OOOOOOO

Part 6

0330 Zulu,

Mac's apartment,

Georgetown.

Harm stood at Mac's kitchen counter, talking to his Mom on the phone, while Mac helped Catriona get ready for a shower. Harm informed Trish of the situation and told her that the funerals would be held on the following Tuesday.

"Will they be buried in Arlington, dear?" Trish asked her son.

"Yeah, Admiral and Mrs. Carter were meant to get a full military burial, but in accordance with Admiral Carter's wishes, it will be a quiet, private ceremony. Each family will be cremated and buried together in one plot, because each member of the family had purchased a plot. It was a family agreement and each one had it recorded in their will," Harm told her.

"That poor girl," Trish sighed, "How is she?"

"She hasn't spoken since we got back from the hospital. She slept the whole way home. Mac's just helping her to get sorted for a shower."

"How are the two of you coping? Is Mac okay?" Trish probed, gently.

"Oh, we're just getting on with things. I think we've just switched onto autopilot. We were invited to Bud and Harriet's tomorrow, but I don't think any of us will get much sleep tonight."

"Oh, Harmon," his Mother exclaimed, "You're going to have so much on your hands, you and Mac. Please, let me come to Washington and help you out, even if it's just for with the funeral arrangements."

"Mom," Harm interrupted, "that really isn't necessary. Mac and I have the Roberts and the Admiral to help us out."

"Please Harmon," she insisted, "I can't just sit here knowing that poor child has to bury her whole family and not offer some help…Please?"

"Okay," Harm relented, "perhaps we could do with some help on the day of the funerals. Thanks."

OOOO

Meanwhile, Mac was in the bedroom sorting out something for Cathy to wear. Cathy had been in the shower for over twenty minutes, but the noise of the shower spray indicated that she was still not ready to come out yet. Mac tapped on the door, concerned.

"Cathy, sweetheart? Are you okay in there?"

Upon getting no answer, Mac cautiously peered round the bathroom door. Cathy was curled up on the floor of the shower, crying her eyes out. Mac went in and turned the water off, then wrapped a towel around Cathy as she tried to console her.

OOOO

Harm had finally gotten off the phone, after calling his Mom, The Admiral, Webb and the Roberts to let them know that he, Mac and Catriona were set up for the night. After clearing up a couple of things, then making up a bed for himself on the couch, Harm cautiously looked into the bedroom to see what Mac and Cathy were up to. He saw that they were sound asleep in bed, Cathy in Mac's warm embrace and dressed in her Marine Corps tee shirt. Harm smiled to himself then retired to the couch, preparing himself for a night filled with inevitable disturbances.

1300 Zulu

Roberts residence.

Roslyn, Virginia.

As predicted, all concerned had a bad night, with Cathy waking up from nightmares at regular intervals. Harm and Mac had tried their best to comfort her, but she was inconsolable and eventually, the three of them had fallen into an exhausted sleep on the living room couch. They didn't get to the Robert's house until past one o'clock the next day and despite the warm greeting and friendly atmosphere, a somber mood had settled on the celebration. Mac stood in the kitchen as she and Harriet watched Cathy through the doorway, sitting on the stairs and staring off into oblivion.

"I'm sorry we've put a damper on your party, Harriet," Mac began, but was swiftly admonished.

"Oh Mac, don't ever apologize for this. We would never expect anyone to be happy and cheerful after all this has happened. Lord knows, there isn't an awful lot for that poor child to be happy about."

They both continued to watch the lone figure on the staircase, who looked like her entire world had come crashing down around her.

OOOO

Harm sat in conversation with Bud in the living room.

"So all of the Carter family will be buried here in D.C.?" Bud asked Ham, while flicking through channels on the TV.

Yeah," Harm replied, "the family owned five burial plots in Arlington so each family will be cremated and buried together."

"How is Cathy taking everything?" Bud asked him.

"Oh, she's lost Bud. Every time I look in her eyes, they seem like they're empty. It's like she's not there anymore. All last night, she woke up screaming from the nightmares. I don't think she'll ever get the pieces put back in order again. She'd only just got them put together."

Bud nodded in sympathy.

"I know…it seems so cruel. It's just not fair that she's lost her family again, after just getting them back."

As Harm nodded in agreement, Bud exclaimed, "Twenty members of the same family! It would be more than I could bare."

OOOO

Trish and Frank arrived in D.C. on the Monday morning to help Harm, Mac and Catriona through the funeral. After they had gotten settled into their hotel suite, they made their way over to Mac's apartment, to see if they could offer some help, even if it was only to prepare lunch and give Harm and Mac a rest.

Mac opened the door and was immediately enveloped in Trish's motherly embrace.

"Mac, Darling, you look positively shattered," she sympathized then went to see her son, who was sitting down in the living room.

"We didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Mac explained, as she turned to greet Frank.

She thanked him as she took the newspaper from him, which he had picked up from outside the front door. She sighed as she read the headlines then turned and dropped it into the nearest drawer and turned back to the group seated in the living room.

"Front page again?" Harm asked her, to which she nodded.

Just then, her earlier remark was punctuated by a loud, piercing scream, which came from the bedroom. Mac stood up once more and went in to get Cathy calmed and back to sleep.

0735 Zulu

Arlington National Cemetery,

Arlington, Virginia.

The week had been spent getting arrangements made, ready for the funeral. Trish and Frank's help proved to be invaluable and Harm and Mac didn't know what they would have done without them.

Catriona still wasn't sleeping any better and by the time Tuesday rolled around, she was simply a walking shell, performing all of the needed functions like a robot.

Tuesday dawned rainy and cold and Catriona stood at her parent's graveside, as her whole family was put to rest, Harm and Mac at her side.

Also present were Bud and Harriet Roberts, AJ Chegwidden, the rest of the JAG staff and Trish and Frank. Even Clayton Webb managed to make it to the wake, held after the funeral service, at the Robert's house. Within a few hours, people were starting to make their way home and Cathy was falling asleep in one of the seats placed out in the living room for all of the guests. Harm had suggested that maybe they should be getting home, so that Cathy would be able to get some sleep before the night-time terrors started again. Mac, Trish and Frank made their way through to the kitchen, to thank Bud and Harriet, where the couple was stacking up all of the dirty dishes that had been used to serve the food. Meanwhile, Harm stayed in the living room, to thank all of the guests who were bidding their last farewells, before leaving to go home. While Harm was saying goodbye to the Admiral, Carolyn Imes and Alan Mattoni, Catriona woke up and stood from her chair, seeing everyone about to leave. Mac, Harriet, Bud, Trish and Frank were just walking through from the kitchen and saw Cathy turn and grab her jacket from her chair. While turned around, Cathy caught sight of the photograph displayed on the fireplace and surrounded with flowers. Clayton Webb had somehow managed to get hold of it, probably through his connections with many of the friends and business acquaintances of Admiral Carter. The picture portrayed the majority of the Carter family, only excluding the one, greatly missed child who was still nowhere to be found, at the time when the picture had been taken. All of the adult Carter brothers and sisters were standing in the back row, with their respective spouses. The older children were standing in the middle row, all arranged with the tallest in the middle and the next smallest to the sides of the row. The younger children were in the front row. The smallest child was only a baby in arms and she was seated on the knee of an older child. The middle row was noticeably shorter than the others, because it should have had, in a fair and just world, one more child in it.

Catriona remained frozen as she took in this last, suddenly vaporizing image of what should portray her future and her past. The fact that all this was now completely gone was driven home to her, with previously unrivaled clarity.

As he saw the jacket slip from Cathy's grip, Harm stepped away from where he stood with the Admiral.

"Sweetie?" he asked, gently, putting a hand on Cathy's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

Cathy turned around with shocked, tear filled eyes. She could only shake her head as the flood barriers opened and a torrent of emotional devastation burst forth. She raised her hands to cover her face as she began to sob as she never had before.

Harm could only pull her into a sympathetic hug, as all of the helpless people around them looked on.

OOOO

Now, Catriona lay exhausted on Mac's couch after a long week, which had passed in a blur. As the blur began to clear, Catriona realized that she would somehow have to gather up the pieces of her shattered world as best as she could and move on with her life.

Not long later, Cathy was assigned a social worker, whose name was Chris. She would meet with Cathy, Harm and Mac once a week and to check on how Cathy was getting on.

However, one day, she came over to break the bad news that the family courts had decided to place Cathy in her maternal Uncle's home. All three sat in shock, speechless. Tears began to drip down Cathy's face and she stood up from the couch, walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Harm and Mac made no move to stop her.

"Why do we have to do this?" Harm finally managed to ask Chris.

"Cathy's biological family has the first right to apply for guardianship," the sympathetic women explained, "The court will not even accept a non –family member's application, if there are blood relations who have not refused the right to guardianship. The decision of the court is always final…Harm, Mac, I'm so sorry, but we have no other choice but to accept this…"

"When will we have to do this?" Mac asked, but not really looking forward to the answer.

"In a few weeks time. First of all, now that Mr. Davidson has made his application for guardianship to the court, another social worker will go over to his house, to make sure that he and his girlfriend are suitable guardians. So far, all of the preliminary checks have turned out fine. But I can assure you, Cathy will only be placed in their home if they are 100 suitable."

Both Harm and Mac nodded and half-heartedly talked through the rest of the details with Chris, who left soon afterwards. Harm and Mac just stayed sitting on the couch, tired and defeated.

After talking Cathy around, they set about making arrangement, including a preliminary meeting with Cathy's Uncle, Jim Davidson. Although Cathy did participate in all of these events, she did not like nor agree with what was happening at all. But despite all of Cathy's misgivings, everything in the process of appointment of her guardianship to her Uncle went smoothly.

1221 Zulu

JAG Headquarters,

Falls Church, Virginia.

As Cathy, Harm and Mac sat outside, waiting for Jim Davidson to come and pick her up, three weeks later, she remained silent while Harm and Mac were trying to reassure her. She was not convinced in the slightest, so spoke up, "But why can't I stay with you guys? You promised, you said you'd never leave me…"

"We never will," Mac insisted, "We'll always be here, whenever you need us. But the court has said that you have to go live with your Uncle. We don't have any say in this, Cathy, but we will promise you that we'll always be around when you need us..."

"But you'll miles away! Jim lives four hours away from here! I don't want to leave D.C…My family are buried here…all my friends at JAG are here…you guys are here! How can they say I have to uproot my life like this?"

"I don't know, sweetie, but Jim is the only blood relative you have left. He wants you to go and live with him…"

"What sort of a man would want a sixteen year old teenager to come live with him?"

"You have to remember, Cathy," Harm pointed out, " Jim's lost a family member, too. Your Mom was his sister. Maybe he feels that you're his last link to her. In any case, he's determined to take as good care of you as possible. There's no need for you to worry, Mac and I will be here, anytime you need us. As soon as you're settled, Mac and I will be on the first bus up to visit you."

"How long will that be, until you can come and see me?" Cathy asked them.

"Chris has suggested that we give you a few months to settle down…"

"A FEW MONTHS!" Cathy exclaimed.

"After that, we can come and see you as often as we want," Harm, reasoned.

"Besides," Mac added, "that doesn't mean that we can't write and talk on the phone."

Cathy put her head in her hands and lamented, "I'm so tired of getting shifted around!"

At that moment, the entire JAG staff came out to wish Cathy well and her Uncle pulled up and got out of his car to approach the group. He was a young man, only in his late thirties and Harm had found that he really was a likeable man. This made Harm and Mac feel at least a little bit better about handing Cathy over. For her part, Mac couldn't help feel a bit guilty, like she was somehow breaking the promise she had made to Cathy. However, as Harm had pointed out to her, Jim Davidson was her only other living blood relative and the courts had deemed him more than capable of taking care of Catriona. What was most important now was to do what was best for Cathy, so she would spend the rest of her young life in a stable home environment. As Cathy hugged Harm and Mac goodbye, she began to sob uncontrollably and both parties got more and more upset, so Cathy's bags were stowed away and Jim ushered her into his car. After thanking Harm and Mac, Jim turned and got back into his car, Cathy seated in the front passenger seat next to him.

"You all strapped in, ready to go?" he asked her. She nodded. With that, Jim released the handbrake and the car began to pull away. Cathy leaned against the window and waved goodbye to the crowd outside JAG Headquarters. Neither Harm nor Mac stopped waving until the car was through the security checkpoint and out of sight. Afterwards, Harm slipped a comforting arm around Mac's shoulders as the group returned to the building, to get back to work.

OOOOOOO

Posting of the next SP part will begin tomorrow; 'SP 3a: Starting Over.'