/FLASHBACK TO EARLIER THAT NIGHT/

Mattie watched the rear lights of Jen's Sierra disappear down the road.

They've spent the whole Sunday together, enjoying each other's company. It's been awhile since they last saw each other in October when Mattie left D.C. to go live with her father.

Having lived together for 10 months, they missed each other's company and companionship of a good friend.

Plus Mattie wanted the latest scoop on Harm and the new JAG.

So Jen drove up to Blacksburg in the early morning, looking forward to spending time with the young girl who was, for all intents and purposes, her ward for 10 months. Though neither voiced this, but they both knew that Jen was sharing two important roles: the mother role and the older sister role.

Which made it complicated sometimes, to say the least. That's an understatement when trying to describe all other aspects of this unconventional (though functional), makeshift family.

Being a mother to a girl only 13 years younger than herself and at the same time being a 13 years older sister to that same girl, being an equal parent with the father of the family, with whom she was forbidden to have a loving and committed relationship, who was almost 13 years older,... To say things weren't exactly simple would be a gross understatement.

But, amazingly enough, it worked marvelously. For them. Who knows how it would've worked for any other family. They were just 3 perfect pieces of a 3-piece puzzle.

After enjoying a wonderful day with her former ward/daughter/sister, Jen realized too late that she forgot to watch the time. It was Sunday night, around 2300 hours and she had work the next morning. And heaven knows, she didn't want to get on the bad side of the new JAG, who looked like a bear with a sore paw.

The Sierra was an old car, not in a mint condition, but it served her well. Most of the time. Okay, half of the time. But she couldn't afford anything better on her paycheck and due the fact that she lived in D.C. where rent is expensive. She was sure Har... Commander Rabb would've lent her the Lexus had she asked (as he had many times in the past), he probably would've offered it himself knowing that rain was forecasted for the evening, but she also knew that the SUV was waiting for new tires at the mechanic's.

And this forecast was also another reason why she beat herself up for not paying attention to the time.

All was going well until half way to D.C.. That is until the car decided to prove that it was a cliche on wheels. Found On Road Dead, indeed.

At first there were some strange occasional noises. Since that had happened before Jen was not worried about it.

Well, she became worried when she stepped on the clutch to downshift and changed the gear, wanting to drop the speed due to weather and it was then that a horrible tearing sound shot through the interior of the vehicle.

For a moment she froze in fear of what happened, but she immediately recovered and removed her foot from the clutch. The car jerked violently, dropping speed roughly, while roaring like a wounded lion. Jen tried to change it to a higher gear, but it would not cooperate.

Whatever broke, it must've been in the gearbox and had her stuck in the 2nd gear. She was unable to change gears and was forced to drive forth in 2nd gear.

As if that wasn't enough, the fate decided to mess with her even more and the broken off part suddenly got stuck in the gearbox's mechanism, breaking the axle. This resulted in the gearbox being completely destroyed and leaving her stranded with a broken down vehicle in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in a storm.

When the horrifying realization of what had just happened struck Jen, she panicked for a few seconds. Then she remembered that panicking will make the situation even worse and calmed herself down.

She had to call for help, because there was no way for her to repair the car by herself. It would probably need a new gearbox and she didn't have one of those just lying around in the trunk.

Mattie and her Dad were out of the question, they only had an old beat up pick-up truck and Jen didn't want anything to happen to them in that thing. Besides, who can guarantee that that old thing wouldn't break down as well? Bud and Harriet were also out, because they had two small children, Bud had a job in the morning and Harriett was pregnant. And you really don't want to get on a pregnant woman's bad side.

Col. MacKenzie was also out of the question, since they weren't really friends, just co-workers and she didn't want to bother her. Plus, her Corvette wasn't a storm car and Mac was no trained race car driver and had no training in the handling of sports cars. Even though it was known Mac liked to drive fast, Jen didn't exactly trust her driving capabilities for the sole reason of never having driven with her.

Which brought her to Harm, er, Commander Rabb. 'I has to stop thinking of him as Harm' she chastised herself, 'he's an officer and therefore out of reach.'

Even though she was fully aware the Commander also had a Vette, she knew he was a very competent driver, who drove by the speed limits and had the lightening fast reflexes of a Naval Aviator. Since he WAS a Naval Aviator. He has also been driving powerful cars, like the Corvette, since he was an Ensign and restored the '68 Corvette, which had served him with pride, until it was stolen and stripped apart for parts. With so many years of experience and such reflexes he was fully capable of being able to handle the Vette in any situation and any weather condition. Plus, since Jen had hitched a ride with the Commander on numerous occasions she was very well aware of his driving capabilities and trusted in him implicitly.

Making a decision she fished out her cell phone out of her purse, pressed the speed dial 2 (1 was for JAG HQ) and waited.

The Commander picked up after 10 rings and was, even though she knew she woke him up, immediately willing to help. She didn't even have to ask him for a favor after explaining her situation, because he just told her to sit tight and that he is coming to get her.

Hanging up the phone, Jen imagined him quickly getting dressed, all those muscle working and tensing,...

'Shit, bad Jen. Very bad Jen. Thou must not have lustful thoughts about Ha..er, Commander Rabb. Even though he has such a gorgeous... Aaaah, think cold shower, VERY cold shower' Jen was getting flushed from her guilty thoughts, partly from the image of a half naked Commander and partly out of guilt of thinking that way about the man who helped her so much. She opened the window to let the cold air in and to help her clear her head.

After she was sufficiently clear headed, she realized that now she was too cold. 'Great. And I have only my hormones to thank for that.'

Flipping on the emergency indicators to avoid anyone ramming into her ('What is the chance of anyone else being crazy enough to go out at such a late hour in such a weather?' she thought humourlessly, 'But better safe than sorry.') and turning off the lights to preserve the car's battery, she settled herself in for the long wait.

After about an hour and a half she saw lights in the distance. As they came nearer she recognized the headlights of a vintage Corvette and prepared herself for a quick transfer to the other vehicle. It couldn't have been anyone else than her neighbour. This was confirmed when the Vette slowed to a stop on the other side of the road.

Jen grabbed her purse, gathered her coat around herself and jumped out of her car...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------