TITLE: Through the Looking Glass
AUTHOR: Eleri McCleod
CONTACT INFO: elerimc at gmail . com
STATUS: complete
CATEGORY: drama, crossover, AU
PAIRINGS: none
SPOILERS: way too late for spoiler warnings on either show
SEASON: JAG season 9; Stargate SG-1 season 7
SERIES/SEQUEL INFO: 3rd in the "Honor Bound" series
CONTENT LEVEL: T, 13+, FR13, take your pick
CONTENT WARNINGS: none
SUMMARY: A visit to the SGC shows Harm the magnitude of his future. All that remains is to decide which direction he'll take. JAG/SG-1 crossover; 3rd in the "Honor Bound" series.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of JAG or Stargate SG-1. I'm just borrowing them for a little while and will return them unharmed. No copyright infringement is intended.
ARCHIVE: Fanfiction, AO3, LJ, any others please ask
AUTHOR'S NOTES: My continued thanks to all of you for your comments and kudos, and to those who are faithfully reading. I hope you continue to find this series as fun to read as it is to write. Still unbetaed, though hopefully I'm catching the majority of mistakes. As always, any and all feedback is appreciated.
Harm double-checked the tiedowns on his flight bag and carry on then ducked through the hatch into the cockpit. Colonel O'Neill was already seated at the controls, working through the pre-flight. "Exterior hatch secured and armed," he reported, maneuvering into the co-pilot chair. He'd arrived at the airfield prepared for anything. Between his short meeting with O'Neill and what little Davis had said about him, Harm was willing to bet the colonel had more than a little of the cowboy streak in him as well. Harm wouldn't put it past the man to have some fun at Harm's expense just because he could. So far, however, O'Neill had been professional if quite a bit on the relaxed side.
"Got it. Secondary controls?"
He scanned the readout, checking for any warning lights or unexpected readings. "Check."
O'Neill continued through the checklist, apparently trusting Harm to know what was where in the modified Learjet. It wasn't much longer before O'Neill called for clearance and they rose smoothly into the air. "How long since you've been up in one of these?" he asked almost as soon as they cleared the tower air space.
"Officially? Years ago with Congresswoman Latham."
Sending Harm a gimlet eye, the colonel grinned. "So how long since you've been up in one of these?"
Chuckling quietly, he returned the grin. "A couple of months ago with the Company. Nothing exciting. Kershaw needed a pilot and I was available."
"That man certainly kept you busy. Scooped you up the second he could. If he could have hung a 'hands off' sign around your neck he would have." O'Neill sounded more disgruntled than angry, but there was an undercurrent of something Harm couldn't pinpoint.
"You intimated that before. You make it sound like there was a waiting list of departments after me." It wasn't a good thought. A man who hadn't been through so many twists and turns of the spook world would probably get a kick out the knowledge. Harm, however, knew it was better to not be on anyone's list, especially in the rarified air of the alphabet agencies.
"And you sound like you didn't know there was," O'Neill said, glancing over to meet his gaze. "You didn't know. I may forgive Kershaw after all."
"That doesn't make sense. I've been accused of murder more times than your average gang banger, damaged more aircraft than I want to think about, and got tossed out on my ear by my last CO." It sounded damning even to his own ears. How had he managed to hold onto his commission as long as he had?
"You also have two DFCs and a silver star, have been commended for bravery and valor by multiple commands, successfully prosecuted an Al Qaeda leader against your own CO, and was even awarded a foreign sovereign medal for valor. I'd call even half of that attention attracting. You really didn't know?"
Harm shook his head, thinking back over the years to any crumb the admiral, Secretary Nelson or Secretary Sheffield could have dropped that he'd missed. "No, I didn't. I guess the only hint would have been how many times we got dragged into Clayton Webb's missions. We were JAG and yet the CIA kept coming back to us. Chegwidden authorized the missions and we pushed back some. We should have pushed back more."
"Admiral Chegwidden had clearance and access to you and your former partner, who also has a wide skill set. You trusted him to know both sides of the game. I don't know what Nelson had to pull to get him to agree to sending you every time, but it couldn't have been enjoyable for either of them." O'Neill spoke as if from experience with an annoyance Harm recognized easily.
"Admittedly, on a few of them it was the other way around. We'd arrive and Webb would already be there."
"Son of a bitch," O'Neill muttered. "I knew it."
Harm waited for the colonel to continue, but he seemed to get lost in his thoughts. Something he'd said had tripped O'Neill's memory, though there had been little enough to do so in Harm's mind. They moved through a thick bank of clouds in silence, only the hum of the engines to keep him company. "Colonel? Want to share with the class?"
"Agent Webb was grooming you. You and Colonel MacKenzie."
"Now I feel dirty," Harm said, forcing his lips to tip upward. O'Neill didn't return the expression, gaze piercing through him. "And more than a little used."
After another long moment, the colonel dropped his eyes to scan the control panel. If it wasn't second nature to a pilot to check the readouts, much like a driver checking the rear view mirror, Harm would have accused him of avoiding his gaze. "They tend to do that, Commander, with little regard for the person under the skin."
Harm did his own scan, though it took three tries before his brain actually registered any of the gauges. A tiny flame heated to life in his gut, but it was muted, more instinctive than reactive. He'd known Webb had changed, had known it for awhile. For some time he would have been able to say that he considered Webb a friend, though he knew little actual information about the man's personal life. Sometime after Webb had gone far above what was due to purchase Harm's half-brother Sergei's freedom from the Chechens, he'd changed. Gotten harder, taken more risks. And had involved Harm and Mac in some of his more dangerous schemes. How much Director Kershaw knew about how Webb was running his operations was anyone's guess. But after the fiasco in Paraguay and his own short experience with the CIA air division, Harm had doubts Kershaw cared as long as the results turned out in the Company's favor.
"Hey, back up a minute," O'Neill said suddenly. "What do you mean accused of murder more times than a gang banger? I thought we were even at one apiece."
"I think my precise wording was 'more times than your average gang banger.'" He appreciated the attempt to lighten the discussion. He didn't know the colonel well enough to bare his soul as the conversation seemed to have been heading. He didn't even bare his soul to his best friend until it was too late and it had cost him everything.
"Cut the lawyer schtick, Rabb. Talk. I've read every word of your file. There's only one murder charge and you were cleared of that one without a doubt."
"As you were the attempted assassination of Senator Kinsey," Harm said, shooting O'Neill an arched eyebrow. The other man simply stared him down and Harm had to admit it was an impressive stare. If only he hadn't become mostly immune to such a look after almost nine years serving under a former SEAL. After a few seconds, he broke the stalemate with a grin. It wasn't a big enough deal to stonewall. Besides, O'Neill needed to know who he was really dealing with. "The Singer case is the only one that went to trial. That was the most recent attempt to put me in jail. The first was due to an overzealous NCIS agent. A former Annapolis classmate was murdered and I was assigned the investigation into her death. I didn't know who it was until we arrived and saw the body."
If O'Neill heard the traces of regret lingering in Harm's voice he didn't comment on it. "I'm sorry. Think Chegwidden or the SECNAV had it wiped?"
"It had to be. I was released within a few hours and, obviously, was barred from anything further involving the investigation. Without a suspect the case went into the cold stack and stayed there." He felt the heavy stare along the side of his face, but refused to look over. Even after so many years, the memories still had the power to sting.
"How long did it take you?"
The unhesitating approbation soothed the memories back into their rightful place. "Two years."
Conversation paused as Colonel O'Neill performed a routine check in as they transferred from one tower's jurisdiction to another. The break gave Harm the chance to regroup. "So," O'Neill said, "the second one?"
"Russian information broker shot by a Russian intelligence agent. Not sure Webb was more of a help or a hindrance that time."
"I think you can mark that one in the help column because there's no hint of it in your permanent jacket."
"Huh." It wasn't his most articulate response, but it was all he could summon. Webb had to have scrubbed it. No one else would have bothered and the SECNAV was certainly in no mood to do Harm any favors after the debacle of his escape from the brig. No matter that it had probably had more to do with covering the CIA's ass than Harm's, he'd still benefited. What had happened to Webb in the intervening years to so alter his character? Unless Harm had never truly known the man, only the image he'd projected. "Anyway, those are my brushes with murder charges. How'd they try to pin attempted assassination on you?"
"Rogue faction within the NID stole a mimic device and shot Kinsey using my face. He's been trying to shut down the Stargate program for years. I was not uninstrumental in blocking his efforts, repeatedly. The NID couldn't run in the shadows without an SGC to hide behind. Two birds, one bullet." He sounded blasé about the whole ordeal. Harm had only been arrested for murder of a Russian wannabe spy. O'Neill had been accused of assassination of a potential Presidential candidate.
Then the rest of the description filtered into his brain. Mimic device? Using the colonel's face? "How long did it take you to get used to the science fiction factor of the SGC?"
"Science fact, Commander, not science fiction." The smile was broad and clearly laughing at him. "My introduction was more like getting dropped into the Stanley Cup without ever holding a hockey stick. It was either swing or die. You're a fast study. You'll get the hang of it all in no time."
That was in no way as reassuring as Harm knew it was supposed to be. He still didn't own a TV and had had very little interest in changing that status. Though Renee had expanded his knowledge of TV and movies during their time together, he would never understand her or Bud's fascination with science fiction stories. His life was crazy enough in reality. He didn't need make believe to add to the crazy. Except apparently he was jumping head first into exactly that.
Looking over to Colonel O'Neill's calm and competent handling of the controls, Harm shook his head slowly. "I guess we'll see if I do, Colonel."
cont. in Part Two