Here's part 2
Harm stood there watching his wife walk away from him. He wanted to chase after her, he knew he needed to. He also knew she had a right to be pissed off at him. He'd stuck his foot in his mouth. Deciding he needed to be the bigger man, he made his way to her stateroom.
He raised his hand and was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened up. Mac stood there in the door frame looking up at her husband. "Did you need something Cmder?"
"Jus; a moment of your time Ma'am" She stood to the side allowing him the space to enter. Once he did, he crossed the room. While Mac stayed on the opposite side.
"Why are you here? Aren't you worried people might have seen you come down here?"
"Sarah, I'm here as your husband, not as Cmder Rabb. I don't care who saw me, I can't go to bed knowing that you're upset with me."
"Upset? Upset? Don't you get it, he played you, and you let him. That's not you Harm. What are you trying to prove? That you can be the hot shot lawyer and pilot?"
"No; look I'm the wing legal officer. I honestly didn't think I'd done anything wrong. I had no clue he'd retain me as his Council. I just figured Admiral Chegwidden would send Bud, or Mattoni out here."
"What no Brumby?"
"What's Brumby have to with this?"
"Well he stayed on as your replacement, he's not that bad."
"I see; so are you too close?"
"I wouldn't say that, he's not a bad lawyer."
Harm felt his blood start to boil. "Clearly this was a mistake. Good night Col." He headed to the door, only to be stopped by Mac. She reached for his hand. "Please don't leave me. I'm sorry. Just don't leave me."
He turned to face her, taking her into his arms, pulling her tight to him. He placed his lips on her head. "I'll never leave you."
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church Va
Admiral Chegwidden's Office
Bud, Brumby, and Admiral Chegwidden were all watching what had now become a familiar ritual, chanting Russians marched outside the American embassy In Moscow denouncing the deaths of three Russian officers in Kosovo... All three officers looked on stoned faced.
"Sir We're court-martialing the poor bastard who killed more do they want?"
"Cmder Brumby; they want you to lose."
"Excuse me, sir?"
"You're the lead counsel in defense of the, uh, 'poor bastard who killed them so I suggest that you put an 'alleged' in that phrase from now on."
"Sir; I thought Cmder Rabb had the case?"
"Well, I thought it was better that the attorney of record was a lawyer still sanctioned by the Navy to practice law."
"I don't think Rabb will be happy to see me, Sir"
"Probably not, Lt Roberts; you'll assist Colonel MacKenzie in the prosecution."
"Aye, aye, sir."
"You and Brumby will leave for the Mediterranean at 1930 tonight. You can leave the office say, 1700 to pack."
Bud chimed in; "We don't all have to be there for the investigation, do we, sir?"
"Well, it is customary the attorneys attend the court-martial. It's going to be held on the Patrick Henry."
"Why Sir?" Bud asked
"Well, the CAG made the not unreasonable point that the defendant, several of the witnesses, and one of the defense attorneys are active-duty pilots in a war zone. They may need to walk out of that courtroom and do their jobs. That will be all."
"Sir? Do you have any message for Cmder Rabb?"
"No, Lt."
USS Patrick Henry
Early Morning
Mac's Stateroom
Harm opened up his eyes, he blinked trying to focus them. That was when he felt Mac start to stir in her sleep. 'Shit he thought he tried to wiggle out from beside her, without waking her up. He hadn't meant to fall asleep in her bunk, thank god all they did was sleep.
He didn't need them both facing a charge of conduct unbecoming, he felt Mac stretch, she opened her eyes, and they each met the others. "How are we going to explain this Harm?"
"I was hoping you'd have an answer, I've never done this before."
Mac chuckled, "You mean to tell me; the great Harmon Rabb has never hot bunked before." Before Harm could answer, Mac's phone rang, she quickly went to answer it, "Colonel Mackenzie"
("Sorry to wake you Col, I wanted to inform you that Lt Cmder Brumby and Lt Roberts from JAG headquarters will be arriving in 45 minutes.")
"Thank you, Captain, I'll meet them on the flight deck."Mac hung up the phone, "The others will be here in 45 minutes, Harm Admiral Chegwidden sent Brumby and Bud."
Harm made a face, "He's sticking me with Brumby I'm betting."
"I'm sorry Harm, probably so. I'm going to go shower before they arrive. This will give you a chance to escape, I love you." She said as she gathered her stuff and headed out.
Harm just flopped back down on the bunk, in 45 minutes, the one man he hated more than anyone in this world would be on his ship, and for the unforeseeable future, he was going to have to play nice with him.
45 minutes later
Flight Deck
USS Patrick Henry
Mac stepped out of the hatch and made her way across the flight deck, watching the approaching COD come in for a landing. She tried to only pay attention to it, but her eyes kept drifting over to Harm's Tomcat, he was waiting on clearance to launch. She felt a sense of pride as she watched him. She turned her full attention back to the COD as Cmder Brumby and Lt Roberts walked off.
"Hey, how was your trip?"
"I don't know. I'll ask my stomach if I ever see it again."
"What? You've never been tail hooked before?"
"Mum; said it was a sin before marriage."
Mac rolled her eyes at Brumby. "Hi, Bud!"
"Colonel! I'm ready to dive right into this case, ma'am."
"Somehow, Bud, you don't look it."
"Ma'am, do you know where Cmder Rabb is?"
Mac pointed to the F-14 waiting to take off, "Out there, he's keeping up his quals."
Bud stood there in awe watching his friend and longtime mentor living out his dream. There was a small part of him that still longed to be part of this world he missed serving on a carrier, especially now, he does love being a husband and father, but still, there was that small part that loved being at sea. Mac tapped him on his shoulder, "Lt Roberts are you still with us?"
"Yes Ma'am; sorry I just got caught up in the moment."
"Ya know Lt; these big boats aren't all there cracked up to be."
"Begging the Cmders pardon, I disagree; Sir,"
"Let's table this till we get off the flight deck, people." Both said 'yes Ma'am as they followed Mac across the deck and through the hatch, "Captain Ingles already informed me where your staterooms are located at, so just stick to my six guys."
Brumby and Bud exchanged a look between at Mac's use of the term 'six' clearly she'd made herself right at home. As they followed her, Brumby was watching all the sailors hustling about, going about their duties and ignoring them.
After walking for a while, they reached Brumby and Buds' stateroom, Mac opened the door for them. Both officers looked around. "Looks like a sardine can," Mic said. Mac rolled her eyes at him.
"As soon as Cmder Rabb is back we'll all convene in the conference room, Cmder Brumby I suggest you take this time to get familiar with your client. Bud meet me in the onboard JAG office in 15 minutes." Mac closed the door as she left.
USS Patrick Henry
Conference Room
Harm couldn't believe what he was hearing. He just sat there shaking his head. "We shouldn't even be having this conversation. What Lt. Buxton did isn't manslaughter. At worst, it's collateral damage."
Mac was ready for Harm; "Any person who unlawfully kills a human being by culpable negligence is guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Actually, we could have charged him with murder. We're already giving you a break."
Buxton started to panic, "Look Ma'am I didn't murder anybody."
"Lieutenant, now, you insisted that I be your lawyer-so listen to me... be quiet."
Mac liked to play hardball with Harm, if she played her cards just right she thought she might get him. "We might reduce the charge even further if your client pleads."
"To what?"
"Negligent homicide. Three years confinement and a dishonorable discharge? For killing three people? It's a bargain."
Harm tossed his pen on the table, he knew Mac was playing him. "Unacceptable"
Brumby chimed in "Hold on a minute we need to confer with our client."
"I know where my client stands."
Buxton raised his hand up, "Am I allowed to speak now?"
Harm and Brumby answered in unison "Yeah" "No"
"You know, maybe you three should have a little conference among yourselves before you get together with us."
Harm glared at Brumby, "we don't need one."
Everyone started gathering up their stuff and getting ready to exit out of the conference room, Mac and Bud were the first to leave, this only left Harm, Buxton, and Mic. As the three of them started to head toward the door, Harm told Buxton to go ahead he needs to speak with Cmder Brumby, "Brumby for the sake of Lt Buxton, let's please try and get along, or at least try and see eye to eye here."
"Alright Mate; Let me be first chair and we'll talk.'
"He retained me."
"His loss mate."
"You think I'm happy about this? I'm doing it cause I'm stuck between a rock and hard place here. The least we can both do is try and see eye to eye, this kid's future is at stake."
"I hope we can. For his stake.' Brumby walked out, leaving Harm just standing there, dear god he needed to clear his head right now, and he knew just the place to do it at.
Meanwhile, Mac and Bud were taking a walk below deck, just to get fresh air. "Well, they'll get it together eventually, Bud. For the disobeying, an order count will need to nail down that NATO rules of engagement qualify as a general order. I think the older precedents are on our side, but I want you to... Bud...Bud..?"
"Ma'am; Do you know what they're doing up there? They're landing 40,000 pounds of screaming metal onto a tiny speck in the middle of the ocean. That's what Lt Buxton does for a living. Commander Rabb, too. All I do is look up legal technicalities on a laptop computer."
"Well, would you feel better about it if your computer weighed 40,000 pounds?"
"No, ma'am. Those precedents... do you want military courts only or anything federal?"
Mac smiled as she patted Bud on the shoulder. "Both please." She signed to herself as she watched him walk away, she was just about to head to her stateroom when she spotted a familiar figure standing in the crows' nest. She turned and made her way toward him.
Crows Nest
USS Patrick Henry
Harm gripped the railing tight, so tight his knuckles were turning white, how on gods green earth was he supposed to play nice with a that man, somehow knew just how to push all his buttons. The more he thought, the madder he was getting. Until he spotted a familiar figure standing off to his right.
"Sure you want to get caught up here with me?"
"I'm willing to risk it tonight, but tomorrow all bets are off."
Harm turned to face her, as she walked over to him."I want to hold you right now."
"I know the feeling, I miss you, especially at night. Our bed is so cold without you."
"Sarah; what are we doing? We should be together"
"I want that too, but I don't want you to give up your dream, I'd never ask you to do that."
"Maybe my dream has changed, maybe I want to be the husband, and father now, would that be so wrong?"
"No; but this needs to be on your terms, when you're ready, not a day before that. Just keep in mind, I'll be waiting for you with open arms." She stood up n her tiptoes and brushed a lite kiss across his lips then she turned and walked away. Tomorrow would be there before they both knew it.
Over the next few days, Lt Buxton's trial went as scheduled, witnesses were called, testimony was given and after a lengthy deliberation, the jury found him "not guilty." Much to his delight. He was ready to grace the sky again until the CAG informed him, he was being grounded., and Harm would be testifying against him.
Mac watched Harm, she couldn't decide if he was okay or not, feeling that they needed to talk, she took a chance, "Want to talk?"
"Yeah I do, follow me."
Mac followed Harm to a more secluded area of the wardroom, where they could talk more privately. "I've been giving what you said the other night a lot of thought, my tour is up in 6 weeks, and I'm going to request a designator change, I want you more than this."
"As long as your sure?"
"I'm 100% sure, it's time I grow up."
