER: He said no, rather that she had him.
PROSECUTOR: Did he say who this woman was?
TURNER: I can only assume that it was Mac.
PROSECUTOR: What gave you that idea?
TURNER: When I saw them interacting together. There was just this tension between them. It was almost awkward to be in a room with just the two of them.
PROSECUTOR: Did you ever talk to them about this "tension"? Ask them why it was there?
TURNER: I talked to Mac in her office. I had said something to her that I wanted to apologize for. We were working a case and she was using her psychic abilities.
PROSECUTOR: What did you guys talk about?
TURNER: We talked about how things were a little weird between us, that the "ground always seemed to be shifting." Mac said that she thought we'd make a good team. I then told her that she didn't do this whole thing any better with Harm.
PROSECUTOR: What'd she say to that?
TURNER: She said it was different, didn't say how, just that it was. That was when I told her that there seemed "to be a certain tension" between them. Then she blurted out that she'd never slept with him.
PROSECUTOR: Really?
TURNER: I asked her if that was problem. She told me there was no problem. Then I asked her why she didn't just get over it and move on. Her response was that it wouldn't work to do that. When I asked her why, she blurted out that it was because she was in love with him.
At this final statement, Mac buried her face in her hands, trying to hide her red face. Harm looked over at her, the look on his face full of curiosity. She refused to look up at him at all, too embarrassed.
PROSECUTOR: So she actually said that she was in love with him? Those were her exact words? "Because I'm in love with him"?
TURNER: Those were her exact words.
PROSECUTOR: Interesting. Did you ever tell Harm this?
TURNER: Mac made me assure her that I would keep her little admission a secret. And I have, until now.
Harm leaned over to Mac and whispered, "So you were able to say it to one of my good friends, why not ever me?"
She looked up and snapped at him, "Waiting for you to let me know it wouldn't be rejected. And it's not like there was ever a chance to."
"How about before you told me 'never' in Paraguay? That would have been a particularly good chance, instead of stomping on my heart," he returned.
"It's not like you were offering your heart during that trip. Or any others that I might mention involving certain other foreign countries!"
Meanwhile, the rest of the courtroom watched as the two argued, whispering back and forth between each other. The prosecutor had stopped moving around the front of the room and was now standing just a few feet in front of the table, amused at how the two had just seemed to go off on their own. She decided to let it go a bit longer before getting back to Turner.
"Oh, yes, I was. Why do you think I resigned my commission to come after you, Sarah?"
"You and your damn hero-complex!"
"My 'damn hero-complex' saved your life that time! As I recall, you were strapped down about to be tortured."
"Harm? Mac?" the prosecutor interrupted. She gestured around. "Do you mind…?"
They both looked around and suddenly realized they were not alone.
"Sorry," they both muttered, sitting back in their chairs, arms folded. Their movements were so in tune that the prosecutor couldn't help but let out a giggle.
"Sorry, yes, now where was I?" she said.
PROSECUTOR: Commander Turner, we're done, thank you. You can take your seat. Would Lieutenant Harriet Simms please come up?
Her normal bubbly and energetic self, Harriet bounded up front to take her seat. She had a huge grin on her face, big enough to light up the whole room, should all of JAG HQ suddenly plunge into darkness.
PROSECUTOR: Lieutenant Simms, how long have you known Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie?
HARRIET: Oh, I've worked with them for several years now, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: In that time, you've even made them the godparents of your children, haven't you?
HARRIET: They were so perfect for the role! The Colonel and Commander spoil little AJ and Jimmy endlessly.
PROSECUTOR: So they make a good duo when caring for kids?
HARRIET: They're perfect together!
Harriet's smile hadn't gone down any in wattage at all.
PROSECUTOR: I guess I don't have to ask whether you'd think they should be together, do I?
HARRIET: I've known it for years. Even back when the Colonel was engaged to Commander Brumby. Colonel MacKenzie never seemed sure that marrying Mic was the right thing.
PROSECUTOR: What do you mean?
HARRIET: When we were trying to find a wedding dress, when she came back from Australia with the ring on her right hand, when Commander Brumby showed up at the NATO Ball to surprise her….she wasn't acting like a woman in love would be.
PROSECUTOR: How would a woman in love act in those situations?
HARRIET: For one, she wouldn't hesitate to put the ring on the left hand. And when Commander Brumby showed up at the Ball, announcing that he'd resigned his commission and left his country for her, a woman in love would have been so happy to see him again.
PROSECUTOR: So she didn't act like this with Commander Brumby?
HARRIET: Hardly at all. She was reluctant around him, things were stiff and awkward. Commander Brumby had no problem chasing after her with all he had. Colonel MacKenzie wasn't happy with him.
PROSECUTOR: So why'd she take the ring?
HARRIET: I'm still not sure why. When she first came back and I saw the ring, she told me it was just a friendship ring, that Mic was still in Australia and she was staying here.
PROSECUTOR: What did you say to her?
HARRIET: That's when I told her that when I first met Bud, I knew he was the one for me. I told her that it helps to know if you're sure.
PROSECUTOR: Did she ever, at any point during her engagement to Commander Brumby say that she was sure it was the right thing to marry him or that she loved him?
HARRIET: I don't ever recall her saying either of those things.
PROSECUTOR: You and Colonel MacKenzie are very close friends, aren't you?
HARRIET: Oh, yes.
PROSECUTOR: So you know her pretty well? Better than most?
HARRIET: We're good friends, but she and Commander Rabb are best friends. They know each other better than anyone else does.
PROSECUTOR: Even better than any boyfriends or girlfriends? Family members?
HARRIET: Yes.
PROSECUTOR: So they're more than just casual friends and partners?
HARRIET: Oh, yes! They act like they're lovers! Oh, I shouldn't have said that!
PROSECUTOR: It's okay. I think we'll leave it there. Thank you.
JUDGE Q. PIDD: Next witness.
PROSECUTOR: I'd like to call Admiral AJ Chegwidden to the stand.
Harm and Mac straightened up in their chairs and looked at each other then watched as the Admiral made his way to the front. What was he going to talk about?
PROSECUTOR: You are the JAG, are you not, Admiral?
AJ: Yes, ma'am, I am.
PROSECUTOR: So you've been in this from the beginning?
AJ: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: I know Commander Roberts told us about that meeting, but I'd like to hear it from your point of view.
AJ: I transferred in Colonel, well she was a Major then, so Major MacKenzie to work with then Lieutenant Commander Rabb on a case. I had her meet us at the White House after the awards ceremony.
PROSECUTOR: Why did you tell them not to get too close, that they'd be working together?
AJ: Their greeting was strange. Like they already knew each other from somewhere. I could already sense that having the two of them together was going to be interesting.
PROSECUTOR: So there was chemistry between them even from that first meeting?
AJ: If that's what you want to call it.
PROSECUTOR: So what were the two of them like after that case? How'd they work together?
AJ: It took them a bit longer than most to adjust to working together as partners. One of the first cases where I assigned them as opposing counsel, there was more than just a little tension. The Major felt like she had been sandbagged and had a problem dividing what went on in the courtroom with what occurred outside the courtroom. Rabb was trying to win her over with his usual charm and it wasn't working on her.
PROSECUTOR: So they were both trying to figure out where they stood with each other?
AJ: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: If you don't mind, I'd like to go over some of the important or exciting highlights that have happened in the past nine years. We can start with the time that the two of them played hooky from work.
AJ: he couldn't help but let out a chuckle The two of them took the same day off and Rabb had convinced Mac to go flying in his plane with him. From what I found out later, there was a problem with the fuel line and they were forced to land.
PROSECUTOR: What happened after that?
AJ: While hiking to find help, they ran into a couple poachers. By the time the whole thing was over, they had to kill a couple of the men and barely managed to make it back. When they came back, they were even better friends.
PROSECUTOR: Tell me about the time they were in the hospital when the terrorists took over.
AJ: Rabb and Mac were out running that morning. Somehow, Rabb managed to get hit by a car and Mac went with him to the hospital. While they were there, there was a high profile diplomat who was going to receive a heart transplant. Terrorists took over the hospital.
PROSECUTOR: What did Harm and Mac do?
AJ: Once again, I don't know all the details, but the two of them disarmed bombs, helped a woman give birth, saved a doctor's life, saved the life of the diplomat, and took down the terrorists.
PROSECUTOR: So once again, they triumphed?
AJ: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: What happened next?
AJ: The Colonel dated a man who offered her a job at his law office. She took it. Mac handed me her resignation letter and went to work for Lowne's firm.
PROSECUTOR: She obviously came back at some point.
AJ: After just a couple months, she did return. I had just stuck her letter in a drawer and marked her down as on leave for the time she was gone.
PROSECUTOR: Her reason for returning?
AJ: I suspect things had not worked out well in the private sector for her, nor with the boyfriend. Her reason was that she had had the chance to "spread her wings" and felt that JAG was where she really belonged.
PROSECUTOR: And Rabb's reaction for all this?
AJ: Rabb was right there in my office fighting to allow her back. He can't resist trying to help someone.
PROSECUTOR: His hero-complex?
AJ: Exactly.
PROSECUTOR: Just out of curiosity, what was Commander Rabb like before Colonel MacKenzie became his partner?
AJ: Rabb was first described to me as the Golden Boy of JAG.
PROSECUTOR: The poster boy?
AJ: Yes, ma'am. He had been a fighter pilot and when he came to JAG, he brought that same cockiness and tenacity that he had in the air with him.
PROSECUTOR: A bit of a hotshot, was he?
AJ: Was until Mac got hold of him.
PROSECUTOR: So she calmed him down?
AJ: She punched holes through his large ego. Got him to mature. She's about the only one I've ever seen who's able to keep him in line.
PROSECUTOR: So Mac keeps his ego in check. I'm assume this goes both ways. How does he help her?
AJ: Harm helped Mac gain confidence in others, trusting them. They're both good officers who'll do whatever it takes to get the truth.
PROSECUTOR: What was the office like after Commander Rabb went back to flying?
AJ: Calm.
PROSECUTOR: Besides calm.
AJ: People had a hard time adjusting to his absence. One officer in particular, won't say who, moped around for a few weeks. Things soon picked back up, especially with Brumby around.
PROSECUTOR: Brumby? How did he behave?
AJ: Moved right in on Mac the second Rabb was in the elevator. Took Rabb's office too.
PROSECUTOR: What happened when Commander Rabb came back to JAG?
AJ: Brumby had already staked his claim. Rabb has always had foot-in-mouth syndrome, especially around Mac. Things only got tenser and more competitive between Rabb and Brumby.
PROSECUTOR: But you never stepped in?
AJ: I figured it'd work itself out. That Mac would make a choice and the other would back off.
PROSECUTOR: Obviously didn't happen soon enough, you finally had to step in down in Australia, didn't you?
AJ: I honestly thought Mac was smart enough to know she deserved better than Brumby. Everyone thought she'd end up with Rabb. Never thought it'd end up lasting as long as it did.
PROSECUTOR: So what did happen down in Australia?
AJ: I won't go into details, but Bud ended up with a broken jaw, in two places because of Rabb and Brumby. Had to send Rabb and Brumby to fight it out, non-judicial punishment.
PROSECUTOR: Did that fix it?
AJ: Not like I'd hoped. When we were leaving, Mac had a ring on her hand and it wasn't Rabb's.
PROSECUTOR: Earlier, Commander Roberts briefly mentioned what happened at the airport just before the four of you left. Why don't you tell us what exactly happened?
AJ: When I commented on the ring on Mac's hand, Rabb got this look on his face. As Mac and Brumby "said their good-byes" I told Rabb not to look back.
PROSECUTOR: Did he?
AJ: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: The good-bye between Mac and Brumby, weren't they kissing?
AJ: Yes, they were.
PROSECUTOR: Weren't they only kissing when you and Rabb turned to board the plane?
AJ: Yes, Rabb wouldn't have seen them if he hadn't looked back.
PROSECUTOR: So Mac only kissed him when she thought he wasn't going to be looking? Maybe because she didn't want him to see her?
AJ: Could be that way.
PROSECUTOR: So after the Australia incident, Brumby stayed there and the four of you came back?
AJ: Yes, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: But Brumby came back, didn't he? Resigned his commission and gave up his country just to be with Mac, right?
AJ: Yes, he did.
PROSECUTOR: When Mac and Harm went to Chechnya, Mic didn't know she went, did he?
AJ: Few days after they left, Brumby came to my office. Asked me if I had heard from Mac or if Rabb had.
PROSECUTOR: What'd you say?
AJ: I asked him what bothered him more, that he hadn't heard from her or that Harm might be missing with her.
PROSECUTOR: So his fiancée was missing and he wanted to know whether she was with Harm again. A bit of a jealous bloke?
AJ: Yes, he was. Especially when it came to Rabb.
PROSECUTOR: You hosted Mac and Brumby's engagement party, didn't you?
AJ: Yes, Lieutenant Simms talked me into it.
PROSECUTOR: Anything interesting happen that night?
AJ: Rabb and Mac spent much of the evening out on my porch. They came in once or twice but they always ended up back out there. When it came time to bring out the cake, I had to send Tiner out to get them.
PROSECUTOR: Ever suspect they were doing anything not so innocent out there?
AJ: It's Rabb and MacKenzie. I never knew what really what was going on between them. I don't think anyone ever really knew.
PROSECUTOR: Let's talk about a report that was done about JAG HQ, by a Commander Ted Lindsey.
AJ: snorted Lindsey felt that I had scuttled his career. He sent a report into the SECNAV, "exposing" what was really going on under my command.
PROSECUTOR: Concerning Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie, what did the report say?
AJ: Rabb "showed a consistent and reckless disregard for responsibility." There was also something in the report about unsupervised TAD's between members of the opposite sex.
PROSECUTOR: Those members being Rabb and MacKenzie?
AJ: I would imagine so, ma'am.
PROSECUTOR: So jealous boyfriends, unsupervised TAD's, long amounts of time on your porch, playing hooky…quite an interesting relationship between those two. Let's move on to the Paraguay incident. Others have testified that Paraguay tore their relationship apart even further. What happened?
AJ: Webb came to me. Told me he was going to use Mac for one of his undercover ops.
PROSECUTOR: Webb had a habit of using both Rabb and MacKenzie for his ops, didn't he?
AJ: Too often. I tried to stop him, but he always went over my head when he didn't get what he wanted. Don't know why the damn spook never used any of his own people. His ops always went screwy anyway. Always ready with a "that's classified" or "need to know".
PROSECUTOR: So he went over your head and Mac went down to Paraguay.
AJ: This op was different than the others. He only wanted Mac. Never even brought up Rabb.
PROSECUTOR: Rabb and MacKenzie always worked as a team on ops like these?
AJ: Didn't get one without another. Together, in the court and on ops, they were unbeatable. For years, I've been hearing from other officers what a hell of a team they make. They always managed to come out on top when the odds are against them.
PROSECUTOR: Where the odds against them on this op?
AJ: Don't know. Most of what went on down there is still classified. When they came back, no one would talk about it. Mac and Harm were hardly speaking to each other and Mac was dating Webb.
PROSECUTOR: So how did Harm end up down there?
AJ: For the first couple days, it was like any other assignment. Then Rabb kept coming to me, wanting to know where Mac was, how she was, if he could get in touch with her, if she was okay.
PROSECUTOR: What did you tell him?
AJ: Couldn't tell him anything. I didn't know.
PROSECUTOR: And so he resigned his commission to go down after her?
AJ: I was under orders to not let him go. Just as he was leaving my office, having handed in his letter of resignation, I asked him if was really "willing to give up" his "career and possibly" his "life to get her back"? He just nodded. When I then asked him what would happen if he did bring her home, what he was willing to risk to keep her, his answer basically showed me he hadn't thought that far through everything yet. He went down there, saved both Mac's and Webb's lives and came back.
PROSECUTOR: You ever find it interesting that all the drama in their lives can be defined by foreign countries? Russia and Harm's dad? Australia and Mic Brumby? Chechnya and Sergei? Paraguay and Webb?
AJ: Just the way things happened.
PROSECUTOR: So they came back, Colonel MacKenzie had her job and Commander Rabb didn't. You stuffed MacKenzie's letter in a drawer and put her on leave, why not Rabb's?
AJ: Rabb changed his designator too many times, treated JAG as an option that would always be open to him. However, he was one of my best officers. I wish I could've stuck his letter in a drawer.
PROSECUTOR: Why didn't you?
AJ: CIA wanted him. SECNAV ordered me to go along with it. He and Rabb had never gotten along. So when he came back, I told him he was a loose cannon, told him to go drive cabs or wrestle alligators or something like that.
PROSECUTOR: So he went to work for the CIA after that?
AJ: Worked for them for several months until he pulled some crazy, classified stunt, got himself on TV and they fired him.
PROSECUTOR: And Mac was dating Webb through all this?
AJ: I heard she had tried to get hold of Rabb several times, but he wasn't taking phone calls, wasn't answering messages, wasn't at his apartment.
PROSECUTOR: So how'd he end up back working at JAG again?
AJ: We needed him back. It had come to our attention that one of our officers wasn't really a lawyer. We had to go over all the cases she had worked on, we were swamped.
PROSECUTOR: So how'd you find him?
AJ: Back when he had first disappeared and was working for the CIA, Commander Roberts had done some research on his own, trying to track Rabb down. I asked him to pick it back up again. Found out he was working at Grace Aviation, as a crop duster or something. His boss was some teenage girl. I talked to him, told him he could have his commission back, that he could come back to JAG.
PROSECUTOR: His response?
AJ: He was obviously bitter about how he had been let go. Took some time, but Rabb eventually came back.
PROSECUTOR: Was Mac happy to see him back?
AJ: The tension between them because of Paraguay still hasn't away.
PROSECUTOR: So Rabb came back, things were still tense. Mac was still dating Webb?
AJ: That's what it seemed like.
PROSECUTOR: What happened next?
AJ: Rabb ended up adopting that teenage girl who had been his boss. But things are still tense between to them and have been since then.
PROSECUTOR: You think adopting that girl was another part of his hero-complex?
AJ: Rabb grew up without a father, I just think he didn't want to see Mattie grow up the same way.
PROSECUTOR: Just one more question. Do you ever wish you hadn't given them that order to "not get too close"?
AJ: I've thought about it. Maybe…I don't know…I don't think my order was the only thing causing problems between them for the past 9 years.
PROSECUTOR: Thank you, you make take your seat.
JUDGE Q. PIDD: How many witnesses does the prosecution have left?
PROSECUTOR: Just three, your Honor.
JUDGE Q. PIDD: We'll take another recess then re-adjourn.
Before getting up to stretch, Harm leaned over to Mac and whispered, "Want to take a short walk outside?"
She nodded. They got up and headed out of the courtroom, down the halls, and out into the JAG courtyard.
"You still okay with this whole situation?" he asked.
"I'm just glad they're not bringing up certain things. Stuff I'd rather leave buried," she answered.
"Like your Article 34 hearing?"
"And Singer's murder. Chris Ragle."
"John Farrow. Details about my search for my dad."
"Stuff like that I just don't want talked about in front of all those people, you know?"
"I agree." Feeling the need to lighten the mood a bit, he looked her up and down, slowly, before asking, "What about your tattoo? I think we should bring that up."
"Harm!"
"You never told me where it was located." He stopped walking, bringing her to a stop as well. "I'd like to know."
Damn his piercing blue eyes.
"You'll just have to look for it later," she teased.
"I just might do that."
"What about you?" Mac asked, changing the subject. "You doing okay with this?"
"I think so. I'd like to know who the last three are, but I guess we'll just have to wait."
"Mattie'll be one. The Admiral led right into that one."
"But what about the other two?" he asked.
"Who's left?"
"I can't think of anyone. Done family, our ex's, co-workers. We've covered almost all the major highlights of the past 9 years in regards to our relationship," he broke off.
"Relationship?"
"Even after Paraguay…we're still best friends, right?" The look on his face was hopeful, almost anxious.
Mac gave him a soft smile. "Of course."
He pulled her in for a hug, holding her tightly.
Neither knew it but they were both thinking the same thing.
-Hopefully soon to be more than just friends.-
AN: Remember, I wanna know where you're all from!