August rolled into September and the routine at JAG was barely phased by the rollover into fall. David went back to school and his dad celebrated one year at JAG Headquarters, certainly longer than the one month he was originally assigned to be here. What made the last three months since the respective returns from Eastern Europe particularly enjoyable was that Clayton Webb was nowhere to be found. Something Harm and Jim referred to quite often. Harm even had a calendar in his office where they days marked off with a big red 'W' were Webbless Days. They both wondered if it had something to do with the Admiral breaking his nose.
On one particular day, the Admiral was sitting in his office with the TV on, well-knowing that he was about to do something to disgruntle much of his senior staff. "Tiner, get me Rabb, MacKenzie and Grant." The Admiral took his finger off the intercom button and brought it back down on to the desk. Colonel Grant was the first through the Admiral's door and when he saw Clayton Webb, he stopped in his tracks. "Oh Christ! Harm, did you mark off today, yet?" Jim shouted back out the door.
"No, I normally do that after lunch." Harm walked up to the door and saw Webb. "So, the streak ends at 71 days, damn! We were so close." The two men shared laughs as Mac came up to join them in the doorway.
"Let me guess, Webb's here." Mac stated plainly and saw Harm and Jim nod as they then proceeded to enter the Admiral's office. They came to attention in front of the Admiral's desk and were put at ease.
"You all know Agent Webb." The Admiral said as he returned to his chair.
"Sadly." Harm added and got smiles from his colleagues.
"In any case, I'm just here to remind you that Agent Webb's missions are completely voluntary. Nothing will happen to you if you turn it down." After that the Admiral leaned back in his chair.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the recent riots in the Sudan over who's going to be elected in their upcoming Presidential election. The frontrunners are a hard-liner, General Denali…" Webb held up a picture of the General. "And a moderate, Ambassador Moshak." Webb produced yet another picture. "Moshak, if elected is prepared to negotiate placing a US Navy base on the Sudanese coast."
"Three guesses who we're cheering for." Harm commented and once again he got a laugh from everyone but Webb.
"This brings us to the topic of Professor Dubotu. He's a poet who many in the Sudan believe speaks for the voice of the people. His endorsement of a candidate will sway the election. Yesterday, the Professor was kidnapped, likely by one of the candidates, though we don't know who." Webb stopped right there.
"And you want us to find out." Mac supplied and she knew that her friends were thinking the exact same thing.
"Your assignment, is to download information off of the computer in the Ambassador's office which may be pertinent to a number of issues including the abduction of Dubotu and his position on the possibility of the American Naval Base. There's a ball at the Sudanese embassy tonight, Commander Rabb and Colonel Grant are both on the guest list because of their personal histories with Ambassador Moshak." Webb informed everyone in the room and got questioning glances from the Admiral and Mac.
"I gave him a ride in a Tomcat back when I was still flying." Harm supplied.
"My actions in Somalia and Liberia made my career a target of his interest after Mogadishu." Jim informed everyone in the room.
"Knowing the insult it is to turn down the invitation of an Ambassador to this type of function, I guess this means that you two are in?" Webb questioned looking down at two very annoyed military lawyers.
"Well, ninja-girl, what do you say to a ball?" Harm turned toward Mac.
"I don't have a dress." Mac replied trying to recover.
"Not a problem, I took the liberty of picking something out, it will be delivered to your apartment." Webb supplied.
"That's very thoughtful; Webb, but you don't know my measurements." Mac smiled falsely trying not to angry at his presumptive behaviour.
"36-24-36." Webb stated in a matter-of fact manner and watched as Harm and Jim suppressed smiles.
"Webb, I'd run if I were you. It's one thing to release any woman's measurements but doing that for a female Marine may get you killed." Jim commented and Webb caught the scowl that crossed Mac's face.
"Before I go, Colonel. I informed Captain Harris of this assignment and she seemed most pleased with the idea. So, there's no need to call her." Clayton Webb sounded almost smug. Webb turned and left the room and Jim sat there with a look of terror on his face.
"What's wrong, Colonel?" The Admiral inquired, evidently worried.
"Angie knows she's going to a ball tonight, which means she's going to go shopping for a dress today." Jim supplied.
"I fail to see how that's a problem, Jim." Harm commented.
"The problem is, I left my credit card at home this morning." Jim stated and his comment got laughs from both Harm and the Admiral who knew what that meant. "You get a dress the CIA paid for and I get a dent in my credit card, you always were the lucky one, Harm." Jim laughed as they got up to be dismissed.
"I'm giving the three of you the day to go home and prepare for this. I know this is a Webb op, so I'm going to reiterate advice that's been heard a lot in this office over the last year. Just, don't get yourselves killed." The Admiral warned as he saw his three officers exchange looks.
"If you think about it, sir. With what we've done in the last year, this should be a walk in the park." Jim commented with a smile.
"Let's hope it stays that way. You're dismissed." The Admiral stood up and walked over the window. He was beginning to wonder why he let Clayton Webb passed security, maybe next time he'd just tell them to shoot him.
The three officers made their way out into the bullpen, Mac broke away to head to her office and Harm and Jim went to Harm's office. "I guess this puts a damper on the big proposal plan, huh?" Jim asked as he sat opposite Harm.
"Not necessarily, you think you could switch the reservation for a later time?" Harm inquired, he'd been carrying that little velvet box everywhere for the last month.
"Not a problem, the Maitre'd at Emerson's is ex-Recon, I'll have the reservation pushed back to a late dinner, say 2330? Even if the embassy blows up, we should be out by then." Jim commented as he got up to leave the office.
"Don't joke, with our luck something like that might just happen." Harm called after him as Jim went over toward his office.
1930 ZULU
HARM & MAC'S APARTMENT
NORTH OF UNION STATION
"What time is Webb coming in the limo to pick us up?" Mac called from the bathroom.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Harm responded from the kitchen.
"You know that after one of those showers my clock haywires for a few minutes." She shot back, knowing that even mentioning that fact was great for his ego.
"I guess, I keep forgetting." He lied, he'd forget a lot of things in his life, what it was like to be with Sarah MacKenzie was not one of them.
"Yeah, I'll bet you do." She walked into the bedroom, grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him.
"What does the dress that Webb sent over, look like?" Harm asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"I think he wants you and every other man in the embassy staring at my breasts all night." She stated plainly but laughed as Harm picked her up by the waist and placed her on the counter in the seated position.
"Well, I was planning to do that any way." Harm laughed and Mac took on a look of mock offence. "Come on, Sarah, you know that you'd be the most beautiful woman at this thing even if you wore coveralls." He put himself in between her legs as she sat on the counter.
"I know, a girl just likes to hear it once in a while, you know?" She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Their foreheads touched as they just stood there looking into one another's eyes. "I'm in love with you, you know that?" She smiled widely.
"I'm in love with you, too." He whispered and brought their lips together in a quick kiss. "I also know that my Marine has an appetite, so I figured that a quick Chicken Penne was in order. Something light, before we head out to the ball tonight." She slid down off the counter and walked toward the bedroom.
"I suppose, I should change into something comfortable for dinner." She stated as she walked over to the bedroom.
"You mean you're not going to wear the towel to dinner." He pointed, indicating the towel that she still had wrapped around her body.
"Only if you wear yours, sailor." She smiled back.
"I'm willing to do that." He called after her.
"Then hop to, sailor." Mac smiled and Harm rushed back in his room to throw his towel on. "By the way, Webb's coming to get us at 1930 local time."
"That gives us five hours, sailor." Mac stated as they walked back into the kitchen.
"I know, we might really be cutting it close, I know how women like to take hours to get ready for these kinds of things." Harm smiled and Mac tried to look offended.
"That may be some women but I'm a Marine, half an hour at the most, flyboy." She smiled. "So, what are you thinking, sailor. Dress whites or mess dress tonight?"
"Mess dress, we know how Webb's ops tend to work and I can't get blood on your favourite aphrodisiac." He put dinner down on their plates.
"Who says your dress whites are my favourite aphrodisiac?" She challenged as she brought some food to her lips.
"I'd say the fact that I've had to have buttons re-attached three times since we've been dating is a pretty good indication." He smiled as he scraped the last of dinner off of his plate.
"I still don't think that makes them my favourite. You remember that time with the bathtub and the strawberries and the chocolate?" She gave him her bedroom eyes as she gazed across the table at him.
"If you're good at the embassy tonight, maybe we'll come back here for a little repeat performance." He suggested while waggling his eyebrows.
"I will be a perfect angel at the embassy, tonight." Mac raised two of her fingers in a little Boy Scout pledge homage.
"Well, you're halfway there, you already look like a perfect angel." Harm replied as Mac went to go and get ready for the evening.
"Flattery, will get you everywhere." Mac replied with her coy smile.
At 1915, Jim and Angie showed up at Harm's door, ready to hit the ballroom dance floor. Jim wore his black dress uniform, complete with white cover and Angie wore a stunning black sequined dress that's straps met at the back of her neck and showed off just enough cleavage to make her boyfriend and any male in the proximity take notice.
Mac was a vision though, in her blue dress and low neckline. The two women ensured that the JAG delegation would be the centre of attention at the ball and that would only complicate matters. "You ever get the feeling that they're too good for us?" Jim joked with his friend.
"Oh, it's not just a feeling, I know Mac's too good for me. I just figure that I must have been very nice to some gypsy panhandler in my previous life." Harm commented and the two men stood off to the side and watched as the two ladies talked. "Alright, ladies, we've got to head downstairs, our chariot awaits." Harm motioned toward the door.
The four of them stood in the elevator and headed down to wear Webb's limo would be waiting for them. "Why do I feel like we're headed to the prom?" Jim whispered to Harm.
"Because you're getting old." Harm whispered back and the two men laughed. When the elevator hit the ground floor everyone got out and headed toward the waiting limo. The driver opened the door and everyone got in, ladies first, of course. Clayton Webb was in the limousine waiting for them.
"I want to know how many copies of that suit, you own." Jim stated as he took his seat and the car pulled away.
"Just the one." Webb replied.
"So, you shower in it, I'm guessing?" Mac questioned with an annoyed look.
"Since when is this, 'make fun of Clay' night?" Webb shot back.
"Since you started being an annoying pain in the ass." Jim stated.
"Or since we met you, which ever came first." Harm suggested and he exchanged a high five with Jim.
"Gee, don't I feel loved. Anyway, here's the hardware that you're going to need to download the files off of the Ambassador's computer." Webb handed Harm the small portable hard drive. "At 2034, the power to the embassy will be cut, you two…" Webb indicated Harm and Jim, "will have two minutes to get into the Ambassador's office and cut the surveillance to the room. The downloading of the files should only take an additional two minutes. If all goes to plan, you should be back out on the floor dancing by 2039 and your absence will be dismissed as nothing more than a simple bathroom break."
"There's only one problem with that plan, Webb." Harm stated with a dead serious demeanour.
"What's that?" Webb questioned, sounding very annoyed.
"Your ops rarely go as planned." Mac supplied as the cab pulled up in front of the Sudanese embassy. Everyone started to get out of the limousine and Mac had to check one thing before she got out. "You're going back to Falls Church to consult with the Admiral until we get back, right?"
"Or course, who do you take me for?" Webb tried to sound offended.
"Clayton Webb." Mac responded before closing the door behind her. She took Harm's arm and the four of them made their way up the walkway to the embassy. They followed the other guests into the main reception area. The walked up the marble steps which had – for the evening – been draped with a red velvet carpet. Jim's cover had been taken at coat-check and the foursome proceeded to make their way into the main area.
"Hey Harm, Webb said how we were supposed to get into the target area, did he ever say how we were supposed to say how we were supposed to get out without raising suspicions." Jim asked with an evident concern.
"I knew it! I knew he'd screw the pooch on something." Harm protested.
"Calm down, the pair of you are behaving like toddlers. Mr. Webb told me this afternoon that Mac and I were supposed to distract the guards and allow you guys to make your escape." Angela said under her breath so that only her friends could hear.
"My girlfriend the Marine, always prepared." Jim said with a smile as his hand at the small of Angie's back slowly guided her around.
"I hear that." Harm quickly and subtly pinched Mac's six.
"Harmon! You're terrible." She teased.
"I know." He shot a smile at her as Ambassador Moshak came into view.
"Ah, Commander, Colonel, so nice of you to join in the festivities." Moshak greeted them.
"I was surprised to be invited, Mr. Ambassador. I was sure that after five years you'd have forgotten all about me." Jim suggested as he shook the Ambassador's hand.
"I don't believe I will ever forget that UH-60 ride with you and your team over Mogadishu." The Ambassador's tone made his little quip more humorous. "Nor do I believe I shall ever forget my ride in the backseat of Commander Rabb's Tomcat."
"I don't think anyone will ever forget any experience where they've sat back seat for Harm." Jim elbowed Mac in reference to when she'd sat backseat to Harm at NAS Fallon. "Major MacKenzie here, sat backseat for Commander Rabb during an investigation almost a year ago."
"And how did you find that experience, Major?" Moshak questioned.
"She got sick." Harm supplied causing a fast round of laughter. Mac tossed a light scowl at him before joining in the reverie. "You know, Mr. Ambassador, as great as it has been talking about old times, I'm sure the ladies would never forgive the Colonel and I if they got all dressed up and we didn't dance with them."
"Of course." The Ambassador motioned toward the dance floor. Harm guided Mac out on to the floor and noticed Jim doing the same with Angie. They kept relatively close to each other but scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary. After a few dances, they stood off to the side, near the corridor that led to the Ambassador's office. They were growing impatient, leave it to Webb to screw up something as simple as cutting the power.
"Angie, what time is it?" Jim asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Forty-seven seconds later than the last time you asked that question." Angie replied.
"Which would make it, what?" Harm persisted.
"Twenty-hundred, thirty six minutes and fifty-eight seconds." Mac replied, her annoyance with Harm's impatience was growing.
"Do you ever get the feeling that they're just using us as incredibly sexy watches?" Angie asked comically.
"Sometimes, I wonder." Mac replied with a smile as she and Angie laughed and the two men rolled their eyes.
"You two do know what you're supposed to do four minutes after the power goes out, right?" Harm inquired as if to bring everyone back to focus.
"Don't worry, Commander, we will be at our ditzy best." Mac replied with a coy smile. As she went to toss him a mock salute, the power flashed off and everyone went into panic mode except for those who knew in advance of this little ploy. Mac and Angie wondered off toward the centre of the main area with everyone else while Harm and Jim dashed through the corridor and into the Ambassador's outer office.
Jim pulled a circuit board out from the back of the security camera which would surely obstruct any picture that would be received from that room. "Alright, the camera's disabled, get that computer on when the power comes back and get the information so that we can get the hell out of here and you can get engaged." Jim sounded hurried.
Out in the main area, the panic was a perfect play right into the hands of those who wanted to seize control of the embassy that night. When the power came back on it was accompanied by a gunshot. "Alright, everyone stay right where you are and no one needs to get hurt." One of the men dressed as a porter had shouted.
"I'm Ambassador Moshak and I will not stand for this!" The Ambassador shouted before the man shot him, wounding him in the shoulder.
"I know that we have a lot of war heroes here tonight, allow me to caution you that any acts which you might consider bravery, will only result in endangering many innocent lives." The porter shouted again.
In the Ambassador's office, Harm and Jim had heard the gunshot. Harm was busy downloading the files off of the computer so Jim went to check it out. He opened the door of the outer office only slightly and saw the guards leave to go out into the main area. "Alright, whatever's going on out there, the guards are in on it." Jim said as he saw Harm pull the portable hard drive out of the computer.
"What do you suggest we do?" Harm looked at his superior officer.
"Well, we're the Duke Boys, right?" Jim asked his friend.
"Yeah." Was the rather succinct reply.
"I suggest that we live up to that reputation and catch the bad guys." Jim had a cockeyed smile on his face.
"Best damn idea I've heard yet." Harm replied.
"It's the only damn idea you've heard." Jim shot back.
"Isn't normally how your ideas become the best." Harm inquired with a smile.
"Alright, Navy, let's go see what's going on." Jim and Harm walked into the outer office and peeked through the door to see the guards coming back into the corridor and heading back toward the surveillance room. "Once they figure out that there's a problem with the camera, one of them should go to check out what's wrong."
"What do we do then?" Harm asked hoping the Marine had an answer.
"We get something big and heavy and club him over the head with it." Jim retorted.
"Caveman tactic." Harm laughed as he reached over and grabbed a lamp that was rather heavy. Jim hid behind a bookcase and Harm was behind the door. When the guard came in, Harm reached out and brained him with the lamp, sending his limp form crashing to the floor. "Not how I'd prefer to get my hands on a gun."
"No, but it will have to do." Jim made a quick sign of the cross over the body of the man when he saw blood trickling out of his ears.
"You suspicious Catholics." Harm commented.
"Every enemy, no matter how vile, is deserving of some grace merely for being human." Jim replied. There was a bustling out in the hallway and Harm opened the door to see what appeared to be members of the catering team, ushering party guests into the hallway outside of the Ambassador's office. Harm was able to see Mac and Angie being hurried into a backroom with the other guests. "We've got a complication."
"Let me guess, we have a hostage situation to add to this international crisis and palace coup." Jim stated sarcastically.
"You know, you sound much smarter when you're caustic." Harm quipped. "Our palace guards have taken two female Marines hostage."
"Those men don't know what they're in for, a few hours without chocolate and they're liable to lose some rather familiar organs." Jim smiled as the last of the bustling died down in the hallway. "I'll grab a pillow."
"Why?" Harm had a 'what the hell?' sort of look on his face.
"Did you bring a silencer with you?" Jim had a wise look on his face. "We need the pillow to deaden the sound of any close range gunshots we let off."
"Of course." Harm muttered and examined the hallway again. There was no one to be found. Like scorpions crawling across the desert they stalked through the hallway toward the surveillance room. Jim carried the pillow and Harm carried the pistol as they finally came to the door of the surveillance room. When they opened the door Jim held the pillow up in front of the gun and Harm pumped two shots into the remaining member of the surveillance team.
The man's body slumped over on to the control panel and Jim reached into the man's holster and took his pistol. "Alright, we've both got guns, now. We still can't go around playing cowboy. This isn't like Syria where we know how many enemies we're facing and we've got submachine guns and plenty of ammo. We've each got a clip and we've got to make our bullets count." Jim whispered.
"You don't have to tell me this, I've done stuff like this before. Granted, that was a hospital, there were only seven terrorists and I was recuperating from being hit by a car." Harm smiled.
"Stryker was right, you sure don't live a boring life, kid." Jim turned toward the TV on which they could see Ambassador Moshak struggling with the leader of the captors for control of a gun. They saw the one man fall and Moshak stand as if looking on in horror. "How much you want to bet that there's more to that story?"
"You don't have to tell me." The two of them headed out toward the door of the room. "Well, what do we do now? I think Mac and Angie are probably plotting something and we just wait on what the result of that is." Harm consulted with his friend.
"The only way those two won't get themselves killed, is if they get flirty. I'm not sure I like the idea of a Marine having to go to that level." Jim stated as he turned the safety off on the gun.
In the room where the hostages had been taken, Mac and Angie were indeed thinking up some way to disarm the guard. They had managed to formulate a plan. Angie and Mac kind of stumbled over to the guards in an attempt to look inebriated. They even got a little flirty with the guards. The second that the guards got close enough to assist these two 'out of control' women, the ladies went into hand-to-hand combat mode and dispensed of the guard rather quickly. "It's even possible to kick ass in a dress." Angie stated as she and Mac reached down to disarm the incapacitated guards. "What do we do now?"
"We go find Harm and Jim; can you imagine those two, left to their own devices, in a situation like this?" Mac smirked as she checked the magazine on the handgun.
"Good point." Angie and Mac stood up and checked the hallway outside of the room. "Looks like the coast is clear." The two women moved out into the hallway toward the main reception area where the militia had taken root. As they moved toward the surveillance room they heard 'psst', 'psst'. "What's that?"
"Either Harm or the building has sprung a leak." Mac whispered as the looked over to see Harm's face poking through the crack in the door of the surveillance room. "You two haven't managed to get yourselves killed yet, should we be impressed?"
"Just get in here, sweet thing." Harm pushed to door open and the two women hustled in.
"Alright, what do we know for sure?" Jim looked around like he was trying to gather Intel on the situation.
"Four guards down, the leader of the militia is dead and we haven't heard any shots since Moshak shot him. This means one thing for sure and allows us to speculate on the other thing." Jim started and Harm finished for him.
"One, Moshak's not dead." Harm was interrupted by Mac.
"And two, he might be one of the militia." She stated like she understood the gist of the situation.
"We can't be sure of that but we're going to have to find out before we do anything drastic." Harm recovered just as the power flickered off. "The DC police, no help and that's not going to change any time soon."
"Wait, they're going to have to turn the power back on, if they want another broadcast from inside the embassy. So the second the power comes back on, we can sneak out and see if Moshak is working with or against this entire scheme." Mac's mind was going at a full speed.
"So what? We sit tight until the power comes back on?" Jim stated caustically, of course it would be that second that the lights came back.
"Let's go." Harm stated and they all moved out of the surveillance room, through the corridor and out into the main ballroom. The corridor was tucked away on a second floor staircase, so they were in the shadows, far away from anything that was happening on the main level.
The JAG team saw Moshak's next address into the camera from the behind a podium. When he had finished speaking, he took the sling off of his arm and he was familiarizing with the terrorists who had seized control of the embassy. "Okay, now we know he's in on it. We split up into two teams; we have to find a way out of here to alert the authorities as to what's going on in here. Ladies, you take the bottom two floors, Harm and I will take the top two floors." Jim theorized as he looked around at his friends.
"Us? Why should we take the bottom two floors?" Angie protested.
"Because Moshak's a gentleman – even if he is a terrorist – and he's less likely to shoot women. If he catches Harm or me, walking around with guns, we're dead. Besides, you both are Marines; I know I can trust you. I have to keep my eye on this silly squid." Jim smiled and the girls decided to take on their mission. They headed back for the corridor while Jim and Harm headed up the staircase toward the third floor.
Mac and Angie navigated their way through the corridor when they were confronted by two of the guards. "Alright, come with us!" The men shouted as they grabbed the two women by their wrists and pulled them off toward the Ambassador's office. After a few minutes of being watched by the guards, Moshak was soon to join them. "Ah, Major and Miss Harris, how very nice of you to join me." The power had once again been cut by the DC police after the last broadcast. Moshak tried to offer them a drink which they both refused.
"I have this feeling that we'll be seeing Commander Rabb and Colonel Grant rather soon too, if you've been brought here." Moshak tossed them a sarcastic smile.
"You know nothing about either of those men. They're at their most dangerous when the lights are out around them. You know that one second you'll be safe and the next second, one them will slit your throat from behind. I imagine, that they're doing a rather nice job dispensing with your guards at the moment." Mac taunted him, her voice was racking Moshak's nerves, and the Ambassador was familiar with both the Commander and the Colonel's legendary reputations.
"Let us hope for your sakes, that you are mistaken." Moshak cocked the hammer on the pistol.
On the third floor, Harm and Jim had dispensed of the few guards that they encountered with relative ease. They were mouse-holing; clearing each floor, room-by-room. Eventually, they came to the last room on the fourth floor. It looked like an old janitor's closet or a storage room or something. They opened it to find a middle aged man, wearing some sort of native Sudanese hat, sitting on a cot.
"You would be Professor Dubotu." Harm stated as if trying to get a response.
"Yes, and who would you be?" The Professor inquired hesitantly.
"Rabb and Grant; think of us like Skywalker and Solo but with lamer guns." Jim stated with a smile.
"I'm afraid, I do not understand." The Professor sounded confused as Jim and Harm helped him off the bunk.
"He's just being a horse's ass; I'm Lieutenant Commander Rabb, United States Navy; this is Colonel Jim Grant, United States Marine Corps. Moshak's taken his guests hostage but the people outside think the terrorists are working for General Denali. We're trying to find some way of letting them know about Moshak." Harm supplied and the Professor seemed to understand.
"Harm, we've cleared the top two floors, there's nothing up here. Our best chance is to head back down to the surveillance room and plan an attack when we can get the lay of the land." Jim suggested trying to think of something a little more proactive.
"There might be another option, it involves the surveillance room but it also involves me being taken captive." Harm suggested, Jim motioned for him to continue. "What I figure is that I can wire the surveillance camera of wherever the Ambassador is, into the broadcast feed and we can play it over ZNN once the power comes back on. I have to get up to the Ambassador's office and signal the cops somehow."
"There are a lot of holes in that plan, Harm." Jim replied with concern in his voice.
"We don't have a lot of other options." Harm retorted.
"I'm taking the Professor with me. Harm, I know your hunch is playing on the Ambassador being in his office but if he's not, don't go looking for him on your own. Find me, we'll reformulate and find a different angle." Jim warned, Harm nodded and the two men parted. "Professor, you're going to need to pick up that gun."
"I will not touch it, violence will only beget more violence and I cannot tolerate that." The Professor protested.
"We don't have much choice, if you're coming with me than you have to be armed, if not, I suggest you go with Commander Rabb." Jim cautioned the Professor nodded at him and went off to find Harm. "I'll never understand the moral objection to saving lives at any cost." Jim muttered under his breath.
The Professor caught up with Harm in the familiar corridor just outside the surveillance room. The two men ducked in and Harm switched the chords so that he could patch the Live ZNN feed into the surveillance camera in the Ambassador's office. After switching the wires, Harm and the Professor made their way back out into the corridor and they crept toward the Ambassador's office. They were confronted by three heavily armed guards who had been dispatched by Moshak do go and find them. The guards ushered them into the Ambassador's office where they saw Mac and Angie on the couch.
"Ah, Commander Rabb, so nice of you to join us. I am rather disappointed that my guards were unable to bring Colonel Grant in with you." The Ambassador tossed the remark at Harm.
"I think the Colonel's presence will be made known in one way or another." Harm remarked with a caustic smile, he was trying to keep his remarks neutral. When Harm had finished his remark, another one of the guards entered the room in a panic.
"Sir, we have seventeen dead members of the guard throughout the embassy." The young corporal informed Moshak.
"Damn that man!" Moshak shouted. "Find him and kill him!" The Ambassador dismissed the young corporal with a flippant wave. "Well, Commander, it appears you were right, the Colonel does have a way of making his presence known. Please, make yourself at home, can I offer you a Brandy?" Harm examined the office and quickly took note of the box on the Ambassador's desk.
"No, but I'll have a cigar." Harm requested with a smile.
"Of course, they're Cubans, nothing but the best." Moshak smiled wickedly as he tossed Harm a lighter for the cigar. Harm bit the end off of the cigar and positioned himself by the window. He made it look like he was trying to light the cigar but he was signalling the police outside in Morse code with the bursts of lighter flame.
In Falls Church, Virginia, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts and Clayton Webb stood around the television watching the events transpire. Bud was the first to pick up on Harm's use of Morse code and he wrote down each of the letters. "P-O-W-E-R O-N. He wants you to put the power back on, sir." Bud sounded panicked.
"Turn the damn power back on, Webb!" The Admiral demanded. Webb pulled out his cellphone and made the call to get the power turned back on.
Back in the Ambassador's office, the lights came back on and the TV in office showed the live video feed of Ambassador Moshak's office. "Looks like your little game is over, Mr. Ambassador." Harm indicated at the television. "Why don't you cut your losses and get out of here, go to the Iranian embassy and get on a flight home, that's your only chance."
The Ambassador seemed to listen to reason. He was nodding his head. He grabbed Mac from the sofa and pressed his gun to her head. "Perhaps, but perhaps I should take Major MacKenzie with me as collateral to get me out of the country." The Ambassador laughed wickedly as he retreated from the office. Harm went to chase after him but his way was blocked by Moshak's guards.
The Professor stepped in to help Harm at this moment. "Why do you block him? What has Moshak promised you? He made similar promises to Colonel Soharto and he is now dead. Why would he keep his promise to you? There has been enough violence today, put the gun down." The Professor closed his hands over the barrel of the young man's gun and watched as the guard lowered it to the ground. The guards motioned for Harm to go on past them and chase after Ambassador Moshak.
Harm was at a full pace as he chased Moshak through the hallways and rooms of the embassy until eventually he caught him in the kitchen. Moshak held the gun to Mac's temple as he faced Rabb. "Oh, Commander, you disappoint me. I can so quickly end all of this by taking her life and I would simultaneously end yours would I not? You're weak, Commander, a part of you will always be her, so why not do the smart thing and ensure her safety rather than risk her life?"
He had a point. Harm might have hated the man but he had a point. Harm was reluctant to lower his gun but that reluctance faded when he saw the cavalry enter, unheard and unseen behind Moshak. He saw Jim taking steady aim with his gun, trying to pinpoint the perfect target for his bullet. Harm accelerated his motion of lowering the gun to draw Moshak's attention and then he heard the shot.
Jim had hit the Ambassador perfectly in a vertebra, sending a limp form to the floor. "He's alive, he's paralyzed from the neck down but he's alive, EMTs are on the way." Jim said as he lowered his gun.
Mac went running into Harm's embrace. "You two, have to be two of the craziest lawyers I've ever met." She smiled at Harm as she kissed him quickly on the cheek."
"Harm, I'll pick up the mess here, it's 2256, why don't you head out?" Jim tossed Harm a knowing look.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan, thanks Jim." Harm nodded and placed a hand at the small of Mac's back. "Shall we go, my dear?" He sounded very proper.
"Why of course, good sir." Mac replied with an equally proper tone. The two of them walked through the embassy out into Washington, luckily they were only a few blocks from Emerson's. They enjoyed just walking through Washington, the rain earlier in the day made the puddles reflect the street lights. The whole atmosphere looked like something out of a classic movie.
"I have a surprise for you, sweet thing." Harm smiled as he guided her up the steps into the front door at Emerson's. The two of them walked right up to the Maitre'd and Harm took the lead. "Reservation for Rabb." The man quickly scanned the list before finding the name.
"Ah yes, Mr. Rabb, party of two, right this way." The man lead them to a small, secluded table near the window so they could look out into the streets as night fell on DC.
"It's beautiful, isn't it." Mac looked out of the window, there was a romantic quality to this area of DC at this time of night.
"Yes, it is." Harm was looking right across the table at Mac. She noticed out of the corner of her eye and saw him smiling.
"You're pretty fast with the compliments there, sailor." Mac smiled and chuckled slightly under her breath.
"I once told you that you were too damn beautiful. You don't give men a chance, they take a look at you and they can't help but fall for you. Sarah, when I first saw you in the Rose Garden three years ago, I'd just managed to square away my life and you hit it like Hurricane MacKenzie and I haven't been the same since. You were so above every other woman I'd ever met in my life, so strong, so tough, so smart and so challenging. When we were in the mountains and I got to see the vulnerable side of you, I thought I'd seen the whole package and I thought it was odd that it took getting stranded for me to realize that I was falling in love with you.
Sarah, since then it's only been you. It could only ever be you because it took getting to know all that is you to make me fall in love the way I have. These last seven and a half months have been wonderful, in fact I can't think of a single part of my life that's ever been better but it all feels so temporary." Harm got out of his chair, and in a nod to traditionalism, he got down on one knee in front of her. "Give me the chance to make it permanent. Sarah, will you marry me?" He could have sworn that he nearly choked on those last five words.
Mac was fighting some serious tears and she had a hand raised to her mouth in shock but she was eventually able to vocalize an answer. "Yes! Oh God, with all that I am, yes!" She reached out and hugged him and squeezed him tightly into her.
"Yay!" The cheering was from a nearby table where sat Bud, Harriet, Jim and Angie who had laid witness to the whole scene. Harm and Mac smiled and walked over to join their friends.
"I guess this answers the question of how we planned on telling our friends." Mac quipped. She looked over at Harm who looked a little worried at the moment. "What's wrong, flyboy?"
"Nothing serious, it just occurred to me that I'm getting married." Harm smiled and pulled her close.
"And that has you looking worried?" Mac inquired.
"No, what has me worried is Jim and Keeter planning my bachelor party." Harm remarked with a worried smile on his face.