Yes, it's been a while and no, I haven't forgotten this. Most of us writers will lose drive ans interest in our own stories after the action dies down. I still have some ideas, a problem or two because after Mac's ordeal, life can't be what it was - too much time has passed.
Chapter 42 - Headquarters
The office was empty when Mac pushed past the heavy glass doors and into a darkened bullpen, the only light coming from the Admiral's anteroom. It illuminated her path like a beacon and she didn't dare cast a glance towards her former office although she badly wanted to know who's name hung over the door.
It felt good to be in uniform, that armor she wore would make her first day back a little easier. Few people messed with a Marine and even less did when said Marine had silver oak leaves on her shoulders. She had always been respected both for her prowess in the courtroom and the rank she worked her butt off to achieve.
The apprehension was still there, the nervous energy remicent of when she first stepped foot in these hallowed halls. They had just gotten back from chasing her uncle around Arizona and the Admiral called her in to speak in the early morning just like today.
She expected a reprimand and even a formal blemish on her record. The first she got when Chegwidden made her stand at attention as he dished out his annoyance at her effort to protect her beloved Uncle Matt.
And then he offered her a job, a position left vacant by Meg Austin because he felt Rabb needed an equal to keep the office's most impassioned lawyer in check.
A smiling Lt. Commander Rabb stood outside of Chegwidden's office to the utter annoyance of the yeoman who had tried to get him to leave. Evident by the beaming smile he shot her way, he had 'overheard' the conversation. "So, guess my smile does work on some people afterall."
His comment had made her defensive despite the flip flops of her tummy since he rescued her. Mac pushed down the errant feelings, told herself it was just an infatuation and glared when Harm blocked her path.
"That smile still doesn't sway me Commander." Oh but it did and Mac idly wondered what he would look like in dress white and gold wings. "I'm not some bimbo running around in a pink petty coat for you to ogle."
He snorted at that distinction and without warning pulled her briefcase and jacket out of her hands. "C'mon Major, I'll show you your new digs."
"I don't need help."
Harm held her items far away forcing the stubborn woman to make the short trip to the row of offices reserved for senior staff. "We're neighbors." He declared with a flourish as he stopped outside of the office that had S. MacKenzie emblazoned on a nameplate atop the door. "I'm right over there."
Mac followed his gaze to the office next to hers noticing it was only separated by a window with blinds. She stepped inside and just stared while Harm rattled off some pertaint information like the built-in wall safe, the break-room with goodies or the fact that she had a nice view of the courtyard.
"Woah, wait...There must be some mistake...This isn't my office, it can't be."
"You're in Headquarters now, Mac. Part of the elite. You deserve it."
Elite? Her? She took a breath and stared out the window to find the sun rising. Uncle Matt would be proud. "I didn't even have an office back in California. Just sorta shared the bullpen space with my partner."
"I'm your partner now." He grinned and went around the desk to pull the chair out for her. "And I come bearing gifts." Harm produced a Snickers bar that he placed on the corner of her desk next to her briefcase.
"You remembered?" That had been weeks ago on the drive to Red Rock Mesa through one hell of a storm. He grumbled about skipping lunch and Mac pulled out a Snickers that Harm eagerly tore in half so they could split the snack.
He placed a hand over his heart and feigned being wounded. "I'm not your average jet jock, Major. I remember the little details...Anyway, I'll let you settle in for a bit. Come get me when you're ready for the dime tour."
"I will thank you."
Harm stepped out of her office and was halfway into his when he turned on his heel and headed back. "Hey...I uh..I guess I never thanked you for saving me out there. Thanks-Thank you."
"You jumped into a moving helo for me, I think we're even. Besides, it was my fault to begin with. I could have gotten you killed."
"You were doing what you thought was right. I would have done the same." His eyes locked onto hers for the briefest of moments, just enough to share a silent conversation that would be the first of many. "Well, I'll see you in a bit. Welcome Aboard, Sarah."
As he walked out of her office the tiny butterflies in her tummy returned. This would be the start of an interesting relationship, Mac could never imagine how interesting.
As she stepped into Chegwidden's ante-room she reminded herself that Harm wouldn't be there that morning, he wasn't yet cleared for duty and although he insisted on coming with, Mac stopped him. She needed to go alone, needed to get her bearings, needed to remember she was once self sufficient.
He understood, albiet begrudingly because the therapy was helping him cope with that overwhelming need to hover.
"Lieutnant Colonel MacKenzie reporting as ordered, sir." It felt good to wear the uniform and snap to perfect attention as only a Marine could. In the last few weeks Mac had taken on a heavy workout and nutrition regiment that finally helped add tone back to her body. She was stronger, fit and ready for battle.
Chegwidden was at his desk, glasses down his nose while he read a document by the light of the desk lamp. His eyes came up and he bit back a grin when he saw the Marine standing before him. He'd given up hope. Like everyone else, he gave up on finding her and believed Harm would need to be cut loose if he kept on with his obssessions.
For once he was pleased to be wrong and when he saw Mac looking every bit like the Marine he allowed to join Clayton Webb, part of his soul shifted back into place. 'Thank God.'
"At ease, Colonel. It's good to have you back."
"It's good to he back. I wish to resume my duties in any capacity you see fit."
Chegwidden grinned now, he always enjoyed Mac's no bullshit attitude. No matter the consequences she was ready to serve, ready to give it her all even when she wasn't. He admired that about her but figured it was a product of a rough upbringing. "I heard you were fit for duty and while I believe that, we still need to start from scratch. File reviews. Motions. Wills, etc. The boring stuff."
She nodded. "Wherever I'm needed, sir. I just want to serve. This part of my life was taken with me and I want it back."
"Where do you see your future, Colonel? Is this for the moment or do you wish to move farther up the ladder?"
Mac spoke about her future at length with Eugenia. Having toyed with private law for a short stint, she realized that wasn't something she cared to endure again. She loved the Corps and wanted to serve as long as possible. "If I still have opportunities for a promotion, I would be up to the challenge. I know making full bird means a command position and while I'm not quite ready for that yet, I could be with time."
"And what does your husband think?"
"My husband." She smiled at that, and couldn't really hide it either. Her husband. Harm was her husband, words she never thought to hear coming from anyone else. They had kept their nuptials a secret for too long, it was a breath of fresh air to have it out in the light. "He's content, happy that I'm putting my life back together. We won't cause you any trouble, I think we're past silly bickering."
"Mac, you do realize I can not have both of you working under the same roof, don't you?"
She paled at that because the only way this would work for her is if he was around. It wasn't so much that Harm was a crutch but her partner. Even when they hit a bump in the road, they still worked well together, she'd miss that. She'd miss him terribly. "Given the circumstances and everything that happened, I was hoping concessions would be made."
"It has been discussed, at length, with the SECNAV and while Sheffield may consider bending the rules, your new CO may not want to have a married couple under his roof."
"New CO?"
"I'm retiring, Mac. I had put my papers in before Harm found you and only stuck around because I was the only one who could bend the rules for him. You'll be happy to know that the new JAG is a Marine."
She paled even worse, Marines, while the finest branch in the military, were relentless bulldogs. Once they saw it fit to pick apart something, the mission wouldn't cease until complete and she feared their new commanding officer would have his sights on her and Harm.
It wouldn't be pretty and she could imagine a General with a grudge shipping them to opposite sides of the World - her biggest fear. "We can handle it. The Commander and I, we're in a good place right now. He's doing better, less angry and…"
Chegwidden tapped his pen over a folder on his desk. It wasn't in character for him to do so, not even while stressed. The man was more a chew the arm of his glasses kind of guy which was why Mac realized something was wrong. "This is not my place to tell you but I'm speaking as a friend not your CO. Harm resigned to go find you."
"That was years ago-"
"No. Not Paraguay. He resigned before leaving for Tehran and it was processed. I couldn't hold onto it any longer. Despite my personal feelings for the two of you, I still had a job to do, an office to run. It was politics and he gave me a formal letter of termination that I couldn't just brush aside."
"So he's out?" Off his nod, Mac sighed heavily, Harm had led her to believe he was working, albeit out of uniform. "Then why was he coming in a few hours a day?"
"We needed him. A former officer never passed the bar, the amount of cases to review was staggering. He's also set to meet with the review board, it may not be favorable. You know that Harm has a few more dings in his record than other officers. Changing designators didn't exactly help his cause-"
"That was years ago and he saved a life he...he saved mine. He's a war hero and-"
"Think like a Marine, Mac. What would you do?"
If she were in Chegwidden's shoes, a sailor like Harm, impassioned as she was, would not be a good fit in her command. While he mellowed throughout the years and even grown up some after she went missing, there was a time Harmon Rabb's ego got the best of him. His need to find the truth, at all costs, had angered more than a few higher ups.
"I'm trying not to think like his wife." She admitted. "I just...I can't see this place without him. It will be stagnant, Harm brings so much life into it."
"Not since you went missing. He stuck around because of his contacts at Langley and the Pentagon, not because he enjoyed the work anymore. He's done."
"Understood." Mac deadpanned, even as a chill ran down her spine and her legs shook. Her heart broke a little and the excitement of the past few days died.
"Is that a problem?"
"I don't know yet. He urged me to come in today and so I'm here...for now."
"That's a start." Chegwidden motioned at the stack of files on the corner of his desk, more reviews she would need to sift through in order to find if any of Imes' old cases could be a mistrial. "No frills but I need this handled pronto."
"I'll get right on it." She made to reach for the files and then stopped halfway. Where would she go with them? What corner of the JAG office would she be cast into. "I'll need an office, sir."
"Yes you do. Follow me."
Mac sat in her old office, noting all of the differences crom when she last saw it. Her picture of a baby seal had beem taken down along with the diplomas and the USMC poster she had on the far wall.
The room was painted in a light blue/grey, just like every inch of the bullpen and it struck her how barren the office seemed without the personal touches. Nothing of hers remained, no remenant, nothing but memories. With a sigh, she glanced up, her eyes peering through the glass window that separated her and Harm's office.
"Not his office anymore." She told herself while her mind played back memory after memory of watching him work. He had many quirks she found adorable, like the way he bit his pen, the times he paced while strategizing a closing statement.
If the SECNAV had his way, Mac knew Harm would never return. And he paved his own way by past actions and a resignation that likely was the nail in the coffin. She needed to speak to her husband about him omitting that tidbit while he pushed her to return.
Mac knew why, of course, he wanted her to be better, healed and part of that was this sense of purpose that began at the steps of JAG headquarters. She would miss him dearly but, eventually they would have been sent to opposite ends if the World, an inevitability they couldn't stop.
And here it was - her future being mapped out and his at a crossroad.
She dropped her face into her hands and took a breath knowing she would come home to him. If he never returned they could love one another freely. It was their tradeoff and she hated having to choose.
Of course the first file she opened would be a case she worked with him and one that Carolyn lost. A thief stealing classified documents, a
traitor that was still on death row. Another sigh and then Mac flipped to the next page and simply worked and worked and worked. She worked until Chegwidden sent her home, never once leaving her office.
When she stepped outside, it was to cooler Fall temperatures, her Corvette sat in its old spot but Harm's was missing. It made her heart break a little more and once she slid into her car, she found it pointed the way towards Langley and the hopes that Eugenia had time for a chat.