"She was NI, really?" Mac and Harm walked through the bullpen toward his office.
"Yeah, the whole situation felt like something out of an Oliver Stone movie." Harm chuckled.
"Hey you two, how was the slumber party last night?" The now familiar friendly face of Jim Grant could be seen walking toward them from Admiral Chegwidden's office.
"Mac made the popcorn, I rented the movie and…" Harm was cut off.
"He fell asleep on my couch by 2200." Mac smiled coyly as the three of them congregated in her office.
"Do you two realize you've been finishing each other's sentences ever since Mac came back to JAG?" Jim was beginning to like the new routine at JAG headquarters; meeting with the Admiral in the morning, then heading off to Mac's office to talk with the two of them and occasionally, Bud if he and Harriet managed to make it into the office in time.
"What are you suggesting Colonel?" Mac fired at her friend who was trying to contain a laugh.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Jim was starting to understand the way these two worked; at least when it came to this particular issue and it scared him.
"Good because I'm sure if Mr. Lowne heard you he'd demand an explanation." Mac looked at her friend with some mock-sternness in her voice.
"Yeah Mac, I've faced guerrillas, soviet spies, Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and I'm going to be afraid of a civilian lawyer from the suburbs." Jim and Harm shared a laugh as Mac made her best attempt at a serious face.
"That's enough you, leave poor Dalton alone." She tossed back playfully.
"Alright kiddies, what've we got on tap today?" Jim had to try and make the situation a little more professional.
"Well the Admiral's still pissed at Mac for leaving, so if there are any investigations to be had, looks like you and I are taking them on." Harm smiled and slugged his friend in shoulder.
"The Duke boys ride again huh?" Jim smiled and rested his head on one of his hands.
"Duke Boys?" Mac looked up at them.
"Long story." Harm explained with that trademark smile of his decorating his face as he looked into her eyes. Mac heaved an over-exaggerated 'Oh'. "So, the Admiral has made you acting head of Admin?"
"Yeah." She replied like someone had just taken the wind right out of her sails.
"Look at the bright side Mac, this mean streak of his can't go on much longer than a year." Harm smiled and all three of them shared a laugh.
"Very funny Flyboy." She said as she saw Dalton Lowne coming across the bullpen. "Would the two of you excuse me for a minute?" Her friends nodded and got up out of their chairs and quickly filed out of her office. Harm and Jim stood off to the side and watched Dalton Lowne enter Mac's office.
"Very interesting." Jim used a Freudian accent and turned to Harm just as the latest load of people got off the elevator. Harm saw Annie Pendry get off the elevator along with Bud and Harriet. Jim saw this new woman walking toward Harm with a smile on her face.
"Annie!" Harm's voice wasn't quite a shout it was just louder than normal. She ran towards him and the two of them embraced, Harm looked kind of awkward but Annie looked right at home. "Oh, where are my manners. Annie Pendry, Colonel Jim Grant USMC." Annie reached out and shook the Marine's hand.
"Another Marine around the office they must be keeping you on your toes, huh, Harm?" Annie looked into his eyes playfully and Harm still looked awkward as hell. Jim was holding his coffee mug in his hand and trying not to feel like a sore thumb but eventually he just couldn't take it any more.
"I'll just be leaving now." Jim walked passed Bud's desk as Harm and Annie went walking into Harm's office. "Lieutenant, with me, we're going to watch the fireworks." The angle of Jim's office allowed him to keep the blinds up and see all that was going on in Harm and Mac's offices, directly across the bullpen from his. Bud followed Jim into his office and the Colonel pulled two chairs around behind his desk. Jim put his feet up on his desk and pulled a tin of Pringles out of the bottom drawer.
"Feel free to kick your feet up and have a chip Lieutenant." Jim popped a few chips in his mouth.
"Thank you sir." Bud kicked his feet up and Jim passed him the tin of chips.
"Bud, if we're going to loach on work, gossip about our co-workers and eat on the job I think you can at least call me 'Jim'." The Marine Colonel laughed and threw his garrison cap on his desk.
"How much have I missed?" Admiral Chegwidden entered the office, grabbed his own chair and put his feet up on the desk.
"What'd Tiner tell you?" Jim asked as he passed the Admiral the chips.
"Only that Lowne was in Mac's office and that some woman named Annie was with Rabb in his office." The Admiral accepted the tin and popped some chips in his mouth.
"Good then you're up to speed. Ten bucks says Mac ends up slapping Lowne for something." Jim reached for a ten and threw it on the desk.
"I'll take that bet, sir." Bud threw a ten of his on the desk.
"I thought you said you didn't bet Colonel?" The Admiral's look of smugness was enough to cause a few repressed smiles.
"Some rules are meant to be broken." Jim laughed and reached for a water in the cooler bag he kept under his desk.
"Yeah well I got ten that says Rabb either hugs or kisses this Annie before she leaves his office." The Admiral threw another ten dollars on the desk.
"I'll cover that one too sir." Bud threw a second ten dollars down on the desk.
"You a masochist Lieutenant?" Admiral Chegwidden asked as the three men looked on at the scenes occurring across the bullpen.
In Mac's office…
"Sarah, I figured we should talk." Dalton seemed to be pleading.
"Here? Dalton if we should talk it shouldn't be where I work; I have business to attend to." She was annoyed.
"Business more important than us Sarah?" Dalton's tone had become almost caustic.
"At the moment, yes." She hoped being dismissive of him would encourage him to just leave.
"You know I've had to put up with a lot in this relationship Sarah. I've had to put up with you agreeing to come work with me only to change your mind and come back here. I've had to put up with the fact that your two best friends are war heroes whose respective physical presences are enough to make me feel insignificant and the fact that there seems to be a very real possibility of you running off with either one of them. I've had to put up with the fact that every time I try and take this relationship to the next physical level you've shut me down. Not to mention the fact that half our encounters at your apartment have been evenings spent babysitting a six year old." Dalton shot back like a geyser trying to release a built up pressure.
"And now, after all that, I come here to talk to you about the distance between us lately and all you can do is brush me off and tell me that it isn't at the top of your priority list!" His anger was rising so much so that it was getting very difficult for the bullpen to pretend they were ignoring what was going on in the office. But now, now it was Mac's turn to fire back
"You know what Dalton, I'm sorry that you are unable to deal with the fact that I'm a Marine not a pencil-pushing desk jockey for a civilian firm. I need to be a Marine and if you can't understand that, then you're right we do have a problem.
As for my friends, they are just that, friends. I've known Jim for a long time and Harm is…well Harm is my partner. I'm sorry if they make you feel insignificant but it's not really my problem if you're insecure now is it?
I'm sorry if you can't handle sharing me with a six year old that happens to be my godson but think about what that means Dalton, we could never have children because you just want me all to yourself. Now, you mentioned the next phase of our physical relationship, to go there would've been a mistake. It wouldn't have been you I was thinking about and it wouldn't have been your name I called out." Mac finished with a smirk, her parting shot hit deep, but it was the truth and for once, Dalton deserved it.
Dalton reeled back from that last comment, that was one hell of a blow to any male ego to take. "You know you can be a real bitch." Before he knew what hit him Mac's open right palm cuffed him across the cheek. Dalton Lowne merely brushed himself off and stormed out of Mac's office and JAG headquarters.
Across the bullpen, Jim reached on to the desk and grabbed his original ten dollars and then ten he'd just won from Bud. "I'll go talk to her." He walked out of his office and across the bullpen toward Mac's. Before he could get to her door Harm intercepted him. "You want to handle this one buddy; I'll take the meeting in your office." Harm nodded and headed into Mac's office leaving the Colonel to deal with Annie Pendry.
"How you feelin' jarhead?" Harm opened the office door to see Mac trying to hold back a few light sobs.
"I've been better flyboy." Her voice broke a little as she sat back on her desk.
"C'mere." He opened his arms and she fell into them.
"I don't know what happened, he never said anything really until today and then it just all came pouring out like some great bullshit volcano." She laughed as she pressed her cheek against his chest.
"It's his loss Mac, you're one hell of a woman and you're going to make some man very happy someday." He had one hand on her back and the other cradling her head into his chest.
"My poor flyboy, always a pillar of strength." She tightened the hug and looked playfully up into his eyes.
"Since when am I your flyboy?" Harm smiled as he slowly released his grip.
"Well you have to be somebody's flyboy, we can't just have you wondering around like some stray puppy now can we?" She smiled, her lips still together.
"So you've decided to adopt me?" Harm chuckled and his arms shook gently caressing her back but unintentionally.
"Well only until you make a mess on my rug." She laughed and went back to the chair behind her desk.
"You okay now Mac?" The concern in his eyes almost seemed like love for a split second.
"Yeah, but I'd still feel better if you bought me pizza tonight flyboy." She shot back with a laugh.
"I'll think about it Marine." With that he closed the door to her office and walked back to his own office.
Backtrack a few minutes to Harm's office….
"Hello, Miss Pendry, I'm Colonel Grant, we met out in the hallway." Jim walked in and closed the door to Harm's office behind him.
"Yes I remember Colonel. Where's Harm?" Annie looked up at him like he was out of place.
"He's off dealing with a personnel matter that he was particularly qualified to handle and required his immediate attention." The Marine efficiency was evident in his voice. "If this is Navy business I'd be more than happy to help."
"This isn't really Navy business, I mean it's about my son, Harm's got this knack for talking to Josh." Annie seemed to be struggling to get out an ambiguous statement.
"You've got a son too huh? It's an adventure, mine's just entering those adventurous years." Jim smiled as he sat on the edge of Harm's desk.
"How old's yours?" Annie looked up from the floor.
"Six about to turn seven, you?" A smile played across Jim's face.
"Ten. Yours want to be a Marine like his old man?" Annie hoped it wasn't just Josh that wanted to emulate his father.
"Yeah I think he wants to be my CO more than anything." Jim laughed. "He's been easier on me than my daughter Gabby though, Gabbs was a real demanding little princess sometimes. She's off trying to become a Marine Aviator."
"My husband used to fly Tomcats, he and Harm went to flight school together. It's hard to believe it's been two years." She looked at him and tears formed in her eyes, he knew that tone, he'd used it himself a lot
"I can empathize I lost my wife about a year and a half ago to a car crash. Time doesn't make it any easier does it?" It was amazing how these two could familiarize.
"No, no it doesn't. So, tell me, what is it you did before you became a JAG, not another flyer like Harm?" She tried to alleviate some of the tension.
"No, no, I've spent most of my days in the Corps in Force Recon. But I'm an old man now, they don't need line officers like me running through the jungle any more. They'd rather have us armed with pens ready to seize the nearest cubicle." The two of them laughed.
"All your exciting days behind you?" Annie questioned with an inquisitive look on her face.
"Reluctantly, there's still a little fight left in the old bulldog, he just never gets any yard time." Jim laughed and Harm entered the room.
"You talking her ear off Jim?" Harm laughed as he closed the door behind him.
"No, just making friendly conversation. How'd you handle that personnel problem?" Jim arched his eyebrows so that Harm would catch his drift.
"Oh, that! Well I was right, it required my personal attention and it may keep me busy tonight." Harm and Jim exchanged knowing smiles.
"That's too bad Harm I was going to extend a dinner invitation your way tonight." Annie piped up.
"Yeah well after what you told me about Josh, I think I'm going to need to take him out to Andrews now. We should get this squared away." Harm looked at Annie and nodded. "I could use some back-up on this one, you think you could swing it with Chegwidden?"
"Oh I'm sure I could. Come on, we should probably get out there before Mac tries to get us to help her with that computer upgrade." Jim started to walk out of the office and Harm stuck around for just a few seconds to give Annie a quick hug before leaving his office. Across the bullpen, in Jim's office the Admiral could be heard shouting 'YES!' and picking up the remaining twenty dollars on the desk. "How does it feel to be twenty dollars lighter Bud?"
"It sucks sir." Bud replied disheartened. The Admiral on the other hand was smiling from ear to ear.
"Sir, we need permission to investigate a possible homicide at the Naval Air Facility at Andrews, do we have permission?" Harm asked standing half in Jim's office.
The Admiral quickly pulled his feet off of Jim's desk and sat straight up in his chair. "Possible homicide? I haven't heard anything about it."
"Well sir we just got a lead and we think it's worth chasing down." Harm sounded convincing.
"Consider yourselves so ordered. By the way, is it true that Colonel Stacy out at Quantico dubbed the two of you 'the Duke Boys'?" The Admiral had a self-amused look.
"Yes sir." Harm replied with a grin on his face.
"Does that make me Uncle Jesse?" The Admiral chuckled a little under his breath.
"Only if the SECNAV can be Boss Hogg." Jim said as he burst into laughter.
"Dismissed, the pair of you." The Admiral laughed as he made his way back to his own office.
After taking Josh back to Andrews the two JAG officers dropped Josh off at home in Baltimore and Annie extended a dinner invitation to the pair of them. Dinner was delicious and afterward Josh went off on his own and the adults were left at the table. "Let me help you clear the table Annie." Jim got up with both arms full of dishes nonsense.
"Nonsense Jim, you're a guest, I can't ask you to help me." She laughed as she saw the normally tough Marine Colonel delicately balancing all the dishes which had previously been on the table.
"You didn't ask, I offered. Besides, I was a domesticated animal for twenty three years, I know the drill with cleaning dishes. I'll leave the lazing about to mustangs like Harm over there." Jim laughed as he cautiously slid the dishes into the sink.
"Hey Colonel, just because you gave up bachelorhood all those years ago doesn't mean the rest of us got to follow the same route." Harm stood in archway between the kitchen and the dining room.
"Ah, you'll want to soon enough. You'll find a nice girl to settle down with and you'll become a domesticated animal. Not only that, you'll create a bunch of little Rabb-lets, which I'm sure will drive Chegwidden insane." Jim's comment as he took a rag and started washing the dishes, caused laughter throughout the room. "Just the thought of Chegwidden chasing a bunch of little Harms around the office, it's priceless."
"See I could get used to this, men who are willing to have intelligent conversation and clean, how much does it cost to rent you two out for weeks at a time?" Annie asked playfully.
"You couldn't afford us, as it is only the US government can, we come highly recommended." Harm smiled. "Annie where's Josh I'm sure he would like some company."
"He'll be out front on the porch Harm." Annie pointed to the front door. Harm walked out to the front porch. "So do they only bring in sexy officers at JAG or what?"
"Couldn't tell you, don't look at the officer's at JAG like that." Jim laughed as he put all the dishes on a towel on the counter to dry.
"Not even Mac?" Annie looked inquisitive.
"The woman's been my friend for a long time, I can't really look at her that way any more." Jim smiled weakly as he drained the water from the sink. "Besides, I know a guy at the office who's pretty sweet on her." Annie laughed and looked over at him than she pinched him on the arm.
"Hey, what was that for?" He asked trying to sound offended and hurt.
"Just trying to see if you're for real. The way you talk, about your kids, about love, you sound like Ward Cleaver. They sure don't make'em like you any more." She smiled, not sure if the man who stood at the sink was in fact the genuine article.
"Yeah the government upgraded to the Rabb model in the early 60s." Jim smiled cautiously, trying to prevent the flirting from going too far.
"And funny too. If you ever start dating again you're going to be a real threat to the greater DC area."
Out on the porch Josh was sitting on bench with his toy F-14. "Hey Josh, how's school?" Harm sat next to the young man.
"Fine I guess." Josh seemed less than happy.
"How are things with your mom?" Harm was trying at least to make Josh know he wasn't going to get in trouble for what happened.
"She tell you to ask that?" Josh shot back.
"No buddy, I was concerned."
"Things are okay I guess…" Josh looked out into the street. "Harm, that's the same van I saw in the hangar."
"Go back in the house buddy." Harm got up to guide Josh back into the house just as the men in the van opened fire. The bullets riddled the house breaking windows and bursting their way through the door. "Get Down!" Harm shouted and everyone hit the floor. Everyone lay on the floor in the living room. When the gunfire ceased, Jim drew his gun and got up from the floor, instinctively heading for the door. "Jim, where the hell do you think you're going?"
"To catch the bad guys Harm, that's how it always works in the movies." Jim said caustically.
"You'd better let me do it." Harm got up from the floor. "You'll be of more use here."
"Because Marines are better for guarding people?" Jim shot back.
"No, because I've seen you drive." Harm smiled. "I got my sidearm and my keys, I'll be back soon. Jim, call…"
"Don't worry, I'll get Chegwidden, Mac and NCIS over here faster than Bud can recite a thousand Star Trek facts." Jim reassured his friend. With that Harm practically jumped from the porch and into his car. Within seconds he was in hot pursuit of the van that had shot up the Pendry home. Luckily the van was a real clunker and no match for the power that was under the hood of Harm's car. The chase ran well through the streets of Baltimore attracting the attention of a number of police cruisers.
"Oh great, instant back-up." Harm said aloud to himself as he kept pace with the van. The pursuit of the van raged on for what was nearly another hour until finally the van swerved into oncoming traffic and overturned as it tried to evade an oncoming mini-van. Harm pulled off to the side of the road. The cops pulled him over and immediately drew their guns as they approached the overturned van. "Listen, I'm Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Junior with JAG, these guys are suspects in a murder investigation." Harm was taken to the his place behind the wall of cruisers .
"Listen Mr. Rabb, we've found automatic weapons in that van along with two very dead men, now in the morning I'm going to need you to bring that witness of yours down to the City Morgue tomorrow to make a positive ID. For tonight, I'll post a surveillance team on the house." The Detective assured Harm.
"Thanks Lieutenant Mullen, that means a lot." Harm got in his car and drove, this time a little slower back to the Pendry house which was right now being combed by an NCIS team. When Harm pulled into the driveway and turned off the car, he let out a slow, heavy breath before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car. He saw the front door open and he saw Mac come flying down the front steps, she leapt into his arms nearly sending him on to his six.
"Harm, what were you thinking chasing criminals with assault rifles through half of Baltimore, don't you know you could've been killed?" Mac was worried sick, in fact she'd smacked Jim several times for letting Harm go alone.
"Hey, it was just like any of our other missions Mac, we won, the bad guys lost. You weren't worried about missing me were you Marine?" Harm tried to add some levity to the scene.
"No, I just hate breaking in new partners." She came back with a small laugh.
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Harm looked down into her eyes before realizing that quite a crowd had gathered in the Pendry doorway. His two superior officers stood there looking rather pleased with themselves along with Josh and Annie Pendry. "Hey Jim, don't we have another job to get to?" Harm looked down at his watch and shouted at his friend.
"Why Harm, I do think you're right. Thank God you didn't wreck the trunk of your car, we're going to need that equipment." Jim jumped off the front porch.
"Another job? What the hell are you two doing?" The Admiral seemed somewhat indignant.
"Freelancing, you're all welcome to come along, we could use all the support we can get." Harm and Jim walked over to the car and piled in. "Come on, we're headed over to McMurphy's!" With that everyone piled into their respective cars and followed Harm and Jim to McMurphy's. When they got there, they saw the two men pull long black bags out of the trunk of Harm's car and head into the building.
"Bud! Everything set up?" Harm shouted as the two of them entered the bar.
"All set sir. Nick, the house drummer, he's going to be sitting in with us tonight since we weren't able to find a drummer sir." Bud hooked the last two cables into the amplifiers.
"That's good Bud, he was the one we were practising with." Jim said as he opened his gig bag to reveal a beautiful, Marine green, Peavey bass. "He knows the set we've been preparing to play for tonight."
"This is your big freelancing gig flyboy? You and your buddies decided to start a little rock band in your spare time." Mac looked at him like he had succeeded in doing the most immature thing on earth.
"Actually after the night of your dining out, Eamon, the guy who owns this place, asked Jim to put together a house band. Well Eamon already had a drummer, Jim could play bass, he talked to Bud about playing keyboard and finally Jim talked me into playing guitar and singing lead." Harm smiled at her as she went and sat at a table with the Admiral, Harriet, Annie and Josh.
Harm pulled out his acoustic and plugged the patch-chord in at the bottom. "Alright, um, we were asked to form this band about seven weeks ago so bear with us. We've had a few rehearsals but we would like to clear up something, our keyboardist learned how to play by figuring out the sound effects to Star Trek episodes." The bar laughed and Bud tried to look embarrassed.
Jim sat on a stool next to Harm, his acoustic in his lap, instead of his bass since their first song didn't call for it. He was the only other person on stage with a microphone. "Yeah but he's actually pretty good so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. We spent seven weeks trying to come up with a name for this band and to be quite honest we got nothing. That is until our CO told us that a senior officer referred to me and Harm here as the 'the Duke Boys' while we were on an investigation. So here it is, the inaugural performance of: The Duke Boys."
"You ready guys?" Harm looked behind himself on the stage. Nick the drummer and Bud both nodded their heads, the drumsticks clicked together four times as Nick counted them in. The unmistakeable acoustic intro to Suite: Judy Blue Eyes was picked out by the two men sitting at the front of the stage as their respective voices rang out into the microphones.
It's getting to the point
Where I'm no fun anymore
I am sorry
Sometimes it hurts, so badly
I must cry out loud
I am lonely
I am yours, you are mine
You are what you are
You make it hard –
With the soft words of Harm's voice ringing through the bar, Mac lost herself, there was nothing, no one else but her and her man, on stage with his guitar. She couldn't have been more seduced by a sound if he tried. For the next song, Jim took over guitar duties as Harm sang a stirring rendition of Crying in the Chapel. Mac's favourite moment of the night came when Harm seemed to be looking right into her eyes when the band did a version of the Temptation's Just My Imagination. To pick up the pace, they did a cover of Waylon Jennings' Good Ol' Boys. Finally, the last song they did before they took their break was a version of The Beatles' A Day in the Life.
"That's all we got for you tonight folks, be back next Friday and maybe we'll have more!" Harm called from the stage as the band stepped away from their instruments and the lights dimmed on the stage. Bud, Harm and Jim walked out to join their friends at the table.
"You boys weren't half bad, you know if you ever need a Harmonica player…" Everyone looked surprised at the Admiral as he made his suggestion. "What? Every young man wants to be a rock star!"
"We'll keep you in mind if we ever need one sir." Harm said his arm had casually found its way around Mac's shoulders where she was perfectly comfortable. The crowd was beginning to stir around the bar and the chant seemed to grow like rushing ball of thunder at the back of the room. "Encore! Encore! Encore! Encore!" Soon it was being chanted by everyone in the bar including the waitresses, bartenders and friends at the table. "Admiral, we could use your help for this one." The musicians rushed back to the stage, the Admiral jogged along with them.
"What am I supposed to do?" The Admiral asked seeing as he, Bud and Jim shared one microphone for this one. Jim had the electric bass around his neck for this one.
"Just follow what Bud and I do sir, we only need you for the beginning anyway." Jim smiled and at the back, Nick sat behind the kit and counted them back in.
"1, 2, 3, 4!" Harm called from the front of the stage.
Ouga Chacka! Ouga, Ouga, Ouga Chacka! The line was shouted by the Admiral, Jim and Bud and it was repeated but their microphone faded as Harm's took prominence.
I can't stop this feeling
Deep inside of me
Girl, you just don't realize what you do to me
When you hold me
In your arms so tight
You let me know
Everything's Alright ah, ah, ah
I'm Hooked on a Feeling
I'm high on believing
That you're in love with me
Harm was getting cat calls from all the ladies in the audience as he moved out into the crowd. Bud went back to his keyboard and the Admiral went back to the table with a smile on his face. One by one, Harm worked his way from woman to woman in the bar, making it look like he was singing individually to each of them always keeping Mac in his peripheral.
Lips as sweet as Candy
Their taste stays on my mind
Girl, you keep me thirsty for another cup of wine
Eventually Harm fixed his gaze intently on Mac almost as if there was no one else in the bar.
I've got it bad for you girl
But I don't need a cure
I'll just stay addicted, If I can endure
All the good love, when we're all alone
Keep it up girl, yeah you turn me on
Harm was now walking around Mac's chair, never lifting his gaze from her. He could see her blush, and laugh as he seemed to parade around her. He got down on his knees like he was pleading to her in a really humorous kind of way. Was it part of the performance? It was safe for both of them to assume so and that's exactly what they did. Harm made his way back up to the stage to finish the song with his bandmates.
I'mmmmm, I'm Hooked on a Feeling
I'm high on believing
That you're in love with me
All that good love, when we're all alone
Keep it up girl, yeah you turn me on
I say I'm Hooked on a Feeling
I know I'm high on believing
That you're in love with me
Yeah, I'm hooked on that feeling!
The band stood in a row, all next to one another at the end of the song and took a bow. The owner of McMurphy's came running up to the stage at the end of the set and stood right in the middle of the band. "That was the Duke Boys; with our own Nick Malone tapping the skins; Lieutenant Bud Roberts tickling the ivories; Colonel Jim Grant on bass, guitar and backup vocals and Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. plucking the strings and serenading you with that voice of his all night. If they're in town and not out protecting our freedom, you'll be able to catch the Duke Boys right here at McMurphy's every Friday night at 9:30 or for you military types 2130!"
For the second time that night, the band made their way off the stage to the table where all their friends were sitting. "So, what'd you think of that Josh?" Harm said as he once again sat down next to Mac.
"You guys rocked!" Josh's enthusiastic reply brought smiles to everyone's faces.
"Yeah Harm, that was some show you put on up there, especially at the end." Mac teased him with a suggestive eyebrow here and a seductive smile there.
"Yeah I was pretty fantastic wasn't I?" Harm sounded cocky and self assured which earned groans from his bandmates.
"Well I think that you guys looked pretty hot up there in your civvies." Annie looked across the table at the men who all looked tired and worn out not to mention glistening with sweat.
"Ahhhhh, Mom!" Josh sounded surprised.
"Hey she'll get no argument from me!" Harriet added causing Bud to look rather pleased with himself as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Hear, hear!" Mac added .
"Thank God David's at a friend's tonight, I don't think he'd ever stop singing all this week, if he'd been here" Jim raised a bottle of water to his lips.
"It's getting late folks, I think we should all be heading home." The Admiral stated as he rose from his chair.
"Yeah you're right. Admiral, why don't you and I give Annie an escort home so that she gets there alright, she came here in your car anyway." Jim got up from the table and stretched. "They've posted a surveillance team outside her house, so she'll be safe at least until the ID can be made tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, sounds good, come on Colonel, Mrs Pendry, Master Pendry." The Admiral lead the way for the four of them to leave the bar.
"We should be heading home too Harriet." Bud said as the two of them got up and walked out of the bar.
"Well Marine, as I recall, I still owe you that pizza from earlier, so you up for a slumber party at my place?" Harm looked suggestively into her eyes.
"Well you've got that air mattress, but you always end up giving me your bed and taking the air mattress for yourself, so…okay." She smiled and got up from her chair.
"I'm even going to let you rent the movies this time." He sounded like he was sweetening the deal.
"So, no Top Gun? Harmon Rabb you're spoiling me. Don't stop." She smiled and the two of them walked out of the bar together. His arm around her waist and her head on his shoulder.