Undercover Lovers
A JAG fanfiction

Chapter One:
Marriage Material

APRIL 14th, 1998

0930 EST
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

It was always a special day when Clayton Webb came to JAG HG, and Harm didn't mean that in a nice way.

"He wants you, too?" Mac asked, meeting him in the middle of the bullpen. They were both walking to the Admiral's office where, according to Tiner, Webb was waiting to brief them on...something. When Harm had asked Tiner what it was, the yeoman had merely shrugged his shoulders. Tiner never had trouble keeping up with the happenings of JAG HQ, so the fact that he had no clue why Webb was there was yet another bad sign.

"Yeah."

"Do you know anything?"

"Nope."

"Glad to see we're in the same boat."

Harm and Mac entered the Admiral's office to see the Admiral sitting at his desk and Special Agent Clayton Webb, everyone's favorite spy, standing nearby in his usual three piece suit. Webb choosing to always dress like a Clue character never sat right with Harm but, then again, not much Webb did sat right with Harm.

Tiner shut the door behind Harm and Mac, trapping them inside before they even had a chance to escape.

"Good morning Commander, Major," the Admiral greeted, nodding to each of them. "You can have a seat."

Usually Harm sat on the left and Mac sat on the right, but that day they had it switched around, with Mac now sitting on the left and Harm sitting on the right. Harm didn't like it, but he didn't say anything. It was like back in high school when someone took your seat, but you couldn't say anything because technically there were no assigned seats even though that seat was your seat. This was just another thing that was 'off' about Harm's day.

"What do you need us for, sir?" Mac asked.

"Oh, I don't need you for anything," the Admiral answered, gesturing to Webb. "He's the one that needs you."

The Admiral didn't make his feelings conspicuous (as a SEAL, conspicuous wasn't in his hardwiring), but Harm could tell by the way his lips were pursed that he was as annoyed as Harm was by Webb's presence. It was such a good Monday morning too, the best one Harm had had in a long time…pity it had to end this way.

Webb cleared his throat and straightened his tie. "Do you two want the long or the short of it?"

"We get a choice?" Harm asked before he could stop himself. Mac looked over her shoulder and gave Harm a glare. During many of their interactions with Webb, Mac had to adopt the role of referee - or babysitter, depending on one's perspective.

"Very funny," Webb replied dryly. Before the two of them could get their feathers too ruffled, Mac decided to intervene.

"Give us the short of it, Webb," she said. She was already getting irritated, but not just at Webb. Harm had this way of getting under he skin, and this Monday was no exception. In fact, Harm had a way of almost always getting under her skin specifically on Mondays in that way that only he could do. She could tell if she loved it or hated it.

Mac was hopeful that Webb's visit would provide a bright spot for the start of her week.

"Thank you Major for being cooperative," AJ said, giving Harm a pointed look. Mac smiled, also turning to give Harm a pointed look.

Webb turned to face Harm and Mac. "We've received intel that someone, perhaps a group of people, are attempting to hack into CIA databases and steal classified information."

"Why don't you just stop them?" Harm asked. Webb, Mac, and the Admiral all turned to glare at him. He shrugged. "What? It's a valid question."

"We're trying. That's why I'm here," Webb said. "We've traced their IP address to a suburb outside of Richmond, but once we try to figure out the specific house it's coming from, the signal gets scrambled."

"What's an IP address?" The Admiral asked, hoping that he wasn't making himself sound too foolish.

Webb shrugged. "It's just something with the Internet," he replied. "It probably won't be important in twenty years."

The Admiral nodded. He never knew whether or not he could trust Webb, but he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt this time.

"Someone living in a suburb is trying to steal government information?" Mac asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are they doing it between block parties and barbecues?" Harm asked.

AJ sighed and looked at Webb. "Are you sure you want the two of them to do this?" he asked. It suddenly occurred to Harm and Mac at the same time that neither of them had any clue why Webb was there to visit them.

Harm folded his arms across his chest. "What do you want us for, Webb?"

"I need two people to pose as a married couple, move into the neighborhood, and weed out who's behind the stolen intel," he explained.

Mac frowned. "Why do we need to do that? Can't you just raid the neighborhood?"

Webb shook his head. "We can't let them know we're on to them. If we just go in guns blazing, we risk driving them deeper into cover," he said. "Plus, the CIA works mainly in stealth."

"We're not CIA, though," Mac said.

"Exactly," Harm nodded in agreement. "Why did you pick us for this?"

"Well," Webb looked down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. "Originally it was going to be me and another female operative, but she backed out at the last minute."

"Why?" Mac asked.

Webb cleared his throat. "She said she had to go to a funeral for her great aunt."

Harm snorted, and Mac gave him a dirty look. "What?" Webb asked, an offended expression on his face.

"She could've come up with a better excuse to get out of working with you than that, don't you think?" Harm asked.

"Commander," The Admiral warned.

"Sorry, sir. And, uh, sorry Webb."

"It's okay," Webb replied, his voice stiff. It was very obvious that, to him, it was not okay. "I'll bring the two of you your files later. You're going to be taking on whole new identities for this. New names, new backgrounds, new everything. I hope you guys took theater in high school."

"I did," Harm looked at Mac. "Did you?"

Mac snorted. "Are you kidding?"

Webb continued. "You're gonna have a couple of weeks to prepare, but you don't need to worry about packing anything. The house is going to be fully furnished and you're going to be given wardrobes."

"Here's a thought," Mac said. "What if we just don't want to do it?"

"I'm afraid you two don't have a choice, Major," the Admiral said. "I've already approved extended leaves of absence for you and the Commander."

"Extended leaves of absence?" Harm and Mac asked in unison, wearing almost identical expressions of surprise on their faces.

"How long is this gonna take, Webb?" Harm demanded.

He shrugged. "However long it takes."

Mac turned to the Admiral, looking to him for some sort of assistance. "But sir, what about Bud and Harriet's wedding?" she asked. "It's only a few weeks away. We can't miss it. I'm the maid of honor."

"And I'm the best man," Harm added.

"I'm sure they'll understand-" Webb started.

"No they won't," The Admiral, Harm, and Mac answered together.

"Alright, alright. I'll make arrangements for you to go to their wedding in case your undercover job interferes," Webb said. "But right now, you two have your own wedding to plan."

Harm and Mac exchanged wide-eyed glances. When both of them had woken up that morning, neither of them were expecting this to be waiting for them at JAG. They weren't even expecting Webb to be there, let alone expecting to get married to each other. Harm was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he and Mac would be playing house together, and Mac was still on the fence about the whole entire thing.

"Even if the Admiral's approved us for leave, what's in it for us?" she asked. "Why should we put ourselves in danger for you?"

"Well, Major, that's the best part," Webb said. "The CIA is willing to compensate you and Commander Rabb for your contribution. Financially."

Mac's eyebrows shot up. "How much?"

"Five thousand dollars. Each."

Harm and Mac's expressions both changed from annoyance to shock. They looked at each other, then looked at the Admiral, then back at Webb.

"You better not be lying to us, Webb," Harm said.

Webb smirked. "When have I ever told you guys a lie?"

"Don't worry," the Admiral said. "I made sure the money part of the deal was legit before I approved your leave."

At the end of the day, Harm decided to stop by Mac's office before he left.

"Do you want me to walk you to your car, wife?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

Mac rolled her eyes. "Of course, husband."

They'd only been 'engaged' for a little under eight hours, and they were already having way too much fun with it. Mac stood up, grabbing her briefcase. "You should keep your voice down," she told him. "People aren't supposed to know, it's top secret."

"The Admiral already told Bud, Harriet, Imes, and Mattoni."

Mac raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah," Harm nodded as they walked to the elevator. "We needed fake wedding guests for our fake wedding. It's only a week away, remember?"

"Only a week away?" Mac feigned shock. "Time really does fly. I don't even have my dress."

Harm smirked. "I'm sure Webb already has it picked out."

"You think?"

They stepped into the elevator. "Oh yeah," Harm said. "He definitely has every minute detail mapped out. Are you excited?"

"Eh," Mac shrugged. "I'm still processing. I'm more excited for the money, if I'm being honest."

"You're not gonna leave me at the altar, are you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Mac sighed as the elevator doors began to close, frowning slightly. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Harm snorted. "Mac, this is Webb we're talking about. It would be weird if you had a good feeling about this."

"True."

As the elevator went down to the ground floor, Mac watched Harm. She was sure there were plenty of women in the world who would kill to be Harmon Rabb Jr.'s wife, and here she was, living their reality. She didn't want to sound ungrateful, because Harm was a great guy, but she had a feeling this marriage was going to be the cause for a lot of stress for her. Could they possibly get a fake-annulment for this fake-wedding? Would that possible?

Mac hoped so.

Yes, I am fully aware that this story may seem a little goofy. Do I know all of the logistics of how the CIA works? No. Do I know all that goes into international espionage? No. I did, however, want to write a fun little fic where Harm and Mac pretend to be husband and wife, so here I am. I also really wanted to write a fic that takes place in the earlier half of the series, just because I feel like there's more that can be explored there.

I know I have a lot of active stories right now, but I couldn't wait any longer to post this one because it's one of the ones I've been the most excited to post. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Thanks for reading!

-Harper