This is installment 6 in the Shattered Promises series.
1. Things Fall Apart.
2. Picking Up The Pieces.
3. (a & b.) Starting Over.
4. Getting It Right.
5. Getting To Know You.
6. Happy Endings.
7. Sleepless Nights.
8. See You In My Dreams.
9. Scattered Photographs.
10. Dreams Really Do Come True.
11. Celebrations.
12. Turning Full Circle.
Rating: Around a K, just to be on the safe side.
Disclaimer: JAG and its main characters belong to the genius who is DPB and to CBS. I don't make any profit from writing any of these fics, but simply get to exercise my overactive imagination every now and then. Please don't sue me, as I'm just a student with no money and way too much time on my hands:0)
Summary: When Harm and Mac's friends grow tired of the games between them, they decide to try their hand in a bit of match-making.
Spoilers: None. This isn't set at any particular point in the JAG timeline and there are no specific references to any episodes. Takes place about two years after Cathy comes to live with Mac.
Feedback, as always, is very much appreciated. Please don't hesitate to press the 'review' button!
OOOO
Shattered Promises 6: Happy Endings
Part 1
The team had congregated in the car park of Washington National Park, all dressed in their JAG team shirts and caps, all prepared to take part in a 'friendly' football game, which the Admiral had convinced them was to boost work morale and team spirit.
It was bad enough that they were there early on a Sunday morning, but Mac glanced over to the edge of the field, guiltily, where Cathy now watched, morosely.
When AJ had announced the match the week before, Cathy had desperately asked if she could take part, too. Mac unfortunately had to turn her down.
A couple of years before, Cathy had been the victim of a vicious attack by her Uncle, the only remaining family member that she had left. This attack had left her with numerous broken bones and a couple of nasty skull fractures, which ruled out any sports that involved high impact and therefore high injury risk.
Cathy had not been happy at all and Mac could tell that, at the moment, Cathy was still not any happier. She sat at the sideline with Lt. Singer, who was there as a back up player. Cathy meanwhile sat dressed in the JAG team shirt and cap, performing the 'role' AJ had appointed her to, as team mascot. She had not wanted to come that morning and probably wouldn't have, but for Mac's last minute promise that, if she was desperately needed, then she could play, but very, very carefully. AJ had agreed to this, as he knew how reluctant Lt. Singer would be to play. Right now, she was seated next to Cathy, doing her nails with a nail buffer. Cathy thought to herself that at least she stood a chance of playing, hoping that maybe the other team members might think twice about picking Singer over her.
About twenty minutes into the game, Alan Mattoni had twisted an ankle and Cathy saw her big chance.
"I'm getting too old for this," Alan complained to the rest of the group, as he hobbled off.
Cathy sat with a hopeful look on her face, as AJ approached her and Lt. Singer. He contemplated for a second, then announced, "Come on, Lauren."
Cathy sat, disappointed, for the next twenty minutes, as she watched Lt. Singer fumble the ball, time and time again. At one particular time, Carolyn Imes had passed her the football, which she promptly dropped in horror, because it had chipped one of her nails.
Finally, AJ had passed her the football, which had stubbed her fingers and was promptly dropped again. AJ called a time out, and then went to examine Singer's fingers.
"I think they're broken," she told him, to which he replied,
"No Lauren, they're just stubbed. Look, you can move them okay, can't you?"
"Yeah, well they hurt like hell! There's no way I'm playing anymore, I've already chipped the hell out of my nails…"
"Fine, Lauren," the Admiral conceded.
He looked over to Mac, who gave a subtle, but clear shake of her head from beneath her cap. AJ simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh, come on! Please!" Cathy pleaded from the sideline. Mac turned away for a moment to consider what she was about to do, then turned back and nodded to Cathy.
Cathy let out a whoop, punching her arm in the air and rushing onto the pitch.
"Where do you want me?" she asked AJ.
He looked first at Mac and then turned to Cathy, telling her, "Go long," pointing to the far side of the field. Cathy could tell that this must have all been carefully orchestrated, because after that, the ball never seemed to come anywhere near her. If it did, another player would come forward to take it, so Cathy was getting no opportunity to play at all.
Finally, she'd had enough of it, so ran forward to where more of the action was happening. She was quickly sent back again, much to her frustration. It was obvious that they were going to lose, as the final minutes of the game wound down.
Finally, the ball came soaring right towards her and Cathy prepared to catch it, only to be blocked by Harm, who called, "Mine!" and caught the ball, running to score a touchdown.
Cathy just stood, open mouthed and looked towards Mac, who studiously avoided her eye. As she noticed some of the looks people were (unconsciously) shooting her way, Cathy kept her head down and hot tears of anger and embarrassment began to splash onto her cheeks. She furiously wiped them away as the game proceeded. Just before the final whistle, Mac gained possession of the ball. Cathy could see three members of the opposite team coming towards her.
"Mac!" she yelled, waving her arms, signaling that she was wide open and twenty feet from the score line.
Mac momentarily looked at her, but hesitated, then bent her head down again and was promptly tackled.
The final whistle sounded and the JAG team conceded a terrible defeat.
Overcome with anger and hurt, Cathy snatched the team cap off her head and threw it to the ground, then wrenched the team over-shirt off and threw that down too, finally stomping off through the park.
Mac pulled off her cap and wiped her brow, silently cursing herself as the rest of the team watched Catriona's retreating form.
OOOO
When Mac arrived home later, she found that Cathy was already back, in the bedroom with the door locked and the stereo playing, loudly. She gave a hard knock on the door, which went unheeded by Cathy.
"Cathy, will you open the door?" No answer. "Cathy, please. There's something I need to explain."
Cathy came forward and opened the door.
"Go on then," she told Mac, "Explain why you blew me off."
"I did not blow you off!" Mac protested, "I just didn't want you getting hurt."
"You just don't want me to live," Cathy told her, bitterly, "I should never have come out of that coma…"
"That's not fair and certainly not true!" Mac exclaimed
Cathy remained silent, as Mac continued, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything ever happened to you. You know that. You have no idea what an emotional wreck I was while you were in the coma. I promised you that I'd never leave you and never let anything happen to you. And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if it did."
"Yeah, but when you blanked me on that field, it really hurt Mac!" Cathy responded,
"When I went to live with Jim, I soon got used to being blanked by the other kids in my school. And when I got moved all over the world, I was used to failing to make friends, because I was the new kid. I got used to being the loner, the one left out, the last one to be picked to be on the sports teams. But, you know, I hardly minded, because they meant nothing to me and with anyone else I wouldn't care."
Cathy wiped away the tears spilling from her eyes as she told Mac,
"But I can't bear it from you, Mac. It really hurts, because you, Harm and the rest of JAG are all I have left."
Mac pulled her into her arms as she wiped away the tears herself.
"Oh, sweetie! I'm so sorry!" she told the girl.
OOOO