A/N: Six chapters to go . . .

Flashback to 'The Rules of S'

The door opened and students began filing in. I looked up to see at least twenty pairs of eyes zoning in on Harm and I laying in a tangled heap on the floor, limbs locked to one another – blackberry and pamphlet be damned. Harm grinned guiltily as he efficiently disentangled himself from my body. "Well . . . welcome to the JAG Partnership Building Program."

Squid vs. Jarhead

0700

JAG Partnership Building Program

Harm's POV

"Welcome to the JAG Partnership Building Program." I clear my throat. "My name is Captain Harmon Rabb and my partner here is Colonel Sarah Mackenzie."

My own voice echoes around the now silent room. At the corner of my eyes I see Mac rush to get up off the floor but I try to keep my vision on the large amount of students that have now assembled, around twenty of them, all in their early twenties.

The boy in the corner with shock blonde hair grinned snidely. "Is that what we're going to be doing?" He motioned to Mac scrambling up off the ground. His dark eyes flashed as he smirked, "and do we get extra-curricular assignments too?"

I glared at the insolent kid. "No . . ." I trailed, marching right up to him, "but that can be arranged." I stared at him, "Name and age."

"Zachary Taron, twenty-one," he said coolly, matching my glare with his own. "But you can call me Zach."

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, Zach," Mac says strongly, moving in front of me and effectively cutting off my glare. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Now, if you could just form a line and one by one step up and say your name and age."

I flash Mac a 'why did you do that, I had him so nailed' look which she promptly smothers with a 'don't even go there' look. We turned back to the line of kids who were now shuffling rather anxiously from foot to foot, trying to seem as impressive as possible.

"Alright, excluding Zach, I'd like to start from the left end and go down, saying your name and age, just to let us get to know all of you better," I said, once again seizing control. "You, um . . . girl, you can start."

A small dirty blonde haired girl stepped forward, looping a stray strand from her loose ponytail behind her ear. "Terry Connors, nineteen."

A low whistle greeted Terry's statement. Annoyed, the nineteen year old turned around to see none other than Zachary Taron grinning at her from the middle of the line. "No shit, you're nineteen?"

"Have you got a problem, Taron?" Terry responded coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Zack rose an eyebrow but his face remained impassive. "Not a one."

"And for our first set of partners we've got Taron and Connors," Mac butted in before I could open my mouth. While Zach looks surprised, Terry's absolutely mortified. I shoot Mac a questioning glance but she either doesn't notice it or fails to heed the warning in my eyes. "Now, next in line."

One by one the students come forward, stating their names and age while Mac strings random people together, judging mostly by age and size. After they were all partnered up and moved to different parts of the room to talk with each other, I pulled Mac to the side and whispered, "Are you crazy? Taron and Connors? We've known them for less than ten minutes and I can already tell they'll bite each other's heads off if they get too close."

Mac rolls her eyes. "Zach's a bit . . . overzealous. But did you see the way he backed down when Terry confronted him? The girl's got control . . . and who knows who else Zach will retreat from like that? It's better this way."

I stared at her. "When did you get so insightful?"

Mac grins. "When you spend all day trying to find out who has the willpower and the stomach to withstand partnership with Vukovic, you pick up on these things." Mac smiled as her eyes fell upon Zach and Terry who wore arguing silently in the left corner of the room. "Ah, young love."

I send her a startled glance. "You think they're in love?" I laugh throatily. "Mac, they just met. And they don't even LIKE each other!"

"There's a big difference between like and LIKE," Mac explained with a knowing glance at the two young adults. "But the line between LIKE and hate is very fine . . ."

"It's not all that fine," I argue. "I definitely do not LIKE Clayton Webb."

"You're right," Mac agreed. "You like him . . . you don't hate him." Her eyes met squarely with mine. "However much you may think you do."

"Way too insightful for my liking," I mumbled under my breath as she rolled her eyes. "Look, you take the left side of the room and I'll take the right. Round 'em up in about five minutes for the first exercise?"

"Sure, give ME Zach and Terry," Mac grumbled, but nonetheless moving over to the left side.

"Hey, you put 'em together," I responded breezily as I moved to the right. "You're the one who must withstand their insanity driven bickering."

Mac scowled at me causing me to grin. Hey, maybe this class won't be so bad after all . . .

Same Time

Same Place

Mac's POV

I lean against the wall as my eyes fall upon Zach and Terry who are once again fighting, now over who weighs more. Zach – who could not be considered overly tall – certainly towered over Terry who probably just grazed the five foot line, but maintained a bean pole thin figure. I rolled my eyes. Another stickboy . . . However my money was on Terry, who was curvaceously slim and athletically slight.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

I look over at another pair – I struggled to remember their names – Ryan and Angela, who had now come up to me with a look of utmost concern upon their faces.

"For our first exercise will we need to know about the background of our partner?" Angela asked, tucking a long strand of wavy red hair behind her ear. "And how soon will the first exercise begin? And are their teams? Are we competing for points?"

"Slow down, Angela," I said, grinning slightly at the girl's enthusiasm. "We'll meet in about three minutes, split you into teams and all we're going to be doing is trust games. You don't need to know anything about your partner's background yet – but I do suggest you take some time soon and find out a little bit about them. As for right now, just trust games." I smile encouragingly at the pair who seems to be mentally noting everything I'm saying and storing it in their minds.

I watched my half of the room for a few seconds more before walking over to Harm. "You ready?"

"Yup," Harm nodded. "Okay, everyone! Ladies and gentlemen, quiet please!" The room deadened. "Okay, um, everyone gather around, those of you who were on the right side of the room – my side – you are team A and I am your leader. All of you on Mac's – Colonel Mackenzie's – side of the room, you are Team B. Now, this is just the first round – there is no real winner or loser – this is all about COMPATABILITY!"

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I register how impressed I am with Harm's teaching skills. He's speaking, people are listening, and they all actually seem to be LEARNING. But, of course, if I'd had him as a teacher, I don't know how I would have been able to pay attention . . . my god, STOP WITH THE INAPPROPRIATE THINKING!

Harm finished the speech I had long since lost track of. "Now, are there any questions?"

A boy in the corner's hand flew up.

"Yes," Harm said, pointing at the boy.

"Hi, okay – um, small thing. I was wondering, are our teams going to have names or are they just going to be Team A and Team B?" the boy asked, suggesting what proved to be a valid point.

Harm and I stared at each other for a minute before I said, "No, my team – Team B – we're now officially the Marines. As for Harm – Captain Rabb's team, you are now the Navy! Consider this the first round of Squid versus Jarhead."

A murmur broke out almost instantly dampened by Harm's overpowering voice, "And now, if you'll split apart into your two teams – please decide on an order in which the pairs will appear in – alternating between Marines and Navy while the Colonel and I make a scoreboard. Any questions?"

Another hand flew up. "How will we be marked?"

Harm sends me a questioning look to which I immediately respond, "we'll be marking you out of five on how well you do with the task. Point will be totaled for each team."

Another hand. "And what's our task?"

Harm grinned. "The Colonel and I have decided to start you off with something simple. I do believe you're all familiar with the trust game where one person falls back and the other catches? Now, find out an order!"

With that command, the two teams split apart and began whispering hurriedly to one another as Harm and I went to the fold out chalkboard and began to draw up a scoreboard. Harm grinned at me, "who said teaching wasn't easy?"

"Cool it, hotshot," I warned him. "You've been "teaching" for only ten minutes and this lesson's an hour. Besides, aren't you forgetting our explosive beginning?"

Harm shrugged, "Call it an exciting beginning to a course." I glared at him. "Hey," he argued. "If my professors had done what we just did before Science class or Physics, I'd be making six digits a year in the comfort of my own lab as a rocket scientist."

"And what exactly did we just do?" I stretched, ignoring the last part of his statement.

Harm avoided the question. "Hey, I'm just trying to get them excited about the law."

"And dropping me was the way to do it?"

"Hey," Harm argued, "That's not fair. You distracted me."

"How did I distract you?" I rebutted. "I was ON TOP of you."

"Checking your email!" Harm exclaimed incredulously.

"Well, it's not my fault that Harriet chose that particular moment to –" and it was then that the surrounding silence of the classroom began to dawn on me. I looked around the room and caught Zach and Terry looking at me and Harm sort of funny. "Sorry, class," I apologized, grinning slightly. "Now, for our first team . . . well, ladies first, so Harm," I added smirking, "why doesn't your team go?"

"Funny, jarhead," Harm replied to me sarcastically, and then at the class, "Okay, Navy – first pair up."

One tall dark haired boy and a only slightly smaller fair-haired girl came up, looking nervous but prepped at the same time. Looking down at the ground, they moved to where Harm had taped the lines for catcher and faller.

"Okay, names," Harm said, pulling out his attendance clipboard which he had already marked with Ms and Ns for Marines and Navy.

"Dean Liter and Natalie Pearson," Dean said, as he loosened his arms and shoulders while his partner did a little stretching. I internally smiled as I realized how serious the whole class took these little prepping exercises.

Harm checked their names down on his clipboard and then with a nod of his head, he said, "Okay, you can go."

Natalie closed her eyes and took a long breath in before tipping slightly backwards, her feet not allowed past the blue taped line. And then, she rocked backwards, falling into Dean's outstretched arms as her feet fell backwards as well. Dean pulled her up to the ground and then they switched places. This time around it went much more smoothly. Dean, who was obviously more confident, fell backwards with ease and Natalie obviously enjoyed catching more.

Harm and I compared scores and then pronounced a four out of five which seemed to delight the Navy very much. And soon the night began to wear on as pairs completed the exercise, points began to collect until we were down to the very last pair.

"Alright, marines!" I crowed as the excitement within the class grew to anxious anticipation. "That Navy's at 43 and we're at 40. We need a 4 to win and a three to tie." I looked down at the determined eyes of my group. "But do we want to tie?"

"No!" ten voices barked at me.

"What do we want to do?" I grinned, feeling like a gym coach prepping his team before the big game.

"Win!" I was hollered at.

"Okay, then, our last pair – Zach and Terry," I said, as they came up to the center floor, Terry taking her position on the blue fall back taped line and Zach on the catch line. The cheers on the marines side were not a fraction dampened by the boos from the Navy.

"Alright," Harm marked on his clipboard. "Go."

And with an utter stroke of confidence, Terry threw herself backwards and soared . . . right through Zach's arms. Terry crashed to the floor, her hand flinging out and grabbing onto Zach's as she pulled him down to the ground with her, ramming hard against the wooden floor as Zach sailed on top of her.

Harm and I hastened over to the pair but were met by Terry's screaming of, "WHY DIDN'T YOU CATCH ME?"

"I WASN'T READY!" Zach hollered as he struggled to get up off the floor, pushing himself off Terry's shoulders to do so. Terry pulled him right back down by the sleeve of his t-shirt.

"YOU HEARD HIM SAY GO!" Terry screamed at him. "DID YOU THINK IT WAS AT THAT MOMENT YOU COULD DAYDREAM?"

I flashed Harm a look that clearly asked, 'shouldn't we break this up?' but he returned it with a 'we better leave it alone for the moment' one that I was rather more inclined to agree with.

"WELL, MAYBE INSTEAD OF THROWING YOURSELF BACKWARDS YOU COULD BE NORMAL AND JUST FALL!" Zach screamed back, pulling himself to his feet as Terry did likewise. "You're costing us the round!"

"NO!" Terry's voice overpowers him. "YOU'RE costing us the round."

"Hey, guys!" Harm called from the corner. "Here's a thought: the round's not over yet!"

"Yeah, come on, Marines," I called from my side. "Pick yourselves up and let's win this thing!"

Zach straightened his t-shirt and walked to the falling line while Terry stood at the catching line. "See, this is what you're supposed to do," Zach lectured as he stretched his arms. "Call out to your partner. Are you ready, Ter?"

"Ready as ever," Terry bit back.

Zach fell backwards gracefully – his arms flying out cross-wise in front of him just as Terry leaped backwards, resulting in him plummeting hard towards the floor. The resounding crash rocked the room.

Terry chose this moment to gracefully leap on Zach, pinning him under her legs. "That's for dropping me, you jerk!" And then she leaped off him, marching right back to the Marine side.

I sighed heavily. "And the Navy win."

This statement was met with enthusiastic calls from the right side of the room as Harm marked round one with a large inked N, grinning wildly at me as he did so. I rolled my eyes, "Thanks for coming, everyone. We'll meet tomorrow also at 1900 in this room. Please do not be late and –" my eyes catch Zach's and Terry's, "for those groups who think they need a little extra practice time should see that they get it before tomorrow's round. Good night!"

I rubbed my temples in exhaustion as all the students filed out of the room, leaving Harm and I alone with the stacks of chairs and tables to be put back in their proper place.

"Well, that was a hectic night," I remarked as Harm folded back the scoreboard blackboard and started on the chair pile and I moved to help him.

Harm shrugged. "It wasn't so bad . . . in fact," he said considerately, "I don't really mind teaching."

"Oh, you don't mind it today," I said, rolling my eyes as I picked up one side of the table and harm lifted the other. "You WON today, but tomorrow . . . you aren't going to be feeling nearly as good about yourself."

"Hey," Harm said shrugging as we steered the desk back in place. "It's not my fault your team isn't proving worthy competition to mine."

I glared at him. "Hey, we would have won if . . ."

"You would have won if it weren't for Zach and Terry," Harm grinned, as we put the table down. "Your own special dream team."

"Hey, they'll come around," I fought stubbornly. "They have it . . . you know? The makings. They're outgoing, they're bold without a hint of nervousness, both determined to succeed . . ." I sighed. "Yet they're just so . . . troublesome!" I shot Harm an exasperated look. "Their personalities say they'd work well together – and yet they're . . . exactly the opposite."

"Oh well, give them time," Harm said soothingly. "Maybe they just need to come around."

"Sure," I muttered under my breath. "But come around to what?"

Harm grinned, "you know, that little Terry kind of reminds me of you."

"Really?" I looked up at him. "Because Zach kind of reminds me of you."

Harm drops our table in midway of transportation, staring at me with an offended look upon his face. "You'd associate that arrogant little twerp with me!"

I grinned in retaliation. "Arrogant he may be – but he holds the boyish charm." I glared at Harm warningly. "He's troublesome, he's confident, and a tad overzealous. Plus," I added with a pout, "he causes Macs and Terrys everywhere trouble."

"Yeah, well, Mac's and Terrys are overrated," Harm replied with an insulting grin. "They just boss us sailors around."

"And what a good job we do of it too," I added with a smile. "Besides, you should be grateful to us."

"Oh, yeah?" Harm remarked, his eyebrow cocking up. "How so?"

"Well," I replied, picking up another chair off the stack and returning it to its place. "You would be out of a job if it weren't for us."

Harm stares at me. "Enlighten me."

I grinned at him. "You'd be resigning your commission every other week if it wasn't for us."

Harm rolled his eyes. "Oh, funny . . ."

I shrugged. "I thought it was."

Harm stared at me exasperatedly. "Let's go, Marine."

He shut off the lights to the room, leading me by my arm through the halls. And we're about half the way out before –

CRASH!

I flip around, staring into the darkness that is our hallways, my hand suddenly clenching on Harm's. Through the dim obscurity that is my vision, I can see Harm's features as though etched in stone as he tightens his grip on my arm.

"What was that?" I whispered but Harm lifted a finger to my lips to signal for silence. We paused a long moment, stillness vibrating loudly within the room, as our eyes dart from shadow to shadow.

"I don't know," Harm trailed. "But I think we should find out."

"Um, how about we not?" I asked, my voice was unusually high. I mean, it's not like I hadn't been in scary situations before. Of course I had. Terrifying, actually. And if history told me anything, I did NOT need to repeat these scenarios again. Seriously. I do not do scared. "Yeah, let's just skip the whole night time investigation and go have dinner, huh?"

"Shh," Harm silenced me. "Wait here."

I'm instantly alert. "Oh, no way. The person that gets left behind is ALWAYS the one that gets eaten first. Basic rule of horror movies. Have you ever seen a thriller horror movie that DIDN'T have the watch guard getting murdered? Oh yeah, they're always found with like blood oozing out of their skulls or their brain matter sprayed across the walls or something ungodly like . . ."

"Alright, I get the point," Harm cut me off, and I sensed the roll in his eyes as he spoke. "Just stay right next to me and be quiet."

Slowly, we crept down the hall, our eyes open and our ears alert. Our breath hung in the air as we edged along the walls, my eyes always keeping Harm in front of me. And then –

CRASH!

I gripped hard against Harm's shoulder as a clatter resounded from the door across the hall. I sent Harm a panicked stare as he edged towards the door, slowly and intently, his arm reaching forward for the door knob. I closed my eyes, clenching my fist hard against the sleeve of Harm's shirt, as the magnitude of this moment built up into one stimulating –

Harm threw the door open, bounding inside as I flew in with him – a scream cutting the night air, as it hollowly echoed through the empty office.

A/N: Yaaaaay, finally a cliffie in this story! Good god, bout time there was some sorta drive. Anyways . . . okay, so results of the last poll. 15 – 0 in favor of a Roberts girl. So, since you're all for the whole girl power thing, you guys thinking of any names?